An infrared motion sensor has a multi element IR detector with first and second separate arrays of optical elements associated with respective first and second detector elements and a partition of a material substantially opaque to IR radiation and substantially transparent to visible/NIR light arranged to separate the IR optical paths from the first and second optical elements to the respective first and second detector elements. In this way, the detector elements function individually with respect to IR radiation and individual optical elements produce separate and independently oriented fields of view on the first and second sides of the sensor, while visible/NIR light still falls on both detector elements so that detector element signals resulting from NIR radiation roughly cancel one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors.
2. Related Art
Passive infrared motion sensors generally consist of several features. An optical element (such as a lens or mirror) and an infrared (IR) detector together define and collect radiation from a field-of-view (intersecting and thus defining a monitored spatial volume), from which the optical element conveys radiation onto an infrared (IR) detector which is generally responsive to mid-IR light in the 6-14 micron wavelength range. The detector, in turn, provides an electrical signal responsive to changes in the effective blackbody temperature of the surfaces of objects within the monitored volume and radiating toward the optical element, which signal is passed to analog processing circuits, which, in turn, create a digital signal that may be directly or indirectly compared to a certain threshold amount of temperature change "seen" by the optical element from within the monitored volume. The digital signal may be further processed by logic circuits in order to provide a desired output indication, for example, of a warmer human crossing in front of cooler objects or background within a monitored volume. Upon detection of changes in radiation as a result of temperature difference between a moving "target" (e.g. a human) and its background, motion sensors generally transmit an indication to a host system, which may in turn activate an intrusion "alarm", change room lighting, open a door, or perform some other function.
An infrared motion sensing system typically comprises an optical-element (lens/mirror) array disposed to direct IR radiation from humans to a juxtaposed IR detector from within volumes to be monitored. Other radiation (e.g. visible and near-infrared [NIR] light) passing through the array to the IR detector is superfluous and can cause false motion sensing, because high levels of such radiation can cause the detector to emit signals even in the absence of IR radiation from within the monitored volumes. To prevent such false motion sensing, IR detector elements are typically placed in opposed-polarity pairs, so that superfluous radiation (not focused by the sensor's IR optical-element array) falls about equally on both elements, which produce approximately equal and opposite signals that cancel each other. However, this practice means that the sensor's optically-monitored volumes are also in opposed-polarity pairs, which places limits on the monitored-volume design.
PIR motion sensors typically employ pyroelectric IR detectors to measure changes in IR radiation intensity. FIGS. 1A to 1C show two views and a schematic symbol of a simple prior art pyroelectric detector 10. Such detectors operate by the "piezoelectric effect", which causes electrical charge migration in the presence of mechanical strain. Pyroelectric detectors take the form of a capacitor—two electrically conductive plates 12 separated by a dielectric 14. The dielectric is often a piezoelectric ceramic. When IR radiation causes a temperature change (and thus some mechanical strain) in the ceramic, electrical charge migrates from one plate to the other. If no external circuit is connected to the detector, then a voltage appears as the "capacitor" charges. If an external circuit is connected between the plates, then a current flows, depending on the resistance of the circuit
In either the voltage or current case, a pyroelectric detector's "signal" is very small. These detectors are sensitive, delicate and subject to error due to minute, unintended electrical currents. Therefore, they are typically produced in "clean room" environments and housed in dry-nitrogen-filled hermetically sealed cases. This and other factors cause the pyroelectric detector to be a significant part of the cost (5-10%) of a typical PIR motion sensor, so most PIR motion sensors employ only one or two such detectors.
In order to monitor a large space with only one or two detectors, a typical PIR motion sensor is designed with an array of multiple optical elements (e.g. lenses or mirrors) on the surface of the sensor. FIG. 2 shows a simple prior art PIR motion sensor 15 which has an array of optical elements 16 monitoring a space divided into sub-volumes or monitored volumes 17 corresponding to the fields of view defined by each optical element and the detector. Each optical element focuses the IR radiation from objects within a sub-volume of the monitored space into an image appearing over the detector 10. Since the optical elements can be manufactured inexpensively, the optical array may comprise up to fifty or even more optical elements, with each optical element directing radiation to the detector from a separate sub-volume 17 of the monitored space.
The sub-volumes can be interleaved with non-monitored sub-volumes, so that a radiation-producing target (e.g. a human) passing from sub-volume to sub-volume causes a "target radiation/background radiation/target radiation" pattern at the detector. In the case of humans, since some parts of humans are nearly always radiating with different intensity than that of the background (due to different temperature from that of the background), this pattern causes changing radiation (and thus changing temperature) of the detector. The resulting piezoelectric currents and/or voltages are wave signals versus time, which can be sent through a band pass filter, amplified and sent to the sensor's signal processor for determination of motion by evaluation of the number of wave peaks that exceed a designated reference level.
Over the two decades that pyroelectric detectors have formed the basis for PIR motion sensors, many improvements have reduced the probability of false alarms. To prevent visible and near-infrared light from reaching the detector, optical filters have been added as detector windows. Also, coatings (in the case of mirrors) and additives (for lenses) have been added to prevent the sensor's optical element array from focusing of visible and NIR light onto detectors. These steps have reduced the possibility of PIR motion sensors producing false alarms due to signals caused by, for example, automobile headlights shining through building windows. However, there are practical and cost limitations to such improvements, so it is desirable to employ methods by which the detector itself can emit smaller signals in the presence of superfluous radiation.
One particular method for prevention of false alarms due to interfering visible and NIR light is to place detector elements in pairs of equal size and opposite detection polarity, so that light not focused by sensor's optical element array (i.e. non-IR radiation) tends to be equally incident on both elements, thus causing the signals from the equal and opposite elements to roughly cancel one another. FIGS. 3A to 3D shows three views and a schematic symbol of a typical prior art dual-element detector 20 which has detector elements 22, 24 of equal size and opposite direction polarity. Cancellation is not perfect, as the elements are not exactly equal, and the radiation not exactly uniform. However, the effect improves rejection of non-focused radiation (over that of single-element detectors). Equal and opposed elements can also reduce the undesirable signals resulting from other types of non-intrusion stimuli, such as shock and temperature change.
Detector elements are often of an aspect ratio between 1:2 and 1:4, to approximate the distribution of far infrared radiation from an upright human. FIG. 4A shows the pattern of monitored sub-volumes 25 in a prior art dual-element sensor system 26 resulting from mounting dual opposed-polarity detector elements as in FIG. 3E (aspect ratio 1:2) behind the same optical-element array 16 as in FIG. 2. FIG. 3E is a "functional diagram" illustrating the aspect ratios and juxtaposition of the longitudinal cross-section of monitored sub-volumes 25 arising from the detector elements. As in a sensor with a single element detector, the sub-volumes can be interleaved with non-monitored sub-volumes, so that a radiation producing target (e.g. a human) passing from sub-volume to sub-volume causes a "target radiation/background radiation/target radiation" pattern at the detector. In this case, wave peaks of alternating polarity are generated due to the opposed-polarity elements, as illustrated in FIG. 4B. Again, as in the prior art sensor of FIG. 2, the resulting piezoelectric currents and/or voltages are wave signals versus time, which can be sent through a band pass filter, amplified and sent to the sensor's signal processor for determination of motion by evaluation of the number and polarity of the wave peaks that exceed a designated reference level.
There are some problems with the prior art dual element detector system of FIG. 4A. Because the motion sensor's detectors are generally placed at the focal point of the optical elements, the monitored sub-volumes are a projection of the detector elements' shapes, ever-expanding at an angle defined by the optical focal length and the detector element size. This can be a problem in designing a special kind of motion sensor commonly called a "curtain" sensor. This type of sensor is designed to monitor a long, narrow volume (as might in an actual application be a long, narrow rectangular prism-shaped volume between museum visitors and the objects that they are viewing). Seen from the side, a curtain sensor's set of monitored volumes (being defined by juxtaposition of several optical elements and one dual-opposed-element detector) usually covers a near-90° vertical angle, as may be seen in FIG. 5, in which five pairs of sub-volumes 25 (each similar to the pair shown in FIG. 4A) are defined by a dual-opposed-element detector and five lenses. The so-called "curtain" is a set of monitored volumes which occupies a rectangular prism more high and wide than it is deep, and which is shaped somewhat like the volume occupied by a pleated curtain.
FIG. 6 is a top view of the monitored volumes 25 of the prior art system of FIGS. 4A and 5. Due to the angle, the monitored volumes' shape is not really that of a "curtain", in that the volume grows wider with distance from the sensor. The curtain's shape may be made more constant by using optical elements of different focal lengths for each vertical angle. This type of system is commonly achieved with mirrors of varying focal length. FIG. 7 is a top plan view illustrating a prior art mirror design curtain sensor 38 having monitored volumes 30A, 30B; 32A, 32B; 34A,34B; 35A,35B, and 36A,36B, where the mirror elements are of different focal lengths so that the angular width of each field of view or monitored volume is different from the other fields of view or monitored volumes on each side of the sensor, while the angle between each pair of fields of view (i.e. 30A and 30B, 32A and 32B, and so on) is approximately equal. The focal lengths are arranged so that the angular width is smaller for the longer fields of view, with the longest field of view or monitored volumes 30A and 30B having the smallest angular widths, thus allowing the "curtain" 40 to remain narrow at longer distances from the sensor, unlike the prior art lens design of FIG. 6. However, sensor systems using mirrors are more expensive and more difficult to manufacture than lens-based systems. Curtain sensor systems with more uniform curtain shape are also possible with lenses of varying focal length, yet, in common motion sensors where lens arrays form the sensor's front face, the design causes a problem of undesirable sensor appearance, since the lenses must be positioned at varying distances from the (shared) detector, producing an unsightly and uneven appearance to the front face of the sensor.


