A Motorcycle Suspension Method and Sway Dampening Apparatus. Rather than selectively replacing portions of the prior motorcycle dampening apparatus, the apparatus and method of the present invention replaces the conventional dampening bushing within the OEM pivot shaft assembly. The replacement combination motor mount and bushing provides at least the same durability and dampening capability the OEM device, while eliminating the “wobble” experienced by virtually all OEM motorcycles having the prior rear pivot mount design. The replacement mount and bushing element comprises at least two different plasticized materials combined into a single element. The combination mount and bushing is made partially from a softer, pliable dampening material, as well as a more durable and hard material. Installation of the combination mount and bushing element eliminates the need for an asymmetric pivot shaft orientation, since the central bore of this element is centered on the geometric axis of the element.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to motorcycles and, more specifically, to a Motorcycle Suspension Method and Sway Dampening Apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
The popularity of motorcycling continues to increase. Riders are attracted to the freedom of the open road, leaving behind the cares and worries of everyday life. Motorcycle manufacturers have seized upon the recent surge in popularity and have been selling motorcycles and accessories in record numbers.
However, statistics show that motorcycles are generally more dangerous than automobiles. For example, certain Harley-Davidson motorcycle models exhibit what is commonly referred to as a "high-speed wobble" (or "tank-slapper") which typically involves shaking or instability. Specifically, the front wheel can thrash from side to side, something motorcycle riders refer to as a "tank slapper" because the handlebars suddenly seem intent on battering the fuel tank into submission, causing the rider to lose control of the motorcycle.
Certain Harley-Davidson motorcycle models appear to be more prone to the problem than others. The "FLH" series of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, also frown as the Electra Glide, Road King and Ultra Classic, which are widely used by law enforcement officers nationwide have been documented as being prone to instability. "A Harley, when you get it to high speed, has what you call a high-speed wobble," Sgt. R. N. Stallings of the North Carolina Highway Patrol has been quoted as stating. In an otherwise glowing article in 1999, Motorcycle Consumer News described "an oscillation in the chassis that keeps the bike from feeling steady, both while cornering and at elevated speeds."
The parent invention, which is the subject of the Parent Application, went a long way in curing the high speed wobble that is well known to the riders of HD motorcycles. Because the parent invention does not stand on its own, but rather builds upon the existing OEM rubber mount, the Parent Invention has not been one hundred percent successful. In certain cases, after the retrofit of the OEM pivot mounting system with the asymmetric bushing of the parent invention, it was noted that certain ride characteristics were not fully resolved. What was needed was a device that completely replaces the OEM elements responsible for permitting the high-speed wobble.
Therefore, there remains a need to overcome the problem of instability in Harley Davidson motorcycles. The discussion of the background to the invention included herein is included to explain the context of the invention. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published, known, or part of the common general knowledge at the priority date of the claims.

Motorcycle suspension method and sway dampening apparatus


An electrostatic spray system, comprising a hand held device having an inlet and an outlet. The hand held device includes a charging device for producing a high voltage charging field and a spray nozzle having an outlet, the outlet being disposed within the charging field. The system further includes an air movement system disposed within the hand held device, the air movement system configured to produce an airflow around the spray nozzle and through the high voltage charging field to create a directionally controllable electrostatic charged mist existing the hand held device at low velocities.

Electrostatic sprayers are used to provide an electrical potential difference between charged fluid particles and a target device. However, existing systems require numerous components, contain complicated designs, and further, the velocity of the charged particles exiting these electrostatic sprayers is increased, thereby reducing the efficiency of such devices. This results in an overspray and/or charged particles passing the intended target ultimately requiring more fluid to spray the intended target.


A coated article with a substrate having a major surface that comprises a first portion and a second portion that is curved or faceted; and an optical coating on the major surface that forms an anti-reflective surface. A first direction is normal to the first portion and is not equal to a plurality of second directions that are normal to the second portion, and the angle between the first direction and each of the second directions is from about 10 degrees to 60 degrees. Further, the coated article exhibits at the first and second portion a hardness of about 8 GPa or greater at an indentation depth of about 100 nm or greater. Further, the coated article exhibits a single side maximum reflectance of about 3% or less as the first and second portion, wherein the reflectance is measured in a range from about 425 nm to about 950 nm.

Cover articles are often used to protect critical devices within electronic products, to provide a user interface for input and/or display, and/or many other functions. Such products include mobile devices, such as smart phones, mp3 players, and computer tablets. Cover articles also include architectural articles, transportation articles (e.g., articles used in automotive applications, trains, aircraft, sea craft, etc.), appliance articles, or any article that requires some transparency, scratch-resistance, abrasion resistance, or a combination thereof. These applications often demand scratch-resistance and strong optical performance characteristics, in terms of maximum light transmittance and minimum reflectance. Furthermore, some cover applications require that the color exhibited or perceived, in reflection and/or transmission, does not change appreciably as the viewing angle is changed. In display applications, this is because if the color in reflection or transmission changes with viewing angle to an appreciable degree, the user of the product will perceive a change in color or brightness of the display, which can diminish the perceived quality of the display. In other applications, changes in color may negatively impact the aesthetic requirements or other functional requirements.
The optical performance of cover articles can be improved by using various anti-reflective coatings; however, known anti-reflective coatings are susceptible to wear, abrasion and/or scratch damage. Such wear, abrasion and scratch damage can compromise any optical performance improvements achieved by the anti-reflective coating. For example, optical filters are often made from multilayer coatings having differing refractive indices and made from optically transparent dielectric material (e.g., oxides, nitrides, and fluorides). Most of the typical oxides used for such optical filters are wide band-gap materials, which do not have the requisite mechanical properties, such as hardness, for use in mobile devices, architectural articles, transportation articles or appliance articles. Nitrides and diamond-like coatings may exhibit high hardness values but such materials typically do not exhibit the transmittance needed for such applications.
Some electronics incorporate non-planar cover articles. For example, some smart phone touch screens may be non-planar, where at least a portion of the cover article is curved on its surface. Similarly, some smart watches may be non-planar, where at least a portion of the cover article is curved on its surface. With the incorporation of non-planar articles, optical performance of coatings on cover articles may be altered. For example, a coating will be viewed at two different angles on different portions of a substrate if the substrate includes one or more curved, faceted, or otherwise shaped, non-planar surfaces in addition to a planar surface portion.
Accordingly, there is a need for non-planar cover articles, and methods for their manufacture, which are abrasion resistant, scratch-resistant, and/or have improved optical performance. There is also a need for optical coating configurations with these properties that are suitable for non-planar cover articles and the various line-of-sight processes for forming such coatings.

Anti-reflection optical coatings having reduced thickness on curved or faceted portion


A technique for improving access times when accessing memory, such as when accessing data from cache. By a unique manipulation and usage of a specified memory address in combination with the cache's internal organization, the address range required by the requested data can be covered by one odd and one even segment of the cache, where the odd segment is always at the base address created by the summation of the source operands and set to the odd segment, and the even address is created by summation of the source operands plus an offset value equivalent to the size of the cache line. This structural regularity is used to efficiently generate both the even and odd addresses in parallel to retrieve the desired data.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to techniques for efficiently accessing memory, and in particular to improved techniques for efficiently accessing both aligned and unaligned data from such memory. Still more particularly, the present invention provides address and cache organization that increases the efficiency of handling unaligned data, while minimizing the physical resources needed to support it.
2. Description of Related Art
In some computer architectures, memory operand length can be defined as eight (8) bytes or less. An operand is considered aligned if it falls on an address with the least significant bit equal to a single "0" bit for a half-word (i.e. 2 bytes), the two least significant bits equal to double "00" bits for a word (4 bytes), or the three least significant bits equal to triple "000" bits for a double word (8 bytes). An operand is considered unaligned if it violates the definition of alignment. If all operands are aligned in an architecture, then only 8 bytes (the size of the cache line in such an architecture) would be required from the memory subsystem. For systems that support unaligned data, more than 8 bytes are necessary as retrieval of a single cache line will not satisfy the request. Often, unaligned data requires additional logic or circuit resources to efficiently support it.
Memory structures, like caches, provide discrete quantities of data when accessed, such discrete quantities of data sometimes being referred to as a cache line or cache block. Often, the amount of data that is provided is dictated by physical design constraints such as silicon area or wireability. The smaller the amount of data retrieved, the faster the access time for that data. Similarly, the simpler the access mechanism, the faster the access time can be. So, while complex algorithms for data retrieval are possible, they often preclude high frequency access to such data.
It would thus be desirable to provide a technique of address and cache organization that increases the efficiency of handling unaligned data, while minimizing the physical resources (transistors, wires, etc.) needed to support it.

