A method for forming butt joints between thermoplastic members by resistive implant welding. A tongue is formed on one member to be joined and a complementary groove is formed in the other member. A resistive implant is placed between the tongue and the groove which are then pressed together by an applied pressure. An electric current is run through the resistive implant to melt a portion of the thermoplastic material of both the tongue and groove, and the melted plastic intermingles through the implant. When the electric current is removed, the plastic cools, forming a weld.

A need exists to join thermoplastic components, such as those formed from glass fiber reinforced polypropylene or the like, to other plastic components formed of similar materials. To date, such joining has been achieved via adhesives, mechanical fasteners, laser welding and/or sonic or vibration welding.
More recently, lap welds have been formed to join thermoplastic components using resistive implant welding techniques. In general, the technology of forming lap welds with resistive implant welding is described in, "Resistive Implant Welding of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Compounds", by Bates, Tan, Zak and Mah, published by the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE Technical Papers, document number 2006-01-0332 and the contents of this paper are included herein, in its entirety, by reference.
While resistive implant welding is proving to be a promising technique for forming lap welds between thermoplastic materials, to date resistive implant welding techniques have only been able to form lap welds which limits the use of these techniques.

Resistive implant welding of thermoplastic material with butt joints


The present invention is a group of medical devices designed to improve heart valve function. The medical devices may be used individually, or in combination to supplement damaged valves, replace damaged valves, or improve damaged valves function. The medical devices include leaflet retainers, a neo-annulus, neo-leaflet, and a framework. In addition, the present invention is novel methods for surgically treating heart valves.

The opening and closing of heart valves occur primarily as a result of pressure differences. For example, the opening and closing of the mitral valve occurs as a result of the pressure differences between the left atrium and the left ventricle. During ventricular diastole, when ventricles are relaxed, the venous return of blood from the pulmonary veins into the left atrium causes the pressure in the atrium to exceed that in the ventricle. As a result, the mitral valve opens, allowing blood to enter the ventricle. As the ventricle contracts during ventricular systole, the intraventricular pressure rises above the pressure in the atrium and pushes the mitral valve shut.
The high pressure produced by contraction of the ventricle could push the valve leaflets too much and evert them. Prolapse is a term used to describe this condition. This is normally prevented by contraction of the papillary muscles within the ventricle, which are connected to the mitral valve leaflets by the chordae tendineae (chords). Contraction of the papillary muscles is simultaneous with the contraction of the ventricle and serves to keep healthy valve leaflets tightly shut at peak contraction pressures exerted by the ventricle.
Valve malfunction can result from the chords becoming stretched, and in some cases tearing. When a chord tears, the result is a flailed leaflet. Also, a normally structured valve may not function properly because of an enlargement of the valve annulus. This condition is referred to as a dilation of the annulus and generally results from heart muscle failure. In addition, the valve may be defective at birth or because of an acquired disease.

Methods and devices for heart valve treatments


A game state manager (201) manages the state of an AR game (information that pertains to rendering of each virtual object (102), the score of a player (101), the AR game round count, and the like). An objective viewpoint video generator (202) generates a video of each virtual object (102) viewed from a camera (103). An objective viewpoint video composition unit (203) generates a composite video of the video of the virtual object (102) and an actually sensed video, and outputs it to a display (106). A subjective viewpoint video generator (212) generates a video of the virtual object (102) viewed from an HMD (107). A subjective viewpoint video composition unit (213) generates a composite video of the video of the virtual object (102) and an actually sensed video, and outputs it to the HMD (107).

A conventional augmented reality (AR) game system is constructed by an AR game apparatus for controlling an AR game, a head-mounted display (to be abbreviated as an HMD hereinafter) which the player of the AR game wears, and a display for presenting a subjective viewpoint video of the player to a third party other than the player.
The AR game apparatus controls the AR game, and generates information that pertains to rendering of a virtual object at the same time. The AR game apparatus generates a composite video as a video obtained by compositing a video of a virtual object generated using the information that pertains to rendering of the virtual object, and a video of a real space at the subjective viewpoint of the player, which is sensed by a camera attached to or built in the HMD.
The composite video is displayed on the display screen of the HMD. The player plays the AR game while reviewing this composite video. In addition to the player, the video at the subjective viewpoint of the player as this composite video is presented to a third party who watches this AR game in addition to the player by displaying that video on a display prepared for a third party other than the player.
Some TV programs use virtual studios in each of which a program stage set is built by virtual objects. In this virtual studio, a program video is generated by compositing an actually sensed video of characters of the program sensed by a set camera, and a video of the virtual studio seen at the position and posture of that camera.
In the conventional AR (augmented reality) game system, a third party (watcher) other than the player can only watch a video generated for the player (mainly at the subjective viewpoint of the player). For this reason, the watcher cannot watch videos of the AR game at viewpoints other than the subjective viewpoint of the player, e.g., the overall view of the AR game viewed from the objective viewpoint, a video of the AR game at a desired viewpoint of the watcher, and the like and can neither recognize the overall status of the AR game nor watch the AR game from a desired viewpoint.
Also, a program video using a virtual studio is generated at the objective viewpoint of a third party other than the characters of the program, but a video viewed from the subjective viewpoint of each character of the program cannot be generated.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to generate a video of an AR game at the subjective viewpoint of the player and also generate the overall view of the AR game viewed from an objective viewpoint and a video of the AR game viewed from a desired viewpoint of the watcher.

Augmented reality presentation apparatus and method, and storage medium


In one embodiment, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus that forms a plurality of images using a plurality of image carriers respectively corresponding to the images and stacks those images, the apparatus having a first group to which at least one image carrier among the plurality of image carriers belongs, a second group to which at least one image carrier among the remaining image carriers belongs, and a single detection sensor that detects a first detection information for identifying a rotation timing of the first group image carrier and also detects a second detection information for identifying a rotation timing of the second group image carrier.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 2009-142447 filed in Japan on Jun. 15, 2009, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus provided with a plurality of image carriers.
As an image forming apparatus, a so-called tandem image forming apparatus is conventionally known in which a plurality of images (for example, toner images) are formed by an image forming process of an electrophotographic method or the like, using a plurality of image carriers such as photosensitive bodies or the like that respectively correspond to the images, and the images are overlaid together. For example, when forming a full-color image, toner images of a plurality of mutually differing colors (ordinarily, color components of each of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K)) are formed at a coordinated timing on the plurality of image carriers corresponding to the respective toner images, the respective toner images are transferred in a stacked manner to a transfer-receiving body such as an intermediate transfer body or a recording material, and when the transfer-receiving body is an intermediate transfer body, the toner images are furthermore transferred to a recording material.
In this conventional image forming apparatus, in some cases a first group to which at least one image carrier among the plurality of image carriers belongs, and a second group to which at least one image carrier among the remaining image carriers belongs, are driven independently.
Specifically, when monochrome image forming is performed, ordinarily a black image is formed individually without forming an image of another color. In this case, an image carrier corresponding to black and an image forming member (a member including a black development apparatus) for forming an image on the image carrier are driven with a different drive unit, such as a motor, than a plurality of image carriers respectively corresponding to other images (yellow, magenta, and cyan images) and image forming members (members including yellow, magenta, and cyan development apparatuses) for forming images on the image carriers.
On the other hand, although it is necessary to drive image carriers and image forming members for images in colors other than black (yellow, magenta, and cyan images), in order to reduce the number of drive components to achieve a smaller size for the image forming apparatus, it is possible to drive the respective image carriers for yellow, magenta, and cyan, which are driven simultaneously, and the image forming members corresponding to the image carriers, with a single drive unit. With such a configuration it is possible to reduce the number of components. A stepper motor is an example of a drive unit that drives a plurality of image carriers and image forming members.
Incidentally, even when a plurality of images are formed at a coordinated timing on the plurality of image carriers, image shift may occur when stacking the images of the respective image carriers. In order to prevent such image shift from occurring, it is important to precisely stack the images of the respective image carriers.
The occurrence of image shift is caused by, for example, rotational irregularity phase shift due to, for example, image carrier eccentricity, eccentricity of a drive transmission rotation member such as a drive gear that transmits rotational drive to an image carrier from a drive unit, and so forth.
For example, when a first group image carrier and a second group image carrier are driven independently, ordinarily, at the time of initial driving such as when power is turned on and at each instance of a predetermined period, the rotation phase of the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier are adjusted to a reference rotation phase, which is an optimal rotation phase where the rotational irregularity phase shift is as small as possible. However, even if phase matching is performed such that the rotation phase of the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier becomes the reference rotation phase, when an image is formed by driving only any one among the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier, in some instances the rotation phase of the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier may be completely different from the reference rotation phase. Alternatively, there may be instances when the rotation phase of the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier is shifted from the reference rotation phase, and thus image shift (phase shift) occurs.
In order to correct the rotation phase of the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier so as to become the reference rotation phase, conventionally, a detection sensor that performs phase matching of the rotation phase of the plurality of images that are stacked (that is, the plurality of image carriers) is provided for each image carrier, a rotation phase is detected by each of these detection sensors, a rotation phase difference of the detected rotation phase relative to the reference rotation phase is detected, and by thus changing at least one among the rotation timing of the first group image carrier and the rotation timing of the second group image carrier to correct the rotation phase of the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier, phase matching is performed. In this way it is possible to reduce the occurrence of rotational irregularity phase shift caused by eccentricity or the like.
Specifically, a detection sensor is provided for a first gear that transmits rotational drive to a first group image carrier (for example, a group carrier to which the black image carrier belongs), and a second gear that transmits rotational drive to a second group image carrier (for example, a group carrier to which the yellow, magenta, and cyan image carriers belong), the detection sensor detecting the rotational phase of the corresponding gear. Phase matching is determined by detecting the rotation phase of the first group image carrier and the second group image carrier with the respective detection sensors.
For example, JP 2006-84669A discloses a color image forming apparatus in which a photosensitive body is driven by a DC brushless motor having a Hall element via a drum gear provided with a rotation phase detection sensor, and rotation phase is detected in the drum gear and the motor.
However, at least one detection sensor that performs phase matching from the rotational irregularity of each image carrier is necessary for each image carrier that is driven. That is, for example, when a first group image carrier and a second group image carrier are independently driven, at least two sensors are necessary. Therefore, to that extent the apparatus configuration becomes more complex, and cost of the apparatus increases.

