Abstract: The invention relates to an electrochemical accumulator comprising at least one housing and at least one electrochemical cell disposed in said housing as well as at least two electrical connection terminals for electrically contacting the accumulator, wherein at least one of the connection terminals is formed from at least two interconnected sections of differing metals or metal alloys. The invention furthermore relates to a method for manufacturing an electrochemical accumulator.

Abstract: Circuits, devices, and method for bypassing voltage regulation in voltage regulators. A voltage regulator may include a duty cycle component configured to determine whether a duty cycle of the voltage regulator is greater than a threshold duty cycle. The voltage regulator may also include a first sensing component configured to determine whether an output voltage of the voltage regulator is less than a first threshold voltage. The voltage regulator may further include a regulating component, coupled to the duty cycle component and the first sensing component, the regulating component configured to pass an input voltage to the output of the voltage regulator based on a first determination that the duty cycle is greater than the threshold duty cycle and a second determination that the output voltage of the voltage regulator is less than the first threshold voltage.

Abstract: A gas lift system may be installed within a well to allow gas lift operations where gas may be injected into the annular area of the well while producing fluids through the interior of the production tubular or upon demand may be reversed so that gas may be injected into the interior of the production tubular while producing fluids to the annular region of the well. In order to allow bidirectional production on demand two types of gas lift mandrels are installed as part of the production tubular. Both types of gas lift mandrels are configured such that gas lift valves are mounted to the exterior of the mandrels.

Abstract: An apparatus includes an optical wavelength selective switch that includes an optical wavelength separator, a layer of liquid crystal having a two-dimensional array of s electrically operable pixel regions, and an electronic controller connected to individual apply voltages across the pixel regions. The optical wavelength separator is configured to substantially direct individual wavelength ranges of light received at an input optical port to separate lateral areas of said layer of liquid crystal. The electronic controller is configured to apply the voltages such that at least one neighboring pair of the lateral areas have refractive indexes modulated along a first direction and are separated by a guard band of the pixel regions along a different second direction.

Abstract: An RF power amplifier circuit and input power limiter circuits are disclosed. A power detector generates a voltage output proportional to a power level of an input signal. There is a directional coupler with a first port connected to a transmit signal input, a second port connected to the input matching network, and a third port connected to the power detector. A first power amplifier stage with an input is connected to the input matching network and an output is connected to the transmit signal output. A control circuit connected to the power detector generates a gain reduction signal based upon a comparison of the voltage output from the power detector to predefined voltage levels corresponding to specific power levels of the input signal. Overall gain of the RF power amplifier circuit is reduced based upon the gain reduction signal that adjusts the configurations of the circuit components.

Abstract: A system for locating a vehicle utilizing a zone posts in known locations that when the vehicle comes within a proximity of the zone post receives an identification signal from the vehicle and sends that identification signal on to a central command center. The identification signal may be provided by a dongle or a tire pressure monitoring system tire pressure sensor. The central command center may be queried with vehicle identifying information, and the location of the zone post that last sent the identification signal is provided as an indication of the location of the vehicle.

Abstract: Provided is technology that makes it easy to select a format for inputting drawings or characters when inputting to a display apparatus such as a tablet or the like using a touch pen. A display-input system includes a tablet, and a touch pen as an input unit for the tablet. The tablet and touch pen are capable of linked operation by communicating with each other. Contents (input-format-selection screen) that are the same as a palette of the tablet are displayed on a pen-side touch panel of the touch pen so that selection is possible. A format that is selected by a user operating the pen-side touch panel is reflected on an application that is being executed by the tablet, and reflected on the application in the same way as direct operation on the tablet.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum, an exposure device, a supporting member and a main adjustment member. The photosensitive drum is provided for each of colors forming a color image. The exposure device is configured to emit a laser light on each of the photosensitive drums to form an electrostatic latent image. The supporting member is configured to support end portions of rotation shafts of all the photosensitive drums. The main adjustment member is configured to shift the supporting member in a vertical plane to adjust a skew of the laser light.

Abstract: Methods of servicing one or more consumer appliances are provided herein. The method may include establishing an automatic wireless connection to the consumer appliance with a removably attached dongle through a cellular communications network. The method may also include identifying a consumer appliance as one appliance type of a predetermined plurality of appliance types. The method may further include receiving a recorded log data set from the consumer appliance through the dongle based on the identified appliance type. The method may still further include determining whether an errant event has occurred at the consumer appliance based on the recorded log data set.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a control unit. The control unit performs OCR processing by identifying a specified area of image data as a detection area, detecting line images contained in the detection area, and analyzing the detected line images to identify a character represented by the line images. Furthermore, when failing to identify a character represented by the line images in the OCR processing, the control unit determines whether the line images represent a part of a character and, upon determination that the line images represent a part of a character, expands the detection area in a direction where the other part of the character to be identified is assumed to be present and performs the OCR processing again on the expanded detection area.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for detecting a position of an actuator piston driving a valve pin in an injection molding system. The apparatus includes an actuator housing having a body portion, surrounding an axial bore, of a substantially non-magnetic and/or magnetically permeable material, a piston, movable within the axial bore for driving a valve pin, the piston including a magnetic member generating a magnetic field such that axial movement of the piston in the bore modifies the magnetic field according to the position of the piston relative to a detection position, and a magnetic field detector attached to an exterior surface of the body portion at the detection position for detecting the magnetic field associated with the position of the piston and generating an output signal determined by the piston position.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for testing of patch antennas are provided herein. In certain configurations, a method of electronic testing of patch antennas includes moving a patch antenna having a planar antenna element onto a test fixture using an automated handler, including positioning the patch antenna onto a portion of the test fixture between a first probe and a second probe. The method further includes coupling a test signal from the first probe to the planar antenna element without physically contacting the planar antenna element with the first probe, coupling the test signal from the planar antenna element to the second probe without physically contacting the planar antenna element with the second probe, and measuring a center frequency of the patch antenna based on an amount of coupling of the test signal from the first probe to the second probe by way of the planar antenna element.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided in which a first module is configured to execute a trade of a securities futures product on an underlying financial instrument for which a net asset value calculated and published at or after a specified time. A second module determines a price for the executed trade, which is (a) a first price which is at a specified discount, (b) a second price which is substantially equal, and/or (c) a third price which is at a premium, to the net asset value or net asset value with basis adjustment. A third module is configured to submit the executed trade for settlement at the determined price.

