System and method to streamline the checkout process of e-commerce websites is disclosed. The processing subsystem includes a web crawler to browse the e-commerce websites, a website analysis module to analyze checkout data entry forms and web UI of the corresponding e-commerce websites browsed by the web crawler. The processing subsystem includes a classification module to classify the checkout data entry forms into fields based on a form data model. The classification module maps user information with classified fields using a natural language mapping technique to obtain a mapped model. The processing subsystem includes a fingerprinting module to fingerprint configurations and checkout pages of the corresponding e-commerce websites to obtain fingerprinting data. The processing subsystem includes a checkout processing module to generate a one-click checkout flow for an e-commerce website selected from the e-commerce websites. The one-click checkout flow is generated based on the fingerprinting data and the mapped model.

A web crawler is an extremely useful tool for certain tasks such as web indexing and updating web content. The web crawler starts with a lists of uniform resource locators (URLs) to visit. As the web crawler visits such URLs, the web crawler identifies all the hyperlinks in the page and adds them to the list of URLs to visit, storing the list in a data structure. However, one major drawback of using web crawlers is that access to certain e-commerce webpages, such as checkout pages may not be easily accessible because in order to access a checkout page, an associated shopping cart must have an item, such as a product. Such mechanism does not allow a web crawler to access all pages of e-commerce websites.
Most of the e-commerce websites have a large number of clicks to complete the checkout process. Some of the larger players in the market have invested a lot in streamlining their checkout process. However small e-commerce websites do not have the same level investment or leverage to streamline the checkout process. Also, such mechanism involves cumbersome methods for the customers to enter same information namely the shipping address, billing address, payment information and shipping method to complete their purchase for every single website they transact with. Besides that, due to the typical difficulty in form entry and validation, the conversion rate during the last part of the checkout funnel is affected in negative ways for the merchants and also a frustrating experience for the customers.
Hence, there is a need for an improved system and method to streamline the checkout process for e-commerce websites to address the aforementioned issue(s).

System and method for streamlining a checkout process of e-commerce websites


A method of controlling turbine efficiency in a turbo unit provided on an internal combustion engine includes providing a flow of gas in an area upstream a turbine at a direction different to the flow of exhaust gases in the same area, regulating the flow by a valve, and controlling the valve from a control unit having at least boost pressure and/or EGR flow as input parameters.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for controlling turbine efficiency in a turbo unit provided on an internal combustion engine.
Turbochargers are well known and widely used with combustion engines for purpose of increasing power output, decreasing fuel consumption and emissions, and compensating for air density loss at high altitudes. Generally, turbochargers supply an increased charge air supply for the combustion process than can otherwise be induced through natural aspiration by utilizing exhaust gas energy to drive an air compressor. This increased air supply allows more fuel to be burned, thereby increasing power and output not otherwise obtainable from an engine having a given cylinder displacement under natural aspiration conditions. Variable geometry turbochargers (VGTs) allow the intake airflow to be optimized over a range of engine speeds. This may be accomplished by changing the angle of the inlet guide vanes on the turbine stator. An optimal position for the inlet guide vanes is determined from a combination of desired torque response, fuel economy, and emission requirement.
EGR systems are used to reduce NOx emissions by increasing the dilution fraction in the intake manifold. EGR is typically accomplished with an EGR valve that connects the intake manifold with the exhaust manifold.
In the cylinders, the recirculated exhaust gas acts as an inert gas, thus lowering the flame and in-cylinder gas temperature and, hence, decreasing the formation of NOx. On the other hand, the recirculated exhaust gas displaces fresh air and reduces the air-to-fuel ratio of the in-cylinder mixture.
On an EGR engine with a variable geometry turbine (VGT) airflow and EGR flow are controlled by the VGT position and the EGR valve. The EGR drive pressure is dependent on turbo efficiency and exhaust temperature. At high turbo efficiencies and/or high exhaust temperatures the EGR drive pressure will be insufficient and large EGR valve areas in combination with small VGT positions have to be used to increase the boost pressure and by that reduce the exhaust temperature and finally drive an adequate amount of EGR. Increasing the boost pressure also normally decreases turbo efficiency which also helps give EGR drive pressure.
This means that, if the turbo efficiency is too high, the boost pressure and other limits on the engine, e.g. turbo speed, max cylinder pressure, compressor temperature, will be too high when the VGT position is decreased to achieve sufficient EGR drive pressure.
To create enough EGR drive pressure the turbo and/or engine are today matched or modified for lower effective turbo efficiency in a way that none of the limits are exceeded in any engine operating point. A consequence of this is a fuel and emission penalty due to increased gas exchange losses and lower lambda in areas where the limits are not reached which may be a problem. The EGR control range will also be limited and sets a limit to the maximum power/torque achievable from the engine which also may be a problem.
It is desirable therefore to overcome the above mentioned problems with gas exchange losses and limited EGR range for a turbo unit.
According to a first aspect of the invention it is provided a method of controlling turbine efficiency in a turbo unit for an internal combustion engine, comprising the steps of: providing a flow of gas in an area upstream a turbine rotor at a direction different to the flow of exhaust gases in the same area, regulating said flow by a valve, controlling said valve from a control unit having at least boost pressure and/or EGR flow as input parameters.
An advantage of an aspect of the present invention is that it enables optimal use of turbo efficiency during a wide operating range.
Another advantage of an aspect of the present invention is that it gives increased controllability of the engine, e.g., turbo speed, compressor temperature, peak cylinder pressure, reduces fuel consumption and increases maximum reachable power/torque from the engine.
In another example embodiment according to an aspect of the present invention it further comprises the step of providing in said area a plurality of outlets for said flow of gas.
An advantage of this embodiment is that it may further increase the controllability of the engine.
In still another example embodiment according to an aspect of the present invention it further comprising the step of providing an on-off valve in each of said outlets.
An advantage of this embodiment is that simple on-off valves arranged in a plurality of outlets may result in a fine adjustment of the flow provided in said area, i.e. by opening one or more of the valves one may regulate the flow in small increments.
In still another example embodiment it further comprising the step of providing a variable valve in each of said outlets.
An advantage of this embodiment is that not only adding another flow by opening another outlet one may also adjust the flow from one single outlet as such, i.e., a further fine adjustment of the flow of gas into the area is possible which in turn may further increase the controllability of the engine.
In still another example embodiment it further comprising the step of providing said valve outside a turbo unit housing.
An advantage of this embodiment is that it is an inexpensive and simple solution which can be applied to existing turbo units.
In still another example embodiment of an aspect of the present invention it further comprising the step of integrating said valve in a turbo unit housing.
An advantage of this embodiment is that it gives a compact turbo unit which may be used in cases where space is limited.
In still another example embodiment of an aspect of the present invention it further comprising the step of providing said flow of gases from a volute of the turbo unit.
An advantage of this embodiment is that it may be a compact solution.
In still another example embodiment of an aspect of the present invention it further comprising the step of providing said flow of gases from an exhaust gas manifold.
An advantage of this embodiment is that the piping from the exhaust manifold to the turbo unit may be short and simple.
In still another example embodiment according to an aspect of the present invention it further comprising the step of providing said flow of gases from an outlet downstream of a compressor of said turbo unit or from an external compressor tank.
An advantage of this embodiment is that it gives sufficient flow of gas at the same time as it may cool down the turbo unit since such flow of gas has a substantially lower temperature than the exhaust gases.
According to a second aspect of the invention it is provided a system for controlling turbine efficiency in a turbo unit for an internal combustion engine comprising at least one outlet arranged in a turbine scroll outlet for providing a flow of gas in a direction different to the direction of exhaust gases in said turbine scroll outlet; a valve arranged between a source for providing a flow of gas and said outlet in said turbine scroll outlet for regulating the flow of the gas; and a control unit for controlling said valve where said control unit has at least boost pressure and/or EGR flow as input parameters.
According to a third aspect of the invention it is provided a vehicle comprising a system for controlling turbine efficiency in a turbo unit for an internal combustion engine comprising at least one outlet arranged in a turbine scroll outlet for providing a flow of gas in a direction different to the direction of exhaust gases in said turbine scroll outlet; a valve arranged between a source for providing a flow of gas and said outlet in said turbine scroll outlet for regulating the flow of the gas; and a control unit for controlling said valve where said control unit has at least boost pressure and/or EGR flow as input parameters.

Method and apparatus for controlling turbine efficiency


The present invention is directed to the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the presence of metronidazole-resistant Trichomonas vaginalis. The presence of G76C, C213G, or C318A (SNP) in tvntr 4 or the presence of A238T, G427C, or T476C (SNP) in tvntr6 provides a reliable biomarker for the presence of metronidazole-resistant Trichomonas vaginalis. The present invention further provides reagents used for detecting the SNPs to screen subjects for metronidazole resistance in Trichomonas vaginalis.

