A porthole door for a front-loading laundry appliance includes a door glass, a frame and a centering device. The door glass is curved inward toward an inside of the appliance. The frame includes an inner ring and a cover ring. The centering device is disposed on the frame and configured to bear resiliently against a peripheral edge of the door glass so as to provide a radial force acting on the door glass via the peripheral edge at various locations. The radial force brings the door glass into a centered position within the frame.

A porthole door for a front-loading laundry appliance is described in DE 100 53 413 A1. The porthole door includes a door glass which is curved toward the inside of the appliance and has a frame composed of a visible cover frame and a holding frame, which is concealed when in a closed position. The door glass is held by its edge between the cover frame and the holding frame. In order to achieve optimal centering of the door glass, the inner diameter of the holding frame is sized to match the contact region of the door glass very accurately, i.e., with a small tolerance. An additional observation window on the outside of the porthole door covers the door glass curvature, which is directed to the inside of the appliance. The edge of the cover is located in a visible area on the outside. A snug fit is achieved by a clamped connection, which is provided by an axially outwardly facing edge lip of the cover frame pressing on the edge of the observation window. In this holding arrangement, the observation window and the cover frame must have a high degree of dimensional accuracy, because otherwise it is not possible to ensure a firm and permanent clamped connection. Slight deviations in dimensional accuracy may result in the inability to assemble the components, or in the necessity of ensuring a centered orientation when the gaps are too large. Moreover, if the door glass and/or the viewing pane is/are not centered, there is a risk of the door not bearing evenly against the door seal and not closing completely tight.
German Patent DE 195 15 040 C2 also describes a porthole door having an observation window. In that patent, the observation window is at least partially clamped against a resilient ring under a projection of the edge of the cover frame. In this arrangement, there is a visible gap between the edge of the observation window and the inner edge of the cover frame. Moreover, in order that the visible gap be very small and not have any visible irregularities, the observation window and the cover frame must have a dimensional accuracy within a small tolerance range.
German patent DE 101 37 918 C1 describes a door for a front-loading laundry appliance suitable for integration into a row of kitchen units. In that patent, the door glass is mounted on a closed front panel. For ease of assembly, a centering ring having a raised peripheral edge is attached to the front panel. The inner diameter of the door glass is put over the edge, thereby moving the door glass to the intended position. The centering ring is elastic in some portions, making it possible to compensate for differences in height of the peripheral edge of the door glass.

Porthole door for a front-loading laundry appliance, such as a washing machine, a washer-dryer machine, or a laundry dryer


A new and distinct cultivar of Veronica plant named ‘Verobiblue’, characterized by its upright, uniform, outwardly spreading and low-mounding plant habit; freely basal branching habit, dense and bushy plant form; early, freely and long flowering habit; and deep violet blue-colored flowers.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Veronica plant, botanically known as Veronica peduncularis, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Verobiblue'.
The new Veronica is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Veronica peduncularis cultivar Georgia Blue, not patented. The new Veronica was discovered and selected by the Inventor in 2002 from within a population of plants of the cultivar Georgia Blue in a controlled environment in Gensingen, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by cuttings since the Spring of 2002 in Gensingen, Germany, has shown that the unique features of this new Veronica are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A silicon wafer in which both occurrences of slip dislocation and warpage are suppressed in device manufacturing processes is a silicon wafer having BMDs having an octahedral shape, wherein BMDs located at a position below the silicon wafer surface to a depth of 20 μm and having a diagonal length of 200 nm or more are present at a concentration of ≦2×109/cm3, and BMDs located at a position below a depth ≧50 μm have a diagonal length of ≧10 nm to ≦50 nm and a concentration of ≧1×1012/cm3.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silicon wafer, and to a method of manufacturing the same, which can suppress occurrence of slip dislocations and warpage in semiconductor wafer manufacturing, in particular, in device manufacturing processes.
2. Background Art
Silicon wafers used as a substrate for semiconductor devices or the like are manufactured by slicing a silicon single-crystal ingot and performing heat treatment, mirror polishing, and other conventional processing steps. As a method of manufacturing a silicon single-crystal ingot, for example, the Czochralski method (CZ method) is generally used. The CZ method occupies a large part of manufacturing of silicon single-crystal ingots because a large-diameter single-crystal ingot can be easily obtained, and defects can be controlled relatively easily.
In a silicon single crystal pulled by the CZ method (referred to as "CZ—Si"), crystal defects called grown-in defects are present. The CZ—Si includes oxygen between lattices in an oversaturated state. However, the oversaturated oxygen causes a microscopic defect called a Bulk Micro Defect ("BMD") by a heat treatment (annealing) performed later.
In order to form a semiconductor device from a silicon wafer, crystal defects are required to be absent in the semiconductor device forming region. When a crystal defect is present on a surface for forming a circuit, the defective portion causes circuit breakdown or other defects. On the other hand, an appropriate number of BMDs are required to be present in the silicon wafer. This is because the BMDs function to getter metal impurities which cause semiconductor devices to malfunction.
In order to satisfy the above requirements, high-temperature annealing of the silicon wafer to induce BMD formation in the silicon wafer to form an Intrinsic Gettering layer ("IG layer") can also eliminate grown-in defects present on the surface of the silicon wafer to form a Denuded Zone ("DZ layer") layer having an extremely small number of crystal defects.
As a concrete example, JP published application 10-98047 discloses a method which performs high-temperature annealing of a nitrogen-containing substrate to reduce grown-in defects on the surface and forms BMDs having nitrogen as nuclei in the substrate.
However, the DZ layer formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the silicon wafer by the high-temperature annealing process has an oxygen concentration which is extremely low because of outward diffusion of oxygen during heat treatment. As a result, the ability to reduce propagation of dislocation defects on the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer is extremely low. For this reason, due to micro-scratches on the upper and lower surfaces caused in the annealing step, dislocation defects ("slip") easily propagate in the bulk. Propagation of slip dislocations undesirably decreases the strength of the silicon wafer. For example, when a wafer is annealed while being supported by a heat treatment susceptor or the like, slip dislocations frequently extend from a supported portion at the periphery of the wafer to the lower surface of the wafer. The slip dislocation may extend from a silicon wafer edge, for example.
When the strength of the silicon wafer is deteriorated, the wafer may be damaged during the manufacturing steps, or the wafer may be broken. However, the DZ layer is indispensable to manufacturing of a semiconductor device. A silicon wafer having, at the same time, a DZ layer and excellent strength characteristics is desired.
In the conventional technique described in JP 10-98047 deterioration of the strength of a silicon wafer is not considered. A silicon wafer formed by the above method cannot avoid slip dislocation propagation.
On the other hand, in order to prevent occurrence of slip dislocations, a method which generate BMDs at a high concentration has also been proposed. More specifically, a silicon wafer manufacturing method has been proposed in which a rapid heating/cooling rate heat treatment is performed on a wafer in a mixed atmosphere of nitrogen and inert gas, or ammonia and inert gas, at a temperature of 500° C. to 1200° C. for 1 minute to 600 minutes to form oxygen precipitation nuclei having a size of 20 nm or less in a BMD layer at a concentration of 1×1010/cm3 or more (JP published application 2006-40980). JP published application 2006-269896 discloses a silicon wafer manufacturing method in which heat treatment is performed on a silicon wafer having an oxygen concentration of 1.2×1018 atoms/cm3 to 1.4×1018 atoms/cm3 and a carbon concentration of 0.5×1016 atoms/cm3 to 2×1017 atoms/cm3 in a non-oxidizing atmosphere under the conditions: a temperature of 1100° C. to 1250° C.; for 1 hour to 5 hours; and a temperature ramp of 0.1 to 1° C./minute over a temperature range of 1100° C. to 1250° C., to form BMDs each having a size of 150 nm or less at a concentration of 5×109/cm3 or more. A silicon wafer in which a heat treatment is repeated several times to generate BMDs at a high concentration (1×1010/cm3 to 1×1012/cm3) is proposed in JP published application 08-213403. Furthermore, a silicon wafer in which BMDs each of which is located at a position having a depth of 50 μm from a surface and has a size of 10 nm or more to 50 nm or less are formed at a concentration of 5×1011/cm3 to suppress slip and warpage is proposed in JP published application 2008-160069.
However, in recent years, as the silicon wafers have increased in diameter, and as the integration density of semiconductor device patterns has increased, warpage of the wafer becomes problematic in addition to occurrence of slip dislocation.
As heat treatment furnaces, a batch type heat treatment furnace and an RTA are known. Slip propagates from a contact between the lower surface of a silicon wafer edge and a silicon wafer holding portion or a silicon wafer edge portion. The propagating slip extends in the [110] direction, and, depending on circumstances, the silicon wafer may be damaged or broken. Warpage is a phenomenon in which a silicon wafer is deformed by thermal distortion in a heat treatment. Warpage of a silicon wafer before heat treatment to give desired characteristics is suppressed to 10 μm or less. However, when heat treatment is performed, the difference between a peak and a trough of the warped wafer reaches several tens of micrometers. A semiconductor device pattern cannot correctly be exposed (photolithography) on such a warped wafer surface and thus causes a decrease in yield of semiconductor devices.
The problem of warpage is particularly conspicuous when a wafer diameter is 200 mm or more. In particular, problems caused by warpage in a batch type heat treatment cannot be solved without giving attention to BMD concentration and size in the surface layer. As described above, even when BMDs are controlled so as to be formed at a position having a depth of 50 μm or more and to have small sizes, the problem cannot be avoided.

