In the method and system for producing glass reduction of reduction-sensitive ingredients in the glass is reduced or preferably is avoided during the melting and fining processes. The glass preferably has a high refractive index. During the process an oxidizing agent is inducted into a fining vessel and preferably also into a melt crucible made of a slit skull that is cooled by a cooling agent. The oxidizing agent is preferably oxygen. Furthermore a system for conducting the method is also described.

1. The Field of the Invention
The invention is related to a method and a system for producing glass, in which the reduction of reduction-sensitive components of the glass is decreased and preferably is avoided during the melting and fining process. The glass is preferably glass with a high refractive index. According to the invention the term "reduction-sensitive" means sensitivity to both reduction and oxidation reactions, i.e. "reduction-sensitive" also means "redox-sensitive".
2. Related Art
Many high-index materials and glass, especially those used for optical, fiber optical and display-applications as well as for applications for protection and passivation of electronic parts and components, are composed so that the melt technical production leads to a considerable loss of performance in conventional systems and facilities concerning very important properties for the particular application such as transmission, refractive index position, uniformity, electrical resistance and compressibility, thus rendering the production uneconomical.
Such materials and glass compositions comprise components that are reduction sensitive and/or corrosive in the molten state. Reduction sensitive, so-called polyvalent, components can have different redox states (oxidation states) in the melt. The equation for the redox equilibrium of such a component is:M(x+n)++n/2O2−Mx++n/4O2 wherein M(x+n)+ is the oxidized form and Mx+ the reduced form of the species M. The redox partners are usually oxygen ions (O2−) present in the melt and oxygen dissolved in the melt (O2).
For this redox equilibrium and under the precondition that the oxygen anion concentration is constant (O2−=const.) it is possible to formulate the equilibrium constant K:K=([Mx+]·[O2]n/4]/([M(x+n)+])  (1).
From equation (1) and equation (2), ΔH−T*ΔS=−RT*ln K, the following dependency of the redox equilibrium concentration ratio [M(x+n)+]/[Mx+], [Ox]/[Red], respectively, on the temperature T and on the oxygen concentration [O2] results:ln([M(x+n)+]/[Mx+])=ΔH/(R·T)−ΔS/R+(n/4)·ln [O2]  (3)with ΔH=enthalpy of the reaction, ΔS=entropy of the reaction, R=specific gas constant.
The outcome of this is that the redox equilibrium is shifted towards the reduced species Mx+ if temperature T rises and/or the oxygen concentration [O2] decreases.
With decreasing temperature T and/or rising oxygen concentration [O2] the redox equilibrium is shifted towards the oxidized species M(x+n)+.
The redox relationship of the oxidized form and reduced form of a component at a distinct temperature and a distinct oxygen concentration is finally determined by the composition of the melt, the substance and matrix specific thermodynamic variables (ΔH and ΔS) and the possible redox reactions with other polyvalent components. For example in a melt of the composition (% by weight): 8.8% Na2O; 29.6% SrO; 61.1% P2O5 and 0.5% SnO2 at 1200° C. and with an oxygen partial pressure of 0.21 bar (this is the partial pressure in the atmosphere) about 94% of the tin are present in the form of Sn4+ (oxidized form), whereas only 6% are present in the form of Sn2+ (reduced form). If the temperature is increased to 1500° C. (at unchanged oxygen concentration i.e. unchanged partial pressure), the redox relationship is changed. In that case the thermodynamic equilibrium shifts so that 47% of the tin are present as Sn4+ (oxidized form), 50% are present as Sn2+ (reduced form) and already 3% are present as elemental metallic tin. If the oxygen concentration is elevated i.e. the partial pressure is increased to 1 bar at 1500° C., 57.5% of the tin are present as Sn4+ (oxidized form), 41% are present as Sn2+ (reduced form) and only 1.5% are present as elemental metallic tin. The phosphate ions in this melt underlie the thermodynamic redox equilibrium, too. At 1200° C. and an oxygen partial pressure of 0.21 bar (this is the partial pressure in the atmosphere) about 99.9% of the phosphorus are present as P5+ (oxidized form) and only 0.1% as P3+ (reduced form). At a temperature of 1500° C. and reducing conditions, for example at an oxygen partial pressure of 10−5 bar, about 89% of the phosphorous are present in the form of P5+ (oxidized form), but already 11% are present as P3+ (reduced form) and 0.1% are even present as elemental phosphorous (source: "Das Redoxyerhalten polyvalenter Elemente in Phosphatschmelzen und Phosphatgläsern", Dissertation Annegret Matthai, Jena 1999).
Critical for the product properties of materials to be produced are, in connection with the reduction of the components in the materials, a direct effect (decrease) on the optical transmission values due to the reduced species themselves on the one hand and an indirect effect (decrease) on the optical transmission values due to reaction of reduced species with container materials. Furthermore important properties of the materials, such as electrical resistance and the dielectric strength, are influenced negatively, but the reduced species or their corrosion products also influence the crystallization and molding properties.
The reducible species will directly influence the transmission properties if these materials are not present in their highest possible oxidation state. High oxidation states normally have electron configurations that forbid electron transitions due to absorption of light in the visible spectral region, which influences the optical transmission of the material. But in case these components are present in lower oxidation states, electron configurations may occur that allow electron transitions. These lead to absorption of light in the visible spectral region and, thus, to discoloration. Such so-called polyvalent components are, for example niobium, phosphorous, vanadium, titanium, tin, molybdenum, tungsten, lead and bismuth.
If these components are further reduced thermally or chemically, they can have an oxidation state of 0 and, hence, be present in elemental form. Precipitation of particles and/or crystals in the nanometer range occurs. This leads under the influence of light to diffraction and scattering effects in the material that influence the transmission in the visible spectral range, too. But other properties like the electrical resistance, the dielectric strength and the crystallization properties can also be influenced.
If the precipitated particles or crystals grow, tension and defects occur in the material that can during irradiation with high energy-densities (for example: lasers) lead to destruction of the glass. As described in DE 101 38 109 A1 such particles must be oxidized again through elaborate processes, for example using highly toxic gaseous chlorine, in order to ameliorate the optical properties of the glass after the melting process. The addition of nitrates in the glass batch that provides for strongly oxidizing conditions in the melt by liberation of NO2 and other nitrous gases has to be rejected based on environmental and working security grounds. The described process is also highly dangerous in connection with free phosphate (P2O5), because it can lead to explosive reactions.
Components that can thermally and/or chemically be reduced to the elemental state in the melt are for example phosphorous, tin, germanium, lead, arsenic, antimony, molybdenum, bismuth, silver, copper, platinum metals and gold.
If there is an affinity or a tendency towards alloy formation between the components reduced in the melt and the container material, the reduced components alloy with the container material and are thus continuously extracted from the melt by chemical equilibrium, the formation of which would lead to an abating of the reaction. So a cycle is set up that in the end leads to a destruction of the crucible, because of the alloy formation the resistance and the melting point of the crucible materials is strongly decreased. This is especially critical in case of crucibles of the platinum group. For example, the alloying of 5% phosphorous with platinum leads to a decrease in melting point from 1770° C. to 588° C. with the resulting effects on the durability of the crucible.
In a less dramatic case the in situ formed alloy is at once dissolved in the melt and a large amount of crucible material is introduced into the melt occurs. In the case of platinum elements this is connected with a discoloration and a worsening of the transmission properties.
It is especially critical in order to achieve high refractive indexes of nd>1.7, preferably nd>1.75, and/or minimum possible softening temperatures that are of great importance for precision and precise pressing, that high amounts of reducible compounds are introduced into the materials and glasses.
The use of so-called flameproof materials having an oxidic or oxidic-ceramic basis, for example, zirconium, silicate or aluminium oxide material, only solves a part of the above-described problems and is additionally not an economically reasonable solution, either. These materials are indeed not reducing, do not show any alloy forming tendencies towards elemental precipitations and are relatively stable toward many melt compositions as far as corrosion and dwell time are concerned. But when they are attacked by the melt they dissolve in part and are "bad-natured", that is these flameproof materials can lead to faults in the glass.
Especially aggressive attack of high-index melt compositions that should additionally be workable by precise pressing is not acceptable, because the dissolution of the crucible and the entry of the material into the melt lead to unwanted changes in properties of the materials and glasses, especially an increase in the transformation temperature, changes in viscosity properties, changes in refractive index and Abbe number as well as changes in transmission. Furthermore areas are formed that are enriched with the flameproof material, which become visible because of striae and refractive index changes in the material.
As a further effect of the strong aggressive attack on flameproof materials, apart from the considerable worsening of properties and uniformity of the glass, an in part extreme shortening of the dwell time of the melt equipment arises causing extensive costs. On the one hand costs arise because of the need to renew the melt unit and on the other hand because of repeated downtime costs.
The continuous melting and fining of corrosive materials and glass in systems with cooled walls on which the material freezes and forms a contact area of specific material is well known for many technical and optical glasses and patented, too (DE 102 44 807 A1, DE 199 39 779 A1, DE 101 33 469 A1). The container, in which the melt is heated and in which the fining process takes place, usually comprises meander-shaped cooling circuits and usually high-frequency radiation is used for the heating of the melt. The forming boundary layer of specific material to a large extent prevents the attack of the melt on the wall material. Hence no contamination of the melt from wall material takes place. All these inventions claim, inter alia, the melting and in part the fining of corrosive, optical glasses of high purity in these so-called skull-devices. Because of the high reduction potential and the comparatively high temperatures that are needed for injection and melting of high-index melts, especially in the system niobium oxide/phosphorous oxide, none of the cited documents offers the potential to produce the claimed glasses in the necessary quality and with the necessary properties.