A magnetic disk apparatus capable of effectively achieving speedup of the response to a read request, a control method and control program therefore are provided. In a control of a magnetic disk apparatus having a RAID configuration in which the same data is written on two disks, a given algorithm is selected from a plurality of different algorithms with respect to the data stored in the disks, read commands are issued to the data stored in the two disks, respectively, according to the selected algorithm and the data that has been read first by the read commands that has been issued to the two disks in a read command issuance step is adopted as read data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic disk apparatus having a Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID) configuration such as RAID-1 or RAID-0+1 in which the same data is written on different two disks and a control method and control program for the magnetic disk apparatus and, more particularly, to a speedup of input/output (I/O) response of the magnetic disk apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among magnetic disk apparatuses having a RAID configuration such as RAID-1 or RAID-0+1 in which the same data is written on different two disks, known is a magnetic disk apparatus that issues the same read command to respective disks when receiving a data read request from a host and adopts the data that responds first to the read command as a result of the command (refer to, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. Laid-Open Publication No. 4-205518).
However, different loads are applied to the respective disks, so that response to a read command may differ depending on the algorithm that executes the command in some cases. If a reading operation using a read command is performed according to a uniformly defined algorithm in the above case, the speedup of response cannot effectively be achieved.

Magnetic disk apparatus, control method and control program therefor


A holder is provided having a receptacle which is suitably sized and arranged for slidably receiving a cylindrical beverage can therein. A handle is coupled to the receptacle to extend generally in a longitudinal direction of the receptacle spaced radially outwardly from the receptacle. A lock mechanism on the receptacle is arranged to restrict both rotation and sliding movement in a longitudinal direction of the receptacle of the cylindrical beverage can in relation to the receptacle.

The present invention relates to a holder for supporting a cylindrical beverage can.
Beverages are commonly available in disposable aluminium cans and the like for convenience and ease of distribution. Some individuals however find that cylindrical-type beverage cans are awkward to grasp, especially when the cans are king size or jumbo size cans typically available for distribution of beer. As many beverages are often chilled, grasping the can may also be uncomfortable due to the cold temperature of the can and beverage therein. Also some individuals may find that grasping the can in one""s hand causes the drink to become warm too quickly. When serving beverages from a can it is thus known to dispense the contents of the can into a mug or similar container for consuming the beverage therefrom. Dispensing the can into an additional container however can be a time consuming annoyance.
The use of handles for securement to the beverage can for holding the can while consuming the contents is known for solving some of the above noted problems. Examples of various handles for beverage cans can be found in U.S. Pat. No, 4,602,723 to Demars, U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,330 to Nunes, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,675 to Walker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,471 to Widman and U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,718 to Vine. None of these can holders however provide suitable support to the sides of the can, thus relying on the strength of a small retainer clip for securing the holder to the can in an unstable arrangement. Also with regard to the above noted patents, rotation of the beverage can with respect to the holder is permitted so that the handle of the holder may lie at an awkward orientation in relation to a mouth of the can.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a holder for supporting a cylindrical beverage can, the holder comprising:
a receptacle which is suitably sized and arranged for slidably receiving a cylindrical beverage can therein;
a handle coupled to the receptacle to extend generally in a longitudinal direction of the receptacle spaced radially outwardly from the receptacle; and
a lock mechanism for restricting relative rotation between the receptacle and a cylindrical beverage can supported within the receptacle.
The use of a lock mechanism ensures that the handle is well supported on the beverage can without any relative movement therebetween. Preventing relative rotation is especially desirable as it ensures that the mouth of the beverage can remains fixed at a selected orientation in relation to the handle of the holder.
The lock mechanism is preferably arranged to restrict both relative rotation and relative sliding movement in a longitudinal direction of the receptacle between the receptacle and a cylindrical beverage can supported within the receptacle.
The lock mechanism may comprise a movable lock member which is arranged to project inwardly past an inner peripheral surface of the receptacle in a locked position for engaging a cylindrical beverage can supported within the receptacle.
The lock mechanism may include a lever coupled to the lock member for movement therewith. The lever is preferably curved and arranged to extend partway about the receptacle in the locked position.
The lock mechanism may comprise a cam pivotally mounted on the receptacle, the cam having an increasing radial dimension for movement as the cam is rotated between a locked position in which the cam projects inwardly past an inner peripheral surface of the receptacle and an unlocked position in which the cam does not project inwardly past the inner peripheral surface of the receptacle.
The lock mechanism may be supported on the receptacle adjacent an open top end of the receptacle which is arranged to receive a cylindrical beverage can therethrough.
The handle is preferably coupled to the receptacle at both ends of the handle.
The receptacle may comprise an elongate sleeve structure having an open top end for receiving a can therethrough. The sleeve structure preferably includes an enclosed bottom end for supporting the can thereon.
The sleeve structure may also include a pair of label openings on diametrically opposed sides thereof arranged to expose respective labels on a can supported within the sleeve structure.
The sleeve structure may extend substantially a full length of a conventional cylindrical beverage can while encircling respective top and bottom ends of the can supported within the sleeve structure.
Preferably the sleeve structure comprises an upper ring, a lower ring and at least one structural member spanning between the upper and lower rings.
The receptacle may include a recessed portion adjacent an open top end which is spaced circumferentially from the handle by approximately 90 degrees for access to a mouth of a can supported in the receptacle. Preferably there is provided a pair of the recessed portions on diametrically opposed sides of the receptacle.
The receptacle and the handle may both be formed of a flexible plastic like material. Any material which is suitable for forming the desired shape however could be used.
There may be provided a hook member coupled to the receptacle for suspending the receptacle and handle therefrom.


An apparatus and method for switching and/or routing electronic data between two networks communicating at different bit rates, where the bit rate of the faster network divided by the bit rate of the slower network is a non-integer. A switching/routing unit interconnects the networks via two set of lanes, one set connected to each network. Each lane communicates at a bit rate that is a common factor of the two bit rates. One set of lanes communicates with a set of transceivers that communicate at the faster bit rate on the faster network. The other set of lanes communicates with a (larger) set of network elements (NEs) that communicate at the slower bit rate on the slower network. Each transceiver and NE is structured so that the total bit rate of the lanes communicating with it is equal to the bit rate of its respective network.

The increase in communication capacity which is experienced today due to a variety of information technology (IT) services drives efforts to develop technologies that will enable routers and servers to communicate at higher and higher bit rates. As part of these efforts, attempts are being made to define, standardize, and develop technologies for 40 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 100 GbE. Some aspects of such attempts are described in the following publications:
an article entitled "Moving Standards to 100 GbE and Beyond", by John McDonough, in IEEE Applications & Practice, November 2007, pages 6-9;
an article entitled "A Roadmap to 100 G Ethernet at the Enterprise Data Center", by Benner et al, in IEEE Applications & Practice, November 2007, pages 10-17;
an article entitled "Delivering on the 100 GbE Promise", by Cvijetic et al, in IEEE Applications & Practice, December 2007, pages 2-3; and
an article entitled "100 GbE—Optical LAN Technologies", by Cole et al, in IEEE Applications & Practice, December 2007, pages 12-19.

Methods and apparatus for enabling communication between network elements that operate at different bit rates