Silicon wafer and method of manufacturing the same


A circuit model (50) for use in analyzing a VCM circuit has a first resistor (62), a first inductor (64), a second inductor (58), and a voltage source (60), in series modeling, respectively, a VCM inductor, a winding leakage inductance of the VCM inductor, a VCM inductor resistance, and a BEMF voltage generated across the VCM inductor when the input nodes are open circuited. An input capacitor (56) interconnects the input terminals (52,54) to model an equivalent capacitance of the VCM inductor. Third and fourth inductors (32,34) and a second resistor (36) are connected in a first series loop (28) inductively coupled to the second inductor (58) to model, respectively, an inductance of the top VCM magnet plate, the leakage inductance of the top VCM magnet plate, and a resistance of the top VCM magnet plate. Fifth and sixth inductors (78,80) and a third resistor (72) are connected in a second series loop inductively coupled to the second inductor (58) to model, respectively an inductance of the bottom VCM magnet plate, the leakage inductance of the bottom VCM magnet plate, and the resistance of said top VCM magnet plate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in electrical model and modeling techniques for modeling electrical circuits and associated mechanical apparatuses, and more particularly to improvements in electrical models and modeling techniques for use in modeling voice coil actuator/motor (VCM) circuits and apparatuses of the type used in mass storage devices, or the like.
2. Relevant Background
A well-known hard disk drive assembly (HDA) is a typical mass data storage device of the type to which the invention pertains. Generally the HDA includes one or more rotating disks that carry a magnetic media to which data is written, and from which previously written data is read. The data is written to and read from the disk by a magnetic head or transducer that is a part of a voice coil motor (VCM) assembly, which moves the head to desired locations at which data is to be written or read.
A portion of a typical HDA 5 is shown in FIG. 1. The HDA 5 includes a VCM apparatus 10, which is shown in an exploded view in FIG. 1, in conjunction with a plurality of rotating disks 12. The VCM assembly 10 includes an arm 14 that is pivoted about a bearing point 16 to move the head or data transducer 18 radially inwardly and outwardly within the stack of data disks 12.
The outboard end of the arm 14 carries a coil 20 that is selectively energized by currents from VCM positioning circuitry 22. The outwardly extending end 24 of the arm 14 is located between two horizontal magnets 26 and 28, which are mounted to base plates 30 and 32. The base plates 30 and 32 and magnets 26 and 28 are spaced apart by spacers (not shown) to allow the arm portion 24 to freely swing between the magnets 26 and 28. Thus, as the currents from the VCM positioning circuitry 22 are applied to the coil 20, magnetic fields are altered by the current induced field of coil 20 that can precisely position the head 18 at a desired location under control of the VCM positioning circuitry 22. The plates 30 and 32, spacers, and magnets 26 and 28 are securely fastened to the base plate 34. The cover plate 35 is on the top of the base plate 32. The two plates 32 and 35 may physically touch or barely touch each other.
When the apparatus 5 is powered down, typically the head mechanism is moved to a position at which the head or transducer 18 is xe2x80x9cparkedxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clandedxe2x80x9d, generally at an outside location along the outer radius of the disk assembly 12. In order to properly move the heads to the park position, generally a driving current is applied to the coil 20 that is of sufficient magnitude to bring the head assembly to the park position. However, it will be appreciated that if the head mechanism is overdriven, the delicate head mechanism and other parts of the disk assembly may sustain damage. On other hand, if the head is underdriven, the head mechanism may not reach the park position, which may result in loss of the air bearing between the head and disk surface, which may also cause damage both to the head mechanism and to the underlying magnetic media of the disk assembly 12. As a result, it can be seen that in order to properly design the head positioning circuitry to apply correct driving currents to the voice coil, it is important to properly characterize the head assembly so that proper driving currents for various conditions can be determined.
One technique controlling the VCM is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/388,508, filed Sep. 1, 1999 (attorney docket number TI-29097), incorporated herein by reference. One technique measuring the BEMF of the coil of the actuator used in said application Ser. No. 09/388,508 is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/193,803, filed Nov. 17, 1998 (attorney docket number TI-26417), incorporated herein by reference.
In the past, in order to characterize the VCM assembly, a model was constructed of the electrical characteristics of the VCM. A typical model 40 of a VCM that has been used is shown in FIG. 2, to which reference is now made. The model 40 has a resistor 42, an inductor 44, and a voltage source 46 connected in series between input nodes 48 and 49. The voltage source 46 represents the back emf (BEMF), which has a value almost directly proportional to the speed of the VCM.
However, the model 40 has been found to only roughly represent the characteristics of a VCM. In particular, the model 40 may encounter deviations from the physical operations of the VCM, especially when the terminals 48 and 50 are in a floating stage for measurement of BEMF. (The BEMF is used in determining the velocity of the head, particularly during parking operations described above.) More particularly, it has been found that when the power supply voltage across the input terminals of the VCM is cut off, theoretically the VCM should settle to its BEMF rapidly as soon as the flyback current dies out. In practice, this has been found not to be the case. In fact, there has been found to almost always be a slow transient associated with the voltage across the terminals resulting in a longer settling time than would be predicted by the model 40.
What is needed, therefore, is a method and circuit to accurately model a VCM of a mass data storage device that more accurately represents the physical VCM characteristics.
Thus, according to a broad aspect of the invention, a circuit model for use in analyzing a VCM is presented. The circuit model has a first current loop having elements to model a VCM coil and magnetic field. At least one current loop is inductively coupled to the first current loop to model eddy current effects created in metallic parts of the VCM in proximity to the VCM coil.
According to another broad aspect of the invention, a circuit model for use in analyzing a VCM circuit is presented. The model has a model of a first resistor, a model of a first inductor, a model of a second Inductor and a model of a voltage source, in series between models of first and second input nodes. The model of the second inductor represents a VCM mutual inductance, the model of the first inductor represents a winding leakage inductance of the VCM inductor, the model of the first resistor represents a VCM coil resistance, and the model of a voltage source represents a BEMF voltage generated by actuator speed.
A model of an input capacitor is provided across the models of the first and second input terminals. The model of the input capacitor represents an equivalent capacitance of the VCM inductor. Models of third and fourth inductors and a model of a second resistor are provided, connected in a first series loop. The model of the third inductor is in transformer relationship to the model of the second inductor. The model of the third inductor represents an inductance of a top VCM magnetic plate, the model of the fourth inductor represents the leakage inductance of the top VCM magnetic plate, and the model of a second resistor represents a resistance of the top VCM magnetic plate. Models of fifth and sixth inductors and a model of a third resistor are connected in a second series loop. The model of the fifth inductor is in transformer relationship to the model of the second inductor and the first and second series loops are interconnected. The model of the fifth inductor represents an inductance of the bottom magnetic plate, the model of a sixth inductor represents the leakage inductance of the bottom VCM magnetic plate, and the model of the third resistor represents the resistance of the bottom VCM magnetic plate.
If needed, a fourth resistor may be provided in parallel with the model of the second inductor. The model of the fourth resistor represents the resistance in parallel with the VCM mutual inductor. Additionally, if needed, models of second and third capacitors may be respectively connected between the model of the second inductor and the first and second loops. The models of the second and third capacitors respectively represent an equivalent capacitance between the VCM coil and the top and bottom VCM magnet plates.
In accordance with another broad aspect of the invention, acts used in a method for analyzing a VCM circuit include determining eddy currents existing in a coil of a VCM, using the eddy currents to determine effective inductances that would produce the eddy currents, and including the inductances in a model of the VCM for use in analyzing the VCM.

Method and circuit for modeling a voice coil actuator of a mass data storage device


A combination structure of base plate and escutcheon comprises a base plate, a fastener and an escutcheon. The base plate has a plate and a ring-like wall surrounding the plate, and the fastener has a fastening portion, a fixing portion and a flexible portion connecting the fastening portion and the fixing portion. The fixing portion is installed on the ring-like wall and the base plate is covered with the escutcheon. The escutcheon has a sidewall, an opening and a limited-portion. The opening is formed on the sidewall and exposes the fastening portion of the fastener. The limited-portion of the escutcheon is restrained by the fastening portion of the fastener to prevent the escutcheon disengaging from the base plate.

A base plate for accommodating a lock is usually covered with a escutcheon for fine looking, however if the base plate doesn't fit the escutcheon in size, there are some troubles that happen such as the escutcheon frequently slips or is hard to be removed from the base plate. Recently, a screw is utilized to fix base plate and escutcheon, which not only makes escutcheon-disassembling steps become complicated and inconvenient but also affects the looking of combination structure of base plate and escutcheon.

