A distributed system of gateways for establishing telephone communication connections between digital telephone service (e.g., DSL) subscribers and analog subscribers. A DSL subscriber""s telephone connection includes digital and analog channels. In one method of operating the system, when a DSL subscriber initiates a telephone call to a party that is not a subscriber to the same service, the call is routed through a DSL Access Multiplexer to a digital network. A portal or directory server on the digital network determines that the called party is not a subscriber and therefore locates a xe2x80x9cpass-throughxe2x80x9d subscriber served by the same central office as the called party. The portal routes the call to the pass-through subscriber, where the call is transferred from the digital channel of the subscriber""s DSL connection to the analog channel. It is then directed back to the central office and switched over the local loop to the called party.

This invention relates to the field of communications. More particularly, a system and methods are provided for enabling telephone connections to be established between analog and digital telephone service subscribers without the use of a traditional analog/digital gateway.
Although the form of telephone communications is rapidly changing from analog to digital, the huge installed based of analog, or POTS (Plain Old Telephone System/Service), connections requires changes or evolutions in telephone communications to be compatible with POTS. The number of POTS subscribers far exceeds the number of digital subscribers, thus making it necessary to interface or transfer calls between the digital and analog systems.
Telephone communications are more and more often carried in digital form between central offices (CO), using both private and public (e.g., the Internet) digital networks, particularly for long distance calls. Most telephone calls still involve a conventional, analog, device at one end or the other; therefore at each end of the call, a telephone company""s CO must be involvedxe2x80x94either to receive the call from the local loop that serves the calling party or, at the other end, to place it on the local loop serving the called party.
Presently, in order to complete a call to an analog (POTS) subscriber, where the call was originated from a digital subscriber and/or carried to the called party""s CO digitally, a central gateway must handle the call and translate it from digital to analog form. For example, voice over Internet services are quite popular and allow one POTS subscriber to talk to another without long-distance tolls. In particular, the voice communications are routed digitally (e.g., over the Internet), with a gateway at each end to convert the voice between analog and digital forms.
Gateways are typically located at central offices and may be responsible for the greatest portion of the cost of a long-distance telephone call. Even though a long-distance call can be carried very efficiently and cheaply over a digital network, the use of a central gateway to place the call into analog form or convert it from analog to digital form adds significant expense. Thus, until central gateways can be eliminated, the downward trend of long-distance telephone communications (and local calls that must be converted) is limited.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology is one form of digital telephone service that is quite popular. Even though DSL service can operate over the same physical local loops as POTS, it has a much higher bandwidth, thus allowing many more services to be offered to consumers and businesses. For example, in addition to traditional voice communications, DSL service providers can also offer increased bandwidth for data communications.
In a typical telephone call between a digital telephone service (e.g., DSL) subscriber and a POTS subscriber, a calling party having the digital service initiates a call in digital format over the local loop connecting the calling party to the local telephone company""s central office. At the CO the call is received by a device configured for the digital service. For DSL, the call is received and processed by a DSLAM (DSL Access Multiplexer), which serves as a concentrator for calls involving DSL subscribers. From the DSLAM, the call is transferred to a digital network where a call server or directory server routes the call to the CO serving the called party. At the called party""s CO, a central gateway receives the call, converts it to analog format and feeds it to a CO switch, which places it on the local loop for completion to the called party. Because the call must be processed by the central gateway, which is typically operated by an entity (e.g., the local telephone company) other than the calling party""s digital service provider, the cost is higher than if would be if the digital service provider was able to complete the call without the gateway.
What is needed then is a system and method for enabling telephone communications to be conducted between digital and analog service subscribers without relying on a central gateway. What is also needed is a digital telephone device that is compatible with digital and analog forms of telephone calls. The digital telephone device may be capable of switching calls between the two forms. The device may also be capable of using one or the other form to place a call, depending on system status.
In one embodiment of the invention a system and methods are provided for completing a telephone call between a digital telephone service (e.g., DSL) subscriber and an analog (e.g., POTS) subscriber without the intervention of a central gateway. Illustratively, the routing and completion of the call may be completely, or almost completely, under the control of the digital telephone service provider, thus allowing reduced cost for many local and long-distance telephone communications.
In this embodiment of the invention a DSL service subscriber uses a digital telephone device capable of conducting analog and digital telephone communications simultaneously. The subscriber""s DSL connection to the central office (CO) (or other location at which the DSLAM that services the subscriber is located) includes a digital (i.e., DSL) portion, relatively high in bandwidth, and an analog portion having sufficient bandwidth to carry at least one analog call. In a normal mode of operation all of the subscriber""s outgoing and incoming telephone calls are conducted over the digital portion of the subscriber""s DSL connection. The subscriber normally has no access to the analog portion, which is controlled by the DSL service provider.
When the DSL subscriber places a call to a POTS subscriber, the call is made over the digital portion of the DSL connection to a DSLAM, which transfers the call to a digital network (which may be public, such as the Internet, or private). The call is received by a portal (e.g., a call server or communication server) configured to route telephone calls. The portal determines that the called party is not a subscriber to the digital service (e.g., DSL), or at least not a subscriber to the same digital service as the calling party. However, the portal identifies a digital subscriber served by the same central office as the called party and routes the call to a DSLAM serving that subscriber. This subscriber may be termed a xe2x80x9cpass-throughxe2x80x9d subscriber.
The DSLAM routes the call, still in digital format, to the pass-through subscriber using the digital portion of the DSL connection. At the pass-through subscriber""s digital telephone device, the call is received along with an instruction from the portal to the device to take the analog portion of the pass-through subscriber""s DSL connection off-hook and dial the called party. The call is thus routed from the digital portion back out the analog portion of the pass-through subscriber""s connection to the CO. At the CO the call is received as just another local analog call and is switched to the called party for completion. Any portion(s) of the call may be encrypted or otherwise secured to protect the privacy of the calling and/or called parties.
In one embodiment of the invention a digital telephone device is provided that acts as a limited (e.g., one line) gateway to facilitate the calling method described above. The configuration of the device, and the digital telephone service to which the pass-through party subscribes, prevent the party from accessing calls that pass through its device. The device includes software or firmware that is re-programmable through the DSL connection (e.g., from the portal).
In one embodiment of the invention the device also incorporates one or more subscriber line interface circuits (SLIC), which allow calls to be made over the analog portion of the DSL connection. The device may also incorporate a data port configured to allow a computing device to send and receive data communications.
In one embodiment the device incorporates the ability to fail over from using the digital portion of a DSL connection to the analog portion (e.g., to provide xe2x80x9clife-linexe2x80x9d service). The device may include a port for a handset and/or an analog telephone. If the digital telephone service fails or power for the digital service fails, the analog portion of the subscriber""s DSL connection may be enabled so that the subscriber can at least conduct telephonic communications over the analog portion.
The digital telephone device may also include an LCD, LED or other display, a numeric (and/or alphabetic) keypad, a processor or controller to direct the operation of one or more components, a splitter or filter to divide the analog and digital portions of the DSL connection, a digital (e.g., DSL) modem and a power supply.

Distributed gateway system for telephone communications


A wireless communication apparatus includes a wireless communication device for multiplexing communication channels according to a predetermined method for carrying out wireless communication with a terminal, and carrying out communication with the terminal; and a control device for providing a plurality of program executing environments corresponding to the respective communication channels to operate in parallel or a in multitask manner, wherein, in each of the program executing environment, a process for providing a virtual wireless communication device interface corresponding to a corresponding communication channel and for carrying out Media Access control for communication via the virtual wireless communication device interface is executed, and the control device causes only the program being executed in the program executing environment to carry out communication via a virtual wireless communication device interface provided by the program being executing in the program executing environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a apparatus for wireless communication, and more particularly to multiplexing in communication.
2. Description of Prior Art
Development of an overlay network in the Internet by utilizing a technique for virtualizing a wired network has been performed. As an example of such a network, PlanetLab (http://www.planet-lab.org), CoreLab (http://www.corelab.jp), and so forth are available.
Conventionally, in construction of an overlay network in a wired network, Virtual Machine (VM) for realizing a virtual node is operated on a physical node that constitutes the overlay network. In general, a physical node is hardware that provides execution environment for switching and forwarding data packets. A virtual node is a logical instance of such execution environments realized on top of a single physical node. Further, use of a recently widely used virtual technique makes it possible to have two or more VM's to operate on a single physical node.
In such a wired network, a physical communication path to a communication party is ensured by means of hardware such as a network card. Accordingly, it is usually not necessary to make a process corresponding to a so-called data link layer in the OSI reference model, such as ensuring a communication path, control of competition, and so forth, different for every individual communication means (i.e., every network slice) to be overlaid.
Meanwhile, in a wireless network, such as a wireless LAN, there can be caused interference of electromagnetic waves, a hidden terminal problem, and so forth. Therefore, in a wireless network, there may be a case in which ensuring a physical communication path, control of competition, and so forth should be performed differently for every virtual node. Consequently, it is not usually possible to apply technique for a wired network intact to a wireless LAN.

