A disparity vector detection unit retrieves a signal having a high correlation with an encoding target block and acquire the signal having the high correlation and a disparity vector which is a disparity in a screen of the encoding target block by using a local decoded image of a block in the same image signal which was previously encoded, with respect to the encoding target block. A disparity prediction signal generation unit generates a prediction signal in accordance with the disparity vector. The disparity vector detection unit includes a DC calculation unit operative to predict a DC component of an image signal of the encoding target block from a neighboring decoded image, and a disparity reference DC calculation unit operative to calculate a DC component of a prediction signal represented by the disparity vector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for encoding and decoding an image signal, and more particularly, to an image encoding device, an image decoding device, an encoding method, and an image decoding method using a prediction processing in a screen which generates a prediction signal for an image signal as a target from an encoded image and encodes a differential signal with the prediction signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a service of delivering digitalized image and voice contents via a broadcast wave of a satellite or ground wave or a network has been put to practical use and high-efficiency encoding for efficiently recording information of an image and voice having a large amount of information has bee required. With high definition and diversification of contents, the number of images and the amount of data which are encoded have been further increased and high-efficiency encoding of an advanced image signal of a future content service has been required.
As high-efficiency encoding of an image, a method of compressing the amount of information by using a correlation between pixels which are adjacent spatially in the same frame of a moving image signal and a correlation between frames or fields which are adjacent temporally, which is representative as MPEG2 or MPEG4-AVC (Advanced Video Coding), has been used.
In the MPEG4-AVC (Literature 'ISO/IEC14496-10 Advanced Video Coding'), the image is divided into a plurality of 2D blocks, the prediction signal is generated by using the correlation between the pixels in the same frame or between frames per block, and differential information is encoded together with the prediction signal, thereby implementing high encoding efficiency. Prediction processing using the correlation between the pixels in the same frame in the MPEG4-AVC is called intra-prediction and as illustrated in FIG. 20, a prediction image of a block as an encoding target is generated by using a decoded image of an encoded part adjacent to the target block. In intra-prediction, an adjacent decoding image is encoded together with the prediction mode information by selecting a prediction mode that has a smallest error from the encoding target block from the prediction image generated in a plurality of (9 types when prediction is performed per 4×4 pixel block) prediction modes having a high correlation with respect to a predetermined direction as illustrated in FIG. 20.
The intra-prediction becomes prediction processing using only the correlation with an adjacent area and in the case where the correlation is small on a boundary with the encoding target block, a prediction effect is reduced.
In the image signal, a signal having a similar image component such as a form, a shape, or a background of an object is present, even at a position separated from the target block. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-159947 discloses a method of performing prediction processing by using a correlation with an image at a position separated from a target block. In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 21, an error between an encoded decoding image and the encoding target block is calculated at a position which is shifted by a disparity amount (hereinafter, referred to as a disparity vector) in a screen from the target block, and a reference image referred as the disparity vector having a smallest error is referred to as the prediction image and encoded together with the disparity vector.
In the case where a prediction image having a high correlation over a decode amount of transmitting the disparity vector may be generated, high encoding efficiency can be implemented with respect to the intra-prediction, but in the case where a transmission quantity of the disparity vector is large, sufficient prediction efficiency cannot be achieved.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-043651 discloses a method of specifying the disparity vector without transmitting the disparity vector in order to reduce the decode amount required for the disparity vector. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-043651, by using an encoded decoding image adjacent to the target block as a template, an error between the encoded decoding image at a position which is shifted by the disparity vector and the encoded decoding image adjacent to the target block is calculated, a disparity vector having a smallest error is judged as a disparity vector of the encoding target block, and a reference image referred as the disparity vector is referred to as the prediction image. In this method, like the encoding side, in the decoding side, since the disparity vector can be calculated without being received by detecting the disparity vector with the encoded decoding image, the encode amount is not increased due to additional information.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-159947    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-043651
In MPEG4-AVC, high encoding efficiency can be achieved by performing motion compensation prediction processing based on decoded image signals of different frames in a temporal direction with respect to image signals which are temporally consecutive, but a reference frame to perform motion compensation prediction processing needs to be encoded by using only intra-prediction in the same frame and when a correlation is low on a boundary with an encoding target block, a prediction effect is reduced. Even when a moving-image is not temporally consecutive, the motion compensation prediction is not functioned, and as a result, encoding efficiency is deteriorated by a limit in performance of the intra-prediction.
As presented in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2005-159947 and 2007-043651, a disparity vector from a target block is transmitted or self-generated, such that since prediction using self-similarity of a part other than an adjacent area to an image signal or prediction from different objects having the same texture component is performed when an image correlation at a position separated from the target block is used, self-similarity of an image signal or similarity of a texture cannot be significantly used due to shape disparity or luminance disparity of an object which is present in a screen.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-159947, when a prediction signal having an effect to exceed a code amount of the disparity vector cannot be calculated, efficiency deteriorates and in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-043651, since the disparity vector is calculated by using an adjacent image of the encoding target block, a disparity vector having high precision cannot be acquired in the case where a correlation between the adjacent image and the target block is low or a correlation with the adjacent image of a reference block referred as the disparity vector generated in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-159947 is low, and as a result, efficiency is not improved.

Image encoding device, image decoding device, image encoding method, and image decoding method


A memory device includes; a memory area including a first memory area including first memory cells storing N-bit data and a second memory area including second memory cells storing M-bit data, where ‘M’ and ‘N’ are natural numbers and M is greater than N, and a controller configured to read data stored in the first memory area using a first read operation, read data stored in the second memory area using a second read operation different from the first read operation, and selectively store data in one of the first memory area and the second memory area based on a frequency of use (FOU) of the data.

Exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept relate generally to memory device(s) and computer system(s) including same.
A memory device includes a plurality of memory cells. Data may be written to, read from, or erase from one or more of the memory cells during one or more data access operation(s) (e.g., a write (or program) operation, a read operation, and an erase operation). Typically, a fixed number of data bit(s), data byte(s), data page(s), data plane(s), or data block(s) is the subject of a data access operation.
Neuromorphic computer systems (e.g., computer systems used in autonomous driving vehicles) have adopted various methods of distributing, storing and accessing various data according to is frequency of use (e.g., the number of times the data is accessed over a defined period of time). When memory cells are programmed using a method that fails to take into consideration the frequency of use for the data being programmed, the overall reliability and/or operating efficiency of the memory device may be degraded.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Memory device, method of operating memory device, and computer system including memory device


A secondary battery needs to be protected by an inexpensive structure having a small number of components. To this end, the structure includes a fuse 41 with a heater, connected to a positive electrode side of a battery cell 2, as a secondary battery, a driving FET 42 for driving the heater of the fuse 41 and a detection control IC 3 which, on detecting at least the over-charging state of the battery cell 2, drives the driving FET 42 to fuse the heater of the fuse 41.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a battery protection circuit for preventing at least overcharging of a secondary battery and an electronic device having the battery protection circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among electronic devices loaded with battery packs for power supply, also referred to as a battery package, and adapted for being fed from the battery pack with the power for driving the devices, there are, for example, a portable so-called note-book type personal computer, occasionally abbreviated to note-book personal computer, an information terminal, a video tape recorder, a sound recorder, and a portable telephone. Among non-portable type electronic devices of this type, there is, for example, an electric car having, for example, a motor for assisting the motive power.
The battery packs used in these electronic devices are frequently provided with secondary battery cells that can be charged/discharged repeatedly. As such secondary battery cells, so-called lithium ion secondary batteries, having a high volumetric energy density, are frequently used.
However, the lithium ion secondary batteries are narrow in tolerance values for over-charging or over-discharging. Thus, the battery packs are usually provided with a battery protection circuit for preventing over-charging or over-discharging of the lithium ion secondary batteries.
FIG. 1 shows an illustrative structure of a conventional battery protection circuit provided in a battery pack 200 having a lithium ion secondary battery cell 202.
Referring to FIG. 1, terminals 211, 212 are charging/discharging terminals of the battery pack, with the terminal 211 being a battery plus terminal and with the terminal 212 being a battery minus terminal (GND side terminal). The battery pack 200 furnishes the current via these plus terminal 211 and minus terminal 212 from the battery cell 202 to a main body portion of the electronic device, by way of charging. On the other hand, the battery pack 202 is charged by the charging current furnished from an external charger, not shown, via these plus terminal 211 and minus terminal 212.
A field effect transistor (FET) 206 and another field effect transistor (FET) 205 are connected in series between a plus terminal 211 of the battery pack 200 and the positive terminal of the battery cell 202. The FETs 206, 205 are provided as a charging on/off controlling switching device and as a discharging on/off controlling switching device, respectively. These FETs 205, 206 are provided with parasitic diodes.
A control IC circuit 203 has its terminal 235 fed with a voltage value of the plus terminal 211, while having its terminals 231 and 232 fed with the positive terminal side voltage value and with the negative terminal side voltage value of the battery cell 202, respectively. The control IC circuit 203 outputs a driving signal for the switching operation (on/off operation) of the FET 206 and a driving signal for the switching operation (on/off operation) of the FET 205 from its terminals 233, 234, respectively. That is, the control IC circuit 203 monitors a voltage value of the plus terminal 211 and the voltage values of the positive and negative terminal sides of the battery cell 202 to control the switching operation (on/off operation) of the FETs 205, 206.
Meanwhile, in the battery pack employing the FET for charging/discharging control, as shown in FIG. 1, the two FETs 205, 206 are provided for charging/discharging control, these FETs 205, 206 being connected in series between the plus terminal 211 and the positive terminal side of the battery cell 202, thus undesirably raising the internal resistance. Although there is such a battery protection circuit having FETs connected in parallel to realize a low internal resistance, the number of component parts is increased in this case to raise the cost.
There are occasions wherein it is necessary to provide a spare protection circuit in addition to the inherent protection circuit, that is two protection circuits, thus further increasing the number of components and increased cost.
If, with the use of a dual FET with the outer shape TSSOP and an N channel, with a drain-to-source withstand voltage of 20 V, a gate withstand voltage of 12 V and with an on-resistance of 35 m.OMEGA., with gate voltage being 2.5 V, two such parallel-connected FETs are used for charging/discharging, the element resistance is 70 m.OMEGA., that is the resistance per FET is 35 m.OMEGA.. On the other hand, if these FETs are connected in series with each other, the element resistance is 35 m.OMEGA., that is the resistance per FET is 17.5 m.OMEGA.. FIG. 1 shows an example of a P-channel FET, which has a higher internal resistance than the N-channel FET, so that it is more undesirable.