Image forming apparatus provided with a plurality of image carriers


A method of searching an image database for images to be used in rendering lighting scene in an environment by at least one luminaire within the environment, the method comprising: receiving a search trigger comprising at least one indication of a user preference; identifying at least a position of the at least one luminaire within the environment; responsive to receiving said search trigger, searching the image database based on both the indicated user preference and the identified position to return at least one image for use in rendering the lighting scene by the at least one luminaire.

"Connected lighting" refers to a system of luminaires which are controlled not by (or not only by) a traditional wired, electrical on-off or dimmer circuit, but rather via a wired or more often wireless network using a digital communication protocol. Typically, each of a plurality of luminaires, or even individual lamps within a luminaire, may each be equipped with a wireless receiver or transceiver for receiving lighting control commands from a lighting control device according to a wireless networking protocol such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (and optionally also for sending status reports to the lighting control device using the wireless networking protocol). For instance the lighting control device may take the form of a user terminal, e.g. a portable user terminal such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop or smart watch; or a static user terminal such as a desktop computer or wireless wall-panel. In such cases the lighting control commands may originate from a lighting control application ("app") running on the user terminal, based on user inputs provided to the application by the user through a user interface of the user terminal (e.g. a touch screen or point-and-click interface). The user device may send the lighting control commands to the luminaires directly, or via an intermediate device such as a wireless router, access point or lighting bridge.
As connected lighting systems comprise a multitude of lighting devices or lighting nodes which are each individually controllable, it can be challenging for a user to create a desired light scene easily. It is known to use a connected lighting system to generate a lighting scene based on an image selected by a user. The image could be a still image or moving image. It could be a captured image (photograph or filmed video) or could be a user created image (e.g. drawing or animation). In such cases the lighting control application samples ("picks") the colour and/or brightness values from one or more points or areas in the image, then uses these to set the colour and/or brightness levels of the illumination emitted by the luminaires providing the lighting scene. For instance the user may select a scene that has inspired him or her, such as an image of a forest or sunset, and the application sets the lighting based on this so as to recreate the colours of the image and therefore recreate the atmosphere of the scene shown in the image.
WO 2016/050539 discloses a method and system for generating and controlling a lighting scene of an environment based on a user preference and one or more images of the environment.
In one known implementation, the lighting control application automatically extracts the dominant colours from the image and assigns them randomly to individual lighting devices, thereby recreating a lighting scene giving a feel of that shown in the image. In another implementation, the lighting control application knows the positions or at least relative positions of the luminaires within the environment in question (e.g. room) and maps each to a corresponding point in the image. It then treats each of the luminaires as a "lighting pixel" to recreate an approximation of the image in the environment. In other more advanced implementations, image processing is used to identify segments within an image which can be mapped to specific lighting devices within an environment which are suitable for rendering that segment.


A blower apparatus is supported on a frame detachably mounted on the implement mounting plate for a skid steer loader. The blower is powered by a hydraulic motor operatively connected to the auxiliary hydraulic system of the skid steer loader. The blower is mounted on the frame in a manner that orients the discharge spout upwardly to be directed at elevated structure within the chicken house. Re-orientation of the air stream from the blower can be affected by manipulating the tilt position of the implement mounting plate and by raising the boom arms of the skid steer loader to elevate the blower apparatus. By properly positioning and orienting the discharged air stream from the blower apparatus, the dirt and debris in elevated structure of the chicken house can be dislodged and removed from the chicken house to improve the health and environment for a subsequent flock of birds installed therein.

Chicken houses are used to raise chickens from a young age to an adult bird when the adult chickens are crated and delivered to a processing plant. Modern chicken houses can be provided with automated feeding devices that deliver food for the growing chickens and with automated watering devices that provide fresh supplies of water as the water is consumed by the chickens. Once the chickens have been grown to an adult size and removed from the chicken house, the chicken house must be cleaned to reduce the spread of any diseases from one flock of chickens to the next flock of chickens to be raised in the facility.
Proper cleaning the emptied chicken house requires the removal of the feathers, litter and dirt from the interior of the chicken house. To that end, manually operated blowers are typically utilized by people carrying the blowers through the chicken house structure to relocate the unwanted material into a pile at one end of the structure where a skid steer loader can be utilized to remove the collected unwanted material from the facility. Because of the quantity of feathers, dirt and dried litter found throughout the chicken house structure, carrying manually operated blowers to relocate the unwanted material is a dusty job requiring the use of respirators and eyewear.
Blowers are particularly valuable for cleaning dirt and debris off of the elevated heating systems, such as tube heaters, brooders and space heaters, typically utilized within the chicken houses. In addition, blowers are very useful in the cleaning of the vertically oriented exhaust fans mounted in the chicken house walls, including the fan blades and the shutters controlling the flow of air through the exhaust fans. Cleaning the shutters is particularly sensitive matter for operating chicken houses in the warm summer months as the accumulation of dust and feathers restrict air flow through the shutters, making the fans less effective in operation. Cleaning the shutters is typically accomplished from the exterior of the chicken house.
Skid steer loaders are typically used in the cleaning of a chicken house because of the low profile and the maneuverability of the vehicle is particularly suited to the long, one story chicken house structure. Skid steer loaders have hydraulically driven wheels that steer the loader through differential steering by varying the flow of hydraulic fluid through the motors powering the rotation of the wheels on the respective sides of the loader. Skid steer loaders are provided with a boom structure that terminates at a mounting plate located forwardly of the operator's cab. Different operative devices can be detachably mounted on the boom mounting plate, including buckets and hydraulically driven rotary brooms that can be utilized in the cleaning of the chicken house. Alternatively, small compact tractors can be utilized instead of skid steer loaders, as compact tractors have booms that can carry attached implements as well.
It would be desirable to provide a device that can replace the manually operated blowers to facilitate and speed the process of cleaning chicken houses for the delivery of a new flock of young chickens.

Loader mounted blower for cleaning chicken houses


A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable instruction which configures a processor to function as: a first communication unit configured to execute a communication using a first type interface with a communication target device; a second communication unit configured to obtain, by using the first communication unit, identifying information used to execute a communication with the communication target device through a second type interface when a first network in which the communication target device is included is different from a second network set as a communication destination for a communication through the second type interface; a third communication unit configured to execute a communication with the communication target device through the second type interface when the first type network is same as the second type network; and a fourth communication unit configured to execute a restoring process where the communication destination is restored to the second network.

1. Technical Field
Aspects of the present invention relate to an information processing apparatus, a method for controlling the information processing apparatus and a computer readable medium for information processing for executing communication with a device.
2. Related Art
Various types of technologies for wireless communication between two communication devices have been proposed. For example, two communication devices execute a short-distance wireless communication for wireless settings in accordance with a wireless communication mode based on NFC (Near Field communication). The wireless settings are used for executing a wireless communication based on a communication mode (e.g., IEEE802.11a or 802.11b) different from NFC. As a result, the two devices become able to execute the wireless communication in accordance with the wireless settings.

Information-processing apparatus and computer-readable medium for wireless connection setting


A dynamic power management system includes an operating system (OS) that causes a processor to operate in one of multiple run states that have different performance and/or power dissipation levels. The OS selects the run state in response to processor information (e.g., processor load) being monitored by the OS. The OS can predict future states of the processor information based on sampled processor information. The OS can take an average of the predicted and actual samples for comparison with a threshold to select a run state. The OS can track the number of consecutive saturated samples that occur during a selected window of samples. The OS can predict future processor information samples based on the number of consecutive saturated samples.

