A deep-grooved ball bearing including a rolling contact member formed of a sintered β-sialon inexpensive and capable of reliably ensuring sufficient durability includes an outer ring and an inner ring, and a plurality of balls arranged in contact with the outer ring and the inner ring on an annular raceway. The ball is configured of a sintered body that contains as a main component a β-sialon represented by a compositional formula of Si6-zAlzOzN8-z and satisfying 0.1≦z≦3.5 and has a remainder formed of an impurity.

Silicon nitride, sialon and similar ceramics characteristically not only have a smaller specific gravity and are more corrosive-resistant than steel but are also insulating. Accordingly, if ceramics are adopted as a source material for a component of rolling bearings (including hub units) including a race member and a rolling element, or a component of a universal joint including a race member and a torque transmission member, such as a race member, a rolling element, a torque transmission member, they can provide bearings, universal joints and the like reduced in weight and also prevent rolling bearings and universal joints from having short life as their components corrode and are thus damaged or electrolytically corrode.
Furthermore, a hub unit, which is a type of rolling bearing, is often used in an environment having a possibility of receiving moisture therein and hence having insufficient lubricity. Ceramic rolling elements, race members and similar rolling contact members are characteristically less damageable in such an insufficiently lubricating environment as above. Accordingly, for example, a hub unit with a rolling contact member formed with ceramics adopted as a source material can exhibit improved durability when it is employed in an insufficiently lubricating environment.
Furthermore, a universal joint has a torque transmission member rolling and stopping repeatedly on a surface of a race member, and between the torque transmission member and the race member there is not sufficient oil film provided. Furthermore, a universal joint is often used in an environment having a possibility of receiving moisture therein and hence having insufficient lubricity. A ceramic torque transmission member is characteristically less damageable in such an insufficiently lubricating environment as above. Accordingly, for example, a universal joint with a torque transmission member formed with ceramics adopted as a source material can exhibit improved durability when it is employed in an insufficiently lubricating environment.
However, silicon nitride, sialon and similar ceramics require higher production cost than steel, and adopting ceramics as a source material for components of rolling bearings and universal joints disadvantageously increases their production costs.
In recent years, there has been developed a method of producing β-sialon, a type of ceramics, inexpensively by adopting a production process including combustion synthesis (Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2004-91272 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2005-75652 (Patent Document 2) and Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2005-194154 (Patent Document 3)). This allows one to consider adopting β-sialon as a source material for components of rolling bearings, universal joints and the like to produce them inexpensively.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2004-91272
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2005-75652
Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2005-194154

Rolling bearing, hub unit, rolling contact member, universal joint, torque transmission member for universal joint, and method of producing the same


A method and system for determining whether a given electromagnetic frequency is in use. An incoming signal is sampled and a test statistic is calculated based on the magnitude of the received samples and a predetermined constant. A determination is then made regarding whether the frequency is in use, based on whether the test statistic has exceeded a threshold.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to cognitive radio and, more particularly, to systems and methods for determining whether a given spectrum band is unoccupied.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cognitive radio (CR) that supports secondary (unlicensed) users to access licensed spectrum bands not being currently occupied can dramatically improve spectrum utilization. Since the licensed (primary) users are prior to the secondary users (SUs) in utilizing the spectrum, the secondary and opportunistic access to licensed spectrum bands is only allowed to have negligible probability of deteriorating the quality of service of the primary users (PUs). Spectrum sensing performed by the secondary users to detect the unoccupied spectrum bands, is an important step in meeting this requirement.
Several spectrum sensing schemes, such as matched-filter detection, energy detection, and cyclostationary detection, have been proposed and investigated. Among these sensing schemes, energy detection does not rely on any deterministic knowledge about the primary signals and has low complexity. However, energy detection entails considerable amount of sensing time at the low detection signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) level, e.g., the sensing time is inversely proportional to SNR2. To overcome this shortcoming, another sensing scheme, the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT), has been proposed for CR.
The SPRT has been widely used in many scientific and engineering fields since it was introduced in the 1940s. For given detection error probabilities, the SPRT requires a small average sample number for testing simple hypotheses. However, the SPRT-based sensing schemes proposed to date have several potential drawbacks: First, SPRT needs deterministic information or the statistical distribution of certain parameters of the primary signals. Acquiring such deterministic information or statistical distributions is practically difficult. Secondly, when the primary signals are taken from a finite alphabet, the test statistic of the SPRT based sensing scheme involves a special function, which incurs high implementation complexity. Thirdly, SPRT adopts the Wald's choice on the thresholds. However, the Wald's choice, which works well for the non-truncated SPRT, increases error probabilities when applied for the truncated SPRT.

Sequential sensing scheme for cognitive radio


2,2'-Bis[di-(m-tolyl)phosphino]-1,1'-binaphthyl represented by formula (I) is disclosed. ##STR1## The compound of formula (I) is capable of forming a complex with a metal, e.g., ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium, which is extremely important and industrially excellent as a catalyst for various asymmetric synthesis reactions.

Many reports have been made on transition metal catalysts useful for organic synthesis reactions, such as asymmetric hydrogenation, asymmetric isomerization, and asymmetric hydrosilylation. Among them, many of complexes in which an optically active tertiary phosphine compound is coordinated to a transition metal, e.g., ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium, exhibit excellent performance as catalysts for asymmetric synthesis reactions. To further improve the performance of these catalysts, various phosphine compounds having a special structure have hitherto been developed as disclosed, e.g., in Kacaku Sosetsu, Vol. 32, pp. 237-238, "Yuki Kinzoku Sakutai No Kagaku" (1982), edited by The Chemical Society of Japan. In particular, 2,2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthyl (hereinafter abbreviated as "BINAP") is one of excellent phosphine compounds. Rhodium complexes and ruthenium complexes each containing BINAP as a ligand have been reported in JP-A 55-61937 and JP-A-61-63690, respectively (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). Further, it has also been reported that rhodium complexes and ruthenium complexes each using 2,2'-bis[di-(p-tolyl)phosphino]-1,1'-binaphthyl (hereinafter abbreviated as "p-T-BINAP") as a ligand give satisfactory reaction results in asymmetric hydrogenation and asymmetric isomerization as disclosed in JP-A-60-199898 and JP-A-61-63690, respectively.
While a number of special phosphine compounds have been proposed in an attempt to improve performance of complexes as catalysts for asymmetric synthesis reactions as mentioned above, the conventional catalysts are still unsatisfactory in selectivity, conversion, and durability depending on the type of the proposed reaction or reaction substrate. Hence, it has been demanded to develop a novel phosphine compound which provides a catalyst having markedly improved catalytic performance over the conventional ones.


A lighting device (10) includes a voltage converter (2) for generating a predetermined DC voltage, a detector (4) for obtaining a detection voltage corresponding to a predetermined DC voltage applied across a light source (20), a controller (3) for controlling the voltage converter (2) so that a current flowing through the light source (20) is constant, and a determination unit (5) for determining whether the detection voltage is a preset first reference voltage or higher. The first reference voltage is set higher by a specified voltage than the detection voltage, and is set to vary more slowly than the detection voltage. The controller (3) stops an operation of the voltage converter (2) when the detection voltage is determined to be the first reference voltage or higher through the determination unit (5).

