Methods for providing an enhanced scheduling process are discussed. One embodiment of the present invention includes a method for assigning an order to an opening in a schedule after a customer has selected an appointment window in the schedule. The opening and the appointment window are specified. The method includes generating a list of schedulable time blocks for a shift identified in the opening, intersecting the opening and the appointment window to obtain a time range, and choosing the opening in which to assign the order if a schedulable time block from the list of schedulable time blocks includes the opening. The opening is within the time range obtained by the act of intersecting.

Suppose that to schedule a desired service to be performed, a customer calls a service organization to place an order for the desired service. The customer may be kept on the phone for an undesirably long period of time while the service organization searches the schedule in an attempt to fit the order into the schedule. To avoid annoying the customer, some service organizations do not search the schedule while the customer is on the phone, but simply accept the order and dump it into a time bucket without scheduling the order to a particular shift of a worker. The night before the order is to be performed, the service organization executes a batch process that assigns orders to various workers.
The approach as described above limits the ability of a customer to specify his preferences in regard to when and how the order is to be performed. The customer is unable to select a desired appointment window or a desired worker with a set of desired skills. As the expectations of customers have increased over time, scheduling systems that fail to meet increased customer expectations may result in customer dissatisfaction and lead to the eventual lack of acceptance in the marketplace. Thus, what is needed are systems and methods for enhancing the scheduling process that allow customers' increased expectations to be met.

Assigning customer orders to schedule openings utilizing overlapping time windows


A process for making self-bound monolithic bodies of chabazite by mixing finely divided chabazite and a sodium aluminosilicate gel into monolithic bodies, the gel having a molar ratio of silica to aluminum between 1.0 and 1.5 and a molar ratio of sodium to silica from 0.35 to 0.55, and heating the monolithic bodies in the presence of water to convert the gel to additional chabazite.

Chabazite is the only natural zeolite currently employed commercially to any significant extent. This utility results from unique ion-exchange selectivities and high acid tolerance in adsorptive applications. Most notably, high ion-exchange selectivity towards .sup.137 Cs.sup.+, the largest radioactive component in nuclear reactor waste water streams, results in its employment as a radionuclide scavenger. Secondly, the high acid stability of naturally ocurring chabazite compared to synthetic zeolites makes chabazite the desiccant of choice for commercial use in certain gas streams.
Before any zeolite can be employed in a commercial adsorption or ion-exchange process, powdered material must be formed into macroscopic aggregates so that vapors or liquids may flow through a bed of the material at reasonable throughput and applied pressure. Classical aggregation is achieved by compounding a given zeolite with a binder such as a clay mineral or a `gluing` agent such as a soluble silicate. Unfortunately these binding agents, which may constitute a substantial weight fraction of the finished aggregates, are generally inert with respect to ion-exchange or adsorption, and thereby dilute the desirable properties of the active zeolite component in the moieties. Inert binding agents can also hinder mass transfer of exchangeable ions or adsorbate molecules to active sites. Both of these effects are highly undesirable.
Attempts to overcome the dilution effect of the binders have generally centered on either identification of more effective binders, i.e. those required in lesser amounts, or on the partial or complete conversion of a binding agent to an active phase, sometimes resulting in essentially pure self-bound aggregates with equilibrium ion-exchange and adsorptive properties rivaling those of pure, unbound powders of the same species. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,040, Kuznicki et. al.
Extensive ion-exchange and adsorption testing has revealed that unbound sodium chabazite has substantially higher adsorption and ion-exchange capacities than commercial mixed cation chabazite aggregates. The belief that a substantial portion of the capacity is lost due to binder dilution lead to attempts to identify a binder which could be partially or completely converted to chabazite.

Self-bound sodium chabazite aggregates and methods for preparation thereof


A fuel quality monitoring system includes a fuel composition sensor configured to provide an indication of a composition of a liquid fuel within a fuel tank, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive the indication of the monitored fuel composition from the fuel composition sensor; detect an amount of an impurity from the received indication; and compare the amount of the impurity to a threshold. If the amount of the impurity exceeds the threshold, the controller is configured to adjust an operating parameter of an engine to account for the detected impurity. When the amount of the impurity exceeds a threshold which makes engine combustion unmanageable, the fuel is restricted from entering the engine or fuel tank.

A typical automotive vehicle includes an internal combustion engine that ignites a volatile fuel to provide a motive force. Many fuels are available that each may have a different composition. For example, engine fuels may include varying proportions of gasoline, diesel, ethanol, methanol, or alcohol. Additionally, these fuels may have varying proportions of certain fuel additives, such as octanes, oxygenates, antioxidants, and stabilizers. Often the engine is tuned to a specific composition of fuel in an effort to maximize performance, output power, and/or fuel efficiency.
It is common practice for a vehicle to include an onboard fuel tank to store the fuel for future use by the engine. The onboard fuel tank is refillable by offboard fuel pumps, such as the ones found at commercial gas stations.


A shelf-stable device for transdermally administering an active pharmaceutical to a patient. The device includes a drug reservoir that contains the drug formulation. In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the drug reservoir is sandwiched between an upper and a lower solvent barrier film that are made from a material such as a polyester that will not absorb the drug and/or skin permeating enhancing solvent, if any, contained within the reservoir. The drug reservoir and solvent barrier films are encapsulated within a hermetically-sealed compartment that protects the drug formulation from common environmental factors such as water vapor, oxygen, and light which can adversely affect the stability and efficacy of the drug formulation. The hermetically-sealed compartment also prevents the drug formulation from coming into contact with and possibly dissolving the adhesive used to secure the device to the patients's skin. In another particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the device's drug reservoir is encapsulated within a hermetically-sealed compartment that is made from solvent/environment barrier films that serve the dual functions of preventing the device's components from absorbing the drug/solvent formulation from the reservoir, and protecting the drug/solvent formulation from common environmental factors.

Treating a patient with a pharmaceutically active substance is commonly performed by periodically administering a defined dose of the pharmaceutical either orally (enteral) or by inJection (parenteral). In order to assure that an effective dosage of the drug is present in the patient's body at all times, peak dosages that are much higher than the effective level usually need to be initially administered. Such a procedure undesirably increases the amount of the drug that is consumed and also increases the danger of undesirable side effects. In addition, even when a substantially excessive dosage is initially administered, there is a danger that the pharmaceutical's concentration may drop below its effective level if a subsequent dosage is delayed or omitted.
Another technique that is commonly used for administering a pharmaceutical to a patient is through intravenous infusion. While this technique generally works well in providing a sustained effective level of the pharmaceutical, it is cumbersome and typically requires close supervision by trained medical personnel. Consequently, intravenous infusion generally requires the patient to be hospitalized with the associated expense and inconvenience.
Techniques and devices have also been developed for administering pharmaceuticals at therapeutic levels and rates by absorption through a patient's skin. Such delivery devices, which are now commercially available for nitroglycerin and other pharmaceuticals and include transdermal or transmucosal patches or bandages, implants, osmotic devices and the like, are very useful in continuously administering a medication at a relatively constant rate. These devices typically include a pharmaceutical-containing reservoir enclosed by a membrane through which the drug diffuses at a controlled rate. The device is typically attached either adhesively or mechanically to the patient's skin, and the drug diffuses from the device and permeates the outer sublayers of the patient's skin until it is absorbed into the bloodstream of the dermis capillary network. Once the drug enters the bloodstream, it is carried throughout the patient's entire body.
While such transdermal delivery devices work well for some pharmaceuticals such as nitroglycerine, conventional transdermal delivery devices have not proved to be suitable for many other important drugs. Specifically, the absorption rate or flux through skin for some pharmaceuticals from conventional devices has been found to be too slow to provide an effective dosage unless the size of the transdermal patch is excessively large. For example, in the case of large molecular weight drugs such as buprenorphine, which is a lipophilic opioid analgesic (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,791, which is incorporated herein by reference), it has been found that the drug will not readily permeate a patient's skin at a therapeutic rate if a reasonably-sized patch is used unless the skin is "softened" by using a skin permeation enhancing agent. More specifically, it has been found that the skin permeation rate for large molecular weight drugs such as buprenorphine can be significantly increased if the drug is mixed with a permeation enhancing agent such as a polar solvent material selected from the group consisting of C.sub.3 -C.sub.4 diols, C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 triols, and mixtures thereof; and/or a polar lipid material selected from the group consisting of fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty alcohol esters, fatty acid esters, and mixtures thereof. Even more specifically, it has been found that the skin permeation rate for large molecular weight drugs such as buprenorphine can be significantly raised if the drug is mixed with a permeation enhancing agent such as propylene glycol, which is basically a polar C.sub.3 diol; and/or methyl laurate and methyl caprylate, which are basically lipophilic fatty acid esters.
Many previous transdermal drug delivery devices such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,564,010 to Coughlan et al. and 4,262,003 to Urquhart et al. are constructed from common packaging materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene, which are relatively inexpensive, easy to handle, and easy to seal. It has been found that such packaging material can be used to contain a diol-based skin permeation enhancer such as propylene glycol with relative ease. However, significant problems result when these same materials are used to contain a lipid component such as methyl laurate or methyl caprylate, which in some instances may be present in amounts ranging from about 1% to about 40% by weight of the total drug formulation. Specifically, hydrophobic polymers such as common polyolefins tend to readily absorb lipophilic solvents from the diol. Accordingly, depending on the drug/skin permeation enhancer formulation, the loss of the lipophilic solvent can significantly decrease the drug's solubility in the formulation and thereby cause the drug to precipitate out while the patch is in storage or during use. In addition, the solvent's loss can significantly reduce the drug flux or absorption rate through the patient's skin. Finally, the solvent entering the packaging material can significantly alter the material's physical properties which can catastrophically impact the integrity of the overall patch structure.
Additional research has shown that common environmental factors such as the presence of moisture, oxygen, and light can adversely affect the stability and efficacy of some drugs and skin permeation enhancers, which in turn can significantly impact the storage stability or shelf life of the transdermal device. For example, it has been found that the solubility of buprenorphine and the lipophilic solvents in some skin permeation enhancers such as propylene glycol decreases significantly if the formulation absorbs even a very small fraction of water. It is also been found that some drugs such as buprenorphine can degrade when exposed to light. Most prior drug delivery device architectures do not specifically address the objective of protecting the drug formulation from common environmental factors.
Most prior transdermal drug delivery devices use a dermatologically-acceptable, pressure-sensitive adhesive to secure the device to a patient's skin. In many of these structures, the drug formulation is allowed to freely come into contact with the adhesive examples of which include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,742,951 to Zaffaroni; 4,144,317 to Higuchi et al.; 4,262,003 to Urquhart et al.; 4,690,683 to Chien et al.; and 4,764,379 to Sanders et al. However, it has been found that many of these adhesives might absorb some skin permeation enhancing agents such as propylene glycol. In addition, it has been found that lipophilic solvents such as methyl laurate and methyl caprylate will swell and even dissolve many adhesives, particularly silicones, polyisobutylenes, and acrylic-based adhesives. Accordingly, many prior transdermal devices are not suitable for containing some types of drug/skin permeation enhancer formulations.
In light of the above, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a transdermal drug delivery system that will uniformly administer a pharmaceutical to a patient in need of such treatment.
Another principal object of the present invention is to construct a transdermal drug delivery device that includes various barrier materials that will not significantly absorb the pharmaceutical and/or a skin permeation enhancer contained therewithin thereby significantly increasing the device's stability and shelf-life.
A further object of the present invention is to construct a transdermal drug delivery device that is made from barrier materials that will significantly increase the shelf life of the device by protecting the drug and/or skin permeation enhancer from common environmental factors such as moisture, oxygen, and light.
Another object of the present invention is to construct a transdermal drug delivery device such that the drug formulation is not exposed to the adhesive used to maintain the device on a patient's skin.


