An optical wavelength converter that includes an optical sum frequency generator (SFG) and an optical difference frequency generator (DFG). The SFG receives part of both an input beam and a continuous-wave (CW) beam. The DFG receives part of the input beam as well as the output of the SFG. The output of the DFG represents the signal of the input beam modulated or carried on a beam having the frequency of the CW beam. Both single-channel and multi-channel configurations are integrally realized in similar numbers of components.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates generally to optical wavelength converters and, more specifically, to a wavelength converter that receives an optical input at an arbitrary wavelength and produces an optical output at a designated wavelength.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data transmission technology is currently undergoing the dramatic change from electrical signal-based transmission to optical signal-based transmission. The optical revolution is providing high data transmission rates using inexpensive, reliable devices. A key advantage of optical signal transmission is the ability of a single transmission line, an optical fiber, to carry a high number of optical signals at different wavelengths simultaneously without interference among the signals. Thus, a single optical fiber may carry simultaneously many xe2x80x9cchannelsxe2x80x9d of communication. Several wavelength ranges, called xe2x80x9cbandsxe2x80x9d, are currently widely used. The most promising bands are the xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d bands at 1520-1565 nanometers (nm) and 1565 to 1625 nm, respectively, due to the low absorption and dispersion of signals transmitted at wavelengths within these bands through currently available optical fiber.
A functional wide-area optical network exists as a connected set of distributed routing and switching nodes. User equipment may be connected to these nodes to receive and transmit data. Many communications must be transmitted simultaneously through a network. It is not feasible to permanently or globally allocate unique wavelengths to each user or particular node-to-node network connection. A flexible networking strategy is preferred which can tentatively and locally allocate a wavelength xe2x80x9cchannelxe2x80x9d to a particular data transmission. This allows a particular data transmission to traverse a network utilizing immediately and locally available channels instead of being delayed until a particular channel is globally open. Such flexibility limits the number of necessary transmission lines and the costs thereof. This strategy requires that a data transmission initiated at one wavelength be seamlessly converted where necessary to another wavelength. Optimal flexibility will include intraband and interband conversion. Intraband conversion occurs when a signal of an initial wavelength is converted to a similar final wavelength such that the initial and final wavelengths lie together in a band, for example, the C band. Interband conversion occurs when the initial and final wavelengths are dissimilar such that they lie in different bands, for example, a C band signal may be converted to an L band signal.
Non-linear optical (NLO) materials which have crystalline structures that exhibit non-zero second-order nonlinear electric susceptibilities ("khgr"(2)) are now available offering efficient optical frequency conversion. Supported within such materials are three wave mixing (TWM) processes whereby fundamental, second, and higher harmonic wave modes interact within the crystal so that optical energy is transferred among modes. Resulting, are such known processes as second harmonic generation (SHG), and difference frequency generation (DFG). SHG can be understood as the interaction of two pump photons resulting in a generated photon of twice the energy of a pump photon. A similar process, sum frequency generation (SFG), can be understood as the interaction of a pump photon and a signal photon resulting in a generated photon with a frequency which is the sum of the frequencies of the pump photon and signal photon. DFG can be understood as the interaction of a pump photon and a signal photon resulting in a generated photon with a frequency which is the difference of the frequencies of the pump photon and signal photon.
For efficient frequency conversion, the interacting waves of different frequencies must maintain a coherent phase relationship as they propagate the interaction length of the process supporting crystal. This is because waves of dissimilar frequency propagate along the interaction path at dissimilar velocities and so become gradually out of phase. A successful strategy for maintaining phase matching is called quasi-phase matching (QPM). It involves periodic modulation of the refractive index along the interaction length such that the harmonic fields remain in phase at the beginning of each period. A microdomain periodicity can be produced within a crystal using spatially alternating electric fields or periodic ion exchange or implantation along the axis of the interaction length in the process of manufacturing the crystal. Phase maintenance results from choosing an NLO crystal with microdomain periodicity to match the fundamental or harmonic wave to be produced in a TWM process.
Direct optical signal amplification and wavelength conversion will soon eliminate the high costs, and slow processing of optical-electro-optical (OEO) devices. OEO wavelength converters known in the art lack sufficient bandwidth to accommodate the very high switching speeds of optical networks currently under development. Therefore, there is a need for a high-bandwidth optically transparent wavelength converter utilizing direct optical-optical conversion.
The present invention relates to an optical wavelength converter that includes an optical sum frequency generator (SFG) and an optical difference frequency generator (DFG). The SFG receives part of both an input beam and a continuous-wave (CW) beam. The DFG receives part of the input beam as well as the output of the SFG. The output of the DFG represents the signal of the input beam modulated or carried on a beam having the frequency of the CW beam.

Optical converter with a designated output wavelength


A battery charging system incorporating a unijunction relaxation oscillator circuit and an electronic current limiting control circuit for de-energizing the relaxation oscillator circuit when the battery charging current exceeds a certain minimum value. The system preferably also includes a voltage control circuit and a temperature control circuit all of which are connected in parallel with the electronic current limiting control circuit in order to de-energize the relaxation oscillator circuit when the respective voltage and temperature of the system exceeds certain predetermined minimum values. The electronic current limiting control circuit, the voltage control circuit and the temperature control circuit are included in corresponding solid state integrated circuits.

This invention relates to an electrical battery charging system, and more particularly to a controlled electrical battery charging system.
Electrical storage battery charging systems are well known in the art, as illustrated in the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ 3,382,425 Legatti May 7, 1968 3,766,463 Ruben Oct. 16, 1973 3,854,082 Nasby et al Dec. 10, 1974 3,911,350 Swope Oct. 7, 1975 3,925,714 Sherman, Jr. Dec. 9, 1975 3,969,665 Rowas July 13, 1976 4,006,397 Catotti et al Feb. 1, 1977 4,019,111 Bennefeld Apr. 19, 1977 4,031,451 Gordon June 21, 1977 4,131,841 Bennefeld Dec. 26, 1978 4,163,934 Lawn Aug. 7, 1979 ______________________________________
All of the above patents, except the Swope patent 3,911,350, disclose battery chargers including a rectifier circuit incorporating SCR's for controlling the charging current.
The patents to Legatti, Ruben, Nasby et al, Rowas, Gordon and Lawn disclose SCR rectifier circuits in a battery charger which are triggered by a unijunction transistor.
The Ruben and Gordon patents also disclose a unijunction transistor with an RC timer circuit coupled to a control transistor.
In the Legatti patent, there is a DC voltage control circuit and a DC current control circuit for transmitting signals to the control transistor 66 in order to activate the unijunction transistor 46 and trigger the SCR's 10 and 12.
The Ruben patent discloses a voltage control circuit including the transistors Q5 and Q6 and a potentiometer R13.
The Nasby et al patent discloses a voltage control circuit and a current control circuit connected to an AND circuit 28 for activating the SCR control circuit 30.
The Swope patent 3,911,350 discloses a number of battery charging circuits incorporating a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the transformer in order to control the charging current.
The battery charging circuit of the Rowas patent 3,969,665 incorporates a thermistor 29 for sensing the temperature of the battery.
Catotti et al discloses a voltage control circuit and a temperature control circuit each of which is adapted to transmit excessive signals to an OR logic circuitry for triggering the SCR.
The Bennefeld battery charger includes a system for automatically changing from a current-controlled mode to a voltage-controlled mode. The integrated circuit chip 118 is used as a voltage regulator.
The Gordon patent 4,031,451 is an improvement over the Ruben battery charger and includes a current limiting circuit and an overshoot circuit for transmitting excessive or error signals to the unijunction transistor Q1 for triggering the SCR's in the rectifier circuit.
The U.S. patents to Ruben, Nasby et al, Catotti et al, both Bennefeld patents and the Gordon patent disclose battery charging circuits in which the system is not completely turned off after the battery is fully charged. These battery charging circuits include low current or trickle current after the battery has been substantially fully charged, primarily to maintain the charge on the battery.
None of the above cited patents disclose a battery charging system including control circuits for completely burning off the charging current to the battery when the voltage, temperature, and/or charging current exceed corresponding maximum values.
Furthermore, none of the above cited references disclose a battery charging system incorporating an electronic current limiting integrated circuit in combination with an automatic signal circuit for sequentially signalling progressively increasing values of the charging current.


