A computer-implemented method for anomaly detection in a data processing system comprising a processor and a memory comprising instructions which are executed by the processor, the method including: receiving, by the processor, a real-time airflow pattern detected from an airflow alerter, wherein the real-time airflow pattern is generated by a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a particular facility; comparing, by the processor, the real-time airflow pattern to a predetermined airflow pattern for the HVAC system; and when the real-time airflow pattern is different from the predetermined airflow pattern, receiving, by the processor, an alert message indicating an anomaly from the airflow alerter.

Physical security is a top concern on cybersecurity, because if an attacker has physical access, then the amount of system intrusion threat increases exponentially, through the console port and physical port access, etc. Some companies invest a lot of money, resources, and efforts to enhance physical security and deter attackers. However, most of disaster recovery plans were designed to restore operations, rather than to restore the same level of security. Thus, companies are more vulnerable to some attacks during a disaster. For example, if there is a power outage, some security mechanisms like cameras and sensors may remain off during the power outage. Therefore, physical security is vulnerable during downtime.
Thus, it is desired to provide a security system for anomaly (e.g., intrusion, component malfunction, etc.) detection that is working around the clock, without consuming power of backup batteries in case of a power outage.

Anomaly detection based on airflow measurement

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Image sensors and methods of operating the same. An image sensor includes a pixel array including a plurality of pixels. Each of the plurality of pixels includes a photo sensor, the voltage-current characteristics of which vary according to energy of incident light, and that generates a sense current determined by the energy of the incident light; a reset unit that is activated to generate a reference current, according to a reset signal for resetting at least one of the plurality of pixels; and a conversion unit that converts the sense current and the reference current into a sense voltage and a reference voltage, respectively.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to image sensors, and more particularly, to image sensors including photo sensors, the voltage-current characteristics of the photo sensors varying according to the wavelength and/or amount of incident light, and methods of operating the image sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image sensors are devices and/or electronic components that may sense information of an object and transform the information into an electrical image signal. Image sensors may be categorized as charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors. CCD image sensors may use a plurality of MOS capacitors including photoactive regions. If an appropriate voltage is applied sequentially to gates of the MOS capacitors, then signal charges of respective pixels may be sequentially transferred to adjacent MOS capacitors. Photogenerated charge may be transferred across the capacitors to a charge amplifier and converted to a voltage. CMOS image sensors may use a plurality of transistors for a plurality of pixels. Charge carriers may be generated in a photo diode irradiated by light. The charge carriers may be converted into a voltage and the voltage may be output.

Image sensors having variable voltage-current characteristics and methods of operating the same


In one embodiment, a junction field effect transistor having a substrate, wherein formed on the substrate is a graded n-doped region having a high doping concentration in an inner region and a low doping concentration in an outer region, with a p-doped buried region adjacent to the graded n-doped region near the outer region, and a spiral resistor connected to the graded n-doped region at its inner region and at its outer region. An ohmic contact at the inner region provides the drain, an ohmic contact at the outer region provides the source, and an ohmic contact at the substrate provides the gate.

Many DC-to-DC power converters may be conceptualized by the circuit illustrated in FIG. 1A, where electrical power from a source having a supply voltage VIN is provided to load 102 such that the load voltage is regulated to some voltage less than VIN. A feedback path is provided from node 103 to controller 104, where controller 104 controls the duty cycle of high-side switch 106 and low-side switch 108 to regulate the load voltage. A second-order low pass filter comprising inductor 110 and capacitor 112 couples load 102 to switch point 114 so as to smooth output ripples. In practice, the circuit components in FIG. 1, except for inductor 110, capacitor 112, and load 102, are integrated on a single silicon die. The operating principles for the circuit of FIG. 1 are well known to those skilled in the art of power converters, and need not be repeated here.
For some consumer applications, the supply voltage VIN may peak to several hundred volts, in which case the voltage drop across switch 106 or 108 may also peak to several hundred volts. Accordingly, for such applications, switches 106 and 108 should be designed to operate under such high voltage drops.
Some circuit components within controller 104 may need to derive their power from the supply voltage VIN, but are designed to operate only over voltage drops on the order of ten volts. A JFET (Junction Field Effect Transistor) may serve as a voltage source for such low voltage components, where the JFET is powered by the supply voltage VIN. A generic application is illustrated in FIG. 1B, where the drain of JFET 116 is at the supply voltage VIN, and its source is connected to load 118. The source voltage developed at node 120 (the source terminal or port) is denote as VS. With gate 122 grounded, the source voltage developed at node 120 is such that the load current through load 118 matches the drain-source current through JFET 116. Stated more formally, if the drain-source current IDS of JFET 116 is given by IDS=f(VGS, VDS) where VGS is the gate-to-source voltage and VDS is the drain-to-source voltage of JFET 116, and if the load current IL through load 118 satisfies IL=Y(VS), then the source voltage VS is such that Y(VS)=f(−VS, VIN−VS).
A JFET that can withstand a drain-source voltage drop of several hundred volts, but prevent its source terminal from exceeding a voltage in the range of tens of volts above ground potential, has utility in DC-to-DC power converters, as well as in other applications.

High voltage junction field effect transistor with spiral field plate


An industrial floor scrubber includes a solution tank and delivery system for applying the solution to the floor, and one or more rotating brushes for removing dust and debris from the floor and respectively directing same to a squeegee and to a debris hopper. The trailing squeegee removes the remaining solution from the floor and, in combination with a vacuum system, directs the recovered solution to a cleaning solution recovery tank in the scrubbing mode of operation. In a sweeping mode of operation, the use of a dust filter is eliminated as the dust-laden air is directed past the debris hopper and onto the upraised squeegee which confines and directs the dust-laden air into a spray of fine water particles which adhere to and transport the dust-bearing water particles to the recovery tank via an applied vacuum. The heavy dust-bearing water particles drop into the recovery tank, while a demister removes the remaining water vapor with the dry air discharged to the atmosphere via a vacuum impeller.

Industrial floor scrubbers typically include a cleaning solution tank, a solution delivery system to apply the cleaning solution to the floor in front of one or more rotating cylindrical or disc scrub brushes for cleaning the floor, a squeegee located aft of the scrub brushes for drying the floor, a vacuum system for reclaiming the cleaning solution, and a recovery tank for holding the reclaimed cleaning solution. In addition, floor scrubbers that employ cylindrical scrub brushes are frequently provided with a debris hopper located aft of the scrub brushes to catch wet debris swept from the floor by the typically counter-rotated scrub brushes. One advantage of this system is that it prevents debris from getting caught in the rear squeegee which would degrade drying of the floor by the squeegee.
Floor scrubber utility has recently been enhanced so as to provide the scrubber with a dry sweep capability, as opposed to merely scrubbing the floor using a water solution. To that end, dry sweep systems have been developed for use in some floor scrubbers. These dry sweep systems typically incorporate rubber skirts, or baffles, disposed around the perimeter of the floor engaging scrub brushes for the purpose of containing dust produced during the dry sweep operation. These modified floor scrubbers also sometimes include a dust filter mounted to an upper portion of a debris hopper, and a second separate vacuum impeller system to vacuum the debris hopper and draw the dust-laden air through the dust filter, as well as an intermittently operated filter shaker for shaking the filter clean. This system is very similar in operation to a standard dedicated floor sweeper.
Field use has demonstrated that there is a basic problem with this type of dry sweep system. When operating this type of machine as a floor scrubber, a large amount of water is swept, along with any collected debris, into the debris hopper. Most of this liquid is suctioned away from the debris hopper using a small vacuum hose that taps into a main rear squeegee vacuum hose. The dry sweep dust filter, even though not used when scrubbing and not transmitting air during scrubbing operations, becomes saturated and clogged with moisture and wet debris primarily due to its close proximity to the debris hopper. As a result, the saturated dry filter becomes ineffective when needed as a dry dust filter. It is then necessary for the operator to remove, wash, dry and replace the dust filter, or to replace the dust filter with a new filter before attempting to dry sweep.
Due to the relatively small debris hopper volume and other considerations, scrubbers used as dry sweepers are not intended to be as effective as a dedicated floor sweeper. If the floor environment is considered to be severe, or "out of control", due to the presence of large amounts of dust and/or debris, then the use of a dedicated floor sweeper is typically recommended to bring the environment under control before scrubbing or scrubber dry sweeping is attempted.


Methods and systems are provided for a coin sorting apparatus. In one example, a coin sorting apparatus is configured to receive a coin wrapper without moving a coin tube.

