{"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Grease Gun Cartridge Construction\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention resides in the structure of a grease gun cartridge adapted for use on a grease gun having any of a wide variety of grease gun pump constructions, typical of which pump constructions are shown in the drawings herein and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,338,478; 3,344,084; 2,978,151; 1,368,840; 1,349,994; and 4,601,412, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The typical mechanism in the gun head for operating these prior grease gun pumps consists of a grease loading and ejection cylinder in which a piston is slidably mounted for reciprocation between a grease loading stroke and a grease pressurizing (ejection) stroke, back and forth across a grease inlet port on the gun head, which port is in communication with the grease loading and ejection cylinder in the head. The inlet port is also in communication with a grease reservoir (cartridge) positioned in a metal barrel which is affixed to the gun head. In these mechanisms the grease in the loading operation is pressurized by a cartridge piston, a cartridge piston cocking rod, and a compression spring means having one end bearing against the lower inner end of the barrel (not shown) and having its other end bearing against the lower end of the piston within the filled cartridge and pressurizing the grease column within the cartridge toward and through the inlet port and into the grease loading cylinder. The piston in the gun head closes off the inlet port on its pressurizing (ejection) stroke and forces the grease, which was forced into the loading and ejection cylinder through the inlet port on the piston suction stroke by means of the cartridge spring, out of the gun head on the ejection (pressurizing stroke) and through a hose to a ZERK or equivalent fitting. One-way valving opens the loading and ejection cylinder to the hose on the piston ejection stroke and closes off the cylinder to the hose on the ejection piston suction stroke. Hand operated lever means or dual handle means operates the back and forth reciprocating action of the piston.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA grease gun cylinder walled cartridge adapted for direct attachment to any of a variety of grease gun head constructions and grease pumping systems, wherein the cartridge wall can be of any color or completely clear and see through, wherein the grease column within the cartridge is pressured toward and through an inlet port in the gun head, which port opens on the section stroke of a piston mounted in said cylinder into a loading portion of a cylinder of the grease pumping system, and wherein the grease column pressuring means is ambient air pressure."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A grease cartridge construction comprising a cylindrical tubular cartridge wall having:\na top end portion which is closed off by a removable closure means and a closed bottom end portion and forming a grease reservoir chamber;\nthread means on an outer surface of the cylindrical tubular cartridge wall adjacent to said top end and adapted to be screwed into a threaded mounting socket of a grease gun head;\na first removable closure means closing said top end of said wall;\na column of grease in said chamber and having a lower end surface and an upper end surface, said lower end surface of said column being spaced above said closed bottom end of said wall to provide an ambient air chamber;\na pumping means comprising a flexible, resilient bulb mounted on said bottom end portion of said cartridge wall, wherein an air inlet of said pumping means is in communication with the ambient atmosphere, and wherein an air outlet of said pumping means is in communication with said ambient air chamber, wherein said bulb is affixed to said bottom end portion of said cartridge wall which comprises a housing member containing said bulb, wherein the housing member itself is formed with a cylindrical side wall adapted to be tightly slid into a lower end portion of said cartridge wall; and\nan air vent structure in said bottom end portion of said wall which lies below said lower end surface of said column for allowing a controlled flow of ambient air into said ambient air chamber to form a positive pressure in said chamber relative to a suction pressure which would exist in a grease gun on its suction stroke.\n\n2. The cartridge construction of claim 1 wherein said cartridge wall is comprised of formed plastic material and wherein a wiper disc is in place against the proximal end of said column of grease.\n\n3. The cartridge construction of claim 2 wherein said air vent structure comprises an aperture formed through said bottom end portion of said cartridge wall.\n\n4. The cartridge construction of claim 3 wherein said aperture is an air passage through a one way valve.\n\n5. The cartridge construction of claim 1 wherein said pumping means further comprises a one-way air valve structure having a body portion affixed to a distal end of said housing member, and wherein said air outlet of said bulb is in communication with said one-way air valve structure.\n\n6. The cartridge construction of claim 5 wherein said valve structure comprises an air passage formed through said body portion, which passage is normally closed by a pair of opposing resilient lips which form a slit which opens under air pressure generated by squeezing said bulb.\n\n7. A grease gun having:\na head section containing a grease pumping cylinder and piston mounted therein;\na grease inlet port in said head section communicating with said cylinder;\na grease outlet port in said head section communicating with a hose member affixed to said head;\na grease cartridge affixed to said head section and comprising a cylindrical tubular cartridge wall having an open top end portion and a closed bottom end portion and forming a grease reservoir chamber;\nthread means on the outer surface of said wall adjacent to said top end and being screwed into a threaded mounting socket of said grease gun head section, whereby said inlet port is in communication with said chamber;\na second closure means closing said bottom end of said wall;\na column of grease in said chamber and having a lower end surface and an upper end surface, said lower end surface of said column being spaced above said closed bottom end of said cartridge wall to provide an ambient air chamber;\nan air pumping means comprising a flexible, resilient bulb mounted on said bottom end portion of said cartridge wall, wherein an air inlet of said pumping means is in communication with the ambient atmosphere, and wherein an air outlet of said pumping means is in communication with said ambient air chamber, wherein said bulb is affixed to said bottom end portion of said cartridge wall which comprises a separate housing member, wherein the housing member itself is formed with a cylindrical side wall adapted to be tightly slid into a lower end portion of said cartridge wall;\nan air vent structure in said bottom end portion of said wall which lies below said lower end surface of said column for allowing a controlled flow of ambient air into said ambient air chamber to form a positive pressure in said chamber relative to a suction pressure which would exist in said grease gun on its suction stroke.\n\n8. The grease gun of claim 7 wherein said cartridge wall is comprise of formed plastic material a wiper disc is in place against the proximal end of said column of grease.\n\n9. The cartridge construction of claim 8 wherein said air vent structure comprises an aperture formed through said bottom end portion of said cartridge wall.\n\n10. The cartridge construction of claim 9 wherein said aperture is an air passage through a one way air valve.\n\n11. The cartridge construction of claim 7, wherein said pumping means further comprises a one-way air valve structure having a body portion affixed to a distal side of said housing member, and wherein said air outlet of said bulb is in communication with said one-way air valve structure.\n\n12. The cartridge construction of claim 11 wherein said valve structure comprises an air passage formed through said body portion, which passage is normally closed by a pair of opposing resilient lips which form a slit which opens under air pressure generated by sequeezing said bulb.\n\n13. The cartridge construction of claim 12 wherein said air passage enters said body portion along a longitudinal axis of said body portion and along a coextensive longitudinal axis of said cartridge and exits said body portion at a substantially right angle to said longitudinal axes.\n\n14. The cartridge construction of claim 6 wherein said side wall of said housing member is provided with an annular seal adapted to form a grease seal against the inner surface of said cartridge wall, and wherein said side wall of said housing member is provided with a plurality of flexible metal barbs which are affixed to the exterior surface of said side wall and extend outwardly therefrom at an acute angle toward said bottom end of said cartridge.\n\n15. The cartridge construction of claim 14 wherein said barbs are portion of an annular rim which is nested in an annular groove in said side wall of said housing member."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Optoelectronic Filter\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAs is known in the art, noise degrades the spectral purity of oscillators, such as those commonly found radar systems, communication systems (e.g., including but not limited to cellular communication systems), metrology systems and the like. Due to feedback mechanics of oscillators and to inherent resistance of a saturated oscillator to amplitude fluctuations, noise (e.g., phase noise) can become a significant limitation (and in some cases a dominant limitation) to oscillator performance. Phase noise can, for example, result in spectral broadening of the oscillation line profile of an oscillator across a distribution of frequencies. For many systems (e.g., receiver systems in a communication system), the phase noise of a relatively strong signal (e.g., background noise) can obstruct the detection of comparatively weaker signals (e.g., signals of interest) at nearby frequencies. In essence, the weaker signal is buried beneath the phase noise of the stronger signal. Ideally, a system is capable of filtering out the stronger signal leaving behind the desired, weaker signal. However, such a filtering operation cannot typically be accomplished using conventional all-electronic filters for at least two reasons. First, the bandwidth of the pass band in such a conventional filter is insufficiently narrow to separate one signal from another (e.g., the stronger signal from the weaker signals). Second, even with an appropriate bandwidth, such conventional filters are unable to distinguish the weaker signals from phase noise.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn optoelectronic filter having at least one input and an output includes a modulator circuit having at least first and second inputs with a first one of the modulator circuit inputs adapted to couple to a respective one of the at least one input of the optoelectronic filter. The modulator circuit receives at least a first radio frequency (RF) signal having a first power level and a second RF signal having a second, different power level at the first one of the modulator circuit inputs and in response thereto generates a modulated signal at an output thereof. The first RF signal is suppressed relative to the second RF signal in the modulated signal. The optoelectronic filter additionally includes a light source adapted to couple to a second one of the modulator circuit inputs. A corresponding method is also provided."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An optoelectronic filter for suppressing at least a first radio frequency (RF) signal relative to a second RF signal, the first RF signal having a first power level and the second RF signal having a second, different power level than the first RF signal, the optoelectronic filter having at least one input configured to receive the first and second RF signals and an output, and the optoelectronic filter comprising:\na signal level control circuit having an input coupled to the at least one optoelectronic filter input, said signal level control circuit configured to: receive the first and second RF signals at the input thereof, adjust a power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal, and in response thereto provide a level-adjusted signal at an output thereof;\na modulator circuit having at least first and second inputs with a first one of the modulator circuit inputs coupled to the signal level control circuit output, said modulator circuit configured to receive the level-adjusted signal at the first one of the modulator circuit inputs and in response thereto generate a modulated signal at an output thereof; and\na light source coupled to a second one of the modulator circuit inputs, said light source configured to provide a beam having an optical intensity to the second one of the modulator circuit inputs,\nwherein the signal level control circuit adjusts the power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal such that the first RF signal transitions from constructive to destructive interference in said modulator circuit, wherein the first RF signal is suppressed relative to the second RF signal in the modulated signal.\n\n2. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein an optical intensity of the beam is selected to provide gain to the modulated signal.\n\n3. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein said modulator circuit is configured to generate the modulated signal upon detection of an optical envelope of the level-adjusted signal and propagation of the beam through said modulator circuit.\n\n4. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein the signal level control circuit adjusts the power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal using a respective plurality of attenuation or gain factors.\n\n5. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein the signal level control circuit also an input coupled to the modulator circuit output, said signal level control circuit configured to: receive the modulated signal at the input thereof, attenuate one or more respective portions of the modulated signal representative of the first power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal such that the first RF signal is further suppressed relative to the second RF signal, and in response thereto provide an attenuated signal at an output thereof.\n\n6. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 further comprising:\na detector circuit having an input coupled to the modulator circuit output, said detector circuit configured to receive the modulated signal at the input thereof and to provide a detected signal at an output thereof.\n\n7. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein phase noise of the first RF signal is substantially suppressed from the modulated signal.\n\n8. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein a ratio of the power level of the first RF signal to a voltage level required to transition the first RF signal from constructive to destructive interference in said modulator circuit is given by \u03c0v 1 /V \u03c0, where v 1 is the power level of the first RF signal and V \u03c0 is the voltage level.\n\n9. The optoelectronic filter of claim 8 wherein the ratio produces an interference pattern having a generally sinusoidal shape.\n\n10. The optoelectronic filter of claim 8 wherein when the ratio is in the range of about 3.7 to about 3.9, the first RF signal is substantially suppressed and the second RF signal is proximate a local maximum.\n\n11. The optoelectronic filter of claim 8 wherein when the ratio is about 3.83 the transmission characteristic of the first RF signal from the respective input of the optoelectronic filter to a respective output of the optoelectronic filter is about zero and the transmission characteristic of the second RF signal from the respective input of the optoelectronic filter to the respective output of the optoelectronic filter is proximate a local maximum.\n\n12. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein the modulator circuit is a Mach-Zehnder modulator.\n\n13. The optoelectronic filter of claim 1 wherein the light source comprises a light emitting diode (LED), and/or a laser diode.\n\n14. A method of filtering received signals in an optoelectronic filter, the method comprising:\nreceiving first and second radio frequency (RF) signals at an input of the optoelectronic filter, wherein the first RF signal is provided having a first power level and the second RF signal is provided having a second, lower power level;\nadjusting the power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal to produce a level adjusted signal; and\ngenerating a modulated signal from the level adjusted signal at an output of a modulator circuit, wherein the power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal is adjusted such that the first RF signal transitions from constructive to destructive interference in the modulator circuit, and wherein the first RF signal is suppressed relative to the second RF signal in the modulated signal.\n\n15. In a communication system, a receiver coupled to receive first and second radio frequency (RF) signals from one or more remote locations, wherein the first RF signal is provided having a first power level and the second RF signal is provided having a second, different power level, said receiver comprising:\nan optoelectronic filter having at least one input configured to receive the first and second RF signals and an output, the optoelectronic filter comprising:\na signal level control circuit having an input coupled to the at least one optoelectronic filter input, said signal level control circuit configured to: receive the first and second RF signals at the input thereof, adjust a power level of the first RF signal and/or a power level of the second RF signal, and in response thereto provide a level-adjusted signal at an output thereof;\na modulator circuit having at least first and second inputs with a first one of the modulator circuit inputs coupled to the signal level control circuit output, said modulator circuit configured to receive the level-adjusted signal at the first one of the modulator circuit inputs and in response thereto generate a modulated signal at an output thereof; and\na light source coupled to a second one of the modulator circuit inputs, said light source configured to provide a beam having an optical intensity to the second one of the modulator circuit inputs,\nwherein the signal level control circuit adjusts the power level of the first RF signal and/or a power level of the second RF signal such that the first RF signal transitions from constructive to destructive interference in said modulator circuit, wherein the first RF signal is suppressed relative to the second RF signal in the modulated signal.\n\n16. The receiver of claim 15 wherein the optical intensity of the beam is selected to provide gain to the modulated signal.\n\n17. The receiver circuit of claim 15 wherein said modulator circuit of the optoelectronic filter is configured to generate the modulated signal upon detection of an optical envelope of the level-adjusted signal and propagation of the beam through said modulator circuit.\n\n18. The receiver of claim 15 wherein the signal level control circuit adjusts the power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal using a respective plurality of attenuation or gain factors.\n\n19. The receiver of claim 15 wherein the signal level control circuit also has an input coupled to the modulator circuit output, said signal level control circuit configured to: receive the modulated signal at the input thereof and adjust signal levels of one or more respective portions of the modulated signal representative of the power level of the first RF signal and/or the power level of the second RF signal.\n\n20. The receiver of claim 15 wherein the optoelectronic filter further comprises:\na detector circuit having an input coupled to the modulator circuit output, said detector circuit configured to receive the modulated signal at the input thereof and to provide a detected signal at an output thereof."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Antenna Formed From Plates And Methods Useful In Conjunction Therewith\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nState of the art antenna technology includes that described in the following patent documents: US 20130120205; US 20130321229; U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,915; U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,663; U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,357; U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,160; U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,647; U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,398; U.S. Pat. No. 6,897,824; U.S. Pat. No. 7,564,421; U.S. Pat. No. 8,558,746; WO2013089456A1; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,915 to Rammos (Philips). The disclosures of all publications and patent documents mentioned in the specification, and of the publications and patent documents cited therein directly or indirectly, are hereby incorporated by reference. Materiality of such publications and patent documents to patentability is not conceded.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn antenna array configuration is provided with h-plane splitters between ends of a feeding network and radiating elements e.g. horns, thereby to reduce the distance between the centers of the horns to less than one wavelength which results in a better side lobe level. A method of manufacturing upper and lower plates together constituting an antenna is also provided, typically making each plate in a single operation, by dividing the feeding network's waveguides at the centre where there are no cross currents so as not to disturb propagation in the feeding network. The radiating elements, h-plane splitters and upper half of the feeding network may be fabricated in one plate without undercuts hence simplifying manufacture of the plate which may for example be formed using a simple molding machine or a 3 axis-CNC machine."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. Antenna apparatus for transmitting/receiving electromagnetic radiation defining a wavelength, the apparatus comprising:\nat least one lower machined plate; and\nat least one upper machined plate including:\na radiating element layer including an array of radiating elements each having a center, wherein the distance between the centers of adjacent elements in said array is less than one wavelength; and\nan H-plane splitter layer below said radiating element layer and including H-plane splitters each having an H-plane splitter input facing said lower plate and a pair of H-plane splitter outputs which respectively connect the H-plane splitter to a pair of said radiating elements, and\nan E-orientation feeding network layer having an input and comprising:\nE-plane splitters receiving the wave from the feeding network input and defining multiple feeding network outputs, wherein an individual H-plane splitter input connects individual ones of said H-plane splitters to respective outputs from among said multiple feeding network outputs, thereby to enable the H-plane splitters to split the electromagnetic radiation travelling from the feeding network input to the radiating elements, and wherein each E-plane splitter is formed of first and second halves which are included in the upper and lower plates respectively; and\nhollow waveguide sections interconnecting the E-plane splitters, and including first and second halves which are disposed on respective sides of a bisecting plane parallel to the waveguide's shorter cross-sectional dimension and which are included in the lower and upper plates respectively.\n\n2. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the radiating element layer, H-plane splitter layer and E-orientation feeding network layer are formed from only two machined plates.\n\n3. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the radiating element layer, H-plane splitter layer and E-orientation feeding network layer are formed by injection molding two machined plates.\n\n4. Antenna apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the radiating element layer, H-plane splitter layer and E-orientation feeding network layer are formed by injection molding only two machined plates.\n\n5. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the E-plane splitters are arranged to form a parallel feeding network defining a binary tree comprising layers of splitters, each splitter in a layer n splitting an output of a splitter in layer (n\u22121) of said tree.\n\n6. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said at least one upper machined plate comprises a middle plate and a top-most plate, and wherein:\nsaid radiating element layer is included in said top-most plate;\nfirst and second portions of said H-plane splitter layer are included in said middle and top-most plates respectively; and\nsaid hollow rectangular waveguide's first and second halves are included in the middle and lower plates respectively; and\neach E-plane splitter's first and second halves are included in the middle and lower plates respectively.\n\n7. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is no undercut in the lower plate.\n\n8. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein at least one of said E-plane splitters has first and second outputs and is designed to split power unequally between said first and second outputs.\n\n9. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein paths from the feeding network input to each of the outputs are equal in length so phases at all of said multiple feeding network outputs are identical.\n\n10. Antenna apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said network layer comprises a full binary tree.\n\n11. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the upper machined plate is bonded to the lower machined plate.\n\n12. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is no undercut in the upper plate.\n\n13. Antenna apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said plates are screwed, rather than being soldered, to one another.\n\n14. Antenna apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a connection point between a last-level E-plane splitter to a feeding network output is offset.\n\n15. A method of manufacturing an antenna for transmitting/receiving electromagnetic radiation defining a wavelength and comprising:\nproviding a hollow waveguide made from first and second waveguide halves which are disposed on respective sides of a bisecting plane disposed parallel to the waveguide's shorter cross-sectional dimension, wherein said providing includes:\nforming the first half of the hollow waveguide from at least one lower machined plate; and\nforming the second half of the hollow waveguide from at least one upper machined plate;\nwherein the method also comprises:\nforming a radiating element layer including an array of radiating elements each having a center, wherein the distance between the centers of adjacent elements in said array is less than one wavelength;\nforming an E-orientation feeding network layer comprising:\nE-plane splitters operative to receive the electromagnetic wave from the antenna input and defining multiple feeding network outputs, wherein each E-plane splitter is made of first and second halves which are included in the upper and lower plates respectively; and\nwaveguide sections interconnecting said E-plane splitters; and\n\n16. The method according to claim 15 wherein said forming is performed by a molding machine.\n\n17. The method according to claim 15 wherein said forming is performed by a 3-axis CNC machine.\n\n18. The method according to claim 15 wherein the upper machined plate is bonded to the lower machined plate.\n\n19. The method according to claim 15, comprising offsetting a connection point between a last-level E-plane splitter to a feeding network output."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Display Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device which includes a circuit configured using a transistor. The present invention particularly relates to a display device using a light emitting element, an electro-optical element such as a liquid crystal element, or the like as a display medium and to a method for driving the display device. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the increase of large-scale display devices such as liquid crystal televisions, display devices have been actively developed. In particular, a technique for forming a pixel circuit and a driver circuit including a shift register and the like (hereinafter also referred to as an internal circuit) over the same insulating substrate by using transistors formed of a non-crystalline semiconductor (hereinafter also referred to as amorphous silicon) has been actively developed because the technique greatly contributes to reductions in power consumption and cost. The internal circuit formed over the insulating substrate is connected to a controller IC or the like (hereinafter also referred to as an external circuit) through an FPC or the like, and thus its operation is controlled. Among the aforementioned internal circuits, a shift register using transistors formed of a non-crystalline semiconductor (hereinafter also referred to as amorphous silicon transistors) has been devised. FIG. 106A shows a structure of a flip-flop included in a conventional shift register (Reference 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2004-157508). The flip-flop of FIG. 106A includes a transistor 11 , a transistor 12 , a transistor 13 , a transistor 14 , a transistor 15 , a transistor 16 , and a transistor 17 , and is connected to a signal line 21 , a signal line 22 , a wiring 23 , a signal line 24 , a power supply line 25 , and a power supply line 26 . A start signal, a reset signal, a clock signal, a power supply potential VDD, and a power supply potential VSS are input to the signal line 21 , the signal line 22 , the signal line 24 , the power supply line 25 , and the power supply line 26 , respectively. An operation period of the flip-flop of FIG. 106A is divided into a set period, a selection period, a reset period, and a non-selection period as shown in a timing chart of FIG. 106B , and most of the operation period is a non-selection period. Here, the transistor 12 and the transistor 16 are turned on in a non-selection period. Because amorphous silicon is used for semiconductor layers of the transistor 12 and the transistor 16 , fluctuation in threshold voltage (Vth) is caused due to deterioration or the like. Specifically, a threshold voltage is increased. In other words, a conventional shift register, in which the transistor 12 and the transistor 16 cannot be turned on due to an increase in threshold voltage, cannot supply VSS to a node 41 and the wiring 23 and causes malfunction. In order to solve this problem, shift registers which can suppress a shift in threshold voltage of the transistor 12 have been devised in References 2, 3, and 4 (Reference 2: Soo Young Yoon et al., \u201cHighly Stable Integrated Gate Driver Circuit using a-Si TFT with Dual Pull-down Structure\u201d, SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION DISPLAY 2005 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM DIGEST OF TECHNICAL PAPERS, Volume XXXVI, pp. 348-351, Reference 3: Bunn Kim et al., \u201ca-Si Gate Driver Integration with Time Shared Data Driving\u201d, Proceedings of The 12 th International Display Workshops in conjunction with Asia Display 2005, pp. 1073-1076, and Reference 4: Mindoo Chun et al., \u201cIntegrated Gate Driver Using Highly Stable a-Si TFT's\u201d, Proceedings of The 12 th International Display Workshops in conjunction with Asia Display 2005, pp. 1077-1080). In References 2, 3, and 4, an additional transistor (called a first transistor) is arranged in parallel with the transistor 12 (called a second transistor), and signals inverted with respect to each other are input to gate electrodes of the first transistor and the second transistor in a non-selection period; thus, shifts in threshold voltage of the first transistor and the second transistor are suppressed.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nBy applying an AC pulse to a gate of a transistor which easily deteriorates, a shift in threshold voltage of the transistor is suppressed. However, in a case where amorphous silicon is used for a semiconductor layer of a transistor, the occurrence of a shift in threshold voltage naturally becomes a problem for a transistor which constitutes a part of circuit that generates an AC pulse. A shift in threshold voltage of a transistor which easily deteriorates and a shift in threshold voltage of a turned-on transistor are suppressed by signal input to a gate electrode of the transistor which easily deteriorates through the turned-on transistor. In other words, a structure for applying an AC pulse to a gate electrode of a transistor which easily deteriorates through a transistor to a gate electrode of which a high potential (VDD) is applied, is included."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor device comprising:\na first flip-flop; and\na second flip-flop,\nwherein the first flip-flop comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor, a fourth transistor, a fifth transistor, a sixth transistor, and a first capacitor,\nwherein the second flip-flop comprises a seventh transistor, an eighth transistor, a ninth transistor, a tenth transistor, an eleventh transistor, a twelfth transistor, and a second capacitor,\nwherein a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the third transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the fifth transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the ninth transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the second transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the fifth transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the first transistor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the fifth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the second transistor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the second transistor is directly connected to a gate of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the fourth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the fifth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the fourth transistor is directly connected to the other of the source and the drain of the fifth transistor,\nwherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is directly connected to the gate of the first transistor,\nwherein a second electrode of the first capacitor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the first transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the seventh transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the eighth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the ninth transistor is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the tenth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the eleventh transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the seventh transistor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein a gate of the eighth transistor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the tenth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the eighth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the tenth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein the gate of the tenth transistor is directly connected to the other of the source and the drain of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is directly connected to the gate of the seventh transistor,\nwherein a second electrode of the second capacitor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the seventh transistor,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is directly connected to a first wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is directly connected to a second wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the seventh transistor is directly connected to the second wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the ninth transistor is directly connected to the first wiring, and\nwherein the one of the source and the drain of the first transistor is directly connected to the gate of the eleventh transistor.\n\n2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein a same voltage is supplied to the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the sixth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the eighth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the tenth transistor, and the other of the source and the drain of the twelfth transistor.\n\n3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein a first clock signal is input to the first wiring, and\nwherein a second clock signal is input to the second wiring.\n\n4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first transistor, the second transistor, the third transistor, the fourth transistor, the fifth transistor, the sixth transistor, the seventh transistor, the eighth transistor, the ninth transistor, the tenth transistor, the eleventh transistor, and the twelfth transistor comprise a polycrystalline semiconductor.\n\n5. A display device comprising:\na pixel portion;\na scan line driver circuit; and\na signal line driver circuit,\nwherein the pixel portion and the scan line driver circuit are formed over a substrate,\nwherein the scan line driver circuit comprises a first flip-flop and a second flip-flop,\nwherein the first flip-flop comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor, a fourth transistor, a fifth transistor, a sixth transistor, and a first capacitor,\nwherein the second flip-flop comprises a seventh transistor, an eighth transistor, a ninth transistor, a tenth transistor, an eleventh transistor, a twelfth transistor, and a second capacitor,\nwherein a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the third transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the fifth transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the ninth transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the second transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the fifth transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the first transistor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the fifth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the second transistor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the second transistor is directly connected to a gate of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the fourth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the fifth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the fourth transistor is directly connected to the other of the source and the drain of the fifth transistor,\nwherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is directly connected to the gate of the first transistor,\nwherein a second electrode of the first capacitor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the first transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the seventh transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the eighth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the ninth transistor is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the tenth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the eleventh transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the seventh transistor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein a gate of the eighth transistor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the tenth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the eighth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the tenth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein the gate of the tenth transistor is directly connected to the other of the source and the drain of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is directly connected to the gate of the seventh transistor,\nwherein a second electrode of the second capacitor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the seventh transistor,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is directly connected to a first wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is directly connected to a second wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the seventh transistor is directly connected to the second wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the ninth transistor is directly connected to the first wiring, and\nwherein the one of the source and the drain of the first transistor is directly connected to the gate of the eleventh transistor.\n\n6. The display device according to claim 5,\nwherein a same voltage is supplied to the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the sixth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the eighth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the tenth transistor, and the other of the source and the drain of the twelfth transistor.\n\n7. The display device according to claim 5,\nwherein a first clock signal is input to the first wiring, and\nwherein a second clock signal is input to the second wiring.\n\n8. The display device according to claim 5,\nwherein the signal line driver circuit comprises a thirteenth transistor, a fourteenth transistor, and a fifteenth transistor,\nwherein the thirteenth transistor, the fourteenth transistor, and the fifteenth transistor are formed over the substrate,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the thirteenth transistor is directly connected to a third wiring,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the fourteenth transistor is directly connected to the third wiring,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the fifteenth transistor is directly connected to the third wiring,\nwherein a gate of the thirteenth transistor is directly connected to a fourth wiring,\nwherein a gate of the fourteenth transistor is directly connected to a fifth wiring, and\nwherein a gate of the fifteenth transistor is directly connected to a sixth wiring.\n\n9. The display device according to claim 8,\nwherein the pixel portion comprises a plurality of source signal lines, a plurality of scan lines, and a pixel,\nwherein the pixel comprises a sixteenth transistor, a first insulating film over the sixteenth transistor, a common electrode over the first insulating film, a second insulating film over the common electrode, a pixel electrode over the second insulating film, and a liquid crystal over the pixel electrode,\nwherein a first source signal line of the plurality of source signal lines is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the thirteenth transistor,\nwherein a second source signal line of the plurality of source signal lines is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the fourteenth transistor,\nwherein a third source signal line of the plurality of source signal lines is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the fifteenth transistor,\nwherein the plurality of scan lines are electrically connected to the scan line driver circuit,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the sixteenth transistor is electrically connected to one of the plurality of source signal lines,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the sixteenth transistor is electrically connected to the pixel electrode, and\nwherein a gate of the sixteenth transistor is electrically connected to one of the plurality of scan lines.\n\n10. The display device according to claim 5,\nwherein the first transistor, the second transistor, the third transistor, the fourth transistor, the fifth transistor, the sixth transistor, the seventh transistor, the eighth transistor, the ninth transistor, the tenth transistor, the eleventh transistor, and the twelfth transistor comprise a polycrystalline semiconductor.\n\n11. The display device according to claim 9,\nwherein the first transistor, the second transistor, the third transistor, the fourth transistor, the fifth transistor, the sixth transistor, the seventh transistor, the eighth transistor, the ninth transistor, the tenth transistor, the eleventh transistor, the twelfth transistor, the thirteenth transistor, the fourteenth transistor, the fifteenth transistor, and the sixteenth transistor comprise a polycrystalline semiconductor.\n\n12. A display panel module comprising:\na display panel; and\na circuit board,\nwherein the display panel comprises:\na pixel portion;\na scan line driver circuit; and\na signal line driver circuit,\nwherein the pixel portion and the scan line driver circuit are formed over a substrate,\nwherein the scan line driver circuit comprises a first flip-flop and a second flip-flop,\nwherein the first flip-flop comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, a third transistor, a fourth transistor, a fifth transistor, a sixth transistor, and a first capacitor,\nwherein the second flip-flop comprises a seventh transistor, an eighth transistor, a ninth transistor, a tenth transistor, an eleventh transistor, a twelfth transistor, and a second capacitor,\nwherein a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the third transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the fifth transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the first transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the ninth transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein the ratio of the channel width to the channel length of the seventh transistor is greater than a ratio of a channel width to a channel length of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the second transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the fourth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the fifth transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the first transistor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the fifth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the second transistor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the second transistor is directly connected to a gate of the sixth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the fourth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the fifth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the fourth transistor is directly connected to the other of the source and the drain of the fifth transistor,\nwherein a first electrode of the first capacitor is directly connected to the gate of the first transistor,\nwherein a second electrode of the first capacitor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the first transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the seventh transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the eighth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the ninth transistor is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the tenth transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the eleventh transistor is directly connected to one of a source and a drain of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the seventh transistor is electrically connected to the one of the source and the drain of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein a gate of the eighth transistor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the tenth transistor,\nwherein the gate of the eighth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the twelfth transistor,\nwherein a gate of the tenth transistor is directly connected to a gate of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein the gate of the tenth transistor is directly connected to the other of the source and the drain of the eleventh transistor,\nwherein a first electrode of the second capacitor is directly connected to the gate of the seventh transistor,\nwherein a second electrode of the second capacitor is directly connected to the one of the source and the drain of the seventh transistor,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the first transistor is directly connected to a first wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor is directly connected to a second wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the seventh transistor is directly connected to the second wiring,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the ninth transistor is directly connected to the first wiring,\nwherein the one of the source and the drain of the first transistor is directly connected to the gate of the eleventh transistor, and\nwherein the display panel and the circuit board are connected to each other by a connection wiring.\n\n13. The display panel module according to claim 12,\nwherein a same voltage is supplied to the other of the source and the drain of the second transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the fourth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the sixth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the eighth transistor, the other of the source and the drain of the tenth transistor, and the other of the source and the drain of the twelfth transistor.\n\n14. The display panel module according to claim 12,\nwherein a first clock signal is input to the first wiring, and\nwherein a second clock signal is input to the second wiring.\n\n15. The display panel module according to claim 12,\nwherein the signal line driver circuit comprises a thirteenth transistor, a fourteenth transistor, and a fifteenth transistor,\nwherein the thirteenth transistor, the fourteenth transistor, and the fifteenth transistor are formed over the substrate,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the thirteenth transistor is directly connected to a third wiring,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the fourteenth transistor is directly connected to the third wiring,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the fifteenth transistor is directly connected to the third wiring,\nwherein a gate of the thirteenth transistor is directly connected to a fourth wiring,\nwherein a gate of the fourteenth transistor is directly connected to a fifth wiring, and\nwherein a gate of the fifteenth transistor is directly connected to a sixth wiring.\n\n16. The display panel module according to claim 15,\nwherein the pixel portion comprises a plurality of source signal lines, a plurality of scan lines, and a pixel,\nwherein the pixel comprises a sixteenth transistor, a first insulating film over the sixteenth transistor, a common electrode over the first insulating film, a second insulating film over the common electrode, a pixel electrode over the second insulating film, and a liquid crystal over the pixel electrode,\nwherein a first source signal line of the plurality of source signal lines is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the thirteenth transistor,\nwherein a second source signal line of the plurality of source signal lines is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the fourteenth transistor,\nwherein a third source signal line of the plurality of source signal lines is electrically connected to the other of the source and the drain of the fifteenth transistor,\nwherein the plurality of scan lines are electrically connected to the scan line driver circuit,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the sixteenth transistor is electrically connected to one of the plurality of source signal lines,\nwherein the other of the source and the drain of the sixteenth transistor is electrically connected to the pixel electrode, and\nwherein a gate of the sixteenth transistor is electrically connected to one of the plurality of scan lines.\n\n17. The display panel module according to claim 12,\nwherein the first transistor, the second transistor, the third transistor, the fourth transistor, the fifth transistor, the sixth transistor, the seventh transistor, the eighth transistor, the ninth transistor, the tenth transistor, the eleventh transistor, and the twelfth transistor comprise a polycrystalline semiconductor.\n\n18. The display panel module according to claim 16,\nwherein the first transistor, the second transistor, the third transistor, the fourth transistor, the fifth transistor, the sixth transistor, the seventh transistor, the eighth transistor, the ninth transistor, the tenth transistor, the eleventh transistor, the twelfth transistor, the thirteenth transistor, the fourteenth transistor, the fifteenth transistor, and the sixteenth transistor comprise a polycrystalline semiconductor.\n\n19. The display panel module according to claim 12,\nwherein the connection wiring is a flexible printed circuit."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And System For Communication In Multi-User Multiple-Input-Multiple Output Wireless Networks\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn a typical wireless network utilizing a coordination function for coordinating transmissions among wireless stations, such a coordination function may be implemented in one of the wireless stations such as a wireless access point (AP) functioning as a coordinator. The wireless stations may communicate via directional transmissions using sector antennas and beam-forming antenna arrays. The coordinator may use omnidirectional transmissions for broadcasts to all wireless stations in all directions (e.g., 360 degrees range). Alternatively, the coordinator may use quasi-omnidirectional transmissions for broadcasts to a wide range, but not necessarily in all directions. In many wireless area networks (WLANs) such as those according to IEEE 802.11 standards, a coordinator is used in infrastructure mode for providing contention-free access to a wireless communication medium to support Quality of Service (QoS) for certain applications.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nWireless communication in a wireless system using a multiple user transmission opportunity is provided. The data blocks are organized in order of transmission priority based on access categories. Contention for access to the communication medium during a transmission opportunity period is based on a backoff timer of each access category and the transmission priority. Upon successful contention for a transmission opportunity period, during the transmission opportunity period, a data block of a primary access category is wirelessly transmitted from the wireless station to one or more primary destination wireless receivers. Simultaneously, a data block of a secondary access category is wirelessly transmitted from the wireless station to one or more secondary destination wireless receivers. Contending for the transmission opportunity period includes each access category contending for access to the wireless communication medium and a secondary access category selectively invoking communication medium access backoff based on one or more backoff events."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of wireless communication in a wireless communication system, comprising:\nreceiving a data frame transmitted from an access point during a transmission opportunity (TXOP), wherein the data frame comprises data corresponding to primary access category or secondary access category of the access point; and\nprocessing the data frame,\nwherein when Enhanced Distributed Channel Access Function (EDCAF) of the secondary access category experiences an internal collision with EDCAF of the primary access category, backoff procedure is invoked.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary access category is associated with EDCAF that gains channel access, and the secondary access category is not associated with EDCAF that gains channel access.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein a data of the primary access category and a data of the secondary access category are simultaneously transmitted during the TXOP by using TXOP sharing.\n\n4. The method of claim 3, wherein the TXOP sharing is allowed when a data of the primary access category is transmitted in the data frame and resource permits a data from the secondary access category to be included in the data frame.\n\n5. The method of claim 3, wherein duration of the TXOP is TXOP limit of the primary access category.\n\n6. A terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising:\na receiver configured to receive a data frame transmitted from an access point during a transmission opportunity (TXOP), wherein the data frame comprises traffic corresponding to primary access category or secondary access category of the access point; and\na controller configured to process the data frame,\nwherein when Enhanced Distributed Channel Access Function (EDCAF) of the secondary access category experiences an internal collision with EDCAF of the primary access category, backoff procedure is invoked.\n\n7. The terminal of claim 6, wherein the primary access category is associated with EDCAF that gains channel access, and the secondary access category is not associated with EDCAF that gains channel access.\n\n8. The terminal of claim 6, wherein a data frame of the primary access category and a data frame of the secondary access category are simultaneously transmitted during the TXOP by using TXOP sharing.\n\n9. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the TXOP sharing is allowed when a data of the primary access category is transmitted in the data frame and resource permits a data from the secondary access category to be included in the data frame.\n\n10. The terminal of claim 8, wherein duration of the TXOP is TXOP limit of the primary access category."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Led Having Vertical Contacts Redistributed For Flip Chip Mounting\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nFlip chip LEDs are desirable in many applications since they do not use wire bonding. Both electrodes are located on a bottom surface of the LED for direct bonding to metal pads on a submount. Bonding may be accomplished by ultrasonic bonding, solder, conductive adhesive, or other means. Light exits the surface of the LED opposite the electrodes. In a typical LED flip chip, the epitaxial p-type layer is the bottom layer and is contacted by the bottom anode electrode. A portion of the p-type layer and active layer must be etched away to expose the underside of the epitaxial n-type layer for being contacted by the bottom cathode electrode. This etching creates distributed vias through the p-type layer that expose the bottom surface of the n-type layer. The via openings are then insulated, and metal is deposited in the openings for contacting the n-type layer. Such topography is typically achieved by dry-etch of the semiconductor material in a plasma environment with active ionic species. The presence of such structure within a thin film device requires precise control of the plasma etch. Furthermore, the dry etched epitaxial surface, to be interfaced with contact metal, is sensitive to the damage caused by impingement of energetic ionic species in the plasma. From a thermal and mechanical point of view, the corners of such a step structure are prone to becoming failure initiation centers as a result of stress distribution within the sandwiched films. The film growth over the mesa or via structure typically requires a minimum step coverage, leading to higher equipment cost and the requirement of tighter in-line process control. Accordingly, it would be desirable to avoid such etching of vias to form the flip chip LEDs.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA light emitting diode (LED) structure has semiconductor layers, including a p-type layer, an active layer, and an n-type layer. The p-type layer has a bottom surface, and the n-type layer has a top surface though which light is emitted. A copper layer has a first portion electrically connected to and opposing the bottom surface of the p-type layer. A dielectric wall extends through the copper layer to isolate a second portion of the copper layer from the first portion. A metal shunt electrically connects the second portion of the copper layer to the top surface of the n-type layer. P-metal electrodes electrically connect to the first portion, and n-metal electrodes electrically connect to the second portion, wherein the LED structure forms a flip chip. Other embodiments of the methods and structures are also described."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of forming a flip chip LED structure comprising:\nproviding a growth substrate;\nepitaxially growing semiconductor layers on the growth substrate, including a first conductivity layer, an active layer, and a second conductivity layer, the first conductivity layer having an interior surface adjacent to the active layer and an exterior surface opposite the interior surface, and the second conductivity layer having an interior surface adjacent to the active layer and an exterior surface though which light is emitted;\nforming a first dielectric portion at least underlying the exterior surface of the first conductivity layer;\nforming a first metal portion and a second metal portion underlying the exterior surface of the first conductivity layer, the first metal portion being electrically connected to the exterior surface of the first conductivity layer, the second metal portion being electrically insulated from the first conductivity layer and the first metal portion by the first dielectric portion;\nremoving the growth substrate;\netching away at least the first conductivity layer, the active layer, and the second conductivity layer overlying the first dielectric portion such that the first dielectric portion electrically isolates the first metal portion from the second metal portion;\nforming a first metal shunt portion integral with the LED structure and overlying a top portion of the exterior surface of the second conductivity layer;\nforming a second metal shunt portion underlying the first metal shunt portion and electrically connected to the first metal shunt portion and the second metal portion such that the second metal portion is electrically connected to the top portion of the exterior surface of the second conductivity layer;\nforming one or more first electrodes electrically connected to the first metal portion; and\nforming one or more second electrodes electrically connected to the second metal portion such that the LED structure forms a flip chip, wherein at least some of the one or more second electrodes underlie the plurality of semiconductor layers and the first metal portion and are insulated from the first metal portion by the first dielectric portion.\n\n2. The method of claim 1 wherein the growth substrate is a wafer that supports a plurality of LED structures, the method further comprising:\nforming a second dielectric portion along areas which define singulation lines for separating out the plurality of LED structures from each other, the first dielectric portion and the second dielectric portion forming opposing walls with the second portion of the first metal layer in-between.\n\n3. The method of claim 1 wherein a plurality of LED structures are formed on the growth substrate, the first metal shunt portion contacting the exterior surface of the second conductivity layer of one LED structure being in an electrical connection with the first metal portion of an adjacent LED structure so that the one LED structure and the adjacent LED structure are electrically connected in series.\n\n4. The method of claim 1 further comprising forming a second dielectric portion extending from the first dielectric portion to at least the exterior surface of the second conductivity layer, the second dielectric portion isolating the first metal shunt portion from other than the top exterior surface of the second conductivity layer.\n\n5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:\nforming a third dielectric portion running along a section of the first metal portion; and\nforming the one or more of the second electrodes over the third dielectric and in electrical contact with the second metal portion.\n\n6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:\nforming a second dielectric portion extending from the first dielectric portion to at least the exterior surface of the second conductivity layer, the second dielectric portion isolating the first metal shunt portion from other than the exterior surface of the second conductivity layer; and\nwherein forming the first metal shunt portion comprises forming the first metal shunt portion over the second dielectric portion and around a periphery of the exterior surface of the second conductivity layer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Extrusion-Type Connecting Rod, Extrusion Apparatus For Connecting Rod And Manufacturing Method For Extrusion-Type Connecting Rod\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn general, a connecting rod is a mechanical element provided between a piston and a crank to convert reciprocating motion into rotary motion, and may include a big end connected to a crankshaft, a small end connected to a piston shaft, and a connection part for interconnecting the big and small ends. The connecting rod mostly uses an iron-based alloy having excellent toughness and fatigue resistance against repeated explosions of the piston, and is manufactured using casting, forging, or sintered powder molding. However, since the connecting rod manufactured using casting, forging, or sintered powder molding is not easily producible in a large quantity due to processing characteristics thereof, productivity is low, economic feasibility is low, and products are high-priced and heavy-weighted, and have a high defect rate due to structural detects, porosity defect, etc. thereof. To solve the above problem, KR 2001-0097861 discloses a method of manufacturing a connecting rod using an extrusion die. However, according to the connecting rod manufactured using the above conventional technology, a big end should be cut using a cutting device to interconnect a crankshaft and the big end. As such, manufacturing costs and manufacturing time of products are increased, productivity is lowered, and prices of the products are increased.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to an extrusion-type connecting rod which is installed between a piston and a crank and can convert the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotary motion of a crank shaft, an extrusion apparatus for a connecting rod, and a manufacturing method for the extrusion-type connecting rod. The extrusion-type connecting rod may comprise: a first big end having a portion of a crank shaft hole formed on one side and having a seam-line divided surface, which comprises a seam line formed at the time of extrusion, formed on the other side; a second big end, being extrusion-molded simultaneously with the first big end, having the other portion of the crank shaft hole formed on one side, and having a seam-line divided surface, which comprises a seam line formed at the time of extrusion, formed so as to contact the seam-line divided surface of the first big end; a connection part which is extrusion-molded integrally with the second big end; and a small end which is extrusion-molded integrally with the connection part."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A connecting rod extrusion apparatus comprising:\na front die having one final extrusion hole provided in an external shape of a connecting rod; and\na rear die assembled with the front die and comprising:\na crankshaft hole generator for generating a crankshaft hole of the connecting rod;\none or more bridges provided on the crankshaft hole generator to generate seam line splitting planes based on the crankshaft hole generator;\nat least one first inlet hole provided in a first direction based on the bridges; and\nat least one second inlet hole provided in a second direction based on the bridges.\n\n2. The connecting rod extrusion apparatus of claim 1, wherein the crankshaft hole generator protrudes to be spaced apart from and partially inserted into the final extrusion hole of the front die.\n\n3. The connecting rod extrusion apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\na container assembled with the rear die and having one container hole; and\na ram for extruding a molding material accommodated in the container hole, toward the front die.\n\n4. The connecting rod extrusion apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\na container assembled with the rear die and comprising a first container hole connected to the first inlet hole and a second container hole connected to the second inlet hole;\na first ram for extruding a first molding material accommodated in the first container hole, toward the front die; and\na second ram for extruding a second molding material accommodated in the second container hole, toward the front die."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Four-Surface Narrow Field-Of-View Compound Lens\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nDigital camera modules are used in a variety of consumer, industrial and scientific imaging devices to produce still images and/or video. Applications of digital camera modules include image-based recognition applications such as barcode scanning and iris recognition. A camera for such applications may include an imaging lens with relatively large depth of field compared to conventional lenses. Such a large depth of field enables a device using the camera to recognize an object to be relatively insensitive to the object's distance from the imaging lens. For a fixed imaging lens focal length, the depth of field of the imaging lens is approximately linearly proportional to the lens's f-number N, where N is the ratio of the lens's effective length to its entrance pupil diameter D. See, for example, The Manual of Photography, 9 th ed. by Jacobson et al, Focal Press, 2000. The field of view 2\u03b1 of a camera with an imaging lens having focal length f and an image sensor with diagonal length d is 2 \ue89e \u03b1 = 2 \ue89e arctan \ue8a0 ( d 2 \ue89e f ) . Expressed in terms of f-number N=f/D, \u03b1 = 2 \ue89e arctan \ue8a0 ( d 2 \ue89e D \u00b7 N ) , which illustrates that for a constant entrance pupil diameter D, field of view \u03b1 decreases as f-number N increases. Since depth of field is approximately linearly proportional to the lens's f-number N, field of view 2\u03b1 also decreases as depth of field increases. Image-based recognition devices require a camera module having a lens with a smaller field of view (FOV) than lenses in conventional camera modules, while producing images with line-width resolution minimally reduced compared to images formed by conventional camera modules. Conventional narrow-FOV camera modules achieve a small point of view while maintaining image quality of a larger FOV camera by employing telescope-like compound lenses that include several optical surfaces. A disadvantage of such camera modules is that the manufacturing cost of a compound lens increases with number of optical surfaces.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA four-surface narrow field-of-view compound lens includes a first biplanar substrate between a first lens and a second lens, the first lens being plano-convex and the second lens being plano-concave. The compound lens also includes a second biplanar substrate between a third lens and a fourth lens, the third lens being plano-convex and the fourth lens being plano-concave. The second lens and third lens are between the first biplanar substrate and the second biplanar substrate. The first lens, second lens, third lens, and fourth lens are coaxial and are formed of materials having a first, second, third, and fourth Abbe number respectively and focal lengths F1, F2, F3, and F4 respectively. The first Abbe number exceeds the second Abbe number and the third Abbe number exceeds the fourth Abbe number. Ratio F1/F2 may satisfy \u22120.32) regions of said emitter; and\nsecond nanomembranes separating said amorphized silicon (a-Si) nano-grains from said stressed crystalline silicon () regions of said emitter.\n\n9. The architectural system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:\nthe entire emitter volume occupied by said amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins is delimited by two semiconductor interface nanomembranes resulting from a predetermined doping profile.\n\n10. A method of forming an architectural system defined within an emitter space of a semiconductor light-to-electricity converter, comprising the steps of:\nproviding a front electrode;\nproviding a rear electrode;\nproviding a base portion disposed adjacent to said rear electrode;\nproviding an emitter, comprising crystalline silicon (c-Si), disposed adjacent to said front electrode and having a front face portion;\nproviding a PN junction interposed between said base portion and said emitter; and\nproviding at least one layer of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins comprising a plurality of horizontally separated amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed within an upper region of said emitter so as to be close to said front face portion of said emitter, each one of said plurality of horizontally separated amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins having a predetermined vertically elongated geometrical configuration such that a relatively small upper surface area is disposed toward said front face of said emitter while a relatively large body surface area of each one of said amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins is disposed within said emitter, and wherein each one of said plurality of horizontally separated amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins is enveloped within a coating of metamaterial such that when said light-to-electricity converter is exposed to incident light, only a small part of the incident light is absorbed within the amorphized matter comprising said plurality of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins as a result of only said relatively small upper surface area being exposed to incoming photons, while hot electrons, generated by energetic photons entering said emitter and moving in all directions within said emitter, will massively collide with said plurality of horizontally separated, vertically elongated amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins so as to result in vastly multiplied secondary electron generation.\n\n11. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein:\nsaid predetermined vertically elongated geometrical configuration of each one of said plurality of horizontally separated amorphized silicon (a-Si) nano-grains is selected from the group comprising a rectangular cross section, with the longitudinal axis of the rectangle oriented vertically, a triangular cross section with an apex portion of the triangle disposed toward said front face of said emitter, an ovoid with the longitudinal ax-is of the ovoid oriented vertically, a T-shaped cross-sectional configuration, a D-shaped cross-sectional configuration, and a C-shaped cross-sectional configuration.\n\n12. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein:\nsaid at least one layer of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins comprises a plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanongrains wherein said plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins are vertically separated from each other and comprise an uppermost layer of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed closest to said front face portion of said emitter while other layers of said plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanongrains are dis-posed beneath said uppermost layer of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins and are disposed throughout said emitter.\n\n13. The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein:\neach one of said plurality of horizontally separated amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed within said uppermost layer of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed closest to said front face portion of said emitter comprise a predetermined vertically elongated geometrical configuration selected from the group comprising a rectangular cross section, with the longitudinal axis of the rec- tangle oriented vertically, and a triangular cross section with an apex portion of the triangle disposed toward said front face of said emitter; and\neach one of said plurality of horizontally separated amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed within said other ones of said plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed beneath said uppermost layer of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins have a predetermined geometrical configuration selected from the group comprising a rectangular cross section, with the longitudinal axis of the rectangle oriented vertically, a rectangular cross-section, with the longitudinal axis of the rectangle oriented horizontally, a triangular cross section with an apex portion of the triangle disposed toward said front face of said emitter, a triangular cross-section with an apex portion of the triangle disposed away from said front face of said emitter, a circular cross-section, an ovoid cross-section, a T-shaped cross-sectional configuration, a D-shaped cross-sectional configuration, and a C-shaped cross-sectional configuration.\n\n14. The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein:\na particular layer of said plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins has a different number of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins comprising said particular layer of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins as compared to the number of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins comprising another one of said plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins.\n\n15. The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein:\nthe plurality of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed within said plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins are all vertically aligned with each other.\n\n16. The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein:\nthe plurality of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins disposed within said plurality of layers of amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins are vertically mis-aligned with respect to each other.\n\n17. The method as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:\nfirst nanomembranes separating said unstressed crystalline silicon (c- Si) regions of said emitter from stressed crystalline silicon () regions of said emitter; and\nsecond nanomembranes separating said amorphized silicon (a-Si) nano-grains from said stressed crystalline silicon () regions of said emitter.\n\n18. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein:\nthe entire emitter volume occupied by said amorphized silicon (a-Si) nanograins is delimited by two semiconductor interface nanomembranes resulting from a predetermined doping profile."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Preparation Of Purified Autoimmune Antigen Positive Serum\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nUnder normal circumstances, the body recognizes and treats its own tissue components as \u201cself\u201d, without immune response, which is self-tolerance. Self-tolerance occurs because the lymphocyte clones that recognize its own tissues are destroyed or forbidden during the embryonic development, as stated in Burnet's forbidden clone theory. However, in some cases, self-tolerance is compromised and the forbidden clones are re-activated, so that the body's immune system initiates immune response against its own tissue components, which leads to autoimmune diseases. The key is that the organism produces autoantibodies or sensitized T lymphocytes that react with its own tissue components and lead to the damage of the tissue and cells. The mechanism on the production of autoantibodies and sensitized T cells is very complicated. The following factors may play a role, according to research findings. First, the Emergence of Autoantigen 1. Release of Sequestered Antigens Sequestered antigens refer to tissue components, such as sperm, intraocular soluble components, brain tissue, etc, that normally do not contact with immune cells. However, their corresponding immune cell clones exist and are immune-responsive. When the isolation barrier is damaged due to surgery, trauma, infection and other reasons, the sequestered antigens are released into the bloodstream or lymph. The immune system mistake them as \u201cforeign agents\u201d, trigger the autoimmune response, and result in the autoimmune disease. 2. Changes of Tissue Components The antigenicity of tissue components may change due to physical factors (such as cold, heat, ionizing radiation), chemical factors (such as drugs), or biological factors (such as bacteria, viruses, etc.). The changed tissue components can stimulate an autoimmune response, and result in autoimmune diseases. 3. Cross-Reactivity Some bacteria and viruses have similar epitopes as those on normal human tissue cells. The antibodies and sensitized lymphocytes produced against the foreign agents may cross react with the human epitopes, which finally result in autoimmune diseases. Second, Abnormal Immune Response 1. Bypass Activation of Lymphocyte Under normal circumstances, both autoantigen-specific T and B lymphocyte clones exist in the body. B lymphocytes can respond to autoantigens while the Th cells are irresponsive. With inactivated Th cells, B cells can't produce autoantibodies. Some foreign antigens have similar or identical determinants as those recognizable by B cells. Due to the difference of the carrier determinants recognized by various T cells, the Th cells that recognize autoantigens remain silent while those that recognize foreign agents are activated and in turn activate B cells to produce autoantibodies. Through this Th Bypass Activation, autoimmune response is initiated. 2. Bypass Activation of Polyclonal Stimulant Some polyclonal stimulants, such as epstein-barr virus and super-antigens, are capable of initiating polyclonal activation of B-cells, or even of T-cells, by directly binding to the p-subunit of T-cell receptors in a non-specific fashion. Through this bypass activation, autoantibodies are produced and lead to the autoimmune response. 3. Abnormal Expression of Auxiliary Stimulating Factor In the immune response, immune cell activation needs both the recognition by the immune active cells of the antigen peptide complex on the surface of the antigen presenting cells, and the interactions of auxiliary stimulating factors between the two cells. If the expression of the auxiliary stimulating factor on the surface of the antigen presenting cell is abnormal, this may activate the immune response of T cell and cause autoimmune diseases. In addition, the imbalance of the functions of Th1 and Th2 cells are also related to the initiation of autoimmune diseases. Third, Abnormal Expression of Fas/FasL The abnormal expression of Fas/FasL is related to the genesis of autoimmune diseases. Fas belongs to the family of TNFR/NGFR (or CD95). It is present on the surface of a variety of cells including lymphocytes. Its ligand, FasL (Fas ligand), is usually expressed on the cellular membrane of the activated T cells such as CTL and NK cells. It can also be secreted into the extracellular space. Both free and membrane-bound FasL, when bind to membrane Fas, induce cell apoptosis.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to a method for preparation of purified autoimmune antigen positive serum. The method comprises steps of: using autoimmune antigen to immunize healthy animals, obtaining antiserum after blood sampling, and purifying the antiserum for obtaining positive serum, the step of purifying the antiserum for obtaining positive serum are as follows: affining and purifying the antiserum for obtaining IgG antibody; coupling the IgG antibody and human IgG Fc or human IgM Fc or human IgA Fc at a ratio of 1:1\u02dc2; separating and purifying the coupled solution for obtaining IgG-IgG Fc conjugates concentrated solution or IgG-IgM Fc conjugates concentrated solution or IgG-IgA Fc conjugates concentrated solution; and diluting the IgG-IgG Fc conjugates concentrated solution or the IgG-IgM Fc conjugates concentrated solution or the IgG-IgA Fc conjugates concentrated solution to a concentration of 0.5\u02dc1 \u03bcg/ml for obtaining the positive serum."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for preparation of purified autoimmune antigen positive serum, the method comprising the steps of immunizing a healthy animal with an autoimmune antigen, obtaining antiserum after blood sampling from the immunized animal, purifying the antiserum and obtaining positive serum, wherein the steps of purifying the antiserum and obtaining the positive serum are as follows:\nPurifying IgG antibody from the antiserum obtained after the blood sampling by an affinity chromatography;\nPreparing human IgG Fc, human IgM Fc or human IgA Fc fraction by digesting human IgG, human IgM or human IgA by papain followed by purification of human IgG Fc fraction, human IgM Fc fraction, or human IgA Fc fraction by protein A affinity chromatograph, and activating the purified Fc fraction by 4-(N-maleic imide methyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid succinimide ester;\ncoupling the purified IgG antibody with the activated human IgG Fc or the activated human IgM Fc or the activated human IgA Fc at a ratio of 1:1\u02dc2 to form a first coupled solution comprising IgG-IgG Fc conjugates or a second coupled solution comprising IgG-IgM Fc conjugates or a third coupled solution comprising IgG-IgA Fc conjugates respectively;\nseparating and purifying the IgG-IgG Fc conjugates as a concentrated solution from the first coupled solution or the IgG-IgM Fc conjugates as a concentrated solution from the second coupled solution or the IgG-IgA Fc conjugates as a concentrated solution from the third coupled solution; and\ndiluting the IgG-IgG Fc conjugates concentrated solution or the IgG-IgM Fc conjugates concentrated solution or the IgG-IgA Fc conjugates concentrated solution to a concentration of 0.5\u02dc1 ug/ml which forms the positive serum.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the antiserum is purified by agarose affinity media, or immune affinity chromatography column.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, wherein the agarose affinity media is Protein-A sepharose CL-4B.\n\n4. The method of claim 2, wherein the immune affinity chromatography is prepared by coupling the autoimmune antigen to sepharose gel.\n\n5. The method of claim 2, wherein the antiserum is purified by the immune affinity chromatography column after it is disposed by Ammonium sulfate.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein the human IgG Fc or the human IgM Fc or the human IgA Fc is prepared by the following steps:\nfirstly, dissolving the human IgG or the human IgM or the human IgA into a papain buffer;\nsecondly, adding the enzyme papain to the papain buffer to digest the human IgG or the human IgM or the human IgA and carrying out digestion reaction;\nthirdly, after the digestion reaction, adding iodoacetamide to terminate the digestion reaction, and\nfinally, after the termination step, extracting the human IgG Fc or the human IgM Fc or the human IgA Fc with the protein A affinity chromatography.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein the IgG antibody and the human IgG Fc or the human IgM Fc or the human IgA Fc is activated by 4-(N-maleic imide methyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid succinimide ester, and coupled at pH 7.2-7.4.\n\n8. The method of claim 7, wherein the concentration of 4-(N-maleic imide methyl) cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid succinimide ester coupling agent is 4\u02dc6 mg/ml.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first coupled solution or the second coupled solution or the third coupled solution is separated and purified using Sephadex 200 Gel purification column.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, wherein the IgG-IgG Fc conjugates concentrated solution or the IgG-IgM Fc conjugates concentrated solution or the IgG-IgA Fc conjugates concentrated solution is diluted using a dilution buffer containing BSA 0.4\u02dc0.6%, Tris buffer 0.09\u02dc0.11 mol/L, and PH 7.5\u02dc8.5.\n\n11. The method of claim 4, wherein the antiserum is purified by the immune affinity chromatography column after it is disposed by Ammonium sulfate."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Thermally Compensated Valve Trim Component\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nProcess control systems typically include various components for controlling various process parameters. For example, a fluid process control system may include a plurality of control valves for controlling flow rate, temperature, and/or pressure of a fluid flowing through the system. The end product is dependent on the accuracy of the control of these parameters, which is, in turn, dependent on the geometry and characteristics of the control valves. Control valves are, for example, specifically designed and selected to provide for particular flow capacities and pressure changes. When these characteristics are compromised, the quality of the end product may be affected. A control valve typically includes components such as a valve body, a valve trim assembly (e.g., a flow control member, a valve stem, a valve seat), and an actuator configured to operably position the flow control member within the valve body. In some cases, it may be desirable (e.g., for cost reasons) to manufacture some of these components, for example a valve trim component of the valve trim assembly, from two or more different materials. However, the valve trim component, by virtue of being made from different materials (which in turn have different thermal expansion coefficients), will have different portions having different thermal expansion coefficients, thereby producing differential expansion between the different portions of the valve trim component when the control valve is used at different temperatures (particularly at elevated temperatures). Such differential thermal expansion may undesirably compromise the characteristics of the control valve, thereby affecting the quality of the end product. Worse yet, differential thermal expansion may eventually cause the valve trim component to fail.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA thermally compensated valve trim component for a fluid flow control device is provided. The valve trim component includes a base and a sleeve coupled to the base. The base is formed of a first material having a first thermal expansion coefficient, while the sleeve is formed of a second material having a second thermal expansion coefficient different from the first thermal expansion coefficient. The valve trim component further includes a thermal compensating apparatus arranged within a gland defined between the base and the sleeve. The thermal compensating apparatus is formed of a third material having a third thermal expansion coefficient different from the first and second thermal expansion coefficients, such that the thermal compensating apparatus minimizes a resultant thermal expansion differential of the valve trim component."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A thermally compensated valve trim component of a valve trim assembly for a fluid flow control device, the valve trim component comprising:\na base comprising a body and a stud each formed of a first material having a first thermal expansion coefficient, the stud extending outwardly from the body;\na sleeve coupled to the base and formed of a second material having a second thermal expansion coefficient different from the first thermal expansion coefficient, the sleeve axially disposed between the body and an end of the stud such that the stud extends beyond the sleeve; and\na thermal compensating apparatus arranged within a gland defined between the base and the sleeve, the thermal compensating apparatus being formed of a third material having a third thermal expansion coefficient different from the first and second thermal expansion coefficients such that the thermal compensating apparatus minimizes a resultant thermal expansion differential of the valve trim component.\n\n2. The valve trim component of claim 1, further comprising a fastener secured to a portion of the base to couple the sleeve to the base.\n\n3. The valve trim component of claim 2, wherein the stud extends through an interior bore formed in the sleeve.\n\n4. The valve trim component of claim 3, wherein the thermal compensating apparatus surrounds a portion of the outwardly extending stud.\n\n5. The valve trim component of claim 3, wherein the stud has a threaded portion configured to threadingly engage a mating threaded portion of the fastener.\n\n6. The valve trim component of claim 1, wherein the sleeve is formed of Carbide.\n\n7. The valve trim component of claim 1, wherein the first material is a superalloy material.\n\n8. The valve trim component of claim 1, wherein the first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than the second thermal expansion coefficient, and wherein the third thermal expansion coefficient is greater than the second thermal expansion coefficient.\n\n9. The valve trim component of claim 8, wherein the third thermal expansion coefficient is greater than the first thermal expansion coefficient.\n\n10. A fluid flow control device, comprising:\na valve body defining an inlet, an outlet, and a fluid flow path extending between the inlet and the outlet; and\na valve trim assembly disposed within the valve body and comprising:\na valve seat disposed within the valve body and defining an orifice through which the fluid flow path passes;\na valve cage coupled to the valve seat within the valve body and defining an interior bore; and\na flow control member sized for insertion into the interior bore of the valve cage and movable along an axis between a closed position, in which the flow control member engages the valve seat, and an open position in which the flow control member is spaced from the valve seat, the flow control member comprising\na base formed of a first material having a first thermal expansion coefficient;\na sleeve coupled to the base and formed of a second material having a second thermal expansion coefficient different from the first thermal expansion coefficient;\na thermal compensating apparatus arranged within a gland defined between the base and the sleeve, the thermal compensating apparatus being formed of a third material having a third thermal expansion coefficient different from the first and second thermal expansion coefficients such that the thermal compensating apparatus minimizes a resultant thermal expansion differential of the flow control member; and\na fastener secured to a portion of the base to couple the sleeve to the base, the fastener defining a sealing surface arranged to sealingly engage the valve seat when the flow control member is in the closed position.\n\n11. The fluid flow control device of claim 10, wherein the base comprises an outwardly extending stud, the stud being disposed in an interior bore formed in the sleeve.\n\n12. The fluid flow control device of claim 11, wherein the thermal compensating apparatus surrounds a portion of the outwardly extending stud.\n\n13. The fluid flow control device of claim 11, wherein the stud has a threaded portion configured to threadingly engage a mating threaded portion of the fastener.\n\n14. The fluid flow control device of claim 10, wherein the sleeve is formed of Carbide.\n\n15. The fluid flow control device of claim 10, wherein the base is formed of a superalloy material.\n\n16. The fluid flow control device of claim 10, wherein the first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than the second thermal expansion coefficient, and wherein the third thermal expansion coefficient is greater than the second thermal expansion coefficient.\n\n17. The fluid flow control device of claim 10, wherein the base comprises a body and a stud extending outwardly from the body, and wherein the sleeve is axially disposed between the body and an end of the stud.\n\n18. A thermally compensated valve trim component of a valve trim assembly for a fluid flow control device, the valve trim component comprising:\na base comprising a body and a stud extending outwardly from the body, the base being formed of a first material having a first thermal expansion coefficient;\na sleeve coupled to the base and comprising a body and a circumferential wall extending upwardly from the body of the sleeve, the sleeve being formed of a second material having a second thermal expansion coefficient different from the first thermal expansion coefficient;\na thermal compensating apparatus arranged within a gland defined between the stud of the base and the circumferential wall of the sleeve, the thermal compensating apparatus being formed of a third material having a third thermal expansion coefficient different from the first and second thermal expansion coefficients such that the thermal compensating apparatus minimizes a resultant thermal expansion differential of the valve trim component; and\na fastener secured to a portion of the base to couple the sleeve to the base.\n\n19. The valve trim component of claim 18, wherein the sleeve is axially disposed between the body of the base and the fastener.\n\n20. The valve trim component of claim 18, wherein the stud of the base extends through the sleeve and has an end disposed in an aperture formed in the fastener."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Component With Dynamic Behavior\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a semiconductor component, in particular a transistor, such as a trench transistor, for example. A trench transistor has a gate electrode arranged in at least one trench of a semiconductor body and serving for controlling a conducting channel in a body zone arranged between a source zone doped complementarily to the body zone and a drift zone doped complementarily to the body zone. The drift zone is arranged between the source zone and a drain zone, wherein the doping and the dimensions of the drift zone crucially determine the dielectric strength of the component. In order to increase the dielectric strength a field electrode may be provided in the trench of the gate electrode, the field electrode being arranged adjacent to the drift zone and being at gate potential. When the component is turned off, the field electrode serves for compensation of part of the dopant charge present in the drift zone. In the known component, a plurality of trenches having gate electrode sections and field electrode sections arranged therein are present and arranged at a distance from the drain zone. In this case, a distance between the trench and the drain zone is intended to be approximately half as large as a mutual distance between two adjacent trenches. In \u201cdense trench\u201d transistors gate electrode sections and field electrode sections are spaced apart so closely that during static operation, when a reverse voltage is applied, a field strength maximum occurs at a lower end of the trenches in the drift zone, such that an avalanche breakdown occurs in this region when the dielectric strength limit is exceeded. Transistors of this type are also referred to as \u201cdense trench\u201d transistors. A further example of a trench transistor is described in DE 10 2004 052 678 B3. In components of this type, a distinction can be made between two breakdown regimes: the static breakdown explained above, in which only a current having a low current density flows after the breakdown and which is referred to hereinafter as breakdown with low current density; and a breakdown with high current density, in which a high current density is established rapidly in a drift zone section arranged between the trenches. In the case of such a breakdown with high current density, in dense trench transistors the field strength maximum may no longer occur at the lower end of the trenches, but rather at a pn junction between the body zone and the drift zone. This is unfavorable because the entire avalanche current flowing through the component is concentrated on the mesa region between two trenches in which the avalanche breakdown first commences. This can lead to local damage to the component, whereby the component becomes unusable. During an avalanche breakdown that occurs below the trenches in the drift zone, by contrast, the avalanche current is distributed between a plurality of mesa regions, which reduces the risk of destruction.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nOne embodiment provides a semiconductor component including a semiconductor body having a first side and a second side and a drift zone; a first semiconductor zone doped complementarily to the drift zone and adjacent to the drift zone in a direction of the first side; a second semiconductor zone of the same conduction type as the drift zone adjacent to the drift zone in a direction of the second side; at least two trenches arranged in the semiconductor body and extending into the semiconductor body and arranged at a distance from one another; and a field electrode arranged in the at least two trenches adjacent to the drift zone. The at least two trenches are arranged at a distance from the second semiconductor zone in the vertical direction, a distance between the trenches and the second semiconductor zone is greater than 1.5 times the mutual distance between the trenches, and a doping concentration of the drift zone in a section between the trenches and the second semiconductor zone differs by at most 35% from a minimum doping concentration in a section between the trenches."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor component comprising:\na semiconductor body;\na drift zone, a body zone, a source zone and a drain zone in the semiconductor body, wherein, in a vertical direction of the semiconductor body, the body zone is arranged between the source zone and the drift zone and the drift zone is arranged between the body zone and the drain zone;\na gate electrode dielectrically insulated from the body zone by a gate dielectric layer;\nat least two trenches extending from a first side of the semiconductor body in the vertical direction into the semiconductor body, wherein the at least two trenches are arranged at a distance from one another in a lateral direction of the semiconductor body;\na field electrode arranged adjacent to the drift zone in the at least two trenches, wherein the field electrode is connected to the source zone; and\na field dielectric layer dielectrically insulating the field electrode from the drift zone and being thicker than the gate dielectric layer,\nwherein the at least two trenches are arranged at a distance from the drain zone in the vertical direction;\nwherein the distance between the trenches and the drain zone in the vertical direction is greater than 1.5 times the distance between the at least two trenches in the lateral direction,\nwherein a doping concentration of a drift zone section arranged in the vertical direction between the at least two trenches and the drain zone differs by at most 35% from a minimum doping concentration of a drift zone section arranged in the lateral direction between the trenches.\n\n2. The semiconductor component of claim 1, wherein the doping concentration of the drift zone section arranged in the lateral direction between the trenches is between 5\u00b710 15 cm \u22123 and 1\u00b710 17 cm \u22123.\n\n3. The semiconductor component of claim 1,\nwherein the vertical direction is substantially perpendicular to the first side, and\nwherein the lateral direction is substantially parallel to the first side.\n\n4. The semiconductor component of claim 1,\nwherein a conduction type of the body zone is complementary to a conduction type of the source zone and the drift zone.\n\n5. The semiconductor component of claim 4,\nwherein a conduction type of the drain zone equals a conduction type of the drift zone.\n\n6. The semiconductor component of claim 4,\nwherein a conduction type of the drain zone is complementary to a conduction type of the drift zone.\n\n7. The semiconductor component of claim 1, wherein the doping concentration of the drift zone section arranged in the vertical direction between the trenches and the drain zone differs by at most 20% from the minimum doping concentration of the drift zone section arranged in the lateral direction between the trenches.\n\n8. The semiconductor component of claim 1, wherein the gate electrode and the field electrode are arranged in the at least two trenches.\n\n9. The semiconductor component of claim 1,\nwherein the drain zone is arranged between the drift zone and a semiconductor layer doped complementarily to the drain zone, and\nwherein the semiconductor component further comprises a connecting zone of the same conduction type as the drain zone, wherein the connecting zone extends from the first side to the drain zone.\n\n10. The semiconductor component of claim 1, wherein the dimensions and/or the doping concentration of the drift zone are chosen in such a way that when the component is turned off after the occurrence of a voltage breakdown, a depth over which an electric field extends in a direction of the second semiconductor zone proceeding from a semiconductor junction between the drift zone and the body zone is dependent on the current flowing through the component, wherein the depth in the case of a current corresponding to a rated current is 1.5 times as large as in the case of a current corresponding to at most a thousandth of the rated current.\n\n11. A method, comprising:\nforming a drift zone, a body, a source zone and a drain zone in the semiconductor body, such that, in a vertical direction of the semiconductor body, the body zone is arranged between the source zone and the drift zone and the drift zone is arranged between the body zone and the drain zone;\nforming a gate electrode dielectrically insulated from the body zone by a gate dielectric layer;\nforming at least two trenches extending from a first side of the semiconductor body in a vertical direction into the semiconductor body, wherein the at least two trenches are arranged at a distance from one another in a lateral direction of the semiconductor body;\nforming a field electrode in the at least two trenches adjacent to the drift zone, the field electrode connected to the source zone;\nforming a field dielectric layer dielectrically insulating the field electrode from the drift zone and being thicker than the gate dielectric layer;\nwherein forming the at least two trenches comprises forming the at least two trenches at a distance from the drain zone in the vertical direction such that a distance between the at least two trenches and the drain zone in the vertical direction is greater than 1.5 times a distance between the at least two trenches in the lateral direction; and\nwherein forming the drift zone comprises providing a doping concentration of a drift zone section arranged in the vertical direction between the trenches and the drain zone such that it differs by at most 35% from a minimum doping concentration of a drift zone section arranged in the lateral direction between the trenches.\n\n12. The method of claim 11, wherein the doping concentration of the drift zone section arranged in the lateral direction between the trenches is between 5\u00b710 15 cm \u22123 and 1\u00b710 17 cm \u22123.\n\n13. The method of claim 12,\nwherein forming the drain zone comprises forming the drain zone such that a conduction type of the drain zone is complementary to a conduction type of the drift zone.\n\n14. The method of claim 11,\nwherein the vertical direction is substantially perpendicular to the first side, and\nwherein the lateral direction is substantially parallel to the first side.\n\n15. The method of claim 11,\nwherein forming the drift zone, the body zone and the source zone comprises forming the drift zone, the body zone and the source zone such that a conduction type of the body zone is complementary to a conduction type of the source zone and the drift zone.\n\n16. The method of claim 15,\nwherein forming the drain zone comprises forming the drain zone such that a conduction type of the drain zone equals a conduction type of the drift zone.\n\n17. The method of claim 11, wherein forming the drift zone comprises providing the doping concentration of the drift zone section arranged in the vertical direction between the at least two trenches and the drain zone such that it differs by at most 20% from the minimum doping concentration of the drift zone section arranged in the lateral direction between the trenches.\n\n18. The method of claim 11, wherein a distance between the trenches and the second semiconductor zone and a doping concentration of the drift zone in the section between the trenches and the second semiconductor zone are coordinated with one another in such a way that an integral of the doping concentration of the drift zone in a vertical direction of the semiconductor body between the trenches and the second semiconductor zone is greater than or equal to 1.5 times the breakdown charge of the semiconductor material of the drift zone.\n\n19. The method of claim 18, wherein the integral of the dopant charge of the drift zone in the vertical direction is greater than or equal to 2 times the breakdown charge of the semiconductor material of the drift zone.\n\n20. The method of claim 19, wherein the integral of the dopant charge of the drift zone in the vertical direction is greater than or equal to 2.5 times the breakdown charge of the semiconductor material of the drift zone."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Interlock For Circuit Interrupting Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nCircuit-interrupting devices (i.e., switches) include load-breakers, such as vacuum interrupters, that are used to control the flow of electricity through the switch. For example, vacuum interrupters typically include a stationary contact, a moveable contact, and a mechanism for moving the movable contact. To open the electrical circuit defined by the switch, the movable contact is separated from the stationary contact.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA circuit-interrupting device includes a load-breaker operable between an open state and a closed state and a first interlock member operatively associated with the load-breaker. The first interlock member moves between a first position and a second position when the load-breaker moves between the closed state and the open state. The circuit-interrupting device further includes a disconnect switch that moves between an open state and a closed state. When the load-breaker is in the closed state, the first interlock member is in the first position and contacts the disconnect switch to prevent the disconnect switch from moving from the closed state to the open state."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A circuit-interrupting device comprising:\na load-breaker operable between a load-breaker open state and a load-breaker closed state;\na first interlock member operatively associated with the load-breaker, wherein the first interlock member moves between a first position and a second position when the load-breaker moves between the load-breaker closed state and the load-breaker open state; and\na disconnect switch that moves between a disconnect switch open state and a disconnect switch closed state,\nwherein when the load-breaker is in the load-breaker closed state, the first interlock member is in the first position relative to the disconnect switch to prevent the disconnect switch from moving from the disconnect switch closed state to the disconnect switch open state.\n\n2. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 1, further comprising a second interlock member coupled to the disconnect switch and configured such that when the first interlock member is in the first position, the first interlock member contacts the second interlock member to prevent the disconnect switch from moving from the disconnect switch closed state to the disconnect switch open state.\n\n3. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 1, wherein the disconnect switch is configured to rotate about a pivot point to move between the disconnect switch open state and the disconnect switch closed state.\n\n4. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 3, further comprising a second interlock member coupled to the disconnect switch and configured to rotate about the pivot point when the disconnect switch moves between the disconnect switch open state and the disconnect switch closed state.\n\n5. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 1, wherein the disconnect switch is movable by an operating mechanism and, when the first interlock member is in the first position, the first interlock member prevents the disconnect switch from moving from the disconnect switch closed state to the disconnect switch open state independent of the operating mechanism.\n\n6. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 1, wherein the disconnect switch is enclosed within the circuit-interrupting device and is visible from an exterior of the circuit-interrupting device when the disconnect switch is in the disconnect switch open state.\n\n7. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 1, wherein when the load-breaker is in the load-breaker open state and the disconnect switch is in the disconnect switch open state, the disconnect switch prevents the load-breaker from moving from the load-breaker open state to the load-breaker closed state.\n\n8. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 1, further comprising a second interlock member coupled to the disconnect switch and configured such that when the load-breaker is in the load-breaker open state and the disconnect switch is in the disconnect switch open state, the second interlock member is positioned to block the first interlock member and prevent the load-breaker from moving from the load-breaker open state to the load-breaker closed state.\n\n9. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 4, wherein when the load-breaker is in the load-breaker open state and the disconnect switch is in the disconnect switch open state, the disconnect switch is positioned to prevent the load-breaker from moving from the load-breaker open state to the load-breaker closed state.\n\n10. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 1, wherein when the first interlock member is in the second position the disconnect switch is movable from the disconnect switch closed state to the disconnect switch open state.\n\n11. An interlock system for a circuit-interrupting device, the circuit interrupting device including a load-breaker operable between a load-breaker open state and a load-breaker closed state and a disconnect switch in series with the load-breaker and having a blade movable between a blade open state and a blade closed state, the interlock system comprising:\na first interlock member operably associated with the load-breaker, the first interlock member having a first interlock state when the load-breaker is in the load-breaker closed state and a second interlock state when the load-breaker is in the load-breaker open state, wherein the first interlock member moves from the first interlock state to the second interlock state when the load-breaker moves to the load-breaker open state,\nwherein, when the first interlock member is in the first interlock state, the first interlock member is positioned to prevent the disconnect switch blade from moving from the blade closed state to the blade open state.\n\n12. The interlock system of claim 11, wherein when the first interlock member is in the second interlock state, the disconnect switch blade is only then movable from the blade closed state to the blade open state.\n\n13. The interlock system of claim 11, wherein a portion of the disconnect switch comprises a second interlock member coupled to the disconnect switch blade for movement with the blade.\n\n14. The interlock system of claim 11, wherein when the load-breaker is in the load-breaker open state and the disconnect switch blade is in the blade open state, the disconnect switch prevents the load-breaker from moving from the load-breaker open state to the load-breaker closed state.\n\n15. A circuit-interrupting device comprising:\na load-breaker including a first contact and a second contact, wherein the second contact is movable relative to the first contact between a load-breaker closed state and a load-breaker open state;\na first operating mechanism for moving the second contact between the load-breaker closed state and the load-breaker open state;\na first actuating assembly for controlling movement of the first operating mechanism;\na disconnect switch having a blade pivotable between a disconnect switch closed state and a disconnect switch open state;\na second operating mechanism for moving the disconnect switch blade between the disconnect switch closed state and the disconnect switch open state;\na second actuating assembly for controlling movement of the second operating mechanism; and\na first interlock member coupled to the load-breaker for concurrent travel therewith to prevent, independently of the second actuating assembly, the disconnect switch blade from pivoting from the disconnect switch closed state to the disconnect switch open state when the second contact is in the load-breaker closed state.\n\n16. The circuit interrupting device of claim 15, wherein when the second contact is in the load-breaker open state, the disconnect switch blade is pivotable from the disconnect switch closed state to the disconnect switch open state.\n\n17. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 15, wherein when the second contact is in the load-breaker closed state, the first interlock member contacts a portion of the disconnect switch to prevent the disconnect switch blade from pivoting from the disconnect switch closed state to the disconnect switch open state.\n\n18. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 17, wherein the portion of the disconnect switch comprises a second interlock member coupled to the disconnect switch blade for pivoting with the blade.\n\n19. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 15, wherein when the second contact is in the load-breaker open state and the disconnect switch blade is in the disconnect switch open state, the disconnect switch prevents the second contact from moving from the load-breaker open state to the load-breaker closed state.\n\n20. The circuit-interrupting device of claim 19, wherein the disconnect switch prevents the second contact from moving from the load-breaker open state to the load-breaker closed state independently of the first actuating assembly."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Producing Light Emitting Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a light emitting device. 2. Description of Related Art In Patent Literature 1: JP 2003-133262A, for example, discloses a method for producing a semiconductor package comprising a step of forming dividing grooves on one surface of a ceramic wiring board, a step of mounting semiconductor elements on the other surface of the wiring board, a step of sealing the semiconductor elements with an epoxy sealing resin, a step of forming dividing recesses on the sealing resin surface at the positions corresponding to the dividing grooves of the wiring board, and a step of dividing an integrated body of the wiring board and sealing resin at the dividing grooves and dividing recesses. However, a silicone-based resin, for example, which has recently been widely used as a sealing resin for a light emitting diode (hereinafter abbreviated as \u201cLED\u201d), has a high rubber elasticity, unlike a hard epoxy-based resin, and is difficult to cut using a rotary blade or the like, so that a simultaneous cutting of both the resin and the hard ceramic wiring board may be complicated.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for producing a light emitting device includes providing a light emitting device array including a collective substrate, a plurality of light emitting elements, a covering member covering a region surrounding the plurality of light emitting elements, in which the plurality of light emitting elements and the covering member are arranged on an upper surface of the collective substrate, the collective substrate including a ceramic base member, and the covering member containing a silicone-based resin as a base material; making a cut into the covering member such that the cut has a depth such that an uncut portion remains in the covering member in a direction of the depth' and push-splitting the collective substrate, and splitting the uncut portion of the covering member after the making the cut into the covering member."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for producing a light emitting device, the method comprising:\nproviding a light emitting device array including a collective substrate, a plurality of light emitting elements, and a covering member covering a region surrounding the plurality of light emitting elements, the plurality of light emitting elements and the covering member being arranged on an upper surface of the collective substrate, the collective substrate including a ceramic base member, and the covering member containing a silicone resin as a base material,\nmaking a cut into the covering member such that the cut has a depth such that an uncut portion remains in the covering member in a direction of the depth, and\nafter making the cut into the covering member, pushing a push-splitting blade into the cut in the covering member from a covering member side of the light emitting device array, so as to split the uncut portion of the covering member and push-split the collective substrate.\n\n2. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the splitting of the uncut portion of the covering member is performed simultaneously with the push-splitting the collective substrate.\n\n3. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the splitting of the uncut portion of the covering member is performed by pulling apart the covering member after the push-splitting of the collective substrate.\n\n4. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the uncut portion of the covering member in the making the cut into the covering member is 50 \u03bcm or less.\n\n5. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein scribe lines are formed on a lower surface of the collective substrate prior to the step of push-splitting the collective substrate, the step of making the cut is performed along the scribe lines, and the collective substrate is push-split along the scribe lines in the step of push-splitting the collective substrate.\n\n6. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein ultrasonic waves are applied to the push-splitting blade in the step of push-splitting the collective substrate.\n\n7. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the step of making the cut is performed using a non-rotating blade.\n\n8. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 7, wherein ultrasonic waves are applied to the non-rotating blade.\n\n9. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 7, wherein the covering member contains a white pigment and/or a fluorescent material.\n\n10. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 9, wherein the covering member includes a lower layer containing the white pigment, and an upper layer containing the fluorescent material.\n\n11. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 2, wherein a thickness of the uncut portion of the covering member in the step of making the cut into the covering member is 50 \u03bcm or less.\n\n12. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 11, wherein the scribe lines are formed on the lower surface of the collective substrate prior to the step of push-splitting the collective substrate, the step of making the cut is performed along the scribe lines, and the collective substrate is push-split along the scribe lines in the step of push-splitting the collective substrate.\n\n13. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 12, wherein ultrasonic waves are applied to the push-splitting blade in the step of push-splitting the collective substrate.\n\n14. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 13, wherein the step of making the cut is performed using a non-rotating blade.\n\n15. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 14, wherein ultrasonic waves are applied to the non-rotating blade.\n\n16. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 3, wherein a thickness of the uncut portion of the covering member in the step of making the cut into the covering member is 50 \u03bcm or less.\n\n17. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 16, wherein scribe lines are formed on the lower surface of the collective substrate prior to the step of push-splitting the collective substrate, the step of making the cut is performed along the scribe lines, and the collective substrate is push-split along the scribe lines in the step of push-splitting the collective substrate.\n\n18. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 17, wherein ultrasonic waves are applied to the push-splitting blade in the step of push-splitting the collective substrate.\n\n19. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 18, wherein the step of making the cut is performed using a non-rotating blade.\n\n20. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 19, wherein ultrasonic waves are applied to the non-rotating blade.\n\n21. The method for producing a light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the cut in the covering member is made using a cutting blade."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Damping Force Generation Device For Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a damping force generation device for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a damping force generation device including a shock absorber. 2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle such as an automobile travels, static electricity is generated in the vehicle due to the flow of air in a state in which the air is brought into friction contact with the vehicle. Static electricity is also generated when each portion of a tire is repeatedly brought into contact with a road surface and separated therefrom along with the rotation of a wheel, when components in an engine, a brake device, or the like move relatively under a contact state, and the like. The vehicle is substantially electrically insulated from the ground due to a tire having low conductivity, and hence electric charge (in general, positive electric charge) is charged to a vehicle body or the like when static electricity is generated in the vehicle. Radio noise is liable to be generated when the electric charge is charged to the vehicle body or the like. Therefore, a structure for reducing electric charge that is charged to a vehicle through the passage of an electric current has been investigated hitherto, and various structures have been proposed. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-181694, there is disclosed an electrostatic eliminator having such a configuration that charged silicon is filled into a case in which ceramic bodies are arranged densely in a radial fashion, and one of conductive wires connected to both sides of the case is connected to a minus terminal of a battery and the other conductive wire is connected to a vehicle body. In this type of the electrostatic eliminator, static electricity of the vehicle body is neutralized by grounding, and thus the electric charge that is charged to the vehicle body can be reduced. The related-art electrostatic eliminator as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-181694 has a complicated structure, and hence the electrostatic eliminator is required to be connected to the minus terminal of the battery and the vehicle body through the conductive wires, with the result that an installation space for the electrostatic eliminator is also required. Incidentally, the vehicle includes damping force generation devices configured to damp vibrations of the vehicle body. Each of the damping force generation devices includes a shock absorber having a cylinder and a piston fitted to the cylinder in a reciprocally movable manner. The shock absorber is coupled to a sprung member and an unsprung member of the vehicle at a rod part of the piston and the cylinder, respectively, and generates the damping force due to a flow resistance when oil passes through orifices formed in the piston along with relative displacement between the sprung member and the unsprung member. Experimental research conducted by the inventors of the present invention has revealed that an adverse effect on the vehicle exerted by electric charge that is charged to the vehicle is not limited to the increase in the risk of generation of radio noise. In other words, when the electric charge is charged to the vehicle, the electric charge is also charged to the oil in the shock absorbers. As a result, the viscosity of the oil is increased so that damping forces are liable to become excessive. The related-art electrostatic eliminator as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-181694 is restricted in terms of an installation location, and cannot thus be installed at a location for effectively reducing the electric charge that is charged to the oil in the shock absorbers. Therefore, the excessive damping force resulting from the increase in the viscosity of the oil caused by the charging of the electric charge cannot be effectively prevented by the related-art electrostatic eliminator.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA damping force generation device for a vehicle includes a shock absorber including a cylinder and a piston. The shock absorber is coupled to a vehicle body, a wheel carrier, and the like at a rod part of the piston and the cylinder, respectively, and is configured to generate a damping force due to a flow resistance when oil passes through an orifice formed in the piston. Each of self-discharge type charge eliminators is fixed to a surface of a specific member being at least one of a component of the shock absorber or an auxiliary member connected to the component. The charge eliminator reduces positive electric charge that is charged to the specific member, to thereby reduce a charge amount of the oil."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A damping force generation device for a vehicle, comprising:\na shock absorber comprising:\na cylinder; and\na piston fitted into the cylinder in a reciprocally movable manner to form two cylinder chambers in cooperation with the cylinder,\nthe shock absorber being coupleable to one of a sprung member and an unsprung member of the vehicle at a rod part of the piston, and to another one of the sprung member and the unsprung member at the cylinder,\nthe shock absorber being configured to generate a damping force due to a flow resistance when a working liquid passes through an orifice formed in a main body part of the piston to move between the two cylinder chambers along with relative displacement between the sprung member and the unsprung member; and\na self-discharge type charge eliminator provided on a surface of a specific member comprising at least one of a member constructing the shock absorber or an auxiliary member connected to the shock absorber,\nthe self-discharge type charge eliminator comprising an air-ion conversion self-discharge type charge eliminator configured to reduce a charge amount of positive electric charge, which is charged to the specific member, through diselectrification carried out by changing air around the air-ion conversion self-discharge type charge eliminator into negative air ions depending on the charge amount of the specific member, and by causing the negative air ions to be attracted to the positive electric charge of the specific member to neutralize the positive electric charge, to thereby reduce a charge amount of the working liquid.\n\n2. A damping force generation device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe specific member is a dust boot made of a resin as the auxiliary member connected to the rod part;\nthe self-discharge type charge eliminator is provided on a surface of the dust boot; and\nthe rod part and the dust boot are connected to each other so that the positive electric charge is movable from the rod part to the dust boot.\n\n3. A damping force generation device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe shock absorber is a twin-tube shock absorber comprising:\nan inner cylinder to which the piston is fitted; and\nan outer cylinder surrounding the inner cylinder;\nthe specific member is the outer cylinder; and\nthe self-discharge type charge eliminator is provided on a surface of the outer cylinder below a liquid level of the working liquid between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder when the vehicle is in a standard load state.\n\n4. A damping force generation device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe shock absorber is a twin-tube shock absorber comprising:\nan inner cylinder to which the piston is fitted;\nan outer cylinder surrounding the inner cylinder to form a reservoir chamber between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder;\na base valve assembly; and\nan end cap closing end portions of the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder to define a base valve chamber communicating with the reservoir chamber in cooperation with the base valve assembly;\nthe specific member is at least one of the outer cylinder or the end cap; and\nthe positive electric charge is movable from the inner cylinder to the specific member.\n\n5. A damping force generation device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe shock absorber is a mono-tube shock absorber;\nthe specific member is the cylinder; and\nthe self-discharge type charge eliminator is provided on a surface of the cylinder so that at least a part of the self-discharge type charge eliminator is positioned within a predetermined range corresponding to a range in a direction of the relative displacement, in which the main body part of the piston exists when the vehicle is in a standard load state.\n\n6. A damping force generation device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe shock absorber is a variable damping force shock absorber comprising:\na bypass passage for bypassing the main body part of the piston to connect the two cylinder chambers to each other;\na variable orifice formed in the bypass passage; and\nan effective passage cross sectional area changing device configured to change an effective passage cross sectional area of the variable orifice,\nthe variable damping force shock absorber being configured such that, when the piston is displaced with respect to the cylinder, at least a part of the working liquid in one of the two cylinder chambers moves to another one of the two cylinder chambers through the bypass passage;\nthe specific member is the effective passage cross sectional area changing device; and\nthe positive electric charge is movable from the working liquid passing through the bypass passage to the effective passage cross sectional area changing device.\n\n7. A damping force generation device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe self-discharge type charge eliminator comprises:\na conductive metal foil having a large number of minute protrusions and recesses formed on a side surface on an outer periphery of the conductive metal foil; and\na layer of an adhesive applied to one surface of the conductive metal foil; and\nthe self-discharge type charge eliminator is fixed to the specific member by bonding with the layer of the adhesive."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Apparatus For Compensating For Temperature And Method Therefor\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Disclosure The present disclosure relates generally to a temperature compensation apparatus and method and, more particularly, to a temperature compensation apparatus and method for supplying a bias to a power detector. 2. Description of the Related Art A Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) transceiver is widely used in modern wireless communication. The transceiver generally comprises a receiver (RX) path and a transmitter (TX) path. The RX path can down-convert a reception signal into a baseband signal, and the TX path modulates a signal and up-convert a baseband signal into a high frequency band signal (e.g. an RF signal). In the transceiver, the power detector detects transmission power from an output of the TX, and a modem controls a TX switch based on the information of the power detector, in order to optimize power consumption of a mobile terminal or improve the linearity of a Power Amplifier (PA). The power detector requires robustness against temperature variation for accurately detecting power. The performance of the power detector changes as temperature changes, but can be compensated for by a design of a suitable bias circuit, such as a Proportional To an Absolute Temperature (PTAT) circuit or a Band Gap Reference (BGR) circuit. The BGR circuit supplies a constant current (hereinafter, \u201cBGR current\u201d), which is constant regardless of a change in manufacturing processes or neighboring temperature, and the PTAT circuit supplies a current (hereinafter, \u201cPTAT current\u201d), which is linearly proportional to an absolute temperature. The PTAT circuit provides a bias current to a power amplifier together with the BGR circuit. The BGR circuit and the PTAT circuit offset temperature dependency, and compensate for an output voltage of a transconductance-dependent block through temperature variation. The output voltage of the power detector should be compensated for temperature variation to provide a modem with accurate transmission output power information regardless of the temperature variation. The PTAT circuit can compensate for a change of an analog circuit within the power detector by providing a compensated bias current. The conventional bias circuit only uses the BGR and PTAT circuits, and has approximately 15% of fixed and limited slope rate regarding temperature variation. FIG. 1 illustrates a PTAT current value according to temperature variation, according to the related art. In the graph of FIG. 1 , the x-axis indicates temperature, and the y-axis indicates a PTAT current value. Referring to FIG. 1 , when temperature changes from \u221230 degrees Celsius to 90 degrees Celsius, FIG. 1 illustrates that the PTAT current changes approximately from 10 [\u03bcA] to 14 [\u03bcA]. A slope of a PTAT current is approximately 15%, and indicates a rate of change in current according to temperature. However, the power detector may require a slope in which a rate of change in current according to temperature is greater than or equal to 45% for compensating for a change in gain and providing performance of the power detector which is insensitive to temperature. The performance of the power detector requires optimization throughout other operation bandwidths through a slope control ability of the current PTAT circuit. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for additional bias circuits to better control current, and a current slope for increasing compensation for performance degradation of the power detector due to temperature.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDisclosed are a temperature compensation apparatus and method. The apparatus includes a reference signal generator that supplies at least one of a first current which is constant regardless of temperature variation and a second current which is proportional to temperature variation, a slope amplifier that determines a first output current having a second temperature coefficient which is a multiple of a first temperature coefficient of the second current, based on the first current and the second current, and a slope controller that determines a second output current having a third temperature coefficient, using a weighted average of the first current and the second current."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An apparatus for compensating for a temperature, the apparatus comprising:\na reference signal generator configured to supply a first current which is constant regardless of a temperature variation and a second current which is proportional to temperature variation;\na slope amplifier configured to determine a first output current based on a difference between a multiple of the first current and a multiple of the second current;\na slope controller comprising at least one transistor, the slope controller configured to determine a second output current using a weighted average of the first current and the second current, wherein a weight value for the weighted average being related to a characteristic of the at least one transistor; and\na bias distributor configured to supply a bias current to at least one other apparatus using at least one of the first output current and the second output current,\nwherein a first temperature coefficient of the bias current is greater than a second temperature coefficient of the second current, and\nwherein the first temperature coefficient and the second temperature coefficient is a rate of a temperature change with respect to the temperature variation.\n\n2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slope amplifier comprises at least one temperature coefficient double (TCDBL) configured to generate the first output current to be equal to (n\u00d7the second current)\u2212((n\u22121)\u00d7the first current), where n is a number.\n\n3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the slope amplifier further comprises a current mirror configured to copy the first output current.\n\n4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slope controller is further configured to increase the first current by a parameter \u03b1, which denotes the weight value, and increase the second current by 1\u2212\u03b1, and adds the first current to the second current.\n\n5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slope controller comprises:\na first current mirror configured to mirror the first current which has been increased by a parameter \u03b1, which denotes the weight value:\na second current mirror configured to mirror the second current which has been increased by 1\u2212\u03b1; and\na third current mirror configured to mirror a current obtained by adding the first current which has been increased by \u03b1 to the second current which has been increased by 1\u2212\u03b1.\n\n6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bias distributor comprises:\na first input unit configured to mirror a first input current; and\na first output unit configured to mirror the first output current and generate at least one third output current.\n\n7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bias distributer comprises:\na second input unit configured to mirror a second input current; and\na second output unit configured to mirror the second output current and generate at least one fourth output current.\n\n8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reference signal generator comprises:\na band gap reference (BGR) configured to generate the first current; and\na proportional to an absolute temperature (PTAT) circuit configured to generate the second current.\n\n9. A method for compensating for a temperature in a device, the method comprising:\nsupplying a first current which is constant regardless of a temperature variation and a second current which is proportional to the temperature variation;\ndetermining a first output current based on a difference between a multiple of the first current and a multiple of the second current;\ndetermining a second output current using a weighted average of the first current and the second current, wherein a weight value for the weighted average being related to a characteristic of at least one transistor of the device; and\nsupplying a bias current to at least one other device using at least one of the first output current and the second output current,\nwherein a first temperature coefficient of the bias current is greater than a second temperature coefficient of the second current, and\nwherein the first temperature coefficient and the second temperature coefficient is a rate of a temperature change with respect to the temperature variation.\n\n10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the first output current comprises:\ngenerating the first output current to be equal to (n\u00d7the second current)\u2212((n\u22121)\u00d7the first current), where n is a number.\n\n11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the second output current comprises:\nincreasing the first current by a parameter \u03b1, which denotes the weight value; and\nincreasing the second current by 1\u2212\u03b1, and adding the first current to the second current.\n\n12. The method of claim 9, wherein supplying the bias current comprises:\nmirroring the first output current; and\ngenerating at least one third output current.\n\n13. The method of claim 9, wherein supplying the bias current comprises:\nmirroring the second output current; and\ngenerating at least one fourth output current.\n\n14. A method by a temperature compensation apparatus, the method comprising:\ngenerating a first current which is constant regardless of a temperature variation and a second current which is proportional to the temperature variation;\ndetermining a first output current based on a difference between a multiple of the first current and a multiple of the second current;\ndetermining a second output current using a weighted average of the first current and the second current, wherein a weight value for the weighted average is related to a characteristic of at least one transistor of the temperature compensation apparatus; and\nsupplying a bias current to at least one other apparatus using at least one of the first output current and the second output current,\nwherein a first temperature coefficient of the bias current is greater than a second temperature coefficient of the second current, and\nwherein the first temperature coefficient and the second temperature coefficient is a rate of a temperature change with respect to the temperature variation.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first output current is equal to ((2\u00d7the second current)\u2212the first current).\n\n16. The method of claim 14, wherein the weighted average is determined by a sum of the first current multiplied by the weight value and the second reference signal multiplied by one minus the weight value.\n\n17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:\nsupplying the bias current to the at least one other apparatus by distributing the first output current or the second output current to the at least one other apparatus, or by distributing a third output current obtained by multiplying the first output current and the second output current by parameters, to the at least one other apparatus.\n\n18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bias current is provided to the at least one other apparatus so that an output voltage of the at least one other apparatus is maintained regardless of the temperature variation.\n\n19. The method of claim 9, wherein the bias current is provided to the at least one other device so that an output voltage of the at least one other device is maintained regardless of the temperature variation.\n\n20. The method of claim 14, wherein the bias current is provided to the at least one other apparatus so that an output voltage of the at least one other apparatus is maintained regardless of the temperature variation."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Optimizing Operation Of Constrained User Equipment\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAs designs for wireless mobile devices (e.g., user equipment (UE)) evolve, there is a trend toward smaller devices and more streamlined housings. Some examples of these smaller devices or more streamlined designs include wearable devices such as watches that are worn on the wrist or glasses that are worn in the manner of traditional eyewear. Another example is pendants that may be attached to a strap and hung around a user's neck or wrist. A final example is a clip-on that may be clipped onto an article of clothing such as pockets or clipped onto an accessory such as a bag or purse. These smaller and streamlined designs generally result in less available space for components of the wireless mobile devices. For example, the batteries of such devices need to be smaller and therefore have a correspondingly smaller capacity. In another example, the designs generally require that all antennas be internal antennas so as not to change the form of the mobile device. This may result in shorter antennas because of the lack of availability of space within the housing of the mobile device. These constraints on the design of the wireless devices may result in a loss of performance for certain wireless functionalities. However, users expect these devices to operate and have similar performance characteristics as the standard wireless mobile devices to which the users are accustomed. Thus, if these smaller mobile devices have a loss of performance, the user experience will be degraded and users are less likely to adopt these new types of devices.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA base station and associated method transmits a page to a user equipment (UE) for a call establishment procedure, determines whether an acknowledgement is received in response to the page and when no acknowledgement has been received, determines a number of pages that have been transmitted to the UE for the call establishment procedure, transmits a further page to the UE for the call establishment procedure when the number of pages is less than a page threshold and performs a page failure procedure when the number of pages exceeds the page threshold. In another method the base station transmits a radio resource control (RRC) connection release message to the UE, maintains a context for the UE when an acknowledgement for the RRC connection release message is not received, transmits a first page and transmits a second page when a further acknowledgement for the first page is not received."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method, comprising:\nat a network component of a network configured to establish a connection with a user equipment:\ntransmitting a page to the user equipment for a call establishment procedure;\ndetermining whether an acknowledgement is received from the user equipment in response to the page; and\nwhen the acknowledgement has been received from the user equipment in response to the page,\nperforming the call establishment procedure;\ndetermining whether the call establishment procedure failed;\ndetermining a number of times the call establishment procedure has failed when it is determined the call establishment procedure has failed; and\nfurther performing the call establishment procedure without determining a page failure when the number of times is less than a call establishment threshold.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ntransmitting another page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure when the number of times exceeds the call establishment threshold.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ndetermining whether a timer for the call establishment procedure has expired; and\ntransmitting another page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure when the timer for the call establishment procedure has expired.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ncompleting the call establishment procedure to initiate a voice call with the user equipment,\ndetermining that the voice call has failed; and\ntransmitting another page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure.\n\n5. A base station, comprising:\na transceiver;\na non-transitory memory having a program stored thereon; and\na processor executing the program, wherein the execution of the program causes the processor to perform operations comprising:\ntransmitting a page to the user equipment for a call establishment procedure;\ndetermining whether an acknowledgement is received from the user equipment in response to the page; and\nwhen the acknowledgement has been received from the user equipment in response to the page,\nperforming the call establishment procedure;\ndetermining whether the call establishment procedure failed;\ndetermining a number of times the call establishment procedure has failed when it is determined the call establishment procedure has failed; and\nfurther performing the call establishment procedure without determining a page failure when the number of times is less than a call establishment threshold.\n\n6. The base station of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:\ntransmitting another page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure when the number of times exceeds the call establishment threshold.\n\n7. The base station of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:\ndetermining whether a timer for the call establishment procedure has expired; and\ntransmitting another page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure when the timer for the call establishment procedure has expired.\n\n8. The base station of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:\ncompleting the call establishment procedure to initiate a voice call with the user equipment;\ndetermining that the voice call has failed; and\ntransmitting another page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure.\n\n9. A method, comprising:\nat a network component of a network configured to establish a connection with a user equipment:\ntransmitting a radio resource control (RRC) connection release message to the user equipment;\nmaintaining a context for the user equipment when an acknowledgement for the RRC connection release message is not received;\ntransmitting a first page; and\ntransmitting a second page when a further acknowledgement for the first page is not received.\n\n10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first page includes a paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier (P-RNTI) as if the user equipment is in an RRC idle mode.\n\n11. The method of claim 9, wherein the second page includes a cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) as if the user equipment is in an RRC connected mode.\n\n12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:\ndetermining whether an acknowledgement is received in response to the second page; and\ndetermining whether a number of first and second page transmissions exceeds a threshold attempt value when the acknowledgment to the second page is not received.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:\nwhen the number of first and second page transmissions does not exceeds the threshold attempt value;\nmaintain the context for the user equipment.\n\n14. A base station, comprising:\na transceiver;\na non-transitory memory having a program stored thereon; and\na processor executing the program, wherein the execution of the program causes the processor to perform operations comprising:\ntransmitting a radio resource control (RRC) connection release message to a user equipment;\nmaintaining a context for the user equipment when an acknowledgement for the RRC connection release message is not received;\ntransmitting a first page; and\ntransmitting a second page when a further acknowledgement for the first page is not received.\n\n15. The base station of claim 14, wherein the first page includes a paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier (P-RNTI) as if the user equipment is in an RRC idle mode.\n\n16. The base station of claim 14, wherein the second page includes a cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) as if the user equipment is in an RRC connected mode.\n\n17. The base station of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:\ndetermining whether an acknowledgement is received in response to the second page; and\ndetermining whether a number of first and second page transmissions exceeds a threshold attempt value when the acknowledgment to the second page is not received.\n\n18. The base station of claim 17, wherein the operations further comprise:\nwhen the number of first and second page transmissions does not exceeds the threshold attempt value;\nmaintain the context for the user equipment.\n\n19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nwhen no acknowledgement has been received in response to the page,\ndetermining a number of pages that have been transmitted to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure;\ntransmitting a further page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure when the number of pages is less than a page threshold; and\nperforming a page failure procedure when the number of pages exceeds the page threshold.\n\n20. The base station of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise:\nwhen no acknowledgement has been received in response to the page,\ndetermining a number of pages that have been transmitted to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure;\ntransmitting a further page to the user equipment for the call establishment procedure when the number of pages is less than a page threshold; and\nperforming a page failure procedure when the number of pages exceeds the page threshold."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn recent years, a stacked type semiconductor memory device has been proposed in which memory cells are integrated three-dimensionally. In such a stacked type semiconductor memory device, a stacked body in which electrode films and insulating films are stacked alternately is provided on a semiconductor substrate; and semiconductor pillars that pierce the stacked body are provided. Then, memory cells are formed at each intersection between the electrode films and the semiconductor pillars. Also, a drive circuit for driving the memory cells also is provided on the same semiconductor substrate.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor substrate, a first portion and a second portion of an upper layer portion of the semiconductor substrate being conductive; an insulating member electrically isolating the first portion from the second portion; a first stacked body provided in a region directly above the second portion, the first stacked body including first insulating films and electrode films stacked alternately; a semiconductor pillar provided inside the first stacked body and extending in a stacking direction; a charge storage film provided between the semiconductor pillar and the electrode films; a second stacked body provided in a region directly above the first portion, the second stacked body including second insulating films and third insulating films stacked alternately; and two first conductive pillars provided inside the second stacked body extending in the stacking direction, lower ends thereof being connected to the first portion."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor device, comprising:\na semiconductor substrate, a first portion and a second portion of an upper layer portion of the semiconductor substrate being conductive;\nan insulating member provided on the semiconductor substrate, the insulating member electrically isolating the first portion from the second portion;\na first stacked body provided in a region directly above the second portion of the semiconductor substrate, the first stacked body including a plurality of first insulating films and a plurality of electrode films, each of the first insulating films and each of the electrode films being stacked alternately;\na semiconductor pillar provided inside the first stacked body, the semiconductor pillar extending in a stacking direction of the first insulating films and the electrode films;\na charge storage film provided between the semiconductor pillar and the electrode films;\na second stacked body provided in a region directly above the first portion of the semiconductor substrate, the second stacked body including a plurality of second insulating films and a plurality of third insulating films, each of the second insulating films and each of the third insulating films being stacked alternately;\ntwo first conductive pillars provided inside the second stacked body, the two first conductive pillars extending in the stacking direction, lower ends of the two first conductive pillars being connected to the first portion;\ntwo second conductive pillars provided inside the second stacked body, the two second conductive pillars extending in the stacking direction; and\nan interconnect provided on the second stacked body and connected between one of the two first conductive pillars and one of the two second conductive pillars,\nthe insulating member electrically isolating a third portion of the upper layer portion of the semiconductor substrate from the first portion and the second portion, the third portion being conductive,\nlower ends of the two second conductive pillars being connected to the third portion.\n\n2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the first conductive pillar is larger than a diameter of the semiconductor pillar.\n\n3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first conductive pillars include silicon.\n\n4. The semiconductor device according to claim 3, wherein the first conductive pillars include at least one type of element selected from the group consisting of arsenic, phosphorus, boron, and gallium.\n\n5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising a semiconductor plug provided on the semiconductor pillar,\nthe charge storage film being disposed around the semiconductor plug,\na composition of the semiconductor plug being the same as a composition of the first conductive pillars.\n\n6. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a composition of the second insulating films is the same as a composition of the first insulating films.\n\n7. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the second insulating film is equal to a thickness of the first insulating film.\n\n8. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the third insulating film is equal to a thickness of the electrode film.\n\n9. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising a fourth insulating film provided around the first conductive pillar, at least a portion of a film configuration of the fourth insulating film being the same as a film configuration of the charge storage film.\n\n10. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising a core member provided inside the semiconductor pillar, the core member being insulative,\na configuration of the semiconductor pillar being a circular tube covering a side surface and a lower surface of the core member, a lower end of the circular tube being sealed,\nconfigurations of the first conductive pillars being circular columns.\n\n11. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the second insulating film includes silicon oxide, and the third insulating film includes silicon nitride.\n\n12. A semiconductor device, comprising:\na semiconductor substrate, a first portion and a second portion of an upper layer portion of the semiconductor substrate being conductive;\nan insulating member provided on the semiconductor substrate, the insulating member electrically isolating the first portion from the second portion;\na stacked body provided in a region directly above the second portion of the semiconductor substrate, the stacked body including a plurality of first insulating films and a plurality of electrode films, each of the first insulating films and each of the electrode films being stacked alternately;\na semiconductor pillar provided inside the stacked body, the semiconductor pillar extending in a stacking direction of the first insulating films and the electrode films;\na charge storage film provided between the semiconductor pillar and the electrode films;\na second insulating film provided in a region directly above the first portion of the semiconductor substrate;\ntwo first conductive pillars provided inside the second insulating film, the two first conductive pillars extending in the stacking direction, lower ends of the two first conductive pillars being connected to the first portion;\ntwo second conductive pillars provided inside the second insulating films, the two second conductive pillars extending in the stacking direction; and\nan interconnect provided on the second insulating films, the interconnect being connected between one of the two first conductive pillars and one of the two second conductive pillars,\nthe insulating member electrically isolating a third portion of the upper layer portion of the semiconductor substrate from the first portion and the second portion, the third portion being conductive,\nlower ends of the two second conductive pillars being connected to the third portion.\n\n13. The semiconductor device according to claim 12, wherein a distance between the semiconductor substrate and an upper surface of the second insulating film is equal to a distance between the semiconductor substrate and an upper surface of the stacked body.\n\n14. The semiconductor device according to claim 12, wherein a diameter of the first conductive pillar is larger than a diameter of the semiconductor pillar.\n\n15. The semiconductor device according to claim 12, wherein the first conductive pillars include silicon.\n\n16. The semiconductor device according to claim 12, further comprising a semiconductor plug provided on the semiconductor pillar,\nthe charge storage film being disposed around the semiconductor plug,\na composition of the semiconductor plug being the same as a composition of the first conductive pillars.\n\n17. The semiconductor device according to claim 12, further comprising a third insulating film provided around the first conductive pillar, at least a portion of a film configuration of the third insulating film being the same as a film configuration of the charge storage film.\n\n18. The semiconductor device according to claim 12, further comprising an insulating pillar provided inside the first conductive pillar, the insulating pillar extending in the stacking direction,\nthe first conductive pillar covering a side surface and a lower surface of the insulating pillar."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Charging Ram Assembly, And Pin Assembly And Securing Method Therefor\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nField The disclosed concept relates to charging ram assemblies for electrical switching apparatus, such as, for example, circuit breakers. The disclosed concept also relates to pin assemblies for charging ram assemblies. The disclosed concept further relates to methods of securing pin members within charging ram assemblies. Background Information Electrical switching apparatus, such as circuit breakers, provide protection for electrical systems from electrical fault conditions such as, for example, current overloads, short circuits, abnormal voltage and other fault conditions. Typically, circuit breakers include an operating mechanism, which opens electrical contacts to interrupt the flow of current through the conductors of an electrical system in response to such fault conditions as detected, for example, by a trip unit. The electrical contacts include stationary electrical contacts and corresponding movable electrical contacts that are separable from the stationary electrical contacts. Among other components, the operating mechanisms of some low and medium voltage circuit breakers, for example, typically include charging ram assemblies that are used to store potential energy and release the potential energy to close the electrical contacts. The charging ram assemblies of many known circuit breakers commonly include a ram member, a guide pin, and a nut. During assembly, the nut is torqued onto an end of the guide pin and then riveted to hold the nut in place. In order to use the riveting process, the hardness of the guide pin must be undesirably limited. Because of the reduced hardness to accommodate the riveting process, mechanical endurance testing has shown that the rivet fails earlier than desired. More specifically, the force of the ram member causes the threads of the relatively soft guide pin to break or deform, causing the nut to slide with respect to the guide pin and the entire assembly to elongate. As a result, the ram member over-travels beyond its desired finish location and causes rigid components in the circuit breaker to be undesirably impacted. There is thus room for improvement in charging ram assemblies, and in pin assemblies and securing methods therefor.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA pin assembly is for a charging ram assembly of an electrical switching apparatus. The charging ram assembly has a biasing element, a ram member structured to bias the biasing element, and a plate member. The pin assembly includes a pin member structured to extend through the biasing element and the plate member, the pin member having an end portion; a first collar member and a second collar member coupled to the end portion; and a securing apparatus including a retaining member coupled to the first collar member and the second collar member in order to prevent the pin member from moving with respect to the first collar member and the second collar member."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A pin assembly for a charging ram assembly of an electrical switching apparatus, said charging ram assembly comprising a biasing element, a ram member structured to bias said biasing element, and a plate member, said pin assembly comprising:\na pin member structured to extend through said biasing element and said plate member, said pin member having a first end portion and a second end portion disposed opposite and distal from said first end portion;\na plurality of collar members comprising a first collar member and a second collar member, said first collar member and said second collar member being coupled to said first end portion; and\na securing apparatus comprising a retaining member coupled to said first collar member and said second collar member in order to prevent said pin member from moving with respect to said first collar member and said second collar member,\nwherein said first end portion has an annular-shaped grooved region; wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member is disposed in said grooved region; wherein said securing apparatus further comprises a washer; wherein said grooved region has a first region and a second region extending from the first region; wherein the first region and the second region each have a diameter; wherein the diameter of the second region is greater than the diameter of the first region; wherein said washer is concentric with the second region; wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member is concentric with the first region; wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member comprises a first disc-shaped portion, a second disc-shaped portion disposed opposite the first portion, and a third disc-shaped portion extending between the first portion and the second portion; wherein the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion each have a width; and wherein the width of the third portion is greater than the width of the first portion and the width of the second portion.\n\n2. The pin assembly of claim 1 wherein said retaining member engages the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion.\n\n3. The pin assembly of claim 1 wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member is semi annular-shaped.\n\n4. The pin assembly of claim 3 wherein said first collar member is concave facing said second collar member; and wherein said second collar member is concave facing said first collar member.\n\n5. The pin assembly of claim 1 wherein the first region comprises a first disc-shaped-surface, a second disc-shaped surface disposed opposite said first surface, and a third cylindrical-shaped surface extending between and being perpendicular to the first surface and the second surface; wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member is flush with the third surface; and wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member is structured to engage the first surface in order to prevent said pin member from moving with respect to said first collar member and said second collar member.\n\n6. The pin assembly of claim 1 wherein said plurality of collar members further comprises a third collar member and a fourth collar member each coupled to said second end portion; and wherein said securing apparatus further comprises a second retaining member coupled to said third collar member and said fourth collar member in order to prevent said pin member from moving with respect to said third collar member and said fourth collar member.\n\n7. The pin assembly of claim 1 wherein said first collar member does not engage said second collar member.\n\n8. The pin assembly of claim 1 wherein said first collar member, said second collar member, and said retaining member are not threadably connected to said pin member.\n\n9. The pin assembly of claim 1 wherein said pin member has a Rockwell Hardness greater than RC 45.\n\n10. A charging ram assembly for an electrical switching apparatus, said charging ram assembly comprising:\na biasing element;\na ram member structured to bias said biasing element;\na plate member; and\na pin assembly comprising:\na pin member extending through said biasing element and said plate member, said pin member having a first end portion and a second end portion disposed opposite and distal from said first end portion,\na plurality of collar members comprising a first collar member and a second collar member, said first collar member and said second collar member being coupled to said first end portion, and\na securing apparatus comprising a retaining member coupled to said first collar member and said second collar member in order to prevent said pin member from moving with respect to said first collar member and said second collar member,\nwherein said first end portion has an annular-shaped grooved region; wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member is disposed in said grooved region; wherein said securing apparatus further comprises a washer; wherein said grooved region has a first region and a second region extending from the first region; wherein the first region and the second region each have a diameter; wherein the diameter of the second region is greater than the diameter of the first region; wherein said washer is concentric with the second region; wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member is concentric with the first region; wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member comprises a first disc-shaped portion, a second disc-shaped portion disposed opposite the first portion, and a third disc-shaped portion extending between the first portion and the second portion; wherein the first portion the second portion, and the third portion each have a width; and wherein the width of the third portion is greater than the width of the first portion and the width of the second portion.\n\n11. The charging ram assembly of claim 10 wherein said plate member comprises a first surface and a second surface parallel to the first surface; wherein the first surface and the second surface face away from one another; wherein the first surface faces said biasing element and said ram member; and wherein the second surface faces each of said first collar member, said second collar member, and said retaining member.\n\n12. A method of securing a pin member within a charging ram assembly of an electrical switching apparatus, said charging ram assembly comprising a biasing element, a ram member structured to bias said biasing element, and a plate member, the method comprising the steps of:\nproviding a pin assembly comprising said pin member, a first collar member, a second collar member, and a retaining member, said pin member having a first end portion and a second end portion disposed opposite and distal from said first end portion;\nextending said pin member through said biasing element and said plate member;\ndisposing said first collar member and said second collar member on said first end portion; and\ncoupling said retaining member to said first collar member and said second collar member in order to prevent said pin member from moving with respect to said first collar member and said second collar member, wherein each of said first collar member and said second collar member comprises a first disc-shaped portion, a second disc-shaped portion disposed opposite the first portion, and a third disc-shaped portion extending between the first portion and the second portion; wherein the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion each have a width; wherein the width of the third portion is greater than the width of the first portion and the width of the second portion; and wherein the coupling step further comprises:\nsubstantially enclosing each of said first collar member and said second collar member with said retaining member; and\nemploying a tool to move said retaining member from a first position to a second position, wherein in the first position said retaining member engages each respective first portion and each respective third portion, wherein in the first position said retaining member does not engage each respective second portion, and wherein, when said retaining member moves from the first position toward the second position, said retaining member moves radially inwardly toward the second portion."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Positioning Database Management Applied To Server-Based Positioning System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA modern wireless device can incorporate functions of a satellite positioning system receiver, a cellular transceiver, or a wireless transceiver. When a wireless device functions as a cellular transceiver and/or a wireless transceiver, the device can communicate wirelessly with a wireless communication network by employing radio frequency (RF) field propagation. The radio frequency, a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation, is supplied to an antenna that creates an electromagnetic field that propagates through space. A component of a wireless communication network can be a wireless station, for example, a cellular base station of a cellular network, or an access point of a wireless local area network (LAN) or a wireless personal area network (PAN). The wireless station can allow a wireless device to communicate with a wired network through an access gateway. Oftentimes, the wireless station broadcasts a beacon signal that provides key information for wireless connections with wireless devices.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nSystems and methods are provided for positioning determination for mobile devices. A system includes: a database configured to store positioning data associated with one or more base stations in a network, and a data management component configured to compare the parameters with one or more parameter thresholds, and update the positioning data based at least in part on the comparison of the parameters and the parameter thresholds. The updated positioning data is used for positioning determination of a mobile device."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for managing positioning data within a database, the method comprising:\nstoring positioning data in a database, wherein the positioning data associates, for each location of multiple geographic locations to which a wireless station provides wireless service, a signal strength of a signal received from the wireless station at the respective location;\ndesignating geographic reference points at respective geographic positions; and\niteratively refining the positions by repetitively\n(i) grouping the locations into clusters, one cluster for each reference point, based on distances between the locations and the reference points, such that each cluster is a cluster of the geographic locations that are grouped into the cluster based on their distances from the cluster's reference point, and\n(ii) calculating, for each cluster, a new geographic position of the reference point of the cluster based on the locations that are in the cluster;\nreceiving, from a wireless device, a signal strength value of a signal received by the wireless device from the wireless station;\nselecting one of the clusters based on the signal strength value received from the wireless device; and\ndetermining a location of the wireless device based on the selected cluster;\nwherein iteratively refining the positions includes:\ndetermining inter-reference-point distances between pairs of the reference points;\ndetermine, from among the inter-reference-point distances, a minimum distance and a maximum distance; and\ndetermining to remove one of the reference points based on a comparison between the minimum distance and the maximum distance.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the iterative refining includes (iii) determining, for each reference point, a distance the reference has been changed by the calculating; and (iv) comparing, for each reference point, the determined distance to a distance threshold.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, wherein operations (i)-(iv) are repeated until the compared distances are all less than the distance threshold.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating comprises calculating the new position of the reference point of the cluster as an average of the locations that are in the cluster.\n\n5. The method of claim 4, wherein the average is a weighted average.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the locations is identified in the database by coordinates that were determined by and wirelessly communicated by a wireless device that was at the location.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless service is of a cellular network, and the base station is a cellular base station of a cellular network.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless service is of a wireless local area network (LAN), and the base station is an access point of the wireless LAN.\n\n9. A positioning management system comprising:\na database configured to store positioning data, wherein the positioning data associates, for each location of multiple geographic locations to which a wireless station provides wireless service, a signal strength of a signal received by the wireless station from the respective location; and\none or more processors configured to\ndesignate geographic reference points at respective positions, and\niteratively refine the positions by repetitively (i) grouping the locations into clusters, one cluster for each reference point, based on distances between the locations and the reference points, such that each cluster is a cluster of the geographic locations that are grouped into the cluster based on their distances from the cluster's reference point, and (ii) calculating, for each cluster, a new position of the reference point of the cluster based on the locations that are in the cluster;\nreceive, from a wireless device, a signal strength value of a signal received by the wireless device from the wireless station;\nselect one of the clusters based on the signal strength value received from the wireless device; and\ndetermine a location of the wireless device based on the selected cluster;\nwherein iteratively refining the positions includes:\ndetermining inter-reference-point distances between pairs of the reference points;\ndetermine, from among the inter-reference-point distances, a minimum distance and a maximum distance; and\ndetermining to remove one of the reference points based on a comparison between the minimum distance and the maximum distance.\n\n10. The positioning management system of claim 9, wherein the iterative refining performed by the one or more processors further includes (iii) determining, for each reference point, a distance the reference has been changed by the calculating operation; and (iv) comparing, for each reference point, the determined distance to a distance threshold.\n\n11. The positioning management system of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to repeat operations (i)-(iv) until the compared distances are all less than the distance threshold.\n\n12. The positioning management system of claim 9, wherein the calculating comprises calculating the new position of the reference point of the cluster as an average of the locations that are in the cluster.\n\n13. The positioning management system of claim 12, wherein the average is a weighted average.\n\n14. The positioning management system of claim 9, wherein the database is configured to store each of the locations in terms of coordinates determined by, and wirelessly communicated by, a wireless device that was at the location.\n\n15. The positioning management system of claim 9, wherein the wireless service is of a cellular network, and the base station is a base station of the cellular network.\n\n16. The positioning management system of claim 9, wherein the wireless service is of a wireless local area network (LAN), and the base station is an access point of the wireless LAN."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Power Transmission Device For Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nPatent Literatures 1, 2 and 3 identified below disclose torque-distribution type power transmission devices in four-wheel drive vehicles. More specifically, Patent Literature 1 discloses that a clutch for connecting and disconnecting drive power transmission is provided between a center drive shaft for transmitting rotary motion of a drive source (engine) to rear wheels and a differential unit for the rear wheels, and that switching is made between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive through connection and disconnection, by the clutch, of the drive power transmission. Further, Patent Literatures 2 and 3 disclose that clutches are provided in corresponding relation to left and right wheels in a differential unit for the rear wheels, and that drive power is distributed to the left and right wheels through connection and disconnection, by the individual clutches, of the drive power transmission. If abnormality, such as galling or a spike (i.e., sharp rise) in clutch-pressing hydraulic pressure, has occurred in any of the clutches taking part in drive power distribution between the front and rear wheels in such a four-wheel drive vehicle, the front wheels and the rear wheels would be undesirably interconnected directly (namely, undesired drive force would be transmitted to both or either of the left and right wheels by the clutch being locked in an ON or engaged state), so that torque may undesirably increase sharply. In such a situation, cases and gears may get broken, and oil leakage, fire, etc. may occur. As a fail-safe function to obviate such risks, it has been conventional to provide a torque fuse (i.e., most torsionally-frangible portion or fracturing portion for emergency) in a suitable portion of a power transmission shaft. Namely, the most torsionally-frangible portion or fracturing portion for emergency in the form of a notch (recess) or the like is formed in the suitable portion of the power transmission shaft, so that, when torque exceeding a predetermined critical value has been applied to the power transmission shaft, the power transmission shaft is broken or fractured at the notch (recess) so as to free the rotation of the shaft. Such a portion (i.e., most torsionally-frangible portion or fracturing portion for emergency), formed in the power transmission shaft in such a manner that it has a reduced strength as a design approach and thus can be fractured when torque exceeding an acceptable range has been applied, is called a torque fuse. With the conventionally-known technique, however, the torque fuse is provided in a desired portion without appropriate consideration being made about the position where the torque fuse should be provided. Particularly, with the conventionally-known technique, such a torque fuse is not provided in a shaft portion that is to be connected with a rotation member (e.g., input-side rotation member) of the clutch; that is, it has been common to form the torque fuse in a shaft portion avoiding the connecting portion with the clutch. But, if the conventional torque-fuse-formed portion is disconnected or severed, the axis of the rotation member of the clutch would get misaligned, so that the clutch may irregularly whirling (move around violently) to prevent stable self-propelled rotation.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn a power transmission device for a vehicle, a boss portion of a clutch guide, which is an input-side rotation member of a clutch unit, includes: a spline portion spline-connected to a small-diameter portion at one end of a center shaft which is an input shaft; and a fitting portion that extends further from the spline portion in an axial direction to contact the outer circumference of a medium-diameter portion of the center shaft. A recess functioning as a torque fuse is formed in the medium-diameter portion of the center shaft corresponding to the fitting portion. When the center shaft is severed or disconnected at the recess, the medium-diameter portion of the severed cut center shaft can still remain within the fitting portion, so that appropriate centering can be secured and stable self-propulsion of the vehicle can be secured without unwanted misalignment of the axis of rotation of the clutch."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A power transmission apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:\nan input shaft to which is transmitted rotary motion from a drive source;\na clutch for transmitting rotary motion of the input shaft by disconnectably connecting drive power transmission; and\nan output shaft connected to the clutch,\ncharacterized in that the input shaft is spline-connected at one end thereof to an input-side rotation member of the clutch for rotating together with the input-side rotation member of the clutch,\nin that the input-side rotation member of the clutch includes a boss portion that includes a spline portion spline-connected to the one end of the input shaft, and a fitting portion extending further from the spline portion in an axial direction into contact with an outer periphery of the input shaft, and\nin that a portion of the input shaft that corresponds to the fitting portion has a recess formed therein for functioning as a torque fuse.\n\n2. The power transmission apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, which is a differential mechanism for distributing rotation of a drive shaft, to which is transmitted the rotary motion from the drive source, to left and right wheels, and\nwherein the differential mechanism includes: a driving bevel gear rotatable integrally with the drive shaft; a driven bevel gear meshing with the driving bevel gear; a center shaft extending in a direction intersecting the drive shaft and rotatable integrally with the driven bevel gear; left and right clutch units disposed to left and right of the center shaft; and left and right output shafts for transmitting outputs of the left and right clutch units to the left and right wheels, respectively,\nwherein the center shaft includes: a middle large-diameter portion; left and right medium-diameter portions located to left and right of the large-diameter portion; and left- and right-end small-diameter portions adjoining the left and right medium-diameter portions, the driven bevel gear being fixed to the large-diameter portion,\nwherein the input shaft is the center shaft, the clutch is the left or right clutch unit, and the output shaft is the left or right output shaft,\nwherein the boss portion of the input-side rotation member of the clutch is spline-connected to the small-diameter portion of the center shaft, and\nwherein the recess functioning as the torque fuse is formed in the medium-diameter portion of the center shaft.\n\n3. The power transmission apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recess functioning as the torque fuse is formed in correspondence with a portion of the fitting portion adjoining the spline portion.\n\n4. The power transmission apparatus for a vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the recess functioning as the torque fuse is formed in correspondence with a portion of the fitting portion adjoining the spline portion."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Transformable Logic And Routing Structures For Datapath Optimization\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThis relates to integrated circuits such as programmable integrated circuits. Programmable integrated circuits such as programmable logic devices (PLDs) are well known in the art. Programmable integrated circuits can be programmed by a user to implement a desired custom logic function. In a typical scenario, a logic designer uses computer-aided design (CAD) tools to design a custom logic circuit. When the design process is complete, the tools generate configuration data. The configuration data is loaded into programmable integrated circuit memory elements to configure the device to perform the functions of the custom logic circuit. In particular, the configuration data configures programmable interconnects, programmable routing circuits, and programmable logic circuits in the programmable integrated circuits. Conventional programmable integrated circuits perform routing with full un-biased connectivity, which assumes no relationship between the input signals. High level Hardware Description Language (HDL) such as OpenCL that can be used to program these integrated circuits can, however, be heavily datapath oriented. Conventional programmable integrated circuit do not take advantage of the regularity in datapath heavy designs. Designs having a high percentage of datapath logic are particularly inefficient when compared to a non-programmable implementation. On the other hand, designs with a low percentage of datapath logic exhibit wasted (unused) resources if the target architecture is designed so as to target the datapath regularity (e.g., arithmetic logic units connected with bus-based routing). It is within this context that the embodiments below arise.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIntegrated circuits such as programmable integrated circuits may include programmable logic regions that can be configured to perform custom user functions. The programmable logic regions may include lookup table (LUT) circuitry driven using vectored multiplexing circuits. The vectored multiplexing circuits may include a first multiplexer stage controlled by common configuration bits, a second multiplexer stage, and means for connecting either outputs of the first multiplexer stage or the output of the second multiplexer stage to corresponding logic circuits. The vectored multiplexing circuits may be used to generate multiple signal variants to vectored lookup table circuitry. The vectored lookup table circuitry may include a first stage of LUTs sharing some number of inputs and a second stage of LUTs at least some of which can be switched out of use. The second stage of LUTs may have inputs that are deactivated in a fractured mode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An integrated circuit, comprising:\nlogic circuitry; and\na vectored multiplexing circuit that receives signals from a channel and that includes:\na first output;\na second output;\na third output;\na first multiplexing stage; and\na second multiplexing stage that is coupled in series with the first multiplexing stage and that drives the third output, wherein the first and second multiplexing stages are configured to simultaneously route to the logic circuitry a first partition of the channel via the first output and a second partition of the channel that is different than the first partition via the second output, and wherein the first and second multiplexing stages are further configured to route third and fourth partitions of the channel to the logic circuitry.\n\n2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, further comprising:\nmemory elements that store configuration bits that are shared among each multiplexer in the first multiplexing stage.\n\n3. The integrated circuit of claim 1, further comprising:\nmemory elements that store configuration bits that separately control respective multiplexers in the first multiplexing stage.\n\n4. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the second multiplexing stage includes only one multiplexer.\n\n5. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the second multiplexing stage includes two multiplexers.\n\n6. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the second multiplexing stage includes four multiplexers.\n\n7. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the logic circuitry comprises lookup table circuitry that receives the first and second partitions of the channel from the vectored multiplexing circuit.\n\n8. An integrated circuit, comprising:\ndriver circuitry that generates an input signal of first and second variants; and\nvectored lookup table circuitry that includes:\na first lookup table (LUT) stage; and\na second lookup table (LUT) stage connected in series with the first LUT stage, wherein the first LUT stage receives the input signal of the first and second variants from the driver circuitry in parallel.\n\n9. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the driver circuitry comprises a vectored multiplexing circuit that receives signals from a channel and that outputs a first channel partition that represents the first variant of the input signal and a second channel partition that represents the second variant of the input signal.\n\n10. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the first LUT stage includes lookup tables each having a first number of inputs, and wherein the second LUT stage includes lookup tables each having a second number of inputs that is greater than the first number of inputs.\n\n11. The integrated circuit of claim 8, further comprising:\na plurality of memory elements that provides a first set of configuration data bits to the first LUT stage, wherein the first LUT stage provides a second set of configuration data bits to the second LUT stage.\n\n12. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein the second LUT stage comprises:\na first LUT circuit;\na second LUT circuit;\na first multiplexer that selectively passes a ground voltage to the first LUT circuit; and\na second multiplexer that selectively passes the ground voltage to the second LUT circuit.\n\n13. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein lookup table circuits in the first LUT stage share input signals.\n\n14. The integrated circuit of claim 8, wherein lookup table circuits in the second LUT stage share input signals.\n\n15. An integrated circuit, comprising:\na vectored multiplexer that receives signals from a channel and that simultaneously outputs a first channel partition and a second channel partition that is different than the first channel partition; and\nvectored lookup table circuitry that receives the first channel partition and the second channel partition from the vectored multiplexer and that is operable in a first mode that is a function of a first number of user inputs and a second mode that is a function of a second number of user inputs that is different than the first number of user inputs.\n\n16. The integrated circuit of claim 15, wherein the vectored multiplexer includes a first multiplexer stage and a second multiplexer stage coupled to an output of the first multiplexer stage.\n\n17. The integrated circuit of claim 16, wherein the second multiplexer stages includes at least two multiplexers.\n\n18. The integrated circuit of claim 15, wherein the vectored lookup table circuitry includes a first lookup table (LUT) stage and a second lookup table (LUT) stage coupled to an output of the first LUT stage.\n\n19. The integrated circuit of claim 18, wherein the second LUT stage includes lookup tables that are selectively switched out of use."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Controlling A Bluetooth Connection\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nSince a phone call while driving may distract the driver, in order to prevent this, a hands-free phone call has been widely used for enabling the driver to concentrate on driving without the use of hands. Early hands-free device is wired and mounted on a mobile phone holder, but in recent years, a product, in which Bluetooth technology is applied and thus the phone call is possible even while leaving the mobile phone in a bag or pocket, has gained popularity. Bluetooth is the technology according to a specification of the IEEE 802.15.1 short-range wireless communication technology, and it allows electronic devices such as a wireless terminal located within about 10 m, for example, a computer, a cell phone, a headset, a PDA, a printer, a mouse, a keyboard and the like to wirelessly communicate with each other in low cost and low power. General Bluetooth hands-free devices output an audio signal transmitted from a paired mobile phone or MP 3 player through a speaker provided in a vehicle, and transmit the user's voice signal inputted through a microphone provided in a vehicle to the mobile phone when a call function of the mobile phone is used. Conventional Bluetooth specification was defined so that a Bluetooth device connects when a request for the connection is received and disconnects when a request for releasing the connection. On the basis of this specification, most of the Bluetooth connectivity is maintained in the disconnected state when it is disconnected due to an error of one of devices and there is a problem which it is not reconnected. Also, in the process of applying Bluetooth technology to a vehicle, the problem of being disconnected and not being reconnected occurs frequently and this problem causes customer dissatisfaction.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for controlling a Bluetooth connection includes turning off an ignition of a vehicle. It is determined whether a terminal connected to a Bluetooth system provided in the vehicle exists or not. When it is determined that the connected terminal exists as a result of determining, a disconnection command for the Bluetooth connection is transmitted from the vehicle to the terminal. The Bluetooth system waits for a time predetermined by the Bluetooth system, after transmitting the disconnection command. After waiting for the predetermined time, it is determined whether a disconnection confirmation message responding to the disconnection command is received from the terminal or not. When it is determined that the disconnection message is received as a result of determining whether the disconnection message is received or not, the Bluetooth system is caused to enter into a sleep mode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for controlling a Bluetooth connection comprising, steps of:\nturning off an ignition of a vehicle;\ndetermining whether a terminal connected to a Bluetooth system provided in the vehicle exists or not after turning off the ignition of the vehicle;\nwhen it is determined that the connected terminal exists as a result of determining, transmitting a disconnection command for the Bluetooth connection from the vehicle to the terminal;\nwaiting for a time predetermined by the Bluetooth system, after transmitting the disconnection command;\nafter waiting for the predetermined time, determining whether a disconnection confirmation message responding to the disconnection command is received from the terminal or not; and\nwhen it is determined that the disconnection confirmation message is received as a result of determining whether the disconnection message is received or not, causing the Bluetooth system to enter into a sleep mode.\n\n2. A method for controlling a Bluetooth connection according to claim 1, further comprising the step of returning to the step of transmitting the disconnection message, when it is determined that the disconnection message is not received as a result of determining whether the disconnection message is received or not.\n\n3. A method for controlling a Bluetooth connection according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time is a time to shut down a controller area network (CAN) provided in the vehicle.\n\n4. A method for controlling a Bluetooth connection according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time is a time for the Bluetooth system to store information on the Bluetooth connection in a memory.\n\n5. A method for controlling a Bluetooth connection comprising, steps of:\nturning off an ignition of a vehicle;\ndetermining whether a terminal connected to a Bluetooth system provided in the vehicle exists or not;\nwhen it is determined that the connected terminal exists as a result of determining, transmitting a disconnection command for the Bluetooth connection from the vehicle to the terminal after turning off an ignition of a vehicle;\nwaiting for a time predetermined by the Bluetooth system, after transmitting the disconnection command;\nafter waiting for the predetermined time, determining whether a disconnection confirmation message responding to the disconnection command is received from the terminal or not; and\nwhen it is determined that the disconnection confirmation message is received as a result of determining whether the disconnection message is received or not, causing the Bluetooth system to enter into a sleep mode."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Image Sensor And Method For Manufacturing Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nConventionally, X-rays for medical or industrial applications have been typically taken using films and screens. In this case, the use of resources and time becomes inefficient due to problems related to the development and storage of the taken films. Hence, digital-type image sensors are currently widely used. Such image sensors are classified into indirect conversion-type image sensors and direct conversion-type image sensors. Indirect conversion-type image sensors function such that X-rays are converted into visible light using a scintillator, after which the visible light is converted into an electrical signal. By comparison, direct conversion-type image sensors function such that X-rays are directly converted into an electrical signal using a photoconductive layer. Direct conversion-type image sensors are suitable for use in high-resolution systems because there is no need for an additional scintillator and the spreading of light does not occur. The photoconductive layer used in the direct conversion-type image sensor is formed using a variety of materials. Recently, the photoconductive layer has been made from a semiconductor material having high atomic weight, such as CdTe, CdZnTe, PbO, PbI 2 , HgI 2 , GaAs, Se, TlBr, and BiI 3 . However, such a photoconductive layer exhibits poor adhesion to aluminum or copper (Cu), which may be used in a front electrode, undesirably causing the photoconductive layer to come loose.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDisclosed is an image sensor, which is characterized by increased strength of adhesion between a photoconductive layer and a front electrode made of aluminum, and which includes a first electrode composed of aluminum, copper or an aluminum-copper alloy on a substrate, a buffer layer formed on the first electrode, a photoconductive layer formed on the buffer layer, and a second electrode formed on the photoconductive layer, wherein the buffer layer includes a material having higher strength of adhesion than the photoconductive layer to the first electrode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An image sensor, comprising:\na protective layer formed on a substrate and having at least one hole;\na first electrode formed in the at least one hole of the protective layer and comprising aluminum, copper or an aluminum-copper alloy on a substrate;\na buffer layer formed on the protective layer and the first electrode;\na photoconductive layer formed on the buffer layer; and\na second electrode formed on the photoconductive layer,\nwherein the buffer layer comprises CdS or ZnTe and adheres the first electrode and the photoconductive layer.\n\n2. The image sensor of claim 1, wherein the photoconductive layer comprises CdTe, CdZnTe, PbO, PbI 2, HgI 2, GaAs, Se, TlBr or BiI 3.\n\n3. The image sensor of claim 1, wherein the buffer layer has a thickness of 1 to 5 \u03bcm.\n\n4. The image sensor of claim 1, wherein the buffer layer is formed on at least a portion of a plurality of pixel regions for the image sensor.\n\n5. The image sensor of claim 1, wherein the image sensor is an image sensor for detecting X-rays.\n\n6. A method of manufacturing an image sensor, comprising:\nforming a protectively layer having at least one hole on a substrate;\nforming a first electrode in the at least one hole of the protective layer and comprising aluminum, copper or an aluminum-copper alloy on a substrate;\nforming a buffer layer on the protective layer and the first electrode;\nforming a photoconductive layer on the buffer layer; and\nforming a second electrode on the photoconductive layer,\nwherein the buffer layer comprises-CdS or ZnTe and adheres the first electrode and the photoconductive layer.\n\n7. The method of claim 6, wherein the photoconductive layer comprises CdTe, CdZnTe, PbO, PbI 2, HgI 2, GaAs, Se, TlBr or BiI 3.\n\n8. The method of claim 6, wherein the buffer layer has a thickness of 1 to 5 \u03bcm.\n\n9. The method of claim 6, wherein the buffer layer is formed on at least a portion of a plurality of pixel regions for the image sensor.\n\n10. The method of claim 6, wherein the image sensor is an image sensor for detecting X-rays."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Cable Mounting Bracket Apparatus And System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nHistorically, equipment from communication and electrical installations including; coaxial cables, conduit, wires, and other components which vertically traverse elevated structures have been fastened directly to worker access structures including; ladders, ladder cages, and hand rails. These structures have provided an immediate solution for equipment fastening. However, this type of installation has historically presented unsafe working conditions for the workers by obstructing and encumbering movement and rescue throughout access areas. Additionally, these installations may cause maintenance and/or structural damage when installed on areas which lack initial design and structural capability. Aside from fastening communication devices onto the aforementioned areas, a traditionally more acceptable installation includes welding or banding of communication brackets and raceways along the length of vertical steel. Many of these installations, however, have historically been of high cost and are associated with additional safety, structural, and maintenance issues. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) current regulations stipulate against specific obstructive encumbrances upon or within worker or rescuer access areas. Other national U.S. and state agencies also provide regulatory and design stipulations further prohibiting obstructions into and within these areas. More specifically, traditional fastening of communication and electrical equipment onto areas such as ladders encumber the fluid motion of the workers' hands when grasping and transitioning along the side-rails. Fastening devices such as clamps and bolted connections commonly encumber foot placement on rungs and further create abrasion risks for the worker or rescuer. Many coaxial cables used in the telecommunication industry emit radio-frequency waves. When workers and rescuers are subjected to these close-proximity coaxial cable installations they face exposure to radio-frequency waves which are known to cause bodily harm. Elevated steel structures and associated access structures are commonly coated with expensive corrosion resistant high performance materials in order to limit corrosion through environmental exposure to the steel. Many of these materials need to be maintained according to industry standards derived from the Society for Protective Coatings, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, and the American Water Works Association. When scheduled for routine maintenance and renovation work, many of the aforementioned traditional fastening methods are difficult to temporarily move off of or away from the steel. In some cases coordination of a temporary removal of the communication equipment may allow for a non-obstructed steel structure during its time of maintenance. Many of these cables and antennae are temporarily re-erected onto a Cell-On-Wheels (C.O.W.) which is usually an expensive and logistically difficult scenario. Due to the cost of the telecommunication equipment and ownership, many steel structure maintenance providers are prohibited from removing or repositioning such equipment. It is common for this telecommunication equipment to remain fastened to the coated steel surface, presenting a surface preparation and coating obstruction. This, in turn, causes the obstructed steel areas to not receive the proper corrosion repair and application of coatings. Furthermore, many installations induce abrasion and corrosion to the steel structure through cyclic abrasive action between coatings and fastening connections and by increasing the moisture content below and adjacent to the fastening area. A traditional method of fastening communications equipment away from access areas includes weld-fastening coated steel stand-off brackets in series along the structural steel body. The cables can then be secured to these firmly welded \u201cstand-off\u201d brackets. Welding steel brackets onto the structure, especially an existing structure, is usually expensive, time intensive, requires specialized equipment and certification. In the case of weld-fasting onto a coated steel structures, the installation procedure must include abrasive removal of the coatings and steel in the areas of welding. This creates a breach in the homogenous corrosion resistance application to the steel which may cause accelerated corrosion if left improperly repair coated.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA bracket and a cable mounting system which includes a bracket with a center panel or channel and with magnetic pads located on the distal ends of the center panel or channel so that the bracket may be attached to a structure by magnetic attraction. The cable mounting system may also consist of two brackets set a distance apart and a support rail placed in between and coupled to the brackets."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A bracket for securing components to a surface of a structure with a radius of curvature, the bracket comprising;\na center connecting member with first and second ends;\nat least two separate leg elements detachably secured to and extending outwardly and downwardly from the first and second ends of the connecting member and terminating at a distal end wherein a curvature of the distal end of the at least two leg elements is matched to a radius of curvature of the structure to which the bracket is to be secured;\nat least one hole in the center connecting member for securing a component to the bracket; and\nat least one magnetic pad secured to each distal end of the at least two leg elements, wherein due to the curvature of the at least two leg elements a surficial contact of each magnetic pad with the surface of the structure is maximized and the bracket has an aspect ratio of at least 10%.\n\n2. The bracket of claim 1, wherein the at least two leg elements comprise a total of four legs.\n\n3. The bracket of claim 1, wherein the magnetic pads comprise a magnet with a contact surface fitted into a socket.\n\n4. The bracket of claim 1, wherein there is at least one hole in each of the at least two leg elements for securing components to the bracket.\n\n5. The bracket of claim 1, wherein the components mounted to the bracket and secured to the structure are conduits and cables.\n\n6. The bracket of claim 1, wherein the components are secured to the bracket using clamps.\n\n7. A bracket for securing components to a surface of a structure, the bracket comprising;\na center panel with first and second ends and a mid-line about which the center panel is symmetrically bent, the angle of the bend is in the range of from about 5 to 45degrees relative to a flat center panel and the center panel includes at least one through hole;\nat least one leg element extending outwardly from each of the first and second ends of the center panel;\na mounting member rotatably secured by a hinge to each of the at least one leg elements, wherein the mounting member is capable of a range of rotation about the at least one leg element of approximately 180 degrees; and\nat least one magnetic element detachably secured to the mounting member, wherein the magnetic element maintains contact with the surface of the structure.\n\n8. A bracket for securing components to a surface of a structure, the bracket comprising;\na channel member further comprising first and second longitudinally opposed ends, a floor and opposed side walls separated by the floor;\nat least one leg element outwardly extending from the channel member and detachably secured to the channel member floor and proximate to each of the first and second ends of the channel member, wherein an angle of departure of the at least one leg element extending outwardly from the channel member is determined by the surface of the structure; and\nat least one magnetic element detachably secured to each of the at least one leg elements, wherein the magnetic element maintains contact with the surface of the structure.\n\n9. The bracket of claim 8, wherein the channel member side walls further comprise upper wall edges opposite a union of the opposed side walls with the channel floor.\n\n10. The bracket of claim 8, wherein the upper wall edges are arcuately bent downward to facilitate engagement with clips for securing components to the bracket.\n\n11. The bracket of claim 8, wherein the components are conduits and cables.\n\n12. The bracket of claim 8, wherein the floor of the channel member has at least one through hole.\n\n13. The bracket of claim 8, wherein the at least one leg element proximate to each of the first and second ends of the channel member is capable of being bent at an angle to increase contact between the at least one magnetic element, secured to each of the at least one leg elements, and the surface of the structure.\n\n14. A system for securing at least one cable to a surface of a structure, the structure having a radius of curvature, the system comprising;\nfirst and second brackets separated by a distance, the first and second brackets comprising:\na center connecting member with first and second ends;\nat least two separate leg elements detachably secured to and extending outwardly and downwardly from the first and second ends of the center connecting member and terminating at a distal end wherein a curvature of the distal end of the at least two leg elements is matched to the radius of curvature of the structure;\nat least one hole in the center connecting member for securing a component to the bracket; and\nat least one hole in the distal end of each of the at least two leg elements for securing the bracket to the structure, wherein due to alignment of the curvature of the distal end of the at least two legs with the curvature of the structure a surficial contact of the distal end of the at least two legs with the structure is maximized;\nat least one support rail with first and second ends wherein the support rail is curved to arc away from the structure and is secured through sockets attached to and underneath the center connecting member of the bracket, the first end of the support rail secured to the first bracket and the second end of the support rail secured to the second bracket; and\na cable secured to the rail and the first and second brackets."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electro-Mechanical Brake For Increasing Braking Force\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electro-mechanical brake, and more particularly, to an electro-mechanical brake for increasing a braking force capable of achieving a stable driving by increasing the braking force. 2. Discussion of Related Art A brake for decreasing a speed is provided in a vehicle. In this case, a conventional brake is generally operated hydraulically. That is, the conventional brake amplifies a force depressing a pedal by hydraulic booster, converts this amplified force into a fluid-pressure, operates a piston by transferring the converted fluid-pressure to a cylinder, and pressurizes a disk rotating together with a wheel through a pad disposed in the front end of the piston. The conventional hydraulic brake has a function of decreasing a speed of a vehicle, but there is a problem that the manufacturing and management are inconvenient since it is constructed by a lot of components. Further, the conventional hydraulic brake has a problem that a braking distance becomes great since a braking response is relatively slow. For these reasons, an electro-mechanical brake has been proposed recently. Since the pressurization of the disk through the pad is performed by a driving of a motor, the electro-mechanical brake may have a simple structure and increase the braking response compared with the conventional hydraulic brake. However, since the conventional electro-mechanical brake pressurizes only an inner surface and an outer surface of the disk through an inner pad and an outer pad, there are problems in which a pressurization force is limited and the braking force and braking torque falls short of expectations In order to solve the problems, a method of increasing a capacity of a motor is being used, but in a large capacity of motor, there are problems such as limitations of installation and a burden of a cost since its size is great and its cost is expensive. In order to solve the problems, development of an electro-mechanical brake capable of increasing the braking force without increasing the capacity of the motor has been tried, but is in a situation in which a satisfactory result has not yet been obtained.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electro-mechanical brake for increasing a braking force is provided. The electro-mechanical brake for increasing the braking force according to an embodiment of the present invention may include the upper pad together with the inner pad and the outer pad, the inner pad may pressurize the inner side surface of the disk by the movement of the moving block by the rotation of the screw, the outer pad may pressurize the outer side surface of the disk, the upper pad may also pressurize the cylindrical surface of the upper end of the disk, and thus the braking force may be increased since the additional braking force can be further generated by pressurizing the cylindrical surface of the upper end of the disk compared with a case of pressurizing the inner side surface and the outer side surface of the disk."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electro-mechanical brake for increasing a braking force, comprising:\na disk rotating together with a wheel of a vehicle, and including a first side surface (inner side surface), a second side surface (outer side surface), and a circumference surface;\na carrier coupled to a vehicle frame, and configured to accommodate an upper end portion of the disk, and including a pair of parallel side plates, each of said parallel side plates being provided with a sliding guide formed in the side plates;\na column installed to be movable along with the sliding guide, and including a screw rotating according to a driving of a motor inside;\na caliper coupled with the carrier, and configured to move by a contact with the column;\na moving block to be screwed by the screw, and moving in front and rear directions on the screw according to a rotation of the screw;\nan inner pad configured to pressurize the inner side surface of the disk by moving to the inner side surface of the disk by the movement of the moving block;\nan outer pad configured to pressurize the outer side surface of the disk by moving to the outer side surface of the disk by the movement of the moving block; and\nan upper pad configured to pressurize the circumference surface of the disk by moving to the upper end of the disk by the movement of the moving block.\n\n2. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises a moving member which is movable in a horizontal direction on a bottom surface of a rear end.\n\n3. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 2, wherein the moving member is arranged in a rail formed in the bottom surface of the rear end of the carrier.\n\n4. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the caliper comprises a first groove portion in which inclined surfaces are formed on both sides on an upper surface of an inner side adjacent to the upper pad.\n\n5. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the column comprises a second groove portion in which inclined surfaces are formed on both sides on a front end adjacent to the inner pad.\n\n6. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the column comprises a contact member moving by the movement of the moving block in a rear end.\n\n7. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 6, wherein the contact member comprises a first arm extending to the moving block.\n\n8. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 6, wherein the contact member includes both inner side surfaces formed to be apart from both side surfaces of the moving member included in the carrier, respectively, and both outer side surfaces formed to be apart from both inner side surfaces of the column, respectively.\n\n9. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the inner pad is arranged in front of the column in a state to be apart from the inner side surface of the disk.\n\n10. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the inner pad comprises a first protruding part, on which an inclined surface to contact with an inclined portion of a second groove portion formed in the column, is formed on a rear end.\n\n11. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the inner pad comprises a second arm extending to the moving block.\n\n12. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 11, wherein the second arm is formed in multi-stage.\n\n13. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the outer pad is arranged in a front end of the carrier in a state to be apart from the outer side surface of the disk.\n\n14. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the upper pad is arranged in a state to be apart from the cylindrical surface of the upper end of the disk.\n\n15. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 1, wherein the upper pad comprises a second protruding part, on which an inclined surface to contact with an inclined surface of a first groove portion formed in the caliper, is formed on an upper end.\n\n16. The electro-mechanical brake of claim 15, wherein the second protruding part is coupled to the moving member included in the carrier through a connection bar."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Liquid Crystal Display Panel, Array Substrate And Manufacturing Method For The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display field, and more particularly to an array substrate, a manufacturing method for the same and a liquid crystal display panel having the array substrate. 2. Description of Related Art In a pixel structure of an array substrate as shown in FIG. 1 , a pixel electrode layer 11 requires to be electrically connected with a metal layer M of a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) through a contact hole (via) 13 formed in the passivation layer 12 . However, a thickness of the pixel electrode layer 11 is 40-60 nanometers and a thickness of the passivation layer 12 is 1.5-3 micrometers and an opening of the contact hole 13 is smaller such that the film- breaking probability of the pixel electrode layer 11 formed in the contact hole 13 is larger or a thickness of the pixel electrode layer 11 formed in the contact hole 13 is smaller. Therefore, a resistance value of the pixel electrode layer 11 at the contact hole portion 13 is higher so as to affect the display quality. In order to improve this problem, the conventional art provides a pixel structure as shown in FIG. 2 , a floating electrode layer 14 is added in the contact hole 13 , and the pixel electrode layer 11 is electrically connected to the TFT metal layer M through the bridging of the floating electrode layer 14 in order to decrease the resistance value and the film-breaking probability of the pixel electrode layer 11 at the contact hole 13 . However, in order to avoid a short circuit of the floating electrode layer 14 and a common electrode layer 15 , an edge distance between the common electrode layer 15 and the floating electrode layer 14 should be increased. Therefore, a size of the black matrix (BM) layer 16 is increased so as to decrease aperture ratio of the pixel.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides an array substrate, and adds a floating electrode layer in a contact hole for realizing an electrical connection between a metal layer of a TFT and a pixel electrode layer such that the pixel electrode layer is electrically connected to the metal layer through a bridging of the floating layer so as to decrease a resistance value and decrease the film-breaking probability of the pixel electrode layer in the contact hole. Besides, an edge of the floating electrode layer is located in the contact hole so as to reduce a size of a black matrix, increase a pixel aperture ratio. The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing the array substrate and a liquid crystal display panel having the array substrate."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An array substrate comprising:\na substrate;\na metal layer formed on the substrate;\na first passivation layer located on the metal layer, and the first passivation layer is provided with a first contact hole revealing a surface of the metal layer;\na floating electrode layer completely located in the first contact hole, and covering and directly contacted with a bottom surface of the first contact hole and one portion of side walls of the first contact hole connected with the bottom surface;\na common electrode layer disposed on the first passivation layer and located at a periphery of the first contact hole;\na second passivation layer located on the common electrode and the first passivation layer uncovered by the common electrode, and the second passivation layer is provided with a second contact hole which reveals a surface of the floating electrode layer; and\na pixel electrode layer located on the second passivation layer and inside the first contact hole and the second contact hole such that the pixel electrode layer is electrically connected to the metal layer through the first contact hole and the second contact hole;\nwherein the pixel electrode layer is directly contacted with the other portion of the side walls of the first contact hole connected with the bottom surface.\n\n2. The array substrate according to claim 1, wherein, the metal layer is one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of a thin film transistor of the array substrate.\n\n3. The array substrate according to claim 1, wherein, the floating electrode layer and the common electrode layer are formed through a same mask process.\n\n4. A liquid crystal display panel, comprising an array substrate and a color filter substrate disposed oppositely to and disposed separately with the array substrate, and the array substrate comprising:\na substrate;\na metal layer formed on the substrate;\na first passivation layer located on the metal layer, and the first passivation layer is provided with a first contact hole revealing a surface of the metal layer;\na floating electrode layer completely located in the first contact hole, and covering and directly contacted with a bottom surface of the first contact hole and one portion of side walls of the first contact hole connected with the bottom surface;\na common electrode layer disposed on the first passivation layer and located at a periphery of the first contact hole;\na second passivation layer located on the common electrode and the first passivation layer uncovered by the common electrode, and the second passivation layer is provided with a second contact hole which reveals a surface of the floating electrode layer; and\na pixel electrode layer located on the second passivation layer and inside the first contact hole and the second contact hole such that the pixel electrode layer is electrically connected to the metal layer through the first contact hole and the second contact hole;\nwherein the pixel electrode layer is directly contacted with the other portion of the side walls of the first contact hole connected with the bottom surface.\n\n5. The array substrate according to claim 4, wherein, the metal layer is one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of a thin film transistor of the array substrate.\n\n6. The array substrate according to claim 4, wherein, the floating electrode layer and the common electrode layer are formed through a same mask process.\n\n7. The array substrate according to claim 4, wherein, the color filter substrate includes a black matrix layer, and along a direction perpendicular to the array substrate, an edge of the black matrix layer is overlapped with an edge of the metal layer closed to the common electrode layer.\n\n8. A manufacturing method for an array substrate, comprising:\nforming a metal layer on a substrate;\nforming a first passivation layer on the metal layer, and forming a first contact hole which reveals a surface of the metal layer at the first passivation layer;\nforming a floating electrode layer in the first contact hole, and forming a common electrode layer on the first passivation layer, wherein, the floating electrode layer is completely located in the first contact hole, and covers and directly contacts with a bottom surface of the first contact hole and one portion of side walls of the first contact hole connected with the bottom surface, and the common electrode layer is located at a periphery of the first contact hole;\nforming a second passivation layer in the first contact hole, on the common electrode layer and on the first passivation layer which is uncovered by the common electrode, and forming a second contact hole on the second passivation layer which reveals a surface of the floating electrode; and\nforming a pixel electrode layer on the second passivation layer, in the first contact hole and the second contact hole such that the pixel electrode is electrically connected to the metal layer through the first contact hole and the second contact hole;\nwherein the pixel electrode layer is directly contacted with the other portion of the side walls of the first contact hole connected with the bottom surface.\n\n9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, the metal layer is one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of a thin film transistor of the array substrate.\n\n10. The method according to claim 8, wherein, the floating electrode layer and the common electrode layer are formed through a same mask process."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Memory Device Constructions, Memory Cell Forming Methods, And Semiconductor Construction Forming Methods\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nResistive random access memories may use a material capable of being configured in one of two different resistive states to store information. When configured in one of the resistive states, the material may have a high resistance to electrical current. In contrast, when configured in the other resistive state, the material may have a low resistance to electrical current. The resistive state in which the material is configured may be changed using electrical signals. For example, if the material is in a high-resistance state, the material may be configured to be in a low-resistance state by applying a voltage across the material. The resistive state may be persistent. For example, once configured in a resistive state, the material may stay in the resistive state even if neither a current nor a voltage is applied to the material. Furthermore, the configuration of the material may be repeatedly changed from the high-resistance state to the low-resistance state or from the low-resistance state to the high-resistance state.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nMemory device constructions include a first column line extending parallel to a second column line, the first column line being above the second column line; a row line above the second column line and extending perpendicular to the first column line and the second column line; memory material disposed to be selectively and reversibly configured in one of two or more different resistive states; a first diode configured to conduct a first current between the first column line and the row line via the memory material; and a second diode configured to conduct a second current between the second column line and the row line via the memory material. In some embodiments, the first diode is a Schottky diode having a semiconductor anode and a metal cathode and the second diode is a Schottky diode having a metal anode and a semiconductor cathode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of forming a memory device construction, comprising:\nforming a first horizontal column line;\nforming a stack of materials above the first column line, the stack of materials comprising a row line over a memory material, the stack of materials having a pair of opposing sidewalls;\nforming insulative spacers along the opposing sidewalls of the stack of materials;\nforming conductive spacers along the insulative spacers;\nforming a second horizontal column line parallel to the first horizontal column line; and\nforming a diode configured to conduct a current between the first column line and the row line through the memory material.\n\n2. The method of claim 1 wherein the diode is a first diode and the current is a first current, and further comprising forming a second diode configured to conduct a second current between the second column line and the row line through the memory material.\n\n3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first diode is a Schottky diode comprising a semiconductor anode and a metal cathode.\n\n4. The method of claim 3 wherein the semiconductor anode is elevationally above the memory material.\n\n5. The method of claim 3 wherein the metal cathode extends vertically, a first portion of the metal cathode being elevationally higher than the row line and a second portion of the metal cathode being elevationally lower than the row line.\n\n6. The method of claim 3 wherein the semiconductor anode is elevationally above the row line.\n\n7. The method of claim 2 wherein the second diode is a Schottky diode comprising a semiconductor cathode and a metal anode.\n\n8. The method of claim 7 wherein the memory material is in physical contact with the metal anode and is not in physical contact with the metal cathode.\n\n9. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the spacers comprises an inner insulative spacer and an outer conductive spacer.\n\n10. The method of claim 9 wherein the outer conductive spacer comprises a material selected from a metal material and a doped semiconductive material.\n\n11. The method of claim 1 wherein the second horizontal column line is elevationally above the first horizontal column line.\n\n12. A method of forming a memory cell, comprising:\nforming a first electrode and a second electrode;\nforming a binary memory material between the first and second electrodes, the binary memory material comprising a binary memory material selected from the group consisting of binary metal oxides, perovskite oxides, colossal magnetoresistives and polymers;\nforming a diode between the first and second electrodes,\nforming an electrically conductive material between the memory material and the diode, the diode being configured to conduct a first current from the second electrode to the first electrode through via the memory material and the electrically conductive material; and\nforming a third electrode, the memory cell being configured to conduct a second current from the third electrode to the second electrode via the electrically conductive material and the memory material.\n\n13. The method of claim 12 wherein the forming the memory material forms the memory material to be in physical contact with one of the first and second electrodes.\n\n14. The method of claim 12 wherein the forming the electrically conductive material forms the electrically conductive material in physical contact with the memory material.\n\n15. The method of claim 12 wherein the forming the diode forms the diode in physical contact with one of the first and second electrodes.\n\n16. The method of claim 12 wherein the electrically conductive material is in physical contact with the diode.\n\n17. The method of claim 12 wherein the memory material is formed in physical contact with a first planar surface of the first electrode and the diode is formed physically contacting a second planar surface of the second electrode, and wherein the first and second planar surfaces are orthogonal relative to one another."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Channel Steering For Implementing Coexistence Of Multiple Homogeneous Radios\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nWith the emerging technologies of wireless networks, embedded systems, and the Internet, there is an ever increasing demand for larger network bandwidth and higher network speed from all kinds of electronic devices employed in various settings, from computing and managing data to online shopping and social networking. This is particularly relevant with electronic and digital content having become extensively used in shared, networked environments as compared to traditional stand-alone personal computers and mobile devices. As a result, data traffic, and especially wireless data traffic, has experience an enormous growth. In the meantime, more and more wireless technologies used in these electronic devices occupy the same or similar radio frequency bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 5 GHz, or 60 GHz), which can create interference with one another, adversely affecting the network transmission as well as reception of the wireless network circuits onboard the electronic devices. Also, many of these electronic devices are mobile or portable devices which rely on limited power resources to operate, and typically transmitting or receiving data traffic in a noisy environment can have a negative impact on power consumption. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods and apparatuses that increase wireless network bandwidth, reduce wireless network interference, and reduce mobile device power consumption.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nTechniques are disclosed for controlling, in a network device, multiple radio circuits operating in a same or similar frequency band and in close physical proximity. In some embodiments, the radio circuits operate on the same network protocol. The network device can include a coexistence controller coupled to the network circuits. According to some embodiments, the network circuits are each assigned a priority, and the coexistence controller can control operations between the network circuits by selectively adjusting one or more transmission operating parameters of a respective network circuit based on a plurality of operating criteria, which include each network circuit's priority. Among other benefits, the embodiments disclosed herein can increase wireless network bandwidth and reduce mobile device power consumption by providing coordination among the radio circuits so that the transmitting and receiving operations are performed in a way that they do not interfere with their respective antennas."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for operating a network device having a plurality of wireless network circuits and a coexistence controller coupled to the network circuits, each of the network circuits operating in a same radio frequency band, the method comprising:\nupon one or more client devices requesting for association, distributing, by the coexistence controller, the client devices to the network circuits based on one or more operating criteria,\nwherein the network circuits are collocated on the network device.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nmoving a respective client device connected to a first network circuit to a second network circuit based on the operating criteria.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\ncoordinating with the respective client in performing the moving using a switch announcement.\n\n4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\nperforming the moving when a data traffic workload aggregated from all client devices connected to the first network circuit exceeds or about to exceed a service capacity of the first network circuit.\n\n5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\nperforming the moving when an interference on the first network circuit exceeds a threshold.\n\n6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\nperforming the moving when a channel condition on the second network circuit becomes better than the first network circuit.\n\n7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\nmigrating connection information for the respective client device when the respective client device is moved from the first network circuit to the second network circuit.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nenforcing a selection of the distributing by disallowing a respective client device from associating itself with a non-preferred network circuit.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ntemporarily stopping broadcasting a service set identifier for the non-preferred network circuit.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nignoring a probe request from a respective client device for associating with a non-preferred network circuit.\n\n11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nignoring a probe request from a respective client device for associating with a non-preferred network circuit before a predetermined period of time expires;\nallowing the respective client device to associate with the non-preferred network circuit after the period of time expires; and\nmoving the respective client device connected to the non-preferred network circuit to a preferred network circuit.\n\n12. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating criteria include a priority that is assigned to each of the network circuits.\n\n13. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating criteria include how much noise is observed by one or more radios of each network circuit.\n\n14. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating criteria include based on what type of traffic each network circuit is assigned to process.\n\n15. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating criteria include workload that each network circuit has.\n\n16. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating criteria include performance requirement that the client devices request.\n\n17. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the network circuits operates on a different channel.\n\n18. The method of claim 1, wherein the network circuits each include individual media access control (MAC) layer and physical (PHY) layer circuitry.\n\n19. The method of claim 1, wherein the coexistence controller controls each of the network circuits independently.\n\n20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ncoordinating with another plurality of wireless network circuits on a respective client device so that the network circuits on the network device each communicate with a corresponding network circuit on the client using a uniquely designated channel.\n\n21. The method of claim 1, wherein the network circuits include at least two network circuits operating on different channels in a 5 GHz frequency band.\n\n22. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\ncoordinating with the respective client in performing the moving using a disassociation process.\n\n23. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\ncoordinating with the respective client in performing the moving using a de-authentication process."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Thin Film Transistor Substrate And Display Panel Comprising The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The disclosure relates to a thin film transistor, and in particular it relates to a thin film transistor substrate and a display apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional process of manufacturing a thin film transistor substrate, an active layer is defined to correspond to a gate electrode and serve as a channel layer after forming the gate electrode and a gate line. Another metal layer is then formed, which includes a source electrode and a drain electrode on two sides of the active layer, and a data line connecting to the source electrode. Only a gate dielectric layer is disposed between the data line and the gate line at their overlapping location. The thickness of the gate dielectric layer should be reduced to reduce the driving current of the thin film transistor. However, the capacitance between the data line and the gate line will be larger with a thinner gate dielectric layer, thereby increasing the loading of the overlapping location of the data line and the gate line. In other words, the conventional structure cannot simultaneously reduce the driving current of the thin film transistor and reduce the capacitance between the data line and the gate line. Accordingly, a novel thin film transistor substrate is called for to simultaneously reduce the driving current of the thin film transistor and reduce the capacitance between the data line and the gate line.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA display panel is provided, which includes a substrate and a first metal layer on the substrate. The first metal layer includes a gate electrode and a gate line connecting to the gate electrode. A first insulation layer is disposed on the first metal layer. A planarization layer is disposed on the first insulation layer. An opening, overlapping the gate electrode, is defined by sidewalls of the planarization layer and a surface of the first insulation layer. An active layer is disposed on the opening and the planarization layer. A second metal layer is disposed on the semiconductor layer, and includes a source electrode contacting the active layer and a data line connecting to the source electrode. The planarization layer and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A display panel, comprising:\na substrate;\na first metal layer on the substrate, wherein the first metal layer includes a gate electrode and a gate line connecting to the gate electrode;\na first insulation layer on the first metal layer;\na planarization layer on the first insulation layer;\nan opening defined by sidewalls of the planarization layer and a surface of the first insulation layer, wherein the opening overlaps the gate electrode;\nan active layer on the planarization layer and covering the opening; and\na second metal layer on the active layer, wherein the second metal layer includes a source electrode contacting the active layer and a data line connecting to the source electrode,\nwherein the planarization layer and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line,\nan etch stop layer on the active layer and the planarization layer, wherein the etch stop layer includes a plurality of contact vias to expose parts of the active layer on the opening, the source electrode contacts the active layer through one of the contact vias, and the etch stop layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line;\na second insulation layer on the planarization layer, wherein the active layer is disposed on the second insulation layer, and the etch stop layer, the second insulation layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line.\n\n2. The display panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second metal layer contacts the active layer on the opening.\n\n3. The display panel as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a second insulation layer on the planarization layer, wherein the active layer is disposed on the second insulation layer, and the second insulation layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line.\n\n4. The display panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active layer comprises a first part on a surface of the first insulation layer and a second part on the planarization layer, wherein the second metal layer contacts the second part of the active layer.\n\n5. The display panel as claimed in claim 4, wherein the planarization layer is composed of silicon nitride or hydrogen-rich insulation material.\n\n6. The display panel as claimed in claim 4, further comprising an etch stop layer on the active layer and the planarization layer, wherein the etch stop layer includes a plurality of contact vias to expose the second part of the active layer, the source electrode contacts the second part of the active layer through one of the contact vias, and the etch stop layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line.\n\n7. The display panel as claimed in claim 4, further comprising:\nan etch stop layer on the first part of the active layer; and\na protection layer on the etch stop layer, the second part of the active layer, and the planarization layer,\nwherein the protection layer includes a plurality of contact vias to expose the second part of the active layer, the source electrode contacts the second part of the active layer through one of the contact vias, and the protection layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line.\n\n8. The display panel as claimed in claim 7, wherein the protection layer is composed of silicon nitride or hydrogen-rich insulation material.\n\n9. The display panel as claimed in claim 7, wherein the etch stop layer is also disposed on the planarization layer, and the protection layer, the etch stop layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line.\n\n10. The display panel as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:\nan opposite substrate; and\na display medium disposed between the substrate and the opposite substrate.\n\n11. A display panel, comprising:\na substrate;\na first metal layer on the substrate, wherein the first metal layer includes a gate electrode and a gate line connecting to the gate electrode;\na first insulation layer on the first metal layer;\na planarization layer on the first insulation layer;\nan opening defined by sidewalls of the planarization layer and a surface of the first insulation layer, wherein the opening overlaps the gate electrode;\nan active layer on the planarization layer and covering the opening; and\na second metal layer on the active layer, wherein the second metal layer includes a source electrode contacting the active layer and a data line connecting to the source electrode,\nwherein the planarization layer and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line,\nwherein the active layer comprises a first part on a surface of the first insulation layer and a second part on the planarization layer, wherein the second metal layer contacts the second part of the active layer,\nan etch stop layer on the first part of the active layer; and\na protection layer on the etch stop layer, the second part of the active layer, and the planarization layer,\nwherein the protection layer includes a plurality of contact vias to expose the second part of the active layer, the source electrode contacts the second part of the active layer through one of the contact vias, and the protection layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line.\n\n12. The display panel as claimed in claim 11, wherein the protection layer is composed of silicon nitride or hydrogen-rich insulation material.\n\n13. The display panel as claimed in claim 11, wherein the etch stop layer is also disposed on the planarization layer, and the protection layer, the etch stop layer, the planarization layer, and the first insulation layer are disposed between the data line and the gate line.\n\n14. The display panel as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:\nan opposite substrate; and\na display medium disposed between the substrate and the opposite substrate."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Antifuse-Type One Time Programming Memory Cell And Array Structure With Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAs is well known, a non-volatile memory is able to continuously retain data after the supplied power is interrupted. Generally, after the non-volatile memory leaves the factory, the user may program the non-volatile memory in order to record data into the non-volatile memory. According to the number of times the non-volatile memory is programmed, the non-volatile memories may be classified into a multi-time programming memory (also referred as a MTP memory), a one time programming memory (also referred as an OTP memory) and a mask read only memory (also referred as a Mask ROM). Generally, the MTP memory may be programmed many times, and the stored data of the MTP memory may be modified many times. On the contrary, the OTP memory may be programmed once. After the OTP memory is programmed, the stored data fails to be modified. Moreover, after the Mask ROM leaves the factory, all stored data have been recorded therein. The user is only able to read the stored data from the Mask ROM, but is unable to program the Mask ROM. Moreover, depending on the characteristics, the OTP memories may be classified into two types, i.e. a fuse-type OTP memory and an antifuse-type OTP memory. Before a memory cell of the fuse-type OTP memory is programmed, the memory cell has a low-resistance storing state. After the memory cell of the fuse-type OTP memory is programmed, the memory cell has a high-resistance storing state. On the other hand, the memory cell of the antifuse-type OTP memory has the high-resistance storing state before being programmed, and the memory cell of the antifuse-type OTP memory has the low-resistance storing state after being programmed. With increasing advance of the semiconductor manufacturing process, the process of manufacturing the OTP memory is compatible with the CMOS semiconductor manufacturing process. Since the CMOS semiconductor manufacturing process is continuously in progress, there is a need of providing an improved structure of an OTP memory in order to achieve more reliable performance of the OTP memory.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn antifuse-type OTP memory cell has following structures. A first doped region, a second doped region, a third doped region and a fourth doped region are formed in a well region. A gate oxide layer covers the surface of the well region. A first gate is formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the first doped region and the second doped region. The first gate is connected with a word line. A second gate is formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the second doped region and the third doped region. The second gate is connected with an antifuse control line. A third gate is formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the third doped region and the fourth doped region. The third gate is connected with an isolation control line."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An array structure connected with a first bit line, a first word line, a second word line, a first antifuse control line, a second antifuse control line, a first isolation control line and a second isolation control line, the array structure comprising:\na well region;\na first doped region, a second doped region, a third doped region, a fourth doped region, a fifth doped region, a sixth doped region and a seventh doped region formed in a surface of the well region;\na gate oxide layer covering the surface of the well region;\na first gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the first doped region and the second doped region, wherein the first gate is connected with the first word line;\na second gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the second doped region and the third doped region, wherein the second gate is connected with the first antifuse control line;\na third gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the third doped region and the fourth doped region, wherein the third gate is connected with the first isolation control line;\na fourth gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the seventh doped region and the sixth doped region, wherein the fourth gate is connected with the second word line;\na fifth gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the sixth doped region and the fifth doped region, wherein the fifth gate is connected with the second antifuse control line;\na sixth gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the fifth doped region and the fourth doped region, wherein the sixth gate is connected with the second isolation control line; and\na first metal layer connected with the first doped region through a first via and connected with the seventh doped region through a second via, wherein the first metal layer is the first bit line.\n\n2. The array structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gate oxide layer under the second gate is thinner than the gate oxide layer under the first gate, and the gate oxide layer under the fifth gate is thinner than the gate oxide layer under the fourth gate.\n\n3. The array structure as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:\nan eighth doped region, a ninth doped region, a tenth doped region, an eleventh doped region, a twelfth doped region, a thirteenth doped region and a fourteenth doped region formed in the surface of the well region;\na seventh gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the eighth doped region and the ninth doped region, wherein the seventh gate is connected with the first word line;\nan eighth gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the ninth doped region and the tenth doped region, wherein the eighth gate is connected with the first antifuse control line;\na ninth gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the tenth doped region and the eleventh doped region, wherein the ninth gate is connected with the first isolation control line;\na tenth gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the fourteenth doped region and the thirteenth doped region, wherein the tenth gate is connected with the second word line;\nan eleventh gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the thirteenth doped region and the twelfth doped region, wherein the eleventh gate is connected with the second antifuse control line;\na twelfth gate formed on the gate oxide layer and spanned over the twelfth doped region and the eleventh doped region, wherein the twelfth gate is connected with the second isolation control line; and\na second metal layer connected with the eighth doped region through a third via and connected with the fourteenth doped region through a fourth via, wherein the second metal layer is a second bit line."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Display Apparatus And Manufacturing Method Thereof\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn recent years, with the fast development of display technology, touch control display technology, three-dimensional display technology, and electrochromic display technology are also rapidly developed. Generally, it is usually required to set a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) on an out-cell device such as a touch control device, a three-dimensional device and an electrochromic device in an existing display apparatus, which is electrically connected to a flexible printed circuit board on the display panel, to enable conduction between the out-cell device and an external signal and finally realize the normal display function of the display apparatus. However, in some cases, a small number of signal channels are required by the flexible printed circuit board connected to the out-cell device in the display apparatus. For example, referring to FIG. 1 , a naked-eye three-dimensional liquid crystal display is taken as an example. The display panel of the display mainly comprises a first substrate 01 , a second substrate 02 and a liquid crystal layer (not shown) sandwiched between the first substrate 01 and the second substrate 02 . A liquid crystal barrier as the out-cell device of the display mainly comprises a third substrate 03 , a fourth substrate 04 and a liquid crystal layer (not shown) sandwiched between the third substrate 03 and the fourth substrate 04 . Furthermore, the display panel and the out-cell device are both provided with their respective FPCs, i.e., an FPC 1 electrically connected to the first substrate 01 and an FPC 2 electrically connected to the third substrate 03 , as shown in FIG. 1 . However, with respect to such out-cell liquid crystal barrier, in order to achieve black-white display effect, only two electrode signal channels are usually required to obtain stripes alternating between brightness and darkness, thereby realizing three-dimensional display effect. However, the display structure as shown in FIG. 1 needs to additionally make an FPC 2 connected to the three-dimensional liquid crystal barrier. This would cause an increase in the cost of manufacturing the display and does not facilitate simplification of the structure of the out-cell device. Therefore, on the premise of guaranteeing the conduction between the out-cell device in the display apparatus and the external signal, how to simplify the structure of the out-cell device and reduce the cost of manufacturing the display apparatus are problems to be solved by those skilled in the art.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention discloses a display apparatus and a manufacturing method thereof. The display apparatus comprises a display device, an out-cell device and a flexible printed circuit board for being connected to an external signal. The display device has a first category of leads and a second category of leads; the out-cell device has reserved leads, and the reserved leads are electrically connected to the second category of leads; and the flexible printed circuit board has a first category of pins and a second category of pins, the first category of leads are electrically connected to the first category of pins, and the second category of leads are electrically connected to the second category of pins. In this way, the reserved leads are electrically connected to the second category of leads, while the second category of leads are electrically connected to the second category of pins, thereby enabling conduction between the out-cell device and the external signal. As compared with the prior art in which the out-cell device and the display device are provided with their respective flexible printed circuit boards, the display apparatus as provided in the embodiments of the present invention omits the step of separately making a flexible printed circuit board of the out-cell device, thereby reducing the cost of production of the display apparatus and at the same time further simplifying the structure of the out-cell device of the display apparatus."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A display apparatus comprising:\na display device;\nan out-cell device;\na flexible printed circuit board for being connected to an external signal;\nwherein a binding area of the display device has a first category of leads and a second category of leads;\nwherein a binding area of the out-cell device has reserved leads, the reserved leads being electrically connected to the second category of leads;\nwherein the flexible printed circuit board has a first category of pins and a second category of pins, the first category of leads being electrically connected to the first category of pins, and the second category of leads being electrically connected to the second category of pins; and\nwherein the out-cell device is an electrochromic device.\n\n2. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reserved leads are electrically connected to the second category of leads via a conductive glue.\n\n3. The display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the conductive glue is further covered with a layer of protective glue.\n\n4. The display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the conductive glue is a silver colloid.\n\n5. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the binding area of the display device, the first category of leads and the second category of leads are arranged in parallel, and the second category of leads are located at two sides or one side of the first category of leads.\n\n6. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional device is a liquid crystal barrier, an electrochromic grating or a liquid crystal lens.\n\n7. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the out-cell device comprises a transparent electrode, the transparent electrode being an interdigitated structure or a laminated structure.\n\n8. A method for manufacturing the display apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:\nforming, in the binding area of the display device, a first category of leads and a second category of leads;\nforming, in the binding area of the out-cell device, reserved leads;\nelectrically connecting the reserved leads of the out-cell device to the second category of leads of the display device; and\nelectrically connecting the first category of leads of the display device to the first category of pins of the flexible printed circuit board, and electrically connecting the second category of leads of the display device to the second category of pins of the flexible printed circuit board.\n\n9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of electrically connecting the reserved leads of the out-cell device to the second category of leads of the display device comprises electrically connecting the reserved leads to the second category of leads via a conductive glue.\n\n10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising after electrically connecting the reserved leads to the second category of leads via a conductive glue, covering the conductive glue with a layer of protective glue.\n\n11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the conductive glue is a silver colloid.\n\n12. The method according to claim 8, wherein in the binding area of the display device, the first category of leads and the second category of leads are arranged in parallel, and the second category of leads are located at two sides or one side of the first category of leads.\n\n13. The method according to claim 8, wherein the out-cell device is a three-dimensional device, a touch control device or an electrochromic device.\n\n14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the three-dimensional device is a liquid crystal barrier, an electrochromic grating or a liquid crystal lens.\n\n15. The method according to claim 8, wherein the out-cell device comprises a transparent electrode, the transparent electrode being an interdigitated structure or a laminated structure.\n\n16. The method according to claim 8, wherein a conductive glue is used to electrically connect the reserved leads of the out-cell device to the second category of leads of the display device.\n\n17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:\nafter electrically connecting the reserved leads of the out-cell device to the second category of leads of the display device using a conductive glue, coating a layer of protective glue on the conductive glue."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Optoelectronic Component Device, Method For Producing An Optoelectronic Component Device And Method For Operating An Optoelectronic Component Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nOptoelectronic components on an organic basis, for example an organic light emitting diode (OLED), are being increasingly widely used in general lighting. An OLED includes an anode and a cathode with an organic functional layer structure therebetween. The organic functional layer structure may include one or a plurality of emitter layer(s) in which electromagnetic radiation is generated, one or a plurality of charge generating layer structure(s) each composed of two or more charge generating layers (CGL) for charge generation, one or a plurality of hole injection layer(s), one or a plurality of electron injection layer(s), and one or a plurality of electron blocking layer(s), also designated as hole transport layer(s) (HTL), and one or a plurality of hole blocking layer(s), also designated as electron transport layer(s) (ETL), in order to direct the current flow. The luminance of an OLED is limited, inter alia, by the maximum current density that can flow through the diode. In order to increase the luminance of an OLED, it is known to combine one or a plurality of OLEDs one on top of another in series\u2014so-called stacked OLED or a tandem OLED. An OLED can age by the influence of harmful environmental influences and/or the diffusion of organic constituents. As a result, the optoelectronic properties of the OLED can vary in the course of operation. During the aging of an OLED, for example, a gradual decrease in luminance and increase in the voltage drop across the OLED can take place. In other words: the efficiency of a conventional OLED decreases during regular operation\u2014illustrated in FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B . FIG. 10A illustrates a measured voltage drop 1002 and a measured, normalized luminance 1006 as a function of the normalized operating duration 1004 of a conventional OLED. The luminance 1006 is normalized to the luminance of an unused OLED, i.e. at 0% operating duration 1004 . The operating duration 1004 is normalized to the time at which the luminance 1006 has fallen to 70% of the original luminance (at 0% operating duration). Furthermore, the lifetime of an OLED can be limited by a change in the voltage drop across the OLED, a change in the uniformity or homogeneity of the luminous area and/or a shift in the color locus. FIG. 10B illustrates the luminous fields 1010 , 1020 , 1030 of a conventional OLED. The initially homogeneous luminous image\u2014illustrated in 1010 in FIGS. 10A and 10B \u2014of a conventional OLED becomes only slightly inhomogeneous during the gradual aging on account of the slight current and temperature inhomogeneities during operation. During the production of an OLED, however, particles 1008 can be included in the layers of the OLED. On account of these particle inclusions 1008 , a failure of the OLED can occur during operation, said failure being manifested as a short circuit (short). Almost the entire current can flow away via the included particles 1008 \u2014illustrated as a dark spot 1008 in 1020 in FIG. 10B . As a result, the OLED can greatly heat up locally around the short circuit, as a result of which breaking (cracking), melting and/or further degradation of the component can occur. As a result, an abrupt failure of the OLED can occur, as a result of which the operating voltage falls toward zero, illustrated in 1030 in FIGS. 10A and 10B . As is illustrated in 1020 in FIG. 10A , no unambiguous indication of the developing short circuit can be discerned in the voltage drop 1002 and the luminance 1006 . In the luminous image, by contrast, a dark spot is clearly formed around the particles 1008 , which dark spot can increase further in size and can ultimately lead to the abrupt failure 1030 of the OLED. Adequate countermeasures against particle inclusions that can limit the lifetime of a conventional OLED as a result of a spontaneous failure have not been available heretofore. Following preliminary tests of an OLED, for example direct or indirect methods for particle screening, for example optical microscopy or thermal measurements, a residual uncertainty with regard to a particle inclusion can nevertheless remain. Furthermore, in conventional methods, OLEDs are operated with simple driver circuits which enable specific brightnesses to be set. These circuits supply the required electrical power for the operation of the OLED without taking account of changes in the optoelectronic properties in the OLED.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nVarious embodiments may relate to an optoelectronic component device, including a first optically active structure, which is configured to provide an electromagnetic radiation, a measuring structure, which is configured to determine the luminance distribution of the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the measuring structure is configured to determine the luminance distribution in the first optically active structure, and wherein the measurement structure has a plurality of second optically active structures, wherein the plurality of second optically active structures are configured as optoelectric components and/or optoelectronic components, which receive the provided electromagnetic radiation."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An optoelectronic component device, comprising a first optically active structure designed for providing an electromagnetic radiation, wherein the first optically active structure is formed as or comprises one first organic optoelectronic component or a plurality of first organic optoelectronic components, wherein the first optoelectronic component is formed as a surface lighting component;\na measuring structure designed for determining the luminance distribution of the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the measuring structure comprises a plurality of second optically active structures, wherein the second optically active structures are configured as optoelectric devices and/or opoelectronic devices which take up the electromagnetic radiation provided and provide a photocurrent, respectively;\na waveguide designed for guiding the electromagnetic radiation provided;\nwherein the first optically active structure is optically coupled to the waveguide in such a way that the electromagnetic radiation provided is provided at least partly into the waveguide, and wherein the measuring structure is optically coupled to the waveguide in such a way that the electromagnetic radiation provided is taken up by the measuring structure at least partly from the waveguide;\nwherein the measuring structure is designed to determine the luminance distribution in the first optically active structure by determining the photocurrents provided by the second optically active structures and determining a deviation of these photocurrents from a mean photocurrent.\n\n2. The optoelectronic component device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the measuring structure is formed in such a way that in a first operating mode the measuring structure provides a further electromagnetic radiation from an electrical voltage or an electric current applied to the measuring structure, and that in a second operating mode the measuring structure generates generates an electric current or an electrical voltage from the electromagnetic radiation that is provided by the first optically active structure and is taken up by the second optically active structure.\n\n3. The optoelectronic component device as claimed in claim 1,\nwherein at least one second optically active structure comprises or is formed as a photoconductor, a light emitting diode, an organic light emitting diode, a photodiode, an organic photodiode, a solar cell, and/or an organic solar cell.\n\n4. The optoelectronic component device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waveguide is formed as transparent or translucent.\n\n5. The optoelectronic component device as claimed in claim 1,\nfurther comprising an optical coupling structure between the waveguide and the first optically active structure and/or between the waveguide and the measuring structure.\n\n6. A method for producing an optoelectronic component device, the method comprising:\nforming a first optically active structure for providing an electromagnetic radiation, wherein the first optically active structure is formed as or comprises one first organic optoelectronic component or a plurality of first organic optoelectronic components, wherein the first optoelectronic component is formed as a surface lighting component;\nforming a measuring structure for determining the luminance distribution of the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the measuring structure comprises a plurality of second optically active structures, wherein the second optically active structures are configured as optoelectric devices and/or opoelectronic devices which take up the electromagnetic radiation provided and provide a photocurrent, respectively;\nproviding a waveguide designed for guiding the electromagnetic radiation provided;\nwherein the first optically active structure is optically coupled to the waveguide in such a way that the electromagnetic radiation provided is provided at least partly into the waveguide, and wherein the measuring structure is optically coupled to the waveguide in such a way that the electromagnetic radiation provided is taken up by the measuring structure at least partly from the waveguide;\nwherein the measuring structure is formed in such a way that the luminance distribution in the first optically active structure is determinable by determining the photocurrents provided by the second optically active structures and determining a deviation of these photocurrents from a mean photocurrent.\n\n7. A method for operating an optoelectronic component device,\nthe optoelectronic component device, comprising\na first optically active structure designed for providing an electromagnetic radiation, wherein the first optically active structure is formed as or comprises one first organic optoelectronic component or a plurality of first organic optoelectronic components, wherein the first optoelectronic component is formed as a surface lighting component;\na measuring structure designed for determining the luminance distribution of the electromagnetic radiation, wherein the measuring structure comprises a plurality of second optically active structures, wherein the second optically active structures are configured as optoelectric devices and/or opoelectronic devices which take up the electromagnetic radiation provided and provide a photocurrent, respectively;\na waveguide designed for guiding the electromagnetic radiation provided;\nwherein the first optically active structure is optically coupled to the waveguide in such a way that the electromagnetic radiation provided is provided at least partly into the waveguide, and wherein the measuring structure is optically coupled to the waveguide in such a way that the electromagnetic radiation provided is taken up by the measuring structure at least partly from the waveguide;\nwherein the measuring structure is designed to determine the luminance distribution in the first optically active structure by determining the photocurrents provided by the second optically active structures and determining a deviation of these photocurrents from a mean photocurrent,\nthe method comprising:\nmeasuring the measurement parameters of the measuring structure while the first optically active structure is optically inactive;\nmeasuring the measurement parameters of the measuring structure while the first optically active structure is optically active;\ndetermining the respective differences between the measurement parameters of the plurality of second optically active structures of the measuring structure with the first optically active structure being optically active and the measurement parameters with the first optically active structure being optically inactive; and\nsetting at least one operating parameter of the optically active structure on the basis of the measurement parameter differences among the plurality of second optically active structures.\n\n8. The method as claimed in claim 7,\nwherein setting the at least one operating parameter comprises changing the at least one operating parameter from a first operating parameter set to a second operating parameter set if the plurality of second optoelectronic component have a difference in the signal differences that is greater than a first trigger absolute value.\n\n9. The method as claimed in claim 8,\nwherein setting the at least one operating parameter comprises changing the at least one operating parameter from a first operating parameter set to a third operating parameter set if the plurality of second optoelectronic component have on average a signal difference that is less than a second trigger absolute value.\n\n10. The method as claimed in claim 7,\nwherein an operating parameter set comprises an operating current, an operating voltage and/or a luminance of the first optically active structure.\n\n11. The method as claimed in claim 10,\nwherein the second operating parameter set overdrives the first optically active structure in such a way that the operating current, the operating voltage and/or the luminance are/is increased."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And System For Processing Information\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field The present application relates to a method and system for discovering and grouping users of a service. More specifically, this application relates to a method and a system that groups users based on the location and orientation of a mobile device. 2. Related Art With the rapid development of mobile computing technology, usage of mobile applications (commonly referred to as apps) has become increasingly prevalent across mobile phone users. Many marketers have turned to mobile apps when they try to reach a large audience. Accordingly, many apps have been developed for marketing purposes. For example, WeChat (a mobile text and voice messaging communication service developed by Tencent Inc. of China) provides a red envelope function that allows marketers to give away cash or coupons to users in order to promote their brand. Taobao and Tmall (Taobao and Tmall are the online shopping websites operated by Alibaba Group of China) also provide similar mobile apps that can be used as a promotion platform for marketers. One popular function of the red envelope app is the \u201cred envelope fission,\u201d which allows a user to turn a received red envelope (which may contain a predetermined amount of cash reward) into multiple red envelopes that can be distributed to other users. A marketer can effectively reach a larger audience through the propagation of the red envelopes. Similarly, a marketer may want to distribute promotional materials (e.g., cash rewards or merchandise coupons) to a selected group of users. These aforementioned apps and other similar apps require the ability of the server to select, from a large number of users, a group of users, and to allow the selected users to exchange information with the server as a group. To ensure successful and reliable information exchange, the number of users within the group needs to be limited. If the number of users in a particular group exceeds a predetermined threshold, information transmission errors may occur. Conventional approaches, such as the \u201cred envelope fission\u201d app, rely on geographic range to group users and to limit the number of users in a group. For example, the \u201cred envelope fission\u201d app typically requires that the receiver of a red envelope share fissioned red envelopes with users in his vicinity. Similarly, a marketer may distribute a merchandise coupon to users at a particular geographic location, such as within a one-mile radius. Because only a limited number of users can co-exist in a particular geographic location, that location information can be used to limit the user number in a group. The geographic or spatial information of users can be extracted from the global positioning system (GPS) modules in the mobile devices carried by the users. Because most civilian GPS modules have limited accuracy, some apps may place users having the same GPS reading in a group. For example, the precision range of the GPS in a typical mobile device can be around 15 meters; users within the 15-meter radius will have the same GPS readings and will, thus, be assigned to the same group. However, grouping users in the same geographic location has limitations. Some applications may require a group to include users at different geographic locations. For example, a user using the \u201cred envelope fission\u201d app may wish to distribute the fissioned red envelopes to his friends living in a different city. Moreover, a marketer may want to distribute promotional materials to a group of users randomly selected from different cities. The conventional location-based grouping approaches do not provide sufficient flexibility in these situations.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nOne embodiment of the present invention provides a system for transmitting information. During operation, the system receives, by a server from an initial mobile device, a request for transmitting information. The request does not specify a recipient for the information. The system obtains location and/or orientation information associated with the initial mobile device and location and/or orientation information associated with a plurality of mobile devices. The system selects from the plurality of mobile devices a subset of mobile devices based on the location and/or orientation information associated with the initial mobile device and the location and/or orientation information associated with the plurality of mobile devices, and transmits the information to the selected subset of mobile devices."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A computer-executable method, comprising:\nreceiving, by a server from an initial mobile device, a request for distributing resources, wherein the request does not specify a mobile device for receiving the distributed resources;\nobtaining location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the initial mobile device;\nobtaining location information, orientation information, or both, associated with a plurality of mobile devices;\nselecting from the plurality of mobile devices a subset of mobile devices based on the obtained location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the initial mobile device and the obtained location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the plurality of mobile devices; and\ndistributing the resources to the selected subset of mobile devices.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices involves:\ndefining a region based on the location and orientation of the initial mobile device; and\nidentifying mobile devices located within the defined region.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, wherein defining the region involves:\nusing the location of the initial mobile device as an origin;\ndefining a first ray that starts from the origin and aligns to the orientation of the initial mobile device; and\ndefining the region in a such a way that an angle formed between the first ray and a straight line connecting any point in the region and the origin is less than a predetermined threshold.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices involves:\nusing the location of the initial mobile device as an origin;\ndefining a plurality of zones having a common vertex at the origin; and\nidentifying mobile devices located within one or more defined zones.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices further involves determining an association between a respective mobile device and the initial mobile device.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices involves identifying mobile devices whose orientation is substantially same as the orientation of the initial mobile device.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein the information includes information for distributing resources, and wherein the method further comprises:\nplacing the selected subset of mobile devices into a group;\nprovisioning resources for the group based on a total number of mobile devices in the group; and\nprovisioning resources for each mobile device in the group.\n\n8. A computer server system, comprising:\na processor;\na receiving module configured to receive, from an initial mobile device, a request for distributing resources, wherein the request does not specify a mobile device for receiving the distributed resources;\nan obtaining module configured to obtain location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the initial mobile device and location information, orientation information, or both, associated with a plurality of mobile devices;\na selection module configured to select from the plurality of mobile devices a subset of mobile devices based on the obtained location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the initial mobile device and the location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the plurality of mobile devices; and\ndistributing the resources to the selected subset of mobile devices.\n\n9. The computer server system of claim 8, wherein while selecting the subset of mobile devices, the selection module is configured to:\ndefine a region based on the location and orientation of the initial mobile device; and\nidentify mobile devices located within the defined region.\n\n10. The computer server system of claim 9, wherein defining the region involves:\nusing the location of the initial mobile device as an origin;\ndefining a first ray that starts from the origin and aligns to the orientation of the initial mobile device; and\ndefining the region in a such a way that an angle formed between the first ray and a straight line connecting any point in the region and the origin is less than a predetermined threshold.\n\n11. The computer server system of claim 8, wherein while selecting the subset of mobile devices, the selection module is configured to:\nuse the location of the initial mobile device as an origin;\ndefine a plurality of zones having a common vertex at the origin; and\nidentify mobile devices located within one or more defined zones.\n\n12. The computer server system of claim 8, wherein while selecting the subset of mobile devices, the selection module is configured to determine an association between a respective mobile device and the initial mobile device.\n\n13. The computer server system of claim 8, wherein while selecting the subset of mobile devices, the selection module is configured to identify mobile devices whose orientation is substantially same as the orientation of the initial mobile device.\n\n14. The computer server system of claim 8, wherein the information includes information for distributing resources, and wherein the server system further comprises:\na grouping module configured to place the selected subset if mobile devices into a group; and\na provisioning module configured to:\nprovision resources for the group based on a total number of mobile devices in the group; and\nprovision resources for each mobile device in the group.