There is disclosed an image projection apparatus which comprises separating a light beam from a light source into plural color lights by color separation means, respectively condensing the separated plural color lights, providing first deflection means in the vicinity of at least one of condensed positions to guide the color lights to optical modulation elements respectively corresponding thereto, and projecting image information, based on the optical modulation elements, onto a predetermined plane through a projection optical system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection apparatus, adapted for use for example in a color liquid crystal projector which projects image information, displayed on an optical modulating element such as a color liquid crystal display panel, onto a screen in a magnified manner.
2. Related Background Art
There have been proposed various color liquid crystal projectors, which projects the optical information, displayed on a liquid crystal panel serving as an optical modulating element, onto a screen. Among such projectors, an optical system for use in a liquid crystal projector employing a transmissive liquid crystal apparatus is disclosed for example in the Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 61-99118. FIG. 28 is a schematic view of the optical system proposed in the above-mentioned patent application.
Referring to FIG. 28, the light emitted from a light source 1 is converted by a reflector (parabolic mirror) 2 into a substantially parallel light beam, which then enters a dichroic mirror 34 transmitting the green (G) light and reflecting the green (G) and red (R) lights. The G and R lights reflected by the dichroic mirror 34 enters a dichroic mirror 35, which reflects the green (G) light and transmits the red (R) light. The G light beam reflected by the dichroic mirror 35 illuminates a liquid crystal panel 14 for the G light while the R light beam transmitted by the dichroic mirror 35 illuminates a liquid crystal panel 15 for the R light. Also the blue light beam transmitted by the dichroic mirror 34 illuminates, via mirror 36, a liquid crystal panel 16 for the B light. The light beams transmitted by the liquid crystal panels 14, 15, 16 are respectively modulated by the image information of respective colors. The light beams from the liquid crystal panels 14, 16 are synthesized by a dichroic mirror 37 which transmits the blue light beam and reflects the green light beam. Also the red light beam from the liquid crystal panel 15 enters, via a mirror 38, a dichroic mirror 38 which transmits the red light beam and reflects the blue and green light beams.
The red, blue and green light beams are synthesized by the dichroic mirror 39 to provide a full color image, which is projected through a projection optical system 22 onto a screen 23. In the liquid crystal panels 14, 15, 16 there is employed, for example, twisted nematic (TN) liquid crystal or super-twisted nematic (STN) liquid crystal.
FIG. 29 is a schematic view of an optical system for a color liquid crystal projector, employing the transmissive liquid crystal apparatus, as proposed in the Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 1-131593.
Referring to FIG. 29, the light emitted from a light source 1 is converted by a reflector (parabolic mirror) 2 into a substantially parallel light beam, which then enters a dichroic mirror 341 reflecting the blue (B) and transmitting the green (G) and red (R) lights. The light beam transmitted by the dichroic mirror 341 enters a dichroic mirror 35', which transmits the green light and reflects the red light. The green light beam transmitted by the dichroic mirror 35' illuminates a liquid crystal panel 14 for the green light while the red light beam reflected by the dichroic mirror 35' illuminates, via mirrors 38, 41, a liquid crystal panel 15 for the red light. Also the blue light beam reflected by the dichroic mirror 34' illuminates, via mirrors 36, 40, a liquid crystal panel 16 for the blue light.
The light beam transmitted by the liquid crystal panels 14, 15, 16 are respectively modulated by the image information of respective colors, and enter a cross dichroic prism 42 wherein they are synthesized as a full-color image. The cross dichroic prism 42 is composed of a cross-shaped combination of a dichroic mirror transmitting the green light beam and reflecting the blue light beam and a dichroic mirror transmitting the green light beam and reflecting the red light beam. The full-color image synthesized in the cross dichroic prism 42 is projected through a projection optical system 22 onto a screen 23.
FIG. 30 is a schematic view of an optical system for a color liquid crystal projector, employing a reflective liquid crystal apparatus, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 6-265842. This optical system is called a Schlieren optical system.
Referring to FIG. 30, the light emitted from a light source 1 is converted by a reflector (parabolic mirror) 2 into a substantially parallel light beam, then reflected by a mirror 36, and is condensed by a condenser lens 4 so as to form an image of the light source in the vicinity of a mirror 43 positioned at a diaphragm aperture of the projection optical system 22. The light beam reflected by the mirror 43 is emitted toward a plano-convex lens 44, converted therein into a parallel light beam, then separated by a cross dichroic prism 42 into the light beams of three colors which respectively illuminate reflective liquid crystal panels 25, 26, 27 of the respective wavelength regions.
The light beams respectively modulated by the reflective liquid crystal panels 25, 26, 27 are synthesized by a cross dichroic prism 42 into a full-color image, which is condensed by a plano-convex lens 44, then transmitted by a diaphragm 28 and projected through a projection optical system 22 onto a screen 23.
The liquid crystal panel contains, for example, polymer liquid crystal of dispersion type, which becomes transparent in case of displaying a white level, thereby reflecting the light beam, but scatters the light beam in case of displaying a black level. The light reflected by the liquid crystal panels and color synthesized by the cross dichroic prism 42 is condensed by the plano-convex lens 44 in the vicinity of the diaphragm 28 of the projection optical system 22. The light beam reflected by the liquid crystal panel is mostly transmitted by the aperture of the diaphragm 28 and displays the white level on the screen 23 through the projection optical system 22, while the light beam scattered by the liquid crystal panel is transmitted, only by a very limited portion, by the aperture of the diaphragm 28, thereby displaying the black level on the screen 23.
As explained in the foregoing, the light scattering in the liquid crystal is utilized to display the image information, which is projected by the projection optical system onto the screen.
FIGS. 31A and 31B are respectively an entire view and a schematic partial view of a color liquid crystal projector proposed in the Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 4-428, wherein liquid crystal panels 14, 15, 16 are respectively illuminated with the R, G and B lights. The light beams from the liquid crystal panels, illuminated with the respective color lights are condensed by auxiliary lenses 17, 18, 19 in the vicinity of the entrance pupil EnP of a projection lens 30. The light beam from the auxiliary lens 18 is directly entered into a projection optical system 22, while that from the auxiliary lens 17 is guided thereto via a mirror 20, and that from the auxiliary lens 19 is guided thereto via a mirror 21. The projection optical system 22 projects images, displayed on the liquid crystal panels 14, 15, 16 onto a screen 23.
In FIGS. 31A and 31B, there are illustrated principal rays Pr1, Pr2, Pr3 at the center for the respective projection systems, and three rays for each of the projection systems. The optical axis of the auxiliary lens 18 of the central projection system B coincides with that of the projection lens 32, and the optical axes of the auxiliary lenses 17, 19 of the peripheral projection systems A, C are perpendicular to the optical axis of the projection lens.
The entrance pupil EnP of the projection lens is positioned at the crossing point of the optical axes of the three auxiliary lenses, and the mirrors 20, 21 are so positioned that the end points thereof at the center side coincide with the entrance pupil EnP and are inclined by 45.degree. with respect to the optical axis of the projection lens 32.
In the central projection system B, the liquid crystal display panel is so positioned that the central axis thereof coincides with the optical axis of the auxiliary lens 18, while, in the peripheral projection systems A and C, the liquid crystal display panels are so positioned that the central axes thereof are shifted toward the left-hand side in the drawings, with respect to the optical axes of the respective auxiliary lenses.
Consequently the principal ray Pr2 of the central projection system B passes the optical axis of the projection optical system 22 and becomes perpendicular to the screen 23, while the principal rays Pr1, Pr3 of the peripheral projection systems A, C become oblique to the screen 23. The three principal rays mutually cross on the screen.
FIG. 32 is a schematic view of a color image projection apparatus disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,172, wherein the white light from a lamp 238 is guided, in respective color channels, into corresponding lens means 210 (210', 210"). For example, in the red channel, the white light is condensed by the lens means in the vicinity of an apertured mirror 214, then reflected by the mirror 214, converted into a parallel light beam by a field lens 216 and introduced into a reflective liquid crystal panel 218, and the light bearing the image information, reflected from the panel 218, is condensed by a lens 216 in the vicinity of the mirror 214 in such a manner that the non-scattered light (normal reflected light) in the reflected light passes through the aperture of the mirror 214 while a major portion of the scattered light in the reflected light does not enter the aperture of the mirror 214.
The non-scattered light of the red channel is guided by a mirror 242, reflected to a dichroic mirror 244 and introduced into a dichroic mirror 246. Also the green light is guided, through a similar optical path and through a dichroic mirror 244 and introduced into the dichroic mirror 246, and the blue light is also introduced into the dichroic mirror 246. Then an image represented by the lights synthesized by the dichroic mirrors 244, 246 is displayed by a projection lens 240 onto a screen.
In the image projection apparatus shown in FIG. 32, a color filter is provided in the optical path of each channel, in order to provide the non-scattered light of each color channel with a corresponding color, and, since such color filter absorbs the light of other colors, the major portion of the light emitted from the lamp is wasted. Consequently the efficiency of utilization of the light from the lamp tends to become low, and it is difficult to obtain a bright image.