Method and apparatus for efficiently accessing both aligned and unaligned data from a memory

International Business Machines Corporation


A display assembly for a retail product has a base and a platform adjustably mounted on an upper end of the base. The platform includes a lower housing which is pivotally supported in a cradle attached to the upper end of the base. The platform is pivotally mounted on the cradle by a pair of pivot pins, at least one of which is threaded to secure the platform in an adjusted titled position on the cradle. A plurality of notches are formed on the platform housing and selectively engage a detent formed on the cradle to retain the platform in an adjusted position. A sensor may be removably mounted on the platform and connected to the product and to the base by an expandable cord to actuate an alarm if the product is removed in an unauthorized manner from the sensor or base.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to display stands for merchandise and various retail products, and particularly to a display stand which has a supporting platform which is adjustable to various angles in order to display the product mounted on the platform in the most favorable angular position for viewing by a perspective customer. The invention also enables the retail product to be handled by a perspective customer in a convenient and secure manner.
2. Background Information
A great variety of display structures and stands for displaying retail products have been developed. Most of these display stands provide some means for securing the product to the display stand to prevent unauthorized removal and theft of the displayed product, yet which will enable a perspective customer to easily view the product, and for many products to be able to handle and inspect the product before purchase and without requiring a clerk to be in attendance.
Also for certain products, it is desirable to display the product at a particular angular orientation with respect to the support structure enabling the viewing customer to see the product in the best position to enhance the attractiveness of the product. Varying the viewing angle for different products has been found more desirable than mounting the product in a horizontal or vertical position as in previous product display stands.
In addition, there is a need to provide security against theft of the displayed product and a need to display the product in an orderly manner, in addition to a chosen angular position thereof. This becomes a problem when a potential customer picks up an item of merchandise from the stand, such as a cell phone, camera, etc. in order to review the product and then replace the product back on the support structure. This can result in the display item being relocated on the support structure in an unattractive viewing manner for subsequent customers.
Therefore, the need exists for an improved product display assembly which will enable the product to be displayed at various angular positions by adjustably mounting the product support platform on which the product is secured, which assembly preferably includes means to secure the display platform at the desired angle, which assembly is provided with a security device to prevent unauthorized removal of the product from the display stand yet permit the handling and inspection of the product by the customer, and which will properly orient the product to a desired orientation upon return of the product to the supporting platform of the display stand by the customer.

Adjustable display assembly for a retail product


An electron emission device includes a first substrate; a second substrate facing the first substrate and separated therefrom by a predetermined distance; cathode electrodes, each comprising first electrodes formed on the first substrate, and a plurality of second electrodes spaced apart from the first electrodes; electron emission regions formed on the plurality of second electrodes; resistance layers interconnecting the first electrodes and each of the plurality of second electrodes while surrounding the electron emission regions; an insulating layer positioned over the resistance layers and the cathode electrodes; and gate electrodes formed over the insulating layer.

Generally, electron emission devices are classified into those using hot cathodes as an electron emission source, and those using cold cathodes as the electron emission source. There are several types of cold cathode electron emission devices, including a field emitter array (FEA) type, a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) type, a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) type, and a surface conduction emitter (SCE) type.
The FEA type electron emission device is based on the principle that when a material having a low work function or a high aspect ratio is used as an electron emission source, electrons are easily emitted from the electron emission source when an electric field is applied thereto under the vacuum atmosphere. A sharp-pointed tip structure based on molybdenum Mo or silicon Si, or a carbonaceous material, such as carbon nanotube, graphite and diamond-like carbon, has been developed to be used as an electron emission region.
With the common FEA type electron emission device, cathode electrodes, an insulating layer, and gate electrodes are sequentially formed on a first substrate, and openings are formed at the gate electrodes and the insulating layer. Electron emission regions are formed over the cathode electrodes within the openings. Phosphor layers and an anode electrode are formed on a surface of a second substrate facing the first substrate.
In operation, when scan driving voltages are applied to any one of the cathode and the gate electrodes, and data driving voltages are applied to the other electrode, electric fields are formed around the electron emission regions at the pixels where the voltage difference between the two electrodes exceeds the threshold value. Electrons are emitted from those electron emission regions. The emitted electrons are attracted by the high voltage applied to the anode electrode (a positive voltage of several hundreds to several thousands volts), and collide against the corresponding phosphor layers, thereby light-emitting them.
However, with this type of electron emission device, when electrons are emitted from the electron emission regions, some electrons are non-straightly diffused even though most of the electrons straightly proceed toward the corresponding phosphor layers. The diffused electrons land on the black layers disposed between the phosphor layers, and do not serve to emit the visible rays. Furthermore, the diffused electrons land on incorrect color phosphor layers at the neighboring pixels, and light-emit them so that the image quality is deteriorated.
As the cathode and the gate electrodes have an internal resistance, they may induce voltage drop and signal distortion during the driving of the electron emission device. Particularly when the cathode electrodes are formed with a transparent oxide layer such as indium tin oxide (ITO), they involve higher resistance compared to the case where they are formed with a metallic conductive layer such as aluminum (Al) or silver (Ag).
When the voltage drop and the signal distortion are made, the electric fields applied to the electron emission regions are differentiated per the pixels even when the same driving voltage is applied to all the pixels. As a result, the electron emission uniformity per pixel is deteriorated, and in a serious case, a distinct luminance difference is observed along the length of the cathode or the gate electrodes.

Electron emission device and method for manufacturing the same


A portable electronic device includes a storing unit for storing different types of communication protocols, a priority order setting unit for setting a priority order for the different types of communication protocols stored in the storing unit, a selecting unit for selecting a predetermined communication protocol from the different types of communication protocols on the basis of the priority order set by the priority order setting unit, and a communicating unit for performing communication using the predetermined communication protocol selected by the selecting unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device such as an IC card having a function of supporting two or more communication protocols.
2. Description of the Related Art
An IC card is available as a conventional portable recording medium. This IC card comprises a ROM for storing control programs, a data memory for storing various types of data, a CPU for performing various control operations on the basis of the control programs stored in the ROM, and contacts brought into electrical contact with an external device to exchange data therewith. A communication protocol for performing data communication with the external device is stored in the ROM.
In recent years, IC cards are used in a variety of applications. The IC cards must exchange data with various external devices such as bank terminals and credit terminals at different positions. For this reason, a plurality of communication protocols are prepared in advance, and a desired communication protocol is appropriately selected. Demand has arisen for an IC card capable of accurately performing communication with external devices having different types of communication protocols.
In a system including this IC card and external devices, a desired communication protocol used at the time of data communication in the system must be selected and designated at the start time of the system. In any case, even a frequently used communication protocol cannot be used without performing predetermined procedures for designating the communication protocol.
As described above, in a conventional portable electronic device compatible with a plurality of protocols, a user must designate a communication protocol prior to data communication. Data communication cannot therefore be started at the start time of the system, resulting in inconvenience.

Portable electronic device supporting multi-protocols


The present invention relates to a method for producing a drug delivery system. The method comprises the steps of screen-printing a base paste, and curing the base paste. Furthermore, the method comprises the steps of screen-printing a first paste separate to the base paste, and curing the first paste.

