A box includes, in principle, a plastic structure with a rectangular base, two ends, and two sides which are pivotably coupled to said base. The ends include centered parts combined with latches, which in one position anchor the sides and ends, while in another position said connection between the ends and the sides is released in order to collapse said elements and thus achieve a collapsed position. The box includes an anchor device consisting of a series of rotary bodies (5) that connect the bolts of the lock (4) to the centered part (1) via two pairs of resilient parts (6) and (7) which, in the inoperative position thereof, hold the bolts of the lock (4) outwards, attaching the ends (2) and the sides (9), and when the central part (1) is moved upward, the latches thus release the ends and the sides.

There are currently known plastic boxes, among which are those that comprise folding side walls hinged at the edges of its base or bottom, so that when the box is not used, these side walls can be folded inward in parallel, horizontal and superimposed planes relative to the bottom of the box.
On the other hand, the side walls have anchoring means at their adjacent edges to ensure the assembly of the boxes during their use. In contrast, when the boxes are empty these anchoring means are released to bring down the side walls, and thus reducing the volume to a minimum space, very practical for storing and transporting empty boxes, for example.
To this type of boxes belongs e.g., the Utility Model No. 200302479, Invention Patent No. 200201794 which employ anchors that vertically go up and down to achieve the assembly and disassembly of the side walls corresponding to adjacent edges of their walls.
There are other boxes wherein the anchors are horizontally moved in opposite directions, in one case towards the center of the side walls for releasing the anchors and outwards to ensure the assembly of the box in the unfolded position for then fill it with some product.
In these cases, the anchors are similar to a conventional latch, so that implementation has shown that this type of anchors with horizontal displacements in opposite directions provide greater security than the first boxes that use the anchor with vertical displacement (Utility Model No. 200302479 and Invention Patent No. 200201794).
To this type of anchors with horizontal displacement belong for example to documents U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,418, CA2309234, CA2273556, U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,945, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,392, ES2169280, U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,897.
In some of these documents, such as for example the Invention U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,392 and ES2169280, is required to individually act on each of the closures, which prevents their simultaneous operation using only one hand.
In contrast, Invention U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,418 does provide an embodiment in which the actuation device and anchoring elements are a single piece (FIGS. 10 and 11), so that by acting on a central area 196a an elastic deformation would occur by pulling the front end sections, simultaneously releasing two front end closures or anchors.
Invention Patent No. 200201794, although also has a single-piece device with pairs of front end anchors simultaneously moved by centrally acting on the device with one hand, the anchors are instead vertically actuated rather than horizontally, as occurs with most of the aforementioned boxes and also in the invention at hand.
It is also known the Invention Patent No. 200503207 owned by the same applicant that the invention at hand and referred to an anchoring device for collapsible boxes.
Said anchoring device, as the one for Invention Patent with publication number EP1655232, generally consists of anchoring devices located on the lower side walls or front ends and which have some side bolts associated with a central piece vertical displacement of which perpendicular moves the bolts for engaging or disengaging the major and minor side walls.
Each of the devices exclusively uses elastic means to move the bolts when manually acting on a control piece.


Example automated storage modules for analyzer liquids are described herein. An example apparatus includes a refrigerated storage module having a plurality of shelves (to store a plurality of carriers) and a loading bay having an array of slots to receive one or more of the carriers. The loading bay is accessible by a user for manual loading or unloading of the carriers. The example apparatus includes a first carrier transporter coupled to the storage module to transfer the carriers between the shelves and a first transfer location and a second carrier transporter movable along a track connecting the storage module to an automated diagnostic analyzer. The second carrier transporter is to transfer a first carrier between the first transfer location and a slot in the loading bay and a second carrier between the first transfer location and a second transfer location accessible by the automated diagnostic analyzer.

Healthcare diagnostics laboratories use diagnostic instruments, such as diagnostic analyzers, for testing and analyzing samples. One or more sample tubes are typically placed into a rack or carrier and loaded into an analyzer by a technician or operator. Known diagnostic analyzers use various liquids, such as reagents, to perform the diagnostic analysis procedures. A reagent kit or carrier typically has one or more containers of reagents. The reagent carrier is also manually loaded into the analyzer by the technician or operator. When the reagent kit is empty, the operator unloads the reagent kit from the analyzer and loads another reagent kit into the analyzer. Known diagnostic analyzers also need to be calibrated and tested for accuracy. Calibration and/or control samples are similarly loaded into the analyzers and unloaded from the analyzers as needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Automated storage modules for diagnostic analyzer liquids and related systems and methods


Graphics authoring application user interface control and methods for using the same are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises: displaying, by a vector graphics application executing on a tablet, an artboard on the touch-sensitive display surface of the tablet, the artboard being a user interface for displaying vector graphic artwork of a user under control of the vector graphics application executing on the tablet; attaching one or more visual rulers to the artboard, each visual ruler of the one or more visual rules to provide a scale with markers and numbers and users interactable as graphical user interface (GUI) element; and creating one or more guides on the artboard by, at least in part, tapping a cursor positioned on one or more of the one or more rulers, the one or more guides being non-printing lines that appear over the artboard.

Handwriting and manually-created art continue to play important roles in human communication. Computer tablets have been adapted to permit handwriting input, and are also commonly used for art creation. However, even though tablets are being used for art creation, the use of pen tools and fingers with the existing user interfaces of the touch surface display screens of tablets make the creation of such artwork difficult and unsatisfying when generating vector graphics.


