The present invention relates to a support including a supporting substrate and a cured silicone resin layer having a peelable surface and being disposed on one surface of the supporting substrate, for laminating a glass substrate on a surface of the cured silicone resin layer, in which a cured silicone resin of the cured silicone resin layer is a cured material of a curable silicone resin composition containing the specific linear organopolysiloxane (a) and the specific linear organopolysiloxane (b), and the cured silicone resin layer is a cured silicone resin layer formed by curing the curable silicone resin composition on a surface of the supporting substrate.

In the field of liquid crystal displays (LCD) and organic EL displays (OLED), particularly of portable displays such as a digital camera, cellular telephone and the like, reduction of the weight and thickness of displays is an important problem.
For solving this problem, it is desired to further reduce the thickness of a glass substrate used in a display device. As a general method of reducing the thickness of a glass substrate, there is a method in which, before formation or after formation of members for a display device on the surface of a glass substrate, the glass substrate is etched by chemical etching, and if necessary, further, physical polishing is performed to reduce the thickness thereof.
However, in the case of performing an etching treatment and the like to reduce the thickness of a glass substrate before formation of members for a display device on the surface of the glass substrate, the strength of a glass substrate lowers and deflection thereof increases. Thus, there occurs a problem that it becomes difficult to carry out a treatment in an existing production line for panels for display devices.
In the case of performing an etching treatment and the like to reduce the thickness of a glass substrate after formation of members for a display device on the surface of a glass substrate, there occurs a problem of manifestation of fine scratches formed on the surface of the glass substrate in a process of forming members for a display device on the surface of a glass substrate, that is, generation of etchpits.
With the aim of solving such problems, there has been suggested a method in which a glass substrate having small thickness and a supporting substrate are stuck via a resin layer to obtain a laminate, and predetermined treatments for production of a display device are carried out under this condition, then, the surface of the glass substrate is peeled from the peelable surface of the resin layer, and other methods.
For example, patent document 1 describes a glass substrate laminate obtained by laminating a glass substrate and a supporting substrate in which the glass substrate and the supporting substrate have a peelable surface, and they are laminated via a silicone resin layer showing non-pressure-sensitive adhesiveness.

Support, glass substrate laminate, support-equipped display device panel, and method for manufacturing display device panel


The present invention discloses a coaxial transistor formed on a substrate, particularly a coaxial metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (CMOSFET). The chips or substrates of the CMOSFETs can be stacked up and connected via through-holes to form a coaxial complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (CCMOSFET), which is both full-symmetric and full-complementarily, has a higher integration and is free of the latch-up problem.

The term "transistor" is derived from "transfer-resistor", which means "varying resistor" or "adjustable resistor". In electronics, the transistor plays an unparalleled role. The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) varies the built-in resistor to regulate current. In digital logic electronics, the unipolar transistor maximizes the built-in resistor to turn off current or minimizes the built-in resistor to conduct current, such as JFET (Junction-Field-Effect-Transistor), MESFET (Metal-Semiconductor-Field-Effect-Transistor), and MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor-Field-Effect-Transistor). The ability, that control the adjustment of built-in resistor in transistor, is based on the forward bias or reverse bias that both arranged and selected initially of the built-in potential created by the PN junction within structures. In BJT consisting of an emitter, a base and a collector, the bias of the base controls the resistance value of the resistor. In FET consisting of a source(S), a gate(G) and a drain(D), the bias of the gate controls the conduction state of carriers (electrons or holes). In MOS developed afterward, a body(B) is added to FET to prevent from floating potential, and a four-electrode transistor is thus formed. The base or gate functions exactly like a faucet switching on/off water and regulating the flow rate of water.
In fabricating each electrode of the three-electrode or four-electrode transistor, a diffusion, deposition, ion-implanting or epitaxial process forms patterns of cuboids having width, length and depth. The junctions of the electrodes are parallel arranged top-down or from left to right. Thus, the configuration of transistor elements in IC appears like a mosaic pattern, as shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. FIG. 1A is a top view schematically showing a CMOS inverter, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the CMOS inverter shown in FIG. 1A.
In 1947, Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain of the Bell Laboratory invented the transistor, which is a point contact germanium junction transistor and was disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 2,569,347 "Circuit Element Utilizing Semiconductive Material" issued on Sep. 25, 1951. However, in early 1960s, the idea of integrating a plurality of transistors into a substrate to miniaturize the digital computer was regarded as an extremely ridiculous thought by the Bell Laboratory—the birthplace of transistors. From then on, microelectronics has advanced by leaps and bounds. From nowadays view, the "humor" of the Bell Laboratory seems to be the motive force of the researchers challenging the miss impossible.
The conventional BJT has advantages of fast response and high current density and extensively applies to analog circuits. In applications to the inverters of digital logic circuits, TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) circuits and ECL (Emitter-Coupled Logic) circuits, the conventional BJT is hard to parallel FET, which uses voltage of electric field to control the conduction state, in the integration. Limited by the electrode areas, the conventional BJT is harder to promote the integration. As BJT uses the base current to control the collector-emitter current, the base layer has to physically exist to function as the carrier exchange body no matter how thin it is. The gate of FET is moved to the upper space and uses voltage to control the conduction state of the source-drain current. Thus, FET outperforms BJT in IC integration. Among FETs, MOSFET (MOS for short) has further higher integration, further lower power consumption, further greater input impedance and further smaller input current and thus becomes the most popular element in digital logic circuits. The electron mobility of the N-channel MOS (NMOS for short) is much greater than the hole mobility of the P-channel MOS (PMOS for short). Under the conditions of identical dopant concentrations and identical width-length ratios of the gates, NMOS operates much faster than PMOS. After the appearance of the ion implant technology for a high N-type dopant concentration and a high-precision doping-profile control, NMOS has replaced PMOS.
Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. A conventional PMOS 103 and a conventional NMOS 101 are cascaded to form a conventional CMOSFET (Complementary MOSFET, CMOS for short). Two gates of NMOS 101 and PMOS 103 are connected to form a signal input terminal 102 of the digital logic circuit. The cascaded drain and source is used as a signal output terminal 104. NMOS 101 and PMOS 103 are respectively connected to a high voltage level 105 VDD and a low voltage level 106 VSS—dual-state logic signals. When the common gate inputs a high voltage or a low voltage, one channel of NMOS 101 and PMOS 103 turns on, and the other channel turns off. In other words, whether the input signal is of a high voltage or a low voltage determines the output terminal of the CMOS. Theoretically, CMOS has none static power consumption. Only in the transient moment that PMOS and NMOS exchange the conduction states and turn on simultaneously, CMOS has dynamic power consumption. Since 1980s, CMOS has be used as the low-power consumption and fast-operation transistor structure for digital logic circuits and contributed much to the electronic industry. The conventional CMOS is formed via cascading NMOS and PMOS. No matter whether CMOS has a single well structure or a double well structure, CMOS intrinsically has a parasitic PNPN thyristor structure, which may generate a latch-up effect and make CMOS temporarily or eternally lose the voltage control function or even cause abrupt current increase and circuit burnout.
Refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B for a latch-up state of an N-well CMOS inverter. FIG. 2A is a sectional view of an N-well CMOS. FIG. 2B is a diagram of an equivalent circuit of the CMOS shown in FIG. 2A. Q⊥ denotes a vertical parasitic PNP bipolar transistor, which is formed of a P+ source, an N-type well and a P-type substrate of PMOS. Q∥ is a horizontal parasitic NPN bipolar transistor, which is formed of an N+ source, a P-type substrate and an N-type well of NMOS. The collector of the horizontal NPN is connected to the base of the vertical PNP via the N-type well. The collector of the vertical PNP is connected to the base of the horizontal NPN via the P-type substrate. Then, the P-type substrate functions as the base (of NPN), the collector (of PNP), and the connection medium between the NPN base and the PNP collector; the N-type well functions as the base (of PNP), the collector (of NPN), and the connection medium between the PNP base and the NPN collector. Thus, the P-type substrate and the N-type well (functions like a substrate) become the repeated both collectors and bases (using the same carrier source), which are the origin of the latch-up phenomenon. The thorough solution to exterminate the latch-up phenomenon is to separate the N-type well from the P-type substrate. RW is the cascade resistor between the N-type well and the P+ source of PMOS and thus called the N-type well resistor. Rsub is the cascade resistor between the P-type substrate and the N+ drain of NMOS and is thus called the substrate resistor. At some instant, a voltage surge caused by turning on a power source, an ionization event or another transient state results in so high a current that flows through the NPN collector and causes the current flowing through the N-type well resistor to bias the base and emitter of the PNP bipolar transistor Q⊥, wherein the N-type well functions both the NPN collector and the PNP base and thus may have a conflict. If the bias is great enough to force the PNP collector to generate current, the current flowing through the substrate resistor Rsub will further bias the base and emitter of the NPN bipolar transistor Q∥. Then, Q∥ will amplify more current to the N-type well resistor RW and increase the bias of Q⊥. The repeated circulation generates a positive feedback, and the latch-up phenomenon will not stop unless the power source is removed.
The conventional approaches to avoid the latch-up phenomenon include: (1) increasing the distance between NMOS and PMOS, (2) increasing the dopant concentration of the base, (3) using an epitaxial layer in the substrate to increase the triggering bias voltage from the horizontal resistance, (4) shortening the distance between the contact of the source and the contact of the body (Butted Contact), (5) Trench Isolation, (6) using a guard ring to absorb the injected charges and prevent from the dual carrier operation, (7) using a SOI (Silicon On Insulation) technology, and (8) using a 3D stacked CMOS structure. The abovementioned approaches (1)-(6) can be interpreted as increasing RW and Rsub in FIG. 1B to prolong or avoid the advanced triggering of Q⊥ and further inhibit the triggering of Q∥. Though approaches (1)-(6) can improve the latch-up problem, they cannot thoroughly exterminate the latch-up phenomenon, especially when high integration is required. Further, they all reduce the circuit density (integration) and decrease the switching speed of the circuit. In approach (7), MOS is completely constructed on the insulation layer, and the thyristor structure is almost vanished and hard to generate coupling current. Approach (7) can indeed prevent from the latch-up phenomenon. However, PMOS and NMOS are arranged on a plane side-by-side, and the integration is thus hard to increase. In approach (8), a MOS is formed over another MOS, and an oxide layer interposes therebetween. Although approach (8) can successfully overcome the latch-up phenomenon, it still has to overcome the problems of aligning masks and forming silicon semiconductor crystals on an oxide layer in the fabrication of 3D CMOS.
In using the low power consumption CMOS, the increased integration results in a high element density and delays the switching speed, which is another problem needing attention in addition to the latch-up problem.


