A conveyor apparatus for supporting, conveying and diverting a lane of successive articles to supply four lanes so that the articles can be intermittently bunched in successive rows of four articles. The apparatus comprises a horizontal array of rollers arranged in transverse rows longitudinally spaced apart from one another. The rollers are rotatably driven about horizontal axes for providing upper rolling surfaces upon which the articles can be supported and conveyed. The rollers are operably pivotable about vertical axes for steering the articles across the array of rollers along the prescribed sharp-angled zig-zag paths.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for supporting, conveying and steering articles, and more particularly to an apparatus for diverting a continuous succession of articles supplied in a single lane to supply plural lanes.
Apparatus for supporting, conveying and diverting articles are known in the art. The known apparatus typically is between an upstream conveyor and one or more downstream conveyors. The known apparatus is typically supplied by the upstream conveyor with a single column of a continuous succession of articles. The articles are supported, conveyed, and diverted by the known apparatus to supply plural columns of articles, as for supplying plural downstream conveyors and the like. For that purpose, the known apparatus typically comprises a horizontal section of rollers which are positively driven to rotate about horizontal axes and are operably pivotable about vertical axes. The rollers provide upper rolling surfaces upon which the articles can be supported and conveyed. In addition, the rollers are operatively pivotable from a normal position corresponding to conveying articles in a straight path to off-normal positions, corresponding to diverting articles.
The prior art apparatus are deficient at accurately steering the articles without such costly penalties as slowing down the throughput of articles or increasing the size and complexity of the apparatus. Steering accuracy is typically sacrificed when articles traveling at high speed approach rollers at an angle, even if the angle is shallow. Additionally, steering accuracy may be sacrificed when articles traveling at a moderate speed approach rollers at too severe an angle. Either way, the result is that traction is broken between the rollers and the articles. Consequently, the articles change travel directions in curved paths prescribed more by physics and inertia than by machine-selected control. To date, the preferred and conservative way to achieve steering accuracy is to slow down the throughput of articles. However, slowing down the throughput is costly for high-speed conveyor lines.
Further deficiencies in the prior art apparatus concern the longitudinal gaps required between successive articles. Gaps are costly because a high speed line with large gaps between successive articles provides only a low throughput of articles. Part of the need for gaps between successive articles relates to the time needed for repositioning the rollers between the passage of a leading article and the oncoming of a trailing article. Another need for gaps between successive articles relates to the sensitivity of the apparatus to the disordered supply of articles. Some of the prior art apparatus are especially sensitive to disordered supply such as the early arrival of a trailing article, because the apparatus has not had time to make a steering decision and position the rollers accordingly. Such articles then are steered in error. For such disordered supply, the typical solution has been to provide overgenerous gaps, and to suffer losses in throughput as a consequence.
What is needed to solve the deficiencies of the prior art is an apparatus which has a high throughput for articles, and which can steer articles at a sever angle without breaking traction between the rollers and the articles, as well as having the ability to make independent steering decisions on the basis of the arrival of each article, and which is rugged, compact, and long-lasting.

Apparatus for diverting a lane of successive articles to plural lanes


The present embodiments describe methods and systems for intercepting unauthorized communications in a controlled-environment facility. Unauthorized communications may originate from contraband cell phones, for example. In an embodiment, attempted communications from the contraband communication device are intercepted by the facility communication systems. The attempted communication may or may not be connected or completed, depending upon facility rules, policies, and regulations.

The use of contraband communication devices within controlled-environment facilities poses a risk to facility security, an avenue for continued criminal activity for inmates, and additionally a loss in revenues for facility operators and administration. Inmates may obtain access to contraband devices through many different sources. Family and friends are a potential source. Similarly, facility staff may be a potential source of contraband devices. For example, there have been past instances of inmates, or associates of inmates, paying a member of prison staff to smuggle a contraband communication device, such as a cell phone, into the facility.
Inmates may use the contraband communication device to circumvent facility communication systems, which are often monitored. For example, an inmate may use a contraband cell phone to contact gang affiliates in an attempt to direct further criminal activity from within the facility. In another example, an inmate may use a contraband smartphone or tablet device to access illegal images, including images of child pornography. In another example, an inmate may use the contraband communication device to contact friends and family in an effort to avoid payment of communications fees. Many other illegal or illicit acts may be perpetrated by use of contraband communication devices.
During the course of the communications, inmates may make incriminating admissions, commit further criminal acts, conspire to commit further criminal acts, or leave a trail of incriminating data. Ordinarily, these actions and admissions may be monitored by facility communication systems and investigators. By circumventing the facility communication system, however, it may not be possible to monitor such activities.
Additionally, facilities typically make use of revenues derived from an inmate's use of facility communication systems to operate, update, and maintain the facility communications system. When an inmate circumvents the facility communication systems, financial revenue is lost, which could otherwise benefit the facility and other inmates and administration thereof.

Interception of unauthorized communications in an controlled-environment facility


A system and a method are provided for using external sources (e.g., landing pages) for sponsored search ad selection. In one example, the system identifies one or more regions of an external source. The one or more regions are relevant to a query. The external source includes a source that includes relevant data that is usable for augmenting an ad selection process. The system extracts one or more features from the one or more regions. The system determines which of the one or more features are relevant for item indexing. The system then augments an item selection process by using the one or more features that are relevant for item indexing.

Web search is the gateway to the Internet for billions of users daily. When a user issues a query to a search engine, two separate searches are evaluated: the search over the corpus of pre-crawled Web pages is called Web search; the ads that are displayed at the top and the side of the Web search results are retrieved by sponsored search. Sponsored search provides revenue for the search engine and brings users to numerous advertiser sites.
Web search and sponsored search differ in a few key aspects. Sponsored search is evaluated over a set of ads that promote products and services. As it is customary in the advertising world, the textual content visible to the user (e.g., ad creative), is generated by an advertiser to maximize a response of a target audience. In Web search, on the other hand, the snippet shown on the search result page is generated automatically by the summarization mechanism of the search engine. Another important difference is in the way the ads and the Web results are selected. While the Web pages are selected based on their content, the ad selection depends heavily on the use of an ad bid phrase, which is a query that the advertiser has specified as suitable for the ad. In the early days of the sponsored search marketplace, this mechanism allowed for simple ad selection where the whole burden and control is shifted to the advertiser. However, with the development of the sponsored search market, it has quickly become apparent that the advertisers most likely cannot find all the queries that could be relevant to their ads.
To alleviate this problem the search engines allow for advanced match where an ad can be selected even if the bid phrase does not match the query. The advanced match problem corresponds closer to the Web search problem. Recent advanced match approaches use search techniques for ad selection by evaluating the query over a corpus of documents that are created from the ads. One of the key difficulties in this ad retrieval approach is that the ads are much shorter than documents in most other search applications.

Using external sources for sponsored search AD selection


A method and system arrangement for controlling and determining mask operation activities. Upon obtaining chip physical layout design data and running resolution enhancement technology on the chip physical layout design to generate mask features which may include any sub-resolution assist features, a placement sensitivity metric is determined for each of the generated mask features or edge fragments. In one alternative embodiment an edge placement sensitivity metric is determined for each edge of the generated mask features or edge fragments. The determined sensitivity metrics for each feature are classified and applied to subsequent mask operational activities such as post processing, write exposure and mask repair. The types of decisions based on the sensitivity metric may include minimizing or maximizing OPC processing; e-beam exposure adjustment in mask write; and selection of which mask features to repair as well as what repair criteria to then apply, and adjusting quality requirement criteria for manufacturing assessment.