A transparent conductive thin film which can be produced easily by sputtering or the like with a sintered target, needs no post-treatment such as etching or grinding, is low in resistance and excellent in surface smoothness, and has a high transmittance in the low-wavelength region of visible rays; and transparent, electroconductive substrate for a display panel and an organic electroluminescence device excellent in light-emitting characteristics, both including the transparent conductive thin film. More particularly, a transparent conductive thin film comprising indium oxide as the major component and silicon as a dopant, having a substantially amorphous structure, wherein silicon is incorporated at 0.5 to 13% by atom on indium and silicon totaled; and a transparent conductive thin film comprising indium oxide as the major component and tungsten and germanium, wherein tungsten is incorporated at a W/In atomic ratio of 0.003 to 0.047 and germanium is incorporated at a Ge/In atomic ratio of 0.001 to 0.190.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transparent conductive thin film, process for producing the same, sintered target for producing the same, and transparent, electroconductive substrate for display panels and organic electroluminescence devices, more particularly a transparent conductive thin film which can be produced easily by sputtering or the like with a sintered target, needs no post-treatment such as etching or grinding, is low in resistance and excellent in surface smoothness, and has a high transmittance in the low-wavelength region of visible rays; and transparent, electroconductive substrate for display panel and organic electroluminescence device excellent in light-emitting characteristics, both including the transparent conductive thin film.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A transparent conductive thin film has a high electroconductivity and high transmittance in the visible light region. Therefore, it has been widely used as a transparent electrode for various devices, e.g., solar cells, liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), display panels with an electroluminescence device, and various types of light-receiving devices.
It has been also used for heat ray reflecting films for windows of automobiles, buildings or the like, various types of antistatic films, and transparent heating devices for anti-fogging purposes for showcases containing frozen foods.
An electroluminescence device (hereinafter referred to as EL device) is a device that utilizes electroluminescence, and has been attracting much attention as a light-emitting device for various types of displays, because of its high visibility and resistance to impact, the former coming from its self-luminescence and the latter from being completely solid. EL devices fall into two general categories of inorganic and organic devices, the former using an inorganic compound as the light-emitting material and the latter an organic compound. Organic EL devices have been extensively studied for commercialization of displays of the next generation, because they can be easily made compact by greatly reducing the driving voltage. An organic EL device is composed of a laminate of anode/light-emitting layer/cathode as the basic structure with a transparent conductive thin film as the anode formed on a transparent, electrically insulating substrate, e.g., glass sheet, where light is normally emitted from the substrate side.
Various materials have been extensively used for transparent conductive thin films. They include tin oxide (SnO2) doped with antimony or fluorine, zinc oxide (ZnO) doped with aluminum or gallium, and indium oxide (In2O3) doped with tin. In particular, films of indium oxide (In2O3) doped with tin, or In2O3—Sn-based films referred to as ITO (indium tin oxide) films, have been widely used because of easiness of producing low-resistance films.
The known processes for producing thin ITO films include spraying, vacuum evaporation, sputtering and ion plating. Sputtering is an effective process for forming a film of a compound of low vapor pressure on an object (hereinafter merely referred to as substrate), or forming a film whose thickness should be precisely controlled. It has been widely used because it can be handled by a simple procedure. Ion plating is a process that ionizes the particles evaporated in a manner similar to that for sputtering to improve their adhesive strength to the substrate, and then accelerates them in an electrical field onto the substrate, on which the film is securely formed.
Of these processes, sputtering is a film-making process which generates an argon plasma by a glow discharge produced between the substrate as the anode and a target as the cathode in an inert atmosphere (argon) kept at 0.1 to 10 Pa, and directs the resulting argon cations onto the target as the cathode to scatter the target component particles out of the cathode, which are deposited on the substrate.
This process is classified by method for producing the argon plasma; radio-frequency (RF) sputtering when radio-frequency (RF) plasma is used, and DC sputtering when DC plasma is used. The film can be produced by focusing argon plasma on immediately above the target by a magnet provided on the backside of the target. This method is magnetron sputtering, which can have high argon ion collision efficiency even at low gas pressure. DC magnetron sputtering is normally adopted to produce transparent conductive thin films of ITO.
Sintered ITO is normally used as the target. It is produced by a powder sintering process, in which indium oxide or tin oxide is incorporated to have a substantially intended composition, pressed and sintered at 1400° C. or higher.
The target is normally of sintered ITO containing tin oxide (SnO2) at around 10% by weight, in particular the one having a density below 7.0 g/cm3. More recently, sintered ITO of higher density and the target using such a sinter are being developed to improve film-making characteristics of ITO.
A process for producing sintered ITO of high density (density: 7.02 g/cm3 or more, or 98% or more as relative density) and high uniformity (scattering of around 1%) is disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-144393. Sputtering with this ITO target gives good films during the initial stage, but deteriorates in sputtering performance (sputter rate) as the process time nears the final stage, because a black substance called nodule is generated on the target surface to cause problems, e.g., abnormal discharge. This phenomenon results from uncontrolled pore distribution in the sinter. This means that its effects cannot be negligible, when sputtering lasts a long time.
The electrode for LCDs and organic EL devices needs a transparent conductive thin film of surface smoothness and low resistance. In particular, an electrode for displays with an organic EL device needs a transparent conductive thin film of a highly smooth surface, because a superthin film of organic compound is formed thereon. Surface smoothness generally depends greatly on crystallinity of the film, and an amorphous film free of grain boundaries has a better surface smoothness than the others of the same composition.
Even the ITO film of conventional composition is amorphous and has good surface smoothness, when formed by evaporation on a substrate kept at a low temperature (e.g., to 150° C. or lower) during the film-making process. However, the film prepared by evaporation is insufficient in density and adhesion to the substrate, and it is also insufficient in film stability and repeatability. Therefore, it is not suitable for mass production of transparent conductive thin films. On the other hand, sputtering is expected to give a film of excellent surface smoothness, when effected without heating the substrate during the film-making process and at a high sputtering gas pressure (e.g., 2 Pa or more), because the film tends to be amorphous.
However, resistivity of the amorphous ITO film thus prepared is limited to 6×10−4 to 8×10 −4 Ω·cm. Therefore, it should have a sufficient thickness to form an electrode of low surface resistance to be useful for displays e.g., LCDs and organic EL devices. However, the ITO film may have a problem of coloration when its thickness exceeds 500 nm.
The ITO film, even when prepared by sputtering without heating the substrate, may be locally heated, because of high kinetic energy of the sputtered grains incident on the substrate, to form the mixed film of the amorphous phase contaminated with the fine crystalline phase. This tendency is more noted as sputtering gas pressure decreases.
The fine crystalline phase present in the ITO film can be detected by a transmission electron microscope, in addition to X-ray diffractometer. It can deteriorate surface smoothness of the film, even when produced only locally. Moreover, it may cause problems related to post-treatment, because it may selectively remain unremoved by etching with a weak acid, which is a necessary post-treatment step to remove fine projections on the surface for surface smoothness.
Some processes for stably producing completely amorphous ITO films have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 4-48516 discloses a process for producing an amorphous ITO film by sputtering the target while keeping the substrate at 100 to 120° C., which is lower than crystallization temperature of ITO (around 150° C.). Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 3-64450 discloses a film-making process with hydrogen gas introduced into the oxygen-containing inert gas for sputtering.
However, the ITO film prepared at low temperature, although easily patterned by wet etching because it is amorphous, involves problems of increased electrical resistivity and decreased visible rays transmittance. The process that includes photolithography for etching the amorphous ITO film formed on a substrate with hydrogen gas introduced in the sputtering step and annealing for crystallization of the film cannot form the amorphous film at a sufficiently high film-making rate. The complicated process is another disadvantage.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 62-202415 discloses a process for producing an indium oxide film doped with silicon or silicon and tin by RF sputtering or electron beam evaporation. This process can produce an indium oxide film doped with silicon or silicon and tin free of film defects, but the publication is silent on crystalline structure of the film, from which it is considered that it cannot give a film of surface smoothness even when it is prepared by RF sputtering in a pure argon gas atmosphere.
A Si-doped indium oxide film is totally crystalline, as observed by X-ray diffractometry, so it is not excepted to be an amorphous film that is excellent in surface smoothness (refer to Appl. Phys. Let., vol. 64, 1994, p. 1395).
An In2O3—ZnO-based film is known as a transparent, electroconductive film that is amorphous and excellent in surface smoothness, as disclosed by, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 6-234521. This film can keep its properties even when exposed to heat of 200° C., but it has a lower transmittance than that of an ITO film in the low wavelength region of visible rays, because it contains metallic Zn. However, it may have the problem of unstable properties, because it is known that metallic Zn or ZnO present in the film tends to react with carbon dioxide and moisture in air. Therefore, an In2O3—ZnO-based film is functionally insufficient for an LCD or organic EL device electrode.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 11-323531 discloses a transparent conductive thin film of an amorphous In—Ge-based material. However, it has a high electrical resistivity of 8×10−4 Ω·cm or more, and is unsuitable for an LCD or organic EL device electrode.
More recently, an attempt has been made to use a transparent cathode for an EL device and to emit light from the cathode side. A light-receiving device transparent as a whole can be made when both anode and cathode are made transparent. The transparent light-emitting device can perform colorful display while it is not emitting light, when an optional color is used as a background color, to improve its decorative characteristics. For example, when black color is used as the background color, the device can have improved contrast while it is emitting light. The EL device can be provided with a color filter or color conversion layer as an accessory without considering the accessory while it is produced, because the accessory can be placed on the light-emitting device. This provides the advantage of reducing electrode resistance, because it can be produced while increasing substrate temperature.
Under these situations, an attempt has been made recently to produce an organic EL device with a transparent cathode. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-162959 discloses an organic EL device having a structure with an electron-injecting metallic layer coming into contact with the organic layer by placing the organic layer containing an organic light-emitting layer between the anode and cathode, the latter being composed of the electron-injecting metallic layer and amorphous, transparent, electroconductive layer. Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2001-43980 discloses an organic EL device with a transparent cathode and light-reflecting metallic layer, e.g., that of Cr, Mo, W, Ta or Nb, for the anode so that it can emit light more efficiently from the cathode.
However, each of these EL devices, containing an In2O3—ZnO-based film as the transparent conductive thin film, has the problems of lower transmittance than an ITO film in the low wavelength region of visible rays, as discussed earlier, and unstable characteristics.
A transparent conductive thin film very high in surface smoothness, low in resistance and high in transmittance is an essential part for various display panels, e.g., LCDs and organic EL devices, which are recently becoming increasingly more precise and fine. Therefore, there is a large demand for easy processes capable of producing a transparent conductive thin film high in surface smoothness, low in resistance and high in transmittance.

Transparent conductive thin film, process for producing the same, sintered target for producing the same, and transparent, electroconductive substrate for display panel, and organic electroluminescence device


Disclosed are a shift register and a display device which can suppress noise of output of each stage without causing an increase in circuit scale. In at least one example embodiment, each stage of the shift register includes a first output transistor, a second output transistor, a first capacitor, a second capacitor, an input gate, a first switching element, a second switching element, a third switching element, a fourth switching element, and a fifth switching element.

In recent years, the fabrication of a monolithic gate driver has been developed for the purpose of cost reduction. The monolithic gate driver is such a gate driver that is formed from amorphous silicon on a liquid crystal panel. The term "monolithic gate driver" is also associated with the terms such as "gate driver-free", "built-in gate driver in panel", and "gate in panel".
FIG. 12 illustrates a configuration of such a gate driver (scan driving circuit) disclosed in Patent Literature 1.
The gate driver is configured such that a plurality of unit stages SRC11, SRC12, . . . SRC1N, and SRC1D are cascaded with each other. To a clock terminal CK of each odd-numbered unit stage, a first clock CKV is supplied, and to a clock terminal CK of each even-numbered unit stage, a second clock CKVB is supplied. The first clock CKV and the second clock CKVB have opposite phases. From an output terminal OUT, a gate signal (G1, G2, . . . GN, GD) is supplied to a gate bus line.
To a first input terminal IN1 of the first unit stage SRC11, a scan start signal STV is supplied, and to respective first input terminals IN1 of the succeeding stages (SRC12, SRC13, . . . SRC1N, and SRC1D), gate signals outputted from their preceding stages are supplied. To respective second input terminals IN2 of the unit stage SRC11, SRC12, . . . and SRC1N, gate signals outputted from their subsequent unit stages are supplied. Each of the unit stages includes a first voltage terminal VOFF.