Method and system for producing glass, in which chemical reduction of glass components is avoided


A self-propelled harvesting machine has a lifting device for a front attachment and at least one crawler track assembly which is provided with a damping system, and which is formed by a crawler track disposed on an axle of the harvesting machine and on either side of the axle, and the height of the harvesting machine can be changed by varying the spring travel of the hydropneumatic damping system of the crawler track assembly.

The invention relates to a self-propelled harvesting machine.
Document DE 10 2005 046 553 A1 makes known a crawler track assembly of the initially described type, which comprises a damping system for suppressing vibrations in the crawler track assembly caused by travel over uneven terrain, and for ensuring that vibrations are quickly dissipated.
The problem addressed by the invention is that of providing a self-propelled harvesting machine of the initially described type that can react—in different operating states and in a flexible manner—to irregularities in the ground over which the harvesting machine travels.

Self-propelled harvesting machine with hydropneumatic dampening system

CLAAS Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH


A locking flange (200) for securing an airline cart (100) can include a hook shaped flange that wraps around a pull bar (130) of the airline cart, a pair of apertures (204) on opposing sides of the hook shaped flange where the apertures reside below the pull bar when the hook shaped flange is placed on top of the pull bar, and a locking mechanism (250) for insertion within the apertures once the flange is placed on top of the pull bar. The locking flange can project below a top plane of a door (102) of the airline cart. The locking flange can be made of metal such as high tensile steel. The locking mechanism can include a cylinder having a head (252) on one side and an aperture (256) on an opposing side for placement of a lock (502) through the aperture of the cylinder.

Duty free items are currently sold on airline flights using modified food carts that are designed to stringent specifications dictated by the dimensions of the aircraft and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Existing airline food carts are generally retrofitted for such duty free items and are generally susceptible to tampering and pilfering by a number of parties including caterers, passengers, and other no-authorized personnel. It is difficult to secure such carts and to assure that only authorized personnel are gaining access to the contents inside such carts.
These airline carts are generally not locked and fail to provide an indication of tampering before the carts are transferred to authorized personnel. Even if such carts are lockable, once authorized personnel open the cart, there is no assurance or means of preventing pilfering and further tampering with the cart. Cart doors typically have pins on top and bottom portions of their doors to help "lock" the cart doors to the frame of such carts, but unauthorized personnel have been known to pry pins down or away to enable access to the carts. No simple solution is known to securely lock the doors to the frame of the cart that further prevents pilfering or unauthorized access.


A submersible centrifugal pump especially for aquariums includes a motor driven impeller for circulating water through the pump and a movable flow indicator visible from the exterior of the pump for visually indicating the water flow rate through the pump. The impeller is mounted on a hollow motor shaft which protrudes above the pump to provide for the passage of air down through the shaft for mixing with the water within the pump. The shaft is rotatable relative to the impeller to permit turning of a valve shutter connected thereto relative to a valve seat for controlling the water flow rate through the pump.

Pumps used in aquariums are well known. Their function is to make the water circulate through an undergravel filter, and also to oxygenate the water. The usual pump includes an impeller, generally of the centrifugal type, driven by an electrical synchronous motor.
A major drawback of known aquarium water circulation pumps is that they do not provide any indication of the water flow rate through the pump. This is important at the time of regulation in order to create the best water change conditions relative to the dimensions of the aquarium. Also, it is important at the time of verification in order to determine, from the indications of the flow rate, the clogging conditions of the filter. However, adopting an independent instrument to measure the flow rate of an aquarium water circulation pump is not justifiable because of the relatively high cost involved for that particular usage.
It is also generally known to provide aquarium water circulation pumps with an adjustable valve at the pump inlet to regulate the water flow rate through the pump. However, to adjust the valve usually requires a person to immerse his or her hand in the water to reach the valve, making it difficult to adjust.
It has been suggested to provide a separate control shaft for the valve, with an actuator knob on the upper end and suitable gearing on the lower end for operating the valve by rotating the knob externally of the water. However, the required number of parts and complexity of such an assembly makes it too costly to be practical.
Furthermore, it is generally known to oxygenate the water being circulated in an aquarium according to the Venturi effect, by causing the water to flow through a narrowing passage to increase the water speed and thereby reduce the pressure. By ending an external air tube in this narrow passage, the reduction in water pressure at this point creates a suction effect causing air to be drawn through the tube and mixed with the water. A disadvantage of this known method of water oxygenation is that it requires the use of an additional tube which is aesthetically unsightly and adds to the cost of the assemblage. Moreover, its function, based on the Venturi principle, requires a certain speed in the water recycling, thus creating the need for a motor of a certain range just to activate the pump. Furthermore, the Venturi effect creates an undesirable turbulence where the water is readmitted in the aquarium.

Centrifugal pump especially for aquariums


The invention generally relates to electronic collaboration sessions and, more particularly, to systems and methods for providing reconnection to and migration of electronic collaboration sessions. A method for managing a collaboration session includes providing a computer infrastructure structured and arranged to store data regarding a plurality of clients of a collaboration session, and monitor a connection of each of the plurality of clients to a host system. The computer infrastructure is further operable to (i) migrate the plurality of clients to a new host system after determining that a number of the plurality of clients experiencing connection problems with the first host system exceeds a threshold value and/or (ii) present customized summary data to at least one of the plurality of clients after the at least one of the plurality of clients reconnects to the collaboration session after having been disconnected from the collaboration session.

Current networking and computing technology facilitates the electronic collaboration of multiple individuals who may be globally dispersed (i.e., located at different geographic locations). Examples of such electronic collaboration sessions include web conferences, Internet conference calls, net meetings, etc. Such electronic collaboration sessions allow geographically dispersed people to meet and interact in real time using various computing devices. This can lead to improved communication and efficiency in virtually any setting.
However, there are several common occurrences that reduce the optimization of effective communication and collaboration when utilizing these electronic collaboration sessions. One such occurrence is a dropped network connection to the electronic collaboration session by one, many, or all of the users. When a user's network connection is dropped, the communication between that user and the remaining users of the electronic collaboration session is stopped.
In the case of an individual user whose network connection is dropped, the user typically attempts to manually re-connect to the electronic collaboration session as soon as possible. If the user is able to re-connect, the user is faced with the problem of having missed information that was discussed while the user was disconnected. In such cases, the user may interrupt the others and ask what information was missed; however, this is bothersome to and inefficient for the other users who were not disconnected.
Another option for a re-connected user is to attempt to make sense of what was missed by quickly reviewing any available shared resources of the electronic collaboration session. In this case, however, the re-connected user's attention is diverted from the real time happenings of the electronic collaboration session while the user tries to "catch up" to the others. A third option for the reconnected user is to just ignore what material was missed. This, however, presents a clear disadvantage of missing potentially important information.
Other connectivity problems associated with electronic collaboration sessions affect multiple users, instead of the situation of an individual dropped user described above. For example, the host of the electronic collaboration session may experience a network connectivity problem, in which all users are dropped from the event. Also, there may be more users attempting to join the event than the host system has resources for, in which case multiple users cannot participate in the electronic collaboration session. Such problems are frustrating for all those involved, and can quickly diminish the effectiveness of an electronic collaboration session.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.

Reconnection to and migration of electronic collaboration sessions

International Business Machines Corporation


A holder which is disposed inside an endoscopic operation section and which fixes the flexible substrate, includes a first opening to pass the flexible substrate into the holder from the outside of the holder, a cavity portion which has a ceiling portion in the inner circumferential surface thereof and in which the flexible substrate is disposed in a bent state inside the holder, and a second opening to pass the flexible substrate to the outside of the holder from the inside of the holder. The flexible substrate is disposed separately from the ceiling portion of the cavity portion in a state where the flexible substrate protruding to the outside of the holder from the first opening and the second opening is fixed to the outer circumference of the holder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscopic operation section and an endoscope.
2 Description of the Related Art
For example, as disclosed in International Publication No. 2013/154106, a flexible substrate having key portions is used in an operation section of an endoscope to suitably operate an illumination optical system and an observation optical system. In a state where the flexible substrate is held to a holder, the holder is attached to an operation section main body.