A biometric authentication device performing an authentication based on a similarity between a biometric image that is an object of comparing and an enrolled biometric image, includes: a storage configured to store a plurality of model images generated by changing a bending angle of a joint of a biometric model and correction information of each of the plurality of model images; a biometric sensor configured to capture a biometric image that is an object of comparing; and a processor configured to execute a process, the process including: determining similarities between the biometric image captured by the biometric sensor and the plurality of model images; selecting a model image based on the similarities; reading correction information corresponding to the model image that is selected, from the storage; and correcting one of the biometric image captured by the biometric sensor or the enrolled biometric image based on the correction information.

A biometric authentication technology performing an individual authentication with use of a biometric feature such as a fingerprint image, a vein image or a face image is widely spread, as a method of identifying a person with high accuracy. The biometric authentication technology can perform individual authentication with high accuracy.

Biometric authentication device, biometric authentication method and computer-readable non-transitory medium


Provided is a liquid material for forming a three-dimensional object used for forming a three-dimensional object made of a powder material for forming a three-dimensional object containing an organic material and a base material, wherein the liquid material contains a cross-linking agent cross-linkable with the organic material and a water-soluble resin having a weight average molecular weight of greater than or equal to 50,000.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to liquid materials for forming three-dimensional objects and material sets for forming three-dimensional objects, and three-dimensional object producing methods and three-dimensional object producing apparatuses.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there have been increasing needs for small-lot production of complicated, fine three-dimensional objects. As the techniques for meeting the needs, powder adhering methods, etc. have been proposed.
As examples of the powder adhering methods, there have been proposed a method for delivering an adhesive material to a powder thin layer according to an inkjet method, a method for laminating layers of a powder material, which is a mixture of powder particles and adhesive particles, and delivering a binding agent to the laminated layers to dissolve and solidify the adhesive particles and produce a three-dimensional object (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-330743), and a method for dissolving a coating resin of a powder material, which is obtained by coating a base material such as glass and ceramic with a hydrophobic resin, by a solvent such as limonene and toluene to solidify the powder material and produce a three-dimensional object (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-297325).
However, the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-330743 cannot impart a sufficient strength and precision to a three-dimensional object because it is not easy for an adhesive liquid, which is obtained by delivering the binding material and dissolving the adhesive particles, to spread uniformly between the powder particles. Furthermore, this technique has problems that nozzle heads used when delivering the adhesive material according to an inkjet method may be clogged, that selection of adhesive materials that can be used is limited, and that efficiency is spoiled by a cost needed.
The technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-297325 has a risk that lowly-volatile limonene tends to remain in a three-dimensional object and reduce the strength of the three-dimensional object. Furthermore, lowly-volatile solvents such as toluene are problematic in safety.

Liquid material for forming three-dimensional object and material set for forming three-dimensional object, three-dimensional object producing method and three-dimensional object producing apparatus


An integral three-dimensional object is formed from a photohardenable liquid composition containing radiation deflecting matter.

Many systems for production of three-dimensional modeling by photohardening have been proposed. European Patent Application No. 250,121 filed by Scitex Corp. Ltd. on June 6, 1987, provides a good summary of documents pertinent to this art area, including various approaches attributed to Hull, Kodama, and Herbert. Additional background is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,498 issued to Fudim on June 21, 1988.
These approaches relate to the formation of solid sectors of three-dimensional objects in steps by sequential irradiation of areas or volumes sought to be solidified. Various masking techniques are described as well as the use of direct laser writing, i.e., exposing a photohardenable polymer with a laser beam according to a desired pattern and building a three-dimensional model layer by layer.
However, all these approaches fail to identify practical ways of utilizing the advantages of vector scanning combined with means to maintain constant exposure and attain substantially constant final thickness of all hardened portions on each layer throughout the body of the rigid three-dimensional object. Furthermore, they fail to recognize very important interrelations within specific ranges of operation, which govern the process and the apparatus parameters in order to render them practical and useful. Such ranges are those of constant exposure levels dependent on the photohardening response of the material, those of minimum distance traveled by the beam at maximum acceleration dependent on the resolution and depth of photohardening, as well as those of maximum beam intensity depend on the photospeed of the photohardenable composition.
The Scitex patent, for example, suggests the use of photomasks or raster scanning for achieving uniform exposure, but does not suggest a solution for keeping the exposure constant in the case of vector scanning. The use of photomasks renders such techniques excessively time consuming and expensive. Raster scanning is also undesirable compared to vector scanning for a number of reasons, including:
necessity to scan the whole field even if the object to be produced is only a very small part of the total volume, PA1 considerably increased amount of data to be stored in most cases, PA1 overall more difficult manipulation of the stored data, and PA1 the necessity to convert CAD-based vector data to raster data. PA1 (a) forming a layer of a photohardenable liquid; PA1 (b) photohardening at least a portion of the layer of photohardenable liquid by exposure to actinic radiation; PA1 (c) introducing a new layer of photohardenable liquid onto the layer previously exposed to actinic radiation; PA1 (d) photohardening at least a portion of the new liquid layer by exposure to actinic radiation, with the requirement that the photohardenable composition comprises an ethylenically unsaturated monomer, a photoinitiator, and radiation deflecting matter, the deflecting matter having a first index of refraction, and the rest of the composition having a second index of refraction, the absolute value of the difference between the first index of refraction and the second index of refraction being different than zero.
On the other hand, in the case of vector scanning only the areas corresponding to the shape of the rigid object have to be scanned, the amount of data to be stored is smaller the data can be manipulated more easily, and "more than 90% of the CAD based machines generate and utilize vector data" (Lasers & Optronics, January 1989, Vol. 8, No. 1, pg. 56). The main reason why laser vector scanning has not been utilized PG,4 extensively so far is the fact that, despite its advantages, it introduces problems related to the inertia of the optical members, such as mirrors, of the available deflection systems for the currently most convenient actinic radiation sources, such as lasers. Since these systems are electromechanical in nature, there is a finite acceleration involved in reaching any beam velocity. This unavoidable non-uniformity in velocity results in unacceptable thickness variations. Especially in the case of portions of layers having no immediate previous levels of exposure at the high intensity it becomes necessary to use high beam velocities, and therefore, longer acceleration times, which in turn result in thickness non-uniformity. The use of low intensity lasers does not provide a good solution since it makes production of a solid object excessively time consuming. In addition, the usefulness of vector scanning is further minimized unless at least the aforementioned depth and exposure level relationships are observed as evidenced under the Detailed Description of this invention.
No special attention has been paid so far to the composition itself by related art in the field of solid imaging, except in very general terms.
Thus, the compositions usually employed, present a number of different problems, a major one of which is excessive photohardening depthwise usually accompanied by inadequate photohardening widthwise. This problem becomes especially severe in cantilevered or other areas of the rigid object, which areas are not immediately over a substrate.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to resolve the problem cited above by incorporating radiation deflecting matter in the photohardenable composition in order to limit the depth of photohardening with simultaneous increase of the width of photohardening, so that the resolution is better balanced in all directions.
European Patent Application 250,121 (Scitex Corp., Ltd.) discloses a three-dimensional modelling apparatus using a solidifiable liquid which includes radiation transparent particles in order to reduce shrinkage.

Solid imaging method using multiphasic photohardenable compositions


A subsea well system has a flowline jumper that extends between components on the sea floor. The jumper has connectors on each end for connecting to the two components. At least a portion of the jumper is buoyant and sufficiently flexible to cause it to assume a vertical arcuate configuration when installed. One end of the jumper has a connector that has a mandrel that guides into a mating socket formed on the end of an arm. The arm is mounted to a ring that can be rotated to various orientations.