A coin sorting machine may sort and dispense coins of a shared value into a coin wrapper. The coin wrapper may be held via a coin tube and/or a coin attachment. Once the coin wrapper is filled with a plurality of coins, the coin wrapper may be replaced with an empty coin wrapper via removal of the filled coin wrapper and its corresponding coin tube and/or coin attachment.
One example approach is shown by Perkitny et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,829. Therein, a coin sorting apparatus comprises a hopper into which a plurality of unsorted coins is deposited. The coins are sorted within the coin sorting apparatus via a ramp comprising a plurality of openings with a plurality of diameters, wherein diameters of the plurality of diameters are equal to various diameters of different coins, such as pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and one dollar coins. Coins may fall through openings and deposited onto one of a plurality of chutes. A plurality of coin wrappers is positioned adjacent to respective lower edges of one chute of the plurality of chutes. The wrappers are supported at their open upper ends via a collar assembly and at their lower constricted end via a base assembly. Coins may fall from the chutes and fill corresponding coin wrappers.
However, the inventors have identified some issues with the approaches described above. For example, the base assembly is pressed through the lower constricted end and the open upper end is then arranged at or slightly below the lower edge of a corresponding chute via the collar to allow a coin to fall at a desired orientation to fill the coin wrapper. This process is time-consuming. To remove a filled coin wrapper, an operator presses a first finger against the constricted end to lift the filled coin wrapper through the collar. The operator then uses a second finger to press against the open end to block coins from escaping the coin wrapper due to the force applied by their first finger.
Other examples of coin sorter and wrapper supports include a coin tube and/or coin attachment for coin wrappers. Once the coin wrapper is filled, the coin tube and/or coin attachment is removed to replace the filled coin wrapper with an empty coin wrapper. This process is also time consuming and aligning the coin wrapper with the coin tube and/or coin attachment may be difficult due to the flexible nature of the coin wrapper. Furthermore, removal of the filled coin wrapper from the coin tube and/or the coin attachment may be difficult due to the rigidity of the filled coin wrapper.
In one example, the issues described above may be addressed by a system comprising a coin sorting apparatus configured to receive a coin wrapper without moving a coin tube. In this way, the coin tube may be stationary as a filled coin wrapper is replaced with an empty coin wrapper or as an empty coin wrapper is positioned onto the stationary coin tube.
As one example, a plurality of coin tube platforms may interface with a plurality of corresponding coin tubes, wherein the coin tube platforms and coin tubes may be matched based on a corresponding coin denomination. Each coin tube may comprise a cylindrical shape with a diameter associated with a specific coin denomination. The coin tube may be open along its half facing an exterior of the coin sorting apparatus. In one example, the coin tube is open along its longitudinal length (e.g., a height of the cylinder) and open at its top and bottom. The coin wrapper may be positioned within the opening of the coin tube to receive coins. Once the coin wrapper is filled, the coin wrapper may be removed from the coin tube without moving the coin tube. As such, the coin tube may remain stationary and positioned within the coin sorting apparatus as a coin wrapper is loaded and removed. By doing this, an efficiency of sorting coins into corresponding coin wrappers may be increased relative to the previous examples described above.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