In designing processor systems such as used in computing platforms, the computing platform (including the processor) is commonly designed to increase performance. However, especially in mobile applications, computing platforms are also designed to reduce power consumption. Typically, these design goals are in conflict.
One conventional solution to these goals is to provide a means for a user to switch the configuration of the computing platform between a high performance mode and a power conservation mode, as desired. For example, a computing platform may allow a user to select the desired mode via a hardware switch or via a menu and dialog box displayed by the computing platform. Such an approach requires user intervention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for dynamic power management in a processor system


A page layout module receives a page image displaying text in an unknown script and unknown orientation, determines a text section in the received image and transmits the text section to an orientation and script module. The orientation and script module comprises a training module, a classifier and a recognition module. The training module trains the classifier to identify connected components that include a connected portion of one or more characters of text. The recognition module uses the trained classifier to identify in the received text section a set of connected components. The recognition determines the likely orientation and script for the connected components and then uses the determined information to determine the orientation and script for the text section. The determined orientation and script for the text section is transmitted to the OCR module. The OCR module uses the determined orientation and script to recognize text in the text section.

1. Field of Disclosure
The disclosure generally relates to the field of optical character recognition (OCR), in particular to determining text script and orientation.
2. Description of the Related Art
To accurately recognize the text in an image, optical character recognition (OCR) modules often utilize a great deal of prior knowledge, such as of the shapes of characters, lists of words and the frequencies and patterns with which they occur. Much of this knowledge is language-specific. This makes the language of the text contained in an image a crucial input parameter to specify when using an OCR algorithm.
Thus, it is desirable to identify the language of text being subject to an OCR process. In some situations, however, the language of the text is not known a priori and must be determined from the text itself. For example, the language of the text may be unknown when the text is drawn from a large corpus containing documents in a variety of different languages.
Often, it is desirable to identify the script in which the text appears as a prelude towards identifying the language. Identifying the script can limit the set of potential languages, and thus aid in machine-performed language identification. For example, if the script is identified as Cyrillic, then the possible languages of the text include Russian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian. If the script is identified as Latin, then the language is likely one of the at least 26 languages that use the Latin script. Some scripts, including many Indic scripts, such as Telugu, Kannada and Tamil, have only one language associated with them, and identifying the script inherently identifies the language of the text. Thus, determining the script in which a text is written either indicates the language of the text or simplifies the language determination process.


A grass collection container for a lawnmower is provided to reduce the amount of blockage in an air-permeable region of the container. Materials, such as residual grass, that adhere to the container, cause the blockage. The grass collection container is made from cloth, sewn in the form of a bag, to collect grass that has been cut by a rotating cutting blade of the lawnmower and carried to the container by a flow of air. At least one section of the grass collection container is the air-permeable region that allows the flow of air to pass therethrough but does not allow the grass to pass therethrough. The air-permeable region carries thereon a photocatalyst that sterilizes and decomposes grass and organic materials. Therefore, the container is able to reduce the amount of blockage and suppress decay therein, thereby lowering the level of unpleasant odors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grass collection container for a lawnmower. More specifically, the present invention relates to a grass collection container that collects grass that has been cut by a rotating cutting blade of the lawnmower and carried by a flow of air. At least one section of the grass collection container includes an air-permeable region that allows air to flow therethrough but does not allow the grass to pass therethrough.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, grass collection containers are often made by sewing cloth into the form of a bag, and the whole or a part of the cloth section is the air-permeable region.
Grass collected in a conventional grass collection container during a mowing operation is disposed of by shaking the container after the operation. However, a disadvantage of the conventional container is that grass and organic materials that have been trapped in gaps in the cloth bag, which forms the container, often remain attached to the interior of the container. These attached materials decay comparatively easily and later result in an unpleasant odor. Also, the decayed materials discharge as dust during the next lawn mowing operation and give an unpleasant sensation to the operator.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a grass collection container for a lawnmower that reduces the occurrence of organic materials such as residual grass being trapped in the container and blocking the air-permeable region and therefore, to suppress decay, and lower the level of unpleasant odor.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a grass collection container for a lawnmower that includes an air-permeable region on at least one section thereof. The grass collection container collects grass that has been cut by a rotating cutting blade and carried by the flow of air. The air-permeable region allows air to flow therethrough, but does not allow the grass to pass therethrough. The air-permeable region further carries thereon a photocatalyst.
Since the air-permeable region is where air passes through the container, if the region is formed using, for example cloth, gaps in the cloth are easily blocked by grass and organic materials. The grass and organic materials that are trapped in the gaps in the cloth tend to remain attached to the interior of the grass collection container even after the grass collection container is shaken for emptying after mowing the lawn. Thus, if the above-mentioned region carries thereon a photocatalyst, the photocatalyst exhibits a catalytic function when exposed to sunlight to promote the photolysis of moisture attached to the cloth (including moisture in the air), thereby forming hydroxyl radicals (.OH). These hydroxyl radicals have both a high binding energy and a high oxidizing power, and therefore exhibit a sterilization effect against microbes and a purification effect by decomposing attached grass and organic materials. The hydroxyl radicals reduce the blockage of grass and debris in the air-permeable region thereby suppressing decay. The residual attached materials can be easily removed from the gaps in the cloth by the flow of air during the next mowing operation. In order to allow the photocatalyst to fully exhibit its catalytic function, it is desirable for the lawnmower to be placed where the grass collection container can be exposed to sunlight. The above-mentioned catalytic function of the photocatalyst can also be exhibited very effectively while the mowing operation is carried out under sunlight.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Grass collection container for lawnmower


Prior to updating of an information processing program that stores a program update module for updating a wireless interface driver or the information processing program used for communications with a router, a printer stores the minimal information necessary for communications such as the wireless interface driver or setting information (service set identification (SSID), Wep key, etc.) necessary for using the wireless interface driver in basic update user information stored in an area different from an area for the information processing program. If updating of the information processing program is suspended and an error occurs in the information processing program, a basic update module protected from overwriting utilizes the basic update user information to restart communications with the router.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processor and an information updating method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Up to now, an information processor equipped with a non-volatile flash memory that stores a normal system BIOS as firmware and a recovery BIOS intended to recover a normal system and protected from change of stored data has been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-266552, for instance). If any trouble occurs upon updating the normal system BIOS and the normal system malfunctions, the information processor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-266552 is activated on the recovery BIOS having a limited function of recovering the normal system, reads the normal system BIOS from a data storage device connected to a flash memory or a processor, and updates the malfunctioning normal system BIOS to thereby recover the normal system BIOS. Since the recovery BIOS has a limited function of recovering the normal system BIOS, a memory area of a flash memory used for recovery can be reduced. In addition, stored data of the recovery BIOS is protected from overwriting, so the normal system BIOS can be relatively reliably recovered.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-266552, general information processors update, for example, a communication driver used for receiving information from any other firmware used in the information processors, for example, a connected device through communications in some cases. In such cases, the information processor as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-266552 does not consider the case where the processor cannot communicate with a data storage device. Thus, if an error is detected in new firmware, in particular, information about communication processing, then the processor cannot communicate with a connected device such as a data storage device in some cases. If such an error is detected, it is preferred to easily recover the system. Further, as a possible solution to the trouble upon updating, all firmware to be updated may be saved in another memory area of the flash memory or the like. In this case, however, there arises a problem of increasing a memory area necessary for updating the firmware.

Information processor and information updating method


A housing (HG) for a backlight unit (49) includes a bottom section (22), a wall section (23) and a side section (VP), and the side section (VP) is at least a part of a first groove (DH1) which sandwiches a mounting substrate (11).

There have conventionally been developed various types of backlight units for supplying light to a liquid crystal display panel (a non-light-emitting display panel). Backlight units typically include a light source that emits light. For example, the backlight unit 149 disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the LED (light emitting diode) 112 mounted on the mounting substrate 111 as shown in the sectional view of FIG. 25. The LED 112 emits light that enters the light guide plate 141 to travel toward the liquid crystal display panel 159 via the reflection sheet 142 and a group of optical sheets 146.
Such light is generated by driving the LED 112, but when the LED 112 is driven to generate light, heat is generated as well. The thus generated heat deteriorates the quality of the LED 112 (for example, the light emitting efficiency of the LED 112 is degraded or the life of the LED 112 is shortened). The heat of the LED 112 is also transferred to the mounting substrate 111, and the heat causes early deterioration or warp of the mounting substrate 111.
In order to prevent such defects caused by heat, in the backlight unit 149 described in Patent Document 1, the mounting substrate 111 on which the LED 112 is mounted is put in contact with the heat sink substrate 172 via the heat dissipation sheet 171. With this structure, heat of the LED 112 does not stay in the LED 112 or the mounting substrate 111 but escapes to the heat dissipation sheet 171 and to the heat sink substrate 172.
If the backlight unit 149 is used for a long time, however, the heat generated therein cannot be dealt with by heat dissipation merely by means of the heat dissipation sheet 171 and the heat sink substrate 172, and the mounting substrate 111 may, for example, warp in the worst case. To prevent this, in the backlight unit 149, the LED 112 and the mounting substrate 111 are placed between the light guide plate 141 and the heat sink substrate 172, and further, the mounting substrate 111 is placed between the housing 125 and the heat sink substrate 172 of the backlight unit 149.
The exploded perspective view of FIG. 26 and the sectional view of FIG. 27 show a backlight unit 149 as an example of backlight units other than that disclosed in Patent Document 1, and according to this backlight unit 149, it is possible to fasten a housing 121 and a mounting substrate 111 of the backlight unit 149 together with screws 173 (here, FIG. 27 is a sectional view taken along line a-a′ in FIG. 26, and a liquid crystal display panel 159 is additionally illustrated therein).    Patent Document 1: JP-A-2006-11242

Backlight unit and liquid crystal display device


There are provided an apparatus and a method for controlling a variable axle for preventing a safety accident. An apparatus for controlling a variable axle that controls operation power to one switch which is short-circuited or opened according to a manipulation of a user, and supplies the operation power for a descent of a pusher axle, includes: the other switch having one end connected to power of a vehicle and the other end which is short-circuited or opened in response to a control signal, to thereby supply the power of the vehicle as the operation power at the time of the short-circuit; and a controller confirming whether or not the vehicle is remotely being started when an ignition of the vehicle is turned-on, and opening the other switch by the control signal in the case in which the vehicle is remotely being started as a result of the confirmation.