Trichomonas vaginalis is an anaerobic, flagellated haploid protozoan. Trichomonas vaginalis is sexually transmitted in humans, causing >7 million infections annually in the United States. Infection with Trichomonas vaginalis (i.e., trichomoniasis) is a common cause of vaginitis, and is associated with HIV transmission and obstetric complications. Patients suffering from Trichomonas vaginalis are normally treated with antibiotics such as metronidazole. Metronidazole is a pro-drug believed to undergo reduction to a nitro radical anion form by anaerobic metabolism. The anion form of metronidazole is thought to kill the microorganisms by non-specifically damaging proteins and DNA in Trichomonas vaginalis.
Despite that metronidazole treatment is reported to be 85-95% effective, there is an estimated 2.5%-10% clinical isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis that exhibit varying degrees of metronidazole resistance. Given the significant occurrence of trichomoniasis, emerging metronidazole resistance in Trichomonas vaginalis is posing a significant problem to public health.
It is suggested that metronidazole resistance in vitro may result in loss of hydrogenosome enzymes such as hydrogenase, ferredoxin and pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase. These enzymes are thought to play a role in reducing metronidazole to its active form. The cytoplasmic enzyme thioredoxin reductase may similarly contribute in metronidazole resistance.
Current methodology for detecting metronidazole resistance in Trichomonas vaginalis requires culturing the microorganism in a laboratory under serial dilutions of antibiotic (e.g., metronidazole) to determine the minimum lethal concentration. This culturing methodology suffers many problems: (a) it requires a viable Trichomonas vaginalis culture derived from a patient; (b) it requires highly trained personnel; and (c) it is time-consuming and often requires weeks to obtain results.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for an improved method that allows rapid and reliable detection of metronidazole resistance in Trichomonas vaginalis without culturing. The present inventors resolved all the prior art deficiency and discovered specific SNPs that are useful in detecting metronidazole resistance in Trichomonas vaginalis.

Metronidazole resistance in trichomonas vaginalis and single nucleotide polymorphisms


A Fresnel projection screen includes: a Fresnel layer; a first micro-structure layer disposed at a light incident side of the Fresnel layer, the first micro-structure layer including a plurality of micro-structures that are configured to diffusely reflect a portion of light incident thereon and refract another portion of the light; and a reflective layer disposed on a side of the Fresnel layer away from the first micro-structure layer.

In the field of projection display technologies, especially in the field of ultra-short focus laser projection display technologies, a projector is generally used with a Fresnel projection screen. The screen has characteristics of high gain and small viewing angle, which may improve brightness to a maximum extent when the screen is viewed directly by human eyes. The screen has a certain resistance to ambient light, and has a good display effect.

Fresnel projection screen and projection system


Compositions and methods for mucosal delivery of agents are provided. The emulsion compositions are intended for administration to a mucosal surface, such as oral, gastrointestinal and nasal mucosa. The emulsion compositions provided contain one or more mucoadhesive proteins and an agent to be delivered. Methods for delivery of agents using the compositions provided herein are also provided.

The use of probiotics for human and animal health is increasing, as is the demand for products that provide effective amounts of probiotics. Probiotics, not only must be safe, they must be provided in a sufficient amount to be effective and in a form that is a live microorganism that can colonize its targeted locus. Generally, such concentration is at least 106 viable cells (colony forming unit, CFU) per gram of the product. It is challenging to produce products in which the probiotics have a reasonably long shelf life, and particularly in a form that does not require refrigeration. Generally probiotics are provided in capsules or yogurts, which are refrigerated. There is a need to develop products that provide high concentrations of probiotics in a viable form that are effective when administered. It is an object herein to do so.

Stable dry powders and emulsions containing probiotics


The invention relates to devices and methods for monitoring, diagnosing and/or treating sleep apnea. Devices of the invention comprise a mouthpiece having a filter assembly and a microchip. Devices of the invention may also comprise a nasal splint having a filter assembly and a microchip. The invention also relates to a system comprising devices of the invention.

There are at least two different types of sleep apnea, including obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by an obstruction of the airway. For example, the soft tissue of the airway may collapse thereby obstructing breathing during sleep. Central sleep apnea syndrome (CSAS) is a sleep-related disorder in which the effort to breathe is diminished or absent, typically for 10 to 30 seconds, either intermittently or in cycles and is usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. Central sleep apnea is very rare, and typically resolves when obstructions are treated.

Oral and nasal devices for the treatment of sleep apnea and/or snoring with filter and sensors to provide remote digital monitoring and remote data analysis


A navigation system for a motor vehicle serves to guide the motor vehicle along an optimum route which includes bypass roads and side destinations desired by a driver but no road of high traffic congestion. When the motor vehicle deviates from the guidance route, an optimum route is again determined, starting from the current position of the motor vehicle. The navigation system includes a manipulating unit 1A for setting the desired bypass roads, side destinations and the final destination, a system controller 11 for setting the destination and the side destinations in terms of the coordinates on a map which are stored in a RAM unit together with information concerning the bypass roads and congested roads, a route extracting unit 6A for extracting an optimum route from a plurality of routes searched by a route search unit 5A on the basis of data read out from the RAM unit 14 and a route guidance controller for determining a distance deviation between the optimum route and the current position of the motor vehicle determined by a current position determining unit 7A. When the distance deviation exceeds a predetermined value, the system controller 11 commands the route search unit 5A and the optimum route extracting unit 6A to start again a new optimum route determining operation.