Battery protection circuit and electronic device


A computer-implemented method and system may include receiving one or more images of a body; determining one or more initial body measurements of the body based on the one or more images; determining at least one supplemental measurement of a portion of the body, the supplemental measurement determined at least in part using one or more sensors of a mobile device; and applying a correction factor to the one or more initial body measurements of the body based at least in part on the supplemental measurement to produce a corrected body measurement.

Sizing standards are not consistently applied between brands or types of clothing. A size large for one brand of clothing may be equivalent to a size medium in another brand. In physical stores, consumers may verify sizing by trying on the garment. For on-line or remote sales, consumers often rely on measurements of body parts to determine an appropriate fit. Accurate measurements of body parts are essential to ensure that appropriately sized clothing is provided to a person. However, body parts are irregular and difficult to measure using traditional methods. Consumers may find it difficult or cumbersome to determine accurate measurements. As such, there is a need for methods and systems to assist users in determining accurate body measurements.

Systems and methods for measuring body size


A method and system for fabricating semiconductor wafers is disclosed wherein an atomically clean, semiconductor substrate having a surface is provided in a rapid thermal processing chamber. One embodiment involves cleaning the substrate by exposing it to a first gas at a temperature substantially within the range of 850.degree. C. to 1250.degree. C. for approximately 10 to 60 seconds. Subsequently, a coating having a first thickness is formed superjacent the substrate surface by introducing a second gas at a temperature substantially within the range of 850.degree. C. to 1250.degree. C. for approximately 5 to 30 seconds in the chamber. The resultant coating, depending on the gas selected, comprises either SiO.sub.2 or Si-F.. Subsequently, the substrate having the coating is exposed to a third gas at a temperature substantially within the range of 900.degree. C. to 1050.degree. C. for approximately 30 minutes to one hour, thereby forming a silicon dioxide layer. The silicon dioxide layer is disposed superjacent the substrate and subjacent the coating. In one embodiment of the invention, this step is performed in a furnace. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, a transferring device, such as a robot, is employed, using a load lock, to transfer the substrate between the RTP chamber and the furnace without exposing the substrate to atmospheric pressure.

The continuing trend of scaling down integrated circuits has forced the semiconductor industry to consider new techniques for fabricating precise components at submicron levels. Along with the need for smaller components, there has been a growing demand for devices requiring less power consumption. In the manufacture of transistors, these trends have led the industry to refine approaches to achieve thinner gate oxides.
Currently, thin gate oxides are grown by essentially two methods. In the first method, thermal oxidation in dry or wet O.sub.2 ambients is used at elevated temperatures in a furnace to grow a silicon dioxide layer superjacent a silicon substrate. The second method for growing a thin gate oxide involves Rapid Thermal Oxidation ("RTO") in a rapid thermal processor at high temperatures over a short period of time.
Under both processes, however, native silicon dioxide (hereinafter "native oxide") develops directly on the surface or interface of the substrate. Native oxide, having different characteristics than grown silicon dioxide, has a substantial impact on the overall electrical and structural characteristics of the gate oxide. Thus, the integrity of the overall gate oxide is limited under the current methods.
Furthermore, the current methods have substantial limitations. With respect to the furnace approach, gate oxides with a thickness in the 80.ANG. to 120.ANG. range are not as reliable. Moreover, RTO oxides require a high thermal budget and are further confined by throughput criteria which are not viable in a manufacturing environment.

Method for fabricating hybrid oxides for thinner gate devices


A content addressable memory (CAM) is disclosed that includes a memory having a first port configured to write a 1-bit data to the memory and a second port configured to read and write N-bit data. To update the CAM, an N-bit zero data word is written to the second port at a first address A2 to erase N bits of the memory at address A2, then the first address A2 is combined with a data value A0 to form a second address A1. Finally, a value 1 is written to the first data port at the address A1. Reading the second port at the first address A2 will produce an N-bit data word having value 1 at bit position A0 and zeros at all other bit positions. The CAM may be configured in reconfigurable hardware using random access memory and used in a stream data interface circuit.