Endoscopic operation portion and endoscope


A lubricating oil composition comprises a mixture of a first ester of medium-chain saturated fatty acid and glycerol and a second ester of sucrose and carboxylic acid. The composition has improved physical characteristics including high hygienic safety, increased oxidative stability, enhanced lubricating performance, adequate viscosity and other properties required for lubricating particularly food processing machineries and implements.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lubricating oil compositions and more particularly to a lubricating oil composition which is particularly suitable for lubricating machineries and implements for processing marine, farm, livestock and other food products.
2. Prior Art
Food processing for livestock, marine, farm or other stock materials involve the steps of selection, classification, pulverization, mixing, baking, heating, fermentation, boiling, drying, cooling and so on. These processing steps require their respective machines and instruments such as tea-leaf collecting machine, gain polishing machine, flour grinder, brewing machine, baking and confectioneries making machines, machines for making fruit juice, jams and pickles, milk processing machine, ham/sausage making machine, fish-meat and seaweed processing machine, vacuum film evaporator or kneader for preparing food additives, natural flavours and medicines, and many other machines and implements employed for making or processing a variety of food items.
Hithertofore used as lubricating oils for such machines and implements are a mineral oil or liquid paraffin, a liquid vegetable oil such as soybean oil, cottonseed oil and rape oil as well as an animal fat and oil such as beef or pork fat. Mineral oils and liquid paraffins are considered objectionable in terms of sanitation as they tend to move from the operative parts of the machine into and mingle with the food material being processed. While liquid vegetable fats and oils are hygienically acceptable, they are less oxidatively stable as may be determined by the Active Oxygen Method (AOM) hereinafter described.
A specific example of fats and oils (1) is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 56-72651 wherein a spray lubricant is proposed which comprises an ester exchange product of 30-90 parts by weight of an edible fat and oil containing 20 or less percent by weight of a saturated fatty acid and 70-10 parts by weight of a composition chiefly consisting of an ester of medium-chain saturated fatty acid and triglycerol hereinafter referred to as MCT having 6-10 carbon atoms.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications 57-67695 and 62-32841 both propose the use of an ester-exchanged product of a fat and oil composition (2) derived from hydrogenative treatment of a vegetable oil such as camellia oil, tea blossom oil, olive oil, safflower oil, hazelnut oil and rape oil, the treated product having 16 or less percent by weight of linoleic acid and 12 or less percent by weight of saturated fatty acid.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 61-17343 discloses the use of a high-stability liquid oil (3) comprising an ester exchange product of a hydrogenated vegetable oil having 5 or less percent by weight of linoleic acid and MCT, which product has an AOM value of greater than 250 hours.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 62-3281 introduces a hydrogenated vegetable oil (4) of 80-95 iodine value ester-exchanged with a lauric acid, the ester-exchanged product having an AOM of 52-93 hours
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2-209995 discloses the use of a lubricating oil (5) for food processing machines which chiefly comprises triglyceride having a straight-chain alkyl group of 5-21 carbon atoms blended with a fatty acid of 12-22 carbon atoms.
The above lubricating oils (1)-(4) have a common drawback in that they are adequately resistant to oxidation due to the presence of increased unsaturated acids emanating from vegetable oils being hydrogenated to reduce polyenic acid contents and increase oleic acid contents.
The last-mentioned oil (5) is a MCT-based oil reputed for its high oxidative stability and low cloud point. This oil per se, however, has a relatively low viscosity ranging from 15-20 cp at 25.degree. C. to 10-15 cp at 40.degree. C. which is not readily adjustable to suit a particular application required by specific drive or operative component parts of a food processing machine.
There may be considered certain vegetable oils having a relatively high viscosity and such vegetable oils further hydrogenated or ester-exchanged. However, such vegetable oils are susceptible to deterioration by oxidation or solidification by polymerization due to the presence of unsaturated bonds in the fatty acid molecule, often resulting in seized machinery parts. It is known that linoleic acid and linolenic acid respectively have oxidation rates at 20.degree. C. of 12-20 times and about 25 times greater than that of oleic acid. Esters of saturated acid and glycerol are regarded to have a relatively high oxidative stability. Methyl stearate is known to have an oxidation rate about one-eleventh of that of methyl oleate or about one-hundredth of that of methyl linoleate.
Hydrogenation may be resorted to for reducing linoleic and linolenic acids in the glyceride with an increase in the contents of oleic acid to provide enhanced oxidative stability. However, this is not quite satisfactory because oleic acid is also an unsaturated fatty acid.
There may be considered certain highly viscous fats and oils such as those which contain large proportions of miristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and other saturated fatty acids for use in the lubrication of food processing machineries. Such fats and oils are highly resistant to oxidation but have objectionably high cloud point, meaning high pour point and high freezing point. In order to reduce their cloud point, it may be possible to react high-viscosity fats and oils for ester exchange with MCT but only with appreciable effect.

Lubricating oil composition for food processing machineries


An analog-to-digital conversion circuit includes: a clock generating circuit which generates a clock signal including a first initial period and plural normal periods following the first initial period, the first initial period being one of a high period and a low period and being a first period immediately after a reset release, each of the normal periods being one of a high period and a low period and shorter than the first initial period; and an incremental analog-to-digital converter which operates using the clock signal.

There are a variety of types of analog-to-digital (AD) converters including a flash converter, a successive-approximation converter, a pipeline converter, a cyclic converter, and a ΔΣ modulator converter. In particular, the cyclic converter and the ΔΣ modulator converter are capable of improving conversion accuracy by increasing the number of conversion cycles, and therefore can be regarded as an incremental AD converter.
In an actual design, in the case of a circuit configuration of the cyclic converter, the accuracy of an analog element (especially amplifier element) limits the accuracy of the whole system, so that there is a limit to the improvement in the accuracy. On the other hand, in the case of a circuit configuration of the ΔΣ modulator converter, the conversion accuracy can be improved by simply increasing only the number of conversion cycles instead of improving the accuracy of an analog element that is used. As described above, Non Patent Literature (NPL) 1 discloses that the circuit configuration of the ΔΣ modulator converter is suitable specifically for the incremental AD converter. NPL 1 also discloses that the accuracy can be improved by combining a 2nd- or higher-order ΔΣ modulator AD converter and a decimation filter which calculates an output pulse train.

Analog-digital conversion circuit and method for driving the same


A federated gateway bridges service definition formatting differences between a first and a second independent enterprise information technology (IT) management domain. A service request is received within the federated gateway from a service consumer application executing within the first independent enterprise IT management domain to a remote service provider application in the second independent enterprise IT management domain. The federated gateway dynamically performs real-time service call translation during transmission of the service request from a local service definition format to a remote service definition format defined respectively within the first and second independent enterprise IT management domains.

The present invention relates to service oriented architecture (SOA) and information technology (IT) management. More particularly, the present invention relates to inter-domain replication of service information.
Information technology (IT) systems are utilized to manage information within corporations and to manage information for clients of corporations. Service oriented architecture (SOA) may be used to build IT systems. With an SOA architected IT system, certain devices provide services and certain devices consume services of devices that provide services.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Inter-domain replication of service information


Stimulating emission via thulium's lasing transition from the 3H4 manifold to the 3H6 manifold yields light at wavelength of about 820 nm. Unfortunately, excited thulium ions also transition from the 3H4 manifold to the long-lived 3F4 manifold, where they become trapped and can no longer participate in the lasing transition. If the enough of the thulium population becomes trapped in the 3F4 manifold, the gain medium becomes transparent at the pump wavelength, rendering population inversion difficult or impossible. Fortunately, the size of the population in the 3F4 manifold can be limited by selecting an appropriate crystal host and thulium doping concentration, pumping the thulium with pulses shorter than the 3F4 manifold's lifetime, cooling the gain medium to low temperature (e.g., 77 K), stimulating emission from the 3F4 manifold, upconversion pumping of the thulium from the 3F4 manifold to the 3H4 manifold, or transferring energy from thulium in the 3F4 manifold to a co-dopant.

Thulium-doped crystals have been used in solid-state lasers, such as Tm:YAG lasers, to generate light at wavelengths of about 1.85 μm to about 2.1 μm for applications including remote sensing (e.g., lidar), dermatology treatments, optical pumping, and other high-power applications. Stimulated emission from thulium at a wavelength of about 820 nm has also been reported in thulium-doped flurozirconate (ZBLAN) glass fibers. Fluorozirconate glass fiber has attractive properties for operation at 820 nm, including long upper-state lifetimes and a guided wave geometry for both the pump light and laser light. On the other hand, fluorozirconate is difficult to handle and fabricate. As a glass, fluorozirconate has low thermal conductivity compared with typical crystals used as laser hosts, and therefore does not scale to high power laser operation.