In general, a heavy vehicle such as a truck on which a cargo having large loading is loaded includes a pusher axle so as to secure suitable axle weight depending on whether or not the cargo is loaded.
Such a pusher axle is used to allow the loading distributed to each shaft in a heavy truck not to exceed a predetermined magnitude and a defined loading to be acted.
Typically, in a situation in which a loading applied to a drive shaft by weight of the cargo exceeds a suitable level, the vehicle performs a descent of the pusher axle to distribute the loading applied to the drive shaft to the pusher axle. In contrast, in a state in which a loading capable of being sufficiently supported by only the drive shaft acts, the vehicle performs an ascent of the pusher axle and drives.
However, a 10×4 cargo vehicle among the heavy vehicles is configured to adjust the descent or the ascent of the pusher axle (a tri-axes axle) depending on ON/OFF of an ascent/descent switch which is out of the vehicle, in an ignition on state. However, the pusher axle is configured to automatically ascend regardless of the state of the switch in an ignition off state.
As such, since the pusher axle according to the related art automatically descends in the ignition on state (when the ascent/descent switch is turned on), there is danger that people around the vehicle are caught by a wheel and are injured in a case in which a driver does not exist around the vehicle in a remote starting situation.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Apparatus and method for controlling variable axle for preventing safety accident


The present invention relates to a compound of Antrodia camphorata used to treat autoimmune diseases, in particular to an extract, 4-hydroxy-2,3-dimethoxy-6-methyl-5(3,7,11-trimethyl-dodeca-2,6,10-trienyl)-cyclohex-2-enone, isolated from Antrodia camphorata, and its use in alleviating symptoms of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The cyclohexenone compound according to the present invention helps to decrease proteinuria levels and antinuclear antibody titers in SLE mammals in order to alleviate kidney inflammation and disease, as well as the self-damage caused by antinuclear antibodies. The purpose for prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases and kidney diseases by the natural, side-effect free substance can then be accomplished.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compounds for the treatment of immune-related diseases, in particular to cyclohexenone compounds isolated and purified from Antrodia camphorata extracts and can be applied in treatment of autoimmune immune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
2. The Prior Arts
There are many types of autoimmune diseases result from an aberrant immune response of the body and cause self-destructive. Prominent examples' include systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Scleroderma, Polymyositis, dermatomyositis, Anaphylactoid purpura, Sjögren's syndrome and the like. Others such as primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), chronic active hepatitis, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, are all related to autoimmune diseases. Among them, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the most serious disease, which is common in women of child-bearing age. SLE patients produce autoantibodies called antinuclear antibodies (ANA) targeted against autoantigens inside cell nucleus. These autoantibodies can cause multiple damages in tissues and organs such as skin, joint, skeleton, kidney, cardiovascular system, agglutination system, intestines and stomach, serous membrane (pericardium, pleura, and peritoneum), neural system and the like. Some of the antibodies form immune complexes when bind with antigens, which can be deposited in cells of different tissues during circulation. Clinical manifestations include butterfly rashes, hemolytic anemia, arthritis, blood vessel inflammation, nephritis and so on. A standard treatment for autoimmune diseases is administration of steroids or other chemical drugs. However, patients on long term treatment exhibited uncomfortable complication or side effects. Therefore, it will be beneficial to the patients if natural and side effect free traditional Chinese herb medicines are used to treat autoimmune diseases.
Antrodia camphorata is also called Chang-Zhi, Niu Chang-Zhi, red camphor mushroom and so on, which is a perennial mushroom belonging to the order Aphyllophorales, the family Polyporaceae. It is an endemic species in Taiwan growing on the inner rotten heart wood wall of Cinnamomum kanehirae Hay. Cinnamoum kanehirai Hay is rarely distributed and being overcut unlawfully, which makes Antrodia camphorata growing inside the tree in the wild became even rare. The price of Antrodia camphorata is very expensive due to the extremely slow growth rate of natural Antrodia camphorata that only grows between June to October.
The fruiting bodies of Antrodia camphorata are perennial, sessile, hard and woody, which exhales strong smell of sassafras (camphor aroma). The appearances are various with plate-like, bell-like, hoof-like, or tower-like shapes. They are reddish in color and flat when young, attached to the surface of wood. Then the brims of the front end become little curled tilted and extend to the surroundings. The color turns to be faded red-brown or cream yellow brown, with ostioles all over. It has very high medical value in this stage.
In traditional Taiwanese medicine, Antrodia camphorata is commonly used as an antidotal, liver protective, anti-cancer drug. Antrodia camphorata, like general edible and medicinal mushrooms, is rich in numerous nutrients including polysaccharides (such as β-glucosan), triterpenoids, superoxide dismutase (SOD), adenosine, proteins (immunoglobulins), vitamins (such as vitamin B, nicotinic acid), trace elements (such as calcium, phosphorus and germanium and so on), nucleic acid, agglutinin, amino acids, steroids, lignins and stabilizers for blood pressure (such as antodia acid) and the like. These physiologically active ingredients are believed to exhibit effects such as: anti-tumor activities, increasing immuno-modulating activities, anti-allergy, anti-bacteria, anti-high blood pressure, decreasing blood sugar, decreasing cholesterol and the like.
Triterpenoids are the most studied component among the numerous compositions of Antrodia camphorata. Triterpenoids are the summary terms for natural compounds, which contain 30 carbon atoms with the pentacyclic or hexacyclic structures. The bitter taste of Antrodia camphorata is from the component of triterpenoids. Three novel ergostane-type triterpenoids (antcin A, antcin B, antcin C) were isolated by Cherng et al. from the fruiting bodies of Antrodia camphorata (Cherng, I. H., and Chiang, H. C. 1995. Three new triterpenoids from Antrodia cinnamomea. J. Nat. Prod. 58: 365-371). Three new compounds zhankuic acid A, zhankuic acid B and zhankuic acid were extracted from the fruiting bodies of Antrodia camphorata with ethanol by Chen et al. (Chen, C. H., and Yang, S. W. 1995. New steroid acids from Antrodia cinnamomea,—a fungus parasitic on Cinnamomum micranthum. J. Nat. Prod. 58: 1655-1661). In addition, Chemg et al. also found three other new triterpenoids from the fruiting bodies of Antrodia camphorata, which are sesquiterpene lactone and 2 biphenyl derived compounds, 4,7-dimethoxy-5-methyl-1,3-benzodioxole and 2,2′,5,5′-teramethoxy-3,4,3′,4′-bi-methylenedioxy-6,6′-dimethylbiphenyl (Chiang, H. C., Wu, D. P., Cherng, I. W., and Ueng, C. H.1995. A sesquiterpene lactone, phenyl and biphenyl compounds from Antrodia cinnamomea. Phytochemistry. 39: 613-616). In 1996, four novel ergostane-type triterpenoids (antcins E and F and methyl antcinates G and H) were isolated by Chemg et al. with the same analytic methods (Chemg, I. H., Wu, D. P., and Chiang, H. C. 1996. Triteroenoids from Antrodia cinnamomea. Phytochemistry. 41: 263-267). And two ergostane related steroids, zhankuic acids D and E together with three lanosta related triterpenes, 15 alpha-acetyl-dehydrosulphurenic acid, dehydroeburicoic acid, dehydrosulphurenic acid were isolated by Yang et al. (Yang, S. W., Shen, Y. C., and Chen, C. H.1996. Steroids and triterpenoids of Antrodia cinnamomea—a fungus parasitic on Cinnamomum micranthum. Phytochemistry. 41: 1389-1392).
Antrodia camphorata extracts were reported to have the abovementioned effects from the previous experiments, and the components were analyzed in succession. However, the potential use of Antrodia camphorata extracts in treatment of autoimmune diseases has never been reported. Further experiments are needed to identify the effective composition to help treat autoimmune conditions. The natural components of Antrodia camphorata extracts will greatly contributes great beneficial effects in preventing or treating systemic lupus erythematosus if the real effective composition is found. In addition, this will help to prevent the side effects or complication caused by chemical pharmaceutical drugs such as steroids in treating autoimmune disease.