An apparatus for performing capillary electrophoresis comprises a housing (37) to which a sealing and electrode arrangement (36) is fastened and a removable cassette (22) which accommodates a capillary (1) in which electrophoretic separation of a sample takes place when an electric field is applied. When performing an electrophoretic separation, the end of the capillary (1) and a tube-shaped electrode (39) surrounding the capillary (1) dip into a liquid vial containing electrolyte or sample liquid. Liquid is injected into the capillary (1) by applying pressure on the liquid in the vial. An elastomeric seal (40) around the capillary (1) is provided to prevent escaping of the pressure during injection. The end of the capillary (1) depending from the cassette (20) is introduced through a funnel (41) and a central bore in the seal (40). When the cassette (20) is pressed downwards onto the funnel (41), the elastomeric seal (40) is squeezed so that the capillary (1) is sealed off. Since the seal ( 40) is arranged in the housing (37), no sealing is required in the cassette, resulting in a simpler construction of the cassette and facilitating replacement of the capillary in the cassette. (FIG. 4)

Capillary electrophoresis is a separation method employed in analytical chemistry which utilizes the differences in electrophoretic mobility of the sample substances to be separated. Capillary electrophoresis is used, for example, for separating different biological molecules, such as proteins or peptides. The separation process is performed in a capillary tube which is open on both ends and to which an electric field is applied which causes electrophoretic separation of different sample substances within the tube. The electric field is applied by means of electrodes which are arranged at the ends of the capillary, respectively, and which are connected to a high voltage power supply. The capillary is filled with an electrically conductive electrolyte so that an electric field can build up within the capillary. The two ends of the capillary are immersed in vials containing the electrolyte, respectively.
When sample substances are to be introduced into the capillary for subsequent separation, the vial containing the electrolyte is removed from one end of the capillary, a vial containing the sample is positioned at this place so that the end of the capillary is immersed in the sample liquid. Thereafter, the sample is injected into the capillary by a suitable method, for example by applying a pressure above atmospheric pressure at the end of the capillary where the vial is positioned or a vacuum at the other end of the capillary. When the sample substances have been injected into the capillary, the sample vial is removed and the electrolyte vial is again positioned at this place. Thereafter, high voltage is applied so that electrophoretic separation of the sample substances takes place. At the end of the capillary opposite to the end of sample injection, a detector is arranged for detecting the separated sample substances by a suitable detection method, for example by a light absorption or a fluorescence technique.
A frequently used method for introducing liquids, such as electrolyte, sample liquid and rinsing liquids into the capillary, is to apply a pressure difference between the two ends of the capillary. This pressure difference forces liquid into the capillary. When applying this method, the capillary has to be sealed against the vial in which the liquid to be introduced is contained to prevent escaping of the pressure to the outside.
In the prior art, there are different solutions for designing the mentioned seal between capillary and vial. According to a first solution, liquid is introduced into the capillary by applying a pressure below atmospheric pressure at the outlet end of the capillary where the detector is located. In this case, the electrolyte, vial at the outlet end of the capillary is connected with the capillary by a screw fastening. The screw fastening also performs the sealing function. This design has the disadvantage that it is not possible to exchange the electrolyte vial at the outlet end of the capillary during an analysis sequence since the end of the capillary and the vial are rigidly connected. Furthermore, since the introduction of liquid is performed by application of under-pressure, there is only a maximum pressure difference of 1 bar available. In practice, the usable pressure difference would only be about half of this value because the gas emissions from the liquids would otherwise be too strong.
In a second design solution for the sealing of the capillary against a vial, the capillary is disposed in a cartridge body and the two ends of the capillary protrude vertically downward from the bottom of the cartridge, at two spaced apart locations at the bottom of the cartridge. These two ends are sealed about their periphery with respect to the cartridge where they exit the cartridge. For introducing liquid into the capillary, the corresponding vial is pressed against the bottom of the cartridge, then an over-pressure is applied on the liquid in the vial, forcing the liquid into the capillary. A capillary electrophoresis apparatus using this design is known from EP-A-0 339 780.
With such a known design, a sealing of the periphery of the capillary to the cartridge is achieved by injecting a sealant, preferably a silicon rubber compound, into apertures near the bottom of the cartridge. A design of that type is not satisfactory in all respects. When the capillary in the cartridge is to be replaced, for example when the capillary is broken, a user has to remove the sealant, and then, after insertion of a new capillary, he has to renew the sealing by filling in sealant into the corresponding apertures in the cartridge. This is a time-consuming process and requires that the user has the sealing material (e.g., silicon rubber) at his disposal. On the other hand, if the user wants to avoid this time-consuming process and just takes a new cartridge with a sealed capillary inside, this becomes more expensive since he also has to bear the cost for the cartridge, whereby the cost is still increased by the sealing.

Apparatus for performing capillary electrophoresis


According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power tool including: a housing; a fan rotatably supported by the housing so as to generate an air flow; a wall portion supported by the housing; and a heat generation portion supported by the wall portion, wherein the wall portion has an exposing hole to expose a part of the heat generation portion so that the exposed part of the heat generation portion is positioned within the air flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to form holes in concrete etc. efficiently, vibration drills, which form holes while generating vibration, is used. In such the vibration drill, a motor is rotated in a state where a ratchet and a gear each having a convex-concave step portion are abutted to each other to thereby generate the vibration from the ratchet. The ratchet is covered by an inner cover formed by metal such as aluminum in order to secure the durability with respect to the vibration generated by the ratchet and heat generated by the vibration (see JP-H04-124870-A and JP-H05-318214-A, for example).
However, in the vibration drills of the related art, since the inner cover is formed by metal such as aluminum, the material cost and the processing cost thereof are high.


A magnetic induction system is disclosed, which has antenna diversity at the transmitter side, but which does not require a bidirectional link to pass information regarding received signal quality back to the transmitter. The system uses a time division multiplexing access (TDMA) arrangement, to transmit the same, or correlated, information with a level of redundancy, from two, or more, antenna to at least a receiver. The or each receiver is configured to determine a received signal quality from the channel received from one antenna, and, in response to inadequate signal quality, to switch to another antenna.                A receiver, and a transmitter for such a magnetic induction system are also disclosed, as is an associated method.        A non-limiting application of such a system is in binaural hearing aids, in which antenna diversity is preferred at the transmitter because of space limitations.

