An audio mixing device that can get simpler processing done safely without depending on the property of an input signal is provided. An audio mixing device includes: an analyzer circuit to receive and separate audio data into primary and secondary audio data and control data; decoder circuits for decoding the primary and supplementary audio data separated into primary and supplementary audio signals in multiple channels; a mixer circuit for generating an M-channel composite audio signal by adding the supplementary audio signals to the primary ones channel-by-channel and converting the M-channel composite audio signal into N-channel audio signals (where N<M) based on a mixing coefficient group set; and a decision circuit, which determines, by parameters included in the control data separated to indicate the existence or non-existence of supplementary audio, whether there is any supplementary audio, no matter whether the supplementary audio data has been separated or not, and chooses, based on the result, one of mixing coefficient groups stored in a coefficient memory circuit and sets it for the mixer circuit.

Recently, a content in which audio signals have been recorded in more than two channels has become more and more popular. For example, a movie content, in which audio signals have been recorded in six channels, is now available on a DVD.
Audio signals are usually supposed to be output through the same number of loudspeakers as their number of channels. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a set of loudspeakers 11 through 16, which are arranged so as to surround a listener 17 and output six-channel audio signals. Specifically, a left channel (L) loudspeaker 11, a center channel (C) loudspeaker 12, a right channel (R) loudspeaker 13, a left surround channel (LS) loudspeaker 14, a right surround channel (RS) loudspeaker 15 and a low frequency effect (LFE) channel loudspeaker 16 are illustrated in FIG. 1.
The frequency range of the audio signal output through the LFE channel loudspeaker 16 is one tenth or less of those of the audio signals output through the other loudspeakers. And the LFE audio signal is sometimes counted as a "0.1 channel" audio signal. That is why the loudspeaker system shown in FIG. 1 is often called a "5.1 channel surround loudspeaker system". In this description, however, the LFE audio signal is also counted as a one channel audio signal and the term "5.1 channel" will not be used herein.
When a content with six channel audio signals is broadcast as a TV program, the broadcaster sometimes converts the six channel audio signals into two channel audio signals before transmitting the program. This is done because the broadcaster wants that program to be viewed and listened to on an analog TV set with only two loudspeakers. Such processing for decreasing the number of channels of the audio signals is called "down mixing". A TV set with two loudspeakers can output audio through its two loudspeakers based on the two-channel audio signals received.
Meanwhile, there are audio devices with more than two loudspeakers. The larger the number of loudspeakers through which the audio can be output, the greater the degree of existence added to the video. That is why the audio is preferably output through as many loudspeakers as possible independently of each other. For that reason, it has become more and more commonplace that a device that has received two-channel audio signals performs pseudo surround processing for generating pseudo channel data in more than two channels according to its own output performance.
A normal down mixing method is represented by the following Equations (1) and (2):Ldm=KLL×Lm+KLC×Cm+KLR×Rm+KLLS×LSm+KLRS×RSm+KLLFE×LFEm  (1)Rdm=KRL×Lm×KRC×Cm+KRR×Rm+KRLS×LSm+KRRS×RSm+KRLFE×LFEm  (2)
In Equations (1) and (2), Ldm denotes a left output signal generated, Rdm denotes a right output signal generated, Cm, Lm and Rm denote the center, left and right signals of the original audio signals, LSm and RSm denote left surround and right surround signals of the original audio signals, and LFEm denotes the low frequency effect signal of the original audio signals. By these Equations (1) and (2), six-channel audio signals (i.e., M=6) are down-mixed into two-channel audio signals (i.e., N=2). On receiving the left and right output signals Ldm and Rdm, a TV set with two loudspeakers outputs these audio signals through the respective loudspeakers.
The coefficients by which Cm, Lm, Rm, LSm, RSm and LFEm are multiplied in Equations (1) and (2) are as follows. The coefficients (A1) are called "left mixing coefficients" and the coefficients (A2) are called "right mixing coefficients".
(A1): KLL=1.0, KLC=0.707, KLR=0.0, KLLS=−0.707, KLRS=−0.707, and KLLFE=0.0,                (A2): KRL=0.0, KRC=0.707, KRR=1.0, KRLS=0.707, KRRS=0.707, and KRLFE=0.0,
The mixing coefficients are set to be these values in order to obtain a pseudo surround channel signal and a pseudo center channel signal as represented by the following Equations (3) and (4):Rdm−Ldm=−Lm+Rm+1.414×(LSm+RSm)  (3)Rdm+Ldm=Lm+1.414×Cm+Rm  (4)
According to Equation (3), the device that has received the left and right output signals Ldm and Rdm can obtain a pseudo boosted surround channel signal (LSm+RSm) by subtracting Ldm from Rdm. On the other hand, according to Equation (4), the device that has received the left and right output signals Ldm and Rdm can obtain a pseudo boosted center channel signal (Cm) by adding Ldm to Rdm. That is to say, by making the simple calculations by these Equations (3) and (4), the device can generate a pseudo center channel signal and a pseudo surround channel signal based on the two-channel output signals Ldm and Rdm and can eventually reproduce audio in four channels in total.
Patent Documents Nos. 1 to 3 disclose a technique for changing the settings of coefficients (or parameters) to be used for a down-mixing audio mixing device to down-mix six-channel audio signals into two-channel audio signals.
On the other hand, Patent Document No. 4 discloses an audio mixing device that maintains a predetermined multi-channel mixing direction and signal energy. According to this document, multi-channel input signals are down-mixed into output signals in response to left and right channel mixing coefficients ml and mr generated so that the signal energy and predetermined direction of the input signal are substantially maintained in the output signal.    Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 6-165079    Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-241853    Patent Document No. 3: PCT International Application Japanese National Phase Publication No. 2001-518267    Patent Document No. 4: PCT International Application Japanese National Phase Publication No. 2005-523672


A method for fabricating a film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) includes depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate, providing a sacrificial layer on part of the dielectric layer; providing a bottom electrode on part of the sacrificial layer on part of the dielectric layer; providing a piezoelectric layer on the bottom electrode; patterning a top electrode on the piezoelectric layer; and removing the sacrificial layer. The substrate may have a cavity receiving the sacrificial layer. As a result, a cantilevered resonator having an air gap between the bottom electrode and the dielectric layer may be simply fabricated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a cantilevered type film bulk acoustic resonator and a film bulk acoustic resonator fabricated by the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As mobile communication devices, such as portable telephones, become increasingly prevalent, demand for compact, lightweight filters used in such devices is also rising. Film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs) can be used as such compact, lightweight filters. FBARs can be inexpensively mass-produced and can be implemented in a micro-structure. A FBAR has a multi-layer resonance section in which a bottom electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a top electrode are sequentially provided in this order. The FBAR uses a piezoelectric phenomenon, by which when electric energy is applied to the top and bottom electrodes, piezoelectric effect is produced and resonance results. In such a FBAR, separation between the substrate and the multi-layer resonance section is needed, so that acoustic waves generated from the piezoelectric layer are not affected by the substrate. In a Bragg reflector type FBAR, the separation is achieved using a reflection layer. In an air gap type FBAR, the separation is achieved using an air gap.
The Bragg reflector type FBAR shown in FIG. 1A is a FBAR adapted to generate resonance, in which the FBAR includes a reflection structure 11 deposited on a substrate 10 and a resonator on the reflection structure. The resonator includes a first electrode 12, a piezoelectric material 13 and a second electrode 14. The reflection structure 11 typically includes a plurality of dielectric layers alternating between low impedance and high impedance materials to insure efficient confinement of the acoustic energy in the resonator. Thus, such a Bragg reflector-based FBAR includes a reflection structure 11 having large acoustic impedance difference therebetween disposed in multiple layers on the substrate 10, which induce Bragg reflection to resonate due to acoustic waves between first and second electrodes 12 and 14. However, the precise thickness control of the layers of the reflection structure 11 for the total reflection in such a Bragg reflector type FBAR is not easy and increases the manufacturing cost.
An example of a bulk micro-machined air gap FBAR is shown in FIG. 1B. This membrane-based FBAR includes a silicon oxide layer (SiO2) deposited on a substrate 15 forming a membrane layer 16 on the reverse side of the substrate 15 through a cavity 15′ formed by isotropically etching the substrate 15. A resonator includes a first electrode 17 formed on the membrane layer 12, a piezoelectric layer 18 on the lower electrode 17, and an upper electrode layer 19 on the piezoelectric layer 18. However, the fabrication of the membrane is difficult and the devices are frequently damaged during the etching process of substrates thereof.
An example of a surface micro-machined air gap FBAR is shown in FIG. 1C. This surface micro-machined FBAR includes an air gap 25 formed through a sacrificial layer on a substrate 20 using micromachining technologies and has a membrane layer 21. A resonator is provided on top of the membrane layer 21. The resonator includes a first electrode 22, a piezoelectric substance 23, and an second electrode 24. The resonator is formed by providing a sacrificial layer on the substrate 20, fabricating a resonating multi-layer resonance section on the sacrificial layer, and then removing the sacrificial layer through a via hole. However, this fabrication process is complicated, and collapse and peeling off of the structure may result during the process.
An example of a cantilevered type FBAR is shown in FIG. 2. The cantilevered type FBAR includes an abutment 31 on a substrate 30 on which the resonator is formed. The resonator includes a first electrode 32, a piezoelectric material 33 and a second electrode 34. The cantilevered type FBAR may be fabricated by depositing a sacrificial layer, depositing a SiO2 layer to form the abutment 31, sequentially laminating the first electrode 32, the piezoelectric material 33 and the second electrode 34 on the abutment 31, and then etching the sacrificial layer. However, this fabrication process is complicated because the process includes laminating and patterning the SiO2 layer. Further, since the SiO2 layer is positioned under the first electrode 32 as the abutment 31, some acoustic wave energy generated in the piezoelectric layer 33 is absorbed by the SiO2, thereby lowering the quality factor Q (Q-value) of the FBAR.
Further, wire bonding must be used to connect the first and second electrodes 32, 34 in FIG. 2 with external terminals. It is difficult to precisely control the resistance of these connections. Also, the separate connection required for each FBAR do not facilitate using a plurality of FBARs to form a more complex structure, such as a filter.