Fingernail light systems for curing photopolymerizable plastics on fingernails are known, having a housing with a bottom plate 7, in which housing a support body 4, having indentations 18 on its outer contour, is provided for positioning the fingers of the hand 5 to be irradiated, and having at least one irradiation lamp 14, which at least partially surrounds the support body in a spaced-apart manner in the irradiation position, the support body being accessible in the irradiation position via an opening 10 in the housing. In order to provide a system that meets the indicated needs and assures a uniform irradiation of all the fingernails of both the left and the right hand, with the light originating in the irradiation lamp substantially striking the fingernails (20-24) to be cured, in which fingernails of even great length can be irradiated and a comfortable hand posture can be maintained, even over a relatively long period on the order of half a minute, the support body 4 of the present invention features an approximately cylindrical (FIG. 1) or frusto-conical (FIG. 3 ) outer contour, at least in the vicinity of the indentations, and the indentations are in the form of channels 18 that extend substantially in the direction of the axis of the support body, and the axis 3 of the support body 4 forms an angle in the range from 0.degree. to 90.degree. with the direction 31 orthogonal to bottom plate 7.

A fingernail light system of this kind is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,541, SHOEMAKER/CONAIR. This system has a column-like support arm 5, which can be secured for instance to a tabletop with a clamping screw 7. A housing 3 of circular outer contour is located on the end of this support arm 5.
On its underside, that is, the side oriented toward the tabletop or bottom plate of the support arm, the housing 3 has an introduction opening 11 into which a plate-like support body or handle 15, centrally secured on a telescoping shaft 14, is movable and from which it can be removed. An annular irradiation lamp 21, defining a closed circle, is secured in the housing, centered on telescoping shaft 14. The support body or handle 15, which is quite flat, in the form of a plate, has notches or grooves 17 on its outer periphery that serve to position a hand grasping the plate 15. For irradiating the fingernails, the hand grips the periphery of the support body from below, in such a way that the end joints of the fingers rest on the top of the support body, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the patent. In this position, the fingernails are horizontally aligned, and point in the direction of the support arm or shaft 14 located in the center of the plate. Depending on the length of the fingernails, the fingernails extend as far as the support arm 14. The plate 15 grasped in this way is then moved into the housing into an upper position, guided on the support arm 14. The radiation emitted by the irradiation lamp 21, which extends with its axis slightly above the top of the support plate 15, is reflected by the upper region 25 of the housing 3 and an additional reflector 27 onto the fingers and onto the fingernails that are to be cured. Once the irradiation is finished, the plate 15 can be pulled downward back out of the housing again.
Another design for a fingernail light system is known from German Utility Model DE-GM No. 85 13 789, NK-OPTIK GmbH. This system has a support plate with a plurality of low-pressure fluorescent tubes (2a-2f) that extend parallel to one another in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the housing and form a tunnel.
Technical Bulletin No. 7070, entitled "LEE UV NAILS", of Lee Pharmaceuticals, in South El Monte, California, published in 1975, describes another light system for curing artificial nail replacements; in its basic concept, it is similar in design to the system of German Utility Model DE-GM No. 85 13 789. In this system, the hand that is to be irradiated is thrust under the light source through a slit in the housing wall.
Another system for curing photocuring plastics on fingernails is known from German Utility Model DE-GM No. 86 09 293, Desonic-Kunststoff GmbH. This system is equipped with a plurality of elongated UV light sources, in a particular embodiment being four in number, arranged to form a tunnel; in its structure, this system is identical to the system known from German Utility Model DE-GM No. 85 13 789. The housing of this system can be pivoted upward about a horizontal rear axis 3.
Finally, the advertising brochure entitled "TAMI NAIL LIGHT SYSTEM LICHTHARTENDES CEL-SYSTEM FUR DIE FINGERNAGELKOSMETIK" ["TAMI NAIL LIGHT SYSTEM, PHOTOHARDENING GEL SYSTEMS FOR COSMETIC FINGERNAILS"] of the firm of TAMARA KOSMETIK, 8000 Munich, Federal Republic of Germany, shows a light system that in its external design is equivalent to the system of German Utility Model DE-GM No. 86 09 293.
The above-discussed systems are required in order to cure what are known as tips, which are placed on short or broken-off fingernails and coated with UV-hardening plastics. For an artificial fingernail, tips up to 5 cm in length are used. The emplaced tip, which ends on top of a natural fingernail, must be coated afterward to equalize the levels of the tip and the nail. In this process, a plastic composition is repeatedly applied and repeatedly cured. Only after the emplaced fingernails have been coated are they shortened to the desired length and, normally, polished.


The invention relates to a method for recovering from shock event to a disk drive. Embedded servo wedges are read to generate position error signal (PES) values. The disk drive is transitioned to a write unsafe state if a PES value is greater than a write unsafe (WUS) threshold and is less than a shock detection threshold. The disk drive is transitioned to a shock recovery state if a PES value is greater than the shock detection threshold. The disk drive is transitioned from the shock recovery state to the write unsafe state if a first number of consecutively generated PES values remain less than the WUS threshold. The disk drive is transitioned from the write unsafe state to the on-track state if a second number of consecutively generated PES values remain less than the arrival threshold, which threshold is less than the WUS threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital data storage, and more particularly, to techniques for recovering from shock events occurring to a disk drive during data write operations to improve data reliability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Market demand for increased storage capacity has pushed disk drive designers to increase the drive""s track density, often expressed as tracks per inch or TPI. Due to the increased track density, an external shock event may undesirably force the disk drive""s read/write head from the desired track during track following and cause the head to vibrate about the track""s centerline. The head vibrations may be sufficient large to impact the reliability of stored data.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a technique that enables a disk drive to recover from a shock event in a manner that improves the reliability of the stored data.
The present invention may be embodied in a method performed by a disk drive for recovering from shock events to improve data reliability. The disk drive includes a read/write head and a rotating disk having a data storage surface. The storage surface has a plurality of embedded servo wedges and a plurality of concentric data tracks with data sectors. The disk drive further includes an on-track state wherein writing of data is enabled, a write unsafe state wherein writing of data is disabled, and a shock recovery state wherein writing of data is disabled. In the method, an arrival threshold, a write unsafe threshold and a shock detection threshold are provided. The write unsafe threshold is greater than the arrival threshold, and the shock detection threshold is greater than the write unsafe threshold. The embedded servo wedges on the rotating disk are read to generate position error signal values with respect to a selected data track. The disk drive is transitioned from the on-track state to the write unsafe state if a position error signal value is greater than the write unsafe threshold and less than the shock detection threshold. The disk drive is transitioned from the on-track state or from the write unsafe state to the shock recovery state if a position error signal value is greater than the shock detection threshold. The disk drive is transitioned from the shock recovery state to the write unsafe state if a first number of consecutively generated position error signal values remain less than the write unsafe threshold. Also, the disk drive is transitioned from the write unsafe state to the on-track state if a second number of consecutively generated position error signal values remain less than the arrival threshold.
In more detailed features of the invention, the first number may be based on the magnitude of a position error signal value that exceeds the shock detection threshold. The first number may be greater than about one-half of the total number of servo wedges per track and less than about the total number of servo wedges per track. For example, the first number may be equal to or greater than about ninety, and the second number may be a predetermined number that is equal to about seven. The centers of the data tracks are separated by a track-to-track spacing, and the shock detection threshold may be about 30% to 40% of a value associated with the track-to-track spacing, the write unsafe threshold may be about 16% to 18% of a value associated with the track-to-track spacing, and the arrival threshold may be about 11% to 14% of a value associated with the track-to-track spacing. Thus, the shock detection threshold may be about twice the write unsafe threshold.
Another embodiment of the invention may reside in a method that likewise improves data reliability. In the method, each position error signal value is monitored during the data write operation. If a monitored position error signal value exceeds a write unsafe threshold, then the following steps are performed. Data writing is disabled. If the monitored position error signal value further exceeds a shock event threshold, which threshold is greater than the write unsafe threshold, then the disk drive waits for a first number of consecutively generated position error signal values that are less than the write unsafe threshold. The disk drive waits for a second number of consecutively generated position error signal values that are less than an arrival threshold, which threshold is less than the write unsafe threshold. The disk drive then enables writing of data.