For short-range wireless communication, that is to say for ranges of the order of a few centimeters up to a few meters, typically around 10 cm to around 5 m, magnetic induction transmission is an attractive option. Rather than relying on an aerial to transmit an electromagnetic wave as occurs in conventional radio (which shall also be referred to hereinafter as "RF radio") transmission, in magnetic induction transmission, a transmitter is provided with an antenna and propagates a magnetic field. The antenna is typically a coil. The receiver has as an antenna a further magnetic coil. The transmitter and receiver magnetic coils form a magnetic induction circuit, with the interlying air acting as the core. The arrangement is in some ways analogous to a conventional transformer, except to that the primary and secondary coils (transmitter and receiver antennae respectively) are not necessarily in a geometrically fixed relationship, and instead of a ferroelectric core between them, the core is air.
The coupling between the transmitter and receiver coils, and thus the strength of the received signal for a fixed power transmitted signal, depends on both the distance between the transmitter and receiver, and their relative orientation. FIG. 1 is a radial plot, showing the relative range 1 of a signal, against the angle between the transmitter and receiver coils. On the abscissa (x-axis) is shown the range when the coils are co-axial, and on the ordinate (y-axis) is shown the range, in centimeters, when the coils are co-planar.
From the figure is clear that there is a "null spot", close to a 45° orientation between the coils. In passing, it is noted that RF radio signals suffer from similar geometrical null spots; however RF radio also suffers from fading, which generally over-rules the effect of nulls in the radiation pattern for most wireless radio applications. Fading is generally not a problem for magnetic induction radio, since the range is relatively short.
If the receiver is situated in the null spot, the received signal strength will be significantly weaker than elsewhere. For an application such as hearing aid support, in which the relative spatial arrangement between the transmitter and receiver is not known a priori, this can be a significant problem.
It is known to solve this problem by use of a technique called antenna diversity. Typically, antenna diversity is applied at the receiver side: instead of relying on a single coil, the receiver has two or more coils, arranged typically orthogonally to each other. The receiver can then switch between the multiple antennae, based on the quality of the received signal.
An alternative solution of relying on antenna diversity is known where the diversity is applied at the transmitter: in situations where there is a bidirectional link, information on the received signal quality can be returned to the transmitter, and the transmitter can then choose between which antenna to use, based on the information about the received signal quality.
Neither of these the solutions are ideal: in the case of transmitter diversity there is a requirement for a bidirectional link, which may not always be present; in the case of receiver antenna diversity, additional space to accommodate the multiple coils is required in the receiver, whereas replications which are severely space constrain, such as, for example in ear hearing aids, the additional space may not necessarily be available.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an alternative solution to the problem of nulls-spots, which does not suffer from the above limitations to the same extent.

Antenna diversity for magnetic induction radio


Methods, speech recognition systems, and computer readable media are provided that recognize speech using dynamic pruning techniques. A search network is expanded based on a frame from a speech signal, a best hypothesis is determined in the search network, a default beam threshold is modified, and the search network is pruned using the modified beam threshold. The search network may be further pruned based on the search depth of the best hypothesis and/or the average number of frames per state for a search path.

There is growing consumer demand for embedded automatic speech recognition (ASR) in mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones, dictation machines, PDAs (personal digital assistants), mobile games consoles, etc. For example, email and text message dictation, note taking, form filling, and command and control applications are all potential applications of embedded ASR. However, when a medium to large vocabulary is required, effective speech recognition for mobile electronic devices has many difficulties not associated with speech recognition systems in hardware systems such as personal computers or workstations. Firstly, the available power in mobile systems is often supplied by battery, and may be severely limited. Secondly, mobile electronic devices are frequently designed to be as small as practically possible. Thus, the memory and resources of such mobile embedded systems tends to be very limited, due to power and space restrictions. The cost of providing extra memory and resources in a mobile electronic device is typically much higher than that for a less portable device without this space restriction. Thirdly, the mobile hardware may be typically used in a noisier environment than that of a fixed computer, e.g. on public transport, near a busy road, etc. Thus, a more complex speech model and more intensive computation may be required to obtain adequate speech recognition results.
Recognizing an utterance in a speech signal requires searching a two dimensional grid of frame indexes (time) and potential models (words) to determine the best path that matches the utterance and the models. The best path, i.e., the path with the highest probability, determines the result of the recognition. The Viterbi time synchronous search algorithm based on dynamic programming is widely used in ASR. However, if this search algorithm is used without modification, the search space is very large and thus requires a lot of memory. This is because at every frame, the path information associated with nearly all possible models/states must be memorized. Further, the large search space requires a lot of Gaussian computation to compute the likelihood of a frame with all active hypotheses at all active paths, and performance may be unacceptable.
Pruning is introduced to this process to reduce the size of the search space by constraining the search to models with high probability. Pruning approaches typically result in significant reduction in memory requirements and CPU time. The challenge for pruning is how to significantly reduce the search space without pruning the correct search path out of the search space. When resources are not critical, usually a safe pruning with a large margin is applied. Currently, the two primary pruning technologies used in ASR are beam pruning and rank pruning. Both pruning techniques try to pick the most likely hypotheses, i.e., the hypothesized model, at each frame. With beam pruning, the best hypothesis is first identified. Each of the other hypotheses is then compared with this best hypothesis and if the difference between the two is below a predetermined threshold, TH, i.e., the beam width, the hypothesis survives the pruning; otherwise, it is pruned out of the search process. In rank pruning, a predetermined number, N, of surviving hypotheses is chosen and at every frame and only these top N hypotheses are retained.
While both beam pruning and rank pruning both reduce the memory requirements and computations needed to perform the searches, better pruning techniques for ASR are desirable to make efficient use of the limited memory and CPU resources of mobile electronic devices.

Dynamic pruning for automatic speech recognition


An improved semiconductor AC switch is described having internal bias generation for the power MOSFET switches and isolated control input. Dual power MOSFETS with substrate diodes are connected in series between source and load. DC gate bias for the MOSFETS is derived from an internal power supply containing energy storage which charges from the line, typically every half cycle. The gates of the power MOSFETS are tied to the internal bias generator through a voltage divider network containing a variable resistance controlled by an optical input signal. The internal energy storage may be a capacitor or solid state battery, preferably a monolithic thick or thin film battery. No transformers or external control bias generators are required and the resulting switch is particularly simple and compact.

Historically, mechanical relays, vacuum tubes and gas discharge tubes have been utilized to control AC power where large voltage(e.g., >100 volts) are involved. More recently, semiconductor switches have been developed employing bipolar transistors, field effect transistors and thyristors. Such semiconductor based switches have a number of well known limitations which are well known in the art. Among these limitations is the difficulty of providing the proper DC bias to the control lead of the semiconductor device. In the prior art this has generally been accomplished by providing a separate power supply for bias generation or by using a transformer to provide DC isolation of the control circuitry from the main AC power leads or a combination thereof. These and other prior art methods are bulky and costly and often fail to provide adequate isolation between the control and power leads of the switch.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved means for switching AC power using semiconductor elements, and which does not require external bias generation or use of a transformer for isolating the control input.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved means for switching AC power using semiconductor elements and internal, transformerless, bias generation which does not require a common ground reference between power and control signals.
As used herein the words "switch" or "semiconductor switch" are intended to refer to a device employing semiconductor elements for continuously variable and/or binary (on-off) control of electrical power; the word "monolithic" is intended to refer to a structure that is formed on a common substrate in an integrated fashion rather than being assembled from separate independent parts; and the words "MOSFET" or "MOSFETS" are intended to refer to insulated gate field effect devices having either N or P type channels and various geometries.