\n\n15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:\nreceiving, by a server from an initial mobile device, a request for distributing resources, wherein the request does not specify a mobile device for receiving the distributed resources;\nobtaining location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the initial mobile device;\nobtaining location information, orientation information, or both, associated with a plurality of mobile devices;\nselecting from the plurality of mobile devices a subset of mobile devices based on the obtained location information, orientation information, or both associated with the initial mobile device and the location information, orientation information, or both, associated with the plurality of mobile devices; and\ndistributing the resources to the selected subset of mobile devices.\n\n16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices involves:\ndefining a region based on the location and orientation of the initial mobile device; and\nidentifying mobile devices located within the defined region.\n\n17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices involves:\nusing the location of the initial mobile device as an origin;\ndefining a plurality of zones having a common vertex at the origin; and\nidentifying mobile devices located within one or more defined zones.\n\n18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices further involves determining an association between a respective mobile device and the initial mobile device.\n\n19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein selecting the subset of mobile devices involves identifying mobile devices whose orientation is substantially same as the orientation of the initial mobile device.\n\n20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the information includes information for distributing resources, and wherein the method further comprises:\nplacing the selected subset of mobile devices into a group;\nprovisioning resources for the group based on a total number of mobile devices in the group; and\nprovisioning resources for each mobile device in the group."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Information Processing Device And Method, And Program\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn the background art, vector base amplitude pannning (VBAP) is known as a technique of controlling the localization of a sound image using a plurality of loudspeakers (see, for example, Non-Patent Literature 1). In VBAP, a target position where a sound image is to be localized is represented by a linear combination of vectors pointing to two or three loudspeakers placed around the target position. Also, gain adjustment is performed so that a sound image is to be localized at the target position, where coefficients multiplied by the respective vectors in the linear combination are used as the gains of sound signals output from the respective loudspeakers.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present technology relates to an information processing device and method for allowing a sound image to be localized with higher precision, and a program. When a target sound image is outside a mesh, the target sound image is moved in a vertical direction while a position in a horizontal direction of the target sound image remains fixed, so that the target sound image is present on a boundary of the mesh. Specifically, a mesh detection unit detects a mesh including a position in the horizontal direction of the target sound image. A candidate position calculation unit calculates a position that is a movement target of the target sound image, based on loudspeaker positions that are at opposite ends of an arc of the detected mesh that is a destination, and the position in the horizontal direction of the target sound image. As a result, the target sound image can be moved onto a boundary of the mesh. The present technology is applicable to a sound processing device."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An information processing device comprising:\ncircuitry including a processing device and a memory encoded with instructions that, when executed by the processing device, implement:\na detection unit configured to detect at least one mesh including a horizontal direction position of a target sound image in a horizontal direction, of meshes that are a region surrounded by a plurality of loudspeakers, and specify at least one mesh boundary that is a movement target of the target sound image in the mesh;\na calculation unit configured to calculate a movement position of the target sound image on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target, based on positions of two of the loudspeakers present on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target, and the horizontal direction position of the target sound image, wherein the target sound image is outside all of the meshes and wherein the horizontal direction position of the target sound image is fixed and the target sound image is moved only in a vertical direction from a vertical direction position of the target sound image to the calculated movement position on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target in response to calculating the movement position of the target sound image on the specified at least one mesh boundary; and\na gain adjustment unit configured to adjust a sound signal and to output adjusted sound signals to respective ones of the plurality of loudspeakers based on the calculated movement position of the target sound image.\n\n2. The information processing device according to claim 1,\nwherein the movement position is a position on the boundary having a same position as the horizontal direction position of the target sound image in the horizontal direction.\n\n3. The information processing device according to claim 2,\nwherein the detection unit detects the mesh including the horizontal direction position of the target sound image in the horizontal direction, based on positions in the horizontal direction of the loudspeakers forming the mesh, and the horizontal direction position of the target sound image.\n\n4. The information processing device according to claim 2,\nwherein the calculation unit calculates and records a maximum value and a minimum value of the movement position for each of the horizontal direction positions in advance, and\nwherein the information processing device further comprises a determination unit configured to calculate a final version of the movement position of the target sound image based on the recorded maximum value and minimum value of the movement position, and a position of the target sound image.\n\n5. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the instructions further implement:\na determination unit configured to determine whether or not it is necessary to move the target sound image, based on at least either of a position relationship between the loudspeakers forming the mesh, or positions in a vertical direction of the target sound image and the movement position.\n\n6. The information processing device according to claim 5, wherein the instructions further implement:\na gain calculation unit configured to, when it is determined that it is necessary to move the target sound image, calculate a gain of a sound signal of sound, based on the movement position, and positions of the loudspeakers of the mesh, in a manner that a sound image of the sound is to be localized at the movement position.\n\n7. The information processing device according to claim 6,\nwherein the gain calculation unit adjusts the gain based on a difference between a position of the target sound image and the movement position.\n\n8. The information processing device according to claim 7,\nwherein the gain calculation unit further adjusts the gain based on a distance from the position of the target sound image to a user, and a distance from the movement position to the user.\n\n9. The information processing device according to claim 5, wherein the instructions further implement:\na gain calculation unit configured to, when it is determined that it is not necessary to move the target sound image, calculate a gain of a sound signal of sound, based on a position of the target sound image and positions of the loudspeakers of the mesh, in a manner that a sound image of the sound is to be localized at the position of the target sound image, the mesh including the horizontal direction position of the target sound image in the horizontal direction.\n\n10. The information processing device according to claim 5,\nwherein the determination unit determines that it is necessary to move the target sound image, when a highest position in the vertical direction of the movement positions calculated for the meshes is lower than a position of the target sound image.\n\n11. The information processing device according to claim 5,\nwherein the determination unit determines that it is necessary to move the target sound image, when a lowest position in the vertical direction of the movement positions calculated for the meshes is higher than a position of the target sound image.\n\n12. The information processing device according to claim 5,\nwherein the determination unit determines that it is not necessary to move the target sound image downward, when the loudspeaker is present at a highest possible position in the vertical direction.\n\n13. The information processing device according to claim 5,\nwherein the determination unit determines that it is not necessary to move the target sound image upward, when the loudspeaker is present at a lowest possible position in the vertical direction.\n\n14. The information processing device according to claim 5,\nwherein the determination unit determines that it is not necessary to move the target sound image downward, when there is the mesh including a highest possible position in the vertical direction.\n\n15. The information processing device according to claim 5,\nwherein the determination unit determines that it is not necessary to move the target sound image upward, when there is the mesh including a lowest possible position in the vertical direction.\n\n16. An information processing method comprising:\ndetecting at least one mesh including a horizontal direction position of a target sound image in a horizontal direction, of meshes that are a region surrounded by a plurality of loudspeakers, and specifying at least one mesh boundary that is a movement target of the target sound image in the mesh;\ncalculating a movement position of the target sound image on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target, based on positions of two of the loudspeakers present on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target, and the horizontal direction position of the target sound image, wherein the target sound image is outside all of the meshes and wherein the horizontal direction position of the target sound image is fixed and the target sound image is moved only in a vertical direction from a vertical direction position of the target sound image to the calculated movement position on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target in response to calculating the movement position of the target sound image on the specified at least one mesh boundary; and\nadjusting a sound signal and outputting adjusted sound signals to respective ones of the plurality of loudspeakers based on the calculated movement position of the target sound image.\n\n17. A non-transitory computer readable storage device encoded with computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processing device, perform a process comprising:\ndetecting at least one mesh including a horizontal direction position of a target sound image in a horizontal direction, of meshes that are a region surrounded by a plurality of loudspeakers, and specifying at least one mesh boundary that is a movement target of the target sound image in the mesh;\ncalculating a movement position of the target sound image on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target, based on positions of two of the loudspeakers present on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target, and the horizontal direction position of the target sound image, wherein the target sound image is outside all of the meshes and wherein the horizontal direction position of the target sound image is fixed and the target sound image is moved only in a vertical direction from a vertical direction position of the target sound image to the calculated movement position on the specified at least one mesh boundary that is the movement target in response to calculating the movement position of the target sound image on the specified at least one mesh boundary; and\nadjusting a sound signal and outputting adjusted sound signals to respective ones of the plurality of loudspeakers based on the calculated movement position of the target sound image."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Multi-Band Isolator Assembly\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAntennas for computing devices present challenges relating to receiving and transmitting radio waves at one or more select frequencies. These challenges are magnified by the current trend to include several different antennas operating at various frequencies in a single computing device. If not properly spaced from one another, antenna signals can couple together and reduce system performance. Small computer electronics offer fewer antenna spacing possibilities, limiting design options.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn isolator assembly is configured to provide isolation in each of multiple non-overlapping frequency bands and includes a selection network to select one of the multiple non-overlapping frequency bands for an isolation operation. During the isolation operation, the isolator assembly prevents signal coupling between antennas that are positioned on opposite sides of the isolator assembly."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. Apparatus comprising:\nan isolator assembly that provides isolation between two antennas in multiple frequency bands, the isolator assembly including a resonating conductive isolation element and including a selection network configured to select one of the multiple frequency bands for an isolation operation, wherein the length of the conductive resonating isolation element measures less than \u00bc of the wavelength of the frequency band selected for the isolation operation.\n\n2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the isolator assembly is configured to provide isolation in two different frequency bands.\n\n3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the selection network is a choke element that presents a short circuit for a first frequency band and an open circuit for a second frequency band.\n\n4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the isolator assembly includes multiple isolator elements separated from one another, each isolator element configured to isolate in a different, frequency band.\n\n5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein at least one of the multiple isolator elements provides isolation in two frequency bands.\n\n6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the selection network is a circuit that deselects at least one of the multiple isolator elements based on frequency of a received surface current.\n\n7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the isolator assembly includes one or more tunable capacitors to adaptively tune a mode of resonance of the isolator assembly.\n\n8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the selection network prevents coupling between separate isolation elements of the isolation assembly.\n\n9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\na first isolator element that provides isolation in a first frequency band, the first isolator element being separated from a second isolator element that provides isolation in a second frequency band, the selection network being configured to deselect the second isolator element responsive to receipt of surface current oscillating in the first frequency band.\n\n10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the selection network presents a high impedance in the first frequency band.\n\n11. A method comprising:\nselectively resonating an isolator assembly including a resonating conductive isolation element in a frequency band, the isolator assembly including a selection network configured to select the frequency band from multiple frequency bands, wherein the length of the conductive resonating isolation element measures less than \u00bc of the wavelength of the frequency band selected for the isolation operation.\n\n12. The method of claim 11, wherein the isolator assembly is configured to provide isolation in two different frequency bands.\n\n13. The method of claim 11, wherein the selection network is a choke element that presents a short circuit for a first frequency band and an open circuit for a second frequency band.\n\n14. The method of claim 11, wherein the isolator assembly includes multiple isolator elements separated from one another, each isolator element configured to isolate in a different one of the multiple frequency bands.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one of the multiple isolator elements provides isolation in two frequency bands.\n\n16. The method of claim 14, wherein the selection network is a circuit that deselects at least one of the multiple isolator elements based on frequency of a received surface current.\n\n17. The method of claim 11, wherein the isolator assembly includes one or more tunable capacitors to adaptively tune a resonant mode of the isolator assembly.\n\n18. The method of claim 11, wherein the isolator assembly further includes a first isolator element that provides isolation in a first frequency band, the first isolator element separated from a second isolator element that provides isolation in a second frequency band, the selection network being configured to deselect the second isolator element responsive to receipt of surface current oscillating in the first frequency band.\n\n19. The method of claim 18, wherein the selection network presents a high impedance in the first frequency band.\n\n20. Apparatus comprising:\nan isolator assembly that provides isolation between two antennas in multiple frequency bands, the isolator assembly including multiple interconnected conductive branches, each of the interconnected branches having a length measuring less than \u00bc of the wavelength of one of the multiple frequency bands."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electronic Brake System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic brake system, and, more particularly, to an electronic brake system capable of simplifying a structure and precisely controlling pressure. 2. Description of the Related Art A brake system for the braking is necessarily mounted on a vehicle, and in recent years, a variety of systems for providing stronger and more stable braking have been proposed. For example, there are brake systems including an anti-lock brake system (ABS) for preventing a wheel from being slid while braking, a brake traction control system (BTCS) for preventing a driving wheel from being slipped when a vehicle is unintendedly or intendedly accelerated, an electronic stability control system (ESC) for stably maintaining a driving state of a vehicle by combining the ABS with a traction control to a control hydraulic pressure of a brake, and the like. Such an electronic brake system includes multiple solenoid valves for controlling brake hydraulic pressure delivered to wheel cylinders mounted on wheels of a vehicle, a pair of a low-pressure accumulator and a high-pressure accumulator for temporarily storing oil discharged from the wheel cylinders, a motor and a pump for forced pumping of oil in the low-pressure accumulator, multiple check valves for preventing a backflow of oil, and an electronic control unit (ECU) for controlling the solenoid valves and driving of the motor, and these components are compactly installed in a hydraulic block made of aluminum. Also, a hydraulic pressure supply device is provided and used for delivering pressure to the wheel cylinders by receiving a driver's request for a braking force in the form of an electrical signal from a pedal displacement sensor that measures a displacement of a brake pedal when the driver steps on the brake pedal. An electronic brake system provided with such a hydraulic pressure supply device is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0091787. According to the publication, the hydraulic pressure supply device is made to operate a motor depending on a pedal effort of a brake pedal to thereby generate a rotational force of the motor into a linear motion to pressurize a piston. However, the electronic brake system with such a structure has a problem in that it is difficult to realize a rapid pressure generation and perform a precise control due to a simple structure of the hydraulic pressure supply device in which a pressurized piston must be returned again to the original position in order to be operated when regenerating a pressure or boosting a generated pressure. Further, for controlling pressure flow according various control modes, the structure with multiple solenoid valves and a fluid path become complicated for sure, and a separate low-pressure accumulator as well as a motor and a pump for operation thereof need to be provided. Consequently, problems of increased weight and size of the system arise that cause degradations in mounting and space utilization as well as increased vibration and noise due to the operations of the motor and the pump.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electronic brake system may be capable of providing a required hydraulic pressure continuously and constantly as well as a precise pressure control through a gear pump provided in a hydraulic pressure supply device. Also, the electronic brake system may be capable of minimizing a number of valves controlling hydraulic pressure flows to implement a simplified configuration and providing the braking by a pedal effort of a driver even when the brake system is abnormally operated."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electronic brake system, which includes a reservoir storing oil, a master cylinder having first and second hydraulic ports and coupled to the reservoir so as to receive the oil, a pedal displacement sensor measuring a displacement of a brake pedal, and a simulation device connected to the master cylinder to provide a reaction force corresponding to a pedal effort of the brake pedal, comprising:\na hydraulic pressure supply device having a motor configured to be rotated by receiving an electrical signal from the pedal displacement sensor when the brake pedal is operated, a gear pump configured to discharge and suction a hydraulic pressure depending on a rotational force of the motor, and a power transmission unit configured to deliver the rotational force of the motor to the gear pump;\na hydraulic control unit having first and second hydraulic circuits configured to receive the hydraulic pressure by a force generated by the hydraulic pressure supply device to control hydraulic pressure flows delivered to wheel cylinders provided on wheels; and\nan electronic control unit configured to control the motor and valves based on hydraulic pressure information and pedal displacement information,\nwherein the gear pump is connected to the first hydraulic circuit through a first hydraulic passage and to the second hydraulic circuit through a second hydraulic passage connected to a branch passage that is branched off from the first hydraulic passage, and\nthe electronic brake system further comprising:\na release valve provided on a passage connecting the branch passage with the reservoir and opened to discharge the hydraulic pressure to the reservoir through the first hydraulic passage and the second hydraulic passage, and\nwherein one end of the gear pump is connected to the reservoir and the other end of the pump is connected to the first hydraulic circuit to provide a common pressure to the first and second hydraulic circuits.\n\n2. The electronic brake system according to claim 1, further comprising:\na first reserving valve provided at a rear (in a direction of the first hydraulic circuit) of a position at which the branch passage of the first hydraulic passage is branched off to control a hydraulic pressure flow between the first hydraulic circuit and the gear pump; and\na second reserving valve provided on the second hydraulic passage to control a hydraulic pressure flow between the second hydraulic circuit and the gear pump.\n\n3. The electronic brake system according to claim 2, wherein the first and second reserving valves are made of a normally closed type solenoid valve that is closed in a normal operating state and is opened when an opening signal is received.\n\n4. The electronic brake system according to claim 2, wherein the second reserving valve is provided at a rear (in a direction of the second hydraulic circuit) of a position at which the second hydraulic passage is branched off from the branch passage.\n\n5. The electronic brake system according to claim 2, wherein the release valve is provided between the first and second reserving valves and the gear pump.\n\n6. The electronic brake system according to claim 2, wherein the release valve is provided with a normally closed type solenoid valve that is closed in a normal operating state and is opened when an opening signal is received.\n\n7. The electronic brake system according to claim 1, further comprising:\na first backup passage configured to connect the first hydraulic port with the first hydraulic circuit so as to directly provide the oil to the wheel cylinder when the electronic brake system is abnormally operated;\na second backup passage configured to connect the second hydraulic port with the second hydraulic circuit;\na first cut valve provided on the first backup passage to control an oil flow; and\na second cut valve provided on the second backup passage to control an oil flow.\n\n8. The electronic brake system according to claim 7, wherein the first and second cut valves are provided with a normally opened type solenoid valve that is open in a normal operating state and is closed when a closing signal from the electronic control unit is received.\n\n9. The electronic brake system according to claim 1, wherein the hydraulic control unit includes inlet valves each of which is provided on an upstream side of each of the wheel cylinders so as to control the hydraulic pressure flowing into the wheel cylinder installed on each of the wheels.\n\n10. The electronic brake system according to claim 9, wherein the hydraulic control unit further includes a plurality of outlet valves configured to independently control hydraulic pressure flows discharged from the wheel cylinders,\nwherein each of the outlet valves are connected to the reservoir.\n\n11. The electronic brake system according to claim 9, wherein the inlet valves are provided with a normally opened type solenoid valve that is open in a normal operating state and is closed when a closing signal from the electronic control unit is received.\n\n12. The electronic brake system according to claim 10, wherein the outlet valves are provided with a normally closed type solenoid valve that is closed in a normal operating state and is opened when an opening signal is received."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And Apparatus For Controlling Gas Flow From Cylinders\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nGas cylinders are widely used in medical and industrial settings for the dispensing of gases and mixtures of gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, helium, nitrous oxide, heliox, etc. While often cylinders included a visible means to indicate current cylinder contents with either mechanical or electronic manometers, the information is not transmitted to users as it relates to the current usage situation and often requires further processing of the information by the user to produce useful information. In the medical setting, the determination of time remaining relative to the current use rate of the gas cylinder is performed from tables and charts that are not always readily accessible leading to the non-continuous monitoring of patients and reduced patient safety. In industrial settings, cylinders are often used to provide calibration gases for critical process equipment where calibrations take extended periods of time with operators often stepping away to conduct other activities. An objective of the present invention is to alleviate some or all of the challenges in linking the use state of gas cylinders to the relevant information the user requires from the cylinder.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA device that can be attached to the outlet of a gas cylinder, which can monitor and display in digital or analog form the pressure of the gas in the cylinder and the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the cylinder will reach a predetermined lower threshold at a given flow."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A device for controlling the flow of a gas from a gas container, comprising:\na gas flow passageway through the device and having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is configured to be sealingly attached to the gas container to receive the gas from the gas container;\na gas flow valve disposed in the passageway and capable of controllably closing or opening the passageway to the flow of gas therethrough;\na manually operable selector operatively connected to the valve to enable adjustment of the position of the valve to a closed position and one or more open positions by movement of the selector;\na pressure sensor capable of detecting the pressure of the gas in the gas container when the device is sealingly attached to the container and further capable of generating an electronic signal corresponding to the detected pressure;\nan electronic display capable of displaying information in digital and/or analog form;\nan electronic alarm capable of being actuated to signify the presence of an alarm state audibly, visibly, or both audibly and visibly during the administering of the gas from the gas container; and\nan electronic control connected to the gas flow control, the pressure sensor, the electronic display, and the electronic alarm, the electronic control configured to detect the position setting of the valve, detect from the pressure sensor at periodic predetermined time frequencies the pressure of the gas in the gas container;\nthe electronic control configured to determine whether the device is in an active use state or a passive use state based on the position setting of the valve and the pressure of the gas in the gas container;\nthe electronic control further configured to deactivate the electronic alarm when the device is in a passive use state;\nthe electronic control configured to calculate as a function of the detected position setting and the detected periodic pressures the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the gas container will reach a predetermined lower threshold, generating one or more signals causing the display to concurrently display the interval of time remaining and the detected pressure;\nthe electronic control further configured to generate a signal actuating the electronic alarm when the device is in an active use state amount of gas in the gas container reaches the predetermined lower threshold.\n\n2. A device according to claim 1 which further comprises a manually operable switch, operatively connected to the electronic control, for temporarily deactuating a signal actuating the alarm, and wherein the electronic control is further capable of calculating as a function of the detected position setting and the detected periodic pressures the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the container will reach each of one or more intermediate predetermined thresholds each greater than the predetermined lower threshold and generating a subsequent signal actuating the alarm when each of the one or more intermediate predetermined threshold have been reached.\n\n3. A device according to claim 1 wherein the electronic alarm and the electronic control are embodied in a single electronic apparatus that is detachable from the device.\n\n4. A device for controlling the flow of a gas from a gas container, comprising\na gas flow passageway through the device and having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is configured to be sealingly attached to the gas container to receive the gas from the gas container;\na valve in the passageway capable of controllably closing or opening the passageway to the flow of gas therethrough;\na manually operable selector operatively connected to the valve to enable adjustment of the position of the valve to a closed position and one or more open positions by movement of the selector;\na pressure sensor capable of detecting the pressure of the gas in the gas container when the device is sealingly attached to the gas container and of generating an electronic signal corresponding to the detected pressure;\nan electronic alarm capable of being actuated to signify the presence of an alarm state audibly, visibly, or both audibly and visibly; and\nan electronic control configured to determine whether the device is in an active use state or a passive use state based on the position setting of the valve and the pressure of the gas in the gas container;\nthe electronic control further configured to deactivate the electronic alarm when the device is in a passive use state;\nthe electronic control configured to calculate as a function of the detected position setting and the detected periodic pressures the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the gas container will reach a predetermined lower threshold;\nthe electronic control further configured to generate a signal actuating the electronic alarm when the device is in an active use state and the amount of gas in the gas container reaches the predetermined lower threshold.\n\n5. A device according to claim 4 further comprising an electronic control connected to the pressure sensor, which is: (1) capable of detecting the position setting of the valve; is (2) capable of repeatedly at periodic predetermined time frequencies (i) detecting from the pressure sensor the pressure of gas in the container, and (ii) calculating as a function of the detected position setting and the repeatedly detected periodic pressures the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the container will reach a first predetermined threshold; and is (3) capable of generating an alarm signal to actuate the electronic alarm when the amount of the gas in the gas container reaches a preset threshold which is the same as or higher than the first predetermined threshold.\n\n6. A device according to claim 5 further comprising an electronic display that is capable of displaying information in digital and/or analog form, and that is electronically connected to the electronic control to receive the information signal and display the information corresponding to one or more states of the gas in the gas container.\n\n7. A method for controlling the flow of a gas from a gas container, comprising the steps of:\nadministering the gas from the gas container via a device that is sealingly attached to the gas container to receive the gas from the gas container; the device comprises a gas flow passageway through the device, a gas flow valve disposed in the passageway and capable of controllably closing or opening the passageway to the flow of gas therethrough, a manually operable selector operatively connected to the valve to enable adjustment of the position of the valve to a closed position and one or more open positions by movement of the selector, a pressure sensor capable of detecting the pressure of the gas in the gas container, and an electronic control configured to determine whether the device is in an active use state or a passive use state based on the position setting of the valve, the pressure of the gas in the gas container;\nperiodically calculating during the active use state the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the gas container will reach a predetermined lower threshold as a function of the position setting of the valve and the detected pressure of the gas in the gas container;\ndisplaying the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the gas container will reach the predetermined lower threshold on an electronic display;\nconcurrently displaying the detected pressure of the gas in the gas container on the electronic display in digital or analog form concurrent with the display of the interval of time remaining until the amount of gas in the gas container will reach the predetermined lower threshold; and\nwherein the electronic control is configured to activate an electronic alarm when the detected pressure is below the predetermined lower threshold when the device is in the active use state; and\nwherein the electronic control is configured to deactivate the electronic alarm when the device is in a passive use state."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hybrid Vehicle, And Control Method For Hybrid Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a hybrid vehicle including an engine and a motor or motor generator as driving force sources, and a control method for the hybrid vehicle. Particularly, the invention relates to a hybrid vehicle configured to be able to separate an engine from a driving force transmission system, and a control method for the hybrid vehicle. 2. Description of Related Art A hybrid vehicle including a motor or a motor generator (hereinafter, these may be collectively referred to as motor) as a power source together with an engine has various advantages. For example, the hybrid vehicle is able to stop the engine (stop the engine at idle), is able to regenerate energy with the use of the motor during deceleration, and is able to operate the engine at an operating point at which energy efficiency is high. Particularly, by extending a time in which the hybrid vehicle travels with the use of the motor, the effect of improving the fuel economy of the vehicle as a whole increases. This is because the engine is stopped and no fuel is consumed in the case of motor running. In this case, in order to reduce a power loss resulting from rotation together with the engine, it is desirable to separate the engine from the motor that outputs driving force for propelling the vehicle or from a power transmission system that transmits the driving force to wheels. When such a clutch for separating the engine is provided, an operation mode in which the engine is stopped or driven is selected during motor running. The hybrid vehicle including the clutch for separating the engine is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 08-295140 (JP 08-295140 A). The configuration will be simply described. A generator is coupled to a first rotating element in a differential mechanism, such as a planetary gear mechanism, including three rotating elements, a second rotating element serves as an output element, and a third rotating element is coupled to braking means. The engine is coupled to the third rotating element via the clutch. Thus, with the configuration described in JP 08-295140 A, the differential mechanism functions as a speed reducer or a speed increaser when the third rotating element is fixed by the engine or the braking means, so it is possible to cause the generator coupled to the first rotating element to function as the motor and to transmit the torque to the output element. That is, the hybrid vehicle is able to travel by using power that is output from the generator and the motor. When a one-way clutch that is engaged to fix the third rotating element when torque in a direction to rotate the third rotating element in the reverse direction acts on the third rotating element is employed as the braking means, the third rotating element is allowed to be fixed not by the engine but by the one-way clutch during motor running, and the clutch is also allowed to be separated from the third rotating element. Therefore, it is possible to continue driving the engine or stop the engine. During engine running, that is, when the hybrid vehicle travels by transmitting the output torque of the engine as driving force, it is possible to control the rotation speed of the engine coupled to the third rotating element via the clutch by controlling the rotation speed of the generator coupled to the first rotating element. That is, the differential mechanism is allowed to function as a continuously variable transmission. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-023024 (JP 2013-023024 A) describes a hybrid vehicle including a differential mechanism having one rotating element to which an engine is coupled and the other rotating element to which a motor generator is coupled. The hybrid vehicle is configured to crank the engine by using the output torque of the motor generator and to control the output torque of the motor generator such that the output torque acts on the differential mechanism as reaction force after the engine is started. Specifically, when a required driving force after the engine is started is relatively small, a target rotation speed of the engine is also low. Therefore, in order for the engine rotation speed to quickly follow the target rotation speed after an engine start, the output torque of the motor generator is configured to rapidly increase. When a required driving force after the engine is started is relatively large, the target rotation speed of the engine is also high.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAt the time of changing from an EV mode, in which a hybrid vehicle travels with the use of a second motor provided on an output side of a differential mechanism while torque that acts on any one of rotating elements of the differential mechanism is interrupted by a clutch, to an HV mode, in which the hybrid vehicle travels while transmitting output torque of an engine to a drive wheel, when the engine is started in a state where the clutch is slipped and torque is transmitted from the engine so as to increase the rotation speed of the first rotating element while the clutch is slipped, torque starts being output from a first motor such that torque input from the first rotating element to the differential mechanism to increase the rotation speed of the drive wheel is output from the third rotating element."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A hybrid vehicle comprising:\nan engine;\na drive wheel;\na first motor;\na second motor transmitting torque to the drive wheel;\na differential mechanism including\na first rotating element transmitting torque of the engine,\na second rotating element transmitting torque of the first motor, and\na third rotating element transmitting torque to the drive wheel;\na clutch controlling a capacity of torque that acts on any one of the first rotating element, the second rotating element and the third rotating element; and\na control unit configured to change from an EV mode, in which the hybrid vehicle travels in a state where the clutch is released and an output torque of the second motor is transmitted to the drive wheel, to an HV mode, in which the hybrid vehicle travels in a state where the clutch is engaged and an output torque of the engine is transmitted to the drive wheel, in the following manner,\n(a) starting the engine in a state where the clutch is slipped, and\n(b) increasing a rotation speed of the drive wheel by outputting torque from the first motor such that torque input from the first rotating element to the differential mechanism is output from the third rotating element, when torque is transmitted from the engine while a rotation speed of the first rotating element is rising in a state where the clutch is slipped,\nwherein the control unit is further configured to control an output torque of the first motor to zero when the control unit starts the engine.\n\n2. The hybrid vehicle according to claim 1, wherein\nthe control unit is further configured to increase the rotation speed of the drive wheel by outputting torque from the first motor such that torque input from the first rotating element to the differential mechanism is output from the third rotating element, when a rotation speed of the engine becomes higher than or equal to the rotation speed of the first rotating element.\n\n3. A control method for a hybrid vehicle including\nan engine,\na drive wheel,\na first motor,\na second motor transmitting torque to the drive wheel,\na differential mechanism including\na first rotating element transmitting torque of the engine,\na second rotating element transmitting torque of the first motor, and\na third rotating element transmitting torque to the drive wheel;\na clutch controlling a capacity of torque that acts on any one of the first rotating element, the second rotating element and the third rotating element; and\na control unit, the control method comprising:\nchanging from an EV mode, in which the hybrid vehicle travels in a state where the clutch is released and an output torque of the second motor is transmitted to the drive wheel, to an HV mode, in which the hybrid vehicle travels in a state where the clutch is engaged and an output torque of the engine is transmitted to the drive wheel, by the control unit in the following manner,\n(a) starting the engine in a state where the clutch is slipped, and\n(b) increasing a rotation speed of the drive wheel by outputting torque from the first motor such that torque input from the first rotating element to the differential mechanism is output from the third rotating element, when torque is transmitted from the engine while a rotation speed of the first rotating element is rising in a state where the clutch is slipped, and\ncontrolling an output torque of the first motor to zero when the control unit starts the engine.\n\n4. The control method according to claim 3, further comprising:\nincreasing the rotation speed of the drive wheel by outputting torque from the first motor such that torque input from the first rotating element to the differential mechanism is output from the third rotating element, when a rotation speed of the engine becomes higher than or equal to the rotation speed of the first rotating element."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Device For Immobilizing An Object\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe invention relates to a device for securing an object, in particular a seat in a vehicle, on a rail by means of at least one fastening element which is disposed on a reinforcement which is inserted into the rail. In many instances of daily life a device for securing the object on an arbitrary rail is required. The present invention relates above all to securing seats in a vehicle, and herein in particular to fastening seats of the second and subsequent rows in vans and minibuses. There are two approaches to this: Displaceable seat position: The passenger is able to longitudinally adjust the seat/the seat row in a stepless or stepped manner in the vehicle using a handle. A respective device is shown in DE 102 01 622 A. The rail here is fixedly connected to the vehicle floor. Said rail for guiding a slider has an undercut region which extends in the longitudinal direction, as well as a plurality of cutouts on a longitudinal groove, which are disposed at regular spacing. The slider here contains an elongate pair of strip elements which are fixedly interconnected and which for being guided in a sliding manner in the undercut region of the rail have a sliding element of plastics. Fixed seat position: The seats/seat rows are fixedly screwed to rails or by way of stud bolts; displacement if at all can only be implemented in a complex manner. The constructions which are known in each case are very complex since they have to meet higher crash requirements. A longidutinal adjustment device for a vehicle seat, having an upper rail and a lower rail which are mutually separable, is known from DE 10 2010 063 615 A1. Here, a rail profile on which a locking element of an upper rail may be secured sits in a lower rail. A device of the type mentioned above is known from DE 100 36 553 A1. Here, an insert element for securing seats is displaceably disposed in a rail. It is an object of the present invention to develop a very simple and cost-effective variant for the objects in order for them to be secured.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA device for immobilizing an object, in particular a seat in a vehicle, on a rail (1) by at least one securing element (4.1, 4.2). The securing element (4.1, 4.2) is arranged on a reinforcement (2) which is inserted into the rail (1)."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A device for securing an object, in particular a seat in a vehicle, comprising\na rail ( 1 ) having a base ( 6 ), two vertical side flanges ( 5. 1, 5. 2 ) extending upwardly from the base ( 6 ), and horizontal side flanges ( 7. 1, 7. 2 ) extending laterally from the vertical side flanges ( 5. 1, 5. 2 ), the vertical side flanges ( 5. 1, 5. 2 ) defining downwardly opening grooves ( 11. 1, 11. 2 ), and\nat least one fastening element ( 4. 1, 4. 2 ) disposed on a reinforcement ( 2 ) which is inserted into the rail ( 1 ), wherein the reinforcement ( 2 ) has a base ( 10 ) and two free legs ( 9. 1, 9. 2 ) extending upwardly into and guided by the downwardly opening grooves ( 11. 1, 11. 2 ), wherein the free legs ( 9. 1, 9. 2 ) extend straight upwardly into the downwardly opening grooves, and the base ( 10 ) of the reinforcement is adjacent to the base ( 6 ) of the rail, and wherein the reinforcement ( 2 ) is fixed in the rail ( 1 ) against longitudinal movement along the rail ( 1 ).\n\n2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reinforcement ( 2 ) is composed of a bent sheet steel panel.\n\n3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reinforcement ( 2 ) has a U-shaped profile.\n\n4. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail ( 1 ) in the cross section is a U-shaped design.\n\n5. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a fastening ( 12 ) is inserted into the rail ( 1 ) through a clearance of the reinforcement ( 2 ).\n\n6. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one receiving bolt ( 4. 1, 4. 2 ) is assigned to the reinforcement ( 2 ) as a fastening element for the object.\n\n7. The device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the rail ( 1 ) has incorporated longitudinal grooves ( 13. 1, 13. 2 ) for partially receiving the at least one receiving bolt."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Tracking Objects Within A Dynamic Environment For Improved Localization\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to the field of vehicle navigation systems, and, more particularly, to vehicle navigation systems which can be utilized when lane line markings have become degraded, obscured, or are nonexistent. 2. Related Art Active safety and driver assist features such as lane departure warning, low-speed lane keeping (Traffic Jam Assist\u2014TJA), high speed lane keeping (Highway Assist\u2014HA) as well as fully autonomous vehicle operation rely upon localization of the vehicle within the lane to provide their functionality. Localization is defined as a computational problem of constructing or updating a map of an unknown environment while simultaneously keeping track of a vehicle's location within it. In general, each of these systems relies upon multiple sensor suites to provide robust and accurate positioning. Examples of currently relied upon sensor suites are: camera, stereo cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS), and LIDAR. However, in instances when lane lines become degraded, obscured, or are nonexistent, the camera and LIDAR based solutions are prone to failure. In addition, GPS on its own is not accurate enough for lane-level localization and is prone to dropping out as a result of urban or natural canyon scenarios. To facilitate the continued use of these active safety/driver assist features during occasions when positioning sensors operate in a high error or even failed state it is possible to dead reckon based on the last known position, as well as knowledge of the trajectory of the vehicle. It is possible to perform this reckoning using the vehicle on-board Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors, which are a suite of body fixed accelerometers and gyroscopes used to estimate vehicle velocity states. However, when integrating these signals in an effort to estimate position states, small bias errors can quickly accumulate into large position estimation errors. An improved reckoning of position state can be achieved via odometry from the vehicle's four wheel-speed sensors. While these sensors provide a robust estimate of longitudinal position, they are unable to accurately estimate lateral position changes of the vehicle. Thus, in the event of faulty or nonexistent lane level perception data, limited, if any, solutions exist for continued operation of the aforementioned active safety and vehicle assist features.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for tracking objects within a dynamic environment for improved localization. Sensing devices are utilized to gather data about a vehicle's environment. In cases where the sensor data has become degraded, such as data indicating that lane lines have become degraded, obscured, or nonexistent, the vehicle computer system uses previously detected sensor data to estimate the speed and direction of travel of moving objects. The computer system then estimates the location of the moving objects after a specified period of time based on the estimated speed and direction of the moving object. The computer system utilizes this information to localize the vehicle within the dynamic environment and to control the configuration of the vehicle."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for tracking objects within a dynamic environment for improved localization, the method comprising:\ndetecting that sensor data for objects within the dynamic environment has degraded;\nestimating a speed and direction of travel for moving objects from previously detected sensor data;\nestimating a location of moving objects after a specified period of time, including for each moving object calculating a new position of the moving object based on an initial position and an initial velocity of the moving object, and the specified period of time;\nlocalizing a vehicle within the dynamic environment; and\nusing the localization to control a configuration of the vehicle.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting that sensor data for objects within the dynamic environment has degraded comprises detecting that lane lines on a roadway have become one or more of: degraded, obscured, or nonexistent.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein using the localization to control a configuration of the vehicle comprises using localization to control one or more of: acceleration, speed, or direction for the vehicle.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein localizing a vehicle within the dynamic environment comprises localizing the vehicle within the dynamic environment within a specified confidence interval.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein localizing the vehicle within the dynamic environment comprises calculating the configuration of the vehicle to maintain safe operation of the vehicle.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein using the localization to control the configuration of the vehicle comprises utilizing the vehicle control system to place the vehicle in a safe configuration.\n\n7. A method for use at a vehicle computer system, the computer system including one or more processors and system memory, the method for tracking objects within a dynamic environment for improved localization, the method comprising the processor:\ndetecting that sensor data for objects within the dynamic environment has degraded, the sensor data having been gathered by a plurality of sensors at the vehicle, the sensor data indicating the configuration of objects within the dynamic environment, the objects including one or more static objects and one or more dynamic objects;\nin response to detecting that the sensor data has become degraded, for each of the one or more dynamic objects:\nestimating a speed and direction of travel for the dynamic object from previously detected sensor data; and\nestimating a location of the dynamic object after a specified period of time, including calculating a new position for the dynamic object based on an initial position and an initial velocity of the dynamic object, and the specified period of time;\nusing a localization to control a configuration of the vehicle within the dynamic environment.\n\n8. The method of claim 7, further comprising obtaining the sensor data from one or more sensors, the one or more sensors selected from among: a camera, a global positioning systems (GPS), a LIDAR, a radar, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, and a inertial measurement unit (IMU).\n\n9. The method of claim 7, wherein detecting that sensor data for objects within the dynamic environment has degraded comprises detecting that lane lines on a roadway have become one or more of: degraded, obscured, or nonexistent.\n\n10. The method of claim 7, wherein using a localization to control the configuration of the vehicle within the dynamic environment comprises localizing the vehicle within the dynamic environment within a specified confidence interval.\n\n11. The method of claim 7, wherein using a localization to control the configuration of the vehicle within the dynamic environment comprises indicating that there was a fault in using the localization to control the configuration of the vehicle.\n\n12. The method of claim 7, wherein estimating a speed and direction of travel for the dynamic object from previously detected sensor data comprises identifying an object that is traveling in essentially the same direction as the vehicle.\n\n13. The method of claim 7, wherein estimating a speed and direction of travel for the dynamic object from previously detected sensor data comprises identifying an object that is traveling in essentially the opposite direction as the vehicle.\n\n14. The method of claim 7, further comprising, creating a map of the dynamic environment of the vehicle wherein the map is based on at least one of: a lane marking on the road, a geographic location of the vehicle, and a predetermined map of the road.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, further comprising localizing the vehicle within the dynamic environment based on the estimated locations for the one or more dynamic objects, including calculating a configuration for the vehicle to maintain safe autonomous operations in a roadway environment.\n\n16. A computer system, the computer system comprising:\none or more processors;\nsystem memory coupled to the one or more processors, the system memory storing instructions that are executable by the one or more processors; and\nthe one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to track objects within a dynamic environment, including the following:\ndetect that sensor data for objects within the dynamic environment has degraded;\nestimate a speed and direction of travel for moving objects from previously detected sensor data;\nestimate a location of moving objects after a specified period of time;\nlocalize a vehicle within the dynamic environment within a specified confidence interval; and\nuse the localization to control a configuration of the vehicle.\n\n17. The computer system of claim 16, further comprising the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to obtain the sensor data for the objects within the dynamic environment from one or more sensors, the one or more sensors selected from among: a camera, a global positioning systems (GPS), a LIDAR, a radar, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, and a inertial measurement unit (IMU).\n\n18. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to use the localization to control a configuration of the vehicle comprises the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to indicate that there was a fault in using the localization to control the configuration of the vehicle within the dynamic environment.\n\n19. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to use the localization to estimate a speed and direction of travel for moving objects from previously detected sensor data comprises the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to identify an object that is traveling in essentially the opposite direction as the vehicle.\n\n20. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to estimate a location of moving objects after a specified period of time comprises the one or more processors executing the instructions stored in the system memory to, for each moving object, calculate a new position of the moving object based on an initial position and an initial velocity of the moving object, and the specified period of time."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Saddle-Type Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Disclosure The present disclosure relates to saddle-type vehicles driven by a driver straddling on a seat with steering a bar handle. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, vehicles have been provided with an idle-stop apparatus for automatically stopping an engine when a vehicle is stopped in view of improvement of fuel consumption and environmental problems. Although the idle-stop apparatus have been applied to many four-wheeled vehicles such as automobiles, it is recently proposed to apply the idle-stop apparatus to the saddle-type vehicles such as two-wheeled vehicles with a bar handle for steering driven by a driver straddling on a seat. For example, as disclosed in JP 2010-163879 A, it is shown a two-wheeled vehicle provided with an idle-stop apparatus which is structured so that the idle-stop can be achieved subject to conditions of vehicle speed lower than a predetermined speed, in addition to throttle opening, presence or absence of a driver on a seat. Thus, the idle-stop is performed by stopping an engine just before stop of a vehicle and accordingly, it is possible to keep the fuel-cut state during deceleration of a vehicle until stop of a vehicle and thus to improve the fuel consumption.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA saddle-type vehicle can be configured to perform idle-stop during deceleration corresponding to a driver's demand. In some embodiments, the vehicle comprises a bar handle mounted on its opposite tip ends with a grasping grip grasped by the driver and a throttle grip for accelerator operation; two operation controls for performing braking operation, at least one of which being a first brake and a second brake mounted on tip ends of the bar handle; and an engine controller for automatically stopping an engine and making the engine an idle-stop state. In some cases, the saddle-type vehicle further comprises a judgment controller for judging whether a simultaneous operation of the first and second brakes has been achieved; and the engine controller performs the idle-stop during deceleration of the vehicle when the judgment controller judges that the simultaneous operation of the first and second brakes has been performed."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A saddle-type vehicle which can be driven by a driver straddling a seat with steering a bar handle, the vehicle comprising:\nthe bar handle having opposite tip ends, the bar handle on one tip end having a grasping grip configured to be grasped by a driver and a throttle grip on the other tip end for accelerator operation;\ntwo operation means for performing braking operation, at least one of operation means being one of a first brake means and a second brake means and at least one of the first and second brake means being mounted on a tip end of the bar handle; and\nan engine control means for automatically stopping an engine and transitioning the engine to an idle-stop state wherein:\nthe saddle-type vehicle further comprises:\na judgment means for judging whether a respective operation of the first and second brake means has been achieved; and\na clutch control means for controlling a clutch so that the clutch engages in creep control enabling the vehicle to travel during a state of no-accelerator operation during idling of the engine;\nthe engine control means is configured to perform the idle-stop during deceleration of the vehicle when the judgment means judges that a simultaneous operation of the first and second brake means has been performed; and\nthe creep control by the clutch control means is performed when the judgment means judges that the second brake means has been operated but the first brake means has not been operated when the accelerator operation of the throttle grip is not performed and the engine is not in the idle-stop state.\n\n2. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 1 wherein the first brake means comprises an operating means mounted on the tip end of the bar handle to which the throttle grip is mounted.\n\n3. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 2 wherein the judgment means is configured to judge that the first brake means has been operated when the first brake means is continuously operated for a predetermined period of time.\n\n4. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 1 wherein the judgment means is configured to judge when the speed of a vehicle is lower than a predetermined speed and to make the engine control means perform the idle-stop when the judgment means determines that the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined speed and that the first and second brake means are simultaneously operated.\n\n5. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 2 wherein the judgment means is configured to judge when the speed of a vehicle is lower than a predetermined speed and to make the engine control means perform the idle-stop when the judgment means determines that the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined speed and that the first and second brake means are simultaneously operated.\n\n6. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 3 wherein the judgment means is configured to judge when the speed of a vehicle is lower than a predetermined speed and to make the engine control means perform the idle-stop when the judgment means determines that the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined speed and that the first and second brake means are simultaneously operated.\n\n7. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 1 wherein the clutch control means is configured to perform the creep control subject to judgment of the judgment means that the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined speed, accelerator operation by the throttle grip is not made, and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brake means is not performed.\n\n8. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 1 wherein the vehicle further comprises a stepwise variable transmission provided with a dog clutch, and wherein the idle-stop by the engine control means is configured to be performed subject to judgment of the judgment means that a dog clutch of the stepwise variable transmission is in a power transmission state and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brake means is performed.\n\n9. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 4 wherein the vehicle further comprises a stepwise variable transmission provided with a dog clutch, and wherein the idle-stop by the engine control means is configured to be performed subject to judgment of the judgment means that a dog clutch of the stepwise variable transmission is in a power transmission state and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brake means is performed.\n\n10. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 1 wherein the vehicle further comprises a continuously variable transmission, and wherein the idle-stop by the engine control means is configured to be performed subject to judgment of the judgment means that a gear ratio of the continuously variable transmission is a predetermined value or more and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brake means is performed.\n\n11. A saddle-type vehicle which can be driven by a driver straddling a seat with steering a bar handle, the vehicle comprising:\nthe bar handle having opposite tip ends, the bar handle on one tip end having a grasping grip configured to be grasped by a driver and a throttle grip on the other tip end for accelerator operation;\ntwo operation controllers configured to perform braking operations, wherein at least one of operation controllers is one of a first brake and a second brake and at least one of the first and second brakes is mounted on a tip end of the bar handle; and\nan engine controller configured to automatically stop an engine and transition the engine to an idle-stop state wherein:\nthe saddle-type vehicle further comprises:\na judgment controller configured to judge whether a respective operation of the first and second brakes has been achieved; and\na clutch controller configured to control a clutch such that the clutch engages in creep control to enable the vehicle to travel during a state of no-accelerator operation during idling of the engine;\nthe engine controller is configured to perform the idle-stop during deceleration of the vehicle when the judgment controller judges that a simultaneous operation of the first and second brakes has been performed; and\nthe creep control by the clutch controller is configured to be performed when the judgment controller judges that the second brake has been operated but the first brake has not been operated when the accelerator operation of the throttle grip is not performed and the engine is not in the idle-stop state.\n\n12. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 11 wherein the first brake comprises an operating controller mounted on the tip end of the bar handle to which the throttle grip is mounted.\n\n13. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 12 wherein the judgment controller is configured to judge that the first brake has been operated when the first brake is continuously operated for a predetermined period of time.\n\n14. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 11 wherein the judgment controller is configured to judge when the speed of a vehicle is lower than a predetermined speed and to make the engine controller perform the idle-stop when the judgment controller determines that the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined speed and that the first and second brakes are simultaneously operated.\n\n15. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 12 wherein the judgment controller is configured to judge when the speed of a vehicle is lower than a predetermined speed and to make the engine controller perform the idle-stop when the judgment controller determines that the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined speed and that the first and second brakes are simultaneously operated.\n\n16. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 13 wherein the judgment controller is configured to judge when the speed of a vehicle is lower than a predetermined speed and to make the engine controller perform the idle-stop when the judgment controller determines that the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined speed and that the first and second brakes are simultaneously operated.\n\n17. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 11 wherein the creep control by the clutch controller is configured to be performed subject to judgment of the judgment controller that the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined speed, accelerator operation by the throttle grip is not made, and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brakes is not performed.\n\n18. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 11 wherein the vehicle further comprises a stepwise variable transmission provided with a dog clutch, and wherein the idle-stop by the engine controller is configured to be performed subject to judgment of the judgment controller that a dog clutch of the stepwise variable transmission is in a power transmission state and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brakes is performed.\n\n19. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 14 wherein the vehicle further comprises a stepwise variable transmission provided with a dog clutch, and wherein the idle-stop by the engine controller is configured to be performed subject to judgment of the judgment controller that a dog clutch of the stepwise variable transmission is in a power transmission state and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brakes is performed.\n\n20. The saddle-type vehicle of claim 11 wherein the vehicle further comprises a continuously variable transmission, and wherein the idle-stop by the engine controller is configured to be performed subject to judgment of the judgment controller that a gear ratio of the continuously variable transmission is a predetermined value or more and a simultaneous operation of the first and second brakes is performed."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Transmitter Precoding For Optimizing Positioning Performance\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn the context of wireless communications, when measuring time of arrival (ToA) in multi-path environment, a receiver typically receives multiple components each of which representing a distinct path. The shortest path between the transmitter and the receiver is often the path along a line of sight (LoS). The first signal that arrives at the receiver is referred to as the LoS component. The time it takes for the LoS component to travel from the transmitter to the receiver is the time used for calculating the distance between the transmitter and the receiver. However, as the signal strength of the LoS component tends to be weak compared to the signal strength of non-LoS components, it is difficult to identify and measure the time of the LoS component. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , the LoS component may be barely identifiable or not even identifiable due to its weak signal strength compared to the noise while the non-LoS components are stronger in signal strength and hence relatively more identifiable. This would result in a non-LoS component being mistakenly identified as the first component, and hence the \u201cLoS component\u201d, and consequently lead to inaccuracy in the measurement of ToA and calculation of distance. In some cases, there may be one or more non-LoS components that arrive at the receiver very close in time to the arrival of the LoS component. This also makes it difficult to identify and measure the ToA of the LoS component.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDescribed herein are techniques related to transmitter precoding for optimizing positioning performance. The techniques are directed to transmit signals with relatively higher transmission power, in a direction along the line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver, than signals transmitted in other directions. The techniques render the first signal arriving at the receiver, as it travels along the line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver, to have stronger signal strength than the signal strengths of other signals that travel through non-LoS paths to reach the receiver."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A device comprising:\nat least one receiver;\nat least one memory storing computer-executable instructions; and\nat least one processor configured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:\nidentify a first preamble received by the at least one receiver from a first device at a first direction;\nidentify, a second preamble received by the at least on receiver from the first device at a second direction;\ndetermine a first signal characteristic associated with the first preamble;\ndetermine a second signal characteristic associated with the second preamble;\ndetermine that the first signal characteristic is greater than the second signal characteristic;\ndetermine an estimate of a first channel at the first direction based at least in part on the first signal characteristic being greater than the second signal characteristic; and\nidentify a payload, received in the first direction from the first device, by the at least one receiver.\n\n2. The device of claim 1, further comprising at least one transmitter coupled to the at least one transceiver.\n\n3. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute computer-executable instructions to:\ncompare the first signal characteristic and the second signal characteristic; and\nselect the first direction when the first signal characteristic is greater than the second signal characteristic.\n\n4. The device of claim 3, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute computer-executable instructions to:\ndetermine a line of sight between the device and the first device based at least in part on the second signal characteristic\ndetermine an estimate of a second channel associated with the first device based at least in part on the second signal characteristic.\n\n5. The device of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:\ndetermine the estimate of the second channel is based at least in part on a first time of arrival of the first preamble and a second time of arrival of the second preamble.\n\n6. The device of claim 4, wherein the estimate of the second channel associated with the first device is based at least in part on the line of sight between the device and the first device.\n\n7. The device of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:\ndetermine the estimate of the second channel is based at least in part on the first time of arrival is greater than the second time of arrival.\n\n8. The device of claim 1, wherein the first signal characteristic is a first signal strength associated with the first preamble and the second signal characteristic is a second signal strength associated with the second preamble.\n\n9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:\ndetermining a first direction to transmit a first preamble to a first device;\ndetermining a first signal characteristic associated with the first direction;\ndetermining a second direction to transmit a second preamble to the first device;\ndetermining a second signal characteristic associated with the first direction, wherein the first signal characteristic is greater than the second signal characteristic; and\ncausing to send:\nthe first preamble and a payload, in the first direction at a first transmission power level, to the first device, and\nthe second preamble and the payload, in the second direction at a second transmission level, to the first device.\n\n10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the second direction is a first angular distance from the first direction.\n\n11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising operations of:\ndetermining the first level of transmission power associated with the first direction; and\ndetermining the second level of transmission power associated with the second direction.\n\n12. A method comprising:\nidentifying, a first preamble from a first device at a first direction;\nidentifying, a second preamble from the first device at a second direction;\ndetermining, by the one or more processors, a first signal characteristic associated with the first preamble;\ndetermining, by the one or more processors, a second signal characteristic associated with the second preamble;\ndetermining that the first signal characteristic is greater than the second signal characteristic;\ndetermining an estimate of a first channel at the first direction based at least in part on the first signal characteristic being greater than the second signal characteristic; and\nidentifying a payload, received in the first direction from the first device, by the at least one receiver.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:\ncomparing the first signal characteristic and the second signal characteristic;\nselecting the first direction when the first signal characteristic is greater than the second signal characteristic.\n\n14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining an estimate of a second channel associated with the first device based at least in part on the second signal characteristic.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first signal characteristic is a first signal strength associated with the first preamble and the second signal characteristic is a second signal strength associated with the second preamble.\n\n16. The method of claim 14, wherein the estimate of the second channel associated with the first device is based at least in part on the line of sight between the first device and the second device.\n\n17. The method of claim 14, wherein the estimate of the second channel associated with the first device is based at least in part on the line of sight between the first device and the second device.\n\n18. The method of claim 14, wherein a first time of arrival of the first preamble is greater than a second time of arrival of the second preamble.\n\n19. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining a line of sight between the first device and a second device based at least in part on the second signal characteristic."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Container System For Transporting One Or More Objects By Pulling A Rope\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nTransporting large units or heavy equipment can be very troublesome, particularly when the transportation occurs in confined spaces and over uneven grounds. For example, installing a HVAC unit or water heater underneath a structure, such as through a crawl space of a house, often requires multiple people dragging expensive equipment and tools over the uneven ground in order to reach a desired location. Often time, a HVAC unit or water heater can become damaged after being rolled or dragged through a tight crawl space. Due to the large size and weight of many of these units, several people are needed to maneuver and position the units in an attempt to minimize any damage thereto. There thus exists a need for a way to safely and effectively transport one or more objects over a surface to a desired location, particularly in confined spaces such as crawl spaces. Further, there exists a need for a way to transport such objects with only one or two people. Disclosed herein are one or more systems and containers that advantageously addresses these issues. The one or more systems and containers may be used for the HVAC or water heater installation example provided herein, or for use in transporting any object through rough or uneven terrain.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nContainer systems for transporting one or more objects, and methods of using, are provided. The container system includes a substantially rectangular symmetrical tray for supporting the one or more objects, the tray being unitarily constructed and defining a base, two opposing longitudinal sides extending away from the base, and two opposing latitudinal sides extending away from the base. Further, the container system includes at least two runners defined by the underside of the base and extending the length of the base in the direction of the longitudinal sides. The container system further has a first rope engaged with two latitudinal first holes positioned on a first latitudinal side and a second rope engaged with two latitudinal second holes positioned on a second latitudinal side."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A container system for transporting one or more objects across a surface comprising:\na unitarily constructed tray for supporting the one or more objects defining:\na base;\ntwo opposing longitudinal sides extending away from the base;\ntwo opposing latitudinal sides extending away from the base;\nat least two runners extending along the base in the direction of the longitudinal sides;\nat least one longitudinal handle defined by each of the longitudinal sides;\nat least two longitudinal supports defined by each of the longitudinal sides, positioned proximally to the at least one longitudinal handle, and extending away from the base for providing longitudinal support;\na first rope engaged with two latitudinal first holes positioned on a first latitudinal side;\na second rope engaged with two latitudinal second holes positioned on a second latitudinal side;\na first pull support positioned inside of the first latitudinal side and extending between, and engaged with, ends of the first rope;\na second pull support positioned inside of the second latitudinal side and extending between, and engaged with, ends of the second rope.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one latitudinal handle defined by each of the latitudinal sides.\n\n3. The system of claim 2, further comprising at least two latitudinal supports defined by each of the latitudinal sides and extending away from the base for providing latitudinal support.\n\n4. The system of claim 3, wherein each of the latitudinal supports extends from an end of a respective runner, wherein each runner has two ends that each taper towards a latitudinal side.\n\n5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a drain outlet for draining liquids from the tray.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, wherein an edge of the longitudinal sides and the latitudinal sides located furthest from the base each defines a rounded rail for providing additional support.\n\n7. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the latitudinal first holes and the latitudinal second holes is reinforced with a circular ring.\n\n8. The system of claim 1, wherein the base is substantially flat or ribbed.\n\n9. A method for transporting one or more objects, comprising:\nplacing the one or more objects in a unitarily constructed tray for supporting the one or more objects, the tray defining:\na base;\ntwo opposing longitudinal sides extending away from the base;\ntwo opposing latitudinal sides extending away from the base;\nat least two runners extending along the base in the direction of the longitudinal sides;\nat least one longitudinal handle defined by each of the longitudinal sides;\nat least two longitudinal supports defined by each of the longitudinal sides, positioned proximally to the at least one longitudinal handle, and extending away from the base for providing longitudinal support;\npulling a first rope engaged with two latitudinal first holes positioned on a first latitudinal side for transporting the one or more objects in a first direction,\nwherein each end of the first rope is engaged with a first pull support positioned internally of the first latitudinal side for providing support.\n\n10. The method of claim 9, wherein a third rope is engaged with the first rope for transporting the one or more objects in the first direction.\n\n11. The method of claim 9, further comprising pulling a second rope engaged with two latitudinal first holes positioned on a second latitudinal side for transporting the one or more objects in a second direction.\n\n12. The method of claim 11, wherein each end of the second rope is engaged with a second pull support positioned internally of the second latitudinal side for providing support.\n\n13. The method of claim 11, wherein a fourth rope is engaged with the second rope for transporting the one or more objects in the second direction.\n\n14. A container system for transporting one or more objects across a surface comprising:\na unitarily constructed tray for supporting the one or more objects defining:\na base;\ntwo opposing longitudinal sides extending away from the and having a rounded rail on an edge farthest from the base;\nat least two runners extending along the base in the direction of the longitudinal sides;\ntwo opposing latitudinal sides extending away from the base and having a rounded rail on an edge farthest from the base;\nwherein a first latitudinal side defines a first handle, a second latitudinal side defines a second handle, a first longitudinal side defines two longitudinal handles, and a second longitudinal side defines another two longitudinal handles;\nat least two longitudinal supports defined by each of the longitudinal sides, positioned proximally to the at least one longitudinal handle, and extending away from the base for providing longitudinal support;\na first rope engaged with two latitudinal first holes positioned on the first latitudinal side, wherein the first rope is further engaged with a first pull support extending between two ends of the first rope for providing transport support;\na second rope engaged with two latitudinal second holes positioned on the second latitudinal side, wherein the second rope is further engaged with a second pull support extending between two ends of the second rope for providing transport support.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein a third rope is engaged with the first rope for pulling the container system in a first direction.\n\n16. The system of claim 14, further comprising at least two latitudinal supports defined by each of the latitudinal sides and extending away from the base for providing latitudinal support.\n\n17. The system of claim 16, wherein each of the latitudinal supports extends from an end of a respective runner, wherein each runner has two ends that each taper towards a latitudinal side.\n\n18. The system of claim 14, further comprising a drain outlet for draining liquids from the tray.\n\n19. The system of claim 14, wherein an edge of the longitudinal sides and the latitudinal sides located furthest from the base each defines a rounded rail for providing additional support.\n\n20. The system of claim 14, wherein each of the latitudinal first holes and the latitudinal second holes is reinforced with a circular ring."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Server Capable Of Accessing And Rotating Storage Devices Accommodated Therein\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe conventional server system mainly has electronic devices such as the motherboards, the storage devices, and the power supply installed in a casing. The interior space of the casing is usually divided into a plurality of insertion spaces which are provided to accommodate multiple storage devices arranged in an array. The most common storage device includes a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), etc. However, due to the demand of calculation ability and massive data storage, the server needs to accommodate more storage devices in a very limited casing space. Therefore, the structure and configuration of the casing also needs to be changed correspondingly. In order to increase the quantity of the storage devices, the casing of the conventional server is provided with racks arranged parallelly to receive the storage devices. Since it is not easy to pull out or replace and service the storage devices in rack near the motherboard, a simple flexible element is fixed, by screws, to a side wall of the rack, so that the rack is rotatable with respect to the casing. In the conventional server, the storage devices are stacked horizontally in the insertion spaces of the rack, and the quantity of the storage devices is too limited to satisfy the demand. If increasing the quantity of the storage devices, the flexible element on the rack is not able to provide sufficient torque to support the rack and allow its rotation to a certain angle. Accordingly, the inventor made various studies to improve and solve the above-mentioned problem, on the basis of which the present invention is accomplished.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA server capable of rotating and accessing storage devices accommodated therein includes a server chassis, a motherboard, a power supply module, two racks, and a system cooling module. The server chassis includes two side plates and an accommodating space between the two side plates. The power supply module is disposed in the accommodating space and arranged corresponding to the motherboard. The racks are arranged parallel to each other and detachably connected to the server chassis. A pivot structure and a handle for operating the rack are disposed at the rack near the motherboard. The rack is rotatable with respect to the server chassis by means of the pivot structure. The system cooling module is disposed adjacent to the rack. At least one cord passage is provided between the system cooling module and each of the side plates."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A server capable of rotating and accessing storage devices accommodated therein, comprising:\na server chassis including two side plates and an accommodating space between the two side plates;\na motherboard disposed in the accommodating space;\na power supply module disposed in the accommodating space and arranged corresponding to the motherboard, the power supply module being electrically connected to the motherboard;\ntwo racks arranged parallel to each other and detachably connected to the server chassis, each of the racks including a plurality of insertion spaces, the storage devices being vertically accommodated in the insertion spaces respectively, a pivot structure being disposed at one side of the rack near the motherboard; and\na system cooling module disposed in the accommodating space and electrically connected to the motherboard, the system cooling module being disposed adjacent to one side of the rack, wherein a first cord passage is provided between the rack and each of the side plates, a second cord passage is provided between the system cooling module and each of the side plates, and the storage devices disposed in the racks are electrically connected to the motherboard via the first cord passage and the second cord passage,\nwherein the racks are a first supporting body and a second supporting body, the second supporting body is disposed between the first supporting body and the system cooling module, the pivot structure is separated from the second supporting body and disposed on a bottom plate of the server chassis, and a handle is disposed on a supporting plate of the second supporting body.\n\n2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the pivot structure includes a hinge and a fixed bracket and a movable bracket, the fixed bracket and the movable bracket are connected to the hinge, the handle includes a main body, a pivot shaft pivotally connected to the supporting plate, and an operating portion and a hook portion respectively disposed at two sides of the main body.\n\n3. The server according to claim 2, wherein the pivot shaft passes through the main body and is connected to the movable bracket and the supporting plate, and the operating portion is perpendicularly connected to the main body in a direction toward the supporting plate.\n\n4. The server according to claim 2, wherein the pivot structure further includes a bolt protruding from one side of the fixed bracket, one side of the hook portion corresponding to the bolt is provided with an inclined surface, and the inclined surface is slidable to engage the hook portion with the bolt.\n\n5. The server according to claim 2, wherein the main body further includes a hole and a block plate bent from the hole, the block plate protrudes toward the supporting plate, the movable bracket includes a restriction plate adjacent to the hinge, the restriction plate is perpendicularly connected to the movable bracket to obstruct the fixed bracket to thereby restrict a rotation angle of the second supporting body.\n\n6. The server according to claim 2, further comprising a flexible element for restoring the handle, two ends of the flexible elements being connected to the movable bracket and the main body respectively.\n\n7. A server capable of rotating and accessing storage devices accommodated therein, comprising:\na server chassis including two side plates and an accommodating space between the two side plates;\na motherboard disposed in the accommodating space;\na power supply module disposed in the accommodating space and arranged corresponding to the motherboard, the power supply module being electrically connected to the motherboard;\ntwo racks arranged parallel to each other and detachably connected to the server chassis, each of the racks including a plurality of insertion spaces, the storage devices being vertically accommodated in the insertion spaces respectively, a pivot structure being disposed at one side of the rack near the motherboard; and\na system cooling module disposed in the accommodating space and electrically connected to the motherboard, the system cooling module being disposed adjacent to one side of the rack, wherein a first cord passage is provided between the rack and each of the side plates, a second cord passage is provided between the system cooling module and each of the side plates, and the storage devices disposed in the racks are electrically connected to the motherboard via the first cord passage and the second cord passage,\nwherein the system cooling module further includes a fixed frame and a plurality of fans disposed in the fixed frame, a bottom plate of the server chassis is provided with a plurality of connectors, and each of the connectors is electrically connected to the motherboard.\n\n8. The server according to claim 7, wherein the fans are vertically disposed along a direction of the fixed frame and are connected to the respective connectors.\n\n9. The server according to claim 1, further comprising an opening and an electronic device disposed corresponding to the opening, the opening communicating with the accommodating space, the electronic device being electrically connected to the motherboard.\n\n10. The server according to claim 9, wherein the server chassis further includes a partition plate disposed corresponding to the motherboard, and the partition plate divides the accommodating space into a first layer and a second layer.\n\n11. The server according to claim 10, wherein the electronic device and the power supply module are disposed in the first layer, and the mother board with a plurality of input/output ports is selectively disposed in the second layer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Active Pixel Sensor Having A Raised Source/Drain\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIntegrated circuits (IC) with image sensors are used in PC cameras and cell phones, for example. Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices have become popular IC image sensors, largely replacing charge-coupled devices (CCD). CMOS image sensors include passive pixel sensors (PPS) and active pixel sensors (APS). An APS includes at least one photodiode and an amplifier within each cell of the pixel array. The amplifier can be configured as a source follower driven by the pixel itself.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to an integrated circuit having a device. The device has a first raised source/drain area arranged over a first source/drain region of a substrate, and a second raised source/drain area arranged over a second source/drain region of the substrate. A first gate stack has a dielectric layer positioned over the substrate and an overlying conductive layer. The first gate stack is laterally between the first raised source/drain area and the second raised source/drain area. Sidewall spacers are located over the dielectric layer and laterally between the first gate stack and the first raised source/drain area and the second raised source/drain area."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A device, comprising:\na first raised source/drain area arranged over a first source/drain region of a substrate;\na second raised source/drain area arranged over a second source/drain region of the substrate;\na first gate stack positioned over the substrate and comprising a lower dielectric layer, a conductive layer on the lower dielectric layer, and an upper dielectric layer on the conductive layer, wherein the first gate stack is laterally between the first raised source/drain area and the second raised source/drain area and wherein the first raised source/drain area extends to a location directly over a topmost surface of the upper dielectric layer; and\nsidewall spacers located over the lower dielectric layer and laterally between the conductive layer and the first raised source/drain area and the second raised source/drain area.\n\n2. The device of claim 1, further comprising:\na second gate stack comprising a second dielectric layer positioned over the substrate and an overlying second conductive layer, wherein the second gate stack is located along a side of the second raised source/drain area that opposes the first gate stack.\n\n3. The device of claim 2, further comprising:\na photodiode implantation area arranged within the substrate at a location separated from the second raised source/drain area by the second gate stack, wherein the photodiode implantation area has a doping type that is different than that of the substrate underlying the photodiode implantation area.\n\n4. The device of claim 3, wherein the second dielectric layer continuously extends from the second raised source/drain area to over the photodiode implantation area.\n\n5. The device of claim 3, wherein the photodiode implantation area contacts the second source/drain region.\n\n6. The device of claim 2, further comprising:\na third gate stack separated from the first gate stack by the first raised source/drain area, wherein the second raised source/drain area is electrically coupled to a gate contact directly overlying the third gate stack.\n\n7. The device of claim 1, wherein the first raised source/drain area and the first source/drain region have a dopant concentration that is in a range of between approximately 1\u00d710 19 /cm 2 to and approximately 8\u00d710 20 /cm 3.\n\n8. The device of claim 1, wherein the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region have depths that are less than approximately 100 nm below an upper surface of the substrate.\n\n9. The device of claim 1, wherein the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region have depths that are in a range of between approximately 50 nm and approximately 100 nm below an upper surface of the substrate.\n\n10. A device, comprising:\na photodiode implantation area arranged within a substrate;\na pinning implantation area arranged within the substrate over the photodiode implantation area and configured to drive charge collected in the photodiode implantation area to a floating node comprising a first raised source/drain area laterally positioned between a first gate stack and a second gate stack;\na source follower configured to detect a charge level within the floating node, wherein the source follower comprises a third gate stack separated from the second gate stack by a second raised source/drain area;\nan electrical connection extending between the floating node and the third gate stack;\nwherein the first gate stack comprises a dielectric layer positioned over the substrate and a conductive layer arranged over the dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer protrudes outward past an outermost sidewall of the conductive layer and continuously extends along the substrate from below the conductive layer to over the photodiode implantation area, and wherein a sidewall spacer between the first gate stack and the first raised source/drain area has an upper corner that contacts the first raised source/drain area and that is disposed along a horizontal plane parallel to an upper surface of the substrate and above an uppermost surface of the conductive layer; and\nwherein the sidewall spacer continuously extends between a first outermost sidewall laterally contacting the conductive layer within the first gate stack and a second outermost sidewall laterally contacting the first raised source/drain area.\n\n11. The device of claim 10, wherein the first raised source/drain area is arranged over a first source/drain region of the substrate, and the second raised source/drain area is arranged over a second source/drain region of the substrate.\n\n12. The device of claim 10, wherein the second gate stack comprises:\na second dielectric layer positioned over the substrate; and\na second conductive layer arranged over the second dielectric layer.\n\n13. The device of claim 10, further comprising:\na reset transistor comprising the second gate stack and configured to reset the photodiode implantation area between exposure periods by removing charge from the photodiode implantation area; and\na row select transistor comprising a fourth gate stack separated from the third gate stack by a third raised source/drain area and configured to selectively provide access to an output of the source follower.\n\n14. The device of claim 1, wherein the first raised source/drain area comprises a \u2018T\u2019 shape having a lateral segment that protrudes outward from a sidewall of the first raised source/drain area to a location overlying the top surface of the first gate stack.\n\n15. The device of claim 10, wherein the sidewall spacer has an uppermost surface that is separated from the substrate by a first distance that is greater than or equal to a second distance between the substrate and an uppermost surface of the first raised source/drain area.\n\n16. The device of claim 10, wherein the first raised source/drain area extends to a location over the conductive layer.\n\n17. The device of claim 10, wherein the first raised source/drain area continuously extends from a first vertical line extending through the conductive layer of the first gate stack to a second vertical line extending through a second conductive layer of the second gate stack.\n\n18. A device, comprising:\na photodiode implantation area arranged within a substrate;\na pinning implantation area arranged within the substrate over the photodiode implantation area and configured to drive charge collected in the photodiode implantation area to a floating node comprising a first raised source/drain area laterally positioned between a first gate stack and a second gate stack;\na source follower configured to detect a charge level within the floating node, wherein the source follower comprises a third gate stack separated from the second gate stack by a second raised source/drain area;\nan electrical connection extending between the floating node and the third gate stack;\nwherein the first gate stack comprises a dielectric layer positioned over the substrate and a conductive layer arranged over the dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer protrudes outward past an outermost sidewall of the conductive layer and continuously extends along the substrate from below the conductive layer to over the photodiode implantation area;\nwherein a sidewall spacer is between the first gate stack and the first raised source/drain area, the sidewall spacer having an upper corner that contacts the first raised source/drain area and that is disposed along a horizontal plane parallel to an upper surface of the substrate and above an uppermost surface of the conductive layer; and\nwherein the sidewall spacer has an uppermost surface that is separated from the substrate by a first distance that is greater than or equal to a second distance between the substrate and an uppermost surface of the first raised source/drain area.\n\n19. The device of claim 18, wherein the conductive layer comprises titanium, titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, tantalum, tantalum carbon, tantalum silicon nitride, tungsten, tungsten nitride, molybdenum nitride, or molybdenum oxy-nitride.\n\n20. The device of claim 18,\nwherein the first gate stack further comprises a second dielectric layer arranged over the conductive layer;\nwherein a second sidewall spacer is arranged between the first gate stack and the second raised source/drain area; and\nwherein the conductive layer is completely surrounded by the dielectric layer, the sidewall spacer, the second dielectric layer, and the second sidewall spacer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Modular Boat Lift Cover\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA watercraft represents a significant investment. Watercraft owners' who store their boats on lifts understand that a boat lift cover or canopy is needed to minimize the maintenance work required to maintain the appearance of the boat. Watercraft owners need to shelter docked boats from the elements to preserve the life of the boat. While boat houses can provide such shelter, they are expensive, often impractical and, under some circumstances, not allowed by code. Watercraft owners also need to lift their watercraft out of the water for storage and maintenance, and to lower their watercraft into the water for launching or flotation at dock. There are typically two types of boat lifts: lake lifts and tidal lifts. A lake lift is typically manufactured as a complete frame system that is lowered into the water as a single unit and fastened to the lake floor. It remains square due to the calmness of inland water. Tidal lifts are typically constructed on site with a barge pounding long pilings into the sea floor onto which the boat lift mechanism is then mounted. This construction technique is subject to tidal forces during the time that the pilings are being hammered into the sea floor, which can cause the lift to be not perfectly square. Additionally, each boat lift manufacturer has its own design for the lifting I-beam, the cable system and the position of the electric motors making it difficult to design, manufacture and install a boat lift cover for tidal lifts. Prior approaches use many different parts, while shipping in multiple boxes, or one large box. They also require complex assembly procedures and are not adjustable depending on the size of the watercraft. U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,972 (Markiewicz) discloses an all-purpose modular canopy system including a canopy frame formed of a plurality of interconnected sections, the sections being formed of welded tubular elements. The sections are modular in configuration including end and central portions whereby the sections may be selectively assembled to produce the desired length. The canopy frame includes transversely disposed brace elements associated with supporting columns and adjustable fittings to facilitate alignment of the columns and canopy frame, and the canopy frame is covered by a flexible covering using a lacing system between the frame and covering to maintain covering tension. The covering may include a skirt cooperating with skirt stabilizers formed in the canopy frame corners for maintaining the skirt properly oriented. U.S. Publication No. 20050252542 (Basta) discloses a boat lift canopy comprises a truss type framework with a base frame. Joined to the base frame and circumscribed by it is a tie tube frame, which may be discontinuous. A fabric cover, which in preferred embodiments is decorative as well as functional, snugly encloses the outside of the framework, wraps around the base frame and is secured to the tie tube frame. U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,026 (Griffith) discloses a pre-fabricated boat lift canopy constructed of galvanized steel or aluminum tubing. All joints are crimped to a tight, permanent fit by using a special rolling tool. The canopy frame is mounted on \u201cI\u201d beams of existing boat lifts, docks, or pilings. The canopy frame is then covered with a water tight and sunlight resistant decorative canopy. Wind spoilers, in the form of canvas strips, are fastened to the peak of the canopy, a continuous strip, horizontally across the top, a strip at each end, and a third strip at the center. U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,129 (Edson) discloses a boatlift assembly having a boat cradle portion and a canopy portion. The canopy portion and boat cradle portion are movably coupled to cause the canopy portion to be automatically raised when the boat cradle is lowered and to be automatically lowered when the boat cradle is raised. U.S. Pat. No. 8,602,043 (Kaiser) discloses a wakeboard tower canopy which enables wakeboard boats which contain wakeboard towers of various height that protrude above the gunwale, sheer, and/or windshield of the wakeboard boat to gain protection against the elements. By constructing a special frame that incorporates a drive-through curtain system and also a peak in the canopy structure itself, the wakeboard boat being enabled to pull into the normal lift with enough clearance for the tower from the canopy frame.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe modular boat lift cover for a watercraft comprises a gable assembly and an adjustable support structure. All of the straight components are packaged into the main box frame channels for simplicity in packaging as well as quality control, ensuring no components are missing during packaging and shipping. The box frame channels have sufficient bulk to store the gable components during transport. The modular boat lift cover system has a robust, lightweight design that is compatible and adjustable for width, height and length as the boat owner modifies his existing boat or purchases a new boat, and that will protect the watercraft from the elements and will withstand even the severest of storms, undamaged as well as having the ability to be cantilevered. The modular boat lift cover is easy for the user to assemble and adjust on square lake style boat lifts, and the typically non-square tidal lifts."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A modular boat lift cover for a first watercraft, said modular boat lift cover comprising:\na gable assembly including;\na plurality of peak fittings including two end peak fittings sandwiched about at least one internal peak fitting, said plurality of peak fittings being positioned on a peak of said gable assembly;\na plurality of support tubes being initially linear in shape but becoming bowed under stress, one of said plurality of support tubes being securely attachable to one of said plurality of peak fittings; and\na first and a second box frame support member each supporting at least one of said plurality of support tubes, said first box frame support member being horizontally disposed, said plurality of support tubes being positionable inside said first box frame support member during shipping; and\na cantilever bracing said gable assembly to a piling, said piling being a substantially vertical support disposed between a support structure and a waterway bottom.\n\n2. The modular boat lift cover of claim 1, further comprising an end cap securely disposed nestably inside a first end of said first box frame support member, said end cap preventing debris from entering said first end of said first box frame support member when said end cap is disposed relative to said first end of said first box frame support member.\n\n3. The modular boat lift cover of claim 1, further comprising a splice disposed between a second end of said first box frame support member and a first end of said second box frame support member at a box frame support component juncture, said splice reinforcing and providing additional strength to said box frame support component juncture.\n\n4. The modular boat lift cover of claim 1, wherein said gable assembly is securely engageable with a canopy, said canopy being detachable from and reattachable to said modular boat lift cover, said canopy protecting said watercraft from sun and hurricane-level winds when said watercraft is at port.\n\n5. The modular boat lift cover of claim 1, wherein said boat lift cover has a bowed configuration, at least a portion of a perimeter of said boat lift cover being reinforced by a modular rigid support frame.\n\n6. The modular boat lift cover of claim 1, wherein said boat lift cover is usable for both lake type and tidal lifts.\n\n7. The modular boat lift cover of claim 1, wherein said modular boat lift cover serves as a building block for expanding said modular boat lift cover to adapt to a second watercraft.\n\n8. A modular boat lift cover for a first watercraft, said modular boat lift cover comprising:\na gable assembly including;\na plurality of peak fittings positioned on a peak of said gable assembly;\na plurality of support tubes securely supporting said plurality of peak fittings, said plurality of support tubes securely engaging at least one of said plurality of peak fittings;\na first and a second box frame support member each supporting at least one of said plurality of support tubes, said first and said second box frame support member being horizontally disposed, said plurality of support tubes being positionable inside said first or second box frame support member during shipping; and\nan end cap securely nestable inside a first end of said first box frame support member, said end cap preventing debris from entering said first end of said first box frame support member when said end cap is disposed relative to said first end of said first box frame support member; and\na cantilever bracing said gable assembly to a piling, said piling being a substantially vertical support disposed between a support structure and a waterway bottom.\n\n9. The modular boat lift cover of claim 8, further comprising a splice disposed between a second end of said first box frame support member and a first end of said second box frame support member at a box frame support component juncture, said splice reinforcing and providing additional strength to said box frame support component juncture.\n\n10. The modular boat lift cover of claim 8, wherein said gable assembly is securely engageable with a canopy, said canopy being detachable from and reattachable to said modular boat lift cover, said canopy protecting said watercraft from sun and hurricane-level winds when said watercraft is at port.\n\n11. The modular boat lift cover of claim 8, wherein said boat lift cover has a bowed configuration, at least a portion of a perimeter of said boat lift cover being reinforced by a modular rigid support frame.\n\n12. The modular boat lift cover of claim 8, wherein said boat lift cover is usable for both lake type and tidal lifts.\n\n13. The modular boat lift cover of claim 8, wherein said modular boat lift cover serves as a building block for expanding said modular boat lift cover to adapt to a second watercraft.\n\n14. A modular boat lift cover for a first watercraft, said modular boat lift cover comprising:\na gable assembly including;\na plurality of peak fittings positioned on a peak of said gable assembly;\na plurality of support tubes securely supporting said plurality of peak fittings, said plurality of support tubes securely engaging at least one of said plurality of peak fittings;\na first and a second box frame support member each supporting at least one of said plurality of support tubes, said first and said second box frame support member being horizontally disposed, said plurality of support tubes being positionable inside said first or second box frame support member during shipping; and\na splice disposed between a second end of said first box frame support member and a first end of said second box frame support member at a box frame support component juncture, said splice reinforcing and providing additional strength to said box frame support component juncture; and\na cantilever bracing said gable assembly to a piling, said piling being a substantially vertical support disposed between a support structure and a waterway bottom.\n\n15. The modular boat lift cover of claim 14, further comprising an end cap securely disposed nestably inside a first end of said first box frame support member, said end cap preventing debris from entering said first end of said first box frame support member when said end cap is disposed relative to said first end of said first box frame support member.\n\n16. The modular boat lift cover of claim 14, wherein said gable assembly is securely engageable with a canopy, said canopy being detachable from and reattachable to said modular boat lift cover, said canopy protecting said watercraft from sun and hurricane-level winds when said watercraft is at port.\n\n17. The modular boat lift cover of claim 14, wherein said boat lift cover has a bowed configuration, at least a portion of a perimeter of said boat lift cover being reinforced by a modular rigid support frame.\n\n18. The modular boat lift cover of claim 14, wherein said boat lift cover is usable for both lake type and tidal lifts.\n\n19. The modular boat lift cover of claim 14, wherein said modular boat lift cover serves as a building block for expanding said modular boat lift cover to adapt to a second watercraft.\n\n20. The modular boat lift cover of claim 14, wherein said support tubes have a bowed configuration, being initially linear in shape but becoming bowed under stress, one of said plurality of bowed tubes being securely attachable to one of said plurality of peak fittings."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Inter-Rat Mobility Of In-Device Coexistence\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nNext generation mobile networks, such as 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE)/Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) networks, are commonly deployed in a multi-radio environment where a mobile station device, referred to as User Equipment (UE) in LTE/LTE-A, is equipped with multiple radio transceivers. Use of these multiple co-located transceivers by a UE may lead to coexistence interference among networks utilizing nearby frequency bands. Existing 3GPP LTE/LTE-A standards have proposed limited techniques to identify coexistence interference among multiple wireless radios. When a UE is connected to a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), the UE may perform an inter-Radio Access Technology (inter-RAT) measurement for connection with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), such as an LTE/LTE-A network, to determine if the E-UTRAN frequencies currently experience In-Device Coexistence (IDC) interference. However, the UTRAN/GERAN does not know whether the UE may encounter other additional IDC interference problems until after the UE connects to the E-UTRAN. This may result in the UTRAN/GERAN performing a handover of UEs to an E-UTRAN followed by coexistence interference with the E-UTRAN. If coexistence interference occurs and the E-UTRAN does not support a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) solution to prevent the coexistence interference, the network will handover the UE back to the UTRAN/GERAN. Such network switching results in unnecessary signaling overhead.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nEmbodiments of system, device, and method configurations for managing inter-radio access technology (inter-RAT) mobility of handovers between a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) and an evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) to avoid scenarios of in-device coexistence (IDC) interference are disclosed herein. In one example, the existence and types of IDC interference with an E-UTRAN Long Term Evolution (LTE)/Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) network are determined and communicated to the UTRAN/GERAN in an IDC indication signal. The IDC indication signal may communicate the existence and type of IDC interference occurring at user equipment, such as between licensed LTE/LTE-A and unlicensed industrial scientific medical (ISM) radio frequency bands. Accordingly, the UTRAN/GERAN may use information provided from the IDC indication signal to prevent a handover to the E-UTRAN that would result in IDC interference."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions for execution on circuitry of a user equipment (UE), which when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform electronic operations for management of evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) handover that:\nperform measurements, at the UE, to determine in-device coexistence (IDC) interference occurring with radio communications of the E-UTRAN; and\ntransmit an indication of the IDC interference to a radio access network;\nwherein a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or a GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) refrains from performing a handover from the UTRAN or the GERAN to the E-UTRAN in response to the indication of the IDC interference.\n\n2. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the UE to perform electronic operations that:\nreceive an IDC indication setting from the UTRAN or the GERAN, the IDC indication setting provided to instruct the UE to transmit the indication of the IDC interference to the UTRAN or the GERAN.\n\n3. The machine-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the instructions further cause the UE to perform electronic operations that:\ntransmit an IDC indication capability to the UTRAN or the GERAN prior to receiving the IDC indication setting from the UTRAN or the GERAN;\nwherein the indication of the IDC interference is transmitted by the UE in response to receiving the IDC indication setting that instructs the UE to transmit the indication of the IDC interference to the UTRAN or the GERAN.\n\n4. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the indication of the IDC interference includes:\na listing of one or more E-UTRAN carrier frequencies affected by the IDC interference, and a direction of the IDC interference.\n\n5. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the indication of the IDC interference is transmitted to the UTRAN or the GERAN, and wherein the instructions further cause the UE to perform electronic operations that:\nperform subsequent measurements, at the UE, to determine an absence of IDC interference occurring with radio communications of the E-UTRAN; and\ntransmit a subsequent indication of the absence of the IDC interference to the UTRAN or the GERAN;\nwherein handover of the UE is performed from the UTRAN or the GERAN to the E-UTRAN in response to the subsequent indication of the absence of the IDC interference.\n\n6. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the E-UTRAN indicates that a cause of the handover is from the IDC interference by adding a bit in a handover preparation message, wherein the handover preparation message includes a listing of one or more E-UTRAN carrier frequencies affected by the IDC interference.\n\n7. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the UE coordinates with a network implementation of the management of the E-UTRAN handover to prevent handover, wherein the network implementation of the management of the E-UTRAN handover includes receipt of a handover preparation message at the UTRAN or the GERAN from the E-UTRAN indicating the IDC interference, and use of a timer at the UTRAN or the GERAN to avoid handover of the UE to the E-UTRAN for a period of time, and wherein one or more handover preparation messages exchanged between UTRAN or GERAN nodes include a current value of the timer.\n\n8. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein one or more handover preparation messages exchanged between UTRAN or GERAN nodes include an indication that the UE is affected by the IDC interference, and wherein the handover preparation messages exchanged between the UTRAN or GERAN nodes include a listing of one or more E-UTRAN carrier frequencies affected by the IDC interference.\n\n9. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the UE performs a UE implementation of the management of the E-UTRAN handover to prevent handover, wherein the UE implementation of the management of the E-UTRAN handover includes receipt and processing by the UE of a reference signal received from the E-UTRAN, and communication of pessimistic measurements of the reference signal received from the E-UTRAN; and\nwherein the indication of the IDC interference includes the pessimistic measurements, and wherein handover to the E-UTRAN is avoided from the UTRAN or the GERAN in response to the pessimistic measurements.\n\n10. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the IDC interference is caused by interference of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio of the UE, with a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio, a wireless personal area network (WPAN) radio, or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio of the UE.\n\n11. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the IDC interference occurs:\nbetween radio transmissions of LTE Band 40 and a 2.4 GHz industrial scientific medical (ISM) frequency band, between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7 and the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band, between radio transmissions of 2.4 GHz ISM bands and LTE Band 40, or between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7, LTE Band 13, or LTE Band 14 and reception of the GNSS radio.\n\n12. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising processing circuitry and memory configured to perform management of evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) handover with electronic operations that:\nperform measurements to determine in-device coexistence (IDC) interference occurring with radio communications between the UE and the E-UTRAN; and\ntransmit an indication of the IDC interference to a secondary radio access network (RAN);\nwherein the secondary RAN refrains from performing a handover to the E-UTRAN in response to the indication of the IDC interference.\n\n13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the secondary RAN is a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or a GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN).\n\n14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the IDC interference is caused by interference of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio of the UE, with a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio, a wireless personal area network (WPAN) radio, or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio of the UE, and wherein the IDC interference occurs:\nbetween radio transmissions of LTE Band 40 and a 2.4 GHz industrial scientific medical (ISM) frequency band, between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7 and the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band, between radio transmissions of 2.4 GHz ISM bands and LTE Band 40, or between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7, LTE Band 13, or LTE Band 14 and reception of the GNSS radio.\n\n15. An apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), the apparatus comprising transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry to implement an evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), wherein the eNodeB is to monitor in-device coexistence (IDC) interference conditions at a user equipment (UE) in communication with the eNodeB, the processing circuitry and transceiver circuitry configured to:\ntransmit, to a secondary radio access network (RAN), an indication of IDC interference of radio communications exchanged between the UE and the E-UTRAN; and\nprevent handover of the UE from the secondary RAN to the E-UTRAN in response to the indication of the IDC interference.\n\n16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the secondary RAN is a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or a GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN).\n\n17. The eNodeB of claim 15, wherein the eNodeB is further to perform electronic operations that:\nreceive, from the UE, the indication of the IDC interference of the radio communications exchanged between the UE and the E-UTRAN;\nwherein the indication of the IDC interference is generated at the UE in response to measurements, at the UE, of IDC interference occurring between a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio of the UE arranged for communication with the E-UTRAN, and a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio, a wireless personal area network (WPAN) radio, or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio of the UE.\n\n18. The eNodeB of claim 17, wherein the IDC interference occurs:\nbetween radio transmissions of LTE Band 40 and a 2.4 GHz industrial scientific medical (ISM) frequency band, between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7 and the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band, between radio transmissions of 2.4 GHz ISM bands and LTE Band 40, or between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7, LTE Band 13, or LTE Band 14 and reception of the GNSS radio.\n\n19. The eNodeB of claim 17, wherein the indication of the IDC interference is transmitted from the UE in response to receipt of an IDC indication setting at the UE, the IDC indication setting providing an instruction to the UE to subsequently transmit the indication of the IDC interference to the eNodeB.\n\n20. The eNodeB of claim 15, wherein the eNodeB is further to perform electronic operations that:\nreceive, from the UE, a subsequent indication of an absence of the IDC interference, the subsequent indication provided in response to subsequent measurements performed at the UE that indicate the absence of IDC interference occurring with the E-UTRAN; and\nenable handover of the UE from the secondary RAN to the E-UTRAN in response to the subsequent indication of the absence of the IDC interference.\n\n21. The eNodeB of claim 15, wherein the eNodeB is further to perform electronic operations that:\ntransmit a handover preparation message from the E-UTRAN to the secondary RAN indicating the IDC interference; and\nprevent handover of the UE from the secondary RAN to the E-UTRAN, with use of a timer, for a period of time to avoid handover from the secondary RAN to the E-UTRAN;\nwherein a value of the timer is communicated to at least one node of the secondary RAN.\n\n22. At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions for execution on circuitry of an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), which when executed by the eNodeB, cause the eNodeB to perform electronic operations for management of handover of a user equipment (UE) to an evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) of the eNodeB based on in-device coexistence (IDC) interference conditions at the UE, with operations that:\ntransmit, to a secondary radio access network (RAN), an indication of IDC interference of radio communications exchanged between the UE and the E-UTRAN; and\nprevent handover of the UE from the secondary RAN to the E-UTRAN in response to the indication of the IDC interference.\n\n23. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the secondary RAN is a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) or a GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN).\n\n24. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the instructions further cause the eNodeB to perform electronic operations that:\nreceive, from the UE, the indication of the IDC interference of the radio communications exchanged between the UE and the E-UTRAN;\nwherein the indication of the IDC interference is generated at the UE in response to measurements, at the UE, of IDC interference occurring between a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio of the UE arranged for communication with the E-UTRAN, and a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio, a wireless personal area network (WPAN) radio, or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio of the UE.\n\n25. The machine-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the IDC interference occurs:\nbetween radio transmissions of LTE Band 40 and a 2.4 GHz industrial scientific medical (ISM) frequency band, between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7 and the 2.4 GHz ISM frequency band, between radio transmissions of 2.4 GHz ISM bands and LTE Band 40, or between radio transmissions of LTE Band 7, LTE Band 13, or LTE Band 14 and reception of the GNSS radio.\n\n26. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the indication of the IDC interference is transmitted from the UE in response to receipt of an IDC indication setting at the UE, the IDC indication setting providing an instruction to the UE to subsequently transmit the indication of the IDC interference to the eNodeB.\n\n27. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the instructions further cause the eNodeB to perform electronic operations that:\nreceive, from the UE, a subsequent indication of an absence of the IDC interference communicated to the secondary RAN, the subsequent indication provided in response to subsequent measurements performed at the UE that indicate the absence of IDC interference occurring with the E-UTRAN; and\nperform handover of the UE to the E-UTRAN from the secondary RAN in response to the subsequent indication of the absence of the IDC interference.\n\n28. The machine-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the instructions further cause the eNodeB to perform electronic operations that:\ntransmit a handover preparation message from the E-UTRAN to the secondary RAN indicating the IDC interference; and\nprevent handover of the UE from the secondary RAN to the E-UTRAN, with use of a timer, for a period of time to avoid handover to the E-UTRAN;\nwherein a value of the timer is communicated to at least one node of the secondary RAN."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Point Of Purchase Display\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nPoint of purchase displays are advertisements that can be positioned near or on a product that is being sold in a retail environment, so that potential purchasers may view the display with the product at the time of making a purchase decision. Many known point of purchase displays are formed from rigid plastic or cardboard, paper, or other materials, which can be easily damaged and/or are limited in their size, shape, attachment and positioning on the product, and present challenges in packaging and shipping the displays with the products. It is often desirable to attach a point of purchase display to the product during the manufacture and/or packaging of the product for shipment to a retailer. But the size and shape of such displays typically are limited to the size and shape of the product's box or other packaging. For example, folding a typical rigid point of purchase display panel to fit within a product package that is smaller than the display size may damage the display and/or cause the display to be less visually appealing when set up at the retail site. Packaging a paper display with the product may cause the display to be wrinkled, creased, torn or otherwise disfigured during transport. Furthermore, because packaging size is typically minimized for efficiency in delivery and storage of products, it has now been found desirable to provide point of purchase displays for a product that are larger than the product's packaging would otherwise allow. It has also been found that assembly and attachment of point of purchase displays to a product at a retail site can be expensive and require additional labor and logistics, either on the part of the retailer if they will do so, or on the part of manufacturers' representatives who are required to travel to the retail sites. Accordingly, it can be seen that needs exist for an improved point of purchase display. It is to the provision of an improved point of purchase display meeting these and other needs that the present invention is primarily directed.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA point of purchase display for coupling to a commercial product on display at a retail store. The point of purchase display includes a flexible and wrinkle-resistant sheet material having indicia displayed thereon and at least one coupling member for coupling the sheet material to the commercial product. In example forms, the indicia being displayed on the sheet material is provided for advertisement or instructional purposes of the commercial product."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A point of purchase system, comprising:\na package;\na commercial product that is reconfigurable between a collapsed storage configuration and an expanded use configuration, wherein in the collapsed configuration the commercial product is receivable within the package but not configured for use, and in the expanded configuration the commercial product is configured for use but not receivable within the package; and\na point of purchase display, comprising:\na flexible sheet material having indicia displayed on a display surface thereof, wherein the indicia includes information about the commercial product, wherein the sheet material is reconfigurable between a collapsed storage configuration and an expanded display configuration, wherein the sheet material in the expanded configuration is larger in at least one dimension than a corresponding dimension of the package such that the sheet material in the expanded configuration does not fit into the package; and\nat least one coupling member for removably coupling the sheet material to the commercial product, wherein the sheet material, when in the collapsed configuration and coupled to the commercial product in the collapsed configuration, fits into the package with the commercial product, wherein reconfiguration of the commercial product from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration with the sheet material coupled to the commercial product causes the sheet material to be automatically reconfigured from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration for displaying the indicia, and wherein after displaying the indicia, the sheet material is removable from the commercial product for use of the commercial product;\nwherein the commercial product comprises a children's gear product having a child support portion configured for supporting a child when the children's gear product is in the expanded use configuration.\n\n2. The point of purchase system of claim 1, wherein a width and a length of the sheet material in the expanded configuration are greater than corresponding dimensions of the package, such that the sheet material is collapsed in the width and length dimensions when collapsed into the collapsed configuration to fit within the package.\n\n3. The point of purchase system of claim 1, wherein when the commercial product and the sheet material are in their collapsed configurations, the sheet material is bunched together, and when the commercial product and the sheet material are in the expanded configuration, the sheet material is unfurled and tensioned to remove any slack or wrinkles from the sheet material.\n\n4. The point of purchase system of claim 1, wherein the at least one coupling member includes an elastic string that removably attaches to and extends between the sheet material and the commercial product, wherein the elastic string applies tension to the sheet material in the expanded configuration to remove any slack or wrinkles from the sheet material.\n\n5. The point of purchase system of claim 1, wherein the commercial product and the sheet material each include at least two attachment points that are spaced a first lesser distance apart from one another in the collapsed configuration of the commercial product and the sheet material and spaced a second greater distance apart from one another in the expanded configuration of the commercial product and the sheet material, wherein upon reconfiguring the commercial product and the sheet material coupled thereto from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration, the second greater distance apart of the attachment points causes tension to be applied to the sheet material to remove any slack or wrinkles from the sheet material in the expanded configuration.\n\n6. The point of purchase system of claim 1, wherein when the commercial product and the sheet material are in their collapsed configurations, the sheet material is bunched together such that at least a portion of the indicia displayed on the sheet material is concealed, and when the commercial product and the sheet material are in the expanded configuration, the indicia displayed on the sheet material is visible.\n\n7. The point of purchase system of claim 1, wherein the commercial product comprises rigid structural members and soft goods, and wherein the sheet material is removably coupled to at least a portion of both the rigid structural members and the soft goods.\n\n8. The point of purchase system of claim 1, wherein the children's gear product is selected from the group consisting of: a play yard, a napper, a sleeper, an infant sleeping device, a rocker, a high chair, a stroller frame, and a crib.\n\n9. A point of purchase display for a commercial product that is reconfigurable between a collapsed storage configuration and an expanded use configuration, wherein in the collapsed configuration the commercial product is receivable within a package but not configured for use, and in the expanded configuration the commercial product is configured for use for supporting a child but not receivable within the package or attached to the package, the display comprising:\na flexible sheet material having indicia displayed on a display surface thereof, wherein the indicia includes information about the commercial product, wherein the sheet material is reconfigurable between a collapsed storage configuration and an expanded display configuration, wherein the sheet material in the expanded configuration is larger in at least one dimension than a corresponding dimension of the package such that the sheet material in the expanded configuration does not fit into the package; and\nat least one coupling member for removably coupling the sheet material to the commercial product, wherein the sheet material, when in the collapsed configuration and coupled to the commercial product, fits into the package with the commercial product in the collapsed configuration, wherein reconfiguration of the commercial product from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration with the sheet material coupled to the commercial product causes the sheet material to be automatically reconfigured from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration for displaying the indicia at a retail store, and wherein after displaying the indicia at the retail store, the sheet material is removable from the commercial product for use of the commercial product without the point-of-purchase display away from the retail store.\n\n10. The point of purchase display of claim 9, wherein a width and a length of the sheet material in the expanded configuration are greater than corresponding dimensions of the package, such that the sheet material is collapsed in the width and length dimensions when collapsed into the collapsed configuration to fit within the package.\n\n11. The point of purchase display of claim 9, wherein when the commercial product and the sheet material are in their collapsed configurations, the sheet material is bunched together, and when the commercial product and the sheet material are in the expanded configuration, the sheet material is unfurled and tensioned to remove any slack or wrinkles from the sheet material.\n\n12. The point of purchase display of claim 9, wherein the at least one coupling member includes an elastic string that removably attaches to and extends between the sheet material and the commercial product, wherein the elastic string applies tension to the sheet material in the expanded configuration to remove any slack or wrinkles from the sheet material.\n\n13. The point of purchase display of claim 9, wherein the commercial product and the sheet material each include at least two attachment points that are spaced a first lesser distance apart from one another in the collapsed configuration of the commercial product and the sheet material and spaced a second greater distance apart from one another in the expanded configuration of the commercial product and the sheet material, wherein upon reconfiguring the commercial product and the sheet material coupled thereto from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration, the second greater distance apart of the attachments points causes tension to be applied to the sheet material to remove any slack or wrinkles from the sheet material in the expanded configuration.\n\n14. The point of purchase display of claim 9, wherein when the commercial product and the sheet material are in their collapsed configurations, the sheet material is bunched together such that at least a portion of the indicia displayed on the sheet material is concealed, and when the commercial product and the sheet material are in the expanded configuration, the indicia displayed on the sheet material is visible.\n\n15. A method of displaying a collapsible commercial product for later customer use, comprising:\nreceiving at a retail store a package holding the commercial product with a display removably coupled thereto, wherein the display includes a flexible sheet material having indicia thereon that relates to the commercial product, wherein the commercial product and the removably coupled thereto sheet material are in respective collapsed configurations in the package, and wherein with the sheet material in the collapsed configuration at least a portion of the indicia is concealed;\nremoving the collapsed commercial product and removably coupled thereto display from the package;\nexpanding the collapsed commercial product to an expanded configuration, with the removably coupled thereto sheet material display automatically expanding to a corresponding expanded configuration in response thereto, without separately expanding the sheet material and expanding the commercial product then attaching the sheet material to the commercial product, wherein with the sheet material in the expanded configuration the indicia is visible for display; and\ndisplaying the expanded commercial product and the removably coupled thereto sheet material with the indicia at the retail store,\nwherein in the collapsed configuration the commercial product is receivable within the package but not configured for use, and in the expanded configuration the commercial product is configured for use but not receivable within the package, wherein the sheet material in the collapsed configuration and coupled to the commercial product fits into the package with the commercial product in the collapsed configuration, and the sheet material in the expanded configuration is larger in at least one dimension than a corresponding dimension of the package such that the sheet material in the expanded configuration does not fit into the package.\n\n16. The method of claim 15, further comprising, displaying the expanded commercial product and the removably coupled thereto sheet material with the indicia at the retail store, removing the sheet material from the commercial product for the customer use of the commercial product.\n\n17. The method of claim 15, wherein a width and a length of the sheet material in the expanded configuration are greater than corresponding dimensions of the package, such that the sheet material is collapsed in the width and length dimensions when collapsed into the collapsed configuration to fit within the package.\n\n18. The method of claim 15, wherein when the commercial product and the sheet material are in their collapsed configurations, the sheet material is bunched together, and when the commercial product and the sheet material are in the expanded configuration, the sheet material is unfurled and tensioned to remove any slack or wrinkles from the sheet material.\n\n19. The method of claim 15, wherein when the commercial product and the sheet material are in their collapsed configurations, the sheet material is bunched together, and when the commercial product and the sheet material are in the expanded configuration, the indicia displayed on the sheet material is substantially wrinkle-free."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electronically Controlled Internal Damper\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronically controlled internal damper, and more particularly, to an electronically controlled internal damper that is capable of improving ride comfort by reducing a low-speed damping force of a soft mode without increasing the sizes of a driven spool and a spool rod. 2. Description of the Related Art In most of the conventional electronically controlled internal dampers, a bypass passage is disposed only on a rebound side. In such electronically controlled internal dampers, since a passage area of a cylinder increases, it is difficult to reduce a low-speed damping force of a soft mode during a rebound stroke. In order to solve this problem, it may be considered that an outer diameter of a spool is increased so as to open a passage in a divided manner. However, such a design modification causes an increase in a whole valve size or a reduction in a disk size, thus producing adverse effect in a medium-speed or high-speed section.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electronically controlled internal damper is provided. Due to a structure in which a valve unit is mounted on a spool rod along which a driven spool reciprocates and a damping unit is provided in an outer peripheral surface of the driven spool and the spool rod, it is possible to improve ride comfort by reducing a low-speed damping force of a soft mode in the driven spool and the spool rod without increasing their sizes."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electronically controlled internal damper comprising:\na spool rod which is formed to have a stepped shape in a lower end portion of a piston rod that reciprocates within a cylinder;\na valve unit including: a main piston which has a central portion through which the spool rod passes, and partitions the cylinder into a cylinder upper chamber and a cylinder lower chamber, and in which a compression passage and a rebound passage are alternately disposed; a compression retainer disposed above the main piston; a rebound retainer disposed under the main piston; a first housing which is disposed above the compression retainer to form a first pilot chamber inside the first housing and has an opened bottom surface; and a second housing which is disposed under the rebound retainer to form a second pilot chamber inside the second housing and has an opened top surface;\na driven spool which reciprocates along a guide passage penetrating a central portion of the spool rod; and\na damping unit which is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the driven spool and the spool rod so as to allow a working fluid to flow to the inside and outside of the spool rod through the guide passage during a compression stroke or a rebound stroke, forms a first bypass passage in an upper portion of the damping unit during the compression stroke in a hard mode or a soft mode, and forms a second bypass passage in a lower portion of the damping unit during the rebound stroke in the hard mode or the soft mode,\nwherein the damping unit includes: a communication assembly provided in the spool rod; and a guide assembly,\nwherein the communication assembly includes:\na compression hard passage communicating with the first pilot chamber;\na first inlet passage formed under the compression hard passage and communicating with the first pilot chamber through a central passage of the compression retainer;\na compression soft passage formed under the first inlet passage and communicating with a central portion of the main piston;\na rebound soft passage formed under the compression soft passage and communicating with the central portion of the main piston;\na second inlet passage formed under the rebound soft passage and communicating with the second pilot chamber through a central passage of the rebound retainer; and\na rebound hard passage formed under the second inlet passage and communicating with the second pilot chamber, and\nwherein the guide assembly includes:\na first large-diameter portion formed in an upper portion of the driven spool; and\na second large-diameter portion formed under the first large-diameter portion and having a compression soft guide groove which is recessed downwardly at an upper edge of the second large-diameter portion.\n\n2. The electronically controlled internal damper according to claim 1, wherein the first or second bypass passage formed between the spool rod and the driven spool during the compression stroke or the rebound stroke in the soft mode is provided between the first or second bypass passage formed between the spool rod and the driven spool during the compression stroke or the rebound stroke in the hard mode.\n\n3. The electronically controlled internal damper according to claim 1, wherein the first bypass passage formed between the spool rod and the driven spool during the compression stroke in the hard mode is provided above the first bypass passage formed between the spool rod and the driven spool during the compression stroke in the soft mode.\n\n4. The electronically controlled internal damper according to claim 1, wherein the second bypass passage formed between the spool rod and the driven spool during the rebound stroke in the soft mode is provided above the second bypass passage formed between the spool rod and the driven spool during the rebound stroke in the hard mode.\n\n5. The electronically controlled internal damper according to claim 1,\nwherein the first pilot chamber of the first housing, the compression retainer, the main piston, the rebound retainer, and the second pilot chamber of the second housing from the upper side communicate with the guide passage, and\nwherein the guide assembly allows a flow of the working fluid from the upper and lower sides of the driven spool through the communication assembly according to the compression stroke or the rebound stroke in the hard mode or the soft mode.\n\n6. The electronically controlled internal damper according to claim 1, wherein the guide assembly further includes:\na rebound soft guide groove recessed downwardly at an upper edge of a third large-diameter portion, which is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the driven body, is disposed under the second large-diameter portion, and reciprocates along an inner peripheral surface of the guide passage; and\na rebound hard guide groove recessed upward at a lower edge of the third large-diameter portion,\nwherein the compression soft guide groove is disposed under the first large-diameter portion and reciprocates along the inner peripheral surface of the guide passage."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Measuring Discovery Signal, Base Station, And Terminal\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe small cell technology uses low-power wireless access nodes to extend the coverage range of a macro cell, distributes growing data flow of the macro cell, and increases the utility efficiency of radio spectrum resources. The LTE-Advanced system uses this technology to increase network capacity. Typically, the Small Cell has a small size, and its coverage range is between 10 meters to 2 kilometers. The Small Cell deployment scenario in the LTE network is composed of two levels: macro cell and small cell. The macro cell and the small cell can be deployed at the same frequency point, that is, co-channel deployment; or they can be deployed at different frequency points, that is, non-co-channel deployment; alternatively, the macro cell may not be deployed, and only the small cell is deployed. The small cell can be deployed in indoor environments and outdoor environments. It may be deployed sparsely or densely. The Small Cell is an interference-limited system, there are complex interference relationships between the macro cell and micro cell, as well as between the micro cell and the micro cell. Each cell dynamically schedules to serve terminals within the cell. In addition, as the UE moves, there are UEs continuously moving in and moving out of the small cell, the load and interference of the Small Cell system will show a significant fluctuation. Therefore, it must adopt a certain interference coordination method, such as small cell adaptive switching mechanism and adaptive power adjustment mechanism, to suppress and coordinate the interference in the Small Cell. The basic idea of the small cell adaptive switching mechanism is adaptively opening or closing some small cells with very low load to reduce inter-cell interference. An opened cell is called an activated cell, and a closed cell is called a dormant cell. The activated cell normally transmits data channels and common channels; the dormant cell closes data channels and some of common channels. However, both the activated cell and the dormant cell can transmit the cell discovery signal (DS) that is used for the cell discovery and selection, activation/deactivation judgment, and so on. The discovery signal is still under discussion, currently there are several viewpoints: 1) following the traditional PSS/SSS/CRS (Primary/Secondary Synchronization Signal, Cell-specific reference signals) signal; 2) using the modified PSS/SSS/CRS signal; and 3) using a new DS. The UE detects the DS of the activated cell and the dormant cell to discover and select a cell. For a dormant cell, if there is a UE detecting the discovery signal of a cell, it indicates that there are UEs existing under the coverage of the cell, and it may consider to activate the cell in order to serve these UEs. For an activated cell, if the UE detects the DS signal of a cell, if the DS signal of the cell is stronger than the DS signal of the current serving cell, it may consider switching to the cell; or although the DS signal of the cell is equivalent to or relatively weaker than the DS signal of the current serving cell, but for the load balancing consideration, if necessary, it may also consider switching to the cell. Therefore, the DS measurement is very important for operations such as discovery, selection, activation and deactivation of a small cell system. The DS measurement method can be a presence/absence detection, namely 0/1 detection, and it takes how many times it is detected within a certain time period as a measurement value; it can be a quantitative detection, that is, the RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power) detection/RSRQ (Reference Signal Receiving Quality) detection/SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio) detection that takes the DS signal intensity or signal quality as the measurement quantity. There are different measurement needs for performing the DS presence/absence detection and the DS intensity detection, the number of samples required in the presence/absence detection is small, while the number of samples required in the intensity detection is large and the filtering time is longer, that is to say, the presence/absence detection and the intensity detection need to use different measurement patterns. In addition, for a scenario in which the Small Cells are deployed at different frequencies, the UE needs to carry out an inter-frequency detection on the DS of the inter-frequency cells.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA discovery signal measurement method, base station and terminal, wherein the method includes: a base station determining measurement patterns used by different terminals for measuring discovery signals according to transmission patterns of discovery signals; the base station configuring measurement patterns corresponding to the terminals for the terminals; the base station transmitting the discovery signals in cells corresponding to the transmission pattern according to the transmission patterns. The method, base station and terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention provide a definite solution for configuring measurement patterns of discovery signals."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A measurement method for discovery signals, comprising:\na base station determining measurement patterns used for measuring discovery signals for different terminals according to transmission patterns of discovery signals of one or more cells, comprising: determining the transmission pattern of the discovery signals in a to-be-measured cell is configured as a minimum transmission gap being T, a transmission cycle being N*T, the number of bursts transmitted in each cycle being L, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals in each burst being M, and the gap between adjacent bursts being P*T, for each terminal, configuring the number of bursts measured within each cycle as L1, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals measured in each burst as M1, and reporting one measurement result after measuring for S cycles, wherein L1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to L, and M1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to M;\nthe base station configuring measurement patterns corresponding to the terminals for different terminals; and\nthe base station transmitting the discovery signals in cells corresponding to the transmission patterns, and the terminals measuring the discovery signals according to the configured measurement patterns.\n\n2. The measurement method of claim 1, wherein, before the step of the base station determining measurement patterns used for measuring discovery signals for different terminals according to transmission patterns of discovery signals of one or more cells, the method further comprises:\nthe base station determining the transmission patterns through any of following methods:\nthe base station determining independently; or,\nreceiving a configuration signaling sent by a central node base station or other base stations other than the central node base station, configuring the transmission patterns according to the configuration signaling, wherein the transmission patterns are centrally determined by the central node base station, or determined coordinately by the central node base station and other base stations other than the central node base station.\n\n3. The measurement method of claim 1, wherein a transmission mode of the discovery signals comprises:\ncontinuously transmitting discovery signals according to a predetermined transmission cycle; or;\ntransmitting a predetermined number of bursts in one cycle, and transmitting a predetermined number of subframes carrying the discovery signals in each burst, and a gap between adjacent bursts is a predetermined value.\n\n4. The measurement method of claim 1, wherein, transmission patterns of different cells comply with at least one of following situations:\na transmission pattern corresponding to an activated cell and a transmission pattern corresponding to a dormant cell are the same, and both indicate that the discovery signals are transmitted intermittently;\nthe transmission pattern corresponding to the activated cell indicates that the discovery signals are transmitted continuously, and the transmission pattern corresponding to the dormant cell indicates that the discovery signals are transmitted intermittently;\nthe transmission pattern corresponding to the activated cell and the transmission pattern corresponding to the dormant cell are different, and both indicate that the discovery signals are transmitted intermittently; and\ntransmission patterns of corresponding different cells indicate that starting position offsets of starting to transmit the discovery signals are different.\n\n5. The measurement method of claim 4, wherein, the transmission patterns being different means that at least one of following information in the transmission patterns is different:\na cycle of transmitting discovery signals in a corresponding cell;\nthe number of bursts transmitted in each cycle;\nthe number of subframes carrying the discovery signals transmitted in each burst;\na gap between adjacent bursts;\nstarting position offset of starting to transmit the discovery signals; and\noccupied frequency resources and/or sequence resources.\n\n6. The measurement method of claim 1, wherein, the step of the base station determining measurement patterns used for measuring discovery signals for different terminals according to transmission patterns of discovery signals of one or more cells comprises:\nthe base station determining measurement patterns of different terminals based on measurement needs, wherein the measurement needs comprise qualitative measurement needs and/or quantitative measurement needs.\n\n7. The measurement method of claim 1, wherein, the measurement patterns of the terminals comprise measurement patterns used for measuring discovery signals of one or more cells, and measurement patterns used by the terminals for measuring discovery signals of one cell are a full set or subset of transmission patterns used by the base station for transmitting discovery signals of the cell.\n\n8. A measurement method for discovery signals, comprising:\na terminal receiving a measurement pattern configuration transmitted by a base station for measuring discovery signals, wherein the measurement pattern is determined by the base station according to transmission patterns of discovery signals of one or more cells; and\nthe terminal measuring the discovery signals based on the measurement pattern;\nwherein the measurement pattern configuration transmitted by the base station comprises:\ndetermining the transmission pattern of the discovery signals in a to-be-measured cell is configured as a minimum transmission gap being T, a transmission cycle being N*T, the number of bursts transmitted in each cycle being L, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals in each burst being M, and the gap between adjacent bursts being P*T, for each terminal, configuring the number of bursts measured within each cycle as L1, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals measured in each burst as M1, and reporting one measurement result after measuring for S cycles, wherein L1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to L, and M1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to M.\n\n9. The measurement method of claim 8, wherein, the measurement pattern of the terminal comprises information used for measuring discovery signals of all cells corresponding to the base station.\n\n10. The measurement method of claim 8, wherein, measurement patterns of different terminals comply with at least one of following situations:\nin an intra-frequency measurement, measurement patterns of different terminals are the same;\nin an inter-frequency measurement, measurement patterns of different terminals are the same;\nin the intra-frequency measurement, measurement patterns of different terminals are different, and measured bursts or subframes are staggered from each other in one cycle; and\nin the inter-frequency measurement, measured bursts or subframes of the measurement patterns of different terminals in one cycle are staggered from each other.\n\n11. A base station, comprising at least one processor executing a measurement pattern determination module, a measurement pattern configuration module and a discovery signal transmission module, wherein,\nthe measurement pattern determination module is configured to: determine measurement patterns used for measuring discovery signals for different terminals according to transmission patterns of discovery signals of one or more cells by: determining the transmission pattern of the discovery signals in a to-be-measured cell is configured as a minimum transmission gap being T, a transmission cycle being N*T, the number of bursts transmitted in each cycle being L, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals in each burst being M, and the gap between adjacent bursts being P*T, for each terminal, configuring the number of bursts measured within each cycle as L1, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals measured in each burst as M1, and reporting one measurement result after measuring for S cycles, wherein L1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to L, and M1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to M;\nthe measurement pattern configuration module is configured to: configure measurement patterns corresponding to the terminals for different terminals; and\nthe discovery signal transmission module is configured to: transmit the discovery signals in cells corresponding to the transmission patterns.\n\n12. The base station of claim 11, wherein,\nthe base station is further configured to determine the transmission pattern through any of following methods:\nthe base station determining independently; or,\nreceiving a configuration signaling sent by a central node base station or other base stations other than the central node base station, configuring the transmission pattern according to the configuration signaling, wherein the transmission pattern is centrally determined by the central node base station, or determined coordinately by the central node base station and other base stations other than the central node base station.\n\n13. The base station of claim 11, wherein, the transmission pattern indicates that a transmission mode of the discovery signal comprises:\ncontinuously transmitting the discovery signals according to a predetermined transmission cycle; or;\ntransmitting a predetermined number of bursts in one cycle, transmitting a predetermined number of subframes carrying discovery signals in each burst, and a gap between adjacent bursts is a predetermined value.\n\n14. The base station of claim 11, wherein, transmission patterns of different cells comply with at least one of following situations:\na transmission pattern corresponding to an activated cell and a transmission pattern corresponding to a dormant cell are the same, and both indicate that the discovery signals are transmitted intermittently;\nthe transmission pattern corresponding to the activated cell indicates that the discovery signals are transmitted continuously, and the transmission pattern corresponding to the dormant cell indicates that the discovery signals are transmitted intermittently;\nthe transmission pattern corresponding to the activated cell and the transmission pattern corresponding to the dormant cell are different, and both indicate that the discovery signals are transmitted intermittently; and\ntransmission patterns of corresponding different cells indicate that starting position offsets of starting to transmit the discovery signals are different.\n\n15. The base station of claim 14, wherein, the transmission patterns being different means that at least one of following information in the transmission patterns is different:\na cycle of transmitting discovery signals in a corresponding cell;\nthe number of bursts transmitted in each cycle;\nthe number of subframes carrying the discovery signals transmitted in each burst;\na gap between adjacent bursts;\nstarting position offset of starting to transmit the discovery signals; and\noccupied frequency resources and/or sequence resources.\n\n16. The base station of claim 11, wherein, the base station is configured to determine measurement patterns used for measuring discovery signals for different terminals according to transmission patterns of discovery signals of one or more cells in a following way:\ndetermining measurement patterns of the terminals based on measurement needs, wherein the measurement needs comprise qualitative measurement needs and/or quantitative measurement needs.\n\n17. The base station of claim 11, wherein, the measurement patterns of the terminals comprise measurement patterns used for measuring discovery signals of one or more cells, measurement patterns used by the terminals for measuring discovery signals of one cell are a full set or subset of transmission patterns used by the base station for transmitting the discovery signals of the cell.\n\n18. A terminal, comprising at least one processor executing a configuration reception module and a discovery signal measurement module, wherein,\nthe configuration reception module is configured to: receive a measurement pattern configuration transmitted by a base station for measuring discovery signals, wherein the measurement pattern is determined by the base station according to transmission patterns of discovery signals of one or more cells; and\nthe discovery signal measurement module is configured to: measure discovery signals based on the measurement patterns;\nwherein the measurement pattern configuration transmitted by the base station comprises:\ndetermining the transmission pattern of the discovery signals in a to-be-measured cell is configured as a minimum transmission gap being T, a transmission cycle being N*T, the number of bursts transmitted in each cycle being L, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals in each burst being M, and the gap between adjacent bursts being P*T, configuring the number of bursts measured within each cycle as L1, the number of subframes carrying the discovery signals measured in each burst as M1, and reporting one measurement result after measuring for S cycles, wherein L1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to L, and M1 is an arbitrary integer less than or equal to M.\n\n19. The terminal of claim 18, wherein, the measurement patterns of the terminals comprise information used for measuring discovery signals of all cells corresponding to the base station; or\nthe measurement patterns of different terminals comply with at least one of following situations:\nin an intra-frequency measurement, measurement patterns of different terminals are the same;\nin an inter-frequency measurement, measurement patterns of different terminals are the same;\nin the intra-frequency measurement, measurement patterns of different terminals are different, measured bursts or subframes in one cycle are staggered from each other; and\nin the inter-frequency measurement, measured bursts or subframes of the measurement patterns of different terminals in one cycle are staggered from each other."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Skate Blade Edge Measurement System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nField of the Invention The present disclosure relates to a device for measuring edges of an ice skate blade following a sharpening operation. Description of the Related Art When ice skates are sharpened there is a need to measure the squareness, evenness or levelness of the resulting blade edges. Various devices have been used to determine squareness or levelness of surfaces on skate blades. Dial indicators can be placed against a surface to measure the perpendicularity of an object. Other devices for checking the squareness of a skate blade can include two-part devices that include a frame secured to the skate blade and a measurement bar for measuring the squareness of the skate blade edges relative to the frame. The usage of the measurement devices can be cumbersome, making it difficult for the user to secure the frame in position on the skate blade and at the same time keep the measurement bar in position. The user typically has one hand on the skate and needs to juggle the various pieces to apply the measurement device properly to the skate blade.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn ice skate blade edge measurement device includes a measurement device frame and a measurement indicator. The measurement device frame defines at least one storage location for the measurement indicator such that, when not being used to measure an alignment of a pair of sharpened skate blade edges, the measurement indicator can be stored. One storage location can be on a front side of the measurement device frame away from a measurement location and another storage location can be on a back side of the measurement device frame."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An ice skate blade edge measurement device comprising a first portion and a second portion that is removably connectable to the first portion;\nthe first portion providing a storage region and a reference relative to a vertical portion of a skate blade when in use,\nthe second portion being removably positionable within the storage region of the first portion when not in use for providing a measurement such that the first and second portions can be moved around together when not in use for providing a measurement, and\nthe second portion providing a reference relative to a pair of sharpened edges of the skate blade when separated from the first portion and placed onto the pair of sharpened edges when in use for providing a measurement.\n\n2. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 1, wherein the second portion is able to be secured in position in the storage region of the first portion when the second portion is not in use for providing a measurement.\n\n3. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 2, wherein the second portion is secured in position in the storage region of the first portion using at least one coupling component.\n\n4. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 3, wherein the coupling component is magnetic.\n\n5. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 1, wherein the second portion nests onto the first portion in the storage region.\n\n6. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 1, wherein the first portion can be mounted to the skate blade for use while the second portion is secured in the storage region.\n\n7. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 6, wherein the second portion is removed from the first portion and positioned apart from but adjacent to the first portion when in use for measuring alignment of the pair of sharpened edges of the skate blade.\n\n8. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 1, wherein the storage region of the first portion is a long term storage region and the first portion also comprises a second storage region that is a short term storage region, the short term storage region being defined solely by a magnetic or ferromagnetic region and the long term storage region being defined by at least one or more mechanical members.\n\n9. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 8, wherein the long term storage region also is defined by at least one magnetic or ferromagnetic region.\n\n10. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 1, wherein the first portion comprises an attachment portion that is used to removably connect the first portion to the skate blade in use such that a surface of the first portion abuts a side surface of the skate blade.\n\n11. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 1, wherein the first portion comprises at least one indicia and, when in use, relative alignment of the second portion and the indicia indicates a degree of alignment between the pair of sharpened edges of the skate blade.\n\n12. An ice skate blade edge measurement device comprising:\na measurement device frame comprising:\na skate blade mount configured to releasably couple the measurement device frame to a vertical surface of an ice skate blade in use;\nan elongate member connected to the skate blade mount, the elongate member having at least one measurement indicia, the at least one measurement indicia being configured to provide an indication of relative alignment between a pair of sharpened ice skate blade edges of the ice skate blade when a measurement indicator is positioned in a measurement position relative to the at least one measurement indicia; the measurement indicator comprising a magnet, the magnet being configured to magnetically position the measurement indicator on the pair of sharpened ice skate blade edges of the ice skate blade during measurement; and\nthe measurement device frame comprising a storage region and the measurement indicator being removably connectable to the measurement device frame in the storage region when not in use during measurement.\n\n13. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 12, wherein the measurement device frame comprises a ferromagnetic portion positioned at a first location on the measurement device frame and wherein the magnet of the measurement indicator is positioned such that, when the measurement indicator is positioned in the storage region, the magnet of the measurement indicator and the ferromagnetic portion of the measurement device frame are magnetically attracted to one another.\n\n14. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 12, wherein the measurement indicator comprises a first leg and a second leg, the first leg being perpendicular to the second leg, wherein:\nwhen in a measurement position, the first leg of the measurement indicator is positioned adjacent to, but spaced apart from, the elongate member and the second leg abuts the pair of sharpened ice skate blade edges of the ice skate blade and, when in the storage position, the first leg is positioned adjacent to the elongate member and the second leg is spaced apart from the pair of sharpened ice skate blade edges of the ice skate blade.\n\n15. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 14, wherein the first leg of the measurement indicator is positioned adjacent to a forward surface of the elongate member when the measurement indicator is in the storage position.\n\n16. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 14, wherein the first leg of the measurement indicator is positioned adjacent to a rearward surface of the elongate member when the measurement indicator is in the storage position.\n\n17. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 14, wherein the measurement device frame further comprises one or more support members positioned on a backside of the elongate member, the one or more support members defining slots configured to receive a first leg of the elongate member, and wherein in the storage position the first leg is positioned within the slots and the second leg is positioned adjacent a portion of the elongate member.\n\n18. The ice skate blade edge measurement device of claim 12, wherein the blade mount comprises a skate engagement foot configured to engage the skate blade within a slot of the blade mount.\n\n19. A method comprising:\nreleasably coupling a measurement device frame to an ice skate blade, the measurement device frame comprising at least one measurement indicia and a storage location for a measurement indicator;\nremoving the measurement indicator from the storage location on the measurement device frame; and\nmagnetically positioning the measurement indicator on a skate blade edge of the ice skate blade with a magnet disposed on the measurement indicator, wherein the measurement indicator is positioned relative to the at least one measurement indicia on the measurement device frame and wherein a measurement of the ice skate blade edge is based, at least in part, on a location of the measurement indicator relative to the at least one measurement indicia of the measurement device frame.\n\n20. The method of claim 19 further comprising returning the measurement indicator to a storage located on the measurement device frame by bringing into magnetic connection the magnet of the measurement indicator and a ferromagnetic component of the measurement device frame.\n\n21. The method of claim 20 further comprising magnetically positioning the measurement indicator at a second storage location, wherein the second storage location is based at least in part on a magnetic attraction between the magnet and the ferromagnetic component, wherein the second storage location is different from the first storage location."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hierarchical Spectrum Coordination\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAll wireless technologies use the airwaves to transmit and receive information. To allow many different technologies to communicate simultaneously, wireless spectrum is carved up into chunks of frequency bands, with radio frequency (RF) in particular lying in the range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz. RF bands in a given area may be either licensed or unlicensed, and an enterprise may have access to both. For licensed bands, entities generally pay a fee\u2014or otherwise obtain rights\u2014for the exclusive rights to transmit on assigned channels of specific bands in a geographic region. In unlicensed bands, virtually anyone following particular transmission protocols may transmit data across the bands without having to pay licensing fees. Licensing is generally very impractical for certain device uses, such as for smaller wireless devices that yet remains available in most regions. However, the fact that virtually any device may transmit in unlicensed space causes interference and problems in areas with numerous wireless devices or during times of high network traffic. As wireless technologies become more prolific, enterprises\u2014or groups of enterprises\u2014need to manage multiple, sometimes contentious, wireless infrastructures within a given geographic area. Wireless device traffic largely depends on the particular applications being performed on the devices in a given location. Streaming a video chat requires much more bandwidth than communicating e-mails. The frequencies an enterprise has licensed may quickly be consumed during peak hours, and services the enterprise has earmarked for the licensed frequencies may suffer interference or performance degradation if network capacity is not appropriately allocated to the wireless devices in the area. Some enterprises have proprietary radio management solutions that manage devices within a single spectrum range. For example, wireless vendors sometimes have software that automatically assigns access points in a wireless infrastructure to different channels. Such solutions are very focused in scope to their own solution and devices. If an administrator deploys non-cooperating devices (e.g., wireless security cameras and wireless projection receivers), the two sets of devices may operate independently and unknowingly compete for the same airspace. The resultant interference may degrade the performance of groups of devices.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nExamples disclosed herein relate to efficient hierarchical radio frequency (RF) spectrum assigning across both licensed and unlicensed frequencies in a given area. Wireless devices in the area are detected by a spectrum manager, which also detects all available RF frequencies that are available. Conditional, relative, or absolute RF assignment rules received by an administrator or from an administrative device dictate the allocation conditions for assigning wireless devices to different frequencies, channels, channel widths, bands, durations, or other specifics of the available RF frequencies. Alternatively, RF spectra may be assigned reactively based on the current, historical, or future network usage on the available network frequencies."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An apparatus for allocating radio frequency (RF) spectra comprising licensed and unlicensed frequencies to wireless devices, the apparatus comprising:\nmemory for storing a designation of RF spectra assignment rules for assigning portions of the RF spectra to wireless devices in an area; and\none or more processors programmed for:\nreceiving RF spectrum requests from the wireless devices in the area, the RF spectrum requests indicating network usage requirements of the wireless devices, the network usage requirements specifying target spectrum utilization at predetermined timeframes,\nidentifying the RF spectra available in the area during the predetermined timeframes, the RF spectra comprising at least one licensed frequency and at least one unlicensed frequency,\napplying the RF spectra assignment rules to schedule an allocation of portions of the RF spectra to the wireless devices with the target utilization and during the predetermined timeframes based, at least in part, on the RF spectrum requests of the wireless devices, and\nnotifying the wireless devices of the allocation of the portions of the RF spectra during the predetermined timeframes to enable the wireless devices to efficiently use the portions of the RF spectra.\n\n2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RF spectra assignment rules are received from an administrator.\n\n3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RF spectra assignment rules are received from an administrative device configured to automatically generate the RF assignment rules without user interaction.\n\n4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the administrative device is configured to generate the RF assignment rules based on current network traffic demands detected on the at least one licensed frequency and the at least one unlicensed frequency.\n\n5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\na spectra detector for detecting the at least one licensed frequency and at least one unlicensed frequency; and\na resource detector for detecting presence of the wireless devices in the area.\n\n6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the devices comprise at least two of a personal computer, a mobile tablet, a server, a virtual machine, a gaming console, a projector, a television, or a security camera.\n\n7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an admin interface configured for presenting a user interface to an administrator, the user interface enabling entry of the RF assignment rules.\n\n8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an admin interface configured that includes an application programming interface for providing the RF assignment rules.\n\n9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RF assignment rules designate that particular types of the wireless devices are to be assigned to dedicated portions of the at least one licensed frequency.\n\n10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RF assignment rules comprise relative rules for assigning spectra based on the network usage of the wireless devices.\n\n11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RF assignment rules comprise conditional rules associated with the specified target spectrum utilization for assigning spectra during the predetermined timeframe based on the network usage of the at least one licensed frequency and the at least one unlicensed frequency.\n\n12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wireless devices comprise at least two non-cooperating devices.\n\n13. A method for allocating RF spectrum to wireless devices in an area, the method comprising:\nreceiving RF spectrum requests from the wireless devices in the area, the RF spectrum requests indicating network usage requirements of the wireless devices, the network usage requirements specifying target spectrum utilization at predetermined timeframes;\nidentifying the RF spectra available in the area during the predetermined timeframes, the RF spectra comprising at least one licensed frequency and at least one unlicensed frequency;\napplying the RF spectra assignment rules to schedule an allocation of portions of the RF spectra to the wireless devices with the target utilization and during the predetermined timeframes based, at least in part, on the RF spectrum requests of the wireless devices; and\nnotifying the wireless devices of the allocation of the portions of the RF spectra during the predetermined timeframes to enable the wireless devices to efficiently use the portions of the RF spectra.\n\n14. The method of claim 13, wherein the target spectrum utilization comprises a percentage of an RF frequency band.\n\n15. The method of claim 13, wherein the RF spectra assignment rules are received from an administrative device configured to automatically generate the RF assignment rules without user interaction.\n\n16. The method of claim 15, wherein the administrative device is configured to generate the RF assignment rules based on current network traffic demands detected on the at least one licensed frequency and the at least one unlicensed frequency.\n\n17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:\ndetecting the at least one licensed frequency and at least one unlicensed frequency; and\ndetecting presence of the wireless devices in the area.\n\n18. The method of claim 13, wherein the devices comprise at least two of a personal computer, a mobile tablet, a server, a virtual machine, a gaming console, a projector, a television, or a security camera.\n\n19. One or more computer-storage memory embodied with machine-executable instructions for allocating RF spectra to wireless devices in a given area, the memory executable by one or more processors to perform steps comprising:\nreceiving RF spectrum requests from the wireless devices in the area, the RF spectrum requests indicating network usage requirements of the wireless devices, the network usage requirements specifying target spectrum utilization at predetermined timeframes,\napplying the RF spectra assignment rules to schedule an allocation of portions of the RF spectra to the wireless devices with the target utilization and during the predetermined timeframes based, at least in part, on the RF spectrum requests of the wireless devices, and\nnotifying the wireless devices of the allocation of the portions of the RF spectra during the predetermined timeframes to enable the wireless devices to efficiently use the portions of the RF spectra.\n\n20. The memory of claim 19, wherein said spectrum utilization comprises a threshold percentage of an RF channel."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Lamp Having Illumination Modules With Different Percentage Of Luminance Adjustment\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lamp, and more particularly, to a lamp having illumination modules with different percentages of luminance adjustment. 2. Description of the Prior Art In current working environments, displays are heavily-used and almost replace paper to become the major media for displaying information. A display used in such a working environment is called a visual display terminal (VDT). According ANSI/HFS 100 (American National Standards Institute/Human Factors Society 100 ), a suggested illumination for a VDT environment is 300 to 500 lux. Please refer to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 illustrates a situation while a prior art lamp 10 is used. When the lamp 10 is used on a desktop 20 and the height H from the desktop 20 to the lamp 10 is 50 centimeters, the illumination of a luminous area 12 is more than 300 lux and meets with the suggested illumination of ANSI/HFS 100 for the VDT environment. The length L 1 of the luminous area 12 is about 50 centimeters. However, due to the design of the lamp 10 , the illumination outside the luminous area 12 is less than 300 lux, such that the illumination outside the luminous area 12 is not illuminated enough. In this situation, if two or more displays are placed on the desktop 20 or if a user need to write something with hands, the illumination of peripheral area of the desktop 20 would be not enough. Moreover, if the user wants to increase the illumination outside the luminous area 12 , one or more lamps are needed to place on the desktop 20 . However, the extra lamp on the desktop 20 would reduce the usable space of the desktop 20 , and it is more power consumptive than a single lamp.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA lamp having a first illumination module, a second illumination module and a control circuit is provided. The first illumination module has a first light-emitting surface, and the second illumination module has a second light-emitting surface connected to the first light-emitting surface. The control circuit is coupled to the first illumination module and the second illumination module. When the control circuit increases the luminance of the first illumination module and the luminance of the second illumination module, a percentage of increasing the luminance of the first illumination module is less than a percentage of increasing the luminance the second illumination module."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A lamp comprising:\na first illumination module comprising a first light-emitting surface;\na second illumination module comprising a second light-emitting surface connected to the first light-emitting surface; and\na control circuit coupled to the first illumination module and the second illumination module;\nwherein a percentage of luminance increasing of the first illumination module is less than a percentage of luminance increasing of the second illumination module when the control circuit increases the luminance of the first illumination module and the luminance of the second illumination module; and\nwherein the lamp is used on a desktop comprising an information-device-use area corresponding to the first light-emitting surface and a reading-writing area corresponding to the second light-emitting surface.\n\n2. The lamp of claim 1, wherein the first light-emitting surface and the second light-emitting surface are of a same flat surface, and the second light-emitting surface comprises a luminance enhancement structure.\n\n3. The lamp of claim 1, wherein the first light-emitting surface and the second light-emitting surface are adjacent curved surfaces, and a curvature of the second light-emitting surface is greater than a curvature of the first light-emitting surface.\n\n4. The lamp of claim 1, wherein a length of the first light-emitting surface is greater than a length of the second light-emitting surface.\n\n5. The lamp of claim 1, further comprising:\na substrate comprising:\na first portion corresponding to the first light-emitting surface; and\na second portion corresponding to the second light-emitting surface;\nwherein a plurality of luminaries of the first illumination module are disposed on the first portion in a first density, and a plurality of luminaries of the second illumination module are disposed on the second portion in a second density.\n\n6. The lamp of claim 5, wherein the first density is less than the second density, and an identical increasing amount of power is provided to each of luminaries on the substrate when increasing the luminance of the first illumination module and the luminance of the second illumination module.\n\n7. The lamp of claim 5, wherein the first density is equal to the second density, and an increasing amount of power provided to each luminary on the first portion is less than an increasing amount of power provided to each luminary on the second portion when increasing the luminance of the first illumination module and the luminance of the second illumination module.\n\n8. The lamp of claim 5, wherein length of the substrate is between thirty centimeters to fifty centimeters, and width of the substrate is between five centimeters to fifteen centimeters.\n\n9. The lamp of claim 5, wherein the substrate is an arcuate structure, and a tangent plane being tangent to an apex of the first light-emitting surface and a tangent plane being tangent to an apex of the second light-emitting surface form a first angle being between ten degrees to thirty degrees.\n\n10. The lamp of claim 5, wherein\nthe plurality of luminaries of the first illumination module comprises a plurality of first color light-emitting diodes and a plurality of second color light-emitting diodes;\nthe plurality of luminaries of the second illumination module comprises a plurality of first color light-emitting diodes and a plurality of second color light-emitting diodes;\nthe control circuit adjusts a color temperature of the first illumination module by controlling currents of the plurality of first color light-emitting diodes and the plurality of second color light-emitting diodes of the first illumination module; and\nthe control circuit adjusts a color temperature of the second illumination module by controlling currents of the plurality of first color light-emitting diodes and the plurality of second color light-emitting diodes of the second illumination module.\n\n11. The lamp of claim 1, further comprising a photography module configured to photograph the desktop to get an image so that the control circuit determines the information-device-use area according to the image.\n\n12. The lamp of claim 11, further comprising a motor coupled to the first illumination module and configured to drive the first illumination module to correspond to the information-device-use area.\n\n13. The lamp of claim 11, wherein the control circuit determines positions of the first light-emitting surface and the second light-emitting surface according to the image, such that the first light-emitting surface is corresponding to the information-device-use area and the second light-emitting surface is corresponding to the reading-writing area.\n\n14. The lamp of claim 1, wherein\nthe lamp operates under a normal mode or a scenario mode selectively;\nthe information-device-use area and the reading-writing area are of a same illuminance when the lamp operates under the normal mode; and\nthe percentage of increasing luminance of the first illumination module is less than the percentage of increasing luminance the second illumination module when the lamp operates under the scenario mode.\n\n15. The lamp of claim 14, further comprising a universal serial bus (USB) interface configured to be coupled to an information device for providing electrical power to the lamp, wherein the information device provides an instruction to command the lamp to operate under the normal mode or the scenario mode.\n\n16. The lamp of claim 1, further comprising:\na distance sensor coupled to the control circuit, configured to sense a distance between an object and the first illumination module when the lamp illuminates a surface of the object; and\nan indicative light coupled to the control circuit;\nwherein when the distance between the object and the first illumination module is in a specific range, the control circuit controls the indicative light to emit light;\nwherein when the distance between the object and the first illumination module is out of the specific range, the control circuit controls the indicative light to stop emitting.\n\n17. The lamp of claim 1, further comprising a position indicative light configured to project a point of light in a direction being perpendicular to a tangent plane being tangent to an apex of the first light-emitting surface.\n\n18. A lamp comprising:\na first illumination module comprising a first light-emitting surface;\na second illumination module comprising a second light-emitting surface;\na third illumination module comprising a third light-emitting surface, wherein the first light-emitting surface, the second light-emitting surface and the third light-emitting surface form a continuous curved surface, the first light-emitting surface is placed between the second light-emitting surface and the third light-emitting surface, a tangent plane being tangent to an apex of the second light-emitting surface and a tangent plane being tangent to an apex of the first light-emitting surface form a first angle, and a tangent plane being tangent to an apex of the third light-emitting surface and the tangent plane being tangent to the apex of the first light-emitting surface form a second angle; and\na control circuit coupled to the first illumination module, the second illumination module and the third illumination module, configured to control the lamp to operate under a normal mode or a scenario mode selectively;\nwherein when the lamp operates under the normal mode, the first illumination module, the second first illumination module and the third illumination module generate light of a same luminance; and\nwherein when the lamp operates under the scenario mode and the control circuit increases the luminance of the first illumination module, the second first illumination module and the third illumination module, a percentage of increasing luminance of the first illumination module is less than a percentage of increasing luminance of any of the second illumination module and the third illumination module.\n\n19. A lamp used on a desktop comprising an information-device-use area and two reading-writing areas, the lamp comprising:\na first illumination module comprising a first light-emitting surface corresponding to the information-device-use area;\na second illumination module comprising a second light-emitting surface corresponding to one of the reading-writing areas;\na third illumination module comprising a third light-emitting surface corresponding to the other one of the reading-writing areas, wherein the first light-emitting surface, the second light-emitting surface and the third light-emitting surface form a continuous curved surface, and the first light-emitting surface is placed between the second light-emitting surface and the third light-emitting surface; and\na control circuit coupled to the first illumination module, the second illumination module and the third illumination module, configured to control the lamp to operate under a normal mode or a scenario mode selectively, wherein when the lamp operates under the normal mode, the information-device-use area and the reading-writing areas are of a same illuminance, wherein when the lamp operates under the scenario mode, a percentage of increasing luminance of the first illumination module is different to percentages of increasing luminance of the second illumination module and the third illumination module."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Controlling A Brake Pressure Booster\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a brake pressure booster utilizing hydraulic brake pressure boosting. 2. Description of Related Art Hydraulically assisted brake pressure boosters are increasingly used instead of conventional vacuum-based brake pressure boosters. One reason for this is the additional cost of the vacuum supply in modern motor vehicles, because the intake manifold is not available as a vacuum source in diesel vehicles per se, and also an adequate intake manifold vacuum is no longer continuously available in vehicles with spark ignition because of occasional engine shutdown or operation with a wide open choke flap. In contrast, a supply pump for an electronic stability controller (ESC) can be used as a pressure fluid source in an advantageous manner with hydraulically assisted brake pressure boosters (in general, a pressure reservoir is still necessary in addition). There are synergy effects from such dual use of the ESC pump unit. Suitable brake pressure boosters are known e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,243 A or DE 102011007095 A1, which are to be made the subject matter of this disclosure with respect to the detailed design of the brake pressure booster and the associated control arrangement. U.S. Pat. No. 8,038,228 B2 uses the brake pressure gradient as a triggering criterion for an additional pressure source. U.S. Patent Publication No. US20110270500 A1 activates the additional pressure source depending on the pressure in the tandem brake master cylinder. A common comparison test for brake systems of motor vehicles\u2014which however is not part of legally specified tests\u2014is the so-called AMS brake test, which refers to the German automobile magazine \u201cAuto Motor and Sport.\u201d The test consists essentially of maximally accelerating a vehicle laden with the permissible loading ten times in immediate succession from 0 to 100 km/h and then decelerating back by means of full braking with the antilock braking system responding. This test places special requirements on the temperature behavior of the brake system, especially with respect to brake fade. An AMS brake test of the hydraulic brake pressure assistance in current brake pressure boosters provides little or no benefit. A more detailed analysis shows this is apparently because the additional hydraulic pressure source is activated throughout; but the application points and activation criteria for activating the additional braking assistance with known brake controllers are so unfavorable that at the point in time of activation there is already such a high brake pressure that the common ESC pumps or the non-return valves disposed in the hydraulic path cannot transport any more brake fluid or supply the brake pressure booster.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for controlling a brake pressure booster with hydraulic brake boosting wherein the activation of an additional pressure source takes place upon exceeding a specified brake cylinder pressure threshold value. The threshold value lying, between 50% and 100%, preferably between 70% and 80%, of a pressure limit value, from which the operating travel/brake pressure curve without additional brake pressure assistance has a knee point. Further upon exceeding a specified piston rod activation travel limit value, which lies at 20% to 100% of the available travel, preferably at 40% to 60% of the available travel. Furthermore, the speed of the vehicle, its lateral deceleration and its longitudinal deceleration can be used as criteria. Deactivation takes place on falling below a specified piston rod deactivation travel limit value. Based on selection of activation/deactivation criteria additional brake pressure boosting can be operationally during braking maneuvers."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for controlling a brake pressure booster with hydraulic brake pressure boosting in a motor vehicle, the brake pressure booster comprising:\nproviding a tandem brake master cylinder connected directly or indirectly via a piston rod to a brake pedal for applying brake fluid to the service brakes of the motor vehicle;\nproviding an additional hydraulic pressure source that can be selectively activated or deactivated by means of a control device depending on various engine operating parameters and whose pressure fluid in the case of activation assists the brake pressure applied by the brake pedal; and\nrecording at least the pressure in the tandem brake master cylinder and the piston rod travel of the tandem brake master cylinder by the control device wherein activation of the additional pressure source takes place with the cumulative presence of at least the following criteria:\na) exceeding a specified tandem brake master cylinder pressure threshold value of between 50% and 100% of a pressure limit value, from which the operating travel/brake pressure curve comprises a knee point without additional brake pressure assistance, and\nb) exceeding a specified piston rod activation travel limit value of 20% to 100% of the available travel.\n\n2. The method of claim 1 including the step of activating the additional pressure source when one or more of the following additional driving dynamics criteria are present:\nc) exceeding a specified minimum longitudinal vehicle speed, which is preferably approximately 5 to 15 km/h;\nd) the presence of a lower lateral deceleration than a specified deceleration limit value, which is preferably between \u22120.4 g and \u22120.2 g (g=9.81 m/s 2 ); and\ne) the presence of a higher longitudinal deceleration than a specified deceleration limit value, which is preferably \u22120.5 g (g=9.81 m/s 2 ).\n\n3. The method of claim 1, including the step of using as an alternative criterion\nb\u2032) exceeding a specified limit value of the variation with time of the tandem brake master cylinder pressure value instead of the piston rod activation travel limit value in step b).\n\n4. The method of claim 1, including the step of selecting the tandem brake master cylinder pressure threshold value below 100 bar.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, including the step of deactivating the additional pressure source upon falling below a specified piston rod deactivation travel limit value, wherein the piston rod deactivation travel limit value corresponds to the piston rod activation travel limit value minus a specified hysteresis value.\n\n6. The method of claim 5\nwherein the step of deactivating the additional pressure source is controlled independently of the tandem brake master cylinder pressure, or, if a pressure threshold value is provided, on falling below which deactivation should occur, that the deactivation pressure threshold value is not more than 30% of the pressure limit value.\n\n7. The method of claim 1,\nwherein the additional pressure source is not activated or is immediately deactivated if the tandem brake master cylinder pressure value exceeds a maximum pressure value that preferably lies between 180 and 220 bar.\n\n8. The method of claim 1,\nwherein the additional pressure source is not activated or is immediately deactivated if the longitudinal deceleration exceeds a specified deceleration limit value of preferably between \u22121.2 g to \u22121.4 g (g=9.81 m/s 2 ).\n\n9. The method of claim 1 wherein the specified tandem brake master cylinder pressure threshold value is between 70% and 80% of a pressure limit value.\n\n10. The method of claim 1 wherein the specified piston rod activation travel limit value is between 40% to 60% of the available travel.\n\n11. The method of claim 1 wherein the specified tandem brake master cylinder pressure threshold value is between 70% and 80% of a pressure limit value; and\nthe specified piston rod activation travel limit value is between 40% to 60% of the available travel.\n\n12. A method for controlling a brake pressure booster with hydraulic brake boosting in a motor vehicle, wherein the brake pressure booster comprises a tandem brake master cylinder connected by means of a piston rod directly or indirectly to a brake pedal for applying brake fluid to the service brakes of the motor vehicle, and a hydraulic additional pressure source that can be selectively activated or deactivated by means of a control device depending on various engine operating parameters, whose pressure fluid in the case of activation assists the brake pressure applied by the brake pedal, and wherein at least the pressure in the tandem brake master cylinder and the piston rod travel of the tandem brake master cylinder are recorded by the control device, wherein\nactivation of the additional pressure source takes place on exceeding a specified tandem brake master cylinder pressure threshold value and at the same time exceeding a specified piston rod activation travel limit value, and that deactivation of the additional pressure source takes place on falling below a specified piston rod deactivation travel limit value independent of the tandem brake master cylinder pressure.\n\n13. A method for controlling brake pressure comprising:\nproviding a brake cylinder including a piston rod;\nproviding a hydraulic pressure source;\ndetermining brake cylinder pressure and piston rod travel; and\nactivating said hydraulic pressure source when the brake cylinder pressure is between 50% and 100% of a pressure limit value and the piston rod travel limit is between 20% to 100% of the available travel.\n\n14. The method of claim 13 including the step of activating said hydraulic pressure source when the brake cylinder pressure is between 70% and 80% of the pressure limit value and the piston rod travel limit is between 40% to 60% of the available travel.\n\n15. The method of claim 14 including the step of selecting the brake cylinder pressure limit value between 180 and 220 bar.\n\n16. The method of claim 13 including the step of activating the additional pressure source when one or more of the following additional driving dynamics criteria are present:\nexceeding a specified minimum longitudinal vehicle speed, which is preferably approximately 5 to 15 km/h;\nthe presence of a lower lateral deceleration than a specified deceleration limit value, which is preferably between \u22120.4 g and \u22120.2 g (g=9.81 m/s 2 ); and\nthe presence of a higher longitudinal deceleration than a specified deceleration limit value, which is preferably \u22120.5 g (g=9.81 m/s 2 ).\n\n17. The method of claim 13 wherein the step deactivating the additional pressure source takes place on falling below a specified piston rod deactivation travel limit value, wherein the piston rod deactivation travel limit value corresponds to the piston rod activation travel limit value minus a specified hysteresis value; and\nthe additional pressure source is controlled independently of the brake cylinder pressure.\n\n18. The method of claim 13 wherein the additional pressure source is not activated or is immediately deactivated if the brake cylinder pressure value exceeds a maximum pressure value that preferably lies between 180 and 220 bar.\n\n19. The method of claim 13 wherein the additional pressure source is not activated or is immediately deactivated if the longitudinal deceleration exceeds a specified deceleration limit value of preferably between \u22121.2 g to \u22121.4 g, wherein g=9.81 m/s 2."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Processing Optical Signal, Optical Signal Sending Node And Optical Node\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAn optical transmission technology tends to develop towards single-channel with a higher rate (for example, single-channel with 400G/1T), higher spectral efficiency and high-order modulation format, and continuing increasing rate is thus still the most definite and important direction of development of optical transmission. There are many limits to high-speed transmission, mainly including two aspects: on one hand, the optical transmission technology develops towards high-spectral efficiency convergence transmission and high-speed service interface transmission, convergence of low speed to high speed for transmission is insignificant if spectral efficiency cannot be continuously improved, but it is also necessary to consider problems about transmission of a high-speed interface because there may be a high-speed Ethernet interface on a client side, and 400G may be a critical point of a spectral efficiency limit in the future; and on the other hand, the optical transmission technology develops towards long-distance (long-span and multi-span) transmission, and although a system OS to Noise Ratio (OSNR) may be increased by means of adopting a low-loss optical fibre, adopting a low-noise amplifier, reducing a span spacing and the like, achieved improvements are limited, and it is difficult to achieve a major breakthrough and implement a project. Along with increase of bearer network bandwidth requirements, a beyond-100G technology becomes a solution to increasing bandwidth requirements, and for no matter 400G or 1T beyond 100G, it is impossible for traditional 50 GHz fixed grid Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) to provide a sufficient spectral width for implementation of the beyond-100G technology. Because of defects of a fixed grid, a requirement on a wider flexible grid is made. In the related technology, beyond-100G multi-rate mixed transmission and beyond-100G modulation format flexibility cause different channel bandwidth requirements, and if each channel is customized with a proper bandwidth, a system bandwidth may be fully utilized, thereby generating a flexible grid system. A requirement on an ultrahigh-speed WDM system continuously increases on the basis of a bandwidth requirement, so that a requirement on a flexible grid technology is introduced. However, many problems such as how to effectively implement frequency spectrum planning and management and achieve compatibility with an existing system are to be solved. For the problem of how to effectively implement frequency spectrum planning and management, for example, how to break a limit to a selected fixed rate under a beyond-100G condition, after introduction of a flexible grid technology in the related technology, there is yet no effective solution.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nProvided are a method for processing an OS. The method includes: an OS sending node inserts OCh information into an overhead of an OMS of an OS; and/or, the OS sending node inserts the OCh information and optical carrier information into an OCh overhead of the OS, wherein the OCh information includes an identifier of the OCh, an NCF of an effective frequency slot of a media channel and a slot width of the effective frequency slot of the media channel, and a frequency slice granularity, and the optical carrier information includes: the number of optical carriers in the media channel, bit rates of the optical carriers in the media channel, modulation formats of the optical carriers in the media channel, NCFs of the optical carriers in the media channel, slot widths of the optical carriers in the media channel and a multiplexing method for the optical carriers."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for processing an Optical Signal (OS), comprising:\ninserting, by an OS sending node, Optical Channel (OCh) information into an Optical Multiplex Section (OMS) overhead of the OS; and\ninserting, by the OS sending node, the OCh information and optical carrier information into an OCh overhead of the OS;\nwherein the OCh information comprises an identifier of the OCh, a Nominal Central Frequency (NCF) of an effective frequency slot of a media channel and a slot width of the effective frequency slot of the media channel, a frequency slice granularity, wherein the optical carrier information comprises: the number of optical carriers in the media channel, bit rates of the optical carriers in the media channel, modulation formats of the optical carriers in the media channel, NCFs of the optical carriers in the media channel, slot widths of the optical carriers in the media channel and a multiplexing method for the optical carriers;\nwherein when an OCh payload is supported by multiple media channels, the OCh information comprises the identifier of the OCh, an NCF of an effective frequency slot of each media channel supporting the OCh payload and slot widths of the effective frequency slots of all the media channels supporting the OCh payload, and a frequency slice granularity.\n\n2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when different optical carriers in the media channel adopt different modulation formats and different bit rates, the optical carrier information comprises: a bit rate of each optical carrier in the media channel, a modulation format of each optical carrier in the media channel, an NCF of each optical carrier in the media channel and a slot width of each optical carrier in the media channel, and the multiplexing method for the optical carriers.\n\n3. The method according to claim 2, wherein after the OS sending node inserts the OCh information and the optical carrier information into the overhead of the OCh of the OS, the method further comprises:\nacquiring, by an intermediate optical node with a media channel matrix, the OCh information and the optical carrier information from the overhead of the OCh of the OS;\ncomparing, by the intermediate optical node, the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information with the expected OCh information and expected optical carrier information received from a local management plane or control plane respectively; and\nbased on that the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information are the same as the expected OCh information and the expected optical carrier information, switching, by the intermediate optical node, a demultiplexed media channel to another optical fibre connected with the optical node according to frequency spectrum cross connection information for configuration of media channels in the local management plane or control plane, and based on that the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information are different from the expected OCh information and the expected optical carrier information prompting, by the intermediate optical node, an alarm about a configuration error of the OCh of the OS.\n\n4. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the OS sending node inserts the OCh information into the OMS overhead of the OS, the method further comprises:\nreceiving, by an intermediate optical node with a media channel matrix, the OS from the sending node;\ncomparing, by the intermediate optical node, the OCh information acquired from the OMS overhead of the OS with expected OCh information received from a local management plane or control plane; and\nbased on that the acquired OCh information is the same as the expected OCh information, demultiplexing, by the intermediate optical node, the media channel corresponding to the OCh from the OS according to the acquired OCh information, and based on that the acquired OCh information is different from the expected OCh information, prompting, by the intermediate optical node, an alarm about a configuration error of the OMS of the OS.\n\n5. The method according to claim 4, wherein before the intermediate optical node receives the OS from the sending node, the method further comprises:\ndirectly transmitting, by the management plane or the control plane, the expected OCh information to the intermediate optical node.\n\n6. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the OS sending node inserts the OCh information and the optical carrier information into the overhead of the OCh of the OS, the method further comprises:\nacquiring, by an intermediate optical node with a media channel matrix, the OCh information and the optical carrier information from the overhead of the OCh of the OS;\ncomparing, by the intermediate optical node, the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information with the expected OCh information and expected optical carrier information received from a local management plane or control plane respectively; and\nbased on that the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information are the same as the expected OCh information and the expected optical carrier information, switching, by the intermediate optical node, a demultiplexed media channel to another optical fibre connected with the optical node according to frequency spectrum cross connection information for configuration of media channels in the local management plane or control plane, and based on that the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information are different from the expected OCh information and the expected optical carrier information prompting, by the intermediate optical node, an alarm about a configuration error of the OCh of the OS.\n\n7. The method according to claim 6, wherein before the intermediate optical node receives the OS from the sending node, the method further comprises:\ndirectly transmitting, by the management plane or the control plane, the expected OCh information and the expected optical carrier information to the intermediate optical node.\n\n8. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the OS sending node inserts the OCh information and the optical carrier information into the overhead of the OCh of the OS, the method further comprises:\nwhen a destination node of a service born by the OS receives the OS, acquiring, by the destination node, the OCh information and the optical carrier information from the overhead of the OCh of the OS, and demodulating the OS according to the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information.\n\n9. An Optical Signal (OS) sending node, comprising a hardware processor, configured to perform programming components stored in a memory, wherein the programming components comprise:\nan insertion component configured to insert Optical Channel (OCh) information into an Optical Multiplex Section (OMS) overhead of an OS to be sent, and configured to insert the OCh information and optical carrier information into an OCh overhead of the OS;\nwherein the OCh information comprises an identifier of the OCh, a Nominal Central Frequency (NCF) of an effective frequency slot of a media channel and a slot width of the effective frequency slot of the media channel, and a frequency slice granularity, wherein the optical carrier information comprises: the number of optical carriers in the media channel, bit rates of the optical carriers in the media channel, modulation formats of the optical carriers in the media channel, NCFs of the optical carriers in the media channel, slot widths of the optical carriers in the media channel, and a multiplexing method for the optical carriers;\nwherein when an OCh payload is supported by multiple media channels, the OCh information comprises the identifier of the OCh, an NCF of an effective frequency slot of each media channel supporting the OCh payload and slot widths of the effective frequency slots of all the media channels supporting the OCh payload, and a frequency slice granularity.\n\n10. An optical node with a media channel matrix, comprising a hardware processor, configured to perform programming components stored in a memory, wherein the programming components comprise:\na receiving component configured to receive an Optical Signal (OS) which bears service data from an upstream node;\na comparing component configured to compare Optical Channel (OCh) information acquired from an Optical Multiplex Section (OMS) overhead of the OS with expected OCh information received from a local management plane or control plane, wherein the OCh information comprises an identifier of an OCh, a Nominal Central Frequency (NCF) of an effective frequency slot of a media channel and a slot width of the effective frequency slot of the media channel, and a frequency slice granularity; and\nan OMS processing component configured to, under the condition that the acquired OCh information is the same as the expected OCh information, demultiplex the media channel corresponding to the OCh from the OS according to the acquired OCh information, and under the condition that the acquired OCh information is different from the expected OCh information, prompt an alarm about a configuration error of the OMS of the OS;\nwherein when an OCh payload is supported by multiple media channels, the OCh information comprises the identifier of the OCh, an NCF of an effective frequency slot of each media channel supporting the OCh payload and slot widths of the effective frequency slots of all the media channels supporting the OCh payload, and a frequency slice granularity.\n\n11. An optical node with a media channel matrix, comprising a hardware processor, configured to perform programming components stored in a memory, wherein the programming components comprise:\nan acquiring component configured to acquire OCh information and optical carrier information from an overhead of an Optical Channel (OCh) of a received Optical Signal (OS), wherein the OCh information comprises an identifier of the OCh, a Nominal Central Frequency (NCF) of an effective frequency slot of a media channel and a slot width of the effective frequency slot of the media channel, and a frequency slice granularity, and the optical carrier information comprises: the number of optical carriers in the media channel, bit rates of the optical carriers in the media channel, modulation formats of the optical carriers in the media channel, NCFs of the optical carriers in the media channel, slot widths of the optical carriers in the media channel and a multiplexing method for the optical carriers;\na judgment component configured to compare the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information with expected OCh information and expected optical carrier information received from a local management plane or control plane; and\nan OCh processing component configured to, under the condition that the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information are the same as the expected OCh information and the expected optical carrier information, switch a demultiplexed media channel to another optical fibre connected with the optical node according to frequency spectrum cross connection information for configuration of media channels in the local management plane or control plane, and under the condition that the acquired OCh information and optical carrier information are different from the expected OCh information and the expected optical carrier information, prompt an alarm about a configuration error of the OCh of the OS;\nwherein when an OCh payload is supported by multiple media channels, the OCh information comprises the identifier of the OCh, an NCF of an effective frequency slot of each media channel supporting the OCh payload and slot widths of the effective frequency slots of all the media channels supporting the OCh payload, and a frequency slice granularity.\n\n12. The optical node according to claim 11, further comprising:\na demodulation component configured to demodulate the OS according to the OCh information and optical carrier information acquired from the overhead of the OCh by the acquiring component."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Ferroelectric Emitter For Electron Beam Emission And Radiation Generation\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe invention, in some embodiments, relates to the field of electron beam emission and more particularly, but not exclusively, to ferroelectric emitters suitable for the emission of electron beams. The invention, in some embodiments, also relates to the field of millimeter waves, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to gyrotrons. Ferroelectric (FE) emitters have been investigated as a cold electron source for many applications including electron guns. After long period of scientific discussion regarding the emission mechanism, several experimental devices were demonstrated, and it was proven that the FE emitter can be integrated into microwave tubes [refs. 2-7]. Recent achievements extend the use of such emitters to S-band relativistic magnetrons [ref 8] and 95 GHz gyrotrons [ref 9]. Depending on the implementation, FE emitters may have one or more advantages including: FE emitters are cold emitters, FE emitters can withstand relatively high currents, have a relatively short (immediate) turn on time, need no conditioning, require modest vacuum to operate, and are relatively inexpensive. While thermionic emitters can emit long pulses and even continuous beams, plasma emitters such as FE emitters are limited to short-pulse operation [ref. 10]. Some of the factors which limit the duration of the pulses include the gap closure, and the plasma relaxation time that limits the pulse repetition frequency (PRF). The FE emission is a plasma-assisted effect. When an FE emitter is operated in an electron tube, surface plasma is ignited on a front electrode on the distal (front) side of the emitter and electrons are drawn towards the anode. Thus, an FE emitter is limited to short pulses (typically 100-300 ns). Pulse duration, PRF, and possible duty cycle of an electron tube are all determined by the emitter and limit the electron tube performance. Emitter lifetime is another limiting factor for ferroelectric emitters. Although FE emitters have an infinite shelf lifetime and do not need refreshing when not operative, during emitter operation generated surface plasma tends to damage the emitter surface and gradually degrades emitter performance. Lifetimes of FE emitters have been studied [refs. 11-13] where the emitters were operated in different PRF's in the range of 1 Hz-1 kHz. Research to prolong the pulse duration of electron beams generated in tubes having FE emitters has been done. Early attempts are reported in the work of Advani et al. [ref 14] where a 5 microsecond single pulse is achieved from an 11.4 cm diameter annular ferroelectric emitter. This emitter was designed for a gyrotron but it was not implemented in an FE tube, and no radiation was obtained. Prolonging of pulse duration in different plasma emitters, based on explosive emission, was reported by Engelko [ref 10] where multipoint ignition was used to overcome the plasma limitation, generating a 30 microsecond current pulse length. This demonstration included an electron gun, but radiation from an electron tube was not reported. Engleko's method was later implemented by Gleizer et al. [ref. 15] with FE emitters, obtaining single pulses of \u02dc6 microsecond, reporting an electron beam, but without generating radiation. Radiation from an FE tube has been reported by Hadas et al. [ref. 8], where an S-Band magnetron with an FE emitter was compared to the same tube with an explosive emission emitter. The use of the ferroelectric emitter extended the duration of the radiated pulse by 30% to 100 ns, and increased the microwave radiation power by \u02dc10%. It is clearly determined in the experiment that the FE emitter is \u02dc30% more efficient than an explosive emission emitter in the tested tube. In other studies demonstrating the integration of ferroelectric emitter in electron tubes in a gyrotron [refs. 3, 4], a PRF of 3 MHz and duty cycle of up to 50% was measured with 150 ns pulses. However, FE emitter tubes with long pulses were not reported.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDisclosed are methods and devices suitable for generating electron beams and pulses of radiation. Specifically, in some disclosed embodiments, multiple emitting electrodes of a ferroelectric emitter are sequentially activated, generating a relatively long electron beam pulse that is substantially a series of substantially consecutive short electron beam pulses generated by the sequentially-activated individual emitting electrodes."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A ferroelectric emitter, comprising:\nan emitter body having a distal face and a proximal face;\na proximal electrode in contact with at least a portion of the proximal face;\nat least one first distal electrode, located at the distal face of the emitter body;\nat least one first trigger;\nwherein the first trigger is configured to activate the first distal electrode by applying potential pulses to the first distal electrode to cause a first plurality of electrons to be released from the first distal electrode to produce at least one first beam pulse;\nat least one second distal electrode, located at the distal face of the emitter body;\nat least one second trigger;\nwherein the second trigger is configured to activate the second distal electrode independently from the activation of the first distal electrode by applying potential pulses to the second distal electrode to cause a second plurality of electrons to be released from the second distal electrode to produce at least one second beam pulse;\nwherein the ferroelectric emitter is configured to produce an electron beam, consisting of the first beam pulse and the second beam pulse.\n\n2. The ferroelectric emitter of claim 1, wherein the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode are coplanar.\n\n3. The ferroelectric emitter of claim 1, wherein the ferroelectric emitter achieves a pulse repetition frequency of up to 3 MHZ, a duty cycle of the electron beam is from 0% to 100%, and a pulse length of the electron beam is up to 7.5 microseconds.\n\n4. The ferroelectric emitter of claim 1, wherein the emitter body is made of a ferroelectric material.\n\n5. The ferroelectric emitter of claim 1, wherein the at least two distal electrodes are exposed to plasma and are made of a conductive material.\n\n6. The ferroelectric emitter of claim 1, wherein the proximal electrode is not exposed to plasma and is made of a conductive material.\n\n7. The ferroelectric emitter of claim 1, wherein the proximal electrode is associated with a power source.\n\n8. The ferroelectric emitter of claim 1, wherein the potential pulses have a width between 50 ns and 1000 ns.\n\n9. A holder-emitter assembly, comprising:\nan electrically-insulating holder having an open end; and\nthe ferroelectric emitter of claim 1 placed in the electrically-insulating holder,\nwherein the open end of the electrically-insulating holder is covered with a conductive grid placed at a distance from the distal face of the ferroelectric emitter.\n\n10. An electron gun, comprising:\na casing defining a chamber;\nthe holder-emitter assembly of claim 9 placed on a first end of the chamber;\nan anode having a gap in the center placed on a second end of the chamber; and\nan external gun solenoid inducing a constant axial magnetic field surrounding the electron gun.\n\n11. The electron gun of claim 10, wherein the anode is grounded.\n\n12. The electron gun of claim 10, wherein the casing is made of an insulator.\n\n13. The electron gun of claim 10, wherein a DC potential is applied to the proximal electrode and to the grid.\n\n14. The electron gun of claim 10, wherein the electron beam accelerated towards and past the grid by an electric field formed by a potential difference in the chamber.\n\n15. The electron gun of claim 10, wherein the magnetic field induced by the external gun solenoid limits a radial expansion of the electrons released from the at least two distal electrodes and guides the electron beam through the gap of the anode.\n\n16. A gyrotron tube driven by the electron gun of claim 10, comprising:\na tube solenoid configured to generate an magnetic field;\na cavity having a first end connecting the anode of the electron gun and a second end having an output window,\nwherein the electron beam generated by the electron gun exits through the gap of the anode and enters the cavity from the first end of the cavity, and an electromagnetic radiation is emitted through the output window at the second end of the cavity; and\nan electrons impact electron collector on a side of the cavity.\n\n17. The gyrotron tube of claim 16, wherein the operation of the electron gun and the tube solenoid is synchronized so that the electron beam propagates through the magnetic field generated by tube solenoid.\n\n18. The gyrotron tube of claim 16, wherein during an interaction of the electrons of the electron beam with the magnetic field generated by tube solenoid, the electrons are forced to adopt cyclotron motion in the magnetic field, thereby generating the electromagnetic radiation.\n\n19. The gyrotron tube of claim 16, wherein the electrons impact electron collector is configured to dissipate heat and charge generated during the operation of the gyrotron.\n\n20. A method for generating an electron beam, comprising:\na) providing a ferroelectric emitter, wherein the ferroelectric emitter comprises:\nan emitter body having a distal face and a proximal face;\na proximal electrode in contact with at least a portion of the proximal face;\nat least one first distal electrode, located at the distal face of the emitter body;\nat least one first trigger;\nwherein the first trigger is configured to activate the first distal electrode by applying potential pulses to the first distal electrode to cause a first plurality of electrons to be released from the first distal electrode to produce at least one first beam pulse;\nat least one second distal electrode, located at the distal face of the emitter body;\nat least one second trigger;\nwherein the second trigger is configured to activate the second distal electrode independently from the activation of the first distal electrode by applying potential pulses to the second distal electrode to cause a second plurality of electrons to be released from the second distal electrode to produce at least one second beam pulse;\nwherein the ferroelectric emitter is configured to produce an electron beam, consisting of the first beam pulse and the second beam pulse; and\nindependently activating the first trigger to produce the first beam pulse; and\nindependently activating the second trigger to produce the second beam pulse.\n\n21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:\nduring said independently activating the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode, varying a duty cycle of said ferroelectric emitter.\n\n22. The method of claim 21, wherein said varying the duty cycle of said ferroelectric emitter comprises changing at least one variable selected from the group of variables consisting of:\na pulse width of at least one of the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode;\nan inter-pulse interval of at least one of the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode;\na pulse-repetition frequency of at least one of the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode; and\na duty cycle of at least one of the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode.\n\n23. The method of claim 20, wherein said independently activation of the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode comprises:\nfrom the first distal electrode, generating the first beam pulse for a first period of time having a first starting time, a first duration, and a first ending time; and\nsubsequent to said first starting time, from the second distal electrode, generating the second beam pulse for a second period of time having a second starting time, a second duration, and a second ending time,\nwherein said second ending time is subsequent to said first ending time.\n\n24. The method of claim 20, wherein said independently activation of the first distal electrode and the second distal electrode comprises:\nfrom the first distal electrode, generating the first beam pulse for a first period of time having a first starting time, a first duration, and a first ending time; and\nsubsequent to said first ending time, from the second distal electrode, generating the second beam pulse for a second period of time having a second starting time, a second duration, and a second ending time.\n\n25. A method of generating radiation comprising:\ngenerating an electron beam pulse according to the method of claim 20; and\ndirecting said generated electron beam pulse to enter a magnetic field, thereby generating radiation.\n\n26. A method of generating radiation comprising:\ngenerating an electron beam pulse according to the method of claim 20; and\ndirecting said generated electron beam pulse to drive a radiation-generating device the radiation-generating device thereby generating radiation.\n\n27. The method of claim 26, wherein said radiation-generating device is a gyrotron tube.\n\n28. The method of claim 26, wherein the frequency of the generated radiation is between 1 and 300 GHz.\n\n29. The method of claim 20, wherein the ferroelectric emitter achieves a pulse repetition frequency of up to 3 MHZ, a duty cycle of the electron beam is from 0% to 100%; and a pulse length of the electron beam is up to 7.5 microseconds."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Transmitter, Common Mode Transceiver Using The Same, And Operating Method Thereof\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a radio frequency technique, and particularly relates to a transmitter, a common mode transceiver using the transmitter and an operating method thereof. 2. Description of Related Art In a communication system, if a distance between two communication equipment is very far away, a problem that the two equipment have different ground potentials is encountered. According to a commonly used conventional technique, there are two solutions for resolving the above problem. Referring to FIG. 1 for the first conventional solution, FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of ground potential connection between the two communication equipment in the communication system. Besides that a transmission interface between the two communication equipment EQ 1 , EQ 2 is used for transmitting signals (for example, the transmitted signals include an interface voltage Vbus), ground potential signal pins of the two communication equipment are connected to achieve a same ground potential GND. However, such solution has two disadvantages, and the first disadvantage is that a connection port of the communication equipment is required to use the ground potential signal pin, and the second disadvantage is that when the ground potential between the two communication equipment EQ 1 and EQ 2 is excessively large, when the different ground potentials are forced to be connected, since a resistance of a connection line is in a micro-ohm level, a large current (I=V/R) is probably generated, and the large current is bound to produce a magnetic field to influence a normal signal communication, which may cause communication failure. Referring to FIG. 2 for the second conventional solution, FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of the two communication equipment in the communication system having a common mode range interface. The communication equipment EQ 1 and EQ 2 are implemented by common mode transceivers, and in a common mode voltage range, the communication equipment EQ 1 and EQ 2 are allowed to have different ground potentials. Referring to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 is a structural diagram based on FIG. 2 , which illustrates a positive ground potential offset between the communication equipment EQ 1 and EQ 2 . For example, when the common mode voltage range of the communication equipment EQ 1 is 0V to 5V, and the positive ground potential offset is 7V, a demand of the common mode voltage range of the communication equipment EQ 2 is 7V to 12V. Moreover, referring to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 is a structural diagram based on FIG. 2 , which illustrates a negative ground potential offset between the communication equipment EQ 1 and EQ 2 . For example, when the common mode voltage range of the communication equipment EQ 1 is 0V to 5V, and the negative ground potential offset is \u22127V, a demand of the common mode voltage range of the communication equipment EQ 2 is \u22127V to \u22122V. On the other hand, if the communication equipment EQ 2 is required to simultaneously deal with the positive ground potential offset and the negative ground potential offset, a demand of the common mode voltage range thereof is \u22127V to +12V. When the communication equipment EQ 1 and EQ 2 are all common mode transceivers, and the positive ground potential offset or the negative ground potential offset exists between the two communication equipment EQ 1 and EQ 2 , according to related regulation, signals are required to be normally transceived within the ground potential offset range and additional leakage is not allowed. Referring to FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 . FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a leakage path when a transmitter of the common mode transceiver has the positive ground potential offset. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a leakage path when the transmitter of the common mode transceiver has the negative ground potential offset. Generally, a pull-up circuit 11 or a pull-down circuit 12 of the transmitter 10 of the transceiver all have a parasitic diode. In FIG. 5 , when the interface voltage Vbus is greater than a power voltage VDD, a leakage path where current flows from the interface voltage Vbus to the power voltage VDD through the parasitic diode is formed. Similarly, in FIG. 6 , when the interface voltage Vbus is smaller than the ground potential GND, a leakage path where current flows from the ground potential GND to the interface voltage Vbus through the parasitic diode is formed. In order to resolve the problem of the leakage path, referring to FIG. 7 , FIG.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA transmitter, a common mode transceiver using the same, and an operating method thereof are provided. The transmitter includes a first transistor group and a second transistor group. The first transistor group includes a first transistor connected in series with a second transistor, wherein the second transistor is applied a first well-tracking control. The second transistor group includes a third transistor connected in series with a fourth transistor, wherein the third transistor is applied a second well-tracking control. There is an output node between the first transistor group and the second transistor group, and the second transistor and the third transistor are coupled to the output node. The present invention can effectively block leakage paths in common mode operation, and can enhance ESD protection capability."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A transmitter of a common mode transceiver, comprising:\na first transistor group, comprising a first transistor and a second transistor connected in series with each other, wherein the second transistors is applied a first well-tracking control; and\na second transistor group, comprising a third transistor and a fourth transistor connected in series with each other, wherein the third transistor is applied a second well-tracking control,\nwherein there is an output node between the first transistor group and the second transistor group, and the second transistor and the third transistor are coupled to the output node.\n\n2. The transmitter of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:\na first circuit, coupled to the output node and a ground potential, and configured to perform transient voltage suppression.\n\n3. The transmitter of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second transistor has a second circuit, the second circuit performs the first well-tracking control, and controls a first well-voltage of the second transistor according to a first highest voltage exerted to a source or a drain of the second transistor; the third transistor has a third circuit, and the third circuit performs the second well-tracking control, and controls a second well-voltage of the third transistor according to a second highest voltage exerted to a source or a drain of the third transistor.\n\n4. The transmitter of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are respectively a low-voltage P-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor and a high-voltage P-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor, and a circuit area of the first transistor is configured between \u00bd and \u00bc of a circuit area of the second transistor.\n\n5. The transmitter of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 1, wherein the third transistor and the fourth transistor are respectively a high-voltage N-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor and a low-voltage N-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor, and a circuit area of the fourth transistor is configured between \u00bd and \u00bc of a circuit area of the third transistor.\n\n6. A common mode transceiver, comprising:\na transmitter, comprising:\nan output stage, comprising:\na first transistor group, comprising a first transistor and a second transistor connected in series with each other, wherein the second transistor is applied a first well-tracking control; and\na second transistor group, comprising a third transistor and a fourth transistor connected in series with each other, wherein the third transistor is applied a second well-tracking control, there is an output node between the first transistor group and the second transistor group, and the second transistor and the third transistor are coupled to the output node; and\n\n7. The common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second transistor has a second circuit, the second circuit performs the first well-tracking control, and controls a first well-voltage of the second transistor according to a first highest voltage exerted to a source or a drain of the second transistor; the third transistor has a third circuit, and the third circuit performs the second well-tracking control, and controls a second well-voltage of the third transistor according to a second highest voltage exerted to a source or a drain of the third transistor.\n\n8. The common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are respectively a low-voltage P-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor and a high-voltage P-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor, and a circuit area of the first transistor is configured between \u00bd and \u00bc of a circuit area of the second transistor.\n\n9. The common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 6, wherein the third transistor and the fourth transistor are respectively a high-voltage N-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor and a low-voltage N-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor, and a circuit area of the fourth transistor is configured between \u00bd and \u00bc of a circuit area of the third transistor.\n\n10. An operating method of a common mode transceiver, comprising:\nproviding a first transistor group comprising a first transistor and a second transistor connected in series with each other;\nproviding a second transistor group comprising a third transistor and a fourth transistor connected in series with each other; and\nrespectively operating the second transistor and the third transistor by performing a first well-tracking control and a second well-tracking control.\n\n11. The operating method of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 10, further comprising:\nproviding a first circuit coupled to the output node and a ground potential to perform transient voltage suppression.\n\n12. The operating method of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 10, wherein the step of respectively operating the second transistor and the third transistor by performing the first well-tracking control and the second well-tracking control comprises:\nconfiguring a second circuit to the second transistor, wherein the second circuit performs the first well-tracking control, and controls a first well-voltage of the second transistor according to a first highest voltage exerted to a source or a drain of the second transistor; and\nconfiguring a third circuit to the third transistor, wherein the third circuit performs the second well-tracking control, and controls a second well-voltage of the third transistor according to a second highest voltage exerted to a source or a drain of the third transistor.\n\n13. The operating method of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are respectively a low-voltage P-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor and a high-voltage P-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor, and a circuit area of the first transistor is configured between \u00bd and \u00bc of a circuit area of the second transistor.\n\n14. The operating method of the common mode transceiver as claimed in claim 10, wherein the third transistor and the fourth transistor are respectively a high-voltage N-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor and a low-voltage N-type metal oxide semiconductor transistor, and a circuit area of the fourth transistor is configured between \u00bd and \u00bc of a circuit area of the third transistor."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Backside Illuminated (Bsi) Cmos Image Sensor (Cis) With A Resonant Cavity And A Method For Manufacturing The Bsi Cis\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nComplementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CIS) are manufactured using CMOS technology. In backside illuminated (BSI) CISs radiation sensed by the BSI CIS does not propagate through metal and dielectric layers. FIG. 1 includes various cross sections that illustrate the manufacturing process of a prior art BSI CIS. The manufacturing process may include: a. Manufacturing a sensor wafer 20 that may be an epitaxial (epi) sensor wafer. The sensor wafer 20 may include a bulk (Bulk Si) 21 , an active Silicon (Si) layer 22 which is an epitaxial grown Si, dielectric and metal layers (\u201cback end\u201d) 23 and first oxide adhesion layer 24 . b. Manufacturing a carrier wafer 30 which includes Si bulk 31 and a second oxide adhesion layer 32 . c. Bonding the sensor wafer 20 to the carrier wafer 30 to form wafer 40 by attaching the first and second oxide adhesion layers 24 and 32 to each other. d. Removing the Si bulk 21 to expose active Si layer 22 . e. On top of the active Si layer 22 adding layers such as micro lenses 41 , color filters (CFA) 42 and anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer 43 by a process that may include passivation, deposition of anti-reflecting coating, fabricating color filters, fabricating micro-lenses, and pad opening. ARC layer 43 prevents the reflection of light that propagates towards the active Si layer. In several applications, and especially for three dimensional imaging, there is a need for high resolution sensors (and thus small pixels sensor) which have good quantum efficiency (QE) in the Near Infrared (NIR) and good modulation transfer function (MTF)\u2014providing no crosstalk between pixels. These requirements usually contradict each other since in NIR, the Si absorption coefficient is small, and a quite thick (much more than 10 microns) active Si layer is needed. Pixels with dimensions that are significantly smaller than the active Si layer thickness are prone to severe crosstalk due to lateral diffusion of the generated carriers. Furthermore, a typical request for such sensors is to be sensitive in a very narrow and specific wavelength, namely the light emitting diode (LED) and/or laser wavelength which this sensor is planned to detect. Other wavelengths are considered \u201cbackground\u201d illumination which has no contribution and in contrary add noise. An external narrow band optical filter is usually used to avoid it. Two known solution to the MTF/QE strong tradeoff are using high resistivity epitaxial material (epi) and using black Silicon. Using high resistivity material includes forming the sensor on a thick epi, but with very low doping level (high resistivity epi). This makes depletion regions much larger and the fields formed by the photodiode penetrate deep into the epi layer. The carriers are swept towards the surface by the field rather than by diffusion. This reduces significantly the cross-talk. Black Silicon is formed by processing the surface of the Si in order to change the direction of the incident photons. The black Silicon becomes a good NIR absorber even for shallow Si layer. Nevertheless, the issue of cross-talk remains and must be treated separately. There is a growing need to provide a BSI CIS that exhibit high resolution, good quantum efficiency in NIR and good MTF\u2014providing no crosstalk between pixels.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor that includes a Fabry-Perot resonator tuned to absorb near infrared (NIR) radiation; wherein the Fabry-Perot resonator comprises a front reflector, a back reflector and an active Silicon layer between the front reflector and the back reflector."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor that consists essentially of a bulk and a Fabry-Perot resonator, wherein the Fabey-Perot resonator is configured to sense light that passes through the bulk before reaching the Fabey-Perot resonator, wherein the Fabry-Perot resonator is tuned to absorb near infrared radiation; and wherein the Fabry-Perot resonator comprises a front reflector, a back reflector and an active Silicon layer between the front reflector and the back reflector.\n\n2. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1, wherein the Fabry-Perot resonator comprises metal and dielectric layers that are positioned between the active Silicon layer and the back reflector.\n\n3. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1, further comprising a bulk that differs from the back reflector and wherein the back reflector is made of metal.\n\n4. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1, wherein the back reflector comprises multiple dielectric layers.\n\n5. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the Fabry-Perot resonator ranges between one and ten microns.\n\n6. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1, wherein the Fabry-Perot resonator has multiple spaced apart resonance wavelengths within a range that spans from 700 nanometers and 1000 nanometers.\n\n7. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1, wherein the front reflector and the back reflector are fabricated from backend Silicon Oxide and Silicon Nitride dielectrics.\n\n8. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1 wherein a reflectivity of the front reflector is 0.95 and a reflectivity of the back reflector is 0.8.\n\n9. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1 wherein the backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor consists of the Fabry-Perot resonator and the bulk.\n\n10. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1 wherein the Fabry-Perot resonator consists essentially of the front reflector, the back reflector, the active Silicon layer between the front reflector and the back reflector, and metal and dielectric layers that are positioned between the active Silicon layer and the back reflector.\n\n11. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 10, wherein the back reflector is made of metal.\n\n12. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 10, wherein the back reflector consists essentially of multiple dielectric layers.\n\n13. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 10, wherein a thickness of the Fabry-Perot resonator ranges between one and ten microns.\n\n14. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 10, wherein the front reflector and the back reflector are fabricated from backend Silicon Oxide and Silicon Nitride dielectrics.\n\n15. The backside illuminated semiconductor image sensor according to claim 1 wherein the back reflector is embedded in dielectric and metal layers of the Fabey-Perot resonator."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Load And Torque Sensing Systems Utilizing Magnetic Key For Mechanical Engagement\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThere are numerous mechanical assemblies for bearing or transmitting forces where it is necessary to establish and maintain a physical relationship between two associated components by means of a third \u201clocking\u201d component such as a key or pin. As one example, a clevis pin is often held in place between the two legs of a clevis by means of a Cotter pin. The Cotter pin prevents the clevis pin from moving relative to the clevis or shackle. As another example, a shaft may be coupled to another shaft or a collar by means of a key or set of keys. Here, the key prevents relative rotational movement of the two components it \u201clocks\u201d together. In both of these examples, the third component; i.e., the Cotter pin or the key, is held in place either by a friction fit or by mechanical deformation after being set in place. In either case, disassembly of the system typically requires the use of tools and often requires replacement of the locking component, particularly if the system is reassembled numerous times. This disadvantage is particularly significant in the case of load and torque sensing systems used either in a design process or in a monitoring role where disassembly is frequent and/or components are fragile and/or expensive.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nTorque is transmitted by way of a shaft having an axial groove formed as a keyway therein and a key held in the groove by means of a coin-shaped magnet located in a pocket formed in the floor of the groove. A second element, such as a coupling, is configured to receive the shaft and key therein and has a matching keyway."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A torque transmitting apparatus comprising:\na ferromagnetic shaft having an axis of rotation and an outer surface; an elongate, axially extending keyway having a floor of pre-determined depth formed in said surface;\na ferromagnetic key magnetically held in the keyway and of a height greater than the depth of said floor so as to extend radially outwardly beyond said outer surface;\nan annular coupling having an axial through bore with an interior surface dimensioned to receive said shaft therein; and\nan elongate axially extending keyway substantially identical to the keyway in said shaft formed in said interior surface such that the shaft keyway and the coupling keyway can be aligned, the ferromagnetic key being disposed in both the shaft keyway and the coupling keyway thereby to create a torque transmitting couple between said shaft and said coupling.\n\n2. The apparatus described in claim 1 wherein thekeyway in the shaft has having a formed in the floor thereof; and a magnet disposed in the cavity and flush with the floor to hold the key in the keyway.\n\n3. The apparatus described in claim 1 wherein the keyways have closed ends so as to trap the key axially therein.\n\n4. A torque transmitting system comprising:\na driving shaft having an outer surface;\na driven shaft having an outer surface;\na two-part coupling having inner surfaces configured to receive said shafts therein in coaxial alignment with one another;\neach of said driving and driven shafts having a keyway formed in the outer surface thereof in a location which lies within a coupling part when in the coaxial aligned relationship;\neach of said coupling parts having a keyway formed in an inner surface thereof with a configuration matching a keyway formed in the outer surface of the shaft located therein; and\nkeys fitted into the keyways created by the aligned shafts in respective coupling parts and held in said keyway solely substantially by magnetism to couple the shafts to one another through the two-part coupling for the transmission of torque.\n\n5. A torque transmitting system defined in claim 4 wherein each of the keys is made of a ferromagnetic material to transmit magnetic flux therethrough, and each of said driving and driven shafts is made of a ferromagnetic material.\n\n6. A load detector assembly comprising:\na ferromagnetic shaft;\na strain gage carried by the shaft for producing an electrical signal indicating a force supplied to the shaft so as to cause flexure thereof;\na keyway slot formed in the shaft;\nan annular receiver body having an opening adapted to receive the shaft therein with a fit that allows relative rotation between the shaft and body opening;\na stop formed on the body adjacent said opening; and\na ferromagnetic key configured to fit in said shaft slot and an interfering contact with said stop to prevent relative rotation between the shaft and body;\nsaid key being held in said slot and against said stop substantially exclusively by magnetism.\n\n7. The load detector assembly described in claim 6 wherein said body is a shackle and the shaft supports a pulley."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: High Temperature Control Knob\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field of the Invention The invention relates to temperature control devices. More particularly the invention relates to temperature control devices for retrofitting appliances in order to prevent the temperature from exceeding a predetermined maximum temperature. Even more particularly, the invention pertains to a high temperature control knob which may be utilized on an existing appliance, such as a stove or oven, without the addition of additional electronic wiring to the appliance. 2. Prior Art The prior art includes devices for regulating temperature using sensors which are found on thermostat type devices. The prior art of record shows a number of devices for controlling the temperature of the surface of an oven. A problem with existing technology is that it is not easily adaptable to the numerous models of appliances in the market place to control the temperature of a substance, such as oil in a container. The invention discloses a high temperature control knob that may be used on any existing appliance.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe invention is a high temperature control knob that is installed on the power control knob stem of an existing appliance to prevent a material being heated from reaching a predetermined maximum temperature (e.g., the burning point temperature for oil), and thereby preventing an undesired event (e.g., a fire). The high temperature control knob comprises an alignment means having at least one stop that is adjustable about a set of temperature markings containing the predetermined maximum temperature, and may further comprise a dial with an arm that mounts of the power control knob stem. The at least one stop may be aligned to the predetermined maximum temperature by rotating the alignment means about the power control knob stem and tightening a fixing means to hold the alignment means in place. The arm of the dial contacts the at least one stop preventing the appliance from exceeding the predetermined maximum temperature."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A high temperature control knob comprising an alignment means and a rear plate; the alignment means further comprising a disc portion and a raised portion; the alignment means having at least one stop; the alignment means disposed around a control knob stem; the control knob stem extending from a face of an appliance; the at least one stop being adjustable about an arc; the at least one stop arresting an arm of a dial when the dial is mounted on said control knob stem and turned along the arc contacting the at least one stop; and the alignment means located between the dial and the face of the appliance; the rear plate disposed placed around said control knob stem and affixed to the appliance; and the rear plate having a set of temperature markings disposed placed on the rear plate and to be observable when the alignment means is on the control knob stem; the rear plate disposed between the alignment means and the face of the appliance; and the face of the appliance having original temperature markings.\n\n2. The high temperature control knob of claim 1, wherein\nthe raised portion is disposed circumferentially on the disc portion; the raised portion having the at least one stop; the raised portion disposed generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the control knob stem; the disc portion having an adjusting means; the adjusting means being a first slot and a second slot; the first slot and the second slot configured to align with a threaded aperture and a second threaded aperture, respectively, of the appliance; the adjusting means disposed on an inner face of said disc portion; and the adjusting means allowing said disc portion to be rotated about the longitudinal axis of said control knob stem and fixed using a fixing means once the at least one stop is aligned with a predetermined maximum temperature.\n\n3. The high temperature control knob of claim 2 wherein the fixing means is at least a first screw and a second screw of the appliance; the first screw configured to fit in a threaded aperture and the second screw configured to fit a second threaded aperture on the face of the appliance; the alignment means disposed about the control knob stem; the first screw passing through the first slot in the alignment means and further passing into the threaded aperture and the second screw passing through the second slot in the alignment means and further passing into the second threaded aperture; the fixing means fixing the alignment means relative to the face of the appliance.\n\n4. The high temperature control knob of claim 3, wherein said alignment means is fixed relative to the face of the appliance by tightening the first screw into the threaded aperture and the second screw in the second threaded aperture on the face of the appliance; a head underside on each of the first screw and the second screw against the inner face of the disc portion around the first slot and the second slot.\n\n5. The high temperature control knob of claim 2,\nwherein at least a first slot on the inner face of the disc portion is disposed placed to allow for said disc portion to be turned along said control knob stem and fixed by tightening at least a first screw into a threaded aperture on the face of the appliance; a head underside of the first screw pressing against the inner face of the disc portion of the alignment means around the first slot.\n\n6. The high temperature control knob of claim 1 wherein an adapter is sized to be placed in a depression of said dial, the adapter mounted on the control knob stem; and the adapter connecting the dial to the control knob stem.\n\n7. The high temperature control knob of claim 1 further comprising the dial; the dial mounted using on the control knob stem using an adapter; a first end of the adapter inserted in a depression in the dial; and the control knob stem inserted in a second end of the adapter.\n\n8. The high temperature control knob of claim 1 further comprising a fixing means; the fixing means being at least a first screw; at least the first screw passing through at least a first slot in the alignment means and further passing into at least a first threaded aperture located around the control knob stem; the fixing means fixing the alignment means relative to the face of the appliance.\n\n9. A high temperature control knob comprising an alignment means, a rear plate, and a dial; the alignment means further comprising a disc portion and a raised portion; the dial of the high temperature control knob mounted on a control knob stem; the control knob stem located on a face of an appliance; the control knob stem having a longitudinal axis; said control knob stem rotating around the longitudinal axis of the control knob stem; said control knob stem extending from the face of the appliance; an arm of the dial movable to at least a predetermined maximum temperature; said alignment means having at least a one stop; at least the one stop aligned with at least the predetermined maximum temperature; the rear plate disposed between the face of the appliance and the alignment means; the face of the appliance having original temperature markings; and the rear plate configured to mask the original temperature markings; said alignment means attached to the face of the appliance; at least the one stop preventing the arm of the dial from turning past the predetermined maximum temperature.\n\n10. The high temperature control knob of claim 9, wherein the raised portion is disposed circumferentially on said disc portion; the raised portion having at least the one stop; and at least a first slot disposed on an inner face of said disc portion allowing for said disc portion to be rotated about said control knob stem so that at least the one stop is aligned with the predetermined maximum temperature; and said alignment means fixed using a fixing means.\n\n11. A high temperature control knob of claim 10 wherein the dial is mounted using an\nadapter on the control knob stem;\na first end of the adapter inserted in a depression in the dial; and the control knob stem inserted in a second end of the adapter.\n\n12. The high temperature control knob of claim 9 wherein the predetermined maximum\ntemperature is about an arc; and at least the one stop is aligned with the predetermined maximum temperature.\n\n13. The high temperature control knob of claim 9 further wherein:\nthe dial is attached to the control knob stem and the arm moving along an arc by rotating the control knob stem; and\nwherein at least the one stop of the alignment means is along the arc and aligned with the predetermined maximum temperature.\n\n14. The high temperature control knob of claim 13 wherein the alignment means further comprises a fixing means; the fixing means fixing at least the one stop.\n\n15. The high temperature control knob of claim 14 wherein the alignment means\ncomprises a disc portion and a raised portion; at least a first slot being located on the disc portion; the fixing means passing through at least the first slot in the alignment means and fixing the alignment means with at least the one stop relative to the face of the appliance.\n\n16. The high temperature control knob of claim 15 wherein at least the first slot is located and sized for the fixing means; the first slot disposed to allow the fixing means to move along the first slot as the alignment means turns about the control knob stem; the fixing means passing through the first slot.\n\n17. The high temperature control knob of claim 16 wherein the rear plate has a set of temperature markings and at least a first rear slot; the rear plate is attached to the appliance around the control knob stem of the control knob stem; the first rear slot aligned with the first slot; the first slot aligned with at least a first threaded aperture around the control knob stem; the fixing means disposed through the first slot and the first rear slot into the first threaded aperture."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: 2G Support For 2G And 3G/4G Envelope Tracking Modulator\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to envelope tracking modulated power supplies suitable for radio frequency power amplifier applications. The invention is particularly concerned with such power supplies in which a reference signal is used as an input to a low frequency path and a high frequency path, and in which each path generates separate outputs which are combined to form a supply voltage. 2. Description of the Related Art Envelope tracking power supplies for radio frequency power amplifiers are well-known in the art. Typically a reference signal is generated based on an envelope of an input signal to be amplified. An envelope tracking power supply generates a supply voltage for the power amplifier which tracks the envelope of the input signal to be amplified. FIG. 1 shows a prior art envelope tracking (ET) modulator architecture in which a frequency splitter 12 is used to divide an incoming envelope reference signal on line 10 into a high frequency (HF) path signal on line 14 and a low frequency (LF) path signal on line 16 . The frequency splitter 12 may include a low pass filter 18 in the low frequency path and a high pass filter 20 in the high frequency path. The signal in the LF path on line 16 is amplified by an efficient switched mode amplifier 22 , and the signal in the HF path on line 14 is amplified by a wideband linear amplifier 24 . A frequency selective combiner 26 is used to combine the signals in the LF and HF paths after amplification. In FIG. 1 the combiner 26 is illustrated as including a low frequency combining element 28 in the low frequency path, and a high frequency combining element 30 in the high frequency path. A combined signal from the combiner 26 on line 32 provides a feed to a load 34 , which in a typical application is a power amplifier (PA). An example of a power amplifier system incorporating a supply architecture such as illustrated in FIG. 1 can be found in \u201cBand Separation and Efficiency Optimisation in Linear-Assisted Switching Power Amplifiers\u201d, Yousefzadeh et al, [IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference 2008. FIG. 2 shows an alternative prior art arrangement in which the frequency selective combiner 26 is an inductor-capacitor (LC) combiner. The low frequency combining element is an inductor 28 a, and the high frequency combining element is a capacitor 30 a. In this arrangement a feedback path 36 takes a signal from the combiner (or modulator) output on line 32 , to the input of the linear amplifier 24 . The signal on the feedback path 36 is subtracted from the signal in the high frequency path on line 14 by subtractor 38 , to provide an input to the linear amplifier 24 . The inclusion of this feedback path 36 achieves improved tracking accuracy compared to the arrangement of FIG. 1 . An example of a power amplifier system incorporating a supply architecture such as illustrated in FIG. 2 can be found in \u201cEfficiency Optimisation in Linear-Assisted Switching Power Converters for Envelope Tracking in RF Power Amplifiers\u201d, Yousefzadeh et al, [IEEE Symposium on Circuits and Systems 2005. It is an aim of the invention to provide an improved envelope tracking modulated power supply which addresses one or more of the above-stated problems.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThere is provided an amplification stage including an envelope tracking modulated supply for tracking a reference signal, comprising a low frequency path for tracking low frequency variations in the reference signal and for providing a first output voltage, and a high frequency path for tracking high frequency variations in the reference signal and for providing a second output voltage, and a combiner for combining the first and second output voltages to provide a third output voltage, the amplification stage further comprising a first amplifier arranged to receive the first output voltage as a supply voltage, and a second amplifier arranged to receive the third output voltage as a supply voltage, wherein the first and second amplifiers are enabled in different modes of operation."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An amplification stage including an envelope tracking modulated supply for tracking a reference signal, comprising:\na low frequency path for tracking low frequency variations in the reference signal and for providing a first output voltage;\na full spectrum path for tracking the reference signal and for providing a second output voltage;\na combiner configured to combine the first and second output voltages to provide a third output voltage;\na first power amplifier configured to receive the first output voltage as a power supply voltage for the first power amplifier; and\na second power amplifier configured to receive the third output voltage as a power supply voltage, for the second power amplifier.\n\n2. The amplification stage of claim 1, wherein:\nthe first power amplifier is disabled and the second power amplifier is enabled in a first mode of operation for the amplification stage; and\nthe second power amplifier is disabled and the first power amplifier is enabled in a second mode of operation for the amplification stage.\n\n3. The amplification stage of claim 1, wherein the full spectrum path comprises a linear amplifier configured to amplify a version of the reference signal.\n\n4. The amplification stage of claim 3, wherein the linear amplifier is enabled/disabled when the second power amplifier is enabled/disabled.\n\n5. The amplification stage of claim 3, wherein the full spectrum path further comprises a feedback path from an output of the linear amplifier to an input of the linear amplifier.\n\n6. The amplification stage of claim 3, wherein the full spectrum path further comprises a capacitor coupled between an output of the linear amplifier and the combiner.\n\n7. The amplification stage of claim 3, wherein the full spectrum path further comprises a delay element coupled to an input of the linear amplifier.\n\n8. The amplification stage of claim 1, wherein the full spectrum path further comprises a voltage source coupled to an input of the linear amplifier and configured to introduce an offset voltage to the input of the linear amplifier.\n\n9. The amplification stage of claim 1, further comprising a switch configured to selectively connect a DC power supply with the first power amplifier, wherein if the switch is closed, the first power amplifier is configured to receive a DC voltage of the DC power supply as the power supply voltage for the first power amplifier.\n\n10. The amplification stage of claim 1, wherein:\nthe first power amplifier is a power amplifier for a 2G or EDGE mode of operation; and\nthe second power amplifier is a power amplifier for a 3G or 4G mode of operation.\n\n11. An RF amplifier including the amplification stage of claim 1.\n\n12. A wireless communication system including the amplification stage of claim 1.\n\n13. A wireless mobile device including the amplification stage of claim 1.\n\n14. A method for providing power to multiple amplifiers in an amplification stage including an envelope tracking modulated supply for tracking a reference signal, the method comprising:\ntracking low frequency variations in the reference signal with a low frequency path of the amplification stage to provide a first output voltage;\ntracking the reference signal with a full spectrum path of the amplification stage to provide a second output voltage;\ncombining the first and second output voltages to provide a third output voltage;\npowering a first power amplifier with the first output voltage; and\npowering a second power amplifier with the third output voltage.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, further comprising in a first mode of operation for the amplification stage:\nenabling the first power amplifier; and\ndisabling the second power amplifier.\n\n16. The method of claim 15, further comprising in a second mode of operation for the amplification stage:\ndisabling the first power amplifier; and\nenabling the second power amplifier.\n\n17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first mode of operation comprises a 2G mode of operation and wherein the second mode of operation comprises a 3G/4G mode of operation.\n\n18. The method of claim 14, wherein tracking the reference signal with the full spectrum path of the amplification stage comprises amplifying a version of the reference signal.\n\n19. The method of claim 14, wherein tracking the reference signal with the full spectrum path comprises applying an offset voltage to a version of the reference signal.\n\n20. The method of claim 14, wherein tracking the reference signal with the full spectrum path comprises applying a delay to the reference signal."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Exploiting Or Avoiding Air Drag For An Aerial Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in use has increased rapidly in recent times. Over the same time period, the different type of situations and applications in which these UAVs may be put to use has also grown in number. This is due at least in part to increase in the sophistication and the capabilities of the technologies that may be utilized with UAVs. For example, UAVs are currently used for sophisticated mapping and surveillance applications, and the use of UAVs is also being contemplated for delivery service applications. Some of these UAV applications may have requirements that a UAV to remain aloft for long periods of time or travel intensively without frequent breaks during which the UAV may be serviced. These types of requirements may place heavy demands on the power efficiency of a UAV and the efficiency of the power source of a UAV's motors. Demands on power may be compounded by air drag on surfaces of the UAV generated by the velocity of the UAV, or created by wind forces, acting counter to UAV movement in a desired direction. The influence of air drag on an UAV may also be complicated by the fact that an UAV may have directionality in its shape. For example, in some UAVs the front may generate low resistance against air pressure while the side may generate high resistance against air pressure.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nMethods and apparatus for avoiding or exploiting air drag on an aerial vehicle are disclosed. In embodiments, the methods and apparatus may be implemented in a controller and used to increase the energy efficiency of an aerial vehicle. In the embodiments, at least one parameter associated with a force on an aerial vehicle is determined. A yaw setting for the aerial vehicle is then determined that exploits or avoids air drag on the aerial vehicle for energy efficiency. The yaw setting may be referenced to a yaw based on directionality in the shape of the aerial vehicle. In other embodiments, a drag associated with a force on an aerial vehicle is determined. It is then determined if there is a selected component in the drag based on a desired maneuver of the aerial vehicle. A yaw setting is then determined based on whether the selected component is in the drag."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A controller for a rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicle having a plurality of rotary motors, the controller comprising:\na processing unit and memory including code, which when executed controls the processing unit to:\ndetermine at least one parameter associated with force on the aerial vehicle as the controller controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in a direction along a path;\ndetermine a setting for a yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the at least one parameter, wherein the yaw defines an angle between an axis running from a first portion to a second portion of the aerial vehicle and the direction of movement of the aerial vehicle along the path, wherein the first portion is a leading edge of movement of the aerial vehicle along the path; and\nset the yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the determined setting for the yaw, wherein the aerial vehicle is positioned according to the angle defined by the yaw by controlling the relative speeds of each of the plurality of rotary motors as the plurality of rotary motors propel the aerial vehicle to move in the direction along the path,\nwherein the setting of the yaw of the aerial vehicle is determined based on a force parameter such that air drag is used to advantageously assist moving the aerial vehicle along the path or inhibit moving the aerial vehicle along the path.