The present invention relates generally to a navigation system for an automobile or any motor vehicle. More particularly the present invention is concerned with a navigation system adapted to be installed on a motor vehicle for detecting a current position thereof to display it on a road map produced on a display screen together with a destination of the motor vehicle as well as the routes which lead to that destination.
In general, the navigation system for the motor vehicle is designed to display the current position of the motor vehicle, or car, on a guidance road map generated on a display unit for aiding a driver in driving his or her car in unfamiliar districts and/or in the nighttime.
One typical example of the navigation systems for the motor vehicle known heretofore is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H1-119898 (JP-A-H1-119898). This known navigation system is shown in a block diagram in FIG. 9. Referring to the figure, the known navigation system includes an information/command input unit 1 (hereinafter also referred to as a manipulating unit) for inputting information concerning a range within which a motor vehicle equipped with the navigation system is planned to travel as well as other information and commands. Operatively connected to an output of the manipulating unit 1 is a search range limiting unit 2 which serves for arithmetically determining a linear distance between the current location or position of the motor vehicle and the destination as inputted, to thereby limit or constrict the range within which routes to be followed by the motor car are searched. A map memory 3 for storing information concerning a road network and road segments which constitute the road network is provided in association with a time memory 4 which stores information concerning the times required for driving the motor vehicle along the road segments stored in the map memory 3, the required times being classified according to months, days of the week and time zones. Connected to the output ports of the map memory 3 and the time memory 4 is a route search unit 5 which serves to search all possible combinations of the road segments (hereinafter referred to as the route sets) which can be selected for the motor vehicle to reach the destination from the current position on the basis of the road network information stored in the map memory 3 and the times required for driving the motor vehicle along the routes as selected on the basis of the time information stored in the time memory 4. The output information from the route search unit 5 is supplied to a route extracting unit 6 for selectively extracting the route set which requires the shortest time for the motor vehicle to reach the destination on the basis of the required times involved in driving the motor vehicle along the route sets searched by the route search unit 5. The route set as extracted will hereinafter be referred to as the temporally shortest route. Further, a current vehicle position detecting unit 7 is provided for arithmetically determining the azimuth direction and the distance covered by the motor vehicle to thereby estimate the current position of the motor vehicle. Connected to the outputs of the route extracting unit 6 and the current vehicle position detecting unit 7 is an emphasis signal generator 8 for generating an emphasis signal for displaying the temporally shortest route extracted through the route extracting unit 6 and the current vehicle position with emphasis on the road network map. The output of the emphasis signal generating unit 8 is supplied to a guidance unit 9 for guiding the motor vehicle with the aid of the emphasis signal supplied from the emphasis signal generating unit 8. The required times taken actually for driving the motor vehicle along the road segments as extracted are stored in the time memory 4 by the guidance unit 9. Finally, reference numeral 10 denotes a display unit which is supplied with the aforementioned emphasis signal for displaying the temporally shortest route together with the current vehicle position with emphasis.
Now, referring to a flow chart shown in FIG. 10, description will be made of the temporally shortest route generating operation and the vehicle guidance operation of the known navigation system having the structure described above.
In a step S1, decision is made by the search range limiting unit 2 as to whether or not initialization input information such as that of the destination is loaded through the manipulating unit 1. If the initialization information is loaded (i.e., when the answer of the step S1 is "YES"), the processing proceeds to a step S2, where the route search unit 5 reads out the road segment information from the map memory 3 and then fetches from the time memory 4 the data of required times involved in driving the motor vehicle along the road segments which are read out from the map memory 3 in a step S3, to thereby search the route sets which can lead the motor vehicle to the destination by combining together the road segments in a step S4. Subsequently, in a step S5, the route extracting unit 6 arithmetically determines the times required for driving the motor vehicle along the individual road segments sequentially for each of the route sets as searched. Further, in a step S6, the temporally shortest route (i.e., the route allowing the motor vehicle to reach the destination within the shortest time) is selected. The temporally shortest route thus determined is stored in the time memory 4 in a step S7 on one hand and displayed on the display unit 10 in a step S8 on the other hand. In a step S9, decision is made as to whether or not the motor vehicle has reached the destination. If not (i.e., if the answer of the decision step S9 is negative or "NO"), the processing of the step S9 is repeated, while otherwise the processing proceeds to a step S10 in which the times actually taken for driving the motor vehicle along the individual road segments are stored in the time memory 4. Finally, in a step Sll, the temporally shortest route information previously stored in the memory 4 is canceled, whereupon a return is made to the step S1.
In contrast, if there is no input of the initialization information (i.e., the answer in step S1 is "NO"), the processing proceeds to a step S12, where a road network for the planned driving or in which the motor vehicle is currently running is displayed on the display unit 10. In a step S13, the required times actually taken for driving the motor vehicle along the individual road segments are stored in the time memory 4, whereupon the step S1 is resumed.
As will be understood from the above description, in the known navigation system, the driver first designates the destination through the manipulating unit 1. In response., the search range limiting unit 2 properly limits or narrows the route search range on the basis of a straight line connecting between the current position of the motor vehicle and the destination. Subsequently, the route search unit 5 searches all the possible routes leading to the destination within the limited range on the basis of the road network information stored in the map memory 3, while the route extracting unit 6 calculates the times required to reach the destination for all the routes as searched on the basis of the required time information stored in the time memory 4 to compare the required times for all the searched routes with one another to thereby select the temporally shortest route, whereon the emphasis signal generating unit 8 generates an emphasis signal for displaying the temporally shortest route as well as the current vehicle position. The guidance unit 9 responds to a guidance start signal to display on the display unit 10 the temporally shortest time route together with the current vehicle position of the motor vehicle with emphasis. In this manner, visible information is made available for aiding the driver in driving his or her motor vehicle along the temporally shortest route.
The conventional navigation system installed on the motor vehicles such as described above suffers from numerous problems mentioned below. First, with the navigation system known heretofore, there often arise such situations in which a roundabout or bypass road desired by the driver is not selected as a part of the temporally shortest route. A road segment of a high traffic snarl or a high traffic congestion frequency can possibly be selected. For example, the frequency of traffic congestion is defined as the number of occurrences of congestion per day. Further, when the current position of the motor vehicle is deviated from the guidance route, troublesome operation is required for determining again the guidance route. Besides, the guidance route determined in the past can no more represent the temporally shortest route when a predetermined time has lapsed during parking on the way of driving the motor vehicle along the guidance route. Moreover, the arithmetic determination of the temporally shortest route can not be performed before the start of driving even when the starting time is set beforehand, as a result of which the start of the motor vehicle has to be correspondingly delayed until the arithmetic operation activated in response to the operation of a route guidance start key has been completed. Furthermore, in case where there are a plurality of side destinations (i.e. places at which the motor vehicle is to drop in) on the way to the final destination, the sequence of the side destinations has to be decided by the driver himself or herself since the navigation system can set only one destination at a time.


The invention relates to a headrest having two rods (2), at least one having a locking detents, a housing with two channels and two sets of bearings, each set comprising a top bearing and a bottom bearing. Each bearing set is mounted in a corresponding channel by fitting these bearings into receptacles. The bearings have openings in which the rod can slide and a locking device for locking the housing relative to the rods in a plurality of vertical positions. The device includes at least one locking projection movable relative to the housing between a locking position and an unlocking position. The two rods are part of a frame formed by a metal tube bent to take the general shape of an inverted U with the rods corresponding to the legs of the U.

It is known to produce a headrest for a motor vehicle seat, the headrest comprising:                two parallel metal tubular rods for connecting to the seat intended to be mounted at the top of the back of said seat, the rods being in the form of two separate pieces, at least one of the rods being provided with locking detents,        a moulded plastic housing for absorbing energy in the event of impact of a passenger's head on the headrest, the housing being moulded in one piece, the housing comprising two channels in which the rods can slide,        a lining pad of the housing whereon a passenger's head can rest,        two sets of bearings each comprising a top bearing and a bottom bearing, each of the sets being mounted in a corresponding channel by fitting the bearings into receptacles provided in the housing, the receptacles being arranged so as to enable transverse travel of the bearings on either side of a nominal position, the bearings being provided with an opening in which the corresponding rod can slide,        a device for locking the housing relative to the rods in a plurality of vertical positions, so as to enable height adjustment of said pad, the device comprising at least one locking projection movably mounted relative to the housing between a locking position, where the projection is inserted into one of the detents, and an unlocking position, where the projection is removed from the detent so as to release the sliding of the corresponding rod.
Moulding the housing in one piece makes it possible to limit the risks of rupture of the housing that may be observed when the housing is formed by two half-shells welded to one another.
However, providing two separate rods has various drawbacks:                the mechanical strength of the headrest is not satisfactory insofar as the rods form with the housing three separate pieces subject to micro-movements relative to one another; due to the multiplication of the degrees of freedom, there is a multiplication of the noise sources associated with the vibrations of the various pieces relative to one another,        moreover, proper sliding of the housing on the rods may be impeded due to micro-movements of one rod relative to another potentially creating arching phenomena,        for this reason, such an arrangement requires arranging bearings of significant height, to ensure proper guidance of the rods and counteract the factors of poor sliding mentioned above, which may be incompatible with the space available to house the bearings.


A drive circuit includes a bias current supply circuit for supplying a bias current to a light-emitting device for transmitting an optical signal, the light-emitting device included in a light-emitting circuit; and a modulation current supply circuit for supplying a modulation current of a magnitude according to a logical value of data to be transmitted, to the light-emitting device. The modulation current supply circuit includes a differential drive circuit for switching whether to supply a current to the light-emitting device, according to the logical value of the data; and a termination resistor connected between differential outputs of the differential drive circuit. The differential drive circuit and the light-emitting circuit are DC-coupled to each other, and power supply of the current supplied to the light-emitting device by the differential drive circuit is supplied from the light-emitting circuit.

In recent years, the Internet has proliferated widely. Thus, users can access various information on sites run around the world and obtain the information. Accordingly, apparatuses capable of performing broadband access such as ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) and FTTH (Fiber To The Home) have also been widely used at a rapid pace.
IEEE Std 802.3ah (registered trademark)—2004 (Non-Patent Literature 1) discloses one system of a passive optical network (PON) which is medium-sharing communication where a plurality of optical network units (ONUs) perform data transmission with an optical line terminal (OLT) by sharing an optical communication line. Specifically, there are defined EPON (Ethernet (registered trademark) PON) where all pieces of information including user information passing through the PON and control information for managing and operating the PON are communicated in Ethernet (registered trademark) frame format; and an access control protocol (MPCP (Multi-Point Control Protocol)) and an OAM (Operations Administration and Maintenance) protocol for EPON. By exchanging MPCP frames between the optical line terminal and the optical network units, joining, leaving, and upstream access multiple control of the optical network units, etc., are performed. In addition, Non-Patent Literature 1 describes a new-optical network unit registration method, a report indicating a bandwidth allocation request, and a gate indicating a transmission instruction, by MPCP messages.
Note that even in 10G-EPON which is standardized as IEEE 802.3av (registered trademark)—2009 as the next-generation technology of GE-PON (Giga Bit Ethernet (registered trademark) Passive Optical Network) which is EPON achieving a communication speed of 1 gigabit per second, i.e., EPON whose communication speed is equivalent to 10 gigabits per second, an access control protocol is premised on MPCP.
A laser drive circuit used in a transmitter for optical communication is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-267924 (Patent Literature 1). Specifically, the laser drive circuit includes a modulation circuit that supplies a modulation current to a laser diode according to burst data to be inputted; and a bias circuit that provides a bias current to the laser diode. The modulation circuit includes a differential drive circuit. The differential drive circuit and the laser diode are AC-coupled to each other by a capacitive element. In addition, in the differential drive circuit, a termination resistor for impedance matching is connected between a pair of transistors and a power supply line.