The disclosure relates generally to processing and fabrication techniques for semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to photolithographic mask operation activities including creation, post processing, fabrication, inspection, disposition and repair of photolithographic masks.
Semiconductor fabrication techniques often utilize a mask or reticle in a conventional lithographic system to project an image onto a semiconductor wafer, wherein radiation is provided through (or reflected off) the mask/reticle, and passed through a focusing optical system to form the image (e.g., an integrated circuit pattern). The semiconductor wafer is positioned to receive the radiation transmitted through (or reflected off) the mask/reticle such that the image formed on the wafer corresponds to the pattern on the mask/reticle. The radiation source may be light, such as ultraviolet light, vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light, extreme ultraviolet light (EUV), deep ultraviolet light (DUV), mid ultraviolet light (MUV) or optical sources. In addition, the radiation may also be x-ray radiation, e-beam radiation, energized ions or particles, etc. Generally, the formed image is projected on the wafer in order to pattern a layer of material, such as a photoresist material. The photoresist material, in turn, may be utilized to define doping regions, deposition regions, etching regions, or other structures associated with the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs).
Each time that a layer of material is exposed to radiation, a mask must be used to expose only the desired areas to the radiation, and to protect the other areas from exposure. The mask is created from circuit layout data. That is, the geometric elements described in layout design data define the relative locations or areas of the circuit device that will be exposed to radiation through the mask. A mask or reticle writing tool is used to create the mask based upon the layout design data, after which the mask can be used in a photolithographic process. The image created in the mask is often referred to as the intended or target mask image, while the image created on the substrate, by employing the mask in the photolithographic process, is referred to as the printed or wafer image.
As designers and manufacturers continue to increase the number of circuit components in a given area and/or shrink the size of circuit components, the shapes reproduced on the substrate become smaller and are placed closer together. This reduction in feature size increases the difficulty of faithfully reproducing the image intended by the layout design onto the substrate. In addition, the size of the features to be produced is getting smaller relative to the wavelength of the light, thus there is additional distortion from diffraction and other optical effects. One reason for non-perfect yields is that as feature sizes shrink, the dominant cause of defects change. In smaller process technologies, for example the nanometer process technology, a dominant source of yield loss is pattern-dependent effects. These defects can be the result of the design's features being smaller than the wavelength of light. As a result, the physical effects of light at these smaller feature sizes must be accounted for.
Various common techniques exist for mitigating these effects. For example, resolution enhancement technology (RET) manufacturability and resolution improvement techniques, such as scattering bars and sub-resolution assist features, double or multiple patterning, and phase shift masks (PSM), are commonly employed to prepare physical layout designs for manufacturing. RET lithographic compensations such as optical process correction (OPC) techniques for distortion correction are typically employed as well. Additionally, physical verification techniques that assist in accounting for issues such as planarization and antenna effects are also employed on physical layout designs. Although these extensive modifications to the physical layout design can result in a mask layout design unrecognizable by the designer, the resulting manufactured circuit matches the designer's intent. Application of these techniques requires the optical lithographic process to be simulated. This simulation is often accomplished by modeling the optical lithographic process. Generation of an optical model first requires that various designs be manufactured by the optical process to be modeled. Subsequently, measurements are taken of the manufactured design and models may be generated based upon the measurements of the actual manufactured design and the intended design. As indicated above, designs and the optical lithographic processes used to manufacture the designs are increasing in complexity. Accordingly, generation of optical models as well as application of resolution enhancement techniques in addition to optical proximity correction is increasingly burdensome in terms of post processing. There are also correspondingly increasing overheads in mask write times and repair requirements.
Photolithography masks are fabricated at a significant cost and time. One of the cost drivers in mask production is the need for producing minimum defect masks, through dispositioning and repair. Other costs are long lead times as well as the direct fabrication costs attributable to post processing, mask writing, and fabrication. For example, OPC is becoming increasingly non-constrained, resulting in an explosion of additional shapes and edge fragments. Changing OPC fragmentation rules increases shot counts, and correspondingly increases the e-beam mask write times for mask fabrication. In addition to the direct costs, the fabrication times for creating a new mask can delay product qualification, resulting in further economic loss.

Method for determining mask operation activities

International Business Machines Corporation


A new and distinct Dracaena cultivar named ‘KKDR201205’ is disclosed, characterized by distinctive foliage variegation pattern unlike other known Draceana reflexa cultivars, as well as narrow leaves. The new variety is a Dracaena, typically produced as an indoor ornamental plant.

The new cultivar is the product of chance discovery. The new variety originated as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation of an unnamed, unpatented variety of Dracaena reflexa.
The new variety was first discovered by the inventor, Kanchana Khemakongkanond, a citizen of Thailand, in February of 2005, in a nursery in Bangkok, Thailand. After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, the inventor continued confidential testing and propagation of 'KKDR201205', assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar 'KKDR201205' was first performed by vegetative cuttings at the same nursery in Bangkok, Thailand during July of 2005. Subsequently at least three generations have been produced from vegetative cuttings, and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.


Provided are a backlight unit and a display device having the same. The backlight unit includes a light source configured to generate light and a plurality of light guide members stacked so that individual surfaces of each light guide member contact a surface of another one of the light guide members, the plurality of light guide members configured to guide the light. Each of the light guide members includes a light incident for receiving incident light from the light source, an opposite surface facing an adjacent one of the light guide members, and a plurality of light path change patterns disposed on the opposite surface. Thus, brightness of the display device may be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to flat panel displays. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a backlight unit having improved brightness, and a display device incorporating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-emissive type display devices, such as liquid crystal displays, typically employ a backlight unit for supplying light to the display panel.
The backlight unit includes a light source such as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) or a light emitting diode (LED). Also, the backlight unit incorporates this light source into a light guide unit for more uniform supplying of the light emitted from the light source to the entire display panel.
The backlight unit may further include other components to improve the brightness of light emitted from the light guide unit.

Backlight unit and display device having the same


An electrode plate group is accommodated together with liquid electrolyte in a metal case having an oval or rectangular cross section. The open end of the case is sealed by a metal sealing plate, with an insulation gasket fitted between the case and the sealing plate. The electrode plate group is constructed with a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate wound around with a separator interposed therebetween. Core materials of respective plates are protruded to opposite sides to form a positive electrode end face and a negative electrode end face at either end of the electrode plate group. The winding axis of the electrode plates is vertical to the open end of the case, and the positive and negative electrode end faces are respectively connected to the sealing plate and the bottom face of the case in direct or indirect surface contact therewith.