An assembly has a radial ball bearing including a bearing inner ring, and a rotatable shaft with a shaft end region with a bearing seat. The bearing seat has a shoulder on one side, on which the bearing inner ring of the radial ball bearing is seated for supporting the shaft. The bearing seat is shortened in the longitudinal direction relative to the radial ball bearing, and extends toward a height of the radial ball bearing. The bearing seat terminates at a distance (L) from an orthogonal projection from the proximalmost points of a distalmost row of balls onto the bearing seat surface such that L=k*D, wherein k is in a range between 0.7 and 0.5.

Shafts, for example, can be rotatably mounted in a radial ball bearing. Radial ball bearings of this type are well known in the prior art. Radial ball bearings are, for example, deep groove ball bearings or angular contact ball bearings and the like, which can be of single or double row design. Angular contact ball bearings have raceways in the inner and outer rings that are offset from each other in the direction of the bearing axis. They are designed for bearing arrangements that must support combined loads, such as radial and axial loads acting simultaneously. The connection between the radial ball bearing and the shaft is made by a combination of positive and frictional locking. The form fit is established between a shoulder on the shaft and a shoulder of the inner ring. The aim of this is to be able to transmit relatively high forces in the axial direction with a small overlap of the shaft outer diameter and the bearing inner ring. The frictional connection, on the other hand, ensures that a torque that builds up, for example, during cold startup of the rolling bearing can be transmitted from the shaft to the inner ring.
Due to component tolerances, it may not be possible to achieve a perfect form fit between the shaft and bearing. This can lead to the connection settling under load or during operation.
It is therefore the object of the invention to propose an assembly with a shaft and a radial ball bearing in which the form fit is completely achieved.

Assembly with one shaft and one radial ball bearing


Embodiments for fast perfect issue of dependent instructions in a distributed issue queue system. Producer information of a producer instruction is inserted in a lookup entry in a lookup table, the lookup entry being allocated to a register. It is determined that the register corresponding to the lookup entry is a source for a dependent instruction. Responsive to storing the dependent instruction in an issue queue, the producer information is stored in a back-to-back entry of a back-to-back wakeup table, the back-to-back entry corresponding to the dependent instruction. The producer instruction is issued which causes the producer information of the producer instruction to be sent to the back-to-back wakeup table. It is determined that there is a match between the producer information and the back-to-back entry for the dependent instruction, and the dependent instruction is caused to issue based on the match.

The present invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically, to computer-implemented methods, computer systems, and computer program products configured and arranged for fast perfect issue of dependent instructions in a distributed issue queue system.
A pipeline microprocessor has a path, channel, or pipeline that is divided into stages that perform specific tasks. Each of the specific tasks are part of an overall operation that is directed by a programmed instruction. Each of the programmed instructions or macro instructions in a software application program is executed in sequence by the microprocessor. As a programmed instruction enters the first stage of the pipeline, certain tasks are accomplished. The instruction is then passed to subsequent stages for accomplishment of subsequent tasks. Following completion of a final task, the instruction completes execution and exits the pipeline. Execution of programmed instructions by a pipeline microprocessor is very much analogous to the manufacture of items on an assembly line. One of the obvious aspects of any assembly line is that there are multiple items resident in the line in successive stages of assembly during any given point in time. The same is true for a pipeline microprocessor. During any cycle of a pipeline clock signal, there are multiple instructions present in the various stages, with each of the instructions being at successive levels of completion. Therefore, microprocessors allow overlapping execution of multiple instructions with the same circuitry. The circuitry is usually divided up into stages and each stage processes a specific part of one instruction at a time, passing the partial results to the next stage.

Fast perfect issue of dependent instructions in a distributed issue queue system

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods and systems for routing payment transactions electronically involve interrogating by computer logic each payment transaction received by a payments interface processor to identify a payment destination and a payment source and to determine, according to pre-defined parameters, whether the payment transaction is eligible for processing via an internal payment transaction processor of the financial institution that minimizes processing costs. Eligible payment transactions may be routed, for example, to an internal debit or credit card processor or ACH processor, and ineligible payment transactions may be routed to external card processing networks.

Currently, payment transactions between a customer and a merchant with credit and/or debit cards are typically routed, for example, from the merchant's point of sale terminal to the card issuer via a merchant's financial institution processor and a card network. The merchant pays discount fees to the merchant's financial institution processor to cover the cost of processing and interchange fees to the card issuer and the card network for accepting cards. For example, when a customer purchases an item from a merchant using a debit or credit card for payment, the merchant captures and logs the transaction and sends the transaction to a merchant processor or acquirer. The merchant processor routes the transaction to the appropriate card network and charges a fee for transaction processing to the merchant and also passes any interchange fee, based upon a merchant category code and processing code, to the merchant.
Upon receiving the transaction, the card network identifies the card issuer and routes the transaction to the card issuer, receives an acknowledgement of the transaction result from the issuer, and the card network charges a processing/switch fee to the issuer and an interchange fee to the merchant processor or acquirer. The card network passes the transaction result to the merchant processor or acquirer, which in turn passes the transaction result to the merchant. If the transaction result is approved, the purchase is completed, the merchant sends an email or mobile notification of the transaction to the customer, and the merchant's account is logged with the transaction. Finally, the card network settles each day's business with the card issuer and the merchant processor or acquirer, and the merchant processor or acquirer settles with the merchant. The fees which merchants currently pay for the privilege of accepting credit/debit cards are significant, especially for smaller merchants who, for example, may lack leverage to negotiate lower fees.
Currently, the financial services industry is struggling with payment processing issues, such as credit and debit card payment processing issues. Timing and expense are important, for example, to merchants who prefer to receive customer payments as soon as possible. While there are technologies available to expedite the payment, each has its separate cost. Financial institutions would like to be able to offer a reduction in the cost of performing such payment transactions and, at the same time, generate incremental revenue while managing their liquidity position.
The financial services industry is also currently struggling to answer the question of the fastest way to route a payment, for example, to a particular financial institution. A present focus is on using, for example, the automated clearing house (ACH) process. Another present focus is on a high-tech process, sometimes referred to as the automated teller machine (ATM) rail or debit rail using card association networks, such as VISA® and MASTERCARD® processing networks by which payment transactions are executed in what is considered to be real-time.
However, these alternatives can be very expensive. ACH transactions can cost from 2 cents to 4 cents per transaction, and card association network fees, such as those imposed by VISA® or MASTERCARD® processing networks, for example, can be, e.g., $4-$5 for a $300 payment.
Accordingly, there is a current need for a global financial institution with major authorization systems to numerous countries worldwide and an extensive corporate client population to move money in a way that can optimize the transaction with the least associated expense while meeting the customer's needs to have payment transactions executed in real-time or near real-time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Provided is a charging control device that allows the actual state of charge of a secondary battery to converge quickly to an upper limit value given as a control center value when the actual state of charge is higher than the upper limit value so that charging may be performed in an efficient manner and fuel economy may be improved. The charging control device (10) includes a charge/discharge integration unit (23) for computing an integrated charge/discharge value (IW) of the secondary battery, a charge control unit (26) for controlling the charging of the secondary battery such that the recognized state of charge is maintained at a prescribed upper limit value (80%) lower than a fully charged state (100%) by switching a generation voltage of a generator. When a disconnection of a terminal of the secondary battery is detected by a terminal disconnection detection unit (25), the charge control unit (26) prohibits the charging of the secondary battery from then on until the integrated charge/discharge value reaches a prescribed discharge value (−20%).