Provided is a computer. The computer includes: a plurality of parts including heat-generating components that generate heat during operation; a case in which the parts are installed; and one or more heat-dissipating plates separated from the case by a predetermined distance and facing the case; wherein the heat-generating components include a central processing unit and a power supply, and the central processing unit and the power supply are each thermally connected to the heat-dissipating plates so that heat generated by the central processing unit and the power supply can be dissipated to the outside of the case via the heat-dissipating plates. Accordingly, the heat-generating components installed in the case can be noiselessly and efficiently cooled without using cooling fans.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer, and more particularly, to a computer capable of efficiently and noiselessly dissipating heat generated by heat-generating components installed in a case without using cooling fans.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, computers are comprised of a variety of functional parts. Representative examples of functional parts that may be installed in a computer case include a main board, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics card, a sound card, a power supply, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM) drive, and a digital versatile disk-read only memory (DVD-ROM) drive. These internal parts installed in the computer case are connected to external peripheral devices, such as a monitor, a mouse, a keyboard, an external memory device, and a printer.
Among such internal parts mounted in the computer case, the CPU, the power supply, and the graphics card are known as typical heat-generating components. When the temperature of a heat-generating component is elevated due to heat generated in the component, the performance of the internal parts is degraded and, in the worst case, the component may not function at all. As higher performing computer systems appear, the amount of heat generated by the heat-generating components increases, raising the need for better cooling. This is one of the critical issues that the computer industry is facing.
A general method of cooling heat-generating components installed in a computer case involves bringing heat absorbing heatsinks into contact with the heat-generating components and blowing cooling air over the heatsinks using cooling fans. Various research, for example, research regarding the types of materials and shapes of such a heatsink, has been conducted to efficiently absorb or dissipate heat generated by the heat-generating components.
In conventional computer cooling systems developed to date, commonly, each heat-generating component installed in a computer case is cooled by a cooling fan attached to the same, and the air that is heated in the computer case is outwardly discharged by another cooling fan attached to the body of the computer case. However, such conventional computer cooling systems have the following problems.
Since a number of cooling fans, which rotate at a high speed, are installed to cool the heat generating sources installed in the computer case, a large amount of noise is generated during the operation of the computer system. In fact, most of the noise generated by a computer system is mechanical noise caused by the cooling fans. Such noise generated by the cooling fans generally bothers computer users, particularly, sensitive users, and lowers working efficiency. Another problem is that external dust particles stick to the parts in the computer case, since a large volume of external air is circulated through the computer case by the cooling fans during the operation of the computer system. This problem becomes worst due to the electrostatic force generated by the internal parts and finally may lead to operational failure of the parts.
Another problem with the conventional computer cooling system lies in the inefficiency due to the active cooling of the heat-generating components within the computer case. The internal temperature of the computer system delimited by the computer case rises in a short time to be higher than the external temperature when the computer system is operated. Thus, the heat-generating components cannot be effectively cooled using the warm air in the computer case.


A light scanning apparatus, including: a light source; a deflector having a rotary polygon mirror configured to deflect the light beam emitted from the light source, and a motor configured to rotate the polygon mirror; a plurality of reflecting mirrors configured to reflect the light beam to the photosensitive member; and an optical box on which the light source is mounted, wherein the optical box has an installation wall on which the deflector is installed and a support wall positioned on a side of the photosensitive member with respect to the polygon mirror, the support wall being provided with a support portion configured to support at least one reflecting mirror, a stepped portion having a plurality of steps is formed between the installation wall and the support wall, and a back surface of the stepped portion has a shape following an inside surface of the stepped portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light scanning apparatus used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunctional peripheral thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a light scanning apparatus used in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a light scanning apparatus having the following configuration is well known. Specifically, there has been known a light scanning apparatus configured to deflect a light beam emitted from a light source by a rotary polygon mirror and to guide the deflected light beam onto a photosensitive surface of the photosensitive member by optical components such as a lens and a mirror, to form a latent image on a photosensitive member. An imaging optical system is formed of at least one fθ lens. The fθ lens has a special lens effective surface typified by an aspheric surface for the purpose of enhancing scanning characteristics. Further, a housing (hereinafter referred to as "optical box") configured to support and fix members of an optical system is formed of a resin molding because of the advantages such as the securement of a degree of freedom of a shape, the reduction in weight, and the reduction in price. In particular, the use of an optical box made of a resin is greatly advantageous in a tandem type image forming apparatus, because a large number of optical components are used, and further mounting directions and mounting methods of supporting and fixing the optical components are not uniform. On the other hand, the optical box made of a resin has a large coefficient of thermal expansion under the condition of an increased temperature, compared to an optical box made of a metal. Further, the optical box made of a resin has a low coefficient of thermal conductivity, compared to the optical box made of a metal. Therefore, when the optical box made of a resin is used, in the light scanning apparatus containing a heat source, a temperature distribution becomes non-uniform, and a hot portion and a cold portion occur partially. As a result, warpage and local distortion in different directions occur in the optical box.
A deflection member such as a rotary polygon mirror having a plurality of deflection reflecting surfaces has been often used in the light scanning apparatus. When the deflection member is driven, the temperature increases by the heat generation from a driving portion such as a motor. If light scanning is performed continuously for a long period of time, a rotation shaft receiving portion of the rotary polygon mirror and an IC chip mounted on a motor portion configured to drive the rotary polygon mirror are heated to a high temperature. Further, even in the case where light scanning is performed for a short period of time, the temperature logarithmically fluctuates and increases immediately after the start of the rotation of the motor. Therefore, the optical box is greatly distorted and deformed by a non-uniform increase in temperature in the light scanning apparatus. A lens, the rotary polygon mirror, and a mirror constituting the light scanning apparatus are housed in the optical box, and hence the positions of optical components such as the lens and the mirror are changed by the deformation of the optical box, with the result that the path through which a light beam passes and a reflecting direction are changed with time.
The deformation of the optical box occurs mainly for the following two causes. The first cause is a hot current of air, and the second cause is a radiation heat. The hot current of air which is the first cause occurs as follows. The rotary polygon mirror rotates at a high speed and hence generates wind, which absorbs heat generated on the periphery of a deflector to become hot current of air. The periphery of the deflector is surrounded by a rib provided perpendicularly to a bottom wall of the optical box so as to keep the strength of the optical box, and the way of the hot current is blocked by the rib so that the hot current of air stagnates around the deflector. Because of this, an increase in temperature on the periphery of the deflector becomes larger than that in the other portions of the optical box. Consequently, the optical box increases in temperature locally, which causes the deformation such as warpage and distortion in the optical box. Further, the radiation heat which is the second cause occurs as follows. The rotary polygon mirror rotates at a high speed, and hence the rotation shaft receiving portion of the rotary polygon mirror fitted in the optical box so as to position the deflector reaches a high temperature. Further, the IC chip mounted on the motor portion also generates heat. Then, portions immediately below the rotation shaft receiving portion and the location where the IC chip is mounted are heated locally by the radiation heat, with the result that the optical box expands and deforms.
As described above, by the deformation of the optical box, directions and amounts of light beams vary in different color stations so that light-condensing positions on surfaces to be scanned are changed, and thus a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a magnification of an image line is fluctuated, resulting in the degradation in image. In particular, in a tandem type image forming apparatus, a light beam position of each color is fluctuated, and hence color misregistration occurs when toner images of respective colors are superimposed. In order to solve the foregoing problem, there has been proposed a light scanning apparatus in which a rib, which has provided perpendicularly to the bottom portion of a housing main body, is inclined so that the hot current of air generated from a rotary polygon mirror and so on is diffused along the inclined rib (Japanese Patent No. 4170736).
However, according to the conventional method, certain effects are obtained with respect to the first cause of the deformation of the optical box described above, but there is a risk in that effects may not be obtained with respect to the second cause. That is, hot current of air generated from the deflector can be diffused to the periphery; however, hot current of air is blown to the inclined portion of the optical box, with the result that the entire optical box is greatly distorted by the distortion caused by the expansion and deformation of the inclined portion. The inclined portion of the optical box has a straight line shape, and hence the expansion thereof serves to distort the entire optical box. Further, the local deformation of the rotation shaft receiving portion of the rotary polygon mirror and also the deformation of expansion from the center of the rotation shaft receiving portion to the periphery thereof cannot be absorbed by the inclined portion formed into a straight line shape, which leads to the deformation of the entire optical box.


A method by which a mucoprotectant gelatin which forms a protective coating on the mucous membranes of the mouth is provided for use with active ingredients for treating the teeth. The active ingredient may be an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution or fluoride. When hydrogen peroxide is used as a bleaching agent the mucoprotectant prevents the caustic bleaching agent from damaging the gums. The bleaching agent and the mucoprotectant are stored in separate containers and are custom mixed by a supervising dentist and given to the patient in a dispenser so that the resulting slurry may be used in a personalized vacuformed mouthpiece. The treatment may last from several minutes to several hours.