A device for switching vehicle characteristics which includes means for setting information concerning a road, such as a highway, in the running path of the vehicle, means for detecting the fact that the vechicle comes to a designated road portion in the running path and for producing output information concerning said predetermined road portion and means for effecting switching of the vehicle characteristics in response to the output information concerning the road.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to device for automatically switching vehicle characteristics, such a softness or hardness of a suspension system of the vehicle, sharpness or hardness of a steering system of the vehicle or the like, depending upon the state of a road on which the vehicle, such as an automobile, is running.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, a vehicle has been developed in which a suspension system can be switched to soft or hard condition or a steering system can be switched to soft or hard condition, by a driver's manual selection of a change-over switch. In the vehicle of this type, the suspension system is set to its soft side and the steering system is set to its sharp side when the vehicle is running on a normal surface street, while the suspension system is set to its hard side and the steering system is set to its soft side when the vehicle is running on a high-speed highway, for example, so that the vehicle can be driven with optimum vehicle characteristics, depending upon a state of the road on which the vehicle is running.
In such a vehicle, a device for switching the vehicle characteristics is manually operated by a driver who selects a change-over switch, and such selection of the switching of the vehicle characteristics requires a complicated operation, because it is difficult to set the optimum vehicle characteristics, depending on the state of a road, by properly selecting a combination of a plurality of systems such as the suspension system, the steering system and the like.

Device for switching vehicle operating characteristics


Surge suppression is provided by varistors connected between, respectively, hot and neutral conductors and hot and ground conductors, each through a common fuse that avoids hazardous overvoltages on the varistors. A first indicator circuit portion provides an indication that the power is on and surge protection is present and includes a first indicator device such as a green light-emitting diode that is energized when the fuse is intact, and a second indicator circuit portion is provided for indicating power is on and surge protection is lacking that includes a second indicator device such as a red light-emitting diode that is energized by the line conductors when the fuse has been interrupted. The surge suppressor and dual indicator apparatus can be contained within a wiring device such as a receptacle. A single varistor unit containing two varistor disks with three leads, including a center tap, allows three effective surge suppressor circuit branches in a compact configuration.

This invention relates to apparatus for the protection of loads connected with an electrical distribution system and for indication of the status and capability of the surge suppressor system. The invention relates particularly to such apparatus suitable for incorporation within household and commercial wiring devices.
It is beneficial to have a surge suppressor to protect loads against some voltage transients that do not trip the circuit breaker of a distribution circuit. This is particularly so in the case of relatively delicate electronic equipment such as video recorders, personal computers, and other valuable household and commercial appliances. It is also desirable to have an indication that the surge suppressor is in good working order.
It is recognized that considerable prior art relates to the protection of equipment against overvoltages with an indication of the occurrence of an overvoltage. Many protection systems are fairly complex, expensive and bulky. The present invention is primarily directed to a system that is simple, inexpensive and compact and is used, normally, for local load protection and is in addition to conventional distribution circuit protection devices such as circuit breakers.
In accordance with a prior art system for applications addressed by the present invention, a surge suppressor unit is provided in a receptacle into which the line cord for the load is plugged. It includes a suppressor circuit branch, for connection between the hot and neutral conductors of the distribution system, that includes a fuse and a metal oxide varistor in series. Such a surge suppressor circuit branch is connected between the hot and neutral conductors of a distribution system; other conductor pairs of a three wire system may be protected as well. The fuse is selected to have an interruption, for fire safety, if a failure of the varistor occurs, such as shorting due to an overvoltage. In such an arrangement it is known to utilize an indicator device, such as a green light-emitting diode, that is powered only if the fuse is intact. This light will light and therefore indicate the power is on and the fuse is present. If the indicator light is not on, this indicates the power is not on or the fuse has blown. It would be desirable to know which of these two events is the case.
Systems are known in which the one light used which is energized when everything is correct is arranged to blink if surge protection is lost. This requires an extra timing circuit portion and its attendant cost and complexity.
In accordance with another version of such equipment, there is provision to provide a buzzer alarm when protection is lost and the power is still on. This, too, incurs additional cost and complexity.
It is desirable to provide an alternative system that gives positive indication of whether the fuse is or is not operable by two distinct indicator devices in a relatively simple and inexpensive arrangement.
Therefore, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrical surge suppressor and indicator system that includes, at least, a first surge suppressor circuit branch for connection between two line conductors and including a fuse and a first varistor in series. A first indicator circuit portion indicates power is on and surge protection is present and includes a first indicator device energized by the line conductors if the fuse is intact. A second indicator circuit portion indicates power is on and surge protection is lacking and includes a second indicator device energized by the line conductors if the fuse has been interrupted.
In certain embodiments of the invention the first indicator device is a green light-emitting diode, and the second indicator device is a red light-emitting diode. Each light-emitting diode is in series with current-limiting resistance. In the case of the green light-emitting diode, which is energized when the fuse is intact, it is in series with a resistor and the red light-emitting diode is in series with that same resistance, plus an additional resistance. The first and second indicator circuit portions may both include the first resistor. The second indication circuit would then include a separate, second resistor that is not in the first indicator circuit portion.
When light emitting diodes (LEDs) are used as the indicator devices, they can be used in different ways to yield different characteristics in the information indicated. In one form of connection, the LEDs are likepoled; each is in inverse parallel relationship with another, standard, diode having a lower forward voltage drop. When the fuse is intact and the green LED is energized, there is some current drawn through the second circuit portion containing the red LED. With appropriate resistance present (so both the red and green are of approximate equal brightness when fully on), that current is sufficient to energize the red LED just slightly producing a perceptible but dim red glow while the green LED is fully energized and considerably brighter. This allows one to readily confirm the operability of both LEDs when power is on.
If one does not wish any perceptible output from the red LED when the green is energized, it is merely necessary to change the polarity of one of the LEDs, such as the green LED, and its respective secondary diode.
It is desirable in the systems of interest where there is surge protection between the hot and ground conductors to also have surge protection between the hot and neutral conductors as well as between the neutral and ground conductors. To do this, prior devices have had three separate varistor devices in appropriate circuit branches between the indicated conductors. They include a single fuse with respective varistors in branches between the hot and neutral conductors and between the hot and ground conductors. A third varistor, not in series with a fuse, is located between the neutral and ground conductors; if it fails its failure is not indicated externally.
A substantial degree of protection between the ground conductor and the neutral conductor is provided by the series connection of the first two varistor devices. In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, two similar varistor metal oxide disks are packaged as a unit within a single insulating casing and are provided with three terminals--one on each side of the outside surfaces, and a third centertap between the two disks. Therefore, with minimal bulk this provides effectively three varistors for protection between each pair of conductors. Any varistor failure, in contrast to the prior art, is indicated externally, such as by the dual indicator system described above. Such a compact, center-tapped, arrangement of two varistor disks is also believed novel and useful in other applications.
The compactness and economy of apparatus in accordance with the present invention allows its convenient use within ordinary wiring devices, such as receptacles for plugging in various kinds of appliances which are thus protected.

Electrical surge suppressor and dual indicator apparatus


In a battery pack, a component for attaching a secondary protection device to a bare cell may be omitted to reduce manufacturing costs and improve productivity. The battery pack includes a bare cell, a flexible printed circuit board in which at least one portion thereof contacts the bare cell, the flexible printed circuit board being electrically coupled to the bare cell through a lead pattern surrounded by an insulation cover, a secondary protection device on the flexible printed circuit board, the secondary protection device being electrically coupled to the flexible printed circuit board through the lead pattern, and a protective circuit module electrically coupled to the flexible printed circuit board through the lead pattern.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a battery pack.
2. Description of Related Art
In a process for manufacturing a battery pack, a process in which a secondary protection device is attached to each of bare cells constituting the battery pack to prevent the bare cells from being over-heated is performed. To attach the secondary protection device to each of the bare cells, one nickel tab for electrically coupling the bare cell to the secondary protection device and the other nickel tab for electrically coupling the secondary protection device to a protective circuit module (PCM) may be used. In addition, an insulation tape for electrically insulating one component from other components may be additionally used.


The present invention relates to novel thraustochytrid-like microalgae having the ability to produce bio-oil, and a method of producing bio-oil using the same. The microalgae of the invention accumulate bio-oil at a high ratio in the cells when being cultured in glucose-containing medium, and thus can produce bio-oil in a high yield. Also, the microalgae can produce bio-oil using bean powder as a nitrogen source, and a product obtained by culturing edible bean powder as medium can be used as a raw material for producing food and feed. Also, the microalgae can produce bio-oil using non-food cellulosic biomass as a carbon source. Moreover, the use of non-food cellulosic biomass for production of bio-oil can overcome the factors limiting the development of bio-oil, including the unstable supply of food resources and an increase in the cost of raw materials, and can improve the commercial competitiveness of microbial fermentation oil.