A method is provided for initializing an apparatus for transferring asymmetrical data, in which initializing time is reduced using a previously stored result. The method includes the steps of (a) determining whether data bit assignment tables assigning data based on the channel characteristics of the transfer line are effective and (b) transferring data based on stored characteristics of the transfer line without reanalyzing, when the data bit assignment tables are determined to be effective in step (a).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and a method for initializing an apparatus for transferring asymmetrical data, and more particularly, to a system and method for reducing initialization time of an apparatus used for transferring asymmetrical data using previously stored characteristics of the transfer line.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system for transferring asymmetrical data is used as part of a high speed MODEM having a transferring speed of at least 9,600 bps. The bandwidth of a telephone line--connected to the MODEM--is divided into a low speed communication line and a high speed communication line, which are both asymmetrical communication lines. Initially, data is transferred at a speed of about 300-450 bps in the low speed communication line and later at a speed of at least 9,600 bps in the high speed communication line. The data is received and transferred simultaneously by the above mentioned division of the bandwidth into two.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for transferring asymmetrical data. A mother apparatus 100 is connected to a child apparatus 102 by a telephone line 101. The mother apparatus receives digital data from and transfers data to the child apparatus 102. In this example, the mother apparatus 100 is installed in a telephone office. The child apparatus 102 is installed in a subscriber's home. occasionally data transfer may be affected by an interruption in the power supply to the mother apparatus 100 or the telephone line 101. In such a case, the apparatus for transferring asymmetrical data shown in FIG. 1 is initialized. The initialization takes place after the interruption ceases.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a conventional method of initializing the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. In this flowchart, a transfer line uses a frequency band between 30-1104 kHz which has been divided into 248 sub-channels (4.3125 kHz per sub-channel) to transmit data between a mother and a child apparatus.
In step 220 the telephone line is optimized by the mother apparatus 100 transferring a test signal to the child apparatus 102, as part of a basic communication. In step 230, the attenuation of the noise and signal in each of the 248 sub-channels constituting the frequency band is analyzed. In step 240, 0-15 data bits to be transferred are assigned to each of the sub-channels using the analysis made in the step 230. In step 250, the assigned data bits are transferred to the child apparatus 102--thereby performing a normal communication.
In the above-mentioned initialization process of FIG. 2, unnecessary time is consumed since the characteristics of the frequency band, used to transmit data on the transfer line, are examined during every initialization after an interruption.

Method for initializing apparatus for transferring asymmetrical data


A magenta toner for developing electrostatic images provided which contains a binder resin and a colorant, wherein the colorant includes a mixed crystal of two or more colorants and when a solid patch is fixed on art paper complying with the ISO standard by using this toner, a resulting fixed image color satisfies at least one of the following formulae (b*)<0.85 (a*)−67.92; and (b*)>−7.94(a*)+591.85. The color difference ΔE between the color of the fixed image and the color characterized by L*: 46.6, a*: 75.1 and b*: −4.4 is preferably less than 6. The colorant is preferably a mixed crystal of a quinacridone colorant and a monoazo colorant. Moreover, the invention provides a method for producing the magenta toner, a developer containing the magenta toner, and an image-forming method using the magenta toner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates: to a dispersion of a colorant being suitably used in the production of a magenta toner for developing electrostatic images wherein the toner is superior, for example, in light transmitting property and coloring ability and has a wide color gamut and can be employed suitably in image formation by electrophotography; to a toner for developing electrostatic images obtained using the dispersion; to a method for efficiently producing the toner for developing electrostatic images; and to an electrostatic image developer and image-forming method using the toner for developing electrostatic images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods for making image information visible via electrostatic images, such as electrophotography, are widely used in various fields. In electrophotography, an electrostatic image is formed on a photosensitive body via a charging step, an exposure step and the like. The electrostatic image is developed by use of a developer containing toner particles. Thus, the electrostatic image is made visible via a transfer step and a fixation step.
As the developer to be used here, two-component developers, which include toner particles and carrier particles, and mono-component developers, which include magnetic toner particles or nonmagnetic toner particles, are known.
The toner particles in these developers are generally produced by a kneading-pulverizing process. The kneading-pulverizing process is a method in which desired toner particles are produced by melt-kneading a thermoplastic resin and the like with a pigment, a charge-controlling agent, a releasing agent such as wax and the like, finely pulverizing the melt-kneaded material after cooling, and classifying the pulverized matter. In addition, inorganic and/or organic fine particles may, if necessary, be added to the surface of the toner particles produced by the kneading-pulverizing process for the purpose of improving fluidity, cleanability and the like.
Generally the toner particles produced by the kneading-pulverizing process are irregularly shaped and are not uniform in surface composition. Depending on the pulverizability of the material to be used and on the conditions of the pulverization step, the shape and surface composition of toner particles change slightly. However, it is difficult to control these factors intentionally at desired degrees. In particular, in the case of toner particles produced by the kneading-pulverizing process using a highly pulverizable material, the toner particles are often further micronized or their shape changed inside a developing device due to mechanical forces such as various types of shearing force. As a result, the following problems have arisen. Regarding two-component developers, micronized toner particles may stick on the surface of a carrier and accelerate the electrostatic degradation of the developer. On the other hand, regarding mono-component developers, their particle size distribution is enlarged, thus fine toner particles might be scatter and a reduction in developability with a change of the toners shape might cause deterioration of image quality.
Irregularly shaped toner particles cannot demonstrate a sufficient fluidity even if a fluidity aid is added thereto. Moreover, fine particles of the fluidity aid are conveyed to recessed portions of the toner particles by the mechanical forces, such as shearing force, applied during the use of the toner and the fine particles become buried in the recessed portions. Thus, problems, such as reduction in fluidity with time and deteriorations of developability, transferability and cleanability arise. In addition, when such a toner is reused after being recovered through a cleaning treatment and fed back to a developing device, deterioration of image quality easily occurs. Increasing the amount of the fluidity aid is a possible way to prevent these problems. This, however, might cause another problem of generation of black points on a photosensitive body and a problem of scattering particles of the fluidity aid.
On the other hand, in the case of toners containing a releasing agent, such as wax, which has been internally added, the releasing agent may be exposed in the surface of toner particles when it is used in combination with some thermoplastic resin. Particularly in the case of toners including a combination of a resin which has been imparted with elasticity by a high molecular weight component and which is slightly resistant to pulverization and a fragile wax such as polyethylene, much exposure of polyethylene can be seen in the surface of the toner particles. Such toners are advantageous from the viewpoints of mold releasability at the time of fixation and ease of cleaning untransferred toner. However, the polyethylene on the surface of the toner particles are easily detached from the toner particles by action of mechanical force, such as shearing force, applied in a developing device and migrate to a developing roll, a photosensitive body, a carrier and the like. Thus, these elements are easily contaminated to cause reduction in reliability as a developer. Under such circumstances, an emulsion-polymerization flocculation process has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 63-282752 and 6-250439 as means for producing a toner including particles whose shape and surface composition are intentionally controlled. The emulsion-polymerization flocculation process is a process as follows. A resin dispersion is prepared by emulsion polymerization. Separately, a colorant dispersion in which a colorant is dispersed in solvent is prepared. These are mixed to form aggregated particles with a size corresponding to the toner particle diameter. Then the aggregated particles are heated and fused together. Thus toner particles are obtained. When the emulsion-polymerization flocculation process is used, the shape of toner can be controlled optionally from an irregular form through a spherical form through a choice of the heating temperature. However, in the emulsion-polymerization flocculation process, because aggregated particles in a uniformly mixed state are fused together, the composition from the inside of the toner to the surface thereof becomes uniform. Therefore, it is difficult to intentionally control the structure and composition of the surface of toner particles. In particular, when the aggregated particles contain a releasing agent, the releasing agent is present in the surface of the toner particles after being fused. Therefore, filming may occur or external additives used for imparting fluidity might become buried in the inside of the toner. In the electrophotographic process, for keeping and demonstrating the performance of a toner with stability under various types of mechanical stress, it is necessary to inhibit a releasing agent from being exposed in the surface of toner particles, enhance the surface hardness of the toner particles, and increase the smoothness of the surface of the toner particles. The releasing agent may cause various problems if it is exposed in the surface of toner particles. However, taking the performance of the toner at the time of its fixation into consideration, it is preferable that the releasing agent be present near the surface of the toner particles.
With a recent increase of demand for improvement in image quality, there is a remarkable tendency to reduce the size of toner in order to realize highly precise images particularly in color image formation. However, only reducing the size of toner while making the toner have a particle size distribution the same as that of conventional toners have will cause serious problems of contamination of carriers and photosensitive bodies and scatter of toners because of the presence of toners in the fine particle size region in the particle size distribution. It therefore is difficult to realize a high image quality and a high reliability simultaneously. In order to realize a high image quality and a high reliability simultaneously, it becomes necessary to sharpen the particle size distribution of toners and also to reduce the size of toners.
In addition, for the purposes of improvement in color reproduction and expansion of color gamut of color toner images, various kinds of pigments and dyes have heretofore been examined as colorants. However, dyes are inferior to pigments in water resistance and light fastness and may cause problems of color migration and the like when the dyes come into contact with a polyvinyl chloride sheet. Accordingly, pigments are often chosen as colorants for color toners. On the other hand, pigments have drawbacks of poor brightness and poor saturation in comparison with dyes. Therefore, pigments having broader brightness and saturation are always demanded.
Although quinacridone colorants, monoazo colorants, diketopyrrolopyrrole colorants, thioindigo colorants and the like have conventionally been employed for magenta toners, quinacridone pigments have been employed widely because they are superior in sharpness and transparency.
However, toners made from quinacridone colorants are characterized by their bluish tint, which is strong relative to the hue, brightness and saturation of the magenta defined in Japan Color.
On the other hand, toners made from monoazo colorants are characterized by their yellowish tint, which is strong relative to the hue, brightness and saturation of the magenta defined in Japan Color.
The importance of color matching between images on a display, printed images and images outputted by an image-forming apparatus, is increasing with recent remarkable progress to DTP.
An approach for improving the color reproduction, gradation, light fastness and chargeability and for improving the matching with image-forming apparatuses by mixing a quinacridone colorant and a monoazo colorant while making use of their characteristics has been proposed (see JP-A No. 2002-156795).
However, mixing pigments generally causes "cloudiness", which will result in a problem that a toner made from mixed crystals will have a color gamut narrower than that calculated from the color gamuts of toners each of which is made from a single pigment.