\n\n2. The controller of claim 1, wherein at least one parameter comprises a drag and the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw by causing the processing unit to:\ndetermine that the aerial vehicle is to move in the direction along the path; and,\ndetermine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle taking into account the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while the plurality of rotary motors propel the aerial vehicle to move in the direction along the path.\n\n3. The controller of claim 2, wherein at least one parameter comprises a drag, the setting for the yaw comprises a first setting for the yaw, and the code is executable to control the processing unit to further cause the processing unit to:\ndetermine that the aerial vehicle is to decelerate; and,\ndetermine a second setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle taking into account the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while decelerating.\n\n4. The controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a drag and the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle by causing the processing unit to:\ndetermine that a component is included in the drag; and,\ndetermine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the drag and the determination that the component is included in the drag.\n\n5. The controller of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a drag and the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle by causing the processing unit to:\ndetermine a desired maneuver of the aerial vehicle;\ndetermine if there is a selected component in the drag based on the drag and the desired maneuver; and,\ndetermine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the drag and the determination of whether the selected component is in the drag.\n\n6. The controller of claim 5, wherein the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the drag and the determination of whether the selected component is in the drag by controlling the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle parallel to the drag if the selected component is not in the drag.\n\n7. The controller of claim 5, wherein the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the drag and the determination of whether the selected component is in the drag by controlling the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle perpendicular to a forward path of the aerial vehicle if the selected component is in the drag.\n\n8. The controller of claim 1, wherein the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the at least one parameter by causing the processing unit to:\ndetermine a deviation of the aerial vehicle from the path;\ndetermine a velocity of the aerial vehicle as the controller controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in a direction along a path; and,\ndetermine a drag on the aerial vehicle based on the deviation and the velocity.\n\n9. The controller of claim 1, the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the at least one parameter by causing the processing unit to:\nturn off a global positioning satellite (GPS) lock and determine a drift of the aerial vehicle;\ndetermine a velocity of the aerial vehicle as the controller controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in a direction along a path; and,\ndetermine a drag on the aerial vehicle based on the drift and the velocity.\n\n10. The controller of claim 1, wherein the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the at least one parameter by causing the processing unit to:\ndetermine a wind direction and magnitude;\ndetermine a velocity of the aerial vehicle; as the controller controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in a direction along a path and,\ndetermine a drag on the aerial vehicle based on the wind direction and magnitude, and the velocity.\n\n11. An aerial vehicle comprising:\na plurality of rotary motors;\na processing unit providing control signals for the plurality of rotary motors; and memory including code, which when executed controls the processing unit to:\ndetermine at least one parameter associated with forces on the aerial vehicle as the processing unit controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in a direction along a path;\ndetermine a setting for a yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the at least one parameter, wherein the yaw defines an angle between an axis running from a first portion to a second portion of the aerial vehicle and the direction of movement of the aerial vehicle along the path; and,\nset the yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the determined setting for the yaw, wherein the aerial vehicle is positioned according to the angle defined by the yaw, by controlling the relative speeds of each of the plurality of rotary motors as the plurality of rotary motors propel the aerial vehicle in the direction along the path,\nwherein the setting of the yaw of the aerial vehicle is determined based on a force parameter such that air drag is used to advantageously assist moving the aerial vehicle along the path or inhibit moving the aerial vehicle along the path.\n\n12. The aerial vehicle of claim 11, wherein the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the at least, one parameter by causing the processing unit to:\nreceive data measured in an external environment of the aerial vehicle; and,\ndetermine at least one parameter associated with forces on the aerial vehicle based on the data.\n\n13. The aerial vehicle of claim 11, wherein at least one parameter comprises a drag and the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine die setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle by causing the processing unit to:\ndetermine that the aerial vehicle is to move in the direction along the path; and,\ndetermine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle to reduce the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while the processing unit controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in the direction along the path.\n\n14. The aerial vehicle of claim 11, wherein at least one parameter comprises a drag and the code is executable to control the processing unit to determine the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle by causing the processing unit to:\ndetermine that the aerial vehicle is to move in the direction along the path; and,\ndetermine a yaw setting for the aerial vehicle to exploit the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while the processing unit controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to moves in the direction along the path.\n\n15. The aerial vehicle of claim 11, wherein at least one parameter comprises a drag, the setting for the yaw comprises a first setting for the yaw, and the code is executable to control the processing unit to further cause the processing unit to:\ndetermine that the aerial vehicle is to decelerate; and,\ndetermine a second-setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle to exploit the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while decelerating.\n\n16. The aerial vehicle of claim 11, wherein at least one parameter comprises a drag, the setting for the yaw comprises a first setting for the yaw, and the code is executable to control the processing unit to further cause the processing unit to:\ndetermine that the aerial vehicle is to accelerate; and,\ndetermine a second setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle to reduce the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while accelerating.\n\n17. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, that when executed on a processor perform the steps of:\ndetermining at least one parameter associated with forces on an aerial vehicle as the processor controls a plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in a direction along a path;\ndetermining a setting for a yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the at least one parameter, wherein the yaw defines an angle between an axis running from a first portion to a second portion of the aerial vehicle and the direction of movement of the aerial vehicle along the path; and\ninitiating setting of the yaw of the aerial vehicle based on the determined setting for the yaw, wherein the aerial vehicle is positioned according to the angle defined by the yaw by controlling the relative speeds of each of the plurality of rotary motors as the plurality of rotary motors propel the aerial vehicle to move in the direction along the path,\nwherein the setting of the yaw of the aerial vehicle is determined based on a force parameter such that air drag is used to advantageously assist moving the aerial vehicle along the path or inhibit moving the aerial vehicle along the path.\n\n18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a drag and the instructions, when executed on the processor, further perform the steps of:\ndetermining that the aerial vehicle is to move in the direction along the path; and,\ndetermining the setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle taking into account the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while the processor controls the plurality of rotary motors to propel the aerial vehicle to move in the direction along the path.\n\n19. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a drag, the setting for the yaw comprises a first setting for the yaw, and the instructions, when executed on the processor, further perform the steps of:\ndetermining that the aerial vehicle is to decelerate; and,\ndetermining a second setting for the yaw of the aerial vehicle taking into account the influence of the drag on the aerial vehicle while decelerating.\n\n20. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed on the processor, further perform the steps of:\nreceiving data measured in an external environment of the aerial vehicle; and,\ndetermining at least one parameter associated with forces on the aerial vehicle based on the data."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Mounting And Connector Structure For Electronic Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAn electronic apparatus of which electronic components and connectors are mounted on a substrate, and accommodating the substrate in a casing is generally known. In addition, a configuration using a vertical connector to which a mating connector is attached and detached in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate as a connector mounted on the substrate is known (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-16369, for example). In the configuration that mounts the vertical connector on the substrate, a force acts in a normal direction of the substrate through the vertical connector when attaching and detaching the mating connector. Then, it is considered that a flexural deformation of the substrate occurs due to this force. Accordingly, there is a concern of occurrence of problems such as breakage in soldering portions of the electronic component and connector terminals. Incidentally, for a mounting method of connectors in an electronic apparatus, there is a method of screw-fixing the connectors to a die-cast-made casing. However, for a purpose of cost reduction or the like, when using a sheet-metal casing formed by steel sheet press instead of the die-cast-made casing, it is assumed that screw-fixing is not performed in terms of ensuring waterproofness. In this case, there is a strong concern that components may become damaged due to the attaching and detaching of the connector.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nMounting and connector structure for an electronic apparatus includes a substrate, a mounting connector mounted on a substrate surface of the substrate, and a mating connector is attached/detached to the mounting connector in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface, and a casing having a first casing member disposed on a connector mounting surface of the substrate and a second casing member disposed on an opposite surface side of the connector mounting surface, and the casing accommodates the substrate and the mounting connector in an accommodation space which is formed by coupling the casing members to one another. The first casing member is in contact with a first surface that is a side where the mating connector is attached/detached in the mounting connector, and the second casing member is in contact with a second surface that is a side facing to the first surface in the mounting connector."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A mounting and connector structure for an electronic apparatus comprising:\na substrate on which an electronic component is mounted;\na mounting connector mounted on a substrate surface of the substrate, and a mating connector is attached and detached to the mounting connector in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface; and\na casing having a first casing member disposed on a connector mounting surface side of the substrate and a second casing member disposed on an opposite surface side of the connector mounting surface, and the casing accommodates the substrate and the mounting connector in an accommodation space which is formed by coupling the casing members to one another, wherein:\nthe first casing member is in contact with a first surface that is a side where the mating connector is attached and detached in the mounting connector,\nthe second casing member is in contact with a second surface that is a side facing to the first surface in the mounting connector,\neach of the first casing member and the second casing member comprise at least one flange portion disposed on a respective periphery, and\nthe mounting connector is sandwiched between the at least one flange portion of the first casing member and the at least one flange portion of the second casing member.\n\n2. The mounting and connector structure for the electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,\nthe mounting connector includes an attaching and detaching portion to which the mating connector is attached and detached;\nthe first casing member has an opening for inserting the attaching and detaching portion; and\nthe first surface of the mounting connector is in contact at a position surrounding the opening in the first casing member.\n\n3. The mounting and connector structure for the electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,\nthe mounting connector includes a plurality of attaching and detaching portions to which the mating connector is attached and detached, and the plurality of attaching and detaching portions are arranged in a row,\nat least two parts of the plurality of attaching and detaching portions away from each other in an arrangement direction in the first casing member contact the first surface of the mounting connector; and\nat least two parts of the plurality of attaching and detaching portions away from each other in an arrangement direction in the second casing member contact the second surface of the mounting connector.\n\n4. The mounting and connector structure for the electronic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein,\nthe mounting connector includes a plurality of attaching and detaching portions to which the mating connector is attached and detached, and the plurality of attaching and detaching portions are arranged in a row,\nat least two parts of the plurality of attaching and detaching portions away from each other in an arrangement direction in the first casing member contact the first surface of the mounting connector; and\nat least two parts of the plurality of attaching and detaching portions away from each other in an arrangement direction in the second casing member contact the second surface of the mounting connector.\n\n5. The mounting and connector structure for the electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,\nthe mounting connector has a protruding portion protruding to an outside of the substrate; and\nthe first surface and the second surface are formed on the protruding portion.\n\n6. The mounting and connector structure for the electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,\na first sealing part composed of a groove and a protrusion is formed in a joined portion of each casing member coupled to each other; and\na second sealing part that is continuous to the first sealing part is formed on a contact portion between the first casing member and the mounting connector, and on a contact portion between the second casing member and the mounting connector.\n\n7. The mounting and connector structure for the electronic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein,\nthere is provided a sealant that is filled between the groove and the protrusion of each of the sealing part."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Intelligent Control Wave Energy Power Generating System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nWaves are generated by wind passing over the surface of water such as sea. As long as the waves propagate slower than the wind speed just above the waves, there is an energy transfer from the wind to the waves. Waves in oceans and lakes have great potential as an alternative energy source. Wave energy is clean, renewable, and vastly available. The estimated amount of wave energy available in U.S. alone is 2,100 terawatt-hours per year, about one fourth of annual U.S. energy imports. To make wave energy useful, wave energy is transformed into other energy forms, usually electric energy. A wave farm, either offshore or nearshore, is a collection of machines in the same location and used for the generation of wave power electricity. Prior inventions for generating power from waves have provided apparatuses that often include a floating device, a gearing assembly, and an electric generating assembly. The floating device is connected to the gearing assembly such that when waves push the floating device the vertical motion of waves is converted into rotational motion of the gearing assembly. The gearing assembly is connected to the electric generating assembly such that the rotation of the gearing assembly drives the electric generating assembly to generate electric energy. However, these apparatuses usually have three limitations. First, they are too fragile to use in real wave conditions. Wave directions are usually unpredictable. Variations of wave direction will cause unpredictable motion of the gearing assembly, which will result in extra wear and even breakage of the gearing assembly. Second, these apparatuses are inefficient in converting wave energy into electric energy. A substantial energy loss occurs each time the entire floating assembly is uplifted by wave action, leaving less energy for driving the gearing assembly and eventually being converted into electric energy. Also, these apparatuses are designed under the assumption of a fixed wave height and water level, resulting in inefficiency during the times when these assumptions are inevitably incorrect. Third, these apparatuses are prone to damage under severe wave and weather conditions from lack of protective means. Since the floating device is mechanically coupled with the gearing assembly, huge waves may damage the whole apparatus by causing the floating device to collide with the gearing assembly. Therefore, there exists a need for new wave energy power generating system capable of overcoming the aforementioned limitations. Advantageously, the present invention provides a solution that can meet such a need. The intelligent control wave energy power generating system according to the present invention comprises a set of novel devices, assemblies, and an intelligent control system to convert wave energy into electric energy. It provides a method to convert wave energy into electric energy efficiently, safely, and practically under various wave and weather conditions. It also includes a mechanism to protect itself under severe wave and weather conditions.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides a system and method for converting wave energy into electric energy in an intelligent, practical, and efficient manner. The system utilizes a power input shaft coupled with a vertically reciprocating buoy to rotate a crank gear and a ratchet gear meshing therewith. An intelligent control system is included to monitor, control, and optimize the operations of the system. The length of the power input shaft is adjusted in response to water level fluctuations so that the rotational motion of the crank gear is intelligently controlled within a predetermined desirable region for maximum efficiency."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system for wave energy generation for use above a body of waving water, comprising:\na platform assembly above the waving water;\na buoy for floating on the waving water;\na motion translating assembly coupled with said buoy for translating vertical motion into rotational motion, comprising (i) at least one power input shaft coupled with said buoy at a first coupling position on said power input shaft and (ii) a gear transmission assembly having at least one crank gear coupled with said power input shaft by coupling a second coupling position on said power input shaft to a third coupling position on said crank gear; wherein said third coupling position on the crank gear is driven to rotate reciprocally within an angle \u03b8 of less than 180 degree as the buoy is moved up and down by the waving water;\nan adjustor that is activated to vary a distance between the first coupling position and the second coupling position when an angle \u03b4 between a bisector of angle \u03b8 and a horizontal plane is not zero, so that an absolute value of angle \u03b4 is decreased; and\na plurality of generators coupled with said gear transmission assembly and stationed on said platform assembly such that rotational motion within said gear transmission assembly results in said generators generating electric energy;\nwhereby said system is powered by irregular, unpredictable, and variable wave actions from all directions.\n\n2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an intelligent control system connected with said motion translating assembly, said adjustor, and said plurality of generators for collecting and processing information of environmental and conditions of said system for wave energy generation from a plurality of sensors and meters, determining directives, and transmitting directives.\n\n3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said power input shaft is threaded.\n\n4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said adjustor comprises at least one threaded rod adjustment device mounted on said power input shaft, comprising an electric motor, a drive gear propelled by said electric motor, and a threaded driven gear engaged with said drive gear and mounted on said power input shaft to drive said power input shaft upward or downward in response to water level fluctuations; and wherein said threaded rod adjustment device is controlled by said intelligent control system to vary the distance between the first coupling position and the second coupling position, and thereby decrease the absolute value of angle \u03b8.\n\n5. The system according to claim 1, wherein said gear transmission assembly further comprises at least one ratchet gear meshing with said crank gear and mounted on a driveshaft, at least one flywheel mounted on said driveshaft, and at least one pulley mounted on said driveshaft, said driveshaft coupled with said generators to provide driving force thereto.\n\n6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said motion translating assembly further comprises at least one flexible pivot device connecting, said power input shaft to said crank gear for protecting said motion translating assembly from being damaged by irregular, unpredictable, and variable wave actions from all directions.\n\n7. The system according to claim 6, wherein said flexible pivot device comprises a first flexible joint housed in a flexible joint housing including a pivot pin mounted on said crank gear, and a second flexible joint including a pivot pin mounted on the flexible joint housing and connected to said power input shaft; wherein the first and second flexible joints are coupled perpendicular to each other; and said first flexible joint being able to freely turn at any angle relative to said crank gear and said second flexible joint being able to freely turn at any angle relative to said first flexible joint.\n\n8. The system according to claim 2, further comprising a counterbalancing and maintenance device coupled with said buoy, comprising a counterweight connected to said buoy via a cable, said counterweight having slightly less weight than a predetermined lifting load and reciprocating vertically in the opposite direction of said buoy such that wave energy lost in uplifting said buoy will be substantially reduced and wave energy converted into electric energy will be maximized.\n\n9. The system according to claim 8, wherein said counterbalancing and maintenance device further comprises a counterweight lock and an electric winch assembly controlled by said intelligence control system such that when a predetermined extreme wave and weather condition has been detected by said intelligence control system, said counterweight lock will secure said counterweight and said electric winch assembly will uplift said buoy to a predetermined safe position.\n\n10. The system according to claim 2, wherein each of said plurality of generators has a distinct predetermined power rating and will work independently or in logical combination according to directives received from said intelligent control system in response to variable wave energy levels.\n\n11. The system according to claim 2, wherein said platform assembly comprises at least one supporting column piled into a bed of the waving water such as seabed, said supporting column supports a mounting platform with space for said motion translating assembly, and said plurality of generators, and also supports a rack coupled with said buoy beneath said mounting platform for restraining said buoy within a predetermined moving area.\n\n12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said rack is coupled with said power input shaft.\n\n13. The system according to claim 2, wherein said plurality of sensors and meters comprises a plurality of wattmeters for each of said plurality of generators, at least one anemoscope, at least one speed sensor for a flywheel, and at least one position sensor for said crank gear.\n\n14. The system according to claim 2, wherein said system for wave energy generation can be multiplied and seamlessly assembled together, each of said multiplied systems having its own unit control center and also controlled in whole by a group control center.\n\n15. The system according to claim 2, wherein said adjustor is activated to vary the distance between the first coupling position and the second coupling, position when the angle \u03b4 between the bisector of angle \u03b8 and the horizontal plane is greater than 5\u00b0.\n\n16. The system according to claim 2, wherein said adjustor is activated to vary the distance between the first coupling position and the second coupling position when the angle \u03b4 between the bisector of angle \u03b8 and the horizontal plane is greater than 10\u00b0.\n\n17. The system according to claim 2, wherein said adjustor is activated to vary the distance between the first coupling position and the second coupling position when the angle \u03b4 between the bisector of angle \u03b8 and the horizontal plane is greater than 15\u00b0.\n\n18. The system according to claim 2, wherein said angle \u03b4 is detected at a frequency of F1, said distance between the first coupling position and the second coupling position is adjusted at a frequency of F2, and F1=F2.\n\n19. The system according to claim 2, wherein said angle \u03b4 is detected at a frequency of F1, said distance between the first coupling position and the second coupling position is adjusted at a frequency of F2, and F1\u2260F2.\n\n20. The system according to claim 19, wherein F2=\u03b1F1, and \u03b1 is in the range of from 0.2 to 0.5."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Gooseneck Hitch Ball\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMany vehicles are designed to transport freight, goods, merchandise, personal property, and other such cargo. Often such vehicles are arranged to tow a trailer by attaching the trailer to the towing vehicle, such as through the use of a hitch assembly. Typically, a trailer hitch is utilized to connect a towed vehicle or trailer to a towing vehicle, such as a truck, for example. There are many different types of trailer hitches in the art that may be attached to the towing vehicle in a variety of ways, depending on the type of hitch. Some of the most common types of hitches include gooseneck, fifth wheel, rear mount, and the like. Frequently, trailers are connected to a towing vehicle by way of a ball hitch secured to the towing vehicle and a ball socket coupling mechanism on the towed vehicle that mounts over the ball. This configuration allows for the trailer to pivot behind the towing vehicle. Ball and socket-type towing mechanisms are used to tow various vehicles, such as trailers, mobile homes, other non-operating vehicles, and the like. The socket to hitch ball connection allows relative movement between the towing vehicle and the trailer as the towing vehicle makes turns, traverses uneven or rough terrain, and passes along inclining and declining roadways. The hitch ball or member of some hitches, such as gooseneck hitch, for example, is commonly mounted in the bed of a towing vehicle, such as a pickup truck, near the longitudinal centerline of the bed. This may allow the weight of the trailer to be generally distributed between the tires on the two sides of the pickup truck. Typically, a sub-frame assembly, such as a hitch, is secured to the towing vehicle. The ball member is attached or otherwise secured to the hitch for use in towing the towed vehicle. This type of hitch is often secured to the truck structure in an opening cut in the bed of the truck, so that a substantial portion of the hitch attachment is located below the bed of the truck. In addition, the ball member may typically be removed to ensure that the use of the bed is not substantially hindered by the presence of the ball. These systems, however, suffer from many disadvantages. It is often very difficult to remove the hitch ball from the hitch system. In many systems, removing the hitch ball requires a user to access the frame of the towing vehicle under the load bed. This is often very difficult and time consuming. Further, still other systems require users to access portions of the system in the wheel well or under the frame of the vehicle. Again, this is often difficult to do and can be very messy for the user. Similarly, other systems often require the use of a separate handle or mechanism to remove the hitch ball. These handles or other mechanism are often inaccessible or otherwise are lost by the user making it very inconvenient to use. Once removed a suitable location for the hitch ball is often difficult to find. Many users merely store the hitch ball in a glove compartment, behind a seat, underneath a seat, or in a storage box within the towing vehicle. This takes away from the available storage space within the towing vehicle. Moreover, the hitch ball may be dirty and it may be undesirable to put such hitch ball inside the towing vehicle. For those systems that utilize storable hitch balls, there is often a lack of sufficient clearance available to use such systems with many of the new towing vehicle, especially when they are in the stowed position. Therefore, there is a need for an improved hitch ball system. There is a need for a hitch ball that is easily removable and easily storable. There is a need for such storage to be efficient, easily accessible, and appropriately located so as to not take away the available storage within the interior of the towing vehicle. Further still, there is a need for a self-contained hitch ball storage system that has a compact storable profile.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hitch ball is shown and described. The hitch ball may include a ball member, a body extending from the ball member, and a locking member in communication with the body. The hitch ball may also include a first release mechanism positioned in the ball member, the first release mechanism operatively coupled with the locking member, where positioning the first release mechanism in an first direction positions the locking member in a disengaged position, and a second release mechanism positioned in the body, the second release mechanism operatively coupled with the locking member, where positioning the second release mechanism in a second direction positions the locking member in the disengaged position."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A hitch ball comprising:\na ball member;\na body extending from and opposite the ball member;\na locking member selectively extendable from the body;\na first handle positioned in the ball member, the first handle in communication with the locking member, wherein positioning the first handle in a first direction positions the locking member within the body in a disengaged position; and\na second handle positioned in the body, the second handle operatively coupled with the locking member, wherein positioning the second handle in a second direction positions the locking member within the body in the disengaged position.\n\n2. The hitch ball of claim 1, wherein the first handle in an engaged position is generally coextensive with the ball member.\n\n3. The hitch ball of claim 1, wherein the second handle is axially spaced from the ball member.\n\n4. The hitch ball of claim 1, both of the ball member and body are configured for insertion into a socket.\n\n5. The hitch ball of claim 1, wherein the first and second directions are a same direction.\n\n6. The hitch ball of claim 1, further comprising a plunger, the plunger in operative engagement with the locking member.\n\n7. The hitch ball of claim 6, wherein the second handle is operatively engaged with the plunger.\n\n8. The hitch ball of claim 6, wherein the second handle is selectively engageable with either of the plunger or the body.\n\n9. A hitch ball assembly comprising:\na socket having an engaging device;\na towing accessory member insertable within the socket;\na body extending from the ball towing accessory member, the body insertable within the socket wherein the towing accessory member and the body are both configured to be inserted into the socket;\na release mechanism; and\na locking member in operative communication with the release mechanism, the release mechanism accessible from both of the towing accessory member and body, wherein the release member positions the locking member from a first position engaged with the engaging device of the socket and a second position disengaged from the engaging device of the socket.\n\n10. The hitch assembly of claim 9, wherein the locking mechanism engages the engaging device in the first position whether the towing accessory member or the body is inserted into the socket.\n\n11. The hitch assembly of claim 10, wherein the engaging device includes a generally annular groove positioned in the socket.\n\n12. The hitch assembly of claim 10, wherein the engaging device includes first and second annular grooves positioned in the socket, the first and second annular grooves axially spaced apart.\n\n13. The hitch assembly of claim 9, wherein the release mechanism is operatively engaged with the towing accessory member and the body.\n\n14. The hitch assembly of claim 9, wherein the release mechanism is a handle accessible to a user when the towing accessory member inserted into the socket.\n\n15. The hitch assembly of claim 9, wherein the release mechanism is biased in a locked position whereby the locking member is in the first position.\n\n16. The hitch assembly of claim 9, further comprising a first handle operatively engaged with the release mechanism, the first handle positioned in the towing accessory member.\n\n17. The hitch assembly of claim 16, further comprising a second handle operatively engaged with the release mechanism, the second handle positioned in the body axially spaced from the first handle.\n\n18. The hitch assembly of claim 17, wherein the second handle is accessible when the towing accessory member extends downward into the socket.\n\n19. A hitch ball comprising:\na ball member insertable into a socket of a hitch assembly;\na body extending from and opposite the ball member, the body insertable into the socket of the hitch assembly; and\na locking member positioned in the body, the locking member moveable between an engaged position and a disengaged position, wherein the locking member in the engaged position locks the ball member in both an upright position relative to the socket and an inverted position relative to the socket.\n\n20. The hitch ball of claim 19, further comprising a release mechanism in operative communication with the locking member, the release mechanism positionable between a first position moving the locking member to the engaged position to a second position moving the locking member to the disengaged position.\n\n21. The hitch ball of claim 20, further comprising first and second handles operatively coupled with the release mechanism.\n\n22. The hitch ball of claim 21, wherein the first handle is positioned in the ball member and the second handle is positioned in the body.\n\n23. The hitch ball of claim 22, wherein the first handle is coextensive with the ball member.\n\n24. The hitch ball of claim 22, wherein the second handle includes a handle pivotally attached with the body opposite the ball member.\n\n25. The hitch ball of claim 22, wherein the release mechanism includes a plunger whereby the second handle includes a pin member attached with the plunger opposite the ball member.\n\n26. The hitch ball of claim 22, wherein the release mechanism includes a plunger whereby the second handle includes a handle member selectively attachable to the plunger opposite the ball member.\n\n27. The hitch ball of claim 22, wherein the second handle includes a handle member selectively attachable to the body opposite the ball member."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electronic Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nField of Invention The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus, and specifically to an electronic apparatus of high performance and high integration density. Description of Related Arts With development of communication industry, structural design of communication devices, especially high-density, high-performance design of the devices also has higher requirements, the existing communication devices, in order to implement more functions, often dispose lots of electronic modules in their case, and thus laying out more modules reasonably and neatly in a limited space to increase price performance of products and bring about better experience to users will become a direction of development of the communication devices.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to an electronic apparatus, the back plate, the I/O module, the power supply, the node module and the like are reasonably and neatly laid out in the case, so that more modules can be laid out in a limited case space, thus having a high utilization rate and a low cost. Besides, the I/O module, the power supply module and the node module are separately designed, and the modules cooperate with each other; the modules are snap structures, and can be assembled and disassembled by hand, which increases operation and maintenance efficiency. Moreover, the completion of the signal transmission among different modules mainly depends on the golden finger or the high-speed back plate connector, thus the case is clean and neat inside."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electronic apparatus, comprising:\na case, which comprises two sidewalls and a bottom plate connecting the two sidewalls, the case has a first end along a direction of the sidewalls and a second end opposite the first end, the case has a first receiving space adjacent to the first end, and the case has a second receiving space adjacent to the second end;\na back plate, which is disposed, perpendicular to the two sidewalls, between the first receiving space and the second receiving space, has a first insertion and extraction portion towards the first receiving space and a second insertion and extraction portion towards the second receiving space;\nthe first receiving space is divided into multiple rear-end regions having the same height and arranged side by side;\na multiple of I/O modules, each I/O module is received in each rear-end region of the first receiving space respectively, each I/O module has an I/O module assembling portion, and is pluggably electrically connected to the first insertion and extraction portion of the back plate;\na power supply module, which is received in the first receiving space, has a power supply module assembling portion, and is pluggably electrically connected to the first insertion and extraction portion of the back plate, used to supply power of the electronic apparatus;\na node module, which is disposed in the second receiving space, has a node module assembling portion, and is pluggably electrically connected to the second insertion and extraction portion of the back plate, and communicated with a corresponding I/O module through the back plate;\nthe second receiving space is divided into multiple front-end regions, and each of the front-end regions is provided with at least one node module, the first receiving space is divided into multiple rear-end regions having the same height and arranged side by side, and each of the rear-end regions is used to receive at least one I/O module or at least one power supply module.\n\n2. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the second receiving space is divided into two front-end regions bilaterally symmetrical and of the same shape.\n\n3. The electronic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, the height of the node module is half of that of the second receiving space, the number of the node module is four, and each of the front-end cavities is provided with two node modules stacked up and down.\n\n4. The electronic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, the two front-end regions bilaterally symmetrical are two cavities having the same shape, an inner side of each cavity is provided with two opposite support portions along the direction of the sidewalls, wherein the support portions are in positions of half of the height of the second receiving space, in each of the front-end cavities, two node modules are respectively stacked up and down, wherein one is placed on the bottom plate, and the other end is placed on the support portion.\n\n5. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the multiple of I/O modules comprise a node I/O module and a shared I/O module.\n\n6. The electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, the multiple of I/O modules comprise two shared I/O units, one of the shared I/O units is a shared I/O unit that provides redundant backup.\n\n7. The electronic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein, the two shared I/O units of the shared I/O module are stacked into one of the back-end regions.\n\n8. The electronic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein, the number of the rear-end regions is an even number greater than or equal to four.\n\n9. The electronic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, heights of the node I/O module, the shared I/O module and the power supply module are the same as that of the rear-end regions, each of the node I/O modules are received in a corresponding rear-end region, and there are an even number of node I/O modules, which are bilaterally symmetrically disposed in the corresponding rear-end regions relative to the shared I/O module.\n\n10. The electronic apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the number of the node I/O module is four, the number of the shared I/O module is one, and the node I/O modules, the shared I/O module and the power supply module are disposed in the rear-end regions from left to right or from right to left in a sequence as follows: the power supply module, two node I/O modules, the shared I/O module, two node I/O modules.\n\n11. The electronic apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, each of the node I/O modules is electrically connected with a corresponding node module through the back plate, the shared I/O modules are respectively electrically connected with the all node modules though the back plate.\n\n12. The electronic apparatus according to claim 11, wherein, the electronic apparatus further comprises a switch module, which used to cause a shared I/O unit of the shared I/O module to communicate with one of the node modules according to a switch signal.\n\n13. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the port interface of the I/O module and the port interface of the power supply module are at the first end.\n\n14. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the first and second insertion and extraction portions of the back plate are back plate connectors, or the first and second insertion and extraction portions of the back plate are electrically connected as a slot structure and a corresponding golden finger.\n\n15. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the power supply module comprises two power supply units, one of the two power supply units is a power supply unit that provides redundant backup.\n\n16. The electronic apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, the power supply units of the power supply module are stacked into one of the rear-end regions."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Display Device And Electronic Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a display device and an electronic apparatus. 2. Description of the Related Art In an image display panel constituted of a plurality of pixels including a first sub-pixel that displays red, a second sub-pixel that displays green, and a third sub-pixel that displays blue, for example, a luminance difference (value (also called as brightness) difference) among pixels within one frame may be increased in some cases to clearly display an image. When there is a bright portion in part of an image that is dark as a whole, for example, the luminance difference between the bright portion and a dark portion can be increased by increasing the luminance difference between the pixels in a screen, and a dynamic range is widened, which improves contrast of the image. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2008-158401 discloses a technique of increasing a luminance difference among pixels in a screen by adjusting a gamma curve used for gamma conversion of an input signal. However, even though the gamma curve is adjusted, a maximum value and a minimum value of the brightness (luminance) of each pixel are not changed. Thus, even though the gamma curve is adjusted, there is a possibility that a sufficient dynamic range cannot be obtained and the contrast is not improved enough. To solve the above problem, the present invention provides a display device and an electronic apparatus for appropriately improving the contrast of the image.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA display device includes: an image display panel including pixels each including a first to a forth sub-pixel that display a first color to a fourth color; and a signal processing unit. The signal processing unit stores an expanded color space, determines maximum set brightness as an upper limit value of brightness displayable within a range of the brightness in the expanded color space so that the maximum set brightness increases as a panel average input value decreases, determines an input expansion coefficient for expanding the color displayed by the image display panel to a color of the maximum set brightness, obtains the output signal of the first to forth sub-pixel based on the input signal of the first to third sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient. The expanded color space is a color space that can extend a color of brightness higher than that in a standard color space."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A display device comprising:\nan image display panel including a plurality of pixels each including a first sub-pixel that displays a first color, a second sub-pixel that displays a second color, a third sub-pixel that displays a third color, and a fourth sub-pixel that displays a fourth color; and\na signal processing unit that generates an output signal from an input value of an input signal, and outputs the output signal to the image display panel, wherein\nthe signal processing unit\nstores an expanded color space extended with the first color, the second color, the third color, and the fourth color,\ndetermines maximum set brightness as an upper limit value of brightness of a color displayed by the image display panel so that the maximum set brightness is within a range of the brightness in the expanded color space, and the maximum set brightness increases as a panel average input value calculated based on an average value of input values of input signals to the pixels within one frame decreases,\ndetermines an input expansion coefficient for expanding the color displayed by the image display panel to a color of the maximum set brightness,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel based on an input signal of the first sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel based on an input signal of the second sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel based on an input signal of the third sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an output signal of the first sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the first sub-pixel,\nobtains an output signal of the second sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the second sub-pixel,\nobtains an output signal of the third sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the third sub-pixel, and\nobtains an output signal of the fourth sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel, the input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel, and the input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the fourth sub-pixel, wherein\nthe expanded color space is a color space that can extend a color of brightness higher than that in a standard color space extended with the first color, the second color, and the third color, wherein\nthe signal processing unit\nsets a value of the maximum set brightness to be a value of standard color space maximum brightness as an upper limit value of brightness in the standard color space when the panel average input value is equal to or larger than a first input value smaller than a maximum input value as an upper limit value of the input value of the input signal,\nsets the value of the maximum set brightness to be a value of expanded color space maximum brightness as an upper limit value of brightness in the expanded color space when the panel average input value is equal to or smaller than a second input value smaller than the first input value, and\nincreases the value of the maximum set brightness from the standard color space maximum brightness to the expanded color space maximum brightness as the panel average input value decreases from the first input value to the second input value.\n\n2. A display device comprising:\nan image display panel including a plurality of pixels each including a first sub-pixel that displays a first color, a second sub-pixel that displays a second color, and a third sub-pixel that displays a third color; and\na signal processing unit that generates an output signal from an input value of an input signal, and outputs the output signal to the image display panel, wherein\nthe third sub-pixel has third sub-pixel maximum brightness as a displayable upper limit value of brightness of the third color, which is smaller than one of first sub-pixel maximum brightness as a displayable upper limit value of brightness of the first color of the first sub-pixel and second sub-pixel maximum brightness as a displayable upper limit value of brightness of the second color of the second sub-pixel, and is equal to or smaller than the other of the first sub-pixel maximum brightness and the second sub-pixel maximum brightness, and\nthe signal processing unit\nstores an expanded color space extended with the first color, the second color, and the third color in a case in which the output signal for displaying a color of the first sub-pixel maximum brightness is output to the first sub-pixel, the output signal for displaying a color of the second sub-pixel maximum brightness is output to the second sub-pixel, and the output signal for displaying a color of the third sub-pixel maximum brightness is output to the third sub-pixel,\ndetermines maximum set brightness as an upper limit value of brightness of a color displayed by the image display panel so that the maximum brightness is within a range of the brightness in the expanded color space, and the maximum set brightness increases as a panel average input value calculated based on an average value of input values of input signals to the pixels within one frame decreases,\ndetermines an input expansion coefficient for expanding the color displayed by the image display panel to a color of the maximum set brightness,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel based on an input signal of the first sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel based on an input signal of the second sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel based on an input signal of the third sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an output signal of the first sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the first sub-pixel,\nobtains an output signal of the second sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the second sub-pixel, and\nobtains an output signal of the third sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the third sub-pixel, wherein\nthe expanded color space is a color space that can extend a color of brightness higher than that in a standard color space extended with the first color, the second color, and the third color in a case of outputting the output signal for displaying a color of displayable brightness having an upper limit value limited to the third sub-pixel maximum brightness to the first sub-pixel and the second sub-pixel, and outputting the output signal for displaying the color of the third sub-pixel maximum brightness to the third sub-pixel, wherein\nthe signal processing unit\nsets a value of the maximum set brightness to be a value of standard color space maximum brightness as an upper limit value of brightness in the standard color space when the panel average input value is equal to or larger than a first input value smaller than a maximum input value as an upper limit value of the input value of the input signal,\nsets the value of the maximum set brightness to be a value of expanded color space maximum brightness as an upper limit value of brightness in the expanded color space when the panel average input value is equal to or smaller than a second input value smaller than the first input value, and\nincreases the value of the maximum set brightness from the standard color space maximum brightness to the expanded color space maximum brightness as the panel average input value decreases from the first input value to the second input value.\n\n3. The display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the signal processing unit determines the input expansion coefficient for each of the pixels so that set brightness as brightness of a color displayed based on the input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel, the input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel, and the input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel increases up to the maximum set brightness as the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases.\n\n4. The display device according to claim 3, wherein the signal processing unit determines the input expansion coefficient so that a rate of increase in the set brightness increases as the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases.\n\n5. The display device according to claim 4, wherein\nthe signal processing unit\nsets the rate of increase in the set brightness to be constant when the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases up to an input signal threshold as a predetermined value larger than 0, and\ndetermines the input expansion coefficient so that, when the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases from the input signal threshold, the rate of increase in the set brightness increases as the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases.\n\n6. The display device according to claim 3, wherein\nthe signal processing unit\nsets the set brightness to be equal to or smaller than the brightness of the color displayed based on the input value of the input signal to the pixel when the input value of the input signal to the pixel is equal to or smaller than a predetermined input signal value as a predetermined value larger than 0, and\ndetermines the input expansion coefficient so that, when the input value of the input signal to the pixel is larger than the predetermined input signal value, the set brightness is equal to or larger than the brightness of the color displayed based on the input value of the input signal to the pixel and the set brightness increases up to the maximum set brightness as the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases.\n\n7. An electronic apparatus comprising:\nthe display device according to claim 1 or 2; and\na control device that controls the display device.\n\n8. A display device comprising:\nan image display panel including a plurality of pixels each including a first sub-pixel that displays a first color, a second sub-pixel that displays a second color, a third sub-pixel that displays a third color, and a fourth sub-pixel that displays a fourth color; and\na signal processing unit that generates an output signal from an input value of an input signal, and outputs the output signal to the image display panel, wherein\nthe signal processing unit\nstores an expanded color space extended with the first color, the second color, the third color, and the fourth color,\ndetermines maximum set brightness as an upper limit value of brightness of a color displayed by the image display panel so that the maximum set brightness is within a range of the brightness in the expanded color space, and the maximum set brightness increases as a panel average input value calculated based on an average value of input values of input signals to the pixels within one frame decreases,\ndetermines an input expansion coefficient for expanding the color displayed by the image display panel to a color of the maximum set brightness,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel based on an input signal of the first sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel based on an input signal of the second sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel based on an input signal of the third sub-pixel and the input expansion coefficient,\nobtains an output signal of the first sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the first sub-pixel,\nobtains an output signal of the second sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the second sub-pixel, obtains an output signal of the third sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the third sub-pixel, and\nobtains an output signal of the fourth sub-pixel based on the input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel, the input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel, and the input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel and outputs the output signal to the fourth sub-pixel, wherein\nthe expanded color space is a color space that can extend a color of brightness higher than that in a standard color space extended with the first color, the second color, and the third color, wherein\nthe signal processing unit determines the input expansion coefficient for each of the pixels so that set brightness as brightness of a color displayed based on the input expansion signal of the first sub-pixel, the input expansion signal of the second sub-pixel, and the input expansion signal of the third sub-pixel increases up to the maximum set brightness as the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases, wherein,\nthe signal processing unit determines the input expansion coefficient so that a rate of increase in the set brightness increases as the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases, wherein,\nthe signal processing unit\nsets the rate of increase in the set brightness to be constant when the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases up to an input signal threshold as a predetermined value larger than 0, and\ndetermines the input expansion coefficient so that, when the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases from the input signal threshold, the rate of increase in the set brightness increases as the input value of the input signal to the pixel increases."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Preventing Call-Up Operation Errors And System Using The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to a technical field of mobile phones, and more particularly to a method for preventing call-up operation errors and a system using the same. 2. Description of Prior Art When a user holds a mobile phone closely to the ear during a phone call, if a proximity sensor of the mobile phone detects an obstruction shielding the proximity sensor, the mobile will shut off the display screen and the touchscreen of the mobile, which prevents call-up operation errors of the mobile phone including hang-up by the face of the user touching the touchscreen. Currently, the size of the screen of the mobile phone becomes larger and larger, and due to the consideration of the manufacturing cost, the proximity sensor is set to an offset to the left side or right side of the mobile phone, rather than is installed in the central location on the top portions of the mobile phones. Moreover, during the phone calls, particularly in some environments such as in a noisy environment, users incline to put mobile phones more closely to their ears and adjust the positions of the mobile phones, which makes the proximity sensor of the mobile phone exposed out of the obstruction; and when this happens, the touchscreen of the mobile phone is on, which may cause by call-up operation errors.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for preventing call-up operation errors and system using the same are provided. The method includes the steps of: (S1) a proximity sensor continuously detecting a proximity or distant state of an obstruction; (S2) when detecting that the obstruction approaches, uploading the proximity state in drive program to an upper layer; (S3) when detecting that the obstruction moves far away, the proximity sensor first skipping reporting the distant state at this time, and increasing the transmission power of the proximity sensor; (S4) determining whether the reflection intensity signal exceeds a setting threshold; and (S5) if the obstruction is near the proximity sensor of the mobile phone, the proximity sensor skips uploading the distant state, and the display screen will not light up, if the obstruction is far away from the proximity sensor, the proximity sensor uploading the distant state and then lighting up the display screen."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for preventing call-up operation errors by a mobile phone, the method comprising the steps of:\n(S 1 ) continuously detecting a proximity state or a distant state of an obstruction during a phone call by a proximity sensor;\n(S 2 ) uploading the proximity state in a drive program to an upper layer when detecting that the obstruction approaches, and shutting off a touchscreen function of the mobile phone and turning off a display screen light of the mobile phone when the upper layer receives the proximity state;\n(S 3 ) first skipping reporting the distant state at this time by the proximity sensor, and increasing a transmission power of the proximity sensor when detecting that the obstruction moves away after the obstruction approaches and after the touchscreen function of the mobile phone shuts off and the display screen light of the mobile phone turns off;\n(S 4 ) determining whether a reflection intensity signal exceeds a setting threshold at this time based on the increased transmission power of the proximity sensor to decide whether the obstruction is in the proximity state when detecting that the obstruction moves away after the obstruction approaches and after the touchscreen function of the mobile phone shuts off and the display screen light of the mobile phone turns off, and if the reflection intensity exceeds the setting threshold, it means that the obstruction is near the proximity sensor of the mobile phone, and if no reflection signal is detected, it means that the obstruction has been far away from the proximity sensor, wherein the setting threshold of the transmission power is set by writing a predetermined value to a register of the proximity sensor; and\n(S 5 ) skipping uploading the distant state by the proximity sensor if the obstruction is near the proximity sensor of the mobile phone wherein the display screen light is turned off since the upper layer does not receive the distant state, and if the obstruction is far away from the proximity sensor of the mobile phone, uploading the distant state by the proximity, which means the mobile phone is far away from the obstruction, and the display screen light is turned on.\n\n2. The method for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 1, wherein during the step (S 4 ), the transmission power is adjusted by adjusting the current of circuit, and the current is automatically adjusted to a 100 mA (milliampere) gear position.\n\n3. The method for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 1, wherein during the step (S 4 ), the setting threshold is in a range of 800-1000, and the setting threshold is read from a register and the setting threshold has no unit.\n\n4. The method for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 1, wherein the obstruction is a face or arms of a user.\n\n5. The method for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 1, wherein during the step (S 2 ), when shutting off the touchscreen, the display screen light is turned off at the same time.\n\n6. The method for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 1, wherein during the step (S 4 ), turning off the proximity sensor when the obstruction is in the distant state.\n\n7. A system for preventing call-up operation errors, the system comprising:\na proximity sensor, for continuously detecting a proximity or distant state of an obstruction during the phone call;\nat least one processor; and\na memory connected to the at least one processor, the memory comprising a plurality of program instructions executable by the at least one processor, the program instructions comprising:\nuploading the proximity state in a drive program to an upper layer when the proximity sensor detects that the obstruction approaches, and shutting off a touchscreen function when the upper layer receives the proximity state;\nfirst skipping reporting the distant state at this time when the proximity sensor detects that the obstruction moves away after the obstruction approaches and after the touchscreen function of the mobile phone shuts off and the display screen light of the mobile phone turns off, and increasing a transmission power of the proximity sensor;\ncomparing whether a reflection intensity signal exceeds a setting threshold at this time based on the increased transmission power of the proximity sensor in order to determine whether the obstruction is near the proximity sensor of a mobile phone in a proximity state when detecting that the obstruction moves away after the obstruction approaches and after the touchscreen function of the mobile phone shuts off and the display screen light of the mobile phone turns off, or has been far away from the proximity sensor in a distant state, wherein the setting threshold of the transmission power is set by writing a predetermined value to a register of the proximity sensor; and\nprocessing either the proximity state or the distant state of the obstruction, based on a comparison result, if the obstruction is near the proximity sensor of the mobile phone, skipping uploading the distant state to keep the display screen light off, and if the obstruction is far away from the proximity sensor of the mobile phone, uploading the distant state to turn on the display screen light.\n\n8. The system for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 7, wherein when comparing whether the reflection intensity signal exceeds the setting threshold at this time based on the increased transmission power of the proximity sensor, the program instructions further comprise that:\nwithin a range of the setting threshold, when the reflection signal is detected, it means that the obstruction is in the proximity state; if no reflection signal is detected, increasing the transmission power of the proximity sensor to be the setting threshold, and continue to detecting the reflection signal, and if no reflection signal is detected, it means the obstruction has been moved away.\n\n9. The system for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 7, wherein the program instructions further comprise adjusting the setting threshold of the transmission power by writing a predetermined value to the register of the proximity sensor.\n\n10. The system for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 7, wherein the transmission power is adjusted by adjusting the electric current of a circuit, and the current is automatically adjusted to a 100 mA gear position.\n\n11. The system for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 7, wherein the setting threshold is in a range of 800-1000, and the setting threshold is read from a register and the setting threshold has no unit.\n\n12. The system for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 7, wherein the obstruction is a face or arms of a user.\n\n13. The system for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 7, wherein the mobile phone shuts off the touchscreen function and turns off the display screen light of the mobile phone.\n\n14. The system for preventing call-up operation errors of claim 7, wherein the proximity sensor turns off when the obstruction has been moved far away."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Panel Signal Control Circuit, Display Panel And Display Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe panel, so called LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), is a common electronic display device. The present panel such as GOA (Gate driver on Array) panel is instantly powered off, the liquid crystal capacitor of the panel cannot be completely discharged. Such incomplete liquid crystal capacitor can cause the panel display ghost. For solving the issue of the panel display ghost, the prior art provides a panel signal control circuit. Please refer to FIG. 1 . The panel signal control circuit provided by prior art comprises: a PWM IC (Pulse-Width Modulation Integrated circuit) 10 and a level shift IC 11 . Please refer to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a signal diagram of respective signals of the circuit in FIG. 1 . VGH and the TFT (Thin Film Transistor) in panel control the electrode high voltage level. VGH is also the output working voltage of the PWM IC. XAO can be a voltage inversion signal inputted to the level shift IC after the GOA panel is powered off and the PWM IC stops working. After the level shift IC receives the XAO signal, the Discharge function is activated. The Discharge function specifically comprises: synchronizing respective output CK (clock) signals with the VGH signal, and after synchronization, the respective output CK signals drops along with the descend of VGH. As shown in FIG. 2 , after the GOA panel is powered off, VGH remains to be high voltage level in a period of time. The respective output CK signals are synchronized with VGH, thus the TFTs coupled to the respective output CK signals still can be in the activation state to make the rest electric charge on the liquid crystal capacitor is released to ground through the activated TFTs. Consequently, the liquid crystal is discharged to eliminate the panel display ghost. In the solution of realizing prior art, the following technical issue is found: Please refer to FIG. 2 . Because the respective output CK signals are synchronized with VGH, the voltage value of VGH has already been dropped, and the voltage values of the respective output CK signals synchronized with VGH also will drop. Accordingly, the voltage values of the respective output CK signals are insufficient, and the time period that the TFTs coupled to the respective output CK signals cannot be activated or activated gets short. The discharge of the liquid crystal capacitor is incomplete, and the elimination of the panel display ghost is incomplete.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides a panel signal control circuit, a display panel and a display device. The panel signal control circuit comprises: a PWM IC and a level shift IC, and the panel signal control circuit comprises further comprises: a Vin voltage divider circuit; one end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to an input port of an input working voltage Vin of the PWM IC, and the other end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is grounded; a voltage divider interface of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to a pin a of the Level shift IC, and the pin a is a voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin a is lower than an activation voltage threshold, respective output clock CK pins of the Level shift IC output sync signals of an output working voltage VGH of the PWM IC."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A panel signal control circuit, comprising:\na pulse width modulation integrated circuit (PWM IC) and a voltage level transfer integrated circuit (level shift IC), wherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises:\na Vin voltage divider circuit, wherein one end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to an input port of an input working voltage Vin of the PWM IC, and the other end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is grounded;\nwherein a voltage divider interface of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to a pin a of the level shift IC, and the pin a is a voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin a is lower than an activation voltage threshold, respective output clock CK pins of the level shift IC output sync signals of an output working voltage VGH of the PWM IC;\nwherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises: a VGH voltage divider circuit; one end of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to a VGH output port of the PWM IC, and the VGH voltage divider circuit is grounded, and a voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to a pin b of the level shift IC, and the pin b is another voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin b is lower than a deactivation voltage threshold, the respective output CK pins output low voltage level signals; and\nwherein the VGH voltage divider circuit comprises a variable resistor, and two interfaces of the variable resistor respectively are the two ends of the VGH voltage divider circuit, and a resistance adjustment interface of the variable resistor is the voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit.\n\n2. The panel signal control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the Vin voltage divider circuit comprises two resistors, a resistor R 1 and a resistor R 2 coupled in series; wherein the other end of the resistor R 1 and one end of the resistor R 2 are the voltage divider interface of the Vin voltage divider circuit, and one end of the resistor R 1 and the other end of the resistor R 2 respectively are the two ends of the Vin voltage divider circuit.\n\n3. The panel signal control circuit according to claim 2, wherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises the VGH voltage divider circuit; the one end of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to the VGH output port of the PWMIC, and the VGH voltage divider circuit is grounded, and the voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to the pin b of the level shift IC, and the pin b is another voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin b is lower than the deactivation voltage threshold, the respective output CK pins output the low voltage level signals.\n\n4. A display panel, comprising a panel signal control circuit, which comprises: a pulse width modulation integrated circuit (PWM IC) and a voltage level transfer integrated circuit (level shift IC), wherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises:\na Vin voltage divider circuit, wherein one end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to an input port of an input working voltage Vin of the PWM IC, and the other end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is grounded;\nwherein a voltage divider interface of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to a pin a of the level shift IC, and the pin a is a voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin a is lower than an activation voltage threshold, respective output clock CK pins of the level shift IC output sync signals of an output working voltage VGH of the PWM IC;\nwherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises a VGH voltage divider circuit; one end of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to a VGH output port of the PWM IC, and the VGH voltage divider circuit is grounded, and a voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to a pin b of the level shift IC, and the pin b is another voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin b is lower than a deactivation voltage threshold, the respective output CK pins output low voltage level signals; and\nwherein the VGH voltage divider circuit comprises: a variable resistor, and two interfaces of the variable resistor respectively are the two ends of the VGH voltage divider circuit, and a resistance adjustment interface of the variable resistor is the voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit.\n\n5. The display panel according to claim 4, wherein the Vin voltage divider circuit comprises two resistors, a resistor R 1 and a resistor R 2 coupled in series; wherein the other end of the resistor R 1 and one end of the resistor R 2 are the voltage divider interface of the Vin voltage divider circuit, and one end of the resistor R 1 and the other end of the resistor R 2 respectively are the two ends of the Vin voltage divider circuit.\n\n6. The display panel according to claim 5, wherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises the VGH voltage divider circuit; the one end of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to the VGH output port of the PWM IC, and the VGH voltage divider circuit is grounded, and the voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to the pin b of the level shift IC, and the pin b is another voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin b is lower than the deactivation voltage threshold, the respective output CK pins output the low voltage level signals.\n\n7. A display device, comprising a display panel, wherein the display panel comprises a panel signal control circuit, and the panel signal control circuit comprises:\na pulse width modulation integrated circuit (PWM IC) and a voltage level transfer integrated circuit (level shift IC), wherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises:\na Vin voltage divider circuit, wherein one end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to an input port of an input working voltage Vin of the PWM IC, and the other end of the Vin voltage divider circuit is grounded;\na voltage divider interface of the Vin voltage divider circuit is coupled to a pin a of the Level shift IC, and the pin a is a voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin a is lower than an activation voltage threshold, respective output clock CK pins of the Level shift IC output sync signals of an output working voltage VGH of the PWM IC;\nwherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises a VGH voltage divider circuit; one end of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to a VGH output port of the PWM IC, and the VGH voltage divider circuit is grounded, and a voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to a pin b of the level shift IC, and the pin b is another voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin b is lower than a deactivation voltage threshold, the respective output CK pins output low voltage level signals; and\nwherein the VGH voltage divider circuit comprises: a variable resistor, and two interfaces of the variable resistor respectively are the two ends of the VGH voltage divider circuit, and a resistance adjustment interface of the variable resistor is the voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit.\n\n8. The display device according to claim 7, wherein the Vin voltage divider circuit comprises two resistors, a resistor R 1 and a resistor R 2 coupled in series; wherein the other end of the resistor R 1 and one end of the resistor R 2 are the voltage divider interface of the Vin voltage divider circuit, and one end of the resistor R 1 and the other end of the resistor R 2 respectively are the two ends of the Vin voltage divider circuit.\n\n9. The display device according to claim 8, wherein the panel signal control circuit further comprises the VGH voltage divider circuit; the one end of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to the VGH output port of the PWMIC, and the VGH voltage divider circuit is grounded, and the voltage divider interface of the VGH voltage divider circuit is coupled to the pin b of the level shift IC, and the pin b is another voltage monitor pin, and as the voltage of the pin b is lower than the deactivation voltage threshold, the respective output CK pins output the low voltage level signals."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Transmission Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present disclosure relates to a transmission device that changes a speed of power transmitted from a motor of a vehicle to an input shaft and transmits the resultant power to an output shaft. Conventionally, a transmission device that includes two single-pinion type planetary gears, what is called a Simpson compound planetary gear mechanism, four clutches, and two brakes are known as a transmission device of such a type. (see U.S. Pat. No. 8,202,190, for example). The compound planetary gear mechanism included in such a transmission device includes an input element connected to an input shaft, a fixable element selectively non-rotatably held stationary by a brake, and first and second output elements. The first output element is selectively connected to another rotational element by a first clutch, and the second output element is selectively connected to yet another rotational element by a second clutch.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA transmission device, wherein the compound planetary gear mechanism increases the speed of the power transmitted to the input element and transmits the resultant power to the first and the second output elements when the fixable element is non-rotatably held stationary by the first brake; and the first and the second clutches are disposed on a side closer in the axial direction to the compound planetary gear mechanism than the first and the second planetary gear mechanisms."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A transmission device that changes a speed of power transmitted from a motor to an input shaft and transmits resultant power to an output shaft, the transmission device comprising:\na compound planetary gear mechanism including an input element, a fixable element, a first output element, and a second output element;\na first planetary gear and a second planetary gear disposed coaxially and side by side in an axial direction with the compound planetary gear mechanism, and each including a plurality of rotational elements;\na first brake that connects and non-rotatably holds the fixable element of the compound planetary gear mechanism stationary to a case and releases the fixable element such that the fixable element is rotatable;\na first clutch that connects the first output element and at least one of the rotational elements of the first and the second planetary gears and releases the connection therebetween; and\na second clutch that connects the second output element and at least one of the rotational elements of the first and the second planetary gears and releases the connection therebetween, wherein\nthe compound planetary gear mechanism increases the speed of the power transmitted to the input element and transmits the resultant power to the first and the second output elements when the fixable element is non-rotatably held stationary by the first brake; and\nthe first and the second clutches are disposed between the compound planetary gear mechanism and the second planetary gear, and at least part of both the first and the second clutches radially overlaps both the compound planetary gear mechanism and the second planetary gear as seen from the axial direction.\n\n2. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein\nthe second planetary gear is disposed on a side closer to the compound planetary gear mechanism than the first planetary gear,\nthe first clutch connects the first output element and any one of the rotational elements of the second planetary gear and releases the connection therebetween,\nthe second clutch connects the second output element and any one of the rotational elements of the second planetary gear and releases the connection therebetween, and\nthe first and the second clutches are disposed on a side closer to the compound planetary gear mechanism than the second planetary gear.\n\n3. The transmission device according to claim 2, wherein\nthe second clutch connects the second output element to the rotational element of the second planetary gear connected to the first output element by the first clutch.\n\n4. The transmission device according to claim 3, further comprising:\na third clutch that connects the first output element of the compound planetary gear mechanism and a rotational element of the second planetary gear other than the rotational element thereof that is connected to the first output element by the first clutch and connected to the second output element by the second clutch and releases the connection therebetween, wherein\nthe third clutch is disposed on a side closer to the compound planetary gear mechanism than the second planetary gear.\n\n5. The transmission device according to claim 4, wherein\nthe case is provided with a center wall located between the compound planetary gear mechanism and the first and the second planetary gears,\nthe third clutch includes a hydraulic servo including at least a friction engagement plate and a piston that presses the friction engagement plate, and\nhydraulic oil is supplied from a hydraulic oil supply passage formed in the center wall to the hydraulic servo of the third clutch without passing through the input shaft.\n\n6. The transmission device according to claim 5, further comprising\na second brake that includes at least a friction engagement plate and a piston pressing the friction engagement plate and connects and non-rotatably holds the rotational element of the second planetary gear connected to the first output element by the third clutch stationary to the case, wherein\nthe case is provided with a center wall located between the compound planetary gear mechanism and the first and the second planetary gears, and\nan engagement oil chamber of the second brake is defined between the piston of the second brake and the center wall.\n\n7. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein\nthe first and the second clutches each include a hydraulic servo that includes at least a friction engagement plate and a piston pressing the friction engagement plate and is disposed on the input shaft, and\nhydraulic oil is supplied from a hydraulic oil supply passage formed in the case to the hydraulic servo of each of the first and the second clutches through an in-shaft oil-passage formed in the input shaft.\n\n8. The transmission device according to claim 1, further comprising:\na fourth clutch that connects any one of the rotational elements of the first planetary gear and the output shaft and releases the connection therebetween, wherein\nthe second planetary gear includes a rotational element always connected to the output shaft and a rotational element always connected to a rotational element of the first planetary gear other than the rotational element thereof connected to the output shaft by the fourth clutch.\n\n9. The transmission device according to claim 8, wherein\nthe fourth clutch includes at least a friction engagement plate and a piston that presses the friction engagement plate, and\nan engagement oil chamber of the fourth clutch is defined between the piston of the fourth clutch and the output shaft and is supplied with hydraulic oil through an in-shaft oil-passage formed in the output shaft.\n\n10. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein\nthe compound planetary gear mechanism includes third and fourth planetary gears each including three rotational elements and is structured by always connecting each of any two of the rotational elements of the third planetary gear to corresponding one of any two of the rotational elements of the fourth planetary gear.\n\n11. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein\nthe first planetary gear includes a first rotational element, a second rotational element, and a third rotational element,\nthe second planetary gear includes a fourth rotational element, a fifth rotational element, and a sixth rotational element,\nthe first rotational element of the first planetary gear is always connected to the fourth rotational element of the second planetary gear,\nthe second rotational element of the first planetary gear and the input element of the compound planetary gear mechanism are always connected to the input shaft,\nthe fifth rotational element of the second planetary gear is always connected to the output shaft,\nthe first clutch connects the first rotational element of the first planetary gear and the fourth rotational element of the second planetary gear always connected to each other and the first output element of the compound planetary gear mechanism and releases the connection therebetween,\nthe second clutch connects the first rotational element of the first planetary gear and the fourth rotational element of the second planetary gear always connected to each other and the second output element of the compound planetary gear mechanism and releases the connection therebetween, and\nthe transmission device further includes a third clutch that connects the sixth rotational element of the second planetary gear and the first output element of the compound planetary gear mechanism and releases the connection therebetween, a fourth clutch that connects the output shaft and the fifth rotational element of the second planetary gear always connected to each other and the third rotational element of the first planetary gear and releases the connection therebetween, and a second brake that non-rotatably holds the sixth rotational element of the second planetary gear stationary and releases the sixth rotational element such that the sixth rotational element is rotatable.\n\n12. The transmission device according to claim 11, wherein\na first forward speed is established by engaging the first clutch, the second clutch, and the second brake,\na second forward speed is established by engaging the first clutch, the first brake, and the second brake,\na third forward speed is established by engaging the second clutch, the first brake, and the second brake,\na fourth forward speed is established by engaging the fourth clutch, the first brake, and the second brake,\na fifth forward speed is established by engaging the second clutch, the fourth clutch, and the first brake,\na sixth forward speed is established by engaging the first clutch, the fourth clutch, and the first brake,\na seventh forward speed is established by engaging the first clutch, the third clutch, and the fourth clutch,\nan eighth forward speed is established by engaging the third clutch, the fourth clutch, and the first brake,\na ninth forward speed is established by engaging the first clutch, the third clutch, and the first brake,\na tenth forward speed is established by engaging the second clutch, the third clutch, and the first brake and\na reverse speed is established by engaging the second clutch, the third clutch, and the second brake.\n\n13. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein\nthe compound planetary gear mechanism includes a single-pinion type third planetary gear including a third sun gear, and a third ring gear, a third carrier that rotatably and revolvably holds a plurality of third pinion gears each meshing with the third sun gear and the third ring gear, and also includes a single-pinion type fourth planetary gear including a fourth sun gear, a fourth ring gear, and a fourth carrier that rotatably and revolvably holds a plurality of fourth pinion gears each meshing with the fourth sun gear and the fourth ring gear, and\nthe fixable element is the third sun gear and the fourth sun gear always connected to each other, the input element is the third carrier, the first output element is the third ring gear and the fourth carrier always connected to each other, and the second output element is the fourth ring gear.\n\n14. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein\nthe compound planetary gear mechanism includes a single-pinion type third planetary gear including a third sun gear, a third ring gear, and a third carrier that rotatably and revolvably holds a plurality of third pinion gears each meshing with the third sun gear and the third ring gear, and also includes a single-pinion type fourth planetary gear including a fourth sun gear, a fourth ring gear, and a fourth carrier that rotatably and revolvably holds a plurality of fourth pinion gears each meshing with the fourth sun gear and the fourth ring gear, and\nthe fixable element is the fourth sun gear, the input element is the third ring gear and the fourth carrier always connected to each other, the first output element is the third carrier and the fourth ring gear always connected to each other, and the second output element is the third sun gear.\n\n15. The transmission device according to claim 1, wherein\nthe output shaft is connected to rear wheels of a vehicle via a differential gear.\n\n16. A transmission device that changes a speed of power transmitted from a motor to an input shaft and transmits resultant power to an output shaft, the transmission device comprising:\na compound planetary gear mechanism including an input element, a fixable element, a first output element, and a second output element;\na first planetary gear and a second planetary gear disposed coaxially and side by side in an axial direction with the compound planetary gear mechanism, and each including a plurality of rotational elements;\na first brake that connects and non-rotatably holds the fixable element of the compound planetary gear mechanism stationary to a case and releases the fixable element such that the fixable element is rotatable;\na first clutch that connects the first output element and at least one of the rotational elements of the first and the second planetary gears and releases the connection therebetween; and\na second clutch that connects the second output element and at least one of the rotational elements of the first and the second planetary gears and releases the connection therebetween, wherein\nthe compound planetary gear mechanism increases the speed of the power transmitted to the input element and transmits the resultant power to the first and the second output elements when the fixable element is non-rotatably held stationary by the first brake;\nthe first and the second clutches are disposed on a side closer in the axial direction to the compound planetary gear mechanism than the first and the second planetary gear mechanisms;\nthe compound planetary gear mechanism is a Ravigneaux type planetary gear including a third sun gear, a fourth sun gear, a third pinion gear meshing with the third sun gear, a fourth pinion gear meshing with the fourth sun gear and also meshing with the third pinion gear, a third carrier rotatably and revolvably holding the third and the fourth pinion gears, and a third ring gear meshing with the fourth pinion gear; and\nthe fixable element is the fourth sun gear, the input element is the fourth carrier, the first output element is the third ring gear, and the second output element is the third sun gear.\n\n17. The transmission device according to claim 16, wherein\nthe second planetary gear is disposed on a side closer to the compound planetary gear mechanism than the first planetary gear,\nthe first clutch connects the first output element and any one of the rotational elements of the second planetary gear and releases the connection therebetween,\nthe second clutch connects the second output element and any one of the rotational elements of the second planetary gear and releases the connection therebetween, and\nthe first and the second clutches are disposed on a side closer to the compound planetary gear mechanism than the second planetary gear.\n\n18. The transmission device according to claim 16, wherein\nthe first and the second clutches each include a hydraulic servo that includes at least a friction engagement plate and a piston pressing the friction engagement plate and is disposed on the input shaft, and\nhydraulic oil is supplied from a hydraulic oil supply passage formed in the case to the hydraulic servo of each of the first and the second clutches through an in-shaft oil-passage formed in the input shaft.\n\n19. The transmission device according to claim 16, further comprising:\na fourth clutch that connects any one of the rotational elements of the first planetary gear and the output shaft and releases the connection therebetween, wherein\nthe second planetary gear includes a rotational element always connected to the output shaft and a rotational element always connected to a rotational element of the first planetary gear other than the rotational element thereof connected to the output shaft by the fourth clutch.\n\n20. The transmission device according to claim 16, wherein\nthe compound planetary gear mechanism includes third and fourth planetary gears each including three rotational elements and is structured by always connecting each of any two of the rotational elements of the third planetary gear to corresponding one of any two of the rotational elements of the fourth planetary gear."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Lifter Mechanism And Vehicle Seat\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nConventionally, as a lifter mechanism having a lifting mechanism part which lifts or lowers a seat, for example, there is a lifter mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1. This lifter mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1 has upper rails of a left slider and a right slider, a left link and a right link pivotally coupled to side frames of a cushion frame unit disposed on an upper side thereof and also coupled to each other via a shaft, and one lifting mechanism part which lifts or lowers the side frame on one side (door side) with respect to the slider on the one side (door side). The lifting mechanism part has a sector gear rotatably attached to the vicinity of a forward-backward center inside the side frame on the one side, a connector coupling a rear link on the one side and the sector gear, and an output gear cooperating with an operating member meshing with the sector gear. By rotating the output gear via the operating member, the link on the one side is swung via the sector gear and the connector meshing therewith, thereby lifting or lowering the side frame on the one side with respect to the slider on one side. Then, accompanying this lifting or lowering operation of the side frame on the one side, as described above, the side frame on the other side coupled via the shaft is lifted or lowered.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA neck injury is improved with a structure having a lifting mechanism part only on one side. While a lifting driving part is provided on a side of one side frame, a coupling driving rod is coupled to a rotation center of a drive gear a driving link is disposed on a side of the other side frame, and the driving link is coupled to the coupling driving rod. A driving force in the lifting driving part operates on the side of one side frame having the drive gear, but on the side of the other side frame, the driving link rotates together with the drive gear via the coupling driving rod, so as to perform a lifting or lowering operation. The shape of a virtual square coupling contact points of the driving link, the side connectors, the coupling driving rod, and the drive gear does not collapse, and thus an external input is dispersed."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A lifter mechanism for supporting a cushion frame unit supporting a cushion member for a seat cushion part in a manner capable of lifting or lowering by driving a lifting driving part with respect to a left slider and a right slider constituting a seat slide device, the lifter mechanism comprising:\na front link and a rear link provided between each of side frames disposed on a left side and a right side of the cushion frame unit and one of the sliders;\na lifting driving part comprising a drive gear provided on one side frame out of the side frames and disposed between the front link and the rear link of a side of the one side frame, so as to transmit a driving force for lifting or lowering;\na coupling driving rod including one end that is coupled to a rotation center of the drive gear to rotate with the drive gear;\none side connector on the side of the one side frame where the lifting driving part is provided, the one side connector extending forward from the rear link of the side of the one side frame and bridged to the drive gear;\nanother side connector on a side of the other side frame where the lifting driving part is not provided, to extend forward from the rear link of the side of the other side frame; and\na driving link with one end coupled to a front end of the other side connector,\nwherein another end of the coupling driving rod is structured to be coupled to another end of the driving link, so as to transmit a rotation force of the drive gear to the driving link via the coupling driving rod.\n\n2. The lifter mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the driving link, the side connectors, and the coupling driving rod each have stiffness to elastically deform against an external input that plastically deforms lower rails or upper rails close to front ends of the sliders, when the external input is in a predetermined range.\n\n3. The lifter mechanism according to claim 2, wherein a material constituting the side connectors and the driving link is a plate thicker than or a high-stiffness member higher in a second moment of inertia than a material constituting the lower rails or the upper rails of the sliders.\n\n4. The lifter mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the rotation center of the drive gear and the coupling driving rod are provided in a substantially middle position between the front links and the rear links.\n\n5. The lifter mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a crushable zone which deforms relatively easier than a surrounding portion when an external input of a predetermined value or higher is received is set in a vicinity of a belt anchor point in the side frames of the cushion frame unit.\n\n6. A vehicle seat, comprising:\na seat cushion part and a seat back part, wherein:\nthe seat cushion part includes a cushion frame unit supporting a cushion member for the seat cushion part;\na left side frame and a right side frame constituting the cushion frame unit are coupled respectively, via a lifter mechanism, to a left slider and a right slider, which constitute a seat slide device, to be supported thereon; and\nthe lifter mechanism comprises\na front link and a rear link provided between each of side frames disposed on a left side and a right side of the cushion frame unit and one of the sliders;\na lifting driving part comprising a drive gear provided on one side frame out of the side frames and disposed between the front link and the rear link of a side of the one side frame, so as to transmit a driving force for lifting or lowering;\na coupling driving rod including one end that is coupled to a rotation center of the drive gear to rotate with the drive gear;\none side connector on the side of the one side frame where the lifting driving part is provided, the one side connector extending forward from the rear link of the side of the one side frame and bridged to the drive gear;\nanother side connector on a side of the other side frame where the lifting driving part is not provided, to extend forward from the rear link of the side of the other side frame; and\na driving link with one end coupled to a front end of the other side connector,\nwherein another end of the coupling driving rod is structured to be coupled to another end of the driving link, so as to transmit a rotation force of the drive gear to the driving link via the coupling driving rod.\n\n7. The vehicle seat according to claim 6, wherein the seat back part comprises a back frame unit supporting a cushion member for the seat back part and coupled to the cushion frame unit and a head rest provided on an upper portion of the back frame unit;\na two-dimensional or three-dimensional fabric is bridged with a stretch rate of 5% or lower across middle portions in an upward and downward direction of a pair of side frames of the back frame unit; and\nwhen a force in a direction to tilt the back frame unit rearward operates by an external input of a predetermined value or higher, the head of a seated person is supported by the head rest and the chest enters a frame of the pair of side frames and is supported by the fabric.\n\n8. The vehicle seat according to claim 7, wherein the pair of side frames of the back frame unit have a predetermined width and is provided so that a direction of the width is along a forward and backward direction of the vehicle seat, and an upper frame supporting the head rest and a lower frame disposed between lower portions of the side frames are both provided on sides of rear edge portions of the side frames, and the fabric is bridged across front edge portions of the side frames.\n\n9. The vehicle seat according to claim 7, wherein the fabric is bridged across positions including a range corresponding to a vicinity of the chest of the seated person.\n\n10. The vehicle seat according to claim 7, wherein a lumbar support part comprising a spring member is provided between lower portions of the pair of side frames of the back frame unit and below the fabric."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Storage Method For Trifluoroethylene, And Storage Container For Trifluoroethylene\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nTrifluoroethylene (CF2\u2550CHF) is expected as a new refrigerant to replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) that destroy the ozone layer, or hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) being greenhouse gases. Such trifluoroethylene is stored or transported as filled in a sealed container under pressure at a temperature of at most normal temperature, or as liquefied and filled in a sealed container under pressure with cooling. Trifluoroethylene filled in a sealed container in such a manner, is in a gas-liquid state having a gas phase and a liquid phase. And, trifluoroethylene in such a gas-liquid state is desired to be kept stably without causing a reaction such as polymerization, in order to maintain the quality as a refrigerant, or to prevent deposition of impurities (solids) in the container. Fluoroolefins are known to undergo a polymerization reaction if oxygen is present, as the oxygen becomes a radical source. Among such fluoroolefins, tetrafluoroethylene tends to be polymerized in the presence of a very small amount of oxygen at a level of from 1 to a few tens ppm, and in some cases, the polymerization reaction is likely to proceed explosively. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that tetrafluoroethylene undergoes polymerization at an oxygen concentration of 1.4 ppm to form polytetrafluoroethylene. Therefore, at the time of storing a fluoroolefin, it becomes important to handle it by removing oxygen to the limit. However, in order to remove oxygen to the limit, it is necessary to take a measure such as providing a new step for removing oxygen to the limit in the production process, whereby the cost associated therewith will be incurred. Further, by conducting the step of removing oxygen to the limit, there may be a case where the yield tends to be low, and the production cost will be increased. To what extent trifluoroethylene is stable against a self-polymerization reaction in the presence of oxygen, is largely unknown. A method for storing trifluoroethylene without permitting it to undergo a polymerization reaction, is desired, in order to maintain its quality as a refrigerant and to carry out its storage and transportation inexpensively, safely and stably. Heretofore, for stabilization of hydrofluoroolefins, some proposals have been made. Patent Document 2 has proposed a method of adding a stabilizer such as an alkyl catechol or an alkoxy phenol, in order to maintain the stable state (state without formation of an acid) of hydrofluoropropene even in the presence of air. Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a stabilization method of adding a C 1-4 aliphatic alcohol as a stabilizer to hydrofluoropropene. However, each of such methods disclosed in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 presupposes the existence of a refrigerating machine oil, and it is a method of stabilizing the overall cooling system by stabilizing the refrigerant composition, wherein the conditions are different from stabilization of a refrigerant in a container for storage or transportation, and therefore, it is difficult to apply such a method to store a refrigerant in a container. Further, in the method of adding a stabilizer, it is required to remove the stabilizer prior to use as a refrigerant, whereby not only the load of the process is large, but also there may be a case where the stabilizer cannot be completely removed by a physical purification method such as distillation, such being undesirable from the viewpoint of quality control.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nTo provide a method for storing trifluoroethylene filled in a container for storage, transportation, etc., stably without causing a reaction such as polymerization. The method is characterized in that trifluoroethylene is stored in a sealed container in such a state that a gas phase and a liquid phase coexist, and in the gas phase, the concentration of oxygen at a temperature of 25\u00b0 C. is kept to be at most 1,000 ppm by volume."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for storing trifluoroethylene in a sealed storage container, trifluoroethylene is stored in such a state that a gas phase and a liquid phase coexist, and the concentration of oxygen in the gas phase at a temperature of 25\u00b0 C. is kept to be less than 1,000 ppm by volume.\n\n2. The method for storing trifluoroethylene according to claim 1, wherein said concentration of oxygen is kept to be from 1 to 1,000 ppm by volume.\n\n3. The method for storing trifluoroethylene according to claim 1, wherein said concentration of oxygen is kept to be from 3 to 1,000 ppm by volume.\n\n4. The method for storing trifluoroethylene according to claim 1, wherein said concentration of oxygen is kept to be from 3 to 300 ppm by volume.\n\n5. The method for storing trifluoroethylene according to claim 1, wherein said concentration of oxygen is kept to be from 3 to 50 ppm by volume.\n\n6. The method for storing trifluoroethylene according to claim 1, wherein in the gas phase, the concentration of non-condensable gases other than oxygen at a temperature of 25\u00b0 C. is at most 1.5 vol %.\n\n7. The method for storing trifluoroethylene according to claim 1, wherein an inside of an unfilled storage container is deaerated to remove oxygen in the storage container, then, liquid-state trifluoroethylene is filled and sealed, and the trifluoroethylene is stored in the sealed storage container.\n\n8. A sealed storage container in which trifluoroethylene is filled in such a state that a gas phase and a liquid phase coexist, and a concentration of oxygen in the gas phase at a temperature of 25\u00b0 C. is at most 1,000 ppm by volume.\n\n9. The storage container for trifluoroethylene according to claim 8, wherein said concentration of oxygen is from 1 to 1,000 ppm by volume.\n\n10. The storage container for trifluoroethylene according to claim 8, wherein said concentration of oxygen is from 3 to 1,000 ppm by volume.\n\n11. The storage container for trifluoroethylene according to claim 8, wherein said concentration of oxygen is from 3 to 300 ppm by volume.\n\n12. The storage container for trifluoroethylene according to claim 8, wherein said concentration of oxygen is from 3 to 50 ppm by volume."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Solid-State Imaging Device, Method Of Manufacturing A Solid-State Imaging Device, And Electronic Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present disclosure relates to solid-state imaging devices, methods of manufacturing the solid-state imaging devices, and electronic apparatuses and, in particular, to a solid-state imaging device, a method of manufacturing the solid-state imaging device, and an electronic apparatus capable of preventing the degradation of color mixture. In recent years, CMOS type solid-state imaging devices (CMOS image sensors) have been installed in various electronic apparatuses such as digital cameras, video cameras, monitoring cameras, copiers, and facsimile machines. In solid-state imaging devices, on-chip lenses are formed over photodiodes serving as light receiving portions. However, the manufacturing of the on-chip lenses with a desired curvature has become difficult since it is requested to downsize the on-chip lenses to suit to finer pixels. Accordingly, there has been proposed the technology of achieving an improvement in sensitivity in a pixel structure in which on-chip lenses larger in size than pixels are formed for every other pixel to suit to finer pixels (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-287891 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDisclosed is a solid-state imaging device including a plurality of pixels and a plurality of on-chip lenses. The plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix pattern. Each of the pixels has a photoelectric conversion portion configured to photoelectrically convert light incident from a rear surface side of a semiconductor substrate. The plurality of on-chip lenses are arranged for every other pixel. The on-chip lenses are larger in size than the pixels. Each of color filters at the pixels where the on-chip lenses are present has a cross-sectional shape whose upper side close to the on-chip lens is the same in width as the on-chip lens and whose lower side close to the photoelectric conversion portion is shorter than the upper side."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An imaging device comprising:\ngreen pixels including a first green pixel and a second green pixel disposed diagonally in a single line,\nwherein the first green pixel is disposed between a first red pixel and a second red pixel in a horizontal direction,\nwherein the second green pixel is disposed between a first blue pixel and a second blue pixel in the horizontal direction,\nwherein a size of the first blue pixel is smaller than a size of the first green pixel, and\nwherein a size of the second blue pixel is smaller than the size of the first green pixel.\n\n2. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein a shape of the first green pixel is different than a shape of the first blue pixel.\n\n3. The imaging device of claim 2, wherein a shape of the first green pixel is different than a shape of the second blue pixel.\n\n4. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein a shape of the second green pixel is different than a shape of the first red pixel.\n\n5. The imaging device of claim 4, wherein a shape of the second green pixel is different than a shape of the second red pixel.\n\n6. The imaging device of claim 1, further comprising:\na third green pixel and a fourth green pixel disposed diagonally along the single line.\n\n7. The imaging device of claim 6, further comprising:\na third red pixel and a fourth red pixel, wherein the third green pixel is disposed between the third red pixel and the fourth red pixel.\n\n8. The imaging device of claim 7, further comprising:\na third blue pixel and a fourth blue pixel, and wherein the fourth green pixel is disposed between the third blue pixel and the fourth blue pixel.\n\n9. An electronic apparatus comprising:\nan imaging device including:\na plurality of green pixels, including a first green pixel and a second green pixel disposed diagonally in a single line;\na plurality of red pixels, including a first red pixel and a second red pixel; and\na plurality of blue pixels, including a first blue pixel and a second blue pixel,\nwherein the first green pixel is disposed between the first red pixel and the second red pixel in a horizontal direction,\nwherein the second green pixel is disposed between the first blue pixel and the second blue pixel in the horizontal direction,\nwherein a size of the first blue pixel is smaller than a size of the first green pixel, and\nwherein a size of the second blue pixel is smaller than the size of the first green pixel;\na plurality of on-chip lenses; and\na digital signal processor circuit.\n\n10. The electronic apparatus of claim 9, wherein a shape of the first green pixel is different than a shape of the first blue pixel.\n\n11. The electronic apparatus of claim 10, wherein a shape of the first green pixel is different than a shape of the second blue pixel.\n\n12. The electronic apparatus of claim 9, wherein a shape of the second green pixel is different than a shape of the red blue pixel.\n\n13. The electronic apparatus of claim 12, wherein a shape of the first green pixel is different than a shape of the second red pixel.\n\n14. The electronic apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of green pixels includes a third green pixel and a fourth green pixel disposed diagonally along the single line.\n\n15. The electronic apparatus of claim 14, wherein the plurality of red pixels includes a third red pixel and a fourth red pixel, wherein the third green pixel is disposed between the third red pixel and the fourth red pixel.\n\n16. The electronic apparatus of claim 15, wherein the plurality of blue pixels includes a third blue pixel and a fourth blue pixel, and wherein the fourth green pixel is disposed between the third blue pixel and the fourth blue pixel."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Recess-Mounted Hydraulic Pump Cartridge And Work Vehicle Drivetrain Therewith\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nWork vehicles used in various industries, such as agriculture, construction and forestry, may have onboard hydraulic systems for powering various vehicle and implement systems and tools. The hydraulic systems are pressurized by one or more hydraulic pumps powered by the main engine or one or more variable drives (e.g., electric motors). Depending on the work vehicle, numerous hydraulic pumps may be needed to supply the pressure necessary for proper operation of the varied vehicle and implement systems, thus increasing the space envelope required for the hydraulics and the complexity of arranging the associated plumbing lines and input power sources.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hydraulic pump is configured to mount within an internal receptacle defined by a housing of a hydraulically-powered component of a work vehicle. The pump has a housing defining one or more pump chambers. Each pump chamber communicates with a suction port and an outlet pressure port. Each pump chamber contains a pump assembly having a drive member at a fluid interface between the suction port and the outlet pressure port. The drive member is arranged for co-rotation with at least one power input component extending into the housing through each pump chamber. Rotation of each drive member displaces and pressurizes hydraulic fluid through the pump housing, and, when the pump is mounted within the internal receptacle, through internally ported passages routed through walls of the hydraulically-powered component housing."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A drivetrain assembly for a work vehicle, comprising:\na drivetrain housing containing a drivetrain component and defining an internal receptacle having an open end, the drivetrain housing having one or more walls defining internally ported suction and outlet pressure passages; and\na hydraulic pump mounted to the drivetrain housing, at least in part, within the open end of the internal receptacle, the pump having a housing defining one or more pump chambers, the one or more pump chambers communicating with an associated suction port and an associated outlet pressure port and containing an associated pump assembly, the associated pump assembly having a drive member between the associated suction port and the associated outlet pressure port, the associated suction port and the associated outlet pressure port communicating with associated ones of the suction and outlet pressure passages in the one or more walls of the drivetrain housing; and\nan input shaft extending into the pump housing and engaging for co-rotation the drive member of the pump assembly for the associated one or more pump chambers;\nwherein rotation of the input shaft drives the pump assembly of the associated one or more pump chambers to displace and pressurize hydraulic fluid between the associated ones of the suction and outlet pressure passages of the drivetrain housing to supply hydraulic fluid to the drivetrain component.\n\n2. The drivetrain assembly of claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of pump chambers arranged in tandem along a reference axis.\n\n3. The drivetrain assembly of claim 1, wherein the pump housing includes an end wall configured to fit within the internal receptacle of the drivetrain housing and a mounting flange configured to interface with an exterior surface of the drivetrain housing.\n\n4. The drivetrain assembly of claim 3, wherein at least one of the end wall and the mounting flange has an opening therein receiving the input shaft.\n\n5. The drivetrain assembly of claim 2, wherein each pump chamber has a dedicated set of suction and outlet pressure ports.\n\n6. The drivetrain assembly of claim 1, wherein the associated pump assembly of the one or more pump chambers is a positive displacement pump assembly selected from the group consisting of an internal gear set, an external gear set, a rotary vane arrangement and an axial piston arrangement.\n\n7. The drivetrain assembly of claim 2, wherein the pump housing defines at least three pump chambers.\n\n8. The drivetrain assembly of claim 2, wherein the pump assembly in each pump chamber effects a different displacement."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Led Retrofit Lamp\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nWO2012127371A1 discloses an electric lamp having two pairs of external connection pins adapted for connecting the lamp to a voltage source for powering an internal lighting module. Each pair of pins is disconnected from the lighting module by an open switch unless a non-zero electric voltage is applied to the pair and causes the switch to close. The lamp may be fitted in a switch-start fixture, providing an ohmic connection between two pins in different pairs, as well as a rapid-start fixture, with a capacitive connection. Further measures might become necessary in order to meet increasing safety requirements for LED retrofit lamps.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to an LED retrofit lamp adapted for operation with an alternating current. The LED lamp comprises an LED unit, first and second switching devices (e.g., first and second relays), a startup voltage supply unit (1010) coupled in parallel to the first switching device, an ignition detection unit (1020) coupled in parallel to the second switching device, and a switch drive unit (1030) for setting the first and second switching devices to a conducting state. If one of the first and second switching devices is shorted either no startup supply voltage or no detection signal is provided, such that the failure is indicated externally to a user."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An LED retrofit lamp adapted for operation with an alternating current, comprising:\nan LED unit;\na first switching device, and a second switching device; said first switching device, said second switching device, and said LED unit being connected in series;\na startup voltage supply unit connected to a capacitor forming a parallel connection with said first switching device; said startup voltage supply unit adapted to generate a startup supply voltage if the first switching device is in a non-conducting state;\nan ignition detection unit connected to a capacitor forming a parallel connection with said second switching device, said ignition detection unit adapted to generate a detection signal if the second switching device is in a non-conducting state; and\na switch drive unit adapted to provide said startup supply voltage to said first and second switching devices, in response to said detection signal, wherein said first and second switching devices are adapted to assume a conducting state upon receipt of said startup supply voltage.\n\n2. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 1, wherein said LED retrofit lamp further comprises a mains current line; said first switching device, said second switching device, and said LED unit being connected in series along said mains current line, said ignition detection unit adapted to generate said detection signal in response to detecting an ignition voltage on said mains current line.\n\n3. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 1, wherein said LED unit further comprises a steady-state voltage supply unit; said steady-state voltage supply unit being adapted to generate a steady-state supply voltage, wherein said steady-state voltage supply unit is further adapted to derive a steady-state supply voltage for said first and second switching devices from a mains current line of said LED retrofit lamp.\n\n4. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 3, wherein said steady-state voltage supply unit is further adapted to set said first and second switching devices at least temporarily to a non-conducting state in response to the power reduction on a mains current line of said LED lamp.\n\n5. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 3, said steady-state voltage supply unit being adapted to provide said steady-state supply voltage to the first and second switching devices, wherein said steady-state voltage supply unit is connected between said first and second switching devices.\n\n6. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 5, wherein said steady-state voltage supply unit comprises a shunt supply circuit adapted to tap energy from the mains current line of said LED retrofit lamp during a steady-state mode of operation.\n\n7. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 6, wherein said shunt supply circuit comprises at least one of:\na full diode bridge and a shunt switch;\nan active full bridge comprising at least two diodes and at least two MOSFETs; and\nan asymmetrical half-bridge.\n\n8. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 1, wherein said first switching device comprises a first relay, and wherein said second switching device comprises a second relay.\n\n9. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 8, wherein the first relay comprises a first coil, and wherein the second relay comprises a second coil; wherein the first and second coils are connected to receive said startup supply voltage from said switch drive unit, wherein said first and second relays change from a non-conducting state to a conducting state upon receipt of said startup supply voltage from said switch drive unit.\n\n10. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 1, wherein said first and second switching devices are adapted to assume said conducting state if said startup supply voltage is above a minimum threshold voltage.\n\n11. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 1, wherein the LED lamp is adapted for operation with an electrical ballast, and wherein said ignition voltage on said mains current line corresponds to an HF signal from said electrical ballast.\n\n12. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 11, wherein said ignition detection unit is adapted to detect the HF signal from said electrical ballast.\n\n13. The LED retrofit lamp according to claim 1, wherein, if said first switching device is in a conducting state, said startup voltage supply unit is bypassed by the first switching device, and wherein, if said second switching device is in a conducting state, said ignition detection unit is bypassed by the second switching device.\n\n14. A method of operating an LED retrofit lamp with an alternating current; said method comprises the steps of:\ngenerating a startup supply voltage if a first switching device, which is included in the LED retrofit lamp, is in a non-conducting state;\ngenerating a detection signal if a second switching device, which is included in the LED retrofit lamp, is in a non-conducting state, wherein the first and second switching devices are connected in series with an LED unit in the LED retrofit lamp; and\nin response to said detection signal, providing said startup supply voltage to said first and second switching devices, wherein said first and second switching devices are adapted to assume a conducting state upon receipt of said startup supply voltage."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Rapid Optical Shutter, Chopper, Modulator And Deflector\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThere are numerous applications in which an optical source, e.g., laser or light beam, may be need to be shuttered (rapidly turned on and off), chopped, modulated (spatially or temporally), or deflected. One such example is consumer grade photography where rapid shutter speed prevents the camera from being over exposed and prevents blurring. In various other applications, shuttering needs to be done rapidly to improve signal to noise ratio or improve performance of the optical device being used. Current methods have limited speeds and are excessively large and/or expensive. Prior solutions for optical devices have not resolved the need for an approach to perform one or more of the above actions without drawbacks, e.g., optically and electrically inefficient, size constraints, and/or cost-prohibitive. Therefore, there is a need for optical device systems and methods that address one or more of the deficiencies described above amongst others.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn optical device with a light source and a detector is provided. A digital micromirror device positioned between the detector and the light source may deflect light beams projected from the light source. An aperture in front of the detector may block an incoming light beam from the detector when the incoming light beam is incident on the detector outside of a passable incident range and including an aperture opening configured to pass the incoming light beam to the detector when the incoming light beam is incident on the detector within a passable incident range. The digital micromirror device may rotate between a first position causing the light beam to pass through the aperture opening and a second position causing the light beam to be blocked by the aperture. The optical device may be configured to operate as a shutter, chopper, modulator and/or deflector."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An optical device comprising:\na light source configured to project a light beam;\na detector configured to detect an incident light beam projected from the light source;\na mirrored device disposed at a position between the detector and the light source, such that it is configurable to deflect the light beam projected from the light source as it travels towards the detector; and\nan aperture disposed in front of the detector and configured to block an incoming light beam from reaching the detector when the incoming light beam is incident on the detector outside of a passable incident range and including an aperture opening configured to pass the incoming light beam to the detector when the incoming light beam is incident on the detector within a passable incident range,\nwherein the mirrored device is configured to rotate between a first position and a second position, the first position configured to cause the light beam to pass through the aperture opening to the detector, and the second position configured to cause the light beam to be blocked by the aperture; and\nwherein the light beam comprises a continuous wave beam, and wherein the mirrored device is configured to oscillate such that the continuous wave beam is chopped into a series of laser pulses.\n\n2. The optical device of claim 1, wherein the mirrored device includes an optical shutter to deflect the incoming light beam to the detector via the aperture at a repetition rate between 0.1 hertz and 32 kilohertz.\n\n3. The optical device of claim 2, wherein the optical shutter is configured to reject ambient light.\n\n4. The optical device of claim 1, wherein the light source includes a laser beam directed into a flame and a lens configured to collect scattered light from the laser beam passing through the flame and to direct the scattered light to the detector.\n\n5. The optical device of claim 4, further comprising a mirror disposed between the mirrored device and the detector, the mirror being configured to deflect the scattered light collected by the lens toward the detector.\n\n6. The optical device of claim 4, wherein, when the mirrored is positioned in the second position, luminosity from the flame is blocked from entering the detector.\n\n7. The optical device of claim 1, wherein the light beam operates at a repetition rate between 0.1 Hz and 32 kilohertz.\n\n8. The optical device of claim 1, further comprising a camera body housing each of the detector, the light source, the mirrored device and the aperture, and wherein the optical device is configured for imaging.\n\n9. The optical device of claim 1, further comprising a laser beam safety system configured to selectively block the light source from the mirrored device.\n\n10. The optical device of claim 1 wherein:\nthe digital micromirror device includes a plurality of mirrors arranged in an array;\nera rotating the digital micromirror device between the first position and the second position, the plurality of mirrors are rotated at respective pivot points; and\nthe respective pivot points of the plurality of mirrors are located in a single fixed plane.\n\n11. An optical device system comprising:\na plurality of optical devices including at least a first optical device and a second optical device, the plurality of optical devices connected in a series configuration, and each comprise:\na light source configured to project a light beam;\na detector configured to detect an incident light beam projected from the light source;\na mirrored device disposed at a position between the detector and the light source, such that it is configurable to deflect the light beam projected from the light source as it travels towards the detector; and\nan aperture disposed in front of the detector and configured to block an incoming light beam from reaching the detector when the incoming light beam is incident on the detector outside of a passable incident range and including an aperture opening configured to pass the incoming light beam to the detector when the incoming light beam is incident on the detector within a passable incident range,\nwherein the mirrored device is configured rotate between a first position and a second position, the first position configured to cause the light beam to pass through the aperture opening to the detector, and the second position configured to cause the light beam to be blocked by the aperture; and\nwherein the light beam comprises a continuous wave beam, and wherein the mirrored device is configured to oscillate such that the continuous wave beam is chopped into a series of laser pulses.\n\n12. An optical device comprising:\na detection system including a light beam receiving portion configured to detect a light beam;\na digital micromirror device configured to deflect a light beam toward the detection system; and\nan aperture disposed proximate to the light beam receiving portion, the aperture including an aperture opening configured to allow passage of the light beam deflected from the digital micromirror device to the detection system and an aperture segment configured to block passage of the light beam deflected from the digital micromirror device from the detection system,\nwherein the digital micromirror device is configured adjust between at least a first position and a second position, the first position configured to cause the light beam to pass through the aperture opening to the detection system, and the second position configured to cause the light beam to strike the aperture segment; and\nwherein the light beam comprises a continuous wave beam, and wherein the digital micromirror device is configured to oscillate such that the continuous wave beam is chopped into a series of laser pulses.\n\n13. The optical device of claim 12, wherein the digital micromirror device is configured temporally or spatially modulate the light beam.\n\n14. The optical device of claim 13, wherein the digital micromirror device is configured to control a temporal or spatial mode of the light beam.\n\n15. The optical device of claim 13, wherein a temporal or spatial modulation of the digital micromirror device corresponds to encoded information.\n\n16. The optical device of claim 15, wherein the encoded information represents at least one of an image, an audio, a video, or an archival for data transmission and/or data storage.\n\n17. The optical device of claim 12, further comprising a sample comprising at least one composition of matter, wherein the light beam passes through the sample before being passed to the detection system.\n\n18. The optical device of claim 17, wherein detection system include a look-in electronics system to detect an oscillating signal passing through the sample.\n\n19. The optical device of claim 17, further comprising at least one amplifier stage for amplifying the laser pulses.\n\n20. The optical device of claim 17, wherein the digital micromirror device is configured to reduce amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in a laser."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hermetically Sealed Telecommunications Enclosure With Adapter Assembly\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nFiber optic cables are widely used to transmit light signals for high speed data transmission. A fiber optic cable typically includes: (1) an optical fiber or optical fibers; (2) a buffer or buffers that surrounds the fiber or fibers; (3) a strength layer that surrounds the buffer or buffers; and (4) an outer jacket. Optical fibers function to carry optical signals. A typical optical fiber includes an inner core surrounded by a cladding that is covered by a coating. Buffers (e.g., loose or tight buffer tubes) typically function to surround and protect coated optical fibers. Strength layers add mechanical strength to fiber optic cables to protect the internal optical fibers against stresses applied to the cables during installation and thereafter. Example strength layers include aramid yarn, steel and epoxy reinforced glass roving. Outer jackets provide protection against damage caused by crushing, abrasions, and other physical damage. Outer jackets also provide protection against chemical damage (e.g., ozone, alkali, acids). Fiber optic cable connection systems are used to facilitate connecting and disconnecting fiber optic cables in the field without requiring a splice. A typical fiber optic cable connection system for interconnecting two fiber optic cables includes fiber optic connectors mounted at the ends of the fiber optic cables, and an adapter for mechanically and optically coupling the fiber optic connectors together. Fiber optic connectors generally include ferrules that support the ends of the optical fibers of the fiber optic cables. The end faces of the ferrules are typically polished and are often angled. The adapter includes co-axially aligned ports (i.e., receptacles) for receiving the fiber optic connectors desired to be interconnected. The adapter includes an internal sleeve that receives and aligns the ferrules of the fiber optic connectors when the connectors are inserted within the ports of the adapter. With the ferrules and their associated fibers aligned within the sleeve of the adapter, a fiber optic signal can pass from one fiber to the next. The adapter also typically has a mechanical fastening arrangement (e.g., a snap-fit arrangement) for mechanically retaining the fiber optic connectors within the adapter. One example of an existing fiber optic connection system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,579,014, 6,648,520, and 6,899,467. In certain examples, telecommunications enclosures or cable enclosures can typically be used to house telecommunications components in the field. The enclosures can provide interior space for receiving splice holders, optical splitters, wavelength division multiplexers, and other devices therein in a sealed manner. The enclosures can define cable ports for receiving cables of various types, such as a main cable and drop cables. Such cable ports can include sealed cable pass-through ports. Such cable ports can also include fiber optic adapters mounted to a wall of the enclosure for interfacing with the connectorized ends of fiber optic cables.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA fiber optic adapter assembly is provided that sealingly mounts to a telecommunications enclosure. The adapter assembly mounts to a communications enclosure such that one of two fiber optic connectors is received into the adapter assembly outside of the enclosure and the other fiber optic connector is engaged into the adapter assembly inside of the enclosure. The enclosure is pressurized at a predetermined level, and the adapter assembly is configured to maintain the pressure within the enclosure when the adapter assembly mounts to the enclosure."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A fiber optic cable adapter assembly comprising:\nan adapter housing defining a first port, a second port, and a through-passage extending between the first port and the second port, the adapter housing configured to mount to an opening formed in a mounting wall of a pressurized enclosure such that the first port is open to an exterior of the enclosure to receive a first fiber optic connector from the exterior of the enclosure and the second port is arranged in the interior of the enclosure;\nan adapter module disposed within the through-passage and configured to couple the first fiber optic connector and a second fiber optic connector within the adapter housing, the second fiber optic connector being preassembled with the adapter module through the second port of the adapter housing before the adapter housing mounts to the opening of the mounting wall, the second fiber optic connector being fully received within the adapter housing;\na mounting flange formed on the adapter housing and configured to abut one of an inner surface and an outer surface of the mounting wall of the pressurized enclosure when the adapter housing mounts to the opening of the mounting wall;\na mounting nut engaging a portion of the adapter housing to sandwich the mounting wall of the pressurized enclosure between the mounting flange and the mounting nut;\nan enclosure seal element disposed around the opening of the mounting wall between the mounting flange and the mounting nut to seal the adapter housing around the opening of the enclosure; and\na second port seal element disposed around a fiber optic cable of the second fiber optic connector at the second port to seal the adapter housing from the interior of the enclosure at the second port of the adapter housing,\nwherein the enclosure seal element and the second port seal element are configured to maintain a positive or negative pressure within the pressurized enclosure relative to atmospheric pressure.\n\n2. The fiber optic cable adapter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the adapter housing includes a housing end piece and an housing body, the housing end piece defining the first port and including the mounting flange, and the housing body sealingly engaging the housing end piece and defining the second port and the through-passage.\n\n3. The fiber optic cable adapter assembly according to claim 2, wherein:\nthe mounting nut has internal threads; and\nthe housing end piece has external threads corresponding to the internal threads of the mounting nut such that the mounting nut is screwed onto the external threads of the housing end piece.\n\n4. The fiber optic cable adapter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the enclosure seal element and the second port seal element are configured to maintain an air leak rate from the enclosure not to exceed 10 \u22126 cc/sec at one atmosphere of pressure differential.\n\n5. The fiber optic cable adapter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the enclosure seal element is an elastomeric O-ring.\n\n6. The fiber optic cable adapter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the second port seal element includes heat shrinkable materials.\n\n7. The fiber optic cable adapter assembly according to claim 1, wherein the second port seal element includes adhesive materials.\n\n8. The fiber optic cable adapter assembly according to claim 7, wherein the adhesive materials include an epoxy-based sealant.\n\n9. A fiber optic connection system comprising:\na pressurized enclosure having a mounting wall, the mounting wall defining an opening;\na first fiber optic connector terminating a first fiber optic cable;\na second fiber optic connector terminating a second fiber optic cable; and\nan adapter assembly comprising:\nan adapter housing defining a first port, a second port, and a through-passage extending between the first port and the second port, the adapter housing configured to mount to the opening in the mounting wall of the enclosure such that the first port is open to an exterior of the enclosure to receive the first fiber optic connector from the exterior of the enclosure and the second port is arranged in the interior of the enclosure;\nan adapter module disposed within the through-passage and configured to couple the first fiber optic connector and the second fiber optic connector within the adapter housing, the second fiber optic connector being preassembled with the adapter module through the second port of the adapter housing before the adapter housing mounts to the opening of the mounting wall, the second fiber optic connector being fully received with the adapter housing;\na mounting flange formed on the adapter housing and configured to abut one of an inner surface and an outer surface of the mounting wall of the pressurized enclosure when the adapter housing mounts to the opening of the mounting wall;\na mounting nut engaging a portion of the adapter housing to sandwich the mounting wall of the pressurized enclosure between the mounting flange and the mounting nut;\nan enclosure seal element disposed around the opening of the mounting wall between the mounting flange and the mounting nut to seal the adapter housing around the opening of the enclosure; and\na second port seal element disposed around the second fiber optic cable of the second fiber optic connector at the second port to seal the adapter housing from the interior of the enclosure at the second port of the adapter housing,\nwherein the enclosure seal element and the second port seal element are configured to maintain a positive or negative pressure within the pressurized enclosure relative to atmospheric pressure.\n\n10. The fiber optic connection system according to claim 9, wherein the adapter housing includes a housing end piece and an housing body, the housing end piece defining the first port and including the mounting flange, and the housing body sealingly engaging the housing end piece and defining the second port and the through-passage.\n\n11. The fiber optic connection system according to claim 10, wherein:\nthe mounting nut has internal threads; and\nthe housing end piece has external threads corresponding to the internal threads of the mounting nut such that the mounting nut is screwed onto the external threads of the housing end piece.\n\n12. The fiber optic connection system according to claim 9, wherein the enclosure seal element and the second port seal element are configured to maintain an air leak rate from the enclosure not to exceed 10 \u22126 cc/sec at one atmosphere of pressure differential.\n\n13. The fiber optic connection system according to claim 9, wherein the enclosure seal element is an elastomeric O-ring.\n\n14. The fiber optic connection system according to claim 9, wherein the second port seal element includes heat shrinkable materials.\n\n15. The fiber optic connection system according to claim 9, wherein the second port seal element includes adhesive materials.\n\n16. The fiber optic connection system according to claim 15, wherein the adhesive materials include an epoxy-based sealant."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Locating A Mobile Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMany computing devices are portable, and many mobile devices may be interactive with a user's surroundings. For example, a mapping application running on a user's mobile device (e.g., smartphone) may allow the user to identify their approximate location on a map displayed on the mobile device. Further, points of interest, retails establishments, entertainment venues, and more, can be indicated on such a map, for example, which can be searched for, and/or identified as the user moves through an area. Typically, mobile devices use global positioning systems (GPS), which utilize satellite triangulation, or some sort of signal triangulation (e.g., mobile phone signal) to identify the approximate location of the user. This location information can be used by various applications on the user's device (e.g., with the user's consent), such as to locate the user on a map, provide appropriate and relevant local information, identify the user's location for social networking, interact with local devices/services, and/or to provide a rich, interactive experience for the user.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIdentifying a location of a mobile device is disclosed (e.g., presuming user consent to the same). One or more received signal strengths (RSSs), comprising a first RSS, may be received by a first access point (AP) from the mobile device. The RSSs may be used to identify a grid area, comprising a first grid space. A signal distance between the first grid space and the first AP may be identified using the first RSS, and combined with a first grid space distance, comprising a known distance between the first grid space and the first AP, to determine a first grid space likelihood score for the first grid space. A second grid space likelihood score may be determined for a second grid space (e.g., and a third, etc.), and the grid space comprising a desired grid space likelihood score (e.g., highest) may be selected as the mobile device location."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A computer based method for identifying a location of a mobile device, comprising:\nreceiving a plurality of mobile device signal reports from a plurality of access points (AP);\nfiltering one or more reports, associated with unknown access points from the received mobile device signal reports;\nindexing the filtered mobile device signal reports;\nreceiving a query from an application associated with the mobile device to identify the location of the mobile device;\nretrieving data from the indexed filtered mobile device signal reports based on the query;\nidentifying a candidate area comprising the location of the mobile device using the retrieved data;\ncreating grid data for a plurality of grid spaces in the identified candidate area;\ndetermining a grid space likelihood score for each of the plurality of grid spaces based on the grid data and the query; and\nidentifying the location of the mobile device based on the determined grid space likelihood scores, at least a portion of the method implemented at least in part via a processing unit.\n\n2. A computer based method for identifying a location of a mobile device, comprising:\ndetermining a first signal distance between a first grid space and a first access point (AP) using a first received signal strength (RSS), the first RSS comprising an indication of mobile device signal strength received by the first AP;\ndetermining a first expected distance between the first AP and a second AP using a first AP RSS, the first AP RSS comprising an indication of signal strength for a signal transmitted from the second AP and received by the first AP;\ndetermining a first AP difference based at least on a combination of the first expected distance and a first known AP distance, the first known AP distance comprising a known distance between the first AP and the second AP;\ndetermining a first grid space likelihood score based on the first signal distance, the first AP difference, and a first grid space distance, the first grid space distance comprising a known distance between the first AP and the first grid space; and\nidentifying the location of the mobile device based at least on the first grid space likelihood score, at least a portion of the method implemented at least in part via a processing unit.\n\n3. A computer based method for identifying a location of a mobile device, comprising:\nidentifying a candidate area comprising the location of the mobile device, the candidate area comprising a plurality of access points;\ncreating a plurality of grid spaces in the identified candidate area;\ndetermining a grid space likelihood score for each of the plurality of grid spaces based on a signal distance and a grid space distance between each grid space and each of the plurality of access points, the grid space distance representing a known distance between an access point and a grid space, the signal distance representing an estimated distance between a grid space and an access point using a received signal strength (RSS), the RSS comprising an indication of mobile device signal strength received by the AP if the mobile device was located in the grid space; and\nidentifying the location of the mobile device as a grid space having highest grid space likelihood score, at least a portion of the method implemented at least in part via a processing unit."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Liquid Crystal Display And Gate Driver On Array Circuit\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and more particularly, to a gate driver on array (GOA) circuit applying to LCDs. 2. Description of the Prior Art The design of narrow bezels becomes very popular on the market. On the contrary, the border of the panel is gradually reduced. The height h of wiring layout of the GOA circuit at each stage is consistent with the size of a corresponding pixel for the conventional GOA circuit. Since products using display panels with 4 k or more pixel per inch (PPI) resolution become popular, the size of the pixel gets smaller. In other words, the room for wiring layout of the GOA circuit is decreased as well. The restriction of the height is compensated for the larger width, which is very disadvantageous to the design of the narrow bezel. The tri-gate structure is a common method of reducing cost. With respect to tri-gate structure, the number of scan lines is triple the number of the original design while the number of data lines is one third of the original design. The use of the data lines greatly reduces. In general, a source chip, i.e. source integrated circuit (IC) is more expensive than a gate chip, i.e. gate IC, so the goal to cost saving is achieved. The use of tri-gate structure with the GOA circuit makes it possible that no gate ICs and quite a few source ICs are used in the panel. Therefore, the cost of the panel is reduced, which is quite competitive on the market. However, the space for the GOA circuit at each stage gets smaller since the number of scan lines is triple the number of the original design after the structure of tri-gate is adopted. Based on the structure of the conventional circuit, the width of the GOA area is sacrificed, but it is not disadvantageous to the popular bezel design nowadays. Tri-gate is often used in a low-cost panel. Take a full high definition (FHD) panel for example. A standard panel comprises 1080 gate lines and 5760 data lines. Totally, 6840 signal lines are used. A panel with tri-gate comprises 3240 common gate lines and 1920 data lines. Totally, 5160 signal lines are used. It is obvious that the panel with tri-gate has fewer signals lines than the standard panel does. No gate lines are needed for the structure tri-gate integrated with GOA. Therefore, the cost of panels is reduced to the largest scale. The gate signal node Q(n) is a critical electric potential for the GOA circuit. When the gate signal node Q(n) is at high voltage level, the GOA circuit keeps opening and outputting. On the contrary, the GOA circuit keeps closed when the gate signal node Q(n) is at low voltage level. In the meantime, the gate signal output by the GOA circuit is also at low voltage level. Please refer to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional GOA circuit 10 . The GOA circuit 10 comprises a plurality of GOA units 15 . The plurality of GOA units 15 are connected in cascade. The GOA unit 15 at the nth stage charges a corresponding scan line G(n). The GOA unit 15 comprises a clock circuit 100 , a pull-down circuit 200 , a bootstrap capacitance circuit 300 , a pull-up circuit 400 , and a pull-down circuit 500 . The basic structure of GOA unit 15 comprises the clock circuit 100 , the pull-down circuit 200 , the bootstrap capacitance circuit 300 , and the pull-up circuit 400 . The GOA unit 15 comprises four thin-film transistors (TFTs) and a capacitor. Because amorphous silicon may be unstable and unreliable, the pull-down circuit 500 is also needed except for the basic structure. The main function of the pull-down circuit 500 is to pull-down voltage of the gate line G(n), that is, to ensure that the output of the GOA circuit and the gate signal node Q(n) keep at low voltage level and that the stability of the GOA circuit in operation is enhanced. Two auxiliary pull-down circuits are usually used in the conventional design. The function of the auxiliary pull-down circuits is pulling voltage of the gate signal node Q(n) down when the GOA circuit is closed so that the gate signal node Q(n) can keeps low voltage level. It ensures the normal working state of the panel and the increasing stability of the panel. The auxiliary pull-down circuit usually comprises more TFTs. These TFTs occupies larger space, which is disadvantageous when the narrow bezel is taken into consideration. With respect to the two auxiliary pull-down circuits, a detailed introduction is provided as follows.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA GOA circuit for an LCD includes GOA units connected in cascade and the plurality of GOA units at stages formed. The GOA unit at an nth stage corresponds to a scan line. The scan line includes a nth scan line, a (n+1)th scan line, and a (n+2)th scan line. The GOA unit at the an nth stage includes a first pull-down holding circuit, a pull-up circuit, a bootstrap capacitance circuit, a pull-down circuit, and a clock circuit. The improved GOA circuit at one stage corresponds to the output of three gate lines. So a number of the stages of the GOA circuit is reduced. Only \u2153 stage of the conventional GOA circuit is needed. Because of the decrease in the number of the stages, more flexibility of design is given to the GOA circuit at each stage. It is beneficiary for the design in narrow bezels."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A gate driver on array (GOA) circuit for a liquid crystal display (LCD), comprising: a plurality of GOA units connected in cascade, each of the plurality of GOA units corresponding to a stage the GOA unit at an nth stage corresponds to at least one scan line, the at least one scan line comprising a nth scan line, a (n+1)th scan line, and a (n+2)th scan line, the GOA unit at the an nth stage comprising:\na first pull-down holding circuit, connected to a gate signal node;\na pull-up circuit, connected to the first pull-down holding circuit through the gate signal node;\na bootstrap capacitance circuit, connected to the pull-up circuit through the gate signal node;\na pull-down circuit, connected to the bootstrap capacitance circuit through the gate signal node and the first pull-down holding circuit; and\na clock circuit, connected to the bootstrap capacitance circuit through the gate signal node and receiving a first clock signal;\nwherein the first pull-down holding circuit and the pull-down circuit are connected to a direct current low supply voltage;\nthe clock circuit comprises:\na first transistor, comprising a first control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a first input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a first output terminal outputting a start pulse at an nth stage;\na second transistor, comprising a second control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a second input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a second output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na third transistor, comprising a third control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a third input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a third output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line; and\na fourth transistor, comprising a fourth control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a fourth input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a fourth output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line;\nwherein the pull-down circuit comprises:\na thirteenth transistor, comprising a thirteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a thirteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a thirteenth output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na fourteenth transistor, comprising a fourteenth control terminal connected to a second clock, a fourteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a fourteenth output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na fifteenth transistor, comprising a fifteenth control terminal connected to a fourth clock signal, a fifteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a fifteenth output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na sixteenth transistor, comprising a sixteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a sixteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a sixteenth output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line;\na seventeenth transistor, comprising a seventeenth control terminal connected to a third clock signal, a seventeenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a seventeenth output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line;\nan eighteenth transistor, comprising an eighteenth control terminal connected to a fifth clock signal, an eighteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and an eighteenth output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line;\na nineteenth transistor, comprising a nineteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a nineteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a nineteenth output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line;\na twentieth transistor, comprising a twentieth control terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, a twentieth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twentieth output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line;\na twentieth-first transistor, comprising a twenty-first control terminal connected to a sixth clock signal, a twenty-first input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twenty-first output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line; and\nwherein the cycle of the first clock signal, the cycle of the second clock signal, and the cycle of the third clock signal are the same, and the first clock signal, the second clock signal, and the third clock signal are triggered subsequently based on the difference of a \u2153 cycle; the fourth clock signal is inversed to the first clock signal, the fifth clock signal is inversed to the second clock signal, and the sixth clock signal is inversed to the third clock signal.\n\n2. A gate driver on array (GOA) circuit for a liquid crystal display (LCD), comprising: a plurality of GOA units connected in cascade, each of the plurality of GOA units corresponding to a stage, at stages formed the GOA unit at an nth stage corresponds to at least one scan line, the at least one scan line comprising a nth scan line, a (n+1)th scan line, and a (n+2)th scan line, the GOA unit at the an nth stage comprising:\na first pull-down holding circuit, connected to a gate signal node;\na pull-up circuit, connected to the first pull-down holding circuit through the gate signal node;\na bootstrap capacitance circuit, connected to the pull-up circuit through the gate signal node;\na pull-down circuit, connected to the bootstrap capacitance circuit through the gate signal node; and the first pull-down holding circuit; and\na clock circuit, connected to the bootstrap capacitance circuit through the gate signal node and receiving a first clock signal;\nwherein the first pull-down holding circuit and the pull-down circuit are connected to a direct current low supply voltage;\nthe clock circuit comprises:\na first transistor, comprising a first control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a first input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a first output terminal outputting a start pulse at an nth stage;\na second transistor, comprising a second control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a second input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a second output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na third transistor, comprising a third control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a third input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a third output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line; and\na fourth transistor, comprising a fourth control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a fourth input terminal connected to the first clock signal, and a fourth output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line.\n\n3. The GOA circuit of claim 2, wherein the bootstrap capacitance circuit comprises:\na first capacitor, comprising a first terminal connected to the gate signal node and a second terminal connected to the start pulse at the nth stage.\n\n4. The GOA circuit of claim 2, wherein the pull-up circuit comprises:\na fifth transistor, comprising a fifth control terminal receiving a start pulse at an (n\u22123)th stage, a fifth input terminal connected to the fifth control terminal, and a fifth output terminal connected to the gate signal node.\n\n5. The GOA circuit of claim 2, wherein the first pull-down holding circuit comprises:\na sixth transistor, comprising a sixth control terminal receiving a start pulse at the (n+3)th stage, a sixth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a sixth output terminal connected to the gate signal node;\na seventh transistor, comprising a seventh control terminal connected to the gate signal node, and a seventh input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage;\nan eighth transistor, comprising an eighth control terminal connected to a direct current high supply voltage, an eighth output terminal connected to the eighth control terminal, and an eighth input terminal connected to a seventh output terminal;\na ninth transistor, comprising a ninth control terminal connected to the gate signal node, and a ninth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage;\na tenth transistor, comprising a tenth control terminal connected to the seventh output terminal, a tenth input terminal connected to the ninth output terminal, and a tenth output terminal connected to the eighth output terminal;\nan eleventh transistor, comprising an eleventh control terminal connected to the tenth input terminal, an eleventh input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and an eleventh output terminal connected to the gate signal node;\na twelfth transistor, comprising a twelfth control terminal connected to the tenth input terminal, a twelfth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twelfth output terminal connected to the start pulse at the nth stage.\n\n6. The GOA circuit of claim 2, wherein the pull-down circuit comprises:\na thirteenth transistor, comprising a thirteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a thirteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a thirteenth output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na fourteenth transistor, comprising a fourteenth control terminal connected to a second clock, a fourteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a fourteenth output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na fifteenth transistor, comprising a fifteenth control terminal connected to a fourth clock signal, a fifteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a fifteenth output terminal connected to the nth scan line;\na sixteenth transistor, comprising a sixteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a sixteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a sixteenth output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line;\na seventeenth transistor, comprising a seventeenth control terminal connected to a third clock signal, a seventeenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a seventeenth output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line;\nan eighteenth transistor, comprising an eighteenth control terminal connected to a fifth clock signal, an eighteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and an eighteenth output terminal connected to the (n+1)th scan line;\na nineteenth transistor, comprising a nineteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a nineteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a nineteenth output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line;\na twentieth transistor, comprising a twentieth control terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, a twentieth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twentieth output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line;\na twentieth-first transistor, comprising a twenty-first control terminal connected to a sixth clock signal, a twenty-first input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twenty-first output terminal connected to the (n+2)th scan line.\n\n7. The GOA circuit of claim 6, wherein the cycle of the first clock signal, the cycle of the second clock signal, and the cycle of the third clock signal are the same, and the first clock signal, the second clock signal, and the third clock signal are triggered subsequently based on the difference of a \u2153 cycle.\n\n8. The GOA circuit of claim 6, wherein the fourth clock signal is inversed to the first clock signal, the fifth clock signal is inversed to the second clock signal, and the sixth clock signal is inversed to the third clock signal.\n\n9. The GOA circuit of claim 2, wherein the GOA circuit further comprises a second pull-down holding circuit, comprising:\na twentieth-second transistor, comprising a twenty-second control terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, a twenty-second input terminal connected to a direct current low supply voltage, and a twenty-second output terminal connected to the gate signal node;\na twentieth-third transistor, comprising a twenty-third control terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, a twenty-third input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twenty-third output terminal connected to the start pulse at the nth stage.\n\n10. A gate driver on array (GOA) circuit for a liquid crystal display (LCD), comprising: a plurality of GOA units connected in cascade, each of the plurality of GOA units corresponding to a stage, at stages formed, the GOA unit at an nth stage corresponds to at least one scan line, the at least one scan line comprising a (n+3)th scan line, a (n+4)th scan line, and a (n+5)th scan line, the GOA unit at the an nth stage comprising:\na first pull-down holding circuit, connected to a gate signal node;\na pull-up circuit, connected to the first pull-down holding circuit through the gate signal node;\na bootstrap capacitance circuit, connected to the pull-up circuit through the gate signal node;\na pull-down circuit, connected to the bootstrap capacitance circuit through the gate signal node and the first pull-down holding circuit; and\na clock circuit, connected to the bootstrap capacitance circuit through the gate signal node and receiving a fourth clock signal;\nwherein the first pull-down holding circuit and the pull-down circuit are connected to a direct current low supply voltage;\nthe clock circuit comprises:\na first transistor, comprising a first control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a first input terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, and a first output terminal outputting a start pulse at an (n+3)th stage;\na second transistor, comprising a second control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a second input terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, and a second output terminal connected to the (n+4)th scan line;\na third transistor, comprising a third control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a third input terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, and a third output terminal connected to the (n+5)th scan line; and\na fourth transistor, comprising a fourth control terminal connected to the gate signal node, a fourth input terminal connected to the fourth clock signal, and a fourth output terminal connected to the (n+5)th scan line.\n\n11. The GOA circuit of claim 10, wherein the bootstrap capacitance circuit comprises:\na first capacitor comprising a first terminal connected to the gate signal node and a second terminal connected to the start pulse at the (n+3)th stage.\n\n12. The GOA circuit of claim 10, wherein the pull-up circuit comprises:\na fifth transistor, comprising a fifth control terminal receiving a start pulse at an nth stage, a fifth input terminal connected to the fifth control terminal, and a fifth output terminal connected to the gate signal node.\n\n13. The GOA circuit of claim 10, wherein the first pull-down holding circuit comprises:\na sixth transistor, comprising a sixth control terminal receiving a start pulse at the (n+6)th stage, a sixth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a sixth output terminal connected to the gate signal node;\na seventh transistor, comprising a seventh control terminal connected to the gate signal node, and a seventh input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage;\nan eighth transistor, comprising an eighth control terminal connected to a direct current high supply voltage, an eighth output terminal connected to the eighth control terminal, and an eighth input terminal connected to a seventh output terminal;\na ninth transistor, comprising a ninth control terminal connected to the gate signal node, and a ninth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage;\na tenth transistor, comprising a tenth control terminal connected to the seventh output terminal, a tenth input terminal connected to the ninth output terminal, and a tenth output terminal connected to the eighth output terminal;\nan eleventh transistor, comprising an eleventh control terminal connected to the tenth input terminal, an eleventh input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and an eleventh output terminal connected to the gate signal node;\na twelfth transistor, comprising a twelfth control terminal connected to the tenth input terminal, a twelfth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twelfth output terminal connected to the start pulse at the (n+3)th stage.\n\n14. The GOA circuit of claim 10, wherein the pull-down circuit comprises:\na thirteenth transistor, comprising a thirteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a thirteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a thirteenth output terminal connected to the (n+3)th scan line;\na fourteenth transistor, comprising a fourteenth control terminal connected to a first clock, a fourteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a fourteenth output terminal connected to the (n+3)th scan line;\na fifteenth transistor, comprising a fifteenth control terminal connected to a third clock signal, a fifteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a fifteenth output terminal connected to the (n+3)th scan line;\na sixteenth transistor, comprising a sixteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a sixteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a sixteenth output terminal connected to the (n+4)th scan line;\na seventeenth transistor, comprising a seventeenth control terminal connected to a second clock signal, a seventeenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a seventeenth output terminal connected to the (n+4)th scan line;\nan eighteenth transistor, comprising an eighteenth control terminal connected to a fourth clock signal, an eighteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and an eighteenth output terminal connected to the (n+4)th scan line;\na nineteenth transistor, comprising a nineteenth control terminal connected to the first pull-down holding circuit, a nineteenth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a nineteenth output terminal connected to the (n+5)th scan line;\na twentieth transistor, comprising a twentieth control terminal connected to the third clock signal, a twentieth input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twentieth output terminal connected to the (n+5)th scan line;\na twentieth-first transistor, comprising a twenty-first control terminal connected to a fifth clock signal, a twenty-first input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twenty-first output terminal connected to the (n+5)th scan line.\n\n15. The GOA circuit of claim 14, wherein the cycle of the first clock signal, the cycle of the second clock signal, and the cycle of the third clock signal are the same, and the first clock signal, the second clock signal, and the third clock signal are triggered subsequently based on the difference of a \u2153 cycle.\n\n16. The GOA circuit of claim 14, wherein the fourth clock signal is inversed to the first clock signal, the fifth clock signal is inversed to the second clock signal, and the sixth clock signal is inversed to the third clock signal.\n\n17. The GOA circuit of claim 10, wherein the GOA circuit further comprises a second pull-down holding circuit, comprising:\na twentieth-second transistor, comprising a twenty-second control terminal connected to the first clock signal, a twenty-second input terminal connected to a direct current low supply voltage, and a twenty-second output terminal connected to the gate signal node;\na twentieth-third transistor, comprising a twenty-third control terminal connected to the first clock signal, a twenty-third input terminal connected to the direct current low supply voltage, and a twenty-third output terminal connected to the start pulse at the (n+3)th stage."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Magnetic Field Sensor With Skewed Sense Magnetization Of Sense Layer\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMagnetic field sensors, also known as magnetometers, are widely used in a number of applications including in, for example, compass, security, and military applications, geophysics and space research, biomagnetism and medical applications, and non-destructive testing. Magnetic field sensors are typically based on semiconductor materials (e.g., Hall sensors, magnetoresistors, and so forth) and ferromagnetic materials (e.g., ferromagnetic magnetoresistors and flux guides). Other magnetic field sensors utilize optical, resonant, and superconducting properties. In many Earth's field magnetic sensing applications, especially those involving compassing or orientation, it is extremely desirable to have three-axis sensing capability. In order to achieve low cost of such sensors, it is also desirable that the solution be a single chip or even fully integrable onto the accompanying application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) die. In handheld and miniaturized applications it is also critical to minimize power consumption in order to extend battery life.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA magnetic field sensor comprises a sensor bridge having multiple sensor legs. Each sensor leg includes magnetoresistive sense elements, each comprising a pinned layer having a reference magnetization parallel to a plane of the sensor and a sense layer having a sense magnetization that is skewed away from three orthogonal axes. The sense magnetization of a portion of the sense elements is oriented in a first direction and the sense magnetization of a different portion of the sense elements is magnetically biased in a second direction by a permanent magnet layer. The second direction differs from the first direction by an opposing angular magnitude to yield a balanced sensor bridge that produces a zero-offset outcome in the absence of an external magnetic field."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A magnetic field sensor comprising:\na sensor bridge having a first leg and a second leg;\na first magnetoresistive sense element formed in said first leg and located in a plane of said magnetic field sensor, said first magnetoresistive sense element including a first pinned layer and a first sense layer, said first sense layer having a first sense magnetization oriented in a first direction, wherein h, k, and l are Miller indices all of which are non-zero and represents a family of directions;\na second magnetoresistive sense element formed in said second leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said second magnetoresistive sense element including a second pinned layer and a second sense layer, said first and second magnetoresistive sense elements being sensitive to an external magnetic field along a sensing direction, wherein each of said first and second pinned layers has a reference magnetization oriented substantially parallel to said plane and said second sense layer has a second sense magnetization; and\na permanent magnet layer positioned proximate said second magnetoresistive sense element, wherein in the absence of said external magnetic field, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biases said second sense magnetization in a second direction relative to said first direction, wherein one of said h, k, and l of said second direction is a negative value of a corresponding one of said h, k, and l of said first direction.\n\n2. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein said permanent magnet layer is located away from said first magnetoresistive sense element to substantially prevent said permanent magnet layer from magnetically biasing said first sense magnetization of said first sense layer of said first magnetoresistive sense element.\n\n3. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein:\nsaid first direction of said first sense magnetization of said first magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [111]; and\nsaid second direction of said second sense magnetization of said second magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [ 1 11].\n\n4. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein:\nsaid first direction of said first sense magnetization of said first magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [111]; and\nsaid second direction of said second sense magnetization of said second magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [1 1 1].\n\n5. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein:\nsaid first direction of said first sense magnetization of said first magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [111]; and\nsaid second direction of said second sense magnetization of said second magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [11 1 ].\n\n6. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein said reference magnetization of each of said first and second pinned layers is oriented in the same direction substantially parallel said plane.\n\n7. The magnetic field sensor of claim 6 wherein said reference magnetization of said each of said first and second pinned layers is oriented orthogonal to said sensing direction.\n\n8. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein said sensor bridge further comprises:\na third leg having a third magnetoresistive sense element formed therein, said third magnetoresistive sense element including a third pinned layer and a third sense layer; and\na fourth leg having a fourth magnetoresistive sense element formed therein, said fourth magnetoresistive sense element including a fourth pinned layer and a fourth sense layer, wherein:\nsaid first, second, third, and fourth legs are coupled as a Wheatstone bridge such that said first and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements are coupled in series to form a first half of said Wheatstone bridge, said second and third magnetoresistive sense elements are coupled in series to form a second half of said Wheatstone bridge, said first half of said Wheatstone bridge is coupled in parallel with said second half of said Wheatstone bridge such that a first junction of said first and second magnetoresistive sense elements forms a first input terminal and a second junction of said third and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements forms a second input terminal;\nsaid reference magnetization of each of said first, second, third, and fourth pinned layers of each of said first and third magnetoresistive sense elements is oriented in the same direction substantially parallel to said plane;\nsaid third sense layer of said third magnetoresistive sense element has a third sense magnetization oriented in said first direction; and\nsaid permanent magnet layer is positioned proximate said fourth magnetoresistive sense element, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biasing a fourth sense magnetization of said fourth sense layer in said second direction.\n\n9. The magnetic field sensor of claim 8 wherein said permanent magnet layer is located away from said third magnetoresistive sense element to substantially prevent said permanent magnet layer from magnetically biasing said sense magnetization of said third sense layer of said third magnetoresistive sense element.\n\n10. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein said permanent magnet layer is characterized by a single magnetic orientation.\n\n11. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein said permanent magnet layer is a first permanent magnet layer and said magnetic field sensor further comprises a second permanent magnet layer vertically displaced away from said first permanent magnet layer and positioned proximate said second magnetoresistive sense element, wherein said first and second permanent magnet layers function cooperatively to magnetically bias said second sense magnetization of said second magnetoresistive sense element in said second direction.\n\n12. The magnetic field sensor of claim 1 wherein said sensor bridge is a first sensor bridge, said sensing direction is a first sensing direction, and said magnetic field sensor further comprises:\na second sensor bridge having a third leg and a fourth leg;\na third magnetoresistive sense element formed in said third leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said third magnetoresistive sense element including a third pinned layer and a third sense layer, said third sense layer having a third sense magnetization oriented in said first direction;\na fourth magnetoresistive sense element formed in said fourth leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said fourth magnetoresistive sense element including a fourth pinned layer and a fourth sense layer, said third and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements being sensitive to an external magnetic field along a second sensing direction that is orthogonal to said first sensing direction, wherein each of said third and fourth pinned layers has said reference magnetization oriented substantially parallel to said plane; and\nsaid permanent magnet layer is positioned proximate said fourth magnetoresistive sense element, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biasing a fourth sense magnetization of said fourth sense layer in a third direction.\n\n13. The magnetic field sensor of claim 12 further comprising:\na third sensor bridge having a fifth leg and a sixth leg;\na fifth magnetoresistive sense element formed in said fifth leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said fifth magnetoresistive sense element including a fifth pinned layer and a fifth sense layer, said fifth sense layer having a fifth sense magnetization oriented in said first direction;\na sixth magnetoresistive sense element formed in said sixth leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said sixth magnetoresistive sense element including a sixth pinned layer and a sixth sense layer, said fifth and sixth magnetoresistive sense elements being sensitive to an external magnetic field along a third sensing direction that is orthogonal to each of said first and second sensing directions, wherein each of said fifth and sixth pinned layers has said reference magnetization oriented substantially parallel to said plane; and\nsaid permanent magnet layer is positioned proximate sixth magnetoresistive sense element, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biasing a sixth sense magnetization of said sixth sense layer in a fourth direction.\n\n14. The magnetic field sensor of claim 13 wherein:\nsaid first direction of said first, third, and fifth sense magnetizations of corresponding ones of said first, third, and fifth magnetoresistive sense elements is characterized by said Miller indices of [111];\nsaid second direction of said second sense magnetization of said second magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [ 1 11];\nsaid fourth direction of said fourth sense magnetization of said fourth magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [1 1 1]; and\nsaid sixth direction of said sixth sense magnetization of said sixth magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [11 1 ].\n\n15. A magnetic field sensor comprising:\na sensor bridge having a first leg, a second leg, a third leg, and a fourth leg;\na first magnetoresistive sense element formed in said first leg and located in a plane of said magnetic field sensor, said first magnetoresistive sense element including a first pinned layer and a first sense layer, said first pinned layer having a reference magnetization, and said first sense layer having a first sense magnetization;\na second magnetoresistive sense element formed in said second leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said second magnetoresistive sense element including a second pinned layer and a second sense layer, said second pinned layer having said reference magnetization, and said second sense layer having a second sense magnetization;\na third magnetoresistive sense element formed in said third leg and located in a plane of said magnetic field sensor, said third magnetoresistive sense element including a third pinned layer and a third sense layer, said third pinned layer having said reference magnetization, and said third sense layer having a third sense magnetization;\na fourth magnetoresistive sense element formed in said fourth leg and located in a plane of said magnetic field sensor, said fourth magnetoresistive sense element including a fourth pinned layer and a fourth sense layer, said fourth pinned layer having said reference magnetization, and said fourth sense layer having a fourth sense magnetization; and\na permanent magnet layer positioned proximate said second and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements and characterized by a single magnetic orientation, wherein:\nsaid first, second, third, and fourth legs are coupled as a Wheatstone bridge such that said first and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements are coupled in series to form a first half of said Wheatstone bridge, said second and third magnetoresistive sense elements are coupled in series to form a second half of said Wheatstone bridge, said first half of said Wheatstone bridge is coupled in parallel with said second half of said Wheatstone bridge such that a first junction of said first and second magnetoresistive sense elements forms a first input terminal and a second junction of said third and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements forms a second input terminal;\nsaid first, second, third, and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements being sensitive to an external magnetic field along a sensing direction;\nsaid reference magnetization of each of said first, second, third, and fourth pinned layers is oriented substantially parallel to said plane;\nsaid first sense magnetization and said third sense magnetization are oriented in a first direction, wherein h, k, and l are Miller indices all of which are non-zero and represents a family of directions; and\nin the absence of said external magnetic field, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biases said second sense magnetization and said fourth sense magnetization in a second direction relative to said first direction, wherein one of said h, k, and l of said second direction is a negative value of a corresponding one of said h, k, and l of said first direction.\n\n16. The magnetic field sensor of claim 15 wherein said reference magnetization of each of said first, second, third, and fourth pinned layers is oriented in the same direction substantially parallel said plane and orthogonal to said sensing direction.\n\n17. A magnetic field sensor comprising:\na first sensor bridge having a first leg and a second leg;\na first magnetoresistive sense element formed in said first leg and located in a plane of said magnetic field sensor, said first magnetoresistive sense element including a first pinned layer and a first sense layer, said first sense layer having a first sense magnetization oriented in a first direction, wherein h, k, and l are Miller indices all of which are non-zero and represents a family of directions;\na second magnetoresistive sense element formed in said second leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said second magnetoresistive sense element including a second pinned layer and a second sense layer, said first and second magnetoresistive sense elements being sensitive to a first external magnetic field along a first sensing direction, wherein each of said first and second pinned layers has a reference magnetization oriented substantially parallel to said plane and said second sense layer has a second sense magnetization\na second sensor bridge having a third leg and a fourth leg;\na third magnetoresistive sense element formed in said third leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said third magnetoresistive sense element including a third pinned layer and a third sense layer, said third sense layer having a third sense magnetization oriented in said first direction;\na fourth magnetoresistive sense element formed in said fourth leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said fourth magnetoresistive sense element including a fourth pinned layer and a fourth sense layer, said third and fourth magnetoresistive sense elements being sensitive to a second external magnetic field along a second sensing direction that is orthogonal to said first sensing direction, wherein each of said third and fourth pinned layers has said reference magnetization oriented substantially parallel to said plane; and\na permanent magnet layer positioned proximate said second magnetoresistive sense element and said fourth magnetoresistive sense element, said permanent magnet layer being characterized by a single magnetic orientation, wherein:\nin the absence of said first external magnetic field, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biases said second sense magnetization in a second direction relative to said first direction such that a first one of said h, k, and l of said second direction is a negative value of a first corresponding one of said h, k, and l of said first direction; and\nin the absence of said second external magnetic field, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biases said fourth sense magnetization in a third direction such that a second one of said h, k, and l of said third direction is said negative value of a second corresponding one of said h, k, and l of said first direction.\n\n18. The magnetic field sensor of claim 17 further comprising:\na third sensor bridge having a fifth leg and a sixth leg;\na fifth magnetoresistive sense element formed in said fifth leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said fifth magnetoresistive sense element including a fifth pinned layer and a fifth sense layer, said fifth sense layer having a fifth sense magnetization oriented in said first direction;\na sixth magnetoresistive sense element formed in said sixth leg and located in said plane of said magnetic field sensor, said sixth magnetoresistive sense element including a sixth pinned layer and a sixth sense layer, said fifth and sixth magnetoresistive sense elements being sensitive to a third external magnetic field along a third sensing direction that is orthogonal to each of said first and second sensing directions, wherein each of said fifth and sixth pinned layers has said reference magnetization oriented substantially parallel to said plane; and\nsaid permanent magnet layer is positioned proximate sixth magnetoresistive sense element, wherein in the absence of said third external magnetic field, said permanent magnet layer magnetically biases a sixth sense magnetization of said sixth sense layer in a fourth direction such that a third one of said h, k, and l of said fourth direction is said negative value of a third corresponding one of said h, k, and l of said first direction.\n\n19. The magnetic field sensor of claim 18 wherein:\nsaid first direction of said first, third, and fifth sense magnetizations of corresponding ones of said first, third, and fifth magnetoresistive sense elements is characterized by said Miller indices of [111];\nsaid second direction of said second sense magnetization of said second magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [ 1 11];\nsaid fourth direction of said fourth sense magnetization of said fourth magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [1 1 1]; and\nsaid sixth direction of said sixth sense magnetization of said sixth magnetoresistive sense element is characterized by said Miller indices of [11 1 ].\n\n20. The magnetic field sensor of claim 18 wherein:\nsaid reference magnetization of each of said first, second, third, and fourth pinned layers is oriented in a first planar direction substantially parallel said plane; and\nsaid reference magnetization of each of said fifth and sixth pinned layers is oriented in a second planar direction perpendicular to said first planar direction and substantially parallel to said plane."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Systems And Methods For Attaching A Device To A Rotating Shaft\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nFor testing, diagnostic, and/or health monitoring purposes, it may be desirable to acquire a measurement (such as strain, temperature, and/or pressure) on a rotating shaft. In many situations, a full-scale slip ring or telemetry system may not be feasible, both physically and economically. In such an instance, a strap-on telemetry system may provide the best solution. In a traditional strap-on telemetry system, the telemetry transmitter is placed on the outer diameter of the rotating shaft, and a strap is used to secure the telemetry transmitter. The strap is typically tensioned by a yoke assembly positioned on the opposite side of the rotating shaft. The strap is tensioned such that the downward force applied by the strap to the outer surface of the telemetry transmitter is greater than the forces generated by the rotating mass of the telemetry transmitter (due to centrifugal loading). In this manner, the greater the centrifugal loading, the more downward force is required in the strap. However, the greater the downward force in the strap, the more likely it is to damage the telemetry transmitter.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA system for attaching a device to a rotating shaft is provided herein. The system may include a rotating shaft, a telemetry transmitter positioned about the rotating shaft, and a housing positioned about the telemetry transmitter. The telemetry transmitter may be trapped by the housing. The system also may include a connector configured to connect the housing to the rotating shaft."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system for attaching a device to a shaft, the system comprising:\na rotating shaft;\na telemetry transmitter positioned about the rotating shaft;\na housing comprising a base member and a cap member positioned around the telemetry transmitter, wherein the telemetry transmitter is trapped within the housing between the base member and the cap member; and\na connector configured to connect the housing to the rotating shaft, wherein the connector comprises\na dovetail attached to the base member, and\na dovetail slot disposed within the rotating shaft.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, wherein the rotating shaft comprises a rotor of a gas turbine engine assembly, a steam turbine, a wind turbine, load couplings, or drive shafts.\n\n3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:\na cavity formed between the base member and the cap member, wherein the cavity is configured to receive and trap the telemetry transmitter therein.\n\n4. The system of claim 1, wherein the dovetail extends from the base member.\n\n5. The system of claim 1, wherein the dovetail is secured within the dovetail slot to secure the housing to the rotating shaft.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more bolts to secure the base member to the cap member."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Self-Captured Detent Mechanism\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nRevolvers having a swing-out cylinder have withstood the test of time because they permit ease of loading and ejecting cartridges without compromising the strength of the frame. Such revolvers present special design challenges, in particular, challenges concerning the use of detent mechanisms to maintain the revolver in a closed configuration. The mechanism must be robust and reliable; it must maintain the revolver closed during firing yet allow it to be readily opened manually for ejecting spent cartridges and reloading. It is also advantageous if the detent mechanism helps to maintain precise alignment between cylinder and barrel. Ideally, the detent mechanism would be simple to make and assemble on the revolver frame.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA revolver has a detent mechanism providing positive mechanical engagement between the cylinder yoke and the frame. A housing mounted on the frame has a spring biased plunger that transversely engages a pin. The pin projects from the housing and engages a recess on the yoke when the revolver cylinder is closed. The pin is biased into engagement with the recess by the plunger to maintain the revolver closed and the chambers of the cylinder in precise alignment with the barrel during firing. Manual force applied to the cylinder can overcome the biasing force and permit the revolver to be opened and closed."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A revolver, comprising:\na frame;\na yoke mounted on said frame and movable about a pivot axis between an open and a closed position, a recess being positioned within said yoke;\na cylinder mounted on said yoke;\na detent mechanism, comprising:\na housing mounted on said frame adjacent to said yoke;\na pin bore positioned within said housing, said pin bore extending longitudinally along a pin bore axis;\na plunger cavity positioned within said housing and intersecting said pin bore, said plunger cavity extending longitudinally along a plunger cavity axis, said plunger cavity axis being oriented transversely to said pin bore axis;\na pin having a tip, said pin being positioned within said pin bore and movable along said pin bore axis between a first position, wherein said tip projects from said housing and engages said recess when said yoke is in said closed position, and a second position, wherein said tip is within said housing;\nan action surface positioned on said pin, said action surface being oriented transversely to said pin bore axis;\na plunger having an end, said plunger being positioned within said plunger cavity and movable along said plunger cavity axis;\na spring positioned within said plunger cavity and biasing said end of said plunger into engagement with said action surface of said pin.\n\n2. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said plunger cavity comprises an open end terminating on a surface of said housing and a closed end terminating within said housing, said spring being positioned between said closed end and said plunger.\n\n3. The revolver according to claim 2, wherein said open end faces said yoke when said yoke is in said closed position.\n\n4. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said pin bore axis is parallel to said pivot axis.\n\n5. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said tip comprises a conical surface.\n\n6. The revolver according to claim 5, wherein said pin comprises an end oppositely disposed to said tip, said end comprising a conical surface.\n\n7. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said pin has a round cross section.\n\n8. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said action surface has an orientation angle relative to said pin bore axis from 30\u00b0 to 60\u00b0.\n\n9. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said action surface has an orientation angle relative to said pin bore axis of 45\u00b0.\n\n10. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said pin comprises a cylindrical body.\n\n11. The revolver according to claim 10, wherein said action surface comprises a surface of a notch formed in said cylindrical body.\n\n12. The revolver according to claim 11, wherein said notch is V-shaped.\n\n13. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said plunger has a round cross section.\n\n14. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said plunger comprises a cylindrical body.\n\n15. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said end of said plunger comprises at least one surface oriented angularly with respect to said plunger cavity axis.\n\n16. The revolver according to claim 15, wherein said at least one surface has an orientation angle relative to said plunger cavity axis from 30\u00b0 to 60\u00b0.\n\n17. The revolver according to claim 15, wherein said at least one surface has an orientation angle relative to said plunger cavity axis of 45\u00b0.\n\n18. The revolver according to claim 1, wherein said end of said plunger comprises first and second surfaces oriented angularly with respect to said plunger cavity axis."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: System And Methods For Fuel System Recirculation Tube Diagnostic\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nVehicle emission control systems may be configured to store fuel vapors from fuel tank refueling and diurnal engine operations, and then purge the stored vapors during a subsequent engine operation. The fuel vapors may be stored in a fuel vapor canister coupled to the fuel tank which contains adsorbent material, such as activated carbon, capable of adsorbing hydrocarbon fuel vapor. The fuel tank may be further coupled to a vapor recovery line (vapor recirculation line). The vapor recirculation line may be configured to circulate and/or hold a percentage of refueling vapors, thus limiting the rate of fuel vapor canister loading. Fuel vapors may recirculate back to the fuel tank by flowing through the vapor recirculation line, and then through a filler neck of the fuel tank. Further, depending on the fuel dispenser, the fuel vapors within the vapor recirculation line may be returned to the fuel dispenser, thus limiting the total fuel vapor stored within the fuel vapor canister for a given refueling event. Fuel vapor recirculation lines include orifices to regulate the fuel vapor flow rate through the recirculation line. The fuel vapor recirculation line additionally serves a second purpose, including providing a path to the filler neck of the fuel tank in order to conduct diagnostic tests for undesired evaporative emissions from the filler neck. In an effort to meet stringent federal emissions regulations, entire evaporative emissions control systems and fuel systems need to be intermittently diagnosed for the presence of undesired evaporative emissions that could release fuel vapors to the atmosphere. In a typical evaporative emissions test, a vacuum is applied to the evaporative emissions control system and fuel system. In one example, the integrity of the systems are determined by comparing the resulting pressure to an expected pressure. The vacuum source may be the intake manifold of the vehicle engine. In some vehicles, such as hybrid electric vehicles, the vehicle engine may not run frequently, or may not generate enough vacuum to conduct an evaporative emissions test. Such vehicles may have an evaporative level check module (ELCM) coupled to the evaporative emission control system. The ELCM includes a vacuum pump that can be coupled to the fuel system for evaporative emissions testing. The fuel system vapor recirculation line provides a path to the filler neck of the fuel tank under conditions wherein high fuel levels in the fuel tank may block access of the applied vacuum to the fuel filler neck. In such cases, in the absence of a recirculation line, undesired evaporative emissions in the filler neck and fuel cap area may go undetected. As such, vapor recirculation lines serve to both limit the rate of fuel vapor canister loading, and to provide a path to the filler neck for evaporative emissions testing. However, as the orifices in a recirculation line age, flow through the orifices may decrease. For example, the vapor recirculation line may become restricted, and as a result fuel vapors may not circulate through the vapor recirculation line, causing the canister loading rate (and total load) to increase. Excess loading of the canister may result in the release of hydrocarbons to the atmosphere. Additionally, during refueling, the pressure in the fuel tank may increase as fuel is added to the tank, the result of a restricted vapor recirculation line and an increased resistance to refueling due to additional loading of the fuel vapor canister. In some examples, the fuel pressure may increase to a level where the fueling is terminated before the fuel tank is full by an automatic shutoff mechanism. Furthermore, a restriction in the vapor recirculation line may isolate the fuel filler neck and fuel cap area from applied vacuum during an evaporative emissions test diagnostic, under conditions wherein the fuel level in the fuel tank additionally blocks access of the applied vacuum to the fuel filler neck and cap area via the fuel tank. Accordingly, diagnosing and mitigating potential restrictions in a vehicle's fuel system vapor recirculation line may serve to maintain vehicle compliance with federal evaporative emissions test regulations, may increase the functional lifespan of a vehicle's fuel vapor canister, and may prevent customer dissatisfaction due to premature automatic shutoffs of a refueling dispenser during vehicle refueling operations. U.S.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nMethods and systems are provided for indicating restrictions in a fuel system vapor recirculation line. In one example, a fuel tank is evacuated responsive to a fuel level below a threshold, and if the vacuum is relieved via a negative pressure relief valve in a capless fuel filler system, the negative pressure relief valve is indicated to be functional such that, responsive to a fuel level greater than a threshold, the fuel system may be evacuated and a restriction may be indicated in the vapor recirculation line responsive to the negative pressure valve not relieving the applied vacuum. In this way, restrictions in the vapor recirculation line may be rapidly diagnosed and excessive loading of a fuel vapor canister may be prevented, thus reducing the potential for evaporative emissions being released to the atmosphere and prolonging fuel vapor canister function."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method comprising:\nresponsive to a fuel tank fill level below a first threshold, applying vacuum to a fuel system to generate a first fuel system pressure profile;\nresponsive to a fuel tank fill level above a second threshold, applying vacuum to the fuel system to generate a second fuel system pressure profile; and\nindicating a restriction in a vapor recirculation line based on the first and second fuel system pressure profiles, wherein:\na fuel tank is coupled in the fuel system within a vehicle, wherein the pressure profiles are pressure profiles over time, and wherein the fuel tank is coupled to a fuel filler neck via a spud valve, the fuel filler neck coupled to a negative pressure relief valve;\ntaking an action in response to the indicated restriction; and\nwherein the first threshold comprises a fuel level below the spud valve, and wherein the second threshold comprises a fuel level above the spud valve, wherein the fuel tank fill level below the first threshold comprises a first condition and the fuel tank fill level above the second threshold comprises a second, different, condition, wherein none of the pressure profile of the first condition overlaps a duration of the pressure profile of the second condition.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein indicating the restriction in the vapor recirculation line further comprises:\nindicating the restriction responsive to both the first fuel system pressure profile including a vacuum relief inflection point during applying vacuum in the first condition, and the second fuel system pressure profile not including a vacuum relief inflection point during applying vacuum in the second condition.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first condition further comprises:\nrouting vacuum through the fuel tank to the negative pressure relief valve via the fuel filler neck.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second condition further comprises:\nrouting vacuum to the negative pressure relief valve via the vapor recirculation line.\n\n5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\nindicating the negative pressure relief valve is functional responsive to an indication of a vacuum relief inflection point during applying vacuum in the first condition; and\nindicating an absence of restriction in the vapor recirculation line responsive to an indication of a vacuum relief inflection point during applying the vacuum in the second condition, wherein it was previously indicated that the negative pressure relief valve is functional.\n\n6. The method of claim 2, wherein, during applying vacuum during both the first condition and the second condition, a vacuum relief inflection point corresponding to the first fuel system pressure profile and a vacuum relief inflection point corresponding to the second fuel system pressure profile indicates opening of the negative pressure relief valve.\n\n7. The method of claim 6, wherein both the first condition and the second condition further comprise:\nstopping applying vacuum and relieving fuel system vacuum to atmosphere if a threshold vacuum level is reached, the threshold vacuum level comprising a vacuum level greater than a level expected to actuate the negative pressure relief valve.\n\n8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:\nfluidically coupling the fuel system to a fuel vapor canister configured within an evaporative emissions control system by opening a fuel tank isolation valve;\nwherein applying vacuum to the fuel system includes opening the fuel tank isolation valve, and activating a vacuum pump positioned within a vent line between the fuel vapor canister and atmosphere to draw vacuum on the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system.\n\n9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:\nprior to applying vacuum to the fuel system,\nindicating a reference vacuum level by applying vacuum via the vacuum pump to a reference orifice; and\nduring applying vacuum to the fuel system,\nindicating undesired evaporative emissions responsive to a fuel system vacuum level less than the reference vacuum level after a predetermined time period.\n\n10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:\nresponsive to an indication of fuel system vacuum greater than or equal to the reference vacuum level after the predetermined time period:\nmaintaining applying vacuum to the fuel system during the first condition and the second condition.\n\n11. A method comprising:\nduring evacuating an evaporative emissions control system and a fuel system to conduct an evaporative emissions test with an onboard vacuum pump;\nmonitoring pressure in the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system; and\nresponsive to an indication of an absence of undesired evaporative emissions:\nin a first condition, including a fuel level in a fuel tank below a first threshold level, maintaining evacuating the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system and indicating a negative pressure relief valve in a capless fuel filler system is functional responsive to a vacuum relief inflection point; and\nin a second condition, including the fuel level in the fuel tank above a second threshold level and an indication that the negative pressure relief valve is functional, maintaining evacuating the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system and indicating a restriction in a fuel system vapor recirculation line responsive to an absence of a vacuum relief inflection point.\n\n12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:\nfluidically coupling the fuel tank to the negative pressure relief valve in the capless fuel filler system via a fuel filler neck, the fuel filler neck coupled to the fuel tank via a spud valve;\nwherein the first threshold level comprises a fuel level below the spud valve, and wherein the second threshold level comprises a fuel level above the spud valve.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first condition includes routing vacuum to the negative pressure relief valve via the fuel filler neck through the spud valve, the fuel filler neck comprising a less restrictive path to the negative pressure relief valve than a path through the fuel system vapor recirculation line.\n\n14. The method of claim 11, wherein the second condition includes routing vacuum to the negative pressure relief valve via the fuel system vapor recirculation line.\n\n15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:\nprior to evacuating the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system to conduct the evaporative emissions test:\nactivating the onboard vacuum pump;\ndrawing a vacuum across a reference orifice; and\ndetermining a reference vacuum level;\nwherein, during evacuating the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system, an indication of an absence of undesired evaporative emissions includes attaining a vacuum level in the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system equal to or greater than the reference vacuum level after a predetermined time period.\n\n16. The method of claim 11, wherein both the first and second conditions further comprise:\nstopping maintaining evacuating the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system responsive to a vacuum level in the evaporative emissions control system and the fuel system reaching a second threshold vacuum level, wherein a vacuum relief inflection point in both the first condition and the second condition is not indicated, the vacuum relief inflection point in both the first condition and the second condition comprising opening of the negative pressure relief valve.\n\n17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second threshold vacuum level comprises a vacuum level greater than a level of vacuum expected to open the negative pressure relief valve."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Substrate Processing Apparatus And Substrate Processing Method\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA process for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes performing a liquid processing by supplying a processing liquid to an upwardly facing front surface of a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, while rotating the substrate around a perpendicular axis in a horizontal position. In some cases, simultaneously with performing the liquid processing on the front surface of the substrate that faces upward, the liquid processing is also performed on the rear surface of the substrate that faces downward by supplying the processing liquid to the rear surface of the substrate. Further, in some cases, when the liquid processing is performed on the front surface of the substrate, a gas such as, for example, nitrogen gas, may be supplied to the rear surface of the substrate in order to suppress the processing liquid supplied to the front surface of the substrate from flowing to the rear surface side, to suppress contaminants from being attached to the rear surface of the substrate, or to reduce an oxygen concentration in a space formed at the rear surface side of the substrate. When the gas is supplied to the rear surface of the substrate, it is desired that the space formed below the substrate is narrow in order to achieve the above-described purposes with a small flow rate of the gas. Meanwhile, it is not desired that the area of the space below the substrate when the processing liquid is supplied to the rear surface of the substrate is the same as that when the gas is supplied to the rear surface of the substrate. In this case, it is desired that the space formed below the substrate is relatively wide such that the processing liquid supplied to the central portion of the rear surface of the substrate smoothly flows to the peripheral edge of the substrate via the rear surface of the substrate. For a user of a substrate processing system, it is desired that a single substrate processing unit is commonly available for a plurality of kinds of processings from the viewpoints of both apparatus costs and foot print reduction. The above-described demand may be partially responded by providing a disc-shaped member, which is liftable and rotates together with a substrate holding member, below a substrate so as to adjust a gap between the substrate and the disc-shaped member as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-270563. However, when a lift driving mechanism configured to lift the disc-shaped member is mounted in the substrate holding member that is a rotational body, the structure of the substrate processing unit becomes complicated, and particle generation sources are increased. The particle generation sources also easily cause the weight increase and rotational unbalance of rotation bodies and rotational unbalance.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA first holding plate and a second holding plate are provided. The first holding plate has a first flat plate portion facing a bottom surface of a substrate and holds the substrate so as to form a gap between the first flat plate portion and the substrate as a first gap, and the second holding plate has a second flat plate portion facing the bottom surface of the substrate and holds the substrate so as to form a gap between the second flat plate portion and the substrate as a second gap. Depending on a processing to be performed, any one of the first holding plate and the second holding plate is mounted on a rotational shaft of a shaft mechanism that includes a fluid supply unit configured to supply a fluid to the bottom surface of the substrate and the rotational shaft configured to rotate the substrate. The processing is performed on the substrate by supplying the fluid to the bottom surface of the substrate from the fluid supply unit."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising:\na fluid supply unit configured to supply a fluid to a bottom surface of a substrate;\na first holding plate that includes a first flat plate portion that directly faces the bottom surface of the substrate;\na second holding plate that includes a second flat plate portion that directly faces the bottom surface of the substrate;\na rotational shaft configured to rotate the substrate; and\na connection portion provided on the rotational shaft to connect therewith both the first holding plate and the second holding plate;\nwherein the first holding plate is configured to hold the substrate to form a vertical gap between a top surface of the first flat plate portion and the bottom surface of the substrate as a first gap when the connection portion connects the first holding plate, and the second holding plate is configured to hold the substrate to form a vertical gap between a top surface of the second flat plate portion and the bottom surface of the substrate as a second gap when the connection portion connects the second holding plate.\n\n2. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fluid supply unit supplies a gas to the first gap and supplies a liquid to the second gap.\n\n3. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein a top surface of the rotational shaft has a central area and a peripheral area that is formed around the central area and has a height lower than that of the central area,\nthe connection portion is provided in the peripheral area,\nthe first holding plate has a first attachment portion to be attached to the connection portion,\nthe second holding plate has a second attachment portion to be attached to the connection portion, and\na difference between the first gap and the second gap corresponds to a difference between a height of the first attachment portion and a height of the second attachment portion.\n\n4. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top surface of the rotational shaft has a central area and a peripheral area that is formed around the central area to have a height lower than that of the central area,\nthe connection portion is provided in the peripheral area,\nthe second holding plate has a second attachment portion that is attached to the connection portion, and\na height of a top surface of the second holding plate becomes a same height of the central area when the second attachment portion is attached to the connection portion.\n\n5. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the top surface of the rotational shaft has a central area and a peripheral area that is formed around the central area and has a height lower than that of the central area,\nthe connection portion is provided in the peripheral area,\nthe first holding plate has a first attachment portion to be attached to the connection portion, and\nthe first holding plate has an inclined surface that is formed to guide a gas supplied from the fluid supply unit toward a first side of the first flat plate portion from the central area when the first attachment portion is attached to the connection portion.\n\n6. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:\na processing liquid supply pipe configured to supply a liquid from the fluid supply unit;\na gas supply passage configured to supply a gas from the fluid supply unit; and\na circular diameter portion that covers the gas supply passage at a first side thereof around a first end of the processing liquid supply pipe,\nwherein the inclined surface guides the gas passing between the circular diameter portion and the central area toward the first side of the first flat plate portion.\n\n7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one first holding plate and at least one second holding plate are provided.\n\n8. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\nan accommodation section including an L-shaped holding member, wherein the L-shaped holding member is configured to hold at least one of the first holding plate and the second holding plate.\n\n9. A substrate processing method comprising:\nproviding a first holding plate that has a first flat plate portion facing the bottom surface of the substrate, the first holding plate being configured to hold the substrate to form a vertical gap between a top surface of the first flat plate portion and the bottom surface of the substrate as a first gap, and a second holding plate that has a second flat plate portion facing the bottom surface of the substrate, the second holding plate being configured to hold the substrate to form a vertical gap between a top surface of the second flat plate portion and the bottom surface of the substrate as a second gap that is larger than the first gap;\nmounting any one of the first holding plate and the second holding plate on a rotational shaft configured to rotate the substrate; and\nprocessing the substrate while supplying a fluid to the bottom surface of the substrate from a fluid supply unit configured to supply a fluid to the bottom surface of the substrate.\n\n10. The substrate processing method of claim 9, wherein the first holding plate is mounted when a gas is supplied from the fluid supply unit, and the second holding plate is mounted when a liquid is supplied from the fluid supply unit."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Carbon Ceramic Brake Disc And Method For Manufacturing The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carbon ceramic brake disc. 2. Description of the Related Art Brake discs are classified into a drum brake type and a disc brake type. The disc brake type decelerates the speed of a vehicle or stops a vehicle by decelerating or stopping the rotation of a disc, using friction between a pad and the disc. Recently, disc types of vehicle brake discs are made of a carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic composite. The carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic composite is a material using ceramic as a matrix and reinforced with a carbon fiber. When a vehicle brake disc is made of a carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic composite, it is possible to manufacture a vehicle brake disc that is light and having high thermomechanical shock resistance, anti-oxidation, wear resistance, strength, and friction coefficient. A vehicle brake disc made of a carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic composite is called a \u201ccarbon ceramic brake disc\u201d. A carbon ceramic brake disc is composed of a support body and friction layers bonded on and under the support body. In Korean Patent No. 10-1304188 by the applicant, there is disclosed a method of manufacturing a carbon ceramic brake disc by forming a support body and friction layers, respectively, bonding carbonized support body and friction layers, and then infiltrating silicon into the bonded support body and friction layers. Further, there is disclosed a method of making the components of the friction layer and the support body the same to prevent separation of the friction layer and the support body due to a large component difference between the friction layer and the support body in the process of manufacturing the carbon ceramic brake disc. When there is a large component difference between the friction layer and the support body, the difference of thermal expansion coefficients of the friction layer and the support body increases, so the friction layer and the support body may be easily separated. On the other hand, when a brake is operated, the friction layer comes in frictional contact with a pad and the support body supports the friction layer, thereby absorbing thermomechanical shock. For this purpose, the friction layer needs excellent friction resistance and anti-oxidation and the support body needs excellent thermomechanical shock resistance. Therefore, the appropriate characteristics of the friction layer and the support body is important to improve the performance of a carbon ceramic brake disc. However, as in the method disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1304188, the components of the support body and the friction layer are made the same to prevent separation of the friction layer and the support body, but in this case, the roles of the fiction layer and the support body cannot be appropriately divided. Accordingly, the performance of the carbon ceramic brake disc is deteriorated. Further, according to the method disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1304188, the step of bonding the support body and the friction layer with an adhesive after making them, respectively, is necessary, so it is difficult to reduce the time for manufacturing a carbon ceramic brake disc.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA carbon ceramic brake disc according to the present invention includes: a support body having cooling channels at the center portion; and friction layers directly attached to the top and the bottom of the support body without a bonding layer and having components different from the components of the support body, in which the support body is composed of a plurality of layers having components similar to the friction layers, gradually toward the friction layers from the cooling channels as the center. Accordingly, the support body can perform thermomechanical shock absorbing that is an original function and the friction layers and the support body can be prevented from separating while the carbon ceramic brake disc is manufactured."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of manufacturing a carbon ceramic brake disc, the method comprising:\nputting a friction layer mixture for making a friction layer, into a mold;\nputting a hard support green body for making a support body on the friction layer mixture;\nputting the friction layer mixture on the hard support green body;\nobtaining the hard support green body and friction layer green bodies combined with each other by pressing and heating the friction layer mixtures and the hard support green body with a press and a heater;\nforming a carbonized body by carbonizing the combined hard support green body and the friction layer green bodies; and\nforming a carbon fiber-reinforced ceramic composite by infiltrating silicon into the carbonized body,\nwherein a first support layer mixture is put into a mold,\na second support layer mixture is put on the first support layer mixture,\na core is put on the second support layer mixture,\ngaps in the core are filled with a cooling channel wall mixture,\nthe second support layer mixture is put on the core,\nthe first support layer mixture is put on the second support layer mixture put on the core, and\nthe hard support green body is formed by pressing and heating the first support layer mixture and the second support layer mixture with a press and a heater, and\nwherein a mesh for adjusting the height of the friction layer is put into a mold before a friction layer mixture for making the friction layer is put into the mold, and\nthe mesh for adjusting the height of the friction layer is put on the hard support green body before a friction layer mixture for making a friction layer is put on the hard support green body.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the friction layer mixture is composed of silicon powder, silicon carbide powder, graphite powder, and phenolic resin without carbon fibers,\nthe first support layer mixture is composed of carbon fibers (the length of 4 to 7 mm) and phenolic resin,\nthe second support layer mixture is composed of carbon fibers (the length of 10 to 29 mm) and phenolic resin, and\nthe cooling channel wall mixture is composed of carbon fibers (the length of 10 to 29 mm) and phenolic resin.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, wherein the silicon powder and the silicon carbide powder are obtained by crashing a wasted silicon wafer or a wasted solar cell plate.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the friction layer mixture is composed of carbon fibers (the length of 0.15 to 0.2 mm) and phenolic resin, or silicon powder and phenolic resin, or silicon carbide powder and phenolic resin, or graphite powder and phenolic resin, the first support layer mixture is composed of carbon fibers (the length of 4 to 7 mm) and phenolic resin,\nthe second support layer mixture is composed of carbon fibers (the length of 10 to 29 mm) and phenolic resin, and\nthe cooling channel wall mixture is composed of carbon fibers (the length of 10 to 29 mm) and phenolic resin.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mesh is made of polycarbonate, ABS resin (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene copolymer), styrene resin, polyethylene, and acrylic resin, the thicknesses of the wires of the mesh are 0.1 to 0.5 mm, and the widths of the holes of the mesh are 1 to 10 mm."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electric Amplifier Circuit For Amplifying An Output Signal Of A Microphone\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA microphone chip, such as a MEMS microphone chip, has a package in which a microphone is coupled to an electric amplifier circuit for amplifying an output signal of the microphone. The electric amplifier circuit may be configured as an integrated circuit and particularly as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). The microphone is coupled to a sensitive input terminal of the amplifier circuit to apply the output signal of the microphone. The amplifier circuit amplifies the received output signal of the microphone and generates an amplified output signal at an output terminal of the amplifier circuit. In order to operate the microphone a supply potential is applied to an outer terminal of the microphone chip. The outer terminal may be configured as a bond pad to apply the supply potential. The package of the microphone chip is usually constructed compactly and is cost-optimized so that a direct coupling from the supply bond pad to the sensitive input terminal of the amplifier circuit cannot totally be avoided. Microphones are often used in devices where the supply voltage is not well-controlled and many other devices use the same supply voltage. Thus, a good PSRR (power supply rejection ratio) is required for the audio band to guarantee no audible distortion due to supply changes. The capacitor of the microphone, such as a MEMS motor capacitor, is only in the range of a few pico Farad. Even a parasitic capacitor having a small capacity can limit the PSRR. It is desirable to provide an electric amplifier circuit for amplifying an output signal of a microphone where the coupling of a supply potential applied to a bond pad at the package to an input terminal of the amplifier circuit inside the package is compensated as far as possible to improve the PSRR. It is a further concern to provide a microphone chip including a microphone and an electric amplifier circuit for amplifying an output signal of the microphone where a coupling of a supply potential applied to a bond pad at the package of the microphone chip to the input terminal of the electric amplifier circuit inside the package is compensated as far as possible to improve the PSRR.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electric amplifier circuit for amplifying an output signal of a microphone comprises a supply input terminal (V10) to apply a supply potential (VDDA) for operating the electric amplifier circuit and a differential amplifier (110) having a first input terminal (E110a) for applying the output signal of the microphone (20), a second input terminal (E110b) and an output terminal (A110) for outputting an amplified output signal (OUT) of the microphone (20). A feedback path (FP) is provided between the output terminal (A110) of the differential amplifier (110) and the second input terminal (E110b) of the differential amplifier (110). A charge supplying circuit (120) is coupled to the feedback path (FP) to supply an amount of the charge to the feedback path (FP) in dependence on the supply potential (VDDA). The amount of charge supplied to the feedback path may be dependent on a change of the supply potential (VDDA)."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electric amplifier circuit for amplifying an output signal of a microphone, comprising:\na supply input terminal to apply a supply potential for operating the electric amplifier circuit;\nan input terminal to apply the output signal of the microphone;\nan output terminal to output an output signal of the amplifier circuit;\na differential amplifier having a first input terminal for applying a first input signal, a second input terminal for applying a second input signal and an output terminal for outputting the output signal of the amplifier circuit, wherein the first input terminal of the differential amplifier is coupled to the input terminal of the amplifier circuit, and the output terminal of the differential amplifier is coupled to the output terminal of the amplifier circuit;\na feedback path being coupled between the output terminal of the differential amplifier and the second input terminal of the differential amplifier; and\na charge supplying circuit for supplying a charge, the charge supplying circuit being coupled to the feedback path,\nwherein the charge supplying circuit is configured to supply an amount of the charge to the feedback path in dependence on a change of the supply potential,\nwherein the charge supplying circuit comprises an electric storage circuit for storing the charge, and\nwherein the charge supplying circuit is configured such that the amount of charge being stored within the electric storage circuit is dependent on the change of the supply potential and the gain of the differential amplifier.\n\n2. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the charge supplying circuit is configured to supply an amount of the charge to the feedback path in dependence on the gain of the differential amplifier.\n\n3. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 1,\nwherein the electric storage circuit comprises at least one capacitor, and\nwherein the at least one capacitor has a first side being connectable with one of the supply potential and a reference potential, and a second side being connected to the feedback path.\n\n4. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 3,\nwherein the electric storage circuit comprises a first capacitor, at least a second capacitor and a controllable switching circuit, and\nwherein the controllable switching circuit is configured to selectively connect the first side of the first capacitor to one of the supply potential and the reference potential, and to selectively connect the first side of the at least one second capacitor to one of the supply potential and the reference potential.\n\n5. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 4,\nwherein the controllable switching circuit comprises a first inverter and at least a second inverter, each of the first and second inverters having a respective terminal to apply the supply potential and a respective terminal to apply the reference potential,\nwherein the first inverter has an output terminal coupled to the first side of the first capacitor,\nwherein the first inverter is configured to selectively couple one of the terminals to apply the supply potential and the reference potential to the output terminal of the first inverter in dependence on the gain of the differential amplifier,\nwherein the at least one second inverter has an output terminal coupled to the first side of the at least one second capacitor, and\nwherein the at least one second inverter is configured to selectively couple one of the terminals to apply the supply potential and the reference potential to the output terminal of the at least one second inverter in dependence on the gain of the differential amplifier.\n\n6. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 5,\nwherein the charge supplying circuit comprises a control circuit having an input side to apply an input signal for the control circuit of the charge supplying circuit, a first output terminal to generate a first control signal, and at least a second output terminal to generate at least a second control signal, the input signal for the control circuit of the charge supplying circuit specifying the gain of the differential amplifier,\nwherein the first output terminal of the control circuit of the charge supplying circuit is coupled to a control terminal of the first inverter,\nwherein the first inverter is configured to selectively couple one of the terminals to apply the supply potential and the reference potential to the output terminal of the first inverter in dependence on the first control signal,\nwherein the at least one second output terminal of the control circuit of the charge supplying circuit is coupled to a control terminal of the at least one second inverter, and\nwherein the at least one second inverter is configured to selectively couple one of the terminals to apply the supply potential and the reference potential to the output terminal of the at least one second inverter in dependence on the second control signal.\n\n7. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 1, comprising:\na transconductance amplifier having a first input terminal to apply a first input signal, a second input terminal to apply a second input signal, and an output terminal to generate an output signal, the output terminal being coupled to the second input terminal of the differential amplifier,\nwherein the transconductance amplifier is configured to generate an output signal of the transconductance amplifier in dependence on the first and second input signal of the differential amplifier, and\nwherein the charge supplying circuit has an output terminal for supplying the charge, the output terminal being connected to the output terminal of the transconductance amplifier.\n\n8. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 7,\nwherein the first input terminal of the transconductance amplifier is coupled to the output terminal of the amplifier circuit, and\nwherein the second input terminal of the transconductance amplifier is coupled to a voltage source to a apply a reference potential or to the second input terminal of the differential amplifier.\n\n9. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 7, comprising:\na capacitor being connected to the output terminal of the transconductance amplifier and the reference potential; and\na voltage follower, wherein the voltage follower is arranged in the feedback path between the transconductance amplifier and the second input terminal of the differential amplifier.\n\n10. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 9,\nwherein the first input terminal of the transconductance amplifier is coupled to the second input terminal of the differential amplifier, and\nwherein the second input terminal of the transconductance amplifier is coupled to an output terminal of the voltage follower.\n\n11. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 1, comprising:\na first resistor; and\na second resistor,\nwherein the first resistor is arranged in the feedback path between an output terminal of a voltage follower and the second input terminal of the differential amplifier,\nwherein the second resistor is directly connected to the output terminal of the differential amplifier and the second input terminal of the differential amplifier, and\nwherein the differential amplifier is configured such that the gain of the differential amplifier is dependent on the relationship between the first and second resistors.\n\n12. The electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 11, comprising:\na control circuit to set the gain of the differential amplifier; and\na storage circuit,\nwherein the first resistor is configured as a variable resistor,\nwherein the storage circuit is configured to store a value specifying the gain of the differential amplifier,\nwherein the control circuit is configured to set the resistance of the first resistor in dependence on the value stored in the storage circuit, and\nwherein the control circuit of the charge supplying circuit is configured to generate a first control signal and at least one second control signal in dependence on the value stored in the storage circuit.\n\n13. A microphone chip, comprising:\nan electric amplifier circuit as claimed in claim 7;\nthe microphone, wherein the microphone is connected to a supply output terminal and the input terminal of the amplifier circuit; and\na package having a terminal to apply the supply potential,\nwherein the amplifier circuit and the microphone are housed in the package.\n\n14. The microphone chip as claimed in claim 13, wherein the microphone is configured as a micro electromechanical system."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Apparatus And Method For Managing Subscriber Profile In Wireless Communication System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nTo meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of 4G (4 th generation) communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G (5 th generation) or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a \u2018Beyond 4G Network\u2019 or a \u2018Post long term evolution (LTE) System\u2019. The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam fanning, large scale antenna techniques are discussed in 5G communication systems. In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation and the like. In the 5G system, hybrid frequency shift keying and quadrature amplitude modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have been developed. The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the Internet of Things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The Internet of Everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and the big data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements, such as \u201csensing technology\u201d, \u201cwired/wireless communication and network infrastructure\u201d, \u201cservice interface technology\u201d, and \u201cSecurity technology\u201d have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, a machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched. Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliances and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing information technology (IT) and various industrial applications. In line with this, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as a sensor network, MTC, and M2M communication may be implemented by beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. Application of a cloud RAN as the above-described big data processing technology may also be considered to be as an example of convergence between the 5G technology and the IoT technology. Before a mobile telephone system is developed, a phone call was made through a public telephone network such as public switched telephone network (PSTN) connected by wire. Since then, a mobile communication system is developed with advances of mobile communication technology. Further, advances of manufacturing technology lead to plentiful supply of portable communication devices such as smart phones, and thus every person possesses his/her own telephone number. In recent, to meet users' various demands, various communication devices are developed and widely used. For example, in addition to the smart phone advanced from the existing portable phone, a large-screen portable electronic device and a wearable device put on a body are under development. Accordingly, one user can own a plurality of communication devices. However, a current communication system is developed based on a single phone number per device. As a result, even when a user has a plurality of devices, different phone numbers are assigned to the devices respectively. In this case, the user needs to manage the multiple phone numbers and may suffer from confusion in the phone number management.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present disclosure relates to a communication method and system for converging a 5th-Generation (5G) communication system for supporting higher data rates beyond a 4th-Generation (4G) system with a technology for Internet of Things (IoT). The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services based on the 5G communication technology and the IoT-related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car, connected car, health care, digital education, smart retail, security and safety services. Subscriber profile management in a wireless communication system is disclosed. A method for operating a user device, the method comprises: determining a state change of a direct connection with another device; and controlling a state of a profile including the same subscriber identification number as a subscriber identification number assigned to the other device, according to the state change of the direct connection."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for operating a first device in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:\ntransmitting, to a server, a first message for triggering enablement of a first profile, upon determining that a communication link between the first device and a second device is disconnected;\nreceiving, from the server, a second message for enabling the first profile in the first device, in response to the first message; and\nenabling the first profile, in response to the second message, wherein the first profile comprises subscriber information that is used to access to a mobile communication network.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling the first profile comprises:\ndisplaying a screen inquiring whether to enable the first profile in the first device; and\ndetecting a user input for enabling the first profile in the first device.\n\n3. The method of claim 1,\nwherein the first profile comprises a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number assigned to the second device.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, to the second device, a third message for disabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, upon detecting a user input to release the communication link between the first device and the second device.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nestablishing a communication link between the first device and the second device; and\ndisabling the first profile in the first device, in response to the establishment of the communication link.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, further comprising transmitting, to the second device, a fourth message for enabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, in response to the establishment of the communication link.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, to the server, a message for enabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, upon detecting a power off command input in the first device.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nreceiving, from the server, the first profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number assigned to the second device; and\ninstalling the first profile in the first device.\n\n9. A method for operating a server in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:\nreceiving, from a first device, a first message for triggering enablement of a first profile; and\ntransmitting, to the first device, a second message for enabling the first profile in the first device, in response to the first message,\nwherein the first profile comprises subscriber information that is used to access to a mobile communication network, and\nwherein the first message is received in response to disconnection of a communication link between the first device and a second device.\n\n10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:\ntransmitting, to the second device, a third message for disabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, in response to the first message; and\nupdating state information of the first and second profiles.\n\n11. An apparatus of a first device in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:\na subscriber information module configured to store a first profile;\na transceiver configured to\ntransmit, to a server, a first message for triggering enablement of the first profile, upon determining that a communication link between the first device and a second device is disconnected, and\nreceive, from the server, a second message for enabling the first profile in the first device, in response to the first message; and\na controller configured to enable the first profile, in response to the second message,\nwherein the first profile comprises subscriber information that is used to access to a mobile communication network.\n\n12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a display configured to display a screen inquiring whether to enable the first profile in the first device, wherein the controller is further configured to detect a user input for enabling the first profile in the first device.\n\n13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first profile comprises a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number assigned to the second device.\n\n14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, to the second device, a third message for disabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, upon detecting a user input to release the communication link between the first device and the second device.\n\n15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to:\nestablish a communication link between the first device and the second device, and\ndisable the first profile in the first device, in response to a result of the establishment of the communication link.\n\n16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, to the second device, a fourth message for enabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, in response to a result of the establishment of the communication link.\n\n17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, to the server, a message for enabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, upon detecting a power off command input in the first device.\n\n18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transceiver configured to receive, from the server, the first profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number assigned to the second device, and\nwherein the controller is configured to install the first profile in the subscriber information module.\n\n19. An apparatus of a server in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:\na transceiver configured to receive, from a first device, a first message for triggering enablement of a first profile; and\nthe transceiver configured to transmit, to the first device, a second message for enabling the first profile in the first device, in response to the first message,\nwherein the first profile comprises subscriber information that is used to access to a mobile communication network, and\nwherein the first message is received in response to disconnection of a communication link between the first device and a second device.\n\n20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a controller,\nwherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit, to the second device, a third message for disabling a second profile comprising a subscriber identification number that is the same as a subscriber identification number of the first profile, in the second device, in response to the first message, and\nwherein the controller is configured to update state information of the first and second profiles."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Selectively Controlling A Self-Driving Vehicle'S Access To A Roadway\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present disclosure relates to the field of vehicles, and specifically to the field of self-driving vehicles. Still more specifically, the present disclosure relates to the field of selectively controlling a self-driving vehicle's access to a particular roadway based on the autonomous capabilities of the self-driving vehicle. Self-driving vehicles (SDVs) are vehicles that are able to autonomously drive themselves through private and/or public spaces. Using a system of sensors that detect the location and/or surroundings of the SDV, logic within or associated with the SDV controls the speed, propulsion, braking, and steering of the SDV based on the sensor-detected location and surroundings of the SDV.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA processor-implemented method selectively controls a self-driving vehicle's access to a roadway. A vehicle interrogation hardware device receives an autonomous capability signal from an approaching self-driving vehicle. One or more processors compare predefined roadway conditions to current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway. In response to the predefined roadway conditions matching the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway within a predetermined range, the processor(s) determine whether the level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway. In response to determining that the level of autonomous capability of the self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway, an automatic barricade controlling device positions an automatic barricade to provide the approaching self-driving vehicle with access to the access-controlled roadway."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A processor-implemented method of selectively controlling a self-driving vehicle's access to a roadway, the processor-implemented method comprising:\nreceiving, by a vehicle interrogation hardware device, an autonomous capability signal from an approaching self-driving vehicle, wherein the approaching self-driving vehicle is approaching an access-controlled roadway, wherein access to the access-controlled roadway is limited to self-driving vehicles that are deemed qualified to travel on the access-controlled roadway, and wherein the autonomous capability signal describes a level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle for maneuvering through predefined roadway conditions;\ncomparing, by one or more processors, the predefined roadway conditions to current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway;\nin response to the predefined roadway conditions matching the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway within a predetermined range, determining, by one or more processors, whether the level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway; and\nin response determining that the level of autonomous capability of the self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway, positioning, by an automatic barricade controlling device, an automatic barricade to provide the approaching self-driving vehicle with access to the access-controlled roadway, wherein the automatic barricade is a physical barricade that is positioned at an entrance of the access-controlled roadway.\n\n2. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:\ndetermining, by the vehicle interrogation hardware device, that another approaching vehicle is operating in manual mode; and\nin response to determining that said another approaching vehicle is operating in manual mode, positioning, by the automatic barricade controlling device, the automatic barricade to block said another approaching vehicle from accessing the access-controlled roadway.\n\n3. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the access-controlled roadway is a vehicular surface from a group consisting of street, a tunnel, a ferry, a parking spot, and a service bay.\n\n4. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:\nreceiving, by one or more processors, sensor readings from sensors that monitor the access-controlled roadway, wherein the sensor readings describe a current real-time condition of the access-controlled roadway; and\ndetermining, by one or more processors, the current roadway conditions based on the received sensor readings.\n\n5. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:\nreceiving, by the vehicle interrogation hardware device, a description of a physical state of the approaching self-driving vehicle;\nretrieving, by one or more processors, an accident history of other vehicles that have a same physical state as that of the approaching self-driving vehicle while traveling on the access-controlled roadway;\ndetermining, by one or more processors, whether the accident history of the other vehicles traveling on the access-controlled roadway exceeds a predetermined limit; and\nin response to the one or more processors determining that the accident history of the other vehicles exceeds the predetermine limit while traveling on the access-controlled roadway, positioning, by the automatic barricade controlling device, the automatic barricade to block the approaching self-driving vehicle from accessing the access-controlled roadway.\n\n6. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway comprise a curve radius of a curve in the access-controlled roadway being less than a predefined value.\n\n7. The processor-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway comprise an absence of guardrails on one or more sections of the access-controlled roadway.\n\n8. A computer program product for selectively controlling a self-driving vehicle's access to a roadway, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:\nreceiving an autonomous capability signal from an approaching self-driving vehicle, wherein the approaching self-driving vehicle is approaching an access-controlled roadway, wherein access to the access-controlled roadway is limited to self-driving vehicles that are deemed qualified to travel on the access-controlled roadway, and wherein the autonomous capability signal describes a level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle for maneuvering through predefined roadway conditions;\ncomparing the predefined roadway conditions to current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway;\nin response to the predefined roadway conditions matching the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway within a predetermined range, determining whether the level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway; and\nin response to determining that the level of autonomous capability of the self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway, positioning, via an automatic barricade controlling device, an automatic barricade to provide the approaching self-driving vehicle with access to the access-controlled roadway, wherein the automatic barricade is a physical barricade that is positioned at an entrance of the access-controlled roadway.\n\n9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:\ndetermining that another approaching vehicle is operating in manual mode; and\nin response to determining that said another approaching vehicle is operating in manual mode, positioning, via the automatic barricade controlling device, the automatic barricade to block said another approaching vehicle from accessing the access-controlled roadway.\n\n10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the access-controlled roadway is a vehicular surface from a group consisting of a ferry, a parking spot, and a service bay.\n\n11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:\nreceiving sensor readings from sensors that monitor the access-controlled roadway, wherein the sensor readings describe a current real-time condition of the access-controlled roadway; and\ndetermining the current roadway conditions based on the received sensor readings.\n\n12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:\nreceiving a description of a physical state of the approaching self-driving vehicle;\nretrieving an accident history of other vehicles that have a same physical state as that of the approaching self-driving vehicle while traveling on the access-controlled roadway;\ndetermining whether the accident history of the other vehicles traveling on the access-controlled roadway exceeds a predetermined limit; and\nin response to determining that the accident history of the other vehicles exceeds the predetermine limit while traveling on the access-controlled roadway, positioning, via the automatic barricade controlling device, the automatic barricade to block the approaching self-driving vehicle from accessing the access-controlled roadway.\n\n13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway comprise a curve radius of a curve in the access-controlled roadway being less than a predefined value.\n\n14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway comprise an absence of guardrails on one or more sections of the access-controlled roadway.\n\n15. A roadway access-controlling station comprising:\na supervisory computer;\na vehicle interrogation hardware device; and\nan automatic barricade controlling device,\nwherein the vehicle interrogation hardware device receives an autonomous capability signal from an approaching self-driving vehicle, wherein the approaching self-driving vehicle is approaching an access-controlled roadway, wherein access to the access-controlled roadway is limited to self-driving vehicles that are deemed qualified to travel on the access-controlled roadway, and wherein the autonomous capability signal describes a level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle for maneuvering through predefined roadway conditions;\nwherein the supervisory computer compares the predefined roadway conditions to current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway;\nwherein the supervisory computer, in response to the predefined roadway conditions matching the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway within a predetermined range, determines whether the level of autonomous capability of the approaching self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway; and\nwherein the automatic barricade controlling device, in response the supervisory computer determining that the level of autonomous capability of the self-driving vehicle is adequate to safely maneuver the approaching self-driving vehicle through the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway, positions an automatic barricade to provide the approaching self-driving vehicle with access to the access-controlled roadway, wherein the automatic barricade is a physical barricade that is positioned at an entrance of the access-controlled roadway.\n\n16. The roadway access-controlling station of claim 15, wherein:\nthe vehicle interrogation hardware device determines that another approaching vehicle is operating in manual mode; and wherein\nin response to the vehicle interrogation hardware device determining that said another approaching vehicle is operating in manual mode, the automatic barricade controlling device positions the automatic barricade to block said another approaching vehicle from accessing the access-controlled roadway.\n\n17. The roadway access-controlling station of claim 15, wherein the access-controlled roadway is a vehicular surface from a group consisting of a tunnel, a ferry, and a parking spot.\n\n18. The roadway access-controlling station of claim 15, wherein:\nthe supervisory computer receives sensor readings from sensors that monitor the access-controlled roadway, wherein the sensor readings describe a current real-time condition of the access-controlled roadway; and wherein\nthe supervisory computer determines the current roadway conditions based on the received sensor readings.\n\n19. The roadway access-controlling station of claim 15, wherein the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway comprise a curve radius of a curve in the access-controlled roadway being less than a predefined value.\n\n20. The roadway access-controlling station of claim 15, wherein the current roadway conditions of the access-controlled roadway comprise an absence of guardrails on one or more sections of the access-controlled roadway."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Tunneling Field Effect Transistor (Tfet) With Ultra Shallow Pockets Formed By Asymmetric Ion Implantation And Method Of Making Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAdvances in the semiconductor industry have reduced the size of transistors in integrated circuits (ICs) to 32 nanometers and smaller. The decrease in transistor sizes leads to decreases in power supply voltage to the transistors. As the power supply voltage has decreased, the threshold voltage of the transistors in the ICs has also decreased. Lower threshold voltages are difficult to obtain in a conventional metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). Indeed, as the threshold voltage is reduced the ratio of on current to off current (I on /I off ) also decreases. The on current refers to the current through the MOSFET when an applied gate voltage is above the threshold voltage, and the off current refers to current through the MOSFET when the applied gate voltage is below the threshold voltage. The on current to off current ratio may be improved by using a tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET). The TFET takes advantage of band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) to increase the achievable on current (I on ), which permits further reductions in threshold voltage, power supply voltage, and transistor size. Unfortunately, forming the dopant pocket in the TFET is challenging.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn embodiment integrated circuit device and a method of making the same. The embodiment integrated circuit includes a substrate supporting a source with a first doping type and a drain with a second doping type on opposing sides of a channel region in the substrate, and a pocket disposed in the channel region, the pocket having the second doping type and spaced apart from the drain between about 2 nm and about 15 nm. In an embodiment, the pocket has a depth of between about 1 nanometer to about 30 nanometers."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method comprising:\nforming a dummy gate stack over a channel region in a substrate;\nforming a first silicon nitride spacer over a source region in the substrate, the source region having a first doping type, the first silicon nitride spacer extending along a first sidewall of the dummy gate stack;\nforming a second silicon nitride spacer over a drain region in the substrate, the drain region having a second doping type, the second silicon nitride spacer extending along a second sidewall of the dummy gate stack, the second sidewall of the dummy gate stack being opposite of the first sidewall of the dummy gate stack;\nremoving the dummy gate stack;\nforming a low temperature nitride layer over the first silicon nitride spacer, the second silicon nitride spacer and the channel region;\nimplanting germanium ions in the low temperature nitride layer in a direction forming an acute angle with a top surface of the low temperature nitride layer;\nremoving germanium-implanted portions of the low temperature nitride layer to form an asymmetric low temperature nitride spacer over a first portion of the channel region; and\nimplanting ions of the second doping type in a second portion of the channel region unprotected by the asymmetric low temperature nitride spacer to form a pocket.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming the pocket with a depth of between about 1 nm to about 30 nm.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming the pocket a distance of between about 2 nm to about 15 nm away from the drain region.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the asymmetric low temperature nitride spacer over the second portion of the channel region.\n\n5. The method of claim 4, further comprising forming a high-k dielectric layer and a metal layer over the pocket and the first portion of the channel region.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second silicon nitride spacer protects at least a portion of the low temperature nitride layer from the germanium ions.\n\n7. A method comprising:\nforming a dummy gate stack over a channel region in a substrate, the dummy gate stack comprising a dummy gate dielectric layer;\nforming a first source/drain region and a second source/drain region in the substrate, the first source/drain region having a first doping type and the second source/drain region having a second doping type, the dummy gate stack being interposed between the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region;\nforming a first spacer over the first source/drain region;\nforming a second spacer over the second source/drain region;\nexposing the dummy gate dielectric layer over the channel region;\nforming a third spacer over the dummy gate dielectric layer, the third spacer partially covering the dummy gate dielectric layer, wherein a width of the third spacer decreases as the third spacer extends along a sidewall of the second spacer away from the dummy gate dielectric layer; and\nforming a pocket of the second doping type in the channel region, the pocket being disposed below a portion of the dummy gate dielectric layer unprotected by the third spacer, the pocket being interposed between the first source/drain region and the second source/drain region.\n\n8. The method of claim 7, wherein forming the pocket comprises implanting ions of the second doping type in a portion of the channel region below the portion of the dummy gate dielectric layer unprotected by the third spacer in a direction perpendicular to a top surface of the dummy gate dielectric layer.\n\n9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:\nremoving the third spacer;\nremoving the dummy gate dielectric layer to expose the channel region; and\nforming an active gate stack over the channel region.\n\n10. The method of claim 7, wherein the third spacer physically contacts the second spacer.\n\n11. The method of claim 7, wherein forming the third spacer comprises:\ndepositing a nitride layer on the dummy gate dielectric layer, on a sidewall of the first spacer, and on a sidewall of the second spacer;\nimplanting germanium ions in the nitride layer in a direction forming an acute angle with a top surface of the nitride layer to form a germanium-implanted portion of the nitride layer; and\nremoving the germanium-implanted portion of the nitride layer, wherein an unremoved portion of the nitride layer forms the third spacer.\n\n12. The method of claim 11, wherein removing the germanium-implanted portion of the nitride layer comprises selectively etching the germanium-implanted portion of the nitride layer.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, wherein an etch selectivity of the germanium-implanted portion of the nitride layer versus an unimplanted portion of the nitride layer is higher than about 3:1.\n\n14. A method comprising:\nforming a first spacer over a first source/drain region in a substrate, the first source/drain region having a first conductivity type;\nforming a second spacer over a second source/drain region in the substrate, the second source/drain region having a second conductivity type, the second conductivity type being different from the first conductivity type;\ndepositing a first mask layer over a channel region in the substrate, the first spacer and the second spacer;\naltering an etch rate of an altered portion of the first mask layer;\nperforming a selective etching process on the first mask layer to remove the altered portion of the first mask layer, wherein an unremoved portion of the first mask layer forms a third spacer; and\nperforming a first ion implantation process on a portion of the channel region unprotected by the third spacer to form a pocket, the pocket having the first conductivity type.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein altering the etch rate of the altered portion of the first mask layer comprises performing a second ion implantation process on the first mask layer in a direction forming an acute angle with a top surface of the substrate, and wherein the unremoved portion of the first mask layer is protected from the second ion implantation process by the first spacer.\n\n16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first ion implantation process is performed in a direction perpendicular to a top surface of the substrate.\n\n17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:\nafter performing the first ion implantation process, removing the third spacer;\nforming a high-k dielectric layer over the pocket; and\nforming a metal layer over the high-k dielectric layer.\n\n18. The method of claim 14, further comprising, before depositing the first mask layer, forming a second mask layer over the first spacer and the second spacer.\n\n19. The method of claim 14, wherein the third spacer extends along a sidewall of the first spacer.\n\n20. The method of claim 14, wherein an etch selectivity of the altered portion of the first mask layer versus the unremoved portion of the first mask layer is higher than about 3:1."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Surface Roughness Sensor Apparatus And Processing Tool Structure Using The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nGenerally, surface roughness measurement methods are classified into an optical method and a stylus method. To be specific, the optical method is classified into a light sectioning method and an interference method. The light sectioning method refers to a method of irradiating a slit beam to a surface of an object and measuring a surface roughness using light reflected therefrom. The interference method refers to a method of measuring a surface roughness by observing an interference pattern of light. Regarding the optical measurement method, conventionally, Korean Patent No. 10-0125442 discloses a method and apparatus for optical detection of a surface roughness by generating a light bead on a material surface and then detecting a surface roughness using light reflected therefrom. Further, the stylus method refers to a method of measuring a surface roughness by bringing a diamond stylus into contact with a surface of an object and checking unevenness while moving the diamond stylus. Regarding the stylus measurement method, Korean Utility Model No. 20-0178075 discloses a portable surface roughness measuring apparatus which measures a roughness of a specimen with a stylus unit and compares the measured roughness with a roughness of a comparison specimen. The optical measurement method has some problems of having low precision, difficulty in measurement while an object is moved at a predetermined speed or more, and a complicated structure. The stylus measurement method uses a diamond stylus, and, thus, has a risk of damage to a surface of an object. Further, the stylus measurement method has a problem of difficulty in measurement of a surface roughness if the object has a smooth surface. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present disclosure relates to a surface roughness sensor apparatus. The surface roughness sensor apparatus includes: a rotatable rotation shaft; a piezoelectric sensor provided along a circumference of the rotation shaft, rotated by rotation of the rotation shaft, and configured to generate a sensing signal in response to a pressure applied by a surface of an object as being in direct contact with the surface of the object; and a signal transfer unit configured to transfer the sensing signal generated and transmitted by the piezoelectric sensor to the outside of the sensor apparatus, and the piezoelectric sensor may be rotated in a direction in which a relative movement between the piezoelectric sensor and the surface of the object is made at a contact point with the object to minimize damage to the surface of the object."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A surface roughness sensor apparatus that measures a surface roughness of an object, comprising:\na rotatable rotation shaft;\na signal transfer unit provided along the circumference of the rotation shaft and rotated by rotation of the rotation shaft; and\na piezoelectric sensor concentric with the rotated shaft and provided along a circumference of the signal transfer unit,\nwherein the piezoelectric sensor is configured to generate a sensing signal in response to a pressure applied by a surface of the object as being in direct contact with the surface of the object; and\nthe signal transfer unit is configured to transfer the sensing signal generated by the piezoelectric sensor to outside of the sensor apparatus,\nwherein the piezoelectric sensor is rotated in a direction in which a relative movement between the piezoelectric sensor and the surface of the object is made at a contact point with the object to minimize damage to the surface of the object.\n\n2. The surface roughness sensor apparatus of claim 1,\nwherein the piezoelectric sensor generates the sensing signal depending on an intensity of the pressure applied from the object when being in contact with the surface of the object.\n\n3. The surface roughness sensor apparatus of claim 1,\nwherein the piezoelectric sensor includes multiple sensor lines spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance on a surface of the piezoelectric sensor.\n\n4. The surface roughness sensor apparatus of claim 1,\nwherein the signal transfer unit includes an electric wire part configured to transfer the sensing signal generated and transmitted by the piezoelectric sensor.\n\n5. The surface roughness sensor apparatus of claim 4, further comprising:\na slip ring configured to transfer the sensing signal transferred through the electric wire part to an external electric wire.\n\n6. The surface roughness sensor apparatus of claim 1,\nwherein the signal transfer unit includes:\nan amplifier configured to amplify the sensing signal generated and transmitted by the piezoelectric sensor; and\na transmitter configured to transfer the amplified sensing signal.\n\n7. A processing tool structure that processes the object, comprising:\na processing unit configured to process the object; and\nthe surface roughness sensor apparatus of claim 1 which is connected to one side of the processing unit,\nwherein the surface roughness sensor apparatus measures the surface roughness of the object.\n\n8. The processing tool structure of claim 7:\nwherein the processing unit and the surface roughness sensor apparatus are integrated to be moved as being interlocked with each other.\n\n9. The processing tool structure of claim 7,\nwherein the processing unit and the surface roughness sensor apparatus are relatively moved with respect to a surface of the object."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Control System Of Engine\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a technical field of a control system of an engine in which a purge gas containing evaporated fuel desorbed from a canister is supplied to an intake passage. Conventionally, arts are known, in which during a deceleration fuel cutoff of the engine, when it is determined that evaporated fuel easily overflows from a canister, the purge gas containing the evaporated fuel desorbed from the canister is supplied to an intake passage of an engine. For example, JP2007-198210A discloses such an art. By supplying the purge gas to the intake passage during the deceleration fuel cutoff as above, the overflow of the evaporated fuel from the canister can be reduced. Although the evaporated fuel within the purge gas supplied to the intake passage is discharged unburned to an exhaust passage through the engine, the unburned evaporated fuel can be purified by an exhaust emission control catalyst provided in the exhaust passage. Further, in JP2007-198210A, when a temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst is detected and the detected result indicates a temperature below a predetermined value, the supply of the purge gas to the intake passage is reduced to suppress degradation of emission performance. However, in JP2007-198210A, even when the purge gas is supplied to the intake passage when the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst is the predetermined value or higher, depending on the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst, if an excessive amount of unburned evaporated fuel reaches the exhaust emission control catalyst, the emission performance may still degrade, which leaves room for improvement.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA control system of an engine is provided. The control system includes an exhaust emission control catalyst provided in an exhaust passage, a deceleration fuel cutoff module for performing a deceleration fuel cutoff when a deceleration fuel cutoff condition is satisfied in an engine decelerating state, a purging unit for performing a purge to supply a purge gas to an intake passage during the deceleration fuel cutoff, an evaporated fuel supply amount estimating module for estimating a supply amount of evaporated fuel to the intake passage when the purge is performed, and a catalyst temperature estimating module for estimating a temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the supply amount of the evaporated fuel. The purging unit controls a supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage when the purge is performed, based on the exhaust emission control catalyst temperature."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A control system of an engine in which a purge gas containing evaporated fuel desorbed from a canister is supplied to an intake passage of the engine, the control system comprising:\nan exhaust emission control catalyst provided in an exhaust passage of the engine;\na purging unit including a purge line and a purge valve for performing a purge to supply the purge gas to the intake passage of the engine during a deceleration fuel cutoff; and\na processor configured to execute:\na deceleration fuel cutoff module for performing the deceleration fuel cutoff to stop a fuel supply from an injector to the engine when a predetermined deceleration fuel cutoff condition is satisfied in a decelerating state of the engine;\nan evaporated fuel supply amount estimating module for estimating a supply amount of the evaporated fuel to the intake passage when the purge is performed; and\na catalyst temperature estimating module for estimating a temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the estimated supply amount of the evaporated fuel; and\na catalyst temperature increasing amount estimating module for continuously estimating an increasing amount of the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when unburned evaporated fuel accumulated in the exhaust emission control catalyst by the purge is assumed to have entirely combusted at once,\nwherein the purging unit controls a supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage when the purge is performed, based on the estimated temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst, and\nwherein while the purge is performed, the purging unit stops the purge once the estimated increasing amount of the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst exceeds a preset value.\n\n2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the purging unit stops the purge when the estimated temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst falls below a predetermined temperature while the purge is performed.\n\n3. The control system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to execute an evaporated fuel concentration estimating module for estimating a concentration of the evaporated fuel within the purge gas when the purge is performed,\nwherein the purging unit further controls the supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage when the purge is performed, based on the estimated concentration of the evaporated fuel.\n\n4. The control system of claim 3, wherein the purging unit does not perform the purge during the deceleration fuel cutoff when the estimated concentration of the evaporated fuel is above a predetermined concentration.\n\n5. The control system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to execute an exhaust gas temperature detecting/estimating module for detecting or estimating a temperature of exhaust gas of the engine when the engine is operated by supplying fuel from the injector to the engine and combusting the fuel,\nwherein the catalyst temperature estimating module estimates the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the temperature of the exhaust gas detected or estimated immediately before the deceleration fuel cutoff is started, the estimated supply amount of the evaporated fuel, a heat generation amount, and a heat release amount, the heat generation amount produced by combustion, at the exhaust emission control catalyst, of part of the evaporated fuel which has reached the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, the heat release amount produced from the exhaust emission control catalyst to air passing through the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed.\n\n6. The control system of claim 1, further comprising a turbocharger having a compressor disposed in the intake passage of the engine,\nwherein the purge line communicates the canister with a part of the intake passage downstream of the compressor, the purge valve is provided in the purge line, and the purging unit further includes a purge valve controlling module for controlling the supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage by controlling an operation of the purge valve when the purge is performed.\n\n7. The control system of claim 1, wherein the purging unit reduces the supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage when the purge is performed, as the estimated temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst becomes lower.