Biodiesel which is produced from the oil of oily plants such as rape seed, soybean and palm is typical biodiesel which has already been commercialized, and the production thereof is increasing rapidly worldwide. However, because raw material crops for producing biodiesel are expensive, biodiesel is disadvantageous in terms of production costs and less competitive compared to crude oil-derived diesel. Thus, despite its various advantages in terms of environment and agricultural economy, biodiesel appears to have no commercial competitiveness, if there is no tax reduction. The increase in raw oil prices by energy exhaustion is expected to give commercial competitiveness to biodiesel, but a sudden rise in the price of raw crops by a recent increase in the production of biodiesel becomes a new factor that reduces the competitiveness of biodiesel.
Moreover, photosynthetic oil from oily plants and photosynthetic microalgae, which is the major source of bio-oil for producing biodiesel, has important advantages in that it uses sunlight and recycles carbon dioxide, but it is disadvantageously influenced by various factors, including time, space, seasons and climate. Also, an increase in the use of biodiesel which is produced from photosynthetic oil can cause food shortages and new environmental problems by the mass cultivation of raw material crops, and thus there are doubts on the effectiveness of biodiesel from photosynthetic oil.
For these reasons, the fermentation of organotrophic microorganisms has received attention as a method for the mass production of bio-oil. Typical microorganisms that produce oil include Chlorella protothecoides, Yarrowia lipolytica, Rhodosporidium toruloides, Rhodotorula glutinis and the like, and studies on processes for the fermentation thereof have been actively conducted.
Among these oily microorganisms, microalgae belonging to the thraustochytrid family are oily microorganisms capable of producing bio-oil, which contains polyunsaturated fatty acids such as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), in an amount of up to 70% of the dry cell weight. DHA, a fatty acid essential for brains, ocular tissue and nervous systems, is known to play an important role in the sight of infants and the development of motor nerves. In addition, it was reported that the amount of DHA is significantly reduced in the brain of dementia patients, and DHA has been reported to have various new functions, such as inhibition of age-related macular degeneration. Despite such useful physiological functions, the human body cannot self-synthesize a sufficient amount of DHA. Thus, DHA is recognized as an essential nutrient to be supplied from the outside, many global organizations, including the World Health Organization, recommend that 1 g or more per day of DHA be taken. Thus, DHA is being commercialized as various products, including health functional foods, and the utility thereof as a raw material for medical drugs is high, indicating that DHA has a very high commercial value. Thus, oil from the fermentation of microalgae belonging to the thraustochytrid family can provide a connection between high-value-added industries utilizing DHA and the biodiesel industry, thereby providing commercial competitiveness to biodiesel, unlike general microbial oil or photosynthetic oil.
However, the most important factor for ensuring the commercial competitiveness of microbial fermentation oil as a raw material for biodiesel is the use of industrial waste, waste resources and surplus biomass as nutrient sources, and ultimately the use of abundant non-edible cellulosic biomass. Examples of non-food cellulosic biomass resources include woody biomass, agricultural byproducts, urban waste and so on.
A number of methods of producing DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) using microorganisms of the thraustochytrid family have been reported. Such methods are mainly methods of producing DNA by culturing microorganisms of the thraustochytrid family in media containing glucose as a carbon source (Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-0087820, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No 2009-0064603, US Patent Publication No. 20080009045, and US Patent Publication No. 20050019880). However, there has been no report on a method of producing bio-oil using non-food cellulosic biomass that is the next-generation biomass resources.
Accordingly, the present inventors have made extensive efforts to develop a method of producing DHA in a high yield using microalgae and, as a result, have found that novel thraustochytrid-like microalgae isolated from soil in a mangrove area in Malaysia contain a high concentration of DHA and that bio-oil containing DHA is produced when the novel microalgae are cultured using bean powder or cellulosic biomass as a nutrient source, thereby completing the present invention.

Thraustochytrid-based microalgae, and method for preparing bio-oil by using same

Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology


In a TV lens system including a TV lens apparatus and a control unit, CPUs of the TV lens apparatus and the control unit monitor intervals between received data in serial communication in a digital control mode. If the data transmission stops for a predetermined time or the received data has an error, the CPUs determine that the communication is abnormal and switch the control modes of the TV lens system from the digital control mode to an analog control mode by operating switching devices. Display units show that the system has been switched to the analog control mode. If the CPUs detect the communication being abnormal, they may display abnormality of the communication on the display units to inform the user of the abnormality of the communication so that the user can switch the control modes by manually operating analog setting switches. Information indicating the abnormality of the communication is stored in an EEPROM, and presented to the user when the TV lens system starts to operate afterward.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a TV lens system, and more particularly to a TV lens system having an analog control mode with an analog control system and a digital control mode using a serial communication function in order to transmit signals between a lens apparatus, a lens drive apparatus and a control unit for controlling them.
2. Description of Related Art
A television (TV) lens apparatus for a TV camera has a serial communication function for transmitting and receiving plural pieces of information on one line in a digital serial communication or a analog communication function for transmitting and receiving plural pieces of information with low level signals and high level signals or analog voltage signals (hereinafter referred to as analog signals) on a plurality of lines according to types of information. In view of this, there have already been proposed an automatic determination apparatus for detecting the presence of the serial communication to enable the TV lens system to operate in both analog and digital signal systems (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-257024) and a TV lens apparatus and a TV lens control unit capable of operating in both systems (Japanese Patent Application No. 10-63025, and Japanese Patent Application No. 10-74019, which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/275,189 assigned to the assignee of the present application).
The conventional TV lens system having an analog control system (an analog control mode) and a serial communication function (a digital control mode) is normally controlled in the digital control mode, which ensures various functions. If, however, the transmission and reception of data in the serial communication becomes impossible for some reasons, the entire system is suspended completely and cannot be used.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a TV lens system that prevents the complete suspension and can be used continuously even if the operation in the digital control mode becomes impossible.
The above object can be achieved by providing a TV lens system, comprising: a lens drive that drives a TV lens apparatus, the lens drive operating in control modes including an analog control mode and a digital control mode; a communication monitor that monitors communication of the lens drive in the digital control mode; and a switching device that switches the control modes of the lens drive from the digital control mode to the analog control mode if the communication monitor detects the communication being abnormal.
More specifically, the TV lens system of the present invention has the control function for both the analog control mode and the digital control mode. If the system is set in the digital control mode, the signals (or data) are transmitted between the lens control unit and the lens apparatus or the lens drive by way of communication in the digital control mode. The transmission of the data by way of communication controls the lens. The communication monitor monitors the state of the communication in the digital control mode to determine whether the communication is normal or abnormal. If the communication monitor detects the communication being abnormal, the switching device switches the mode to the analog control mode. Thus, the system can be used continuously in the analog control mode even if the communication goes wrong in the digital control mode. The switching device may be operated manually or automatically. A display is preferably provided for informing the user of the abnormality of the communication.


A backlight module includes a light guide plate, a light source, and a reflector. The light guide plate includes an incident surface and a corner adjacent the incident surface. The light source is disposed adjacent the incident surface and the corner of the light guide plate. The light source has an emitting surface. The reflector is disposed substantially facing the incident surface. The reflector has a curved reflective surface facing the emitting surface, the surface being shaped and positioned for uniformly reflecting light beams emitted from the light source into the light guide plate through the incident surface. An angle of inclination of the emitting surface with respect to the incident surface is chosen to be in the range from above about 0 to about 180 degrees. The backlight module can effectively eliminate shadow formation adjacent the incident surface of the light guide plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight module and, particularly, to an edge-lighting type backlight module for use in, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD).
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In a liquid crystal display device, liquid crystal is a substance that does not itself radiate light. Instead, the liquid crystal relies on receiving light from a light source to thereby display images and data. In the case of a typical liquid crystal display device, a backlight module powered by electricity supplies the needed light.
FIG. 8 (Prior art) represents a conventional edge-lighting type backlight module 80. The backlight module 80 includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) 81, a light guide plate 83, a diffusion sheet 84, and a prism sheet 85. The light guide plate 83 includes an incident surface 832 and an emitting surface 834 adjacent the incident surface 832. The LEDs 81 are positioned adjacent the incident surface 832 of the light guide plate 83. The diffusion sheet 84 is located above the light guide plate 83 and is configured for uniformly diffusing the emitted light. The prism sheet 85 is positioned above the diffusion sheet 84 and is configured for collimating the emitted light, thereby improving the brightness of light illumination. However, a plurality of dark areas are generally unavoidably formed adjacent the incident surface 832.
Referring to FIG. 9, another conventional backlight module 90 is shown. The backlight module 90 includes a plurality of LEDs 91 and a light guide plate 93. The light guide plate 93 includes an incident surface 932 facing the LEDs 91, an emitting surface 934 adjoining the incident surface 932, and a plurality of light diffusing portions 936 defined in the incident surface 932, spatially corresponding to the LEDs 91. The light diffusing portions 936 has a plurality of V-shaped grooves arranged regularly and periodically in a direction perpendicular to the emitting surface. Light beams incident on the light diffusing portions 936 are scattered. The diffusing portions 936 can thereby reduce the area of dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface 932.
FIG. 10 shows that a light beam is refracted into the light guide plate 93 through the incident surface 932 having a plurality of diffusing portion 936 of FIG. 9. According to the Fresnel formula of reflection and deflection, a deflection angle β can be defined by the following equation:
      β    =          90      -              α        /        2            -              arcsin        (                              sin                                      (                              90                -                                  α                  /                  2                                            )                                n                )              ,wherein α is the vertex angle of V-shaped grooves of the diffusing portion 936, and n is a refractive index of the light guide plate 90. The deflection angle β cannot be greater than or even equal to 90 degrees, according to the equation. For example, if the light guide plate 90 is formed of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), the largest deflection angle β is generally smaller than 50 degrees. Therefore, the diffusing portions 936 cannot eliminate dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface 932 completely. In addition, a part of light beams can be reflected at the incident surface 932 of the light guide plate 93, thus a utilization efficiency of light energy of the backlight module 90 is decreased.
Referring to FIG. 11, a still another conventional backlight module 100 is shown. The backlight module 100 is similar to the backlight module 90, except that the light diffusing portions 136 are different from the diffusing portion 936 of the backlight module 90. The backlight module 100 includes a light guide plate 130 having an incident surface 132, an emitting surface 134, and a plurality of light diffusing portions 136. The light diffusing portions 136 are, particularly, a plurality of grooves defined in the incident surface 132. The diffusing portions 136 can also reduce the area of the dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface 132.
Referring to FIG. 12, a yet another conventional backlight module 120 is shown. The backlight module 120 includes a plurality of LEDs 141, a light guide plate 140, and a reflector 145. The light guide plate 140 includes an incident surface 142, which faces the LEDs 141, and an emitting surface 144 adjoining the incident surface 142. The reflector 145 has a plurality of curved sections, each partly surrounding the respective LED 141. Each of the LEDs 141 has a luminescent surface 143 that faces the adjacent curved section of the reflector 145. Light beams, emitted from the LEDs 141, are redirected by the reflector 145 and enter into the light guide plate 140 through the incident surface 142 thereof. However, part of the light beams are blocked by the respective LEDs 141, thereby preventing that part of the light beams from reaching the incident surface 142 adjacent to the respective LEDs 141. As a result, a plurality of dark areas is formed in the light guide plate 140, adjacent the incident surface 142.
What is needed, therefore, is a backlight module which can completely eliminate the dark areas formed adjacent the incident surface of the light guide plate.