Conventionally, there is proposed a light emitting diode (LED) driving device for driving an LED unit where a plurality of LEDs are connected in series (for example, JP 2010-55824 A (hereinafter referred to as "Document 1")).
The LED driving device of Document 1 includes a connecting means, a DC(direct-current)-to-DC converting means, a discharging means, and an ON-OFF switching means. The connecting means is detachably connected to the LED unit. The DC-to-DC converting means includes a smoothing capacitor, and is configured to convert the DC power supplied from a DC power supply. The discharging means includes a switching element, and is configured to form a discharge path for discharging the smoothing capacitor. The ON-OFF switching means is configured to switch between ON and OFF of the switching element of the discharging means.
In the LED driving device of Document 1, when the LED unit becomes detached from the connecting means, the ON-OFF switching means switches the switching element of the discharging means from an OFF state to an ON state. When the switching element of the discharging means is switched from the OFF state to the ON state, the smoothing capacitor of the DC-to-DC converting means is discharged. Thus, in the LED driving device, when the LED unit becomes detached from the connecting means, an output voltage of the DC-to-DC converting means can be decreased. This decrease can therefore prevent the phenomenon where an overcurrent flows through the LED unit when the LED unit is connected again.
In the LED driving device, however, when a second LED unit having a rated voltage relatively lower than that of a first LED unit is connected again, an overcurrent can flow through the second LED unit. In other words, the LED driving device further includes a controlling means. The controlling means is configured to stop the DC-to-DC converting means when the LED unit becomes detached from the connecting means and then the output voltage of the DC-to-DC converting means increases to a preset upper-limit threshold voltage. The upper-limit threshold voltage is set higher than a rated voltage of the LED unit in a steady state. Therefore, in the case where the second LED unit having a rated voltage relatively lower than that of the first LED unit is lit, when the second LED unit becomes detached from the connecting means, a long time is required until the switching element of the discharging means changes from an OFF state to an ON state. As a result, an overcurrent can flow through the second LED unit.

Lighting device and luminaire including the same

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Creating a look-up table which converts color image data from a device-independent color space to a device-dependent color space, by determining a range of lightness values corresponding to a lightness value of a target data point in device-independent color space, searching a predetermined set of data points in device-independent color space to obtain a selected set of data points, each selected data point having a lightness value within the determined range of lightness values and having corresponding device-dependent component values within a predetermined tolerance level of the component values of a previously-determined device-dependent data point, performing a weighted interpolation on the device-dependent component values corresponding to the selected set of data points to calculate an interpolated data point which is in device-dependent color space, and entering the interpolated device-dependent data point into a look-up table entry corresponding to the device-independent target data point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color management system for dynamically generating, based on provided color measurement data, forward and inverse transformation look-up tables for transforming color image data between device-dependent and device-independent color spaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, color management systems rely on predetermined look-up tables for the conversion of color image data between device-dependent and device-independent color spaces. Such predetermined look-up tables are often created by the developer of a color management module for a given color device, such as a printer. Accordingly, a user is generally unable to modify them or update them if the color characteristics of the color device are different from, or have changed from, the representation of the color device by the look-up tables.
In order to generate a forward look-up table for converting from device-dependent to device-independent color space, an IT8.7/3 target containing CMYK patches is widely used in the art. The CMYK patches consist of sampling of the CMYK space in a well-defined manner so that a rectangular grid (with non-uniform spacing in C, M, Y and K) is formed. Each patch is then measured with a calorimeter or spectrophotometer. The measurements, which are typically in CIEXYZ values, then form a Look-Up Table (LUT), with which an empirical model of the printer can be built using an interpolation method of one's choice, resulting in the forward look-up table.
However, the inversion of the printer model to generate an inverse look-up table for converting from device-independent to device-dependent color space presents more difficulties. Given an input color in CIELAB or more generally, a color appearance space, there is a question of whether this color is within the printer gamut. There is also the issue regarding the arrangement of points in the color appearance space. While the CMYK values can be arranged to fall on a rectangular grid, as is done in the IT8.7/3 target, the same cannot be said of the resulting printed colors as they are situated in the color appearance space. In general, they are scattered in the color appearance space with no particular pattern.
In this regard, there are generally two known approaches to the inversion problem regarding scattered points. One approach is to use a geometric subdivision of the printer gamut using elementary 3-dimensional solids, such as tetrahedra. A subdivision of the printer gamut in the device-independent (color appearance) space can be induced from the corresponding subdivision of the device-dependent (CMYK) space. This approach has the advantage of computational simplicity. In the case of a tetrahedron, only four points are used in an interpolation. On the other hand, the result depends heavily on a just few points, which means that a measurement error will have a significant deleterious effect on the result. In addition, the interpolant also tends to be not very smooth because of the low number of points involved.
The second known approach does not assume any subdivision at all, but is instead based on the technique of scattered data interpolation. A classical example is the technique of Shepard interpolation, or inverse weighted method. In this method, several points surrounding the input point are chosen and each assigned a weight, usually inversely proportional to the distance, and the interpolant is taken as the weighted average of the neighboring points. In this approach, the choice of neighboring points is paramount to performance of the result. While too few neighboring points would render the interpolant inaccurate and non-smooth, too many points would impose a high computational cost, as the weights are typically non-linear functions and costly to compute, thereby rendering the second approach less feasible in a dynamic, run-time environment.

Dynamic generation of color look-up tables


A method for controlling the outputting of messages in an information system of a motor vehicle, the messages being assigned priorities, there is provision for the sequence, the time and, if appropriate, also the method (visual, audible, tactile) of the outputting of the messages to depend on the priority of the respective message and on criteria which are formed from information received from the information system.

Information systems for motor vehicles have to output a large number of different messages, i.e. they have to present messages in a way which can be perceived visually or audibly by the driver. Examples of such messages are "headlight on", "fuel tank on reserve", "brake system defective", "incoming call" or "turn off to the right". These messages may originate from various application areas, for example from the customary sensor system of the motor vehicle or from devices such as navigation devices, a radio telephone or a traffic news radio service. The number of messages and a possible accumulation thus constitute a burden for the driver which can distract him from the actual task of driving. Even if the messages are assigned priorities, a message with a high priority may be output immediately even though the travel situation and/or the presence of other messages would make a different sequence or a different time seem appropriate.

Method for controlling the outputting of messages


After a container is placed on a rest base beneath a beverage dispensing section where a dispensing outlet is provided, a dispensing button is depressed and a stepping motor constituting a base tilting drive device is driven for a predetermined time period to cause a linear head to be extended so that the rest base and hence a container is tilted as one unit. A dispensing valve drive device is operated to open a dispensing valve and dispense a bubbling beverage along an inner wall of the container, while suppressing any excessive formation of bubbles. When a bubble surface or liquid level of the beverage dispensed into the container rises to a predetermined level, the stepping motor is reversely driven to bring the container to an erect state. When the container becomes full with the beverage, the dispensing valve is closed, stopping the dispensing of the beverage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for dispensing a sparkling or bubbling beverage containing a carbon dioxide, such as draft beer, into a container and, in particular, to an apparatus for forcing a bubbling beverage from a beverage tank under a CO.sub.2 gas pressure into a container in a predetermined quantity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various drinks, such as draft beer, coke and juice, are known as a sparkling, CO.sub.2 gas-containing beverage to be handled by a dispensing apparatus. Here, a draft beer dispensing apparatus will be explained below by way of example.
This type of dispensing apparatus is disclosed in Published Examined Japanese Utility Model Registration H-1-38072.
The aforementioned apparatus is of such a type that an opening/closing valve for opening/closing a beverage passage leading to a dispensing outlet can be operated, by the operator, through an operation lever so that a proper quantity of draft beer can be dispensed into a container, such as a mug.
The operator, while dispensing draft beer by hand-operating the operation lever, adjusts the extent of bubbles in the beer by varying a positional distance to the dispensing outlet of the container, such as a "height" or a "tilt" angle, by the other hand of the operator.
In this dispensing apparatus, the amount of beer to be dispensed as well as the extent of bubbles in the beer depends mainly upon the extent of adjustment by the operator, thus requiring a considerable experience.
Recently, a dispensing apparatus has been developed and reduced to practice which is of such a type as to be equipped with dispensing buttons (selection switches), in place of the operation lever, for containers of different size. The apparatus enables the dispensing valve to be opened for a period of time corresponding to the size of the container, by selectively pressing a corresponding dispensing button, so that a mugful of beer is dispensed.
This type of apparatus, like other conventional apparatuses, can dispense beer, while a container is being hand-gripped, so that a different amount of bubbles is dispensed into a corresponding mug according to how to hand-grip the mug. Opening the dispensing valve for only a period of time corresponding to the size of the mug sometimes causes beer to be overflowed out of the mug, thus requiring a higher technique in dispensing a proper amount of beer into the mug.
As well-known, a given amount of CO.sub.2 gas is contained in the draft beer and, unless being placed under a proper pressure against the temperature of the draft beer, a CO.sub.2 gas is either released or bubbled. Conversely, the CO.sub.2 gas is sometimes excessively absorbed in the draft beer, thus markedly lowering the sense of taste.
It is, therefore, necessary that, in order to dispense tasty draft beer, a gas pressure appropriate to the temperature of the draft beer be applied to the interior of a beverage tank (a storage tank) in which the draft beer is held.
The existing apparatus is, therefore, adapted to detect, through a temperature sensor, a temperature level prevailing in the draft beer tank and to display a corresponding gas pressure level on a display unit. The operator has adjusted the gas pressure acting upon the interior of the beer tank, while seeing the data on the display surface of the display unit.
The hand adjustment of the gas pressure by the operator poses a problem that doing so is very cumbersome and, in addition, is often forgotten inadvertently,