The cosmetic whitening of the teeth has been a prevalent concern of the modern consumer. Traditionally abrasives and bleaches have been used to effectuate the desired whitening. One of the agents used by dentists for in-office cosmetic bleaching has been hydrogen peroxide. While hydrogen peroxide is a very safe chemical in dilute quantities it is very caustic and will cause severe tissue damage at higher concentrations. Thus, its use has heretofore been limited to controlled use in the dentist's office. Recently, dentists have attempted to bleach teeth using a vacuformed mouthpiece which fits over the teeth and adjacent tissue with a dilute hydrogen peroxide gel (1-1/2% hydrogen peroxide). While the technique is laudable, the continued exposure of the mucous membranes of the mouth to hydrogen peroxide often seems to result in oral irritation which necessitates discontinuation of the treatment. Therefore a need exists for a means for protecting the gum tissues while permitting hydrogen peroxide to contact the teeth.

Method of protecting the mucous membranes of the mouth while treating teeth


Apparatus, and associated methods employed therein, for objectively providing an accurate appearance match between two depictions of a common images produced by two imaging systems (e.g. a target image (170) produced by one such system (160), e.g. a press sheet (178) generated by a printing press (168), which is to be matched by a replica image (150) produced by another such system (140), e.g. a proof (153) generated by a direct digital color halftone proofing system (143)) and thereby calibrate the performance of one imaging system, e.g. the proofing system, to that of the other system, e.g. the printing press. Specifically, measurement data, such as illustratively colorimetric CIELAB L*a*b* measurements, is obtained for the same portions of the press sheet and proof. This data is acquired in or transformed into a color space which encodes color information in a pre-defined manner that approximates human color perception. Thereafter, through use of a pre-determined model of the, e.g., proofing system, incorporated into pre-defined matching principles which objectively and quantitatively define an accurate appearance match between the depictions produced by both systems, operational settings for the proofing system, such as solid area densities and tint dot areas, are determined which will calibrate the response of the proofing system to that of the press. Consequently, tone and color rendition produced by the proofing system is modified to provide an accurate appearance match to that obtained, from a common image source, on the press, given judgmental color preferences of a human observer and performance limitations of the proofing system.

