A vehicle control device includes: a target traveling path setting unit that sets a target traveling path of an own vehicle; a reference position setting unit that sets a reference position of the own vehicle for specifying a position of the own vehicle with respect to the target traveling path; and a control unit that controls a steering assist amount of a steering wheel, based on a positional deviation being a deviation between the target traveling path set by the target traveling path setting unit and the reference position of the own vehicle set by the reference position setting unit. The reference position setting unit changes the reference position according to a vehicle speed.

Conventionally, there is known a vehicle control device including a mechanism (steering assist mechanism) for assisting steering of a steering wheel in such a way that an own vehicle travels along a target traveling path. In a vehicle control device of this type, a target traveling path is basically set based on information to be acquired from a vehicle external monitoring device incorporated with a stereo camera, a monocular camera, or the like. For example, left and right white lines (lane markers) for defining a driving lane of an own vehicle are recognized by a vehicle external monitoring device, and a centerline of the driving lane specified based on the recognized left and right white lines, in other words, a path located at a middle between the left and right white lines is set as the target traveling path.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a vehicle motion control device including: a front imaging means that captures an area in front of an own vehicle; a state detection means that detects at least one of a yaw angle or a lateral position of the own vehicle; a time calculation means that calculates a time required for the own vehicle to reach an intersection between a line of sight of a driver and a target traveling path; a correction amount calculation means that calculates a correction amount expressed by a product of at least one of a difference between a target yaw angle and an actual yaw angle, and a difference between a target lateral position and an actual lateral position, and a predetermined coefficient; and a control means that performs correction of a steering angle, based on a deviation between the target traveling path and a center (centroid) of the own vehicle, and the correction amount calculated by the correction amount calculation means.
The vehicle motion control device of Patent Literature 1 is able to assist steering of a driver in order to acquire desirable followability with respect to a target traveling path by performing correction of a steering angle of a steering wheel, based on the deviation between the target traveling path and a vehicle centroid.
However, in the technique of Patent Literature 1, since so-called centroid-based steering assist control of assisting steering in such a way that a centroid of the own vehicle passes through a target traveling path is performed, the driver may feel a sense of incongruity.
For example, when the own vehicle is making a turn at a low speed, the driver tends to focus his/her attention to a rear portion (particularly an inner rear wheel) of the own vehicle in order to avoid an accident due to an inner wheel difference of the vehicle. Therefore, it is conceived that a reference position of the own vehicle, of which the driver is intuitively aware, in other words, a reference position of the own vehicle, which is tried to be matched with a centerline (target traveling path) of a driving lane by the driver, is present on a rear side with respect to a centroid of the own vehicle. When centroid-based steering assist control is performed during turning of the vehicle at a low speed, the driver may feel that assist control is too much.
Further, when the own vehicle is making a turn at a high speed, the driver tends to focus his/her attention to a front portion of the own vehicle in order to avoid an erroneous operation of a steering wheel. Therefore, it is conceived that a reference position of the own vehicle, of which the driver is intuitively aware, in other words, a reference position of the own vehicle, which is tried to be matched with a centerline (target traveling path) of a driving lane by the driver, is present on a front side with respect to a centroid of the own vehicle. When centroid-based steering assist control is performed during turning of the vehicle at a high speed, the driver may also feel that assist control is too much.
As described above, a reference position (hereinafter, referred to as an intuitive reference position) of an own vehicle, of which a driver is intuitively aware changes depending on a traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the own vehicle. Therefore, when centroid-based steering assist control is performed regardless of a vehicle speed, a situation in which there is a deviation between an intuitive reference position based on awareness of the driver, and a reference position (vehicle centroid) for control increases. Consequently, the driver may feel a sense of incongruity.


Phosphonate esters can be synthesized in high yields by condensations of alcohols with methyl phosphonates followed by selective demethylation. The reaction is general, relatively insensitive to steric constraints of hindered phosphonic acids, and can also be carried out on a solid support to synthesize large collections of compounds to screen for pharmacological activity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods for the synthesis of phosphonate esters. More particularly, the invention provides methods for producing monoesters and diesters of phosphonic acids from condensations of alcohols with alkylphosphonates, such as methyl alphaaminoalkylphosphonates. The methods can be carried out in solution phase, but in an important embodiment, the method is carried out on a solid support, such as beads or a glass slide, and used to create large arrays of diverse compounds, such as peptidylphosphonates and polyphosphonates, which can then be conveniently screened for the presence of compounds with desired pharmacological or other properties. The invention therefore relates to the fields of chemistry, enzymology, pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry.
2. Description of Related Art
Phosphonic acid monoesters have typically been synthesized by one of two methods. In the first, a monomethyl alkylphosphoryl chloride is treated with an alcohol. Selective de-esterification of the methyl ester yields the desired product. The monomethyl alkylphosphoryl chloride is produced by the direct action of PCl.sub.5 on a phosphonate diester (see Balthazor et al., 1980, J. Org. Chem. 45: 530) or by base hydrolysis of the phosphonate diester followed by reaction with thionyl chloride (see Bartlett et al., 1990, Org. Chem. 55: 6268).
Alternatively, the direct monoesterification of a phosphonic acid can be accomplished with the appropriate alcohol and condensing reagents (see Gilmore et al., 1974, J. Pharm. Sci. 63: 965), such as 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) or trichloroacetonitrile (see, e.g., Wasielewski et al., 1976, J. Rocz. Chem. 50: 1613). A large excess of both the condensing agent and alcohol is required, and yields vary depending on the components being coupled. In addition, forcing conditions are required, such as heating to reflux temperature in a solution of THF with triethylamine and DCC, and to 50.degree. C.-80.degree. C. in pyridine with trichloroacetonitrile, conditions that can lead to decomposition of starting material. In addition, product yields are extremely sensitive to steric encumbrance from the reacting components, and in some cases, no product formation is observed.
These phosphonate synthesis procedures are not suitable for solid phase chemical synthesis methods, which presents a significant problem for the medicinal chemist. Peptidylphosphonates are peptide analogues that have been used extensively as inhibitors of metalloproteases and other enzymes and as haptens in the generation of catalytic antibodies. The most potent non-covalent enzyme inhibitor known is a phosphonyltripeptide inhibitor of carboxypeptidase A, which binds with 11 femptomolar (fM) K.sub.d. See Kaplan et al., 1991, Biochem. 30: 8165-8170. To synthesize these derivatives on a solid support, one needs a general method for introducing the phosphonic acid monoester functionality.
The Mitsunobu reaction is a mild and effective method utilizing the redox chemistry of triphenylphosphine and a dialkylazodicarboxylate to condense an acidic reagent with primary and secondary alcohols (see Mitsunobu, 1981, Synthesis 1-28). The Mitsunobu reference does not describe the reaction of phosphate esters with secondary or tertiary alcohols or the reaction of phosphonates with alcohols. The Mitsunobu reaction has been used with carboxylic acids, phenols, and phosphates as the acidic component, but only one example using a phosphonic acid has been described.
In this example (see Norbeck et al., 1987, J. Org. Chem. 52: 2174), a monomethyl phosphonate and a primary alcohol were reacted under modified Mitsunobu conditions (triphenylphosphine and diisopropylazodicarboxylate) to produce a phosphonate diester. Demethylation using triethylamine and thiophenol produced the phosphonate monoester. Yields, however, were low for the condensation of a phosphate monoester with even a primary alcohol. Only moderate yields were obtained with elevated temperatures or with hexamethylphosphorous triamide (HMPT) as the solvent.
Thus, there remains a need for a general method for synthesizing phosphonate esters. Additional examples of the utility of peptidylphosphonate esters are numerous; these compounds are recognized as effective transition-state analogue inhibitors for a variety of enzymes, including a number of other proteases and esterases (see, e.g., Morgan et al., 1991, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 113: 297 and Bartlett et al., 1990, J. Org. Chem. 55: 6268). Peptidylphosphonate esters have been used as non-hydrolyzable analogues of phosphates to inhibit dinucleoside triphosphate hydrolase (see, e.g., Blackburn et al., 1987, Nucl. Acids Res. 15: 6991), phosphatidyltransferase (see, e.g., Vargas et al., 1984, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 796: 123), and squalene synthetase (see, e.g., Biller et al., 1988, J. Meal. Chem. 31: 1869). In addition, phosphonate esters have been used as haptens for the production of catalytic antibodies possessing esterase activity (see, e.g., Jacobs et al., 1987, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 109: 2174; Tramontanio et al., 1986, Science 234: 1566; and Pollack et al., 1986, Science 234: 1570; see also, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 858,298, filed Mar. 26, 1992).
The solution phase synthesis of these derivatives, such as a relatively short tetramer, can take weeks to months to complete by prior art methods. If one attempts to synthesize and screen a large number of such compounds, then the synthesis time required can make the project impossible to complete. Recently, an innovative method for the synthesis of large numbers of polymeric compounds on the surface of a solid support has been developed. This method, called VLSIPS.TM. technology, is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 805,727, filed Dec. 6, 1991, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 624,120, filed Dec. 6, 1990, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,854, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 362,901, filed Jun. 7, 1989, and now abandoned. There remains a need for chemical synthesis methods for use in the VLSIPS.TM. method to generate and screen large numbers of peptidylphosphonates and other compounds containing phosphonate ester building blocks.
In similar fashion, there remains a need for a mild coupling reaction for the preparation of phosphonate esters that is compatible with a variety of functional groups and consistently produces high yields of the desired compounds and that can be applied to solution as well as solid phase chemistry. The present invention meets these needs.