Combination structure of base plate and escutcheon


Method carried out in a radio communications network for communicating with a user equipment, comprising transmitting resource allocation information addressed to the user equipment, wherein said resource allocation information comprises an indication of frequency domain repetition, and wherein said frequency domain repetition is associated with a predetermined mapping of repetitions.

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications often refers to technologies that allow devices to communicate with each other, with little human intervention. Such M2M communication devices typically may store data, and may transmit data to other M2M devices or to a server over a network, such as a cellular network.
In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and its evolution LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), one version of M2M has been developed under the term Machine Type Communications (MTC). An MTC device may perform automatic data transmissions in a network wherein each data transmission can be initiated by a first machine, routed through a network, and delivered to one or more other machines. When operating under a 3GPP system, such as an LTE system, scheduling of resources for such communication is controlled by the network, typically within the base station, or the eNode B (eNB) as denoted in LTE. In addition to legacy LTE control and data communication and MTC, another system that can co-exist is the in-band deployment of a Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system. Operating under such a protocol, an NB-IoT carrier of −200 kHz can be located within the assigned bandwidth of LTE operation.
In Release 13 LTE standards both MTC and NB-IoT features include functionalities for coverage enhancements by means of transmission repetitions. This means that a predetermined number of repetitions in time is conducted for each transport block depending on the estimated need for coverage enhancement level, in order to improve the effective link budget. The bandwidth is quite limited for these features, e.g. 1.4 MHz for MTC and 180 kHz for NB-IoT.
In LTE rel.14, new types of User Equipment (UE) are introduced; an MTC UE with 5 MHz bandwidth, and one may also consider a non-bandwidth limited (non-BL) UE, typically with up to 20 MHz bandwidth, which support coverage enhancements. The main intention is to provide more services (e.g. higher data rates) while still allowing operation in coverage enhancement mode through the use of signal repetitions in the time domain. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 3, in which a block of data is transmitted in N repetitions in separate consecutive subframes.
When using a number of repeated transmissions in the time domain, the total transmission time increases significantly, which increases the UE power consumption. There could be a need for certain services to minimize latency, e.g. if trying to operate real time services such as voice or video using coverage enhancement with signal repetitions and also to fulfill the requirements of ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) in 5G New Radio (NR).

Method and device for resource allocation in radio systems with frequency domain repetition


A power supply circuit coupled to a power source for providing electronic energy to a workload includes a first switch, a control circuit, a first diode, and a backup power, in which the input of the first switch is coupled to the power source, the output of the first switch is coupled to the workload, the control circuit is coupled to the control terminal of the first switch for determining the state of the power source, the anode of the first diode is coupled to the power source, the cathode of the first diode is coupled to the first terminal of the backup power, the first terminal of the backup power is further coupled to the workload, when the control circuit determines that the power source is in a power-off state, a control signal is applied to the control terminal of the first switch to turn off the first switch.

Computer peripheral devices are connected to a computer via various interfaces. In most cases, computer interfaces provide not only a data path between a computer and peripheral devices, but also power from the computer to the peripheral devices. Therefore, in cases that the computer is powered off, the peripheral devices connected to the computer lose their power supply.
China patent CN101710252B discloses a solution of avoiding data loss in a buffer memory of a storage device in the case of an unexpected power-off. In this solution, a backup power is provided in the storage device. When an unexpected power-off occurs, the backup power provides temporary electricity to forward and store the data in the buffer memory (cache) to a flash memory. US patent U.S. Pat. No. 8,031,551B2 discloses a solution that a capacitor is used as the backup power of the storage device, and the performance of the capacitor is measured during runtime. If the charge quantity of the capacitor is too low, the capacitor is recharged.
China patent CN101483480A discloses that an alarm signal is generated to indicate the power-off when no voltage from a mainboard can be detected. China patent CN101467212A discloses that various working modes can be selected in a storage device according various sources of the power supply. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the storage means 200 includes power interfaces 230, 240, wherein the power interface 230 is connected to a power source 130 such as a battery, and the power interface 240 is connected to a power source 140 such as a computer. When a determining circuit 220 determines that the power is received from power source 230, the determining circuit 220 indicates NAND flash memory 210 works in a low-power mode, for the reason that the power source 130 is easily exhausted.

Power supply circuit and power supply method


An image processing method and apparatus employ wide dynamic range imaging. The image processing method includes: providing a radiance map; decomposing a luminance value of the radiance map into a base layer and a detail layer; generating a weight using a ratio between the luminance value of the radiance map and the base layer; creating a compressed luminance using the base layer, the detail layer, and the weight; and generating a tone-mapped image using a color value of the radiance map, the luminance value of the radiance map, and the compressed luminance value. The image processing method provides a display image with enhanced local contrast and details.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to an image processing method and apparatus employing wide dynamic range imaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wide dynamic range imaging refers to a technique of more accurately representing the range of luminance that human vision can accommodate when viewing a real nature scene into a digital image.
Wide dynamic range imaging can be used in a wide variety of applications such as medical imaging, satellite imaging, physical substrate rendering, and digital cinema. The range of luminance a human eye can perceive is 108:1 while the range of luminance a digital device can represent is limited to 100:1. Thus, in order to display data with a wide dynamic range on a digital display device, an appropriate conversion technique is needed. This conversion is called tone mapping.
Examples of conventional tone mapping methods include a Reinhard method, Fast Tone Mapping, and Tone Mapping using iCAM06 image color appearance model.
However, conventional tone mapping methods suffer from loss of local contrast and details in dark regions and insufficient contrast enhancement. Another drawback is that color artifacts or false contours may appear in regions of a tone-mapped image.

Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Sogang University


A method, system and computer program product for intelligent tracking and transformation between interconnected sensor devices of mixed type is disclosed. Metadata derived from image data from a camera is compared to different metadata derived from radar data from a radar device to determine whether an object in a Field of View (FOV) of one of the camera and the radar device is an identified object that was previously in the FOV of the other of the camera and the radar device.

Radar devices are used in a wide variety of different industries. One example of these industries is the security industry. For instance, in the security industry a radar device can sometimes be chosen over a video camera in certain locations like ATMs, change rooms, etc. where privacy concerns weigh against capturing traditional video images. Also, radar devices tend to work well under any light conditions, and some radar devices may facilitate a cheaper cost for providing security coverage over a defined area relative to certain potential video camera substitutes.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Method, system and computer program product for intelligent tracking and data transformation between interconnected sensor devices of mixed type


A system is described for facilitating an Internet-based game of chance, particularly a computer-based version of a punchboard game having a grid with prizes associated with the various grid locations. The user can pay a central controller for each selection by providing a credit card number, or through other Internet transaction means. The central controller sends the user a fresh virtual punchboard (i.e. a game in which no selections have yet been made). The user selects a grid location, encrypts it, and then transmits it to the central controller. The central controller then generates prize values for the grid that it sent to the player. The user's computer stores the locations of each prize and determines whether the player's selection was a winner. If he has won, the player sends the decryption key to the central controller to decrypt his grid selection and authenticate his selection. The central controller then initiates a payment to the user.

