A winglet for a rotor blade is disclosed. The winglet may generally include a winglet body extending between a first end and a second end. The winglet body may define a sweep and may have a curvature defined by a curve fit including a first radius of curvature and a second radius of curvature. The sweep between the first end and the second end may range from about 580 millimeters to about 970 millimeters. Additionally, the first radius of curvature may range from about 1500 millimeters to about 2500 millimeters and the second radius of curvature may range from about 1200 millimeters to about 2000 millimeters.

A wind turbine for generating electrical energy may include a wind turbine blade including a plurality of vortex generators integrally formed in the outer surface of the blade. The vortex generator includes a first component that defines a portion of the outer surface of the blade and a second component defining the shape of the vortex generator and at least partially surrounded by the first component. A method of manufacturing the wind turbine blade includes disposing a first plurality of layers of structural material over a mold main body and a removable insert member with a shaped cavity. A shaped plug is then pressed into the shaped cavity, and a second plurality of layers of structural material is disposed over the plug and the mold main body to complete manufacture of a wind turbine blade with a vortex generator.

A blade of a gas turbine engine is provided having an airfoil, a platform, a shank, a dovetail, and a skirt. The airfoil may extend distally from the platform, and the shank may extend proximally from the platform. The dovetail may also be provided to extend proximally from the shank. The skirt may be disposed on an aft side of the shank and may extend from the shank in a direction at least partially axially aft from the shank.

A wind turbine blade with a lightning protection for a blade with a shell body has at least one lightning receptor arranged freely accessible in or on a surface of the shell body surface, and a lightning down conductor electrically connected to the lightning receptor and comprising an inner conductor made of electrically conductive material imbedded in a bedding insulation made of an electrically non-conductive material. The lightning down conductor further includes a first conductive layer having a resistance in the range of 10 to 10,000 Mega Ohm per meter (MΩ/m). The first conductive layer is located in a transverse distance from the inner conductor and being electrically isolated from the inner conductor.

A cooled turbine blade comprises a root for fixing the blade to rotor, an airfoil extending along a radial axis from the root, and a tip shroud disposed at a radially outward end of the airfoil. The tip shroud extends in a circumferential direction from the airfoil and defines, within itself, a core plenum and a peripheral plenum. The airfoil defines an aft airfoil cooling passage that extends radially through the airfoil proximate a trailing edge portion of the airfoil. The airfoil also defines an aft cooling inlet for providing an aft stream of cooling fluid to the aft airfoil cooling passage. The airfoil also defines at least one aft cooling exit for discharging the aft stream of cooling fluid from the aft airflow cooling passage to the peripheral plenum. The tip shroud defines at least one peripheral plenum vent for discharging the aft stream of cooling fluid.

A cognitive disorder diagnostic system that employs cognitive cubes, gameplay associate with the cognitive cubes, and a data gathering as statistical analysis base device that may be a computer, that communicates the gathered data to a web server host according to a unique ID associated with particular cognitive cubes and further associated with a particular player. Using the statistical data gathered using the gameplay, various cognitive disorders may be successfully diagnosed and treated with higher reliability.

A learning toy that includes a frame and a plurality of blocks. Each block includes a different color on each face with a first face having a first color and a second face having a second color. Additionally, four different colors are separately assigned to each of the remaining faces and the color assignments vary between at least two blocks of the plurality of blocks. The plurality of blocks allow for consistency and variability. Consistency comes from the colors assigned to two faces staying the same between blocks and the variability comes from the colors assigned to remaining four faces varying between some blocks.

An improved variable pitch oarlock of a rowing shell, including a gate for securing an oar, which is adapted to swivel about a vertical pin of a rigger of the rowing shell. The improvement residing in the inclusion of horizontal pivot means adapted to vary the horizontal angular displacement of the gate as it swivels about the vertical pin. In operation, the pitch of the oar blade can be correspondingly varied and accurately determined during all phases of the rowing stroke. The horizontal pin also provides the mounting for force sensors; ensuring horizontal and/or vertical forces can be measured. Also claimed is a method of coaching or training rowing crew(s), utilizing the variable pitch oarlock as herein described, wherein force, angle and depth measurements are taken and analyzed.

A wearable cardiopulmonary resuscitation assist device or system including: a wearable article to be worn by a cardiopulmonary resuscitation performer or a patient, for assisting administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation by the performer; at least one sensor for measuring at least one parameter to assist in cardiopulmonary resuscitation; at least one feedback component for conveying feedback information based on the parameter to the performer for assisting the performer in performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and a processing unit, the processing unit being configured to receive the at least one parameter from the at least one sensor and to send information based on the parameter to the at least one feedback component. Also a method for training or improving cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures using the device.