Transformerless semiconductor AC switch having internal biasing means


The present invention provides a robot apparatus which can determine a contact state at a contact point without increasing the contact point, can be miniaturized, and also can decrease the cost. Contact points are provided in a hand device. Contact points are provided in a tool device, which come in contact with the contact points, respectively, when the tool device has been mounted on the hand device. A voltage detecting circuit is provided in the tool device, which detects a voltage between the contact points. The controlling circuit determines contact states between the contact points and the contact points, by using a value of the voltage which has been detected by the voltage detecting circuit.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot apparatus in which a tool device is mounted on a hand device.
Description of the Related Art
Currently, a robot is applied to a manufacturing apparatus in a factory, and parts are transferred and/or assembled with the use of the robot. This type of robot is structured so as to have an electrically-operated robot hand (hand) attached to the head of a robot arm (arm) of a multi-axis and a multi-joint, or of a linearly moving arm.
One robot is needed to perform a plurality of operations for a limited production of a wide variety of products, and as a method therefor, the robot is occasionally made to grip in a hand an electrically-operated tool which can perform the operation that is hard to be performed by the hand, and makes the electrically-operated tool perform the operation. The tool is, for instance, a pincette tool which performs the transfer or the assembly for a small work or a thin work, or an absorbing chuck tool which absorbs and acquires a work.
An electric power can be supplied to and a signal can be a transmitted to the tool, if a contact point of the hand is electrically connected with a contact point of the tool when the hand grips the tool. The tool can be driven by the electric power and the signal which are thus supplied from the hand.
However, there has been a case where the sufficient electric power cannot be supplied and the signal cannot be transmitted because a contact resistance increases and a voltage drop becomes large in the connection portion between the contact point of the hand and the contact point of the tool, due to a contact failure, an aged deterioration and the like.
On the other hand, in order to avoid a stop of the apparatus due to the contact failure and the aged deterioration in the connection portion between the contact points, a method is proposed which detects the contact resistance between the contact points (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-298288).
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-298288, in order to measure the contact resistance between the contact point on a main body side and the contact point on a load side, a reference resistance is connected in series to the contact point on the main body side; the contact point for measurement is provided on the main body side and the contact point for measurement is provided on the load side, respectively; and the contact point and the contact point for the measurement are short-circuited on the load side. Then, a detecting unit arranged on the main body side detects a potential difference occurring in the reference resistance, and a potential difference occurring in a series circuit of the contact point in the main body side, the contact point in the load side, the contact point for the measurement in the load side and the contact point in the main body side; and grasps the contact resistance based on those detection results.
It is also considered to apply the configuration of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-298288 to the robot apparatus having the hand and the tool, but the hand and the tool have each a plurality of contact points, and accordingly it has been necessary to increase the contact point for the measurement for each of the contact points, respectively. Then, there is a necessity of increasing the number of the contact points. Accordingly, the hand and the tool have been upsized and also the number of parts have increased, which have consequently caused increase in the cost.


A vitreous silica crucible includes: a substantially cylindrical straight body portion having an opening on a top end and extending in a vertical direction; a curved bottom portion; and a corner portion connecting the straight body portion with the bottom portion and a curvature of which is greater than that of the bottom portion, wherein an inner surface of the crucible has a concavo-convex structure in which groove-shaped valleys are interposed between ridges, and an average interval of the ridges is 5-100 μm.

In pulling of silicon single crystal by Czochralski method (the CZ method), a single crystal can be pulled up by pulling a seed crystal immersed in silicon melt. In particular, an external carbon heater is heated to a temperature of about 1450-1600 deg. C., silicon melt obtained by melting polycrystalline silicon raw material is held in a vitreous silica crucible, a seed crystal of a silicon single crystal is contacted with the surface of the silicon melt having a melting point temperature of about 1420 deg. C. and gradually pulled while being rotated, the seed crystal of silicon single crystal is grown as a core, and thus a silicon single crystal is manufactured gradually while controlling the pulling rate and the melt temperature. In order to maintain the solid-liquid interface of the silicon melt central part which is contacted with the single crystal close to the silicon melting point of 1420 deg. C., the temperature of the vitreous silica crucible is as high as 1450-1600 deg. C. In pulling of silicon single crystal which can last 2 weeks or more, the extent of deformation of a sidewall sagging of a rim portion of the vitreous silica crucible may be 5 cm or more.
In the pulling of silicon single crystal, firstly, the crystal in the center of this seed crystal is widened (shoulder formation) until the desired diameter is obtained. Next, a single crystal shaped as cylindrical ingot is pulled up by performing body pulling. Finally, a single crystal is pulled up by narrowing the bottom portion. In the vitreous silica crucible having a diameter of 610-1015 mm (silicon ingot diameter: 200 mm, 300 mm, 450 mm), a large size single crystal silicon ingot such as those having a length of 2 m or more is manufactured. The single-crystal wafer manufactured from such a large size ingot is suitable for manufacturing flash memory or DRAM.
Since price reduction and high performance of flash memory or DRAM are progressing rapidly, to respond to the demand, a large size single crystal silicon ingot is required to be manufactured with high quality and at low cost. Therefore, a large size crucible is required to be manufactured with high quality and at low cost.
Moreover, although the present process using a wafer having a diameter of 300 mm is mainstream, a process using a large diameter wafer having a diameter of 450 mm is in development. For this reason, in order to manufacture a large diameter wafer having a diameter of 450 mm stably, a large size crucible with high quality has been on demand increasingly. However, in the manufacture of a large size vitreous silica crucible, problems exist as follows.
A phenomenon that the surface of the silicon melt vibrates periodically can be seen during pulling of the silicon single crystal. This is called a melt surface vibration. When the melt surface vibration occurs, the seed crystal is difficult to be contacted with a flat silicon melt surface, and a silicon single crystal cannot be pulled up. In addition, when the melt surface vibration occurs during pulling, a dislocation occurs, and the silicon is polycrystallized, and therefore, it becomes a problem that it is unable to be all used as a product. In particular, in the processes of dipping of the seed crystal and the shoulder formation, which are initial processes in pulling of silicon single crystal, are likely to be affected adversely by melt surface vibration. The influence largely determines the quality of the pulled silicon single crystal ingot.
The cause of melt surface vibration is considered as follows. In general, the reaction of SiO2 (solid)→Si (liquid)+20 occurs on the interface between the silicon melt and the vitreous silica to dissolve the vitreous silica. It is considered that, due to, for example, an increase in the pulling temperature and decrease in the ambient pressure, a reaction of Si (liquid)+O→SiO (gas) occurs, and the melt surface vibrates as the SiO gas rises from inside of the melt. For a large size vitreous silica crucible, the distance from the outside carbon heater to the central part of the silicon melt is greater than the conventional ones (more than 500 mm, and conventionally it was about 300 mm), thus an increasing temperature of the carbon heater during pulling cannot be avoided. That is, with an increase in the diameter of the silicon ingot, the melt surface vibration problem increases when the carbon heater temperature during pulling is increased. For this reason, the silicon melt surface vibration associated with the temperature increase during pulling is intensified, which needs to be suppressed. Therefore, for the purpose of improving the single-crystal yield of the silicon single crystal, it is necessary to suppress melt surface vibration occurring in the silicon melt.
In order to solve the problem of melt surface vibration, for example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a crucible as follows: A vitreous silica surface made of a first component of silica sand is formed on the inner surface of a silica crucible having an opaque layer and a transparent layer, thereafter, a vitreous silica made of a second component of silica sand is scattered and melted, and a vitreous silica made of synthetic silica sand is formed on the inner surface of a corner portion as well as a bottom portion. A technique of adjusting the bubble content of the inner surface layer of the crucible in a region near the melt surface at the beginning of pulling to a certain range is disclosed. This is due to the fact that it has been found based on the same principle as that of boiling stone which suppresses explosive boiling, micro concaves and convexes suppress melt surface vibration of silicon melt.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique to suppress melt surface vibration of silicon melt filled in a vitreous silica crucible by providing micro concaves in the crucible inner face layer. This is due to the fact that it has been found based on the same principle as that of boiling stone which suppresses explosive boiling, micro concaves suppresses melt surface vibration of silicon melt.


According to one embodiment, a radioactive ray detecting apparatus includes: a scintillator that produces visible light from a radioactive ray; a light detecting portion including a light receiving element that generates an electrical signal on a basis of intensity of visible light; a first board; a first electrical connection unit that electrically connects the light detecting portion and a first surface of the first board to each other; a second board disposed to face the first board; a second electrical connection that electrically connects a first surface of the second board and a second surface of the first board being opposite from the first surface of the first board to each other; and a data acquisition device that processes an electrical signal transmitted from the light detecting portion through the first electrical connection unit, the first board, the second electrical connection unit, and the second board.

An imaging system is also termed as a diagnostic imaging system. An example of the imaging system is X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) systems which are used in medical institutions such as hospitals. A gantry of an X-ray CT system includes an X-ray detecting apparatus. An X-ray beam generated by an X-ray tube is projected on a subject in accordance with the rotation of this X-ray tube. The X-ray beam transmitted through the subject enters the X-ray detecting apparatus. Thus, a tomographic image of the subject is acquired.
The X-ray detecting apparatus converts the X-ray beam, which has entered the X-ray detecting apparatus, to visible light. This visible light is converted to an electrical signal by a photodiode array mounted on a wiring board. Subsequently, after amplified, this electrical signal is converted to a digital electrical signal by an analog/digital conversion device (A/D conversion device) of a data acquisition system (DAS). This digitized data signal is sent from the data acquisition system to a console by use of a data transmission system.
The X-ray detecting apparatus includes a detector. This detector is configured including multiple detector modules arranged two-dimensionally. A bed on which the subject lies is moved in a body axis direction of the subject, and is thus inserted into an opening in the gantry, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-259733.

Radioactive ray detecting apparatus, method of manufacturing the same, and imaging system


The objective is to enable the formation of an outer circumferential layer by a filament winding process to be performed appropriately, and to achieve the weight reduction of a gas tank by reducing the weight of a mouthpiece. The gas tank comprises a mouthpiece attached to an end of a tank main body in its axis direction, and an outer circumferential layer formed over an outer circumferential surface of the tank main body and an outer circumferential surface of the mouthpiece by a filament winding process. On the end of the tank main body in the axis direction, a recess section, in which an outside end surface of the mouthpiece is embedded in the inner side from an outside end surface of the outer circumferential layer, is formed.