The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in priority Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-121571, filed on Apr. 24, 2002, the contents of which is herein expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealed rechargeable battery. More particularly, it relates to a battery having an electrode plate group constructed with a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate wound around with a separator interposed therebetween and accommodated in a case having an oval or rectangular cross section.
2. Description of Related Art
Demands have been growing for electric vehicles or gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in light of global environmental issues. Rechargeable batteries used as power sources for such vehicles are required to be small and lightweight as well as to have high capacity and high power output. Lithium ion rechargeable batteries and nickel metal hydride batteries are known to satisfy these requirements and have actually found practical applications.
FIG. 6 shows one such conventional sealed rechargeable battery. It accommodates an electrode plate group 24 in a cylindrical metal case 25 together with liquid electrolyte. The electrode plate group 24 consists of a strip of positive electrode plate 21 and a strip of negative electrode plate 22 wound around with a separator 23 interposed therebetween. Positive and negative electrode tabs 26 and 27 are extended from given locations of the positive electrode plate 21 and negative electrode plate 22 in opposite directions. The negative electrode tab 27 extended to the lower side is welded to a bottom face of the case 25, and the positive electrode tab 26 extended to the upper side is welded to a sealing plate 28 for sealing the open end of the case 25. The sealing plate 28 is fixed to the case 25 with a gasket 29 fitted therebetween to provide a seal.
In the construction shown in FIG. 6, because the positive electrode plate 21 is connected to the sealing plate 28 via the positive electrode tab 26 and the negative electrode plate 22 is connected to the case 25 via the negative electrode tab 27, the connection resistance is large. The battery internal resistance is accordingly large, because of which the output characteristics and large current discharge characteristics are not satisfactory. There is also the problem of high costs because of large numbers of components and assembling steps.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-243433 discloses a construction for a rechargeable battery, which is shown in FIG. 7A. A positive electrode plate 31 and a negative electrode plate 32 are wound around with a separator 33 interposed therebetween to form an electrode plate group 34 such that one lateral edge of the positive electrode plate 31 and one lateral edge of the negative electrode plate 32 are respectively protruded. These projecting portions 31a and 32a of the positive and negative electrode plates are directly bonded to a sealing plate 36 and the bottom face of a case 35, respectively, by laser beam welding. To achieve high bonding strength in the welding between the positive electrode projecting portion 31a and the sealing plate 36 and between the negative electrode projecting portion 32a and the bottom face of the case 35, radial ribs 37 are provided on the sealing plate 36 or on the bottom face of the case 35 so as to form protruding bonding surfaces as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C.
The battery shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, however, has the following problems: When constructing a battery pack by connecting a plurality of such batteries as battery modules, the number of the batteries that can be accommodated in a confined space is limited because they are cylindrical. The volume efficiency will be further reduced if cooling passages are to be formed between the batteries to prevent battery temperature rise. Each battery will exhibit poor cooling properties particularly in the central portion because its cross section is circular. That is, this battery has poor volume efficiency per power output.
Another problem is that, because the electrode plate group 34 is welded to the case 35 and the sealing plate 36 at the radial ribs 37 as shown in FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C, welds are gathered in high density in the central portion of the electrode plate group 34 while the welds are sparse in the outer peripheral portion. This makes the current distribution in the positive and negative electrode plates 31 and 32 uneven, which increases battery internal resistance and makes the chemical reactions of active materials uneven. The output characteristics and large current discharge characteristics are thereby reduced, adversely affecting the battery life.
Japanese Patents Nos. 2692533 and 2697565 show a construction for a sealed prismatic rechargeable battery, in which an electrode plate group formed by winding around a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate with a separator therebetween is accommodated in a prismatic case such that its winding axis is in parallel to the open end of the case. The open end of the case is sealed by a lid provided with a positive terminal, to which one end of the positive electrode plate is connected. The negative electrode plate which is located at the outermost side of the electrode plate group is connected to the case. With this construction, because one end of the positive and negative electrode plates is connected to the positive terminal and the case which forms the opposite terminal, the current path from each electrode plate is relatively long, so that the battery internal resistance is large because of the large current resistance inside the battery, and therefore the output characteristics and large current discharge characteristics are not satisfactory. Moreover, while a cylindrical battery can retain its electrode plate group securely in position within the case, the prismatic battery cannot hold its rolled electrode plate group securely inside the rectangular tube case. Thus, there is a risk that active material mixtures may come off the positive or negative electrode plates when vibration is applied to the battery, whereupon the battery characteristics are suddenly deteriorated because of the damaged electrode plate group.
In light of the problems of the conventional batteries, an object of the present invention is to provide a sealed rechargeable battery having high volume efficiency per power output and favorable output characteristics and large current discharge characteristics.
The present invention provides a sealed rechargeable battery including: a metal case having any of an oval cross section and a rectangular cross section; a metal sealing plate for sealing an open end of the case; an insulation gasket interposed between the case and the sealing plate; and an electrode plate group including a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate wound around with a separator interposed therebetween. Core materials of the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate are protruded to opposite sides to form a positive electrode end face and a negative electrode end face at either end of the electrode plate group. The electrode plate group is accommodated in the case with liquid electrolyte with its winding axis vertical relative to the open end of the case. The positive electrode end face is connected to either one of a bottom face of the case and the sealing plate in direct surface contact therewith or indirectly coupled thereto, and the negative electrode end face is connected to the other one of the bottom face of the case and the sealing plate in direct surface contact therewith or indirectly coupled thereto.
With this construction, because the battery case has an oval or rectangular cross section, its volume efficiency per power output is higher than that of a cylindrical battery. A plurality of such batteries can be arranged in a limited space with good space efficiency particularly when constituting a battery pack with cooling passages between adjacent batteries. The resultant battery pack will thus have a small volume per power output. The battery exhibits high cooling properties relative to the entire cross section because of the flat outer shape, and its metal case has better cooling properties than a resin case, whereby temperature rise of the battery is effectively prevented and the battery output characteristics and service life are improved. Furthermore, because both end faces of the electrode plate group are respectively connected to the bottom face of the case and the sealing plate in a state wherein they make direct surface contact with each other or indirect connection therebetween, the current path between any given point in the electrode plates and the case or sealing plate which will form external connection terminals is made short, and also the current distribution in each electrode plate is made uniform, whereby the active materials on the electrode plates are entirely and uniformly contributed to the reactions. Internal resistance is thus reduced, high output characteristics and large current discharge characteristics are achieved, and battery life is made longer. Also, since both end faces of the electrode plate group are held entirely by the bottom face of the case and sealing plate, the electrode plate group is securely retained even when vibration is applied. Therefore there is no risk that battery characteristics are suddenly deteriorated resulting from damages to the electrode plate group because of active material mixtures coming off the electrode plates. Moreover, because the metal case does not necessitate any treatment for preventing gas permeation as with a resin case, the battery is fabricated with fewer process steps and at lower cost.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A phase mask, for writing fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) in an optical fiber, adjusts the amplitude and the phase of the FBG, while maintaining a constant mean index of refraction of the fiber in a single pass. Specifically, the phase mask embodies the amplitude information so that the amplitude information is an integral part of the phase mask and preferably cannot be separated from the phase information. A first embodiment employs a reflective or opaque surface, defining a window, on the substrate of a phase mask controlling the amplitude of light passing through the phase mask. Another embodiment employs a polygonal shaped grating region on a clear substrate. A third embodiment interleaves regions of grating and smooth substrate surface. Preferred embodiments employ two areas of gratings with the areas disposed: perpendicularly, out of bandwidth or out of phase, relative to each other or additive.