Abstract: A system may facilitate distributed ledger technology (DLT) record based (for example, blockchain-based) voting. A node configured to support a voter role may access a DLT record to determine answers and/or parameters for a ballot. An organizer of the ballot may provide the voter with a voter token that confers vote-value to the voter. The voter may distribute the vote-value to the answers using committed tokens that bind the voter to a particular vote-value without divulging the particular vote value while in a cryptographic form. The voter may distribute committed tokens to multiple answers. In some cases, the distribution of the committed tokens to multiple answers may frustrate attempts to determine the one or more targets to which the voter delivers a non-null vote-value.

Abstract: Refrigerator appliances are provided. A refrigerator appliance includes a cabinet defining a fresh food chamber and a freezer chamber, and a door rotatably hinged to the cabinet for accessing the fresh food chamber. The door further defines an ice box. The refrigerator appliance further includes an ice maker disposed within the ice box, and a container defining a storage volume for receipt of ice produced by the ice maker. The refrigerator appliance further includes a drain assembly for draining melt water from the container. The drain assembly includes a male connector mounted to the door for flowing melt water therethrough, and a first duct providing fluid communication between the container and the male connector. The drain assembly further includes a female connector mounted within the fresh food chamber for flowing melt water therethrough from the male connector, and a second duct providing fluid communication from the female connector.

Abstract: Roughly described, a system for user identification of a desired document. A database is provided which identifies a catalog of documents in an embedding space, the database identifying a distance in the embedding space between each pair of documents corresponding to a predetermined measure of dissimilarity between the pair of documents. The system presents an initial collection of the documents toward the user, from an initial candidate space which is part of the embedding space. The system then iteratively refines the candidate space using geometric constraints on the embedding space determined in response to relative feedback by the user. At each iteration the system identifies to the user a subset of documents from the then-current candidate space, based on which the user provides the relative feedback. In an embodiment, these subsets of documents are more discriminative than the average discriminativeness of similar sets of documents in the then-current candidate space.

Abstract: A coherent optical receiver in which the channel equalizer and the clock-recovery circuit are connected in a nested-loop configuration, wherein the channel estimate generated by the equalizer is used to adjust the phase of the clock signal generated by the clock-recovery circuit. The channel equalizer can be implemented using a bank of time-domain or frequency-domain FIR filters. In an example embodiment, the clock-recovery circuit is configured to track the phase rotation corresponding to the equalized signals in a frequency-dependent manner; track the phase rotation in the channel equalizer either in a frequency-dependent manner or based on the mean signal delay therein; and adjust the phase of the clock signal based on an effective difference between these two phase rotations. The clock-recovery circuit enhances the clock tone by applying a Fourier transform to the squared absolute values of the equalized signals outputted by the channel equalizer.

Abstract: A hydration system including a fluid reservoir, a fluid path in communication with the reservoir, and a magnetic quick connect interposed in the fluid path is disclosed. A fluid delivery system for a hydration system is also disclosed that includes a magnetic quick connect interposed in a fluid delivery path of the delivery system. The magnetic quick connect can also be used in a wide variety of fluid delivery systems. A kit for forming a fluid delivery system for a hydration system is also disclosed, as are various components of a hydration system.

Abstract: A method for operating a linear compressor includes providing a dynamic model for a motor of the linear compressor, estimating values for each unknown constant of a plurality of unknown constants of the dynamic model for the motor and repeatedly updating the estimate for each unknown constant of the plurality of unknown constants of the dynamic model for the motor in order to reduce an error between a measured value for the electrical dynamic model and an estimated valve for the electrical dynamic model.

Abstract: Systems and methods described herein relate to generating ammonia from engine exhaust instead of or in addition to using on-board storage tank(s) and/or doser(s) to provide the necessary chemical reagents for purification of the exhaust stream. Systems and methods for generating ammonia and/or hydrogen from engine exhaust in exhaust aftertreatment systems under ambient conditions comprise at least one water-gas shift (WGS) catalyst and at least one ammonia synthesis catalyst (AMS catalyst) positioned downstream of the WGS catalyst. The WGS catalyst is configured, using the engine exhaust gas as an input, to generate hydrogen used by the AMS catalyst as inputs to generate ammonia and/or hydrogen. The ammonia and/or hydrogen thus generated are used downstream in ammonia- and/or hydrogen-based selective catalytic reduction catalysts (SCR).