In an optical disc playback apparatus OPP for reproducing data recorded on an optical disc Od and outputting an on-screen message (OSM) to be displayed in a predetermined number (10) of display lines, a reader 12, 13, 14, 15 reads out record data Si from a recording surface of the optical disc Od. An on-screen message generator 16, 1A generates a digital character signal sequence to be displayed as the on-screen message (OSM). An on-screen message lines controller 16; Ssw; #400 controls the on-screen message generator to change the number of display lines in which the on-screen is displayed, based on the record data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical disc playback apparatuses and, more specifically, to an optical disc playback apparatus for displaying, on a television screen, an on-screen message in the predetermined number of lines changeable to an image display format of data recorded on an optical disc being played back.
2. Description of the Background Art
Recently, video CD players which are CD players incorporated with MPEG1 (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group1) decoding feature are widely available. Such video CD players are capable of reproducing images and sounds for maximum of 74 minutes from moving picture data and audio data recorded on video CDs and Karaoke CDs, wherein such data is digitally compressed by MPEG1 technique. Further,CVDs (China Video CDs) and SVCDs (Super Video CDs) with higher quality of image and audio data are commercialized especially focusing on the Chinese market. The CVDs and the SVCDs are realized with MPEG2 (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group2) decoding featureinstead of MPEGI, and can be played back without any modification on mechanism such as optical pickup, servo technique, and signal processing technique for the MPEG1.
Mainly in the Japanese and US markets, DVD players incorporated with the MPEG2 decoding feature are commercialized. The DVD players are capable of reproducing maximum of 133 minutes of high-quality moving pictures with high-resolution defined by horizontally 702 dots and vertically 480 lines, together with high-quality sound. In addition to the higher quality of reproduced images and sounds, advanced features are achieved in these video CD players and DVD players. Such advanced features are quite convenient for sophisticated users who are familiar with such features to enjoy various functions. On the other hand, it is difficult for ordinary users due to complicated operation required to utilize the functions. To ease the user""s inconvenience caused by the complicated operability, the video CD players and DVD players recently adopt an OSD (On-Screen Display) function. The function is for displaying information for user""s easy operation on a monitor for reproduced pictures. Such information indicates input information corresponding to user""s operation, an elapsed time after start of reproduction, a status of the player during reproduction, special reproduction function, and a type of optical disc. The information is referred to as an on-screen message (OSM).
Hereinafter, by referring to FIGS. 10, 11, and 12, examples of conventional optical disc playback apparatuses are described. In FIG. 10, a first example of the conventional optical disc playback apparatus is shown. In a conventional optical disc playback apparatus OPC1 of this example, an optical disc Od, typically a music CD, is fixedly placed on a spindle motor 72 for rotation. An optical pickup 73 applies a laser beam Lb onto the recording surface of the rotating optical disc Od to read out data therefrom as digital signals.
An optical servo controller 74 executes a servo-control of the spindle motor 72 and the optical pickup 73. A digital signal processor 75 demodulates the digital signals from the optical pickup 73 to convert the signals into sub-code information, control information, a sequence of CD-DA signals unique to the music CD, and a sequence of other signals. Based on the sub-code information and the control information supplied from the digital signal processor 75, a system controller 76 determines the type of the optical disc being played back and detects system errors such as track jumps and focus errors of the laser beam Lb.
An information signal sequence separator 79 separates the digital signal sequences supplied from the digital signal processor 75 into the CD-DA signal sequence and the other signal sequence.
An MPEG1 decoder 78 receives the CD-DA signal sequence and the other signal sequence from the information signal sequence separator 79. If the CD-DA signal sequence is received, the MPEG1 decoder 78 outputs the received signal sequence as it is by using memory 77 as buffer memory. On the other hand, if the signal sequence other than the CD-DA signal sequence is received, the MPEG1 decoder 78 reads disc information on the optical disc Od to determine whether the image display format of the video recorded thereon (signal sequence other than the CD-DA signal sequence) is the PAL or the NTSC.
Further, by using the memory 77 as buffer memory, the MPEG1 decoder 78 converts the video signal sequence (signal sequence other than the CD-DA signal sequence) in real time into a decoded digital signal sequence. Note that if the video is in the PAL format, the video signal sequence is converted into a decoded digital signal sequence in the PAL format. If the video is in the NTSC format, the video signal sequence is converted into a decoded digital signal sequence in the NTSC format.
An on-screen display controller 7A converts character data and character display information from the system controller 76 into a digital character signal sequence.
A video signal D/A converter 7B converts the decoded digital signal sequence from the MPEG1 decoder 78 and the digital character signal sequence from the on-screen display controller 7A into analog video signals.
An audio signal D/A converter 7C converts the CD-DA signal sequence from the MPEG1 decoder 78 into analog audio signals.
The playback operations of the optical disc playback apparatus OPC1 are described with respect to a music CD and other type of optical disc, respectively. For playing back the music CD, the digital signal processor 75 starts demodulation of the digital signals and then outputs the control information and the sub-code information.
When the system controller 76 determines that the signal sequence is the CD-DA signal sequence based on the control information and the sub-code information, the system controller 76 judges that no video signal sequence is recorded on the optical disc Od. In such case, the system controller 76 transmits a control instruction instructing the digital signal processor 75 to output border color signals (normally blue-back) in the NTSC format instead of the video signals. The system controller 76 further outputs the character display information and the character data to the on-screen display controller 7A.
The system controller 76 monitors the system errors such as track lumps and focus errors. Whenever such error occurs, the system controller 76 instructs the optical servo controller 74 so that the optical pickup 73 and the spindle motor 72 return to initial states thereof.
The MPEG1 decoder 78 receives the CD-DA signal sequence from the digital signal processor 75 and outputs the same by using the memory 77 as buffer memory. The MPEG1 decoder 78 also converts the border color signals in the NTSC format from the digital signal processor 75 into the decoded digital signal sequence.
The on-screen display controller 7A receives the character display information from the system controller 76, and sets the number of character display lines of an on-screen message to 10. The on-screen display controller 7A further receives and converts the character data into the digital character signal sequence.
The video signal D/A converter 7B converts the decoded digital signal sequence from the MPEG1 decoder 78 and the digital character signal sequence from the on-screen display controller 7A into the analog video signals.
The audio signal D/A converter 7C converts the CD-DA signal sequence from the MPEG1 decoder 78 into the analog audio signals.
Described next is the operation of the optical disc playback apparatus OPC1 for playing back the optical disc Od other than the music CD. For playing back the optical disc Od, the digital signal processor 75 starts demodulation of the digital signals and then outputs the control information and the sub-code information as well as the signal sequence other than the CD-DA signal sequence.
Based on the control information and the sub-code information from the digital signal processor 75, the system controller 76 judges that the signal sequence is other than the CD-DA signal sequence. The system controller 76 also monitors the system errors such as track jumps and focus errors. Whenever such error occurs, the system controller 76 instructs the optical servo controller 74 so that the optical pickup 73 and the spindle motor 72 return to initial states thereof.
The information signal sequence separator 79 separates the digital signal sequences from the digital signal processor 75 into the CD-DA signal sequence and the other signal sequence.
The MPEG1 decoder 78 receives the CD-DA signal sequence and the other signal sequence from the information signal sequence separator 79. The MPEG1 decoder 78 converts, in real time, the video signal sequence into a decoded digital signal sequence in the PAL format if the video recorded on the optical disc Od is in the PAL format, and into a decoded digital signal sequence in the NTSC format, if in the NTSC format.
The on-screen display controller 7A receives the character display information from the system controller 76, and sets the number of character display lines of an on-screen message to 10. Further, the on-screen display controller 7A receives the character data and converts it into the digital character signal sequence.
The video signal D/A converter 7B converts the decoded digital signal sequence from the MPEG1 decoder 78 and the digital character signal sequence from the on-screen display controller 7A into the analog video signals.
The audio signal D/A converter converts the CD-DA signal sequence from the MPEG1 decoder 78 into the analog audio signals.
Next, in FIG. 11, a second example of the conventional optical disc playback apparatus is shown. An optical disc playback apparatus OPC2 of the example includes an MPEG1 decoder 88 in which the MPEG1 decoder 78 and the on-screen display controller 7A of the optical disc playback apparatus OPCL shown in FIG. 10 are integrally constructed.
Consequently, the MPEG1 decoder 88 converts the character display information and the character data from the system controller 76 into the digital character signal sequence. Further, the MPEG1 decoder 88 can output the converted digital character signal sequence together with the decoded digital signal sequence. Since the operation of the optical disc playback apparatus OPC2 for playing back the optical disc Od is basically the same as that of the optical disc playback apparatus OPC1 except for the above described operation related to the MPEG1 decoder 88, the description thereof is omitted herein.
With the conventional configurations exemplarily described in the above, however, the number of display lines of the on-screen message on a television screen is fixed to 10 whether the television image displayed thereon is in the PAL format or the NTSC format. As a result, if the on-screen display controller sets the on-screen message to be arranged evenly on the television screen in the NTSC format, the display lines of such message are upwardly shifted by approximately 20% of the screen when displayed on the television screen in the PAL format.
In FIG. 12, shown is one example of the on-screen message set for the NTSC format screen being displayed on the television screen in the PAL format. On the left half of the drawing, an on-screen message MSG is shown. Here, the on-screen message MSG is displayed on the television screen in the NTSC format with a total character display lines of 10 indicated by lines Ln 1 to Ln 10, which are evenly arranged thereon.
On the right half of the drawing, shown is a screen display MSGc, where the on-screen message MSG is displayed on the television screen in the PAL format.
The PAL format adopts 625 vertical scanning lines while the NTSC format adopts 525 vertical scanning lines. That is, the PAL format has approximately 1.2 times scanning lines when compared with the NTSC format. Therefore, assuming the space between the lines of the on-screen message is kept the same as that of the NTSC format screen, the PAL format screen has a display region of 12 lines shown as Lp 1 to Lp 12.
Accordingly, if the message MSG is displayed on the PAL format television screen without being changed in its number of character display lines, which is fixedly set to 10 for the NTSC format, a display region of approximately 2 lines remain unused. Although the example in the drawing shows the case with the bottom 2 lines of the PAL format screen (Lp 11, Lp 12) remain unused, it is needless to say that the same may be happen for the top 2 lines (Lp 1, Lp 2).
The present invention aims to solve the problem above and to provide an optical disc playback apparatus capable of properly displaying the on-screen message on a screen. When playing back a video CD, Karaoke CD, or DVD, a type of the optical disc and an image display format predetermined for data being reproduced are determined, and based on the determination, the number of character display lines of an on-screen message is set.
In more detail, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc playback apparatus capable of setting the number of character display lines of an on-screen message to 10 for the video in the NTSC format and to 12 for the video in the PAL format. Thus, the on-screen message is displayed on a television screen without the character display region being shifted even for the video in the PAL format. The unused portion in the bottom of the display region can be utilized to display the characters evenly on the entire screen.
A first aspect of the present invention is directed to an optical disc playback apparatus for reproducing data recorded on an optical disc and outputting an on-screen message to be displayed in a predetermined number of lines. The apparatus in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention comprises a reader for reading record data from a recording surface of the optical disc; an on-screen message generator for generating a digital character signal sequence to be displayed as the on-screen message; and an on-screen message lines controller for controlling the on-screen message generator to change a number of lines in which the on-screen message is displayed based on the record data.
As described above, in the first aspect, the number of display lines of the on-screen message can be set appropriately depending on the data recorded on the optical disc.
According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the apparatus further comprises an optical disc determination unit for determining atype of the optical disc based on the record data, wherein the on-screen message lines controller controls the on-screen message generator to set the number of lines in which the on-screen message is displayed to 10 lines when the optical disc is determined as a music CD.
As described above, in the second aspect, the number of display lines of the on-screen message can be set appropriately depending on the type of the optical disc.
According to a third aspect, in the second aspect, the apparatus further comprises a display format determination unit for determining a display format of the data to be reproduced based on the record data wherein the on-screen message lines controller controls the on-screen message generator to set the number of lines in which the on-screen message is displayed to 10 lines when the optical disc is determined as a disc other than the music CD and when the display format of the data to be reproduced is determined as an NTSC format.
As described above, in the third aspect, the effect in the second aspect can be similarly obtained.
According to a fourth aspect, in the second aspect, the apparatus further comprises a display format determination unit for determining a display format of the data to be reproduced based on the record data, wherein the on-screen message lines controller controls the on-screen message generator to set the number of lines in which the on-screen message is displayed to 12 lines when the optical disc is determined as a disc other than the music CD and when the display format of the data to be reproduced is determined as a PAL format.
As described above, in the fourth aspect, the effect in the third aspect can be similarly obtained.
According to a fifth aspect, in the first aspect, the apparatus further comprises a display format optical determination. unit for determining a display format of the data to be reproduced based on the record data, wherein the on-screen message lines controller controls the on-screen message generator to set the number of lines in which the on-screen message is displayed to 10 lines when the display format of the datato be reproduced is determined as an NTSC format.
As described above, in the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect obtained in the first aspect, the number of display lines of the on-screen message can be set appropriately for data varying in the display format on the same optical disc.
According to a sixth aspect, in the first aspect, the apparatus further comprises a display format optical determination unit for determining a display format of the data to be reproduced based on the record data wherein the on-screen message lines controller controls the on-screen message generator to set the number of lines in which the on-screen message is displayed to 12 lines when the display format of the data to be reproduced is determined as a PAL format.
As described above, in the sixth aspect, the effect in the fifth aspect can be similarly obtained.
According to a seventh aspect, in the second aspect, the optical disc determination unit determines the type of the optical disc based on a control bit of a TOC included in the record data.
According to an eighth aspect, in the third aspect, the display format determination unit determines the display format of the data to be reproduced based on a sequence header included in the record data.
According to a ninth aspect, in the first aspect, the apparatus further comprises a signal sequence separator for separating a first music CD signal sequence and a non-music CD signal sequence which is a signal sequence other than the first music CD signal sequence; a digital signal processor for converting video signals included in the separated non-music CD signal sequence into a decoded digital signal sequence and converting audio data included in the non-musicCD signal sequence into a second music CD signal sequence; a video signal converter for converting the decoded digital signal sequence and the digital character signal sequence into analog video signals; and an audio signal converter for converting the first music CD signal sequence and the second music CD signal sequence into analog audio signals.
According to a tenth aspect, in the ninth aspect, the digital signal processor is capable of decoding an MPEG2 signal sequence.
According to an eleventh aspect, inthe ninth aspect, the digital signal processor is capable of decoding an MPEC4 signal sequence.
A twelfth aspect of the present invention is directed to an optical disc playback method for reproducing data recorded on an optical disc and outputting an on-screen message to be displayed in a predetermined number of lines. The method in accordance with the twelfth aspect of the present invention comprises reading record data from a recording surface of the optical disc; and generating a digital character signal sequence to be displayed as the on-screen message and chanying a number of lines in which the on-screen message is displayed based on the record data.
As described above, in the twelfth aspect, the number of display lines of the on-screen message can be set appropriately depending on the data recorded on the optical disc.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method for extracting the most representative segments of a musical composition, represented by an audio signal, according to which the audio signal is preprocessed by a set of preprocessors, each if which is adapted to identify a rhythmic pattern. The output of the preprocessors that provided the most periodic or rhythmical patterns in the musical composition selected and the musical composition is divided into bars with rhythmic patterns, while iteratively checking and scoring their quality and detecting a section that is a sequence of bars with score above a predetermined threshold. Checking and scoring is iteratively repeated until all sections are detected. Then similarity matrices between all bars that belong to the musical composition are constructed, based on MFCCs of the processed sound, chromograms and the rhythmic patterns. Then equivalent classes of similar sections are extracted along the musical composition. Substantial transitions between sections represented as blocks in the similarity matrices are collected and a representative segment is selected from each class with the highest number of sections.