A drug, or a pharmaceutical drug, is commonly used for diagnosing, curing, treating or preventing diseases. An active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) may be the part of any drug that produces its effects. Some drugs may have multiple APIs to treat different symptoms or act in different ways. Thus, one or more APIs may be delivered by a drug. The delivery of drugs, or drug delivery, may refer to the transportation of a pharmaceutical compound into the body of a patient as needed to safely achieve its desired (therapeutic) effect. The delivery or administration of a drug into the body of a patient may be performed in various ways. The routes of administration include, among others, the intravenous (into the blood compartment through the puncture of a vein) and oral route (through the mouth of the patient, e.g. to enter via the oral mucosa or pass on into the gastrointestinal tract to reach the blood compartment via the gastric or intestinal mucosa). Drugs can further be administered by inhalation, by injection into tissues (e.g., subcutaneous, intramuscular) or by topical application (e.g., creams for use on the skin). Drugs can be provided in different dosage forms. The dosage forms may comprise, among others, pills, tablets, capsules, solutions, dispersions, emulsions, implants.
A tablet may be a pharmaceutical dosage form. A tablet may be a solid unit dosage form of a pharmaceutical drug comprising an API, with or without suitable excipients. Tablets may be produced either by molding or by compression. Upon manufacturing of a tablet, the main guideline is commonly to ensure that the appropriate amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient(s) is in each tablet. Therefore, all ingredients should be well mixed. Thereby, a homogeneous mixture of the ingredients is obtained. A particular amount of the mixture may then be compressed in order to obtain a tablet. Thus, the API is typically homogeneously distributed throughout the tablet, or parts of it.
Upon application of a tablet, for example upon oral administration, the tablet may dissolve and thereby the API may be released. It then passes the intestinal mucous membrane to reach the blood compartment and finally the tissue of action. With the commonly produced drug delivery systems, the concentration of the API within the blood compartment is typically such that, for a particular period of time only, it is above the efficacy threshold of the given API. During this period, the release of the API out of the drug delivery system into the gastrointestinal tract is however typically much higher than actually required, whereby the excess amount of the API may (i) not pass the membrane in sufficient amounts and be picked up by the body and, thus, may be excreted of (ii) may reach the blood compartment/the tissue to result in toxic effects.
According to the respective background of the drug application, or the particular therapeutic program, it may be desirable to have a particular release profile of the API. It may, for example, be desirable to release the API at the constant rate over a prolonged period of time. In other scenarios, it may be desirable to provide for a particularly slow release of an API to a body, with a release rate slightly above the efficacy threshold of the API, wherein the rate of release may be approximately independent of time. In further scenarios, it may be desirable to release the API at particular intervals, for example intermittently over time. In further scenarios, it may be desirable to release several APIs one after the other, or simultaneously at individual release rates, with API-specific release profiles.
Release of APIs out of common tablets, which are characterized by a homogeneous distribution of the APIs due to the requirements and limits of the conventional manufacturing technologies, is mainly driven by the size of the disintegrating tablet, in particular, the surface that is exposed to the surrounding fluid. As such it is predefined by the form and size of the tablet and fixed, with for example a high release at the beginning and lowering over time. The resulting blood/tissue concentrations of the API may thereby well exceed the respective efficacy threshold, in order to obtain a desired period of concentration above said threshold.
Such a release profile is particularly disadvantageous for APIs with a narrow therapeutic window (that is little difference between therapeutic and toxic dose). APIs with a narrow therapeutic index (NTI) include aminoglycosides, ciclosporin, carbamazepine, digoxin, digitoxin, flecainide, lithium, phenytoin, phenobarbital, rifampicin, theophylline, warfarin.
Reference U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,480 describes a drug delivery system for releasing an active pharmaceutical ingredient at a controlled rate for a prolonged period of time. The drug delivery system thereby comprises a solid inner matrix material having solid particles of the drug distributed therethrough, and an outer polymeric membrane, which is permeable and insoluble in body fluids and which surrounds the inner matrix. The outer polymeric membrane thereby continuously meters the flow of drug from the inner matrix material to the exterior of the system at a controlled and constant rate over a prolonged period of time. However, the drug delivery system according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,480 does not allow for more elaborate release profiles. Further, the administration of an insoluble polymeric membrane to the body of a patient may be disadvantageous.
Reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,530 A relates to a drug delivery system, wherein a first water permeable capsule half is filled with a drug and an osmotic agent. Reference US 2010/0068271 A1 relates to osmotic delivery systems employed in tablets, being divisible into two useable half-strength tablets. The release by means of osmotic effects is dependent, among others, on the environment of the drug delivery system in the patient, making a precise drug release at a desired target challenging. Thus, it is difficult to achieve a controlled and precise drug release with such systems. Furthermore, such systems do not allow for more elaborate release profiles.
Reference WO 1993/007861 A1 relates to drug delivery systems involving microcapsules or microspheres. Thereby multi-phase microspheres are described to include a molecular compound contained within a fixed oil within a polymeric matrix.
The molecular compound may first have to traverse a water-oil barrier, and the polymer barrier of the polymer matrix, before it can diffuse out of the microsphere. Thereby, a constant and fixed rate of delivery of a molecular compound can provided without sacrificing high drug loading efficiency in the microsphere. However, this prior art system does not allow for more elaborate release profiles.
Reference WO 1999/008662 A1 relates to a drug delivery system suitable for oral administration that facilitates a two-step release of an active agent. A drug delivery system disclosed therein comprises a first drug compartment, a first polymer compartment substantially enveloping the first drug compartment, a second drug compartment enveloping the first polymer compartment, and a second polymer compartment enveloping the second drug compartment. The second polymer compartment, which may be of one or more water insoluble polymers, controls the release of an active agent from the second drug compartment. However, this prior art system does not allow for more elaborate release profiles.
The present invention aims at overcoming the disadvantages outlined above. Thus, one problem underlying the present invention is to provide a method for producing a more efficient drug delivery system which can advantageously provide for a controlled administration of one or more active pharmaceutical ingredients to a body, with an application-tailored, therapy-tailored and/or API-specific release profile. A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a drug delivery system which allows for a controlled administration of several APIs to a body, such that the APIs are released relative to each other in a defined manner, preferably with desired API-specific release profiles. A general object of the invention can be formulated as to provide an improved technique for producing a drug delivery system, which allows for producing advanced drug delivery systems with high quality and in great quantities. The advanced drug delivery system may thereby optimize pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
These and other objects, which are apparent for the person skilled in the art from the following description, are solved by a method for producing a drug delivery system, a drug delivery system, and by systems for producing a drug delivery system.

Method for producing a drug delivery system


A physiological monitoring device controls an optical signal acquisition system within a number of discrete operating states, each providing values for controllable parameters such as illumination intensity for a light source and the gain for an optical detector. Using this technique, a small number of operating states may be defined, such as operating states that are known to work well within expected use scenarios. This approach advantageously facilitates optimal or near optimal operation across a range of most likely use cases while avoiding complex or continuous optimization problems. The list of operating states may further be prioritized so that a best operating state can be selected based on, e.g., signal quality or environmental conditions.

Techniques such as photoplethysmography can provide useful physiological signals for evaluating workout intensity, recovery, sleep quality and so forth. However, the control parameters for an optical instrumentation system, such as illumination intensity and detector gain, can present complex optimization challenges for a physiological monitor. There remains a need for improved techniques to control the operating parameters of a physiological signal acquisition system.

Variable brightness and gain for optimizing signal acquisition


An apparatus and method for demosaicing colors in an image sensor can accurately locate edge directionality by detecting a successive 1-line edge precisely. The embodiments may include an image sensor containing information on a color signal detected from each pixel, a first line memory receiving and storing output data from the image sensor, a missing green information extractor extracting missing green pixel information from the data of the first line memory, a delayer receiving the data of the first line memory, the delayer delaying the received data for a prescribed duration, the delayer outputting the delayed data, a second line memory temporarily storing the data outputted from the missing green information extractor and the data provided via the delayer, and a missing red/blue information outputter extracting missing red/blue information from the data of the second line memory.