This invention relates to an electronic gambling game in which a player selects from a series of possible outcomes. The player and game provider may interact in a variety of ways, including over the Internet.
A number of well-known gambling games are based on a player selecting from a series of possible outcomes, where the winning outcome is randomly generated using some physical or mechanical device furnished by the game operator. Examples of such games are roulette, slot machines, and bingo. In the classical embodiments of these games, the player sees and/or hears the outcome generated (as in bingo and roulette), or even has a hand in generating the outcome himself (as in slot machines). The player's trust in the fairness of these games (that is, his belief that the outcome is random and that his selection, if a winner, will be honored) is largely based on his personal observation. Similarly, the game operator can use various methods to prevent cheating by a player if the player is personally present; for example, a bingo player claiming to be a winner is required to offer his card for inspection.
A well-known example of an entertainment/gambling device is the "punchboard." A punchboard consists of a board with a square grid of holes. Each hole contains a small rolled-up piece of paper. The player takes a pin and pushes through the board, pushing a selected piece of paper through the other side. This paper is then unrolled by the player to reveal whether or not he has won a prize. In a typical punchboard game, a player pays a small sum (approximately $1) to make a selection; prizes are determined by the size of the board and the fees, and may run hundreds of dollars.
Here, too, the player's confidence in the fairness of the game is largely based on his observation of the board; since he selects a piece of paper and can immediately read the message on it, he can be sure that the paper is not switched or tampered with after he selects it. In addition, by watching a number of plays he can eventually satisfy himself that there are indeed winning locations somewhere on the board. A successful electronic version of a punchboard game (a "virtual punchboard") must offer the player similar assurance that the game is not rigged, and must also prevent cheating the player.
Various forms of electronic games of chance have been available for many years. The way these games are played, however, is changing dramatically with the use of digital computers operating on electronic networks such as the Internet. Players can now connect to a remote server and wager electronically. Rather than traveling to the game (casino, bingo hall, etc.), a player can log into an electronic game and wager from the comfort of his own home. While this remote playing has many advantages, it raises several security issues. In a typical electronic gambling game, the player enters his selection and then learns whether he has won, without observing the winning selection being generated. For example, when playing card games at a casino, a player can observe the dealer shuffle and deal the cards and thus has some confidence that the outcome was generated randomly. In an electronic casino, the shuffling process is typically digitally generated, driven by random number generators which the player cannot see. The player cannot know whether the random number generated is truly random or was selected by the casino to give it an advantage.
Furthermore, a player desiring to play an electronic game remotely (for example, communicating with a game provider on the Internet) must send his selection and receive the winning selection over a communication network. In this instance, both the player and game provider require assurance that the communications are secure and that the game is conducted fairly.
Electronic game providers have tried to increase players' confidence in the legitimacy of games by assuring players that gaming software has not been tampered with. For example, an electronic game provider may allow an independent third party to perform an audit of the software. This is a time-consuming and expensive process, however. With complex software running into the hundreds of thousands of lines of code, it is very difficult to find a few lines of code that alter the randomness of the outcomes. Also, use of an independent, third party auditor shifts the need for trust to another party, and does not guarantee the legitimacy of the game.
Some electronic lottery systems have used methods for securing communications between remote player terminals and a central controller. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,998 to Koza et al. ("Video Gaming System With Pool Prize Structures") describes cryptographic methods for securing these communications. In games dependent on the use of random numbers, however, simply securing against the transmission of a fraudulent random number does not solve the problem of assuring the player that the game is fairly conducted. Nor does it solve the problem of preventing multiple players from cooperating to gain an advantage over the game provider.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,104 to Pease et al. ("Secure Automated Electronic Casino Gaming System") describes a system whereby a number of keno playing devices, all within the same playing area, are connected to a central controller. A player can play a device by inserting a player account card into it which is registered and confirmed by the central controller. Security in this system is directed primarily to ensuring that players will not tamper with the keno terminals, and that employees will not enter false tickets into the system. Apparently it is assumed that the central controller is trusted and will not try to cheat the players.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,082 to Kayer ("Personal Computer Lottery Game") describes a game whereby a player can purchase a game piece containing an encrypted code which determines whether the piece is a winning one. The player logs onto a central site, via a PC or a kiosk, and types in the code. The site runs a game which reveals to the player if he is a winner in "an exciting fashion." If the player is a winner, he will be given instructions by the site as to where to pick up his prize. Although the system described in this patent provides encryption to protect the site from fraud, it offers no encryption to protect the player.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,202 to Tsumura ("Computer Game Device") describes a system whereby a player can pay for the usage of games transmitted to his PC or to a kiosk via satellite from a central controller. The games are scrambled until payment is made. The central controller can store a game so that a player can take breaks from a game, return to it and continue play from the point in the game at which he left it. This system has neither a gambling element nor is it cryptographically enabled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,521 to Rossides ("Expected Value Payment Method and System For Reducing the Expected Per Unit Costs of Paying and/or Receiving a Given Amount of Commodity") describes a system where a customer exchanges encoded numbers with a product vendor. After being decoded, the two numbers are combined to determine a result. (See column 30, lines 1 to 5, as well as column 30, line 35, to column 31, line 55). The transactions described are not conducted in an online manner. Additionally, both parties must encode their numbers before exchanging them. No game results are ever exchanged in encoded form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,569 to Merkle ("Method of providing digital signatures") describes a system for digital signatures utilizing hash trees.
The proliferation of electronic network technology, along with the ease of user access to networks such as the Internet, has dramatically increased electronic communications and the exchange of information. Among a myriad of other uses, these networks facilitate the playing of games, including gambling activities. They are particularly well suited for such gaming because of their ability to collapse geographic distances while linking distributed players. As discussed above, however, the electronic implementation of games, and particularly gambling activities, often results in the loss of confidence and validity otherwise imbued in players from their personal observation of traditional gaming procedures (for example, dealing cards, spinning roulette wheels, etc.).
There thus exists a need in the art for systems and procedures which can both actually and in the perception of players improve the security and operation of electronic gambling and games. Such systems and procedures would not only foster the perception of on-line gaming as legitimate, but also increase player participation in such activities. This would further increase the commercial value of what is already a substantial online business.

Method and apparatus for securing a computer-based game of chance


A fuel supply apparatus for use with a gaseous fuel engine is provided with an intake passage having an inlet port open to a cylinder and adapted for supplying air into the cylinder therethrough; a fuel supply device for supplying gaseous fuel into the cylinder, the fuel supply device including at least two fuel supply systems each of which is provided with fuel amount adjusting mechanism for adjusting an amount of gaseous fuel to be supplied, the fuel supply systems including high and low pressure fuel supply systems used in a high induction zone where a large amount of air is admitted into the cylinder and in a low induction zone where a small amount of air is admitted into the cylinder, the high pressure fuel supply system being constructed so that the gaseous fuel is supplied into the cylinder during a former half of a compression stroke following an air intake stroke of the engine at a pressure higher than a pressure in the cylinder through a gaseous fuel supply port open to the cylinder independently of the inlet port, and the low pressure fuel supply system being constructed so that the accuracy of adjusting the fuel amount when a fuel supply amount is small is higher than the high pressure fuel supply system; and control means for controlling actuation of the respective fuel supply systems according to an operating state of the engine.

This invention relates to a fuel supply apparatus for use with an engine which uses gaseous fuel such as hydrogen gas.
In recent years, there has been developed a gaseous fuel engine which uses combustible gas such as hydrogen gas as fuel. When the gaseous fuel is used, its volume rate is remarkably larger than gasoline. Accordingly, if the engine is constructed such that the gaseous fuel is mixed with air in an intake passage and supplied to a combustion chamber, an amount of air admitted into the cylinder is greatly reduced to thereby cause a reduction in an engine output particularly when a large amount of fuel is supplied. Even if the gaseous fuel is supplied into the combustion chamber through a passage different from the one to supply the air to the combustion chamber, the volumetric efficiency of the air cannot be made large when the gaseous fuel having a large volume rate exists in the combustion chamber. Thus, the engine output cannot be increased.
As a measure against the above problem, the following arrangement is made in an apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 58-36172. Two separate passages are provided: an intake passage to supply the air and a hydrogen supply passage to supply the hydrogen gas. An inlet valve and a hydrogen supply valve are provided respectively at the intake passage and the hydrogen supply passage. The inlet valve is closed at a bottom dead center and the hydrogen supply valve is opened at the bottom dead center, so that opening periods of these valves do not overlap each other. The hydrogen gas Is supplied into the combustion chamber at a pressure higher than a pressure in the cylinder while the hydrogen supply valve is opened, Further, in an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-23659, there are provided an inlet valve for admitting the air into a combustion chamber and a fuel supply valve for supplying the pressurized gaseous fuel, and the fuel supply valve is opened near a bottom .dead center almost before completion of an air intake stroke.
The apparatuses disclosed In the above publications are advantageous in increasing the engine output in the high induction zone by increasing the volumetric efficiency of the air since the pressurized gaseous fuel is supplied to the combustion chamber after the air intake stroke is almost completed. However, since the fuel is supplied until the pressure in the cylinder increases to a substantially high level in the compression stroke, the apparatus is required to supply the gaseous fuel at the substantially high pres sure so as to supply the fuel into the cylinder against the pressure in the cylinder during the compression stroke. The fuel supply amount is controlled by means of a flow control valve or the like arranged along a fuel supply pipe. However, it is difficult to supply the required amount of fuel accurately in the case where the amount of gaseous fuel having the large volume rate is adjusted over a range including a zone where the fuel supply amount is large while supplying the fuel under the high pressure as above. Particularly, in the low induction zone where the fuel supply amount is small, the error of the fuel supply amount becomes large, thereby standing as a hindrance to the combustion stability.


The invention relates to a device for mixing two fluid flows, initially guided separately from one another, in a two-circuit reaction engine, a mixing tube which encloses a hot core stream being provided, along the outer shaped lateral surface of which a cold bypass flow flows. The mixing tube is designed in the form of a truncated cone narrowing in the direction of flow and has openings arranged at the downstream end in the circumferential direction of the mixing-tube lateral surface in a cross-sectional plane lying perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the mixing tube. The hot core stream flowing through the mixing tube penetrates through the openings into the cold bypass flow flowing around the mixing-tube lateral surface. The openings have passage areas of elliptical shape with a major axis and a minor axis, the major axis of the passage areas running on the lateral surface of the mixing tube in the direction of flow of the fluids and the minor axis running perpendicularly thereto.