\n\n8. The control system of claim 7, wherein the purging unit stops the purge when the estimated temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst falls below a predetermined temperature while the purge is performed.\n\n9. The control system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to execute an evaporated fuel concentration estimating module for estimating a concentration of the evaporated fuel within the purge gas when the purge is performed,\nwherein the purging unit further controls the supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage when the purge is performed, based on the estimated concentration of the evaporated fuel.\n\n10. The control system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to execute an exhaust gas temperature detecting/estimating module for detecting or estimating a temperature of exhaust gas of the engine when the engine is operated by supplying fuel from the injector to the engine and combusting the fuel,\nwherein the catalyst temperature estimating module estimates the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the temperature of the exhaust gas detected or estimated immediately before the deceleration fuel cutoff is started, the estimated supply amount of the evaporated fuel, a heat generation amount, and a heat release amount, the heat generation amount produced by combustion, at the exhaust emission control catalyst, of part of the evaporated fuel which has reached the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, the heat release amount produced from the exhaust emission control catalyst to air passing through the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed.\n\n11. The control system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to execute an evaporated fuel concentration estimating module for estimating a concentration of the evaporated fuel within the purge gas when the purge is performed,\nwherein the purging unit further controls the supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage when the purge is performed, based on the estimated concentration of the evaporated fuel.\n\n12. The control system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to execute an exhaust gas temperature detecting/estimating module for detecting or estimating a temperature of exhaust gas of the engine when the engine is operated by supplying fuel from the injector to the engine and combusting the fuel,\nwherein the catalyst temperature estimating module estimates the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the temperature of the exhaust gas detected or estimated immediately before the deceleration fuel cutoff is started, the estimated supply amount of the evaporated fuel, a heat generation amount, and a heat release amount, the heat generation amount produced by combustion, at the exhaust emission control catalyst, of part of the evaporated fuel which has reached the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, the heat release amount produced from the exhaust emission control catalyst to air passing through the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed.\n\n13. The control system of claim 1, wherein the purging unit does not perform the purge during the deceleration fuel cutoff when the estimated concentration of the evaporated fuel is above a predetermined concentration.\n\n14. The control system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to execute an exhaust gas temperature detecting/estimating module for detecting or estimating a temperature of exhaust gas of the engine when the engine is operated by supplying fuel from the injector to the engine and combusting the fuel,\nwherein the catalyst temperature estimating module estimates the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the temperature of the exhaust gas detected or estimated immediately before the deceleration fuel cutoff is started, the estimated supply amount of the evaporated fuel, a heat generation amount, and a heat release amount, the heat generation amount produced by combustion, at the exhaust emission control catalyst, of part of the evaporated fuel which has reached the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, the heat release amount produced from the exhaust emission control catalyst to air passing through the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed.\n\n15. The control system of claim 14, further comprising a turbocharger having a compressor disposed in the intake passage of the engine,\nwherein the purge line communicates the canister with a part of the intake passage downstream of the compressor, the purge valve is provided in the purge line, and the purging unit further includes a purge valve controlling module for controlling the supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage by controlling an operation of the purge valve when the purge is performed.\n\n16. A control system of an engine in which a purge gas containing evaporated fuel desorbed from a canister is supplied to an intake passage of the engine, the control system comprising:\nan exhaust emission control catalyst provided in an exhaust passage of the engine;\na purging unit including a purge line and a purge valve for performing a purge to supply the purge gas to the intake passage of the engine during a deceleration fuel cutoff; and a processor configured to execute:\na deceleration fuel cutoff module for performing the deceleration fuel cutoff to stop a fuel supply from an injector to the engine when a predetermined deceleration fuel cutoff condition is satisfied in a decelerating state of the engine;\nan evaporated fuel supply amount estimating module for estimating a supply amount of the evaporated fuel to the intake passage when the purge is performed; and\na catalyst temperature estimating module for estimating a temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the estimated supply amount of the evaporated fuel,\nwherein the purging unit controls a supply flow rate of the purge gas to the intake passage when the purge is performed, based on the estimated temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst, and\nwherein the catalyst temperature estimating module estimates the temperature of the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, based on the temperature of the exhaust gas detected or estimated immediately before the deceleration fuel cutoff is started, the estimated supply amount of the evaporated fuel, a heat generation produced by combustion, at the exhaust emission control catalyst, of part of the evaporated fuel which has reached the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed, and a heat release amount produced from the exhaust emission control catalyst to air passing through the exhaust emission control catalyst when the purge is performed."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Integrated Bio-Sensor With Nanocavity And Fabrication Method Thereof\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a bio-technology inspection field, and more particularly, to a bio-sensor with nanocavity and a fabrication method thereof. 2. Description of the Prior Art In recent years, various biological inspection methods have been developed as a result of the progress in biotechnology, in which technologies involving the inspection of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence within a specific gene have become especially popular. A gene is typically known as a particular sequence of DNA with deoxyribose and phosphates serving as backbone while having four bases including adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T), and cytosine (C). The matching of chemical structures between two single strands of DNA is preferably enhanced by the mutual attraction of hydrogen bonds between adenine and thymine, and between guanine and cytosine to constitute the double helix structure of a DNA. It has been known that DNA sequencing could be achieved by slicing gene sequences waiting to be sequenced into small chunks, connecting the sliced chunks to a converting adaptor, selectively adding micro-beads with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to multiply gene chucks waiting to be inspected, and finally combining micro-processes, optical inspections, and automated control technologies based on different sequencing principles to quickly decode large quantities of DNA sequence. In addition to DNA sequencing, bio-sensors could also be applied to numerous bio-related inspections, such as bacterial and viral inspections, gene mutations, genetic or hereditary screenings, disease preventions, environmental inspections, pollution controls, and food safety. Moreover, bio-sensors could be applied to fast checks for genetic defects. Based on inspection data obtained, the bio-sensors could be used to provide currently unknown solutions for such as nucleic acid polymorphism differentiation and the relations between diseases and complications. The results thereby may further be used to develop diagnosing and preventing approaches. However, there is still a need in this field to provide an improved bio-sensor capable of not only having advantages such as fast, high accuracy, and high sensitivity, but also having acid and alkali-resistant and anti-corrosive structures. The fabrication method of the improved bio- sensor should also be compatible with CMOS image sensors so that the signal processing circuit chips could be integrated for the purposes of cost reduction, power consumption reduction, and integrity enhancement.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA bio-sensor includes a substrate having a light-sensing region thereon. A first dielectric layer, a diffusion barrier layer, and a second dielectric layer are disposed on the substrate. A trenched recess structure is formed in the second dielectric layer, which is filled with a light filter layer that is capped with a cap layer. A first passivation layer and a nanocavity construction layer are disposed on the cap layer. A nanocavity is formed in the nanocavity construction layer. The sidewall and bottom surface of the nanocavity is lined with a second passivation layer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An integrated bio-sensor with a nanocavity, comprising:\na substrate, wherein a plurality of isolation structures are disposed on the substrate, and a plurality of pixel regions are defined by the isolation structures;\na light-sensing region disposed in each of the pixel regions;\na first dielectric layer disposed on the substrate;\na trenched recess structure disposed in the first dielectric layer and corresponding to the light-sensing region;\na liner layer disposed conformally on an inner wall of the trenched recess structure;\na light filter layer disposed on the liner layer in the trenched recess structure;\na cap layer disposed on the trenched recess structure and directly contacting a top surface of the light filter layer;\na first passivation layer disposed on the cap layer;\na nanocavity construction layer disposed on the first passivation layer, wherein a nanocavity is disposed in the nanocavity construction layer disposed directly above the light filter layer; and\na second passivation layer disposed on a sidewall and a bottom surface of the nanocavity.\n\n2. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a silicon substrate.\n\n3. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein the light-sensing region comprises a photodiode.\n\n4. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, further comprising a second dielectric layer disposed between the substrate and the first dielectric layer, wherein a bottom part of the trenched recess structure is a top surface of the second dielectric layer.\n\n5. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein the light filter layer comprises metal ions.\n\n6. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 5, wherein the metal ions comprise a sodium ion.\n\n7. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein the liner layer comprises a silicon nitride layer.\n\n8. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein the first dielectric layer comprises a silicon oxide layer.\n\n9. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 4, wherein the second dielectric layer comprises a silicon nitride layer.\n\n10. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein the first passivation layer and the second passivation layer comprise metal oxide.\n\n11. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 10, wherein the metal oxide comprises tantalum oxide.\n\n12. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein a depth of the nanocavity is substantially equal to a thickness of the nanocavity construction layer.\n\n13. The integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 1, wherein the sidewall of the nanocavity is a bevel sidewall, and an included angle between the sidewall and a horizontal level ranges between 60 degrees and 80 degrees.\n\n14. A fabrication method of an integrated bio-sensor with a nanocavity, comprising:\nproviding a substrate, wherein a plurality of isolation structures are disposed on the substrate, and a plurality of pixel regions are defined by the isolation structures;\nforming a light-sensing region in each of the pixel regions;\ndepositing a first dielectric layer on the substrate;\nforming a trenched recess structure in the first dielectric layer corresponding to the light-sensing region;\nforming a liner layer conformally on an inner wall of the trenched recess structure;\nforming a light filter layer on the liner layer, wherein the trenched recess structure is filled with the light filter layer;\ndepositing a cap layer, wherein the cap layer directly contacts a top surface of the light filter layer;\nforming a first passivation layer on the cap layer;\ndepositing a nanocavity construction layer on the first passivation layer;\nforming a nanocavity in the nanocavity construction layer directly above the light filter layer; and\nforming a second passivation layer on a sidewall and a bottom surface of the nanocavity.\n\n15. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein after the step of forming the light filter layer, the fabrication method further comprises:\nperforming a solidification process for solidifying the light filter layer; and\nperforming a polishing process or an etching back process for removing the light filter layer outside the trenched recess structure.\n\n16. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the first passivation layer and the second passivation layer are formed by physical vapor deposition processes.\n\n17. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the substrate comprises a silicon substrate.\n\n18. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the light-sensing region comprises a photodiode.\n\n19. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the step of forming the trenched recess structure comprises:\nforming a second dielectric layer and the first dielectric layer sequentially on the substrate; and\nperforming an etching process to remove a part of the first dielectric layer, wherein the second dielectric layer is configured to be an etching stop layer in the etching process.\n\n20. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the light filter layer comprises metal ions.\n\n21. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 20, wherein the metal ions comprise a sodium ion.\n\n22. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the liner layer comprises a silicon nitride layer.\n\n23. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the first dielectric layer comprises a silicon oxide layer.\n\n24. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the second dielectric layer comprises a silicon nitride layer.\n\n25. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the first passivation layer and the second passivation layer comprise metal oxide.\n\n26. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 25, wherein the metal oxide comprises tantalum oxide.\n\n27. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein a depth of the nanocavity is substantially equal to a thickness of the nanocavity construction layer.\n\n28. The fabrication method of the integrated bio-sensor with the nanocavity of claim 14, wherein the sidewall of the nanocavity is a bevel sidewall, and an included angle between the sidewall and a horizontal level ranges between 60 degrees and 80 degrees."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Head-Mountable Viewer With Adjustable Lens\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nVirtual reality continues to improve and develop in order to allow a user to immerse himself or herself into another world, whether real or imaginary. Virtual reality may take the form of a 3D graphic design on a screen, such as an arcade screen, or the user may wear a head-mounted display or viewer such that the screen is placed directly over the field of vision of the user. A piece of cardboard or plastic may be used as a head-mountable viewer such that the user can place an electronic device, such as a smartphone, into the cardboard and then fold the cardboard in such a way that the cardboard and electronic device alone provide the user with a virtual reality experience. Using cardboard, as one example, may be a cheaper alternative to expensive virtual reality devices, but nonetheless the cardboard used may not be suitable and conformable to the many different shapes and sizes of the vast array of users.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA head-mountable viewer with adjustable lenses is disclosed herein. The head-mountable viewer may include a frame with a first and second bore therein, each bore receives a first and second lens, respectively. The frame may further include a first and second side arms that each have a first and second tab, respectively. The first and second tabs are operatively connected to or attached to the first and second lenses, such that movement or adjustment of the first or second tabs corresponds to movement or adjustment of the first or second lenses, respectively. In this regard, the adjustability of the first and second lenses provides a single head-mountable viewer to be universally used, that is, any user may use the same head-mountable viewer by being able to adjust the lenses to best suit his or her comfort."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A head-mountable viewer, comprising:\na frame having a cavity, the cavity configured to receive an electronic device, the frame further including a bore;\na first lens positioned within the bore;\na first tab attached to the frame, wherein the first tab is operatively connected to the first lens and movement of the first tab causes a corresponding movement of the first lens; and\na first side arm extending from a first side of the frame, the first side arm including the first tab; and\na second side arm extending from a second side of the frame, the second side arm including a second tab, wherein the second tab is operatively connected to a second lens positioned within a second bore within the frame, and movement of the second tab causes a corresponding movement of the second lens.\n\n2. The head-mountable viewer of claim 1, wherein vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or lateral movement of the first tab causes vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or lateral movement of the first lens, respectively.\n\n3. The head-mountable viewer of claim 1, wherein lateral movement of first tab causes lateral movement of the first lens relative to a face of a user.\n\n4. A head-mountable viewer, comprising:\na frame;\na slidable member, the slidable member operatively connected to a first tab and the slidable member further operatively connected to a first lens, the first tab extending from a cut-out of the frame and the first lens being aligned with a first bore within the frame, wherein adjustment of the first tab translates to adjustment of the first lens within the periphery of the first bore; and\na first side arm of the frame, the first side arm positioned in a horizontal direction of the first lens, wherein the first tab extends from the first side arm.\n\n5. A head-mountable viewer, comprising:\na frame;\na slidable member, the slidable member operatively connected to a first tab and the slidable member further operatively connected to a first lens, the first tab extending from a cut-out of the frame and the first lens being aligned with a first bore within the frame, wherein adjustment of the first tab translates to adjustment of the first lens within the periphery of the first bore,\nwherein outward positioning of the first tab away from the frame translates to outward positioning of the first lens away from a central portion of the frame, and inward positioning of the first tab toward the frame translates to inward positioning of the first lens toward the central portion of the frame.\n\n6. The head-mountable viewer of claim 5, wherein the first tab and first lens are positionable at any location between a fully extended first tab and a fully inserted first tab.\n\n7. The head-mountable viewer of claim 4, wherein vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or lateral movement of the first tab causes vertical, horizontal, diagonal, or lateral movement of the first lens, respectively.\n\n8. The head-mountable viewer of claim 4, wherein the slidable member includes a recess that receives the first lens."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Real-Time Determination Of Object Metrics For Trajectory Planning\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nUnless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. Robotic systems, such as a robotic arm containing a gripping component, may be used for applications involving picking up or moving objects. For instance, a robotic device may be used to fill a container with objects, create a stack of objects, or unload objects from a truck bed. In some cases, all of the objects may be of the same type. In other cases, a container or truck may contain a mix of different types of objects, such as boxed items, cans, tires, or other stackable objects. Such robotic systems may direct a robotic arm to pick up objects based on predetermined knowledge of where objects are in the environment.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nExample systems and methods may be used to determine a trajectory for moving an object using a robotic device. One example method includes determining a plurality of possible trajectories for moving an object with an end effector of a robotic manipulator based on a plurality of possible object measurements. The method may further include causing the robotic manipulator to pick up the object with the end effector. After causing the robotic manipulator to pick up the object with the end effector, the method may also include receiving sensor data from one or more sensors indicative of one or more measurements of the object. Based on the received sensor data, the method may additionally include selecting a trajectory for moving the object from the plurality of possible trajectories. The method may further include causing the robotic manipulator to move the object through the selected trajectory."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method comprising:\ncausing, by a control system, a robotic manipulator to pick up an object in an environment with an end effector;\ncausing, by the control system, the robotic manipulator to pivot the object around an edge of the object in contact with a surface in the environment;\nwhile causing the robotic manipulator to pivot the object, using sensor data from a force-torque sensor to cause, by the control system, the robotic manipulator to follow a trajectory that maintains contact between the edge of the object and the surface in the environment;\ndetermining, by the control system, a radius of the trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator in pivoting the object around the edge of the object; and\ndetermining, by the control system, at least one unknown dimension of the object based on the radius of the trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing the robotic manipulator to follow a trajectory that maintains contact between the edge of the object and the surface in the environment at a fixed contact point on the surface of the environment.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one unknown dimension of the object is measured from the edge of the object in contact with the surface in the environment.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ncausing the robotic manipulator to pivot the object around a second edge of the object in contact with the surface in the environment;\nwhile causing the robotic manipulator to pivot the object around the second edge, using sensor data from the force-torque sensor to cause the robotic manipulator to follow a second trajectory that maintains contact between the second edge of the object and the surface in the environment; and\ndetermining at least one other dimension of the object based on the second trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ndetermining, based on the at least one unknown dimension of the object, a path for moving the object to a drop-off location; and\ncausing the robotic manipulator to move the object to the drop-off location through the determined path.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining at least one other dimension of the object based on sensor data from at least one of a depth sensor and a visual sensor, wherein determining the path for moving the object to the drop-off location is further based on the sensor data from the at least one of a depth sensor and a visual sensor.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one unknown dimension of the object is at least one of a width of the object, a height of the object, and a depth of the object.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is a rectangular object, wherein causing the robotic manipulator to pick up the object comprises causing the end effector to grip the rectangular object from a first side, and wherein the at least one unknown dimension of the rectangular object is a dimension of a second side of the rectangular object, wherein the second side is opposite the first side of the rectangular object.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is a first rectangular object, and wherein the surface in the environment is a face of a second rectangular object.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, wherein the end effector of the robotic manipulator comprises a gripper, and wherein the force-torque sensor is positioned above the gripper on the robotic manipulator.\n\n11. The method of claim 10, wherein the gripper comprises at least one suction gripper.\n\n12. A system, comprising:\na robotic manipulator;\na force-torque sensor; and\na control system configured to:\ncause the robotic manipulator to pick up an object in an environment with an end effector;\ncause the robotic manipulator to pivot the object around an edge of the object in contact with a surface in the environment;\nwhile causing the robotic manipulator to pivot the object, use sensor data from the force-torque sensor to cause the robotic manipulator to follow a trajectory that maintains contact between the edge of the object and the surface in the environment;\ndetermine a radius of the trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator in pivoting the object around the edge of the object; and\ndetermine at least one unknown dimension of the object based on the radius of the trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator.\n\n13. The system of claim 12, wherein the control system is further configured to cause the robotic manipulator to follow a trajectory that maintains contact between the edge of the object and the surface in the environment at a fixed contact point on the surface of the environment.\n\n14. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one unknown dimension of the object is measured from the edge of the object in contact with the surface in the environment.\n\n15. The system of claim 12, wherein the control system is further configured to:\ncause the robotic manipulator to pivot the object around a second edge of the object in contact with the surface in the environment;\nwhile causing the robotic manipulator to pivot the object around the second edge, use sensor data from the force-torque sensor to cause the robotic manipulator to follow a second trajectory that maintains contact between the second edge of the object and the surface in the environment; and\ndetermine at least one other dimension of the object based on the second trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator.\n\n16. The system of claim 12, wherein the control system is further configured to:\ndetermine, based on the at least one unknown dimension of the object, a path for moving the object to a drop-off location; and\ncause the robotic manipulator to move the object to the drop-off location through the determined path.\n\n17. The system of claim 12, wherein the end effector of the robotic manipulator comprises a gripper, and wherein the force-torque sensor is positioned above the gripper on the robotic manipulator.\n\n18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions, that when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform functions comprising:\ncausing a robotic manipulator to pick up an object in an environment with an end effector;\ncausing the robotic manipulator to pivot the object around an edge of the object in contact with a surface in the environment;\nwhile causing the robotic manipulator to pivot the object, using sensor data from a force-torque sensor to cause the robotic manipulator to follow a trajectory that maintains contact between the edge of the object and the surface in the environment;\ndetermining a radius of the trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator in pivoting the object around the edge of the object; and\ndetermining at least one unknown dimension of the object based on the radius of the trajectory followed by the robotic manipulator.\n\n19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the functions further comprise causing the robotic manipulator to follow a trajectory that maintains contact between the edge of the object and the surface in the environment at a fixed contact point on the surface of the environment.\n\n20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the functions further comprise:\ndetermining, based on the at least one unknown dimension of the object, a path for moving the object to a drop-off location; and\nproviding instructions to cause the robotic manipulator to move the object to the drop-off location through the determined path."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Vehicle Positioning And Object Avoidance\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nGenerally speaking, trucks and other vehicles are useful in handling and moving materials. Forklifts, for example, comprise driver-operated self-powered trucks used for lifting, transporting, and positioning material loads in various logistical and industrial environments. The loads may comprise various configurations. For example, the loads may comprise boxes, crates, packages, etc., machinery related items, and/or items secured in a palletized configuration. The environment may comprise a variety of use settings such as a warehouse, plant, factory, shipping center, etc. Within the use setting, the forklifts are operable for moving the loads from a first location to a second location for storage, use, or subsequent transport elsewhere. At the first location, the driver positions, e.g., a pair of parallel fork components securely beneath the load to be moved. For example, the forks may be inserted within a pair of complimentary recesses within a pallet on which the load is disposed. The forks then lift the load to a height sufficient to allow its movement from the first location, over a deck, floor, or other driving surface to the second location, where it may then be repositioned. The forklift may be engine-powered, or driven by one or more electric motors. The engine, or an electrical storage battery for energizing lift and drive motors, may be positioned behind a control station from which a driver operates the forklift. Forklifts may be configured with the control station disposed behind the lifting forks, which are positioned at the front. As the forklift moves in a forward direction, the load is carried on the forks ahead of the driver. Depending on its height and the vertical level at which it is carried, the load may thus obstruct at least a portion of the driver's view. As with vehicles generally, and particularly in view of the weight and other characteristics of a load, the weight and operating speed of the forklift, and characteristics of operational use environment, the safe operation of forklifts depends on the visibility level the drivers are presented while moving the loads. The obstruction of a driver's view by the size of a load presents a heightened risk of collision and related accidents. Higher levels of driver experience may become significant in mitigating the heightened collision risk presented by the load obstructing the driver's vision a demand. Therefore, it could be useful to improve the view of operators in control of vehicles such as forklifts generally, and in particular, during the lifting and moving of loads therewith. It could also thus be useful to mitigate, or compensate for a blockage, obstruction, occlusion, or other compromise in the view of an operator in control of the vehicle, which may be presented by the load lifted therewith. It could be useful, further, to reduce the risk of possible collision with avoidable obstructions disposed in the path over which the vehicle is moving the load.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA system is described for presenting information relating to lifting and moving a load object with a vehicle. Upon the lifting, a dimensioner determines a size and a shape of the load object, computes a corresponding spatial representation, and generates a corresponding video signal. During the moving, an imager observes a scene in front of the vehicle, relative to its forward motion direction, and generates a video signal corresponding to the observed scene. The imager has at least one element moveable vertically, relative to the lifting. A display renders a real time visual representation of the scene observed in front of the vehicle based on the corresponding video signal and superimposes a representation of the computed spatial representation of the load object."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system, comprising:\na dimensioner operable, upon lifting of a load object, for determining a size and a shape of the load object, computing a corresponding spatial representation of the load object, and generating a first video signal corresponding to the computed spatial representation;\nan imager operable, during moving of the load object, for observing a scene disposed before a front of a vehicle, relative to a forward direction of motion, and generating a second video signal corresponding to the observed scene, the imager comprising at least one element moveable vertically in relation to the lifting; and\na display operable for rendering, a real time visual representation of the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle based on the corresponding second video signal, the visual representation transposed to a perspective consistent with the direct view of an operator of the vehicle, and superimposed with the visual representation of the observed scene, a transparent representation of the computed spatial representation of the load object based on the corresponding first video signal.\n\n2. The system as described in claim 1 wherein the vehicle comprises a forklift, the forklift comprising a member operable in relation to the lifting of the load, and wherein the at least one element of the imager moveable vertically in relation to the lifting is positioned on a portion of the member disposed proximate to the front of the vehicle.\n\n3. The system as described in claim 1 wherein the observing the scene comprises capturing a real time three dimensional (3D) image of the scene disposed before the front of the vehicle, and wherein the rendering of the real time visual representation of the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle is presented at least in relation to a perspective corresponding to the at least one vertically moveable element.\n\n4. The system as described in claim 1 wherein the spatial representation corresponding to the load object comprises a wireframe computed based on the determined size and shape of the load object.\n\n5. The system as described in claim 1 wherein the dimensioner is operable, further, and prior to the lifting of the load item, for computing a distance between the front of the vehicle and the load item, and wherein the display is operable, further, for rendering a representation corresponding to the computed distance.\n\n6. The system as described in claim 1 wherein the imager comprises a trajectory analyzer operable, upon a detection of one or more avoidable objects positioned over a range within the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle, for computing a trajectory relating to the forward motion of the vehicle in relation to each of the avoidable objects and generating a trajectory signal corresponding to each of the avoidable objects.\n\n7. The system as described in claim 6 wherein, upon the detection of the one or more objects, the rendering of the real time visual representation of the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle comprises presenting a visual representation of the one or more avoidable objects and data relating to the computed trajectory.\n\n8. The system as described in claim 7 wherein, upon the computed trajectory comprising an imminent risk of a collision with at least one of the avoidable objects, the trajectory analyzer is operable, further, for performing at least one action related to avoiding the collision.\n\n9. The system as described in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of cameras, the cameras operable in relation to the dimensioner or the imager, and comprising the at least one element moveable vertically in relation to the lifting.\n\n10. The system as described in claim 1 wherein the display is observable to an operator of the vehicle during the lifting and the moving.\n\n11. A method comprising the steps of:\ndetermining, upon lifting a load object with a vehicle, a size and a shape of the load object;\ncomputing a spatial representation of the load object corresponding to the determined size and shape of the load object;\ngenerating a first video signal corresponding to the computed spatial representation;\nobserving, during moving the load object with the vehicle and using at least one element moveable vertically in relation to the lifting, a scene disposed before a front of the vehicle, relative to a forward direction of motion;\ngenerating a second video signal corresponding to the observed scene;\nrendering a real time visual representation of the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle based on the corresponding second video signal, the visual representation transposed to a perspective consistent with the direct view of an operator of the vehicle; and\nrendering a transparent representation of the computed spatial representation of the load object based on the corresponding first video signal, the rendered transparent representation of the computed spatial representation of the load object comprising a wireframe corresponding to the determined size and shape of the load object superimposed in relation to the rendered real time visual representation of the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle.\n\n12. The method as described in claim 11 wherein the vehicle comprises a forklift, the forklift comprising a member operable in relation to the lifting of the load, and wherein the at least one element of the imager moveable vertically in relation to the lifting is positioned on a portion of the member disposed proximate to the front of the vehicle.\n\n13. The method as described in claim 11 wherein the observing the scene step comprises capturing a real time three dimensional (3D) image of the scene disposed before the front of the vehicle, and wherein the step of rendering of the real time visual representation of the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle is presented at least in relation to a perspective corresponding to the at least one vertically moveable element.\n\n14. The method as described in claim 11 wherein the step of computing the spatial representation corresponding to the load object comprises computing a wireframe representation of the load item based on the determined size and shape thereof.\n\n15. The method as described in claim 11, further comprising the steps of:\ncomputing, prior to the lifting of the load item, a distance between the front of the vehicle and the load item; and\nrendering a representation of data corresponding to the computed distance.\n\n16. The method as described in claim 15 wherein the determining the size and a shape of the load object step, the observing the scene disposed before the front of the vehicle step, and the computing the distance between the front of the vehicle and the load item step, comprise a step of processing image data captured with a plurality of cameras, the cameras comprising the at least one element moveable vertically in relation to the lifting.\n\n17. The method as described in claim 11, further comprising the steps of:\nanalyzing the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle;\ndetecting, based on the analysis of the observed scene, a presence of one or more avoidable objects positioned over a range within the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle;\ncomputing a trajectory relating to the forward motion of the vehicle in relation to each of the avoidable objects;\ngenerating a trajectory signal corresponding to each of the avoidable objects;\nrendering, further, a visual representation of the one or more avoidable objects and data relating to the computed trajectory; and\nperforming, upon the computed trajectory comprising a data indicative of an imminent risk of a collision with at least one of the avoidable objects, at least one action related to avoiding the collision.\n\n18. The method as described in claim 17 wherein the step of performing the at least one action related to avoiding the collision comprises one or more of:\nannunciating an alarm related to the avoiding of the collision;\ninitiating an evasive action; or\none or more of braking, slowing, or stopping the vehicle.\n\n19. A vehicle, comprising:\na structure suspended on a movable frame;\na lift member movably coupled to the structure and operable for lifting a load object;\na drive coupled to the moveable frame and operable for providing a mechanical force for operating the lift member and for moving the vehicle and the lifted load object; and\na system for presenting information relating to the lifting and the moving of the load object and the vehicle, the system comprising:\na dimensioner operable, upon the lifting, for determining a size and a shape of the load object, computing a corresponding spatial representation of the load object, and generating a first video signal corresponding to the computed spatial representation;\nan imager operable, during the moving, for observing a scene disposed before a front of the vehicle, relative to a forward direction of motion, and generating a second video signal corresponding to the observed scene, the imager comprising at least one element moveable vertically in relation to the lifting; and\na display operable for rendering, a real time visual representation of the observed scene disposed before the front of the vehicle based on the corresponding second video signal, the visual representation transposed to a perspective consistent with the direct view of an operator of the vehicle, and superimposed with the visual representation of the observed scene, a transparent representation of the computed spatial representation of the load object based on the corresponding first video signal.\n\n20. The vehicle as described in claim 19 wherein the wherein the vehicle comprises a forklift, and wherein the at least one element of the imager moveable vertically in relation to the lifting is positioned on a portion of the lift member disposed proximate to the front of the vehicle."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Optical Device For Measuring A Physical Parameter And Associated Method\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to the field of optoelectronic measuring devices. More particularly, the invention relates to an optical device for determining a physical parameter associated with a target and to an associated processing method, whatever the surface finish of the target and its distance, in real-time. The invention is mainly based on self-mixing and is advantageously used to measure the movement of a target.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn optical device (10) for determining a physical parameter includes: a laser diode (11) for emitting a beam toward a target; an element for detecting (13) an interferometric signal SM(t) which includes the information on the physical parameter to be determined, and which is generated by an interference between the emitted beam and a light beam reflected by the target; element for converting (15) the signal SM(t) obtained by the detection element (13) into a measurement of the physical parameter, the conversion element (15) including: first element (17) for suppressing a continuous component Off(t) of the interferometric signal SM(t); second element (18) for determining interferometric peaks in the interferometric signal SM(t) obtained from the signal obtained at the output of the first element (17). An associated method, particularly suitable for speckle interferometric signals is also described."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An optical device, based on the self-mixing effect, for determining a physical parameter, including:\na laser light source for generating a light beam, called the emitted beam, in the direction of a target;\na means for detecting an interferometric signal SM(t), said interferometric signal including interference fringes and information on the physical parameter to be determined, and being generated by interference between the emitted beam and a light beam reflected by the target; and\nmeans for converting the interferometric signal SM(t) obtained by the detecting means into a measurement of the physical parameter;\nwherein said converting means include:\nfirst means for removing a continuous component Off(t) from the interferometric signal SM(t), said first means being configured to remove the continuous component locally for each of the interference fringes of the interferometric signal; and\nsecond means for determining interferometric peaks of the interferometric signal SM(t), said peaks being obtained from the signal obtained as output from the first means, the second means including a Hilbert filter.\n\n2. The optical device as claimed in claim 1, not including means for calibrating the laser light source.\n\n3. A method for processing an interferometric signal SM(t) obtained by self-mixing, via an optical device according to claim 1, said interferometric signal including interference fringes, wherein the method includes, in succession, the steps of:\nremoving a continuous component Off(t) from the interferometric signal SM(t), in order to obtain a corrected signal SM c (t), using the first means, said continuous component Off(t) of the interferometric signal being removed locally, for each detected interference fringe of the interferometric signal SM(t); and\ndetermining interferometric peaks of said interferometric signal SM(t) from the corrected signal SM c (t) using the second means, said interferometric peaks being determined by applying a Hilbert filter to the corrected signal SM c (t).\n\n4. A method for determining a physical parameter, including a step of processing an interferometric signal SM(t) using the method as claimed in claim 3, said interferometric signal including information on the physical parameter to be determined, then a step of determining the physical parameter from the determined interferometric peaks of the interferometric signal SM(t).\n\n5. The method as claimed in claim 4, including a prior step of acquiring the interferometric signal SM(t) carried out using the optical device.\n\n6. The method as claimed in claim 5, not including a step of calibration of the laser light source.\n\n7. A method for determining a movement of a target, including a step of processing an interferometric signal SM(t) using the method as claimed in claim 3, said interferometric signal including information on the physical parameter to be determined, then a step of reconstructing the movement of the target from the determined interferometric peaks of the interferometric signal SM(t)."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Solid State Image Sensor, Method Of Manufacturing Solid State Image Sensor, And Image Capturing System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solid state image sensor, a method of manufacturing a solid state image sensor, and an image capturing system. 2. Description of the Related Art Solid state image sensors and display apparatuses use optical elements such as microlens arrays as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-335723. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-335723 discloses a technique of providing microlenses, each having a shape called a teardrop, in a solid state image sensor to efficiently focus light entering from oblique directions onto light-receiving units. Such a microlens is shaped to have a curved shape tapering to the outside of the solid state image sensor and having a vertex at an outside end portion when viewed in a planar view. In principle, however, each microlens having the teardrop shape disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-335723 cannot cause part of light entering the microlens to enter the corresponding light-receiving unit, that is, cannot contribute to the focusing of light, depending on the incident position of light. In addition, such light is likely to enter the regions of adjacent pixels and become stray light, leading to deterioration in the sensitivity and image quality of the solid state image sensor.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides a solid state image sensor including a pixel array having a plurality of pixels arranged therein, each of the plurality of pixels including a photoelectric conversion device and a microlens configured to guide incident light to the photoelectric conversion device, the microlens having a lower surface, on an exit side of the incident light, which has a convex shape with respect to the photoelectric conversion device, with a vertex of the convex shape shifting from a center position of the microlens to a central side of the pixel array."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A solid state image sensor comprising a pixel array having a plurality of pixels,\neach of the plurality of pixels including a photoelectric conversion device and a microlens configured to guide incident light to the photoelectric conversion device,\nthe microlens having a lower surface, on an exit side of the incident light, which has a convex shape with respect to the photoelectric conversion device,\nwherein a vertex of the convex shape is closer to a first end portion of the microlens than to a second end portion of the microlens along a direction toward a central side of the pixel array, and\nwherein the first end portion is closer to the central side of the pixel array than the second end portion along the direction toward the central side of the pixel array.\n\n2. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein a material forming the microlens has a higher refractive index than a material in contact with the lower surface between the microlens and the photoelectric conversion device.\n\n3. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the microlens has an upper surface, on an incident side of the incident light, which has a convex shape with respect to the incident side of the incident light.\n\n4. The sensor according to claim 3, wherein a refractive power of the lower surface of the microlens is larger than a refractive power of the upper surface.\n\n5. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the microlens has an upper surface, on an incident side of the incident light, which has a planar shape.\n\n6. The sensor according to claim 5, wherein an antireflection film which reduces reflection of the incident light on the upper surface is formed on the upper surface of the microlens.\n\n7. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the microlens includes a microlens provided in a peripheral region surrounding a central region including a center of the pixel array.\n\n8. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the microlens comprises a color filter material.\n\n9. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein an angle defined between a straight line defining a virtual plane in contact with an upper surface of the microlens on an incident side of the incident light at the first end portion and a straight line connecting the first end portion and a center of the photoelectric conversion device is 90\u00b0 or less.\n\n10. The sensor according to claim 1, further comprising a wiring layer on which wirings are formed,\nwherein the microlens is provided at least on an uppermost layer on the incident side of the incident light or between the uppermost layer and the wiring layer.\n\n11. A method of manufacturing a solid state image sensor comprising a pixel array having a plurality of pixels, each of the plurality of pixels including a photoelectric conversion device and a microlens configured to guide incident light to the photoelectric conversion device, the method comprising:\ncoating a substrate for formation of the pixel array with a photoresist;\nforming a concave portion in the photoresist by exposing the photoresist using a mask for formation of the microlens; and\nforming the microlens which is formed from a lens material having a higher refractive index than the photoresist by filling the concave portion with the lens material and has a convex shape with respect to the photoelectric conversion device,\nwherein a vertex of the convex shape is closer to a first end portion of the microlens than to a second end portion of the microlens along a direction toward a central side of the pixel array, and\nwherein the first end portion is closer to the central side of the pixel array than the second end portion along the direction toward the central side of the pixel array.\n\n12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the mask exhibits a continuous tone change.\n\n13. A method of manufacturing a solid state image sensor comprising a pixel array having a plurality of pixels, each of the plurality of pixels including a photoelectric conversion device and a microlens configured to guide incident light to the photoelectric conversion device, the method comprising:\nforming a first lens material on a substrate for formation of the pixel array;\ncoating the first lens material with a photoresist;\nforming a concave portion in the photoresist by exposing the photoresist by using a mask for formation of the microlens;\ntransferring the concave portion to the first lens material by etching the first lens material by using the photoresist in which the concave portion is formed as an etching mask; and\nforming the microlens which is formed from a second lens material having a higher refractive index than the first lens material by filling a concave portion transferred to the first lens material with the second lens material and has a convex shape with respect to the photoelectric conversion device,\nwherein a vertex of the convex shape is closer to a first end portion of the microlens than to a second end portion of the microlens along a direction toward a central side of the pixel array, and\nwherein the first end portion is closer to the central side of the pixel array than the second end portion along the direction toward the central side of the pixel array.\n\n14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising planarizing a surface of the second lens material by polishing the surface of the second lens material.\n\n15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the etching includes dry etching.\n\n16. An image capturing system comprising:\na solid state image sensor; and\na signal processing unit configured to process a signal output from the solid state image sensor,\nwherein the solid state image sensor includes a pixel array having a plurality of pixels,\neach of the plurality of pixels includes a photoelectric conversion device and a microlens configured to guide incident light to the photoelectric conversion device, and\nthe microlens has a lower surface, on an exit side of the incident light, which has a convex shape with respect to the photoelectric conversion device,\nwherein a vertex of the convex shape is closer to a first end portion of the microlens than to a second end portion of the microlens along a direction toward a central side of the pixel array, and\nwherein the first end portion is closer to the central side of the pixel array than the second end portion along the direction toward the central side of the pixel array."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: System, Components And Method Of A Gradually Colour Shifted Traffic Control System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to new and useful traffic control system, which is designed to be particularly effective at providing an oncoming vehicle with a lighting sequence that alerts the vehicle operator to an impending red light signal. Heretofore the usual method of controlling the flow of passing traffic at given point such a intersection has been to provide a STOP and GO signal at that point. This method is reasonably satisfactory for vehicular traffic that is moving so slowly that the vehicle can come to a practical instantaneous stop. However, for vehicles moving at a higher speed, the reaction time of the vehicle operator plus the deceleration time cause to be some type of warning signal desirable to apprise the operator of an imminent change, such as the amber (yellow) light. The usual amber light used as a warning signal is inadequate for high speed traffic, such as is found on through highways, at the time the amber light is activated, the vehicle, may be running to fast to come to a safe stop prior to the activation of the red light (stop signal); Specially if the vehicle in motion is a heavy big truck travelling at high speed (acceleration), plus the weight (mass) both parts creating a big momentum (Force=mass\u00d7acceleration) over the vehicle, with the result, that the operator jams on the brakes causing undue strain on the truck and the possibility of an accident. In the last five or so decades the traffic control system has been changed dramatically with new incursions and adaptations for the vehicular traffic system to find a better solutions to the problem which is caused by the increasing number of vehicles and the increment of the velocity they travel. Recently new traffic signals have been installed to help drivers to make their driving more safe, comfortable and stress less; New signs are being installed, like ones hanging up at front or to the side of the road, even painted inscriptions and lines on the road itself, as well, bigger sign, more explicit, colorful, flashier, and lately electric/electronic lighted signs, causing a rapid transformation over the vehicular landscape. Noticeable transformation to the traffic control system, in which has been paying special attention, are the traffic light signal at the road intersections, new highlighted elements, bright LED's lights, sensor, speed cameras, emergency vehicle alarms, pedestrian crossing auxiliary elements, handicap components, etc. But the semaphore (traffic light) the apparatus itself, has not suffered any relevant changes , it has remained identically as it was originally designed about a century ago, with three basic colors lights in a line formation (Red, Amber and Green) from top to bottom in this specific order; In which at the beginning used to work perfectly due to the slow speed of vehicles, this provides to the driver a much longer time to react to a suddenly event, and came with a solution to avoid any incident that could be occur, but since the speed of vehicles has increased it dramatically compared with the speed of some decades ago, the reaction time has been decreased it as well (The higher the speed, the lower the reaction time); Making those traffic lights apparatus less practical and inadequate day after day, and consequently putting the conductors of the vehicles at the moment of passing these road intersections, in a harsh and stressful position, worries and taking care not to violated any traffic law, due to the traffic light doesn't provide any extra warning signal (besides amber light) to alert an operator about any imminent light color change, that could help the driver, with time in advance, to reduce the speed of his/her vehicle gradually and safe, as well given him/her an extra time to avoid any inconvenient incident. It is an object of this invention to provide an improved concept for traffic control which avoids the above mentioned objections, and, in particular, which gives an indication or warning of an imminent light change in terms of a vehicle speed. Another object is to provide a new and useful concept for providing a car operator with anticipated information relative to an imminent light change when he/she is driving at certain speed at a substantial distance from the street intersection so that the decision of whether the vehicle speed should be reduced or maintained can be made at convenient time.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA new and useful system, method and system components are provided, for helping a vehicle operator to ease his/her driving, when is driving at certain speed and is approaching from at a substantial distance to a street intersection so that the decision of whether the vehicle speed should be reduced or maintained can be made at convenient time. By providing with anticipated information relative to an imminent light change, a vehicle operator will have the sufficient time to react calmly to any situation that could put at risk his/her own integrity and/or the integrity of some others. This new and improved traffic control system is designed in a manner that is efficient and effective, in a manner that is useful and helpful, in a manner that is designed in a compact and low profile design; It is designed the best and the most simple way to provide and give to a vehicle operator a better, safely, relaxing and a pleasant driving."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A traffic light structure comprising a light arrangement of 3 concentric light arrays, an inner array, an outer array and an intermediate array located between the inner and outer arrays, one of the inner and outer arrays comprising a red light array and the other of the inner and outer arrays comprising a green light array, the intermediate array comprising an amber light array; and a light control device that illuminates the concentric light arrays in a sequence in which the green light array is illuminated followed by at least a portion of the amber light array and then followed by at least a portion of the red light array, whereby a driver approaching the light structure is given a visual alert of the impending illumination of the red light array.\n\n2. The traffic light structure of claim 1, wherein each of the outer, inner and intermediate arrays comprises concentric arrays of LED lights, each concentric array of LED lights comprising the color LED lights of the respective color array of the associated red, green and amber arrays.\n\n3. The traffic light structure of claim 2, wherein each of the outer, inner and intermediate arrays comprises a substrate carrying the concentric arrays of LED lights of the associated red, green and amber arrays.\n\n4. The traffic light structure of claim 3, wherein the substrates carrying the concentric arrays of LED lights are located in a substantially spherical enclosure with a translucent front that enables the light structure to be viewed there through.\n\n5. The traffic light structure of claim 4, wherein the control device is located in the substantially spherical enclosure and is configured to control the illumination of the concentric arrays of LED lights in a predetermined sequence.\n\n6. The traffic light structure of claim 5, wherein the array of LED lights forming the outer array are green LEDs, and the array of LED lights forming the inner array are red LEDs.\n\n7. The traffic light structure of claim 5, wherein an annular brim is located at the perimeter of each substrate carrying an array of LED lights.\n\n8. A traffic light structure comprising:\na) a light arrangement of 3 concentric light arrays having an inner array of red lights, an outer array of green lights, and an intermediate array of amber lights; and,\nb) a light control device that causes illumination of the concentric light arrays in a sequence in which the outer light array is illuminated followed by at least a portion of the intermediate light array, and then followed by at least a portion of the inner light array.\n\n9. The traffic light structure of claim 8, wherein each of the outer, inner and intermediate arrays comprises at least three concentric circles of lights.\n\n10. The traffic light structure of claim 9, wherein each of the outer, inner and intermediate arrays comprises a substrate carrying concentric arrays of LED lights of the associated red, green and amber arrays.\n\n11. The traffic light structure of claim 9, further including a spherical enclosure with a translucent front that enables the light arrangement to be viewed therethrough.\n\n12. The traffic light structure of claim 11, wherein the light control device is located in the substantially spherical enclosure and is configured to control the illumination of the concentric arrays of LED lights in a predetermined sequence.\n\n13. The traffic light structure of claim 8, further including a first annular brim positioned between the inner and intermediate array of lights, a second annular brim positioned between the intermediate and outer array of lights, and a third annular brim located at an external periphery of the outer array of lights.\n\n14. A light for a traffic signal comprising:\na) a circularly shaped center primary light;\nb) a secondary light totally encircling the primary light; and,\nc) a tertiary light totally encircling the secondary light.\n\n15. The light for a traffic signal according to claim 14, further including a spherical enclosure with a translucent front that enables the primary, secondary, and tertiary lights to be viewed therethrough.\n\n16. The light for a traffic signal according to claim 15, wherein each of the primary, secondary, an tertiary lights include arrays of LED lights.\n\n17. The light for a traffic signal according to claim 16, wherein the arrays of LED lights are chosen from a group consisting of red, green and amber."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Rolling Bearing\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn recent years, in accordance with requirements for the miniaturization, weight saving, and improvement of calmness of automobiles, efforts have been made for miniaturization, weight saving, and tight-sealability in engine rooms of electrical components and auxiliary machine parts thereof. On the other hand, the requirements of high output and high efficiency have been increased for the performances of the devices, and in electrical components and an auxiliary machine in an engine room, a means for making up for the decrease in the output that arises in accordance with miniaturization by rotating at a high-speed is adopted. As examples of the rolling bearing for electrical components/auxiliary machines for automobiles, general description will be given below of a rolling bearing for fan coupling devices, a rolling bearing for automobile alternators, and a rolling bearing for idler pulleys. A fan coupling device for automobiles is a device provided with a housing including a viscous fluid enclosed therein and a blast fan attached to the outer periphery surface and with a rotor that is directly linked to an engine. In this device, the housing is connected to the engine via a bearing, which performs optimal blasting corresponding to the temperature of the engine by controlling the driving torque transmission amount from the engine and the rotation number of the fan by utilizing the shear resistance of the viscous fluid which increases or decreases in response to the atmospheric temperature. Therefore, a rolling bearing for fan coupling devices requires durability by which the rolling bearing can withstand extremely severe environments such as unevenness of rotation such that the rotation number varies from 1,000 rpm to 10,000 rpm in accordance with the variation of the engine temperature, and high-speed rotation at 10,000 rpm or more under a high temperature of 180\u00b0 C. or more during high-speed operation in summer. An alternator for automobiles has functions to generate electrical power by receiving the rotation of an engine with a belt to thereby supply an electrical power to an electrical load of a vehicle, and to charge a battery. Furthermore, an idler pulley for automobiles is used as a belt tensioner for a driving belt that transmits the rotation of an engine to an auxiliary machine of an automobile, and has a function as a pulley for providing tension force as a tensioner to a belt in the case when the distance between axes is fixed, and a function as an idler that is used for changing the running direction of the belt or for avoiding obstacles to thereby decrease the inner volume of an engine room. The alternator for automobiles and the idler pulley for automobiles also require durability by which the alternator or idler pulley can withstand an extremely severe environment of high-speed rotation at 10,000 rpm or more under a high temperature of 180\u00b0 C. or more. For the lubrication of the rolling bearings thereof, a grease is mainly used. However, when the conditions for use become severe, such as rapid acceleration and deceleration, high temperature and high-speed rotation, specific peeling associated with white tissue change may occur on a rolling surface of a rolling bearing at an early stage. This specific peeling is considered to be hydrogen brittleness, which is a breaking phenomenon generated from a relatively shallow part on the surface of a rolling surface, and is caused by hydrogen generated by the decomposition of the grease, and the like, unlike peeling from the inside of a rolling surface generally caused by metal fatigue. For example, it is considered that peeling at an early stage due to hydrogen brittleness is caused by the fact that the grease is decomposed to generate hydrogen, and the hydrogen enters the steel of a rolling bearing. Since hydrogen significantly decreases the fatigue strength of steel, even under a condition in which contacting elements are lubricated by elastic fluid lubrication in which the elements are separated by an oil film, cracks generate around the interior of a rolling surface layer at which an alternating shear stress becomes the largest, and the cracks transmit to lead peeling at an early stage.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA rolling bearing that can prevent peeling on a surface of an iron-based metal member by hydrogen brittleness even under a severe environment is provided. The rolling bearing 1 has plural bearing elements formed of an iron-based metal, and a lubricant composition 7 that lubricates metal contact surfaces of the respective bearing elements, the lubricant composition 7 is a grease containing a base oil and alkanolamine and being free of alkali metal salts and alkaline earth metal salts of inorganic acids, the base oil is at least one oil selected from alkyl diphenyl ether oils, poly-\u03b1-olefin oils and ester oils, and the alkanolamine is contained by 0.1 to 10 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the total amount of the base oil and a thickener."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A rolling bearing comprising a plurality of bearing elements formed of an iron-based metal, and a lubricant composition that lubricates metal contact surfaces of the respective bearing elements,\nwherein the lubricant composition is a grease consisting of a base oil, diethanolamine,\na thickener,\na zinc dithiophosphate, and\nan amine-based antioxidant,\nwherein the grease is free of alkali metal salts and alkaline earth metal salts of inorganic acids,\nwherein the base oil is (A) an oil containing an alkyl diphenyl ether by 25% by weight or more with respect to the entirety of the base oil, or (B) an oil containing an ester oil by 25% by weight or more with respect to the entirety of the base oil,\nwherein the thickener contains at least one urea compound selected from aliphatic diurea compounds, alicyclic diurea compounds, and\nwherein diethanolamine is contained by 0.1 to 10 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the total amount of the base oil and the thickener.\n\n2. The rolling bearing according to claim 1, wherein the rolling bearing is a bearing for an electrical component/an auxiliary machine for automobiles, which rotatably supports a rotation axis that is rotated and driven by output of an engine on a static element.\n\n3. The rolling bearing according to claim 2, wherein the base oil contains a poly-\u03b1-olefin oil.\n\n4. The rolling bearing according to claim 2, wherein the thickener is an alicyclic diurea compound."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Integrated Circuit Component Shielding\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nElectromagnetic interference (EMI) may interfere with the performance of integrated circuit (IC) devices. Existing techniques to address conductive EMI include separate power supplies, capacitive filtering, and use of star connectivity arrangements, for example. Existing techniques to address radiative EMI include spatial separation, insertion of substrate or deep well barriers, or insertion of grounded metal barriers between blocks, for example. None of these techniques may sufficiently address the challenges posed by EMI such as, for example, conductive radiation that is not constrained to planar sources.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nEmbodiments of shielding apparatuses are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a shielding apparatus may include first and second conductive regions and a plurality of vias disposed between the first and second conductive regions. The first and second conductive regions and the plurality of vias may surround an integrated circuit (IC) component and individual vias of the plurality of vias are spaced relative to one another to shield incoming or outgoing electromagnetic interference (EMI). Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of shielding an integrated circuit (IC) component, comprising:\nforming a conductive region;\nforming a plurality of vias;\nforming an IC component in a volume surrounded by the plurality of vias, wherein individual vias of the plurality of vias are spaced relative to one another to shield incoming or outgoing electromagnetic interference (EMI); and\nforming another conductive region such that the IC component and the plurality of vias are disposed between the conductive regions.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the plurality of vias comprises forming the plurality of vias in two or more via layers separated by one or more metal layers.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nforming a through silicon connection (TSC) extending through the conductive region to couple with the IC component.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vias comprises an outer ring of vias and an inner ring of vias.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the plurality of vias are arranged in a ring.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the conductive region includes forming the conductive region in a metal stack formed on an active side of an IC die.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the conductive region includes forming the conductive region in a semiconductor portion of an IC die.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the conductive region includes forming the conductive region in a redistribution layer between two IC dies.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the conductive region includes forming the conductive region in a metal stack formed on an inactive side of an IC die.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the vias of the plurality of vias extend from the conductive region."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Instrument Panel For A Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to an instrument panel for a vehicle. 2. Description of the Background Art An an instrument panel is typically mounted on a transverse mounting bar which extends in a transverse direction of a vehicle between opposing A-pillar gussets of a vehicle body. From DE 10 2009 058 688 A1, which is incorporated herein by reference, a class-specific instrument panel for a vehicle is known. This has an instrument panel upper part, having an airbag assembly integrated on the passenger side. The airbag assembly has a frame-shaped firing channel wall delimiting the firing channel. The firing channel is covered by an airbag cover on its airbag exit side. At the opposing side, an airbag module is mounted which among other things can comprise the airbag and a gas generator. The firing channel wall with the attached airbag module is molded at the bottom side of the instrument panel upper part. In DE 10 2009 058 688 A1, the firing channel wall is supported via a fixing tab on the transverse mounting bar. In this way, the weight force of the airbag assembly is not supported solely by the instrument panel upper part, but is also carried by the transverse mounting bar. In the conventional art, when temperatures in a vehicle are high, in particular in hot climates, without additional support on the transverse mounting bar there is a danger of material flow in the upper part of the instrument panel, causing the contour of the firing channel wall to appear on the display of the instrument panel. Also, attaching the assembly to the transverse mounting bar helps prevent an operational unfolding of the airbag assembly up into the resonance range. Also, supplying the abovementioned mounting tab for support of the airbag assembly on the transverse mounting bar is coupled with an increase in the component weight as well as an increased component cost.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn instrument panel for a vehicle, having an instrument panel upper part and a frame-like basic body, which can be mounted on a transverse mounting bar of the vehicle body, which basic body has receptacles for equipping with functional elements, for example radio, glove box, etc., and delimits at least one air channel of a vehicle ventilation system, in particular a defrost channel extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle along the windshield, wherein on the passenger side of the instrument panel an airbag arrangement is integrated which has a firing channel reaching to the instrument panel upper part and an airbag module mounted on a firing channel wall. According to the invention the basic body has at least one supporting section on which the firing channel wall is supported."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An instrument panel for a vehicle, comprising:\nan instrument panel upper part;\na frame basic body that is mountable on a transverse mounting bar of the vehicle, the frame basic body has receptacles for receiving functional elements and delimits at least one air channel of a vehicle ventilation system extending in a transverse direction of the vehicle along a windshield;\nan airbag assembly integrated on a passenger side of the instrument panel, which has a firing channel reaching to the instrument panel upper part and an airbag module mounted on firing channel walls, the airbag module having two housing flanges; and\nat least one supporting section provided on the frame basic body to which the firing channel walls are supported,\nwherein a first firing channel wall is adapted to be brought into contact with a first supporting section of the frame basic body in a loose and/or vibration free manner with a linear contact, and\nwherein a second and a third firing channel wall, at ends facing away from the instrument panel upper part, each merge into at least one outwardly angled mounting leg to which a respective one of the housing flanges of the airbag module is attached via a connection or a threaded connection.\n\n2. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein a second and a third supporting section are each a basic body flange, wherein each of the basic body flanges are attached to a respective one of the firing channel wall mounting legs or are each clamped between a respective one of the firing channel wall mounting legs and a respective housing flange of the airbag module.\n\n3. The instrument panel according to claim 2, wherein together, the first, second and third supporting sections form a support base for the firing channel wall.\n\n4. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the firing channel and an airbag cover covering the firing channel are integrally formed components of a same material of the instrument panel upper part.\n\n5. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the instrument panel upper part is a foam carrier, which forms a multilayer structure with a foam layer disposed thereupon and a decorative skin on a visible side.\n\n6. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the first firing channel wall is an anterior firing channel wall and wherein the first supporting section supports the anterior firing channel wall of the firing channel viewed in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle.\n\n7. The instrument panel according to claim 6, wherein the second and the third firing channel walls are each lateral firing channel walls and wherein a second and a third supporting section each supports one of the lateral firing channel walls of the firing channel viewed in the transverse direction of the vehicle.\n\n8. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the at least one air channel of the vehicle ventilation system is a defrost channel.\n\n9. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the functional elements include a radio, a glove box, speedometer, and/or air vent.\n\n10. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein a second and a third supporting section of the frame basic body are each a basic body flange, wherein each of the basic body flanges are clamped between a respective one of the firing channel wall mounting legs and a respective housing flange of the airbag module.\n\n11. The instrument panel according to claim 1, wherein the frame basic body surrounds an exterior of the firing channel walls."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Portable Furniture Power Outlet\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. One of the most ubiquitous pieces of furniture found in virtually every home across the globe is a sofa or couch. Sofas typically consist of an upholstered elongated structure having a plurality of cushions that are arranged side-by-side along the length thereof. These cushions typically defining individual seats for the sofa occupants. Owing to recent advancements in technology, the number of portable electronic devices such as smartphones, music players, tablets and laptop computers, for example, has grown exponentially. As such, many individuals routinely utilize their electronic devices while sitting on a sofa. Unfortunately, when the power level of the device is low or exhausted, it becomes it necessary for the user to find a power outlet to charge their device. Although virtually all residential buildings have at least one AC power wall outlet in each room, the outlets are often hidden by furniture or located some distance from where the user on the couch is seated. When this situation occurs, the user must stretch their power charging cord from their device to the outlet, or utilize an extension cord to do the same. Although this procedure satisfies the need to provide power to their electronic device, the resulting mess of cords is aesthetically unpleasing, and can be dangerous, as the exposed wires present a tripping hazard to anyone walking near the sofa. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a portable power outlet for furniture that can be removably positioned along or between the cushions, in order to provide a convenient location for charging portable electronic devices, and without suffering from the drawbacks described above.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA portable furniture power outlet includes a power module having one or more AC receptacles and DC connector ports. A transformer supplies DC power to the DC connector ports at different voltages and provides wireless device charging. An elongated fin member extends downward from the power module and includes a shape and size for being positioned between two cushions in either a vertical or horizontal orientation. The fin member is secured to the power module by a two axis hinge that allows the power module to spin and pivot with respect to the fin member."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A portable outlet device for furniture, comprising:\na power module main body having a top wall, a bottom wall and a plurality of upstanding walls defining an internal cavity;\none or more power receptacles that are disposed along the power module main body;\na power cord having a plug along a distal end thereof, said power cord being in communication with the power module; and\nan elongated fin member that extends longitudinally from the bottom wall of the power module, said fin member comprising a unitary wedge-shaped body having a shape and size that is configured to be removably secured between two cushions of a piece of furniture.\n\n2. The device of claim 1, wherein the elongated fin member is pivotally secured to the power module via a connector.\n\n3. The device of claim 2, wherein the connector is configured to rotate the power module 360 degrees horizontally with respect to the elongated fin member.\n\n4. The device of claim 2, wherein the connector is configured to pivot the power module across a vertical axis, with respect to the elongated fin member.\n\n5. The device of claim 2, wherein the connector includes a dual axis hinge that is configured to rotate the power module 360 degrees horizontally with respect to the elongated fin member; and\npivot the power module across a vertical axis, with respect to the elongated fin member.\n\n6. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more power receptacles includes an A/C power receptacle or a DC connector port that are disposed along the power module main body.\n\n7. The device of claim 6, wherein each of the one or more power receptacles comprises:\na plurality of AC receptacles and a plurality of DC connector ports that are positioned along the power module main body.\n\n8. The device of claim 6, further comprising:\na transformer that is positioned within the internal cavity, said transformer functioning to change an AC input voltage to a plurality of different output DC voltages.\n\n9. The device of claim 8, wherein the transformer is configured to sense a voltage requirement of an electronic device that is plugged into one of the plurality of DC connector ports and to automatically provide the required voltage to the one DC connector port.\n\n10. The device of claim 8, wherein the transformer is further configured to perform wireless charging of a portable electronic device.\n\n11. The device of claim 1, further comprising:\na plurality of ridges that are positioned along one or both of a first and second side surfaces of the body of the elongated fin member.\n\n12. The device of claim 1, wherein the body of the elongated fin member includes a central bend, said bend forming a generally right angle shape that is suitable for being removably positioned vertically along two sides of a cushion at a corner of the furniture.\n\n13. The device of claim 1, further comprising:\nan upstanding lip that is disposed along one edge of the top wall.\n\n14. The device of claim 11, wherein the plurality of ridges are constructed from rubber and are configured to prevent shifting of the elongated fin when in contact with a cushion of the furniture.\n\n15. The device of claim 1, wherein the wedge-shaped body of the elongated fin member further comprises:\na top end having a first cross dimensional thickness; and\na bottom end having a second cross dimensional thickness.\n\n16. The device of claim 15, wherein the first cross dimensional thickness is greater than the second cross dimensional thickness.\n\n17. The device of claim 1, further comprising:\na high friction material that is positioned along at least one of the power module and the elongated unitary fin member, said material being configured to prevent shifting of the elongated fin when in contact with a cushion of the furniture.\n\n18. A portable outlet device for furniture, comprising:\na power module main body having a top wall, a bottom wall and a plurality of upstanding walls defining an internal cavity;\none or more power receptacles that are disposed along the power module main body;\na power cord having a plug along a distal end thereof, said power cord being in communication with the power module; and\nan elongated fin member that extends longitudinally from the bottom wall of the power module, said fin member including a body having a plurality of ridges that are positioned along one or both of a first and second side surface, for engaging at least one cushion of the furniture so as to removably position the power module adjacent thereto,\nwherein the plurality of ridges are constructed from rubber and are configured to prevent shifting of the elongated fin when in contact with the at least cushion of the furniture."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Pixel Unit And Array Subsrtate\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of display technology, and in particular to a pixel unit and an array substrate. 2. The Related Arts Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have a variety of advantages, such as high brightness, high contrast, better perception of layering, vivid colors, thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and are thus widely used in for example liquid crystal televisions, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, computer monitors, and notebook computer screens, taking a leading position in the field of flat panel displays. A liquid crystal display panel is generally made up of a color filter (CF) substrate, a thin-film transistor (TFT) array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer between the two substrates and the operation principle is that a drive voltage is applied to the two glass substrates to control liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer to rotate in order to refract out light from a backlight module to generate an image. Based on the way of orientating liquid crystal, the liquid crystal display panels of the main stream market can be classified as the following types: vertical alignment (VA), twisted nematic (TN) or super twisted nematic (STN), in-plane switching (IPS), and fringe field switching (FFS). In the FFS type, an electric field that is generally parallel to the substrates is applied to have the liquid crystal molecules rotated in a plane that is parallel to the substrates. To improve color shifting in a liquid crystal display panel, multi-domain techniques are commonly used, where a pixel is divided into multiple areas and the directions in which the liquid crystal of each area tilts upon application of an electric voltage is different so that the visual effect observed from all directions would be uniform and consistent. There are many ways to realize the multi-domain technology. For a conventional FFS liquid crystal display panel, a pixel unit is generally composed of two display domains, as illustrated in FIG. 1 , which is a schematic view showing a conventional pixel unit. The pixel unit comprises a pixel electrode 140 , a data line 130 located leftward of the pixel electrode 140 , and a gate line 110 located above the pixel electrode 140 , wherein the pixel electrode 140 comprises two branch electrodes 141 that are connected to each other at a predetermined angle. One of the branch electrodes 141 has an end that is connected through a via 150 to a drain electrode of a thin-film transistor (TFT). In a pixel unit having such a structure, the data line 130 that is located leftward of the pixel electrode 140 is generally made up of two inclined sections 130 that are respectively parallel to the two branch electrode 141 . The two inclined sections 131 define an apex 132 at the connection thereof. In a practical manufacturing process, a liquid crystal display panel is often conveyed by being placed on a machine so that a support pin that supports the liquid crystal display panel on the machine often rubs the liquid crystal display panel to generate static electricity. The static electricity is readily conducted to the apex 132 of the data line 130 and thus causes electrostatic damage of wiring of the liquid crystal display panel thereby resulting in damage of the liquid crystal display panel.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides a pixel unit and an array substrate. The pixel electrode includes four branch sections to divide the pixel zone into four display domains, helping improve the large angle color shifting problem of a display product and also simplifying the structure of the pixel electrode and making the manufacturing process simple, and facilitating the production of large-size wide-angle display products. The array substrate of the present invention is composed, in the horizontal direction, of multiple pixel units. The pixel units each include a pixel electrode that includes four branch sections to divide the pixel zone into four display domains, helping improve the large angle color shifting problem of a display product, and the pixel electrode has a simple structure to simplify the manufacturing process and facilitate the production of large-size wide-angle display products."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A pixel unit, comprising a pixel zone that comprises two long edges opposite to each other and two short edges respectively connected to the two long edges, a pixel electrode arranged at a center of the pixel zone, a data line arranged alone one of the long edges of the pixel zone, and a gate line perpendicular to the data line and extending through the pixel electrode;\nthe pixel electrode comprising a connection section located at a center thereof and four branch sections extending from the connection section to a perimeter of the pixel zone, the four branch sections being symmetric, in a top-bottom direction and a left-right direction, with respect to straight lines that extend through the connection section and are respectively parallel to the long edges and the short edges of the pixel zone, the branch sections each starting from the connection section, then extending in a direction, which is parallel to the long edges of the pixel zone, toward the short edges of the pixel zone, and further extending toward the long edges of the pixel zone at a location close to the short edges of the pixel zone, wherein each of the branch sections comprises an electrode strip that is of a closed form having a starting point and an ending point both coincident with the connection section.\n\n2. The pixel unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrode strip comprises a smooth curve.\n\n3. The pixel unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrode strip comprises a plurality of linear segments, the plurality of linear segments comprising a first slope segment starting from the connection section, a first vertical segment connected to a distal end of the first slope segment and extending toward one of the short edges of the pixel zone, a second slope segment connected to a distal end of the first vertical segment and extending toward one of the long edges of the pixel zone, a first horizontal segment connected to a distal end of the second slope segment and parallel to the short edges of the pixel zone, a third slope segment connected to a distal end of the first horizontal segment and parallel to the second slope segment, a second vertical segment connected to a distal end of the third slope segment and parallel to the first vertical segment, and a fourth slope segment connecting the second vertical segment to the connection section.\n\n4. An array substrate, comprising, in a vertical direction, a backing plate, a light-shielding layer arranged on the backing plate, a buffer layer arranged on the light-shielding layer and the backing plate, a poly-silicon layer arranged on the buffer layer, a gate insulation layer arranged on the poly-silicon layer, a gate electrode and a gate line arranged on the gate insulation layer, an inter-layer insulation layer arranged on the gate electrode and the gate insulation layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a data line arranged on the inter-layer insulation layer, a planarization layer arranged on the source electrode, the drain electrode, and the inter-layer insulation layer, a common electrode arranged on the planarization layer, a passivation layer arranged on the common electrode, and a pixel electrode arranged on the passivation layer;\nthe array substrate being divided, in a horizontal direction, into multiple pixel zones, each of the pixel zones comprising a pixel electrode, the pixel zone comprising two long edges that are opposite to each other and two short edges respectively connected to the two long edges, the data line being arranged, in the horizontal direction, along one of the long edges of the pixel zone, the gate line being arranged, in the horizontal direction, to be perpendicular to the data line and extending through the pixel electrode;\nthe pixel electrode comprising a connection section located at a center thereof and four branch sections extending from the connection section to a perimeter of the pixel zone, the four branch sections being symmetric, in a top-bottom direction and a left-right direction, with respect to straight lines that extend through the connection section and are respectively parallel to the long edges and the short edges of the pixel zone, the branch sections each starting from the connection section, then extending in a direction, which is parallel to the long edges of the pixel zone, toward the short edges of the pixel zone, and further extending toward the long edges of the pixel zone at a location close to the short edges of the pixel zone, wherein each of the branch sections comprises an electrode strip that is of a closed form having a starting point and an ending point both coincident with the connection section.\n\n5. The array substrate as claimed in claim 4, wherein the electrode strip comprises a smooth curve.\n\n6. The array substrate as claimed in claim 4, wherein the electrode strip comprises a plurality of linear segments, the plurality of linear segments comprising a first slope segment starting from the connection section, a first vertical segment connected to a distal end of the first slope segment and extending toward one of the short edges of the pixel zone, a second slope segment connected to a distal end of the first vertical segment and extending toward one of the long edges of the pixel zone, a first horizontal segment connected to a distal end of the second slope segment and parallel to the short edges of the pixel zone, a third slope segment connected to a distal end of the first horizontal segment and parallel to the second slope segment, a second vertical segment connected to a distal end of the third slope segment and parallel to the first vertical segment, and a fourth slope segment connecting the second vertical segment to the connection section.\n\n7. The array substrate as claimed in claim 4, wherein the inter-layer insulation layer and the gate insulation layer comprise first vias formed therein to respectively correspond to two ends of the poly-silicon layer and the source electrode and the drain electrode are respectively connected, through the first vias, to the poly-silicon layer.\n\n8. The array substrate as claimed in claim 4, wherein the planarization layer comprises a second via formed therein to correspond to the drain electrode, the connection section of the pixel electrode being arranged in the second via and is connected to the drain electrode that is located under the second via.\n\n9. The array substrate as claimed in claim 4, wherein the array substrate is applicable to a fringe field switching (FFS) liquid crystal display panel.\n\n10. The array substrate as claimed in claim 4, wherein the common electrode and the pixel electrode are each formed of a material comprising indium tin oxide (ITO).\n\n11. An array substrate, comprising, in a vertical direction, a backing plate, a light-shielding layer arranged on the backing plate, a buffer layer arranged on the light-shielding layer and the backing plate, a poly-silicon layer arranged on the buffer layer, a gate insulation layer arranged on the poly-silicon layer, a gate electrode and a gate line arranged on the gate insulation layer, an inter-layer insulation layer arranged on the gate electrode and the gate insulation layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a data line arranged on the inter-layer insulation layer, a planarization layer arranged on the source electrode, the drain electrode, and the inter-layer insulation layer, a common electrode arranged on the planarization layer, a passivation layer arranged on the common electrode, and a pixel electrode arranged on the passivation layer;\nthe array substrate being divided, in a horizontal direction, into multiple pixel zones, each of the pixel zones comprising a pixel electrode, the pixel zone comprising two long edges that are opposite to each other and two short edges respectively connected to the two long edges, the data line being arranged, in the horizontal direction, along one of the long edges of the pixel zone, the gate line being arranged, in the horizontal direction, to be perpendicular to the data line and extending through the pixel electrode;\nthe pixel electrode comprising a connection section located at a center thereof and four branch sections extending from the connection section to a perimeter of the pixel zone, the four branch sections being symmetric, in a top-bottom direction and a left-right direction, with respect to straight lines that extend through the connection section and are respectively parallel to the long edges and the short edges of the pixel zone, the branch sections each starting from the connection section, then extending in a direction, which is parallel to the long edges of the pixel zone, toward the short edges of the pixel zone, and further extending toward the long edges of the pixel zone at a location close to the short edges of the pixel zone, wherein each of the branch sections comprises an electrode strip that is of a closed form having a starting point and an ending point both coincident with the connection section;\nwherein the inter-layer insulation layer and the gate insulation layer comprise first vias formed therein to respectively correspond to two ends of the poly-silicon layer and the source electrode and the drain electrode are respectively connected, through the first vias, to the poly-silicon layer;\nwherein the planarization layer comprises a second via formed therein to correspond to the drain electrode, the connection section of the pixel electrode being arranged in the second via and is connected to the drain electrode that is located under the second via;\nwherein the array substrate is applicable to a fringe field switching (FFS) liquid crystal display panel; and\nwherein the common electrode and the pixel electrode are each formed of a material comprising indium tin oxide (ITO).\n\n12. The array substrate as claimed in claim 11, wherein the electrode strip comprises a smooth curve.\n\n13. The array substrate as claimed in claim 11, wherein the electrode strip comprises a plurality of linear segments, the plurality of linear segments comprising a first slope segment starting from the connection section, a first vertical segment connected to a distal end of the first slope segment and extending toward one of the short edges of the pixel zone, a second slope segment connected to a distal end of the first vertical segment and extending toward one of the long edges of the pixel zone, a first horizontal segment connected to a distal end of the second slope segment and parallel to the short edges of the pixel zone, a third slope segment connected to a distal end of the first horizontal segment and parallel to the second slope segment, a second vertical segment connected to a distal end of the third slope segment and parallel to the first vertical segment, and a fourth slope segment connecting the second vertical segment to the connection section."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Controlling Traffic Transmissions To Manage Cellular Radio Resource Utilization\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA wireless communication system can be utilized to provide wireless access to various communication services (e.g., voice, video, data, messaging, content broadcast, etc.) for users of the system. Wireless communication systems can operate according to a variety of network specifications and/or standards, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). These specifications and/or standards use different modulation techniques, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Multi-Carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA), Single-Carrier CDMA (SC-CDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OF-DMA), Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and so on. Users can use communication devices (e.g., mobile phone, electronic tablet or pad, etc.) to access a wireless communication network to, for example, perceive (e.g., watch and/or listen to) a program being streamed to the communication device. In wireless communication networks (e.g., cellular networks), when a program is being streamed, continuously streaming traffic of the program at a constant low bitrate can cause significant inefficiencies in resource utilization, as the communication device can be constantly using the wireless communication channel (e.g., dedicated channel (DCH)), whose available bandwidth can be significantly underutilized due to the relatively low constant-bitrate streaming. Another issue relating to wireless communications to communication devices involves image sizes in relation to high-resolution images. Different communication devices can have different screen dimensions. When content that includes a visual image is being downloaded from a server to a communication device, the visual image may have a relatively high resolution, which can result in transmission of a relatively large amount of data to the communication device. However, the communication device receiving the content, including the high-resolution visual image, may have a relatively small screen size. As a result, transmission of the relatively large amount of data representing the high-resolution visual image can be wasteful and unnecessary, since the screen size of the communication device is too small to fully display the high-resolution visual image in its original size. The above-described description is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of wireless communication networks, and is not intended to be exhaustive.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nTechniques control traffic transmissions to manage radio resource utilization. When content is being streamed to user equipment (UE) and is at least initially intended to be streamed in real time at a constant bitrate, a communication management component can determine whether the content being transmitted to the UE can be delayed, instead of being transmitted in real time. In response to determining that the content can be delayed, the communication management component can facilitate buffering data and periodically streaming the data to the UE in data bursts to reduce use of UE power and radio resources. When transmitting a visual image to a UE, the communication management component can adjust resolution of a visual image to correspond to screen dimensions of the UE based on information indicating screen dimensions of the UE that can be received from the UE."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system, comprising:\na processor; and\na memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:\nin connection with content that is initially scheduled to be communicated using a continuous stream at a defined bitrate, determining whether it is permissible for the content to be received by a device using separate data bursts comprising respective portions of the content without using the continuous stream at the defined bitrate, wherein the separate data bursts comprises a first separate data burst comprising a first portion of the content and a second separate data burst comprising a second portion of the content; and\nto facilitate the determining whether the content is permitted to be received by the device using the separate data bursts, determining whether a scheduled data transfer start time for communication of the second portion of the content is able to be adjusted to delay the communication of the second portion of the content with the second separate data burst for a defined amount of time after communication of the first portion of the content with the first separate data burst based on a jitter parameter associated with the second portion of the content, wherein the jitter parameter indicates an amount of time delay from the scheduled data transfer start time that is permitted.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:\nin response to determining the content is permitted to be received by the device using the separate data bursts, receiving the respective portions of the content in respective separate data bursts of the separate data bursts.\n\n3. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the scheduled data transfer start time for the communication of the second portion of the content is able to be adjusted to delay the communication of the second portion of the content with the second separate data burst for the defined amount of time after the communication of the first portion of the content with the first separate data burst further comprises determining whether the scheduled data transfer start time for the communication of the second portion of the content is able to be adjusted to delay the communication of the second portion of the content with the second separate data burst for the defined amount of time after the communication of the first portion of the content with the first separate data burst based on the jitter parameter and a defined traffic communication criterion relating to a subscription associated with the content.\n\n4. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:\ndetermining that the content is scheduled to be streamed to the device using the continuous stream at the defined bitrate;\ndetermining that a defined amount of delay of reception of the content by the device is permissible; and\nin response to the defined amount of delay being determined to be permissible, receiving the respective portions of the content via respective data transfers as part of the respective separate data bursts of the separate data bursts.\n\n5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling a transmission of respective data transfers of the respective portions of the content with a second device that is to provide the respective portions of the content.\n\n6. The system of claim 5, wherein the scheduling of the transmission of the respective data transfers comprises scheduling transmission of a first data transfer of the respective data transfers from the second device to occur within a specified amount of time of transmission of a second data transfer associated with different content from a third device to facilitate reception of the first data transfer and the second data transfer in a same separate data burst of the separate data bursts.\n\n7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:\ntransmitting information indicative of a display characteristic associated with the device;\nreceiving a visual image that has been modified based on the display characteristic associated with the device, wherein the visual image is received as part of a portion of the respective portions of the content; and\nproviding the visual image to a display screen of the device that is associated with the display characteristic to facilitate presentation of the visual image by the display screen.\n\n8. The system of claim 7, wherein the display characteristic comprises information indicative of a display screen dimension associated with the device.\n\n9. A method, comprising:\nin connection with content that is initially set to be communicated using a continuous stream at a specified bitrate, determining, by a system comprising a processor, whether the content is approved to be received by a device using individual data bursts that comprise individual portions of the content as an alternative to the content being received by the device using the continuous stream at the specified bitrate, wherein the individual data bursts comprise a first individual data burst comprising a first portion of the content and a second individual data burst comprising a second portion of the content; and\nto facilitate the determining whether the content is approved to be received by the device using the individual data bursts, determining, by the system, whether an indicated data transfer start time for communication of the second portion of the content to the device is able to be modified to delay the communication of the second portion of the content with the second individual data burst for a defined amount of time after communication of the first portion of the content, as part of the first individual data burst, to the device based on a jitter parameter associated with the second portion of the content, wherein the jitter parameter indicates an amount of time deviation from the indicated data transfer start time that is acceptable.\n\n10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:\nin response to determining that the content is approved to be received by the device using the individual data bursts, receiving, by the system, the individual portions of the content via the individual data bursts.\n\n11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:\ndetermining, by the system, that the content is scheduled to be streamed to the device using the continuous stream at the specified bitrate;\ndetermining, by the system, that a specified amount of delay of reception of the content by the device satisfies a condition; and\nin response to the determining that the specified amount of delay satisfies the condition, receiving, by the system, the individual portions of the content via the individual data bursts.\n\n12. The method of claim 9, wherein the device is a first device, and wherein the method further comprises:\nscheduling, by the system, communication of individual data transfers of the individual portions of the content with a second device that is to communicate the individual portions of the content to the first device.\n\n13. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining whether the indicated data transfer start time for the communication of the second portion of the content to the device is able to be modified to delay the communication of the second portion of the content with the second individual data burst for the defined amount of time after the communication of the first portion of the content, as part of the first individual data burst, to the device comprises determining whether the indicated data transfer start time for the communication of the second portion of the content to the device is able to be modified to delay the communication of the second portion of the content with the second individual data burst for the defined amount of time after the communication of the first portion of the content, as part of the first individual data burst, to the device based on the jitter parameter and a defined traffic communication criterion relating to a communication network policy that relates to the content.\n\n14. The method of claim 9, wherein the device is a first device, and wherein the method further comprises:\nscheduling, by the system, communication of a first data transfer of the individual data transfers to be received from a second device within a specified amount of time of communication of a second data transfer associated with different content to be received from a third device to facilitate communicating the first data transfer and the second data transfer in a same individual data burst of the individual data bursts; and\nfacilitating communicating, by the system, the first data transfer and the second data transfer in the same individual data burst.\n\n15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:\ntransmitting, by the system, information indicative of a display characteristic associated with the device to facilitate modifying a visual image of the content to a modified visual image to correspond to the display characteristic; and\nreceiving, by the system, the modified visual image based on the display characteristic associated with the device.\n\n16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:\nin connection with content that is initially scheduled to be transmitted using a continuous stream at a defined bitrate, determining whether the content is transmittable to a device via separate data bursts comprising respective subsets of the content instead of transmission of the content using the continuous stream at the defined bitrate, wherein the separate data bursts comprise a first separate data burst comprising a first subset of the content and a second separate data burst comprising a second subset of the content; and\nto facilitate the determining whether the content is transmittable to the device via the separate data bursts, determining whether a scheduled data transfer start time for transmission of the second subset of the content to the device is able to be modified to delay the transmission of the second subset of the content with the second separate data burst to the device for a defined amount of time after transmission of the first subset of the content with the first separate data burst to the device based on a data transfer parameter associated with the second subset of the content, wherein the data transfer parameter indicates an amount of time deviation from the scheduled data transfer start time that is acceptable.\n\n17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:\nin response to determining that the content is transmittable to the device using the separate data bursts, transmitting the respective subsets of the content to the device using the separate data bursts.\n\n18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:\nidentifying the content is scheduled to be streamed to the device using the continuous stream at the defined bitrate;\ndetermining that a specified amount of delay of transmission of a portion of the respective subsets of the content to the device is acceptable;\nstoring the portion of the respective subsets of the content in a buffer component to facilitate transmission of the portion of the respective subsets of the content in subsequent separate data bursts of the separate data bursts; and\ntransmitting the portion of the respective subsets of the content via respective data transfers as part of the subsequent separate data bursts, without exceeding the specified amount of delay.\n\n19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise coordinating with the device to schedule transmission of respective data transfers of the respective subsets of the content to the device.\n\n20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:\nreceiving information indicative of a display characteristic associated with the device in relation to provision of a visual image of the content to facilitate modification of the visual image to correspond to the display characteristic, wherein the information indicative of the display characteristic comprises a subset of the information indicative of a display screen size associated with the device;\nmodifying the visual image, based on the display characteristic, to generate a modified visual image; and\ntransmitting the modified visual image to the device."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Cooling Module And Cooling System For Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn a vehicle at which an internal combustion engine is mounted, generally, the heat generated during the operation of the engine is transmitted to cylinder heads, pistons and valves, and accordingly, if the temperatures of the components are excessively raised, thermal expansion or degradation occurs to decrease the strength of the components, reduce the life span of the engine, make a bad combustion state to cause knocking or pre-ignition, and decrease the output of the engine. In case where the engine is incompletely cooled, further, an oil film on the inner peripheral surface of a cylinder is cut to cause a bad lubricating function, and in addition, engine oil is deformed in quality to cause irregular abrasion of the cylinder. Furthermore, the piston may be fused to the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder. In addition to the engine of the vehicle, on the other hand, the electric parts of the vehicle, such as motors, inverters, and battery stacks should be cooled, but since the cooling water passing through the engine and the cooling water passing through the electric parts have a given temperature difference therebetween, the vehicle cannot have a single cooling system. FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams showing conventional cooling systems for a vehicle, wherein FIG. 1A shows the cooling system for an engine, and FIG. 1B shows the cooling system for electric parts. In more detail, an engine cooling system 10 includes a water pump 15 adapted to circulate cooling water for cooling an engine 1 , a first radiator 11 for cooling the cooling water, a first cooling water storage tank 13 for supplying the cooling water to the first radiator 11 , and a first cooling water adjusting cap 12 . According to the engine cooling system 10 , at this time, the first radiator 11 , the water pump 15 and the engine 1 are connected to each other through a first connection line 14 . Further, an electric part cooling system 20 includes a water pump 25 adapted to circulate cooling water for cooling electric parts 2 , a second radiator 21 for cooling the cooling water, a second cooling water storage tank 23 for supplying the cooling water to the second radiator 21 , and a second cooling water adjusting cap 22 . At this time, the electric parts 2 of the electric part cooling system 20 include an inverter and a generator used also as a starter. According to the electric part cooling system 20 , in the same manner as the engine cooling system 10 , the second radiator 21 , the water pump 25 and the electric parts 2 are connected to each other through a second connection line 24 . At this time, the first radiator 11 and the second radiator 21 constitute a cooling module, together with a condenser and a fan and shroud assembly, and the cooling water is heat-exchanged with vehicle wind and the air introduced through the fan and shroud assembly. FIG. 2 shows one example of conventional cooling modules. According to a cooling module 50 as shown in FIG. 2 , however, the size of a condenser 30 is reduced by the area of the second radiator 21 formed, thus making it difficult to expect a sufficient condensing efficiency and to ensure a sufficient amount of cooling water flowing in the second radiator 21 . On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows another example of the conventional cooling modules. According to a cooling module 50 as shown in FIG. 3 , the condenser 30 , the second radiator 21 and the first radiator 11 are arranged in parallel to each other in an air flow direction. However, the heated air passing through the condenser 30 passes through the second radiator 21 , thus giving a bad influence on the performance of the second radiator 21 . According to the load of the condenser 30 , further, the air supplied to the second radiator 21 has a drastic temperature difference, thus making it hard to ensure the stable performance of the second radiator 21 . Therefore, there is a definite need to develop a new cooling module capable of ensuring good performance of a first radiator, a second radiator and a condenser, while achieving the miniaturization in size.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to a cooling module including: a first radiator for cooling an engine; a second radiator located in front of the first radiator in an air flow direction to cool electric parts; a first condenser located in front of the second radiator in the air flow direction to condense a refrigerant through heat exchange with external air; and a second condenser located inside the second radiator to condense the refrigerant through heat exchange with electric part cooling water, whereby the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant passes through the water-cooled second condenser and then passes through the air-cooled first condenser, thus enhancing the cooling efficiency of the refrigerant to improve the entire efficiency of the cooling system for the vehicle."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A cooling module comprising:\na first radiator cooling an engine;\na second radiator disposed in front of the first radiator in an air flow direction, the second radiator cooling electric parts;\na first condenser located in front of the second radiator in the air flow direction to condense a refrigerant through heat exchange with external air; and\na second condenser disposed inside the second radiator to condense the refrigerant through heat exchange with electric part cooling water,\nwherein the refrigerant condensed in the second condenser is heat-exchanged with the electric part cooling water, introduced into the first condenser through a connection pipe, heat-exchanged with the external air, and discharged from the first condenser,\nwherein the first radiator further comprises:\na pair of first header tanks spaced apart in a width direction of a vehicle, each of the pair of first header tanks having a first header and a first tank;\na plurality of first tubes having ends fixed by the pair of first header tanks to form an engine cooling water passage; and\na plurality of first fins disposed between the plurality of first tubes,\nwherein the second radiator further comprises:\na pair of second header tanks spaced apart in the width direction of the vehicle, each of the pair of second header tanks having a second header and a second tank;\nan inlet formed on the pair of second header tanks to introduce the electric part cooling water into the pair of second header tanks;\nan outlet formed on the pair of second header tanks to discharge the electric part cooling water from the pair of second header tanks;\na plurality of second tubes having ends fixed by the pair of second header tanks to form an electric part cooling water passage; and\na plurality of second fins disposed between the plurality of second tubes.\n\n2. The cooling module according to claim 1, wherein the second condenser is disposed inside a first one of the pair of second header tanks extending in a length direction of the first one of the pair of second header tanks, and a refrigerant flow direction in an interior of the second condenser is different from an electric part cooling water flow direction in the first one of the pair of second header tanks.\n\n3. The cooling module according to claim 2, wherein the inlet formed on the pair of second header tanks of the second radiator is formed on an upper side of a second one of the pair of second header tanks in a height direction of the vehicle.\n\n4. The cooling module according to claim 3, wherein a first pipe for introducing the refrigerant to the second condenser is disposed in a lower side of the first one of the pair of second header tanks in the height direction of the vehicle.\n\n5. The cooling module according to claim 4, wherein the first condenser further comprises:\na pair of third header tanks spaced apart from each other, each of the pair of third header tanks having a third header and a third tank;\na plurality of third tubes having ends fixed by the pair of third header tanks to form a refrigerant passage;\na plurality of third fins disposed between the plurality of third tubes;\na vapor-liquid separator disposed on a first one of the pair of third header tanks; and\na second pipe disposed on a second one of the pair of third header tanks to discharge the refrigerant.\n\n6. The cooling module according to claim 5, wherein the connection pipe is connected to an upper side of the second one of the pair of third header tanks and the second pipe is connected to a lower side of the second one of the pair of third header tanks, wherein the second one of the pair of third header tanks is located adjacent the first one of the pair of second header tanks, and wherein the first one of the pair of third header tanks is spaced from the first one of the pair of second header tanks.\n\n7. The cooling module according to claim 6, wherein the first condenser further comprises:\na condensing area where the refrigerant introduced through the connection pipe is condensed, the condensing area formed within a first portion of the plurality of third tubes;\na separating area where the refrigerant is separated into a vapor portion and a liquid portion, the separating area formed within the vapor-liquid separator; and\na subcooling area where the liquid portion of the refrigerant separated in the vapor-liquid separator is subcooled, the subcooling area formed within a second portion of the plurality of third tubes.\n\n8. The cooling module according to claim 3, wherein the second radiator has a baffle partitioning an interior of the second one of the pair of second header tanks into the upper side and a lower side in the height direction of the vehicle, the outlet formed on the pair of second header tanks of the second radiator is connected to a lower side of the second one of the pair of second header tanks, wherein the electric part cooling water introduced into the second one of the pair of second header tanks through the inlet flows to the first one of the pair of second header tanks through a first portion of the plurality of second tubes, flows back to the second one of the pair of second header tanks through a second portion of the plurality of second tubes, and is discharged through the outlet.\n\n9. The cooling module according to claim 3, wherein the outlet formed on the pair of second header tanks of the second radiator is connected to a lower side of the first one of the pair of second header tanks, wherein the electric part cooling water introduced into the second one of the pair of second header tanks through the inlet flows to the first one of the pair of second header tanks through the plurality of second tubes and is discharged through the outlet.\n\n10. The cooling module according to claim 5, wherein a length of the second radiator in the width direction of the vehicle is greater than a length of the first radiator in the width direction of the vehicle and a length of the first condenser in the width direction of the vehicle.\n\n11. The cooling module according to claim 10, wherein the pair of first header tanks and the pair of third header tanks are located between the pair of second header tanks in the width direction of the vehicle.\n\n12. The cooling module according to claim 11, wherein the vapor-liquid separator is located between the pair of second header tanks in the width direction of the vehicle.\n\n13. The cooling module according to claim 2, wherein the second condenser further comprises:\nan inlet boss and an outlet boss spaced apart from each other to introduce the refrigerant to the second condenser and discharge the refrigerant from the second condenser; and\na heat exchange portion having ends respectively fixed to the inlet boss and the outlet boss.\n\n14. The cooling module according to claim 13, wherein the heat exchange portion of the second condenser has a shape of a double pipe or a plate.\n\n15. A cooling system for the vehicle having the cooling module according to claim 1, the cooling system further comprising:\na compressor compressing the refrigerant, wherein the second condenser and the first condenser of the cooling module sequentially condense the refrigerant compressed by the compressor;\nan expansion valve throttling the refrigerant condensed by the second condenser and the first condenser; and\nan evaporator evaporating the refrigerant throttled by the expansion valve."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Image Display Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nOne conventional example of such a display device is a liquid crystal display device 101 shown in FIG. 6 . This liquid crystal display device 101 includes a transparent protection member 103 made of, for example, glass or plastic and disposed on a liquid crystal display panel 102 . In this case, to protect the surface of the liquid crystal display panel 102 and a polarizing plate (not shown), a spacer 104 is interposed between the liquid crystal display panel 102 and the protection member 103 , so that a gap 105 is provided between the liquid crystal display panel 102 and the protection member 103 . However, the gap 105 present between the liquid crystal display panel 102 and the protection member 103 causes light scattering, and this results in a reduction in contrast and in brightness. The presence of the gap 105 is an obstacle to the reduction in thickness of the panel. In view of the above problems, a technique has been proposed in which the gap between the liquid crystal display panel and the protection member is filled with a resin (for example, Patent Document 1). However, the stress during the cure shrinkage of the cured resin causes deformation of the optical glass plates sandwiching the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal display panel. This results in display defects such as irregularities in orientation of the liquid crystal material. Unfortunately, when the gap between the liquid crystal display panel and the protection member is filled with the resin composition, the resin composition may adhere to the backlight side under some manufacturing conditions. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-55641.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for manufacturing an image display device includes the step of forming a cured resin layer by interposing a photo-curable resin composition between a protection member and a display-side panel including an image display unit and a frame member and then photo-curing the photo-curable resin composition, with the photo-curable resin composition being disposed across between the image display unit and the frame member. In the manufacturing method, a high-viscosity resin composition having a viscosity of 3000 mPa\u00b7s or more and 12000 mPa\u00b7s or less is used as the photo-curable resin composition. Alternatively, after a gap between the image display unit and the frame member is sealed with a sealing film, a photo-curable resin composition is interposed between the display-side panel and the protection member."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An image display device comprising:\na display-side panel including an image display unit and a frame member surrounding the image display unit;\na protection member disposed on the display-side panel;\na cured resin layer interposed between the display-side panel and the protection member; and\na sealing film that covers a gap formed between the image display unit and the frame member, the sealing film being disposed across and over between the image display unit and the fame member, wherein the cured resin layer is disposed on the sealing film such that the cured resin layer covers an upper surface of the sealing film and at least two side surfaces of the sealing film.\n\n2. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the protection member comprises a transparent plate and a light-shielding film provided along circumferential edges of the transparent plate.\n\n3. The image display device according to claim 2, wherein a surface of the protection member that includes the light-shielding film faces the display-side panel.\n\n4. The image display device according to claim 2, wherein the transparent plate contacts a surface of the cured resin layer.\n\n5. The image display device of claim 1, wherein a bottom surface of the gap is defined by a backlight.\n\n6. The image display device of claim 1, wherein the cured resin layer is made of a cured product which has a light transmittance of 90% or more in a visible region and a storage elastic modulus at 25\u00b0 C. of 1.0\u00d710 7 Pa or less and is formed of a photo-curable resin composition having a curing shrinkage ratio of 5% or less."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And Apparatus For Identifying Discharge Failure Of A Piezoelectric Circuitry\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nPiezoelectric effect is generally known as generation of electric charge in certain non-conducting material when subjected to mechanical stress such as pressure or vibration or the generation of vibration in such material when they are subjected to an electric field. This generation of electric charge resulting from pressure is commonly known as piezoelectricity. Piezoelectric elements may be solid material such as crystals, certain ceramics and biological matter such as bone, DNA and various proteins. Piezoelectric elements are capacitive consumers, which, contract or expand, depending on the charge state in each case, i.e., depending on the emerging or applied voltage. Piezoelectricity has found use in applications of vast type and nature such as production and detection of sound, generation of high voltages, electronic frequency generation, microbalances, to drive an ultrasonic nozzle, and ultrafine focusing of optical assemblies. It is also the basis of a number of scientific instrumental techniques with atomic resolution, the scanning probe, microscopes and everyday uses such as ignition source for push-start propane barbecues, and quartz watches. Further, piezoelectric valves use special piezoelectric mechanism that allows speedy action and also allow very precise control to the flow of fluid. Due to this nature piezoelectric valves are commonly used in medical, automobile and aeronautical industry among others. Piezoelectric valves are used in implantable medical devices such as infusion pumps that are positioned within the human body to deliver minute amount of drugs to a specified locations. It may be understood that due to the precise nature of the piezoelectric valves/piezoelectricity and industry implementation in various medical devices it is important to identify failure in the piezoelectric valves or circuit. However, the conventional methods only identify failure conditions of piezoelectric element.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present disclosure discloses a method and apparatus for identifying discharge failure of a piezoelectric circuitry. The apparatus comprises a piezoelectric circuitry consisting of charging and discharging circuit with a microcontroller to compute the time required to charge and discharge the piezoelectric element respectively. Based on the first charging time and the second charging time corresponding to the first and second charging-discharging cycle respectively, the difference between the first and the second charging time is determined. The discharge failure in the piezoelectric circuit is identified where the first charging time is greater than the second charging time."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An apparatus for identifying failure of a circuit adapted to discharge a piezoelectric element, the apparatus comprising:\na piezoelectric circuitry comprising a charging circuit and a discharging circuit adapted to charge and discharge a piezoelectric element respectively, wherein the piezoelectric circuitry further comprises a microcontroller configured to:\ndetermine a first charging time and a first discharging time corresponding to a first cycle associated with the charging and the discharging of the piezoelectric element;\ndetermine a second charging time and a second discharging time corresponding to a second cycle associated with the charging and the discharging of the piezoelectric element;\ncompare the second charging time with the first charging time; and\nidentify failure in the discharging circuit wherein the failure in the discharging circuit occurs if the difference between the first charging time and the second charging time is greater than a predefined threshold value.\n\n2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the charging circuit is connected with a transistor wherein the transistor uses a pulse-width modulation waveform to control the charging of the piezoelectric element.\n\n3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is connected in voltage sampler to compute the time required to charge and discharge the piezoelectric circuit.\n\n4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the voltage sampler is further connected to a timing system to measure the time required by the piezoelectric circuitry to build its charge from zero.\n\n5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is embedded in an implantable medical device.\n\n6. A method for identifying failure of a circuit adapted to discharge a piezoelectric element, the method comprising:\ndetermining, by a microcontroller, a first charging time and a first discharging time corresponding to a first cycle associated with the charging and the discharging of the piezoelectric element;\ndetermining, by the microcontroller, a second charging time and a second discharging time corresponding to a second cycle associated with the charging and the discharging of the piezoelectric element;\ncomparing, by the microcontroller, the second charging time with the first charging time; and\nidentifying, by the microcontroller, failure in the discharging circuit wherein the failure in the discharging circuit occurs if the difference between the first charging time and the second charging time is greater than a predefined threshold value.\n\n7. The method of claim 6, wherein the charging circuit is connected with a transistor wherein the transistor uses a pulse-width modulation waveform to control the charging of the piezoelectric element.\n\n8. The method of claim 6, wherein the microcontroller is connected in voltage sampler to compute the time required to charge and discharge the piezoelectric circuit.\n\n9. The method of claim 8, wherein the voltage sampler is further connected to a timing system to measure the time required by the piezoelectric circuitry to build its charge from zero.\n\n10. The method of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is embedded in an implantable medical device."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Anchor For Seatbelt Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an anchor for a seatbelt device in which a piece is attached to a metal core. 2. Related Art Configurations exist in which apiece is prevented from displacing or detaching with respect to a metal core by fitting a recess or a protrusion formed at the piece with a protrusion or a recess formed at the metal core (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-310702). In such configurations, during attachment of the piece to the metal core, the piece has to be moved appropriately with respect to the metal core as far as a position where the recess or the protrusion formed at the piece fits with the protrusion or the recess formed at the metal core, namely as far as an attachment position of the piece to the metal core.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn a through anchor, it enables a piece to be moved to an attachment position of the piece in a metal core by moving the piece toward a vehicle front lower side in a state in which a lower end portion of a guide portion of a guide groove of the piece is abutted with a guide projection formed at a metal core lower portion of the metal core."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An anchor for a vehicular seatbelt device, comprising:\na metal core at which a through hole is formed, a webbing for restraining a vehicular occupant being inserted through and supported at the through hole;\na piece member that is provided inside the through hole so as to be attached to the metal core; and\na guide mechanism that is configured to guide the piece member disposed inside the through hole along a single direction to an attachment position of the piece member in the metal core,\nwherein the single guiding direction to the piece member by the guide mechanism is along a line inclined toward a vehicle lower side with respect to both a vehicle front-rear direction and a vertical direction.\n\n2. An anchor for a seatbelt device, comprising:\na metal core at which a through hole is formed, a webbing for restraining an occupant being inserted through and supported at the through hole;\na piece member that is provided inside the through hole so as to be attached to the metal core; and\na guide mechanism that guides the piece member disposed inside the through hole to an attachment position of the piece member in the metal core, wherein the guide mechanism includes:\na guide projection that is formed at one of the metal core or the piece member; and\na guide groove that is formed at another of the metal core or the piece member, the piece member being guided to the attachment position by the piece member being moved with respect to the metal core in a state in which the guide groove abuts the guide projection,\nthe guide groove including a positioning portion to which the guide projection is guided to be positioned and a guide portion by which the guide projection is guided, and\nat the guide groove,\nthe guide portion is disposed at a first side toward which the piece member is guided in a guiding direction of the piece member by the guide mechanism, and\nthe positioning portion is disposed at a second side opposite to the first side in the guiding direction.\n\n3. The anchor for a seatbelt device of claim 2, wherein a guiding direction of the piece member by the guide mechanism is a single direction.\n\n4. The anchor for a seatbelt device of claim 1, wherein:\nthe through hole includes an elongated hole portion with a longitudinal direction thereof being in a vehicle front-rear direction, and a through hole turn-up portion that extends from one end portion in the vehicle front-rear direction of the elongated hole portion toward a vehicle upper side;\nthe piece member includes a piece member turn-up portion that is disposed inside the through hole turn-up portion of the through hole, a vehicle upper side end portion of the piece member turn-up portion projecting out further toward a vehicle upper side than a vehicle upper side end portion of the elongated hole portion in a state in which the piece member is attached to the metal core; and\nthe guiding direction is a direction which is inclined toward the vehicle lower side, with respect to the side, in the vehicle front-rear direction, where the through hole turn-up portion is formed at the elongated hole portion of the through hole.\n\n5. The anchor for a seatbelt device of claim 2, wherein:\nthe through hole includes\nan elongated hole portion with a longitudinal direction thereof being in a vehicle front-rear direction, and\na through hole turn-up portion that extends from one end portion in the vehicle front-rear direction of the elongated hole portion toward a vehicle upper side;\nthe guide groove is opened at one side in a vehicle upper-lower direction;\nthe positioning portion is configured at another side of the guide groove in the vehicle upper-lower direction;\nthe guide portion is configured at a side of the guide groove, in the vehicle front-rear direction, where the through hole turn-up portion is formed at the elongated hole portion of the through hole; and\nthe guide portion has an inclined face extending toward the one side in the vehicle upper-lower direction, and the side, in the vehicle front-rear direction, where the through hole turn-up portion is formed at the elongated hole portion of the through hole.\n\n6. The anchor for a seatbelt device of claim 1, wherein:\nthe guide mechanism includes: a guide projection that is formed at one of the metal core or the piece member; and a guide groove that is formed at another of the metal core or the piece member, the piece member being guided to the attachment position by the piece member being moved with respect to the metal core in a state in which the guide groove abuts the guide projection, and\nthe guide groove is opened at the vehicle lower side, and includes a positioning portion to which the guide projection is guided to be positioned, and a guide portion by which the guide projection is guided;\nthe positioning portion is configured at the vehicle upper side of the guide groove;\nthe guide portion is configured at the side of the guide groove, in the vehicle front-rear direction, where the through hole turn-up portion is formed at the elongated hole portion of the through hole; and\nthe guide portion has an inclined face extending toward the vehicle lower side in vehicle upper-lower direction, and the side, in the vehicle front-rear direction, where the through hole turn-up portion is formed at the elongated hole portion of the through hole.\n\n7. The anchor for the seatbelt device of claim 2, wherein:\nthe through hole includes\nan elongated hole portion with a longitudinal direction thereof being in a vehicle front-rear direction, and\na through hole turn-up portion that extends from one end portion in the vehicle front-rear direction of the elongated hole portion toward a vehicle upper side;\nthe piece member includes a piece member turn-up portion that is disposed inside the through hole turn-up portion of the through hole, a vehicle upper side end portion of the piece member turn-up portion projecting out further toward a vehicle upper side than a vehicle upper side end portion of the elongated hole portion in a state in which the piece member is attached to the metal core; and\nthe guiding direction is a direction which is inclined toward the vehicle lower side, with respect to the side, in the vehicle front-rear direction, where the through hole turn-up portion is formed at the elongated hole portion of the through hole."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Control Device For Internal Combustion Engine\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nPatent document 1 describes an internal combustion engine that includes a variable valve timing mechanism. The variable valve timing mechanism includes a first rotary body, which rotates in cooperation with the rotation of a crankshaft, and a second rotary body, which rotates together with a camshaft. The variable valve timing mechanism uses hydraulic pressure, which is supplied from a hydraulic control valve to advancing chambers and retarding chambers, to change the rotation phase of the second rotary body relative to the first rotary body and vary the valve timing of engine valves. The control amount (duty) of the hydraulic control valve is set based on a feedback control amount, which is calculated based on the deviation of the actual valve timing from the target valve timing, and a holding control amount (hold duty), which is used to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing. The variable valve timing mechanism described in patent document 1 also includes a spring that urges the second rotary body to a position at which the rotation phase of the second rotary body relative to the first rotary body corresponds to a predetermined phase between the most retarded phase and the most advanced phase. Additionally, the variable valve timing mechanism may include, for example, a lock mechanism that fixes the relative rotation phase at a predetermined phase that is suitable for starting the engine. In this case, even if the relative rotation phase is not fixed by the lock mechanism when the engine stalls and stops, the urging force of the spring allows the relative rotation phase to be set in the predetermined phase, which can be fixed by the lock mechanism. The above relative rotation phase includes a spring region, in which the second rotary body receives the urging force of the spring, and a non-spring region, in which the second rotary body does not receive the urging force of the spring. The control amount of the hydraulic control valve that is needed to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing when the relative rotation phase is in the spring region differs from that when the relative rotation phase is in the non-spring region. In addition to the difference between the spring region and the non-spring region, the control amount of the hydraulic control valve that is needed to hold the actual valve timing at the constant timing also differs depending on the present operation state of the variable valve timing mechanism, such as the viscosity of the hydraulic oil. Thus, the control device of the internal combustion engine described in patent document 1 performs a learning process, in which the control device learns that a holding control amount is the control amount that holds the actual valve timing at the constant valve timing when the relative rotation phase of the first rotary body and the second rotary body is in the spring region and when the relative rotation phase is in the non-spring region.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA control device for an engine includes a variable valve timing mechanism. The control device performs learning a holding control amount of a hydraulic valve when actual valve timing is held at a fixed timing in each of spring and non-spring regions, and an updating. The updating includes updating the control amount for the non-spring region whenever the control amount for the spring region learned drops below the control amount for the non-spring region to satisfy a relationship with the control amount for the non-spring region being less than or equal to the control amount for the spring region, and/or updating the control amount for the spring region whenever the control amount for the non-spring region learned exceeds the control amount for the spring region to satisfy a relationship with the control amount for the spring region being greater than or equal to the control amount for the non-spring region."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A control device for an internal combustion engine, the control device comprising:\na variable valve timing mechanism, wherein\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a first rotation body, which rotates in cooperation with rotation of a crankshaft, and a second rotation body, which rotates together with a camshaft;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism varies a valve timing of an engine valve by changing a relative rotation phase of the second rotation body and the first rotation body using hydraulic pressure, which is supplied from a hydraulic control valve to an advancing chamber and a retarding chamber;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a spring that urges the second rotation body so that the relative rotation phase is located at a position corresponding to a predetermined phase between a most advanced phase and a most retarded phase;\nwhen a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body receives urging force from the spring defines a spring region and a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body does not receive urging force from the spring defines a non-spring region, a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold an actual valve timing at a constant timing in the spring region is greater than a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing in the non-spring region;\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform a learning process that learns a holding control amount of the hydraulic control valve when the actual valve timing is held at a constant timing in each of the spring region and the non-spring region; and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform at least one of\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the non-spring region whenever the holding control amount of the spring region, which is learned in the learning process, becomes less than the holding control amount of the non-spring region to satisfy a relationship in which the holding control amount of the non-spring region is less than or equal to the holding control amount of the spring region, and\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the spring region whenever the holding control amount of the non-spring region, which is learned in the learning process, becomes greater than the holding control amount of the spring region to satisfy a relationship in which the holding control amount of the spring region is greater than or equal to the holding control amount of the non-spring region.\n\n2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein\none of the spring region and the non-spring region in which the holding control amount is learned in the learning process defines a first region,\nthe other one of the spring region and the non-spring region defines a second region, and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to update the holding control amount of the second region so that the holding control amount of the second region becomes equal to the holding control amount of the first region.\n\n3. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the variable valve timing mechanism includes a lock mechanism that fixes the relative rotation phase at an intermediate phase.\n\n4. A control device for an internal combustion engine, the control device comprising:\na variable valve timing mechanism, wherein\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a first rotation body, which rotates in cooperation with rotation of a crankshaft, and a second rotation body, which rotates together with a camshaft;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism varies a valve timing of an engine valve by changing a relative rotation phase of the second rotation body and the first rotation body using hydraulic pressure, which is supplied from a hydraulic control valve to an advancing chamber and a retarding chamber;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a spring that urges the second rotation body so that the relative rotation phase is located at a position corresponding to a predetermined phase between a most advanced phase and a most retarded phase;\nwhen a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body receives urging force from the spring defines a spring region and a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body does not receive urging force from the spring defines a non-spring region, a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold an actual valve timing at a constant timing in the spring region is greater than a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing in the non-spring region;\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform a learning process that learns a holding control amount of the hydraulic control valve when the actual valve timing is held at a constant timing in each of the spring region and the non-spring region; and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform at least one of\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the non-spring region when the relative rotation phase is shifted from the spring region to the non-spring region so that the holding control amount of the non-spring region satisfies a relationship in which the holding control amount of the non-spring region is less than or equal to the holding control amount that was last learned in the spring region, and\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the spring region when the relative rotation phase is shifted from the non-spring region to the spring region so that the holding control amount of the spring region satisfies a relationship in which the holding control amount of the spring region is greater than or equal to the holding control amount that was last learned in the non-spring region.\n\n5. The control device according to claim 4, wherein\none of the spring region and the non-spring region in which the holding control amount is learned in the learning process defines a first region,\nthe other one of the spring region and the non-spring region defines a second region, and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to update the holding control amount of the second region so that the holding control amount of the second region becomes equal to the holding control amount of the first region.\n\n6. The control device according to claim 4, wherein the variable valve timing mechanism includes a lock mechanism that fixes the relative rotation phase at an intermediate phase.\n\n7. A control device for an internal combustion engine, the control device comprising:\na variable valve timing mechanism, wherein\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a first rotation body, which rotates in cooperation with rotation of a crankshaft, and a second rotation body, which rotates together with a camshaft;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism varies a valve timing of an engine valve by changing a relative rotation phase of the second rotation body and the first rotation body using hydraulic pressure, which is supplied from a hydraulic control valve to an advancing chamber and a retarding chamber;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a spring that urges the second rotation body so that the relative rotation phase is located at a position corresponding to a predetermined phase between a most advanced phase and a most retarded phase;\nwhen a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body receives urging force from the spring defines a spring region and a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body does not receive urging force from the spring defines a non-spring region, a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold an actual valve timing at a constant timing in the spring region is greater than a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing in the non-spring region;\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform a learning process that learns a holding control amount of the hydraulic control valve when the actual valve timing is held at a constant timing in each of the spring region and the non-spring region; and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform at least one of\na restriction process that restricts a lower limit value of the holding control amount of the spring region when the relative rotation phase is in the spring region to the holding control amount that was last learned in the non-spring region, and\na restriction process that restricts an upper limit value of the holding control amount of the holding control amount of the non-spring region when the relative rotation phase is in the non-spring region to the holding control amount that was last learned in the spring region.\n\n8. The control device according to claim 7, wherein the variable valve timing mechanism includes a lock mechanism that fixes the relative rotation phase at an intermediate phase.\n\n9. A control device for an internal combustion engine, the control device comprising:\na variable valve timing mechanism, wherein\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a first rotation body, which rotates in cooperation with rotation of a crankshaft, and a second rotation body, which rotates together with a camshaft;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism varies a valve timing of an engine valve by changing a relative rotation phase of the second rotation body and the first rotation body using hydraulic pressure, which is supplied from a hydraulic control valve to an advancing chamber and a retarding chamber;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a spring that urges the second rotation body so that the relative rotation phase is located at a position corresponding to a predetermined phase between a most advanced phase and a most retarded phase;\nwhen a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body receives urging force from the spring defines a spring region and a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body does not receive urging force from the spring defines a non-spring region, a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold an actual valve timing at a constant timing in the non-spring region is greater than a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing in the spring region;\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform a learning process that learns a holding control amount of the hydraulic control valve when the actual valve timing is held at a constant timing in each of the spring region and the non-spring region; and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform at least one of\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the non-spring region whenever the holding control amount of the spring region, which is learned in the learning process, becomes greater than the holding control amount of the non-spring region to satisfy a relationship in which the holding control amount of the non-spring region is greater than or equal to the holding control amount of the spring region, and\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the spring region whenever the holding control amount of the non-spring region, which is learned in the learning process, becomes less than the holding control amount of the spring region to satisfy a relationship in which the holding control amount of the spring region is less than or equal to the holding control amount of the non-spring region.\n\n10. The control device according to claim 9, wherein\none of the spring region and the non-spring region in which the holding control amount is learned in the learning process defines a first region,\nthe other one of the spring region and the non-spring region defines a second region, and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to update the holding control amount of the second region so that the holding control amount of the second region becomes equal to the holding control amount of the first region.\n\n11. The control device according to claim 9, wherein the variable valve timing mechanism includes a lock mechanism that fixes the relative rotation phase at an intermediate phase.\n\n12. A control device for an internal combustion engine, the control device comprising:\na variable valve timing mechanism, wherein\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a first rotation body, which rotates in cooperation with rotation of a crankshaft, and a second rotation body, which rotates together with a camshaft;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism varies a valve timing of an engine valve by changing a relative rotation phase of the second rotation body and the first rotation body using hydraulic pressure, which is supplied from a hydraulic control valve to an advancing chamber and a retarding chamber;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a spring that urges the second rotation body so that the relative rotation phase is located at a position corresponding to a predetermined phase between a most advanced phase and a most retarded phase;\nwhen a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body receives urging force from the spring defines a spring region and a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body does not receive urging force from the spring defines a non-spring region, a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold an actual valve timing at a constant timing in the non-spring region is greater than a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing in the spring region;\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform a learning process that learns a holding control amount of the hydraulic control valve when the actual valve timing is held at a constant timing in each of the spring region and the non-spring region; and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform at least one of\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the non-spring region when the relative rotation phase is shifted from the spring region to the non-spring region so that the holding control amount of the non-spring region satisfies a relationship in which the holding control amount of the non-spring region is greater than or equal to the holding control amount that was last learned in the spring region, and\nan update process that updates the holding control amount of the spring region when the relative rotation phase is shifted from the non-spring region to the spring region so that the holding control amount of the spring region satisfies a relationship in which the holding control amount of the spring region is less than or equal to the holding control amount that was last learned in the non-spring region.\n\n13. The control device according to claim 12, wherein\none of the spring region and the non-spring region in which the holding control amount is learned in the learning process defines a first region,\nthe other one of the spring region and the non-spring region defines a second region, and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to update the holding control amount of the second region so that the holding control amount of the second region becomes equal to the holding control amount of the first region.\n\n14. The control device according to claim 12, wherein the variable valve timing mechanism includes a lock mechanism that fixes the relative rotation phase at an intermediate phase.\n\n15. A control device for an internal combustion engine, the control device comprising:\na variable valve timing mechanism, wherein\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a first rotation body, which rotates in cooperation with rotation of a crankshaft, and a second rotation body, which rotates together with a camshaft;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism varies a valve timing of an engine valve by changing a relative rotation phase of the second rotation body and the first rotation body using hydraulic pressure, which is supplied from a hydraulic control valve to an advancing chamber and a retarding chamber;\nthe variable valve timing mechanism includes a spring that urges the second rotation body so that the relative rotation phase is located at a position corresponding to a predetermined phase between a most advanced phase and a most retarded phase;\nwhen a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body receives urging force from the spring defines a spring region and a region of the relative rotation phase where the second rotation body does not receive urging force from the spring defines a non-spring region, a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold an actual valve timing at a constant timing in the non-spring region is greater than a control amount of the hydraulic control valve needed to hold the actual valve timing at a constant timing in the spring region;\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform a learning process that learns a holding control amount of the hydraulic control valve when the actual valve timing is held at a constant timing in each of the spring region and the non-spring region; and\nthe control device for the internal combustion engine is configured to perform at least one of\na restriction process that restricts a lower limit value of the holding control amount of the non-spring region when the relative rotation phase is in the non-spring region to the holding control amount that was last learned in the spring region, and\na restriction process that restricts an upper limit value of the holding control amount of the holding control amount of the spring region when the relative rotation phase is in the spring region to the holding control amount that was last learned in the non-spring region.\n\n16. The control device according to claim 15, wherein the variable valve timing mechanism includes a lock mechanism that fixes the relative rotation phase at an intermediate phase."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Servo Controller For Measuring Lubrication Characteristics Of A Machine By Experimental Modal Analysis\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a servo control apparatus, and in particular to a servo control apparatus equipped with a function of measuring mechanical lubrication characteristics on the basis of experimental modal analysis. 2. Description of the Related Art Friction characteristics and vibration characteristics of a guiding mechanism in a machine tool will affect the operation performance of the feed axis and generation of chattering vibration at a machining stage. In such problems, the friction damping performance of the machine, in other words, the lubrication characteristics, have been commonly understood to be essentially important. For example, it has been both experimentally and analytically clarified that improvement in stability against chattering vibration cannot be achieved by enhancing the stiffness of the machinery, but need to optimize both the stiffness of individual parts of the machinery and the damping characteristics (for example, Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers series C, Vol. 78, No. 787 (2012), pp. 1013-1025, which will be referred to hereinbelow as \u201cnon-patent document 1\u201d). It has also been reported that in an excitation test of a machine there exists excitation force-dependency and that the resonance frequency and damping ratio greatly vary depending on the magnitude of excitation force (for example, Yasunori Sakai et al., Journal of the Japan Society for Precision Engineering, Vol. 80, No. 8 (2014), p. 783-791, which will be referred to hereinbelow as \u201cnon-patent document 2\u201d). The document suggests that the main reason for this is attributed to non-linear spring characteristics of the friction in a micro displacement area of some tens micrometers. There has been a recent report on a study in which the relationship between mechanical damping and non-linear friction was quantitatively evaluated by experiment (for example, Yasunori Sakai et al., JIMTOF 2014 poster publication \u201cInfluence of Excitation Force on Damping of Rolling Guideway in Feed and Pitch Direction\u201d, which will be referred to hereinbelow as \u201cnon-patent document 3\u201d). This publication demonstrates that the modal damping ratio (the half-value width of the resonance curve) becomes greater as the excitation force becomes greater, as a result of performing an excitation test on a machine to examine resonance characteristics of the compliance function (excitation force and displacement frequency response) by experimental modal analysis.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA servo controller includes: a sinusoidal wave disturbance input unit for supplying a sinusoidal wave disturbance to a speed control loop including a speed command generator, a torque command generator and a speed detector; a frequency response calculator for estimating the gain and phase from the output of the speed control loop; a resonance frequency detector for detecting resonance frequencies at which the gain becomes maximum; a resonance mode characteristics analyzer for estimating resonance characteristics from the frequency response; and, a reference modal damping ratio retainer for retaining a reference modal damping ratio as a resonance characteristic corresponding to the reference lubricating condition, and the resonance mode characteristics analyzer calculates lubrication characteristics on the basis of the reference modal damping ratio and the measured modal damping ratio at the resonance frequency corresponding to the reference modal damping ratio."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A servo controller for a servo motor that drives a feed axis provided for a machine tool, comprising:\na speed command generator configured to generate a speed command value for a servo motor;\na torque command generator configured to generate a torque command value for the servo motor on the basis of the speed command value;\na speed detector configured to detect the speed of the servo motor driven on the basis of the torque command value;\na sinusoidal wave disturbance input unit configured to supply a sinusoidal wave disturbance to a speed control loop including the speed command generator, the torque command generator and the speed detector;\na frequency response calculator configured to estimate the gain and phase of the speed control loop input/output signal on the basis of the output of the speed control loop when the sinusoidal wave disturbance is input to the speed control loop;\na resonance frequency detector configured to detect resonance frequencies at which the gain of the frequency response estimated by the frequency response calculator becomes maximum;\na resonance mode characteristics analyzer configured to estimate resonance characteristics from the frequency response at and around the response frequency detected by the resonance frequency detector; and,\na reference modal damping ratio retainer configured to retain the reference modal damping ratio as a resonance characteristic corresponding to the reference lubricating condition,\nwherein the resonance mode characteristics analyzer calculates lubrication characteristics on the basis of the reference modal damping ratio and the measured modal damping ratio at the resonance frequency corresponding to the reference modal damping ratio.\n\n2. The servo control apparatus according to claim 1,\nwherein the resonance mode characteristics analyzer evaluates the degree of relative lowering of the lubricating condition by determining the relative ratio between the reference modal damping ratio and the measured modal damping ratio.\n\n3. The servo control apparatus according to claim 1,\nwherein when the measured modal damping ratio relative to the reference modal damping ratio is lower than a threshold, the resonance mode characteristics analyzer warns of degradation in lubricating condition in order to demonstrate the necessity of inspection of the lubricating condition."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Golf Cart Enclosure Having Drawstrings\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nFlexible golf cart enclosures protect occupants of the cart from wind, rain, and cold temperatures. One type of a golf cart enclosure can be placed over the roof of the golf cart and includes a front, back and sides to enclose the passenger compartment. The sides include zippered doors to allow access into and out of the cart. The back encloses the rear portion of the cart and the front covers the windshield. The front, back and sides typically include a transparent window. The roof portion of the cart may have different dimensions depending upon the manufacturer. Furthermore, the front end of the golf cart and slope of the windshield also varies depending on manufacturer. Thus, it is difficult to make a universal enclosure which neatly and snuggly fits all golf carts, regardless of the manufacturer for the golf cart. Thus, there is a need for a golf cart enclosure which fits a variety of different makes and models of golf cart.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA golf cart enclosure includes a roof panel, a rear panel, two side panels and a front panel to enclose an interior space of the golf cart. The front panel includes an opening adapted to surround a windshield of the golf cart. The front panel further includes a channel provided around a perimeter of the front panel opening for receiving at least one drawstring. Upon pulling the drawstring tight and locking in position, the edges of the front panel around the opening are drawn in toward a center of the opening to neatly and snuggly fit the enclosure to golf carts of varying dimensions."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A golf cart enclosure having a roof panel, a rear panel, two side panels and a front panel, wherein the front panel includes an opening adapted to surround a windshield of a golf cart, the front panel further including an edge seam or channel around the opening in which at least one drawstring is mounted, wherein pulling the at least one drawstring draws edges of the opening in towards a center of the opening.\n\n2. A golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least two drawstrings, a first drawstring surrounding the opening in the front panel and adapted to tighten the enclosure around the golf cart windshield and a second drawstring provided along a horizontal seam under a front end of the roof line adapted to tighten the enclosure around the front end of the roof.\n\n3. A golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least three drawstrings, a first drawstring adapted to tighten the enclosure around a front end of the golf cart roof, a second drawstring adapted to tighten at least a top, left side and right side of the front panel opening around the golf cart windshield, and a third drawstring provided on a bottom of the front panel opening adapted to tighten the enclosure around a lower portion of the windshield of the golf cart.\n\n4. A golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least four drawstrings, a first drawstring adapted to tighten the enclosure around a front end of the golf cart roof, a second drawstring adapted to tighten at least a top, left side and right side of the front panel opening around the golf cart windshield, a third drawstring provided on a bottom of the front panel opening adapted to tighten the enclosure around a lower portion of the windshield frame of the golf cart; and a fourth drawstring provided along a bottom edge of the front panel which rests on a front cowl of the golf cart adapted to tighten the enclosure around the front cowl of the golf cart.\n\n5. A golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least two drawstrings, a first drawstring surrounding the opening in the front panel and adapted to tighten the enclosure around the golf cart windshield, and a second drawstring provided along a bottom edge of the front panel which rests on a front cowl of a golf cart and adapted to tighten the enclosure around the front cowl of the golf cart.\n\n6. A golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 1, wherein the at least one drawstring includes a lock to hold the drawstring tightly in place.\n\n7. A golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 6, wherein the lock is a spring-loaded cord lock.\n\n8. A front panel of a golf cart enclosure, the front panel including an opening adapted to surround a windshield on a golf cart, the front panel further comprising a channel provided around a perimeter of the front panel opening for receiving at least one drawstring, wherein upon cinching the at least one drawstring, edges of the front panel around the opening are drawn in toward a center of the opening.\n\n9. A front panel of a golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 8, further comprising at least two drawstrings, a first drawstring surrounding the opening in the front panel and adapted to tighten the enclosure around the golf cart windshield and a second drawstring provided along a horizontal seam under a front end of the roof line adapted to tighten the enclosure around the front end of the roof.\n\n10. A front panel of a golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 8, further comprising at least two drawstrings, a first drawstring surround the opening in the front panel and adapted to tighten the enclosure around the golf cart windshield, and a second drawstring provided along a bottom edge of the front panel which rests on a front cowl of a golf cart and adapted to tighten the enclosure around the front cowl of the golf cart.\n\n11. A front panel of a golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 8, wherein the at least one drawstring includes a lock to hold the drawstring tightly in place.\n\n12. A front panel of a golf cart enclosure as defined in claim 8, wherein the lock is a spring-loaded cord lock.\n\n13. A golf cart enclosure having a roof panel, a rear panel, two side panels and a front panel, wherein the front panel includes an opening adapted to surround a windshield of a golf cart, the front panel further including an edge seam or channel around the opening in which at least one drawstring is mounted, wherein pulling the at least one drawstring draws edges of the opening in towards a center of the opening; and wherein a first drawstring surrounding the opening in the front panel is adapted to tighten the enclosure around the golf cart windshield and a second drawstring is provided along a horizontal seam under a front end of the roof line which is adapted to tighten the enclosure around the front end of the roof.\n\n14. A golf cart enclosure having a roof panel, a rear panel, two side panels and a front panel, wherein the front panel includes an opening adapted to surround a windshield of a golf cart, the front panel further including an edge seam or channel around the opening in which at least one drawstring is mounted, wherein pulling the at least one drawstring draws edges of the opening in towards a center of the opening, and wherein the at least one drawstring includes a lock to hold the drawstring tightly in place."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Solid-State Imaging Device, Method Of Manufacturing A Solid-State Imaging Device, And Electronic Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present disclosure relates to a solid-state imaging device, a method of manufacturing a solid-state imaging device, and an electronic apparatus, and more particularly, to a solid-state imaging device, a method of manufacturing a solid-state imaging device, and an electronic apparatus that are capable of suppressing the generation of aliasing and improving the saturation signal amounts of a photo diode (PD) and a memory and sensitivity of the photo diode. In a backside illumination CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor having a global shutter function in related art, a photo diode (PD) and a memory that temporarily accumulates charge (signal) transferred from the photo diode are provided on the same plane of a substrate. For that reason, an area where each of the photo diode and the memory is provided is limited, and this prevents saturation signal amounts of the photo diode and the memory from being increased or sensitivity of the photo diode from being improved. In this regard, these days, a lamination-type backside illumination CMOS image sensor having a global shutter function is developed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2012-084644, 2010-212668, and 2011-166170). In the lamination-type backside illumination CMOS image sensor having a global shutter function, a photo diode is disposed on a light incident side and a memory is laminated on a wiring layer side, and thus areas of the photo diode and the memory can be enlarged at the same pixel pitch as well. As a result, it is possible to increase the saturation signal amounts of the photo diode and the memory and improve the sensitivity of the photo diode.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nProvided is a solid-state imaging device including a lamination-type backside illumination CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor having a global shutter function. The solid-state imaging device includes a separation film including one of a light blocking film and a light absorbing film between a memory and a photo diode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An imaging device comprising a plurality of pixels, at least one of the plurality of pixels including:\na photo diode;\na memory;\na transistor configured to transfer charge from the photo diode to the memory; and\na film including a metal and disposed between the memory and the photo diode, wherein the transistor is a vertical transistor, and wherein the vertical transistor is disposed at the center of the photo diode.\n\n2. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising a floating diffusion, wherein a pitch of the photo diode coincides with a pitch of the vertical transistor, the memory, and the floating diffusion.\n\n3. An imaging device comprising a plurality of pixels, at least one of the plurality of pixels including:\na photo diode;\na memory;\na transistor configured to transfer charge from the photo diode to the memory;\na film including a metal and disposed between the memory and the photo diode; and\na floating diffusion, wherein the photo diode, the memory, and the floating diffusion are provided on respective layers and laminated on one another, to form a three-layer structure.\n\n4. The imaging device according to claim 3, wherein the transistor is a vertical transistor.\n\n5. The imaging device according to claim 4, wherein the vertical transistor is disposed at an end of the photo diode.\n\n6. The imaging device according to claim 5, further comprising a floating diffusion, wherein a pitch of the photo diode coincides with a pitch of the vertical transistor, the memory, and the floating diffusion.\n\n7. An imaging device comprising a plurality of pixels, at least one of the plurality of pixels including:\na photo diode,\na memory;\na transistor configured to transfer charge from the photo diode to the memory; and\na film including a metal and disposed between the memory and the photo diode, wherein a negative potential is applied to the film.\n\n8. The imaging device according to claim 7, wherein the film is connected to an outside of a pixel array.\n\n9. The imaging device according to claim 7, wherein the transistor is a vertical transistor.\n\n10. The imaging device according to claim 9, wherein the vertical transistor is disposed at an end of the photo diode.\n\n11. The imaging device according to claim 10, further comprising a floating diffusion, wherein a pitch of the photo diode coincides with a pitch of the vertical transistor, the memory, and the floating diffusion."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Communication Control Device, Communication Control Method And Communication Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nHigh speed cellular radio communication schemes such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX have been put into practical use in recent years, remarkably increasing communication rates of radio communication services for mobile users. Furthermore, the introduction of the fourth generation cellular radio communication schemes such as LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) will be expected to increase communication rates much more. Meanwhile, more and more applications that require high data rates are used with a rapid increase in the number of mobile users. As a result, the development of cellular radio communication schemes has not yet satisfied all the needs of mobile users. Accordingly, techniques for effective use of frequency resources are developed in order to maintain or increase communication rates. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for helping share communication resources between a plurality of secondary communication services.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nProvided is a communication control device including a radio communication unit configured to perform radio communication with a terminal apparatus of a primary system using a frequency band of the primary system, and a selecting unit configured to select a subframe in which the frequency band is usable by a secondary system secondarily using the frequency band, the subframe being a unit of time in radio communication. The radio communication unit transmits system information of the frequency band including identification information of the selected subframe."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A communication control device comprising:\na radio communication unit configured to perform radio communication with a terminal apparatus of a primary system using a frequency band of the primary system, wherein the primary system is a first Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based radio communication system, wherein the primary system is configured to use a time domain duplex (TDD) communication scheme; and\na controller configured to:\ndetermine, based on a utilization state of the frequency band by the primary system during radio communication between the radio communication unit and the terminal apparatus of the primary system, a subframe that is not used by the primary system for radio communication between the radio communication unit and the terminal apparatus of the primary system, the subframe corresponding to an interval of time in a radio communication protocol, wherein the radio communication unit is further configured to transmit identification information of the determined subframe to a device in a secondary system, wherein the secondary system is a second LTE-based radio communication system operable to perform device-to-device communication;\nselect, when both an uplink subframe and a downlink subframe in a radio frame are not used by the primary system for radio communication between the radio communication unit and the terminal apparatus of the primary system, the uplink subframe as the determined subframe; and\nset a configuration of the TDD communication scheme such that a number of uplink subframes in a radio frame is greater than a number of downlink subframes in the radio frame.\n\n2. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to:\nset, when the determined subframe is a downlink subframe, the determined subframe as an uplink subframe or a multicast downlink subframe.\n\n3. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein determined subframe is an uplink subframe.\n\n4. The communication control device according to claim 3, wherein, an end of the determined subframe is not used by the secondary system for performing radio communication.\n\n5. The communication control device according to claim 3, wherein one symbol at an end of the determined subframe is set to be a guard period.\n\n6. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the terminal apparatus is configured to perform transmission in the secondary system using a same frame structure as a frame structure defined for transmission for the primary system.\n\n7. A method comprising:\nperforming, by a radio communication unit, radio communication with a terminal apparatus of a primary system using a frequency band of the primary system, wherein the primary system is a first Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based radio communication system, wherein the primary system is configured to use a time domain duplex (TDD) communication scheme;\ndetermining based on a utilization state of the frequency band by the primary system during radio communication between the radio communication unit and the terminal apparatus of the primary system, a subframe that is not used by the primary system for radio communication between the radio communication unit and the terminal apparatus of the primary system, the subframe corresponding to an interval of time in a radio communication protocol, wherein determining the subframe comprises selecting, when both an uplink subframe and a downlink subframe in a radio frame are not used by the primary system for radio communication between the radio communication unit and the terminal apparatus of the primary system, the uplink subframe as the determined subframe;\ntransmitting identification information of the determined subframe to a device in a secondary system, wherein the secondary system is a second LTE-based radio communication system operable to perform device-to-device communication; and\nsetting a configuration of the TDD communication scheme such that a number of uplink subframes in a radio frame is greater than a number of downlink subframes in the radio frame.\n\n8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:\nsetting, when the determined subframe is a downlink subframe, the determined subframe as an uplink subframe or a multicast downlink subframe.\n\n9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the determined subframe is an uplink subframe.\n\n10. The method according to claim 9, wherein an end of the determined subframe is not used by the secondary system for performing radio communication.\n\n11. The method according to claim 9, wherein one symbol at an end of the determined subframe is set to be a guard period.\n\n12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the terminal apparatus is configured to perform transmission in the secondary system using a same frame structure as a frame structure defined for transmission for the primary system.\n\n13. A communication device comprising:\na radio communication unit of a secondary system configured to receive identification information of a subframe in a radio frame that is not used by a primary system for radio communication, wherein the subframe is an uplink subframe, wherein the primary system is configured to use a time domain duplex (TDD) communication scheme within a frequency band of the primary system, wherein a number of uplink subframes in a radio frame of the TDD communication scheme is greater than a number of downlink subframes in the radio frame, wherein the subframe is determined based on a utilization state of the frequency band of the primary system during radio communication in the primary system, the subframe corresponding to an interval of time in a radio communication protocol, wherein the primary system is a first Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based radio communication system and wherein the secondary system is a second LTE-based radio communication system operable to perform device-to-device communication; and\na controller configured to perform radio communication using the subframe identified by the identification information.\n\n14. The communication device according to claim 13, wherein an end of the subframe is not used by the secondary system for performing radio communication.\n\n15. The communication device according to claim 13, wherein one symbol at an end of the subframe is set to be a guard period.\n\n16. A method comprising:\nreceiving, by a device in a secondary system, identification information of a subframe that is not used by a primary system for radio communication, wherein the subframe is an uplink subframe, wherein the primary system is configured to use a time domain duplex (TDD) communication scheme within a frequency band of the primary system, wherein a number of uplink subframes in a radio frame of the TDD communication scheme is greater than a number of downlink subframes in the radio frame, wherein the subframe is determined based on a utilization state of the frequency band of the primary system during radio communication in the primary system, the subframe corresponding to an interval of time in a radio communication protocol, wherein the primary system is a first Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based radio communication system and wherein the secondary system is a second LTE-based radio communication system operable to perform device-to-device communication; and\nperforming radio communication within the subframe identified by the identification information.\n\n17. The method according to claim 16, wherein an end of the subframe is not used by the secondary system for performing radio communication.\n\n18. The method according to claim 16, wherein one symbol at an end of the subframe is set to be a guard period."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Superconducting Magnet\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAs a conventional art document disclosing a configuration of a magnetic system including a superconducting magnet having a current lead of a fixed type, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2-000306 (PTD 1) is provided. In the superconducting magnet of the magnetic system disclosed in PTD 1, the current lead has a high thermal conductivity resistance. This reduces a quantity of heat introduced through the current lead when a magnetic coil is in a continuation mode (a mode in which a current does not flow through the current lead). Moreover, when a current flows through the current lead, helium gas flows from a refrigerant container through the current lead, so that the current lead is cooled automatically.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA superconducting magnet includes a superconducting coil, a refrigerant container, a radiation shield, a vacuum container, a refrigerating machine cooling an interior of the refrigerant container, a tubular current lead passing from outside of the vacuum container to inside of the refrigerant container electrically connected to the superconducting coil, a power source electrically connected to the current lead, a manometer measuring a pressure inside of the refrigerant container, a thermometer to measure a temperature of the current lead, and a control unit connected to each of the power source, the manometer, and the thermometer. The control unit raises an output of the power source to vary a value of a current flowing into superconducting coil only when a measurement value of the manometer is higher than or equal to a set value and a measurement value of the thermometer is lower than or equal to a set value."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A superconducting magnet, comprising:\na superconducting coil;\na refrigerant container accommodating said superconducting coil which is in a state of being immersed in a liquid refrigerant;\na radiation shield surrounding said refrigerant container;\na vacuum container accommodating said superconducting coil, said refrigerant container, and said radiation shield;\na refrigerating machine cooling an interior of said refrigerant container and said radiation shield;\na tubular current lead passing from outside of said vacuum container to inside of said refrigerant container to constitute a flow path of said gasified refrigerant and being electrically connected to said superconducting coil;\na power source arranged outside of said vacuum container and electrically connected to said current lead;\na manometer measuring a pressure inside of said refrigerant container;\na thermometer arranged in said vacuum container to measure a temperature of said current lead; and\na control unit connected to each of said power source, said manometer, and said thermometer;\na disturbance magnetic field compensating coil arranged outside of said superconducting coil and immersed in said refrigerant in said refrigerant container for suppressing an influence of a disturbance magnetic field with respect to said superconducting coil;\na persistent current switch immersed in said refrigerant in said refrigerant container and connected to said disturbance magnetic field compensating coil electrically in serial; and\na heater arranged adjacent to said persistent current switch in said refrigerant container, immersed in said refrigerant, and electrically connected to said control unit,\nsaid control unit allowing a current from said power source to flow into said heater to gasify said refrigerant of an amount required cool said current lead while resetting an output of said disturbance magnetic field compensating coil by means of said persistent current switch,\nsaid control unit raising an output of said power source to vary a value of a current flowing into said superconducting coil only when a measurement value of said manometer is higher than or equal to a set value and a measurement value of said thermometer is lower than or equal to a set value.\n\n2. The superconducting magnet according to claim 1, further comprising a heater arranged adjacent to said current lead in said refrigerant container to heat said current lead.\n\n3. The superconducting magnet according to claim 1, wherein material of said current lead contains phosphorous deoxidized copper as a main component.\n\n4. A superconducting magnet, comprising:\na superconducting coil;\na refrigerant container accommodating said superconducting coil which is in a state of being immersed in a liquid refrigerant;\na radiation shield surrounding said refrigerant container;\na vacuum container accommodating said superconducting coil, said refrigerant container, and said radiation shield;\na refrigerating machine cooling an interior of said refrigerant container and said radiation shield;\na tubular current lead passing from outside of said vacuum container to inside of said refrigerant container to constitute a flow path of said gasified refrigerant and being electrically connected to said superconducting coil;\na power source arranged outside of said vacuum container and electrically connected to said current lead;\na flow meter measuring a flow rate of said gasified refrigerant through inside of said current lead;\na thermometer arranged in said vacuum container to measure a temperature of said current lead; and\na control unit connected to each of said power source, said flow meter, and said thermometer;\na disturbance magnetic field compensating coil arranged outside of said superconducting coil and immersed in said refrigerant in said refrigerant container for suppressing an influence of a disturbance magnetic field with respect to said superconducting coil;\na persistent current switch immersed in said refrigerant in said refrigerant container and connected to said disturbance magnetic field compensating coil electrically in serial; and\na heater arranged adjacent to said persistent current switch in said refrigerant container, immersed in said refrigerant, and electrically connected to said control unit,\nsaid control unit allowing a current from said power source to flow into said heater to gasify said refrigerant of an amount required cool said current lead while resetting an output of said disturbance magnetic field compensating coil by means of said persistent current switch,\nsaid control unit raising an output of said power source to vary a value of a current flowing into said superconducting coil only when a measurement value of said flow meter is higher than or equal to a set value and a measurement value of said thermometer is lower than or equal to a set value."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Thin Film Transistor Substrate And Method Of Manufacturing The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a thin film transistor substrate and a method of manufacturing the thin film transistor. More particularly, one or more exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a thin film transistor substrate, which is capable of reducing or effectively preventing a decrease in reliability due to an external light incident thereon, and a method of manufacturing the thin film transistor. 2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a switching element such as a thin film transistor for driving a pixel in a display device includes a gate electrode, a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a channel layer forming a channel between the source electrode and the drain electrode. The channel layer includes a semiconductor layer including amorphous silicon, polysilicon, oxide semiconductor or the like. The gate electrode is overlapped with the channel layer, and may be disposed above or under the channel layer. However, electrical characteristics of the semiconductor layer including amorphous silicon, polysilicon, oxide semiconductor or the like, may be deteriorated such as by an external light. Thus, the thin film transistor may include a light-blocking layer to reduce or prevent a decrease in reliability of the switching element.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA thin film transistor substrate includes a base substrate, an active pattern disposed on the base substrate, a gate insulation pattern disposed on the active pattern, a gate electrode disposed on the gate insulation pattern and overlapping the channel, and a light-blocking pattern disposed between the base substrate and the active pattern and having a size greater than the active pattern. The active pattern includes a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a channel disposed between the source electrode and the drain electrode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A thin film transistor substrate comprising:\na data line on a base substrate;\na first insulation layer on the data line;\nan active pattern on the first insulation layer, the active pattern comprising a source region, a drain region and a channel disposed between the source region and the drain region;\na light-blocking pattern disposed between the active pattern and the first insulation layer covering the data line;\na gate electrode overlapping the channel;\na second insulation layer on the active pattern and the gate electrode; and\na connecting electrode passing through the second insulation layer and the first insulation layer to be electrically connected to the data line and passing through the second insulation layer to be electrically connected to the source region of the active pattern,\nwherein the light-blocking pattern is larger than the active pattern in a plan view.\n\n2. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 1, wherein the light-blocking pattern comprises at least one selected from the group of consisting of a metal, an alloy, an inorganic insulation material and an organic insulation material.\n\n3. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 1, further comprising a buffer layer disposed between the light-blocking pattern and the active pattern.\n\n4. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 1, further comprising a gate insulation pattern disposed between the active pattern and the gate electrode.\n\n5. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 4, wherein the gate insulation pattern has a substantially same shape as the gate electrode.\n\n6. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 1, further comprising a third insulation layer on the second insulation layer.\n\n7. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the connecting electrode is disposed on the third insulation layer.\n\n8. A thin film transistor substrate comprising:\na data line on a base substrate;\na first insulation layer on the data line;\nan active pattern on the first insulation layer, the active pattern comprising a source region, a drain region and a channel disposed between the source region and the drain region;\na gate electrode overlapping the channel;\na second insulation layer on the active pattern and the gate electrode;\na light-blocking pattern between the active pattern and the first insulation layer covering the data line;\na connecting electrode passing through the second insulation layer and the first insulation layer to be electrically connected to the data line and passing through the second insulation layer to be electrically connected to the source region of the active pattern; and\na pixel electrode passing through the second insulation layer to be electrically connected to the drain region of the active pattern,\nwherein the connecting electrode comprises a same material as the pixel electrode.\n\n9. A thin film transistor substrate comprising:\na data line on a base substrate;\na first insulation layer on the data line;\nan active pattern on the first insulation layer, the active pattern comprising a source region, a drain region and a channel disposed between the source region and the drain region;\na gate electrode overlapping the channel;\na second insulation layer on the active pattern and the gate electrode;\na light-blocking pattern between the active pattern and the first insulation layer covering the data line; and\na connecting electrode passing through the second insulation layer and the first insulation layer to be electrically connected to the data line and passing through the second insulation layer to be electrically connected to the source region of the active pattern,\nwherein the connecting electrode comprises a transparent conductive material.\n\n10. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 9, wherein the active pattern comprises a metal oxide.\n\n11. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 9, wherein the light-blocking pattern comprises at least one selected from the group of consisting of a metal, an alloy, an inorganic insulation material and an organic insulation material.\n\n12. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 9, further comprising a gate insulation pattern disposed between the active pattern and the gate electrode.\n\n13. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 9, further comprising a third insulation layer on the second insulation layer.\n\n14. The thin film transistor substrate of claim 9, further comprising a pixel electrode passing through the second insulation layer to be electrically connected to the drain region of the active pattern,\nwherein the connecting electrode comprises a same material as the pixel electrode."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Detachable High Voltage Isolation Structure Of Large Electric Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nNowadays, many large electric vehicles are driven by electric power instead of internal combustion energy. Since the large electrical vehicle is driven by electric power, a lot of high voltage components are distributed throughout the electric vehicle. If the maintenance worker of the electric vehicle is not well educated about the high voltage knowledge, the maintenance worker is at the risk of getting an electric shock while the maintenance worker repairs the high voltage components and other components of the electric vehicle. Since the high voltage components cannot be repaired by the maintenance worker, the manufacturer of the electric vehicle has to provide after-sale service to the user. In case that the electric vehicle has a breakdown, the manufacturer of the electric vehicle has to dispatch a professional worker to assist in repairing the electric vehicle. In other words, the maintenance cost is very high. Moreover, in case that an accident of the electric vehicle happens, some problem occurs. For example, if the doors of the electric vehicle cannot be opened normally, the rescuers have to destroy the vehicle body to increase the rescuing opportunity. Since the high voltage cables and the high voltage components are distributed throughout the vehicle body of the electric vehicle, the rescuers are at the risk of getting electric shocks and the rescue timing is possibly delayed. Since the high voltage cables and the high voltage components distributed throughout the vehicle body of the electric vehicle, it is difficult to shield the electromagnetic interference. The electromagnetic wave in a large range may adversely affect the health of the passages. In addition, the electromagnetic wave is readily interfered with other electromagnetic waves.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA large electric vehicle with a detachable high voltage isolation structure is provided. Due to the detachable high voltage isolation structure, the drawbacks of repairing the high voltage components of the large electric vehicle will be overcome. All of the high voltage components are integrated into the detachable high voltage isolation structure. Consequently, the maintenance worker can repair the large electric vehicle in a safe environment."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A vehicle structure with a detachable high voltage isolation structure, the vehicle structure comprising:\na chassis;\nthe detachable high voltage isolation structure connected with the chassis;\nan axel assembly installed on the chassis, and comprising a differential mechanism and an axel;\na power motor disposed within the detachable high voltage isolation structure for driving the vehicle structure;\na detachable transmission shaft, wherein the differential mechanism and the power motor are connected with each other through the detachable transmission shaft;\na supplemental steering pump disposed on the chassis for providing hydraulic oil to a steering system;\na supplemental steering motor disposed within the detachable high voltage isolation structure for driving the supplemental steering pump;\na detachable supplemental steering pump connector, wherein the supplemental steering motor and the supplemental steering pump are connected with each other through the detachable supplemental steering pump connector;\nan air-conditioning compressor disposed within the detachable high voltage isolation structure for generating ice water;\nan air-conditioning motor disposed within the detachable high voltage isolation structure for driving the air-conditioning compressor;\na detachable pipe, wherein the ice water generated by the air-conditioning compressor is sent to the chassis through the detachable pipe;\na high voltage battery module disposed on the chassis for providing an electric power;\na high voltage cable installed on the chassis, wherein the electric power is transmitted from the high voltage battery module to the detachable high voltage isolation structure through the high voltage cable; and\na detachable high voltage cable connector, wherein the high voltage cable is connected with the detachable high voltage isolation structure through the detachable high voltage cable connector,\nwherein while the detachable high voltage isolation structure is detached from the chassis, a combination of the power motor, the supplemental steering motor, the air-conditioning compressor and the air-conditioning motor with the detachable high voltage isolation structure is detached from the chassis, and the axel assembly, the supplemental steering pump and the high voltage battery module are still connected with the chassis.\n\n2. The vehicle structure with the detachable high voltage isolation structure according to claim 1, further comprising a cooling channel, wherein the cooling channel is disposed within the detachable high voltage isolation structure.\n\n3. The vehicle structure with the detachable high voltage isolation structure according to claim 2, further comprising a generator, wherein the generator is installed within the cooling channel.\n\n4. The vehicle structure with the detachable high voltage isolation structure according to claim 1, further comprising a guide track structure and a guide roller assembly, wherein the guide track structure is installed on the chassis, and the guide roller assembly is disposed on the detachable high voltage isolation structure.\n\n5. The vehicle structure with the detachable high voltage isolation structure according to claim 1, further comprising a supporting rod structure, a positioning recess and a positioning pin, wherein the supporting rod structure is installed in the chassis, the positioning recess is formed in the supporting rod structure, and the positioning pin is installed in the detachable high voltage isolation structure.\n\n6. The vehicle structure with the detachable high voltage isolation structure according to claim 5, further comprising a crane, wherein the crane is installed on the supporting rod structure for vertically ascending or descending the detachable high voltage isolation structure.\n\n7. A large electric vehicle, comprising:\na detachable power module comprising a power motor, a motor driver, a supplemental steering motor, an air-conditioning system and a heat dissipating mechanism; and\nan accommodation space for accommodating the detachable power module, wherein a transmission shaft connector, a supplemental steering pump connector and a water pipe are disposed within the accommodation space, wherein the power motor is connected with a vehicle wheel through the transmission shaft connector, the supplemental steering motor is connected with a supplemental steering pump through the supplemental steering pump connector, and the air-conditioning system is connected with a heat exchanger through the water pipe,\nwherein while the detachable power module is detached from the large electric vehicle, a combination of the power motor, the motor driver, the supplemental steering motor, the air-conditioning system and the heat dissipating mechanism with the detachable power module is detached.\n\n8. A large electric vehicle, comprising:\na detachable power module comprising a power motor, a motor driver, an air-conditioning system and a heat dissipating mechanism; and\nan accommodation space for accommodating the detachable power module, wherein a transmission shaft connector, a supplemental steering pump connector and an air conduit are disposed within the accommodation space, wherein the power motor is connected with a vehicle wheel through the transmission shaft connector, a supplemental steering motor is connected with a supplemental steering pump through the supplemental steering pump connector, and cool air produced by the air-conditioning system is sent to a vehicle cabin through the air conduit,\nwherein while the detachable power module is detached from the large electric vehicle, a combination of the power motor, the motor driver, the air-conditioning system and the heat dissipating mechanism with the detachable power module is detached."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electric Power Storage System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to an electric power storage system mounted in a vehicle. 2. Description of Related Art Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-17357 (JP 2013-17357 A) discloses a plug-in vehicle and a battery system that is capable of charging a battery with external electric power via a charger (external charging). The battery system that is disclosed in JP 2013-17357 A has a circuit configuration that allows a main battery supplying electric power to a traveling motor to be charged and an auxiliary machine battery to be charged when the external charging is performed. According to JP 2013-17357 A, however, the main battery and an inverter or the like connected to the traveling motor should be connected to each other for the auxiliary machine battery to be charged during the external charging via the charger. In addition, a boosting circuit or the like can be disposed between the main battery and the inverter. Accordingly, when the auxiliary machine battery is charged, electric power for external charging flows through the inverter and a boosting circuit via the charger, and thus durability of these converters is reduced. The auxiliary machine battery can also be charged with electric power for external charging via the charger prevented from flowing through the inverter and the boosting circuit. For example, another DC/DC converter for the auxiliary machine battery that is connected to another auxiliary machine battery is disposed on the charger side. In this case, however, the dedicated DC/DC converter for charging the auxiliary machine battery via the charger is provided in a state where connection between the main battery and a load is blocked, and thus the number of components increases and a physique (size) of the system as a whole including the main battery increases to cause a problem.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electric power storage system for a vehicle includes: an electric power storage device; a converter configured to perform voltage conversion between the device and the motor; a DC/DC converter configured to step down an output voltage to an auxiliary machine or an auxiliary machine battery; a charger configured to charge the device with external electric power; and first and second relays disposed on first and second connection lines connecting the device to the converter, respectively. One end of the DC/DC converter is connected to the first connection line between the first relay and the converter and the other end is connected to the second connection line between the device and the second relay. The charger is disposed on a current path capable of charging the device with the external electric power when the first relay is in an ON state and the second relay is in an OFF state."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electric power storage system for a vehicle, the electric power storage system comprising:\nan electric power storage device configured to supply electric power to a traveling motor of the vehicle;\na converter configured to perform voltage conversion between the electric power storage device and the traveling motor;\na DC/DC converter disposed on a current path between the electric power storage device and the converter and configured to step down an output voltage from the current path to an auxiliary machine or an auxiliary machine battery mounted in the vehicle;\na charger configured to charge the electric power storage device with external electric power supplied from an external electric power source;\na first relay disposed on a first connection line as one of positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the converter; and\na second relay disposed on a second connection line as the other one of the positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the converter,\nwherein one end of the DC/DC converter is connected to the first connection line between the first relay and the converter and the other end of the DC/DC converter is connected to the second connection line between the electric power storage device and the second relay, and\nwherein the charger is disposed on a current path capable of charging the electric power storage device with the external electric power when the first relay is in an ON state and the second relay is in an OFF state.\n\n2. The electric power storage system according to claim 1, the vehicle being a hybrid vehicle provided with an engine as a driving source for traveling of the vehicle, the electric power storage system further comprising:\na generator connected to the converter and generating electric power by receiving power of the engine; and\na controller configured to control charging and discharging of the electric power storage device,\nwherein the controller is configured to perform a control such that the electric power generated by the generator is supplied to the auxiliary machine or the auxiliary machine battery via the DC/DC converter while controlling the first relay to be OFF and the second relay to be ON during the traveling of the vehicle using the engine as the driving source with the electric power supply from the electric power storage device to the traveling motor blocked.\n\n3. The electric power storage system according to claim 2 further comprising:\na third relay disposed on a first charging line as one of positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger; and\na fourth relay disposed on a second charging line as the other one of the positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger,\nwherein the controller is configured to perform an external charging control for charging the electric power storage device with the external electric power, and\nwherein the controller is configured to connect the electric power storage device and the charger to each other by turning ON the third relay and the fourth relay and perform a control such that the external electric power is supplied to the auxiliary machine battery via the DC/DC converter while controlling the first relay to be ON and the second relay to be OFF.\n\n4. The electric power storage system according to claim 1 further comprising:\na third relay disposed on a first charging line as one of positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger;\na fourth relay disposed on a second charging line as the other one of the positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger; and\na controller configured to perform an external charging control for charging the electric power storage device with the external electric power,\nwherein the controller is configured to connect the electric power storage device and the charger to each other by turning ON the third relay and the fourth relay and perform a control such that the external electric power is supplied to the auxiliary machine battery via the DC/DC converter while controlling the first relay to be ON and the second relay to be OFF.\n\n5. The electric power storage system according to claim 1 further comprising:\na first charging line as one of positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger;\na second charging line as the other one of the positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger;\na third relay disposed on the first charging line; and\na controller configured to perform an external charging control for charging the electric power storage device with the external electric power,\nwherein the second charging line is connected to the first connection line between the first relay and the DC/DC converter, and\nwherein the controller is configured to connect the electric power storage device and the charger to each other by turning ON the first relay and the third relay and perform a control such that the external electric power is supplied to the auxiliary machine battery via the DC/DC converter while controlling the second relay to be OFF.\n\n6. The electric power storage system according to claim 2 further comprising:\na first charging line as one of positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger;\na second charging line as the other one of the positive and negative electrodes connecting the electric power storage device to the charger; and\na third relay disposed on the first charging line,\nwherein the controller is configured to perform an external charging control for charging the electric power storage device with the external electric power,\nwherein the second charging line is connected to the first connection line between the first relay and the DC/DC converter, and\nwherein the controller is configured to connect the electric power storage device and the charger to each other by turning ON the first relay and the third relay and perform a control such that the external electric power is supplied to the auxiliary machine battery via the DC/DC converter while controlling the second relay to be OFF.\n\n7. The electric power storage system according to claim 1, the vehicle being a hybrid vehicle provided with an engine as a driving source for traveling of the vehicle, the electric power storage system further comprising:\na generator connected to the converter and configured to generate electric power by receiving power of the engine;\na first current sensor configured to detect a current flowing through the converter; and\na first failure detection unit configured to detect an ON failure of the second relay based on a current value detected by the first current sensor,\nwherein the first failure detection unit is configured to determine that the second relay is subjected to the ON failure when the current value detected by the first current sensor exceeds a predetermined value in a state where the first relay and the second relay are controlled to be OFF and in a state where the electric power generated by the generator is output to the DC/DC converter via the converter.\n\n8. The electric power storage system according to claim 2 further comprising:\na generator connected to the converter and configured to generate electric power by receiving power of the engine;\na first current sensor configured to detect a current flowing through the converter; and\na first failure detection unit configured to detect an ON failure of the second relay based on a current value detected by the first current sensor,\nwherein the first failure detection unit is configured to determine that the second relay is subjected to the ON failure when the current value detected by the first current sensor exceeds a predetermined value in a state where the first relay and the second relay are controlled to be OFF and in a state where the electric power generated by the generator is output to the DC/DC converter via the converter.\n\n9. The electric power storage system according to claim 1 further comprising:\na second current sensor configured to detect a current flowing through the electric power storage device; and\na second failure detection unit configured to detect an ON failure of the first relay based on a current value detected by the second current sensor,\nwherein the second failure detection unit is configured to determine that the first relay is subjected to the ON failure when the current value detected by the second current sensor exceeds a predetermined value in a state where the first relay and the second relay are controlled to be OFF and in a state where electric power is output to the DC/DC converter from the electric power storage device.\n\n10. The electric power storage system according to claim 1 further comprising:\na first current sensor configured to detect a current flowing through the converter; and\na first failure detection unit configured to detect an ON failure of the second relay based on a current value detected by the first current sensor,\nwherein the DC/DC converter is provided with a boosting function for boosting an output voltage of the auxiliary machine battery and outputting the boosted output voltage to the current path between the electric power storage device and the converter, and\nwherein the failure detection unit is configured to determine that the second relay is subjected to the ON failure when the current value detected during a boosting operation of the DC/DC converter exceeds a predetermined value in a state where the first relay and the second relay are controlled to be OFF.\n\n11. The electric power storage system according to claim 1 further comprising:\na second current sensor configured to detect a current flowing through the electric power storage device; and\na second failure detection unit configured to detect an ON failure of the first relay based on a current value detected by the second current sensor,\nwherein the second failure detection unit is configured to determine that the first relay is subjected to the ON failure when the current value detected by the second current sensor during a step-down operation of the DC/DC converter exceeds a predetermined value in a state where the first relay and the second relay are controlled to be OFF."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electrical Receptacle Connector\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nGenerally, Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to the PC architecture with a focus on computer interface, consumer and productivity applications. The existing Universal Serial Bus (USB) interconnects have the attributes of plug-and-play and ease of use by end users. Now, as technology innovation marches forward, new kinds of devices, media formats and large inexpensive storage are converging. They require significantly more bus bandwidth to maintain the interactive experience that users have come to expect. In addition, the demand of a higher performance between the PC and the sophisticated peripheral is increasing. Specifically, an existing USB type-C electrical receptacle connector includes an insulated housing, a plurality of first terminals, a plurality of second terminals, and a hollowed shell. The insulated housing includes a base portion and a tongue portion extended from one side of the base portion. The first terminals are held in the base portion and the tongue portion. The front of each of the first terminals is disposed at an upper surface of the tongue portion, and the rear of each of the first terminals is protruded from the base portion for connecting with a circuit board. The second terminals are held in the base portion and the tongue portion. The front of each of the second terminals is disposed at a lower surface of the tongue portion, and the rear of each of the second terminals is protruded from the base portion for connecting with the circuit board. However, the existing USB type-C receptacle connector has a single plug opening and provides a USB 3.0 transmission interface therein. In other words, the existing USB type-C receptacle connector allows one plug connector to be mated therewith. Consequently, the existing USB type-C receptacle connector cannot allow the insertion of several plug connectors for signal transmission.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electrical receptacle connector includes a metallic shell, an insulated housing, first and second groups of terminals, an adapting circuit board, and extension terminals. The insulated housing is received in the metallic shell and includes a base portion, upper and lower tongue portions, and a partition plate. Upper and lower plug openings are respectively formed between the partition plate and the upper portion of the metallic shell and between the partition plate and the lower portion of the metallic shell. The terminals are held in the insulated housing. The adapting circuit board is disposed at the rear of the insulated housing and includes an upper-row contact set connected to the first group of terminals and a lower-row contact set. One ends of the extension terminals are connected to the lower-row contact set, and the other ends of the extension terminals are extended to the bottom of the insulated housing."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electrical receptacle connector, comprising:\na metallic shell defines a receiving cavity;\nan insulated housing received in the receiving cavity, wherein the insulated housing comprises a base portion, an upper tongue portion having an upper surface and a lower surface, a lower tongue portion having an upper surface and a lower surface, and a partition plate, the upper tongue portion, the lower tongue portion, and the partition plate are extended from one side of the base portion, respectively, the upper tongue portion, the lower tongue portion, and the partition plate are perpendicularly aligned to the base portion, the partition plate is between the upper tongue portion and the lower tongue portion, an upper insertion opening is formed between the partition plate and the upper portion of the metallic shell, a lower insertion opening is formed between the partition plate and the lower portion of the metallic shell;\na first group of terminals held in the insulated housing, wherein the first group of terminals comprises:\na plurality of upper-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the upper tongue portion and disposed at the upper surface of the upper tongue portion, wherein the upper-row receptacle terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal; and\na plurality of lower-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the upper tongue portion and disposed at the lower surface of the upper tongue portion, wherein the lower-row receptacle terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal, each of the lower-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals comprises a flat contact portion, a body portion, and a tail portion, the body portions are held in the base portion and disposed at the lower surface of the upper tongue portion, each of the flat contact portions is extended from one of two ends of the corresponding body portion and disposed at the lower surface of the upper tongue portion, and each of the tail portions is extended from the other end of the corresponding body portion, protruded from the rear of the base portion, and connected to the upper-row contact set;\na second group of terminals held in the insulated housing, wherein the second group of terminals comprises:\na plurality of upper-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the lower tongue portion and disposed at the upper surface of the lower tongue portion, wherein the upper-row receptacle terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal; and\na plurality of lower-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the lower tongue portion and disposed at the lower surface of the lower tongue portion, wherein the lower-row receptacle terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal;\na circuit board received in the receiving cavity and covering the rear of the base portion, wherein the circuit board comprises an upper-row contact set and a lower-row contact set, the upper-row contact set is connected to the first group of terminals; and\na plurality of extension terminals, each having two ends, wherein one ends of the extension terminals are connected to the lower-row contact set, and the other ends of the extension terminals are extended toward the bottom of the base portion.\n\n2. An electrical receptacle connector, comprising:\na metallic shell defines a receiving cavity;\nan insulated housing received in the receiving cavity, wherein the insulated housing comprises a base portion, an upper tongue portion having an upper surface and a lower surface, a lower tongue portion having an upper surface and a lower surface, and a partition plate, the upper tongue portion, the lower tongue portion, and the partition plate are extended from one side of the base portion, respectively, the upper tongue portion, the lower tongue portion, and the partition plate are perpendicularly aligned to the base portion, the partition plate is between the upper tongue portion and the lower tongue portion, an upper insertion opening is formed between the partition plate and the upper portion of the metallic shell, a lower insertion opening is formed between the partition plate and the lower portion of the metallic shell;\na first group of terminals held in the insulated housing, wherein the first group of terminals comprises:\na plurality of upper-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the upper tongue portion and disposed at the upper surface of the upper tongue portion, wherein; and\na plurality of lower-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the upper tongue portion and disposed at the lower surface of the upper tongue portion, wherein each of the lower-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals comprises a flat contact portion, a body portion, and a tail portion, the body portions are held in the base portion and disposed at the lower surface of the upper tongue portion, each of the flat contact portions is extended from one of two ends of the corresponding body portion and disposed at the lower surface of the upper tongue portion, and each of the tail portions is extended from the other end of the corresponding body portion, protruded from the rear of the base portion, and connected to the upper-row contact set;\na second group of terminals held in the insulated housing, wherein the second group of terminals comprises:\na plurality of upper-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the lower tongue portion and disposed at the upper surface of the lower tongue portion; and\na plurality of lower-row receptacle terminals held in the base portion and the lower tongue portion and disposed at the lower surface of the lower tongue portion;\ncircuit board received in the receiving cavity and covering the rear of the base portion, wherein the circuit board comprises an upper-row contact set and a lower-row contact set, the upper-row contact set is connected to the first group of terminals; and\na plurality of extension terminals, each having two ends, wherein one ends of the extension terminals are connected to the lower-row contact set, and the other ends of the extension terminals are extended toward the bottom of the base portion.\n\n3. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein each of the lower-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals comprises a lower-row extension portion extended from the rear of the body portion toward the tail portion.\n\n4. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, further comprising an upper-row grounding sheet held in the insulated housing and between the upper-row receptacle terminals and the lower-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals.\n\n5. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein each of the upper-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals comprises a flat contact portion, a body portion, and a tail portion, wherein the body portions are held in the base portion and disposed at the upper surface of the lower tongue portion, each of the flat contact portions is extended from one of two ends of the corresponding body portion and disposed at the upper surface of the lower tongue portion, and each of the tail portions is extended from the other end of the corresponding body portion and protruded from the bottom of the base portion.\n\n6. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein each of the lower-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals comprises a flat contact portion, a body portion, and a tail portion, wherein the body portions are held in the base portion and disposed at the lower surface of the lower tongue portion, each of the flat contact portions is extended from one of two ends of the corresponding body portion and disposed at the lower surface of the lower tongue portion, and each of the tail portions is extended from the other end of the corresponding body portion and protruded from the bottom of the base portion.\n\n7. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, further comprising a lower-row grounding sheet held in the insulated housing and between the upper-row receptacle terminals and the lower-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals.\n\n8. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, further comprising a circuit board disposed at the bottom of the insulated housing, wherein the circuit board comprises a plurality of contacts respectively connected to the second group of terminals and the other ends of the extension terminals.\n\n9. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein the upper-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal.\n\n10. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein the lower-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal.\n\n11. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein the upper-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal.\n\n12. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein the lower-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals comprise a plurality of signal terminals, at least one power terminal, and at least one ground terminal.\n\n13. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein each of the upper-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals comprises a flat contact portion, a body portion, and a tail portion, wherein the body portions are held in the base portion and disposed at the upper surface of the upper tongue portion, each of the flat contact portions is extended from one of two ends of the corresponding body portion and disposed at the upper surface of the upper tongue portion, and each of the tail portions is extended from the other end of the corresponding body portion, protruded from the rear of the base portion, and connected to the upper-row contact set.\n\n14. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 13, wherein each of the upper-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals comprises an upper-row extension portion extended from the rear of the body portion toward the tail portion.\n\n15. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein the upper-row receptacle terminals and the lower-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals have 180 degree symmetrical design with respect to a central point of the upper insertion opening as the symmetrical center.\n\n16. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 15, wherein the position of the upper-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals corresponds to the position of the lower-row receptacle terminals of the first group of terminals.\n\n17. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 2, wherein the upper-row receptacle terminals and the lower-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals have 180 degree symmetrical design with respect to a central point of the lower insertion opening as the symmetrical center.\n\n18. The electrical receptacle connector according to claim 17, wherein the position of the upper-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals corresponds to the position of the lower-row receptacle terminals of the second group of terminals."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Coil Electronic Component\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present disclosure relates to a coil electronic component and a method of manufacturing the same. An inductor, an electronic component, is a representative passive element that is commonly used in electronic circuits together with a resistor and a capacitor to remove noise. An inductor may be manufactured by forming internal coil parts, then forming a body in which the internal coil parts are embedded. End portions of the internal coil parts can be exposed, and external electrodes formed on external portions of the body.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA coil electronic component includes a body having a coil part disposed therein and external electrodes connected to the coil part. The body includes a plurality of magnetic particles. In one example, a particle size distribution D50 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1 \u03bcm or less. In other examples, a particle size distribution D99 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1 \u03bcm or less; a particle size distribution ratio D99/D50 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1.5 or less; and/or a variation coefficient of the particle size of the magnetic particles in the body is 20% or less."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A coil electronic component comprising:\na body having a coil part disposed therein; and\nexternal electrodes connected to the coil part,\nwherein the coil part includes a plurality of windings, and a space between adjacent windings of the coil part is free of the body,\nwherein the body includes a plurality of magnetic particles including an amorphous magnetic metal material and having a particle size distribution D 99 that is 1 \u03bcm or less, and\nwherein the amorphous magnetic metal material includes 88 to 92 mol % of iron (Fe), 6 to 9 mol % of boron (B), and 1 to 2 mol % of phosphorus (P).\n\n2. The coil electronic component of claim 1, wherein a particle size distribution ratio D 99 /D 50 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1.5 or less.\n\n3. The coil electronic component of claim 1, wherein a particle size distribution ratio D 99.9 /D 50 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1.5 or less.\n\n4. The coil electronic component of claim 1, wherein the coil part includes a substrate layer and coil patterns disposed on at least one surface of the substrate layer.\n\n5. The coil electronic component of claim 4, wherein:\nthe coil patterns are disposed on two opposing surfaces of the substrate layer,\na coil pattern disposed on one surface of the substrate layer is electrically connected, though a via electrode extending through a hole in the substrate layer, to a coil pattern disposed on another surface of the substrate layer opposite to the one surface, and\nthe substrate layer includes a hole penetrating through the substrate layer in a central portion of the coil part.\n\n6. The coil electronic component of claim 1, wherein the body further includes a thermosetting resin.\n\n7. A coil electronic component comprising:\na body having a coil part embedded therein,\nwherein the body includes magnetic particles including an amorphous magnetic metal material and having a particle size of 1 \u03bcm or less, and a variation coefficient of the particle size of the magnetic particles in the body is 20% or less,\nwherein a particle size distribution D 99 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1 \u03bcm or less, and\nwherein the amorphous magnetic metal material includes 88 to 92 mol % of iron (Fe), 6 to 9 mol % of boron (B), and 1 to 2 mol % of phosphorus (P).\n\n8. The coil electronic component of claim 7, wherein a particle size distribution ratio D 99 /D 50 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1.5 or less.\n\n9. The coil electronic component of claim 7, wherein a particle size distribution ratio D 99.9 /D 50 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1.5 or less.\n\n10. A coil electronic component comprising:\na coil part having a hole penetrating through a center thereof; and\na body enclosing the coil part and extending through the hole at the center of the coil part,\nwherein the body includes magnetic particles dispersed in a thermosetting resin, the magnetic particles include an amorphous magnetic metal material, and a particle size distribution ratio D 99 /D 50 of the magnetic particles included in the body is 1.5 or less,\nwherein a particle size distribution D 99 of the magnetic particles in the body is 1 \u03bcm or less, and\nwherein the amorphous magnetic metal material includes 88 to 92 mol % of iron (Fe), 6 to 9 mol % of boron (B), and 1 to 2 mol % of phosphorus (P).\n\n11. The coil electronic component of claim 10, wherein a variation coefficient of the particle size of the magnetic particles in the body is 20% or less.\n\n12. The coil electronic component of claim 10, wherein:\nthe coil part includes a substrate layer and coil patterns disposed on two opposing surfaces of the substrate layer,\nthe coil patterns disposed on the two opposing surfaces of the substrate layer are electrically connected though a via electrode extending through the substrate layer, and\nthe substrate layer includes the hole penetrating through the substrate layer in the center of the coil part."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: State Of Charge Indicator Of Hybrid Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe technology relates to an SOC indicator that provides an indication of an SOC of a hybrid vehicle having an EV traveling mode. An engine-electric motor hybrid vehicle (HV) includes an engine and a motor generator as power sources for traveling, allowing for motor assistance on occasions such as acceleration by using electric power. The electric power may be generated in association with use of a regeneration brake, etc. and charged in a battery. In recent years, such a hybrid vehicle is further provided with a function of charging from an external power supply such as a domestic power supply and a commercial power supply, attaining expansion of a range of usability of an electric vehicle (EV) traveling mode that allows for traveling with sole use of the motor generator without using the engine. This type of hybrid vehicle has been spreading as a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV). The plug-in hybrid vehicle as mentioned above may include a secondary battery such as, but not limited to, a lithium ion battery and a nickel hydrogen battery, as power storage to accumulate electric power to be used in traveling. In such a secondary battery, a ratio of residual electric power to chargeable electric power (total capacity) is called a state of charge (SOC). In the plug-in hybrid vehicle, SOC control (charge and discharge control) of the battery may differ as follows between the EV traveling mode that involves traveling with sole use of the motor generator and an HV traveling mode with combined use of the engine and the motor generator. In the EV traveling mode, in many cases, traveling may be started in a range of a relatively high SOC (almost full-charged); when the SOC decreases to the extent that continuation of the EV traveling mode becomes difficult, the EV traveling mode may be switched to the HV traveling mode. In contrast, in the HV traveling mode, the SOC control may be targeted to a relatively low SOC state; within a relatively narrow SOC range, charge (e.g., regenerative power generation) and discharge (motor drive) may be repeated with high frequency. The plug-in hybrid vehicle as mentioned above may include an SOC indicator (a battery residual capacity indicator) in order to present information on residual capacity of the battery to a driver. As one example of existing techniques concerning such an SOC indicator, Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 5223822 describes a residual capacity indicator that changes display colors of a bar graph in accordance with a first traveling mode and a second traveling mode. The first traveling mode gives priority to traveling with sole use of a motor. The second traveling mode involves use of an internal combustion engine and the generator. JP-B No. 5223822 also provides a description that, in the display in the first traveling mode, the bar graph is color-divided at a position corresponding to residual capacity where the first traveling mode is switched to the second traveling mode. Although the existing technique as mentioned above enables a grasp of a current SOC, it provides a driver with little information on a timing when the traveling mode will be returned to the EV traveling mode again, in a case of recovery of an SOC by charging such as regenerative power generation in traveling in the HV traveling mode. Hence, it is difficult to forecast switching of traveling modes.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA state of charge indicator includes a first indication unit that provides an indication of a state of charge of a battery of a hybrid vehicle. The first indication unit includes a movable index and a fixed index. The movable index is movable in accordance with an increase and a decrease in the state of charge. The fixed index is disposed along a movement range of the movable index. The movable index is movable between positions corresponding to a maximum and a minimum of a state of charge range directed to an EV traveling mode and an HV traveling mode. The fixed index includes: a first sign that indicates switching from the EV traveling mode to the HV traveling mode; and a second sign that indicates switching from the HV traveling mode to the EV traveling mode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A state of charge indicator, comprising\na first indication unit that provides an indication of a state of charge of a battery of a hybrid vehicle (HV), the first indication unit including a movable index and a fixed index, the movable index being movable in accordance with an increase and a decrease in the state of charge, and the fixed index being disposed along a movement range of the movable index,\nwherein the movable index is movable between positions corresponding to a maximum and a minimum of a state of charge range directed to an electric vehicle (EV) traveling mode and an HV traveling mode, the EV traveling mode giving a priority to driving with a sole use of an electric motor, and the HV traveling mode involving driving with a combined use of an engine and the electric motor, and controlling a charge and discharge of the battery to allow the state of charge to be within a prescribed range,\nwherein the fixed index includes:\na first sign that indicates a switching from the EV traveling mode to the HV traveling mode; and\na second sign that indicates a switching from the HV traveling mode to the EV traveling mode,\nwherein the fixed index includes graduations disposed at equal intervals, the graduations including a graduation of the first sign and a graduation of the second sign,\nwherein the graduation of the first sign is in a different indication mode from an indication mode of at least one graduation, the at least one graduation being adjacent to the graduation of the first sign, and\nwherein the graduation of the second sign is in a different indication mode from the indication mode of the at least one graduation, the at least one graduation being adjacent to the graduation of the second sign.\n\n2. The state of charge indicator according to claim 1, wherein the regions of the fixed index include a first region, a second region, and a third region, the first region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is higher than the second sign, the second region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is between the second sign and the first sign, and the third region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is lower than the first sign, and\nwherein the fixed index is in different indication modes for the first region, the second region, and the third region.\n\n3. The state of charge indicator according to claim 1, wherein the regions of the fixed index include a first region, a second region, and a third region the first region corresponding to the state of charge with which the EV traveling mode is solely executed, the second region corresponding to the state of charge with which both the EV traveling mode and the HV traveling mode are executed, and the third region corresponding to the state of charge with which the HV traveling mode is solely executed, and\nwherein the fixed index is in different indication modes for the first region, the second region, and the third region.\n\n4. The state of charge indicator according to claim 1, further comprising a second indication unit that provides an indication of whether the EV traveling mode or the HV traveling mode is selected.\n\n5. The state of charge indicator according to claim 2, further comprising a second indication unit that provides an indication of whether the EV traveling mode or the HV traveling mode is selected.\n\n6. The state of charge indicator according to claim 3, further comprising a second indication unit that provides an indication of whether the EV traveling mode or the HV traveling mode is selected.\n\n7. The state of charge indicator according to claim 1, wherein regions of the fixed index include a first region and a second region, the first region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is higher than the second sign, and the second region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is between the second sign and the first sign.\n\n8. The state of charge indicator according to claim 7, wherein the fixed index is in different indication modes for the first region and the second region.\n\n9. The state of charge indicator according to claim 7, wherein the regions of the fixed index further include a third region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is lower than the first sign.\n\n10. The state of charge indicator according to claim 1, wherein regions of the fixed index include a first region and a second region, the first region corresponding to the state of charge with which the EV traveling mode is solely executed, and the second region corresponding to the state of charge with which both the EV traveling mode and the HV traveling mode are executed.\n\n11. The state of charge indicator according to claim 10, wherein the regions of the fixed index further include a third region corresponding to the state of charge with which the HV traveling mode is solely executed.\n\n12. The state of charge indicator according to claim 10, wherein the fixed index is in different indication modes for the first region and the second region.\n\n13. A state of charge indicator, comprising\na first indication unit that provides an indication of a state of charge of a battery of a hybrid vehicle (HV), the first indication unit including a movable index and a fixed index, the movable index being movable in accordance with an increase and a decrease in the state of charge, and the fixed index being disposed along a movement range of the movable index,\nwherein the movable index is movable between positions corresponding to a maximum and a minimum of a state of charge range directed to an electric vehicle (EV) traveling mode and an HV traveling mode, the EV traveling mode giving a priority to driving with a sole use of an electric motor, and the HV traveling mode involving driving with a combined use of an engine and the electric motor, and controlling a charge and discharge of the battery to allow the state of charge to be within a prescribed range,\nwherein the fixed index includes:\na first sign that indicates a switching from the EV traveling mode to the HV traveling mode; and\na second sign that indicates a switching from the HV traveling mode to the EV traveling mode,\nwherein regions of the fixed index include a first region, a second region, and a third region, the first region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is higher than the second sign, the second region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is between the second sign and the first sign, and the third region corresponding to a state in which the state of charge is lower than the first sign, and\nwherein the fixed index is in different indication modes for the first region, the second region, and the third region.\n\n14. A state of charge indicator, comprising\na first indication unit that provides an indication of a state of charge of a battery of a hybrid vehicle (HV), the first indication unit including a movable index and a fixed index, the movable index being movable in accordance with an increase and a decrease in the state of charge, and the fixed index being disposed along a movement range of the movable index,\nwherein the movable index is movable between positions corresponding to a maximum and a minimum of a state of charge range directed to an electric vehicle (EV) traveling mode and an HV traveling mode, the EV traveling mode giving a priority to driving with a sole use of an electric motor, and the HV traveling mode involving driving with a combined use of an engine and the electric motor, and controlling a charge and discharge of the battery to allow the state of charge to be within a prescribed range,\nwherein the fixed index includes:\na first sign that indicates a switching from the EV traveling mode to the HV traveling mode; and\na second sign that indicates a switching from the HV traveling mode to the EV traveling mode,\nwherein regions of the fixed index include a first region, a second region, and a third region, the first region corresponding to the state of charge with which the EV traveling mode is solely executed, the second region corresponding to the state of charge with which both the EV traveling mode and the HV traveling mode are executed, and the third region corresponding to the state of charge with which the HV traveling mode is solely executed, and\nwherein the fixed index is in different indication modes for the first region, the second region, and the third region."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Emergency Response System And Method\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention This invention is directed to an improved emergency response system and method for use in responding to emergencies at various premises such as homes, businesses, neighborhoods, campuses, etc. An emergency dispatcher, or electronic equivalent, can reference designated location zones and microzones to relay important location information regarding a target location to first responders, regardless of whether additional premises-related information is immediately available. In addition, the zones and microzones can be displayed in a superimposed manner relative to mapped features of the local premises, such as satellite photos, site maps, architectural plans, etc. The system is further capable of assigning and displaying relative threat levels to corresponding zones. 2. Description of the Related Art In view of the increasing awareness of natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and forest fires, as well as the unfortunate occurrence of other emergency situations to include in-school violence, terrorist attacks, crimes, fires, structural failures of bridges and buildings, etc., there remains a need for improving the manner in which first responders are advised of emergency situations so that they can respond more timely and more accurately when called upon. For instance, presently, a bystander typically will call an emergency dispatcher to identify the general location and circumstances of a particular emergency situation. In such cases, the dispatcher must rely on the caller (who is typically under duress) to accurately identify the specific local area at issue. Such conversations can be confusing, and often result in somewhat ambiguous if not erroneous information being conveyed. For instance, if a caller on a school campus says that the emergency is happening \u201cin the classroom next to the cafeteria,\u201d such a general statement might lead to initially inaccurate dispatch information or, at the very least, result in a delayed response while appropriate identifying information is referenced and cross-checked. Another problem arises in cases where a map or architectural plan of the target site is not immediately available, since any delays in locating the appropriate information can have severe consequences. Still another problem of current practices involves pre-planned evacuation routes which in some cases can become deadly in view of developing circumstances, wherein what was initially thought to be a safe area becomes a hazard itself. It would therefore be beneficial to implement an improved emergency response system and method that facilitates the conveying of more specific, immediate information about a particular location at issue. It would be a further benefit for such a technology to permit display of relevant information in a superimposed manner relative to mapped features of the local premises, such as satellite photos, site maps, architectural plans, etc., in relatively short order, if not immediately upon request. It would also be beneficial for a system implementing such features to be capable of assigning and displaying relative threat levels to on-premises areas, preferably in dynamic fashion as the situation develops.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn improved emergency response system and method includes at least one zone display structured to present a plurality of zones that convey certain information to bystanders, dispatchers, and/or emergency responders. Each zone corresponds to a different portion of the local premises, such that the zones are collectively configured to convey at least directional information pertaining to the local premises. The zone display is further configured to present at least one universal directional indicator associated with each zone. Accordingly, the information associated with the zones and directional indicators is utilized to facilitate an emergency response. The presenting of the zones can include depicting at least a portion of the premises via mapping overlay display. Further, the zone displays can depict threat level indicators corresponding to perceived circumstances of one or more zones."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system for facilitating emergency response to a premises, said system comprising:\nat least one premises system display structured to present a plurality of premises zones;\neach of said plurality of premises zones fixedly corresponding to a true direction of the premises, said plurality of premises zones collectively configured to convey at least directional information pertaining to the premises; and\nat least one triage system display structured to present a plurality of triage zones.\n\n2. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein said plurality of premises zones are collectively disposed in a clockwise orientation in relation to a particular corresponding direction about the premises.\n\n3. A system as recited in claim 2 wherein said plurality of premises zones are collectively arranged to represent four quadrants of the premises.\n\n4. A system as recited in claim 3 wherein a first zone represents a Northwest portion of the premises, a consecutive second zone represents a Northeast portion of the premises, a consecutive third zone represents a Southeast portion of the premises, and consecutive fourth zone represents a Southwest portion of the premises.\n\n5. A system as recited in claim 1 further structured to present a plurality of premises microzones corresponding to specified areas of the premises within a designated zone.\n\n6. A system as recited in claim 5 wherein said plurality of premises microzones are arranged to represent four quadrants within a corresponding one of said plurality of designated zones.\n\n7. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein said premises system display is further structured to depict at least a portion of the premises via a premises mapping overlay display.\n\n8. A system as recited in claim 7 wherein said premises mapping overlay display is selected from the group consisting of: satellite image, street map, site map, architectural plans, or GPS coordinates.\n\n9. A system as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of triage zones represent a particular assessed triage level.\n\n10. A system for facilitating emergency response to a premises, said system comprising:\nat least one triage system display structured to present a plurality of triage zones;\neach of said plurality of triage zones corresponding to a different area of the premises, said plurality of triage zones collectively configured to convey at least location information pertaining to the premises;\neach of said plurality of triage zones representing a particular assessed triage level; and\nat least one premises system display structured to present a plurality of premises zones.\n\n11. A system as recited in claim 10 wherein said plurality of triage zones are collectively disposed in a clockwise orientation in relation to a particular corresponding direction about the premises.\n\n12. A system as recited in claim 11 wherein said plurality of triage zones are arranged to represent four quadrants of the premises.\n\n13. A system as recited in claim 12 wherein said plurality of triage zones comprise a first zone represents a Northwest portion of the premises, a second zone represents a Northeast portion of the premises, a third zone represents a Southeast portion of the premises, and a fourth zone represents a Southwest portion of the premises.\n\n14. A system as recited in claim 10 wherein said triage system display is further structured to depict at least a portion of the premises via triage mapping overlay display.\n\n15. A system as recited in claim 14 wherein said triage mapping overlay display is selected from the group consisting of: satellite image, street map, site map, architectural plans, or GPS coordinates.\n\n16. A system as recited in claim 10 further structured to present triage zone related information via triage symbolic display, wherein said triage symbolic display is selected from the group consisting of: numbers, letter of alphabets, symbols, patterns, graphics, text, or color codes.\n\n17. A system for facilitating emergency response to a premises, said system comprising:\nat least one premises system display structured to present a plurality of premises zones;\neach of said plurality of premises zones fixedly corresponding to a true direction of the premises, said plurality of premises zones collectively configured to convey at least directional information pertaining to the premises;\nat least one triage system display structured to present four triage zones, said four triage zones arranged to represent four quadrants of the premises;\neach of said four triage zones corresponding to a different area of the premises, said four triage zones collectively configured to convey at least location information pertaining to the premises; and\neach of said four triage zones represents a particular assessed triage level."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Filtering Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a filtering device for filtering liquid fuel contained in a fuel tank. More particularly, the present invention relates to a filtering device that is used in a fuel-feeding device of an engine (an internal combustion engine) of an automobile or a motorcycle. A fuel-feeding device of an engine is taught by, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2-171328. As shown in FIG. 32 , the fuel-feeding device includes a bottomed reservoir cup 2 , a fuel pump 5 that is capable of feeding (pumping) liquid fuel contained in a fuel tank 1 to the engine (not shown), and a filtering device. The reservoir cup 2 is disposed on a bottom wall of the fuel tank 1 . The reservoir cup 2 has a fuel passage hole 4 that is formed in a side wall thereof. Also, the reservoir cup 2 has a pipe insertion hole 3 that is formed in another side wall thereof. The fuel pump 5 is disposed in the fuel tank 1 . The fuel pump 5 includes a pump body 6 and a suction pipe 6 a . The pump body 6 is attached to the reservoir cup 2 . The suction pipe 6 a is extended from the pump body 6 and is introduced into the reservoir cup 2 via the pipe insertion hole 3 . The filtering device includes a bag-shaped filter member 7 that is capable of filtering the fuel to be drawn by the fuel pump 5 . The filter member 7 is disposed in the reservoir cup 2 and is connected to a distal end of the suction pipe 6 a , so that contaminants contained in the fuel can be removed from the fuel before the fuel is introduced into the fuel pump 5 . According to the known filtering device, the fuel reserved in the reservoir cup 2 can be filtered by the filter member 7 and then be drawn by the fuel pump 5 . However, the fuel that is not reserved in the reservoir cup 2 (which fuel may be referred to as \u201cin-tank fuel\u201d) cannot be filtered by the filter member 7 and drawn by the fuel pump 5 . This means that when the fuel is not reserved in the reservoir cup 2 even if the fuel is contained in the tank main body 1 , the fuel cannot be fed to the engine. As a result, the engine cannot be operated. That is, the fuel cannot be efficiently used. This may lead to reduced operation time of the engine. Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved filtering device.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA filtering device may includes a bag-shaped filter member that is capable of being connected to a fuel inlet port of a fuel pump disposed in a fuel tank in order to filtrate fuel drawn by the fuel pump, and a wall member that is connected to the filter member such that a fuel reservoir portion can be defined above the filter member."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A filtering device comprising:\na filter member comprised of two dish-shaped filter elements joined along corresponding welding portions and defining a filtrated interior volume,\na fuel pump disposed in a fuel tank,\npiping having a first end in fluid communication with the filtered interior volume, and a second end connected to a fuel inlet port of the fuel pump in order to filtrate fuel drawn by the fuel pump; and\na wall member comprising a lid portion, peripheral walls, and a lower opening,\nwherein the peripheral walls of the wall member directly contact the filter member along the welding portions, and seal the lower opening of the wall member to form a fuel reservoir portion above the filter member;\nwherein the lid portion has a fuel flow opening that allows the fuel in the fuel tank to flow into the fuel reservoir portion therethrough;\nwherein the fuel pump is horizontally disposed on the lid portion; and\nwherein the fuel pump is supported on the wall member by a pump receiving portion formed in an upper surface of the lid portion such that the fuel pump is positioned above the fuel reservoir portion.\n\n2. The filtering device according to claim 1, wherein the lid portion is integrally formed in the wall member.\n\n3. The filtering device according to claim 1, wherein the fuel pump is arranged so as to be positioned within the fuel reservoir portion in plan.\n\n4. The filtering device according to claim 1, wherein a pressure regulator controlling a pressure of the fuel fed to an engine is disposed on the lid portion."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Display Apparatus And Method Of Driving A Display Panel\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nField Exemplary embodiments relate to a display apparatus and a method of driving a display panel. More particularly, exemplary embodiments relate to a display apparatus including pixels having liquid crystal layers with different thicknesses and a method of driving a display panel. Discussion of the Background A general display apparatus includes a first substrate having a plurality of pixels, a second substrate disposed to face the first substrate and having a common electrode, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. An electrical field is generated between a pixel electrode and the common electrode according to a voltage difference between a data voltage supplied to a data electrode and a common voltage applied to the common electrode. Liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are driven according to the electrical field generated between the pixel electrode and the common electrode. As a result, the amount of light transmitting through the liquid crystal layer changes to display an image. Generally, pixels of the display apparatus include a liquid crystal material and have the same thickness to have the same optical characteristics. However, in the display apparatus including a white pixel, for example, a planarization process is additionally performed to fill a space corresponding to a thickness of a color filter with a material since the white pixel does not have a color filter. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the inventive concept, and, therefore, it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA display apparatus includes a display panel that includes a liquid crystal layer, a first pixel having the liquid crystal layer with a first thickness, a second pixel having a color filter and the liquid crystal layer with a second thickness. The display apparatus also includes a data generating unit configured to generate a first image signal corresponding to the first pixel and a second image signal corresponding to the second pixel in response to an input image signal, a data converting unit configured to convert a gradation value of the first image signal into a conversion gradation value of the first image signal according to refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer, and a driving unit configured to output to the first pixel a first data voltage corresponding to the compensation gradation value of the first image signal."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A display apparatus, comprising:\na display panel comprising a liquid crystal layer, a first pixel having the liquid crystal layer with a first thickness and a second pixel having the liquid crystal layer with a second thickness and having a color filter disposed at a top or bottom portion of the liquid crystal layer, the second thickness is less than the first thickness;\na data generating unit configured to generate a first image signal corresponding to the first pixel and a second image signal corresponding to the second pixel in response to an input image signal;\na data converting unit configured to convert a gradation value of the first image signal into a conversion gradation value of the first image signal according to refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer;\na first frame memory configured to store the conversion gradation value of the first image signal for a period of a frame;\na first data compensating unit configured to generate a compensation gradation value of the first image signal according to the conversion gradation value of the first image signal generated from the data converting unit and the conversion gradation value of the first image signal stored in the first frame memory; and\na driving unit configured to output to the first pixel a first data voltage corresponding to the compensation gradation value of the first image signal.\n\n2. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein a product of the refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer is above a first minimum condition, and a product of the refractive index anisotropy and the second thickness of the liquid crystal layer is below the first minimum condition.\n\n3. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein a product of the refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer is above 550 nm, and a product of the refractive index anisotropy and the second thickness of the liquid crystal layer is below 550 nm.\n\n4. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the color filter is the same as a difference between the first thickness and the second thickness.\n\n5. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data converting unit is configured to convert the gradation value of the first image signal into the conversion gradation value such that the conversion gradation value of the first image signal is determined according to a product of the refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer.\n\n6. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data converting unit is configured to convert the gradation value of the first image signal into the conversion gradation value based on light transmittance of the first pixel determined according to a product of the refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer.\n\n7. The display apparatus of claim 6, wherein the data converting unit comprises a look-up table to define conversion of the gradation value of the first image signal based on a relationship between the light transmittance of the first pixel and a data voltage applied to the first pixel.\n\n8. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein:\nthe first data compensating unit is configured to output the conversion gradation value of the first image signal generated from the data converting unit without compensating for the conversion gradation value when the conversion gradation value of the first image signal of a previous frame stored in the first frame memory and the conversion gradation value of the first image signal of a current frame generated from the data converting unit are the same; and\nthe data driving unit is configured to output to the first pixel the first data voltage within a first driving voltage section corresponding to the conversion gradation value of the first image signal outputted from the first compensating unit.\n\n9. The display apparatus of claim 8, wherein:\nthe first data compensating unit is configured to output the compensation gradation value of the first image signal by compensating for the conversion gradation value when the conversion gradation value of the first image signal of the current frame generated from the data converting unit is greater than the conversion gradation value of the first image signal of the previous frame stored in the first frame memory by a predetermined value; and\nthe data driving unit is configured to output to the first pixel an overdriving voltage above the first driving voltage section corresponding to the conversion gradation value of the first image signal outputted from the first compensating unit.\n\n10. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein the overdriving voltage is set such that light transmittance of the first pixel after the overdriving voltage is applied to the first pixel is less than the light transmittance of the first pixel after a maximum voltage of the first driving voltage section is applied to the first pixel.\n\n11. The display apparatus of claim 10, wherein the data driving unit is configured to output to the second pixel a second data voltage of a second driving voltage section comprising the first driving voltage section in response to a gradation value of the second image signal.\n\n12. The display apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second driving voltage section comprises the overdriving voltage.\n\n13. The display apparatus of claim 9, wherein the data driving unit applies the overdriving voltage to the first pixel for the period of the frame.\n\n14. The display apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\na second frame memory configured to store a gradation value of the second image signal for the period of the frame; and\na second data compensating unit configured to generate a compensation gradation value of the second image signal according to the gradation value of the second image signal of a current frame generated from the data generating unit and the gradation value of the second image signal of a previous frame stored in the second frame memory,\nwherein the data driving unit is configured to output to the second pixel a second data voltage corresponding to the compensation gradation value of the second image signal.\n\n15. A driving method of a display panel, the method comprising:\ngenerating a first image signal corresponding to a first pixel of the display panel and a second image signal corresponding to a second pixel of the display panel, the display panel comprising a liquid crystal layer with a first thickness in the first pixel and a second thickness in the second pixel that is less than the first thickness;\noutputting to the first pixel a first data voltage of a first driving voltage section in response to a gradation value of the first image signal when the gradation value of the first image signal of a previous frame and the gradation value of the first image signal of a current frame are the same;\noutputting to the first pixel an overdriving voltage higher than the first driving voltage section when the gradation value of the first image signal of the current frame is greater than the gradation value of the first image signal of the previous frame by a predetermined value; and\noutputting a second data voltage of a second driving voltage section comprising the first driving voltage section in response to the gradation value of the second image signal,\nwherein the second pixel has a color filter disposed at a top or bottom portion of the liquid crystal layer,\nwherein the first driving voltage section is determined according to a product of a refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer, and the second driving voltage section is determined according to a product of the refractive index anisotropy and the second thickness of the liquid crystal layer.\n\n16. The driving method of claim 15, wherein the overdriving voltage is applied to the first pixel during a period of a frame.\n\n17. The driving method of claim 15, wherein the second driving voltage section comprises the overdriving voltage.\n\n18. The driving method of claim 15, wherein the product of the refractive index anisotropy and the first thickness of the liquid crystal layer is above a first minimum condition, and the product of the refractive index anisotropy and the second thickness of the liquid crystal layer is below the first minimum condition.\n\n19. The driving method of claim 15, wherein:\nthe first driving voltage section is set such that light transmittance of the first pixel increases when the first data voltage applied to the first pixel increases in the first driving voltage section; and\nthe second driving voltage section is set such that light transmittance of the second pixel increases when the second data voltage applied to the second pixel increases in the second driving voltage section."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Device For Detecting The Position Of Watch Hands\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThere are known electromechanical watches having hands wherein the hour hand and the minute hand of the current time display are driven either by the same electric motor, or by distinct electric motors which move the wheels of the watch mechanism forward in steps. In both cases, it may happen that motor steps are lost because of shocks experienced by the watch, the presence of electromagnetic fields or other external disturbances. As a result, although the internal clock of the watch provides a correct indication of the current time, the hour and minute hands provide an incorrect current time indication, because the motors have jumped several steps under the effect of the external disturbance applied to the watch. It is therefore necessary to resynchronise the position of the hour and minute hands, either at the demand of a software application, or at the user's demand. A known solution for detecting the position of a timepiece mechanism wheel for an electromechanical watch having hands consists in arranging, on either side of the wheel plate, a light source emitting a light beam and a light detection system. The light source and the light detection system are arranged facing each other and a hole is arranged in the wheel plate on the path of the light source and of the light detection system. When the hole reaches the vicinity of the light source, the light beam passes through the hole and falls onto the light detection system, which allows a precise indication to be provided as to the position of the wheel. This type of device for detecting the position of a timepiece mechanism wheel for an electromechanical watch having hands has several drawbacks. The first of these drawbacks lies in the fact that the light source and the light detection system are arranged in a stepped manner in an essentially vertical direction, which makes the detection device bulky and requires recesses to be provided towards the top and bottom. The second problem becomes critical in the case where it is sought to detect the position of two coaxial wheels as is the case of an hour wheel and a minute wheel. Indeed, in that case, it is, for example, necessary to arrange the two light detection systems between the two wheels and to place the light sources respectively above and below the assembly of the two coaxial wheels. This type of arrangement not only requires a lot of space but also requires two of the detection device elements, for example the two light detection systems, to be placed between the wheels, which makes it practically impossible to automate the manufacture of these timepiece movements. Another solution for detecting the position of a timepiece mechanism wheel for an electromechanical watch having hands is disclosed in EP Patent Application No 1493935. More specifically, this document discloses a device for detecting the position of at least a first wheel of a timepiece mechanism for an electromechanical watch having hands, the first wheel extending in a horizontal plane. The detection device includes at least one light source emitting a light beam and at least one light detection system, said detection device also including a first light reflector element, the light source and the light detection system being arranged so that, in a determined position of the first wheel of the timepiece mechanism, the light beam emitted by the light source is reflected by the first reflector element towards the light detection system. This solution advantageously allows detection of the position of two wheels of the timepiece mechanism by means of a single light source and a single reflector element. However, the light source and the light detection system on one hand, and the reflector element on the other hand are arranged on either side of the wheel whose position is required to be detected, which increases the thickness of the timepiece mechanism and makes it more difficult to integrate in a watch case. Yet another solution for detecting the position of a timepiece mechanism wheel for an electromechanical watch having hands is disclosed by EP Patent Application No 2626752 in the name of the Applicant. More specifically, this document discloses a device for detecting the position of at least a first wheel of a timepiece mechanism for an electromechanical watch having hands, said first wheel extending in one plane. The detection device includes at least one light source emitting a light beam and at least one light detection system.