A display element is configured as follows in order to prolong the display lifetime of an electro-optical element without inserting a resistance element or lowering the numerical aperture due to a change in layout. The display element includes an organic EL element, which is an electro-optical element, a power source line electrode, a scanning signal line electrode, a data signal line electrode, a common electrode, an auxiliary capacitance, a current control TFT for controlling the current flowing through the organic EL element, and a data voltage control TFT for controlling the timing at which current flows through the organic EL element. The conductive resistance of the current control TFT is set such that 0.1≦β≦7.0, where β(=Vr/Vel) is a ratio of a voltage Vr applied across the current control TFT to a voltage Vel applied across the organic EL element. Thus, the speed of the temporal change of the luminance of the organic EL element is slowed down, and the display lifetime is prolonged.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display elements in which light emission is controlled by the amount of current flowing through an electro-optical element, as well as to display devices including such display elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are display elements using, as electro-optical elements, elements whose light emission amount is controlled by the amount of current flowing through the elements, for example LEDs (light emitting diodes) for which inorganic EL (electroluminescent) elements and organic EL elements are typical examples. In this specification, "electro-optical elements" mean any elements whose optical characteristics are changed by applying electricity, such as not only the aforementioned organic EL elements etc., but also FEDs (field emission displays), charge-driven elements, liquid crystals, E-ink (electronic ink) and the like. It should be noted that in the following, organic EL elements are taken as an example of electro-optical elements, but the same explanations are also possible for any light emitting element whose light emission amount is controlled by a current amount.
Furthermore, there are display devices, in which a plurality of display elements are arranged in a matrix, such that pixels are formed with the display elements. Each display element includes a switching element, which controls the amount of current flowing through the electro-optical element, in accordance with an external electrical signal. Examples of such switching elements are diodes and MIM (metal insulator metal) elements, but more preferable are thin film transistors (referred to in short as "TFTs" in the following) using amorphous silicon or polycrystalline silicon, which has better switching characteristics, continuous grain silicon (referred to in short as "CG silicon" in the following), which is a polycrystalline silicone with higher crystallinity, or an organic material film having a conductivity that is different from that of silicon films. Depending on the form of the electrical signals controlling the amount of current flowing through such an electro-optical element, the control methods can be broadly classified into two methods, namely the constant voltage control method and the constant current control method, which are described below.
First, the constant voltage control method is described. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a display element forming one pixel. This display element includes an organic EL element 920, which is an electro-optical element, a power source line electrode 912, which supplies current from a driving power source Vref, a scanning signal line electrode 910, a data signal line electrode 911, a common electrode Vcom, an auxiliary capacitance 930, a current control TFT 92, which is a p-channel TFT for controlling the current flowing through the organic EL element 920, and a data voltage control TFT 91, which is an n-channel TFT for controlling the timing at which current flows through the organic EL element 920.
As shown in FIG. 12, the source terminal of the current control TFT 92 and one side of the auxiliary capacitance 930 are connected to the power source line electrode 912, whereas the other side of the auxiliary capacitance 930 is connected to the gate terminal of the current control TFT 92 and the drain terminal of the data voltage control TFT 91. Moreover, the source terminal of the data voltage control TFT 91 is connected to the data signal line electrode 911, and the gate terminal of the data voltage control TFT 91 is connected to the scanning signal line electrode 910. Furthermore, the anode of the organic EL element 920 is connected to the drain terminal of the current control TFT 92, whereas the cathode of the organic EL element 920 is connected to the common electrode Vcom. With the constant voltage control method, by applying a data signal voltage to the data signal line electrode 911 in the period in which the data voltage control TFT 91 is selected by a scanning signal applied to the scanning signal line electrode 910, a voltage corresponding to that data signal voltage is held by the auxiliary capacitance 930. After that, in the period in which the data voltage control TFT 91 is not selected, the conductance of the current control TFT 92 is controlled in accordance with the voltage held by the auxiliary capacitance 930, so that a predetermined current flows through the organic EL element 920, which is connected in series to this current control TFT 92, thus controlling the light emission amount of the organic EL element 920. This configuration is described, for example, in "Active Matrix Addressing of Polymer Light Emitting Diodes Using Low Temperature Poly Silicon TFTs" by I. M. Hunter et. al., AM-LCD2000, 2000, pp. 249 to 252.
Moreover, in order to control the light emission amount and to achieve a display device with high image quality, it is preferable that the potential that is held by the auxiliary capacitance is changed discretely by making this data signal a digital signal, and it is known that for this, it is preferable that the ON resistance of the current control TFT is negligibly small compared to the ON resistance of the light emitting pixel. Such a configuration is described for example in JP H11-73158A.
In contrast to this constant voltage control method, in the constant current control method, a voltage with which the current is obtained that is supposed to flow through the organic EL element 920 is held by the auxiliary capacitance, due to the data signal current that flows through the data signal line electrode of the display element shown in FIG. 12. The light emission amount of the organic EL element 920 is controlled through the voltage held by this auxiliary capacitance 930. The following is a more specific explanation of a configuration for letting the current flow that is supposed to flow through the display element.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a conventional example of a display element according to the constant current control method. As shown in FIG. 13, a constant current circuit is connected to the data signal line electrode 911, and TFTs 93 and 94 as well as a signal line electrode 940 for controlling the TFT 94 are further provided in the display element. Like the TFT 91, the TFT 93 is controlled by the scanning signal line electrode 910.
First, when the TFTs 91 and 93 are ON, and the TFT 94 is OFF, a current flows from the driving power source Vref through the TFT 93 to the constant current circuit connected to the data signal line electrode 911, until the current flowing between the source and drain of the TFT 92 takes on a desired value. In this situation, a voltage that is such that a current can flow between source and drain of the TFT 92 is stored in the auxiliary capacitance 930, so that after the TFTs 91 and 93 are switched OFF, the desired current can be caused to flow though the organic EL element 920 by switching the TFT 94 ON. This configuration is described, for example, in "Circuit Simulation of Current-Specified Polysilicon TFT Active Matrix Driven Organic LED Displays," Reiji Hattori et. al., SHINGAKU GIHO, April 2001, ED 2001-8, SDM 2001-8, Vol. 101, No. 15, pp. 7-14.
The following is a description of the relation between the current flowing through the organic EL element 920 and the light emission amount of the organic EL element 920. FIG. 14 shows the relation between the emitted luminance of an organic EL element and the current flowing at the time of emission. As shown in FIG. 14, the emitted luminance of the organic EL element is substantially proportional to the current flowing through the organic EL element, that is, the driving current of the current control TFT 92 shown in FIG. 12. This relation is generally well known.
In the constant voltage control method, when the internal resistance of the organic EL element increases over time (mainly caused by element deterioration due to reactions between moisture and oxygen, decomposition of the material, and changes in the shape of the film layers), then current flowing through the organic EL element is relatively reduced, because the load of the power source is relatively increased. And thus, since the emitted luminance is proportional to the current flowing at the time of the emission, as shown in FIG. 14, also the emitted luminance of the organic EL element is relatively decreased.
On the other hand, with the constant current control method, the current of the data signal is controlled such that a constant current flows through the organic EL element, regardless of the passage of time (and the increase of the internal resistance over time). Therefore, a reduction of the emitted luminance due to a decrease of the flowing current as described above does not occur. However, ordinary organic EL elements have the characteristic that their emitted luminance for a given current decreases over time (due to deterioration of the element), so that also with the constant current control method, a decrease in emitted luminance occurs over the course of time.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the decrease in emitted luminance over the course of time in organic EL elements with the constant voltage control method and the constant current control method. Curve A shows the case of the constant voltage control method, whereas curve B shows the case of the constant current control method. Moreover, for the normalized time shown in FIG. 15, the time when the normalized luminance for the constant voltage control method has been reduced by half (i.e. reduced to 0.5) is taken as 1. As shown in FIG. 15, the display lifetime of the display apparatus with the constant current control method is longer than that with the constant voltage control method. It should be noted that this display lifetime means the time until, due to deterioration over time, the elements emitting a predetermined luminance reach a luminance at which they cannot be used anymore for a display device, that is, the time until the aforementioned predetermined luminance has been reduced approximately by half.
This decrease of the emitted luminance due to deterioration over time is subject to variations caused by differences in the emission history of each organic EL element, which causes variations in the characteristics of the TFT elements included in the display panel. To address this problem, it is known to connect the organic EL element in series with a resistance element, to adjust the voltage applied to the organic EL element by voltage division, and to reduce the relative variations in the emitted light. Such a configuration is disclosed in JP 2001-272930A, pages 3 and 4, FIG. 1 and JP 2002-175029A, pages 6-8, FIGS. 2 and 5 to 7.
In this configuration, a predetermined resistance element R is further connected in series to the organic EL element 920 of the display element shown in FIG. 12, in addition to the current control TFT 92. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a display element according to this conventional example. As shown in FIG. 16, by increasing the internal resistance of the organic EL element 920, even if the current that flows is lowered over time from a predetermined value, it is possible to increase the voltage applied to the organic EL element 920 with the internal resistance of the organic EL element 920, in accordance with the rule of voltage division. Therefore, a reduction of the luminance due to a temporal reduction of the current can be inhibited. Consequently, even for the case of the constant voltage control method, it is possible to realize a display device in which the reduction of the emitted luminance is inhibited, as in the case of the constant current control method.
However, in configurations performing control in accordance with a digital data signal with the constant voltage control method, as in these conventional configurations (see for example the configuration in JP H11-73158A), it is preferable that the resistance of the current control TFT element is so small that it can be ignored, so that in order to increase the display lifetime in this configuration, the above-noted configuration is necessary in which the voltage applied to the organic EL element due to voltage division is increased in accordance with the internal resistance of the organic El element, by connecting a resistance element in series to the organic EL element within the display element. As an alternative method for increasing the display lifetime, it is conceivable to configure a display element with the constant current control method in which a constant current can always be caused to flow through the organic EL element, regardless to the rules of voltage division. However, in such a configuration, the number of switching elements and resistances included in the display element increases compared to the display element shown in FIG. 12. Therefore, the surface area occupied by these increases, so that the proportion of the surface area occupied by those elements to the surface area of the overall display element increases as well. As a result, the light emission area of the light emitting element is reduced, so that the numerical aperture of the display element is reduced.
In order to realize the same display luminance as with the display element of the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 12 with a configuration in which the numerical aperture is reduced, as described above, it is necessary to increase the luminance of the organic EL element included in the display element. However, it is well known that when the luminance of the organic EL element is stepped up, then the deterioration of the organic EL element occurs even earlier, thus shortening the display lifetime. Moreover, the light emission efficiency of the organic EL element is reduced, and also the power consumption of the organic EL element is relatively increased, so that also in view of the display characteristics, it is not preferable to step up the luminance of the organic EL element.
It should be noted that the explanations here relate to an organic EL element as an example of an electro-optical element, but there is no limitation to organic EL elements, and similar problems occur also with other light emitting elements in which the light emission amount of the element is controlled in accordance with the current amount flowing through the element.