Device for mixing two flows of fluid, which are initially guided separate from one another, in a bypass jet engine
The invention relates to a device for mixing two fluid flows, which are initially guided separately from one another, in a bypass jet engine.
To this end, it is known that "lobe mixers" are used in bypass jet engines in order to mix the hot core stream of the jet engine and the cold bypass flow before discharge from the jet engine nozzle. In this case, the hot core stream of the jet engine is guided through a "mixing tube", whereas the cold bypass flow flows along the outside of the mixing-tube lateral surface. The mixing of the two fluid flows is forced by the special shaping of the downstream lateral surface of the mixing tube. For this purpose, that lateral surface of the mixing tube which is formed downstream has "lobes" which extend radially outward. In this case, after flow has taken place through or respectively around the downstream section of the mixing tube, these lobes direct said hot core stream into the cold bypass flow, and also direct the cold bypass flow into the hot core stream. With regard to the known prior art, reference is made, for example, to GB 2 160 265 A.
A disadvantage with these known lobe mixers is in this case the fact that the lobe mixers, on account of the large radial extent of the lobes at the downstream end, tend to vibrate and in addition deformations occur due to material heating and pressure differences. It has therefore been attempted to remove these disadvantages by "struts" which support the lobe mixer on the outlet cone or the nozzle housing of the reaction engine. However, these struts constitute an additional source of weight.
In addition, on account of the large radial extent of the lobes of the lobe mixer, interference may occur in the region of the engine suspension between the lobes of the lobe mixer and the engine suspension. To avoid such interference, the relevant lobes of the lobe mixer, the "pylon lobes", are designed differently. However, this has the disadvantage that a decrease in the mixing efficiency is associated with the redesign of the "pylon lobes".
The object of the invention is to provide a remedy here by a new design of the device for mixing the hot core stream of the reaction engine with the cold bypass flow.
Based on a device of the type mentioned at the beginning, this object is achieved according to the invention in that the mixing tube is designed in the form of a truncated cone narrowing in the direction of flow of core stream and bypass flow, and in that the mixing tube has openings arranged at the downstream end in the circumferential direction of the mixing-tube lateral surface in a cross-sectional plane lying perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the mixing tube, through which openings the hot core stream flowing through the mixing tube penetrates into the cold bypass flow flowing around the mixing-tube lateral surface.
The mixing tube design according to the invention leads to substantial advantages. By the openings being provided in the mixing-tube lateral surface, lobe mixers with the large radial extent of their lobes are dispensed with. The vibration tendency is thus substantially reduced, so that the hitherto requisite struts are dispensed with. The risk of possible interference with the engine suspension thus does not arise either. In addition, the smaller radial extent has the advantage that the novel mixing tube according to the invention is also suitable for confined installations.
Furthermore, the closed annular lateral surface at the downstream end of the mixing tube leads to a robust, low-vibration construction, so that disturbances on account of fluctuations in operating pressure and temperature have less effect on the mixing tube. Since supporting struts are no longer necessary for fixing the mixing tube, this omission of the supporting struts at the same time also entails a lighter construction and thus lower weight of the reaction engine.
Furthermore, the simplified form of the mixing tube leads to a more cost-effective production, since the complicated deep-drawing operations required for producing the lobes are dispensed with.
According to a further feature of the invention, the openings in the mixing-tube lateral surface have passage areas of elliptical shape with a major axis and a minor axis. In this case, the major axis of the elliptical passage areas runs on the mixing-tube lateral surface in the direction of flow of the hot core stream and of the cold bypass flow, and the minor axis is arranged perpendicularly thereto.
Further features of the invention follow from the subclaims.
A combination of the novel mixing tube according to the invention with sufficiently well-known conventional lobe mixers is possible. The replacement of existing mixers with mixers according to the invention is conceivable, since the changes of the new mixer regarding mixer efficiency (lower) and overall pressure loss (lower) act in a neutral manner with regard to the gain in thrust.
The invention is described below with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown more or less schematically in the drawing.

Device for mixing two flows of fluid which are initially guided separate from one another in a bypass jet engine


First and second gears are interposed, respectively, between first and second endless power transmission belts each for driving a camshaft of a cylinder head of each of V-shaped cylinder banks and a crankshaft 7. A pair of balancer shafts are provided at symmetrical positions with respect to a separating plane acting as a center therebetween where an upper block and a lower block of a cylinder block are separated from each other from a horizontal plane passing through a center of the crankshaft in such a manner that axes of the pair of balancer shafts become parallel with the crank shaft. The crankshaft and the balancer shaft on the lower block side are connected to each other by means of a third endless power transmission belt. The balancer shafts are connected to each other by means of third gears, so that the pair of balancer shafts are driven to rotate in the opposite directions. Accordingly, the first and second endless power transmission belts and the third endless power transmission belt are prevented from overlapping each other in an axial direction of the crankshaft. In particular, the respective endless power transmission belts and the respective gears are disposed, respectively, on planes each intersecting at right angles with the axis of the crankshaft, whereby the expansion of the engine in the axial direction of the crankshaft can be prevented.

The present invention relates to a V-shaped internal combustion engine, particularly, a V-shaped internal combustion engine having a balancer device for canceling a secondary vibromotive force thereof.
Conventionally, there have been proposed many engines each comprising a sub-chain for driving a balancer device, an oil pump, a water pump and the like in addition to a timing chain for connecting a valve cam on a cylinder head and a crankshaft so as to drive said valve cam (for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho. 62-233423).
For instance, if a plane crank is adopted in a four-cycle V-shaped eight cylinder engine having a bank defining angle of 90 degrees (which is formed between the V-shaped banks of cylinders) in which plane crank axial centers of all crank pins are located on the same plane, operating cycles of two cylinder banks shift 180 degrees, and explosions take place in the respective cylinder banks in an alternate fashion. According to this construction, since explosions on one of the banks are timed at a regular interval, causing no exhaust interference, the plane crank configuration is advantageous in achieving a high output. On the other hand, in the V-shaped eight cylinder engine adopting the plane crank, secondary imbalance is generated by virtue of an inertia force generated in turn by the reciprocating mass of the engine. The direction of the inertia force so generated while the secondary imbalance is being generated becomes similar to that of an inertia force generated in a state in which cylinders of a conventional in-line four cylinder engine are made horizontal when the engine is viewed as a whole. The aforesaid imbalance can, therefore, be compensated for by adopting the theory of the secondary balancer for a conventional in-line four cylinder engine, and rotating in opposite directions to each other two balancer shafts disposed at symmetrical positions with respect to a horizontal plane acting as a center therebetween which bisects the bank defining angle and passes through the center of a crankshaft (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei. 8-193648).
When trying to provide the aforesaid balancer in the V-shaped eighth cylinder engine adopting the plane crank, it is practical to provide the same at a lower portion of one of the cylinder heads so as to be driven by the sub-chain, as shown in the above Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei.8-193648.
On the other hand, since with a V-shaped engine having a bank defining angle of 90 degrees two cylinder heads are spaced away form each other relatively wide, it is the normal practice that separate endless power transmission timing belts are provided between the crankshaft and the respective cylinder heads individually therefor. In this case, it is natural that the balancer is disposed such that it does not interfere with an endless power transmission timing belt. In addition, however, in a case where the balancer is driven by means of a chain, the driver chain also has to be disposed such that it does not interfere with the endless power transmission timing belt.
This requires the triple provision of pulleys or sprockets on the crankshaft and due to this the engine tends to be expanded in the axial direction of the crankshaft. This is a first problem in the conventional technique.
However, it is the normal practice that a guide for the valve cam driving timing chain and a guide for the sub-chain are provided separately. In this case, the chains are spaced away from each other so that they do not interfere with each other, and the chain guides have to be enlarged unnecessarily in order to secure support portions for the chain guides, these eventually leading to a problem of the engine being made larger in size and heavier in weight. This is a second problem in the conventional technique.


A planetary gear train of an automatic transmission for a vehicle may include: an input shaft, an output shaft disposed in parallel with the input shaft, a first planetary gear set disposed on the input shaft, a second planetary gear set disposed on the output shaft, a third planetary gear set disposed on the output shaft, three transfer gears forming an externally-meshed gears, and frictional elements selectively interconnecting rotation elements or selectively connecting the rotation elements to a transmission housing. The first planetary gear set includes a first ring gear, a first planet carrier, and a first sun gear. The second planetary gear set includes a second sun gear, a second planet carrier, and a second ring gear. The third planetary gear set includes a third sun gear, a third planet carrier, and a third ring gear.

Typically, a planetary gear train is realized by combining a plurality of planetary gear sets and friction members. It is well known that when a planetary gear train realizes a greater number of shift speeds, speed ratios of the planetary gear train can be more optimally designed, and therefore a vehicle can have economical fuel or gas mileage and better performance. For that reason, the planetary gear train that is able to realize the greater number of shift speeds is under continuous investigation.
Though achieving the same number of speeds, the planetary gear train has a different operating mechanism according to a connection between rotation elements (i.e., sun gear, planet carrier, and ring gear). In addition, the planetary gear train has different features such as durability, power delivery efficiency, and size, depending on the layout thereof. Therefore, designs for a combining structure of a gear train are also under continuous investigation.
In addition, the planetary gear train realizes a plurality of shift-speeds. However, another friction member must be operated after one friction member is released so as to shift to a neighboring shift-speed from a view of shift control. In addition, a step ratio between the neighboring shift-speeds should be controlled to be suitable according to the planetary gear train.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhanced understanding of the background of the inventive concept and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art.