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology


This invention provides an adapter for holding small paint containers in a paint mixer sized to hold a large paint container. The adapter has first and second shells or members that are attached to each other by a hinge. The adapter is opened to hold a small paint container inside the two shells and the shells are held together with a spring clip when the shells of the adapter are closed.

The present invention relates generally to the field of paint mixers. More specifically, the invention relates to adapters that allow small paint containers to be used in mixers designed to mix paint in large containers.
Vortex paint mixers are well known and are used to distribute colorants added to a container of uncolored or untinted paint. In addition, paint mixers are used to mix the contents of a paint container that may have separated or settled over time. Vortex paint mixers typically are sized to mix either five and one gallon paint containers.
Paint is also available in smaller containers, such as a "quart container," that contains about one quart of paint. Paint is quart containers also needs to be mixed. Quart paint containers, however, are known to have differing shapes. Common quart paint containers include generally right circular cylinders that are similar in shape to one gallon paint containers (but without trunnions or a bail) or generally rectangular shape containers with a handle that extends from one side. When these quart sized containers are mixed in a paint mixer that is sized to mix larger containers, an adapted is needed that will releasably secure the smaller paint container in the paint mixer.


A dispensing system includes a dispenser, at least one sensor, and a shroud including at least one aperture. A virtual shield is provided between the sensor and the shroud to reduce background noise.

1. Field of the Background
The present disclosure relates to dispensing systems having improved sensing capabilities.
2. Description of the Background
Diffusion devices or dispensers are used to dispense volatile materials, such as fragrances, deodorants, insecticides, insect repellants, and the like from one or more containers. Many of these dispensers are active dispensers, which may include fans and/or heaters to aid in the dispersal of volatile materials. Other dispensers actuate a valve stem of an aerosol container to dispense a volatile material contained therein, or utilize an ultrasonic transducer to break up a liquid volatile material into droplets that are ejected from the dispenser. Yet other dispensers include any combination of the above or any other known type of active diffusion device.
Traditionally, these active dispensers are standalone devices that release product into a space in response to manual input, a lapsing of a timed interval, or sensory input, e.g., spraying an air freshener within a room or a pest control device within a barn. These dispensers are generally kept "out of sight" of users by placing them in areas of a room or space that are utilized less frequently by users or that provide the ability to "hide" or otherwise diminish the impact of the dispenser on the room or space in which it is located. In these circumstances, the placement of the dispensers in sub-optimal areas of a room or space causes the dispensers to be less effectual in terms of their ability to effectively disperse a volatile material into the room or space.
Further, many of these prior art dispensers utilize sensors to initiate various pre-programmed or user initiated operational sequences, as well as to provide instant dispensing upon the detection of sensory input. In these prior art dispensers a sensor with a single sensing capability, e.g., sensing whether a level of light is diminished within a certain period of time over a certain distance that is indicative of motion, is used regardless of whether the dispenser is placed in a bathroom or an auditorium. As such, the sensors may not always efficiently sense the presence of people in the desired space. For example, if a dispenser with a sensor having the capability of detecting input at a distance of 20 ft is placed in a typical in-home bathroom, the dispenser may incorrectly detect the presence of a user passing the dispenser outside of the bathroom, which may result in an inadvertent activation of the dispenser. Conversely, if a dispenser utilizing a sensor with a sensing range of 5 ft is used in a large room, the sensor may not effectively detect the presence of a user in the room, unless the user happened to pass in close proximity to the dispenser. Accordingly, these prior art dispensers do not include sensors that are efficiently and/or optimally responsive to the environment in which they are located or according to user preferences.
Presently there is a need for dispensers that are intended to be left in "plain view" of a user and otherwise positioned prominently within a room or space, i.e., not hidden or otherwise intentionally obstructed. Further, there is a need for dispensing systems that include efficient sensors, which provide for improved sensing capabilities. Additionally, the sensing systems should be efficient and in some cases capable of being adjusted in response to the space they are located in and according to user preferences. As such, it is an object of the present disclosure to address the disadvantages of the prior art and to fulfill this unmet need.

Dispensing systems with improved sensing capabilities


Embodiments allow join operations to be performed upon encrypted database tables stored on an unsecure server (e.g., as part of a DBaaS offering), with reduced information leakage. Such secure join operations may be implemented through the combination of two cryptographic techniques: non-deterministic (randomized) searchable encryption; and attribute based encryption. The searchable encryption (e.g., Symmetric Searchable Encryption: SSE) allows join values to be revealed only for rows fulfilling additional predicate attributes that the client has filtered for, thereby offering fine granular security. The attribute based encryption (e.g., Key-Policy Attribute-Based Encryption: KP-ABE) avoids the unmanageable consumption of memory that would otherwise result from the creation of intermediate constructions on the server. Embodiments offer a solution reducing information leakage of join values not contained in the result of the actual database query. This results in fine granular security because join values of data rows not involved in the join computation, remain semantically secure.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches 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.
The paradigm shift from on-premises computing, to cloud computing supported by an external provider, reduces costs to end users through externalization of storage, infrastructure, and database management. Along with these benefits, however, cloud computing also raises novel confidentiality risks for data outsourced to the external provider.
Specifically, by outsourcing sensitive data, the user is required to place trust in the service provider. While this security can be further enforced using cryptographic measures that prevent unauthorized attempts, such protection can interfere with or preclude entirely, the desirable manipulation of the stored data for analysis purposes.
For example, despite providing semantic security for the outsourced data, the application of common cryptographic techniques may render normal database computations (such as join operations) difficult or impossible to perform.

Join operations on encrypted database tables


Method for maintaining a virtual presence of a first remote telephone user in a PBX system having a frame relay network connection between two endpoint routers while permitting the first remote user to make local calls includes first signaling a PBX to represent the remote telephone as being off hook; routing a telephone call placed at the remote telephone in accordance with a defined protocol; and when the routed telephone call is terminated, second signaling the PBX to restore the on-hook status of the remote telephone. Preferably, the first and second signaling are performed in-band, in accordance with an FRF.11 or VToA AAL2 voice over packet protocol. The telephone call-routing may be to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) local to the remote telephone or it may be to another remote telephone user at the same site within the PBX system as the first remote telephone user. The signaling is to a PBX station interface associated with the PBX, so that the PBX in normal response refuses or stores incoming calls directed to the remote telephone for the call's duration. Apparatus includes a mechanism for selectively routing a telephone call placed at a PBX-connected telephone to the local PSTN; a mechanism for first signaling the PBX that the PBX-connected telephone is temporarily incapable of receiving calls; a mechanism for detecting a termination of such a PSTN-routed telephone call; and a mechanism responsive to the detecting mechanism for second signaling the PBX that the PBX-connected telephone again is capable of receiving calls.

The present invention relates to providing telephone service via PBX to remote phones, and more specifically to providing direct public switched telephone network (PSTN) service thereto.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art system 10 in which plural remote telephones 12a, 12b, 12c behave as if they are directly connected to a PBX 14. A frame relay network 16 and its individual FRF.11 (Frame Relay Forum implementation agreement 11, Voice over Frame Relay) trunk connections 16a, 16b, 16c between the remote phones 12a, 12b, 12c and PBX 14 enable remote phone use, for example, when a user is at home, e.g. an employee is telecommuting, or at a branch office. Voice-equipped routers 18a, 18b on either end of network 16 perform call routing, as is known. PBX 14 will be understood typically also to have plural local telephones 12d, 12e, 12f directly connected thereto via a PBX station interface indicated as a dashed outline 20 (typically a part of PBX 14). Those of skill in the art will appreciate that interface 20 maintains status bits indicating the status, e.g. on-hook or off-hook, do-not-disturb, busy, etc., for each PBX-connected phone.
Voice over packet technology (e.g. FRF.11 or Voice Telephony over ATM (VToA) AAL2 (ATM Adaptation Layer 2) trunks) enable the connection of remote telephones to standard PBX station interfaces in support of telecommuters and small branch offices that desire connections to a main corporate PBX. These connections are often implemented with a simple fixed point-to-point topology, as described above by reference to FIG. 1, such that the on-hook or off-hook status of the phone is simply replicated at the PBX station interface. This enables standard PBX features like forwarding a call to voicemail upon a busy signal or a ring-no-answer condition to continue to function as if the phone were still directly attached to the PBX. One disadvantage of this approach is that the remote phone on the remote user's desk can place calls only via the main PBX. If the remote user wishes to place calls via a local PSTN connection, then the user requires a second phone. Also, in the branch office case, calls between users at the branch office are routed via the central PBX and consume data bandwidth on the voice over packet connection between the branch site and the main site.

