A container for individually dispensing plastic bags provided in a stack. The container is formed from a blank that is cut and formed with appropriate fold lines, such that when assembled, the container includes a bottom wall, spaced, opposing sidewalls, and spaced, opposing front and back walls. The bottom wall, sidewalls, and front and back walls define a receptacle for receiving a stack of bags. The container further includes an interior flap extending between the front and back walls. The flap is biased in a direction toward one of the front and back walls such that the flap engages the stack of bags and helps to maintain the stack in a desired orientation within the receptacle.

Plastic film bags are widely used in retail sales, supermarkets, and other similar applications to store and carry items such as goods purchased by consumers. Due to the various beneficial qualities of plastic bags, many retailers have switched from using paper bags to using plastic bags. While plastic bags provide durable, economic, and aesthetically pleasing alternatives to paper bags, an ongoing problem has been how to conveniently and efficiently package and dispense the plastic bags. In particular, adjacent plastic bags exhibit very little friction between one another and thus tend to slide relatively easily over one another when provided in a stack. Accordingly, plastic bags do not tend to stack well, either horizontally or vertically without requiring additional support. In this sense, the stack direction (horizontal, vertical) refers to the direction normal to the plane of a flat bag. To address this stacking problem, various dispensers have been developed. For example, some prior dispensers utilize various retaining fixtures, such as hanger rods or staples, to help secure and support plastic bags within the dispenser. These additional fixtures increase complexity of the dispensers and generally increase the cost of the dispensers such that the economic benefit of using plastic bags is diminished. Some prior dispensers are also bulky, making it difficult to transport and store the dispensers prior to filling them with plastic bags.
Another problem associated with dispensing plastic bags is that plastic bags are generally unable to be oriented in an upstanding fashion (a horizontal stack) due to the inherent low stiffness/rigidity of the plastic film material used to form the bags. Even when they are provided in a dispenser, plastic bags tend to settle toward the bottom of the dispenser after several bags have been initially removed from the dispenser. This settling makes removal of the bags from the dispenser difficult.
There is thus a need for an improved dispenser for dispensing plastic bags which overcomes drawbacks of the prior art, such as those discussed above.


A speech recognition apparatus predicts, based on the occurrence cycle and duration time of impulse noise that occurs periodically, a segment in which impulse noise occurs, and executes speech recognition processing based on the feature components of the remaining frames excluding a feature component of a frame corresponding to the predicted segment, or the feature components extracted from frames created from sound data excluding a part corresponding to the predicted segment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speech recognition method which creates frames whose length is predetermined, from sound data obtained by sampling sound, and executes speech recognition processing based on feature components extracted from the respective frames; a speech recognition apparatus adopting the speech recognition method; and a computer program for realizing the speech recognition apparatus, and more particularly relates to a speech recognition method, a speech recognition apparatus and a computer program for removing impulse noise, such as the relay sound of a hazard flasher provided in a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
On-vehicle devices, such as a car navigation device, often have a speech recognition function. An on-vehicle device with a speech recognition function has high speech recognition accuracy under an environment where there is stationary noise such as road noise and the engine sound, but does not have sufficient robustness in terms of the recognition accuracy under an environment where there is non-stationary noise that occurs suddenly. In particular, when non-stationary noise occurs during a speech, the recognition rate in this segment is decreased.
As a method for removing non-stationary noise, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-308092 discloses a method which learns the cycle of non-stationary noise that occurs at a certain cycle in a noise segment, and subtracts a noise power spectrum related to the non-stationary noise from a noise-superimposed voice power spectrum when non-stationary noise is superimposed on a voice segment.

Speech recognition method, speech recognition apparatus and computer program


A polishing plate wherein the arcs cut in the soft parts by a circle whose radius is equal to approximately half that of the disk and whose center is at a distance from that of the disk equal to half the radius of the disk have a length between 0.5 and 5 mm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polishing or lapping plates, particularly those used in polishing machines comprising a plate driven to rotate about its axis, a work holder offset relative to the plate and driven, particularly by friction, to rotate about its own axis, and an abrasive suspension interposed between the workpieces being polished and the plate, the workpieces being applied against the plate, with the interposition of the suspension, with a certain pressure.
2. Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,279 a polishing plate is described on whose plane surface appear flush soft parts in the form of islets regularly disseminated in a continuous hard part. In the present specification the expression "hard parts" is used to mean parts harder than the soft parts of the plate. The soft parts are distributed regularly in concentric circles on the plate. No importance is attached to the lengths of the gaps between the hard parts, which in the drawing, and in the corresponding plate on sale commercially, are very large.
In Swiss Patent No. 641,396 a polishing plate is described in which the soft parts are in the form of a continuous spiral. The width of the spiral is not specified. It is of the order of 10 mm in the corresponding product on sale commercially and also has that length in the drawing if it is assumed that the plate illustrated has the diameter usual in the art.


This disclosure assists a golfer in these situations. The golf club caddy is adapted to be used in the game of golf. The golf club caddy is a lightweight, portable carrier that is used to carry a plurality of golf clubs as well as a plurality of accessories that may be required by the golfer. The golf club caddy is a self-supporting structure that with sub-structures that are designed to carry the plurality of golf clubs, one or more towels, one or more golf balls, and tools such as range finders or GPS locators. The golf club caddy comprises a plurality of club holders, a container, a cylinder, a plurality of legs, and a leg opening mechanism.

The present invention relates to the field of apparatus for physical training, more specifically, carrier for golf clubs.
Golf is inherently a game of variety. Differences in the strategic decisions and selected shot execution made by players during the play of the game will often result in a plurality of golf balls being spread broadly over the field of play. Unfortunately, it is often the case that course conditions will require that golf carts follow restricted paths that may be inconsistent with the previously executed plan of the golfer. In these instances, a golfer must approach their next shot on foot which forces them to prepare for their shot at the cart without a complete knowledge of the specifics of distance and ball position that are required for selecting the club or other preparations that may be required in executing the next shot. In these instances, golfers are often compelled to carry a plurality of clubs and accessories in their hands running the risk of losing equipment or not being able to carry adequate equipment to insure that the golfer is adequately prepared for their next shot.


A machine tool capable of eliminating a laborious attachment/detachment work of a cover member is provided. The machine tool includes a door device 5 having a first door 6 to cover a machining-area opening 3e when machining a workpiece and a second door 7 to cover the machining-area opening 3e when not machining the workpiece and formed to be visible an inside thereof, in which the first door 6 and the second door 7 are arranged in a movable manner between a position-in-use covering the machining-area opening 3e and a position when opened opening the machining-area opening 3e.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine tool including a machine body machining a workpiece, a machine body cover covering a periphery of the machine body, and a door device capable of opening/closing a machining-area opening formed in the machine body cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
In machine tools such as a lathe, a structure, in which the periphery of a machine body is surrounded by a machine body cover provided with a machining-area opening a machining area to be machined to outside and the machining-area opening is covered by a door in an openable/closable manner, is adopted.
It is designed to prevent the workpiece from jumping to outside by covering the machining-area opening by the door, even when the workpiece is disengaged from a chuck in the course of the machining. In conventional machine tools, in general, a window is provided in the above-described door so that the inside status of the machining area can be observed from outside when machining the workpiece (for example, refer to Patent document 1).    [Patent document 1] Utility Model Registration No. 3103602
Meanwhile, since the above-described door is needed to be formed staunch enough to endure and not to break even when the workpiece jumps out to give a blow, the window to observe the inside is forced to be set to have the smallest size. Therefore, for example, it is limited to observe the inside status of the machining area sufficiently even at the non-machining time in which a spindle has no workpiece attached thereto.
Therefore, in the conventional machine tools, when rotating the spindle having no workpiece attached thereto, there is sometimes a case where the machining-area opening is opened by the door slid in the lateral direction and, at the same time, a separate cover member having an attachable/detachable structure is attached to the machining-area opening to thereby allow the observation of the inside during the rotation of the spindle. Here, the cover member is used in the state when having no workpiece attached, in which no blow will be given by the workpiece, so that the cover member is not necessary be so staunch in structure. Therefore, the window can be formed to have a larger size, so that the inside can be observed easily and surely.
However, in the case of the structure where the cover member is attached to the machining-area opening, the attaching/detaching work of the cover member is laborious and a space to dispose the detached cover member is additionally required, leaving problems.


An apparatus for connecting a data communication equipment, such as a data terminating equipment (DTE) to an ISDN digital communication network providing a first 64 kbps and a second 64 kbps B digital communication channel which involve different transmission delays. The apparatus includes a transmit part with a separation for separating a unique high rate 128 kbps data flow into two distinctive 64 kbps data flows to be transmitted through both B channels. The apparatus includes a receive part (9999) including storage for storing the data received from digital network, measurement and comparison circuits for measuring the difference between the two transmission delays, address generators for addressing the storage in order to extract the data received through both digital channels, control circuits responsive to the measure and comparison for controlling the address generators in order to provide a 128 kbps which is not affected by the difference of transmission delays introduced by both digital channels. The invention is particularly well suited for transmitting simultaneously multi-media data, i.e. voice, video and data.