This invention relates in general to subsea well systems, and particularly to a flowline jumper extending from a subsea well to another subsea component which may be in the form of a manifold, flowline or daisy chain to another well.
One oil and gas production technique for offshore wells utilizes subsea Christmas trees. The tree locates on top of the wellhead housing and contains valves for controlling the production. The tree also normally will have a choke and may have various monitors and flow measuring devices. The tree has a production outlet that typically connects to another subsea component, such as a manifold, that may be some distance away, such as 50 meters to several kilometers. A flowline jumper connects the subsea tree to the other component.
The flowline jumpers between the various components on the sea floor are typically rigid steel pipes that are laid horizontally on the sea floor. Prior to installation of the jumpers, the distances between the components are measured or calculated. Then pipes are fabricated to the desired length and provided with couplings on the ends for connecting between two components.
If the measurements are not precisely made or the components moved from originally planned locations, new jumpers may need to be fabricated. The distance and the orientation between the various subsea components must be known in advance before the flowline jumpers can be fabricated because the lengths will be critical. Also, after installation, if one of the components needs to be retrieved or moved, it is a time-consuming task to disconnect the flowline jumper from the component.
In this invention, a flowline jumper is provided that has a length greater than the distance between the two components that it is intended to connect. The flowline jumper has first and second connectors on opposite ends that are connected to the two components. At least a portion of the flowline jumper is buoyant and sufficiently flexible to cause that portion of the flowline to assume an arcuate configuration located in a vertical plane. The excess length and arcuate configuration reduces the need for the length of the flowline jumper to be precise. Also, the orientation may be changed more readily.
Preferably, at least one of the connectors on the flowline jumper is vertical so that it will stab vertically into a mating receptacle on one of the subsea components. Both of the connectors may be vertical. Alternately, one of the connectors may be horizontal. If so, this results in a portion of the flowline jumper being horizontally oriented and the other portion being arcuate.
The production tree is mounted to a wellhead housing. In one embodiment, the wellhead housing has a ring that is mounted to its exterior, the ring being selectively rotatable relative to the wellhead housing. An arm extends from the ring, the arm having a vertical socket. With the assistance of a remote operated vehicle (ROV), the ring can be rotated to position the socket at various orientations. The flowline from the tree aligns with the arm. The flowline jumper has a connector with a mandrel that stabs into the socket to align the flowline connector with the tree coupling. Preferably, the connector and the mandrel are hinged for ease in installation.


A method is disclosed for prolonging the useful life of scale inhibitors injected within a formation. This method involves injecting aqueous solution of polyquaternary amines into the formation. This solution of polyquaternary amines can be injected either prior to or simultaneously with the injection of the scale inhibitors. The scale inhibitors are preferably non-polymeric scale inhibitors. Preferably, the polyquaternary amine is a poly(dimethylamine-co-epichlorohydrin) or a poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride).

Scale inhibitors are applied in production wells to prevent precipitation of water-borne deposits, such as barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, and calcium sulfate. Such precipitates can hinder fluid production by blocking the flow paths either inside the formation or at the perforations. Scale deposition also can appear in the tubing, slowing fluid production and damaging downhole equipment.
One common method of applying a scale inhibitor is the "squeeze process." The steps involved in the squeeze process include:
1. injecting the aqueous scale inhibitor solution (often a low percent inhibitor concentration), PA1 2. injecting an overflush brine solution to push the scale inhibitor several feet away from the wellbore, PA1 3. shutting-in the well for about a day to allow maximum retention of the inhibitor on the rock surfaces, and PA1 4. putting the well back on normal production. PA1 1. a short period of no inhibitor while the overflush is produced back; PA1 2. a rapid increase of inhibitor concentration for a short time, representing material not retained well in the formation; and PA1 3. a gradual decline of inhibitor concentration.
The produced water then slowly leaches the retained scale inhibitor from the formation. Ideally this places a low, but still effective, concentration (typically a low mg/l) of the scale inhibitor into the produced water to prevent scale deposition for many weeks or even months.
FIG. 1 illustrates the usual return scale inhibitor concentrations from a squeeze treatment. The response from such a treatment often shows:
This continues until the inhibitor concentration finally falls to the minimum effective concentration. The "squeeze lifetime" is the length of time to this point. Then the squeeze must be repeated.
The squeeze process is chemically inefficient. The inhibitor concentration is higher than necessary, particularly in the early stages, and a significant amount of the inhibitor often remains adsorbed inside the formation after the squeeze. Usually two-thirds of the injected scale inhibitor is wasted.
FIG. 1 also shows an ideal scale inhibitor return curve. Once the overflush is brought back, the inhibitor desorbs into the produced water such that the chemical concentration is just above the minimum effective level. This continues until all squeezed inhibitor is released from the formation. Such an ideal process would have a chemical efficiency of almost 100%, or equivalently, a longer squeeze life with the same amount of scale inhibitor.

Method for prolonging the useful life of scale inhibitors injected within a formation


An ultrasonic imaging microwave therapeutic apparatus includes a microwave radiation probe, a microwave generating unit, a laser generating unit, a color Doppler ultrasound imaging unit, and a microcomputer control unit. The microcomputer control unit outputs the microwave power control signal to control and adjust the power of the microwave generating unit. The microcomputer control unit outputs the laser control signal to control the switch-on/off of the laser generating unit. The advantages of using the therapeutic apparatus to treat the lower extremity varicose vein disease are as follows. The closure of the varicose vessel is accurate, firm, and thorough. The effect is definite. The traumas for patients are small. The pain of patients is light. The intraoperative bleeding is less. The recovery of patients is rapid. It is difficult to form deep vein thrombosis, can accurately treat the diseased blood vessel and simultaneously instantly verify the effect of the surgery.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a radiotherapy apparatus, and more particularly to a microwave radiation therapeutic apparatus which is adapted but not limited to treat the lower extremity varicose vein, and is especially adapted for treating the severe varicose vein with leg ulcer. Furthermore, it is also adapted for the treatment of the superficial hemangioma.
2. Description of Related Arts
The lower extremity varicose vein, which can be diagnosed and treated in vascular surgery, general surgery and TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) surgery, is also known as primary lower extremity venous insufficiency and belongs to lower extremity venous reflux disease. It has higher incidence and appears symptomatic lower extremity venous insufficiency in about 10-15% of adult males and 20-25% of adult females. Classified from anatomy, the lower extremity venous system consists of the superficial venous system, the deep venous system, and the communicating venous system. A variety of factors, which lead to venous valve insufficiency, weak venous wall and lasting elevated intravenous pressure of the above-mentioned systems, may be pathogenic, thus the pathological changes and clinical manifestations will appear. This disease mostly happens to the person engaged in prolonged standing and squatting work, and the person with high-intensity physical activity. However, pregnancy, chronic cough, long-term constipation and so on can also cause the lasting elevated intravenous pressure, thereby easily leading to the varicose vein symptoms. Moreover, about 70% patients with this disease have a genetic predisposition. The concrete manifestations are lower extremity meandering expansion and earthworm-like superficial varicose vein tortuosity, which are more obvious for calf than thigh, more obvious after standing, and will be reduced or disappear after lifting a leg. Simultaneously, affected limb soreness, pain, numbness and other abnormal sensations appear. In the early period of this disease, affected limb soreness, heaviness and hypodynamia appear, or even pain, which are obvious while standing and can be reduced after walking, in supine position or while elevating the limb. In the late period of this disease, due to congestion, skin nutritional disorders are commonly seen, thereby causing calf atrophoderma, desquamation, itching, pigmentation, the subcutaneous tissue of the skin induration, thrombus, phlebitis, eczema, and chronic ulcer (which is commonly known as "old rotten feet"). It is possible for refractory ulcer to have a carcinogenesis.
Currently, the domestic traditional treatment method is the surgical treatment which has been about more than 100 years of history. It mainly includes large (small) saphenous vein high ligation, communicating branch ligation, and large (small) saphenous vein and varicose vein stripping surgery. The surgery is mainly divided into three steps of high-ligating the large or small saphenous vein, stripping the varicose vein, and ligating and cutting off the perforating vein. Due to the shortcomings of more incisions, major traumas, heavy bleeding, slow recovery, relatively more postoperative complications, large infection probability, and large operative risk from the surgery, it is not easy for the patients to accept the surgery. Therefore, in recent years, the surgical treatment has been gradually replaced by the minimally invasive surgical treatment method. At present, the popular minimally invasive surgery at home and abroad mainly includes: transilluminated powered phlebectomy (TIPP), endo venous laser treatment (EVLT), endo venous radio frequency treatment and subfascial endoscopic perforator surgery (SEPS).
In 1998, it was firstly reported by Carlos et al. that applying the endo venous laser to treat the lower extremity varicose large saphenous vein. After 1999, it was successively reported the success experiences of applying the endo venous laser to treat the lower extremity varicose large saphenous vein by other scholars. In 2000, the endo venous laser treatment was firstly introduced to Shanghai of China. It has been proved, by Proebstle et al., that the mechanism of treating the lower extremity varicose large saphenous vein by EVLT is: under the thermal effect of the laser, the endovenous blood boils for generating the steam foam, so as to widely damage the vascular endothelial cell and intima for inducing the formation of venous throughout thrombosis and closing the vein, thereby achieving the therapeutic effect. The disadvantages of the existing minimal invasive surgery are as follows. (1) Due to different physical energy, the closure of the diseased blood vessel is not firm enough, the diseased blood vessel is relatively easy to recur, and the thrombus occurs. (2) The indications are limited, the existing minimal invasive surgery is adapted for lighter illness, and can not simultaneously treat the leg ulcer caused by perforating venous insufficiency. (3) The operation is tedious. (4) The laser machine is just a single machine without timely monitoring of color Doppler ultrasound, the treatment is blind, and the effect can not be timely detected. (5) The equipment is expensive.

Ultrasonic imaging microwave therapeutic apparatus

Beijing TransEasy Medical Tech Co., Ltd.


Recombinant plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) isoforms which lack the reactive center loop and contain the complete heparin-binding domain or lack at least a portion of the heparin-binding domain are described. The rPAI-1 isoforms disclosed herein may be used to modulate angiogenesis through blocking release of VEGF from a VEGF-heparin complex. Furthermore, the rPAI-1 proteins may be used to inhibit cell proliferation and migration, induce apoptosis, and produce proteolytic fragments corresponding to angiostatin kringles 1-3 and kringles 1-4. A truncated proteolytic plasmin protein of 34 kDa is also provided.