Method for recovering from shock events occurring to a disk drive during data write operations to improve data reliability


Disclosed is a photosensitive composition useful for preparation of various imaging materials and having good stability over time and a high sensitivity. The composition comprises a polymerizable monomer, a photopolymerization initiator, and a diazonium salt having a specific, borate anion portion represented by the general formula (I-1) or (I-2) given below, or the like. A combination of a specific borate compound and a general-purpose diazonium salt can also be used in place of the above-mentioned diazonium salt. ##STR1##

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photosensitive composition having a good storage stability and a high sensitivity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, various image forming methods have been known in diazo-process photography. Examples of these methods include: dye-imaging, which utilizes photodecomposition of an aromatic diazo compound, such as a diazonium salt, a diazo sulfonate, or a diazo compound, for example, an iminoquinone diazide, a naphthoquinone diazide, or the like, together with a coupling agent according to need; preparation of printing plates, proofs, mask films, and the like by utilizing a hardening reaction or a solubilization phenomenon; and foam imaging.
As to photopolymerization, in the field of preparation of materials for printing plates, proofs, mask films, photoresists, and the like, there have been known various image forming methods which utilize changes in properties, such as solubility, tackiness, adhesion, and the like due to a photochemical hardening reaction.
In the diazo-process photography, the amount of energy required for photodecomposition of a photodecomposable aromatic diazo compound to be used is generally very large and sensitive wavelengths extend into a visible blue light region. Consequently, the scope in which diazo-process photography can be used is limited to materials that have a low sensitivity and are printed by ultraviolet light. In order to solve this problem, intense studies have been conducted regarding spectral sensitization of photodecomposable aromatic diazo compounds in a visible light region. As a result, some specific dyes, such as riboflavin, porphyrin, chlorophyll, and the like, are now known to act as spectral sensitizers for diazonium salts and diazo sulfonates. As another example of the sensitization method, Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 50-21,247 discloses a photosensitive material for diazo-process photography wherein the photosensitive composition comprises an aromatic diazo compound together with at least one compound selected from the group consisting of a sulfinic acid and a salt of sulfinic acid in combination with a sensitizing dye.
However, none of these methods of prior art have been put to practice, because these methods are associated with drawbacks, for example, poor stability and restricted scope of selectivity in spectral wavelength regions. Further, these systems have little or no effect in the spectral sensitization for the photodecomposition of diazo compounds such as naphthoquinone diazides.
Despite continuous development of new spectrally sensitizing technologies for photopolymerization, the region of spectral wavelengths that can be used in prior art is still up to 500 nm, and therefore a system, that can be spectrally sensitized in a wavelength region ranging from 500 nm to infrared light and has a high sensitivity and good stability has not been put to practical use.
As a candidate that may overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 62-143,044 discloses a photopolymerization initiator comprising a cationic dye/borate anion complex. This system can be spectrally sensitized freely in a region ranging from blue light to infrared light, has good stability, and exhibits a high level of sensitivity. However, since the sensitivity is several mJ/cm.sup.2, the sensitivity needs to be upgraded before the system is put to practical use.
As stated above, a truly satisfactory system, which has a good storage stability and a high sensitivity, has not been proposed in either diazo-process photography or photopolymerization.


This invention is directed to smoke exhauster having two side members and a top plate. The side member includes a main portion having a plurality of horizontal rods disposed on an internal wall and a top portion. Both left and right edges of the top plate are bent downwardly to form a vertical plate portion having a plurality of through holes corresponding in location and number to the horizontal rods. A plurality of bolts pass through the through holes and are threaded to the horizontal rods.

The present invention relates to a kitchen smoke exhauster, and more particularly to the external body of a smoke exhauster.
As shown in FIGS. 1 & 2, the external body 10 of a smoke exhauster of the prior art comprises top plate 11, left plate 12, right plate 13 and rear plate 14. Both left and right plate 12, 13 are respectively provided with the projected strips 121, 131 disposed on the rims thereof. In the process of combining various plates to form the external body 10, both the left and right plates 12, 13 are united with the top plate 11 by fitting the projected strips 121, 131 over the left and the right edges of the top plate 11. The top plate 11, the left plate 12 and the right plate 13 are further fastened securely by means of spot welding.
The external body 10 of the prior art smoke exhauster described above possesses the disadvantage that the projecting flanges 121 and 131 fitting over the edges of the top plate 11 have sharp edges 123, which often become potential safety hazards, especially to a person who is cleaning and washing the external body 10. The projecting flanges 121 and 131 of the left and right plates 12 and 13 are often left with sharp edges, in view of the fact that they are made of thin sheet stainless steel by means of punching and pressing. In addition, the spot weld points 122 and 132 leave many visible marks on the external body 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 &2. Such weld points 122 and 132 seriously undermine the aesthetic effect of the external body 10.


An audio device is described which comprises a housing holding electronic components and having a face being substantially covered by a layer of transparent material. The audio device has a display comprising a layer of display material supported under at least part of the layer of transparent material; and at least one display actuating element in the housing configured to flex the display and the layer of transparent material to generate sound waves. There is at least one air cavity formed between the layer of display material and the housing; and an entrance formed in the layer of transparent material to allow air to pass between the air cavity and an exterior of the device.

Mobile communications devices with movable displays, also known as audio displays have visual display screens which are able to function as a loudspeaker as well as a visual display screen. Such displays are movable by flexing for example and this generates sound waves.
Existing audio displays are difficult to use in products such as mobile phone handsets and tablet computers for a variety of reasons. For example, the movement of the display is typically very small so that low frequency reproduction is very modest making it difficult for sound reproduction requirements to be met. As a result users may be unable to perceive the audio signal correctly leading to communication problems.
Another issue with audio displays in general concerns privacy. As the whole audio display emits sound, then in the case of a mobile phone handset where the whole display emits sound, many people in the vicinity of the handset are able to hear the emitted sound in addition to the user of the mobile phone handset. This is found to be the case even where the user's ear is against the display surface.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known audio devices.


A power electron tube cooled by the circulation of a fluid is disclosed. This tube comprises a hollow, cylindrical anode mounted coaxially around a hollow, cylindrical grid, itself surrounding a cathode. The interior of the anode is hermetically closed. A cooler with forced fluid circulation is formed by two coaxial, cylindrical jackets mounted around the anode. It defines a closed chamber connected to an inlet conduit and a removal conduit for the fluid. An electrical connection part for the anode is brazed, by one side, to the base of the anode and, by the other side, to a part that is solidly joined to the outer jacket of the cooler. This anode connection part forms an impervious wall closing the chamber of the cooler, and is in contact with the cooling fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a electron power tube, for example of the triode, tetrode or pentode type, cooled by the circulation of a fluid. In particular, it concerns means to improve the cooling of the anode connection part.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In electron tubes of this type, a cathode emits a flow of electrons towards an anode. This flow of electrons is modulated by one or more grids before reaching the anode. The kinetic energy of the electrons is converted into heat at the anode. For electron power tubes, the energy to be dissipated may be so high that it becomes necessary to use cooling devices working with a fluid under forced circulation. This fluid is often air, for low power values, and a liquid, notably water, for high power values.
Power electron tubes generally have the following configuration. In the case of a triode with directly heated cathode, for example: the cathode is shaped like a cylinder having, for its axis, the longitudinal axis of the tube. Then, there is a grid that surrounds the cathode and, finally, an anode which surrounds the grid. The heated part of the cathode constitutes, along the longitudinal axis, an active electron-emitting length: the electrons go through the grid along radial directions and are picked up by the anode. The anode and the grid are each shaped like a hollow cylinder, and each of them has, at its base, on the foot side of the tube, a cylindrical part for external electrical connection. These anode and grid connection parts are solidly joined together, mechanically, by being sealed to one and the same insulating tie. The anode forms a part of the imperviously sealed chamber, within which is set up the vacuum needed for the working of the electron tube.
The tube is cooled by means of a cooler, formed by two coaxial, cylindrical jackets mounted around the anode, one end of the outer jacket being fixed imperviously to a flange of the tube, located on the foot side of this tube. The outer jacket is provided with an inlet conduit through which comes the cooling fluid, water for example.
The circulation of water is forced, and the water circulates, for example, between the outer jacket and the inner jacket up to the base of the external jacket, where the water is injected and advances between the space formed between the inner jacket and the external wall of the anode. The transfer of calories to the water takes place in this zone. The water is then removed by means of a second conduit with which the inner jacket is provided.
The efficiency with which the anode is cooled is related, in a manner known per se , to the characteristics of flow of the cooling fluid, notably to the pressure with which the water is injected into the cooler and to the dimensions of the space btween the inner jacket and the external wall of the anode.
The above-described configuration has one disadvantage: the elements located near the anode tend to undergo a high rise in temperature due to thermal conduction. This is the case, in particular, for the anode connection part.
The anode connection part provides both the external electrical connection of the anode and the mechanical connection with the insulating tie that separates it from the grid connection part. This insulating tie is prefer ably made of ceramic.
The microwave currents circulate on the surface of the conductors, on a thickness which is all the smaller as their frequency is high. This phenomenon is known as skin effect. The rise in the frequency leads to an increase in losses by Joule effect, more particularly at the connection between the anode connection part and the insulating tie.
For, at this place, because of the metal/ceramic sealing, the level of losses can be reduced only by resorting, as in the rest of the part, to a surface coating which is a good conductor of electricity, such as copper for example.
The intense heating of the anode connection part may be detrimental to the electron tube. This heating is due to heat conduction and to Joule effect. The materials forming the anode connection part and the insulating tie, namely the metal and the ceramic, have different behaviour characteristics the more the temperature rises. The mechanical strains induced in these materials then entail the risk of causing breakage either of the metal/ceramic sealing or in the insulating space itself.