The implementation of digital networks, more precisely Private Circuit Switching Networks such as Integrated Service Digital Networks (ISDN), began in the early sixties with the process of digitization of telephone networks in different countries replacing the earlier analogue technologies.
CCITT Recommendations provide principles and guidelines on the ISDN concept and ISDN standards, and also detailed specifications of the user-network and inter-network interfaces.
CCITT Recommendation I. 430 defines layer-1 characteristics of the user-network interface to be applied at the S or T reference points for the basic interface structure. ISDN basic access provides a 144 kb/s transmission channel, which is divided into three distinct subchannels by means of a Time Division Multiplex mechanism: two so-called B channels and a single D channel. Each of the B channels is an independent 64 kbps duplex bearer channel with bit and octet timing, which can be used for a digital telephone communication (the Pulse Code Modulation [PCM] is performed by the subscriber equipment) or for a 64 kbps data communication. The D channel is a 16 kbps channel which allows dynamic multiplexing of the following information: signalling information relative to the B-channels, information relative to low rate teleservices, and information using low rate Packet Switching services (from 16 to 9600 bps).
Although a 64 kbps B channel is sufficient for a wide variety of data communication applications, particularly those using conventional data terminating equipment interfaces such as described in CCITT recommendations V24, V35, and X21, a higher transmission rate through one ISDN network may appear desirable. For instance, in multimedia applications where data, voice and images are simultaneously transmitted, the user may wish to have a 128 kbps channel.
Known ISDN equipment does not allow the use of both independent B channels in order to provide a full 128 kbps data communication channel, since both B channels operate independently and asynchronously. Indeed, although the position of one bit in a byte is maintained through the ISDN transmission network, the transmission time of that byte in the network can largely vary from one B channel to the other, thus preventing their synchronization.

Connecting apparatus for plural channel digital communication network

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for controlling dynamic range of an audio signal comprises an automatic gain control element that receives an input signal having a varying level and outputs a control signal that varies based on the varying level of the input signal and a modified input signal having a dynamic range different than a dynamic range of the input signal. The system also comprises an inverter that inverts the control signal or a block-based control signal corresponding to the control signal in block format. The system also comprises a variable gain element that receives the modified input signal and at least some of the inverted control signal or block-based control signal. The variable gain element also outputs a remainder signal corresponding to the modified input signal as unmodified based on the at least some of the inverted control signal or block-based control signal.

Modern distribution of audio signals to consumers necessarily involves the use of data rate reduction or compression techniques to lower the required amount of data required to deliver these audio signals to consumers while causing minimal impact to the original audio quality. Systems including AC-3, DTS, MPEG-2 AAC and HE AAC are examples of common audio coding systems that use data reduction techniques. For the purposes of this invention, only the AC-3 system will be used as an example, but the invention is applicable to any coding system and is applicable to television, radio, internet, or any other means of program distribution or transmission.
Audio metadata, also known as data about the audio data, is also included with these systems to describe the encoded audio. This data is multiplexed in with the compressed or coded audio data and delivered to consumers where it is extracted and applied to the audio in a user-adjustable manner. One such metadata parameter is called dialnorm and is intended to indicate the average loudness of a program. Other parameters such as dynrng and compr, collectively referred to as Dynamic Range Control or DRC, are intended to control the variation between the quietest and loudest parts of an audio signal.
Programs are in many cases produced with loudness and dynamic range that varies to convey emotion or the level of excitement in a given scene, while interstitial or commercial material is very often produced to convey a message and may be at a constant loudness. In some cases these program and commercial elements can differ substantially in average loudness and dynamic range and many consumer environments are not conducive to these large variations in loudness or dynamic range. Artistic intent while perhaps appropriate in more carefully controlled situations can cause audibility problems and result in viewer or listener complaints. This is commonly referred to as the "loud commercial problem" but can be caused as much by excessive dynamic range as mismatched loudness.
An additional complicating factor is the desire and sometimes the legal requirement for maintaining the integrity of the original audio as some viewers and even regulatory bodies may require that the program audio not be changed in any way. Because of this, processes applied to the audio should ideally be reversible.
Prior art has described two general types of systems capable of controlling audio dynamic range: AGC-type systems that detect and adjust the level of applied audio signals in a permanent and non-reversible manner, and systems that use side-chain data or metadata to allow the original audio to be carried to consumers and be modified using the metadata.

Hybrid permanent/reversible dynamic range control system


The present invention relates to use of inducible promoters in the production of glycolic acid by fermentation. The present invention concerns a method for the production of glycolic acid in a fermentative process comprising the following steps:                culturing a modified microorganism in an appropriate culture medium comprising a source of carbon,        modulating in said microorganism the expression of a target gene with an external stimulus, and        recovering glycolic acid from the culture medium,wherein in said modified microorganism, the expression of at least one gene involved in glycolic acid production is under the control of a heterologous inducible promoter whose activity is modulated with said external stimulus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to use of inducible promoters in the production of glycolic acid, by fermentation. The use of inducible promoters leads to a more stable glycolic acid producer strain.
2. Description of Related Art
Glycolic Acid (HOCH2COOH), or glycolate, is the simplest member of the alpha-hydroxy acid family of carboxylic acids. Glycolic acid has dual functionality with both alcohol and moderately strong acid functional groups on a very small molecule. Its properties make it ideal for a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial applications, including use in water well rehabilitation, the leather industry, the oil and gas industry, the laundry and textile industry, and as a component in personal care products.
Glycolic Acid can also be used to produce a variety of polymeric materials, including thermoplastic resins comprising polyglycolic acid. Resins comprising polyglycolic acid have excellent gas barrier properties, and such thermoplastic resins comprising polyglycolic acid may be used to make packaging materials having the same properties (e.g., beverage containers, etc.). The polyester polymers gradually hydrolyze in aqueous environments at controllable rates. This property makes them useful in biomedical applications such as dissolvable sutures and in applications where a controlled release of acid is needed to reduce pH. Currently more than 15,000 tons of glycolic acid are consumed annually in the United states.
Although Glycolic Acid occurs naturally as a trace component in sugarcane, beets, grapes and fruit, it is mainly produced synthetically. Technologies to produce Glycolic Acid are described in the literature or in patent applications. For instance, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. has described a method for producing the said hydroxycarboxylic acid from an aliphatic polyhydric alcohol having a hydroxyl group at the end by using a microorganism (EP 2 025 759 A1 and EP 2 025 760 A1). This method is a bioconversion as the one described by Michihiko Kataoka in its paper on the production of glycolic acid using ethylene glycol-oxidizing microorganisms (Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 2001).
Glycolic acid is also produced by bioconversion from glycolonitrile using mutant nitrilases with improved nitrilase activity as disclosed by Dupont de Nemours and Co in WO2006/069110 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,445,917. These documents teach a process using formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide as precursors for the synthesis of glycolonitrile, and using an enzyme catalyst having nitrilase activity for the synthesis of glycolic acid from glycolonitrile. The main disadvantage of this process is that glycolonitrile is a chemical substance which may polymerize violently under the influence of traces of acid, or base, with fire or explosion hazard. This substance decomposes on heating producing toxic fumes including hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides. Therefore it is listed as an extremely hazardous substance.
Methods for producing Glycolic Acid by fermentation from sugar, and in particular from renewable resources, using bacterial strains are disclosed in patent applications from Metabolic Explorer (WO 2007/141316 and WO 2010/108909).
The biological production of glycolic acid requires the formation of intermediates from the central metabolism of the bacterium (see FIG. 1.). Isocitrate situated at the junction of the Krebs cycle and the glyoxylate shunt is one of them (Tricarboxylic acid cycle and glyoxylate bypass, reviewed in Neidhardt, F. C. (Ed. in Chief), R. Curtiss III, J. L. Ingraham, E. C. C. Lin, K. B. Low, B. Magasanik. W. S. Reznikoff, M. Riley, M. Schaechter, and H. E. Umbarger (eds). 1996. Escherichia coli and Salmonella: Cellular and Molecular Biology. American Society for Microbiology). Isocitrate is either (1) cleaved into succinate and glyoxylate, a reaction catalyzed by isocitrate lyase, encoded, by the aceA gene or (2) converted into α-ketoglutarate by isocitrate dehydrogenase, encoded by the icd gene. Previous work described in patent application EP 2 027 277 has shown good productions of glycolic acid by strains having an attenuated expression of the icd gene. Reducing the flux in the TCA cycle to force it towards the glyoxylate shunt increased the yield of glycolic acid production significantly but at the same time, it weakened the strain.
The strains with an attenuated expression of the icd gene were not stable when grown for many generations, which is a strong disadvantage for industrial use. The authors found a solution to the problem by using inducible promoters.
Use of inducible promoters in biotechnological processes is in the art of industrial biotechnology. These promoters usually respond to chemical or physical stimuli exemplified by propionate (WO2007005837), zinc (WO2004020640), arabinose (WO1998011231), temperature ('Microbial conversion of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol by an engineered strain of Escherichia coli.' Tang X, Tan Y, Zhu H, Zhao K, Shen W. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2009 March; 75 (6): 1628-34.) and light.
Efficient glycolic acid production requires fine tuning of pathways. For maximum glycolic acid production and improved stability of producer strains, it can be beneficial to be able to modulate the expression of certain key enzymes during the process. For instance, the expression of the icd gene is absolutely required for biomass production but not for glycolic acid production and vice versa for aceA. Therefore, use of inducible promoters may be of interest in improving the overall yield of producing glycolic acid at an industrial level.
At this point use of inducible promoters to control expression of genes involved in glycolic acid production has never been considered nor reported.
The inventors have found that heterologous inducible promoters may be beneficial when used to regulate gene expression of genes involved in complex metabolic pathways such as glycolic acid biosynthesis.