An image capture device capable of capturing a digital image such as a digital camera, a cellular phone, and the like includes an image sensor. The image sensor includes a 2-dimensional array sensor. Each sensor is located at 'pixel position'. Each sensor detects intensity of one color of light. In general, there may be a green sensor, a red sensor and a blue sensor.
Various kinds of pixel array types adopted by CCD or CMOS image sensors exist. Yet, due to the facilitation of pixel design, excellent color reproducibility and process yield, most of the image sensors adopt the Bayer pattern shown in FIG. 1. According to a method of visualizing colors and images, red and blue may be sub-sampled for sampling of green by an image sensor. An uppermost row of a sensor includes alternating green and red pixels. A row next to the uppermost row includes green and blue pixels. The order of the sensors is generated row by row vertically below in an image sensor.
The, the number of green pixels G is greater than that of red or blue pixels R or B. The number of the green pixels G is equal to a sum of the numbers of red and blue pixels R and B. Thus, the number of the green pixels G is relatively greater than that of the red or blue pixels R or B. This is because a green color is closest to a luminance component and because a human eye reacts to the green color most sensitively.
Therefore, the image sensor shown in FIG. 1 has more green sensors than red or blue sensors. This can be called 'red and blue sub-sampling'. One color sample value is taken from each pixel position on an image sensor only. For instance, each color sample value may have an 8-bit value for example.
Generally, an image has one pixel constructed with red, green and blue. Yet, referring to FIG. 1, the Bayer pattern has one pixel constructed with one color such as red, green and blue. In order to reconstruct a full image, color information missed from each pixel should be interpolated using neighbor pixels.
Many efforts are ongoing to be made to interpolate the missed color information accurately. Yet, if incorrect neighbor pixel information in a high-frequency area of an image is used, an artificial video of an image is displayed.
To solve this problem, there are studied techniques described in Color Demosaicing Using Variance Of Color Correlation, Effective Color Interpolation in CCD Color Filter Arrays Using Signal Correlation, etc. Regarding these techniques, edge sensing reduces incorrect pixel information but enables more precise pixel information to be acquired. Therefore, interpolation (demosaicing) is performed by acquiring precise pixel information through edge sensing.
A Hamilton edge classifier may be used for the edge sensing, which is represented as Formula 1. An image sensor includes a 2-dimensional array of color sensors for rows and columns. Each of the color sensors is located at one pixel position and then detects one color. In this example, each of the color sensors generates an 8-bit color subpixel value.
The indication 'Gij' is used to indicate a color subpixel value. A front capital letter indicates a detected color. If this letter is 'R', a detected color is red. If this letter is 'G', a detected color is green. If this letter is 'B', a detected color is blue. A notation by two numerals 'ij' follows the front letter. In this notation, a first numeral 'i' indicates a row of a subpixel value and a second numeral T indicates a column off the subpixel value.ΔHi,j=|Gi,j−1−Gi,j+1|+|2Ri,j−Ri,j−2−Ri,j+2|ΔVi,j=|Gi,j−1−Gi,j+1|+|2Ri,j−Ri−2,j−Ri+2,j|  [Formula 1]
In Formula 1, if a current position of a pixel for finding missed color information from an image is (i, j), a missed green value can be found according to Formula 2 by finding horizontal and vertical gradients and then determining whether an edge component in a horizontal direction or an edge component in a vertical direction is dominant.
                                          g                          i              ,              j                                =                                                                      G                                      i                    ,                                          j                      -                      1                                                                      +                                  G                                      i                    ,                                          j                      +                      1                                                                                2                        +                                          (                                                      2                                                                                R                                              i                        ,                        j                                                                              -                                      R                                          i                      ,                                              j                        -                        2                                                                              -                                      R                                          i                      ,                                              j                        +                        2                                                                                )                            4                                                                                if                                                                          Δ                                                                                H                              i                ,                j                                              <                      Δ                                                                                V                              i                ,                j                                                                                g                          i              ,              j                                =                                                                      G                                                            i                      -                      1                                        ,                    j                                                  +                                  G                                                            i                      +                      1                                        ,                    j                                                              2                        +                                          (                                                      2                                                                                R                                              i                        ,                        j                                                                              -                                      R                                                                  i                        -                        2                                            ,                      j                                                        -                                      R                                                                  i                        +                        2                                            ,                      j                                                                      )                            4                                                                                if                                                                          Δ                                                                                H                              i                ,                j                                              >                      Δ                                                                                V                              i                ,                j                                                                                g                          i              ,              j                                =                                                                                G                                                                              i                            -                            1                                                    ,                          j                                                                    +                                              G                                                                              i                            +                            1                                                    ,                          j                                                                    +                                                                                G                                                  i                          ,                                                      j                            -                            1                                                                                +                                              G                                                  i                          ,                                                      j                            +                            1                                                                                4                        +                                                                                (                                                                                4                                                                                R                                                                      i                                    ,                                    j                                                                                -                                                                                R                                                                                i                                  -                                  2                                                                ,                                j                                                                                -                                                          R                                                                                i                                  +                                  2                                                                ,                                j                                                                                +                                                                                R                                                      i                            ,                                                          j                              -                              2                                                                                -                                                  R                                                      i                            ,                                                          j                              +                              2                                                                                )                                                                                4                                                                                if                                                                          Δ                                                                                H                              i                ,                j                                              =                      Δ                                                                                V                              i                ,                j                                                                        [                  Formula                                                              2                ]
Even if Formula 1 and Formula 2 are used, if a successive 1-line narrow edge exists, Formula 1 is insufficient to perfectly discriminate accurate directionality of an edge. Hence, error of demosaicing occurs.
For this, an edge-sensing scheme in a 9×9 kernel using color correlation is introduced in Color Demosaicing Using Variance Of Color Correlation. Although 'Effective Color Interpolation in CCD Color Filter Arrays Using Signal Correlation' introduces a scheme of supplementing the above-described Hamilton edge-classifier, if a successive 1-line narrow edge exists, there still exists an incorrect edge sensing.

Apparatus for demosaicing colors and method thereof


It is an object of the present invention to improve reliability of defect management. By providing a plurality of management data areas each including a defect management area typically in a lead-in zone of a disc inner-side region enclosed by a circumference having a predetermined radius on a disc-shaped recording medium, reliability of the defect management can be obtained. In addition, by placing a plurality of the defect management areas (information areas Info1 and Info2) at locations, which are separated from each other in the radial direction of the disc-shaped recording medium, sandwiching a recording/reproduction condition adjustment area OPC having a relatively large size, the reliability of the defect management areas can be further improved. Furthermore, by providing each of the defect management areas with a plurality of recording areas, which include a currently used recording area for recording defect management information and spare recording areas each usable as a substitute for the currently used recording area, the currently used recording area can be replaced with one of the spare recording areas in accordance with an update count of the currently used recording area or error status of this currently used recording area.

As a technology for recording and reproducing digital data onto and from recording media, there has been provided a data-recording technology to be applied to optical discs used as the recording media. The optical discs to which the data-recording technology is applied include magneto optical discs. Examples of the optical disc are a CD (Compact Disc), an MD (Mini-Disc), and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). An optical disc is a generic name of recording media to which a laser beam is radiated to get reflected light in order to read out a signal representing changes in reflected beam. The optical disc is a disc-shaped recording medium made of a metallic thin plate protected by a plastic enclosure.
Optical discs are classified into two categories, namely, a reproduction-only type and a recordable type, which allows user data to be recorded on the disc. Examples of the optical disc pertaining to the reproduction-only category include a CD, a CD-ROM, and a DVD-ROM, which are already known. On the other hand, examples of the optical disc pertaining to the recordable category include those known as an MD, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-R, a DVD-RW, a DVD+RW, and a DVD-RAM. User data can be recorded onto an optical disc pertaining to the recordable category by adoption of recording techniques such as a magneto-optical recording method, a phase-change recording method, and a pigment-film-change recording method. The pigment-film-change recording method is also referred to as a write-once recording method, which allows data to be recorded only once and allows no overwriting of new data on already recorded data. The pigment-film-change recording method is suitable for an application to preserve data and the like. On the other hand, the magneto-optical recording method and the phase-change recording method allow new data to be written over already recorded data and are thus adopted in a variety of applications to record a variety of contents such as musical data, video data, game software, and application programs.
In addition, a high-density optical disc known as a DVR (Data & Video Recording) has been developed in recent years to drastically increase the storage capacity.
In order to record data onto an optical disc pertaining to the recordable category by adoption of recording techniques such as the magneto-optical recording method, the phase-change recording method, and the pigment-film-change recording method, it is necessary to provide a guiding means for carrying out tracking along a data track on the disc. For this reason, a groove is formed on the optical disc as a pre-groove. A groove or a land is then used as the data track. A land is a member resulting on the optical disc as an area sandwiched by two adjacent grooves. A land has a cross section with a shape resembling a plateau.
In addition, in order to be able to record data at any desired location on a data track, the address of each location on the data track needs to be embedded in the track. Such addresses are typically embedded in the data track by wobbling the groove serving as the track.
That is to say, a track used for storing data is formed in advance on the disc as a pre-groove with its side walls having wobbled faces to represent addresses.
By forming such a groove on the disc in advance, an address can be fetched from wobbling information conveyed by a reflected beam so that, even the address is not recorded on the track as pit data or the like, for example, data can be recorded and reproduced at a desired location on the track.
Thus, by adding address information embedded in a wobbling groove as described above, for example, it is no longer necessary to provide discrete address areas on the track as areas for recording address information as pit data so that the capacity of recording actual data can be increased by the sizes of the address areas, which become available for storing actual data.
It is to be noted that absolute time (address) information expressed by such a wobbling shape of a groove is referred to as an ATIP (Absolute Time In Pregroove) or an ADIP (Address In Pregroove).
By the way, management of defects on the optical disc is executed. This management is referred to simply as defect management.
The defect management is management for cataloging the address of each defect area. If spare recording areas are provided on the optical disc to each serve as a substitute for a defect area, the defect management is also management for managing addresses of the spare recording areas. A defect area is an area that data can no longer be recorded onto and reproduced from due to an injury or an other defect existing therein. The defect management is an important technique for preventing a failure from occurring in the system due to such an injury or a defect.
In the defect management, addresses of defect areas that data can no longer be recorded onto and reproduced from and addresses of spare recording areas are cataloged on a defect list. Thus, the defect list is a list used for cataloging information of importance to the defect management.
A high-density disc such as a DVR developed in recent years has a cover layer (a substrate) having a thickness of 0.1 mm in the dick thickness direction in its physical structure. In such a structure, phase-change marks are recorded and reproduced under a condition set by combining the so-called blue laser and an objective lens with an NA of 0.85. The blue laser is a laser beam having a wavelength of 405 nm. An optical disc with a diameter of 12 cm allows data of the amount of about 23.3 GB (gigabytes) to be recorded onto and reproduced from the disc provided that the data is recorded as phase-change marks on tracks with a track pitch of 0.32 microns and a line density of 0.12 microns/bit, a 64 KB data block is used as a recording/reproduction unit, and the disc has been formatted at a format efficiency of 82%.
A data zone on the optical disc is an area in which user data is recorded in and reproduced from. As a result of a formatting process of the optical disc, an area having a radius of 24 mm and a circumference having a radius of 58 mm becomes available as the data zone. An inner-side area enclosed by the circumference having a radius of 24 mm on the optical disc serves as a lead-in zone.
Used for storing defect management information, a defect management area is formed at a predetermined location in the lead-in zone. Two defect management areas may be provided. In this case, the two defect management areas are formed at predetermined adjacent locations in the lead-in zone.
A plurality of management areas such as, typically, two defect management areas, need to be formed because, if defect management information can no longer be read out from one of the two defect management areas for some reasons, the defect management information can still be read out from the other defect management area. With the two defect management areas formed at adjacent locations in the lead-in zone, however, it is quite within the bounds of possibility that defect management information can no longer be recorded and reproduced into and from both the two defect management areas when an injury is inflicted on the disc portion allocated to the two defect management areas. That is to say, the reliability of the defect management is not sufficient.
At a typical rotational speed of the optical disc, about 1.9 data blocks each having a size of 64 KB can be recorded onto a track on the circumference having a radius of 24 mm in one rotation of the optical disc.
The data zone used for recording user data has a large recording capacity of 23.3 GB. 18432 clusters in the data zone can be allocated as spare recording areas. Since such clusters have a size of about 1.207959552 GB, their size is only about 5% of the data zone used for recording user data. A defect list with a size of 8 bytes per entry will have a length of 147.456 KB and will occupy 3 clusters.
As described above, a defect management area including a defect list stored therein is formed as an area consisting of a plurality of clusters as described above. In this case, since about 1.9 data blocks each having a size of 64 KB can be recorded onto a track on the circumference having a radius of 24 mm in one rotation of the optical disc, with the two defect management areas formed at adjacent locations in the lead-in zone, it is quite within the bounds of possibility that defect management information can no longer be recorded and reproduced correctly into and from both the two defect management areas when an injury is inflicted on the disc portion allocated to the two defect management areas as explained above.