As a method for controlling the charging of a secondary battery (rechargeable battery) mounted on a vehicle, it is known to maintain a state of charge of the secondary battery to a prescribed target value smaller than the charge capacity of the secondary battery. See Patent Document 1. According to this prior invention, because the energy regenerated from braking cannot be efficiently utilized if the secondary battery is always fully charged to the charge capacity, a certain margin is left in the secondary battery so that the electric energy produced by a regenerative braking may be charged to the secondary battery for efficient utilization of the electric energy. By using the charged or stored electric energy as an auxiliary drive power, the fuel economy of the engine can be improved.
In recent years, vehicles are often provided with an idle stop function which automatically stops the engine when the vehicle has come to a stop, and automatically restarts the engine when the vehicle is to start off. In an idle stop vehicle, because the battery is required to supply the electric power for the vehicle when the engine is not running, and for restarting the engine, the battery is required to be charged and discharged very frequently. Therefore, various forms of charging control devices have been developed for the purpose of properly managing the battery of idle stop vehicles. In a known charging control device of this type, the battery is charged whenever the engine is restarted in an idle stop operation. See Patent Document 2. In the charging control device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the battery is charged every time an idle stop operation is performed (restarting the engine), and the charging of the battery is terminated when the battery is fully charged, or when the charge current has fallen below a prescribed threshold vale, and the battery voltage has continued to exceed a prescribed threshold value for a prescribed time period.


A spiral coil is used when stacking a plurality of sheets each having a plurality of holes punched at a constant pitch, and binding the sheets by inserting the spiral coil therethrough. The spiral coil has a different pitch from that between the holes of the sheets. The spiral coil may be densely wound or have a different pitch from that of the sheets. A bookbinding device is prepared for inserting the spiral coil through the holes in the sheets. The bookbinding device has the same pitch as that between the holes, and has an engaging portion at an end thereof for engagement with the spiral coil. The bookbinding device is inserted through the holes such that the spiral coil follows it and is plastically deformed, thereby binding the sheet. The spiral coil after the plastic deformation is held at a pitch after the deformation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spiral coil for simplified bookbinding and a bookbinding device and method.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to one of known bookbinding techniques, a plurality of sheets is bound to one book by punching a plurality of holes in each sheet at a certain spacing and inserting a spiral coil through the holes, the spiral coil being wound at a constant pitch. Major advantages of that bookbinding technique are as follows: First, the bound book can be opened at 360 degrees. Secondary, high durability is ensured by using a coil made of metal or plastic. Another major advantage is that the production cost can be held relatively low.
However, conventional bookbinding techniques have a problem in that sheets and spiral coils have different pitches for bookbinding using a constant-pitch spiral coil, which is not standardized. More specifically, there are various pitches, resulting in inconvenience of erroneously using a spiral coil with a 6-mm pitch for a sheet having holes at a 5-mm spacing. Furthermore, the 6-mm-pitch spiral coil that is erroneously selected is not recoiled to an appropriate 5-mm pitch, which frequently occurs for personal consumers having no special equipment or dedicated machine.
In general, after the spiral coil has been inserted through the holes of the sheet, the spiral coil is bent at the ends for terminal treatment. In this case, it is well known that conventional art terminal treatment has the following drawbacks.
(1) It is difficult to reuse the spiral coil because of the bent ends. It is because it is generally difficult to restore the bent material made of metal or plastic into an original shape.
(2) It is difficult to take the bound sheets in and out again because the spiral coil is bent to be secured at a fixed position, thus making it difficult to change the order of the bound sheets.
(3) A dedicated device and labor are generally required to bend the spiral coil at the ends.
In other words, the conventional art bookbinding operation using the spiral coil has problems in that the sheets and the spiral coils vary in pitch and the reuse thereof is difficult.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems; accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a spiral coil and a bookbinding device using the spiral coil, which is easy to use with a simple structure and is able to perform bookbinding using a spiral coil that is coiled at a different pitch from the spacing between a plurality of holes punched in sheets. Another object of the present invention is to provide a new bookbinding method for integrally binding a plurality of sheets using the spiral coil and the bookbinding device.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spiral coil used when stacking a plurality of sheets each having a plurality of holes punched at a constant pitch, and binding the plurality of sheets together by inserting the spiral coil through each of the holes, wherein the spiral coil is plastically deformed to have a different pitch from that between the holes in an unused state, and to have the same pitch as that between the holes during use.
With such a configuration, a plurality of sheets can be bound by the plastic deformation of the spiral coil irrespective of difference between the spacing between the holes punched in the sheets and the pitch of the spiral coil.
According to the present invention, preferably, the spiral coil is a variable-pitch spiral coil in an unused state.
With such a configuration, a plurality of sheets can be bound using the spiral coil wound at a variable pitch, such as a densely spiraled coil having high portability, a spiral coil wound at a different pitch, and a spiral coil used in different fields.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bookbinding device used when stacking a plurality of sheets each having a plurality of holes punched at a constant pitch, and binding the plurality of sheets together by inserting the spiral coil according to the first aspect of the invention through each hole, wherein the bookbinding device has a spiral shape wound at the same pitch as that between the plurality of holes and has an engaging portion formed in at least one end thereof for engaging with an end of the spiral coil.
With such a configuration, a bookbinding device can be provided to an individual consumer for binding a plurality of sheets by inserting a compact and easy-to-use spiral coil therethrough without the need for a large dedicated bookbinding device or a special work.
According to the present invention, preferably, the engaging portion has a shape different from the end of the spiral coil, and the end of the spiral coil is inserted into the engaging portion for engaging with each other.
With such a configuration, the spiral coil and the bookbinding device can easily be brought into engagement with each other only on the basis of the outer shapes without the need for special operation.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of sheets each having a plurality of holes punched at a constant pitch is stacked and bound into one book using the spiral coil according to the first aspect of the invention and the bookbinding device according to the second aspect of the invention.
With such a configuration, there is provided a bookbinding method for binding a plurality of sheets into one book by inserting the spiral coil therethrough with an exceedingly simplified device without the need for a well-known electric or large bookbinding device.
The simplified bookbinding device using the spiral coil according to the present invention is in principle configured as described above. The spiral coil is preferably made of metal, such as iron. The plastic deformation is performed only by a simple operation at room temperature and normal pressure. One major feature is that since the bookbinding device and the spiral coil differ in diameter and pitch at the engaging portion of the bookbinding device, both are brought into frictional engagement with each other within the elastic limit. Furthermore, a storage case may be provided for enclosing the plurality of spiral coils or the bookbinding device according to the present invention.

Spiral coil and bookbinding device and bookbinding method using the same


A Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) receives power from a high voltage power circuit when in a standby mode. The DALI remains in a standby mode until signal activity on a DALI bus is detected, or the DALI may periodically switch from the standby mode to an active mode so as to sample any activity on the DALI bus. If no activity is detected then the DALI returns to the standby mode. If DALI bus activity is detected then the DALI remains in the active mode. The DALI receives power from a power controller when in the active mode. The DALI remains in the active mode so long as the power controller is supplying power to an electrical device.