Angiogenesis is the formation of new capillary blood vessels as outgrowths of pre-existing vessels. The tightly regulated process plays a vital role in many physiological processes, such as embryogenesis, wound healing and menstruation. Angiogenesis is also important in certain pathological events. In addition to a role in solid tumor growth and metastasis, other notable conditions with an angiogenic component are arthritis, psoriasis and diabetic retinopathy (Hanahan and Folkman (1996) Cell 86:353-364; Fidler and Ellis (1994) Cell 79(2):185-188).
At the onset of angiogenesis, the quiescent endothelium is destabilized into migratory, proliferative endothelial cells. The angiogenic (activated) endothelium is maintained primarily by positive regulatory molecules. In the absence of such molecules, the endothelium remains in a differentiated, quiescent state that is maintained by negative regulatory molecules, angiogenesis inhibitors (Bouck (1990) Cancer Cells 2:179-185; Hanahan and Folkman (1996) supra). Normally, the negative and positive activities are balanced to maintain the vascular endothelium in quiescence (Hanahan and Folkman (1996) supra; Folkman and Klagsbrum (1987) Science 235:442-447). A shift in the balance of the positive and negative regulatory molecules can alter the differentiated state of the endothelium from the non-angiogenic, quiescent to the angiogenic state (Hanahan and Folkman (1996) supra). In the switch to pro-angiogenesis, the quiescent endothelial cells are stimulated to migrate toward a chemotactic stimulus, lining up in a tube (sprout) formation (Folkman and Klagsbrum (1987) supra). These cells also secrete proteolytic enzymes that degrade the endothelial basement membrane, thus allowing the migrating endothelial cells to extend into the perivascular stroma to begin a new capillary sprout. The angiogenic process is characterized by increased proliferation of endothelial cells to form the extending capillary (Folkman and Klagsbrum (1987) supra; Moses, et al. (1995) Int. Rev. Cytol. 161:1-48; Martiny-Baron and Marme (1995) Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 6:675-680; Liotta, et al. (1991) Cell 64:327-336).
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a mitogenic factor that stimulates pro-angiogenic properties, including endothelial cell migration and proliferation. VEGF induces the expression of plasminogen activator proteolytic pathway proteins that participate in cellular invasive and remodeling processes (Pepper, et al. (1991) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 181:902-906; Mandriota, et al. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270:9709-9716; Mignatti, et al. (1989) J. Cell. Biol. 108:671-682). VEGF-A RNA can undergo alternative splicing to produce four isoforms (Leung, et al. (1989) Science 246:1306-1309; Houck, et al. (1991) Mol. Endocriniology 5:1806-1814; Tischer, et al. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 26611947-22954). Three of those isoforms, VEGF-A165,189,206, bind to heparin. Pro-VEGF affinity for heparin appears to be important in the regulation of the availability of VEGF at the cell surface (Houck, et al. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267:26031-26037), where it can interact with its tyrosine kinase receptors to exert its activity (Gitay-Goren, et al. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267:6093-6098). VEGF-A can be released from heparin in an inactive or active form (Ortega, et al. (1998) Biol. Cell 90:381-390). Plasmin and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) cleaves pro-VEGF into an active form of varied sizes depending upon the isoform and the activator molecule (Plouet, et al. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272:13390-13396).
There are naturally occurring molecules that serve as negative regulators of angiogenesis. Angiostatin, one such negative regulator, is a 38-45 kDa cleavage product of plasminogen, containing kringle domains 1-4 (K1-4) (O'Reilly, et al. (1994) Cell 79:315-328; O'Reilly, et al. (1996) Nat. Med. 2:689-692). Plasminogen, the precursor of plasmin, is activated when it is cleaved at the carboxy-terminus by plasminogen activators. The amino terminus contains five consecutive kringle domains, each approximately 9 kDa. The greatest inhibitory activity of angiostatin is contained within kringles 1-3 (Cao, et al. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271:29461-29467) and kringles 1-5 (Cao (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 6:5728-5733). The mechanism for angiostatin inhibition of endothelial cell growth in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo is unclear.
Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a serpin family, serine protease inhibitor, is a multifunctional regulatory protein in the plasminogen activator proteolytic (Chapman, et al. (1982) Cell 28:653-662; Chapman (1997) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 9:714-724) and fibrinolytic pathways (Loskutoff and Curriden (1990) Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 598:238-247; Collen (1999) Thromb. Haemost. 82:258-270). Active PAI-1 (vitronectin-bound) inhibits proteolytic degradation of the extracellular matrix by inhibiting uPA/tPA, which in turn inhibits cell migration and invasion (Blasi (1999) Thromb. Haemost. 82:298-304). PAI-1 can exist in an active, inactive/latent or substrate-cleaved conformation (Lawrence, et al. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272:7676-7680; Debrock and Declerck (1998) Thromb. Haemost. 79:597-601). The PAI-1 reactive center loop (RCL), located at amino acids 320-351 (Schechter and Berger (1967) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 27:157-162; Laskowski and Kato (1980) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 49:593-626), initially interacts with uPA at Arg-346 (Lawrence, et al. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269:27657-27662; Tucker and Gerard (1996) Eur. J. Biochem. 237:180-187) to form a stable PAI-1/uPA complex to inactivate uPA (York, et al. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266:8495-8500). In the active/latent configuration of PAI-1 (not bound to vitronectin), the RCL spontaneously inserts into the β-sheet of strand 4a to stabilize the PAI-1 structure (Mottonen, et al. (1992) Nature 355:270-273; Egelund, et al. (1997) Eur. J. Biochem. 248:775-785; Kjoller, et al. (1996) Eur. J. Biochem. 241:38-46). It has been shown that when PAI-1 is cleaved between residues P and P′ in the RCL, PAI-1 is converted to a substrate (Lawrence, et al. (1997) supra; Debrock and Declerck (1998) supra). In the cleaved conformation, the RCL is partially inserted into β-sheet of strand A, thus making the structure of cleaved and inactive PAI-1 more similar to each other than to active PAI-1. However, it has been demonstrated that there are distinct conformational differences between latent and cleaved PAI-1 (Sancho (1995) Biochemistry 34:1064-1069). The PAI-1 region distant from the RCL contains many binding domains for regulatory molecules involved in the proteolytic and fibrinolytic pathways. This region of PAI-1 has interactive sites for vitronectin (Lawrence, et al. (1994) supra; Padmanabhan and Sane (1995) Thromb. Haemost. 73:829-834; Van Meijer, et al. (1994) FEBS Lett. 352:342-346; Seiffert, et al. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269:2659-2666), heparin (Ehrlich, et al. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267:11606-11611), tPA, uPA (Keijer, et al. (1991) Blood 78:401-409; Reilly and Hutzelmann (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267:17128-17135), thrombin (Ehrlich, et al. (1992) supra), and fibrin (Ehrlich, et al. (1992) supra; Reilly and Hutzelmann (1992) supra). Through its interactions with some of the same regulatory molecules in the proteolytic and fibrinolytic pathways, it has been demonstrated that PAI-1 (active and inactive) is also able to play a role in anti-angiogenic mechanisms (Mulligan-Kehoe, et al. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276:8588-8596; Schnaper, et al. (1995) J. Cell Physiol. 165:107-118; Stefansson, et al. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276:8135-8141).
A recent report demonstrates that when a truncated porcine PAI-1 protein rPAI-123, is incubated with plasminogen and uPA, it induces formation of an angiostatin-like protein that has proteolytic activity (Mulligan-Kehoe, et al. (2001) supra). In this reaction, angiostatin is formed from cleaved plasmin. uPA enhances the formation of the angiostatin-like protein by increasing the amount of available plasmin. The proteolytic activity of the 36 kDa angiostatin is ultimately inhibited by increasing amounts of rPAI-123 that are available for binding uPA and/or plasminogen. In this second mechanism, rPAI-123 reduces the numbers of uPA/plasminogen interactions; thus, reducing the amount of plasmin produced. Cultured endothelial cells exposed to rPAI-123 exhibit a decrease in proliferation, increased apoptosis, and decreased migration in the presence of VEGF. This truncated PAI-1 appears to be exposing sites that participate in a functional role for PAI-1 in generating angiostatin fragments from plasmin.
Previously, zymographic analysis demonstrated the importance of rPAI-123 interactions with uPA, plasminogen, and plasmin that result in angiostatin formation. Furthermore, it has been shown that rPAI-123 blocks migration of VEGF-stimulated endothelial cells (Mulligan-Kehoe, et al. (2001) supra).
Anti-angiogenic tumor treatment strategies are based upon inhibiting the proliferation of budding vessels, generally at the periphery of a solid tumor. These therapies are often applied to reduce the risk of micrometastasis or to inhibit further growth of a solid tumor after more conventional intervention (such as surgery or chemotherapy).
The recognition of VEGF as a primary stimulus of angiogenesis in pathological conditions has led to various attempts to block VEGF activity. Inhibitory anti-VEGF receptor antibodies, soluble receptor constructs, antisense strategies, RNA aptamers against VEGF and low molecular weight VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitors have all been proposed for use in interfering with VEGF signaling (Siemeister et al. (1998) Cancer Metastasis Rev., 17(2):241-248). Monoclonal antibodies against VEGF have been shown to inhibit human tumor xenograft growth and ascites formation in mice (Kim, et al. (1993) Nature 362:841-844; Asano, et al. (1998) Hybridoma 17:185-90; Mesiano, et al. (1998) Am. J. Pathol. 153(4):1249-1256; Luo, et al. (1998) Cancer Res. 58(12):2594-2600; Borgstrom, et al. (1996) Prostate 35(1):1-10; Borgstrom, et al. (1998) Anticancer Research 19(5B):4203-11). Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 6,342,221 to Thorpe, et al. discloses the use of anti-VEGF antibodies to specifically inhibit VEGF binding to the VEGFR-2 receptor.
Regulation of angiogenesis by PAI proteins has also been discussed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,880 to Sedlacek, et al. discloses the expression of PAI-1, PAI-2, PAI-3 and angiostatin through a gene therapy approach to inhibit angiogenesis. Furthermore, RCL mutants (residues 331-346) of PAI-1 have been disclosed in PCT Publication No. WO 97/39028 which are resistant to elastase inactivation and/or have a high affinity for vitronectin.