A high-pressure tank is used as a supply source of a fuel gas in, for example, a fuel cell system disposed in a vehicle such as a car. Generally, the high-pressure tank comprises: a metal mouthpiece attached to both ends of a tank main body in its axis direction; and a reinforcing fiber layer formed by winding a reinforcing fiber around over the outer circumferential surface of the tank main body and the outer circumferential surface of the mouthpiece by a filament winding process.

Gas tank and manufacturing method of gas tank


A jacketed hollow point bullet having a lead core and the method of making same with the core having a downwardly extending cavity having side portions terminating adjacent the peripheral edge of the jacket, with slits being formed in the peripheral edge of the jacket and down through the adjacent side portions of the core.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a jacketed hollow point bullet and method of making the bullet. The bullet has a lead core and brass jacket with the nose portion open with slits around the opening passing through the core and jacket. A boat tail bullet is formed by a five step cold forming process whereas the flat base bullet is formed in a four step process. Both bullet types have driving bands. In one embodiment, the nose cuts are at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the bullet.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Mushrooming jacketed hollow point bullets are known in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,101,732 and 5,208,424 each disclose a hollow point bullet with the jacket passing around the core, including the open depression forming the hollow point. The core is exposed at the base and can be exposed in the bottom of the open depression. This results in the preformed jacket pedals turning inside out when the bullet penetrates a mass and mushrooms (see FIG. 6 of the 5,208,424 patent).
Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,045,964, 2,321,345 and 2,327,950 disclose mushrooming bullets. U.S. Pat. No. 1,992,244 discloses a driving band.

Jacketed hollow point bullet and method of making same


Disclosed is an image display device which is provided with an image display panel (1), and a housing (2) which houses the image display panel (1). On the rear wall (22) of the housing (2), a socket (6), wherein the plug (71) of a power supply code (7) for supplying the image display panel (1) with power is to be fitted, is provided. On the rear wall (22) of the housing (2), a housing section (3) for housing the socket (6) is provided, and the housing section (3) is configured by bonding together a recessed section (4) provided in the rear wall (22) of the housing (2), and a cover body (5) that covers the opening (40) of the recessed section (4). On the bonding surfaces (431, 512) between the recessed section (4) and the cover body (5), a pair of grooves (31, 32) are provided, and the pair of grooves (31, 32) face each other in the state wherein the recessed section (4) and the cover body (5) are bonded to each other, and the grooves form a through hole (30) opened to the outside from the inside of the housing section (3). On the bonding surfaces (431, 512), second grooves (33, 34) that traverse the grooves are provided, and first seal members (81, 82) are fitted in the second grooves (33, 34).

The display device of this kind usually have a cabinet to accommodate a display panel, and in usage, the display device is installed facing its back side of the cabinet to the wall or is attached to the wall of the indoor room (see JP2005-286987A1 for example). In such displays, a socket for plugging a power supply cord is employed in order to supply an electric power to the panels. This socket is arranged in the rear wall of the cabinet, usually, facing the socket toward the back side.
In recent years, it is expected to install such display device having a display panel outdoors, since these display device has small thickness. The small thickness is advantageous for installing the display device in narrow locations.
However, in the conventional display device, the plug inserted into the socket protrudes backwards from the rear side of the cabinet backwards. Thereby, a portion of the electricity cord extends backward from the socket. Thus, when installing such display device facing its back side to the wall, it is necessary to have a big room between the backside of the cabinet and the wall.
Further, in the conventional display devices, most of them are designed assuming that they are installed indoors. Thus, they do not have measures to protect the display panels from water or dust. Thereby, when such display device is installed outdoor, the plug or the socket may be exposed by water or dust, and as a result, a short-out in the circuit or fire may cause from the circuit.
One idea is to utilize a dedicated cord having a sealed structure in order to protect the plug and the socket from the dust and water. However, since such dedicated cord is expensive, it increases the manufacturing cost of the display device.


A method and apparatus for preparing yeast raised doughnuts without frying is disclosed. A proven dough mixture is coated with a cooking fat, such as vegetable shortening, before baking and, subsequently coated with cooking fat again after baking so that the resultant product does not consist of a bread-like substance.

There are two general types of doughnut, cake doughnuts made from a mix with baking powder which produce a heavy dense product, and yeast raised doughnuts which are lighter and more spongy. Cake doughnuts are generally ring doughnuts, do not contain yeast and are not prooved during the manufacturing process; yeast raised doughnuts, on the other hand, are proofed, have a different texture, and are fluffier and lighter. Yeast raised doughnuts may be both ring type with icing, or shell type containing a filling.
Presently, yeast raised doughnuts are made by frying. The process illustrated in FIG. 1, generally comprises the following steps:    1. Mixing a dough mixture—containing, for example, wheat flour, dextrose, vegetable oil, salt, raising agents, emulsifiers, defatted Soya flour, whey powder, milk protein, skimmed milk powder, stabilizers, flavourings, colour and flour treatment agents—with yeast and water;    2. dividing into equal portions and allowing to ferment for up to 45 minutes during which time the dough rises to typically double in size;    3. kneading the dough either by machine or by hand so as to remove excess air, sheeting and shrinking the dough; and    4. cutting the dough into doughnut shapes.    5. The doughnut shapes are next transferred to a prooving room where heat and humidity are added for up to 45 minutes; in this specification a reference to 'proving' is to the addition of heat and humidity. A reference to a proven product shall be interpreted accordingly.    6. The doughnuts, now double in size are allowed to stand for up to 15 minutes creating a skin on the external surface of the doughnut.    7. The doughnuts are then fried for about 1.5 minutes or less in shortening at about 185° F.; and    8. after cooling the doughnuts are filled or iced or both.
Recently, as the public became more aware of the deleterious effect of fat in foods there has been an effort by the food industry to reduce the amount of fat in consumable products and a growing demand for healthier foods of all sorts including low fat equivalents of high fat foods. Doughnuts, in common with most fried foods, are seen as being high in fat and not suitable for a healthy diet. One way to avoid the high fat content of fried doughnuts is of course to avoid deep frying the dough and instead of frying, bake the doughnut.
A baked doughnut, however, would be expected by the skilled artisan to exhibit a bread-like texture lacking the external crispness and typical doughnut taste of the yeast raised deep fried doughnut.
In JP-A-3-127941, there is disclosed a method of manufacturing foodstuffs by baking while giving a flavour of fats or oils, i.e. a fried taste. The Japanese document discloses mixing a dough mixture of flour, yeast, sugar, eggs and seasoning with water; injecting the mixture in an automatic injector to form doughnut rings which are soft and deformable; pre-treating the rings at 100° C. on a net conveyor in an oven; spraying hot fat at 180° C. and baking at 190° C. Significantly, according to the disclosure, when a similar dough mixture was fried it did not survive the frying process. This reference does not disclose a process for making a raised yeast doughnut using a proven dough mixture but rather a very heavy, dense cake type doughnut product. Obviously the dough used is different from the standard yeast raised doughnut dough used by the industry to prepare fried doughnuts, because, as the patent indicates, this dough could not be fried.
GB 2015315 discloses a new moisture barrier applied to a fried doughnut.
WO-A-98/30105 discloses a glaze applied to a dough product which is to be frozen and in particular, a pizza. The glaze is applied to the dough product which is to be baked before freezing. The glaze consists of water, oil and a hydrophilic colloid. While this patent mentions doughnuts it provides no details with regard to a process for making a doughnut. In particular, there is no disclosure of a yeast raised doughnut. Instead it is clear that the process is generally applicable to bread based products. The skilled artisan would understand that the disclosed process which does not include a proving step, produces a product with a bread like texture rather than a yeast raised doughnut. There is no disclosure of a proven dough mixture coated with fat and then baked to produce a doughnut.
In view of the current trends to reduce the amount of fat in food products there is, therefore, still a need for a process that produces a raised yeast doughnut which maintains the texture and taste of a yeast raised fried doughnut with significant less fat content than the fried doughnut.

Method and apparatus for producing a doughnut


The present application provides an object tracking method. The object tracking method includes obtaining an image of an area in front of a vehicle; dividing the image of the area in the front of the vehicle into a plurality of sub-images; determining a plurality of first sub-images that satisfy a plurality of threshold conditions out of the plurality of sub-images; selecting a plurality of target sub-images out of the plurality of first sub-images, at least one of the plurality of first sub-images is not selected as one of the plurality of target sub-images; and recognizing a target object in one of the plurality of target sub-images.

In recent years, objection recognition devices for vehicular use have been developed. The objection recognition devices can be used to recognize, e.g., a moving object such as a vehicle traveling ahead of the user's vehicle, or a pedestrian. Thus, the objection recognition devices can detect a dangerous situation in its early stage, and notify the driver avoid the danger.

Object tracking method, object tracking apparatus, vehicle having the same, and computer-program product

Beijing BOE Technology Development Co., Ltd.