Magenta toner for developing electrostatic images, process for production thereof, developer and image-forming method


A storm drain inlet filter for preventing passage of particulate and solids in storm water entering a storm drainage system through an entry aperture. The device features a filter element held in place by a ring compressed against the sidewalls forming the entry aperture. Filter fabric may be included between two sidewalls of the inlet filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention herein disclosed relates generally to a curb inlet filter for storm drains. More particularly, to a curb inlet filter for filtering out debris and sediments and the like which is adapted to removably engage with such an inlet and prevent debris, soil, trash, and sediment from entering the storm drainage system where it can easily contaminate the shoreline.
2. Prior Art
Runoff, in the form of water from heavy rains or melted snow, in order to maintain streets in a driveable condition and to prevent flooding locally, is conventionally collected in a storm sewer system. Such systems generally collect runoff through grates in the street surface or through curb inlets which provide an aperture for runoff to flow into the storm drain sewer system.
In most municipalities in the United States and worldwide, the runoff water collected in the storm drain system has not been viewed as particularly hazardous to the health of humans and animals. Consequently, most storm drainage systems collect runoff and channel it directly into the ocean or a river. However, in recent years, it has been found that such runoff carries particulate and trash and other solids and dissolved solids along with it and into the body of water into which it exits. The result being that the nations's seashores, harbors and rivers have become polluted with trash, soil, particulate, leaves, bacteria and just about anything that might be carried by runoff water into the drains and the underlying storm sewer systems which collect this runoff.
Plastics are of special concern in that they easily float in the ocean or a stream and they are long lived since they are unaffected by weather and do not dissolve in water. Over time they collect on seashores and on the shores around other bodies of water that receive storm runoff. These plastics such as six-pack can restraints can be particularly hazardous to wildlife encountering them.
Another concern in recent years is that of silt and soil particulate which is collected by runoff water and deposited into storm drains suspended in the runoff water. Such material upon reaching the ocean, a lake or shallow bay, over time, settles to the bottom thereby raising the bottom of harbors, lake beds and river beds. Over time this can become hazardous to shipping traffic as well as personal water craft. Further, the storm drain system itself can become clogged or can be rendered inoperable if too much soil and silt enters the system during a large runoff period. Silt is especially a problem during the building of large homes and commercial building tracts. During the building process, with heavy grading, the soil becomes denuded and is easily washed away by runoff into the storm sewer system.
In the past, numerous products have been employed in attempts to prevent sediment, trash, and other solids from flowing into curb inlets during runoff periods where they are communicated to the storm sewer system. Products such as straw wattles have been used to filter out sediment and other solids flowing into a curb inlet storm drain by placing them in front of such inlets. Hay bails have also been used to filter out sediment and other solids from the runoff flowing into a curb inlet. Other attempts have used permanent grates, stones wrapped in chicken wire and fabric filters covering grates.
The straw wattle and hay bail type of sediment filters often get clogged and are rendered useless. Additionally, as they are made of organic material, they may decompose and slip into the storm drain system only to cause the clogging they are trying to prevent. Further, neither the straw, hay, or stone bundles wrapped in wire, filter out silt and fine soils which have particles small enough to move through them.
Metal filters and screens have also been tried without great success. Such filter systems generally are placed in a temporary fashion with weights or belts to hold them and are easily dislodged, stolen or removed by vandals who can see that they are only placed with weights or belts. Other metal and metallic screen filters are permanent in nature and as such are harder to install and remove which can be a major problem if they clog since they can cause flooding if not removed quickly.
As such, their exists an unmet need for a storm drain inlet filter that is easy to engage and disengage to filter incoming runoff to a storm drain inlet and remains engaged during high water flow. Such a device in order to dissuade vandals and theft should have the appearance of being permanently installed, yet should be easily removable and engageable to storm drain inlets of varying sizes to thereby filter such inlets. Such a device, once engaged, should serve to keep soil, sediment, silt, trash and solids, out of the storm water system. However, in keeping such materials out of the storm water system, such a device should also not require cleaning constantly which increases cost. Instead, it should be adapted to deflect such solid materials in the runoff, back into the street where street sweepers may later remove it. Finally, such a device, should be easily and securely engageable to a large variety of different sized storm drain inlets due to the wide variance in standard sizing of such and should do so without modification for each different size.

Removably engageable storm drain inlet screen


A non-volatile memory device with dynamic allocable regions that are unlocked or locked. Unlocking and/or locking is performed on one region or on multiple regions simultaneously, each region being identified by respective start address and end address. The start and end addresses of a dynamic allocable region need not coincide with physical addresses of a partition.

Non-volatile memory devices are becoming more and more widespread as the request for data storage continues to increase with present electronic applications. Flash EEPROMs memories, either with NAND or with NOR architecture, are the most popular type of non-volatile memory because of a number of advantages, among which are high integration density, fast write/erase speed, and compatibility with conventional CMOS processes.
One important feature of non-volatile memories is their security, especially to avoid undesired, accidental modification of existing data in the memory.
Modern applications need to access to the memory with a fine and varied granularity, and often the information stored has different requirements in terms of protection from accidental modification. In some cases the data or programs require a limited memory space. Moreover, the memory content changes several times during its life in the field.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity.

Dynamic range unlock or lock memory device and method to operate the same


A clamping assembly for an injection moulding installation includes a rigid, elongated positioning structure and an elongated clamping structure. A fixed platen is rigidly coupled to the positioning structure and articulatedly coupled to a first end portion of the clamping structure. Longitudinal, axially directed sliding bearings are formed integrally with the positioning structure. The assembly further includes a movable platen slidably supported on the bearings for a free, axially directed displacement with respect to the positioning structure towards and away from the fixed platen. A platen drive unit is articulatedly coupled to a second and opposite end portion of the clamping structure and to the movable platen for imparting that displacement to the movable platen.

Injection moulding apparatus typically comprises fixed and movable load-bearing platens which are adapted to clamp between them respective halves of a two-part mould. By means of an hydraulically or mechanically operated ram, pressure is applied to the movable platen so as to clamp together the two halves of the mould into which molten plastics material is then injected at pressure which can often be very high. In order to ensure that the two sections of the mould are not displaced with respect to each other as a result of the high pressure injection of the plastics material, a high clamping force has to be applied so as to hold together the two sections of the mould.
Hitherto proposed apparatus for achieving these objectives are well known in the art and have been available for many years. Thus, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,501 (J. E. Borah) describes a power operated multiple press, the principles of which have changed little since the publication of this patent. Borah describes an apparatus which includes fixed and movable platens which are slidably supported with respect to each other by means of four corner posts or tie bars located respectively at the four corners of the two platens, such that the movable platen may slide along these posts towards and away from the fixed platen. The two halves of a mould are substantially symmetrically supported by facing surfaces of the two platens, the clamping force being directed along an axis which is substantially collinear with the axis of symmetry of the mould.
With such known structures, the presence of the four tie bars seriously limits the accessibility of the region between the platens insofar as the introduction and removal of the mould sections are concerned. This limitation is particularly troublesome when one bears in mind that the mould sections can be of significant size, complex shape and significant weight and require to be manoeuvred into position and removed therefrom using mechanical handling equipment. Furthermore, this relative inaccessibility of the clamping space seriously limits the degree of automation which could otherwise be employed in connection with the introduction and removal of the mould sections.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved clamping assembly for an injection moulding apparatus wherein the above-referred-to disadvantages are significantly reduced.

Clamping assembly for an injection moulding apparatus


In an example implementation, a method of reducing inkjet aerosol in a fluid drop ejection system includes imaging fluid drops from an ejection event as the drops travel from an ejection nozzle toward a substrate, determining the momentum of each fluid drop from the imaging, comparing the momentum of each fluid drop with a threshold momentum, and determining that a fluid drop will become aerosol when its momentum does not exceed the threshold momentum.