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDevice for detecting the position of at least a first and a second hand of an electromechanical watch, said first and second hands moving above a dial, the detection device including a single light source emitting a light beam towards the first and second hands, and a first and a second light detection system, the light source and the first and second light detection systems being mounted on or underneath the dial, the light source and the first and second light detection systems being arranged so that, in a determined position of the first hand, the light beam emitted by the light source is reflected by the first hand towards the first detection system, and in a determined position of the second hand, the light beam emitted by the light source is reflected by the second hand towards the second detection system."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A device for detecting the position of at least a first hand and a second hand of an electromechanical watch, wherein the first hand and the second hand move above a dial, wherein the detection device comprises:\na single light source emitting a light beam towards the first hand and the second hand, and\na first light detection system and a second light detection system,\nwherein the light source and the first and second light detection systems are mounted on or underneath the dial,\nwherein the light source and the first and second light detection systems are arranged so that, in a determined position of the first hand, the light beam emitted by the light source is reflected by the first hand towards the first detection system, and in a determined position of the second hand, the light beam emitted by the light source is reflected by the second hand towards the second detection system.\n\n2. The detection device according to claim 1, wherein the first hand and the second hand each includes a reflective surface which reflects the light beam towards the first light detection system and the second light detection system, respectively.\n\n3. The detection device according to claim 2, wherein the reflective surfaces are arranged in a bottom face of the corresponding hand.\n\n4. The detection device according to claim 1, wherein the light source and the first and second light detection systems are aligned on a straight line which passes through a centre of the watch dial.\n\n5. The detection device according to claim 4, wherein the light source is arranged between the first and second light detection systems.\n\n6. The detection device according to claim 1, wherein the light source emits a light beam vertically upwards.\n\n7. The detection device according to claim 6, wherein the light source is a vertical cavity surface emission laser.\n\n8. The detection device according to claim 1, wherein in the case where the light source and the light detection systems are mounted underneath the watch dial, either the dial is transparent to the wavelength of the light emitted by the light source, or the light source and the light detection systems are disposed facing corresponding apertures arranged in the dial."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Methods And Systems For Transmitting Signals Between Electronic Devices\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for transmitting signals, and, more particularly to methods and systems that can transmit signals between electronic devices by wirelessly broadcasting signals, and optionally generate signals according to the motion of an electronic device or instruct the electronic device to stop generating signals via another electronic device. 2. Description of the Related Art In the service industry, the best way to increase customer satisfaction is by directly providing appropriate and immediate services to customers. For example, when a customer needs a specific service, such as ordering food, having their water refilled, or receiving the check, the customer always raises a hand to let the waiter noticed the customer's requests. However, during busy times, it is not easy to find a waiter, or the customer's requests cannot be handled in real-time, resulting in customer dissatisfaction. Currently, wireless service bells have been deployed in some restaurants. Customers can push a service bell set on the table when they need a service. The service bell can wirelessly transmit signals to reception equipment set on a counter or it can be worn by a waiter, so that the customers' requirement can be known by the waiter without delay. Conventionally, the service bell generates wireless signals only at the moment the service bell is pushed. The reception equipment may miss the wireless signals when any indeterminate environment or anthropic factor exists in the restaurant during the period of the generation of wireless signals. Even if the reception equipment correctly receives the wireless signals, a waiter may ignore the corresponding request since the waiter may be busy and the reception equipment cannot continuously repeat the request. Additionally, since several reception devices may simultaneously receive wireless signals generated by the service bell, a customer request may be served by several waiters, or by none, since they may assume another waiter has already handled the request. Furthermore, since there is no related tool for gathering statistics regarding execution details of the provided service, the customer satisfaction and execution effect of the wireless service bell cannot be evaluated. On the other hand, with the coming of IOT (Internet Of Things), every type of device or object can connect to networks, and users can access and control these devices or objects via networks. Currently, wearable electronic devices have become the most tangible applications of IOT. In some cases, the wearable device can detect health information of a user, record exercise information and sleep patterns, or display email messages or incoming call notifications. However, since there is a size limitation to wearable electronic devices, the battery capacity and battery life of these devices are high priority issues in the industry. Generally, related components of wearable electronic devices will adopt a low-power consumption technology, such that the standby time of wearable electronic devices can be extended. For example, a wearable electronic device can have a wireless connecting unit, which is implemented with a low-power consumption technology, such as Bluetooth Smart technology, for connecting with a smart phone implemented with a compatible low-power consumption technology, such as Bluetooth Smart Ready technology via wireless network. Conventionally, the low-power consumption wireless connecting unit supports two modes: central and peripheral. In the central mode, the wireless connecting unit can receive data from other wireless connecting units. In the peripheral mode, the wireless connecting unit can broadcast its data. There exists an opportunity to significantly reduce the drawbacks of prior arts, and improve customer satisfaction by integrating the wireless service bell with IOT technology.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nMethods and systems for transmitting signals between electronic devices are provided. First, a first electronic device receives an instruction, and continuously generates a specific signal according to the instruction. In some embodiments, at least one motion sensor can detect the motion of the first electronic device to generate the instruction. The first electronic device broadcasts the specific signal via a wireless network. Then, at least one secondary electronic device receives the specific signal via a wireless network. The secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device via a wireless network, and instructs the first electronic device to stop generating the specific signal."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for transmitting signals between electronic devices, comprising:\nreceiving an instruction, and continuously generating a specific signal according to the instruction by a first electronic device;\nbroadcasting the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit by the first electronic device;\nreceiving the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit by at least one secondary electronic device; and\nconnecting to the first electronic device via a wireless network, and instructing the first electronic device to stop generating the specific signal by the secondary electronic device,\nwherein the first electronic device records the time when the specific signal is generated, the time when the specific signal is stopped generating in response to the connection of the secondary electronic device, or identification data corresponding to the secondary electronic device, and the first electronic device receives a connection of a third electronic device via a wireless network, and transmits the time when the specific signal is generated, the time when the specific signal is stopped generating in response to the connection of the secondary electronic device, or the identification data corresponding to the secondary electronic device to the third electronic device via the wireless network.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device comprises at least one motion sensor for detecting the motion of the first electronic device to generate the instruction.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless connecting unit of the first electronic device and the wireless connecting unit of the secondary electronic device respectively have a peripheral mode and a central mode, the first electronic device broadcasts the specific signal in the peripheral mode, and the secondary electronic device receives the specific signal in the central mode.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary electronic device further records the time when the specific signal is received, the time when the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device, or identification data corresponding to the first electronic device.\n\n5. The method of claim 4, wherein the secondary electronic device further receives a connection of a third electronic device via a wireless network, and transmits the time when the specific signal is received, the time when the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device, or the identification data corresponding to the first electronic device to the third electronic device via the wireless network.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific signal comprises identification data corresponding to the first electronic device, and the secondary electronic device further displays the identification data via a display unit, and the secondary electronic device automatically connects to the first electronic device via a wireless network according to the identification data when a selection corresponding to the identification data is received by the secondary electronic device.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device via a wireless network in a predefined period after the specific signal is received by the secondary electronic device, and generating a prompt via the secondary electronic device when the secondary electronic device does not connect to the first electronic device via a wireless network in the predefined period.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the secondary electronic device continuously receives the specific signal via the wireless network, and deleting or noting the specific signal in the secondary electronic device when the secondary electronic device does not continuously receive the specific signal via the wireless network.\n\n9. A system for transmitting signals between electronic devices, comprising:\na first electronic device receiving an instruction, continuously generating a specific signal according to the instruction by a first electronic device, and broadcasting the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit; and\nat least one secondary electronic device receiving the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit, connecting to the first electronic device via a wireless network, and instructing the first electronic device to stop generating the specific signal,\nwherein the first electronic device records the time when the specific signal is generated, the time when the specific signal is stopped generating in response to the connection of the secondary electronic device, or identification data corresponding to the secondary electronic device, and the first electronic device receives a connection of a third electronic device via a wireless network, and transmits the time when the specific signal is generated, the time when the specific signal is stopped generating in response to the connection of the secondary electronic device, or the identification data corresponding to the secondary electronic device to the third electronic device via the wireless network.\n\n10. A method for transmitting signals between electronic devices, comprising:\nreceiving an instruction, and continuously generating a specific signal according to the instruction by a first electronic device;\nbroadcasting the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit by the first electronic device;\nreceiving the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit by at least one secondary electronic device; and\nconnecting to the first electronic device via a wireless network, and instructing the first electronic device to stop generating the specific signal by the secondary electronic device,\nwherein the secondary electronic device records the time when the specific signal is received, the time when the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device, or identification data corresponding to the first electronic device, and the secondary electronic device receives a connection of a third electronic device via a wireless network, and transmits the time when the specific signal is received, the time when the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device, or the identification data corresponding to the first electronic device to the third electronic device via the wireless network.\n\n11. The method of claim 10, wherein the specific signal comprises identification data corresponding to the first electronic device, and the secondary electronic device further displays the identification data via a display unit, and the secondary electronic device automatically connects to the first electronic device via a wireless network according to the identification data when a selection corresponding to the identification data is received by the secondary electronic device.\n\n12. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining whether the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device via a wireless network in a predefined period after the specific signal is received by the secondary electronic device, and generating a prompt via the secondary electronic device when the secondary electronic device does not connect to the first electronic device via a wireless network in the predefined period.\n\n13. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining whether the secondary electronic device continuously receives the specific signal via the wireless network, and deleting or noting the specific signal in the secondary electronic device when the secondary electronic device does not continuously receive the specific signal via the wireless network.\n\n14. A system for transmitting signals between electronic devices, comprising:\na first electronic device receiving an instruction, continuously generating a specific signal according to the instruction by a first electronic device, and broadcasting the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit; and\nat least one secondary electronic device receiving the specific signal via a wireless network using a wireless connecting unit, connecting to the first electronic device via a wireless network, and instructing the first electronic device to stop generating the specific signal,\nwherein the secondary electronic device records the time when the specific signal is received, the time when the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device, or identification data corresponding to the first electronic device, and the secondary electronic device receives a connection of a third electronic device via a wireless network, and transmits the time when the specific signal is received, the time when the secondary electronic device connects to the first electronic device, or the identification data corresponding to the first electronic device to the third electronic device via the wireless network."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Color Filter Panel And Liquid Crystal Display Device Including The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field Exemplary embodiments relate to a color filter panel and a liquid crystal display (\u201cLCD\u201d) device including the same. More particularly, exemplary embodiments relate to a color filter panel which has better side visibility by disposing a height adjustment member so as to have a differentiated-cell-gap structure among red, green, and blue (RGB) pixel regions and an LCD device including the same. 2. Discussion of the Background A liquid crystal display (\u201cLCD\u201d) device may include two transparent substrates and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. Such an LCD device displays a desired image by adjusting the light transmittance thereof for each pixel by driving the liquid crystal layer. In general, LCD panels disposed in LCD devices are classified into a transmissive-type display panel and a transflective-type display panel. The transmissive-type display panel displays an image using internal light generated in a backlight assembly, and the transflective-type display panel displays an image using externally generated light in addition to internal light generated therein. In particular, the transmissive-type display panel may need to have a differentiated-cell-gap structure based on properties of red light, green light, and blue light in order to enhance the visibility of the colors and the like. On the other hand, the transflective-type display panel may need to have a double-cell gap structure in which respective cell gaps in a transmissive area and a transflective area are different from one another, in order to significantly increase the transmittance thereof. The differentiated-cell-gap structure typically employs a scheme of causing a difference between cell gaps by varying a thickness of red, green, and blue color filters. Since a color filter commonly includes a red color filter, a green color filter, and a blue color filter, when two display panels are coupled to one another, the two display panels may need to be aligned properly to allow colors of respective pixels to face one another in a corresponding manner. However, since a light shielding member may need to be formed between pixels to occupy a relatively large space based on an alignment error of the two display panels, an aperture decreases, and thereby issues of a reduced aperture ratio, and the like, may occur. To address such issues, a scheme of forming a color filter through an inkjet technique has been suggested. In the case of forming a color filter through the inkjet technique, it may be advantageous in that a manufacturing process thereof can be simplified due to the omission of an exposure device. However, such a formation of a color filter through the inkjet technique may pose a difficulty in forming a differentiated-cell-gap structure using different thicknesses of color filters since the color filters are disposed in an aperture of a light shielding member. Further, in a case in which such a differentiated-cell-gap structure is formed using a column spacer that maintains a gap between an upper substrate and a lower substrate, manufacturing costs may increase. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the inventive concept, and, therefore, it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA liquid crystal display device includes: a first substrate; a thin film transistor disposed on the first substrate; a second substrate opposing the first substrate; a light shielding member disposed on the second substrate, the light shielding member including a first aperture and a second aperture; a color filter disposed in the first aperture; and a height adjustment member disposed in the second aperture."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A liquid crystal display device comprising: a first substrate;\na thin film transistor disposed on the first substrate;\na second substrate opposing the first substrate;\na light shielding member disposed on the second substrate, the light shielding member comprising a first aperture and a second aperture;\na color filter disposed in the first aperture;\na height adjustment member disposed in the second aperture;\nwherein the first aperture comprises at least two separate apertures, and the second aperture is disposed between the at least two separate apertures;\nwherein the color filter comprises at least one of a red color filter, a green color filter, and a blue color filter;\nwherein the height adjustment member comprises: a first height adjustment member interposed between color filters having a first color, a second height adjustment member interposed between color filters having a second color, and a third height adjustment member interposed between color filters having a third color;\nwherein a height of the second height adjustment member is greater than a height of the first height adjustment member, and a height of the third height adjustment member is greater than the height of the second height adjustment member; and\nsupport members disposed on the first height adjustment member, the second height adjustment member, and the third height adjustment member respectively.\n\n2. The liquid crystal display device of claim 1, wherein a height difference between the first height adjustment member and the second height adjustment member is in a range of about 0.05 \u03bcm to about 0.15 \u03bcm, and a height difference between the second height adjustment member and the third height adjustment member is in a range of about 0.05 \u03bcm to about 0.15 \u03bcm.\n\n3. The liquid crystal display device of claim 1, wherein a height of the height adjustment member is greater than a height of the light shielding member.\n\n4. The liquid crystal display device of claim 3, wherein a height difference between the height adjustment member and the light shielding member is in a range of about 0.1 \u03bcm to about 1 \u03bcm.\n\n5. The liquid crystal display device of claim 1, further comprising an overcoat layer covering the light shielding member, the color filter, and the height adjustment member.\n\n6. The liquid crystal display device of claim 5, further comprising the support members disposed on the overcoat layer corresponding to the height adjustment member.\n\n7. The liquid crystal display device of claim 5, further comprising: a common electrode disposed on the overcoat layer; and\nthe support members disposed on the common electrode corresponding to the height adjustment member.\n\n8. The liquid crystal display device of claim 1, wherein the light shielding member and the height adjustment member comprise a same material."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hybrid System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to hybrid system of a hybrid vehicle that uses an engine and a rotary machine as power sources. 2. Description of Related Art One such known hybrid system includes an engine, two rotary machines (e.g., electric motors), and a power split device (i.e., a planetary gear unit). In this hybrid system, a rotating shaft of the engine, rotating shafts of a first rotary machine and a second rotary machine and driving wheels, are connected to corresponding rotating elements of the power split device. For example, in a hybrid system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-120234 (JP 2008-120234 A) below, a planetary gear unit capable of operating as a speed change unit is arranged between the engine and the power split device. This speed change unit includes a rotating element that is connected to the rotating shaft of the engine, and a rotating element that is connected to a rotating element of the power split device. The rotating element of the power split device is a rotating element other than a rotating element that is connected to the rotating shaft of the first rotary machine and the rotating shaft of the second rotary machine, and the driving wheels. Moreover, the hybrid system described in JP 2008-120234 A is provided with an engagement device (i.e., a switching device) that changes speed ratios of the speed change device by switching the peed change device between a differential rotation possible state and a differential rotation not possible state. A hybrid system described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-120234 (JP 2008-120234 A) and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-265600 (JP 2008-265600 A) is provided with a clutch (i.e., a fixed element) that fixes a rotating shaft of the engine. With this hybrid system, the vehicle is able to travel using the power of both the first rotary machine and the second rotary machine, by engaging this clutch and stopping the rotation of the rotating shaft of the engine. Therefore, in this hybrid system, the power source to be used for traveling is selected by controlling the engine, the first rotary machine, the second rotary machine, and the clutch, according to the required driving force. Also, with the hybrid system in JP 2008-265600 A, when traveling by the power of both the first rotary machine and the second rotary machine, the torque split of the first rotary machine and the second rotary machine is determined according to the efficiency of both the first rotary machine and the second rotary machine. With a vehicle that employs a layout in which the engine is longitudinal mounted, such as a FR (Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive) vehicle, a power transmitting apparatus such as a transmission is covered by a floor tunnel below a floor panel. A floor tunnel is a tunnel portion of the body floor panel. Therefore, when a hybrid system having a structure such as that described in JP 2008-120234 A is mounted in this type of vehicle, a first rotary machine, a second rotary machine, a speed change device, a power split device, and an engagement device and the like are all arranged beneath this floor tunnel. Here, typically the floor tunnel becomes smaller in diameter toward the vehicle rear side, matching the shape of the case of the transmission. Therefore, when mounting this kind of hybrid system, it is desirable that the first rotary machine which, from among these, has a large diameter, be arranged toward the front of the vehicle in the floor tunnel. However, with this hybrid system, a hydraulically actuated engagement device has to be arranged farther toward the vehicle rear than the first rotary machine due to the arrangement of this first rotary machine, so the arrangement of an oil passage to supply hydraulic pressure to this engagement device is difficult.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hybrid system includes an engine, a speed change device, a differential device, a rotary machine, a first engagement device, a case, and a cover wall. The first engagement device is configured to shift the speed change device, and be actuated by hydraulic pressure. The first engagement device includes a first oil chamber. The rotary machine is arranged between the first engagement device and the engine. The case houses the rotary machine, the speed change device, the differential device, and the first engagement device, and is connected to the engine and has an opening on the engine side. The cover wall covers the opening, and operating oil is supplied to the first oil chamber via the cover wall."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A hybrid system comprising:\nan engine;\na rotary machine;\na speed change device that has an input shaft, the input shaft being connected to a rotating shaft of the engine;\na differential device that has a plurality of differential rotating elements capable of differential rotation, the plurality of differential rotating elements including a first differential rotating element to which an output shaft of the speed change device is connected, and a second differential rotating element to which a rotating shaft of the rotary machine is connected;\na first engagement device configured to shift the speed change device, the first engagement device being configured to be actuated by hydraulic pressure, the first engagement device including a first oil chamber, the rotary machine being arranged between the first engagement device and the engine;\na case within which the rotary machine, the speed change device, the differential device, and the first engagement device are housed, the case being connected to the engine, and the case having an opening on the engine side; and\na cover wall that covers the opening, operating oil being supplied to the first oil chamber via the cover wall.\n\n2. The hybrid system according to claim 1, further comprising:\na first oil passage arranged inside the cover wall; and\na second oil passage that connects the first oil passage to the first oil chamber.\n\n3. The hybrid system according to claim 2, further comprising:\na second engagement device being configured to shift the speed change device, the second engagement device being configured to be actuated by hydraulic pressure, the second engagement device being arranged inside the case, and the rotary machine being arranged between the second engagement device and the engine,\nwherein the second oil passage is provided in the second engagement device.\n\n4. The hybrid system according to claim 3, wherein\nthe second engagement device includes a second oil chamber,\nthe hybrid system further comprising:\na third oil passage arranged inside the cover wall; and\na fourth oil passage that connects the third oil passage to the second oil chamber, the fourth oil passage provided in the second engagement device.\n\n5. The hybrid system according to claim 2, further comprising:\na second engagement device being configured to shift the speed change device, the second engagement device being configured to be actuated by hydraulic pressure, the second engagement device being arranged inside the case, and the second engagement device being arranged between the rotary machine and the engine,\nwherein the second oil passage is provided in the input shaft of the speed change device.\n\n6. The hybrid system according to claim 5, wherein\nthe second engagement device includes a second oil chamber,\nthe hybrid system further comprising a third oil passage that is arranged inside the cover wall, and the third oil passage is configured to supply operating oil to the second oil chamber."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Gas Purge Device And Gas Purge Method\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to gas purge of a container in which semiconductor substrates or the like are accommodated. 2. Description of the Related Art Articles such as semiconductor substrates or reticles are accommodated in a container such as a FOUP or a reticle pod, and the container is transported by a transporting device and is stored in a stocker, an automated warehouse, or the like. In this regard, a purge gas such as nitrogen gas or clean dry air is supplied from a nozzle into the container via a gas inlet part in order to prevent contamination and oxidation of the articles and the like. The gas inlet part is made of, for example, an elastic circular material and has a hole in the center. With respect to the supply of the purge gas, JP2012-248785 proposes introducing the purge gas into a container via a nozzle configured to move up and down with an air cylinder. In JP2012-248785, the contact pressure between the nozzle and the gas inlet part is maintained in a substantially constant range due to the air pressure applied by the air cylinder. On the other hand, if a fixed nozzle is put in contact with the gas inlet part of the container, the contact pressure changes due to a variation in the weight of the container depending on, for example, the presence or absence of semiconductor substrates, a variation in the height of the gas inlet part, or the like. Furthermore, the increases in the sizes of the semiconductor substrates have increased the weights of the containers. Therefore, pressed marks of the nozzle often remain on the surface of the gas inlet part made of an elastic material, and the gas inlet part often gets scratched. If the gas inlet part gets the nozzle mark or the scratches caused by the nozzle, the purge gas may leak due to the nozzle mark or the scratches caused by the nozzle on the gas inlet part, when the container has been transported and is newly put in contact with another nozzle. Furthermore, the gas inlet part and the nozzle are sometimes caught by each other due to the nozzle mark or the scratch caused by the nozzle, the container is prevented from sliding, and this possibly causes a failure in positioning of the container.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA gas inlet made of an elastic material is prevented from getting scratched by contact with a nozzle, and adhesion between the gas inlet and the nozzle is prevented. A container is positioned, and a purge gas is introduced from the nozzle into a gas inlet hole in the center of a circular bottom surface of the gas inlet provided on the bottom of the container. The nozzle has a planar top end surface having a size equal to or greater than that of the bottom surface of the gas inlet, and a nozzle hole in the center of the top end surface, and has a size equal to or smaller than that of the gas inlet hole. The top end surface is roughened or includes a lubricant so that the top end surface and the gas inlet are mutually slidable."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A gas purge device positioning a container and comprising:\na nozzle to introduce a purge gas into a gas inlet; wherein\nthe gas inlet is made of an elastic material, provided on a bottom of the container, and provided with a circular bottom surface and a gas inlet hole in a center of the bottom surface;\nthe nozzle is provided with a top end surface having a size equal to or greater than that of the bottom surface of the gas inlet, and a nozzle hole located in a center of the top end surface and having a size equal to or smaller than that of the gas inlet hole of the container;\nthe top end surface is planar and protrudes upward from a top end of the nozzle such that the top end surface is an uppermost surface of the nozzle; and\nthe top end surface includes a lubricant or is roughened by bead blasting or cutting, and supports the gas inlet slidably.\n\n2. The gas purge device according to claim 1, wherein the top end surface has a diameter equal to or greater than that of the gas inlet, and the nozzle hole has a diameter equal to or smaller than that of the gas inlet hole.\n\n3. The gas purge device according to claim 2, wherein the top end surface contacts an entire surface of the gas inlet except for the gas inlet hole, to support the gas inlet, to apply a uniform or substantially uniform contact pressure from the nozzle to an entire surface of the gas inlet except for the gas inlet hole, to make the gas inlet slidable with respect to the top end surface, and to prevent adhesion between the gas inlet and the top end surface when positioning the container.\n\n4. The gas purge device according to claim 1, wherein the top end surface is roughened.\n\n5. The gas purge device according to claim 1, further comprising:\na rack support; and\npositioning members provided on the rack support; wherein\nthe positioning members position the container on the rack support; and\nthe nozzle is fixed on the rack support at a fixed height so as not to move up and down.\n\n6. A gas purge method comprising positioning a container and introducing a purge gas from a nozzle into a gas inlet, wherein\nthe gas inlet is made of an elastic material, provided on a bottom of the container, and provided with a circular bottom surface and a gas inlet hole in a center of the bottom surface;\nthe nozzle has a top end surface having a size equal to or greater than that of the bottom surface of the gas inlet, and a nozzle hole located in a center of the top end surface and having a size equal to or smaller than that of the gas inlet hole of the container;\nthe nozzle applies a contact pressure to an entire surface of the gas inlet except for the gas inlet hole;\nthe top end surface is planar and protrudes upward from a top end of the nozzle such that the top end surface is an uppermost surface of the nozzle;\nthe top end surface includes a lubricant or is roughened by bead blasting or cutting; and\nthe gas inlet is slidable with respect to the top end surface.\n\n7. The gas purge method according to claim 6, wherein\nthe top end surface contacts with an entire surface of the gas inlet except for the gas inlet hole and applies a uniform or substantially uniform contact pressure from the nozzle to the entire surface of the gas inlet except for the gas inlet hole, and prevents application of a mark and a scratch on the gas inlet; and\nadhesion between the gas inlet and the top end surface is prevented while positioning the container.\n\n8. The gas purge device according to claim 4, wherein the top end surface roughening is defined by recesses and projections.\n\n9. The gas purge device according to claim 8, wherein the recesses and the projections are arranged in a circular or spiral shape on the top end surface.\n\n10. The gas purge device according to claim 9, wherein the top end surface is roughened by bead blasting.\n\n11. The gas purge device according to claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the gas inlet is made of the elastic material.\n\n12. The gas purge device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic material of the gas inlet is rubber."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method Of Manufacturing A Circuit Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field The invention relates to a circuit device and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly relates to a circuit device incorporating a power semiconductor element that performs switching of a large current and to a method of manufacturing the same. 2. Description of the Related Art A structure of a conventional hybrid integrated circuit device 100 is described with reference to FIG. 9 . This technology is described for instance in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 5-102645. A conductive pattern 103 is formed on a surface of a rectangular substrate 101 with an insulative layer 102 interposed therebetween. A certain electrical circuit is formed by fixedly attaching circuit elements on the conductive pattern 103 . Here, a semiconductor element 105 A and a chip element 105 B as the circuit elements are connected to the conductive pattern 103 . Leads 104 are connected to pads 109 each formed of a part of the conductive pattern 103 at a peripheral portion of the substrate 101 and function as external terminals. An encapsulating resin 108 has a function of encapsulating the electrical circuit formed on the surface of the substrate 101 . The semiconductor element 105 A is a power element through which a large current of about several to several hundreds of amperes flows for example and thus generates an extremely large amount of heat. Thus, the semiconductor element 105 A has been placed on an upper portion of a heat sink 110 placed on the conductive pattern 103 . The heat sink 110 is made of a piece of metal such as copper having a size of about length\u00d7width\u00d7thickness=10 mm\u00d710 mm\u00d71 mm for example. However, in the hybrid integrated circuit device 100 having the structure, to form a circuit such as an inverter circuit for converting a large current on the upper surface of the substrate 101 , the conductive pattern 103 needs to be wide to secure a current capacity. Thus, downsizing of the hybrid integrated circuit device 100 is hindered. Moreover, a heat sink needs to be prepared for each semiconductor element to secure heat dissipation, whereby the cost is increased.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn one form, a method of manufacturing a circuit device comprises providing a lead frame comprising a plurality of leads, each comprising an island portion, a bonding portion elevated from the island portion, a slope portion extending obliquely so as to connect the island portion and the bonding portion, and a lead portion extending from the bonding portion. The circuit elements are mounted on upper surfaces of the island portions, and are connected to corresponding bonding portions by wirings. Two leads are adapted to be connected to positive and negative sides of a power source, and another lead is an output lead for providing alternating-current power. Lower surfaces of the island portions are attached to an upper surface of a circuit board. The circuit board, the circuit elements, and the lead frame are encapsulated by a resin, so that the lead portions are not covered by the resin."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of manufacturing a circuit device, comprising:\nproviding a lead frame comprising a plurality of leads, each of the leads comprising an island portion, a bonding portion elevated from the island portion, a slope portion extending obliquely so as to connect the island portion and the bonding portion, and a lead portion extending from the bonding portion,\nmounting circuit elements on upper surfaces of the island portions;\nconnecting the circuit elements to corresponding bonding portions by wirings wherein one of the plurality of leads is a first input lead, another of the plurality of leads is a second input lead, and yet another of the plurality of leads is an output lead for outputting alternating-current power obtained by converting direct-current power inputted through the first input lead and the second input lead;\nattaching lower surfaces of the island portions to an upper surface of a circuit board;\nencapsulating by a resin the circuit board, the circuit elements and the lead frame so that the lead portions are not covered by the resin;\nconnecting the first input lead to a positive electrode of a direct-current power source; and\nconnecting the second input lead to a negative electrode side of the direct-current power source.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first circuit element of the circuit elements mounted on an island portion of a first lead of the leads and a bonding portion of a second lead of the leads are electrically connected through a first wiring.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, wherein there is no other lead between the first lead and the second lead.\n\n4. The method of claim 2, wherein there is a third lead between the first lead and the second lead, and the first wiring passes above the third lead.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein mounting circuit elements on upper surfaces of the island portions comprises:\nmounting a diode on an upper surface of the island portion of a first lead; and\nmounting a transistor on the upper surface of the island portion of the first lead.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, wherein mounting the transistor on the upper surface of the island portion of the first lead further comprises:\nmounting an insulated gate bipolar transistor on the upper surface of the island portion of the first lead.\n\n7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:\nmounting an insulative control board on the upper surface of the circuit board; and\nmounting a control element on an upper surface of the insulative control board.\n\n8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:\nconnecting the control element to at least one of the circuit elements through at least one wiring.\n\n9. The method of claim 8, wherein connecting the control element to the at least one of the circuit elements through the at least one wiring comprises:\nconnecting the control element to the transistor through the at least one wiring.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nmounting an insulative control board on the upper surface of the circuit board; and\nmounting a control element on an upper surface of the insulative control board.\n\n11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:\nconnecting the control element to at least one of the circuit elements through at least one wiring."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Window Mounted Raft System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The present application relates to a window mounted raft system for an aircraft. 2. Description of Related Art Aircraft that frequently fly over large bodies of water may be outfitted with flotation systems to be used in an emergency landing in the body of water. Referring to FIG. 1 , a rotorcraft 101 is outfitted with a plurality of inflatable flotation bags located under the rotorcraft. These flotation bags are configured to keep the rotorcraft afloat upon an emergency ditch of the aircraft into the body of water. Furthermore, an inflatable life raft may be packaged with one of the flotation bags, such as raft/flotation package 103 . The inflatable life raft is configured to provide flotation for the occupants of the rotorcraft. Packaging the life raft with one of the flotation bags causes the size of package 103 to cause an undesirable aerodynamic drag upon the rotorcraft. Furthermore, the size and location of the life raft/flotation package 103 encumbers the ingress/egress of passengers to/from the rotorcraft. As such, raft/flotation package 103 is susceptible to damage from being in a high traffic area of aircraft occupants. Furthermore, it is sometimes desirable for a rotorcraft operator to selectively remove the life raft from the rotorcraft. As such, packaging the life raft with the flotation bag prevents the removal of the life raft without also removing the flotation bag. Furthermore, packaging the life raft with the flotation bag typically requires a supplemental external compressed air bottle, as well as supplemental plumbing between the life raft and the supplemental bottle. Furthermore, packaging the life raft with the flotation bag keeps the rotorcraft pilot or crew from being able to control deployment and operation of the life raft. Hence, there is a need for an improved life raft system for an aircraft.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn inflatable life raft system for an aircraft includes a window coupled to a fuselage portion of the aircraft. A mechanism is used to selectively detach the window from the fuselage. An inflatable life raft is deployable to the exterior of the aircraft upon detachment of the window from the aircraft."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An inflatable life raft system for a rotorcraft having a fuselage, the system comprising:\na panel;\na hinge attached to the panel and to the fuselage, wherein the panel is hingedly connected to the fuselage by the hinge, and wherein the panel is selectively removable from the rotorcraft by rotation to a prescribed degree of the panel about the hinge;\na first adapter coupled to the fuselage;\na second adapter coupled to the fuselage;\na mechanism configured for selectively removing the panel from the rotorcraft;\nan inflatable life raft deployable to an exterior of the rotorcraft upon removal of the panel from the rotorcraft; and\na backing plate removably coupled to both the first adapter and the second adapter, the backing plate located inboard of the panel, the backing plate being located so as to create a stowage space for the inflatable life raft between the backing plate and the panel;\nwherein the backing plate is removable from the fuselage while the panel is closed;\nwherein the hinge is located on an exterior surface of the rotorcraft; and\nwherein the mechanism configured for selectively removing the panel is only accessed from inside the fuselage of the rotorcraft.\n\n2. The inflatable life raft system according to claim 1, further comprising:\na plurality of tool free fasteners;\nwherein the plurality of tool free fasteners couple the backing plate to both the first adapter and the second adapter.\n\n3. The inflatable life raft system according to claim 2, wherein the panel has an outwardly bulging contour so as to create space for the inflatable life raft.\n\n4. The inflatable life raft system according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism is a pin mechanism for selectively detaching the panel from the fuselage of the rotorcraft.\n\n5. The inflatable life raft system according to claim 4, further comprising:\na handle operably associated with the pin mechanism, the handle being located so that an occupant of the rotorcraft can actuate the pin mechanism.\n\n6. The inflatable life raft system according to claim 4, the pin mechanism comprising:\na latch bracket coupled to the fuselage;\na keeper coupled to the panel; and\na pin sized for traversal through an opening formed by the latch bracket and the keeper.\n\n7. The inflatable life raft system according to claim 4, wherein the pin mechanism is located near an upper portion of the panel.\n\n8. The inflatable life raft system according to claim 1, further comprising a mooring line coupled to the inflatable life raft."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Configuring Dual Connectivity For Terminal By Base Station In Wireless Communication System And Apparatus For Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nGenerally, a wireless communication system including a base station (BS) and a user equipment (UE) broadly provides various types of communication services including voice, data and the like to user devices through one or more base stations. And, a single base station may cover at least one or more cells. In recent years, user equipment traffic has exploded due to the development of the wireless communication system. To handle the explosion of the user equipment traffic, the structure of the current wireless communication system has been changed from the conventional vertical structure corresponding to a centralized based station based on a macro base station or a macro cell into a structure in which various kinds of small cells such as a pico cell, a femto cell and the like are interconnected to the macro base station or the macro cell. In small cell enhancements for E-UTRA and E-UTRAN as one of 3 rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard scopes, a lot of discussion has been made on improvement of a scenario using low-power base stations such as a pico base station and a femto base station and a concept of dual connectivity for enabling a user equipment to connect with the macro cell and the small cell simultaneously. Particularly, a small cell deployment scenario and requirements have been specified in TR 36.932. Moreover, additional functions and potential high layer technologies for improving the performance of E-UTRA and E-UTRAN and meeting the small cell deployment scenario and the requirements have been discussed in TR 36.842. Meanwhile, the small cell as the low-power base station, for example, the pico or femto base station may receive a service request from the user equipment connected to the pico or femto base station and then provide corresponding service. However, in some cases, the pico or femto base station may not provide the service requested by the user equipment appropriately. Moreover, in this case, since the user equipment is not connected to the macro base station although it is connected to the pico or femto base station, the macro base station may not provide the service in place of the pico or femto base station. In particular, it may cause a problem that the user equipment connected to the small cell is unable to receive the service as much as it requests. Accordingly, a method of solving the above problem is required.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to a method for configuring dual connectivity for a terminal by a base station in a wireless communication system and an apparatus for the same. The method for configuring the dual connectivity for the terminal by the base station in the wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: receiving a service request message from a terminal connected to a first base station; transmitting, to a second base station, a handover request message including a request for configuring dual connectivity with the terminal when the service request message includes a service that the first base station cannot support; and transmitting, to the terminal, a connectivity configuration message indicating connectivity between the terminal and the second base station on the basis of a handover response message received from the second base station in response to the handover request message."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of configuring dual connectivity of a user equipment by a small base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:\nreceiving a service request message from a user equipment connected to the small base station;\ntransmitting a handover request message including a request for configuring dual connectivity with the user equipment to a macro base station when the small base station is unable provide a service requested by the service request message; and\ntransmitting a connection configuration message for instructing a connection between the macro base station and the user equipment based on a handover response message received from the macro base station in response to the handover request message,\nwherein the request for configuring the dual connectivity with the user equipment included in the handover request message comprises cause value for requesting a dual connectivity configuration with respect to a specific bearer.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the small base station corresponds to either a femto base station or a pico base station.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein a preset established connection between the small base station and the user equipment is detached before the user equipment performs the connectivity with the user equipment is performed based on a connection request message received from the macro base station for requesting a connection to the user equipment after the user equipment performs the connection to the macro base station.\n\n4. The method of claim 3, wherein the small base station provides a service comprised in the service request message to the user equipment together with the macro base station after performing the dual connectivity with the user equipment.\n\n5. The method of claim 3, wherein the dual connectivity with the user equipment is performed based on the connection request message received from the macro base station for requesting the connection to the user equipment, and\nwherein the dual connectivity with the user equipment is performed after the macro base station provides the service comprised in the service request message to the user equipment.\n\n6. The method of claim 3, wherein the connection configuration message transmitted to the macro base station comprises information for instructing the user equipment to perform the connection to the macro base station without detaching the preset established connection between the small base station and the user equipment.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein a case that the service request message comprises the service unable to be supported by the small base station comprises a case that the small base station cannot support the service comprised in the service request message due to a load of the small base station.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, wherein a case that the service request message comprises the service unable to be supported by the small base station comprises a case that the service comprised in the service request message has QoS (quality of service) higher than QoS supportable by the small base station.\n\n9. An apparatus of configuring dual connectivity with a user equipment in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:\na radio frequency transceiver comprising a transmitting transceiver and a receiving transceiver;\na processor configured to support communication of the apparatus connected to the transmitting transceiver and receiving transceiver;\nwherein the processor is further configured to:\nreceive a service request message from a user equipment using the receiving transceiver,\ntransmitting a handover request message including a request for configuring dual connectivity with the user equipment to a macro base station using the transmitting transceiver when the apparatus is unable to provide a service requested by the service request message, and\ntransmit a connection configuration message for instructing a connection between the macro base station and the user equipment based on a handover response message received from the macro base station in response to the handover request message using the transmitting transceiver, and\nwherein the request for configuring the dual connectivity with the user equipment included in the handover request message comprises cause value for requesting a dual connectivity configuration with respect to a specific bearer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Payload Orientation Control And Stabilization\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nHigh-altitude balloons have emerged as an increasingly utilized tool for the deployment of research, surveillance, and reconnaissance payloads. As compared to conventional means for payload deployment such as rockets and aircraft which are technologically complex and capital-intensive, high-altitude balloons present a mechanically simple and low-cost alternative. While the financial appeal for using high-altitude balloons for payload deployment is readily apparent, a number of technological issues currently inhibit the implementation in applications requiring a high degree of payload control and stability. For example, balloon-mounted payloads are highly susceptible to externally applied forces from the immediate atmospheric conditions (e.g., wind, temperature, precipitation, and the like) as well as internal rotational forces generated by moving mechanical components operating within the attached payload. Such effects, whether viewed alone or in combination, may generate significant destabilizing vibrations and oscillations of the payload and the components housed therein. Consequently, balloon-mounted payloads fail to exhibit adequate directional control and/or stability required for many far reaching applications.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nSystems and methods for maintaining and stabilizing the position and orientation of a payload attached to a high-altitude balloon are provided. A payload may be attached to a powered gimbal. The powered gimbal may be configured to orient and position the payload in a plurality of directions corresponding to a first, second, and third rotational axis of the balloon-mounted payload system. After the payload is positioned by the powered gimbal, the position and orientation of the payload may be maintained and stabilized by one or more rotational stabilization devices. The stabilization by the one or more rotational stabilization devices can occur along any one, or combination of, the first, second, and third rotational axes."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A balloon payload stabilization system comprising:\na balloon envelope; and\na gondola mechanically coupled to the balloon envelope, the gondola including:\none or more rotational stabilization devices configured to stabilize the gondola around at least a first axis of rotation relative to an orientation of the balloon payload stabilization system;\na powered gimbal configured to rotate around one or more axes relative to the orientation of the balloon payload stabilization system; and\na payload coupled to the powered gimbal, the payload configured to be positioned by the powered gimbal;\none or more processors; and\nmemory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the balloon payload stabilization system to:\ndetermine a first position of the payload, wherein the first position corresponds to a current position of the payload;\ndetermine a second position of the payload, wherein the second position corresponds to a next position of the payload;\nin response to determining the first position and the second position, calculate powered gimbal rotational commands corresponding to positioning the payload by the powered gimbal to the second position from the first position;\ntransmit first output signals to the powered gimbal, wherein the first output signals include the powered gimbal rotational commands;\ndetermine that the powered gimbal has positioned the payload to the second position;\nin response to determining that the payload has been positioned to the second position by the powered gimbal, calculate rotational stabilization device rotational commands corresponding to maintaining and stabilizing the second position of the payload; and\ntransmit second output signals to the one or more rotational stabilization devices, wherein the second output signals include the rotational stabilization device rotational commands.\n\n2. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the one or more rotational stabilization devices includes at least one of: a propeller, an impeller, an air thruster, a gas thruster, an electromagnetic thruster, or a rocket.\n\n3. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 1, further comprising:\na coupling member mechanically coupling the balloon envelope to the gondola; and\na balloon release device positioned on the coupling member between the balloon envelope and the gondola, wherein the balloon release device is configured to decouple the gondola from the balloon envelope.\n\n4. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 3, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the balloon payload stabilization system to:\ndetermine that the balloon payload stabilization system has reached a predetermined altitude; and\nin response to determining that the balloon payload stabilization system has reached the predetermined altitude, transmitting, to the balloon release device, third output signals corresponding to decoupling the gondola from the balloon envelope.\n\n5. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 4, wherein the payload includes a carousel device comprising:\na collimator including an outer end portion and an inner housing portion, wherein the outer end portion is configured to be positioned and aligned; and\na rotatable mechanism positioned within the inner housing portion, the rotatable mechanism including a plurality of outer faces,\nwherein the rotatable mechanism is configured to rotate and expose an outer face of the plurality of outer faces to the outer end portion, wherein the rotatable mechanism comprises a plurality of hardware components, and wherein at least a hardware component of the plurality of hardware components is disposed on each outer face of the plurality of outer faces of the rotatable mechanism.\n\n6. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 5, wherein the plurality of hardware components includes at least one of: a solar cell, an antenna, a communication device, a GPS receiver, a barometer, and a camera.\n\n7. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 6, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the balloon payload stabilization system to:\ndetermine at least a hardware component of the plurality of hardware components to be used;\nin response to determining at least the hardware component of the plurality of hardware components, rotate the rotatable mechanism to expose a first outer face of the plurality of outer faces to the outer end portion of the collimator.\n\n8. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the gondola further comprises one or more flywheels configured to stabilize around at least the first axis of rotation.\n\n9. The balloon payload stabilization system of claim 8, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the balloon payload stabilization system to:\ndetermine that the powered gimbal has positioned the payload to the second position; and\nin response to determining that the payload has been positioned to the second position by the powered gimbal, calculate flywheel rotational commands corresponding to maintaining and stabilizing the second position of the payload; and\ntransmit fourth output signals to the one or more flywheels, wherein the fourth output signals include the flywheel rotational commands.\n\n10. A method comprising:\ndetermining a first position of a payload, wherein the first position corresponds to a current position of the payload;\ndetermining a second position of the payload, wherein the second position corresponds to a next position of the payload;\nin response to determining the first position, calculating powered gimbal rotational commands corresponding to positioning the payload by a powered gimbal to the second position from the first position;\ntransmitting first output signals to the powered gimbal, wherein the first output signals include the powered gimbal rotational commands;\ndetermining that the powered gimbal has positioned the payload to the second position;\nin response to determining that the payload has been positioned to the second position by the powered gimbal, calculating rotational stabilization device rotational commands corresponding to maintaining and stabilizing the second position of the payload; and\ntransmitting second output signals to one or more rotational stabilization devices, wherein the second output signals include the rotational stabilization device rotational commands.\n\n11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:\ndetermining that a balloon payload stabilization system has reached a predetermined altitude; and\nin response to determining that the balloon payload stabilization system has reached a predetermined altitude, transmitting, to a balloon release device, third output signals to decouple the gondola from a balloon envelope.\n\n12. The method of claim 10, wherein the payload is a carousel device, and wherein the calculating powered gimbal rotational commands further includes:\ndetermining at least a hardware component of a plurality of hardware components positioned within a rotatable mechanism of the carousel to be used;\nin response to determining at least the hardware component of the plurality of hardware components, rotating the rotatable mechanism to expose a first outer face of a plurality of outer faces to an outer end portion of a collimator, wherein at least the hardware component of the plurality of hardware components is disposed on the first outer face.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of hardware components include at least one of: a solar cell, an antenna, a communication device, a GPS receiver, a barometer, and a camera.\n\n14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:\ndetermining that the powered gimbal has positioned the payload to the second position; and\nin response to determining that the payload has been positioned to the second position by the powered gimbal, calculating flywheel rotational commands corresponding to maintaining and stabilizing the second position of the payload; and\ntransmit fourth output signals to one or more flywheels, wherein the fourth output signals include the flywheel rotational commands."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Dual Purpose Temporary Clip For Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nModern vehicles commonly have a variety of safety equipment to protect occupants. For example, inflatable restraints can be integrated with vehicle components located in the interior of the vehicle. The inflatable restraint can include an airbag attached to a vehicle rail, such as a curtain side airbag (CSA). In response to an activation event, a sensor can activate an inflator to generate an inflation gas that rapidly inflates an inflatable portion to facilitate protection of an occupant. The CSA can be attached to bracket (s) welded to the vehicle rail. Vehicles may be equipped with other components that are attached to the vehicle rail, such as a garnish to provide a desired aesthetic appearance or assist grips to aid the ingress and egress of a vehicle user. These other components can be attached to a vehicle rail using brackets welded to the rail. It may be desirable to use/share the same welded bracket on the vehicle rail to attach portions of both the assist grip and the CSA. However, the alignment of both the CSA and the other component on the same bracket can be cumbersome and time consuming.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nClips that can be used to temporarily hold a curtain side airbag (CSA) to a bracket on a vehicle rail are disclosed. The clips can be integrated into the CSA and allow the CSA to be positioned on the brackets temporarily until such time as a more secure means is utilized, such as a threaded fastener. The clips allow access to an opening in the bracket that is configured to receive a fastener that can be used to secure both the grip assist and the CSA to the bracket. The clip thereby allows the CSA to be positioned on the vehicle rail without interfering with the subsequent attachment of a grip assist to the same bracket. The fastener that attaches the grip assist to the bracket also serves to secure the CSA to the bracket. The clip remains attached to the bracket and to the CSA."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system for attaching components to a vehicle, the system comprising:\na fastener;\nan inflatable restraint;\na clip operatively connected to the restraint, the clip having a retention feature and an opening, the retention feature comprising a first hook portion and a second hook portion;\na bracket operatively connected to a vehicle side rail, the bracket having an opening and an engagement feature, wherein the engagement feature is configured to engage the retention feature with the first hook portion on the clip in an open recess on a leg of the bracket and to engage the second hook portion on the clip with a projection on an upper surface of the bracket;\nwherein the retention feature engages with the engagement feature and retains the restraint coupled to the bracket with the openings aligned with one another without the use of the fastener; and\nwherein the fastener is subsequently inserted into the aligned openings and secures the restraint to the bracket along with the clip.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, wherein the engagement feature is a second opening in the bracket and the retention feature engages with the engagement feature by insertion into the second opening.\n\n3. The system of claim 2, wherein the first hook portion or the second hook portion which comprises a free end that is inserted into the second opening to retain the restraint coupled to the bracket without the use of the fastener.\n\n4. The system of claim 2, wherein the retention feature comprises a connector with at least one resilient wing that deforms during insertion into the second opening to retain the restraint coupled to the bracket without the use of the fastener.\n\n5. The system of claim 2, wherein the bracket further comprises an upper surface, the second opening is in the leg and the opening is in the upper surface.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, wherein the bracket includes a first engagement feature and a second engagement features, the first engagement feature is an open recess along a leg of the bracket, the second engagement feature is a projection along an upper surface of the bracket, the retention feature engages with the first engagement feature and inhibits rotation of the restraint relative to the bracket, the retention feature engages with the second engagement feature, and engagement of the retention feature with the engagement features retains the restraint coupled to the bracket with the openings aligned with one another without the use of the fastener.\n\n7. The system of claim 1, further comprising another vehicle component having an opening therein, the component being positioned on the bracket above the clip with component opening aligned with the clip opening and the bracket opening and wherein the fastener is inserted into the aligned openings and secures the component and the restraint to the bracket along with the clip.\n\n8. A vehicle, comprising:\nat least one side rail;\na bracket operatively connected to the side rail, the bracket having an opening and an engagement feature;\na vehicle component having an opening;\na fastener;\nan inflatable restraint;\na clip operatively connected to the restraint, the clip having a retention feature and an opening, the retention feature comprising a first hook portion and a second hook portion;\nwherein the retention feature engages with the engagement feature and retains the restraint operatively coupled to the side rail with the clip and mounting openings aligned with one another without the use of the fastener;\nwherein the component opening is subsequently aligned with the clip and the mounting openings and the fastener is inserted into the aligned openings and secures the component and restraint to relative to the side rail along with the clip; and\nwherein the engagement feature is configured to engage the retention feature with the first hook portion on the clip in an open recess on a leg of the bracket and to engage a second hook portion on the clip with a projection on an upper surface of the bracket.\n\n9. The vehicle of claim 8, further comprising:\nat least one bracket operatively connected to the side rail, the mounting opening and engagement feature being in the bracket; and\nwherein the engagement feature is a second opening in the bracket and the retention feature engages with the engagement feature by insertion into the second opening.\n\n10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the first hook portion or the second hook portion which comprises a free end that is inserted into the second opening to retain the restraint coupled to the bracket without the use of the fastener.\n\n11. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the retention feature comprises a connector with at least one resilient wing that deforms during insertion into the second opening to retain the restraint coupled to the bracket without the use of the fastener.\n\n12. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the bracket further comprises an upper surface, the second opening is in the leg and the opening is in the upper surface.\n\n13. The vehicle of claim 8, further comprising:\nat least one bracket operatively connected to the side rail, the mounting opening and engagement feature being in the bracket; and\nwherein the bracket includes a first engagement feature and a second engagement features, the first engagement feature is an open recess along a leg of the bracket, the second engagement feature is a projection along an upper surface of the bracket, the retention feature engages with the first engagement feature and inhibits rotation of the restraint relative to the bracket, the retention feature engages with the second engagement feature, and engagement of the retention feature with the engagement features retains the restraint coupled to the bracket with the openings aligned with one another without the use of the fastener.\n\n14. A method of attaching multiple components to a vehicle, the method comprising:\noperatively connecting a bracket to a side rail, the bracket having an opening and an engagement feature;\noperatively connecting a clip of an inflatable restraint to the bracket with an opening in the clip aligned with an opening in the bracket, the clip further having a retention feature, the retention feature comprising a first hook portion and a second hook portion, wherein the engagement feature of the bracket is configured to engage the retention feature with the first hook portion on the clip in an open recess on a leg of the bracket and to engage a second hook portion on the clip with a projection on an upper surface of the bracket;\nmaintaining the connection of the clip to the bracket without the use of a fastener;\naligning an opening in another vehicle component with the aligned openings in the clip and bracket;\ninserting a fastener through the aligned openings; and\nsecuring the component, the clip and the restraint to the bracket with the fastener.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein connecting the clip to the bracket includes engaging the retention feature of the clip with the engagement feature of the bracket, the engaging retaining the clip and the restraint on the bracket with the openings aligned and without the use of the fastener.\n\n16. The method of claim 15, wherein engaging the retention feature with the engagement feature includes positioning the first hook portion or the second hook portion on the clip in a second opening in the leg of the bracket and retaining the clip and restraint on the bracket through gravity and the engagement of the retaining and engagement features.\n\n17. The method of claim 15, further comprising inhibiting rotation of the dip and restraint relative to the bracket through the engagement of the first hook portion with the open recess.\n\n18. The method of claim 15, wherein engaging the retention feature with the engagement feature includes inserting a connector having at least one deformable wing through a second opening in the bracket.\n\n19. The method of claim 14, wherein the other vehicle component is a grip assist."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Circadian-Friendly Led Light Sources\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIdentification of non-visual photoreceptors in the human eye (so-called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, or \u201cipRGCs\u201d) linked to the circadian system has sparked considerable interest in the effects of various light spectra on health and amenity for human beings. High circadian stimulation may lead to positive effects such as resetting sleep patterns, boosting mood, increasing alertness and cognitive performance, and alleviating seasonal affective depression. However, mis-timed circadian stimulation can also be associated with disruption of the internal biological clock and melatonin suppression, and may be linked to illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Circadian stimulation is associated with glucocorticoid elevation and melatonin suppression and is most sensitive to light in the blue wavelength regime. With the preponderance of light-emitting diode (LED) illumination products being based on blue-primary phosphor-converted white-emitting LEDs, the situation has developed that most LED-based illumination sources have higher levels of circadian stimulation than the traditional sources they are intended to replace. Legacy techniques have been studied and in some cases techniques for dealing with circadian stimulation in lighting products have been published (e.g., see WO 2014165692 to Moore-Ede et al.), however such legacy techniques are deficient, at least in regards to uses of the herein-disclosed techniques to address lighting system design with respect to diurnal or circadian cycles In addition, illumination products are rarely tunable (other than mere dimming), and legacy illumination products fail to address the impact on humans with respect to diurnal or circadian cycles. Still worse, legacy illumination products that are ostensibly tunable fail to produce good color rendering throughout the tunable range. What is needed is a technique or techniques for constructing illumination products in which light emission (e.g., LED light emission) can be controlled to provide varying levels of circadian stimulation while providing desirable light quality aspects such as correlated color temperature (CCT) and color rendering index (CRI). Also needed is an illumination system in which a first ratio and a second ratio of light emission are such that changing from the first ratio to the second ratio varies relative circadian stimulation while maintaining a CRI above 80 and maintaining the CCT within a prescribed range. The aforementioned legacy technologies do not have the capabilities to implement a circadian-friendly LED light sources in an efficient manner. Therefore, there is a need for improved approaches.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nMethods and apparatus for providing circadian-friendly LED light sources are disclosed. A light source is formed to include a first LED emission (e.g., one or more LEDs emitting a first spectrum) and a second LED emission (e.g., one or more LEDs emitting a second spectrum) wherein the first and second LED emissions are combined in a first ratio and in a second ratio such that while changing from the first ratio to the second ratio the relative circadian stimulation is varied while maintaining a color rendering index above 80."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A light-emitting system comprising:\nat least one solid-state lighting emitter emitting with a peak between 400 and 430 nm;\nat least one first phosphor having a peak emission between 500 nm and 550 nm, and at least one second phosphor having a peak emission between 600 nm and 670 nm; and\nwherein said lighting emitter and said first and second phosphors are configured such that the light-emitting system emits an emitted light having a spectral power distribution (SPD), wherein the SPD has a local minimum in a spectral region between 440 am and 480 am and wherein an area under the SPD in the range of 440 nm to 480 am is less than 2% of an area under the SPD in a range of 380 nm to 780 nm.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, wherein said first and second phosphors are selected from silicates, fluorosilicates doped with Eu 2+, chalcogenides doped with Eu 2+, nitridosilicates, oxynitridosilicates, oxynitridoaluminosilicates, \u03b2-sialons doped with Eu 2+ carbidooxynitridosilicates doped with Eu 2+, nitridosilicates doped with Eu 2+; carbidonitridosilicates doped at least with Eu 2+; chalcogenides doped with Eu 2+, oxides, oxyfluorides, complex fluorides doped with Mn 4+, and combinations thereof.\n\n3. The system of claim 1, wherein said emitted light has a certain correlated color temperature (CCT), is configured to produce a predetermined illuminance of about 50 lux to about 5000 lux, and a circadian stimulation no greater than about 50% of a reference circadian stimulation of a reference illuminant configured to produce an illuminance essentially the same as said predetermined illuminance and having a CCT the same as said certain CCT.\n\n4. The system of claim 3, wherein said certain CCT is greater than or equal to 2700K.\n\n5. The system of claim 1, wherein the area under the SPD within a range of 440 nm and 480 nm is less than 0.5% of the area under the SPD within a range of 380 nm to 780 nm.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, wherein an absolute distance from the Planckian locus (Duv) is less than 0.006.\n\n7. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises a general CRI index (Ra) is greater than or equal to 80.\n\n8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises a special CRI index #9 (R9) greater than or equal to 0.\n\n9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a filter substantially absorbing or reflecting light having a wavelength within a range of 430 nm to 490 nm.\n\n10. The system of claim 9, wherein the filter does not significantly affect a chromaticity of the emitted light.\n\n11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first phosphor and the second phosphor are disposed in layers or in a pattern of small patches around the LED pump."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Device And A Manufacturing Method Thereof\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof. The present invention is applicable to, for example, manufacturing of a semiconductor device having a nonvolatile memory and a capacitor element. As an electrically writable/erasable nonvolatile semiconductor storage device, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) has been widely used. Such a storage device has a conductive floating gate electrode surrounded by an oxide film, or a trapping insulation film under the gate electrode of a MISFET. The storage device uses the charge accumulation state at the floating gate or the trapping insulation film as stored information, and read out the information as a threshold value of the transistor. The trapping insulation film denotes an insulation film capable of accumulating electric charges. As one example thereof, mention may be made of a silicon nitride film. Implantation/discharge of electric charges into such a charge accumulation region causes each MISFET to be shifted in threshold value and to operate as a storage element. The nonvolatile storage devices using a trapping insulation film include a split gate type cell using a MONOS (Metal Oxide Nitride Oxide Semiconductor) film. Whereas, as the formation method of a gate electrode, a so-called gate-last process is known in which after forming a dummy gate electrode over a substrate, the dummy gate electrode is replaced with a metal gate electrode, or the like. When the gate-last process is used, it is difficult to form a capacitor element in which the lower electrode is formed at the same height as that of the gate electrode, and the upper electrode is formed over the lower electrode. In contrast, a capacitor element in which the semiconductor substrate is used as the lower electrode, and the upper electrode is formed at the same height as that of the gate electrode can be merged with a storage element, and the like formed using the gate-last process over the semiconductor substrate. In such a capacitor element, the upper electrode is partially embedded in the trenches formed in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, so that the facing area of the upper electrode and the semiconductor substrate can be increased. This can increase the capacitance. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-85633) describes a capacitor element in which a capacitance is generated between a substrate and a first gate over the substrate, and further, a capacitance is generated between the first gate and a second gate over the first gate. Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-309182) describes as follows: in a capacitor element for generating a capacitance between a substrate and an electrode over the substrate, the electrode is partially embedded in trenches in the top surface of the substrate. Patent Document 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-154790) describes that a memory cell is formed using the gate-last process. [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-85633 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-309182 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-154790\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn a semiconductor device including a split gate type MONOS memory, and a trench capacitor element having an upper electrode partially embedded in trenches formed in the main surface of a semiconductor substrate, merged therein, the flatness of the top surface of the upper electrode embedded in the trench is improved. The polysilicon film formed over the semiconductor substrate to form a control gate electrode forming a memory cell of the MONOS memory is embedded in the trenches formed in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in a capacitor element formation region, thereby to form the upper electrode including the polysilicon film in the trenches."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:\n(a) providing a semiconductor substrate having a first region and a second region arranged along a main surface;\n(b) forming a first trench in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the second region;\n(c) covering a sidewall and a bottom surface of the first trench with a first insulation film;\n(d) after (c), forming a first conductor film over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the first region and the second region, and thereby embedding the first conductor film in the first trench via the first insulation film;\n(e) processing the first conductor film in the first region to form a control gate electrode comprised of the first conductor film;\n(f) after (e), forming a memory gate electrode adjacent to a sidewall of the control gate electrode via a second insulation film, the second insulation film having a charge accumulation part therein;\n(g) processing the first conductor film in the second region to form a first electrode comprised of the first conductor film embedded in the first trench; and\n(h) after (f), forming a pair of first source/drain regions in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the first region,\nwherein the control gate electrode, the memory gate electrode, and the pair of first source/drain regions form a memory cell of a nonvolatile memory, and\nwherein the first electrode and the semiconductor substrate under the first electrode form a capacitor element.\n\n2. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein (f) includes:\n(f1) sequentially stacking the second insulation film and a second conductor film over the semiconductor substrate; and\n(f2) processing the second insulation film and the second conductor film to form the memory gate electrode, which is comprised of the second conductor film, adjacent to the sidewall of the control gate electrode via the second insulation film,\nwherein a film thickness of the second conductor film is smaller than a film thickness of the first conductor film.\n\n3. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein in (b), a second trench is formed in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the first region,\nthe method further comprising:\n(b1) after (b), embedding a third insulation film within the second trench and within the first trench, and thereby forming an element isolation region formed of the third insulation film in the second trench; and\n(b2) before (c), removing at least a portion of the third insulation film in the first trench by etching.\n\n4. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3,\nwherein a corner part of an upper end of the sidewall of the first trench is larger in radius of curvature than a corner part of an upper end of a sidewall of the second trench.\n\n5. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 4,\nwherein a corner part of an end of the bottom surface of the first trench is larger in radius of curvature than a corner part of an end of a bottom surface of the second trench.\n\n6. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3,\nwherein after the removing of (b2), a portion of the third insulation film in contact with the bottom surface of the first trench remains,\nwherein in (c), a fifth insulation film covering the sidewall of the first trench exposed from the third insulation film is formed, and the sidewall and the bottom surface of the first trench are covered with the first insulation film, which includes the fifth insulation film and the remaining portion of the third insulation film.\n\n7. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3,\nwherein after (b2), a portion of a top surface of the semiconductor substrate adjacent to the first trench is lower than a portion of the top surface of the semiconductor substrate adjacent to the second trench.\n\n8. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3,\nwherein after (b2), the bottom surface of the first trench is lower than a bottom surface of the second trench.\n\n9. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3,\nwherein in (b), anisotropic etching is performed using a fourth insulation film including silicon nitride as a mask, thereby to form the second trench and the first trench, and\nwherein in (b2), the fourth insulation film and the third insulation film in the second region are removed by anisotropic etching.\n\n10. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3,\nwherein in (b), anisotropic etching to form the first and second trenches is performed using a fourth insulation film as a mask, the fourth insulation film being formed over the semiconductor substrate and including a first mask layer of silicon nitride and a second mask layer,\nwherein prior to (b2), the first mask layer is removed by anisotropic etching, and\nwherein in (b2), the second mask layer of the fourth insulation film and the third insulation film in the second region are removed by dry etching.\n\n11. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3,\nwherein in (b), another second trench is formed in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the first region when the second trench and the first trench are formed in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the second region, and\nwherein a portion of a top surface of the first electrode over the first trench is lower than a portion of the top surface of the first electrode over the element isolation region in the second region.\n\n12. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 11, further comprising:\n(i) forming a first interlayer insulation film covering the control gate electrode, the memory gate electrode, and the first electrode over the semiconductor substrate; and\n(j) polishing a top surface of the first interlayer insulation film.\n\n13. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 12,\nwherein in (j), the top surface of the first interlayer insulation film is polished to expose a top surface of the first electrode over the element isolation region,\nthe method further comprising:\n(k) after (j), forming a second interlayer insulation film covering the top surface of the first interlayer insulation film and the top surface of the first electrode,\nwherein over the first trench, a portion of the first interlayer insulation film is interposed between the first electrode and the second interlayer insulation film.\n\n14. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 13, further comprising:\n(j1) after (j), and before (k), forming a silicide layer at the top surface of the first electrode exposed from the first interlayer insulation film; and\n(l) forming a contact plug penetrating through the second interlayer insulation film, and coupled with the silicide layer.\n\n15. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein (f) includes:\n(f1) sequentially stacking the second insulation film and a second conductor film over the semiconductor substrate in the first region, and over the first conductor film in the second region; and\n(f2) processing the second insulation film and the second conductor film, thereby to form the memory gate electrode, and to form a second electrode in the second region, the second electrode being formed of the second conductor film over the first conductor film via the second insulation film,\nwherein the first electrode, the semiconductor substrate under the first electrode, and the second electrode form the capacitor element.\n\n16. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein the main surface of the semiconductor substrate includes a third region arranged side by side with the first region and the second region, and\nwherein in (d), the first conductor film is formed over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the first region, the second region, and the third region,\nthe method further comprising:\n(e1) processing the first conductor film in the third region, and forming a pseudo gate electrode comprised of the first conductor film;\n(h1) after (e1), forming a pair of second source/drain regions in the main surface of the semiconductor substrate in the third region;\n(i) after (h) and (h1), forming a first interlayer insulation film covering the control gate electrode, the memory gate electrode, the pseudo gate electrode, and the first electrode over the semiconductor substrate;\n(j) polishing the top surface of the first interlayer insulation film to expose the top surface of the pseudo gate electrode; and\n(j1) after (j), removing the pseudo gate electrode to form a third trench in the first interlayer insulation film in the third region, and forming a metal gate electrode in the third trench,\nwherein the metal gate electrode and the pair of second source/drain regions form a field effect transistor."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: High Caliber Target\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn order to maintain proficiency in the use of firearms, it is common for law enforcement officers, members of the military and sportsmen to engage in target practice. While many perceive target practice as simply a method for improving accuracy, it is important for law enforcement officers, members of the military and the like to conduct target practice in scenarios which improve timing and the ability to make split-second decisions on whether or not to fire. Such split-second decisions can mean the difference between life and death both for the officer or soldier and those around them. For example, a police officer who fires too quickly may shoot an unarmed person. If he or she delays too long, however, a perpetrator may shoot a bystander. In the military context a sniper must often make a split second decision on whether to fire at a target. The person could be an enemy combatant holding a rocket-propelled grenade or simply a person carrying a pipe. To simulate different scenarios, it is often desirable to move one or more targets around. For example, target one may be an enemy combatant, and targets two and three are innocent civilians. Training is often improved by subjecting the shooter numerous different scenarios to prevent expectancy of the proper response. While there are a wide variety of targets which are useful with smaller caliber rounds, such as a 0.223 or similar round, there are a more limited number of targets which are useful with high caliber rounds when a much larger projectile is fired into the target. For example, some machine guns and many sniper rifles fire a .50 BMG round (12.7\u00d799 mm NATO), in which the weight of the projectile is typically about 620-710 grains (40-46 grams). Thus, the weight of the projectile used in these high caliber rounds can easily be 10 times that of the common infantry rifle. Stopping a .50 BMG round presents a challenge at shooting ranges, especially where the targets are desired to be mobile. Most targets which will handle more common rounds, such as 30-06 and below, can be damaged by higher caliber rounds such as the .50 BMG. Thus, either the target is damaged by the impact of the projectile, or the target is so large and bulky as to be difficult to move. While attempts at portable targets that will withstand .50 BMG rounds have been made, some are prone to falling over when impacted by the projectile. Others leave exposed hardware or joints or edges which can create a ricochet risk which is of particular concern with such a high powered round. Thus there is a need for an improved target which can be used with high caliber rounds with little or no damage, provides little risk of ricochet, and remains transportable about a shooting range, etc.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA high caliber target includes a target plate and a stand. The target plate may be mounted on and removed from the stand. In accordance with one embodiment, the target plate can be mounted and removed without tools. In accordance with one embodiment, the target plate is presented to the shooter without joints or edges which could promote ricochets back toward the shooter. In accordance with another embodiment, the target plate can pivot on impact relative to the stand."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A high caliber portable target comprising:\na target plate having a first mounting bracket and a second mounting bracket attached thereto; and\na stand having at least one mounting structure, the at least one mounting structure extending through the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket to attach the target plate to the stand, the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket being slidably mountable along the at least one mounting structure to allow the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket to be positioned on, retained and removed from the at least one mounting structure without tools; and\nwherein at least one of the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket extends rearwardly beyond the at least one mounting structure so as to allow said mounting bracket to slide rearwardly on the at least one mounting structure such that the target plate can deflect between 5 and 15 degrees toward vertical when impacted.\n\n2. The high caliber portable target of claim 1, wherein the first mounting bracket has a plurality of slots and wherein the second mounting bracket has a plurality of slots and wherein the mounting structure of the stand comprises a first arm which extends through one slot in the first mounting bracket and through one slot in the second mounting bracket and a second arm, spaced apart from the first arm, the second arm extending through one slot on the first mounting bracket and one slot on the second mounting bracket so that the first arm and the second arm slidably engage the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket, respectively, and thereby support the target plate above a surface from which the stand extends.\n\n3. The high caliber portable target of claim 2, wherein the plurality of slots in the second mounting bracket are larger than the plurality of slots in the first mounting bracket.\n\n4. The high caliber portable target of claim 1, wherein the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket are welded to the target plate.\n\n5. The high caliber portable target of claim 1, wherein the target plate has opposing lateral sides, and wherein the stand includes a first support having a mounting structure at an upper end thereof, and a second support having a mounting structure at an upper end thereof, the first support and the second support being spaced apart from each other so as to be positioned adjacent the opposing lateral sides of the target plate.\n\n6. The high caliber portable target of claim 5, further comprising a plurality of cross-members attaching the first support to the second support.\n\n7. The high caliber portable target of claim 1, wherein the target plate has a front side for being impacted by bullet and a rear side, the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket being attached to the rear side and do not extend forwardly of the front side of the target plate.\n\n8. A target comprising a target plate, a first mounting bracket having a plurality of slots formed therein and a second mounting bracket having a plurality of slots formed therein, the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket being welded to the target plate, wherein the plurality of slots in the first mounting bracket are disposed in alignment with and generally in parallel with the plurality of slots in the second mounting bracket to facilitate a stand being advanced through the slots, and wherein the plurality of slots on the second mounting bracket are larger than the plurality of slots in the first mounting bracket.\n\n9. The target of claim 8, wherein the plurality of slots in the second mounting bracket are longer than the plurality of slots in the first mounting bracket.\n\n10. The target of claim 8, wherein the first mounting bracket and the second mounting bracket are attached to one side of the target plate and do not extend beyond an opposing side of the target plate."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Device And Method For Manufacturing The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device. In this specification, a semiconductor device generally means a device which can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics, and an electrooptic device, a semiconductor circuit, and an electronic appliance are all semiconductor devices. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, semiconductor devices have been developed to be used mainly for a CPU, or a memory. A CPU is an aggregation of semiconductor elements each provided with an electrode which is a connection terminal, which includes a semiconductor integrated circuit (including at least a transistor and a memory) separated from a semiconductor wafer. A semiconductor circuit (IC chip) of a CPU or a memory is mounted on a circuit board, for example, a printed wiring board, to be used as one of components of a variety of electronic appliances. A technique for manufacturing a transistor or the like using an oxide semiconductor film for a channel formation region and applying it to a display device has been attracting attention. Examples of such a transistor include a transistor in which zinc oxide (ZnO) is used as an oxide semiconductor film and a transistor in which InGaO 3 (ZnO) m is used as an oxide semiconductor film. A technique for manufacturing transistor including an oxide semiconductor film over a light-transmitting substrate and applying it to a switching element or the like of an image display device is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 3 discloses a semiconductor device in which a transistor including an oxide semiconductor is provided over a single crystal substrate.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA highly reliable semiconductor device exhibiting stable electrical characteristics is provided. Further, a highly reliable semiconductor device is provided. Oxide semiconductor films are stacked so that the conduction band has a well-shaped structure. A second oxide semiconductor film having a crystalline structure is provided over the first oxide semiconductor film and a third oxide semiconductor film is provided over the second oxide semiconductor film. The bottom of a conduction band in the second oxide semiconductor film is deeper from a vacuum level than the bottom of a conduction band in the first oxide semiconductor film and the bottom of a conduction band in the third oxide semiconductor film."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor device comprising:\na gate electrode;\na gate insulating film over the gate electrode;\na first oxide semiconductor film over the gate insulating film;\na second oxide semiconductor film having a crystalline structure over the first oxide semiconductor film; and\na third oxide semiconductor film over the second oxide semiconductor film,\na source electrode and a drain electrode which are in contact with the third oxide semiconductor film,\nwherein a bottom of a conduction band in the second oxide semiconductor film is deeper from a vacuum level than a bottom of a conduction band in the first oxide semiconductor film and a bottom of a conduction band in the third oxide semiconductor film,\nwherein each of the first oxide semiconductor film, the second oxide semiconductor film, and the third oxide semiconductor film includes indium, zinc, and gallium,\nwherein the first oxide semiconductor film has a lower degree of crystallinity than the second oxide semiconductor film, and\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor film has a lower degree of crystallinity than the second oxide semiconductor film.\n\n2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the second oxide semiconductor film includes a crystal region which is c-axis-aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to a surface of the second oxide semiconductor film.\n\n3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the second oxide semiconductor film has a higher indium content than the first oxide semiconductor film and the third oxide semiconductor film.\n\n4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first oxide semiconductor film and the third oxide semiconductor film each have an indium content of higher than or equal to 1\u00d710 19 /cm 3.\n\n5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the source electrode and a portion of the drain electrode are overlapped with the gate electrode.\n\n6. A display device comprising:\na gate electrode;\na gate insulating film over the gate electrode;\na first oxide semiconductor film over the gate insulating film;\na second oxide semiconductor film having a crystalline structure over the first oxide semiconductor film; and\na third oxide semiconductor film over the second oxide semiconductor film,\na source electrode and a drain electrode which are in contact with the third oxide semiconductor film,\nan insulating film over the third oxide semiconductor film, the source electrode and the drain electrode, and\na pixel electrode over the insulating film,\nwherein a bottom of a conduction band in the second oxide semiconductor film is deeper from a vacuum level than a bottom of a conduction band in the first oxide semiconductor film and a bottom of a conduction band in the third oxide semiconductor film,\nwherein each of the first oxide semiconductor film, the second oxide semiconductor film, and the third oxide semiconductor film includes indium, zinc, and gallium,\nwherein the first oxide semiconductor film has a lower degree of crystallinity than the second oxide semiconductor film, and\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor film has a lower degree of crystallinity than the second oxide semiconductor film.\n\n7. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the second oxide semiconductor film includes a crystal region which is c-axis-aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to a surface of the second oxide semiconductor film.\n\n8. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the second oxide semiconductor film has a higher indium content than the first oxide semiconductor film and the third oxide semiconductor film.\n\n9. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the first oxide semiconductor film and the third oxide semiconductor film each have an indium content of higher than or equal to 1\u00d710 19 /cm 3.\n\n10. The display device according to claim 6, wherein a portion of the source electrode and a portion of the drain electrode are overlapped with the gate electrode.\n\n11. A display device comprising:\na gate electrode;\na gate insulating film over the gate electrode;\na first oxide semiconductor film over the gate insulating film;\na second oxide semiconductor film having a crystalline structure over the first oxide semiconductor film; and\na third oxide semiconductor film over the second oxide semiconductor film,\na source electrode and a drain electrode which are in contact with the third oxide semiconductor film,\nan insulating film over the third oxide semiconductor film, the source electrode and the drain electrode, and\na pixel electrode over the insulating film,\nwherein a bottom of a conduction band in the second oxide semiconductor film is deeper from a vacuum level than a bottom of a conduction band in the first oxide semiconductor film and a bottom of a conduction band in the third oxide semiconductor film,\nwherein each of the first oxide semiconductor film, the second oxide semiconductor film, and the third oxide semiconductor film includes indium, zinc, and gallium,\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor film is in contact with a side surface of the first oxide semiconductor film and a side surface of the second oxide semiconductor film,\nwherein the first oxide semiconductor film has a lower degree of crystallinity than the second oxide semiconductor film, and\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor film has a lower degree of crystallinity than the second oxide semiconductor film.\n\n12. The display device according to claim 11, wherein the second oxide semiconductor film includes a crystal region which is c-axis-aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to a surface of the second oxide semiconductor film.\n\n13. The display device according to claim 11, wherein the second oxide semiconductor film has a higher indium content than the first oxide semiconductor film and the third oxide semiconductor film.\n\n14. The display device according to claim 11, wherein the first oxide semiconductor film and the third oxide semiconductor film each have an indium content of higher than or equal to 1\u00d710 19 /cm 3.\n\n15. The display device according to claim 11, wherein a portion of the source electrode and a portion of the drain electrode are overlapped with the gate electrode."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Tri-Chamber Nutating Pump\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field Improved nutating pumps are disclosed with a third chamber added to the dual-chamber pump of U.S. Pat. No. 7,946,832, which is incorporated herewith. The third chamber is disposed adjacent to a compensating piston, or other actively driven displacement device, which provides a cyclic displacement (zero net flow through the cycle), which compensates for pulsations in output flow the dual-chamber pump of U.S. Pat. No. 7,946,832. The disclosed pumps also provide a more steady flow than the four chamber pump disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,353,690, which is also incorporated herewith. The disclosed tri-chamber pumps provide an output flow, which for all practical purposes, is a steady flow resulting in the essentially the same flow output for each motor step. 2. Description of the Related Art Nutating pumps are pumps having a piston that both rotates about its axis and contemporaneously slides axially and reciprocally within a liner or casing. With a full pump chamber, as the piston is rotated 360\u00b0 about its axis, the piston slides axially through a dispense stroke and returns to its initial position after an intake or \u201cfill\u201d stroke. The combined 360\u00b0 rotation and reciprocating axial movement of the piston produces a sinusoidal dispense profile illustrated in FIG. 1 . The line 1 graphically illustrates the flow rate at varying points during one revolution of the piston. The portion of the curve 1 above the horizontal line 2 representing a zero flow rate represents the dispense or output stroke while the portion of the curve 1 disposed below the line 2 represents the intake or fill stroke. Further, because the output is not linear (see the line 1 of FIG. 1 ), some users limit the operation of conventional nutating pumps to complete 360\u00b0 revolutions of the piston or at least one full dispense stroke. However, this methodology often requires a user to choose between a small pump that requires multiple revolutions of the piston to dispense the required volume and a large pump that requires a partial revolution of the piston to dispense the required volume. Further, the operator may also have to choose between running the motor of a small pump at high speeds to dispense larger volumes and running the motor of a large pump at slow or minimum speeds for smaller volumes. To avoid this dilemma, stepper motors have been used with nutating pumps to provide a partial revolution dispense. While using a partial revolution to accurately dispense fluid from a nutating pump is difficult due to the non-linear output of the nutating pump dispense profile (i.e., see FIG. 1 ), controllers, software algorithms and sensors can be used to monitor the angular position of the piston. Using this angular position, the controller can calculate the number of steps required to achieve the desired output as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,402, which is incorporated herewith. The sinusoidal profile illustrated in FIG. 1 is based upon a nutating pump operating at a constant motor speed. While operating the nutating pump at a constant motor speed has its benefits in terms of simplicity of controller design and pump operation, the use of a constant motor speed has inherent disadvantages. Specifically, in certain applications, the maximum output flow rate illustrated on the left side of FIG. 1 can be disadvantageous because the output fluid may splash or splatter as the fluid is pumped into the output receptacle at the higher flow rates. For example, in paint or cosmetics dispensing applications, any splashing of the colorant as it is being pumped into the output container results in an inaccurate dispense as well as colorant being splashed on the machine, which requires labor-intensive clean up and maintenance. This splashing problem will adversely affect any nutating pump application where precise amounts of output fluid are being delivered to small receptacles or to output receptacles that are either full or partially full of liquid. For example, the operation of a conventional nutating pump having the profile of FIG. 1 results in pulsed output flow as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 . The pulsed flow shown at the left in FIGS. 2 and 3 , at speeds of 800 and 600 rpm respectively, results in pulsations 3 and 4 , which are a cause of unwanted splashing. FIGS. 2 and 3 are renderings of actual digital photographs of an actual nutating pump in operation.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA tri-chamber nutating pump is disclosed which includes two pump chambers disposed within a pump housing that accommodates a nutating piston. A reciprocating compensating piston is also provided with its own compensating housing that is connected to the outlet. As a cumulative output from the first two pump chambers reaches its maximum level, the compensating piston is pushed into the outlet or through a passage to reduce the output of the first two chambers and avoid splashing. As the output from the first two chambers reaches its minimum level, the compensating piston is withdrawn from the outlet or through a passage thereby increasing the output of the third chamber to its maximum level when the output from the first two pump chambers reaches its minimum level."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A nutating pump, comprising:\na nutating piston disposed in a pump housing, the pump housing comprising an inlet and an outlet, the pump housing further comprising a middle passage extending through the pump housing and intersecting the inlet and the outlet, the middle passage including a middle section disposed between the inlet and the outlet and a distal section disposed opposite the inlet from the outlet and terminating at an enclosure,\nthe nutating piston comprising a proximal section and a distal end with a pump section disposed therebetween, the pump section at least partially and slidably accommodated in the middle section of the middle passage with the pump section extending at least partially across the inlet to the distal section of the middle passage, the proximal section of the nutating piston extending at least partially across the outlet, the pump section of the nutating piston comprising a recess extending across at least part of the pump section to the distal end of the nutating piston,\nthe proximal section of the nutating piston having a first maximum outer diameter, the pump section of the nutating piston having a second maximum outer diameter that is greater than the first maximum outer diameter, the proximal section connected to the pump section at a transition section, the proximal section of the nutating piston coupled to a drive shaft,\nthe pump housing and the nutating piston defining two pump chambers including a first pump chamber and a second pump chamber, the first pump chamber defined by the distal end and the recess of the nutating piston and the distal section of the middle passage,\nthe second pump chamber defined by the transition section and a portion of the proximal section of the nutating piston that extends across the outlet of the pump housing and between the outer passage and the outlet,\nthe outlet in communication with a through passage of a compensating housing, the through passage extending past a compensating piston at a third pump chamber disposed in the through passage, the compensating piston being slidably and sealably accommodated in the compensating housing, the compensating piston including a distal end directed towards the through passage and a proximal end engaging a bearing, the bearing engaging a cam, the cam coupled to the drive shaft,\nwherein rotation of the drive shaft causing rotation of the cam, which imparts reciprocating movement to the bearing and the nutating piston thereby causing reciprocating movement of the distal end of the nutating piston into and out of the through passage.\n\n2. The nutating pump of claim 1 wherein the middle passage of the pump housing extends at least substantially perpendicular to the inlet and the outlet and the outer passage of the pump housing extends at least substantially parallel to the middle passage.\n\n3. The nutating pump of claim 1 wherein the outlet of the pump housing is connected to an outlet housing disposed between the outlet and the compensating housing, the outlet housing having an outlet passage providing communication between the outlet and the through passage.\n\n4. The nutating pump of claim 1 wherein the compensating piston is slidably accommodated in a liner, the liner having a distal end facing the through passage of the compensating housing and a proximal end engaging a primary seal for inhibiting leakage between the compensating piston and the liner.\n\n5. The nutating pump of claim 4 wherein the primary seal is annular and has an outer periphery, the outer periphery comprising a slot for accommodating an O-ring, the O-ring sandwiched between the outer periphery of the seal and a seal retainer, the seal retainer including a proximal end with an opening through which the compensating piston passes, the proximal end connected to a distal end by a continuous sidewall, the distal end of the seal retainer being biased against the compensating housing by a spring, the spring also biasing the proximal end of the compensating piston against the bearing.\n\n6. The nutating pump of claim 1 wherein the cam, the compensating piston and the nutating piston are arranged so that when a cumulative output from the first and second pump chambers is at a maximum, a compensating output from the third pump chamber is at a minimum.\n\n7. The nutating pump of claim 1 wherein the cam, the compensating piston and the nutating piston are arranged so that when a cumulative output from the first and second pump chambers is at a minimum, a compensating output from the third pump chamber is at a maximum.\n\n8. The nutating pump of claim 1 wherein the drive shaft is coupled to a stepper motor.\n\n9. The nutating pump of claim 1 wherein the pump housing and the compensating housing are molded from a plastic material.\n\n10. A method for providing a steady state output flow from a nutating pump that is operating at a constant motor speed, the method comprising:\nproviding a nutating pump with a first pump chamber, a second pump chamber, and a nutating piston, the first pump chamber producing a first output in response to a first 180\u00b0 of rotation of the nutating piston, the second pump chamber producing a second output in response to a second 180\u00b0 of rotation of the nutating piston, the nutating pump including an outlet,\nproviding a compensating piston with a distal end that faces the outlet when the compensating piston is in a retracted position and that extends into the outlet when the compensating piston is in an extended position,\nextending the compensating piston into the outlet when a cumulative output from the first and second pump chambers approaches a maximum level, and\nretracting the compensating piston from the outlet when the cumulative output from the first and second pump chambers approaches a minimum level."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Device Having Reduced Drain-To-Source Capacitance\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nFor various semiconductor devices, such as radio frequency (\u201cRF\u201d) switches in bulk silicon or semiconductor on insulator (\u201cSOI\u201d) structures, power loss and switching speed are two important parameters related to device performance. Power loss is determined, in part, by an on-state resistance (Ron) of the semiconductor device, while switching speed is determined, in part, by an off-state capacitance (Coff) of the semiconductor device. The on-state resistance includes the drain-to-source resistance of the semiconductor device in an on state, which partially depends on the resistance of the drain and source metals (e.g., source and drain electrodes) and the device layout area. The off-state capacitance includes the drain-to-source capacitance of the semiconductor device in an off state, which may be attributed to an off-state parasitic coupling between the drain and source metals. It is desirable for a semiconductor device, such as an RF switch, to have a low on-state resistance to reduce power loss, and a low off-state capacitance to improve switching speed. However, there is a trade-off between the two parameters. For example, the on-state resistance can be reduced by increasing the width of the source and drain metals, but the off-state capacitance can also be adversely increased due to the greater metalization width and device layout area. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a semiconductor device, such as an RF switch, with a reduced drain-to-source capacitance without substantially compromising the on-state resistance of the semiconductor device.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA semiconductor device includes a source finger electrode coupled to a source region in a semiconductor die, a drain finger electrode coupled to a drain region in the semiconductor die, where the source finger electrode includes at least one isolated segment and a main segment having a first portion and a second portion narrower than the first portion, whereby the source finger electrode reduces a drain-to-source capacitance of the semiconductor device. A common source rail is electrically coupled to the at least one isolated segment and the main segment of the source finger electrode. The drain fmger electrode includes at least one isolated segment and a main segment having a first portion and a second portion narrower than the first portion. A common drain rail is electrically coupled to the at least one isolated segment and the main segment of the drain finger electrode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor device comprising:\na source region in a semiconductor die;\na drain region in said semiconductor die;\na source finger electrode located over the source region, wherein said source finger electrode comprises at least one isolated segment and a main segment having a first portion and a second portion that is narrower than said first portion, wherein the at least one isolated segment and the main segment of the source finger electrode are physically separated segments of a first metal layer; and\na plurality of source contacts that electrically couple the at least one isolated segment and the main segment of the source finger electrode to the source region.\n\n2. The semiconductor device of claim 1 further comprising:\na common source rail located over the source finger electrode in a second metal layer; and\na plurality of conductive vias that electrically couple the at least one isolated segment and the main segment of the source finger electrode to the common source rail.\n\n3. The semiconductor device of claim 2, wherein the common source rail extends over the isolated segments and the first portion of the main segment, but not the second portion of the main segment.\n\n4. The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein the common source rail extends approximately halfway across the source finger electrode.\n\n5. The semiconductor device of claim 2, wherein the common source rail has the first width.\n\n6. The semiconductor device of claim 1 further comprising:\na drain finger electrode located over the drain region, wherein said drain finger electrode comprises at least one isolated segment and a main segment having a first portion and a second portion that is narrower than said first portion, wherein the main segment of the drain finger electrode and the at least one isolated segment of the drain finger electrode are physically separated segments of the first metal layer; and\na plurality of drain contacts that electrically couple the at least one isolated segment of the drain finger electrode and the main segment of the drain finger electrode to the drain region.\n\n7. The semiconductor device of claim 6 further comprising:\na common drain rail located over the drain finger electrode in a second metal layer; and\na plurality of conductive vias that electrically couple the at least one isolated segment of the drain finger electrode and the main segment of the drain finger electrode to the common drain rail.\n\n8. The semiconductor device of claim 6 further comprising:\na gate located between the source region and the drain region;\nwherein said second portion of said main segment of said drain finger electrode is laid out across the gate from said at least one isolated segment of said source finger electrode.\n\n9. The semiconductor device of claim 8, wherein said second portion of the main segment of the source finger electrode is laid out across the gate from said at least one isolated segment of said drain finger electrode.\n\n10. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the at least one isolated segment has the first width.\n\n11. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the isolated segment has a first length, the first portion of the main segment has a second length and the second portion of the main segment has a third length, wherein the first, second and third lengths are approximately equal.\n\n12. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the first portion of the main segment is located between the second portion of the main segment and the at least one isolated segment.\n\n13. A transistor comprising:\na plurality of source regions and a plurality of drain regions in a semiconductor die;\nsource finger electrodes electrically coupled to the source regions and interdigitated with drain finger electrodes electrically coupled to the source regions;\nwherein at least one of said source finger electrodes includes at least one isolated source finger electrode segment and a main source finger electrode segment, which are physically separated segments of a first metal layer; and\nwherein at least one of said drain finger electrodes includes at least one isolated drain finger electrode segment and a main drain finger electrode segment, which are physically separated segments of the first metal layer.\n\n14. The transistor of claim 13, wherein said main source finger electrode segment comprises a first portion and a second portion narrower than said first portion.\n\n15. The transistor of claim 13 wherein said main drain finger electrode segment comprises a first portion and a second portion narrower than said first portion.\n\n16. The transistor of claim 15 wherein said second portion of said main drain finger electrode segment is laid out across from said at least one isolated source finger electrode segment.\n\n17. The transistor of claim 13 wherein a common source rail is electrically coupled to said at least one isolated source finger electrode segment through conductive vias.\n\n18. The transistor of claim 17 wherein the common source rail is formed in a metal two (M 2 ) layer.\n\n19. The transistor of claim 17 wherein a common drain rail is electrically coupled to said at least one isolated drain finger electrode segment through conductive vias.\n\n20. The transistor of claim 19 wherein the common source rail and the common drain rail are formed in a metal two (M 2 ) layer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Performing Adaptive Input Current Control In An Electronic Device With Aid Of Adaptor Management, And Associated Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to regulating control (e.g. charger control) in a portable electronic device, and more particularly, to a method for performing adaptive input current control in an electronic device, and an associated apparatus. According to the related art, a conventional regulating control circuit in a conventional portable electronic device may be designed to prevent some problems such as system crash caused by insufficient power of a conventional external power source (e.g. an alternating current (AC)-to-direct current (DC) adaptor). However, further problems such as some side effects may occur. For example, a conventional regulator of the conventional portable electronic device may be arranged for regulating the voltage and the current obtained from the conventional external power source, and in an initial time period (e.g. the conventional external power source is just connected to the conventional portable electronic device), the conventional charger control circuit may adjust the input current setting of the conventional regulator from low to high, to make the input current of the conventional regulator increase with various steps, which typically limits the power to a conventional system circuit of the conventional portable electronic device and limits the power to a battery of the conventional portable electronic device during the initial time period. Thus, the conventional portable electronic device may suffer from limited power-outputting capability during the initial time period. In addition, as this conventional charger control circuit may adjust the input current setting of the conventional regulator from low to high, to make the input voltage of the conventional regulator decrease and temporarily become lower than a power source collapse level before an optimized current level can be achieved, the conventional external power source may crash during operations of the conventional portable electronic device, which may cause unstable system power of the conventional portable electronic device. Thus, a novel architecture is required to improve regulating control of electronic devices, in order to guarantee the overall performance of the electronic devices.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method and apparatus for performing adaptive input current control in an electronic device are provided, where the method may include the steps of: before limiting an input current of a regulator of the electronic device to a target current value, monitoring the input current of the regulator according to a reference current, and decreasing the reference current, to make the reference current change starting from one of a plurality of predetermined reference current values, wherein the input current is obtained from a power source; detecting an input voltage of the regulator to generate a detection signal, to selectively trigger limiting output power of the regulator; and at a time point when the reference current becomes smaller than the input current, limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value with a latest reference current value of the reference current being utilized as the target current value."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for performing adaptive input current control in an electronic device, the method comprising steps of:\nin a first time period, monitoring the input current of the regulator according to a reference signal corresponding to a reference current, and decreasing the reference current by decreasing magnitude of the reference signal corresponding to the reference current, to make the reference current change starting from one of a plurality of predetermined reference current values, wherein the input current of the regulator is obtained from a power source, wherein the input current of the regulator is not limited to the reference current in the first time period;\ndetecting an input voltage of the regulator to generate a detection signal corresponding to the input voltage of the regulator, to selectively trigger limiting output power of the regulator, wherein limiting the output power of the regulator is selectively triggered according to the detection signal; and\nat a time point when a monitoring result indicates that the reference current becomes smaller than the input current of the regulator, limiting the input current of the regulator in a second time period to the target current value with a latest reference current value of the reference current being utilized as the target current value, wherein the monitoring result is generated from monitoring the input current of the regulator, wherein the second time period is after the first time period.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one of the plurality of predetermined reference current values is greater than a maximum current available from the power source; and the method further comprises:\nallowing, in the first time period, the input current of the regulator to reach the maximum current available from the power source.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of detecting the input voltage of the regulator to generate the detection signal corresponding to the input voltage of the regulator to selectively trigger limiting the output power of the regulator further comprises:\ndetecting the input voltage of the regulator to generate the detection signal corresponding to the input voltage of the regulator, to selectively trigger limiting the output power of the regulator, in order to prevent collapse of the input voltage of the regulator that is obtained from the power source.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\naccording to a digital version of the detection signal, selectively triggering limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value.\n\n5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of selectively triggering limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value further comprises:\nbefore the digital version of the detection signal transits from a first logical state to a second logical state, preventing triggering limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of selectively triggering limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value further comprises:\nwhen the digital version of the detection signal transits from the first logical state to the second logical state, triggering limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of decreasing the reference current to make the reference current change starting from the one of the plurality of predetermined reference current values further comprises:\nbefore the detection signal transits from a first state to a second state, keeping decreasing the reference current.\n\n8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of decreasing the reference current to make the reference current change starting from the one of the plurality of predetermined reference current values further comprises:\nwhen the detection signal transits from the second state to the first state, stopping decreasing the reference current, to utilize the latest reference current value of the reference current as the target current value.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein an error control circuit is arranged for performing error control during limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value, and comprises a first error amplifier; and the first error amplifier has a monitoring input terminal and a reference input terminal, wherein the monitoring input terminal of the first error amplifier is arranged for inputting a monitoring signal corresponding to the input current of the regulator, and the reference input terminal of the first error amplifier is arranged for inputting the reference signal corresponding to the reference current.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, wherein a voltage monitoring circuit is arranged for detecting the input voltage of the regulator to generate the detection signal corresponding to the input voltage of the regulator, and comprises a second error amplifier; and the second error amplifier has a monitoring input terminal and a reference input terminal, wherein the monitoring input terminal of the second error amplifier is arranged for inputting the input voltage of the regulator or a derivative thereof, and the reference input terminal of the second error amplifier is arranged for inputting a reference signal corresponding to a predetermined voltage level.\n\n11. An apparatus for performing adaptive input current control in an electronic device, the apparatus comprising:\na regulator, positioned in the electronic device, arranged for performing regulation for the electronic device;\nan error control circuit, positioned in the electronic device and coupled to the regulator, arranged for performing error control during limiting an input current of the regulator to a target current value, wherein the input current of the regulator is obtained from a power source;\na voltage monitoring circuit, positioned in the electronic device and coupled to the regulator, arranged for detecting an input voltage of the regulator to generate a detection signal corresponding to the input voltage of the regulator; and\na management circuit, positioned in the electronic device and coupled to the regulator, the error control circuit, and the voltage monitoring circuit, arranged for managing the regulator, wherein the management circuit monitors, in a first time period, by utilizing the error control circuit, the input current of the regulator according to a reference signal corresponding to a reference current, and decreases the reference current by decreasing magnitude of the reference signal corresponding to the reference current, to make the reference current change starting from one of a plurality of predetermined reference current values, wherein the input current of the regulator is not limited to the reference current in the first time period, wherein according to the detection signal, the management circuit selectively triggers limiting output power of the regulator, and at a time point when a monitoring result indicates that the reference current becomes smaller than the input current of the regulator, the management circuit limits, in a second time period, by utilizing the error control circuit, the input current of the regulator to the target current value with a latest reference current value of the reference current being utilized as the target current value, wherein the monitoring result is generated from monitoring the input current of the regulator wherein the second time period is after the first time period.\n\n12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one of the plurality of predetermined reference current values is greater than a maximum current available from the power source; and the management circuit allows, in the first time period, the input current of the regulator to reach the maximum current available from the power source.\n\n13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein according to the detection signal, the management circuit selectively triggers limiting the output power of the regulator, in order to prevent collapse of the input voltage of the regulator that is obtained from the power source.\n\n14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein according to a digital version of the detection signal, the management circuit selectively triggers limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value.\n\n15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein before the digital version of the detection signal transits from a first logical state to a second logical state, the management circuit prevents triggering limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value.\n\n16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein when the digital version of the detection signal transits from the first logical state to the second logical state, the management circuit triggers limiting the input current of the regulator to the target current value.\n\n17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein before the detection signal transits from a first state to a second state, the management circuit keeps decreasing the reference current.\n\n18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein when the detection signal transits from the second state to the first state, the management circuit stops decreasing the reference current, to utilize the latest reference current value of the reference current as the target current value.\n\n19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the error control circuit comprises a first error amplifier; and the first error amplifier has a monitoring input terminal and a reference input terminal, wherein the monitoring input terminal of the first error amplifier is arranged for inputting a monitoring signal corresponding to the input current of the regulator, and the reference input terminal of the first error amplifier is arranged for inputting the reference signal corresponding to the reference current.\n\n20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the voltage monitoring circuit comprises a second error amplifier; and the second error amplifier has a monitoring input terminal and a reference input terminal, wherein the monitoring input terminal of the second error amplifier is arranged for inputting the input voltage of the regulator or a derivative thereof, and the reference input terminal of the second error amplifier is arranged for inputting a reference signal corresponding to a predetermined voltage level."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Modular Point-Of-Care Devices, Systems, And Uses Thereof\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe discovery of a vast number of disease biomarkers and the establishment of miniaturized medical systems have opened up new avenues for the prediction, diagnosis and monitoring of treatment of diseases in a point-of-care setting. Point-of-care systems can rapidly deliver test results to medical personnel, other medical professionals and patients. Early diagnosis of a disease or disease progression can allow medical personnel to begin or modify therapy in a timely manner. Multiplexed biomarker measurement can provide additional knowledge of the condition of a patient. For example, when monitoring the effects of a drug, three or more biomarkers can be measured in parallel. Typically, microtiter plates and other similar apparatuses have been used to perform multiplexed separation-based assays. A microtiter plate (for example, a 384 well microtiter plate) can perform a large number of assays in parallel. In a Point-of-Care (POC) device, the number of assays that can be performed in parallel is often limited by the size of the device and the volume of the sample to be analyzed. In many POC devices, the number assays performed is about 2 to 10. A POC device capable of performing multiplexed assays on a small sample would be desirable. A shortcoming of many multiplexed POC assay devices is the high cost of manufacturing the components of the device. If the device is disposable, the high cost of the components can make the manufacturing of a POC device impractical. Further, for multiplexed POC devices that incorporate all of the necessary reagents onboard of the device, if any one of those reagents exhibit instability, an entire manufactured lot of devices may have to be discarded even if all the other reagents are still usable. When a customer is interested in a customizing a POC device to a particular set of analytes, manufacturers of multiplexed POC assay systems are often confronted with a need to mix-and-match the assays and reagents of the device. A multiplexed POC assay suitable to each customer can be very expensive, difficult to calibrate, and difficult to maintain quality control. POC methods have proven to be very valuable in monitoring disease and therapy (for example, blood glucose systems in diabetes therapy, Prothrombin Time measurement in anticoagulant therapy using Warfarin). By measuring multiple markers, it is believed that complex diseases (such as cancer) and therapies such as multi-drug therapy for cancer can be better monitored and controlled.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides devices and systems for use at the point of care. The methods devices of the invention are directed toward automatic detection of analytes in a bodily fluid. The components of the device are modular to allow for flexibility and robustness of use with the disclosed methods for a variety of medical applications."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of detecting at least two analytes present in a sample, the method comprising:\npositioning a cartridge in an instrument, wherein the cartridge comprises:\na sample vessel, a plurality of reagent units, a plurality of assay units, and at least one pipette tip;\nprocessing the sample to provide processed sample portions in selected assay units of the cartridge; and\nremoving at least one of said selected assay units from the cartridge and transporting said at least one of said selected assay units to a signal detector at a different location in the instrument;\nwherein the cartridge contains all reagents and supplies for said detection of said at least two analytes.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein said cartridge is positioned in the instrument effective that an automated fluid transfer device of the instrument can engage at least one sample vessel, one of said reagent units, one of said assay units, or at least one pipette tip.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said assay units comprises a pipette tip with a capture surface.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of said assay units comprises a pipette tip with a reaction site.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cartridge further comprises a housing for holding said reagent units and said assay units.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein the reagent units comprise instrument-operable containers that encapsulate liquid reagents.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein said reagents include liquid-phase and solid-phase reagents.\n\n8. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing serial dilution on the sample, wherein a second diluted portion is formed from a first diluted portion.\n\n9. The method of claim 1 further comprising using fingerstick blood from a single subject as the sample.\n\n10. The method of claim 1 wherein the cartridge further comprises a housing, wherein a bottom of the housing is configured to collect waste liquids.\n\n11. The method of claim 1 wherein the cartridge is configured to collect waste liquids after use that are transferred through a hole in a housing of the cartridge.\n\n12. The method of claim 2, wherein said processing of the sample comprises transferring sample and diluent to one of the assay units using the fluid transfer device.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, wherein the fluid transfer device is automated to follow a protocol associated with the cartridge to perform serial dilution of the sample.\n\n14. The method of claim 12, wherein the fluid transfer device is automated to follow a protocol associated with a cartridge identifier that is associated with a subject.\n\n15. The method of claim 1, further comprising expelling processed sample from the assay units and storing such expelled processed sample in the cartridge.\n\n16. The method of claim 1, further comprising a touch-off absorber positioned on the cartridge in a plane different from at least some cavity openings on the cartridge.\n\n17. The method of claim 14, further comprising using the fluid transfer device to perform an automated process carried out by a user-defined protocol.\n\n18. The method of claim 14, wherein processing, diluting, removing, and detecting steps all occur within the instrument.\n\n19. The method of claim 18, wherein the instrument is at a point-of-care (POC) location.\n\n20. The method of claim 19, wherein said point-of-care (POC) location is a pharmacy.\n\n21. The method of claim 19 further comprising sending data from the instrument in an encrypted format over a public network to a server comprising a network interface and a processor, wherein the server processes the data and then sends assay results over the public network to a user station display.\n\n22. The method of claim 1, wherein said instrument comprises a translational stage for receiving said cartridge.\n\n23. The method of claim 2, wherein said automated fluid transfer device comprises part of a bench-top instrument.\n\n24. The method of claim 1, wherein said sample has a volume of between about 1 \u03bcL to about 100 \u03bcL.\n\n25. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining said sample by lancing a subject to obtain a fingerstick blood sample.\n\n26. The method of claim 2, wherein the automated fluid transfer device comprises a motor in communication with a programmable processor, wherein the motor can move a pipette head of the fluid transfer device based on a protocol from said programmable processor to change a sequence for transporting assay units and reagent units.\n\n27. The method of claim 1, wherein the instrument is configured to automatically receive and process a whole blood sample to yield a plasma portion.\n\n28. The method of claim 1, wherein cartridge identifier information is used to determine automated fluid transfer device movement.\n\n29. The method of claim 1, wherein the cartridge further comprises a beads well.\n\n30. The method of claim 1 wherein the sample vessel, the plurality of reagent units, the plurality of assay units, and the at least one pipette tip are all arranged in the cartridge in a two-dimensional configuration and not together in a single row."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Display Substrate And Driving Method Thereof As Well As Display Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA conventional display apparatus performs display by forming one pixel from sub-pixels of three colors: red, green and blue (RGB). In a practical application, a resolution of the display apparatus may be increased by increasing pixels per inch (abbreviated PPI) on the display apparatus. At present, RG/BG is a frequently-used pixel arrangement for realizing a high resolution by using fewer sub-pixels. However, with an increasing requirement for a resolution of the display apparatus, such a RG/BG sub-pixel arrangement faces a greater challenge. To increase the resolution of the display apparatus, it is necessary to increase the number of sub-pixels, which may cause problems such as large fabrication difficulty of the display apparatus, high cost and the like.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA display substrate and a driving method thereof as well as a display apparatus. The display substrate comprises pixel groups which are arranged repeatedly, each pixel group comprising a first sub-pixel group and a second sub-pixel group, each comprising four pixel columns. The present invention reduces the number of sub-pixels in the whole display apparatus. Therefore, on a premise of ensuring that the display apparatus achieves a relatively high resolution, the fabrication difficulty of the display apparatus is reduced, and the cost is lowered."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A display substrate, comprising pixel groups which are arranged repeatedly, each pixel group comprising a first sub-pixel group and a second sub-pixel group, and said first sub-pixel group and said second sub-pixel ground both comprising four sub-pixel columns; wherein\ntwo first sub-pixels which are sequentially arranged are disposed in a first sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, one second sub-pixel is disposed in a second sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, one third sub-pixel is disposed in a third sub-pixel column-in said first sub-pixel group, and two second sub-pixels which are sequentially arranged are disposed in a fourth sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, wherein said second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column corresponds to said two first sub-pixels in said first pixel column, and said third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column corresponds to said two second sub-pixels in said fourth pixel column; and\none third sub-pixel is disposed in a first sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, two second sub-pixels which are sequentially arranged are disposed in a second sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, two first sub-pixels which are sequentially arranged are disposed in a third sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, and one second sub-pixel is disposed in a fourth sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, wherein said third sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column corresponds to said two second sub-pixels in said second pixel column, and said second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column corresponds to said two first sub-pixels in said third pixel column\nwherein in said first sub-pixel group, a light emitting center of said second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column and a midpoint of a connecting line between light emitting centers of said two first sub-pixels in said first sub-pixel column are located on the same straight line in a row direction, and a light emitting center of said third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column and a midpoint of a connecting line between light emitting centers of said two second sub-pixels in said fourth sub-pixel column are located on the same straight line in a row direction; and\nwherein in said second sub-pixel group, a light emitting center of said third sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column and a midpoint of a connecting line between light emitting centers of said two second sub-pixels in said second sub-pixel column are located on the same straight line in a row direction, and a light emitting center of said second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column and a midpoint of a connecting line between light emitting centers of said two first sub-pixels in said third sub-pixel column are located on the same straight line in a row direction.\n\n2. The display substrate according to claim 1, wherein said first sub-pixel group and said second sub-pixel group are disposed in an overlying relation, and wherein individual sub-pixel columns in said first sub-pixel group are disposed corresponding to individual sub-pixel columns in said second sub-pixel group.\n\n3. A display apparatus, comprising the display substrate according to claim 2.\n\n4. The display substrate according to claim 1, wherein in said first sub-pixel group, said second sub-pixel in said second pixel column, and said third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column are located in the same pixel row.\n\n5. A display apparatus, comprising the display substrate according to claim 4.\n\n6. The display substrate according to claim 1, wherein in said second sub-pixel group, said third sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column and said second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column are located in the same pixel row.\n\n7. A display apparatus, comprising the display substrate according to claim 6.\n\n8. A display apparatus, comprising the display substrate according to claim 1.\n\n9. A method for driving the display substrate according to claim 1, comprising:\naccording to input values for corresponding sub-pixels in said first sub-pixel group, respectively generating output values for said two first sub-pixels in said first pixel column, an output value for said one second sub-pixel in said second pixel column, an output value for said one third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column and output values for said two second sub-pixels in said fourth pixel column;\nrespectively outputting said output values for said two first sub-pixels in said first pixel column, said output value for said one second sub-pixel in said second pixel column, said output value for said one third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column and said output values for said two second sub-pixels in said fourth pixel column, which are generated as above;\naccording to input values for corresponding sub-pixels in said second sub-pixel group, respectively generating an output value for said one third sub-pixel in said first pixel column, output values for said two second sub-pixels in said second pixel column, output values for said two first sub-pixels in said third pixel column, and an output value for said one second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column; and\nrespectively outputting said output value for said one third sub-pixel in said first pixel column, said output values for said two second sub-pixels in said second pixel column, said output values for said two first sub-pixels in said third pixel column, and said output value for said one second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column, which are generated as above.\n\n10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the step of, according to input values for corresponding sub-pixels in said first sub-pixel group, respectively generating output values for said two first sub-pixels in said first pixel column, an output value for said one second sub-pixel in said second pixel column, an output value for said one third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column and output values for said two second sub-pixels in said fourth pixel column, comprises:\naccording to two first sub-pixel input values corresponding to each first sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each first sub-pixel in said first pixel column;\naccording to two second sub-pixel input values corresponding to said second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said second sub-pixel in said second pixel column;\naccording to four third sub-pixel input values corresponding to said third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said third sub-pixel in said third pixel column; and\naccording to a second sub-pixel input value corresponding to each second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column.\n\n11. The method according to claim 10, wherein\nthe step of, according to two first sub-pixel input values corresponding to each first sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each first sub-pixel in said first pixel column, comprises: by dividing a sum of two first sub-pixel input values corresponding to each first sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group by two, generating an output value for each first sub-pixel in said first pixel column;\nthe step of, according to two second sub-pixel input values corresponding to said second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said second sub-pixel in said second pixel column, comprises: by dividing a sum of two second sub-pixel input values corresponding to said second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group by two, generating an output value for said second sub-pixel in said second pixel column;\nthe step of, according to four third sub-pixel input values corresponding to said third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said third sub-pixel in said third pixel column, comprises: by dividing a sum of the four third sub-pixel input values corresponding to said third sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group by four, generating an output value for said third sub-pixel in said third pixel column; and\nthe step of, according to a second sub-pixel input value corresponding to each second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column, comprises: setting a second sub-pixel input value corresponding to each second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column of said first sub-pixel group to an output value for each second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column.\n\n12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the step of, according to input values for corresponding sub-pixels in said second sub-pixel group, respectively generating an output value for said one third sub-pixel in said first pixel column, output values for said two second sub-pixels in said second pixel column, output values for said two first sub-pixels in said third pixel column, and an output value for said one second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column, comprises:\naccording to four third sub-pixel input values corresponding to said third sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said third sub-pixel in said first pixel column;\naccording to a second sub-pixel input value corresponding to each second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each second sub-pixel in said second pixel column;\naccording to two first sub-pixel input values corresponding to each first sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each first sub-pixel in said third pixel column; and\naccording to two second sub-pixel input values corresponding to said second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column.\n\n13. The method according to claim 12, wherein\nthe step of, according to four third sub-pixel input values corresponding to said third sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said third sub-pixel in said first pixel column, comprises: by dividing a sum of four third sub-pixel input values corresponding to said third sub-pixel in said first sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group by four, generating an output value for said third sub-pixel in said first pixel column;\nthe step of, according to a second sub-pixel input value corresponding to each second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each second sub-pixel in said second pixel column, comprises: setting a second sub-pixel input value corresponding to each second sub-pixel in said second sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group to an output value for each second sub-pixel in said second pixel column;\nthe step of, according to two first sub-pixel input values corresponding to each first sub-pixel in said third sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for each first sub-pixel in said third pixel column, comprises: by dividing a sum of two first sub-pixel input values corresponding to each first sub-pixel in said third of said second sub-pixel group by two, generating an output value for each first sub-pixel in said third pixel column; and\nthe step of, according to two second sub-pixel input values corresponding to said second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group, generating an output value for said second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column, comprises: by dividing a sum of two second sub-pixel input values corresponding to said second sub-pixel in said fourth sub-pixel column of said second sub-pixel group by two, generating an output value for said second sub-pixel in said fourth pixel column."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Combat Medical Simulators And Associated Systems And Methods\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAs medical science has progressed, it has become increasingly important to provide non-human interactive formats for teaching patient care. Non-human interactive devices and systems can be used to teach the skills needed to successfully identify and treat various patient conditions without putting actual patients at risk. Such training devices and systems can be used by medical personnel and medical students to learn the techniques required for proper patient care, including those techniques used in war or combat zones where time is often of the essence in successful to both patient and medical personnel survival. In that regard, the training of medical personnel and patients is greatly enhanced through the use of realistic hands-on training with devices and systems, such as those of the present disclosure, that mimic characteristics of natural human and, in particular, allow training of procedures commonly performed in war and/or combat zones. In view of the foregoing, there remains a need for devices, systems, and methods appropriate for use in combat medical training.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDevices, systems, and methods appropriate for use in combat medical training are provided. In some instances, the combat medical simulators facilitate training of common field medical techniques including tracheostomy, wound care, tourniquet use, pneumothorax, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and/or other medical treatments. Further, the combat medical simulators have joints that provide realistic ranges of motions to enhance the realism of the training experience."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A combat medical simulation system, comprising:\na patient simulator including:\na wound formed on a limb of the patient simulator, the wound comprising a foam layer;\na fluid reservoir positioned within the patient simulator, the fluid reservoir in fluid communication with the foam layer of the wound via flexible tubing; and\na pump system in communication with the fluid reservoir for selectively simulating bleeding of the wound by pumping fluid from the fluid reservoir to the wound through the flexible tubing;\nwherein proper application of a tourniquet around the limb of the patient simulator stops fluid flow through the flexible tubing to the wound.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, wherein the patient simulator is operable without physical connection to an external device.\n\n3. The system of claim 2, wherein the patient simulator is configured to wirelessly communicate with one or more external devices.\n\n4. The system of claim 3, wherein the patient simulator receives control signals wirelessly from the one or more external devices.\n\n5. The system of claim 2, wherein the patient simulator includes a rechargeable power supply.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, wherein the wound is formed on an arm of the patient simulator.\n\n7. The system of claim 1, wherein the wound is formed on a leg of the patient simulator.\n\n8. The system of claim 1, wherein the wound is formed of a material having a hardness between 30 on the 00 scale and 10 on the A scale of the Rockwell hardness standard.\n\n9. The system of claim 1, wherein the wound includes a porous layer adjacent to the foam layer to disperse fluid to simulate a hemorrhaging effect.\n\n10. The system of claim 9, wherein the limb of the patient simulator has a cavity, in which the wound is housed, the wound further comprising a housing adjacent to the foam layer and opposite the porous layer, the housing being substantially non-porous so as to prevent or at least reduce fluid leakage into the limb of the patient simulator.\n\n11. The system of claim 1, wherein proper application of a tourniquet around the limb of the patient simulator stops the flow of fluid through the flexible tubing to the wound by compressing the tubing to prevent fluid flow.\n\n12. The system of claim 1, wherein proper application of a tourniquet around the limb of the patient simulator stops the flow of fluid through the flexible tubing to the wound by triggering a sensor that deactivates the pump.\n\n13. The system of claim 1, wherein the wound is configured to accept packing material such that applying pressure to the wound with packing material stops the simulated bleeding of the wound.\n\n14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a sensor that detects the application of pressure on the wound.\n\n15. The system of claim 14, wherein the sensor sends a control signal to the pump to stop pumping fluid from the fluid reservoir to the wound when application of an appropriate amount of pressure is detected.\n\n16. The system of claim 1, wherein, to simulate the bleeding of the wound, the fluid is pumped through the flexible tubing to the wound at a rate of approximately 0.25 liters per minute.\n\n17. The system of claim 1, wherein the fluid reservoir is positioned within a leg of the patient simulator.\n\n18. The system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor operably coupled to the fluid reservoir to monitor the amount of the fluid present in the fluid reservoir so that a user or instructor can replenish the fluid in the fluid reservoir as necessary.\n\n19. The system of claim 18, wherein the sensor monitors the amount of the fluid present in the fluid reservoir by monitoring changes in weight and/or pressure imparted on the sensor by the fluid reservoir.\n\n20. A combat medical simulation system, comprising:\na patient simulator sized and shaped to simulate an adult male, the patient simulator including:\na wound formed on a limb of the patient simulator;\na fluid reservoir positioned within the patient simulator, the fluid reservoir in fluid communication with the wound via flexible tubing; and\na pump system in communication with the fluid reservoir for selectively simulating bleeding of the wound by pumping fluid from the fluid reservoir to the wound through the flexible tubing; and\nwherein proper application of a tourniquet around the limb of the patient simulator stops the flow of fluid through the flexible tubing to the wound; and\na pneumothorax simulation system positioned within a torso of the patient simulator, wherein the pneumothorax simulation system includes:\na moveable contact plate; and\na switch;\nwherein a state of the switch is modified in response to movement of the contact plate resulting from a needle contacting the moveable contact plate.\n\n21. The system of claim 20, wherein the moveable contact plate is pivotally mounted within the torso.\n\n22. The system of claim 21, wherein a spring biases the movable contact plate towards an initial position.\n\n23. The system of claim 20, wherein the pneumothorax simulation system is configured to selectively activate and deactivate a simulated left lung, a simulated right lung, or both simulated left and right lungs."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Drum Magazine For Loading Paintballs And Shaped Projectiles Into A Magazine-Fed Firearm\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn the sport of paintball, firearms specially designed for paintball (referred to as \u201cmarkers\u201d) are loaded with spherical gelatin capsules containing water-soluble \u201cpaint\u201d. These paintballs are most often loaded into a paintball marker through a hopper that is mounted to the paintball marker and is able to feed paintballs into the marker chamber. Hoppers are often capable of feeding paintballs very quickly in order to accommodate the very high rates of fire that many paintball markers are capable of. However, a common alternative to competitive speedball and more casual recreational play is \u201cmag fed\u201d gameplay. Participants in mag fed gameplay utilize paintball markers that greatly resemble conventional firearms and take part in scenarios that are more realistic and tactical than other types of paintball gameplay. The paintball markers utilized in mag fed paintball play are often designed to resemble conventional firearms as closely as possible and as such, paintballs are generally loaded into the markers via magazines in lieu of hoppers. In addition to the more realistic and tactical nature of mag fed gameplay, the limited ammunition capacity of the magazines presents an additional challenge and layer of realism to mag fed gameplay. Magazines designed for paintballs often resemble conventional magazines and may include variants such as the STANAG box magazine and various types of drum magazines. Drum magazines are often favored due to their comparatively higher ammunition capacity relative to box magazines, lowering the frequency of reloads. The present invention is a drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm. The present invention stores paintballs in a spiral arrangement and is able to feed the paintballs into a magazine-fed paintball marker. The present invention includes an adjustable internal feeding mechanism that allows the present invention to be utilized with a wide variety of paintballs ranging from very soft paintballs to very brittle paintballs by adjusting the pressure that is exerted on the paintballs within the present invention. The present invention is additionally locked when the present invention is not loaded into a firearm, preventing paintballs from feeding while the magazine is not loaded into the firearm.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm includes a spiral feed track that stores paintballs as well as a projectile feed assembly that pushes paintballs through the spiral feed track. Paintballs exit the spiral feed track through a feed port and through a modular feed adapter that is inserted into a paintball marker. A clock spring and a spring rotor are utilized in order to adjust the pressure that is exerted on paintballs within the spiral feed track. Tension in the clock spring may be increased to a desired level by rotating the spring rotor to wind the clock spring. Paintballs are prevented from loading when the drum magazine is not loaded into a paintball marker by a locking assembly. A ratcheting gear engages a gear locking pawl while the drum magazine is not loaded, preventing the clock spring from becoming unwound."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm comprises:\na housing platform;\na spiral feed track;\na projectile feed assembly;\na feed port;\na modular feed adapter;\na rotor protrusion;\nthe projectile feed assembly comprises a clock spring, a spring rotor, and a radius-adjusting pusher arm;\nthe spiral feed track being integrated onto the housing platform;\nan inner end of the clock spring being positioned adjacent to a closed central end of the spiral feed track;\nan outer end of the clock spring being fixed to the housing platform;\nthe spring rotor being axially connected to the inner end;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm being slidably engaged into the spiral feed track;\nthe feed port being in fluid communication with a peripheral end of the spiral feed track;\nthe modular feed adapter being removably mounted to the housing platform, adjacent to the feed port;\nthe rotor protrusion being peripherally connected to the spring rotor;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm being pivotally and peripherally linked to the rotor protrusion;\na front plate;\na spacer plate;\na rear plate;\nthe housing platform comprises a front side and a rear side;\nthe rear plate being removably mounted to the rear side;\nthe spacer plate being removably mounted to the front side; and\nthe front plate being removably mounted to the spacer plate.\n\n2. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:\na locking assembly;\nthe locking assembly comprises a ratcheting gear;\nthe ratcheting gear being positioned opposite to the clock spring through the housing platform; and\nthe ratcheting gear being axially connected to the spring rotor.\n\n3. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:\na spacer plate;\na locking assembly;\nthe locking assembly comprises a ratcheting gear, a gear locking plate, a gear locking bracket, and a gear locking pawl;\nthe gear locking bracket being positioned centrally on the spacer plate;\nthe gear locking plate being slidably engaged into the modular feed adapter;\nthe ratcheting gear being seated within the gear locking plate;\nthe gear locking plate being slidably engaged into the gear locking bracket;\nthe gear locking pawl being positioned within the gear locking plate; and\na selected tooth from the ratcheting gear being removably engaged to the gear locking pawl.\n\n4. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped particles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 3 further comprises:\nat least one buffer spring; and\nthe at least one buffer spring being positioned in between the gear locking plate and the gear locking bracket.\n\n5. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm comprises a linkage arm, a stabilizing arm, an extension arm, a forward nub, a reverse nub, and a single nub;\nthe linkage arm being pivotally and peripherally connected to the rotor protrusion;\nthe stabilizing arm being pivotally and adjacently connected to the linkage arm, opposite to the rotor protrusion;\nthe forward nub and the reverse nub being connected adjacent to the stabilizing arm;\nthe forward nub and the reverse nub being positioned opposite to each other along the stabilizing arm;\nthe extension arm being pivotally and adjacently connected to the stabilizing arm, opposite to the linkage arm;\nthe single nub being connected adjacent to the extension arm, opposite to the stabilizing arm; and\nthe forward nub, the reverse nub, and the single nub being sequentially engaged into the spiral feed track.\n\n6. A drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm comprises:\na housing platform;\na spiral feed track;\na projectile feed assembly;\na feed port;\na modular feed adapter;\na rotor protrusion;\nthe projectile feed assembly comprises a clock spring, a spring rotor, and a radius-adjusting pusher arm;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm comprises a linkage arm, a stabilizing arm, an extension arm, a forward nub, a reverse nub, and a single nub;\nthe spiral feed track being integrated onto the housing platform;\nan inner end of the clock spring being positioned adjacent to a closed central end of the spiral feed track;\nan outer end of the clock spring being fixed to the housing platform;\nthe spring rotor being axially connected to the inner end;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm being slidably engaged into the spiral feed track;\nthe feed port being in fluid communication with a peripheral end of the spiral feed track;\nthe modular feed adapter being removably mounted to the housing platform, adjacent to the feed port;\nthe rotor protrusion being peripherally connected to the spring rotor;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm being pivotally and peripherally linked to the rotor protrusion;\nthe linkage arm being pivotally and peripherally connected to the rotor protrusion;\nthe stabilizing arm being pivotally and adjacently connected to the linkage arm, opposite to the rotor protrusion;\nthe forward nub and the reverse nub being connected adjacent to the stabilizing arm;\nthe forward nub and the reverse nub being positioned opposite to each other along the stabilizing arm;\nthe extension arm being pivotally and adjacently connected to the stabilizing arm, opposite to the linkage arm;\nthe single nub being connected adjacent to the extension arm, opposite to the stabilizing arm;\nthe forward nub, the reverse nub, and the single nub being sequentially engaged into the spiral feed track;\nat least one buffer spring; and\nthe at least one buffer spring being positioned in between the gear locking plate and the gear locking bracket.\n\n7. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 6 further comprises:\na front plate;\na spacer plate;\na rear plate;\nthe housing platform comprises a front side and a rear side;\nthe rear plate being removably mounted to the rear side;\nthe spacer plate being removably mounted to the front side; and\nthe front plate being removably mounted to the spacer plate.\n\n8. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 6 further comprises:\na locking assembly;\nthe locking assembly comprises a ratcheting gear;\nthe ratcheting gear being positioned opposite to the clock spring through the housing platform; and\nthe ratcheting gear being axially connected to the spring rotor.\n\n9. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 6 further comprises:\na spacer plate;\na locking assembly;\nthe locking assembly comprises a ratcheting gear, a gear locking plate, a gear locking bracket, and a gear locking pawl;\nthe gear locking bracket being positioned centrally on the spacer plate;\nthe gear locking plate being slidably engaged into the modular feed adapter;\nthe ratcheting gear being seated within the gear locking plate;\nthe gear locking plate being slidably engaged into the gear locking bracket;\nthe gear locking pawl being positioned within the gear locking plate; and\na selected tooth from the ratcheting gear being removably engaged to the gear locking pawl.\n\n10. A drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm comprises:\na housing platform;\na spiral feed track;\na projectile feed assembly;\na feed port;\na modular feed adapter;\na rotor protrusion;\na spacer plate;\na locking assembly;\nthe projectile feed assembly comprises a clock spring, a spring rotor, and a radius-adjusting pusher arm;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm comprises a linkage arm, a stabilizing arm, an extension arm, a forward nub, a reverse nub, and a single nub;\nthe locking assembly comprises a ratcheting gear, a gear locking plate, a gear locking bracket, and a gear locking pawl;\nthe spiral feed track being integrated onto the housing platform;\nan inner end of the clock spring being positioned adjacent to a closed central end of the spiral feed track;\nan outer end of the clock spring being fixed to the housing platform;\nthe spring rotor being axially connected to the inner end;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm being slidably engaged into the spiral feed track;\nthe feed port being in fluid communication with a peripheral end of the spiral feed track;\nthe modular feed adapter being removably mounted to the housing platform, adjacent to the feed port;\nthe rotor protrusion being peripherally connected to the spring rotor;\nthe radius-adjusting pusher arm being pivotally and peripherally linked to the rotor protrusion;\nthe linkage arm being pivotally and peripherally connected to the rotor protrusion;\nthe stabilizing arm being pivotally and adjacently connected to the linkage arm, opposite to the rotor protrusion;\nthe forward nub and the reverse nub being connected adjacent to the stabilizing arm;\nthe forward nub and the reverse nub being positioned opposite to each other along the stabilizing arm;\nthe extension arm being pivotally and adjacently connected to the stabilizing arm, opposite to the linkage arm;\nthe single nub being connected adjacent to the extension arm, opposite to the stabilizing arm;\nthe forward nub, the reverse nub, and the single nub being sequentially engaged into the spiral feed track;\nthe gear locking bracket being positioned centrally on the spacer plate;\nthe gear locking plate being slidably engaged into the modular feed adapter;\nthe ratcheting gear being seated within the gear locking plate;\nthe gear locking plate being slidably engaged into the gear locking bracket;\nthe gear locking pawl being positioned within the gear locking plate;\na selected tooth from the ratcheting gear being removably engaged to the gear locking pawl;\nat least one buffer spring; and\nthe at least one buffer spring being positioned in between the gear locking plate and the gear locking bracket.\n\n11. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 10 further comprises:\na front plate;\na spacer plate;\na rear plate;\nthe housing platform comprises a front side and a rear side;\nthe rear plate being removably mounted to the rear side;\nthe spacer plate being removably mounted to the front side; and\nthe front plate being removably mounted to the spacer plate.\n\n12. The drum magazine for loading paintballs and shaped projectiles into a magazine-fed firearm as claimed in claim 10 further comprises:\na locking assembly;\nthe locking assembly comprises a ratcheting gear;\nthe ratcheting gear being positioned opposite to the clock spring through the housing platform; and\nthe ratcheting gear being axially connected to the spring rotor."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hydraulic Suspension Damper\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nDampers of the features as above are known from the state of art as twin-tube dampers. They provide excellent tuning capabilities enabling for independent tuning both the valves of a slidable piston assembly and the valves of an additional base valve assembly that in a case of twin-tube dampers is located at the bottom end of the main tube. Twin-tube dampers also require relatively low pressure of the pressurised gas what results in relatively low internal pressure of the working liquid filling the damper, inducing relatively low friction force between a piston rod and a rod guide seal. Furthermore, the external tube is not used to guide the slidable piston assembly. Therefore possible deformations of the external tube, in particular in the bottom zone of the damper, where it is usually fixed to the steering knuckle of a vehicle suspension have no influence on the operation of the damper. Also the piston assembly is designed not to reach this bottom zone of the external tube in its sliding movement. Nonetheless, twin-tube dampers also have some disadvantages due to their complex structure, such as inter alia the necessity to provide a base valve assembly and a rod guide of a construction enabling for support of the external tube. These disadvantages of the twin tube dampers have been substantially eliminated in mono-tube dampers in which all three chambers, i.e. a rebound chamber, a compression chamber and a gas chamber, are arranged serially in a single tube. Mono-tube dampers are devoid of an additional valve assembly and an additional compensation chamber. A slidable partition is provided between the compression chamber and the gas chamber. However, other problems arise. Higher pressure is required in the chambers of the damper to eliminate free displacement of a slidable partition with no damping force generated by the valves of the piston assembly (a so called \u201cno damping stroke effect\u201d). This increased pressure in turn requires an improved sealing of the piston rod guide which in turn generates higher friction forces between the piston rod and the rod guide seal. Furthermore, the damper's length is increased since the gas chamber is positioned in series with the compression chamber along the longitudinal axis of the damper. Moreover, a certain dead zone exists at the end of the gas chamber where possible deformations of the main tube (which in this case is also an external tube) might lead to jamming of the slidable partition or otherwise limiting its sliding movement. Finally mono-tube dampers often provide significantly limited tuning capabilities as compared to twin-tube dampers. Yet another common disadvantage of both the above-mentioned damper types is a necessity to fill the gas chamber with a pressurised gas which process depends on the process of filing the damper with a working liquid. It has been the object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic damper that would retain all the aforementioned advantages of a twin-tube damper along with simplicity of construction as provided by a mono-tube damper. The inventors discovered that achieving these objects is possible by diverting the flow of working liquid radially inside the compression chamber (instead as radially outside as in twin-tube dampers).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hydraulic damper (3) includes a tube (4), a piston assembly (5) disposed slidably inside the tube (4), and an additional valve assembly (13). A compression chamber (9) is defined between the piston assembly (5) and the additional valve assembly (13). An additional compensation chamber (14) is defined between the additional valve assembly (13) and one side of a slideable partition (10). A gas chamber (11) is defined at the other side of the slidable partition (10). The damper includes an additional chamber assembly (15) to retain all the advantages of a twin-tube damper while providing the single construction offered by a mono-tube damper. One end of the additional chamber assembly (15) is attached to the slidable piston chamber (5) or to said piston rod (6) at the compression side thereof and the other end of said additional chamber assembly (15) is terminated with the additional valve assembly (13)."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A hydraulic damper ( 3 ), in particular a motor vehicle suspension damper, comprising:\na tube ( 4 );\na piston assembly ( 5 ) disposed slidably inside the tube ( 4 ) and attached to a piston rod ( 6 ) led outside the tube through a sealed piston rod guide ( 7 ) located at the end of the tube ( 4 ), wherein a rebound chamber ( 8 ) filled with working liquid is defined between said piston rod guide ( 7 ) and said piston assembly ( 5 );\na valve assembly ( 13 ), wherein a compression chamber ( 9 ) filled with working liquid is defined between said piston assembly ( 5 ) and said valve assembly ( 13 );\na slidable partition ( 10 ), wherein a compensation chamber ( 14 ) filled with working liquid is defined between said valve assembly ( 13 ) and one side of said slidable partition ( 10 );\na gas chamber ( 11 ) filled with pressurised gas and defined at the other side of said slidable partition ( 10 );\nsaid piston assembly ( 5 ) provided with rebound valves ( 51 ) and compression valves ( 52 ) to control the flow of working liquid passing between said rebound chamber ( 8 ) and said compression chamber ( 9 ), respectively, during rebound and compression stroke of the damper,\nsaid valve assembly ( 13 ) provided with rebound valve ( 131 ) and compression valve ( 132 ) to control the flow of working liquid passing between said compensation chamber ( 14 ) and said compression chamber ( 9 ), respectively, during rebound and compression portions of the stroking cycle of the damper; and\na chamber assembly ( 15 ), wherein one end of said chamber assembly ( 15 ) is attached to said slidable piston assembly ( 5 ) or to said piston rod ( 6 ) at the compression side thereof and the other end of said chamber assembly ( 15 ) is terminated with said valve assembly ( 13 ), wherein said slidable partition ( 10 ) is disposed in said chamber assembly ( 15 ) and in sealing engagement with said chamber assembly ( 15 ) defining said pressurised gas chamber ( 11 ) and said compensation chamber ( 14 ) located inside said chamber assembly ( 15 ).\n\n2. The hydraulic damper according to claim 1, wherein the hydraulic chamber is a mono-tube damper.\n\n3. The hydraulic damper according to claim 2, wherein said chamber assembly ( 15 ) comprises a uniform body ( 151 ), preferably screwed to the end of the piston rod ( 6 ).\n\n4. The hydraulic damper according to claim 3, wherein said chamber assembly ( 15 ) is a separate subassembly of the damper ( 3 ) independently assembled and filled with a pressurized gas.\n\n5. The hydraulic damper according to claim 2, wherein said chamber assembly ( 15 ) is a separate subassembly of the damper ( 3 ) independently assembled and filled with a pressurized gas.\n\n6. The hydraulic damper according to claim 1, wherein said chamber assembly ( 15 ) comprises a uniform body ( 151 ), preferably screwed to the end of the piston rod ( 6 ).\n\n7. The hydraulic damper according to claim 6, wherein said chamber assembly ( 15 ) is a separate subassembly of the damper ( 3 ) independently assembled and filled with a pressurized gas.\n\n8. The hydraulic damper according to claim 1, wherein said chamber assembly ( 15 ) is a separate subassembly of the damper ( 3 ) independently assembled and filled with a pressurized gas."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And Apparatus For Calculating Torque Of Walking Assistance Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field At least one example embodiment relates to a torque calculating method. For example, to a method of calculating a torque of a walking assistance device. 2. Description of the Related Art With the onset of rapidly aging societies, a number of people may experience inconvenience and/or pain from joint problems. Thus, there is a growing interest in walking assistance devices enabling the elderly and/or patients having joint problems to walk with less effort. Furthermore, walking assistance devices increasing muscular strength of human bodies may be desired for military purposes. In general, walking assistance devices may include body frames disposed on trunks of users, pelvic frames coupled to lower sides of the body frames to cover pelvises of the users, femoral frames disposed on thighs of the users, sural frames disposed on calves of the users, and/or pedial frames disposed on feet of the users. The pelvic frames and femoral frames may be connected rotatably by hip joint portions, the femoral frames and sural frames may be connected rotatably by knee joint portions, and/or the sural frames and pedial frames may be connected rotatably by ankle joint portions.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method and apparatus for calculating a torque of a walking assistance device, the method including receiving a measured joint angle, obtaining a gait parameter with respect to a transition among a predetermined number of gait states based on the joint angle, obtaining a gait cycle based on the joint angle, and obtaining an output torque based on the gait cycle and the gait parameter, is provided."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of calculating an output torque of a walking assistance device via a controller connected to one or more sensors, the method comprising:\nsensing, via signals from the one or more sensors, a joint angle associated with a joint of a user;\ndetermining a gait cycle by applying the joint angle to a particularly shaped adaptive oscillator (PSAO);\ndetermining a gait parameter with respect to a transition among predefined gait states by applying the joint angle to a finite state machine (FSM);\ncalculating the output torque based on the gait cycle and the gait parameter, the calculating including,\ncorrecting the gait cycle using the gait parameter as a reference value to generate a corrected gait cycle; and\ncalculating the output torque corresponding to the corrected gait cycle, and\ninstructing a driver to apply the output torque to a support of the walking assistance device associated with the joint of the user.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the gait cycle comprises:\ncalculating a first gait frequency based on the joint angle; and\ndetermining the gait cycle based on the first gait frequency.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the gait parameter comprises:\ndetermining a current one of the gait states based on a previous one of the gait states and the joint angle;\ndetermining if the transition among the gait states occurred based on the previous one of the gait states and the current one of the gait states; and\ndetermining the gait parameter in response to a determination that the transition occurred.\n\n4. The method of claim 3, wherein\nthe determining the gait parameter further includes determining a second gait cycle as the gait parameter, and\nthe calculating the output torque includes calculating the output torque based on the gait cycle and the second gait cycle.\n\n5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining the second gait cycle comprises:\ndefining a value preset with respect to the current one of the gait states as a value of the second gait cycle.\n\n6. The method of claim 3, wherein\nthe determining the gait parameter includes calculating a second gait frequency as the gait parameter, and\nthe calculating the output torque includes calculating the output torque based on the gait cycle and the second gait frequency.\n\n7. The method of claim 6, wherein the calculating of the second gait frequency comprises:\ncalculating the second gait frequency based on a period of the transition.\n\n8. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining the current one of the gait states comprises:\ndetermining a gait state corresponding to the joint angle, among the gait states with respect to the joint angle, to be the current one of the gait states.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating the output torque comprises:\ndetermining whether a difference between the gait cycle and the gait parameter is greater than or equal to a threshold; and\ncalculating the output torque based on the gait parameter in response to a determination that the difference is greater than or equal to the threshold.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating the output torque comprises:\ndetermining whether a difference between the gait cycle and the gait parameter is greater than or equal to a threshold; and\ncalculating the output torque based on the gait cycle and the gait parameter, if the difference is less than the threshold.\n\n11. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating the output torque comprises:\ndetermining whether a condition is satisfied; and\ncalculating the output torque based on the gait parameter, if the condition is satisfied.\n\n12. The method of claim 11, wherein the condition is an initial stage of walking.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, wherein the condition is determined as the initial stage of walking when a current one of the gait states has been determined less than a set number of times.\n\n14. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating the output torque comprises:\ndetermining a final gait cycle based on the gait cycle and the gait parameter; and\ncalculating the output torque corresponding to the final gait cycle.\n\n15. The method of claim 1, wherein the joint angle is an angle of at least one of a hip joint, a knee joint, and an ankle joint.\n\n16. A torque calculating apparatus comprising:\none or more sensors configured to sense a joint angle associated with a joint of a user;\na receiver configured to receive a measurement of the joint angle; and\na processor configured to,\ndetermine a gait cycle by applying the joint angle to a particularly shaped adaptive oscillator (PSAO);\ndetermine a gait parameter with respect to a transition among predefined gait states by applying the joint angle to a finite state machine (FSM);\ncalcuate output torque based on the gait cycle and the gait parameter by,\ncorrecting the gait cycle using the gait parameter as a reference value to generate a corrected gait cycle; and\ncalculating the output torque corresponding to the corrected gait cycle, and\ninstruct a driver to apply the output torque to a support of a walking assistance device associated with the joint of the user.\n\n17. A torque calculating method via a controller connected to one or more sensors, the method comprising:\nsensing, via signals from the one or more sensors, a joint angle associated with a joint of a user;\nobtaining a first gait cycle based on a measured joint angle using a particularly shaped adaptive oscillator (PSAO);\nobtaining a second gait cycle with respect to a transition among predefined gait states based on the joint angle using a finite state machine (FSM);\ncalculating a final gait cycle based on the first gait cycle and the second gait cycle when the transition occurs;\ncalculating a torque corresponding to the final gait cycle; and\ninstructing a driver to apply the torque to a support of a walking assistance device associated with the joint of the user.\n\n18. A method of calculating a torque to apply to a walking assistance device via a controller connected to one or more sensors, the method comprising:\nsensing, via signals from the one or more sensors, a joint angle associated with a joint of a user;\ndetermining a current gait state within a gait cycle of the user based on the joint angle by,\nsetting a phase of an oscillator of a particularly shaped adaptive oscillator (PSAO) as the current gait state, if the oscillator has a fundamental frequency corresponding to a gait frequency, and\nsetting a phase of a finite state machine (FSM) as the current gait state by overriding the PSAO, if the gait cycle has completed less than a threshold number of times;\ncalculating the torque based on the current gait state; and\ninstructing a driver to apply the torque to a support of the walking assistance device associated with the joint of the user.\n\n19. The method of claim 18, wherein the calculating the torque calculates the torque using the PSAO and the FSM.\n\n20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:\ndetermining, using the PSAO, the current gait state based on a trajectory of the joint angle associated with the joint of the user."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Detection Of Welded Contactor Using Ac Coupling\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nBattery-powered vehicles, such as electric vehicles or hybrid electric vehicles, may contain one or more high-voltage batteries connected to a DC bus. A high-voltage battery pack may be used as the primary power source of a vehicle to drive various primary loads (e.g., traction motors) and various auxiliary loads (e.g., HVAC, lighting, pumps, etc.). During operation, the battery pack or part of it may need to be taken offline due to faulty components or conditions in the battery pack. For high-voltage battery applications, such as electric vehicles, disconnecting the battery pack may be achieved by opening a contactor connected between the battery pack and the high-voltage bus. Over time, the contactors may degrade and cause a safety hazard if they fail to open or close properly. Although a defective contactor may be detected by measuring the DC current or voltage in the high-voltage DC circuit directly, such a detection method may compromise the DC isolation between the contactor and the chassis ground to which most controller circuits are referenced. The present disclosure aims to address at least some of these considerations.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA system for detecting a condition of a contactor configured to connect a battery string to a direct-current bus in a vehicle may include a controller configured to open or close the contactor. The system may also include an alternating-current (AC) signal source configured to provide an AC test signal when the controller opens the contactor. The system may further include an AC coupling circuit. The AC coupling circuit may include a primary side of the AC coupling circuit connected to the AC test signal source, and a secondary side connected to the contactor. The system may also include a detection circuit configured to receive an AC return signal corresponding to the AC test signal, and determine a defective condition of the contactor based on the AC return signal."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system for detecting a condition of a contactor configured to connect a battery string to a direct-current (DC) bus in a vehicle, the system comprising:\na controller configured to open or close the contactor;\nan alternating-current (AC) signal source configured to provide a first AC test signal when the controller opens the contactor;\nan AC coupling circuit having a primary side and a secondary side, the primary side being connected to the AC test signal source, the secondary side connected to the contactor;\na detection circuit configured to:\nreceive a first AC return signal corresponding to the first AC test signal, and\ndetect a defective condition of the contactor based on the first AC return signal; and\nat least one capacitor coupled between the secondary side of the coupling circuit and the contactor.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, wherein the detection circuit is further configured to:\ndetermine an amplitude of the first AC return signal; and\ndetect the defective condition of the contactor if the amplitude of the first AC return signal exceeds a threshold.\n\n3. The system of claim 1, wherein:\nthe AC test signal source is further configured to provide a second AC test signal when the controller closes the contactor; and\nthe detection circuit is further configured to:\nreceive a second AC return signal corresponding to the second AC test signal, and\ndetect the defective condition of the contactor based on the first and second AC return signals.\n\n4. The system of claim 3, wherein the detection circuit is further configured to:\ndetermine a difference between an amplitude of the first AC return signal and an amplitude of the second AC return signal; and\ndetect the defective condition of the contactor if the determined difference is less than a threshold.\n\n5. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to disconnect the battery string from the DC power bus if the contactor is defective.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first AC test signal has an amplitude ranging from about 10 \u03bcA to 25 mA and a frequency ranging from about 100 kHz to about 10 MHz.\n\n7. The system of claim 1, wherein the coupling circuit is a transformer.\n\n8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a resistor connected in parallel with the contactor.\n\n9. The system of claim 1, wherein the detection circuit is further configured to provide a warning signal if the defective condition of the contactor is detected.\n\n10. A vehicle, comprising:\na battery string;\na direct-current (DC) power bus;\na contactor configured to connect the battery string to the DC power bus;\na controller configured to open or close the contactor;\nan alternating-current (AC) signal source configured to provide an AC test signal when the controller opens the contactor;\nan AC coupling circuit having a primary side and a secondary side, the primary side connected to the AC test signal source, the secondary side connected to the contactor;\na detection circuit configured to:\ndetect an AC return signal corresponding to the AC test signal, and\ndetermine a defective condition of the contactor based on the AC return signal; and\nat least one capacitor coupled between the secondary side of the coupling circuit and the contactor.\n\n11. A system for detecting a condition of a contactor configured to connect a battery string to a direct-current (DC) bus in a vehicle, the system comprising:\na controller configured to open or close the contactor;\nan alternating-current (AC) signal source configured to provide a first AC test signal when the controller opens the contactor;\nan AC coupling circuit having a primary side and a secondary side, the primary side being connected to the AC test signal source, the secondary side connected to the contactor;\na detection circuit configured to:\nreceive a first AC return signal corresponding to the first AC test signal, and\ndetect a defective condition of the contactor based on the first AC return signal; and\nat least one capacitor coupled between the primary side of the coupling circuit and the AC test signal source.\n\n12. The system of claim 11, wherein the detection circuit is further configured to:\ndetermine an amplitude of the first AC return signal; and\ndetect the defective condition of the contactor if the amplitude of the first AC return signal exceeds a threshold.\n\n13. The system of claim 11, wherein:\nthe AC test signal source is further configured to provide a second AC test signal when the controller closes the contactor; and\nthe detection circuit is further configured to:\nreceive a second AC return signal corresponding to the second AC test signal, and\ndetect the defective condition of the contactor based on the first and second AC return signals.\n\n14. The system of claim 13, wherein the detection circuit is further configured to:\ndetermine a difference between an amplitude of the first AC return signal and an amplitude of the second AC return signal; and\ndetect the defective condition of the contactor if the determined difference is less than a threshold.\n\n15. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to disconnect the battery string from the DC power bus if the contactor is defective.\n\n16. The system of claim 11, wherein the first AC test signal has an amplitude ranging from about 10 \u03bcA to 25 mA and a frequency ranging from about 100 kHz to about 10 MHz.\n\n17. The system of claim 11, wherein the coupling circuit is a transformer.\n\n18. The system of claim 11, further comprising a resistor connected in parallel with the contactor.\n\n19. The system of claim 11, wherein the detection circuit is further configured to provide a warning signal if the defective condition of the contactor is detected."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Rubber-Metal Sleeve Bearing\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a rubber-metal sleeve bearing. The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention. Rubber-metal sleeve bearings find application for example in the automobile construction as link bearing in the chassis. The outer sleeve is hereby press-fitted in an opening of the chassis control arm and the inner sleeve has a through opening for receiving a screw as fastener. It would be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved rubber-metal sleeve bearing which obviates prior art shortcomings and enables the implementation of different cardanic rigidities in various spatial directions.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA rubber-metal sleeve bearing includes an outer sleeve having a first outer edge and a second outer edge in opposing relationship to the first outer edge, when viewed in an axial direction. The first and second outer edges each have at least one section provided with radially inwardly recessed outer edge regions. An inner sleeve is disposed in concentric relation to the outer sleeve, and an intermediate sleeve is disposed concentrically between the outer and inner sleeves and connected to the outer sleeve via a first elastomer layer and to the inner sleeve via a second elastomer layer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A rubber-metal sleeve bearing, comprising:\nan outer sleeve having a constant inner diameter and having a first outer edge and a second outer edge in opposing relationship to the first outer edge, when viewed in an axial direction;\nan inner sleeve disposed in concentric relation to the outer sleeve having at least one section in the form of a non-round outer surface; and\nan intermediate sleeve disposed concentrically between the outer and inner sleeves and connected to the outer sleeve via a first elastomer layer and to the inner sleeve via a second elastomer layer, wherein the intermediate sleeve has outer and inner surfaces, each having at least two non-round sections every 90\u00b0, when viewed in a circumferential direction, said non-round sections of the outer and inner surfaces being arranged in offset relation to one another in the circumferential direction, with the non-round sections of the outer surface or the inner surface of the intermediate sleeve being configured to complement the outer edge regions of the outer sleeve, wherein the non-round sections of the inner sleeve and the non-round sections of the inner surface of the intermediate sleeve are oriented adjacent to one another.\n\n2. The rubber-metal sleeve bearing of claim 1, wherein the outer edge regions have a crescent-shaped configuration.\n\n3. The rubber-metal sleeve bearing of claim 1, wherein the non-round sections of the outer and inner surfaces of the intermediate sleeve oppose one another, when viewed in a radial direction.\n\n4. The rubber-metal sleeve bearing of claim 1, wherein at least one of the outer and inner surfaces of the intermediate sleeve is spherical in shape and the non-round sections are each configured as planar surfaces.\n\n5. The rubber-metal sleeve bearing of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the inner sleeve is spherical in shape and the non-round sections are each configured as planar surfaces.\n\n6. The rubber-metal sleeve bearing of claim 1, wherein the intermediate sleeve is produced through an extrusion process."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And Apparatus For Re-Searching Resource Of Discovery Signal For Device To Device Communication In Wireless Communication System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nDevice-to-device (D2D) communication enables a user equipment (UE) to directly communicate with another UE in the vicinity thereof. Compared to existing communication technologies involving base stations (ENB), D2D communication facilitating easy frequency reuse between proximate UEs requires a smaller amount of radio resources and can be more efficient in the usage of radio resources. As D2D communication enables one UE to obtain information about nearby UEs, the obtained information can be used to create new services including advertisement services and social networking services (SNS). Currently, various efforts are underway to support D2D technologies, such as transmission and reception schemes for discovery signals to discover proximate UEs and schemes for synchronization in D2D communication, in the Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) system. FIG. 1 depicts a situation where D2D communication is supported in a cellular system. In FIG. 1 , the ENB 101 manages UEs 103 , 104 and 105 remaining in the coverage of its cell 102 . The UE 103 and the ENB 101 may perform cellular communication via a UE-ENB link 107 ; the UE 104 and the ENB 101 may perform cellular communication via a UE-ENB link 108 ; and the UE 105 and the ENB 101 may perform cellular communication via a UE-ENB link 109 . Here, when D2D communication is possible between the UE 103 and the UE 104 , the UE 103 and the UE 104 may directly exchange information via a D2D link 106 without passing through the ENB 101 . However, if the radio resources used by the D2D link 106 for D2D communication between the UE 103 and the UE 104 are identical to those used by the link 109 for cellular communication between the UE 105 and the ENB 101 , cellular communication and D2D communication cannot be correctly performed owing to interference therebetween. Hence, when D2D communication uses a cellular mobile communication system such as the LTE system, for correct operation of cellular communication and D2D communication, resources used by D2D communication may be separated from resources used by UEs using the existing cellular communication system. As such, it is necessary to provide a method and apparatus that enable efficient usage of transmission resources for D2D communication.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nProvided is a method of sending and receiving signals for a user equipment (UE) in a mobile communication system. The method may include: receiving discovery signal configuration information; scanning a discovery signal resource region determined based on the discovery signal configuration information; transmitting a discovery signal at a resource of the discovery signal resource region selected based on the scanning result; and rescanning the discovery signal resource region on the basis of at least one of the discovery signal configuration information and the scanning result. There are provided a method and apparatus for sending and receiving a discovery signal for D2D communication in a wireless communication system. A UE is allocated discovery signal transmission resources via signaling from the ENB and periodically rescans the discovery signal transmission resources. Thereby, it is possible to send and receive discovery signals in a more efficient manner."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of transmitting and receiving signals for a terminal in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:\nreceiving discovery signal configuration information including period information for rescanning a discovery signal;\nscanning a discovery signal resource region determined based on the discovery signal configuration information;\ntransmitting a discovery signal on a resource of the discovery signal resource region selected based on the scanning result; and\nrescanning the discovery signal resource region based on at least one of the discovery signal configuration information and the scanning result.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a discovery signal comprises scanning the discovery signal resource region except for the selected resource.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving discovery signal configuration information comprises receiving rescan offset information, and\nwherein rescanning the discovery signal resource region comprises rescanning the discovery signal resource region based on the rescan offset information.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein rescanning the discovery signal resource region comprises:\ntransmitting a discovery signal on a resource other than the selected resource in the discovery signal resource region; and\nrescanning the discovery signal resource region except for the resource used for discovery signal transmission.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein rescanning the discovery signal resource region comprises:\nchanging the existing rescan period if the scanning result indicates that the information about a different terminal having transmitted a discovery signal is changed by an amount greater than or equal to a preset threshold; and\nrescanning the discovery signal resource region according to the changed rescan period.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information for a change in the discovery signal resource region, and wherein rescanning the discovery signal resource region comprises changing the existing rescan period if the resource used for discovery signal transmission does not belong to the changed discovery signal resource region, and rescanning the changed discovery signal resource region according to the changed rescan period.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein rescanning the discovery signal resource region comprises rescanning the discovery signal resource region according to a rescan period determined based on the mobility of the terminal.\n\n8. A terminal transmitting and receiving signals in a mobile communication system, comprising:\na transceiver configured to transmit and receive at least one signal; and\na controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to:\nreceive discovery signal configuration information including period information for rescanning a discovery signal\nscan a discovery signal resource region determined based on configuration information,\ntransmit a discovery signal on a resource of the discovery signal resource region selected based on the scanning result, and\nrescan the discovery signal resource region based on at least one of the configuration information and the scanning result.\n\n9. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller scans the discovery signal resource region except for the selected resource.\n\n10. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller receives rescan offset information, and rescans the discovery signal resource region based on the rescan offset information.\n\n11. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller transmits a discovery signal on a resource other than the selected resource in the discovery signal resource region, and rescans the discovery signal resource region except for the resource used for discovery signal transmission.\n\n12. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller changes the existing rescan period if the scanning result indicates that the information about a different terminal having transmitted a discovery signal is changed by an amount greater than or equal to a preset threshold, and rescans the discovery signal resource region according to the changed rescan period.\n\n13. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller receives information for a change in the discovery signal resource region, changes the existing rescan period if the resource used for discovery signal transmission does not belong to the changed discovery signal resource region, and rescans the changed discovery signal resource region according to the changed rescan period.\n\n14. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller rescans the discovery signal resource region according to a rescan period determined based on the mobility of the terminal.\n\n15. A method of transmitting and receiving signals for a base station in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:\ntransmitting, to a terminal, discovery signal configuration information including period information for rescanning a discovery signal; and\nreceiving, from the terminal, a discovery signal on a resource,\nwherein a discovery signal resource region is determined by the terminal based on the discovery signal configuration information and the resource is selected by the terminal from the discovery signal resource region according to the result of scanning the discovery signal resource region,\nwherein the terminal rescans the discovery signal resource region based on at least one of the discovery signal configuration information and the scanning result.\n\n16. A base station transmitting and receiving signals in a mobile communication system, comprising:\na transceiver configured to transmit and receive at least one signal; and\na controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to:\ntransmit, to a terminal, discovery signal configuration information including period information for rescanning a discovery signal, and\nreceive a discovery signal transmitted by the terminal on a resource,\nwherein a discovery signal resource region is determined by the terminal based on the discovery signal configuration information and the resource is selected by the terminal from the discovery signal resource region according to the result of scanning the discovery signal resource region,\nwherein the terminal rescans the discovery signal resource region based on at least one of the discovery signal configuration information and the scanning result."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Low Dynamic Resistance Low Capacitance Diodes\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nDiodes with low dynamic resistance and low capacitance are useful in electronic circuits, for example in electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuits. Low capacitance is attained by a lightly doped layer of a forward-biased diode in series with a reverse-biased diode; the reverse-biased diode has a heavily doped buried layer over the substrate which sets the breakdown voltage. It is desirable to minimize the dynamic resistance and capacitance of the diode, while providing a desired breakdown voltage. In some applications, the desired breakdown voltage may be 6 volts to 8 volts; in other applications, the desired breakdown voltage may be significantly higher, for example in the range of 20 volts to 40 volts. The dynamic resistance is limited by the conductivity of the substrate; increasing the dopant density in the substrate to improve the dynamic resistance disadvantageously reduces the breakdown voltage. Simultaneously attaining desired values of dynamic resistance and breakdown voltage has been problematic.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA low dynamic resistance, low capacitance diode of a semiconductor device includes a heavily-doped n-type substrate. A lightly-doped n-type layer 1 micron to 5 microns thick is disposed on the n-type substrate. A lightly-doped p-type layer 3 microns to 8 microns thick is disposed on the n-type layer. The low dynamic resistance, low capacitance diode, of the semiconductor device includes a p-type buried layer, with a peak dopant density above 1\u00d71017 cm\u22123, extending from the p-type layer through the n-type layer to the n-type substrate. The low dynamic resistance, low capacitance diode also includes an n-type region disposed in the p-type layer, extending to a top surface of the p-type layer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor device, comprising:\nan n-type substrate;\nan n-type layer above the n-type substrate;\na p-type layer above the n-type layer;\na diode, comprising;\na p-type buried layer interfacing with the p-type layer and extending through the n-type layer to the n-type substrate; and\nan n-type region in the p-type layer and extending to a top surface of the p-type layer above the p-type buried layer; and\nan isolation structure laterally surrounding the diode, the isolation structure extending from the top surface of the p-type layer to the n-type substrate below the p-type buried layer.\n\n2. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein:\nan average dopant density of the n-type substrate is 5\u00d710 19 cm \u22123 to 7\u00d710 19 cm \u22123;\na thickness of the n-type layer is 1.5 microns to 2.5 microns; and\na peak dopant density of the p-type buried layer is 5\u00d710 18 cm \u22123 to 1\u00d710 19 cm \u22123.\n\n3. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the p-type buried layer having a peak dopant density greater than 1\u00d710 17 cm \u22123.\n\n4. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein:\nan average dopant density of the n-type substrate is 1\u00d710 19 cm \u22123 to 5\u00d710 19 cm \u22123;\na thickness of the n-type layer is 2.5 microns to 3.0 microns; and\na peak dopant density of the p-type buried layer is 5\u00d710 17 cm \u22123 to 2\u00d710 18 cm \u22123.\n\n5. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the p-type layer has a thickness ranging from 3 microns to 8 microns, and an average dopant density less than 1\u00d710 15 cm \u22123.\n\n6. The semiconductor device of claim 1, the n-type region comprising a heavier-doped inner portion having an average doping density of 1\u00d710 17 cm \u22123 to 3\u00d710 19 cm \u22123, and a lighter-doped outer portion at least 100 nanometers thick under and around the heavier-doped inner portion, the lighter-doped outer portion having an average doping density of 1\u00d710 16 cm \u22123 to 1\u00d710 17 cm \u22123.\n\n7. The semiconductor device of claim 1, comprising:\na parallel diode, comprising a p-type region disposed in the p-type layer and extending to the top surface of the p-type layer and vertically separated by at least a micron from the n-type layer, the p-type region having an average dopant density of at least 1\u00d710 17 cm \u22123, the parallel diode being free of the p-type buried layer;\na first terminal directly electrically coupled to the n-type region and the p-type region; and\na second terminal directly electrically coupled to the n-type substrate, wherein the isolation structure laterally separates the diode from the parallel diode.\n\n8. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein:\nan average dopant density of the n-type layer is less than 1\u00d710 16 cm \u22123;\nan average dopant density of the p-type layer is less than 1\u00d710 15 cm \u22123; and\na peak dopant density of the p-type buried layer is greater than 1\u00d710 17 cm \u22123."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Tray Table And Method Therefor\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to seatback tray tables and in particular to a tray table with a rotatable panel for electronic devices. 2. Related Art Airplane tray tables have been largely unchanged for decades. In general, such tray tables move between a stowed upright position and a service position where a tray table is generally horizontal so that items may be supported by the tray table. In the service position, the tray table may be used to support food, drink, and other items for a passenger. Attempts have been made to update traditional tray tables. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0126739 discloses a portable collapsible tray table apparatus configured to provide an elevated platform upon which a user's electronic device may be supported. For instance, the tray table apparatus may support the user's laptop at an elevated position. The elevated platform may also include a removable section that can be removed to reveal an electronic device holder for holding a user's electronic device. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,500,716 discloses a multi-function tray table having a slidable portion and an internal stationary portion. The slidable portion extends towards a passenger during use while the stationary portion does not. The stationary portion and the sliding portion are required parts of an elaborate mechanism configured to ensure that an entertainment device of the tray table is viewable when the tray table is stowed. From the discussion that follows, it will become apparent that the present invention addresses the deficiencies associated with the prior art while providing numerous additional advantages and benefits not contemplated or possible with prior art constructions.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA tray table that facilitates consumption of entertainment and various other media via a portable electronic device is disclosed herein. The tray table includes a panel that secures the portable electronic device for hands free operation. One or more channels at the panel receive at least a portion of the portable electronic device. The panel is capable of rotating between an open and closed position, while the tray table itself may rotate between a stowed and service position."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for holding a portable electronic device at a tray table comprising:\nproviding a panel having a first side, a second side and one or more channels at the first side,\nthe one or more channels dimensioned to receive at least a portion of the portable electronic device;\nproviding one or more rotatable mounts;\nattaching a first portion of the one or more rotatable mounts to the panel; and\naffixing a second portion of the one or more rotatable mounts to a body of the tray table, wherein the second portion is fixed in position relative to the body while the first portion is rotatable relative to the body.\n\n2. A method for holding a portable electronic device at a passenger seat comprising:\nidentifying a tray table;\nproviding a panel having one or more channels attached thereto, the one or more channels dimensioned to receive at least a portion of the portable electronic device;\nproviding one or more rotatable mounts;\nattaching a first portion of the one or more rotatable mounts to the panel; and\naffixing a second portion of the one or more rotatable mounts to a body of the tray table, wherein the second portion is fixed in position relative to the body while the first portion is rotatable relative to the body.\n\n3. A tray table for securing a portable electronic device at a passenger seat comprising:\na planar body;\na panel rotatably attached to the planar body by one or more rotatable mounts;\none or more channels at at least one side of the panel, the one or more channels dimensioned to receive at least a portion of the portable electronic device; and\none or more mounting points at which the planar body is attached to the passenger seat."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Light Emitting Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field Embodiments relate to a light emitting device. 2. Background Light emitting devices, such as light emitting diodes or laser diodes using group III-V or II-VI compound semiconductor materials, generate light of various colors, such as red, green, blue, and ultraviolet light, due to development of thin film growth techniques and device materials, and generate white light having high efficiency using fluorescent materials or through color mixing. Further, light emitting devices exhibit low power consumption, semipermanent lifespan, fast response time, safety, and eco-friendliness, as compared to conventional light sources, such as fluorescent lamps and incandescent lamps. Therefore, light emitting devices are increasingly applied to transmission modules of optical communication units, light emitting diode backlights substituting for cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) constituting backlights of liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, lighting apparatuses using white light emitting diodes substituting for fluorescent lamps or incandescent lamps, head lights for vehicles, and traffic lights. In case of a horizontal type light emitting device, a light emitting structure including an n-GaN layer, an active layer, and a p-GaN layer is generally stacked on a sapphire substrate. Due to characteristics of the horizontal type light emitting device, an n-electrode and a p-electrode are horizontally formed and may cause high current spreading resistance. Such a problem occurs even in a light emitting device in which plural light emitting cells are connected in series or in parallel. Therefore, in order to enhance current spreading, the positions of the n-electrode and the p-electrode need to be optimized. The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA light emitting device includes a substrate, a plurality of light emitting cells separated from each other and disposed on the substrate, and a plurality of conductive interconnection layers electrically connecting two neighboring light emitting cells. Each light emitting cell includes a light emitting structure including a first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, a first electrode, a second electrode, and an etching area. The light emitting structure further includes a first side surface and a second side surface, and if a width between the first side surface and the second side surface is defined as W, the second electrode is disposed in an area between a position separated from the first side surface by 1 5 \ue89e W and a position separated from the first side surface of the light emitting structure by 1 2 \ue89e W ."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A light emitting device comprising:\na substrate;\na plurality of light emitting cells separated from each other and provided on the substrate, the plurality of light emitting cells including a first light emitting cell and a second light emitting cell, said second light emitting cell neighboring the first light emitting cell;\na plurality of conductive interconnection layers, wherein a first one of the plurality of conductive interconnection layers electrically contacts the two neighboring light emitting cells,\nwherein each of the plurality of light emitting cells includes a light emitting structure including a first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, a first electrode on the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, a second electrode on the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, and an etching area, in which the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer is exposed, formed by partially etching the light emitting structure, and\nan insulating layer along a first side surface of the light emitting structure of the first light emitting cell and along a second side surface of the light emitting structure of the second light emitting cell,\nwherein the second electrode includes a first part disposed in a first direction parallel with the first side surface and a second part disposed in a second direction differing from the first direction, wherein a length of the first part of the second electrode is greater than a length of the second part of the second electrode.\n\n2. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the first one of the plurality of connective interconnect layers extends from the second electrode and along the first side surface of the light emitting structure of the first light emitting cell while on the insulating layer, and the first one of the plurality of conductive interconnect layers extends adjacent to the substrate and then along the second side surface of the light emitting structure of the second light emitting cell while on the insulating layer.\n\n3. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting structure of the first light emitting cell includes the first side surface adjacent to the second electrode and parallel with the second electrode, and the light emitting structure of the second light emitting cell includes the second side surface opposite to the first side surface of the first light emitting cell and contacting the etching area.\n\n4. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein when a width between the first side surface and the second side surface is defined as W from a top view, the second electrode is provided in an area between a position separated from the first side surface of the light emitting structure by \u2155 W and a position separated from the first side surface of the light emitting structure by \u00bd W.\n\n5. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the first part of the second electrode is disposed in the first direction parallel with the first side surface, and the first one of the plurality of conductive interconnection layers is provided in the first direction.\n\n6. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the first part of the second electrode is provided in the first direction parallel with the first side surface, and at least one of the plurality of conductive interconnection layers is disposed in a second direction differing from the first direction.\n\n7. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein one end of the first one of the plurality of conductive interconnection layers overlaps with the second part of the second electrode.\n\n8. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the first one of the plurality of conductive interconnection layers connects the first electrode of one of the two neighboring light emitting cells and the second electrode of the other one of the two neighboring light emitting cells.\n\n9. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the insulating layer electrically isolates the two neighboring light emitting cells.\n\n10. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the second part of the second electrode deviates from the area between the position separated from the first side surface of the light emitting structure by \u2155 W and the position separated from the first side surface of the light emitting structure by \u00bd W.\n\n11. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the second side surface is disposed at a predetermined angle from the etching area.\n\n12. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the width of a portion of the conductive interconnection layer on the light emitting cell is less than the width of a portion of the conductive interconnection layer disposed between the two neighboring light emitting cells.\n\n13. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode of the second light emitting cell is provided at an edge of the second light emitting cell.\n\n14. The light emitting device according to claim 13, wherein the second electrode of the first light emitting cell adjacent to the second light emitting cell is provided on a line differing from the line on which the first electrode of the second light emitting cell is disposed.\n\n15. The light emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the first electrode of the second light emitting cell contacting the first one of the conductive interconnection layers disposed in the first direction includes a bent part.\n\n16. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of conductive interconnection layers are provided in a first direction and a second direction different to the first direction.\n\n17. A light emitting device comprising:\na substrate;\na plurality of light emitting cells separated from each other and provided on the substrate, the plurality of light emitting cells including a first light emitting cell and a second light emitting cell, said second light emitting cell neighboring the first light emitting cell;\na plurality of conductive interconnection layers, wherein a first one of the plurality of conductive interconnection layers electrically contacts the two neighboring light emitting cells,\nwherein each of the plurality of light emitting cells includes a light emitting structure including a first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, a first electrode on the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, a second electrode on the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, and an etching area, in which the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer is exposed, formed by partially etching the light emitting structure, and\nan insulating layer along a first side surface of the light emitting structure of the first light emitting cell and along a second side surface of the light emitting structure of the second light emitting cell,\nwherein the second electrode includes a first part in a first direction parallel with the first side surface and a second part in a second direction differing from the first direction, and wherein a length of the first part of the second electrode is greater than a length of the second part of the second electrode, and\nwherein the light emitting structure of the first light emitting cell includes the first side surface adjacent to the second electrode and parallel with the second electrode, and the light emitting structure of the second light emitting cell includes the second side surface opposite to the first side surface and contacting the etching area, and when a width between the first side surface and the second side surface is defined as W from a top view.\n\n18. A light emitting device comprising:\na substrate;\na plurality of light emitting cells disposed on the substrate, the plurality of light emitting cells including a first light emitting cell and a second light emitting cell;\na plurality of conductive interconnection layers, wherein a first one of the plurality of conductive interconnection layers electrically contacts two neighboring light emitting cells,\nwherein each of the plurality of light emitting cells includes a light emitting structure including a first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, an active layer and a second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, a first electrode on the first conductivity-type semiconductor layer, and a second electrode on the second conductivity-type semiconductor layer, and\nan insulating layer along a first side surface of the light emitting structure of the first light emitting cell and along a second side surface of the light emitting structure of the second light emitting cell,\nwherein when a width between the first side surface and the second side surface is defined as W from a top view, the first electrode of the second light emitting cell is provided at an edge of the second light emitting cell and the second electrode of the first light emitting cell adjacent to the second light emitting cell is provided on a line differing from a line on which the first electrode of the second light emitting cell is provided,\nwherein the second electrode includes a first part disposed in a first direction parallel with the first side surface and a second part disposed in a second direction differing from the first direction, and\nwherein a length of the first part of the second electrode is greater than a length of the second part of the second electrode.\n\n19. The light emitting device according to claim 18, wherein the light emitting structure of the first light emitting cell includes the first side surface adjacent to the second electrode and parallel with the second electrode, and the light emitting structure of the second light emitting cell includes the second side surface opposite to the first side surface.\n\n20. The light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the second direction is parallel with the second surface."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Apparatus For Mounting An Object To A Structure In A Vibration-Free Manner\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIt is known for various currently produced motor vehicles, particularly minibuses and trucks, that vibrations of the mirror glass of an exterior rear view mirror of these motor vehicles may occur in a frequency range of 10 to 80 Hz and at a considerable amplitude which has to be considered as being critical. It is further known that mirror glasses of exterior rear view mirrors of motorbikes intensively vibrate in specific motor rotation speed ranges to such an extent that the exterior rear view mirrors lose their function and the driver of the motorbike has to turn around for viewing backwards. Besides approaches to stiffen the support of the mirror glass of the respective exterior rear view mirror at the body of the motor vehicle such that relative vibrations of the mirror glass with regard to the body do no longer occur, it is also known to attenuate occurring vibrations of the mirror glass of the exterior rear view mirror by means of a friction damper (see for example DE 101 43 976 B4 or DE 198 03 459 A1) or by means of a vibration absorber (see for example DE 42 00 744 C2). Whereas the efficiency of friction dampers strongly depends on the weather, particularly on atmospheric moisture and temperature, friction dampers often do not achieve a sufficient lifetime, and friction dampers also transfer disturbing forces from the body onto the mirror glass of the exterior rear view mirror, vibration absorbers are only effective in a small range of frequencies around their absorber eigenfrequency. Active measures for suppressing vibrations are also known. They use activatable functional materials to apply forces to a mounted object to keep the object at rest by means of adjusting a sum total of the forces acting on the object to zero. Such an active vibration suppression does also not have a very large range of efficiency. Here, however, rather a limitation with regard to the coverable amplitudes is given than with regard to the coverable frequencies. This particularly applies, if, due to interposed adjusting and retracting mechanism for example, a mirror glass of an exterior rear view mirror can not be essentially rigidly mounted to the body of a motor vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,313 discloses flexure bearings for reciprocating components of cryo coolers. These bearings were first applied with spiral-cut diaphragms. According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,313 A, such flexure bearings for reciprocating machines comprising a translating cut diaphragm with circumferential tangent cantilever flexure blades secured between rim and hub spaces are improved by symmetrical opposing end angles and ends equally displaced from radial lines extending from the center of the diaphragm. DE 197 23 515 A1 comprises an elastic element with leaf springs for a connection of two parts which is elastic in one direction of motion. A plurality of such elastic elements which are arranged at a distance in this direction of motion can be used for mounting an object to a structure such that the object is softly supported at the structure in this direction of motion whereas it is rigidly guided by the structure in all other directions. There still is a need of an apparatus for mounting an object to a structure in a vibration-free manner, which has general advantages, like for example in mounting an object subjected to aerodynamic loads to the body of a motor vehicle.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe invention relates to an apparatus for mounting an object to a structure. The apparatus includes an elastic arrangement including at least two elastic partial arrangements. The two elastic partial arrangements are arranged at a distance in the direction of a main axis, and the two elastic partial arrangements are soft in the direction of the main axis and stiff in all directions orthogonal to the main axis. Each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises an inner connection area close to the main axis and an outer connection area farther away from the main axis, and each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises at least two leaf springs which extend between the inner connection area and the outer connection area and which are spirally wound into each other within a common leaf plane."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An apparatus for mounting an object to a structure, the apparatus comprising:\nan elastic arrangement including at least two elastic partial arrangements,\nthe two elastic partial arrangements being arranged at a distance in the direction of a main axis,\nthe two elastic partial arrangements being soft in the direction of the main axis and stiff in all directions orthogonal to the main axis,\nwherein each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises an inner connection area close to the main axis and an outer connection area farther away from the main axis, and\nwherein each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises at least two leaf springs which extend between the inner connection area and the outer connection area and which are spirally wound into each other within a common leaf plane;\nwherein an absorber mass of a vibration absorber is mounted to the object via a further elastic arrangement comprising at least two further elastic partial arrangements arranged at a distance in the direction of the main axis; and\nwherein the leaf springs of each one of the two elastic partial arrangements and one of the two further elastic partial arrangements are spirally wound into each other within the respective common leaf plane, wherein the one of the two elastic partial arrangements and the one of the two further elastic partial arrangements have a common connector for the object.\n\n2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the object includes a mass repeatedly accelerated along the main axis.\n\n3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the leaf springs has a width which is constant between the outer connection area and the inner connection area.\n\n4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the leaf springs extending between the inner connection area and the outer connection area spans an angle in a range from 180\u00b0 to 270\u00b0 in circumferential direction about the main axis.\n\n5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the leaf springs of each of the two elastic partial arrangements are rotational symmetric with regard to the main axis.\n\n6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the leaf springs of each of the two elastic partial arrangements are arranged at a maximum distance in circumferential direction about the main axis.\n\n7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the leaf springs of each of the two elastic partial arrangements are part of a single one-piece leaf spring unit.\n\n8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the leaf springs are made of at least one of a metallic material and a fiber compound material.\n\n9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the distance between the at least two elastic partial arrangements in the direction of the main axis is at least twice the distance of the outer connection area to the inner connection area of each of the two elastic partial arrangements in radial direction to the main axis.\n\n10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inner connection area of each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises a common connector for all leaf springs, and wherein the outer connection area of each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises a separate connection point for each leaf spring.\n\n11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the leaf springs of the one of the two elastic partial arrangements and the one of the two further elastic partial arrangements are parts of a single one-piece leaf spring unit.\n\n12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a damping device is provided which dampens relative movements between the inner connection area and the outer connection area of at least one of the two elastic partial arrangements.\n\n13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the damping device provides for at least one of a magnetic damping, an internal damping of the leaf springs and a damping by a damping material arranged on at least one of the leaf springs of the at least one of the two elastic partial arrangements.\n\n14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a functional material is applied to at least one of the leaf springs of at least one of the two elastic partial arrangements, and wherein the at least one of the leaf springs is deformable by activating the functional material applied thereto.\n\n15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the leaf springs have a width which increases from the outer connection area towards the inner connection area.\n\n16. An apparatus for mounting an object to a structure, the apparatus comprising\nan elastic arrangement including at least two first elastic partial arrangements,\nthe two first elastic partial arrangements being arranged at a distance in the direction of a main axis,\nthe two first elastic partial arrangements being soft in the direction of the main axis and stiff in all directions orthogonal to the main axis,\nwherein each of the two first elastic partial arrangement comprises an inner connection area close to the main axis and an outer connection area farther away from the main axis, and\nwherein each of the two first elastic partial arrangement comprises at least two leaf springs which extend between the inner connection area and the outer connection area and which are spirally wound into each other within a common leaf plane, wherein each of the leaf springs extending between the inner connection area and the outer connection area spans an angle in a range from 180\u00b0 to 270\u00b0 in circumferential direction about the main axis,\nwherein the distance between the at least two first elastic partial arrangement in the direction of the main axis is at least twice the distance of the outer connection area to the inner connection area of each of the two first elastic partial arrangements in radial direction to the main axis,\nwherein the object is mounted to the inner connection areas of the two first elastic partial arrangements, and wherein an absorber mass of a vibration absorber is mounted to the object via a further elastic arrangement comprising at least two second elastic partial arrangement arranged at a distance in the direction of the main axis, wherein the leaf springs of each one of the first elastic partial arrangements and one of the second elastic partial arrangements are spirally wound into each other within the respective common leaf plane, wherein the one of the first elastic partial arrangements and the one of the second elastic partial arrangement have a common connector for the object, wherein the leaf springs of the one of the first elastic partial arrangements and the one of the second elastic partial arrangements are parts of a single one-piece leaf spring unit.\n\n17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein a damping device is provided which dampens relative movements between the inner connection area and the outer connection area of at least one of the two elastic partial arrangements, wherein the damping device provides for at least one of a magnetic damping, an internal damping of the leaf springs and a damping by a damping material arranged on at least one of the leaf springs of the at least one of the two elastic partial arrangements.\n\n18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein a functional material is applied to at least one of the leaf springs of at least one of the two elastic partial arrangements, and wherein the at least one of the leaf springs is deformable by activating the functional material applied thereto.\n\n19. An apparatus for mounting an object to a structure, the apparatus comprising:\nan elastic arrangement including at least two elastic partial arrangements,\nthe two elastic partial arrangements being arranged at a distance in the direction of a main axis,\nthe two elastic partial arrangements being soft in the direction of the main axis and stiff in all directions orthogonal to the main axis,\nwherein each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises an inner connection area close to the main axis and an outer connection area farther away from the main axis, and\nwherein each of the two elastic partial arrangements comprises at least two leaf springs which extend between the inner connection area and the outer connection area and which are spirally wound into each other within a common leaf plane; and\nwherein a functional material is applied to at least one of the leaf springs of at least one of the two elastic partial arrangements, and wherein the at least one of the leaf springs is deformable by activating the functional material applied thereto."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Plug-In Bulb Coupling Structure\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAt present, a drive circuit inside a lamp cap of an existing commercially available LED string lamp product is generally directly connected to a power line by welding, resulting in complex assembly and production, low reliability and low production efficiency. Furthermore, the waterproof performance may be realized by additionally providing components such as a waterproof ring; and the reliability of products is not high due to a large number of parts.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to a plug-in bulb coupling structure, comprising a lamp cap provided on a bulb and a plug-in lamp holder provided on a power line, wherein a plug-in end of the plug-in lamp holder is provided with plug-in holes and raised barbs, and conductive tubes connected to a lead are provided in the plug-in holes; the plug-in end of the plug-in lamp cap is provided with conductive bars and barb holes, and the conductive bars are connected to a drive circuit board in the plug-in lamp cap. With the coupling structure of the present invention, the drive circuit board and the SR of the power line can be assembled and connected to each other quickly. The operation is easy, convenient and quick and does not require any tools."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A plug-in bulb coupling structure, comprising a plug-in lamp cap ( 2 ) provided on a bulb ( 1 ) and a plug-in lamp holder ( 4 ) provided on a power line ( 3 ); wherein a plug-in end of the plug-in lamp holder ( 4 ) is provided with plug-in holes ( 43 ) and raised barbs ( 44 ), and conductive tubes ( 45 ) connected to a lead are provided in the plug-in holes ( 43 ); a plug-in end of the plug-in lamp cap ( 2 ) is provided with conductive bars ( 21 ) and barb slots ( 22 ), and the conductive bars ( 21 ) are connected to a drive circuit board ( 23 ) in the plug-in lamp cap ( 2 ); and during assembly, the conductive bars ( 21 ) are inserted into the plug-in holes ( 43 ) one-to-one and connected to the conductive tubes ( 45 ), and meanwhile, the raised barbs ( 44 ) are inserted into the barb slots ( 22 ) and fasten an inner wall of the barb slots ( 22 );\nwherein the plug-in lamp holder ( 4 ) comprises an elastic soft holder body ( 41 ) and an inner rigid frame ( 42 ), the inner rigid frame ( 42 ) being mounted in a plug-in end of the soft holder body ( 41 ) and having the plug-in holes ( 43 ) and the raised barbs ( 44 ) provided thereon; and both ends of the conductive tubes ( 45 ) are arranged into the soft holder body ( 41 ) and into the plug-in holes ( 43 ) of the inner rigid frame ( 42 ), respectively.\n\n2. The plug-in bulb coupling structure according to claim 1, wherein the plug-in holes ( 43 ) and the raised barbs ( 44 ) are one-stage injection molded with the inner rigid frame ( 42 ), and the inner rigid frame ( 42 ) and the conductive tubes ( 45 ) are two-stage injection molded with the soft holder body ( 41 ).\n\n3. The plug-in bulb coupling structure according to claim 1, wherein a raised annular sealing skirt ( 46 ) is provided in the periphery of the plug-in end of the soft holder body ( 41 ), and during assembly, the annular sealing skirt ( 46 ) is connected to the plug-in lamp cap ( 2 ) in a clingy manner.\n\n4. The plug-in bulb coupling structure according to claim 3, wherein the annular sealing skirt ( 46 ) is one-stage injection molded with the soft holder body ( 41 ).\n\n5. The plug-in bulb coupling structure according to claim 1, wherein the soft holder body ( 41 ) and the annular sealing skirt ( 46 ) are injection molded from PVC soft plastic, and the inner rigid frame ( 42 ) and the raised barbs ( 44 ) are injection molded from PVC rigid plastic.\n\n6. The plug-in bulb coupling structure according to claim 1, wherein the conductive tubes ( 45 ) are conductive copper tubes."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Photosensitive Module And Method For Forming The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a photosensitive module and methods for forming the same, and in particular to a photosensitive module with a sensing device formed by a wafer-level packaging process. 2. Description of the Related Art A camera module is usually fabricated by chip on board (COB) technology. For example, a die is directly attached onto a printed circuit board (PCB) by adhesive glue. The die is electrically connected to the PCB by wire bonding processes. Next, a lens and a holder are mounted on the PCB. However, it is necessary to press the die in order for it to be successfully attached to the PCB, using COB technology. As a result, it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the die. Otherwise, physical damage may be incurred. Furthermore, performing wire bonding processes to construct an electrically conductive path is necessary for the COB technology. The aforementioned fabrication process needs to be carried out in a clean environment, such as a clean room, to ensure the quality and yield of the camera module. Accordingly, the fabrication cost is high. Thus, there exists a need to develop a novel photosensitive module and methods for forming the same, capable of mitigating or eliminating the aforementioned problems.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for forming a photosensitive module is provided. The method includes providing a sensing device. The sensing device includes a conducting pad located on a substrate. A first opening penetrates the substrate and exposes the conducting pad. A redistribution layer is in the first opening to electrically connect to the conducting pad. A cover plate is located on the substrate and covers the conducting pad. The method also includes removing the cover plate of the sensing device. The method further includes bonding the sensing device to a circuit board after the removal of the cover plate. The redistribution layer in the first opening is exposed and faces the circuit board. In addition, the method includes mounting an optical component corresponding to the sensing device on the circuit board. A photosensitive module formed by the method is also provided."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for forming a photosensitive module, comprising:\nproviding a sensing device, wherein the sensing device comprises:\na substrate;\na conducting pad on the substrate;\na first opening penetrating the substrate and exposing the conducting pad;\na second opening extending along a sidewall of the substrate and penetrating the substrate;\na redistribution layer in the first opening and electrically connected to the conducting pad; and\na cover plate on the substrate and covering the conducting pad;\nremoving the cover plate of the sensing device;\nbonding the sensing device to a circuit board after the removal of the cover plate, wherein the redistribution layer in the first opening is exposed and faces the circuit board; and\nmounting an optical component on the circuit board, wherein the optical component corresponds to the sensing device.\n\n2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing device further comprises a spacer layer between the cover plate and the substrate and covering the conducting pad, and wherein the spacer layer is exposed after the removal of the cover plate.\n\n3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing device further comprises a spacer layer between the cover plate and the substrate and covering the conducting pad, and wherein the method further comprises removing the spacer layer and exposing the conducting pad before bonding the sensing device to the circuit board.\n\n4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing device is bonded to the circuit board through a conducting structure, and the conducting structure is electrically connected to the redistribution layer.\n\n5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the conducting structure is formed on the circuit board before bonding the sensing device to the circuit board.\n\n6. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the conducting structure is adhesive, and the method further comprises performing a reflow process before bonding the sensing device to the circuit board.\n\n7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a method for forming the sensing device comprises dicing the cover plate along the second opening.\n\n8. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first opening is connected to the second opening.\n\n9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical component comprises a space, and the first opening and/or the second opening are connected to the space.\n\n10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the redistribution layer has an end located within the first opening.\n\n11. A photosensitive module, comprising:\na sensing device bonded onto a circuit board, wherein the sensing device comprises:\na substrate;\na conducting pad on the substrate;\na first opening penetrating the substrate and exposing the conducting pad;\na second opening extending along a sidewall of the substrate and penetrating the substrate; and\na redistribution layer in the first opening and electrically connected to the conducting pad, wherein the redistribution layer in the first opening is exposed and faces the circuit board; and\nan optical component corresponding to the sensing device and mounted on the circuit board.\n\n12. The photosensitive module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensing device further comprises a spacer layer, and the spacer layer is between the optical component and the substrate and covers the conducting pad.\n\n13. The photosensitive module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the conducting pad of the sensing device is exposed and faces the optical component.\n\n14. The photosensitive module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sensing device is bonded to the circuit board through a conducting structure, and the conducting structure is electrically connected to the redistribution layer.\n\n15. The photosensitive module as claimed in claim 14, wherein the conducting structure is adhesive.\n\n16. The photosensitive module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first opening is connected to the second opening.\n\n17. The photosensitive module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the optical component comprises a space, and the first opening and/or the second opening are connected to the space.\n\n18. The photosensitive module as claimed in claim 11, wherein the redistribution layer has an end located within the first opening."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Exterior Mirror Assembly With Actuator\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIt is known to provide a vehicular exterior rearview mirror assembly that has a mirror head having a mirror casing that is adjustable relative to a mirror mounting portion at the side of the vehicle to which the mirror assembly is mounted. The mirror assembly may comprise a powerfold assembly where the mirror head is adjusted or pivoted relative to the vehicle via an actuator disposed at the mirror mounting portion and/or mirror head. Examples of adjustable or powerfold rearview mirror assemblies and actuators are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,314,285; 7,267,449; 7,159,992; 7,093,946; 6,312,135; 6,243,218 and 5,703,731, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. As the size and/or electrical content of exterior rearview mirror assemblies is increased (such as for pickup trucks and the like), the weight of the mirror head portion likewise is increased, and a larger actuator motor or multiple gears or gear elements are required to provide sufficient torque output to pivot the mirror head via an actuator motor, with such multiple gears adding to the cost and complexity of the actuator assemblies.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle includes a mounting portion mountable at a side of a vehicle and a mirror head portion pivotally adjustable relative to the mounting portion. An actuator is operable to impart pivotal movement of the mirror head portion relative to the mounting portion to adjust the mirror head portion relative to the side of the vehicle at which the mounting portion is mounted. The actuator includes a first motor and a second motor operable in tandem to cooperatively drive a common drive gear of a gear system to adjust the mirror head portion relative to the mounting portion. Operation of the first and second motors is synchronized. Operation of the first motor drives a first gear that rotatably drives the common drive gear and operation of the second motor drives a second gear that rotatably drives the common drive gear."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:\na mounting portion mountable at a side of a vehicle;\na mirror head portion pivotally adjustable relative to said mounting portion;\na reflective element at said mirror head portion;\nan actuator operable to impart pivotal movement of said mirror head portion relative to said mounting portion to adjust said mirror head portion relative to the side of a vehicle at which said mounting portion is mounted;\nwherein said actuator comprises at least two motors;\nwherein said at least two motors comprises a first motor and a second motor;\nwherein said first motor and said second motor are operable in tandem to cooperatively drive a common drive gear of a gear system to adjust said mirror head portion relative to said mounting portion;\nwherein operation of said first and second motors is synchronized;\nwherein operation of said first motor drives a first gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear; and\nwherein operation of said second motor drives a second gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear.\n\n2. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said first and second gears comprise worm gears.\n\n3. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 2, wherein said first and second gears comprise worm gears driven by respective shafts of said first and second motors.\n\n4. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said first and second gears engage teeth of said common drive gear at opposite sides of said common drive gear.\n\n5. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said common drive gear is interconnected with an attaching portion of said actuator that attaches at one of said mirror head portion and said mounting portion, and wherein rotation of said common drive gear adjusts said mirror head portion relative to said mounting portion.\n\n6. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said first gear engages a first gear element that rotatably drives said common drive gear and wherein said second gear rotatably drives a second gear element that engages said common drive gear.\n\n7. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 6, wherein said first gear element is interconnected with a first worm gear that rotates with said first gear element, and wherein said first worm gear engages said common drive gear, and wherein said second gear element is interconnected with a second worm gear that rotates with said second gear element, and wherein said second worm gear engages said common drive gear.\n\n8. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 7, wherein said first and second worm gears engage said common drive gear at diametrically opposite portions of said common drive gear.\n\n9. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein, during operation of said actuator, a shutoff circuit determines rotational movement of the shaft of said first motor and the shaft of said second motor and, responsive to a determination of rotational movement being below a threshold speed, said shutoff circuit deactivates said first and second motors.\n\n10. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein, responsive to operation of said first motor driving said first gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear and to operation of said second motor driving said second gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear, said mirror head portion pivots relative to said mounting portion to adjust said mirror head between (i) a rearward viewing position or orientation where said reflective element at said mirror head is positioned so as to provide a rearward field of view to a driver of the vehicle and (ii) a folded or stowed position where said mirror head is oriented generally along the side of the vehicle.\n\n11. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said first motor comprises a first drive shaft defining a first axis and wherein said second motor comprises a second drive shaft defining a second axis, and wherein said first axis is oriented generally parallel to said second axis when said first motor is driving said first gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear and said second motor is driving said second gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear.\n\n12. An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:\na mounting portion mountable at a side of a vehicle;\na mirror head portion pivotally adjustable relative to said mounting portion;\na reflective element at said mirror head portion;\nan actuator operable to impart pivotal movement of said mirror head portion relative to said mounting portion to adjust said mirror head portion relative to the side of a vehicle at which said mounting portion is mounted;\nwherein said actuator comprises at least two motors;\nwherein said at least two motors comprises a first motor and a second motor;\nwherein said first motor and said second motor are operable in tandem to cooperatively drive a common drive gear of a gear system to adjust said mirror head portion relative to said mounting portion;\nwherein operation of said first and second motors is synchronized;\nwherein operation of said first motor drives a first gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear;\nwherein operation of said second motor drives a second gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear;\nwherein said first and second gears engage teeth of said common drive gear at opposite sides of said common drive gear; and\nwherein, responsive to operation of said first motor driving said first gear that engages said common drive gear and to operation of said second motor driving said second gear that engages said common drive gear, said mirror head portion pivots relative to said mounting portion to adjust said mirror head between (i) a rearward viewing position or orientation where said reflective element at said mirror head is positioned so as to provide a rearward field of view to a driver of the vehicle and (ii) a folded or stowed position where said mirror head is oriented generally along the side of the vehicle.\n\n13. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 12, wherein said first and second gears engage said common drive gear at diametrically opposite portions of said common drive gear.\n\n14. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 13, wherein said first motor comprises a first drive shaft defining a first axis and wherein said second motor comprises a second drive shaft defining a second axis, and wherein said first axis is oriented generally parallel to said second axis when said first motor is driving said first gear that engages said common drive gear and said second motor is driving said second gear that engages said common drive gear.\n\n15. An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:\na mounting portion mountable at a side of a vehicle;\na mirror head portion pivotally adjustable relative to said mounting portion;\na reflective element at said mirror head portion;\nan actuator operable to impart pivotal movement of said mirror head portion relative to said mounting portion to adjust said mirror head portion relative to the side of a vehicle at which said mounting portion is mounted;\nwherein said actuator comprises at least two motors;\nwherein said at least two motors comprises a first motor and a second motor;\nwherein said first motor and said second motor are operable in tandem to cooperatively drive a common drive gear of a gear system to adjust said mirror head portion relative to said mounting portion;\nwherein operation of said first and second motors is synchronized;\nwherein operation of said first motor drives a first gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear;\nwherein operation of said second motor drives a second gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear;\nwherein said first motor comprises a first drive shaft defining a first axis and wherein said second motor comprises a second drive shaft defining a second axis, and wherein said first axis is oriented generally parallel to said second axis when said first motor is driving said first gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear and said second motor is driving said second gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear; and\nwherein, responsive to operation of said first motor driving said first gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear and to operation of said second motor driving said second gear that rotatably drives said common drive gear, said mirror head portion pivots relative to said mounting portion to adjust said mirror head between (i) a rearward viewing position or orientation where said reflective element at said mirror head is positioned so as to provide a rearward field of view to a driver of the vehicle and (ii) a folded or stowed position where said mirror head is oriented generally along the side of the vehicle.\n\n16. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 15, wherein said first and second gears comprise worm gears and wherein said first and second worm gears engage said common drive gear at diametrically opposite portions of said common drive gear.\n\n17. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 15, wherein, during operation of said actuator, a shutoff circuit determines rotational movement of the shaft of said first motor and the shaft of said second motor and, responsive to a determination of rotational movement being below a threshold speed, said shutoff circuit deactivates said first and second motors.\n\n18. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 17, wherein said first and second gears engage teeth of said common drive gear at opposite sides of said common drive gear.\n\n19. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 18, wherein said first and second gears comprise worm gears.\n\n20. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 18, wherein said first and second gears comprise worm gears driven by respective shafts of said first and second motors."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Process For Forming Ultra-Micro Leds\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIt is well known in the field of LEDs that efficiency is generally improved as the LED die becomes smaller. For example, in the paper by Choi et al. entitled Mechanism of Enhanced Light Output Efficiency In InGaN-Based Microlight Emitting Diodes, Journal of Applied Physics, volume 93, number 10, 15 May 2003, Choi presents data showing the optical power density vs. current of an LED die increases about three fold when reducing the size of a micro-LED from 20 microns in diameter to 8 microns in diameter. The present inventors had previously developed a technique for printing microscopic LEDs and connecting the LEDs in parallel. The LEDs are vertical LEDs with one electrode on top and the other electrode on the bottom. Each LED die has a diameter of about 30 microns and a thickness of about 7 microns. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the inventors' previously developed vertical LED 100 , directly reproduced from U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0168658, incorporated herein by reference. As described below, the basic LED design has an inherent limitation that prevents it from being significantly smaller than 30 microns. FIG. 2 is a top down view of the hexagonal LEDs 100 on a carrier wafer prior to singulation. The LEDs 100 are separated by trenches 102 . FIG. 3 is a simplified cross-sectional view of the LED 100 . An elongated metal top electrode 120 B and its metal base 120 A conduct current to the underlying p-type GaN layer 115 . A bottom electrode ( FIG. 3 ) 122 is formed on the bottom surface of a conductive substrate 105 (which may be n-GaN) to provide current to the overlying n-type GaN layer 110 . At the junction of the p and n-type layers are light-generating quantum wells 112 ( FIG. 3 ). The epitaxially grown LED semiconductor layers may be conventional. A metal via 130 ( FIG. 1 ) may be used to bypass any low conductivity layers formed over the bottom electrode 122 . The LED 100 is formed as a hexagon with sides 121 . The singulated LEDs 100 are designed to be suspended in an LED ink and printed over a substrate having a \u201cbottom\u201d conductor layer. A vast majority of the LED will have the same orientation. The bottom electrode 122 of the LED 100 contacts the bottom conductor layer. A dielectric layer is then deposited to insulate the bottom conductor layer and cover the sides of the LEDs yet expose the elongated top electrode 120 B of the LEDs. A top conductor layer is then deposited to contact the top electrode 120 B and connect the printed LEDs 100 in parallel. Either the top conductor layer or the bottom conductor layer, or both, are formed of a transparent conductor material so light exits one or both surfaces of the resulting light sheet. The size of the LED 100 is limited by the smallest practical size of the top electrode 120 B and its metal base 120 A, which is roughly the relative size shown in FIG. 1 . The top electrode 120 A/B obscures and absorbs a substantial portion of the generated light. By making the LED die's diameter smaller, while the size of the top electrode 120 A/B remains the same, there will be less light-generating area, and a higher percentage of the generated light will be obscured by the top electrode 120 A/B, so efficiency drops. Therefore, what is needed is a technique to form LED dies substantially smaller than 30 microns, to obtain an improved optical power output density vs. current, which are printable for manufacturing thin, flexible light sheets.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA flexible light sheet includes a bottom conductor layer overlying a flexible substrate. An array of vertical light emitting diodes (VLEDs) is printed as an ink over the bottom conductor layer so that bottom electrodes of the VLEDs electrically contact the bottom conductor layer. A top electrode of the VLEDs is formed of a first transparent conductor layer, and a temporary hydrophobic layer is formed over the first transparent conductor layer. A dielectric material is deposited between the VLEDs but is automatically de-wetted off the hydrophobic layer. The hydrophobic layer is then removed, and a second transparent conductor layer is deposited to electrically contact the top electrode of the VLEDs. The VLEDs can be made less than 10 microns in diameter since no top metal bump electrode is used. The VLEDs are illuminated by a voltage differential between the bottom conductor layer and the second transparent conductor layer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An illumination structure comprising:\na bottom conductor layer;\na plurality of vertical light emitting diodes (VLEDs), each of the VLEDs having a bottom electrode electrically contacting the bottom conductor layer, each of the VLEDs having a flat first transparent conductor layer forming a top electrode, with no opaque metal portions forming the top electrode;\na second transparent conductor layer directly over and contacting the first transparent conductor layer of each of the VLEDs, with no opaque metal layer in-between, such that the plurality of VLEDs are electrically connected in parallel and light passes through the first transparent conductor layer and the second transparent conductor layer when the VLEDs are illuminated by a voltage differential between the second transparent conductor layer and the bottom conductor layer; and\na dielectric material between the VLEDs and overlying the bottom conductor layer but not substantially covering the first transparent conductor layer, wherein the second transparent conductor layer overlies the dielectric layer.\n\n2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the first transparent conductor layer comprises one of ITO or sintered silver nanowires.\n\n3. The structure of claim 1 wherein the first transparent conductor layer covers an entire top semiconductor surface of each of the VLEDs.\n\n4. The structure of claim 1 wherein the bottom conductor layer is reflective.\n\n5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the bottom conductor layer is transparent.\n\n6. The structure of claim 1 further comprising a flexible substrate on which the bottom conductor layer is formed.\n\n7. The structure of claim 1 wherein the VLEDs are microscopic VLEDs printed as an ink over the bottom conductor layer.\n\n8. The structure of claim 1 wherein a diameter of each of the VLEDs is 10 microns or less."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Power Module And Fabrication Method For The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nConventionally, there have been known power modules in which a power chip including a semiconductor device such as Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is mounted on a leadframe therein, and of which the whole system thereof is molded with resin. Since such a semiconductor device produces heat during an operating state, it is common to dispose a heat sink via an insulating layer on a back side surface of the leadframe in order to cool the semiconductor device. When such a power module is attached to a cooling body, e.g. the heat sink in this way, a liquid thermal compound is coated to a metal surface (surface of a leadframe) facing (opposed to) the cooling body, and one surface or both surfaces of the cooling body facing (opposed to) the metal surface. Thus, a gap due to roughness, such as surface cracks etc. and a warpage can be filled up with the thermal compound.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA power module includes: an insulating layer; a leadframe (metal layer) disposed on the insulating layer; a semiconductor chip disposed on the leadframe; and a mold resin formed so as to cover the semiconductor chip, at least a part of the metal layer, and at least a part of the insulating layer, wherein the insulating layer includes a relatively-soft insulating layer disposed at a side of the leadframe and a relatively-hard insulating layer disposed at an opposite side of the leadframes. Accordingly, there can be provided the power module with improved cooling capability and improved reliability, and the fabrication method for such a power module."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A power module comprising:\nan insulating layer;\na metal layer disposed on the insulating layer;\na semiconductor chip disposed on the metal layer; and\na mold resin formed so as to cover the semiconductor chip, at least a part of the metal layer, and at least a part of the insulating layer, wherein\nthe insulating layer includes a relatively-hard insulating layer disposed at a side of the metal layer and a relatively-soft insulating layer disposed at an opposite side of the metal layer.\n\n2. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-soft insulating layer deforms so as to be adhered to a cooling body, the cooling body composed of a metal for radiating heat produced from the semiconductor chip.\n\n3. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\na hardness of the relatively-soft insulating layer is softer than A40 in durometer hardness.\n\n4. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-soft insulating layer is formed of an organic material.\n\n5. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-soft insulating layer is formed of a silicone based resin.\n\n6. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-soft insulating layer is filled up with a high thermally-conductive filler.\n\n7. The power module according to claim 6, wherein\nthe filler is at least one selected from the group consist of aluminium oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, boron nitride, beryllia, and magnesia.\n\n8. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\na hardness of the relatively-hard insulating layer is harder than A40 in durometer hardness.\n\n9. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-hard insulating layer is formed of an organic material.\n\n10. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-hard insulating layer is formed of at least one selected from the group consist of an epoxy based resin, an urethane system resin, an acrylic resin, and a silicone based resin.\n\n11. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-hard insulating layer is filled up with a high thermally-conductive filler.\n\n12. The power module according to claim 11, wherein\nthe filler is at least one selected from the group consist of aluminium oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, boron nitride, beryllia, and magnesia.\n\n13. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\na groove into which a part of the relatively-hard insulating layer is inserted is formed on a surface of the metal layer facing the relatively-hard insulating layer, the surface of the metal layer on which the groove is formed is a region not opposite to the semiconductor chip.\n\n14. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe relatively-hard insulating layer is formed so as to cover a bottom surface and a corner portion of the metal layer, and the mold resin is formed so as to cover at least a side surface of the relatively-hard insulating layer.\n\n15. The power module according to claim 14, wherein\nan edge part of the relatively-soft insulating layer and an edge part of the relatively-hard insulating layer are intervened between the mold resin and the metal layer.\n\n16. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe mold resin is formed so as to cover a side surface of the metal layer, and the relatively-soft insulating layer is formed so as to cover a bottom surface of the metal layer and a bottom surface of the mold resin.\n\n17. The power module according to claim 16, wherein\nthe semiconductor chip is formed of one selected from the group consist of an SiC based power device, a GaN based power device, and an AlN based power device; and\na current change rate di/dt thereof is larger than 3\u00d710 8 (A/s).\n\n18. The power module according to claim 1, wherein\nthe power module is formed as any one selected from the group consist of 1-in-1 module, 2-in-1 module, 4-in-1 module, and 6-in-1 module.