Method for producing glycolic acid using an inducible promoter

Abstract: The invention also concerned the modified microorganism used in the method of glycolic acid production.


An apparatus comprising a data modification circuit and a composite circuit. The data modification circuit may be configured to generate a first and second video component in response to a video data stream. The composite circuit may be configured to present an output graphics stream by interleaving the first and the second video component.

The present invention relates to a method and/or architecture for integrating video and graphics processing in a single processor generally and, more particularly, to data modification used to allow changes in sampling structure for video to graphics data conversion.
Digital video and/or graphics systems sample and store video in one of a number of formats, each of which include a Y and a C component (the Y component refers to a luminance component of the video and the C component refers to a chrominance component (i.e., a U, V pair)). For convenience with video formats, the Y data is normally stored as a block in one region of memory and the C data (the U, V pairs) is stored as a separate block. For simplicity, the present application will refer to all video and graphics components/samples as 8-bit quantities.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional video format 4:2:0 is shown. The video format 4:2:0 has one C sample (i.e., one U, V sample pair) for every group of four Y samples. The effective sample point for the C component is in a center of a square of Y components. In the 4:2:0 format of FIG. 1, an amount of Y component storage required (i.e., 4) is twice that required for the C component (i.e., 2), since each C component comprises a U and a V value.
Referring to FIG. 2, a conventional video format 4:2:2 is shown. The video format 4:2:2 has one U,V sample pair for every pair of Y samples. In the 4:2:2 format of FIG. 2, the C sampling point is coincident with every other Y sample point along a raster line. In the 4:2:2 format, the amount of Y component storage required is identical to that required for the C component.
Referring to FIG. 3, a conventional video format 4:4:4 is shown. The video format 4:4:4 has an identical sample structure for the Y, U and V components. In the 4:4:4 format of FIG. 3, the amount of C component storage required is twice that required for the Y component. The 4:4:4 sampling structure is identical to that used for YUV format graphics data (i.e., 24-bit-per-pixel YUV, or 32-bpp xcex1YUV-8888).
Approaches for conversion between video formats change the number of chrominance samples C relative to the luminance samples Y. In particular, to convert video data to graphics data, the following operations are required, where all conversions use the video format 4:4:4 as a common conversion step (i.e., conversion from 4:2:0, 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 video format to 4:4:4 graphics data):
(i) scaling and filtering operations in both the horizontal and vertical directions are necessary for conversion from 4:2:0 to 4:4:4. Since none of the existing 4:2:0 chrominance C sampling points are aligned with the luminance Y points, it is necessary to interpolate a complete set of C values using either 0.75:0.25 or 0.25:0.75 coefficient pairs for the interpolation;
(ii) scaling and filtering operations in the horizontal direction only is necessary for conversion from 4:2:2 to 4:4:4. All xe2x80x9cevenxe2x80x9d samples along the register line (counting the first sample as sample 0) already have an accurate U,V co-sited sample which can remain unchanged. For xe2x80x9coddxe2x80x9d samples a new value must be calculated. The value can be calculated by interpolating horizontally between the neighboring two xe2x80x9cevenxe2x80x9d sample values for U and V; or
(iii) interleaving of data is required to combine the separate Y and C data blocks into 24-bpp YUV pixels for conversion from 4:4:4 to graphics YUV. Conversion from 4:4:4 to graphics RGB is similar to conversion to graphics YUV, and followed by a color conversion step to change from YUV to RGB.
It is therefore generally desirable to provide a method and/or architecture capable of video/graphics sampling structure conversion.
The present invention concerns an apparatus comprising a data modification circuit and a composite circuit. The data modification circuit may be configured to generate a first and second video component in response to a video data stream. The composite circuit may be configured to present an output graphics stream by interleaving the first and the second video component.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention include providing a method and/or architecture for implementing a video sampling structure conversion engine that may also permit interleaving of Y and C component video data into a single video data stream which may then be easily converted to a graphics data format.

Video sampling structure conversion in BMME


A real-time thermal imaging apparatus and method includes multiple digital infrared cameras mounted to an automated composite material layup device to record digital infrared images of the composite material surface on a real-time basis during a composite material layup process. The digital infrared cameras are triggered periodically to produce digital images of the composite material. The digital image data is sent to an image analyzer which detects edges of and anomalies in the composite material and generates alarm and other process control signals. The image analyzer also aggregates the digital images from the multiple cameras and the digital images recorded over a sequence in time to produce a continuous virtual digital image of the composite material surface. The digital image data and associated analysis results are saved and may be displayed on a real-time basis or at a later time.

Graphite fiber reinforced epoxy composites are playing an important role in the production of critical aerospace structures and primary structures of commercial aircraft. These graphite/epoxy composite material products are often fabricated from resin-impregnated cloth, mat or filaments in flat form known as prepreg. After the initial fabrication, or layup, process composite materials generally are inspected to identify flaws in the composite material, as well as to verify that the material edges are within tolerance.
For aerospace products made from composite materials it is important that flaws and out of tolerance conditions are prevented from entering the consolidation and cure stages. This is to reduce the cost of repair or complete rejection of the product. Manual inspection to perform this task during layup can be very labor intensive and problematic. Composite material flaws can include wrinkles, disbonds, inclusions, and porosity. Many out of specification conditions such as excessive gaps, splices, resin or fiber cannot be effectively detected after cure by non-destructive techniques and must be prevented or detected for correction during layup.
A method currently used to inspect composite materials involves visual imaging of the material surface. The images are processed to detect shadows and reflections on the surface in order to detect wrinkles, Foreign Object Debris (FOD), and material edges. However, machine clearance and the width of the material can make the desired lighting angle difficult or impossible to obtain. Furthermore, this method is not successful in detecting non-adhered material or inclusions, which produce minimal changes in the composite material surface.
Another method of inspection involves processing a visual image of a laser-produced line to detect variations in the height of the composite material surface in order to detect wrinkles and material edges. However, this method requires precise control of distance to and alignment with the material surface, making the method susceptible to vibrations during fabrication processes. This method also is not successful in detecting non-adhered material or thin inclusions, which produce extremely small height variations.
It would be useful to identify composite material edges on and below the surface and to evaluate material defects and foreign material inclusions with reference to the material edge locations using a process that is not highly sensitive to machine vibration or lighting angle. It would also be useful to perform the inspection and evaluation during the initial material laydown fabrication process in order to reduce rework and prevent product rejection, as well as to provide automatic control of fabrication devices. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus that perform real-time nondestructive inspection of a composite material during fabrication and provide automatic control of a fabrication device.