A rotating control device (RCD) for a drilling operation comprises a housing operable with a blowout preventer, and a bearing assembly operable to be received in the housing, and operable to receive a pipe of a drill string. The RCD comprises a plurality of locking pin assemblies supported by the housing. Each locking pin assembly can comprise a movable pin operable between a locked position that locks the bearing assembly to the housing, and an unlocked position that unlocks the bearing assembly from the housing. An RCD comprises an RCD housing coupled to a blowout preventer, and a bearing assembly received within the RCD housing and comprising a lower sealing element sleeve having a perimeter channel. The system comprises a plurality of locking pin assemblies supported by the RCD housing and operable between a locked position and an unlocked position. The movable pins can be automatically biased to the locked position by elastic elements upon removing fluid pressure from the housing. Associated systems and methods are provided.

During drilling operations, drilling mud may be pumped into a wellbore. The drilling mud may serve several purposes, including applying a pressure on the formation, which may reduce or prevent formation fluids from entering the wellbore during drilling. The formation fluids mixed with the drilling fluid can reach the surface, resulting in a risk of fire or explosion if hydrocarbons (liquid or gas) are contained in the formation fluid. To control this risk, pressure control devices are installed at the surface of a drilling, such as one or more blowout preventers (BOPs) that can be attached onto a wellhead above the wellbore. A rotating control device (RCD) is typically attached on the top of the BOPs to divert mud/fluid, and circulate it through a choke manifold to avoid the influx of fluid reaching a drilling rig floor (as well as allowing pressure management inside the wellbore). A bearing assembly is used for purposes of controlling the pressure of fluid flow to the surface while drilling operations are conducted. The bearing assembly is typically raised by a top drive assembly and then inserted into a "bowl" of a housing of the RCD. The bearing assembly rotatably receives and seals a drill pipe during drilling operations through the wellhead. Thus, the bearing assembly acts as a seal and a bearing, as supported by the RCD housing.
After the bearing assembly is inserted into the bowl of the housing of the RCD, the RCD can be operated to "lock" a stationary housing of the bearing assembly to the RCD housing (while still allowing for the rotational components of the bearing assembly to rotate along with a rotating drill pipe). This "locking" function is typically performed with ram mechanisms coupled to the RCD housing and that are actuated to lock the bearing assembly to the RCD housing, and then actuated to unlock the bearing assembly from the RCD housing (such as when seals of the bearing assembly need to be replaced). Another type of locking mechanisms includes a clamp mechanism that is manually or hydraulically actuated to lock the bearing assembly to the RCD housing. The ram mechanism must have internal machine thread and threaded rod, and a motor to rotate the threaded rod. The rod drives the ram into the bearing assembly to lock it. This is disadvantageous because the ram mechanism must be locked manually by an operator, which is dangerous and time consuming.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.

Rotating control device having locking pins for locking a bearing assembly


A knee joint supporter which can improve the stability of the knee joint, reduce the wearer's fatigue and reduce the load on the patellar tendon includes a first anchor section formed by wrapping one end of a tubular knitted fabric around the wearer's thigh to tighten it with the fabric, a second anchor section formed by wrapping the other end of the fabric around the wearer's lower thigh to tighten it with the fabric, and a substantially U-shaped knitted supporting section joined to the first anchor section, covering the wearer's patella region and thus supporting the wearer's patella. In the circumferential direction of the fabric, the stretch resistance of the two anchor parts are larger than the stretch resistance of a base fabric section. In the length width direction of the fabric, the stretch resistance of the supporting section is larger than the stretch resistance of the base fabric section.

The lowering of the muscular power (in particular, the quadriceps femoris muscle) of the knee joint makes daily motion such as walking, rising from a chair, seating, or going up and down stairs difficult.
Further, in a state where the muscular power is lowered or a state of relative lack of the muscular power (a case where a muscle is overloaded in the balance between operation action and muscular power), support is performed by a passive element (the tendon, the ligament, or the like), and abrasion of the articular cartilage or inflammation of the tendon or the ligament is caused by repeating the support by the passive element. In particular, pain of the patella (the periphery of the kneecap) is also the case of a patellar tendinitis, so that support of the patella is needed.
Regarding this, a supporter in the related art has a tubular main body made of a stretchable material and a supporting part integrally provided at the main body and made of a lower stretchable material than that of the main body. The supporting part includes an anchor section which fixes the main body to the human body, an engagement section which is engaged with the knee, and a connection section which connects the anchor section and the engagement section to each other, thereby suppressing the displacement of the knee to the body trunk side with respect to the limb axis (refer to PTL 1, for example).


Methods of generating a gradient waveform, gradient waveform generators and magnetic resonance imaging systems are provided. In one aspect, a first digital value is obtained by quantizing and coding spatial position information of a voxel of a subject according to the number of preset quantization bits, wherein the number of the quantization bits are more than the number of allowed input bits for a DAC; a second digital value is determined to be inputted into the DAC according to the first digital value and the number of the allowed input bits for the DAC; a quantization error is determined according to the first digital value and the second digital value; an error accumulating value is updated by accumulating the quantization error to the error accumulation value; the second digital value corrected according to the error accumulation value; and the corrected second digital value is inputted into the DAC.

In a magnetic resonance imaging system, it may be desirable to accurately locate a spatial position of a voxel of a subject, so as to obtain accurate image information. The magnetic resonance imaging system can generate a gradient waveform through a gradient waveform generator. And a gradient amplifier amplifies the gradient waveform to drive a three-dimensional gradient coil, so as to determine a spatial position of each voxel of a subject. Gradient waveform accuracy is regarded as one of many relevant factors for influencing spatial positioning accuracy.
NEUSOFT MEDICAL SYSTEMS CO., LTD. (NMS), founded in 1998 with its world headquarters in China, is a leading supplier of medical equipment, medical IT solutions, and healthcare services. NMS supplies medical equipment with a wide portfolio, including CT, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), digital X-ray machine, ultrasound, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Linear Accelerator (LINAC), and biochemistry analyser. Currently, NMS' products are exported to over 60 countries and regions around the globe, serving more than 5,000 renowned customers. NMS's latest successful developments, such as 128 Multi-Slice CT Scanner System, Superconducting MRI, LINAC, and PET products, have led China to become a global high-end medical equipment producer. As an integrated supplier with extensive experience in large medical equipment, NMS has been committed to the study of avoiding secondary potential harm caused by excessive X-ray irradiation to the subject during the CT scanning process.

Shenyang Neusoft Medical Systems Co., Ltd.


A safety valve can include multiple magnetic devices reciprocably disposed in respective longitudinally extending chambers, and a another magnetic device magnetically coupled to the first magnetic devices. The first magnetic devices may be circumferentially spaced apart and encircled by the second magnetic device. Another safety valve can include multiple longitudinally extending chambers and multiple magnetic devices. Each of the magnetic devices may be reciprocably disposed in a respective one of the chambers, and the magnetic devices may be attached to an operating member of the safety valve.

This disclosure relates generally to equipment utilized and operations performed in conjunction with a subterranean well and, in an example described below, more particularly provides a magnetically coupled safety valve with satellite magnets.
Operation of a safety valve using magnetic coupling across a pressure isolation barrier has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,556. The entire disclosure of this prior patent is incorporated herein by this reference.
Space is always limited in wellbores and higher pressure ratings are continually needed. Therefore, it will be appreciated that improvements are continually needed in the art of magnetically coupled safety valves.