Disc recording medium, recording method, disc drive device


A silver halide photographic material is disclosed, comprising a support having thereon an emulsion layer comprising a dispersion medium, silver halide grains, and a pendant type sensitizing dye, wherein said pendant type sensitizing dye is a compound comprising a sensitizing dye and an antifoggant, each of which may have substituent groups and wherein said sensitizing dye and antifoggant are organochemically bonded.

Almost all AgX photographic materials normally contain spectrally sensitizing dyes (referred to hereinafter as sensitizing dyes) and antifoggants. The sensitizing dyes are used to extend the photosensitive wavelength region of the AgX from its intrinsic region to the long wavelength side (into the green, red, and infrared regions), and to increase photographic speed in the blue region. On the other hand, antifoggants are used to prevent the occurrence of fogging during the storage of the AgX photosensitive material (when they are known as emulsion stabilizers) and to prevent the occurrence of fogging during development (when they are known as development inhibitors). Both sensitizing dyes and antifoggants are therefore essential additives for AgX photographic emulsions. These additives are normally added using the following methods.
(i) Methods in which each additive is added individually. In some methods the total amount is added at one time, and in other methods the total amount is divided and added in several parts.
(ii) Methods in which the additives are mixed together prior to addition.
However, the following disadvantages arise when these additives are added using these conventional methods.
(1) Adsorption of the sensitizing dyes and antifoggants is competitive, and in some cases spectrally sensitizing dyes are desorbed and replaced by antifoggants while in other cases where the reverse is true. Accordingly, the most preferable spectrally sensitizing dyes and antifoggants for the photographic property can not be freely selected.
(2) In general, the adsorption of cyanine dyes on AgX is due principally to van der Waals forces and the strength of adsorption becomes weaker as the polarity of the substrate falls (in the order AgI.fwdarw.AgBr .fwdarw.AgCl). In the case of AgX emulsions which have a high chloride ion (Cl.sup.-) content in the grain surface, the strength of adsorption of sensitizing dyes is particularly weak and there is a problem in that it has not been possible to realize the preferred spectral sensitization.
(3) Antifoggants can generally be represented in the form (HL) of an acid, and the antifoggant becomes more strongly adsorbed as, on comparing the solubility product pKsp (AgL)=-log [Ag.sup.+ ] and the solubility product pKsp (AgX) for AgX, the difference [pKsp (AgL)-pKsp (AgX)] becomes greater. Accordingly, the strength of adsorption when using the same antifoggant will increase in the order AgI <AgBr <AgCl. This trend is the opposite of that observed in the case of the cyanine dyes and the undesirable reaction in which antifoggants desorb and replace cyanine dyes on AgX emulsions with a high Cl content referred to in (1) above is further advanced, and this is undesirable.
(4) In general, when cationic cyanine dyes are added to an AgX emulsion the state of adsorption changes from a state of single molecule type adsorption through a state in which aggregates of two or three molecules are adsorbed to a state in which larger aggregates are adsorbed as the adsorbed covering factor of the sensitizing dye increases, and there is an accompanying decrease in intrinsic speed and a reduction in color-sensitization efficiency. The following factors can be considered in connection with the decrease in speed.
a. A large local increase in the potential of the space charge layer occurs at the surface of an AgX grain in the locality of a cationic dye aggregate (since the cationic dye is adsorbed on the X.sup.- sites of the AgX crystal surface and the interstitial silver ion concentration is increased), and electron transfer from the sensitizing dye to the AgX layer is inhibited.
b. The interstitial silver ion concentration is increased in the vicinity of the said local surface, promoting latent image formation, and so the latent image is dispersed and the efficiency with which a developable latent image is formed is reduced.
c. Cationic dye aggregates on the AgX grain surface form a type of static potential with respect to the conductive electrons in the AgX grains and function as electron trap centers, reducing the latent image formation efficiency at the chemically sensitized nuclei.
d. Development inhibition is increased by the presence of large J-aggregates.
Control of the aggregate size is important since these undesirable effects normally become more pronounced as the said size increases. However, the sensitizing dye aggregate size increases in cases where sensitizing dyes and antifoggants have been added to an AgX emulsion and the most stable adsorption equilibrium has been established, and it is difficult to control the said size as desired. There are methods by which aggregate growth is stopped during growth, but this involves a metastable state and the stability is poor. Furthermore, there is no change in that the outcome is still uncertain. Hence there is a problem that it is not possible to adjust the sensitizing dyes to the most desirable state of adsorption from the photographic point of view.
(5) In cases where single molecules, aggregates of two or three molecules and aggregates of four or more molecules are all present in the state of adsorption of the dye as described in (4) above, the absorption spectral bands of these states will, in general, be different and so the overall spectral absorption band will be very wide. This is particularly undesirable in color photographic systems. This is because, in a color photographic system, the absorption spectra of each of the blue, green and red photosensitive layers should not extend to any great extent into the other color sensitive layer regions from the viewpoint of color reproduction. Hence a single adsorbed state and an absorption which has a narrow half value width is desirable, but at present it is not possible to achieve such control. There are many cases in which there are only J-aggregates and single molecules present, and in the region of saturated dye adsorption the dye will almost all be present as J-aggregates, but this region is often a region of reduced sensitivity and it cannot be used.
Hence, the discovery of AgX photographic materials in which at least one of the above mentioned problems (1) to (5) have been resolved is awaited.


