Software-based audio rendering is described. A particular implementation includes computer readable media configured to measure a first drift rate between an external clock and an audio clock until the drift reaches a threshold. Responsive to the drift reaching the threshold and based upon the first drift rate, the implementation manipulates the audio clock to achieve a second drift rate having a smaller value and an opposite polarity from the first drift rate.

A large consumer demand exists for listening to, and/or viewing media content. Such media content is readily available from a multitude of sources. Consumers desire a quality experience when they watch and/or listen to such media. Further, consumers appreciate a single versatile consumer device that can perform multiple functions and still provide a quality user experience.
A personal computer (PC) provides a versatile platform for viewing and/or listening to media. The PC obtains the media, parses it into audio data and video data as appropriate. The PC then decodes the media, and renders the data for presentation to a user such as through a display device and/or speakers. The PC utilizes software-based components alone or in combination with hardware components to decode and render the media. The PC platform's software-based configuration is versatile since it is adaptable to playing various media formats. Further, as new formats are developed, the PC can be updated to handle the new formats. Often such updating can be done automatically with little or no user effort. Other platforms, such as hardware-based platforms, are less versatile as they are 'configured' upon manufacture and may have no or limited such capabilities.
This versatility of the PC has led to great consumer acceptance. However, in order to leverage its versatility, the PC platform has given priority to various design parameters over others. For example, in instances where audio samples are acquired from a live source, audio rendering on existing PC platforms may not have the ability to coordinate an audio hardware render rate with an audio sample capture rate. Any difference between the two, however minute, becomes significant over extended play times, if unchecked.
For example, in an instance where audio samples are captured from a live source such as from terrestrial, cable, or satellite Radio or TV broadcasting systems, the drift between source clock and audio render hardware clock may eventually become so great that some audio samples have to be thrown away or silence has to been inserted into the live audio stream. Such a scenario can produce a less pleasing user experience. Further, on PC platforms where the audio rendering component renders based upon its own clock which often may not be synchronized with the media source or the video rendering components, a scenario may occur where the audio presentation is out of synchronization with the corresponding video presentation to such an extent as to be easily noticed by a viewer. Such scenarios are exacerbated by long play times such as playing a movie or when viewing a single TV channel for long durations.
As technology progresses, consumers desire the flexibility offered by the current PC's software based platform combined with increased image and/or sound quality to fill an ever expanding niche of consumer devices and scenarios.