The present invention relates generally to control and status of building lighting and power systems, and more particularly to a minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI).
The demands imposed on lighting systems have changed considerably in recent years. Heretofore, switching individual or groups of luminaries on and off used to be sufficient, however, the focus for today and in the future will be on dynamic lighting. Energy conservation, more flexibility of use, increased life and reduced maintenance costs of lighting systems require lighting scene control. To create lighting scenes, luminaries generally are assigned to a plurality of groups. In addition, an end user preferably wants the option of controlling his or her luminaries. If installations having this type of flexibility are integrated into a building management system, there is also a need for simple check-back of operational status as well as global on/off control.
One method of implementing flexibility in the control of luminaries has been achieved using a new industrial standard for addressable digital lighting control called xe2x80x9cDigital Addressable Lighting Interfacexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cDALI.xe2x80x9d The DALI standard specifies how to control and monitor the status of individual and group addressable lighting equipment such as electronic ballasts and illumination sensors The DALI standard uses a two wire low voltage control circuit for addressing, controlling and monitoring the status of connected DALI compliant devices. The DALI standard also specifies how to determine the status of the amount of light of addressed luminaries as well as information from fire and security sensors.
DALI compliant electronic ballasts are now being manufactured which comprise all circuitry necessary to control the power to and lighting levels of a connected fluorescent lamp(s). The only connections required to these DALI compliant ballasts are power and a low voltage two wire DALI control circuit. Each DALI compliant ballast also has a unique address as well as being assignable to a group address. These control and address capabilities allow a DALI compliant lighting system to individually control the light level of each the luminaries as well as easily controlling light levels for groups of luminaries.
The DALI messages are serial data streams and comply with a bi-phase, or Manchester, coding in which the bit values xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d are presented as two different voltage levels, e.g., 16 volts and 0 volts, respectively. The coding includes error detection. A power source is provided to generate the voltage level. DALI interfaces are connected to a two wire control bus which is common to all or groups of DALI interfaces. Each DALI interface receives information by determining the voltage changes representing the bit values, and transmits information by either not clamping a voltage or clamping (shorting) the voltage across the two wire DALI control bus.
DALI messages consist of an address part and a command part (hereinafter xe2x80x9cDALI protocolxe2x80x9d). The address part determines for which DALI device the message is intended. All DALI devices may execute commands with broadcast addresses. Sixty-four unique addresses are available plus sixteen group addresses. A particular DALI device may belong to more than one group. The light level is defined in DALI messages using an 8-bit number. The value xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d (zero) means that the lamp is not lit. The DALI standard determines the light levels so that they comply with the logarithmic curve in which the human eye observes the light level change in a linear fashion. All DALI compliant ballasts and controllers adhere to the same logarithmic curve irrespective of their absolute minimum level. The DALI standard determines the light levels over a range of 0.1 percent to 100 percent, e.g., level 1 of the DALI standard corresponds to a light level of 0.1 percent. The DALI protocol and the DALI two wire hardware interface is unique for controlling and monitoring power devices such as lighting.
The DALI compliant ballasts and controllers do not require power when the associated lamp(s) are off. However, the DALI hardware interface requires a power source for monitoring address and control information on the DALI bus even when the associated ballast and power controller are off. Thus an independent power supply is required for each DALI hardware interface. A separate power supply for each DALI hardware interface requires space and may amount to a significant percentage of the cost of the DALI hardware interface. Also, having to continuously supply power to each DALI hardware interface amounts to a significant amount of power in a building having hundreds of light figures.
Therefore, as DALI compliant devices and lighting systems become more prevalent, what is needed is a way to minimize standby power when DALI compliant devices are inactive.
The invention overcomes the above-identified problems as well as other shortcomings and deficiencies of existing technologies by providing a system, method and apparatus for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (hereinafter xe2x80x9cDALIxe2x80x9d) when an associated DALI compliant device is off or inactive. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention include a DALI having a standby mode and an active mode. When in the active mode, power is supplied to the DALI by an associated power controller, and when in the standby mode, power is supplied to the DALI by a high resistance voltage dropping resistor connected to a high voltage DC source rectified from the AC line voltage power source. The power source may also be direct current (DC) in which case no rectification would be necessary. The standby power for the DALI may also be supplied by either a low power step down transformer or a high impedance voltage dropping element, e.g., a capacitor or an inductor, connected to the AC line voltage power source in combination with a rectifying diode. The DALI uses less current when in the standby mode than when in the active mode. Power is efficiently supplied from the power controller when the DALI is in the active mode, and when in the standby mode the very low current requirements of the DALI draw minimal power from the AC line voltage power source even though the voltage drop across the voltage dropping resistor is substantial. The DALI may change from the standby mode to the active mode upon detection of a DALI signal level transition on the DALI bus or at predetermined sample time intervals.
In accordance with the exemplary embodiments, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI), said apparatus comprising: A power controller adapted for connection to a power source and an electrical device. A processor coupled to said power controller, wherein said processor controls the operation of said power controller, whereby when said power controller is on said processor receives power therefrom. A standby power pickup adapted for connection to the power source and connected to said processor, whereby said standby power pickup supplies power to said processor when said power controller is off. And a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) bus interface adapted for connection to a DALI bus, said DALI bus interface is connected to said processor, wherein said processor is in a standby mode when said power controller is off and there is no signaling activity on the DALI bus, and said processor is in an active mode when said power controller is on or DALI information is detected on the DALI bus.
The DALI information is detected by said processor determining that a signal level change has occurred on the DALI bus, or said processor periodically turns on said power controller and checks the DALI bus for information.
The processor may turn on said power controller for less time than a time period between checking the DALI bus for information. The power controller may be turned on for less than 75 percent of the time period between checking the DALI bus for information. The power controller may be turned on for less than 50 percent of the time period between checking the DALI bus for information. The power controller may be turned on for less than 25 percent of the time period between checking the DALI bus for information. The power controller may be turned on for less than ten percent of the time period between checking the DALI bus for information. The power controller may be turned on for less than five percent of the time period between checking the DALI bus for information.
The standby power pickup may be a resistor, a capacitor and diode, an inductor and diode, or a step down transformer and a diode.
The power controller may include a power rectifier adapted for coupling to the power source and for rectifying. A power factor correction circuit may be used to improve the electrical device power factor. The DALI bus interface may comprise an optically isolated transmitter and receiver.
The present invention is also directed to an apparatus for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI), said apparatus comprising: A power controller adapted for connection to a power source and an electrical device. A processor coupled to said power controller, wherein said processor controls the operation of said power controller, whereby when said power controller is on said processor receives power therefrom. A standby power pickup adapted for connection to the power source and connected to said processor, whereby said standby power pickup supplies power to said processor when said power controller is off. And a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) bus interface adapted for connection to a DALI bus, said DALI bus interface is connected to said processor, wherein said processor is in a standby mode when said power controller is off and there is no signaling activity on the DALI bus, and said processor is in an active mode when said power controller is on or when there is signaling activity on the DALI bus.
The present invention is also directed to an apparatus for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI), said apparatus comprising: A power controller adapted for connection to a power source and an electrical device. A processor coupled to said power controller, wherein said processor controls the operation of said power controller, whereby when said power controller is on said processor receives power therefrom. A standby power pickup adapted for connection to the power source and connected to said processor, whereby said standby power pickup supplies power to said processor when said power controller is off. And a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) bus interface adapted for connection to a DALI bus, said DALI bus interface is connected to said processor, wherein said processor is in a standby mode when said power controller is off, and said processor is in an active mode when said power controller is on or at periodic time intervals.
The present invention is also directed to a method of operation for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI), comprising the steps of: Providing a power controller adapted for connection to a power source and an electrical device. Controlling the operation of said power controller with a processor, wherein when said power controller is on said processor receives power therefrom. Providing power to said processor with a standby power pickup when said power controller is off, wherein said standby power pickup is adapted for connection to the power source. Providing a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) bus interface adapted for connection to a DALI bus, said DALI bus interface being connected to said processor. And monitoring for signaling activity on the DALI bus, wherein said processor is in a standby mode when said power controller is off and there is no signaling activity on the DALI bus, and said processor is in an active mode when said power controller is on or there is signaling activity on the DALI bus.
The step of detecting signaling activity on the DALI bus is the step of determining that a signal level change has occurred on the DALI bus, or the processor periodically turning on said power controller and checking the DALI bus for information, wherein said processor turns on said power controller for less time than a time period between checking the DALI bus for information.
In addition, the present invention is directed to a system for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI), said system comprising: A power controller connected to a power source and an electrical device. A processor coupled to said power controller, wherein said processor controls the operation of said power controller, whereby when said power controller is on said processor receives power therefrom. A standby power pickup adapted for connection to the power source and connected to said processor, whereby said standby power pickup supplies power to said processor when said power controller is off. And a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) bus interface connected to a DALI bus, said DALI bus interface is connected to said processor, where in said processor is in a standby mode when said power controller is off and there is no signaling activity on the DALI bus, and said processor is in an active mode when said power controller is on or when there is signaling activity on the DALI bus.
The present invention is also directed to a system for minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI), said system comprising: A power controller connected to a power source and an electrical device. A processor coupled to said power controller, wherein said processor controls the operation of said power controller, whereby when said power controller is on said processor receives power therefrom. A standby power pickup connected to the power source and connected to said processor, whereby said standby power pickup supplies power to said processor when said power controller is off. And a digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) bus interface connected to a DALI bus, said DALI bus interface is connected to said processor, wherein said processor is in a standby mode when said power controller is off, and said processor is in an active mode when said power controller is on or at periodic time intervals.
The system may be used with an incandescent light, a fluorescent light, a high pressure gas electric discharge light, a low pressure gas electric discharge light, light emitting diode light and electroluminescent light. The system may also be used with a light damper on a window exposed to sunlight, remotely controllable window shades and remotely controllable window curtains. The system may also be used with a smoke detector, a fire detector, a motion detector, a light sensor, a temperature sensor and a humidity sensor. The system may further be connected to a building automation computer system.
A technical advantage of the present invention is very low power standby operation.
Another technical advantage is a cost savings in using an existing source of power from a power controller when active.
Another technical advantage is a reduction in the number of parts for a DALI.
A feature of the present invention is switching from a standby mode to an active mode when a DALI signal is detected.
Another feature is detection of the first edge of the DALI signal.
Another feature is sampling the DALI bus at a reduced duty cycle of active to is standby times.
An advantage of the present invention is reduced power usage when in a standby mode.
Another advantage is a reduction in the number of parts required.
Features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the embodiments, given for the purpose of disclosure and taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Minimizing standby power in a digital addressable lighting interface