Magnetically coupled safety valve with satellite inner magnets


A multi-dimensional hair sustaining formulation having a liquid transport agent that carries multi-ingredients to hair follicles in order to prevent Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from attaching to receptor sites on the follicles of existing hair, hence promoting the protection and continued growth of existing hair—which otherwise would succumb to DHT attack and loss—rather than trying to re-grow hair that has already been lost.

All references cited in this specification, and their references, are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for teachings of additional or alternative details, features, and/or technical background.
Disclosed is a formulation which promotes and sustains the rejuvenation and continued growth of existing hair. Though prior art is abound with many different formulations that promote the re-growth of lost hair on the same scalp, that approach has been found to be a difficult task at best. It is desirable to control the problem of hair loss when it is first detected and prevent further loss by a judicious application of an effective formulation rather than trying to re-grow the hair that has already been lost.
Biological sciences have determined that humans typically have about 100,000 to 150,000 hairs on their scalps. The life of each hair is subject to a cycle, known as the pilar cycle. During the pilar cycle, hair forms, grows and falls out, before being replaced by a new hair shaft, which appears in the same follicle. As a reference, FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of a human hair 10 having a follicular papilla 01 embedded in a follicular bulb 02 in the scalp of a human being (not shown). Main elements of hair 10 comprise matrix 03, which also resides in follicular bulb 02, adventitial sheath 04, outer root sheath 05, inner root sheath 05, hair shaft 07, "der Wuist" or the "bulge" 08, the sebaceous gland 09. The features of human hair are well known in the art and, therefore, they are not described in detail here in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
It is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,108, that the pilar (related to hair) cycle can be broken down into three successive phases: the anagen phase, the catagen phase and the telogen phase. During the anagen phase, the hair undergoes a period of active growth associated with an intensive metabolic activity in the bulb. The subsequent catagen phase is transitory and marked by a slowing-down of the mitotic activity. The final telogen phase corresponds to a period of rest for the follicle, with the hair being shed.
It is further known that androgenetic alopecia (baldness) is a disorder that afflicts millions of men and women. Alopecia occurs when the pilar cycle becomes accelerated or disturbed. In other words, alopecia occurs when the growth phases are shortened, and the hairs proceed to the telogen phase earlier, shedding in large numbers. The successive growth cycles lead to increasingly thinner and increasingly shorter hairs, converting gradually to an unpigmented down.
Hair follicles are known to be sensitive to androgens. In particular, the pilar cycle of some hair follicles, such as those on scalp, respond to androgens in the manner noted above, i.e., by displaying shortened anagen (growth) phases of the hair cycle, by displaying an increase in the amount of finer-textured, shorter hairs, and by displaying an overall reduction in the diameter of hair follicles.
Testosterone is the principal circulating androgen in humans. Testosterone is secreted by the testes, ovaries, and adrenal glands. Testosterone can act on body tissues directly or it can serve as a prehormone for tissues that utilize its major active metabolic products-estradiol and dihydrotestosterone (the later also being referred to as "DHT").
Although the testes make dihydrotestosterone, most of the dihydrotestosterone circulating in blood comes from peripheral tissue conversion of testosterone. Dihydrotestosterone is formed from testosterone in a reaction catalyzed by the enzyme 5-alpha reductase, which is found in a large number of tissues.
An important aspect of the androgen action is the binding of testosterone or dihydrotestosterone to the androgen receptor. The androgen receptor has been located in specific skin structures, including the hair follicle and sebaceous gland. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) has been shown to bind to the androgen receptor with higher affinity than testosterone and is the major androgen implicated in the changes in the pilar cycle, resulting in the balding scalp.
As further described in described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,108, there are various types of antiandrogens, and they vary in their mode of action. Some antiandrogens block enzyme reactions and limit the formation of potent androgens. Other antiandrogens work by specifically blocking the androgen receptor, and still other agents have an effect on both the enzyme and the receptor. Thus, in treating the balding scalp, effective antiandrogens include those that either block the metabolism of testosterone by inhibiting 5-alpha reductase, or inhibit Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) binding to the androgen receptor, or both.
Conventionally, antiandrogens have been used for quite some time to retard hair loss or stimulate hair growth for patients. Some treatments are orally administered, which has the undesirable effect that the entire body is exposed to the treatment compositions. Other treatments are applied topically (over the skin). However, these treatments are less effective than they might otherwise be, because the entrance to the hair follicles is obstructed.
Specifically, the applicant has experimented with antiandrogens, including products called Follicare™ and DHT Blocker™. The applicant first tried Follicare™ in pill form for about a year, but to no avail. Then he switched to DHT Blocker™, also in pill form for another year with still no results. The applicant also used Saw Palmetto to treat potential prostate problems, which is also claimed to promote hair growth. After many years of useage, there was still hair loss. He reasoned that these products may not be effective due to mal-absorption issues in the digestive tract. He then experimented with different ingredients and a transport agent to deliver the ingredients to the hair follicles. Working with a chemist, the applicant designed a formulation in a liquid form in which at first some of the unexpected ingredients such as copper peptide and Emu Oil, which did not emulsify in the transport agent. However, with continued and persistent experimentation, the applicant has been able to derive formulations, which stop Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) from attacking hair follicles, and help sustain the growth of existing hair.


The invention relates generally to gas turbine engines used for electrical power generation. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide systems and ways for improving the life and reducing start-up time necessary for bringing gas turbine engines online and up to full power.

Gas turbine engines are commonly used in land-based power plants for generating electricity. A representative simple cycle gas turbine engine 100 is shown in FIG. 1. These land-based power plants take atmospheric air into a compressor 102, increase its pressure through a compression process, mix fuel 104 with the compressed air in one or more combustors 106 and ignite the mixture to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases which drive a turbine 108 that is coupled to the compressor 102. The mechanical work from the gas turbine engine 100 is used to drive a generator 110 for producing electricity. The exhaust from the gas turbine engine 100 can be vented to the atmosphere through exhaust region 112 or used for producing steam in a heat recovery steam generator 114, when operating in a combined cycle mode.
Gas turbine engines typically raise the operating temperature and pressure of air from ambient conditions to approximately 700 deg. F. and 200-250 psi. The compressed air is then passed to one or more combustors where fuel is added and the fuel-air mixture is ignited, creating hot combustion gases having temperatures over 2000 deg. F. In order to preserve the components in the turbine section that are exposed to these high temperatures, it is often times necessary to actively cool certain parts such as the stationary turbine vanes and rotating turbine blades. Cooling fluid such as a portion of the air from the compressor 102 is often directed to the turbine 108 for purposes of cooling the turbine components. However, removing air from the compressor 102 reduces the amount of air which goes through the combustors 106, thereby adversely affecting gas turbine engine efficiency.
The assignee of the present invention has developed an auxiliary air compression process for use in gas turbine engines, known commercially as TurboPHASE®, and is disclosed in issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,695,749, 9,388,737, 9,765,693, 9,803,548, 9,777,630, and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 14/351,245, 14/655,125, 14/462,000, 14/534,347 and 14/329,433, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. This auxiliary air compression process provides a system and method for improving the overall efficiency of a gas turbine engine through the addition of compressed air generated by a separately fueled air compression process. This air can be directed to the combustion and turbine sections of the gas turbine engine.
Renewable energy is becoming more prevalent in the power generation industry. As the renewable energy penetration in the market increases there is a dynamic balancing act that takes place every day between load, renewable power, and conventional generation. Peak loads are traditionally served by simple cycle gas turbines (SCGT) and combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT). It is preferred that CCGT's are utilized as they are the most efficient form of fossil fuel generation on the electric grid. However, due to the growing supply of renewable energy, the CCGT's are being shut down when solar energy is plentiful, for example, and when the renewable energy is not available, the CCGT's are brought back on line. Unfortunately, CCGT's also have a characteristic that after shutting down, it can take approximately 60-120 minutes to restart. This time is required to mitigate the thermal stresses associated with start-up, such as those in the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). Also, the gas turbine has a specific ramp rate associated with thermal stresses and clearances for being able to achieve full power.
These thermal constraints on the gas turbine and the HRSG for both SCGT's and CCGT's cause power plants to start operation slowly. Also, during the start-up process, gas turbines are typically "out of compliance" with emissions. Therefore, a shorter start-up time will result in a shorter period of being out of emissions compliance. Most modern gas turbines are equipped with dry low NOx emissions systems that only become "emission compliant" when they operate at 70% load and higher. Consequently, there is a significant amount of emissions that are generated when the gas turbine is started and until it reaches the 70% load point. For example, a typical F-class CCGT will generate emissions equivalent to about one hour of base load power output emissions during start up while generating very little energy to the grid. If this type of plant operates two eight hour shifts with two engine starts and shutdowns per day, then at least two hours of base load emissions generated for every 16 hours of energy being delivered, or almost 15% incremental emissions, are out of compliance.
Some gas turbine original equipment manufacturers offer a "fast start" CCGT. However, these manufacturers use a separate steam boiler to the power plant to recirculate steam through the steam turbine and the HRSG to keep it warm.
In prior art gas turbines, the gas turbine rotor inlet temperature is controlled to a maximum load, or base load, which results in a particular life of the hot gas path components. The gas turbine rotor inlet temperature is typically referred to as the firing temperature of the gas turbine engine. Typical gas turbines are designed to operate 24,000 equivalent operating hours (EOH) between repair intervals on the hot gas path operation. Harsh running conditions, such as peak firing temperature, gas turbine thermal events (trips) and steam injection accumulate equivalent operating hours faster than the actual run time at the harsh running conditions. The calculation of EOH is equal to or less than actual operating hours.