When data changes in LBAs of a disk storage, the IDs of changed LBAs are written to a cache, with the LBAs being hashed to render a hash result. The hash result and contents of the cache are written to a file on the disk, the cache flushed, and the hash result written back to the cache for hashing together with subsequent changed LBAs. The process repeats. In this way, the hash result in the most current file on the disk can be compared with the hash result in cache, and if the two match, it indicates that the files on the disk contain an accurate record of changed LBAs.

Logical block addresses (LBAs) are logical locations of data on disk drives. Storing data in accordance with LBA principles is known in the art. Essentially, a LBA describes the location of data, so that the data may be retrieved by looking up its LBA and accessing the location. New data may be overwritten onto old data within an LBA, in which case the LBA may be considered "changed", in that the data with which the address is associated has changed.
The present invention understands that it is important for certain applications to know when an LBA has changed. For example, knowing which LBAs have not changed since a previous virus check, for instance, can promote more efficient future virus checks by skipping over LBAs that remain unchanged from earlier scans. Or, unchanged LBAs need be checked only for viruses that have been discovered since the last scan. That is, if it is known when an LBA has changed, it is unnecessary to check it against the virus table it was checked against last time, but only against "new" portions of the virus table. Furthermore, if it is known when a LBA was last changed, and if it is also definitively known that a new virus was developed after the change to the LBA, it can be inferred that the new virus cannot have infected the data in the LBA.
As further understood herein, however, a LBA change recordation system ideally is rendered essentially immune from a virus that might be specifically designed to evade it.

System and method for tracking changed LBAs on disk drive


Methods and apparatus are disclosed for longest common prefix based caching. An information space is partitioned into multiple subsets such that a particular subset including a particular prefix also includes all longer prefixes beginning with the particular prefix in the information space. A primary control unit typically maintains the information space and all of the subsets, and selectively distributes some or all of the subsets to basic control units, and each of basic control units does not necessarily receive the same group of subsets. In addition, the group of subsets maintained by a particular basic control unit may change during operation, typically to increase the likelihood that a particular basic control unit will contain the needed subset. When a particular basic control unit does not have the needed subset, it typically sends to the primary control unit, a request for a lookup result, for the primary control unit to process the packet or other information, or for the primary control unit to send the corresponding subset.

The communications industry is rapidly changing to adjust to emerging technologies and ever increasing customer demand. This customer demand for new applications and increased performance of existing applications is driving communications network and system providers to employ networks and systems having greater speed and capacity (e.g., greater bandwidth). In trying to achieve these goals, a common approach taken by many communications providers is to use packet switching technology. Increasingly, public and private communications networks are being built and expanded using various packet technologies, such as Internet Protocol (IP).
A network device, such as a switch or router, typically receives, processes, and forwards or discards a packet based on one or more criteria, including the type of protocol used by the packet, addresses of the packet (e.g., source, destination, group), and type or quality of service requested. Packet forwarding decisions and other packet operations are demanding parts of switch and router design. For example, IP forwarding requires a longest prefix match. In order to support large number of layer 3 prefixes (e.g., IP, IPX), four to eight ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM) chips are often used due to the number of addresses that need to be supported. A longest prefix match is determined by performing a lookup operation on each of the TCAM chips. However, CAMs and TCAMs are expensive in terms of financial cost, power consumption and heat dissipation, and thus desired are new methods and apparatus for performing lookup operations.
Certain routers or other switching systems use a distributed routing technique in which line cards store routing information and are attached to an interconnection network for communicating packets between line cards. In a known system, each line card stores the full routing space, which typically requires several TCAMs. In another known system, a line card does not maintain the full routing space, but rather caches a few last used fully expanded addresses (e.g., no prefixes), and if the desired address does not exactly match the lookup value (e.g., destination address), a lookup request is forwarded to a supervisor card which performs the routing lookup operation and returns a routing response based on which the packet is routed by the line card. However, this caching is limited to fully expanded addresses as a routing lookup operation requires the result to be guaranteed to be that of a longest prefix match. By storing only fully expanded addresses, the search guarantees this, but it also causes many routing lookup operation misses causing a large number of routing requests to be sent to a supervisor line card which maintains the full routing space. Needed are new ways to more efficiently determine routing information.

Methods and apparatus for longest common prefix based caching


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for determining temporal based score adjustments are provided. One method includes receiving a query and obtaining a score for responsive documents. The method further includes adjusting the scores for the documents according to an age classification for one or more related queries for the documents. Another method includes storing popularity data for queries over time; identifying a query and associated extended queries from the popularity data, and storing time trend data associating the query and one or more periods of time with a respective extended query. Another method includes storing popularity data for queries over time, obtaining scores for documents responsive to a query submitted at a first time, and adjusting the scores for one the documents according to whether the first time is within a popularity change time window for one or more related queries for the documents.

This specification relates to scoring documents responsive to search queries.
Internet search engines provide information about Internet accessible resources (e.g., Web pages, images, text documents, multimedia content) that are responsive to a user's search query by returning a set of search results in response to the query. A search result includes, for example, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and a snippet of information for resources responsive to a query. The search results can be ranked (e.g., in an order) according to scores assigned to the search results by a scoring function.
The scoring function ranks the search results according to various signals, for example, where (and how often) query terms appear in the search results and how common the query terms are in the search results indexed by the search engine.


A porous carbon material is provided. The porous carbon material having a value of specific surface area of at least 10 m2/g as measured by a nitrogen BET method, a pore volume of at least 0.1 cm3/g as measured by a BJH method and a MP method, and a R value of 1.5 or greater, wherein the R value is expressed as R=B/A, wherein A is an intensity at an intersection between a baseline of a diffraction peak of a (002) plane as obtained based on powdery X-ray diffractometry of the porous carbon material and a perpendicular line downwardly drawn from the diffraction peak of the (002) plane, and wherein B is an intensity of the diffraction peak of the (002) plane.