Inkjet printing systems form printed images by ejecting print fluids onto a print target such as various print media. Examples of such printing systems include drop-on-demand, multi-pass scanning type systems, single-pass page-wide systems, and three-dimensional (3D) printing systems that print fluids onto layers of build material. In an example single-pass system, a fixed array of printheads extends the full width of a media page to allow the entire width of the page to be printed simultaneously as the page is moved past the printhead array in a continuous manner. In an example scanning type printing system, a scanning carriage can hold one or multiple printheads that scan back and forth across the width of a media page and print one swath of an image each time the page is incrementally advanced.
Such drop-on-demand inkjet systems can be further categorized based on different drop formation mechanisms. For example, a thermal bubble inkjet printer uses a heating element actuator in a fluid-filled chamber to vaporize fluid and create a bubble which forces a fluid drop out of a nozzle. A piezoelectric inkjet printer uses a piezoelectric material actuator on a wall of a fluid-filled chamber to generate a pressure pulse which forces a drop of fluid out of the nozzle. The proper design and maintenance of such inkjet printing systems helps to ensure quality printed output that is free from print defects.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An active noise cancellation system is used to quiet engine exhaust noise. Combustion product from an engine passes through a conduit to an acoustical mixing chamber located in the tailpipe. A microphone senses noise in the vicinity of the tailpipe and provides a signal to a control unit. The control unit generates a controlling signal sent to one or more speakers mounted in a housing that is coupled to the tailpipe. Sound produced by the speakers enters the mixing chamber to mix with and cancel sound from the combustion product exiting he conduit. Some embodiments include a muffler housing forming an interior chamber which is divided into two sub-chambers. Other embodiments include a muffler having an outer housing enclosing an inner housing. Variations have been devised regarding the number of speakers mounted in each chamber and the way in which they are mounted. Generally, the speakers are attached to mounting brackets and oriented to direct sound waves generally toward the exit of the housing and into the mixing region located in the tailpipe.

The present invention relates generally to active noise cancellation systems, and particularly to active noise cancellation systems for use in quieting the engine exhaust noise of an internal combustion engine. More particularly, this invention relates to an exhaust processor assembly including a mixing chamber receiving combustion product generated by a vehicle engine and a housing containing noise cancellation speakers for delivering cancelling sound waves to the mixing chamber.
Until recently, mufflers used to silence vehicle engines have been limited to passive devices. In a conventional muffler, a stream of exhaust gases is routed from the engine into the muffler where it is generally directed through various flow obstacles such as tubes and baffles provided inside the muffler. The purpose of the flow obstacles in a muffler is to reflect a portion of the sound waves associated with the exhaust gases back towards the engine. The change of acoustic impedance causes the sound energy to be reduced.
The use of such conventional baffle arrangements causes back pressure to develop in the exhaust system. As the stream of exhaust gases encounter the baffles or other obstacles to flow, a pressure wave is propagated back through the exhaust system to the engine, requiring additional power from the engine just to expel the exhaust gases. This power requirement results in reduced maximum power available from a given engine while decreasing fuel efficiency. Therefore, a muffler that is configured to eliminate or substantially reduce back pressure in an exhaust system and includes an active noise attenuation device would represent a great improvement over conventional mufflers.
Active noise attenuation devices use acoustic sensors, control systems, and speakers or transducers to produce sound wave interference. Using sound wave interference, undesirable noise is attenuated by mixing cancelling sound waves produced by the active noise attenuation device with the undesirable noise. The cancelling sound waves are ideally the same frequency and amplitude as the undesirable noise produced by the engine exhaust, but 180 degrees out of phase. When sound waves of equal amplitude and frequency but opposite phase interact, they cancel. In an engine exhaust system equipped with an active noise attenuator, the cancelling sound waves produced by the attenuator mix with the sound waves associated with the exhaust gases traveling in an engine exhaust system to quiet the engine exhaust noise to an acceptable level.
It has been observed that various components in an active noise attenuation device are susceptible to damage as a result of exposure to excessive heat. For example, speakers used to produce cancelling sound waves could be damaged by exposure to heat from the exhaust gases radiated by an exhaust pipe. This exposure to heat can cause the speakers to overheat and the adhesive holding the speaker cones to the speaker frames to deteriorate, thereby allowing the speaker cones to separate from the speaker frame. Consequently, the effectiveness of the speakers in a hot active noise attenuation device could be reduced or completely compromised.
An improved active noise attenuation device would be thermally isolated from contact with the high heat of the combustion product produced by an engine and discharged through an exhaust system. Thermal isolation of the active noise attenuation device from hot combustion product would minimize heat damage to the device without sacrificing noise attenuation. Furthermore, the improved design could eliminate as many bends in the exhaust pipe as possible, along with removing the restrictive muffler, thereby reducing the back pressure applied to the engine.
According to the present invention, an exhaust processor assembly includes a housing formed to include an interior chamber and outlet means for emitting sound waves generated in the interior chamber. The assembly further includes means for providing an acoustical mixing chamber in acoustical communication with the outlet means, means for conducting combustion product from an engine to the acoustical mixing chamber, and means for producing sound waves to attenuate noise generated by combustion product introduced into the acoustical mixing chamber through the conducting means. The assembly further includes means for mounting the sound wave producing means in the interior chamber of the housing to partition the interior chamber to define a first sub-chamber receiving the sound waves generated by the sound wave producing means and having an opening communicating with the outlet means and a second sub-chamber providing a resonance chamber in spaced-apart relation from the outlet means.
In preferred embodiments, the mounting means includes a bracket coupled to the housing to partition the interior chamber of the housing into first and second sub-chambers. The sound producing means illustratively includes a pair of speakers mounted on the bracket and oriented to produce sound waves in the first sub-chamber. The sound waves produced in the first sub-chamber by the speakers are communicated to the acoustical mixing chamber through the outlet means. Illustratively, the two speakers are mounted on a V-shaped bracket so that they are aligned at an angle to one another and arranged to face toward the outlet means formed in the housing.
Advantageously, the hot noisy combustion product mixes with the noise attenuating sound waves produced by the speakers in the acoustical mixing chamber. This acoustical mixing chamber is located outside of the housing and away from the speakers (e.g., in the tail pipe). Heat damage to the speakers is minimized because the remote location of the speakers relative to the acoustical mixing chamber functions to protect the speakers from exposure to the hot noisy combustion product passing through the acoustical mixing chamber.
By providing an acoustical mixing chamber outside of the housing and in acoustical communication with the interior chamber and the conducting means, the improved exhaust processor assembly of the present invention causes noise generated by the engine combustion product to be cancelled in the acoustical mixing chamber outside the housing by the sound waves produced by the speakers in the remote interior chamber inside the housing. Furthermore, the noise cancellation can take place without requiring the hot engine combustion product to pass through the interior chamber and come into contact with the speakers mounted therein, thereby minimizing heat and corrosion related problems found in conventional electronic mufflers. By thermally insulating the acoustical mixing chamber from the outlet means of the interior chamber using a ring made of insulation material, heat generated by the engine combustion is restricted to the acoustical mixing chamber and is not passed back into the interior chamber containing the speaker through the outlet means. This reduces the operating temperature in the speaker environment inside the interior chamber of the housing to yield increased durability and longevity of the speakers, thereby providing an improvement over conventional electronic mufflers.
In other preferred embodiments, the exhaust processor assembly includes an outer housing having an interior chamber and a first outlet for emitting low-frequency sound waves generated by low-frequency speakers positioned in the interior chamber. It also has an inner housing having a second interior chamber and second outlet for emitting high-frequency sound waves generated by high-frequency speakers positioned in the second interior chamber. The inner housing is situated inside the outer housing to position the second outlet of the inner housing inside the first outlet of the outer housing.
By providing an inner housing inside the outer housing, certain embodiments in accordance with the present invention function to allow the production of high-frequency and low-frequency sound waves in two separate but acoustically connected chambers, advantageously maximizing use of available space. By using an acoustical mixing chamber separate from the inner and outer chambers, noise cancellation can take place without requiring the hot engine combustion product to pass through either one of the inner and outer chambers, thereby minimizing heat and corrosion related problems found in conventional electronic mufflers. By thermally isolating the acoustical mixing chamber from the inner and outer chambers using one or more rings made of insulation material, heat generated by the engine combustion is restricted to the acoustical mixing chamber and is not passed back into the chambers containing the speakers through the first and second outlets.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

Electronic muffler assembly with exhaust bypass


Propellable apparatus, assemblies and related methods including a self-enclosed member are disclosed. The self-enclosed member can include an inner surface at least partially defining an enclosed region, and an outer surface that turns outwardly to engage a cavity or lumen wall in addition to turning inward to at least partially encompass a central region defining a longitudinal path. The apparatus can include an internal drive mechanism engageable with the outer surface of the self-enclosed member to provide relative movement between the self-enclosed member and the cavity or lumen wall. A tapered member, positioned on the apparatus adjacent an end of the self-enclosed member, can provide a size transition between an outer surface portion of the self-enclosed member and an outer surface of a payload insertable within the central region. In some examples, one or more reinforcing members can be integrated within the self-enclosed member for increased durability and rotational use.