A method and apparatus for making cylindrical glass preforms with convex, optical quality convex end surfaces is taught. A glass ball preform is placed on a heated lower platen. The temperature of the glass ball preform is raised to a temperature above the glass transition temperature of the glass ball preform. The glass ball preform is engaged with an upper platen. At least one of the upper platen and the lower platen is moved vertically to cause the gap between the upper platen and the lower platen to narrow to a predetermined dimension. Simultaneously, at least one of the upper platen and the lower platen is moved horizontally relative to the other platen to cause the glass ball preform to roll between the upper platen and the lower platen and form a cylindrical preform having a predetermined diameter, the cylindrical preform having convex, optical quality end surfaces.

This invention relates generally to the fabrication of glass preforms to be used in the molding of glass optics, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for making cylindrical glass preforms having optical quality convex ends from glass ball preforms.
Various methods and apparatus for the compression molding of glass optical elements are known in the prior art. With these methods and apparatus, optical element preforms sometimes referred to as gobs are compression molded at high temperatures to form glass lens elements. The basic process and apparatus for molding glass elements is taught in a series of patents assigned to Eastman Kodak Company. Such patents are U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,347 to Engleet al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,677 to Blair et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,961 to Blair. These patents disclose a variety of suitable materials for construction of mold inserts used to form the optical surfaces in the molded optical glass elements. Those suitable materials for the construction of the molds include glasslike or vitreous carbon, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and a mixture of silicon carbide and carbon. In the practice of the process described in such patents, a glass preform or gob is inserted into a mold cavity with the mold being formed out of one of the above mentioned materials. The molds reside within a chamber in which is maintained a non-oxidizing atmosphere during the molding process. The preform is then heat softened by increasing the temperature of the mold to thereby bring the preform up to a viscosity ranging from 107-109 poise for the particular type of glass from which the preform has been made. Pressure is then applied to force the preform to conform to the shape of the mold cavity. The mold and preform are then allowed to cool below the glass transition temperature of the glass. The pressure on the mold is then relieved and the temperature is lowered further so that the finished molded lens can be removed from the mold.
Because the molding of glass optical elements is done by compression rather than injection (as is utilized in plastic molding) a precursor metered amount of glass, generally referred to as a preform, is required. There are two fundamental shapes of preforms required which generally parallel the fundamental finished lens shapes. For negative lenses (negative refers to a concave optical surface) plano-plano preforms usually will be sufficient. These can be fabricated in high volume relatively inexpensively by grinding and polishing. For positive lenses (positive refers to a convex optical surface) a ball (sphere) or ball-like lump of glass is needed.
Traditionally in molding glass lenses, the outside diameter of a glass-molded lens is not constrained. A glass preform is placed on the lower mold. The mold is heated until the glass is soft, and the two molds are pressed together. Any excess glass material is allowed to freely flow beyond the desired diameter of the lens. The mold is then cooled and the molds are separated to produce a finished molded lens. The variation in the outside diameter from lens to lens is proportional to the variation in the volume of the preforms that are used to mold the lenses. To produce finished molded lenses with very tight tolerances on the outside diameter requires very tight control of the preform volume.
When molding precision glass lenses, preforms are often used which approximate the size and shape of the finished product. Since precision lens molding is typically performed while the glass is yet somewhat rigid, any imperfections found on the preforms become magnified during molding as the surface area of the glass is increased. These preforms can become quite expensive to manufacture since the surfaces that are eventually used for imaging must be polished to optical quality in order to produce superior finished products. In the case of positive lens surfaces, which are characterized by a convex lens surface and a concave mold surface, hemispherical ended preforms are often used to approximate the shape of the convex spheric or aspheric lens surface and to reduce the amount of glass flow during the molding cycle. Glass flow is intentionally minimized in order to reduce cycle time, reduce internal and surface stress in the material, and limit the creation of cosmetic surface flaws in the final part.
In a production level glass lens molding process, it is advantageous to use preforms that are symmetric in shape, since part orientation will then be eliminated from the handling process when loading the mold assembly. If notable differences are found between the optic forming surfaces of the preform, the preform is considered to possess a low degree of symmetry and the final lens may not be producible within acceptable tolerance specifications. Therefore, in many cases, the production of high quality preform surfaces is the primary contributor to final lens cost.
There are many applications where it is desirable to mold a glass optical lens such that the outside diameter of the lens is concentric with the optical axis of the lens. The deviation of the distance from the outer radial surface of a lens to the optical axis of the lens is called runout. If the lens is later assembled in a barrel, it is desirable to have the runout minimized such that the optical axis of the lens is colinear with the axis of the barrel. Traditionally, lenses used for imaging purposes (cameras, telescopes, etc.) were designed such that their diameter was much greater than their center thickness. High aspect ratio parts such as these were easy to handle and to mount in a variety of subassemblies.
However, the emergence of fiber optic telecommunications, as well as the micro lens market, has created a need for lenses with very low aspect ratios. The ability to control the outside diameter and runout is especially useful when the shape of the lens is cylindrical (with an aspect ratio  less than 1) or, when the diameter of the lens is less than about 2 mm. It is particularly difficult to precisely grind the outside diameter of a lens with a diameter of less than about 2 mm. These small cylindrically shaped lenses are particularly useful as collimator lenses of the type used in fiber optic transmission. Lenses of this geometry cannot easily be made from spherical preforms, and so another low cost method of preform manufacture is required for these lenses to be made economically. The shape that most closely resembles the final lens is that of a right, circular cylinder with spherical ends which, in turn, minimizes glass flow.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for forming cylindrical glass preforms with convex optical quality ends or end surfaces for later use in molding glass optical elements therefrom.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for forming cylindrical glass preforms from generally spherical or ball glass preforms.
Briefly stated, the foregoing and numerous other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon a review of the detailed description, claims and drawings set forth herein. These features, objects and advantages are accomplished by rolling a generally spherical glass or ball preform of a suitable volume that has been heated to yield a viscosity of between 104 and 108 poise between substantially parallel platens. The generally spherical glass preforms can be economically produced with very accurate volume control by traditional grinding and polishing methods, or by any other of the numerous and well established methods of glass ball formation. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,723 to Gearing et al. Therefore, the final preforms produced from these balls will also have precise glass volume control. In the practice of the present invention, a generally spherical or ball preform is placed in a heated venturi. A flow of nitrogen gas suspends the glass preform so that it does not contact the sides of the venturi, since the highly polished optical quality surface of the preform may be negatively affected by contact with the surfaces of the venturi. Once the glass ball preform is heated to achieve the required viscosity (104-108 poise) for rolling, the nitrogen gas flow is interrupted, allowing the glass ball preform to drop onto a lower platen that is pre-heated to a level near that of the glass transition temperature. The temperature of the platen should be maintained to a level within approximately 30xc2x0 C. above the glass transition temperature (Tg). This value will vary depending on the viscosity characteristics of the glass. A xe2x80x9cshortxe2x80x9d glass will require closer monitoring, while a xe2x80x9clongxe2x80x9d glass will be easier to control. Once the glass ball preform is on the lower platen of the rolling chamber, the lower platen (which may or may not be moving horizontally when the glass ball preform is dropped thereon) is indexed horizontally to an initial rolling horizontal position. Once in the initial rolling position, the lower platen is indexed to an initial rolling vertical position (setting a predetermined gap between the upper platen and the lower platen) where the preform is engaged by the preferably stationary upper platen. From this position, the lower platen is moved horizontally which causes the glass ball preform to roll relative to the upper platen. As the lower platen is moved horizontally it is also gradually raised to thereby narrow the gap between the upper and lower platen. In this manner, as the glass preform is rolled between the upper platen and the lower platen, it is gradually subjected to a compressing force. The rolling action, in combination with the compressing force, causes the glass ball preform to be reshaped into a cylindrical body with convex ends. Once a predetermined final diameter for the cylindrical preform has been achieved, the vertical movement of the lower platen is halted. In other words, the upward movement of the lower platen stops when a predetermined final gap between the upper platen and the lower platen is reached. It is this predetermined final gap that determines the final diameter for the cylindrical preform. Once the final cylindrical diameter of the cylindrical preform is achieved, preferably, as the cylindrical glass preform traverses the lower platen, it is exposed to a decreasing temperature gradient that serves to raise the viscosity of the preform to a stage above its Tg value. The result is a cylindrical glass preform having convex ends. The surfaces of the convex ends will not have been contacted by the platens and, as such, the surfaces of the convex ends will retain their optical quality. Such convex ends should be generally spherical, but may be aspherical, as a result of the actual shape of the glass ball preform used, or as a result of some minor deformation during the rolling process. However, in either case, the convex ends will be convex and substantially symmetrical. The cylindrical preform is then removed from the lower platen. Preferably, removal is accomplished by continuing to move the platen until the finished cylindrical preform with convex ends or end surfaces is automatically rolled off the end of the lower platen and into a receiving container. The platens then return to their home positions in preparation to accept the next heated glass ball preform.
The platen surfaces are fabricated and/or coated with a ceramic or refractory material that resists glass wetting and is amenable to working hot glass (such as boron nitride, graphite, vitreous carbon, or any noble metal such as platinum or gold). Based on the temperatures and the tool materials, an inert gas purge may be required to prevent tool surface degradation.
In another version, the glass ball preforms may be hot gobbed directly onto the lower platen, thereby eliminating the need for a heated venturi.
Those skilled in the art will understand that although the glass ball preforms used in the present invention are described as being generally spherical, such glass ball preforms will rarely, if ever be truly spherical, particularly if formed by hot gobbing. Similarly, the cylindrical glass preforms formed with the method of the present invention, although described herein as having generally spherical ends or end surfaces, will rarely, if ever have truly spherical ends or end surfaces. Thus, the term xe2x80x9cgenerally sphericalxe2x80x9d as used herein is intended to mean ball shaped or ball-like.