A backlight module may include an optical substrate, at least one light guide pipe, and at least one first light source. At least one accommodation trench is disposed on the optical substrate for accommodating the light guide pipe. The first light source is disposed at one side of the light guide pipe and is arranged for emitting at least one first light into the light guide pipe. The first light is transferred in the light guide pipe and leaves the light guide pipe when being reflected by the optical substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a backlight module, and more particularly, to a backlight module comprising a light guide pipe for guiding lights together with an optical substrate for reflecting the lights.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, photo-electric display technologies, following the semiconductor industries, have become a new integrated technology invested by many countries, and have been generally recognized as the most potential integrated technology industry by the academia and industry. Technology leading countries, such as U.S.A, Japan, Europe, have successively entered this technical field and are actively involved in research and design of this field. The applications of the photo-electric display technologies are very wide, such as image display applications, information storage applications, and optical communications applications. Therefore, the competitiveness of Taiwan can be improved by developments of the photo-electric display technologies.
In various kinds of backlight module technologies, the US patent with U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,825 has disclosed a technology of mixing colors and guiding lights by using coupling fibers and blending fibers. However, the lights transferred from the light source to the light guiding plate of the display have passed several times of couplings, and thus the utilization efficiency of the light source cannot be easily enhanced.
In the US patent with U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,185, a method for controlling the emergence angle of the lights by disposing different diffusion lines on a fiber having its head and tail connected to the same light source in order to form three-dimensional images is disclosed. However, by adopting the backlight module disclosed in this patent, the panel space utilization efficiency is too poor, and the coupling efficiency of the light source is much worse than the conventional technologies.
In the US patent with U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,548, a panel with a light pipe is disclosed, which utilizes a transparent PVC pipe to hitch the cores of several optical fibers into a beam of light pipe, and then the lights are transferred and emitted to the panel through the arrangements of the light pipes. However, in such a way, optical interference between different optical fibers may lower the efficiency. In addition, its manufacturing process is too difficult for mass production.
In the US patent with U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,964, a flexible optical fiber panel is disclosed, which couples the lights, emitted from at least one lighting layer packaged along the side edges and/or terminal edges, to the weaved optical fibers and uniformly emits the lights on the panel. However, in such a way, the manufacturing difficulty and cost will be increased. In addition, by adopting the superposition method to increase the amount of light emission, its efficiency will be sharply reduced.
In the TWN Patent with Patent No. 534970, a high-intensity fiber color backlight module is disclosed, which uses R, G, B colors as light sources to be coupled to specific fibers, and then the lights are emitted from the optical shutters of the fiber through geometric structures of the fibers. However, this method still cannot avoid the problem of light interfere.
As abovementioned, a light guide plate is needed in the backlight modules of conventional flat panel displays for uniformly transferring lights. However, when the size of the flat panel displays getting larger, the thickness of the light guide plate will be accordingly increased, which may results in facing the challenges of the volume of large-scale backlight modules being too large and complicated manufacturing processes. In addition, the fiber backlight module has a high cost, a large volume, and high energy loss. Hence, how to provide a backlight module with a low cost, a simple manufacturing process, and a high luminous efficiency has become an important topic in this field.


A spark advance controller capable of controlling spark advance in an internal combustion engine with high accuracy without requiring a larger number of data maps and performing laborious optimization tests using an actual engine. In the spark advance controller, map data for controlling the spark advance is computed by a numerical simulator simulating an internal combustion engine, and the map data for spark advance control is approximated with a regression model. The spark advance is computed by using the regression model depending on the detected operating conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spark advance controller and a production machine of spark advance control logic in an internal combustion engine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a spark advance controller and a production machine of spark advance control logic, which are suitable for spark advance control in a variably controlled internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an ECU (Engine Control Unit) for an electronically controlled internal combustion engine, for the purpose of control of ignition timing (spark advance), a spark advance at which torque is maximized under predicted operating conditions, i.e., an MBT (Minimum Spark Advance for Best Torque), is stored in a memory in the form of a spark advance map in which each axis represents one of an engine speed and a load.
The ECU decides an optimum spark advance by referring to the spark advance map depending on the operating conditions and the ambient environment of an internal combustion engine, which change every moment, and executes control such that a gas mixture is ignited in a cylinder by an igniter at the decided spark advance. With that control, the ignition is performed at the timing of producing maximum torque without causing knock.
The spark advance map stored in the memory of the ECU is produced in the development stage of the internal combustion engine based on optimization tests using an actual engine.
In recent years, from the viewpoints of cleaning the exhaust and reducing the fuel consumption, a variably controlled internal combustion engine has been widely employed in which operating characteristics of actuators in the internal combustion engine can be variously changed depending on the operating conditions and the ambient environment.
There have been developed various types of internal combustion engines, for example, one in which the fuel concentration in a gas mixture is reduced to perform lean combustion in a particular operating range, another in which exhaust gas is supplied to an engine combustion chamber through EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation), and still another which includes a variably setting valve mechanism capable of optionally changing operating characteristics of intake and exhaust valves.
Because the fuel concentration (air/fuel ratio of the gas mixture), the EGR concentration, and the operating characteristics of the intake and exhaust valves, etc. cause changes in the burning state of the gas mixture within a cylinder, the spark advance has to be properly changed depending on a combination of those control parameters.
When the known optimization tests using an actual engine are performed on the above-mentioned internal combustion engines, a problem arises in point of increasing the development term and the development cost. Another problem is that, in order to make reference to respective spark advance maps with regards to all of predicted operation conditions, data maps having a very large capacity have to be incorporated in the ECU and the memory capacity of the ECU is increased correspondingly.
Against the background described above, a spark advance controller is proposed which computes various variables, such as the mass of fuel gas (gas mixture) supplied to the engine combustion chamber and the burning velocity of the gas mixture in accordance with physical models depending on an engine speed and a load, and then computes the MBT based on the computed variables (see, e.g., Patent Reference 1: JP-A-10-30535).
Also, another spark advance controller is proposed which computes various variables, such as the internal energy of fuel gas inside a cylinder at the start of compression stroke of an internal combustion engine, the piston compression work, the energy loss through wall surfaces, and the burning velocity of the gas mixture in accordance with physical models, and then computes a knock limit based on the computed variables (see, e.g., Patent Reference 2: JP-A-2003-46758).
In those spark advance controllers, during the operation of the internal combustion engine, the MBT or the knock limit is computed in the ECU online (real time) by using a plurality of physical models that describe the burning states in the engine combustion chamber. Thus, those controllers need neither the laborious optimization tests using an actual engine, nor a large number of data maps.
Further, there is known a control unit including numerical maps for various control parameters in an ECU and controlling the internal combustion engine while referring to the numerical maps based on engine operating states, wherein the numerical maps are obtained with a numerical simulator simulating the internal combustion engine (see, e.g., Patent Document 3: JP-A-2004-100495). With such a control unit, even when a large number of numerical maps are required, those numerical maps can be produced by using the numerical simulator and therefore the optimization tests using an actual engine can be omitted.
However, processing based on a physical model needs a much larger number of processing steps than that based on a map search, and the ECU is required to have a high processing capability when the ECU executes the processing during the engine operation.
Also, even in the case of producing the numerical maps by using the numerical simulator separately provided, when the internal combustion engine includes many control parameters, the number of the numerical maps is greatly increased and a memory having a very large capacity has to be incorporated in the ECU.
Thus, although the above-described techniques can noticeably reduce the number of steps required in the optimization tests using an actual engine and is expected to cut the development cost, those techniques still have a problem from the practical point of view in greatly increasing the cost of the ECU.

Spark advance controller and production machine of spark advance control logic in internal combustion engine


A ball is retained behind a circular array of collet fingers to be pushed out through the collets with a spring biased piston that is initially locked when run in the hole. The lock mechanism is a link that holds a potential force in the main spring. One end of the link is held by an acceleration or deceleration responsive retainer. The retainer has a conforming stop surface to a stop surface on the link. Sudden relative movement caused by acceleration of the housing allows the retainer that is flanked by opposed springs to move away from the stop surface or surfaces on the link. The link is an array of spaced fingers that can radially flex. The radial flexing combines with the power of the main spring to propel the piston against the ball for a release of the ball. A fracturing operation then ensues.