Methods for the synthesis of phosphonate esters


A system and method for graphically locating merchandise. An interactive display can present a high level environment displaying various categories of merchandise in a mapped image. A user can highlight a portion of the mapped image and navigate to a lower level environment displaying a subset of categories associated with the highlighted portion in another mapped image. The user can continue to navigate through increasingly detailed environments until a desired product is located. In one embodiment, a computer system associated with the interactive display identifies a store location where the desired product or goods similar to the desired product may be found. In another embodiment, the computer system allows the user to locate a plurality of desired items and provides the user with a store map locating all of the desired items and illustrating a path from the interactive display to the desired items.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of merchandise displays. More particularly, the invention relates to a graphical merchandise locator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among the most common shopper frustrations in many of today's large stores is the effort it takes to find the desired merchandise. This often involves hunting down a store employee, which in itself can be a fruitless challenge. Some retailers have attempted to solve this problem with kiosks for shoppers to use. Retailer provided kiosks have not proven very effective and have not been rolled out to a significant number of stores. The primary shortcoming of these has been the rather unfriendly interface between the machine and the shopper. In virtually all known merchandise finder kiosks, the shopper is prompted to enter the descriptive name of the desired item and then to pick from a list of specific items falling within the scope of that, or a similar name. There are a few problems with this approach. There is often more than one term that describes the same product and it is difficult to capture all possible names or terms that shoppers might enter. Some shoppers refer to some products by trade names. Referring to items by their trade names further complicates the construction of such an interface.
In the case of some products, most people don't know the name of the product. This can be especially true in home center environments where the shopper may not be intimately familiar with the names of the desired item. For example, the "grill" that serves as the air outlet in a typical home forced air system is properly called a "register", but few shoppers would know this. Additionally, a surprisingly large percentage of the population has poor spelling skills. Further aggravating the ability of a merchandise locator to identify a desired product is that English is not a first language for a significant percentage of the population.
In short, these challenges, and the inherent dullness of the spell and list method, have failed to attract a significant number of shoppers to use merchandise kiosks, even though finding merchandise persists as a problem.

System, method, and device for graphically locating merchandise


A hydrokinetic generator apparatus that includes a liquid reservoir having an outlet port and an inlet port that is disposed over the outlet port; an outflow valve that is disposed at the outlet port of the liquid reservoir; at least one generator module coupled from the liquid reservoir and including at least one fill pipe for receiving liquid expelled from the liquid reservoir, and at least one outlet port; at least one surge generator disposed in the fill pipe; and an outflow valve at a base of the generator module. The outlet port of the generator module is coupled to the inlet port of the liquid reservoir. The apparatus further includes a battery pack; an electrical controller responsive to a voltage across the battery pack for controlling said valves; and an electrical charging hub responsive to the surge generator for re-charging the battery pack.

There presently exists several different types of hybrid vehicles. The typical hybrid vehicle is a hybrid of gasoline and electric. It is an object of the present invention to provide a primary power source by means of a hydrokinetic generator whereby the hydrokinetic generator is used to recharge battery packs mounted in the vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hydrokinetic generator device and system that is efficient in operation, that can be manufactured relatively inexpensively and that provides a low cost way of recharging battery packs.
To accomplish the foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention there is provided a hydrokinetic generator apparatus comprising:
a liquid reservoir having an outlet port and an inlet port that is disposed over the outlet port;
an outflow valve that is disposed at the outlet port of the liquid reservoir;
at least one generator module coupled from the liquid reservoir and including at least one fill pipe for receiving liquid expelled from the liquid reservoir, and at least one outlet port;
at least one surge generator disposed in the fill pipe;
an outflow valve at a base of the generator module;
means for coupling the outlet port of the generator module to the inlet port of the liquid reservoir;
a battery pack;
an electrical controller responsive to a voltage across the battery pack for controlling said valves; and
an electrical charging hub responsive to the surge generator for re-charging the battery pack.
In accordance with other aspects of the present invention the liquid reservoir also includes a drop valve adjacent to the inlet port, the liquid reservoir may be or either a rectangular shape or inverted bottle shape; the generator module includes a pair of fill pipes; there is defined between the pair of fill pipes an air chamber; further including a bellows disposed in the air chamber; further including fixed and movable plates supported at opposite ends of the bellows; the top plate has a plurality of inflow/outflow air vents; the generator module includes a base portion and a neck portion; including a plurality of generator modules that are interconnected in series between the outlet port and the inlet port of the liquid reservoir; including a drop valve disposed at the inlet port of the liquid reservoir; a pair of drop valves at respective fill pipes; wherein the outflow valve at a base of the generator module is comprised of a pair of retractable disc valves; and a disc valve at an input to the air chamber.
In another version of the present invention there is provided a hydrokinetic generator apparatus comprising:
a liquid reservoir having an outlet port and an inlet port that is disposed over the outlet port;
at least one generator module coupled from the liquid reservoir and including at least one fill pipe for receiving liquid expelled from the liquid reservoir, and at least one outlet port; at least one surge generator disposed in the fill pipe;
an electrical controller for controlling said valves;
a battery pack; and
an electrical charging hub.
In accordance with still other aspects of the present invention the generator module includes a pair of fill pipes, and wherein there is defined between the pair of fill pipes an air chamber; a bellows is disposed in the air chamber, fixed and movable plates supported at opposite ends of the bellows, and wherein the top plate has a plurality of inflow/outflow air vents; the generator module includes a base portion and a neck portion, including a plurality of generator modules that are interconnected in series between the outlet port and the inlet port of the liquid reservoir, a drop valve disposed at the inlet port of the liquid reservoir; a pair of drop valves at respective fill pipes; wherein the outflow valve at a base of the generator module is comprised of a pair of retractable disc valves; and a disc valve at an input to the air chamber.
In still another version of the present invention there is provided a hydrokinetic generator system comprising:
a liquid reservoir having an outlet port and an inlet port that is disposed over the outlet port;
a plurality of generator modules that each include an input port and an output port;
said plurality of generator modules coupled in series between the outlet port of the liquid reservoir and the inlet port of the liquid reservoir;
said plurality of generator modules being inter-coupled for liquid flow therebetween so that the output port of one generator module connects with the input port of an adjacent generator module;
each said generator module including a pair of fill pipes for receiving liquid expelled from the liquid reservoir;
at least one surge generator disposed in each fill pipe;
an electrical controller;
a battery pack; and
an electrical charging hub.
In accordance with further aspects of the present invention there is defined between the pair of fill pipes an air chamber and further including a bellows disposed in the air chamber; fixed and movable plates are supported at opposite ends of the bellows, and wherein the top plate has a plurality of inflow/outflow air vents; the generator module includes a base portion and a neck portion, including a plurality of generator modules that are interconnected in series between the outlet port and the inlet port of the liquid reservoir, an outflow valve that is disposed at the outlet port of the liquid reservoir; an outflow valve at a base of the generator module; a drop valve disposed at the inlet port of the liquid reservoir; a pair of drop valves at respective fill pipes; wherein the outflow valve at a base of the generator module is comprised of a pair of retractable disc valves; and a disc valve at an input to the air chamber; and valve means are for controlling the flow or water through the fill pipes, wherein the electrical controller is responsive to a voltage across the battery pack for controlling said valve means; and wherein the electrical charging hub is responsive to the surge generator for re-charging the battery pack.


A firearm measuring device for measuring all external dimensions of a firearm is comprised of an elongated rectangular caliper body member having measurement indicia inscribed thereon. A pair of jaws affixed on the caliper body member, one jaw affixed to a carriage and moveable along the caliper body member, a second jaw permanently affixed at one end of the caliper body member. A drop meter affixed to the caliper body member adjacent to the fixed jaw and vertically adjustable along the length of the drop meter by a channel within the length of the drop meter. The drop meter having a measurement indicia inscribed thereon. An extension member for attachment to the caliper body member having a bottom tooth-shaped configuration which is positioned on a gun barrel. The extension member having a magnetic means recessed within the extension member for securing the extension member in combination with the caliper body to the gun barrel eliminating need of holding the device during operation.