Private branch exchange (PBX) conditioning method and apparatus


Disclosed are various embodiments for the contextual indexing of applications using an application analyzer. In one embodiment, the application analyzer identifies at least one used element present in an application. The application analyzer computes a weight for the at least one used element, then provides the at least one used element and the respective weight to a contextual index service.

Searching for applications can be a difficult task. Frequently, users do not know the exact name of the application they are looking for and resort to keyword searches to find what they need. However, most application search engines rely completely upon the developer of an application to enter the keywords that best describe the application. The problem with this approach is that developers can associate their application with keywords that may or may not relate to the actual application. As a result, a keyword search of applications may yield applications that are unrelated to the search terms.


An imaging optical system of the far pupil type, which is applicable to an exposure apparatus, is provided with six reflecting mirrors and forms an image of a first plane on a second plane. An incident pupil of the imaging optical system is positioned on a side opposite to the imaging optical system with the first plane intervening therebetween. A condition of −14.3<(PD/TT)/R←8.3 is fulfilled by a distance PD which is provided along an optical axis between the incident pupil and the first plane, a distance TT which is provided along the optical axis between the first plane and the second plane, and an angle of incidence R (rad) of a main light beam which comes into the first plane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reflective (catoptric) imaging optical system, an exposure apparatus, and a method for producing a device. In particular, the present invention relates to a reflective imaging optical system preferably useable for an exposure apparatus which uses the EUV light (EUV light beam) and transfers, onto a photosensitive substrate, a circuit pattern on a mask for example in accordance with the mirror projection system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attention is directed to an EUVL (Extreme UltraViolet Lithography) exposure apparatus which uses the EUV (Extreme UltraViolet) light having a wavelength of, for example, about 5 to 40 nm as an exposure apparatus to be used for producing semiconductor elements, etc. In a case that the EUV light is used as the exposure light (exposure light beam), any usable transmissive optical material and any useable dioptric optical material are absent. Therefore, a reflection type mask is used, and a reflective optical system (optical system constructed of only reflecting members) is used as a projection optical system.
Conventionally, it has been suggested that a reflective optical system, which has an incident pupil disposed on a side opposite to the optical system with an object plane intervening therebetween, is used as a reflective imaging optical system applicable to a projection optical system of an EUVL exposure apparatus, in place of a reflective optical system which has an incident pupil disposed on a side of the optical system with an object plane intervening therebetween (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,671). In the following description of this specification, the "reflective imaging optical system having the incident pupil disposed on the side of the optical system with the object plane intervening therebetween" is referred to as "reflective imaging optical system of the near pupil type", and the "reflective imaging optical system having the incident pupil disposed on the side opposite to the optical system with the object plane intervening therebetween" is referred to as "reflective imaging optical system of the far pupil type". In other word, the former is also referred to as "reflective imaging optical system of the normal pupil type" and the latter is also referred to as "reflective imaging optical system of the opposite pupil type".
When the reflective imaging optical system of the near pupil type is adopted as the projection optical system of the EUVL exposure apparatus, it is necessary that a condenser optical system is arranged in an optical path between a mask and an optical integrator in an illumination optical system. Therefore, the optical efficiency (light efficiency) is lowered due to the increase in the number of mirrors. On the contrary, when the reflective imaging optical system of the far pupil type is adopted, it is unnecessary to arrange any condenser optical system. Therefore, it is possible to enhance the optical efficiency owing to the reduction of the number of mirrors.
However, with respect to the reflective imaging optical system of the far pupil type disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,671, a distance which is provided along the optical axis between the incident pupil and the object plane (hereinafter simply referred to as "incident pupil distance" as well) is relatively short. Therefore, any overlay error (overlap error) tends to arise in relation to respective illumination fields formed on the mask by respective light fluxes subjected to the wavefront division by a first fly's eye optical system of the optical integrator. Consequently, the light amount loss tends to arise. If only the incident pupil distance is simply lengthened in the reflective imaging optical system of the far pupil type, then the distance from the optical axis of the effective field on the object plane of the reflective imaging optical system is excessively increased, and it is difficult to satisfactorily correct the aberration.
The present invention has been made taking the foregoing problems into consideration, an object of which is to provide a reflective imaging optical system of the far pupil type as a reflective optical system applicable, for example, to an exposure apparatus using the EUV light wherein the incident pupil distance is secured to be relatively large and the aberration is satisfactorily corrected. Another object of the present invention is to perform the projection exposure at a high resolution while securing a large resolving power by using, for example, the EUV light as an exposure light, with the application of the reflective imaging optical system of the far pupil type of the present invention to a projection optical system of an exposure apparatus.

Reflective imaging optical system, exposure apparatus, and method for producing device


Embodiments of an under seat capture device are described. Some embodiments include a first chute for aligning below a gap between a center console and a vehicle seat, a first platform component that is coupled to the first chute for receiving an object, and an actuator that is coupled to the first platform component that causes a change in position of the first platform component to guide the object received by the first platform component to a desired location.

Users of vehicles often drop small objects, such as mobile phones, change, and other items between the front console and a front seat of a vehicle or between the front seat and a door of the vehicle. When this occurs, the objects are often difficult to retrieve, especially when the vehicle is in motion. Thus, a need exists in the industry.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


A method of continuously carbonizing a mixture of primarily organic waste material wherein a stream of comminuted waste material with a substantial organic material content is fed to one end of a mixer barrel, the material is compressed to form a barrel filling mass functioning as a first vapor block, and the work energy required to compress it and squeeze out entrapped air is used virtually exclusively to maintain the temperature of the material adiabatically, air and any steam created are vented, the material downstream from the first vapor block is decompressed in a second vent region, the material is recompressed in the absence of air to form another vapor block, while exclusively utilizing the work energy required to compress it to maintain the temperature of the material adiabatically at volatile releasing and carbonizing temperatures, the volatiles are vented, and the product is discharged as a dry, friable particulate char.

The present invention is concerned with an improved method of destructively distilling comminuted organic waste materials and reducing them to a useful char product.
The method to be disclosed involves certain novel, useful and unobvious improvements in processes which have been proposed for converting organic waste material to a char material, such as the processes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,098,649; 4,123,332; and 4,308,103. The conversion of industrial and municipal waste by incinerating it in conventional incinerators and/or burying it in landfill areas is no longer viable for the future. The conventional incineration of the material releases fumes and smoke to the atmosphere which are objectionable, and cause pollution problems. Moreover, presently practiced incineration is expensive and does not result in the recovery of any useful products which can offset the cost of incineration. The burying of waste in landfill areas is also unsatisfactory in this society in view of the tremendous volumes of waste which are generated nationwide, and the scarcity of landfill areas which, afterward are no longer useful for most other purposes.
Prior art methods, such as the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,649, have initially separated the trash into organic and inorganic materials. Principally, this division of the trash or refuse has resulted in the separation of the metals and glass, from organic materials such as paper, wood, rags, plastic, fabric, and vegetable matter.
It is the organic material which is treated in the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,649, and with which the present invention is concerned. As in the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,649, the organic material is initially shredded into small particles, and then passes through a drying station from which it is fed to a mixer-reactor for further processing of the material.

Method of continuously carbonizing primarily organic waste material


A compressible, flexible shape-retaining sleeve fits around a hearing aid shell. The sleeve includes fins having a fold line which extend outward to contact the user's ear canal, changing the hearing aid from being largely non-occlusive to being substantially occlusive. The hearing aid, including its shell, can be repeatedly inserted and removed from the sleeve through the battery door opening. The sleeve also has openings for a flexible filament positioning structure, consistently positioning the hearing aid for both occlusive and non-occlusive use. While the flexible filament positioning structure is attached to the hearing aid, it prevents disengagement of the sleeve from the hearing aid shell during insertion and removal of the hearing aid from the user's ear canal.