Electron power tube cooled by circulation of a fluid


A fixed guide and a first movable guide the lower portion of which being pivotally supported are disposed on both sides of a path of rotational movement of a camshaft driving chain which interlocks a crankshaft with a camshaft. One end of a second movable guide which regulates a path of rotational movement of a pump driving chain which interlocks the crankshaft with an oil pump disposed adjacent to the crankshaft is pivotally supported at a shaft of the first movable guide, and a torsion spring is provided between free end of the second movable guide and the fixed guide.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chain guide device which is provided in an engine for interlocking a crankshaft with camshaft, and the crankshaft with an attachment or auxiliary machineries.
2. Description of Related Art
A fixed guide and movable guide urged by tension adjusting means have heretofore been utilized in order to prevent chains from loosening and deflection in their rotational movement where a crankshaft is interlocked with a camshaft, and the crankshaft is connected with an oil pump and an attachment or auxiliary machinery such as water pump.
In a device disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined Utility Model Application No.138435/1988, for example, there are arranged on both sides of a path of rotational movement of a chain 34 tension adjusting means 35 which provides a proper tension to the chain 34 that interlocks a crankshaft 32 with a camshaft 33 in an engine 31, and a pair of guide members 36a and 36b provided at the upper and lower portions for regulating the path of rotational movement of the chain 34 with further arrangement of fixed guide members 39a and 39b for regulating a path of rotational movement of a chain 38 which interlocks the crankshaft 32 with an attachment such as balancer shafts 37a, 37b provided on both sides of the crankshaft 32, and a position adjusting guide member 40 as shown in FIG. 4.
However, when the guide members 39a, 39b and 40 provided for the chain 38 are attached independent of the guide members 36a and 36b for the chain 34 provided for the camshaft 33 as described above, the number of parts is increased to eventually raise a manufacturing cost, and it further necessitates an additional space. In the case when only a fixed-type guide is used, there causes a disadvantage of making noise and in its durability since such an arrangement can not eliminate loosening of the chain. In order to solve such a problem, if an arrangement is made to provide the chain 38 with a tension by a movable guide, and if an arrangement is made to regulate the amount of movement of the movable guide, the construction of a device becomes more complicated to eventually raise a manufacturing cost and necessitates an additional space since a hydraulic or mechanical ratchet mechanism would need to be applied. Under such a construction, attachment or auxiliary machinery can not be disposed adjacent to the crankshaft 32, and the manufacture of a compact engine is obstructed.


Devices and systems for providing cross-agency communications at an incident are described. An incident manager determines attributes of devices to be used at the incident, negotiating the devices and device attributes with each first responder agency from which devices are to be dispatched to the incident. The manager controls lifecycles of network slices to provide communication services for the incident. The lifecycle is controlled based on communication from each UE indicating arrival to and departure from the incident, as well as the attributes of the UE.

Radio Access Networks (RANs) provide radio communication links for communications through a network between a plurality of user terminals. Such user terminals, if mobile, are known as mobile stations, subscriber devices, or user equipment (UE), which may provide uplink data and control signaling to the RAN and receive data and control signaling from the RAN. A RAN depends on the generation of the network, e.g., evolved NodeBs (eNBs) in a fourth generation (4G) network or fifth generation (5G) NodeBs (gNBs) in a 5G network, may serve the UEs in one or more cells. Network-based communication use has increased due to both an increase in the types of devices using network resources, due to the introduction of a massive number of machine type communication (MTC) UEs, as well as the amount of data and bandwidth used by various applications operated on various UEs, prompting development of the 5G 3GPP protocol.
RANs may operate according to an industry standard protocol such as LTE or 5G, with other protocols running on top of these protocols. These other protocols may include, for example, an open media alliance (OMA) push-to-talk (PTT) over cellular (OMA-PoC) standard or Mission Critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) standard, a voice over IP (VoIP) standard, or a PTT over IP (PoIP) standard. Typically, protocols such as PoC, VoIP, and PoIP are implemented over third generation partnership project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. RANs may additionally or alternatively operate according to an industry standard land mobile radio (LMR) protocol such as, for example, the Project 25 (P25) standard defined by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO), or other radio protocols, the TETRA standard defined by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), the Digital Private Mobile Radio (dPMR) standard also defined by the ETSI, or the Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) standard also defined by the ETSI.
The OMA-PoC or MCPTT standard enables PTT as well as "instant on" features of half duplex broadband UEs. One of the situations in which the use of PTT communications is extensive involves first responders at incident scenes. In many cases, first responders from different agencies (e.g., police, fire, EMT, hazmat) converge at an incident scene. While it may be beneficial for the first responders to be able to communicate immediately and seamlessly upon arrival at the incident scene, coordination amongst UEs from the various agencies may be problematic for a number of reasons. In particular, the use of disparate devices from different agencies may degrade the ability of the first responders to effectively communicate due in part to the use different (perhaps incompatible) applications and different phone books, the latter of which may be limited by an agency to include only those subscribers native to that agency. Moreover, cross-agency (or inter-agency) communications may be limited or entirely prevented due to security measures that prevent such communications.
Nor, in some cases, is the network environment used by the first responders capable of providing or otherwise adapting to the desired communication characteristics (e.g., user priority, data rate, and/or latency) for each first responder agency at different incident scenes. This may, in particular, be true if a public network is used and communications of multiple types are desired for the UEs of the first responders. Specific examples of the different services used at different incident scenes include the use of PTT services for cross-agency communication and enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services for database access at a car accident, while a terrorist/hazmat incident may use, in addition to PTT for cross-agency communication and eMBB services for video streaming, enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) services for communication with various sensors (e.g., vital signs, hazmat) and Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services for remote medical assistance communications.

Cross-agency communication through an ad-hoc network slice


The described method and system provide for remotely controlling the charging operation of plurality of vehicles. In one implementation, a call center may receive a request from a utility regarding a particular grid and sends out an inquiry to locate vehicles in that grid. Once the vehicles have been located, the call center sends a command to those vehicles corresponding to the utility's request. In another implementation, vehicles may register information with the call center every time a charging event takes place, and the call center keeps track of the location of each vehicle based on the registration. When the call center receives a request from a utility, the call center may directly send out commands to vehicles based on the request. In other implementations, vehicle charging may be remotely controlled through the call center by consumers, the utility, or a home energy management system (HEMS). The charging control may further be customized based on a variety of information and preferences provided to the call center by the consumer, utility, or HEMS.

The technology utilized to store, manage, and consume power in electrically-powered vehicles has been improving steadily. Indeed, electrically-powered vehicles (hereinafter electric vehicles) are now competitive with fuel-powered vehicles on many performance parameters, and typically surpass fuel-powered vehicles in measures of efficiency, environmental cleanliness, and operating noise levels. This has led to an increase in the popularity of electric vehicles and hence to a steady increase in the number of such vehicles on the road and in use at any given time.
As electrically-powered vehicles continue to increase in number and popularity, the infrastructure used to charge such vehicles, such as electricity distribution systems, will become increasingly stressed. Local electrical substations are part of larger electricity generation, transmission and distribution systems (also referred to as electrical grids) where electrical power may be generated and transmitted to a local area serviced by the electrical substation. An electrical substation servicing an area may be stressed when multiple electric vehicles are charging simultaneously under certain conditions in the affected area. Thus, for example, when power draw on the grid increase to an unusual level, such as during periods of high temperature, the additional draw caused by charging numerous electric vehicle batteries may exacerbate an already existing infrastructure load problem.
Thus, it is an object underlying certain implementations of the described principles to provide a system and method for efficiently and remotely controlling the charging of vehicles based on the circumstances. However, while this is an object underlying certain implementations of the invention, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to systems that solve the problems noted herein. Moreover, the inventors have created the above body of information for the convenience of the reader and expressly disclaim all of the foregoing as prior art; the foregoing is a discussion of problems discovered and/or appreciated by the inventors, and is not an attempt to review or catalog the prior art.

Methodologies for implementing smart control of vehicle charging


Video signal control circuitry for use in a video display system in which a variation in a brightness level of a video display signal causes a corresponding variation in a beam current signal, wherein such video signal control circuitry maintains a controllable video display signal brightness level at a substantially constant average value notwithstanding a variation in the incoming video signal brightness level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control circuits for video display signals, and in particular, to circuits for controlling the brightness level of a video display signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Circuits and techniques for controlling, e.g., limiting, the scanning beam current for a video display are well known in the art. These are particularly important for cathode ray tube (CRT) displays which typically require automatic brightness (or beam) limiter (ABL) circuits to ensure that the average CRT anode current does not exceed a predetermined value. This is important to not only maintain a desired brightness level for the display, but also to not damage or significantly reduce the useful life of the display.

Video display signal brightness control circuit


A bandpass filter containing specific combinations of the dyes to yield filters which are adapted to selectively transmit predetermined primary color wavelengths of an electromagnetic spectrum as well as selectively absorb wavelengths other than the predetermined primary color wavelengths. The multiple bandpass filters are employed to improve the images on CRT screens and plasma display panels.