Planetary gear train of automatic transmission for vehicle


Set identifiers for objects are determined based on individual identifiers of the objects. A first identifier is received from a first identification tag associated with a first object. A second identifier is received from a second identification tag associated with a second object. A set identifier corresponding to a set of objects that includes the first object and the second object is determined, based on the first identifier and the second identifier. The set identifier is associated with a virtual object that corresponds to the set.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, along with other auto-identification technologies, such as, for example, bar-code scanning techniques, may be used to associate a physical object with information corresponding to the physical object. Generally, the physical object is tagged with an RFID chip that includes a unique identifier for the physical object, such as, for example, a numeric or an alpha-numeric identifier. The identifier may be read from the RFID tag with an RFID tag reader, and used to identify and access stored information corresponding to the physical object. The stored information may describe, for example, the physical object or may identify processing relevant to the physical object that is to be performed. For example, the physical object may be a good being shipped, and the processing relevant to the physical object may be shipment tracking, goods monitoring, or some other supply chain management activity.


A turbine including a radial compressor having radial blades, with the compressor supplying side channel compressors arranged at its circumference and having chamber blades. To increase the efficiency, the chamber blades and the radial blades are curved in opposite directions, with the chamber blades and radial blades having a curvature transition point at their transition area, and the blades, in the transition area, are inclined by an identical angle of less than 30.degree. and, for example, 15.degree. relative to a circumferential tangent in the transition area.

Turbines are generally designed as radial compressors or as side channel compressors. Radial compressors are used primarily for generating high-volume flows, and side channel compressors for generating high pressure differentials.
DE 31 28 374 A1, teaches a side channel pump supported by radial blades and usable for gaseous media, with the rotor having radial blades bent convex at one end, said blades urging the medium being transported into a circumferential channel that expands helically, from which the transported medium is conducted into a side channel pump whose radially directed chamber blades are mounted either on the side of the rotor opposite the radial blades or, on the outer circumference of the rotor. The medium, transported outward therein by the radial blades, is conducted over a relatively long distance with multiple deflections to the side channel, considerably reducing its efficiency.
DD-PS 4862 teaches a multistage turbine according to the species, but designed for liquid media in that publication, with the first stage designed as a radial compressor whose radial blades gradually merge with the chamber blades of the second stage, designed as a side channel compressor. The chambers of the side channel compressor surrounding the radial blades are open on the side facing the radial blades, so that the medium being transported enters the chambers of the side channel compressor directly from the flow channels of the radial compressor. However, the chamber blades are aligned radially, and the radial blades, curved only slightly concavely, make a direct transition to the chamber blades. Consequently, a pressure that develops in the side channel chambers results in backpressure that is unimpeded and directed radially inward into the flow channels of the radial compressor, limiting the efficiency that can be attained.
In addition, DD-PS 35 450 teaches a self-priming liquid centrifugal pump, whose rotor is provided in its central area with convexly curved radial blades and in its circumferential area with convexly bent chamber blades. The radial blades run inside a cylindrical housing intermediate jacket, interrupted at only one point over an arc of about 60.degree., so that the liquid flow can make the transmission from the radial pump to the circumferential channel which has chamber blades only at this interruption. Since the spacing of the radial blades and chamber blades is equal to at least the thickness of the housing intermediate jacket, considerable turbulence occurs at the transition, considerably limiting the efficiency that can be attained.
DD-PS 41 513 teaches a combined rotor for pumps, compressors, or the like with curved radial blades that convey the medium centrally into a circumferential channel fitted on two opposite sides with straight chamber blades directed radially. The medium flow generated by the radial blades is broken up at the outer circumferential wall of the circumferential channel and deflected toward the chamber blades, so that two circular flows directed in opposite directions develop in the circumferential channel and impact the medium flow generated by the radial blades. Since this medium flow abruptly loses the guidance provided by the radial blades upon entering the circumferential channel, considerable turbulence and rapid backpressure develop, so that only very limited efficiency can be attained with this known device.


Provided is an image recording system for recording an image on a recording medium attached to a conveyed article, including: a conveyor device conveying the conveyed article in a predetermined conveying direction; and a recording device provided on at least one side of the conveyor device in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction and capable of contactlessly recording the image on the recording medium being located at a position facing itself. The image includes a scan image to be read by a reading device. The conveyor device decelerates the conveyed article by observing a position at which the recording medium will face the recording device as a target stop position. The recording device records the scan image on the recording medium after the conveyed article reaches the target stop position and while the amplitude of vibration of the conveyed article is equal to or smaller than a reference value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording system, an image rewriting system, and an image recording method, and particularly to an image recording system configured to record an image on a recording medium attached to an article being conveyed, an image rewriting system including the image recording system, and an image recording method for recording the image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a technique is known which decelerates a conveyed article, which is being conveyed with a recording medium attached thereon, so that the article may be stopped at a target stop position, which is a predetermined position on the conveying path, and records an image including a scan image (e.g., a barcode) on the recording medium when the conveyed article arrives at the target stop position (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2008-194905).
However, with the technique disclosed in JP-A No. 2008-194905, the quality of a scan image to be recorded on the recording medium might be poorer than a level readable by a reading device.

Image recording system, image rewriting system, and image recording method


An organic light-emitting material and the manufacturing method thereof, and an organic light-emitting device are disclosed. The organic light-emitting material includes a benzophenanthrene derivative, which has good planarity and strong visible π-π* absorption ability and has a high quantum yield of blue light-emitting capability as well. Therefore, a benzophenanthrene derivative having a large π-conjugated system has high-efficiency electron transporting properties, and its high electron-withdrawing group increases electron mobility rate and effectively improve the light-emitting efficiency of the organic light emitting device.

At present, organic light-emitting materials have achieved world-renowned achievements, and many domestic companies have realized the successful lighting of flexible OLED display panels, and various flexible panels have been fabricated. However, at present, the light-emitting material of the flexible OLED display panel has some problems regardless of cost, stability of the organic light-emitting device, or durability of the light-emitting material. Therefore, it is very important to enrich and develop main materials of the light-emitting layer in the organic light-emitting device, and further developments of main materials of the light-emitting layer with long life and high stability of efficiency and performance are still an important goal of researchers.

Organic light-emitting material and manufacturing method thereof, and organic light-emitting device

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method for correlating a product identifier of a product and an RF tag identification code after the step of printing visual representation of a product identifier onto a product label, and reading the visual representation of the product identifier.

The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Inventory tracking is a complex process, often involving the tracking, storage, and display of numerous products both in a physical location (e.g. a grocery store shelf) and in the associated data entry in an electronic database. The utilization of printed product identifiers, such as barcodes, is a known method of assigning data relevant to the product to the product itself. RF tags have several benefits which make them an effective replacement of barcodes. For example, while barcodes are optically read and their data is fixed at the time of printing, RF tags contain internal memory that can be read electronically by an RF tag scanner, and optionally reprogrammed to contain revised information. Additionally, relative to printed tags, RF tags allow for more information to be stored and transmitted to users, which improves upon the limited utility of normal barcodes.
In conventional RFID printing, many RFID tags are encoded as a unit with the same information. For example, RFID tags numbered from 1-1000 are associated with the same product. When a malfunction occurs, such as a jammed RFID encoder and printer, the affected portion of the RFID tags can be removed and their numbers dissociated from the product in the system.
However, this solution is not viable when each RFID tag and associated print is unique. For example, if once sheet of RFID tags from 75-100 is printed with four different types of products, then a printer jam can cause the entire sequence of downstream RFID tags to be incorrectly printed and assigned. In these situations, it is critical to allow the encoding and printing of RFID tags to be freely dissociated and reassigned to new RFID tags. In the previously mentioned example, the presently claimed invention allows the RFID tags to be reprinted and reassigned to tag number 75-100 and everything downstream can be subsequently shifted. In another example, the presently claimed invention can also allow the printing to continue as planned after clearing the jam and then dynamically print and assign the missing RFID tags to a sheet of 25 additional RFID tags at the end of the process.
EP2746992 to Barink teaches a method for bulk encoding of tags (e.g. RFID tags), and printing of codes onto the tags. In Barink, one or more tags are fed into a serialization module, a code is printed onto the tags, and serialization module writes the preconfigured data to multiple tags simultaneously so as to carry out a bulk encoding of the one or more tags, and prints a code onto the tag. However, Barink fails to contemplate the association of an RFID tag or tag code with an advertisement, QR code, or other visual representation of a product.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,988,200 to Lee teaches a method for translating, transcribing, and/or converting a printed label on a surface of an RFID tag into electronic data, which are writable to a non-volatile storage inside the RFID tag. However, Lee similarly fails to contemplate the association of an RFID tag or tag code with an advertisement, QR code, or other visual representation of a product.
These and all other publications identified herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Thus, there is still a need for systems and methods that correlate a product codes associated with product data (which can comprise any information associated with the product/service) to an RFID tag identification code and visual representations of a product.