Air logic control for auxiliary air injection system


To reduce the tendency of glossiness to vary according to the ink ejection quantity, a printing device includes a color ink head for ejecting color ink to a medium, a clear ink head for ejecting transparent clear ink to the medium, and a controller for controlling ejection of the clear ink so that the clear ink is ejected to a region in which an ejection quantity of the color ink per unit area of the medium is less than a predetermined quantity, and the clear ink is not ejected to a region in which the ejection quantity of the color ink per unit area of the medium is greater than the predetermined quantity.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing device and printing method.
2. Background Technology
Printing devices using ultraviolet-curing ink (referred to hereinafter as "UV ink") have been developed that cure the ink by emitting ultraviolet rays. Printing devices have also been developed which provide glossy printed matter by applying a coating of a transparent ink in printing using UV ink.
Patent Citation 1 describes an image recording system for providing matte printed matter and glossy printed matter by using two types of transparent ink.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-88529 (Patent Citation 1) is an example of the related art.


A vitreous china comprises, as principal components, 25 to 70% by weight of a glass phase and 75 to 30% by weight of a crystalline phase, the glass phase comprising, as principal chemical components, 4 to 12% by weight of K.sub.2 O+Na.sub.2 O, 50 to 75% by weight of SiO.sub.2 and 17 to 40% by weight of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 while the total amount of the glass phase is defined to be 100% by weight, and the crystalline phase comprising, as principal mineral components, 10 to 60% by weight of .alpha.-alumina, 0 to 20% by weight of quartz and 2 to 20% by weight of mullite while the total amount of the vitreous china is defined to be 100% by weight. The vitreous china and the method for preparing the same may permit the marked improvement of the mechanical strength of the vitreous china. The mechanical strength may be improved without adversely affecting other physical properties (such as high temperature deformation, resistance to thermal shock and firing temperature). This vitreous china can be applied to sanitary-wares, large-sized pottery plates and various kinds of engineering ceramics. Moreover, the present invention provides a glaze which has excellent compatibility with vitreous china having high alumina contents and which is thus applied to a large-sized product formed from vitreous china having such a high alumina content.

The present invention relates to a vitreous china, a method for the preparation of the vitreous china, a sanitary-ware produced from the vitreous china and a glaze for the vitreous china.
The term "vitreous china" means a material which has a compact and uniform structure and which is fired till almost or substantially all of the open cells disappear and the term "vitrification" means the phenomenon that particles constituting the basis material are melted into a glass phase during firing and the glass phase is fluidized at a high temperature to thus fill up the gaps formed between the unmelted particles.
Whether a particular particle can be melted or not is dependent upon the melting point thereof which is influenced by the crystalline structure of the particle, combinations of the particular particle with other particles (a specific crystal which has a high melting point in itself may be melted at a temperature lower than the melting point thereof if other crystals coexist) and the firing temperature and time. In case of conventional vitreous china, raw materials capable of being melted during the vitrification phenomenon are, for instance, feldspars serving as fluxes end clays capable of imparting plasticity during molding, while raw materials which are not melted during the vitrification phenomenon are, for instance, quartz. However, quartz is not completely unmelted. More specifically, a part thereof is melted into the glass phase while the remaining part thereof holds its crystalline form.
Such a vitreous china has presently been used for the production of, for instance, sanitary-wares. Among the ceramic whiteware products, the sanitary-wares have relatively large sizes and complicated shapes and accordingly, have thick-walled structures for ensuring the mechanical strength thereof. The conventional vitreous china has a flexural strength ranging from 400 to 800 kgf/cm.sup.2 and products having such a flexural strength requires the wall thickness on the order of 7 to 12 mm.
The reason why quartz has been used as a crystalline phase-forming substance in the conventional vitreous china described above is that it is cheaper than other sources for the crystalline phase and that it is a naturally occurring raw material which coexists with glass phase-forming minerals. For instance, feldspars serving as fluxes and clays capable of imparting plasticity to the basis material during molding rarely independently occur naturally and in most cases, they occur in the form of admixtures with quartz. In addition, there has been known pottery stones which comprise all of these quartz, feldspars and clays and some of them per se can be used alone as a raw material for ceramic whitewares.
For this reason, minerals conventionally used as the crystalline phase-forming raw materials for ceramic whitewares are limited to quartz or cristobalite which is a crystal formed through transformation of quartz at a high temperature. As has been discussed above, however, a part of quartz is melted into the glass phase. Thus, it is very difficult to control the particle size of the quartz present in the resulting fired product and quartz used is often completely melted into the glass phase, in particular, when quartz as a starting material is used in the form of fine particles.
In the field of porcelain, there has recently been conducted studies to substitute other crystals for quartz for eliminating the limit in the particle size distribution encountered when such quartz is used as a crystalline phase and for eliminating the drawbacks originated from the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of the glass phase and quartz (among various kinds of crystals, quartz is assigned to a group comprising crystals having very high thermal expansion coefficients). They are called, for instance, "alumina porcelain" in which alumina is substituted for quartz in the usual porcelain and "zircon porcelain" in which zircon is substituted for quartz in the usual porcelain, in distinction from the usual quartz-clay-feldspar porcelain. In this respect, the alumina porcelain is developed for mainly improving the strength of the porcelain, while the zircon porcelain is developed for mainly improving the electrical properties of the porcelain. The alumina porcelain has already been practically used in tablewares and insulators and examples thereof are disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Un-examined Patent Publication (hereinafter referred to as "J.P. KOKAI") No. Sho 50-6608.
As has been discussed above, the sanitary-ware formed from a vitreous china has a thick-walled structure because of its low strength. Incidentally, consumers have recently requested high-grade articles and, as a result, there has been a great demand for a sanitary-ware having a sharp shape (such as those having sharp-edged corners). However, thick-walled products cannot respond to this requirement. Moreover, the sanitary-ware in general has a large size and is installed within a narrow space. Therefore, the thick-walled product is heavy and this makes the installation thereof difficult.
In addition, the vitreous china which has been used in the production of sanitary-wares has low strength and thus cannot be used for producing other articles such as various kinds of engineering ceramics and large-sized ceramic plates.
Many attempts have been made, to eliminate the foregoing drawbacks, by substituting other crystalline substances as crystal phase-forming raw materials such as alumina for quartz as in case of porcelain, but such substitution is insufficient in case of vitreous china and suffers from various related problems to be solved.
For instance, high resistance to thermal shock is required for large-sized articles having complicated shapes such as sanitary-wares. The term "thermal shock" herein used includes that encountered during firing and that applied to articles after firing.
An article is liable to receive the thermal shock during firing in particular in the temperature-dropping stage of the process for firing the article in a furnace. More specifically, the temperature of the surface area of the article is lowered while that of the inner part of the article is still high during the temperature-dropping stage and this results in a temperature difference and hence the thermal shock of this kind. On the other hand, an article receives the thermal shock after firing, for instance, when hot water is poured into the article such as a wash-bowl.
Articles other than sanitary-wares such as tablewares of porcelain seem to also receive the thermal shock of this kind (tablewares are likewise subjected to temperature-dropping stage in a furnace during production and sometimes receive hot cooked foods), but this problem becomes more and more serious for large-sized, thick-walled articles having complicated shapes such as sanitary-wares. In other words, a large temperature difference is established between portions of a large-sized thick-walled article and this becomes a cause of thermal shock which results in a breakage of the article. A thick-walled article has resistance to breakage due to a difference in thermal expansion coefficients or a temperature difference weaker than that observed on a thin-walled article even if it is assumed that these thick-walled and thin-walled articles have the same temperature difference between the surface and the back face. Moreover, articles such as sanitary-wares comprise hollow portions therein and the air present in the hollow portions is not easily cooled. This results in application of substantially high thermal shock to the article during the temperature-dropping stage in a furnace.
Furthermore, the vitreous china comprises relatively coarse particles as compared with a porcelain and accordingly, is in general fired at a low temperature. For this reason, if other crystals having high melting points such as alumina are substituted for quartz having a low melting point, the particle size and composition of each raw material must be in accord with those of alumina.
In a slip casting method used as a means for molding, for instance, sanitary-wares, the properties of the slurry used for the molding must be controlled so as to make them favorable for the slip casting and this in turn requires strict control of the particle size and composition of each raw material and strict management of the method for producing a slurry.
Moreover, the surface of the sanitary-ware must be coated with a glaze and accordingly, the glaze must be well-compatible with the properties of the body made of vitreous china. This problem of compatibility is particularly important for large-sized articles having complicated shapes such as sanitary-wares because of a strong force acting on the interface between the body and the glaze.
As has been discussed above, there has not yet been developed any method for improving the strength of the vitreous china without accompanying various problems concerning production techniques and required properties of articles.