The present invention generally relates to fiber optical communication technologies and more specifically to a system and method for embodying amplitude information into phase masks for writing fiber Bragg gratings.
Normal optical fibers are uniform along their lengths. A slice from any one point of the fiber looks like a slice taken from anywhere else on the fiber, disregarding tiny imperfections. However, it is possible to make fibers in which the refractive index varies regularly along their length. These fibers are called fiber gratings because they interact with light like diffraction gratings. Their effects on light passing through them depend very strongly on the wavelength of the light.
A diffraction grating is a row of fine parallel lines, usually on a reflective surface. Light waves bounce off of the lines at an angle that depends on their wavelength, so light reflected from a diffraction grating spreads out in a spectrum. In fiber gratings, the lines are not grooves etched on the surface, instead they are variations in the refractive index of the fiber material. The variations scatter light by what is called the Bragg effect, hence fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). Bragg effect scattering is not exactly the same as diffraction scattering, but the overall effect is similar. Bragg scattering reflects certain wavelengths of light that resonate with the grating spacing while transmitting other light.
FBGs are used to compensate for chromatic dispersion in an optical fiber. Dispersion is the spreading out of light pulses as they travel on the fiber. Dispersion occurs because the speed of light through the fiber depends on its wavelength, polarization, and propagation mode. The differences are slight, but accumulate with distance. Thus, the longer the fiber, the more dispersion. Dispersion can limit the distance a signal can travel through the optical fiber because dispersion cumulatively blurs the signal. After a certain point, the signal has become so blurred that it is unintelligible. The FBGs compensate for chromatic (wavelength) dispersion by serving as a selective delay line. The FBG delays the wavelengths that travel fastest through the fiber until the slower wavelengths catch up. FBGs are discussed further in Feng et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,963, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In some applications it is desired to make FBGs which have multiple spectral bands of operation (channels). One method to make such devices is to further modulate the FBG with a period longer than the underlying grating period. This method of providing a superimposed structure or super-structure may sometimes be referred to as sampling. This super-structure may involve either modulation of the FBG amplitude or period (or phase). Examples of these type of FBG devices are described in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/757,386, entitled xe2x80x9cEFFICIENT SAMPLED BRAGG GRATINGS FOR WDM APPLICATIONSxe2x80x9d.
FBGs are typically created in one of two manners. The first manner is known as the direct write FBG formation In this manner two ultraviolet beams may be impinged onto the fiber, in such a manner that they interfere with each other and form an interference pattern on the fiber. The interference pattern comprises regions of high and low intensity light. The high intensity light causes a change in the index of refraction of that region of the fiber. Since the regions of high and low intensity light are alternating, a FBG is formed in the fiber. The fiber or the writing system is moved with respect to the other such that the FBG is scanned, or written, into the fiber. Note that the two beams are typically formed from a single source beam by passing the beam through a beam separator, e.g. a beamsplitter or a grating. Also, the two beams are typically controlled in some manner so as to allow control over the locations of the high and low intensity regions. For example, Laming et al., WO 99/22256, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, teaches that beam separator and part of the focusing system is moveable to alter the angle of convergence of the beams, which in turn alters the fringe pitch on the fiber. Another example is provided by Stepanov et al., WO 99/63371, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and teaches the use of an electro-optic module, which operates on the beams to impart a phase delay between the beams, which in turn controls the positions of the high and low intensity regions.
The second manner for creating FBGs uses a phase mask. The phase mask is a quartz slab that is patterned with a grating. This grating is typically a row of finely spaced parallel lines, or grooves, with a duty cycle typically in the forty to sixty percent range. These lines are usually etched lithographically onto the surface of the quartz slab (mask). The mask is placed in close proximity with the fiber, and ultraviolet light, usually from an ultraviolet laser, is shined through the mask and onto the fiber. As the light passes through the mask, the light is primarily diffracted into two directions, which then forms an interference pattern on the fiber. At this point, the FBG is formed in the same way as the direct write manner. See also Kashyap, xe2x80x9cFiber Bragg Gratingsxe2x80x9d, Academic Press (1999), ISBN 0-12-40056-8, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Each manner has advantages and disadvantages when compared with each other. For example, the phase mask manner, is relatively inflexible, as changes cannot be made to the mask. However, since the phase mask is permanent, the phase mask manner is stable, repeatable, and aside from the cost of the mask, relatively inexpensive to operate. On the other hand, the direct write manner is very flexible, and can write different gratings. However, this manner is less repeatable and is costly to operate.
When making an FBG there is a need to combine two pieces of information. A phase profile, provided by variation of the period, commonly referred to as chirp, of a phase mask and an amplitude profile (i.e. the magnitude of the index modulation of the core of the fiber) provided by varying the light exposure of the mask or other FBG creation mechanism. For complex FBG designs this creates an opportunity for errors. Assuming a perfect phase mask, manufactured in accordance with prior art methods, a phase mask only has a part of the information needed to write an FBG on a fiber, the phase information. The other information necessary for proper function of the FBG is the amplitude, which provides a profile for magnitude of a spatially varying oscillatory index modulation of the grating that is written into the core of the fiber.
In the prior art, the amplitude information is provided by separate data used to modulate the laser beam intensity or by other methods, such as rapidly vibrating the mask, fiber, or aiming mechanisms of the laser beam. Thus, in the prior art the amplitude information is controlled separately from the phase information that is incorporated into the mask. Therefore, great care has previously been required such that variation of the amplitude is controlled during the FBG writing process so as to be precisely spatially synchronized with the phase information incorporated into the mask in order to insure proper function of the grating. In addition, in the prior art, changes in the FBG amplitude made by modulating the laser intensity may cause changes in the average index of refraction of the fiber, which effectively leads to errors in the intended chirp.
One prior art attempt to combine phase and amplitude information for FBGs uses two masks. A phase mask and an amplitude mask are stacked or sandwiched. A window is cut out of a chrome layer of the amplitude mask. The light beam is focused through the amplitude mask and thus through the phase mask, focusing on the core of the fiber. This is undesirable as modulation of the mean index of refraction modifies the desired FBG. Ideally, a uniform mean index of refraction with symmetric oscillations of the index around the mean is needed to result in properly functioning FBGs. Therefore, under this prior art method a second pass of the laser beam after removing both masks and replacing the amplitude mask with a complementary mask amplitude pattern is necessary to equalize the mean index of refraction of the fiber. This method suffers from insufficient accuracy as a result of inherent inaccuracies associated with a multiple pass writing process.
It is also known in the art, for example as disclosed in Hill, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,588, that the period of the grating on the mask preferably be chosen to be twice the desired period of the fringes in the FBG. This is because the fiber Bragg grating is formed by interference between the +1 and xe2x88x921 orders diffracted from the mask grating. The etch depth of the mask grating is chosen to suppress the zeroeth order. Accordingly, it is understood that any phase shift present in the mask is effectively doubled upon writing into the FBG. Thus, if a phase shift of xcfx80 or a half-period is desired in the FBG, then a phase shift of xcfx80/2 or a quarter-period is required in the mask grating.
Another prior art method to combine phase and amplitude information for FBGs uses modulation of the duty cycle, or etch depth, of the grating on the mask to modulate the visibility of the fringes in the transmitted light. This approach suffers from a number of practical difficulties in achieving desired flexibility and accuracy of the amplitude profile.
Using interference between two FBG fringe patterns to control fringe amplitude, referred to as apodization function, is disclosed in Kashyap, U.S. Pat. No. 6,307,679. However, the two component FBG patterns are written sequentially rather than simultaneously. As a result, the prior art method disclosed in Kashyap suffers from the problem that the longitudinal position of the fiber must remain very precisely controlled, generally on the scale of 1 nm, between the sequential writing passes of the two FBG patterns.
To solve the problems associated with separate amplitude and phase information masks, it is desirable to incorporate both parts of this complex function, the amplitude, and the phase function (variation of the grating period or chirp), into a single mask Thereby combining the phase and amplitude information so that it cannot be separated; eliminating a source of inaccuracy for FBGs.
The present inventive phase mask for writing FBGs in an optical fiber adjusts the mean index of refraction of the fiber that is being written on in a single pass. Specifically, the inventive phase mask embodies amplitude information into a phase mask so that the amplitude information is integral with the phase information. A first embodiment preferably employs an opaque surface layer that defines a window on the substrate of the phase mask to control the amplitude of the light passing through the phase mask. A second embodiment preferably employs a polygon shaped grating region on a smooth, clear substrate. A third embodiment preferably interleaves regions of grating and smooth substrate surface.
One preferred embodiment employs two areas of gratings with the grating in each area oriented perpendicularly. Another preferred embodiment employs two areas of gratings with one area disposed out of bandwidth for devices associated with the fiber optic system. A third preferred embodiment employs two areas of gratings with the areas disposed out of phase by a predetermined amount or with opposite phases, relative to each other.
Another preferred embodiment sums functions embodied by gratings disposed on a substrate to write a complex function in the fiber Bragg grating. One embodiment employs two halves of the complex function on left and right, and/or top and bottom halves of the phase mask.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.

Embodying amplitude information into phase masks


The present invention relates to a light-emitting head decoration, comprising: a mount unit (1) provided with a groove (11) having a plurality of mounting seats (12) and retaining slots (13) inside; an ornamental unit (2) with a predetermined aesthetical design which has a light-emitting circuit (3) thereon, an inserting segment (27) provided at the bottom of the ornamental unit (2) is inserted into the groove (11), a plurality of receiving slots (271) are provided on the inserting segment (27), and each receiving slot (271) has respective light source (33) which is connected to the light-emitting circuit (3), each receiving slot (271) matches with respective mounting seat (12) and several hooks (28) are provided on the bottom edge of the inserting segment (27) for inserting into the retaining slots (13) so as to hold the ornamental unit (2) on the mount unit (1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light-emitting head decoration, particularly to a decoration which can emit light and can be put on head.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
So far, the head decoration sold on the market is purely of aesthetical design without light-emitting effect. Thus, ordinary head decoration can only be designed in appearance only so that the variation of head decoration is quite limited. Even this ordinary head decoration has a distinct aesthetical design, but it is unable to be highlighted in the dark occasion due to the lack of light emission.
In view of the above defect happened in prior art, the inventor thus proposes a new light-emitting head decoration according to continuous devotion to the product development and design based on the experience and the knowledge accumulated in the long term involvement of relevant field.


A semiconductor connecting device and a method for making the same are disclosed. The semiconductor connecting device is comprised of a device separation insulating film, a source region and a drain region formed at predetermined portions of a semiconductor substrate; an interlayer insulating film formed on the device separation insulating film and on the drain region, having a contact hole through which a portion of the device separation film are exposed along with a portion of the drain region; a conductive plug formed on the exposed portion of the drain region and on the exposed portion of the drain region within the contact hole, the drain region-sided conductive plug being thinner than the device separation insulating film-sided one; and bit lines formed on the conductive material plug and the interlayer insulating film, coming into contact with them, respectively. In accordance with the present invention, the bit line connected with the drain region scarcely overlaps the source region where the charge storage electrode is formed, bring about the reduction of area as minimally as possible along with a highly integrated semiconductor device.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a highly integrated semiconductor connecting device and a method for making the same, and more particularly to improvements in integration degree of a semiconductor device along with a semiconductor connecting device and a method for making the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For convenience's sake, description which will be given next for a conventional connecting device and method is confined within a connecting device comprising a bit line to be connected with a drain region in the structure of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell, in which a bit line connected with a drain region is formed in advance of a capacitor connected with a source region.
Generally, for the sake of forming a gate region and source/drain electrodes in one active region and connecting a bit line with the drain region in advance of forming a charge storage electrode contact in the source region, the bit line is positioned above a device separation insulating film which is between the source regions in such a way not to be placed above the source region or to minimally overlap with the source electrode. However, in case that a bit line contact and a charge storage electrode contact, when forming a bit line to be connected with the drain region, are linearly positioned on the same line with the bit line, since the bit line is sufficiently connected with the bit line contact formed in the drain region and the neighboring bit lines are to be spaced apart, the bit line neighboring the bit line connected with the drain region is positioned above the neighboring source region, at last.
A conventional DRAM cell is to be described with reference to a few figures for the better understanding of the prior art.
Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is a schematic plan view showing only important mask layers for fabricating a DRAM cell, in which a bit line connected with a drain region is formed in advance of a capacitor connected with a source region according to a conventional method. While reference numeral 1 designates an active region mask in the figure, reference numerals 2, 3 and 4 designate a bit line contact mask, a bit line mask and a charge storage electrode contact mask, respectively. As illustrated in this figure, the drain region which is formed at a lower part than the source in an active region 1a is connected with the bit line 3, so that the bit line 3 is scarcely positioned above the source region in which the charge storage electrode contact 4. However, as the drain region is extended below the source region in which the charge storage electrode 4 is formed, two active regions 1b and 1c positioned below the drain region have to be at some distance each other in order that the drain region Keep apart from the active regions positioned below, causing the area of cell to increase.
For more detailed description, FIGS. 2A to 2C are referred to, which are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating the steps for forming the bit line in a DRAM cell according to a conventional method, respectively, taken generally through section line A--A ' of FIG. 1.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, over a predetermined portion of a semiconductor substrate 5, an active region and a device separation insulating film 6 are formed, followed by the formation of a gate region (not shown), a source region (not shown) and a drain region 7 over the active region. An interlayer insulating film 8 is formed entirely on the resulting structure. At this time, the active region where the drain region is formed is formed in such a way to be extended below another active region where the source region is formed (refer to FIG. 1).
Subsequently, a bit line contact hole is formed on a predetermined portion of the drain region 7 and then, a conductive material for bit line 14 is entirely deposited over the resulting structure, as shown in FIG. 2B. At this time, the bit line contact is to be positioned below the charge storage electrode contact formed in the source region at later process, as shown in FIG. 1.
Finally, using the bit line mask 3, the conductive material for bit line 14 is etched so partly as to form a bit line 16, as shown in FIG. 2C. The bit line is connected with the drain region 7 which is formed below the active region where the source region is formed, so that the bit line 16 is scarcely positioned above the source where the charge storage electrode is formed.
However, By the above conventional method, the drain region is formed in such a way to keep apart from the two neighboring active regions linearly positioned below the drain region, which are forced to be at some distance each other, causing the area of cell to increase.