The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for detecting at least one repeater between a base station and a mobile unit. The method includes determining a first estimate of a distance traveled by a signal on a wireless communication link between the base station and the mobile unit, determining a second estimate of the distance traveled by the signal on the wireless communication link between the base station and the mobile unit, and comparing the first and second estimates. The method also includes determining whether the signal was processed by the at least one repeater based upon comparing the first and second estimates.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a telecommunication system, and, more particularly, to a wireless telecommunication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless telecommunication systems, such as cellular telephone systems, typically include one or more base stations that establish concurrent communication links with a plurality of mobile units. The range of a wireless communication link is limited by the transmission power of the base station and mobile units, the sensitivity of receivers in the base stations and mobile units, obstacles between the base station and mobile units, and the like. For example, if the wireless communication link is formed in free space, the power received at the mobile unit is approximately proportional to the power transmitted by the base station divided by the square of the distance from the base station to the mobile unit. For another example, the range of a base station located in a mountainous region may be substantially smaller than the range of the same base station deployed in a region that has very few physical obstacles. Obstacles such as buildings and mountains may also introduce a directional dependence into the relation between the transmitted and received power.
When the received power falls below a certain level, the mobile unit and the base station may be unable to form or maintain a wireless communication link. Thus, a relatively large number of base stations may be needed to provide complete coverage and uninterrupted service to users traveling through regions with large numbers of obstacles, such as mountainous regions and urban canyons. In addition to transmitting and receiving signals from the mobile units, a radio access network (RAN) associated with the base station may also perform other functions, such as coordinating hand-offs of moving mobile units with other base stations, maintaining lists of active mobile units associated with the base station, determining locations of the mobile units, and the like. These functions typically require additional hardware and/or software that increase the cost of deploying, maintaining, and operating the base station. Consequently, the cost of providing the large number of base stations that may be necessary to ensure complete coverage in regions having a large number of obstacles may be prohibitive. In particular, it may not be cost effective to provide a large number of base stations in a mountainous region having a low population density.
One conventional solution to this problem is to employ one or more repeaters associated with one or more of the base stations. The repeaters receive signals transmitted by the base station, amplify the power of the signal, and transmit the amplified base station signal to one or more mobile units that may be in a region beyond the range of the un-amplified base station signal. The repeaters may also receive signals transmitted by the mobile unit, amplify the power of the mobile unit signal, and transmit the amplified mobile unit signal to the base station. However, repeaters typically do not perform many of the other functions of a base station. Consequently, repeaters may be used to extend coverage area of the base station at a much lower cost than would be incurred by installing additional base stations. The additional coverage area provided by the repeater is often referred to as a repeater cell.
Repeaters also introduce time delays into the signals. For example, due to the close proximity of the receive antenna and the transmit antenna in a repeater, repeaters often have to remove and/or cancel the repeater transmit signal from the received signal to avoid or reduce feedback interference. Canceling the transmit signal is done using digital signal processing, which introduces a time delay between the received signals and the signals transmitted by the repeater.
Conventional radio access networks associated with conventional base stations are typically unable to determine whether a received signal passed through a repeater. The digital signal processing performed by the repeater is transparent to the wireless communication system. Thus, the radio access network is not able to distinguish between propagation-related time delays and time delays introduced by signal processing. And even if the time delay associated with the digital signal processing by the repeater is detected by the radio access network, the radio access network will interpret the delayed signal as multipath reception with the strongest path not being the direct path from the base station to the mobile unit. The conventional radio access network is also unable to detect the signal amplification provided by the repeater.
Consequently, the time delay and/or the signal amplification provided by the repeater may reduce the accuracy of location services provided by the conventional radio access network. For example, the radio access network may estimate the distance to the mobile unit using the round-trip time delay of a signal. However, conventional radio access networks overestimate the distance to the mobile unit when a repeater has processed the signal because the conventional radio access network is not able to compensate for the additional time delay introduced by the repeater. For another example, the radio access network may attempt to measure the distance to the mobile unit by comparing the transmitted power with the received power and applying an appropriate channel model for the wireless communication link. However, conventional radio access networks applying the channel modeling technique will underestimate the distance to the mobile unit because the conventional radio access network is not able to compensate for the power amplification introduced by the repeater.
The present invention is directed to addressing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method and apparatus for determining a distance between a base station and a mobile unit


Apparatus and techniques for indicating loading of filters are described. The apparatus and techniques are especially (although not necessarily exclusively) useful in connection with automatic pool cleaners with on-board filters and pumps. Indicators identifying clogging of the filters may be included in or on the cleaners or transmitted as information to users for further action.

Numerous cleaning devices capable of autonomous movement within swimming pools and spas currently exist. The most common of these devices are APCs, which often are either hydraulic or robotic in type. Hydraulic cleaners vary water flow for movement, while robotic cleaners typically employ electric motors to cause motion. Hydraulic APCs, furthermore, subdivide into "pressure-side" and "suction-side" cleaners, with pressure-side cleaners being fluidly connected to outputs of pumps of pool water circulation systems and suction-side cleaners being fluidly connected to inputs of such pumps.
Water vacuumed into suction-side cleaners typically is filtered remotely. By contrast, robotic and pressure-side APCs usually include on-board filtration, with a filter carried on, in, or with an associated body of an APC as the body moves within a pool. Because the filters frequently are submerged in use and often positioned within the bodies of many robotic cleaners, they are not easily visible externally of the pools. Clogging of the filters thus may remain unnoticed for extended periods, significantly reducing the cleaning and operational efficiencies of the corresponding APCs.
Various methods have been devised to resolve issues of filter clogging of APCs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,822 to Polimeni, Jr., for example, describes a non-autonomous pool cleaner utilizing one or more rolls of "a continuous sheet of filter material." As the sheet clogs with debris, water accumulates inside the filter so as to contact a float switch. The float switch in turn activates a motor which advances the roll of filter material so that an unclogged portion is exposed to the debris-laden water.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0191926 of Tavor, et al., discloses a robotic pool cleaner having a two-chamber filter. As debris accumulates in the first chamber, it may be sensed by an optical detector and moved—via automatic backwashing—to a second chamber of the filter. A non-return valve is employed to prevent debris in the second chamber from returning to the first chamber. Nevertheless, acknowledged in the Tavor application is that, from time to time, debris must be removed from the second chamber manually.
The entire contents of the Polimeni, Jr. patent and the Tavor application are incorporated herein by this reference. Both filings seek to reduce filter clogging through automatic activity when a switch or sensor changes state. Neither, however, contemplates notifying a user or operator of a pool that the on-board filter of an APC is clogged.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,814 to Hadari, whose entire contents also are incorporated herein by this reference, details another robotic cleaner having a replaceable bag filter. The robot additionally includes a controller which periodically samples current to an impeller motor. As noted in the Hadari patent: "When the instantaneous sampled current exceeds a preset threshold value, . . . [the controller] issues a signal activating an indicator, e.g., a warning light, showing that the filter is partly clogged." No clogging assessment is contemplated other than based on sampled current to the motor, however.

Automatic swimming pool cleaners with filter-loading indicators


Provided are an apparatus failure influence range recognition apparatus, an apparatus failure influence range recognition method, and a program capable of billing for a proper call charge for a call suspected of non-provision of a service. An apparatus failure influence range recognition apparatus includes a reception unit configured to receive apparatus failure information which is failure information of an element constituting a network, user information which is information regarding a user of a service, and call details information of an IP telephone, and a calculation unit configured to calculate, by linking the apparatus failure information, the user information, and the call details information with each other, a subtracted call charge with respect to a call charge for a suspected call influenced by an apparatus failure.

It is desirable that a proper call charge corresponding to provision of a service of an IP telephone is charged and billed to a user accurately, promptly, and with fewer operations. A system has already been established that a call charge during a normal time is charged and billed accurately, promptly, and with fewer operations through systemization. Also, a system has already been established in which a call suspected of being abnormal in a C plane (a call in which an SIP session error is detected or a call encountering system switching in an SIP server) is excluded from a charging target.

Device failure influence range grasping apparatus, device failure influence range grasping method, and program

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


Conversion coatings based on cobalt are described for substrate metals such as aluminum, zinc, magnesium, titanium, cadmium, silver, copper, tin, lead, cobalt, zirconium, beryllium, or indium, their alloys, or items coated with these metals. The conversion coating contains a trivalent or tetravalent cobalt/valence stabilizer complex. The coating bath may also contain a preparative agent or solubility control agent. The oxidized cobalt is present in the coating in a “sparingly soluble” form. The valence stabilizers can be either inorganic or organic in nature. Cobalt/valence stabilizer combinations are chosen based on the well-founded principles of cobalt coordination chemistry. A number of cobalt/valence stabilizer combinations that match the performance of conventional hexavalent chromium systems are presented.