Music compositions such as songs, popular music and music which involve a mixture of vocals and musical instruments are available online and offline in the form of a file that may be played by using almost any audio and computerized terminal devices. Such devices include audio players, computers, laptops, mobile phone and mobile music players and are widespread among many users. In fact, almost each person that carries an audio player and a personal terminal device that can play music is a consumer of music. However, since users are exposed to huge amount of new musical content, they hardly have the time or patience to listen to a whole composition in order to decide whether or not they like a new composition. Therefore, users prefer to get a short summary (a "thumbnail") of a new composition, before deciding whether or not to listen or purchase the whole composition. This summary should include the most representative, and most surprising segments, such as the most dominant and associative segments of the composition a chorus, or hook, which are strongly associated with a particular composition.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for generating a summary of musical composition in the form of the most representative segments of that musical composition.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for finding a segment with clear start and end point music-wise, so that the chosen segment stands as a complete and independent unit.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system for helping a user to associatively decide whether or not to listen to a whole new musical composition, according to the summary.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Method for extracting representative segments from music


To sufficiently attenuate a common mode signal by passing an ultra-high speed differential signal through an ultra-high speed differential transmission line. A common mode filter comprises: a pair of conductive lines formed on a first dielectric layer to transmit a differential signal; a plurality of first divided floating grounds in a state of being separated from an external ground potential, and facing the conductive lines, with the first dielectric layer interposed between them, and formed by being divided into a plurality of numbers in a length direction of the conductive lines, and forming a distribution constant type differential transmission line for the differential signal, together with the conductive lines; and a first passive two-terminal network connected between the first divided floating grounds located at least at an input side or an output side of the first divided floating grounds, and the external ground potential.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a common mode filter, and particularly relates to a new common mode filter that secures a passage of an ultra high-speed differential signal propagated through an ultra high-speed differential transmission line, and attenuates a common mode signal.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, high-definition video contents such as "HDTV: high definition television" and "Blue-ray Disc" become widespread, and in order to transmit a vast amount of digital data for supporting such contents, high-speed serial transmission has been used.
In the high-speed serial transmission, a voltage amplitude needs to be reduced for shortening a rise time, and therefore this transmission easily receives an influence of a noise. Therefore, in order to hardly receive the influence of the noise, a differential transmission of a signal is generally used.
In a differential transmission system, smaller amplitude is secured for accelerating a transmission speed and realizing proper power saving by simultaneously transmitting positive phase and opposite phase differential signals to each of a pair of two lines, and a common mode signal such as an outside noise is canceled.
However, in the differential transmission system, a function of canceling the common mode signal such as an outside noise is insufficient, and therefore a common mode chalk coil is inserted into a differential transmission line, for preventing its adverse influence.
Conventionally, although not shown, it is generally known that in such a kind of common mode chalk coil, there is a magnetic core having two conducting wires wound thereon, with the same number of turns. FIG. 16 shows its circuit view.
In the common mode chalk coil with this structure, currents of differential signals flowing through the two conducting wires offset each other with opposite phases, thus generating no magnetic flux, and impedance of two conducting wires can be maintained to be low. Therefore, the differential signals can be easily passed.
Meanwhile, in a case of the common mode signal, currents flow through the two conducting wires, with the same phases, thus generating the magnetic flux in the magnetic body, and the impedance of the two conducting wires becomes high, to make it difficult to pass the signals. Therefore, the common mode signal is attenuated.
Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2000-58343(patent document 1) discloses a common mode chalk coil for differential transmission line, which corresponds to the structure of FIG. 16 as described above.
According to the patent document 1, two coil conductors are wrapped around a toroidal core, and the toroidal core is housed in a package case made of resin. The package case consists of a case and a lid. Ground conductors are formed by plating on outer surfaces of an external wall, a bottom wall, and the lid of the case. Insulating films are formed on the ground conductors. Terminal plates are bonded respectively to the insulating films, and the ends of the coil conductors are soldered to the terminal plates, to thereby make a characteristic impedance correspond to a transmission line so as to prevent signal reflection.
(Patent Document 1)
    Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2000-53343


A grinder capable of disassembling a pair of rolls of a rolling mill each having a pair of bearing assemblies on its opposite ends, separately grinding and reconditioning the disassembled rolls, and reassembling the reconditioned rolls. Included are a pair of opposed wheel stocks each having an abrasive wheel and both movable linearly along respective wheel guideways extending parallel to each other. Two pairs of opposed pivotal work carriers are disposed intermediate the pair of wheel guideways, with each pair of work carriers spaced from each other in a direction parallel to the wheel guideways. Each pair of work carriers are jointly movable between a common centerline position midway between the pair of wheel guideways, and a grinding position adjacent one of the wheel guideways. A set of fluid actuated work lifters are disposed adjacent the centerline position for loading the disassembled rolls on the respective pairs of work carriers, and for unloading the ground rolls therefrom, as the pairs of work carriers are successively moved to the common centerline position. Loaded on the respective pairs of work carriers, the rolls are ground in the grinding positions by being held against the abrasive rolls as the work carriers are pivoted and held in a slanting attitude. A pair of headstocks are provided for revolving the rolls being held against the abrasive wheels.

This invention relates to grinders, particularly to external grinders, and more particularly to cylindrical grinders. Still more particularly, the invention pertains to a grinding machine capable of automatically grinding and reconditioning the pair of rolls of a rolling mill, with provisions for accepting the pair of rolls combined in proper positional relationship through their bearing assemblies, separating the rolls from each other and, after grinding, reassembling the rolls into the original positional relationship.
Being subject to uneven wear, the rolls of a rolling mill need reconditioning by grinding at regular intervals of time. The conventional practice, long practiced in the rolling industry, has been to remove the rolls from the machine together with the pair of bearing assemblies at both ends of each roll, then to remove the bearing assemblies from the rolls. Each roll has been ground by having its pair of journals rotatably placed on the rests of the grinder. The bearing assemblies have been reinstalled on the roll journals upon completion of the grinding.
The applicant is aware of some advanced grinders that have been recently developed to preclude the trouble of removing and remounting the bearing assemblies of each roll for each grinding operation. Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-15259 represents an example of such advanced roll grinders. This prior art apparatus includes roll supports capable of holding a pair of rolls, each complete with the pair of bearing assemblies, in either a horizontal or a vertical position. The pair of rolls can be ground simultaneously. However, because of this very capability of simultaneously grinding a pair of rolls, the support means therefore must of necessity be inconveniently bulky in size. An additional drawback is that it demands considerable power for actuating the means for pivoting the rolls on the support means, and the clamps for engaging the bearing assemblies.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-84856 discloses another apparatus capable of grinding rolls with the bearing assemblies thereon. An objection to this known apparatus is the difficulty of automation because of the fact that the rolls must be craned between the rolling mill and their swivel supports forming parts of the grinder.

Cylindrical grinding machine suitable for use on the rolls of a rolling mill or the like


The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for preventing reader starvation in a distributed system. One example method includes receiving, at a node that manages a data stream, a write-intent request from a writer for a first partition, the data stream associated with a graph that includes levels of partitions including a current level; identifying the first partition for the writer; providing partition information for the first partition to enable the writer to write to the first partition; determining that the writer has previously written to a second partition associated with the current level; in response to determining that the writer has previously written to the second partition: creating a new current level; associating the first partition with the new current level; identifying partitions associated with the current level; and providing a close-level instruction to each local node that includes a partition associated with the current level.