An adaptable audio instruction system and method allows for tailoring and modification to audio sequences used for audio instruction of users. The tailoring and modification abilities of the system regard content and presentation details of the audio sequences to comply with user preferences and user progress in learning content contained in the audio sequences.

This invention is a wearable, automatic, and tamper-resistant device and method for monitoring and measuring food consumption and caloric intake. It can help people to manage their energy balance and weight. It can be embodied as: (a) one or more automatic-imaging members that are worn on a person from which these members collectively and automatically take pictures of the person's mouth and pictures of a reachable food source when the person eats; (b) a tamper-resisting mechanism which detects and responds if the operation of the one or more automatic-imaging members is impaired; and (c) an image-analyzing member which automatically analyzes pictures of the person's mouth and pictures of the reachable food source in order to estimate the types and quantities of food that are consumed by the person.

The invention relates to an assemblage of two pieces of bodywork (1, 2) each having a flange (5, 6) for pressing against the flange of the other piece. Each flange carries at least one tongue (11, 12) extending towards the other piece. A fastener member (20) is suitable for engaging around the tongues so to prevent them from moving relative to one another once said two pieces of bodywork are in a predetermined position in which they are united flange against flange. The invention also provides the pieces of bodywork constituting said assemblage.

A method that utilizes software and hardware mechanisms to meet the FCC requirement for a U-NII antenna to be an integral part of the device in which it operates, while providing wireless ready U-NII devices and CRUable U-NII radios. Enhancements are made to the software BIOS, including the inclusion of a table of approved radio-antenna PCI ID pairs to create an authentication scheme that verifies and authenticates the radio and antenna combination as being an FCC-approved unique coupling during boot-up of the system. The BIOS also comprises an OEM field that stores an encrypted secret key utilized to complete a second check of the radio model placed in the device. During boot up of the device, the PCI ID pairs from the BIOS are compared against the PCI ID of the radio and the secret key is checked against the radio model. Only a system with an approved combination of radio and antenna is allowed to complete the boot process, indicating an FCC approved device-antenna-radio combination under the “integral” requirement.

Described herein are systems and methods for accurately estimating and removing a carrier frequency offset. One exemplary embodiment relates to a system comprising a frequency offset detection circuit detecting a carrier frequency offset in an optical signal, and a frequency testing circuit calculating an estimated frequency offset value of the carrier frequency offset, wherein the frequency testing circuit removes a carrier phase based on the estimated frequency offset value and recovers the optical signal. Another exemplary embodiment relates to a method comprising detecting a carrier frequency offset in an optical signal, calculating an estimated frequency offset value of the carrier frequency offset, removing a carrier phase based on the estimated frequency offset value, and recovering the optical signal.

Various methods and systems for efficiently performing the blind decoding of downlink signals is described. Several forms of arranging possible CCE combinations are examined and investigated. Based on PDCCH size estimation/information, CCE concatenations that are most likely (of of limited sets) can be arrived at. Tree-based concatenations are also devised using largest CCE ordering to align smaller CCE sizes to similar boundaries. By such ordering, the search space for all possible CCE ordering and sizes can be reduced to an efficient tree. Set mapping between possible lnposelstartCCElnposelend/REs are also described using a first set to secondary and tertiary sets. Various other ordering and sorting schemes are also detailed that enable a blind decode of a PDCCH channel to be efficiently performed.

An image processing apparatus includes a system managing unit configured to manage an apparatus status of apparatus hardware; an acquiring unit configured to acquire application status information of an application from the application and apparatus status information from the system managing unit; an input unit configured to accept a display request for displaying a status monitor screen indicating an overall system status; a screen generating unit configured to receive the display request and generate the status monitor screen based on the application status information and the apparatus status information acquired by the acquiring unit, the status monitor screen including an application status display and an apparatus status display; and a display unit configured to display the status monitor screen generated by the screen generating unit.

Generating a corrected electronic record of a locate and/or marking operation. The operation comprises locating and/or identifying, using a physical locate mark, presence or absence of an underground facility within a dig area. At least a portion of the dig area may be excavated or disturbed. First information relating to a location of the facility and/or the mark is received. Based at least in part on the first information, the location of the facility and/or the mark is represented to generate an electronic visual representation of the operation. Second information relating to a corrected location of the facility and/or the mark is received. Based at least in part on the second information, the corrected location is represented to generate a corrected electronic visual representation of the operation. Third information relating to the corrected representation of the operation is transmitted and/or stored to generate the corrected electronic record of the operation.