Embodiments of the present invention relate to detecting leaks in a fluid cooling system. One aspect of the present invention concerns an apparatus for detecting leaks in a fluid cooling system that includes a pressure exerting device for applying a pressure on a supply hose and a return hose of the cooling system, and a pressure gauge coupled to the pressure exerting device for detecting a drop of fluid pressure in the cooling system while the pressure is applied. The drop of fluid pressure indicates that there may be a leak in the cooling system.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to fluid cooling systems. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a device and method for detecting leaks of coolant in fluid cooling systems.
Fluid cooling is commonly used in electronics fabrication and material processing systems because a liquid cooling system is generally self-contained, relatively simple to set up, and can be extended to additional work stations as an operation increases in size. Typically, a fluid cooling system may include a network of rigid pipes and flexible hoses that contain a coolant such as water or a solution of water and glycol. The coolant may be circulated in the cooling system by one or more pumps installed in the system. Portions of the hoses or pipes may be adjacent to materials or media from which the heat is removed by the coolant. In some cooling systems, portions of the hoses or pipes containing the coolant may be submerged in a tank holding the liquid from which heat is removed by the coolant. Once the coolant absorbs the thermal energy from the liquid or material to be cooled, the heated coolant may go through a heat exchanger or radiator to discard the absorbed thermal energy. The coolant at the lower temperature is then returned to the cooling system to continue removing the heat from the liquid or material to be cooled in a closed loop system.
A fluid cooling system may develop leaks of coolant over time due to fatigue in the joints of the pipes and hoses, corrosion, or accidental damages to the pipes and hoses. Such leaks in the cooling system may disrupt the operation of the equipment being cooled by the cooling system or contaminate sensitive materials and components being processed or fabricated by the equipment. In order to temporarily maintain continuous operation of the cooling system, more coolant may need to be added to the cooling system to replace the leaked coolant.
Inspecting a cooling system to detect a leak is generally difficult due to the system's extensive network of pipes and hoses. Further, the operation of the equipment being cooled and the cooling system may need to be shut down in order to determine whether there is a leak in the cooling system.
It is thus desirable to have a device and method to quickly detect a leak in a fluid cooling system.

Detecting leaks in a fluid cooling system by sensing for a drop of fluid pressure in the system


A low loss high-pass microwave filter for microstrip circuits comprises a single-ridge waveguide which is attached to a microstrip circuit in a manner to establish a cutoff frequency for the circuit. The single-ridge waveguide has a top wall and sidewalls with a ridge projecting centrally from the top wall into the waveguide. The waveguide is associated with the microstrip circuit such that the sidewalls of the waveguide extend through a dielectric substrate of the circuit parallel to and on opposite sides of a microstrip line of the circuit and are connected electrically and physically to the ground plane, which forms a bottom wall for the waveguide. The ridge of the waveguide has a width which is equal to or narrower than the microstrip line and is aligned with the microstrip line. Within the waveguide, the microstrip line width is made to be substantially the same as the ridge width such that the microstrip line is narrowed within the waveguide if the ridge has a width which is narrower than the microstrip line outside the waveguide. The association of the waveguide and the microstrip circuit ensure that the ridge and the microstrip line are in good electrical and physical contact.

The present invention relates generally to filtering signals in microwave propagating media and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for a low loss high-pass microwave filter for microstrip circuits.
Microstrip circuits are made up of a substrate formed of a dielectric material which separates a ground plane on one side of the substrate from a signal carrying microstrip line on the other. Use of microstrip circuits is preferred in many applications because their cost is negligible when compared to costlier waveguide structures. Additionally, electrical components are easily coupled to microstrip circuits, which have wide band and low loss characteristics. Microstrip circuits are also light in weight and easily printed using conventional printed circuit board technology.
A problem with using microstrip circuits is the design of a low loss high-pass filter which can be included on the microstrip circuit yet occupy a minimum amount of space on the circuit. A number of approaches to the solution of this problem are known in the prior art including edge-coupled lines, impedance transformers and low frequency signal rejection techniques. Waveguides offer another solution to the problem of low loss high-pass filters because of the inherent high attenuation of signals below the cutoff frequencies of waveguides. In addition, there are substantial low loss frequency ranges above the cutoff frequencies of waveguides. Unfortunately, the characteristics of waveguides are not realizable directly on microstrip circuits because the dominant desired mode in a microstrip circuit or quasi-transverse-electric-magnetic (quasi-TEM) mode has no cutoff frequency and will pass all frequencies down to DC. However, waveguide structure can be combined with microstrip circuits to provide high-pass filters.
For example, rectangular waveguides have been considered for use with microstrip circuits to provide high-pass filters as illustrated by an article entitled "About the Frequency-Dependent Characteristics of a Microstrip-Waveguide Transition" published in Arch. Elektron and Uebertragungstech., vol. 35, no. 2, pages 69-71, February, 1981 by Gunter Kompa. Unfortunately, such high-pass filters are generally restricted to a 2:1 usable frequency ratio in order to avoid losses due to the production of undesirable higher-order modes. Further, transitions of the type considered by Kompa are lossy and lead to external surface modes which allow certain lower-frequency modes to propagate on the outer surface of the waveguide.
Accordingly, there is a need for a low loss high-pass microwave filter which can be readily utilized with microstrip circuits and will occupy little space on the microstrip circuit.


A power system includes an electric battery and an enclosure configured to surround the electric battery. A console is disposed on at least one side of the enclosure. The console includes a first charge input configured to receive a charge from an AC power source, a second charge input configured to receive a charge from a DC power source, and an outlet configured to receive a connector for a device. A battery management system includes controls to regulate a battery charge between the first charge input and the second charge input.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to power systems and, more particularly, to quiet portable power systems.
2. The Relevant Technology
A dual power source automatic switch circuit and an isolation apparatus are discussed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0260538. The automatic switch circuit includes a main power source circuit and a backup power source circuit. The main and backup power source circuits include manual switches installed in a manual switch zone and isolated by a sub-isolation board. The main switch includes elements coupled in series. The backup power source circuit includes a backup switch with multiple elements coupled in parallel. The power source includes a power monitor module to monitor abnormal conditions of the main and backup power source circuits, and control the switch elements to perform power supply transfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,272,464 discusses a mobile computer aided design apparatus. The apparatus includes a vehicle having a computer aided design workstation. The workstation is coupled to a router with wireless communication transceivers. An uninterruptible power supply is coupled to the computer aided design work station, the router, and to the engine. A cut-off switch is coupled between an inverter and a second battery.
A portable power storage and supply system having an AC charger and a DC charger is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,839,019. The AC and DC charging and discharging can be carried at one time. The system includes an inverter, battery modules and controllers. DC charging can include energy from a renewable energy source. The battery modules are separable from the system for providing DC energy for energizing automotive battery jumper cables or for energizing DC powered devices.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.


Disclosed herein are modified proaerolysin (PA) peptide. In some examples, the proteins include a prostate-specific protease cleavage site and can further include a prostate-tissue-specific binding domain which functionally replaces the native PA binding domain. In other examples, the proteins include a furin cleavage site and a prostate tissue-specific binding domain which functionally replaces the native PA binding domain. Methods of using such peptides to treat prostate cancer are also disclosed.