An endo scope is an instrument often used in medical procedures to view a location of interest within a subject's body and transmit such view(s) to a caregiver or other observer. Endo scopes can also be used to perform a variety of diagnostic and interventional procedures, such as biopsies and other small surgical procedures. Examples of endo scopes include a colono scope configured for use within the colon, an entero scope configured for use within the stomach or small bowel, and a bronchoscope configured for use within the trachea or bronchi. Endo scopes are typically inserted into body cavities or lumens via a natural bodily orifice, but can also be inserted via a surface incision to gain access to the internal location of interest.

Propellable apparatus and related methods


Apparatus for sharpening a razor blade including a sharpening member, a housing for securing the sharpening member therein and for guiding a razor blade in back-and-forth sharpening movement within the housing. The housing has a transverse slot for inserting a head of a razor blade holder therein, and a longitudinal slot in a top plate thereof for linear movement therein of the handle which carries the blade holder. The sharpening or honing member is preferably made of a plate of glass secured to the bottom wall of the housing.

Safety razors typically used for shaving the face and other hairy regions of the human body consist of a metal and/or plastic handle attached to a razor head for holding a razor blade. Generally the razor blades are capable of not more than 5 to 10 close shaves before the cutting edge portion becomes so dull that the user must either change blades or, in the case of the disposable razor, must discard the dull razor of a new one. There is a need for a quick and simple means for re-sharpening the blades in order to extend their useful life.


The present invention is adapted to create multi-page data consisting of image data of a plurality of pages that constitute one document, and to manage the multi-page data in the same stage as single-page data that consists of image data of each page belonging to the document. As a result, an image processing system is realized which can make use of both a single-page file suitable for management or updating of image data performed in units of one page, and a multi-page file suitable for processing of image data performed in units of one document.

This invention relates to an image processing system for scanning, from, for example, a network, a document consisting of a number of pages, and then managing the scanned images of the pages.
Recent image processing systems use image data of a very large number of file formats. For example, they use a single-page file format in which a single file contains image data of a single page, and a multi-page file format in which a single file contains image data of a number of pages.
In the case of the single-page file format in which image data is controlled in units of a single page, the file format, the file size or the date and time of the creation of it can be easily known from the file system. Further, processing such as updating of image data in each page can be performed by simply selecting-image data of a necessary page. In light of these merits, in lots of cases, image data is managed in units of a single page. However, the management of image data in units of a single page will make the operation of the apparatus by the user complicated when simultaneously transferring image data over pages of a document between different applications.
On the other hand, the multi-page file format, in which image data is managed in units of a document, is advantageous when simultaneously transferring, between different applications, image data contained in a document that consists of a number of pages. This format also facilitates the operation of the apparatus by the user. In light of these merits, lots of image processing systems use image data created in units of a document when transferring image data in units of a document. However, the management of image data in units of a document makes the processing such as updating of image data of each page complicated, and also makes the user""s operation complicated since the user cannot choose only image data of a necessary page.
As described above, (1) it is convenient to use the single-page file in order to manage image data, while it is convenient to use the multi-file in order to transfer image data. Accordingly, an image processing system is demanded which can easily manage image data of a document and easily transfer image data in units of a document.
The following problems (2)-(5) may occur when managing image data using both the above-described single-page file and multi-page file formats:
(2) To create image data of the multi-page file format, it is necessary for the user to indicate the end or start of each document in single-page file data. Thus, the user must instruct the system to create a multi-page file, when necessary, by taking time and effort.
Furthermore, when simultaneously scanning a plurality of documents using a separator sheet that indicates the end or start of each document, the separator sheet may be erroneously detected. If image data is excluded from document image data to avoid the above situation, there may be a case where the end or start of each scanned document cannot be changed.
(3) When managing image data using both the single-page and multi-page file formats, it is necessary to secure consistency between image data items of both the file formats since inconsistency occurs therebetween when page edition has been executed thereon.
(4) When simultaneously transferring, to another application, image data created in units of a document, the user must determine whether or not the image data contains multi-page file data.
(5) When simultaneously transferring, to another application, image data created in units of a document, the user must determine whether or not the target application can receive multi-page file data contained in the image data.
It is an object of the invention to provide an image processing system capable of easily controlling image data and easily transferring image data in units of a document.
It is another object of the invention to provide an image processing system capable of creating, by simple operations, image data of a number of pages in units of a document, from image data created in units of a page.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an image processing system capable of maintaining the consistency between image data created in units of a page, and image data of a number of pages created in units of a document.
It is a yet further object of the invention to provide an image processing system which is easy to operate and can simultaneously output image data created in units of a document.
It is another object of the invention to provide an image processing system capable of simultaneously outputting image data that is created in units of a document and corresponds to the condition of a destination.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an image processing system comprising: scanning means for scanning each of a plurality of pages that constitute a document; storage means for storing single-page data that consists of image data of each page scanned by the scanning means; management means for managing, as data belonging to the document, each item of the single-page data stored by the storage means; generation means for generating multi-page data indicating images of a plurality of pages that constitute the entire document scanned by the scanning means; and processing means for storing, in the storage means, the multi-page data generated by the generation means, and managing the single-page data items and the multi-page data as data belonging to the document, using the management means.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an image processing system comprising: scanning means for scanning each of a plurality of pages that constitute a document; storage means for storing single-page data that consists of image data of each page scanned by the scanning means; management means for managing, as data belonging to the document, each item of the single-page data stored by the storage means; generation means for generating multi-page data indicating images of a plurality of pages that constitute the entire document scanned by the scanning means; processing means for storing, in the storage means, the multi-page data generated by the generation means, and managing the single-page data items and the multi-page data as data belonging to the document, using the management means; first determination means for determining, when an instruction is made to output a document managed by the management means, whether or not the document contains multi-page data; designating means for designating a destination for receiving the multi-page data; second determination means for determining, when the first determination means has determined that the document contains the multi-page data, whether or not the destination can receive the multi-page data; and output means for outputting the multi-page data when the second determination means has determined that the destination can receive the multi-page data, and for outputting all single-page data items belonging to the document, when the first determination means has determined that the document does not contain the multi-page data, or when the second determination means has determined that the destination cannot receive the multi-page data.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.


A pneumatic tire provided with a plural of non-linear ridges 11 in a side wall region, wherein ridges 11 are composed of two or more non-linear ridge groups with different shapes and at least one ridge extends from a rim line R to H 80 which is a position corresponding to 0.8 H when tire height from a rim line to a tire maximum outside diameter is defined as H.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire and in more detail, the present invention relates to prevention of bare generation in a side wall region and improvement in appearance quality.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a pneumatic tire, a side wall forms a smooth curved surface except display of brand names, tire size, and land parts. Since a part which molds said curved surface of a mold is not provided with a concave portion, at the time of vulcanizing and molding a green tire, air is likely to be entrapped between a tire and a mold and further, air is hard to be exhausted. As a result, molding inferiority called bare is likely to be generated in an air entrapped portion.
As one of the countermeasures for preventing bare generation, multiple of air-exhaustion holes called vent holes may be provided with a mold. However, when this method is employed, productivity is lowered since it requires an operation (trimming) in which vent spews that are formed with vent holes are cut after vulcanizing and molding.
In order to solve such a problem, a pneumatic tire is known in which linear projected lines called ridges are provided in the wide range of a side wall (FIGS. 1 to 6 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-282215) at an equal interval (for example, not greater than 5 mm).
However, in the above mentioned pneumatic tire, multiple of fine grooves are to be cut on a mold for the formation of a ridge, and there has been a problem of increased production cost of the mold. In addition, since an interval between ridges is small, when dirt is deposited on a side wall, dirt is more elicitable here than other portions, which has also been a problem. Further, since dirt is hard to remove, it has been a problem for users as well.
A side wall is also a portion where joints on which a plurality of rubber members constitute a tire overlap are exposed. In the vicinity joints, as a matter of consequence, subtle concavities and convexities may be formed. For this reason, when linear ridges are regularly arranged, by this subtle concavities and convexities, ridges are deformed, thereby causing a problem of degraded appearance quality.
The object of the present invention lies in prevention of bare generation at the time of vulcanizing and molding, and in improvement in appearance quality by inhibiting the elicitation of concavities and convexities in the vicinity of joints of rubber members on a side wall surface.