This invention relates generally to compositions and methods for the formation of protective, corrosion-inhibiting coatings on metals, or other materials coated with metals, without the use of chromium in the hexavalent oxidation state. More particularly, this invention relates to non-toxic, corrosion-inhibiting conversion coatings based on trivalent and tetravalent cobalt and methods of making and using the same.
Metals like aluminum, zinc, magnesium, titanium, cadmium, silver, copper, tin, lead, cobalt, zirconium, beryllium, or indium, their alloys, or items coated with these metals, tend to corrode rapidly in the presence of water due to their low oxidation-reduction (redox) potentials or ease of oxide formation. Non-alloyed specimens of these metals typically form a natural oxide film that will protect them somewhat and reduce their overall rate of corrosion. However, alloys of these metals are particularly sensitive to corrosive attack. These materials also have a significant problem with paint adhesion. The as-formed metal surfaces are typically very smooth, and they tend to form weakly bound surface oxides. The native oxides do not normally provide a robust base on which subsequent paints can anchor themselves. These metal alloys have many uses ranging from architectural adornments to protective coatings on ferrous alloys to structural aerospace components.
The 2000 and 7000 series of aluminum alloys are used throughout military and civilian aircraft because of their high strength to weight ratio. However, these aluminum alloys are very sensitive to corrosive attack because their natural oxide layer offers only a limited degree of protection. Materials with greater redox potentials, such as steels or carbon fibers, in proximity to aluminum alloys will promote corrosive attack in water by the formation of a galvanic corrosion couple with the less-noble light metal alloy.
Inhibiting the initiation, growth, and extent of corrosion is a significant part of component and systems design for the successful long-term use of metal objects. Uniform physical performance and safety margins of a part, a component, or an entire system can be compromised by corrosion.
One method to enhance the corrosion resistance of these alloys is through the use of a conversion coating. A conversion coating is a self-healing, corrosion-inhibiting layer formed during intentional exposure to a chemically reactive solution. The conversion coating process forms an adherent surface containing an integral corrosion inhibitor with "throwing power" that can provide protection to coating breaches. The metal is exposed to a compound that chemically alters the surface and forms a coating that provides a high degree of corrosion resistance. A chemical conversion coating applied to the surface of a less-noble alloy can reduce the extent and severity of aqueous corrosion, provide long-term property stability, and extend the useful life of the object of manufacture.
Conversion coatings incorporate a portion of the base metal and form a mechanical, chemical, and electrostatic barrier to corrosive attack. A critical feature of effective conversion coatings is their ability to provide corrosion protection to the base metal in the presence of a coating breach.
Anodization of a metal surface followed by "sealing" or "rinsing" of the anodized metal does not constitute the formation of a conversion coating in our usage. Anodization, the formation of a porous oxide film on the metal, is achieved by the application of an electrical potential to the metal. This oxide film must then be "sealed", "washed", or "rinsed" in order to impart complete corrosion protection. Typically, the corrosion protection afforded by an anodized piece is due to the barrier oxide film. Conversion coatings, however, grow an oxide coating on the metal without an externally applied electrical potential. The protective film is produced by a chemical redox reaction between the metal surface and the conversion coating solution. The film is composed both of an oxide and integral corrosion inhibitor species formed during exposure to the conversion coating solution. A true conversion coating therefore affords corrosion protection from an oxide barrier film that has co-deposited oxidative corrosion inhibitor species.
A conversion-coated surface may be left bare or afforded further protection by the application of additional films or coatings. Conversion coatings need to adhere to the substrate and should result in a surface that will promote the formation of a strong bond with subsequently applied coatings. Bonding with subsequently applied coatings is a function of the morphology and chemical composition of the conversion coating. Adhesion promoting surface treatments may exhibit corrosion inhibiting characteristics. Depending on the intended application, a conversion coating, as described herein, may be considered to be an "adhesion promoter" and vice versa.
Conversion coatings are usually formed by the application of a conversion coating solution to a metal surface. The solution can be applied by immersion, spray, fogging, wiping, or other means.
Hexavalent chromium has traditionally been used in the formation of protective conversion coatings for aluminum, zinc, magnesium, titanium, cadmium, silver, copper, tin, lead, cobalt, zirconium, beryllium, indium, and their alloys. Compounds such as Alodine 1200™ (Henkel Co.) and Alumagold™ (Turco Co.) contain hexavalent chromium as their main corrosion-inhibiting compound.
Two generic types of hexavalent chromium coatings have been widely used. The newer "gold" coatings are named for the faint gold tint that the coatings have when they form on the surface of aluminum alloys. The compositions and application procedures of these "gold" hexavalent chromium conversion coating formulations are described in United States military process specifications, as well as other federal guidelines. Therefore, guidelines for the application of these solutions to aluminum (MIL C-5541; MIL C-81706; MIL STD-171; ASTM B-449), zinc (ASTM B-633; ASTM B-201; MIL C-17711; QQ Z-325a), magnesium (MIL M-3171), cadmium (ASTM A-165; ASTM B-201; QQ P-416b), silver (ASTM B-700; QQ S-365a), copper (ASTM B-281), and tin (ASTM A-599; QQ-T-425a) are available. The common components to these "gold" conversion coating baths are hexavalent chromium, complex fluorides, and ferricyanide. Older "green" conversion coatings containing hexavalent chromium have also been described, and the color formed on aluminum alloys through the application of these conversion coatings is a light green color. The "green" formulations all contain hexavalent chromium, a fluoride, and an acidic phosphate component. The major compositional difference between the two is that the current "gold" formulation contains ferricyanide and the older "green" formulations contain phosphate.
Corrosion-resistant compositions have also been described which contain hexavalent chromium, fluoride, and molybdic acid or molybdates, rather than ferricyanide or phosphate. Tungstates and vanadates have also been used in combination with hexavalent chromium and fluoride. Hexavalent chromium formulations which do not contain a fluoride source, and which contain borate ions instead of ferricyanide or phosphate or molybdate have also been described. Hexavalent chromium has also been used in combination with stannates, oxalates, and tellurates. Finally, corrosion protection of aluminum, magnesium, or zinc alloys has been achieved through the use of hexavalent chromium, fluoride, and rare earth compounds.
The variation in the type and amount of additional components such as ferricyanide, phosphate, molybdate, and borate, etc., in conversion coat formulations based on hexavalent chromium is significant in light of the chemistry developed and presented in the present invention. It is important to note that hexavalent chromium conversion coatings which have nearly identical formulations, except for one or more of the non-chromium components, result in obvious differences on the applied metal surface for a given alloy (such as "gold" and "green" coatings). It is also important to note that differences in the composition of aluminum alloys will influence the chemistry of the conversion coating formed when only one hexavalent chromium conversion coat composition is used.
Significant efforts have been made to replace chromium with other metals for corrosion-inhibiting applications due to toxicity, environmental, and regulatory concerns. Cobalt is one non-toxic, non-regulated metal which has been considered as a chromium replacement. Cobalt (like chromium) exhibits more than one oxidation state (Co+2 and Co+3). In addition, the oxidation-reduction potential of the Co+3—Co+2 couple is comparable to the Cr+6—Cr+3 couple. For example, in acid solution:
Co+3 + e => Co+2 +1.92 VCr+6 + 3e => Cr+3 +1.36 VA number of processes have been reported in the literature which make use of cobalt in conversation coating bath solutions, as well as general corrosion protection or coloring of the alloys. However, the coatings formed by these processes provide only limited protection and do not approach the benefit derived from the use of hexavalent chromium.
The use of film-forming substances, such as polymers, silicates, sol-gel, etc., which have no inherent oxidizing character, in conversion coating solutions has been described in the literature. The film formers may enhance short-term corrosion resistance by functioning as a barrier layer. However, these films interfere with substrate oxidation during the conversion coating process and produce thin, incompletely anodized surfaces, resulting in poor mechanical adhesion to the solution-deposited polymer film and to later applied coatings. Restricting the formation of the oxide layer that acts as a reservoir for the active corrosion inhibitor yields a barrier film that is inhibitor starved. Barrier layers lacking an active corrosion inhibitor have been demonstrated to be capable of inhibiting corrosion only as long as the barrier is not breached, as by a scratch or other flaw. Film formers can actually enhance corrosion on a surface after failure due to the well known effects of crevice corrosion. The addition of polymer during conversion coating also produces a smooth coating which can reduce subsequent paint adhesion, resulting in reduced long-term corrosion protection.
The following references describe conversion coating processes based on cobalt: PCT International Application Nos. WO 96/29,448, WO 98/51,841, WO 96/21,753, WO 93/05,198, and S. African Patent No. ZA 93/01,234 to Dolan; PCT International Application Nos. WO 96/05,335, WO 94/00,619, and European Patent Application Nos. EP 523,288, EP 458,020, EP 488,430, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,873,953, 5,411,606, 5,378,293, 5,298,092, and 5,551,994 to Schriever. These specifications use additives that they term "bath stabilizers." These chemical species are claimed to form more stable coordination bonds with cobalt(III) cations than with cobalt(II) cations in the aqueous conversion coating solution. Specifically, carboxylates, hydroxyalkyl amines (aminoalcohols, such as triethanolamine), or nitrito complexes are described in these specifications as being added to the bath to retain trivalent cobalt in solution and to stabilize concentrations during the coating process. These bath stabilizers only treat and extend the service life of the cobalt(III) in the conversion coating solution itself.
"Bath stabilizers" used in the manner of these specifications reduce the formation and precipitation of Co+3-containing solids during coating deposition. Bath stabilizers described in these patents behave similar to masking agents for chemical gravimetric analysis to keep unwanted compounds from precipitating. They actually serve to starve the deposited coating of Co+3 by shifting the equilibrium away from the formation of a corrosion-inhibiting coating containing trivalent cobalt on a metal surface to the trivalent cobalt remaining dissolved in the coating bath. The compounds formed from the solutions described in these specifications have lower structural stability in the coating, as well as higher aqueous solubility, than if no bath stabilizer were used at all. The art described in the specification and examples herein shows that the solubilities of the formed compounds are still too high to afford long-term corrosion protection.
A post-treatment rinse with a vanadate or tungstate solution is used in PCT International Application Nos. WO 96/29,448 and WO 98/51,841 to Dolan, as well as PCT International Application No. WO 96/05,335 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,994 to Schriever. This rinse seals the coating deposited from the solution, as described in these specifications. Co+3-vanadate/tungstate complexes form during these sealing treatments. These complexes are slightly soluble and serve to enhance the corrosion resistance of the deposited coating. However, the sealing step used in this art is not an efficient method to treat the coating thickness or to incorporate sparingly soluble Co+3 compounds into the coating effectively. The effectiveness of the vanadate/tungstate sealing step is also reduced because the bath stabilizers carried over from the first solution increase the solubility of Co+3-vanadate/tungstate complexes. Furthermore, the toxicity of the conversion coatings is not reduced if pentavalent vanadium is used in chrome-free compositions because the threshold limit value (TLV) of both CrO3 and V2O5 is 0.05 mg/m3, and the permissible exposure limit (PEL) of both is 0.5 mg/m3.
These Schriever and Dolan coating processes also require the use of elevated temperatures, especially for the sealing process (40 to 75° C. being a typical range). Conversion coating processes that take place at elevated temperatures (above room temperature) can result in higher coating costs and increase the difficulty of the coating application.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved corrosion-protection conversion coatings composed of currently unregulated and/or non-toxic materials which have an effectiveness, ease of application, and performance comparable to coatings formed with hexavalent chromium, and for methods of making and using the same.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Non-toxic corrosion-protection conversion coats based on cobalt