A method is disclosed for assessing an aspect relating to a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician based on an electronic representation of the operation. The operation includes locating and/or identifying, using a physical locate mark, a presence or an absence of an underground facility within a dig area. A portion of the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The method includes digitally representing, on a display device, the facility and/or the physical locate mark to generate an electronic visual representation of the operation. The method further includes determining a length associated with a portion of the digitally represented facility and/or physical locate mark in the electronic visual representation of the operation. The method further includes, based on the determined length, automatically assessing the aspect relating to the operation.

In one embodiment, a viewer executing on an electronic device having a touch sensitive display shows a three-dimensional (3D) model of a building created using computer aided design (CAD) software. A plurality of selectable interface nodes are provided at respective locations within the 3D model. Each interface node is linked to at least one corresponding two-dimensional (2D) construction drawing that shows a section view, a plan view, an elevation view or a detail view of the building related to the location of the interface node. In response to receiving input from a user indicating selection of a particular interface node, a menu is displayed with one or more selectable menu options. In response to receiving additional input from the user indicating selection of a particular menu option, a corresponding 2D construction drawing for the particular interface node is displayed in context of the 3D model of the building.

Generating a digital-media-enhanced electronic record of a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician. The locate and/or marking operation comprises locating and/or identifying, using at least one physical locate mark, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. A location of the at least one underground facility and/or the at least one physical locate mark is electronically rendered on a display device so as to generate an electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation. At least one digital media file representation of a corresponding digital media file relating to at least one aspect of the locate and/or marking operation or an environment of the dig area is also electronically rendered on the display device, so as to generate a digital-media-annotated representation of the locate and/or marking operation. Information relating to the digital-media-annotated representation of the locate and/or marking operation is electronically transmitted and/or stored so as to generate the digital-media-enhanced electronic record of the locate and/or marking operation.

A frequency tunable filter is disclosed. The frequency tunable filter includes a filter unit that can tune a frequency band of a frequency signal being filtered, a communication module that receives a control signal for controlling the tuning of the frequency band, and a control unit that controls the tuning of the frequency band based on the control signals. The disclosed filter can control the tuning of the filter's frequency band wirelessly.

In an example embodiment, an electromagnetic interface can comprise: a first component comprising a first waveguide channel, a first interface surface, and a first force transfer feature; a second component comprising a second waveguide channel, a second interface surface, and a second force transfer feature; and a fastener that can be configured to force the first force transfer feature in sliding engagement with the second force transfer feature. The first and second force transfer features can be configured to interoperate to create an indirect force holding the first interface surface in contact with the second interface surface and holding the first waveguide channel in alignment with the second waveguide channel.

An attenuation reduction control structure for high-frequency signal transmission lines of a flexible circuit board includes an impedance control layer formed on a surface of a substrate. The impedance control layer includes an attenuation reduction pattern that is arranged in an extension direction of the high-frequency signal transmission lines of the substrate and corresponds to bottom angle structures of the high-frequency signal transmission lines in order to improve attenuation of a high-frequency signal transmitted through the high-frequency signal transmission lines. An opposite surface of the substrate includes a conductive shielding layer formed thereon. The conductive shielding layer is formed with an attenuation reduction pattern corresponding to top angle structures of the high-frequency signal transmission lines.

A waveguide busbar for conducting microwaves includes a group input for coupling in a group microwave signal, a plurality of filter inputs for coupling in a plurality of microwave signals, a dual waveguide that comprises a first single waveguide and a second single waveguide. The plurality of filter inputs are disposed along the dual waveguide, as well as at least one adjustable coupling member that provides a connection between the first single waveguide and the second single waveguide and that is configured such that it adjusts a phase length of the connection.

A signal transmission cable includes a multi-layer parallel transmission path, a single-layer parallel transmission path, and a single-layer/multi-layer conversion section. The multi-layer parallel transmission path includes two or more dielectric waveguides stacked in upper and lower directions. Each dielectric waveguide includes a dielectric layer formed of a dielectric substance, two conductive layers formed to sandwich the dielectric layer, and two quasi-conductive walls. The two quasi-conductive walls include a plurality of via-holes electrically connected to the two conductive layers. The dielectric waveguides are arranged sharing the conductive layers in contact in the upper and lower directions. The single-layer parallel transmission path includes the two or more dielectric waveguides arranged in left- and right-hand directions on the same dielectric layer and conductive layer. The single-layer/multi-layer conversion section transmits a signal transmitted by each dielectric waveguide in the single-layer parallel transmission path to each dielectric waveguide in the multi-layer parallel transmission path.