A system includes a particulate removal system configured to remove particulates from a syngas to generate a treated syngas and a particulate flow. The particulate removal system includes a shell. The shell includes a syngas inlet configured to receive the syngas, a syngas outlet configured to discharge the treated syngas, and a particulate outlet configured to discharge the particulate flow. The particulate removal system also includes a particulate collection surface disposed in the shell and configured to adhere the particulates from the syngas to the particulate collection surface as the particulate collection surface rotates toward the syngas and to separate the particulates from the particulate collection surface as the particulate collection surface rotates away from the syngas.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to syngas systems, and, more particularly, to syngas treatment systems.
Gasifiers convert carbonaceous materials into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, referred to as synthesis gas or syngas, through the partial oxidation of a fuel, such as coal, natural gas, heavy fuels, and so forth, with oxygen or air. The syngas may be used for power generation (e.g., using integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology), chemical production, or any other suitable application. Unfortunately, the produced syngas may include ash, solids, and other particulate matter that may interfere with the operation of downstream equipment.


Computing device, computer instructions and method for deghosting seismic data related to a subsurface of a body of water. The method includes receiving seismic data recorded by seismic receivers that are towed by a vessel, wherein the seismic data is recorded in a time-space domain and the seismic receivers are located at different depths (zr) in the body of water; modeling the seismic data in a shot or common midpoint domain as a function of linear operators that re-ghost the receiver to derive a model; using the derived model to remove the receiver ghost from the seismic data to obtain deghosted seismic data; and generating a final image of the subsurface based on the deghosted seismic data.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein generally relate to methods and systems and, more particularly, to mechanisms and techniques for deghosting seismic data collected with one or more streamers having variable depths.
2. Discussion of the Background
During the past years, interest in developing new oil and gas production fields has dramatically increased. However, the availability of land-based production fields is limited. Thus, the industry has now extended drilling to offshore locations, which appear to hold a vast amount of fossil fuel. Offshore drilling is an expensive process. Thus, those engaged in such a costly undertaking invest substantially in geophysical surveys in order to more accurately decide where to drill or not (to avoid a dry well).
Marine seismic data acquisition and processing generate a profile (image) of the geophysical structure (subsurface) under the seafloor. While this profile does not provide an accurate location for oil and gas, it suggests, to those trained in the field, the presence or absence of oil and/or gas. Thus, providing a high-resolution image of the subsurface is an ongoing process for the exploration of natural resources, including, among others, oil and/or gas.
During a seismic gathering process, as shown in FIG. 1, a vessel 10 tows plural detectors 12. The plural detectors 12 are disposed along a cable 14. Cable 14 together with its corresponding detectors 12 are sometimes referred to, by those skilled in the art, as a streamer 16. The vessel 10 may tow plural streamers 16 at the same time. The streamers may be disposed horizontally, i.e., lying at a constant depth z1 relative to the surface 18 of the ocean. Also, the plural streamers 16 may form a constant angle (i.e., the streamers may be slanted) with respect to the surface of the ocean as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,992, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIG. 2 shows such a configuration in which all the detectors 12 are distributed along a slanted straight line 14 that makes a constant angle α with a reference horizontal line 30.
With reference to FIG. 1, the vessel 10 also tows a sound source 20 configured to generate an acoustic wave 22a. The acoustic wave 22a propagates downward and penetrates the seafloor 24, eventually being reflected by a reflecting structure 26 (reflector R). The reflected acoustic wave 22b propagates upward and is detected by detector 12. For simplicity, FIG. 1 shows only two paths 22a corresponding to the acoustic wave. However, the acoustic wave emitted by the source 20 may be substantially a spherical wave, e.g., it propagates in all directions starting from the source 20. Parts of the reflected acoustic wave 22b (primary) are recorded by the various detectors 12 (the recorded signals are called traces) while parts of the reflected wave 22c pass the detectors 12 and arrive at the water surface 18. Since the interface between the water and air is well approximated as a quasi-perfect reflector (i.e., the water surface acts as a mirror for the acoustic waves), the reflected wave 22c is reflected back toward the detector 12 as shown by wave 22d in FIG. 1. Wave 22d is normally referred to as a ghost wave because this wave is due to a spurious reflection. The ghosts are also recorded by the detector 12, but with a reverse polarity and a time lag relative to the primary wave 22b. The degenerative effect that the ghost arrival has on seismic bandwidth and resolution is known. In essence, interference between primary and ghost arrivals causes notches, or gaps, in the frequency content recorded by the detectors.
The traces may be used to determine the subsurface (i.e., earth structure below surface 24) and to determine the position and presence of reflectors 26. However, the ghosts disturb the accuracy of the final image of the subsurface and, for at least this reason, various methods exist for removing the ghosts, i.e., deghosting, from the results of a seismic analysis.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,353,121 and 4,992,992, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe processing procedures that allow ghosts to be removed from recorded seismic data by using an acquisition device that includes a seismic streamer slanted at an angle (on the order of 2 degrees) to the surface of the water (slanted streamer).
Using slanted streamers, it is possible to achieve ghost suppression during the data summation operation (during pre-stack operations). In fact, the acquired data is redundant, and the processing procedure includes a summation step or "stacking" for obtaining the final image of the subsurface structure from the redundant data. Ghost suppression is performed in the art during the stacking step because the recordings that contribute to the stack, having been recorded by different receivers, have notches at different frequencies, such that the information that is missing due to the presence of a notch on one seismic receiver is obtained from another receiver.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,121 describes a seismic data processing procedure based on the following known steps: (1) common depth point collection, (2) one-dimensional (1D) extrapolation onto a horizontal surface, or "datuming," (3) Normal MoveOut (NMO) correction, and (4) summation or stack.
Datuming is a processing procedure in which data from N seismic detectors Dn (with positions (xn, zn), where n=1, . . . N and N is a natural number, xi=xj but zi is different from zj with i and j taking values between 1 and N), is used to synthesize data corresponding to seismic detectors that have the same horizontal positions xn and the same constant reference depth z0 for all the seismic detectors.
Datuming is called 1D if it is assumed that the seismic waves propagate vertically. In that case, the procedure includes applying to each time-domain recording acquired by a given seismic detector a delay or a static shift corresponding to the vertical propagation time between the true depth zn of a detector Dn and the reference depth z0.
Similar to U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,121, U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,992 proposes to reconstitute from seismic data recorded with a slanted cable seismic data as would have been recorded by a horizontal cable. However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,992 takes into account the non-vertical propagation of the seismic waves by replacing the 1D datuming step of U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,121 with a 2D datuming step. The 2D datuming step takes into account the fact that the propagation of the waves is not necessarily vertical, unlike what is assumed to be the case in the 1D datuming step proposed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,121.
The methods described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,353,121 and 4,992,992 are seismic processing procedures in one dimension and in two dimensions. Such procedures, however, cannot be generalized to three dimensions. This is so because a sampling interval of the sensors in the third dimension is given by the separation between the streamers, on the order of 150 m, which is much larger than the sampling interval of the sensors along the streamers, which is on the order of 12.5 m. Also, existing procedures may apply a deghosting step at the beginning of the processing, which is not always very efficient.
Thus, the above-discussed methods are not appropriate for seismic data collected with streamers having a curved profile as illustrated in FIG. 3. Such configuration has a streamer 52 with a curved profile defined by three parametric quantities, z0, s0 and hc. It is noted that not the entire streamer has to have the curved profile. The first parameter z0 indicates the depth of the first detector 54a relative to the surface 58 of the water. The second parameter s0 is related to the slope of the initial part of the streamer 52 relative to a horizontal line 64. The example shown in FIG. 3 has the initial slope s0 equal to substantially 3 percent. It is noted that the profile of the streamer 52 in FIG. 3 is not drawn to scale because a slope of 3 percent is a relatively small quantity. The third parameter hc indicates a horizontal length (distance along the X axis in FIG. 3 measured from the first detector 54a) of the curved portion of the streamer. This parameter may be in the range of hundreds to thousands of meters.
For such streamers, a deghosting process has been disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/272,428 (herein '428) authored by R Soubaras, the entire content of which is incorporated herein. According to '428, a method for deghosting uses joint deconvolution for migration and mirror migration images for generating a final image of a subsurface. The deghosting is performed at the end of the processing (during an imaging phase) and not at the beginning as with traditional methods. Further, '428 discloses that no datuming step is performed on the data.
However, the existing methods need a velocity field in order to achieve the deghosting. Thus, if there is a case in which the velocity field is not available, there is a need for a method that is capable, particularly for pre-processing steps such as velocity picking or demultiple, to deghost the data without knowledge of the velocity field. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods that have such capabilities.

Device and method for deghosting variable depth streamer data


A sampled data interpolator includes a linear interpolator coupled in parallel with a nonlinear compensation signal path. The nonlinearly processed signals and the linearly interpolated signals are summed to produce interpolated samples. The nonlinear compensation signal path includes a finite impulse response filter having tap weights conforming to a sinc function, and a weighting circuit for scaling filtered samples by a normalized sinc function.