A vibration sensor includes a substrate. A first electrical contact and a spaced apart second electrical contact are both disposed on a first surface of the substrate. The elongated piezoelectric nano-scale structure extends outwardly from the first surface of the substrate and is disposed between, and in electrical communication with, the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact. The elongated piezoelectric nano-scale structure is oriented so that a voltage potential exists between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact when the elongated piezoelectric nano-scale structure is bent from a first state to a second state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vibration sensors and, more specifically, to a self-powered vibration sensor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One out of ten people suffers from hearing loss. Such hearing loss ranges from mild impairment to complete deafness, both in children and adults. Hearing aid devices offer people with hearing loss a way to improve their hearing, thereby improving the quality of their lives. Typically, there are two categories of hearing loss, conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). For a conductive hearing loss, sound is not properly transmitted through the ear due to a structural defect. In such as situation, an amplifier may restore normal hearing.
The cochlea is the auditory portion of the inner ear and is filled with a watery liquid, which moves in response to the vibrations coming from the middle ear via the oval window. As the fluid moves, thousands of "hair cells" are set in motion and convert that motion to electrical impulses that are communicated to many thousands of nerve cells via neurotransmitters. The primary auditory nerve cells transform the auditory signals into electrical impulses known as action potentials. The action potentials travel along the auditory nerve to the brain, where they are perceived as sounds.
Cochlear hair cells in the inner ear serve as receptors for all auditory signals heard by the human ear. Essentially, each hair cell acts as a biological strain gauge. The vibration of the auditory signals applies a mechanical force on the hair cell, which opens an ion conducting channel in a cell membrane coupled to the hair cell. The flowing of ions through the channel result in an influx of current, which changes a potential associated with the membrane. The potential change affects the rate of release from the hair cell of a synaptic transmitter. Consequently, a pattern of action potentials which encode the auditory signals, including information such as intensity, time course and frequency, are transmitted to the brain via an afferent nerve fiber contacting the basolateral surface of the hair cell.
SNHL is often caused by the damage to the hair cells in the inner ear that are used to sense vibration, which causes a cochlear malfunction. One method of improving hearing in people with SNHL is through digital signal processing by pre-processing sound signals and amplifying certain frequencies. However, devices embodying this approach are of relatively large size and tend to have a high rate of power consumption.
Therefore, there is a need for a vibration sensor that mimics the function of hair cells, that is compact and that consumes relatively little power.

Piezoelectric nanowire vibration sensors


A system for processing images may comprise a pixel configuration circuitry enabled to set for each pixel in a pixel array one of a plurality of integration times and one of a plurality of signal gains. A column analog-to-digital converter may be enabled to generate a corresponding digital data for a pixel in the pixel array, and digital processing circuitry may be enabled to interpolate output data from the corresponding digital data for pixels grouped into pixel groups, wherein the pixel group comprises a target pixel and neighboring pixels in a same color plane.

In a digital camera, light is passed through the camera lens to be exposed on an array of pixels having photodiodes such that the captured amount of light in each pixel can be converted into analog electric signals. The analog electrical signal from each pixel is amplified and converted into a digital signal via analog-to-digital conversion. The digital signal is then available for further digital processing to produce the captured image.
An image sensor in a digital camera or other digital imaging system performs the image production process from the pixels capturing light to the digital image output. Therefore, an image sensor is an important component in a digital image system for determining the quality of a final image. CMOS image sensors are widely used in applications requiring high speed performance and low power consumption as CMOS image sensors in general provide higher frame rate operation than the charge coupled devices (CCD). CMOS image sensors can also be formed in a very compact size chip with low power consumption and are used in digital camera implementations in various applications such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, portable computers, etc.
CMOS image sensors may, however, suffer from high read noise, that is, low signal to noise ratio (SNR), and high fixed pattern noise, that is, low dynamic range (DR). CMOS image sensors provide lower signal to noise ratio (SNR) and smaller dynamic range (DR) than charge coupled devices.
Dynamic range is the ratio between the smallest and largest possible values of a measurable quantity, such as light, expressed as a base-10 logarithmic value (decibel, dB). The dynamic range quantifies the ability to adequately image both high lights and dark shadows in a scene. For example, the human sense of sight has a very high dynamic range, as the human eyes can see objects in bright sunlight and also in a moonless night. The human eye has a dynamic range of around 200 dB.
As the dynamic range of a typical mobile sensor is usually around 60 dB, it appears almost impossible for today's electronic digital imaging equipment to reproduce the full dynamic range experienced by human eyes. Nevertheless, enhancing the dynamic range of the image sensors is one of the research goals of the industry.
Generally, the dynamic range can be extended by adding more hardware on chip to store more light information either in analog domain or digital domain, such as adding more devices in each pixel to increase charge collecting capability, or adding more frame and/or line memory to save images of different exposures, or adding optical masks to vary sensitivities of different pixels. These kinds of hardware solutions have serious limitations in mobile applications because the pixel size is so small that it cannot allow more transistors in the pixel, and the small module size of the mobile devices also limits the size of extra memory on chip, and the small size of the pixels also limits the performance and uniformity of the optical masks.
More specifically, the following techniques including multiple integration, logarithmic sensors, dual sensitivity pixels, and spatial-varying sensitivity pixels have been proposed to improve the dynamic range of the image sensors. However, all of these techniques are considered inadequate.
The multiple integration approach needs extra memory to store full or partial images of different integrations before processing them. The logarithmic sensor approach has high pixel response non-uniformity so that it is bad for color response. The dual sensitivity pixels approach needs extra transistors and/or storage inside the pixel, so the pixel size is hard to shrink.
Spatial-varying sensitivity pixels approach uses different optical masks on different pixels to subsample light information on the same pixel array, and the sensitivity of each pixel cannot be varied at different lighting conditions. Moreover, the pixel response is nonlinear. Accordingly, the pixel response technique requires that the light response of the sensor be calibrated fully and a lookup table be created. The extra filters also add cost.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Dynamic range extension for CMOS image sensors for mobile applications


An optical sensor device may include an optical sensor that includes a set of sensor elements; an optical filter that includes one or more channels; a phase mask configured to distribute a plurality of light beams associated with a subject in an encoded pattern on an input surface of the optical filter; and one or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured to obtain, from the optical sensor, sensor data associated with the subject and may determine a distance of the subject from the optical sensor device. The one or more processors may select, based on the distance, a processing technique to process the sensor data, wherein the processing technique is an imaging processing technique or a spectroscopic processing technique. The one or more processors may process, using the selected processing technique, the sensor data to generate output data and may provide the output data.

An optical sensor device may be utilized to capture information concerning light. For example, the optical sensor device may capture information relating to a set of wavelengths associated with the light. The optical sensor device may include a set of sensor elements (e.g., optical sensors, spectral sensors, and/or image sensors) that capture the information. For example, an array of sensor elements may be utilized to capture information relating to multiple wavelengths. The sensor element array may be associated with an optical filter. The optical filter may include one or more channels that respectively pass particular wavelengths to sensor elements of the sensor element array.


In order to sharpen and harden a corner portion of a score line edge portion of an iron golf club having a plurality of score lines on a face surface within a prescribed range, heat input is implemented on an edge portion of a groove through laser irradiation after the groove is machined and, as a result, the edge portion is hardened and melted to form a rounded corner R. The hardness is set at a Vickers hardness value (HV) of at least 350. The corner R forms a part of a contour line of the edge portion and this contour line is formed to exist between a first circle that contacts the face surface and a side surface of the groove and has a radius of 0.010 inches (0.254 millimeters) and a second circle that is concentric with the first circle and has a radius of 0.011 inches (0.2794 millimeters).