The adjustable resonator according to the invention has a casing, which is composed of walls, a lid and a bottom, a resonator cavity inside the casing and an internal conductor inside the resonator cavity, which internal conductor is in electric contact with the casing. The resonator further comprises a moveable adjustment piece, which comprises a conductive adjustment member, a conductive upper plate, and a dielectric support member. The adjustment member has a stem, which is vertical, and a cap as an expansion thereof. The adjustment member can be moved downwards so that its stem and the fixed internal conductor connected to the bottom of the resonator go within each other. The movement of the adjustment piece in the coaxial resonator first decreases the resonance frequency and then slowly increases it. Therefore the resonator provides a very wide adjustment area for the resonance frequency.

A variable filter includes, on a dielectric substrate including ground conductor, first resonator including a transmission line connected to input terminal, second resonator including a transmission line connected to output terminal, and coupling portion including a transmission line having one end connected to the first and second resonators and another end being an open end, or structure having one end connected to the first and second resonators, including a serial connection of a transmission line and a variable capacitor, another end of the variable capacitor connected to the ground conductor, and adjusting means capable of changing electric length, in the first and second resonators and the coupling portion, wherein pass band width can be changed by changing ratio of electric transmission length of the coupling portion to electric transmission lengths of transmission line including the coupling portion, and the first and second resonators.

An implantable graft device having treated yarn is disclosed. The device comprises a graft body forming a lumen defining a longitudinal axis and comprising proximal and distal ends. The graft body comprises a woven fabric having warp yarns aligned in a first direction and a weft yarns aligned in a second direction. At least one of the weft yarns and the warp yarns has an agent applied thereto defining treated yarns of the graft body.

A textile sleeve for routing and protecting elongate members and method of construction thereof is provided. The sleeve includes an elongate wall having opposite edges extending parallel to a central axis of the sleeve. The wall is woven with warp yarns extending parallel to the axis and fill yarns extending transverse to the warp yarns. The warp yarns include monofilament yarns within an intermediate region of the wall and multifilament yarns within opposite edge regions of the wall to enhance abrasion resistance and curl, respectively, and the fill yarns include monofilament yarns larger in diameter than the fill monofilament yarns to provide further abrasion resistance, enhanced curl strength and multifilament yarns to provide increased coverage, maintain flexibility, and to maintain the warp monofilaments in their intended position.

A weaving machine for producing a woven fabric has a shedding device to form a loom shed of warp material, a weft insertion device for inserting a preferably tape-shaped or band-shaped weft material into the loom shed, a drawing-off device for drawing off the finished fabric in a drawing-off direction, fabric movement device for moving the fabric back and forth in the warp direction to bring the last inserted weft material into contact with the binding point or fabric edge. A shed limiter device limits the opening of the loom shed from above and below the warp, and is movable back and forth in the warp direction. The shed limiter device only loosely bounds the fabric and essentially without actively clamping or pinching or contacting the fabric and/or the last inserted weft material, at least while moving in the direction opposite the drawing-off direction.

The present invention provides a textile blind united by weaving, which is formed as a single body by weaving slat textiles along a width between a front textile and a back textile in parallel with each other, wherein the slat textiles are arranged along the height of the front and back textiles to make the textile blind easily block lights.

In a method for transferring energy between at least two energy storage cells in a controllable energy store that serves to control and to supply electrical energy to an n-phase electric machine, which energy store has n power supply arms which each have at least two series-connected energy storage modules which each include at least one electrical energy storage cell with an associated controllable coupling unit, and are connected to one respective phase of the electric machine, in a charging phase, all coupling units of those energy storage modules which are to be used as an energy source are controlled in such a way that the respectively associated energy storage cells are connected into the respective power supply arm.

A method for charging an assembled battery including series circuits connected in parallel, each of the series circuits including series-connected lead storage batteries, using a single charger is provided. The method includes: a first step of obtaining a first index value, corresponding to a resistance value of a first series circuit with a correlative relationship, the first series circuit having a lowest resistance value; a second step of obtaining a second index value corresponding to a resistance value of a second series circuit with a correlative relationship, the second series circuit having a highest resistance value; a third step of performing normal charging, in which the assembled battery is charged with a first amount of charge corresponding to the first index value; and a fourth step of performing refresh charging, in which the assembled battery is charged with a second amount of charge corresponding to the second index value.