This invention relates to porous carbon materials making use of plant-derived materials as raw materials and their production process, and also to adsorbents, masks, adsorbing sheets and carriers.
Background Art
In recent years, portable electronic equipment such as camera-integrated VTRs (Video Tape Recorders), digital still cameras, cell phones, portable information terminals and notebook-size personal computers are widely prevalent, and their size reduction, weight reduction and life prolongation are strongly desired. Keeping in step with this desire, developments are under way for batteries, especially secondary batteries having light weight and permitting the provision of high energy density as power supplies for portable electronic equipment.
Among these, secondary batteries, which employ lithium as an electrode reactant in a charge-discharge reaction and use its occlusion and release (so-called lithium ion secondary batteries), are highly prospective because they provide large energy density compared with lead batteries and nickel-cadmium batteries. In these lithium ion secondary batteries, carbon materials are extensively used as anode active materials at anodes (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 62-090863). Employed as such carbon materials to keep production costs low and to provide improved battery characteristics are, for example, cokes such as pitch coke, needle coke and petroleum coke and baked products of organic high-molecular compounds as obtained by baking and carbonizing furan resins, natural high-molecular materials and the like at appropriate temperatures (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 4-308670). Further, a technology that bakes an organic high-molecular compound to produce a porous carbon material having three-dimensional regularity is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-262324, which also suggests that the porous carbon material is usable as an anode active material.
Further, carbon materials obtained by baking crystalline celluloses are also used as anode active materials as such crystalline celluloses vary less in crystalline degree in comparison with synthesized high-molecular compounds (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2-054866). These carbon materials can obtain large charge capacity compared with cokes. In the carbon materials obtained by baking the crystalline celluloses, however, occluded lithium ions are not readily releasable. High charging efficiency is, therefore, hardly available, resulting in the observation of a tendency that as a whole battery, the energy density becomes smaller.
Unused parts of plants such as vegetables and cereals are mostly discarded. Effective utilization of these unused parts is, however, strongly demanded for the preservation and improvement of the global environment. As one example of the effective utilization of such unused parts, carbonization treatment can be mentioned. It is also investigated to use, as an anode active material for lithium ion secondary batteries, a carbon material produced by carbonizing such a plant-derived material (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3565994, Japanese Patent No. 3719790, and PCT Patent Publication No. WO 96/27911).
Further, for patients suffering from a liver disease or kidney disease, the elimination of toxic substances by hemodialysis is performed. However, hemodialysis requires a special system and an expert technician, and moreover, gives physical and/or mental discomfort or pain to patients. Under such a background, oral adsorbents made of activated carbon and having high safety and stability to the body, such as KREMEZIN, are attracting attention (see Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 62-11611). In addition, anti-obesity agents, antidiabetic agents, anti-inflammatory bowel disease agents, purine adsorbents and the like, which make use of activated carbon, have also been proposed. Applications, research and developments of activated carbon in the medical field are extensively under way.
In addition, to make a drug to effectively act in the body, it is desired to allow an appropriate amount of the drug to act for an adequate time. For this purpose, it is preferred to use a carrier that can control the release rate of the drug. Adsorption of the drug on such a carrier makes it possible to continuously release the drug at a predetermined constant level. Such a drug-carrier complex can be used, for example, as a transdermal preparation having transdermal absorbability and topical action that deliver the drug through the skin, or as an oral preparation. The carrier is composed, for example, of carbon having nontoxicity and chemical resistance, an inorganic material such as alumina or silica, or an organic material such as cellulose or polyethylene oxide. In recent years, however, some examples making use of carbon materials as carriers have been reported (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-343885). There are also reports on the sustained release of fertilizer by the use of activated carbon (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3694305).


A system and method to inspect flaws associated with a part. The system includes a first image capturing device configured to capture a first set of images of the part and a computer operably associated with first image capturing device and configured to receive and analyze the first set of images. The method includes treating the part with a magnetic particle and fluorescent penetrant processing, capturing a first set of images of an outer surface of the part with the first image capturing device, and identifying a part defect with an algorithm associated with the computer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates generally to quality control inspections, and more specifically, to an automated quality control inspection system utilizing magnetic particle and fluorescent penetrant processing.
2. Description of Related Art
Newly manufactured parts, such as helicopter drive-shafts, gears, and metallic components, are required to pass a quality control inspection prior to use. Conventional inspections include the initial step of undergoing a pretreatment process that visually enhances defects present with the helicopter component. In one known process, the component is pretreated with magnetic particle and florescent penetrant, which in turn provides a visual indication of the defects in the component.
FIG. 1 is a simple schematic of an inspector 101 performing a visual inspection of a gear 103 that has been pretreated with the foregoing pretreatment process. The inspection process, while effective under controlled conditions, can be affected, for example, by inspector fatigue, inspector-to-inspector variability, and so forth, all of which could result in poor inspection reliability and in some cases, result in catastrophic failure of the component during use. The inspection process can also be time-consuming; an undesired feature when inspecting a large number of helicopter parts.
Although the foregoing developments in quality control inspection represent great strides, many shortcomings remain.
While the system and method of the present application is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the process of the present application as defined by the appended claims.

Automated magnetic particle and fluorescent penetrant defect detection system


Methods and systems of a mobile station transmitting information to a base station are disclosed. The mobile station may transmit information with improved uplink coverage, and bandwidth requests may be more efficient. Additionally, the mobile station may transmit information over multiple uplink frames using hybrid ARQ.

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice and data. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3 GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) in IEEE 802.16e, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on the forward and reverse links. The downlink (DL) refers to the communication link from a base station to the terminals or the mobile stations and the uplink (UL) refers to the communication link from the terminals or the mobile stations to the base stations. Grants to a mobile station (MS) for UL transmission may be provided in UL MAP information elements (IEs). The communication link may be established via a single-in-single-out, multiple-in-single-out or a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) system.
Standards that are used for mobile wireless communications (e.g. WiMAX or LTE) may be limited by UL coverage, and the bandwidth request process may be inefficient. For example, WiMAX may use a 5-step Bandwidth Request process that caused increased latency for many time-sensitive UL messages. The increased latency may degrade mobile network performance and cause throughput problems with TCP traffic.

Methods and systems for uplink network entry and bandwidth requests


Provided is a color filter which comprises a substrate and a resin layer on the substrate, the resin layer containing a plurality of colored portions of different colors and non-colored portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color filter suitable for a color liquid crystal display which can be used in a color television, a personal computer or the like, a method for manufacturing the color filter, and a liquid crystal panel equipped with the color filter. More specifically, it relates to a color filter for liquid crystal displays manufactured by the utilization of an ink jet recording technique, a method for manufacturing the color filter, and a liquid crystal panel equipped with the color filter.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, there has been a tendency that the demand of liquid crystal displays, particularly color liquid crystal displays increases with the development of personal computers, particularly portable personal computers. However, for the further spread of the liquid crystal displays, it is necessary to lower their costs, and particularly with regard to the color filter which largely occupies the cost of each display, request for its cost reduction increases. In order to meet the required characteristics of the color filter and to satisfy the above-mentioned demand, various attempts have been heretofore made, but any method which can meet all of the required characteristics has not been established so far. Some methods for manufacturing the color filter will be described below.
A first method which has most often been used is a dyeing method. This dyeing method comprises coating a glass substrate with an aqueous polymer material which is a material to be dyed, patterning the material into a desired shape by a photolithography process, and then immersing the thus obtained pattern in a dyeing bath to obtain a colored pattern. This operation is repeated three times to form the colored layers of Red (R), Green (G) and Blue (B).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-288913 has described another example of this dyeing method which comprises forming a photosensitive layer, exposing it to light through a pattern, dyeing unexposed portions, and then repeating this process to manufacture a color filter having three colors of R, G and B.
A second method is a pigment dispersion method, which is now being replaced with the above-mentioned dyeing method. This pigment dispersion method comprises first forming, on a substrate, a photosensitive resin layer in which a pigment is dispersed, and then patterning the resin layer to obtain a single-colored pattern. Next, this process is repeated three times to form colored layers having three colors of R, G and B.
A third method is an electrodeposition method. This method comprises first patterning transparent electrodes on a substrate, and then immersing it in an electrodeposition coating solution containing a pigment, a resin, an electrolyte and the like to electrodeposit a first color. This process is repeated three times to form colored layers of R, G and B, and in the last step, these layers are calcined.
A fourth method is a printing method. This method comprises dispersing a pigment in a thermosetting resin, repeating a printing operation three times to coat with the colors of R, G and B, and then thermosetting the colored resin layers to form colored layers. In each of these methods, a protective layer is usually formed on the colored layers.
A point which is common to these methods is that a similar process is required to be repeated three times to give the three colors of R, G and B, which increases the cost. In addition, these methods having many steps lead to deterioration of a yield. Moreover, in the electrodeposition method, the formable patterns are limited, and so it is difficult to apply this method to TFT by an existent technique. The printing method has a drawback that resolution properties and smoothing properties are poor, and so it is not suitable for the formation of a pattern having a fine pitch.
In order to overcome these drawbacks, techniques for manufacturing a color filter by the use of an ink jet system have been developed, and these techniques have been described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 59-75205, 63-235901 and 1-217320. However, a sufficiently satisfactory method has not been obtained yet.

Color filter having substrate and ink absorptive resin layer


Online source separation may include receiving a sound mixture that includes first audio data from a first source and second audio data from a second source. Online source separation may further include receiving pre-computed reference data corresponding to the first source. Online source separation may also include performing online separation of the second audio data from the first audio data based on the pre-computed reference data.