Apparatus for dispensing a sparkling or bubbling beverage


A cutting tool with a linear oscillating drive has a handle body (1) and a knife (3, 4) which is guided therein and is displaceable in an oscillating manner in the longitudinal direction, the knife (3, 4), by means of a knife holder (4), being detachably connected via a clamping member to a transmission element, arranged in the handle body (1), of the linear oscillating drive. Since the knife holder (4) is cohesively connected, in particular sealed, together with a knife shaft (31), the cutting tool complies with the hygiene regulations for use in the foodstuffs sector.

The invention relates to a cutting or sawing tool with a liner oscillating drive.
Hand tools with a pneumatic linear oscillating drive have been disclosed, for example, by DE-A-197 46 447, these hand tools being used for filing, sawing, polishing or cutting. The oscillating drive has a piston mounted in a displaceable manner in a handle body and having a piston rod, to the free end of which a tool holder is fastened. The piston is generally driven by a flutter valve.
The tool holder for such a hand tool is disclosed in more detail in DE-A-2 939 896. It essentially comprises a basic body having a T-shaped cross section, on the front and rear ends of which clamping pins are integrally formed. The tool holder has a through-hole, into which a tool shaft is inserted from one side and the piston rod of the linear oscillating drive is inserted from the other side. The shaft and piston rod can be fixed in the clamping pins by means of clamping collars. The tool holder is mounted in a C-shaped mounting piece arranged on the handle body. The mounting piece absorbs forces acting transversely to the direction of movement of the tool, so that the bearings of the piston rod in the interior of the housing are relieved.
Such hand tools are not very suitable as cutting tools, in particular knives or saws, for the foodstuffs sector, since the tool holder is quickly contaminated and is difficult to clean. Hygiene regulations are therefore not complied with. In addition, cutting residues stuck in the tool or knife holder impair the operability of the tool.
Furthermore, lateral forces occur when using knifes, in particular large butchers knives or saws, on account of the relatively long lever arm and on account of the relatively large working surface of the knife, and these lateral forces can only be absorbed in an inadequate manner by a C-shaped mounting piece. The knife xe2x80x9cfluttersxe2x80x9d when subject to high stress.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a cutting tool which has a linear oscillating drive and can also be used in the foodstuffs sector.
A further object of the invention is to provide a cutting tool which withstands high lateral loads.
According to the invention, the knife holder and knife shaft are cohesively connected together, in particular sealed. The knife blade and knife holder can therefore be jointly removed from their handle body for cleaning.
It is advantageous that knife blades from series production can be used for this. This is especially advantageous, since the knives have to be used frequently.
The knife holder preferably has an essentially parallelepiped-shaped basic body which is mounted in a displaceable manner in a rectangular knife guide of the handle body. As a result, lateral forces which occur even in the case of large and long knives can be absorbed by the knife guide in order to relieve the transmission element of the linear oscillating drive.
A knife guide which is in one piece and has a locating opening with rounded-off corners for the basic body permits cost-effective production.
If the outer corners of the basic body and the inner corners of the knife guide are rounded with different radii of curvature, large destructive forces in the corner regions of the mounting can be prevented during canting or twisting of the knife.
Further advantageous embodiments follow from the dependent claims.

Cutting tool with linear oscillating drive


According to one embodiment, a display device includes a first scanning line, a signal line, a second pixel electrode, a first pixel electrode, a second thin-film transistor, a first line and a second line. The first line is connected to the second pixel electrode, and extends through a region facing the first pixel electrode to the first scanning line side. The first line and a second semiconductor layer of the second thin-film transistor are provided on a first insulating film and are formed of a same material. The second line connects the first line and a fourth electrode of the second thin-film transistor.

In display devices such as liquid crystal display devices, to obtain high resolution, reduction in the size of pixels is considered. For example, a plurality of pixels are arranged in matrix. Each pixel comprises a plurality of subpixels corresponding to different colors. Each subpixel comprises a pixel electrode and a thin-film transistor connected to the pixel electrode.
When polycrystalline silicon is used for the semiconductor layer of the thin-film transistor, impurities such as P (phosphorus) or B (boron) are implanted into the semiconductor layer (ion implantation) to form the thin-film transistor.


An image processing device which is capable of accurately detect pixels covered by cloud shadows and remove effects of the cloud shadows in an images are provided. The device includes: a cloud transmittance calculation unit that calculates transmittance of the one or more clouds in an input image, for each pixel; a cloud height estimation unit that determines estimation of a height from the ground to each cloud in the input image to detect position of corresponding one or more shadows; an attenuation factor estimation unit that calculates attenuation factors for the direct sun irradiance by applying an averaging filter to the cloud transmittance calculated; and a shadow removal unit that corrects pixels affected by the one or more shadows, based on a physical model of a cloud shadow formation by employing the attenuation factors calculated and the position, and outputs an image which includes the pixels corrected.

Satellite images have vital applications, such as monitoring the earth surface. However, if a cloud is present while capturing an image, then it poses a serious limitation on the image's reliability. A cloud not only appears in the image but also casts a shadow on the ground, occluding (covering) the true ground information.
In case of satellite images, an incident sun irradiance on the ground has two components, namely, the direct sun irradiance and the diffused sun irradiance. An object such as a cloud casts a shadow by attenuating the direct sun irradiance. Therefore areas beneath a shadow do not receive full irradiance. Consequently such areas appear darker and hide the true ground information. It is necessary to retrieve the true ground information by removing these shadows (known as de-shadowing).
NPL 1 discloses a de-shadowing method for airborne and satellite imagery, which estimates an attenuation factor for the direct sun irradiance to correct a shadow pixel. FIG. 19 shows a block diagram of an apparatus used by the method. The apparatus includes: pre-processing unit 01, matched filter derivation unit 02, attenuation factor estimation unit 03, shadow removal unit 04, and output unit 05. Pre-processing unit 01 detects water and cloud pixels which are excluded from the next processes. The detection is based on spectral conditions. Matched filter derivation unit 02 tunes a matched filter vector calculated by the equation (1) to the target shadow reflectance.
                              V          mf                =                                            C                              -                1                                                                (                                                r                  T                                -                                  r                  _                                            )                                                                          (                                                      r                    T                                    -                                      r                    _                                                  )                            T                                                                  C                                  -                  1                                                                          (                                                      r                    T                                    -                                      r                    _                                                  )                                                                        (        1        )                Vmf is a matched filter vector    rT is a target reflectance to which the matched filter is to be tuned    C is a covariance matrix for non-cloud and non-water pixels    r a mean vector for non-cloud and non-water pixels
The method sets rT to 0 in equation (1) to detect shadows. The resulting filter (Vsh) is a column vector of dimension kf×1 where kf is a number of wavelength bands considered to calculate the covariance matrix and mean vector. Attenuation factor estimation unit 03 applies the filter Vsh to all non-cloud and non-water pixels to get the shadow abundance in respective pixels. The method assumes that the resulting values are a relative measure of the attenuation factor for the direct sun irradiance for respective pixels. The obtained values are positive and negative numbers in an arbitrary, image-dependent range. Therefore, attenuation factor estimation unit 03 scales the shadow abundance values to a range [0, 1] (from 0 to 1) such that '0' indicates no direct illumination (full shadow) and '1' indicates full direct illumination (no shadow). The method in NPL 1 defines a core shadow as an actual shadow in contrast to other dark objects in an image. Shadow removal unit 04 first detects pixels actually covered by shadows by an image thresholding method. Shadow removal unit 04 determines a threshold for the shadow abundance values obtained by attenuation factor estimation unit 03 based on a histogram slicing technique. The detected pixels using this threshold form core shadow areas. Further, shadow removal unit 04 expands the core shadow areas spatially. Then shadow removal unit 04 corrects pixels in the core shadow areas based on a physical model of a cloud shadow formation by employing the attenuation factors determined by attenuation factor estimation unit 03. Output unit 05 sends an output to a display (not shown in FIG. 19).
In addition, related technologies are disclosed in PTL 1-PTL 3, NPL 2-NPL 4.