State based full and empty control for rechargeable batteries that will assure a uniform battery empty condition, even in the presence of a load on the battery. A fuel gauge provides a prediction of the open circuit voltage of the battery, and when the predicted open circuit voltage of the battery reaches the predetermined open circuit voltage of an empty battery, the load is terminated, after which the battery will relax back to the predetermined open circuit voltage of an empty battery. A similar technique is disclosed for battery charging, allowing faster battery charging without overcharging. Preferably an RC battery model is used as the fuel gauge to provide the prediction, but as an alternative, a coulomb counter may be used to provide the prediction, with error correction between successive charge discharge cycles.

A charging device with a battery management system which remains a rechargeable battery in full capacity during standby after being fully charged is disclosed. The charging device includes a charging module, electrically connected to a power source, for charging the rechargeable battery; a voltage detecting module, for detecting a voltage of the rechargeable battery; and a determination module, for instructing the charging module to charge the rechargeable battery with a supplementary current, when the voltage of the rechargeable battery detected by the voltage detecting module reduces to a first predetermined voltage, until the voltage of the rechargeable battery reaches a second predetermined voltage. A reduction of the voltage of the rechargeable battery is due to self-discharge of the rechargeable battery during standby after being fully charged.

A method for operating a driverless, mobile assembly and/or material transport unit as a driverless transport system (DTS) with fixed assembly and/or warehousing stations. In this method, a system control device is used for the entire assembly process. The driverless, mobile assembly and/or material transport units comprises a travel device for the traveling movement of the unit, a drive device for the travel device, an energy storage device for providing the energy for the drive device and a control device for controlling the traveling movement in coordination with the system control device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a recharging device includes a recharging port that receives a flameless candle and recharges a battery in the candle. The recharging device includes a first stacking structure that has a top portion and a bottom portion. There is a top stacking contact on the top portion. An electrical power bus is connected with the top stacking contact. The electrical power bus is also configured to provide electrical power to the flameless candle through the recharging port. The top portion of the first stacking structure is configured to mate with a bottom portion of a first stacking structure of another recharging device.

A portable solar power supply includes a solar-powered charger including a solar cell; a circuit board including a power management unit, a buck-boost converter unit, a charging control unit, a data management unit, an on/off switch, a set of indicators, a power inlet, a power outlet, a first connector, a wireless communications member, a line transmission member, a data storage member, an RFID member, an SD card member, a USB port, a Micro USB port, and a solar charging member; and holes; and a rechargeable battery including at least one electrochemical cell each shaped to partially contain the solar-powered charger and including a second connector, a third connector, snapping members, and slots. The second connector is capable of connecting to the first connector or the third connector, and the snapping members are capable of being retained in the holes or the slots.

A battery includes a first terminal, a second terminal, a first battery module, a second battery module, and a third batter module. The first battery module and the second battery module includes a first pole, a second pole, a plurality of battery cells, a charge and disconnect device, a disconnect device, and a bridging device. The third battery module includes a first pole, a second pole, a plurality of battery cells, a first disconnect device, a second disconnect device, and a bridging device. The first and second poles of the first battery module are connected in series with the first terminal and the first pole of the third battery module. The first and second poles of the second battery module are connected in series with the second terminal and the second pole of the third batter module.

A stand for a portable electronic device includes a device receiving side including a coupling component for engaging with the portable electronic device when the portable electronic device is in a first orientation relative to the device receiving side and when the portable electronic device is in a second orientation relative to the device receiving side. The stand also includes a first support side adjacent to the device receiving side to act as a base when the portable electronic device is in the first orientation, and a second support side adjacent to the first support side to act as a base when the portable electronic device is in the second orientation.

A method includes steps of dividing resistance R into a physical and chemical resistances Ro and Rp, obtaining corrected open-circuit voltages Vo corresponding to setting currents Ia to Ix, acquiring predicted reaching voltages Va to Vx corresponding to the setting currents Ia to Ix, and creating a current-voltage curve. The corrected open-circuit voltages Vo are obtained to predict available maximum currents I—target in a particular time t2. The predicted reaching voltages Va to Vx are acquired based on corrected physical and chemical resistances Ro and Rp, and the corrected open-circuit voltages Vo. The current-voltage curve is creased based on the setting currents Ia to Ix and the predicted reaching voltages Va to Vx to acquire upper and lower limit voltages Vmax and Vmin, and upper and lower limit currents Imax and Imin at a temperature whereby assigning these limit currents to available maximum currents I—target in charging and discharging operations, respectively.