A semiconductor laser device includes a Zn-doped p type semiconductor substrate in which more than 81% of Zn dopant atoms are activated to produce carriers, and semiconductor layers epitaxially grown on the Zn-doped p type semiconductor substrate, including an active layer sandwiched between n type and p type cladding layers. Therefore, during the epitaxial growth of the semiconductor layers, diffusion of inactive Zn atoms from the substrate to semiconductor layers is reduced, with the result that the internal loss due to free carrier absorption in the active layer and the underlying p type cladding layer is reduced and non-radiative recombinations of carriers in the active layer are reduced.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partially broken away, illustrating a distributed feedback laser (hereinafter referred to as DFB laser) having a buried heterojunction structure (hereinafter referred to as BH structure), which is disclosed in, for example, ELECTRONICS LETTERS, 21 May 1987, Vol. 23, pp. 546-547 and ELECTRONICS LETTERS, 2 Feb. 1989, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 220-221. In the figure, reference numeral 1 designates a p type InP substrate containing Zn as a dopant. A double heterojunction structure including an InGaAsP active layer 2 sandwiched between a p type InP lower cladding layer 11 and an n type InP first upper cladding layer 12 is disposed on the InP substrate 1. An InGaAsP layer 13 having a diffraction grating structure 14 is disposed on the first upper cladding layer 12. An n type InP second upper cladding layer 15 is disposed on the diffraction grating structure 14. A first p type InP layer 3, an n type InP layer 4, and a second p type InP layer 5 are disposed on opposite sides of the active region, producing a p-n-p current blocking structure. An n type InP third upper cladding layer 6 is disposed on the n type InP second upper cladding layer 15 and the second p type InP layer 5. An n type InGaAsP contact layer 7 is disposed on the third upper cladding layer 6. An insulating film 8 is disposed on the n type InGaAsP contact layer 7 except for a region opposite the active region and extends onto the side surfaces of the laser structure. An n side electrode 9 is disposed on the n type InGaAsP contact layer 7 and the insulating film 8. A p side electrode 10 is disposed on the rear surface of the substrate 1.
A method for fabricating the DFB laser of FIG. 4 is illustrated in FIGS. 5(a)-5(f).
Initially, there are epitaxially grown on the Zn-doped p type InP substrate 1, the Zn-doped p type InP lower cladding layer 11 having a carrier concentration of 1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3 or more, the InGaAsP active layer 2, the n type InP first upper cladding layer 12, and the InGaAsP layer 13 (FIG. 5(a)).
After the epitaxial growth, the diffraction grating structure 14 is formed by a conventional technique (FIG. 5(b)). For example, using photolithography, a photoresist is deposited on the InGaAsP layer, exposed to interference fringes of light, and developed as a mask with a periodic structure. Then, the layer 13 is etched through the mask, and the mask is removed.
Thereafter, the n type InP second upper cladding layer 15 is epitaxially grown on the wafer, and a stripe-shaped dielectric film 20 is formed on the second upper cladding layer 15 (FIG. 5(c)).
Then, the wafer is etched using the dielectric film 20 as a mask to form the double heterojunction structure in a mesa shape (FIG. 5(d)).
Thereafter, the first p type InP current blocking layer 3, the n type InP current blocking layer 4, and the second p type InP current blocking layer 5 are successively grown on opposite sides of the stripe mesa by LPE (Liquid Phase Epitaxy) or the like, and the n type InP third upper cladding layer 6 and the n type InGaAsP contact layer 7 are successively grown on the surface of the wafer (FIG. 5(e)). Carrier concentrations of the p type InP current blocking layers 3 and 5 are in a range from 1.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-3 to 1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3 and are produced by doping those layers with Zn.
Then, the laser structure is formed in a mesa shape by etching (FIG. 5(f)). Then, an insulating film 8 is deposited on the entire surface and the side surfaces of the laser structure and a portion of the insulating film 8 opposite the active region is removed to expose the contact layer 7. Finally, the n side electrode 9 is formed in contact with the contact layer 7 and the p side electrode 10 is formed on the rear surface of the substrate 1, completing the DFB laser of FIG. 4.
In the DFB laser thus fabricated, reactive current flowing outside the InGaAsP active layer 2 is reduced by the p-n-p current blocking layers disposed on opposite sides of the active layer 2. In addition, since the carrier concentration of the first p type InP current blocking layer 3 (1.times.10.sup.17 .about.1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3) is lower than the carrier concentration of the p type InP lower cladding layer 11 (1.times.10.sup.18 cm.sup.-3 or more), the resistance of the current blocking layer 3 is higher than that of the lower cladding layer 11, whereby the reactive current during the laser operation is reduced.
In fabricating the DFB laser of FIG. 4 according to the process steps of FIGS. 5(a)-5(f), although the epitaxial growth of the semiconductor layers on the Zn-doped semiconductor substrate 1 is always carried out under the same conditions, if the Zn dopant concentration in the substrate 1 varies from substrate to substrate, between substrate lots, threshold current and efficiency of the completed laser unfavorably vary, resulting in difficulty in manufacturing high power output DFB lasers with high reproducibility.
Threshold current density Jth and external differential quantum efficiency .gamma.ex of a semiconductor laser are represented by ##EQU1## where dAL is the thickness of the active layer, .GAMMA.v is the light confinement coefficient, L is the resonator length, R1 and R2 are reflectances at the front facet and the rear facet, respectively, JO is the current density when the gain is O, .beta. is the gain factor constant which is proportional to the lifetime of carrier, .eta.i is the internal differential quantum efficiency, and .alpha.i is the internal loss due to free carrier absorption in the crystalline layers on the substrate. In order to reduce the threshold current and increase the efficiency of the semiconductor laser, the internal loss .alpha.i must be decreased, and the gain factor constant .beta. must be increased by reducing non-radiative recombinations of carriers in the active layer.

Semiconductor laser device and production method therefor


The present invention provides a control system employing a single solenoid valve operable to provide a variable fluid flow to effect cooling if the motor/generator assemblies contained within an electrically variable hybrid transmission. The control system of the present invention selectively controls the cooling of at least one motor/generator assembly of an electronically variable hybrid transmission by selectively controlling valves of various types and configurations.

An electrically variable hybrid transmission has been proposed for vehicles to improve fuel economy and reduce exhaust emissions. The electrically variable transmission splits mechanical power between an input shaft and an output shaft into a mechanical power path and an electrical power path by means of differential gearing. The mechanical power path may include clutches and additional gears. The electrical power path may employ two electrical power units, or motor/generator assemblies, each of which may operate as a motor or a generator. With an electrical storage system, such as a battery, the electrically variable transmission can be incorporated into a propulsion system for a hybrid electric vehicle.
The hybrid propulsion system uses an electrical power source, such as batteries, as well as an engine power source. The electrical power source is connected with the motor/generator units through an electronic control unit, which distributes the electrical power as required. The electronic control unit also has connections with the engine and vehicle to determine the operating characteristics, or operating demand, so that the motor/generator assemblies are operated properly as either a motor or a generator. When operating as a generator, the motor/generator assembly accepts power from either the vehicle or the engine and stores power in the battery, or provides that power to operate another electrical device or another motor/generator assembly.
Additionally, the stators for each electric motor/generator assembly contained within the electrically variable hybrid transmission may each require differing rates of cooling that are dependent on the duty cycle of each motor/generator. The cooling of the stator is typically performed by bathing the stator with a calibrated flow rate of transmission fluid allowing the heat generated by operation of the motor/generators to be transferred to the fluid. A continuously high cooling rate is simple to implement, however, additional pump loads and spin losses may produce a decrease in efficiency over a selectively variable motor/generator cooling system.

Variable motor/generator cooling control system for electrically variable hybrid vehicular transmissions