One of every three cancers diagnosed in American males is of prostatic origin, making prostate cancer the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in males in the United States (Berges et al. Clin. Cancer Res. 1:473-480, 1995). The incidence of prostate cancer in the U.S. has not been decreased by changes in lifestyle; in fact, the incidence rate of clinical prostate cancer has increased steadily since the 1930's (Pinski et al. Cancer Res. 61:6372-6, 2001). Prostate cancer incidence increases with age more rapidly than any other type of cancer; less than 1% of prostate cancers are diagnosed in men less than 50 years of age (Furuya et al. Cancer Res. 54:6167-75, 1994). Thus, as the life expectancy of the male population increases over time, the incidence of clinical prostate cancer will also increase (Furuya et al. Cancer Res. 54:6167-75, 1994).
Currently there is no treatment that significantly prolongs survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer (Khan and Denmeade. Prostate 45:80-83, 2000). Medical castration with oral estrogen (androgen ablation) was the first effective systemic therapy for cancer, and remains the most generally useful prostate cancer therapy. Although androgen ablation therapy has a substantial palliative benefit, it has little impact on overall survival (Berges et al. Clin. Cancer Res. 1:473-480, 1995). This therapy eventually fails because the metastatic prostate cancer within an individual patient is heterogeneously composed of androgen-dependent and androgen-independent cancer cells (Christensen et al. Bioorg. Medicinal Chem. 7:1273-80, 1999). Following androgen ablation, androgen-dependent cells within these tumors stop proliferating and activate a cellular suicide pathway termed programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis. Because of the elimination of this subgroup of androgen-dependent cells, the majority of men with metastatic prostate cancers have a beneficial response to androgen-deprivation therapy. However, all patients eventually relapse to a state unresponsive to further anti-androgen therapy, no matter how completely given, due to the presence of androgen-independent prostate cancer cells within the metastatic sites. Unfortunately, the disease is uniformly fatal at this point because currently there is no therapy that effectively eliminates androgen-independent prostate cancer cells (Khan and Denmeade. Prostate 45:80-83, 2000).
Several alternative approaches to the treatment of prostate cancer have been proposed. One has been to develop methods to aggressively screen for local disease while it is still in the prostate and thus potentially treatable by definitive local therapy. Localized cancers are often moderately differentiated and smaller in volume. During the last several decades, there have been improvements to the surgical and radiotherapeutic management of localized prostate cancer. These improvements have culminated over the last several years in the death rate of prostate cancer decreasing for the first time in fifty years.
However, while this advance increased the cure rate, there are still a large number of men who are not cured by local therapies and eventually die from metastatic disease. This clinical reality has led to the development of non-hormonal treatments for metastatic prostate cancer. Standard anti-proliferative chemotherapeutic agents have not been successful as treatment for prostate cancer. These types of agents may be ineffective against androgen-independent prostatic cancers because these cancers have a remarkably low rate of proliferation when compared to other tumor types and many normal tissues such as skin, gastrointestinal tract and bone marrow. For example, the growth fraction in 117 metastatic sites of prostate cancer obtained from 11 androgen ablation failing patients at "warm" autopsy was 7.1±0.8%. (Pinski et al. Cancer Res. 61:6372-6, 2001). This low proliferative rate may explain the relative unresponsiveness of prostate cancer cells in humans to standard anti-proliferative chemotherapy, while highly proliferative androgen independent prostate cancer cell lines remain exquisitely sensitive to PCD induction in vitro.
Several strategies have been proposed for treatment of slowly-proliferating prostate cancers. One approach is to identify specific signaling pathways to which prostate cancer cells, during malignant transformation, acquire a unique dependence for survival. Once identified, small molecule or biological inhibitors of these pathways can be developed as therapeutics. An example of this approach is the use of small molecule or monoclonal antibody inhibitors of the Her2/neu or EGF receptor pathways. Another method is to inhibit a ubiquitous intracellular protein whose function is mandatory for survival of all cell types. This approach would overcome the problem of heterogeneity and "resistance" as all cancer cells within a tumor could be killed via this approach. However, the cytotoxicity would not be cell-type specific and administration of such a general toxin would be associated with significant systemic toxicity. Therefore, there is a need for a method for targeting cytotoxins directly to sites of prostate cancer.
Another strategy for treatment of slowly proliferating prostate cancers is to deliver. cytotoxins that kill cells not through induction of apoptosis following inhibition of critical signaling or metabolic pathways but rather through non-specific cytolysis via disruption of the plasma membrane. Many cytolytic toxins have been described (Lesieur et al. Mol. Membr. Biol. 14:45064, 1997). These cytolytic toxins are often of bacterial origin, and, in general, are beta-sheet proteins that oligomerize in the plasma membrane to produce well-characterized pores that, once formed, lead to rapid cytolytic cell death (Rossjohn et al. J. Struct. Biol. 121:92-100,1998). These toxins are also non-specific in their ability to kill cells, and therefore can not be administered as therapy without significant toxicity. Therefore, there is a need for agents to treat prostate cancer, which are predominantly cytotoxic to prostate cancer cells.

Proaerolysin containing protease activation sequences and methods of use for treatment of prostate cancer

University of Victoria Innovation and Development Corporation


A sheet folding apparatus is disclosed, including a conveying roller pair; first and second folding roller pairs; first and second sheet detecting units; first and second sheet guiding members, a sheet conveyed from the conveying roller pair is guided to the first or second folding roller pair, a sheet edge is detected by the first or second sheet detecting unit, a sheet conveying direction and a sheet conveying distance are controlled based on the detected result, timings of an operation of the first or second sheet guiding member and conveying of the sheet by the first and second folding roller pair are aligned, and the sheet is folded while being placed by the first or second folding roller pair therebetween.