Method for making highly integrated semiconductor connecting device using a conductive plug

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


The present invention provides a system for imaging an object by irradiating it with low doses of radiation, such as x-ray, from a plurality of positions angularly distributed about the object, and analyzing the intensity of the radiation transmitted through the object. A system according to the invention can include a radiation source, a low noise detector, and an image processor. The radiation source emits radiation toward a target scene, containing an object to be imaged, from a plurality of angular positions. In one embodiment, the plurality of angular positions defines an arc about the target scene. In another embodiment, the radiation source moves in a series of steps of varying angular spacing along the arc to generate the multiple images of the scene. The detector is positioned to detect radiation transmitted through the scene and produces radiation transmission data representing the intensity of the radiation transmitted through the scene. The image processor receives the radiation transmission data from the detector and produces a three-dimensional image of the scene. In some embodiments of the invention, the resolution of the detector can be varied. In such embodiments, the system of the invention further includes a resolution controller that varies the spatial resolution of the detector in response to the angular position from which radiation is emitted toward the scene.

The present invention relates generally to methods and systems for imaging a scene using a low dose of radiation and more specifically to method and system for generating a three-dimensional image of a body part using a low dose of x-ray radiation.
Systems that utilize high energy radiation, such as x-radiation and gamma radiation, to examine the internal structure of a solid object are known. Such systems typically irradiate an object under examination with high energy x-radiation or gamma radiation and utilize detection apparatus to measure the intensity of the radiation that is transmitted through the object.
It is known that these systems may be used to produce images of body parts. Detection systems, particularly those used for medical applications, such as mammography, direct x-rays through the body part of interest toward an x-ray detector. The x-ray detector receives x-rays transmitted through the body part and produces an image of the body part based on the intensity distribution of the x-rays incident on the detector.
In conventional x-ray mammography systems, two images of the breast are made. Each of the images are obtained at approximately right angles to each other. The purpose of obtaining images at two different angles is to increase the likelihood of seeing features in the breast that are not recognizable from one direction, but which may be discernable in another direction.
Conventional mammagraphy techniques, however, have significant false negative and false positive rates that can result in either missing cancers in their early stages or in unnecessary surgical procedures. False results are due, in part, to the limitations of projecting a three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional image. In particular, structures at one level in the breast may partially or entirely obscure structures at another level, making identification of cancers difficult. In addition, the superimposition of normal structures at different levels may create an image that erroneously looks like a cancer. The overlapping of structures prevents visualization of a true representation of the breast and is referred to herein as structure noise. In addition, breast imaging using only two transmission images of a breast suffers from low contrast differences between normal and cancerous tissues.
One method for reducing structure noise is to perform a three-dimensional reconstruction of the breast using three-dimensional x-ray imaging, known as computed tomography (hereinafter xe2x80x9cCTxe2x80x9d). In conventional CT imaging, hundreds or thousands of x-ray images are recorded. These images are analyzed using computational methods to generate a three-dimensional image of the breast. The radiologist may separate the three-dimensional image into slices in order to separate the images of overlapping structures and better analyze the image. However, the number of images needed for conventional CT requires too high a dose of radiation to be used routinely on patients. High doses of radiation are required to obtain high-resolution three-dimensional images. CT techniques have not been applied to screening for breast cancer due to the prohibitive high doses of radiation that would be necessary to obtain breast images with diagnostically useful signal-to-noise ratios and high spatial resolution. Further, the time to collect the large number of images further prohibits use of this system on patients. Conventional CT systems are therefore not suitable for use on patients for screening mammography.
What is desired then is a system for imaging a patient""s breast which generates a three-dimensional image of a breast which may be used to view different levels of the breast and which uses a total radiation dose that is comparable to the dose of a standard screening mammogram. What is also desired is a system which does not require a large amount of time to collect the images necessary to generate the three-dimensional image.
In one aspect, the invention relates to a system for imaging a scene using a low dose of radiation. The imaging system includes a radiation source, a variable spatial resolution detector, a resolution controller and an image processor. The radiation source is capable of emitting radiation toward a target scene from a plurality of angular positions, which can define, for example, an arc about the target scene In one embodiment, the radiation source is a source of x-ray radiation. In another embodiment, the radiation source moves in a series of steps of varying angular spacing along the arc to generate multiple images of the scene. The detector is positioned to detect radiation transmitted through the scene and produces radiation transmission data representing the intensity of the radiation transmitted through the scene. In one embodiment, the detector is a two-dimensional detector.
The resolution controller is in electrical communication with the detector and varies the spatial resolution of the detector in response to the angular position from which radiation is emitted by the radiation source toward the scene. The image processor receives the radiation transmission data from the detector and produces an image of the scene.
The invention also relates to a method for imaging a scene. The method includes the steps of irradiating a scene from a plurality of angular positions, detecting radiation transmitted through the scene at a plurality of different spatial resolutions, producing radiation transmission data representative of the intensity of the radiation transmitted through the scene at each of the plurality of angular positions, and producing a three-dimensional image of the scene.
In another aspect, the invention provides a system for imaging an object, which includes a movable radiation source that can direct radiation toward the object from a plurality of angular positions non-uniformly distributed about the object. The system further includes a detector movable about at least one axis so as to detect radiation transmitted through the object at each angular position of the source. The detected radiation provides radiation transmission data that an image processor can analyze to produce an image of the object. The non-uniformly distributed angular positions can define an arc about the object. Further, these angular positions can be selected to lie in a plane extending through approximately the center of the source and that of the object. Motion controllers coupled to the source and/or the detector can be utilized to move the source and/or the detector to various angular positions.
In a related aspect, the invention provides a method of an imaging an object. The method calls for irradiating the object from a plurality of non-uniformly distributed angular positions, and detecting the transmitted radiation at each position to create radiation transmission data. The image of the object is then constructed by analyzing the radiation transmission data.
The present invention has the advantage of producing a three-dimensional image of a scene using a total radiation dose which is comparable to or less than the dose used in conventional screening methods. The invention has the further advantage of requiring a smaller number of images than conventional CT, thus reducing the amount of time that a patient must remain stationary. In particular, the invention provides an improved method of performing clinical mammography that results in earlier diagnosis of breast cancer, fewer negative biopsies, decreased study time and fewer call backs after initial screening exams.

Method and system for low-dose three-dimensional imaging of a scene


A method for the formation of the actual load angle value for a field-oriented regulated rotary field machine and apparatus for field-oriented regulation of the machine. In order to impress in a voltage-impressing converter the load angle, i.e. the angle between field axis and stator current vector, an angle regulator is used to which a given nominal load angle value (wif*) is supplied. In order to form from the stator-oriented acutal current angle (wis) tapped off at the machine via a current detector (I-DET) the actual load angle value associated the nominal load angle value with wif*, by a decoupling computing unit (CAL) from the given components of the field-oriented nominal current vector, the field-oriented angle (wuf*) of the associated field-oriented nominal voltage vector is calculated and subtracted from the stator-oriented angle (wus) of the actual voltage vector. The actual load angle value (wif) is then given by wis-wus+wuf*. The output signal of the angle regulator (W-REG) and the decoupling computing unit (CAL) form the input quantities of the trigger unit for a voltage-impressing converter (PWR) feeding the machine at which the stator-oriented voltage angle (wus) can be tapped off.