Real-time infrared thermography inspection and control for automated composite marterial layup


A system and method of decoding input video information is disclosed which includes performing error detection for each video block of a frame, determining whether a scene change occurs for the frame, and when an error is detected in a video block, performing spatial concealment by concealing error of the erroneous video block using neighboring video information within the frame when the erroneous video block is intraframe encoded or when a scene change is detected for the frame, or performing temporal concealment by replacing the erroneous video block with a reference video block from a reference frame when the erroneous video block is interframe encoded and when a scene change is not detected for the frame. The method may further include detecting false frames based on comparing current and new frame number and picture order count values of a new slice.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to video information processing, and more specifically to a system and method of video decoding with error detection and concealment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Video capability is becoming more prevalent for mobile devices. Such mobile devices, however, usually rely on wireless communications through a wireless channel, which is often an error prone channel. In an error prone channel, visual quality degradation occurs because of an error-corrupted bitstream. The corrupted bitstream may heavily degrade the visual quality of any one or more individual frames or pictures. In certain configurations the corrupted bitstream may cause extra false or fake frames which degrades visual quality and results in audio/visual (A/V) synchronization problems. As an example, errors at the bit level in a video slice may cause the video decoder to erroneously interpret the next slice of a current frame to be a first slice of a new frame. As a result, a frame containing multiple slices may be mistakenly decoded as multiple fake frames. Multiple fake frames may occur, for example, in video decoders operating according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) H.264 standard, otherwise known as the Advanced Video Coding (AVC) standard, which is Part 10 of MPEG-4 (Motion Picture Experts Group). In general, multiple fake frames may occur in any standard in which a video slice header incorporating a frame number (FN) and/or a picture order count (POC) is corrupted.
Certain video standards do not provide for error correction or concealment in the event of a corrupted bitstream. In some configurations, for example, corrupted video slices are simply discarded resulting in significant visual degradation. Instead of dropping the video slice, attempts have been made to correct or conceal the damaged slice. Scene change detection may be considered for correction or concealment attempts. Most scene change detection algorithms, however, suffer from high computational complexity, which is particularly problematic for mobile devices with limited computational capacity. Conventional error concealment often results in serious visual deterioration, especially when during a scene change. In the case of a scene change, some intraframe encoded video blocks have been decoded as interframe or skip video blocks due to bit-errors within the video block. If these fake non-intraframe encoded video blocks are concealed with temporal information, a seriously degraded cut-and-paste picture is often produced, and subsequent pictures are further deteriorated due to motion compensation using the wrong information, such as a previous frame that was part of a different scene.

Video decoding with error detection and concealment


A rotary type channel switching valve for use in a heat pump system is provided. The channel switching valve provides a plurality of channel switching means required when switching connection of a plurality of devices to parallel/series connection, e.g., in a system including the plurality of devices including inlet/outlet ports for a fluid. The channel-switching valve can play a role of a plurality of channel switching means which are required when connecting a plurality of heat exchangers in parallel when a refrigerant is passed in a normal direction, and when connecting a plurality of heat exchangers in series when the refrigerant is passed in a reverse direction, for example, in a heat pump including the plurality of heat exchangers, and thereby, can realize simplification of a configuration of the heat pump, reduction in an occupied space, cost and energy consumption, or the like.

A heat pump (air-conditioner) generally includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an indoor heat exchanger, a gas-liquid separator, an expansion valve, a four-way switch valve and the like. For example, JP Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. 62-14280 proposes that in a heat pump including a plurality of heat exchangers, the plurality of heat exchangers are connected in series when the refrigerant is passed in one direction (normal direction), whereas when the refrigerant is passed in the other direction (reverse direction), the plurality of heat exchangers are connected in parallel, for the purpose of enhancing thermal efficiency and the like.
The above described four-way switch valve sets the refrigerant passing direction of the refrigerant cycle to be from the compressor to the outdoor heat exchanger, the expansion valve (pressure-reducing capillary tube), the indoor heat exchanger, and finally to the compressor in this order at the time of cooling, and sets the refrigerant passing direction to be from the compressor to the indoor heat exchanger, the expansion valve, the outdoor heat exchanger, and finally to the compressor in this order at the time of heating.

Channel switching valve and heat pump system using the same


A test-ahead feature for non-volatile memory-based mass storage devices to anticipate device failure. The test-ahead feature includes a method performed with a solid-state mass storage device having a controller, a cache memory, and at least one non-volatile memory device. At least a first block is reserved on the at least one non-volatile memory device as a wear-indicator block and a plurality of second blocks are used for data storage. Information is stored corresponding to the number of write and erase cycles encountered by the second blocks during usage of the mass storage device, and the information is accessed to perform wear leveling among the second blocks. The wear-indicator blocks are subjected to an offset number of write and erase cycles in excess of the number of write and erase cycles encountered by the second blocks, after which an integrity check of the first block is performed.

The present invention generally relates to memory devices for use with computers and other processing apparatuses. More particularly, this invention relates to a non-volatile or permanent memory-based mass storage device using flash memory devices or any similar non-volatile memory devices for permanent storage of data.
Mass storage devices such as advanced technology (ATA) or small computer system interface (SCSI) drives are rapidly adopting non-volatile solid-state memory technology such as flash memory or other emerging solid-state memory technology, including phase change memory (PCM), resistive random access memory (RRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), ferromagnetic random access memory (FRAM), organic memories, or nanotechnology-based storage media such as carbon nanofiber/nanotube-based substrates. Currently the most common technology uses NAND flash memory as inexpensive storage memory.
Despite all its advantages with respect to speed and price, flash memory-based mass storage devices have the drawback of limited endurance and data retention caused by the physical properties of the floating gate within each memory cell, the charge of which defines the bit contents of each cell. Typical endurance for multilevel cell NAND flash is currently on the order of 10,000 write cycles at 50 nm process technology and approximately 3000 write cycles at 4×nm process technology, and endurance is decreasing with every process node. Given the constant changes in process technology, process geometry and, further, inherent design differences from one manufacturer to another, it is very difficult to predict failures even under constant environmental conditions as they exist in the lab. In the field, temperature fluctuations add another layer of variables to the difficulties of predicting data loss.
Write endurance problems are typically detected during writing data to a block, that is, if the programming of the block fails, the controller can issue a re-write to a different location on the array and flag the block as non-functional. Some additional complications come into play in this case as, for example, the "erratic behavior of write endurance fails," meaning that often a block fails after a given number of writes, for example after 5,000 cycles, but then recovers full functionality for another 5,000 cycles without additional failures.
From a data management standpoint, more problematic is the question of data retention. Even though flash memory is considered non-volatile, the memory cells do not have unlimited data retention since the data are stored in the form of a charge on the floating gate. Over time, these charges will dissipate regardless of how good the insulation through the tunnel oxide layer is. The leakage current responsible for the loss of data depends on several factors, primarily temperature and time. In this context the general term temperature encompasses absolute temperature, temperature changes both with respect to values and time, as well as peak and mean temperature parameters. Each design and process technology will react somewhat differently to exposure to these parameters, which increases the difficulty of assessing current leakage and, by extension, estimating the progression in loss of data. Additional contributing factors include near-field effects such as write disturbance to adjacent cells or read access to the same or different cells, generally referred to as read disturbances.
In view of the above, it should be apparent that there are no simple methods for modeling the behavior of any given cell within an array of NAND flash memory based on assumed environmental and usage patterns. On the system level, more complex algorithms might be able to approximate reliable failure prediction. However, because of the mismatch between data written from the host to the device and data written from the device controller to the non-volatile memory array, commonly referred to as write amplification, only the drive itself has reliable information about the number of program and erase cycles that are not accessible by the system. Because of these issues, sudden failures in the form of data loss can occur. In the easiest case, these failures are simple or multiple bit errors that are correctable through ECC algorithms such as Reed-Solomon (RS) or Bose-Ray-Chaudhuri-Hochquenghem (BCH) error correction. However, a more severe problem is the "sudden death" of a drive that can occur if critical data are lost, for example, in the file system or if the bit error rate exceeds the number of correctable errors. In either case, these failures are not correctable through ECC algorithms.

NAND flash-based storage device with built-in test-ahead for failure anticipation