Traditionally, integrated circuit processors are designed either as general purpose microprocessors, as application specific integrated circuits (ASIC's) or as reconfigurable logic circuits. The integrated circuit processors transfer data from memory through a tightly coupled memory interface. A general purpose microprocessor transfers data by following arbitrary sequences of microprocessor instructions defined by a user written program. This provides flexibility but decreases performance because the circuitry is not optimized for any specific application. An ASIC is designed by describing its structure in terms of circuit primitives such as Boolean gates and registers. The circuit designer arranges the circuit primitives so as to optimize performance for a specific application (such as video compression or audio decoding). While an ASIC provides high performance, its fixed architecture cannot be changed after fabrication to adapt to new algorithms or changing standards. Additionally, the high development costs and lengthy design cycle are not suited to rapidly developing markets.
Reconfigurable logic circuits (also known as programmable logic circuits) typically include user-configurable circuitry that is controlled by configuration data to implement a user's logic function. The user-configurable circuitry typically includes general-purpose logic resources (e.g., look-up tables), special-purpose logic resources (e.g., RAM circuits), and interconnect resources that are connected between the general-purpose and special purpose logic resources. To configure (or program) a circuit, a user typically enters a desired logic function into a Personal Computer (PC) or workstation that is configured to run one or more place-and-route software programs. These place-and-route software programs then generate a configuration solution by assigning portions of the logic function to specific logic resources of the circuit, and allocating sections of the interconnect resources to form signal paths between the logic resources, thereby causing the circuit to emulate the desired logic function. The configuration solution generated by the place-and-route software is then converted into a bit-stream that is transmitted into the configuration memory of the circuit.
Reconfigurable logic circuits may be used, for example, as hardware accelerators to perform computationally expensive data processing tasks. To enable fast computation, an efficient memory interface is required. The memory interface may also be implemented using reconfigurable logic. For example, for certain applications in which a large amount of ordered data (which is typically stored in a regular memory pattern such as a vector, a two-dimensional shape, or a link list) is to be accessed in memory or transferred in real-time from a peripheral, a streaming architecture may be used. Processing such ordered data streams is common in media applications, such as digital audio and video, and in data communication applications (such as data compression or decompression). In many applications, relatively little processing of each data item is required, but high computation rates are required because of the large amount of data. Processors and their associated memory interface are conventionally designed with complex circuits that attempt to dynamically predict the data access patterns and pre-fetch required data. This approach is typically limited in performance because data access patterns are difficult to predict correctly for many cases. In addition, the associated circuits consume power and chip area that can otherwise be allocated to actual data processing.
In general, data may be stored in non-contiguous memory locations. This complicates the task of memory access. For example, in image processing applications, a sub-tile from an image may occupy a non-contiguous region of memory. In this case, and in some other applications, the memory locations may be predictable from a small set of parameters via simple arithmetic calculations. In these cases, stream parameters (such SPAN, STRIDE, SKIP etc.), may be used in conjunction with custom logic circuits (fixed or reconfigurable) to generate consecutive memory addresses. However, implementation of a parameter-based streaming interface on a reconfigurable logic such as an FPGA utilizes a larger number of FPGA slices, and does not make efficient use of limited FPGA resources.
In other applications, it is possible to find a small set of parameters that describe the data memory locations. Some application specific integrated circuits (ASIC's) use a content addressable memory (CAM). In a CAM circuit, a data value is searched for by its content, rather than by its address. Data values are stored (pre-loaded) in CAM circuits such that each data value is assigned to a row or column of an array of CAM cells. To determine whether a particular data value is stored in the CAM circuit, a content-based data match operation is performed in which the searched-for data value is simultaneously compared with the rows/columns containing the pre-loaded data values. When one or more of the pre-loaded data values match the searched-for data value, a "match" signal is generated by the CAM circuit, along with an address indicating the storage location (i.e., row or column) of the pre-loaded data value. By simultaneously comparing the searched-for data value with several pre-loaded data values, a CAM circuit is able to perform compare-and-match (hereafter "match") operations involving several pre-loaded data values in a single clock cycle. Therefore, when compared with RAM circuits, CAM circuits significantly reduce the search time needed to locate a particular data value from a large number of data values.
Early reconfigurable logic circuits did not support on-chip CAM functions, and external dedicated CAM circuits were required. These dedicated CAM circuits were connected to the input/output (I/O) terminals of the circuit, and CAM functions were performed in conjunction with circuit operations by transmitting information between the programmable logic device (PLD) and the dedicated CAM circuit. A problem with this arrangement is that it results in relatively slow operation speeds, and requires the use of precious reconfigurable logic circuit's I/O resources that typically limits the complexity of other logic functions implemented in the reconfigurable logic circuit. Therefore, there is a demand for reconfigurable logic circuits that perform on-chip CAM functions in order to speed up CAM operations and free-up reconfigurable logic circuits I/O resources.
More recently, advanced reconfigurable logic circuits have been produced with dedicated CAM circuits that provide on-chip CAM functions. A problem with including dedicated CAM circuitry in a reconfigurable logic circuit is that the CAM circuitry is essentially useless unless a user's logic function implements a CAM function. That is, unlike general-purpose logic circuitry, dedicated conventional CAM circuitry typically cannot be used for non-CAM logic functions. Therefore, the dedicated CAM circuitry remains idle when a user's logic function does not include a CAM function, and takes up die space on the device that could otherwise be used for logic operations.
Another problem with including dedicated CAM circuitry in a reconfigurable logic circuit is the conflict between the amount of die space required for the CAM circuitry and the range of CAM functions that can be implemented by the CAM circuitry (i.e., the flexibility of the CAM circuitry). A relatively simple CAM circuit requires relatively little die space, but is less likely to support a wide range of CAM functions (i.e., has little flexibility). On the other hand, a sophisticated CAM circuit is more likely to support a wide range of CAM functions, but requires a large amount of die space, thereby reducing the number of general-purpose logic resources provided on the PLD. Therefore, a device manufacturer must balance the flexibility of the CAM circuit with the amount of die space occupied by the CAM circuitry. Typically, such choices result in CAM features that are less than optimal.
Static CAM device, such as those used on ASIC's, are not suitable for use in reconfigurable logic circuits, since they do not allow dynamic reprogramming.
Reconfigurable logic circuits often include random access memory (RAM) or block random access memory (BRAM). Techniques for using the dual-port block RAM in reconfigurable devices to implement CAM functions have been disclosed. However, these techniques are not optimized for dynamic content update, which is required for dynamic out-of-order access (DOOA).
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

Apparatus for efficient streaming data access on reconfigurable hardware and method for automatic generation thereof


An ECS system provides an ACM which locates the compressor upon a common shaft between a first turbine and a second turbine. Each RAF is located remote from the ACM such that the turbines are located outboard on each end of the ACM to provide the highest efficiency possible with each turbine using a straight axial outlet diffuser. As the compressor is located between the turbines the bypass circuits from the turbines are less circuitous and more efficient. Integral valve ports formed into the ACM housing portions results in a weight reduced design due to increase bypass efficiencies and simplified installations.

The present invention relates to environmental control systems (ECSs), and more particularly to an air cycle machine (ACM) configuration.
ECSs provide a supply of conditioned air to an enclosure, such as an aircraft cabin and cockpit. Conventional ECSs have utilized an air-to-air cycle cooling system which is in a heat exchange relationship with a liquid loop. The liquid loop typically cools other heat loads such as avionics packages. Interaction between the air and liquid subsystems is relatively complex. Moreover, airflow sequencing, particularly for multi-turbine air cycle machines (ACMs), radically affects ECS efficiency. In many instances much thermal energy may be wasted or otherwise inefficiently used.
In one conventional system, a flow of bleed air is taken from an intermediate or high pressure stage within a jet engine. The bleed air is pre-cooled within an air-to-air heat exchanger with heat being rejected to RAM air and then flowed to a compressor of the ACM. After compression, the air is routed through a second air-to-air heat exchanger, a regenerative heat exchanger and an air-to-air reheater heat exchanger. Condensed water vapor is extracted by a water extractor, and dehumidified air is routed to a turbine. Expanded air from the turbine flows through another water collector and into a liquid-to-air heat exchanger of the liquid loop. A relatively warmer liquid in the liquid loop which is used to cool the avionics is thereby cooled. From the liquid-to-air heat exchanger, the air passes through the reheater heat exchanger. The dehumidified air is then passed into a second turbine of the ACM where it is again expanded and passed through another liquid-to-air heat exchanger to further absorb heat from the liquid loop.
The ACM is an integral part of the ECS. Conventional ACMs include a rotative assembly surrounded by a static structure. Typically, conventional ACMs include two turbines, a compressor, and a fan. Conventional ACMs locate the two turbines, compressor, and fan on a single shaft. Due to the unique operation and installation requirements of the RAM system, the fan rotor is located on one outboard end of the ACM which may reduce the efficiency thereof. This may reduce the efficiency of the entire ECS system.

Air cycle machine for an aircraft environmental control system


An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, and a drive pulse generator. The recording head includes a nozzle to discharge a droplet of recording liquid, a pressure-generating room to store the recording liquid and communicate with the nozzle, and a pressure-generating device to change a pressure condition of the recording liquid in the pressure-generating room. The drive pulse generator generates a drive pulse pattern having a plurality of drive signals generated sequentially. The plurality of drive signals are selectively applied to the pressure-generating device, and include at least a first drive signal and a second drive signal, generated sequentially. A discharge speed of a droplet discharged by applying a combination of the first and second drive signals to the pressure-generating device is set to be slower than a discharge speed of a droplet discharged by applying only the second drive signal to the pressure-generating device.