The semiconductor device of the present invention includes: particles or interface states for passing charge formed on a p-type silicon substrate via a barrier layer; and particles for holding charge formed above the charge-passing particles via another barrier layer. The charge-holding particles are different from the charge-passing particles in parameters such as the particle diameter, the capacitance, the electron affinity, and the sum of electron affinity and forbidden bandwidth, to attain swift charge injection and release as well as stable charge holding in the charge-holding particles.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device including microparticles and the like for holding charge to permit use of the semiconductor device as a memory.
Existing ultralarge-scale integrated circuits (ULSI) have a memory section where a number of memory devices each composed of a MOS transistor are integrated. In recent years, demands have increased on the memory devices for higher operation speed, reduced power consumption, and prolonged recording retention. To respond to these demands, development of MOS transistors satisfying these demands is in progress.
Memory devices proposed and trial-produced so far employ a technique that quite a small amount of charge is injected into a microparticle of a semiconductor or the like during write or erase operation of the memory and the charge is held therein. An example of this conventional technique is a study by S. Tiwari et al. on a memory using a plurality of silicon microparticles (dots) (Appl. Phys. Lett. 68 (1996) 1377).
FIG. 57 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional semiconductor memory device functioning as a memory using a plurality of silicon microparticles. The semiconductor memory device includes a tunnel oxide film 6202 made of SiO2 and a SiO2 film 6204 deposited in this order on a p-type silicon substrate 6201. An n-type polysilicon electrode 6205 is formed on the SiO2 film 6204. Silicon microparticles 6203 are buried between the tunnel oxide film 6202 and the SiO2 film 6204. Source/drain regions 6206 are formed in portions of the p-type silicon substrate 6201 located below both sides of the n-type polysilicon electrode 6205.
In the above conventional semiconductor memory device, by applying a positive voltage to the n-type polysilicon electrode 6205, electrons can be injected into the silicon microparticles 6203 via the tunnel oxide film 6202. By applying a negative voltage to the n-type polysilicon electrode 6205, electrons in the silicon microparticles 6203 can be released. This enables the threshold voltage of the device to change depending on whether or not electrons exist in the silicon microparticles 6203. The levels (high or low) of the threshold voltage are made associated with information H (high) and information L (low), respectively. In this way, information writing/reading is realized.
The thickness of the tunnel oxide film 6202 is extremely small (about 1.5 nm to 4 nm). Therefore, the above electron injection process is by direct tunneling, not Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling.
According to a study by the inventors of the present invention, a highly sophisticated and fine fabrication technique is required to attempt to implement the above proposed semiconductor device with practical performance.
For example, if the tunnel oxide film 6202 is too thick, charge injection by tunneling is difficult, resulting in difficulty in obtaining low-voltage operation and high-speed operation. On the contrary, if the tunnel oxide film 6202 is too thin, charge confinement is insufficient during charge holding, resulting in difficulty in long-term charge holding, that is, long-term information recording.
In addition, in order to provide practical characteristics for the conventional semiconductor device, required is a fabrication technique allowing for high-level control of the diameter of the silicon microparticles 6203 as well as the dispersion thereof. If the diameter of the silicon microparticles 6203 is too small or large to provide a sufficient surface density of the silicon microparticles 6203, the charge holding duration is too short or the allowable amount of charge held is too small, resulting in reduction of the reliability of the semiconductor device.
Moreover, in the case of an increase of thermal energy due to temperature rise, for example, charge accumulated in the silicon microparticles 6203 is released spontaneously due to tunneling from the silicon microparticles 6203 to the p-type silicon substrate 6201.
In view of the above, in order to provide practical device characteristics for the above conventional semiconductor device, it is necessary to control the quality and thickness of the tunnel oxide film 6202 uniformly with markedly high precision. It is also necessary to provide the silicon microparticles 6203 at a high surface density in a uniform dispersion state while ensuring a uniform diameter of the silicon microparticles 6203. A highly sophisticated fabrication technique is required to realize the above control over the entire surface of the p-type silicon substrate. In consideration of the above, if the conventional semiconductor device is actually fabricated in the above fabrication process, the possibility that the resultant semiconductor device has practical characteristics is small. Further, the fabricated conventional semiconductor device will be poor in reliability. In short, according to the study by the inventors of the present invention, it is difficult for the conventional semiconductor device to realize high-speed charge injection and release and long-term charge holding.
An object of the present invention is providing a semiconductor device with high reliability that can be easily fabricated, and a method for fabricating such a semiconductor device.
The first semiconductor device according to the present invention include: a substrate having a conductive layer; and a charge holding region including a barrier layer formed on the conductive layer for functioning as a barrier against charge transfer and a plurality of particles dispersed in the barrier layer so that the particles have different distances from the conductive layer from each other. The capacitance of the particles is larger as the distance from the conductive layer is smaller.
As the capacitance is larger, potential rise during charge holding is smaller and thus charge transfer is easier. Therefore, it becomes easy for the particles located farther from the conductive layer to hold charge, or to release charge upon application of a voltage. This charge holding state can be used as information.
In the first semiconductor device, the capacitance is larger and charge transfer is easier as the particles are dispersed at a higher dispersion density or as the mean diameter of the particles is larger. Therefore, by varying these factors depending on the distance from the conductive layer, spontaneous release of accumulated charge can be effectively suppressed, resulting in prolonged charge holding in the charge holding region. This increases the reliability.
In the first semiconductor device, the particles are quantized. This facilitates control of charge injection and release with a voltage.
Preferably, the plurality of particles are divided into a plurality of particle groups each composed of a plurality of particles common in the distance from the conductive layer.
The semiconductor device further includes: an insulating layer formed on the barrier layer; a gate electrode formed on the insulating layer; and source/drain regions formed by introducing an impurity into regions of the substrate located below both sides of the gate electrode. The resultant semiconductor device functions as a MIS transistor.
The second semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; and a charge holding region including a barrier layer formed on the conductive layer for functioning as a barrier against charge transfer and a plurality of particles dispersed in the barrier layer so that the particles have different distances from the conductive layer from each other. The barrier height of inter-particle portions of the charge holding region is smaller as the distance from the conductive layer is smaller.
As the barrier height is smaller, charge transfer is easier. Therefore, it becomes easy for the particles located farther from the conductive layer to hold charge, or to release charge upon application of a voltage. This charge holding state can be used as information.
The particles may have a smaller electron affinity or a larger sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth as the distance from the conductive layer is smaller. This makes it possible to easily provide a difference in barrier height among the inter-particle portions.
Alternatively, the barrier layer may have a larger electron affinity or a smaller sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth as the distance from the conductive layer is smaller. This also makes it possible to easily provide a difference in barrier height among the inter-particle portions.
Preferably, the plurality of particles are divided into a plurality of particle groups each composed of a plurality of particles common in the distance from the conductive layer.
The third semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a first tunnel barrier film formed on the conductive layer; a quantized semiconductor layer formed on the first tunnel barrier film; a second tunnel barrier film formed on the first tunnel barrier film and the semiconductor layer; quantized semiconductor particles formed on the second tunnel barrier film in the state of being isolated from one another; and an insulating film formed on the second tunnel barrier film and the semiconductor particles.
The formation of the quantized semiconductor layer permits control of electron transfer between the quantized semiconductor particles and the conductive layer. That is, since charge transfer occurs only when the potential at the energy level of the semiconductor particles and the potential at the energy level of the semiconductor layer match each other, spontaneous release of charge accumulated in the semiconductor particles can be effectively suppressed, allowing for prolonged charge holding in the semiconductor particles. In addition, under presence of an appropriate electric field, charge can be easily injected from the conductive layer into the semiconductor particles and released from the semiconductor particles toward the conductive layer. In this way, control of charge injection into, holding in, and release from the semiconductor particles is ensured. The resultant semiconductor device is a highly reliable device that responds to the request for prolonged recording retention while satisfying the request for high-speed operation and reduced power consumption.
The discrete energy width of the semiconductor layer is preferably smaller than the discrete energy width of the semiconductor particles.
The semiconductor layer may be a particle group composed of particles in contact with one another.
The fourth semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a first barrier layer formed on the conductive layer for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; quantized first particles formed on the first barrier layer; a second barrier layer formed on the first particles for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; and second particles formed on the second barrier layer. The diameter of the second particles is larger than the diameter of the first particles.
During charge holding, the particles having a large diameter have a higher charge holding ability and thus a lower charge release probability than the particles having a small diameter. Utilizing this characteristic, the second particles can be used as an information holder.
The ratio of the diameter of the second particles to the first particles is not less than 1.8 and not more than 300. This makes it possible to appropriately adjust the charge holding function of the second particles and the function of the first particles as a charge passing member.
The diameter of the first particles is preferably not less than 0.1 nm and not more than 5 nm. The diameter of the second particles is preferably not less than 1 nm and not more than 30 nm.
The fifth semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a first barrier layer formed on the conductive layer for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; first particles formed on the first barrier layer; a second barrier layer formed on the first particles for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; and second particles formed on the second barrier layer. The potential at the second particles against charge to be held or released is lower than the potential at the first particles.
The second particles having a lower potential have a charge holding ability higher than the first particles. Utilizing this characteristic, the second particles can be used as an information holder.
When the charge to be held or released is electrons, the electron affinity of the second particles is preferably larger than the electron affinity of the first particles. Further, when the conductive layer is a semiconductor layer, the electron affinity of the second particles is preferably larger than the electron affinity of the semiconductor layer
When the charge to be held or released is holes, the sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth of the second particles is preferably smaller than the sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth of the first particles. Further, when the conductive layer is a semiconductor layer, the sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth of the second particles is preferably smaller than the sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth of the semiconductor layer.
The sixth semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a first SiO2 layer formed on the conductive layer; a SiOxNy layer (0xe2x89xa6x less than 2, 0 less than yxe2x89xa64/3) formed on the first SiO2 layer; a second SiO2 layer formed on the SiOxNy layer; and particles formed on the second SiO2 layer.
Levels allowing for charge passing are generated in the vicinity of the interfaces between the SiOxNy layer and the first and second SiO2 layers and inside the SiOxNy layer. This enables the particles to hold charge and thus be used as an information holder.
The seventh semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a first insulating layer formed on the conductive layer; first particles formed on the first insulating layer; a first barrier layer formed on the first particles for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; second particles formed on the first barrier layer; a second barrier layer formed on the second particles for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; and third particles formed on the second barrier layer. The diameter of each of the first and third particles is larger than the diameter of the second particles.
The charge holding function of the first and third particles is higher than the charge holding function of the second particles. Utilizing this, charge exchange is possible between the first particles and the third particles via the second particles as a charge passing member. Thus, the first and third particles can be used as an information holder.
The ratio of the diameter of each of the first and third particles to the second particles is not less than 1.8 and not more than 300. This makes it possible to appropriately adjust the charge holding function of the first and third particles and the charge passing function of the second particles.
The diameter of the second particles is preferably not less than 0.1 nm and not more than 5 nm. The diameter of each of the first and third particles is preferably not less than 1 nm and not more than 30 nm.
The eighth semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a first insulating layer formed on the conductive layer; first particles formed on the first insulating layer; a first barrier layer formed on the first particles for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; second particles formed on the first barrier layer; a second barrier layer formed on the second particles for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; and third particles formed on the second barrier layer. The potential at each of the first and third particles against charge to be held or released is lower than the potential at the second particles.
The charge holding function of the first and third particles is higher than the charge holding function of the second particles. Utilizing this, charge exchange is possible between the first particles and the third particles via the second particles as a charge passing member. Thus, the first and third particles can be used as an information holder.
When the charge to be held or released is electrons the electron affinity of each of the first and third particles is preferably larger than the electron affinity of the second particles. When the charge to be held or released is holes, the sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth of each of the first and third particles is preferably smaller than the sum of the electron affinity and the forbidden bandwidth of the second particles.
The ninth semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; an insulating layer formed on the conductive layer; first particles formed on the insulating layer; a first SiO2 layer formed on the first particles; a SiOxNy layer (0xe2x89xa6x less than 2, 0 less than yxe2x89xa64/3) formed on the first SiO2 layer; a second SiO2 layer formed on the SiOxNy layer; and second particles formed on the second SiO2 layer.
Levels allowing for passing charge are generated in the vicinity of the interfaces between the SiOxNy layer and the first and second SiO2 layers and inside the SiOxNy layer. This enables the particles to hold charge and thus be used as an information holder.
The tenth semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a barrier layer formed on the conductive layer for functioning as a barrier for charge transfer; a charge holder formed on the barrier layer; and quantized particles buried in at least part of the barrier layer.
It is possible to control charge transfer while using the particles as a charge passing member between the charge holder and the conductive layer. If quantized particles are used, in particular, the resultant semiconductor device is usable as a memory permitting high-speed writing and erasing.
The eleventh semiconductor device according to the present invention includes: a substrate having a conductive layer; a first SiO2 layer formed on the conductive layer; a SiOxNy layer (0xe2x89xa6x less than 2, 0 less than yxe2x89xa64/3) formed on the first SiO2 layer; a second SiO2 layer formed on the SiOxNy layer; and a charge holder formed on the second SiO2 layer.
Levels allowing for passing charge are generated in the vicinity of the interfaces between the SiOxNy layer and the first and second SiO2 layers and inside the SiOxNy layer. Therefore, the resultant semiconductor device is usable as a memory permitting high-speed write/erase operations.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A cutter for cutting cable, such as fiber optic cable, and a method of using same is provided. The cutter includes a pair of opposite members that are joined together at a joint such that the opposite members move in conjunction with each other. Each member has a handle on one side of the joint and a cutting blade on the opposite side of the joint. When the handles are forced together, the cutting blades are also forced together. The cutter also includes a clamping mechanism. The clamping mechanism is used to clamp the fiber optic cable on either side of the cutting blades such that the strength reinforcement strands of the fiber optic cable will be placed in tension, prior to the cutting of the strength reinforcement strands within the fiber optic cable, thereby ensuring a clean cut by the cutting blades.