The present embodiments provide a control system and method that is able to automatically start and/or stop a portable engine-driven power source. For example, in one embodiment, a system includes an engine-driven power source having an engine, a compressor driven by the engine, a sensor configured to generate a first signal indicative of a demand for air pressure from the compressor and a second signal indicative of no demand for air pressure from the compressor. The engine-driven power source also includes a controller configured to stop the engine in response to the second signal.

The excitation overcurrent detection unit for the doubly-fed electric machine is provided with a function to determine an excitation current magnitude relationship among three phases. The firing pulse is held to on-state or off-state to cause the largest-current phase and the second-largest-current phase to charge the DC capacitor by the operation of diodes. The conduction ratio of the third-largest-current phase or minimum current phase is controlled according to the detected current value to protect against a possible short-circuit across the DC capacitor. When the voltage of the DC capacitor exceeds a preset value, the voltage is suppressed by operating active or passive power devices.

A rotary electric machine for a vehicle that is capable of starting synchronous rectification through switching elements after having ensured absence of a short circuit fault. The rotary electric machine includes a multi-phase armature winding, a switching element set that includes a plurality of pairs of upper-arm and lower-arm switching elements to form a bridge rectification circuit together with the armature winding, an on/off-timing setter that sets on/off-timing of each switching element, a switching element driver that drives each switching element at the on/off-timing set by the on/off-timing setter; and a synchronous control start determiner that determines timing when an energization period for the upper-arm switching element and an energization period for the lower-arm switching element occur alternately as start timing of the synchronous rectification.

A DC chopper comprising a control unit and a power circuit and a DC chopping method for a DFIG (doubly fed induction generator) system are provided. The input terminal of the control unit is coupled to a DC capacitor of a converter to detect a DC voltage. The power circuit includes input terminals, an overvoltage protection module, a rectifier module and output terminals. The overvoltage protection module comprises at least one discharge unit formed from a discharge resistor and a switch element, and the rectifier module is coupled in parallel to the overvoltage protection module. When a grid voltage drops, the control unit outputs a corresponding control signal to drive the switch element to be ON or OFF, and the output terminal of the power circuit absorbs a portion of rotor inrush current, so as to impose over-current protection.

A method for converting heat to electric energy is described which involves thermally cycling an electrically polarizable material sandwiched between electrodes. The material is heated by extracting thermal energy from a gas to condense the gas into a liquid and transferring the thermal energy to the electrically polarizable material. An apparatus is also described which includes an electrically polarizable material sandwiched between electrodes and a heat exchanger for heating the material in thermal communication with a heat source, wherein the heat source is a condenser. An apparatus is also described which comprises a chamber, one or more conduits inside the chamber for conveying a cooling fluid and an electrically polarizable material sandwiched between electrodes on an outer surface of the conduit. A gas introduced into the chamber condenses on the conduits and thermal energy is thereby transferred from the gas to the electrically polarizable material.

Some embodiments relate to a method of controlling speed of a variable speed generator. The method includes detecting a load of the variable speed generator and determining a target speed for the variable speed generator based on the load supplied by the variable speed generator. The method further includes using a controller to adjust the speed of the variable speed generator based on the target speed. The method may further include correcting the target speed by calculating a correction factor that corrects the target speed based on a voltage produced by the variable speed generator.

A DC motor assembly (10) with soft starting capability is provided. The assembly (10) comprises a DC motor (12) including an armature (14) and a field winding (16) adapted to be excited separately from the armature; and circuitry configured to controllably increase current flow through the field winding of the DC motor as a function of time during starting of the DC motor.

The regulator/brush-holder assembly (1) comprises a support (2) and an electrical circuit (5, 6) comprising a regulating element (5) connected by microwires to a trace circuit (6). The electrical circuit further includes a filtering circuit (10) separate from the regulating element and connected by microwires to the trace circuit. According to one particular embodiment, the filtering circuit comprises an insulating substrate (11) and surface-mounted components (C1, C2, S1, S2, V). A ground plane (19) and/or one or more ground pads may be provided for connection to a ground trace of the trace circuit. The filtration frequencies of the filter circuit extend from 100 kHz to 1 GHz.