The proper gun fit to an individual user is necessary for accurate and proficient shooting. Being able to measure all the external dimensions of a gun is the single essential aspect of a proper gun fit. The external dimensions referred to are: length of pull; drop at comb and heal; angle of pitch and cast.
One problem which this present invention addresses is that taking these measurements is tedious and difficult and requires multiple individuals for accurate measurements. Another problem is the necessity of requiring multiple devices to take all the external measurements of the gun. Consequently, many gun or firearm enthusiasts' purchase and use guns or firearms that do not properly fit their unique physical characteristics which affects their ability to become proficient and accurate in hitting the target, whatever that may be.
The present invention provides a new concept in the method of measuring the personal fit dimensions of a firearm with a single device that combines all the disciplines required for all accurate measurements required to measure and/or fit a gun, all within the capabilities of a single operator.


This object is solved by a device for inspecting a print material, including evaluation value acquisition means for inspecting a plurality of print materials and acquiring an evaluation value indicating quality of each print material, allowed-number-of-failed-product acquisition means for acquiring an allowed number of failed products among the plurality of print materials, determination criterion determination means for determining a determination criterion in which the number of failed products is equal to or smaller than the allowed number of failed products and a sum of evaluation values of passed products becomes a highest-quality value, pass and fail determination means for determining pass or fail of each print material on the basis of the determination criterion and the evaluation value of each print material, and output means for outputting a determination result of the pass and fail determination means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for inspecting a print material, a method of inspecting a print material, and a program, and particularly, to a technology for appropriately controlling the number of failed print materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in order to print a predetermined output number of print materials, the number of failed print materials is empirically predicted, determined in advance, and included in the number of output sheets, and print is performed. Further, a pass and fail determination as to print materials is performed on the basis of a result of detection of defects such as streaks. A process of detecting this defect is performed according to detection conditions set in advance. Therefore, if detection conditions in a defect detection process are too severe, there is a problem in that the number of failed print materials increases and the number of output sheets cannot be ensured and is insufficient. On the other hand, if the detection condition of the defect detection process is too loose, there is a problem in that surplus print is achieved and productivity is degraded.
JP1994-246904A (JP-H06-246904A) describes a technology for automatically updating reference image data serving as a detection condition according to a change in color tone of a print material which changes as print progresses and determining that the print material is not abnormal with respect to some change in the color tone that is sufficiently allowed in a product. According to this technology, even when the color tone of the print material is different as the print progresses, it is possible to set an appropriate detection condition.

Device for inspecting print material, method of inspecting print material, and program


A decoding method of Reed-Solomon code produces an error position polynomial .sigma.(x) and an error evaluation polynomial .omega.(x) by a Euclidean algorithm, whereby a syndrome polynomial S(x) is obtained, the highest degrees of the syndrome polynomial S(x) and of an initial polynomial x.sup.2t, which is determined by the number t of symbols to be corrected, are multiplied, while the degree is incrementally reduced, thereby obtaining polynomials h(x) and g(x) that satisfy the relation: EQU f(x).multidot.B(x)+g(x).multidot.S(x)=h(x). (where the degree of h(x) is less than the degree of g(x).ltoreq.t). The polynomial g(x) is set to the error position polynomial .sigma.(x), and the polynomial h(x) is set to the error evaluation polynomial .omega.(x), thereby performing the decoding by real time processing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for decoding an error correction code and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for decoding a Reed-Solomon code and to Euclidean algorithm arithmetic operation circuit that can be used therein.
2. Description of the Background
Conventionally, the decoding of the Reed-Solomon code is executed by steps involving: i) calculation of syndromes; ii) production of the error position polynomial .sigma.(x) and error evaluation polynomial .omega.(x); iii) estimation of the error position and error value; and iv) execution of the error correction.
The conventional decoding method using the solutions involving the roots of equations cannot be applied in situations requiring the correction of multiple errors consisting of five or more errors. In such situations a decoding method using the Euclidean algorithm is known for the correction of five or more errors. That is, the error position polynomial .sigma.(x) and error evaluation polynomial .omega.(x) are calculated by using the Euclidean algorithm.
In the apparatus for decoding the Reed-Solomon code using such Euclidean algorithm, there occurs a problem such that a reciprocal number, such as .alpha..sup.-9, is calculated to match with the highest degree coefficients of the dividend polynomial. More specifically, and assuming that the coefficients of the highest degree of two polynomials B(x) and S(x) are b and S, respectively, it is necessary to first calculate (b.times.S.sup.-1). To accomplish that calculation circuitry corresponding to a read only memory (ROM) or random access memory (RAM) is needed to obtain the reciprocal number, thereby causing the amount of hardware and circuitry to be increased beyond a desirable level.

Method and apparatus for decoding Reed-Solomon code


A method for forming a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes providing a semiconductor substrate, forming a gate dielectric over the semiconductor substrate, forming a gate electrode on the gate dielectric, forming a stressor in the semiconductor substrate adjacent an edge of the gate electrode, and implanting an impurity after the step of forming the stressor. The impurity is preferably selected from the group consisting essentially of group IV elements, inert elements, and combinations thereof.

Reduction of the size and the inherent features of semiconductor devices (e.g., a metal-oxide semiconductor device) has enabled continued improvement in speed, performance, density, and cost per unit function of integrated circuits over the past few decades. In accordance with a design of the transistor and one of the inherent characteristics thereof, modulating the length of a channel region underlying a gate between a source and a drain of the transistor alters a resistance associated with the channel region, thereby affecting a performance of the transistor. More specifically, shortening the length of the channel region reduces a source-to-drain resistance of the transistor, which, assuming other parameters are maintained relatively constant, may allow an increase in current flow between the source and drain when a sufficient voltage is applied to the gate of the transistor.
To further enhance the performance of MOS devices, stress may be introduced in the channel region of a MOS transistor to improve carrier mobility. Generally, it is desirable to induce a tensile stress in the channel region of an n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) device in a source-to-drain direction and to induce a compressive stress in the channel region of a p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (PMOS) device in a source-to-drain direction.
A commonly used method for applying compressive stress to the channel regions of PMOS devices is to grow SiGe stressors in the source and drain regions. Such a method typically includes the steps of forming a gate stack on a semiconductor substrate, forming gate spacers on sidewalls of the gate stack, forming recesses in the silicon substrate aligned with the gate spacers, and epitaxially growing SiGe stressors in the recesses. Since SiGe has a greater lattice constant than silicon, it applies a compressive stress to the channel region, which is located between a source SiGe stressor and a drain SiGe stressor.

Junction leakage reduction in SiGe process by implantation

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A process is disclosed for the formation of a uniform and homogeneous mixture of a plurality of compounds in a desired stoichiometric ratio as a precipitate from a fluid under supercritical processing conditions which comprises dissolving at a first supercritical temperature a stoichiometric mixture of compounds in a fluid in a closed reaction vessel having a fixed first volume and rapidly expanding the volume in which the fluid is confined to lower the density sufficiently to cause the stoichiometric mixture of compounds to precipitate as a unifrom and stoichiometrically accurate mixture of the compounds, preferably without changing the phase of the fluid. The process may be used to form a high quality superconductor material because of the uniform and homogeneous distribution of the precipitated components in a stoichiometrically accurate ratio throughout said mixture.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of a highly accurate and very uniformly distributed mixture of compounds suitable for use in a superconductor. More particularly, this invention relates to the production of a highly accurate and very uniformly distributed mixture of compounds formed by precipitating the mixture from a solution by varying its density, preferably without phase change of the solvent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since the discovery of superconductivity in 1911, the phenomena of a material being able to conduct electricity with almost no resistance when the material is cooled to a temperature approaching absolute zero (0.degree. K.) has remained an interesting scientific curiosity having few applications which would justify the expense of maintaining the necessary liquid helium cooled system.
Recently, however, superconducting ceramic materials have been produced which exhibit this phenomena at much higher temperatures, e.g., in some cases even higher than the boiling point of liquid nitrogen which boils at about 77.degree. K. The ability to produce superconductivity, for example, in a material cooled by liquid nitrogen completely changes the economics which have previously restricted the applications to which superconductivity could be applied.
These new ceramic materials are sometimes referred to as triple-layer perovskite compounds because of the crystallography of the resulting structure; or 1-2-3 compounds because of the atomic ratios of 1 atom of a first element such as, for example, a rare-earth (Lanthanum series) element such as lanthanum or yttrium, 2 atoms of one or more alkaline earth metals such as barium, calcium, or strontium, and 3 atoms of copper. The superconducting ceramic also contains from 6.5+to 7- atoms of oxygen which may be referred to as O.sub.(6.5+.times.) where .times. is greater than 0 and less than 0.5, resulting in a chemical formula such as, for example, YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.( 6.5+.times.).
The prevalent method used to produce this type of superconducting ceramic is to mechanically mix powders of the oxides or carbonates for example, of the respective rare earth, alkaline earth metal, and copper elements in the 1-2-3 structure of the superconductor, calcine the mixture to remove water and/or other volatiles, and then fire the powder mixture in an oxygen atmosphere at a temperature sufficiently high to produce the desired superconducting phase.
However, the mixing process, usually in a ball mill, takes many hours, and sometimes introduces impurities from the balls or the ball milling vessel.
The inadequacies of such a mixing process is evidenced by the variations in compositions of the resulting fired ceramic material, and consequently, variations in properties. If the mixture composition is not accurate, and/or the sintering temperature is too high, the superconductor apparently becomes distributed as small islands embedded in a non-superconducting material.
It is, therefore, apparent that to reproducibly make superconducting material from a mixture of materials, such as the mixture of compounds used in forming such 1-2-3 superconductors, the powdered mixture prepared for sintering must be of the highest purity, i.e., be formed from high purity materials and have minimal contamination introduced through the mixing process, and the powdered mixture must have the respective reactants accurately and uniformly distributed throughout the powdered mixture to the greatest degree possible.
The desire to achieve such purity and uniformity of mixture have lead to attempts to replace the ball milling form of mixing by precipitation of the powdered mixture from a solution. However, these attempts have met with difficulties because of the very large differences in solubility of the different ingredients at the processing conditions employed in such precipitation processes, resulting in non-uniform precipitation of the various compounds needed in the mixture to form the superconductor.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a more satisfactory method of forming the desired uniform and stoichiometrically accurate mixture of high purity reactants used in forming the superconducting material.