A device to alleviate lower back pain, aligning the spine in the lumbar region, stretching the spine and reducing inward curvature of the spine which is an integral, elongate, symmetrical ovoid-section rigid sheet on which the user lies in a supine position, device opening upward to receive the individual, spanning the back of the user from the buttocks to the shoulder blade area. The device, upon the user lying supine on the device, forms an air pocket formed between the user's lower spine and the surface of the device. Raising his/her knees to the chest and then lowering the feet, puts the user in a therapeutic position, the lower spine being forced down against the surface of the back due to the vacuum formed. This action applies a stretching pressure and pulls the spine down, allowing the vertebrae in the spine to align, due to the shape of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spinal adjustment devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to spinal adjustment and alignment devices against which the user lies in the supine position.
2. Description of the Related Art
The lumbar region of the back of a human often assumes positions through growth or accident which result in back pain. The spinal column may become overly curved, as well as misaligned, and slipped discs are a result of such conditions. Such a condition may be exaggerated by additional injury. Also, in females, the condition of pregnancy results in increased curvature of the spine in this region, resulting in lower back pain.
Many devices have been designed for reducing curvature or misalignment of the back, including back braces worn around the users trunk. Such braces exert pressure on the internal organs since they depend on pressure on the wearer's chest and abdomen to exert support and straightening pressure on the spinal column.
Other devices require the user to lie down on the device in a supine position, the device having an upper surface formed to cure misalignment of the spine. Such devices tend to laterally align the spine, but their effectiveness in stretching the back, i.e., reducing the inner curvature of the back is either not addressed, or is limited by the weight of the individual.
It would be desirable to provide a device that both laterally realigns the vertebrae in the spine in the lumbar region and also provides stretching or traction force to the spine, reducing the curvature of the spine in this region and thus reducing back pain thereby. It would further be desirable if such a device is capable of applying stretching and alignment pressure to the spine without the necessity of straps or the like pressing the chest and internal organs to provide desired stretching and alignment pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,099, issued Oct. 28, 1980, to Richardson, describes a device for aligning the spine. The device is positioned beneath the back of a person lying supine on a support surface to align that person's spine. The device has two ridge members that form a convex curve that corresponds to the natural lumbar curve of a human spine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,414, issued Apr. 16, 1991, to Sexton, describes a spine stretcher and aligner. This device is a spine stretcher that has two members mounted on its upper side that are composed of a compressible material that permits movement of the material toward the center of the device with the weight of the user pressed downwardly along the back on the members. This device is designed to stretch the back by increasing curvature of the spine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,956, issued Jul. 6, 1993, to Dumas et al., describes a static spinal alignment device which allows the user's body weight to exert a downward force on the lumbar vertebrae to reduce lumbar lordosis while it straightens the alignment of the spine. The device of Dumas is provided in three separate parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,916, issued Jul. 7, 1998, to Kurhi, J. describes an ergonomic support member assembly contoured to a corrected spinal curvature of an individual. The device relies on body weight to realign the spine of an individual using force developed by the user's body weight.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a device to alleviate lower back pain solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Device and method to alleviate lower back pain


The self-cleaning and sterilizing medical tube may include a combination of an endotracheal tube or a tracheostomy tube and a suction catheter that decreases the tendency of mucus and bacteria to adhere to the inner surfaces of the thereof. The medical tube may have a hydrophobic surface exhibiting the lotus effect, which may be formed either by femtosecond laser etching or by a coating of poly (ethylene oxide). Alternatively, the medical tube may be formed with a photocatalyst incorporated therein or have a lumen coated with a photocatalyst. The medical tube may also have a light source and a fiberoptic bundle mounted thereon, the optical fibers extending into the lumen to illuminate the photocatalyst.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical tubes, and particularly to any type of self-cleaning and sterilizing medical tube.
2. Description of the Related Art
In human beings, mucociliary action regulates the flow of mucus across the layers of epithelial cells within air passages. For example, when a person experiences breathing difficulty or occlusion, an endotracheal tube is often inserted within the person's air passage. The endotracheal tube, however, interferes with the cilia of the epithelial cells, thus disrupting the mucociliary action. This often causes the accumulation of mucus about or within the endotracheal tube. This accumulation of mucus not only occludes the endotracheal tube passage, but can result in the accumulation and adhesion of bacteria and other microbes to the endotracheal tube, with resulting pulmonary infections.
Suction catheters are typically provided, either separately or in combination with the endotracheal tube, for removal of the accumulated mucus. Although the function of the suction catheter is to remove the mucus, excess mucus may adhere to the surface of the suction catheter, which results in impaired functioning thereof and may result in unwanted mucus remaining on the endotracheal tube. This may result in contamination of both the suction catheter and the endotracheal tube and in the inefficient operation of one or both. Furthermore, while a suction catheter is effective in removing watery mucous, the suction catheter is ineffective at removing mucous that has collected and dried on the wall of the endotracheal tubing, or on the catheter itself. Similar problems exist in other types of medical tubes, such as intravenous catheters, peritoneal tubing for dialysis, drainage, and irrigation.
Thus, self-cleaning and sterilizing medical tubes solving the aforementioned problems are desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Self-cleaning and sterilizing medical tube


A semiconductor memory device comprises first and second dummy memory cells. The first dummy memory cell is connected between a normal row line and a dummy column line. The second dummy memory cell is connected to a dummy row line and the dummy column line. The dummy row line is applied with an output voltage of a bias circuit which applies a constant voltage. The second dummy memory cell is used as a reference memory cell and generates a reference potential which is kept unchanged.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, to the stabilization of a reference potential for use in detecting a data read out from a memory cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional EPROM (erasable and programmable read only memory) is shown in FIG. 1. MC11, MC12 ..., MC1n, ..., MCmn designate memory cells comprised of floating gate MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors). DC1, DC2, ..., DCm designate dummy memory cells comprised of floating gate MOSFETs. WL1, WL2, ... WLm are row lines. BL1, BL2, ..., BLn are normal column lines. DBL designates a dummy column line.
Reference numerals 11 and 12 denote a row decoder and a column decoder, respectively. BT1, BT2, ..., BTn denote column gate MOSFETs for selecting one of column lines BL1, BL2, ..., BLn, respectively. DBT designates a MOSFET corresponding to the column gate MOSFET for dummy column line DBL. MOSFET DBT is substantially identical to column gate MOSFET BT (a general designation of BT1, BT2, ..., BTn). The gate of MOSFET DBT is supplied with a power source voltage so that MOSFET DBT is normally turned conductive. First load circuit 13 comprises MOSFETs QM1 to QM12 and generates a potential Vin. Second load circuit 14 comprises MOSFETS QD1 to QD12 and generates a reference potential Vref. Data detecting circuit 15 comprises a sense amplifier.
In the EPROM as shown in FIG. 1, data detecting circuit 15 compares reference potential Vref with potential Vin. Reference potential Vref is generated by second load circuit 14, based on the data read out from a selected dummy memory cell DC (a general designation of DC1, DC2, ..., DCm). Potential Vin is generated by first load circuit 13, based on the data read out from a selected normal memory cell MC (a general designation of MC11, MC12, ..., MC1n, ..., MCmn). Through the comparison, the data stored in the selected, normal memory cell MC is detected.
The MOSFET of a dummy memory cell DC is substantially identical to the MOSFET of a normal memory cell MC. Dummy column line DBL is substantially identical to a normal column line BL (a general designation of BL1, BL2, ..., BLn).
The current supply ability of the load MOSFET QD5 in second load circuit 14 is larger than that of load MOSFET QM5 in first load circuit 13 to provide a potential difference between the potentials Vref and Vin, so that data can be detected. If the current supply abilities of the first and second load circuits are the same, data can not be detected. Specifically, in the memory cells of such an EPROM, electrons are injected into the floating gate of a memory cell to write data "0" thereinto. On the other hand, electrons are not injected in the floating gate of a memory cell to write data "1" thereinto. A memory cell in which electrons are injected is kept off, even when a logic "1" signal is applied to the control gate. On the other hand, a memory cell in which electrons are not injected is turned on, when a logic "1" signal is applied to the control gate. No electrons are injected into the dummy memory cell. Therefore, the logic state of the dummy memory cell is substantially the same as that of a normal memory cell in which electrons are not injected. If the current supply ability of the MOSFET QD5 is equal to that of the MOSFET QM5, no difference occurs between potentials Vref and Vin. In this case, data can not be detected. In order to detect data, it is necessary to provide a difference between potentials Vref and Vin. This is the reason why the current supply ability of the MOSFET QD5 is larger than that of the MOSFET QM5. The current supply ability difference causes a potential difference between potential Vref and Vin, even when a normal memory cell in which electrons are not injected is selected.
The current supply ability difference can be obtained by using the different channel widths of the load MOSFETs in first and second load circuits 13 and 14. Assume, for example, the channel width of MOSFET QM5 is denoted by W5, its channel length by L, the channel width of MOSFET QD5 by W6, and its channel length by L. In this case W6>W5. so that a current supply ability difference can be obtained between the load MOSFETs QD5 and QM5.
When the MOSFET QM1, QM2, QM3, and QM4 in first load circuit 13 are sized to be W1/L, W2/L, W3/L and W4/L, respectively, then the MOSFET QD1, QD2, QD3, and QD4 in second load circuit 14 are also designed to have the size of W1/L, W2/L, W3/L and W4/L, respectively. Further, W1>W2 and W3>W4. And, MOSFETs QM8, QM9, QD8, and QD9 have the same size.
In the above memory device arrangement, to generate reference potential Vref, dummy memory cell DC is connected to row line WL (a general designation of WL1, WL2, ... WLn), dummy column line DBL is connected to dummy memory cell DC, and dummy column line DBL is connected to second load circuit 14. This circuit arrangement can provide reference potential Vref stable against the power source noise. The reason for this is that dummy column line DBL is substantially identical to normal column line BL and, thus, the stray capacitances of the dummy column line and the normal column line are substantially equal to each other. Because of the capacitances being equal, the potential variation on column line BL and dummy column line DBL are substantially equal, even when the power source potential varies. Consequently, data detecting circuit 15 can perform a correct data detection.
In such EPROM, since, however, dummy cells DC are connected to row lines WL, reference potential Vref varies during the transient period of a switching of the row lines.
FIG. 2 shows waveforms of signals at varies portions in the conventional memory device shown in FIG. 1. When a logic state of row line WL2 changes from "1" to "0", and, at the same time, a logic state of row line WL1 changes from "0" to "1", potential Vin becomes a logic "1", and data detecting circuit 15 outputs a logic "1". During the transient period of this row line switching, no row lines are selected. In this transient period, the row line WL2 to be discharged to a logic "0" and the row line WL1 to be charged to a logic "1" are both at medium potential between a logic "1" and a logic "0". In the nonvolatile semiconductor memory cells of floating gate MOSFETs, the threshold voltage of the memory cell is generally high, e.g., 2 V. So, the sum of the currents flowing through dummy memory cell DC2 and dummy memory cell DC1 when the row lines WL1 and WL2 are at the medium potential is smaller than that of the current flowing through one dummy memory cell when the row line is perfectly in a logic "1". As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, reference potential Vref rises when in the transient period of the row line switching.
When the potential difference between potentials Vref and Vin is larger, the data detection is easier, and the data detection time of data detecting circuit 15 is shortened. When, on the other hand, the potential difference is smaller, the data detection is more sensitive to noise so that data detecting circuit 15 may perform an erroneous operation.
In the conventional memory device of the type using a dummy column line, during the transient period of the row lines (during the logic level of potential Vin changes), potential Vref varies and approaches to potential Vin, so that the difference between these potential Vref and Vin becomes smaller. If, therefore, noise occurs during this transient period, data detecting circuit 15 will possibly perform an erroneous data detection.