Method for fabricating a film bulk acoustic resonator


A scannable-latch random access memory (SLRAM) is disclosed. The SLRAM includes two rows of memory cells. The SLRAM includes a functional data input, a scan data input, a first and second functional data outputs, a scan data output, and a scan enable. The functional data input is connected to a first memory cell in a first and second rows of memory cells. The scan data input is connected to the first memory cell in the first or second row of memory cells. The first and second functional data outputs are connected to a last memory cell in the first and second row of memory cells, respectively. The scan data output is connected to the last memory cell in the first or second row of memory cells. The scan enable allows data to be output from the scan data output or the first and second functional data outputs.

Programmable logic devices (PLD), which include application-specific integrated circuits and field-programmable gate arrays, are integrated circuits having programmable logic cores formed by uncommitted logic modules and routing interconnects that are able to implement a costumed logic design up to the logic capacity of the particular PLD. A PLD may include multiple random access memories (RAMs) that generally come in three different flavors, namely, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), and register files. Typically, DRAMs are employed when a larger amount of memory is needed, and register files are employed when only a small amount of memory is required. SRAMs are utilized when the required amount of memory falls somewhere in the middle of the above-mentioned two situations.
Both DRAMs and SRAMs tend to have very small physical size per bit, but require a larger amount of operational overhead that includes hardware components such as refresh circuits, sense amplifier circuits, etc. and software for performing memory tests. On the other hand, register files are usually D-register flip-flops located in a compact, pre-routed block. Thus, register files have a much smaller operational overhead than those of DRAMs and SRAMs, but the size per bit for register files is much greater than those of DRAMs and SRAMs.
The present disclosure relates to the provision of a new type of memory that fills the gap between register files and SRAMs when the memory requirement is too big for register files, but too small for SRAMs from a size and power perspective.

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


The present invention relates to a method of generating and processing spectral information arising from the laser induced fluorescence of tissue. The intensity of fluorescence is recorded as a function of both excitation and emission wavelengths and contour maps of tissue fluorescence are generated which are useful in the diagnosis of condition of the tissue under examination.

The present invention relates to a system and method for processing spectral information used to aid in the diagnosis of diseased tissue. More particularly, it relates to a method for collecting and displaying the excitation and emission spectra resulting from the laser-induced-fluorescence of tissue.
Methods utilizing the laser-induced-fluorescence ("LIF") of tissue have been developed which permit the characterization of the tissue being examined. This technique has traditionally employed the use of fluorescing agents or dyes which are introduced or applied to the tissue of interest which is then irradiated to induce fluorescence and produce a spectrum that can be used to distinguish diseased from normal tissue. The emission spectra obtained through these methods are normally plotted as intensity versus emission wavelength for a given excitation wavelength. These graphical displays can provide information regarding the diseased condition of tissue as specific peaks in the spectra of abnormal tissue appear which are not present in normal tissue.
Laser catheter systems have also been developed, often in conjunction with known techniques for using fluorescence to aid in diagnosis, for the purpose of inserting a light transmitting device into the human body where laser radiation can be directed onto tissue adjacent the distal end of the catheter to induce fluorescence. The light emitted by the tissue is transmitted along the catheter and analyzed at the proximal end thereof to produce an emission spectrum of the irradiated tissue.
The problem with these standard spectra is that they are highly dependent upon the excitation wavelength that is used such that a highly fragmented view of the spectral characteristics of the tissue is provided. Thus, a more complete method of generating diagnostic information utilizing LIF spectroscopy is needed that more fully characterizes the spectral features of tissue.


A molded plastic container and closure combination in which the closure is provided with a manually removable tear band between upper and lower locking structures. Once the tear band has been removed, it is possible to hinge the closure open while allowing it to remain attached to the container. Various features adding hoop strength and stacking strength are provided. A bail and bottom handle facilitate pouring from the container.

Molded plastic container and closure combinations, typically but not exclusively made of high density polyethylene, have become extremely popular for use in shipping, storing and marketing a variety of products from sealants and paints to food products in both individual consumer and bulk quantities. It is known to provide such container/closure combinations with tamper evident characteristics through one or more of an assortment of locking structures including those which are partially or fully disabled by way of tear strips or tear bands. The typical tear band closure is provided with at least one locking structure and a tear line which allows a portion of the outside peripheral skirt of the closure to be manually torn away to fully or partially remove or disable the locking structure. The removal of the tear band provides visual evidence that the closure has been manipulated for removal purposes. After the removal of the tear band, the closure may be completely detached from the container and either discarded or reused.
The term "locking" is used in this description to refer to inter-fitting plastic structures such as undercuts and flanges which mate to impede or resist the removal of the closure from the container; i.e. the term does not infer the need for keys or combinations or absolute security.


A clamp assembly for efficient mounting of wire bundles, hydraulic tubing and other extended service conduits is comprised of a unitary support plate having a triad of support clamp elements formed of strong, resilient metal or plastic with appropriately sized securable openings and means for attaching it to structure in confined or space critical areas or volumes.

This invention relates to clamps, and more particularly to clamps used for mounting wire harnesses, fluid tubing and wave guides (hereafter "service conduits") to supporting structure of aircraft, spacecraft, missiles or other creations where space and weight conservation and reliability maximization are prime concerns.
Spacecraft and aircraft require large numbers of wire bundles and operational tubing for proper operation of their internal systems. Support of the same always entails maximum security against shock and vibration at minimal costs of weight and volume throughout their structure. Conventional system design calls for a variety of secureable, flexible strap elements to be placed around the service conduit and bolted to structure at any convenient support member.
Typical of such conventional elements are those of Design Pat. No. 269,155 to W. T. Rose, U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,441 to A. W. Hackman or U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,113 to H. A. Dvoracheck for clamp means. All of these, and other devices in common use throughout the aerospace field, lack the features of compact design and space saving positive support provided by the within invention. Confined spaces in high performance fighter aircraft demand reliable, secure attachment of wire bundles and hydraulic lines with maximal utilization of limited volumes available. The within unit meets this demand by providing a highly reliable, single piece, triple support clamp with appropriate attachment provisions for securement of the clamp (and so, its conduits) to vehicle structure.
By supporting three service conduits with the unitary clamp, appreciable time and effort are conserved with mounting the single clamp to structure as opposed to the plurality required, one for each service conduit, in conventional systems. Design of the new service clamp is amenable to a variety of sizings and applications variants for different sized conduits while preserving the mounting provisions, (viz. nutplates or bolt holes in vehicle structure) and standardizing final assembly procedures. Accessibility to service conduits is much easier with the new clamp since operating volume space is minimized by the triangular array and access to any of the three service conduits can be achieved without disturbances to clamp mounting bolts or to other nearby conduits.
Discovery of this new clamp was made during research into high performance experimental fighter aircraft and it has been found to be a sound solution to the reliability and space/weight economics demanded by such vehicles.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a highly reliable, space saving service conduit clamp, useable in high vibration, high acceleration environments at economies in manufacture and installation efforts for aerospace vehicles or other confined installations.