Image processing device, image processing method and storage medium


The water includes a tank 10 which includes dual cold water inlets 21a, 21b. One or other of the cold water inlets 21a, 21b is in use connected to a cold water supply line. The cold water inlets 21a, 21b extend through inlet pipes 21c, 21d within the tank 10 and join at a cold water junction 22. Extending upwardly for cold water is a tempering tube or pipe 31, 31a, 31b that extends within the tank to the upper region of the tank 10 where the cold water can mix with hot water being drawn from the tank and passing through one of a pair of hot water outlets 26a, 26b. Either of the water outlets 26a, 26b in use is connected to a hot water delivery line for supply of the tempered water.

Hot water heaters comprising tanks for storage of heated water have been described with means for tempering outgoing hot water drawn from the tank with cold water to achieve the delivery of tempered hot water at the tap for the purposes of safety and efficiency. Safety regulations may require hot water delivered at domestic tap outlets to be about 50° C. to avoid accidents associated with scalding, particularly of the aged and infants. However, because the storage of hot water can be more efficiently achieved by heating a smaller volume of stored hot water to a hotter temperature, e.g. 65° C., mechanisms for tempering the hot water drawn from the storage tank prior to delivery to a domestic tap have been proposed. One such arrangement is described in the Applicant's Australian patent No. 654107 where a hot water heater and vessel is provided with a conduit for directing cold water from the cold water inlet to the hot water outlet to reduce the temperature of the hot water delivered from the vessel to a tap outlet. Whilst this arrangement may work satisfactorily, such water heaters can present difficulties due to their bulky and asymmetrical nature and may be difficult to install in confined or congested spaces required in some domestic and commercial water heater installations, such as in town houses, units, apartments and small office kitchens. Moreover, the increased number of joins associated with fittings of the aforementioned prior art provide the potential for damaging or disruptive leakages where the fittings fail e.g. due to incorrect installation, corrosion, impact damage.
The above references to and descriptions of prior proposals or products are not intended to be, and are not to be construed as, statements or admissions of common general knowledge in the art.
It is an object of the present invention to ameliorate one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative thereto.


Disclosed is a solar cell including a passivation film formed on a light-receiving surface of a silicon substrate, and an antireflection film formed on the passivation film, wherein the passivation film has a refractive index higher than that of the antireflection film. The passivation film and the antireflection film can each be made of a silicon nitride film.

Recently, development of clean energy has been desired to address global environmental problems such as depletion of energy resources and increase of CO2 in the air. In particular, a solar cell using a silicon substrate (hereinafter also referred to as a silicon solar cell) has been developed and put into practical use as a new energy source, pursuing the path of development.
In order to improve the maximum electric power of a silicon solar cell, attempts have been made to prevent loss of minority carriers not only within a silicon substrate but also on a surface of a silicon substrate. In particular, for the prevention of loss of minority carriers on a surface of a silicon substrate, there has been developed a passivation technique forming a silicon oxide film on a surface of a silicon substrate to prevent recombination of minority carriers (see for example Non-Patent Document 1). Further, there has also been developed a passivation technique forming a silicon nitride film on a surface of a silicon substrate (see for example Non-Patent Document 2).    Non-Patent Document 1: Jianhua Zhao, Aihua Wang, Martin A. Green, "24.7% EFFICIENT PERL SILICON SOLAR CELLS AND OTHER HIGH EFFICIENCY SOLAR CELL AND MODULE RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES", ISES Solar World Congress, Jerusalem, Israel, 1999.    Non-Patent Document 2: Jan Schmidt, Mark Kerr, Andres Cuevas, "Surface passivation of silicon solar cells using plasma-enhanced chemical-vapour-deposited SiN films and thin thermal SiO2/plasma SiN stacks", Semicond. Sci. Technol., 16 (2001), pp. 164-170.