Vitreous china, method for preparing the vitreous china, sanitary-ware produced therefrom and glaze therefor


A membrane electrode assembly includes a fuel electrode, an oxidizing agent electrode, and an electrolyte membrane provided between the fuel electrode and the oxidizing agent electrode with at least one of the fuel electrode and the oxidizing agent electrode contains a proton conductive inorganic oxide, which includes an oxide carrier containing Ti, Zr, Si and/or Al; and W, Mo, Cr and/or V oxide particles supported on a surface of the oxide carrier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a proton conductive solid electrolyte adapted for use in an electrode for a fuel cell or in a proton conductive membrane, to a membrane electrode assembly including a proton conductive solid electrolyte or a proton conductive membrane, and to a fuel cell comprising a membrane electrode assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Intensive research is being conducted on a proton conductive solid electrolyte for application in an electrochromic material and a sensor, particularly, in recent years in a fuel cell having a high energy density that is operated at low temperatures.
The fuel cell comprises a proton conductive film. A fuel electrode, which is also called an anode, is formed on one surface of the proton conductive film, and an oxidizing agent electrode, which is also called a cathode, is formed on the other surface of the proton conductive film. A fuel such as hydrogen or methanol is supplied to the fuel electrode (anode), and an oxidizing agent is supplied to the cathode. The fuel is electrochemically oxidized in the anode to form protons and electrons, which flow into an external circuit. The protons thus formed are transferred through the proton conductive film to reach the cathode, with the result that the oxidizing agent reacts with the electrons supplied from the external circuit to form water, thereby delivering electrical energy.
An ion exchange membrane formed of an organic polymer material containing perfluorosulfonic acid is known as the proton conductive film. To be more specific, the known proton conductive film includes, for example, an electrolyte containing a tetrafluoro ethylene-perfluoro vinyl ether copolymer as a base material and a sulfonic acid group as an ion exchange group. An example of this proton conductive film is a NAFION film manufactured by Dupont Inc. In the case of using the polymer material containing a perfluorosulfonic acid as an electrolyte, the water contained in the film is decreased by the drying to lower the proton conductivity. As a result, a severe water control is required in the case of using the electrolyte noted above at about 100° C. at which a high output can be obtained to make the system highly complex. Also, the polymer material containing perfluorosulfonic acid has a cluster structure, leading to a sparse molecular structure, with the result that a crossover phenomenon in which an organic liquid fuel such as methanol permeates through the electrolyte membrane to reach the cathode. Where the crossover phenomenon has been generated, the supplied liquid fuel reacts directly with the oxidizing agent, resulting in failure to deliver the generated electricity. It follows that a problem is brought about such that it is impossible to obtain a stable output.
A metal oxide that supports sulfuric acid and has a solid super acidity is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 2002-216537 as an inorganic acid-based ion exchange film. To be more specific, sulfuric acid is supported on the surface of an oxide containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of zirconium, titanium, iron, tin, silicon, aluminum, molybdenum and tungsten, and the oxide supporting the sulfuric acid is subjected to a heat treatment to immobilize the sulfuric acid on the surface of the oxide. In the metal oxide supporting sulfuric acid, the proton conductivity is produced by the immobilized sulfate group. However, since the sulfate group is decomposed by hydrolysis, the proton conductivity is lowered. It follows that the metal oxide supporting sulfuric acid is considered to be unstable when used in a fuel cell in which water is generated in the electricity generating process, particularly when used as a proton conductive film in a fuel cell using a liquid fuel.
Further, it is disclosed in Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2003-142124 that a metal oxide hydrate exhibiting a proton conductivity is used as a proton conductive material. However, use of the metal oxide hydrate gives rise to the problem that, if the water of hydration is removed by the drying caused by the power generation under high temperatures, the construction of the metal oxide hydrate is shrunk, and the metal oxide is not brought back to the original form of the hydrate even if water is supplied later, resulting in failure to obtain adequate electricity generating performance.


An insulating glass (IG) window unit, or other suitable window unit, includes a glass substrate with a coating thereon. The coating includes at least one silicon nitride inclusive layer that is Si-rich (i.e., non-stoichiometric). By making the silicon nitride inclusive layer Si-rich, it has been found that coloration can be adjusted in order to achieve certain desirable optical characteristics.

Certain embodiments of this invention relate to an insulating glass (IG) window unit including a heat treatable coating having a silicon (Si) rich silicon nitride inclusive layer in order to achieve desired optical characteristics in the window unit. Other embodiments of this invention relate to a heat treatable coated article including a Si-rich silicon nitride inclusive layer in order to achieve desired color.
Coated articles and IG window units are known in the art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,514,476, 5,800,933 and 6,014,872.
Commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/978,184, filed Oct. 17, 2001 (hereby incorporated herein by reference) discloses a coated article as follows, from the glass substrate outwardly (the top tin oxide layer may be omitted in certain instances) with example thicknesses listed in units of angstroms (xc3x85):
When the aforesaid coated article is coupled with another glass substrate in order to make an IG window unit, the resulting IG window unit (not heat treated (HT)) generally has the following optical characteristics (Ill. C, 2 degree observer):
In Table 2 above, Tvis stands for visible light transmission, and a*t and b*t stand for transmissive (t) a* and b* color values, respectively. Glass side (g) and film side (f) values are presented in a similar manner. It is noted that the color values herein (e.g., a*, b*, L*) are calculated in accordance with the CIE LAB 1976 L*, a*, b* coordinate technique.
The IG units of Tables 1-2 (and thus Ser. No. 09/978,184) are not heat treated (HT). However, in commercial applications, at least some IG units often are required to be heat treated (e.g., tempered) for safety purposes. In office buildings for example, it is often desirable that some windows be heat treated while others need not be. Thus, a need for matchability (before heat treatment vs. after heat treatment) arises. In other words, it is desirable that window units which are heat treated (HT) substantially or approximately match their non-heat treated counterparts (e.g., with regard to color, visible transmission, reflectance, and/or the like), at least with respect to transmissive and glass side reflective optical characteristics, for architectural and/or aesthetic purposes.
Unfortunately, coatings of Ser. No. 09/978,184 cannot withstand HT without significant color and/or durability change. Thus, coatings of Ser. No. 09/978,184 cannot be HT and then used commercially to achieve matchability with their non-HT counterparts.
It will be apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for coatings that, upon HT, approximately match non-HT coatings of Ser. No. 09/978,184 in the context of IG window units with regard to visible transmission, visible reflectance, transmissive color, and/or glass side reflective color.
While coatings having multiple infrared (IR) reflecting Ag layers are desirable in certain instances, they tend to have very low sheet resistance (Rs) values thereby making them difficult to easily HT (without resulting in damage or becoming prohibitively costly) using inexpensive HT processing/machinery. This is because the dual Ag layers tend to reflect much of the energy in the furnace intended for tempering the underlying glass substrate. Single silver coatings, with higher sheet resistances, are easier to HT in this regard. Thus, in certain example non-limiting instances it would be desirable for coatings herein to achieve the aforesaid matchability and/or be of the single Ag layer type (or have higher Rs) so that they can be more easily heat treated using conventional low-tech radiant tempering furnaces.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,514,476 and 5,800,933 discloses coated articles including: glass substrate/Si3N4/NiCr/Ag/NiCr/Si3N4. Unfortunately, upon HT and use in an IG unit, the resulting IG units do not approximately match the general aforesaid optical characteristics of IG units set forth in Table 2.
WO 02/04375 discloses a dual-silver low-E coating have good color characteristics after HT and lamination. Unfortunately, the coatings of WO 02/04375 require multiple silver (Ag) layers and have very low sheet resistance (Rs) (e.g., about 4-5 ohms/square) before HT. This makes the coatings of WO 02/04375 difficult to HT using conventional low-tech radiant tempering furnaces since the dual Ag layers reflect much of the energy intended for tempering the underlying glass substrate. It is noted that WO 02/04375 is a counterpart to U.S. Ser. No. 09/794,224, filed Feb. 28, 2001.
An object of certain example embodiments of this invention is to provide a coating that, upon HT and in the context of IG window units, approximately matches an IG unit including a non-HT coating of Ser. No. 09/978,184 (see general desired optical characteristics in Table 2 above) with respect to visible transmission (Tvis), visible glass side reflectance (RgY), transmissive color (a* and/or b*), and/or glass side reflective color (a* and/or b*).
Another object of certain example embodiments of this invention is to provide a single silver (Ag) coating (i.e., including only one Ag layer) that, upon HT and in the context of IG window units, approximately matches an IG unit including a non-HT coating of Ser. No. 09/978,184 with respect to visible transmission (Tvis), visible glass side reflectance (RgY), transmissive color (a* and/or b*), and/or glass side reflective color (a* and/or b*).
In certain example embodiments of this invention, it would be desirable for the coating, prior to HT, to have a sheet resistance (Rs) prior to HT of at least 8 ohms/square, more preferably of at least 10 ohms/square, and sometimes from about 11 to 20 ohms/square, so that the coating can be easily HT while on a supporting glass substrate in conventional low-tech radiant tempering furnaces. In certain example embodiments, the coating has only one Ag layer.
Another object of certain example embodiments of this invention is to provide a heat treatable coating that achieves certain desired color characteristics (whether corresponding to non-HT coatings of Ser. No. 09/978,184 or not) through the use of a layer comprising Si-rich (non-stoichiometric) silicon nitride.
Another object of certain example embodiments of this invention is to provide a heat treatable coating that includes a non-stoichiometric silicon nitride layer, wherein the amount of Si in the layer is adjusted (i.e., increased relative to stoichiometric Si3N4) so as to increase the layer""s index of refraction xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d and/or extinction coefficient xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d, in order to achieve desired optical characteristics.
Another object of this invention is to fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs.
Certain example embodiments fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs by providing an insulating glass (IG) window unit comprising first and second glass substrates spaced apart from one another so that a space is provided therebetween, at least the first glass substrate being thermally tempered and supporting a coating, wherein the coating comprises: a first dielectric layer comprising silicon nitride SixNy, a first contact layer, a layer comprising Ag, a second contact layer, wherein the layer comprising Ag is located between and directly contacts each of said first and second contact layers, and a second dielectric layer,
wherein the first dielectric layer comprising silicon nitride SixNy is Si-rich so that x/y is from 0.76 to 2.0, and so that after thermal tempering of the first substrate with the coating thereon the coating has a sheet resistance (Rs) of at least 7 ohms/square (7 or higher), and wherein the IG window unit has a visible transmission of at least 69%, transmissive a* color of from xe2x88x926.0 to 1.0, transmissive b* color of from xe2x88x921.0 to 4.0, glass side reflective a* color of from xe2x88x924.0 to 2.0, and glass side reflective b* color of from xe2x88x924.0 to 3.0.
Certain other example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs by providing an insulating glass (IG) window unit comprising: first and second glass substrates spaced apart from one another, the first glass substrate supporting a coating, wherein the coating comprises: a first dielectric layer comprising silicon nitride SixNy, only one layer comprising Ag, a second dielectric layer, and wherein the first dielectric layer comprising silicon nitride SixNy is characterized in that x/y is from about 0.76 to 2.0, and wherein the coating has a sheet resistance (Rs) of at least 6 ohms/square before and after heat treatment at temperature(s) of at least 500 degrees C.
Still further example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the above-listed objects and/or needs by providing a method of making an IG window unit, the method comprising: forming a coating on a glass substrate so as to have a sheet resistance (Rs) of from 8 to 30 ohms/square before heat treatment, wherein the coating includes a layer comprising Ag and a dielectric layer comprising Si-rich silicon nitride having an index of refraction xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d of from 2.2 to 2.5 and an extinction coefficient xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d less than or equal to 0.06; thermally tempering the glass substrate having the coating thereon; and after the tempering, coupling the glass substrate with the coating thereon to another substrate to form an IG window unit having at least three of: (i) a visible transmission of at least 69%, (ii) transmissive a* color of from xe2x88x926.0 to 1.0, (iii) transmissive b* color of from xe2x88x921.0 to 4.0, (iv) glass side reflective a* color of from xe2x88x924.0 to 2.0, and (v) glass side reflective b* color of from xe2x88x924.0 to 3.0.
Yet other example embodiments of this invention fulfill one or more of the aforesaid objects and/or needs by providing a coated article comprising a glass substrate supporting a coating having a sheet resistance (Rs) of from 7 to 40 ohms/square before and/or after heat treatment, wherein the coating includes a layer comprising Ag and a dielectric layer comprising non-stoichiometric silicon nitride having an index of refraction xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d of from 2.2 to 2.5 and an extinction coefficient xe2x80x9ckxe2x80x9d less than or equal to 0.06.