\n\n19. A fabrication method for a power module comprising:\nbonding a semiconductor chip to a leadframe with a conductive bonding material;\nelectrically connecting the semiconductor chip and the leadframe to each other using a connecting member;\ndisposing the leadframe on a metallic mold, and then forming a relatively-hard insulating layer on a bottom surface of the leadframe so as to cover a bottom surface and a corner portion of the leadframe;\nafter curing the relatively-hard insulating layer, forming a relatively-soft insulating layer on the bottom surface of the relatively-hard insulating layer; and\nafter curing the relatively-soft insulating layer, closing the metallic mold, and then pouring a mold resin therein in order to mold the leadframe, the conductive bonding material, the semiconductor chip, and the connecting member.\n\n20. A fabrication method for a power module comprising:\nbonding a semiconductor chip to a leadframe with a conductive bonding material;\nelectrically connecting the semiconductor chip and the leadframe to each other using a connecting member;\ndisposing the leadframe on a metallic mold, then closing the metallic mold, then pouring a mold resin therein, and then molding of the leadframe, the conductive bonding material, the semiconductor chip, and the connecting member so that a bottom surface of the mold resin and a bottom surface of the leadframe are flush with each other;\nforming a relatively-hard insulating layer on the surface of the mold resin and the surface of the leadframe which are flush with each other; and\nforming a relatively-soft insulating layer on a surface of the relatively-hard insulating layer.\n\n21. The fabrication method for a power module according to claim 19, wherein\nthe relatively-soft insulating layer is formed so that a corner portion of the relatively-hard insulating layer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Scooter\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a scooter and relates particularly to a scooter can be folded and unfolded with ease to carry and stow conveniently. 2. Description of the Related Art Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , a conventional foldable scooter 1 includes a fork 11 , a handlebar rod 12 , a main rod 13 , a lifting device 14 , and a shift rod set 15 . The lifting device 14 has a fixing set 141 , a first locking set 142 , and a second locking set 143 . The fixing set 141 includes an inner bushing 1411 placed in the fixing set 141 and also includes a first fixing part 1412 and a second fixing part 1413 disposed on opposite sides thereof. Further, the first locking set 142 has a rotational handle 1421 with a screwing portion extending through the first fixing part 1412 and a first nut 1422 engaging the rotational handle 1421 . Thus, the fixing set 141 can be fixed to the fork 11 . The second locking set 143 has a male screw 1432 penetrating through the second fixing part 1413 and a female screw 1431 fixing to the male screw 1432 , thereby connecting the second fixing part 1413 with the shift rod set 15 and allowing the shift rod set 15 to go up and down by the movement of the fixing set 141 of the lifting device 14 along the fork 11 . Therefore, the foldable scooter 1 can be folded or unfolded. However, the conventional foldable scooter 1 still has problems. First, although the lifting device 14 can move upwards and downwards by the fixing set 141 and the inner bushing 1411 located inside the fixing set 141 , the fixing set 141 still cannot be fixed to the inner bushing 1411 . This situation causes the inner bushing 1411 to separate from the fixing set 141 easily during the riding. Accordingly, the inner bushing 1411 cannot perform well and cannot assist the fixing set 141 in connecting to the fork 11 stably, and the lifting device 14 can not lift along the fork 11 because of the unstable connection between the fixing set 141 and the fork 11 . Thus, the folding and unfolding effect of the foldable scooter 1 is affected. Second, without a positioning device set between the lifting device 14 and the shift rod set 15 , the user is unable to know whether the foldable scooter 1 completes the unfolding or folding actions while spreading or collecting the foldable scooter 1 . Thus, the using convenience of the foldable scooter 1 is reduced. Third, the lifting device 14 is fixed to the fork 11 by the rotational handle 1421 with the screwing portion of the first locking set 142 . However, the screwing portion of the rotational handle 1421 may loosen from the first nut 1422 if the rotational handle 1421 is carelessly hit by hands of the user or other external force. Therefore, the fixing set 141 cannot be fastened on the fork 11 stably. This causes the lifting device 14 to become loose and drop and affects the folding or unfolding effect of the foldable scooter 1 . Hence,\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA scooter includes a frame where a positioning unit is disposed, a control rod, a front wheel, a braking device, two pedals, a saddle, and at least one rear wheel. A sliding trough is formed on a bottom of the frame. A folding device is situated between the control rod and the frame and has a body fixed to the control rod, an operating unit disposed on the body and sliding within the sliding trough, and an engagement unit capable of engaging the frame with the body. The engagement between the positioning unit and the engagement unit can spread the frame and the control rod easily with less labor and facilitate a riding action. The positioning unit can also be separated from the engagement unit to fold the frame and the control rod, thereby reducing the volume of the scooter and increasing the convenience of carrying and stowing."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A scooter comprising a frame, a control rod connected to said frame, a front wheel pivotally connected to said control rod, a braking device disposed on said control rod, two pedals respectively located at two sides of said frame, a saddle connected to said frame, and at least one rear wheel pivotally connected to said frame, wherein a first handlebar and a second handlebar are respectively formed on said control rod to control a moving direction of said front wheel, the braking device having a brake controller disposed on said first handlebar, a brake unit disposed on said front wheel, and a brake line connecting said brake unit with said brake controller to control a speed of said scooter,\nwherein a sliding trough is formed on a bottom of said frame and a positioning unit is disposed on said frame, a folding device being installed between said frame and said control rod, said folding device having a body fixed to said control rod, an operating unit pivotally disposed on said body and capable of sliding within said sliding trough, and an engagement unit disposed on said body to engage said frame with said body, said positioning unit of said frame being capable of providing an engagement with said engagement unit of said folding device to spread said frame and said control rod.\n\n2. The scooter as claimed in claim 1, wherein a fixing unit is disposed between said frame and said operating unit to position said operating unit on said frame.\n\n3. The scooter as claimed in claim 1, wherein two rear wheels are located at two sides of said frame.\n\n4. The scooter as claimed in claim 1, wherein a securing unit is disposed on said frame and located at a place corresponding to said positioning unit to prevent said positioning unit from escaping from said engagement unit.\n\n5. The scooter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a hub-driving device, said hub-driving device having a power source disposed inside said body, a control unit connected to said second handlebar and having a connection with said power source, and a driving unit disposed on said front wheel and driven by said power source to carry out a rotation of said front wheel."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Self-Propelled Floor Apparatus And System Having A Bactericidal Function\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to self-propelled robot technology and more particularly, to a self-propelled apparatus and system having a bactericidal function. 2. Description of the Related Art Pathogens are often found on floor surfaces such as bathrooms, day care centers, hospitals, doctors' waiting rooms, gymnasiums, schools, homes, and the like. UV light is a proven form of chemical-free sterilization. The integration of germicidal lamps with robotic control algorithms and hardware provides a low-labor-cost and chemical-free supplement to traditional cleaning methods. Infectious diseases are routinely reported. Announcements include E - coli, MRSA, tuberculosis, Legionnaires disease, staphylococcus, streptococcus, pneumonia, bronchitis, giardia, and many others. Commercially-available robotic home robots may address the vacuum and mopping aspects of cleaning but not the disinfecting needs. A simple-to-use, chemical-free alternative is needed. One that has a long run time, requires no training by the owner, and effectively kills pathogens on the floor while covering an adequate amount of floor space. Techniques for combining a self-propelled apparatus with a germicidal ultraviolet light are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,779,391 describes the arrangement of a germicidal ultraviolet light in a self-propelled system so that the system is capable of \u201cseek and destroy\u201d functionality by navigating towards contaminated areas and irradiating those areas with ultraviolet light accordingly. However, this technique does not consider the relationship between the moving path of the self-propelled platform and the germicidal ultraviolet light, and thus, there is a room for improvement of in sterilization performance\u2014specifically, applying an adequate dose of UV light to be effective in eradicating pathogens. U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,614, issued to the present inventor, discloses a navigational apparatus and method for guiding an autonomous vehicle throughout a work area. However, this patent does not describe the combination of the navigational apparatus with a germicidal ultraviolet light\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA self-propelled apparatus includes: a self-propelled platform having a recessed chamber located in the bottom side, a control unit mounted in the self-propelled platform for controlling the moving path of the self-propelled platform in a predominantly grid-pattern that causes the self-propelled platform to mainly move in predominantly straight lines, a battery, one or multiple germicidal ultraviolet lights exhibiting an elongated shape and mounted in the self-propelled platform within the recessed chamber in such a manner that the longitudinal axis of the germicidal ultraviolet lights is kept in parallel to the linear moving direction of the self-propelled platform, and obstacle sensors. The self-propelled apparatus utilizes a wireless module for wireless communication with an external smart device that has built therein an application software for controlling and displaying the operating status of the self-propelled apparatus."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A self-propelled apparatus, comprising:\na self-propelled platform comprising a recessed chamber located in a bottom side thereof;\na control unit mounted in said self-propelled platform, and adapted for controlling the moving path of said self-propelled platform in a predominantly grid-pattern that causes said self-propelled platform to mainly move in straight lines;\na battery electrically coupled to said control unit to provide the necessary working electric energy;\nat least one germicidal ultraviolet light exhibiting an elongated shape and mounted in said self-propelled platform within said recessed chamber in such a manner that the longitudinal axis of said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light is kept in parallel to the linear moving direction of said self-propelled platform, said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light being electrically coupled to said control unit and controllable by said control unit to radiate light; and\na plurality of obstacle sensors mounted in said self-propelled platform and electrically coupled to said control unit, and adapted for detecting the presence of obstacles for enabling said control unit to modify the traveling of said self-propelled platform on the basis of inputs from the said obstacle sensors.\n\n2. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the depth of said recessed chamber is larger than the thickness of said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light, said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light being completely accommodated in said recessed chamber above the elevation of said bottom side of said self-propelled platform.\n\n3. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the center of said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light is kept at a distance of approximately 2.5 cm above the floor when said self-propelled platform is placed on the floor.\n\n4. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said self-propelled platform further comprises at least one lamp holder mounted in said recessed chamber; said germicidal ultraviolet light is detachably mounted in said at least one lamp holder.\n\n5. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a light sensor mounted in said self-propelled platform and electrically coupled to said control unit for detecting the ultraviolet light emitted by said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light.\n\n6. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control unit comprises a gyroscope.\n\n7. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of said germicidal ultraviolet lights is 2, and the two said germicidal ultraviolet lights are arranged in parallel.\n\n8. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a micro-fiber pad mounted at said self-propelled platform, said micro-fiber pad being kept in contact with the floor when said self-propelled platform is placed on the floor.\n\n9. The self-propelled apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a lift-off sensing unit mounted in said self-propelled platform and electrically coupled to said control unit for detecting if said self-propelled platform is picked up or turns over.\n\n10. A self-propelled system, comprising:\na self-propelled platform comprising a recessed chamber located in a bottom side thereof;\na control unit mounted in said self-propelled platform, and adapted for controlling the moving path of said self-propelled platform in a predominantly grid-pattern that causes said self-propelled platform to mainly move in straight lines;\na battery electrically coupled to said control unit to provide the necessary working electric energy;\nat least one germicidal ultraviolet light exhibiting an elongated shape and mounted in said self-propelled platform within said recessed chamber in such a manner that the longitudinal axis of said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light is kept in parallel to the linear moving direction of said self-propelled platform, said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light being electrically coupled to said control unit and controllable by said control unit to radiate light;\na plurality of obstacle sensors mounted in said self-propelled platform and electrically coupled to said control unit, and adapted for detecting the presence of obstacles for enabling said control unit to modify the traveling of said self-propelled platform from the inputs of said obstacle sensors;\na wireless module mounted in said self-propelled platform and electrically coupled to said control unit for communication with a smart device in a wireless manner; and\nan application software installed in said smart device for execution by said smart device;\nwherein said self-propelled platform utilizes said wireless module to transmit data to said smart device; said smart device executes said application software to interpret said data and displays said data in a way that a general user is able to understand, and utilizes the wireless communication relationship between said smart device and said wireless module to transmit instructions to said control unit. This wireless communication is optional and not an integral component in the autonomous operation of the self-propelled platform.\n\n11. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said data contains a moving path data; said smart device records and displays the moving path of said self-propelled platform, and calculates the amount of floor coverage of said moving path when executing said application software.\n\n12. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the depth of said recessed chamber is larger than the thickness of said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light, said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light being completely accommodated in said recessed chamber above the elevation of said bottom side of said self-propelled platform.\n\n13. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the center of said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light is kept at a distance of approximately 2.5 cm above the floor when said self-propelled platform is placed on the floor.\n\n14. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said self-propelled platform further comprises at least one lamp holder mounted in said recessed chamber; said germicidal ultraviolet light is detachably mounted in said at least one lamp holder.\n\n15. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a light sensor mounted in said self-propelled platform and electrically coupled to said control unit for detecting the ultraviolet light emitted by said at least one germicidal ultraviolet light.\n\n16. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, wherein said control unit comprises a gyroscope.\n\n17. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the number of said germicidal ultraviolet light is 2, and the two said germicidal ultraviolet lights are arranged in parallel.\n\n18. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a micro-fiber pad mounted at said self-propelled platform, said micro-fiber pad being kept in contact with the floor when said self-propelled platform is placed on the floor.\n\n19. The self-propelled system as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a lift-off sensing unit mounted in said self-propelled platform and electrically coupled to said control unit for detecting if said self-propelled platform is picked up or turns over."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Blind Spot Indicator\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to warning devices for motor vehicles and, more specifically, to a blind spot indicator. 2. Description of the Background Art The vehicle blind spot detection devices and systems have been known to enhance safety on the road. Thus, when a second vehicle is located in a position diagonally behind the driver's vehicle it can be difficult to perceive the second vehicle through the rear or side view mirrors even if the mirrors are correctly or properly aligned. It becomes even more difficult if the mirror is improperly aligned or has been moved by inadvertent actuation of the mirror positioning switches within the cabin or externally by a passerby. When the other vehicle is in the blind spot and, therefore, not visible to the driver, the driver may attempt to move the car into the path of the other vehicle and cause an accident with potential bodily injury or property damage. Most of the prior art discloses blind spot detectors, some of which are quite elaborate and expensive, for alerting a driver that there is a vehicle in a blind spot that is not visible through the rear view mirrors. Examples of such prior art blind spot detectors are disclosed in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,786 issued Jul. 27, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,380 issued Feb. 27, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,744,353 issued Jun. 1, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 7,049,945 issued May 23, 2006; U.S. Pat. No. 7,880,596 issued Feb. 1, 2011; U.S. Publication No. US 2013/0169425 published 7/4/13 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,645,001 issued Feb. 4, 2014. While blind spot detector systems that detect and alert a driver that there is a vehicle in a blind spot, that is not visible in rear or side view mirrors, the other vehicle generally has no way of knowing if that vehicle is within the blind spot of an adjoining vehicle in close proximity. This frequently prevents the driver of the adjoining vehicle to be more alert and prepared to avoid any movements by the vehicle into his blind spot. Therefore, barring a vehicle having an elaborate blind spot detector system, the vehicle that is situated in a blind spot has little or no way of avoiding collisions due to inadvertent movements by the adjoining vehicle.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA beam is projected on the roadway by a vehicle that is visible to vehicles that are in its proximity, the beam on the roadway indicating to adjacent vehicles when they are in a blind spot of the beam generating vehicle. This makes it possible for the vehicle to slow down, speed up or move into another lane to avoid being in a blind spot of the vehicle in its proximity. An optical beam generator is mounted or integrated on a vehicle such as within side view mirror(s). The beam(s) may be generated using any suitable optical beam generator(s) including a laser, LED's or any other suitable source of illumination for projecting a line or other optical illuminated indicia to demarcate blind spot region(s) to operators of adjoining vehicles."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A blind spot indicator for a moving vehicle having side view mirrors on each side of the vehicle creating a blind spot when the driver of the vehicle looks at each of the side view mirrors, comprising projecting means on the moving vehicle for projecting a beam of visible light on a roadway on which the moving vehicle is driving to indicate to proximate vehicles at least one blind spot region of the driver in the moving vehicle associated with at least one of the side view mirrors, said beam forming a sharp or distinct line on the roadway that has a predetermined thickness that is substantially smaller than a length of said line illuminated on the roadway defining boundaries of said at least one of said blind spot regions to the driver of a vehicle proximate to said at least one of said blind spot regions to whom the line on the roadway is visible; and switching means for selectively activating said projecting means.\n\n2. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein projecting means is integrated into at least one exterior side view mirror on the monitored vehicle.\n\n3. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 2, wherein said projecting means is integrated into a side view mirror on the driver's side and on a side view mirror on the passenger side of the monitored vehicle to thereby project beams on both lateral sides of the monitored vehicle to define blind spot regions that can be detected by proximate vehicles on both sides of said monitored vehicle.\n\n4. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein the blind spot indicator includes a housing and comprising connecting means for connecting or attaching said housing to at least one exterior side view mirror of the monitored vehicle.\n\n5. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 4, wherein said connecting means permanently connects said housing to said at least one exterior side view mirror.\n\n6. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said projecting means includes a laser for generating said beam.\n\n7. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said projecting means includes at least one LED for generating said beam.\n\n8. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said projecting means is arranged to project a rearward extending beam on the roadway from the location of a side view mirror at a predetermined angle in relation to a lengthwise direction of the monitored vehicle.\n\n9. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 8, wherein predetermined angle is selected to be within the range of 10\u00b0-35\u00b0.\n\n10. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 4, wherein said connecting means removably attaches said housing to said at least one exterior side view mirror.\n\n11. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said beam is projected in different colors to optimize visibility under different climatic or light conditions.\n\n12. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said switching means is coupled to an ignition switch for activating said projecting means when the ignition switch is turned on.\n\n13. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said switching means is coupled to a transmission shifter for activating said projecting means when the transmission shifter is moved to a drive position.\n\n14. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said switching means is a manual switch within the cabin of the monitored vehicle that can be manually switched by a driver of the monitored vehicle.\n\n15. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said projecting means includes a housing and adjusting means for adjusting at least one of the location and the orientation of said beam to optimize the projected blind spot indication for a predetermined monitored vehicle.\n\n16. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, wherein said connecting means comprises a suction element for attaching the blind spot indicator directly to a surface of a rear view mirror by means of suction or a vacuum.\n\n17. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 1, further comprising at least one optical element within the blind spot indicator to produce a more focused or sharper beam or line on the roadway to optimize visibility to drivers in proximate vehicles.\n\n18. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 17, wherein said at least one optical element comprises a beam splitter.\n\n19. A blind spot indicator as defined in claim 17, wherein said at least one optical element comprises a lens.\n\n20. A method of forming a blind spot indication for a moving vehicle having side view mirrors on each side of the vehicle creating a blind spot when the driver of the vehicle looks at each side view mirror, comprising projecting from the moving vehicle a beam of visible light on a roadway on which the moving vehicle is driving to indicate to proximate vehicles at least one blind spot region of the driver in the moving vehicle associated with at least one of the side view mirrors, said beam forming a sharp or distinct line on the roadway that has a predetermined thickness that is substantially smaller than a length of said line illuminated on the roadway defining boundaries of said at least one of said blind spot regions to a driver of a vehicle proximate to said at least one of said blind spot regions to whom the line on the roadway is visible; and selectively projecting the beam of visible light on the roadway by switching a projecting device on the moving vehicle."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Vehicle Signal Lamp\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field The presently disclosed subject matter relates to vehicle signal lamps attached continuously to an openable and closable trunk lid and a part of a vehicle body, which is located adjacent the trunk lid, and more particularly relates to the vehicle signal lamps with a simple structure, which can emits light having a favorable light-intensity even from a space between the openable and closable trunk lid and the part of the vehicle body located adjacent the trunk lid. 2. Description of the Related Art Vehicle signal lamps such as a tail lamp, a stop lamp, a turn signal lamp and the like are required to be attached to a rear right and left of vehicles so that drivers moving vehicles from a rearward direction of the vehicles can recognize driving conditions such as moving in a frontward direction of the vehicles, going to turn left, going to decrease speeds of the vehicles, etc. Such a conventional rear signal lamp is disclosed in Patent document No. 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2012-123977). FIG. 9 a is a schematic rear view depicting a vehicle incorporating a first conventional rear signal lamp, and FIG. 9 b is a schematic front view including a partial transparent view depicting the first conventional rear signal lamp to be incorporated into a rear right of the vehicle shown in FIG. 9 a , which is disclosed in Patent document No. 1. The vehicle 20 includes: a vehicular body 21 ; an openable and closable trunk lid 22 attached to the vehicle body 21 , the trunk lid 22 including a trunk knob 23 to open or close the trunk lid; and each of the rear signal lamp 30 R and 30 L be symmetrically attached to a rear right and left of the vehicle 20 , respectively. The rear signal lamp 30 R, which is attached to the rear right of the vehicle 20 , includes a first rear lamp 31 A, a second rear lamp 31 B and a boundary 39 located between the first rear lamp 31 A and the second rear lamp 31 B, as shown in FIG. 9 b when the trunk lid 22 closes. When the trunk lid 22 opens, each of the first rear lamp 31 A and the second rear lamp 31 B may separate with respect to each other from the boundary 39 , because the trunk lid 22 moves in an upward direction of the vehicle body 21 . The first rear signal lamp 31 A includes: a first casing 32 A; a first front lens 35 A attached to the first casing 32 A, extending toward the boundary 39 and bending in an inward direction of the boundary 39 ; a plurality of first light guides 33 A located in the first casing 32 A, extending toward the boundary 39 along the first front lens 35 A; and a plurality of first light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 34 A each located at a respective one end of the first light guides 33 A located in an opposite direction of the boundary 39 so as to emit light toward the second rear signal lamp 31 B via the respective one of the light guides 33 A. The second rear signal lamp 31 B includes: a second casing 32 B; a second front lens 35 B attached to the second casing 32 B, extending toward the boundary 39 and bending in an inward direction of the boundary 39 ; a plurality of second light guides 33 B located in the second casing 32 B, extending toward the boundary 39 along the second front lens 35 B; and a plurality of second LEDs 34 B each located at a respective one end of the first light guides 33 B located in an opposite direction of the boundary 39 so as to emit light toward the first rear signal lamp 31 A via the respective one of the second light guides 33 B. Hence, the first conventional rear signal lamp 30 R may illuminate the boundary 39 by using the lights emitted from the first LEDs 34 A via the respective one of the first light guides 33 A and by using the lights emitted from the second LEDs 34 B via the respective one of the second light guides 33 B. Similarly, the first conventional rear signal lamp 30 L, which is attached to the rear left of the vehicle 20 , may also illuminate a left boundary caused between a first rear signal lamp and a second rear signal lamp of the rear signal lamp 30 L. However, the above-described first conventional lamp 30 R needs the first plurality of light guides 33 A and the second plurality of light guides 33 B to illuminate the boundary 39 , which coordinates with various signal lamps such as a tail lamp, a stop lamp, etc. Such a structure including the light guides may be subject to a complex configuration.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA vehicle signal lamp can include a first lamp unit, a second lamp unit and a boundary between the first and second lamp units so as to be attached continuously to vehicles including a trunk lid. Each of at least one first light source, at least one second light source and a boundary light source can be located in the first lamp unit including a first outer lens and the second lamp unit including a second outer lens, respectively. Each of the first light source and the second light source can emit light from the first outer lens and the second outer lens, respectively, and also the boundary light source can illuminate the boundary by using the second outer lens. Thus, the vehicle signal lamps with a simple structure can be used for various signal lamps, and which can provide a favorable light distribution as one continuous favorable light-emitting pattern."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A vehicle signal lamp comprising:\na boundary;\na first lamp unit including a first casing having a first opening, a first outer lens having a first inner portion, and a first lamp room, the first outer lens attached to the first casing and covering the first opening of the first casing, and thereby the first lamp room formed between the first casing and the first outer lens, and the first inner portion of the first outer lens extending in a direction toward the first casing from the first outer lens along the boundary;\nat least one first light source having a first light-emitting direction located in the first lamp room, and the first light-emitting direction of the first light source being directed toward the first outer lens of the first lamp unit;\na second lamp unit including a second casing having a second opening, a second outer lens having a second inner portion, and a second lamp room, the second outer lens attached to the second casing and covering the second opening of the second casing, and thereby the second lamp room formed between the second casing and the second outer lens, and the second inner portion of the second outer lens extending in a direction toward the second casing from the second outer lens along the boundary, and therefore facing the first inner portion of the first outer lens via the boundary, which is located between the first lamp unit and the second lamp unit, the second inner portion of the second outer lens including a second inner end surface, a second outer surface and a second inner surface located in an opposite direction of the second outer surface, and substantially facing the boundary, the second inner surface of the second inner portion including a plurality of concavo-convex surfaces, which extends in a substantially horizontal direction of the vehicle signal lamp;\na boundary light source having a boundary light-emitting direction facing the second inner end surface of the second outer lens, and the boundary light-emitting direction of the boundary light source being directed toward the second inner end surface of the second outer lens; and\nat least one second light source having a second light-emitting direction located in the second lamp room, and the second light-emitting direction of the second light source being directed toward the second outer lens of the second lamp unit.\n\n2. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n3. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n4. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one first light source, the boundary light source and the at least one second light source is a light-emitting diode.\n\n5. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 1, further comprising:\na second incident surface connecting to each of the second outer surface and the second inner surface of the second outer lens located in an opposite direction of the second inner end surface of the second outer lens; and\na second boundary light source having a second optical axis facing the second incident surface, and the second optical axis of the second boundary light source intersecting with the incident surface at a substantially right angle.\n\n6. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 5, wherein an incident angle of the second boundary light source is less than 90 degrees with reference to the second outer surface of the second inner portion.\n\n7. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 1, further comprising:\na first incident surface connecting to the second inner end surface of the second inner portion, being located toward the second casing, facing the boundary light source, and be directed toward the boundary light-emitting direction of the boundary light source.\n\n8. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 1, further comprising:\na first shade be attached to the second casing; and\na second shade attached to the casing, wherein each of the first shade and the second shade surrounds the boundary light source.\n\n9. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 7, further comprising:\na first shade be attached to the second casing; and\na second shade attached to the casing, wherein each of the first shade and the second shade surrounds at least one of the boundary light source and the second boundary light source.\n\n10. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 1, further comprising:\nat least one of a reflective layer and a refusing layer formed on the plurality of concavo-convex surfaces of the second inner surface.\n\n11. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 4, wherein the at least one first light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n12. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 4, wherein the at least one second light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n13. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 5, wherein the at least one first light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n14. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 5, wherein the at least one second light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n15. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 6, wherein the at least one first light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n16. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 6, wherein the at least one second light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n17. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 7, wherein the at least one first light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n18. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 7, wherein the at least one second light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n19. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 8, wherein the at least one first light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp.\n\n20. The vehicle signal lamp according to claim 8, wherein the at least one second light source is used as a light source for at least one of a tail lamp and a stop lamp."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Apparatus And Method For Providing An Extended Forward Collision Warning\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure. Vehicles include brake lights that turn on when a vehicle's brakes are applied by the driver. The brake lights serve as a mechanism to warn other drivers behind the vehicle as to when the vehicle is slowing down, so that the other drivers may also slowdown in order to avoid a collision with the vehicle. However, there are some cases where brake lights are ineffective for warning other drivers that the vehicle is slowing down. For instance, a driver in a rear vehicle may be unable to see the front vehicle's brake lights without having a direct line-of-sight to the front vehicle's brake lights. If the vehicles are traversing a sharp turn or any other intervening vehicles are between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle, the driver of the rear vehicle may be unable to see the front vehicle's brake lights and may therefore not be warned in a timely manner. Additionally, weather conditions such as fog, heavy rain, and/or heavy snow may limit the transmission range of the brake lights. Further, the brake lights may malfunction, and/or the driver of the rear vehicle may simply not be paying attention to the front vehicle's brake lights. Such situations may prove to be potentially harmful to the driver of vehicle. Adaptive cruise control mechanisms are used to maintain a desired cruising velocity of a vehicle to maintain a safe distance from a preceding vehicle. However, in dense traffic, the preceding vehicle may undergo considerable velocity changes, necessitating similar velocity changes in the vehicle. Emergency electronic brake light is another mechanism used to warn the driver of a vehicle of imminent collision. However, these mechanisms typically detect only the case of the preceding vehicle braking hard, thereby not reacting to remote vehicles that are at significantly slow speeds already. Thus, the above stated collision avoidance mechanisms provide an uncomfortable experience for the driver of the vehicle in some cases. Accordingly, there is a requirement for a technique that enables warning the driver of the vehicle about an imminent collision in a time effective manner, wherein the driver of the vehicle may comfortably slow down to avoid collisions.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn apparatus and method for generating a collision warning to a driver of a host vehicle. The method estimates geometry of a lane of a road in which the host vehicle is traversing and further identifies, via a non-line-of-sight sensor, at least one remote vehicle traversing ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated lane of the road. The host vehicle tracks, via a line of sight sensor, a preceding vehicle traversing directly ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated road-lane and detects a speed of a slowest remote vehicle of the at least one identified remote vehicles. The host vehicle predicts a motion of the preceding vehicle based on the detected speed of the slowest remote vehicle and an inter-vehicle distance, and generates a warning to the driver of the host vehicle based on the predicted relative motion of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of generating a collision warning to a driver of a host vehicle, the method comprising:\nestimating, by circuitry, a geometry of a lane of a road in which the host vehicle is traversing;\nidentifying, via a non-line-of-sight sensor, at least one remote vehicle traversing ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated lane of the road;\ntracking, via a line of sight sensor, a preceding vehicle traversing directly ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated road-lane;\ndetecting a speed of a slowest remote vehicle of the at least one identified remote vehicles;\npredicting by circuitry, a motion of the preceding vehicle based on the detected speed of the slowest remote vehicle and an inter-vehicle distance; and\ngenerating a warning to the driver of the host vehicle based on the predicted relative motion of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle,\nwherein identifying the at least one remote vehicle traversing in the estimated lane of the road is based on a path history of the at least one remote vehicle being detected to be within a half-lane displacement across a center of the estimated lane at three predetermined locations, and a heading angle of the at least one remote vehicle being lower than a predetermined angle relative to the estimated lane.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimating step further comprising:\ndetermining by the circuitry, based on a decreasing order of priority, whether one of the preceding vehicle's track history is available, track histories of two remote vehicles closest to the detected slowest remote vehicle are available, and a predicted path of the host vehicle is available.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the three predetermined locations include a first location corresponding to a current location of the remote vehicle, a second location corresponding to a location that is midway between the remote vehicle's current location and the preceding vehicle's current location, and a third location corresponding to the preceding vehicle's current location.\n\n4. The method of claim 2, wherein based on the track histories of two remote vehicles closest to the detected slowest remote vehicle being available, the method further comprising:\ndetermining by circuitry, whether a first remote vehicle of the two remote vehicles is displaced further than half-a-lane width from the host vehicle's predicted path over a predetermined length along the host vehicles predicted path.\n\n5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:\ndetermining by circuitry, whether a displacement of a track history of a second remote vehicle of the two remote vehicles with respect to a track history of the first remote vehicle of the two remote vehicles is constant.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nfiltering, based on an identified number of remote vehicles being greater than a predetermined number of remote vehicles, the identified number of remote vehicles in order to determine which remote vehicles are to be tracked by the host vehicle, the filtering being performed based on one of a predicted path of the host vehicle and a predicted path of the preceding vehicle.\n\n7. The method of claim 6, wherein the filtering further comprising:\ndetermining, for each remote vehicle of the identified number of remote vehicles, whether the identified remote vehicle is located within an angular prediction region, a speed of the remote vehicle is less than a speed of the host vehicle, a distance between the identified remote vehicle and the host vehicle is within a predetermined distance, and a heading angle of the remote vehicle is lower than a predetermined heading threshold angle.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ndetermining, the identified remote vehicle to be an in-road remote vehicle based on a path history of the remote vehicle being within two-lane widths across the center of the estimated lane.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein the predicting further comprising:\nestimating by circuitry, a vehicle density between the host vehicle and the slowest remote vehicle, the inter-vehicle distance being computed based on the estimated vehicle density and a distance between the host vehicle and the slowest remote vehicle.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, wherein the motion of the preceding vehicle is predicted to decelerate at a uniform rate of deceleration such that the inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the slowest remote vehicle, when the speed of the preceding vehicle is equal to the speed of the slowest remote vehicle, is a fixed distance.\n\n11. The method of claim 1, wherein the warning to the driver of the host vehicle is generated based on a rate of deceleration of the host vehicle being equal to a predetermined rate of deceleration, a reaction time of the driver in applying brakes of the host vehicle being equal to a predetermined reaction time, and a distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, when the speed of the preceding vehicle after said deceleration at the said reaction time is equal to the speed of the slowest remote vehicle, is greater than a predetermined safe distance.\n\n12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nclassifying by circuitry, the road on which the host vehicle is traversing as one of a divided highway and a non-highway based on one of identifying via a camera, a speed limit of posted on a sign on the road, and estimating a speed of the host vehicle in a predetermined time-period, the road being classified as the divided highway based on the estimated speed of the host vehicle in the predetermined time-period being greater than a first speed threshold, and the road being classified as the non-highway based on the host vehicle detecting at least one of another vehicle having a relative longitudinal speed that is greater than a second speed threshold and another vehicle having a lateral speed that is greater than a third speed threshold.\n\n13. A device for generating a collision warning to a driver of a host vehicle, the device comprising:\ncircuitry configured to\nestimate a geometry of a lane of a road in which the host vehicle is traversing,\nidentify, via a non-line-of-sight sensor, at least one remote vehicle traversing ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated lane of the road,\ntrack, via a line of sight sensor, a preceding vehicle traversing directly ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated road-lane,\ndetect a speed of a slowest remote vehicle of the at least one identified remote vehicles,\npredict a motion of the preceding vehicle based on the detected speed of the slowest remote vehicle and an inter-vehicle distance, and\ngenerate a warning to the driver of the host vehicle based on the predicted relative motion of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle,\nwherein the circuitry is further configured to determine based on a decreasing order of priority, whether one of the preceding vehicle's track history is available, track histories of two remote vehicles closest to the detected slowest remote vehicle are available, and a predicted path of the host vehicle is available.\n\n14. The device of claim 13, wherein based on the track histories of two remote vehicles closest to the detected slowest remote vehicle being available, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether a first remote vehicle of the two remote vehicles is displaced further than half-a-lane width from the host vehicle's predicted path over a predetermined length along the host vehicles predicted path.\n\n15. The device of claim 13, wherein the circuitry is further configured to filter, based on an identified number of remote vehicles being greater than a predetermined number of remote vehicles, the identified number of remote vehicles in order to determine which remote vehicles are to be tracked by the host vehicle, the filtering being performed based on one of a predicted path of the host vehicle and a predicted path of the preceding vehicle.\n\n16. The device of claim 13, wherein the circuitry is further configured to estimate a vehicle density between the host vehicle and the slowest remote vehicle, the inter-vehicle distance being computed based on the estimated vehicle density and a distance between the host vehicle and the slowest remote vehicle.\n\n17. The device of claim 13, wherein the warning to the driver of the host vehicle is generated based on a rate of deceleration of the host vehicle being greater than a predetermined rate of deceleration, a reaction time of the driver in applying brakes of the host vehicle being greater than a predetermined reaction time, and a distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, when the speed of the preceding vehicle is equal to the speed of the slowest remote vehicle, is greater than a predetermined safe distance.\n\n18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a program that when executed by a computer, causes the computer to execute a method of generating a collision warning to a driver of a host vehicle, the method comprising:\nestimating a geometry of a lane of a road in which the host vehicle is traversing;\nidentifying, via a non-line-of-sight sensor, at least one remote vehicle traversing ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated lane of the road;\ntracking, via a line of sight sensor, a preceding vehicle traversing directly ahead of the host vehicle in the estimated road-lane;\ndetecting a speed of a slowest remote vehicle of the at least one identified remote vehicles;\npredicting a motion of the preceding vehicle based on the detected speed of the slowest remote vehicle and an inter-vehicle distance; and\ngenerating a warning to the driver of the host vehicle based on the predicted relative motion of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle,\nwherein identifying the at least one remote vehicle traversing in the estimated lane of the road is based on a path history of the at least one remote vehicle being detected to be within a half-lane displacement across a center of the estimated lane at three predetermined locations, and a heading angle of the at least one remote vehicle being lower than a predetermined angle relative to the estimated lane."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Liquid Crystal Device, Method Of Driving Liquid Crystal Device, And Electronic Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device, a method of driving a liquid crystal device, and an electronic apparatus. 2. Related Art A liquid crystal device includes a liquid crystal panel with a liquid crystal layer interposed between a pair of substrates. If light is incident on such a liquid crystal device, there may be a case in which a liquid crystal material, an orientation film, and the like that form the liquid crystal panel cause a photochemical reaction due to the incident light and ionic impurities are generated as a reaction product. In addition, it has been known that there are ionic impurities that are diffused in the liquid crystal layer from a sealing member, a shielding member, or the like in the course of manufacturing the liquid crystal panel. In a liquid crystal device used as a light modulation structure (light valve) in a projection-type display apparatus (projector), in particular, light flux density of the incident light is higher than that of a direct view-type liquid crystal device. Therefore, it is necessary to suppress an influence of the ionic impurities on display. As a structure for suppressing the influence of the ionic impurities on display, JP-A-2015-001634 discloses a driving method in which three electrodes (ion trap electrodes) are arranged in an outer circumference of a display region and AC signals with mutually different phases are supplied within a period of time corresponding to one cycle. According to the driving method disclosed in JP-A-2015-001634, an electric field in a lateral direction is caused among the three electrodes, and force that moves the ionic impurities from the display region toward the outer circumference of the display region works in addition to a flow caused by fine fluctuation of the liquid crystal. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently accumulate the ionic impurities at the electrode located at the outermost circumference from among the aforementioned three electrodes, and to thereby provide a liquid crystal device that reduces display failures such as image persistence caused by the ionic impurities. However, according to the liquid crystal device disclosed in JP-A-2015-001634, there is a concern that if the ionic impurities that move from the display region to the outer circumference of the display region are accumulated at the electrode located at the outermost circumference, force of accumulating the ionic impurities gradually deteriorates. This is considered to be because if the ionic impurities are accumulated at the electrode located at the outermost circumference, repelling force between the ionic impurities increases with elapse of time, and as a result, an effect of efficiently accumulating the ionic impurities at the electrode located at the outermost circumference deteriorates. That is, there is a problem that the influence of the ionic impurities included in the liquid crystal layer on the display cannot always be suppressed sufficiently.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA liquid crystal device includes a first electrode that is supplied with a first potential, a second electrode that is provided between the first electrode and a sealing member and is supplied with a second potential, and a third electrode that is provided between the second electrode and the sealing member and is supplied with a third potential. A width of the third electrode is greater than widths of the first electrode and the second electrode in a direction from an outer edge of a display region toward the sealing member."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A liquid crystal device comprising:\na first substrate and a second substrate that are arranged so as to face each other and are attached to each other via a sealing member;\na liquid crystal layer that is interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate;\npixel electrodes that are provided in a display region on the first substrate;\na counter electrode that is provided on the first substrate or the second substrate so as to face the pixel electrodes;\na first electrode that is provided between the display region and the sealing member in a plan view and is supplied with a first potential;\na second electrode that is provided between the first electrode and the sealing member in a plan view and is supplied with a second potential; and\na third electrode that is provided between the second electrode and the sealing member in a plan view and is supplied with a third potential, the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode being provided on the first substrate or the second substrate,\nwherein AC signals with the same frequency are applied to each of the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode such that\nthe first potential shifts from positive polarity or a reference potential to negative polarity and shifts from the negative polarity to the positive polarity or the reference potential during a period of time corresponding to one and a half cycles of a first potential signal;\nthe second potential shifts from the positive polarity or the reference potential to the negative polarity after the first potential shifts from the positive polarity or the reference potential to the negative polarity and before the first potential then shifts to the reference potential or the positive polarity during the period of time corresponding to one and a half cycles of the first potential signal;\nthe third potential shifts from the positive polarity or the reference potential to the negative polarity after the second potential shifts to the negative polarity and before the second potential then shifts to the reference potential or the positive polarity during the period of time corresponding to one and a half cycles of the first potential signal;\nthe second potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity after the first potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity and before the first potential then shifts to the reference potential or the negative polarity during the period of time corresponding to one and a half cycles of the first potential signal; and\nthe third potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity after the second potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity and before the second potential then shifts to the reference potential or the negative polarity during the period of time corresponding to one and a half cycles of the first potential signal; and\nwherein a width of the third electrode is wider than widths of the first electrode and the second electrode in a direction from an outer edge of the display region toward the sealing member.\n\n2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the width of the third electrode is equal to or greater than 1.86 times as wide as the width of the first electrode.\n\n3. An electronic apparatus comprising:\nthe liquid crystal device according to claim 2.\n\n4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode are provided on the first substrate so as to surround the display region.\n\n5. The liquid crystal device according to claim 4,\nwherein the display region includes an electronic parting section with dummy pixel electrodes provided so as to surround the plurality of pixel electrodes, and\nwherein a gap between the electronic parting section and the first electrode is greater than a gap between the first electrode and the second electrode.\n\n6. An electronic apparatus comprising:\nthe liquid crystal device according to claim 4.\n\n7. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the display region includes corners, and\nwherein the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode are arranged along at least one of the corners.\n\n8. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the sealing member includes an injection port for injecting liquid crystal into the liquid crystal layer, and\nwherein the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode are provided on the side of the injection port.\n\n9. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode are provided along a direction that intersects an orientation direction (liquid crystal orientation) of the liquid crystal layer.\n\n10. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode are provided along a direction that intersects a scanning direction of an image signal applied to the pixel electrodes in the display region.\n\n11. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first electrode, the second electrode, the third electrode are provided on the first substrate,\nwherein the counter electrode is provided on the second substrate, and\nwherein an outer edge of the counter electrode is located between the first electrode and the outer edge of the display region in a plan view.\n\n12. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode are provided on the first substrate, and\nwherein the counter electrode includes the display region in a plan view on the second substrate, is provided so as to extend to a region at which the counter electrode faces the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode, and is supplied with the reference potential.\n\n13. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1,\nwherein each of the pixel electrodes and the counter electrode is covered with an inorganic orientation film.\n\n14. An electronic apparatus comprising:\nthe liquid crystal device according to claim 1.\n\n15. A method of driving a liquid crystal device including\na first substrate and a second substrate that are arranged so as to face each other and are attached to each other via a sealing member,\na liquid crystal layer that is interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate,\npixel electrodes that are provided in a display region on the first substrate,\na counter electrode that is provided on the first substrate or the second substrate so as to face the pixel electrodes,\na first electrode that is provided between the display region and the sealing member in a plan view and is supplied with a first potential,\na second electrode that is provided between the first electrode and the sealing member in a plan view and is supplied with a second potential, and\na third electrode that is provided between the second electrode and the sealing member in a plan view and is supplied with a third potential, the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode being provided on the first substrate or the second substrate,\nthe method comprising:\napplying AC signals with the same frequency to each of the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode such that\nthe second potential shifts from positive polarity or a reference potential to negative polarity after the first potential shifts from the positive polarity or the reference potential to the negative polarity and before the first potential then shifts to the reference potential or the positive polarity,\nthe third potential shifts from the positive polarity or the reference potential to the negative polarity after the second potential shifts to the negative polarity and before the second potential then shifts to the reference potential or the positive polarity,\nthe second potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity after the first potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity and before the first potential then shifts to the reference potential or the negative polarity, and\nthe third potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity after the second potential shifts from the negative polarity or the reference potential to the positive polarity and the second potential then shifts to the reference potential or the negative polarity,\nwherein a width of the third electrode is wider than widths of the first electrode and the second electrode in a direction from an outer edge of the display region toward the sealing member.\n\n16. The method of driving a liquid crystal device according to claim 15,\nwherein the frequency f (Hz) of the AC signals satisfies the following equation:\nf\u2266 2\u03bc VE/np 2\nwhere \u03bc represents mobility (m 2 /V\u00b7s (second)) of ionic impurities in the liquid crystal layer, VE represents an effective voltage (V) of the AC signals, n represents the number of electrodes to which the AC signals are supplied, and p represents an arrangement pitch (m) of the electrodes to which the AC signals are supplied.\n\n17. The method of driving a liquid crystal device according to claim 15,\nwherein the AC signals with the same waveform are applied to each of the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode.\n\n18. The method of driving a liquid crystal device according to claim 17,\nwherein the AC signals have potentials of three or more levels.\n\n19. The method of driving a liquid crystal device according to claim 17,\nwherein the AC signals have a rectangular waveform.\n\n20. An electronic apparatus comprising:\na liquid crystal device that is driven by the method of driving a liquid crystal device according to claim 15."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Light Assembly For Illuminating An Emblem\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe subject matter herein relates generally to light assemblies for illuminating an emblem. Illuminated emblems, logos, and other indicia provide a visual effect that highlights the specific features of the indicia and draws an observer's attention to the indicia. Illustrated emblems and other indicia may be used in the automotive industry to illuminate specific indicia of an automobile in dark conditions, such as when driving at night. Some light assemblies for illuminating an emblem are configured to emit light around a perimeter of the emblem and/or along interior edges of the emblem in order for the light to border or trace an outline of the emblem. However, in order to provide light along such edges, many light sources may be used. The light sources may be positioned next to each other along the path to be illuminated, such that the light sources themselves trace the outline of the emblem. For example, some light assemblies include over one hundred different light sources. Using a large number of light sources causes issues with physical spacing in the light assembly, power requirements, thermal effects, financial expense for parts and assembly, and the like. For example, installing many light sources next to each other in a small space generates significant heat, even if the light sources are light emitting diodes (LEDs) or other relatively low-heat-emitting lights. The heat directly affects the life of the light sources as well, as a high temperature environment may cause the light sources to prematurely burn out. A need remains for illuminating an emblem using only one or a few light sources.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA light assembly for illuminating an emblem includes a housing, an emblem, and an optical light guide. The housing holds a light source. The emblem has a structural body defined by emblem edges. The optical light guide is coupled to the housing and has a shape associated with the emblem. A surface of the optical light guide faces and is at least partially covered by the structural body of the emblem. The optical light guide defines exposed edges that project laterally beyond the emblem edges of the emblem. The optical light guide is configured to receive light generated by the light source and to emit at least some of the light along the exposed edges thereof."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A light assembly for illuminating an emblem, the light assembly comprising:\na housing that holds at least one light source configured to generate light;\nan emblem having a structural body defined by emblem edges; and\nan optical light guide coupled to the housing, the optical light guide having a front surface facing and partially covered by the structural body of the emblem, the optical light guide having a shape defined by exposed edges of the optical light guide that extend from the front surface, the shape of the optical light guide matching a shape of the emblem and being larger than the shape of the emblem such that the exposed edges of the optical light guide project laterally beyond the emblem edges of the emblem to define an exposed region of the front surface between the emblem edges and the exposed edges, the optical light guide configured to receive light generated by the at least one light source and to emit at least some of the light along the exposed region to illuminate the emblem edges.\n\n2. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a frame extending from a base of the housing, the frame defining a perimeter of a cavity, the at least one light source being mounted to the frame and facing the cavity, the optical light guide being received in the cavity and being configured to receive light generated by the at least one light source through an exterior edge of the optical light guide along a perimeter of the optical light guide.\n\n3. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical light guide receives the light from the at least one light source through an exterior edge of the optical light guide along a perimeter of the optical light guide, the optical light guide including at least one light spreading feature defined along the exterior edge, each light spreading feature aligned with and optically coupled to a corresponding light source such that light from the light source refracts through the light spreading feature to be received in the optical light guide.\n\n4. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical light guide includes at least one branching location where a single segment of the optical light guide splits into at least two segments, the optical light guide defining a reflection feature proximate to a corresponding branching location, the reflection feature configured to reflect light transmitted through the single segment into the at least two segments that extend therefrom at the branching location.\n\n5. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the structural body of the emblem is opaque.\n\n6. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the structural body of the emblem covers a covered region of the optical light guide that is interior of the exposed region of the optical light guide, the optical light guide having a reflective layer disposed on the front surface along the covered region, the reflective layer configured to reflect light that impinges thereon back into the optical light guide to prohibit the light from being emitted from the optical light guide along the covered region.\n\n7. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the exposed region comprises a minority of a surface area of the front surface of the optical light guide.\n\n8. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the structural body of the emblem covers a covered region of the optical light guide, the exposed region of the optical light guide extending along a perimeter of the covered region, the optical light guide having a greater thickness along the exposed region than along the covered region, the exposed region projecting beyond the covered region along the front surface to at least partially define a groove that receives the structural body of the emblem therein.\n\n9. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the structural body of the emblem includes an inner emblem feature and an outer emblem feature that at least partially surrounds the inner emblem feature, the inner emblem feature having first and second emblem edges, the outer emblem feature having interior and exterior emblem edges, the exposed region of the optical light guide projecting beyond both the first and second emblem edges of the inner emblem feature and the interior emblem edge of the outer emblem feature, the light emitted along the exposed region of the front surface of the optical light guide illuminating both the first and second emblem edges of the inner emblem feature and the interior emblem edge of the outer emblem feature.\n\n10. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the structural body of the emblem includes an inner emblem feature and an outer emblem feature that at least partially surrounds the inner emblem feature, the emblem defining one or more spaces between the inner emblem feature and the outer emblem feature.\n\n11. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical light guide includes light scattering elements proximate to the exposed edges of the optical light guide, the light scattering elements configured to reflect and scatter at least some of the light in the optical light guide.\n\n12. The light assembly of claim 11, wherein the optical light guide has a rear surface that is opposite to the front surface, the light scattering elements being located along the rear surface of the optical light guide and being configured to reflect light towards the front surface for emission of the light through the front surface along the exposed region.\n\n13. The light assembly of claim 12, wherein the light scattering elements are at least one of etched areas of the optical light guide, a paint applied to the rear surface of the optical light guide, or a serrated object applied to the rear surface of the optical light guide.\n\n14. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the exposed edges of the optical light guide extend parallel to adjacent emblem edges of the emblem.\n\n15. The light assembly of claim 1, wherein the emblem represents an emblem of an automotive manufacturer.\n\n16. A light assembly for illuminating an emblem, the light assembly comprising:\nan emblem having a structural body defined by emblem edges; and\nan optical light guide coupled to the emblem, the optical light guide being configured to receive light generated by at least one light source and to transmit the light through the optical light guide, the optical light guide having a shape associated with the emblem, the optical light guide having a front surface facing and at least partially covered by the structural body of the emblem, the optical light guide defining exposed edges that project laterally beyond the emblem edges of the emblem,\nwherein an exposed region of the optical light guide is defined between the exposed edges and the emblem edges of the emblem, the optical light guide having light scattering elements located along the exposed region, the light scattering elements being configured to reflect at least some of the light being transmitted through the optical light guide to emit light from the optical light guide along the exposed region and illuminate the emblem edges of the emblem.\n\n17. The light assembly of claim 16, wherein the light scattering elements are etched areas of the optical light guide.\n\n18. The light assembly of claim 16, wherein the optical light guide receives the light from the at least one light source through an exterior edge of the optical light guide along a perimeter of the optical light guide, the optical light guide including at least one light spreading feature defined along the exterior edge, each light spreading feature aligned with and optically coupled to a corresponding light source such that light from the light source refracts through the light spreading feature to enter the optical light guide.\n\n19. The light assembly of claim 16, wherein the structural body of the emblem covers a covered region of the optical light guide that is adjacent to the exposed region of the optical light guide, the optical light guide having a reflective layer disposed on the front surface along the covered region, the reflective layer configured to reflect light that impinges thereon back into optical light guide to prohibit the light from being emitted from the front surface along the covered region.\n\n20. A light assembly for illuminating an emblem, the light assembly comprising:\na housing that holds at least one light source configured to generate light;\nan emblem having a structural body defined by emblem edges; and\nan optical light guide coupled to the housing, the optical light guide having a front surface facing and partially covered by the structural body of the emblem, the optical light guide having an exterior edge that extends from the front surface and defines a perimeter of the optical light guide, the optical light guide further including at least one light spreading feature along the exterior edge, each light spreading feature aligning with and optically coupling to a corresponding light source, the optical light guide also including exposed edges located interior of the exterior edges, the exposed edges projecting laterally beyond the emblem edges of the emblem to define an exposed region of the front surface,\nwherein the optical light guide is configured receive light from the at least one light source into the optical light guide through the at least one light spring feature along the exterior edge, and the optical light guide is configured to emit at least some of the light through the front surface along the exposed region to illuminate the emblem edges."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Soi Power Ldmos Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nSOI is a semiconductor technology that produces higher performing, lower power (dynamic) devices as compared to traditional bulk silicon-based technology. SOI functions by placing a thin, dielectric (electrically insulating) layer, such as silicon oxide or glass, between a thin top layer of a semiconductor material such as silicon and a supporting handle portion that is generally a silicon substrate. Power integrated circuits (ICs) have gained importance due to their advantages of small size, low cost, lower power consumption, and increased reliability. Power ICs operating in the low to medium voltage range (e.g., 30 V to 120 V) are used in applications such as automotive electronics, light-emitting diode drivers, plasma display panels, PC peripheral, and portable power management products. Low ON-resistance is often achieved through a reduced surface field (RESURF) structure in the LDMOS device design. The RESURF structure is designed to deplete the drift space of the LDMOS device in both vertical and lateral directions, thereby reducing the electric field near the surface at the drift region and thus raising the OFF-state breakdown voltage (BVdss) of the device. SOI is known for power ICs such as LDMOS devices because SOI provides superior electrical isolation between various devices on the chip as well as better performance. In an LDMOS device, the drain is laterally arranged to allow current to laterally flow, and a drift region is interposed between the channel and the drain to provide a high drain to source BV. LDMOS devices are thus generally designed to achieve higher BV while minimizing specific ON-resistance in order to reduce conduction power losses. The specific on-resistance (RON) is defined as the product of total ON-resistance and area of the device. Both the voltage breakdown voltage (VBR) and the ON-resistance of SOI LDMOS are dependent on the length and doping of the drift region. A long drift region length and low doping is generally needed to achieve high breakdown voltage in a conventional LDMOS device, which unfortunately, increases the ON-resistance of the device. Conversely, a shorter drift region length with higher a doping level reduces the ON-resistance, but adversely affects the breakdown voltage. Therefore, there is generally always a trade-off between the breakdown voltage and the ON-resistance.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn LDMOS device includes a handle portion having a buried dielectric layer and a semiconductor layer thereon doped a second dopant type. A drift region doped a first type is within the semiconductor layer providing a drain extension. A gate stack includes a gate electrode on a gate dielectric layer on respective sides of a junction with the drift region. A DWELL region is within the semiconductor layer. A source region doped the first type is within the DWELL region. A drain region doped the first type is within the drift region. A first partial buried layer doped the second type is in a first portion of the drift region including under the gate electrode. A second partial buried layer doped the first type is in a second portion of the drift region including under the drain."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of forming a laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) device, comprising:\nproviding a handle portion having a blanket buried dielectric (BOX) layer thereon and a semiconductor layer on said BOX layer, said semiconductor layer doped a second dopant type;\nforming a first partial buried layer doped said second dopant type in a first portion of said semiconductor layer;\nforming a second partial buried layer doped a first dopant type in a second portion of said semiconductor layer;\nforming a drift region doped said first dopant type within said semiconductor layer;\nimplanting a portion of said semiconductor layer lateral to said drift region including at least a first well implant comprising said second dopant type (DWELL implant) into said semiconductor layer to form a DWELL region;\nforming a gate stack including forming a gate dielectric layer over a channel region in said semiconductor layer adjacent to and on respective sides of a junction with said drift region, then a patterned gate electrode on said gate dielectric layer, wherein said gate stack is formed at least in part over said first partial buried layer;\nforming a source region within said DWELL region, and\nforming a drain region within said drift region and over said second partial buried layer.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a body region doped said second dopant type in said semiconductor layer, wherein said drift region and said DWELL region are both formed with said body region.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, further comprising growing an epitaxial layer on said semiconductor layer after said forming said first partial buried layer and said forming said second partial buried layer, wherein said body region is formed in said epitaxial layer.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein said forming said first partial buried layer comprises forming a blanket layer and said forming said second partial buried layer comprises a masked implant to form a localized layer having a doping level sufficiently high to counterdope a doping level in said first partial buried layer.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein said forming said second partial buried layer comprises forming a blanket layer and forming said first partial buried layer comprises a masked implant to form a localized layer having a doping level sufficiently high to counterdope a doping level in said second partial buried layer.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein said forming said first partial buried layer comprises a masked implant to form a localized layer, and wherein said forming said second partial buried layer comprises a masked implant to form a localized layer.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a plurality of field plates (FPs) selected from said gate electrode and at least one metal layer, wherein said FPs are staggered relative to one another with each said FP overlapping a larger portion of said drift region as its vertical distance to said drift region increases.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, wherein said substrate comprises silicon, wherein said gate dielectric layer comprises silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride (SiON) and wherein said gate electrode comprises polysilicon.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein said LDMOS device comprises a first LDMOS device and a second LDMOS device, said first LDMOS device having a different said partial buried layer compared to said second LDMOS device."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Improvements In And Relating To Vibration Control\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMachinery typically vibrates as it operates. The vibration can cause problems, for example mechanical damage, reduced efficiency of operation, increased noise and discomfort for persons in the vicinity of the machine. For example, in a nautical vehicle such as a ship, excessive vibration from the ship's engines can make travel in the ship uncomfortable. It is known to use active machinery raft isolation mounts to control vibrations resulting from the operation of machinery. However, machinery is typically coupled to its environment in ways additional to the coupling through the machinery's mounting, for example by flexible couplings associated with exhaust, cooling, fuel and power supply systems. Such couplings and other connections provide additional paths for vibrations to propagate from the machinery, even if no vibrations were coupled across the mounts. W\u00f6lfel Beratende Ingenieure GmbH+Co. KG produces an active absorber (ADD.Pipe) for the reduction of vibrations in pipes in piping systems in chemical plants and power plants. Vibrations in such systems are typically caused by water or other liquid hammers, pressure pulses or other excitations. The ADD.Pipe system is a collar that is clamped onto the piping system and includes a sensor that measures vibrations in the pipe and linear actuators actively controlled to move reaction masses to damp the vibrations in the pipe. However, the system offers only limited control, and has the potential to suffer from an effect known as pinning, in which vibration at the point of attachment of the collar is reduced but becomes worse at points elsewhere in the pipeline. It would be advantageous to provide an apparatus, including an active vibration suppressor, in which one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages is eliminated or at least reduced.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA machine is on a first side of a plate (20) and a rod (50) passes along or through the plate (20). The plate (20) is susceptible to vibrations arising from operation of the machine. An active vibration suppressor (60) is mounted on the rod (50), and a controller is configured to control the active vibration suppressor (60) to suppress vibrations of the plate (20)."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An active vibration suppressor apparatus for use with an arrangement including a machine, a rod and a plate, wherein the machine is on a first side of the plate and at least part of the rod is on the second, opposite, side of the plate, and wherein the plate is susceptible to vibrations arising from operation of the machine, the apparatus comprising:\nan active vibration suppressor configured to be mounted on the rod; and\na controller configured to control the active vibration suppressor to reduce vibrations of the plate,\nwherein the active vibration suppressor includes a collar that is configured to be connected to and at least partially surround a circumference of the rod, and\nwherein three or more actuators are arranged to act in a direction parallel to a length of the rod by acting on a first surface of the collar, the first surface of the collar being perpendicular to the length of the rod, and two or more further actuators arranged to act in two directions, orthogonal to the length of the rod and each other, by acting on the collar on a surface perpendicular to the first surface of the collar.\n\n2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the rod passes through the plate, from the first side of the plate to the second side of the plate.\n\n3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rod is connected to the machine.\n\n4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rod is a pipe.\n\n5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plate is or is part of a housing containing the machine.\n\n6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plate is part of the machine itself, or is directly connected to the machine.\n\n7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active vibration suppressor is configured to be mounted on the part of the rod on the second side of the plate.\n\n8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active vibration suppressor comprises a plurality of actuators arranged to act on the rod.\n\n9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sensors arranged to sense vibrations of the plate and to generate a signal indicative of those vibrations.\n\n10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to suppress vibrations of the plate by reducing the value of a parameter derived from the signal from the sensors.\n\n11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the parameter is the sum of mean squared velocities measured by the sensors.\n\n12. A method of suppressing vibrations arising from operation of a machine, wherein the machine is part of an apparatus also including a rod and a plate, the machine being on a first side of the plate and at least part of the rod being on the second, opposite side of the plate, the plate being susceptible to vibrations arising from operation of the machine, the method comprising:\napplying an actively controlled force to the rod using an active vibration suppressor configured to be mounted on the rod to reduce vibrations of the plate,\nwherein the active vibration suppressor includes a collar that is configured to be connected to and at least partially surround a circumference of the rod, and\nwherein three or more actuators are arranged to act in a direction parallel to a length of the rod by acting on a first surface of the collar, the first surface of the collar being perpendicular to the length of the rod, and two or more further actuators arranged to act in two directions, orthogonal to the length of the rod and each other, by acting on the collar on a surface perpendicular to the first surface of the collar.\n\n13. Vibration suppression equipment suitable for use in reducing vibrations in an apparatus comprising a machine, a rod and a plate, the equipment comprising:\nan active vibration suppressor configured to be mounted on the rod; and\na controller configured to control the active vibration suppressor to reduce vibrations of the plate,\nwherein the active vibration suppressor includes a collar configured to be connected to and at least partially surround a circumference of the rod, and\nwherein three or more actuators are arranged to act in a direction parallel to a length of the rod by acting on a first surface of the collar, the first surface of the collar being perpendicular to the length of the rod, and two or more further actuators arranged to act in two directions, orthogonal to the length of the rod and each other, by acting on the collar on a surface perpendicular to the first surface of the collar.\n\n14. The vibration suppression equipment of claim 13, wherein:\nthe rod is connected to the machine and passes through the plate, from the first side of the plate to the second side of the plate;\nthe plate is part of the machine itself, or is directly connected to the machine.\n\n15. The vibration suppression equipment of claim 13, wherein the active vibration suppressor comprises a plurality of actuators arranged to act on the rod.\n\n16. The vibration suppression equipment of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of sensors configured to generate a signal indicative of vibrations of the plate, wherein the controller is configured to suppress vibrations of the plate by reducing the value of a parameter derived from the signal from the sensors, wherein the parameter is the sum of mean squared velocities measured by the sensors."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Adaptive Suppression Of Vehicle Restraint System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nVehicles include restraint systems to reduce injuries to vehicle occupants during a collision. Restraint systems are not always deployed, however. For example, certain restraint systems are disabled unless a passenger is detected in a seat and the passenger is over a certain size or weight. Existing restraint systems, however, assume that all seats in the vehicle, and in particular the front seats, are always forward facing. Therefore, existing restraint systems may not be adequate for autonomous vehicles or other types of vehicles that could have dynamic seat configurations.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA vehicle has a restraint system with at least two restraint devices. A sensor detects a potential collision object and outputs a signal representing a relative position of the potential collision object to the vehicle. A processing device suppresses deployment of at least one of the restraint devices based at least in part on the signal output by the at least one sensor."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method comprising:\ndetermining a seat configuration in a vehicle including detecting a rear facing front seat;\ndetecting a potential collision object;\nreceiving a position signal representing a position of the potential collision object relative to the vehicle; and\nsuppressing deployment of at least one restraint device based at least in part on the position signal representing the position of the potential collision object and the seat configuration.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the position signal indicates a principal direction of force applied to the vehicle if the potential collision object were to collide with the vehicle.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein suppressing deployment of the at least one restraint device is based at least in part on detecting the rear facing front seat.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the position signal indicates a distance between the potential collision object and the vehicle.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein the position signal indicates a direction of the potential collision object relative to the vehicle.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the potential collision object includes receiving a communication signal from the potential collision object.\n\n7. The method of claim 6, wherein the position of the potential collision object is determined from the communication signal.\n\n8. A method comprising:\ndetermining an initial seat configuration of a host vehicle, the initial seat configuration including at least one seat facing a first direction while the host vehicle is operating in an autonomous mode;\ndetermining a new seat configuration of the host vehicle, the new seat configuration including the at least one seat facing a second direction while the host vehicle is operating in the autonomous mode;\ndetecting a potential collision object external to the host vehicle;\nreceiving a position signal representing a position of the potential collision object relative to a vehicle; and\nsuppressing deployment of at least one restraint device based at least in part on the position signal representing the position of the potential collision object and the new seat configuration.\n\n9. The method of claim 8, wherein the position signal indicates a principal direction of force applied to the host vehicle if the potential collision object were to collide with the vehicle.\n\n10. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the initial seat configuration includes receiving a first signal output by at least one seat sensor representing the configuration of the at least one seat.\n\n11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the initial seat configuration includes receiving a second signal output by the at least one seat sensor representing the configuration of the at least one seat.\n\n12. The method of claim 8, wherein the position signal indicates a distance between the potential collision object and the vehicle.\n\n13. The method of claim 8, wherein the position signal indicates a direction of the potential collision object relative to the vehicle.\n\n14. The method of claim 8, wherein detecting the potential collision object includes receiving a communication signal from the potential collision object.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein the position of the potential collision object is determined from the communication signal."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: High Voltage Direct Current Transmission And Distribution System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field The disclosed concept pertains generally to power distribution and, more particularly, to high voltage direct current transmission and distribution systems, such as, for example, such systems for above ground, below ground or subsea applications. The disclosed concept further pertains to circuit interrupters for high voltage direct current distribution systems. 2. Background Information Alternating current (AC) power distribution systems are well known. High voltage, direct current (DC) power distribution systems have less energy losses and require less costly transmission cables than corresponding AC distribution systems. In long transmission lines and, in particular, in ones that use cable, high voltage DC power transmission may be the only feasible method of power transmission because using AC will cause debilitating instability and excessive losses. When connecting a DC voltage source to a relatively long cable transmission line when the cable capacitance is discharged, relatively large oscillatory currents occur which, in turn, generate relatively large voltage spikes along the cable length. These voltage spikes can compromise the insulation of the cable itself as well as the insulation of any device electrically connected thereto. Furthermore, the relatively large oscillatory currents can cause nuisance tripping of protection devices of the transmission line. There is room for improvement in high voltage direct current transmission and distribution systems specifically regarding, for example, the cable charging process when the transmission line is energized. There is also room for improvement in circuit interrupters for such systems.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA direct current to alternating current inverter sub-system is for a HVDC distribution system. The DC to AC inverter sub-system includes an enclosure and a DC to DC galvanically isolated buck converter having a DC input electrically connectable to a HVDC cable and a DC output. A DC to AC inverter includes a DC input electrically connected to the DC output of the DC to DC galvanically isolated buck converter and an AC output electrically connectable to an AC transmission line. The DC to AC inverter is mounted in an enclosure with the DC to DC galvanically isolated buck converter, in order that the DC output of the DC to DC galvanically isolated buck converter is directly electrically connected within the enclosure to the DC input of the DC to AC inverter."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A direct current to alternating current inverter sub-system for a high voltage direct current distribution system, said direct current to alternating current inverter sub-system comprising:\nan enclosure;\na direct current to direct current galvanically isolated buck converter including a direct current input electrically connectable to a high voltage direct current cable and a direct current output, wherein the direct current to direct current galvanically isolated buck converter is structured to provide galvanic isolation between the direct current input and the high voltage direct current cable to avoid ground currents in the high voltage direct current cable; and\na direct current to alternating current voltage source inverter including a direct current input electrically connected to the direct current output of said direct current to direct current galvanically isolated buck converter and an alternating current output electrically connectable to an alternating current transmission line,\nwherein said direct current to alternating current voltage source inverter is mounted in said enclosure with said direct current to direct current galvanically isolated buck converter, in order that the direct current output of said direct current to direct current galvanically isolated buck converter is directly electrically connected within the enclosure to the direct current input of said direct current to alternating current voltage source inverter.\n\n2. The direct current to alternating current inverter sub-system of claim 1 wherein said enclosure is compensated for subsea pressure.\n\n3. The direct current to alternating current inverter sub-system of claim 1 wherein said direct current to direct current galvanically isolated buck converter is structured to shut down responsive to a short circuit condition operatively associated with the direct current input of said direct current to alternating current voltage source inverter.\n\n4. The direct current to alternating current inverter sub-system of claim 1 wherein said direct current to direct current galvanically isolated buck converter is structured to reduce a high direct current voltage from the high voltage direct current cable to a medium direct current voltage.\n\n5. A circuit interrupter for a power circuit of a high voltage direct current distribution system, said circuit interrupter comprising:\na first terminal;\na second terminal;\nan electromechanical isolation switch;\na solid-state switch electrically connected in series with said electromechanical isolation switch between said first and second terminals; and\na controller cooperating with said solid-state switch and said electromechanical isolation switch to open, close and trip open said power circuit, said controller being structured to repetitively turn on and turn off said solid-state switch a plurality of times when said electromechanical isolation switch is closed, in order to control charging of said power circuit from zero volts to a high direct current voltage, wherein said controller further comprises a trip mechanism structured to detect a fault downstream of said second terminal responsive to a failure to charge said power circuit, wherein said trip mechanism is structured to apply a predetermined current pulse to said power circuit, detect a corresponding predetermined voltage increase of a voltage of said power circuit, determine whether, within a certain time period, the voltage of said power circuit has decayed, responsive to determining that the voltage of said power circuit has decayed, determining that the fault downstream of said second terminal is present, and responsive to determining that the voltage of said power circuit has not decayed, determining that the fault downstream of said second terminal is not present.\n\n6. The circuit interrupter of claim 5 wherein when both of said electromechanical isolation switch and said solid-state switch are closed, said second terminal charges said power circuit to or toward the high direct current voltage from said first terminal.\n\n7. The circuit interrupter of claim 6 wherein said controller comprises a modulation element controlling said charging of said power circuit, said modulation element being structured to ramp a duty cycle of said solid-state switch being on from zero to one hundred percent.\n\n8. The circuit interrupter of claim 5 wherein said failure to charge is caused by a short circuit or an insulation failure of a high voltage direct current cable of said power circuit."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Fabricating Semiconductor Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n(i) Technical Field The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a semiconductor device. (ii) Related Art Nitride semiconductors are used in semiconductor devices such as an FET (Field Effect Transistor). In order to protect a nitride semiconductor layer, an insulating layer that covers the nitride semiconductor layer may be provided. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-166040 discloses an arrangement in which a protection film made of silicon oxide is provided on a nitride semiconductor layer. Conventionally, the capacitance of the semiconductor device, which may include the intrinsic capacitance and the parasitic capacitance, may change due to an oxide layer formed on the surface of the nitride semiconductor layer. Variation in the capacitance may drift the gain. Further, electrons are captured in electron traps in the insulating film, so that the current of the semiconductor device may change. Conventionally, it is difficult to suppress both variation in the capacitance and that in the current.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for fabricating a semiconductor device includes: forming a first film on a nitride semiconductor layer so as to contact the nitride semiconductor layer and have a thickness equal to or larger than 1 nm and equal to or smaller than 5 nm, the first film being made of silicon nitride having a composition ratio of silicon to nitrogen larger than 0.75, silicon oxide having a composition ratio of silicon to oxygen larger than 0.5, or aluminum; and forming a source electrode, a gate electrode and a drain electrode on the nitride semiconductor layer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:\nforming a first film that contacts with a surface of a nitride semiconductor layer by an atomic layer deposition method, the first film being made of silicon nitride having a composition ratio of silicon to nitrogen larger than 0.75, silicon oxide having a composition ratio of silicon to oxygen larger than 0.5, or aluminum, the first film having a first surface and a second surface that is opposite to the first surface, the first surface contacting the surface of the nitride semiconductor layer;\nforming a source electrode, a gate electrode and a drain electrode on the nitride semiconductor layer; and\nforming a second film on the second surface of the first film by the atomic layer deposition method, the second film comprising a material selected from a group consisting of silicon nitride, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide or aluminum nitride.\n\n2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film has a thickness that is equal to or larger than 1 nm and equal to or smaller than 5 nm.\n\n3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second film has a thickness equal to or larger than 20 nm and equal to or smaller than 100 nm.\n\n4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film has a thickness that is equal to or larger than 1 nm and equal to or smaller than 5 nm, and the second film has a thickness equal to or larger than 20 nm and equal to or smaller than 100 nm.\n\n5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second film is substantially a stoichiometric composition.\n\n6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second film is formed in contact with the second surface of the first film.\n\n7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second film is substantially a stoichiometric composition, and the second film is formed in contact with the second surface of the first film.\n\n8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a film growing temperature of the first film and the second film is equal to or higher than 200\u00b0 C. and equal to or lower than 400\u00b0 C.\n\n9. The method according to claim 1, wherein forming the first film and forming the second film are performed in-situ.\n\n10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film is silicon nitride, and the second film is composed of silicon nitride having a silicon composition smaller than the first film.\n\n11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film is composed of aluminum, and the method comprises forming a second film on the first film, a formation of the second film is performed in-situ after a formation of the first film.\n\n12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the formation of the first and second film is performed under an atomic layer deposition apparatus.\n\n13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film is formed between the source electrode and the gate electrode, and is between the gate electrode and the drain electrode.\n\n14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film is composed of silicon nitride, and the composition ratio of silicon to nitrogen of first film is larger than 0.8.\n\n15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film is composed of silicon nitride, and the composition ratio of silicon to nitrogen of first film is larger than 0.85.\n\n16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first film is composed of silicon nitride, and the composition ratio of silicon to nitrogen of first film is larger than 0.9."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electronic Circuit\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nHigh voltage switching transistors, such as power MOSFETs, junction field effect transistor (JFETs) and gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), are commonly used as semiconductor switches in high voltage and high power devices such as switched-mode power supplies, motor controllers, and high voltage and high power switching circuits. Some of these devices, such as the GaN HEMT have the ability to be operated at very high voltages without the device breaking down or becoming damaged. In many applications, a high voltage switching transistor is driven by a specialized driving circuit that produces switching voltages that are appropriate both for the particular application and for the particular technology of the switching transistor being driven. For example, a high side switching transistor that is referenced to a high voltage power supply node will often include a level shifting circuit that converts a ground referenced logic input level to a drive signal that is appropriately referenced to the high voltage power supply and has voltage levels that turns the high side switching transistor on and off. A few parameters that specify the performance of high voltage switching transistor systems include turn-on time, turn-off time, blocking voltage, on-resistance and power consumption. In the design of systems that utilize high voltage switching transistors, there is often a tradeoff involved among these parameters. For example, in high voltage switching transistors that have a very high blocking voltage and low on-resistance, there is often a corresponding high input capacitance that results in higher power consumption when the high voltage switching transistor is driven in a manner to achieve fast turn-on and turn-off times.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn accordance with an embodiment, a method includes driving a transistor device by a driver having an output coupled to a control node of the transistor through a capacitor and limiting a magnitude of a voltage of one polarity between the control node and a first load node of the transistor device by a rectifier circuit."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electronic circuit, comprising:\na transistor device comprising a control node and a first load node;\na driver having an input configured to receive an input signal and at least one output comprising a first output configured to provide a first drive signal based on the input signal, and a second output configured to provide a second drive signal based on the input signal;\na capacitor coupled between the at least one output and the control node of the transistor device, wherein each of the first output and the second output is coupled to the capacitor; and\na rectifier circuit connected between the first load node and the control node of the transistor device.\n\n2. The electronic circuit of claim 1, wherein the rectifier circuit is integrated with the transistor device.\n\n3. The electronic circuit of claim 1, wherein the transistor device has wide-bandgap properties.\n\n4. The electronic circuit of claim 3, wherein the transistor device is a GaN device, the control node is a gate node and the first load node is a source node.\n\n5. The electronic circuit of claim 4, wherein the GaN device is a GaN GIT device.\n\n6. The electronic circuit of claim 1, further comprising a first resistor connected in parallel with the capacitor.\n\n7. The electronic circuit of claim 6, further comprising a second resistor coupled between the at least one output and the first resistor.\n\n8. The electronic circuit of claim 1, further comprising a first resistor and a second resistor, wherein the second resistor is coupled in series with the capacitor to form a series circuit, and the first resistor is coupled in parallel with the series circuit.\n\n9. The electronic circuit of claim 1, wherein the rectifier circuit comprises at least one bipolar diode.\n\n10. The electronic circuit of claim 1, wherein the rectifier circuit comprises a plurality of bipolar diodes connected in series.\n\n11. The electronic circuit of claim 1, wherein the rectifier circuit comprises a series circuit with a bipolar diode and a Zener diode connected back-to-back.\n\n12. The electronic circuit of claim 1, further comprising:\na first resistor coupled in parallel with the capacitor;\na second resistor coupled between the first output and the capacitor; and\na third resistor coupled between the second output and the capacitor.\n\n13. The electronic circuit of claim 1, further comprising a second resistor connected between the first output and the capacitor.\n\n14. The electronic circuit of claim 1, further comprising a third resistor connected between the second output and the capacitor.\n\n15. The electronic circuit of claim 1, wherein a reference terminal of the driver and a reference terminal are coupled to a reference node.\n\n16. The electronic circuit of claim 15, wherein the reference node is a ground node.\n\n17. A drive circuit, comprising:\nan output comprising a first output node configured to be connected to a gate node of a transistor device and a second output node configured to be connected to a first load node of the transistor device;\na driver having an input configured to receive an input signal and at least one output configured to provide a drive signal based on the input signal, wherein the driver comprises a first output configured to provide a first drive signal based on the input signal and a second output configured to provide a second drive signal based on the input signal;\na capacitor coupled between the at least one output of the driver and the first output node, wherein each of the first output and the second output is coupled to the capacitor; and\na rectifier circuit connected between the second output node and the first output node.\n\n18. The drive circuit of claim 17, further comprising:\na first resistor connected in parallel with the capacitor.\n\n19. The drive circuit of claim 17, wherein the rectifier circuit comprises at least one bipolar diode.\n\n20. The drive circuit of claim 17, wherein the rectifier circuit comprises a plurality of bipolar diodes connected in series.\n\n21. The drive circuit of claim 17, wherein the rectifier circuit comprises a series circuit with a bipolar diode and a Zener diode connected back-to-back.\n\n22. The drive circuit of claim 17, further comprising:\na first resistor coupled in parallel with the capacitor;\na second resistor coupled between the first output and the capacitor; and\na third resistor coupled between the second output and the capacitor.\n\n23. The drive circuit of claim 17, further comprising:\na second resistor connected between the first output and the capacitor.\n\n24. The drive circuit of claim 17, further comprising:\na third resistor connected between the second output and the capacitor.\n\n25. A method, comprising:\ndriving a transistor device by a driver having an output coupled to a control node of the transistor device through a capacitor, wherein the driver is configured to provide a drive signal at the output based on an input signal, the driver comprises a first output configured to provide a first drive signal based on the input signal and a second output configured to provide a second drive signal based on the input signal, and each of the first output and the second output is coupled to the capacitor; and\nlimiting a magnitude of a voltage of one polarity between the control node and a first load node of the transistor device by a rectifier circuit.\n\n26. The method of claim 25, wherein the transistor device has wide-bandgap properties.\n\n27. The method of claim 26, wherein the transistor device is a GaN device.\n\n28. The method of claim 27, wherein the GaN device is a GaN GIT device.\n\n29. The method of claim 25, wherein the voltage of the one polarity is a negative voltage between the control node and the first load node."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And Apparatus For An Integrated Capacitor\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nCapacitors are indispensable parts for various electronic systems, which are widely used for signal filtering and decoupling, energy transfer and storage, and charge/information retention. Integration of capacitors with high capacitance density and low resistance are leverage in many applications. For instance, integrated capacitors can be use for power converters, especially power converters with small sizes (e.g. for portable and wearable electronics, fully integrated power supply on-chip (PwrSoC) applications, point-of-load (POL) applications, and granularity power supply applications). Power converters use capacitors to store or release energy at different intervals for a smooth and stable output voltage. For example, in linear voltage regulators or inductive switched-mode power converters, capacitors are connected in parallel with the load to absorb the excessive energy when the output voltage increases and releases the stored energy when the output voltage drops. In switched capacitor power converters, capacitors are used as medium to transfer energy from the input to the load by charging and discharging. In both cases, there will be a ripple current flowing through the capacitor. As a result, integrated capacitors with low resistance are important for achieving high-efficiency power converters. Another application that leverages capacitors with low resistance are microwaves. In order to achieve a smaller signal distortion, lower loss, and create less heat dissipation in a microwave system, high quality factor (Q) capacitors can be used. The Q factor of a capacitor is defined as the ratio of its reactance to its resistance. Therefore, in order to build integrated microwave systems, integrated capacitors with lower resistance can be leveraged to increase the Q factor. This background relating to fabrication of integrated capacitors is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of some current capacitor fabrication technology, and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other context regarding current state may become apparent upon review of the following detailed description.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn integrated capacitor can be fabricated with both electrodes formed by trenches for low resistance. According to one embodiment, the capacitor can comprise a first trench electrode, one or more dielectric layers, and a second trench electrode. The first trench electrode and the second trench electrode can be fabricated in different trenches to improve capacitance density and resistance of the integrated capacitor."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An apparatus, comprising:\na substrate comprising a dielectric layer;\na first electrode comprising a conductive material formed in a first trench of the substrate, wherein the dielectric layer is situated between the first electrode and the substrate; and\na second electrode comprising the conductive material formed in a second trench of the substrate, wherein the dielectric layer is situated between the second electrode and the substrate, resulting in a section of the substrate being situated between the dielectric layer of the first trench and the second trench.\n\n2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate conducts an inter-electrode current.\n\n3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\na doped region, wherein the first trench and the second trench are within the doped region.\n\n4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:\na first set of vias connected to the first electrode, and a second set of vias connected to the second electrode.\n\n5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the substrate comprises a first surface and a second surface opposite each other, and wherein the first trench and the second trench are formed on the first surface of the substrate, and are connected to the second surface of the substrate by the first set of vias and the second set of vias.\n\n6. An apparatus, comprising:\na substrate comprising a dielectric layer;\na first electrode comprising a conductive material formed in a first trench of the substrate, wherein the dielectric layer is situated between the first electrode and the substrate; and\na second electrode comprising the conductive material formed in a second trench of the substrate, and the conductive material forms electrical contact with the substrate, resulting in a section of the substrate being positioned between the dielectric layer of the first trench and the second trench.\n\n7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first trench and the second trench are formed on the first surface of the substrate, and wherein the first trench and the second trench are connected to a second surface of the substrate by a first set of vias and by a second set of vias.\n\n8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first set of vias are connected to the first electrode and the second set of vias are connected to the second electrode.\n\n9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the substrate conducts an inter-electrode current and a doped region, wherein the first trench and the second trench are within the doped region.\n\n10. A method, comprising:\nforming trenches for electrodes on a semiconductor substrate;\nforming a dielectric layer on the semiconductor substrate, resulting in a section of the substrate being located between the dielectric layer of a first trench of the trenches and a second trench of the trenches;\nforming a conductive layer comprising a conductive material on the semiconductor substrate; and\nremoving a portion of the conductive material.\n\n11. The method of claim 10, wherein the forming the trenches comprises wet etching the trenches.\n\n12. The method of claim 10, wherein the forming the trenches comprises plasma etching the trenches.\n\n13. The method of claim 10, wherein the forming the trenches comprises electrochemically etching the trenches.\n\n14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:\ndoping the semiconductor substrate in proximity to the trenches.\n\n15. The method of claim 10, wherein the forming the dielectric layer comprises thermally oxidizing the dielectric layer.\n\n16. The method of claim 10, wherein the forming the dielectric layer comprises applying a chemical vapor deposition to form the dielectric layer.\n\n17. A method of making an integrated capacitor, comprising a process of:\nforming trenches for electrodes on a first side of a semiconductor substrate;\nforming other trenches for electrical connections on a second side of the semiconductor substrate;\nforming a dielectric layer on the semiconductor substrate, wherein the forming the dielectric layer results in a section of the semiconductor substrate being between a first portion of the dielectric layer of a first trench of the trenches and a second portion of the dielectric layer of a second trench of the trenches;\nforming a conductive layer comprising a conductive material on the semiconductor substrate; and\nremoving a portion of the conductive material.\n\n18. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 17, wherein the forming the trenches comprises forming the trenches using etching.\n\n19. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 17, further comprising:\ndoping the semiconductor substrate in proximity to the trenches.\n\n20. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 17, wherein the forming the dielectric layer comprises forming the dielectric layer using an evaporation process.\n\n21. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 17, wherein the forming the dielectric layer comprises forming the dielectric layer using a thermal oxidation process.\n\n22. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 17, wherein the forming the dielectric layer comprises forming the dielectric layer using a chemical vapor deposition process.\n\n23. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 13, wherein the forming the dielectric layer comprises forming the dielectric layer using thermal oxidation.\n\n24. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 13, wherein the removing the excess of the conductive material comprises using a chemical-mechanical polishing process.\n\n25. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 17, wherein the conductive layer comprises doped silicon.\n\n26. The integrated capacitor produced by the process of claim 17, wherein the forming the conductive layer comprises using a chemical vapor deposition."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Multicomponent Magnetic Field Sensor\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe invention relates to a magnetic field sensor for measuring two or three components of a magnetic field. Magnetic field-sensitive measuring elements may take the form of magnetoresistive resistance elements or Hall elements. The arrangements are suitable for measuring magnetic fields of low intensity, such as for example to obtain an electronic compass. Arrangements of the type in question are known. For instance, DE 10 2009 008 265 describes an arrangement in which a suitable configuration of magnetically soft flux guides makes it possible to measure a plurality of components of an external magnetic field. A unit composed of sensor element and flux guide is here required for measuring each of the components located in the sensor plane. An additional sensor element is required for measuring the perpendicular component, wherein a suitable flux guide guides or deflects the perpendicular component of the magnetic field to be measured in such a way that, at the sensor location, a horizontal magnetic field component located in the sensor plane is also formed which can then be detected by a sensor element. DE 10 2008 041 859 describes an arrangement for measuring a Z magnetic field component oriented perpendicular to a magnetic field sensor plane, in which a plurality of sensor elements are interconnected to form a. magnetic field sensor element unit and are arranged around an in particular circular flux guidance element. It is proposed to measure the perpendicular Z magnetic field component indirectly by determining horizontal, symmetrical compensating magnetic field components arising by means of the flux guidance element on the basis of a magnetic field non-uniformity in the Z magnetic field component at the outer circumference of the flux guidance element by means of the sensor elements arranged adjacent to the flux guidance element. Further sensor elements are capable of determining magnetic field components in the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane, at least three different magnetic field sensor element units being provided for three-dimensional field measurement Using a plurality of sensor elements can bring about improvements in terms of measuring accuracy and immunity to interference. One drawback of the described solutions is the necessary space requirement for detecting a plurality of magnetic field components, as is typically required for compass applications. For the purpose of designing magnetic field sensor devices, it is known from the prior art to arrange \u201cbarber's pole structures\u201d, i.e. thin conductive structures, on an AMR measuring strip, which consist of extremely conductive material such as for example aluminium, copper, gold or silver. The barber's pole structures are oriented at 45\u00b0 relative to the longitudinal extent of the AMR resistance strip. A current flowing through the resistance strip is forced into a 45\u00b0 direction to the longitudinal extent of the strip, as shown in FIG. 2 . As a consequence, the curve in FIG. 1 showing the dependency of resistance on the orientation of the current vector is displaced by 45\u00b0 to the magnetic field vector, such that, as shown in FIG. 2 , it may be converted into a linearised region. As a function of the orientation of the barber's pole structures, a positive or negative flank is obtained for a linearisation between resistance and magnitude of the magnetic field to be measured. Magnetic field sensor devices which are based on barber's pole structures are known for example from DE 344 22 78 A1. Four such magnetic field sensor devices with differently oriented barber's pole structures are here interconnected in a Wheatstone measuring bridge, wherein an external magnetic field, which is generated by a macroscopic magnet coil premagnetises the internal magnetisation M 0 of the resistance strip in order to bring about a linearised resistance dependency on the external magnetic field H e . DE 43 191 46 C2 describes an improvement to such a design. Said document proposes arranging a series of AMR resistance devices with barber's pole structures along a conductor through which a flip current is flowing, wherein the flip current conductor brings about premagnetisation M 0 in the longitudinal direction of the AMR measurement strips. By flipping, i.e. reversing, the internal magnetisation, it is possible to reorient or calibrate resistance behaviour. The arrangement is capable of precisely measuring one component of an external magnetic field.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA magnetic field sensor apparatus for determining two or three components of a magnetic field includes at least one Wheatstone bridge with two half-bridges, wherein each half-bridge includes at least two bridge resistors, and at least one of the two bridge resistors is a magnetic-field-sensitive resistor with respect to a magnetic field component in an X/Y magnetic field sensor plane, Arranged symmetrically between the two magnetic-field-sensitive bridge resistors is a ferromagnetic flux concentration element which generates magnetic field components which are anti-symmetric with respect to a Z magnetic field component oriented perpendicular to the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane and are in the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane. A coordinate aspect proposes a method for determining a two-dimensional three-dimensional orientation of an external magnetic field by such a magnetic field sensor apparatus."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A magnetic field sensor device for determining two or three components of a magnetic field, comprising at least one Wheatstone bridge with two half-bridges, each half-bridge comprising at least two bridge resistors and at least one of the two bridge resistors being a magnetic field-sensitive resistor with regard to a magnetic field component located in an X/Y magnetic field sensor plane, a ferromagnetic flux concentration element being arranged symmetrically between the two bridge resistors which, with regard to a Z magnetic field component oriented perpendicular to the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane, generates antisymmetric magnetic field components located in the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane, wherein at least one of the circuit arrangement of the bridge resistors is individually switchable, the supply voltage of at least one half-bridge is individually switchable, and at least one of the magnetic field-sensitive bridge resistors have a switchable resistance characteristic curve so as to enable switching of at least one resistance characteristic curve, wherein in a first state an X/Y-located magnetic field component is measurable and in a second state a magnetic field component located in the Z direction is measurable.\n\n2. A magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic field-sensitive bridge resistors are AMR, GMR or TMR resistors.\n\n3. A magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, wherein at least one premagnetisation switching unit, in particular a flip conductor, is included which is capable of flipping, i.e. reversing an internal magnetisation of said bridge resistors for defining the resistance characteristic curve ( 36 ) of at least one magnetic field-sensitive bridge resistor.\n\n4. A magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, wherein all the resistors of the Wheatstone measuring bridge are magnetic field-sensitive resistors.\n\n5. A magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, wherein two Wheatstone measuring bridges ( 14 a, 14 b ) are comprised, wherein the orientation of the measurement-sensitive magnetic field components, located in the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane, of the two measuring bridges is perpendicular to each other.\n\n6. A magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the ferromagnetic flux concentration element ( 22 ) consists of iron, cobalt, nickel, a ferromagnetic alloy such as AlNiCo, SmCo, Nd2Fe14B, Ni80Fe20, NiFeCo alloy or a combination thereof.\n\n7. A magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the ferromagnetic flux concentration element has a symmetrical shape, in particular a mirror-symmetrical or rotationally symmetrical shape, in particular a rectangular, in particular a square shape in the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane, in which the side edges of the flux concentration element are preferably oriented in the X/Y direction.\n\n8. A magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, wherein an upper or a lower surface of the flux concentration element is located in the X/Y magnetic field sensor plane.\n\n9. A method for determining two or three components of a magnetic field by a magnetic field sensor device according to claim 1, comprising\nswitching of at least one of the resistance characteristic curves of mutually associated magnetic field-sensitive resistors of the two half-bridges or switching of the circuit arrangement of the bridge resistors in at least one half-bridge, wherein in a first state M 1, M 3 an X/Y-located magnetic field component is measurable by oppositely directed resistance profiles of mutually corresponding magnetic field-sensitive bridge resistors and in a second state M 2, M 4 a magnetic field component located in the Z direction is measurable by identically directed resistance profiles of mutually corresponding magnetic field-sensitive bridge resistors, and\nbringing about a voltage change at the centre tap of the half-bridge in a first change in magnitude and, in the Z direction perpendicular to the X/Y sensor plane, a different voltage change in a second change in magnitude with a magnetic field sensor component located in an X/Y sensor plane in the two half-bridges.\n\n10. A method according to claim 9 wherein switching of the states proceeds in the sequence M 1, M 2, M 1 and M 2 or M 1, M 2, M 3 and M 4.\n\n11. A method according to claim 9, wherein a voltage offset of the measuring bridge is filtered out by an evaluation unit."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Vehicle Of Monocoque Construction Formed From Thermoplastic Resin Members\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nSo called micro compact mobility such as a micro compact electric vehicle has been developed and spread in recent years. This is because that energy saving and CO 2 reduction have been demanded, and in a situation that aging, depopulation and abandonment of public transportation in local areas have been progressing, the micro compact mobility is expected to be a new means of transportation because it can be activated by small power, is easy to be driven by an elderly person and can be provided at a low price. For example, as such micro compact mobility, a one-seated micro compact electric vehicle \u201cComs\u201d is sold by Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. The present invention provides a vehicle body particularly suitable for micro compact mobility such as a micro compact electric vehicle, being lightweight, having a good field of view during driving, is simple in production, and has rigidity required as a vehicle body. Synthetic resin has been conventionally used for a vehicle body having a lighter weight, as shown in Patent Documents 1 to 3. Patent Document 1 discloses integrally molding a lower half part of a vehicle body by press molding of a metal plate such as a steel plate or a fiber-reinforced synthetic resin material such as FRP for a one- or two-seated compact vehicle body. Patent Document 2 discloses a vehicle body assembly for use in small vehicles, such as lawn and garden tractors formed by connecting a thin-walled upper member made of plastic which provides a high gloss surface and a lower member made of fiber reinforced plastic, wherein at least three multi-sided closed sectioned compartments are formed by the upper and lower members in order to improve hardness or rigidity of the assembly. Patent Document 3 discloses a vehicle body in which all of numerous main parts such as a lower body, a side member, a lower body, an inner, an upper body outer, a hood, a front bumper, a rear bumper and a roof are made of synthetic resin, wherein high rigidity of the vehicle body can be maintained by forming a reinforced part which has a substantially box shape cross-section, and is open downward so as to surround a whole outer periphery of the lower body, and forming a bulge part passing a front and rear direction in a center part of the lower body. Synthetic resin has lower rigidity than a steel plate. When synthetic resin is used for a structural member such as a lower body, problems occur such that rigidity of a vehicle body tends to be lower, control property changes by deformation of the vehicle body while driving, and control stability worsens. For the above reason, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a lower body (lower half vehicle body, lower member) is made of fiber reinforced plastic such as FRP, which requires time and labor to form the lower body. Further, in Patent Document 3, a lower body is made of synthetic resin similar to be used in numerous main parts such as a side member, an upper body inner and an upper body outer. However, the number of the parts constituting the vehicle body is large, time and labor are required to form and assemble the parts. In addition, the document does not disclose any means to secure a space capable of mounting a battery and fix the battery to be mounted in the space.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThis vehicle of monocoque construction is formed by fastening together resin parts which are an upper body integrally made of a transparent thermoplastic resin composition, a lower body integrally made of a thermoplastic resin composition and a floor integrally made of a thermoplastic resin composition, wherein the vehicle is characterized in that the lower body is provided with a flange part rising up from the entire perimeter of the bottom surface and, in the center of the bottom surface, a convex rib part that continues rearward from the front of the vehicle, and the upper body and the floor being fastened to the flange part and the convex rib part of the lower body. In so doing, there can be provided a vehicle which is lightweight, affords a good field of view during driving, is simple in construction, and has the necessary rigidity."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A vehicle body having monocoque construction formed by fastening together resin parts which are an upper body as an integrally molded article obtained by molding a transparent thermoplastic resin composition, a lower body as an integrally molded article obtained by molding a thermoplastic resin composition and a floor as an integrally molded article obtained by molding a thermoplastic resin composition, wherein\nthe transparent thermoplastic resin composition constituting the upper body is a polycarbonate resin composition, and the thermoplastic resin composition constituting the lower body and the floor is polycarbonate resin composition or polyamide resin composition;\nthe lower body has a bottom surface and a flange part rising up from an entire perimeter of the bottom surface;\nin a center of the bottom surface of the lower body, a convex rib part is formed continuously from a front part to a rear part of the vehicle body;\nat least two spaces surrounded by the flange part, the convex rib part and the bottom surface are formed in a center part of the lower body of the vehicle to allow auto parts such as a battery to be installed;\nthe auto parts to be installed in the space can be fixed through fastening of the lower body and the floor;\nthe upper body and the floor are mounted on the lower body, and the upper body and the floor are fastened together to the flange part and the convex rib part of the lower body; and\na front suspension sub-frame to which a suspension, a brake, and a steering are attached is contacted with and fixed to a large area of the bottom surface of the lower body.\n\n2. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein a groove is formed on a back surface of the convex rib part, and a plurality of ribs crossing the groove are provided.\n\n3. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein the upper body is divided into resin parts which are a front upper body, a rear upper body and a roof.\n\n4. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein the resin parts are formed by heat press molding of a resin plate obtained from the thermoplastic resin composition.\n\n5. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein the resin parts are formed by injection molding of the thermoplastic resin composition.\n\n6. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of independent protrusions are provided on the bottom surface of the lower body, and the fastening of the upper body and the floor to the lower body is performed at the protrusions in addition to the flange part and the convex rib part of the lower body.\n\n7. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle body is a vehicle body of a micro compact electric vehicle.\n\n8. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein an opening forming an entrance is provided on the upper body, and a frame member is provided on an entire perimeter of the formed entrance.\n\n9. The vehicle body according to claim 8, wherein a seat belt, a fall prevention member, a rain guard door and the like are attached to the frame member.\n\n10. The vehicle body according to claim 8, wherein a part of the flange part which is positioned in a lower part of the entrance is extended outward, a cross-sectional shape of the extended part is made to a substantial U-shape which extends first downward and then upward, and a tip part of the extended part is connected to the frame member.\n\n11. The vehicle body according to claim 1, wherein a vehicle body of the monocoque construction is egg-shaped.\n\n12. The vehicle body according to claim 11, wherein two ridge line parts which are symmetrical with respect to a center line of the vehicle body in a front and rear direction and substantially parallel to the center line are provided on at least an upper surface of the upper body.\n\n13. The vehicle body according to claim 12, wherein curvature of the ridge line part is smaller than curvature of any part of the upper body, and the curvature radius is 5mm or more."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Modular Cabin Segment, Cabin For A Vehicle And Vehicle With A Cabin\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nVehicles for transporting passengers, which vehicles have a cabin with passenger seats arranged therein, usually need to meet economic expectations so that, in the design of passenger cabins with limited space provided, the largest-possible number of passengers can be transported. In particular if the vehicle is used to travel longer distances, apart from the passenger seats, further equipment features are required in order to ensure passenger wellbeing. Apart from toilets this also relates to equipment for heating, cooling, the preparation and storage of food and drinks. Parallel to this, in particular in the case of commercial aircraft or other technically complex vehicles, there is also the desire of many operators to design a cabin according to their own wishes. Usually, in the case of aircraft this requirement is met by a number of galley monuments or toilet monuments standardized by the manufacturer of the aircraft. These monuments often separate individual cabin sections from each other in longitudinal direction of the cabin and are often provided so as to be separate from each other. Furthermore, in particular in commercial aircraft it is a regulatory requirement to provide a cabin attendant seat for each cabin attendant so that each cabin attendant can take up a safe position during takeoff and landing of the aircraft, which cabin attendant seat additionally occupies already confined space in the cabin. DE 43 00 877 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,260 A disclose an aircraft with a number of supply devices and toilets that are designed as independent conventional toilet compartments.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA modular cabin segment for a vehicle includes a first lateral segment module accommodating a first toilet arrangement with a toilet compartment, a second lateral segment module, and at least one central module, wherein in each case an outer lateral face of the first segment module and of the second lateral segment module is designed to adapt in each case to an inner wall of a cabin of the vehicle so as to correspond to the aforesaid. At least one of the modules includes a cabin attendant seat that on one side is held on the at least one module so that it can be pivoted on an axis. In this manner very good integration of many different functions in the manner of a construction kit is achieved in order to be able to accommodate a greater number of passenger seats elsewhere within the limited space provided in a cabin."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A modular cabin segment for a vehicle, comprising:\na first lateral segment module accommodating a first toilet arrangement with at least one first toilet compartment;\na second lateral segment module; and\nat least one central module,\nwherein an outer lateral face of the first segment module and of the second lateral segment module are configured to snugly fit in each case to an inner wall of a cabin of the vehicle so as to correspond to the inner wall,\nwherein the second lateral segment module is a galley module,\nwherein the at least one central module is arranged between the first lateral segment module and the second lateral segment module and accommodates a second toilet arrangement with at least one second toilet compartment adjacent the first toilet compartment, and\nfurther comprising a partition wall arranged between the first toilet compartment and the adjacent second toilet compartment, wherein the partition wall is movably held and is configured to be brought to an opening position in which separation between the first toilet compartment and the second toilet compartment is canceled,\nwherein the partition wall comprises first and second individual partition wall segments that are movably held, and\nwherein the first partition wall segment is configured to be folded to a first sidewall of the first toilet compartment, while the second partition wall segment is configured to be pivoted into a region that is not situated in the first toilet compartment or in the second toilet compartment.\n\n2. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein at least one of the modules comprises at least one cabin attendant seat supported on the at least one module on one side so that the at least one cabin attendant seat is pivotable on an axis.\n\n3. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein a cabin attendant seat is supported on the at least one module in such a manner that the cabin attendant seat is pivotable either in front of a toilet arrangement or in front of a storage compartment.\n\n4. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein the second lateral segment module comprises at least one parking space for a cabin trolley and at least one storage compartment for accommodating objects.\n\n5. The cabin segment of claim 4, wherein the at least one parking space comprises dimensions that allow to accommodate a wheelchair in a folded state thereof.\n\n6. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein the second toilet arrangement is arranged on a side of the central module, which side faces the first toilet arrangement.\n\n7. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein the second toilet arrangement extends across the entire width of the at least one central module.\n\n8. The cabin segment of claim 1,\nwherein the at least one central module comprises at least one parking space for at least one cabin trolley and at least one storage compartment, and\nwherein a cabin attendant seat is supported on the at least one central module in such a manner that the cabin attendant seat is pivotable in front of an access opening of the second toilet arrangement.\n\n9. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein at least part of the central module and the lateral segment module are interconnected in the form of an enlarged lateral segment module.\n\n10. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein the second toilet arrangement has at least one toilet compartment comprising a urinal, said toilet compartment being arranged in a transverse direction beside the at least one storage compartment.\n\n11. The cabin segment of claim 1, wherein a direction of extension of the first toilet compartment and a direction of extension of the second toilet compartment are arranged so as to be essentially perpendicular to each other.\n\n12. A cabin for a vehicle, comprising at least one cabin segment, the cabin segment comprising:\na first lateral segment module accommodating a first toilet arrangement with at least one first toilet compartment;\na second lateral segment module; and\nat least one central module,\nwherein an outer lateral face of the first segment module and of the second lateral segment module are configured to snugly fit in each case to an inner wall of a cabin of the vehicle so as to correspond to the inner wall,\nwherein the second lateral segment module is a galley module,\nwherein the at least one central module is arranged between the first lateral segment module and the second lateral segment module and accommodates a second toilet arrangement with at least one second toilet compartment adjacent the first toilet compartment, and\nfurther comprising a partition wall arranged between the first toilet compartment and the adjacent second toilet compartment, wherein the partition wall is movably held and is configured to be brought to an opening position in which separation between the first toilet compartment and the second toilet compartment is canceled,\nwherein the partition wall comprises first and second individual partition wall segments that are movably held, and\nwherein the first partition wall segment is configured to be folded to a first sidewall of the first toilet compartment, while the second partition wall segment is configured to be pivoted into a region that is not situated in the first toilet compartment or in the second toilet compartment.\n\n13. A vehicle comprising a cabin, the cabin comprising:\nat least one cabin segment, the cabin segment comprising:\na first lateral segment module accommodating a first toilet arrangement with at least one first toilet compartment;\na second lateral segment module; and\nat least one central module,\nwherein an outer lateral face of the first segment module and of the second lateral segment module are configured to snugly fit in each case to an inner wall of a cabin of the vehicle so as to correspond to the inner wall, and\nwherein the second lateral segment module is a galley module,\nwherein the at least one central module is arranged between the first lateral segment module and the second lateral segment module and accommodates a second toilet arrangement with at least one second toilet compartment adjacent the first toilet compartment, and\nfurther comprising a partition wall arranged between the first toilet compartment and the adjacent second toilet compartment, wherein the partition wall is movably held and is configured to be brought to an opening position in which separation between the first toilet compartment and the second toilet compartment is canceled,\nwherein the partition wall comprises first and second individual partition wall segments that are movably held, and\nwherein the first partition wall segment is configured to be folded to a first sidewall of the first toilet compartment, while the second partition wall segment is configured to be pivoted into a region that is not situated in the first toilet compartment or in the second toilet compartment.\n\n14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Methods And System For Illuminating Decorations\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nPeople illuminate decorations, such as pumpkins caved into jack-o-lanterns during Halloween. A small candle placed in the jack-lantern typically provides the light. The candle is often visible from the front of the jack-o-lantern, leading the viewer to be distracted by the candle itself instead of the carved art of the jack-o-lantern. The concentrated light of the candle also ruins photographs of the jack-o-lantern, especially at night.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nMethods and apparatus for illuminating decorations according to various aspects of the present invention may comprise a light source and a diffuser. A connector may connect the light source to the decoration. A reflector may reflect light from the light source towards an anticipated observer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A light apparatus for illuminating a jack-o-lantern, comprising:\na base;\nan LED mounted on a front side of the base;\na diffuser mounted on the front side of the base and covering the LED;\na piercing connector mounted on a back side of the base; and\na reflector attached to the base.\n\n2. The light apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reflector's color approximates the color of a pumpkin's interior.\n\n3. The light apparatus of claim 1, wherein the piercing connector comprises at least one corkscrew.\n\n4. The light apparatus of claim 1, wherein the diffuser includes a color filter.\n\n5. The light apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source generates about 0.5 to about 10 candelas.\n\n6. The light apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source generates about 0.5 to about 3 candelas."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Valve Operator Assembly With Compensating Actuator\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nValves are used in a variety of industries to control the flow of fluids. In particular, gate valves are used extensively in the oil and gas industry to control the flow of produced fluids at various stages of production. Most gate valves used in this industry comprise a valve body having a longitudinal flow bore and a transverse gate cavity that intersects the flow bore. A gate having a gate opening extending transversely therethrough is disposed in the gate cavity. A valve stem is provided for moving the gate between an open position, in which the gate opening is aligned with the flow bore, and a closed position, in which the gate opening is offset from the flow bore. The gate cavity of the valve body is covered by a bonnet having an axial bore through which passes the valve stem. Such a gate valve is associated to a valve operator assembly for selectively driving the valve stem up and down in order to close and open the gate valve. A gate valve may be manually actuated. In this case, the valve operator assembly generally comprises a transmission mechanism to convert the rotational motion of a hand-wheel into axial motion of the valve stem. To quickly open and close the gate valve with a minimum number of turns, the transmission mechanism may be a ball screw mechanism or a planetary roller screw mechanism in order to reduce the operating torque, for instance manual hand-wheel torque or powered with electric drive for surface valves or with remote operating vehicle (ROV) or electric actuation for subsea valves. For more details, it is possible for example to refer to the patent EP-B1-1 419 334 (SKF). A balance system is generally provided on the valve body of the gate valve to prevent a back-driving of the transmission mechanism with the upward force exerted by the fluid. Under fluid pressure, the gate valve can effectively be inadvertently opened or closed. The balance system may comprise a balance stem disposed on the valve body and which is exposed to fluid pressure to offset or balance the force exerted on the gate. When operating a gate valve without using such a balance stem, the force of the fluid helps in one direction a movement of the valve stem and the screw of the transmission mechanism whereas the force is against a movement in the opposite direction. For instance, when the valve is vertical and the drive input is uppermost, the upward force of the fluid helps an upwards movement of the valve stem and the screw. Accordingly, the required torque on the rotational drive input, such as manual hand-wheel, is usually much higher for the movements in one direction compared to the movements in the opposite direction.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe valve operator assembly is provided for a valve and comprises a housing 18, an input member 20 rotatably mounted with respect to said housing and comprising a rotational drive input 72, and a transmission mechanism 22 connected to said input member and comprising a stem 24, said transmission mechanism being adapted to convert applied rotation of the rotational drive input into axial translation of said stem. The assembly further comprises at least one elastic actuator 33 axially located between the input member 20 and the stem 24 to obtain a compression of the actuator during an axial translation of said stem towards the input member and a release of said actuator during an axial translation in the opposite direction."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A valve operator assembly for a valve comprising a valve body and a valve translating member axially moveable, the assembly comprising:\na housing adapted to be mounted on the valve;\nan input member rotatably mounted with respect to the housing and comprising a rotational drive input;\na transmission mechanism connected to the input member and comprising a translating element adapted to be connected to the valve translating member of the valve,\nwherein the transmission mechanism is adapted to convert applied rotation of the rotational drive input into axial translation of the translating element;\nat least one elastic actuator axially located between the input member and the translating element to obtain a compression of the elastic actuator during an axial translation of the translating element towards the input member and a release of the elastic actuator during an axial translation in the opposite direction; and\nthe transmission mechanism further comprising:\na screw,\na nut surrounding and coaxial with said the screw, and\na plurality of rolling elements radially disposed between the screw and the nut and each engaged in both outer and inner threads provided on the screw and the nut; and\nwherein a contact diameter (D contact ) between the rolling elements and the screw or the nut is defined by:\nD contact \u2265 L \u03c0 \u00d7 tan \u2062 \u2062 ( \u03a6 )\nwherein L corresponds to the lead of the screw mechanism, and\nwherein \u03a6 corresponds to a determined non-back-driving factor which is chosen from 0\u00b0<\u03a6\u22661\u00b0, the contact diameter being provided in order to prevent back-driving of the mechanism.\n\n2. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein the elastic actuator bears axially against the translating element.\n\n3. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein the elastic actuator is coaxial with an axis ( 24 a ) of the translating element.\n\n4. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein the elastic actuator comprises at least one compression spring.\n\n5. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein the transmission mechanism and the input member delimit together a space ( 78 ) inside which is disposed the elastic actuator.\n\n6. The valve operator assembly according to claim 5, wherein the transmission mechanism further comprises at least one thrust rolling bearing mounted on the input member, the elastic actuator bearing axially against the thrust rolling bearing.\n\n7. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein the transmission mechanism and the housing delimit together a space inside which is disposed the elastic actuator.\n\n8. The valve operator assembly according to claim 7, the elastic actuator bears axially against a protrusion of the housing.\n\n9. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein one of the screw or the nut forms the translating element.\n\n10. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein the non-back-driving factor is chosen from 0\u00b0<\u03a6\u22660.5\u00b0.\n\n11. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, further comprising at least one rolling bearing radially disposed between the transmission mechanism and the housing.\n\n12. The valve operator assembly according to claim 11, wherein the rolling bearing is mounted on an outer surface of the transmission mechanism.\n\n13. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, the input member further comprising an adapter sleeve connected to the transmission mechanism and the rotational drive input connected to the sleeve.\n\n14. The valve comprising:\na valve body;\na valve translating member axially moveable; and\na valve operator assembly, comprising:\na housing adapted to be mounted on the valve;\nan input member rotatably mounted with respect to the housing and comprising a rotational drive input;\na transmission mechanism connected to the input member and comprising a translating element adapted to be connected to the valve translating member of the valve,\nwherein the transmission mechanism is adapted to convert applied rotation of the rotational drive input into axial translation of the translating element;\nat least one elastic actuator axially located between the input member and the translating element to obtain a compression of the elastic actuator during an axial translation of the translating element towards the input member and a release of the elastic actuator during an axial translation in the opposite direction; and\nthe transmission mechanism further comprising:\na screw,\na nut surrounding and coaxial with said the screw, and\na plurality of rolling elements radially disposed between the screw and the nut and each engaged in both outer and inner threads provided on the screw and the nut; and\nwherein a contact diameter (D contact ) between the rolling elements and the screw or the nut is defined by:\nD contact \u2265 L \u03c0 \u00d7 tan \u2062 \u2062 ( \u03a6 )\nwherein L corresponds to the lead of the screw mechanism, and\nwherein \u03a6 corresponds to a determined non-back-driving factor which is chosen from 0\u00b0<\u03a6\u22661\u00b0, the contact diameter being provided in order to prevent back-driving of the mechanism.\n\n15. The valve operator assembly according to claim 1, wherein the non-back-driving factor is chosen from 0\u00b0<\u03a6\u22660.4\u00b0."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Optical Path Control Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nPatent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2009-276747) discloses a wavelength selective switch to be used in a wavelength division multiplex system. This wavelength selective switch has a plurality of fiber ports arranged in a fiber port array and a plurality of optical elements capable of operating in conjunction with the plurality of fiber ports. Furthermore, this wavelength selective switch has a dispersive element and a switching element. The dispersive element decomposes at least one optical signal into a plurality of wavelength components. The switching element is composed of MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) mirrors and configured to guide one selected from the plurality of wavelength components to one selected from the plurality of fiber ports. Patent Literature 2 (Japanese Translation of PCT Application Publication No. 2010-509639) discloses an optical switch. This optical switch has two fiber port arrays each of which has a plurality of fiber ports. Each fiber port array is configured either with N input fiber ports and 1 output fiber port or with 1 input fiber port and N output fiber ports. Light beams input from the two respective fiber port arrays are guided to two respective MEMS mirrors by a beam guide element disposed immediately in front of a switching element.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn an optical path control device, a light input section 1 forms optical apertures 61a, 61b to output dispersed beams L2a, L2b, respectively, so that propagation angles of the dispersed beams L2a, L2b in an YZ plane are different from each other, at a focal position on the dispersive element 5 side of an optical power element 6. The dispersed beams L2a, L2b propagating at their respective angles different from each other in the YZ plane are individually coupled to optical deflectors 7a, 7b, respectively."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An optical path control device comprising first to thirteenth elements,\nwherein the first element includes a first input port to which a first wavelength-multiplexed beam is input and a second input port to which a second wavelength-multiplexed beam is simultaneously input,\nwherein the second element is comprised of the third and fourth elements and is an anamorphic converter configured to convert an aspect ratio of beam spots of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams input from the first and second input ports,\nwherein the third element includes first and second optical power elements arranged in juxtaposition in propagation directions of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams and configured to converge the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams in a plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams and a first direction,\nwherein the fourth element includes a third optical power element configured to collimate the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams in a plane spanned by a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the propagation directions of the wavelength-multiplexed beams,\nwherein the fifth element is a first dispersive element configured to rotate a propagation direction of light of each wavelength included in each of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams around an axis along the first direction depending upon the wavelength, in a plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams output from the second element and the second direction, thereby to generate each of a plurality of first dispersed beams and a plurality of second dispersed beams characterized by wavelengths,\nwherein the sixth element includes a fourth optical power element configured to converge each of the first and second dispersed beams and align propagation directions of the first and second dispersed beams with each other, in a plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second dispersed beams output from the fifth element and the second direction,\nwherein the seventh element is first and second optical deflectors configured to rotate each of the first and second dispersed beams around an axis along a third direction perpendicular to the first direction, in a plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second dispersed beams output from the sixth element and the first direction, the first and second optical deflectors being provided in juxtaposition in the first direction,\nwherein the eighth element includes a fifth optical power element configured to rotate each of the first and second dispersed beams output from the seventh element around an axis along a fourth direction perpendicular to the third direction depending upon the wavelength, in a plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second dispersed beams output from the seventh element and the third direction,\nwherein the ninth element is a second dispersive element configured to multiplex each of the first and second dispersed beams, in a plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second dispersed beams output from the eighth element and the third direction, to generate first and second multiplexed beams,\nwherein the tenth element is comprised of the eleventh and twelfth elements and is an anamorphic converter configured to convert an aspect ratio of beam spots of the first and second multiplexed beams,\nwherein the eleventh element includes sixth and seventh optical power elements configured to converge the first and second multiplexed beams in a plane spanned by propagation directions of the first and second multiplexed beams and the fourth direction,\nwherein the twelfth element includes an eighth optical power element configured to converge the first and second multiplexed beams in a plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second multiplexed beams and the third direction,\nwherein the thirteenth element includes first and second output ports configured to output the first and second multiplexed beams, respectively, output from the tenth element,\nwherein the first element forms first and second optical apertures to output the first and second dispersed beams, respectively, so that propagation angles of the first and second dispersed beams are different from each other in a second plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second dispersed beams and the first direction, at a focal position on the fifth element side of the sixth element, and\nwherein the first and second dispersed beams having propagated at the respective angles different from each other in the second plane are individually coupled to the first and second optical deflectors, respectively.\n\n2. The optical path control device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first and second input ports are arranged in juxtaposition in the first direction, and\nwherein the first element forms third and fourth optical apertures to output the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams, respectively, so that propagation angles of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams are different from each other in a second plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams and the first direction, at a focal position on the first element side of the third element.\n\n3. The optical path control device according to claim 2,\nwherein optical axes of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams intersect with each other, between the third and fourth optical apertures and the first and second input ports in the propagation directions of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams.\n\n4. The optical path control device according to claim 1,\nwherein a focal position of the first element in the propagation directions of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams is coincident with a focal position on the first element side of the first optical power element in the directions, and\nwherein the first element makes the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams propagate at respective angles different from each other in the plane spanned by the propagation directions of the first and second wavelength-multiplexed beams and the first direction.\n\n5. The optical path control device according to claim 1,\nwherein the first element further includes a tenth optical power element configured to adjust beam diameters of the first and second dispersed beams at the first and second optical apertures.\n\n6. The optical path control device according to claim 1,\nwherein each of the first and second optical power elements includes a plurality of lenses arranged as divided along the first direction.\n\n7. The optical path control device according to claim 1,\nwherein each of the sixth to eighth optical power elements includes a plurality of lenses arranged as divided along the fourth direction.\n\n8. The optical path control device according to claim 1,\nwherein an optical power of the first optical power element and an optical power of the second optical power element are equal to each other.\n\n9. The optical path control device according to claim 1,\nwherein an optical power of the sixth optical power element and an optical power of the seventh optical power element are equal to each other."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Zoom Lens And Image Pickup Apparatus Including The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a zoom lens, which is suitable for, for example, an image pickup optical system used in an image pickup apparatus such as a digital still camera, a video camera, a monitoring camera, a broadcasting camera, a silver-halide film camera, or the like. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image pickup apparatus using solid-state image pickup elements or silver-halide films have been increased in functionality while the entire apparatus have been reduced in size. As image pickup optical systems to be used in those image pickup apparatus, a small zoom lens having a high zoom ratio, a wide angle of view, and high optical performance over an entire zoom range even in the periphery of a screen has been sought for. As a zoom lens that is small as the entire system and has a high zoom ratio, there has been known a positive lead type zoom lens including, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, and a rear lens group including at least one lens unit arranged subsequently to the third lens unit. In a zoom lens, aberration that has occurred in a first lens unit is enlarged by a second lens unit and subsequent lens units. Thus, when a higher zoom ratio is realized, it is important to suppress aberration occurring in the first lens unit as much as possible. Among various aberrations occurring in the first lens unit, aberration that occurs in a large amount is the secondary spectrum of axial chromatic aberration at a telephoto end. Hitherto, in order to suppress the secondary spectrum of axial chromatic aberration at a telephoto end, a low dispersion material having high relative partial dispersion has been used for a positive lens in a first lens unit. Moreover, in order to correct the above-mentioned secondary spectrum of the axial chromatic aberration that has occurred in the first lens unit, a material having high relative partial dispersion has been used for a positive lens in a third lens unit having a positive refractive power. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-91788, there is disclosed a zoom lens having a high zoom ratio in which anomalous dispersion materials are used as materials of positive lenses in a first lens unit and a third lens unit, to thereby satisfactorily correct the secondary spectrum of chromatic aberration. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-32700, there is disclosed a zoom lens in which a third lens unit includes a lens formed of a material having an anomalous dispersion characteristic. When a material having a strong anomalous dispersion characteristic is used to suppress the secondary spectrum of axial chromatic aberration at a telephoto end as in the zoom lenses disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-91788 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-32700, lateral chromatic aberration is increased at a wide angle end. In order to satisfactorily correct axial chromatic aberration and lateral chromatic aberration over an entire zoom range while realizing a higher magnification, it is important to appropriately set a power arrangement of each of lens units and materials of lenses in each of the lens units.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nProvided is a zoom lens, including, in order from an object side to an image side: a first lens unit having a positive refractive power; a second lens unit having a negative refractive power; a third lens unit having a positive refractive power; and a rear lens group including at least one lens unit, in which an interval between each pair of adjacent lens units is changed during zooming, and materials of lenses included in a lens unit arranged closest to the image side are appropriately set."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A zoom lens comprising, in order from an object side to an image side:\na first lens unit having a positive refractive power;\na second lens unit having a negative refractive power;\na third lens unit having a positive refractive power; and\na rear lens group including at least one lens unit,\nwherein an interval between each pair of adjacent lens units is changed during zooming,\nwherein a lens unit arranged closest to the image side includes at least two lenses,\nwherein materials of all of lenses included in the lens unit arranged closest to the image side comprise a material satisfying the following conditional expression:\n0.0 <\u03b8gFr\u2212 (\u22121.520\u00d710 \u22127 \u00d7\u03bddr 3 +5.213\u00d710 \u00d7\u03bddr 2 \u22125.500\u00d710 \u22123 \u00d7\u03bddr+ 0.730),\n\n2. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n1.5< ft/f 1<5.0,\nwhere ft represents a focal length of the zoom lens at a telephoto end.\n\n3. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n\u221230.0< ft/f 2<\u22125.0,\nwhere f 2 represents a focal length of the second lens unit, and ft represents a focal length of the zoom lens at a telephoto end.\n\n4. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n5.0< ft/f 3<20.0,\nwhere f 3 represents a focal length of the third lens unit, and ft represents a focal length of the zoom lens at a telephoto end.\n\n5. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the materials of the all of lenses included in the lens unit arranged closest to the image side comprise a material satisfying the following conditional expression:\n10.0<\u03bd dr< 100.0,\nwhere \u03bddr represents the Abbe number of the material of the lens included in the lens unit arranged closest to the image side.\n\n6. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n40.0<\u03bd drp< 100.0,\nwhere \u03bddrp represents an Abbe number of a material of a positive lens included in the lens unit arranged closest to the image side.\n\n7. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n10.0<\u03bd drn< 40.0,\nwhere \u03bddrn represents an Abbe number of a material of a negative lens included in the lens unit arranged closest to the image side.\n\n8. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n\u221230.0< m 1/ fw<\u2212 3.0,\nwhere m 1 represents a movement amount of the first lens unit during zooming from the wide angle end to a telephoto end.\n\n9. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n\u221210.0< m 3/ fw<\u2212 0.5,\nwhere m 3 represents a movement amount of the third lens unit during zooming from the wide angle end to a telephoto end.\n\n10. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n2.0< ft/|fr|< 15.0,\nwhere fr represents a focal length of the lens unit arranged closest to the image side, and ft represents a focal length of the zoom lens at a telephoto end.\n\n11. The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:\n1.6 2) downlink subframes are associated with an uplink subframe in each of two serving cells, the method performed by a user equipment (UE) and comprising:\nreceiving M downlink subframes associated with an uplink subframe n in each of the two serving cells; and\ntransmitting an ACK/NACK response for the M downlink subframes received in each of the two serving cells by using one resource selected from four candidate resources in the uplink subframe n,\nwherein the two serving cells comprises a first serving cell and a second serving cell,\nwherein, in the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell,\nif a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) indicated by detecting a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with a downlink assignment index (DAI) value equal to 1 or a second PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 2 is received, or\nif a first semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) release PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 or a second SPS release PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 2 is received,\namong the four candidate resources, a first resource is determined based on a first control channel element (CCE) used in transmission of the first PDCCH or the first SPS release PDCCH, and\na second resource is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the second PDCCH or the second SPS release PDCCH.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one downlink subframe among the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in which a downlink grant is transmitted and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, wherein the downlink grant includes a downlink assignment index (DAI) indicating an accumulative number of PDCCH with assigned PDSCH transmission.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein if a PDSCH, indicated by detection of a third PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 or a fourth PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 2 received in the M downlink subframes in the first serving cell, is received in the M downlink subframes in the second serving cell,\na third resource among the four candidate resources is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the third PDCCH,\nand a fourth resource among the four candidate resources is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the fourth PDCCH.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein if a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), which is a PDSCH having no corresponding physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), is received in the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell,\na first resource among the four candidate resources is one resource selected from four resources configured by using a higher layer signal, and the selected one resource is indicated by a PDCCH indicating activation of semi-persistent scheduling.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, wherein in the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell,\nif a PDSCH indicated by detecting a first PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 or if a first SPS release PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 is received,\na second resource among the four candidate resources is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the first PDCCH or the first SPS release PDCCH.\n\n7. A user equipment (UE) operated in a time division duplex (TDD)-based wireless communication system in which M (M>2) downlink subframes are associated with an uplink subframe in each of two serving cells, the UE comprising:\na radio frequency (RF) unit configured to transmit or receive a radio signal; and\na processor coupled to the RF unit,\nwherein the processor is configured to:\nreceive M downlink subframes associated with an uplink subframe n in each of the two serving cells, and\ntransmit an ACK/NACK response for the M downlink subframes received in each of the two serving cells by using one resource selected from four candidate resources in the uplink subframe n,\nwherein the two serving cells comprises a first serving cell and a second serving cell,\nwherein in the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell,\nif a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) indicated by detecting a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with a downlink assignment index (DAI) value equal to 1 or a second PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 2 is received, or\nif a first semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) release PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 or a second SPS release PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 2 is received,\namong the four candidate resources, a first resource is determined based on a first control channel element (CCE) used in transmission of the first PDCCH or the first SPS release PDCCH, and\na second resource is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the second PDCCH or the second SPS release PDCCH.\n\n8. The UE of claim 7, wherein at least one downlink subframe among the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in which a downlink grant is transmitted and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH.\n\n9. The UE of claim 8, wherein the downlink grant includes a downlink assignment index (DAI) indicating an accumulative number of PDCCH with assigned PDSCH transmission.\n\n10. The UE of claim 7, wherein if a PDSCH, indicated by detection of a third PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 or a fourth PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 2 received in the M downlink subframes in the first serving cell, is received in the M downlink subframes in the second serving cell,\na third resource among the four candidate resources is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the third PDCCH,\nand a fourth resource among the four candidate resources is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the fourth PDCCH.\n\n11. The UE of claim 7, wherein if a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), which is a PDSCH having no corresponding physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), is received in the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell,\na first resource among the four candidate resources is one resource selected from four resources configured by using a higher layer signal, and the selected one resource is indicated by a PDCCH indicating activation of semi-persistent scheduling.\n\n12. The UE of claim 11, wherein, in the M downlink subframes received in the first serving cell,\nif a PDSCH indicated by detecting a first PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 or if a first SPS release PDCCH with a DAI value equal to 1 is received,\na second resource among the four candidate resources is determined based on a first CCE used in transmission of the first PDCCH or the first SPS release PDCCH."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Device And Method For Fabricating The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAttention has been focused on a technique for forming a transistor including a semiconductor thin film formed over a substrate having an insulating surface (also referred to as a thin film transistor). The transistor is applied to a wide range of electronic devices such as an integrated circuit (IC) or an image display device (display device). A silicon-based semiconductor material is widely known as a material for a semiconductor thin film applicable to a transistor. As another material, an oxide semiconductor has been attracting attention. For example, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor containing indium (In), gallium (Ga), and zinc (Zn) is disclosed in Patent Document 1. An oxide semiconductor film can be formed by a technique for forming a thin film, such as a sputtering method. Further, the oxide semiconductor film can be formed at a relatively low temperature compared to a silicon semiconductor or the like. Hence, the oxide semiconductor film can be formed to overlap with another transistor. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a semiconductor device in which a cell area is reduced by providing, over a transistor including silicon, a transistor including an oxide semiconductor layer serving as a channel formation region.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nTo provide a highly reliable semiconductor device exhibiting stable electrical characteristics. To fabricate a highly reliable semiconductor device. Included are an oxide semiconductor stack in which a first oxide semiconductor layer, a second oxide semiconductor layer, and a third oxide semiconductor layer are stacked, a source and a drain electrode layers contacting the oxide semiconductor stack, a gate electrode layer overlapping with the oxide semiconductor layer with a gate insulating layer provided therebetween, and a first and a second oxide insulating layers between which the oxide semiconductor stack is sandwiched. The first to the third oxide semiconductor layers each contain indium, gallium, and zinc. The proportion of indium in the second oxide semiconductor layer is higher than that in each of the first and the third oxide semiconductor layers. The first oxide semiconductor layer is amorphous. The second and the third oxide semiconductor layers each have a crystalline structure."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor device comprising:\na transistor including a channel formation region, the channel formation region comprising silicon,\na first insulating layer over the transistor,;\na first gate electrode over the first insulating layer;\na second insulating layer over the first gate electrode;\na first oxide semiconductor layer over the second insulating layer, the first oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with the first gate electrode;\na second oxide semiconductor layer over the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with the first gate electrode;\na third oxide semiconductor layer over the second oxide semiconductor layer, the third oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with the first gate electrode;\na source electrode and a drain electrode over the first oxide semiconductor layer and the second oxide semiconductor layer, the source electrode and the drain electrode electrically connected to the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer, and the third oxide semiconductor layer;\na third insulating layer over the third oxide semiconductor layer, the source electrode, and the drain electrode; and\na second gate electrode over the third insulating layer, the second gate electrode overlapping with the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer, and the third oxide semiconductor layer,\nwherein each of the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer, and the third oxide semiconductor layer comprises at least one of indium, zinc, and gallium,\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor layer and a side surface of the second oxide semiconductor layer are in contact with each other, and\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor layer and a side surface of the first oxide semiconductor layer are in contact with each other.\n\n2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first insulating layer comprises aluminum and oxygen.\n\n3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein each of the second oxide semiconductor layer and the third oxide semiconductor layer has a crystalline structure.\n\n4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first oxide semiconductor layer has an amorphous structure.\n\n5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a composition of the second oxide semiconductor layer and a composition of the third oxide semiconductor layer are different from each other.\n\n6. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the second insulating layer contains oxygen in excess of a stoichiometric composition.\n\n7. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein a concentration of silicon or carbon in each of the first oxide semiconductor layer and the third oxide semiconductor layer is lower than or equal to 3\u00d710 18 atoms/cm 3.\n\n8. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein each of the source electrode and the drain electrode is in contact with the second insulating layer.\n\n9. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the source electrode and the drain electrode is positioned over the third oxide semiconductor layer.\n\n10. A semiconductor device comprising:\na transistor including a channel formation region, the channel formation region comprising silicon,\na first insulating layer over the transistor;\na first gate electrode over the first insulating layer;\na second insulating layer over the first gate electrode;\na first oxide semiconductor layer over the second insulating layer, the first oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with the first gate electrode;\na second oxide semiconductor layer over the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with the first gate electrode;\na third oxide semiconductor layer over the second oxide semiconductor layer, the third oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with the first gate electrode;\na source electrode and a drain electrode over the first oxide semiconductor layer and the second oxide semiconductor layer, the source electrode and the drain electrode electrically connected to the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer, and the third oxide semiconductor layer;\na third insulating layer over the third oxide semiconductor layer, the source electrode, and the drain electrode; and\na second gate electrode over the third insulating layer, the second gate electrode overlapping with the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer, and the third oxide semiconductor layer,\nwherein each of the first oxide semiconductor layer, the second oxide semiconductor layer, and the third oxide semiconductor layer comprises at least one of indium, zinc, and gallium,\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor layer and a side surface of the second oxide semiconductor layer are in contact with each other,\nwherein the third oxide semiconductor layer and a side surface of the first oxide semiconductor layer are in contact with each other, and\nwherein one of the source electrode and the drain electrode is electrically connected to the transistor.\n\n11. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein the first insulating layer comprises aluminum and oxygen.\n\n12. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein each of the second oxide semiconductor layer and the third oxide semiconductor layer has a crystalline structure.\n\n13. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein the first oxide semiconductor layer has an amorphous structure.\n\n14. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein a composition of the second oxide semiconductor layer and a composition of the third oxide semiconductor layer are different from each other.\n\n15. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein the second insulating layer contains oxygen in excess of a stoichiometric composition.\n\n16. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein a concentration of silicon or carbon in each of the first oxide semiconductor layer and the third oxide semiconductor layer is lower than or equal to 3\u00d710 18 atoms/cm3.\n\n17. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein each of the source electrode and the drain electrode is in contact with the second insulating layer.\n\n18. The semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein the source electrode and the drain electrode is positioned over the third oxide semiconductor layer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Light-Emitting Device And Method For Manufacturing The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nConventionally, a display panel of a so-called active matrix driving system constituted by a thin film transistor (hereinafter also referred to as a \u201cTFT\u201d) over a glass substrate is known. This active matrix display panel is manufactured by patterning various thin films by a light-exposure step using a photomask, similarly to a manufacturing technique of a semiconductor integrated circuit. Until now, there is employed a manufacturing method for cutting out plural display panels from one mother glass substrate and mass-producing efficiently. The size of a mother glass substrate used for manufacturing display panels is increased from 300 mm\u00d7400 mm of the first generation in the early 1990s to 680 mm\u00d7880 mm or 730 mm\u00d7920 mm of the fourth generation in 2000. Furthermore, the manufacturing method has been developed so that a large number of display panels can be obtained from one substrate. When a size of a glass substrate or a display panel is small, a patterning treatment can be carried out comparatively easily by using a photolithography apparatus. However, as a substrate size is increased, an entire surface of a display panel cannot be simultaneously treated by carrying out a light-exposure treatment once. Consequently, a method for exposing an entire surface of a substrate to light has been developed as a light-exposure treatment. (for example, consecutive light-exposure to one substrate for connecting edges of elements such as a wiring not to be disconnected at a boundary between the elements). This method is performed by dividing a region where a photoresist is applied into a plurality of block regions, carrying out a light-exposure treatment on every predetermined block regions, and by sequentially repeating them (for example, Reference 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 11-326951).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides a display device and a manufacturing method thereof that can simplify manufacturing steps and enhance efficiency in the use of materials, and further, a manufacturing method that can enhance adhesiveness of a pattern. One feature of the invention is that at least one or more patterns needed for manufacturing a display panel, such as a conductive layer forming a wiring or an electrode or a mask for forming a desired pattern is/are formed by a method capable of selectively forming a pattern, thereby manufacturing a display panel."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A light-emitting device comprising:\na first substrate;\na first transistor, a second transistor and a third transistor each over the first substrate, each of the first transistor, the second transistor and the third transistor comprising:\na gate electrode comprising a conductive material;\na semiconductor film; and\na gate insulating layer between the gate electrode and the semiconductor film;\na first electrode electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the second transistor;\nan insulating layer which covers an end portion of the first electrode;\na spacer over the insulating layer;\nan light emitting layer over the first electrode;\na second electrode over the light emitting layer;\na second substrate over the second electrode; and\na resin material which fills a space between the second electrode and the second substrate,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to the gate electrode of the second transistor,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to the gate electrode of third transistor,\nwherein the other one of source and drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to the other one of the source and the drain of first transistor,\nwherein the spacer is between the second substrate and the insulating layer, and\nwherein the resin material is in contact with the spacer.\n\n2. The light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor film is over the gate electrode.\n\n3. The light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the gate insulating layer has an island-like shape.\n\n4. The light-emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising a protective film over the first transistor and the second transistor.\n\n5. The light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive material comprises Ag, Au, Cu, W or Al as a main component.\n\n6. The light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is in contact with the second substrate.\n\n7. The light-emitting device according to claim 1,\nwherein the spacer keeps a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate.\n\n8. The light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer is formed by a droplet discharging method.\n\n9. An electronic device comprising the light-emitting device according to claim 1.\n\n10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the electronic device is selected from the group consisting of a television receiver, a personal computer, a portable telephone, an information display board and an advertisement display board.\n\n11. A light-emitting device comprising:\na first substrate;\na first transistor over the first substrate, the first transistor comprising:\na first gate electrode comprising a conductive material;\na first semiconductor film formed from a semiconductor material; and\na first gate insulating layer between the first gate electrode and the first semiconductor film,\na second transistor over the first substrate, the second transistor comprising:\na second gate electrode comprising the conductive material;\na second semiconductor film formed from the semiconductor material; and\na second gate insulating layer between the second gate electrode and the second semiconductor film,\na third transistor over the first substrate, the third transistor comprising:\na third gate electrode comprising the conductive material;\na third semiconductor film formed from the semiconductor material; and\na third gate insulating layer between the third gate electrode and the third semiconductor film,\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the first transistor is electrically connected to the second gate electrode of the second transistor;\nwherein one of a source and a drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to the gate electrode of third transistor,\nwherein the other one of source and drain of the third transistor is electrically connected to the other one of the source and the drain of first transistor,\na first electrode electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the second transistor;\nan insulating layer which covers an end portion of the first electrode;\na spacer over the insulating layer;\nan light emitting layer over the first electrode;\na second electrode over the light emitting layer; and\na second substrate over the second electrode,\nwherein the spacer is between the second substrate and the insulating layer, and\nwherein the spacer is surrounded by a resin material.\n\n12. The light-emitting device according to claim 11,\nwherein the first semiconductor film is over the first gate electrode, and\nwherein the second semiconductor film is over the second gate electrode.\n\n13. The light-emitting device according to claim 11,\nwherein the first gate insulating layer has an island-like shape, and\nwherein the second gate insulating layer has an island-like shape.\n\n14. The light-emitting device according to claim 11, further comprising a protective film over the first transistor and the second transistor.\n\n15. The light-emitting device according to claim 11, wherein the conductive material comprises Ag, Au, Cu, W or Al as a main component.\n\n16. The light-emitting device according to claim 11, wherein the spacer is in contact with the second substrate.\n\n17. The light-emitting device according to claim 11,\nwherein the spacer keeps a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate.\n\n18. An electronic device comprising the light-emitting device according to claim 11.\n\n19. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein the electronic device is selected from the group consisting of a television receiver, a personal computer, a portable telephone, an information display board and an advertisement display board."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Heroin Detection By Raman Spectroscopy From Impure Compositions Comprising An Interfering Fluorescent Contaminant\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nRaman spectroscopy is an effective tool for identifying and characterizing a vast array of substances. In Raman spectroscopy, light typically from a laser and of a known wavelength (typically infrared or near infrared) is directed at a specimen. The laser light (also sometimes referred to as the Raman pump) interacts with the electron clouds in the molecules of the specimen and, as a result of this interaction, experiences selected wavelength shifting. The precise nature of this wavelength shifting depends upon the materials present in the specimen. A unique wavelength signature (typically called the Raman signature) is produced by each specimen. This unique Raman signature permits the specimen to be identified and characterized. More specifically, the spectrum of light returning from the specimen is analyzed with a spectrometer so as to identify the Raman-induced wavelength shifting in the Raman pump light, and then this wavelength signature is compared (e.g., by a computer) with a library of known Raman signatures, whereby to identify the precise nature of the specimen. Raman spectroscopy is widely used in scientific, commercial and public safety areas. Recent technological advances have made it possible to significantly reduce the size and cost of Raman spectroscopy systems. This has in turn increased the range of practical applications for Raman spectroscopy. For example, portable units have recently become available for various field uses, such as the on-site identification of potentially hazardous substances. The interception of illegal drugs, such as heroin, has become a severe policing problem worldwide. It is difficult for law enforcement personnel in the field to at least initially identify any particular substance as likely being a prohibited one. This can lead to false arrests or releasing suspects who are indeed carrying such illegal drugs. While a properly equipped lab can make a definitive analysis, typical lab equipment does not lend itself to use by law enforcement personnel in the field because it is either too heavy, cumbersome, difficult to operate, or too expensive to distribute widely to large numbers of law enforcement personnel.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method of identifying the presence of heroin in an impure heroin composition which contains heroin and at least one fluorescent contaminant which interferes with a Raman signal from the heroin. The method may include contacting the mixture with a solvent such as an alcohol, then contacting the resulting alcohol composition with a SERS surface. The surface may then be exposed to laser light from a hand-held Raman spectrometer to detect a Raman signal from the heroin. An apparatus for performing the method is also provided."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A Raman spectrometer comprising:\n(a) a light source to direct light to a SERS surface;\n(b) a spectrograph to acquire a Raman spectrum from the SERS surface; and\n(c) a processor which compares a Raman spectrum of the SERS surface without the presence of a composition thereon, the composition including heroin and at least monoacetyl morphine fluorescent contaminant which interferes with a Raman signal from the heroin, the processor comparing the Raman spectrum with one or more criteria in a memory and identifies the SERS surface as one which is or is not suitable for testing for the presence of heroin, and which also compares the Raman spectrum of the SERS surface with the composition thereon to be tested for heroin with one or more criteria in a memory to test for the presence of heroin.\n\n2. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 1 wherein the processor additionally provides an indication to a user that the SERS surface is or is not suitable for testing for the presence of heroin.\n\n3. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 1 wherein the composition contains between 5 to 95 weight % of the fluorescent contaminant.\n\n4. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 1 wherein the SERS surface comprises gold, silver or copper.\n\n5. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 4 wherein the SERS surface is textured.\n\n6. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 5 wherein the SERS surface is an exposed surface of a silver layer which overlays a silicon substrate.\n\n7. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 6 wherein the silicon substrate is textured.\n\n8. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 1 wherein the spectrometer can acquire a Raman spectrum in a range of between 500 cm \u22121 and 2000 cm \u22121.\n\n9. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 8 wherein the spectrometer can acquire a Raman spectrum in a range of between 600 cm \u22121 and 650 cm \u22121.\n\n10. A method of verifying a SERS surface as suitable for use in enhancing the identification of heroin in a test of a composition including the heroin and at least monoacetyl morphine fluorescent contaminant which interferes with a Raman signal from the heroin on a Raman spectrometer, the method comprising:\n(d) subjecting the SERS surface to a measurement on the Raman spectrometer without the presence of the composition on the SERS surface, and collecting a result of the test;\n(e) comparing, in a processor, the collected result with one or more predetermined criteria stored in a memory; and\n(f) if the collected result meets the one or more predetermined criteria, then subjecting the SERS surface to the test on the Raman spectrometer after exposure of the SERS surface to the composition.\n\n11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the composition contains between 5 to 95 weight % of the fluorescent contaminant.\n\n12. A method according to claim 10 wherein the SERS surface comprises gold, silver or copper.\n\n13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the SERS surface is textured.\n\n14. A method according to claim 13 wherein the SERS surface is an exposed surface of a silver layer which overlays a silicon substrate.\n\n15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the silicon substrate is textured.\n\n16. A method according to claim 10 wherein the Raman signal from the heroin is detected using a wavelength in a range of between 500 cm \u22121 and 2000 cm \u22121.\n\n17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the resulting Raman signal from the heroin is detected using a wavelength in a range of between 600 cm \u22121 and 650 cm \u22121.\n\n18. A Raman spectrometer comprising:\na light source to direct light to a surface;\na spectrograph to acquire a Raman spectrum from the surface;\na processor which compares a Raman spectrum of the surface without the presence of a component thereon, with one or more criteria in a memory and identifies the surface as one which is or is not suitable for testing for the presence of the component, and which also compares the Raman spectrum of the surface with a composition thereon to be tested for the component with one or more criteria in a memory to test for the presence of the component.\n\n19. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 18 wherein the processor identifies the surface as one which is authorized to be used with the spectrometer.\n\n20. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 18 wherein the processor additionally provides an indication to a user that the surface is or is not suitable for testing the presence of the component.\n\n21. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 18 wherein the spectrometer can acquire a Raman spectrum between 500-2000 cm\u2032.\n\n22. A Raman spectrometer according to claim 18 wherein the surface is a SERS surface.\n\n23. A method of verifying a surface as suitable for use in enhancing the identification of a component in a test of a composition for the component on an analytical instrument, comprising:\nsubjecting the surface to a measurement on the analytical instrument without the presence of the component on the surface, and collecting a result of the test;\ncomparing, in a processor, the collected result with one or more predetermined criteria stored in a memory; and\nif the collected result meets the one or more predetermined criteria, then subjecting the surface to the test on the analytical instrument after exposure to the composition.\n\n24. A method according to claim 23 wherein the surface is verified for use as a SERS surface in a test for identifying the presence of heroin, and the analytical instrument is a Raman spectrometer.\n\n25. A computer program product carrying a computer program which, when loaded into a programmable processor, executes the method of:\ncontrolling a Raman spectrometer to illuminate a surface without the presence of a component to be tested thereon;\nreceiving the Raman spectrum from the surface;\ncomparing the Raman spectrum of the surface without the presence of the component thereon, with one or more criteria in a memory and identifying the surface as one which is or is not suitable for testing the presence of the component;\ncontrolling the Raman spectrometer to illuminate the surface with a composition thereon to be tested for the presence of the component; and\ncomparing the Raman spectrum of the surface with the composition thereon with one or more criteria in a memory to test for the presence of the component.\n\n26. The computer program product according to claim 25 wherein identifying the surface as one which is or is not suitable for testing the presence of the component includes identifying the surface as one which is authorized to be used with the spectrometer.\n\n27. The computer program product according to claim 25 further including providing an indication to a user that the surface is one which is or is not suitable for testing the presence of the component."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Communication Method Using A Carrier Aggregation And Apparatus Therefore\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wireless (or radio) communication system. And, more particularly, the present invention relates to a communication method using a carrier aggregation and apparatus therefore. 2. Discussion of the Related Art Wireless communication systems are being broadly developed in order to provide various types of communication services, such as voice or data services. Generally, a wireless communication system corresponds to a multiple access system that may support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (bandwidth, transmission power, etc.). Examples of a multiple access system include a CDMA (code division multiple access) system, an FDMA (frequency division multiple access) system, a TDMA (time division multiple access) system, an OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division multiple access) system, an SC-FDMA (single carrier frequency division multiple access) system, an MC-FDMA (multi carrier frequency division multiple access) system, and so on.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method of controlling an uplink transmission in a wireless communications system, and a user equipment therefore are discussed. The method according to one embodiment includes configuring the user equipment with multiple component carriers; receiving first configuration information for allocating one or more component carrier sets; receiving second configuration information for periodically transmitting an uplink signal; receiving control information for configuring states of component carriers, by which a downlink component carrier and an uplink component carrier are controlled to be in a same state; and performing a procedure for periodically transmitting the uplink signal on an uplink component carrier in use of the first configuration information, the second configuration information and the control information. When the uplink component carrier is in the active state, a transmission of the uplink signal is performed. When the uplink component carrier is in the non-active state, the transmission of the uplink signal is skipped."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of controlling an uplink transmission at a user equipment in a wireless communications system, the user equipment being configured with multiple component carriers, the method comprising:\nreceiving first configuration information for allocating one or more component carrier sets, wherein each of the one or more component carrier sets includes one or more downlink component carriers and an uplink component carrier paired with the one or more downlink component carriers;\nreceiving second configuration information for periodically transmitting an uplink signal; and\nperforming a procedure for periodically transmitting the uplink signal on an uplink component carrier in use of the first configuration information and the second configuration,\nwherein when the uplink component carrier is in an active state at a time for transmitting the uplink signal, a transmission of the uplink signal is performed on the uplink component carrier at the time for transmitting the uplink signal,\nwherein when the uplink component carrier is in a non-active state at a time for transmitting the uplink signal, the transmission of the uplink signal is skipped on the uplink component carrier at the time for transmitting the uplink signal, and\nwherein the uplink component carrier is in the non-active state, when all downlink component carriers paired with the uplink component carrier are in the non-active state.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second configuration information are radio resource control (RRC) signals.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink signal includes at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indication (PMI), a rank information (RI), and a sounding reference signal (SRS).\n\n4. A user equipment configured to communicate with a base station using multiple component carriers in a wireless communications system, the user equipment comprising:\na radio frequency (RF) unit; and\na processor, wherein the processor is configured to:\nreceive first configuration information for allocating one or more component carrier sets, wherein each of the one or more component carrier sets includes one or more downlink component carriers and an uplink component carrier paired with the one or more downlink component carriers,\nreceive second configuration information for periodically transmitting an uplink signal, and\nperform a procedure for periodically transmitting the uplink signal on an uplink component carrier in use of the first configuration information and the second configuration information,\nwherein when the uplink component carrier is in an active state at a time for transmitting the uplink signal, a transmission of the uplink signal is performed on the uplink component carrier at the time for transmitting the uplink signal,\nwherein when the uplink component carrier is in a non-active state at a time for transmitting the uplink signal, the transmission of the uplink signal is skipped on the uplink component carrier at the time for transmitting the uplink signal, and\nwherein the uplink component carrier is in the non-active state, when all downlink component carriers paired with the uplink component carrier are in the non-active state.\n\n5. The user equipment of claim 4, wherein the first and second configuration information are radio resource control (RRC) signals.\n\n6. The user equipment of claim 4, wherein the uplink signal includes at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indication (PMI), a rank information (RI), and a sounding reference signal (SRS)."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Sway Brace Attachment\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices for bracing pipes and other loads, suspended below floors and ceilings, against sway and seismic disturbances, and, in particular, to a sway brace attachment for firmly gripping a building support, such as a beam, and other flanged structures. 2. Description of the Related Art There is a multitude of products in the market utilized by building and plumbing contractors for bracing and supporting pipes, ducts, sprinkler systems, fans, air-conditioners and other loads below floors and ceilings. These products include clamps, braces, hooks, straps, plates, brackets, among other items. Typically, one end of a brace is attached to the load while the other end is attached to a beam, or other support structure, on a floor or a ceiling. Due to the variety of possible beam types, sizes and orientations, as well as the variety of loads that need to be braced, the mechanism that attaches the brace to the beam should have a high load capacity and be capable of mounting on various types, sizes and locations of a flange. Although such attachment mechanisms exist, including sway brace attachments sold by Tolco, a brand of Nibco, Inc., the assignee of the present application, a demand exists for sway brace attachments having equivalent or improved performance relative to existing attachments. Thus, there is a need for a sway brace attachment which can not only withstand substantial loads, but is also simply and expeditiously installable and adjustable, and is preferably economical to manufacture, thereby being desirably inexpensive in cost and in use.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA sway brace attachment for firmly connecting to a beam and other flanged structures, and a method for manufacturing the sway brace attachment. The sway brace attachment includes a main body and an insert that is captured within the main body by a pair of set screws which also engage the flange. Preferably, a third set screw is supported by the main body and engages the opposite side of the flange from the pair of set screws. The main body can be generally rectangular in shape, with a top wall, a pair of side walls extending from the top wall and a pair of bottom walls, which extend inwardly from respective side walls in an overlapping relationship. The sway brace attachment can be used for bracing pipes and other loads, suspended below ceilings and floors, against sway and seismic disturbances."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A sway brace attachment for clamping to a flange of a beam or other support structure, comprising:\na body having a pair of spaced first and second side walls, with each of the first and second side walls having an elongate slot, wherein each of the slots has a closed end and an open end opening to one edge of a respective one of the first and second side walls, wherein each of the slots has a first portion and a second portion, the first portions of the first and second slots configured to receive the flange;\nan insert having a first end portion received in the second portion of the slot of the first side wall, and an opposite second end portion received in the second portion of the slot of the second side wall, the insert having at least one threaded hole sized and shaped to receive a threaded fastener.\n\n2. The sway brace attachment of claim 1, further comprising at least one threaded fastener threaded in the at least one threaded hole, the at least one fastener configured to facilitate securement of the sway brace attachment to the flange when the flange is received in the first portions of the first and second slots.\n\n3. The sway brace attachment of claim 2, wherein the at least one threaded fastener comprises at least one set screw extending through the at least one threaded hole of the insert to engage a first surface of the flange when the flange is received in the first portions of the first and second slots.\n\n4. The sway brace attachment of claim 2, wherein the body has a top wall extending between the first and second side walls, the top wall has at least one top hole, wherein each of the at least one top hole is vertically aligned with one of the at least one threaded hole of the insert.\n\n5. The sway brace attachment of claim 4, wherein the body has a bottom wall extending between the first and second walls and generally opposing the top wall.\n\n6. The sway brace attachment of claim 5, wherein the bottom wall has a bottom threaded hole sized and shaped to receive a threaded fastener.\n\n7. The sway brace attachment of claim 6, further comprising at least one threaded fastener threaded in the bottom threaded hole, the at least one fastener configured to facilitate securement of the sway brace attachment to the flange when the flange is received in the first portions of the first and second slots.\n\n8. The sway brace attachment of claim 5, wherein the bottom wall includes first and second overlapping walls, wherein the first overlapping wall is connected to and extends from the first side wall and the second overlapping wall is connected to and extends from the second side wall.\n\n9. The sway brace attachment of claim 8, wherein first and second overlapping walls have aligned bottom holes sized and shaped to receive a fastener.\n\n10. The sway brace attachment of claim 9, wherein the bottom hole of the overlapping wall is threaded and configured to threadably receive a fastener.\n\n11. The sway brace attachment of claim 1, wherein the first and second side walls each define a shoulder configured to support the insert in the second portions of the first and second slots.\n\n12. The sway brace attachment of claim 11, wherein a portion of the closed end of each of the slots defined by the first portion is offset from a portion of the closed end defined by the second portion to define the shoulder of each of the first and second side walls."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Bendable Electronic Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMost electronic devices include a display unit to display images, characters, or the like. As a representative example, there is a mobile terminal which may be portable and may have at least one of a function of performing voice and video communications, a function of inputting and outputting information, a function of transmitting and receiving data, a function of storing data, and the like. As the functions of the mobile terminal are various, the mobile terminal has complex functions of photographing pictures or moving pictures, playing music or moving image files, executing game, receiving broadcasting, executing wireless Internet, and the like, and has been implemented as a multimedia player form. Further, for the mobile terminal implemented in the multimedia player form, in order to perform the complex functions, new and various attempts in hardware or software have been conducted. For example, the mobile terminal is provided with a user interface environment, etc., to allow a user to easily and conveniently search for or select the functions. However, since the electronic device provided with the display unit is maintained in a flat state, in the case of a large TV, viewing angles of a central portion and both end portions are different from each other, such that reality of an image displayed on the display unit may be deteriorated. In order to solve the above-described problem, an electronic device having a technique described in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2011-0048640 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 has been developed. Characteristics of the technique are that the electronic device includes a body 2 partially made of a flexible material, a display unit 1 included in the body 2 to display an image, and an actuator 8 included in the body 2 to selectively provide an electrical signal for changing its own shape so as to change the shape of the body, in which the actuator 8 is made of a shape memory alloy of which the original shape and the changed shape are alternately changed depending on a change in a temperature. By this configuration, the technique disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2011-0048640 has an advantage in that the actuator 8 made of the shape memory alloy is included in the body 2 to control the electronic device to be flexible, thereby displaying the image more realistically. However, the actuator 8 is made of the shape memory alloy of one material, such that the screen may be stably maintained in a bent state but may not be stably maintained in a flat state. Further, in order to control the shape memory alloy forming the actuator 8 , the actuator is heated. In this case, circuit boards or the display unit included in the electronic device may be damaged due to heat and electromagnetic waves generated upon the heating.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDisclosed is a flexible electronic device, including: a body made of a flexible material; a display unit; a flexible circuit board; a bending adjuster having a first plate that maintains a flat shape at room temperature, and a second plate that maintains a bent state at a specific temperature or more and having an elastic force larger than that of the first plate in a superelastic state, and is configured to adjust bending of the body by these plates, such that it is possible to improve reality of an image on a display unit by controlling the overall electronic device to be bent at a predetermined angle, more stably maintain a bent state and a flat state, reliably prevent a display unit and a flexible circuit board from being damaged, and stably maintain the bent state and the flat state despite using for a long period of time."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A flexible electronic device, comprising:\na body made of a flexible material;\na display unit included in the body;\na flexible circuit board included in the body;\na bending adjuster which includes a first plate configured to maintain a flat shape at room temperature, and a second plate being in direct contact with the first plate and configured to maintain a bent state at or higher than a specific temperature in a superelastic state and having an elastic force larger than an elastic force of the first plate in the superelastic state, and is configured to adjust a bending of the body by these plates.\n\n2. The flexible electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first plate includes any one of a shape memory alloy, high-elastic metal, a polymer, and a polymer composite material, and the second plate includes the shape memory alloy.\n\n3. The flexible electronic device of claim 2, wherein the second plate includes a heating layer formed on one surface thereof, and a shielding layer formed on the other surface to shield heat and electromagnetic waves.\n\n4. The flexible electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first plate includes any one of a shape memory alloy maintaining a ring shape at the room temperature, high-elastic metal, a polymer, and a polymer composite material, and\nthe second plate is configured to maintain an arc shape at or higher than the specific temperature.\n\n5. The flexible electronic device of claim 1, wherein the bending adjuster includes a main plate made of flat or ring-shaped carbon fiber reinforced plastics, and\nan auxiliary plate provided in the main plate and made of a shape memory alloy maintaining a state deformed from the flat or ring shape at a specific temperature or more.\n\n6. The flexible electronic device of claim 5, wherein the main plate is configured to generate heat by a supply of elasticity to heat the auxiliary plate, and\nthe main plate includes a shielding layer formed on one surface thereof to shield heat and electromagnetic waves.\n\n7. The flexible electronic device of claim 1, wherein the bending adjuster includes a shape memory spring or a shape memory loop configuration maintain a flexible state at room temperature and maintain a memorized shape at a specific temperature or more, and\nwires of which one end is connected to both ends of the shape memory spring and the other end is connected to both side surfaces in the body, respectively.\n\n8. The flexible electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:\na fixture coupled with the body to fix the body in a bent state when the body is bent.\n\n9. The flexible electronic device of claim 8, wherein the fixture includes an internal cover, and\nan external cover coupled with the internal cover.\n\n10. The flexible electronic device of claim 9, further comprising:\na third plate made of a shape memory alloy and formed on one surface of the internal cover or the external cover to release a coupling of the internal cover with the external cover.\n\n11. The flexible electronic device of any one of claims 8, wherein the electronic device receives on/off of bending by the bending adjuster and time when the bent state is maintained from a user by a user interface and controls a supply of power to the second plate based on information input from the user.\n\n12. An electronic device, comprising:\na body made of a flexible material;\na display unit included in the body;\na flexible circuit board included in the body;\na bending adjuster which includes a shape memory spring or a shape memory loop configured to maintain a flexible state at room temperature and maintain a memorized shape at or higher than a specific temperature, and wires of which one end is connected to both ends of the shape memory spring and the other end is connected to both side surfaces in the body, respectively,\nwherein the shape memory spring or the shape memory loop includes a heating layer formed on a surface thereof to adjust the bending of the body.\n\n13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the shape memory spring or the shape memory loop further includes an installation box at an outside thereof, in which the shape memory spring or the shape memory loop is installed.\n\n14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the installation box includes a shielding layer formed on an entire surface or one surface thereof to shield heat and electromagnetic waves.\n\n15. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the bending adjuster further includes a cover box in which the installation box is installed, and both ends of the wire are connected to both side surfaces of the installation box.\n\n16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein a front surface and a back surface of the cover box have different thicknesses from each other, and a central portion of a portion having a thin thickness is concavely bent.\n\n17. An electronic device, comprising:\na flexible body; and\na bending adjuster which includes a first plate configured to maintain a flat shape at room temperature, and a second plate being in direct contact with the first plate and configured to maintain a bent state at or higher than a specific temperature in a superelastic state and having an elastic force larger than an elastic force of the first plate in the superelastic state, and is configured to adjust a bending of the body by these plates.\n\n18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the first plate includes any one of a shape memory alloy, high-elastic metal, a polymer, and a polymer composite material, and\nthe second plate includes the shape memory alloy.\n\n19. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the bending adjuster includes a main plate made of flat or ring-shaped carbon fiber reinforced plastics, and\nan auxiliary plate provided in the main plate and made of a shape memory alloy maintaining a state deformed from the flat or ring shape at a specific temperature or more."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Multi-Spectral Imaging Using Longitudinal Chromatic Aberrations\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nGenerally speaking, multi-spectral imaging involves analyzing images at various wavelengths of light, such as visible light, ultraviolet light, and infrared light. Multi-spectral imaging can be used in many applications, such as for detecting counterfeit currency, detecting the quality of food, and other applications. The equipment used in many implementations of actual multi-spectral imaging typically includes spectrometers and/or rotating prisms. These implementations are normally very large and expensive. Therefore, a need exists for a more compact multi-spectral imaging device, especially one that can be handheld for easy use.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nSystems and methods for imaging a target object are provided. In one example, an imaging device comprises an objective lens having symmetry around an optical axis. The objective lens is configured to disperse images of a target object in longitudinal chromatic aberrations along the optical axis. The imaging device further includes a sensor configured to obtain multiple images of the target object. Each image corresponds to a specific wavelength within a predetermined spectrum."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An imaging device for detecting counterfeit bills, the image device comprising:\nan objective lens having symmetry around an optical axis, the objective lens configured to disperse images of a bill in longitudinal chromatic aberrations along the optical axis;\na sensor configured to obtain multiple images of the bill, each image corresponding to a specific wavelength within a predetermined spectrum from ultraviolet to near infrared;\na processor configured to analyze the multiple images to detect features of the bill, wherein the processor is configured to process the multiple images to obtain a three-dimensional image stack comprising a plurality of images respectively corresponding to one of a plurality of different wavelengths in the spectrum, wherein the processor is configured to:\ncompare one or more regions of each of one or more of the plurality of images in the three-dimensional image stack, to one or more regions of a corresponding image of an original bill selected from a three-dimensional image stack comprising a plurality of images of the original bill respectively corresponding to the one of the plurality of different wavelengths in the spectrum; and\ndetermine whether the bill is counterfeit based at least in part on the comparison.\n\n2. The imaging device of claim 1, further comprising an electromagnetic radiation source configured to emit broadband spectrum radiation on the bill.\n\n3. The imaging device of claim 2, wherein the electromagnetic radiation source is configured to emit ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation, and near infrared radiation.\n\n4. The imaging device of claim 3, wherein the sensor is configured to sense electromagnetic radiation having wavelengths in the range from about 300 nm to about 1100 nm.\n\n5. The imaging device of claim 1, further comprising a portable housing, wherein the lens and sensor are disposed within the portable housing.\n\n6. The imaging device of claim 5, further comprising barcode scanning components disposed within the portable housing.\n\n7. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the multiple images to detect absorption of various wavelengths by the bill.\n\n8. The imaging device of claim 7, wherein the three-dimensional image stack comprises an image corresponding to a wavelength in the visible spectrum, an image corresponding to a wavelength in the ultraviolet spectrum, and an image corresponding to a wavelength in the near infrared spectrum.\n\n9. The imaging device of claim 8, further comprising a memory device configured to store the three-dimensional image stack.\n\n10. The imaging device of claim 1, further comprising a motor configured to move the sensor along the optical axis in a stepwise manner to enable the sensor to obtain the multiple images at each step, each image corresponding to a specific wavelength.\n\n11. The imaging device of claim 1, further comprising a one of a liquid lens and a deformable lens optically aligned with the objective lens, wherein the one of the liquid lens and deformable lens is configured to correct for the longitudinal chromatic aberrations for each image to enable the sensor to obtain the multiple images at a single location.\n\n12. A method for for detecting counterfeit bills, the method comprising the steps of:\noptically dispersing multiple wavelengths of light reflected from a bill so as to create longitudinal chromatic aberrations on an optical axis, wherein each wavelength of the light corresponds to a point on the optical axis in a range from ultraviolet to near infrared;\nsensing multiple in-focus images of the bill at the multiple wavelengths;\ncreating a three-dimensional image stack comprising multiple in-focus images corresponding to a plurality of wavelengths in the range;\nanalyzing one or more of the multiple in-focus images to detect chromatic features of the bill;\ncomparing the chromatic features corresponding to one or more regions of each of one or more of the multiple in-focus images in the three-dimensional image stack, to one or more regions of a corresponding in-focus images of an original bill selected from a three-dimensional image stack comprising multiple in-focus images of the original bill respectively corresponding to one of the plurality of wavelengths in the range; and\ndetermining whether the bill is counterfeit based at least in part on the comparison.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of disposing an objective lens and a sensor in a handheld device, the objective lens configured for dispersing the images and the sensor configured for sensing the images.\n\n14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of moving the sensor along the optical axis to enable the sensor to sense the multiple in-focus images.\n\n15. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of correcting for the longitudinal chromatic aberrations to enable the sensor to sense the multiple in-focus images at a single location along the optical axis.\n\n16. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of analyzing the multiple in-focus images to detect absorption of various wavelengths by features of the bill.\n\n17. The method of claim 16, wherein the three-dimensional image stack comprises an image corresponding to a wavelength in the visible spectrum, an image corresponding to a wavelength in the ultraviolet spectrum, and an image corresponding to a wavelength in the near infrared spectrum.\n\n18. The method of claim 12, wherein the multiple wavelengths include at least an ultraviolet wavelength, a visible wavelength, and a near infrared wavelength."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Facilitating Virtual Personal Area Networks\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nBluetooth and ZigBee are open standards for establishing short range peer-to-peer communications, and personal area networks when three or more devices are present. The ZigBee Alliance, which created a suite of ZigBee standards, targeted ZigBee for applications that consume less power than Bluetooth devices. ZigBee personal area networks were also designed to be scalable thereby making it easier for a ZigBee personal area network to link to other ZigBee personal area networks. Bluetooth, on the other hand, was not designed to be scalable. In Bluetooth personal area networks, a master device must maintain synchronicity between all Bluetooth devices operating in the personal area network. Although technically feasible, it would be difficult to link Bluetooth personal area networks together in a manner that maintains the Bluetooth devices of multiple personal area networks synchronized.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a coordinator device having a memory, and a controller. The memory can have computer instructions, which when executed by the controller, causes the controller to facilitate establishing a first virtual personal area network with a first sensor by executing computer instructions associated with a first application profile, and facilitate establishing a second virtual personal area network with a second sensor by executing computer instructions associated a second application profile. The first application profile can be defined by a first protocol specification, while the second application profile can be defined by a second protocol specification. The first protocol specification can also be operationally distinct from the second protocol specification. Other embodiments are disclosed."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A coordinator device, comprising:\na processing system including a processor; and\na memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:\nestablishing a first virtual personal area network with a first sensor according to a first application profile, wherein the first application profile is defined by a first protocol specification;\nestablishing a second virtual personal area network with a second sensor according to a second application profile, wherein the second application profile is defined by a second protocol specification;\nproviding a communications interface comprising a physical layer and a medium access control layer, wherein the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal area network share the medium access control layer and the physical layer of the communications interface to communicate with the first sensor and the second sensor; and\nproviding asynchronous and symmetric access to the communication interface to the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal area network based on a predetermined arbitration scheme.\n\n2. The coordinator device of claim 1, wherein the first protocol specification and the second protocol specification conform to promulgated standards.\n\n3. The coordinator device of claim 1, wherein the memory comprises a first storage device and a second storage device, wherein the processor comprises a first processor and a second processor.\n\n4. The coordinator device of claim 3, wherein the first processor is coupled to the first storage device, and wherein the first storage device comprises instructions, which when executed by the first processor, causes the first processor to control the medium access control layer and the physical layer of the communications interface for communicating with the first and second sensors.\n\n5. The coordinator device of claim 3, wherein the second processor is coupled to the second storage device, and wherein the second storage device comprises instructions, which when executed by the second processor, causes the second processor to control the first virtual personal area network according to the first application profile and the second virtual personal area network according to the second application profile.\n\n6. The coordinator device of claim 5, wherein the first processor, the first storage device and the communications interface are housed in a first housing assembly of a first communication device, and wherein the second processor and the second storage are housed in a second housing assembly of a second communication device.\n\n7. The coordinator device of claim 6, wherein the first communication device and the second communication device are physically decoupled.\n\n8. The coordinator device of claim 6, wherein the first communication device is communicatively coupled to the second communication device over a wireless interface.\n\n9. The coordinator device of claim 6, wherein the second communication device is configured to manage the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal area network.\n\n10. The coordinator device of claim 1, and wherein the first protocol specification is operationally distinct from the second protocol specification.\n\n11. The coordinator device of claim 1, wherein the memory, the processor and the communications interface are centrally housed in a housing assembly as a single operational unit.\n\n12. The coordinator device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:\ndetecting a router communicatively coupled to a third virtual personal area network; and\nestablishing communications with the router to enable communications between the third virtual personal area network and the first virtual personal area network, the second virtual personal area network, or both.\n\n13. The coordinator device of claim 12, wherein the router executes computer instructions associated with the first and second application profiles to enable communications with the first and second virtual personal area networks, and\nwherein the first application profile and the second application profile correspond to two of a Home Automation application profile, a Smart Energy profile application profile, a Telecommunications application profile, a Health Care application profile, a Remote Control application profile, a Building Automation application profile, a Retail Services application profile, an Input Device application profile, a Telecom Services application profile, a 3D Sync application profile, a Network Devices application profile, derivatives thereof, or combinations thereof.\n\n14. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:\nestablishing a first virtual personal area network according to a first application profile, wherein the first virtual personal area network communicates with a first sensor of a plurality of first sensors operating according to a first type of application defined by the first application profile;\nestablishing a second virtual personal area network according to a second application profile, wherein the second virtual personal area network is configured to communicate with a second sensor of a plurality of second sensors operating according to a second type of application defined by the second application profile;\nestablishing communications between the first virtual personal area network and the first sensor by way of a physical layer and a medium access control layer, herein the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal area network share the medium access control layer to communicate with the first sensor and the second sensor; and\nproviding asynchronous and symmetric access to the communications based on a predetermined arbitration scheme to the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal network.\n\n15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the first sensor is communicatively incompatible with the second virtual personal area network due to the first sensor conforming only to the first application profile.\n\n16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the second sensor is communicatively incompatible with the first virtual personal area network due to the second sensor conforming only to the second application profile.\n\n17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:\ndetecting a router coupled to a third virtual personal area network; and\nestablishing communications with the router to enable communications between the third virtual personal area network and the first and second virtual personal area networks.\n\n18. A method, comprising:\nestablishing, by a processing system comprising a processor, from a computing device a first virtual personal area network operating according to a first application profile;\nestablishing, by the processing system, from the computing device a second virtual personal area network operating according to a second application profile;\nestablishing, by the processing system, from the computing device first communications between the first virtual personal area network and a first device over a communications interface;\nestablishing, by the processing system, from the computing device second communications between the second virtual personal area network and a second device over the communications interface; and\nestablishing, by the processing system, a communications interface comprising a physical layer and a medium access control layer, wherein the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal area network share the medium access control layer and the physical layer of the communications interface to communicate with the first device and the second device; and\nproviding, by the processing system, asynchronous and symmetric access to the communication interface to the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal network based on a predetermined arbitration scheme.\n\n19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first device comprises a first sensor,\nwherein the second device comprises a second sensor, and\nwherein the communications interface comprises a medium access control layer and a physical layer shared by the first virtual personal area network and the second virtual personal area network.\n\n20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first sensor is communicatively incompatible with the second virtual personal area network due to the first sensor conforming only to the first application profile, and wherein the second sensor is communicatively incompatible with the first virtual personal area network due to the second sensor conforming only to the second application profile."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Chip Package And Method For Forming The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Disclosure The disclosure relates to a chip package, and in particular to a chip package formed by a wafer-level packaging process. 2. Description of the Related Art A packaging process for chip packages is one important step in forming electronic products. A chip package not only provides the chips with protection from environmental contaminants, but it also provides an electrical connection interface for internal electronic elements and the chips packaged therein. Because the demands for the size reduction of electronic products continue, finding ways to dispose more conducting routes in a limited space becomes an important issue. In addition, there is also a need to prevent the operation of the chip package from being affected by external light.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn embodiment of the invention provides a chip package which includes: a semiconductor substrate having a first surface and a second surface; a first recess extending from the first surface towards the second surface; a second recess extending from a bottom of the first recess towards the second surface, wherein a sidewall and the bottom of the first recess and a second sidewall and a second bottom of the second recess together form an exterior side surface of the semiconductor substrate; a wire layer disposed over the first surface and extending into the first recess and/or the second recess; an insulating layer positioned between the wire layer and the semiconductor substrate; and a metal light shielding layer disposed over the first surface and having at least one hole, wherein a shape of the at least one hole is a quadrangle."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for forming a chip package, comprising:\nproviding at least one semiconductor substrate having a first surface and a second surface;\nremoving a portion of the semiconductor substrate from the first surface to form a first recess and a second recess, wherein the first recess extends towards the second surface, and the second recess extends from a bottom of the first recess towards the second surface;\nforming an insulating layer over the first surface, wherein the insulating layer extends into the first recess and the second recess;\nforming a wire layer over the insulating layer, wherein the wire layer extends into the first recess and/or the second recess;\nforming a metal light shielding layer over the insulating layer, wherein the metal light shielding layer has at least one hole, and a shape of the at least one hole is a quadrangle; and\nperforming a dicing process along at least one predetermined scribe line of the semiconductor substrate to form at least one chip package, wherein a sidewall and the bottom of the first recess and a second sidewall and a second bottom of the recess together form an exterior side surface of the semiconductor substrate after the dicing process.\n\n2. The method for forming a chip package as claimed in claim 1, wherein the metal shielding layer and the wire layer are formed simultaneously.\n\n3. The method for forming a chip package as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of forming the metal light shielding layer and the wire layer comprises:\nforming a metal layer over the insulating layer; and\npatterning the metal layer to form the metal light shielding layer and the wire layer.\n\n4. The method for forming a chip package as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of providing at least one semiconductor substrate comprises providing a plurality of semiconductor substrates, and the step of patterning the metal layer to form the metal light shielding layer and the wire layer comprises:\nproviding a container;\ndisposing an etching liquid into the container; and\ndisposing the semiconductor substrate into the etching liquid to etch and remove a portion of the metal layer to form the metal light shielding layer and the wire layer.\n\n5. The method for forming a chip package as claimed in claim 4, wherein the metal light shielding layer, the at least one hole of the metal light shielding layer, and the wire layer are formed simultaneously."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Constructions And Nand Unit Cells\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMemory devices provide data storage for electronic systems. One type of memory is a non-volatile memory known as flash memory. A flash memory is a type of EEPROM (electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory) that may be erased and reprogrammed in blocks. Many modern personal computers have BIOS stored on a flash memory chip. Such a BIOS is sometimes called a flash BIOS. Flash memory is also popular in wireless electronic devices because it enables the manufacturer to support new communication protocols as they become standardized, and to provide the ability to remotely upgrade the devices for enhanced features. A typical flash memory comprises a memory array that includes a large number of memory cells arranged in row and column fashion. The cells are usually grouped into blocks. Each of the cells within a block may be electrically programmed by charging a charge-storage material. The charge may be removed from the charge-storage material by a block erase operation. Data is stored in a cell as charge in the charge-storage material. NAND is a basic architecture of flash memory. A NAND cell unit comprises at least one selecting device coupled in series to a serial combination of memory cells (with the serial combination being commonly referred to as a NAND string). A continuing goal of semiconductor fabrication is to increase integration. Accordingly, it is desired to develop new NAND architecture which consumes less semiconductor real estate than conventional NAND architecture, and to develop methods of forming such new NAND architecture.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nSome embodiments include methods of forming semiconductor constructions. Alternating layers of n-type doped material and p-type doped material may be formed. The alternating layers may be patterned into a plurality of vertical columns that are spaced from one another by openings. The openings may be lined with tunnel dielectric, charge-storage material and blocking dielectric. Alternating layers of insulative material and conductive control gate material may be formed within the lined openings. Some embodiments include methods of forming NAND unit cells. Columns of alternating n-type material and p-type material may be formed. The columns may be lined with a layer of tunnel dielectric, a layer of charge-storage material, and a layer of blocking dielectric. Alternating layers of insulative material and conductive control gate material may be formed between the lined columns. Some embodiments include semiconductor constructions, and some embodiments include NAND unit cells."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A NAND unit cell, comprising:\na first vertical column comprising alternating control gate structures and insulative material structures;\nsecond and third vertical columns on opposing sides of the first vertical column from one another, the second and third vertical columns comprising semiconductor material containing alternating n-type doped regions and p-type doped regions; the n-type doped regions of the second vertical column being horizontally aligned with the n-type doped regions of the third vertical column, and the p-type doped regions of the second vertical column being horizontally aligned with the p-type doped regions of the third vertical column; the control gate structures being horizontally aligned with either the n-type doped regions or the p-type doped regions;\nvertically-extending layers of tunnel dielectric, charge-storage material, and charge-blocking material between the first column and each of the second and third columns; and\nwherein at least one of the control gate structures, together with n-type and p-type doped regions of the second and third vertical columns, is incorporated into a string device of the NAND unit cell.\n\n2. The NAND unit cell of claim 1 wherein the first vertical column is vertically between a pair of selecting devices of the NAND unit cell.\n\n3. The NAND unit cell of claim 1 wherein the first vertical column comprises a bottom control gate structure, a top control gate structure, and at least one intermediate control gate structure between the bottom control gate structure and the top control gate structure; the top and bottom control gate structures, together with n-type and p-type doped regions of the second and third vertical columns, being incorporated into selecting devices of the NAND unit cell; and the at least one intermediate control gate structure, together with n-type and p-type doped regions of the second and third vertical columns, being incorporated into at least one string device of the NAND unit cell.\n\n4. The NAND unit cell of claim 1 wherein the second and third vertical columns consist of doped monocrystalline silicon.\n\n5. The NAND unit cell of claim 1 wherein the control gate structures are horizontally aligned with the p-type doped regions.\n\n6. A semiconductor construction, comprising:\na semiconductor base;\na plurality of pillars extending upwardly from the base, the pillars comprising alternating n-type doped semiconductor material and p-type doped semiconductor material; a pair of the pillars being adjacent one another, the adjacent pillars being a first pillar and a second pillar:\ntunnel dielectric between the adjacent pillars; the tunnel dielectric including a first region along and directly against the p-type and n-type doped semiconductor material of the first pillar, and including a second region along and directly against the p-type and n-type doped semiconductor material of the second pillar;\ncharge-storage material along the tunnel dielectric; the charge-storage material including a first region along and directly against the first region of the tunnel dielectric, and including a second region along and directly against the second region of the tunnel dielectric;\ncharge-blocking material along the charge-storage material; the charge-blocking material including a first region along and directly against the first region of the charge-storage material, and including a second region along and directly against the second region of the charge-storage material;\na plurality of control gate structures that are horizontally spaced from one another; the control gate structures being laterally between the adjacent pillars, and laterally between the first and second regions of the charge-blocking material; and\ninsulative spacers within spaces between the horizontally-spaced control gate structures.\n\n7. The semiconductor construction of claim 6 wherein the control gate structures are comprised by electrically conductive lines that extend along a horizontal direction; further comprising electrically insulative dividers between some of the pillars of the plurality of pillars, with said electrically insulative dividers being vertical columns that extend along an entire vertical periphery of the pillars; and wherein the electrically conductive lines are between adjacent electrically insulative dividers.\n\n8. The semiconductor construction of claim 6 wherein the horizontally-spaced control gate structures include a bottom control gate structure, a top control gate structure, and at least one intermediate control gate structure between the bottom control gate structure and the top control gate structure; the top and bottom control gate structures being incorporated into selecting devices of a NAND unit cell, and the at least one intermediate control gate structure being incorporated into at least one string device of the NAND unit cell.\n\n9. The semiconductor construction of claim 6 wherein the horizontally-spaced control gate structures are a first set of horizontally-spaced control gate structures, and further comprising a second set of horizontally-spaced control gate structures on an opposing side of one of the adjacent pillars from said first set of horizontally-spaced control gate structures; the alternating p-type doped regions and n-type doped regions of said one of the adjacent pillars forming channel regions and source/drain regions for a first set of flash memory cells comprising the first set of horizontally-spaced control gate structures, and for a second set of flash memory cells comprising the second set of horizontally-spaced control gate structures.\n\n10. A NAND unit cell, comprising:\na first vertical column comprising alternating control gate structures and insulative material structures;\nsecond and third vertical columns on opposing sides of the first vertical column from one another, the second and third vertical columns comprising alternating n-type doped regions and p-type doped regions; at least four of the n-type doped regions alternating with at least three of the p-type doped regions; the n-type doped regions of the second vertical column being horizontally aligned with the n-type doped regions of the third vertical column, and the p-type doped regions of the second vertical column being horizontally aligned with the p-type doped regions of the third vertical column; the control gate structures being horizontally aligned with either the n-type doped regions or the p-type doped regions;\ntunnel dielectric, charge-storage material, and charge-blocking material between the first column and each of the second and third columns;\nthe tunnel dielectric being configured as an upwardly-opening container; the control gate structures and insulative material structures being within said container; and\nwherein at least some of the control gate structures, together with n-type and p-type doped regions of the second and third vertical columns, are incorporated into string devices of the NAND unit cell."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Mobile Unit Having Internet Protocol Functionality\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) systems, a mobile station (MS) consists of a wireless terminal (i.e., handset) and a removable smart card called a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). In 3 rd Generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems (UMTSs), User Equipment (UE) consists of mobile equipment (ME) and a removable smart card called the UMTS Subscriber Identity Module (USIM). The ME communicates with a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) node, which in turn, may establish a connection to a Circuit Switched (CS) or Packet Switched (PS) Core network. An International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) uniquely identifies the mobile equipment. The SIM or USIM card contains an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) which uniquely identifies the subscriber. The IMEI and the IMSI are independent, thereby allowing personal mobility. In the case of 3G UMTSs, a base station controller corresponds to a radio network controller (RNC). There, a plurality of base stations are controlled by a node B, which in turn has a connection to the RNC. The SIM or the USIM provides personal mobility so that a user can have access to subscribed services irrespective of a specific terminal. By inserting the SIM card into another GSM or 3G terminal, the user is able to receive calls, make calls and receive other subscribed services from that terminal. FIG. 1 shows a conventional3G UMTS 100 which includes a typical MS or UE 105 having a handset 110 with a respective USIM or SIM card 115 inserted therein. The USIM or SIM card 115 stores Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) information and IMSI information. When a request to connect the MS 110 is received (by dialing or receiving a call) (S 1 ), the PLMN and IMSI information is transferred from the USIM or SIM card 115 to the handset 110 for facilitating an initial cell search and to camp on the cell determined from the search (S 2 ). A communication link between the MS or UE 105 and a UTRAN node 120 is established, and system information is sent from the UTRAN node 120 to the MS or UE 105 (S 3 A, S 3 B). In response, the MS or UE 105 sends a connection request including the stored IMSI information to the UTRAN node 120 (S 4 ). Once the connection is granted by the UTRAN node 120 (S 5 A, S 5 B), the MS or UE 105 may be used to request a transfer and/or connection to a CS or PS Core network 125 (S 6 A, S 6 B). Once the MS or UE 105 is connected to the Core network 125 (S 6 B), data may be transferred between the Core network and the MS or UE 105 (S 7 ). Protocol enhancements, specified by 3GPP TS 23.003, allow transparent routing of IP datagrams to mobile nodes in the Internet. An IP datagram is the fundamental unit of information passed across any network utilizing the Internet protocol. An IP datagram contains source and destination addresses, along with data and a number of fields that define such things as the length of the datagram, the header checksum and flags that indicate whether the datagram can be (or has been) fragmented. Each mobile node is always identified by its home address, regardless of its current point of attachment to the Internet. A mobile node is a host or router that changes its point of attachment from one network or sub-network to another. A mobile node may change its location without changing its IP address. Thus, a mobile node may continue to communicate with other Internet nodes at any location using its constant IP address, assuming link-layer connectivity to a point of attachment is available. When located away from its home, a mobile node is also associated with a care-of address, which provides information about its current point of attachment to the Internet. The care-of address is the termination point of a tunnel toward a mobile node. A tunnel is the path followed by a datagram while it is encapsulated. A foreign agent care-of message is an address of a foreign agent with which the mobile node is registered. A co-located care-of message is an externally obtained local address which the mobile node has associated with one of its own network interfaces. The protocol provides for registering the care-of address with a home agent. A home agent is a router on a mobile node's home network which tunnels data grams for delivery to the mobile node when it is away from home, and maintains current location information for the mobile node.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA mobile unit includes a handset and a removable storage module having a unique storage module identity, for storing information specific to a user, including an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Additional information regarding a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) which uniquely identifies the subscriber is also stored in the removable storage module. Upon successfully camping on a cell of a mobile network, the IP address is forwarded to an IP-based network capable of communicating with the mobile unit. In an alternate embodiment, the mobile unit has multi-network capabilities which allow it to communicate with an IP-based network and a cellular network at the same time. In another embodiment, existing cellular network services for the mobile unit having multi-network capabilities are routed through the IP-based network."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A mobile unit, comprising:\na processing unit to:\ntransmit, receive, and process wireless communications,\ncommunicate with a plurality of networks, including communication with a first network via a first connection using a first user data and communication with a second network via a second connection using a second user data, wherein the second user data enables the mobile unit to establish a connection with the second network without going through the first network;\nreceive services associated with the first network, and\naccess the services associated with the first network through the second network using the connection established with the second network based on the second user data; and\na storage module, the storage module including user data including the first user data and the second user data.\n\n2. The mobile unit of claim 1, wherein the user data includes one or more of an Internet Protocol (IP) address and an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).\n\n3. The mobile unit of claim 2, wherein the user data further includes Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) information.\n\n4. The mobile unit of claim 1, wherein the storage module is a removable storage module.\n\n5. The mobile unit of claim 1, wherein the storage module includes a unique storage module identity.\n\n6. The mobile unit of claim 1, wherein the storage module is a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).\n\n7. The mobile unit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of networks includes one or more of a packet switched network and a cellular network.\n\n8. The mobile unit of claim 1, wherein the mobile unit includes multi-network capability to communicate with the first network and the second network at a same time.\n\n9. An apparatus, comprising:\nmeans for transmitting, receiving, and processing wireless communications;\nmeans for storing information specific to a user, wherein the stored information includes a first user information and a second user information;\nmeans for establishing network connections, including:\nmeans for establishing a connection with a first network via a connection with the first network to receive services associated with the first network using the first user information, and\nmeans for establishing a connection with a second network using the second user information, wherein the second user data enables establishment of the connection with the second network without going through the first network; and\nmeans for ending the connection with the first network and accessing the services associated with the first network through the second network using the connection established with the second network based on the second user data.\n\n10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the means for storing information specific to a user includes a removable means for storing information.\n\n11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the stored information includes one or more of an Internet Protocol (IP) address and an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).\n\n12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the stored information further includes Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) information.\n\n13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the means for establishing network connections includes multi-network capability to communicate with the first network and the second network at a same time.\n\n14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the means for establishing network connections includes means for communicating with an IP-based (Internet Protocol-based) network.\n\n15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the means for establishing network connections includes means for communicating with a UTRAN (UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network) node.\n\n16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:\ntransmitting, receiving, and processing wireless communications;\nstoring information specific to a user, wherein the stored information includes a first user information and a second user information;\nestablishing a connection with a first network via a connection with the first network to receive services associated with the first network using the first user information;\nestablishing a connection with a second network using the second user information, wherein the second user data enables establishment of the connection with the second network without going through the first network; and\nending the connection with the first network and accessing the services associated with the first network through the second network using the connection established with the second network based on the second user data.\n\n17. The medium of claim 16, wherein storing information specific to a user includes storing the information on a removable storage.\n\n18. The medium of claim 17, wherein the stored information includes one or more of an Internet Protocol (IP) address and an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).\n\n19. The medium of claim 18, wherein the stored information further includes Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) information.\n\n20. The medium of claim 16, wherein establishing network connections includes establishing multi-network connections to communicate with the first network and the second network at a same time.\n\n21. The medium of claim 16, wherein establishing network connections includes communicating with an IP-based (Internet Protocol-based) network.\n\n22. The medium of claim 16, wherein establishing network connections includes communicating with a UTRAN (UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Terrestrial Radio Access Network) node."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Point-And-Click Control Of Unmanned, Autonomous Vehicle Using Omni-Directional Visors\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nOutdoor control of UAVs is normally accomplished using GPS. Usually, the operator has a map of the area where he/she is interested in sending the UAV. By selecting a series of waypoints on the map, it delineates the trajectory followed by the UAV. This trajectory is usually in two dimensions, and it assumes that GPS is available throughout the execution of the plan. The operator then decides whether the UAV should land or loiter at the end of the trajectory. If GPS is jammed or not available, the current state-of-the-art\u2014for small UAVs\u2014is to teleoperate. Larger UAVs (like the Predator) are capable of maintaining localization for longer periods of time, due to the accurate, expensive, and heavy inertial navigation units they carry. On the small UAVs, this is not a choice. The MEMS-based inertial units (which fit the SWAP of the small vehicles) have enough inertial biases that they are not capable of flying without GPS, or at least not with sufficient accuracy. Therefore, teleoperation is the customary fall-back control methodology. Teleoperation can be done two ways; one way is when the operator has direct line of sight (usually called remote control). This method is performed when the operator looks directly at the flying vehicle, and uses a joystick to control its position\u2014as well as counteract the effects of wind and aerodynamics. A second mechanism, usually called FPV (First-Person View), is used when the operator controls through an onboard camera, which is then relayed through a communication channel to the OCU (Operator Control Unit) carried by the operator. For indoor applications, the choices are more limited. GPS is not available, and the UAVs capable of navigating in indoor scenarios cannot carry these larger, accurate IMUs. Therefore, the most common technique used for indoor missions is vehicle teleoperation. Teleoperation indoors is not trivial; the proximity of walls, and even the ground itself, create aerodynamic effects, which\u2014in some cases\u2014severely affect the controls of the UAV. Therefore, only trained operators can be used, and even under those conditions, safe control of the UAVs is not always accomplished. Although autonomous mobility is the \u201cHoly Grail\u201d of autonomous robotic control in indoor and underground facilities, this is still to be accomplished. There are two main issues keeping autonomous mobility from being widespread. One, the sensors necessary for providing full, autonomous mobility, in an indoor facility, and are expensive and heavy. Two\u2014and most importantly\u2014the localization techniques for indoor navigation are hampered by the reduced SWAP. If a sufficient number of sensors is added to a quadrotor, capable of accurately mapping and localizing in an indoor facility, the cost and size of the UAV tends to make it unviable from a tactical standpoint.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe proposed method outlines a new control mechanism well-suited for small, unmanned aerial vehicles traversing in a GPS-denied areas. It has the strong advantage of simplifying the interface, so that even an untrained operator can handle the difficult, dynamic problems encountered in closed quarters. The proposed system seamlessly integrates point-and-click control with way-point navigation, in an intuitive interface. An additional advantage of the proposed system is that it adds minimal hardware to the payload of the UAV, and can possibly, strongly diminish the bandwidth and delay effects of the communication channel."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A control system device comprising:\na teleoperated vehicle;\nan omnidirectional camera or wide field of view camera mounted on the teleoperated vehicle;\na 3D display worn by an operator to visualize video or a sequence of images collected by the teleoperated vehicle;\na teleoperated vehicle control platform and an operator control unit (OCU) controlled by an operator providing communication between the teleoperated vehicle and the OCU;\na display overlay that indicates to the operator a desired goal location of the teleoperated vehicle;\na control system on the teleoperated vehicle that computes a control command given a motion that occurred during a communications delay between the teleoperated vehicle control platform and the operator control unit (OCU); and\na virtual reality glove allowing the operator to select a distance along a trajectory displayed in a pair of 3D display stereo goggles worn by the operator.\n\n2. The device of claim 1, wherein the 3D display worn by an operator is a pair of 3D stereo goggles;\nthe 3D stereo goggles are further comprised of an embedded inertial measurement unit (IMU); and\nwherein the pose of the head of the operator can be used to provide virtual reality.\n\n3. The device of claim 2, further comprising a range sensor, wherein the range sensor is either acoustic or LADAR.\n\n4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a range sensor that covers a direction of travel of the teleoperated vehicle.\n\n5. The device of claim 1, wherein one or more overlays are displayed three dimensionally by the 3D display to express a trajectory and an assigned stopping location.\n\n6. The device of claim 5, wherein a model of motion of the teleoperated vehicle is used to predict a trajectory being expressed on the 3D display.\n\n7. The device of claim 1, further comprising displaying a rendering of a representation of the teleoperated vehicle.\n\n8. The device of claim 1, wherein one or more omnidirectional cameras on the teleoperated vehicle provide stereo omnidirectional imagery or generate stereo image pairs by rotating the omnidirectional cameras.\n\n9. The device of claim 1, wherein one or more Euler angles of the 3D display are used to steer the teleoperated vehicle toward a goal location or adjust a trajectory of the teleoperated vehicle.\n\n10. The device of claim 1, wherein a 2D or 3D top view map showing the location and trajectory of the teleoperated vehicle is displayed either as an overlay or utilizing the areas in the hemisphere of the 3D display where the omnidirectional cameras do not cover.\n\n11. The device of claim 1, wherein the operator can rewind a previously recorded imagery to a previous time and still select a goal point.\n\n12. The device of claim 1, wherein a top view display of one or more obstacles found by the teleoperated vehicle are displayed on the 3D display.\n\n13. The device of claim 1, further comprising a radio navigation unit that controls or guides the teleoperated vehicle to an assigned location.\n\n14. A method for providing Point-and-Click Control of an Unmanned, Autonomous Vehicle Using Omni-Directional Visors, comprising the steps of:\nproviding a teleoperated vehicle;\nmounting an omnidirectional camera or wide field of view camera on the teleoperated vehicle;\nproviding a 3D display worn by an operator to visualize video or a sequence of images collected by the teleoperated vehicle;\nproviding a teleoperated vehicle control platform and an operator control unit (OCU) controlled by an operator;\ncreating a display overlay that indicates to the operator a desired goal location of the teleoperated vehicle;\nproviding a 3D display to be worn by an operator in the form of a pair of 3D stereo goggles;\nthe 3D stereo goggles are further comprised of an embedded inertial measurement unit (IMU);\nwherein the pose of the head of the operator can be used to provide virtual reality;\na virtual reality glove allowing the operator to select the distance along the trajectory displayed in the stereo goggles;\nthe operator will find, by moving his head, the location where he would like the quadrotor to go;\nthe operator will then use the glove to select a point in the 3D imagery;\nthis selected point will indicate the perceived range of the location;\nthe OCU will draw a 3D prediction of where the quadrotor will traverse in order to achieve that location;\nthe operator can adjust the depth of the traversal; in this case, how close it will get to a wall;\nthe operator will then press a button or provide other positive input to execute the movement;\na control system on the teleoperated vehicle that computes a control command given a motion that occurred during a communications delay between the teleoperated vehicle control platform and the operator control unit (OCU);\nthe quadrotor, after the correct intermediate and final pose changes are taken under consideration, will control itself, staying within the corridor indicated in the operators 3D stereo goggles; and\nwhile the traversal is executed, the location of the desired goal and the perceived distances until collision will be updated on the operator's visor;\ngenerating a depiction of one or more intermediate poses and a final pose of a control system device; and\nselecting a final or intermediate pose."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Fork Carriage For An Industrial Truck\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a fork carriage for an industrial truck. The fork carriage is part of the load frame of an industrial truck. The fork prongs, on which the load can be lifted and transported, are fastened to the fork carriage. The fork carriage is mounted vertically in the drive frame of the vehicle by means of a linear guide, for example with a lift mast profile in the drive frame and rollers on the fork carriage. The height position of the fork carriage is determined by one or more lift cylinders and a load is lifted or lowered. The fork carriage is an important structural frame part for the load part of the industrial truck, which is designed according to the load capacity and the operating conditions of the industrial truck. Known fork carriages have additionally installed belts or struts, with which the fork carriage is given the necessary rigidity and stability. The use of additional belts or struts in the fork carriage represents high material use, which leads to high material costs and a heavy weight for the vehicle. Moreover, the assembly of the fork carriage is also complex and time-intensive due to an additional belt or strut structure. The object of the invention is to provide a fork carriage for an industrial truck, which uses less material and is easy to assemble with the same stability and rigidity. The object according to the invention is solved by a fork carriage with the characteristics of claim 1 . Advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of the dependent claims.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA fork carriage for an industrial truck, which has a load-side main metal sheet, a fork-side main metal sheet and a driver-side main metal sheet, which are connected to a box-shaped fork carriage body with six flat sides, wherein the fork-side main metal sheet has two connecting interfaces for two fork prongs, the load-side main metal sheet has laterally two folded side plates, on each of which a kinematics interface is arranged, and the driver-side main metal sheet has a folded cover plate."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A fork carriage for an industrial truck, the fork carriage comprising:\na fork-side main metal sheet comprising two connecting interfaces, wherein each of the connecting interfaces is configured to receive a fork prong;\na load-side main metal sheet comprising two laterally folded side plates;\na kinematics interface mounted on the laterally folded side plates; and\na driver-side main metal sheet comprising a folded cover plate and a through hole to a lift cylinder space,\nwherein the driver-side main metal sheet, the load-side main metal sheet, and the fork-side main metal sheet are connected to form a box shaped hollow body,\nwherein the driver-side main metal sheet further comprises a lift cylinder plate, which is folded in a same direction as the folded cover plate.\n\n2. The fork carriage of claim 1, wherein the kinematics interface is a plurality of rollers.\n\n3. The fork carriage of claim 1, further comprising a lift cylinder metal sheet, wherein the lift cylinder metal sheet comprises an L shape and delimits the lift cylinder space together with the lift cylinder plate.\n\n4. The fork carriage of claim 1, wherein the load-side main metal sheet comprises an angled floor plate, which is folded in the same direction of the laterally folded side plates.\n\n5. The fork carriage of claim 4, wherein the angled floor plate comprises at least one projection on its free end.\n\n6. The fork carriage of claim 1, wherein the load-side main metal sheet comprises a ledge extending between the side plates.\n\n7. The fork carriage of claim 1, wherein each of the connecting interfaces is a recess formed by the inward folding of a connecting plate.\n\n8. A fork carriage for an industrial truck, the fork carriage comprising:\na fork-side main metal sheet having a U-shaped contour and further comprising,\na load-side arm and a driver-side arm, and\ntwo connecting interfaces, wherein each of the connecting interfaces is configured to receive a fork prong;\na load-side main metal sheet comprising two laterally folded side plates;\na kinematics interface mounted on the laterally folded side plates: and\na driver-side main metal sheet comprising a folded cover plate, wherein the driver-side main metal sheet, the load-side main metal sheet, and the fork-side main metal sheet are connected to form a box shaped hollow body, and wherein the load-side arm is connected to the load-side main metal sheet and the driver-side arm is connected to the driver-side main metal sheet.\n\n9. The fork carriage of claim 8, wherein the load-side main metal sheet further comprises a floor plate that, is connected to the load-side arm of the fork-side main metal sheet.\n\n10. The fork carriage of claim 8, wherein the load-side main metal sheet has a ledge extending between the laterally folded side plates on a load-side of the fork carriage.\n\n11. The fork carriage of claim 8, wherein each of the connecting interfaces is a recess formed by an inward folding of a connecting plate.\n\n12. The fork carriage of claim 8, wherein the kinematics interface is a plurality of rollers.\n\n13. The fork carriage of claim 8, further comprising a lift cylinder metal sheet, wherein the lift cylinder metal sheet comprises an L shape and defines a lift cylinder plate and a lift cylinder space.\n\n14. The fork carriage of claim 8, wherein the load-side main metal sheet comprises an angled floor plate that is folded in a same direction of the laterally folded side plates.\n\n15. The fork carriage of claim 14, wherein the angled floor plate comprises at least one projection."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Balanced Armature Based Valve\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAn in-ear speaker (e.g., an earbud, a hearing aid, a personal sound amplifier (PSAP), etc.) that includes at least one acoustic driver can be designed to deliver sounds to one or more ears of a user of such an in-ear speaker. These types of in-ear speakers can also be designed with uplink capabilities that enable telecommunication functionalities for phone calls, video calls, and the like. Users of these types of in-ear speakers can be subjected to unwanted sounds resulting from an occlusion effect, as a result of their use of these types of in-ear speakers which block the ear canal. Additionally, users of these types of in-ear speakers can be prevented from being aware of auditory stimuli in their immediate surroundings when using these types of in-ear speakers. Moreover, the power consumption of these types of in-ear speakers is suboptimal.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA balanced armature (\u201cBA\u201d) based valve is described. The valve includes a motor having a coil assembly and a magnetic system, an armature extending through or being located adjacent to the motor, a drive pin coupled to the armature, and a valve flap of a membrane having a hole therein. The valve flap is actuated by the drive pin into open and closed positions, in response to respective motions of the armature. A housing contains the motor, the armature, the drive pin, and the membrane. In one embodiment, the membrane is attached to the housing and divides the housing into an upper space and a lower space, and there is airflow through the hole, between the upper space and the lower space, only when the valve flap is open. A first spout of the housing may deliver sound generated by an acoustic driver in the housing into a wearer's ear canal, and is also open to the upper space. A second spout of the housing is open to the bottom space and to an ambient environment. Other embodiments are also described."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An acoustic pass valve for use in a speaker, the valve comprising:\na motor having a coil assembly and a magnetic system;\nan armature extending through or being located adjacent to the coil assembly and the magnetic system;\na membrane having a main portion in which a hole is formed, and a moveable valve flap that, in a closed position, abuts a top face of the main portion and completely covers the hole;\na drive pin having a first end and a second end, the first end of the drive pin being coupled to the armature and the second end being coupled to the valve flap of the membrane, the valve flap to be actuated by the drive pin into i) an open position in which the hole is uncovered by the flap, in response to a first motion of the armature, and ii) the closed position, in response to a second motion of the armature;\na valve housing containing the motor, the armature, the drive pin, and the membrane;\na first spout coupled to or formed on the housing, wherein the first spout is open to a first space inside the housing that is open to a top face of the membrane; and\na second spout coupled to or formed on the housing, wherein the second spout is open to a second space inside the housing that is open to a bottom face of the membrane.