Fracturing involves sequential isolation of part of a borehole so that a perforating gun can initiate fractures followed by delivery of pressure to the fractures to open them up further before production begins. Typically a plug is at a lower end of a bottom hole assembly (BHA) and the perforating gun is above. The plug is set and the gun is released and fired. The plug can have a passage through it with a surrounding ball seat. Before the fracturing starts a ball is landed on the seat and pressure is built up to open the fractures made by the perforating gun.
One way to expedite this process is to have the housing for the ball as part of the BHA to cut down the time and some uncertainty of dropping a ball from the surface to the seat in the frack plug before the pressure pumping operations can take place. To also save time in these operations the BHA is run in on wireline and delivered to the desired location with the aid of pumped fluid for the reason that often the desired location is in a long horizontal run.
In typical plug and perforate systems the bottom hole assembly (BHA) comprises an isolation device with a passage through it and a surrounding seat on the passage for an object to land on the seat and obstruct the passage. The object can be delivered with the isolation device or pumped to the isolation device after the perforating guns are shot and removed from the borehole with the setting tool for the isolation device. Delivering the object with the isolation device has the advantage of saving time to get the passage in the isolation device closed as compared to pumping down an object from the surface. However, this prior method has a drawback if the guns misfire. In essence, if the guns misfire they must be removed and new guns run in to the desired location which is frequently in a horizontal portion of the wellbore. Thus, gravity is not much help in running in the replacement guns. Furthermore, if the object was run in with the isolation device, then the object would be forced against the seat in the passage of the isolation device if any effort to use pressure or flow to deliver the replacement guns was employed. The closing off of the passage in the isolation device means the replacement guns cannot be delivered on wireline with a pressure or flow assist and that alternative means such as coiled tubing or tractors have to be used to get the guns into position. This adds enormous expense to the operation and creates issues of delay. Even if the object is dropped after the misfired gun is removed, it still takes time to pump the object from the surface to the seat on the isolation device that is thousands of meters away costing time and additional fluid displacement.
In the past one way to cut the time to get an object seated on a seat in an isolation device was to include a ball release device above the guns. The idea in US 2013/0175053 was to release the object into the annulus from above the fired gun and have the object make its way around the fired gun and the isolation device setting tool to a seat on a passage in the isolation device. A physical pull on the wireline sheared an unnumbered pin and allowed a ball 24 to escape through a lateral opening 28 to make its way toward the isolation device 14. There are many issues with this design. Frequently the guns 18 have very low clearance around them to the casing 12, which means the ball 24 will not fit in the annular space or would have to be so small that the passage in the isolation device 14 would also have to be small. A smaller passage in the isolation device could mean delays if a replacement gun has to be delivered with flow after an original gun misfires, as well as reduced flow-through rates that would limit a wells ability to flow back and produce through the isolation device in the event of sanding out. The spent perforating gun could also have burrs and sharp edges that could hang up or damage the object so badly that it might not seal at all when landing in the seat. Finally, in a horizontal run the object may not actually land on the seat if the seat surrounding the passage in the isolation device is considerably smaller than the casing inside diameter, a condition made necessary by the object being small enough to travel past the gun in the surrounding annulus around the gun.
Generally related to operation of lateral passages that can be selectively opened in a fracking context are US2013/0024030 and US2013/0020065.
In an application entitled Pressure Actuated Frack Ball Releasing Tool filed in the US on Mar. 10, 2014, with a Ser. No. 14/202,974, the pressure wave generated by the firing of the gun was sensed and a ball release mechanism was triggered to release the ball onto the seat of the adjacent frack plug. This device required sensors for sensing the pressure wave and then actuation of an independent hydraulic circuit to actually launch the ball.
Another phenomenon that occurs when the gun is fired is that there is a sudden acceleration of the string followed by a deceleration in an oscillatory movement back and forth until another steady state is reached. The present invention capitalizes on this movement pattern to release a potential energy force that propels the object and in the case of a fracking operation allows the ball to reach the seat of the frack plug to plug off the passage through the plug so that pressure can be built up and the fractures initiated with the perforating gun can be further propagated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,609 illustrates a compensation system to offset acceleration forces in an unrelated context that uses a mass in tandem with opposed springs.
The preferred embodiment of present invention capitalizes on the relative movement created during acceleration to release a lock on a potential energy source to launch an object to another tool in furtherance of the fracturing operation. Other applications are envisioned where a gun is fired that creates string acceleration or in other contexts where acceleration or deceleration creates relative movement that can be harnessed to operate a tool. These and other aspects of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the description of the preferred embodiment and the associated drawing, while recognizing that the full scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims.


Treatment for alleviating ischemia-reperfusion injury which has minimized risk of side effects and which can suppress neutrophilic infiltration and activation of platelets during ischemia reperfusion comprises administration by inhalation of a mixed gas comprising 21%-98% oxygen, 0.1%-4% hydrogen, 40-80 ppm nitrogen monoxide, and a remainder of inert gas such as nitrogen or helium to a patient undergoing reperfusion from immediately before the start of ischemia reperfusion until shortly after the start of reperfusion.

In infarction diseases such as myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, and mesenteric thrombosis, ischemia reperfusion therapy which allows blood to reflow in tissue which was in an ischemic state by interruption of blood flow is often carried out by mechanically expanding the vessel in the infraction area or dissolving thrombi. In a transplanted organ after organ transplantation, blood flow is similarly restarted in tissue to which blood circulation ceased. It is known that when blood flow is restarted in a tissue, oxygen is suddenly delivered to the tissue which has been in an ischemic state, resulting in the occurrence of various physiological reactions including the generation of active oxygen (oxygen radicals) or other free radicals, neutrophilic infiltration, and activation of platelets, which cause worsening of organ derangement such as damage to the cardiac muscle (for example, myocardial infarction). Such phenomenon is referred to as ischemia-reperfusion injury or simply as reperfusion injury.
Nitrogen monoxide (NO) is a vasodilative substance derived from the endothelium. It is known that administration of nitrogen monoxide gas by inhalation has effects such as lowering the pulmonary arterial pressure by vasodilation in the lungs, increasing oxygenation of the entire body, suppressing activation of platelets, and suppressing activation and adhesion/coagulation of leukocytes. With respect to ischemia-reperfusion injury, inhalation of nitrogen monoxide gives a certain effect as demonstrated by the fact that it decreases the infarcted area and is effective at alleviating myocardial injury (see below-listed Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1).
However, while nitrogen monoxide has such protective activities, it has the problem that it reacts particularly with superoxide anions, which are produced intracellularly or extracellularly, resulting in the production of peroxynitrite which has an extremely high toxicity to the tissues. Accordingly, there is a high risk of side effects caused by the inhalation of nitrogen monoxide.
In recent years, it has been demonstrated that hydrogen (H2), which is a reducing agent, selectively reacts with highly reactive species of active oxygen (such as hydroxyl radical <.OH> and peroxynitrite <ONOO−>) and eliminates them. It is known that if hydrogen gas is administered by inhalation through the lungs, hydrogen is delivered to the entire body through the blood and can suppress lesions associated with oxygen radicals and eliminate free radicals which have a strong oxidizing power to cause cell injury. It has been reported that in ischemia reperfusion models of cerebral infarction and ischemia reperfusion models of the liver in mice, damage to organs and tissue at the time of ischemia reperfusion can be decreased by hydrogen (see below-listed Non-patent Documents 2 and 3). However, it is difficult to suppress neutrophilic infiltration and platelet activation which are observed at the time of ischemia reperfusion using only hydrogen inhalation.

Therapeutic agent and therapeutic device for alleviating ischemia-reperfusion injury


A suspension control system for an automotive vehicle is provided which utilizes variable damping force shock absorbers for modifying damping force characteristics. Each of the shock absorbers has an electric motor adapted for varying an effective fluid flow restriction established by an orifice when modifying the damping force characteristics. When the electric motor is energized to initialize an angular position thereof upon starting the suspension control, operating torque of the motor is decreased below a preselected level for reducing reaction force from a stopper when an output shaft of the motor is urged into engagement with the stopper arranged at an original angular position of the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a suspension control system for an automotive vehicle which utilizes variable damping force shock absorbers for suppressing vehicle attitude change. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved arrangement which initializes an angular position of an electric motor adapted for modifying damping force characteristics of a variable damping force shock absorber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Utility Model First Publication No. 64-40712 discloses an automotive suspension control system which includes variable damping force shock absorbers for suppressing vibrations causing vehicular attitude change. This conventional suspension control system features an arrangement which initializes an angular position of an electric motor adapted for modifying damping force characteristics of the shock absorber when vibrations between wheels and a vehicle body are controlled below a preselected level. The initialization of the electric motor is accomplished by rotating an output shaft of the motor into engagement with a stopper which is arranged at a preselected original angular position.
The above prior art suspension control system, however, has a drawback in that when the output shaft of the electric motor is urged against the stopper, it may be returned beyond the original angular position due to a reaction force from the stopper, resulting in a decreased angular positioning accuracy of the motor.