The present invention relates to hearing aids. In particular, the present invention pertains to sleeves and exterior housing structures for hearing aids. The invention is intended particularly for use with a hearing aid and hearing aid positioning system and structure such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,605,927, incorporated herein by reference, with the preferred embodiment being adapted for use with a hearing aid positioning system and structure most similar to the third embodiment described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,605,927. That hearing aid has the electronic components within a protective polymer shell which is supportable in a non-occlusive manner within the user's ear canal by the positioning structure.
Hearing aids on the market today are available in different mounting configurations. Many hearing aids include a behind-the-ear ("BTE") portion which, as the name implies, is mounted behind the user's ear, typically including a sound tube which extends into the user's ear canal to transmit sound from the speaker (called a "receiver" in the hearing aid field, thereby minimizing confusion with a person speaking) contained within the BTE portion. Other hearing aids are considered in-the-ear ("ITE") hearing aids with some or all of the weight of the hearing aid supported in the conchae bowl of the user's ear. Many hearing aids also include a portion which resides in the user's ear canal, including receiver-in-canal ("RIC") hearing aids which have only the receiver of the hearing aid in the ear canal, in-the-canal ("ITC") hearing aids which extend largely into the ear canal but include a portion outside the ear canal, or completely-in-canal ("CIC") hearing aids which reside entirely in the user's ear canal. Some ITC and CIC hearing aids have used a flexible retrieval line for removing the hearing aid from the ear canal.
In all these hearing aids, trade-offs are made in determining what will be perceived as best sound quality and in weighing sound quality against best comfort of the hearing aid as well as aesthetically. Aesthetically, most users desire a hearing aid which is as inconspicuous as possible, which in turn typically favors placing as much of the hearing aid as deeply in the user's ear canal as possible. Sound quality is somewhat dependent upon proximity of the hearing aid's sound outlet to the eardrum, and placement (depth of canal insertion) affects sound quality more heavily in ITC and CIC hearing aids.
Both sound quality and comfort are also impacted by the degree which the hearing aid "occludes" the ear canal. For some users, minimal occlusion is desired, so ambient sound can reach the user's ear drum through the open space in the ear canal around whichever part of the hearing aid resides in the ear canal. Minimal occlusion helps to avoid any pressure points on the user's ear tissue, and aids in pressure equalization across the ear drum. For other users, significant occlusion is desired. Significant occlusion prevents ambient sound from reaching the user's ear drum, so all (or nearly all) of the sound heard can be modified and amplified through the hearing aid electronics. Significant occlusion also restricts the sound feedback path from the sound outlet back to the hearing aid microphone, particularly important if the microphone inlet is near the sound outlet. Restricting the sound feedback path can allow for higher gains (i.e., more amplification) without the loud and annoying whistles and cracks which can result if sound is repeatedly amplified in a feedback loop.
One part of the difficulty in designing hearing aids is that the anatomical shapes of different users' ears are not uniform. To achieve accurate and consistent placement in the desired location relative to a user's eardrum, many hearing aids use a custom shell which is custom shaped to fit that particular user's shape of ear anatomy. However, customization of the shell involves significant costs which can be avoided with a less customized solution.
For many RIC, ITC and CIC non-custom hearing aids, placement is largely set by the user, i.e., the user pushes the hearing aid (or canal portion) into the ear canal sufficiently far that it comfortably seats in a desired ear canal location by biasing off the wall of the ear canal. A large part of the consistent placement of such RIC, ITC and CIC non-custom hearing aids relies on the gradually decreasing diameter of the ear canal, i.e., the user pushes the hearing aid into the canal until it feels snug but not overly tight. How far the hearing aid is pushed into the ear canal can also result in different amounts of occlusion from user to user and with a single user from one placement to another placement. As more hearing aid solutions become available, proper placement methods for non-custom hearing aids that do not rely on "snugness" in the ear canal are needed.


A front cross member is installed between a pair of (right and left) front side members, and a plate-shaped sub-cross member, as a mounting member for a suspension or the like, is installed ahead of the front cross member. The front cross member and the sub-cross member are coupled by a backbone brace which is secured to the front cross member and the sub-cross member at positions in right and left portions of the front cross member and the sub-cross member by bolts or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle body structure of a vehicle such as an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle body structure of a vehicle such as an automobile, particularly in a vehicle body front structure, it has been known that a cross member on the body side, which extends in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle, is installed between a pair of (side and left) side members extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and a cross member on the chassis side for mounting chassis parts is installed forwardly of the cross member on the body side.
As shown in FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b), for example, a front cross member (a cross member on the body side) 4 is installed between a pair of (right and lefty front side members 3A and 3B coupled to a pair of (right and left) front side sills 1A and 1B via braces 2A and 2B, and a plate-shaped sub-cross member (a cross member on the chassis side) 5, as a mounting member for a suspension or the like, is installed forwardly of the front cross member 4.
Rod-shaped reinforcing members 6 and 7 for reinforcing kickup portions (portions rising like mountains to allow passage of an exhaust pipe) of the front cross member 4 and the sub-cross member 5 are disposed, as shown in FIG. 5(a). Alternatively, the kickup portion of the front cross member 4 is reinforced with the rod-shaped reinforcing member 6, while the sub-cross member 5 is reinforced with a pair of (right and left) rod-shaped reinforcing members 8a and 8b which are installed, as diagonal bracings, at the pair of (right and left) front side members 3A and 3B, as shown in FIG. 5(b).
In these vehicle body front structures, the exhaust pipe (not shown) is set in place by a dedicated holding mechanism such as a bracket (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-164933 as a pertinent publication).
However, with the conventional vehicle body front structure, for example, that shown in FIG. 5(a), the reinforcing members 6 and 7 for the front cross member 4 and the sub-cross member 5 are not coupled together. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6(a), there are no bridges linking a front portion and a rear portion in a region indicated by the letter X in the drawing. This has posed the problem that in response to inputs transmitted from torsion or the like of the suspension or the body (see dotted arrows in the drawing), a phase difference occurs between the body side and the chassis side, resulting in a tendency toward a decline in rigidity. In order to ensure necessary rigidity (in order not to impair handleability, for example), therefore, it is necessary to set the wall thicknesses of the reinforcing members 6 and 7 at high values.
With the structure shown in FIG. 5(b), on the other hand, a backbone tunnel portion to be described later is not reinforced. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6(b), there has been the problem that in response to inputs transmitted from torsion or the like of the suspension or the body (see dotted arrows in the drawing), a region with low rigidity is present in a backbone tunnel portion indicated by the letter Y in the drawing, which serves as a support for the exhaust pipe or the like. In order to ensure necessary rigidity (in order not to impair handleability, for example), therefore, it is necessary to set the wall thicknesses of the reinforcing members 6, 8a and 8b at high values.
The present invention has been accomplished in light of the above-described problems with the earlier technologies. It is an object of the invention to provide a vehicle body structure equipped with a reinforcing member which can transmit forces to the body side and the chassis side in a well-balanced manner in response to inputs transmitted from torsion or the like of the suspension or the body, thereby ensuring efficient reinforcement.

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


A method for manufacturing a polarization element which has a high reliability and is easy to manufacture. The manufacturing method includes the steps of forming a fine metal particle dispersed product including a plurality of dispersed fine metal particles on a surface of the transparent substrate using a sol-gel method, drawing the fine metal particle dispersed product together with the transparent substrate while heating both, and cutting the drawn fine metal particle dispersed product and transparent substrate. The forming step includes the steps of coating a sol coating liquid on the surface of the transparent substrate, heat-treating the coated sol coating liquid, and sintering the heat-treated sol coating liquid. The sol coating liquid includes a disperse liquid containing an organic silicon compound as a main component and a metal salt dispersed in the disperse liquid for forming the fine metal particles.