In video signal expansion and compression systems it is desired to perform a time scaling of discrete-time signals. However, in order to realize a general scaling of the discrete-time axis for the transformation y(m)=x(.alpha..multidot.m), a major problem arises; the input signal x(.alpha..multidot.m) is undefined for non-integral values of its index (.alpha..multidot.m). Interpolation is the solution to this problem. When the output requires a sample of the input at a time index with an undefined input value, an interpolated value must be supplied. A large body of literature exists on the topic of interpolation, but several points are worth noting: (a) interpolation which uses a large number of input samples weighted with a sin (x)/x function provides accurate results but is costly to implement for consumer apparatus; (b) sample-and-hold interpolation is the easiest to implement but has generally poor performance; (c) linear interpolation is relatively easy to implement and provides superior performance to the sample-and-hold technique, but exhibits increasing attenuation with increasing signal frequency; and (d) higher order interpolation provides superior performance to linear interpolation but exhibits nonlinearities.
T. J. Christopher in U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,414 described a relatively non-complex interpolator which exhibits relatively accurate performance and which is realized with a parallel combination of a two-point linear interpolator and a phase compensation filter. The compensation filter has a transfer function H.sub.(z) given by EQU H.sub.(z) =-1+z.sup.-1 +z.sup.-2 -z.sup.-3) (1)
where z is the conventional "z" transform variable and the exponents thereof correspond to the number of sample intervals. It should be noted that the weighting coefficients are either plus or minus one. The amplitude characteristic of the filter A(.phi.) is given by EQU A(.PHI.)=2 cos (.PHI./2)-2 cos (3.PHI./2) (2)
where .PHI. represents frequency in radians per second.
The compensation filter is cascaded with a gain element programmed with estimated gain values corresponding to the possible positions at which the system is designed to produce interpolated values. These gain values are derived by calculating the response error at a particular signal frequency. Since these gain values are not a function of frequency the response of the Christopher system contains residual errors.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a relatively simple interpolation circuit, which has a substantially accurate response characteristic for all signal frequencies up to the Nyquist sampling limit of the system.


A superheterodyne receiver comprises a variable frequency oscillator of PLL (phase-locked loop) type for implementing a first local oscillator and a variable frequency oscillator not of PLL type for implementing a second local oscillator. At least the frequency of a first locally generated signal is varied at reception to vary a received frequency, the frequency of the first locally generated signal is set at frequency calibration to a level equal to the frequency of a first intermediate-frequency signal, the second intermediate-frequency signal is frequency-converted by a BFO signal to a signal having a frequency of voice band, and the frequency of a second locally generated signal is calibrated to set the frequency of the frequency-converted signal to a specified level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a superheterodyne receiver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some receivers based on double superheterodyne reception are known to vary both first and second locally generated frequencies for tuning in to stations.
One of these double superheterodyne receivers will be described for example by referring to FIG. 1. In this example, the following frequencies have the following corresponding values:
Received frequency f11=150 kHz to 30 MHz (approximately) PA1 First intermediate frequency f13=55.845 MHz PA1 Second intermediate frequency f15=455 kHz
A first locally generated frequency is varied in steps of 1 kHz, while a second locally generated frequency is varied in steps of 100 Hz to vary the received frequency f11 in steps of 100 Hz.
More particularly, a received signal S11 is supplied from an antenna 11 to a first mixer 13 through a high-frequency amplifier 12. At the same time, a first locally generated signal S31 is supplied from a first local oscillator 31 to the mixer 13. A frequency f31 of the locally generated signal S31 relative to the received signal f11 is as follows: EQU f31=f11+f13 (1)
therefore, EQU f31=(150 kHz+55.845 MHz) to (30 MHz+55.845 MHz) (2)
where the frequency f31 varies in steps of 1 kHz.
Thus, the received signal S11 is frequency-converted by the first locally generated signal S31 to a first intermediate-frequency signal S13 (the intermediate frequency f13) in the mixer 13.
The resultant signal S13 is then supplied through a first intermediate-frequency amplifier 14 to a second mixer 15. At the same time, a second locally generated signal or beat-frequency oscillator signal S41 is supplied from a second local oscillator 41 to the second mixer 15. In this case, a frequency f41 of the locally generated signal S41 is as follows relative to the received frequency f11: EQU f41=f13-f15 EQU =f31-f11-f15 (3)
therefore, EQU f41=(55.39 MHz+0.5 kHz) to (55.39 MHz-0.4 kHz) (4)
where the frequency f41 varies in steps of 100 Hz.
Thus, the first intermediate-frequency signal S13 is frequency-converted by the second locally generated signal S41 to a second intermediate-frequency signal S15 (the intermediate frequency f15) in the mixer 15.
The resultant signal S15 is then supplied through a second intermediate-frequency amplifier 16 to an AM detector 17 where an audio signal is demodulated to be sent through a switch circuit 18 to a terminal 19.
When receiving an SSB signal, the intermediate-frequency signal S15 is partially taken from the second intermediate-frequency amplifier 16 to be supplied to a balanced mixer 21. At the same time, a BFO signal S22 having a frequency f22 of 453 kHz for example is taken from a BFO 22 to be supplied to the balanced mixer 21.
Consequently, an audio signal demodulated from the SSB signal is taken from the mixer 21 and, upon reception of the SSB signal, supplied through the switch circuit 18 to the terminal 19.
According to the above constitution, the received frequency f11 is as follows from the equation (3): EQU f11=f31-f41-f15 (5)
Since the frequencies f31 and f41 vary, relative to the received frequency f11, inside the respective ranges given by the equations (2) and (4), the received frequency f11, when f31=150 kHz+55.845 MHz and f41=55.39 MHz+0.5 kHz for example, is f31-f41 -f15=(150 kHz+55.845 MHz)-(55.39 MHz+0.5 kHz)-455 kHz=150 kHz-0.5 kHz.
When f31=30 MHz+55.845 MHz and f41=55.39 MHz-0.4 kHz for example, the received frequency f11=f31-f41-f15=(30 MHz+55.845 MHz)-(55.39 MHz-0.4 kHz)-455 kHz=30 MHz+0.4 kHz. Therefore, the receiving band is approximately 150 kHz to 30 MHz.
According to the equation (5), varying the first locally generated frequency f31 in steps of 1 kHz with the second locally generated frequency f41 being kept constant varies the received frequency f11 in steps of 1 kHz, while varying the second locally generated frequency f41 in steps of 100 Hz with the first locally generated frequency f31 being kept constant varies the received frequency in steps of 100 Hz.
Therefore, respectively varying the first locally generated frequency f31 and the second locally generated frequency f41 varies the received frequency f11 within the receiving band of 150 kHz to 30 MHz in steps of 100 Hz.
As shown in the equation (5), the received frequency f11 of the double superheterodyne receiver of this example is determined by both the first locally generated frequency f31 and the second locally generated frequency f41. Therefore, the first locally generated frequency f31 and the second locally generated frequency f41 must be accurate enough and be able to vary in accordance with the received frequency f11.
To implement this accuracy and ability to vary the frequency, conventional double superheterodyne receivers including the one mentioned above constitute the local oscillators 31 and 41 with a phase-locked loop (PLL) each.
However, since the PLL is expensive, implementing the local oscillators 31 and 41 with PLL's makes receivers expensive.
Even if local oscillators 31 and 41 are constituted with PLL's, the errors and/or fluctuations in the locally generated frequencies f31 and f41 cannot be fully eliminated. And even if they are negligible for the individual frequencies, these errors and/or fluctuations are compounded as shown in the equation (5) to an extent at which the resultant errors and/or fluctuations may not be ignored any more. It is therefore required to arrange the two PLL's so that the errors and/or fluctuations in the locally generated frequencies f31 and f41 if any are canceled in the equation (5), which also results in a costly receiver.
The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems.
Now, when the locally generated frequency f31 of the local oscillator 31 is made equal to the first intermediate frequency f13, the resultant locally generated signal S31 is supplied through the mixer 13 and the intermediate-frequency amplifier 14 to the mixer 15.
Since the locally generated signal S41 is present at the mixer 15, the locally generated signal S31 supplied to the mixer 15 is frequency-converted by the locally generated signal S41 to the intermediate-frequency signal S15 having the frequency f15 obtained as f15=f31-f41=f13-f41. The resultant signal S15 is supplied through the intermediate-frequency amplifier 16 to the mixer 21.
At the mixer 21, the signal S15 supplied to it is beaten down by the BFO signal S22 (frequency f22), so that a signal S21 having a frequency f21 obtained as f21=f15-f22=f13-f41-f22 is taken from the mixer 21. For example, if the frequency f41 of the locally generated signal f41=(55.39 MHz+0.5 kHz), then f21=55.845 MHz-(55.39 MHz+0.5 kHz)-453 kHz =1.5 kHz; if f41=55.39 MHz, then f21=55.846 MHz -55.39 MHz-453 kHz=2 kHz; and if f41=(55.39 MHz -0.4 kHz), then f21=55.845 MHz-(55.39 MHz-0.4 kHz) -453 kHz=2.4 kHz. That is, if value n is an integer between -5 and +4 inclusive and f41=(55.39 MHz-n.times.0.1 kHz), then f21=55.845 MHz-(55.39 MHz-n.times.0.1 kHz)-453 kHz=(2+n.times. 0.1) kHz.
Consequently, if, at the time of frequency calibration:
1) the local oscillator 31 is constituted by a PLL;
2) the frequency f31 generated by the local oscillator 31 is made equal to the first intermediate frequency f13;
3) the local oscillator 41 is constituted by a variable frequency oscillator;
4) a control voltage Vn of the local oscillator 41 when the frequency f21 of the signal S21 is checked and found to be (2+n.times.0.1) kHz is stored in memory; and
5) the control voltage Vn stored in memory in 4) above is supplied to the local oscillator 41 at the time of reception; then the frequency f41 generated by the local oscillator 41 is calibrated, thereby realizing reception without frequency errors and/or fluctuations.