A high degree of wafer-scale integration of normally incompatible IC devices is achieved by providing a plurality of segments (10), each segment having thereon one or more circuits, circuit elements, sensors and/or I/O connections (14'). Each segment is provided with at least one edge (12) having an abutting portion (12a) capable of abutting against a similar edge of a neighboring segment. The segments are placed on the surface of a flotation liquid (20) and are allowed to be pulled together so as to mate abutting edges of neighboring segments, thereby forming superchips (10'). Microbridges (22) are formed between neighboring segments, such as by solidifying the flotation liquid, and interconnections (26) are formed between neighboring segments. In this manner, coplanar integration of semiconductor ICs is obtained, permitting mixed and normally incompatible circuit functions on one pseudomonolithic device as diverse as silicon and III-V digital circuits, III-V optoelectonic devices, static RAMs, charge coupled devices, III-V lasers, superconducting thin films, ferromagnetic non-volatile memories, high electron mobility transistors, and bubble memories, to name a few, to be integrated in any desired combination. The yieldable scale of integration of a given device technology is also greatly extended. The segments are brought together in a particulate-free fashion with high throughput and exacting reproducibility at low cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to forming multisegment "superchips", employing coplanar integration of a plurality of individual segments, each segment having formed thereon various circuits and circuit elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although the cost of designing increasingly complex integrated circuit (IC) devices continues to drop such that extremely complex products can now be designed on a desktop workstation, the cost of manufacturing these devices as measured by the required investment in capital equipment and ultra-clean rooms is rising at an astronomical pace. The continued decreases in circuit feature-size and simultaneous increases in chip size in order to get more functional capability on each chip is making it extremely difficult to maintain profitable yields. The Poisson yield model Y=exp(-DA), where Y is fractional yield, D is the net fatal defect density per unit area, and A is the chip area, gives a reasonably good fit to the behavior of yield as a function of those two parameters. Since this is an exponential relationship, one can see that any increase in either chip area A or defect density D has severe negative yield and profitability impact. Profitability is hurt because the cost of processing a wafer of chips is constant regardless of how many chips are good or bad.
The net fatal defect density, usually expressed in terms of fatal defects/cm.sup.2 of chip area, takes a dramatic upturn as the size of a chip's features are reduced unless extraordinary measures are taken to reduce the source of such defects. In general, a fatal defect would typically be caused by a particulate whose size is some fatal fraction of the smallest feature size found on the chip. As examples, a state-of-the-art chip may have 0.8 .mu.m spaces between its metallic interconnects. Those closely spaced interconnects can certainly be shorted by a 0.8 .mu.m particle or by an agglomeration of smaller particles situating themselves in the narrow spaces. The same chip may have a 200.ANG. or 150.ANG. gate oxide whose growth can certainly be interfered with by the presence of a contaminant whose size is on the same order of magnitude as the oxide thickness, i.e. 150.ANG.. In fact, a few monolayers of contaminant can cause problems. Thus, enormously expensive ongoing measures are required just to maintain constant defect density D, let alone decrease D, as features get smaller. The number of competitors able to afford the investments required to do this is rapidly dwindling, while the remaining manufacturers increasingly seek government funding to help in this undertaking. Countries not having this ability are in strategic trouble.
As mentioned above, the defect density will rise drastically with circuit feature-size shrinking unless great efforts are made to clean up the manufacturing environment, tools, people, and consumable materials. Other obvious variables which influence defect density are the number of process steps involved and the individual cleanliness of each of those steps as they are integrated together as well as the quality of the monolithic substrate starting-material employed to manufacture the devices. Historically, there has been substantial pressure to simplify process-complexity in order to improve yields. Simplification means using fewer and simpler process steps less prone to defect generation. There has also been substantial resistance to the widespread use of better higher-performance substrate materials such as gallium arsenide because such new materials frequently incorporate more inherent crystalline defects than silicon and are more fragile, which limits yields.
Independent of the concerns about defects and yields are the disadvantages of monolithic chips relative to their process inflexibility. As an example, consider the presently separate silicon chip industry and gallium-arsenide chip industry. Gallium arsenide's strengths are its inherent speed and ability to easily provide either optoelectronic or digital devices at modest levels of integration. Silicon's relative strengths are its slower yet useful speed and its inherently high level of achievable integration due to lower process and substrate defect densities and lower power density.
At present, it is impossible to combine both materials in one monolithic substrate and simultaneously build silicon and gallium arsenide digital circuits along with optoelectronic gallium arsenide devices without resorting to exceedingly complex defect-prone gallium arsenide-on-silicon epitaxial techniques. Such techniques have yet to integrate more than a handful of devices for military purposes where cost is no object. Without using molecular beam and other epitaxial techniques well-known in the art, the goal cannot be reached even for that very simplistic level of integration. It is to be understood that the level of integration possible in such work is many orders of magnitude cruder than in silicon technology wherein one million devices can be commercially integrated today.
Numerous telecommunication and computing applications await the solution to the problem of achieving mixed technology VLSI. In many cases, it would be highly advantageous, in terms of performance, to execute silicon digital designs completely in gallium arsenide, but silicon devices incorporating 100,000 gates or more will have extremely poor yields with the inherently more defectprone gallium arsenide material and processes. Thus, not only cannot one achieve VLSI in mixed technologies, but it is virtually impossible to achieve VLSI in straight gallium arsenide in large million-device chips like those made of silicon today.
The list of attractive products which could be made possible if defect density were not such a dramatic limiter of yield and if one could easily monolithically combine the benefits of presently incompatible or unacceptablycomplex process-technology combinations is endless. In the area of memory devices, one could construct presently unyieldable ultrafast static random access memories (RAMs) of multimegabit density at low cost in gallium arsenide. In the area of sensors, one could construct presently unyieldable silicon charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging chips of several million pixels and thus obtain electronic images of fine photographic quality. In the area of microprocessors, one could obtain supercomputer performance on a single, very large chip incorporating silicon memory and gallium-arsenide logic. Numerous incompatible technologies such as semiconductor gallium-arsenide lasers, optical detectors, superconducting thin films and devices, ferromagnetic nonvolatile memories, combinations of microwave and conventional digital/analog devices, high electron mobility transistors (HEMT), quantum devices, power devices, and bubble memories could each contribute to overall, uncompromised solutions implemented on one chip. An array of present system-level limitations such as chip-to-chip propagation delays, clock skew between devices and reliability and cost disadvantages associated with multichip solutions could be overcome by replacing multiple incompatible chips with one chip.
The closest that existing technology can presently come to the above is with hybrid-circuit techniques. In short, the printed circuit board is replaced with a far smaller ceramic substrate to which the same chips are attached. The ceramic substrate, essentially an ultra-fine-line printed circuit board, permits the chips to be packaged closer together and permits the on-substrate incorporation of passive elements such as laser-trimmed resistors and capacitors. This does improve the performance and reliability relative to a printed circuit board technique, but the cost is extremely high and the performance is still far from that of a single-chip solution. Lately, the trend is toward replacing the ceramic substrate with a silicon substrate which can be manufactured on the same equipment as the chips themselves. Thus, the interconnect linewidths are reduced to about 10 .mu.m for controlled impedance in this more compact implementation, rather than the larger linewidths measured in thousandths of inches (0.001) typical of ceramic substrates. Even in this approach, the interconnections made between the chips and the substrate are far larger in scale than the inherent feature size of the chips themselves. The signals passing between such chips pass out of a microscopic world (on-chip) into a relatively macroscopic world (on-substrate) and then back onto some neighboring chip. Having to deal with the inductance and capacitance discontinuities and and having to optimize the transmission-line behavior of these signal passages results in performance degradations relative to a one-chip solution. Needless to say, the reliability impact of a multichip hybrid approach such as this is also quite negative relatively speaking because in a one-chip solution one does not have to employ chip-to-substrate solder microjoints which are much more unreliable (and much more expensive) than on-chip thin film interconnections.
At present, there is no available method which will permit the manufacture of wafer-scale devices incorporating any desired mix of process technologies. There is not even a manufacturable wafer-scale device limited to one process technology which does not grossly compromise performance due to extensive use of redundancy. The only conceivable approach to currently building a single process logic/memory wafer-scale device would have to incorporate extensive use of redundant backup circuits. The problem with these approaches and other similar discretionary wiring approaches is that the more redundancy one employs to obtain yield, the further one gets from the performance of the most compact implementation, that of a yielding non-redundant device. This is particularly true for logic devices, and since increasingly most application-specific device types employ logic devices, the argument is qualitatively correct in general.
The objective of the presently disclosed invention is to permit chip manufacturers to reduce the impact of the exponential yield law such that they can both yield much larger chips at a given fixed feature size and defect density or conversely build much denser chips (smaller feature size) at a fixed chip size in spite of higher defect density. Likewise, such manufacturers would be able to combine various process and device technologies in any desired manner regardless of their present monolithic incompatibility. The present invention does not eliminate the benefit of defect density reduction; it simply greatly extends the scale and complexity of what is manufacturable at any given fixed defect density.
It must be emphasized that the objective of this invention is not to create an improved higher-density multichip hybrid whereon interchip connections must still pass from chip to substrate to chip and are still of a scale and density considerably below that of the chips themselves and large spaces are necessary between such chips such that they can be mounted, tested, reworked or otherwise individually processed. Rather, the primary objective is to implement all such chips in one chip. This will be done in a manner such that the result is identically physically equivalent to all of the circuitry being monolithically implemented. The strategy is to make the superchip in pieces and put it together. If one makes such a superchip of total area A in N pieces, then the area of each piece, or segment, becomes A/N. Thus, the yield of each of the individual unassembled segments becomes Y.sub.s =exp(-DA/N). The yield of joinging an incremental segment to a superchip being assembled must be high, i.e., nearly unity, and can be assigned on a per incremental segment basis as Y.sub.j. For a superchip containing N segments, the total superchip yield based on the total area of substrate material processed can be written as the product of the unassembled segment yields and the yielded segment-joining operations used to assemble the good segments. Since the first segment is not joined until a second segment is presented for the first joining operation, then the total joining yield is Y.sub.j.sup.N-1. This represents how often one can successfully execute all of the segment joining operations within a given superchip. The total segment yield in the simplest case wherein all N segments are identical is exp(-DA/N). Thus, Y.sub.superchip, just like the yield of today's monolithic devices, is a measure of how much starting material is successfully yielded. Accordingly, the product of the fractional portion of material which yields good unassembled segments and the probability of those good segments being successfully assembled represents the superchip yield as well as the efficiency of yielding the original raw material. ##STR1## The yield improvement due to the segmented approach is simply ##EQU1##
Obviously, for values of DA which are realistic, i.e., at least unity, values of N of only 3 or greater and values of Y.sub.j of 0.95 (i.e. 95%), then the yield improvement by segmentation can be at least 75% (i.e., the ratio is 1.75). For more likely applications, DA would be much larger, say 5 to 10, giving improvements in yield for three segments of from 2500% (ratio=25) to 70,800% (ratio=708). For the same two cases if the number of segments is increased from N=3 to N=6, then the improvements range from 5,000% (ratio=50) to 322,000% (ratio=3,220). Thus, it becomes possible not only to obtain acceptable yields for any size superchip but to freely mix technologies among the segments.
The obvious challenge is how one can possibly hope to align and join such segments in a manufacturing environment in high volume. Just the task of aligning two such segments even in one direction on a submicrometer-accuracy scale is complex and requires exotic micromanipulation devices. What is required is three-dimensional X,Y,Z and .theta. (angle) matchup on N segments simultaneously, and then the implementation of a joining interconnection process on a scale equivalent to that of the device features themselves with very high yields and low built-in stress. Thus, not only is it required to simultaneously mechanically manipulate N segments in three dimensions, but it also is required to do so in an ultra-clean, non-defect-producing manner. This is inconceivable, given present technology, the severe defect restrictions, and the required throughput needs necessary for any commercially successful product.
The only direct attempt to pseudomonolithically build chips from segments known to the present inventor and which claims to result in chips whose assembled segments are essentially indistinguishable from the monolithic approach is that of Biegelsen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,397. Biegelsen et al partially address only the alignment issue, but not the joining and defect issues.
The approach of Biegelsen et al has four deficiencies, two of which are fatal. The first fatal deficiency is that the invention requires that the wafers employed be of <110> axial orientation semiconductor crystal, a seldom-used orientation not desirable in integrated circuit device manufacturing, wherein <100> material is exclusively used in order to minimize built-in gate oxide charges and carrier mobility anisotropies in silicon devices. The approach of Biegelsen et al will not give vertical chip edges in the <100> material most commonly used. One is limited, even in <110> material, to chip shapes which follow his latent crystal planes.
The second fatal deficiency for the Biegelsen et al approach is that segments such as those defined by Biegelsen et al are ultrafragile in that they consist of brittle semiconductor materials with razor-sharp edges and no methodology is presented which will keep those edges from damaging each other. Even the slightest mechanical contact of two segments with any velocity appreciably above zero will produce particulate debris and edge damage. Such debris will foul the smooth motion and joining alignment required. Such damage and debris will prevent the implementation of submicrometer intersegment interconnections. Although Biegelsen et al suggest employing a grooved surface plate into whose surface such debris can fall, the damage to the integrity of the edges is already done. Furthermore, the active device surface in the approach of Biegelsen et al must be face-up on their vibrating table or it will be damaged. Thus, chip segments of different thickness cannot easily be joined due to their height mismatch.
The debris described above will also cause defects in the later patterning of the intersegment interconnections. It must be emphasized the defects produced by the segments and energetic forceful segment-alignment mechanics described by Biegelsen et al are just the opposite of what chip-manufacturers are spending billions of dollars to attain, i.e., ultra-clean, particulate-free operations with no instances of mechanical abrasion or tribologically-produced debris. Any contact with the product must be highly controlled, reproducible and clean, and preferably not contact the active device surface at all.
Biegelsen et al suggest that their grooved plate will catch the debris, but submicrometer debris is more affected by electrostatic and turbulence effects than it is by gravity. Wafer manufacturers have to use very aggressive cleaning techniques not amenable to such segments to remove such debris from wafers.
Two additional serious deficiencies are (1) the limited segment shapes available and resulting geometric difficulty of simultaneously abutting an array of diamondshaped segments and (2) the fact that Biegelsen et al say nothing in detail about how to interconnect the segments as formed using their technique once they are abutted and only reference one to other patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,850 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,716, which do not appear to even be remotely applicable to the task. This is hardly a trivial matter, as Biegelsen et al clearly imply. The present invention describes the important issues of gap control and differential expansion not discussed or referred to by Biegelsen et al.
If one has ever taken square pieces of tile and placed them on a flat surface and tried to simultaneously compact them into a large square array with no gaps, one notes how easy it is for even one badly aligned segment to ruin the fit of the entire array. This is especially true for four-sided segments. The only solution is to compact them one at a time, which greatly slows down the process, especially if each one has to be individually manipulated mechanically. Arrays whose segment-edges fall on common lines passing all the way through the superchip will always have this binding problem, especially if the segments are gravitated or shaken and slid together in the manner of Biegelsen et al. The accumulation of tolerances, i.e., segment size variations, can also cause binding problems in such arrays. The approach of Biegelsen et al is not conducive to evenly distributing tolerance variations over the whole array.
Further, the three-dimensional alignment accuracy of the Biegelsen et al approach is limited by the defects produced during the intersegment dry-contacting and drysliding events which takes place numerous uncontrollable times and by the nature of some potentially particulate-laden reference surface on which their segments lie. From the figures of Biegelsen et al, one cannot even conclude whether or not they employ the device-surface to lie against the reference surface (upside down), thus permitting segments of different thickness typical of the thickness variation between wafers but introducing damage directly to the active device surfaces. Their alternative, as mentioned, is to have the segments sit face-up, in which case, any segment thickness variation will not allow the chip edges to match. As noted herein, the defect particles and corresponding edge-damage produced in the Biegelsen et al approach will not only interfere with micrometer-scale alignment due to binding and debris between and under segments, but will also interfere with the later formation of intersegment interconnections because portions of the segment edges are missing on the scale of the interconnects to be implemented (i.e., about one micrometer or less).
References to "closely abutting" integrated-circuitry constructed on multiple independent bodies of semiconductor material are undoubtedly numerous. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,737, issued Mar. 30, 1982, to Jack Sliwa and assigned to INTEL Corp. clearly shows such a concept in FIGS. 17a and 21. However, this reference, like so many others, is not specifically designed to implement micrometer-scale intersegment interconnections, so all of the particulate and edge damage issues are ignored and no particular claims relating to micrometer-scale extendability are made.