Modern computing systems are typically tasked with solving large computational problems, such as effectively processing large amounts of data. To do so, such systems can operate in a distributed system environment. A distributed computing environment can include components or nodes that may be located on networked computers, which can communicate and/or coordinate with one another by exchanging messages in order to achieve a common goal. Distributed computing systems are typically characterized by concurrency of components, lack of a global clock, and independent failure of components. In distributed systems, data can be written to and read from data streams representing an ordered sequence of messages, where data can be distributed among many different computing locations.

Preventing reader starvation during order preserving data stream consumption


A power transmitter according to an embodiment disclosed herein can include a power conversion unit configured to form a wireless power signal using power supplied from a power supply unit and receive a modulated wireless power signal containing a packet; a communication unit configured to transmit and receive user data via connection to a power receiver; and a control unit configured to detect the power receiver using the wireless power signal, decode a connection configuration packet transmitted from the power receiver based on the modulated wireless power signal, and establish the connection to the power receiver based on access information included in the connection configuration packet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a wireless power transfer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical energy has been supplied to electronic devices through wires conventionally; however a method of wireless power transfer is recently adopted instead. The electronic device can be operating directly by the electrical energy transferred in a wireless manner, or by the electrical power from the battery charged using the power transferred wirelessly.

Establishing data communication connection using wireless power transmission


An apparatus for supporting a tubular member such as a casing string within another tubular member such as a wellhead, comprising a generally tubular tool which can be lowered into the annular space between said members, a slip carrier supported from said tool and a slip assembly carried by said slip carrier, said slip assembly including a slip bowl which can be supported against one of said tubular members and one or more slip elements which can be urged into wedging engagement between said slip bowl and the other tubular elements, the slip elements normally being supported by said slip carrier in a non-engaged position and said tool including means operable to urge the slip elements into said wedging engagement. A method of supporting a casing string within a well including the steps of landing the slip bowl on the casinghead shoulder, actuating the tool to force the slip element into engagement between the casing and the slip bowl and retrieving the tool and slip carrier.

This invention relates to apparatus for supporting a first tubular member within a second tubular member. The apparatus has particular application to drilling equipment where, for example, it is sometimes necessary to support a casing string within a wellhead.
During the formation of drilling installations, successive links of casing are run into a well through wellhead equipment. Situations can arise in which a casing string cannot be run to its full depth and becomes stuck. In such a situation it is necessary to suspend the casing string within the wellhead. This can be a problem with conventional equipment since a blowout preventer is usually located above the wellhead and, because of the presence of casing couplings it is not normally possible to gain access to the annular space between the wellhead and the casing without removal of the blowout preventer. This is undesirable.
The J. A. Haeber U.S. Pat. No. 3,098,525 discloses a running tool for running and retrieving a well casing hanger into and from an underwater well casinghead. The tool includes a piston operated latch to connect the casing hanger in the casinghead. A latching pin responds to the latch segments to hold slips in an inactive position until the running tool is released and then the slips move downward on the exterior of the casing hanger to engage the interior of the casing head because they are biased downwardly by springs.
The P. A. White U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,601 discloses a liner hanger running and setting tool which includes a hydraulic piston to transmit relative longitudinal movement to two movable tubular members to set the gripping slips which anchor the hanger in the well.
The A. G. Ahlstone U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,559 discloses the use of hydraulically set seal and packoff.
The E. M. Mouret et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,388 discloses a tool for running underwater casing hangers which has a resilient split ring to connect the tool to the hanger and utilizes hydraulics or rotation to disconnect the tool from the hanger.

Method and apparatus for supporting one tubular member within another


A self-balancing scooter having a platform that includes a footstep, two wheels, and a gyroscopic stabilizing element that acts on wheel driving motors in such a way as to ensure that the self-balancing scooter is balanced and moves. The self-balancing scooter has a housing which accommodates a battery supplying power to the motors and is closed by a lid, the housing being removably accommodated on the platform of the self-balancing scooter such that the lid forms a footstep of the self-balancing scooter.

A gyropod is known, from the document FR 2 976 548, that comprises a platform flanked by two wheels and provided with a holding and driving stick, as well as a gyroscopic stabilizing member acting on wheel driving motors to ensure the balance and the movement of the gyropod. Each of the wheels comprises a rim which cooperates with bearings borne by respective crescent-shaped supports which each extend essentially facing the associated rim and which bear the associated driving motor such that the latter drives the associated wheel by acting on the rim, the supports being fixed on to the sides of the platform. Thus, each driving motor can cooperate directly (by friction or by gear-meshing) with the rim of the associated wheel, which naturally offers a great reduction ratio that makes it possible to save on a reducing gear. In the gyropod illustrated in this document, the platform comprises a footrest borne by crossmembers which extend between the supports by being fixed thereto. It is specified that a battery pack is borne by these crossmembers to power the motors.
Also known from the document WO 2015/121754 is an electric monocycle. Said monocycle comprises a fixed footrest that has recesses for receiving battery packs.

Self-balancing scooter or personal transporter


Rotodynamic pumps having an inner drive permanent magnet coupling disposed inside an impeller are provided. The impeller has a casing having a pumping region generally in a pumping plane that is perpendicular to the rotational axis of the impeller and aligned with a permanent magnet coupling that includes outer magnets that are connected to the impeller and at least partially aligned with the pumping region of the impeller, and inner magnets that are connected to an inner magnet ring and are axially aligned with the outer magnets. A canister is sealed to the casing and separates the outer magnets from the inner magnets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to rotodynamic or centrifugal pumps, and more particularly to permanent magnet coupling pumps.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In many pumping applications, it is desirable to avoid rotating seals. Rotodynamic pumps have been developed with a magnet coupling that utilizes an impeller that is driven via a non-contacting permanent magnet coupling in a radial magnet orientation. Such pumps frequently are referred to as being sealless, but actually include inner and outer magnets separated by a canister that is sealed with a static seal. Permanent magnet coupled rotodynamic pumps typically are of one of three types, separately coupled, close coupled or vertical submerged.
Separately coupled permanent magnet coupled rotodynamic pumps generally utilize end suction via an axial inlet, are of single stage or multistage configuration, and include an overhung impeller design. The overhung impeller design has the impeller mounted on a rotor assembly which contains a first magnet ring of a magnet coupled drive spaced from the pumping element. A second magnet ring is mounted on the rotatable shaft of a frame that is coupled to a motor or power drive device. The pump, the frame that supports the rotatable shaft, and the power drive device generally are mounted on a common base plate.
Close coupled permanent magnet coupled rotodynamic pumps tend to be of a somewhat similar construction to the separately coupled version, except that the second magnet ring is mounted directly on the driver shaft of the power drive device.
Vertical submerged permanent magnet coupled rotodynamic pumps generally also are of somewhat similar construction to the separately couple version, but the impeller is mounted on the lower end of an elongated shaft which is overhung from its drive bearing supports. The drive section utilizes permanent magnets or an eddy current drive system to transmit power to the elongated shaft and impeller. This type of sealless pump uses a standard motor to drive the second magnet ring, which in turn drives the first magnet ring. A containment shell or canister that contains the process fluid sealingly separates the magnet components. The containment shell in the drive permits pumping from a sealed vessel using a submergible pump.
Radial magnetic couplings that utilize permanent magnets are common in each of the above rotodynamic (aka kinetic, centrifugal) pumps. The radial magnetic couplings consist of three main components: a larger, outer coupling component (aka an outer magnet or outer rotor) with multiple permanent magnets on its inner surface; a smaller, inner coupling component (aka an inner magnet or inner rotor) with multiple permanent magnets on its outer surface; and a containment canister (aka a can, shell, shroud, or barrier) separating the inner and outer components and forming a boundary for the fluid chamber. The magnets on the inner and outer components are disposed in alignment with each other to match up and synchronize the inner and outer components, such that as one component is rotated, the other component is synchronized and forced to follow, whereby the pump impeller or pumping rotor is driven. But neither of the inner or outer coupling components physically touches the other, and they rotate in separate environments, separated by the canister.
The radial magnetic couplings are of two configurations, "outer drive" and "inner drive". Most radial magnetic couplings in rotodynamic pumps have an outer drive arrangement in which the outer coupling component is outside of the pump's fluid chamber, and usually is driven by an external power source, such as a motor. In such configurations, the inner coupling component is disposed inside the pump's fluid chamber and is connected to the impeller. The containment canister provides the boundary of the pump's fluid chamber, with the fluid chamber being inside of the canister.
Although less common, some pumps have an inner drive arrangement, which utilizes the same three general components, but the roles are reversed. The inner coupling component is outside of the pump's fluid chamber, and usually is driven by an external power source, such as a motor, while the outer coupling component is inside the pump's fluid chamber and is connected to the impeller. A containment canister again provides the boundary of the pump's fluid chamber, with the fluid chamber being outside of the canister. All of the inner drive rotodynamic pumps known to the inventors have a common configuration with respect to the location of the impeller relative to the magnetic coupling, with the impeller being positioned axially forward of the magnetic coupling.
With the impeller being positioned forward of the magnetic coupling, such inner drive pumps have several disadvantages. The pumps are rather large, given that the axial space for the impeller is separate and forward of the axial space for the magnetic coupling. The relatively large pumps further require large and more expensive components, a large volume of space for mounting, and such pumps are heavier and more difficult to handle. The inner drive pumps also often experience an impeller thrust imbalance. The impeller is subjected to a high forward thrust load, due to the higher discharge pressure acting upon a relatively large rear surface of the impeller.
The prior art pumps also tend to have additional internal cavities where fluid can stagnate and which often must be flushed out between usages. In addition, the prior art pumps do not provide very effective cooling for the canister, because the canister is not directly exposed to the incoming cool liquid that enters the pump through the inlet port. Canister cooling for such pumps is particularly important when the canister is made from electrically conductive materials, because such materials generate eddy current heating when the magnetic coupling is rotating.
Many of the existing inner drive permanent magnet coupled pump designs include an internal recirculation path, which allows a small amount of pumped fluid to flow from a higher pressure area (near the discharge port) to a lower pressure area (near the inlet port). Such a recirculation path serves three purposes: to prevent stagnation or solids accumulation within the pump; to improve cooling and/or lubrication of the impeller support bearings; and to improve cooling of the canister. The last purpose only applies when the canister is made of electrically conductive material and is subjected to eddy current heating when the magnetic coupling is rotating.
The details of existing recirculation paths vary widely among different pump designs and incorporate many different section designs. However, such internal recirculation paths tend to be rather complex, because they need to flow through a magnet chamber located deep behind the impeller. The internal recirculation paths often include some sections where all the surfaces are stationary. The stationary sections more easily allow product stagnation and/or accumulation of solids.
Many of the existing inner drive permanent magnet coupled pump designs include an internal recirculation path, which allows a small amount of pumped fluid to flow from a higher pressure area (near the outlet port) to a lower pressure area (near the inlet port). Such a recirculation path serves three purposes: to prevent stagnation or solids accumulation within the pump; to improve cooling and/or lubrication of the impeller support bearings; and to improve cooling of the canister. The last purpose only applies when the canister is made of electrically conductive material and is subjected to eddy current heating when the magnetic coupling is rotating.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rotodynamic pump with permanent magnet coupling inside the impeller