An image forming apparatus is available as various types of apparatuses such as printer, facsimile apparatus, copier, plotter, and multifunctional apparatus (having printer/facsimile/copier functions), for example.
Such image forming apparatus may include a carriage having a recording head (or printing head), which can discharge droplets of recording liquid (e.g., ink).
Such carriage may be moved in a direction perpendicular to a transport direction of a recording medium in the image forming apparatus, for example. The recording medium includes a recording sheet, a transfer member, for example, wherein the recording sheet and transfer member includes a paper sheet.
Such recording medium may be transported intermittently into a sheet transport direction to record images on the recording medium. With such process, images can be formed or printed on the recording medium.
Such process can be conducted by an image forming apparatus of serial type, and an image forming apparatus having line type having line head. In the serial type, a recording head (e.g., inkjet head) may be moved in a given direction over a recording medium. In the line type, a recording medium may be moved in a given direction under a recording head (e.g., inkjet head), for example.
Such image forming apparatus may conduct gray-scale printing as mentioned below, for example.
A reference drive pulse pattern having a plurality of drive signals (or drive pulses) is generated for one-dot print cycle (or one-drive period). Then, one drive signal or some drive signals are selected from the reference drive pulse pattern.
Such selected signals can be transmitted to a pressure-generating device (e.g., actuator), which generates energy for discharging droplets from the recording head.
Based on the selected signals, the recording head may discharge droplets having a same droplet size or droplets having different droplet sizes, and such droplets may be impacted on a same impact position on a recording medium to form dots having different sizes.
In one background image forming apparatus, a plurality of discharge drive pulses for discharging droplets and a non-discharge drive pulse for vibrating a meniscus slightly (i.e., droplet is not discharged) are included for a drive pulse pattern used for one-dot print cycle (or one-drive period), wherein the plurality of discharge drive pulses may be output sequentially.
Such drive pulses may include a first signal for increasing a volume capacity of a pressure-generating room, a second signal for maintaining the increased volume capacity of the pressure-generating room after the first signal, and a third signal for contracting the volume capacity of the pressure-generating room after the second signal.
Another background image forming apparatus includes a drive signal generator, which generates a reference drive signal for bi-directional printing, in which a printing operation is conducted in one direction, and then a next printing operation is conducted in opposite direction.
The reference drive signal may include a first pulse and a second pulse generated sequentially. The first pulse may be used for discharging a liquid droplet at a relatively slower speed, and the second pulse may be used for discharging a liquid droplet at a relatively faster speed.
Further, a related art image forming apparatus may include a drive signal generating circuit and a recording head.
When the recording head is moved in a first direction for one printing operation, the drive signal generating circuit generates a first-type drive signal which may generate a discharge pulse for a medium-sized dot and a discharge pulse for a smaller dot, in this order.
When the recording head is moved in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, for a next printing operation, the drive signal generating circuit may generate a second-type drive signal which generates the discharge pulse for the medium-sized dot, for the smaller dot and the discharge pulse in this order, in which the drive signal generating circuit generates a minute-vibrate pulse between the smaller dot discharge pulse and medium-sized dot discharge pulse. The minute-vibrate pulse is supplied to a pressure generating element by a pulse supplying device before the medium-sized dot discharge pulse is generated after the smaller dot discharge pulse.
In general, an improvement such as concurrent improvement of high-speed printing and higher image quality may be demanded on an image forming apparatus.
In order to achieve such improvement on printing speed, a plurality of types of droplets may be discharged from the same nozzle, wherein the plurality of types of droplets use different amounts of recording liquid (e.g., ink). Specifically, a drive pulse pattern having a plurality of drive signals may be generated for one-dot print cycle (or one-drive period), and the drive signals selectively applied to form different sized dots such as smaller to larger dots.
It is preferable to shorten the one-dot print cycle (or one-drive period) to improve a printing speed to a higher speed.
However, if the one-dot print cycle (or one-drive period) is shortened, numbers of drive signals to be included in a drive pulse pattern may become smaller, by which it may become difficult to discharge a various types of droplets in one-dot print cycle (or one-drive period).
Further, in order to realize a higher image quality, it is preferable to merge a plurality of droplets as one droplet when the droplets are traveling through the air and to impact the one droplet to the recording medium compared to impacting a plurality of droplets on a same impact position on the recording medium, one by one.
Accordingly, in order to achieve high-speed printing and higher image quality concurrently, there is a need for improvement of drive pulse pattern and improvement of precision of impact position on the recording medium by a plurality of droplets.
In the above-mentioned another background image forming apparatus, a discharge speed of droplet by the first drive pulse is set to be relatively slower, and a discharge speed of droplet by a second drive pulse is set to be relatively faster, wherein the first drive pulse is applied before the second drive pulse.
With such speed adjustment for droplet, a discharge speed of droplet can be set greater for a later-discharged droplet than an earlier-discharged droplet so that the earlier-discharged droplet and the later-discharged droplet can impact on the same impact position on a recording medium.
However, if a larger droplet is to be discharged by one drive signal, a droplet amount that can be discharged by the one drive signal may have a limitation.
Further, when a larger dot is formed with a plurality of drive signals, an image quality may degrade because such plurality of droplets may be impacted on a recording medium one by one to form one dot.
Further, in the above-mentioned related art image forming apparatus, different drive signals may be required for conducting a printing operation in the first and second direction, which is opposite each other. Further, a higher image quality may not be obtained for a larger dot because the smaller dot and medium-sized dot may impact on different positions when forming the larger dot on the recording medium.

Image forming apparatus having droplet speed control


The invention provides a robot including a connection member relatively displaceably connected, and configured to control the displacement of the connection member based on a reference posture that can be adjusted, the robot including: a light emitting unit to emit a laser beam in a predetermined direction; a light receiving unit to receive the laser beam when the connection member is located in a detection posture that is away, by a preset displacement amount, from a predetermined zero posture; and a zeroing unit to relatively displace the connection member so as to make the light receiving unit receive the laser beam, and then to adjust the reference posture to the zero posture based on the posture of the connection member when the laser beam is received as well as on a relationship between the zero posture and the detection posture.

In the industrial field, various robots are widely used. For instance, in the field of processing semiconductors, a carrier robot is used in an apparatus for carrying substrates. This carrying apparatus constitutes one semiconductor processing equipment and serves as a front-end module for the semiconductor processing equipment, together with a plurality of semiconductor processing apparatuses respectively provided for performing different processes for the semiconductors.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view partly showing the carrier robot 1 in the related art, and FIG. 11 is a plan view of the carrier robot 1 shown in FIG. 10. This carrier robot 1 includes a base 2, and a lifting unit 3 provided to the base 2. Further, an arm 4 is attached to the lifting unit 3, such that this arm 4 can be lifted in the vertical direction as well as can be angularly displaced in the horizontal direction.
The arm 4 includes three connection members, i.e., a first connection member 5, a second connection member 6 and one robot hand 7. The first connection member 5 is attached to the lifting unit 3, such that this connection member 5 can be angularly displaced relative to the lifting unit 3. Further, the first connection member 5 is connected with the second connection member 6, and this second connection member 6 is further connected with the robot hand 7. In this case, the first connection member 5, second connection member 6 and robot hand 7 can be angularly displaced, respectively, relative to one another, about axes L1 to L3.
The carrier robot 1 constructed as described above further includes a control unit (not shown). This control unit serves to angularly displace the first connection member 5, second connection member 6 and robot hand 7, about the axes L1 to L3, while controlling the angle of each connection member 5, 6, 7. Namely, in this control unit, the angle in a zero posture of each connection member 5, 6, 7 upon shipment from a factory or the like is set in advance at 0 degree. Thereafter, the control unit serves to control each angle, about the axes L1 to L3, of the first connection member 5, second connection member 6 and robot hand 7, in order to change the posture of each connection member 5, 6, 7 into a desired posture, thereby moving the robot hand 7 to a desired position.
However, due to inadvertent or accidental collision between the arm 4 and other structures provided in each semiconductor processing apparatus and/or due to prolonged use of the carrier robot 1, each of the first connection member 5, second connection member 6 and robot hand 7 is sometimes angularly shifted from a correct position or angle about each corresponding axis L1 to L3. In such a case, even if the angle of each connection member 5, 6, 7 is set again at 0 degree, the connection member 5, 6 or 7 can no longer be returned to the zero posture. Therefore, in such a state, even if the control unit angularly displaces each connection member 5, 6, 7 by a predetermined angle, the robot hand 7 will be located in a position shifted from a predetermined position. To address this problem, it is necessary to adjust the zero posture of each connection member 5, 6, 7 to 0 degree. As the method for this adjustment, the so-called "zeroing method" has been known. This zeroing method is also used for adjusting the angle in the zero posture of each connection member 5, 6, 7 before the shipment from the factory to 0 degree.
As one example of the zeroing method, one approach using a jig pin 8 has been known. In the case of using this method, two through holes, for allowing the jig pin 8 to be inserted therein, are respectively provided to the first connection member 5 and second connection member 6. More specifically, when the first connection member 5 and second connection member 6 are angularly moved, respectively, by predetermined angles about the axis L2 from the zero postures thereof, the two through holes are in communication with each other, and thus the jig pin 8 can be inserted in such communicated two through holes. Further, a notched portion 9 is formed in the robot hand 7. In this case, when the second connection member 6 and robot hand 7 are angularly moved, respectively, by predetermined angles about the axis L3 from the zero postures thereof, the jig pin 8 can be in contact with the notched portion 9.
Namely, with the provision of such a jig pin 8 as described above, the angle of each connection member 5, 6, 7 relative to the zero posture thereof can be detected, and then each zero posture can be adjusted to 0 degree, based on the detected angle.