Magnetic field sensing circuits including wire coils and Hall effect devices are provided which produce high-gain output for a relatively low change in perceived field intensity. Series connected plural Hall effect devices are connected to the coil and include amplifier and integrator circuits interposed at selected points between Hall effect devices to modify the output signal gain and passband. The circuits may include diode and capacitance elements to modify the circuit output signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to improved electrical circuits for detecting perceived changes in magnetic fields and which include one or more Hall effect devices in circuit with a magnetic coil.
2. Background
The above-referenced patent application, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a unique circuit wherein a magnetic coil and a Hall effect device are exposed to a magnetic field and are in circuit with each other to provide an amplified output signal. Such a device is advantageously used in detecting perceived changes in a magnetic field such as sensing cracks and other magnetic anomalies in structures. However, the combination of a magnetic coil, which is capable of generating an output current in response to a change in a magnetic field, in circuit with a Hall effect device, which is exposed to the same changing magnetic field, and further in combination with an integrating circuit is capable of being utilized in other applications wherein relatively low intensity magnetic fields are required to be sensed. For example, a circuit including multiple Hall effect devices with a magnetic coil and an integrator circuit provides a useful switch circuit thanks to the high amplification characteristics of the combination of the coil and the multiple Hall effect devices. The gain of such a circuit is particularly advantageous for applications such as in conjunction with proximity sensing devices and magnetic domain systems. Certain other applications which present problems for prior art magnetic field sensing circuits include fast and slow changing magnetic fields or changing magnetic fields imposed on substantially constant magnetic fields. These applications also find solutions by the use of certain ones of the circuits of the present invention.

Hall effect device and magnetic coil circuits for magnetic field detection


A method includes providing a semiconductor substrate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, forming at least one radio frequency device at the first side; thinning the semiconductor substrate from the second side; and processing the second side of the thinned semiconductor substrate to reduce leakage currents or to improve a radio frequency linearity of the at least one radio frequency device.

Radio frequency devices are for example used in communication circuits. Examples for radio frequency devices are transistor-based radio frequency switches, which in some implementations may be formed by coupling a plurality of transistors in series. Radio frequency, as used herein, may relate to frequencies above 100 kHz, in particular in the Megahertz range or Gigahertz range. For example, for the upcoming 5G (5th Generation) mobile communication standard frequencies of up to 300 GHz will be used.
For such radio frequency devices, specification requirements are becoming more and more strict. For example, a reduced insertion loss and an improved linearity may be required.

Methods and devices related to radio frequency devices

INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES DRESDEN GMBH & CO. KG


An alarm display system includes: an IC tag storing ID information for identifying components of a control device; an IC tag reading part capable of reading the ID information stored in the IC tag in a non-contact manner; a storage part storing alarm handling information in association with alarm information for identifying a type of an alarm and the component related to the alarm; a handling information extracting part extracting, when an alarm is generated, alarm handling information related to the component which is identified by the ID information from the alarm handling information corresponding to the alarm based on the alarm information and the ID information read by the IC tag reading part; and a handling information display part displaying the alarm handling information extracted by the handling information extracting part.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an alarm display system configured to display an alarm of a control device to control a robot or a numerically controlled machine tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
A control device for controlling a robot or a numerically controlled machine tool includes a variety of components, such as various units, a printed circuit board, a cable and others, depending on the specifications. An operator is required to know what types of components are used in the control device. For example, when the control device detects an abnormality and notifies an alarm, the operator needs to identify the cause of the abnormality and implement a necessary measure. A handling manual generally includes the contents of measures to be implemented for the related component, depending on the type of the alarm. The operator thus needs to know the types of components incorporated into the control device in order to implement the necessary measure in accordance with the handling manual.
An operator has hitherto visually checked the inside of a housing of a control device or the model numbers of the components after taking the components out of the control device. JP2004-201481A discloses a technique in which non-contact type IC tags are attached to the components of the control device and ID information of the components is read out by using a tag receiving means. A known technique using the non-contact type IC tags allows the ID information of the respective components to be acquired easily.
However, the handling manual also includes handling information related to components which are not incorporated in the control device. Therefore, according to the known technique disclosed in JP2004-201481A, it is necessary to search the necessary measures to be actually implemented from large amount of the handling information. This necessitates a considerable amount of time and intensive labor in order to complete the necessary measures in response to the alarm. Therefore, there is a need for an alarm display system which allows an operator to easily check the necessary handling information relating to an alarm in a short period of time in response to the alarm.

Alarm display system using non-contact type IC tag


The invention concerns a monoclonal antibody directed against mammalian aurora-A kinase, the method for obtaining same, as we ll as its uses in cancer diagnosis and prognosis, and in pharmaceutical compositions for cancer treatment.

A subject of the present invention is a monoclonal antibody directed against aurora-A kinase of mammals, method for its obtention, as well as its uses in the context of the diagnosis or prognosis of cancers, and in pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of cancers.
The aurora-A protein kinase is an oncogene, its overexpression in Rat-1 cells is sufficient to cause the appearance of a transformed phenotype and the implantation of these transformed cells into immunodeficient mice causes tumours to appear. (Bischoff et al., 1998; Zhou et al., 1998). The gene coding for this kinase is localized on the chromosome 20 at 20q13, amplicon frequently detected in numerous tumours (breast, colon, stomach cancers).
The overexpression of the aurora-A protein kinase has been observed in numerous tumours. Interestingly, the presence of this kinase in an abnormal quantity is not correlated to a proliferation detected by staining with a specific proliferation marker such as PCNA. Aurora-A is therefore a specific marker of the tumoral aspect of the cells (Tanaka et al., 1999; Takahashi et al., 2000).
Aurora-A belongs to a multigenic family of protein kinases called aurora, it comprises three members: aurora-A (described previously) aurora-B (Prigent et al., 1999) and aurora-C (Bernard et al., 1998). Although only aurora-A has a real oncogenic power the two other kinases have also been found overexpressed in the same tumours (Giet and Prigent, 1999).
The amplification of the gene coding for aurora-A is associated with the presence of an abnormally high activity of the protein kinase in these tumours. Moreover the ectopic overexpression of this kinase in cells in culture is sufficient to cause a transformed phenotype to appear, these cells transplanted into immunodeficient mice cause tumours to appear.
The overexpression of aurora-A kinase is very closely linked to the cancerous state of a cell. This overexpression of aurora-A kinase induces a polyploidy of the cells and causes an amplification of the centrosomes, two events which precede a poor prognosis for breast cancer for example.
It is therefore important to be able to precisely measure the expression of this kinase in cancerous pathologies, both at the level of the mRNA and the protein.
Now, the measurement of the expression of the aurora-A protein kinase depends entirely on the use of a good monoclonal antibody.
However, no sufficiently specific monoclonal antibody directed against the aurora-A protein kinase was able to be obtained until now, or is available commercially.