Process using supercritical conditions for producing highly accurate and homogeneous powder mixture useful in fabrication of high quality ceramic superconductors


An endoscope has an inserting tube to be inserted into a human body, first and second optical systems integrally secured to a tip end portion of the inserting tube. The first and second optical systems are for observing the in vivo tissues at different magnifications. A front end portion of the second optical system is protruded by a predetermined amount with respect to a front end portion of the first optical system so that the front end portion of said second optical system is located within a field of view of said second optical system.

The present invention relates to endoscopes having optical systems.
An endoscope is generally provided with an observing optical system, which is used for observing in vivo tissues inside a human cavity. In particular, in an electronic endoscope, an objective optical system is provided as the observing optical system, and an image of a target portion (e.g., tissues in the human cavity) is formed on a solid state image capturing element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device).
Recently, a confocal probe, which employs principle of confocal micrography, has become widely known. The confocal probe is configured to illuminate in vivo tissues inside human cavity, and selectively receive light reflected by the tissues on an object side focal plane. The confocal probe is provided with a specific optical system (i.e., a confocal optical system) which has a relatively high magnification.
The confocal probe is typically inserted in an accessory channel of the endoscope, and is used to observe a minute object which cannot be observed using the normal observing optical system of the endoscope. The confocal probe is also used for obtaining an optical tomography of the in vivo tissues. An example of such a confocal probe is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. P2000-121961A.
When an affected portion is found within the body during an inspection using the observing optical system of the endoscope which has relatively low magnification, the confocal probe is inserted through the accessory channel to obtain a high magnification image of the affected portion, which enables more precise inspection thereof.
In order to obtain the image of the affected portion using the confocal probe, the tip end of the confocal probe should be located precisely in front of the affected portion by manipulating the endoscope. However, it is difficult for the operator to know how much the tip end of the endoscope should be moved because of the following reasons.
Firstly, the magnification of the confocal probe is much higher than that of the normal observing optical system. Therefore, it is difficult for the operator to recognize whether the confocal probe is located at an intended position merely by comparing the images obtained by the low magnification optical system and the confocal optical system.
Secondly, since the confocal probe can freely slide along the accessory channel, the relative position of the confocal probe with respect to the low magnification optical system is not fixed, and the positional relationship between the areas observed by the low magnification optical system and the confocal probe is unknown.
Due to the above reasons, it is difficult for the operator to adjust the confocal probe at the right position for observing the affected portion, and a relatively long time is required for precise inspection using the confocal probe, which puts a burden upon a patient.


In a wireless communication system performing wireless communication via a wireless transmission path, a first wireless communication apparatus includes a receiver that receives a wireless signal via a wireless transmission path, a disconnection detector that detects disconnection of a wireless line connected to a second communication apparatus, a modulation controller that selects a modulation scheme, enabling communication under poor conditions in a transmission path, rather than a modulation scheme which has been used in wireless communication, and a transmitter that notifies the modulation scheme selected by the modulation scheme controller to the second wireless communication apparatus. The second wireless communication apparatus includes a receiver that receives the selected modulation scheme from the first wireless communication apparatus, and a transmitter that transmits signals to the first wireless communication apparatus based on the selected modulation scheme which is received by the receiver.

As a technology keeping up with changing conditions of wireless lines, an adaptive modulation method has been conventionally proposed. The adaptive modulation method discriminates conditions of wireless lines so as to perform communication according to a modulation scheme with a low multi-value modulation number when conditions are poor or to perform communication according to a modulation scheme with a high multi-value modulation number when conditions are good. Specifically, a receiver estimates a condition of a wireless line based on a received signal so as to determine its modulation scheme, thus feeding back the determined modulation scheme to a transmitter. The transmitter adopts the modulation scheme, which is fed back from the receiver, so as to carry out its transmitting process. This adaptive modulation method has been widely adopted in fixed microwave radio transmission devices and radio base stations for use in mobile communications.
As a determination method of a modulation scheme in an adaptive modulation method, technologies with high and precise traceability with changing conditions of wireless lines, such as technologies disclosed in PLT 1 and PLT 2, have been conventionally proposed.

Wireless communication system, wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication method


A rubber tired railway plow (100) has a plow unit (102) mounted to a plate (111) which extends across the forward end of the rubber tired vehicle (100). The plow unit (102) is attached so as to be movable on the plate (111). Wedges (122, 123) are used to maintain the plow unit (102) in position on the plate (111). When the wedges (122, 123) are removed, the plow unit (102) is movable on the plate (111) from one side of the vehicle (100) to the opposite side thereby to be able to plow on either side of the rails (141).