Method for coplanar integration of semiconductor ic devices


DNS requests associated with a network call flow may be proactively predicted. A method may include receiving a model relating DNS queries to DNS queries that are likely to be subsequently issued by other network devices; receiving a first DNS query, the first DNS query being received from a first network device; predicting additional DNS queries that are likely to be issued by the other network devices; and transmitting responses to the predicted DNS queries to other network devices.

In an increasingly networked world, more and more traffic, such as data, voice, and video, is transmitted over public and proprietary networks. Wireless networks, in particularly, are becoming increasingly popular as networks through which subscribers obtain both voice services (e.g., telephone calls) and data services (e.g., email and web surfing).
In both wired and wireless networks, users may access resources using textual meaningful identifiers as an "address" for the resource. For example, the domain name "verizon.com" may be entered by a user to access a web site hosted by the company Verizon Communications Inc. Internally, the user's computing device may translate the textual domain "verizon.com" into a numerical internet protocol (IP) address that may be used by the computing device to access the requested resource. This translation may be performed based on requests to a Domain Name System (DNS), which is a distributed database used to translate the textual domain names, which are meaningful to humans, into the numerical identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices.
DNS servers may handle DNS translation requests from devices in the network. Because network devices may generally need to wait for a response to a DNS request from the DNS server before accessing the desired resource, efficiently processing DNS translation requests can be important in optimizing network performance.