Anti-aurora-A monoclonal antibody, method for obtaining same and uses thereof for diagnosing and treating cancers

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique


A disk brake mechanism is described, comprising one of a pneumatic and electromechanical actuator having a brake piston, a brake application device for actuating the disk brake mechanism, and a fixed-type brake caliper attached to an axle, for moving a reaction-side brake lining against a brake disk during application. The mechanism also includes a pivoting lever of the brake application device, operatively connected to the brake piston for pressing an application-side brake lining during application, the pivoting lever being supported on one side on the brake caliper, and a supporting part forming, after a predefined stroke portion of an application stroke of the brake piston, an abutment for the pivoting lever between a pressure region of the application-side brake lining on the pivoting lever, and a support of the pivoting lever on the brake caliper.

The present invention relates to a pneumatically and/or electromechanically actuated disk brake for a utility vehicle having a brake application device.
Disk brakes of this type which are known as a fixed caliper brake use the reaction force principle in such a way that, as a result of elastic deformation of the brake caliper after pressing of the brake lining which is pressed against the brake disk by way of the brake application device, the opposite brake lining is pressed onto the brake disk.
In an exemplary embodiment, the brake caliper itself and/or a connecting flange, via which the brake caliper is connected fixedly to the axle part, can be elastically deformable.
The brake caliper is deformed to such an extent that an air play is overcome between the brake disk and the reaction-side brake lining.
In order to compensate for brake lining and/or brake disk wear, each brake lining is assigned an adjusting device which ensures that the air play remains constant between the respective brake lining and the brake disk.
However, it is disadvantageous in this case that nonuniform wear of the two brake linings occurs, which is disadvantageous, since, for example, the service life of the linings does not correspond to the desired length. Moreover, axial forces act on the wheel bearing, which likewise has the consequence of a limitation of the service life, with the resultant consequential costs with regard to necessary repairs.
The present invention is based on the development of a disk brake of the generic type in such a way that its operational reliability is improved and its service life is increased.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a supporting part is provided in the region of the pivoting lever, which supporting part is arranged and designed in such a way that, during a brake application movement of the pivoting lever, it forms an abutment for the pivoting lever after a predefined stroke of the brake piston between the pressure region of the brake lining on the pivoting lever and its support on the brake caliper.
The exemplary supporting part is preferably configured as a stop pin which is connected fixedly to the pivoting lever and, in the functional case, is supported on an axle part or on a part which is connected fixedly to the axle, for example on an inner projection of the brake caliper.
Unlike in conventional systems, where the action-side brake lining has to be pressed onto the stationary brake disk in order to generate the reaction force, the embodiments of the present invention achieve a situation where the brake caliper is already deformed elastically by the reaction-side brake lining being pulled in toward the brake disk, when the action-side brake lining is not yet in engagement with the brake disk.
According to embodiments of the invention, the two brake linings are loaded more uniformly as a result of them being used more synchronously as a result of this configuration in a further brake application. The effect of nonuniform wear is therefore reduced, with the result that the service life of the brake linings is increased.
There is provision according to one advantageous embodiment of the invention for the supporting part to be configured as a stop pin which extends in the brake application direction, and comes into contact with the part which is fixed to the axle and extends transversely with respect to said brake application direction.
In this embodiment, the length and the position on the pivoting lever are selected in such a way that the stop pin bears against the part which is fixed to the axle after half of the brake application path.
In addition to attaching the stop pin directly on the pivoting lever, it is also envisioned to connect the stop pin fixedly to the rigid axle part, with the result that the pivoting lever is supported on said stop pin during the brake application movement.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Pneumatically and/or electromechanically actuated disk brake for a utility vehicle

Knorr-Bremse Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH


ESD protection is provided by local ESD-protection devices between each pad and a common-discharge line (CDL). Each ESD-protection device has p-well or p-substrate taps to a local ground rather than to the CDL, reducing noise coupling from the I/O""s through the CDL. Another ESD clamp that bypasses the CDL is provided between each pair of internal power and ground buses. Better protection of core circuits during power-to-ground ESD events is provided by bypassing the CDL since only one ESD clamp rather than two ESD-protection devices must turn on. The ESD clamps and ESD-protection devices can be gate-coupled n-channel transistors with coupling capacitors between the pad and the transistor gate. Devices can also be substrate-triggered transistors or active ESD clamps that include an inverter between a coupling capacitor to the CDL and the n-channel transistor gate.

This Invention relates to electro-static-discharge (ESD) protection devices, and more particularly to ESD protection using a common-discharge line (CDL).
Mixed-signal integrated circuit (IC) chips often have multiple power and ground supply pins and internal busses. Basic ESD-protection devices and structures are normally placed on each input/output pin and provide protection for an ESD zap between the pin and one of the power/ground buses. Protection for zaps between the pin and the other ground and power buses is minimal. Pin-to-pin ESD protection can also be inadequate.
More recently, ESD protection structures or shorting devices have been added between each possible pair of the multiple power and ground buses. These devices extend ESD protection regardless to which ground or power supply the local pin""s ESD structure is attached to.
Another advance is an additional internal bus used for ESD protection. This internal bus is known as a common discharge line (CDL) and is not one of the power or ground buses. The CDL provides a low-impedance and symmetric path for ESD currents even when ESD pulses are applied across two I/O pins. However, buffer circuits in the core, such as large inverters with large widths and minimum layout rules between a power bus and a ground bus can be easily triggered on during a VCC-to-VSS zapping configuration, resulting in them carrying too much of the ESD current and being damaged.
Another problem with CDL schemes using grounded-gate NMOS protection devices (with both source and body tied together) is that noise from I/O devices can be coupled through the CDL to core circuits. Local p-well or p-substrate taps near the grounded-gate ESD-protection devices can couple current to the CDL and then to core circuits.
What is desired is an ESD-protection scheme that has the versatility of a CDL structure, yet provides better protection for power-to-ground ESD events. A more noise-isolating CDL scheme is desired.

Direct power-to-ground ESD protection with an electrostatic common-discharge line


A photographic support material includes a base paper and at least one polyolefin layer arranged on the base paper and containing titanium dioxide, and a methyl substituted chinacridone red pigment in the polyolefin which is a chinolino (2,3-b) acridine-7,14-dione-5,12-dihydro-3,10-dimethyl.