Provided are a method of forming nano dots, method of fabricating a memory device including the same, charge trap layer including the nano dots and memory device including the same. The method of forming the nano dots may include forming cores, coating surfaces of the cores with a polymer, and forming graphene layers covering the surfaces of the cores by thermally treating the cores coated with the polymer. Also, the cores may be removed after forming the graphene layers. In addition, the surfaces of the cores may be coated with a graphitization catalyst material before coating the cores with the polymer. Also, the cores may include metal particles that trap charges and may also function as a graphitization catalyst.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a semiconductor memory device and a method of fabricating the same. Other example embodiments relate to a method of forming nano dots, method of fabricating a memory device including the same, charge trap layer including the nano dots and memory device including the same.
2. Description of Related Art
As semiconductor technology develops, a method of fabricating memory devices also developed. Volatile or non-volatile memory devices may both be used to store data. However, volatile memory devices, e.g., dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), may lose the stored data when a supply of electric power is stopped. Thus, the volatile memory devices may be used where a relatively large amount of data is stored rather than storing the data for a relatively long time and a more rapid operating speed may be required.
Non-volatile memory devices may store the data for a relatively long time even when the supply of the electric power may be stopped. During the storage of the data for a relatively long time, the data may not be damaged or deformed. The data may be maintained as initially stored in the non-volatile memory devices. Therefore, the non-volatile memory devices may ensure a retention property that may maintain the stored data as initially stored. In addition to the retention property, if a rapid operating speed may be ensured, integrity of the non-volatile memory devices may be increased, and an operating voltage may be reduced.
Such non-volatile memory devices also have the advantages of the volatile memory devices, and thus, may be understood to be a combination of the conventional volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices. However, such non-volatile memory devices have not been commercialized, and research and investment has been done to develop these non-volatile memory devices.
Accordingly, non-volatile memory devices having some of the advantages of the volatile memory devices, for example, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory devices, are being commercialized. Such SONOS memory devices may include a trap layer for trapping electric charges in a gate-stacked structure of a transistor. The gate-stacked structure of the transistor may further include a tunneling layer, a gate electrode, and a blocking layer. The data may be recorded by trapping the electric charges in the trap layer. When a degree of trapping the electric charges may be controlled, multi-bit data may be recorded, and thus, the SONOS memory devices may have a similar integrity as that of DRAM. In the SONOS memory devices, a nitride layer may be used as the trap layer, however, nano dots may also be used as the trap layer.

Method of forming nano dots, method of fabricating the memory device including the same, charge trap layer including the nano dots and memory device including the same


A trouble light assembly includes a handle portion, a door in the handle portion which is hingeably movable between open and closed positions, a bulb receptacle mounted at one end of the handle portion, a cage portion adjacent the bulb receptacle for enclosing a bulb therein, and a plurality of conductor blades which are electrically connected to the bulb receptacle. The conductor blades extend downwardly from the bulb receptacle so as to define a male conductor plug within the handle portion. The female end of a extension cord set is received into the handle portion through the hinged door, and matingly engaged with the conductor blades so as to establish an electrical connection between the bulb receptacle and the cord set. In a first embodiment, the hinged door is permanently sealed in the closed position after assembly of the cord set, and in a second embodiment the hinged door is provided with a tab and slot assembly for releasably maintaining the door in the closed position.

The instant invention relates to a light assembly of the type commonly referred to as a "trouble light", and more particularly to a trouble light assembly wherein the bulb receptacle includes conductor blades that define a male conductor plug.
A conventional trouble light assembly comprises a tubular handle portion, a bulb receptacle mounted at the top end of the handle portion, a cage portion at the top end of the handle portion for enclosing a bulb received in the bulb receptacle, and an integral cord set wherein the positive, neutral and ground wires of the cord set are electrically connected to the electrical terminals of the bulb receptacle. The cord set extends outwardly through an aperture in the bottom of the handle portion and the terminal end of the cord set includes a male conductor plug which may be inserted into an electrical socket to supply power to the bulb receptacle. The manufacture of trouble light assemblies is known to be labor intensive because of the electrical connections that must be made manually between the cord set wires and the electrical terminals of the bulb receptacle. While the individual wiring connections between the cord set and the electrical terminals of the bulb receptacle are not difficult to accomplish, it has been found that assembly workers who repetitively perform these wiring connections often develop carpal tunnel syndrome which is painful for the employee and costly for the employer in terms of worker's compensation insurance.
The instant invention provides a trouble light assembly which is much easier to assemble than a conventional trouble light assembly. The light assembly of the subject invention comprises a tubular handle portion, a hinged door in the handle portion, a bulb receptacle mounted in the handle portion, a cage portion mounted adjacent the bulb receptacle, and three conductor blades which are electrically connected to the electrical terminals of the bulb receptacle. The three conductor blades extend downwardly from the bulb receptacle into the handle portion where they are arranged so as to define a male conductor plug. A conventional extension cord set is assembled with the light assembly wherein the female conductor plug of the cord set is received into the handle portion through the hinged door, and then slidably engaged over the conductor blades. The cord set extends outwardly from the handle portion through an aperture defined by the hinged door and the handle portion. It can therefore be seen that the provision of male conductor blades on the bulb receptacle greatly reduces assembly labor because the manual connections between the cord set wires and the terminals of the bulb receptacle are eliminated. In a first embodiment of the instant trouble light assembly, the female conductor plug of the cord set is maintained in assembled relation with the conductor blades by means of a circular collar in the handle portion, and the hinged door is permanently sealed shut after assembly so that the trouble light and cord set assembly can be sold as a combined unit. In a second embodiment, the female conductor plug of the cord set is maintained in assembled relation with the conductor blades by means of a rotatable collar mounted in the handle portion, and the hinged door includes a releasable latching means for releasably maintaining the door in the closed position. In this manner, the trouble light assembly may be sold as an individual unit wherein the purchaser may use the trouble light with an existing cord set.
It is thus an object of the instant invention to provide a trouble light assembly in which the bulb receptacle includes conductor blades that are arranged so as to define a male conductor plug.
It is another object to provide a trouble light which is powered by a conventional extension cord set.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.