In a gas humidifier used for humidifying fuel in a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), a small-size gas humidifier is achieved by carrying out a steam-generating process and a gas humidifying process by the use of the steam by using a single unit. In order to achieve this structure, a plurality of longitudinal tube plates are laminated in a thickness direction with predetermined intervals so that a heat-exchanger core (100) of a plate-fin type is prepared. Heating-use high-temperature fluid (A) is allowed to flow alternately through a plurality of spaces that are formed inside the heat-exchanger core (100) and placed side by side in the horizontal direction so as to direct a gas to be humidified (B) to another space from above to below. An injection tube (210), which is used for spraying liquid (C) that serves as a steam source, is inserted virtually horizontally along tube plates on two sides in an upper portion of each space through which the gas to be humidified (B) flows. A header pipe (220), which is used for supplying the liquid (C) to the injection tube (210), is connected to the injection tube (210) at a place apart from the heat-exchanger core (100). One portion of the gas to be humidified (B) that has been introduced into the heat-exchanger core (100) is allowed to flow outside the heat-exchanger core (100) and to contact the header pipe (220) placed outside thereof.

In a molten carbonate fuel cell, after a fuel gas such as natural gas has been humidified by steam, the resulting gas is allowed to react with a modifying catalyst, and then supplied to a fuel cell. In this case, conventionally, the humidifying process is carried out by mixing the fuel gas at normal temperature and steam generated by a boiler in a unit separated from the boiler.
In the conventional humidifying process of this type, two units, that is, the boiler and a mixing device, are required, inevitably resulting in a large-size facility. In order to solve this problem, there have been strong demands for a gas humidifier that is developed so as to carry out a steam-generating process and a process for mixing the generated steam and the fuel gas by using a single unit.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a small-size gas humidifier which can effectively execute the steam-generating process and the humidifying process by the generated steam and the fuel gas by using a single unit.


A method for predictive analytics in a semi-structured process including receiving traces of the semi-structured process, at least one of the traces including a document content value, determining a process model from the traces, the process model comprising tasks at nodes of the semi-structured process and embodies all possible execution sequences in the process, determining a probabilistic graph including a probability at each of the tasks of the semi-structured process advancing from one task to another task, and combining the process model and probabilistic graph to determine a probabilistic process model including probabilities and strengths of transitions between tasks.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to predictive analytics for document content driven processes.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Semi-structured processes are emerging in industries such as government, insurance, banking and healthcare. These business or scientific processes depart from the traditional structured and sequential predefined processes. The lifecycle of semi-structured processes is not fully driven by a formal process model. While an informal description of the process may be available in the form of a process graph, flow chart or an abstract state diagram, the execution of a semi-structured process is not completely controlled by a central entity, such as a workflow engine. Case oriented processes are an example of semi-structured business processes.
Case executions within a process are typically non-deterministic, driven by human decision making, and the contents of documents. In particular there is no single formal process model that drives the lifecycle of case-oriented business processes. The lifecycle of semi-structured processes is not fully driven by a formal process model.
Known methods of process mining do not have a way to dynamically and automatically update an existing process model. Rather these methods continually mine a formal process model from case oriented process data. Some process mining methods require explicit "change logs" to allow a process model to change.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a need exists for predictive analytics for document content driven processes.

Predicting outcomes of a content driven process instance execution

International Business Machines Corporation


A dosing device for bulk material having a dosing scale fastened to an outlet opening of a bulk material container. The dosing device comprises a motor-driven conveyor, extending substantially horizontally, which is designed to convey the bulk material from an entry region to an exit region. The entry region is arranged under the bulk material container. The exit region is supported on at least one first measurement device which is arranged and designed to determine the weight load of the conveyor by the bulk material. The conveyor is attached in a free floating manner to the bulk material container at the entry region thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dosing device for bulk material with a batch weighing scale attached to an outlet opening of a bulk material container. The invention also relates to a method for operating the dosing device.
2. Description of the Background Art
A dosing device with a batch weighing scale attached to an outlet of a container is known from WO 2009/065524 A1, which corresponds to US2011035048, and which is incorporated herein by reference. This batch weighing scale essentially comprises a horizontally extending conveyor that preferably can be a screw conveyor, and that is supported by a number of bearing devices on a fixed supporting framework. Provided between the supporting framework and the conveyor are a number of measuring devices that are arranged and designed so as to continuously sense the weight of the bulk material being conveyed by the conveyor. The conveyor is motor driven and is designed to convey the relevant bulk material in the prescribed direction from a receiving area to a discharge area.
Attached to the floor of the container is a vertical filling tube, which is routed to the receiving area of the conveyor. The container stores at least a portion of the bulk material to be conveyed, and, in cooperation with the filling tube, forms a feeder for the conveyor. An agitator may be provided in the container, by which means bulk materials, for example those which flow poorly, can be agitated, so that it is possible to ensure a mass flow in the container for uniform loading of the conveyor.
The container, or the filling tube attached to its floor, and the conveyor preferably are mechanically decoupled from one another in order to prevent motions that arise in the container from affecting the measurement results in weight sensing with the conveyor. In the case of a screw conveyor, decoupling is accomplished with a flexible collar, for example, that connects the filling tube of the container and a pipe fitting at the receiving area of the conveyor.
WO 2009/065524 A1 proposes a fully floating support of the conveyor so that exclusively the weight of an applicable conveyor is sensed in the continuous measurement. To this end, the conveyor is supported on the bottom by a number of self-aligning bearings on the supporting framework, wherein at least one self-aligning bearing has an integrated force transducer. The self-aligning bearings are located at each of the two ends of the essentially horizontal conveyor. In the conveying operation, the vertically flowing bulk material is redirected in a horizontal direction by the conveyor and is removed from the conveyor's receiving area.
However, in the conventional art, improvement is needed in that, especially for bulk materials with poor flow properties, extremely varying vertical forces can be caused by the continuing vertical flow of bulk material. These forces can be transmitted through the bulk material to the conveyor and thereby to the self-aligning bearings that are located under the conveyor at the receiving area. These forces can result in distortion of the measured values in weight sensing.


Systems and methods relate to utilizing fluid potential energy to produce large scale and sustainable hydroelectric power by employing a Cho-Venturi hydraulic ram (CVHR). The CVHR system includes a Cho-Venturi tube (CVT) in which a primary flow from a fluid at a head pressure at a depth in a body of the fluid combines with a recirculation flow in a throat section of the CVT. A pressure higher than the pressure outside the plant is generated at the end of a diverging section the CVT, which enables expulsion of the fluid discharged from hydraulic turbines under atmospheric pressure to the fluid depth while another portion of the fluid is recycled for power generation.

Underwater potential energy is a renewable energy that is available almost everywhere on earth. About 71 percent of the surface of the earth is covered with the various oceans, lakes and rivers with sufficient depths to provide underwater potential energy for power generation. Moreover, some of the world's most populous areas are located along a coast. In the United States, for example, twenty-three of the twenty-five most densely populated counties are in coastal regions. Although coastal counties constitute only 17 percent of the total land area of the United States (not including Alaska), these coastal counties account for 53 percent of the total population. In such highly populated areas, increased energy consumption is necessary to sustain further population and economic growth. Needless to say, these areas of the globe would benefit from generating power from this renewable potential energy source.
In addition, finding a continuous supply of fossil fuels is becoming more uncertain and unpredictable. These trends can lead to increasing negative effect on commerce and quality of life. For instance, the commercial maritime transportation industry is totally dependent on petroleum derived fuels. Operating costs, as well as transportation costs increase with greater scarcity and less reliable sources of energy. Disruptions in service could lead to damaging, if not disastrous effects on local and global economies. Accordingly, finding alternative energy for maritime use is an emerging need.
While underwater potential energy of oceans and other bodies of water offers a promising energy source for consumption, especially in areas proximal to shorelines, efficient methods are not presently available to convert this immense potential energy source to hydroelectric power in a truly economical and sustainable fashion. Thus, a more efficient and effective system and method of harnessing underwater potential energy is desirable.

System and method for water expulsion from underwater hydropower plant and hydropower plant associated therewith


A string emanating from a packaging machine is arranged in a slot by means of a feed inlet and placed in a winding shaft (12). This placement is assisted by the use of positioning brushes (4). After the initial introduction, winding up takes place upon rotation of the winding shaft and upon further engagement of the string in the slot (14) in the winding shaft. The winding shaft is provided on a carrying disc (5) and said carrying disc is also arranged so as to be rotatable. During the first stage, the section of the string emanating from the supply path is pulled with constant force. After the string has been separated from the remaining material, the winding is carried out. Subsequently, the rotating shaft with the string, through rotation of the carrying disc, reaches a next position in which pressing the reel and thus adhesion of the reel end moves the winding shaft out of the reel. The reel has already been checked prior to entering the winding device to determine whether it has to be inspected.