A semiconductor device has: a signal pad; a power supply line; a ground line; an inductor section whose one end is connected to the signal pad; a terminating resistor connected between the other end of the inductor section and the power supply line or the ground line. The semiconductor device further has: a first ESD protection element connected to a first node in the inductor section; and a second ESD protection element connected to a second node whose position is different from that of the first node in the inductor section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device provided with an ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) protection element.
2. Description of Related Art
An impedance matching technique by using a bridged T-coil is known (refer to, for example, Non-Patent Document 1: "40-Gb/s Amplifier and ESD Protection Circuit in 0.18-μm CMOS Technology", Sherif Galal, Behzad Razavi, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits VOL. 39, No. 12, pp. 2389-2396, December 2004). In a high-speed interface circuit provided with an ESD protection element, a parasitic capacitance of the ESD protection element and a parasitic capacitance of an input/output circuit affect impedance matching ability. In particular, impedance mismatch from a desired impedance (50Ω) is caused in a high-frequency region. The impedance matching by using the T-coil is a technique for preventing the impedance mismatch, namely cancelling the parasitic capacitance over a wide frequency range.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a typical interface circuit provided with a T-coil and an ESD protection element. The interface circuit shown in FIG. 1 has a signal input pad 1, a signal line 2, a power supply line 3, a ground line 4, a tap interconnection 5, a T-coil section 10, a terminating resistor 12, an ESD protection element section 20 and a power ESD clamp circuit 30. The power supply line 3 supplies a power supply potential VDD. The ground line 4 supplies a ground potential GND.
The signal input pad 1 is used for inputting an external signal. The signal line 2 connected to the signal input pad 1 transmits the input signal. The T-coil section 10 has an inductor section 11 and a capacitor CB. The inductor section 11 has inductors L1 and L2. The capacitor CB is a bridging capacitor of the inductors L1 and L2. A parameter "k" is a coupling coefficient between the inductors L1 and L2. One end of the inductor L1 is connected to the signal line 2, and one end of the inductor L2 is connected to the terminating resistor 12. The other ends of the inductor L1 and the inductor L2 are connected to a center tap A. The tap interconnection 5 is connected to the center tap A. The tap interconnection 5 connects the T-coil section 10 and the ESD protection element section 20. One end of the terminating resistor 12 is connected to the inductor section 11, and the other end thereof is connected to the power supply line 3. It should be noted that the terminating resistor 12 may be connected to the ground line 4 instead of the power supply line 3.
The ESD protection element section 20 has an ESD protection element ESD_G (hereinafter referred to simply as ESD_G) and an ESD protection element ESD_V (hereinafter referred to simply as ESD_V). One end of the ESD_G is connected to the ground line 4 through an interconnection 21, and the other end thereof is connected to a connection point B. One end of the ESD_V is connected to the power supply line 3 through an interconnection 22, and the other end thereof is connected to the connection point B. The connection point B is further connected to the above-mentioned tap interconnection 5 and an internal circuit. The power ESD clamp circuit 30 is connected between the power supply line 3 and the ground line 4, and provides an ESD discharge path between the power supply line 3 and the ground line 4. Let r1, r2 and r3 be respective parasitic resistances of the tap interconnection 5, the interconnection 21 and the interconnection 22. It should be noted that a discharge path 100 shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to a case where ESD having a positive potential as compared with the ground potential GND is input to the signal input pad 1.
In the typical interface circuit, as shown in FIG. 1, the tap interconnection 5 connecting the T-coil section 10 to the ESD protection element section 20 is drawn only from a single point, the center tap A in the inductor section 11 (refer to, for example, Non-Patent Document 2: "Broadband ESD Protection Circuits in CMOS Technology", Sherif Galal, Behzad Razavi, ISSCC 2003, Session 10, High Speed Building Blocks, Paper 10.5; and Non-Patent Document 3: "Novel T-Coil Structure and Implementation in a 6.4-Gb/s CMOS Receiver to Meet Return Loss Specifications", Pillai Edward, Weiss Jonas, Electronic Components and Technology Conference 2007, Proceedings, 57th, pp. 147-153). The reason is to correctly reflect design parameters (L1, L2, CB and k in FIG. 1) of the T-coil section 10 in a layout of the T-coil section 10 based on the CMOS process. The layout of the T-coil section 10 is determined as follows. First, the design parameters of the T-coil section 10 are calculated. The design parameters are calculated based on a parasitic capacitance value C_total to be canceled (including ESD capacitance, gate capacitance of an input circuit and the like) and a desired impedance value Rs (e.g. 50Ω). Then, a metal interconnection of the inductor section 11 is laid-out in a spiral shape so as to achieve the calculated design parameters L1, L2, CB and k of the T-coil section 10. Here, a certain intermediate point of the inductor section 11 having the spiral shape is the center tap A, and the position of the center tap A is determined such that the calculated design parameters are achieved. Then, a node having the parasitic capacitance C_total is connected to the center tap A. In this manner, the impedance matching is achieved over a wide frequency range. To use the single center tap A for connecting the tap interconnection 5 may be important in correctly reflecting the design parameters of the T-coil section 10 in the layout of the T-coil section 10.
Equations for calculating the design parameters of the T-coil section 10 will be described below. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an interface circuit provided with a T-coil and a terminating resistor. In this case, the design parameters (inductances L1 and L2, bridging capacitance CB, and coupling coefficient k) of the T-coil can be expressed by the following Equation (1) (for example, refer to the above-mentioned Non-Patent Document 2).
                    [                  Equation                                                              1                ]                                                            {                                                                              L                  1                                =                                                      L                    2                                    =                                                                                C                          L                                                                                R                          T                          2                                                                    4                                                                                (                                              1                        +                                                  1                                                      4                                                                                ζ                              2                                                                                )                                                                                C                  B                                =                                                      C                    L                                                        16                                                              ζ                      2                                                                                k                =                                                                            4                                                                    ζ                        2                                                              -                    1                                                                              4                                                                    ζ                        2                                                              +                    1                                                                                (        1        )
In the Equation (1), CL is the parasitic capacitance value C_total to be canceled (including ESD capacitance, gate capacitance of an input circuit and the like), RT is the terminating resistance value, and ζ is a coefficient depending on characteristics.
For example, in a case where there is a strong emphasis on the MFD (Maximally Flat group Delay), the following coefficient ζ is used.
                    [                  Equation                                                              2                ]                                                            ζ        =                              3                    2                                    (        2        )
In this case, the design parameters in the above Equation (1) can be expressed by the following Equation (3).
                    [                  Equation                                                              3                ]                                                            {                                                                              C                  B                                =                                                      1                    12                                                                          C                    L                                                                                L                  1                                =                                                      L                    2                                    =                                                            1                      3                                                                                R                      T                      2                                                                                C                      L                                                                                k                =                                  1                  2                                                                                (        3        )
For more details, please also refer to Non-Patent Document 4: "Handbook of Analog Circuit Design", Dennis Feucht, San Diego, Calif., Academic, 1990. As described above, the design parameters of the T-coil can be expressed by using the parasitic capacitance CL, the terminating resistance value RT and the coefficient ζ. Let us consider a case where the parasitic capacitance CL=1 pF, the terminating resistor=50Ω and the coefficient ζ is as expressed by the above Equation (2). In this case, the bridging capacitance CB is calculated to be 83.3 fF, and the inductances L1 and L2 are calculated to be 0.833 nH. The layout of the inductor section 11 and the position of the center tap A are determined such that the calculated design parameters can be achieved. As a result, the parasitic capacitance of the ESD protection element and the parasitic capacitance of the input/output circuit can be canceled and the impedance matching is possible for a wide frequency range.
In the example shown in FIG. 1, a single-phase signal is input to an input circuit as the internal circuit connected to the T-coil section 10. The same applies to a case of an output circuit as the internal circuit connected to the T-coil section 10. Moreover, the same applies to a circuit that handles a differential signal instead of the single-phase signal. For example, an input circuit and an output circuit based on a differential configuration are disclosed in the FIG. 10.5.3 and the FIG. 10.5.4 of the above-mentioned Non-Patent Document 2. The impedance matching and ESD tolerability are achieved for a wide frequency range.
Semiconductor devices provided with an ESD protection circuit and an inductor are disclosed also in Japanese Patent Publication JP-H10-173133A and Japanese Patent Publication JP-2009-064923A.
The inventors of the present application have recognized the following points.
In the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the CMOS internal circuit may be destroyed by a voltage increase due to an ESD current at a time when ESD is applied. Miniaturization of the CMOS process has been progressing, and a thickness of a metal interconnection particularly formed in the lower interconnect layer has been getting smaller. This causes increase in an interconnect resistance of the metal interconnection. For example, a sheet resistance of the metal interconnection is about 0.2Ω/sq. In this case, the interconnect resistance of a metal interconnection with a width of 1 μm and a length of 10 μm is about 2Ω. Meanwhile, a gate breakdown voltage of a MOS transistor in the internal circuit in a case of 40 nm CMOS process is about 4 V. Therefore, if the ESD current whose magnitude is 3 A flows through the metal interconnection at a time when ESD is applied, the voltage increase of about 6 V is caused. Such the voltage stress far exceeds the gate breakdown voltage of 4 V and is large enough to destroy the CMOS internal circuit.
As shown in FIG. 1, the ESD_V connected to the power supply line 3 and the ESD_G connected to the ground line 4 are necessary in the ESD protection element section 20. However, the tap interconnection 5 from the T-coil section 10 to the ESD protection element section 20 is drawn only from the single point, the center tap A in the inductor section 11. Therefore, routing of a metal interconnection (tap interconnection 5) from the single center tap A to both of the ESD protection elements ESD_V and ESD_G is required. In this case, the metal interconnect path becomes complicated and the metal interconnect length becomes large. This causes increase in a parasitic resistance of the metal interconnection to each ESD protection element, which results in destruction of the CMOS internal circuit by the voltage increase due to the ESD current.
Moreover, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a current density in the discharge path at the time when ESD is applied is high, which causes fusing of a metal interconnection. A thickness of a metal interconnection in a case of 40 nm CMOS process has been decreased to about 0.1 μm. Meanwhile, the magnitude of the ESD current flowing through the discharge path at the time when ESD is applied is not decreased. Therefore, the current density in the discharge path at the time when ESD is applied becomes higher, which causes fusing of the metal interconnection.
Furthermore, in the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a circuit area is large. In the circuit shown in FIG. 1, a width of a metal interconnection of the discharge path 100 may be enlarged in order to reduce the current density and the interconnect resistance. However, as described above, the tap interconnection 5 from the T-coil section 10 to the ESD protection element section 20 is drawn only from the single point, the center tap A in the inductor section 11. Therefore, routing of a metal interconnection (tap interconnection 5) from the single center tap A to both of the ESD protection elements ESD_V and ESD_G is required. In this case, the metal interconnect path becomes complicated and the metal interconnect length becomes large. If the width of the metal interconnection is enlarged, further metal area needs to be ensured, which results in increase in an area of the ESD protection element section 20.
Moreover, the large metal area of the tap interconnection 5 to the two ESD protection elements ESD_V and ESD_G causes loss of the inductance values of the two inductors L1 and L2 of the T-coil section 10. Therefore, a larger inductor area is required in order to achieve the design parameters of the T-coil section 10, which results in increase in an area of the T-coil section 10. As described above, the miniaturization of the CMOS process is progressing, and an area of a CMOS circuit is getting smaller. However, the inductor of the T-coil section 10 and the ESD protection element section 20 hardly enjoy the benefit of the miniaturization of the CMOS process.