The present invention relates to a polarization element for use in optical communications, optical recording and optical sensors, and a method for manufacturing the polarization element, and more particularly, to a polarization element which includes a fine metal particle having a shape anisotropy, and a method of manufacturing the same.
A fine particle dispersion including a fine particle having a shape anisotropy, deposited and dispersed in a matrix material, has polarization properties, and is utilized for polarization elements. The shape anisotropy of fine particle is obtained by drawing the fine particle dispersion.
A linear polarizing film, which is a polarization element utilizing the fine particle dispersion, is formed by drawing a resin film containing, for example, iodine and dichromatic pigment (fine particle dispersion) in one direction. The iodine and dichromatic pigment are oriented in a constant direction within the resin film.
An organic compound based linear polarizing film, though it is inexpensive, is fabricated by drawing an organic compound, so that it exhibits a lower durability to heat and abrasion, as compared with an inorganic compound based polarization element.
A polarization element including a fine metal particle dispersion is also known. The fine metal particle dispersion is manufactured, for example, in the following manner. Glass containing halide and silver is heat-treated to deposit and disperse fine silver halide particles in the glass. Subsequently, the glass is heated and drawn to deform the fine silver halide particles into spheroids which are oriented in the direction of the major axis. Next, under a reduction atmosphere, the fine silver halide particles are heated to be reduced to fine silver particles.
However, the polarization element including a fine metal particle dispersion requires a strict temperature management for controlling an aspect ratio (the ratio of the minor axis to the major axis of the spheroids) of the fine silver particles deposited and dispersed in the glass. In addition, resulting polarization element is low in stability of polarization properties.
Specifically, the manufacturing of the foregoing polarization element requires a step of heating fine silver halide particles under a reduction atmosphere to reduce the fine silver halide particles to fine silver particles (hereinafter called a xe2x80x9creduction treatment stepxe2x80x9d) after a step of heating and drawing the fine silver halide particles to provide the same with a shape anisotropy (hereinafter called a xe2x80x9cheating/drawing stepxe2x80x9d). For this reason, the heat applied in the reduction treatment step causes the fine silver particles to again spheroidize. This results in the loss of the shape anisotropy of the fine silver particles, and a deteriorated uniformity of the shape anisotropy (aspect ratio).
Also, when the fine silver halide particles are reduced to fine silver particles in the reduction treatment step, the fine particles are reduced in volume to approximately one-half. This results in a change of the surface of the resulting polarization element into a porous surface. The porous surface scatters incident light to increase the insertion loss of the polarization element. In addition, if moisture in the atmosphere is adsorbed in the porous region of the surface, silver ions are generated. If the polarization element is stained by the silver ions over time, the polarization element fails to provide long-term reliability.
Further, the re-spheroidization of the fine particles will practically limit the processing temperatures in the reduction treatment step. For this reason, the treatment for reducing the fine silver halide particles to the fine silver particles substantially extend to a depth of scores of micrometers from the surface of the glass. This results in residual fine silver halide particles in the glass which do not contribute to the polarization properties. The residual fine silver halide particles increase the insertion loss of the polarization element in addition to the failure in contributing to the polarization properties.
A multi-layer lamination type polarization element is also known. This multi-layer lamination type polarization element is manufactured by using a thin film forming process such as vacuum vapor deposition and sputtering. In this event, several metal layers and dielectric layers are alternately laminated on a glass substrate. Subsequently, the glass substrate is drawn at temperatures higher than the softening point of the glass substrate. At this time, the metal layers are deformed into discontinuous fine metal particle layers oriented in a drawing direction. The polarization properties are obtained by the alternately laminated fine metal particle layers and dielectric layers.
In comparison with the method of manufacturing a polarization element including a fine silver particle dispersion, the method of manufacturing a multi-layer lamination type polarization element is advantageous in terms of the process because of the elimination of the reduction treatment step. However, since the method of manufacturing the multi-layer lamination type polarization element involves the formation of a multi-layer film using a thin film forming process, this method requires a great deal of labor and time, and is not suitable for a reduction in cost. The multi-layer lamination type polarization element is also disadvantageous in that the alternately laminated films are highly susceptible to peeling due to the adhesion of the fine metal particle layers and the dielectric layers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a polarization element which has high reliability and is easy to manufacture, and a method of manufacturing the same.
To achieve the above object, the method of manufacturing a polarization element of the present invention includes the steps of forming a fine metal particle dispersed product (fine metal particle dispersed film) including a plurality of dispersed fine metal particles on a surface of the transparent substrate using a sol-gel method, drawing the fine metal particle dispersed product together with the transparent substrate with heating to draw the fine metal particle dispersed product and transparent substrate, and cutting the drawn fine metal particle dispersed product and transparent substrate.
The step of forming a fine metal particle dispersed product includes the steps of coating the surface of the transparent substrate with a sol coating liquid, including a disperse liquid containing an organic silicon compound as a main component and a salt of a first metal dispersed in the disperse liquid for generating the fine metal particles, heat-treating the sol coating liquid coated on the transparent substrate or irradiating with an electromagnetic wave the sol coating liquid coated on the transparent substrate, and sintering the heat-treated sol coating liquid coated on the transparent substrate or the sol coating liquid coated on the transparent substrate irradiated with the electromagnetic wave.
Here, the sol-gel method includes the following steps. A sol containing a metal organic or inorganic compound as a main component is solidified through hydrolysis and condensation polymerization reaction into gel. Next, the gel is sintered to produce an inorganic oxide fine metal particle dispersed product such as glass, ceramic or the like.
The fine metal particle dispersed product produced by using the sol-gel method and the transparent substrate are drawn while heated together to deform fine metal particles in the fine metal particle dispersed product so that the fine metal particles have shape anisotropy.
The method of manufacturing the polarization element using the sol-gel method has the following advantages.
(A) a reduction treatment step is not required after the heating/drawing step. This can simplify the manufacturing process and inhibit the fine metal particles from being spheroidized again.
(B) By sintering the sol coating liquid after applying the sol coating liquid with the heat treatment or electromagnetic wave irradiation processing, fine metal particles are substantially completely deposited and dispersed in the matrix material from a metal salt in the sol coating liquid which is a raw material of the fine metal particles. Thus, substantially all fine metal particles contribute to the polarization properties, thereby making it possible to reduce the insertion loss of the polarization element.
(C) By changing the composition of the sol coating liquid, it is possible to control the particle diameters of the fine metal particles dispersed in the matrix material. Specifically, a metal compound of another metal (second metal) different from the fine metal particles, for example, at least one type of metal selected from the group consisting of zirconium, titanium, cerium, tin, bismuth, cobalt, copper, aluminum, magnesium, manganese, chromium, indium, vanadium, iron, nickel, zinc, tungsten, tantalum, hafnium, barium, ytterbium, niobium, molybdenum, yttrium, ruthenium, germanium, lead and boron is blended in the sol coating liquid, thereby making it possible to control the particle diameters of the fine metal particles dispersed in the matrix material.
By the sol-gel method, the metal compound of the second metal also changes into an inorganic oxide (metal oxide) when fabricating a fine metal particle dispersed product which contains an inorganic oxide as a main component. The second metal oxide acts on the particle diameters of the fine metal particles deposited and dispersed in the matrix material. For example, when fine gold particles are dispersed in a matrix material which contains silicon oxide as a main component, a metal compound of copper, cobalt or titanium may be blended in the sol coating liquid such that 0.1 to 50 mass % of metal compound of copper, cobalt or titanium is contained in the fine metal particle dispersed product, permitting the particle diameters of the fine gold particles to be changed in the range of 10 to 100 nm on the average.
The particle diameters of the fine metal particles dispersed in the matrix material affect the aspect ratios of the fine metal particles in the heating/drawing step, so that they significantly affect the polarization properties of the resulting polarization element. Therefore, the shape anisotropy (aspect ratio) of the fine metal particles can be controlled substantially by controlling the particle diameters of the fine metal particles, and therefore the polarization properties can be efficiently controlled.
(D) A multiplicity of layers of laminated fine metal particle dispersed films can be readily formed without using a thin film forming process such as vacuum vapor deposition and sputtering, and adhesion between the laminated films can be improved. It is therefore possible to reduce a cost of a multi-layer film laminated polarization element.
In addition, since the resulting polarization element has the structure comprised of alternately adhered fine metal particle dispersion, and transparent substrates, rather than the structure comprised of alternately adhered fine metal particle layers and dielectric layers, adhesion between the laminated films can be improved. Particularly, when a fine metal particle dispersion made of a matrix material containing silicon oxide as a main component is fabricated on the surface of a transparent substrate such as glass, adhesion between the laminated films can be further improved.