Strings of medicine sachets comprise sachets which are connected to one another to form a series, each sachet being filled with one or more medicines and each sachet being a daily dose or a dose of the medicines to be taken at a particular time. Such strings are wound up for each patient or group of patients. Packaging is carried out as much as possible in an automated manner and, starting from an endless string or precut string sections, the strings are, if desired, shortened to form string sections after the medicines have been packaged in the strings or string sections and then have to be wound up in order to be able to handle and transport them in a simple manner.
In addition, it is necessary to separate the string sections obtained during packaging into string sections which, upon inspection, have been found to be perfect and string sections which still have to undergo further treatments, such as a further inspection of the medicines and/or a modification thereof.
Until now, the operation of winding up the string sections and separating the reels obtained according to the different diameters has mainly been carried by hand. It is known to wind up a string section by means of a rotating motor provided with a shaft having a slot. Next, an indication of any suitable kind was provided as to whether the packaging had to be further examined. As winding is a relatively simple task and the measures regarding a further inspection are of a greater responsibility, various people were employed in the prior art which further complicated the process.
GB 1,382,136 discloses a winding device for winding textile materials. Therein, a strip of textile material is introduced by hand into the slot of a winding shaft and is subsequently wound onto the latter by means of rotation.
This device is unsuitable for the automatic winding of large numbers of successive string sections which are separated from one another.

Winding device and assembly comprising a winding device


Disclosed is a p-type organic semiconductor material having the formula:

Because organic semiconductor materials have semiconducting and optoelectronic properties, they can be applied in many optoelectronic devices such as organic thin-film transistors (OTFT), organic solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), and photo sensors. The organic semiconductor materials are utilized to form an active film on optoelectronic devices by solution coating. Optoelectronic devices utilizing organic semiconductor materials have advantages such as being lightweight, inexpensive, easy to fabricate, and flexible, in addition to their suitability for large-area fabrication. Conjugated polymers with a conjugated backbone are among the most popular organic semiconductor materials for use in optoelectronic devices. However, the conjugated polymer has disadvantages, such as low carrier mobility and a narrow absorption band of about 400 nm to 650 nm. As such, the application of conjugated polymers in optoelectronic devices is limited. Therefore, many conjugated polymers are synthesized to enhance carrier mobility and the absorption band thereof, to further improve photoelectric efficiency.
In solar cell applications, characteristics such as high electron/hole mobility and a wide absorption band are desirable for improving power-conversion efficiency. Photo-induced or electro-induced charges are easily recombined to dissipate in an improper active layer, thereby lowering the power-conversion efficiency of an organic solar cell, including the improper active layer. If the solar light absorption is increased and the carrier mobility is enhanced, the power-conversion efficiency of the organic solar cell can be greatly increased. Thus, an electron donor material such as polymer is often combined with an electron acceptor material such as C60 by heterojunction technology. For example, the electron donor material poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) blended with [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) has a power-conversion efficiency of 3.5%.
Therefore, a novel p-type organic semiconductor material for replacing the P3HT to improve the organic solar cell performance (e.g. power-conversion efficiency) is still called-for.

P-type organic semiconductor material and optoelectronic device utilizing the same

Abstract: Each Con is the same and consists of a conjugated oligomer. Each EW is the same and consists of an electron withdrawing group. The p-type organic semiconductor material can be applied in an active layer of an optoelectronic device, such as an organic solar cell, an organic light-emitting diode, or an organic thin-film transistor.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


This invention relates to methods and devices for the production of micro-structured substrates and their application in natural sciences and technology, in particular in analysis and detection systems based on artificial and biological lipid membranes. The structure is preferably a hole or a cavity or channel and is obtained by spark perforation. Energy, preferably heat, is applied to the region to be structured so as to reduce the amplitude of voltage required and/or soften the material. The electrical parameters of the spark perforation are feedback-controlled.

Many biological, physical or chemical analysis methods are based on lipid bilayers and biological membranes, respectively. Some of these techniques require the direct access to specific parts/patches of the membrane being usually ca. 0.1-100 um (um=10−6 meter) in diameter. Examples are electrophysiological techniques such as Patch Clamp and Black Lipid Membrane (BLM) analysis. For the standard patch clamp, such parts/patches of the membrane have been exclusively accessed by sealing a micro pipette against the cell membrane. Access to the membrane patch beneath the pipette is then directly provided through this pipette. The remaining membrane area outside the pipette is usually accessed through the solution in which the cell is immersed (B. Sakmann and E. Neher, Ed., Single-Channel Recording, Plenum Pub. Corp.; ed. 1, 1983). In the case of artificial lipid membranes (e.g. BLM), thin and perforated insulating sheets separating two fluid compartments have been used to carry the membranes in such a way that they cover the hole and consequently can be independently accessed from both sides (Mueller et al., J. phys. Chem., 67, 534 (1963)).
Lately, micromachined planar solid substrates (also called 'carrier') made of sheets of insulating materials such as silicon/siliconnitride (PCT patent application WO1998IB0001150), glass and plastics have replaced the classical tools for directed membrane access such as micropipettes (as in patch clamp) and TEFLON® septa with conventional holes (as for BLM). Advantages include a much simplified handling during analysis, higher stability, better electrical parameters as well as the possibility to mass manufacture the new membrane carriers.
However, due to the specific needs of carriers for electrophysiology such as the surface adhesion properties and holes sizes as small as 0.1-10 um in ca. 2-200 um thick insulators, current standard materials as well as techniques used for micromachining may not provide a suitable approach to the production of inexpensive but high quality membrane carriers.
It has so far not been possible to produce high quality membrane carriers in a reproducible manner by dielectric breakdown phenomena. More specifically it has not been possible to reproducibly produce substrates having holes in them in which holes have a diameter in the range of 0.1 um to 10 um. It has also not been possible to introduce such holes in a manner allowing for mass production of such perforated substrates. Membrane carriers produced with other methods, such as e.g. lithography and other mainly for semiconductor industry developed micromachining technologies, usually lack one or more characteristics required for membrane carriers such as high aspect ratio holes (preferably >10), chemical and physical surface properties (e.g. functional groups on surface for modification; roughness), hole diameter and in particular simplicity and low cost of production.
Accordingly it was an object of the present invention to provide for a method allowing the production of high quality perforated substrates, e.g. of high quality membrane carriers. It was also an object of the present invention to provide for a method of production of such high quality membrane carriers which method is easy to perform and reproducible. It was furthermore an object to provide for a method allowing the controlled production of holes in substrates, wherein the geometrical features of the holes can be easily controlled and influenced. It was also an object of the present invention to provide for a method allowing the mass production of perforated substrates. It was furthermore an object of the present invention to provide a method of hole production that can be applied to substrates that were hitherto difficult to process, such as glass.