Currently, color images are generated through a wide variety of different systems, such as for example photographically on suitable film or photosensitive paper, or electronically on video tape or other suitable media. When generated, images share a basic characteristic: they are recorded on a continuous tone (hereinafter referred to as "contone") basis. As such, recorded color information at any point in the image is represented by several continuous amplitude values, each of which is oftentimes discretized as eight-bit values ranging from "0" to "255". Very often, a user having an image captured on one medium, such as a photographic print or transparency, will desire to display and/or reproduce that image on other media, such as on a video monitor or on a printed page.
Color reproduction equipment, as it relates to printing images, takes advantage of the principle that the vast majority of colors can be separated into a specific combination of four primary subtractive colors (specifically cyan, yellow, magenta and black--C, Y, M and K) in which the amount of each primary color is set to a predetermined amount. In the case of printed reproductions of an image, use of primary color printing obviates the need to use a differently colored ink for each different color in the image. As such, each image is commonly converted into sets of three or four color separations, in which each separation is essentially a negative (or positive) transparency with an altered tone reproducing characteristic that carries the color information for only one of the primary colors. Separations are subsequently recorded on printing plates for use in a press.
By way of contrast, color reproduction on cathode ray tube displays takes advantage of the principle that the vast majority of colors can be represented by a combination of three primary additive colors (specifically red, green and blue--R, G and B) in which the intensity produced by each primary colored (R, G or B) phosphor is set to a predetermined amount.
Modern offset printing presses do not possess the capability of applying differential amounts of ink to any location in an image being printed. Rather, these presses are only designed to either apply or not apply a single amount of ink to any given location on a page. Therefore, an offset printing press is unable to directly print a contone separation. To successfully circumvent this problem, halftone separations are used instead. An image formed from any single color halftone separation encodes the density information inherent in a color image from amplitude modulated form into a spatial (area) modulated form, in terms of dot size, which is subsequently integrated by the human eye into a desired color. By smoothly changing halftone dot sizes (dot areas), smooth corresponding tone variations will be generated in the reproduced image. Given this, the art has taught for some time that a full color image can be formed by properly overlaying single color halftone reproductions for all of the primary subtractive colors, where each reproduction is formed from a corresponding halftone dot separation that contains dots of appropriate sizes. Clearly, as size and spacing of the dots decrease, an increasing amount of detail can be encoded in a halftone dot pattern and hence in the reproduced image. For that reason, in graphic arts applications, a halftone separation utilizes closely spaced dots to yield a relatively high resolution.
With this in mind, one might first think that printing a color image for graphic arts use should be a fairly simple process. Specifically, a color image could first be converted into corresponding continuous tone separations. Each of these contone separations could then be converted into a corresponding halftone separation. A printing plate could then be manufactured from each halftone separation and subsequently mounted to a printing press. Thereafter, paper or other similar media could be run through the press in such a fashion so as to produce properly registered superimposed halftone images for all the subtractive primary colors thereby generating a full color reproduction of the original image.
In practice, accurately printing a color image is oftentimes a very tedious, problematic and time consuming manual process that requires a substantial level of skill. First, the conventional manual photographic process of converting a contone separation into a halftone separation, this process commonly being referred to as "screening", is a time and resource consuming process in and of itself. Second, various phenomena, each of which disadvantageously degrades an image, often occur in a reproduced halftone color image. Moreover, the complete extent to which each of these phenomena is present in the reproduced image is often known only at a rather late point in the printing process thereby necessitating the use of tedious and time and resource consuming iterative experimentation to adequately eliminate these phenomena.
Traditionally, on-press proofing provided the first point at which a color judgment could be made regarding the quality of the reproduced image. For example, many color differences, such as incompatible and/or objectionable color renditions or Moire patterns, were usually first seen at this point in an imaging process. If such a difference were sufficiently objectionable to a color technician, then usually the entire imaging process would need to be modified and repeated. Doing so generally necessitated a total re-work of the separations, production of a new set of printing plates therefrom and generation of a new press proof, with this process being iteratively repeated as many times as necessary to properly remove or sufficiently attenuate the incompatible and/or objectionable color differences.
In an effort to reduce the time required and expense associated with conventional manual photographic based color reproduction processes and particularly the traditional on-press proofing techniques used therewith, the art has initially turned away from use of on-press proofing in high volume graphic art applications towards the use of intermediate off-press proofing technologies, such as electro-photographic techniques. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,459 (issued to C. Cowan et al on Nov. 24, 1987, assigned to the present assignee hereof and hereinafter referred to as the '459 Cowan et al patent) discloses an electro-photographic color proofing system with variable tone reproduction characteristics.
Now, for a variety of reasons, such as for example, recently increasing use of digital techniques in color electronic pre-press systems; and increasing flexibility, control and throughput over that provided by optical (including electro-photographic) proofing systems, the art appears to be turning towards the use of so-called direct digital color proofing (DDCP) systems. These particular systems directly generate a halftone color proof image from a set of digitized contone separations and particularly the digitized contone values therefor. Specifically, DDCP systems manipulate the separations in digital form to electronically generate appropriate halftone separations, including, inter alia, through use of electronic screening and tone reproduction compensation, and then directly write the proof image using an appropriate high resolution binary marking engine. Furthermore, inasmuch as these systems completely eliminate photographic film-based processes, these systems are expected to be very economical to operate.
By virtue of providing input-output mapping in a completely digital fashion, such DDCP systems should provide far better control over image subtleties and hence tone reproduction than that available through optical proofing systems known in the art.
In that regard, I have previously developed a technique for inclusion in, illustratively, a DDCP system that: (a) allows an operator to completely specify and readily change a desired tone reproduction curve shape that, within the physical limits of the system, is to be reproduced in the proof, and (b) causes the system produce a proof image that exhibits the desired dot gain curve shape. That technique is fully described in my co-pending U.S. patent application "A TECHNIQUE FOR USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN IMAGING SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ACCURATE TONE REPRODUCTION IN AN OUTPUT IMAGE" filed Oct. 25, 1991, Ser. No. 07/782,940 (hereinafter referred to as the '940 Spence application) and which has been assigned to the present assignee hereof.
Very broadly speaking, this technique relies on intentionally varying the value of each incoming contone value by an amount consistent with both an actual tone reproduction characteristic of a DDCP imaging chain (i.e. a so-called "Process" dot gain) and a desired (so-called "Aim") dot gain to yield an output dot of an appropriate area that provides the desired density in the proof image. In this context, the DDCP imaging chain is illustratively formed of a raster image processor (RIP), which implements a screening process, and a marking engine connected thereto such as a sublimation dye transfer laser writer. To readily accomplish this variation, each incoming contone value is appropriately modified through illustratively a table look-up operation into a correspondingly modified value which, when subsequently rendered into a halftone pattern on the proof image by the marking engine, causes the proof to accurately exhibit the desired "Aim" tone reproduction curve. The look-up table contains values which represent the "Aim" tone reproduction curve modified by an inverse of the "Process" tone reproduction curve.
While the optical proofing system described in the '459 Cowan et al patent and the direct digital proofing system described in the '940 Spence application provide excellent quality proofs, these systems, like all imaging systems, can reproduce colors only within a certain color gamut. Generally speaking, the tone reproduction characteristics of one type of imaging system, or even one type of imaging medium, are not completely coincident with those of a different type of imaging system or medium. In this regard, through use of differing colorants (e.g. inks used in printing as compared to photographic dyes or colored phosphors on a video monitor) and other physical phenomena related to specific imaging processes, a given color shown on a color artwork, such as on a photograph, on any of a variety of other off-press proofs, on a press proof or on a press sheet printed on publication stock, will often appear differently in a halftone color proof formed either on electro-photographic film or on a dye transfer intermediate and subsequently transferred to paper. Furthermore, a halftone color proofing system, such as that described in the '459 Cowan et al patent or that described in the '940 Spence application, is generally incapable of producing the exact same color gamut and color response which are available through either the photograph, the other off-press proofs, the press proof or the press sheet. In this regard, the color gamut reproducible in a color halftone proof will generally not match that associated with a color artwork that appears on a photograph, an off-press proof, a press proof or on a press sheet. In addition and owing to physical differences among different imaging systems, the response of different types of imaging systems to an identical input color will likely be different, e.g. the same red color provided as input to two different imaging systems might likely produce two output colors with somewhat differing red hues.
In view of the inherent tone and color differences between, e.g., the press sheet and the proof thereof, the colors in the proof can not be identically matched to those that appear in the press sheet. Nevertheless, for a proofing system to fully serve its intended purpose, a proof image must be predictive of color rendition in images subsequently produced by another imaging system (hereinafter respectively referred to as a target images and target imaging systems). However, the tone and color reproduction characteristics of a proofing system rarely coincide with those of an associated target imaging system. Therefore, the tone and color reproduction characteristics of the proofing system must be calibrated, to the extent possible, to those of the target imaging system. Once calibrated, the proofing system should be able to accurately predict the performance of the target imaging system though, in most situations, the proofing system will generate a proof image with colors that do not exactly match those in a target image.
Unfortunately, calibrating a proofing system tends to consume an inordinate amount of time as well as require a very high level of skill. In this regard, a color technician is required to possess a substantial level of skill and expertise not only to judge color differences between a proof image and a target image therefor but also to fully appreciate performance inter-relationships between the colors that appear on the proof image and corresponding colors that will appear on the target image. Consequently, the technician not only must recognize a color difference and decide which specific colors to match but also, where the tone and color reproduction characteristics of the proofing system can be varied, determine the proper variations in these characteristics in order to achieve an acceptable match between the proof image and the target image and then set the proofing system accordingly.
In particular, to calibrate a proofing system to a target imaging system, a color technician usually visually examines both a proof image and an associated target image on a side-by-side basis and then, based upon his own subjective judgment as to what the visually important features of the target image are and how they should appear, selects which colors to match. Thereafter, given his knowledge of the proofing system and its color response, he will attempt to initially vary the C, Y, M and K colorant solid area densities and/or dot size (tone reproduction curve) settings to accurately depict one color(s), which, not surprisingly, will also affect other colors, possibly adversely. Based upon the effects that occur with respect to other colors in the proof image, the technician will iteratively vary solid area densities and/or dot size (tone reproduction curve) settings of the colorants, in seriatim, until an acceptable color match is achieved between the target image and the proof image for the selected colors.
However, a proofing system with variable tone and color reproduction characteristics often presents the technician with an enormous number of different possible combinations of the settings. For example, for the system described in the '459 Cowan et al patent, the solid area density and dot size can be set for each of the four process colors (C, Y, M and K) at any of 20 different density levels and at any of 15 different dot size settings. For the DDCP system described in the '940 Spence application, the number of solid area density settings is considerably larger, with, e.g., the number of dot size settings alone (comprising specification of several control points) numbering well into the thousands. In view of the resulting huge number of potential combinations of settings, an experienced color technician often needs to run and separately analyze quite a few successive proofs in order to select a suitable solid area density and halftone dot size setting (or an entire tone reproduction curve shape) for each different colorant in order to achieve an acceptable match between the proof image and a target image and thereby calibrate the proofing system to the target imaging system. Moreover, additional time is consumed whenever the technician is forced to resort to trial-and-error experimentation or, in a worst case scenario, guesswork: either merely as a result of iterating through a very large number of possible combinations to discern the performance inter-relationships of the proofing system and/or by incorrectly relying on intuition and initially iterating away from a proper operating condition. An example of the latter situation can occur where the technician, based upon his own intuition, views a proof image against a target image and decides that the yellow content in the proof image needs to be increased. While the technician may decide to initially increase the halftone dot size for the yellow colorant, the proper operating condition may instead involve reducing the halftone dot sizes for all the colorants but reducing the halftone dot size for yellow less than that for each of the other colorants.
Furthermore with certain images, the technician may simply have insufficient skill to quickly determine the proper operating conditions of the proofing system. As such, in certain situations, the technician, given his lack of knowledge or experience, may be unable to determine the best possible color match in the time allotted and thus must settle for a match that is often simply acceptable. In view of this, empirical approaches have been developed to aid the technician in quickly locating a limited region of the operating space of the proofing system in which a decent match can be achieved and to which the proofing system can be calibrated. One such empirical approach could involve first matching the C, M, Y and K solid area and halftone densities between the target image and the proof image to the extent realistically possible--though this may generally produce mismatches in overprint colors, e.g. the reds, greens and blues. Once these primary color matches are achieved, the resulting proof image is then visually examined to determine how certain overprint colors appear, e.g., whether gray tones are the same as those on the artwork or are too red. If the latter occurs, then the colorants are appropriately changed, possibly through successive iterative changes, to increase the cyan content or decrease the magenta and yellow content in the proof image. Alternatively, the technician could visually examine the reds in the proof image. If the reds appear too orange, the colorants could be appropriately changed to decrease the yellow content of the proof image or alternatively increase its magenta content. In that regard, it is widely known that an average human vision is acutely sensitive to flesh tones (which specifically contain red hues). Hence, even a subtle difference in coloration may be perceived as transforming an otherwise pleasant image of a human face into one that is quite unnatural and obnoxious. Through such approaches, even a skilled color technician may still need to generate upwards of 12-15 separate proof images in seriatim, typically requiring a full day of work, until he discerns the proper operating condition of the proofing system which is needed to achieve an acceptable color match between the target image and a proof image therefor and thereby calibrate the proofing system to the target imaging system in use.
Through a totally different approach, the technician could quantitatively measure reflection densities of selected portions of the image on both the target image and the proof image using, for example, a reflection densitometer, and then attempt to set the colorants in a manner that seeks to achieve the densities inherent in the target image. Unfortunately, this approach is constrained by the ability of the technician to locate corresponding relatively large uniformly colored areas on both the target image and the proof image at which the reflection densitometer can be reliably placed to take measurements. If both images contain significant detail, then suitable measurement areas may not exist and thereby preclude such densitometric measurements from being made. Moreover, as densitometers are designed specifically for measurement of amounts of colorants in an image and not for measurement of colors as perceived by humans, a densitometric match between the target and proof images will often be visually objectionable. For example, if the yellow colorant in the target image absorbed blue light over a wide band of wavelengths and the yellow colorant in the proof image absorbed blue light over a narrow band of wavelengths, a wide band densitometric match would lead to a proof image with a perceived excess of yellow colorant.
Apart from a reflection densitometer, one device that has recently become available for color measurement and matching is a spectrophotometer, such as the Model SPM 50 spectrophotometer manufactured by Gretag Corporation of Regensdorf, Switzerland. This device projects white light of a known spectral distribution onto an image, then separates the spectrum of reflected light from the image through a diffraction grating and thereafter measures the intensity of the reflected radiation at a number of different wavelengths. Through this device and its associated software, colorimetric spectral based measurements can be made of any reflection image. A commercially available software package (i.e. the "CMYK Conversion System" software) for use with this device and available from Gretag determines proper halftone dot size in the separations in order to achieve a desired coloration in the reflection image made therefrom. This software conceivably could be used to characterize (i.e. "model") a proofing system in use and then effectuate a color balance between a press sheet and a proof therefor. Specifically, a set of known test (reference or calibration) separations having numerous, complex and atypical patterns is provided with the device and software; the latter storing dot area settings for these separations. To characterize the proofing system, a proof image would be made from the reference separations. Thereafter, spectrophotometric measurements could be taken of this particular proof image. The resulting measurements, when processed, would yield a model that characterizes the color gamut producible through the proofing system. Thereafter, in order to generate a color match to a target image, the device could then be used to take spectrophotometric measurements of the target image. Given the characterization of the proofing system and the latter set of measurements, the software will determine appropriate values to use for solid area densities and corresponding halftone dot sizes for each primary colorant in the proofing system in order to generate a proof image that should match the target image for any particular color.
Inasmuch as the color gamut reproducible through a proofing system does not coincide with that appearing in the target image, the software used with this device, if used to match several colors simultaneously, is constrained, just as the technician is in manually performing a color match, to effectuate a compromise in matching the two gamuts between the target image and the proof image therefor. In achieving a color match, this software relies on the well-known CIELAB (L*a*b*) color coordinate system and color differences associated therewith. In computing a multiple color match, the software seeks to minimize an overall .DELTA.E value (i.e. a root sum squared length of multiple CIELAB color differences) between the two color gamuts and thus obtain an overall "colorimetric" match.
Even though the CIELAB system was designed to provide a nearly balanced measure of noticeable color differences, a relatively large colorimetric difference for some colors will lead to a relatively small .DELTA.E value; while this will not be true for other colors. Any system, such as the Gretag spectrophotometer, associated test separations and software, that seeks to minimize an overall colorimetric error between two images produced by systems with differing tone and color reproduction characteristics may well still produce minor color mismatches (as judged by their .DELTA.E values) for some colors that, in various image contexts, would be highly objectionable to a human observer.
In particular, it has been known for some time that human color perception, including mental judgment, exhibits differing sensitivities for different colors. Given this, human observers will be much more acutely aware of what would amount to minor color differences, such as differences in so-called "memory" colors (e.g., greens and flesh tones), in certain pictorial contexts than in others. Accordingly, a color difference that would simply be noticeable, if at all, in some contexts would be highly objectionable in others. For example, people are acutely aware of very small differences in flesh tones. A viewer will likely object to a human face that appears too blue or green, while merely noticing, if at all, and certainly not objecting to a tablecloth or blanket that exhibited the same variation. Thus, an effective color balance needs to account for the preferences inherent in human color perception. Specifically, if a target image is compared side-by-side to an accurate proof image thereof, a viewer should reach the conclusion that the proof image in effect has a good appearance, i.e. flesh tones appear as they should as well as do other colors given the context of the image thereon. In this instance, the relative coloration throughout the proof image is pleasing even though the specific hues in the proof image will not necessarily identically match those in the target image. Such a visually pleasing match between a proof image and a target image will hereinafter be referred to as an "appearance match".
Any system, such as the Gretag spectrophotometer and associated test separations and software, that attempts to provide a uniform "colorimetric" match across all colors using a metric based on context independent noticeability ignores the innate preferences inherent in human color perception. Consequently, the resulting proof image, based solely on such a colorimetric match to the target image, is likely to contain minor color differences, that depending upon the context of the particular image, can be highly objectionable to a viewer. Consequently, the proof image would not be a visually appealing representation of the target image. In these instances, an overall balance colorimetric based approach to color matching will clearly yield an unsatisfactory match that simply can not be used to calibrate a proofing system. When this occurs, a color technician would likely revert back to a manual approach to locate what he subjectively perceives to be an appearance match between the target image and the proof image--but will be forced to accept a rather high cost in time and material to do so.
As one can now appreciate, thus far the art has simply failed to provide a relatively fast systematic technique for objectively and automatically achieving a satisfactory appearance match between one color image, such as a press sheet, and another image, such as a proof therefor, for nearly all images, and particularly for use in calibrating one imaging system, such as a proofing system, to a target imaging system, such as a press.
Furthermore, proof images are typically printed, particularly through the proofing system described in the '459 Cowan et al patent, with so-called "run bars" that appear alongside the proof image. Each run bar provides a pre-defined sequence of color test patches composed of various combinations of primary colors, both as solids and halftones, as well as other diagnostic targets. These bars are intended to provide test areas for taking densitometric measurements of areas of uniform colors. For example, a typical run bar will contain, among others, separate solid and halftone color patches for the K, C, M and Y primary colors; separate solid color patches for the red (M and Y overprint), green (C and Y overprint), blue (C and M overprint) and three-color overprints (C, M and Y); and halftone color patches for a three-color overprint. Inasmuch as these bars exist alongside the proof and are formed by the proofing process using the same colorants as in the accompanying proof image itself, these bars identically represent the result of the proofing system tone and color reproduction characteristics in the proof image. Given the existence of the run bars in proof images, particularly those produced through the proofing system described in the '459 Cowan et al patent, it would be highly desirable to utilize these bars in some fashion to effectuate a color match between the proof image and a target image. Similar run bars are placed on target images, such as a press sheet. Alternatively, simple, easily generated and commonly used test objects such as step tablets comprising primary color, two color and three color overprint solids and tints could provide increased amounts of detail for specification of a tone reproduction curve shape, such as through the "Aim" dot gain capability of the DDCP system described in the '940 Spence application.
Therefore, a need currently exists in the art for a technique, specifically though not exclusively intended for inclusion in a proofing system, that can be used, particularly in conjunction with run bars or other simple test objects, to quickly, objectively and automatically provide an appearance match between an image produced by one imaging system, such as a proof image, and another image, such as a press sheet, produced from a common image source but by a different imaging system. While the colorations in such a match will rarely be identical due to differences in reproducible color gamut and color response between these two systems, the match attained through this technique should nevertheless result in, for example, a proof image that is, in substantially all instances, a visually accurate and appealing representation, i.e. an appearance match, of a target image. Moreover, by automatically providing an appearance match through objective criteria, such a technique should significantly reduce the trial-and-error effort and the degree of skill required of a user, as well as the associated time and cost, needed to achieve such a match and thereby calibrate a proofing system to a press or another proofing system.