This invention relates to a railway plow and, more particularly, to a railway plow and associated apparatus which is useful in burying cable in the bed of a railway.
Fiber optic cable is increasingly being used for telecommunications and other data forwarding purposes. Such cable allows a large capacity increase relative to the use of copper or aluminum wire and is particularly valuable for increasing capacity for digital and analog communications. The location of such cable, however, is of considerable importance because if the fiber optic cable is damaged or severed, extensive telecommunication failure can occur.
In order to prevent damage to the telecommunications cable, the cable is preferably buried. Right of way is difficult to obtain and is expensive in any event. To avoid the problems with right of way and in order to better protect the cable, the cable has been laid in railroad beds. This is advantageous in that the right of way has already been obtained and that railroads have their own benefits in allowing the burial of fiber optic cable so that the cable might also be used for their own communications purposes. Likewise, the network of rail lines is extensive so that cable can be laid to virtually any location where there is a significant population base.
The cable is typically laid using a rubber tired railway plow such as that plough disclosed in our U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,822 dated Jan. 28, 1997. The plow there disclosed, however, suffered from various disadvantages.
First, the plow was mounted on the front end of the rubber tired vehicle and was designed to plow on only one side of the track on which the vehicle is mounted. In order to plow on the opposite side of the track on which the plow moved, the plow was required to be manually removed from the mounting bracket on the forward end of the vehicle by physical detachment of the plow. The plow was then manipulated usually with a front end loader so that it could be positioned on a second mounting bracket on the opposite side of the vehicle. Then, the plow was remounted on the second mounting plate. Such a method was time consuming, required a plurality of operators and was quite inefficient.
Second, the railway plow according to the ""822 patent had a single set of railwheels mounted on the forward end of the plow. In the event the plow hit something hard in the ballast or in the overburden during the plowing process, the impact force would be conveyed back to the plow itself and could result in the single pair of railwheels leaving the track. This necessitated the remounting of the vehicle on the track as well as repositioning the plow during such remounting. This process was time consuming and inefficient.
Third, since a circuit is needed between the rails to provide a signal to the roadcrossing signals at a crossing location and since it is not desirable to close the gates or maintain the bells or other noises at such crossing locations during cable burying or excavation operations in the vicinity of such crossing, insulation within the railwheels was needed to prevent the road crossing signals from being initiated by the operation of the nearby railplow, excavator or other equipment. Prior insulation used in the railwheels had a very short lifespan because the impact forces, particularly during the plowing operations, are significant. The premature replacement of the insulation within the railwheels was expensive because downtime of equipment was necessary.
Fourth, the railway plow according to the ""822 patent was maintained in its vertical position on the track by the use of a rear high rail. This high rail, however, provided no input to the profile of the railway being worked on. For example, as the machine approached a crossing, the rubber tires would tend to raise the plow with the railwheels leaving the rails. This is disadvantageous since it is time consuming to reconfigure the vehicle on the rails.
Fifth, there is some difficulty in positioning the rubber tired vehicle according to the ""822 patent on the rails of the railway. This is so because the vehicle is of the articulated type and movements of the vehicle under certain conditions is difficult to carry out with the result that positioning the vehicle on track, particularly where the track is located in an elevated location, is a more tedious proposition that otherwise would be the case.
Sixth, it may be the case that the overburden is not easily penetrated by the plow if the overburden is rock or rocky material as in mountainous or shield operating conditions. In this event, excavation of the overburden together with the ballast of the railway will be necessary prior to passage by the plow. In excavating the railway, the overburden and ballast is normally placed beside the track is a convenient location and is replaced after the excavating operation whereupon when the plow reaches the excavated location, it will easily pass through the overburden and properly bury the cable. However, the overburden may be located in an area where it is not easily deposited beside the track such as in tunnels or mountainous passes where there is no room available to place the overburden being removed. In this event, the excavated overburden needs to be removed and deposited at a location far removed from the area being excavated. This is time consuming and inefficient, particularly so where the overburden is to be replaced immediately following its excavation.
Seventh, in the event that an excavating vehicle is used to remove the overburden and ballast, the excavating vehicle must be moved to the next location where excavation is to occur. Moving the excavating vehicle under its own power is slow and requires manpower. This is inefficient and expensive.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a rubber tired railway plow having a mounting plate extending across the forward end of the vehicle so as to extend generally across the track of a railway, and a plow member mounted on said mounting plate, said plow being removably attached to said mounting plate and being movable on said mounting plate from one side of said mounting plate on one side of said vehicle to the opposite side of said mounting plate on the opposite side of said vehicle.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of moving a plow unit from one side of said mounting plate to the opposite side of said mounting plate comprising loosening said plow on said one side of said mounting plate, sliding said plow to the opposite side of said mounting plate by moving said plow along and in contact with said mounting plate and tightening said plow on said opposite side of said mounting plate.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a railway plow having a forward set of two pairs of railwheels, each of said railwheels being rotatable about a railwheel axis, said two pairs of railwheels further being rotatable around a bogey axis located substantially symmetrically relative to said railwheel axes.
According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of mounting two pairs of railwheels to a railway plough comprising providing a bogey axis of rotation on said vehicle generally symmetrical to said railwheels and allowing rotation of said railwheels about said bogey axis of rotation.
According to yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a railwheel operably positioned on track, said railwheel having an axis and an insulated liner operably positioned between said axis of said railwheel and said track, said insulated liner being press fitted into said railwheel and being made of nylon molybdenum disulfide material.
According to still yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a high rail positioned on a railway plough, said high rail comprising a pair of railwheels being hydraulically rotatable about a bogey axis, and an accumulator maintained at a predetermined pressure, said accumulator substantially maintaining a predetermined contact force between said railwheels and said track during operation of said railway plow on said track.
According to still yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a rail mounted excavating unit for removing ballast and overburden from said railway and a rail mounted storage vehicle for holding said ballast and overburden, said rail mounted storage vehicle being connected to and movable with said rail mounted excavating unit.
According to still yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a rail wheel mounted rail mover for supporting and moving an excavating unit, said rail mover including rail wheels for transport on said rails and a support for supporting said excavating unit.
According to still yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of supporting and transporting an excavating unit comprising the steps of excavating an area of ballast and overburden with said excavating unit, positioning said excavating unit on a rail mounted rail mover, transporting said excavating unit to a further excavating area and excavating at said further excavating area.

Rail mounted excavating unit and ballast storage vehicle


The invention relates to a collector and a collector arrangement for generating heat, especially from incident radiation. In principle, such collectors and collector arrangements are know in prior art. An individual collector known in prior art typically comprises of a reflector device (110) for reflecting the incident radiation onto one focusing zone (120-1) of the reflector device (110). A typical collector further comprises an absorber device that is disposed in the focusing zone. In order to provide the reflector device with great inherent stability, particularly against wind and torsion, the inventive reflector device is embodied with a plurality of facet elements (110-I-i, 110-II-n) which are placed at an angle from each other such that the reflector device (110) has a zigzag shaped file (116).

1. Field
The invention regards a collector as well as a collector arrangement for the generation of heat from incident, preferably solar radiation.
2. State of the Art
The efforts made for the use of fossil have led to a strong development of alternative energy systems. Solar energy plays a crucial part in these developments. Regarding the use of solar energy currently common, many different processes for the generation of heat for various applications have emerged besides the photovoltaic conversion of solar radiation. The most common thermotechnical process is the generation of low-temperature heat up to between 90 and 100° C. in non-concentrating solar collectors. Though non-concentrating, i.e. non-focusing collectors can produce higher temperatures up to about 150° C., the technical effort is inadequately high however. With increasing temperature level, the heat losses increase disproportionately. Through this, the degree of efficiency of these collectors becomes very low and the production of solar energy decreased drastically.
As many applications, such as e.g. in solar thermal plant technology, require much higher temperatures than those produced by non-focusing collectors, concentrating—i.e. focusing collectors have been developed in the past. Here, the solar radiation is—with the help of concentrating reflectors—led onto a focus point or a focus axis spread lengthwise along the reflectors. In doing so, the radiation is conversed into heat within an extremely small area. The surface on which the heat can be lost to the surrounding through conduction or convection is thereby reduced to a fraction of the total surface of the reflector. In a corresponding manner, the heat losses of a concentrating collectors will be reduced as opposed to a non-concentrating collector.
Concentrating collectors for the generation of heat from solar energy are very often constructed as parabolic trough collectors. The worldwide largest applications are solar farm plants where solar heat is used for the heating of a heat carrier (mostly thermal oil).
The heat carrier transfers the solar heat it receives to a steam power process. The high temperature need for this requires a high concentration of the solar radiation.
The parabolic trough collectors consist of an elongated reflector 110 with a parabolic profile in its lengthwise direction; see FIG. 8. In the focus axis of the reflector sits a absorber tube through which flows a heat carrier medium. The heat carrier medium absorbs the heat received by the tube and transports it to a heat consumer, for example a thermal power plant. Besides in such a power plant technology, parabolic trough collectors are also used to generate space heating and process heat.
The requirements to the construction of the parabolic trough collectors result from the physical principle of concentration or focusing respectively. Thus, the outline of the reflector must show high precision so that the reflected rays meet the absorber tube. If the geometry is imprecise, a considerable amount of reflected rays will not reach its goal and considerable output losses and correspondingly lower degrees of efficiency follow.
The principle of concentration requires also a precise tracking of the collectors. The collectors are then always positioned so that the reflectors are constantly aligned orthogonally to the incident solar radiation.
The parabolic trough collectors are elongated troughs. Mostly, they are serially connected in several rows into a larger collector field. Through each collector's length, additional deformations of the reflectors can be caused by torsion powers that also could lead to mis-focusing. In order to prevent this, special construction measures are chosen that avoid a torsion of the parabolic trough. Thus, some construction types use torsion tubes or intricate steel grid constructions on the back of the mirror with whose help the entire construction consisting of reflector and absorber tube is protected against deformation through torsion or wind powers.
The collector is at times exposed to strong wind. The wind powers also require an inherently stable construction of the collector, as the reflector will otherwise be deformed by the wind powers and the focus line of the absorber tube will be shifted. The parabolic trough collectors used in industrial plants and solar power plants are therefore protected against wind power deformation by intricate auxiliary constructions. These intricate auxiliary constructions for the protection of the reflectors' form stability require a high expenditures of material as opposed to the reflectors themselves and their production is—due to this high expenditure of material as well as due to the complex construction—cost intensive.
Therefore, they make the production of the entire collectors and especially the production of an entire solar energy plant disproportionally more expensive.

Collector and collector arrangement for generating heat from incident radiation


A display substrate and a fabrication method thereof, and a display device are disclosed. The fabrication method of a display substrate, includes forming a first gate electrode on a transparent base substrate; forming a transparent gate insulating layer on the first gate electrode; forming a transparent active layer on the transparent gate insulating layer; forming a transparent source electrode and a transparent drain electrode on the transparent active layer, wherein, the transparent source electrode and the transparent drain electrode do not overlap with the first gate electrode in a thickness direction of the transparent base substrate.