\n\n2. The valve of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second motions of the armature do not cause the drive pin to actuate, vibrate, or move any part of the membrane that is not the valve flap.\n\n3. The valve of claim 1, wherein the first motion of the armature causes the drive pin to actuate the valve flap into the open position in response to a first magnetic flux that is created when a positive current is applied to the coil assembly,\nthe second motion of the armature causes the drive pin to actuate the valve flap into the closed position in response to a second magnetic flux that is created when a negative current is applied to the coil assembly, and\nthe armature is bi-stable such that no current is applied to the coil assembly except to cause the first motion or the second motion.\n\n4. The valve of claim 3, wherein when the valve flap is in the closed position, air pressure in the first space of the housing is sealed off from air pressure in the second space of the housing.\n\n5. The valve of claim 3, further comprising:\nlogic to trigger the application of the positive or negative currents to the coil assembly based on one or more measurements by a sensor, wherein the logic is included in i) the valve, ii) an in-ear speaker in which the valve is contained, or iii) an external device that is to provide an audio signal to the in-ear speaker, and the sensor is included in i) the valve, ii) an in-ear speaker in which the valve is contained, or iii) an external device that is to provide an audio signal to the in-ear speaker.\n\n6. The valve of claim 3, wherein the positive current is between +1 mA and +3 mA, and the negative current is between \u22121 mA and \u22123 mA.\n\n7. The valve of claim 1, wherein the first motion of the armature ends due to the armature coming into contact with a first magnet of the magnetic system, the second motion of the armature ends due to the armature coming into contact with a second magnet of the magnetic system, and\nthe armature is bi-stable such that no current through the coil assembly is required to maintain the armature at the end of the first motion or the second motion.\n\n8. The valve of claim 7, wherein the magnetic system comprises the first magnet, the second magnet, and a pole piece, the pole piece being designed to hold the first and second magnets, the first magnet being directly over the second magnet with an air gap between the first and second magnets, and the armature being located in the air gap such that the first motion includes moving towards the first magnet and the second motion includes moving towards the second magnet.\n\n9. The valve of claim 1 wherein a cross-sectional area of the valve flap is less than or equal to three mm 2.\n\n10. The valve of claim 1, wherein the housing has a front side, a rear side, a top side, and a bottom side, the first spout is coupled to or formed on the front side of the housing or the top side of the housing, the second spout is coupled to or formed on the rear side of the housing or the bottom side of the housing, and wherein the front side, the bottom side, and the membrane are substantially parallel to each other, wherein the membrane is placed between the front and bottom sides of the housing and the motor, the armature, and the drive pin are between the membrane and the bottom side of the housing.\n\n11. The valve of claim 1, wherein an active vent system couples an ear canal to an ambient environment outside of the speaker using a pathway,\nthe valve being part of the active vent system, and\nthe pathway includes at least three volumes through which the ear canal is acoustically coupled to the ambient environment, wherein a first one of the volumes presents an acoustic impedance between the valve and the ambient environment, a second one of the volumes presents an acoustic impedance between the valve and the ear canal, and a third one of the volumes presents an acoustic impedance in the valve itself.\n\n12. The valve of claim 11, wherein an overall acoustic impedance of the at least three volumes is at least 500 Kg/m 4.\n\n13. The valve of claim 11, wherein an overall acoustic impedance of the at least three volumes is at most 800,000 Kg/m 4."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Tracking Energy Consumption Using A Boost-Buck Technique\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nReducing energy consumption is important in the development and improvement of electronic devices, in particular if they are mobile or portable electronic devices. In order to save energy, electronic devices are more and more controlled by sophisticated schemes in which the magnitude of the consumed currents varies over several decades of magnitude. In low power modes some hundreds of nA (nano-amperes) of a current may be consumed while other operation modes require up to several hundreds of mA (milli-amperes). It is often necessary to measure these currents over a wide range (e.g. from nano-amperes to milli-amperes) with an acceptable accuracy while at the same time being able to track highly dynamic current changes. Furthermore, any side effects due to measuring the consumed energy should be avoided or well controlled. For example, it is preferred that an increase of the energy consumption due to the energy measurement itself not occur. One of the more common techniques for measuring a current is a measurement using a shunt device or a shunt resister. Using a shunt device for the power measurement requires very high precision analogue to digital converters in order to cover the full dynamic range of the possible magnitudes of the currents. For example, when four and a half decades of measurement with one percent precision is required, a 24-Bit-converter would be required. Furthermore, shunt devices generate a voltage drop. This voltage should be compensated, while the compensation circuitry constitutes a potential source of errors. Direct load compensation can be difficult. This means that the measurement range and therefore the circuitry used for measuring the power consumption has to be adapted during the energy measurement procedure. This increases complexity and entails more potential errors. Still further, measuring a current indirectly by measuring the voltage across a shunt device requires an initial voltage change on the target. If a buffer capacitor is coupled to the target side (output side of an energy transfer circuits), the buffer capacitor delivers current immediately and needs to be recharged. This behavior affects the true current response of the device under test. Another approach of measuring the energy consumption employs a current mirror. One side of the current mirror delivers the current to the target including the target capacitor. The other side of the current mirror is coupled to an Ampere meter to which the mirrored current is fed. This approach has the advantage that the distortion caused by the target capacitor is minimized. However, the required pairing of the power and sense field effect transistors (FET) is rather poor and is not capable of tracking the huge current magnitude to be supported.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe invention relates to an apparatus and method for tracking energy consumption. An energy tracking system comprises at least one switching element, at least one inductor and a control block to keep the output voltage at a pre-selected level. The switching elements are configured to apply the source of energy to the inductors. The control block compares the output voltage of the energy tracking system to a reference value and controls the switching of the switched elements in order to transfer energy for the primary voltage into a secondary voltage at the output of the energy tracking system. The electronic device further comprises an ON-time and OFF-time generator and an accumulator wherein the control block is coupled to receive a signal from the ON-time and OFF-time generator and generates switching signals for the at least one switching element in the form of ON-time pulses with a constant width ON-time."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electronic device comprising an energy tracking system, the energy tracking system comprising a boost block, at least one energy transfer block and a control circuit wherein the control circuit is configured to control switching of energy in the at least one energy transfer block in order to transfer energy from a primary voltage applied at an input of the energy tracking system into a secondary voltage at the output of the energy tracking system;\nwherein the control circuit comprises an ON-time and OFF-time generator, at least one control logic block and an accumulator wherein the at least one control logic block is coupled to receive a signal from the ON-time and OFF-time generator and to generate switching signals for the at least one energy transfer block in the form of ON-time pulses with a constant width ON-time, and wherein the accumulator is configured to collect a number of ON-time pulses for determining consumed energy based on the number of ON-time pulses per time;\nwherein the boost block comprises:\na first inductor having a first terminal and a second terminal wherein the first terminal is connected to an input of the boost block;\na first switching element, the first switching element being connected to the second terminal of the first inductor, to ground and to the control circuit;\na first diode having a cathode and an anode wherein the anode is connected to the second terminal of the first inductor and the cathode is connected to an output of the boost block;\na second switching element, the second switching element being connected to the second terminal of the first inductor, to the output of the boost block and to the control circuit; and\na capacitor having a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal being connected to the cathode of the first diode and the second terminal of the capacitor being connected to ground;\nwherein the at least one energy transfer block comprises:\na third switching element, the third switching element being connected to the control circuit, and to the input of the at least one energy transfer block;\na second inductor having a first terminal and a second terminal wherein the first terminal is connected to the third switching device and to an output of the at least one energy transfer block;\na second diode having a cathode and an anode wherein the anode is connected to ground and the cathode is connected to the first terminal of the second inductor; and\na fourth switching element, the fourth switching element being connected to the control circuit, to the cathode of the second diode and the anode of the second diode.\n\n2. The electronic device of claim 1 wherein a second capacitor is connected to the input of the energy tracking system.\n\n3. The electronic device of claim 2 wherein a third capacitor is connected to the output of the energy tracking system.\n\n4. The electronic device of claim 1 wherein an impedance is connected to the output of the energy tracking system."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Communicating In A Magnetic Resonance Apparatus And Magnetic Resonance Apparatus Operating Therewith\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention concerns a method for communicating between a first communication device of a magnetic resonance device and a second communication device of the magnetic resonance device, particularly one that is mobile and on the patient side. The invention also relates to such a magnetic resonance apparatus. 2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Subject Matter Magnetic resonance devices are widely known in the prior art and are now established as medical imaging devices. For the purpose of imaging, the patient is introduced with a patient couch into a usually cylindrical patient retainer inside a main magnetic unit. The magnetic resonance device is located in a shielded enclosure, which is usually vacated by the operating personnel during the imaging process. A significant amount of noise is generated in the area of the magnetic resonance device during the imaging process. Moreover, the patient retainer of the magnetic resonance device is usually relatively narrow. It is therefore expedient to implement a facility for communicating with the patient, particularly to enable anxious patients to be reassured, and so that instructions can be conveyed to the patient. Pneumatically operated communication systems have been proposed for this purpose, in which acoustic information is transferred to a patient headset by air pressure modulation. For the return communication it has been proposed, for example, for the patient to use a pneumatically operated call ball; in addition or alternately, microphones may be arranged at the edge of the patient receptacle. While a call ball is often straightforward to implement, the pneumatic transmission of acoustic information by air pressure modulation requires a complex arrangement of compressed-air hoses, which complicates the layout and operation of the magnetic resonance device. A further disadvantage of transmitting useful signals pneumatically is the poor transmission quality that is achieved. In the post-published German patent application DE 10 2014 203 368.3 a communication method is proposed that uses radio signals, wherein a carrier signal with a first frequency is emitted by a first communication device of the magnetic resonance apparatus, which is arranged on the basic field magnet side, and this first carrier signal is received on the patient side. There, a second carrier signal is generated with a second frequency, which is different from the first frequency, with a pre-set rational frequency ratio to the first frequency and with a pre-set phase position to the phase of the first carrier signal, onto which the useful signal is modulated, so that the transmit signal thus produced can be returned to the first communication device. In other words, in the second, patient-side communication device, the principle of a phase-locked transponder is used, but the phase-locked transponder signal is not transmitted directly, but is additionally modulated by a useful signal. By continuous transmission of the first carrier signal and of the transmit signal, it is possible for faults in the connection to be detected immediately. Embodiments of the communication method described therein also permit bidirectional communication. The use of radio does however cause problems with regard to approval and/or possible interference/distortions in the magnetic resonance device.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn a method for communicating between a first communication device of a magnetic resonance apparatus and a second communication device, in particular one that is mobile and on the patient side, of the magnetic resonance apparatus, a communication technology using visible light is used as the transmission medium for transmission of a useful signal from at least one of the communication devices to the other communication device, in particular from the first communication device to the second communication device."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for communicating an information signal to an interior of a patient receptacle inside of a magnetic resonance (MR) data acquisition scanner of an MR apparatus, said MR data acquisition scanner having illumination lighting inside of said patient receptacle that emits light that illuminates the overall interior of said patient receptacle, said method comprising:\nproviding an input information signal to a control circuit situated outside of said patient receptacle and, in said control circuit, generating an electrical control signal that represents information in said input information signal;\ncommunicating said control signal to said illumination lighting inside of said patient receptacle, and operating said illumination lighting with said control signal to embody said information in the light emitted by said illumination lighting;\ndetecting said light embodying said information with a light detector circuit situated in the interior of said patient receptacle and, in said light detector circuit, recovering said information from the detected light and converting said information into an output information signal; and\ncommunicating said output information signal to an acoustic signal generator situated in the interior of said patient receptacle and, in said acoustic signal generator, converting said information signal into an acoustic signal, and emitting said acoustic signal from said acoustic signal generator in the interior of the patient receptacle.\n\n2. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising emitting visible light from said illuminating lighting inside of said patient receptacle.\n\n3. A method as claimed in claim 2 comprising operating said illuminating lighting with said control signal to invisibly embody said information in said visible light.\n\n4. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein said visible light comprises a carrier signal, and wherein said method comprises, in said control circuit, embodying said information in said carrier signal of said visible light by modulating a brightness amplitude of said carrier signal.\n\n5. A method as claimed in claim 4 comprising, in said control circuit, modulating said brightness amplitude using analog angle modulation of said carrier signal.\n\n6. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising operating said illumination lighting from said control circuit with a carrier signal that is phase-locked to a basic pulse signal of the magnetic resonance apparatus.\n\n7. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein said light detector circuit recovers said information from the detected light using an internal pulse signal, in said light detector circuit, that is phase-locked to said carrier signal.\n\n8. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising using a patient headset, adapted to be worn by a patient in said MR data acquisition scanner, as said acoustic signal generator.\n\n9. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising using a hand-held mobile communication device as said acoustic signal generator.\n\n10. A magnetic resonance (MR) apparatus comprising:\nan MR data acquisition scanner having a patient receptacle therein, said MR data acquisition scanner comprising illumination lighting inside of said patient receptacle that emits light that illuminates an overall interior of said patient receptacle;\na control circuit situated outside of said patient receptacle, said control circuit being provided with input information and said control circuit generating an electrical control signal that represents information in said input information signal;\nsaid control circuit being connected to said illumination lighting and operating said illumination lighting with said control signal to embody said information in the light emitted by said illumination lighting;\na light detector circuit situated in the interior of said patient receptacle that detects said light embodying said information and that recovers said information from the detected light and converts said information into an output information signal; and\nan acoustic signal generator situated in the interior of said patient receptacle to which said output information is provided by light detector circuit, said acoustic signal generator converting said information signal into an acoustic signal, and emitting said acoustic signal from said acoustic signal generator in the interior of the patient receptacle.\n\n11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said illuminating lighting emits visible light inside of said patient receptacle.\n\n12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said control circuit operates said illuminating lighting with said control signal to invisibly embody said information in said visible light.\n\n13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein said visible light comprises a carrier signal, and wherein said control circuit embodies said information in said carrier signal of said visible light by modulating a brightness amplitude of said carrier signal.\n\n14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein said control circuit modulates said brightness amplitude using analog angle modulation of said carrier signal.\n\n15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein said control circuit operates said illumination lighting with a carrier signal that is phase-locked to a basic pulse signal of the magnetic resonance apparatus.\n\n16. An apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein said light detector circuit recovers said information from the detected light using an internal pulse signal, in said light detector circuit that is phase-locked to said carrier signal.\n\n17. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said acoustic signal generator is a patient headset, adapted to be worn by a patient in said MR data acquisition scanner.\n\n18. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said illumination lighting is a light emitting diode (LED) illuminator.\n\n19. An apparatus as claimed in 10 wherein said light detector circuit comprises a light receiver selected from the group consisting of a photo detector, an optical concentrator, and an optical filter.\n\n20. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said MR data acquisition scanner produces radio-frequency (RF) signals during operation thereof, and wherein said light detector circuit comprises an RF shield that shields at least a portion of said light detector circuit from said RF signals."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Simplified Gate Driver For Power Transistors\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nTransistors, such as field-effect transistors, are electrical building blocks used across many fields. Some transistors can act as main semiconductor switches, allowing current to pass through them when in an \u201con\u201d or \u201cclosed\u201d state or allowing them to inhibit current passing through them when in an \u201coff\u201d or \u201copen\u201d state. Placing a main semiconductor switch in an \u201con\u201d or an \u201coff\u201d state can require the semiconductor switch being driven, such as by providing a certain voltage across the gate and source contacts of the main semiconductor switch. To operate properly, certain main semiconductor switches, such as MOSFETs, are driven using driver circuitry (e.g., a gate driver). Challenges in designing gate driver circuitry can occur, such as because of the particular semiconductor that needs to be driven or because of the environment in which the gate driver will operate. New types of transistors, such as Silicon-Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs can provide advantages over existing Silicon (Si) MOSFETs, but also may require different driving strategies. For example, many Si MOSFETS may be driven with symmetrical voltage biases, where the positive and negative voltages are provided at the same magnitude (e.g., \u00b110 Volt (V)), but SiC MOSFETs may be driven with asymmetrical voltage biases, where the positive and negative voltages are provided at different magnitudes (e.g., +25 V and \u221210 V). Many driver circuits are incapable of providing asymmetrical voltage biases, especially in compact, high-temperature-capable packages. Additionally, in certain environments, gate drivers are isolated. For example, galvanically isolated gate drivers may be used to drive power semiconductor switches in power processing circuits, such as power converters, power transmitters, and other such circuits. The isolation is necessary because the power switch usually does not share the same ground as the gate control circuit, such as the high-side switches in an H-bridge topology. Some isolated gate drivers include a floating power supply to provide the necessary power across its isolation barrier to drive the gate of the power switch, and an isolated signal transmission circuit to send the low-power control signal to the gate of the power switch. Such gate drivers may be bulky and complicated, especially when created for high-temperature environments (e.g., environments with a temperature above 125\u00b0 C.) because of the limited choices of integrated and temperature-qualified components. In wellbore operations, drivers for semiconductor-based circuits may be subjected to harsh environments by, for example, being used in tools that are placed within a wellbore. Drivers may need to withstand high temperatures (e.g., above 125\u00b0 C.). Additionally, available space may be severely limited, necessitating drivers that are small in size or use fewer components. Finally, due to the very high costs involved in retrieving tools that have been positioned within a wellbore, drivers may need to be reliable, especially at the high temperatures described above. Other requirements may exist that further disqualify the use of existing gate driver circuits.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA pulse-transformer-based isolated gate driver circuit uses a small count of high-temperature-qualified components to drive a power semiconductor switch with asymmetrical voltage biases. A differential driver generates a pulse signal from a pulse-width-modulated signal, which is passed to a charge and lock circuit through a transformer. The charge and lock circuit includes an activation path and a deactivation path, which are selectively open to current flow based on positive or negative voltage pulses in the pulse signal, to selectively turn the main semiconductor switch on or off. The charge and lock circuit can lock voltage across the main semiconductor switch to keep the main semiconductor switch in an \u201con\u201d or and \u201coff\u201d state."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A driver circuit, comprising:\na transformer having a secondary winding; and\na charge and lock circuit couplable to a main semiconductor switch, the charge and lock circuit including:\na first diode and a transistor switch in an activation path and coupled to the secondary winding to provide a positive voltage across the main semiconductor switch; and\na second diode and a Zener diode in a deactivation path and coupled to the secondary winding to provide a negative voltage across the main semiconductor switch, the negative voltage having a first magnitude that is different than a second magnitude of the positive voltage.\n\n2. The driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the first diode and the transistor switch are oriented in the activation path to lock the positive voltage across the main semiconductor switch; and wherein the second diode and the Zener diode are oriented in the deactivation path to lock the negative voltage across the main semiconductor switch.\n\n3. The driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the charge and lock circuit further includes a shunting resistor coupled between a gate and a source of the main semiconductor switch.\n\n4. The driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the charge and lock circuit further includes a first resistor coupled in series with the transistor switch to control an activation current through the activation path; and a second resistor coupled in series with the Zener diode to control a deactivation current through the deactivation path.\n\n5. The driver circuit of claim 4, wherein the charge and lock circuit further includes a third resistor coupled between a gate of the transistor switch and a center tap of the secondary winding.\n\n6. The driver circuit of claim 1, wherein the charge and lock circuit further includes an additional transistor switch coupled in series between the Zener diode and the secondary winding.\n\n7. The driver circuit of claim 6, wherein a gate of the transistor switch and a gate of the additional transistor switch are both coupled to a center tap of the secondary winding, and wherein a source of the transistor switch and an additional source of the additional transistor switch are coupled to opposite ends of the secondary winding.\n\n8. The driver circuit of claim 1, further comprising:\na differential driver circuit coupled to a primary winding of the transformer to provide a pulse signal to the primary winding in response to receiving a pulse-width-modulated signal.\n\n9. The driver circuit of claim 8, wherein the differential driver circuit includes a first driver, a second driver, and a signal delay circuit, the first driver couplable to a source of the pulse-width-modulated signal, the second driver couplable to the source through the signal delay circuit, the signal delay circuit having a delay time, wherein the first driver and the second driver are coupled to the primary winding to generate a positive voltage pulse at a beginning of a pulse instance in the pulse-width-modulated signal and a negative voltage pulse at an end of the pulse instance.\n\n10. A method, comprising:\ndelivering, to a charge and lock circuit couplable to a main semiconductor switch, by a secondary winding of a transformer, a pulse signal comprising a positive voltage pulse, a neutral voltage pulse signal, and a negative voltage pulse;\nproviding, by the charge and lock circuit, a positive voltage across a gate and a source of the main semiconductor switch in response to delivery of the positive voltage pulse, wherein the positive voltage is derived from the positive voltage pulse;\nlocking a gate voltage of the main semiconductor switch, by the charge and lock circuit, in response to delivery of the neutral voltage pulse signal; and\nproviding, by the charge and lock circuit, a negative voltage across the gate and the source of the main semiconductor switch in response to delivery of the negative voltage pulse, wherein the negative voltage is derived from passing the negative voltage pulse through a Zener diode to reduce a magnitude of the negative voltage to below a second magnitude of the positive voltage.\n\n11. The method of claim 10, wherein locking the gate voltage includes allowing a potential difference to build between opposite sides of a diode and a transistor switch in the charge and lock circuit.\n\n12. The method of claim 10, wherein locking the gate voltage includes allowing a potential difference to build between opposite sides of a second diode and a second transistor switch in the charge and lock circuit.\n\n13. The method of claim 10, wherein providing the positive voltage includes controlling an activation current by passing the positive voltage pulse through a first resistor, and wherein providing the negative voltage includes controlling a deactivation current by passing the negative voltage pulse through a second resistor.\n\n14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:\ngenerating, by a differential driver circuit, the pulse signal; and\ndelivering the pulse signal to a primary winding of the transformer.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, wherein generating the pulse signal further comprises:\nreceiving a pulse-width-modulated signal by a first driver of the differential driver circuit;\nreceiving a delayed pulse-width-modulated signal by a second driver of the differential driver circuit, wherein the delayed pulse-width-modulated signal is obtained by passing the pulse-width-modulated signal through a signal delay circuit;\ngenerating the positive voltage pulse at a beginning of a pulse instance in the pulse-width-modulated signal;\ngenerating the negative voltage pulse at an end of the pulse instance in the pulse-width-modulated signal; and\ngenerating the neutral voltage pulse signal between the positive voltage pulse and the negative voltage pulse.\n\n16. A system, comprising:\na control source;\na main semiconductor switch;\na power source having a first voltage;\na differential driver circuit coupled to the control source and the power source to convert a pulse-width-modulated signal from the control source, the pulse-width-modulated signal having a first frequency, into a pulse signal having a second frequency that is equal to the first frequency, a second voltage that is equal to the first voltage, and a constant pulse width; and\na charge and lock circuit coupled to the differential driver circuit through a transformer to receive the pulse signal and to operate the main semiconductor switch, wherein the charge and lock circuit includes:\na first diode and a transistor switch in an activation path and coupled to a secondary winding of the transformer to provide a positive voltage across the main semiconductor switch; and\na second diode and a Zener diode in a deactivation path and coupled to the secondary winding to provide a negative voltage across the main semiconductor switch, the negative voltage having a first magnitude that is smaller than a second magnitude of the positive voltage.\n\n17. The system of claim 16, wherein the differential driver circuit includes a first driver couplable to the control source and a second driver couplable to the control source through a signal delay circuit, the signal delay circuit having a delay time, wherein the constant pulse width is based on the delay time.\n\n18. The system of claim 16, wherein the charge and lock circuit further includes an additional transistor switch coupled in series between the Zener diode and the secondary winding, wherein a gate of the transistor switch and a gate of the additional transistor switch are both coupled to a center tap of the secondary winding, and wherein a source of the transistor switch and an additional source of the additional transistor switch are coupled to opposite ends of the secondary winding.\n\n19. The system of claim 16, wherein the charge and lock circuit further includes a first resistor coupled in series with the transistor switch to control an activation current through the activation path; and a second resistor coupled in series with the Zener diode to control a deactivation current through the deactivation path.\n\n20. The system of claim 16, further comprising:\na controllable component of a tool positioned in a wellbore, wherein the controllable component is controlled by the main semiconductor switch, and wherein the main semiconductor switch is a power switch."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Package Structure Of Power Module\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nRecently, the general trends in designing electronic devices are toward high density, high performance, small size, light weightiness and portability. With the increasing development of electronic industries, the internal circuitries of the electronic devices are gradually modularized. In other words, plural electronic components are integrated into a single circuit module. For example, a power module is one of the widely-used circuit modules. An example of the power module includes a DC-to-DC converter, a DC-to-AC converter, an AC-to-DC converter, or the like. After the electronic components (e.g. capacitors, resistors, inductors, transformers, diodes and transistors) are integrated as a power module, the power module may be installed on a system circuit board. An intelligent power module (IPM) is widely used in an intelligent motor driving circuit of an electrical appliance or an industrial appliance. In a conventional package structure of the intelligent power module, electronic components are supported by a lead frame and packaged by an encapsulation material. However, the process of fabricating this package structure is complicated. Moreover, the heat-dissipating efficiency of the package structure is usually insufficient, and the package structure is readily broken. In another conventional package structure of the intelligent power module, a printed circuit board with electronic components is directly disposed within a case, and covered by a covering member. Moreover, the case and the covering member are combined together via an adhesive. However, this package structure still has some drawbacks. For example, since the covering member cannot be securely fixed on the case through the adhesive. Moreover, when the package structure is combined with other device such as a heat sink, the bottom side of the case is easily suffered from bending and deformation because of the stress transmitted from the device. Since the package structure cannot be in close contact with the heat sink, the heat-dissipating efficiency is impaired, or even the package structure is detached from the heat sink. Under this circumstance, the use of the power module is not safe. Therefore, there is a need of providing an improved package structure in order to overcome the above drawbacks.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA package structure of a power module includes an insulation frame, a first circuit substrate, an insulation cover, plural first pins, plural posts and a fastening element. The insulation frame includes a sidewall and a first coupling part. The first coupling part is externally protruded from the sidewall. The first coupling part includes a first mounting structure. The first circuit substrate is combined with a bottom part of the insulation frame. The insulation cover is combined with a top part of the insulation frame. The insulation cover includes a second coupling part. The second coupling part includes a second mounting structure. The plural posts are embedded in the at least one first coupling part of the insulation frame, and partially penetrated through the second coupling part. The fastening element is connected with the first mounting structure and the second mounting structure."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A package structure of a power module, the package structure comprising:\nan insulation frame comprising a sidewall, a first opening end, a second opening end and at least one first coupling part, wherein the at least one first coupling part is externally protruded from the sidewall, and the first coupling part comprises a first mounting structure;\na first circuit substrate combined with a bottom part of the insulation frame, wherein the first opening end is covered by the first circuit substrate;\nan insulation cover combined with a top part of the insulation frame, wherein the second opening end is covered by the insulation cover, and an accommodation space is defined by the insulation cover, the insulation frame and the first circuit substrate collaboratively, wherein the insulation cover comprises a strut and at least one second coupling part, wherein the strut is protruded from a bottom surface of the insulation cover and located near the first circuit substrate or contacted with the first circuit substrate, wherein the at least one second coupling part is aligned with the at least one first coupling part of the insulation frame, and the second coupling part comprises a second mounting structure;\nplural first pins electrically connected with the first circuit substrate, wherein the plural first pins are embedded in the sidewall of the insulation frame and partially penetrated through the insulation cover;\nplural posts embedded in the at least one first coupling part of the insulation frame, and partially penetrated through the at least one second coupling part of the insulation cover; and\nat least one fastening element connected with the first mounting structure of the insulation frame and the second mounting structure of the insulation cover, so that the insulation frame and the insulation cover are combined together.\n\n2. The package structure according to claim 1, wherein the first coupling part matches the second coupling part, and the first mounting structure corresponds to the second mounting structure.\n\n3. The package structure according to claim 1, further comprising a second circuit substrate, wherein the second circuit substrate is disposed on the insulation frame and accommodated within the accommodation space.\n\n4. The package structure according to claim 3, wherein the insulation cover further comprises a third opening end, and a connector is disposed on the second circuit substrate, wherein the connector is partially penetrated through the third opening end of the insulation cover.\n\n5. The package structure according to claim 3, wherein the second circuit substrate has a through hole corresponding to the strut of the insulation cover, wherein the strut is penetrated through the through hole of the second circuit substrate.\n\n6. The package structure according to claim 3, wherein the insulation frame further comprises:\na first step structure formed on an inner surface of the sidewall of the insulation frame, and located near the first opening end; and\na second step structure formed on the inner surface of the sidewall of the insulation frame, and arrange between the first step structure and the second opening end, wherein the second circuit substrate is supported by the second step structure.\n\n7. The package structure according to claim 6, wherein each of the plural first pins is a multi-step pin and comprises a first conductive segment and a second conductive segment, wherein the first conductive segment and the second conductive segment are respectively exposed to the first step structure and the second step structure of the insulation frame.\n\n8. The package structure according to claim 6, further comprising plural second pins, wherein the plural second pins are embedded in the sidewall of the insulation frame and partially penetrated through the insulation cover, wherein each of the plural second pins comprises a third conductive segment, and the third conductive segment is exposed to the second step structure.\n\n9. The package structure according to claim 1, wherein the plural posts include plural single-step posts and plural two-step posts, wherein each single-step post has a first height with respect to the first coupling part, and each two-step post has a second height with respect to the first coupling part, wherein the second height is larger than the first height.\n\n10. The package structure according to claim 9, wherein the insulation cover comprises plural first perforations and plural second perforations, wherein the plural first pins are penetrated through the corresponding first perforations, and the two-step posts are penetrated through the corresponding second perforations.\n\n11. The package structure according to claim 9, wherein the package structure is installed on a system circuit board and electrically connected with the system circuit board, wherein the system circuit board comprises plural conductive holes and plural positioning holes, wherein the plural first pins are inserted into the corresponding conductive holes, and the plural two-step posts are inserted into the corresponding positioning holes.\n\n12. The package structure according to claim 1, wherein the insulation cover further comprises a groove, a washer and a top surface, wherein the groove is formed in the top surface of the insulation cover and arranged around the plural first pins, wherein the washer is disposed in the groove.\n\n13. The package structure according to claim 1, further comprising a heat sink, wherein the heat sink comprises a third mounting structure corresponding to the first mounting structure of the insulation frame, wherein the fastening element is connected with the first mounting structure of the insulation frame, the second mounting structure of the insulation cover and the third mounting structure of the heat sink."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Encoding Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to a sensing technique, and more particularly to an encoding device. 2. Description of the Related Art A conventional sensing unit is used to detect the variation of the light, magnetic field or electrical field of a signal unit so as to measure the geometrical displacement of a mechanism. The obtained analog signals are converted into digital signals by an encoder, which is an inevitable component for achieving precise control in the field of precision mechanical technique. However, in order to provide precise displacement signals, as a precondition, the sensing unit and the signal unit of the encoder must be securely and precisely positioned in the relative positions so as to ensure that the signals are truly detected. With a conventional encoder for optically detecting the rotational motion taken as an example, the signal unit is synchronously rotated with the rotary shaft. In addition, the signal transmitting end and the signal receiving end of the sensing unit are positioned on two sides of the signal unit in fixed positions opposite to each other so as to perform the measurement of the geometrical displacement. In such conventional technique, the signal unit and the sensing unit are disposed on suitable carrier members and previously located in the true relative positions, whereby by means of the carrier members, the signal unit can be indirectly synchronously rotated with the rotary shaft. Alternatively, the signal unit can be directly coupled on the rotary shaft and then the sensing unit is disposed to perform the rectification and alignment processes thereto. In the conventional technique that the signal unit is directly coupled on the rotary shaft, when assembled, it is necessary to respectively perform the rectification and alignment processes between the sensing unit and the signal unit. To speak more specifically, when performing the rectification and alignment processes, it is necessary to externally connect the encoder to an oscilloscope for showing the waveform as the basis for the judgment of the rectification. Only when the waveform changes to meet a predetermined specification due to the adjustment of the position, the rectification and alignment processes are completed. Such procedure is quite complicated and will lead to inconvenience in manufacturing, assembling and processing processes. As a result, the manufacturing efficiency can be hardly enhanced.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn encoding device includes a sensing unit having a signal transmitting element and a signal receiving element. The signal transmitting element and the signal receiving element are respectively disposed on different carrier members. Accordingly, when performing the rectification and alignment processes between the signal receiving element and the signal unit, the other components are prevented from hindering the rectification and alignment processes, whereby the rectification and alignment processes can be easily performed."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An encoding device for detecting geometrical displacement of external motional mechanism, the encoding device comprising:\na sensing unit, including a first carrier member adjacently located on the external motional mechanism, a second carrier member located and spaced from the first carrier member, a signal transmitting element disposed on the second carrier member for generating signals, a signal receiving element disposed on the first carrier member and spaced from the signal transmitting element in alignment therewith for detecting the signals transmitted from the signal transmitting element, and an electrical connection element bridged between the first carrier member and the second carrier member; and\na signal unit positioned between the signal transmitting element and the signal receiving element and synchronously movable with the external motional mechanism, whereby the signal unit provides predetermined signals detected by the signal receiving element in accordance with the displacement of the external motional mechanism.\n\n2. The encoding device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two alignment elements respectively disposed on the signal receiving element and the signal unit.\n\n3. The encoding device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the two alignment elements are alignment marks.\n\n4. The encoding device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the alignment mark disposed on the signal unit is a circular line, and the alignment mark disposed on the signal receiving element is an arched line, wherein the curvature of the circular line is equal to the curvature of the arched line.\n\n5. The encoding device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signal transmitting element is a light source, the signal receiving element is a photocell, and the signal unit is an encoding circular disc.\n\n6. The encoding device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first carrier member is a plate with a U-shaped inner periphery.\n\n7. The encoding device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first carrier member and the second carrier member are circuit boards.\n\n8. The encoding device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the electrical connection element is a flexible cable.\n\n9. The encoding device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a spacer element securely disposed between the first carrier member and the second carrier member so as to keep the second carrier member spaced from the first carrier member with a fixed distance.\n\n10. The encoding device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the spacer element includes at least one spacer positioned between the first carrier member and the second carrier member and at least one connection member for connecting the spacer with the second carrier member."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Ic Cartridge\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe IC cartridge in the prior art is a cartridge body structure for holding an IC chip. IC flip over must be performed before IC bonding every time; and dust-free cloth, alcohol (acetone and other solvents are unsuitable), a substituting IC cartridge (empty IC cartridge) and a pair of bamboo forceps must be prepared for IC flip over. It should be noted that during the process of IC flip over, no one is allowed to move around while a designated staff is flipping over the IC, and any others should not touch the IC. In addition, during the process of IC flip over, the IC fallen on the floor should be picked up by the pair of bamboo forceps, and then determined by microscopic examination such that if the result is OK, the IC is continuously processed; and if the result is NG, a clean cotton swab socked with alcohol is used to wipe the IC which is then subjected to microscopic examination again. The entire IC BUMP must be checked completely and should not be checked only by a part. Accordingly, if the result is OK, the IC is continuously processed; and if there is any mark on the IC that cannot be wiped or the IC is bumped or scratched, the IC should be discarded. During the process of IC flip over, IC discarding occurs from time to time, and the production cost is increased accordingly.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn IC cartridge is provided, which includes: a cartridge body provided with hollowed-out parts, and an ejection mechanism including a substrate and projected structures which are provided on the substrate and can be slideably extended into the hollowed-out parts for pushing out IC chips; the hollowed-out parts and the projected structures cooperate to form groove structures for accomodating the IC chips. In usage, the IC chip in the groove structure are pushed out by sliding of the projected structures of the ejection mechanism through the hollowed-out parts. Thus, removing and flipping over of the IC chips is facilitated, and the processing safety of the IC chip can be ensured."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An integrated chip (IC) cartridge, comprising:\na cartridge body provided with hollowed-out parts; and\nan ejection mechanism, which includes:\na substrate,\nprojected structures which are provided on the substrate and capable of being extended into the hollowed-out parts,\na supporting base fixedly connected with the cartridge body,\na pushing piece, which is provided on a side wall of the supporting base, and is slideably engaged with the supporting base, and reciprocates between a first position and a second position;\nwherein a gap is formed between the supporting base and the cartridge body for accommodating the substrate;\nwherein the hollowed-out parts and the projected structures cooperatively form groove structures for containing IC chips; and\nwherein the projected structures are slideable through the hollowed-out parts of the cartridge body and are configured to push the IC chips out from the hollowed-out parts;\nwherein an arcuate convex structure is provided on the substrate for cooperating with the pushing piece;\nwherein while the pushing piece is placed at the first position, the pushing piece presses against a bottom of the arcuate convex structure and pushes up the arcuate convex structure and hence pushes up the substrate, such that the projected structures on the substrate configured to raise and push the IC chips contained in the groove structures out from the hollowed-out parts; and\nwherein while the pushing piece is disposed at the second position, the pushing piece is disengaged from the bottom of the arcuate convex structure which is then not under any thrust force, such that the substrate and the projected structures on the substrate are restored to their initial positions.\n\n2. The IC cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising at least one buffer spring, wherein two ends of the buffer spring press against the cartridge body and the substrate respectively.\n\n3. The IC cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the cartridge body is provided with at least one mounting hole for mounting the at least one buffer spring.\n\n4. The IC cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the supporting base further comprises a sliding passage for slidably engaging with the pushing piece, and a longitudinal direction of the sliding passage is parallel to an end surface of the cartridge body.\n\n5. The IC cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the arcuate convex structure and the substrate are formed in an integral structure.\n\n6. The IC cartridge according to claim 5, wherein\nthe arcuate convex structure is a arcuate plate with four pins; and\nthe substrate further comprises fixing holes matching with the pins respectively.\n\n7. An integrated chip (IC) cartridge, comprising:\na cartridge body provided with hollowed-out parts;\nan ejection mechanism, which includes\na substrate,\nprojected structures which are provided on the substrate and capable of being extended into the hollowed-out parts,\na supporting base fixedly connected with the cartridge body,\na pushing piece, which is provided on a side wall of the supporting base, and is slideably engaged with the supporting base, and reciprocates between a first position and a second position;\nwherein a gap is formed between the supporting base and the cartridge body for accommodating the substrate;\nwherein the hollowed-out parts and the projected structures cooperatively form groove structures for containing IC chips; and\nthe projected structures are slideable through the hollowed-out parts of the cartridge body and are configured to push the IC chips out from the hollowed-out parts;\nwherein\nthe ejection mechanism further comprises a pushing piece which is pivotally connected with the supporting base so as to pivot between a first position and a second position;\nwherein the substrate is provided with an arcuate convex structure for cooperating with the pushing piece;\nwherein while the pushing piece is pivoted to the first position, the pushing piece presses against a bottom of the arcuate convex structure and pushes up the arcuate convex structure and hence pushes up the substrate, so that the projected structures on the substrate configured to raise and push the IC chips contained in the groove structures out from the hollowed-out parts; and\nwherein while the pushing piece is pivoted to the second position, the pushing piece is disengaged from the bottom of the arcuate convex structure which is then not under any thrust force, so that the substrate and the projected structures on the substrate are restored to their initial positions.\n\n8. The IC cartridge according to claim 7, wherein the pushing piece is pivoted within a plane parallel to an end surface of the cartridge body."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hub Of An Intermediate Casing For An Aircraft Turbojet Engine Comprising Doors With Contoured Geometry\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a hub of an intermediate casing for aircraft turbojet engine, in particular of the type comprising at least two mechanically independent bodies. In a double-body turbojet engine intermediate casing usually designates a casing the hub of which is arranged between a casing of a low-pressure compressor and a casing of a high-pressure compressor. The present invention relates more particularly to a hub of an intermediate casing of the type comprising bleed valves, sometimes designated by their acronym VBV (Variable Bleed Valves). Valves of this type are intended to regulate the inlet flow rate of the high-pressure compressor especially to limit pumping risks of the low-pressure compressor and enable evacuation of some of the air from the annular flow space of the primary flow. Also, in case of accidental penetration of water into this flow space especially in the form of rain or hail, or even various debris likely to harm operation of the turbojet engine, these valves retrieve this water or this debris which are centrifuged in the above flow space and ejected to the outside of the latter. In the case of bypass turbojet engines, these valves are configured to allow passage of fragments or debris from the flow space of the primary flow to a secondary annular flow space of a secondary flow.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hub of an intermediate casing for an aircraft turbojet engine, including an inner shell intended to define a primary flow space of a primary gas stream into a turbojet engine, and at least one intermediate space, the inner shell being provided with at least one primary port and at least one movable door forming a primary air passage conduit, the door being capable of collecting, from the primary port, air flowing in the primary gas space and of sending the air collected in this way, via the intermediate space, towards a secondary air passage conduit. The primary conduit has an inner surface including, from upstream to downstream, a converging upstream part, then a nonconverging downstream part, in which the downstream part includes two portions of downstream side surface, and in which the upstream portion further includes two portions of upstream side surface."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A hub of an intermediate casing for an aircraft turbojet engine, comprising an internal ferrule configured to delimit both a primary flow space of a primary gas flow in a turbojet engine, and also at least one intermediate space, the internal ferrule being provided with at least one primary orifice as well as at least one moveable door forming a primary conduit for passage of air, said door being capable of sampling, from the primary orifice, air circulating in the primary gas space and sending back into the intermediate space sampled air in the direction of a secondary conduit for passage of air,\nwherein the primary conduit has an internal surface comprising from upstream to downstream a convergent upstream part, then a non-convergent downstream part in which the downstream part comprises two portions of downstream lateral surfaces, and in which the upstream part further comprises two portions of upstream lateral surfaces, each portion of upstream lateral surface defining with a respective downstream lateral surface a lateral part of the internal surface, each portion of downstream lateral surface having a length according to an upstream-downstream direction representing between 30% and 50% of the curvilinear length from upstream to downstream of the corresponding lateral part.\n\n2. The hub of an intermediate casing according to claim 1, wherein each portion of downstream lateral surface is planar and forms an flaring angle from upstream to downstream of less than 5\u00b0 with an average flow axis of the corresponding door.\n\n3. The hub of an intermediate casing according to claim 1, wherein each portion of lateral surface presents an S-shaped profile.\n\n4. The hub of an intermediate casing according to claim 1, wherein each door is movably mounted on the internal ferrule between a closing position and a maximum opening position of the primary orifice, and wherein the downstream part is contoured to direct airflow towards the entirety of the inlet orifice of the opposite secondary conduit when the door is in its maximum opening position.\n\n5. The hub of an intermediate casing according to claim 1, wherein the non-convergent downstream part tangentially extends the corresponding upstream part.\n\n6. The hub of an intermediate casing according to claim 1, wherein the downstream part is defined by two portions of downstream lateral surface and two radially internal and external surface portions relative to the axis of the hub, said radially internal and external portions being mutually non-convergent.\n\n7. The hub of an intermediate casing according to claim 1, wherein the downstream part is cylindrical.\n\n8. The hub of an intermediate casing according to claim 1, wherein each secondary conduit is extended from its inlet orifice by a deflector extending upstream into the corresponding intermediate space, each deflector forming an air guide conduit having an internal surface extending from said inlet orifice as far as a guide orifice arranged downstream of the outlet orifice of the corresponding door, and wherein the downstream part is contoured to confine an airflow towards the inside of the circumference of the guide orifice when the door is in a maximum opening position.\n\n9. An intermediate casing for an aircraft turbojet engine, comprising the hub according to claim 1.\n\n10. An aircraft turbojet engine, comprising the intermediate casing according to claim 1."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electrical Tester\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA typical telecommunications cubicle is designed to hold a number of line cards (typically between four and six), each having 48 or 64 ports. The ports may be simple electrical connections but in modern \u201cfiber to the cabinet\u201d installations are the interface between the network-side optical fiber network and the \u201clegacy\u201d electrical connections to individual customer premises, and thus include optical/electrical transducers. Such cabinets have a mains electrical power supply which powers the equipment within the cabinet. Typically, the power circuitry incorporates a residual current device (RCD\u2014also known as \u201cGround Fault Circuit Interrupters\u201d) which will disconnect the active equipment from the mains power supply if certain electrical fault conditions are detected, specifically an imbalance between the current in the live and neutral connections to the power supply, indicative of a leakage of current to earth (ground). Such a leakage may also cause external metallic parts of the cabinet housing to become electrically live, such that a potentially fatal electrical shock may be delivered to a person touching it, so it is important that such a leakage is detected and the equipment shut down until the cause is identified and repaired. The equipment cabinets are typically provided with backup batteries for use when an RCD activates, or the mains power supply is interrupted for some reason external to the equipment cabinet. The batteries are typically operating at a lower voltage than typical the mains electricity supplies so can be safely connected in circuit even if the RCD has been activated because of an earthing fault. It is difficult to monitor the condition of these batteries remotely as they are only connected in circuit in exceptional and unpredictable circumstances. If the condition of the batteries is inadequate then customer service may be lost in the event that mains power is interrupted or the RCD activated. Health and Safety regulations dictate that the RCD should be physically checked periodically, which can impose a significant operational burden on the owner of the equipment. To reduce this burden, a tester has been developed which, periodically and without requiring the attendance of an operative, automatically tests the RCD, reports the test results to a remote location, and then resets the RCD.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electrical equipment cabinet has a standby battery to supply current when a mains connection is not available. In normal operation the battery is maintained charged by the mains supply. In order to test the condition of the battery, a measuring system is arranged to operation in co-operation with a test of a residual current detection device, which temporarily disconnects the mains supply, thus measuring the condition of the battery, when under load."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. Apparatus for installation in an electrical equipment cabinet, comprising:\na connection to a mains electricity supply, the mains electricity supply arranged to provide power to equipment in the electrical equipment cabinet;\na connection to a battery, the battery arranged to power the equipment in the electrical equipment cabinet;\na residual current detection device for monitoring the mains electricity connection and for disconnecting the mains electricity supply in the event of detection of an imbalance between the current detected in different parts of the mains electricity connection;\na test actuator for triggering the residual detection device, such that the mains electricity supply is disconnected from the battery;\na residual current device (RCD) monitor for monitoring the operation of the residual current detection device when activated by the test actuator;\na battery condition detector for monitoring the battery connection to determine a condition of a battery connected thereto; and\na control system for transmitting, to a remote location, a signal comprising an indication of the operation of the residual current detected device and the battery condition in response to the test actuator triggering the residual current detection device to disconnect the mains electricity supply from the battery.\n\n2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control system is arranged to monitor a battery voltage, detected by the battery condition detector, over a pre-determined time period initiated by triggering the test actuator and to transmit an alarm signal if the battery voltage falls below a threshold value within the pre-determined time period.\n\n3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a reset actuator is configured to reset the residual current detection device when a pre-determined time period has elapsed after triggering the residual current detection device, and wherein the control system is configured to reset the residual current detection device to restore the connection to the mains electricity supply if a battery voltage detected by the battery condition detector falls below a threshold value before the pre-determined time period has elapsed.\n\n4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an actuator to disconnect the mains electricity supply in the event that the test actuator fails to trigger the residual current detection device.\n\n5. A method for operating electrical equipment, comprising:\nactivating a test actuator for a residual current detection device such that a mains electricity supply to the equipment is disconnected; and\nmonitoring the operation of the residual current detection device;\nwherein, when the residual current detection device is activated, the equipment draws electrical power from a battery,\na battery condition is monitored whilst the equipment is drawing power from the battery, and\na signal comprising an indication of the operation of the residual current detection device and the battery condition is transmitted to a remote location.\n\n6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the battery condition is monitored over a period of time initiated by the operation of the test actuator.\n\n7. The method according to claim 6, wherein an alarm signal is transmitted to the remote location if the battery condition falls below a threshold value within the period of time.\n\n8. The method according to claim 5, wherein a reset actuator causes the residual current detection device to be reset when a period of time has elapsed after activation of the test actuator, and wherein, if the battery condition falls below a threshold value before the period of time has elapsed, the residual current detection device is reset to reconnect the equipment to the mains electricity supply.\n\n9. The method according to claim 5, wherein if the test actuator fails to operate the residual current detection device, an alarm is transmitted to the remote location and a further actuator disconnects the mains electricity supply directly."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Real-Time Monitoring And Diagnostic Processing Of Traffic Control Data\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nSignificant cost may be incurred when performing field maintenance on a road traffic controller due to the large number of inputs and outputs received or generated by the road traffic controller and the resultant difficulty in identifying a root cause of abnormal operation of the traffic controller. Existing systems for monitoring operation of a traffic controller and identifying abnormal (and potentially unsafe) operating states rely heavily on manual diagnostics and field maintenance, and thus, suffer from a number of drawbacks. Technical solutions that address at least some of these drawbacks are disclosed herein.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA traffic control monitoring and abnormality determination system and associated methods are disclosed for receiving and analyzing traffic controller input/output data during a learning phase to determine a model indicative of normal or healthy operation of the traffic controller in regulating traffic flow at an intersection and receiving and evaluating additional traffic controller input/output data against the model during an evaluation phase to determine whether an abnormality exists in operation of the traffic controller. If an abnormality is detected during the evaluation phase, the system may initiate a corrective action to resolve the abnormality such as sending an alarm signal to a traffic controller to cause the traffic controller to alter an operating state to resolve the abnormality."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method, comprising:\nreceiving, by a computer processor, first traffic controller data from a traffic controller configured to control traffic flow at an intersection, wherein the first traffic controller data is indicative of at least one of a first input to the traffic controller or a first output from the traffic controller;\ndetermining, by the computer processor, first feature data based at least in part on the first traffic controller data, wherein the first feature data corresponds to one or more model features;\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the first feature data, a model for the traffic flow at the intersection;\nreceiving, by the computer processor, second traffic controller data from the traffic controller, wherein the second traffic controller data is indicative of at least one of a second input to the traffic controller or a second output from the traffic controller;\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the model and the second traffic controller data, presence of an abnormality in the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the abnormality in the traffic flow at the intersection is indicative of an operational abnormality of the traffic controller, and wherein determining the presence of the abnormality comprises:\ndetermining, by the computer processor, second feature data based at least in part on the second traffic controller data, wherein the second feature data corresponds to the one or more model features;\ndetermining, by the computer processor, a metric indicative of a deviation between the second feature data and the model;\ndetermining, by the computer processor, that the metric meets or exceeds a threshold value; and\ndetermining, by the computer processor, that the abnormality is present based at least in part on determining that the metric meets or exceeds the threshold value; and\ninitiating, by the computer processor, an action to resolve the abnormality.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating the action to resolve the abnormality comprises causing an alarm signal to be transmitted to the traffic controller to cause the traffic controller to adjust at least one of the second input or the second output to resolve the abnormality.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more model features comprise at least one of a time domain statistical feature or a frequency domain statistical feature.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nreceiving, by the computer processor, sensor data captured by one or more traffic sensors; and\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the sensor data, an operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection,\nwherein determining the feature data comprises determining, by the computer processor, a respective coefficient to be applied to at least one model feature of the one or more model features based at least in part on the operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein the model is a first model, the method further comprising:\nreceiving, by the computer processor, first sensor data captured by one or more traffic sensors;\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the first sensor data, a first operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the first traffic controller data and the first model correspond to the first operating condition;\nreceiving, by the computer processor, second sensor data captured by the one or more traffic sensors;\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the second sensor data, a second operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection, the second operating condition being different from the first operating condition;\nreceiving, by the computer processor, third traffic controller data from the traffic controller, wherein the third traffic controller data corresponds to the second sensor data;\ndetermining, by the computer processor, third feature data based at least in part on the third traffic controller data, wherein the third feature data corresponds to the one or more model features; and\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the third feature data, a second model for the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the second model corresponds to the second operating condition.\n\n6. A system, comprising:\nat least one memory storing computer-executable instructions; and\nat least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to:\nreceive first traffic controller data from a traffic controller configured to control traffic flow at an intersection, wherein the first traffic controller data is indicative of at least one of a first input to the traffic controller or a first output from the traffic controller;\ndetermine first feature data based at least in part on the first traffic controller data, wherein the first feature data corresponds to one or more model features;\ndetermine, based at least in part on the first feature data, a model for the traffic flow at the intersection;\nreceive second traffic controller data from the traffic controller, wherein the second traffic controller data is indicative of at least one of a second input to the traffic controller or a second output from the traffic controller;\ndetermine, based at least in part on the model and the second traffic controller data, presence of an abnormality in the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the abnormality in the traffic flow at the intersection is indicative of an operational abnormality of the traffic controller, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the presence of the abnormality by executing the computer-executable instructions to:\ndetermine second feature data based at least in part on the second traffic controller data, wherein the second feature data corresponds to the one or more model features;\ndetermine a metric indicative of a deviation between the second feature data and the model;\ndetermine that the metric meets or exceeds a threshold value; and\ndetermine that the abnormality is present based at least in part on determining that the metric meets or exceeds the threshold value; and\ninitiate an action to resolve the abnormality.\n\n7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is configured to initiate the action to resolve the abnormality by executing the computer-executable instructions to cause an alarm signal to be transmitted to the traffic controller to cause the traffic controller to adjust at least one of the second input or the second output to resolve the abnormality.\n\n8. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more model features comprise at least one of a time domain statistical feature or a frequency domain statistical feature.\n\n9. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:\nreceive sensor data captured by one or more traffic sensors; and\ndetermine, based at least in part on the sensor data, an operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection, and\nwherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the feature data by executing the computer-executable instructions to determine a respective coefficient to be applied to at least one model feature of the one or more model features based at least in part on the operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection.\n\n10. The system of claim 6, wherein the model is a first model, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:\nreceive first sensor data captured by one or more traffic sensors;\ndetermine, based at least in part on the first sensor data, a first operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the first traffic controller data and the first model correspond to the first operating condition;\nreceive second sensor data captured by the one or more traffic sensors;\ndetermine, based at least in part on the second sensor data, a second operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection, the second operating condition being different from the first operating condition;\nreceive third traffic controller data from the traffic controller, wherein the third traffic controller data corresponds to the second sensor data;\ndetermine third feature data based at least in part on the third traffic controller data, wherein the third feature data corresponds to the one or more model features; and\ndetermine, based at least in part on the third feature data, a second model for the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the second model corresponds to the second operating condition.\n\n11. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit, the storage medium storing instructions executable by the processing circuit to cause a method to be performed, the method comprising: receiving, by a computer processor, first traffic controller data from a traffic controller configured to control traffic flow at an intersection, wherein the first traffic controller data is indicative of at least one of a first input to the traffic controller or a first output from the traffic controller;\ndetermining first feature data based at least in part on the first traffic controller data, wherein the first feature data corresponds to one or more model features;\ndetermining, based at least in part on the first feature data, a model for the traffic flow at the intersection;\nreceiving second traffic controller data from the traffic controller, wherein the second traffic controller data is indicative of at least one of a second input to the traffic controller or a second output from the traffic controller;\ndetermining, based at least in part on the model and the second traffic controller data, presence of an abnormality in the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the abnormality in the traffic flow at the intersection is indicative of an operational abnormality of the traffic controller, and wherein determining the presence of the abnormality comprises:\ndetermining second feature data based at least in part on the second traffic controller data, wherein the second feature data corresponds to the one or more model features;\ndetermining a metric indicative of a deviation between the second feature data and the model:\ndetermining that the metric meets or exceeds a threshold value; and\ndetermining that the abnormality is present based at least in part on determining that the metric meets or exceeds the threshold value; and\ninitiating an action to resolve the abnormality.\n\n12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein initiating the action to resolve the abnormality comprises causing an alarm signal to be transmitted to the traffic controller to cause the traffic controller to adjust at least one of the second input or the second output to resolve the abnormality.\n\n13. The computer program product of claim 11, the method further comprising:\nreceiving, by the computer processor, sensor data captured by one or more traffic sensors; and\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the sensor data, an operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection,\nwherein determining the feature data comprises determining, by the computer processor, a respective coefficient to be applied to at least one model feature of the one or more model features based at least in part on the operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection.\n\n14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the model is a first model, the method further comprising:\nreceiving, by the computer processor, first sensor data captured by one or more traffic sensors;\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the first sensor data, a first operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the first traffic controller data and the first model correspond to the first operating condition;\nreceiving, by the computer processor, second sensor data captured by the one or more traffic sensors;\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the second sensor data, a second operating condition of the traffic flow at the intersection, the second operating condition being different from the first operating condition;\nreceiving, by the computer processor, third traffic controller data from the traffic controller, wherein the third traffic controller data corresponds to the second sensor data;\ndetermining, by the computer processor, third feature data based at least in part on the third traffic controller data, wherein the third feature data corresponds to the one or more model features; and\ndetermining, by the computer processor and based at least in part on the third feature data, a second model for the traffic flow at the intersection, wherein the second model corresponds to the second operating condition."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Powertrain With Compound-Split Hybrid Transmission Having A Reduced Ravigneaux Gear Set\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nVarious hybrid and electric powertrain architectures are known for managing the input and output torques of various prime movers in hybrid vehicles, most commonly internal combustion engines and electric machines. Hybrid electric vehicles utilizing both an electric machine and an internal combustion engine as power sources often have an onboard controller programmed to vary use of each of the engine and motor/generator during different driving conditions, and can be controlled to achieve peak efficiency and/or peak performance in different operating modes.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA powertrain comprises a planetary gearing arrangement that includes two sun gear members, two ring gear members, a single carrier member, and an interconnecting member that connects either the two sun gear members or the two ring gear members. The powertrain includes an input member and an output member, one of which is connectable to the carrier member and the other of which is connectable to the first ring gear member. A first electric machine and a second electric machine are included in the powertrain. The second electric machine is operatively connected to the first sun gear member to drive the first sun gear member, and the first electric machine is operatively connected to drive that one of the second ring gear member and the second sun gear member which is not connected to the interconnecting member. A brake is selectively engageable to hold the input member stationary."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A powertrain comprising:\na planetary gearing arrangement including:\ntwo sun gear members;\ntwo ring gear members;\na single carrier member; and\nan interconnecting member connecting either the two sun gear members or the two ring gear members to rotate in unison;\nan input member and an output member, one of which is connectable to the carrier member and the other of which is connectable to the first ring gear member to rotate in unison;\na first electric machine and a second electric machine; wherein the second electric machine is operatively connected to the first sun gear member to drive the first sun gear member, and the first electric machine is operatively connected to drive one of the second ring gear member and the second sun gear member not connected to the interconnecting member;\na controller operatively connected to the first electric machine and to the second electric machine; and\na brake selectively engageable to hold the input member stationary;\nwherein the controller is configured to control the first and the second electric machines to function in a compound-split operating mode when the input member is driven and the brake is not engaged, and to function in an all-electric operating mode when the brake is engaged.\n\n2. The powertrain of claim 1, in combination with an engine having an engine output member operatively connectable to the input member to drive the input member when the first and the second electric machines are controlled to function in the compound-split operating mode.\n\n3. The powertrain of claim 1, wherein the first and the second electric machines are controlled to predetermined speeds to cause the input member to be stationary when the brake is engaged.\n\n4. The powertrain of claim 1, wherein:\nthe interconnecting member connects the first and the second ring gear members;\nthe input member is connectable to the carrier member;\nthe output member is connectable to the first ring gear member; and\nthe first electric machine is operatively connected to drive the second sun gear member.\n\n5. The powertrain of claim 1, wherein:\nthe interconnecting member connects the first and the second ring gear members;\nthe output member is connectable to the carrier member;\nthe input member is connectable to the first ring gear member; and\nthe first electric machine is operatively connected to drive the second sun gear member.\n\n6. The powertrain of claim 1, wherein:\nthe interconnecting member connects the first and the second sun gear members;\nthe input member is connectable to the carrier member;\nthe output member is connectable to the first ring gear member; and\nthe first electric machine is operatively connected to drive the second ring gear member.\n\n7. The powertrain of claim 1, further comprising:\nfour clutches each selectively engageable to connect one of the input member and the output member to one of the carrier member and the first ring gear member; and\nwherein two of the four clutches are engaged in a first compound-split operating mode, and a different two of the four clutches are engaged in a second compound-split operating mode.\n\n8. The powertrain of claim 1, further comprising:\na first reduction gear set having:\na first gear connected to rotate in unison with a first rotor of the first electric machine;\na second gear connected to rotate in unison with said one of the second ring gear member and the second sun gear member; and\nan idler gear meshing with the both the first gear and the second gear.\n\n9. The powertrain of claim 1, further comprising:\na reduction gear set having:\na first gear connected to rotate in unison with a second rotor of the second electric machine;\na second gear connected to rotate in unison with the first sun gear member; and\nan idler gear meshing with the both the first gear and the second gear.\n\n10. A powertrain comprising:\na planetary gear arrangement including:\na first sun gear member;\na second sun gear member;\na first ring gear member radially surrounding the first sun gear member;\na second ring gear member radially surrounding the second sun gear member;\na carrier member supporting:\na first set of pinion gears that mesh with the first sun gear member and with the first ring gear member;\na second set of pinion gears that mesh with the second ring gear member;\na third set of pinion gears that mesh with the second set of pinion gears and with the second sun gear member;\nan interconnecting member that connects one of:\nthe first and the second ring gear members so that the first and the second ring gear members rotate in unison; or\nthe first and the second sun gear members so that the first and the second sun gear members rotate in unison;\n\n11. The powertrain of claim 10, further comprising:\na controller operatively connected to the first electric machine and to the second electric machine;\na brake selectively engageable to hold the input member stationary; and\nwherein the controller controls the first and the second electric machines to function in a compound-split operating mode when the input member is driven and the brake is not engaged, and to function in an all-electric operating mode when the brake is engaged.\n\n12. The powertrain of claim 11, in combination with an engine having an engine output member operatively connectable to the input member to drive the input member when the first and the second electric machines are controlled to function in the compound-split operating mode.\n\n13. The powertrain of claim 11, wherein the first and the second electric machines are controlled to predetermined speeds to cause the input member to be stationary when the brake is engaged.\n\n14. The powertrain of claim 10, wherein:\nthe interconnecting member connects the first and the second ring gear members so that the first and the second ring gear members rotate in unison;\nthe input member is connectable to rotate in unison with the carrier member;\nthe output member is connectable to rotate in unison with the first ring gear member; and\nthe first rotor is operatively connected to drive the second sun gear member when the first electric machine operates as a motor.\n\n15. The powertrain of claim 10, wherein:\nthe interconnecting member connects the first and the second ring gear members so that the first and the second ring gear members rotate in unison;\nthe output member is connectable to rotate in unison with the carrier member;\nthe input member is connectable to rotate in unison with the first ring gear member; and\nthe first rotor is operatively connected to drive the second sun gear member when the first electric machine operates as a motor.\n\n16. The powertrain of claim 10, wherein:\nthe interconnecting member connects the first and the second sun gear members so that the first and the second sun gear members rotate in unison;\nthe input member is connectable to rotate in unison with the carrier member;\nthe output member is connectable to rotate in unison with the first ring gear member; and\nthe first rotor is operatively connected to drive the second ring gear member when the first electric machine operates as a motor.\n\n17. The powertrain of claim 16, further comprising:\na first clutch selectively engageable to connect the input member to rotate in unison with the first ring gear member;\na second clutch selectively engageable to connect the input member to rotate in unison with the carrier member;\na third clutch selectively engageable to connect the carrier member to rotate in unison with the output member;\na fourth clutch selectively engageable to connect the first ring gear member to rotate in unison with the output member; and\nwherein the first and the third clutches are engaged in a first compound-split operating mode, and the second and the fourth clutches are engaged in a second compound-split operating mode.\n\n18. The powertrain of claim 10, wherein:\nthe interconnecting member connects the first and the second sun gear members so that the first and the second sun gear members rotate in unison;\nthe input member is connectable to rotate in unison with the first ring gear member;\nthe output member is connectable to rotate in unison with the carrier member; and\nthe first rotor is operatively connected to drive the second ring gear member when the first electric machine operates as a motor.\n\n19. The powertrain of claim 10, further comprising:\na first reduction gear set having:\na first gear connected to rotate in unison with the first rotor;\na second gear connected to rotate in unison with said one of the second ring gear member and the second sun gear member; and\nan idler gear meshing with the both the first gear and the second gear.\n\n20. The powertrain of claim 10, further comprising:\na reduction gear set having:\na first gear connected to rotate in unison with the second rotor;\na second gear connected to rotate in unison with the first sun gear member; and\nan idler gear meshing with the both the first gear and the second gear."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Double Iterative Mimo Receiver\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe invention relates to an iterative Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) receiver and a corresponding method for receiving and blockwise processing of symbols in a MIMO transmission system. In particular the invention relates to a wideband MIMO receiver comprising at least two receive antennas, wherein the receiver comprises an adaptive equalizer, a MIMO symbol detector, a decoder, a first feedback path for feeding back soft information from the decoder to the MIMO symbol detector and a second feedback path from the decoder to the adaptive equalizer for feeding back soft information about estimated transmit symbols to mitigate intersymbol interference (ISI) and inter-antenna interference (IAI). Future mobile communication standards like LTE-Advanced make use of MIMO techniques in order to fulfill the increasing demand on high spectral efficiency. Hereby, spatially-multiplexed data streams are transmitted and received by multiple antennas, i.e. transmit symbols are radiated simultaneously on the same radio resources via at least two transmit antennas and a receiver receives the radiated transmit symbols via a plurality of at least two receive antennas. In order to estimate the originally transmitted data, i.e. before symbol detection takes place, the receiver has to cancel out interferences as far as possible. Besides noise, e.g. Gaussian distributed white noise, the received signals are distorted by inter-antenna interferences, abbreviated IAI, and inter-symbol interferences, abbreviated ISI. Consequently, i.e. in order to improve estimation of the originally transmitted data, both the IAI and the ISI should be cancelled out for each receiving antenna. Besides high throughput, energy efficiency of mobile devices is of the utmost importance due to limited battery life time. Therefore, modulation and multiple-access schemes like single-carrier (SC) frequency-domain multiple-access (FDMA) are applied to the uplink, ensuring that the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmit power amplifiers is low. Such an uplink scenario is shown in FIG. 1 as described in more detail below. However, the main drawback of the SC-FDMA scheme is the presence of additional ISI, caused by multipath propagation. The more subcarriers of the available frequency band are allocated, the more ISI corrupts the received data streams. Therefore, especially wideband signals are prone to significant ISI that may dominate the overall interference. Inter-symbol interference may be caused by non-orthogonal transmit filtering by the channel or by multipath propagation leading to an inherent non-linear frequency response of the transmission channel. In a multipath propagation environment a radiated signal may take different propagation paths, i.e. paths of different length, before arriving at a receiver antenna, where the signals may superpose or heterodyne, thus the signals do not arrive at the same time. In case the transmission channel exhibits a non-linear frequency response, a portion of the frequencies of a modulated signal is removed by the channel thus having impact on the pulse form of the received signal and causing successive symbols to blur together. The phenomenon of inter-antenna interference is caused by using more than one antenna for transmitting on the same frequency resource, i.e. the two transmit antennas radiate at the same time using the same frequency, and thus the radiated signals interfere with each other. Conventional techniques for interference reduction in MIMO receivers are linear filter operations, imposing low detection performance. As an example, the well-known MMSE detector multiplies a received signal vector by a fixed filter matrix, which is based on the estimated MIMO channel. Linear receiver solutions generally imply significant performance loss and therefore require high signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio conditions, abbreviated SINR, for reliable detection of the data streams. SINR can be increased by increasing the transmit signal power, which is hardly acceptable for mobile devices. Enhanced but still low detection performance can be accomplished by stepwise interference reduction methods, i.e. the estimated interference of already detected data is subtracted from subsequently transmitted, not yet detected data. When considering IAI reduction, a famous method is the successive interference cancellation, abbreviated SIC.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receiver comprises a MIMO frequency-domain equalizer, which comprises a MMSE filter for mitigating inter-symbol interference and an adder for mitigating inter-antenna interference, a MIMO detector and a MIMO decoder for processing a received MIMO signal and for estimating transmit bits. The receiver comprises a feedback path from the decoder to the detector for providing soft-information on the transmit bits to the detector and an additional feedback path from the decoder to the MIMO frequency-domain equalizer for providing soft-information to the MMSE filter and to the adder of the equalizer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) receiver for receiving and decoding at least two receive signals representing a block of symbols comprising:\na frequency-domain equalizer comprising an adaptive filter configured to filter the block of symbols to produce a filtered block of symbols, a vector calculator configured to calculate a vector of weighted estimated symbols, and an adder configured to add the vector of weighted estimated symbols to the filtered block of symbols;\na MIMO detector coupled to an output of the frequency-domain equalizer for outputting log likelihood values;\na decoder for channel-decoding the log likelihood values to thus produce improved estimates of the log likelihood values, the decoder being coupled to an output of the MIMO detector; and\na first feedback path from the decoder to the frequency-domain equalizer configured to provide a covariance of the improved estimates of the log likelihood values to the adaptive filter and configured to provide the covariance and expected values of the improved estimates of the log likelihood values to the vector calculator for calculating the vector of weighted estimated symbols; and\na second feedback path configured to provide the improved estimates of the log likelihood values from the decoder to the MIMO detector.\n\n2. The MIMO receiver of claim 1, wherein the first feedback path is configured to determine expected values of estimated symbols and the covariance thereof based on the improved estimates of the log likelihood values.\n\n3. The MIMO receiver of claim 2, wherein the first feedback path comprises a soft-modulator configured to determine expected values of estimated symbols based on the the improved estimates of the log likelihood values and configured to determine the covariance thereof.\n\n4. The MIMO receiver of claim 2, wherein the first feedback path is configured to transform the expected values of estimated symbols into the frequency domain.\n\n5. The MIMO receiver of claim 1, further comprising a cyclic prefix remover.\n\n6. The MIMO receiver of claim 1, wherein the adaptive filter comprised in the frequency-domain equalizer is an adaptive minimum mean squared error filter.\n\n7. The MIMO receiver of claim 1, wherein the MIMO receiver is comprised in a base station of a cellular communication system.\n\n8. A method for receiving and decoding at least two received signals representing a block of symbols in a multiple-input multiple-output receiver (MIMO) comprising:\nadapting an adaptive filter based on a covariance of estimated symbols provided by a first feedback path from a decoder and calculating a vector of weighted estimated symbols based on the estimated symbols and the covariance of the estimated symbols;\nfiltering the block of symbols by the adaptive filter to produce a filtered block of symbols and adding the vector of weighted estimated symbols to the filtered block of symbols to produce a block of equalized symbols;\ndetecting symbols by a MIMO detector based on the block of equalized symbols and outputting log likelihood values;\nchannel-decoding the log likelihood values and producing improved estimates of the log likelihood values by a decoder coupled to the MIMO detector; and\nproviding the improved estimates of the log likelihood values from the decoder to the MIMO detector via a second feedback path.\n\n9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining expected values of estimated symbols and the covariance thereof by a soft modulator comprised in the first feedback path.\n\n10. The method of claim 8, further comprising removing a cyclic prefix from the block of symbols.\n\n11. The method of claim 8, wherein the adaptive filter is an adaptive minimum mean squared error filter.\n\n12. The method of claim 8, wherein the method is performed in a base station of a cellular communication system."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Device For Damping Torsion Oscillations, Notably For A Motor Vehicle Transmission System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn such an application, the torsion oscillation damping device may be integrated into a torsion damping system of a clutch adapted selectively to connect the internal combustion engine to the gearbox in order to filter vibrations caused by the acyclic operation of the engine. Alternatively, in such an application, the torsion oscillation damping device may be integrated into a friction disk of the clutch or a hydrodynamic torque converter. Such a torsion oscillation damping device conventionally employs a support and one or more pendular bodies mobile relative to that support, the movement relative to the support of the pendular bodies being guided by rolling members cooperating on the one hand with rolling tracks secured to the support and on the other hand with rolling tracks secured to the pendular bodies. Each pendular body comprises two pendular masses riveted together, for example. The rivet thus forms a connecting member for the two pendular masses. This rivet has two heads projecting axially beyond each pendular mass in the direction away from the support, therefore generating a certain bulk. There exists a requirement to be able to secure two pendular masses of a pendular body in a manner that alleviates the aforementioned disadvantage.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA device for damping torsion oscillations comprises support rotatably movable about an axis. A pendular body comprises first and second axially spaced pendular masses movable relative to the support. The first mass disposed axially on a first side of the support and the second mass disposed axially on a second side of the support. A member connects the first and second pendular masses. Each mass includes an opening in which the connecting member is force-fitted. The openings have radially exterior and interior edges. The connecting member has radially interior and exterior edges. The radially exterior edge extends between two angular ends of the connecting member, each defined by a lug. Each mass exerts a force on each lug, and via a one nose piece projecting radially and carried by the radially interior edge of the opening or the radially interior edge of the connecting member."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. Device ( 1 ) for damping torsion oscillations, comprising:\na support ( 2 ) able to move in rotation about an axis (X),\nat least one pendular body ( 3 ) comprising: first and second pendular masses ( 5 ) spaced axially relative to each other and mobile relative to the support ( 2 ), the first pendular mass ( 5 ) being disposed axially on a first side ( 4 ) of the support ( 2 ) and the second pendular mass ( 5 ) being disposed axially on a second side ( 4 ) of the support ( 2 ), and at least one member ( 6 ) connecting the first and second pendular masses ( 5 ) matching said masses and force-fitted thereto,\neach pendular mass ( 5 ) including an opening ( 7 ) in which the connecting member ( 6 ) is force-fitted, this opening having a radially exterior edge ( 47 ) and a radially interior edge ( 40 ), and the connecting member ( 6 ) having a radially interior edge ( 30 ) and a radially exterior edge ( 31 ), said radially exterior edge ( 31 ) extending between two angular ends ( 33 ) each defined by a lug ( 34 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ),\neach pendular mass ( 5 ) exerting on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in its opening ( 7 ):\na force (F 3, F 4 ) on each lug ( 34 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), and\na force (F 1, F 2 ) via at least one nose piece ( 42 ) projecting into the opening ( 7 ) and carried by either the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening ( 7 ) or the radially interior edge ( 30 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ).\n\n2. Device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member ( 6 ) being secured to each pendular mass ( 5 ) only by force-fitting.\n\n3. Device according to claim 2, wherein two nose pieces ( 42 ) being carried by the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening ( 7 ) or by the radially interior edge ( 30 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), each nose piece ( 42 ) enabling the pendular mass ( 5 ) to exert a force on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in the opening ( 7 ).\n\n4. Device according to claim 1, wherein two nose pieces ( 42 ) being carried by the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening ( 7 ) or by the radially interior edge ( 30 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), each nose piece ( 42 ) enabling the pendular mass ( 5 ) to exert a force on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in the opening ( 7 ).\n\n5. Device according to claim 4, wherein the two nose pieces ( 42 ) being positioned relative to each other so that a bending force is exerted by the pendular mass ( 5 ) on the connecting member ( 6 ) via said nose pieces ( 42 ).\n\n6. Device according to claim 5, wherein each lug ( 34 ) and the opening ( 7 ) of each pendular mass ( 5 ) being configured so that, in a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis (X), the force (F 3, F 4 ) exerted on each lug ( 34 ) has a direction intersecting the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening ( 7 ) or the radially interior edge ( 30 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ) at a point situated between the two nose pieces ( 42 ) thereof.\n\n7. Device according to claim 5, wherein the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of each opening ( 7 ) having said two nose pieces ( 42 ) projecting radially into the opening ( 7 ), said nose pieces ( 42 ) succeeding each other along said radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening and each pendular mass ( 5 ) exerting on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in its opening ( 7 ):\na force (F 3, F 4 ) on each lug ( 34 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), and\na force (F 1, F 2 ) via each nose piece ( 42 ) of its radially interior edge ( 40 ) on the radially interior edge ( 42 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ).\n\n8. Device according to claim 4, wherein the two nose pieces ( 42 ) being positioned relative to each other so that a compression force is exerted by the pendular mass ( 5 ) on the connecting member ( 6 ) via said nose pieces ( 42 ).\n\n9. Device according to claim 8, wherein each lug ( 34 ) and the opening ( 7 ) of each pendular mass ( 5 ) being configured so that, in a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis (X), the force (F 3, F 4 ) exerted on each lug ( 34 ) has a direction intersecting the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening ( 7 ) or the radially interior edge ( 30 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ) at a point situated between the two nose pieces ( 42 ) thereof.\n\n10. Device according to claim 8, wherein the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of each opening ( 7 ) having said two nose pieces ( 42 ) projecting radially into the opening ( 7 ), said nose pieces ( 42 ) succeeding each other along said radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening and each pendular mass ( 5 ) exerting on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in its opening ( 7 ):\na force (F 3, F 4 ) on each lug ( 34 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), and\na force (F 1, F 2 ) via each nose piece ( 42 ) of its radially interior edge ( 40 ) on the radially interior edge ( 42 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ).\n\n11. Device according to claim 4, wherein each lug ( 34 ) and the opening ( 7 ) of each pendular mass ( 5 ) being configured so that, in a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis (X), the force (F 3, F 4 ) exerted on each lug ( 34 ) has a direction intersecting the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening ( 7 ) or the radially interior edge ( 30 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ) at a point situated between the two nose pieces ( 42 ) thereof.\n\n12. Device according to claim 11, wherein the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of each opening ( 7 ) having said two nose pieces ( 42 ) projecting radially into the opening ( 7 ), said nose pieces ( 42 ) succeeding each other along said radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening and each pendular mass ( 5 ) exerting on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in its opening ( 7 ):\na force (F 3, F 4 ) on each lug ( 34 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), and\na force (F 1, F 2 ) via each nose piece ( 42 ) of its radially interior edge ( 40 ) on the radially interior edge ( 42 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ).\n\n13. Device according claim 11, wherein each lug ( 34 ) and the opening ( 7 ) of each pendular mass ( 5 ) being configured so that, in a plane orthogonal to the rotation axis (X), the force (F 3, F 4 ) exerted on each lug ( 34 ) has a direction intersecting the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening ( 7 ) or the radially interior edge ( 30 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ) at a point situated substantially equidistant from each nose piece ( 42 ).\n\n14. Device according to claim 13, wherein the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of each opening ( 7 ) having said two nose pieces ( 42 ) projecting radially into the opening ( 7 ), said nose pieces ( 42 ) succeeding each other along said radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening and each pendular mass ( 5 ) exerting on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in its opening ( 7 ):\na force (F 3, F 4 ) on each lug ( 34 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), and\na force (F 1, F 2 ) via each nose piece ( 42 ) of its radially interior edge ( 40 ) on the radially interior edge ( 42 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ).\n\n15. Device according to claim 4, wherein the radially interior edge ( 40 ) of each opening ( 7 ) having two nose pieces ( 42 ) projecting radially into the opening ( 7 ), said nose pieces ( 42 ) succeeding each other along said radially interior edge ( 40 ) of the opening and each pendular mass ( 5 ) exerting on the connecting member ( 6 ) force-fitted in its opening ( 7 ):\na force (F 3, F 4 ) on each lug ( 34 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ), and\na force (F 1, F 2 ) via each nose piece ( 42 ) of its radially interior edge ( 40 ) on the radially interior edge ( 42 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ).\n\n16. Device according to claim 1, comprising at least one rolling member ( 11 ) cooperating on the one hand with a rolling track ( 12 ) secured to the support and on the other hand with a rolling track ( 13 ) secured to the pendular body.\n\n17. Device according to claim 16, wherein the rolling track ( 13 ) defined by the pendular body being defined by the radially exterior edge ( 31 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ).\n\n18. Device according to claim 1, wherein the pendular body ( 3 ) comprising two connecting members ( 6 ), each connecting member ( 6 ) being force-fitted in the first ( 5 ) and second ( 5 ) pendular masses, each connecting member defining a rolling track ( 13 ) for a rolling member ( 11 ) specific to said connecting member ( 6 ), each connecting member further cooperating with a rolling track ( 12 ) defined by the support to guide the movement of the pendular body ( 3 ) relative to the support ( 2 ).\n\n19. Torsion oscillation damping device ( 1 ), comprising:\na support ( 2 ) able to move in rotation about an axis (X),\nat least one pendular body ( 3 ) comprising: first and second pendular masses ( 5 ) spaced axially relative to each other and mobile relative to the support ( 2 ), the first pendular mass ( 5 ) being disposed axially on a first side of the support ( 2 ) and the second pendular mass ( 5 ) being disposed axially on a second side of the support ( 2 ), and at least one member ( 6 ) connecting the first and second pendular masses ( 5 ), matching said masses,\nthe connecting member ( 6 ) being secured to each of the pendular masses by force-fitting, each pendular mass including an opening ( 7 ) extending along an axis (Y) and the connecting member ( 6 ) including, along that axis (Y), successively in that opening:\nan end portion ( 61 ) producing a free space (Z 2 ) with the lateral wall ( 66 ) of the opening ( 7 ) facing this end portion ( 61 ) of the connecting member, and\nanother portion ( 62 ) resting against the lateral wall ( 66 ) of the opening ( 7 ) facing this other portion ( 62 ) of the connecting member,\nthe free space (Z 2 ) having a size enabling it to receive some or all of the material of the pendular mass ( 5 ) or of the other portion ( 62 ) of the connecting member ( 6 ) displaced when force-fitting the connecting member ( 6 ) in this opening ( 7 ).\n\n20. A torsion oscillation damping device ( 1 ), comprising:\na support ( 2 ) able to move in rotation about an axis,\nat least one pendular body ( 3 ) comprising: first and second pendular masses ( 5 ) spaced axially relative to each other and mobile relative to the support ( 2 ), the first pendular mass ( 5 ) being disposed axially on a first side of the support ( 2 ) and the second pendular mass ( 5 ) being disposed axially on a second side of the support ( 2 ), and at least one member ( 6 ) connecting the first and second pendular masses ( 5 ), matching said masses ( 5 ) and secured thereto,\nat least one rolling member ( 11 ) interacting on the one hand with a rolling track ( 12 ) secured to the support ( 2 ) and on the other hand with a rolling track ( 13 ) secured to the pendular body ( 3 ) to guide the movement of the pendular body ( 3 ) relative to the support ( 2 ), and\nat least one abutment damping member ( 20 ) for the pendular body ( 3 ) relative to the support ( 2 ),\nthe rolling track ( 13 ) secured to the pendular body ( 3 ) including:\na first portion ( 70 ) of first shape on which the rolling member ( 11 ) rolls when it moves in a first range of movement from a rest position (P 0 ), and\na second portion ( 71 ) of second shape different from the first shape on which the rolling member ( 11 ) rolls when it moves beyond the first range of movement in a second range of movement in which the abutment damping member ( 20 ) comes into contact both with the support ( 2 ) and with the pendular body ( 3 )."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Manufacturing Carbon Carrier-Metal Nanoparticle Composite And Carbon Carrier-Metal Nanoparticle Composite Manufactured Thereby\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nNanoparticles are particles having a particle size of the nanoscale, and show optical, electrical and magnetic properties completely different from those of bulk materials due to a large specific surface area and the quantum confinement effect, in which energy required for electron transfer changes depending on the size of material. Accordingly, due to such properties, much interest has been concentrated on their applicability in the catalytic, electromagnetic, optical, medical fields, and the like. The nanoparticles may be referred to as intermediates between bulks and molecules, and may be synthesized in terms of an approach in two directions, that is, the \u201ctop-down\u201d approach and the \u201cbottom-up\u201d approach. Examples of a method for synthesizing a metal nanoparticle include a method for reducing metal ions in a solution by using a reducing agent, a method for synthesizing a metal nanoparticle using gamma-rays, an electrochemical method, and the like, but in the existing methods, it is difficult to synthesize nanoparticles having a uniform size and shape, or it is difficult to economically mass-produce high-quality nanoparticles for various reasons such as problems of environmental contamination, high costs, and the like by using organic solvents. Further, since the metal nanoparticles become easily unstable by heat treatment temperature and the reaction temperature, there are many cases where the metal nanoparticles are dispersed in a carrier and used. Therefore, there is a need for developing a method which may efficiently support metal nanoparticles on a carrier.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present application relates to a method for preparing a carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite and a carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite prepared thereby, and has an advantage in that it is possible to improve dispersibility and supporting ratio of metal nanoparticles with respect to a carbon carrier by efficiently supporting metal nanoparticles having a uniform size of several nanometers on evenly dispersed carbon carriers."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for preparing a carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite, the method comprising:\nforming a solution comprising a carbon carrier in which a hydrophilic functional group is induced on a surface of a carbon carrier by mixing the carbon carrier and a surfactant in a solvent;\nmixing a first metal salt and a second metal salt by adding the first metal salt and the second metal salt to the solution; and\nforming metal nanoparticles by adding a reducing agent to the solution,\nwherein the solvent is water,\nwherein the metal nanoparticles have a CV value of 30% or less, and the CV value is represented by the following Equation 1,\nCV \u2061 ( % ) = Standard \u2062 \u2062 deviation \u2062 \u2062 of \u2062 \u2062 particles Average \u2062 \u2062 particle \u2062 \u2062 diameter \u00d7 100,\nand\nwherein the first metal salt is represented by the following Chemical Formula 1 and the second metal salt is represented by the following Chemical Formula 2\nXA m [Chemical Formula 1]\nB p YC q [Chemical Formula 2]\nwherein in Chemical Formula 1 and Chemical Formula 2,\nX is an ion of nickel (Ni),\nY is an ion of platinum (Pt)\nA and C are each independently selected from the group consisting of NO 3\u2212, NO 2\u2212, OH \u2212, F \u2212, Cl \u2212, Br \u2212, and I \u2212, and\nB is selected from the group consisting of K +, Na +, and NH 3+,\nM is 2, p is 2, and q is 4 or 6.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal nanoparticles are an alloy of a first metal and a second metal.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein in the mixing, a stabilizer is further added.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein in the forming of the solution, an ultrasonic wave is applied before or after the carbon carrier and the surfactant are mixed.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein a content of the surfactant is 1 to 40 times a weight of the carbon carrier.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, wherein the carbon carrier is a carbon carrier which is not subjected to pre-treatment.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein a molar ratio of the first metal salt and the second metal salt in the solution is 1:5 to 10:1.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal nanoparticles have an average particle diameter of 30 nm or less.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, wherein a supporting ratio of the metal nanoparticles with respect to the carbon carrier is 10 wt % to 70 wt %.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal nanoparticles comprise 80% or more of particles in which a distance between two adjacent particles among metal nanoparticles supported on the carbon carrier is 10 times or less the particle diameter.\n\n11. A carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite comprising a carbon carrier in which a hydrophilic functional group is induced on the surface thereof and metal nanoparticles comprising nickel (Ni) and platinum (Pt),\nwherein the metal nanoparticles have an average particle diameter of 30 nm or less,\nthe metal nanoparticles are supported on the carbon carrier, and\nthe metal nanoparticles have a CV value of 30% or less, and the CV value is represented by the following Equation 1:\nCV \u2061 ( % ) = Standard \u2062 \u2062 deviation \u2062 \u2062 of \u2062 \u2062 particles Average \u2062 \u2062 particle \u2062 \u2062 diameter \u00d7 100. [ Equation \u2062 \u2062 1 ]\n\n12. The carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite of claim 11, wherein a supporting ratio of the metal nanoparticles with respect to the carbon carrier is 10 wt % to 70 wt %.\n\n13. The carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite of claim 11, wherein the metal nanoparticles comprise 80% or more of particles in which a distance between two adjacent particles among metal nanoparticles supported on the carbon carrier is 10 times or less the particle diameter.\n\n14. The carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite of claim 11, wherein the metal nanoparticles have an average particle diameter of 10 nm or less.\n\n15. The carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite of claim 11, wherein a specific surface area of the carbon carrier is 90% to 100% of a specific surface area of the carbon carrier before the hydrophilic functional group is induced.\n\n16. The carbon carrier-metal nanoparticle composite of claim 11, wherein electrical conductivity of the carbon carrier is 90% to 120% of the electrical conductivity of the carbon carrier before the hydrophilic functional group is induced."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Laminated Sprocket Assembly\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nLaminated sprocket assemblies formed with a plurality of layers that are bonded or welded together are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,406 teaches such a laminated sprocket in which each of the layers includes a central opening for fitting onto a drive shaft. Teeth or other driving surfaces are formed around the periphery of the layers and the layers can be stacked with spacers located between the layers so that the teeth are spaced apart for example to carry a chain conveyor or belt conveyor having pockets in which the teeth of the laminated sprocket are engaged. In the field of automotive engines, sprockets are used in connection with timing chains and timing drives and for various other purposes. Generally such sprockets have been formed as a solid machined part or a sintered part due to the high speeds and loads with which such sprockets operate. However, such machined or sintered sprockets are associated with higher costs. It would be desirable to provide a laminated sprocket which would be suitable for use in connection with high speed equipment, and particularly for use as timing chain sprockets and/or other sprockets used in connection with internal combustion engines.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA laminated sprocket assembly is provided formed of a plurality of layers that are connected together. Each of the layers is a stamped sheet metal layer having a plurality of spaced apart teeth located around a periphery thereof. The teeth in the plurality of connected layers are aligned. At least one of voids, channels, openings, or recesses are located in or between at least some of the layers for receiving and holding lubricating oil. This reduces noise and wear."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A laminated sprocket assembly, comprising:\na plurality of layers that are connected together, each of the layers being a stamped sheet metal layer having a plurality of spaced apart teeth located around a periphery thereof, and the teeth in the plurality of connected layers are aligned and in flat planar contact with each other around the periphery; and\nrecesses located in or between at least some of the layers for receiving lubricating oil, and the recesses are located on flanks of the teeth.\n\n2. The laminated sprocket assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the layers includes a shaft opening.\n\n3. The laminated sprocket assembly of claim 2, wherein aligned openings are defined in each of the layers in a position spaced apart from the shaft opening and the teeth.\n\n4. The laminated sprocket assembly of claim 1, wherein the recesses are located in at least some of the layers in sides of at least some of the teeth.\n\n5. A laminated sprocket assembly, comprising:\na plurality of layers that are connected together, each of the layers being a stamped sheet metal layer having a plurality of spaced apart teeth located around a periphery thereof, and the teeth in the plurality of connected layers are aligned; and\nrecesses located in or between at least some of the layers for receiving lubricating oil, the recesses are located in at least some of the layers in sides of at least some of the teeth, and the layers on either side of the layers with the recesses include teeth having side flanks without the recesses.\n\n6. The laminated sprocket assembly of claim 5, wherein the recesses are formed by a radius.\n\n7. The laminated sprocket assembly of claim 5, wherein each of the layers includes a shaft opening.\n\n8. The laminated sprocket assembly of claim 7, wherein aligned openings are defined in each of the layers in a position spaced apart from the shaft opening and the teeth."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Channel Detection Method And System Thereof\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The present disclosure generally relates to a channel detection method and, more particularly, to a channel detection method for an echo canceller and a system using the channel detection method. 2. Description of Related Art In a cable communication system, channel detection helps the user to determine whether a channel is open, short, impedance mismatched or normal. If there is any problem of connection, service providers or users may use channel detection to confirm whether there is any problem in the channel to clarify if the problem of connection is attributed to the channel itself (for example, the cable) and/or to point out the part of the channel where the problem takes place. Conventionally, a pseudo-noise sequence (PN-sequence) is transmitted with auto-correlation to probe the channel conditions by determining the reflected signal in the channel and whether there is impedance mismatch in the channel Generally, in a cable communication system, additional hardware implementation is required for the calculation of auto-correlation. Moreover, with auto-correlation, each process only obtains one point in the reflected signal. Conventionally, it requires additional hardware implementation and longer testing time to realize channel detection by auto-correlation of a pseudo-noise sequence. However, if the communication devices (such as transceivers) at both ends of a channel perform channel detection at the same time, different pseudo-noise sequences are required to prevent cross-talk and to save time. In other words, additional hardware implementations are required for both communication devices so that the communication devices are provided with different pseudo-noise sequences. Such additional cost and testing time are not welcome to both the service providers and the users.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA channel detection method for an echo canceller of a communication device is provided. The method includes the following steps. A first detection signal is transmitted to an end of a channel coupled to the communication device. A plurality of taps corresponding to a reflected signal of the first detection signal are received by an echo canceller at the end of the channel. The taps corresponding to the reflected signal are compared with a reference value corresponding to each of the taps so as to determine whether each of the taps is larger than or equal to the corresponding reference value. When the tap is determined to be larger than or equal to the reference value corresponding to the tap, the tap and a position of the tap are recorded."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A channel detection method for at least one echo canceller of a communication device, comprising:\ntransmitting a first detection signal to an end of a channel coupled to said communication device;\nreceiving, by said at least one echo canceller, a plurality of taps corresponding to a reflected signal of said first detection signal at said end of said channel;\ncomparing each of said plurality of taps corresponding to said reflected signal with a corresponding reference value so as to determine whether each of said plurality of taps is larger than or equal to said corresponding reference value;\nrecording one of said plurality of taps as a maximum coefficient and recording a position of said tap recorded as the maximum coefficient as a maximum coefficient position, when one of said plurality of taps is determined to be larger than or equal to said corresponding reference value;\ndetermining whether a next tap of said reflected signal is larger than or equal to said maximum coefficient; and\ndetermining whether said next tap is smaller than a predetermined value when said next tap is determined to be smaller than said maximum coefficient, wherein said predetermined value is half of said maximum coefficient.\n\n2. The channel detection method of claim 1, further comprising:\nswitching to a next tap to repeat determining whether said next tap is larger than or equal to a next reference value corresponding to said next tap when said tap is determined to be smaller than said reference value corresponding to said tap.\n\n3. The channel detection method of claim 1, further comprising:\nupdating said maximum coefficient to said next tap and updating said maximum coefficient position to a position of said next tap when said next tap is determined to be larger than or equal to said maximum coefficient.\n\n4. The channel detection method of claim 1, further comprising:\noutputting said maximum coefficient and said maximum coefficient position when said next tap is determined to be smaller than said predetermined value.\n\n5. The channel detection method of claim 1, further comprising:\ndetermining whether said channel detection method is in a dual-ended detection mode before transmitting said first detection signal.\n\n6. The channel detection method of claim 5, further comprising:\nactivating a signal detection to continue detecting whether a second detection signal is received when said channel detection method is determined to be in said dual-ended detection mode.\n\n7. A channel detection system, comprising:\na first communication device, comprising:\na transceiving module for transmitting a first detection signal to an end of a channel coupled to said transceiving module;\nat least one echo canceller coupled to said transceiving module for receiving, through said transceiving module, a plurality of taps corresponding to a reflected signal of said first detection signal at said end of said channel; and\na calculation unit coupled to said at least one echo canceller for comparing each of said plurality of taps corresponding to said reflected signal with a corresponding reference value so as to determine whether each of said plurality of taps is larger than or equal to said corresponding reference value;\nwherein when one of said plurality of taps is determined to be larger than or equal to said corresponding reference value, the calculation unit records said tap as a maximum coefficient and records a position of said tap recorded as the maximum coefficient as a maximum coefficient position, and further determines whether a next tap of said reflected signal is larger than or equal to said maximum coefficient;\nwherein said calculation unit determines whether said next tap is smaller than a predetermined value when said calculation unit determines that said next tap is smaller than said maximum coefficient, said predetermined value being half of said maximum coefficient.\n\n8. The channel detection system of claim 7, wherein said maximum coefficient is updated to said next tap and said maximum coefficient position is updated to a position of said next tap when said next tap is determined to be larger than or equal to said maximum coefficient.\n\n9. The channel detection system of claim 7, wherein said maximum coefficient and said maximum coefficient position are outputted when said calculation unit determines that said next tap is smaller than said predetermined value.\n\n10. The channel detection system of claim 7, further comprising:\na second communication device coupled to another end of said channel;\nwherein whether said channel detection system is in a dual-ended detection mode is determined before said first communication device transmits said first detection signal.\n\n11. The channel detection system of claim 10, wherein said at least one echo canceller activates a signal detection to continue detecting whether a second detection signal transmitted by said second communication device is received when said first communication device determines that said channel detection system is in said dual-ended detection mode.\n\n12. The channel detection system of claim 11, wherein said first communication device and said second communication device are provided, respectively, with a first identification code and a second identification code having different delay times.\n\n13. The channel detection system of claim 7, wherein said first communication device uses a second register in said at least one echo canceller to continue receiving remaining ones of said plurality of taps when a first register in said at least one echo canceller for receiving said plurality of taps is full."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Side Airbag Device For Vehicles\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a vehicular side airbag apparatus including chambers (bag areas partitioned by partitions) corresponding to an occupant's shoulder, lumbar, and chest regions and having three-dimensional shapes formed by installing baffles (partitions) formed from, for example, band-like members inside a side airbag and reasonably arranging the baffles to provide a thickness in a vehicular width direction. The vehicular side airbag apparatus allowing the side airbag to be configured at a high productivity using a small number of components.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA vehicular side airbag apparatus including chambers corresponding to an occupant's shoulder, lumbar, and chest and having three-dimensional shapes formed by baffles inside a side airbag and providing a thickness. The first baffle extends in a vehicular front-rear direction and is joined to a rear edge 103a of a side airbag 103 at a rear end 107b of the first baffle. The second baffle extends in a vehicular up-down direction and has an overlap portion 109 which is set at a longitudinally intermediate position of the second baffle and to which a longitudinally front end 107c of the first baffle is connected along with a vehicular interior panel 105 and a vehicular exterior panel 106. Longitudinal both ends 108b and 108c of the second baffle are joined to an outer peripheral edge of the side airbag 103."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A vehicular side airbag apparatus in the form of a side airbag that is built into a seatback and that is deployed and inflated from a vehicular rear direction toward a vehicular front direction through a gap between an occupant and a vehicular side portion when an inflator gas is fed into the side airbag, the vehicular side airbag apparatus comprising:\nthe side airbag, which is formed by joining, along an outer peripheral seam line, outer peripheral edges of a vehicular interior panel and a vehicular exterior panel that face each other, the side airbag forming three chambers including a lumbar restraining chamber, a shoulder restraining chamber, and a chest restraining chamber inside the side airbag, and\nan inflator that injects the inflator gas is provided in a vehicular rear portion inside the side airbag,\nwherein a main portion of the side airbag is formed of at least one of the shoulder and lumbar restraining chambers,\nwherein the side airbag is attached to the seatback such that a vehicular rear portion of the main portion is inflated inside the seatback,\nwherein the three chambers are separated from one another by a first baffle and a second baffle,\nwherein the first baffle is shaped like a band having a width in a vehicular width direction and extends in a vehicular front-rear direction inside the side airbag, and is joined, at a longitudinally rear end of the first baffle, to a rear edge of the side airbag, wherein the first baffle is formed using one panel material and is joined at both side edges of the first baffle, to the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, respectively, and is simultaneously joined, at the longitudinally rear end of the first baffle, to the outer peripheral seam line, and\nwherein the second baffle is shaped like a band having a width in the vehicular width direction and extends in a vehicular up-down direction inside the side airbag, and has a baffle overlap area which is set at an intermediate position of the second baffle and to which a longitudinally front end of the first baffle is connected along with the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, and both ends of the second baffle are joined to an outer peripheral edge of the side airbag.\n\n2. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the baffle overlap area, an angle formed by the second baffle and the first baffle on a side facing the inflator is set to an acute angle.\n\n3. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second baffle is formed using one panel material and is joined, at both side edges of the second baffle, to the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, respectively, and is simultaneously joined to the outer peripheral seam line at a longitudinally upper end of the second baffle that extends at least from the baffle overlap area toward an upper side of the side airbag.\n\n4. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second baffle is formed using one panel material, is joined, at the both side edges of the second baffle, to the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, respectively, and is simultaneously joined to the outer peripheral seam line at a longitudinally lower end of the second baffle that extends at least from the baffle overlap area toward a lower side of the side airbag.\n\n5. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first baffle includes at least two panel pieces with substantially the same length and substantially the same width,\nthe first baffle is formed by joining together first side edges of the panel pieces in the longitudinal direction between the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel,\nsecond side edges of the panel pieces of the first baffle are joined to the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, respectively, and\nthe longitudinally rear end of the first baffle is simultaneously joined to the outer peripheral seam line.\n\n6. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second baffle includes at least two panel pieces with substantially the same length and substantially the same width,\nthe second baffle is formed by joining together first side edges of the panel pieces in the longitudinal direction between the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel,\nsecond side edges of the panel pieces of the second baffle are joined to the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, respectively, and\na longitudinally upper end of the second baffle that extends at least from the baffle overlap area toward an upper side of the side airbag is simultaneously joined to the outer peripheral seam line.\n\n7. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second baffle includes at least two panel pieces with substantially the same length and substantially the same width,\nthe second baffle is formed by joining together first side edges of the panel pieces in the longitudinal direction between the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel,\nsecond side edges of the panel pieces of the second baffle are joined to the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, respectively, and\na longitudinally lower end of the second baffle that extends at least from the baffle overlap area toward a lower side of the side airbag is simultaneously joined to the outer peripheral seam line.\n\n8. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a flexible sleeve having openings at both ends thereof is provided inside the side airbag so as to surround the inflator and to penetrate the first baffle, and\nthe flexible sleeve is deformed by the inflator gas flowing into one of the shoulder and lumbar restraining chambers partitioned from each other by the first baffle to inhibit the inflator gas from flowing out toward the other of the shoulder and lumbar restraining chambers.\n\n9. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the inflator is shaped like a cylinder, has a plurality of gas injection holes arranged in a circumferential direction near one of longitudinal both ends of the inflator and has a connector for supply of an ignition signal provided at the other longitudinal end of the inflator,\nan opening through which an interior and an exterior of the side airbag are connected together is formed in the vehicular rear portion of the side airbag such that the connector is exposed to the outside of the side airbag and the gas injection holes are arranged inside the side airbag, and\nthe inflator is installed so as to penetrate the opening.\n\n10. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein upon inflation of the side airbag the inflator gas is first supplied to inflate the shoulder restraining chamber and thereafter the lumbar restraining chamber is inflated.\n\n11. A vehicular side airbag apparatus in the form of a side airbag that is built into a seatback and that is deployed and inflated from a vehicular rear direction toward a vehicular front direction through a gap between an occupant and a vehicular side portion when an inflator gas is fed into the side airbag, the vehicular side airbag apparatus comprising:\nthe side airbag, which is formed by joining, along an outer peripheral seam line, outer peripheral edges of a vehicular interior panel and a vehicular exterior panel that face each other, the side airbag forming three chambers including a lumbar restraining chamber, a shoulder restraining chamber, and a chest restraining chamber inside the side airbag, and\nan inflator that injects the inflator gas is provided in a vehicular rear portion inside the side airbag,\nwherein a main portion of the side airbag is formed of at least one of the shoulder and lumbar restraining chambers,\nwherein the side airbag is attached to the seatback such that a vehicular rear portion of the main portion is inflated inside the seatback,\nwherein the three chambers are separated from one another by a first baffle and a second baffle,\nwherein the first baffle is shaped like a band having a width in a vehicular width direction and extends in a vehicular front-rear direction inside the side airbag, and is joined, at a longitudinally rear end of the first baffle, to a rear edge of the side airbag,\nwherein the second baffle is shaped like a band having a width in the vehicular width direction and extends in a vehicular up-down direction inside the side airbag, and has a baffle overlap area which is set at an intermediate position of the second baffle and to which a longitudinally front end of the first baffle is connected along with the vehicular interior panel and the vehicular exterior panel, and both ends of the second baffle are joined to an outer peripheral edge of the side airbag, and\nwherein a gap is formed between the longitudinally front end of the first baffle and the second baffle so as to form an internal vent hole.\n\n12. A vehicular side airbag apparatus comprising a side airbag that includes a vehicular interior panel member and a vehicular exterior panel member and that is deployed and inflated from a vehicular rear direction toward a vehicular front direction between an occupant and a vehicular side portion when an inflator gas is fed into the side airbag,\nthe vehicular side airbag apparatus further comprising:\na front up-down partitioning portion formed inside the side airbag so as to extend in a vehicular front-rear direction from a front end toward a rear end of the side airbag to a point at a distance from the rear end of the side airbag;\na rear up-down partitioning portion formed inside the side airbag so as to extend in the vehicular front-rear direction from the rear end toward the front end of the side airbag to a point at a distance from the front end of the side airbag, the rear up-down partitioning portion including an overlap portion partially facing the front up-down partitioning portion in the up-down direction and extending along a portion of the front up-down partitioning portion;\nan upper bag area defined in an internal upper portion of the side airbag by the front and rear up-down partitioning portions;\na lower bag area defined in an internal lower portion of the side airbag by the front and rear up-down partitioning portions; and\nan inflator arranged on a rear side of the side airbag in the vehicular front-rear direction to feed the inflator gas into the upper bag area, and\nbetween the overlap portion and the front up-down partitioning portion, a gas passage is formed through which the inflator gas flows from the upper bag area into the lower bag area and which is closed off by at least one of the overlap portion and the front up-down partitioning portion that are flexibly deformed by the inflator gas fed into the lower bag area.\n\n13. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the front up-down partitioning portion includes an upper extension portion extending continuously from a rear end of the front up-down partitioning portion in the vehicular front-rear direction toward an upper side in a vehicular up-down direction and reaching an upper end of the side airbag, the upper bag area is partitioned into a front upper bag area and a rear upper bag area by the upper extension portion, and a gas introduction path for feeding the inflator gas from the rear upper bag area to the front upper bag area is formed in the upper extension portion.\n\n14. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the front up-down partitioning portion is formed using a first band-shaped member, widthwise both ends of the first band-shaped member are integrally joined to the vehicular interior panel member and the vehicular exterior panel member, respectively, and a front end of the first band-shaped member is integrally joined to the vehicular interior panel member and the vehicular exterior panel member.\n\n15. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the rear up-down partitioning portion is formed using a second band-shaped member, widthwise both ends of the second band-shaped member are integrally joined to the vehicular interior panel member and the vehicular exterior panel member, respectively, and a rear end of the second band-shaped member is integrally joined to the vehicular interior panel member and the vehicular exterior panel member.\n\n16. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the vehicular interior panel member and the vehicular exterior panel member each include an upper panel portion and a lower panel portion, and the upper panel portion and the lower panel portion are joined together by laying a lower portion of the upper panel portion on top of an upper portion of the lower panel portion.\n\n17. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 16, wherein both side edges of the first band-shaped member are joined to the lower panel portions included in the vehicular interior panel member and the vehicular exterior panel member such that the first band-shaped member bridges upper portions of the lower panel portions, and both side edges of the second band-shaped member are joined to the upper panel portions integrally with the lower panel portions and the first band-shaped member such that the second band-shaped member is sandwiched between the upper portions of the lower panel portions.\n\n18. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a mountain fold portion is formed in the upper portion of the lower panel portion such that the lower panel portion curves upward, the first band-shaped member is laid on top of the lower panel portion so as to stride over the mountain fold portion, and both side edges of the second band-shaped member are joined to the upper panel portions integrally with the lower panel portion and the first band-shaped member such that the second band-shaped member is held by the mountain fold portion of the lower panel portion in a sandwiched manner.\n\n19. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the first band-shaped member has a mountain fold portion formed by folding the first band-shaped member downward, both side edges of the second band-shaped member are joined to the vehicular interior panel member and the vehicular exterior panel member integrally with the first band-shaped member such that the second band-shaped member is held by the mountain fold portion of the first band-shaped member in a sandwiched manner.\n\n20. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 15, wherein when the lower bag area is deployed and inflated and the inflator gas acts on the overlap portion and a gas pressure acts on the overlap portion, a portion of the second band-shaped member is pushed upward toward the first band-shaped member.\n\n21. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 15, wherein upon activation of the side airbag, the lower bag area is filled with the inflator gas to increase the pressure in the lower bag area and when the pressure in the lower bag area reaches a set pressure the overlap portion is flexibly deformed and brought into contact with the front up-down partitioning portion and the gas passage is closed off, and the inflator gas is fed into the upper bag area to further deform the first band-shaped member so as to push the first band-shaped member down toward the portion of the second band-shaped member located at the overlap portion.\n\n22. The vehicular side airbag apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the inflator gas is injected from the inflator to first inflate the upper bag area and thereafter the lower bag area."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Optical Communication System, Optical Receiver, Optical Receiver Control Method, And Non-Transitory Computer Readable Medium\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAlong with an increase in demand of data communication service in recent years, the introduction of a longer-distance, larger-volume high-density wavelength multiplexing optical fiber communication system with higher reliability is being promoted. On such a background, higher performance of an optical communication system that uses optical fibers is being demanded. As part thereof, the adoption of a digital coherent reception system in which a digital processing technique is introduced to an optical receiver is being promoted. In the digital coherent reception system, it is possible to correct, by digital processing, linear degradation of an optical waveform due to optical fiber transmission, and compensate transmission characteristic degradation due to a wavelength dispersion characteristic of an optical fiber as a transmission channel. However, due to the wavelength dispersion, an optical signal waveform collapses and expands in an amplitude direction, so in a digital conversion, a dynamic range for an analog/digital conversion becomes a problem. As a communication system that takes the wavelength dispersion characteristic into consideration, Patent Literature 1 discloses a method of changing a dynamic range at a time when an analog electric signal is converted into a digital electric signal by monitoring wavelength dispersion.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nPresent invention provides an optical communication system that controls reception sensitivity of an optical receiver. The communication system (100) according to the present invention comprising: an optical transmitter (1) to which an transmission signal is input, and which modulates the transmission signal to an optical signal and transmits the optical signal; and an optical receiver (2) that receives the optical signal and demodulates the optical signal to an transmission signal. And the optical receiver (2) includes a photoelectric conversion means (10) for converting the optical signal into an analog electric signal, a conversion and demodulation means (25) for converting the analog electric signal into a digital signal and demodulating the signal to the transmission signal, and an amplitude control means (102) for controlling amplitude of the analog electric signal, and the amplitude control means (102) controls the amplitude of the analog electric signal in accordance with wavelength dispersion of the optical signal."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A communication system comprising:\nan optical transmitter to which a transmission signal is input, and which modulates the transmission signal to an optical signal and transmits the optical signal; and\nan optical receiver that receives the optical signal and demodulates the optical signal to a transmission signal, the optical receiver including:\na photo detector that converts the optical signal into an analog electric signal,\nan analog digital converter that converts the analog electric signal into a digital signal and outputs monitoring information indicative of amplitude of the analog electric signal,\na digital signal processor that processes the digital signal and monitors a wavelength dispersion of the optical signal, and\na controller that identifies a reference amplitude of the analog electric signal, the reference amplitude corresponding to the monitored wavelength dispersion, and controls the amplitude of the analog electric signal based on the reference amplitude and the monitoring information.\n\n2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the amplitude of the analog electric signal to become smaller, as the wavelength dispersion of the optical signal is increased.\n\n3. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein\nthe photo detector includes an amplifier that amplifies the analog electric signal input to the analog digital converter, and\nthe controller estimates a wavelength dispersion value of the optical signal and determines, on the basis of the estimated wavelength dispersion value, a reference value for controlling a gain of the amplifier.\n\n4. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the controller:\ncompares the reference amplitude and the monitoring information, and\ncontrols the amplitude of the analog electric signal based on a result of the comparison.\n\n5. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein a minimum value of the reference amplitude corresponds to a maximum value of the wavelength dispersion.\n\n6. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein the minimum value of the reference amplitude is set as an initial value of the reference amplitude.\n\n7. An optical receiver comprising:\na photo detector that converts an optical signal into an analog electric signal;\nan analog digital converter that converts the analog electric signal into a digital signal and outputs monitoring information indicative of amplitude of the analog electric signal;\na digital signal processor that processes the digital signal and monitors a wavelength dispersion of the optical signal; and\na controller that identifies a reference amplitude of the analog electric signal, the reference amplitude corresponding to the monitored wavelength dispersion, and controls the amplitude of the analog electric signal based on the reference amplitude and the monitoring information.\n\n8. The optical receiver according to claim 7, wherein the controller controls the amplitude of the analog electric signal to become smaller, as the wavelength dispersion of the optical signal is increased.\n\n9. The optical receiver according to claim 7, wherein\nthe photo detector includes an amplifier that amplifies the analog electric signal input to the analog digital converter, and\nthe controller estimates a wavelength dispersion value of the optical signal and determines, on the basis of the estimated wavelength dispersion value, a reference value for controlling a gain of the amplifier.\n\n10. The optical receiver according to claim 7, wherein the controller:\ncompares the reference amplitude and the monitoring information; and\ncontrols the amplitude of the analog electric signal based on a result of the comparison.\n\n11. The optical receiver according to claim 7, wherein a minimum value of the reference amplitude corresponds to a maximum value of the wavelength dispersion.\n\n12. The optical receiver according to claim 11, wherein the minimum value of the reference amplitude is set as an initial value of the reference amplitude.\n\n13. A method for controlling an optical receiver, wherein the optical receiver is configured to convert an optical signal into an analog electric signal, convert the analog electric signal into a digital signal, process the digital signal and monitor a wavelength dispersion of the optical signal, and output monitoring information indicative of amplitude of the analog electric signal, the control method comprising:\nidentifying a reference amplitude of the analog electric signal, the reference amplitude corresponding to the monitored wavelength dispersion, and\ncontrolling the amplitude of the analog electric signal based on the reference amplitude and the monitoring information.\n\n14. The optical receiver control method according to claim 13, wherein the controlling includes controlling the amplitude of the analog electric signal to become smaller, as the wavelength dispersion of the optical signal is increased.\n\n15. The optical receiver control method according to claim 13, wherein\nthe optical receiver includes an amplifier that amplifies the analog electric signal input to an analog digital converter, and\nthe controlling includes estimating a wavelength dispersion value of the optical signal and determining, on the basis of the estimated wavelength dispersion value, a reference value for controlling a gain of the amplifier.\n\n16. The optical receiver control method according to claim 13, wherein the controlling includes:\ncomparing the reference amplitude and the monitoring information; and\ncontrolling the amplitude of the analog electric signal based on a result of the comparison.\n\n17. The optical receiver control method according to claim 13, wherein a minimum value of the reference amplitude corresponds to a maximum value of the wavelength dispersion.\n\n18. The optical receiver control method according to claim 17, wherein the minimum value of the reference amplitude is set as an initial value of the reference amplitude."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Tube Fitting Assembly\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThis invention relates generally to the sealing of fittings about tubes and, more particularly, though not exclusively, to the sealing of tubing using a single tube gripping member, such as a ferrule. Tube fittings are used to join or connect a tube end to another member, whether that other member be another tube end or a device in fluid communication with the tube end. Generally, tube fittings are designed to withstand operational conditions of the environment where the tube is located, such as pressure, vacuum, pull-out pressure, temperature, pulsation and/or vibration. Ideally, a tube fitting grips the tube end so as to prevent loss of seal between the tube and another member. A good tube fitting maintains a leak-free connection between the tube and another member. Some tube fittings are designed to be used with plastic tubes, while others\u2014with metal tubing, such as stainless steel pipes/tubes. While the design criteria for these applications may differ, the basic concepts of this invention may be applicable to both. Typically, stainless steel and other metal tubing is used for high pressure applications in which the tubing wall thickness is substantial. Such heavy wall tubing is difficult to grip because it is not only hard but it is also resistive to deformation. Such physical characteristics make it more difficult to deform the tubing plastically so as to achieve a desired tube grip. Tube fittings usually include an assembly of a tube gripping device, which can be a single or double ferrule, and a pull-up member for causing the tube gripping device to be installed on a tube end so as to grip the tube end and create a leak-free seal. The pull-up member can be a threaded nut that is tightly engaged with the body of a member, to which the tubing is connected. The pull up mechanism most commonly used is a threaded connection of a female threaded nut and a male threaded body component, both of which act upon the ferrule as the nut and the body are threaded together. In such arrangement, the front end of the ferrule is sandwiched between the tube and the body to form a sealing member. Conventional single ferrule fittings are inserted into a space between an outer surface of the tubing and an inner surface of the body. The body is formed with a frustoconical camming surface, which a front end of the ferrule contacts. In many known fitting assemblies, the resulting seal is less than adequate, requiring one or more elastomeric seals to prevent leakage of the liquid or gas. The present invention contemplates elimination of drawbacks associated with convention tube fitting and provision of a single ferrule seal assembly that effectively seals the interface between the end of the tubing and a body.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA tube fitting for sealing an end of a tube uses a notch formed in the exterior surface of the tube as a sealing seat. An internally threaded body is configured to receive an externally threaded end of a nut, while the body and the nut are mounted in a surrounding relationship to the tube end. A ferrule mounted between the nut and the tube is forced to plastically deform and move into the notch to thereby seal the tube end."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A tube fitting assembly comprising:\na cylindrical tube having a longitudinal wall, an exterior surface, a longitudinal axis, and a tube end;\na circumferential notch formed in the exterior surface of the longitudinal wall at a distance from the tube end;\na first tube fitting member having an inner bore and an internally threaded end, said first tube fitting member being configured to receive the tube within the inner bore;\na second tube fitting member having a central aperture extending through a length thereof, said second fitting member comprising an externally threaded end; and\na deformable tube gripping member mounted for sliding movement along said exterior surface of the tube between the tube and the second tube fitting member, said tube gripping member having a front end configured to fit into the notch, while plastically deforming, when the second tube fitting member is pulled up, and seal the tube end.\n\n2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the tube gripping member is a single ring-shaped ferrule.\n\n3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the internally threaded end of the first tube fitting member is configured to threadably engage with the externally threaded end of the second tube fitting member.\n\n4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said tube gripping member has plasticity and resiliency sufficient to deform and partially fit into the notch when the first tube fitting member is tightened against the second tube fitting member.\n\n5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the second tube fitting member is provided with a drive shoulder configured to engage a back end of the tube gripping member.\n\n6. The device of claim 1, wherein the threaded end of the first tube fitting member is configured to receive the threaded end of the second tube fitting member when the second fitting member is pulled up.\n\n7. The device of claim 1, wherein the tube, the first tube fitting member, the first tube fitting member, and the tube gripping member are formed of metal or metal alloy.\n\n8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the tube gripping member comprises a tapered front end configured to fit into the notch.\n\n9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the second tube fitting member is a nut.\n\n10. A tube fitting assembly comprising:\na cylindrical tube having an exterior longitudinal wall, a longitudinal axis, and a tube end;\na circumferential notch formed in the exterior longitudinal wall at a distance from the tube end;\na first tube fitting member having an inner bore and an internally threaded end, said first tube fitting member being configured to receive the tube within the inner bore;\na second tube fitting member having a central aperture extending through a length thereof, said second fitting member comprising an externally threaded end; and\na deformable tube gripping member mounted for sliding movement along said exterior surface of the tube between the tube and the second tube fitting member, said tube gripping member having a front end configured to fit into the notch, while plastically deforming, when the second tube fitting member is pulled up, and seal the tube end."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hydrostatic Assembly\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates generally to a hydrostatic assembly. Hydrostatic modules or assemblies are hydraulic devices used in hydrostatic and power splitting transmissions to effect ratio changes between the transmission input and output. Such assemblies typically comprise two hydraulic piston drive units and may be of a bent axis or an axial piston drive design. The two drive units are in fluid communication with each other. One of the hydraulic piston drive units typically functions as a pump and the other typically functions as a motor. Depending on the transmission design, the role of the pump and motor may be permanently or alternately assigned depending on the transmission mode. The speed and torque ratios between the input and output shafts of the module are determined by the displacement ratio between the two hydraulic piston drive units. By making at least one of the drive units a variable displacement type, the speed and torque ratio of the module may be varied. The amount of power and torque to be transferred through the module will determine the size of the components. Generally, greater torque requires larger displacement drive units. With larger displacement drive units the allowable or permitted operating speed may be reduced as the mass of the rotating components is increased due to the increased size of the drive units. In a transmission where the drive units are permanently assigned as each of a pump and motor, a large motor and a small pump are typically used. However, if different size drive units are used, different rotating components for the pump and motor may be required. U.S. 2010/0212309 describes a dual hydrostatic assembly with a common shaft driving the two pumps where the two pumps are arranged opposite one another and the input shafts rotate about the same axis. Similarly, the two motors have a common shaft where the two motors are arranged opposite one another and the out shafts rotate about the same axis. Each of the pumps and motors are arranged in separate rotatable yokes. DE1064311 discloses a hydraulic module with two bent axis piston drive units, one functioning as pump and the other functioning as motor, where the pump and motor cylinder blocks rotate within a common yoke. However, the cylinder blocks are set at different angles and the angle between respective cylinder blocks and shafts of each bent axis piston drive unit is altered using the common yoke assembly. Despite advances in the art, there remains a continuing need for durable hydrostatic assemblies that can produce greater displacements and transfer greater power and torque, while remaining compact in size, smooth in operation, and simple in design. The present invention addresses this need and provides other advantages as discussed in more detail below.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hydrostatic assembly employing a 1st hydraulic piston drive unit is described in which the output is increased without using additional servo assemblies by incorporating a 2nd hydraulic piston drive unit, coupling the drive shafts of both drive units together, and employing a common means to simultaneously adjust displacement of both the 1st and 2nd hydraulic piston drive units. In such embodiments, coupling the drive shafts together such that the 1st hydraulic piston drive unit is rotationally offset with respect to the 2nd hydraulic piston drive allows for a reduction in the amplitude of pressure pulsations associated with the hydrostatic assembly output, thereby smoothing out operation and improving durability."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A hydrostatic assembly comprising:\na housing;\na pivot axis;\n1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units, each drive unit comprising:\na cylinder block with ports,\npistons within the cylinders in the cylinder block, and\na drive shaft mounted to the housing, wherein the drive shafts of 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units are coupled together;\ncommon means for simultaneously adjusting displacement of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units, the common means mounted on the pivot axis and capable of rotation;\na 3 rd hydraulic piston drive unit comprising:\na cylinder block with ports,\npistons within the cylinders in the cylinder block, and\na drive shaft mounted to the housing;\n2 nd means for adjusting displacement of the 3 rd hydraulic piston drive unit, the 2 nd means mounted on the pivot axis and capable of rotation independently of the common means;\nat least one fluid passage fluidly connecting the ports of the cylinder blocks in the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic drive units to the ports of the cylinder block in the 3 rd hydraulic drive unit.\n\n2. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 1 wherein:\nthe pivot axis is a yoke pivot axis and the housing comprises the yoke pivot axis;\nthe common means for adjusting displacement is a common yoke comprising at least one fluid passage therein;\nthe cylinder blocks and ports of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic drive units are mounted to the common yoke;\nthe 2 nd means for adjusting displacement is a 2 nd yoke mounted on the yoke pivot axis adjacent the common yoke, and the 2 nd yoke comprises at least one fluid passage therein;\nthe cylinder block and ports of the 3 rd hydraulic drive unit are mounted to the 2 nd yoke; and\nthe at least one fluid passage connects the ports of the cylinder blocks in the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic drive units to a hydraulic rotary joint located between the common yoke and the 2 nd yoke, and further the at least one fluid passage fluidly connects the hydraulic rotary joint to the ports of the cylinder block in the 3 rd hydraulic drive unit.\n\n3. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 2 wherein the 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd hydraulic piston drive units are bent axis piston drive units.\n\n4. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 3 wherein the 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd bent axis piston drive units are essentially the same.\n\n5. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 1 wherein:\nthe pivot axis is a swashplate pivot axis;\nthe common means for adjusting displacement is a common swashplate;\nthe cylinder blocks and ports of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic drive units are mounted to the housing;\nthe 2 nd means for adjusting displacement is a 2 nd swashplate mounted on the swashplate pivot axis adjacent the common swashplate;\nthe cylinder block and ports of the 3 rd hydraulic drive unit are mounted to the housing;\nthe housing comprises the least one fluid passage connecting the ports of the cylinder blocks in the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic drive units to the ports of the cylinder block in the 3 rd hydraulic drive unit.\n\n6. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 5 wherein the 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd hydraulic piston drive units are axial piston drive units.\n\n7. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 6 wherein the 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd axial piston drive units are essentially the same.\n\n8. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 1 wherein the drive shafts of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units are essentially parallel.\n\n9. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 8 wherein the cylinder blocks of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units are coupled together at the same angle with respect to their drive shafts.\n\n10. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 8 wherein the drive shaft of the 3 rd hydraulic piston drive unit is essentially parallel to the drive shafts of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units.\n\n11. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 1 wherein the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units act as a motor and the 3 rd hydraulic piston drive unit acts as a pump.\n\n12. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 1 wherein the drive shafts of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units are coupled to drive at the same speed.\n\n13. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 12 wherein the drive shafts are coupled such that the 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit is rotationally offset with respect to the 2 nd hydraulic piston drive unit.\n\n14. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 13 wherein the drive shafts are coupled such that the 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit is rotationally offset at half the angle between two rotationally adjacent cylinders.\n\n15. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 12 wherein the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units each comprise a plurality of ports and pistons.\n\n16. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 14 wherein the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units each comprise nine pistons and the 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit is rotationally offset 20 degrees between two rotationally adjacent cylinders.\n\n17. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 12 wherein the drive shafts of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units are coupled using sprockets and a chain or using engaged gears.\n\n18. The hydrostatic assembly of claim 1 comprising a 4 th fourth hydraulic piston drive unit comprising a cylinder block with ports, pistons within the cylinders in the cylinder block, and a drive shaft mounted to the housing, wherein the drive shafts of 3 rd and 4 th hydraulic piston drive units are coupled together.\n\n19. A controllable hydrostatic assembly comprising the assembly of claim 1, a single servo assembly to control the angle of the displacement adjusting common means on the pivot axis, and a single servo assembly to control the angle of the 2 nd displacement adjusting means on the pivot axis.\n\n20. A method of increasing an output associated with a 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit in a hydrostatic assembly without using additional servo assemblies, the hydrostatic assembly comprising:\na housing;\na pivot axis;\nthe 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit comprising:\na cylinder block with ports,\npistons within the cylinders in the cylinder block, and\na drive shaft mounted to the housing;\ncommon means for adjusting displacement of the 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit, the common means mounted on the pivot axis and capable of rotation;\na 3 rd hydraulic piston drive unit comprising:\na cylinder block with ports,\npistons within the cylinders in the cylinder block, and\na drive shaft mounted to the housing;\n2 nd means for adjusting displacement of the 3 rd hydraulic piston drive unit, the 2 nd means mounted on the pivot axis and capable of rotation independently of the common means;\nat least one fluid passage connecting the ports of the cylinder block in the 1 st hydraulic drive unit to the ports of the cylinder block in the 3 rd hydraulic drive unit,\nthe method comprising:\nproviding a 2 nd hydraulic piston drive unit comprising:\na cylinder block with ports,\npistons within the cylinders in the cylinder block, and\na drive shaft mounted to the housing;\ncoupling the drive shaft of the 2 nd hydraulic piston drive unit to the drive shaft of the 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit; and\nemploying the common means to simultaneously adjust displacement of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units.\n\n21. A method of reducing the amplitude of pressure pulsations associated with increasing the output from a 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit in a hydrostatic assembly comprising:\nincreasing the output from the 1 st hydraulic drive unit according to the method of claim 19; and\ncoupling the drive shafts of the 1 st and 2 nd hydraulic piston drive units such that the 1 st hydraulic piston drive unit is rotationally offset with respect to the 2 nd hydraulic piston drive."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Driving Apparatus For High-Load Linear Actuator\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAs the economic development of our society advances and people eat high-nutrition high-calorie foods more often, our average body weight increases constantly, so that medical apparatus or electric chair related manufacturers keep designing and introducing improved linear actuators for the aforementioned equipments to meet market requirements. The conventional linear actuator mainly uses driving components such as a motor together with a worm shaft and a worm wheel to drive and rotate a lead screw, while driving a telescopic pipe screwed with the lead screw and extending or retracting the telescopic pipe linearly. The foregoing components are combined to constitute a linear actuator. Since the conventional linear actuator can be used for a low-load medical apparatus, it cannot satisfy incremental product requirements of a high-load linear actuator if safe load and lifespan are taken into consideration. Furthermore, a linear actuator applied to a high-load equipment has a telescopic pipe moving at a speed which will affect the comfort and safety of users. Therefore, the conventional linear actuator requires improvements. In view of the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed a feasible solution in accordance with the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA high-load linear actuator includes a driving mechanism, a worm shaft, a worm wheel assembly, a lead screw, a telescopic pipe and an outer pipe. The driving mechanism includes a base and a motor. The base has a supporting portion and an accommodating portion. The motor is fixed to the supporting portion. The worm shaft extends from the motor into the supporting portion. The worm wheel assembly includes a worm wheel and two bearings for supporting the worm wheel in the accommodating portion. The worm wheel is engaged with the worm shaft. The lead screw is disposed through the worm wheel and driven by the motor for rotation. The telescopic pipe slips on the lead screw to be threadedly connected therewith. The outer pipe slips on the telescopic pipe. The rotation of the lead screw drives the telescopic pipe to linearly extend or retract relative to the outer pipe."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A driving apparatus for a high-load linear actuator, comprising:\na driving mechanism, having a base and a motor rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, and the base having a supporting portion and an accommodating portion, and the supporting portion having a seat and a hollow cylinder formed and extended from the seat, and the accommodating portion having a ring body coupled to the hollow cylinder, and the motor being mounted onto the seat, wherein the accommodating portion further includes a cover plate covering the ring body at an open side of the ring body, a rear step is formed on a surface of the ring body at an internal side opposite to the open side, and a front step is formed on a side of the cover plate and at a position corresponding to the rear step;\na worm shaft, protruding from the motor and passed into the hollow cylinder;\na worm wheel assembly, having a worm wheel and two bearings for jointly supporting the worm wheel installed inside the ring body, wherein the worm wheel has a circular tooth flank engaged and transmitted with the worm shaft, a hollow axle is coupled to the circular tooth flank and one end of the hollow axle protrudes out of the cover plate after the cover plate covers the ring body, a front containing groove and a rear containing groove are formed in the circular tooth flank to surround the hollow axle at two opposite sides of the circular tooth flank respectively, the circular tooth flank has a plurality of external gear teeth to surround the front containing groove and the rear containing groove, the two bearings are embedded in the front and the rear containing grooves and sheathed on opposite ends of the hollow axle respectively, one of the two bearings is installed and contained in between the front containing groove and the front step, and the other of the two bearings is installed and contained in between the rear containing groove and the rear step;\na lead screw, an end of the lead screw penetrating through the hollow axle, another end of the lead screw screwing into a telescopic pipe, the telescopic pipe including a pipe body and a nut fixed to a distal portion of the pipe body, a plurality of embedding lumps protruded from an external periphery of the nut;\nan outer pipe sheathed onto an exterior of the pipe body and including a plurality of trenches formed in the interior surface thereof, wherein the plurality of embedding lumps are embedded into the plurality of trenches to limit the rotation of the telescopic pipe; and\na retardation transmission mechanism comprising a connector, a gripper ring, a driven bushing, a plurality of rolling needles, an intermediate ring and a torque spring, and the connector being partially inserted into the hollow axle and coupled to the worm wheel, and the gripper ring is sheathed and coupled to the connector for linking the worm wheel and the connector synchronously, and the driven bushing being passed and coupled into the gripper ring, and the rolling needles being passed and coupled between the driven bushing and the intermediate ring, and the torque spring being provided for binding the external periphery of the intermediate ring by an elastic force.\n\n2. The driving apparatus for a high-load linear actuator of claim 1, wherein the ring body and the hollow cylinder are integrally formed.\n\n3. The driving apparatus for a high-load linear actuator of claim 1, wherein the hollow axle of the worm wheel includes a plurality of internal ribs, and the connector includes a plurality of external ribs latched with the internal ribs respectively, and the gripper ring also includes a plurality of ratcheted grooves for latching the external ribs respectively.\n\n4. The driving apparatus for a high-load linear actuator of claim 1, wherein the gripper ring includes a plurality of gripper arms and a separating slot formed between any two adjacent gripper arms, and the driven bushing includes a plurality of protruding stripes extended from the external periphery of the driven bushing and a ditch formed between any two adjacent protruding stripes, and the rolling needles are contained in a space enclosed by the separating slot and the ditch, and the rolling needles are installed and enclosed by the intermediate ring.\n\n5. The driving apparatus for a high-load linear actuator of claim 1, further comprising a housing covered onto the exterior of the driving mechanism."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Thin Film Transistor Array Panel And Method Of Manufacturing The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n(a) Field The present application relates to a thin film transistor array panel and a manufacturing method thereof. (b) Description of the Related Art Displays such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, an electrophoretic display, a plasma display, and the like include multiple pairs of electric field generating electrodes and an electro-optical active layer interposed therebetween. The liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal layer as the electro-optical active layer, and the organic light emitting display includes an organic light emitting layer as the electro-optical active layer. Either one of a pair of electric field generating electrodes is generally connected to a switching element to receive an electrical signal, and the electro-optical active layer converts the electrical signal into an optical signal to display an image. The flat panel display may include a display panel having a thin film transistor. The thin film transistor array panel is patterned with multiple electrodes and semiconductors, and masks are generally used in the patterning process. The semiconductor is an important factor in determining the characteristics of the thin film transistor. The semiconductor is generally made of amorphous silicon, however the charge mobility thereof is low such that there is a limit in manufacturing a high performance thin film transistor. Further, when using polysilicon, the charge mobility is high such that manufacturing of the high performance thin film transistor is easy, however the cost is high and uniformity is low such that there is a limit in manufacturing a large-sized thin film transistor array panel. Accordingly, a thin film transistor using an oxide semiconductor having high charge mobility and a high ON/OFF ratio of current compared with amorphous silicon and having a low cost and high uniformity compared with polysilicon has been researched. A plasma pre-treatment is performed to stabilize a channel layer containing an oxide semiconductor. In this case, the channel layer is contaminated by reacting with a wiring material exposed to a surface thereof, thereby deteriorating a thin film transistor characteristic. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn exemplary embodiment provides a thin film transistor array panel including: a substrate; a gate line; a semiconductor layer; a data wire layer; a first passivation layer; and a second passivation layer. The gate line is disposed on the substrate and includes a gate electrode. The semiconductor layer is disposed on the substrate. The data wire layer is configured to include a data line disposed on the substrate to cross the gate line, a source electrode connected to the data line, and a drain electrode disposed to face the source electrode. The first passivation layer is disposed on a channel region between the source electrode and the drain electrode. The second passivation layer is disposed on the first passivation layer, the source electrode, and the drain electrode. A width of the first passivation layer disposed on the channel region is equal to or smaller than a distance between the source electrode and the drain electrode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A manufacturing method of a thin film transistor array panel, the method comprising:\nforming a gate line including a gate electrode on a substrate;\nforming a gate insulating layer on the gate line;\nforming a semiconductor material layer and a data wire material layer on the gate insulating layer;\nforming a first photosensitive film pattern on the data wire material layer, the first photosensitive film pattern including a first region and a second region having a thickness which is thicker than that of the first region;\netching the data wire material layer and the semiconductor material layer by using the first photosensitive film pattern as a mask;\nforming a second photosensitive film pattern by etching back the first photosensitive film pattern;\nforming a data wire layer including a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a data line on the semiconductor material layer by using the second photosensitive film pattern as a mask;\nforming a first passivation layer on the second photosensitive film pattern and a channel region between the source electrode and the drain electrode; and\nremoving the first passivation layer disposed on the second photosensitive film pattern by lifting off the second photosensitive film pattern.\n\n2. The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the data wire layer is internally recessed in a horizontal direction from a lower end of the second photosensitive film pattern.\n\n3. The manufacturing method of claim 2, further comprising\nperforming a plasma pre-treatment including oxygen, before the forming of the first passivation layer.\n\n4. The manufacturing method of claim 3, wherein the performing of the plasma pre-treatment including oxygen is performed in a state in which the second photosensitive film pattern covers the data wire layer.\n\n5. The manufacturing method of claim 4, wherein, in the forming of the first passivation layer, the first passivation layer is formed in a remaining portion other than a portion at which the channel region and the data wire layer are disposed.\n\n6. The manufacturing method of claim 5, further comprising\nforming a second passivation layer on the first passivation layer, the source electrode, and the drain electrode, after lifting off the second photosensitive film pattern.\n\n7. The manufacturing method of claim 6, further comprising\nforming a pixel electrode on the second passivation layer,\nwherein a contact hole is formed in the second passivation layer, and the pixel electrode and the drain electrode are electrically connected to each other through the contact hole.\n\n8. The manufacturing method of claim 4, wherein the data wire layer is formed to include a main wiring layer containing copper, and the main wiring layer is formed to come into contact with the second passivation layer.\n\n9. The manufacturing method of claim 8, wherein the semiconductor material layer is formed of an oxide semiconductor, and the first passivation layer is made of an insulating material including an oxide.\n\n10. The manufacturing method of claim 8, wherein the semiconductor material layer includes an amorphous semiconductor, and the first passivation layer is made of an insulating material including an oxide or an insulating material including a nitride."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Radiation Detector\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn the related art, it has been known a radiation detector including: a scintillator including a first end surface and a second end surface opposite to in a predetermined direction; a first photodetector that detects light emitted from the first end surface of the scintillator; a second photodetector that detects light emitted from the second surface of the scintillator; and a position specifying unit that specifies a radiation incident position on which a radiation has been incident in the scintillator, based on each result detected by the first and second photodetectors (for example, referred to WO 2012/105292 and WO 2012/093526).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA radiation detector includes: a first scintillator including a first end surface and a second end surface; a second scintillator including a first end surface and a second end surface; a first photodetector detects light emitted from the first end surface of each of the first and second scintillators; a second photodetector c detects light emitted from the second end surface of each of the first and second scintillators; and a position specifying unit configured to specify each radiation incident position on which each radiation has been incident in each of the first and second scintillators, wherein an area of the first end surface of the first scintillator is smaller than an area of the second end surface of the first scintillator, and an area of the first end surface of the second scintillator is larger than an area of the second end surface of the second scintillator."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A radiation detector comprising:\na first scintillator including a first end surface positioned on a side of a first end in a predetermined direction, and a second end surface opposite to the first end surface and positioned on a side of a second end in the predetermined direction;\na second scintillator disposed in parallel to the first scintillator in a direction intersecting the predetermined direction, and including a first end surface positioned on a side of a first end in the predetermined direction and a second end surface opposite to the first end surface and positioned on a side of a second end in the predetermined direction;\na first photodetector configured to detect light emitted from the first end surface of each of the first and second scintillators;\na second photodetector configured to detect light emitted from the second end surface of each of the first and second scintillators;\na position specifying unit configured to specify each radiation incident position on which each radiation has been incident in each of the first and second scintillators based on each result detected by the first and second photodetectors,\nwherein an area of the first end surface of the first scintillator is smaller than an area of the second end surface of the first scintillator, and\nan area of the first end surface of the second scintillator is larger than an area of the second end surface of the second scintillator; and\na third scintillator disposed in parallel between the first and second scintillators, and including a first end surface positioned on a side of a first end in the predetermined direction, and a second end surface opposite to the first end surface and positioned on a side of a second end in the predetermined direction,\nwherein the first photodetector further detects light emitted from the first end surface of the third scintillator,\nthe second photodetector further detects light emitted from the second surface of the third scintillator,\nthe position specifying unit specifies each radiation incident position on which each radiation has been incident in the first, second, and third scintillators based on each result detected by the first and second photodetectors,\nan area of the first end surface of the third scintillator is larger than the area of the first end surface of the first scintillator and is smaller than the area of the first end surface of the second scintillator, and\nan area of the second end surface of the third scintillator is smaller than the area of the second end surface of the first scintillator and is larger than the area of the second end surface of the second scintillator.\n\n2. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nwherein at least one of the first and second scintillators includes a side surface including an inclined surface inclining to a plane parallel to the predetermined direction.\n\n3. The radiation detector according to claim 2,\nwherein in a case where a sum of a first light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the first photodetector and a second light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the second photodetector is defined as a reference value, a distribution ratio regarding a ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator,\nin a case where the distribution ratio is defined as A:B when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the first scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as C:D when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the second scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as E:F when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the third scintillator, and the distribution ratio is defined as G:H when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the third scintillator, AH>F>D are satisfied.\n\n4. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nfurther comprising an optical reflector disposed between the first and second scintillators.\n\n5. The radiation detector according to claim 4,\nwherein in a case where a sum of a first light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the first photodetector and a second light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the second photodetector is defined as a reference value, a distribution ratio regarding a ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator,\nin a case where the distribution ratio is defined as A:B when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the first scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as C:D when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the second scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as E:F when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the third scintillator, and the distribution ratio is defined as G:H when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the third scintillator, AH>F>D are satisfied.\n\n6. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nwherein at least one of the first and second scintillators includes a side surface including an inclined surface inclining to a plane parallel to the predetermined direction, and\nfurther comprising an optical reflector disposed between the first and second scintillators.\n\n7. The radiation detector according to claim 6,\nwherein in a case where a sum of a first light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the first photodetector and a second light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the second photodetector is defined as a reference value, a distribution ratio regarding a ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator,\nin a case where the distribution ratio is defined as A:B when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the first scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as C:D when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the second scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as E:F when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the third scintillator, and the distribution ratio is defined as G:H when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the third scintillator, AH>F>D are satisfied.\n\n8. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nwherein in a case where a sum of a first light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the first photodetector and a second light quantity of the amount of the light incident on the second photodetector is defined as a reference value, a distribution ratio regarding a ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the first scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the second scintillator,\nthe distribution ratio regarding the ratio between the first light quantity and the second light quantity mutually differs between when an emission occurs at a first end portion on the side of the first end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator and when an emission occurs at a second end portion on the side of the second end in the predetermined direction in the third scintillator,\nin a case where the distribution ratio is defined as A:B when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the first scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as C:D when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the second scintillator, the distribution ratio is defined as E:F when the emission occurs at the first end portion of the third scintillator, and the distribution ratio is defined as G:H when the emission occurs at the second end portion of the third scintillator, AH>F>D are satisfied."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Panel With Connector And Secured Protective Cover\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nElectrical connectors are commonly secured to a housing, such as by securing to a panel of the housing. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 and particularly FIG. 3 , a housing panel 10 may have an opening through which the connector 12 extends, with the connector having a flange 14 (which can be a nut) abutting one side of the panel opening and a nut 16 secured to an outer thread 18 on the connector 12 and abutting the other side of the panel opening. During normal operation, the connector 12 would be connected to a mating connector terminal. However, during a typical life of such a connector 12 , the connector 12 will be periodically disconnected from the mating terminal, for example during service or when a change of design occurs. In order to protect the terminal portion of the connector 12 when it is disconnected and therefore exposed, a protective dust cap 20 has heretofore been placed over the exposed connector terminal end, with the cap 20 secured thereon by screwing its internal thread 22 onto the connector outer thread 18 . in order to ensure that such a protective cap 20 is available at all times when needed, in some instances the cap 20 has been secured to a lanyard 24 which is also secured to a ring 26 (see FIGS. 2 and 4 ) which is secured over the connector 12 , for example between the nut 16 and the front face of the flange 14 . Thus, cap 20 is secured in the location even when not being used (e.g., when the connector 12 is connected to the mating terminal) so that it can readily be secured over the connector terminal end when the connector 12 is disconnected, for example, during service. Such connectors 12 typically have just enough outer threads 18 to allow the ring 26 to be so mounted. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 4 , when the ring 26 is used, the portion of the outer thread 18 extending beyond the nut 16 of many connectors already in service is just enough to securely retain the cap 20 thereon. In many such installations, it is also necessary to ensure that the connector 12 will remain securely in place, without the nut 16 loosening. In order to ensure this, safety wires have been used. Such safety wires have been, for example, stainless steel wires which are on one end secured to the nut 16 and on the other end are secured to some structure to prevent rotation of the nut 16 . For example, the stainless steel wire is typically threaded through a hole in the nut 26 on its one end, and then looped and twisted around itself to close a loop. The wire other end has been secured to the panel or structure attached to the panel, or even threaded through the panel opening and secured to the flange or nut on the other side of the panel 10 . Installation of such safety wires is difficult and time consuming. For example, after it is installed, a second installer must inspect the installation to ensure, for example, that the wire is properly installed, including the proper number of twists per inch, installed in the proper direction (opposite of thread direction), and has no nicks on the wire which could cause breakage. Further, the ends of the wire are also supposed to be cut and twisted toward the panel, which can be difficult if not impossible in crowded blind areas which are difficult to access. Moreover, such cuts and twists put stress on the wire which can result in breakage, Still further, even when properly installed the wire cuts result in very sharp points on which the installer can cut himself and leave blood in the area, can snag on protective clothing and endanger workers requiring such clothing, cause mechanical problems such as jamming, and/or cause electrical shorting. As a result of such problems, most military applications will no longer allow such safety wires. The present improvement is intended to overcome such problems.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA connector secured to a panel and connectable to a circuit terminal. The connector extends through a panel opening with a flange abutting the panel rear and a front portion with a connecting terminal projecting from the panel front. A lock washer around the connector front portion includes a planar washer body and integral lock tabs radially outward of its central aperture. A securing tab extends radially from the washer body and is bent away from the panel front face. A nut is secured to the connector outer thread over the lock washer. A protective cover is selectively securable over the connector front portion by threading on the connector outer thread, and a lanyard secures the protective cover to the lock washer securing tab."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A connector secured to a panel and connectable to a circuit terminal, comprising:\na panel having a front face and a rear face, said panel having an opening therethrough;\na connector extending through said panel opening with a flange abutting the panel rear face and a front portion projecting from said panel front face, said connector front portion having\nan outer thread, and\nat least one connecting terminal exposed at a front end and adapted to connect to the circuit terminal;\na lock washer around said connector front portion adjacent said panel front face, said lock washer including\na planar washer body formed of a sheet of resilient metal with a central aperture and a selected thickness between top and bottom surfaces,\nfirst and second lock tabs integral with said body radially outward of said central aperture, and\na securing tab extending radially from the washer body and bent from the plane of the body away from said panel front face;\na nut secured to said connector outer thread with said lock washer between said nut and said panel front face;\na protective cover selectively securable over said connector front portion by threading on said connector outer thread; and\na lanyard securing said protective cover to said lock washer securing tab.\n\n2. The connector of claim 1, wherein said nut has a maximum outer radius R MAX and said securing tab is bent at a radius greater than R MAX.\n\n3. The connector of claim 1, wherein said lock washer includes:\na radially inward facing, straight, free edge transverse to a radius of said body; and\na spring bend biasing said tab to a displaced position in which the tab is bent to one side of the plane of said body to provide a selected spring force adapted to allow the lock tabs to be pushed down to a coplanar position with the washer body.\n\n4. The connector of claim 1, wherein said lock tabs and free edge are defined by notches."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Fabricating Semiconductor Package\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nTechnical Field The present invention relates to a method for fabricating semiconductor packages. Description of Related Art Semiconductor industries continue to improve the integration density of various electronic components (e.g., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.) by continually reducing minimum feature size, which allows more components to be integrated into a given area. These smaller electronic components require smaller packages that utilize less area than packages of the past, in some applications. Wafer level package (WLP) technique is an advanced packaging technology, by which a die is manufactured and tested on a wafer, and then the wafer is singulated by dicing for assembly in a surface-mount line. Because the WLP technique utilizes the whole wafer as one object, not utilizing a single chip or die, therefore, before performing a scribing process, packaging and testing has been accomplished; furthermore, WLP is such an advanced technique so that the process of wire bonding, die mounting and under-filling can be omitted. By utilizing WLP techniques, the cost and manufacturing time can be reduced, and the resulting structure of WLP can be equal to the die; therefore, this technique can meet the demands of miniaturization of electronic devices. Though the advantages of WLP technique mentioned above, some issues still exist influencing the acceptance of WLP technique. For instance, one type of WLP technique that has been recently developed is Integrated Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (InFO-WLP), in which the coefficient of thermal expansion CTE difference (mismatching) between the materials of a structure of WLP and the mother board becomes another critical factor to the mechanical instability of the structure. Another type of WLP technique is chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS), in which the wafer may be too thin to handle in the packaging process, and a temporary bonding process is needed, which brings additional problems such as residue adhesives or extra cost and manufacturing time.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for fabricating a semiconductor package, the method includes forming at least one conductive via having a first end and a second end opposite the first end in a wafer, in which the wafer has a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and the first end of the conductive via is exposed of the first surface of the wafer; grinding the second surface of the wafer to form an inner portion and a ring portion surrounding the inner portion of the wafer, wherein the inner portion has a thinner thickness than that of the ring portion; and etching the inner portion to expose the second end of the conductive via."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for fabricating a semiconductor package, comprising:\nforming at least one conductive via in a wafer, wherein the wafer comprises a silicon substrate, a top silicon layer, and a buried dielectric layer disposed between the silicon substrate and the top silicon layer, wherein the top silicon layer is in contact with the buried dielectric layer, and the at least one conductive via extends through the top silicon layer and the buried dielectric layer;\ngrinding a surface of the silicon substrate of the wafer opposite the buried dielectric layer to form an inner portion and a ring portion surrounding the inner portion of the wafer, wherein the inner portion has a thinner thickness than a thickness of the ring portion; and\netching the inner portion to expose an end of the at least one conductive via.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one conductive via further extends to a portion of the silicon substrate before the grinding.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein the etching the inner portion comprises:\netching a remaining portion of the silicon substrate, wherein the buried dielectric layer is an etch stop layer.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the buried dielectric layer is made of silicon dioxide.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one conductive via comprises a conductive column and an insulation layer surrounding the conductive column, wherein the method further comprises:\netching the insulation layer of the at least one conductive via after the etching the inner portion.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, wherein the insulation layer of the at least one conductive via has a thinner thickness than a thickness of the buried dielectric layer of the wafer.\n\n7. The method of claim 5, wherein the insulation layer and the buried dielectric layer are both made of silicon dioxide.\n\n8. The method of claim 5, wherein the etching the inner portion of the wafer and the etching the insulation layer of the at least one conductive via are performed by wet etching.\n\n9. The method of claim 5, wherein the etching the inner portion of the wafer is performed with a first etch solution, and the etching the insulation layer of the at least one conductive via is performed with a second etch solution, and the first etch solution is different from the second etch solution.\n\n10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nforming a patterned metal layer on a surface of the top silicon layer opposite the buried dielectric layer, wherein the patterned metal layer is electrically connected to the at least one conductive via.\n\n11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nforming a solder bump on a surface of the top silicon layer opposite the buried dielectric layer, wherein the solder bump is electrically connected to the at least one conductive via.\n\n12. The method of claim 11, wherein the ground surface of the silicon substrate is etched in the etching the inner portion, and the method further comprises:\nforming at least one solder ball on an etched surface of the inner portion, wherein the solder ball is electrically connected to the at least one conductive via.\n\n13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:\nbonding at least one package component with the surface of the top silicon layer, wherein the package component is electrically connected to the at least one conductive via through the solder bump.\n\n14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:\nremoving the ring portion from the wafer; and\nchipping the wafer into a plurality of micro-devices, wherein each of the micro-devices comprises the package component and the solder ball.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:\nbonding at least one of the micro-devices and a substrate through the solder ball.\n\n16. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one conductive via is disposed in the inner portion of the wafer.\n\n17. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one conductive via is made by laser drilling, etching, deposition, or combinations thereof.\n\n18. The method of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the inner portion is in a range from 30 micrometers to 200 micrometers, and the thickness of the ring portion is in a range from 300 micrometers to 800 micrometers.\n\n19. The method of claim 1, wherein the wafer is a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Efficient Optical Signal Amplification Systems And Methods\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nLong-haul optical communication systems, e.g., optical communication systems spanning a distance of greater than about 600 kilometers, suffer from signal attenuation resulting from a variety of factors, including scattering, absorption, and bending. To compensate for attenuation, long-haul systems may include a series of optical amplifiers or \u201crepeaters\u201d spaced along the transmission path between a transmitter and a receiver. The amplifiers amplify the optical signal in a manner allowing reliable detection at the receiver. Usually, multiple repeaters are positioned along a single fiber optic transmission link, with numbers reaching more than a hundred per link in submarine systems. Power efficiency of repeaters, particularly those used in submarine applications, is quite important. For terrestrial systems, increasing efficiency is crucial for reducing amplifier size and cost, including material and operating costs. For submarine systems increasing efficiency is important to minimize the cost of labor of installing multiple repeaters in remote, difficult to reach, locations and in supplying energy to the repeaters in such locations. Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) have proven particularly useful in long-haul systems. EDFAs include C-band EDFAs and L-band EDFAs which are used to amplify different optical bands, denoted as C-band and L-band. C-band usually includes wavelengths from 1530 nanometers (nm) to 1565 nm and L-band usually includes wavelengths from 1565 nm to 1625 nm. Both C-band and L-band features the lowest attenuation of commonly used optical transmission bands, the exact wavelength of the lowest attenuation depends on fiber design and can be in either C or L band. EDFAs may amplify only C-band signals (referred to as a \u201cC-band EDFA\u201d), only L-band signals (referred to as an \u201cL-band EDFA\u201d) or both C-band and L-band signals (referred to as a \u201cC+L EDFA\u201d). Generally, each EDFA includes nearly independent C-band and L-band amplification portions\u2014i.e., the amplifier is a combination of two EDFAs: one C-band EDFA and one L-band EDFA, with economies taken in the form of shared components within the C+L EDFA. In a C+L EDFA, the input optical signal is usually split between C-band and L-band using a device such as a C+L demultiplexer or splitter. The C-band and L-band signals are independently amplified and recombined using a C+L multiplexer or combiner. Physically, the splitter and the combiner may be similar devices and the name simply denotes the functionality assigned to the device. Usually, an EDFA is used to produce gain having a particular spectral shape over the signal wavelength band\u2014i.e., over the amplification band or range of the device. The spectral shape is usually \u201cflat\u201d inasmuch as the amplification across the wavelength band of the device is either similar or varies linearly with the signal wavelength. The exact amplification shape may be achieved through the use of a Gain Flattening Filter (GFF). Several types of GFF exist. One type of GFF uses Short Period Fiber Bragg Grating (SP-FBG) that is able to provide very accurate shaping of the optical signal over the amplification band. Such accuracy is advantageous in long links that characterize submarine communication systems where the number of repeaters is large and errors in the EDFA gain shapes are undesirable. One feature of SP-FBG filters is that the filtering function is performed by redirecting unneeded light, including both signal and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise in the backward direction\u2014i.e., in a direction opposite the direction of propagation of the optical signal. Usually, the back propagated light is undesirable for the upstream EDFAs and is blocked using an isolator positioned before the SP-FBG filter. There is therefore a need for systems and methods of reducing the power demand presented by amplifiers along difficult to access optical transmission lines such as submarine transmission lines. There is also a need for systems and methods of beneficially recovering the energy present in the optical signals reflected by filters such as SP-FBG filters, particularly along difficult to access optical transmission lines such as submarine transmission lines.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn optical communication amplification system may include a number of amplification stages for an optical signal that includes a first optical wavelength band signal portion and a second optical wavelength band signal portion. Each amplification stage may separate the first optical wavelength band signal portion from the second optical wavelength band signal portion. The separated first optical wavelength band signal portion is amplified using one or more first optical wavelength band amplifiers and the separated second optical wavelength band signal portion are amplified using one or more second optical wavelength band amplifiers. The amplified first optical wavelength band signal portion is filtered and a reflected portion of the first optical wavelength band signal portion may be used to provide energy to the one or more second optical wavelength band amplifiers to increase the power or gain of the separated second optical wavelength band signal portion."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An optical communication amplification system, comprising:\nan optical splitter to separate an optical signal into at least a first optical wavelength band signal portion and the second optical wavelength band signal portion;\na first optical amplifier operably coupled to the optical splitter, the first optical amplifier to increase the energy of the second optical wavelength band signal portion;\nan optical combiner that combines the first optical wavelength band signal portion and the amplified second optical wavelength band signal portion; and\nan optical filter operably coupled to the optical combiner, wherein a portion of the energy of the first optical wavelength band signal portion reflected from the optical filter is received by the first optical amplifier where the received energy increases the energy of the second optical wavelength band signal portion.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:\na second optical amplifier that receives the optical signal and increases the energy of at least the first optical wavelength band signal portion of the received optical signal.\n\n3. The system of claim 2, further comprising:\na first optical isolator operably coupled to an input of the second optical amplifier that increases the energy of at least the first optical wavelength band signal portion of the received optical signal.\n\n4. The system of claim 2 wherein the second optical amplifier that increases the energy of at least the first optical wavelength band signal portion of the received optical signal comprises a C-band/L-band erbium doped fiber amplifier (C/L-EDFA).\n\n5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:\na second optical amplifier disposed subsequent to the optical splitter to receive the first optical wavelength band signal portion and increase an energy level of the first optical wavelength band signal portion.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:\nan optical circulator having a first port operably coupled to the optical combiner, a second port operably coupled to the optical filter, and a third port operably coupled to the first optical amplifier such that at least a portion of the energy of the reflected first optical wavelength band signal portion reflected from the optical filter is provided to the first optical amplifier.\n\n7. The system of claim 1 wherein energy of the second optical wavelength band signal portion reflected from the optical filter is provided to the optical splitter.\n\n8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:\nan optical isolator operably coupled to the first optical amplifier that increases the energy of the second optical wavelength band signal portion.\n\n9. The system of claim 1:\nwherein the first optical wavelength band signal portion comprises a C-band;\nwherein the second optical wavelength band signal portion comprises an L-band; and\nwherein the optical amplifier that increases the energy of the second optical wavelength band signal portion comprises a C-band/L-band erbium doped fiber amplifier (C/L-EDFA).\n\n10. The system of claim 9 wherein the optical splitter comprises a three-port C-band/L-band optical de-multiplexer that transmits the C-band wavelength signal portion and reflects the L-band wavelength signal portion.\n\n11. The system of claim 10 wherein the optical combiner comprises a four-port C-band/L-band optical multiplexer that reflects the C-band wavelength signal portion and transmits the L-band wavelength signal portion.\n\n12. The system of claim 9 wherein the optical filter comprises a gain flattening filter (GFF).\n\n13. The system of claim 12 wherein the GFF comprises a Short Period Fiber Bragg Grating GFF.\n\n14. An optical communication amplification method, comprising:\nsplitting an optical signal into a first optical wavelength band signal portion and a second optical wavelength band signal portion;\namplifying, via a first optical amplifier, the second optical wavelength band signal portion of the optical signal;\ncombining the first optical wavelength band signal portion and the amplified second optical wavelength band signal portion to provide an amplified optical signal;\nfiltering, via at least one optical filter, the amplified optical signal;\nreceiving, by the optical amplifier, at least a portion of the first optical wavelength band signal portion reflected by the at least one optical filter; and\nincreasing the energy of the first optical amplifier using energy in the reflected portion of the first optical wavelength band signal portion.\n\n15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:\namplifying, via a second-optical amplifier, at least the first optical wavelength band signal portion of the optical signal prior to splitting the optical signal into the first optical wavelength band signal portion and the second optical wavelength band signal portion.\n\n16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:\namplifying, via a second optical amplifier, at least the first optical wavelength band signal portion of the optical signal subsequent to splitting the optical signal into the first optical wavelength band signal portion and the second optical wavelength band signal portion.\n\n17. The method of claim 14 wherein splitting an optical signal into a first optical wavelength band signal portion and a second optical wavelength band signal portion comprises:\nsplitting the optical signal into a C-band signal portion and an L-band portion signal using a three-port, C-band/L-band, wavelength division demultiplexer.\n\n18. The method of claim 17 wherein amplifying, via a first optical amplifier, the second optical wavelength band signal portion of the optical signal comprises:\namplifying the L-band signal portion of the optical signal using an L-band erbium doped fiber amplifier (L-EDFA).\n\n19. The method of claim 18 wherein combining the first optical wavelength band signal and the amplified second optical wavelength band signal to provide an amplified combined optical signal comprises:\ncombining the C-band signal portion and the amplified L-band signal portion to provide an amplified optical signal using a four-port, C-band/L-band, wavelength division multiplexer.\n\n20. The method of claim 19 wherein filtering, via at least one optical filter, the amplified optical signal comprises:\nfiltering, via at least one Gain Flattening Filter (GFF), the amplified optical signal.\n\n21. The method of claim 20 wherein filtering, via at least one Gain Flattening Filter (GFF), the amplified optical signal comprises:\nfiltering, via at least one Short Period Fiber Bragg Grating, the amplified optical signal.\n\n22. The method of claim 20 wherein reflecting at least a portion of the first optical wavelength band signal portion of the amplified optical signal from the at least one optical filter comprises:\nreflecting at least a portion of the C-band signal portion of the amplified optical signal from the at least one GFF.\n\n23. The method of claim 19 wherein increasing the energy of the first optical amplifier using energy in the reflected portion of the first optical wavelength band signal portion reflected by the at least one optical filter comprises:\nincreasing the energy of the L-EDFA using energy in the reflected portion of the C-band signal portion reflected by the at least one GFF.\n\n24. An optical communication amplification method, comprising:\namplifying, by an input optical amplifier, an optical signal that includes at least a first optical wavelength band signal portion and a second optical wavelength band signal portion;\npassing the amplified optical signal through at least one optical filter;\nreceiving, at the first optical amplifier, at least a portion of energy in the first optical wavelength band signal portion reflected by the at least one optical filter; and\nincreasing the energy of the first optical amplifier used to increase the energy level of the second optical wavelength signal portion using the reflected energy in the first optical wavelength signal portion.\n\n25. The method of claim 24 wherein amplifying an optical signal that includes at least a first optical wavelength band signal portion and a second optical wavelength band signal portion comprises:\namplifying, via an erbium doped fiber amplifier, the optical signal that includes at least a C-band signal portion and an L-band signal portion.\n\n26. The method of claim 25 wherein increasing the energy of the first optical amplifier used to increase the energy level of the second optical wavelength band signal portion using the reflected energy in the first optical wavelength band signal portion comprises:\nincreasing the energy of an erbium doped fiber amplifier used to increase the energy level of the L-band signal portion using the reflected energy in the C-band signal portion."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Integrated Circuit, Electronic Device And Method For Transmitting Data In Electronic Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to guard traces of a printed circuit board (PCB) in an electronic device arranged by a chip on the PCB. 2. Description of the Related Art In electronic devices, printed circuit boards (PCBs) are used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, conductive traces (e.g. signal traces or ground traces) etched from metal sheets laminated onto a non-conductive core substrate. In recent years, an increased amount of input/output (I/O) connections for multi-functional or memory chips is required for a semiconductor chip package design. The impact of this will be pressure on printed circuit board (PCB) fabricators to minimize the width and the space of the conductive traces, or increase the number of layers on the PCB. The conductive traces used to transmit the signals corresponding to the same function need to be arranged and configured in the same manner on the PCB. For example, the conductive traces used to transmit the address/data bus of a memory need to be arranged and configured in parallel, and the spaces between the conductive traces are also small. However, the adjacent conductive traces on the PCB can result in a crosstalk problem, especially in high signal speed applications. Thus, the crosstalk problem can detrimentally affect the quality of a signal traveling on a conductive trace, thereby affecting the signal reception of the electronic component supported by the PCB. Therefore, it is desirable to optimize the arrangement of the conductive traces for avoiding the crosstalk problem on a PCB of an electronic device.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn integrated circuit is provided. The integrated circuit includes a control circuitry, a plurality of pins, and a plurality of driving units coupled to the pins. The control circuitry provides a plurality of control signals according to data to be transmitted. The pins are coupled to a device via a plurality of conductive traces of a printed circuit board (PCB). The control signals control each of the driving units to selectively provide the data or one specific shielding pattern via the corresponding pin and the corresponding conductive trace of PCB to the device."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An integrated circuit, comprising:\na control circuitry, providing a plurality of control signals according to data to be transmitted from the integrated circuit to a device;\na plurality of pins, wherein the pins are coupled to the device via a plurality of conductive traces of a printed circuit board (PCB); and\na plurality of driving units coupled to the pins, wherein the control signals control each of the driving units to selectively provide the data or a shielding pattern to the device via the corresponding pin and the corresponding conductive trace of PCB,\nwherein in a normal mode, the control signals control the driving units to output the data via the corresponding pins according to a first transmission rate, and each of the conductive traces of the PCB is a signal trace, and\nwherein in a high-speed mode, the control signals control a portion of the driving units to output the data via the pins corresponding to the portion of the driving units according to a second transmission rate that is higher than the first transmission rate, and the control signals control an other portion of the driving units to output the shielding pattern via the pins corresponding to the other portion of the driving units.\n\n2. The integrated circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the high-speed mode, each of the conductive traces of the PCB coupled to the pins corresponding to the portion of the driving units is a signal trace, and each of the conductive traces of the PCB coupled to the pins corresponding to the other portion of the driving units is a guard trace.\n\n3. The integrated circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the guard traces are separated by the signal traces.\n\n4. The integrated circuit as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of the guard traces is surrounded by the signal traces.\n\n5. The integrated circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second transmission rate is twice the first transmission rate.\n\n6. The integrated circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shielding pattern is formed by a ground signal, a power signal or a random signal.\n\n7. The integrated circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of pins corresponding to the other portion of the driving units is less than the number of pins corresponding to the portion of the driving units.\n\n8. An electronic device, comprising:\na printed circuit board (PCB), comprising a plurality of conductive traces;\na first chip mounted on the PCB; and\na second chip mounted on the PCB;\nwherein the first chip comprises:\na plurality of pins coupled to the second chip via the conductive traces of the PCB;\na control circuitry, providing a plurality of control signals according to data to be transmitted from the first chip to the second chip; and\na plurality of driving units coupled to the pins, wherein the control signals control each of the driving units to selectively provide the data or a shielding pattern to the second chip via the corresponding pin and the corresponding conductive trace of PCB,\nwherein in a normal mode, the control signals control the driving units to provide the data to the second chip via the corresponding pins according to a first transmission rate, and each of the conductive traces of the PCB is a signal trace, and\nwherein in a high-speed mode, the control signals control a portion of the driving units to provide the data to the second chip via the pins corresponding to the portion of the driving units according to a second transmission rate that is higher than the first transmission rate, and the control signals control an other portion of the driving units to provide the shielding pattern via the pins corresponding to the other portion of the driving units.\n\n9. The electronic device as claimed in claim 8, wherein in the high-speed mode, each of the conductive traces corresponding to the portion of the driving units is a signal trace and each of the conductive traces corresponding to the other portion of the driving units is a guard trace, and the guard traces are separated by the signal traces on the PCB.\n\n10. The electronic device as claimed in claim 9, wherein each of the guard traces is surrounded by the signal traces.\n\n11. The electronic device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second transmission rate is twice the first transmission rate.\n\n12. The electronic device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the shielding pattern is formed by a ground signal, a power signal or a random signal.\n\n13. The electronic device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the number of guard traces is less than the number of signal traces in the high-speed mode.\n\n14. The electronic device as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of the driving units comprises:\na PMOS transistor coupled between a power supply and the corresponding pin; and\nan NMOS transistor coupled between the corresponding pin and a ground.\n\n15. The electronic device as claimed in claim 9, wherein in the high-speed mode, the control signals control the portion of the driving units to provide the data to the second chip via the signal traces according to the second transmission rate, and the control signals control the other portion of the driving units to provide the shielding pattern to the second chip via the guard traces.\n\n16. The electronic device as claimed in claim 8, wherein no shielding line is fixedly routed and inserted into the conductive traces on the PCB.\n\n17. A method for transmitting data from a first chip to a second chip via a plurality of conductive traces of a printed circuit board (PCB) in an electronic device, wherein the first chip and the second chip are mounted on the PCB, comprising:\nproviding a plurality of control signals according to the data to be transmitted to the second chip, by the first chip;\ncontrolling a plurality of driving units to selectively provide the data or at least one specific shielding pattern to the second chip via the corresponding conductive trace of the PCB, by the first chip;\nin a normal mode, in response to the control signals, controlling each of the driving units of the first chip to output the data via the conductive traces of the PCB according to a first transmission rate; and\nin a high-speed mode:\ndividing the driving units of the first chip into a plurality of first driving units and a plurality of second driving units according to the control signals;\ncontrolling the first driving units to output the data via a plurality of signal traces among the conductive traces of the PCB according to a second transmission rate, wherein the second transmission rate is higher than the first transmission rate; and\ncontrolling the second driving units to output the at least one shielding pattern via a plurality of guard traces among the conductive traces of the PCB, wherein each of the guard traces is surrounded by the signal traces on the PCB.\n\n18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the guard traces are separated by the signal traces on the PCB.\n\n19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the at least one shielding pattern is formed by a ground signal, a power signal or a random signal.\n\n20. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the number of guard traces is less than the number of signal traces in the high-speed mode.\n\n21. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein no shielding line is fixedly routed and inserted into the conductive traces on the PCB.\n\n22. An integrated circuit (IC), comprising:\ncontrol circuitry configured to provide a plurality of control signals based on data to be transmitted from the IC to a second IC; and\na plurality of driving units configured to provide, based on the control signals, the data to the second IC via a plurality of conductive traces of a substrate,\nwherein in a first mode, the plurality of driving units are configured to provide the data to the second IC via the plurality of conductive traces of the substrate, and\nwherein in a second mode, (i) a first subset of the plurality of driving units is configured to provide the data to the second IC via a corresponding first subset of the plurality of conductive traces of the substrate, and (ii) a second subset of the plurality of driving units is configured to provide at least one shielding voltage to a corresponding second subset of the plurality of conductive traces of the substrate.\n\n23. The IC of claim 22, wherein in the first mode, the plurality of driving units provide the data at a first transmission rate, and each of the plurality of conductive traces is a signal trace.\n\n24. The IC of claim 23, wherein in the second mode, the first subset of the driving units provide the data at a second transmission rate that is higher than the first transmission rate.\n\n25. The IC of claim 22, wherein in the second mode, each of the first subset of the conductive traces corresponding to the first subset of the driving units is a signal trace, and each of the second subset of the conductive traces corresponding to the second subset of the driving units is a guard trace.\n\n26. An electronic device, comprising:\na first chip; and\na second chip,\nwherein the first chip comprises:\ncontrol circuitry configured to provide a plurality of control signals based on data to be transmitted from the first chip to the second chip; and\na plurality of driving units configured to provide, based on the control signals, the data to the second chip via a plurality of conductive traces of a substrate,\nwherein in a first mode, the plurality of driving units are configured to provide the data to the second chip via the plurality of conductive traces of the substrate, and\nwherein in a second mode, (i) a first subset of the plurality of driving units is configured to provide the data to the second chip via a corresponding first subset of the plurality of conductive traces of the substrate, and (ii) a second subset of the plurality of driving units is configured to provide at least one shielding voltage via a corresponding second subset of the plurality of conductive traces of the substrate."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Disc Brake\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nBraking systems of heavy trucks generally use air under pressure as the operating medium. Typically, large air actuators have a mechanical output which applies brake pads to the brake rotor via a lever mechanism. The lever mechanism includes an operating shaft pivotable about two bearing surfaces on a common axis to urge one or more pistons against a brake pad via a cam surface. The shaft has a lever arm acted upon by the air actuator, and may include another generally shorter arm to actuate a wear adjuster mechanism. For larger brake pads, twin pistons are provided to optimize pressure distribution on the brake pad backplate. A known braking mechanism of this type is shown in document WO2004/074705 (Knorr-Bremse). For lighter duty applications (e.g., lighter trucks or trailers of tractor\u2014trailer units) with smaller brake pads a single piston is sufficient, but nevertheless two bearings are provided. This arrangement adds to the cost and weight of the brake, complexity of machining the bearing surfaces, and also results in problems in packaging the components within the smaller brake envelope, because space at the inboard (with respect to the vehicle on which the brake is fitted) side of the brake rotor is limited. An example of a brake of this type is EP0730107 (Perrot Bremsen). The present applicant in EP1852627 B1 proposed a solution to this problem. However, the actuation mechanism disclosed therein retains a relatively complex wear adjuster mechanism, cover plate, carrier and pad construction. Brake pads represent heavy and relatively costly parts of a disc brake. The present invention seeks to overcome or at least mitigate the problems associated with the prior art.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA disc brake and a brake pad assembly. The brake pad assembly may have a brake pad and a retainer clip. The brake pad may have a volume of friction material that may include a friction face, a support face, first and second circumferential end faces. The retainer clip may be arranged to engage a bearing surface of the brake pad."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A brake pad assembly for a disc brake, the brake pad assembly comprising:\na retainer clip; and\na brake pad that includes:\na volume of friction material, the friction material defining a bearing surface;\na friction face of the friction material that contacts a brake rotor in use;\na support face disposed opposite the friction face, a distance between the friction face and the support face defining a first depth; and\nfirst and second circumferential end faces arranged to extend from the friction face towards the support face;\nwherein the bearing surface is spaced from the support face at a second depth that is less than the first depth and is generally coplanar therewith, and the retainer clip engages the bearing surface and is engageable in a complementary formation associated with a complementary support of the disc brake so as to hold the brake pad against the complementary support.\n\n2. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the retainer clip comprises prongs extending in a radially inward direction for engaging the bearing surface and the complementary formation associated with the complementary support of the disc brake.\n\n3. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the friction material forming the bearing surface is strengthened.\n\n4. The brake pad assembly of claim 3 wherein the friction material proximate the bearing surface is also strengthened.\n\n5. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the entire brake pad is formed from friction material.\n\n6. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the bearing surface extends more than half a height of at least one of the first and second circumferential end faces.\n\n7. The brake pad assembly of claim 6 wherein the bearing surface extends substantially a whole height of at least one of the first and second circumferential end faces.\n\n8. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the second depth is less than or equal to 30% of the first depth.\n\n9. The brake pad assembly of claim 8 wherein the second depth is less than or equal to 25% of the first depth.\n\n10. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the support face is non-planar.\n\n11. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the retainer clip comprises a first prong to engage the bearing surface.\n\n12. The brake pad assembly of claim 11 wherein the retainer clip further comprises a second prong to be engageable with the complementary support.\n\n13. The brake pad assembly according to claim 12, wherein the first and second prongs have a substantially parallel spaced relationship when fitted to the brake pad and the complementary support.\n\n14. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the retainer clip further comprises a leaf spring portion to bias the brake pad in a radially inward direction within a caliper in use.\n\n15. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the retainer clip is formed with a second clip positioned so as to engage a second bearing surface remote from the bearing surface.\n\n16. The brake pad assembly of claim 1 wherein the bearing surface is a tongue extending from one of the first and second circumferential end faces.\n\n17. A disc brake comprising:\na caliper having a bridge portion that extends over a brake rotor and a complementary support, wherein the complementary support is either disposed on the bridge portion or is a spreader plate arranged to transmit force from an actuating mechanism of the disc brake;\na brake pad assembly that has a retainer clip and a brake pad, the brake pad including:\na volume of friction material, the friction material defining a bearing surface;\na friction face of the friction material that contacts the brake rotor in use;\na support face disposed opposite the friction face, a distance between the friction face and the support face defining a first depth; and\nfirst and second circumferential end faces arranged to extend from the friction face towards the support face;\nwherein the bearing surface is spaced from the support face at a second depth that is less than the first depth and being generally coplanar therewith, and the retainer clip engages the bearing surface and is engageable in a complementary formation associated with the complementary support of the disc brake so as to hold the brake pad against the complementary support.\n\n18. The disc brake of claim 17 wherein the retainer clip is arranged to hold the brake pad against the complementary support such that, during a braking operation, there is substantially no relative movement between the complementary support and the brake pad.\n\n19. The disc brake of claim 17 wherein the retainer clip comprises prongs extending in a radially inward direction that engage the bearing surface and the complementary formation associated with the complementary support of the disc brake."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method For Manufacturing A Substrate For Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectography\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nSurface-enhanced Raman spectography (SERS) is one of the most promising detection techniques for identifying and characterising molecules. This technique consists in depositing the molecules of interest on a substrate that has a rough metal surface. The metal surface whereon the molecules of interest are fixed is then illuminated by a monochromatic light. The molecules then emit a Raman signal characteristic of these molecules, which makes them able to be detected and identified. However the Raman signal emitted by the molecules has an intensity that is much less than the intensity of the monochromatic light with which the molecules were illuminated. In order to overcome this problem, it has been observed that the roughness of the metal surface of the substrate that carries the molecules of interest makes it possible to enhance the Raman signal emitted by the molecules of interest thanks to the excitation of localised plasmons of the metal (enhancement via electromagnetic effect) and by transfer of charges between the metal and the molecule adsorbed (chemical effect). This enhancement makes it possible as such to specifically detect adsorbed samples with extremely low concentrations and/or over very short periods of time. This enhancement can be accomplished thanks to \u201chot spots\u201d. These hot spots are zones of the substrate where the electromagnetic field is localised and intense. For this, hot spots generally have dimensions that are less than the wavelength of the monochromatic light. Prior art as such knows methods that make it possible to carry out hot spots on the surface of a substrate. These hot spots can be formed by cavities or by point effects. As such, the document Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 063106 2010, Nanoletters, 9, 4505, 2009 describes hot spots formed by points. The document Nano Lett. 11, 2538, 2011; J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 27, 2640 (2009) describes hot spots formed by cavities. However, the methods for forming hot spots of prior art use structuring technologies that can reach very high spatial resolutions and they are therefore complex and very expensive. Furthermore, they do not generally make it possible to produce substrates that have a high density of hot spots, in such a way that the increase in the light intensity emitted by the molecules of interest is limited.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method for manufacturing a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectography, includes creating a supporting structure including microstructured pattern including a top and sidewalls; depositing a multilayer on the supporting structure with the multilayer including two metal layers and an intermediate layer arranged between the two metal layers, with the intermediate layer being carried out in a material that can be selectively etched with respect to the metal layers; etching a portion of the multilayer deposited on the top of the microstructured pattern in such a way as to expose ends each layer of the multilayer; selective etching of the ends of the intermediate layers in such a way as to form cavities between the ends of two successive metal layers."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for manufacturing a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectography, the method comprising:\ncreating a non-metal supporting structure on an upper surface of a support, with the supporting structure comprising at least one microstructured pattern, the microstructured pattern comprising a top and sidewalls, with the sidewalls extending according to a direction secant to a direction of the upper surface;\ndepositing a multilayer on the supporting structure, with the multilayer comprising at least two metal layers of the same thickness and an intermediate layer arranged between the two metal layers, with each intermediate layer being carried out in a material that can be selectively etched with respect to the at least two metal layers;\netching via chemical mechanical planarisation a portion of the multilayer deposited on the top of the microstructured pattern in such a way as to expose ends of each layer of the multilayer;\nselective etching the ends of the intermediate layers in such a way as to form cavities between the ends of two successive metal layers.\n\n2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate layer is a dielectric layer.\n\n3. The method according to claim 1, wherein each microstructured pattern has a height between 50 nm and 100 \u03bcm.\n\n4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the multilayer has a thickness less than the height of the microstructured pattern.\n\n5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the metal and intermediate layers of the multilayer are deposited according to a compliant depositing technique.\n\n6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sidewalls of the microstructured pattern extend according to a direction that forms an angle that is strictly less than 90\u00b0 with a direction normal to the upper surface of the support.\n\n7. A substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectography comprising:\na support comprising an upper surface;\na non-metal supporting structure arranged on the upper surface of the support, with the supporting structure comprising at least one microstructured pattern, the microstructured pattern comprising a top and sidewalls, with the sidewalls extending according to a direction secant to a direction of the upper surface;\na multilayer arranged on the sidewalls of the microstructured pattern, with the multilayer comprising at least two metal layers of the same thickness and an intermediate layer arranged between the two metal layers, with the intermediate layer being made from a material that can be selectively etched with respect to the metal layers, with the intermediate layer having an end that is set back with respect to the end of the metal layers that surround it in such a way that the ends of two successive metal layers form metal pins separated by a cavity.\n\n8. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein the intermediate layer is a dielectric layer.\n\n9. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein the sidewall of the microstructured pattern comprises faces separated by edges.\n\n10. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein the supporting structure comprises several microstructured patterns forming a periodic array.\n\n11. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein the multilayer comprises several intermediate layers, with the intermediate layers having thicknesses that differ from one another.\n\n12. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein each microstructured pattern has a height between 50 nm and 100 \u03bcm.\n\n13. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein each metal layer has a thickness between 1 angstrom and 50 nm.\n\n14. The substrate according to claim 13, wherein each metal layer has a thickness between 10 nm and 50 nm.\n\n15. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein each intermediate layer of the multilayer has a thickness between 1 angstrom and 20 nm.\n\n16. The substrate according to claim 15, wherein each intermediate layer of the multilayer has a thickness between 10 nm and 20 nm.\n\n17. The substrate according to claim 7, wherein each cavity has a depth between 1 angstrom and 200 nm.\n\n18. The substrate according to claim 17, wherein each cavity has a depth between 10 nm and 200 nm."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Zoom Lens System, Imaging Device And Camera\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field The present disclosure relates to zoom lens systems, imaging devices, and cameras. 2. Description of the Related Art Size reduction and performance improvement are strongly required of cameras having image sensors performing photoelectric conversion, such as digital still cameras, digital video cameras, and the like (simply referred to as digital cameras, hereinafter). Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-333038 discloses a zoom lens system having a six-unit configuration of positive, negative, positive, positive, negative, and positive, and performing zooming by changing the interval between the respective lens units. Japanese Patent No. 4891439, Japanese Patent No. 4891440, and Japanese Patent No. 4891441 discloses a zoom lens system having a two-unit configuration of positive and negative, in which, in zooming, the first lens unit moves with reciprocated locus being convex to the image side.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA zoom lens system includes a first lens unit, a second lens unit, a third lens unit, a fourth lens unit, a fifth lens unit, and a sixth lens unit. In zooming, at least the first lens unit, the second lens unit, and the third lens unit move along an optical axis so that an interval between the first lens unit and the second lens unit at a telephoto limit becomes larger than that at a wide-angle limit, and an interval between the second lens unit and the third lens unit at the telephoto limit becomes narrower than that at the wide-angle limit. An aperture diaphragm is disposed between the second lens unit and the third lens unit. A condition of 18.5150\u00b0 C.), the coulombic attraction between the dopant atom and the atomic hydrogen (H \u2212 for phosphorus and H + for boron) prevents the escape of the hydrogen atom, and a rapid reformation of the dopant-hydrogen complex is likely.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA silicon device, has a plurality of crystalline silicon regions. One crystalline silicon region is a doped crystalline silicon region. Deactivating some or all of the dopant atoms in the doped crystalline silicon region is achieved by introducing hydrogen atoms into the doped 5 crystalline silicon region, whereby the hydrogen coulombicly bonds with some or all of the dopant atoms to deactivate the respective dopant atoms. Deactivated dopant atoms may be reactivated by heating and illuminating the doped crystalline silicon region to break at least some of the dopant-hydrogen bonds while maintaining conditions to create a high concentration of neutral hydrogen atoms whereby 10 some of the hydrogen atoms diffuse from the doped crystalline silicon region without rebinding to the dopant atoms."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for processing of a crystalline silicon device, having a plurality of crystalline silicon regions, at least one crystalline silicon region having a plurality of crystallographic defects or contaminants, the at least one crystalline silicon region being a doped crystalline silicon region in which some dopant atoms are deactivated by combining with a hydrogen atom, the method comprising:\nreactivating some deactivated dopant atoms by heating and illuminating the doped crystalline silicon region to break at least some bonds between dopant atoms and hydrogen atoms while maintaining conditions to create a relatively high concentration of neutral or negative hydrogen atoms, whereby some of the hydrogen atoms diffuse from the doped crystalline silicon region without re-bonding to the dopant atoms; and\nsubsequently heating at least a portion of the doped crystalline silicon region to bond some or all of the neutral or negative hydrogen atoms to the crystallographic defects or contaminants in the at least one crystalline silicon region.\n\n2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein after heating and illuminating the doped crystalline silicon region, a cooling period is provided during which illumination is maintained to maintain the relatively high concentration of neutral or negative hydrogen atoms.\n\n3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein some or all of the deactivated dopant atoms in a selected crystalline silicon region are subsequently reactivated by subjecting the dopant atoms in the selected crystalline silicon region to heat and illuminating a crystalline silicon region adjacent to the selected crystalline silicon region, whereby electron hole pairs are generated to increase a proportion of minority carriers in the crystalline silicon region adjacent to the selected crystalline silicon region and such that the minority carriers generated in the crystalline silicon region adjacent to the selected crystalline silicon region diffuse to the selected crystalline silicon region.\n\n4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the selected crystalline silicon region is allowed to cool to below 120\u00b0 C. within a carrier lifetime of the minority carriers or within a life expectancy of neutral hydrogen atoms or a hydrogen atom of a same charge state as the dopant atoms in the selected crystalline silicon region.\n\n5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein heating, illumination, or both heating and illumination of the selected crystalline silicon region and the crystalline silicon region adjacent to the selected crystalline silicon region is performed with a laser.\n\n6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising, prior to reactivating:\ndoping the crystalline silicon device with dopant atoms of a first dopant polarity to create the doped crystalline silicon region with a dopant atom concentration greater than a required final active dopant atom concentration in the doped crystalline silicon region, and\ndeactivating some of the dopant atoms in the doped crystalline silicon region by introducing hydrogen atoms into the doped crystalline silicon region, whereby some of the hydrogen atoms bond with some or all of the dopant atoms of the first dopant polarity to deactivate the dopant atoms having the first dopant polarity.\n\n7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the doped crystalline silicon region is a surface region of the crystalline silicon device.\n\n8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein heating and illumination of the dopant atoms are performed with a laser.\n\n9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the laser is scanned over a plurality of crystalline silicon regions.\n\n10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein hydrogen atoms are introduced into the crystalline silicon device by forming a dielectric hydrogen source on a surface of the at least one crystalline silicon region and subsequently heating the device to migrate the hydrogen atoms into the at least one crystalline silicon region.\n\n11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein hydrogen atoms are introduced into the crystalline silicon device from the dielectric hydrogen source to deactivate dopant atoms in a surface region of the at least one crystalline silicon region, by heating the device in an absence of illumination or in low illumination conditions.\n\n12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein dielectric hydrogen sources are formed on each of a front and a rear crystalline silicon surface of the crystalline silicon device.\n\n13. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the crystalline silicon device comprises a crystalline silicon surface n-type diffused layer through which hydrogen must diffuse, the crystalline silicon surface n-type diffused layer having a net active doping concentration of 1\u00d710 20 atoms/cm 3 or less.\n\n14. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the crystalline silicon device comprises a crystalline silicon surface p-type diffused layer through which hydrogen must diffuse, the crystalline silicon surface p-type diffused layer having a net active doping concentration of 1\u00d710 19 atoms/cm 3 or less.\n\n15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein heating of the crystalline silicon device comprises heating at least a crystalline silicon region of the device to at least 40\u00b0 C. while simultaneously illuminating at least some of the crystalline silicon device with at least one light source, whereby a cumulative power of incident photons with sufficient energy to generate electron hole pairs within the crystalline silicon device is at least 20 mW/cm 2.\n\n16. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein illumination of the crystalline silicon device is from at least one light source and is provided at a level whereby a cumulative power of incident photons with sufficient energy to generate electron hole pairs within the crystalline silicon device is at least 50 mW/cm 2, or 60 mW/cm 2, or 70 mW/cm 2, or 80 mW/cm 2, or 90 mW/cm 2, or 100 mW/cm 2, or 150 mW/cm 2, or 200 mW/cm 2, or 300 mW/cm 2, or 400 mW/cm 2, or 500 mW/cm 2, or 600 mW/cm 2, or 700 mW/cm 2, or 800 mW/cm 2, or 900 mW/cm 2, or 1000 mW/cm 2, or 1500 mW/cm 2, or 2000 mW/cm 2, or 3000 mW/cm 2, or 5000 mW/cm 2, or 10000 mW/cm 2, or 15000 mW/cm 2, or 20000 mW/cm 2, or up to a light intensity at which crystalline silicon begins to melt.\n\n17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein heating of the crystalline silicon device at a range of cumulative power comprises heating at least a region of the device to at least 100\u00b0 C.\n\n18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein heating of the crystalline silicon device comprises heating the device to at least 140\u00b0 C., to at least 180\u00b0 C., to at least 200\u00b0 C., or to at least 400\u00b0 C.\n\n19. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein heating of the crystalline silicon device comprises heating the device to at least 500\u00b0 C., or to at least 600\u00b0 C., or to at least 700\u00b0 C., or to at least 800\u00b0 C., or to at least 900\u00b0 C., or to at least 1,000\u00b0 C., or to at least 1,200\u00b0 C. or to a temperature at which crystalline silicon begins to melt.\n\n20. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein heating of the crystalline silicon device is followed by cooling the crystalline silicon device while simultaneously illuminating at least some of the crystalline silicon device with at least one light source, whereby a cumulative power of incident photons with sufficient energy to generate electron hole pairs within the crystalline silicon device is at least 20 mW/cm 2.\n\n21. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a minority carrier concentration is controlled, through use of light and heat, during a cool-down period after heating, and any post-hydrogenation thermal processes, to maintain a hydrogen charge state during the cool-down period to minimize reactivation of defects to which a hydrogen atom was previously bound.\n\n22. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crystalline silicon device is illuminated with an array of LEDs.\n\n23. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein pulsed illumination is applied to the crystalline silicon device.\n\n24. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein an intensity of illumination applied to the crystalline silicon device is controlled to maintain a Fermi level at a value of 0.10 to 0.22 ev above mid-gap.\n\n25. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crystalline silicon device comprises a photovoltaic device having at least one rectifying junction.\n\n26. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the doped crystalline silicon region is doped with a p-type (valency 3) dopant selected from boron, aluminium and gallium."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Repeater\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a repeater. 2. Description of the Related Art In general, a repeater configured to connect communication cables together has been known. As illustrated in FIG. 3 , a known repeater 31 includes two connectors 32 and a circuit board 33 on which the two connectors 32 are mounted, and is configured to connect communication cables (not illustrated) each of which is connected to the corresponding one of the connectors 32 together. In the circuit board 33 , a signal transmission section 34 that connects corresponding ones of electrodes (terminals) 35 of the two connectors 32 together is formed. As the communication cables, in general, communication cables each of which has four pairs of signal lines through which a differential signal is transmitted and is provided with a plug connector including eight electrodes (terminals) at an end portion thereof so as to be integrated as one are used. Therefore, as the connectors 32 , in general, jack connectors each of which includes the eight electrodes 35 are used. An arrangement of the electrodes 35 of the jack connectors used as the connectors 32 is standardized by TIA/EIA-568-B defined by American National Standards Institute, and the like, and first and second ones, third and sixth ones, fourth and fifth ones, and seventh and eighth ones of the electrodes 35 are used as pairs. The signal transmission section 34 includes first to eighth main transmission channels 36 each of which connects ones of the electrodes 35 of the two connectors 32 , which are numbered with the same number, together. In the known repeater 31 , the two connectors 32 having the same configuration are mounted on one (a lower surface in FIG. 2 ) of surfaces of the circuit board 33 . Note that Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-116667 discusses related art.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA repeater includes two connectors to each of which a communication cable is connected and a circuit board on which the two connectors are mounted and which includes a signal transmission section configured to connect corresponding ones of electrodes of the two connectors together, and the two connectors are mounted on different surfaces of the circuit board such that the communication cables are inserted in opposite insertion directions."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A repeater, comprising:\ntwo connectors each comprising electrodes, the two connectors configured to connect a communication cable; and\na circuit board on which the two connectors are mounted, the circuit board comprising a signal transmission section configured to connect corresponding electrodes of the two connectors together,\nwherein each of the two connectors comprises first to eighth electrodes, the first and second electrodes, the third and sixth electrodes, the fourth and fifth electrodes, and seventh and eighth electrodes being used as pairs for transmitting a differential signal,\nwherein the circuit board comprises a first set of first to eighth pads that connect corresponding first to eighth electrodes of one of the two connectors and a second set of first to eighth pads that connect corresponding first to eighth electrodes of another of the two connectors,\nwherein the first set of first to eighth pads and the second set of first to eighth pads are arranged in parallel and in a same order viewed from a same side of the circuit board, the signal transmission section comprising first to eighth linear main transmission channels each of which is configured to connect corresponding electrodes of the two connectors together, and\nwherein the two connectors are mounted on different surfaces of the circuit board such that a part of the communication cable connected to the one of the two connectors and another part of the communication cable connected to said another of the two connectors are inserted in opposite insertion directions.\n\n2. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the two connectors have a same configuration.\n\n3. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board comprises a flexible printed circuit board.\n\n4. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein\nthe main transmission channels are arranged such that the first, second, sixth, fourth, fifth, third, seventh, and eighth main transmission channels are disposed in this order.\n\n5. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein\nthe main transmission channels are arranged such that the second, first, third, fifth, fourth, sixth, eighth, and seventh main transmission channels are disposed in this order.\n\n6. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein, when viewed from the same side of the circuit board, the first electrode of said one of the two connectors is connected to the first electrode of said another of the two connectors, and the eighth electrode of said one of the two connectors is connected to the eighth electrode of said another of the two connectors.\n\n7. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein said one of the two connectors is mounted on a back surface of the circuit board, and said another of the two connectors is mounted on a front surface of the circuit board.\n\n8. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein, when viewed from a side of the repeater, the circuit board is curved between the two connectors such that the circuit board has an S shape.\n\n9. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein first and second ones of the main transmission channels, third and sixth ones of the main transmission channels, fourth and fifth ones of the main transmission channels, and seventh and eighth ones of the main transmission channels are used as pairs.\n\n10. The repeater according to claim 9, wherein the pair of the fourth and fifth ones of the main transmission channels is interposed between the pair of the third and sixth ones of the main transmission channels.\n\n11. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein a pair of the fourth and fifth ones of the main transmission channels is interposed between a pair of the third and sixth ones of the main transmission channels.\n\n12. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein, when viewed from the same side of the circuit board, said one of the two connectors has a same configuration as said another of the two connectors."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Wireless Backhaul For Wireless Relays In A Data Communication Network\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nWireless communication networks exchange user data between communication devices to facilitate various data services, like internet access, voice calling, media streaming, data messaging, and the like. Wireless communication networks allow users to move about as they communicate. A popular form of wireless communication network is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE networks transfer LTE signaling to implement LTE data services for their users. The LTE signaling includes S1-MME, S1-U, S11, S5, S15, Gz/Gy, and X2. Wireless relays are used to extend the coverage area of wireless networks. The wireless relays serve user devices and exchange user data and signaling with wireless base stations or other some other network gateway. In LTE networks, femtocell relays and picocell relays are used to exchange user data and signaling between User Equipment (UE) and macrocell eNodeBs. If needed, multiple wireless relays are linked in series between the UEs and the eNodeBs. In some implementations, the femtocell and picocell relays may exchange their user data and signaling over the Internet between the UEs and the network core. The communication path between the wireless relays and the LTE network core is referred to as backhaul. Unfortunately, current backhaul technologies are not efficient and effective for wireless relays that are deployed between the UEs and the macrocell eNodeBs that are coupled to the LTE core.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA wireless relay serves a first User Equipment (UE). A first eNodeB in the relay wirelessly exchanges UE signaling data and UE user data with the first UE. The first eNodeB processes the UE signaling data to generate S1-MME signaling data and exchanges the S1-MME signaling data with a second UE in the relay. The first eNodeB processes the UE user data to generate S1-U user data and exchanges the S1-U user data with a Local Serving Gateway (L-SGW) in the relay. The L-SGW terminates the S1-U user data to generate non-General Packet Radio Service Transfer Protocol (non-GTP) user data. The L-SGW exchanges the non-GTP user data with the second UE in the relay. The second UE compresses/decompresses the non-GTP user data and the S1-MME signaling data. The second UE wirelessly exchanges the compressed non-GTP user data the compressed S1-MME signaling data with a second eNodeB."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of operating a wireless relay to serve a first User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:\nin the wireless relay, a first eNodeB wirelessly exchanging UE signaling data with the first UE, processing the UE signaling data to generate SI-MME signaling data, and exchanging the SI-MME signaling data with a second UE in the wireless relay;\nin the wireless relay, the first eNodeB wirelessly exchanging UE user data with the first UE, processing the UE user data to generate S1-U user data, and exchanging the S1-U user data with a Local Serving Gateway (L-SGW) in the wireless relay;\nin the wireless relay, the L-SGW terminating the S1-U user data to generate non-General Packet Radio Service Transfer Protocol (non-GTP) user data and exchanging the non-GTP user data with the second UE in the wireless relay; and\nin the wireless relay, the second UE compressing or decompressing the non-GTP user data and the SI-MME signaling data and wirelessly exchanging the compressed non-GTP user data the SI-MME signaling data with a second eNodeB;\nin the wireless relay, a Local CDF or CTF (L-Charging Data Function or Charging Trigger Function (CDF or CTF)) generating Gz or Gy signaling data and exchanging the Gz or Gy signaling data with the second UE; and the second UE compressing or decompressing the Gz or Gy signaling data and wirelessly exchanging the compressed Gz or Gy signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n2. The method of claim 1 wherein the second UE compressing or decompressing the non-GTP user data comprises using Robust Header Compression (RoHC).\n\n3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: the second UE wirelessly initiating a relay data bearer by transferring a Relay Public Land Mobile Network (R-PLMN); and wherein wirelessly exchanging the compressed non-GTP user data with the second eNodeB comprises wirelessly exchanging the compressed non-GTP user data with the second eNodeB over the relay data bearer initiated with the R-PLMN.\n\n4. The method of claim 3 further comprising the second UE obtaining the relay data bearer based on a Relay Access Point Name (R-APN) associated with the R-PLMN.\n\n5. The method of claim 3 wherein the relay data bearer comprises a Proxy Mobile Internet Protocol (PMIP) Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) Tunnel.\n\n6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, in the wireless relay, the second UE compressing or decompressing the SI-MME signaling data and wirelessly exchanging the compressed SI-MME signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n7. The method of claim 1 further comprising: in the wireless relay, the L-SGW generating Proxy Mobile Internet Protocol (PMIP) signaling data and exchanging the PMIP signaling data with the second UE in the wireless relay; and the second UE compressing or decompressing the PMIP signaling data and wirelessly exchanging the compressed PMIP signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: in the wireless relay, a Local Policy and Charging and Rules Function (L-PCRF) generating S15 signaling data and exchanging the S15 signaling data with the second UE in the wireless relay; and the second UE compressing or decompressing the S15 signaling data and wirelessly exchanging the compressed S15 signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n9. The method of claim 1 further comprising: in the wireless relay, the first eNodeB generating X2 signaling data and exchanging the X2 signaling data with the second UE; and in the wireless relay, the second UE compressing or decompressing the X2 signaling data and wirelessly exchanging the compressed X2 signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n10. A wireless relay to serve a first User Equipment (UE) comprising: a second UE;\na Local Serving Gateway (L-SGW);\na first eNodeB configured to wirelessly exchange UE signaling data with the first UE, process the UE signaling data to generate SI-MME signaling data, exchange the SI-MME signaling data with the second UE, wirelessly exchange UE user data with the first UE, process the UE user data to generate SI-U user data, and exchange the SI-U user data with the L-SGW;\nthe L-SGW configured to terminate the SI-U user data to generate non-General Packet Radio Service Transfer Protocol (non-GTP) user data and exchange the non-GTP user data with the second UE; and\nthe second UE configured to compressing or decompressing the non-GTP user data and the SI-MME signaling data and to wirelessly exchange the compressed non-GTP user data the compressed SI-MME signaling data with a second eNodeB;\na Local CDF or CTF (L-Charging Data Function or Charging Trigger Function (CDF or CTF)) configured to generate Gz or Gy signaling data and exchange the Gz or Gy signaling data with the second UE; and wherein the second UE is configured to compress or decompress the Gz or Gy signaling data and wirelessly exchange the compressed Gz or Gy signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n11. The wireless relay of claim 10 wherein the second UE is configured to compress or decompress the non-GTP user data using Robust Header Compression (RoHC).\n\n12. The wireless relay of claim 10 wherein the second UE is configured to wirelessly initiate a relay data bearer by transferring a Relay Public Land Mobile Network (R-PLMN) and to wirelessly exchange the compressed non-GTP user data with the second eNodeB over the relay data bearer initiated with the R-PLMN.\n\n13. The wireless relay of claim 12 wherein the second UE obtains the relay data bearer based on a Relay Access Point Name (R-APN) associated with the R-PLMN.\n\n14. The wireless relay of claim 12 wherein the relay data bearer comprises a Proxy Mobile Internet Protocol (PMIP) Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) tunnel.\n\n15. The wireless relay of claim 10 wherein the second UE is configured to compress or decompress the SI-MME signaling data and wirelessly exchange the compressed SI-MME signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n16. The wireless relay of claim 10 wherein: the L-SGW is configured to generate Proxy Mobile Internet Protocol (PMIP) signaling data and exchange the PMIP signaling data with the second UE; and the second UE is configured to compress or decompress the PMIP signaling data and wirelessly exchange the compressed PMIP signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n17. The wireless relay of claim 10 further comprising: a Local Policy and Charging and Rules Function (L-PCRF) configured to generate S15 signaling data and exchange the S15 signaling data with the second UE; and wherein the second UE is configured to compress or decompress the S15 signaling data and wirelessly exchange the compressed S15 signaling data with the second eNodeB.\n\n18. The wireless relay of claim 10 wherein: the first eNodeB is configured to generate X2 signaling and exchange the X2 signaling data with the second UE; and the second UE is configured to compress or decompress the X2 signaling data and wirelessly exchanging the compressed X2 signaling data with the second eNodeB."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Hydraulic Wave Energy Converter\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to the field of renewable energy, and more particularly to an apparatus which is capable of converting ocean wave energy into high-pressure hydropower so as to drive the water turbine generator to generate electricity. 2. Description of Related Arts In order to reduce carbon emissions for fighting global warming, some products and patents which utilize ocean wave energy to generate electricity appear, such as the \u201csea snake\u201d device in Britain. The \u201csea snake\u201d device comprises three metallic cylinders, each of which having a length of 40 M and a diameter of 3 M, a hydraulic machinery is installed within the metallic cylinders, the metallic cylinders fluctuate in waves for driving the hydraulic machinery to generate electricity, and the maximum generation power is 750 Kw. However, the \u201csea snake\u201d device has disadvantages of complex structure, poor maintenance and low wave energy utilization efficiency. The \u201cfloating pontoon wave energy electricity generating equipment\u201d (disclosed by Chinese Patent No. 85100366.4) comprises a cylinder floating body on the surface of the water, a piston floating body under the water and mooring device, wherein under the effect of waves, the cylinder floating body moves relatively to the piston floating body for generating electricity. It is required that under the effect of waves (non-sinusoidal waves), the cylinder floating body and the piston floating body periodically swing along with waves, and however, in fact, the piston floating body rotates by taking two mooring points under the piston floating body as the rotating axis, so as to drive the cylinder to similarly rotate in a large angle. Therefore, in spite that the draught of the cylinder is increased and the buoyancy thereof is also increased, acting components are small, namely, generating capacities are small; and simultaneously, due to the large angle rotation of the cylinder floating body, the buoyancy thereof is increased much, so that while weakening wave forces, the cylinder floating body immediately returns back to the vertical position under the effect of buoyancy, namely the cylinder floating body moves asynchronously with the wave period. In addition, the diameter of the cylinder cover of the pressure cylinder on the cylinder floating body is the same as the inner diameter of the pressure cylinder, in such a manner that the size of the inlet valve and the outlet valve which are arranged on the cylinder cover is small, so that water absorption and water drainage are not free. Both the inlet valve and the outlet valve have improper structures, so that the pressure cylinder is unable to maintain air tightness and water tightness. Moreover, the frame-type guiding rail is easy to be corroded and damaged, so that the movement of the cylinder floating body is blocked and the piston rod is deformed.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hydraulic wave energy converter, for converting wave energy into high-pressure water energy, includes a rectangular upper floating body (1) floating on water surface, a cylindrical housing-shaped lower floating body (2) under water, a first cable (3), a second cable (4), a hanging rod (5), a ball hinged hook (6), a sea floor anchor pile (7), and other mooring facilities. A plurality of water hydraulic cylinders (8) are vertically fixed at two wider sides of the upper floating body (1) and are reliably connected with the lower floating body (2) through piston heads (27), piston rods (28) and piston rod seats (29). The hydraulic wave energy converter can convert the vertical component and the horizontal component of the wave motion into high-pressure water energy for impacting a hydraulic generator set to generate power, and is lower in cost, simple in maintenance and high in wave energy conversion efficiency."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A hydraulic wave energy converter, comprising:\nan upper floating body ( 1 ), a lower floating body ( 2 ), a first cable ( 3 ), a second cable ( 4 ), a hanging rod ( 5 ), a ball hinged hook ( 6 ) and a sea floor anchor pile ( 7 ),\nwherein the upper floating body ( 1 ) is a rectangular hollow concrete building, at least two hydraulic cylinders ( 8 ) are respectively vertically and equidistantly fixed to two wider sides of the upper floating body ( 1 ), a flared joint ( 9 ) is fixed to an upper end of every hydraulic cylinder ( 8 ), a flared joint ( 10 ) is fixed to a lower end of every hydraulic cylinder ( 8 ), a cylinder cover ( 11 ) is located at a wider end of the flared joint ( 9 ), a water outlet ( 12 ) is provided at a middle of the cylinder cover ( 11 ), two water inlets ( 13 ) are respectively provided at two sides of the cylinder cover ( 11 ), a cylinder cover ( 14 ) is located at a wider end of the flared joint ( 10 ), a bearing ( 15 ) is mounted in a circular hole at a middle of the cylinder cover ( 14 ), a water outlet ( 16 ) and two water inlets ( 17 ) are respectively provided at a periphery of the cylinder cover ( 14 ), the water outlet ( 12 ) is connected with a water discharging valve chamber ( 18 ) and a water discharging pipe ( 19 ), the water outlet ( 16 ) is connected with the water discharging valve chamber ( 18 ) and a water discharging pipe ( 20 ), both the two water inlets ( 13 ) and the two water inlets ( 17 ) are connected with a water inflowing valve chamber ( 21 ) and a water inflowing pipe ( 22 ), a water discharging valve ( 23 ) and a spring ( 24 ) are located within the water discharging valve chamber ( 18 ), a water inflowing valve ( 25 ) and a spring ( 26 ) are located within the water inflowing valve chamber ( 21 ), a piston head ( 27 ) slidably fitted with a cylinder wall and a piston rod ( 28 ) connected with the piston head ( 27 ) are located within every hydraulic cylinder ( 8 ), a proportion of the upper floating body ( 1 ) with every hydraulic cylinder ( 8 ) is 0. 5, the lower floating body ( 2 ) is a sealing cylindrical housing, a piston rod seat ( 29 ) is located at an upper portion of the lower floating body ( 2 ), an amount and a position of the piston rod seat ( 29 ) are corresponding to those of the piston rod ( 28 ), a first pair of earrings ( 30 ) and ( 31 ) are located at one side of the lower floating body ( 2 ), a second pair of earrings ( 32 ) and ( 33 ) are located at the other side of the lower floating body ( 2 ), the first cable ( 3 ) is fixedly connected with the first pair of earrings ( 30 ) and ( 31 ) via the hanging rod ( 5 ), the second cable ( 4 ) is fixedly connected with the second pair of earrings ( 32 ) and ( 33 ) via the hanging rod ( 5 ), the hanging rod ( 5 ) is connected with the sea floor anchor pile ( 7 ) via the ball hinged hook ( 6 ).\n\n2. The hydraulic wave energy converter, as recited in claim 1, wherein every hydraulic cylinder ( 8 ) is made of seamless steel tube, and a cylinder sleeve made of titanium metal plate which is resistant from sea water corrosion, is located at an inner wall of the hydraulic cylinder ( 8 ).\n\n3. The hydraulic wave energy converter, as recited in claim 1, wherein the first cable ( 3 ) and the second cable ( 4 ) are made of steel wires with high strength, or carbon fiber or aromatic polyamide fiber with higher strength and corrosion resistance, an armored protective layer is coated on the carbon fiber cable or aromatic polyamide fiber cables."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Method And Device For Cancelling Device Trigger In Wireless Communication System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMTC (Machine Type Communications) refers to a communication scheme involving one or more machines. MTC is also called Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication or Internet of Things (IoT). A machine is an entity that does not need direct human manipulation or intervention. For example, a user device such as a smartphone that can be automatically connected to a network and perform communication without a user's manipulation/intervention as well as a meter or automatic vending machine equipped with a mobile communication module may be an example of the machine. Such various exemplary machines will be referred to as MTC devices or User Equipments (UEs) in the present disclosure. That is, MTC means communication performed by one or more machines (i.e., MTC devices) without human manipulation/intervention. MTC may cover communication between MTC devices (e.g., Device-to-Device (D2D) communication) and communication between an MTC device and an MTC application server. For example, communication between an MTC device and an MTC application server may be communication between an automatic vending machine and a server, communication between a Point Of Sale (POS) device and a server, and communication between an electricity, gas, or water meter and a server. In addition, MTC-based applications may include security, transportation, health care, etc. An MTC device may establish connection in accordance with a request or command in a state that it is on standby without establishing connection for data transmission and reception to minimize power consumption. This request or command may be referred to as an MTC device triggering message.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention relates to a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to a method and a device for cancelling a device trigger. The method for cancelling a device trigger in a wireless communication system, according to one embodiment of the present invention, can comprise the steps of: receiving a cancellation request for a first trigger message in a network node; and transmitting a second trigger message to the terminal if the first trigger message has been transmitted to the terminal and the cancellation request indicates a replacement request. The second trigger message can include information which indicates that the cancellation of the first trigger message has been requested."