The present invention relates to a cutter for cutting fiber optic cable and a method of using same.
Fiber optic cables have become very popular such that they are being used to replace other types of cables in a variety of circumstances, i.e., telephone lines, cable television lines, etc. The cutting of fiber optic cables, though, has presented a problem to many workers because the tools that they use to cut other types of cable do not always cleanly cut the strength reinforcement strands, such as aramid, that run throughout fiber optic cables. The reason that the fiber optic cables do not cleanly cut appears to stem from the flexibleness of the fiber optic cables and the high tensile strength of the strength reinforcement strands. When a cutter that has been used in the past to cut other types of cable is used to cut fiber optic cable, the fine strength reinforcement strands appear to pull toward the blades of the cutter and bend between the blades instead of being cut by the blades. When a fiber optic cable does not cut cleanly, the worker is forced to pull the strength reinforcement strands apart or use a saw or knife to complete the cut. The pulling of the strength reinforcement strands by either the worker or the cutter, as well as completing the cut by a saw or a knife, can potentially cause damage to the fiber optic cable at some spot in the fiber optic cable that is not being cut.
Therefore, an improved cutter for cutting fiber optic cables is needed. The present invention provides such a cutter. Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the attached specification, in combination with a study of the drawings.
A primary object of the invention is to provide a cable cutter which cleanly cuts a cable, such as fiber optic cable, without having to use another tool to complete the cut.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cable cutter for cutting cable that prevents the cable from pulling toward the cutter blades and bending between the blades instead of being cut.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a cable cutter that uses a clamping mechanism to place the strength reinforcement strands of a fiber optic cable in tension prior to cutting the cable in order to prevent the strength reinforcement strands from pulling into the gap between the blades.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of cutting a cable.
Briefly, and in accordance with the foregoing, the present invention provides a cutter for cutting cable, such as fiber optic cable, and a method of using same. The cutter of the present invention includes a pair of opposite members that are joined together at a joint such that the opposite members move in conjunction with each other. Each member has a handle on one side of the joint and a cutting blade on the opposite side of the joint. When the handles are forced together, the cutting blades are also forced together. The cutter also includes a clamping mechanism. The clamping mechanism is used to clamp the fiber optic cable on either side of the cutting blades, prior to the cutting of strength reinforcement strands within the fiber optic cable, such that the strength reinforcement strands of the fiber optic cable will be placed in tension, thereby ensuring a clean cut of the entire fiber optic cable by the cutting blades.

Cutter for fiber optic cable and method of using same


Systems, methods and products for content management where a dynamic data service layer is provided between a content server layer to route requests from various content server instances to various database instances. The dynamic data service layer maintains an instance pool of available database instances and a connection pool of available connections to each database instance. A content server instance submits a corresponding request to the dynamic data service layer, which then examines the instance pool to identify a database instance that can service the request and examines the connection pool to identify an available connection to the identified database instance. The request is submitted to the identified database instance through the identified connection, and the responsive data is stored at a memory location which is accessible by the content server instance and can be read using a starting memory address and the length of the stored data.

Content management systems allow organizations to easily manage data such as digital content for websites, business documents, employee or customer information, or other information used in the course of their respective businesses. These content management systems may, for example, incorporate content servers that interact with database systems to enable the organization, storage and retrieval of the organizations' data in a manner that allows the organizations to ensure compliance with company policies, facilitate use of the data by employees and collaborators, increase efficiency and productivity within the organizations, capture the value of the organizations' data, and so on.
Typically, the content servers that are implemented in content management systems are tightly coupled to the databases that store and retrieve an organization's data. In other words, a particular instance of a content server is normally coupled to a single, corresponding instance of a database in a one-to-one relationship, rather than being organized in a more distributed fashion. A system may have several content servers, each of which is attached to a corresponding database instance. Each database instance is accessed only through the corresponding content server service.
This arrangement may present several problems. For example, the system could experience high levels of requests which necessitate additional content server instances and/or database instances. It may therefore be necessary or desirable to add another content server instance or database instance, but this generally cannot be done dynamically at runtime. Instead, it is necessary to stop operation of the content management system, reconfigure the content server instances and database instances as desired, and restart or resume operation of the system. This causes downtime which reduces the performance of the system.
Another problem is that, even if the current configuration of the content server instances and database instances is appropriate, the tightly coupled relationship between them may present inefficiencies in accessing the data. For instance, when a request for data is forwarded from a content server instance to the corresponding database instance, the database instance will normally stream the data to the content server instance in response to the request. The amount of data which is provided in response to the request may be very large, and streaming this data back to the content server instance may take quite a bit of time. During this data transfer, the content server instance and database instance are tied up and cannot perform any other operations until the transfer is complete.

Dynamic data service engine/router for content service management


This application provides an image recognition method, a storage medium, and a computer device. The method includes: obtaining a to-be-recognized image; preprocessing the to-be-recognized image, to obtain a preprocessed image; obtaining, through a first submodel in a machine learning model, a first image feature corresponding to the to-be-recognized image, and obtaining, through a second submodel in the machine learning model, a second image feature corresponding to the preprocessed image; and determining, according to the first image feature and the second image feature, a first probability that the to-be-recognized image belongs to a classification category corresponding to the machine learning model. It may be seen that, the solutions provided by this application can improve recognition efficiency and accuracy.

As is well known, an image may be classified by recognizing information carried in the image, that is, a classification category to which the image belongs is determined among several classification categories. For example, a fundus image may be used for reflecting the illness state of diabetic retinopathy. Accordingly, for any fundus image, a classification category to which the fundus image belongs may be determined among the five classification categories: normal, mild NPDR, moderate NPDR, severe NPDR, and PDR.
In the related art, an image is mainly determined manually, to determine the classification category to which the image belongs. For example, a doctor observes a fundus image through eyes, and determines, according to the experience, which of normal, mild NPDR, moderate NPDR, severe NPDR, and PDR the fundus image belongs to.

Image recognition method, storage medium and computer device

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


A system tool merges different load forecasts for power grid centers. A plurality of load forecast engines are coupled to a load forecast interface and a relational data base that saves load forecast engine data as an input through the load forecast interface. A comprehensive operating plan is coupled to the load forecast engines and the relational database. The comprehensive operating plan is configured to integrate individual load forecasts into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive, synchronized and harmonized load forecast. A program interface provides access to the composite load forecasting schedule.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to load forecast and more particularly to system tools for integrating individual load forecasts into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive, synchronized and harmonized load forecast.
2. Description of the Related Art
With respect to the electric power grid, expensive peak power—electric power delivered during periods of peak demand—can cost substantially more than off-peak power. The electric power grid itself has become increasingly unreliable and antiquated, as evidenced by frequent large-scale power outages. Grid instability wastes energy, both directly and indirectly, for example, by encouraging power consumers to install inefficient forms of backup generation.
Clean forms of energy generation, such as wind and solar, suffer from intermittency. Hence, grid operators are reluctant to rely heavily on these sources, making it difficult to move away from standard, typically carbon-intensive forms of electricity.
The electric power grid contains limited inherent facility for storing electrical energy. Electricity must be generated in a balanced fashion to meet uncertain demand, which often results in either over or under commitment or dispatch of generation, hence system inefficiency, system insecurity and power failures.
Distributed electric resources, en masse can provide a significant resource for addressing the above problems. However, current power services infrastructure lacks provisioning and flexibility that are required for aggregating a large number of small-scale resources (e.g., electric vehicle batteries) to meet medium- and large-scale needs of power services.
Classical dispatch of energy, (i) is cost based with centralized generation, (ii) is passive with static demand, (iii) has inaccurate parameters, (iv) has manual re-dispatch to relieve grid security violations, (v) uses ad-hoc forward scheduling that is disconnected from real time dispatch, (vi) designed only for rather normally inter-connected system operation and (vii) is limited in forensic analysis.
Thus, significant opportunities for improvement exist in the electrical sector. Real-time balancing of generation and load can be realized with reduced cost and environmental impact. More economical, reliable electrical power can be provided at times of peak demand. Power services, such as regulation and spinning reserves, can be provided to electricity markets to stabilize the grid and provide a significant economic opportunity. Technologies can be enabled to provide broader use of intermittent power sources, such as wind and solar.
There is a need for methods and system tools that merge different load forecasts for power grid centers. There is a further need for methods and system tools that integrate individual load forecasts are into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive, synchronized and harmonized load forecast. There is a further need for methods and system tools to merge different load forecasts for power grid centers that allows an operator to review input load forecasts and modify load forecasts with an override capability. There is another need for need for methods and system tools that merge different load forecasts for power grid centers and improved load forecasts are provided over different time horizons.

System tools for integrating individual load forecasts into a composite load forecast to present a comprehensive synchronized and harmonized load forecast


A frequency divider circuit includes an oscillator comprising a plurality of delay elements coupled in series with each other, a first coupling circuit coupled to a first oscillator node and including a control terminal to receive a first retiming signal, and a first multiplexer including inputs coupled to receive the input signal and a complementary input signal, a control terminal coupled to a second oscillator node, and an output to provide the first retiming signal. The first multiplexer may be configured to alternate between injecting the input signal into the first oscillator node based on rising edges of the input signal and injecting the input signal into the first oscillator node based on falling edges of the input signal in response to a logic state of an oscillation waveform appearing at the second oscillator node.