In a related art, in order to improve electrical properties of a thin film transistor device on a display substrate, a thin film transistor of dual-gate structure (i.e., an upper gate and a bottom gate) may be fabricated. However, two gate electrodes and a source electrode and a drain electrode of the thin film transistor of dual-gate structure are usually formed by using different masks, the thin film transistor of dual-gate structure fabricated in this way has a large parasitic capacitance. With constant improvement in display size and resolution, a sum of all parasitic capacitances of the thin film transistors on an array substrate will become relatively large, which may directly degrade performance of a display device.

Display substrate and fabrication method thereof, and display device


An optical power limiting device whose transmissibility within a wave length range that is of interest is a function of the intensity of the incident radiation, the detuning of the resonance of surface plasmons being utilized. The device is particularly suitable for the protection of IR-detectors against the incidence of high radiation intensities.

This invention relates to an optical power limiting device for the protection of thermal imaging apparatus and the like.
CO.sub.2 -lasers with medium (currently common) power intensities are capable of blinding or destroying IR-detectors, such as those utilized for example, in heat image devices. Conventional filters either provide no protection against such high intensity radiation or do so only with a considerable loss of sensitivity, because the operating frequencies of the CO.sub.2 -laser are within the maximum of the ambient radiation.
One countermeasure may be the use of very narrow-band selective filters which effectively exclude the laser radiation without impairing the sensitivity of the heat image device. This method is practical as long as the threat is limited to a few discrete frequencies, but would fail in the case of variable lasers, whose frequency can be changed within certain limits.
A widely used solution to this problem consists of a filter or a screen with an externally controlled intensity-dependent transmissibility, thus providing an optical power limiting device. However, arrangements which use an external control mechanism are unsuitable, at least as a primary protection, because of the long idle times.
German Patent Document DE 36 05 635 A1 discloses a power limiting device for laser light without an outside control mechanism, in which the transmissibility decreases considerably with rising intensity of the radiation to be limited. It comprises a breakthrough path consisting of a gaseous, liquid or solid material. Power limitation is based on the physical principle that, with rising intensity of the incident radiation, a plasma is created by means of multi-phonon absorption and cascade ionization which protects from the laser radiation. A disadvantage of this arrangement, however, is that the equipment expenditures are relatively high. Thus, corresponding receptacles are required for the breakthrough path, for example, in the case of liquid or gaseous materials. Since the breakthrough threshold value depends on the pressure inside the materials, a constant controlling of pressure is also required, and unintentional pressure loss may result in malfunctioning.
European Patent Document EP 21 336 A1 describes an optical image apparatus comprising a prism, with incident radiation being guided into the prism and onto its base. On the base, there is a layer whose dielectric constant is negative in the relevant wave length range. (The dielectric constant is a measure of the extent to which a material transmits an incident light beam, as well as to extent to which it absorbs incident light.) A medium with a variable refraction index is arranged in contact with this first layer. The refraction index of the medium, and thus the degree of reflection on the base on the prism, can be changed by various control mechanisms, such as for example, an electrochemical, a photochromic or an electrochromic process.
In Applied Optics, Vol. 13, No. 1, Jan. 74, Pages 17 to 19, a beam reducer is described, in which a layer is arranged between two prisms. The refraction index of the layer is smaller than that of the prism material. By changing the layer thickness, the transmission ratio of the arrangement can be changed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,793 describes a dichromatic mirror made of a substrate having a reflectivity that is as high as possible, to which several layers are applied. At least one of such layers is VO.sub.2. Incident white light passes through the individual layers and is partially reflected on the boundary surfaces, and completely reflected on the substrate. Due to interference of the light reflected on the different boundary surfaces, certain wavelengths are amplified, and others are extinguished. By the heating of the VO.sub.2 -layer and the resulting change of the refraction index, the color of the reflected light can be changed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,240, discloses an infrared shutter which has a thin layer of a thermochromic material, the transmissibility of which decreases considerably as the temperature rises. The transmissibility of the layer can be controlled by an outside control mechanism. For this purpose, an electric current of a defined intensity is conducted through a layer which is adjacent to the thermochromic layer. The resulting resistance heat is used to control the temperature of the thermochromic layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,587 discloses a thermooptic thin-film modulator by means of which image information can be impressed into a thin thermooptic layer whose transmissibility falls considerably as the temperature rises, and can be deleted again. For this purpose, rapid temperature control of the thermooptic layer is required, which is achieved by conducting an electric current through a metal layer adjacent to the thermooptic layer for the purpose of resistance heating, and at the same time, using a cooling liquid to dissipate a portion of the generated heat. By interruption of the current, the equilibrium of the heat production and heat loss can be altered and, as a result, the temperature of the thermooptic layer can be changed very rapidly.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical power limiting device for a radiation which permits secure operation with low equipment-related expenditures.
This object is achieved by the power limiting device according to the invention, which has a transmissibility that is a function of the intensity of the incident radiation within a wave length range of from 1 to 20 .mu.m. It comprises a prism with at least one plane boundary surface to which two layers, arranged above one another, are applied. One layer (active layer) consists of a material whose real component of the dielectric function is negative in the relevant frequency range; the other (a dispersion layer) consists of a material whose refraction index is closely dependent on the temperature in the frequency interval of interest. The radiation to be limited is guided into the prism and onto the plane boundary surface comprising the above mentioned layers. A prism, in this case, is generally a body made of a light-transmitting and refracting material which is bounded by at least two intersecting planes. The refraction index of the prism material must be greater than that of the surrounding medium, which is generally air.
The invention is based on utilization of the resonance characteristics of surface plasmons which propagate on the active layer. Changing the plasmon resonance characteristics causes a change in reflectivity during reflection of incident radiation on the plane boundary surface of the prism. This change of the reflectivity is utilized to limit the power that is transmitted.
The resonance characteristics of the surface plasmons are significantly influenced by the optical characteristics of the adjacent dispersion layer, particularly by its refraction index. Thus, by changing the refraction index of the dispersion layer, a change of the reflectivity can be achieved. In the case of the present invention, this change of the refraction index is caused by heating. That is, the dispersion layer consists of a material whose refraction index is highly dependent on its temperature (thermorefractive material).
It is crucial that the required heating in this case is controlled directly by the radiation to be limited, and not by an outside control mechanism. That is, the incidence of high intensity radiation heats the arrangement due to residual absorption of the participating materials.
In the case of low light intensities, the light which is incident in the prism is reflected almost completely. In the case of high intensities, the absorption starts by means of the generating of surface plasmons, and the reflected light intensity is reduced very considerably.
The dispersion layer is microscopically thin--in the nm/.mu.m-range--so that its heating and the desired change of the reflectivity can take place very rapidly.


A electrical connector includes an insulating body having a tongue plate, a plurality of upper conductive terminals having upper contact portions, and a plurality of lower conductive terminals having lower contact portions; the upper and lower conductive terminals are buried and molded in the insulating body, the upper contact portions and the lower contact portions are vertically aligned one by one and respectively exposed on an upper surface and a lower surface of the tongue plate; the upper conductive terminals vertically corresponding to the lower conductive terminals one by one so as to form a plurality of corresponding columns, and the upper and lower conductive terminals of at least one corresponding columns are fixedly connected with each other by riveting.

Currently, USB (Universal Serial Bus) connectors have been widely used in various electronic products, such as data and charging interfaces of mobile phone and computer, and with the development of society, the electronic products require higher speed transmission for the USB connector.
A Chinese patent (CN201420479369.0) discloses an USB connector that is capable of high-speed transmission, which includes a metal spacer, a first terminal group, a first plastic body in which the metal spacer and the first terminal group are integrally molded, a second terminal group, a second plastic body in which the second terminal group is integrally molded, a holder for holding the first plastic body and the second plastic body to be a whole, and a metal housing for shielding the first plastic body and the second plastic body.
However, during the manufacturing process of the USB connector, firstly integrally molding the first plastic body on the first metal spacer and the first terminal group, molding the second plastic body on the second terminal group; secondly assembling the second plastic body to a mounting groove of the first plastic body; lastly inserting the holder from a butting tongue of the first plastic body into a first holding portion of the first plastic body and a second holding portion of the second plastic body so that the first plastic body and the second plastic body are holder to be a whole. This traditional USB connector has too many components and complex manufacturing process, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost.
Furthermore, the USB connector has two rows of the upper and lower terminal groups, which can provide positive and negative connections, however, the two rows of terminal groups also have two rows of soldering pins. Two rows of soldering pins will undoubtedly increase the size of the USB connector and take up more space. The application thereof has been greatly restricted under the trend of ultra-thin electronic product. In addition, two side-by-side rows of soldering pins are not conducive for soldering and testing, and for the promotion and application of the USB connector.
Hence, it is desired to provide a new electrical connector to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Electrical connector and manufacturing method thereof


A cell-quadropole cell structure is disclosed which extends the principle of sharing the bitline-stud between two different cells (arranged in a one-dimensional line, e.g. w-direction) further to the maximal possible degree of a sharing in a two-dimensional area (x- and y-direction) consequently forming a cross of four cells around one bitline-stud with each drain region and buried strap extended to the side and the trench attached forming a hook like structure.