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for cancelling a device trigger in a wireless communication system, the method comprising the steps of:\nreceiving, from a services capability service/application server (SCS/AS), a cancellation request of a first trigger message in a network node;\nchecking whether the first trigger message has been transmitted to a user equipment or is pending in the network node; and\ntransmitting a second trigger message to the user equipment if the cancellation request indicates a replace request,\nwherein if the first trigger message has been transmitted to the user equipment, the second trigger message includes cancellation information,\nwherein if the transmission of the first trigger message from the network node to the user equipment is canceled by the network node based on the cancellation request of the first trigger message from the SCS/AS or if the first trigger message is pending in the network node, the second trigger message does not include cancellation information, and\nwherein the cancellation information indicates that operation of the first trigger message has been canceled by the cancellation request of the SCS/AS.\n\n2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an operation to be performed by the user equipment in accordance with cancellation of the first trigger message includes one or more of cancellation of a task or reserved task based on the first trigger message, cancellation of connection to a network based on the first trigger message, and cancellation of data transmission to a network based on the first trigger message.\n\n3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second trigger message is transmitted to the user equipment in the case that the first trigger message is successfully delivered to the user equipment, the first trigger message is transmitted to the user equipment regardless of successful delivery of the first trigger message to the user equipment, or the first trigger message is successfully delivered to the user equipment or the network node does not know whether the first trigger message has been transmitted to the user equipment but successfully delivered to the user equipment.\n\n4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, if the first trigger message has been transmitted to the user equipment and the cancellation request indicates a recall request, only the cancellation information is transmitted to the user equipment, and includes information indicating that cancellation of the first trigger message has been requested.\n\n5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the cancellation information further includes information indicating an operation to be performed by the user equipment in accordance with cancellation of the first trigger message.\n\n6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the operation to be performed by the user equipment in accordance with cancellation of the first trigger message includes one or more of cancellation of a task or reserved task based on the first trigger message, cancellation of connection to a network based on the first trigger message, and cancellation of data transmission to a network based on the first trigger message.\n\n7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the cancellation information message is transmitted to the user equipment in the case that the first trigger message is successfully delivered to the user equipment, the first trigger message is transmitted to the user equipment regardless of successful delivery of the first trigger message to the user equipment, or the first trigger message is successfully delivered to the user equipment or the network node does not know whether the first trigger message has been transmitted to the user equipment but successfully delivered to the user equipment.\n\n8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, if the first trigger message is pending in the network node or has been transmitted to the user equipment but not delivered to the user equipment successfully and the cancellation request indicates the replace request, the cancellation request is considered as success and a new trigger message is transmitted to the user equipment.\n\n9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, if the first trigger message is pending in the network node or has been transmitted to the user equipment but not delivered to the user equipment successfully and the cancellation request indicates the recall request, the cancellation request is considered as success.\n\n10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network node is a machine type communication-interworking function (MTC-IWF) or a short message service-service center (SMS-SC).\n\n11. A network node device for cancelling a device trigger in a wireless communication system, the network node device comprising:\na transceiver; and\na processor,\nwherein the processor is configured to:\ncontrol the transceiver to receive, from a services capability service/application server (SCS/AS), a cancellation request of a first trigger message,\ncheck whether the first trigger message has been transmitted to a user equipment or is pending in the network node, and\ncontrol the transceiver to transmit a second trigger message to the user equipment if the cancellation request indicates a replace request,\nwherein if the first trigger message has been transmitted to the user equipment, the second trigger message includes cancellation information,\nwherein if the transmission of the first trigger message from the network node to the user equipment is canceled by the network node based on the cancellation request of the first trigger message from the SCS/AS or if the first trigger message is pending in the network node, the second trigger message does not include cancellation information, and\nwherein the cancellation information indicates that operation of the first trigger message has been canceled by the cancellation request of the SCS/AS."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Material For Organic Electroluminescence Device And Organic Electroluminescence Device Using The Same\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nAn organic electroluminescence device (hereinafter, \u201celectroluminescence\u201d may be abbreviated as \u201cEL\u201d) is a spontaneous light emitting device which utilizes the principle that a fluorescent substance emits light by energy of recombination of holes injected from an anode and electrons injected from a cathode when an electric field is applied. Since an organic EL device of the laminate type driven under a low electric voltage was reported, many studies have been conducted on organic EL devices using organic materials as the constituent materials. The devices of the laminate type use tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum for a light emitting layer and a triphenyldiamine derivative for a hole transporting layer. Advantages of the laminate structure are that the efficiency of hole injection into the light emitting layer can be increased, that the efficiency of forming exciton which are formed by blocking and recombining electrons injected from the cathode can be increased, and that exciton formed within the light emitting layer can be enclosed. As described above, for the structure of the organic EL device, a two-layered structure having a hole transporting (injecting) layer and an electron transporting light emitting layer and a three-layered structure having a hole transporting (injecting) layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transporting (injecting) layer are well known. To increase the efficiency of recombination of injected holes and electrons in the devices of the laminate type, the structure of the device and the process for forming the device have been studied. As the light emitting material of the organic EL device, chelate complexes such as tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum complexes, coumarine derivatives, tetraphenylbutadiene derivatives, distyrylarylene derivatives, and oxadiazole derivatives are known. It is reported that light in the visible region ranging from blue light to red light can be obtained by using these light emitting materials, and development of a device exhibiting color images is expected. In addition, it has been recently proposed that a phosphorescent material as well as a fluorescent material be utilized in the light emitting layer of an organic EL device. High luminous efficiency is achieved by utilizing the singlet and triplet states of an excited state of an organic phosphorescent material in the light emitting layer of an organic EL device. Upon recombination of an electron and a hole in an organic EL device, singlet excitons and triplet excitons may be produced at a ratio of 1:3 owing to a difference in spin multiplicity between the singlet and triplet excitons, so the use of a phosphorescent material may achieve luminous efficiency three to four times as high as that of a device using fluorescence alone. Patent Documents 1 to 7 are exemplary inventions each describing such materials for an organic EL device. Patent Document 1 describes a compound using, as a mother skeleton, a structure obtained by crosslinking a terphenylene skeleton with, for example, a carbon atom, nitrogen atom, or oxygen atom. The document, which mainly discloses data indicative of the potential of the compound to serve as a hole transporting material, describes that the compound is used as a host material for a phosphorescent material in a light emitting layer. However, the description is limited to a red phosphorescent device, and the luminous efficiency of the device is not high enough for the device to be put into practical use. Patent Document 2 describes an indolocarbazole compound having a substituent on a nitrogen atom or on an aromatic ring. The document recommends that the compound be used as a hole transporting material, and describes that a thermally and morphologically stable, thin hole transporting layer can be prepared from the compound. However, the document does not describe data indicative of the usefulness of the compound as a host material or electron transporting material to be used together with a phosphorescent material. Patent Document 3 describes indolocarbazole compounds each having a substituent on a nitrogen atom or on an aromatic ring. The document discloses data on a green light emitting device using any one of those compounds as a host material for a phosphorescent material in its light emitting layer. However, a high voltage must be applied to the device to drive the device, and the device shows low luminous efficiency, so the device cannot be sufficiently put into practical use.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nProvided are an organic electroluminescence device, which shows high luminous efficiency, is free of any pixel defect, and has a long lifetime, and a material for an organic electroluminescence device for realizing the device. The material for an organic electroluminescence device is a compound having a \u03c0-conjugated heteroacene skeleton crosslinked with a carbon atom, nitrogen atom, oxygen atom, or sulfur atom. The organic electroluminescence device has one or more organic thin film layers including a light emitting layer between a cathode and an anode, and at least one layer of the organic thin film layers contains the material for an organic electroluminescence device."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A material for an organic electroluminescence device represented by the following structure:\nwherein Ar 1, Ar 2, and Ar 3 are each independently selected from the group consisting of benzene, naphthalene, biphenyl, terphenyl, fluorene, and phenanthrene, provided that Ar 1, Ar 2, and Ar 3 each may have one substituent Y or multiple substituents Ys, in the case of multiple substituents Ys, the substituent Ys may be different from each other, Y represents an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having a ring formed of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an aralkyl group having 7 to 24 carbon atoms, a silyl group having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 24 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group which has a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms and which is linked with Ar 1, Ar 2, or Ar 3 through a carbon-carbon bond;\nX 1 is N\u2014R 1 and X 2 is S;\nR 1 is a substituted or unsubstituted monovalent fused aromatic heterocyclic group having 8 to 24 carbon atoms,\nwherein the substituent of said substituted aromatic hydrocarbon group and the substituent of said substituted aromatic heterocyclic group are each independently selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a cycloalkyl group having a ring formed of 3 to 40 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a cycloalkoxy group having a ring formed of 3 to 10 carbon atoms, an unsubstituted phenyl group, an aromatic heterocyclic group having a ring formed of 3 to 40 atoms, an amino group substituted with an aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 40 carbon atoms, an ester group having an aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 40 carbon atoms, an ester group having an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a cyano group, a nitro group and a halogen atom;\nL 1 represents a single bond, an alkyl or alkylene group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl or cycloalkylene group having a ring formed of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a monovalent or divalent silyl group having 2 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted, monovalent or divalent aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 24 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted, monovalent or divalent aromatic heterocyclic group which has a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms and which is linked with Ar 1 through a carbon-carbon bond;\nL 2 represents a single bond, an alkyl or alkylene group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl or cycloalkylene group having a ring formed of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a monovalent or divalent silyl group having 2 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted, monovalent or divalent aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 24 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted, monovalent or divalent aromatic heterocyclic group which has a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms and which is linked with Ar 3 through a carbon-carbon bond,\nA 1 represents a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having a ring formed of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a silyl group having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 24 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group which has a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms and which is linked with L 1 through a carbon-carbon bond, provided that, when L 1 represents an alkyl or alkylene group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a case where A 1 represents a hydrogen atom is excluded,\nA 2 represents a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having a ring formed of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a silyl group having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 24 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group which has a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms and which is linked with L 2 through a carbon-carbon bond, provided that, when L 2 represents an alkyl or alkylene group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a case where A 2 represents a hydrogen atom is excluded; and\nA 1, A 2, L 1, L 2, are each free of any carbonyl group.\n\n2. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 1 wherein L 1 and L 2 are a single bond.\n\n3. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 2, wherein A 1 and A 2 are hydrogen.\n\n4. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 3, wherein the number of each of Y and Ys is O.\n\n5. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 4, wherein the compound has a triplet energy gap of 2.2 to 3.2 eV.\n\n6. An organic electroluminescence device comprising one or more organic thin film layers including a light emitting layer between a cathode and an anode, wherein at least one layer of the organic thin film layers contains the material for an organic electroluminescence device according to claim 1.\n\n7. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 6, wherein the light emitting layer contains the material for an organic electroluminescence device as a host material.\n\n8. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 7, wherein the light emitting layer further contains a phosphorescent material.\n\n9. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 6, wherein the material for an organic electroluminescence device has a \u03c0 conjugated heteroacene skeleton crosslinked with a nitrogen atom and a sulfur atom.\n\n10. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 9, wherein the light emitting layer contains the material for an organic electroluminescence device as a host material.\n\n11. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 10, wherein the light emitting layer further contains a phosphorescent material.\n\n12. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 11, wherein the light emitting layer contains a host material and a phosphorescent material, and the phosphorescent material comprises an orthometalated complex of an iridium (Ir), osmium (Os), or platinum (Pt) metal.\n\n13. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 12, further comprising an electron injecting layer between the light emitting layer and the cathode, wherein the electron injecting layer contains a nitrogen-containing ring derivative.\n\n14. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 6, further comprising a reductive dopant at an interfacial region between the cathode and the organic thin film layers.\n\n15. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 14, wherein the reductive dopant comprises an alkali metal complex.\n\n16. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 15, wherein a ligand of the alkali metal complex includes quinolinol.\n\n17. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 14, wherein the reductive dopant has a work function of 2.9 eV or less.\n\n18. A material for an organic electroluminescence device represented by the following structure:\nwherein Ar 1, Ar 2, and Ar 3 are each independently selected from the group consisting of benzene, naphthalene, biphenyl, terphenyl, fluorene, and phenanthrene;\nX 1 is N\u2014R 1 and X 2 is S;\nR 1 represents or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group having a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms,\nwherein the substituent of said substituted aromatic heterocyclic group are each independently selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, a cycloalkyl group having a ring formed of 3 to 40 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a cycloalkoxy group having a ring formed of 3 to 10 carbon atoms, an unsubstituted phenyl group, an aromatic heterocyclic group having a ring formed of 3 to 40 atoms, an amino group substituted with an aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 40 carbon atoms, an ester group having an aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 40 carbon atoms, an ester group having an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a cyano group, a nitro group and a halogen atom;\nL 1 represents a single bond;\nL 2 represents a single bond;\nA 1 represents a hydrogen atom;\nA 2 represents a hydrogen atom; and\nA 1, A 2, L L 2, are each free of any carbonyl group.\n\n19. A material for an organic electroluminescence device represented by the following structure:\nwhere:\nX 5 represents N\u2014R 1;\nX 6 represents S;\nR 1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon group selected from the group consisting of phenyl, naphthyl, biphenylyl, terphenylyl, fluorenyl, phenanthrenyl, triphenylenyl, perylenyl, chrysenyl, fluoranthenyl, benzofluorenyl, benzotriphenylenyl, benzochrysenyl and anthracenyl, and wherein the sub stituent of said substituted aromatic hydrocarbon group is an aromatic heterocyclic group having a ring formed of 3 to 40 atoms; or\nR 1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group having a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms, wherein the substituent of said substituted aromatic heterocyclic group is selected from the group consisting of an unsubstituted phenyl group, an aromatic heterocyclic group having a ring formed of 3 to 40 atoms, and an amino group substituted with an aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 40 carbon atoms;\nL 1 represents a single bond;\nL 2 represents a single bond;\nA 1 represents a hydrogen atom;\nA 2 represents a hydrogen atom;\nY 1, Y 2 and Y 3 each represent an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having a ring formed of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkoxy group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an aralkyl group having 7 to 24 carbon atoms, a silyl group having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 24 carbon atoms, or a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group which has a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms and which is linked with the benzene ring a, b, or c through a carbon-carbon bond, the number of Y 1 and Y 3 are 0, and the number of Y 2 is 0, 1, or 2.\n\n20. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 19, wherein Y 2 represent a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon group having a ring formed of 6 to 24 carbon atoms, and which is linked with the benzene ring a, b, or c through a carbon-carbon bond.\n\n21. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 19, wherein R 1 represents a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group having a ring formed of 3 to 24 atoms.\n\n22. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 19, wherein L 1 and L 2 are a single bond.\n\n23. The material for an organic electroluminescence device of claim 22, wherein A 1 and A 2 are hydrogen.\n\n24. An organic electroluminescence device comprising one or more organic thin film layers including a light emitting layer between a cathode and an anode, wherein at least one layer of the organic thin film layers contains the material for an organic electroluminescence device according to claim 19.\n\n25. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 24, further comprising a reductive dopant at an interfacial region between the cathode and the organic thin film layers.\n\n26. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 25, wherein the reductive dopant comprises an alkali metal complex.\n\n27. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 26, wherein a ligand of the alkali metal complex includes quinolinol.\n\n28. The organic electroluminescence device according to claim 26, wherein the reductive dopant has a work function of 2.9 eV or less."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Random Seed Entry Number To Eliminate Key Sequence Capture\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nVehicles have employed a number of different forms of keyless entry systems that can allow a user to lock or unlock a vehicle door without the use of a key and lock combination. Such systems can include remote controls and various forms of digital keypads. In general a digital keypad with buttons that correspond to one or more integer values that can be depressed in a sequence corresponding to a known access code. Most often, the values of the buttons are fixed, meaning that an observer can determine the code being entered by tracking the sequence of buttons pressed by a user accessing the vehicle. Other forms of digital code entry may also be susceptible to code determination by observing any fixed sequences that they employ for gaining access to a vehicle. Accordingly, further advances may be desired.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA vehicle entry system includes a lock mechanism, an interface, and a control. The control receives a plurality of code digits by presenting a displayed number on the interface that is initially a random number and at least one of changing or receiving an entry of the displayed number based on a signal from the input. When the plurality of code digits corresponds to a stored entry code, the control causes the lock mechanism to unlock."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A vehicle entry system, comprising:\na lock mechanism;\nan interface including a display; and\na control:\nreceiving a plurality of code digits by initially presenting a random number as displayed number on the display and at least one of changing or receiving an entry of the displayed number based on a signal from the interface; and\nwhen the plurality of code digits corresponds to a stored entry code, causing the lock mechanism to unlock.\n\n2. The vehicle entry system of claim 1, wherein:\nthe interface includes a confirmation button and a selection button;\nthe signal received by the controller from the interface corresponds with changing the displayed number when the selection button is depressed; and\nthe signal received by the controller from the interface corresponds with receiving the entry of the displayed number when the confirmation button is depressed.\n\n3. The vehicle entry system of claim 1, wherein:\nthe display is on a portion of a confirmation button; and\nthe signal received by the controller from the interface corresponds with receiving the entry of the displayed number when the confirmation button is depressed.\n\n4. The vehicle entry system of claim 1, wherein:\nthe controller receives a first one of the plurality of code digits including presenting the displayed number in the form of a first displayed number on the interface that is initially the random number in the form of a first random number; and\nupon receiving the entry of the displayed number based on the signal from the interface in the form of a first signal, the controller receives a second one of the plurality of code digits including presenting a second displayed number on the interface that is initially a second random number at least one of changing or receiving the entry of the second displayed number based on a second signal from the interface.\n\n5. The vehicle entry system of claim 1, further including a proximity sensor in communication with the controller, wherein:\nthe controller presents the displayed number on the interface upon detecting a first object within a first range of the proximity sensor.\n\n6. The vehicle entry system of claim 1, further including a first vehicle door defining an exterior surface and an interior, wherein;\nthe interface is mounted on the exterior of the vehicle door; and\nthe door lock mechanism is mounted within the interior of the vehicle door.\n\n7. The vehicle entry system of claim 6, wherein:\nthe exterior surface includes a portion thereof defined on a B-pillar trim piece of the door; and\nthe interface is mounted on the exterior of the vehicle door on the portion defined on the B-pillar trim piece.\n\n8. A vehicle, comprising:\na door including a lock mechanism;\nan interface mounted on the door; and\na control:\nreceiving a plurality of code digits by initially presenting a random number as a displayed number on the interface and at least one of changing the displayed number to a sequentially-adjacent integer or storing the displayed number based on a signal from the interface; and\nwhen the plurality of code digits corresponds to a stored entry code, causing the lock mechanism to unlock.\n\n9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein:\nthe interface includes an increase selection button and a decrease selection button; and\nchanging the displayed number includes increasing the displayed number to a greater sequentially-adjacent integer upon receiving the signal from the increase selection button or decreasing the displayed number to a lesser sequentially-adjacent integer upon receiving the signal from the decrease selection button.\n\n10. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein:\nthe interface includes a confirmation button and a selection button;\nthe signal received by the controller from the interface corresponds with changing the selection of the displayed number when the selection button is depressed; and\nthe signal received by the controller from the interface corresponds with receiving the entry of the displayed number when the confirmation button is depressed.\n\n11. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein:\nthe controller receives a first one of the plurality of code digits including presenting the displayed number in the form of a first displayed number on the interface that is initially the random number in the form of a first random number; and\nupon receiving the entry of the displayed number as a first entry based on the signal from the interface in the form of a first signal, the controller receives a second one of the plurality of code digits including presenting a second displayed number on the interface that is initially a second random number at least one of changing or receiving a second entry of the second displayed number based on a second signal from the interface.\n\n12. The vehicle of claim 8, further including a proximity sensor in communication with the controller, wherein:\nthe controller presents the displayed number on the interface upon detecting a first object within a first range of the proximity sensor.\n\n13. A method for controlling access to a vehicle, comprising:\npresenting on an interface a first displayed number that is initially a first random number and at least one of changing or receiving an entry of the first displayed number based on a signal from an interface; and\nupon receiving the entry of the first displayed number, presenting a second displayed number on the interface that is initially a second random number.\n\n14. The method of claim 13, further including:\nstoring in memory entries of at least the first and second displayed numbers as a plurality of sequential code digits; and\nwhen the plurality of code digits corresponds to a stored entry code, causing a lock mechanism to unlock.\n\n15. The method of claim 13, wherein presenting a second displayed number on the interface that is initially a second random number further includes at least one of changing or receiving an entry of the second displayed number based on a second signal from the interface.\n\n16. The method of claim 13, wherein changing the displayed number includes changing the displayed number to a sequentially-adjacent integer.\n\n17. The method of claim 13, wherein:\nchanging the displayed number includes increasing the displayed number to a greater sequentially-adjacent integer upon receiving a signal from an increase selection input or decreasing the displayed number to a lesser sequentially-adjacent integer when the signal corresponds to a decrease selection input.\n\n18. The method of claim 13, further including initiating a code entry sequence, including presenting on the interface the first displayed number, upon detecting an object within a first range of the interface."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Lighting System And Method For Controlling Lighting System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a lighting system which controls dimming of a lighting device. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a lighting system has been known which controls a dimming level of a lighting device such as an LED light on the ceiling. For example, according to a dimming control system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-349065, a dimming-control parent device transmits, to a dimming-control terminal, a control-target value for adjusting the amount of light emitted from a lighting device. The dimming control parent device stores an operation schedule in which a control-target value and a time to start the control are associated with one another, and transmits the control-target value to the dimming control terminal when the current time comes to the start time.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA lighting system includes: a lighting device; a lighting controller; and a system controller. The system controller includes: a timer; a schedule storage for storing schedule information; a first communication circuit; and an instruction controller which causes a first communication circuit to transmit control information which includes an instruction associated with time indicated by a counter value. The lighting controller includes: a sensor which detects a person in a space where the lighting device is disposed, and brightness of the space; a second communication circuit; and a dimming controller which switches to one of modes that is indicated in the control information from another of the modes and executes the one of the modes, where the modes include (a) a human detection mode, (b) a brightness detection mode, and (c) a dimming level fixed mode."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A lighting system comprising:\na lighting device which includes a light source and a lighting circuit which causes the light source to provide illumination;\na lighting controller which controls dimming of the lighting device by controlling the lighting circuit; and\na system controller which controls the lighting controller,\nthe system controller including:\na timer which outputs a counter value indicating a time;\na schedule storage for storing schedule information which includes an instruction directed to the lighting controller and a time associated with the instruction;\na first communication circuit which transmits information to the lighting controller; and\nan instruction controller which identifies, from the schedule information, an instruction associated with the time indicated by the counter value, and causes the first communication circuit to transmit control information which includes the identified instruction,\nthe lighting controller including:\na sensor which detects a person in a space where the lighting device is disposed, and brightness of the space;\na second communication circuit which receives the control information transmitted from the system controller; and\na dimming controller which switches to one of modes that is indicated in the control information from another of the modes and executes the one of the modes, the modes including (a) a human detection mode for controlling the dimming in accordance with a result of human detection by the sensor, (b) a brightness detection mode for controlling the dimming in accordance with a result of detection of the brightness by the sensor, and (c) a dimming level fixed mode for controlling the dimming by maintaining a dimming level at a fixed value,\nwherein the schedule information includes an instruction to switch from one of the modes including the human detection mode, the brightness detection mode, and the dimming level fixed mode to another of the modes and a time to give the instruction, the time being associated with the instruction,\naccording to the control information, the dimming controller switches from one of the human detection mode and the brightness detection mode to the other, switches from one of the brightness detection mode and the dimming level fixed mode to the other, and switches from one of the dimming level fixed mode and the human detection mode to the other,\nwhen the identified instruction indicates the human detection mode, the instruction controller causes the first communication circuit to transmit the control information which includes a parameter indicating one of a dimming level based on a state of a person when the person is detected and a dimming level for a case when no person is detected,\nwhen the control information indicates the human detection mode, the dimming controller controls the dimming using the dimming level indicated by the parameter, and\nthe dimming controller controls the dimming using different dimming levels between a case when the result of human detection output from the sensor indicates that the detected person is moving and a case when the result of human detection output from the sensor indicates that the detected person is not moving.\n\n2. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein:\nwhen the identified instruction indicates the brightness detection mode, the instruction controller causes the first communication circuit to transmit the control information which includes a parameter indicating a target value representing target brightness, and\nwhen the control information indicates the brightness detection mode, the dimming controller controls the dimming to make the brightness which is detected by the sensor approximate to the target value indicated by the parameter.\n\n3. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe counter value output by the timer indicates at least month and day of a date, in addition to the time,\nthe schedule storage further stores parameter information indicating a plurality of the parameters associated with periods, and\nthe instruction controller reads, from among the plurality of parameters indicated by the parameter information, a parameter associated with a period which includes at least one of the month and the day indicated by the counter value, and causes the first communication circuit to transmit the control information which includes the read parameter.\n\n4. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe schedule information further includes an identifier tied with the time and associated with the instruction directed to the lighting controller,\nthe counter value output by the timer indicates at least month and day of a date, in addition to the time,\nthe schedule storage further stores time-of-day information indicating times of day associated with periods and identifiers including the identifier, and\nthe instruction controller reads, from among the identifiers in the time-of-day information, an identifier corresponding to (i) a period which includes at least one of the month and the day indicated by the counter value and (ii) the time indicated by the counter value, and identifies, from the schedule information, an instruction associated with the read identifier.\n\n5. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein:\nplural lighting devices having assigned addresses, respectively, are provided,\nthe dimming controller transmits, to the lighting devices, instruction information which includes at least one address among the assigned addresses and information indicating a dimming level, to control the dimming of at least one lighting device having the at least one address, among the lighting devices,\nthe lighting circuit of each of the lighting devices receives the instruction information, and\nwhen the at least one address indicated in the instruction information includes the address of a lighting device among the lighting devices, the lighting circuit of the lighting device causes the light source of the lighting device to provide illumination at the dimming level indicated in the instruction information.\n\n6. A lighting system comprising:\na lighting device which includes a light source and a lighting circuit which causes the light source to provide illumination;\na lighting controller which controls dimming of the lighting device by controlling the lighting circuit; and\na system controller which controls the lighting controller,\nthe system controller including:\na timer which outputs a counter value indicating a time;\na schedule storage for storing schedule information which includes an instruction directed to the lighting controller and a time associated with the instruction;\na first communication circuit which transmits information to the lighting controller; and\nan instruction controller which identifies, from the schedule information, an instruction associated with the time indicated by the counter value, and causes the first communication circuit to transmit control information which includes the identified instruction,\nthe lighting controller including:\na sensor which detects a person in a space where the lighting device is disposed, and brightness of the space;\na second communication circuit which receives the control information transmitted from the system controller; and\na dimming controller which switches to one of modes that is indicated in the control information from another of the modes and executes the one of the modes, the modes including (a) a human detection mode for controlling the dimming in accordance with a result of human detection by the sensor, (b) a brightness detection mode for controlling the dimming in accordance with a result of detection of the brightness by the sensor, and (c) a dimming level fixed mode for controlling the dimming by maintaining a dimming level at a fixed value, wherein:\nthe first communication circuit further receives setting information for controlling operation of the lighting device, which is transmitted from a communication terminal, and\nthe instruction controller further generates or updates the schedule information, using the setting information received by the first communication circuit, and causes the schedule storage to store the generated or updated schedule information,\nwherein the schedule information includes an instruction to switch from one of the modes including the human detection mode, the brightness detection mode, and the dimming level fixed mode to another of the modes and a time to give the instruction, the time being associated with the instruction,\naccording to the control information, the dimming controller switches from one of the human detection mode and the brightness detection mode to the other, switches from one of the brightness detection mode and the dimming level fixed mode to the other, and switches from one of the dimming level fixed mode and the human detection mode to the other,\nwhen the identified instruction indicates the human detection mode, the instruction controller causes the first communication circuit to transmit the control information which includes a parameter indicating one of a dimming level based on a state of a person when the person is detected and a dimming level for a case when no person is detected,\nwhen the control information indicates the human detection mode, the dimming controller controls the dimming using the dimming level indicated by the parameter, and\nthe dimming controller controls the dimming using different dimming levels between a case when the result of human detection output from the sensor indicates that the detected person is moving and a case when the result of human detection output from the sensor indicates that the detected person is not moving.\n\n7. The lighting system according to claim 6, wherein\nthe first communication circuit further transmits at least a part of the schedule information stored in the schedule storage to the communication terminal.\n\n8. The lighting system according to claim 6, wherein\nat least one communication circuit among the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit transmits, to the communication terminal which communicates with the at least one communication circuit, mode information indicating which mode among the human detection mode, the brightness detection mode, and the dimming level fixed mode the dimming controller is executing.\n\n9. A method for controlling a lighting system which includes: a lighting controller which controls dimming of a lighting device; and a system controller which controls the lighting controller,\nthe system controller including: a timer which outputs a counter value indicating a time; and a schedule storage for storing schedule information which includes an instruction directed to the lighting controller and a time associated with the instruction,\nthe lighting controller including a sensor which detects a person in a space where the lighting device is disposed, and brightness of the space,\nthe method comprising:\nidentifying, by the system controller from the schedule information, an instruction associated with the time indicated by the counter value;\ntransmitting, by the system controller, control information which includes the identified instruction to the lighting controller;\nreceiving, by the lighting controller, the control information transmitted from the system controller; and\nswitching, by the lighting controller, to one of modes that is indicated in the control information from another of the modes, and executing, by the lighting controller, the one of the modes, the modes including (a) a human detection mode for controlling the dimming in accordance with a result of human detection by the sensor, (b) a brightness detection mode for controlling the dimming in accordance with a result of detection of the brightness by the sensor, and (c) a dimming level fixed mode for controlling the dimming by maintaining a dimming level at a fixed value,\nwherein the schedule information includes an instruction to switch from one of the modes including the human detection mode, the brightness detection mode, and the dimming level fixed mode to another of the modes and a time to give the instruction, the time being associated with the instruction,\naccording to the control information, the lighting controller switches from one of the human detection mode and the brightness detection mode to the other, switches from one of the brightness detection mode and the dimming level fixed mode to the other, and switches from one of the dimming level fixed mode and the human detection mode to the other,\nwhen the identified instruction indicates the human detection mode, the control information, which includes a parameter, is transmitted, the parameter indicating one of a dimming level based on a state of a person when the person is detected and a dimming level for a case when no person is detected,\nwhen the control information indicates the human detection mode, the dimming is controlled, by the lighting controller, using the dimming level indicated by the parameter, and\nthe dimming is controlled, by the lighting controller, using different dimming levels between a case when the result of human detection output from the sensor indicates that the detected person is moving and a case when the result of human detection output from the sensor indicates that the detected person is not moving."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Remote Control Unit And A Method For Controlling Electric Devices By Using Such A Remote Control Unit\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nMany of the modern domestic electric appliances as well as some special devices are operated by remote control panels (hereinafter\u2014a RC panel). This is especially related to the modern TV receivers or television signal playback devices (in particular, OTT or IPTV digital signals), operating of which without a RC panel is difficult to imagine. Obviously, as the number of electric appliances employed by a user increases, the problem of control becomes more complicated, since each device is generally provided with its own panel, so it is easy to lose these panels or mistake one for another. In this regard, there is a need for designing a single RC panel, which is capable of controlling different devices including those intended for different purposes. Another problem inherent in the known RC panels is related to the fact that people who share a certain common device, for example, members of one family or employees of one company give different preferences to the settings of this device. Therefore, they find themselves in the situation of conflict as related to the use of this shared device, permanently readjusting the device for themselves and thus disrupting settings made by other users. As an example, different members of the same family are, as a rule, fans of absolutely different TV channels and programs. Men usually prefer sports channels and, accordingly, adjust a TV receiver in such a way that it is more convenient to call the content of a sports channel. Women are enthusiastic about TV series, children watch animated cartoons. Therefore, in order for a user to go ahead with viewing of the TV-content of interest for him/her, he/she often has to manipulate the RC panel for a long time, monitoring the content and selecting the desired channel and television program. The same can be true for air conditioners, radio receivers, kitchen machines and other devices. Unfortunately, modern RC panels do not enable adaptation of an electric device to the preferences of several users simultaneously without sacrificing the settings made by each of these users. Accordingly, there is a need in the prior art for designing such a RC panel that would provide different users with the possibility of adapting related devices to the requirements of these users without loss of settings made by other users of these devices and this panel. Further, let's turn attention to the following aspect. When controlling devices by means of a RC panel, a user is interested in generation of control input with minimum operating of the panel, ideally, by pressing only one button. This requirement can be easily observed if the RC panel has information about the user's preferences and as if anticipates his/her wishes. Meanwhile, currently known RC panels are prevented from adapting to the user's preferences based on the statistics of his/her behavior when handling the panel and controlled devices. Therefore, the prior art does not represent RC panels enabling the user to send the required control signal to the desired device by pressing only one button. Finally, let's consider the aspect concerning the content provider, in particular, operators and advertisers. The content provider always seeks that the delivered information resources find their target audience as closely as possible. In this respect, the goals of subscribers, operators and advertisers coincide. The subscribers are provided with psychological comfort, if they are protected against TV-content, unneeded and uninteresting for them, while their TV-receiver is only tuned to playout favorite programs and channels. The situation when transmitted content is maximally focused is highly profitable for operators and advertisers. In this case, the broadcast program or advertisement will be delivered to the targeted audience and, as a consequence, will have maximum effect. Accordingly, operators and advertisers are very interested in the emergence of mechanism that enables identifying preferences of the TV content users. Such mechanisms are presented in the sphere of Internet technologies and delivery of digital TV content to personal devices. However, this problem has not been solved so far in the sphere of digital television playout on a big screen having several active users with different interests. The prior art discloses RC panels that ensure the possibility of controlling several devices mated with them.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method and system for controlling an electric device via a remote control panel comprises providing a network server that includes a database reflecting user preferences and statistics of usage of the device by the respective users; providing an application proxy on the device which is capable of controlling the device; providing the panel with controls configured to highlight the relevant control function; and associating at least one user with at least one relevant control. When a control is operated by a user, the panel operates in a mode associated with the profile of the user and with the pressed control. Usage statistics accumulated on the server is assessed by the server. An event that indicates the need for making a certain action to control the device by a certain user results in sending, by the server, a PUSH-notification containing information on the user who should exercise control and on the required control to the device."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method for controlling an electric device by means of a remote control panel, the method comprising the following steps:\nproviding a network server that comprises a database containing data reflecting user preferences towards the use of the said electric device, and the statistics of usage of the device by the users;\nproviding an application proxy on the device, which is capable of controlling the device upon receiving a relevant command from the panel,\nproviding the panel with controls and an illuminated indicator configured to highlight the relevant control with light of a certain property,\nassociating at least one user with at least one relevant control, upon pressing one of the controls by the user placing the panel in the mode of device control from the profile of the user associated with the pressed control, assessing the device usage statistics accumulated on the server as concerning the user associated with the pressed control,\ndetecting via the server, an event that indicates the need for taking action to control the device by the user,\nsending to the device, via the server, a PUSH-notification containing information on the user who should exercise control and on the required control action,\ntransferring the PUSH-notification, received from the server, by the device to the panel,\nhighlighting the relevant control by the panel using light of a certain property, wherein the highlighted control corresponds to the user, information on which is contained in the PUSH-notification, and the highlighted control element corresponds to the type of the required control action,\nactuating the highlighted control on the panel,\ntransferring, by the panel to the device, a command instructing the application proxy to take control of the device along with the indication of the control action to be executed,\ninitiating, by the application proxy, control of the device that results in execution of the required control action by this device.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is a digital television playback device and is operated by means of the panel.\n\n3. The method of claim 2, further comprising a step of setting up via the server a filter for the content to be sent to the digital television playback device for at least one definite user.\n\n4. The method of claim 2, further comprising a step of associating the user with a guest control element, wherein statistics of the user associated with the guest control element are ignored by the server when the guest control element is pressed.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein the panel operates a group of electric devices, wherein the PUSH-notification sent by the server contains additional information on the device to be controlled, and a certain property of light, used at the step of highlighting a certain control by the panel further corresponds to the device to be controlled,\nwherein, in situation when two or more devices simultaneously require control action from the user associated with the same control, the method further comprises a step of selecting by the user, via the control, a specific device to which the command for execution of the required control action will be transferred as a result of pressing the highlighted control by the user.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, further comprising operating, via the panel, a device furnished with a memory unit to record user preferences towards the usage of the device, wherein the server does not accumulate the usage statistics of the device and, correspondingly, a command instructing the application proxy to take control of the device, transferred by the panel, comprises a control action preset without the use of the server, solely by relevant manipulating the control element.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed using a remote control panel comprising a virtual panel on a display of a personal computer device.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of searching for the panel by sending a query to the panel from one of the server and the controlled device connected to the panel.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step during which the server, based on the signals received from the panel, analyses user tactile preferences towards manipulating the controls, wherein information on the tactile preferences is stored in the said database.\n\n10. The method of claim 9, further comprising a step during which the server compares the accumulated data on the preferences and/or statistics of the user associated with the currently pressed button of the user profile and the current data on the preferences and/or statistics of the active user and, when there is disagreement between these data, the method further comprises a step of sending a notification to check the current profile to the said user.\n\n11. A remote control panel designed to implement the method of claim 1, the panel comprising:\na processor,\na power supply unit,\ncontrols including a control element and at least one user profile button, wherein the said at least one user profile button can be associated with at least one relevant user,\na transceiver having a radio frequency transmit-receive module configured to communicate with the electric device to be controlled,\nand visible indication means configured to highlight a certain control using light of a certain property in response to a command from the processor,\nwherein the processor is configured to analyze a PUSH-notification received by the transceiver during communication with the controlled device, and to issue a command to the visible indication means for highlighting a certain control using light of a certain property, and wherein the highlighted control corresponds to the user information which is contained in the PUSH-notification, and the said property of light corresponds to the type of the required control action,\nwherein the user profile buttons of the panel are configured such that pressing one of the user profile buttons places the panel in the mode of device control from the profile of the user associated with this pressed user profile button, while pressing the relevant control element when the relevant control is highlighted using light of a certain property results in sending to the device to be controlled a command instructing the application proxy to take control of the device along with an indication of the control action to be executed.\n\n12. The panel of claim 11, wherein said panel is configured to operate a digital television playback device.\n\n13. The panel of claim 11, wherein said panel is configured to control a group of electric devices, wherein the controls are configured to select a specific device to which, a command to execute the required control action will be transferred as a result of pressing the highlighted control.\n\n14. The panel of claim 11, further comprising a speaker and a vibrator.\n\n15. The panel of claim 14, wherein the speaker is configured to issue an audio signal upon receipt by the panel of a query for searching the panel from the server and/or controlled device.\n\n16. The panel of claim 11, wherein the transceiver comprises an IR module for providing compatibility of the panel with devices having an IR port."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Radiation Detector\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA radiation detector which includes a scintillator portion having a plurality of segments, and a light detection unit which detects scintillation light at a plurality of portions of the scintillator portion is known (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-93376, Japanese Patent No. 4332613, Japanese Patent No. 4338177, Japanese Patent No. 3597979, Japanese Patent No. 3697340, Japanese Patent No. 5013864, and WO 2012/105292 A). In the radiation detector, the segment which absorbs radiation is specified by the detection values of the scintillation light at the plurality of portions of the scintillator portion.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA radiation detector includes a light guide portion optically connecting a first segment positioned closest to the other side in a predetermined direction with a second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A radiation detector comprising:\na first scintillator portion including a plurality of first segments arranged along a predetermined direction, and a first optically discontinuous portion provided between the first segments adjacent to each other;\na second scintillator portion including a plurality of second segments arranged along the predetermined direction, and a second optically discontinuous portion provided between the second segments adjacent to each other;\na light detection unit optically connected to a first end surface of the first segment positioned closest to one side in the predetermined direction, and a second end surface of the second segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction; and\na light guide portion optically connecting the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction with the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction,\nwherein the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction are optically coupled to each other, and\nthe first segments other than the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and the second segments other than the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction are optically separated from each other.\n\n2. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nwherein the light guide portion is formed by covering a surface of the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and a surface of the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction with a light reflection portion so as to form a space between the surface of the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and the surface of the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction.\n\n3. The radiation detector according to claim 2, further comprising:\nan optical coupling agent provided on the surface of the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and on the surface of the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction,\nwherein a refractive index of the optical coupling agent is lower than that of each of the first and second scintillator portions.\n\n4. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nwherein a light scattering surface formed through laser irradiation is provided in the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction.\n\n5. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nwherein a first region including at least a portion of a surface of the first segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction excluding the first end surface, and a second region including at least a portion of a surface of the second segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction excluding the second end surface, are formed as diffuse reflection regions, and\na surface of the plurality of first segments other than the first end surface and the first region, and a surface of the plurality of second segments other than the second end surface and the second region are formed as specular reflection regions.\n\n6. The radiation detector according to claim 5,\nwherein the first region is formed on one surface of a pair of surfaces, which oppose each other, in the first segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction, and\nthe second region is formed on one surface of a pair of surfaces, which oppose each other, in the second segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction.\n\n7. The radiation detector according to claim 5,\nwherein the first region acts as the diffuse reflection region by covering the surface of the first segment, which is roughened, with a light reflection portion, and\nthe second region acts as the diffuse reflection region by covering the surface of the second segment, which is roughened, with the light reflection portion.\n\n8. The radiation detector according to claim 5,\nwherein the first region acts as the diffuse reflection region by covering the surface of the first segment with a diffuse reflection portion, and\nthe second region acts as the diffuse reflection region by covering the surface of the second segment with the diffuse reflection portion.\n\n9. The radiation detector according to claim 1,\nwherein a light scattering surface formed through laser irradiation is provided in the first segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction and in the second segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction.\n\n10. A radiation detector comprising:\na first scintillator portion including a plurality of first segments arranged along a predetermined direction, and a first optically discontinuous portion provided between the first segments adjacent to each other;\na second scintillator portion including a plurality of second segments arranged along the predetermined direction, and a second optically discontinuous portion provided between the second segments adjacent to each other; and\na light detection unit optically connected to a first end surface of the first segment positioned closest to one side in the predetermined direction, and a second end surface of the second segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction,\nwherein the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction are optically connected to each other,\nthe first segments other than the first segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction and the second segments other than the second segment positioned closest to the other side in the predetermined direction are optically separated from each other,\na first region including at least a portion of a surface of the first segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction excluding the first end surface, and a second region including at least a portion of a surface of the second segment positioned closest to the one side in the predetermined direction excluding the second end surface, are formed as diffuse reflection regions, and\na surface of the plurality of first segments other than the first end surface and the first region, and a surface of the plurality of second segments other than the second end surface and the second region are formed as specular reflection regions."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: A Frequency Converter\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nFrequency converters are used in order to convert an electromagnetic signal at one frequency to another frequency. The frequency conversion can be either up-conversion or downconversion, i.e. a signal at a certain frequency can be shifted either to a higher or a lower frequency. Frequency converters are used in such systems as, for example, radio communications systems and radar systems. A traditional frequency converter uses a mixer which has as its input signals the signal whose frequency it is desired to shift and a signal at another frequency, and provides as output the mixing product of the input signals. This product comprises so called sum and difference signals, i.e. signals at frequencies which are the sum and the difference of the frequencies of the input signals. The parameter usually referred to as conversion gain, defined as the ratio of the power (or, alternatively, voltage) of the output signal to the power (or alternatively, voltage) of the input signal whose frequency is shifted in the frequency converter, is a parameter which it is naturally a desire to improve on in frequency converters.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA frequency converter (100, 200, 300, 500, 600) comprising a first mixer (105) arranged to receive a first and a second input signal and to have as its output the sum and the difference of the first and second input signals. The frequency converter (100, 200, 300, 500, 600) also comprises generating means (120) for generating the second input signal and for receiving the output signal of the first mixer (105) and multiplying it by a signal at a frequency which is two times the frequency of the second input signal, thereby generating a product. The frequency converter (100, 200, 300, 500, 600) also comprises adding means (110) for obtaining the sum of this product and the output signal from the first mixer."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A frequency converter comprising:\na first mixer arranged to receive a first input signal and a second input signal and to output a sum and a difference of said first and second input signals,\ngenerating means for generating the second input signal and for receiving the output signal of the first mixer and multiplying it by a signal at a frequency which is two times the frequency of the second input signal, thereby generating a product, and\nadding means for obtaining a sum of said product and the output signal from the first mixer.\n\n2. The frequency converter of claim 1, wherein the generating means comprise a local oscillator and a second order sub-harmonic mixer, the second order sub-harmonic mixer being arranged to receive as input signals the output signal from the local oscillator and the output from the first mixer.\n\n3. The frequency converter of claim 1, wherein the generating means comprise a dual-band local oscillator which is arranged to output a signal at frequency fLO to the first mixer and a signal at frequency 2*fLO to a second mixer which is also comprised in the frequency converter and which is arranged to also receive as an input signal the output from the first mixer.\n\n4. The frequency converter of claim 1, wherein the generating means comprise a local oscillator connected to a frequency multiplier with a multiplication factor of two, and a second mixer arranged to receive as input signals the output signal from the frequency multiplier and the product from the first mixer.\n\n5. The frequency converter of claim 1, wherein the generating means is arranged to receive the output signal of the first mixer via a band-pass filter which is arranged to remove a sum or a difference component in the output from the first mixer.\n\n6. The frequency converter of claim 1, further comprising a band-pass filter for removing one of the sum and the difference from the output signal of the first mixer.\n\n7. A more frequency conversion, the method comprising:\ngenerating a second input signal;\nreceiving, at a first mixer, a first input signal and the second input signal;\noutputting, by the first mixer, a first output signal comprising a sum and a difference of said first and second input signals;\nreceiving, at a filter, the first output signal, wherein the filter is configured to filter the first output signal such that the filter produces a second output signal that comprises the sum said first and second input signals but does not comprise the difference of said first and second input signals;\nreceiving, at a second mixer, the second output signal;\nmultiplying, by the second mixer, the second output signal by a signal at a frequency which is two times the frequency of the second input signal, thereby generating a product, and\nobtaining a sum of said product and the first output signal from the first mixer.\n\n8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second mixer is a second order sub-harmonic mixer."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Antenna-Integrated Wireless Module And Method For Manufacturing Antenna-Integrated Wireless Module\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Field of the Disclosure The present disclosure relates to an antenna-integrated wireless module including a wireless functional section provided with an RF circuit, and an antenna section provided with an antenna conductor, and also relates to a method for manufacturing the antenna-integrated wireless module. 2. Description of the Related Art An antenna-integrated wireless module of the type illustrated in FIG. 25 has been proposed so far (see, e.g., Patent Document 1). In an antenna-integrated wireless module 500 illustrated in FIG. 25 , a wireless functional section 502 including an RF circuit, which is formed by circuit components such as a base band IC, an RFIC, and a memory IC, is disposed in a region of a substrate 501 spanning from a portion on the one end side to a central portion. Furthermore, a cap-shaped metal case 503 is mounted to an upper surface of the substrate 501 in the region spanning from the portion on the one end side to the central portion in a state covering the surface mounted components that form the RF circuit. A spiral antenna conductor 504 a made of a helical line is disposed in a portion of the substrate 501 on the other end side, whereby an antenna section 504 is disposed in the other end side portion of the substrate 501 . Moreover, a matching circuit 505 for establishing impedance matching between the wireless functional section 502 and the antenna section 504 is disposed in the other end side portion of the substrate 501 . The wireless functional section 502 is connected, through the matching circuit 505 , to a feeding point of the antenna conductor 504 a in the antenna section 504 . Thus, because the wireless functional section 502 and the antenna section 504 are formed adjacent to each other in different regions of the substrate 501 , influences upon the antenna section 504 can be suppressed, the influences being caused by the metal case 503 and a ground electrode pattern that is disposed inside the substrate 501 for shielding. Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-188626 (Paragraphs 0009 to 0015, FIG. 1, etc.)\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn antenna-integrated wireless module is provided which does not need a metal case, and which can realize size reduction. A shield layer is formed on an upper surface of a resin sealing layer, which is disposed on one principal surface of a substrate and which covers a wireless region and an antenna region, such that the shield layer does not cover a portion of the resin sealing layer, the portion being positioned directly above the antenna region. Hence the shield layer formed on the upper surface of the resin sealing layer on the side covering the wireless region can serve to suppress electromagnetic waves radiated from a wireless functional section, which is disposed in a region overlapping the wireless region when looking at the module in a plan view, and which includes an RF circuit disposed at least on the one principal surface of the substrate or inside the substrate."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An antenna-integrated wireless module comprising:\na substrate including a wireless region and one or a plurality of antenna regions located at different positions when looking at the substrate in a plan view from a side facing one principal surface of the substrate;\na wireless functional section disposed in the wireless region and including an RF circuit disposed at least on the one principal surface of the substrate or inside the substrate;\nan antenna section disposed in the antenna region and including an antenna conductor disposed at least on the one principal surface of the substrate or inside the substrate;\na resin sealing layer disposed on the one principal surface of the substrate in a state covering the wireless region and the antenna region at least on a one principal surface side of the substrate; and\na shield layer formed on surfaces of the resin sealing layer such that the shield layer does not cover at least a portion of an upper surface of the resin sealing layer, the portion being positioned directly above the antenna region,\nwherein an antenna electrode connected to the antenna section and a signal electrode connected to the wireless functional section are disposed on the other principal surface of the substrate.\n\n2. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein the shield layer is formed on the upper surface of the resin sealing layer only in a region overlapping the wireless region when looked at in the plan view.\n\n3. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 2, wherein a thickness of the resin sealing layer in a portion overlapping the antenna region when looked at in the plan view is thinner than a thickness of the resin sealing layer in a portion overlapping the wireless region when looked at in the plan view, and a level difference step is formed in the resin sealing layer between the wireless region and the antenna region.\n\n4. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 2, wherein the shield layer is formed to extend over lateral surfaces of the resin sealing layer, the lateral surfaces surrounding the wireless region.\n\n5. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the resin sealing layer in a portion overlapping the antenna region when looked at in the plan view is thinner than a thickness of the resin sealing layer in a portion overlapping the wireless region when looked at in the plan view, and a level difference step is formed in the resin sealing layer between the wireless region and the antenna region.\n\n6. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 5, wherein the shield layer is further formed to extend over a lateral surface of the level difference step in the resin sealing layer.\n\n7. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 6, wherein a groove is formed in the resin sealing layer to extend along the lateral surface of the level difference step up to the one principal surface of the substrate or a vicinity of the one principal surface, and the shield layer is formed to extend over an inner surface of the groove.\n\n8. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 5, wherein a groove is formed in the resin sealing layer to extend along the lateral surface of the level difference step up to the one principal surface of the substrate or a vicinity of the one principal surface, and the shield layer is formed to extend over an inner surface of the groove.\n\n9. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein the shield layer is formed to extend over lateral surfaces of the resin sealing layer, the lateral surfaces surrounding the wireless region.\n\n10. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined identification mark is formed in the upper surface of the resin sealing layer on a side covering the antenna region.\n\n11. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of antenna regions are disposed in the substrate in a sandwiching relation to the wireless region, and the antenna conductor is disposed in each of the antenna regions at least on the one principal surface of the substrate or inside the substrate.\n\n12. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein the shield layer is further formed over at least a part of lateral surfaces of the resin sealing layer, the lateral surfaces surrounding the antenna region.\n\n13. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein the antenna electrode includes a one-end antenna electrode connected to one end of the antenna conductor, and an opposite-end antenna electrode connected to an opposite end of the antenna conductor.\n\n14. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 1, wherein the antenna section and the wireless functional section are not directly connected on the one principal surface of the substrate.\n\n15. A method for manufacturing an antenna-integrated wireless module, the method comprising:\na preparation step of preparing a substrate including a wireless region and an antenna region located at different positions when looking at the substrate in a plan view from a side facing one principal surface of the substrate, a wireless functional section disposed in the wireless region and including an RF circuit disposed at least on the one principal surface of the substrate or inside the substrate, and an antenna section disposed in the antenna region and including an antenna conductor disposed at least on the one principal surface of the substrate or inside the substrate;\na sealing step of applying a resin over the entire one principal surface of the substrate and forming a resin sealing layer in a state entirely covering the one principal surface side of the substrate;\na conductive layer forming step of forming a conductor layer covering surfaces of the resin sealing layer with a conductive material; and\na removing step of removing a part of the conductive material of the conductive layer formed on an upper surface of the resin sealing layer, the part being present on a side including the antenna region, such that the conductive layer does not cover at least a portion of the upper surface of the resin sealing layer, the portion being positioned directly above the antenna region, whereby a shield layer is formed on the surfaces of the resin sealing layer by the remaining conductive layer,\nwherein, in the preparation step, an antenna electrode connected to the antenna section and a signal electrode connected to the wireless functional section are disposed on the other principal surface of the substrate.\n\n16. The method for manufacturing the antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 15, wherein, in the removing step, the shield layer is formed by the conductive layer on the upper surface of the resin sealing layer only in a region overlapping the wireless region when looked at in the plan view.\n\n17. The antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 15, wherein, in the removing step, a part of the resin sealing layer on a side covering the antenna region is removed together with the conductive material such that a thickness of the resin sealing layer on the side covering the antenna region is thinner than a thickness of the resin sealing layer on a side covering the wireless region.\n\n18. The method for manufacturing the antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 15, further comprising, after the sealing step and before the conductive layer forming step, a groove forming step of forming a groove in the resin sealing layer between the wireless region and the antenna region, wherein, in the conductive layer forming step, the conductive layer is further formed over an inner surface of the groove formed in the groove forming step.\n\n19. The method for manufacturing the antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 15, further comprising, after the removing step, a marking step of forming a predetermined identification mark in the upper surface of the resin sealing layer on the side covering the antenna region.\n\n20. The method for manufacturing the antenna-integrated wireless module according to claim 15, wherein an array of the substrates is prepared in the preparation step, and the array of the substrates is divided into individual pieces in units of one substrate after all the steps are executed."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Structures Having Active Regions Including Indium Gallium Nitride, Methods Of Forming Such Semiconductor Structures, And Related Light Emitting Devices\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nLight-emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are electrical devices that emit electromagnetic radiation in the form of visible light when a voltage is applied across an active region of the LED between an anode and a cathode. LEDs typically comprise one or more layers of semiconductor material, within which electrons supplied from the anode and holes supplied from the cathode recombine. As the electrons and holes recombine within the active region of the LED, energy is released in the form of photons, which are emitted from the active region of the LED. LEDs may be fabricated to include a wide range of different types of semiconductor materials including, for example, III-V semiconductor materials, and II-V semiconductor materials. The wavelength of the light emitted from any particular LED is a function of the amount of energy released when an electron and a hole recombine. Thus, the wavelength of the light emitted from the LED is a function of relative difference in energy between the energy level of the electron and the energy level of the hole. The energy levels of the electrons and the energy levels of the holes are at least partially a function of the composition of semiconductor materials, the doping type and concentration, the configuration (i.e., crystal structure and orientation) of the semiconductor materials, and the quality of the semiconductor materials within which recombination of the electrons and holes occurs. Thus, the wavelength of the light emitted from an LED may be selectively tailored by selectively tailoring the composition and configuration of the semiconductor materials within the LED. In is known in the art to fabricate LEDs that comprise III-V semiconductor materials, such as Group III nitride materials. Such Group III nitride LEDs are known to be capable of emitting radiation in the blue and green visible regions of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum, and are known to be capable of operating at relatively high power and luminosity.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nSemiconductor structures include an active region between a plurality of layers of InGaN. The active region may be at least substantially comprised by InGaN. The plurality of layers of InGaN include at least one well layer comprising InwGa1-wN, and at least one barrier layer comprising InbGa1-bN proximate the at least one well layer. In some embodiments, the value of w in the InwGa1-wN of the well layer may be greater than or equal to about 0.10 and less than or equal to about 0.40 in some embodiments, and the value of b in the InbGa1-bN of the at least one barrier layer may be greater than or equal to about 0.01 and less than or equal to about 0.10. Methods of forming semiconductor structures include growing such layers of InGaN to form an active region of a light emitting device, such as an LED. Luminary devices include such LEDs."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor structure, comprising:\na base layer comprising an In n Ga 1-n N layer having a polar growth plane with a growth plane lattice parameter of greater than about 3.2 Angstroms;\nan active region over the base layer and comprising:\nat least one well layer; and\nat least one barrier layer directly adjacent the at least one well layer;\nan electron blocking layer over the active region;\na p-type bulk layer over the electron blocking layer; and\na p-type contact layer over the p-type bulk layer.\n\n2. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the base layer further comprises:\na support substrate;\na dielectric material between the support substrate and the In n Ga 1-n N layer; and\nan In s Ga 1-s N seed layer between the dielectric material and the In n Ga 1-n N layer, wherein 0.05\u2266s\u22660.10 and a growth plane of the In s Ga 1-s N seed layer is a polar plane having a growth plane lattice parameter of greater than about 3.2 Angstroms.\n\n3. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the at least one well layer of the active region comprises In w Ga 1-w N, wherein 0.10\u2266w\u22660.40.\n\n4. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the at least one barrier layer of the active region comprises In b Ga 1-b N, wherein 0.01\u2266b\u22660.10.\n\n5. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the active region comprises:\na first pair of adjacent active layers comprising:\na first well layer comprising In w1 Ga 1-w1 N, wherein 0.10\u2266w1\u22660.40; and\na first barrier layer directly adjacent the first well layer and comprising In b1 Ga 1-b1 N, wherein 0.01\u2266b1\u22660.10; and\na second pair of adjacent active layers directly adjacent the first pair of adjacent active layers and comprising:\na second well layer comprising In w2 Ga 1-w2 N, wherein 0.10\u2266w2\u22660.40; and\na second barrier layer directly adjacent the second well layer and comprising In b2 Ga 1-b2 N, wherein 0.01\u2266b2\u22660.10.\n\n6. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the active region consists essentially of InGaN.\n\n7. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein one or more of the at least one well layer and the at least one barrier layer is doped with at least one n-type dopant, a concentration of the at least one n-type dopant in the one or more of the at least one well layer and the at least one barrier layer within a range from about 3e 17 cm \u22123 to about 1e 19 cm \u22123.\n\n8. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprising one or more of:\na spacer layer comprising In sp Ga 1-sp N between the In n Ga 1-n N layer and the active region, wherein 0.01\u2266sp\u22660.10; and\na cap layer comprising In cp Ga 1-cp N between the active region and the electron blocking layer, wherein 0.01\u2266cp\u22660.10.\n\n9. The semiconductor structure of claim 8, wherein the spacer layer is present and is doped with at least one n-type dopant, a concentration of the at least one n-type dopant in the spacer layer within a range from about 3e 17 cm \u22123 to about 1e 19 cm \u22123, and wherein the cap layer is present and is doped with at least one p-type dopant, a concentration of the at least one p-type dopant in the cap layer within a range from about 3e 17 cm \u22123 to about 1e 19 cm \u22123.\n\n10. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the electron blocking layer is selected from the group consisting of:\na single layer of In e Ga 1-e N, wherein 0.00\u2266e\u22660.02;\na single layer of Al e1 Ga 1-e1 N, wherein 0.00\u2266e1\u22660.20;\nalternating layers of GaN and In e2 Ga 1-e2 N, wherein 0.01\u2266e2\u22660.02; and\nalternating layers of GaN and Al e3 Ga 1-e3 N, wherein 0.01\u2266e3\u22660.20.\n\n11. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the electron blocking layer is doped with at least one p-type dopant, a concentration of the at least one p-type dopant in the electron blocking layer within a range from about 1e 17 cm \u22123 to about 1e 21 cm \u22123.\n\n12. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the p-type bulk layer comprises In p Ga 1-p N doped with at least one p-type dopant, wherein 0.01\u2266p\u22660.08 and a concentration of the at least one p-type dopant in the p-type bulk layer is within a range from about 1e 17 cm \u22123 to about 1e 21 cm \u22123.\n\n13. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the p-type contact layer comprises In c Ga 1-c N doped with at least one p-type dopant, wherein 0.01\u2266c\u22660.10 and a concentration of the at least one p-type dopant in the p-type contact layer is within a range from about 1e 17 cm \u22123 to about 1e 21 cm \u22123.\n\n14. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprising:\na spacer layer comprising In sp Ga 1-sp N doped with at least one n-type dopant between the base layer and the active region, wherein 0.01\u2266sp\u22660.10 and a concentration of the at least one p-type dopant in the spacer layer is within a range from about 3e 17 cm \u22123 to about 1e 19 cm \u22123; and\na strain relief layer comprising a superlattice structure doped with at least one n-type dopant between the base layer and the spacer layer, the superlattice structure comprising alternating layers of In sra Ga 1-sra, wherein 0.01\u2266sra\u22660.10, and In srb Ga 1-srb, wherein 0.01\u2266srb\u22660.10, a concentration of the at least one n-type dopant in the superlattice structure within a range from about 0.1e 18 cm \u22123 to about 20e 18 cm \u22123.\n\n15. A method of forming a semiconductor structure, comprising:\nforming a base layer comprising an In n Ga 1-n N layer having a polar growth plane with a growth plane lattice parameter of greater than about 3.2 \u212b;\nforming an active region over the base layer, the active region comprising:\nat least one well layer comprising In w Ga 1-w N, wherein 0.10\u2266w\u22660.40; and\nat least one barrier layer directly adjacent the well layer and comprising In b Ga 1-b N, wherein 0.01\u2266b\u22660.10;\nforming an electron blocking layer over the active region;\nforming a p-type bulk layer over the electron blocking layer; and\nforming a p-type contact layer over the p-type bulk layer.\n\n16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one well layer comprises In w Ga 1-w N and the at least one barrier layer comprises In b Ga 1-b N, wherein 0.10\u2266w\u22660.40 and 0.01\u2266b\u22660.10.\n\n17. The method of claim 15, wherein forming a base layer comprises:\nforming an In s Ga 1-s N seed layer over a support substrate, wherein 0.05\u2266s\u22660.10 and a growth plane of the In s Ga 1-s N seed layer is a polar plane having a growth plane lattice parameter of greater than about 3.2 Angstroms; and\nforming the In n Ga 1-n N layer on the In s Ga 1-s N seed layer.\n\n18. The method of claim 17, wherein forming an In s Ga 1-s N seed layer over a support substrate comprises:\nforming an intermediate semiconductor structure, the intermediate semiconductor structure comprising:\na sacrificial substrate;\na compliant material on the sacrificial substrate, the compliant material having a glass transition temperature of less than or equal to about 800\u00b0 C.; and\nan initial In s Ga 1-s N seed layer on the compliant material;\nheating the compliant material to at least partially relax tensile strain in the initial In s Ga 1-s N seed layer and form the In s Ga 1-s N seed layer; and\nseparating the In s Ga 1-s N seed layer from the sacrificial substrate and the compliant material; and\nattaching the In s Ga 1-s N seed layer to the support substrate.\n\n19. The method of claim 15, wherein forming an active region over the base layer comprises:\nforming a first pair of adjacent active layers over the base layer, the first pair of adjacent active layers comprising:\na first well layer comprising In w Ga 1-w N, wherein 0.10\u2266w\u22660.40; and\na first barrier layer directly adjacent the first well layer and comprising In b Ga 1-b N, wherein 0.01\u2266b\u22660.10; and\nforming a second pair of adjacent active layers directly adjacent the first pair of adjacent active layers, the second pair of adjacent active layers comprising:\na second well layer comprising In w Ga 1-w N, wherein 0.10\u2266w\u22660.40; and\na second barrier layer directly adjacent the second well layer and comprising In b Ga 1-b N, wherein 0.01\u2266b\u22660.10.\n\n20. The method of claim 15, further comprising one or more of:\nforming a spacer layer comprising In sp Ga 1-sp N between the In n Ga 1-n N layer and the active region, wherein 0.01\u2266sp\u22660.10; and\nforming a cap layer comprising In cp Ga 1-cp N between the active region and the electron blocking layer, wherein 0.01\u2266cp\u22660.10.\n\n21. The method of claim 15, further comprising forming a strain relief layer between the base layer and the active region, the strain relief layer comprising alternating layers of In sra Ga 1-sra, wherein 0.01\u2266sra\u22660.10, and In srb Ga 1-srb, wherein 0.01\u2266srb\u22660.10.\n\n22. A light emitting device, comprising:\na base layer comprising an In n Ga 1-n N layer having a polar growth plane with a growth plane lattice parameter of greater than about 3.2 Angstroms;\nan active region over the base layer and comprising:\nat least one well layer; and\nat least one barrier layer directly adjacent the at least one well layer;\nan electron blocking layer over the active region;\na p-type bulk layer over the electron blocking layer; and\na p-type contact layer over the p-type bulk layer.\n\n23. The light emitting device of claim 22, wherein a critical strain energy of the light emitting device is less than or equal to about 4500 (a.u.)."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Semiconductor Laser Device, Photoelectric Converter, And Optical Information Processing Unit\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe technology relates to a semiconductor laser device having a mesa section, and also to a photoelectric converter and an optical information processing unit each having the semiconductor laser device. In recent years, as microprocessor units (MPUs) have become more sophisticated in functionality, the amount of data transmitted and received among semiconductor chips such as large scale integration (LSI) has greatly increased. Thus, speed enhancement and capacity enlargement of signal transmission have been strongly desired. As a way of realizing these, optical transmission coupling technology (optical interconnection) in which electric signals are converted into optical signals and transmitted has been attracting attention (for example, see \u201cEncounter with Optical Interconnection\u201d, Nikkei Electronics, Dec. 3, 2001, pages 122 to 125, FIGS. 4 to 7 , and also, see \u201cTrends in Optical Interconnection Technology and their Impact on Next-Generation Equipment Packaging\u201d, Yasuhiro Ando, NTT R&D, Vol. 48, No. 3, pages 271 to 280 (1999)). In the optical transmission coupling technology (optical interconnection), a light-emission device (e.g., a surface-emitting semiconductor laser device) and a photodetector (e.g., a photodiode) are provided on a printed circuit board, and optical signals are transmitted through an optical waveguide (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005-181610, 2006-237428, and 2006-258835, for example). This surface-emitting semiconductor laser (vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL)) device serving as the light-emission device has, for example, an n-side electrode, a lower distributed bragg reflector (DBR) layer, an active layer, an upper DBR layer, and a p-side electrode in this order from a substrate side. Further, a mesa section is provided in a part of the surface-emitting semiconductor laser. This mesa section is embedded in an insulating layer made of resin. In other words, a top surface of such a laminated body is flat, which enables flip-chip assembly (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-141087).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA semiconductor laser device that enables flip-chip assembly by having an embedding section around a mesa section, and that has an improved emission lifetime, as well as a photoelectric converter and an optical information processing unit each having such a semiconductor laser device. The semiconductor laser device includes: a mesa section including an active layer, and having a first electrode on a top surface; an embedding section covering the mesa section, and having a first connection aperture that reaches the first electrode; and a first wiring provided on the embedding section overlaying the first connection aperture, the first wiring being electrically connected to the first electrode through the first connection aperture."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A semiconductor light emitting device comprising:\na mesa structure including an active layer;\na first electrode disposed on a top surface of the mesa structure;\nan embedding member covering the first electrode and at least a portion of a side surface of the mesa structure, the embedding member having a first connection aperture that reaches the first electrode;\na first wiring disposed on the embedding member, the first wiring (i) having a length equal to or longer than a radius of the mesa section, (ii) overlaying the first connection aperture in its entirety, (iii) extending across opposite sides of the first connection aperture, and (iv) being electrically connected to the first electrode through the first connection aperture;\na second electrode disposed on a bottom surface of the mesa structure; and\na second wiring disposed on the embedding member, and electrically connected to the second electrode through a second connection aperture formed in the embedding member,\nwherein,\nthe embedding member includes a first insulating layer and a second insulating layer,\nthe mesa structure includes a pillar laminated body covered with the first insulating layer, and\nthe second insulating layer covers the laminated body.\n\n2. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe mesa section is columnar.\n\n3. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein, of the first wiring, a region on the laminated body has a substantially point symmetry shape, with respect to a point at a center of the mesa structure, and, of this region, a part extending from the first connection aperture to one side is an excess wiring section.\n\n4. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the second wiring overlays the second connection aperture.\n\n5. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe mesa section is disposed above a surface of a transparent substrate, and\na lens corresponding to the active layer is on other surface of the transparent substrate.\n\n6. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 5, wherein:\na base is on the one surface of the transparent substrate, and\nthe mesa structure is disposed on the base.\n\n7. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe mesa structure includes a first multilayer reflective film and a second multilayer reflective film so as to sandwich the active layer; and\nthe second multilayer reflective film has an oxidation confinement section.\n\n8. The semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, wherein a signal is configured to be input into the first wiring, only from one side of the first connection aperture in an extending direction of the first wiring.\n\n9. A photoelectric converter comprising the semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1.\n\n10. An optical information processing device comprising:\nthe semiconductor light emitting device according to claim 1, and\na photodetector device configured to receive light signal."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Dynamic Deceleration Control For Hybrid Vehicle To Achieve A Consistent Overrun Response\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nHybrid vehicles are well known, and typically comprise an internal combustion engine and an electric motor powered by a battery. The vehicle may be powered by the engine, by the motor, or by a combination of engine and motor. In the latter case sophisticated controls have been developed to ensure that the wheel torque demanded by the driver, and any additional torque to charge the battery, can be delivered by proportioning the torque delivered by the engine and motor so as to meet a pre-determined target, which may be based for example on one of minimized fuel consumption, maximized range, and maximized vehicle performance. The optimum state of charge of the battery typically varies according to the pre-determined target. The vehicle battery may be recharged by the usual generator of the engine or by the motor acting as a generator; in the latter case the motor may be driven by the wheels (regenerative braking) or by the engine. In order to provide familiar feedback to the driver, who may be more familiar with the characteristics of a more standard non-hybrid vehicle, it is desirable to provide a substantially consistent degree of deceleration on overrun\u2014overrun is defined in this specification as slowing of the vehicle without assistance of braking, typically at a substantially zero position of the accelerator pedal. In a hybrid vehicle, providing consistent deceleration is somewhat problematic. If the engine is running and fully engaged with the driveline, a hybrid vehicle can exhibit a normal deceleration in response to foot-off of the accelerator pedal provided that additional negative torque from the motor is avoided. However if the engine is disconnected from the driveline and the vehicle is operating in electric-only mode, retardation can be provided solely by the motor (acting as generator). In this circumstance it may be possible to determine empirically the deceleration torque applied by the engine (the torque to overcome friction and pumping losses) and cause the motor to provide the equivalent deceleration torque by acting as a generator (and thus recharging the battery). A difficulty arises if the battery is fully charged, because the motor control system may prevent the motor acting as a generator, so that the normal degree of deceleration cannot be achieved. In addition, a negative torque (deceleration) target based on friction and pumping losses of the engine takes no account of external vehicle conditions which are apparent to the vehicle driver, such as gradient, speed ratio of the transmission and vehicle mass; changes in these conditions will cause the vehicle driver to expect a different deceleration profile. Provision of consistent deceleration becomes more difficult when the motor (as generator) provides only a portion of the negative torque, and the engine provides the remainder via a slipping clutch. Accordingly a better method and means of achieving consistent overrun is required.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA hybrid electric vehicle is capable of direct drive by internal combustion engine, electric motor, or both. In order to provide a consistent overrun response, a torque controller determines an appropriate deceleration characteristic according to, for example, transmission speed ratio, vehicle gradient and vehicle mass, and commands the electric motor and the engine to contribute a negative torque which meets the required deceleration characteristic. A \u2018tip\u2019 function modifies the characteristic in the event of a change commanded by the vehicle driver, for example a change of speed ratio."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of obtaining a consistent overrun response of a hybrid electric vehicle capable of direct drive by internal combustion engine, electric motor, or a combination thereof, said electric motor being capable of operation as a generator, said method comprising:\ndetermining a target deceleration by reference to one or more of vehicle speed, transmission speed ratio, gradient, vehicle mass and vehicle mode;\nmeasuring real-time vehicle deceleration;\ncontinually determining a difference between said target deceleration and said real-time deceleration;\ncommanding said internal combustion engine and/or electric motor to provide said difference by generating a negative torque;\nidentifying a downshift of transmission speed ratio;\nmodifying said target deceleration by reference to the downshifted transmission ratio; and\nsmoothing a transition to the modified target deceleration.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein said difference between said target deceleration and said real-time deceleration is provided by said electric motor.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein said difference between said target deceleration and said real-time deceleration is provided by said internal combustion engine operating in a mode in which a fuel supply is cut-off.\n\n4. The method of claim 3, wherein said internal combustion engine is adapted to supply the negative torque via a clutch, and said clutch is slipped to vary a negative torque output thereof.\n\n5. The method of claim 1, wherein said transition is completed within a pre-determined time period.\n\n6. The method of claim 5, wherein the modified target deceleration is determined in an event of a driver request of transmission downshift.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, further comprising a preparatory step of detecting a substantially zero movement of an accelerator pedal to implement a requirement for an overrun response.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an estimate of negative torque to achieve a target deceleration, applying said estimate as an initial command to said internal combustion engine and electric motor, and thereafter continually determining said difference and commanding said internal combustion engine and/or electric motor to provide said difference.\n\n9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\ncontinually monitoring gradient,\ndetecting a change of gradient exceeding a gradient threshold, and\nadjusting said target deceleration according to a gradient change exceeding a gradient threshold.\n\n10. A torque controller of a hybrid electric vehicle, said torque controller comprising a processor and a memory having a plurality of deceleration characteristics for said vehicle, and said processor being adapted to implement the method of claim 1.\n\n11. A hybrid electric vehicle capable of direct drive by internal combustion engine, electric motor or a combination thereof, said vehicle being adapted to implement the method of claim 1."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: User Device And Operating Method Therefor\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nWith the development of electronics communication industries in recent years, a user device (e.g., a cellular phone, an electronic organizer, a personal data assistant, a laptop computer, or the like) has become necessities of modern life as an important means for delivering information which changes rapidly. The user device facilitates a user's operation through a Graphic User Interface (GUI) environment using a touch screen, and provides various multimedia based on a web environment. A thinner and lighter user device is launched due to importance of portability. Recently, the user device has a wireless communication function as basic specifications to such an extent that it is difficult to find a user device not having the wireless communication function. According to a characteristic of a user device which can be easily carried, a user can acquire information through a network irrespective of a place.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may include a plurality of antennas for transmitting and receiving radio waves, at least one sensor for sensing a physical quantity or physical changes, a sensor hub for outputting a control signal in response to an output from the at least one sensor, and a communication module for controlling wireless communication using the plurality of antennas in response to the control signal. Various other exemplary embodiments are possible."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electronic device comprising:\na plurality of antennas configured to transmit and receive radio waves;\nat least one sensor configured to sensing a physical quantity or physical changes, wherein the physical quantity or physical changes include a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) for the plurality of antennas;\na sensor hub configured to output at least one control signal in response to an output from the at least one sensor; and\nRadio Frequency (RF) components configured to control wireless communication using the plurality of antennas in response to the at least one control signal,\nwherein the sensor hub is configured to output the at least one control signal for increasing a weight for a Receive (Rx) signal and/or a Transmit (Tx) signals through an antenna of which the RSSI is relatively high, and output the at least one control signal for decreasing the weight for the Rx signal and/or the Tx signal through an antenna of which the RSSI is relatively low, and\nwherein the RF components are configured to apply weights for (Rx) signals and/or (Tx) signals through the plurality of antennas in response to the at least one control signal.\n\n2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the RF components are further configured to select at least one antenna used in the wireless communication among the plurality of antennas in response to the at least one control signal.\n\n3. The electronic device of claim 2,\nwherein the physical quantity or physical changes further include a capacitance change regarding the plurality of antennas, and\nwherein the sensor hub is further configured to output the at least one control signal for selecting the at least one antenna of which the capacitance change is relatively small.\n\n4. The electronic device of claim 1,\nwherein the physical quantity or physical charges further include a capacitance change regarding the plurality of antennas, and\nwherein the sensor hub is further configured to output the at least one control signal for increasing the weight for the Rx signal and/or the Tx signal through an antenna of which the capacitance change is relatively high, and output the at least one control signal for decreasing the weight for the Rx signal and/or the Tx signal through an antenna of which the capacitance change is relatively low.\n\n5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sensor hub is further configured output the at least one control signal for regulating Tx power of at least one antenna.\n\n6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sensor hub is further configured to identify a surrounding situation from the output from the at least one sensor, and output the at least one control signal corresponding to the surrounding situation.\n\n7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to derive the output by using the plurality of antennas as a sensing medium.\n\n8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is configured to derive the output by using at least one metal body disposed in an adjacent manner to the plurality of antennas as a sensing medium.\n\n9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes at least one of a gesture sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a magnetic sensor, a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a Red, Green, Blue (RGB) sensor, a bio sensor, a pressure sensor, a temperature/humidity sensor, an illumination sensor, and an Ultra Violet (UV) sensor.\n\n10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the RF components use at least one of communication schemes of Single Input Single Output (SISO), Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO), Multiple Input Single Output (MISO), diversity, and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO).\n\n11. An electronic device comprising:\na Micro Controller Unit (MCU) configured to output at least one control signal in response to outputs from a plurality of sensors, wherein the MCU is configured to:\nacquire a plurality of pieces of information from the plurality of sensors, wherein the plurality of pieces of information include a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) for a plurality of antennas, and\ngenerate the at least one control signal for controlling wireless communication from the plurality of pieces of information,\nwherein the MCU is configured to output the at least one control signal for increasing a weight for a Receive (Rx) signal and/or a Transmit (Tx) signal through an antenna of which the RSSI is relatively high, and output the at least one control signal for decreasing the weight for the Rx signal and/or the Tx signal through an antenna of which the RSSI is relatively low, and\nRadio Frequency (RF) components configured to control wireless communication using the plurality of antennas in response to the at least one control signal, wherein the RF components are configured to apply weights for (Rx) signals and/or Tx signals through the plurality of antennas in response to the at least one control signal.\n\n12. The electronic device of claim 11,\nwherein the RF components are further configured to select at least one antenna used in the wireless communication from among the plurality of antennas, or regulate Tx power of at least one antenna in response to the at least one control signal.\n\n13. The electronic device of claim 11,\nwherein the RF components are further configured to select at least one of communication schemes of Single Input Single Output (SISO), Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO), Multiple Input Single Output (MISO), diversity, and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) in response to the at least one control signal."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Dual Screen Display For Mobile Computing Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nHigh demand exists for mobile computing devices that can be used anywhere anytime. One limitation placed on this demand are the displays used in these devices. Conventional mobile computing devices use backlit displays to display text or an image. One such display is a liquid crystal display. These displays use a variety of liquid crystal substances that have a unique feature of being affected by electrical current. For example, a particular form of liquid crystal is the nematic liquid crystal called twisted nematics which are naturally twisted. Applying an electric current to these crystals will untwist them to varying degrees depending on the voltage. Because the crystals react predictably to electric current, the electric current can be used to control the passage of light through the crystal. Liquid crystals do not emit light of their own. External lighting must be applied to the crystal in order that light from the crystal can be seen. Backlighting may be provided by any light source such as a fluorescent tube, LEDs, lasers, or other sources of light. In conventional backlit displays used on mobile computing devices, the computer display is typically lit with built-in fluorescent tubes typically located behind the LCD. Depending upon the orientation of the liquid crystals under the influence of an applied voltage, there is more light or less backlight that is allowed to pass through the crystals. That provides the dark and light points of light coming from the liquid crystal display that together form the text or image that is seen on the display screen by the user. The readability of back lit displays is generally inversely proportional to ambient light. This is because the lighting for backlit display comes from the backlight. When the ambient light is dark or where lighting is scarce, there is no or little light reflecting off the liquid crystal display to interfere with the backlighting that is shining through the liquid crystal display. For that reason, a backlit display can be easily read in the dark or where lighting is scarce. Where, however, the ambient light is too strong, the readability of the backlit display degrades on account of the interference between the strong ambient light reflecting off of the liquid crystal display and the backlight that is coming from the liquid crystal display. In addition, the human eye responds to high ambient light by closing the iris resulting in making the light in the back light display appear dimmer. For these reasons, backlit displays are difficult to read when the ambient or outdoor light is strong. In direct sunlight, such as on the beach, the interference may be so great that the backlit display may be impossible to read. A relatively new technology for displaying text and images that is becoming increasing popular on account of e-books is electronic paper. Electronic paper, e-paper and electronic ink are display technologies which are designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper. Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays which emit light, electronic paper displays reflect light like ordinary paper. Other applications of electronic visual displays include electronic pricing labels in retail shops, and digital signage, time tables at bus stations, electronic billboards, and e-paper magazines. Some devices, like USB flash drives, even use electronic paper to display status information, such as available storage space. E-ink is less popular with cell phones although Motorola makes one cell phone with an e-ink display known as the E3. Diffuse reflecting technology, such as e-ink, is particularly useful for e-books because it has low refresh rates compared to other low-power display technologies, such as LCD. The low refresh rates allow for a more stable image, since there is no need to refresh the image constantly which can make an e-ink display more comfortable to read. The low refresh rates also reduce the power requirements for displaying text and images. Indeed, some e-ink technologies require very little or no refresh at all and so can even hold the static text and images indefinitely without using electricity, except when changing to another image. The technology of e-ink can also allow for a wider viewing angle than is possible with an LCD display. The low refresh rate possible with e-ink however makes e-ink displays not well suitable for sophisticated interactive applications, such as fast moving menus, mouse pointers or scrolling.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA mobile computing device is disclosed for displaying backlight and diffuse reflecting information. The mobile computing device is configured to include a processor, a first LCD display unit connected to the processor, and a second diffuse reflecting display unit connected to the processor. The mobile computing device is further provided with a display panel interface, such as a mouse or a gravity detecting device like an accelerometer, configured to detect a property for activating a display type. The processor is configured to send information to be displayed to the first display unit or the second display unit or both depending on the display type property detected."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A terminal, comprising;\na display part comprising:\na backlit display unit;\na diffuse reflecting display unit configured to display a dashboard of information with life data of the terminal that is always visible;\na keyboard part;\na swivel member connecting the display part to the keyboard part to allow the display part of the terminal to swivel about an orthogonal axis of the swivel member when the display part is substantially orthogonal to the keyboard part of the terminal such that in a first position of the display part, the backlit display unit is allowed to face in a direction of the keyboard part of the terminal and in a second position of the display part, the diffuse reflecting display unit is allowed to face in the direction of the keyboard part of the terminal;\na sensor configured to detect a property for activating a display type; and\nwherein the terminal is configured to send information to be displayed to the backlit display unit or the diffuse reflecting display unit or both depending on the property detected by the sensor.\n\n2. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the diffuse reflecting display unit is based on e-ink technology.\n\n3. The terminal of claim 1, wherein:\nthe sensor is a touch activated sensor comprising a first touch activated sensor associated with the backlit display unit and a second touch activated sensor associated with the diffuse reflecting display unit;\nwherein the property detected by the touch activated sensor is a touch detected by the first touch activated sensor or a touch detected by the second touch activated sensor; and\nwherein the touch detected by the first touch activated sensor activates the backlit display unit and the touch detected by the second touch activated sensor activates the diffuse reflecting display unit.\n\n4. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a gravity detecting device and the property detected for activating the display type depends on which of the backlit display unit or the diffuse reflecting display unit is facing in an upward direction.\n\n5. The terminal of claim 1, comprising a memory configured to store properties of the backlit display unit and the diffuse reflecting display unit.\n\n6. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the diffuse reflecting display unit is configured to serve as a mouse pad or a mouse.\n\n7. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the backlit display unit and the diffuse reflecting display unit are located on a front side of the terminal.\n\n8. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the diffuse reflecting display unit overlays the backlit display unit.\n\n9. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the backlit display unit overlays the diffuse reflecting display unit.\n\n10. The terminal of claim 1, wherein a display unit comprising one of the backlit display unit and the diffuse reflecting display unit facing toward the keyboard part of the terminal is used in a first set of operations.\n\n11. The terminal of claim 10, wherein the display unit facing away from the keyboard part of the terminal is used in a second set of operations.\n\n12. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the second set of operations that are being performed using the display unit facing away from the keyboard part of the terminal are performed contemporaneously with the first set of operations that are being performed using the display unit facing toward the keyboard part of the terminal.\n\n13. The terminal of claim 11, wherein the display unit facing away from the keyboard part of the terminal is configured to provide a display face of the terminal when the display part is closed onto the keyboard part of the terminal.\n\n14. The terminal of claim 13, wherein the display face of the terminal serves as a tablet when the display part is closed onto the keyboard part of the terminal.\n\n15. A method, comprising:\ndetecting, with a sensor in a terminal, a property for activating a display type;\nsending information to be displayed to a backlit display unit of the terminal or a diffuse reflecting display unit of the terminal or both depending on the property detected;\nwherein the diffuse reflecting display unit is configured to display a dashboard of information with life data of the terminal that is always visible;\nwherein the terminal comprises:\na display part comprising the backlit display unit and the diffuse reflecting display unit;\na keyboard part; and\na swivel member connecting the display part to the keyboard part to allow the display part of the terminal to swivel about an orthogonal axis of the swivel member when the display part is substantially orthogonal to the keyboard part of the terminal such that in a first position of the display part, the backlit display unit is allowed to face in a direction of the keyboard part of the terminal for use in a first set of operations and in a second position of the display part, the diffuse reflecting display unit is allowed to face in the direction of the keyboard part of the terminal.\n\n16. The method of claim 15, wherein (i) the sensor comprises a first touch activated sensor associated with the backlit display unit and a second touch activated sensor associated with the diffuse reflecting display unit and (ii) detecting, with the sensor in the terminal, the property for activating a display type comprises detecting a touch with the first touch activated sensor or detecting a touch with the second touch activated sensor, the method comprising:\nin response to detecting a touch with the first touch activated sensor, activating the backlit display unit; and\nin response to detecting a touch with the second touch activated sensor, activating the diffuse reflecting display unit.\n\n17. A terminal, comprising;\na processor;\na display part comprising:\na first display unit configured to provide a backlit display connected to the processor; and\na second display unit configured to provide a diffuse reflecting display connected to the processor and display a dashboard of information with life data of the terminal that is always visible on account of the diffuse reflecting display holding its data;\na display panel interface configured to detect a property for activating a display type;\na keyboard part;\na swivel member connecting the display part to the keyboard part of the terminal to allow the display part of the terminal to swivel about an orthogonal axis of the swivel member when the display part is substantially orthogonal to the keyboard part of the terminal;\nwherein the processor is configured to send information to be displayed to the first display unit or the second display unit or both depending on the display type property detected; and\nwherein the display panel interface is a sensor and the property detected for activating the display type is a property detected by the sensor;\nwherein the swivel member allows, in a first position of the display part, the first display unit to face in a direction of the keyboard part of the terminal for use in a first set of operations and in a second position of the display part, the second display unit is allowed to face in the direction of the keyboard part of the terminal.\n\n18. The terminal of claim 17, wherein the diffuse reflecting display is based on e-ink technology.\n\n19. The terminal of claim 17, wherein:\nthe sensor is a touch activated sensor comprising a first touch activated sensor associated with the backlit display and a second touch activated sensor associated with the diffuse reflecting display;\nwherein the property detected by the touch activated sensor is a touch detected by the first touch activated sensor or a touch detected by the second touch activated sensor; and\nwherein the touch detected by the first touch activated sensor activates the backlit display and the touch detected by the second touch activated sensor activates the diffuse reflecting display.\n\n20. The terminal of claim 17, wherein the backlit display unit and the diffuse reflecting display unit are located on a front side of the terminal."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Antenna System\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nWith the development of mobile communication technologies, mobile communication devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, or the like, are used more and more widely. Mobile communication devices with metal shells are preferred by people because of their fashion appearance as well as good durability. In a typical mobile communication device, two parallel gaps are formed on a metal back cover thereof to enable a corresponding part of the metal cover to serve as an antenna radiator. However, the parallel gaps may impact the appearance and integrality of the metal shell, and also lower radiation efficiency of the antenna radiator. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new antenna system which can overcome the aforesaid problems.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn antenna system applicable to a mobile communication device is provided in the present disclosure. The antenna system includes a metal shell with a metal frame and a metal back cover, a printed circuit board (PCB) housed in the metal shell, and an antenna part with a first feed point and a second feed point. A first break point and a second break point are formed at two opposite sides of the metal frame; a first gap and a second gap are respectively formed at two opposite sides of the metal back cover for defining a first clearance area and a second clearance area. The first feed point is located in the first clearance area and contacts a left frame portion of the metal frame; the second feed point is located in the second clearance area and contacts a right frame portion of the metal frame."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An antenna system, comprising:\na metal shell comprising a metal frame and a metal back cover surrounded by the metal frame;\na printed circuit board (PCB) housed in the metal shell; and\nan antenna part comprising a first feed point and a second feed point on the PCB;\nwherein a first break point and a second break point are formed at two opposite sides of the metal frame for cooperatively separating the metal frame into a top frame portion and a main frame assembly comprising a left frame portion and a right frame portion; a first gap and a second gap are respectively formed at two opposite sides of the metal back cover near the top frame portion for defining a first clearance area and a second clearance area;\nwherein the first feed point is located in the first clearance area and contacts the left frame portion, and the second feed point is located in the second clearance area and contacts the right frame portion;\nwherein the first feed point serves as a GPS/WIFI antenna feed point; the second feed point serves as a diversity antenna feed point\nwherein a volume of the first clearance area is greater than that of the second clearance area for ensuring a wavelength range of the GPS/WIFI antenna feed point is greater than that of the diversity antenna feed point.\n\n2. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein both the first gap and the second gap are L-shaped gaps.\n\n3. The antenna system of claim 2, wherein the first gap extends from a top edge of the metal back cover near the top frame portion to a left edge of the metal back cover near the left frame portion, and the second gap extends from the top edge of the metal back cover to a right edge of the metal back cover near the right frame portion.\n\n4. The antenna system of claim 3, wherein the metal back cover, the left frame portion and a left end of the top frame portion are separated by the first gap for forming the first clearance area; and the metal back cover, the right frame portion and a right end of the top frame portion are separated by the second gap for forming a second clearance area.\n\n5. The antenna system of claim 4, wherein the first clearance area is communicated with the first break point; the second clearance area is communicated with the second break point.\n\n6. The antenna system of claim 4, wherein a length of the first clearance area, which extends from the first break point along the left frame portion, is greater than a length of the second clearance area, which extends from the second break point along the right frame portion.\n\n7. The antenna system of claim 1, wherein the antenna part further comprises a matching circuit electrically connected to the first feed point.\n\n8. The antenna system of claim 7, wherein the matching circuit comprises a first inductor, a capacitor and a second inductor; both the capacitor and the second inductor are electrically connected in parallel with the first inductor."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Traction Control Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nIn the related art, there is known a traction control technology that adjusts engine output, motor output, or the like at the time of slip of drive wheels of a vehicle so as to inhibit the extent of slip of the drive wheels to predetermined value or less. One of such a traction control technology known is a technology that corrects slip by controlling output torque of an electric vehicle driving motor when slip of the drive wheels is detected (for example, PTL 1). The traction control technology of the related art inhibits previously occurring slip by adjusting output or a driving motor or the like when slip of the drive wheels is detected. Thus, initial slip at the start of the vehicle cannot be prevented. Particularly, initial slip increases when a magnetic pickup type-wheel speed sensor is employed because a low speed of the vehicle cannot be detected. For example, when the vehicle starts on a snowy uphill road, the vehicle may not start once the drive wheels slip because compacted snow decreases a road surface coefficient of friction \u03bc. In order to prevent initial slip at the start of the vehicle, there is suggested a device that computes the road surface coefficient of friction \u03bc from forward and backward and leftward and rightward acceleration to compute a drive torque restriction value for the start of the vehicle on the basis of the estimated road surface coefficient of friction. \u03bc and that inhibits a rise in the output of the driving motor when drive torque is greater than or equal to the drive torque restriction value (for example, PTL 2).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn order to provide a traction control device capable of preventing an initial slip at a start, the traction control device includes a drive power source outputting drive power to a drive wheel of a vehicle; a vehicle speed sensor detecting the wheel speed of a non-drive wheel of the vehicle; and target restricted speed generating means for generating a target restricted speed for the vehicle by determining the state of a road surface from target drive torque of the vehicle, the wheel speed of the non-drive wheel, and a signal indicating the extent of operation of an accelerator by a driver. The target restricted speed generated by the target restricted. speed generating means is switched stepwise in a speed region where the speed of the drive wheel s not detected in correspondence with a control mode that is classified according to the slipperiness of a road surface."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A traction control device comprising:\na drive power source that outputs drive power to a drive wheel of a vehicle;\na vehicle speed sensor that detects the wheel speed of a non-drive wheel of the vehicle; and\nan electronic control unit for generating a target restricted speed for the vehicle by determining the state of a road surface from target slip ratio of the vehicle, the wheel speed of the non-drive wheel, and a signal indicating the extent of operation of an accelerator by a driver,\nwherein the target restricted speed generated by the electronic control unit is switched stepwise in a speed region where the speed of the drive wheel is not detected in correspondence with a control mode that is classified according to the slipperiness of a road surface.\n\n2. The traction control device according to claim 1,\nwherein the electronic control unit counts time immediately after the accelerator is ON and changes the target restricted speed according to the counted time.\n\n3. The traction control device according to claim 2,\nwherein the electronic control unit determines the slipperiness of a road surface as at least one of a high \u03bc road and a low \u03bc road by whether a signal is output from the vehicle speed sensor after counting time immediately after the accelerator is ON and switches the target restricted speed according to the control mode corresponding to each of the high \u03bc road and the low \u03bc road.\n\n4. The traction control device according to claim 3,\nwherein determination of the low \u03bc road by the electronic control unit includes two or more stages, and the target restricted speed is switched stepwise according to each stage.\n\n5. The traction control device according to claim 3,\nwherein the target restricted speed is smoothly increased by counting time immediately after determination of the low \u03bc road is made.\n\n6. The traction control device according to claim 3,\nwherein the rate of temporal change in target restricted speed is set to be smaller as the stages of determination proceed.\n\n7. The traction control device according to claim 3,\nwherein when the vehicle falls into a state where a start of the vehicle is not made, the target restricted speed is reset to a predetermined value if the speed of a non-drive side wheel does not increase even after a predetermined time elapses by counting time immediately after determination of the low \u03bc road is made.\n\n8. The traction control device according to claim 2,\nwherein the electronic control unit classifies the slipperiness of a road surface into four stages of the control mode of a high \u03bc road, a low \u03bc road, an uphill low \u03bc road, and a very low \u03bc road.\n\n9. The traction control device according to claim 8,\nwherein determination of the low \u03bc road by the electronic control unit includes two or more stages, and the target restricted speed is switched stepwise according to each stage.\n\n10. The traction control device according to claim 8,\nwherein the target restricted speed is smoothly increased by counting time immediately after determination of the low \u03bc road is made.\n\n11. The traction control device according to claim 8,\nwherein the rate of temporal change in target restricted speed is set to be smaller as the stages of determination proceed.\n\n12. The traction control device according to claim 8,\nwherein when the vehicle falls into a state where a start of the vehicle is not made, the target restricted speed is reset to a predetermined value if the speed of a non-drive side wheel does not increase even after a predetermined time elapses by counting time immediately after determination of the low \u03bc road is made."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Gas Turbine Engine Driving Multiple Fans\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nGas turbine engines are known, and typically include a fan delivering air into a compressor. The air is compressed in the compressor, and delivered into a combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited. Products of the combustion pass downstream over turbine rotors, which in turn drive the compressor and fan. Fan rotors are becoming increasingly large in diameter. This increase presents challenges with regard to operation and packaging. Thus, it has been proposed to drive a plurality of fan rotors from a single gas turbine engine core. The enlargement of fan diameter has increased with the recent development of a gear reduction driving the fan from the turbine rotor. The fans typically drive air through both a bypass duct, and into the compressor. A bypass ratio is defined as the volume of air delivered into the bypass duct as propulsion, compared to the volume of air delivered into the compressor. The bypass ratio has become larger as the fan diameter has become larger. It has been proposed to drive a plurality of smaller fan rotors from a single core engine. Typically these proposals have only driven two fan rotors. One proposal has been to drive as many as four fan rotors from a single core engine, however, the transmission for doing so would not share the power to the fan rotors in an efficient manner.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA gas turbine engine includes a core engine with a compressor section, a combustor and a turbine. The turbine drives an output shaft, and the output shaft drives at least four gears. Each of the at least four gears extends through a drive shaft to drive an associated fan rotor."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A gas turbine engine comprising:\na core engine including a compressor section, a combustor and a turbine, said turbine driving an output shaft; and\nsaid output shaft driving at least four gears, each of said at least four gears extending through a drive shaft to drive an associated fan rotor and said output shaft drives a pair of bevel gears, and each of said at least four gears being driven by at least one of said pair of bevel gears.\n\n2. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said pair of bevel gears rotate together, with each of said pair of bevel gears driving at least two of said at least four gears.\n\n3. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 2, wherein said at least four gears are bevel gears.\n\n4. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 3, wherein each drive shaft drives an output shaft bevel gear, and said output shaft bevel gear engages a fan rotor bevel gear which in turn drives one of the fan rotors.\n\n5. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 4, wherein said output shaft also driving a fifth fan delivering air into the compressor section.\n\n6. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 5, wherein said fifth fan is driven by a shaft upstream of said pair of bevel gears.\n\n7. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 4, wherein each said output shaft is positioned upstream of the fan rotors.\n\n8. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 4, wherein an exhaust of said core engine exhausts air through a duct, and an exhaust from said fan rotors is maintained substantially separate of said exhaust from said core engine.\n\n9. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 8, wherein said exhaust of said core engine is positioned upstream of said fan rotors.\n\n10. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 8, wherein said exhaust of said core engine is positioned downstream of said fan rotors.\n\n11. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein an exhaust of said core engine exhausts air through a duct, and an exhaust from said fan rotors is maintained substantially separate of said exhaust from said core engine.\n\n12. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said output shaft is positioned upstream of the fan rotors.\n\n13. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said output shaft also driving a fifth fan delivering air into the compressor section.\n\n14. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 13, wherein said fifth fan is driven by a shaft upstream of said pair of bevel gears.\n\n15. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein each drive shaft drives an output shaft bevel gear, and said output shaft bevel gear engages a fan rotor bevel gear which in turn drives one of the fan rotors.\n\n16. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein an exhaust of said core engine is positioned upstream of said fan rotors.\n\n17. The gas turbine engine as set forth in claim 1, wherein an exhaust of said core engine is positioned downstream of said fan rotors."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Terminal-To-Terminal Communication\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nTerminal-to-terminal communication may allow data transmissions to be made directly between two or more terminals of a telecommunication system. The terminal-to-terminal communication may overlay regular cellular communications, and may be performed with or without cellular network coverage. In some instances, using terminal-to-terminal communication may increase network capacity. For example, terminal-to-terminal communication may permit spatial multiplexing, which may allow for higher relative spectrum usage. Employing terminal-to-terminal communication may also permit throughput between terminals to be increased if a terminal-to-terminal link experiences better channel quality than a cellular link. Using terminal-to-terminal communication may reduce resource usage when data is transmitted once between two terminals during a terminal-to-terminal transmission, as compared to transmitting the same data twice between the two terminals over a cellular link, i.e., once through an uplink (UL) transmission from a transmitting terminal to a base station and once through a downlink (DL) transmission to a receiving terminal from the base station. Terminal-to-terminal communication may reduce communication latency of a telecommunication network. For example, terminal-to-terminal communication may not relay data through a base station and/or a core network, thus potentially reducing the transit time of the data and/or the load on the base station and/or the core network. The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA method of performing a terminal-to-terminal communication includes performing a terminal-to-terminal transmission via a portion of a radio spectrum licensed for transmission of wireless data. The terminal-to-terminal transmission is transmitted without performing terminal-to-terminal discovery associated with the terminal-to-terminal transmission. The terminal-to-terminal transmission is configured to be received by a terminal without being routed through a base station. The method further includes checking for an acknowledgement sequence and checking for a negative acknowledgement sequence."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A method of performing a terminal-to-terminal communication, the method comprising:\nreceiving, at a first terminal, a resource allocation identifying resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery;\nperforming, at the first terminal, a terminal-to-terminal transmission via the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery, the terminal-to-terminal transmission configured to be received directly from the first terminal by a receiving terminal;\nchecking, at the first terminal, for an acknowledgement sequence; and\nchecking, at the first terminal, for a negative acknowledgement sequence.\n\n2. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal-to-terminal transmission includes a session number and the acknowledgement sequence includes the session number.\n\n3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the terminal-to-terminal transmission occurs via at least one of the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery.\n\n4. The method of claim 1, wherein the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmission without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery include terminal-to-terminal acknowledgement resources implicitly allocated with the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery.\n\n5. The method of claim 4, wherein checking for the acknowledgement sequence and checking for the negative acknowledgement sequence includes monitoring at least one of the terminal-to-terminal acknowledgement resources.\n\n6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nfailing to receive the acknowledgement sequence;\nfailing to receive the negative acknowledgement sequence; and\ncanceling a future terminal-to-terminal transmission.\n\n7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nreceiving the acknowledgement sequence; and\ntransmitting a second terminal-to-terminal transmission without performing terminal-to-terminal discovery, the second terminal-to-terminal transmission transmitted with initial transmission parameters,\nwherein the terminal-to-terminal transmission is transmitted with the initial transmission parameters.\n\n8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:\nreceiving the negative acknowledgement sequence; and\ntransmitting a second terminal-to-terminal transmission without performing terminal-to-terminal discovery, the second terminal-to-terminal transmission transmitted with changed transmission parameters,\nwherein the terminal-to-terminal transmission is transmitted with initial transmission parameters different from the changed transmission parameters.\n\n9. A terminal including a non-transitory computer-readable medium having encoded therein programming code executable by a processor to perform operations comprising:\nreceiving a resource allocation identifying resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery;\nperforming a terminal-to-terminal transmission via the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery, the terminal-to-terminal transmission configured to be received directly from the terminal by another terminal;\nchecking for an acknowledgement sequence; and\nchecking for a negative acknowledgement sequence.\n\n10. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the terminal-to-terminal transmission includes a session number and the acknowledgement sequence includes the session number.\n\n11. The terminal of claim 9, wherein transmitting the terminal-to-terminal transmission occurs via at least one of the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery.\n\n12. The terminal of claim 9, wherein the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmission without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery include terminal-to-terminal acknowledgement resources implicitly allocated with the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery.\n\n13. The terminal of claim 12, wherein checking for the acknowledgement sequence and checking for the negative acknowledgement sequence includes monitoring at least one of the terminal-to-terminal acknowledgement resources.\n\n14. The terminal of claim 9, the operations further comprising:\nfailing to receive the acknowledgement sequence;\nfailing to receive the negative acknowledgement sequence; and\ncanceling a future terminal-to-terminal transmission.\n\n15. The terminal of claim 9, the operations further comprising:\nreceiving the acknowledgement sequence; and\ntransmitting a second terminal-to-terminal transmission without performing terminal-to-terminal discovery, the second terminal-to-terminal transmission transmitted with initial transmission parameters,\nwherein the terminal-to-terminal transmission is transmitted with the initial transmission parameters.\n\n16. The terminal of claim 9, the operations further comprising:\nreceiving the negative acknowledgement sequence; and\ntransmitting a second terminal-to-terminal transmission without performing terminal-to-terminal discovery, the second terminal-to-terminal transmission transmitted with changed transmission parameters,\nwherein the terminal-to-terminal transmission is transmitted with initial transmission parameters different from the changed transmission parameters.\n\n17. A method of performing terminal-to-terminal communication without terminal-to-terminal discovery, the method comprising:\nreceiving, at a first terminal, a resource allocation identifying resources of a radio spectrum licensed for transmission of wireless data, the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery, the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions including implicitly allocated terminal-to-terminal acknowledgement resources;\nperforming, at the first terminal, a plurality of terminal-to-terminal transmissions via the resources allocated for terminal-to-terminal transmissions without prior terminal-to-terminal discovery, the plurality of terminal-to-terminal transmissions configured to be received directly from the first terminal by a receiving terminal; and\nmonitoring the terminal-to-terminal acknowledgment resources, including checking, at the first terminal, for both an acknowledgement sequence and a negative acknowledgement sequence after transmitting each terminal-to-terminal transmission of the plurality of terminal-to-terminal transmissions.\n\n18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:\nfailing to receive the acknowledgement sequence after each of the plurality of terminal-to-terminal transmissions;\nfailing to receive the negative acknowledgement sequence after each of the plurality of terminal-to-terminal transmissions; and\ncanceling a future terminal-to-terminal transmission."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Connector Assembly Having Self-Adjusting Male And Female Connector Elements\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe connectors are used in various applications, for example, electrical connectors are used for connecting electrical elements used for continuous transmission of power. Generally, the connector assembly includes a male connector sub-assembly and a female connector sub-assembly. The male connector sub-assembly includes a conductive male pin contact at the front and the base portion for electrical wire termination or connection with an insulated cover body assembled over the conductive male pin contact. The female connector sub-assembly includes a conductive female sleeve contact at the front and the base portion for electrical wire termination or connection with an insulated cover body assembled on the conductive female sleeve contact. The conductive female sleeve contact of the female connector sub-assembly receives the conductive male pin contact of the male connector sub-assembly for configuring the connector assembly. The male and female connector sub-assemblies are connected to each other via engagement between the conductive male pin contact and the conductive female sleeve contact to configure the connector assembly used for continuous transmission of power in the most extreme conditions. Typical applications include use as a connector assembly for transmission of power from generator sets to switchgear or SCR (silicon-controlled rectifiers) controls, from a control house to the traction motors, mud pumps, draw works, rotary tables, cement pumps and top drives. More specifically, the electrical connector assembly is used for connecting an electrical cable to a fixed mating connector. Certain electrical connector assemblies are configured specifically to cater to the drilling rig industry. These connector assemblies are configured for applications where the connector assemblies are required to operate in the most extreme service conditions and are subjected to up to 1,000 Volts AC or DC voltage and up to 1,135 Amps of continuous power. The field assembly and the installation of many inland drilling rigs have been using single pole electrical connector assemblies that can be prepared in the field. These connector assemblies take different forms, including pin and collet type connector assemblies or plug and receptacle type connector assemblies. All of these types of connector assemblies, particularly, the plug and receptacle type connector assemblies require a desired fit between elements of a plug or a male connector sub-assembly and a receptacle or a female connector sub-assembly to ensure minimal resistance to the high current loads. However, due to the extreme service conditions to which the connector assembly is subjected to, it is difficult to maintain a desired fit between the elements of the male and female connector sub-assemblies of the connector assembly. Particularly, the connector assemblies are subjected to most extreme service conditions and have to withstand vibrations, shocks and wear and tear. Generally, the elements of the male and female connector sub-assemblies, particularly, the engaging conductive male pin contact and conductive female sleeve contact wear out and fail to maintain the necessary tight fit between the male and female connector sub-assemblies and because of improper contact between the male and female connector sub-assemblies, the connection assembly fails to efficiently transmit power there-though due to high resistance to the high current loads and there are chances of power leakage and damage to the connector assembly. To achieve the desired fit between the conductive male pin contact and the conductive female sleeve contact of the respective male and female connector assemblies of the connector assembly, the use of a self-adjustable male connector assembly has been suggested in the prior art, wherein the conductive male pin contact of the male connector assembly has a split pin configuration that facilitates in adjusting the conductive male pin's external diameter. In case of the split pin configuration of the conductive male pin contact, the conductive male pin contact is cut into two halves by a slot cut along the length of the conductive male pin contact. A Belleville washer and a fixing stud mechanism are generally used within the slot to make small adjustments in the external diameter of the conductive male pin contact. A fixing stud is driven into the conductive male pin contact that exerts a force against the Belleville washer.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA connector assembly includes a male and a female connector element. The male connector element is having a first and a second portion configured by longitudinally bi-furcating the male connector element and includes a chamfered portion, a radially adjusting mechanism and a screw. The chamfered portion is axially configured on male connector element and receives the radially adjusting mechanism that moves the first and second portions relative to each other. The screw axially passes through male connector element and radially moves the radially adjusting mechanism to adjust the gap between the first and second portions to adjust external dimension of male connector element. The female connector element is having a tubular configuration that receives male connector element and is having a plurality of longitudinal slits configured thereon, walls of the female connector element are urged radially inwards towards the male connector element to maintain contact there-between by a spring element."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A connector assembly comprising:\na male connector sub-assembly comprising:\na conductive male pin contact having a first and a second portion configured by longitudinally bifurcating said conductive male pin contact, said conductive male pin contact comprising:\na chamfered portion axially configured on said conductive male pin contact;\na radially adjusting mechanism received within said chamfered portion and adapted to move said first and second portions of said conductive male pin contact relative to each other; and\nan adjustment screw axially passing through said conductive male pin contact and adapted to interact with and radially move said radially adjusting mechanism to adjust the gap between said first and second portions to adjust the conductive male pin contact's external diameter; and\nan insulated cover body assembled over said conductive male pin contact;\na female connector sub-assembly comprising:\na conductive female sleeve contact having a tubular configuration adapted to receive said conductive male pin contact, said conductive female sleeve contact further having a plurality of longitudinal slits configured thereon, wherein walls of said conductive female sleeve contact are adapted to be urged radially inwards towards said conductive male pin contact received therein to maintain contact there-between by a spring element circumscribing said conductive female sleeve contact; and\nan insulated cover body assembled on said conductive female sleeve contact.\n\n2. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein either of said conductive male pin contact and conductive female sleeve contact of the respective male and female connector assemblies are self-adjustable for facilitating adjusting of respective external and internal diameters thereof.\n\n3. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein both of said conductive male pin contact and conductive female sleeve contact of the respective male and female connector assemblies are self-adjustable for facilitating adjusting of respective external and internal diameters thereof.\n\n4. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first portion and said second portion are identical as said first and second portions are configured by longitudinally bifurcating said conductive male pin contact along a plane passing through center of said conductive male pin contact.\n\n5. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second portion are non-identical as said first and second portions are configured by longitudinally bifurcating said conductive male pin contact along a plane passing offset from said center of said conductive male pin contact.\n\n6. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said radially adjusting mechanism is a Belleville washer sub-assembly comprising:\nan operative bottom Belleville washer adapted to rest on said chamfered portion and functionally coupled to said first and second portions of said conductive male pin contact; and\nan operative top Belleville washer spaced from said operative bottom Belleville washer and adapted to be moved relative to said operative bottom Belleville washer by said adjustment screw to cause radial movement of said operative bottom Belleville washer for facilitating adjusting of the gap between said first and second portions of said conductive male pin contact, thereby adjusting conductive male pin contact's external diameter.\n\n7. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said radially adjusting mechanism is a conical spring sub-assembly comprising:\na conical spring element adapted to rest inside a conical cavity configured on an operative top end of the conductive male pin contact and functionally coupled to said first and second portions of said male connector element; and\na washer disposed over said conical spring element and adapted to be moved relative to said conical spring element by said adjustment screw to cause radial movement of said conical spring element for facilitating adjusting of gap between said first and second portions of said conductive male pin contact, thereby adjusting conductive male pin contact's external diameter.\n\n8. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a safety cap secured to an end portion of said conductive male pin contact for providing selective access to said adjustment screw for permitting factory adjustment of said conductive male pin contact only.\n\n9. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said adjustment screw engages with a threaded hole that is axially extending through the conductive male pin contact.\n\n10. The connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said conductive male pin contact and said conductive female sleeve contact are shrouded by insulated cover bodies."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Low Temperature Poly Silicon (Ltps) Thin Film Transistor (Tft) And The Manufacturing Method Thereof\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe LTPS adopts polycrystalline silicon to manufacture TFT. As compared with the production of amorphous silicon TFT, LTPS TFT has higher electron mobility. LTPS TFT can be applied to the production of liquid crystal display having a higher resolution and low power consumption. Thus, low-temperature polysilicon technology has been widely adopted and developed. Lightly Doped Drain (LDD) relates to arrange a lightly doped area within a trench of the TFT, and the lightly doped area is close to the drain. This may decrease the peak electrical field in a rim of the drain so as to suppress heat electron effect. Currently, when the LTPS technology is adopted in LDD manufacturing process, the mask process has to be performed twice, respectively during heavy and light doped processes in source and drain. Not only the cost is high, but also the manufacturing period is long.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present disclosure discloses a LTPS TFT and the manufacturing method thereof. The method includes: forming a semiconductor layer and a LTPS layer on the same surface on a base layer; forming an oxide layer is formed on one side of the semiconductor layer facing away the base layer, and forming the oxide layer on one side of the LTPS layer facing away the base layer; forming a first photoresist layer of a first predetermined thickness on the oxide layer; arranging a corresponding first cobalt layer on each of the photoresist layers, a vertical projection of the first cobalt layer overlaps with the vertical projection of the corresponding first photoresist layer; doping high-concentration doping ions into a first specific area of the semiconductor layer. With such configuration, the number of the masking process is decreased and the manufacturing time is reduced."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A manufacturing method of low temperature poly silicon (LTPS) thin film transistors (TFTs), comprising:\nforming a semiconductor layer and a LTPS layer on one surface on a base layer;\nforming an oxide layer is formed on one side of the semiconductor layer facing away the base layer, and forming the oxide layer on one side of the LTPS layer facing away the base layer;\na forming a plurality of first photoresist layers of a first thickness on the oxide layer;\narranging a corresponding first cobalt layer on each of the photoresist layers, a vertical projection of the first cobalt layer overlaps with a vertical projection of the corresponding first photoresist layer;\ndoping high concentration doping ions into a first area of the semiconductor layer, and the high-concentration being larger than 1\u00d710 17 /cm 3;\nremoving the first cobalt layer, and applying an ashing process to a portion of the first photoresist layers to obtain second photoresist layers of a second thickness, the second thickness is less than the first thickness;\narranging a corresponding second cobalt layer on the second photoresist layer, a vertical projection of the second cobalt layer is overlapped with the vertical projection of the corresponding second photoresist layer;\ndoping low concentration doping ions into a second area of the semiconductor layer, and the low-concentration being less than 1\u00d710 14 /cm 3; and\nremoving the second cobalt layer, and applying the ashing process to the second photoresist layers to remove the second photoresist layers.\n\n2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of applying an ashing process to a portion of the first photoresist layers to obtain the second photoresist layers of a second thickness comprises:\nadopting an ion etching machine to etch a portion of the first photoresist layers to obtain the second photoresist layers of the second thickness, wherein an etching power of the ion etching machine is in a range between 1000 and 1600 W, and an etching time period is in a range between 250 and 350 s.\n\n3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the base layer comprises a substrate, a silicon nitride layer and a silicon oxide layer, wherein:\nthe silicon nitride layer is arranged on the substrate, and the silicon oxide layer is arranged on one side of the silicon nitride layer facing away the substrate.\n\n4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of applying the ashing process to the second photoresist layers to remove the second photoresist layers further comprises:\nforming a gate on one side of the oxide layer facing away the semiconductor layer.\n\n5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first thickness is in a range between 1 and 3 micrometers.\n\n6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of doping high-concentration doping ions into a first area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the high-concentration doping ions to the first area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the high-concentration doping ions comprises high-concentration P-type doping ions or high-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n7. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the step of doping high-concentration doping ions into a first area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the high-concentration doping ions to the first area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the high-concentration doping ions comprises high-concentration P-type doping ions or high-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n8. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of doping high-concentration doping ions into a first area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the high-concentration doping ions to the first area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the high-concentration doping ions comprises high-concentration P-type doping ions or high-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n9. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of doping high-concentration doping ions into a first area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the high-concentration doping ions to the first area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the high-concentration doping ions comprises high-concentration P-type doping ions or high-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n10. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the step of doping high-concentration doping ions into a first area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the high-concentration doping ions to the first area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the high-concentration doping ions comprises high-concentration P-type doping ions or high-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of doping a low-concentration doping ions into a second area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the low-concentration doping ions to the second area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the low-concentration doping ions comprises low-concentration P-type doping ions or low-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n12. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the step of doping a low-concentration doping ions into a second area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the low-concentration doping ions to the second area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the low-concentration doping ions comprises low-concentration P-type doping ions or low-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n13. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of doping a low-concentration doping ions into a second area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the low-concentration doping ions to the second area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the low-concentration doping ions comprises low-concentration P-type doping ions or low-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n14. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of doping a low-concentration doping ions into a second area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the low-concentration doping ions to the second area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the low-concentration doping ions comprises low-concentration P-type doping ions or low-concentration N-type doping ions.\n\n15. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the step of doping a low-concentration doping ions into a second area of the semiconductor layer further comprises:\nadopting an ion implantation method to dope the low-concentration doping ions to the second area of the semiconductor layer; and\nwherein the low-concentration doping ions comprises low-concentration P-type doping ions or low-concentration N-type doping ions."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Control Apparatus Of Four-Wheel Drive Vehicle\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a control apparatus of a four-wheel drive vehicle which has an engine of which an operating mode is switchable between an all-cylinder operating mode and a reduced-cylinder operating mode, and to the four-wheel drive vehicle. Conventionally, four-wheel drive vehicles are known to comprise a power unit provided with a transfer case for driving rear wheels. The power unit includes an engine, a transmission, and a front-wheel differential device, is mounted on a front part of a vehicle body, and drives left and right front-wheels (main drive wheels) of the four-wheel drive vehicle. Further, a propeller shaft extending in front-and-rear directions of the vehicle body is coupled to the transfer case, and a rear-wheel differential device is coupled to a rear end part of the propeller shaft, so that left and right rear-wheels (auxiliary drive wheels) of the four-wheel drive vehicle can also be driven. In the four-wheel drive vehicle, a coupling capable of varying a transmission torque may be disposed on the propeller shaft. When the coupling is fully fastened (i.e., engaged), an output torque of the engine is evenly applied to the front and rear wheels (four-wheel drive state), when the coupling is fully released (i.e., disengaged), the output torque of the engine is only applied to the front wheels (two-wheel drive state), and when the coupling is between the fully engaged state and the fully disengaged state, the distribution of the transmission torque applied to the rear wheels is adjusted according to the engaged state. Further, as the transfer case, a pair of bevel gears meshed with each other, specifically, a bevel gear provided on an extended line of a central axis of the front-wheel differential device and a bevel gear provided on an extended line of a central axis of the propeller shaft, are used to transmit power to the propeller shaft extending in the front-and-rear directions of the vehicle body from the front-wheel differential device, of which a central axis extends in a width direction of the vehicle body. With regards to four-wheel drive vehicles, in the four-wheel drive state where the front and rear wheels are driven, the distribution of the output torque of the engine to the rear wheels is increased compared to the two-wheel drive state where only the front wheels are driven, leading to drive loss and degradation in fuel economy; therefore, four-wheel drive vehicles normally travel in the two-wheel drive state, travelling in the four-wheel drive state only when necessary. However, since the output torque of the engine varies due to intermittently performed combustion inside a combustion chamber of the engine, the variation in output torque is subsequently applied to the transfer case via the transmission and the front-wheel differential device, so that in the two-wheel drive state, a drivetrain from the bevel gear of the transfer case to the rear wheels, i.e., including the propeller shaft and the rear-wheel differential device, rotates in a non-power transmission state where power is not transmitted from the drivetrain. Therefore, depending on the oscillation frequency of the torque variation of the engine, the drivetrain having a predetermined characteristic frequency of vibration with respect to torsional vibration co-resonates with the frequency of the torque variation of the engine and causes a large vibration in the drivetrain. Due to this vibration, noise is generated by teeth rattling between the pair of bevel gears, for example, which may cause noise inside a cabin of the vehicle. FIG. 18 is a chart illustrating relationships between an oscillation frequency of torque variation of an engine and a torque transmission characteristic with respect to torsional vibration of a drivetrain, in a four-wheel drive vehicle and a two-wheel drive vehicle having conventional basic structures, respectively. A waveform W 1 of the transmission characteristic (the waveform indicated by the solid line) with respect to the torsional vibration of the four-wheel drive vehicle and a waveform W 2 of the transmission characteristic (the waveform indicated by the dashed line) with respect to the torsional vibration of the two-wheel drive vehicle, which are illustrated in FIG. 18 , both have resonance peaks P 1 and P 2 at frequencies below a practical range of the engine (below a frequency f L ).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA four-wheel drive vehicle is provided, including an engine with an operating mode that is switchable between all-cylinder and reduced-cylinder operating modes, a torque transmission assembly for transmitting an output torque of an engine to main drive wheels and auxiliary drive wheels, a torque ratio adjusting device included in the torque transmission assembly and configured to adjust a ratio of the output torque distributed to the auxiliary drive wheels, and controller that executes a noise suppression module for increasing the torque ratio provided to the auxiliary drive wheels by the torque ratio adjusting device so as to suppress noise generation at the torque transmission assembly, in the all-cylinder and reduced-cylinder operating modes. The noise suppression device changes the torque ratio provided to the auxiliary drive wheels according to engine operating ranges where the torque transmission assembly is in a noise generating state in the all-cylinder and reduced-cylinder operating modes, respectively."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A four-wheel drive vehicle, comprising:\nan engine configured with an operating mode that is switchable between an all-cylinder operating mode and a reduced-cylinder operating mode;\na torque transmission assembly configured to transmit an output torque of the engine to main drive wheels and auxiliary drive wheels;\na torque ratio adjusting device included within the torque transmission assembly, configured to adjust a ratio of the output torque that is distributed to the auxiliary drive wheels; and\na controller that executes a noise suppression module to cause the torque ratio adjusting device to increase a torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels, so as to suppress a generation of noise at the torque transmission assembly in the all-cylinder and reduced-cylinder operating modes,\nwherein the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to change the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels according to engine operating ranges in which the torque transmission assembly is in a noise generating state in the all-cylinder and reduced-cylinder operating modes, and\nwherein when a change from a first operating mode to a second operating mode, the change being selected from a group consisting of a change from the all-cylinder operating mode to the reduced-cylinder operating mode and a change from the reduced-cylinder operating mode to the all-cylinder operating mode, within an engine operating range where the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels is increased by the change to be larger in the second operating mode after the change than in the first operating mode before the change, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to be larger than the torque ratio applied in the second operating mode after the change.\n\n2. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a damper configured to suppress the generation of noise by the torque transmission assembly in the reduced-cylinder operating mode,\nwherein the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to suppress the noise generation to a value that is smaller in the reduced-cylinder operating mode than in the all-cylinder operating mode.\n\n3. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 2, wherein the damper is a centrifugal pendulum absorber.\n\n4. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 3, wherein in the change from the first operating mode to the second operating mode, within an engine operating range where the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels is reduced to be smaller in the second operating mode after the change than in the first operating mode before the change, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily reduce the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to be smaller than the torque ratio applied in the second operating mode after the change.\n\n5. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 4, wherein in the change from the all-cylinder operating mode to the reduced-cylinder operating mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily change the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels based on an operating mode changing torque map in which a relationship between a speed of the engine and the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels in the change from the all-cylinder operating mode to the reduced-cylinder operating mode is preset, and in the change from the reduced-cylinder operating mode to the all-cylinder operating mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily change the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels based on the operating mode changing torque map in which a relationship between an engine speed and the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels in the change from the reduced-cylinder operating mode to the all-cylinder operating mode is preset.\n\n6. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 5,\nwherein the engine is further configured with a combustion mode that is switchable between a spark-ignition mode and a compression-ignition mode, and\nwherein the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to change the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels in the spark-ignition mode and the compression-ignition mode.\n\n7. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 6, wherein when a switch from the spark-ignition mode to the compression-ignition mode occurs within an engine operating range where the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels is to be increased to be larger in the compression-ignition mode than in the spark-ignition mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to be larger than a torque ratio applied after the switch in the compression-ignition mode.\n\n8. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 7, wherein to suppress the noise generation,\nin the all-cylinder operating mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels within a first engine operating range where the torque transmission assembly is in the noise generating state in the all-cylinder operating mode, and\nin the reduced-cylinder operating mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels within a second engine operating range that is on a higher engine speed side of the first engine operating range and includes an engine operating range where the torque transmission assembly is in the noise generating state in the reduced-cylinder operating mode.\n\n9. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 8, wherein the first engine operating range is an engine operating range between a predetermined first engine speed and a predetermined second engine speed that is above the predetermined first engine speed and wherein the torque transmission assembly is in the noise generating state in the all-cylinder operating mode in the first engine operating range,\nwherein the second engine operating range is an engine operating range between the first engine speed and a predetermined third engine speed that is above the predetermined second engine speed, and\nwherein in the reduced-cylinder operating mode, within a part of the second engine operating range where the engine speed is below an engine speed at which the torque ratio, applied to the auxiliary drive wheels and increased to suppress the noise generation, takes a largest value, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to be larger than a value to which the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels is increased to suppress the noise generation.\n\n10. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 9, wherein when a request for shifting the operating mode of the engine to the all-cylinder operating mode is issued in the reduced-cylinder operating mode within a part of the second engine operating range overlapping with the first engine operating range, the operating mode is shifted to the all-cylinder operating mode after the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to adjust the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to an increased value of the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to suppress the noise generation within the first engine operating range in the all-cylinder operating mode.\n\n11. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 10, wherein when a request for shifting the operating mode of the engine to the reduced-cylinder operating mode is issued in the all-cylinder operating mode within a part of the second engine operating range on the higher engine speed side of the first engine operating range, the operating mode is shifted to the reduced-cylinder operating mode after the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to adjust the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to an increased value of the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to suppress the noise generation within the second engine operating range in the reduced-cylinder operating mode.\n\n12. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 3, further comprising an all-cylinder operation damper configured to suppress the noise generation at the torque transmission assembly in the all-cylinder operating mode.\n\n13. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 12, wherein the all-cylinder operation damper is a torsional damper configured to shift, to a lower engine speed side, the engine operating range where the torque transmission assembly is in the noise generating state in the all-cylinder operating mode.\n\n14. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 1, wherein when the change from the first operating mode to the second operating mode, within an engine operating range where the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels is reduced to be smaller in the second operating mode after the change than in the first operating mode before the change, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily reduce the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to be smaller than the torque ratio applied in the second operating mode after the change.\n\n15. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 14, wherein in the change from the all-cylinder operating mode to the reduced-cylinder operating mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily change the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels based on an operating mode changing torque map in which a relationship between an engine speed and the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels in the change from the all-cylinder operating mode to the reduced-cylinder operating mode is preset, and in the change from the reduced-cylinder operating mode to the all-cylinder operating mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily change the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels based on the operating mode changing torque map in which a relationship between the engine speed and the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels in the change from the reduced-cylinder operating mode to the all-cylinder operating mode is preset.\n\n16. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 15,\nwherein the engine is further configured with a combustion mode that is switchable between a spark-ignition mode and a compression-ignition mode, and\nwherein the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to change the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels in the spark-ignition mode and the compression-ignition mode.\n\n17. The four-wheel drive vehicle of claim 16, wherein when a switch from the spark-ignition mode to the compression-ignition mode occurs within an engine operating range where the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels is to be increased to be larger in the compression-ignition mode than in the spark-ignition mode, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to temporarily increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels to be larger than a torque ratio applied after the switch in the compression-ignition mode.\n\n18. A four-wheel drive vehicle, comprising:\nan engine configured with an operating mode that is switchable between an all-cylinder operating mode and a reduced-cylinder operating mode;\na torque transmission assembly configured to transmit an output torque of the engine to main drive wheels and auxiliary drive wheels;\na torque ratio adjusting device included within the torque transmission assembly, configured to adjust a ratio of the output torque that is distributed to the auxiliary drive wheels; and\na controller that executes a noise suppression module to cause the torque ratio adjusting device to increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels, so as to suppress a generation of noise at the torque transmission assembly in the all-cylinder operating mode within a first engine operating range where the torque transmission assembly is in a noise generating state,\nwherein in the reduced-cylinder operating mode, to suppress the noise generation, the controller that executes the noise suppression module causes the torque ratio adjusting device to increase the torque ratio applied to the auxiliary drive wheels within a second engine operating range that is on a higher engine speed side of the first engine operating range and includes an engine operating range where the torque transmission assembly is in the noise generating state in the reduced-cylinder operating mode."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Drx Operation For Ul/Dl Reconfiguration\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in the present disclosure and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. DRX functionality may be used to save battery power in a user equipment (UE) of a wireless network by skipping reception of signals in the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or enhanced PDCCH (ePDCCH). Specifically, the UE may monitor one or more radio subframes of the radio frame in a wireless network for a PDCCH/ePDCCH signal. However, in uplink (UL) subframes of the radio frame, the UE may not monitor for a PDCCH/ePDCCH signal. Additionally, DRX functionality may involve one or more timers, and if those timers have expired or are not running, the UE may not monitor for a PDCCH/ePDCCH signal.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn embodiments, apparatuses, methods, and storage media may be described for identifying subframes in a radio frame on which a UE may receive a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) or enhanced PDCCH (ePDCCH) transmission. Specifically, the UE may receive multiple indications of uplink/downlink (UL/DL) subframe configurations and identify one or more subframes in which the UE may receive the PDCCH or ePDCCH transmission. The UE may then monitor one or more of the identified subframes and base discontinuous reception (DRX) timer functionality on one or more of the identified subframes."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, are to:\nidentify, based on an indication of a downlink-reference (DL-reference) uplink/downlink (UL/DL) subframe configuration received via one or more radio resource control (RRC) signals, a value of k subframes associated with an interval between a DL transmission and a UL hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback related to the DL transmission in accordance with the DL-reference UL/DL configuration;\nidentify a HARQ round-trip time (RTT) of k+4 subframes based on the value of k subframes; and\nperform a HARQ process related to the HARQ RTT of k+4 subframes.\n\n2. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the DL transmission is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission.\n\n3. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the DL transmission is a time division duplexed (TDD) DL transmission.\n\n4. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the HARQ process includes activation of a timer related to retransmission of the DL transmission in response to the UL HARQ feedback.\n\n5. An apparatus comprising:\nmeans to receive an indication of a downlink-reference (DL-reference) uplink/downlink (UL/DL) subframe configuration via one or more radio resource control (RRC) signals;\nmeans to identify, based on the indication, a value of k subframes associated with an interval between a DL transmission and a UL hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback related to the DL transmission in accordance with the DL-reference UL/DL configuration;\nmeans to identify a HARQ round-trip time (RTT) of k+4 subframes based on the value of k subframes; and\nmeans to perform a HARQ process related to the HARQ RTT of k+4 subframes.\n\n6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the DL transmission is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission.\n\n7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the DL transmission is a time division duplexed (TDD) DL transmission.\n\n8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the HARQ process is a HARQ retransmission process.\n\n9. A user equipment (UE) comprising:\na processor to:\nidentify, based on an indication of a downlink-reference (DL-reference) uplink/downlink (UL/DL) subframe configuration received via one or more radio resource control (RRC) signals, a first subframe associated with a DL transmission and a second subframe associated with a UL hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback related to the DL transmission in accordance with the DL-reference UL/DL configuration;\nidentify, based on an interval between the first subframe and the second subframe, a value of k subframes; and\nactivate a timer related to a value of k+4 subframes; and\ntransceiver circuitry coupled with the processor, the transceiver circuitry to:\nreceive the DL transmission and the indication of the DL-reference UL/DL subframe configuration; and\ntransmit the UL HARQ feedback.\n\n10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the DL transmission is a time division duplexed (TDD) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission.\n\n11. The UE of claim 9, wherein the value of k+4 subframes is related to a HARQ round-trip time (RTT).\n\n12. The UE of claim 9, wherein the timer is related to a HARQ retransmission.\n\n13. The UE of claim 9, where the DL transmission is a time division duplex (TDD) transmission.\n\n14. An apparatus comprising:\none or more processors; and\none or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:\nidentify, based on an indication of a downlink-reference (DL-reference) uplink/downlink (UL/DL) subframe configuration received via one or more radio resource control (RRC) signals, a value of k subframes associated with an interval between a DL transmission and a UL hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback related to the DL transmission in accordance with the DL-reference UL/DL configuration;\nidentify a HARQ round-trip time (RTT) of k+4 subframes based on the value of k subframes; and\nperform a timer related to the HARQ RTT of k+4 subframes.\n\n15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the DL transmission is a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission.\n\n16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the DL transmission is a time division duplexed (TDD) DL transmission.\n\n17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the timer is related to retransmission of the DL transmission in response to the UL HARQ feedback."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Surround Sound Effects Provided By Cell Phones\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA conventional phone is a ubiquitous entertainment device that can be used to play music through a speaker integrated with the phone housing. However, the speaker has a limited range due to its limited volume and is not ideal for playing music. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art through the comparison of such systems with some aspects of some embodiments according to the present disclosure as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nSystems and methods that reproduce surround sound effects from an audio source are described. Wireless communication devices form a wireless network in which music, for example, can be played on the speakers of the wireless communication devices to reproduce surround sound effects from a selected audio source. As the wireless communication devices roam with respect to each other or with respect to a focal point or listening position of the wireless network, the wireless network adjusts how the audio source is played at each speaker of the respective wireless communication device to maintain or to enhance the reproduction of surround sound effects from the audio source."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A wireless communication device for reproducing a surround sound effect from an audio source, comprising:\na memory; and\na processor operatively coupled to the memory and configured to form a wireless network with at least one other wireless communication device, to transmit at least one surround sound signal to the at least one other wireless communication device, to determine at least one location of the at least one other wireless communication device, to determine a focal point of the surround sound effect, and to dynamically adjust the at least one surround sound signal in response to at least one movement of the at least one other wireless communication device to realize the surround sound effect at the focal point.\n\n2. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a version of the surround sound effect.\n\n3. The wireless communication device of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to determine the version of the surround sound effect based upon at least one of a capability of a processor of the at least one other wireless communication device, a capacity of a memory of the at least one other wireless communication device, a capability of a speaker of the at least one other wireless communication device, the at least one location of the at least one other wireless communication device, a number of wireless communication devices included in the at least one other wireless communication device, or any combination thereof.\n\n4. The wireless communication device of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that at least one of the at least one other wireless communication device has ceased to be included in the wireless network, to determine that at least one different wireless communication device has become included in the wireless network, or any combination thereof.\n\n5. The wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to change the version of the surround sound effect in response to a change in the number of wireless communication devices included in the at least one other wireless communication device.\n\n6. The wireless communication device of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the focal point of the surround sound effect is at a location, the location being different from a location of the wireless communication.\n\n7. The wireless communication device of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the focal point of the surround sound effect is at the location, the location being different from the at least one location of the at least one other wireless communication device.\n\n8. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the wireless network has a master-slave structure and the wireless communication device is a master device of the wireless network.\n\n9. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to control a selection of the audio source.\n\n10. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a selection from a user, the selection from the user designating the wireless communication device as the master device of the wireless network.\n\n11. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the wireless network has a master-slave structure and the wireless communication device is a slave device of the wireless network.\n\n12. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to access the audio source from one of the at least one other wireless communication devices.\n\n13. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to access the audio source from the one of the at least one other wireless communication devices in a streaming manner.\n\n14. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit at least one notification signal to the at least one other wireless communication device, the at least one notification signal including information about at least one recommended location, the at least one recommended location being at least one location for the at least one other wireless communication device to better realize the surround sound effect at the focal point.\n\n15. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is configured to be linked, wiredly or wirelessly, to at least one external speaker.\n\n16. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to form a plurality of wireless networks with at least one of the at least one other wireless communication device.\n\n17. A method for reproducing a surround sound effect from an audio, the method comprising:\nforming a wireless network with at least one wireless communication device;\ntransmitting at least one surround sound signal to the at least one wireless communication device;\ndetermining at least one location of the at least one wireless communication device;\ndetermining a focal point of the surround sound effect; and\ndynamically adjusting the at least one surround sound signal in response to at least one movement of the at least one wireless communication device to realize the surround sound effect at the focal point.\n\n18. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting at least one notification signal to the at least one wireless communication device, the at least one notification signal including information about at least one recommended location, the at least one recommended location being at least one location for the at least one wireless communication device to better realize the surround sound effect at the focal point.\n\n19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer code for controlling a processor to cause the processor to reproduce a surround sound effect from an audio, the computer code including instructions to:\nform a wireless network with at least one wireless communication device;\ntransmit at least one surround sound signal to the at least one wireless communication device;\ndetermine at least one location of the at least one wireless communication device;\ndetermine a focal point of the surround sound effect; and\ndynamically adjust the at least one surround sound signal in response to at least one movement of the at least one wireless communication device to realize the surround sound effect at the focal point.\n\n20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the computer code further includes instructions to transmit at least one notification signal to the at least one wireless communication device, the at least one notification signal including information about at least one recommended location, the at least one recommended location being at least one location for the at least one wireless communication device to better realize the surround sound effect at the focal point."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Display Unit\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a display unit having a display whose position is changeable. 2. Description of the Related Art The structure disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is the display unit capable of preventing faulty operation. According to the display unit, detecting that the display panel has no rotational movement and the motor has no rotation, it controls the motor in a predetermined manner. On the other hand, detecting that the display panel has no rotational movement but the motor is rotating, it determines occurrence of backlash and keeps the motor driving. With the drive control above, the display unit prevents faulty operation.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe display unit of the present disclosure has a main unit, a display disposed on the main unit so as to be movable between a first position and a second position, a motor for driving the display, a driving state detector for detecting the driving state of the motor, a current detector for detecting motor current, and a controller for controlling the driving state of the motor. When the current detector detects a predetermined current value suitable for the driving state detected by the driving state detector, the controller provides the motor with a predetermined drive control."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A display unit comprising:\na main unit;\na display disposed on the main unit so as to be movable between a first position and a first target position;\na motor for driving the display;\na driving state detector for detecting a driving state of the motor;\na current detector for detecting a current value of the motor; and\na controller for controlling the driving state of the motor,\nwherein, when the driving state detector detects that the display remains stationary at the first target position and the current detector detects the current value of the motor is greater than a first threshold, the controller controls the driving state of the motor so that the display moves from the first target position.\n\n2. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein,\nwhen the driving state detector detects that the display is moving and the current detector detects the current value of the motor is greater than a second threshold greater than the first threshold, the controller reverses the driving state of the motor.\n\n3. The display unit according to claim 2 further comprising a position detector for detecting a position of the display,\nwherein, when the position of the display detected by the position detector belongs to a predetermined range from the first position, the controller does not compare the current value of the motor detected by the current detector with the second threshold.\n\n4. The display unit according to claim 2 further comprising a temperature detector for detecting temperature of the motor,\nwherein, when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is lower than a predetermined temperature, the controller increases the second threshold.\n\n5. The display unit according to claim 1 further comprising a temperature detector for detecting temperature of the motor,\nwherein, when the temperature detected by the temperature detector is lower than a predetermined temperature, the controller increases the first threshold.\n\n6. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein the display is movable from the first position to a second target position beyond the first target position, and\nthe controller controls the driving state of the motor so that the display moves from the first target position to the first position or the second target position based on a polarity of the current value of the motor detected by the current detector.\n\n7. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein the display is movable from the first position to a second target third position beyond the first target position, and\nthe controller controls the driving state of the motor so that the display moves from the first target position in a direction in which an external force to the display is applied, when the current value of the motor detected by the current detector is greater than the first threshold.\n\n8. A display unit comprising:\na main unit;\na display disposed on the main unit so as to be movable between a first position and a first target position;\na motor for driving the display;\na position detector for detecting a position of the display;\na current detector for detecting a current value of the motor; and\na controller for controlling the driving state of the motor,\nwherein, when the controller determines that the display remains stationary at the first target position based on the position of the display detected by the position detector and the current detector detects the current value of the motor is greater than a first threshold, the controller controls the driving state of the motor so that the display moves from the first target position.\n\n9. The display unit according to claim 8, wherein,\nwhen the controller determines that the display is moving based on the position of the display detected by the position detector and the current detector detects the current value of the motor is greater than a second threshold greater than the first threshold, the controller reverses the driving state of the motor.\n\n10. A display unit comprising:\na main unit;\na display disposed on the main unit so as to be movable between a first position and a second position;\na motor for driving the display;\na driving state detector for detecting a driving state of the motor;\na current detector for detecting a current value of the motor; and\na controller for controlling the driving state of the motor,\nwherein the controller:\nsets a first threshold corresponding to when the motor is not driven,\nsets a second threshold, greater than the first threshold, corresponding to when the motor is driven,\ncontrols the driving state of the motor so that the display moves from the second position, when the driving state detector detects that the display remains stationary at the second position and the current detector detects the current value of the motor is greater than the first threshold, and\nreverses the driving state of the motor, when the driving state detector detects that the display is moving and the current detector detects the current value of the motor is greater than the second threshold."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Radiation Measuring Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nSurvey meters are known as portable radiation measurement devices. Survey meters are devices for measuring, for example, environmental radiation and radiation from radioactive pollution sources. Patent Document 1 discloses a survey meter having a flat-plate shape as a whole. The survey meter has a tip portion, a middle portion, and a grip portion. The tip portion is connected to the middle portion via a bending portion. A display and an operating portion are provided on the upper surface of the middle portion. The grip portion has a thin flat form when seen from the horizontal direction and houses therein plate-shaped batteries as rechargeable secondary batteries.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn the present invention, a battery box is provided on the lower side of a survey meter body so as to protrude downwardly. Four primary batteries are accommodated inside the battery box with inclined postures. A stepped structure is formed between the front surface of the battery box and the lower surface of the body. The survey meter can be held by a hand while an index finger, or the like, is hooked on the stepped structure. It is also possible to remove the battery box and dispose a plate-like secondary battery in an accommodation space."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A portable radiation measurement device, comprising:\na body that has a tip portion for detecting radiation and a grip portion;\na battery box that has a form protruding downward on a lower side of the grip portion and houses one or more batteries, wherein a lower surface of the body and a front surface of the battery box form a corner structure on the lower side of the body;\nwherein the one or more batteries are housed in the battery box so as to be in a posture inclined to the body; and\nwherein an angle between the lower surface of the body and the front surface of the battery box is less than 90 degrees.\n\n2. The radiation measurement device according to claim 1, wherein a lower surface of the battery box is inclined to the lower surface of the body.\n\n3. The radiation measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion has a flat-plate form.\n\n4. The radiation measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the battery box has\na housing that houses the one or more batteries, and\na lid that covers an opening formed in a back surface of the housing.\n\n5. The radiation measurement device according to claim 1, wherein:\nthe body has the tip portion, a middle portion provided on the rear side of the tip portion, and the grip portion provided on the rear side of the middle portion;\nthe body extends in the longitudinal direction; and\nthe center of gravity of the radiation measurement device is proximate the step in the longitudinal direction."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Wideband Digital Spectrometer\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nOne of the major difficulties in reception of small signals is the presence of a large unwanted signal in the same frequency band. Typical spectrometers sweep a narrowband window across the band of interest, thereby converting the wideband into a series of narrow bands. Within each narrowband window, the signal is characterized, and when the sweep is complete, the signal is logically reconstructed. By analyzing a narrowband component, the signal can be frequency translated or downconverted to a nominal one, permitting a static detector to be used. Frequency translation typically requires the mixing of the signal with a tuning frequency in an analog non-linear element, such as a semiconductor. The nonlinear mixer generates sum and difference frequencies, one of which (typically the difference) is selected for analysis. All nonlinear components in the analog signal processing chain will generate spurious components, including intermodulation (sum and difference components of the existing signals) as well as harmonics. In a high quality spectrometer, this spectral pollution is undesirable, especially where there are many possible signal interactions, or where the signal source to be characterized may itself produce harmonics and other components to be characterized. Even in a narrowband spectral analyzer, nonlinear distortion may be a problem, since out of narrowband components may be translated into the band of interest. Another issue for swept narrowband spectrometers is that they cannot analyze a spectrum in realtime or near realtime, since there is a limited speed of sweep. Another paradigm for constructing a wideband spectrometer is to translate the entire band of interest to baseband (i.e., a band from f 1 to f 2 is frequency translated to a band from 0 to (f 2 \u2212f 1 ) using a nonlinear mixer with a frequency f 1 ) and digitized above the Nyquist rate (2 times the highest frequency component, i.e., 2(f 2 \u2212f 1 )). The digitized signal is then processed using a digital signal processor, for example using a fast Fourier transform, to reveal the spectral energy. This approach has a number of limitations. As in the narrowband approach, a nonlinear analog mixer is employed, and thus spectral pollution occurs. One known system, Pinckley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,890, expressly incorporated herein by reference, downconverts a cellular band signal, and then employs a tunable filter bank to remove carriers having interfering signals before digitizing the band, which is then digitally demodulated by a bank of digital signal processors. The third possibility, directly digitizing the signal of interest, without frequency translation, has been infeasible at high frequencies, e.g., above 500 MHz, or at high dynamic range-frequency products, at least because of digitizer limitations. One particular limitation, discussed above, is the large amplitude interferer problem. Since the digitizer operates across the entire spectrum, it can be saturated or dominated by a single signal, thus masking other components. As the bandwidth to be analyzed (or dynamic range-frequency product) is increased, the likelihood of the presence of interferers increases. One approach to solving this problem is to increase the dynamic range of the digitizer to an extent necessary to handle both the interferor and the signal of interest. However, this may be difficult, and the problem grows exponentially with each added bit of dynamic range required. In military communications, the large signal interferor problem may occur due to transmitters co-located on the reception platform and is often referred to as the co-site interference problem. One method of dealing with this problem is to have a large dynamic range receiver, capable of simultaneously receiving the large interferor and the small signal of interest (SOI). In fact, it is not the dynamic range, but the instantaneous spur-free dynamic range of the receiver that needs to be large, often imposing a linearity-requirement that is impossible to meet, even with ultra-linear superconductor front-ends. This requirement could be relaxed substantially if one or more of these interferors could be excised from the incoming waveform through sharp notch filters. However, these interferors often shift in frequency, especially in the case of narrow-band high-power jammers. Therefore, a tunable notch filter would be needed, along with appropriate logic and control for tuning it.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA processor, comprising a first data input configured to receive a stream of samples of a first signal having a spectral space, the stream having a data rate of at least 4 GHz; a second data input configured to receive a stream of samples of a second signal; a multitap correlator, configured to receive the first stream of samples and the second stream of samples, and producing at least one correlation output for each respective sequential sample of the first signal received; and a programmable control configured to alter a relationship of the stream of samples of the first signal and the stream of samples of the second signal, to thereby select, under program control, an alterable correlation output."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A radio transceiver system for receiving communications in a band concurrently with transmissions from a transmitter transmitting in the band, comprising:\n(a) an input port, configured to receive a first signal comprising the communications in the band and the transmission in the band from the transmitter;\n(b) a receiver, having a dynamic range sufficient to concurrently represent the communications in the band and the transmissions as a first analog signal;\n(c) a plurality of analog time delay elements, each being configured to receive, selectively weight and combine an analog representation of the received first analog signal, to produce a second analog signal;\n(d) a digitizer configured to produce a digitized signal from the second analog signal; and\n(e) a processing subsystem, comprising at least one of a digital correlator and a Fourier transform processor, configured to:\ncontrol a respective weight of respective ones of the plurality of analog time delay elements in dependence on the digitized signal, to produce the second analog signal representing at least partial cancellation of the transmission in the band while preserving the communications in the band; and\ndigitally cancel at least a portion of a residual transmission in the band in dependence on at least digitized signal; and\n(f) an output port configured to communicate the received communications.\n\n2. The radio transceiver according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter is co-located with the receiver.\n\n3. The radio transceiver according to claim 1, wherein the digitizer has a dynamic range insufficient to fully represent information in the received communications in the first analog signal.\n\n4. The radio transceiver according to claim 3, wherein the digitizer has a sufficient dynamic range to fully represent information in the received communications present in the second analog signal the at least partial cancelled transmission in the band.\n\n5. The radio transceiver according to claim 1, wherein the processing system comprises at least one digital correlator.\n\n6. The radio transceiver according to claim 5, wherein the at least one digital correlator comprises an autocorrelator.\n\n7. The radio transceiver according to claim 5, wherein the at least one digital correlator comprises a cross correlator.\n\n8. The radio transceiver according to claim 1, wherein the input port comprises a plurality of input ports, each receiving a respective signal from an antenna element of an antenna array, the plurality of analog time delay elements being arranged into a plurality of sections, each respective section receiving an analog representation of a respective received first signal from a respective antenna element.\n\n9. The radio transceiver according to claim 1, wherein the transmissions in the band comprise intermodulation distortion components in the band.\n\n10. A method of receiving communications in a band concurrently with emission of transmissions in the same band, comprising:\n(a) receiving a first signal through an input port, comprising the communications in the band and the transmission in the band;\n(b) providing a plurality of analog time delay elements, each receiving an analog representation of the received first signal, the plurality of analog time delay elements being selectively weighted and combined to produce a processed analog signal;\n(e) controlling the weighting of the plurality of analog time delay elements, to produce the processed analog signal representing at least partial cancellation of the transmission in the band while preserving information of the communications in the band;\n(f) digitizing the processed analog signal with a digitizer to produce a digitized signal;\n(g) at least one of digitally correlating and digitally Fourier transforming at least a portion of the digitized signal;\n(h) generating a digital cancellation signal in dependence on at least the digitized signal; and\n(i) further cancelling the transmission in the band from the digitized signal, while preserving the information of the communications in the band.\n\n11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the transmissions in the same band are emitted by a transmitter co-located with the input port.\n\n12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the digitizer has a dynamic range insufficient to fully represent information of the received communications in the band and the transmission in the same band.\n\n13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the digitizer has a sufficient dynamic range to represent the information of the communications in the band and the at least partially cancelled transmission in the band.\n\n14. The method according to claim 10, wherein said at least one of digitally correlating and digitally Fourier transforming at least a portion of the digitized signal comprises digitally correlating at least a portion of the processed analog signal.\n\n15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the digitally correlating is performed with at least one autocorrelator.\n\n16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the digitally correlating is performed with at least one cross correlator.\n\n17. The method according to claim 10, wherein the communications in the band are received through an antenna array, the input port comprises a plurality of input ports, each receiving a respective signal from an antenna element of the antenna array, and the plurality of analog time delay elements are arranged into a plurality of sections, each respective section receiving an analog representation of a respective received first signal from a respective antenna element, and producing a respective processed analog signal.\n\n18. A radio receiver for receiving information from radio frequency communications in a same band as a concurrently operating transmitter is transmitting interfering signals in, comprising:\n(a) an input port, configured to receive a first signal comprising the communications in the band received through an antenna and the transmissions in the band from the transmitter;\n(b) a plurality of analog time delay elements, each respective analog time delay element receiving an analog representation of the received first signal and applying a delay and a selectively controlled weighting, and together producing a combined analog signal;\n(c) a digitizer producing a digitized signal based on the combined analog signal; and\n(e) a processing subsystem, comprising at least one of a digital correlator and a processor configured to digitally compute a Fourier transform, configured to:\nselectively control a weighting of a combined output of the plurality of analog time delay elements, to achieve a second signal representing at least a partial cancellation of the interfering signals, while preserving the information; and\ndigitally cancel residual components of the interfering signals in the digitized signal; and\nan output port configured to communicate an output signal comprising the information.\n\n19. The radio receiver according to claim 18, wherein the transmitter is co-located with the receiver.\n\n20. The radio receiver according to claim 18, wherein the digitizer has a dynamic range insufficient to fully represent the information in the first signal, and has a dynamic range sufficient to represent the information in the combined analog signal."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Manufacturing Method Of Back Illumination Cmos Image Sensor Device Using Wafer Bonding\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThe present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device, and in particular, to a technique effective when applied to a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device including the step of attaching semiconductor wafers together. In the step of forming a backside illumination CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor that is one type of image pickup devices to be used in digital still cameras, etc., it is known that, as a method of making up for the strength of a semiconductor wafer (semiconductor substrate) over which a device (semiconductor element) is formed, another semiconductor wafer is attached to the semiconductor wafer. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-243959) describes that: before substrates are attached together, the surfaces of the substrates are cleaned by a wet treatment; and after a plasma treatment is performed on the surfaces thereof, a heat treatment is performed on the substrates. Patent Document 1 also describes that the substrates are attached together in a treatment chamber having a reduced pressure. However, it does not describe that the substrates are attached together in a state where the temperatures of the substrates are made to be room temperature (normal temperature). Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-4741) describes that: before and when substrates are bonded together, the substrates are placed in vacuum; and the organic components in the adhesive layer between the substrates are removed by heating the substrates in vacuum when the substrates are bonded together. However, it does not describe that the substrates are attached together in a state where the temperatures of the substrates are made to be room temperature (normal temperature).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nDisclosed is a manufacturing method of a semiconductor device including a step of attaching semiconductor wafers together, in which it is prevented that the bonding strength between the attached semiconductor wafers may be decreased due to a void caused between the two semiconductor wafers. Moisture, etc., adsorbed to the surfaces of the semiconductor wafers is desorbed by performing a heat treatment on the semiconductor wafers after cleaning the surfaces thereof with pure water. Subsequently, after a plasma treatment is performed on the semiconductor wafers, the two semiconductor wafers are attached together. The wafers are firmly bonded together by subjecting to a high-temperature heat treatment."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:\n(a1) providing a first semiconductor substrate and a second semiconductor substrate;\n(b1) cleaning a first surface on a main surface side of the first semiconductor substrate and a second surface on a main surface side of the second semiconductor substrate, wherein the cleaning comprises ultrasonic cleaning or cleaning with pure water;\n(c1) after the step (b1), desorbing adsorbed substances over the first surface of the first semiconductor substrate and over the second surface of the second semiconductor substrate;\n(d1) activating the first surface of the first semiconductor substrate and the second surface of the second semiconductor substrate;\n(e1) after the steps (c1) and (d1), attaching and temporarily bonding together the first surface of the first semiconductor substrate and the second surface of the second semiconductor substrate at a temperature of approximately 25\u00b0 C.; and\n(f1) after the step (e1), enhancing a bonding strength between the first semiconductor substrate and the second semiconductor substrate by subjecting both the semiconductor substrates to a heat treatment in a temperature range of 200 to 300\u00b0 C.; and\n(g1) after the step (f1), making a thickness of the first semiconductor substrate to be small by polishing a back surface of the first semiconductor substrate,\nwherein, in the step (c1), moisture is removed from the first surface of the first semiconductor substrate and the second surface of the second semiconductor substrate by performing a heat treatment at a temperature of 100\u00b0 C. or higher,\nwherein, in the step (d1), the first surface of the first semiconductor substrate and the second surface of the second semiconductor substrate are activated by performing a plasma treatment, and\nwherein the semiconductor device is an image sensor.\n\n2. The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 1 further comprising the step of:\n(a2) after the step (a1) and before the steps (b1) and (d1), forming a semiconductor element over the main surface of the first semiconductor substrate.\n\n3. The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to claim 1,\nwherein the steps (c1) and (d1) are performed under a reduced-pressure atmosphere."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Seat Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nConventionally, among seat apparatuses to be mounted on vehicles such as automobiles, there is known a seat apparatus which reduces the load a driver feels by moving the side support frames provided with the seat apparatus according to the cornering and holding the driver to the seat apparatus in order to ensure safety in controlling when the vehicle performs cornering (for example, see patent document 1).\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nIn order to improve steering operation operability during cornering while maintaining a driver holding property, a seat apparatus is provided with: a seat back frame; a cornering sensor for detecting a cornering direction of a vehicle; and a control unit that controls the seat back frame on the basis of the result of detection by the cornering sensor. The seat back frame is provided with: left and right side frames disposed on both sides of the seat back frame; a back plate disposed between the left and right side frames; and a swinging mechanism for swinging the back plate with respect to the direction of movement of the vehicle. The control unit controls the swinging mechanism such that, upon detection of a cornering direction of the vehicle by the cornering sensor, the inner one of the sides of the back plate with respect to the cornering direction is positioned rearward of the outer one of the sides with respect to the cornering direction."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A seat apparatus to be mounted on a vehicle, comprising;\na seat cushion frame;\na seat back frame which is arranged so as to stand from a back end part of the seat cushion frame;\na cornering sensor which detects a cornering direction of the vehicle; and\na control unit which controls the seat back frame on a basis of a detection result obtained by the cornering sensor,\nwherein the seat back frame includes:\nleft and right side frames which are respectively arranged at two side parts of the seat back frame so as to extend in a vertical direction and which are connected to the seat cushion frame;\nan adjustment member which is arranged between the left and right side frames, the adjustment member including first and second side parts each extending in a width direction of the seat apparatus; and\na swing mechanism which swings the adjustment member inside the left and right side frames with respect to a traveling direction of the vehicle, and\nwherein the control unit controls the swing mechanism so that, of the first and second side parts of the adjustment member, an inner side part which is inside with respect to the cornering direction is located backward comparing to an outer side part which is outside with respect to the cornering direction when the cornering direction of the vehicle is detected by the cornering sensor.\n\n2. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein\nthe control unit controls the swing mechanism to move both (i) the first side part of the adjustment member and (ii) the second side part of the adjustment member, in mutually opposite directions based on the detection result obtained by the cornering sensor, such that the inner side part is moved to a position backward of a reference position while the outer side part is moved to a position forward of the reference position.\n\n3. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the swing mechanism includes:\na first connection unit which connects one of the left and right side frames and one side part of the adjustment member;\na first drive source which swings the one side part of the adjustment member in the front-back direction by moving the first connection unit;\na second connection unit which connects the other of the left and right side frames and the other side part of the adjustment member; and\na second drive source which swings the other side part of the adjustment member in the front-back direction by moving the second connection unit, and\nwherein the control unit controls the swing mechanism by controlling at least one of the first drive source and the second drive source.\n\n4. The seat apparatus according to claim 3, wherein\nthe first connection unit is provided with a link unit which swings one side part of the adjustment member by being rotated by the first drive source, and\nthe second connection unit is provided with a link unit which swings the other side part of the adjustment member by being rotated by the second drive source.\n\n5. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cornering sensor is a steering angle sensor which detects a steering angle of a steering of the vehicle.\n\n6. The seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cornering sensor is a navigation system installed in the vehicle.\n\n7. The seat apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a drive shaft of the first drive source and a drive shaft of the second drive source are located inside the left and right side frames.\n\n8. The seat apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first connection unit is connected with the adjustment member outside of an outer circumference of the first drive source when seen from above, and the second connection unit is connected with the adjustment member outside of an outer circumference of the second drive source when seen from above.\n\n9. A seat apparatus to be mounted on a vehicle, comprising:\na seat frame;\na vehicle speed sensor which detects a speed of the vehicle;\na cornering sensor which detects a cornering direction of the vehicle; and\na control unit which controls the seat frame on a basis of a detection result obtained by the cornering sensor,\nwherein the seat frame includes:\nleft and right side frames;\nan adjustment member which is arranged between the left and right side frames, the adjustment member including first and second side parts each extending in a width direction of the seat apparatus; and\na swing mechanism which swings the adjustment member with respect to a traveling direction of the vehicle, and\nwherein the control unit adjusts a posture of an occupant by controlling the swing mechanism so that, of the first and second side parts of the adjustment member, an outer side part which is outside with respect to the cornering direction receives a larger load from an occupant comparing to an inner side part which is inside with respect to the cornering direction when a calculated lateral acceleration is a predetermined value or greater, the calculated lateral acceleration being calculated from a detection result obtained by the cornering sensor and a detection result obtained by the vehicle speed sensor.\n\n10. A seat apparatus to be mounted on a vehicle, comprising:\na seat frame;\na cornering sensor which detects a cornering direction of the vehicle; and\na control unit which controls the seat frame on a basis of a detection result obtained by the cornering sensor,\nwherein the seat frame includes:\nleft and right side frames;\nan adjustment member which is arranged between the left and right side frames, the adjustment member including first and second side parts each extending in a width direction of the seat apparatus; and\na swing mechanism which swings the adjustment member with respect to a traveling direction of the vehicle, and\nwherein the control unit controls the swing mechanism so that, of the first and second side parts of the adjustment member, an outer side part which is outside with respect to the cornering direction receives a larger load from an occupant comparing to an inner side part which is inside with respect to the cornering direction when the cornering direction of the vehicle is detected by the cornering sensor.\n\n11. The seat apparatus according to claim 10, wherein\nthe control unit controls the swing mechanism to move both (i) the first side part of the adjustment member and (ii) the second side part of the adjustment member, in mutually opposite directions based on the detection result obtained by the cornering sensor, such that the inner side part is moved to a position relative to a reference position so as to depart from an occupant while the outer side part is moved to a position relative to the reference position so as to approach to the occupant.\n\n12. The seat apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the swing mechanism includes:\na first connection unit which connects one of the left and right side frames and one side part of the adjustment member;\na first drive source which swings the one side part of the adjustment member by moving the first connection unit;\na second connection unit which connects the other of the left and right side frames and the other side part of the adjustment member; and\na second drive source which swings the other side part of the adjustment member by moving the second connection unit, and\nwherein the control unit controls the swing mechanism by controlling at least one of the first drive source and the second drive source.\n\n13. The seat apparatus according to claim 12, wherein\nthe first connection unit is provided with a link unit which swings one side part of the adjustment member by being rotated by the first drive source, and\nthe second connection unit is provided with a link unit which swings the other side part of the adjustment member by being rotated by the second drive source.\n\n14. The seat apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the cornering sensor is a steering angle sensor which detects a steering angle of a steering of the vehicle.\n\n15. The seat apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the cornering sensor is a navigation system installed in the vehicle.\n\n16. The seat apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a drive shaft of the first drive source and a drive shaft of the second drive source are located inside the left and right side frames.\n\n17. The seat apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the first connection unit is connected with the adjustment member outside of an outer circumference of the first drive source when seen from above, and the second connection unit is connected with the adjustment member outside of an outer circumference of the second drive source when seen from above.\n\n18. The seat apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the seat frame is a seat back frame, and the seat back frame includes the adjustment member."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Display Panel And Manufacturing Method Thereof, Display Device\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nA liquid crystal display device includes an array substrate and a counter substrate (e.g., a color filter substrate) disposed opposite to each other, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the array substrate and the counter substrate. In the liquid crystal display device, orientation of liquid crystal molecules is controlled by applying of voltages to a common electrode and a pixel electrode, and in turn, light rays are controlled. Generally, in the process of manufacture, production, assembly, testing, storage or transportation of a liquid crystal display device, it is easy to generate static electricity on the liquid crystal display device because of friction, or due to the electrical connection, static electricity in air, human body or other charged object, static electricity will be transferred to the liquid crystal display device. A substrate (e.g., a counter substrate or an array substrate) of the liquid crystal display device is made of an insulating material such as glass or the like, and the eliminating rate of static electricity is very slow. Thus, when accumulation of static electricity on a surface of the substrate occurs, the static electricity will not be accumulated on the surface of the substrate for a long time only if there is a proper releasing route. When electrostatic discharge takes place because of great accumulative static electricity, a display module, a driver and so on of the liquid crystal display device will be damaged by static electricity due to undue electric stress. For example, the following cases may happen: screen defects are produced, metal circuitry is molten or evaporated, resistance value of elements is changed, an oxide layer is damaged or broken down, and so on. In order to lead out the static electricity on a substrate surface of the liquid crystal display device in time, so as to avoid the occurrence of such a case that static electricity builds up in the substrate surface of the liquid crystal display device and electrostatic damage results, the static electricity may be conducted out to a metal frame of the liquid crystal display device in the way of attaching an electrically conductive adhesive tape to the peripheries of the liquid crystal display device.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA display panel and manufacturing method thereof, and a display device are disclosed. The display panel includes an array substrate and a counter substrate. The array substrate includes a main region and a peripheral region, the main region coincides with an orthographical projection of the counter substrate on the array substrate, and at least one glue dispensing zone is arranged in the peripheral region or the main region. Conductive adhesive is provided in the glue dispensing zone, and is electrically connected to a grounded unit; an electrostatic conducting structure is provided on the counter substrate, and the conductive adhesive is electrically connected to the electrostatic conducting structure."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A display panel, comprising an array substrate and a counter substrate disposed oppositely, wherein,\nthe array substrate includes a main region and a peripheral region, the main region coincides with an orthographical projection of the counter substrate on the array substrate, at least one glue dispensing zone is arranged in the peripheral region or the main region, and conductive adhesive is provided in the glue dispensing zone and is electrically connected to a grounded unit;\nan electrostatic conducting structure is provided on the counter substrate, wherein the electrostatic conducting structure is a first wiring only disposed on a periphery of the counter substrate, and the first wiring is located on a side of the counter substrate facing the array substrate and is in a shape of a line, and the conductive adhesive is electrically connected to the electrostatic conducting structure.\n\n2. The display panel claimed as claim 1, wherein the first wiring and an electrode on the counter substrate are disposed in a same layer and are separated from each other.\n\n3. The display panel claimed as claim 1, further comprising a metal frame, wherein the grounded unit is the metal frame, and the conductive adhesive contacts a surface of the metal frame.\n\n4. The display panel claimed as claim 1, wherein the conductive adhesive is electrically connected to the grounded unit through an electrostatic lead-out line, and the electrostatic lead-out line includes a portion situated in the glue dispensing zone and electrically connected to the conductive adhesive, and includes a portion situated outside the glue dispensing zone and electrically connected to the grounded unit.\n\n5. The display panel claimed as claim 4, wherein the array substrate includes a printed circuit board, and the grounded unit is the printed circuit board.\n\n6. The display panel claimed as claim 5, wherein the glue dispensing zone is arranged on a side of the array substrate with the printed circuit board provided thereon along the direction of the plane on which it is located.\n\n7. The display panel claimed as claim 4, wherein the electrostatic lead-out line includes a first conductive part along the direction perpendicular to the plane on which the array substrate is located, a thin film transistor is provided in the main region of the array substrate and includes a gate electrode and source/drain electrodes, and the first conductive part and the gate electrode or the source/drain electrodes are disposed in a same layer.\n\n8. The display panel claimed as claim 7, wherein the electrostatic lead-out line further includes an insulating layer, and the first conductive part is covered by the insulating layer.\n\n9. The display panel claimed as claim 8, wherein the electrostatic lead-out line further includes a second conductive part, and the second conductive part is electrically connected to the first conductive part through via holes in the insulating layer.\n\n10. The display panel claimed as claim 9, wherein the array substrate further includes a pixel electrode, and the second conductive part and the pixel electrode are disposed in a same layer; or\nthe array substrate further includes a pixel electrode and a common electrode, and the second conductive part is disposed in a same layer as the pixel electrode or the common electrode.\n\n11. The display panel claimed as claim 7, wherein an alignment mark is provided in the glue dispensing zone.\n\n12. The display panel claimed as claim 11, wherein the alignment mark is formed by the first conductive part.\n\n13. The display panel claimed as any one of claim 11, wherein a pattern of the alignment mark includes at least one of a \u201c \u201d shape, a \u201c \u201d shape, a \u201c \u201d shape, and a \u201c \u201d shape as well as a \u201c\u2666\u201d and a \u201c\u25cf\u201d or a combination thereof.\n\n14. The display panel claimed as claim 1, wherein the array substrate includes a printed circuit board, and the glue dispensing zone is arranged on a side of the array substrate with the printed circuit board provided thereon along the direction of the plane on which it is located.\n\n15. The display panel claimed as claim 1, wherein the glue dispensing zone is located at a vertex angle of the array substrate.\n\n16. The display panel claimed as claim 1, wherein an alignment mark is provided in the glue dispensing zone.\n\n17. The display panel claimed as claim 1, further comprising a sealant located between the counter substrate and the array substrate, wherein,\nthe glue dispensing zone is disposed on an outer side of the sealant; and\nthe counter substrate includes a black matrix located on an inner side of the sealant, and an end of the black matrix is situated in the sealant or situated on an inner side of the sealant; and/or\nthe array substrate further includes a signal line, and an end of the signal line is situated in the sealant or situated in an inner side of the sealant.\n\n18. The display panel claimed as claim 1, wherein the array substrate further includes a second wiring disposed on a periphery of the array substrate, and the second wiring is electrically connected to the conductive adhesive or the grounded unit.\n\n19. A display device, comprising the display panel claimed as claim 1.\n\n20. A display panel, comprising an array substrate and a counter substrate disposed oppositely, wherein,\nthe array substrate includes a main region and a peripheral region, the main region coincides with an orthographical projection of the counter substrate on the array substrate, at least one glue dispensing zone is arranged in the peripheral region or the main region, and conductive adhesive is provided in the glue dispensing zone and is electrically connected to a grounded unit;\nan electrostatic conducting structure is provided on the counter substrate, the electrostatic conducting structure is a first wiring disposed on a periphery of the counter substrate, the first wiring is located on a side of the counter substrate far away from the array substrate, the first wiring surrounds the periphery of the counter substrate, and the conductive adhesive covers at least part of the first wiring so as to electrically connect to the electrostatic conducting structure.\n\n21. A display panel, comprising an array substrate and a counter substrate disposed oppositely, wherein,\nthe array substrate includes a main region and a peripheral region, the main region coincides with an orthographical projection of the counter substrate on the array substrate, at least one glue dispensing zone is arranged in the peripheral region or the main region, an alignment mark is provided in the glue dispensing zone and configured to realize alignment through visible light reflected by itself, conductive adhesive is provided in the glue dispensing zone, is partially overlapped with the alignment mark and is electrically connected to a grounded unit;\nan electrostatic conducting structure is provided on the counter substrate, the electrostatic conducting structure is made of metal and the conductive adhesive is electrically connected to the electrostatic conducting structure."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Switching Apparatus And Method For Varying An Impedance Of A Phase Line Of A Segment Of An Electrical Power Line\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nKnown in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 7,639,460 B2. This document describes a switching apparatus and a method for varying the impedance of a phase line of a segment of an electrical power line. The phase line includes n conductors electrically insulated from each other and short-circuited together at two ends of the segment. More particularly, the apparatus includes at least one first vacuum interrupter connected in series with at least one of the conductors, at least one first controllable motor for selectively opening and closing the at least one first vacuum interrupter, and a controller for controlling the at least one first controllable motor according to a parameter representative of the current operating conditions of the phase line. U.S. Pat. No. 7,639,460 B2 is herein incorporated by reference. Also known is a paper by the inventor published in the January 2011 edition of the journal \u201cCold Regions Science and Technology\u201d (volume 65, issue 1) entitled \u201cSmart Power Line and photonic de-icer concepts for transmission-line capacity and reliability improvement\u201d. The paper relates to a Smart Power Line concept, and its implementation on new or existing transmission lines. The Smart Power Line addresses three needs: line de-icing, line impedance modulation, and line monitoring. Also known in the art is the U.S. Pat. No. 6,396,172 and the PCT application published under the international publication no. WO 02/41459. In these documents, there is described a switching apparatus also intended to be used with a segment of an electrical power line having several phase lines. Also known in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,344. This patent describes an apparatus for deicing electric cables. This patent proposes that, in a power transmission line, a cable having a pair of conductors insulated from each other is provided. An electrical bridge is connected in series with one of the conductors. A means is provided for opening the electrical bridge, and another means is provided for operating the electrical bridge in response to ice accumulation on the cable. The electric bridge comprises a normally closed switch which is open by the means that responds to an ice accumulation on the cable. Also known in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,962. This patent describes a device for melting the ice by direct current through conductors of an overhead power transmission line. This patent proposes the use of a rectifier that is temporarily connected to the end of one of the conductors of the line. The apparatus also comprises a grounding circuit as well as a circuit filter connected parallel to the rectifier. The circuit proposed in this patent uses a rectified current for deicing the line. For each section of the line, a rectifier, a grounding circuit and a circuit filter are used. Also known in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,792. This patent proposes a high-voltage network for areas of increased intensity of icing. This patent proposes the use of a rectifier and a switching circuit for connecting at least one conductor of the line to the rectifier so as to melt the ice by a rectified current. One of the drawbacks which can be found in at least some of the above-mentioned switching apparatuses and methods is that some of these apparatuses and methods may not allow for an efficient and safe switching of the conductors of a segment of an electric power line. One of the objects of the present invention is to propose a switching apparatus and method for a segment of an electric power line which enables the interrupters of the conductors of a segment of the line to be switched between a closed and an open position, in an efficient, safe, and economical manner. The objects, advantages and other features of the present invention will be more apparent upon the reading of the following non restrictive description of different optional embodiments given as examples only in reference with the attached drawings.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe switching apparatus and the method are for varying the impedance of a phase line of a segment of an electrical power line. The phase line includes n conductors electrically insulated from each other and short-circuited together at two ends of the segment. The apparatus comprises a controllable interrupter connected in series for each conductor; a parameter detector; a first controller for controlling the interrupters; and a disabling unit for disabling the interrupters. The disabling unit comprises n controllable switches associated with the interrupters, position detectors for detecting which of the interrupters is closed, and a second controller having a command output to command the controllable switches and ensure that, at all operating times, at least one of the interrupters is closed and disabled."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A switching apparatus for varying an impedance of a phase line of a segment of an electrical power line, the phase line including n conductors electrically insulated from each other, n being equal to or greater than 2, the n conductors being short-circuited together at two ends of the segment; the apparatus comprising:\nfor each conductor, a controllable interrupter connected in series, said interrupter having command terminals for receiving first command signals for selectively switching said interrupter into a closed or an opened position;\na parameter detector for detecting a parameter representative of an actual operating condition of the phase line;\na first controller for controlling the interrupters via their command terminals, according to the parameter detected by the detector; and\na disabling unit for disabling the interrupters, said disabling unit comprising:\nn controllable switches associated respectively to the n controllable interrupters for respectively disabling the n controllable interrupters;\nposition detectors for detecting which of the n interrupters is closed; and\na second controller having first inputs for receiving position signals from the position detectors, a second input for receiving second command signals for commanding the disabling unit, and command outputs to command the n controllable switches in view of said second command signals and said position signals so that, at all operating times, at least one of the n interrupters is closed and disabled.\n\n2. The switching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the n interrupters is made of at least one vacuum interrupter, each of the vacuum interrupters having a motor for selectively opening and closing the corresponding vacuum interrupter in response to said command signals, each motor having supply terminals.\n\n3. The switching apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:\neach of said at least one vacuum interrupter is made of a pair of vacuum interrupters connected in parallel, and\nthe n controllable switches are respectively made of n pairs of controllable switches for disabling the n pairs of vacuum interrupters.\n\n4. The switching apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second controller comprises:\na rotatable cam unit providing the command outputs to command the n pairs of controllable switches depending on their operating position, the rotatable cam unit having a rotatable cam capable of rotating in n predetermined positions according to a predetermined sequence, each of said n predetermined positions corresponding to a position where one of the n pairs of vacuum interrupters is disabled by cutting off supply signals to the corresponding pair of motors via the corresponding pairs of controllable switches;\na cam motor for rotating the rotatable cam, having supply terminals; and\na cam controller for rotating the rotatable cam through the n predetermined positions according to the predetermined sequence by commanding the cam motor.\n\n5. The switching apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the position detectors comprise detector switches having inputs respectively connected to the n pairs of vacuum interrupters for detecting which of the n pair of vacuum interrupters is closed, and outputs for providing the supply signals to the supply terminals of the cam motor only when the pairs of vacuum interrupters corresponding to at least actual and next positions of the rotatable cam, are closed.\n\n6. The switching apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the n predetermined positions are four predetermined positions, each predetermined position being separated by an angular interval of 90\u00b0.\n\n7. The switching apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the cam controller comprises a position encoder to detect the position of the rotatable cam, and generate a cam position signal.\n\n8. The switching apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the cam controller comprises a position cam rigidly connected with the rotatable cam, and cam position switches having inputs connected to the position cam, and output to generate a cam position signal.\n\n9. The switching apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the cam controller comprises:\na position encoder to detect the position of the rotatable cam, and generate a first cam position signal:\na position cam rigidly connected with the rotatable cam; and\ncam position switches having inputs connected to the position cam, and output to generate a second cam position signal, so that the position of the rotatable cam is confirmable by means of either the first or second cam position signals.\n\n10. The switching apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the cam controller has an input for receiving either the first or the second cam position signals, to control rotation of the rotatable cam by means of one of said first and second cam position signals.\n\n11. The switching apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the outputs of the position detectors are for providing the supply signals to the supply terminals of the cam motor only when the pairs of vacuum interrupters corresponding to all of the positions of the rotatable cam, are closed.\n\n12. The switching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second input of the second controller are for receiving said command signals from the first controller.\n\n13. A method for varying an impedance of a phase line of a segment of an electrical power line, the phase line including n conductors electrically insulated from each other, n being equal to or greater than 2, the n conductors being short-circuited together at two ends of the segment, each conductor having a controllable interrupter being connected in series, said controllable interrupter having command terminals for receiving command signals for selectively switching said interrupter into a closed or an opened position, the method comprising steps of:\na) detecting a parameter representative of an actual operating condition of the phase line;\nb) controlling the interrupters via their command terminals, according to the parameter detected in step a); and\nc) disabling the interrupters by means of n controllable switches associated respectively to the n controllable interrupters, said step c) comprising steps of:\ni) detecting which of the n interrupters is closed; and\nii) commanding the n controllable switches so that, at all operating times, at least one of the n interrupters is closed and disabled.\n\n14. The method according to claim 13, where each of the n interrupters is made of a pair of vacuum interrupters connected in parallel, each of the vacuum interrupters having a motor for selectively opening and closing the corresponding vacuum interrupter in response to said command signals, each motor having supply terminals:\nin step c), the n controllable switches are respectively made of n pairs of controllable switches for disabling the n pairs of vacuum interrupters, the step c) further comprises steps of:\ncommanding the n pairs of controllable switches by means of a rotatable cam depending on its operating position, the rotatable cam being capable of rotating in n predetermined positions according to a predetermined sequence, each of said n predetermined positions corresponding to a position where one of the n pairs of vacuum interrupters is disabled by cutting off supply signals to the corresponding pair of motors via the corresponding pair of controllable switches; and\nrotating the cam by means of a cam motor having supply terminals, into a next of the n predetermined positions by supplying supply signals to supply terminals of a cam motor by means of a controllable switch to enable said cam motor, only when the following condition is met: the pairs of vacuum interrupters corresponding to actual and next positions of the cam, are closed.\n\n15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the condition also requires that the pairs of vacuum interrupters corresponding to all of the positions of the cam are closed."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Mobile Terminal\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nTerminals may be generally classified as mobile/portable terminals or stationary terminals according to their mobility. Mobile terminals may also be classified as handheld terminals or vehicle mounted terminals according to whether or not a user can directly carry the terminal. As functions of the terminal become more diversified, the terminal can support more complicated functions such as capturing images or video, reproducing music or video files, playing games, receiving broadcast signals, and the like. By comprehensively and collectively implementing such functions, the mobile terminal may be embodied in the form of a multimedia player. Various attempts have been made to implement complicated functions in such a multimedia device by means of hardware or software. For example, a user interface environment allowing users to easily and conveniently search for and select functions is provided. Also, as mobile terminals are considered as personal belongings for expressing users' personality, various design forms are requested. The design forms include structural alteration and improvement allowing user to more conveniently use a mobile terminal. As one of structural alterations and improvements, a manipulation unit may be considered. However, a manipulation unit provided separately from a touch screen hampers slim terminals and a simple design. Also, a problem in which a display area is reduced due to the presence of the manipulation unit on a side surface of a terminal arises. Thus, as a solution, an input method based on a new scheme may be taken into consideration. Also, as mobile terminals are considered as personal belongings for expressing users' personality, various designs are requested, and recently, designs tend to be simplified by minimizing protrusions on surfaces of mobile terminals. Thus, touch screens are increasingly applied to mobile terminals, as input units for inputting information to mobile terminals. As mobile terminals are increased in size, the number of touch window channels is also increased, and thus, as a width of a touch pattern is increased, a width of a bezel is also increased.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nThe present invention provides a mobile terminal comprising: a terminal body having a display part on the front side thereof; and a back input part exposed to the back side of the body and having a first button part for receiving a push input of a first function, wherein the first button part comprises: an exposed part having a colored layer and exposed to the outside; a knob part formed on the back side thereof so as to fix the exposed part; and a body part covering the knob part and formed to be integrated with the exposed part."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A mobile terminal comprising:\na terminal body in which a display part is formed on a front side thereof;\na back input part including a first button part exposed to a back side of the terminal body to receive a push input of a first function and a second button part disposed to be adjacent to the first button part and exposed to the back side of the terminal body to receive a push input of a second function,\nwherein the first button part includes:\nan exposed portion having a colored layer formed thereon and exposed to the outside;\na knob portion formed on a back side of the first button part to fix the exposed portion; and\na body portion covering the knob portion and integrally formed with the exposed portion, and\nthe second button part has a through hole accommodating the first button part,\nwherein the back input part includes:\na support member disposed on back sides of the first and second button parts, and having protrusions formed on a back side thereof to correspond to the first and second button parts;\na plate disposed below the support member, having switches formed in a row and operated upon being pressed by the protrusions, and formed on the second PCB;\na light source disposed on one side of the switches or on both sides of the switches;\na light guide formed to cover at least a portion of the switches and connected to the light source to emit light from the light source; and\na light blocking member disposed no both ends of an upper surface of the light guide and causing light to be introduced only to the light guide.\n\n2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising:\na first printed circuit board (PCB) disposed within the terminal body and allowing various electronic components to be mounted thereon;\na shield can covering the first PCB to shield the electronic components; and\na second PCB electrically connected to the first PCB and configured to have the back input part.\n\n3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the exposed portion is formed of stainless steel, and the body unit is formed of a light-transmissive material.\n\n4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the light guide has a through hole formed in a portion corresponding to the protrusion, is disposed in a direction intersecting with the row, and covers a portion or the entirety of the switches.\n\n5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the switches are connected by an air path.\n\n6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the support member includes a demarcating portion configured to demarcate a region corresponding to the first button part and a region corresponding to the second button part, is formed of rubber, and is coupled to the first and second button part by a hook formed at an edge thereof or is coupled to the first and second button parts by bonding.\n\n7. The mobile terminal of claim 6, wherein the plate, the light source, the light guide, the light blocking member, and the second PCB are integrally formed by the hook of the support member.\n\n8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein a wing is formed on an edge of the second button part so as to be caught by a back side of the terminal body.\n\n9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the first PCB and the second PCB are connected by a connector.\n\n10. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein a key plate assisting rigidity of the shield can is disposed between the shield can and the second PCB.\n\n11. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the second button part includes a planar portion parallel to the back side of the terminal body and a sloped portion sloped downwardly toward the through hole from the planar portion, and the first button part is formed to be inwardly recessed, compared with the back side of the terminal body.\n\n12. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the first function is a function related to ON/OFF of power or activation of the display part, and the second function is a function related to scroll with respect to output information of the display part or a function related to adjustment of a volume of a sound output from the terminal body.\n\n13. A mobile terminal comprising:\na terminal body in which a display part is formed on a front side thereof; and\na back input part including a first button part exposed to a back side of the terminal body to receive a push input of a first function,\nwherein the back input part includes:\na support member allowing the first and second button parts to penetrate through an interior thereof so as to be exposed to the outside;\na flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) attached to a back side of the support member;\na light source installed in a region corresponding to the first and second button parts on the FPCB; and\na switch pressed when the first and second button parts are pressed, and disposed below the FPCB,\nwherein the support member, the FPCB, the light source, and the switch are integrally formed.\n\n14. The mobile terminal of claim 13, further comprising:\na support member positioned below the switch and supporting the switch when the switch is pressed.\n\n15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the first button part has an exposed portion formed on an upper surface thereof and exposed to the outside, protruding along an outer edge thereof so as to be exposed, and limited in movement to the outside by the second button part."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: System And Method For Providing Active Rf Shielding\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nThis disclosure relates generally to methods and systems for radio frequency (\u201cRF\u201d) shielding of electronic devices. Electronic devices are considered ubiquitous in today's society. Electronic devices are found everywhere and are used by everyone. Many electronic devices emit RF and many times can receive unintentionally spurious RF transmissions. For example, a common experience is the interference created when using a microwave and a cordless phone at the same time. The RF emissions from the microwave may interfere with the operation of the cordless phone and render the cordless phone inoperable until the microwave is turned off. Another common experience is the interference created when using a microwave and a WiFi router at the same time. In this example, the RF emissions from the microwave may interfere with the operation of the WiFi router and render the WiFi inoperable until the microwave is turned off or the WiFi router is switched to a different frequency. These are common examples that demonstrate that microwave ovens have RF emissions that may interfere with other devices that rely on RF for communications. More information about RF emissions from various electronic devices can be found in, \u201cStudy of RF Emissions of Various Electronic Devices Used by the Public\u201d by Letertre et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference. When referring to RF emissions that interfere with other electronic devices, sometimes it is referred to as radio frequency interference (\u201cRFI\u201d) or electromagnetic interference (\u201cEMI\u201d). Some may describe the emission of RF from an electronic device such as a microwave as RF leakage. However, in the present invention, the reference to radio frequency (\u201cRF\u201d) will refer to any of RF, RFI, RF leakage, EMI, RF energy, RF emissions, RF signals and spurious RF transmissions. Hackers and/or enemies-of-the-state (\u201cHackers\u201d) can utilize RF emissions to hack into systems, attack systems, spy/monitor on systems, or disrupt systems. Hackers may target electronic devices such as computers, routers, appliances, mobile phones, cordless phones, switches, computer monitors, game consoles, DVD players, control electronics and other electronic devices that are likely to emit RF signals that could be detected by sensors located onboard an enemy platform including but not limited to ground-based, airborne and/or space-borne platforms. The RF emissions from such devices may comprise keyboard strokes, computer monitor images, drawings, private data, business data, financial data, political data, defense data, internet URLs, URL history, IP addresses, cookies, real time data, stored data, meta data, device usage data, electronic records, electronic files, video, audio, control signals, or any type of data, information or signal that an electronic device may contain or emit. A sophisticated enemy may use a sensor to detect RF emissions to insert an external RF hacking signal that may be comprised of one or more of viruses, noise, or other enemy directed RF signals. In other situations a sophisticated enemy may use the detected RF emission locations to direct a high energy laser (\u201cHEL\u201d) or an IREB (Intense Relativistic Electron Beam) system at those locations to physically destroy the electronic device. In other situations a sophisticated enemy may use a sensor to detect and monitor the RF emissions from certain electronic devices for intelligence purposes. Examples of where an enemy or hacker may be interested in RF emissions might be at a utility plant (i.e. electric, gas, water, solar, oil etc . . . ) or at a corporate competitor. Hackers may detect RF emissions and use techniques mentioned above to disrupt or destroy elements of the utility plant. In order to control RF/EMI, an industry has developed around shielding materials. Shields are measured by its \u201cshielding effectiveness\u201d (SE). An electro-magnetic (EM) shield is essentially any barrier placed between an EM emitter and areceptor, and it is designed to reduce the field strength of the emitter. The losses in EM emitter field strength are a function of the barrier's electrical and physical characteristics, such as its permeability, conductivity, and thickness; the frequency of the EMI; and the distance from the EMI source to the barrier/shield. The total SE of the shield is the sum of the reflection, absorption, and re-reflection losses.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA system and method for removing radio frequency emissions from an electronic device. The system comprises collectors for collection of the radio frequency signals, combiners for combining the signals to produce a combined signal, fiber optic transmitter for up-converting the combined radio frequency signals to an optical wave length signal, optical fiber for directing the optical signal, and a termination device for terminating the optical signal."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. A system for removing at least some radio frequency interference emissions, the system comprising:\none or more collectors, each of the one or more collectors tuned to one or more bandwidths of the at least some radio frequency interference emissions, at least some of the one or more collectors adapted to collect one or more signals;\none or more combiners adapted to combine the one or more signals to produce a combined signal;\na fiber optic transmitter adapted to up-convert the combined signal into an optical signal;\na fiber optic cable adapted to carry the optical signal;\na photodiode adapted to convert the optical signal into a current; and\none or more first resistors adapted to reduce the current.\n\n2. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more fans.\n\n3. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more heat sinks.\n\n4. The system of claim 1, wherein the fiber optic cable comprises one or more patches.\n\n5. The system of claim 1, wherein the fiber optic cable comprises one or more openings.\n\n6. The system of claim 1, wherein the signals comprise one or more of:\none or more analog signals; and\none or more digital signals,\nthe system further comprising:\none or more analog-to digital converters for converting each of the one or more analog signals to more or more converted digital signals;\none or more digital processors for summing the one or more converted digital signals and the digital signals to form a summed digital signal; and\none or more digital to analog converters for converting the summed digital signal to produce the combined signal.\n\n7. A system for removing at least some radio frequency interference emissions, the system comprising:\none or more collectors, each of the one or more collectors tuned to one or more bandwidths of the at least some radio frequency interference emissions, at least some of the one or more collectors adapted to collect one or more signals;\none or more combiners adapted to combine the one or more signals to produce a combined signal;\na fiber optic transmitter adapted to up-convert the combined signal into an optical signal;\none or more fiber optic cables adapted to carry the optical signal;\none or more photodiodes adapted to convert the optical signal into one or more currents; and\none or more resistors adapted to reduce the one or more currents.\n\n8. The system of claim 7, further comprising:\na splitter for splitting the optical signal into two or more partial optical signals, the two or more optical signal, the two or more partial optical signals comprising the first partial optical signal and a second partial optical signal, the one or more fiber optic cables comprising a first fiber optic cable and a second fiber optic cable, the first split fiber optic cable adapted to carry the first partial optical signal, the second fiber optic cable adapted to carry the second partial optical signal, the one or more photodiodes comprising a first photodiode and a second photodiode, the first photodiode adapted to convert the first partial optical signal into a first current, the second photodiode adapted to convert the second partial signal into a second current, the one or more resistors comprising a first resistance network and a second resistance network, the first resistance network adapted to reduce the first current, the second resistance network adapted to reduce the second current.\n\n9. The system of claim 8 wherein the splitter is a planar lightwave circuit.\n\n10. The system of claim 7, further comprising one or more fans.\n\n11. The system of claim 7, further comprising one or more heat sinks.\n\n12. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the one or more fiber optic cables comprises one or more patches.\n\n13. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the one or more fiber optic cables comprise one or more openings.\n\n14. The system of claim 7, wherein the signals comprise one or more of:\none or more analog signals; and\none or more digital signals,\nthe system further comprising:\none or more analog-to digital converters for converting each of the one or more analog signals to more or more converted digital signals;\none or more digital processors for summing the one or more converted digital signals and the digital signals to form a summed digital signal; and\none or more digital to analog converters for converting the summed digital signal to produce the combined signal.\n\n15. A system for removing at least some radio frequency interference emissions, the system comprising:\none or more collectors, each of the one or more collectors tuned to one or more bandwidths of the at least some radio frequency interference emissions, at least some of the one or more collectors adapted to collect one or more signals;\none or more combiners adapted to combine the one or more signals to produce a combined signal;\na fiber optic transmitter adapted to up-convert the combined signal into an optical signal;\na wide-diameter fiber optic cable adapted to carry the optical signal, the wide diameter fiber optic cable comprising at least two thin fiber optic cables, the at least two thin fiber optic cables comprising a first thin fiber optic cable and a second thin fiber optic cable, the first thin fiber optic cable comprising a first photodiode and a first resistor, the second fiber optic cable comprising a second photodiode and a second resistor, the first fiber optic cable adapted to carry a first part of the optical signal, the second fiber optic cable adapted to carry a second part of the optical signal, the first photodiode adapted to convert the first part of the optical signal into a first current, the second photodiode adapted to convert the second part of the optical signal into a second current, the first resistor adapted to reduce the first current, the second resistor adapted to reduce the second current.\n\n16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a splitter for splitting the optical signal into at least the first part of the optical signal and the second part of the optical signal.\n\n17. The system of claim 16 wherein the splitter is a planar lightwave circuit.\n\n18. The system of claim 15, further comprising one or more fans.\n\n19. The system of claim 15, further comprising one or more heat sinks.\n\n20. The system of claim 15, wherein one or more of:\nthe wide-diameter fiber optic cable;\nthe first thin fiber optic cable; and\nthe second thin fiber optic cable comprises one or more patches.\n\n21. The system of claim 15, wherein one or more of:\nthe wide-diameter fiber optic cable;\nthe first thin fiber optic cable; and\nthe second thin fiber optic cable comprises one or more openings.\n\n22. The system of claim 15, wherein the signals comprise one or more of:\none or more analog signals; and\none or more digital signals,\nthe system further comprising:\none or more analog-to digital converters for converting each of the one or more analog signals to more or more converted digital signals;\none or more digital processors for summing the one or more converted digital signals and the digital signals to form a summed digital signal; and\none or more digital to analog converters for converting the summed digital signal to produce the combined signal."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Electronic Component\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\nKnown electronic components include, a multilayer capacitor and an interposer on which the multilayer capacitor is mounted (e.g., cf. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H07-111380). When a voltage is applied to the multilayer capacitor, an element body thereof is subject to mechanical strain in the magnimde in accordance with the applied voltage due to the electrostrictive effect. This mechanical strain induces vibration in the multilayer capacitor (which will be referred to hereinafter as \u2018electrostrictive vibration\u2019). When the voltage is applied to the multilayer capacitor mounted on an electronic device (e.g., a circuit board or another electronic component), the electrostrictive vibration propagates to the electronic device. The propagation of the electrostrictive vibration to the electronic device may lead to vibration of, the electronic device, so as to cause acoustic noise. In the aforementioned electronic component, the multilayer capacitor is mounted on the interposer. When the electronic component is mounted on the electronic device, the multilayer capacitor is connected via the interposer to the electronic device. For this reason, the electrostrictive vibration is less likely to propagate to the electronic device, and thus occurrence of the acoustic noise is suppressed.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nAn electronic component includes a multilayer capacitor and an interposer The multilayer capacitor includes an element body and a pair of external electrodes. The interposer includes a substrate, a pair of first electrodes, and is pair of second electrodes. The substrate includes first and second principal faces. The pair of first electrodes are disposed on the first principal face. The pair of second electrodes are disposed on the second principal thee. The element body includes a first portion and a pair of second portions. The first portion is covered by the external electrodes. The pair of second portions are located on both sides or the first portion and separated from the interposer. A width in a second direction of the pair of external electrodes is smaller than a width in the second direction of the element body and larger than a width in the second direction of the second portion."}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "1. An electronic component comprising: a multilayer capacitor; and an interposer on which the multilayer capacitor is mounted,\nwherein the multilayer capacitor comprises:\na multilayer body of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape in which a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of internal electrodes are stacked; and\na pair of external electrodes disposed on ends in a first direction in the multilayer body and each connected to a corresponding internal electrode of the plurality of internal electrodes,\nwherein the interposer comprises:\na substrate including a first principal face of a planar shape opposed to the multilayer capacitor, a second principal face of a planar shape opposed to the first principal face, first and second side faces of a planar shape opposed to each other in the first direction, and third and fourth side faces of a planar shape opposed to each other in a second direction perpendicular to both the first direction and a direction in which the first and second principal faces are opposed;\na pair of first electrodes disposed on the first and second side face sides of the first principal face and each connected to a corresponding external electrode of the pair of external electrodes;\na pair of second electrodes disposed on the third and fourth side face sides of the second principal face; and\na pair of connection electrodes disposed on the first principal face and each electrically connected to the first electrode and the second electrode,\nwherein the multilayer body, when viewed from the first direction, includes a first portion covered by the external electrode, and a pair of second portions located on both sides of the first portion and exposed from the external electrode,\nwherein, the pair of second portions of the multilayer body are separated from the interposer, and\nwherein a width in the second direction of the pair of external electrodes is smaller than a width in the second direction of the multilayer body and larger than a width in the second direction of the second portion.\n\n2. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein the pair of connection electrodes include a pair of first electrode portions disposed on the third and fourth side face sides of the first principal face and extending in the first direction, and\nwherein a width in the first direction of each of the first electrodes is smaller than a width in the first direction of each of the first electrode portions and larger than a width in the second direction of each of the first electrode portions.\n\n3. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein each of the pair of first electrodes includes two electrode portions separated from each other in the second direction.\n\n4. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein each of the connection electrodes is coupled to the first electrode, and\nwherein a solder resist is provided on each of the connection electrodes and in the vicinity of the first electrode.\n\n5. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein the pair of first electrodes overlap each other when viewed from the first direction, and\nwherein a distance in the second direction between an end of the first electrode, disposed on the first side face side, on the third, side face side and an end of the first electrode, disposed on the second side face side, on the fourth site face side is equivalent to the width in the second direction of the pair of external electrodes.\n\n6. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein, the pair of external electrodes include a pair of electrode portions disposed on a face opposed to the first principal thee in the multilayer body, and\nwherein a width in the first direction of the first electrode is larger than a width in the first direction of the pair of electrode portions disposed on the face opposed to the first principal face in the multilayer body.\n\n7. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein the pair of external electrodes include a pair of electrode portions disposed on a pair of faces opposed in the first direction in the multilayer body, and\nwherein the electrode portion disposed on each of the faces opposed in the first direction in the multilayer body is connected to the first electrode with solder.\n\n8. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein each of the third and fourth side faces is provided with a groove continuous from the first principal face to the second principal face in a center in the first direction.\n\n9. The electronic component according to claim 1,\nwherein each of the pair of second electrodes includes two electrode portions separated from each other in the first direction."}]} {"messages": [{"role": "system", "content": "You are an expert US patent attorney. Draft a set of independent and dependent claims based on the provided invention description. Use correct USPTO formatting."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Title: Imaging Optical System, Camera Apparatus And Stereo Camera Apparatus\n\nTechnical Field and Background:\n1. Technical Field The present invention relates to an imaging optical system, a camera apparatus, and a stereo camera apparatus. 2. Description of Related Art As camera apparatuses including imaging optical systems and area sensors, monitoring cameras, vehicle-mounted cameras, and the like are practically being used. These cameras are used for sensing purpose, i.e., to identify an object. For instance a vehicle-mounted camera is used to identify a position of the traveling vehicle, a road condition, and the like. Here, the imaging optical systems for sensing purpose must have a high resolution so as to identify relatively a small object or to monitor a condition of an object from a relatively long distance. As imaging optical systems provided to camera apparatuses for sensing purpose, retrofocus-type imaging optical systems are taught by PTL1 (JP2006-309076A), PTL2 (JP2004-341376A), and PTL3 (JP2012-220741A). The image optical systems of the PTLs 1 to 3 have a front lens group with a negative power on the object side and a rear lens group with a positive power on the image side (i.e., the front lens group and the rear lens group are aligned in an asymmetrical manner). As a result, the camera secures an enough space to dispose filters such as an optical low pass filter and an infrared cut filter between the optical system and the image sensors, thereby achieving an appropriate optical performance for sensing. Further, the optical systems for sensing purpose are required to accurately identify the sizes, shapes, and the like of the objects. Hence, the distortion aberrations must appropriately be corrected even for wide angle cameras. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an imaging optical system that can reduce distortions, thereby achieving low distortion.\n\nInvention Disclosure:\nA single focal imaging optical system includes, in order from an object side, a first lens group with a positive power, an aperture stop, and a second lens group with a positive power. The first lens group includes a first front lens group and a first rear lens group. The first front lens group includes a negative lens having a concave surface on an image side and a positive meniscus lens having a concave surface on the object side. The first rear lens group includes a biconvex lens. The second lens group includes a second front lens group with a negative power and a second rear lens group with a positive power. The system satisfies a following condition: 3.2