Proactive DNS query system based on call flow analysis


The present invention allows for producing an envelope by a process in which the envelope is die cut from a continuous paper web, folded in four directions to produce four flaps, glued such that the two side flaps are glued to the bottom flap and the top flap is glued to the bottom flap around the contnets of the envelope. The present invention also allows for in-line printing, stuffing and sealing of the contents of the envelope from plurality of high speed webs of paper for mass mailings and the like. The preesnt invention allows for the in-line making of an envelope by high speed paper web that will produce a four flap envelope with one of the flaps of the envelope, corresponding to one of the directions of folding in the process, to be folded in the opposite direction of the web.

Production of standard or consumer envelopes in the prior art results in an envelope with folds (flaps) on four sides. The envelope paper stock is die cut to the desired shape, pre-glued on three sides and folded in four directions. These types of consumer envelopes are packaged and sold in boxes for later hand placing of the contents and manual gluing by the owner.
Mass mailings or direct mail requires that the envelope be produced in-line with the contents and be machine stuffed and sealed in an automated fashion to reach economies of scale and efficiency to produce very large numbers in the mass mailing market. The mass mailing market has reached sizes requiring 20 to 50 million pieces of completely addressed pieces stuffed, folded and glued ready for drop mailing by a single date. These requirements have driven the industry to produce in-line envelope stuffing and mailing machines which can handle these large numbers.
Prior art industry machines have produced the contents of the envelope and the envelope in a single pass through a machine for stuffing and mailing to reach economies of scale. The problem with the prior art automated machines is that the envelopes cut, glued and stuffed for mailing have only been folded in two directions. This results in an envelope that has only two flaps, top and bottom, and which has the sides flat-cut and glued together to complete the seal. In contrast to this, manual mailing envelopes and personal mail envelopes are folded in four directions resulting in four flaps with the side flaps glued to the bottom flap and with the top flap pre-glued and left open for later manual stuffing and sealing. The recipient of the mass mailing will readily recognize that a manually stuffed envelope is quite different from an automated stuffed envelope by the folding and gluing differences of the envelope. Since this recognition occurs before opening the envelope, a lower response rate to the mass mailing will result due to immediate discarding.
There is, therefore, a need in the prior art for an automated way of producing mass mailings in which the envelopes are folded in four directions to produce four flaps, the side flaps being glued to the bottom flap, stuffed in an in-line process and the top flap glued to the bottom flap for final sealing of the contents. There is a need in the prior art to produce a high volume of glued, folded, stuffed and sealed mass mailings with no reduction of current machine speeds to meet the present day mass mailing requirements with a product that is indistinguishable from a personally stuffed and mailed envelope.
There is also a need in the prior art for a method of making an envelope by high speed printing and stuffing machines that will produce an envelope from a continuous paper web with one of the flaps of the envelope, corresponding to one of the directions of folding in the process, to be folded in the opposite direction of the web.


An epitaxial wafer for a heterojunction type FET includes an AlN primary layer, a stepwisely composition-graded buffer layer structure, a superlattice buffer layer structure, a GaN channel layer, and a nitride semiconductor electron supply layer, which are sequentially provided on a Si substrate, the stepwisely composition-graded buffer layer structure including a plurality of AlGaN buffer layers provided on each other such that an Al composition ratio is sequentially reduced, an uppermost layer thereof having a composition of AlxGa1−xN (0<x), a plurality of sets of an AlyGa1−yN (y≦1) superlattice constituting layer and an AlzGa1−zN (0<z<y) superlattice constituting layer being provided on each other alternately starting from one of the AlyGa1−yN superlattice constituting layer and the AlzGa1−zN superlattice constituting layer in the superlattice buffer layer structure, the AlxGa1−xN buffer layer and the AlzGa1−zN superlattice constituting layer satisfying x−0.05≦z≦x+0.05.

In formation of a heterojunction structure formed of nitride-based semiconductors such as AlGaN layer/GaN layer, these layers have been conventionally formed through epitaxial crystal growth onto a sapphire substrate or a Si substrate because a GaN substrate is expensive.
Regarding crystal growth of a nitride-based semiconductor layer on a Si substrate, various buffer layer structures have been contemplated to relax a strain that is based on a crystal structure difference of the nitride-based semiconductor layer from the Si substrate, lattice mismatch therebetween, a thermal expansion coefficient difference therebetween, and the like. More specifically, there are many patent publications in relation to a superlattice buffer layer structure including repetition of two types of superlattice constituting layers.
For example, in order to form a nitride semiconductor layer, which has a smooth surface and includes no crack, on a substrate greatly different therefrom in terms of lattice constant and thermal expansion coefficient, Patent Document 1 describes that an AlGaN-based superlattice buffer layer structure is formed by repeatedly and alternately providing first superlattice constituting layers of AlxGa1−xN (0.5≦x≦1) and second superlattice constituting layers of AlyGa1−yN (0.01≦y≦0.2) on the silicon substrate.
On the other hand, in order to suppress current leakage between electrodes via a buffer layer, Patent Document 2 describes a semiconductor element having: an AlN buffer layer on a silicon substrate; and a superlattice buffer layer structure including H—AlGaN superlattice constituting layers of high Al composition ratio and L-AlGaN superlattice constituting layers of low Al composition ratio, which are alternately provided thereon.
Moreover, in Patent Document 3, a composition-graded buffer layer structure is formed on a Si substrate or an intermediate layer formed thereon, a superlattice buffer layer structure is then formed thereon, and then a nitride layer to serve as a channel layer is formed thereon. The composition-graded buffer layer structure has an Al composition ratio continuously or stepwisely decreased in the thickness direction. The superlattice buffer layer structure includes AlGaN superlattice constituting layers of high Al composition ratio and AlGaN superlattice constituting layers of low Al composition ratio, which are alternately provided on each other. It is described that by employing such a lamination structure, there is obtained a semiconductor element having a nitride semiconductor layer that is less likely to have crack and pit generated therein and that has excellent crystallinity.

Epitaxial wafer for heterojunction type field effect transistor


An image display apparatus including an image display panel includes: a first color filter for passing light of a first primary and first auxiliary pixels for displaying the first primary; a second color filter for passing light of a second primary and second auxiliary pixels for displaying the second primary; a third color filter for passing light of a third primary and third auxiliary pixels for displaying the third primary; and fourth auxiliary pixels for displaying a fourth color; the first auxiliary pixels, the second auxiliary pixels, the third auxiliary pixels, and the fourth auxiliary pixels being arranged in a two-dimensional matrix, and a light shielding region disposed at least partly around the peripheral edge of each of the fourth auxiliary pixels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image display apparatus such as color liquid crystal display apparatus or the like, for example, have been demanded to handle increased electric power consumption due to their higher performance capability. In particular, color liquid crystal display apparatus, for example, have backlights that consume more electric power because of their trends for higher definition, wider color reproduction range, and higher luminance. To solve the problem, attention has been drawn to a technology for constructing each display pixel of four auxiliary pixels which include a white display auxiliary pixel for displaying white color, for example, in addition to a red display auxiliary pixel for displaying red color, a green display auxiliary pixel for displaying green color, and a blue display auxiliary pixel for displaying blue color, the white display auxiliary pixel being used to increase luminance. Since the four auxiliary pixel configuration can produce higher luminance with the same electric power consumed as heretofore, if the same luminance is to be achieved as heretofore, then it is possible to reduce the electric power consumed by the backlight, and to increase the quality of displayed images.
Japanese patent No. 3167026, for example, discloses a color image display apparatus including:
means for generating three types of color signals according to an additive three-primary process from an input signal; and
means for generating an auxiliary signal by adding the color signals of three hues at identical ratios and supplying four types of display signals which include the auxiliary signal and three types of color signals produced by subtracting the auxiliary signal from the color signals of three hues to a display unit. The three types of color signals drive red, green, and blue display auxiliary pixels, and the auxiliary signal drives white display auxiliary pixels.
There are known in the art image display apparatus which employ a color filter free of a black matrix (hereinafter referred to as "black-matrix-less color filter" for descriptive purposes). Since no black matrix is included, the image display apparatus have a high aperture ratio (high transmittance). The image display apparatus include light shielding areas as an alternative to a black matrix, which are provided by superposing a corresponding color filter layer on adjacent auxiliary pixels.


A method is provided for forming a composite ceramic material, in which a fibrous structure is first of all formed which is then embedded in the material of a ceramic matrix. To introduce said matrix into said structure, the following succession of operations is carried out:. (a) said fibrous support is impregnated with a polymerization catalyst for an organometallic precursor of said ceramic matrix; PA1 (b) said fibrous support impregnated with said polymerization catalyst is placed in contact with said organometallic precursor; PA1 (c) said organometallic precursor is polymerized, and PA1 (d) said organometallic precursor is pyrolysed so as to obtain said matrix.