Frequency dividers may generate lower-frequency signals from higher-frequency signals. Some frequency dividers may generate an output clock having a frequency that is equal to 1/N times the frequency of an input clock, where N is an integer greater than 1. Some frequency dividers may propagate an input signal through a series of flip-flops that are clocked on rising edges of a clock signal, for example, so that each of the flip-flops generates an output signal that is an incrementally delayed version of the input signal. The delayed versions of the input signal may be logically combined to generate an output signal having a frequency equal to 1/N times the frequency of the input signal.
Other frequency dividers may form or operate as an oscillating circuit that generates output signals having a frequency equal to 1/N times the frequency of an input signal. For example, an injection-locked frequency divider may operate as a tuned oscillator that is locked to an input clock frequency divided by N. Injection-locked frequency dividers may be more efficient than flip-flop based frequency dividers at higher frequencies.
When a frequency divided output signal is used for timing one or more components of a circuit or device, it may be desirable to maintain the duty cycle of the frequency divided output signal at a desired and/or constant value.

Inductor-less divide-by-3 injection locked frequency divider


According to one embodiment, an antenna apparatus includes a ground plate having an opening, a ground layer on a first side of the ground plate, an antenna on the first side of the ground plate and connected to the ground layer, the antenna being disposed around the opening, and a conductive member on the first side of the ground plate to contact an outer perimeter of the opening. The conductive member is electrically connected to the ground layer.

There is a system that performs merchandise registration or inventory management using a code symbol, such as a bar code, or other two-dimensional code, attached to merchandise. This system type uses an optical reader for optically reading a code symbol.
There is also a system that performs merchandise registration or inventory management using a wireless tag that is attached to merchandise. This system type uses a wireless tag reader for wirelessly reading information of a wireless tag.
In addition, there is also a system that performs merchandise registration or inventory management using both a code symbol and a wireless tag. However, with this system type, when code symbols are attached only to some articles of merchandise and wireless tags are attached only to some other articles of merchandise, an operator needs to change between using an optical reader and the wireless tag reader. For example, with respect to the merchandise to which the code symbol is attached, the operator must hold the code symbol in front of the optical reader. With respect to the merchandise on which the wireless tag is attached, the operator moves the wireless tag to within a reading range of the wireless tag reader to read the wireless tag.
Switching between an optical reader and a wireless tag reader can be troublesome. Therefore, a wireless tag reader including an antenna apparatus which does not hinder reading of the code symbol by an optical reader has been devised.
An example thereof is an antenna apparatus with a rectangular opening provided at a central portion of a substrate. On the substrate, four elements of an antenna are disposed in a rectangular shape. An optical reader can read a code symbol through the opening. With such a structure, the antenna does not hinder the functioning of the optical reader.


A method for determining a wheel radius of a motor vehicle, including calculating a yaw rate of the motor vehicle by means of a wheel speed of at least one wheel and a predefined wheel radius. The calculated yaw rate is compared with a measured yaw rate. The wheel speed is adapted. The calculation of the yaw rate is input, of the at least one wheel by means of a correction factor, so that the calculated yaw rate is equal to the measured yaw rate. The correction factor and the predefined wheel radius or the wheel speed is multiplied. The calculation of the yaw rate is input, for the determination of a corrected wheel radius or of a corrected wheel speed.

The diameter, circumference and radius of a vehicle wheel or tire is necessary to determine a large number of vehicle variables. These include, for example, the wheel speed, the vehicle speed, the distance travelled, the current position of the vehicle or the orientation of the vehicle. The variables specified above are in turn decisive for vehicle systems, such as for example the antilock brake system (ABS), the traction control system (ASR) or the electronic stability program (ESP).
The wheel circumference of a vehicle wheel is defined by the rolling circumference, that is to say the distance which is travelled per revolution of the wheel. The wheel rolling circumferences of each vehicle wheel are not constant and can change, for example, for the following reasons: air pressure fluctuations, fabrication tolerances of the wheels, changes in temperature, wear or changing of the wheel.
German laid-open patent application EP 1 826 530 A1 discloses a method for determining a wheel circumference. This solution proves disadvantageous in that to determine the wheel circumference it is firstly necessary to travel straight ahead for a certain period of time and additionally cornering is also necessary.
Thus, a need exists for an improved method and an improved device for determining a radius of a motor vehicle wheel.

Method for determining a corrected wheel radius on the basis of the measured yaw rate


The present invention features a method of treating a wound by applying electricity to a barrier membrane in need of such treatment wherein said electricity is generated by a first conductive electrode in electric communication with a second conductive electrode, wherein both the first conductive electrode and the second conductive electrode are in ionic communication with the barrier membrane, wherein the difference of the standard potentials of the first conductive electrode and the second conductive electrode is at least 0.2 V and wherein the electrons that pass between the first conductive electrode and the second conductive electrode are generated as a result of such difference of the standard potentials.

Using a galvanic couple as the power source in iontophoresis device is well known in the art. See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,147,297, 5,162,043, 5,298,017, 5,326,341, 5,405,317, 5,685,837, 6,584,349, 6,421,561 and 6,653,014. Typical materials from which a galvanic couple is made includes a zinc donor electrode and a silver chloride counter electrode. Such a combination produces an electric potential of about one volt. Such a galvanic couple powered iontophoresis system, absent some controlling means, activates automatically when body tissue and/or fluids form a complete circuit with the system to generate the electricity.

Methods of treating a wound with galvanic generated electricity

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.


A rotary dial assembly including a dial portion and a base portion. The dial portion has a knob extending from a first side of the dial portion. An outer detent profile and an inner detent profile are on a second side of the dial portion that is opposite to the first side. The inner detent profile is closer to a center of the dial portion than the outer detent profile. The outer detent profile includes a plurality of outer detents, and the inner detent profile includes a plurality of inner detents. The base portion includes an outer detent engaging member movable to selectively engage the outer detent profile, and an inner detent engaging member movable to selectively engage the inner detent profile.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.
Rotary dials are often used in vehicles to provide control over various vehicle functions, such as heating, ventilation, and air cooling functions (HVAC), and entertainment system functions, such as volume control. While current rotary dials are suitable for their intended use, they are subject to improvement. The present teachings provide for an improved rotary dial that has numerous advantages over current rotary dials, as explained herein and as one skilled in the art will recognize.

Control dial having multiple torque and detent profiles


A method, a device and a computer program product for processing a segment are proposed. In the method, a property of at least one of a first segment and a second segment in a segment set is obtained. The segment set includes a plurality of segments belonging to at least one conversation. The second segment occurs after the first segment. A boundary feature of at least one of the first segment and the second segment is determined based on the property. The boundary feature indicates whether there is a boundary of a conversation after the first segment.

The present invention relates to processing a conversation, and more specifically, to determining a boundary of the conversation.
Persistent chat rooms are becoming more popular as a way to communicate in real time. Persistent chat enables users to create chat rooms that persist over time, and to communicate and collaborate with other users participating in the chat rooms. The users can share ideas and information by posting messages and find ideas and information by browsing or searching the chat history. Messages are saved over time, such that any user participating in the persistent chat room is able to view all the chat history at any time. In this case, the persistent chat needs to be improved to facilitate the users in viewing the chat history.

International Business Machines Corporation


An electronic system can include an electronic module and a trace circuit that provides a perimeter that encloses the electronic module. A sensing circuit within the electronic system can be configured to detect a discontinuity in the perimeter. In response to detecting the discontinuity in the perimeter, the sensing circuit can initiate, from a response device, a response signal.

The present disclosure generally relates to an electronic system. In particular, this disclosure relates to an electronic system configured to detect a discontinuity in the perimeter enclosing an electronic module.
A printed circuit board (PCB), can be used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive paths or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto non-conductive substrates. Multiple copper/insulator layer pairs, also known as "cores," can be laminated together in the fabrication of the PCB. The number and arrangement of cores can be designed to fit the needs of a variety of applications.
Vertical interconnect structures (vias) can be used to interconnect conductive signal traces between various conductive layers within the PCB. Copper shapes or areas can be used for power and ground distribution to components mounted on the PCB. The interconnect structures in the PCB can be designed to be physically and electrically compatible with the components the PCB can be used to interconnect.
Flexible printed circuits, also known as "flex circuits," or "flex cables," can be generally understood to be similar to a PCB that can bend. In practice, however, the set of design rules, e.g., conductor widths and spacings, used to design and fabricate flex circuits can vary significantly from design rules used in the design and fabrication of rigid or semi-rigid PCBs. In some applications, the conductors of a flex circuit can be fabricated using process such as photo imaging or laser imaging as the pattern definition method rather than a "printing" processes.
A flexible printed circuit includes a metallic layer of traces, often copper, bonded to a dielectric layer such as polyimide. The thickness of the metal layer can range from very thin, e.g., less than 0.0001″ to very thick, e.g., greater than 0.010″, and the dielectric thickness can similarly vary in a range between 0.0005″ and 0.010″. An adhesive material or other types of bonding such as vapor deposition, can be used to bond the metal to the substrate. Because copper tends to readily oxidize in the presence of air, exposed copper surfaces are often covered with a protective layer. Gold or solder are common materials used for this purpose, due to their electrical conductivity and environmental durability. For non-contact or non-conductive areas a dielectric material can be used to protect the circuitry from oxidation or electrical shorting. Electrical leakage, i.e., current leakage, can occur through dielectric materials located between adjacent metallic layers.