Solar cell and method for producing solar cell


A click-stop mechanism provided between two members, one of the two members being slidably fitted on the other of the two members, includes an engaging groove formed on one of opposed surfaces of the two members, a leaf spring insertion recess formed on the other of opposed surfaces of the two members, a click member which is engaged in the engaging groove so as to be movable in a direction normal to the sliding movement of the two members, and a leaf spring which is inserted in the leaf spring insertion recess to bias the click member toward the engaging groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a click-stop mechanism which is provided between two members, one of which is slidably fitted on the other.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 10 shows a conventional click-stop mechanism provided between two cylindrical members of a photographing lens barrel. The lens barrel is provided with a stationary ring 30, and an AF/MF switch ring 31 fitted on the stationary ring 30 to be slidable thereon in an optical axis direction (in a direction normal to the page of FIG. 10) relative to the stationary ring 30. The AF/MF switch ring 31 can be manually moved between two positions (an AF position and a MF position) in the optical axis direction relative to the stationary ring 30 to select, e.g., between an AF (autofocus) mode and an MF (manual focus) mode of the photographing lens barrel, respectively. The AF/MF switch ring 31 is provided on an inner peripheral surface thereof with an AF-state holding groove (click-stop groove) 31a and an MF-state holding groove (not shown) each of which extends circumferentially about the optical axis.
The photographing lens barrel has a leaf spring 33 with one end thereof fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the stationary ring 30 by a set screw 32. The stationary ring 30 has a radial through hole 34 in which a click ball 35 is engaged. The click ball 35 is held between the AF/MF switch ring 31 and the leaf spring 33 so that the click ball 35 is always pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the AF/MF switch ring 31 by a spring force of the leaf spring 33. With this structure, the AF position and the MF position of the AF/MF switch ring 31 are defined by the engagement of the click ball 35 in the AF-state holding groove and the MF-state holding groove, respectively. In the case of providing the photographing lens barrel with an aperture setting ring having a structure similar to the above described structure of the AF/MF switch ring 31, the AF-state holding groove and the MF-state holding groove are replaced by a series of click-stop grooves 31b (shown by two-dot chain lines in FIG. 10) arranged at predetermined intervals in a circumferential direction of the AF/MF switch ring 31.
However, such a conventional click-stop mechanism increases the number of elements of the photographing lens barrel because at least one set screw 32 is necessary to fix the leaf spring 33 to the stationary ring 30. In addition, it is difficult to fix the leaf spring 33 to the stationary ring 30 because the leaf spring 33 has to be fixed to the stationary ring 30 from inside the stationary ring 30.
In another conventional click-stop mechanism using a compression helical spring instead of a leaf spring, a radially long insertion hole in which the compression helical spring is inserted needs to be secured. However, it is difficult to insert the compression helical spring into the long insertion hole.
The present invention provides a simple click-stop mechanism provided between two members, one of which is slidably fitted on the other, wherein the number of elements of the click-stop mechanism is small, and the click-stop mechanism can be easily assembled.
For example, a click-stop mechanism can be provided between two members, one of the two members being slidably fitted on the other of the two members, the click-stop mechanism including an engaging groove formed on one of opposed surfaces of the two members, a leaf spring insertion recess formed on the other of opposed surfaces of the two members, a click member which is engaged in the engaging groove so as to be movable in a direction normal to the sliding movement of the two members, and a leaf spring which is inserted in the leaf spring insertion recess to bias the click member toward the engaging groove.
It is desirable for the leaf spring insertion recess to include a pair of support portions formed in the leaf spring insertion recess to support opposite ends of the leaf spring, respectively, and a leaf-spring-deformation allowance portion which is positioned in the leaf spring insertion recess between the pair of support portions to allow the leaf spring to be resiliently deformed.
It is desirable for the other of the opposed surfaces of the two members, on which the leaf spring insertion recess is formed, to include a click member guide portion which allows the click member to move only in directions corresponding to directions of engagement and disengagement of the click member in and out from the engaging groove.
The engaging groove can be a plurality of engaging grooves which are formed on the one of the opposed surfaces of the two members at different positions in a direction of relative movement of the two members, and the click member can be selectively engaged in the plurality of engaging grooves.
The click member can be formed as a spherical click ball.
A portion of the click member which is engaged in the engaging groove can include a substantially semicolumnar portion having a ridge extending substantially in a longitudinal direction of the engaging groove.
Each of the two members can be an annular member provided in a lens barrel.
At least one of the two members is movable relative to the other in an optical axis direction of the lens barrel, and the engaging groove can include a plurality of engaging grooves which are formed on the one of the opposed surfaces of the two members at different positions in the optical axis direction.
The lens barrel can be used as a photographing lens barrel of an autofocus camera, and one of the two members can serve as a switch ring which is moved in the optical axis direction between an AF position and an MF position to change a focusing mode of the autofocus camera between an AF mode and an MF mode, respectively.
At least one of the two members is rotatable about an optical axis of the lens barrel relative to the other, and the engaging groove includes a plurality of engaging grooves which are formed on the one of the opposed surfaces of the two members at different positions in a circumferential direction about the optical axis.
It is desirable for the engaging groove to have a substantially V-shaped cross section.
The pair of support portions can include a pair of stepped portions formed on the one of the opposed surfaces of the two members in the leaf spring insertion recess to respectively support the opposite ends of the leaf spring.
It is desirable for the click member guide portion to include a pair of opposed recesses formed in the leaf spring insertion recess to hold the click member therebetween in the leaf spring insertion recess so that the click member can move only along the pair of opposed recesses.
In another embodiment, a click-stop mechanism is provided between two members, one of the two members being positioned on the other of the two members to be slidable thereon, the click-stop mechanism including two engaging grooves formed on one of opposed surfaces of the two members, a leaf spring insertion hole formed on the other of the opposed surfaces of the two members, a click member which is selectively engaged in one of the two engaging grooves so as to be movable in a direction normal to the sliding movement of the two members, and a leaf spring which is inserted in the leaf spring insertion hole to bias the click member toward one of the two engaging grooves.
The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application Nos.2001-177139 (filed on Jun. 12, 2001) and 2002-043173 (filed on Feb. 20, 2002) which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Click-stop mechanism provided between two relatively slidable members


In the absence of the conventional stock feeding box the stock is conducted down through a feed pipe to a nozzle which directs the stock onto a wire belt. The nozzle may be directed in a different direction from the movement of the belt so that shear occurs at the delivery point to the benefit of the finished product. From the preliminary belt or "wire", the stock is delivered to a paper machine. In one embodiment the fibers are conducted dry to the belt and a cooperating "dwarf" wire presses the dry stock into a sheet. Booster heads are used to direct additional feed in a way which intercepts the main feed and breaks up micro-agglomerates. In one version the wire is stationary and the feed nozzle moves.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for delivering paper stock to a paper machine More specifically this invention relates to apparatus including a preliminary moving wiremesh belt to which the stock is projected under pressure from above. Spaced down the wire-mesh belt is means for removing the drained stock from the belt and bridging it over to the paper machine. The invention also relates to the method of projecting a paper stock down onto a moving wire-mesh belt to create a shearing effect that makes a high-quality paper product.
In some versions of the invention the belt is moving and the projector is stationary; in other versions the belt may be stationary and the projector may be moving. Similarly, the projector may aim the stock in the direction opposite the movement of the belt; in others the projector may be aimed in the same direction.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information DisClosed Under .sctn.1.97 & 1.99
On the inlet side of a paper machine there have been various head-box designs to form the paper sheet on the wire-mesh belt or "wire belt" or "wire" as it is called in the trade. These headbox designs are traditionally divided into the following main classes:
(a) low pressure head-boxes PA1 (b) high pressure head-boxes PA1 multilayer head-boxes PA1 high-turbulence head-boxes PA1 controllable multi-channel head-boxes PA1 bunch tube head-boxes PA1 step diffuser head-boxes PA1 step flow head-boxes PA1 converflow head-boxes PA1 manifold tubes PA1 impact plates/turbulence plates PA1 perforated rollers PA1 flow chambers PA1 lip units PA1 control and measuring instruments PA1 the prevention of the stock/fiber agglomeration PA1 the creation of proper conditions for a defect-free sheet formation PA1 the conversion of the (turbulent) pipeline-flow into an evenly spread stream which can be applied onto the wire PA1 the stock variation along the paper machine (longitudinal) or across the paper machine PA1 all sorts of paper specifications in a wide range PA1 agglomeration of fiber PA1 foaming PA1 restrictions of paper machine speeds PA1 uncontrolled behavior and adjustment difficulties PA1 capacity problems PA1 corrosion
These were then developed into a multitude of semi- or fullhydraulic designs, such as
in which all of some basic details are almost the same, e.g.
The well-known technical characteristics are then adjusted to get the stock flow (of pulp etc. fibers) under good control. Notwithstanding this it is anyway impossible to reach a consistent optimum functioning because of the variations in the process conditions and the temperamental nature of the various designs. This has led head-box designing to become more an art than a science, an art in which the structure is not necessarily based on facts but on traditions.
New head-boxes were often developed only for the purpose of creating a new design category with total absence of any underlying sensible reason.
At any rate, the main purposes of the head-box or any other sheet former are the following e.g.
In spite of the elaborate conventional head-box designs, several difficulties arise due to the inability at the head-box itself (or in the so-called short circle, including pipeline with screeners and hydra-cleaners) to deal with various factors:
(With regard to capacity problems, the speed of a modern paper machine is usually between 200 . . . 1600 m/min. In higher machine speeds the head-box has always been a limiting factor, the faults in the sheet formation caused by the head-box cannot be repaired at the paper machine.)
The prior art has not really come to grips with these problem areas.