Technique for use in conjunction with an imaging system for providing an appearance match between two images and for calibrating the system thereto


A method for reducing the vibration levels likely to occur, in a turbine engine including a first and a second bladed disk forming a propfan of contrarotating disks, when the two disks are traversed by a gaseous fluid, because of the turbulence of aerodynamic origin generated by the second bladed disk on the first bladed disk is disclosed. The method includes defining an initial configuration of the blades, calculating the synchronous forced response on the first bladed disk as a function of the harmonic excitation force generated by the second bladed disk expressed as a linear function of the generalized aerodynamic force for the mode in question; for stacked sections of one of the two disks, determining a tangential geometric offset value θ of the individual aerodynamic profile to reduce the term corresponding to the generalized aerodynamic force; and applying a new configuration to the blades.

A turbine engine comprises one or more rotors formed of bladed disks, that is to say of blades mounted on a disk that is able to rotate about a shaft, and one or more vanes formed of bladed disks that are fixed, that is to say that do not rotate relative to the above shaft. The blades of the fixed and mobile disks are traversed by a gaseous fluid in a general direction parallel with the shaft. One of the main sources of excitation of the fixed or mobile blades originates from the wakes and from the pressure fluctuations generated by the obstacles adjacent to the blading. These various obstacles, namely the blades of the upstream and downstream stages, or else the casing arms induce turbulence in the flow of the fluid through the bladings. The movement of the blades in this turbulence creates a synchronous harmonic excitation of the rotation speed of the rotor and generates an instationary pressure field on the surface of the blade. The object of the present invention is therefore the attenuation of the impact of the interactions between two moveable bladed disks, one placed immediately downstream of the other and rotating in directions opposite to one another.
In the field of aviation turbine engines, the bladings are particularly sensitive parts because they must satisfy, in terms of design, imperatives of aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance and of mechanical strength in rotation, temperature and aerodynamic load. All of these aspects mean that these structures are fairly statically loaded and that, because of the imperatives of service life, the amplitudes of vibrations that they sustain must remain low. Furthermore, the aeroelastic coupling, that is to say the coupling between the dynamics of the bladed disks and the fluid flow, is conditional upon the vibrational stability of the structure.
In the context of the design of a turbine engine, and because of the multidisciplinarity of those involved, the design process is iterative. The vibrational design is carried out in order to prevent the presence of critical resonances in the operating range of the machine. The assembly is validated at the end of the design cycle by an engine test in which the vibrational amplitudes are measured. High vibrational levels associated either with resonances or with vibrational instabilities sometimes occur. The fine-tuning of the rotor concerned must then be repeated, which is particularly protracted and costly.
The object of the present invention is to control, right at the design or development phase of the machine, the levels of vibrational response of the bladed disks in a turbine-engine structure comprising at least a first moveable bladed disk and a second moveable bladed disk which are contrarotating and traversed by a gaseous flow.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for reducing the vibration levels of a propfan of contrarotating bladed disks of a turbine engine


A transfer printing method is described that can be used for a wide variety of materials, such as to allow for circuits formed of different materials to be integrated together on a single integrated circuit. A tether (18) is formed on dice regions (16) of a first wafer (30), followed by attachment of a second wafer (32) to the tethers. The dice regions (16) are processed so as to be separated, followed by transfer printing of the dice regions to a third wafer (34).