Manufacturing and use of microperforated substrates


A pressure sensitive pen is provided. The pressure sensitive pen comprises a core body, an elastic element, a first magnetic body having one coil formed of at least a wire wound around, a second magnetic body, a sliding member, a hollow cylindrical body with an annular element formed therein and an inductance-capacitance type resonant circuit. The resonant circuit is electrically connected with the first magnetic body having the coil wound around. When a force is upward applied on the core body, the force is further applied on the sliding member through the core body such that the sliding member in conjunction with the second magnetic body move upward and make the elastic element deformed, and changing a predetermined distance between the first magnetic body and the second magnetic body, thereby changing an inductance generated by the coil, and the resonance frequency of the resonant circuit is thus changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positional indicator used in a digitizer tablet, and more particularly to a pen-like device that can detect pen press pressure or that comprises pen pressure sensitive mechanisms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, widely used computer input devices include the keyboard and the mouse. Due to the advances of digital technologies, more and more computer users have begun working with digitizer-based devices such as digitizer tablets, which allow a user to write and draw upon the working area of the tablet and have the signals and codes interpreted by a computer. Specifically, the working area of the tablet provides a writing surface for capturing the position, pressure and key status of an object, such as a pen or a mouse, and information related to pressure and actuated keys etc. In cooperation with the tablet, a pen-like device is required to create such objects. Most existing pen-like devices, which can be corded or cordless, are not able to generate lines with variable width according to different depressed forces upon the working area of the tablet applied by the pen-like devices. To overcome this shortage, pressure sensitive pens were invented.
FIG. 1A shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a prior pressure sensitive pen 10, which comprises a casing 12 having a cylindrical outer body, a core body 14 provided on the axis of the casing 12, a ferrite core 16 having a through-hole for slidably housing the core body 14, coil 20 wound around the ferrite core 16, a movable magnetic body 18 that can move in relation to the core body 14, a spring 22, and a capacitor 24. The core body 14 has a generally cylindrical form, while its upper neighboring portion, which touches the positional detecting plane, has a tapered form such that the operation allows it to easily indicate a specified point.
The ferrite core 16 is fixed to the casing 12. The core body 14 moves backward along its axis by a depressing force when the pen top 13 is depressed against the positional detecting plane. The moveable magnetic body 18 is positioned to move in conjunction with the core body 14. The relative distance to the ferrite core 16 is therefore varied as the magnetic body 18 moves. The coil 20 and the capacitor 24 form a resonant circuit. Conditions of this resonant circuit are determined such that the circuit resonates with the coil 20 while inducing and transmitting an electromagnetic field between them. The inductance of the coil 20 can be changed when the gap between the ferrite core 16 and the magnetic body 18 is changed. It thus detects the depressing force against the pen top 13 by sensing the change in the resonant conditions caused by the placement of the pen.
However, if the pressure sensitive pen 10 is operated in an inclined position against the detecting plane, the direction of the depressing force is then no more coincident with the axial direction of the core body 14. In such a case, only the axial component of the depressing force is transferred to the core body 14 so that the amount of the depressing force contributing to detection is decreased. Thus, the inductance change generated by the displacement of the magnetic body is reduced. The sensitivity of the pen pressure detection is also reduced if the pressure sensitive pen 10 is operated in an inclined position so that it cannot detect a weaker pen pressure.
Normally, it is natural for an operator to hold the pen in an inclined position, rather than in an orthogonal position while inputting with the pen in hand onto a horizontal plane.
To attain an increased absolute sensitivity by compensating for such a defect, it is desirable to provide a structure that provides the movable magnetic body 18 with a larger area, and has its end face opposed to the face of the fixed magnetic body 16, such as shown in FIG. 1B rather than to use the movable magnetic body 18 having a smaller area shown in FIG. 1A. In FIG. 1B, it is however required to assemble the pen with the initial gap predetermined as the interval between the two magnetic bodies when the pen not depressed by its tip. That requires high accuracy when placing the movable magnetic body. Moreover, ferrite material normally used for the fixed magnetic body is made by powder metallurgy, so that its dimensional tolerance is large and thus it is difficult to ensure the accuracy mentioned above.
Accordingly, it is an intention to provide an improved pressure sensitive pen to overcome the drawbacks mentioned-above.
It is one objective of the present invention to provide a pressure sensitive pen, which uses a fixed magnetic body having one coil formed of at least a wire wound around and a movable magnetic body. A predetermined distance between the fixed magnetic body and the movably magnetic body is changed when applying a depressing force on a core body of the pen. As a result, an inductance generated by the coil is changed and a frequency of electromagnetic field emitted from the pen is thereby changed.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a pressure sensitive pen, which utilizes an annular member disposed in a hollow cylinder to separate a fixed magnetic body having one coil formed of at least a wire wound around and a movable magnetic body such that a predetermined distance between the fixed magnetic body and the movable magnetic body is accurately and properly controlled when there is no force applied on a core body of the pen. An initial frequency of electromagnetic field emitted from the pen is kept constant and not influenced by a common difference of the magnetic bodies in dimension.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a pressure sensitive pen, in which one coil is formed of at least a wire wound around a fixed magnetic body so that the coil obtains a high Q value. Hence, the capability of the coil for inducing/emitting electromagnetic field is very excellent. The pen can directly induce an electromagnetic field coming from an underlying tablet to serve as power source, and does not require an additional power supply such as a battery.
It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide a pressure sensitive pen, in which one coil is formed of at least a wire wound around a fixed magnetic body so that the coil obtains a high Q value. Hence, the capability of the coil for emitting electromagnetic field is very excellent. As a result, an underlying tablet for detecting pressure variation of the pen has a higher S/N ratio, and the resolution of the tablet is improved. The signal transformation of the tablet from a frequency value into a pressure value is facilitated.
In order to achieve the above objectives of this invention, the present invention provides a pressure sensitive pen having a pressure sensitive mechanism. The pressure sensitive mechanism comprises a supporting member, an elastic element, a hollow cylindrical body, a first magnetic body, a second magnetic body, a sliding member, a core body and one coil formed of at least a wire wound around the first magnetic body. One end of the supporting member is provided with a first housing. The elastic element is disposed in the first housing. One end of the hollow cylindrical body is leaned against the end of the supporting member having the first housing. The hollow cylindrical body has an inner surface and an outer surface. The inner surface of the hollow cylindrical body is formed with an annular member for dividing the hollow cylindrical body into a second housing and a third housing. The third housing is formed between the annular member and the first housing. The first magnetic body is provided with a first central through-hole. One end of the first magnetic body is engagely received in the second housing and against the annular member. The second magnetic body is provided with a second central through-hole. The second magnetic body is movably disposed in the third housing and one end thereof is leaned against the annular member. The sliding member is movably disposed in the third housing. The sliding member is formed with a cylindrical body and an annular element. The annular element is formed around an outer surface of the cylindrical body to divide the sliding member into a first part and a second part. The length of the first part is a little shorter than that of the second magnetic body. A fourth housing is formed within the first part of the sliding member. The first part of the sliding member engagely passes through the second central through-hole of the second magnetic body such that the sliding member moves upward and downward in conjugation with the second magnetic body. The sliding member has a second end against the elastic element. The core body passes through the first central through-hole of the first magnetic body and the annular member and one end thereof is engagely received in the fourth housing. The coil formed of at least a wire is wound around the first magnetic body. When a force is upward applied on the core body, the sliding member in conjugation with the second magnetic body move upward away from the annular member. When there is no force applied on the core body, the elastic element forces the sliding member in conjugation with the second magnetic body against the annular member.


Methods, apparatuses and articles of manufacture are disclosed that provide for partial downlink and uplink resource allocations among cooperating cells in a CoMP transmission to a user equipment. The resource allocation can be based on channel conditions and differing capabilities and restrictions of cooperating cells such as in support of heterogeneous network configurations.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the disclosed embodiments. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission and reception is proposed for 3GPP LTE Advanced (LTE-A). CoMP utilizes multiple, geographically dispersed nodes connected over a backhaul connection to a central processing unit to provide enhanced coverage and performance over conventional single node operation.
Coordinating the transmission from multiple, geographically dispersed antennas can be used to increase the signal-to-noise ratio for users far from the antenna sites, for example by transmitting the same time-frequency resources from multiple sites.

Resource allocation and transmission for coordinated multi-point transmission


A high-frequency DC to DC converter comprising n transient converter circuits (1, 2 . . . n) operating in parallel. The converter has constant transfer characteristics, and the transient converter circuits are operated phase-shifted by 360°/n and with interleaved duty cycles, which results in a continuous energy transfer through the circuit. The circuit is also soft-switched, with very low switching losses. In particular, the active semiconductors only switch off a relatively small magnetization current, during a recovery phase which can last as long as (n−1)/n of the switching phase period.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of high-frequency DC-DC converters in which electrical power at a first voltage is transferred from a power source to a load at a second voltage by high-frequency switching of current through circuits containing inductive and other resonant components. In particular, the invention relates to a family of multiphase converters in which two or more converter circuit slices are used to transfer electrical energy in parallel by switching current through the circuits sequentially in packets of energy.
2. Description of the Related Art
A DC-to-DC converter is a circuit which converts a direct current voltage at one level to a direct current voltage at another level. One of the primary design goals in such DC-to-DC converters is to increase the amount of power transferred through the converter. Common prior art DC-to-DC converter topologies include the buck or forward converter, the buck-boost or flyback converter, and the boost converter, which transfer energy from the input to the output during part of the switching cycle. In these circuits a dead time was created during the energy transfer (discontinuous energy transfer) which resulted in the need for larger output filters. Subsequent designs, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,839 (Barthold), used combinations of topologies to achieve a continuous transfer of energy from the input to the output of the converter, which allowed a significant reduced size of output filter.
Increasing the switching frequency is also known to enable increased power transfer through the converter. This can also result in a reduction in the size of the output filter and, in the case of converters using galvanic isolation transformers, a reduced size of the isolation transformer. However, as frequency increases, so switching losses in semiconductor switches start to increase significantly, due to the finite switching speed or the time required for the current in the semiconductor device to start and stop flowing.
In order to overcome the problems inherent in using higher switching speeds, resonant and quasi-resonant DC-to-DC converters were developed which permitted zero-current (ZCS) and zero-voltage (ZVS) switching. In the case of quasi-resonant converters, the current or voltage is shaped to become half-sinusoidal, and the switching is timed to occur at the time when the current or voltage reaches zero. Parasitic capacitances and leakage inductances, which are normally considered a problem in such circuits operating at high frequencies, are incorporated in the circuit to define the resonance characteristics of the converter. An example of a quasi-resonant converter circuit can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,959 (Vinciarelli), which describes the cycles of charging a resonant capacitor during the on part of the operation cycle, and then, when the charging current reaches zero, switching the switch off, whereupon the output inductor discharges the resonant capacitor, transferring the energy to the load. By switching at zero current, this topology reduces switching losses, which allows the converter to run at a higher frequency.
However, such quasi-resonant converter circuits still require relatively large capacitors for storing the amounts of charge necessary, and at the operating voltage. Switching timing is also critical, which means that the control of the circuit operation is a non-trivial task, and may require a relatively complex design, or very low tolerance (ie expensive) resonance components and care over modelling parasitic. If the circuit is switched sub-optimally, or not correctly matched to the resonant components, then switching losses and inefficiency can result.
The invention also relates to arrangements of two or more convertors operated in parallel. As is already known, there are significant advantages in using two or more converter circuits to transfer energy in parallel from a common power source to a common load: U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,595 (Cross) describes a converter circuit which includes two soft-switching resonant converters operating in parallel. The switching sequence is interleaved, phase shifted by 180° between the two circuits, so as to provide power transfer during both halves of the switching cycle. Switching is carefully timed such that the switches are turned on while the voltage across them, and the current through them, are near zero, thus reducing switching losses. This converter circuit, however, still requires a relatively large input capacitor to cope with the voltage swings across it and a relatively complicated control unit to generate the required pulse-width modulation and interleaved soft-switching timing in the primary and secondary switches. Since it is based around the use of transformers with leakage inductance, it also uses a clamp circuit to recycle energy stored in the leakage inductance after each cycle in order to achieve zero-voltage switching of the power switches.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,780 (Goad) describes a power converter in which multiple smaller converters are connected in parallel between the power source and the load, and in which the smaller converters are switched sequentially and pulse-width modulated such that at least two of converters are always on at any one time.
It is an aim of the invention to provide a high-frequency DC-DC converter which provides continuous energy transfer at very high efficiency, with very low ripple voltage on the output, which requires less smoothing on the output, which has significantly reduced switching losses, which has simplified control circuitry, which does not require balancing circuitry, which requires a small number of components and in which the power rating of the components can be reduced relative to the overall power rating of the converter.