No-box system with booster head spray for delivering paper stock to a paper machine


The invention provides an ink set for ink-jet recording that is able to form an image having a sufficient optical density and causing no feathering and intercolor bleed within a short period of time while being excellent in reliability of the maintenance unit. The ink set comprises at least a liquid (a) containing a colorant, water soluble solvent and water; a liquid (b) containing a pH adjusting agent, water soluble solvent and water; and a liquid (c). The ink set satisfies any one of the conditions in the first embodiment: (i) the colorant is anionic, (ii) the liquid (b) has a pH of not higher than 6.5, (iii) the liquid (c) has a pH of not lower than 8.0, and (iv) the mixed liquid of the liquid (b) and the liquid (c) in a mass ratio of 1:1 has a pH of not lower than 7; or the second embodiment: (i) the colorant is cationic, (ii) the liquid (b) has a pH of not lower than 8.5, (iii) the liquid (c) has a pH of not higher than 6.0, and (iv) the mixed liquid of the liquid (b) and the liquid (c) in a mass ratio of 1:1 has a pH of not higher than 7.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink set for ink-jet recording, an ink-jet recording method and an ink-jet recording apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink-jet recording method for ejecting a liquid or molten solid ink from an ink-ejection port such as a nozzle, slit or porous film has been used for many printers since the apparatus used for this method is small in size and inexpensive. A piezoelectric ink-jet recording method for ejecting the ink by taking advantage of deformation of a piezoelectric element or a thermal ink-jet recording method taking advantage of boiling of the ink by thermal energy have been often utilized among various ink-jet recording methods from the view point of high resolution and high printing speed. Further, an ink-jet printer is able to print not only on paper sheets such as plain paper and ink-jet printing paper, but also on films such as OHP sheets and clothes.
High speed printing and high image quality are important issues in the technical field of ink-jet printers at present. Japanese Patent No. 2,667,401 proposes an image forming method for satisfying high speed printing and high image quality together by allowing a liquid (c)ontaining a cationic group-bearing compound to adhere on a recording medium, followed by allowing an ink containing an anionic dye to adhere immediately after the liquid permeates into and remains in the recording medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,143 proposes an ink set comprising a first ink and a second ink having different pH values from each other for preventing bleeding between the two inks by allowing the ink components to coagulate when the first ink contacts the second ink.
However, in the above methods when the first ink and the second ink are stored in a common maintenance unit, these are cases where the inks are coagulated in the maintenance unit and reliability of the maintenance unit cannot be ensured.
Therefore, it has not been possible to satisfy optical density, feathering, intercolor bleeding, drying time and reliability of the maintenance unit at the same time by the conventional methods.

Ink set for ink-jet recording, ink-jet recording method and ink-jet recording apparatus


An apparatus to couple a laser beam into a plurality of optical fibers is disclosed. The laser beam, having a naturally rectangular cross sectional area, is passed through a cylindrical lens to focus the laser beam into a focal line. The optical fibers are then arranged in a linear configuration at the focal line to accept the laser beam. A second cylindrical lens may be used to control the length of the focal line to match the length of the linearly configured optical fibers. A method for coupling the laser beam into the linearly configured optical fibers is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical couplers. More particularly, this invention relates to cylindrical lenses to couple laser energy into linearly configured optical fibers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior apparatus for coupling laser energy into a bundle of optical fibers utilized one or more lenses to sharply focus the laser energy into a focal point. The bundle was arranged with input ends of the fibers in a circular or hexagonal pattern. The circularly arranged fiber ends were placed within the laser beam at a distance from the focal point such that the cross sectional diameter of the laser beam substantially matched the diameter of the circular pattern of optical fibers
This arrangement, however, suffers from at least two distinct problems. First, the coupling system produced an unevenly distributed laser energy profile at the incident ends of the optical fibers such that the respective optical fibers transmitted the energy in nonuniform amounts. In particular, launching a Gaussian laser beam into a circular or hexagonally shaped optical fiber bundle will result in the fibers nearer the center of the circular or hexagonal configuration transmitting greater amounts of energy than the fibers nearer the periphery of the circular or hexagonal configuration. Second, the naturally rectangular shape of the laser beam exiting the laser was not conducive to "rounding" into the circular or hexagonal configuration of the optical fibers without significant energy loss.
These problems of uneven energy distribution in the transmission fibers and uncoordinated beam shapes between the laser and the fibers resulted in inefficient energy coupling between the laser and the optical fibers.
The problem of uneven distribution of laser energy within the respective optical fibers causes the total power transmission capability to be dictated by the peak power rating of the central fibers, which will be carrying the most energy. Thus, the total power coupled into the fibers must be decreased to bring the maximum power coupled into the individual central fibers to within their energy damage thresholds. Meanwhile, the peripheral fibers receiving the lower energy concentration are not being used to their peak energy transmission ability due to the caution which must be observed in preventing destruction of the central fibers in the higher energy concentration region. Therefore, to prevent damage to the central fibers, total coupled energy must be reduced even though the peripheral fibers are not used to their peak energy transmission ability.
Several remedies to the problem of uneven energy distribution in the optical fiber configuration have been implemented. Known methods to more uniformly distribute the beam energy along the entire optical fiber profile include using beam homogenizers, aspheric lenses, or afocal doublets. The beam homogenizer folds back the side lobes of an incident laser beam onto the central portion of the beam to create a homogenized beam of more uniform intensity across its energy profile. One known method of homogenizing an energy beam is by using symmetrical mirror pairs located along the axis of the beam. The first set of mirrors separates the sides lobes of the beam from the center of the beam and the second set of mirrors folds the beam, imaging each side lobe to the opposite side of the central axis from where it originated. The resultant superimposed beam is more uniformly distributed across the profile than the original beam profile.
Other known methods of unifying the beam profile include the use of aspheric lenses. An aspheric plate, usually having a conic surface of revolution about the lens axis, deviates an incoming laser beam so the intensity of the beam becomes uniform across the beam profile. A second plate then deviates the waves to eliminate spherical aberration without modifying the uniformly distributed energy profile. The result is an unaberrated, substantially uniformly distributed laser energy profile to be coupled into the circular or hexagonal optical fiber configuration.
Afocal doublets are also employed in known methods of unifying the energy distribution of a laser beam. A doublet is a lens comprising closely spaced positive and negative elements. In the typical arrangement, the lenses are bent to introduce a large amount of spherical aberration. The laser beam is then passed through the first element, with the paraxial rays being essentially unaffected by the spherical aberration while the other rays will see a large amount of uncorrected spherical aberration. Thus, the paraxial rays will remain collimated in the space between the first and second elements while the peripheral rays seeing the spherical aberration will converge in the space between the lenses. By the time the rays meet the second lens, the peripheral rays have bunched together as they converge such that the energy at the periphery of the energy profile is increased. Meanwhile, the centrally located rays have remained collimated such that the energy at the central region of the energy profile is unchanged. The second element has an equal and opposite spherical aberration as the first element to recollimate the energy beam to result in a collimated and substantially uniformly distributed laser beam.
The above methods of alleviating the nonuniformity in the laser energy profile before coupling the laser beam into an optical fiber configuration require no fewer than four elements and also require custom design and custom manufacturing for the particular laser wavelength, energy level, and beam size used. Design and manufacturing costs can be prohibitively high despite the benefits of increased total power coupling capability when the above methods are used to unify the laser energy profile. Accordingly, a simplified coupling system is needed which creates a more uniform laser energy profile using standard optical components and equipment rather than custom components and equipment.
The further problem of manipulating the naturally rectangularly shaped laser energy beam into a circular or hexagonally shaped beam to accommodate the circular or hexagonal optical fiber configuration is not necessarily remedied by the above energy distribution methods. One known method of adjusting the shape of the laser beam to match the circular or hexagonal optical fiber configuration is to pass the naturally rectangular laser beam through a spatial filter prior to encountering the optical fiber ends. The spatial filter will round the laser beam by blocking the outer portions of the rectangular beam, unfortunately resulting in a significant amount of energy loss before the laser beam even encounters the optical fiber ends.
Accordingly, a coupling system is needed which efficiently matches the shape of the laser beam with the shape of the optical fiber configuration.


An apparatus (100) for obtaining an image of the eye, has an alignment section (160) for aligning the pupil of the eye along an optical axis and a pupil sensor (170) for identifying pupil location and dimensions. An illumination section (112) has a light source (114) for providing an illumination beam and a spatial light modulator (125) for positioning and shaping the illumination beam according to the sensed location and dimensions of the pupil. An illumination beam partitioning mechanism (50) segments the illumination beam directed toward the pupil of the eye into at least one light-bearing segment (150) and at least one blocked segment. An actuator (132) coupled to the illumination beam partitioning mechanism (50) scans the at least one light-bearing segment (150) of the illumination beam across the pupil of the eye. An image sensor (146), aligned along the optical axis, obtains reflected light from the eye.