The present invention relates to a photographic support material which is coated with a water resistant, pigment containing polyolefin layer.
Water resistant, photographic support materials generally comprise a sized base paper preferably coated on both sides with water resistant polyolefin resin layers. More particularly, the polyolefin resin layers usually comprise polyethylene and are applied to the paper by extrusion coating (J. Appl. Photographic Engineering 5, 1979, pp. 110-117). One or more photographic layers are applied to one of the polyolefin resin layers (the front side layer) following pretreatment of the layer surface in order to improve adhesion. These photographic layers may be layers used for black and white as well as color photography, and other ancillary layers may also be included. The front side layer usually contains a light reflecting, white pigment, for example TiO.sub.2, BaSO.sub.4, ZnO and others, as well as colorants or colored pigments and other additives, such a dispersing agents, optical brighteners, release agents, slip additives, antioxidants, antistatic agents, etc.
The resin layer on the other side (the back side layer), i.e. the side of paper opposite to the light sensitive layers, is preferably non-pigmented. Yet it can contain pigments and other additives, which result from the use of coated paper as photographic support material, and which can fundamentally correspond to those in the front side layer.
Additional functional layers may be positioned between the front side layer and the actual photographic layers. These functional layers improve the adhesion of the photographic layers, for example, or may fulfill other functions contingent upon the use of the material.
The back side layer can also be coated with additional functional layers which, for example, improve the writing properties, conductivity, flatness or other properties of the support material.
As a rule the front side polyolefin layer comprises a low density polyolefin (e.g. LDPE), while the back side layer comprises predominantly a high density polyolefin (e.g. HDPE) (J. Appl. Photographic Engineering 7, 1981, p. 71).
The coating of photographic base papers with polyolefin in general is accomplished as a melt film coating using extrusion coating apparatus with a slot die. Auxiliary layers and additional functional layers may be applied by means of any known application procedures using separate coating steps or equipment as well as those which are "in line".
It is generally known that the design of photographic support materials in various aspects is determined by considerations of taste. This applies for example to the toning of the base paper and the front layer with small amounts of colorants or coloring pigments. The colorants or coloring pigments used for the materials must be compatible with the photographic emulsion and must not diffuse either from the polyolefin layer into the light sensitive photographic emulsion layer or from the polyolefin layer into the base paper. In addition, these materials should be light and heat resistant.
Blue pigments may be added to the polyolefin layer the latter of which contains TiO.sub.2, such as ultramarine blue (in a mixture with SiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and Na.sub.2 O), cobalt blue (cobalt oxide and aluminum hydroxide) and/or magenta pigments, such as cobalt phosphate oxides or colorants of the chinacridone type. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,298 describes a red pigment on a chinacridone base. A disadvantage of the latter pigment is that it has inadequate heat stability. At temperatures above 300.degree. C., thermal decomposition of the pigment takes place so that the decomposition products which are generated may cause formation of bubbles and lead to a so called "lacing effect" in the polyolefin layer during the extrusion coating process. Additionally, color alteration takes place.
Thus, the purpose of the present invention is to produce a photographic support material comprising a base paper and a polyolefin coating containing a white pigment and coloring pigments, and in which the pigmented polyolefin layer shows no color changes, and its surface is uniform and devoid of bubbles and holes, i.e. lacing effect.
This purpose is achieved in the present invention by a chinacridone base red pigment in the polyolefin layer which is a methyl substituted chinacridone, especially a chinolino (2,3-b) acridine-7, 14-dione-5,12-dihydro-3,10-dimethyl. Surprisingly, it has been found that pigment particles of a size >100 nm, a density of <1.4 g/cm.sup.3 and having a specific surface of <65 m.sup.2 /g (measured by the BET method) are particularly advantageous in realizing the purpose of the invention. The particles are preferably rod or plate shaped. The amount of red pigment preferred in the invention is between 0,001 and 0.01% by weight with reference to the polyolefin coating.
The polyolefin resin used for the polyolefin coating can be for example polyethylene, polypropylene or an olefin copolymer, either alone or in a mixture. However, polyethylene is preferred, which can be used in its higher density form (HDPE), lower density form (LDPE) or as a mixture of both forms. An ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer, the so called LLDPE, can also be used.
The polyolefin coating of the invention can contain up to 20% by weight of a white pigment. Titanium dioxide (rutile or anatase form) is preferred. A mixture of titanium dioxide with another white pigment or filler may also be used. Moreover, the coating may contain small amounts of other coloring pigments, colorants, optical brightening agents or other known additives.
The polyolefin coating can be applied to one or both sides of the base paper. The application is carried out by means of extrusion coating using a slot die and at a temperature range between 190.degree. and 360.degree. C.
The base paper which is to be coated with the polyolefin coating according to the invention can be any arbitrary photographic base paper which either is neutrally sized with alkylketene dimer, or which has a known acid sizing on the base from precipitated resin or fatty acid soaps. The base paper may be formed of cellulose fibers or of a mixture of cellulose fibers and synthetic fibers. It can have a basis weight of 60 to 300 g/m.sup.2 , preferably 70 to 200 g/m.sup.2, and in addition it can be surface sized.
It was quite unexpected that no disadvantages were noted using the above described red pigment regarding its heat stability during extrusion coating, as well as no "bleeding" of the pigment into the polyolefin layer, because chinacridone base pigments described in the state of the art always show these disadvantages.

Felix Schoeller jr. Papierfabrik GmbH & Co. KG


A method is disclosed for converting lignocellulosic materials contained in biomass and other feedstocks into a fuel gas. The method comprises maintaining, in a pressure vessel, at a temperature of 300.degree. C. to 450.degree. C. and a pressure of at least 100 atmospheres, lignocellulosic material and water, and amounts of alkali and reduced nickel catalysts sufficient to catalyze a reaction of the lignocellulosic material to produce a product gas composed primarily of methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

Thermochemical gasification of lignocellulosic materials (biomass feedstocks) has conventionally been limited to relatively "dry" feedstocks (i.e., under 50% moisture by weight). One reason for this constraint is the high latent heat of vaporization of water, which places limitations on gasification temperatures in high-temperature, short-residence time gasifiers. Direct combustion routes to recovering stored solar energy from biomass are similarly constrained, since the moisture content directly affects the net heating value of the biomass fuel.
Because of this practical limitation on moisture content, the range of feedstocks used for thermochemical processing has been narrow. Wood has been the primary feedstock, although various crop residues and by-products have been tried. While field drying is feasible in some instances, often these materials must be force-dried to some extent, which has the effect of reducing the net energy produced by the system.
Many otherwise promising biomass feedstocks have prohibitively high moisture contents. These include aquatic plants having moisture contents in excess of 90%, and many crop residues and tropical grasses having moisture contents as high as 75-85%. Some of these feedstocks are quite attractive as potential energy crops because they exhibit high growth rates, are relatively easy to harvest, or perform some beneficial ancillary function. For example, water hyacinths can be used to reduce the organic and heavy metal content of sewage water streams.
The high growth rate and availability of some of these high-moisture feedstocks make them potentially valuable additions to the resource base, provided that an efficient system for recovering their stored energy can be developed. The Department of Energy, recognizing the potential of these feedstocks, supports a program devoted to the development and study of herbaceous crops for production of biomass energy. The Department of Agriculture is also studying a number of plants which can be grown on marginal soils to produce chemicals and energy. Many of these materials are simply too wet to be used as a feedstock in conventional high-temperature thermochemical gasification systems. In addition, the ash contents of some high moisture feedstocks is quite significant and could pose problems in a high-temperature gasification system.
In addition to cultivated feedstock sources, a wide variety of food processing waste streams contain lignocellulosic materials which could be converted into fuel gas. Solid and liquid wastes, such as brewer's spent grain, tomato cannery wastes, potato peeling and processing wastes and grape pomace, are potential feedstocks if the high moisture content can be overcome.
Some of the feedstocks mentioned above have also been studied for possible biological conversion of the biomass to methane, such as by anaerobic digestion, which is an inherently high-moisture operation. Biogasification has some serious limitations, however. Compared to thermochemical gasification, the rate of conversion is orders of magnitude slower. The most direct process implication of this lower rate is the relatively large reactor volumes required to produce a given quantity of gas. The ultimate degree of conversion which can be obtained in biological systems is also limited, particularly in materials with high lignin contents. Finally, biological gasification systems are more susceptible to process upsets due to control system failure or the inadvertent introduction of poisons to the reactor.
Modell et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,446 shows a gasification process for converting liquid or solid organic material to gas. The patent, while claiming that catalysts are not required in the conversion, lists suitable catalysts as including nickel, molybdenum, cobalt, their oxides and sulfides, and noble metal catalysts such as platinum, palladium or the like or mixtures thereof either unsupported or supported on a base such as silica, alumina mixtures thereof or the like. Although Modell et al. mention that any organic solid material, including garbage, paper, sawdust, etc. can be converted using process parameters similar to those in the present application, the test results shown in the patent and elsewhere in the open literature show that a suitable catalyst was never identified for these feedstocks. There is no indication that Modell et al. ever experimented with combining catalysts to increase the conversion rate. In addition, there is no indication that Modell et al. appreciated the effects of alkali as a catalyst for the reaction or understood the importance of reduced nickel metal as opposed to the metal oxides and noble metals claimed as catalysts in the patent. Since Modell et al observed no catalytic activity in their system, this fact led them to believe that the conversation could be performed in the presence or absence of a catalyst.

Method for the catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic materials


An optical element driving device is provided with at least one optical element, a moving member, a fixed member, a first actuator, a first detection element, a second actuator, and a second detection element. The first actuator has a first coil and a first magnet. The first detection element is substantially aligned in a first direction relative to the first coil to detect the position of the moving member in the first direction. The second actuator has a second coil and a second magnet. The second detection element is substantially aligned in the first direction relative to the second coil to detect the position of the moving member in a second direction. The optical element, the first actuator, and the second actuator are substantially aligned in the first direction.

1. Technical Field
The technology disclosed herein relates to an optical element driving device and an imaging device.
2. Background Information
Imaging devices that are known today include digital still cameras and digital video cameras. Most of these types of imaging device are equipped with an image blur correction mechanism. An image blur correction mechanism reduces blurring of the image caused by moving the imaging device when an image is being captured. For example, an image blur correction mechanism has a drive device for driving a correcting lens of an imaging optical system. This drive device drives the correcting lens in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis so that blurring of the optical image caused by moving the imaging device is reduced. An image blur correction mechanism, in which an imaging element is driven rather than a correcting lens, is also known.