Insulating glass (IG) window unit including heat treatable coating with silicon-rich silicon nitride layer


An abnormality-handling instructing apparatus for use in a facsimile machine where the operator is able to be properly noticed an abnormality so that an appropriate handling can be effected to the abnormality. The apparatus comprises memory for storing abnormality codes and remedies for the abnormalities; an abnormality code generator for generating an abnormality code in accordance with an abnormality; and abnormality-handling instructing device for reading out the data from the memory in accordance with occurred abnormality and for outputting remedy in characters on the basis of the data.

The present invention relates to an abnormality-handling instructing apparatus, and more particularly to an abnormality-handling instructing apparatus for a facsimile apparatus.
There have been proposed control systems for facsimile apparatuses and facsimile communication systems where errors in input operation and abnormalities of a reader and a recorder are detected to inform the occurrence of the abnormalities to the facsimile operator.
For example, Japanese Published Patent Application No. 1-170259 proposes a control system for a facsimile apparatus where a voice message is outputted to inform the occurrence of an abnormality to the facsimile operator if the apparatus fails to carry out a predetermined sequence of operations.
Meanwhile, Japanese Published Patent Application No. 62-31255 proposes a facsimile communication system where abnormality information in the form of a facsimile signal is sent to a transmitter side if an abnormality is detected at the receiver side.
The aforementioned prior art apparatuses suffer from the following drawbacks.
With a system where an abnormality is informed with a voice message, the operator is able to recognize the occurrence of an abnormality but does not know how he must handle the abnormality. Further, the provision of voice messages not only necessitates complex construction of the apparatus but also requires a large memory capacity for storing the messages. This leads to higher cost of the apparatus.
With a system where abnormality information is outputted in the form of a facsimile signal, if the signal is not being transmitted in the automatic mode but in the manual mode where the operator is carrying out the transmission procedure while monitoring the facsimile operation, the operator at the transmitter side cannot understand what the information means since it is in the form of a facsimile signal.
Thus, the manual transmission mode suffers from the problem that the operator is unable to properly handle the abnormality.

Apparatus for instructing the handling of abnormalities and misoperations in a facsimile device


A shift device includes a housing, a shift lever, a sensor unit. The shift lever is moved forward and rearward, and leftward and rightward of the shift device for selecting the connection state of the transmission of a vehicle. The sensor unit is attached to the housing. The sensor unit includes a first MRE element, a second MRE element, a light sensor, a first microswitch, and a second microswitch, which are integrated. The first MRE element, the second MRE element, and the light sensor detect the position of the shift lever in the front-rear direction. The first and second microswitches detect the position of the shift lever in the left-right direction.

The present invention is related to a shift device, and more particularly to a shift device of a shift-by-wire type.
A typical shift device of the shift-by-wire type detects an operation of a shift lever by a sensor and operates an actuator that switches a connection state of a transmission according to a detection signal by the sensor. The shift device of the shift-by-wire type does not need a link mechanism for transmitting the operation of the shift lever to the transmission. Therefore, power that is necessary for operating the shift lever is relatively small. Further, the small size of the shift device adds to flexibility in the arrangement of the device in the passenger compartment.
However, if at least one sensor is arranged to correspond to each shift position of the shift lever, the number of the sensors is increased and the cost is also increased. Also, an increased number of the sensors requires relatively large space, and thus increases the size of the shift device. Particularly, if the shift device includes a fail-safe mechanism, two or more sensors must be arranged to correspond to each shift position. This further increases the cost and size of the shift device.

Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai Rika Denki Seisakusho


An apparatus, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: based on one or more determined input manner characteristics of user electronic-scribed input, associate the user electronic-scribed input with a function to be performed using the user electronic-scribed input.

A user may use an electronic device for electronically-scribing input, for example by writing with a stylus on an electronic surface to enter handwritten text.
The listing or discussion of a prior-published document or any background in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document or background is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge. One or more examples of the present disclosure may or may not address one or more of the background issues.


A wearable item, such as an electronic device, is disclosed. The wearable item includes a flexible strap and actuators within the flexible strap. The actuators are configured to dynamically form protrusions along the flexible strap. The protrusions present tactilely-perceptible information, such as braille characters or other symbols.

Electronic devices utilize various types of output devices to provide information to a user. For example, smartphones, laptop computers, and wearable electronic devices (e.g., smartwatches) may include displays, LEDs or other illuminating elements, speakers, and the like. Many output devices require a user to look at or listen to the output device in order to receive the information, however. Techniques for conveying information without audio or visual outputs have been developed, such as braille or other tactile writing systems. Such systems may be useful for visually impaired individuals, or when audio or visual outputs are inappropriate.


The present invention provides a method for treating, inhibiting the progression of, or eradicating polycystic kidney disease of in a patient in need thereof which comprises providing to said patient an effective amount of a TACE inhibitor compound alone or in combination with an effective amount of an EGF receptor kinase inhibitor.

Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is an inherited disorder that usually presents in the newborn period with massive kidney enlargement (due to rapidly expanding cysts) and hepaticfibrosis. ARPKD occurs in approximately 1:10,000 to 1:40,000 births and produces significant morbidity and mortality. Data from experimental models of both recessive and dominant forms of PKD have identified three key pathophysiologic processes in cyst formation and enlargement: increased cell proliferation, increased fluid secretion and altered matrix biology. (Marcia N S, Sweeny W E Armer E D: New insights into the molecular pathophyscology of polycystic kidney disease, Kidney Int, 55:1187-1197, 1999). A growing body of evidence has established the central role of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the pathogenesis of cell proliferation in PKD.
Published reports have also suggested that transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) a ligand of the EGFR, is abnormally expressed in PKD. Mice transgenic for TGF-α develop renal cysts. TGF-α is present in mitogenic quantities in cyst fluid from bpk mice (a murine model of ARPKD) and immunoprecipitation of TGF-α reduces this mitogenic effect (Abstract; J Am Soc Nephrol 7:1610, 1996).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,008 discloses that certain EGF receptor kinase inhibitors are useful in the treatment of PKD; however no disclosure of the present invention is disclosed therein.
There is currently no completely effective therapy for polycystic kidney disease. A search for therapeutic agents useful for the treatment of PKD is ongoing.