Fundus camera imaging is acknowledged to be an important diagnostic tool for detection of various conditions affecting the eye, including diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. Various embodiments of fundus imaging apparatus are disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,047 (Kohayakawa); U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,116 (Zeimer); U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,266 (Ohtsuka); U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,680 (Nunokawa); U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,198 (Ohtsuka); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,636,696 (Saito).
While these patents attest to continuous improvements in fundus camera design, there are still significant hurdles to widespread acceptance and usability of these devices. Among disadvantages noted with current devices are high cost and complexity, difficulty of operation, large size, and image quality limitations. These disadvantages hinder the successful deployment of fundus cameras in primary care physician (PCP) offices or in medical test labs, where they could be used by a technician having relatively little training in device operation and imaging, to obtain images that can be assessed by specialists at some other location.
A further significant disadvantage of existing fundus imaging apparatus relates to the requirement for pupil dilation. For most patients, artificially induced enlargement of the pupil is necessary in order to allow sufficient light into the eye of the patient for fundus observation and image capture. At best, pupil dilation is uncomfortable and at least temporarily unsettling; at worst, dilation can even be dangerous for some individuals. A number of commercially available fundus imaging systems claim to be "non-mydriatic", that is, operable without pupil dilation. However, in practice, pupil dilation is still often required when using these apparatus.
The illumination optics subsystem of a conventional fundus imaging apparatus is designed in such a way that it requires pupil dilation for most patients. In order to provide a truly non-mydriatic fundus imaging system that renders pupil dilation unnecessary and that can be used by relatively untrained personnel, improved design of the illumination system would be required. However, the efforts of designers and manufacturers of these devices have been directed to providing more sophisticated imaging and assessment functions, many of which may actually require dilation in all cases. Thus, the limitations due to illumination subsystem design have been largely ignored and dilation is generally accepted as a requirement. For this reason, it can be seen that there is a need for an improved fundus imaging apparatus having an illumination system that allows fully non-mydriatic retinal imaging for a broad range of patients.

Fundus camera having scanned illumination and pupil tracking


A method of fabricating heterojunction devices, in which heterojunction devices are epitaxially formed on active area regions surrounded by field oxide regions and containing embedded semiconductor wells. The epitaxial growth of the heterojunction device layers may be selective or not and the epitaxial layer may be formed so as to contact individually each one of a plurality of heterojunction devices or contact a plurality of heterojunction devices in parallel. This method can be used to fabricate three-terminal devices and vertically stacked devices.

Several electronic, opto-electronic and photonic devices can benefit, in terms of higher performance and added functionality, from precisely engineered doping and heterojunction profiles, at least for the most critical active layers. Such precisely engineered layers cannot be made with the junction-formation methods used by conventional CMOS technology.
Conventional CMOS processing, which has been extended to the sub-100 nm technology generations, essentially relies on ion-implantation and rapid thermal annealing to make increasingly shallower and higher doped junctions.
Low temperature epitaxial growth (selective or non-selective), which can be achieved through many techniques such as Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), each with many sub-variants, is the only fabrication method capable of realizing the precise doping and heterojunction profiles needed by advanced devices.
SiGe (and SiGeC) BiCMOS has introduced the epitaxy of silicon-germanium (and silicon-germanium-carbon) films to the CMOS processing line. Even though SiGe BiCMOS is a monolithically integrated technology, the SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Devices (HBTs) require many additional masks and processing steps, which simultaneously increase the complexity and cost. On the other hand, HBTs are made on their own active areas, and are not tightly integrated with the CMOS devices. This is a critical point to enable new devices with pattern density similar to that of pure CMOS technology.
Co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/399,495 introduced a method of fabrication of photodiodes monolithically integrated with CMOS, which achieved the goal of a very tight integration of the devices comprising the epitaxial layer (part of the photo-diodes) with the CMOS devices. The method of fabrication disclosed in said co-pending application provides the guidelines for the insertion of epitaxial growth of device layers onto CMOS active areas, in a manner and at a point of the CMOS process flow, resulting in the following:                1. The insertion of the epitaxial growth step has minimal impact on the overall "Front End" and "Back End" standard process flow of CMOS devices, and on the operation of said CMOS devices.        2. The epitaxial layers suffer a minimal impact from the CMOS processing, because the epitaxial growth step is inserted after all high-temperature steps characteristic of CMOS "Front End" processing.
Co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/399,495 also mentions that the insertion point for the epitaxial growth process, being after all high temperature steps of the "Front End" processing of CMOS, is ideally suitable for the introduction of materials, other than SiGeC and related alloys, that have been demonstrated to be epitaxially compatible with silicon having the (100) or (111) crystallographic orientations. The list of materials includes (among many others) PbTe, ZnS, GaN, AlN, Al2O3, LaAlO3, Pr2O3, CeO2, CaF2, Sr2TiO4, etc.
Said co-pending patent application describes an exemplary implementation of the method of fabrication of devices on bulk silicon substrates. The present application provides more details about said method of fabrication and an explicit description of the implementation of said method of fabrication to thick-film silicon-on-insulator substrates.
The present application also discloses small variations and derivations of said method of fabrication to enable more types of devices comprising epitaxial layers, to be monolithically integrated with CMOS, for example, devices such as avalanche photo-diodes for light absorption, avalanche photo-diodes for light emission, vertically stacked multiple photo-diodes, Heterojunction Bipolar Devices and Photo-Heterojunction Bipolar Devices, Heterojunction Gunn Diodes, Heterojunction IMPATT Diodes, etc.
In the remainder of the present disclosure, "photo-diode" or "photo-diode layers" are used in a non-restrictive way, as to encompass avalanche photo-diodes that can absorb and/or emit light, and/or other optoelectronic/photonic epitaxial layers/devices that do not require avalanche processes for light absorption and emission. Similarly "pixel" and "pixel cells" should be construed to mean "cells" with one or more devices that can absorb and/or emit light. Such optoelectronic/photonic devices, made according to the method of fabrication of co-pending patent application Ser. No. 10/399,495, are described in Provisional Patent Application No. 60/591,658, filed on Jul. 28, 2004.

Method of fabricating heterojunction devices integrated with CMOS


Disclosed is an outside rear-view mirror for a truck or bus to the body of which a bar is mounted. A mirror housing is provided for holding a mirror glass which is mounted to the bar by two mounting devices. Each mounting device includes a profile formed from a base wall of the mirror housing proximate to one of the side walls of the mirror housing and an intermediate member to be inserted between the bar and a profile. Thereby, transfer of vibrations of the bar to the mirror glass is substantially reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention refers to an outside rear-view mirror for a vehicle, specifically for a truck or a bus, which has a mirror housing for holding a mirror glass. Usually, the mirror housing is mounted to a cranked bar which is fixed to the body of the car.
2. Description of related Art
German utility model specification G 87 16 105.2 (corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/279,811, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,619.) discloses an outside rear-view mirror for a truck or bus the mirror housing of which is mounted to a straight section of a bar by two straps and which may assume one of a plurality of angular positions about said straight section of the bar. Normally, the straight section of the bar extends substantially vertically when the bar is mounted foldably to the car body. Such type of mounting allows adapting the position of the mirror housing to different types of cars and to different mounting positions to the car body. Thereby, the central position of the mirror glass may be easily adjusted to the position of the driver of the car.
When running some types of cars conditions may arise which lead to vibrations of the bar. In the event the mirror housing of the known outside rear-view mirror is mounted to a section of the bar along which the vibrations are increased, such vibrations are transferred to the mirror glass without any damping to the effect that the driver will perceive only blurred pictures when viewing the mirror glass.