Automotive suspension control system utilizing variable damping force shock absorber


Provided are a semiconductor device having a high breakdown voltage and attaining the restraint of the action of a parasite bipolar transistor, and a method for producing the device. A high-breakdown-voltage p-channel-type transistor included in the semiconductor device has a first n-type semiconductor layer arranged in a semiconductor substrate and at a main-surface-side (upside) of a p-type region in the semiconductor substrate, and a local n-type buried region arranged just below a first p-type dopant region to contact the first n-type semiconductor layer.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and a method for producing the device, in particular, a technique that can be used suitably for a semiconductor device having a high-breakdown-voltage transistor.
For example, a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) used in the state that a high voltage of several tens of volts is applied to a drain region thereof is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2008-4649 (Patent Document 1). According to this publication, a buried layer is formed between a semiconductor substrate and a semiconductor layer over the substrate. In order that the buried layer can restrain the action of a parasitic bipolar transistor generated in the vertical direction (in the upper and lower direction), the concentration of a dopant (impurity) in the buried layer, which corresponds to the base of the parasitic transistor, is made sufficiently large.

Semiconductor device and method for producing the same


A fixing apparatus is provided that enables a recording medium that has undergone heat-fixing to be separated smoothly from a heating medium without causing a sheet jam or image disturbance. In this apparatus, there are provided on the guide surface of a separator two step parts raised along the guide surface guide width direction. Recording paper is transported gripped by a fixing nip, is guided so as to come into contact with only the apex parts of step parts, and is separated from the surface of a fixing belt. Thus, a gap is formed between the guide surface and the heat-fixing surface of recording paper guided along the guide surface, the contact area between the heat-fixing surface of recording paper and the guide surface decreases, the heat-fixing surface of recording paper becomes less prone to adhere to the guide surface of the separator, and recording paper is smoothly separated from the fixing belt without causing a sheet jam or image disturbance.

A heating-type fixing apparatus is generally used in such image forming apparatuses. This heating-type fixing apparatus includes a heating medium comprising an endless belt, roller or the like, a heating section that heats this heating medium, and a pressure section that presses against the heating medium.
The heating section comprises a halogen lamp or induction heating (IH) apparatus, for example. The pressure section comprises a rubber roller, sponge roller, or the like that rotates in contact with the heating medium, and transports a recording medium such as recording paper or an OHP sheet gripped by the nip formed between itself and the heating medium.
In this heating-type fixing apparatus, toner of an unfixed image formed on the recording medium by heat from the heating medium by transporting the recording medium gripped in the nip is melted, and the unfixed image is fixed upon the recording medium by means of the adhesive force of this melted toner.
Therefore, this fixing apparatus is prone to the occurrence of a phenomenon whereby the recording medium becomes wrapped around the heating medium due to the adhesive force of toner melted by heating. This kind of phenomenon tends to occur when a solid image is formed on the front part of a recording medium being heat-fixed relative to the sheet transportation direction. Also, this phenomenon is more likely to occur when the fixing apparatus has been used and become warmed to some degree than when the fixing apparatus is powered on.
Thus, with this kind of fixing apparatus, for example, a separation lug is installed as a sheet separation section that comes into contact with the surface of the heating medium downstream of the aforementioned nip, and a recording medium that has undergone heat-fixing is forcibly separated from the heating medium by means of this separation lug (see Patent Document 1, for example).
However, a fixing apparatus using a separation lug as the above-described sheet separation section has a configuration in which the separation lug is in contact with the heating medium, and therefore has a deficiency in that marks tend to be made on the surface of the heating medium due to the direct contact of the separation lug. This deficiency is seldom a problem when the hardness of the heating medium is of a comparatively high degree, as in the case of a fixing apparatus for monochrome images, but when an elastic layer is formed on the heating medium, as in the case of a fixing apparatus for color images, this deficiency is the cause of a significant decrease in the life of the heating medium and the quality of fixed images.
On the other hand, a fixing apparatus is known in which a sheet separation guide plate is used as the above-described sheet separation section instead of a separation lug, and a recording medium that has undergone heat-fixing is separated from the heating medium by means of this sheet separation guide plate (see Patent Document 2, for example).
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional drawing showing the state at the start of separation of a recording medium (recording paper) in a fixing apparatus that uses a sheet separation guide plate (hereinafter referred to as "separator") as the above-described separation section. As shown in FIG. 1, this fixing apparatus 10 is equipped with a fixing roller 11 as the above-described heating medium, a pressure roller 12 as the above-described pressure section, sheet guide plates 13, 14, and 15 forming a transportation path of recording paper P, a separator 16, and so forth.
In FIG. 1, after an unfixed toner image T is formed on recording paper P by an image forming section (not shown), recording paper P is transported toward fixing apparatus 10. This recording paper P passes between the pair of sheet guide plates 13 and 14 located at the sheet transportation entrance of fixing apparatus 10, and, gripped by fixing nip N—the pressure location between fixing roller 11 and pressure roller 12—is transported in the direction indicated by the arrow. After recording paper P has passed through fixing nip N, the front part Pa is distanced from the surface of fixing roller 11 by the curvature of fixing roller 11.
By means of a guide surface 16a, separator 16 guides front part Pa of recording paper P distanced from the surface of fixing roller 11, and separates recording paper P from the surface of fixing roller 11.
Thus, in this fixing apparatus 10, front part Pa of recording paper P is first distanced from the surface of fixing roller 11 by the curvature of fixing roller 11, and then this front part Pa of recording paper P distanced from the surface of fixing roller 11 is guided and separated from fixing roller 11 by guide surface 16a of separator 16.
Therefore, in this fixing apparatus 10, as shown in FIG. 1, separator 16 that separates recording paper P from the surface of fixing roller 11 is installed so as not to be in contact with fixing roller 11, and consequently no marks of contact are made on fixing roller 11 as in the case of the above-described separation lug, and there is no associated decrease in the life of fixing roller 11 or the quality of fixed images.    Patent Document 1: Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-215967.    Patent Document 2: Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. HEI 07-181826.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A thermal spray powder having a first component A mechanically blended with a second component B, wherein the first component A is a metal or metal composite, preferably at least one of Ni—Cr—Al clad ABN, Ni—Cr—Al clad HBN, Ni—Cr—Al clad agglomerated hexagonal boron nitride powder with organic binder, Ni—Cr—Al agglomerated hexagonal boron nitride powder with inorganic binder, an MCrAlY type powder where M is at least one of Ni, Co, Fe, and wherein component B is a polymer clad with at least one of nickel, nickel alloys, nickel chrome alloys, nickel chrome aluminum alloys, nickel aluminum alloys, cobalt and cobalt alloys. The result is a thermal spray powder of four distinctly different phases making the powder a four-phase blend.

The following patents and patent publications, and patents that issued from these publications, are incorporated in their entireties by reference: CA2639732 (A1), U.S. Pat. No. 7,582,365, U.S. Pat. No. 7,267,889, U.S. Pat. No. 7,763,573, U.S. Pat. No. 6,887,530, U.S. Pat. No. 7,179,507, U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,462, U.S. Pat. No. 7,135,240, U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,527, U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,756, U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,695, U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,210, U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,471, U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,055, U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,182 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,450.
OEM manufacturer spray powders that form abradable coatings to improve turbine engine efficiency. These abradable powders are generally sprayed onto a surface using plasma or low velocity combustion processes. It is known that in many plasma applications for clearance control coatings, also known as abradable coatings, these coatings are sprayed using: 1) blends of polymer and metal or ceramic or 2) blends of solid lubricant and metal or ceramic or 3) co-sprayed with polymer or solid lubricant and ceramic or metal.
One form of powder for thermal spraying is composite powder such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,617,358 (Dittrich). This patent teaches the use of the spray drying process for making the composites, involving the spraying of a slurry of very fine powdered constituents with a binder to form droplets, and drying the droplets into a powder. There may be only a single constituent, or multiple constituents may be incorporated, for example in a cermet powder of a metal and a non-metal.
Other composite forms are known for thermal spraying, for example metal cladding of a ceramic core as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,089 (Adamovic). According to this patent a clad powder such as nickel alloy clad bentonite is useful for producing thermal sprayed abradable seal coatings for gas turbine engines. Cladding of metal core particles with finer particles of ceramic is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,425 (Longo and Patel) for similar purpose.
Another example of a powder for thermal spray is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,182 (Dorfman). This patent discloses a two constituent blend, however both constituents are a metal plus a non-metal, and they are approximately the same, with certain predetermined ratios. Thus, it is also known that the prior art teaches a 3 phase (matrix (metal or ceramic))+solid lubricant+polyester abradable material.
Although the prior art coatings meet the design intent of applications, there are reliability and high cost issues with the previous powders and processes used to make the coatings. Accordingly, what is needed is an improved powder for use in forming abradable coatings.

Abradable composition and method of manufacture