The present invention relates to a method for the formation of the actual load angle value for a field-oriented regulated rotating field machine and to a field-oriented regulating device for a converter-fed rotating field machine.
In "Siemens Forschungs- und Entwicklungsberichte", (1972), pages 184 to 193 it is explained that it is advantageous for the regulation of a speed-changeable polyphase machine, in a system of coordinates rotating synchronously with the field axis, to preset a nominal current vector on whose angle then the angle of the rotating field axis is coupled which corresponds to a rotation of the nominal current vector about the field angle, i.e. a transformation of the coordinates from a field-oriented system of coordinates into the stator-oriented system of coordinates. The thereby formed stator-oriented nominal current vector is then impressed on the machine via the converter.
In the case of a voltage-impressing converter, for example, a direct ac converter or an intermediate circuit converter with impressed intermediate circuit dc voltage, it is provided in illustration 16 of the Siemens referral to form from the given nominal current vector in a subsequent decoupling numerical processing unit in the field-oriented system of coordinates the defining quantity of a field-oriented nominal voltage vector which subsequently through appropriate vector rotation is transformed into the stator-oriented system of coordinates in order to supply the stator-oriented nominal voltage values for the converter.
So that the actual current vector corresponding to the fed- in phase currents which can be detected by a current detector connected to the machine coincides with the fieldoriented given nominal current vector, a regulating device is provided which with its nominal value input is connected to the input device for the field-oriented nominal current vector and with its actual value input (via a vector rotator for transformation from stator reference system into the field reference system) to the current detector. In the known case the vector output signal of the regulating device is fed into the decoupling circuit in order to form the nominal voltage vector required for impressing the field-oriented nominal current vector which after transformation in stator coordinates is supplied to the stator-oriented nominal voltage vector for controlling the converter.

Method for the formation of the actual load angle value for a field-oriented regulated rotary field machine and corresponding regulation


A system and method of indexing a plurality of entities located in a taxonomy, the entities comprising sets of terms, comprises receiving terms in an index structure; building a posting list for an entity with respect to the locations of the set of terms defining the entity and data associated with the respective terms; and indexing a name of a group comprising the entities within this group at the location of the entities with the data of the group comprising the name of the respective entity at each location. The building of the posting list comprises storing the location of the term and data associated with the term in an entry in the posting list for the term. The method comprises indexing aliases of the name of the group comprising the term, and using an inverted list index to associate data with each occurrence of an index term.

1. Field of the Invention
The embodiments of the invention generally relate to information retrieval systems, and, more particularly to techniques for data searching in full text inverted list information retrieval systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
A taxonomy is a classification of things. For example, the well-known directory structure in most operating systems is a method to organize individual files into groups. In a full text index, the indexing takes advantage of the fact that many documents share identical tokens (e.g., words or characters). An inverted list index generally only stores each unique token once while the token may occur several times in the original set of documents. Therefore, an inverted list index can generally be seen as a form of compressing the set of documents. Typically, the compression ratio depends on the scope of the index. Generally, a basic inverted index simply records whether a term occurs within a document, but not how many times or where it occurs. A full inverted index typically records every occurrence of every token within every document. While a basic inverted index is more compact in terms of storage, it generally cannot support searches for sequences of tokens, or the existence of tokens within a certain window of tokens. However, a full inverted index generally allows such sophisticated searches. Between, a basic inverted index and a full inverted index, there are various levels of information that can be stored within an inverted list for a term.
With respect to inverted lists, one of the most well-known forms of an index is an index in a book. Almost every book has a generally alphabetical listing of words or sequences of words (e.g., section and chapter headers) at the end of the book, along with page numbers where they are discussed. Using an index, one can avoid doing a page-by-page scan to find pages that contain certain words. Similarly, an inverted list index in the context of information retrieval applications such as web search engines does exactly that. Abstractly, the web can be analogized as a book, and individual web documents represent the pages in the book. Building an inverted list index is performed by scanning all documents to be indexed and splitting them into tokens. This process, called parsing or tokenization, produces tokens that can be words on an English text document, Chinese characters, 4 byte numbers, etc.
A query against a full text index is the same as the intersection/join (depends on query operators, e.g., OR, AND), of the inverted lists of all the query terms. The query result is therefore an inverted list itself. For each term of the query, an inverted list generally has to be accessed. The process of data mining involves extracting information such as patterns, relationships, etc. from a large corpus of data. Data miners (so-called annotators) typically operate on the corpus, usually document-by-document, and add metadata to the corpus. An entity can be understood as something that one refers to with many names or descriptions. An entity can be a person, an institution, an organization, a building or a country. All of these have in common the notion that the same thing can be described in different languages, with different names or nicknames or varying short forms of their names. Therefore, an entity can also be generally expressed as a search query.
The above concepts allow users to search for bags of words or mined entities. However, often times this is not sufficient. Computer users typically have the tendency to organize and group things together. Examples are file systems which use directories to group related files or mailing lists which group email addresses together. The basic idea is that an operation can be performed on a group of things by referring to a single alias (i.e., the directory name or the name of the mailing list).
In a search application, a similar functionality is desirable. Instead of searching for documents that contain a group of specific terms; it is generally more efficient to index and search for the group using an alias. For example, all occurrences of politicians' names in documents may be grouped using a single term "politicians". That way, one can efficiently search a corpus of documents without having to list all politicians individually. When searching for a group of things, it is generally not only useful to find documents that match the group; it is also useful to know which entity is "hidden" behind an occurrence of the group name.
A first conventional solution to this problem is to query for a group such as "politicians" by querying individually for each politician in the group. However, this is generally unacceptable since the group may contain thousands, millions, or in some cases hundreds of millions of entries (for example, the group of all people's names), and the processing time in such a case can move from fractions of a second to days.
A second conventional solution is to create a new token corresponding to the group. However, this solution generally fails to provide important functionality. The user knows that documents in the result set reference a politician, but does not know which politician. For certain analytic applications, this approach is also unacceptable. Relational databases are well-established tools for storing relational data. The containment of an entity in a group is a relation as well. However, relational databases are generally not suitable for building large scale text indices. Accordingly, there remains a need for a novel indexing technique that is capable of finding documents that contain entities that belong to the group and to find out which entity is "hidden" behind an occurrence of the group name

Method and framework to support indexing and searching taxonomies in large scale full text indexes


An index bracket assembly positions an external apparatus on a facemask having top and side portions extending to lower corners. A U-shaped frame connected to the external apparatus has top and side openings and a U-shaped bearing surface having orthogonally extending feet at its opposite ends. The U-shaped bearing surface extends along the top and side portions and the feet abut against the lower corners of the facemask. A three-point harness has a top strap connected to the top opening and side straps are connected to the side openings. The top strap and side straps each have a separate adjustable buckle component connected together for tightening them and pulling the U-shaped bearing surface against the top and side portions of the facemask. A layer of compliant material on the U-shaped surface elastically yields to the top and side portions of the facemask to prevent slippage.

This invention relates to an improvement for facemasks worn by divers or firefighters. More particularly, this invention is to a bracket structure mountable on the outside of a facemask to securely position or index an external apparatus that can visually assist a wearer in the performance of tasks.
Divers and other workers such as firefighters that wear facemasks frequently need to be apprised of information or other details clearly for the successful and safe completion of difficult work assignments. This can include details of the surroundings and structures or data regarding the diver's depth and facing direction, the status of the life-support breathing apparatus, and the total time of the operation under different environmental and ambient conditions. Typically, a diver is supplied with separate timers, pressure gauges and/or other displays for monitoring some critical information.
Some head-mounted displays (HMDs) that provide information have been hard-mounted to a helmet or a full-facemask but these HMDs have not been usable with a single strap scuba-type facemask. Some specialized masks have been manufactured with one type or another of display made as an integral part; but these may be costly and not suitable for other tasks or other work conditions. Consequently, displays of needed information are not made available since too many different, expensive masks would have to be kept in inventory for the different applications.
As the technology for HMDs advances, so does their use. Thus, an inventory of expensive, specialized masks can become obsolete after a relatively short time. In addition, new safety and job requirements are evolving that require divers to use HMDs while wearing certain mask types and still be able to remove the HMDs quickly to get rid of the attached systems (e.g. for safety reasons) or to pass the systems to other divers. However, removal of a facemask underwater to make this removal or transfer is unacceptably hazardous, so that further development and improvements of this technology are needed.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for a means for securely positioning or indexing displays of information and other visual aids in the field of view of a wearer of a facemask that can be fitted onto and removed from the facemask to improve safety and operational effectiveness without unduly encumbering the mask.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


An anode and a battery using same as provided. The battery has a winding electrode body wherein a cathode and an anode are layered and wound with a separator and an electrolyte layer, which hold an electrolyte solution in a holding body therebetween. The anode has an anode collector, an anode active material layer, and a layer including silicon oxide. The anode active material layer includes Si or alloy thereof, is formed by a vapor-phase method, a liquid phase method a sinter method, or the like, and is alloyed with the anode collector on at least a portion of interface between the anode active material layer and the anode collector. The layer includes a silicon oxide that includes silicon dioxide, and has a thickness of about 50 nm or more. Reaction between the anode active material layer and the electrolyte solution at high temperatures is inhibited by the layer including silicon oxide.