The present invention is directed to filters, including multiple bandpass filters, for video display devices and similar articles. Specifically, the present invention is directed to filters containing specific dye combinations for video display devices.
Video display devices are nowadays widely used in articles such as televisions, computers, video games and the like. Many of them generally employ a cathode ray tube (CRT) which is a vacuum tube display device in which the image is created by electrons from an electron gun striking a phosphor screen that converts the electron energy into light energy over a wide wavelength range, usually the visible range for common display devices such as television and computer monitors. The CRT may be monochromatic (single color) or a color display device which produces images in more than one color, typically the three primary colors: red, green and blue.
A common problem with video display devices is the light reflected from the device towards the viewer, which generally fatigues the viewer""s eyes. The reflected light consists of ambient light reflecting off the surface of the screen (which is typically a glass surface) as well as ambient light reflecting off the phosphors behind the screen. Several attempts have been made in the past to avoid or reduce this reflected light. U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,953, in column 2, line 13 through column 3, line 22, describes some of these earlier attempts and the problems associated with them. Most of these attempts, however, have succeeded in reducing the glare from monochromatic display monitors only.
For color displays, earlier attempts to reduce light reflection included, for example, use of a neutral density filter. Neutral density filters or attenuators are designed to produce attenuation that is uniform regardless of the wavelength. See, for example, Jeff Hecht, xe2x80x9cThe Laser Guidebook,xe2x80x9d 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1992, page 79. Such filters comprise colloidal suspensions of silver or graphite particles in a suitable medium and adhere to the monitor surface. This type of filter transmits a fraction of the light passing through it, independent of the wavelengths. In fact, neutral density filters are widely used in the manufacturing of current color CRT displays for lack of no better alternative. These filters, however, have the disadvantage of reducing the brightness of the image.
Another approach has been to use selective filtration by using different colored plates to absorb certain wavelengths. They, however, suffer the disadvantage that one has to use a different color filter for each phosphor element. Combining several filter materials in order to transmit just the desired red, green and blue generally results in the absorption of some of the desired wavelengths due to cascading of the different filter materials. This reduces the amount of red, green and blue that eventually gets transmitted.
Yet another approach involves a combination of a neutral density filter and an antireflection coating. While this cuts down the reflected light, it also reduces the brightness and the resolution of the image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,030 discloses absorption filters which contain a transparent substrate with a plurality of spatially separated areas that contain selective absorptive dye colorants. Since this requires spaced areas with different dye components therein, the construction of the filter is quite complex and difficult to manufacture in large quantities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,953 referred to above advocates the use of colored filters for monochromatic displays. Thus, for example, a magenta colored filter is used for CRTs with green phosphors, and a blue colored filter is used for amber colored CRTS. However, this concept is not much useful for color displays because the blue filter, for example, will block out the red and/or green depending on the spectral characteristics of the filter. The same problem exists for the other color filters that U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,953 discloses. If such filters are used for full color displays, the resulting display color will be severely distorted. For this reason, U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,953 suggests that a neutral density or gray colored filter must be used for multi-color or black and white displays. However, this approach, as stated before, reduces the brightness of the display. Since neutral density filters absorb a substantial amount of the desired light, the displays using neutral density filters must be capable of producing intense light. This was one of the reasons for developing super bright phosphors for display applications. Such bright phosphors substantially increase the cost of the display, however.
Another kind of visual display device being increasingly used is characterized as a plasma display panel (PDP). The basic mechanism of monochrome display operation is relatively simple. Inert gases, such as helium, neon, argon, xenon or mixtures thereof are hermetically sealed in a glass envelope and are subjected to a high voltage which causes the gas to ionize, producing a plasma. Color operation can also be achieved in a plasma display. Such operation utilizes ultraviolet light generated by the plasma discharge, rather than the glow of color of the plasma directly. Thus in color operation, phosphors are placed in the vicinity of the plasma discharge. The plasma-generated UV light hits the phosphors and generates visible light for the display. Plasma display panels, also known as gas display panels, have features such as a wide viewing angle, easy to see display because of self light emission, and a slim form. These advantages have encouraged increasing use of gas discharge display panels for high quality television sets. The exact structure of the PDPs is not a feature of the present invention, and it is contemplated that the filters of this invention are useful for any color PDP regardless of the exact configuration. Those of ordinary skill in the art would be capable of using the inventive filter with any PDP device.
Unfortunately, plasma displays currently being developed by various display manufacturers, still do not have high enough brightness nor high enough red, green and blue color transmission. Therefore, neutral density filters cannot effectively be used for color and contrast enhancement in plasma display applications since such filters would further reduce the brightness of the display. Additionally, since the sub-pixels of the phosphors are in close proximity to each other, there is a need for a physical barrier to prevent stimulation of a non-selected phosphor region. To achieve truer color emissions from the displays, devices such as very expensive circular polarizer-based contrast enhancing filters are being used.
Thus, in view of the varied uses and potential uses for CRTs and plasma display panels there is a need in the industry to have some device or mechanism to efficiently reduce the reflected light from the display devices as well as increase overall color and improve contrast and color enhancement without significantly sacrificing the brightness and resolution of the image.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a filter for color displays to reduce light reflected off such displays.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a filter containing specific dye sets to enhance the contrast and color of images from a color display monitor without significantly sacrificing brightness of the image therefrom.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a spectrally tuned multiple bandpass filter for color displays, specifically matched to the three primary colors, namely red, green, and blue.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the accompanying description and examples.
One or more of the foregoing objects are achieved by the provision in the present invention of a spectrally tuned bandpass filter which is adherable to a display monitor surface in a variety of ways and enhances the contrast and color of the image without significantly affecting the brightness and resolution of the image. The filter of the present invention also can be free-standing and placed in front of the display monitor. The filter comprises specific dye sets comprising specific combinations of dyes which are adapted to substantially selectively transmit predetermined primary color wavelengths of an electromagnetic spectrum as well as to selectively absorb wavelengths other than said predetermined primary color wavelengths. The dyes may be on a suitable transparent substrate which is then adhered to the monitor surface, or alternately, the dyes may be directly deposited on the monitor surface by a suitable process such as, for example, spray coating. Preferably, the combination of dyes are uniformly mixed within a transparent polymer matrix.
The word xe2x80x9cspectrally tunedxe2x80x9d refers to the substantial selective transmission (at least 50%) of the predetermined primary colors; the word xe2x80x9ctransparentxe2x80x9d refers to at least 70% transmission of light of the electromagnetic spectrum which in the common case such as television display devices such as CRT, plasma displays and the like, is the visible light. In such a case, the primary colors are red, green and blue.
Additionally, the present inventive bandpass filter allows one to expand the color gamut by adjusting the spectral bandwidth of the bandpass windows in the respective wavelengths, thereby allowing more vivid and realistic colors on CRTs and PDPs. This is a significant improvement over present visual display technology.
The present inventive bandpass filter also shields electromagnetic induction and IR radiation from PDPs which interfere with the operation of remote control units.
Still additionally, if one so desired, one may deposit a suitable antireflection coating on top of the inventive contrast enhancing filter. In that case, the antireflection coating should be chosen as not to affect the integrity of the filter physically, chemically and optically. Suitable antireflection coatings are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,955.

Dye combinations for multiple bandpass filters for video displays


A method, system and computer program product for modeling and simulating a powergated hierarchical element of an integrated circuit is disclosed. In modeling a powergated macro, the invention does not model all logic gates or elements as powergated, instead, the invention only models latches as connected to an integrated switch to be powergated. In addition, a fence circuit attached to the powergated macro is modeled as including an extra control signal to force a powergated state of the powergated macro into the fence circuit.