Dram cell size is always of present concern as pressures continue to develop denser memories. Present design dictates that word lines and bitlines run perpendicular one another and that memory cells are arranged in pairs of two therewith sharing one bitline stud used to contact of the both memory cells with a bitline. FIG. 1 illustrates a top view and partial schematic of a conventional trench DRAM memory cell layout and FIG. 2 illustrates a 3-dimensional, partial cross-sectional drawing of a layout according to FIG. 1. Each pair memory cells is associated with two trench capacitors 1 and two active access consisting of drain (source) and buried strap 2 and gate 3 is associated with one BL stud and one drain (source) region 4 below. As first level of metal lines wordlines 5 are running over the active accsess decives forming the gates of the devices therewith. The bitline studs are connected to respective bit lines 6, BL.sub.n, where n is integer running on a second metal level perpendicular to the wordlines. The dimensions of a memory cell are commonly defined by the smallest feature size defined in fabricating the memory cell. Typically, the smallest feature size is equal to the width of the memory cell gate. Conventional DRAM memory cells measure 8 f.sup.2 per cell. Drawn to scale, this is demonstrated in FIG. 1, wherein 4 cells are enclosed within a 8 f by 4 f area. Thus (32 f.sup.2 /4 cell)=8 f/cell. For instance, a DRAM with a 0.15 micron minimum feature size includes a 0.3 .mu.m.multidot.0.6 .mu.m=0.18 (.mu.m).sup.2 chip area per cell. This gives a rectangular orientation with 2 cells laid out in one direction for every one cell in a perpendicular arrangement. A new layout is desired which will allow a more compact arrangement such as that which would exist with a square orientation.

61/4 f2 DRAM cell structure with four nodes per bitline-stud and two topological wordline levels


A liquid crystal display device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a wiring substrate; an opposing substrate opposite to the wiring substrate; a sealing member for bonding the wiring substrate to the opposing substrate; a liquid crystal filled in a space defined by the wiring substrate, the opposing substrate, and the sealing member; a plurality of scanning signal lines formed in a display area formed inside the sealing member; a plurality of display signal lines formed in the display area and crossing the scanning signal lines with an insulating film interposed therebetween; and a common signal line formed outside the display area, the scanning signal lines, the scanning signal lines, and common signal line being formed on the wiring substrate, and the common signal line including at least two conductive layers with one of the conductive layers changing a pattern width below a pattern of the sealing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention liquid crystal display device. In particular, the invention relates to a liquid crystal display device having a common signal line provided on a substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, liquid crystal display devices are structured such that a pair of upper and lower electrode substrates having transparent electrodes are bonded to each other by use of a sealing member formed around an image display portion of the substrate and liquid crystal is filled therein. The liquid crystal display devices are classified into an active matrix type and a passive matrix type. An active matrix type liquid crystal display device as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-149087 has a TFT array substrate where thin film transistors as switching elements are arranged in matrix (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-149087). Then, the TFT array substrate is bonded to an opposing substrate through a sealing member. Liquid crystal is filled in between the TFT array substrate and the opposing substrate.
FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a corner portion of a peripheral portion of an image display portion of the TFT array substrate constituting the liquid crystal display device as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-149087. In FIG. 13, reference numeral 1 denotes a wiring substrate having a TFT array; 2, a display area; 3, a scanning signal line; 5, a display signal line; 7, a common signal line; and 8, a sealing member.
In the liquid crystal display device, the sealing member 8 is formed around the display area 2. A pattern of the sealing member 8 has a portion overlapping with the scanning signal line 3 and a portion overlapping with the display signal line 5. Further, the sealing member 8 is arranged to overlap with the common signal line 7 at the corner of the display area 2. Assuming that the common signal line 7 is not provided, a base portion on which the sealing member 8 is to be formed becomes uneven: there is a step corresponding to the line height between a portion having the scanning signal line 3 or the display signal line 5 or the rest. Thus, a change in panel gap occurs due to the step at the corner of the image display portion, and causes an uneven display. However, in the technique as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-149087, the common signal line 7 is formed near the corner of the wiring substrate 1 having the TFT array through the same process as that of either the scanning signal line 3 or the display signal line 5. As a result, a difference in level on the base portion underlying the sealing member 8 on the array substrate is eliminated or reduced. Therefore, the uneven display due to the change in panel gap can be controlled.
On the other hand, in the passive matrix type liquid crystal display device as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-186041, a transparent substrate having a segment electrode for applying voltage to liquid crystal is bonded to an opposing substrate having a common electrode through a sealing member. Liquid crystal is filled in between the substrate and the opposing substrate. A pixel is defined as a crossing point between the segment electrode and the common electrode.
FIG. 14 shows the structure of the liquid crystal display device as disclosed in FIG. 9 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-186041. FIG. 14 is a sectional view showing the structure of the liquid crystal display device. In FIG. 14, reference numeral 101 denotes a transparent substrate provided with a segment electrode (not shown) for applying a voltage to liquid crystal; 7a and 7b, a common signal line formed on the transparent substrate 101; 8, a sealing member formed on the transparent substrate; 19, a common electrode applied with a common signal; 102, a transparent substrate provided with the common electrode 19; 18, a conductive member; and 12, liquid crystal filled in a space defined by the above two substrates and the sealing member.
A driving circuit (not shown) or flexible substrate (not shown) formed on the transparent substrate 101 supplies a common signal to the common signal line 7. The common signal supplied to the common signal line 7 is applied to the common electrode 19 on the opposing substrate 102 through the conductive member 18. In this structure, the common signal line below the sealing member 8 has the two-layer structure, which enables a low line resistance. Further, the common signal line 7 is arranged to underlie the sealing member 8, so the sealing member 8 blocks infiltration of water from the outside of the panel to thereby improve a corrosion resistance of the common signal line 7.
however, the conventional liquid crystal display device has the following problems. That is, in the liquid crystal display device of FIG. 13, the common signal line 7 extends below the sealing member 8 pattern. Hence, it is necessary to minimize a difference in level on the base portion between a region where the sealing member 8 overlaps with the common signal line and a region where the sealing member 8 overlaps with the scanning signal line 3 or the display signal line 5. In this way, the abrupt change in panel gap that locally occurs can be suppressed. In general, it is rare that the scanning signal line and the display signal line largely differ in film thickness. Thus, in the liquid crystal display device as disclose in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-149087, the common signal line is formed using a material for the scanning signal line or a signal line to thereby level the base portion below the sealing member 8 pattern. That is, if the film thickness of the common signal line 7 increases, an abrupt change in panel gap locally occurs. Accordingly, with this structure, the common signal line should be formed using one of the scanning signal line and the material for a signal line. It is difficult to lower the resistance of the common signal line.
Further, there is a method of increasing a pattern width of the common signal line to lower the line resistance. However, if the line pattern width is increased, the width of a peripheral portion where the sealing member 8 is formed is increased. As a result, a frame area increases, resulting in a problem in that a compact liquid crystal display device with a small panel size cannot be realized.
In addition, in the liquid crystal display device of FIG. 14, the common signal line 7 underlying the sealing member 8 pattern has the two-layer structure, which realizes the low line resistance. However, if the common signal line of the two-layer structure is formed, there is a possibility that the height of the base portion largely changes at the border between a region where the display signal line or scanning signal line overlaps wit the sealing member 8 and a region where the common signal line overlaps with the sealing member. In this case, the uneven display is caused due to the abrupt change in panel gap at the portion concerned. Accordingly, in the structure of FIG. 14, a region where the two-layer line can be formed is limited for avoiding the abrupt change in panel gap. In some cases, this hinders the reduction in resistance necessary for high-speed driving.
As mentioned above, in the conventional liquid crystal display device, the uneven display is caused due to the abrupt change in panel gap, so the resistance of common signal line cannot be lowered. That is, if the common signal line has the two-layer structure, the panel gap abruptly changes. This leads to a problem in that the uneven display is caused, and display quality cannot be improved.
As discussed above, a conventional display device faces a problem in that, if the resistance of the common signal line is lowered, the uneven display is caused due to the abrupt change in panel gap, and the display quality cannot be improved.

Liquid crystal display device comprising a common signal line overlapping a sealing member and including at least two conductive layers with at least one of the conductive layers changing a pattern width


A device and method of collision-free hashing of near-match inputs that includes the following components. An adder for receiving an input i, a check value cv, and outputs n, which is greater than or equal to the sum of i and cv. A checker for receiving a value n, a value d, a first polynomial, and an output at which the first polynomial appears if the checker determines that the first polynomial is of degree proportional to d and divides xn+1. A factorization block for factoring the first polynomial into a second polynomial and a third polynomial. A first division block for dividing an input of bit length i by the second polynomial to generate a first portion of the hash of the input. A second division block for dividing the input by the third polynomial to generate a second portion of the hash of the input.