The present invention generally relates to an anode. More specifically, the present invention relates to an anode having an anode collector and an anode active material layer, and a battery using the anode.
In recent years, in connection with high-performance and multi-function of mobile devices, high capacities of secondary batteries, the power source for the mobile devices have been desired earnestly. As a secondary battery which meets this demand, there is known a lithium secondary battery. However, in the case of using cobalt acid lithium for a cathode and graphite for an anode, which is currently a typical form for lithium secondary batteries, a battery capacity is in a saturated state, and it is extremely difficult to greatly obtain a high capacity of the battery. Therefore, from prior times, using metal lithium (Li) for an anode has been considered. However, in order to put this anode to practical use, it is necessary to improve efficiency of precipitation dissolution of lithium and to control dendrite precipitation form.
Meanwhile, a high capacity anode using silicon (Si), tin (Sn) or the like has been actively considered. However, when charge and discharge are repeated, these anodes are pulverized and miniaturized due to significant expansion and shrinkage of an anode active material, collecting characteristics are lowered, and decomposition reaction of an electrolyte solution is facilitated due to an increased superficial area, so that their cycle characteristics are extremely poor. Therefore, an anode wherein an anode active material layer is formed on an anode collector by vapor-phase method, liquid phase method, sinter method and the like has been considered (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H08-50922, Japanese Patent No. 2948205, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-135115). According to this anode, since miniaturization can be inhibited compared to conventional application type anodes wherein slurry containing a particulate anode active material and a binder is applied, and the anode collector and the anode active material layer can be integrated, so that electronic conductivity in the anode becomes extremely excellent, and high performance in terms of capacity and cycle life is expected. In addition, a conductive material, a binder, and voids which have existed in the anode conventionally can be reduced or excluded. Therefore, the anode can become a thin film essentially.
However, there has been a problem that, as the application type anode do, the anode wherein the anode active material layer is formed on the anode collector by vapor-phase method, liquid phase method, or sinter method reacts to an electrolyte, rise of internal resistance and lowering of capacity of the battery, after being held at high temperatures.

Anode for a battery and a battery using an anode


A heat emitting radiator for heating a space is provided that includes a radiator panel with tubing forming a fluid circuit or loop, wherein the loop includes at least one opening for inserting a heating element that can heat a fluid in the fluid circuit. The radiator may also include a heat absorbing material, such as stone, in thermal contact with the radiator panel. The radiator can be selectively de-activated when a certain temperature has been achieved in the space or in the fluid, allowing heat absorbed by a heat absorbing material positioned within the radiator to then be radiated into the space. The radiator can then be re-activated when a selected low temperature has been reached. The heating element may be a DC electrical heating element configured to be connected to an AC power source.

It is well known that radiators are used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. It is also known that radiators are commonly used to heat homes and buildings. In a central heating system using radiators, hot water or steam is generated in a central boiler and circulated by pumps through radiators within the home or building, where this heat is then transferred to the surroundings. FIG. 1 (prior art) provides an example of such a radiator 1, having connections 2 to, for example, gas lines, power, propane, pumps, pressure gauges, flow switches, filters, and tubing throughout the radiator and home.
However, such systems usually continually draw power and energy for their use, especially in winter, and therefore incur higher heating costs. Furthermore, such systems can have relatively large footprints overall, making them cumbersome to use in smaller spaces. Moreover, radiators can produce very high temperatures at local areas of a room, particularly in an area adjacent the radiator, that can lead to unsafe conditions.


A microwave oscillator includes a transistor for oscillation, an insulating substrate on which the transistor is mounted, a first strip conductor which is attached to the insulating substrate and which has one end connected to the output terminal of the transistor, and a second strip conductor which is attached to the insulating substrate and which has one end connected to input terminal of the transistor. The microwave oscillator further includes a TE01-mode dielectric resonator which couples with the first strip conductor and the second strip conductor, and a varactor diode. The varactor diode has one end connected to the other end of the first strip conductor or the other end of the second strip conductor, and the other end is RF-grounded, such that the capacitance of the varactor diode can be changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a microwave oscillator which performs oscillation at several GHz and which has an oscillation frequency that can be changed.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 2 illustrates a microwave oscillator circuit of the related art. A transistor 21, which is an active device, for oscillation has a collector connected to one end of a first strip conductor 22 and has a base connected to one end of a second strip conductor 23. The first strip conductor 22 and the second strip conductor 23 are provided on an insulating substrate (not shown) so as to oppose each other. A cylindrical dielectric resonator 24 is provided between the first strip conductor 22 and the second strip conductor 23. Consequently, the first strip conductor 22, the dielectric resonator 24, and the second strip conductor 23 form a feedback loop with the base as an input terminal and the collector as an output terminal.
In addition, a third strip conductor 25 is provided on the insulating substrate to couple with the dielectric resonator 24. The third strip conductor 25 has one end connected to ground through a varactor diode 26, and a control voltage is applied to the other end.
When the control voltage is changed to alter the capacitance of the varactor diode 26, the magnetic field distribution in the third strip conductor 25 changes relative to the dielectric resonator 24. This causes a change in coupling between the dielectric resonator 24 and the third strip conductor 25. Thus, the changes in the capacitance of the varactor diode 26 and in the coupling cause a change in the total resonant capacitance including the dielectric resonance 24, thereby changing the oscillation frequency.
However, in the above microwave oscillator of the related art, the dielectric resonator is coupled with the first through third strip conductors, thus reducing the apparent Q factor of the dielectric resonator. Thus, the microwave oscillator has a problem in that the phase noise of an oscillation signal is reduced to about 60 dB/kHz.
In addition, the dielectric resonator is coupled with the first and second strip conductors to form the feedback loop and is also coupled with the third strip conductor for changing the oscillation frequency. It is therefore difficult to set the positions thereof so that the couplings with the respective strip conductors are balanced.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a microwave oscillator having an improved phase noise of an oscillation signal and allowing easy setting of the coupling between a dielectric resonator and strip conductors for feedback.
To this end, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a microwave oscillator. The microwave oscillator includes a transistor for oscillation, an insulating substrate on which the transistor is mounted, a first strip conductor which is provided on the insulating substrate and which has a first end connected to an output terminal of the transistor, and a second strip conductor which is provided on the insulating substrate and which has a first end connected to an input terminal of the transistor. The microwave oscillator further includes a varactor diode and a TE01-mode dielectric resonator which is provided on the insulating substrate and which couples with the first strip conductor and the second strip conductor. A first end of the varactor diode is connected to a second end of the first strip conductor or a second end of the second strip conductor. A second end of the varactor diode is RF-grounded, thereby changing the capacitance of the varactor diode. The dielectric resonator may be coupled only with the first and second strip conductors, the microwave oscillator allows the apparent Q factor to be maintained at a high level and allows an improvement in the phase noise of the oscillation signal.
In addition, an optimal coupling can be achieved by shifting the dielectric resonator along the first and second strip conductors.
Preferably, the microwave oscillator further includes a third strip conductor having a free end. A second end of the varactor diode is connected to the strip conductor. The length of the third strip conductor is one quarter of the wavelength of an oscillation frequency. With this arrangement, the second end of the varactor diode can be securely RF-grounded.
Preferably, the transistor is a bipolar transistor. The bipolar transistor has a base as the input terminal, a collector as the output terminal, and an emitter that is RF-grounded. With this arrangement, a higher gain is achieved even at a transition frequency of about 20 GHz, thereby allowing oscillation at a frequency of 10 GHz or higher.

Microwave oscillator having improved phase noise of oscillation signal


A computer-assisted inspection system including an integrated software suite provides vehicle inspection services for various clients. Features include automatic grading, flat car part picking, easy to use, ability to run in an environment where the inspector has no constant connectivity to the network (no guaranteed access to the internet, full data replication, intermittent connectivity, synch back up), inspectors can be geographically separated (e.g., all over the country), and the system is installable over the internet to provide efficient installation to far-flung install sites.