Method for the treatment of polycystic kidney disease


Systems and methods for digital synthesis of an output signal using a frequency generated from a resonator and computing amplitude values that take into account temperature variations and resonant frequency variations resulting from manufacturing variability are described. A direct frequency synthesizer architecture is leveraged on a high Q resonator, such as a film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR), a spectral multiband resonator (SMR), and a contour mode resonator (CMR) and is used to generate pristine signals.

The phase locked loop (PLL) has been widely used in communication applications. PLLs have been used to recover a signal from a noisy communication channel, generate a stable frequency at multiples of an input frequency, and for demodulating a signal. FIG. 1 is an example of a PLL block diagram. The PLL 100 includes a phase detector (PD) 105, loop filter (LF) 110, and voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 115. The phase detector 105 compares the phase of a periodic input signal against the phase of the VCO 115 signal; the output of the PD 105 is a measure of the phase error between its two inputs. The error voltage is then filtered by the loop filter 110, whose output is a control voltage that is applied to the VCO 115.
The control voltage changes the VCO frequency in a direction that reduces the phase error between the input signal and the VCO. When the loop is locked, the control voltage sets the average frequency of the VCO to be the same as the average frequency of the input signal. Traditionally, the integrated on-chip voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) has been implemented as L-C tank circuitry. Due to low Q of the on-chip inductor, the VCO phase noise may be limited. An off-chip high Q device such as a crystal may be used as a reference to reduce the overall phase noise of the output.

Systems and methods for digital synthesis of output signals using resonators


A novel use of conjugates of psychotropic drugs (e.g., antidepressants or anti-epileptic drugs) and organic acids such as GABA in the treatment of pain is disclosed. A novel GABA conjugate and uses thereof is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to the field of pharmacology and, more particularly, to the treatment of pain.
Inadequate pain management is widely prevalent and harmful to patients. Numerous studies have demonstrated poor control of post-operative and trauma pain, cancer pain and chronic non-cancer pain. Thus, there is a continuing need for medications able to provide high efficacy pain relief while reducing the possibility of undesirable effects.
Pain can be classified into two main categories, acute and chronic, differing in their etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment. Acute pain is nociceptive in nature (i.e. resulting directly from local tissue injury). It is a normal, predictable physiological response to an adverse chemical, thermal, or mechanical stimulus associated with surgery, trauma, or acute illness. It is normally self-limited such that when the condition producing the pain resolves, the pain disappears. Chronic pain may be defined as pain persisting longer than the expected time of tissue healing. Injury or a disease process can trigger chronic pain, but other factors besides the triggering event can perpetuate the pain. Chronic pain may be either neuropathic (i.e. initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction in the nervous system) or nociceptive.
Nociceptive pain is typically treated with anti-inflammatory or analgesic medications whereas neuropathic pain is usually treated with medications that influence neurotransmitters. These include, for example, antidepressants, and antiepileptic drugs. Patients with refractory neuropathic pain are typically treated with opioids.
One neurotransmitter which is known to be involved in the complex circuitry underlying pain is the inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA). GABA is not transported efficiently into the brain from the bloodstream because of poor transport properties that prevent passage through the blood-brain barrier. Consequently, brain cells synthesize virtually all of the GABA found in the brain (by decarboxylation of glutamic acid with pyridoxal phosphate).
GABA regulates neuronal excitability through binding to specific membrane proteins (i.e., GABA receptors), which results in opening of an ion channel. The entry of chloride ion through the ion channel leads to hyperpolarization of the recipient cell, which consequently prevents transmission of nerve impulses to other cells.
Although most commonly used for the treatment of anxiety, muscle spasms and epilepsy, GABA agonists have been shown to alleviate the symptoms of pain through a number of mechanisms. For example, pain may be reduced by potentiating GABA transmission. This may involve targeting GABA transporters as well as GABA associated enzymes and receptors, such as the GABA-B receptors [Frediani F. Neurol Sci. 2004, Suppl 3:S161-6]. In addition, GABA agonists may alleviate pain by reducing glutamate-mediated excitatory transmission and/or blocking voltage-activated ion channels. The latter mechanism of action is exemplified by the newer generation of antiepileptics such as lamotrigine and gabapentin in the clinical treatment of neuropathic pain symptoms [Blackburn-Munro G., et al., Curr Pharm Des. 2005; 11 (23):2961-76].
The use of GABA agonists is limited since they typically include hydrophilic functional groups (e.g., a free carboxylic acid group and a free amino group) and therefore do not readily cross the blood brain barrier (BBB). As such, invasive methods of delivery are required for GABA agonists to have a therapeutic effect. However, it was found that chemical conjugation of such compounds with fatty amino acids or peptides could facilitate to some extent their passage across the BBB [Toth I. J. Drug Target 1994, 2, 217-39].
Despite considerable progress in developing new compounds, the use of systemically acting GABA agonists (e.g., gabapentin, pregabalin and various benzodiazepines) is limited by adverse side-effects such as sedation and nausea.
The neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin are functionally inhibitory on pain transmission. Thus, as mentioned hereinabove, monoamine up-regulators such as antidepressants and antiepileptics are also used in the clinical management of pain.
Tricyclic antidepressants are thought to affect pain transmission in the spinal cord by inhibiting the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin, both of which influence descending pain pathways. In addition, histamine H1-receptor affinity (associated with sedation) may be correlated with the analgesic effect of antidepressants.
Tricyclic antidepressants may be categorized as secondary or tertiary amines. Secondary amines such as nortriptyline (Pamelor) and desipramine (Norpramin) show relatively selective inhibition of norepinephrine reuptake. Tertiary amines such as amitriptyline and imipramine (Tofranil) exhibit a more balanced inhibition of norepinephrine and serotonin, however, they also have greater anticholinergic side effects. The novel antidepressants venlafaxine (Effexor) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) comprise a balanced inhibition of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake without blockade of other neuroreceptors that are responsible for typical tricyclic side effects. The mechanism of action of bupropion (Wellbutrin) is uncertain but involves blockade of dopamine uptake.
The efficacy of antidepressant drugs varies dramatically for neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain syndromes. In addition, specific agents within each medication class can vary in effectiveness.
For example, antidepressants with mixed-receptor or noradrenergic activity appear to have the greatest therapeutic effect in patients with neuropathic pain. Predominantly serotoninergic drugs, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are ineffective in treating chronic pain [McQuay H J, et al., Pain 1996; 68:217-27]. Amitriptyline and its metabolite nortriptyline have the best documented efficacy in the treatment of neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain syndromes [Bryson H M, Wilde M I. Drugs Aging 1996; 8:459-76]. The novel antidepressants bupropion, venlafaxine and duloxetine [Wernicke J, et al., J Pain 2004; 5 (3 suppl 1):S48] have been proven effective in patients with neuropathic pain.
The efficacy of tricyclic antidepressants in the treatment of neuropathic pain appears to be independent of their antidepressant effect and patients with pain but no depression respond to these agents [Max M B, et al., Neurology 1987; 37:589-96]. Although pain reduction occurs at dosages lower than those typically required to treat depression, therapeutic doses are still associated with a number of side effects including drowsiness, dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation, weight gain, low blood pressure after getting up, urinary problems, headaches, impotence, loss of libido, tremor, dizziness, agitation and insomnia.
U.S. Patent Application No. 20040242570 and International PCT Patent Applications WO 03/026563 and WO 2005/092392, which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein, teach conjugates of psychotropic drugs and GABA, for treating psychotropic disorders, proliferative disorders and for enhancing chemosensitization.

Conjugates comprising a psychotropic drug or a GABA agonist and an organic acid and their use in treating pain and other CNS disorders


A fluid motor including an inner race and an outer race is disclosed. The inner and outer races are configured to rotate about a substantially common axis. The motor also includes at least one fluid actuator configured to produce substantially linear motion as a function of selectively receiving pressurized fluid. The fluid motor also includes at least one sprag configured to rotate the inner and outer races about the axis as a function of the substantially linear motion.

Fluid motors typically receive a flow of pressurized fluid and convert the potential energy of the pressurized fluid into kinetic mechanical energy. Often, a fluid motor produces rotary motion configured to drive one or more operatively connected devices, e.g., gears or sprockets. A fluid pump is usually connected to the fluid motor to provide a substantially continuous flow of pressurized fluid to the fluid motor. The amount of mechanical energy output of a fluid motor is often varied by adjusting either the amount of flow and/or the pressure provided by the fluid pump, for example, by adjusting a stroke length of one or more pistons of the fluid pump or by restricting a pump provided constant flow and pressure via one or more valves disposed between the fluid pump and the fluid motor. These methods of adjusting the mechanical energy output of the fluid motor may undesirably waste energy by using only a portion of the delivered energy when adjusting the stroke length or by dissipating heat when restricting flow and pressure via the valves.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,545 ("the '545 patent") issued to Nippert discloses a variable displacement fluid translating device. The device of the '545 patent includes a housing, a rotary cam having an eccentric cam surface, and a plurality of pistons disposed within a plurality of piston bores disposed radially with respect to the rotational axis of the rotary cam. The eccentric cam surface is in contact with the plurality of pistons and is configured to affect a reciprocal motion of the plurality of pistons relative to a respective piston bore. The plurality of piston bores are in fluid communication with a plurality of actuators and an inlet port and an outlet port. The device of the '545 patent operates as a fluid pump by driving the rotary cam forcing the plurality of pistons to reciprocate within the plurality of piston bores and force fluid therein to the inlet or outlet port. The device of the '545 patent also operates as a fluid motor by fluidly reciprocating the plurality of pistons within the plurality of piston bores to rotate the cam via the eccentric cam surface. The device of the '545 patent may selectively adjust the amount of fluid displaced when the device operates as a fluid pump by selectively adjusting one or more of the piston strokes via the plurality of fluid actuators.
The device of the '545 patent may be configured to operate as both a fluid pump and fluid motor, however, when operating as a fluid motor, the plurality of pistons may undesirably translate a relatively large reciprocating displacement thereof into a small rotary motion of the rotary cam. Additionally, the device of the '545 patent may include adjusting the amount of rotary motion by adjusting the amount of fluid displacement, however, increased range or degree of adjustability may be desirable.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.