In a track type protection system comprising an automatic steering mechanism and a fail-safe mechanism, provided is a detection mechanism which can detect a deviated value of a vehicle, widthwise of a track, and which is highly reliable. The track type transportation system in which the vehicle runs on the road surface of the track, comprising the steering mechanism for automatically steering the front and rear wheels of the vehicle by means of actuators, and the fail-safe mechanism composed of a protection track defined on the road surface of the track, and protection wheels provided in the lower part of the vehicle and adapted to run in the protection track without making contact with the protection track, wherein there are provided a pair of noncontact type displacement meters 13 which are attached to a support bracket 64 suspended downward from the lower part of the vehicle body, and which are arranged in the protection track 14 so as to irradiate detection waves a onto the left and right side walls 14a of the protection track, thereby the distances from the noncontact type displacement meters 13 to the left and right side walls of the protection track are measured by the pair of noncontact type displacement meters.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a track type transportation system for a vehicle which runs on a predetermined track, and in particular to a track type transportation system in which the front and rear wheels of a vehicle are automatically steered by actuators, and which incorporates therein a fail-safe mechanism for preventing the vehicle from coming off from a track upon malfunctioning of an automatic steering mechanism.
2. Background Art
The applicant has already proposed a track type transportation system for a vehicle, incorporating a steering mechanism for automatically steering the front and rear wheels of the vehicle by means of actuators so as to allow the vehicle to run on a predetermined track, and a fail-safe mechanism for preventing the vehicle from coming off the track even though the automatic steering mechanism is malfunctioning (refer to Patent Document: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-306334). Explanation will be hereinbelow made of the track type transportation system disclosed in the Patent Document 1.
Referring to FIGS. 24 and 25, a vehicle 012 in a track type transportation system 010, runs along a track 01 incorporating a U-like sectional shape protection track 014 laid substantially on its center line and formed in a channel-like configuration with respect to a road surface 015. The U-like sectional shape protection track 014 is formed of a U-like channel steel laid on the road surface.
The vehicle 012 is provided with a front wheel bogie 016 and a rear wheel bogie (which is not shown) for supporting the vehicle 012, underneath the vehicle 012 in a front and a rear part thereof. The front wheel bogie 016 is mounted thereto with an axle for front wheels 018 so as to be pivotable left and right. The front wheels 018 are mounted thereon with a core type rubber tire 020 which is although not shown. Further, the rear wheel bogie is also mounted thereto with an axle for rear wheels 022 so as to be pivotable left and right. The rear wheels 022 are also mounted thereon with rubber tires 020 which is although not shown.
Next, explanation will be made of a steering mechanism, focusing on the front wheel 018 side. It is noted that the rear wheel 018 side has also a configuration similar to that of the front wheel side.
As shown in FIGS. 24 and 25, there are provided a front steering arm 028a connected to the front left wheel 018b and extending forward, and a rear steering arm 030a extending rearward. The front right wheel 018a is provided thereto with a rear steering arm 30b extending rearward. The steering arms 030a, 030b of the front left and right wheels are mounted with a tie rod spanning between their lower end parts. These rear steering arms 030a, 030b are rotatably coupled to the tie rod 032 by means of spherical joints 034.
Further, the front end part of the front steering arm 028a is coupled rotatably thereto with a distal end part of a movable rod 038 of an actuator 036 by means of a spherical joint 034. The actuator 036 is attached to the front wheel bogie 016. As to a specific structure of the actuator 036, there is used a ball-screw structure with a motor as will be described later. However, any means capable of carrying out translational motion, such as a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder, a linear motor or the like may be used.
It is noted that the tie rod 032 and the rear steering arms 030a, 030b constitute the so-called Ackerman-Jeantaud type link mechanism for appropriately controlling the steering angles of the left and right wheels upon turning. Further, the left wheels 18b and the right wheels 18a are linked together by the tie rod 032, and accordingly, the left and right wheels can surely be steered.
Next, explanation will be made of protection wheels 040. The protection wheels 040 are cylindrical, and are rotatably supported respectively to the front and rear end parts of a protection arm 042 on the rear surface side. Further, the protection wheels 040 are inserted in the U-like protection track 014 so that their peripheral surfaces are faced to the side walls of the protection track 014. The protection wheels are made of a material which is desirably, highly vibration-resistant and wear-resistant urethane rubber, a material utilizing a steel belt as used in a rubber type or the like.
Further, the protections wheels 040 and the side walls of the protection track 014 define therebetween gaps which are less than an allowable range the vehicle 012 should not turn further more left and right, and the protection wheels do not make contact with the sidewalls of the protection track 014 whenever the steering mechanism is normally operated. Normally, the gaps between the protection wheels and the protection track 014 are set in a range from about to 80 to 100 mm.
The protection arm 042 has a shape which is elongated in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and is rotatably supported in its center part to the lower part of the axle 044 of the front wheel 018.
It is noted that the height of the protection wheels 040 may be set so that they are arranged above the road surface 015 as shown in FIG. 25(a) or below the road surface 015 as shown in FIG. 25(b). Thus, any suitable structure may be selected so as to be adaptable for an existing track in view of its replace specification, that is, the adaptation is more flexible.
The protection arm 042 is coupled in the vicinity of the one end part thereof to the front end part of the front steering arm 042 through the intermediary of a link rod 046, and accordingly, the link rod 046 and the protection arm 042 cause the protection wheels 040 to be directed in the same direction as the steering direction of the front wheels 018.
The steering mechanism is composed of the actuator 036, the movable rod 038, the front steering arm 028a, the rear steering arms 030a, 030b, and the link mechanism is composed of the protection arm 042 and the link rod 046.
Further, the steering arm 028a is provided in its front end part with a double surface joint 050 with which one end part of the movable rod 038 of the actuator 036 and one end part of the link rod 046 are coupled to the front end part of the front steering arm 028a, being overlapped one upon another. With the use of the above-mentioned double spherical joint 050, it is possible to aim at effectively use a space.
The structure for mounting the steering mechanism, the protection arm 042 and the actuator 036 onto the front wheel bogie 016 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 26 and 27.
There is provided an axle housing 060 in which a differential mechanism portion 056 inputted thereto with a drive power from a drive motor (which is not shown), is integrally incorporated with an axle portion 058 for transmitting a drive power to the left and the right wheels, and a bogie frame 062 is provided above the axle housing 062.
The protection arm 042 is attached thereto with a support bracket 064 supported to the lower part of the differential mechanism portion 056, the rotating center thereof being located at the center of the axle. The support bracket 064 is attached in its upper part to the bogie frame 062, being extended downward around the differential mechanism portion 056, and has, in its lower part, a protection frame 066 for rotatably holding the protection arm 042. The protection frame 066 has a center support structure, for a pivotal fulcrum of the protection arm 042, in which the pivotal fulcrum is vertically interposed. Further, the protection frame 066 is formed with left and right vertical walls 068a, 068b which are capable of limiting the pivotable range of the protection arm 042.
As shown in FIG. 27, the actuator has such a unit structure that an electric motor 072, a clutch 074, a ball screw 076 and a limit guide 078 are assembled to the lower surface part of an L-like sectional shape frame 070. The frame 070 having such a unit structure that the above-mentioned components are assembled thereto is fastened to the bogie 062 by means of bolts. The ball screw 076 has a feed nut part 080 which is joined thereto with one end part of the movable rod 038 of the actuator 036, and the other end part of the movable rod 038 is joined to the upper spherical surface part 052 of the double spherical joint 50 so as to be coupled with the front steering arm 028a.
Further, as shown in FIG. 26, one end part of the protection arm 042 and the lower spherical joint part 054 of the double spherical joint 050 are connected therebetween by means of the link rod 46, and are then coupled to the front steering arm 028a. The rear steering arm 030a is jointed in its rear end part with the tie rod 032, and is coupled to the rear steering arm 030b for the right wheel.
With the above-mentioned mounting structure in which the protection arm 040 mounted thereto with the protection wheels 040 is supported to the lower part of the differential mechanism portion 056 of the highly rigid axle housing 060 so as to use the support bracket 064 attached to the bogie frame 062 in order to eliminate the necessity of the modification of the bogie for attaching the protection arm 042, the existing bogie frame 062 for the front wheels can be used as it is. Thereby it is possible to aim at commonly using the components of the bogie frame 062 and at reducing the manufacturing costs. Further, since the unit structure of the actuator is mounted on the bogie frame 062, the efficiencies of the assembly work, the component replacement work and the maintenance service can be enhanced. Due to the unit structure, the configuration can be simplified, thereby it is possible to aim at allowing the apparatus to be lightweight.
Further, the actuator 036 is normally operated in response to a steering instruction from a control means which is not shown, so as to apply a steering force to the front left wheel 048b by the actuator 036, and then, the steering force is transmitted from the front steering arm 028 to the rear steering arm 030a, and is then transmitted therefrom to the front right wheel 018a through the intermediary of the tie rod 032. Further, the steering force from the actuator 036 is also transmitted from the double spherical joint 050 to the protection arm 042 through the intermediary of the link rod 046, and accordingly, the protection wheels 40 are also moved in association with the motion of the actuator 036 so as to be directed in the same direction as that of the front wheels 018. Thus, the protection wheels 040 are moved in the protection track 014 together with the wheel 012 without making contact with the side walls of the protection track 014.
Upon malfunctioning of the above-mentioned steering mechanism, the protection wheels 040 make contact with the left and right walls of the protection track 014, and accordingly, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from running away from the track.
In the steering system disclosed in the Patent Document 1, whether the vehicle follows up a desired locus or not is determined, and the front wheels and the rear wheels of the vehicle are automatically steered by the actuators so as to guide the vehicle. However, it is necessary to measure a deviated value widthwise of the track with respect to the advancing direction of the vehicle in order to precisely determine whether the vehicle follows up a desired running locus (which is precisely a line connecting the centers of the respective axles of the front and rear wheel bogies of the vehicle).
In order to measure the deviated value of the vehicle, widthwise of the track, there is required an on-ground structure serving as a reference position for the measurement. Further, a noncontact type measuring instrument which has a high degree of measuring accuracy, and which does not cause any wearing problem is preferably used as a measuring device therefor, and such a noncontact type measuring instrument would cause a risk with respect to its environmental resistance in view of rain water, sunlight or the like. Thus, there would be possibly caused a trouble throughout the entire system upon occurrence of a detection error.