Leakage characterization and management for electronic circuit enhancement


An apparatus is described for recording/reproducing to/from an optical record carrier by means of a laser light beam. The record carrier has pre-recorded sarvo marks aligned in a track. In order to get a focus error signal, the apparatus measures phase difference between signals from two photo sensor elements which receive the laser light beam through the record carrier. A circuit for measuring the phase difference has a first and a second phase shift circuits, RS flip-flops and a focus error converter which has a shift register and a low-pass filter. The signals from the photo sensor elements are fed to the first and second phase shift circuits, respectively. The second phase shift circuit is composed of a plurality of delay elements, output of which are fed to the S inputs of the RS flip-flops. Data at the S inputs are latched in response to an output signal of the first phase shift circuit which is fed to R inputs of the RS flip-flops. Latched data are fed to the shift register for converting to a serial signal. The serial signal, then, is low-pass-filtered to become a focus error signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for recording/reproducing an optical record carrier such as an optical disk which has a photo sensor composed of a plurality of elements which divide a far field image of an information pit on the record carrier, and more particularly to a focusing error detection system which obtains a focusing error signal by measuring a phase difference between outputs of the photo sensor elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical optical information recording/reproducing apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,527, issued Sept. 27, 1977. The apparatus derives a focusing error signal from a far field image of an information structure, which is typically composed of a plurality of pits aligned along a spiral track formed on an optical disk, or the record carrier. The apparatus comprises an optical pick-up and a phase detection circuit. The optical pick-up has a laser light source for emitting a laser light beam, an objective lens for concentrating the laser light beam on the record carrier, and a photo sensor divided into two independent elements for converting the back-coming laser light beam from the record carrier to electric signals. The phase detection circuit has a subtractor and an adder for respectively subtracting and adding the electric signals from the photo sensor elements, a phase shifter for delaying the phase of an output of the adder by 90 degrees, a multiplier for multiplying outputs of the subtractor and the phase shifter, and a low-pass filter for smoothing an output of the multiplier.
The photo sensor is attached to the optical pick-up so as to be disposed in the far field of the information structure in order that the sensor elements divide a half plane of the far field image in two. When the information structure on the optical disk is about the focal point of the objective lens of the optical pick-up, the reflected light beam from the optical disk is diffracted to a zero-order beam and higher-order beams. In the far field area, those diffraction beams, overlapping one another, produce bright and dark interference stripes the width of each of which is a function of the focus error. Furthermore, when the focused laser light beam scans the track on the record carrier (when the optical disk is rotating), the stripes also move in the parallel direction of the track image projected on the photo sensor. The direction of the movement of the stripes depends upon whether the focus error is positive or negative. For example, when the focus error is positive, that is, the distance between the information structure and the principal plane of the objective lens is longer than the focal length of the objective lens, the stripes move in the direction of the movement of the record carrier, and in the opposite case, that is, when the distance between the information structure and the principal plane of the objective lens is shorter than the focal length of the objective lens, the stripes move in the opposite direction. Such behavior of the stripes in the far field can be measured as a phase difference between outputs of the two sensor elements, which are aligned in the direction of the track image.
In the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,527, the phase detection circuit converts the phase difference to a DC signal, i.e., a focus error signal. The adder produces a reference signal S1 by adding the outputs of the photo sensor elements, and the subtractor produces a reference signal S2 by subtracting the output of one of the photo sensor elements from the output of the other. The phase shifter delays the phase of the reference signal S1 by 90 degrees (a quarter cycle of the reference signal S1), hereon the reference signal S1 is to be periodic. Then the multiplier multiplies the delayed reference signal S1 and the reference signal S2. The output of the multiplier is averaged by the low-pass filter.
Provided that such data composed of alternately appearing `1` and `0`, i.e., 10101010101010, are recorded on the record carrier, the output of each photo sensor element is an alternating signal expressed by a sine or cosine function. In this case `1` corresponds to a pit on the record carrier. For example, outputs s1 and s2 of the two photo sensor elements can be expressed as: EQU s1=cos (.omega.t-pd) (1) EQU s2=cos (.omega.t+pd) (2)
where `.omega.` means the angular frequency of the outputs of the photo sensor elements, and `pd` means the phase difference as a function of the focus error. Then the reference signals S1, S2 are: EQU S1=s1-s2=2 sin (.omega.t) sin (pd) (3) EQU S2=s1+s2=2 cos (.omega.t) cos (pd) (4)
Thereafter the phase shifter gives a phase offset of 90 degrees to S2 to obtain the delayed reference signal S2': EQU S2'=2 cos (.omega.t-90) cos (pd)=2 sin (.omega.t) cos (pd) (5)
The output of the multiplier, S3, can be obtained by multiplying (3) and (5): ##EQU1## The low-pass filter cuts the high frequency term to obtain an output signal Sf: EQU Sf=sin (2pd) (7)
This signal Sf is the focus error signal, which is almost in proportion to the phase difference when the phase difference `pd` is small enough.
In the above-described apparatus, however, the sensitivity of the focus error detection decreases in the case that `1` and `0` are not recorded alternately on the record carrier, in other words, the distance between two successive pits (corresponding to `1`) is relatively large. As a typical example, when such data as ---010000000010000000010-- are recorded on the disk, the photo sensor output signals can no more be expressed by a simple sine or cosine function as shown in the equations (1), (2). When being low-pass-filtered, the phase difference signal corresponding to the equation (4) is averaged and becomes almost zero, because the phase difference is obtained only when a transition between `1` and `0` has occurred.
In the case of ROM disks, such as video discs or digital audio discs, such a problem seldom occurs, because the run-length of record data is limited. But when applying this technique to writable/erasable disks, the problem occurs. In general, such a focus detection system as obtaining a focus error signal from the far-field image of recorded data is not suitable to the writable/erasable disks because there is no `recorded data` on them before writing. However, this technique can be utilized for the sampling servo system with a preformatted disk. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,564 shows that servo marks for tracking servo are provided on the disk in manufacturing process. Those marks, of course, can be used for focus error detection. But, there should be a long interval between two successive marks so as to get enough recording area between those two marks. It means that it is very difficult to derive a focus error signal from a writable/erasable disk by the conventional technique even if servo marks are buried beforehand on the disk.

Focus error detection system for an optical recording/reproducing system

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


To provide a step-down voltage output circuit which causes no latch-up phenomenon for the period between activation of a power supply and complete start of operation of a charge pump circuit. The step-down voltage output circuit of the present invention has the charge pump circuit with a first oscillator; a timer circuit in which a timer period is set according to an oscillating frequency of the above-mentioned first oscillator; and an N-channel MOS transistor in which one N-type diffusion layer is connected to an output terminal of the above-mentioned charge pump circuit, the other N-type diffusion layer is connected to ground potential, and a gate electrode is connected to an output terminal of the above-mentioned timer circuit to become conductive for the above-mentioned timer period.