Increased power dissipation is becoming a major challenge in the design of integrated circuits, because it causes numerous problems including reduced battery life in mobile systems, expensive packaging and cooling solutions, and potential chip failures. Among the various factors contributing to power dissipation, leakage (or static power) dissipation becomes increasingly important with technology scaling and is predicted to surpass dynamic power dissipation at around the 65 nm technology node.
Efforts have been made to investigate various methods for reducing and controlling leakage dissipation in circuits. Powergating is a highly effective technique which uses integrated switches, e.g., NFET and PFET, to cut off the leakage paths between the power supply terminals in an idle state to reduce significant leakage. Researches have been done at the level of circuit implementation required to achieve efficient powergating solutions.
For example, FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a powergating implementation 10 of a powergated logic 12. In FIG. 1, the powergating is implemented by placing an NFET 14 (also called a footer) between the ground terminal of logic 12 and chip ground 16. The net connecting the ground terminals of powergated logic 12 and the drain of the NFET 14 is named as a virtual ground (vgnd) 18. When NFET 14 is turned off by its control signal "sleep_n", leakage through logic 12 is reduced. A similar effect can be achieved by using a PFET 20 (or a header) between chip Vdd supply 22 and the Vdd terminal of logic 12. A drain terminal of header 22 is named a virtual power 14.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a powergated macro 50. Macro 50 includes a combinational logic block 52 and latches 54 and 56. The outputs of combinational logic 52 may be fed into latches 54 and 56 to produce outputs of macro 50 (68 and 72), or may become outputs of macro 50 directly (66 and 70). Outputs of the macro may be fed into fence circuits 60, 62 and 64 that are attached to powergated macro 50. Typically, latch outputs (68 or 72) may also be fed back to the input of combinational logic 52. Here, the feedback loop is eliminated here for simplicity. In a powergated macro (50), typically there will be multiple small footer elements all tied in parallel between a virtual ground and a chip ground while ground terminals of all logic gates and latches will be tied to the virtual ground. These footers are shown as a single footer 58 in FIG. 2. Footer 58 is controlled by a sleep signal "sleep_n" similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 1. The output of footer 58 controls the ground terminals of combinational logic block 52 and latches 54 and 56 in macro 50. When powergating is activated by control signal "sleep_n", footer 58 is turned off, which causes the outputs of combinational logic 52 to float, and causes latches 54 and 56 to lose state. As a consequence, in the powergated state, macro outputs (66, 68, 70 and 72) will tend to float, i.e. the voltage at the output will neither be close to power supply Vdd (not shown), nor will it be close to 0 volts, rather it may be in-between and close to Vdd/2. If such floating macro outputs are inputs into gates in a non-powergated macro, then the gates of the non-powergated macro may leak heavily. It is also possible that a non-powergated element will malfunction if the input is floating or in an indeterminate state. To prevent such problems during powergating, outputs 68, 70 and 72 of powergated macro 50 are fed into fence circuits 60, 62 and 64. In FIG. 2. Fence 60 forces a "0" state (febce0) at the outputs when the control "fence_en" is activated and fence 62 and 64 force states "1" (fence1) at the outputs. Fence circuits 60, 62 and 64 are controlled by a fence enable "fence_en" signal which is used to turn the fence functions on and off. When a fence (60, 62, or 64) is disabled or turned off, the value at the fence output is the same as the value at the fence input. When a fence is enabled, a fence0 (60) will have a "0" at the output regardless of the input, while a fence1 (62 and 64) will have a "1" at the output. It should be noted that in FIG. 2, there is no fence circuit at output 66, since output 66 goes to another simultaneously powergated macro (not shown), which requires no fence circuit.
Register-transfer level (RTL) modeling of powergated logic, like those shown in FIG. 2, is essential to simulate and verify that a hierarchical element including a powergated logic works properly. When a logic is powergated, the footer, for example, is connected to the ground pin of every logic element. So one approach to modeling powergating at the RTL level is to instantiate a footer, for example, in the RTL model, and to instantiate all the logics as structural elements (gates, latches), and connect the footer to the ground pin of these structural elements. Such a model is referred to as a detailed modeling style, for illustrative purpose. There are several drawbacks of this detailed modeling style as listed below:
(a) the detailed modeling style models the structural as opposed to the behavioral characteristic of a powergated macro, which reduces design productivity and makes it difficult to understand and code;
(b) typically, VHDL (a language usually used for simulating an integrated circuit) libraries of gates do not have power ports corresponding to the Vdd and Gnd pins of the gates in a gate-level or a transistor level implementation (i.e., structural characteristic), so that in a detailed model, all the gates in the VHDL library are require to add extra power pins, which increases complexity of the library and the VHDL description of the macro; and
(c) The simulation time for a detailed model is quite high compared to models that do not include power terminals such as Vdd or Gnd on every logic element.
Based on the above, there is a need to model a powergated macro (or logic) in a behavioral style. There is also a need to model a powergated macro (or logic) in a manner that makes the coding easier using the existing simulation languages such as VHDL.

Modeling and simulating a powergated hierarchical element

International Business Machines Corporation


Particular embodiments described herein provide for a system that can be configured to determine an identification (ID) of a computer processing unit (CPU) using one or more tests and/or measurements, intercept the result of a query from a process to determine the ID of the CPU, replace the result of the query if the result of the query does not match the determined ID of the CPU, and communicate the result of the query that includes the determined ID of the CPU to the process. In an example, the query is a CPUID opcode and the results of the query are intercepted after passing through a hypervisor.

Emerging network trends in both data center and telecommunication networks place increasing performance demands on a system. Application performance depends on good use of the network and efficient use of the resources on the network. One resource on the network is a computer processing unit (CPU) and proper identification of the CPU can help in determining how to efficiently execute processes and applications.
The FIGURES of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, as their dimensions can be varied considerably without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Identification of a computer processing unit


A recognition apparatus includes an image acquisition unit configured to acquire an image captured by a far-infrared camera and a recognition processing unit configured to set a target region in the image and determine whether an object in the target region is a human being or an animal based on a temperature variation in the target region. A recognition apparatus, a recognition method, and a recognition program that can correctly determine whether it is a human being or an animal that appears in an image even when the human being or the animal appears in the image showing his/her or its front or back can be provided.

The present invention relates to a recognition apparatus, a recognition method, and a recognition program.
A safety support apparatus that recognizes a situation surrounding a vehicle with the use of an image captured by an on-board camera and warns a driver is widely available. Such a safety support apparatus recognizes, with the use of a recognition dictionary or the like, an object in the vicinity of a host vehicle based on an image captured by a camera.
For example, Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-310705) describes a vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus. This vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus extracts an image region of an object from a captured image. When this region includes a first object region of which the ratio of the widths in different directions falls within a predetermined range and a plurality of second object regions located below the first object region and having an area smaller than that of the first object region, the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus determines that the type of the object is an animal other than a human being.
The invention described in Patent Literature 1 determines, when an object is an animal other than a human being, that the object is an animal based on the characteristics (the sizes of the torso and the front and rear legs, the aspect ratio thereof, the positional relationship thereof, etc.) observed when the animal is facing sideways. Generally, when an animal appears in an image facing sideways, that is, when an animal appears in an image showing its side, the characteristics of the animal completely differ from the characteristics of a human being. Therefore, false detection between a human being and an animal rarely occurs.
However, when a human being or an animal appears in an image showing his/her or its front or back, the human being and the animal may show many similar characteristics, and thus false detection between a human being and an animal may occur.

Recognition apparatus, recognition method, and recognition program


An inkjet printhead is disclosed which includes nozzles for ejecting ink droplets; a cavity unit incorporating pressure chambers; and an actuator in the form of a laminate of sheets. The actuator includes individual electrodes and a top sheet having bonding terminations. The inkjet printhead is bonded at the bonding terminations to a flexible flat cable. The bonding terminations include surface electrodes formed on the top sheet. The top sheet includes through holes, each of which is filled with a conductive material locally communicated with a corresponding one of the surface electrodes at a communication portion thereof. The top sheet includes external conductive areas, each formed on a surface of a corresponding one of the surface electrodes, and each having a thickness larger than that of the corresponding surface electrode. Each of the external conductive areas overlays an open end of the corresponding through hole located in the communication portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a structure employed in an inkjet printhead for externally and electrically connecting the inkjet printhead, and more particularly to bonding terminations of an inkjet printhead having an actuator, wherein the bonding terminations are formed on the surface of the actuator for allowing its electrical connection with a flexible flat cable for use in transmission of control signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of inkjet printheads are known which include an on-demand type. An example of a conventional inkjet printhead of an on-demand type is constructed, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-19102, etc., such that a cavity unit in the form of a laminate of a plurality of plates incorporates a plurality of pressure chambers arranged in two rows. The cavity unit is joined to an actuator (a piezoelectric actuator, for example) having a plurality of active areas (ink ejecting energy generation areas) corresponding to the respective pressure chambers.
Further, in this example, surface electrodes are arranged in rows on the upper face (surface) of the actuator at its both edges extending longitudinally. The surface electrodes function as bonding terminations corresponding to the active areas of the actuator, for use in application of voltage to the active areas.
Still further, in this example, the surface electrodes (bonding terminations) of the actuator are bonded to bonding terminations of a flexible flat cable for use in transmission of external control signals, in superposed relationship thereon.
In an example of an inkjet printhead disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-19102, the actuator is constructed with a plurality of first green sheets; a plurality of second green sheets; and a top plate, all of which are ceramic bodies each made up of a piezoelectric material, for example.
Each one of the first green sheets includes patterns for individual electrodes formed on the surface of each first green sheet. Each one of the second green sheets includes a pattern of a common electrode formed on the surface of each second green sheet. The top plate includes surface electrodes for individual connection and surface electrodes for common connection formed on the surface of the top plate.
In this example, for constructing the actuator operable for ejecting ink droplets, the first and second green sheets are alternately superposed on each other, resulting in a laminate thereof, and the top plate is superposed on the uppermost one of the laminated sheets. The ultimate laminate of the sheets and the top plate is pressed and fired.
In this example, during above process, the individual electrodes and the common electrodes are formed on the surfaces of the sheets.
Ones of the individual electrodes (on the sheets) corresponding in position to each other as viewed in a lamination direction of the sheets are required to be electrically connected together. Each one of the surface electrodes (on the top plate) for individual connection and one of the individual electrodes (on the sheets) which corresponds in position to each surface electrode as viewed in the lamination direction are required to be electrically connected together, as well.
Ones of the common electrodes (on the sheets) corresponding in position to each other as viewed in the lamination direction are required to be electrically connected together. Each one of the surface electrodes (on the top plate) for common connection and one of the common electrodes (on the sheets) which corresponds in position to each surface electrode as viewed in the lamination direction are required to be electrically connected together, as well.
For achieving the above electrical connection between the sheets and the top plate, these sheets and top plate are pierced to form the respective through holes piercing through the sheets and top plate thickness wise, and these through holes are filled with conductive paste, during the formation of the individual electrodes and the common electrodes on the surfaces of the sheets.
These individual electrodes and common electrodes and the surface electrodes conductive thereto are formed by applying Ag (Silver)-Pd (Palladium)-based conductive paste onto the sheets and the top plate by a screen printing technique.
Another example of a conventional inkjet printhead is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI 11-147311. In this example, a flexible flat cable is constructed with a laminate of a plurality of substrate layers each having a wiring pattern formed on a single face thereof.
In this example, at least one of the plurality of substrate layers is pierced to form through holes via which the wiring patterns of other ones of the plurality of substrate layers behind the at least one substrate layer are exposed. On the exposed portions of the wiring patterns, there are formed bump electrodes (bonding electrode areas) which are bonded to surface electrodes of an actuator. These bump electrodes are typically made up of solder alloy which is softened and melted by heat.