In teleconferencing or audio/video chatting, background noise is an unwanted signal that is transmitted together with the wanted speech signal. Typical speech denoising or speech enhancement techniques model the noise signal with a single spectral profile that is estimated from several clean noise signal frames beforehand. When the background noise is non-stationary (e.g., having a noise spectrum that changes significantly and rapidly over time, such as keyboard noise, sirens, eating chips, baby crying, etc.), however, as is often the case, such techniques perform poorly as the noise characteristic cannot be modeled well by a single spectrum.


A cleaning tape for use in cleaning transporting surfaces of transporting rollers arranged along a photographic material transporting passageway includes a tape body provided on at least one side thereof with an adhesive layer spaced a distance away from one lengthwise end therteof. A porous screen is laid on the adhesive layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning tape for use in cleaning photographic material transporting rollers in a photographic processor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a number of paired transporting rollers, composed of drive side transporting rollers and driven side transporting rollers press-contacted with the drive side transporting rollers, are arranged along a transporting passageway of a negative film or a photographic (printing) paper in the photographic processor so that the negative film or photographic paper can be transported along the transporting passageway. In this photographic processor, when the transporting rollers are contaminated by contaminants, such as dirt, built up thereon, the transporting rollers slip against the photographic material. As a result, the transport of the photographic material cannot be performed with accuracy.
For avoidance of this problem, various cleaning methods are proposed. One typical prior cleaning method is that the transporting rollers in the photographic processor are cleaned out with separately prepared waste. This cleaning method however is poor in workability in requiring that, after operation of the photographic processor is stopped, the transporting rollers in the photographic processor are cleaned out manually from a handhole of the processor.
There is proposed another cleaning method in which a tape having on one side surface thereof a liquid absorbing layer of a non-woven fabric impregnated with a solvent such as acetone or alcohol is passed through the pairs of transporting rollers to clean out the contaminants on the transporting rollers by means of the liquid absorbing layer impregnated with the solvent. This cleaning method however sometimes causes problems in that sensors are contaminated by the solvent with which the liquid absorbing layer is impregnated and in that the working environment becomes worse by evaporation of the solvent.
There is proposed still another cleaning method in which a tape, simply having an adhesive layer, on an adhesive layer, one side surface thereof is passed through the pairs of transporting rollers to transfer the contaminants on the transporting rollers to the adhesive layer. This cleaning method of however involves problems in that the adhesive layer sometimes adheres to not only the transporting rollers, but also other parts, accidentally, so that the tape is captured by them. As a result of this, smooth cleaning is hindered so as to inevitably produce reduced efficiency of the cleaning.

Cleaning tape for photographic material transporting rollers


A multi-fiber ferrule (5) includes a ceramic body (10) and a housing (20) for combining with the ceramic body. The ceramic body has a rectangular portion (101) and two opposing latches (102) extending therefrom. A plurality of through holes (103) and a pair of guide pin channels (105) are defined through the rectangular portion between the two opposing latches. The housing defines a cavity (201), a passageway (204) communicating with the cavity, and a pair of guide pin channels (205) corresponding to the guide pin channels of the ceramic body. A plurality of V-grooves 203 for mounting fibers is formed in a floor of the cavity. The plurality of V-grooves each aligns with a corresponding through hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-fiber ferrule used in optical fiber connectors for aligning optical fibers for connection with other fiber optical devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical signals are commonly transmitted in optical fibers, which provide efficient light channels through which the optical signals can pass. Recently, optical fibers have been used in various fields, including telecommunications, where light passing through an optical fiber is used to convey either digital or analog information. Efficient connection of individual fibers is necessary in most optical processing systems or networks to achieve the desired routing of the signals.
An optical fiber connector for connecting an optical fiber to another optical fiber of a fiber optical device usually includes an alignment ferrule. The optical fiber connector typically utilizes the precise dimensions of the alignment ferrule to precisely align the optical fiber therein with the optical fiber of the mating fiber optical device. Moreover, optical fiber connectors for connecting multiple fibers are increasingly necessary as greater bandwidth applications are needed. Such connectors usually use a multi-fiber ferrule to align fibers.
In multi-fiber ferrules, an array of fibers is generally mounted in a plurality of v-grooves, which are etched in a silicon block, in order to provide precise positioning of the fibers. However, mounting the silicon block within a housing and ensuring the proper alignment of two silicon blocks in two housings when they are mated is difficult. Also, silicon is a hard, brittle material which is difficult to polish and which is easily broken. U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,951 discloses a precision-molded MT ferrule, which is used to align two groups of mating fibers. However, the MT ferrule is made of a plastic material using injection molding. It is difficult to precisely control the micro parameters of the ferrule during manufacture of the ferrule. Furthermore, it is difficult to polish an end face of this plastic material.
It is thus desirable to provide an improved multi-fiber ferrule which overcomes the above problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved multi-fiber ferrule having a ceramic body.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a ceramic body for optical connectors which provides good precision and multi-fiber connection.
A multi-fiber ferrule comprises a ceramic body and a housing for incorporating with the ceramic body.
The ceramic body has a rectangular portion and two opposing latches extending therefrom. A plurality of through holes and a pair of guide pin channels are defined in the rectangular portion between the two opposing latches.
The housing is formed using insert molding. The housing defines a cavity, a passageway communicating with the cavity, and a pair of guide pin channels. A plurality of V-grooves are defined in a floor at bottom of the cavity.
In assembly, the ceramic body is fixed to a tailor-made mold, liquid plastic is inserted into the mold, and is thereafter cooled to form the housing integrally secured with the ceramic body. The plurality of V-grooves each corresponds to a through hole. The guide pin channels of the housing each align with a guide pin channel of the ceramic body.


A method for forming at least one rib and a step shoulder bottom of a can body in a single drawing operation from a redrawn cup or preform which has a closed end with an inwardly tapering annular periphery that includes sufficient material to enable formation of the step shoulder bottom without having the at least one rib drawn into the step shoulder bottom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to can bodies having one or more axial beads or ribs formed in their side walls and also having step shoulder bottoms. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for forming at least one rib and a step shoulder bottom of a can body in a single drawing operation from a redrawn cup which has a closed end with an inwardly tapering annular periphery including sufficient material to enable formation of the step shoulder bottom without having the at least one rib drawn into the step shoulder bottom.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Ribs or beads in the side walls of can bodies formed, for example, to enhance the appearance of a can and/or to add side wall strength for supporting axially applied loads, are known in the art.
Similarly known is the formation of can bodies using draw-redraw forming techniques wherein a first draw is performed to create a cup having a first diameter and height and a second draw or redraw is performed using a punch and redraw die. The cup is placed over an annular cup-holding member or redraw pad and the closed bottom of the cup is held by the redraw pad and a flat face portion of the redraw die. The redraw pad is moved synchronously with the redraw die. The relative movement of the punch and the redraw die extends the cup to form a deeper cup having a reduced second diameter and a reduced side wall thickness. During the redraw operation, the draw pad and the flat face portion of the redraw die act as a holding face which influences the plastic flow of the cup material as it is redrawn.
Cans used for packaging food and other products may have a bottom configuration that includes a step shoulder defined by an outwardly extending annular projection in the outer circumferential area of the bottom closely adjacent to the can side wall. The can bottoms may also have one or more concentric beads spaced radially inward from the step shoulder.
A problem that may be encountered when using draw-redraw forming techniques to form cans having step shoulders and axial ribs or beads in the side wall is that the axial ribs tend to be drawn into the step shoulder. For aesthetic and other reasons, drawing the axial ribs into the step shoulder is unacceptable. U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,657 discloses a manufacturing process for cans having a bottom with a step shoulder, referred to in the '657 patent as a bump-up bottom, and axial side wall ribs that ensures ample material in the bottom area of a can body preform so as to prevent the side wall ribs from being drawn into the step shoulder by providing a cup with a recessed bottom.
The '657 patent teaches two alternate two step processes. In the preferred process, the first step is a first drawing operation that creates a cup having a side wall that has at least one axially extending rib or bead formed therein and a bottom that is coextensive with the side wall and intersects the side wall at a rim. The first step is performed so that at least a portion of the bottom is recessed by a predetermined depth with respect to the rim. The second step is a second drawing operation performed on the cup to form a can body having a step shoulder or bump-up bottom wherein the predetermined depth of the recessed bottom of the cup is sufficient to prevent the at least one axially extending rib from being drawn into the bump-up bottom.
In an alternate process of the '657 patent, the first step is providing a cup having a sidewall and a bottom that is coextensive with the sidewall and intersects the sidewall at a rim, the first step being performed so that at least a portion of the bottom is recessed by a predetermined depth with respect to the rim. The second step is performing a forming operation on the cup to form a can body having at least one axial rib defined in its sidewall and having a bump-up bottom, and wherein the predetermined depth of the recessed bottom of the cup is sufficient so as to prevent the at least one axially extending rib from being drawn into the bump-up bottom during the second step.

Method for making can bodies having axial ribs and step shoulder bottoms