The present invention relates to a step-down voltage output circuit used in a semiconductor integrated circuit.
Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 9, a step-down voltage output circuit using a charge pump circuit of a conventional example will be described. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the step-down voltage output circuit using the charge pump circuit in the conventional example. FIG. 9 shows an oscillating circuit 1 which oscillates at a predetermined frequency and outputs a clock signal V1, a control logic 2 which receives the clock signal V1 as an input signal, a P-channel MOS transistor 3 (hereinafter referred to as "M1"), an N-channel MOS transistor 4 (hereinafter referred to as "M2"), an N-channel MOS transistor 5 (hereinafter referred to as "M3"), an N-channel MOS transistor 6 (hereinafter referred to as "M4"), a capacitor 7 having a capacity of C1, an inverter circuit 8 (hereinafter referred to as "INV1"), a power supply voltage applying terminal 9 (hereinafter referred to as "VCC terminal". The power supply voltage applied to the VCC terminal is defined as VCC) and a step-down voltage output terminal 10 (hereinafter referred to as VSUB terminal).
FIG. 2 is a view for showing the timing of operations of the step-down voltage output circuit using the charge pump circuit in the conventional example. To generate step-down voltage output voltage in the step-down voltage output circuit configured as shown in FIG. 9, the operation timings T3→T1→T3→T2→T3 forming one cycle need to be repeated. The operations in each timing T1, T2 and T3 will be described below.
Firstly, when the voltage VCC is applied from the VCC terminal 9, the oscillating circuit 1 starts self-oscillation and outputs the clock signal V1.
The clock signal V1 is an input signal of the control logic 2. The control logic 2 output signals V2 and V4 for controlling the ON/OFF operation of the M1, M2, M3 and M4. The signal V2 is an input signal of the INV1. The INV1 outputs the signal V3 of the inverted polarity to the signal V2.
During the operation timing T1, as the V2 is LOW, the V3 is HIGH and the V4 is LOW in polarity, the M1 is turned ON (operating state), the M2 is turned ON (operating state) and the M3 and M4 are turned OFF (non-operating state).
In this state, as one electrode of the capacitor 7 is connected to the VCC terminal and other electrode thereof is connected to the ground (hereinafter referred to as "GND"), the capacitor 7 is charged at a time constant determined by an ON resistance R1 of the M1 and capacity C1 of the capacitor 7 (hereinafter the voltage charged to the capacitor 7 is defined as "VC"). The voltage VC is substantially equal to the power supply voltage VCC.
During the operation timing T2, as the V2 is HIGH, the V3 is LOW and the V4 is HIGH in polarity, the M1 is turned OFF (non-operating state), the M2 is turned OFF (non-operating state) and the M3 and M4 are turned ON (operating state).
In this state, as one electrode of the capacitor 7 is connected to GND and other electrode thereof is connected to the VSUB terminal, the voltage charged during the operation timing T1 is discharged and step-down voltage −VC (=−VCC) is output to the VSUB terminal.
During the operation timing T3, as the V2 is HIGH, the V3 is LOW and the V4 is LOW in polarity, the M1, M2, M3 and M4 are turned OFF (non-operating state).
When the LOW period of the control signal V2 and the HIGH period of the control signal V4 are made to come close each other, the switching from LOW to HIGH in V2 and the switching from HIGH to LOW in V4 are delayed due to the effect of parasitic capacity consisted between gate electrodes of the M1 and M3 and substrate, and the M1 and M3 are turned ON (operating state) simultaneously, so that a pass-through current is passed between VCC and GND. For this reason, by putting the operation timing T3 for temporarily turning OFF all of the transistors at the shift from the operation timing T1 to the operation timing T2, the above-mentioned pass-through current is prevented from occurring.
By repeating the operation timings T3→T1→T3→T2→T3, the voltage charged to the capacitor 7 during the operation timing T1 eventually reaches VCC and the voltage of −VCC occurs in the VSUB terminal.
In the case where a semiconductor integrated circuit has such step-down voltage output circuit therein and feeds the substrate potential from the VSUB terminal, the circuit which is connected to the VSUB terminal and serves as a load of the step-down voltage output circuit can receive the power supply voltage −VC as well as the power supply voltage VC. For example, when an audio circuit is the load circuit, the output dynamic range of the audio circuit which receives the power supply voltage VC and −VC becomes larger twice as much as the circuit which receives only the power supply voltage VC.
However, in the conventional step-down voltage output circuit configured as mentioned above, when the VSUB terminal 10 is connected to the substrate potential, there causes a delay between activation of the power supply VCC and output of the clock signal V1 at a predetermined amplitude from the oscillating circuit 1. During the period between the time when the power supply VCC is activated and the time when the oscillating circuit 1 outputs the clock signal V1 at the predetermined amplitude and the charge pump circuit is operated fully according to the clock signal V1, the step-down voltage which is generated at the VSUB terminal 10 is a low voltage close to the GND potential. In addition, during the period, as the VSUB terminal 10 is connected to a drain terminal of the N-channel MOS transistor M4, the output impedance of the VSUB terminal 10 becomes high impedance and the substrate potential connected to the VSUB terminal 10 becomes unstable. As a result, the conventional step-down voltage output circuit has the disadvantage that a thyristor formed of parasitic elements on the load circuit of the substrate potential is triggered at activation, which tends to cause the damage of the circuit, that is, so-called latch-up phenomenon.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method of forming a polyisocyanurate foam board includes providing a polyol and adding an isocyanate to the polyol to form a polyisocyanurate foam. A first inner surface of a first facer material is treated with a first flow of hydroxyl containing molecules. A second inner surface of a second facer material is treated with a second flow of hydroxyl containing molecules. The polyisocyanurate foam is coupled to the first treated inner surface and the second treated inner surface such that the polyisocyanurate is sandwiched between the first facer material and the second facer material, thereby exposing opposing outer surfaces of the polyisocyanurate foam to the hydroxyl containing molecules. A density of a medial portion of the polyisocyanurate foam is greater than a density of the polyisocyanurate at the opposing outer surfaces.

Polyisocyanurate foam (i.e., PIR board stock) has been widely used to insulate roofs and walls of commercial and industrial buildings for many decades due to its excellent thermal insulation, flame resistance, and mechanical properties. However, to achieved a desired insulation efficiency, it is necessary to manufacture PIR boards of certain thicknesses and densities. Due to the high costs of the chemical agents needed to produce the PIR foam, it is often very expensive to produce such insulation boards.

Method of pouring polyisocyanurate foam directly onto a facer to improve cell orientation and density stratification


In a turbocharged, uniflow-scavenged, two-stroke cycle, opposed-piston engine, transient changes in engine operating conditions initiate modes of air handling operation during which reversal of EGR flow in a high pressure EGR loop of the air handling system is prevented by operating one or more air handling devices to increase resistance to exhaust flow in the engine.