The semiconductor integrated circuit device is a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a pulse generator and a latch circuit. The pulse generator has a first charge/discharge path and a second charge/discharge path and a charge unit for pre-charging first nodes. The first charge/discharge path and the second charge/discharge path include: two first switching units, connected to the first nodes, and configured to control, according to an input signal, conduction and non-conduction of the first charge/discharge path and the second charge/discharge path; and a second switching unit, disposed between a second node and a reference voltage node, and configured to be turned on in a period prior to capturing the input signal to allow an electric charge accumulated at the second node to be discharged to the reference voltage node, and at the same time, configured to be turned on in a period of capturing the input signal to allow the first node to discharge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuit devices, and more particularly to a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a flip-flop circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, flip-flop circuits have been broadly used in integrated circuits such as LSI. For the purpose of increasing the performance of integrated circuits, high speed operating flip-flop circuits have hitherto been proposed. Semiconductor integrated circuit devices constituted of such a high speed operating flip-flop circuit include one proposed in an article (Borivoje Nikolic, VojinG. Oklobdzija, Vladimir Stojanovic, Wenyan Jia, James Kar-Shing Chiu, and Michael Ming-Tak Leung, "Improved Sense-Amplifier-Based Flip-Flop: Design and Measurements", IEEE JOURNAL OF SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS, Vol. 35, NO. 6, June 2000 p876-p884) (hereinafter referred to as Document 1).
In the semiconductor integrated circuit device proposed in Document 1, however, due to the amount of electric charges accumulated in parasitic capacitance occurring on a path extending from a power source terminal to a reference voltage terminal in a signal generation circuit, speeding up of operation may be limited, thus causing a problem.
Further, in the semiconductor integrated circuit device proposed in Document 1, due to a status holding circuit, disposed in a latch circuit, for holding the status of output signal, the operating speed when the status of output signal is varied, may be reduced, thus causing a problem.


An apparatus for verifying the identity of a dispensed pharmaceutical comprises an analysis unit adapted to determine a property of the dispensed pharmaceutical, an input device adapted to receive predetermined identifying information corresponding to the dispensed pharmaceutical, and a comparison unit adapted to compare the determined property of the dispensed pharmaceutical with the predetermined identifying information. In addition, a method of verifying a prescription, wherein the prescription comprises a pharmaceutical compound, comprises associating the prescription with a unique identifier, storing the unique identifier, determining the identity of the pharmaceutical compound, and comparing the identity of the pharmaceutical compound with the unique identifier.

The present invention pertains to spectrometer and reflectance data analysis and more particularly to the validation and identification of packaged pharmaceuticals in a retail setting.
There is an ongoing and predicted long-term shortage of licensed pharmacists. Due to the increasing age of the population and the ever-increasing number of prescription medicines available, the demand for prescription drugs is growing at rate that will far exceed the capacity and numbers of licensed pharmacists. According to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the number of prescriptions filled between 2000 and 2005 will increase by 41%, while the number of retail pharmacists will only increase by 4.5%. The net impact of this imbalance is that pharmacists are increasingly spending more time doing clerical and administrative tasks such as verifying filled prescriptions and checking data entry done by pharmacy technicians. Since the capacity of any one pharmacist is fixed, the output of a pharmacy has become constrained. Consequently, the labor and total cost per prescription continues to rise. The December 2000 Department of Health and Human Services Report to Congress titled xe2x80x9cThe Pharmacist Workforce: A Study of the Supply and Demand for Pharmacistsxe2x80x9d, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application, provides an overview of the above problem.
Due to these increased demands on a pharmacist""s time, and the resulting increased reliance on technicians and other non-professional staff to fill prescriptions, there is an increased chance for prescription error. While these errors may take many forms, the likelihood of a dangerous or life threatening xe2x80x9cadverse drug eventxe2x80x9d increases proportionally with the increased chance of prescription fill error. Several studies have shown that prescription error rates are consistently in the 2% to 7% range, with a 4% error rate often cited as a reliable average. The number of deaths due to medication errors is estimated to exceed 7000 per year in the United States alone. This number does not include non-fatal conditions from drugs that also result in some form of trauma or injury. The resulting litigation costs associated with these prescription fill errors has also dramatically increased. Available information shows that settlements from such lawsuits average $500,000 per incident. A known study on this subject is the 1999 Institute of Medicine Report: xe2x80x9cTo Err is Human: Building a Safer Heath Systemxe2x80x9d, the details of which are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.
Existing pharmacy filling systems and procedures still require a human operator, whether that operator is a technician or a licensed pharmacist, to validate visually whether the drug that is delivered to the customer is correct. Thus, the human factor contributes to the majority of prescription fill errors. Existing visual verification techniques rely on comparing an electronic image of the prescribed medication, i.e. a picture of the prescribed medication retrieved from a data library, with the actual medication that is dispensed for the patient. Other systems and procedures rely on comparing the dispensed medication with that in the original manufacturer""s supply container, or comparing an electronic image of the filled prescription with an electronic image of the prescribed medication retrieved from a data library. Each of these existing verification systems present similar problems.
First, these known verification methods assume that all drugs are visually distinct. This assumption causes many problems because many drugs are not, in fact, visually distinct and, in other cases, the visual differences between drugs is very subtle. For instance, manufacturers are rapidly running out of unique shapes, colors and sizes for their solid dosage form products. To further complicate the problem, generic drug manufactures are using shapes, colors, and sizes that are different than that of the original manufacturer.
Second, even though some known systems may utilize a National Drug Code (NDC) bar code to verify that the supply bottle being accessed corresponds correctly to the patient""s prescription, a fraction of filled prescriptions that are never picked up are returned to the supply shelves for reuse in later prescriptions. These reused bottles will not, therefore, have a manufacturer""s bar code on them. It is, therefore, impossible to incorporate such validation schemes for these unused prescriptions. Furthermore, in these circumstances, a supply bottle is not available for a visual comparison with the filled prescription.
Finally, each of these known manual verification and validation techniques requires that the pharmacist spend a significant portion of his day performing these administrative or clerical tasks and allows less time for patient consultation and other professional pharmacist activities. This fact in itself is considered one of the leading reasons for the decline in graduation rate of professional pharmacists. The ability to allow the pharmacist to focus more on patient counseling rather than clerical and administrative duties is widely seen as an important promotional effort to meet the increasing demand for professionally trained pharmacists. Similarly, personal service by a pharmacist is cited in the 2001 Chain Pharmacy Industry Profile as one of the main reasons that a customer will choose any particular pharmacy.
Solid dosage pharmaceuticals (e.g. pills, tablets, and capsules) each have a unique chemical composition associated with them. This is often referred to as a chemical signature or fingerprint. Pharmaceuticals with varying dosage levels of the same active ingredient may have unique chemical signatures as well. Even slight variations in the active ingredient will produce a unique chemical signature. In that regard, most pharmaceuticals can be identified accurately by the use of some form of chemical analysis. This same methodology may be applied to other forms of medication (e.g. liquids, creams, and powders).
While there are many forms of chemical analysis, Near-Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is one of the most rapidly growing methodologies in use for product analysis and quality control. For instance, NIR spectroscopy is being increasingly used as an inspection method during the packaging process of pharmaceuticals or food products. More and more often, this technique is augmenting or even replacing previously used vision inspection systems. For example, a system that utilizes a combined visible and NIR spectroscopy inspection system can be used to inspect a pharmaceutical product for, among other things, chemical composition, color, and dosage level.
Particularly with solid dosage pharmaceutical products, while a group or package of products may look identical in the visible portion of the spectrum each product may have a unique chemical signature in the near-infrared wavelength range (800-2500 nm). Details of packaging and inspection systems that utilize NIR as an inspection technique can be found in U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 10/023,302, 10/023,395, and 10/023,396 filed on Dec. 20, 2001 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/068,623 filed on Feb. 5, 2002, the details of which are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.
What is unique about these NIR spectrographic inspection and validation systems is the completely xe2x80x9chands-offxe2x80x9d approach that can be utilized, and the reduced need for operator interaction in validating the composition of packaged and filled pharmaceuticals. What is needed, therefore, is a system that can utilize the unique chemical signatures of known pharmaceuticals to validate the accuracy of the filled prescription through an NIR spectrographic or other chemical analysis technique.
More particularly, what is needed is a system that allows the replacement of the manual verification techniques that most pharmacies rely on today, thereby allowing verification and validation steps to be performed automatically and consequently requiring less trained and less expensive supervision. What is also needed is a system that will account for the predicted added prescription throughput and reduced supply of trained pharmacists that the pharmacy industry will face in the coming years. Finally, what is needed is a system that will help reduce per prescription costs, reduce error rates in filling prescriptions, increase pharmacist productivity, reduce the time to complete a prescription order and allow pharmacists to spend more time with their customers and engaged in other professional responsibilities.
In one aspect, an apparatus for verifying the identity of a dispensed pharmaceutical comprises an analysis unit adapted to determine a property of the dispensed pharmaceutical, an input device adapted to receive predetermined identifying information corresponding to the dispensed pharmaceutical, and a comparison unit adapted to compare the determined property of the dispensed pharmaceutical with the predetermined identifying information.
In another aspect, a method of verifying a prescription, wherein the prescription comprises a pharmaceutical compound, comprises associating the prescription with a unique identifier, storing the unique identifier, determining the identity of the pharmaceutical compound, and comparing the identity of the pharmaceutical compound with the unique identifier.
In another aspect, a method of adapting an existing pharmacy information system to perform verification of a dispensed pharmaceutical comprises providing an analysis unit adapted to measure a property of the dispensed pharmaceutical, providing an input device adapted to receive predetermined identifying information corresponding to the dispensed pharmaceutical, and providing a comparison unit adapted to compare the measured property of the dispensed pharmaceutical with the predetermined identifying information.
In another aspect, A inspection system for verifying the contents of a filled prescription, comprises a spectrometer adapted to determine the spectral signature of the contents of the filled prescription, a scanner adapted to receive identifying information corresponding to the filled prescription, a data storage device coupled to the scanner and adapted to store the identifying information corresponding to the filled prescription, wherein the data storage device comprises a plurality of data items, each of the plurality of data items corresponding to a known prescription pharmaceutical spectral signature.
In another aspect, a method of filling a prescription, comprises receiving a prescription request, entering the prescription request into an information system, dispensing the prescription from a supply source into a customer container, applying an identification label on the customer container, wherein the identification label contains identifying information corresponding to the prescription, storing the identifying information corresponding to the prescription, determining the identity of the prescription, and comparing the identity of the prescription to the identifying information.
As will become apparent to those skilled in the art, numerous other embodiments and aspects will become evident hereinafter from the following descriptions and claims.