Optical element driving device and imaging device


A system and method of starting or restarting an engine on a locomotive having at least one of another engine, a fuel cell system and an energy storage system. The method is applicable to large systems such as trucks, ships, cranes and locomotives utilizing diesel engines, gas turbine engines, other types of internal combustion engines, fuel cells or combinations of these that require substantial power and low emissions utilizing multiple power plant combinations. The method is directed, in part, at a flexible control strategy for a multi-engine systems based on a common DC bus electrical architecture so that prime power sources need not be synchronized.

Railroads are under increasing pressure to reduce emissions and to increase fuel efficiency. One of several responses to these forces has been the development of hybrid locomotives. Donnelly has disclosed the use of a battery-dominant hybrid locomotive in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,639 which is incorporated herein by reference. Hybrid locomotives can reduce emissions and fuel consumption in rail operations such as yard switching but they are less effective for medium haul freight or commuter trains.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/200,88 filed Aug. 19, 2005 entitled "Locomotive Power Train Architecture", Donnelly et al. have further disclosed a general electrical architecture for locomotives based on plurality of power sources, fuel and drive train combinations. The power sources may be any combination of engines, fuel cells, energy storage and regenerative braking. This application is also incorporated herein by reference.
Multi-engine locomotives are not new and a number of configurations have been built over the years. Examples are the Baldwin locomotives built in the 1940s and, more recently, a dual engine locomotive built by the French Railway Company, VFLI. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/201,267 filed Aug. 9, 2005 entitled "Multiple Engine Locomotive Configuration", Donnelly et al. have disclosed a means of packaging engine modules on a multi-engine locomotive that optimizes the power density of the locomotive power plants while reducing emissions and fuel consumption.
Commonly, a single engine diesel-electric or diesel-hydraulic locomotive utilizes a small battery system to start its diesel engine. In a multi-engine locomotive, one or more engines may be turned off while other engines (or an energy storage system or a fuel cell power supply for example) power the locomotive. In such a multi-power source locomotive, engines may be turned on and off more frequently. Thus, there remains a need for a means of starting engines from the other power sources without the need for a separate starter motor for each engine, especially since starter motors can be a high maintenance item to service or replace.


An adjustable tray table assembly for a vehicle seat including a bi-fold tray table, an adjustment assembly for adjusting the tray table in the fore/aft and lateral directions, a support arm for supporting the tray table and slidably receiving the adjustment assembly, and an attachment arm interconnected with the support arm for attaching the tray table assembly to the vehicle seat. The adjustment assembly includes a guide bracket that slides both within an elongated opening of the support arm and along at least one guide attached to the tray table to provide the adjustability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a passenger vehicle tray table, and more specifically, to an adjustable bi-fold tray table for a passenger seat that is selectively movable in the fore, aft and lateral directions for maximum adjustability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Passengers seats, such as those found on an aircraft, typically include a seat frame securely mounted to the vehicle floor, a passenger supporting portion including a seat back and a seat bottom mounted to the frame, and a pair of armrests positioned about the sides of the seat bottom. While several functions of the armrests are to provide passenger comfort and define the living space of the seat, the armrests commonly function as mounting surfaces for seat controls, media controls, headphone jacks, attendant calling controls, as well as defining storage compartments and beverage holders.
Vehicle passenger seats are typically arranged in rows of predetermined numbers of seats to accommodate a predetermined number of passengers. Groups of rows of seats may be separated into "classes" of seats, such as "first class," "business class," and "coach class" seating, for example. First class seats typically provide the greatest amount of living space, seat comfort and seat adjustability. Rows of coach seats are typically positioned in close enough proximity that the tray table for a passenger in a coach seat is mounted to the back of the seat immediately in front of the passenger. In arrangements in which the coach seat is in the first row of seats, the tray table is typically stowed alongside the seat frame and swung into position as needed. In the case of a tray table attached to a seat back, the tray table includes a single tray mounted to a pair hinges that allow the tray table to be moved between a stowed position flush against the seat back and a working position. Once in the working position, the tray table is not capable of being moved in the lateral or "cross-craft" direction and remains laterally fixed between the hinges. First class and business class seats, because of the larger amount of living space and greater distance between rows, typically locate their tray tables within an end-bay defined within an armrest of the seat.
Conventional tray tables stowed within the end-bay are typically attached to the seat through a complex hinge adapted to allow the tray table to rotate, pivot and fold flat across the lap of the passenger. To access the tray table from the end-bay, the passenger typically rotates opens a portion of the armrest and withdraws the tray table by rotating it outwards about 180 degrees. The tray table is then folded flat in front of the passenger to provide a generally flat working surface. The packaging restraints of the end-bay limit the dimensions of the tray table, thus a fully withdrawn and positioned tray table has a length insufficient to bridge the gap between the armrests of a large seat, such as a first class seat. Since the tray table is only supported at its hinge end, the tray table is unstable and can suffer from an undesirable "diving board" effect.
Accordingly, what is desired is a tray table capable of bridging the gap between the armrests of its attached seat, while having a design that allows the tray table to be folded and stored when not in use, such as within an end-bay of the seat. Still further, what is desired is a tray table that provides a passenger the maximum amount of adjustability of the tray table when positioned to provide maximum support and comfort.


A key blank comprises a shaft and a head connected to the shaft, the shaft including first and second surface that are oppositely facing, wherein the surfaces are configured to include combination elements to operate a lock and a pair of coaxial operating elements, wherein one element of the pair is operative from the first surface of the shaft and the other element of the pair is operative from the second surface of the shaft, and wherein at least one of the operative elements is a resilient element mounted inside a bore provided in the shaft, wherein the resilient element is operative to exert a compressive force on a pin mechanism of the lock in response to the operative engagement and thereby release the pin mechanism from a lock position, without requiring any pressure on the coaxial element on the other side.

Generally a key for a cylinder lock comprises an elongated shaft that has a combination portion operative to engage one or more pin mechanisms within a plug of the cylinder. The pin mechanisms in the lock typically serve to obstruct rotation of the plug when locked. The combination portion on the shaft includes varying cuts and/or indentations, in a unique combination that matches corresponding pins in the matching cylinder lock. When a matching key is inserted inside a keyway of a plug of the cylinder lock, a shear line of the plug is freed so that the key may be turned to lock or unlock the cylinder lock. By providing different combinations of key features, key manufacturers are capable of supplying many different locks and matching keys that are uniquely associated and therefore not interchangeable, thus preventing opening a lock with a key that is not originally designed for the same lock. More recently, the option of adding resilient protrusions with pre-defined heights to the combination portion of keys and corresponding pins to the cylinder lock has been provided.
Israel Patent Publication No. IL137053 entitled "Locking System" assigned to Asher Haviv, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a key blank including a first and second push-pin positioned on opposite surfaces of a key shaft and equally offset from a centerline of the combination surface. The push pins are under pressure from within the key shaft to extend outwardly from their respective surfaces. The push-pins can be pushed into a keyway of a lock with applied force and are operable to displace at least one lock pin that extends into a rotatable plug of the lock and to release the shear line of the plug so that the plug can be rotated. When the key is inserted into the lock, the push-pins are pushed into the key so that the key can pass into the keyway.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0236223 entitled "Key Combination element in Key Blank and Key", the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a resilient element disposed through a bore in a shaft of a key blank so that it protrudes from both surfaces of the shaft. In operation, when inserted into a keyway of a lock, one protruding end of the element applies an urging force to unlock a lock combination element in response to the other end being pushed inward by a wall in the keyway.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,308 entitled "Locking Apparatus", the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a key blank including a movable pin element retained within a shaft of the key blank. The movable pin element is operable to be displaceable in a single direction, outwardly from the key combination surface. When inserted into a corresponding lock, a spring loaded pin housed within a plug of the lock urges the movable pin element on the key shaft into operative engagement with a another a pin assembly on an opposite side of the shaft so that shear line of the plug is released and the plug is allowed to rotate.
International Patent Application Publication No. WO/0057006 entitled "Key blank and resiliently protruding pins", the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a key blank with at least one resiliently protruding pin element on a shaft of the key that partially protrudes from a surface of the shaft while no external forces are applied on the protruding pin and retracts inwardly into a cavity in response to an external force exerted on it. In operation, the resiliently protruding pin actuates an internal mechanism provided within a lock.
United Kingdom Patent Application No. 2,161,204 entitled "A key for a lock", the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a pair of aligned moving bodies positioned in opposite edges of a shaft of a key. A dedicated spring acts on each of the moving bodies to cause a head of the body to protrude beyond the shaft. The key is used with a lock provided with locking pins that are driven by the moving bodies into an unlock position.