A compressor capacity control method and a device is provided. The changeover from a loading state regarding the compressor to an unloading state regarding the compressor and vice versa is controlled, whereby, during a time span from a starting time point when the compressor operation state changes into an unloading state to a time point when a loading/unloading operation-cycle is finished and a predetermined time duration has passed after the starting time point, the time cycle control is performed so that the loading state is changed into the unloading state, at a time point when the predetermined time duration has passed. Further, the discharge pressure of the fluid discharged from the compressor is detected so that the loading state is changed into the unloading state in a case where the discharge pressure exceeds a prescribed upper limit pressure.

The present invention relates to a compressor capacity control method and device for controlling the capacity of a compressor by changing-over an unloading state to a loading state and vice versa.
In a conventional compressor-operation method, a capacity control method for controlling the flow rate of the gas (air) discharged from the compressor is performed so as to appropriately maintain the pressure of the gas on the loading side of the compressor. FIG. 7 explains an example cyclegraph as to a conventional capacity control method for a compressor. In general, during a loading state of a compressor, the flow rate of the air discharged from the compressor is greater than the air consumption on the loading side; accordingly, the pressure of the discharged air gradually increases during the loading state; and, in the conventional control method, the pressure of the discharged air is detected so that the pressure of the air in a piping on the loading side is maintained in a predetermined pressure range between an upper limit pressure and a lower limit pressure, by changing-over over the unloading state of the compressor to the loading state of the compressor and vice versa, in the pressure range, in response to the discharged air pressure.
A capacity control method as described above has been proposed; whereby, a loading/unloading state in a previous cycle (regarding load changeover repetition or cyclic pressure repetition) is observed so that the pressure to be controlled in a following cycle is computed, and the pressure control is performed; in the pressure control, the pressure level is moderately restrained within a range where the life time of the compressor is not deteriorated and an energy saving operation is realized.
For instance, JP2684715 discloses a method whereby a pressure sensor detects the change of the pressure on the air consuming side (the loading side); the loading/unloading repetition cycle time from an unloading state to the next unloading state via a full-loading state is grasped based on the detected change of the pressure; in a case where the grasped loading/unloading repetition cycle time is longer than a predetermined time span, an unload operation start-pressure (at which the compressor operation is changed-over toward an unloading operation) is reduced by an appropriate decrement within a predetermined allowable- and controllable-range; on the other hand, in a case where the grasped loading/unloading repetition cycle time is shorter than a predetermined time span, the unload operation start-pressure is increased by an appropriate increment within the predetermined allowable- and controllable-range; thus, the unload operation start-pressure is set closer to a pressure level of a full load operation; and, the stable pressure transition as a result saves energy (power) consumption.
Further, JP3125794 discloses a capacity control method whereby an on-off control valve is provided at the air suction side of the compressor; the on-off control valve changes-over a full-load operation to an unload operation (i.e. no load operation) and vice versa by use of the on-off action of the on-off valve, so that the air pressure on the discharged side of the compressor is kept within a range between an upper limit set-pressure Pmax (cf. FIG. 7) and a lower limit set-pressure Pmin (cf. FIG. 7); wherein, the upper limit set-pressure Pmax and the lower limit set-pressure Pmin are amended so that an on-off change-over period Δt regarding the on-off valve is not shorter than a minimum period Δtmin; thus, the on-off change-over period in which the full-load operation is changed into no load operation or vice versa can be equal to or longer than a prescribed period. Accordingly, frequent change-over between the load modes can be evaded even where the load burdened upon the compressor stays at a high load level.

Compressor capacity control method and device for controlling the capacity of a compressor


A method for determining a combustion chamber pressure of an internal combustion engine is described, which is used for a simple and accurate correction of the determined combustion chamber pressure. For this purpose, a first time curve of the combustion chamber pressure is compared with a second time curve of the combustion chamber pressure. A correction factor is determined as a function of the comparison result. The determined combustion chamber pressure is corrected via the correction factor.

Methods for determining a combustion chamber pressure of an internal combustion engine are known. Combustion chamber pressure sensors, which measure the combustion chamber pressure in a cylinder of the internal combustion engine and output a corresponding measuring signal may be used for this purpose, for example. However, the signals of the combustion chamber pressure sensors are error prone. If these errors are not corrected, they corrupt the cylinder pressure characteristics calculated from the measured combustion chamber pressure values and, when these cylinder pressure characteristics are adjusted, result in wrong absolute values and thus in a possible imbalance among the cylinders of the internal combustion engine. Different cylinder pressure characteristics, such as an indicated combustion chamber mean pressure or certain conversion points of the heating curve, may be calculated from the combustion chamber pressure curve. A cylinder-individual regulation may be based on these cylinder pressure characteristics. By regulating the indicated combustion chamber mean pressure of the cylinders, for example, it is possible to achieve a more accurate adjustment of the setpoint torques and better balancing of the cylinders in all operating ranges.
For correcting an offset of a combustion chamber pressure sensor or a cylinder pressure sensor, European Published Patent Application No. 0411 580 describes a method for determining cylinder pressure values during an intake stroke of a cylinder and comparing them with a predefined reference minimum value. The differences between the determined cylinder pressure values and the predefined reference minimum value are then used as offset correction values.

Method for determining a combustion chamber pressure


A cylinder head (10) for an internal combustion engine, having at least two inlet valves (20) associated with the or each combustion chamber, the inlet valves (20) being supported in the cylinder head (10) with their axes spaced from one another in a first direction, at least two exhaust valves (22) with their axes of reciprocation also spaced from one another in the first direction and at least two receiving formations for operating elements (such as a spark plug (38) and fuel injector (40)), the receiving formations opening into the combustion chamber portion in a central region bounded by the heads of the valves, wherein the receiving formations are inclined to one another so as to diverge generally in the first direction as they extend away from the combustion chamber portion.