A hash function is a function that receives input data of an arbitrary bit length and generates an output of a fixed bit length, where the length of the output is user-definable. Hash functions are useful for generating message authentication codes and Bloom filters for determining if a data element is a member of a set.
Since a hash function maps data of a certain length to data of a shorter length, there are fewer possible outputs then there are inputs. So, some inputs will map to the same output. Such a mapping is commonly referred to as a collision. Knowing what inputs to a hash function cause collisions could provide a person with information that would help that person compromise a cryptographic algorithm that uses the hash function.
Since collisions are inherent in any hash function that receives a larger input then the output it produces, one cannot totally eliminate collisions. However, one may make it more time consuming to find collisions by ensuring that collisions occur only for inputs that differ from each other by more than a trivial number of bit locations so that one must spend more time searching for inputs that cause collisions. Therefore, there is a need for a hash function that does not produce collisions for inputs that are near matches of each other, where a near match is one where the number of bit locations that differ is small and, therefore, could more easily be found than if the inputs were not near-matches.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,382,876, entitled "HASH FUNCTION CONSTRUCTION FROM EXPANDER GRAPHS," discloses a hash function in which it is difficult to find collisions by dividing an input to a hash function into segments, walking an expander graph based on respective input segments, determining a label of the last vertex walked, and outputting the label as the result of the hash function. U.S. Pat. No. 7,382,876 is hereby incorporated by reference into the present specification.
U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20070291934, entitled "METHODS, SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR POLYNOMIAL BASED HASHING AND MESSAGE AUTHENTICATION CODING WITH SEPARATE GENERATION OF SPECTRUMS," discloses a hash function that represents an initial sequence of bits as a specially constructed set of polynomials, transforms the set by masking, partitions the transformed set into a plurality of classes, forms a bit string during partitioning, factoring for each class each of the polynomials, collecting the factors, wrapping the factors, organizing the wrappings, and performing an exponentiation of the organizations to obtain a hash value. U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20070291934 is hereby incorporated by reference into the present specification.
U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20090067620, entitled "CRYPTOGRAPHIC HASHING DEVICE AND METHOD," discloses a hash function that forms a sequence of data m-tuples from a message, where m is a positive integer, interatively calculating successive output p-tuples, where p is a positive integer corresponding to the sequence of data m-tuples as a function of at least one set of multivariate polynomials defined over a finite field, and determining a hash value as a function of the last p-tuple output. U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20090067620 is hereby incorporated by reference into the present specification.
U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20090085780, entitled "METHOD FOR PREVENTING AND DETECTING HASH COLLISIONS OF DATA DURING DATA TRANSMISSION," discloses a means for avoiding hash collisions by pre-processing a message to increase randomness and reducing redundancy in a manner that includes a bit shuffler, a compression T-function, and a linear feedback shift register. U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20090085780 is hereby incorporated by reference into the present specification.

Device for and method of collision-free hashing for near-match inputs

The United States of America as Represented by the Director, National Security Agency


In the case of an electronic ballast (1) for operating a lamp (10) or an operating device for illumination means, having mains terminals (5) for connecting the ballast (1) or operating device to a current supply, output terminals (6) for connecting a lamp or light source to the ballast (1) or operating device and a control unit (4) for controlling and/or regulating an operating voltage delivered to the lamp (LA) or light source via the output terminals (6), external control information (Vprog) for programming or configuring the operating behavior of the operating device is delivered to the control unit (4) via a programming input, and stored in a memory (4a) associated with the control unit (4). In accordance with the invention, the programming input is formed by means of the mains terminals (5) and/or the output terminals (6) of the ballast (1) or of the operating device (2), which are connected internally with the control unit (4).

Electronic ballasts (EVGs) for operating lamps, in particular gas discharge lamps, are already well known. Ballasts of the latest generation are thereby not only capable of precisely monitoring the operating behavior of a lamp to be operated and ensuring a fault-free lamp operation, but beyond this also have a data or communication connection, via which they can communicate with other ballasts or with central control devices. Through this there is for example the possibility to send to the ballast brightness commands for the controlled lamps. Beyond this, the sent data can also generally influence the operating behavior of the ballast, for example indicate the average power to be delivered to the gas discharge lamp or to determine the pre-heating duration before an ignition of the lamp.
Along with these ballasts just described, which are configured for extensive data communication, there are however often put to use also simply configured ballasts which are exclusively provided for operating the associated lamp in accordance with a predetermined scheme. The operating behavior of these ballasts is already largely fixed during production and can subsequently not be influenced or only slightly influenced. In particular such ballasts are not configured to communicate, or at least to receive data, via corresponding data or communication connections with other participants of an illumination system or with a central control device.
In order, even with these more simple ballasts, to open up the possibility of being able to influence the operating behavior still at least to a certain degree at a later time point, that is after production, it is known to provide such ballasts with a configuration input. At this configuration input there can then be connected passive configuration elements such as e.g. resistances or the like, which through their physical characteristics influence a certain function of the ballast. For example it is known, through the size of an external resistance connected to the configuration input, to set the power which is delivered from the ballast to the lamp, or to determine the duration of the pre-heating phase before an ignition of the gas discharge lamp.
Through the arrangement of an additional configuration input, however, the outlay for production of the electronic ballast is in turn increased. Further, the possibilities for influencing the operating behavior of the ballast with the aid of such a configuration input are limited. Beyond this, it is to be considered that usually electronic ballasts are fully enclosed in a housing, which solely has the terminals for current supply of the ballast and the terminals for the lamp. With these very compact configurations, supplementary terminals or inputs are not provided, for which reason a subsequent influencing of the operating behavior is not possible.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic ballast or operating device for illumination means having programmable or configurable control unit


A sintered body (10) made of valve action metal powders such as Ta powders, in which an anode lead (11) is embedded in one of wall faces is formed. A dielectric layer (oxide layer) (14) is formed around the metal powders. A manganese dioxide layer (15) is formed around the sintered body in which the dielectric layer is provided on the metal powders. A graphite layer is formed on the manganese dioxide layer. The graphite layer is made by an aqueous graphite layer (16) on the manganese dioxide layer side and a resin graphite layer (17) formed on the aqueous graphite layer. A metal layer (18) is formed on the graphite layer. In such a manner, a capacitor (1) element is formed. Preferably, the graphite layer is burned at a temperature ranging from 230 to 300.degree. C. As a result, an increase in impedance caused by a thermal stress between cathode layers is prevented. Thus, a solid electrolytic capacitor having a small impedance between the anode and the cathode is obtained.

A capacitor element 1 to be built in a solid electrolytic capacitor such as a conventional tantalum electrolytic capacitor is fabricated as follows. As shown in FIG. 3, by using, for example, Ta powders, a molded body of a rectangular parallelepiped or a cube shape in which an anode lead 11 such as a Ta wire is embedded in one of the wall faces is obtained. The molded body is sintered in a vacuum atmosphere. Around the powders and the sintered body 10, a dielectric layer (oxide film) 14 made of Ta.sub.2 O.sub.5 or the like and a manganese dioxide layer 15 are formed. Further, a graphite layer 16, and a silver resin layer 18 are sequentially formed, thereby obtaining an enveloping layer 19. The surface of the enveloping layer 19 is used as a cathode 12. The dielectric layer 14 is formed by anodizing (conversion treatment(coating)) the sintered body 10. The manganese dioxide layer 15 is formed by soaking the sintered body 10 in a manganese nitrate solution and thermal decomposing the manganese nitrate solution. The graphite layer 16 is formed by applying aqueous graphite (what is called India ink) and sintering it at about 130.degree. C. The silver resin layer 18 is formed by applying what is called a silver paste and drying it at about 200.degree. C. Reference numeral 13 denotes a Teflon ring.
As described above, the cathode 12 of the capacitor element 1 is formed by providing the enveloping layer 19 consisting of the above layers around the sintered body 10. The coefficients of linear expansion of the layers are different from each other as shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1 Coefficients of linear expansion of layers Coefficient of material linear expansion manganese dioxide layer 0.6 .times. 10.sup.-5 graphite layer 0.3 .times. 10.sup.-5 silver resin layer 4.0 .times. 10.sup.-5
As described above, in the cathode of the capacitor element, the various layers are provided on the surface of the sintered body on which the dielectric layer is formed and their coefficients of linear expansion are different from each other. Consequently, by a stress of a temperature shock of solder reflow at the time of mounting the solid electrolytic capacitor on a circuit board or the like, each of the layers is peeled or floated. As a result, the impedance (equivalent series resistance at a high frequency) increases and a problem such as deterioration in electric characteristics arises.