An electrostatic micro-motor apparatus capable of transmitting a driving force of an electrostatic micro-motor comprises a rotor which has the shape of a gear substantially. A plurality of electrodes are disposed at a predetermined circumferential region around the rotor so as to confront the teeth of the rotor, and such that a circumferential gap is defined at the remaining circumferential region around the rotor. A transmission gear is provided in the circumferential gap so as to be brought into engagement with the rotor.

The present invention relates to an electrostatic micro-motor apparatus capable of transmitting the driving force of an electrostatic micro-motor acting as a driving source of a micro-machine, which is produced by methods of producing semiconductors, e.g. etching, lithography, etc.
An electrostatic micro-motor apparatus is described in, for example, a paper entitled "IC-Processed Micro-Motors: Design, Technology, and Testing" (Proceedings of IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems Workshop, Feb. 1989) by Tai et al. This known electrostatic micro-motor apparatus is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is produced by methods of producing semiconductors, for example, etching, lithography, etc. As shown in FIG. 1, the known electrostatic micro-motor apparatus includes a support shaft 1, a rotor 2 formed with four cruciform projections having a maximum diameter of 120 .mu.m and 12 electrodes 3a-3l provided radially relative to a rotational axis of the rotor 2. Although not specifically shown, the electrodes 3a-3l are divided into three sets each having four of the electrodes 3a-3l and the three sets are connected in parallel such that a three-phase four-pole motor is obtained. More concretely, the first set includes the electrodes 3a, 3d, 3g and 3j and the second set includes the electrodes 3b, 3e, 3h and 3k, while the third set includes the electrodes 3c, 3f, 3i and 3l.
As shown in FIG. 2, the support shaft 1 is placed on a reference layer 4. The rotor 2 is supported between an upper flange 1a and a lower flange 1b so as to be prevented from coming into contact with the reference layer 4. The electrodes 3a-3l are so provided as to have a height substantially equal to that of the rotor 2. The rotor 2 has an inner peripheral contact portion 2a held in contact with the support shaft 1 and an outer peripheral portion 2b. The electrodes 3a-3l have inner peripheral portions 3a'-3l', respectively as shown in FIG. 1. The support shaft 1, the rotor 2, the electrodes 3a-3l and the reference layer 4 are made of polycrystalline silicon. A film of silicon nitride (Si.sub.3 N.sub.4) acting as a lubricating layer is coated on the inner peripheral portion 2a and the outer peripheral portion 2b of the rotor 2 and the inner peripheral portions 3a'- 3l' of the electrodes 3a-3l.
In the known electrostatic micro-motor apparatus of the above described arrangement, a voltage of about 60 to 400 V is sequentially applied to the three-phase four-pole electrodes 3a-3l through changeover of the phases. Thus, an electrostatic attractive force is exerted between end portions of the rotor 2 and the electrodes 3a-3l so as to rotate the rotor 2. For example, when the voltage is sequentially applied to the first set of the electrodes 3a, 3d, 3g and 3j, the second set of the electrodes 3b, 3e, 3h and 3k and the third set of the electrodes 3c, 3f, 3i and 3l, the rotor 2 is rotated in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 1.
However, in the known electrostatic micro-motor apparatus, it is possible to rotate the rotor 2 but it is impossible to take out its rotational driving force. Thus, since the known electrostatic micro-motor apparatus has such a construction as an electric motor for general purpose, in which a gear is mounted on a shaft afterwards, it is impossible to effectively apply semiconductor production methods to the known electrostatic micro-motor apparatus in order to mass produce compact and light electrostatic micro-motor apparatuses having high reliability. Therefore, the known electrostatic micro-motor apparatus has such a drawback that it is impossible to formulate a micro-machine employing the known electrostatic micro-motor as its driving source.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An apparatus (10) for use in inflating a vehicle occupant restraint (12) includes a pressure vessel (14) and a leakage detecting assembly (68). The pressure vessel (14) stores gas, and has a closure wall (40) which ruptures to release the gas from the pressure vessel (14) to inflate the vehicle occupant restraint (12). The closure wall (40) is movable under the influence of a change in the gas pressure within the pressure vessel (14). The leakage detecting assembly (68) senses movement of the closure wall (40) which occurs under the influence of a change in the gas pressure that is caused by leakage from the pressure vessel (14). The leakage detecting assembly (68) generates an electrical signal in response to such movement of the closure wall (40). The leakage detecting assembly (68) does not generate the electrical signal in response to movement of the closure wall (40) which occurs under the influence of a change in the gas pressure that is caused by a change in the ambient temperature of the pressure vessel (14).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for inflating a vehicle occupant restraint such as an air bag. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus including a pressure vessel which contains gas for inflating an air bag, and an assembly for detecting leakage of the gas from the pressure vessel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,121 discloses an apparatus including a pressure vessel which contains gas for inflating an air bag in a vehicle. The apparatus also includes a pressure sensing assembly which senses the gas pressure within the pressure vessel. The pressure sensing assembly includes an electrically conductive diaphragm which is supported within the pressure vessel. The pressure sensing assembly has a conducting mode in which the gas pressure within the pressure vessel holds the diaphragm in contact with an electrical contact member. The diaphragm thus completes an electrical circuit between a power source and the electrical contact member when the pressure sensing assembly is in the conducting mode. When the gas pressure within the pressure vessel falls below a predetermined level which is required to inflate the air bag, the gas pressure is no longer sufficient to hold the diaphragm in contact with the electrical contact member. The diaphragm then moves out of contact with the electrical contact member, and the pressure sensing assembly is thus shifted into a non-conducting mode. A switching assembly senses shifting of the pressure sensing assembly into the non-conducting mode, and responds by actuating a lamp on the vehicle instrument panel to indicate to a vehicle occupant that the gas pressure has fallen below the level required to inflate the air bag.


A device controls in real time the assembly of data for a bit map scanning device, such as a laser printer, under supervisory control of a host processor. The image data words are stored in a source memory and assembled in a video buffer, and automatically scanned out to the scanning device. The host processor generates a simplified set of control words that defines graphics, text and layout of the page to be assembled. A raster interface synchronizes the output of the assembled data with the scanning device. Three basic modes are supported: (1) dispatch mode, (2) font read/write mode, and (3) graphics load mode. The dispatch mode is the normal operational mode which provides for dispatching data from a source memory location to the video memory and for supplying data from the video memory out to the raster printer. The font read/write mode gives the host the ability to read/write font or graphics data from/to the source memory or the video memory. The graphics load mode provides for transfer of a bit mapped window data to the video memory from the processor. The video memory can be divided into two bands.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides an apparatus for assembling data for bit map scanning devices, such as laser printers or other scanning devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Bit map scanning devices, such as laser printers, process data defining a two-dimensional element-byelement map of an image, such as for printing or displaying. Typically, scanning devices of this kind employ a raster scanning format, in which images are defined by a plurality of lines of picture elements, scanned one line at a time. The data must be assembled and supplied to the raster scanning device according to this line-by-line format.
The data to be assembled by a scanning printer controller is stored in words in a variety of locations, such as font libraries, or system memory storing graphics. This data must be assembled in a bit map on bit boundaries in a buffer, known as a video buffer, prior to supply to the scanning device. This assembled data then must be serialized and outputted in time with the raster scanner.
In the prior art, the process of assembling the data from a variety of storage devices into a video buffer, and then serializing the data in the video buffer for output to the scanning device, has required substantial programming and hardware resources. Conventional controllers for this data assembly are implemented using general purpose microprocessors with discrete logic providing supplemental functions. Modern laser printers may have a resolution on the order of 400 pixels per inch and may involve several planes of bit maps for color coding. In such a system, a typed A4 size page requires as much as 1.8 megabytes of data to be arranged per bit map plane for each page to be printed. The programming and hardware burden increases the cost of controllers for laser printers and the like, especially for systems assembling large amounts of data.
Accordingly, there is a need for high speed, low cost solutions for assembling data for scanning devices. The solution should support a variety of fonts, and text mixed with graphics on one page, such as may be supplied from a variety of storage devices in the system. Also, the management of a video buffer should be removed from the host processor in order to simplify the scanning device interface from the programmer's viewpoint. Finally, it is desirable that such a data assembling device support "texturing" of fonts or graphics in the output page.