The present invention relates to a method of forming a composite ceramic material with fibrous structure, as well as the ceramic-ceramic material obtained by this method.
Particularly in the manufacture of ceramic thermomechanical parts intended for example for aeronautics, astronautics, the automobile industry or the furnace industry, composite materials are produced having a fibrous structure embedded in a ceramic material. For this, a porous, unidirectional or multidirectional (with two or three dimensions or random fiber distribution) structure is first of all formed using silicon carbide, alumina, silica, carbon or similar material fibers. The porosity of such a porous structure may, by volume, be about 40 to 90 %. then, the porous structure is embedded in a ceramic matrix.
So that the final ceramic material thus obtained has optimum mechanical and physical properties, its density must be as great as possible, i.e. the matrix must fill the pores of the fibrous structure to a maximum. That then means that, for the matrix, a material must be chosen whose viscosity (in solution or molten state) permits good penetration in the fibrous structure. The result is that some materials cannot be used for this reason as matrix. In addition, even when the material of the matrix is chosen from those likely to have adequate viscosity, in order to assist penetration of the porous structure by the more or less fluid material matrix, complex filling cycles need to be used and these cycles increased. This results in high manufacturing costs and delays. Finally, despite all these limitations and complications, the density of the material thus obtained by known methods cannot exceed an upper limit (not optimum for the desired properties of the material) because the surface pores of the structure are stopped up before the internal pores are filled. This results then in surface clogging preventing the complete filling of the porous structure by means of the material of the matrix.

Method of forming a fibrous structure composite ceramic material and material thus obtained

Aerospatiale Societe Nationale Industrielle


A hydraulic mount and a filling device for the hydraulic mount are provided. The hydraulic mount (1) comprises a casing (2) and a support body (6, 7) arranged in an upper part of the casing (2), wherein, the casing (2) and the support body (6, 7) define a chamber (3), and the chamber (3) receives liquid and is divided by a partition into an upper chamber and a lower chamber. An orifice is formed in the partition, so that the upper chamber and the lower chamber are communicated with each other. A through hole (4) for communicating the chamber (3) with the exterior is formed in the support body (6, 7), and a sealing member (5) is arranged in the through hole (4). The filling device for the hydraulic mount (1) comprises a liquid tank (8) and a vacuum extractor (9), wherein, either the liquid tank (8) or the vacuum extractor (9) is connected to the through hole (4) in the hydraulic mount (1) through a pipe in a sealed manner.

As the technology develops continuously, how to implement vibration damping has become a problem that receives more and more attention, especially on transportation facilities that have severe vibrations, such as automobiles. When the automobile runs, the vibrations mainly come from two sources, one of which is vibrations transferred from the road pavement via the tires and vibration absorbers to the main body of the automobile, and the other of which is vibrations transferred from the engine via the engine mount to the main body of the automobile. Therefore, as an important component that has effect on the vibrations, the engine mount has direct influence on the driving comfort of the automobile.
A good engine mount must have low dynamic stiffness against high-frequency vibrations and a high damping coefficient against low-frequency vibrations. In the prior art, engine mounts are mainly in two categories, that is full rubber mounts and hydraulic mounts. Due to the fact that the dynamic stiffness and loss coefficient of full rubber mounts are inherent characteristics of rubber material and will increase as the vibration frequency increases, ordinary rubber mounts can't meet the requirements of technical development. In order to improve the performance of rubber mount to meet the requirement for low dynamic stiffness against high-frequency vibrations and high damping coefficient against low-frequency vibrations, Volkswagen (Germany) pioneered to employ a mount with a liquid sealing structure in 1979, i.e., the so-called hydraulic mount. In addition, as consumers' demand for driving comfort of automobiles is higher and higher, hydraulic mounts are widely applied in all kinds of automobiles increasingly.
A hydraulic mount for engine was disclosed in CN2849321Y. As shown in FIG. 1, the hydraulic mount comprises a fixing base 11, an elastic body 12 arranged in the fixing base 11, and a support 13 that is integral with the elastic body 12 and is connected to the inner wall of the fixing base 11, an upper chamber 21 and a lower chamber 22 which are separated by a partition 20 are formed below the elastic body 12, wherein, the upper chamber 21 and the lower chamber 22 are communicated with each other through an orifice formed in the partition 20, a damping fluid is sealed in the upper chamber 21 and the lower chamber 22. In addition, in order to ensure the damping performance of the hydraulic mount, the chambers shall have no air as far as possible.
The disadvantages of such existing hydraulic mounts include: first, due to the complex structure, it is difficult to discharge air from the chambers thoroughly during the assembling process, and thereby the damping performance of the hydraulic mount will be affected directly. Second, in order to ensure that there is no air in the chambers as far as possible, usually the product is assembled and the damping liquid is filled in a liquid environment, as the result, the working environment is poor, the working space is moist, and the workers' hands have to be immersed in liquid for long, which has a strong impact on the workers' physical health. Moreover, since the product is assembled in a liquid environment, the workers are unable to see the assembling process directly; therefore, products with poor quality are often manufactured in the assembling process, and it is difficult to control the filling amount of the damping liquid.

Hydraulic mount and filling device for the same


A communication device including a comparison unit that compares a first identification number of which notification is provided by a packet that sequentially assigns identification numbers to a plurality of nodes in a network, and a second identification number, which is assigned to the communication device. A control unit notifies other nodes of the second identification number and that the identification number of the communication device has not been changed when the first identification number and the second identification number are in non-conformance.

The IEEE 1394 standard is a serial interface that couples nodes such as a personal computer and a digital camera that process a large amount of voice data and image data.
In an IEEE 1394-standard network, a single node manages the node ID of each node in the network and serves as a bus master that controls changes in the node IDs (refer to, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2000-174753 and 2006-087118). In such a network, when a node serving as the bus master leaves the network or another node takes over its place, a bus resets. This reassigns a node ID to each node in the network.
In the IEEE 1394 standard, a bus reset may occur in a network due to unexpected external noise. After the bus reset, a node ID is reassigned to each node in the network. The reassigned node ID may differ from the node ID used prior to the bus reset. Thus, before communication starts, each node has to find all of its communication peer nodes (other nodes) in the network, specify the node IDs of the communication peer nodes, generate a request for collecting device information (e.g., communication speed) of the communication peed nodes, and negotiate with the communication peed nodes. Such series of processes impose a restriction to communication and delays the restarting of communication after the bus reset.

Communication network device that compares first and second identification number of packet to determine if they are in conformance or non-conformance with self-ID packet


Methods, systems and apparatuses are directed to a capacity modulating assembly configured to distribute two-phase refrigerant mixture to an evaporator of a HVAC system, such as a micro-channel heat exchanger (MCHEX) evaporator. The capacity modulating assembly may include a plurality of expansion devices. During capacity modulation, at least one of the plurality of expansion devices can be closed so that a refrigerant flow rate through the remaining expansion devices can be maintained. The capacity modulating assembly can include a refrigerant outflow port, which may help direct refrigerant out of the heat exchanger. The capacity modulating assembly can be connected with the MCHEX. The plurality of expansion devices can be configured to extend inside a header of the MCHEX to help distribute refrigerant to the micro-channel tubes of the MCHEX.

A HVAC system typically includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device and an evaporator, forming a refrigeration circuit. In a cooling cycle, refrigerant vapor is generally compressed by the compressor, and then condensed to liquid refrigerant in the condenser. The liquid refrigerant can then be directed through the expansion device to reduce a temperature and become a liquid/vapor refrigerant mixture (two-phase refrigerant mixture). The two-phase refrigerant mixture can be directed into the evaporator to exchange heat with, for example, air moving across the evaporator. The two-phase refrigerant mixture can be vaporized to refrigerant vapor in the evaporator.
Some HVAC systems may be able to operate in a heating cycle. These HVAC systems are typically called heat pumps. During a heating cycle, the process is generally reversed from the process in the cooling cycle. In the heating cycle, the evaporator in the cooling cycle functions as a condenser, and the condenser functions as an evaporator. After being compressed by the compressor, the compressed refrigerant vapor is typically directed to the evaporator first so as to release heat to, for example, the indoor air, which also condenses the refrigerant vapor to liquid refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant is then typically directed to the condenser through an expansion device to become a two-phase refrigerant mixture.
The evaporator and the condenser are heat exchangers. Heat exchangers are typically configured to help establish a heat exchange relationship between a first fluid (such as refrigerant and a process fluid) and a second fluid (such as air). Various types of heat exchangers have been developed to work as a condenser and/or an evaporator. One type of heat exchanger is a micro-channel heat exchanger (MCHEX). A typical MCHEX may include micro-channel tubes running in parallel between two headers. The adjacent tubes generally have fan-fold fins brazed therein between. The micro-channel tubes form fluid communication with the headers. Refrigerant can be distributed into the micro-channel tubes from the headers, and/or collected in the headers when the refrigerant flows out of the micro-channel tubes. Outer surfaces of the micro-channel tubes and the fins may help heat exchange between the first fluid (such as refrigerant) in the micro-channel tubes and a second fluid (such as air) flowing across the outer surfaces of the micro-channel tubes.

Capacity modulating an expansion device of a HVAC system