The invention relates to internal combustion engines, and more specifically to the configuration of a cylinder head of an engine and of components associated with the, or each, combustion chamber thereof.
In a modern internal combustion engine, the cylinder head has inlet and exhaust passages which communicate with the or each combustion chamber defined between the cylinder head and the respective cylinder space therebeneath. Poppet-type inlet and exhaust valves are reciprocably supported in the cylinder head, and have heads which cooperate with seatings where the passages open into the combustion chamber, the valves being controlled to open and close the respective passages in the required timed relationship.
In addition to the valves and the inlet and exhaust passages controlled thereby, other devices need to be carried by the cylinder head to communicate with the, or each, combustion chamber. These devices are referred to herein using the general term "operating elements", and the mention of one of these specifically does not necessarily preclude the substitution of one of the other elements in its place. For example, there may be at least one spark plug in the case of a spark ignition engine, a fuel injector in the case of a compression-ignition engine, and some spark-ignition engines have fuel injected directly into each combustion chamber, requiring the provision of both an injector and spark plug for each combustion chamber. Other operating elements, e.g. a sensor, may be required to communicate with the combustion chamber.
It will be appreciated that terms such as "over", "beneath", and the like are used herein according to engine design convention, rather than referring literally to the disposition of the respective parts referred to. For example, it is accepted that an engine may have its cylinders disposed horizontally when installed in a vehicle for example, yet still be referred to as having overhead cams, despite the fact that when looking at the installed engine the cams are not physically located above the horizontal cylinders.
In order to achieve currently-desirable characteristics in respect of power output, fuel economy and exhaust emissions, many engines nowadays, especially those for automotive applications, utilise cylinder heads incorporating more than a single inlet and exhaust valve per cylinder, most commonly so-called "four valve" arrangements with two inlet and two exhaust valves per cylinder. A four valve arrangement can provide a greater valve area for flow of both inlet and exhaust gases in relation to the bore of the cylinder, than can fewer valves. The most common arrangement has two inlet valves disposed with their axes of reciprocation lying in a plane inclined to the centreline of the cylinder bore, the valves being spaced from one another in a first direction which may be and usually is, parallel to the engine's crank shaft. The axes of reciprocation of the valves may be parallel to one another, or inclined to one another. The axes of reciprocation of the exhaust valves lie in another plane which is oppositely inclined to the cylinder bore and which intersects the plane of the inlet valves; the exhaust valves being spaced as the inlet valves and parallel or inclined to one another. The exhaust valves themselves are spaced from the inlet valves in a direction which may be, and usually is, transverse of the first direction. The combustion chamber is of shallow pent roof configuration, which is desirable in achieving the required compression ratio.
In a spark ignition such engine, the spark plug typically is disposed centrally or nearly centrally between the heads of the valves to give a combustion process more favourable for fuel economy, exhaust emissions and power characteristics than would be found in alternative arrangements. In a compression ignition such engine, the fuel injector would so positioned to provide even distribution of fuel within the combustion chamber, to achieve a similar effect. In the case of an engine with both injector and spark plug extending into such chamber, it would be desirable for both of them to be centrally mounted to achieve this effect, although the space available for such positioning is severely limited particularly if the size of the valve heads is maximised.
It is broadly the object of the present invention to address the above-described problems of design of a cylinder head having multiple valves and also two or more operating elements communicating with each combustion chamber.
According to a first aspect of the invention, we provide a cylinder head for an internal combustion engine comprising at least one combustion chamber portion for defining, in an engine, a combustion chamber between it and a, or a respective, cylinder space therebeneath;
at least two poppet-type inlet valves associated with the or each combustion chamber portion, having heads which cooperate with seatings in the combustion chamber portion to control flow through respective inlet passage portions, the inlet valves being reciprocably supported in the cylinder head with their axes of reciprocation spaced from one another in a first direction;at least two poppet-type exhaust valves having heads which cooperate with seatings in the combustion chamber portion to control flow through respective exhaust passage portions, the exhaust valves being reciprocably supported in the cylinder head with their axes of reciprocation also spaced from one another in the first direction; andat least two receiving formations for operating elements, the receiving formations opening into the combustion chamber portion in a central region bounded by the heads of the valves;wherein the receiving formations are inclined to one another so as to diverge generally in the first direction as they extend away from the combustion chamber portion.
Preferably, the exhaust valves are spaced from the inlet valves in a second direction transversely of the first direction, and the receiving formations are spaced from one another in the second direction.
Preferably the receiving formations are spaced from one another transversely of the engine relative to the crankshaft.
Preferably, the receiving formations are adjacent one another at their respective ends proximate to the combustion chamber portion.
The axes of reciprocation of the inlet valves may be substantially parallel to one another and lie in a first plane.
The axes of reciprocation of the exhaust valves may be substantially parallel to one another and lie in a second plane.
The first and second planes may be inclined to one another, and may intersect generally in the cylinder space(s).
The axis of intersection between the first and second planes may be substantially parallel to the rotary axis of a crankshaft of an engine wherein the cylinder head is to be used.
The operating elements may comprise a spark plug and an injector.
In the invention, the elements are disposed in the centre section between the valves, allowing the injector and spark plug to be mounted closest to the inlet and exhaust valves respectively. They are disposed in close proximity to one another, to allow minimal effect on valve size. Contrary to existing cylinder head designs where the injector and spark plug are mounted side by side, only the narrower ends of the injector and the spark plug are alongside one another, which allows their tips to be closer together than in other designs. The injector and spark plug are disposed at an opposing angle to one another, so that the wider upper regions of the spark plug and injector bodies are apart.
The invention also provides an internal combustion engine having a cylinder head according to the first aspect of the invention.
The injector may be adapted to distribute fuel in such a way as to compensate for the angle at which it is disposed, and provide a substantially symmetrical distribution of fuel relative to the cylinder centre axis. Thus the injector may have an asymmetrical spray pattern which is provided to compensate for the angle of the injector. This gives the same effect as having the injector in a directly upright position, but avoids the packaging constraints that this creates.

Cylinder head configuration for internal combustion engine


A fan casing, webs, and a motor casing are integrally formed of a resin material by injection molding to configure a fan housing. An electrically grounded electromagnetic noise guard and a bearing holder to which an outer race of a ball bearing are electrically connected by an electrically-conducting path member provided in the fan casing by means of insert molding. Thus, the ball bearing may sufficiently be prevented from suffering electric corrosion in an electric fan of which a fan housing is made of an insulating resin.

Jpn. Pat. Appln. Publication No. 2003-111341 (JP2003-111341A) discloses a fan motor (an electric fan) comprising a fan casing, a motor casing including a bearing holder, at least one ball bearing, a plurality of webs connecting a housing and the motor casing, and an impeller rotatably fixed onto a rotary shaft of the motor. The fan casing, bearing holder, motor casing, ball bearing, and plurality of webs are each made of a metal. A plurality of rolling elements are arranged via a lubricant between outer and inner races of the ball bearing. The outer race is fitted in the bearing holder. IF such an electric fan is used for a prolonged period under an environment where electromagnetic noise is generated, electric corrosion occurs in the ball bearing, causing irregularities on the track surface of the outer or inner race opposite to the rolling elements and generating noise. In the electric fan disclosed in JP2003-111341A, a grounded electromagnetic noise guard is provided in or over a suction or discharge port of the fan casing so as to prevent the electromagnetic noise from entering into the motor.
In many of such a type of electric fans, a fan casing, a motor casing, and webs are each made of an insulating resin typically by means of injection molding. Also in this case, a grounded electromagnetic noise guard is provided in or over the suction or discharge port of the fan casing so as to prevent occurrence of the electric corrosion. In such a type of electric fans, however, it is difficult to sufficiently prevent occurrence of the electric corrosion in the ball bearing although the electromagnetic noise guard is provided.


This invention provides genes and their encoded proteins, involved in the biosynthesis of farnesyl dibenzodiazepinones, including ECO-04601. The invention relates to expression vectors comprising the genes and to host cell transformed with these vectors. The invention further relates to methods of producing farnesyl dibenzodiazepinone compounds using the genes and proteins of the invention, for example, involving expression of biosynthetic pathway genes in transformed host cells.

The euactinomycetes are a subset of a large and complex group of Gram-positive bacteria known as actinomycetes. Over the past few decades these organisms, which are abundant in soil, have generated significant commercial and scientific interest as a result of the large number of therapeutically useful compounds produced as secondary metabolites. The intensive search for strains able to produce new secondary metabolites having potential therapeutic applications has led to the identification of hundreds of new species. Many of the euactinomycetes, particularly Streptomyces and the closely related Saccharopolyspora genera, have been extensively studied. Both of these genera produce a notable diversity of biologically active metabolites. Because of the commercial significance of these compounds, much is known about the genetics and physiology of these organisms.
Microbial genomic information is unique in that, unlike the organization of genomic information in higher life forms, microbial secondary metabolic biosynthetic genes are known to cluster together within the genome. This information allows identification of the gene locus encoding the enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of a specific molecule. Equally, the identification of the genes present within a cluster allows prediction of the structure of the secondary metabolite. The identification of the genes and proteins responsible for the production of active molecules allows for example, generation of structural analogs or improvement of the production process.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/762,107 describes a dibenzodiazepinone secondary metabolite, specifically 10-farnesyl-4,6,8-trihydroxy-dibenzodiazepin-11-one (named ECO-04601) produced by a known euactinomycetes strain, Micromonospora sp. (IDAC 231203-01). Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,541,181 (Ohkuma et al.) also discloses a dibenzodiazepinone secondary metabolite, specifically 5-farnesyl-4,7,9-trihydroxy-dibenzodiazepin-11-one (named "BU-4664L"), produced by a known euactinomycetes strain, Micromonospora sp. M990-6 (ATCC 55378). Both these dibenzodiazepinones have been reported to have anti-tumor activity.
Although many biologically active compounds have been identified from bacteria, there remains the need to obtain novel naturally occurring compounds with enhanced properties. Current methods of obtaining such compounds include screening of natural isolates and chemical modification of existing compounds, both of which are costly and time consuming. Current screening methods are based on general biological properties of the compound, which require prior knowledge of the structure of the molecules. Methods for chemically modifying known active compounds exist, but still suffer from practical limitations as to the type of compounds obtainable.
Thus, there exists a considerable need to obtain pharmaceutically active compounds in a cost-effective manner and with high yield. The present invention solves these problems by providing polynucleotides, polypeptides, vectors comprising the polynucleotides and host cells comprising the vectors for production of dibenzodiazepinones, as well as methods to generate farnesyl dibenzodiazepinones by de novo biosynthesis (heterologous or homologous expression of biosynthetic genes) or semi-synthesis rather than by chemical synthesis.

Polynucleotides for production of farnesyl dibenzodiazepinones


N-Acetyl-D-glucosamine can be produced by cultivating a fungus capable of producing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, such as Trichoderma hamatum AB 10282 strain (FERM BP-10623) or Trichoderma harzianum AB10283 strain (FERM BP-10624), in a culture medium supplemented with a carbon source other than chitin and chitin oligosaccharide and a nitrogen source to produce and accumulate N-acetyl-D-glucosamine in the culture medium and then collecting N-acetyl-D-glucosamine from the culture medium.