A two-stroke cycle engine is an internal combustion engine that completes a cycle of operation with a single complete rotation of a crankshaft and two strokes of a piston connected to the crankshaft. The strokes are typically denoted as compression and power strokes. In a two-stroke cycle, opposed-piston ("OP2S") engine, two pistons are disposed crown-to-crown in the bore of a cylinder for reciprocating movement in opposing directions along the central axis of the cylinder. The cylinder has longitudinally-spaced inlet and exhaust ports formed in the cylinder sidewall near respective ends of the cylinder. Each of the opposed pistons controls a respective one of the ports, opening the port as it moves toward a bottom dead center (BDC) location during a power stroke (also called an expansion stroke), and closing the port as it moves from BDC toward a top dead center (TDC) location during a compression stroke. One of the ports provides passage for the products of combustion out of the bore, the other port serves to admit pressurized air into the bore; these are respectively termed the "exhaust" and "intake" ports (in some descriptions, intake ports are referred to as "air" ports or "scavenge" ports).
In most instances, OP2S engines operate according to the compression-ignition principle. Early in a compression stroke, pressurized air ("charge air") enters the bore of a cylinder through the intake port, where it is swirled, agitated, and compressed between the end surfaces of the two pistons as they move from BDC toward TDC. Fuel directly injected into the cylinder between the approaching piston end surfaces mixes with the turbulent charge air. The fuel is ignited by the heat of the compressed air, and combustion follows. The fuel is provided by an engine fuel handling system that includes one or more fuel injectors mounted to the cylinder. Typically, the injectors are located between TDC locations of the piston end surfaces. In some cases, an OP2S engine may include electrical means (a spark plug, a glow plug, a laser) for ignition of the air/fuel mixture.
In an OP2S engine, near the end of a power stroke, charge air entering a cylinder through the intake port displaces exhaust gas flowing out of the cylinder through the exhaust port. Thus gas flows through the cylinder in one direction ("uniflow")—from intake port to exhaust port. A continuous positive pressure differential must exist from the intake ports to the exhaust ports of the engine in order to maintain the desired unidirectional flow of gas through the cylinders. Without this continuous positive pressure differential, combustion deteriorates and may fail. At the same time, a high air mass density must be provided to the intake ports because of the short time that they are open. This requires pumping work in an OP2S engine, which is unassisted by a dedicated pumping stroke as in a four-stroke cycle engine.
In an OP2S engine, the pumping work to maintain a unidirectional flow of gas is done by an air handling system (also called a "gas exchange" system) which moves fresh air into, and transports combustion gases (exhaust) out of, the engine's cylinders. The pumping work may be done by one or more gas-turbine driven compressors (e.g., a turbocharger) and/or a mechanically-driven pump, such as a supercharger (also called a "blower"). For example, a compressor may be located upstream or downstream of a supercharger in a two-stage pumping configuration. The pumping arrangement (single stage, two-stage, or otherwise) drives the scavenging process, which is critical to ensuring effective combustion, increasing the engine's indicated thermal efficiency, and extending the lives of engine components such as pistons, rings, and cylinder.
In many instances, the air handling system of a uniflow-scavenged, two-stroke cycle, opposed-piston engine is equipped to reduce NOx emissions produced during combustion by recirculating exhaust gas through the ported cylinders of the engine through an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) loop.
In a typical arrangement, the air handling system includes a charge air channel that transports pressurized air to the intake ports of the engine, an exhaust channel that transports exhaust gasses from the engine's exhaust ports, and at least one turbocharger with a compressor in the charge air channel and a turbine in the exhaust channel. In an example, called a "twin-charging" configuration, the charge air channel may further include a supercharger downstream of the compressor, between the compressor outlet and the intake ports of the engine. In these instances, the air handling system may be equipped with an EGR loop including a channel having an inlet in the exhaust channel and an outlet in the charge air channel. In a high pressure EGR construction, the EGR channel inlet is connected to the exhaust channel upstream of the turbine, between the exhaust ports of the engine and the inlet of the turbine, and the EGR channel outlet is connected to the charge air channel downstream of the compressor, between the outlet of the compressor and the inlet of the supercharger. A valve in the EGR channel enables control of the level of gas flow through the EGR loop.
Use of EGR to control emissions is based upon the premise that gas transported through the EGR channel flows from the exhaust channel to the charge air channel. However, this direction can be maintained only so long as engine gas pressure is higher at the EGR channel inlet than at the EGR channel outlet. If engine gas flows in the reverse direction through the EGR channel (from the outlet to the inlet), there may be detrimental effects on engine performance and emissions. In OP2S engines that use a twin-charging configuration including a supercharger and a turbocharger, and that are equipped with a high pressure EGR channel, engine gas pressure across the channel is higher at the inlet than at the outlet under typical operating conditions, and thus engine gas (exhaust) will normally flow in the correct direction through the EGR channel, from the exhaust channel to the charge air channel. There are, however, instances where gas flow through the EGR channel is susceptible to reversal in an OP2S engine.
During steady state performance, operational parameters of an OP2S engine change slowly. Thus when the engine propels a vehicle on a highway at a steady speed, the recirculation of exhaust gas via an EGR loop can be maintained at a slowly-changing pace. This translates to stable control with enough time to optimize engine performance in terms of emissions. However, vehicle operation often subjects the engine to quick changes in operating conditions. Such changes may include sudden demands for torque or fuel, especially in urban driving or during operation in industrial conditions. Such demands may come from abrupt changes of accelerator pedal position, acceleration and deceleration, switching accessories (like air conditioning) on or off, pulling a trailer, climbing a hill, and so on. A sudden change in demand for torque or fuel associated with an abrupt change in engine load or engine speed is referred to as a "transient event."
It is desirable to limit the production of emissions during all phases of engine operation. However, during a quick change in engine operating conditions, a limiting factor for OP2S engine response may be defined by how rapidly the air handling system can change the flow of gas through the engine while keeping engine emissions under control. A problem in this regard concerns a change in direction of gas flow through the EGR channel as may happen in response to a transient event causing a sudden reduction in fuel demand while the engine is heavily loaded. One example is a "tip-out" when a vehicle driver quickly removes their foot from the accelerator pedal after pushing it down all the way to accelerate onto a freeway. A "ramp-down" is another example. In these situations the sudden reduction in fuel reduces combustion, which suddenly lowers exhaust pressure. However, charge air flow inertia principally attributable to turbo lag and transport delay in the air handling system can result in a period of time, on the order of seconds in some instances, where the gas flow through the EGR channel reverses because compressor outlet pressure is higher than exhaust pressure.
Therefore, it is desirable that the air handling system of an OP2S engine prevent reversal of gas flow through the EGR channel as may occur during a change in engine operating condition such as, for example, a transient event.

Maintaining EGR flow in a uniflow-scavenged, two-stroke cycle, opposed-piston engine


A method of manufacturing a toner including manufacturing a coarse toner containing a binder resin and a coloring agent, and screening the coarse toner with a screen device including a top screen having an opening of from 26 to 43 μm and a bottom screen situated below the top screen having an opening of from 54 to 150 μm to screen the coarse toner with the top screen by ultrasonic vibration and mechanical vibration at 50° C. or lower, and with the bottom screen by mechanical vibration at 35° C. or lower.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing toner, the toner, and a method of recycling the toner.
2. Discussion of the Background
Methods of visualizing image information by forming electrostatic images according to electrophotography are utilized in various kinds of fields now
In the electrophotography, latent images are formed on an image bearing member through the charging and irradiation processes and developed with a development agent containing toner to visualize the images. Thereafter, the visualized images are transferred to and fixed on a recording medium.
The development agent is typified into a two component development agent containing toner and carrier, and a single component development agent in which magnetic toner or non-magnetic toner is singly used. Toner is the main component in both development agents.
Recently, toner having a small particle diameter has been dominant because such toner is advantageous in terms of image quality. Toner is manufactured by a known method such as a dry method using pulverization, an emulsification polymerization agglomeration method, a suspension polymerization method, a drying-in-liquid method, and a phase transfer emulsification method. In pulverization, toner having a desired particle diameter is obtained by: uniformly mixing and dispersing material such as a binder resin, a releasing agent, a coloring agent and an optional charge control agent with a pressure kneader, an extruder, or a medium disperser; pulverizing the mixture by mechanical collision or collision in jet air with a target to obtain toner particles; and classifying the toner particles to obtain toner having a sharp particle size distribution.
The toner for use in electrophotography is typically formed of a binder resin, a coloring agent, and other optional material. Inorganic particulates are externally added and admixed with the toner to improve fluidity of the toner in most cases. Toner to which inorganic particulates are externally added has sufficient fluidity and is suitable to obtain quality images with no white spots.
However, the toner particles and the external additives are agglomerated by heat generation due to high speed stirring and collision of particles in the process of admixing and string toner particles and external additives, which may result in formation of agglomerated toner particles.
In addition, there are problems specific to the wet manufacturing methods, which are agglomerated particles formed in the processes of emulsification, suspension, drying, etc., and coarse particles having a board form ascribable to material fixated on a container or vessel for emulsification, suspension, reaction, etc., and stirring wings, etc.
Such coarse particles tend to have an adverse impact on the image quality. For example, the distance (i.e., the gap) between the photoreceptor and a transfer medium in the transfer process in image formation is caused to be non-uniform by these coarse particles. Also, such coarse particles easily scatter to non-image portions. Furthermore, the difference in the charge of amount among particles arises due to the difference in the particle diameter among particles, which causes uneven image density.
In addition, such coarse toner particles tend to scatter during development and resultantly contaminate inside the image forming apparatus, which leads to degradation of the reliability of the image forming apparatus.
The problem common in the drying method and the wet method is that agglomerated body or coarse toner particles produced in the toner manufacturing process cause production of abnormal images. Thus, methods of removing such agglomerated bodies and/or coarse toner particles in the screening process have been studied and provided.
For example, unexamined published Japanese patent application No. (hereinafter referred to as JOP) 2000-75547 describes a screening process defining the relationship between the temperature of the screen and the temperature of the toner, and the amount of toner supplied to the screen.
JOP 2008-76873 describes a screening method by using a two step screen with definitions for the opening and void ratio thereof.
As described above, various kinds of methods of removing the agglomerated bodies and/or coarse particles formed before the screening process have been studied.
Furthermore, a method of using an ultrasonic screen is used as an economic method of manufacturing toner having a desired particle diameter.
On the other hand, toner is spurred to have a low melting point to deal with full color images and increase the speed of performance. Thus, because of heat generated by ultrasonic vibration to the screen, toner particles easily melt and attach to each other in the screening process, which leads to formation of softly agglomerated particles and commingling thereof into toner products.
Toner having a low melting point that is confirmed to have no agglomerated bodies immediately after the screening process may agglomerate during preservation depending on the preservation condition such as temperature.
Such softly agglomerated toner causes the trouble described above in image formation. Particularly, white spots are formed while having such agglomerated bodies as a core, which results in degradation of the image quality.

Method of manufacturing toner, toner, screening device, and method of recycling toner


A rotor includes a plurality of holding cavities for holding specimen containers, respectively. A transverse cross sectional shape of the holding cavity is a substantially triangular shape having one vertex on an inner circumference side of the rotor. Two vertices of the substantially triangular shape are arranged on an outer circumference side of the rotor so as to have equidistance from a rotary shaft of the rotor. Spacing between sides of the substantially triangular shape in a circumferential direction of the rotor gradually increase over 60% or more a radial length of the holding cavity from an innermost circumferential position to the outer circumference side of the rotor when viewed in its transverse plane.