Semiconductor memory having a stabalized reference potential for use in detecting a data read out from a memory cell


A semiconductor wafer cooling pedestal has a wafer cooling surface which includes both an electrostatic chuck portion to hold the wafer securely to the pedestal during wafer cooling and a thermal transfer portion to cool the wafer. The entire wafer cooling surface of the pedestal is mirror finished to provide intimate contact between the pedestal cooling surface and the wafer, thereby providing efficient thermal transfer from the wafer to the pedestal without the need for placing a thermal transfer medium, such as Argon or other inert gas, between the wafer and the pedestal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the manufacture of integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to the cooling of semiconductor wafers during the manufacture of integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Intense heat is often used during the various process steps that are necessary to fabricate integrated circuits on silicon wafers. It is then necessary to cool the wafers because the wafer temperature is usually in the range of 500.degree. C. to 800.degree. C. after such processing steps, making transport difficult (e.g. in a standard plastic wafer carrier), and limiting the ability to perform subsequent processing steps that may require lower wafer temperatures.
When the temperature of the wafer is in the 500.degree. C. to 800.degree. C. range, the wafer cools rapidly by radiation, i.e. by thermal transfer to the ambient. However, when the wafer has cooled such that the wafer temperature is in the 300.degree. C. range, the rate at which the wafer cools by radiation slows considerably. The wafer cooling rate slows because the rate of cooling by radiation is proportional to the wafer temperature raised to the fourth power. That is, the amount of decrease in the rate at which the wafer cools by radiation becomes greater as the wafer temperature decreases.
It is necessary to cool a processed wafer from the 300.degree. C. range to the 100.degree. C. range to allow the wafer to be loaded into a standard plastic wafer handling cassette for additional processing, testing, and/or assembly. Typically, such cooling proceeds in a cooling chamber under vacuum. Current industry practice involves the following steps to accomplish such wafer cooling:
1. The processed wafer is transferred to a water cooled pedestal in a cool down chamber under vacuum to minimize exposure of the wafer to the ambient, which would otherwise contaminate the wafer.
2. The chamber pressure is increased to several bar (Torr) by introducing an inert gas, such as argon, between the processed wafer and the water cooled pedestal. The inert gas provides a thermal transfer medium that conducts heat from the wafer to the water cooled pedestal. In most applications, the inert gas is applied to a backside of the wafer to minimize the amount of pressure within the chamber. In such arrangement, the wafer is retained in position relative to the pedestal by a mechanical clamp. PA1 1. Introducing an inert gas into the cooling chamber also introduces gas-borne particles into the chamber, which may contaminate the wafer and thus reduce the number of devices yielded by the wafer. PA1 2. Increasing chamber pressure picks up and circulates any sediment that may have collected at the bottom and sides of the chamber, thus increasing the likelihood of wafer contamination. PA1 3. The time required to increase chamber pressure to introduce an inert gas to assist in cooling the wafer and then pump down the chamber to remove such gas after the wafer has been cooled increases the amount of time necessary to cool the wafer and thus degrades processing throughput time. PA1 4. The wafer clamps used to hold the wafer in place during cooling must be precision manufactured and they thus add significant manufacturing cost to that of the cooling chamber. PA1 5. Electrostatic chucks, if used instead of wafer clamps, must include an electrically insulating layer on the entire wafer cooling surface of a pedestal between the chuck and the wafer. The insulating layer is made of ceramic materials, such as thermally conductive silicon, which are nonetheless poor thermal conductors. Thus, electrostatic chucks, while capable of holding a wafer to a water cooled pedestal, thereby obviating the need for a mechanical wafer clamp (but not eliminating the need for a thermal transfer medium, such as an inert gas), tend to inhibit heat transfer from the wafer to the water cooled pedestal and thus significantly slow the wafer cooling process. Additionally, if an electrostatic chuck is used without a thermal transfer medium, the electrostatic chuck must be very thin to achieve better thermal conductivity between the wafer and the water cooled pedetal. However, the thin ceramic insulating layer of the electrostatic chuck is easily destroyed by the high voltages used to charge the chuck and hold the wafer thereto. Thus, state of the art electrostatic chucks require frequent servicing, which adds to the down time of the cooling chamber and slows wafer processing throughput time.
3. Cooling proceeds until the wafer is cooled to about 100.degree. C. The chamber is then pumped down to avoid increasing the base pressure of the wafer processing system and the wafer is transferred from the cooling chamber.
It is also known to use an electrostatic chuck to hold the wafer to the water cooled pedestal during wafer cooling instead of a mechanical wafer clamp. An electrostatic chuck is formed integral with the surface of the water cooled pedestal. When an electrostatic chuck is in operation, a static charge is maintained on the surface of the water cooled pedestal which attracts and holds the wafer to the surface of the pedestal during wafer cooling. U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,188, Substrate Clamping Technique In IC Fabrication Processes, issued to Briglia on Jan. 15, 1980 shows an electrostatic chuck of the type known in the art.
The following disadvantages are known in connection with the above approaches to wafer cooling:
It would be useful to be able to rapidly cool a processed wafer in a vacuum chamber without contaminating the wafer.

Method and apparatus for cooling semiconductor wafers


A faring system includes a production facility including at least one fare shopping server, a staging facility including at least one fare shopping server, and an entry point for conducting bi-directional communications with customers. The staging facility further includes a database storing transformation rules and a traffic generation subsystem configured to receive a transaction via the entry point from a customer, to determine if the received request is one suitable for use in generating simulation data for the fare shopping server of the staging system and, if so, to modify the received transaction in accordance with at least one rule retrieved from the database to create at least one modified transaction, and to send the at least one modified transaction to the fare shopping server of the staging facility for processing. The fare shopping server of the staging facility processes the modified transaction for evaluating a potential new or modified functionality of the faring system.