A gear transmission comprises a crankshaft that eccentrically rotates one of an internal gear and an external gear. A first gear is attached to one end of the crankshaft. A ring gear having internal teeth meshes with the first gear. An intermediate gear meshes with external teeth of the ring gear. A second gear is attached to one end of an output shaft of a motor and meshes with the intermediate gear. The motor and the crankshaft are positioned, relative to the intermediate gear, on the same side in the axial direction of the gear transmission.

An eccentric oscillating-type gear transmission is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-106650 (Patent Document 1). This gear transmission comprises an internal gear and an eccentrically-rotating external gear meshing with the internal gear. The external gear is supported on a carrier so that it can eccentrically rotate. The carrier is rotatably supported by the internal gear. The axis of the carrier is coaxial with the axis of the internal gear. A crankshaft is rotatably supported on the carrier so as to be parallel to the axis of the carrier. An eccentric body is formed on the crankshaft and the eccentric body is engaged with the external gear. When a motor rotates the crankshaft, the external gear rotates eccentrically. The number of teeth of the internal gear and the number of teeth of the external gear differ. Consequently, when the external gear rotates eccentrically, the carrier rotates, together with the external gear, relative to the internal gear.
The gear transmission of Patent Document 1 further comprises a gear 21, an input gear 17 and a gear 11b. The gear 21 is attached to one end of the crankshaft. The input gear 17 meshes with the gear 21. The gear 11b meshes with the input gear 17. The gear 11b is attached to an output shaft of a motor. Torque from the motor is transmitted to the crankshaft via the gear 11b, the input gear 17 and the gear 21.

Gear transmission and photovoltaic power-generating apparatus using the gear transmission


This invention provides a computer and/or processor architecture optimized for power-efficient computation of a class of sensory recognition (e.g. vision) algorithms on a single computer chip derived from research into how humans process sensory information, such as vision. The processor for efficiently recognizing sensory information with recognizable features defines a feature recognition engine that resolves features from the sensory information and provides a feature information input. A plurality of processing nodes, arranged in a hierarchy of layers, receives the input and, in parallel, recognizes multiple components of the features. Recognized features are transferred between the layers so as to build likely recognition candidates and remove unlikely recognition candidates. A memory in each of the nodes refreshes and retains predetermined features related to likely recognition candidates as the features are transferred between the layers. A thresholding process determines when at least one of the recognition candidates sufficiently matches predetermined criteria.

Through exponential improvement over the last 40 years, computers have become millions of times faster and more capable. The famous proposition known as Moore's Law generally sets forth the inevitability of rapidly increasing improvement in the power of computing devices. In this time, computers have become much more effective than humans at certain tasks such as playing chess and calculating taxes. Thus, it is notable that sensory observation tasks, such as visual object recognition, which humans find effortless, have only recently become computable with a sufficient quality of results to be practically useful in the real world. Vision systems that have been implemented commercially typically have just one programmed function, such as detecting traffic stop violations or determining assembly line defects on a trained object pattern. Although classes of algorithms with improved generalization and task flexibility exist, these have not found practical use, one reason being that their extreme complexity requires supercomputing resources such as large clusters. Many industries could benefit from the availability of improved vision systems but as long as these systems' are physically large (i.e. requiring a general purpose computer/PC), power hungry, expensive and immobile they are not appropriate for a practical, general recognition, application.
FIG. 1 details a standard implementation of general purpose (and various versions of a special purpose) computing arrangement 100. The arrangement 100 consists of a central processing unit (CPU) 110 that, as described below, can comprise one or more processing "cores." The CPU interacts with a memory 120 that stores program instructions and data upon which the program instructions operate using the CPU 110. A bus or other connectivity structure 130 connects the CPU 110 and memory 120 to each other and also to other functional components of the overall computer 100, including one or more input/output (I/O) devices 140, which are adapted to allow data output and display, data input and operation of various peripheral devices (for example graphical user interface (GUI) devices). The organization of the components is highly variable. Multiple memories, etc., can be provided in alternate arrangements. Likewise, the various components of the computer 100 can be provide on one physical circuit chip structure, or a plurality of physical circuit chip structures.
As noted above, more recently, general and special-purpose computers have implemented processor arrangements in which a plurality of separate, parallel-processing "cores" are provided on one or more physical circuit chip structures. Advances in the miniaturization of circuit design have concurrently enabled such multi-core arrangements to be provided with a physical footprint that heretofore supported fewer (or only one) core(s). The use of multiple cores, as noted, has yielded a degree of parallelism in the processing of programs and program threads. With reference to FIG. 2, the CPU 110 is implemented with multiple processing cores (four cores in this example) 220, 222, 224 and 226. The multiple cores are connected to an on-chip memory cache arrangement 240. In the best case (e.g. highly parallel, non-serially dependent tasks), four cores can finish an overall task approximately four times faster, although typically the benefit of multiple cores is significantly less due to serial dependencies inherent in the task(s).
For tasks that are easily divided into multiple subtasks, which can execute in parallel, it is contemplated to employ a plurality of discrete computers (Computers 1-7) together in a computer cluster 300 (FIG. 3) connected by one or more network switches 320 or other internetworking devices. In the best case, a cluster of N computers can complete the overall task N times faster. Note that if the overall problem is not divisible into multiple subtasks, the program is typically not adapted to execute on a cluster.
General purpose computers are particularly useful for their ability to execute programs written after the computer chips have been fabricated. That is, general purpose CPUs are not typically optimized for any individual program. However, if significant constraints can be placed on the types of algorithms that are to be executed by the computing device/processor, then its architecture can be optimized to excel at those calculations that are most important to the special class of programs it will run.
Some computer/processor architectures have been designed with the specific purpose of improved performance at sensory recognition (e.g. auditory, radar, medical scanning/imaging and vision). For example, some processors are adapted particularly to improve the performance of vision algorithms. In the 1980s, processors were designed and sometimes fabricated to accelerate certain portions of vision algorithms that constituted the slowest processing bottlenecks at the time. These older architectures have become outdated because they optimized for programs that would currently execute much faster than real time on existing general purpose processors, and thus, would not be very useful today.
Two modern architectures optimized for vision processing are the Acadia II processor made by Sarnoff Corp. of Princeton, N.J. (by way of background, refer to World Wide Web address http://www 10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?section=ICNews&articleid=679089), and the EyeQ2 made by MobileEye N.V. of the Netherlands (by way of background refer to World Wide Web address http://www.mobileye.com/default.asp?PageID=319). These processors focus on power-efficient acceleration of low-level vision routines such as edge detection and tracking. For higher-level routines they integrate one or more general purpose CPU cores (either on-chip or off-chip). These architectures are appropriate for problems in which the higher-level routines are relatively simple and can run effectively using the onboard general-purpose processors.
However, even such modern processors are still limited in that they tend to be directed to particular higher level algorithms used to solve particular vision problems. That is, they may be optimized to carry out sets of algorithms particularly suited to a certain set of tasks, such as license plate recognition, but these algorithms are not useful for vehicle shape recognition, facial recognition or the like. In general, these processors do not emulate the theorized approach in which humans perceive and recognize visual objects and other sensory information in which features of a subject (for example a person's eye shape) are initially discerned by the mind and either discarded if incorrect, or accepted and then combined with other features (for example, the person's mouth) until the mind has confidence that it has made the correct recognition. This approach requires a large number of parallel tasks that build upon each other in differing combinations—a task not necessarily suited to modern processor architectures. Rather, performing this task with modern processors would require a massive investment in general purpose cores, an extremely power-hungry approach that limits the miniaturization of such an architecture.
The ability to provide a processor capable of running general recognition algorithms, capable of discerning a very large number of subjects is critical to constructing autonomous robots and self propelled vehicles, as well as general identification and recognition systems—used for example in surveillance and crime-control. However, most of these systems have significant limitations in power availability and/or size. A processor that can recognize hundreds or thousands of different trained (or extrapolated) subjects, but that exhibits small size and low power consumption is particularly desirable. This processor architecture should be easy to construct with conventional circuit fabrication techniques and allow for classes of recognition algorithms to be variously loaded and employed without need to alter the processor architecture significantly, or at all.

Power-efficient sensory recognition processor