Polarization element and method for manufacturing the same


Disclosed is an active matrix liquid crystal display device designed mainly for alternating electric current drive, in which orientation processing (monostabilization) is performed by a direct current power supply or a direct current voltage applied to a ferroelectric liquid crystal. The liquid crystal is made to respond, and is made monostable while a voltage level is maintained by a storage capacitor. In addition, the liquid crystal may also be made monostable while maintaining a gate clock pulse at a constant level. After forming a transparent conductive film on an element substrate, elements such as TFTs are formed. An electric field is applied by a direct current voltage source between an electrode formed on an opposing substrate and the transparent conductive film. An electric field is applied by a direct current voltage source between the electrode formed on the opposing substrate and the transparent conductive film formed on the back side of the element substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
In an active matrix liquid crystal display device, a method of applying a direct voltage and monostabilizing the liquid crystal molecules is shown. In particular, a method of monostabilizing the liquid crystal with a layer structure such as a smectic liquid crystal is shown.
This invention may be applied to a method for monostabilizing a liquid crystal which is bistable such as a ferroelectric liquid crystal.
2. Description of the Related Art
The liquid crystal display device has the advantages of being thin, light weight and low in power consumption. The liquid crystal display device is also used in fields where high speed response of a dynamic level is required such as portable television and wall television. Further, a demand for a large screen display and a projector panel such as a 50 inch rear projector is increasing.
As a liquid crystal orientation mode a TN (twisted nematic) mode of the cell gap which is about 4 to 5 μm is generally used due to the easiness of orientation control. However, the TN mode is slow in the response speed of a halftone display near the white level, and in the case of a high speed dynamic display, the liquid crystal response cannot keep up thereby showing flickers.
A flicker is a phenomenon where in a halftone with slow response speed of the liquid crystal, the liquid crystal response cannot track the greed when the image switches, and a tone that is different to that of a display image appears on the screen and can be seen as a flicker. When an object to be displayed moves at a high speed, such a flicker may be seen in the contour where the previous scene and the scene to which it has been switched greatly change in the display tone.
As the material that changes to a nematic liquid crystal, there is a liquid crystal with spontaneous polarization. With the interaction of spontaneous polarization and an electric field, a high speed response for switching at a micro second level may be performed. A smectic liquid crystal with spontaneous polarization is used in a simple matrix method liquid crystal display device by using a high hysteresis steep threshold characteristic.
Of the liquid crystal with spontaneous polarization, the ferroelectric liquid crystal shows hysteresis in a voltage-transmittivity characteristic by making the cell gap thinner, and it is known to be a bigtable material having a memory property. Conventionally these characteristics were utilized and applied in the simple matrix method liquid crystal display device.
However, in the case of displaying the image in the mode having a memory property, there is a need to display an image in the on and off state of the light. In order to realize the halftone of such as gray scale, there is a need to change the display time and control the gradation.
For such a control, there is required a process of an image signal with a complex software, and a large scale circuit with a complex hardware. Further, for measures against problems of display unique to the time scale such as false contours that may be seen due to blinking and action of the observer, and color breakup, a large number of processes for software and hardware are needed. In this way, aside from the actual panels, even in the peripheral circuits, there is a large burden on cost and design.
Further, even if a liquid crystal which moves at a high speed with the above method is used, for realization of a halftone, there are needed a plurality of sub-fields for control of the light flickering period, so that for display of the image the characteristic was not satisfactorily used.
Therefore by applying an analog value voltage to the liquid crystal that can respond at high speed, there is tested a realization of a displaying method.
As a smectic liquid crystal that can perform analog gradation, recently the development of a polymer stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (PS FLC) which has monostabilized the ferroelectric liquid crystal with liquid crystal polymer, and obtained a characteristics without hysteresis is progressing. By injecting the ferroelectric liquid crystal added with a small amount of liquid crystal polymer (2 wt %) to a liquid crystal panel, and applying a direct voltage of about 1 to 15V whilst irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel, the polymer stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal may suppress the hysteresis characteristic therein and obtain an analog gradation.
Note that, polymer stabilization refers to the process of adding light and heat to a liquid crystal and a liquid crystal polymer for polymerization reaction of the liquid crystal polymer. Further, monostabilization is a process for eliminating a bistable state or hysteresis seen in ferroelectric liquid crystal, and obtaining an analog characteristic that fixes transmittivity by an electric field. When a polymer is stabilized whilst applying a single polarity voltage, one of the orientation state of the bistable ferroelectric liquid crystal is strongly stabilized, and is considered that a monostable state is realized (FPD Intelligence 1999. 2, p 78-82).
FIG. 24A is a voltage-transmittivity characteristic of a bistable ferroelectric liquid crystal, and FIG. 24B is a monostable ferroelectric liquid crystal characteristic. The lateral axis shows the voltage and the vertical axis shows the transmittivity. Since the bistable ferroelectric liquid crystal memorizes the arrangement state where the orientation direction of spontaneous polarization formed by application of electric field is matched, the hysteresis is large. A monostabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal is realized with an analog characteristic where the memory property and the hysteresis are eliminated and the transmittivity gradually increases when voltage is applied.
FIG. 23 shows a top view of a simple matrix type liquid crystal display device. According to the simple matrix type liquid crystal display device, the substrate with scanning lines (Y1 to Y8) arranged in a stripe shape in the row direction, and the substrate with signal lines (X1 to X8) arranged in a stripe shape in the column direction are pasted together so that the signal lines and the scanning lines are orthogonal, and is configured by filling liquid crystals in between the substrates.
According to the liquid crystal display device formed of transparent electrodes patterned into 8 columns in the vertical direction as shown in FIG. 23 and transparent electrodes patterned into 8 columns in the lateral direction, the polymer stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal has attained driving in the field sequential method, and has expectations as an orientation method for high speed response (Semicon-news FORUM 21 preliminary report p 7-13, date of lecture Feb. 24, 2000).
According to a simple matrix liquid crystal display device as shown in FIG. 23, when a monostabilization process is performed, a direct current voltage is applied from a direct current power source in between the rectangularly patterned conductive film, and the orientation axis of the liquid crystal molecules are matched to a one direction of a cone.
However, according to the simple matrix liquid crystal display device, there is a problem that when the number of rows of the scanning line increases, the contrast of display significantly decreases. Recently, in the active matrix liquid crystal display device that may realize a high definition and a high contrast, an analog signal is applied to control an image, and to obtain an image quality with good display characteristics is realized.
However, according to the active matrix liquid crystal display device, the circuit is structured with the alternating current drive originally as the main object, and there was not proposed a method of stabilizing the polymer by a direct current power source or a direct current voltage.
According to the active matrix liquid crystal display device, since the pixel electrode is independent through the pixel TFT, a signal necessary for monostabilization from the outside may not be directly applied to the pixel electrode.
In the conventional active matrix liquid crystal display device, a method of applying a voltage of a single polarity over a long period of time to a liquid crystal with a convenient method and performing a polymer stabilization process is required.
The present invention of the active matrix liquid crystal display device, discloses means for applying an electric field to the mixture of a polymer material added with liquid crystal and polymerization agents, and adding an energy and hardening the polymerization agent by a chemical reaction.
Note that, this energy is an energy to be added for chemical reaction of the polymerization agent. The method of adding energy is light irradiation or adding heat. When adding a light polymerization agent to the polymer material, the polymerization agent may have a chemical reaction by light irradiation. In a material absorbing i line, g line, and h line, the ultraviolet rays are irradiated to the polymerization agent to start the light reaction. When adding the thermal polymerization agent to the polymer material, the chemical reaction of the thermal polymerization agent by heating is started.
First, in explaining about the polymer material added with a polymerization agent, when the added polymerization agent has a light polymerizing property or a heat polymerizing property, the orientation of the liquid crystal is stabilized by a bridging reaction by energy such as light and heat. In this way, a liquid crystal characteristic with a differing characteristic compared to that before applying energy (for example, a threshold characteristic) is obtained. As a polymer material a liquid crystal polymer may be used.
When a liquid crystal polymer is used as a polymer material, a bridging reaction of a liquid crystal polymer occurs by adding energy to the added polymerization agent. The liquid crystals are oriented along the bridged liquid crystal polymer side chain, to obtain a stable orientation. When a bistable liquid crystal orientation is stabilized to a one direction, the threshold characteristics and the like of the liquid crystal changes as compared with when energy is applied.
As the liquid crystal, for example, a smectic liquid crystal as researched in Science University of Tokyo in Yamaguchi, for example, a ferroelectric liquid crystal may be used (Semicon-news FORUM 21, preliminary report, p 7-13, lecture date: Feb. 24, 2000).
In the active matrix liquid crystal display device, there is a limit in the voltage value that may be applied to the liquid crystal layer, but according to the present invention, a large voltage may be applied to the liquid crystal layer of an active matrix liquid crystal display device. Further, in the circuit of an active matrix liquid crystal display device with an alternating current drive as a main object, a direct current voltage may be applied to a liquid crystal.
The present invention is characterized in that as shown in FIG. 10, an electric field is applied to a mixture of a liquid crystal and a polymer material by a transparent conductive film 510 formed on a substrate 508 and a conductive sheet 300 formed on a substrate 400, and simultaneously, energy is added to the mixture of a liquid crystal and a polymer material. If the electric field is applied by using a direct-current power supply, a direct voltage can be applied.
FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the pixel portion and the terminal portion of the active matrix liquid crystal display device. With the configuration of FIG. 10, an arbitrary voltage can be applied to the liquid crystal layer. Further, electrodes for applying a voltage to the liquid crystal layer are the transparent conductive film 510 on the opposing electrode and the conductive sheet 300 formed on a back surface of the element substrate. Therefore, a direct voltage can be applied to the liquid crystal by using a conventional liquid crystal display device as it is. With the configuration of FIG. 10, an arbitrary direct voltage can be applied to the liquid crystal layer. However, the voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer through the element substrate, and thus, a high voltage needs to be applied in order to supply a predetermined voltage to the liquid crystal layer. Therefore, a device for supplying such a predetermined voltage, such as a direct high-voltage power supply is required,
Further, the present invention is characterized in that as shown in FIG. 6, after a conductive film 200 is formed on the element substrate 400, an element is formed. The electric field is applied to the mixture or a liquid crystal and a polymer material by the transparent conductive film 510 formed on the opposing substrate 508 and the conductive film 200. Simultaneously, energy can be applied to the mixture of a liquid crystal and a polymer material. If a direct-current power supply is used, a direct voltage can be used as the voltage applied to the mixture.
FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the pixel portion and the terminal portion of the active matrix liquid crystal display device. With the configuration of FIG. 6, an arbitrary voltage can be applied to the liquid crystal layer. Further, since a voltage is applied between the conductive film 200 on the element substrate and the transparent conductive film 510 provided on the opposing substrate through a first interlayer film 457 and a second interlayer film 458, the value of a direct-current power supply for applying a direct voltage is not necessarily so large. On the contrary, one electrode for applying the direct voltage to the liquid crystal layer is the conductive film 200 provided on the element substrate 400. A TFT is formed above the conductive film, and thus, the temperature of the process of forming the TFT is limited by heat resistance of the conductive film.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that in the active matrix liquid crystal display device, as shown in FIG. 2, while a voltage with single polarity is applied to the pixel electrode in continuous frames, the liquid crystal is made to response at a predetermined position, and thereafter, while a voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer by a storage capacitor is retained, energy is applied to the mixture of a liquid crystal and a polymer material. Thus, there is obtained the same effect as that by applying a voltage to the liquid crystal layer by the direct-current power supply.
FIG. 2 shows a timing chart in case of operating a liquid crystal display device with a line sequential driving and an optical response of a liquid crystal layer. In FIG. 2, external signals input to the liquid crystal display device, signals input to a pixel portion of the liquid crystal display device, and voltages applied to pixels of the pixel portion are shown. A gate start pulse 103, and a gate clock pulse 104 as the external signals, a source driver output 112 and a gate pulse 106 as the signals input to the pixel portion, and electric potentials of the pixels connected to gate lines g1 to gn of the pixel portion are shown.
With the configuration of FIG. 2, the liquid crystal layer is made monostable by changing a signal input from the outside in the conventional liquid crystal display device. It is necessary to set the external signal such that a signal output to a source wiring has the same polarity over the plurality of frames. On the contrary, since a direct voltage can be applied to the liquid crystal layer for a long period with the transparent conductive film on the opposing substrate and the pixel electrode of the element substrate, the value of the direct-current power supply for applying the direct voltage is not necessarily so large. If only setting of the external signal is changed, the direct voltage can be applied to the liquid crystal layer in the conventional liquid crystal display device or the driver circuit of the conventional liquid crystal display device.
Further, according to the active matrix liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the plurality of continuous frames as shown in FIG. 1 maintain the gate start pulse 114, to be input to the gate driver from the outside, at a certain level, and are made so that a charge may be supplied to the liquid crystal layer and the storage capacitance at all times. As a result, even if there is a leak of current such as the storage capacitance, the fluctuation of the voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer may be prevented. Then, a feature that the same polarity voltage is applied to the pixel electrode, and energy is added to the mixture of the liquid crystal and the polymer material. As a result, the same effect as the case where voltage is added to the liquid crystal layer by a direct-current power supply is obtained.
FIG. 1 shows a timing chart when the lines are driven subsequently and an optical response of the liquid crystal layer. FIG. 1 shows an external signal to be input to the liquid crystal display device, a signal to be input to the pixel portion of the liquid crystal display device, and a voltage to be input to the pixel of the pixel portion as an external signal. A gate start pulse 114 which is input to the liquid crystal display device as an external signal, a gate pulse 115 to be input to the pixel portion, and the potential of the pixels connected to gate lines g1 to gn differ to FIG. 2.
The configuration of FIG. 1 needs to change the gate start pulse of the external signals compared to FIG. 2. However, similar to the configuration of FIG. 2, a direct current voltage may be applied to the liquid crystal with the configuration of the driver circuit of the conventional liquid crystal display device and the conventional liquid crystal display device.
The advantages and disadvantages of each configuration of this invention are compared, and as a method for applying a direct current voltage to a liquid crystal in an active matrix liquid crystal display device, a more generalized method is a method where the liquid crystal display device has a conventional configuration as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the external signal to be input to the liquid crystal display device is altered.