Injet printhead having externally-connected terminations structured to be resistant to damage


In an apparatus for transporting textile laps to a comber, wherein the apparatus includes a bridge structure for traveling movement between a lap storage station and the comber, a trolley movable along the bridge structure, and a lap gripping mechanism suspended from the trolley by an elevating mechanism, sensors are provided for detecting the presence of a lap at the lap storage station and detecting the central supporting tube of the lap for precisely positioning the gripping mechanism at a lowered position at the lap storage station to engage a full replacement lap. A controller is associated with the sensors for controlling subsequent lowering of the gripping mechanism at the comber by the same distance the gripping mechanism was lowered at the storage station to initially receive the replacement lap, thereby to insure that the lap is deposited at the comber safely and gently without damage.

The present invention relates broadly to an apparatus for transporting textile laps to a comber and, more particularly, to such a lap transporting apparatus utilizing an elevated bridge structure equipped with a lap gripping device for carrying textile laps from a lap storage station to the work stations of the comber.
Textile laps comprise a loosely compressed batt of cotton fibers produced by a picker, lapper or other suitable lap preparing machinery and wound about a central tubular supporting core. A conventional textile combing machine, commonly referred to as a comber, is typically equipped with a plurality of work stations each of which has a first position at which a wound lap is supported for unwinding from its core for accomplishment of the combing process and a second position at which a full lap is supported for temporary storage awaiting replacement of the active lap at the first position upon its exhaustion.
Lap transporting apparatus of the aforementioned type are known for delivering fully wound laps to the work stations of a series of combers so that the combing operation can progress on a generally continuous basis. Such transporting apparatus provides a trackway extending along the series of combers at an elevation thereabove with the bridge structure supported on the elevated trackway for traveling movement therealong. A trolley is mounted on the bridge structure for traveling movement along its lengthwise extent transverse to the direction of traveling movement of the bridge structure and a lap gripping mechanism is suspended from the trolley by an elevating mechanism for raising and lowering of the gripping mechanism for carrying laps to, and depositing laps at, the work stations of the combers.

Apparatus for automatically transporting textile laps to a comber


A catheter adapted to perform electrophysiological procedures comprises a body member, a manipulation handle attached to the proximal end of the body member for applying torque to the body member, the handle having a control knob adapted for control movements in a first plane and in a second plane simultaneously. A deflection control line is attached at its distal end to the distal portion of the catheter and its proximal end attached to the control device of the handle so that tension applied to the control line by sliding the control knob causes deflection of the distal portion of the catheter. A stiffening member is disposed within the body member of the catheter and is slidable, said stiffening member providing increased rigidity to the portion of the body member in which the stiffening member is located. Rotation of the control knob controls the position of the stiffening member in the body member. In a further aspect, a stiffening member in accordance with one embodiment includes a tapered distal end section with a ball formed on the distal tip, the tapered section terminating at the ball. In accordance with another aspect, the torsional rigidity of the catheter body is increased by use of a layer of aramid fibers mixed with an epoxy. In yet another feature, the handle and rotatable sliding element are symmetrically shaped to facilitate complete single-handed operation of the handle by the physician of all position control aspects of the catheter.

The invention relates generally to catheters, and more particularly, to steerable catheters for performing electrophysiological procedures, such as mapping electrical signals emitted from conductive cardiac tissue and ablating aberrant cardiac tissue at the point of arrhythmia origination in order to terminate the arrhythmia.
The heart beat in a healthy human is controlled by the sinoatrial node (S-A node) located in the wall of the right atrium. The S-A node generates action potentials which are transmitted through pathways of conductive heart tissue in the atrium to the atrioventricular node (A-V node) which in turn transmits the signals throughout the ventricle by means of the His and Purkinje conductive tissues. Improper growth of or damage to the conductive tissue in the heart can interfere with the passage of electrical signals from the S-A and A-V nodes resulting in disturbances to the normal rhythm of the heart, referred to as cardiac arrhythmia.
If the arrhythmia is refractory to medication, an alternative treatment is to ablate the aberrant conductive tissue. However, that aberrant tissue must first be located. One technique involves the electrical mapping of signals emanating from conductive cardiac tissue to locate the aberrant tissue causing the arrhythmia. Ablation may then be performed. Ablation of the aberrant conductive tissue usually controls the arrhythmia and allows the heart rhythm to return to an acceptable level.
One conventional method for mapping the electrical signals from conductive heart tissue is to provide an array of electrodes on the distal extremity of a catheter and place those electrodes in contact with the interior of a patient's heart. Typically, the catheter is introduced into the cardiovascular system of the patient through a blood vessel and advanced to an endocardial site such as the atrium or ventricle of the heart. When placed into the blood vessel, the catheter must follow the irregularly shaped path defined by the blood vessel and branch vessels until the distal end of the catheter reaches the desired location. To assist in steering the catheter, some catheters have a curved distal tip. While this pre-formed curve may fit the curves of some blood vessels, it rarely fits all anatomical possibilities. Greater freedom of movement is desirable.
To achieve greater control over the movement of the catheter in steering it through the cardiovascular system to the desired location in the patient, prior catheters have used guide wires to selectively vary the shape of the distal tip of the catheter. In another technique, a control line is attached at a point adjacent the distal tip of the catheter. Pulling the proximal end of the control line causes the distal tip of the catheter to bend in one direction. Other designs have used multiple control lines to obtain bending in multiple directions; however, the size of the catheter increases. Larger catheters are undesirable due to the difficulties involved in moving them through the patient's cardiovascular system and the increased blockage to blood flow. While the control line approach provides increased freedom of control over the movement of the distal end of the catheter, its effect in prior techniques is limited to an arc with a fixed radius.
In another technique, a mandrel or guide wire is also located in the catheter in addition to the control line and is moved to alter the radius of bend of the distal end of the catheter. The mandrel would be moved more towards the distal end or more towards the proximal end of the catheter to alter the radius of bend of the distal end. While such an approach has been found to yield improved control over the movement of the distal end, the disclosed technique required that the physician use two hands to exert this control. Additionally, no means were provided for holding the mandrel and control line in position once the desired bend was obtained thereby resulting in the physician having to hold both the mandrel end and the operating mechanism of the control line. Requiring the use of two hands for the steering function alone restricts the physician from performing other tasks at the same time.
Another consideration in keeping the catheter small in size but providing an increased steering capability is the torsional rigidity of the catheter. In catheters with low torsional rigidity, torsion may accumulate as the proximal end of the catheter is twisted by the physician. Then as the distal end finally begins rotating, the accumulated torsional moment will tend to unwind the catheter, resulting in rapid rotation of the tip inside the blood vessel. Such unwinding may result in the distal tip of the catheter overshooting the branch vessel entrance then requiring further steering manipulation on the part of the physician lengthening the procedure. Thus it is desirable to have increased torsional rigidity of the catheter so that rotating the proximal end of the catheter will result in immediate rotation at the distal end; i.e., immediate torque reaction.
A further consideration in navigating the catheter into the desired position in the patient is the bending rigidity or stiffness of the catheter. In some cases, increased force is required to advance the distal end of the catheter through a certain vessel position or to hold it against a particular site such as buttressing the catheter against a wall of the aorta or against a valve lip. However, decreased bending rigidity is beneficial in some cases. Therefore it would be desirable to provide variable bending rigidity of the catheter to provide increased steering and positioning control. Such a feature would be desirable in an electrophysiological procedure catheter due to the requirement for navigation completely into the heart and for continued contact with particular tissue during the beating action of the heart. Additionally, it would be desirable to incorporate the control means over the bending rigidity of the catheter into the same control device as is used for the other steering mechanisms.
Frequently, the position of the distal portion of the catheter within the heart may have to be adjusted one or more times in order to provide a complete and comprehensive view of the signals from the electrically conductive heart tissue which is necessary to detect the point where the arrhythmia originates. Once the origination point for the arrhythmia is determined, the conductive heart tissue at the site can be ablated. RF heating is one technique typically used for ablation. Successful ablation of the conductive tissue at the arrhythmia initiation site usually terminates the arrhythmia or at least moderates the heart rhythm to acceptable levels. Increased and easier control over the steering and positioning of the catheter would facilitate the mapping and ablation of the heart tissue.
Hence, those skilled in the art have recognized the need for a catheter for use in electrophysiological procedures which provides increased control over steering and positioning the catheter while not increasing the size of the catheter. It has also been recognized as desirable a catheter with increased torsional rigidity and a means for providing increased control over the axial rigidity of the catheter. The present invention fulfills these needs and others.

Catheter for electrophysiological procedures