A method is provided for providing speaker management. The method may include initializing an information handling system (IHS) and initializing an external speaker coupled to the IHS. The external speaker may have a device identifier (ID) associated with it. Therefore, the method may also include receiving the device ID and filtering audio data sent to the external speaker. automatically loading an audio driver corresponding to the device ID. Using speaker compensation parameters associated with the audio driver, the method may include

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system (IHS). An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
In some IHSs, a speaker may be desired to output sound derived from audio data generated within an IHS. For example, a user may desire to listen to music, play a movie, play a game, or engage in any other activity that requires sound output. Thus, speakers for an IHS may be designed to convert digital data from the IHS into an acoustic form audible by a user.
Furthermore, certain challenges may exist in designing a speaker for use with an IHS such as accurately reproducing source audio in the speaker while balancing the speaker's cabinet (i.e., enclosure) size. In addition, certain inherent deficiencies in transducer design may create further hindrances. As such, speaker compensation techniques have been developed to address deficiencies in speaker performance by modifying or filtering the source audio data before it is reproduced and output by the speaker. Speaker compensation may be performed by dedicated hardware in the speaker or by software methods in an IHS. Dedicated hardware may increase the cost of speakers but may enable external or standalone speakers (i.e., not embedded in an IHS) to perform speaker compensation. Alternatively, software methods of performing speaker compensation in an IHS may provide cost savings. However, software methods may require the use of significant IHS resources such as the processor and/or memory.
In order to implement software methods for speaker compensation, knowledge of the speaker type, such as the model, performance capabilities, performance requirements, and any other information may be required to appropriately compensate for the desired speaker performance. For embedded speakers, gaining such knowledge may be straightforward since the speakers may be part of the IHS itself. For external speakers, however, certain difficulties may arise since the IHS may need to be aware of various different types of external speakers. For example, when an external speaker is coupled to an IHS, the IHS may need to locate an appropriate driver or any speaker compensation parameters unique to the external speaker in order to effectively filter audio data.
Current methods addressing these issues may include providing applications that enable a user to determine appropriate drivers and/or parameters associated with the external speaker. Consequently, these applications may require the user to have knowledge of the type of speaker being employed. Other methods may include storing various drivers and parameters in a storage device. These storage devices, however, may be separate from the IHS, thereby requiring an extra component and layer of communication in managing a speaker system with an IHS.
Thus, a need exists for methods and systems for a speaker management framework to automatically identify a speaker and provide speaker compensation.


A system and a method are disclosed for ray tracing in a pipeline of a graphic processing unit (GPU). It is determined whether a ray bounce of a first ray intersects a first primitive that is the closest primitive intersected by the ray bounce. The first ray is part of a first group of rays being processed by a first single-instruction-multiple-data (SIMD) process. The first ray is assigned by a sorting or binning unit to a second group of rays based on the intersection of the first primitive. The second group of rays is processed by a second SIMD process. The first ray is assigned to the second group of rays based on a material identification of the first primitive, an identification of the first primitive intersected by the ray bound of the first ray, a pixel location, and a bounce number of the ray bounce intersecting the first primitive.

Ray tracing is a technique for rendering objects for viewing as an image that is motivated by the way light works in nature. Ray-tracing helps make a rendered image more photo-realistic. Ray tracing may result in better rendering of shadows, specular highlights, reflections, penumbrae (soft shadows), global illumination, etc.
Based on the DirectX Ray Tracing standard and the Vulkan RT standard, rays are generated from a ray-generation shader. The generated rays invoke a "traceRay" construct that causes a GPU to traverse an acceleration structure to determine whether a ray intersects a primitive. Once an intersection with a primitive has been determined, an any-hit shader may be executed. The GPU determines the primitive that is the closest among all primitives that were determined to be intersected by the ray, and the properties of the closest primitive are used to affect the shading of a specific pixel. That is, the shading of the specific pixel may be determined by an appropriate closest-hit shader program that may be invoked based on the material property of the closest-hit primitive, as evaluated at the point of intersection of the ray to compute the color, which is then used to modify the shading at the specific pixel.
As per the DirectX Ray Tracing specification and the Vulkan RT specification, several rays may be packed into a warp (or wavefront), which is a unit of execution on a GPU shader core. As different rays potentially intersect different primitives with different material shaders, warps and wavefronts tend to exhibit branch divergence, i.e., not all threads execute the same portions of the code, leading to a possible poor utilization of the shader cores. That is, when only a portion of the rays in a warp, or wavefront, are actually executing and the rest remain idle, resources of a GPU are being consumed without actually producing any useful work.


A thermally tunable optoelectronic module includes a light emitting assembly operable to emit light of a particular wavelength or range of wavelengths. The light emitting assembly is disposed to a temperature-dependent wavelength shift. The thermally tunable optoelectronic module further includes an optical assembly aligned to the light emitting assembly, and separated from the light emitting assembly by an alignment distance. The thermally tunable optoelectronic module further includes a thermally tunable spacer disposed between the optical assembly and the light-emitting assembly, the thermally tunable spacer is operable to counteract the temperature-dependent wavelength shift.

An example of a typical light-emitting optoelectronic module may include a light-emitting assembly aligned with an optical assembly or series of optical assemblies. The light-emitting element may include a high-power laser diode or an array of high-power laser diodes operable to generate light of a particular wavelength or wavelengths. The optical assembly may include a refractive or diffractive lens, arrays or series of refractive and/or diffractive lenses, a microlens array or a series of microlens arrays operable to direct light of the particular wavelength or range of wavelengths. Together the light-emitting assembly and the optical assembly may be operable to generate (e.g., project) a light pattern of high-contrast features over a range of operating temperatures. During normal operation, the module's operating temperature may fluctuate, thereby causing the optical assembly and light-emitting assembly to become misaligned. Temperature fluctuations also may alter characteristics of the light-emitting assembly, such as the wavelength of light it generates. Both effects may strongly degrade optical performance during typical operation, therefore limiting the effectiveness or potential applications of such light-emitting optoelectronic modules to narrow operating temperatures.
For instance, a light-emitting optoelectronic module that includes a refractive lens with a focal length, and a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array with an emission plane may be susceptible to such degradation in optical performance during typical operation. In this instance, the refractive lens should be aligned to the VCSEL array when the focal length is incident on the emission plane. Hence, the refractive lens and the VCSEL array can be aligned and mounted to a spacer. The spacer may be composed of a material having a positive thermal expansion coefficient. Typically, during operation, the VCSEL array generates a sufficiently high level of heat so to cause the spacer to expand. The expansion can cause the refractive lens and VCSEL array to become misaligned (i.e., the focal length of the refractive lens is no longer incident on the emission plane of the VCSEL array) at some operating temperatures. In some instances, this misalignment significantly degrades the optical performance of the light-emitting optoelectronic module at some operating temperatures.
In another instance, a light-emitting optoelectronic module includes a diffractive lens, such as a Fresnel-like diffractive lens or other diffractive optical assembly, and a VCSEL array arranged to emit a particular wavelength. The diffractive lens is specifically designed for the specific wavelength emitted by the VCSEL array. However, during operation, the VCSEL array generates sufficiently high level of heat so to shift the light emitted by the VCSEL array to longer wavelengths (e.g., 0.3 nm K−1). In some cases, such VCSEL arrays heat up to 80 K or even 100 K above the temperature for which the light-emitting optoelectronic module specifically was designed, thereby causing significant shifts to longer wavelengths and a concurrent degradation in optical performance of the light-emitting optoelectronic module.
In some instances, a light-emitting optoelectronic module includes a microlens array and a VCSEL array. The optical performance of such light-emitting optoelectronic modules is strongly dependent on the alignment of the microlens array and the VCSEL array, as well as the wavelength of light emitted by the VCSEL array. However, as described above, significant fluctuations in operating temperature can cause the microlens array and the VCSEL array to become misaligned due to fluctuations in material dimensions, and further can cause a shift in wavelengths emitted by the VCSEL array.

Thermally tunable optoelectronic modules