Method of manufacturing liquid crystal display device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


Disclosed herein are methods and compositions for determining an improved estimate of the fractional abundance of target analytes (e.g., specific polynucleotide sequences) in a sample using a nanopore sensor having one or more nanopores-, e.g., by correcting errors inherent to identifying and correlating electrical signals to amounts of a target analyte or reference analyte in a sample.

Characterization of a liquid sample by determining a relative abundance of components present in the sample can provide valuable information for many scientific fields and applications. For example, a relative abundance of a point mutation in circulating cell free DNA can be used to diagnose or monitor progression of cancer in a patient. As another example, determining the fractional amount of a transgenic sequence of a genetically modified organism (GMO) to the non-GMO reference sequence within genomic DNA, obtained from a collection of seeds for example, is important for regulatory and economic reasons.
Some methods exist for sensitive detection of a fractional amount of a target analyte in a sample, however, these methods are usually expensive and time-consuming, or have other limitations. For example, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assays remain the standard method used to determine the relative quantity of target nucleic acid sequences to an invariant reference sequence within a test sample. The quantitative performance of qPCR is, however, limited by variability in amplification efficiencies per sample, and per amplicon. Factors that affect amplification efficiency include inhibitors and carryover contaminants from the sample substrate and the extraction reagents themselves. These factors vary by sample and prep, but also in the degree to which they affect the amplification efficiency of one sequence versus another. Slight, variable differences in the amplification efficiency of target versus reference amplicons limit qPCR to resolving quantity differences >1.5x-fold. Furthermore, amplification reactions require specialized reagent sets and must be properly stored, and can be time consuming and sensitive to reaction conditions.
The use of nanopore devices have emerged as a sensitive tool for single molecule identification, wherein individual molecules are identified upon translocation through the nanopore under an applied voltage. Nanopore devices are amenable to point of use applications, and be sufficiently inexpensive and efficient for routine daily use cases, in human health, agriculture, or anywhere else. However, the use of data from a nanopore can be subject to errors that can impact a determination of quantitative estimates of analytes in a sample, such that the reliable use of this data is not feasible.
What is needed, therefore, are improved methods of determining fractional abundance of a target analyte compared to a reference analyte in a sample that are versatile, inexpensive and easy to use.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multipore determination of fractional abundance of polynucleotide sequences in a sample


A calculation device, for the selection and the description of points of interest in at least one image decomposed into a plurality of strips, includes a first module for selecting and indexing points of interest from among a set of points of interest detected in the image, the first module being configured to select, in each strip, at most a fixed number P of candidate points of interest, and associate a unique index with them, a second module for managing calculation of descriptors for the candidate points of interest, the first module being configured to transmit the candidate points of interest and their index to the second module immediately at the end of the processing of K lines of a strip, with K an integer number greater than or equal to 1 and strictly less than the number of lines per strip.

The identification and the use of points of interest in an image is a well-known function in the field of embedded vision.
Usually, one distinguishes three main functions which utilize the notion of points of interest in an image: a first function for detecting points of interest in an image or a sequence of images, a second function for calculating descriptors for the points of interest detected by the first function and a third function for pairing points of interest arising from two distinct images on the basis of the calculated descriptors.
FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically the stringing together of these three functions in the context of a device for pairing points of interest between two images (image 1, image 2).
The first detection function consists in determining the position, in an image, of noteworthy points, called points of interest which are points whose position may evolve temporally but whose presence is relatively stable from image to image. These points of interest may be for example corners, edges or other elements of a scene that are characterizable, by a given detection method. The known methods for detecting points of interest produce, for each point of interest, at least its position in the plane of the image and a detection score. Other data characterizing the point of interest can be generated such as the orientation or the scale factor of the point of interest.
The aim of the second function for calculating descriptors is to describe each point of interest in a robust manner. The existing methods are often based on the interpretation of the neighborhood of pixels around the position of the point of interest. For each point of interest, a vector structure called a descriptor is generated whose size varies as a function of the method used.
There are numerous methods for detecting and describing points of interest in an image. Two examples are in particular described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,711,293 which describes the method known by the acronym SIFT "Scale Invariant Feature Transform" and in European patent EP2027558 which describes the method known by the acronym SURF "Speeded Up Robust Features".
The aim of the third function for pairing points of interest is to associate each point of interest detected in an image with the points of interest detected in another reference image. The reference image can be an earlier image of the same stream from which the analyzed image originates or an image originating from another stream but which corresponds to a snapshot of the same scene or else an image arising from a statistical database. The pairing step uses the descriptors calculated during the second step to associate two points of interest according to a proximity or resemblance criterion.
Methods for pairing points of interest are applicable in particular in the field of object tracking for which a pairing is performed between an image N and an earlier image N−k in the same image stream, one then speaks of temporal pairing. Another envisaged application relates to stereovision for which a pairing is carried out between two images from a viewpoint of the same scene in two different streams of images, one then speaks of spatial pairing. Still further applications are aimed at pairing an image with a prerecorded model.
The invention which is described in greater detail hereinafter in the document pertains to a particular architecture of a calculation device compatible with any method for detecting, describing and pairing points of interest.
The number of detectable points of interest in an image is not deterministic. Indeed, this number depends on the intrinsic characteristics of the image and is not predictable. Furthermore the calculation of descriptor on a point of interest is a relatively complex calculation according to the method used, thus implying that the calculation of the descriptors for the points of interest of an entire image is a very time-consuming approach in terms of calculation. In a context of embedded applications for which a real-time processing constraint exists, the step of calculating descriptors may lead to the breaking of the real-time requirements in the global operation of the pairing architecture.
Another problem arises from the fact that the steps of detecting and describing points of interest use neighborhoods of pixels of the image and involve storing a large portion of the image or indeed, quite often, the complete image. However, the use of a memory dimensioned to save a complete image is quite often incompatible with the low latency constraint imposed by the real-time requirement as well as with the constraints of memory areas available on an embedded architecture.
The problem envisaged by the invention therefore consists in designing a real-time architecture for the implementation of a method for selecting and describing and/or for pairing points of interest with non-deterministic distribution in an image received as a real-time stream which makes it possible to comply with the constraints in respect of execution speed, low latency and minimization of memory areas.
A first known solution making it possible to implement in purely software form a method for pairing points of interest consists in stringing together the three steps described hereinabove while performing the processings on the entirety of an image. This solution is not compatible with an embedded hardware architecture with real-time constraints for the reasons mentioned previously.
Solutions of hardware implementation of such algorithms are moreover known. The document "Implementation of High Performance hardware architecture of OpenSURF algorithm on FPGA, Xitian Fan, 2013" describes the implementation of a method which bases its detection and its description of points of interest on the SURF algorithm. The extraction of points of interest is performed without any sorting and all the points of interest detected are described. The processing time thus depends on the number of points of interest extracted. The drawbacks of this solution are the same as those already mentioned.
The solution described in the document "An embedded system-on-chip architecture for real time visual detection and matching, Jianhui Wang, 2013" is also known. This document describes an implementation of a method which comprises a step of detecting points of interest which is based on the SIFT algorithm and a step of describing points of interest and of pairing which is based on the BRIEF (Binary Robust Independent Elementary Features) algorithm. The detected points of interest are placed in a queue of the FIFO type and are processed one by one by the description step. The calculational load and the synchronization aspects are managed by a mechanism which tests the position of a point of interest with respect to the image neighborhood area in memory. If the point of interest is received in advance with respect to the refreshing of the neighborhood memory area, a blocking waiting mechanism is engaged. If on the contrary, the point of interest is received with a delay, it is not processed and one passes directly to the next point of interest.
This solution is not very robust to a non-homogeneous local distribution of the points of interest in the image. Indeed, if many points of interest are received located in an area of the image, there is a risk of losing a lot thereof. Likewise if no point of interest is received in a large area of the image, a significant timeslot is unutilized. Furthermore, the pairing step contains a double loop nested over the set of points of interest. It is necessary for all the points of interest of an image to be calculated to undertake a pairing with another image. This aspect introduces high latency for stereovision applications where the two images are processed simultaneously. Furthermore, two image memories are necessary.