N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is a monosaccharide that makes up chitin contained in shells of crustacea such as crab and shrimp and is a nutrient contained in an extremely small amount in foods, and is also produced from chondrocytes in the body. N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is considered to have similar effects to that of glucosamine, and ingestion of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is known to induce generation of novel cartilage and stop progression of osteoarthritis, or in some cases, to cure osteoarthritis (J. New Remedies and Clinics Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 301-312, 2003). While glucosamine has a bitter taste, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine has a sweet taste 50% as sweet as sucrose and can be easily ingested, and therefore, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine has attracted attention as an alternative substance to glucosamine.
A conventional method of producing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is performed by using shells of crustacea such as crab and shrimp as raw materials. Here is the outline of the method: N-acetyl-D-glucosamine is produced by steps of: crushing shells of crustacea; decalcifying the crushed products with a dilute acid; removing proteins with an alkali to yield purified chitin; hydrolyzing the resultant chitin with an acid to produce glucosamine; and then acetylating the resultant glucosamine with anhydrous acetic acid.
Meanwhile, conventional methods also include: a method involving partially hydrolyzing purified chitin with an acid (for example, see Patent Document 1); a method of producing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine by degrading chitin as a raw material with an enzyme produced by a microorganism (for example, see Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3); and a method involving partially hydrolyzing chitin with an acid and allowing an enzyme to react with the hydrolysate (for example, see Patent Document 4).
Conventional methods also include other production methods such as: a method of producing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine by culturing either chlorella cells infected with Chlorovirus or recombinant Escherichia coli introduced with a gene derived from Chlorovirus (for example, see Patent Document 5); and a method of producing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine by fermentation using a genetically modified microorganism, specifically, a genetically modified Escherichia coli (for example, see Patent Document 6).    Patent Document 1: JP 2000-281696 A    Patent Document 2: JP 2000-513925 A    Patent Document 3: JP 2004-41035 A    Patent Document 4: JP 63-273493 A    Patent Document 5: JP 2004-283144 A    Patent Document 6: WO 2004/003175

Method for fermentative production of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine by microorganism


A fluorescence emitting device is provided using a phosphor emitting a light by bombardment of an electron beam and having excellent luminance lifetime. The electron beam excited phosphor comprises a solid solution prepared by an AlN crystal or AlN solid solution crystal formed with at least Eu, Si and oxygen represented by the composition formula Eua Alb Sic Nd Oe [Wherein a+b+c+d+e=1, and a, b, c, d and e satisfy the following conditions:

The present invention generally relates to a fluorescence emitting device using a phosphor emitting a light by an electron bombardment, and more particularly to an electron beam excited fluorescence emitting device having an excellent luminance lifetime, and driving at a driving anode voltage of 50V and above.
Conventionally, in a field emission display (hereinafter referred to as "FED") using a field emission cathode and a vacuum fluorescent display (hereinafter referred to as "VFD"), various kinds of phosphors has been used in order to obtain luminescent colors. A blue light emitting phosphor for use in a display excited by an electron beam bombardment is generally known in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-55657 and the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-285363. The Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-55657 discloses a low-velocity electron beam excited (Y, Ce)2 O3.SiO2 phosphor emitting a blue light having the composition formula[(Y, Ce)2O3.nSiO2(wherein 0.4≦n≦1.0)]. The Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-285363 discloses ZnS:Ag, and Al, ZnS:Ag phosphor powders emitting a blue light which has less crystal defect and minimal degradation compared to conventional phosphor powders, if it is used for a long period of time. The phosphor disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-285363 is effective for maintaining luminance of the phosphor, and to improve reliability or lifetime performance of a cold cathode field emission display.
On the other hand, a conventional phosphor is irradiated with an exciting source such as a light or electron beam having a high energy to emit a light. As a result, it has been a problem that the luminance of the phosphor is degraded due to the excitation of high energy. Accordingly, a phosphor exhibiting less luminance degradation is required. In order to provide a phosphor that complies with such a requirement, the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-277663 discloses α-type sialon phosphors emitting a blue light having a general formula [(Si, Al)12(O, N)16]. The Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-8794 discloses α-type sialon phosphors illustrated by the composition formula Ca0.25 Ce0.25[(Si, Al)12(O, N)16].
It is to be noted that the Y2 SiO5: Ce phosphor disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-55657 exhibits a remarkable decrease in luminous efficiency during its lifetime, and there is an extreme difference in the degree of degradation in RGB (red, green and blue), particularly "blue", when it is used for FED. Furthermore, the lifetime of a device incorporating the phosphor is short and loses color balance. In an FED excited at a driving voltage of approximately 3 kV, a metal is unlikely to be used due to the penetration depth of an electron.
The ZnS: Ag, Al phosphor containing sulfur as ZnS: Ag, Al disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-285363 does not provide a satisfactory emission performance and device lifetime, because sulfur scatters by electron bombardment and contaminates the electron source.
In the sialon phosphor disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publications No. 2004-277663 and No. 2005-8794, there is no disclosure as to how the sialon phosphor is applied to a fluorescent emission device such as a field emission device and the like.

Electron beam excited fluorescence emitting device

National Institute for Materials Science


A backlight apparatus includes a light-guiding plate, two first light-emitting members and two second light-emitting members. The light-guiding plate has a first edge and a second edge parallel to the first edge. The light-guiding plate has two first recesses and two second recesses. The two first light-emitting members are disposed in the two first recesses respectively, and the two second light-emitting members are disposed in the two second recesses respectively. The two first light-emitting members are rotated at a predetermined angle respectively, such that first light-emitting axes of the two first light-emitting members tend toward the first edge and the second edge of the light-guiding plate respectively. Besides, second light-emitting axes of the two second light-emitting members are parallel to the first edge and the second edge of the light-guiding plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a backlight apparatus and, more particularly, to a backlight apparatus applied to a light-emitting keyboard. Furthermore, the backlight apparatus can effectively light up corners of the light-emitting keyboard, such that the corners of the light-emitting keyboard have sufficient illumination.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the development of technology recently, a great diversity of keyboards is designed. Sales volume of keyboard is influenced not only by functions but also by eye-appealing effects. For example, light-emitting keyboards are available on the market. The light-emitting keyboards are not only eye-appealing but also capable of being used at night or in the dark. Therefore, the light-emitting keyboards have more potential than the keyboards without light-emitting function.
However, conventional light-emitting keyboards have lower illumination in two corners of the last row, and the illumination is lower than five nits after being measured. Therefore, the corners of the keyboards are in a dark field, and illumination of the light-emitting keyboards is not uniform.


The present invention relates to high content surface areas containing nickel and/or cobalt metallic compounds assembled on a modified Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) template, wherein the modified TMV template is engineered to encode unique placement of cysteine residues that self-assemble onto gold patterned surfaces in a substantially aligned fashion, producing a >10 fold increase in surface area. Deposition of ionic metals onto the surface assembled virus templates produce uniform metal coatings for the fabrication of oriented high surface area materials.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to nano-scaffolds, and more specifically, to genetically engineered nanoscale metal reactive surfaces that are useful in nano-devices, including sensors, solar cells, batteries, electrodes, transistors, semiconductor chips and capacitors.
2. Related Technology
High surface area nanostructured materials have uses in an array of applications including electrodes, catalyst supports, thermal barriers, sensor arrays and energy storage devices. Increased surface areas are generally achieved through the synthesis of particles with high surface to volume ratios or the manufacture of nanostructured materials from bulk substrates.1, 2 Methods used to create high surface area nanostructures, such as laser ionization or lithography, generally require complex and expensive technologies that can limit the application of these materials. To avoid such limitations, researchers are increasingly investigating alternative methods for the self-assembly of high surface area nanostructured9 materials and devices. One approach is templating materials onto biologically derived substrates. Biological templates such as nucleic acids and viruses have evolved to self-assemble into hierarchically ordered structures with high surface to volume aspects, making them ideal for the synthesis of high surface area nanomaterials.
Previous studies have functionalized DNA3, virus particles and protein tubules5-8 using a variety of methods to produce field effect transistors9, battery electrodes10 and memory devices11. Recent work has shown that electrostatically induced alignments of uniform macromolecules such as viruses can be used to produce two-dimensional monolayers of biological templates12. However, the assembly and surface attachment of biologicals has primarily relied on the random association of bio-templates onto device surfaces. The use of biological components in nanostructured materials also requires the development of strategies to functionalize these components upon assembly.
One area of particular interest is the development of methods to obtain continuous and uniform coatings of reactive metals. Most deposition strategies rely on the reduction of metal directly onto the surface of the biological template.13-18 This methodology typically produces discrete metal particles that decorate the surface of the bio-template, but often lack the uniformity needed to produce highly conductive surfaces. As such, the arbitrary nature of this process can limit the usefulness of bio-templates in device assembly and represents a significant obstacle in creating high surface area nanostructured materials.
Thus, there is a need to develop new methodologies for the oriented and uniform assembly of bio-templates that easily adhere to device surfaces and also provide uniformity of metal surfaces to produce highly conductive surfaces.

Metal coated virus-based nanoelectrodes and method of assembling of same