Described are compounds and methods useful in the treatment of Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD).

Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD, MIM 136800) is an age-related degenerative disorder of the corneal endothelium. This genetic disease impacts one out of twenty whites in the United States over the age of forty (Lorenzetti et al., 1967). Over fourteen thousand corneal transplant procedures were performed in the U.S. for FECD in 2013 making it the leading indication for corneal transplantation (Eye Bank Statistical Report, 2013). The hallmark of FECD is premature senescence of the endothelium with diffuse thickening of the underlying basement membrane termed Descemet's membrane (Laing et al., 1981; Hogan et al., 1974; Chi et al., 1958). Focal excrescences of the Descemet's membrane visible by slit lamp biomicroscopy termed guttae are pathognomonic for the disorder when they reach confluence in the central cornea. In FECD, progressive loss of the endothelial cell density leads to corneal edema, scarring, and loss of vision.
Expanded trinucleotide repeats at the CTG18.1 locus in intron 2 of TCF4 are associated with FECD in a majority of whites with the disorder (Wieben et al., 2012; Mootha et al., 2014). One copy of the expanded CTG18.1 allele of greater than 40 CTG repeats confers more than a 30-fold increase in the risk for development of FECD in whites (Mootha et al., 2014). The triplet repeat expansion co-segregates with FECD in 52% (15/29) of white families with complete penetrance and an additional 10% (3/29) with incomplete penetrance (Mootha et al., 2014). Trans-ethnic studies including haplotype analysis and replication of the association with an odds ratio of 66.5 for each expanded CTG18.1 allele in a Singapore Chinese cohort with FECD helped provide additional human genetic evidence that the repeat expansion is a shared, common functional variant for FECD in Eurasian populations (Xing et al., 2014).
Expanded CUG repeat RNA (CUGexp) accumulate as nuclear foci in the corneal endothelium of FECD subjects with the CTG18.1 triplet repeat expansion (Mootha et al., 2015; Du et al., 2015). RNA nuclear foci, a hallmark of toxic gain of function RNA, had been previously reported in rare, neurodegenerative disorders caused by simple repeat expansions. Rather than a primary mechanism of haploinsufficiency of TCF4 (Mootha et al., 2015), the triplet repeat expansion at the CTG18.1 locus may mediate endothelial dysfunction via aberrant gene splicing as a result of the mutant CUG RNA transcripts sequestering the splicing factor muscleblind-like 1 (Du et al., 2015). The CTG triplet repeat allele length is positively correlated with the Krachmer FECD grade of clinical severity (Soliman et al., 2015). Myotonic dystrophy type 1 patients with CTG expansions within the 3′-untranslated region of DMPK gene are also at increased risk for FECD and form CUGexp-MBNL1 foci in corneal endothelium. (REF: Mootha, V. V., Hansen, B., Rong, Z., Mammen, P. P., Zhou, Z., Xing, C. and Gong, X. (2017) Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy and RNA Foci in Patients With Myotonic Dystrophy. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 58, 4579-4585.) Thus there are two distinct triplet repeats that converge on RNA foci and FECD, and it appearls likely that the foci are not bystanders but rather play a causal role for FECD.

Treatment of Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy

THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM


The present invention provides a positive electrode (30) for lithium secondary batteries, including: a barrier layer, having a conductive material and at least one type of water-insoluble polymer that is soluble in organic solvents but insoluble in water, as a binder; and a positive electrode active material layer, being a positive electrode active material layer (35) stacked on the barrier layer, and having a positive electrode active material and at least one type of aqueous polymer that is insoluble in organic solvents but soluble or dispersible in water, as a binder. A content of the water-insoluble polymer in the barrier layer is 55 to 85 mass % with respect to 100 mass % of a total amount of the conductive material plus the water-insoluble polymer.

Various types of lightweight, high-power batteries are widely used as power sources in vehicle on-board power sources or power sources in personal computers, cell phones and other mobile electronic products, and further applications of such batteries are expected to be ongoingly developed. Lithium secondary batteries are one form of such batteries. A typical lithium ion battery comprises a positive electrode and a negative electrode respectively provided with a layer containing a positive electrode active material and a layer containing a negative electrode active material (active material layers) formed on positive and negative collectors, the positive electrode active material and the negative electrode active material being capable of storing and releasing lithium ions. The lithium ion battery comprises also a non-aqueous electrolyte solution having lithium ion conductivity.
A representative method for forming the active material layers on the collectors of the positive electrode and negative electrodes involves, for instance, applying a composition having a positive or negative active material as a main component (composition for forming an active material layer) and that is prepared, in the form of a paste or slurry, by dispersing the active material in an aqueous solvent or non-aqueous solvent, followed by drying and/or heating to remove the solvent in the active material layer. Besides the solvent active material as a main component, one, two or more types of other materials (typically, conductive materials, binders and the like) are also added to prepare the composition for forming an active material layer.
When the paste or slurry-like composition for forming an active material layer (hereafter "paste for forming an active material layer") is prepared using a solvent in the form of an organic solvent (non-aqueous solvent), the binder used is a polymer soluble in organic solvents, such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or the like. By contrast, when the paste for forming an active material layer is prepared using an aqueous solvent as the solvent, there is preferably used a water-dispersible polymer such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Herein, a paste for forming an active material layer wherein the paste uses an aqueous solvent (hereafter "aqueous paste for forming an active material layer") is advantageous in terms of reducing the overall environmental burden, since such a paste gives rise to little industrial waste, for instance waste water, thanks to not using organic solvents. Equipment and treatment costs associated with that waste can be avoided as a result.
In the preparation of an aqueous paste for forming a positive electrode active material layer, however, there occur exchange reactions between protons and lithium ions at the surface of the positive electrode active material, on account of the high reactivity between the positive electrode active material and water, depending on the nature of the positive electrode active material that is contained in the paste (for instance, a lithium-nickel complex oxide having a composition represented by formula LiNiO2). The pH of the aqueous paste for forming a positive electrode active material layer may rise as a result. When such a high-pH aqueous paste is applied onto the positive electrode collector (for instance, Al foil), compounds exhibiting high electric resistivity (for instance, oxides and hydroxides) form readily on the collector surface, which may result in a greater initial internal resistance of the battery.
Such being the case, Patent document 1 discloses a method that involves forming a beforehand a barrier layer (conductive layer) on the collector surface by applying a paste-like composition comprising a binder, a conductive material and an organic solvent, onto a positive electrode collector surface, and forming then a positive electrode active material layer on the surface of the barrier layer using an aqueous paste for forming a positive electrode active material layer. The method disclosed in Patent document 1 prevents the formation of the above-mentioned resistive compounds through the formation of the barrier layers between the collectors and the active material layers. Patent document 2 is another instance of prior art.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-4739
Patent document 2: Japanese Patent No. 3501113
A barrier layer (conductive layer) such as the on disclosed in Patent document 1 requires water resistance, to prevent the generation of high-resistivity compounds on the collector surface, by suppressing direct contact between the collector and the aqueous paste for forming a positive electrode active material layer, and requires also conductivity, so that electric resistance does not rise excessively between the collector and the positive electrode active material layer. To realize good conductivity, for instance, the barrier layer is preferably as thin as possible. However, a thin conventional barrier layer (for instance, the conductive layer disclosed in Patent document 1) tends to have insufficient water resistance.

Positive electrode of lithium secondary battery and method for producing the same


A process to investigate intrusions with an investigation system is disclosed. The process receives forensic facts from a set of forensic events on a system or network. A suspicious fact is identified from the forensic facts. A related fact from the forensic facts is identified based on the suspicious fact.

Information security services and digital forensics services relate to the investigation and prevention of digital intrusions, such as the breach and exploitation of computer systems and networks, and can include intrusion investigation systems. An intrusion investigation system is a tool, such as a device or software application, that can monitor a network or system for malicious activity or policy violations and gathers evidence that indicates the security of the system or network of interest has been breached. In some examples, intrusion investigation systems can attempt to reconstruct the intrusion or attack from the evidence gathered. The scope of intrusion investigation systems can vary greatly, from simple tools and libraries to hierarchical systems that scrutinize an entire network. In some examples, intrusion investigation systems can further include intrusion prevention mechanisms.