Device for selecting and describing points of interest in a sequence of images, for example for the pairing of points of interest

COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


An image forming apparatus includes a carriage, a drive mechanism, a flexible harness, and a support member. The carriage includes a recording head to jet liquid droplets. The drive mechanism, which moves the carriage in a main scanning direction, includes a belt extending in the main scanning direction. The flexible harness, connecting the recording head and another unit, transmits signals between the recording head and another unit. The support member supports the flexible harness in an upright position over the belt. The flexible harness is routed at least partially in the main scanning direction of the carriage. The support member includes a regulation member at an exit portion of the support member to set a vertical height of the support member at the regulation member smaller than a width of the flexible harness.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to an image forming apparatus including a carriage having a recording head to jet liquid droplet(s).
2. Description of the Background Art
An image forming apparatus used as a printer, facsimile machine, copier, or multi-functional device thereof may have a liquid jetting device including a recording head configured as, for example, a liquid jetting head for jetting liquid droplets of a recording liquid, (e.g., ink). Such image forming apparatuses jet liquid droplet(s) from nozzles of the liquid jetting head to form an image on a recording medium (hereinafter "sheet" or "sheets").
Such image forming apparatuses can be categorized into two types. One type is a serial-type image forming apparatus, in which a recording head jets liquid droplet(s) while moving in a main scanning direction to form an image on a recording sheet. The other type is a line-type image forming apparatus, in which a line-type recording head extending in a width direction of a recording sheet jets liquid droplet(s) without moving the recording head to form an image.
In the above mentioned serial-type image forming apparatus, a carriage including a recording head may be connected to another unit, such as for example a control unit, by using a flexible harness, by which the recording head can be activated and driven by signal(s) generated by the control unit. The flexible harness having a given flexibility may also be called as a flat cable, a flexible flat cable, or a flexible board. With such a configuration, the flexible harness can be moved along a movement of the carriage while changing a shape of the flexible harness. Several image forming apparatuses using such a flexible harness have been proposed, such as Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2006-082381, 2007-176068, and 2004-351727.
In the serial-type image forming apparatus, the flexible harness needs to be moved corresponding to a movement of the carriage. Accordingly, some portion of the flexible harness, which is between the carriage and the control unit or the like, cannot be fixedly attached to a housing or the like of the image forming apparatus but must be free to move. Such unfixed or free portion of the flexible harness can be called a "free harness portion." If the "free harness portion" of the flexible harness falls under its own weight, however, the flexible harness may interfere with an adjacent component or the like, such as a belt for moving the carriage in the main scanning direction.
Such interference of the flexible harness with an adjacent component can be prevented by providing a larger clearance therebetween. However, such a larger clearance may not be possible to provide because of increasing market demand for smaller, more compact image forming apparatuses.


There is disclosed a system and method of formulating a batch comprising at least two ingredients. The ingredients are admitted to a container to partially fill it. The quantities of the ingredient in the container are determined, and a ratio of a target quantity to the determined current quantity for at least one ingredient is calculated. The next quantity of that ingredient to be admitted to the admixture is calculated by multiplying the target quantity by the calculated ratio to determine a corrected quantity. The corrected quantity of the ingredient is admitted to the admixture, and a quantity of another ingredient is admitted to the admixture to adjust the proportion of ingredients to the target formulation. These steps may be repeated until the batch is completed.

This section describes the background of the disclosed embodiment of the present invention. There is no intention, either express or implied, that the background art discussed in this section legally constitutes prior art.
There have been a variety of different types and kinds of apparatus, system and methods for mixing ingredients. For example, reference may be made to the following U.S. patents and patent application, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety:
U.S. Pat. No.InventorIssue Date4,363,742Stone, MiltonDec. 14, 19825,340,210Patel, et al.Aug. 23, 19945,348,389Lennart Jönsson, et al.Sep. 20, 19945,522,660O'Dougherty, et al.Jun. 04, 19965,632,960Ferri, J. R., et al.May 27, 19975,874,049Ferri, J. R. et al.Feb. 23, 19995,924,794O'Dougherty, et al.Jul. 20, 19996,120,175Tewell, StanleySep. 19, 20006,290,384Pozniak, et al.Sep. 18, 20012004/0100860Wilmer, et al.May 27, 2004
Currently, many manufacturing processes require the use of blended chemical compositions to treat parts during different steps of the process. Historically, these blended compositions have depended upon the input chemical control devices to achieve the desired mixture, then the mixture is tested in line for acceptable use. In some cases, an external analytical instrument or laboratory is used to confirm the blended mixture. In some other cases, an in-line test on the product is used.
While these methods may be successful for some applications to assure quality of process, they each may employ unwanted and undesirable delays. If the test fails, draining and refilling the chemistry subsequent to the test results may be required. This may result in unacceptable delays, additional costs and additional cycle time to the manufacturing process in certain applications.


A multi-purpose utility tote is provided which can be used for storage when it is fully closed and can provide a flat, cushioned surface when fully opened. The tote is comprised of a flat, T-shaped unit having a zipper chain disposed about the perimeter thereof. A slide fastener is located on the zipper chain with its initial starting position at an internal corner of the flat, T-shaped unit. The slide fastener is operable to transform the flat, T-shaped unit into a parallelipiped-shaped container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-purpose container. More specifically, the invention relates to a combination multi-panel and continuous zipper construction whereby the unit can be quickly and conveniently converted from a cubic shaped tote bag to a substantially flat unit suitable for a variety of purposes. It can be used for storage when it is fully closed and can provide a flat-cushioned surface when fully opened.
2. Description of the Prior Related Art
There are a variety of activities wherein there are space constraints which limit the ability of an individual to conveniently transport the items necessary to engage in the activity to the site where such activities are to take place. For example, during camping, picnicking, and other related activities, it is desirable to have a cushioned surface on which an individual may sit that will protect the individual from the rough and uneven ground surface and which will assist in thermally insulating the user. Typically, a blanket, or similar article, is used for such functions. However, the blanket is necessarily a further separate article which must be transported with the other paraphernalia associated with such activities, thereby presenting added space and transportation burdens associated therewith.
As another example, the mother of an infant child must often carry with her the various paraphernalia necessary to care for her child when they are away from the ordinary conveniences of home. For instance, she must often carry blankets, or other bedding, so that the child may comfortably nap. As with camping and picnicking activities, the blanket or bedding is necessarily a further separate article which must be transported with the other paraphernalia associated with the child's care thereby presenting added space and transportation burdens.