In general, when an image forming apparatus is used which makes it possible to copy onto a large-sized sheet such as A0, A1, etc., if such a large-sized sheet is stored as it is or if the large-sized sheet is handled as it is, a storage space ends up becoming large, or handling thereof is inconvenient, so that normally the sheet is folded for storing and handling.
However, if a sheet folding operation is performed manually, a significant amount of time is needed, so that a time required for folding a sheet may end up being longer than a time required for copying.
In light of the above, there is a system in which is arranged, in a sheet discharge path of an image forming apparatus, a sheet folding apparatus which can fold a sheet automatically, making it possible to automatically fold in succession large-sized sheets copied (Patent Documents 1-4).
In a sheet folding apparatus for use in such a system, there may be included a unit (an off-line operation) for folding a sheet which was inadvertently copied and discharged without folding in advance, or a large-sized sheet which was produced by a different image forming apparatus, etc., as well as (an on-line operation of) automatically folding a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus.
When paper folding is actually performed by such a system, for a standard-sized sheet such as A0, A1, etc., paper folding can be performed using a predetermined size for each face of a sheet to be folded. In an image forming apparatus which can copy onto the large-sized sheet, copying may be performed onto a long sheet such that a length in a sub-scanning direction amounts to several meters, so that it is required to perform paper folding even for such a non-standard long sheet.
A paper folding apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 automatically adjusts a folded length of each folded portion to fold even a sheet other than one having a standard length to a specified dimension. Patent Document 2 discloses a paper folding method and a paper folding mechanism that orderly form a folding edge in a desired folding mode, while Patent Document 3 discloses a paper folding machine which ensures that unnecessary folds are not produced when a folded sheet is discharged. Patent Document 4 discloses a paper folding apparatus which reduces unevenness in a folding dimension even for a large-sized sheet whose tip is curled.
Below, an explanation of an image forming apparatus and a sheet folding machine according to a related art is provided in accordance with a schematic configuration indicated in the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a related-art image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied as well a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus which shows one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a number 200 denotes a copying machine, which is one form of an image forming apparatus body. A number 300 to which parentheses are affixed is an example of a related-art sheet folding machine which is arranged in a sheet discharging path of the image forming apparatus body 200, while a number 500 to which parentheses are affixed is an example of a related-art sheet folding apparatus. A number 1000 to which parentheses are affixed denotes a related-art image forming apparatus or image forming system in which a related-art sheet folding machine 300 is connected and mounted to the image forming apparatus body 200.
In FIG. 1, with respect to numbers to which parentheses are not affixed, a number 50 is a sheet folding machine which shows one embodiment of the present invention; a number 1 is a sheet folding apparatus which shows one embodiment, etc., of the present invention; and a number 100 is an image forming apparatus or image forming system which is configured with a sheet folding machine 50 to be a post-processing apparatus being mounted to the image forming apparatus body 200.
In the image forming apparatus body 200, a sheet P which is fed from a paper feeding unit 209 or a manual paper-feeding unit 208 is conveyed by a fed-paper conveying unit 210, and an image is formed thereon by an image forming unit 220, after which it is discharged out of the image forming apparatus body 200 by a discharged-paper conveying unit 230. The sheet P, which is discharged out of the image forming apparatus body 200, enters a sheet receiving unit 21 of the sheet folding machine (300) that is arranged in a sheet discharging path of the image forming apparatus body 200, and is conveyed to the sheet folding apparatus (500) by the feeding unit 20.
The sheet folding apparatus (500) includes a conveying roller pair 3; a first folding roller pair 6 and a second folding roller pair 7 that are arranged in an opposing manner to the left and the right of a lower portion thereof; a first sheet guiding member 4 and a second sheet guiding member 5 that selectively guide a sheet P conveyed from the conveying roller pair 3 in each folding roller pair direction; and a lower sheet face guide 10 which guides a lower face of the sheet P. The sheet P is fed by the conveying roller pair 3 and conveyed, and selectively guided to the first folding roller pair 6 or the second folding roller pair 7 by an operation of the first sheet guiding member 4 or the second sheet guiding member 5. The guided sheet P is folded a predetermined number of times by being fed between the first folding roller pair 6 or the second folding roller pair 7 while sliding on an upper face of the lower sheet face guide 10 by an operation of the first sheet guiding member 4 or the second sheet guiding member 5 in alignment with repeating of forward and reverse rotations of the first folding roller pair 6 and the second folding roller pair 7. In FIG. 1, a number 2 denotes an inlet sensor which is to be a sheet detecting unit which is arranged between the feeding unit 20 and the conveying roller pair 3 and which detects a tip of the sheet P which is conveyed from the feeding unit 20. The inlet sensor 2 is to be a trigger signal for operation control at and after the detecting time. Moreover, toward the right in an upper portion of the sheet folding machine (300) is arranged a manual insert tray for placing thereon and feed a copied sheet P, for example.
However, in the above-described related-art sheet folding apparatus (500), the sheet P is folded a predetermined number of times by being fed between the first folding roller pair 6 or the second folding roller pair 7 while being slid on an upper face of the lower sheet face guide 10 by an operation of the first sheet guiding member 4 or the second sheet guiding member 5 in alignment with repeating of forward and reverse rotations of the first folding roller pair 6 and the second folding roller pair 7, so that a resulting state thereof becomes a zigzag fold.
As described above, in the related-art sheet folding apparatus (500), the sheet P is folded alternately by the first folding roller pair 6 and the second folding roller pair 7. Thus, while folding is possible without being affected by the length of the sheet or the number of times of folding, it is only possible to alternately perform trough folding in which folding is performed with an image face facing inside and crest folding in which folding is performed with an image face facing outside, and it is not possible to successively perform trough folding or to successively perform crest folding.
Even in folding methods described in JIS (Z8311: Technical Drawings-Sizes and Layout of Drawing Sheets, Appendix (Reference): Standard Methods of Folding Drawings) that are generally well known drawing sheet folding methods is included a folding method in which crest folding is repeated. A folding finishing state shown in FIG. 2A is a state in which an A0-sized sheet is folded, resulting in basic folding, which is described in JIS in the above. In this case, crest folding is performed twice with a title column facing up. Moreover, in a similar manner, with respect to A0-sized bag folding, crest folding is performed twice with the title column facing up. This folding, which cannot be handled by the related-art sheet folding apparatus, is handled by performing crest folding and trough folding from the title column side as shown in FIG. 2B.
Besides the foldings described in JIS, there are folds which require finishing in which there are successive folds in the same direction; these are folds which are often used in notices, brochures, etc., such as an inner three fold as shown in FIG. 3A and a gate fold as shown in FIG. 3B. However, the related-art sheet folding apparatus cannot handle these common folding specifications, so that specification is changed, or folding is done manually.

Sheet folding apparatus and image forming apparatus


A grinding machine is shown as including a machine base, a wheel supported by the base and carrying a rotatable superabrasive grinding wheel, a device for relatively feeding the grinding wheel and a workpiece at a feed rate along a normal force vector between the two, and an apparatus for controlling the grinding processes. The apparatus further preferably includes a force transducer mounted adjacent the wheelhead to measure the magnitude of the normal force factor occurring between the wheel and the workpiece, as well as a control device for varying the feed rate and for determining the relative wheel sharpness based upon the feed rate and the measured normal forces. The feed rate can thereby be varied in response to the determined wheel sharpness to maintain a substantially constant normal force and to optimize the grinding process. By monitoring the magnitude of the normal force factor and by determining the wheel sharpness, the grinding machine of the subject invention enables automatic conditioning of a superabrasive grinding wheel, optimization of the grinding process, and optimization of reshaping of the grinding wheel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to grinding machines employing a rotary abrasive wheel for carrying out grinding processes and, in particular, the invention relates to a machine and process for automatically controlling and optimizing grinding with a superabrasive grinding wheel by monitoring the normal forces imposed on such grinding wheel.
2. Background Information
It is known in the grinding industry that superabrasive wheels, for example, cubic boron nitride (CBN), will tend to increase in sharpness after trueing as successive workpieces are ground, and thereby will result in higher metal removal rates for an equivalent normal force applied to the wheel, causing variations in sizing and finish.
It is well known that reconditioning (either dressing or trueing) a superabrasive wheel causes it to behave in a dull fashion, since the grit is leveled with the bonding material. If high force is applied to a dull grinding wheel, wheel damage or part burn may occur. Through a variety of grinding actions, the bonding material becomes eroded as the wheel progressively grinds workpieces, exposing new, sharp grit material, allowing room for chip formation, and effectively increasing the sharpness or metal removal ability of the wheel.
One prior art publication which discusses the superabrasive wheel and wheel dressing pattern is U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,235, in which a method is disclosed whereby a watt transducer is utilized to sense grinding wheel drive motor power consumption over a predetermined time interval at a spark-out or dwell portion of the grinding cycle, and the power level during the transition from maximum grinding power to some predetermined lower power level for re-commencing feed is monitored. If the lower power level occurs before the time interval is reached, the wheel is known to have become too sharp for the intended use, and a dressing cycle is initiated to recondition and "dull" the now too-sharp wheel. The broad concept of monitoring wheel drive motor power consumption is well known in machines using conventional grinding wheels, because it is simple and inexpensive and it is possible to determine the tangential force components from the equation: power equals V.sub.s times F.sub.t, where V.sub.s is the grinding wheel speed in meters per second (m/s), and F.sub.t is the tangential force (in Newtons). Power monitors have been very useful as gap elimination devices and crash detectors, and have been used as the bases of adaptive control philosophies. However, power monitors do not lend themselves to measurement of normal force (F.sub.n) which is considered imperative for accurate wheel sharpness measurement. Because the coefficient of grinding can vary considerably between dull and sharp wheels, the tangential force is not a reliable indication of actual normal forces for many working conditions commonly encountered in grinding operations. Moreover, power monitors, such as watt meters and the like, have relatively slow response times.
In evaluating wheel sharpness and controlling the grinding processes, other prior art patents have attempted to teach controlling the wheel feed rate by sensing deflection of the grinding wheel spindle U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,344,560 (Lillie) and 3,555,741 (Hahn) are two examples of devices which monitor deflection of the grinding wheel spindle to estimate grinding force. The normal force is the principal deflection causing force in the grinding process, particularly with internal grinding machines, and some prior art machines have swiveled the wheelhead to re-align the wheel with the workpiece as the grinding wheel spindle is deflected.
Internal grinding machines are particularly sensitive to deflection of the wheel-supporting spindle, which is generally of small diameter compared, for example, with external grinding machines. Controlled force grinding has been utilized in order to ensure that a known deflection of the spindle could be maintained to control the resulting grinding process. Such controlled force grinding has its problems too, however, as eccentric rotation of the workpiece, or irregularities in the workpiece stock or hardness could cause runout and prevent proper round-up of the workpiece. Heavy damping and/or increased wheel rotation velocities were required to address these problems, which created problems of their own, especially in the context of superabrasive grinding wheels.
An example of additional problems encountered includes post-dressing or post-trueing inefficiencies. As set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,643 (Gile et al.), following wheel trueing or dressing, the rotational velocity of a superabrasive grinding wheel is reduced to maintain a substantially constant grinding wheel drive power consumption. The desired power level is set by the operator, and the rotational velocity is slowly increased in subsequent grinding operations based upon the average power consumption and feed rate of the previous grind. This process slowly increases the grinding output as the superabrasive wheel becomes sharper (i.e. self-conditions) as described above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,389 (Leitch) addresses post-dressing or post-trueing use of non-superabrasive wheels. The inefficiencies of this device are similar to the Gile device, as following dressing, Leitch teaches that the first grind is to be undertaken at a reduced, pre-set feed rate because non-superabrasive wheels are sharpened by the dressing process. Perceived sharpness of the wheel is calculated by monitoring changes in horsepower or normal force between two successive grinds, and over time the feed rate is increased to the point where the wheel can maintain its sharpness. The increased feed rate tends to self-sharpen the non-superabrasive wheel enough to offset the dulling effects of attrition at the optimum feed rate. However, this slow build up of the feed rate is inefficient. Moreover, this technology is not easily adapted to superabrasive grinding where in order to maintain substantially constant grinding force, the feed rate must be reduced to compensate for the self-sharpening characteristics of superabrasive wheels.