A plurality of grooves known as score lines are formed on a face of a golf club head. The score lines are used to apply spin to a ball when the ball is struck by the face during a shot and to stabilize the amount of spin, and therefore the shape and so on of the score lines affect an striking performance and a so-called spin performance. In the case of an iron in particular, an iron having a small loft angle (between 20 degrees and 30 degrees, for example) is referred to as a long iron while an iron having a large loft angle (between 40 degrees and 60 degrees, for example) is referred to as a short iron. Numbers and symbols such as 1, 2, 3, . . . , 9, PW (pitching wedge), and SW (sand wedge) are typically allocated to irons from a long iron to a short iron.
As regards short irons known as wedges having a loft angle between 45 degrees and 60 degrees, such as a PW (a pitching wedge), an AW (approach wedge) and a SW (sand wedge), from among the irons described above, those exhibiting a superior spin performance are preferred by professional players, advanced players and so on. The reason for this is that as the loft angle increases, a flying distance of the ball decreases, and therefore the player can aim for a target destination of the ball more easily with an iron having a large loft angle. In this case, though a target area becomes narrower, it is nevertheless more advantageous for a struck ball to stop close to its landing spot rather than to run excessively.
Further, in a professional game, greens are kept hard and set such that the ball rolls over them quickly and it is therefore particularly important to apply spin to the ball so that the ball stops close to its landing spot. Likewise with regard to long irons and middle irons, those with a high spin performance generate a stable amount of spin and are therefore desirable in terms of the flying distance. This is particularly important during shots from the rough to prevent flyers, which are balls that fly further than an intended flying distance because no spin is applied thereto.
Hence, a stable spin performance is required during iron shots made under various conditions. The shape of the score line greatly affects the stability of the spin performance. Specifically, sharpening an edge portion of the score line is effective in stabilizing the spin performance. Various methods for forming this type of score line have been proposed. For example, a manufacturing method, in which an edge portion of a score line is provided on a face surface by forming the score line on the face surface through pressing and then planing the face surface evenly through planar milling, has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-199851).
Further, a method for manufacturing a high quality golf club head with excellent manufacturing efficiency by modifying the shape of a score line groove to form a trapezoidal projection and then forging the projection has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-93560). In another known technique, explosion welding is applied to a site of the face surface relating to the score lines to form a component made of a hard, wear-resistant material, whereupon score line grooves are formed on the surface by machining. This document discloses a technique of forming an R portion of the groove by machining. A dimension of the R portion is preferably smaller than 0.01 inches (0.254 mm) (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-6296).
The shape of the score line is subject to rules and, according to the R&A (Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews; hereafter referred to as R&A) and the USGA (United States Golf Association; hereafter referred to as USGA), rules are defined as to the groove constituting the score line such that a rounded edge thereof must take a circular shape having a radius of no more than 0.020 inches (0.508 millimeters), the width thereof, when measured by a 30-degree measurement method (test on file with R&A), must be no more than 0.035 inches (0.9 millimeters), an interval between sides of adjacent grooves must be no less than three times the groove width and no less than 0.075 inches (1.905 millimeters), a depth thereof must be no more than 0.020 inches (0.508 millimeters) and so on.
Furthermore, according to new rules applied by the R&A and the USGA from Jan. 1, 2010 onward, the rounded edge of the score line groove on an iron golf club having a loft angle of 25 degrees or more must conform to a two circle rule, according to which the rounded edge of the score line groove is such that its configuration in cross section is within a range between a circle that is in contact with the face surface and the side surface of the groove with a radius of 0.010 inches (0.254 millimeters) and a circle with a radius of no more than 0.011 inches (0.2794 millimeters) and concentric with the first circle.
According to these rules, the score line is subject to the following restrictions: 1. The groove width must be no more than 0.9 millimeters (0.035 inches); 2. The interval between the sides of adjacent grooves must be no less than three times the groove width; 3. The interval between the sides of adjacent grooves must be no less than 1.9 millimeters (0.075 inches); 4. The groove width must be constant; and so on.
Thus, these new standards make conventional shapes and manufacturing methods completely obsolete, hence it is therefore necessary to provide a new manufacturing method that conforms to the shape according to the new standards. However, it is difficult to manufacture such a golf club head effectively and with stability using conventional techniques such as cutting or pressing. For example, cutting processing may be implemented using a cutting tool having a corner R that conforms to the new standards, but this tool becomes worn extremely quickly, leading to an increase in cost. Furthermore, it is difficult to create a stable shape with pressing. More specifically, when a conventional processing method is employed, an edge portion may sag excessively or protrude by approximately 0.01 to 0.15 mm on a face surface side, which must be corrected.
As another problem, there is concern that, because of the new rules, the spin performance may deteriorate when professional players, advanced players and so on make shots in a manner as they played in the past. Hence, such an iron golf club is required that maintains a superior spin performance within the scope of the new rules. The score lines, in addition to being limited in shape, are provided on the striking surface and therefore, when shots are made repeatedly, the edge portions become worn, causing the spin performance to deteriorate. Hence, resistance to wear caused by impacts is also required. Methods for manufacturing a club head using a hard material exist, but with such methods feeling in striking becomes hard, making it difficult to adjust the loft angle and a lie angle.

Iron golf club and method for manufacturing the same


An information processing apparatus includes a web server configured to receive a screen display HTTP request from a web browser, determine whether or not the web browser is a certain web browser on a basis of the screen display HTTP request, if the web server determines that the web browser is not the certain web browser, create first HTML data including data obtained by encoding an image to be displayed on the screen, and create a first HTTP response including the first HTML data, if the web server determines that the web browser is the certain web browser, create second HTML data including link information of the image, and create a second HTTP response including the second HTML data, and return the first HTTP response or the second HTTP response to the web browser.

There is known an art in which a web server creates HTML data on a basis of a screen display HTTP request received from a web browser and sends an HTTP response including the created HTML data to the web browser, and the web browser displays a screen on a basis of the HTML data included in the received HTTP response.

Information processing apparatus, web application program non-transitory computer readable recording medium that records, and information processing system


A PIN-PMN-PT ferroelectric single crystal and a method of manufacture are disclosed. The PIN-PMN-PT ferroelectric single crystal is oriented and polarized along a single crystallographic direction. The PIN-PMN-PT ferroelectric single crystal ferroelectric has increased remnant polarization.

Directed energy technology is being developed for a broad range of applications including both lethal and non-lethal weapons, burst communications, and explosion diagnostics. These systems use a pulse power generator to provide a burst of energy to an energy projection system such as a laser, a radio frequency (RF) antenna, or a microwave frequency (MW) antenna. A variety of generators have been developed for single shot systems. One type, known as a ferroelectric generator (FEG), uses conventional explosives to launch a shock wave into a piece of polarized ferroelectric ceramic. The shock wave causes the ceramic to depolarize, liberating a large amount of charge that is then available to do work such as drive an RF or MW antenna. FEGs are compact, inexpensive power sources that are particularly attractive for highly space-constrained applications.
The current, state-of-the-art FEG material is a piezoelectric ceramic based on Type I lead zirconate titanate (PZT) material having the composition Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3, which can generally be referred to as Type I PZT. This material is a polycrystalline aggregate that does not completely depolarize during shock, or in other words, the fractional amount of depolarization α, that occurs during shock is less than 1. Most often, this material has a moderate remnant polarization Pr of about 20 to 25 μC/cm2 (C=coulombs), and a dielectric constant ∈r greater than about 1000. Most Type I PZT materials have breakdown strengths ranging from 30 to 100 kV/cm.
Another FEG material is Pb(Zr0.95,Ti0.05)O3 ceramic, otherwise known as 95/5 PZT ceramic. This material is not generally available commercially. Like the Type I PZT-Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3 material, 95/5 PZT ceramic is a polycrystalline aggregate of randomly oriented, micrometer-sized crystallites. This material undergoes a phase transition to a non-polarized anti-ferroelectric state during sufficiently strong shock events. This causes complete, instantaneous depolarization, so that the fractional amount of depolarization α=1. Also, when this material is doped with a small amount of Nb5+ in place of Zr4+ and Ti4+ the material has a high Pr in the range of 39 to 40 μC/cm2. This material has a dielectric constant ∈r in the range of 300 to 400. Similar to the Type I PZT materials, this material also has breakdown strengths ranging from 30 to 100 kV/cm.
What is needed to improve FEG performance is a ferroelectric material with an improved remnant polarization Pr which provides more charge for the intended application and can lead to the generation of higher electric fields during shock discharge, thus increasing component energy density.

High polarization energy storage materials using oriented single crystals


Methods and apparatus for UE handover are disclosed. One method of a UE comprising receiving a handover configuration related to a conditional handover command including at least one handover condition and a plurality of candidate cells, wherein the handover condition is configured per candidate cell; and selecting a target cell from the plurality of candidate cells in response to the target cell meeting the corresponding handover condition. The methods and apparatus herein not only increase the likelihood of a successful handover while the power consumption and/or processing time for the UE are acceptable, the processing resource is also saved for eNB.

The following abbreviations are herewith defined, at least some of which are referred to within the following Description: Third Generation Partnership Project ("3GPP"), User Entity/Equipment (Mobile Terminal) ("UE"), Access Stratum ("AS"), Access Network ("AN"), Core Network ("CN"), Radio Resource Control ("RRC"), Packet Data Convergence Protocol ("PDCP"), Serial Number ("SN"), Radio Access Network ("RAN"), Radio Network Layer/Transmission Network Layer ("RNL/TNL"), Downlink ("DL"), Uplink ("UL"), Handover ("HO"), Receiving ("RX"), Transmitting ("TX"), Tracking Area ("TA"), Enhanced Radio Access Bearers ("E-RABs"), Radio Access Bearers ("RABs"), Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier ("C-RNTI"), Reference Signal Receiving Power ("RSRP"), Reference Signal Receiving Quality ("RSRQ"), Common Pilot Channel ("CPICH"), Random Access Procedure ("RACH"), Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request ("HARQ"), System Information Block ("SIB"), Radio Link Failure ("RLF"), Information Element ("IE"), Next Generation Evolved Node B ("ng-eNB"), Evolved Node B ("eNB"), Evolved Packet Core ("EPC"), Mobility Management Entity ("MME"), Radio Resource Management ("RRM"), Fifth Generation Mobility Communication ("5G"), Fifth Generation Core ("5GC"), Public Land Mobile Network ("PLMN"), VISITED Public Land Mobile Network ("VPLMN"), and Long Term Evolution ("LTE").
In LTE, UE handover from a source cell to a target cell includes: S1-based handover in which MME is involved to forward the handover-related messages between the source eNB and the target eNB over the S1 interface; X2-based handover in which the handover-related messages are directly exchanged between the source eNB and the target eNB over the X2 interface; and Intra-eNB handover in which the UE is camped in a different cell managed by the same source eNB. The present disclosure focuses on X2-based handover.
In a LTE system, handover failure often occurs due to the following three reasons:
[Handover Too Late] An RLF occurs after the UE has stayed for a long period of time in the source cell; the UE attempts to re-establish the radio link connection in a different cell.
[Handover Too Early] An RLF occurs shortly after a successful handover from a source cell to a target cell or a handover failure occurs during the handover procedure; the UE attempts to re-establish the radio link connection in the source cell.
[Handover to a Wrong Cell] An RLF occurs shortly after a successful handover from a source cell to a target cell or a handover failure occurs during the handover procedure; the UE attempts to re-establish the radio link connection in a cell other than the source cell and the target cell. This kind of RLF generally occurs in the overlapping area covered by three cells.
Therefore, a new study on UE handover from a source cell to a target cell is required to increase the likelihood of a successful handover. Further, the power consumption and/or processing time needs to be considered for the UE, and the processing resource also needs to be saved for eNB.