In modern commercial transactions, it is often desirable to examine goods or other articles carefully to ascertain their condition. New articles rolling off an assembly line are often inspected to ensure that they are saleable and do not suffer from any major defects. Inspections become especially important in the used goods market; it is often desirable to inspect such used goods to determine whether they have been damaged during use and/or to ascertain their current value.
Inspections are especially important for "high ticket" items such as used cars, boats, motorcycles, airplanes and other vehicles. A used car that has suffered damage through hard use or accident is not as valuable as one that has been only lightly used, well maintained and never subject to any collision. Used car buyers are often warned to obtain a complete inspection before purchase to minimize the risk that the used vehicle has hidden defects, flaws or other damage. Similarly, those dealing with a large used item inventory, such as motor vehicle fleet operators, need reliable damage inspections. For example, cars coming off short term or long term leases need to be inspected so the leasing agent can know whether to charge the lessee for damage the lessee is responsible for. Similar inspection needs may be presented in other contexts such as new and used home sale and rent, apartment, office building and other real estate sale and rental, industrial equipment sales, antiques, service offerings, and any type of transaction involving any type of good or service of value.
In the past, inspections were generally performed manually using preprinted forms. The inspector would work from a form or check list on a clipboard as he or she visually inspected the item. Defects would be noted on the form. Sometimes, such forms would include schematic illustrations (e.g., line drawings) of the item being inspected so the inspector could note location and type of damage. Such forms could be mailed or transmitted electronically by facsimile. Damage assessments could be made by comparing information noted on the form with standard damage assessment information. In the case of motor vehicles, for example, the inspector or other person could consult the Kelley Blue Book or other source to determine the fair market value of the vehicle based on the condition of the vehicle, the options installed and other factors.
Preprinted forms are perfectly acceptable for some types of needs and applications, but may be inconvenient or inefficient in other contexts. Suppose, for example, that an inspection service conducts inspections for a number of different clients each having different inspection standards. In the motor vehicle context, one client might want to know about every scratch on the vehicle paint, whereas another client might only care about scratches that are longer than 3″. If such an inspection service conducted inspections for a large number of different clients and a large number of different kinds of motor vehicles, the number and variety of forms would soon get out of hand. If one adds additional challenges such as a large number of geographically-disparate inspectors, clients who want the ability to dynamically change their inspection requirements and/or procedures, and the need to rapidly communicate inspection reports and other results to different locales, it soon becomes apparent that using preprinted forms to collect inspection data becomes impractical.
Some in the past have attempted to use computers and computer systems to gather inspection information. Various systems and techniques have been developed. However, further improvements are possible and desirable.
Exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations of technology described herein provide a new and useful computer-based inspection data collection system that is especially adapted for modern inspection needs and constraints. An exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation provides for a large number of inspectors who are geographically separated from one another and may in some cases be only intermittently reachable by electronic means. Each such inspector is provided with a portable data processing appliance such as for example a tablet computer with a touch screen type display and input means. The inspector may, for example, connect the inspection appliance electronically to a main system periodically (e.g., every night and/or every morning, or more or less frequently depending on need) to upload inspection results and obtain electronic updates of inspection procedures, inspection rules (which may be client-specific), cost information and other data. Information electronically provided to the appliance can include, for example, a schedule of appointments and locations for the inspector to visit to inspect goods or services.
The exemplary illustrative non-limiting inspection appliance may provide a unique, easy-to-use touch screen user interface. For example, a schematic diagram of the item being inspected may be displayed on the touch screen. The inspector can use a stylus or other pointing device to indicate damage location on the displayed schematic diagram. Different schematic diagrams can be displayed for different types of goods. For example, in the case of motor vehicles, a different schematic illustration can be displayed depending upon on whether the vehicle being inspected is a sports utility vehicle, a passenger car, a light truck, a compact or other vehicle type.
Aspects of the user interface can be customized based on for example who the inspection is being performed for. Different clients may have different inspection needs. Some clients may not care about certain defects that other clients want to know about. The exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation can provide, on the inspection appliance, different rules that can be activated in response to which client the inspection is being provided for and/or other factors. The resulting rule-driven user interface is thus customized—allowing the inspector to be more efficient in gathering the precise data desired at the time of data collection. If the inspection client changes the rules, such rule changes can be propagated through electronic downloads across the network of inspection appliances so that inspections can proceed based on the new rules.
Exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations provide an integrated software suite that provides vehicle inspection services for various clients. An exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation includes an inspection application that runs on for example desktop, laptop, or pen-tablet PC's; a centralized server application that handles data synchronization between the database and the inspection PC's; numerous systems to handle reporting and data transfer to clients; and a web front end to allow clients to view vehicle inspections on the Internet.
Additional advantageous non-limiting features and/or advantages include:                Highly client-customizability        Easy to Use        ability to run in an environment where the inspector has no constant connectivity to the network (no guaranteed access to the internet, full data replication, intermittent connectivity, synch back up)        inspectors can be geographically separated (e.g., all over the country)        by providing lease services to a number of different companies, it is possible to provide economies of scale        system is installable over the internet to provide efficient installation to far-flung install sites        responsive to inspection requests sent daily (e.g., workflow data files received on a nightly basis—info about vehicles coming off lease to be inspected)        rigorous, customized inspection techniques accommodated.        as the inspector enters the damage, the system knows which client and knows what matters to the client and guides the inspector through the process

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Computer-assisted and/or enabled systems, methods, techniques, services and user interfaces for conducting motor vehicle and other inspections


An optical device comprises a substrate, a first guiding layer having a guided mode provided on the substrate, a second guiding layer laminated with the first guiding layer on the substrate, the second guiding layer having a guided mode different from that of the first guiding layer, and a diffraction grating provided on an area where the first and second guiding layers have their guided modes overlapping, the diffraction grating serving to couple the light on the specific range of wavelengths that propagate through the first guiding layer, with the second layer, wherein the diffraction grating comprises a high refractive index region and a low refractive index region disposed periodically in the propagation direction of light, the ratio of the high refractive index region to the low refractive index region occupied in one period changing gradually in the propagation direction of light.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical device such as an optical filter, photodetector, semiconductor laser, or optic amplifier, using a wavelength selective photocoupler comprising two waveguides coupled by a diffraction grating.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional wavelength selective photocoupler consisted of two optical waveguides formed on the same substrate, as described in R. C. Alferness et al.: Applied Physics Letters, 33, P161 (1978), Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 61-250607, or Miki et al., Electronic Communications Institute study report OQE81-129, for example.
FIG. 1 shows the construction of such a conventional wavelength selective photocoupler. In the same figure, two waveguides 191, 192 are formed with line widths or heights W.sub.1, W.sub.2, and refractive indexes n.sub.1, n.sub.2, which are different from each other, as shown. Thus, they have also different distribution relations between the wavelength of guided light propagating through the respective optical waveguides 191, 192 and the propagation constant. The propagation constants of the two waveguides coincide for guided light on a specific range of wavelength, and the optical coupling takes place between the two waveguides 191, 192. In other words, only the light within the specific range of wavelength is selected, and the optical power can be transferred between the waveguides 191, 192.
Such a photocoupler has been used for an optical filter which performs the multiplexing or demultiplexing of waves between the signal light and the light of specific wavelength by using the transfer of this optical power.
However, the optical filter as above mentioned had the spectral transmissivity characteristic containing the non-negligible side lobe on both sides of the transmission band (main lobe) including a central wavelength, as shown in FIG. 2. The existence of the side lobe brought about the cross talk of optical signals when this optical filter was used in the optical communication system using the wavelength division multiplexing method. If there is provided a sufficient separation of wavelengths to avoid the cross talk, the number of communication channels is decreased. The side lobe of the filtering characteristic on such a photocoupler was a factor in preventing the enhancement of performance on an optical device using this photocoupler.
A method for suppressing the side lobe as above mentioned, in which an interval between waveguides 193, 194 constituting the photocoupler is gradually changed as shown in FIG. 3, was proposed in R. C. Alferness et al.: IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, QE-14, No. 11, p. 843 (1978).
However, this method had a disadvantage that it was difficult to form the waveguide 193 curvilinearly, and further difficult to manufacture the photocoupler of a type of laminating waveguides in the direction of thickness.
A photocoupler having a sharp wavelength selectively and little loss of quantity of light was proposed in R. C. Alferness et al., "Grating Assisted in GaAsP/INP vertical co-directing coupler filter" 1989 technical digest series vol. 4, pp 215-218. This photocoupler had two guiding layers with different guided modes from each other laminated on a substrate and coupled optically by a diffraction grating. The present inventor has proposed an optical device using this photocoupler in U.S. Ser. No. 491,203 filed on Mar. 9, 1990.

Optical device used wavelength selective photocoupler