Apparatus for assembling data for supply to a scanning output device


In example implementations, a method executed by a processor is provided. The method determines an amount of video information that is lost in a video frame due to compression. A drift correction is applied to the video frame to add back a percentage of the amount of video information that is lost. The video frame is encoded with the drift correction.

Video compression is used to reduce the size of video files, which allows video files to be processed, stored and transmitted more efficiently. Video compression takes advantage of predictive coding to remove redundant video frames without noticeably affecting the quality of video.
A variety of different video compression techniques and standards exist. Some video compression techniques and standards are applied to different types of frames of the video file (e.g., I frames, P frames and B frames) by analyzing macroblocks within the frame of video.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A floatable ground effect vehicle is provided with at least one wing arrangement, at least one thrust generator (10) seated in front of the wing arrangement and at least one airflow duct (14) from the thrust generator (10) which can be directed under the wing arrangement. So that the ground effect vehicle can also be designed for a larger number of passengers, the central region of the vehicle is designed as an elongated cabin (2) which is seated on a boat-type float or is itself design as the boat hull. Stub wings (3) arranged on both sides and distributed at equal distances are provided over the length of the passenger cabin (2), the stub wings enclosing a static pressure build-up space on their lower surface. At least one separate thrust generator (10) is installed in front of at least some stub wings (3), the thrust generator being connected or connectable to the respective static pressure build-up space by means of an airflow duct (14).

In ground effect vehicles, the air flowing into the hollow space under the wing arrangement during flight near a ground or water surface generates a buildup of static pressure which acts like an air cushion on which the vehicle can slide. The resistance to movement can be substantially reduced by this means. The vehicle is trimmed to an appropriate height above the water or ground surface and is automatically established in flight altitude by the interaction of the elevator and the engine power installed. Because of the low resistance, the vehicle requires only small propulsion powers.
In a known ground effect vehicle (EP 0 170 46), the wing arrangement is designed as a supporting body on whose upper surface is located a passenger cabin. This known ground effect vehicle is only designed for a small number of passengers or for small loads.


A method of manufacturing toner is provided. The method includes preparing a first liquid by dissolving or dispersing toner components in an organic solvent, preparing a second liquid by emulsifying the first liquid in an aqueous medium, and evaporating the organic solvent from the second liquid. The toner components include a colorant, a release agent, and one or both of a binder resin and a precursor thereof. The evaporating includes flowing down the second liquid as a liquid film in substantially a vertical direction along an inner wall surface of a pipe that is depressurized, heating the liquid film at a temperature not higher than a glass transition temperature of the binder resin, and supplying the pipe with a depressurized water vapor from a supply opening disposed on an upper part of the pipe.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing toner for use in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as copier, laser printers, and facsimile machines.
2. Description of Related Art
To meet increasing demand for higher image quality, electrophotographic toners have been developed to have a narrower size distribution and a spherical shape. Because spherical toner particles with a narrow size distribution each behave in the same manner when developing an electrostatic image, the resulting toner image has high microdot reproducibility. In particular, spherical toner particles having a narrow size distribution and a small particle diameter are difficult to reliably remove with a blade member when they are undesirably remaining on an image bearing member.
By contrast, irregular-shaped toner particles, generally having low fluidity, are easy to remove with a blade member. However, because such irregular-shaped toner particles behave unstably when developing an electrostatic image, the resulting toner image has low micro-dot reproducibility. Because irregular-shaped toner particles are transferred onto a transfer medium at a low filling rate, the resulting toner layer on the transfer medium has a low thermal conductivity. Such a toner layer having a low thermal conductivity cannot be fixed on the transfer medium at low temperatures, especially when fixing pressure is relatively small.
JP-H09-15903-A discloses a method of manufacturing toner including steps of mixing a binder resin and a colorant in a water-immiscible solvent, dispersing the resulting composition in an aqueous medium in the presence of a dispersion stabilizer, removing the solvent from the resulting suspension by applying heat and/or reducing pressure to form irregularities on the surfaces of the resulting particles, and spheroidizing or deforming the particles by applying heat. The resulting toner particles may have unstable chargeability because their shapes are irregular.
JP-2005-49858-A discloses a method of manufacturing toner including steps of dispersing a solvent dispersion comprising a resin and/or a precursor thereof and a filler in an aqueous medium to prepare a W/O dispersion, and removing the solvent from the W/O dispersion to prepare resin particles. The W/O dispersion includes oil droplets, each of which includes an accumulation layer of the filler. The resulting toner particles may be easily removable with a blade member (hereinafter "cleanability") because they have irregular shapes due to the presence of the accumulation layer of the filler on their surface. However, such toner particles may not be fixed on a recoding medium at low temperatures due to the presence of the accumulation layer of the filler on their surface.
JP-2005-10723-A discloses a method of manufacturing toner including steps of dispersing an organic solvent solution or dispersion of toner components in an aqueous medium, introducing the resulting emulsion to a continuous vacuum defoaming device, and removing the organic solvent from the emulsion by applying shearing force. The resulting toner particles may be easily removable with a blade member, and may cause neither toner scattering in text images nor deterioration of line image reproducibility. However, in order to obtain spherical toner particles having a small particle diameter and a narrow particle diameter distribution, this method may be required to further improve the efficiency of organic solvent removal.
JP-H11-133665-A discloses a method of manufacturing toner including steps of dissolving binder resins comprising a urethane-modified polyester (i) and an unmodified polyester (ii) in a solvent, and dispersing the resulting solution in an aqueous medium. JP-H11-149180-A discloses a method of manufacturing toner including steps of elongating and/or cross-linking a polyester prepolymer (A1) having an isocyanate group with an amine (B) in an aqueous medium to obtain a resin (i). The resulting toner includes the resin (i) and another resin (ii) inactive with either (A1) or (B) as binder resins.
JP-2000-292981-A discloses a method of manufacturing toner in an aqueous medium. The resulting toner includes a high-molecular-weight resin (A) and a low-molecular-weight resin (B).
Each of the publications JP-H11-133665-A, JP-H11-149180-A, and JP-2000-292981-A describes that the resulting toner has a good combination of heat-resistant storage stability, low-temperature fixability, hot offset resistance, and image gloss.
JP-2002-55484-A discloses a method including subjecting a polymerizable monomer composition including a polymerizable monomer and a colorant to a polymerization in an aqueous medium to produce colored polymer particles, washing the colored polymer particles, removing water therefrom to obtain toner particles, containing the toner particles in a container that can be depressurized or heated, and subjecting the toner particles to a depressurizing-heating treatment by supplying saturated water vapor, superheated water vapor, or high-humidity air to the container so that unreacted polymerizable monomers are removed.
JP-2001-92180-A discloses a method including subjecting a polymerizable monomer composition including a polymerizable monomer and a colorant to a polymerization in an aqueous medium in the presence of a polymerization initiator, and introducing the air or an inert gas into a distillation apparatus so that unreacted polymerizable monomers are removed.
JP-2006-208624-A discloses a method including dispersing a polymerizable monomer composition including a polymerizable monomer in a dispersion medium, introducing a carrier gas to a polymer dispersion liquid obtained during the latter half or after the polymerization so that organic volatile components are removed from the polymer dispersion liquid.
However, in order to industrially manufacture spherical toner particles having a small particle diameter and a narrow particle diameter distribution, the above methods may be required to further improve the efficiency of organic solvent removal.