Method and apparatus for controlling grinding processes


Compound tunneling field effect transistors integrated on a silicon substrate are provided with increased tunneling efficiency and an abrupt band slope by forming a source region with a material having a bandgap at least 0.4 electron volts (eV) narrower than that of silicon to increase a driving current (ON current) by forming a channel region with a material having almost no difference in lattice constant from a source region and having a high electron mobility at least 5 times higher than silicon. ON/OFF current ratio simultaneously is increased by forming a drain region with a material having a bandgap at least as wide as a channel region material to restrain OFF current. Tunneling field effect transistors having various threshold voltages according to circuit designs are formed easily by adding a specific material with an electron affinity less than a source region material when forming a channel region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tunneling field effect transistors (TFETs), and more particularly to tunneling field effect transistors formed by compound semiconductors on a silicon substrate and methods for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
These days, it is aiming for a goal that not only switch devices, but also various kinds of optical devices are integrated on a silicon substrate due to cost-effectiveness.
So far, the optical devices in many cases are basically fabricated with direct bandgap compound semiconductors, but the various kinds of switch device of peripheral circuits for driving the optical devices are fabricated on a silicon substrate. Thus, there is a problem that an optical integrated system must be fabricated through complicated processes.
Namely, the problem has occurred in the fabrication of the optical integrated system through the separation process for an optical device forming region and a peripheral circuit forming region.
To solve the problem, it is needed to develop new switch devices and processes for forming simultaneously the peripheral circuits in a fabrication process of the optical devices.
Until now a MOSFET is conventionally used as a switch device which is essentially needed not only in the optical integrated system, but also in various kinds of system having electrical circuits. However, it is reached to limit because of needs of a higher effective device and a smaller device with size decreased gradually by increasing integrity degree. And an alternative device is being needed.
Namely, as mentioned in Korean Patent No. 10-1058370, the conventional MOSFET has a basic problem of a considerable decrease in performance in case of a low driving voltage due to the physical limit, i.e., a subthreshold swing (SS) of MOSFET cannot be lower than 60 mV/dec at room temperature.
However, a tunneling field effect transistor controls flows of electrons or holes by a tunneling mechanism which differs from a thermionic emission of the conventional MOSFET, and a finer change of input voltage (driving voltage) can bring on a larger change in output current.
It is suggested that a change of ON/OFF states is very rapidly occurred according to the change of gate voltage and also it means that a low subthreshold swing (SS) is possible.
And because it is expected that a normal operation is possible in condition of very low driving voltage as like as below 1V, a tunneling field effect transistor can consume a few power and obtain a performance similar to a conventional MOSFET. Therefore, a tunneling field effect transistor is hoped to a switch device with high energy efficiency and a semiconductor device which can substitute for a conventional MOSFET.
A tunneling field effect transistor which basically differs from a conventional MOSFET, as shown in FIG. 1, has an asymmetric structure of a source region 200 and a drain region 400 formed by a dopant with an opposite conductive type each other on both ends of a channel region 300.
For example, in n channel TFET case, a source region 200 is formed as P+ region and a drain region 400 is formed as N+ region on both ends of a channel region 300 in P-type or intrinsic silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate on a buried oxide layer 100. Here, the P+ region and the N+ region are meant as a heavy doped P-type layer and a heavy doped N-type layer, respectively (hereinafter, the same is used).
In the structure of FIG. 1, if a driving voltage is applied to a gate electrode 600 on a gate insulator 500 and a reverse bias voltage is applied between a source region 200 and a drain region 400 respectively, an abrupt junction with a sharp energy band slope is formed between a channel region 300 and a source region 200 as shown in FIG. 2, and a driving current (ION) is flowed by a quantum mechanical tunneling.
However, because a driving current of a tunneling field effect transistor is induced by a tunneling phenomenon, current value lower than that of MOSFET is a problem.
Thus, a first technological problem to completely substitute a tunneling field effect transistor for a MOSFET is to be increasing a driving current (ION) to the value similar to that of a driving current of MOSFET.
Also, because the structure of a tunneling field effect transistor is activated by applying a reverse bias voltage to a p-i-n diode with a gate, a leakage current is basically less than a MOSFET, but an ambipolar operation is possible. As shown in FIG. 3, when a driving voltage of a gate is changed from positive to negative (namely, when OFF voltage is applied), a place in which a tunneling is occurring is changed from P+ region to N+ region and the leakage current can be increased because of the tunneling at an unintended region. It is considered as a problem for decreasing ON/OFF current ratio.
Specifically, it increases the consumption of a standby power in portable electronic devices. And so a second technological problem to completely substitute for a MOSFET is urgently minimizing the OFF current.
According to circuit designs, many transistors having various threshold voltages are needed. But a conventional tunneling field effect transistor, as shown in FIG. 1, is formed on a SOI substrate. And so there is a problem that it is difficult to control easily the threshold voltage by a boron ion implantation as like as in a bulk MOSFET.
That is a third technological problem to completely substitute a tunneling field effect transistor for a MOSFET.
To solve the first technological problem, U.S. Pat. No. 7,947,557 and International Publication No. WO2010/078054 disclose a source region (P+ region) material that has a bandgap less than that of silicon and Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0024328 discloses an abrupt junction with a rapid band slope by a high-k dielectric layer. In addition, Korean Patent No. 10-1058370 discloses a trap layer formed between channel and source regions for increasing a driving current.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0024328 and Korean Patent No. 10-1058370 disclose methods fabricated with silicon, but there is a difficult problem that tunneling field effect transistors cannot be simultaneously formed with optical devices fabricated basically with compound semiconductors.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,947,557 discloses a fabricating method that allows it to form with a compound semiconductor substrate, but there is a problem that the price of the compound semiconductor substrate is much higher than that of a silicon substrate.
International Publication No. WO2010/078054 discloses a source material which is InAs class materials with a bandgap less than that of silicon for increasing a tunneling current and detailed embodiments of III-V compounds (e.g., InGaAs and GaAsSb). But a lattice constant of InAs class materials is 6.06 Å and InGaAs and GaAsSbn disclosed as detailed embodiments have 5.87 Å lattice constant similar to that of InP. Therefore, the lattice constants of these materials have considerable differences from 5.43 Å lattice constant which is the lattice constant of silicon, and have a problem that it does not allow to grow the materials on a silicon substrate for forming a device. Thus, the compound semiconductor substrate with high price should be used as like as U.S. Pat. No. 7,947,557.
To solve the second technological problem, US Patent Publication No. 20080224224 and Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0024328 disclose a separating method which does not overlap a gate to anyone of P+ region and N+ region, but it cannot be accepted as a preferable solution because of the large loss of area induced by the separation.
Also, to solve the third technological problem, recently, it is mainly achieved by changing gate material and controlling work function of the gate material.
In case of the method, it has some problems that a fabrication process is very complex because gate materials had to differ from each other as much as the number of switch devices to obtain different threshold voltages on one substrate and that the existence of gate material having a required work function is also not guaranteed.
Specifically, in case that peripheral circuit is formed simultaneously with optical device fabrication process, the process is becoming much more complex. Thus, new method is needed to shift easily the threshold voltage of each device.
The present invention proposes to solve the problems of the conventional technology and, specifically, the objective is to provide compound tunneling field effect transistors integrated on a silicon substrate and methods for fabricating the same for simultaneously forming peripheral circuit in optical device fabrication process on a silicon substrate and for solving the first through third technological problems required to completely substitute for conventional MOSFETs.

Compound tunneling field effect transistor integrated on silicon substrate and method for fabricating the same

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