Double superheterodyne receiver with independent frequency calibration of two local oscillators


Systems and methods for performing latency-free database searches using two-level indexed data structures having decreasing integer sets as identifiers to represent actual data. The indexed data structures are stored in distributed memory. Data operations such as intersection and union are performed using the indexed data structures. A binary interval reduction technique is used to quickly move through the data sets looking for common elements for the intersection set, or unique elements to add to the union set.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which may be unique on their own.
In conventional database systems, users access their data resources in a single logical database. A user of such a conventional database system typically retrieves data from and stores data on the database system using the user's own computing systems or devices. For example, a user system might remotely access one of a plurality of server systems that might in turn access the database system. Data retrieval from the system might include the issuance of a query from the user system to the database system. The database system might process the request for information received in the query and send to the user system information relevant to the request. The retrieval of accurate information and subsequent delivery of this information to the user system in a timely and efficient manner has been and continues to be a goal of administrators of database systems.
However, in a multi-tenant database system ("MTS"), various elements of hardware and software of the database system may be shared by one or more customers. The notion of "cloud computing" has recently developed whereby service providers offer access to hardware/software systems through a network, such as the Internet. In an MTS, for example, a specified application server may simultaneously process requests for many customers, and a specified database table may store and index data for many customers.
One commercially available option for retrieving information from a database is the Lucene database model. Lucene is an open source software library product used for information retrieval and available on the Internet at lucene.apache.org, supported by the Apache Software Foundation, which provides full text indexing and searching capability. The logical architecture of Lucene defines an index as a sequence of documents; a document as a sequence of fields; a field is a named sequence of terms; and a term is a string. However, the physical structure stores data literally, meaning the entire data string is referenced in any access or query.
Conventional database systems are necessarily limited by server architectures, namely, by how much memory and/or disk space on the server is allocated to the database. From a resources point of view, this presents the issues (i) how much memory is available, and (ii) what is the speed of memory access? Since memory access is typically several orders of magnitude faster than disk access, more recent applications emphasize memory access when possible to obtain enhanced access speeds.
It remains an objective of database managers to find improved methods of storing and accessing data for use in data operations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for latency-free database queries


A line image generating apparatus includes a first register for storing information on a pattern of a segment, a second register for holding first data which is expressed by a fixed decimal point and determined by the ratio between a moving amount on a first axis and a moving amount on a second axis which intersects the first axis, the ratio being variable in each step, a third register for holding second data expressed by a fixed decimal point in a current step, an adder for adding the first and second data and for supplying an output as a result of the addition to the third register, and a selector for selecting an output from the first register as a function of the content of the third register replaced by the output from the adder.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a line image generating apparatus and, in particular, to such an apparatus suitable for generating a line image having a pattern in computer graphics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An existing apparatus for generating a line image with a certain pattern is shown in FIG. 1.
The line image generating apparatus 51 shown in FIG. 1 is used for expressing a line, for example, in the form of a broken line. The line image generating apparatus 51 outputs line pattern information as shown in FIG. 2 as a rendering control signal, for example, for each bit. In FIG. 2, "0" is attached to pixels of a line not to be rendered while "1" is attached to pixels to be rendered.
In the construction of FIG. 1, the line image generating apparatus 51 consists mainly of a line pattern register (hereinafter called LP register) 52, a counter 53, and a selector 54. The LP register has a capacity of 32 bits and holds line pattern information as shown in FIG. 2 while assigning it to the respective bits. An output from the LP register 52 is applied to the selector 54 by sending 32 bits in parallel.
The counter 53 counts a predetermined clock signal to produce a count value. The count value form the counter 53 is supplied to the selector 54 to behave as a select signal SSL of five bits. The selector 54 selects, from the 32-bit pattern information from the LP register 52, data on one bit in a position designated by the select signal SSL. The one-bit data is taken out from a terminal 55 to behave as a rendering control signal DCO. On the basis of the rendering control signal DCO, a next-stage circuit determines whether to render the corresponding pixel or not.
An example in which a segment is rendered by using the line image generating apparatus 51 is explained below with reference to FIG. 3. If the line pattern information given is as shown under the X axis in FIG. 3, pixels in portions of the line corresponding to bits indicated by "0" in the pattern information are not rendered, while pixels in portions of the line corresponding to bits indicated by "1" in the pattern information are rendered.
In FIG. 3, in the case of lines LO1 to LO3, the X axis is the major axis for lines LO1 to LO3, and the counter 53 increments its count value every time when the process makes progress by one step in the X axis direction. In the case of lines LO4 and LO5, the Y axis is the major axis, and the counter 53 increments its count value every time when the process makes progress by one step in the Y axis direction. As shown in FIG. 3, when any bit in the pattern information is indicated by "0", the lines LO1 to LO5 are displayed, without rendering their pixels corresponding to such bits.
In the line image generating apparatus 51 described above, the select signal SSL for selecting pattern information is created by the counter 53. Therefore, a selected bit in the pattern information is shifted by one bit in each one-step progress, and the pattern represented by the lines LO1 to LO5 rendered varies with inclination of the lines.
Let an example be taken in which lines are rendered on the basis of the same pattern information shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, when the lines LO1 to LO5 have the same start point, each of distances of non-rendered areas AR40 and AR41 from the start point (the origin in the example of FIG. 3) varies with inclinations of the lines LO1 to LO5. Therefore, each of the non-rendered areas AR40 and AR41 represents a reversed L shape, as a whole, which is not a good appearance. In order to improve the appearance of the line, processing by software is employed. However, such processing, which relies upon software increases the amount of operations and decreases the processing speed.


A method and a system for estimating a battery percentage are provided. The method includes the following steps. A coulomb counter calculated battery index (CCBI) relating to an accumulated amount of current flowing out of a battery is obtained. A battery voltage curve tracer calculated battery index (VCBI) relating to a temperature, an output voltage of the battery, and a current flowing out of the battery is obtained. A modified calculated battery index (MCBI) ranging between the CCBI and the VCBI is generated according to the CCBI and the VCBI.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an estimation method and an estimation system, and more particularly to a method and a system for estimating a battery percentage.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a portable electronic device, it is an important issue to let the user know the battery percentage. In general, there are many methods of calculating the battery percentage of the portable electronic device. The first method is to use a percentage gauge integrated circuit (IC) disposed on a battery protection circuit board or a circuit board of the electronic device. Although this percentage gauge IC can precisely measure the battery percentage, its cost is relatively high.
The second method is a method for measuring the battery percentage designed according to the concept of a battery voltage curve tracer. Because the hardware which this method needs is simpler, the cost thereof is far less than that of the first method using the percentage gauge IC. However, the second method has poor precision. Thus, it is an important subject in the industry to design a low-cost and highly precise method of estimating the battery percentage.

Method and system for estimating battery percentage


To solve such a problem that it takes time to display a print setting display screen of a virtual printer to which functions of member printer drivers having different characteristics have been reflected, in an information processing apparatus for making job control of the virtual printer constructed by a plurality of member printers, a conflicting process based on each function of the plurality of member printers is executed, a construction of the member printers is examined in association with display control for reflecting a conflict result to a setting display screen of the virtual printer, and control is made to as to visualize an advance situation of the conflicting process on the basis of an examination result.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mechanism of a virtual printer which is used upon distribution printing or broadcast printing.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, there has been known such a mechanism that an EMF (Enhanced Meta-File) formed from application data and a job description file formed on the basis of settings through a virtual driver (virtual printer) are prepared, an EMF-converted command is transmitted to a printer on the distribution destination side of a job included in the job description file, and distribution printing is executed.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-143661, there has been disclosed such a mechanism that in the printing using the virtual driver as mentioned above, common information (sheet size, sheet type, etc.) which has been set through a dialog display screen of the virtual driver and does not depend on a manufacturer or a printer type is print-set as DEVMODE information.
Settable items on the dialog display screen of the virtual driver are fixed and represent a plurality of printers which are used for the distribution printing. According to the distribution printing, the user can obtain such an advantage that predetermined settings can be collectively made for a plurality of printers upon distribution printing or the like.
However, according to the technique of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-143661 which has conventionally been known, since the items which can be set through the dialog display screen of the virtual driver are fixed and functions of the plurality of printers are handled as uniform functions, there is such a problem that, actually, the different functions of the printers are not reflected to the settings of a virtual printer enough and the functions of the printers cannot be used effectively enough.
To solve such a problem, it is desirable to use such a construction that the functions of the actual printers constructing the virtual printer are obtained, print setting items without a contradiction are specified into each printer on the basis of the obtained information, and the specified print setting items are reflected to the dialog display screen of the virtual printer.
However, according to the technique of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-143661 which has conventionally been known, a process for obtaining the functions of the printers, and the like, for fully utilizing the functions of the printers are not presumed and the mechanism which simply displays the dialog display screen of the virtual driver has been disclosed. There is, consequently, such a problem that when it takes a few to tens of seconds to form the dialog display screen of the virtual driver, the user will feel anxious. Depending on a case, there is also a fear that the user misthinks that a print processing apparatus (personal computer or the like) has been frozen and reactivates the print processing apparatus.
The invention is made in consideration of the above problems and it is an object of the invention to provide such a mechanism that a virtual printer setting display screen to which functions of a plurality of actual printers corresponding to a virtual printer have been reflected can be provided to the user without giving him anxiety.

Information processing apparatus for controlling a print job using a virtual printer