Disclosed herein is an LED-type illuminating module, which independently functions as an illuminating apparatus and which is used to constitute various kinds of illuminating apparatuses having desired outputs by providing a plurality of the LED-type illuminating modules on a module fixing plate 8 of a predetermined area, including: a light transmission or diffusion plate; an LED substrate on which LEDs are fixed at regular intervals by soldering; a radiator formed by die-casting a light metal alloy; a waterproof ring; a plurality of radiating plates made of a light metal alloy; a housing formed by injection-molding a conductive polymer resin material; a waterproof packing; and a power supply converter.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light emitting diode type illuminating module having a capacity of from several watts to several tens of watts, and, more particularly, to a multipurpose light emitting diode type illuminating module which can greatly improve the heat radiation performance of an illuminating apparatus and can reduce the weight and size thereof because light emitting diodes (LEDs) generating a small amount of heat and having low power consumption as a light source are used.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, conventional security lights and street lights use a mercury or sodium lamp as their light source. Therefore, they are problematic in that energy consumption is high for lightness, and in that the lifecycle is short, so the light intensity rapidly decreases, thereby requiring periodic control.
Particularly, since the above-mentioned lights use mercury gas, there is a problem in that they cause environmental pollution when they are discarded.
Therefore, recently, illumination lamps, which use a light emitting diode (LED) having low power consumption and a long lifecycle as a light source, have been developed and appeared on the market.
In this case, the light emitting diode (LED), which is a semiconductor device having the advantages of rapid response speed, low power consumption and long lifecycle, produces minority carriers (electrons or holes) using a P-N junction, and emits light because of the recombination of the minority carriers. Therefore, the light emitting diode (LED) is advantageous in that it can greatly reduce the consumption of electric energy because its power consumption is about 1/10 that of a conventional incandescent bulb or halogen bulb.
Particularly, in the case of illuminating apparatuses requiring a large amount of electric power, such as traffic lights, security lights, street lights, floodlights, lights for houses or cattle pens, etc., replacing the sodium or mercury lamps generally used in such an illumination device with light emitting diodes (LEDs) is very effective at reducing power consumption.
However, since conventional illuminating apparatuses using light emitting diodes (LEDs) are difficult to solve the problems of heat radiation, low-capacity light emitting diodes (LEDs) having a power consumption of 1 watt or less have generally been used. In other words, when high-capacity light emitting diodes (called power LEDs) having a power consumption of 1 watt or more, particularly, 2˜10 watts are used, a large amount of heat is generated. In this case, when the heat radiation performance thereof is low, peripheral devices are damaged by heat and the lifecycle thereof is rapidly shortened, so that these conventional illuminating devices cannot practically serve as illuminators.
Meanwhile, such illuminating apparatuses using light emitting diodes (LEDs), for example, security lights or street lights are advantageous compared to security lights or street light using fluorescence in that they have a simple lighting circuit, do not require an inverter circuit and an iron-core ballast, have low power consumption, a long lifecycle and low maintenance costs.
However, such illuminating devices as traffic lights, security lights, street lights, floodlights, lights for houses or cattle pens, lights for sign boards, downlights, etc. are disadvantageous in that their properties are deteriorated by thermal stress and they easily break down.
That is, when the amount of electric current flowing to a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) increases so that they can be operated, the amount of heat generated therefrom increases, thus causing the properties of the illuminating apparatuses to deteriorate and causing the illuminating apparatuses to break down.
For example, such illuminating apparatuses as traffic lights, security lights, street lights, floodlights, lights for houses or cattle pens, lights for sign boards, downlights, room lights, etc., are provided with respective printed circuit boards (PCB) having a control circuit for switching LEDs on and off and a power circuit for externally supplying power to LEDs. The printed circuit board (PCB) malfunctions and breaks down by the thermal stress generated from the LEDs.
Therefore, in illuminating apparatuses such as traffic lights, security lights, street lights, floodlights, lights for houses or cattle pens, lights for sign boards, downlights, etc., there have been many attempts to overcome the thermal stress generated from the LEDs by providing such a radiating plate as a heat sink or a slug made of a metal material having high thermal conductivity. However, in this case, there is a problem in that, due to the metal material constituting the radiating plate, the thickness and volume of the radiating plate increase in order to meet required heat radiating efficiency, which increases the size and weight of each of the illuminating apparatuses.
Moreover, in the case of conventional light emitting diode type illuminating modules or street lights, since it is possible to prevent the entry of moisture only when they are tightly closed, it is difficult to install a cooler for efficient heat radiation. Nevertheless, installing a cooler causes the problem of all kinds of foreign materials including water or moisture being introduced from the exterior into such illuminating apparatuses as traffic lights, security lights, street lights, floodlights, lights for houses or cattle pens, etc.
Meanwhile, when a radiator used in a light emitting diode type illuminating module is formed by die-casting aluminum, there are problems in that the thickness and volume thereof are increased, so that the production cost thereof is increased and the weight thereof cannot be decreased, thus causing the production cost of a lamp stay or a lamp support heavier than a conventional discharge lamp to increase, and in that a previously-installed lamp stay or lamp support must be replaced by another.
Moreover, when a conventional discharge-type security light, floodlight or the like is replaced by a light emitting diode type security, floodlight or the like, the original light does not have a sufficient space in which to install a radiator required by the light emitting diode type security light, floodlight or the like, so that it cannot be directly used and is discarded, thereby causing the problem of a waste of resources.
Further, a conventional radiating structure formed by extruding or die-casting aluminum is somewhat excellent in thermal conductivity, but the heat radiation (thermal diffusion or discharge of heat to air) performance thereof is rapidly lowered in tightly enclosed locations.
For this reason, most radiating structures of LED illuminating apparatuses are formed by extruding or die-casting aluminum even though they have hardly been employed in notebooks or personal computers (PCs). However, they are problematic in that the volume and weight thereof are increased.
Further, conventional radiators using a principle of a heat spreader (called a self-powered heat pump) have lately been applied to high-price products such as notebooks and the like and LED illuminating apparatuses even though they have high performance but a short lifecycle, are expensive and have a large volume. However, they are problematic in that the prices of illuminating apparatuses become excessively expensive when they are used in the illuminating apparatuses.
Further, in conventional radiating structures formed by pressing, laminating and then bundling aluminum thin films, the thermal conductivity thereof is somewhat improved, and the thermal diffusivity thereof is greatly improved. However, they are problematic in that thermal diffusion is restricted in tightly-enclosed spaces, and in that the air layer located at the narrow space between the thin films has a thermal insulating effect. Therefore, it is not preferred that these conventional radiating structures be used in places where a large amount of dust exists.
Meanwhile, when such illuminating apparatuses as traffic lights, security lights, street lights, floodlights, lights for houses or cattle pens, lights for sign boards, downlights, etc. are fabricated using a light emitting diode type illuminating module, there are cases where it is required that the LED-type illuminating module be directly provided with a power supply converter, and, if necessary, there are cases where it is also required that a current controller, a color controller and a power supply converter are individually fabricated, and power sources and signal lines are respectively connected to the LED-type illuminating module.
However, among the above two cases, in the case where a power supply converter is independently and directly provided in the LED-type illuminating module, there is a problem in that the heat generated from the power supply converter provided in the LED-type illuminating module cannot be easily radiated because the power supply converter is installed in a housing formed of general synthetic resin having very low thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, and the heat generated from light emitting diodes (LEDs) can also be radiated only by a radiator, thus shortening the lifecycle of the LED-type illuminating module including the power supply converter and the light emitting diodes (LEDs).
Particularly, for example, when the LED-type illuminating module is a high-power illuminating module having a power of 10˜20 W, high heat radiation efficiency is required because each of the LEDs generates a very large amount of heat. However, conventionally, similarly to a low-power illuminating module having a power of 8 W or less, heat radiation is carried out only by one radiator integrated with several radiating fins, so that the size of the radiator becomes large or the heat radiation efficiency thereof becomes low at the same size, thereby shortening the lifecycle of the illuminating module itself including light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Light emitting diode type illuminating module