Several terms used below are defined as follows.
Transactional Faring System
A system which is able to compute and return fare quotes based on criteria requested by customers such as cheapest fares which apply for a destination, and best fares around a given date. Customers communicate with the transactional faring system, also referred to herein as a faring system, by means of transactions, i.e., a question (request for fare quote) followed by an answer (computed fare quote).
Fare Shopping Servers
Fare shopping servers are transactional servers which implement the products provided by the faring system. These servers are in charge of computing responses to queries made by the customer. There are two kinds of fare shopping servers: those dedicated to production, those dedicated to staging.
Production
The production is an operational facility (a computer system) where computations take place in order to return answers to the queries made by customers.
Staging
Staging is a relatively small and dedicated part of the faring system where a new product can be "validated" before being publicly made available to customers.
Operational Validation
When a new product has been validated as "functionally" valid, it goes though a series of tests under real life conditions to ensure it is also "operationally" valid (i.e., the impact of the product on the entire faring system is assessed). This is referred to as operational validation.
Shadow Traffic
A part of the traffic (i.e., requests from customers) is duplicated by the faring system to serve as a source of traffic for staging. The responses to this duplicated traffic (referred to as the shadow traffic) are not returned to customers.
The exemplary embodiments of this invention pertain most particularly to a transactional faring system whose purpose is to compute and return the best fare quotes based on criteria requested by customers: e.g., cheapest flights for a given destination and date, best flight fares around a given date, etc. These services are treated via fare shopping servers and accessed at a high rate (e.g., 90 million transactions per day).
Forecast changes in the faring system (e.g., new products, new volumes, new customers) are preceded by operational validations to ensure that the system can cope with the expected additional resource consumption (e.g., CPU, memory, database, network and other resources).
Operational validations are implemented by means of shadow traffic. That is to say, a part of the incoming customer traffic is duplicated from the production facility, without customer awareness. This duplicated, shadow traffic is then forwarded to a phantom operational facility referred to as the staging facility intended to test evolutions in the faring system. The effect of this shadow traffic run on the staging facility is then monitored and analyzed, while the original traffic is processed in a normal fashion by the production facility and returned to customers in a normal manner.
When introducing such production evolutions (e.g., new markets, new dimension, new products) cases can arise where the existing traffic is not suitable for operational validations. In such cases, it is necessary to simulate traffic in order to generate the inputs necessary for performing the validations.
It can be noted that several techniques might be envisioned to obtain relevant traffic for operational validations.
For example, one such possible technique would be to activate the evolution to one client at a time. In this possible approach the evolution (e.g., new product, new market) would be provided by the faring system and enabled only for a few clients in a first phase. It can be expected that the total resources consumed for processing the new service will have a limited impact on the overall production facility, and this cost can be analyzed precisely for creating accurate capacity planning.
However, this approach involves requesting clients to begin sending new traffic, which may be difficult. There is a risk that the traffic generated even by a few clients consumes more resources than expected and which can consequently endanger the operational stability of the faring system. Another drawback is that this scheme is not applicable in a case where it is a prerequisite to simultaneously open the new service to all clients.
Another possible technique would be to generate traffic from pre-recorded existing traffic. That is, one might record existing customer traffic for a given period of time and then transform this recorded traffic off-line (e.g., from disk) to make it appear as traffic that will target the new product. The transformed traffic can then be replayed manually while monitoring the resources consumed by the processing of the new service on the pre-recorded and transformed traffic.
However, replaying pre-generated traffic does not offer sufficient diversity, especially when the validation needs to be run over a long period of time. Moreover, is very difficult to mimic a pace of the replay which looks like actual traffic. At least these two shortcomings result in incomplete benchmarking and thus result in inaccurate capacity planning.
Another possible technique would be to convert the contents of incoming requests before they are processed. For example, a converter unit can be put in front of the real servers to modify the contents of incoming requests, for example, for enabling new features (i.e. new options) of a product provided by the faring system. No off-line storage need be involved in this process.
However, this approach is not practical in practice as its operation impacts customers of the production facility. For example, those clients whose traffic is modified can be given responses for different requests that what they have asked for, resulting in customer confusion and the possibility of alienating these customers.
Another approach would be to copying all the incoming requests from customers and use them on an adjacent server. This way, only realistic traffic is used without bothering the customers.
However, this method generates an important amount of data especially since customer traffic varies depending on the day and date, special offers, holidays and so on. So the server can actually be overloaded with much more traffic than it can handle, including a lot of useless information.

Automatic traffic generation for a faring system


Methods and systems are provided for encoding and decoding a video stream. Each picture in a video stream can be divided into slices, each of which contains a contiguous row of macroblocks. All the blocks corresponding to a single video component within each slice can then be used as the basis for encoding the picture. By decomposing each picture into slices, the video stream can be efficiently converted for displays of varying size and/or quality. The encoded bitstream can include a slice table to allow direct access to each slice without reading the entire bitstream. Each slice can also be processed independently, allowing for parallelized encoding and/or decoding.

Various encoding schemes are known for compressing video. Many such schemes are block transform based (e.g., DCT-based), and operate by organizing each frame of the video into two-dimensional blocks. DCT coefficients for each block are then placed in a one-dimensional array in a defined pattern, typically in a zig-zag order through the block. That is, each block is processed independently of each other block, and the DCT coefficients are grouped block-by-block. The coefficients are then encoded using standard run-length/differential encoding according to a predetermined scan direction; each encoded block is terminated by an end-of-block codeword. When decoding the video stream, the decoder searches for these codewords to identify when a new block is being decoded.
FIG. 1 illustrates composition of a picture 100 according to a conventional coding scheme. There, the picture 100 is organized into a plurality of slices 110 and macroblocks MB. Macroblocks conventionally correspond to 16×16 arrays of pixels. Slices may represent a collection of macroblocks arranged in a common macroblock row. The number of macroblocks per slice may vary.
Typically, macroblocks are composed of several smaller two-dimensional blocks 121-124. Blocks are generated corresponding to luminance and chrominance video components within the pixel data. Several variations are known. In a 4:2:2 video stream, each macroblock contains four luma (Y) blocks, two first chroma (Cb) blocks, and two second chroma (Cr) blocks. Similarly, in a 4:4:4 video stream, illustrated in FIG. 1, each macroblock contains four Y blocks 121-124, four Cb blocks, and four Cr blocks. The component samples (typically 64) are numbered left-to-right across the picture. The exemplary block 130 shown in FIG. 1 includes transform coefficient positions numbered 0-63.
The numbering shown of the positions in block 130 is for identification, and generally will not correspond to the order in which DCT coefficients are scanned during an encoding process. A scan direction 140, also shown in FIG. 1, traverses each block 130 and codes quantized DCT coefficients as a plurality of non-zero levels and runs of zeros. In practice, the quantization process divides DCT coefficients by a quantization step size, reducing each level to be coded. Many DCT coefficients are quantized to zero, which generally contributes to long runs of zeros during the scan process and contributes to coding efficiency.
The resulting bitstream would then contain all the encoded coefficients from the first block in order, followed by all the coefficients from the second block in order, etc. That is, a typical encoding scheme groups encoded data by block. A decoder therefore must process each block sequentially as it is received before continuing to the next block.
Currently-known encoding/decoding schemes may not be suitable for every application. For example, when an encoded video stream is to be decoded for a display smaller than the original size of the video, the decoder may have to decode each portion of each frame even though some data will be discarded to re-size the video for the smaller display. Furthermore, the encoding and decoding processes are not easily parallelized. For instance, since the start of each encoded portion of the bitstream must be marked to allow a decoder to identify the beginning of each portion, the bitstream must be scanned for markers to be decoded in parallel.
Thus there is a need in the art for a coding/decoding scheme that allows for video data to be efficiently resized for displays of different size than the original image. There is also a need for a coding/decoding scheme that can be parallelized to allow for more efficient processing of image data.

Method and system for video encoding and decoding


An image processing method, implemented in a calculator, includes applying a process by group of pixels to an original image. For each group of pixels, calculating a cumulative sum of value or position differences of the pixels of the group of pixels, and for each group of pixels, allocating in a final image signal a pixel position of the group of pixels to each pixel value of the group of pixels so as to minimize the cumulative sum of differences calculated for the group of pixels according to the differences calculated. For each group of pixels, determining a filtering intensity according to the cumulative sum of differences calculated for the group of pixels, and applying to the group of pixels a filtering having the filtering intensity.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to digital image processing algorithms, and more particularly, to image compression algorithms.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, an image to be displayed on a screen, for example a TV screen, is represented by digital data organized in a matrix structure representing a grid of pixels, each pixel being defined by a luminance component or several color components, for example luminance Y and chrominance Cr and Cb components. Each component is defined by a level or an amplitude for the pixel considered. Such a pixel structure, commonly referred to as "bitmap", thus corresponds pixel by pixel to the image (then referred to as raster image or raster) which must be displayed on a screen. Generally, the pixel structure is stored in the same format as the one used for storage in the video memory of the screen. The raster thus stored in the video memory is read pixel by pixel on a line and line by line. This is referred to as a "raster scan".
Currently, rasters used for so-called "HDTV" have a so-called "2k1k" size, i.e., 1,920 pixels per line on 1,080 lines. The frequency of raster display is generally 60 rasters per second. To send such an image signal, supplied by a TV decoder, on a hard-wire connection linking the decoder to the TV, it is necessary to perform a compression of the image signal sent by the decoder. Indeed, transmitting such an image signal without compression requires extremely high transfer speeds that are generally expensive and create electromagnetic interferences.
This is why the image signal supplied by the decoder is compressed. Currently, a conventional compression of such a signal can be carried out by applying a two-dimensional low-pass filter to the chrominance components of the image signal. However, even though the quality of the image ultimately displayed on the screen remains acceptable, high frequency information of the image signal may be lost. Furthermore, when such a compression is applied to an image raster having a so-called "4k2k" size, i.e., 3,840 pixels per line on 2,160 lines, the video part of the image remains acceptable, with the above-mentioned disadvantages, but the graphics and colored texts are degraded (blurred colors and decrease in contrasts). Applying such a compression on an even greater raster size, for example "8k4k", becomes even more problematic.