The present invention relates to a centrifugal separator used in fields of medical science, pharmaceutical science, biogenetics, chemical engineering, food manufacturing, manufacture of pharmaceutical products, and the like, and, more particularly, a centrifugal separator having an angle rotor capable of increasing an amount of liquid specimen which can be processed at a time.
A centrifugal separator used for separating a liquid specimen includes: a rotor that holds a plurality of specimen containers containing liquid specimens in specimen container holding cavities equally arranged along a circumference of the rotor; and drive means, such as a motor, that rotationally drives the rotor in a rotor chamber. The centrifugal separator rotates the rotor in the rotor chamber under atmospheric pressure or reduced pressure at high speed, thereby centrifugally separating liquid specimens in the specimen containers to collect objects. The centrifugal separator that is a primary subject of the present invention achieves a maximum rotational speed of the order of 5,000 to 30,000 rpm and can employ as usage rotors having various specifications.
Liquid specimens include various liquids, such as blood components, a culture solution for a fungus body or a virus, living-body components like liquids including DNA and RNA, polymer suspension, ink, and food processing fluids. These liquid specimens are subjected to centrifugal separation for various purposes during processes, like a research, a test, an inspection, and manufacture.
A known rotor for use in a centrifugal separator is described in connection with; for instance, JP2008-119649A. FIG. 21 shows a side view of a related-art angle rotor 130, and a left half of the drawing shows a cross section of the rotor. In FIG. 21, a plurality of specimen container holding cavities 132 (only one of them is illustrated in FIG. 21) are made at equal angular pitches along a circumference of the rotor 130. A specimen container 150 filled with a liquid specimen is inserted into each of the holding cavities 132. A rotor cover 140 is attached to an opening in an upper surface of the rotor 130, and the rotor cover 140 is fixed to a rotor body 131 by means of a handle 141, whereby an interior of the rotor 130 is sealed. A drive shaft hole 131A is formed in a lower portion of a center shaft of the rotor body 131. The drive shaft hole 131A is attached to a drive 112 connected to a drive shaft (not shown) of the centrifugal separator. The rotor 130 is rotated at predetermined speed by drive means.
FIG. 22 is an oblique perspective view showing a shape of the specimen container 150 that has been known in connection with JP2004-290746A and that is to be attached to any of the holding cavities 132 of the related-art rotor body 131. In the centrifugal separator using specimen containers with caps, a body 151 of the specimen container 150 is columnar. A screw cap 152 is attached to an upper portion of the body 151, to thereby seal a liquid specimen. The cap 152 is made up of an inner cap and an outer cap. The specimen container 150 is usually embodied as a molded article using plastic materials, such as polypropylene, polycarbonate, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate. The specimen container is usually reused again and again in many cases. Each of the body 151 and the cap 152 assumes a square transverse section. When inserted into the holding cavity 132 of the rotor 130, the body and the cap can be attached to the rotor at an arbitrary position with little concern for a rotational position determined with reference to a longitudinal center axis of the specimen container 150. The word "transverse plane" used herein means a cross-sectional plane perpendicular to the vertical direction of the specimen container.
In relation to the specimen container 150 with a cap that is employed in the angle rotor 130, specimen containers having a capacity of the order of 2 ml/container to a capacity of the order of 1000 ml/container have already been commercialized as usage. There are also available various rotors in which the number of specimen container holding cavities 132 made in the rotor 130 ranges from four/rotor to 20/rotor, or thereabouts. The rotor 130 is generally manufactured from a light-weight, high-intensity aluminum alloy, a titanium alloy, a carbon fiber composite material, and the like. In relation to the rotor 130, commercialized rotors include; for instance, a rotor capable of containing six specimen containers each of which has a capacity of 30 ml (hereinafter called a "300 ml-by-six"); a 500 ml-by-six rotor; and large-capacity angle rotors, such as a 1000 ml-by-four rotor, a 1000 ml-by-five rotor, and a 1000 ml-by-six rotor. An increase in the size of the rotor body proceeds with the changing times. Moreover, the size of the rotor body also becomes greater as the capacity of the specimen container becomes greater. In the case of for instance, rotors whose specimen containers have a capacity of 300 ml to 1000 ml, the maximum diameter of a rotor body is in excess of 300 mm.
Incidentally, removal and attachment of a rotor to a centrifugal separator is performed by an operator. Manufacturers of centrifugal separators including the present patent applicant have made efforts to lessen a weight of the rotor and enhance operability of the same by making structural contrivance to the rotor. Further, attempts have also been made to increase a capacity of a specimen that can be subjected to centrifugal separation at a time, by increasing the size of the specimen container. In recent years, a centrifugal separator using a large-capacity 1000 ml-by-four angle rotor has widely been used. Moreover, a disclosed specimen container is equipped with a cap, such as that described in connection with JP2004-290746A in which through holes 152A for ejection purpose are made in the cap 152, thereby facilitating ejection of the specimen containers and preventing leakage of a specimen in the course of centrifugal separation.
In order to efficiently collect an object from a liquid specimen during a centrifugal separation process, a common practice is to increase rotational speed of the rotor so as to increase centrifugal acceleration imparted to a liquid specimen and enhance a centrifugal effect, thereby accelerating spin-down of the object, increasing a collect rate, and increasing an amount of specimen capable of being processed at a time. A reduction in expenses to be incurred in centrifugal separation operation is important in inexpensively constructing a specimen container and a centrifugal separator including a rotor. However, it is also important to increase an amount of specimen capable of being subjected to centrifugal separation at a time, thereby increasing a yield.
In order to subject a large quantity of liquid specimen to centrifugal separation at a time, it is effective to increase the number of specimen containers used in the rotor and capacities of the respective specimen containers. However, in order to increase the capacity of the related-art columnar specimen container without modifications, it is necessary to increase an outer diameter or height of the body 151. As a result, the specimen container holding cavity of the rotor comes to interfere with adjacent holding cavities; hence, it is necessary to relocate the positions of the holding cavities in a radially distal direction (toward an outer circumference) from a rotation center. As a consequence, the diameter of the rotor itself increases, which in turn results in an increase in the weight of the rotor, thereby worsening worker's portability of a rotor and ease of detachment/attachment of a rotor to a centrifugal separator performed by the worker.
Further, an increase in the diameter of the rotor leads to an increase in air resistance (a windage loss) arising when the centrifugal separator rotates at high speed. Therefore, required countermeasures include an increase in power of a drive unit of the centrifugal separator and power of a cooling unit for cooling the rotor. An additional necessity is to increase the size of the rotor chamber (chamber) of the centrifugal separator in association with an increase in the diameter of the rotor. A footprint of the centrifugal separator increases, thereby raising a problem of an increase in the cost of the centrifugal separator.
During the course of resolution of these drawbacks, the present inventors focused an attention on presence of a constituent material (hereinafter called "pads") of the rotor, which is a cause for an increase in weight, between adjacent specimen container holding cavities when the rotor including columnar specimen containers is viewed from above, and improvements have been made to minimize the pads. Further, during the course of achievement of improvements, it was found that the pads located in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the rotor became a cause for an increase in the weight of the rotor and that centrifugal load exerted on the pads became a cause for deterioration of strength of the rotor.

Centrifugal separator with rotor having plurality of triangular-shaped holding cavities and rotor for use in centrifugal separator


A filter installation arrangement and an associated method of installing a filter assembly to a partition. A filter assembly includes a filter element that extends along a longitudinal axis. The filter element includes an end cap disposed at an end of the filter element. An adjustment device of the installation arrangement axially displaces the end cap of the filter element in a first direction. An insert portion is inserted adjacent the end cap subsequent to the axial displacement of the end cap. The insert portion is configured to limit axial displacement of the end cap in a second direction that is opposite the first direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to filters, and more particularly, to improvements in filter installation.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Inlet systems for gas turbines are generally used for treating fluid (e.g., air) that passes to the gas turbine. The fluid can be treated by filtering the fluid with one or more filter elements extending within the inlet system. Each filter element may include a pleated hydrophobic or oleophobic media that can simultaneously limit the passage of particles and liquid through the pleated hydrophobic or oleophobic media. However, due to particle buildup, wear and tear, or the like, the filter elements may occasionally need to be removed, replaced, and/or reinstalled. Further, the inlet system may include many filter elements, such that the removal and reinstallation process can be time consuming and can reduce the availability of the gas turbine system due to downtime. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a filter installation device that can reduce the time spent on removing and reinstalling the filter elements. Additionally, it would be useful to provide a device to solve the aforementioned problem without a major modification in the overall design of the filter elements.

Quick engagement method for gas turbine inlet filter installation and replacement