A solid oxide fuel cell is disclosed herein. The fuel cell includes a silicon substrate, an electrolyte film laminated on the silicon substrate, and a gas flow path formed inside the silicon substrate. The electrolyte film is opposed to the gas flow path via an electrode film. A portion of a side wall of the gas flow path has a fillet shape, and the portion is close to the electrolyte film.

International Publication No. WO 2006/004957 describes a fuel cell. The fuel cell is provided with a silicon substrate, an electrolyte film laminated on the silicon substrate, and a gas flow path formed inside the silicon substrate. The electrolyte film is opposed to the gas flow path via an electrode film. An inclination angle of a side wall of the gas flow path with respect to the electrolyte film is substantially 55 degrees and is constant.


A macro fiber for a composite article may include a plurality of inner fibers. Each one of the inner fibers may have an inner fiber final cross-sectional size of less than approximately 100 nanometers. The inner fibers may be surrounded by matrix material.

Glass is widely used as a transparency in a variety of applications due to its superior optical qualities. For example, glass is commonly used as a glazing material or as an architectural material for buildings. Glass is also commonly used as a transparency in vehicular applications. Unfortunately, glass is a relatively dense material and is also relatively brittle such that relatively large thicknesses are required to provide sufficient strength for resisting shattering when the glass is impacted by an object such as a projectile.
In attempts to avoid the weight penalty associated with glass, transparencies may be fabricated from polymeric materials. For example, transparencies may be formed of optically transparent monolithic polymers such as acrylic which is less dense than glass and which possesses suitable optical properties. Unfortunately, acrylic is a relatively low strength material making it generally unsuitable for many applications where high impact resistance is required.
In consideration of the weight penalties associated with glass and the strength limitations associated with monolithic polymers, manufacturers have also fabricated composite transparencies using conventional fibers such as ribbon-shaped fibers embedded in a matrix. Unfortunately, conventional fibers are typically spaced apart from one another in the matrix resulting in a portion of the incident light passing through gaps between the fibers. When there is a mismatch in the refractive index of the matrix and the fibers, there is a deleterious effect on the optics of the transparency due differences in the optical path lengths of the light rays and differences in the resultant angles of the light rays depending on whether the light rays pass through the main portions of the fibers or whether the light rays pass through the side surfaces of the fibers. The consequence of the differences in the optical path lengths and resultant angles is that an object viewed through the transparency may appear blurred.
As can be seen, there exists a need in the art for a high-strength transparent composite article having a fiber configuration that provides improved optical performance with reduced optical distortion.

Bicomponent fibers containing nano-filaments for use in optically transparent composites


A ball spline assembly in which a sleeve is coupled for rotation with and axial movement relative to a shaft by angularly spaced rows of balls which travel in grooved raceways formed in the sleeve and the shaft. A circumferentially extending groove is formed around the shaft near the ends of the raceways therein in order to remove runout from the raceways and thereby prevent the raceways from forcing the balls radially outwardly and locking up the assembly when the shaft is in an extreme axial position relative to the sleeve.

This invention relates to a ball spline assembly of the type in which angularly spaced rows of balls transmit torque between a splined shaft and an outer sleeve while reducing friction during relative axial movement of the shaft and the sleeve.
In a ball spline assembly of this type, the bore of the sleeve is formed with angularly spaced and axially extending grooves or raceways which receive the rows of balls. The shaft also includes ball-receiving grooves or raceways which are located between angularly spaced splines. The splines may be formed by moving a grinding wheel along a section of the length of the shaft in order to cut the raceways in the shaft. Near the end of the splined section, runout occurs where the grinding wheel makes less than a full depth cut as the wheel is retracted from the shaft. In the runout area, the depth of each raceway gradually decreases as the raceway progresses axially toward the non-splined section of the shaft.
A conventional ball spline assembly experiences problems when the shaft and the sleeve are at such an extreme relative axial position as to cause the balls to travel into the runout area of the shaft. As the balls encounter the shallow portions of the raceways in the runout area, the balls are forced radially outwardly until all radial clearance is removed from between the shaft, the balls and the sleeve. The resulting radial pressure can damage the components and can cause the assembly to lock.


A method for inspecting the quality of the resistance weld, in which the adhesive force between twisted wires, as materials to be welded in a welding portion, can be predicted on the basis of the inter-tip resistance between electrodes, so that the quality of the weld can be evaluated accurately. The method comprises the steps of: measuring a welding width of the welding portion; calculating a reference welding height of the welding portion from the measured welding width on the basis of a predetermined reference welding sectional area of the welding portion; passing the welding current through the welding portion until the height of the welding portion reaches the calculated reference welding height; and inspecting the state of welding of the twisted wires on the basis of a bottom value of inter-tip resistance of the pair of electrodes in an initial stage of conduction of the welding current.

A conventional resistance welding apparatus for welding the strands composed of twisted copper wires of a pair of electric cables, for example, comprises an apparatus using an AC thyristor system (a system in which thyristors are used as electric source switches for performing welding current regulation continuously by changing the firing phase of the thyristors) as shown in FIG. 8(a). The resistance welding apparatus 1 is designed to perform resistance welding on a stack of strands 31 and 31' composed of twisted copper wires of a pair of electrically insulating coated electric cables 30 and 30' (hereinafter simply referred to as "cables") as illustrated in FIG. 9. The resistance welding apparatus 1 has a box-like apparatus body 2 which is substantially U-shaped in side view. A cable-setting jig 3 is disposed in the center of the apparatus body 2. An air cylinder 4 is attached to the upper front of the apparatus body 2. A pair of upper and lower electrodes 5A and 5B pass a welding current therebetween and are provided below the air cylinder 4, and the cable-setting jig 3 respectively. These thus serves to pass the current through a welding portion of the strands 31 and 31' and also serve to apply a predetermined amount of pressure to the welding portion.
The upper electrode 5A is connected to a piston rod 4a of the air cylinder 4 through an electrode holder 6 so as to move vertically. Further, the upper electrode 5A is also connected, through an ounce copper plate 8, to a welding transformer (electric source) 7, which serves to supply a welding current. Further, the lower electrode 5B is fixed to the center portion of the apparatus body 2 and is connected to the welding transformer 7. As shown in FIG. 8(b), the welding transformer 7 is connected to a welding timer 9, which serves to set the current value and current-conduction time of the welding current. An electromagnetic valve 4A of the air cylinder 4 is opened/closed on the basis of conduction-start and conduction-end signals obtained from the welding timer 9. As shown in FIG. 9, each of the electrodes 5A and 5B is constituted by a columnar chromium-copper matter 5a and a rectangular tungsten tip 5b.
The step of performing resistance welding of the overlapping strands 31 and 31' of the pair of cables 30 and 30', by means of the AC thyristor system resistance welding apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 9, will be described with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG. 10. First, after the exposed strands 31 and 31' of the pair of cables 30 and 30' are put in between the pair of electrodes 5A and 5B through the cable-setting jig 3, a start input switch 9A is turned on so that the welding timer 9 starts (step S1). As a result, the electromagnetic valve 4A, that is connected to a (not-shown) compression air source, is opened and the upper electrode 5A is moved down by the air cylinder 4. After completion of initial pressure application to the strands 31 and 31' between the pair of electrodes 5A and 5B (step S2), a welding current is passed between the pair of electrodes 5A and 5B alternately upward and downward by the welding transformer 7 (step S3). The welding current is passed for the current-conduction time which is set (fixed) in advance. Resistance heating caused by the conduction of the welding current is utilized so that the strands 31 and 31' are subjected to thermo-compression bonding. After resistance welding, the current conduction is stopped (step S4). Then, cooling is performed while the pressure application state between the pair of electrodes 5A and 5B is held for a predetermined time (step S5). The operation for the steps S2 to S5 is carried out automatically under the sequence control of the welding timer 9. Then, when the pressurized state is canceled, the resistance welding is completed (step S6). Such technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. Hei-1-278973 and Hei-5-329661.
The inter-tip resistance (calculated on the basis of an inter-tip voltage value and a current value under current conduction) between the pair of electrodes 5A and 5B, which shows a correlation with the adhesive force, is used in a non-destructive inspection method for inspecting the characteristics of the weld, such as the welding strength (inter-wire adhesive force), or the like, that bond the twisted copper wires in strands 31 and 31'. As shown in FIG. 11, in the case where the twisted copper wire in strands 31 and 31' are welded, these are two noteable effects. First, the inter-tip resistance value in an initial stage of current conduction (up to about 2 cycles in the case of an AC system) is high compared with that in copper plates, or the like, because a space is generated between the strands 31 and 31'. Second, variations occur in contact resistance because the state of the alignment of the strands 31 and 31' is not uniform. Accordingly, when the inter-tip resistance is measured during the entire period of current conduction and averaged to evaluate the state of the weld, the inter-tip resistance is greatly affected by the contact resistance between the strands 31 and 31' in the initial stage of current conduction. As a result, the state of heating (increase of specific resistance) of the pair of electrodes 5A and 5B made from tungsten, or the like, cannot be determined accurately, so that the welding strength (adhesive force) cannot be predicted.
Therefore, the present invention is designed to solve the above problem. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for inspecting the quality of a resistance weld, in which the adhesive force between the twisted wires of the strands as materials to be welded can be predicted on the basis of the inter-tip resistance between electrodes so that the welding quality can be evaluated accurately.