Multiphase soft-switched DC-DC converter


A method of manufacturing an intercalation compound, such as a graphite intercalation compound, in a fluidized bed reactor. The intercalation compound comprises a host material, like graphite, and an intercalant and is essentially free of excess intercalant.

Graphite is a crystalline form of carbon. The carbon atoms in graphite form a layered structure wherein each carbon atom is strongly bonded to three other carbon atoms in the same layer by covalent bonds called sigma bonds, and is relatively weakly bonded to carbon atoms in adjacent layers by delocalized bonds called pi bonds. Accordingly, the layers of carbon atoms in graphite are weakly bonded to each other by a delocalized distribution of pi electrons, which may account for the lubricating and electrical conducting properties of graphite.
Because of the weak bonding between carbon layers in graphite, a variety of compounds that either accept or donate electrons can be interspaced between adjacent carbon layers in graphite to expand the graphite lattice. The compound interspaced between the carbon layers of graphite is termed, here and hereinafter, an "intercalant". During an interaction with graphite, the intercalant diffuses between adjacent carbon layers in graphite, and an electron exchange occurs between the intercalant and the carbon atoms of the graphite. Compounds resulting from the interaction between graphite and an intercalant are termed, here and hereinafter, "graphite intercalation compounds".
Depending upon the relative amounts of graphite and the particular intercalant that are interacted, different graphite intercalation compounds result. These different compounds are termed "stages" of a particular graphite intercalation compound. For example, a first stage graphite intercalation compound has alternate layers of carbon and the intercalant; a second stage graphite intercalation compound has two successive carbon layers of graphite followed by a layer of intercalant; a third stage graphite intercalation compound has three successive carbon layers of graphite followed by a layer of intercalant; and so on.
Nonintercalated graphite is known and used as a lubricant and as an electrical conductor. An intercalant improves the mechanical properties of graphite, and especially the self-lubricating properties of graphite. However, conventional methods of manufacturing graphite intercalation compounds have the following disadvantages: 1) production of a nonuniform product that includes excess, i.e., non-intercalated, intercalant, and 2) low production volumes. A need exists to overcome these disadvantages.
One conventional method of manufacturing a graphite intercalation compound utilizes a static bed reactor. In this method, the graphite and the intercalant, such as a metal halide, first are admixed, then the mixture is introduced into a resealable static, i.e., fixed, bed reactor. After sealing the reactor, the mixture is heated. However, a simple mixture of graphite and an intercalant, in the absence of an interactive gas, does not interact, even at an elevated temperature, to form a graphite intercalation compound. An interactive gas, such as chlorine gas (Cl.sub.2), therefore is passed through the heated mixture of graphite and intercalant to form the graphite intercalation compound. The interactive gas can be generated in situ or can be passed through the graphite-intercalant mixture as a gas stream. In general, the interactive gas mediates electron transfers that allow the intercalant to become interspaced between the adjacent carbon layers of graphite.
A conventional fixed bed reactor includes an inlet for the interactive gas stream and an outlet for interactive gas stream and other interaction byproducts. Therefore, a stream of an interactive gas is introduced to the fixed bed reactor and allowed to pass through the heated graphite-intercalant mixture to provide a graphite intercalation compound.
The above-described conventional method of manufacturing a graphite intercalation compound yields only about 3.5 pounds of graphite intercalation compound per 8 hours. Design limitations for static bed reactors essentially preclude the assembly of large scale reactors, thereby limiting the static bed reactors to pilot plant scales and, accordingly, low volume yields.
Furthermore, a graphite intercalation compound resulting from the conventional static bed method is a nonuniform product because: 1) packing of the graphite-intercalant mixture in the fixed bed reactor prevents the stream of interactive gas from passing through the graphite-intercalant mixture uniformly across the cross-section of the fixed bed reactor; and 2) a heat gradient exists over the crosssection of the fixed bed, wherein the center of the fixed bed is cooler than regions of the fixed bed closer to the walls of the reactor. The packing of the mixture also results in channeling of the interactive gas through the fixed bed of graphite-intercalant mixture. Accordingly, there is non-uniform contact between the interactive gas and the graphite-intercalant mixture, further resulting in a non-homogeneous product.
After the interaction between the graphite and the intercalant is complete, the fixed bed reactor is cooled, then the top of the reactor is unsealed, and the graphite intercalation compound is removed from the bed of the reactor. The resulting graphite intercalation compound includes excess, i.e., non-intercalated, intercalant, and includes free, i.e., non-interacted, graphite. Usually therefore, a graphite intercalation compound prepared by a present-day commercial fixed bed method includes up to about 40% by weight excess intercalant, providing a nonuniform graphite intercalation compound that has decreased self-lubricating properties compared to a graphite intercalation compound that is essentially free of excess intercalant. In contrast, the present method provides a graphite intercalation compound that is essentially free of excess intercalant. In addition, the present invention allows the purification of a graphite intercalation that includes a large amount of excess intercalant, such as a graphite intercalation compound prepared in a fixed bed reactor, to provide a graphite-intercalation compound including 1% or less by weight excess intercalant.
Another method of manufacturing a graphite intercalation compound is disclosed in Knappwost, U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,280, wherein graphite and a metal powder are heated in the presence of a halogenating agent, like chlorine gas, to provide a graphite-metal halide intercalation compound. The Knappwost method purportedly overcomes the difficult and commercially unattractive expense of heating graphite and a metal halide to form a graphite intercalation compound.
Oblas et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,276, and Su, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,192, disclose the preparation of a graphite intercalation compound in a vapor-transport reactor. The method of Oblas et al. utilizes metal halide vapors generated in a first zone of a reactor to intercalate graphite in a second zone of the reactor. The resulting graphite intercalation compound is maintained at a temperature sufficiently high to prevent condensation of the metal halide on the graphite intercalation compound, and thereby a more pure and uniform product is provided. Su discloses a similar method.
Sugiura et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,884 discloses the preparation of a graphite metal chloride intercalation compound without the use of chlorine gas. The method of Sugiura et al. utilizes both (1) a first metal chloride to intercalate the graphite, and (2) a relatively small amount of a second metal chloride, having a lower boiling point than the first metal chloride, as a substitute for the chlorine gas. Although the method of Sugiura et al. increases the reaction rate for producing a graphite intercalation compound, the intercalation compound can also include some second metal halide intercalated into the graphite, which is undesirable because the presence of two metal halides can adversely affect the properties of the desired graphite intercalation compound.
It would be desirable to provide a simple and economical method of manufacturing a graphite intercalation compound in high volume, and in a relatively short reaction time. It would also be desirable to provide a graphite intercalation compound which is uniform and is essentially free of excess intercalant, and to provide a method of purifying a graphite intercalation compound by removing excess intercalant.

Method of manufacturing intercalation compounds


The present invention provides a salt represented by the formula (I):

A photoresist composition is used for semiconductor microfabrication employing a lithography process.
US 2003/0099900 A1 discloses a chemically amplified photoresist composition comprising a resin comprising a structural unit derived from 2-ethyl-2-adamantyl methacrylate and a structural unit derived from p-hydroxystyrene, triphenylsulfonium 2,4,6-triisopropylbenzenesulfonate and bis(cyclohexylsulfonyl)diazomethane as an acid generator, a basic compound and a solvent.

Salt and photoresist composition comprising the same

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 each independently represent a fluorine atom or a C1-C6 perfluoroalkyl group, X1 represents a C1-C17 divalent saturated hydrocarbon group in which one or more —CH2— can be replaced by —O— or —CO— and which can have one or more fluorine atoms, R3 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and Z1+ represents an organic counter cation, and a photoresist composition containing the same.