Method for selecting a pixel positioning solution to obtain an optimal visual rendition of an image


Provided is a substrate processing apparatus including a substrate container transfer device configured to transfer a substrate container accommodating a substrate and purge an inside of the substrate container; a purge gas supply unit installed at the substrate container transfer device and configured to supply a purge gas into the substrate container; a substrate container standby unit configured to accommodate the substrate container; a contact preventing unit installed at the substrate container standby unit and configured to prevent a contact between the purge gas supply unit and the substrate container standby unit when the substrate container is transferred to the substrate container standby unit by the substrate container transfer device; and a control unit configured to control the substrate container transfer device and the purge gas supply unit.

A processing apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device such as a large-scale integrated (LSI) circuit employs a method of reducing an oxygen concentration in the processing apparatus or an oxygen concentration in a pod transferred to the processing apparatus so as to suppress a natural oxide film from being formed on a substrate to be processed (See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-61156).
However, the processing apparatus is not capable of improving a manufacturing quality or throughput of a semiconductor device while suppressing formation of a natural oxide film as required in latest micro-fabrication technologies.

Substrate processing apparatus, method of manufacturing semiconductor device and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium


A rotary cone rock bit featuring a reproducible geometry and a one piece body is disclosed. Individual journal members, supporting rotary cutting cones, have upwardly extending structural shanks which are radially oriented and installed into downwardly directed individual hubs formed by the structural body of the rock bit. The shanks are subsequently secured as installed within the hubs. The primary controls over bit geometry comprise the radial orientation of the individual journal member, and the radial location of the individual hubs relative to the vertical bit body centerline.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the structure of rotary cone rock bits. More specifically, this invention relates to the manner in which rock cutting cones are rotatively supported, located, and oriented with respect to a pre-determined and controlled rock-cutting geometry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
This discussion is limited to rock bits having a plurality of rotating toothed cutters which are generally conical in form. The conical rock cutters are rotatively borne upon downwardly and inwardly directed cantilevered journal shafts which depend from a structural body. The upper portion of the body is threaded for attachment to the lower end of a drill line made of pipe. The bit body also serves the function of a terminal pipe fitting to control and route a fluid flow from the drill line pipe to exit through the plurality of fluid nozzles housed therein.
In use, the drill line pipe is rotated while forcing the rock bit into the earth. The rock cutter cones, with their vertices directed toward the vertical centerline of the drill bit, roll about the vertical centerline of the drill bit as the rock cutting teeth are forced into the geologic formation to crush and fracture rock. Fluid pumped down the drill line and through the nozzles serves both to dissipate the heat of drilling, and to flush rock cuttings from the drilling zone and upward to the earths surface through the annular space between the bore hole wall and the drill line pipe.
To permit assembly of the rock cutter cones upon their respective journal shafts, the structural body of the rock bit is conventionally made in separate longitudinal segments, called "Legs", each leg incorporating one journal shaft. The segments are welded into an integral unit after being assembled with the cutters. After welding, the body is threaded for attachment to the lower end of the drill line.
Inventors in the art have long recognized the advantages in production of a rotary rock bit designed with a "one-piece" body structure, yet the segmented form has remained the standard of the industry.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,388,424 issued to George in 1921 teaches the use of a unitary bit body having four conical cutters with axes nearly vertical, two being convergent and two being divergent. The cones and journals are shown integral, rotatively supported in bushings housed within the bit body, and fixed by threaded means. Unfortunately the cutting geometry of this design appears to be very non-aggressive.
Clarence Reed, a prolific inventor in the art, describes in U.S. Pat. No. 1,636,666 and more particularly in U.S. Pat. No. 1,692,793 a two cone rock bit of conventional cutting geometry featuring a one piece rock bit body. Individual journal shafts depend from vertical posts which are mechanically drawn into bores within the bit body by threaded means, after assembly of the rotary cutters.
Swift and Dalldorf were granted U.S. Pat. No. 1,726,049 on a unique rock bit having three cutters with vertical axes mounted in a straight line. The cylindrical cutters carried helical teeth which intermeshed to provide mutual cleaning and synchronous rotation. The cutters depend from a one piece bit body.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,061,657 by Howard, assigned to GLOBE OIL TOOLS COMPANY taught a design in which two cutters depend from a one piece bit body. Near vertical journal shafts demonstrate strong negative camber. The upper stator end of each journal member is drawn into a matching locking taper within the body and secured, in the production model, by a nut on a threaded extension of the journal member. The patent drawing, however, depicts use of a flat drive key with a locking taper. The cutting geometry was made effective by the use of the negative camber. The Howard patent was applied for in May of 1933, but before it came to issue in November of 1936, the well known three cone bit of current commerce, U.S. Pat. No. 1,983,316 by Scott et al, assigned to HUGHES TOOL COMPANY was issued, and has since pre-empted the marketplace.
An English inventor, Lanchester, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,526 teaches the use of a one piece bit body in a three cone rock bit. The independent journal shafts depend from cylindrical shanks which are threadingly drawn and secured into vertically converging bores within the bit body.
A novel cutting structure using three interleaving cutters with integral journal shafts having vertically converging axes rotatively supported by roller bearings within the one piece bit body, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,291 by Gulfelt.
The two latter designs seem never to have been successfully commercialized.
With the advent of ELECTRON BEAM WELDING, a number of patents have been issued directed to the use of this process in the production of rock bit designs having one-piece bit bodies U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,850,256 McQueen, 4,145,094 Vezirian, 4,158,973 Schumacher, 4,187,743 Thomas, and 4,256,194 Varel, are all illustrative of this trend. Although all of these efforts relied upon conventional prior art rotary cone cutting geometries, commercial use has not been seen. U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,124 by Baur, however, is directed to a fixture for electron beam welding a conventional segmented bit body together and is widely practiced.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,794 by Goodfellow shows a one-piece bit body with an open cylindrical "Pot" formed within the lower end. Cones are mounted on journals which depend from short "Legs" which are configured to fill the pot annularly, leaving a tapered bore at the center which is then filled with a tapered plug, in turn secured by a central bolt.
Generally, in a rotary cone rock bit, the centerlines of the individual rotary cones do not intersect the vertical centerline of the bit. By design, the cone centerline is displaced from the bit centerline by a certain small distance called the "offset". The offset is designed to "lead", meaning that the vertex of the cone advances, or "leads", about the bit center during normal drilling rotation, rather than retreating or "lagging". Offset introduces a small radial motion to the cutting tooth while it is in contact with the rock, increasing the cutting action of the tooth. Larger offsets are for use in relatively softer rock formations.
The individual "leg" of the conventional rotary cone rock bit is finished with radially extending flat surfaces which meet 120 degrees apart at the vertical bit centerline. These surfaces are mated to like surfaces on adjacent legs at assembly. The integral journal bearing shaft, formed by the lower end of the leg, is assembled with a rotary cone and then the legs are welded together along these vertically and radially eXtending flat faying surfaces to form the structure of the rock bit.
At assembly, a gage ring having an inside diameter equal to the diameter that the bit is intended to bore is placed around the cones. The cones are made to contact the inside diameter of the gage ring prior to welding the legs together, to insure that the bit is of correct size. Due to variability of parts and manufacturing tolerances, the fit to the gage ring may require adjusting. It is common practice to shift the legs with respect to one another along their faying surfaces to bring about that adjustment. This is done to the detriment of the built in offset dimension. Too much offset may cause premature failure of cutting teeth, while too little offset can reduce the rate of penetration of the rock bit.

Controlled true geometry rock bit with one piece body


A steering column assembly for a motor vehicle is provided. The steering column assembly may include a main steering column shaft; a first tubular member; a first attachment feature; and a second attachment feature. The first attachment feature and the second attachment feature may be formed of an injection moldable material such as nylon or polypropylene, having a load glass fiber component. The first and second attachment features are injection molded about the main steering column shaft. A method of constructing a steering column assembly for a motor vehicle is also provided, wherein the first attachment feature and the second attachment feature are injection molded and positioned about the main steering column shaft.

Conventional steering columns for motor vehicles include an elongated, axial steering column shaft having a first end and a second end. The steering column shaft is connected at the first end to a steering wheel and is connected to a tail or energy shaft at the second end. The tail or energy shaft is coupled to the steering linkage and gear assembly. The steering column shaft is encircled by a concentric transmission tube assembly and an outer supporting column or mast jacket.
Various brackets are mounted on the jacket to rigidly connect the steering column to the instrument panel structure at the attachment points. Conventional steering columns, brackets, and mast jackets are conventionally made of metallic materials and the brackets are typically attached to the jacket by welding or a similar metal working process.

Steering column assembly for a motor vehicle