System and method for pharmacy validation and inspection


An interferometer employed, in part, as a Sagnac interferometer or fiber optic gyro (FOG) includes a light source that provides a source light wave that is split into first and second light waves that are directed to traverse a defined optical loop path in opposite directions. The defined optical loop path in accordance with the present invention is provided by multiple waveguides wound into a coil such that the opposite traveling first and second light waves serially travel through all of the waveguides in opposite directions around the optical loop path.

The heart of the fiber optic rotation rate senor or gyroscope (hereafter, simply FOG) is well known in the art is the Sagnac interferometer, briefly illustrated in FIG. 1. The Sagnac interferometer in its simplest form consists of a single directional coupler 108, e.g. a beam splitter, and an optical path that in our case amounts to a length of optical fiber formed into a loop 20, 1 turn or multiple turns, respectively. The directional coupler 108 is used to split an impinging light wave derived from a light source 100 into two waves, but it can also be used to combine two waves, or in other words, interfere two waves. The directional coupler in a Sagnac interferometer will do both. After the directional coupler 108 splits the light wave, the resulting two waves enter opposite ends of the optical fiber loop 20 and propagate in opposite directions through the optical fiber loop 20, pass through each other, emerge from the fiber, and are combined by the same directional coupler 108. The optical power of the combined waves depends upon the phase difference between the two interfering waves. The phase shift is related to the rotation rate of the fiber loop according to the Sagnac effect, and can be expressed as,
  Δϕ  =                    2                π                                                  LD                    λ                                                  c                  Ω  where L is the length of the fiber in the loop, D is the diameter of the loop, λ and c are the wavelength and speed of the light in vacuum, respectively. The diameter D of the loop is usually constrained by the application, and is typically between 1 and 6 inches. Winding the optical fiber (hereafter referred to as simply fiber) into a multiturn coil can increase the length of fiber, L, while maintaining a manageable diameter D. Typical lengths are between 0.05 and 5 km. The packaging volume, of course, imposes a limit on the length of the coil of optical fiber. The outside diameter (OD) and the height of the fiber coil are generally limited by the space allocated by the system designer. The fiber length is limited by the number of turns of fiber that will fit on each layer and the number of layers that will fit in the package. The outside layer will provide the most signal because it has the largest diameter as well as the largest length of fiber per layer. Each successive inner layer becomes smaller in both diameter and fiber length per layer. Reducing the fiber diameter increases the length of fiber that will fit into the space allotted, but the fiber becomes more delicate and increasingly difficult to wind accurately as the size is reduced. Accurate winding helps to ensure tight packing of the fiber, and is intended to reduce sensitivity to environmental changes such as temperature and pressure, as is well known.
Operation of the FOG is based on the Sagnac effect as aforesaid. The way that the FOG enhances the sensitivity to rotation is via increasing the total phase shift between the counter-propagating waves by making them follow a long fiber path—typical gyro fiber lengths are 50 meters to a few kilometers. The basic FOG architecture as illustrated in FIG. 1 is called the "minimum" or "reciprocal" configuration. This has been the optical architecture of choice for all medium- and high-accuracy fiber optic gyroscopes since the 1980s (Ulrich 1980). The reason is that the clockwise and counter-clockwise waves traverse almost identical paths so that common-mode errors tend to cancel each other. Soon after Ulrich's proposal, the group led by Arditty and Lefevre in France proposed the hybrid architecture, which combines fiber components with an integrated optic Y-junction fabricated with lithium niobate waveguides (Arditty et al. 1984; Lefevre et al. 1985). In a FOG, the light from the source is split by a splitter, and the two light waves thus created enter opposite ends of an optical fiber that is wound into a coil, they pass through each other as they counter propagate through the fiber and return to the splitter where the two waves are combined, and the combined waves are directed to a detector.
A cylindrical fiber coil is often referred to in terms of its diameter, D, and the length, L, of the fiber. The phase difference between the combined waves is proportional to the LD product times the rotation rate according to the Sagnac effect. The main benefit of using an optical fiber is that L can be quite large while D can be a manageable size. Because the two waves counter-propagate through the same fiber, a tremendous error reduction is gained regarding perturbations of the fiber. This reduction is not perfect because the two waves traverse a given section of fiber at different times.
The FOG has been very successful in a limited number of applications. These include applications where the fiber coil is not subjected to large variations in temperature and where the FOG can be made quite large. In some applications with limited temperature range, where the power requirements and startup requirements allow, the fiber-optic coil is actually temperature controlled. In such cases the fiber can be made very long and the rotation-rate signal made large compared to noise to improve the rotation-rate measurement. The increased fiber length only works in benign conditions or when the temperature is controlled because errors due to environmental perturbations scale with length. Clever winding techniques have, however, reduced the impact of time varying strain gradients in the coil, but further improvement is necessary for the FOG to reach its full potential.
If the FOG is designed and constructed well, its ability to accurately measure rotation rate is limited by the stability of the present state-of-the-art fiber coil as it is subjected to a changing environment. Generally, the fiber coil is a composite structure of glass and a variety of plastics including adhesive to hold it together. The signal in the FOG increases with the diameter of the coil and also with the number of turns of fiber in the coil. Increasing the diameter of the coil has the obvious problem of increasing the size of the FOG. The diameter of the coil is made to be as large as is acceptable in the application for which the FOG is intended. Increasing the number of turns of fiber also increases the size of the coil, and it reduces the coil stability. Adding more turns either means increasing the axial dimension of the coil or adding more layers of fiber. The plastic in the coil expands with temperature much faster than the glass fiber. The result is that the plastic strains the fiber in a way that varies from layer to layer. This causes a time-varying strain gradient if the temperature is varying in time, and thereby causes a measurement error. In some cases the error can be measured and compensated for to some extent; in other cases. It is not easy to distinguish the error from rotation-rate measurement, and it is not possible to compensate for the error.

Interferometer employing a multi-waveguide optical loop path and fiber optic rotation rate sensor employing same


In one implementation, an automated content compilation system includes a computing platform having a hardware processor and a system memory storing a content integration software code. The hardware processor executes the content integration software code to receive commercials for presentation with a media content including primary content segments and predetermined advertising intervals, and to assemble commercial clusters corresponding respectively to the predetermined advertising intervals, each of the commercial clusters including a subset of the commercials. The content integration software code further compiles a content file including a data structure having the commercial clusters linked with the primary content segments, the data structure including one or more playlist(s) identifying a location of each of the commercials in the data structure, and provides the content file for playout of the media content as an integrated content stream including the primary content segments and the commercial clusters.

The production of media content on a near live basis, i.e., production occurring close to the time the media content is broadcast or otherwise distributed, is necessary or desirable for certain types of content. For example, in television production, shows are often turned around quickly, meaning that they are shot, quickly edited and then aired on the same day; sometimes just an hour or so after they are shot, for instance. This production time frame presents particular complexities for placing commercials into the programming because the production group creating the show typically works independently from the traffic and scheduling groups that sell, format, and integrate the commercials with the show.
A conventional workflow for delivery of near live media content has a production group produce a show with empty, real time placeholders for eventual insertion of commercials. The traffic and/or scheduling groups later sequence and run the commercials independently, using a separate playback device, as the show is being played out to an audience. This conventional approach is performed manually, and is labor intensive as well as inefficient.