Multiple independently formed integrated circuit dice often are mechanically and electrically coupled to form a combination electronic product. To that end, some processes separately fabricate two or more integrated circuit dice, and then combine those integrated circuit dice using conventional processes, such as micro-transfer printing processes. During the micro-transfer printing process, an integrated circuit die typically is removed from a first wafer and positioned in close proximity to a second integrated circuit die. At some point thereafter, the process electrically connects the two integrated circuit dice to produce the combination electronic product.

Analog Devices International Unlimited Company


An internal gear grinding machine achieves space savings and reduction in size of a machine, as well as prevents the tools from being damaged even when an abnormal situation such as a blackout occurs, by a simplifying dressing operation. The internal gear grinding machine for grinding a workpiece (W) by synchronously rotating the workpiece (W) and a barrel-shaped threaded grinding wheel (17) in mesh with each other includes a dressing device (20) for dressing the threaded tool (17) by meshing the threaded grinding wheel (17) with a disk dresser (56). When dressing, the threaded grinding wheel (17) and the disc dresser (56) are operated in accordance with the helix angle and barrel shape of the threaded grinding wheel (17), and the brake mechanism (58) applies a braking force to a dresser turn drive motor (53) to enable the disc dresser (56) to be maintained at a turned position thereof.

Heretofore, gear grinding machines have been provided to efficiently finish the faces of the teeth of a heat-treated gear by grinding the gear with a threaded grinding wheel, which is a grinding tool. The sharpness of the threaded grinding wheel decreases due to the wear thereof as grinding is repeated. Accordingly, after a predetermined number of gears have been ground, the worn threaded grinding wheel needs to be dressed to restore the sharpness of the faces of the threads thereof.
For this reason, conventional gear grinding machines have the dressing function of dressing a worn threaded grinding wheel with a dresser. Such a gear grinding machine having the dressing function is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1.
On the other hand, of gears, internal gears are frequently used in automotive transmissions and the like. Recently, there has been a demand for the improvement of machining accuracy for the purpose of reducing the vibration and noise of such transmissions. Accordingly, internal gear grinding methods for finish-grinding an internal gear with a barrel-shaped threaded grinding wheel with high accuracy have been heretofore disclosed, for example, in Non-Patent Document 1.


An image forming apparatus has a latent image forming portion that includes a latent image carrier having a cylindrical shape, and a supporting member disposed at both ends of the latent image carrier and rotatably supporting the latent image carrier, a charging unit that includes a discharge electrode supplying electric charge to the latent image carrier, and a grid electrode having a shape curved around the latent image carrier, a first supporting portion that supports the curved grid electrode from the latent image carrier side, a second supporting portion that supports the curved grid electrode from the discharge electrode side, and a pinching unit that pinches the grid electrode between the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion in a contact state.

(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
(ii) Related Art
In an image forming apparatus where a latent image is formed on an image supporting body, and a toner image is formed by supplying toner to the latent image, the outer circumferential surface of the image supporting body is charged by a charging unit.
This charging unit includes a charge wire (an example of the discharge electrode) supplying electric charge to an image supporting body and a grid electrode (an example of the control electrode) controlling a potential of the image supporting body. In addition, in order to increase a charging speed of the image supporting body, there are cases where the grid electrode has a curved shape so as to be curved along the image supporting body.

Image forming apparatus having charging unit support


Control data is generated in response to generation, from a position detector, of position data in accordance with a predetermined scale characteristic. Change scale characteristic is applied in manual operation performed immediately after an operation member has been automatically positioned to a target position. In the change scale characteristic, a start point is established such that control data, corresponding to the target position, of the predetermined scale characteristic is outputted in correspondence with the position data outputted at the time of completion of the positioning, but also a first change portion, including a portion extending from a position of the start point at least up to the target position, is established, so that the control data outputted in correspondence with the position data output gradually varies from data corresponding to the start point to data of the predetermined scale characteristic corresponding to an end point of the first change portion.

The present invention relates to control data generation devices which detect an operating position of an operation member, employed in an audio mixer apparatus or control equipment and capable of both manual operation and automatic operation, to generate control data corresponding to the detected operating position, and more particularly to a control data generation device which can generate control data, causing no odd feeling, by effectively eliminating a positioning error, produced at the time of automatic operation of an operation member, in response to manual operation of the operation member performed immediately after the automatic operation.
In audio mixer apparatus, there are provided faders (sliding-type operation members) manually operable by a human operator for adjusting/setting levels, frequency characteristics, etc. of audio signals to be mixed or audio signals to be output. Among various types of faders is one constructed as an electric fader capable of both manual operation and automatic operation, and examples of such electric faders are disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2684808 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2004-178395.
In view of the facts that there is considerable variation (or discrepancy) in position-vs.-output characteristic among position sensors attached to individual faders (i.e., sensor-specific errors) and there are also installation errors of the position sensors relative to fader structures (variation in installation error among the faders), the No. 2004-178395 publication discloses performing calibration of the position detection data for each of the faders to standardize between index positions (operating positions) of the faders and position detection data of the position sensors attached to the faders, in order to eliminate or absorb the above-mentioned errors or variation. With such an arrangement, every fader can be standardized in such a manner that position detection data of a same value can be generated as position detection data corresponding to a same index position (operating position).
Further, in order to address the problem of the traditional technique that, when a fader is to be automatically positioned at a desired position, there would occur a difference between actual position detection data provided from a position sensor in correspondence with an index position ( ) corresponding to the target position and data given as the target position (i.e., target position data) due to the above-mentioned sensor-specific errors, installation errors, etc., the No. 2004-178395 publication discloses a technique of converting the target position data in such a manner that it indicates an actual position detection data value corresponding to an index position that corresponds to the target position data. By positioning the fader in accordance with the thus-converted target position data, the disclosed technique can achieve automatic fader positioning with the above-mentioned sensor-specific errors and installation errors appropriately compensated for.
Further, in general, a difference exists between inherent positioning precision of an automatic positioning mechanism that automatically positions a fader through driving of a motor and inherent position detecting precision of a position sensor. Particularly, in recent years, an encoder is employed as the position sensor to increase the position detecting precision of the sensor, and thus, the positioning precision of the automatic positioning mechanism tends to be coarser or lower than the position detecting precision of the position sensor. In the case where the position detecting precision of the position sensor is finer or higher than that of the automatic positioning mechanism, the following problems would arise. Namely, even when the automatic positioning mechanism has positioned a fader accurately relative to a target position within its positioning precision, it would be detected that the fader has been positioned slightly deviated from the target position in terms of the positioning precision level of the automatic positioning mechanism. In such a case, when the fader is manually operated immediately after automatically positioned, a value slightly deviated from the target position that is an original initial value would be undesirably output as an initial value of fader operating position detection data in response to the manual operation. If, for example, the automatic positioning mechanism has positioned a fader at a position of −9.98 dB with an error of 0.02 dB from a target position of −10 dB, then the position sensor may accurately detect the position of the fader containing such an error to thereby output position detection data of −9.98 dB. In such a case, if a human operator moves the fader from the automatically positioned target position of −10 dB toward a −11 dB position, then the actual fader output value will change from the −9.98 dB position through the −10 dB position toward the −11 dB position. Namely, although the initial value of the manual operation should be the target position value −10 dB, the actual fader output value would start at −9.98 dB that is different from −10 dB. In this case, predetermined control, such as level adjustment, would be undesirably performed on an audio signal on the basis of such position detection data in a slightly inaccurate manner. Thus, for example, the human operator would be given an odd feeling.
Thus, the aforementioned prior art technique can not drastically solve the error problem arising from the inherent positioning precision of the automatic positioning mechanism. In order to avoid the problem, there is no other way but to set the position detecting precision of the position sensor to be coarser or lower than the positioning precision of the automatic positioning mechanism. However, if the position detecting precision of the position sensor is so set, an operating position of the operation member can be detected only with a coarse or low resolution even though the position sensor of a high resolution is employed, which presents the problem that effective and efficient utilization of the resource can not be achieved.

Control data generation device and method