Method for inspecting the quality in resistance welding


A process and a kit-of-parts are provided for dyeing keratinous material, in particular human hair. The process includes applying a coloring agent (a) to the keratinous material, the agent (a) comprising (a1) at least one amino-functionalized silicone polymer, (a2) at least one color-imparting compound, and (a3) at least one nonionic surfactant. The process further includes applying a post-treatment agent (b) to the keratinous material, the agent (b) comprising (b1) at least one acid.

The second subject-matter of this application is a multi-component packaging unit (kit-of-parts) for coloring keratinous material, in particular human hair, which comprises the agents (a) and (b) separately packaged in two different containers.
Changing the shape and color of keratinous material, especially human hair, is an important area of modern cosmetics. To change the hair color, the expert knows various coloring systems depending on the coloring requirements. Oxidation dyes are usually used for permanent, intensive dyeing's with good fastness properties and good grey coverage. Such colorants contain oxidation dye precursors, so-called developer components and coupler components, which, under the influence of oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide, form the actual dyes among themselves. Oxidation dyes are exemplified by very long-lasting dyeing results.
When direct dyes are used, ready-made dyes diffuse from the colorant into the hair fiber. Compared to oxidative hair dyeing, the dyeing's obtained with direct dyes have a shorter shelf life and quicker wash ability. Dyeing with direct dyes usually remain on the hair for a period of between about 5 and about 20 washes.
The use of color pigments is known for short-term color changes on the hair and/or skin. Color pigments are generally understood to be insoluble, coloring substances. These are present undissolved in the dye formulation in the form of small particles and are only deposited from the outside on the hair fibers and/or the skin surface. Therefore, they can usually be removed again without residue by a few washes with detergents containing surfactants. Various products of this type are available on the market under the name hair mascara.
If the user wants particularly long-lasting dyeing's, the use of oxidative dyes has so far been his only option. However, despite numerous optimization attempts, an unpleasant ammonia or amine odor cannot be completely avoided in oxidative hair dyeing. The hair damage still associated with the use of oxidative dyes also has a negative effect on the user's hair. A continuing challenge is therefore the search for alternative, high-performance dyeing processes.

Method for dyeing keratin material by means of a dyeing agent and an acidic posttreatment agent


The invention provides an advanced metallization technique for fabricating a memory cell array on a substrate. The array is fabricated by forming discrete and self-aligned vias in a first layer disposed over the array to form contacts to each of the source and drain junction in the array. Further, self-aligned local area slotted vias are formed in a second layer that is disposed over the first layer to form local area interconnects that electrically shunt all of the source contacts/junctions. Further, discrete self-aligned drain extensions are formed over each of the formed drain contacts to electrically connect the junctions, and source contacts to the extensions. The formed vias, extensions, and slotted local area vias are simultaneously plugged and filled with a conductive material to form the memory cell array.

Contacts are required in an integrated circuit device to provide electrical connections between layers or levels of the integrated circuit device. Semiconductor devices typically include a multitude of transistors, which are coupled together in particular configurations through the use of contacts.
A conventional flash memory module includes multiple memory cells. A memory cell includes a stacked gate, a drain, and a source. A drain contact electrically connects the drain of each memory cell to a conductive layer (a bit line) above the stacked gate. The conductive layer can be a aluminum layer. For a NOR type of memory array, a common/single source contact connects the source junctions of a number of memory cells. This common source contact is generally referred to as a "source rail."
There is increasing pressure in the current semiconductor industry to achieve higher device density within a given die area. This is particularly true in memory circuit fabrication, such as a flash memory manufacture. In recent years, the number and density of these memory cells on the flash memory module has dramatically increased so that the number of memory cells on a single chip is expected to soon reach 1 Gigabit. Increases in semiconductor packing density and downsizing of individual devices has resulted in increases in circuit density. Many aspects of the semiconductor fabrication process are affected by the demand for density increases in device packing. Feature alignment from one semiconductor level to the next is of critical importance, particularly relating to the alignment of contact holes with the underlying structures with which they are to connect, such as active areas. Device miniaturization complicates the process of forming interconnect structures because in order to maintain sufficient electrical communication, the interconnect structure must be formed in exact alignment with an underlying active region. At the same time, the area of the interconnect structure interfacing with the active area must be maximized. Thus, as device sizes shrink there is less room for misalignment errors of the interconnect structure.
Device size reductions are due in part to advances in photolithography and directional (anisotropic) plasma etching. Because horizontal device feature sizes are approaching deep submicrometer dimensions, self-alignment techniques are employed to relax the alignment requirements and improve critical dimension (CD) control. One such self-alignment technique is called self-aligned contact (SAC) etching. In SAC etching, a pair of adjacent gate stacks are utilized to align an etched opening in an insulating layer.
Currently there are possible options for a flash memory module to utilize the self-aligned contact process. The first option is to limit the SAC process to the current location for making contact to both the source and the drain junctions. In this case, a scaled process would still be limited by high source rail resistance and/or excess source junction overlap with the gate stack.
The second option would be to merge a local area interconnect and the SAC process together. The problem with this option being is that you have to etch both a long slotted contact over the source junctions and discrete round contacts over the drain junctions. Etching of the SAC contact is generally very shape sensitive and etching of such multiple shapes during the self-aligned contact process can result in significant etch problems and self-aligned contact problems. In addition, the long slotted contact would be passing over both active junction regions and field isolation regions. The etch would ideally have to be selective to field isolation. This is somewhat difficult, because the material used for the field isolation and the undoped glass, under the borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) are very similar.
The third possible option is to limit the SAC etch contact to one size only, all having a discrete round pattern. The problem with this approach is that the source contacts are not linked together and an additional shunting layer must be patterned (resulting in a second lithography level), etched (resulting in a second etch step), and formed for the source junctions (resulting in a second metal deposition and chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP)).
As device sizes are reduced, smaller dimensions are required to achieve higher packing densities. The spacing between the contacts and the gate can significantly contribute to the overall size of the flash memory cell. Simply reducing the space between the contacts and the gate makes the fabrication process less robust, more complex for the lithography process, and less cost effective due to yield loss resulting from alignment errors.
Thus, there is a need in the art to relax contact-to-gate spacing, making the SAC contact a requirement. In addition, there is a need for a flash memory with a smaller cell channel length, which will require the use of a local interconnect. Further still, there is an overall need to reduce the cost of the process flow, which in combination with all of the above, requires the memory cell fabrication process to be more robust, less complex, and more cost effective.


Methods and systems for controlling and adjusting heat distribution over a part bed are disclosed. In one embodiment, a technique for providing a calibrated heat distribution over a part bed includes determining the temperature distribution within a part bed, generating a zone heat distribution for a plurality of heat zones from the temperature distribution, analyzing the zone heat distribution to create an adjustment command to calibrate a heater for providing a substantially consistent temperature distribution within the part bed, and adjusting the heater based on the adjustment command.

People often desire to create prototypes or production models of products, including products with complex geometries. Additive manufacturing techniques facilitate the creation of products using a bottom-up product building approach by adding material in thin layers to form a product. This process allows product creation without large capital investments, such as those associated with molds or specialized machinery, while reducing the overall waste generated in product creation. Additive manufacturing techniques also allow creation of a product with complex geometry because the additive process creates a thin cross-sectional slice of the product during each iteration, thus building complex geometries as simple two-dimensional layers created upon one-another.
When a product is formed using an additive manufacturing process, the raw material (e.g., powder) is heated to an optimal temperature for product formation. The optimal temperature is slightly lower than the liquid state temperature of the material, thus allowing a small concentration of thermal energy (heat) from a laser to transform the solid material to a liquid, where the material then bonds and quickly cools (after removal of the laser) as a product layer. Often, the material in the part bed has inconsistent temperature when the temperature is measured across the part bed. This variance in temperature may reduce the integrity and consistency of the product formation process in additive manufacturing. In addition, the raw materials that may be used in additive manufacturing have various formation temperatures (i.e., melting points). Some raw materials have melting points that are too high for current additive manufacturing systems to utilize, particularly when large variances in temperature exist across the part bed.