A method for operating a printer includes supplying liquid ink from two ink reservoirs to a printhead to enable the printhead to eject ink drops onto an image receiving substrate. A substrate transport moves the substrate past the printhead at a first speed. In response to detecting an interruption in the supply of liquid ink from one of the two ink reservoirs, the substrate transport moves the image receiving substrate at a slower second speed past the printhead.

Inkjet imaging devices eject liquid ink from printheads to form images on an image receiving member. The printheads include a plurality of inkjets that are arranged in some type of array. Each inkjet has a thermal or piezoelectric actuator that is coupled to a printhead controller. The printhead controller generates firing signals that correspond to digital data for images. The frequency and amplitude of the firing signals correspond to the selective activation of the printhead actuators. The printhead actuators respond to the firing signals by ejecting ink drops onto an image receiving member to form an ink image that corresponds to the digital image used to generate the firing signals.
Some embodiments of inkjet printers include printheads that receive ink for ejection onto a continuously moving image receiving substrate. One such inkjet printer is a continuous web printing device. In these systems, a continuous media substrate, such as a paper web, moves through a print zone where one or more printheads form ink images on the surface of the media substrate. In some embodiments, the media substrate may move through the print zone at a rate of several hundred feet per minute.
During operation, faults may develop in systems that supply ink to printheads in the printer. If one or more printheads do not receive a sufficient supply of ink, then the media substrate may pass the printheads without receiving a full ink image. The portion of the media substrate that is not fully imaged may have to be discarded. Previously known printers stop the media web when a fault in the ink supply is detected. Stopping the media web requires any faults in the ink supply to be corrected before imaging operations are able to resume. Resynchronizing the operation of the printing system to resume printing where the motion of the web was stopped may be difficult. Improvements in the operation of printers to address ink flow problems and web motion issues would be useful.

Method for printing in a printer having an inoperable ink reservoir


In a light-emitting device comprising an organic electroluminescent device including one or more organic thin layers (at least including a light-emitting layer) which are sandwiched between a transparent first electrode formed on a light-transmitting substrate and a second electrode, the light-transmitting substrate is formed so as to include parts for reflecting light emitted by the organic electroluminescent device (corresponding to a pixel) and thereby preventing the light from entering adjacent pixel areas. The light-transmitting substrate is formed of material having a refractive index of 1.65 or more or a refractive index higher than that of the light-emitting layer. A surface of the light-transmitting substrate opposite to the first electrode is provided with a light-diffusing function for avoiding total reflection. By such composition, a light-emitting device with no light leakage and excellent light extraction efficiency can be realized and thereby a high-intensity low-voltage-driven display device can be realized.

The present invention relates to a light-emitting device employing light emission from an organic electroluminescent device and a display device employing a plurality of such light-emitting devices by which mixture of light emitted by adjacent organic electroluminescent devices is avoided and thereby light extraction efficiency (efficiency in extracting light from the light-emitting devices to outside) is improved.
An organic electroluminescent device (which will hereinafter be called xe2x80x9corganic EL devicexe2x80x9d) is a light-emitting device which makes use of the principle that when an electric field is applied, a fluorescent material emits light in response to the charge recombination of holes injected from an anode and electrons injected from a cathode. Since a report on a low-voltage-driven organic EL device employing multilayered structure was released by C. W. Tang et al. of Eastman Kodak Co. (C. W. Tang, S. A. VanSlyke, Applied Physics Letters, Vol.51, page 913 (1987)), extensive researches have been made on organic EL devices, that is, EL devices employing organic materials.
In the above report, an organic EL device employing tris(8-quinolinol)aluminum complex for the light-emitting layer and triphenyldiamine derivative for the hole transporting layer was fabricated on a glass substrate. The multilayer structure has some advantages such as: improved hole injection to the light-emitting layer; increase of production efficiency of excitons which are generated by recombination (by blocking the paths of electrons injected from the cathode); and confinement of the excitons generated in the light-emitting layer.
As the structure of the organic EL devices, two-layer types (including a hole transporting (and injection) layer and an electron transporting light-emitting layer) and three-layer types (including a hole transporting (and injection) layer, a light-emitting layer and an electron transporting layer) are well known. In order to increase the recombination efficiency of injected holes and electrons, various improvements in the device structure or fabrication process have been introduced to such multi-layered devices.
Further, organic EL devices involve certain limitations on the probability of the creation of singlet excited states of light-emitting material molecules on carrier recombination since the carrier recombination is dependent on spin statistics, thereby the probability of light emission is necessitated to have an upper limit. The upper limit is known as approximately 25%.
Furthermore, in organic EL devices, rays of light whose outgoing angles (getting out of the light-emitting layer) are larger than a critical angle (depending on the refractive index of the light-emitting material) can not get out of the light-emitting layer due to total reflection. Therefore, when the refractive index of the light-emitting material is 1.6, only about 20% of the total light emission is available outside, and the upper limit of energy conversion efficiency becomes as low as approximately 5% taking the singlet excited state creation probability into account (Tetsuo Tsutsui xe2x80x9cPresent situation and trends in organic electroluminescencexe2x80x9d, Display (monthly), vol.1, No.3, page 11 (September 1995). In organic EL devices, having tight limitations on the light emission probability, low light extraction efficiency (low efficiency in extracting light from the organic EL device to outside) causes fatal deterioration of the (total) luminescent efficiency.
Methods for improving the light extraction efficiency have been studied so far for light-emitting devices of similar structure such as inorganic EL devices. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. SHO 63-314795, the light extraction efficiency is improved by forming or attaching light convergent optics on substrate, which is effective for devices having large light-emitting areas. However, in light-emitting devices whose pixel areas are small (such as dot matrix displays), the formation of lenses for light convergence is difficult.
In another method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. SHO 62-172691, an anti-reflection coating is formed by providing a flat layer of an intermediate refractive index between the substrate glass and the light-emitting layer, thereby the light extraction efficiency to the front is improved considerably. However, the aforementioned total reflection can not be eliminated by the method. Therefore, while being effective for inorganic EL devices (including materials with large refractive indices), the method can not effectively improve the light extraction efficiency of organic EL devices (including light-emitting materials of relatively low refractive indices).
In order to reduce the total reflection at a surface of the substrate opposite to the organic EL device, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2000-323272 disclosed a technique for providing the substrate surface with a function for diffusing light. However, the technique can not achieve a marked effect for the conventional glass substrates since the rate of total reflection of light at the interface between the organic EL device and the glass substrate is high. Further, if a light-emitting device having a plurality of organic EL devices arranged in a matrix is manufactured using such a substrate having the light-diffusing function, light emitted by an organic EL device (corresponding to a pixel area) tends to reach adjacent pixel areas, thereby the light leakage problem (light emission from pixel areas that are not supposed to emit light) occurs.
In order to resolve the light leakage problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI11-8070 disclosed a method, in which a black mask and a light diffusing layer were formed between the substrate and the organic EL devices. However, the method further deteriorates the light extraction efficiency, since part of the light emitted by the organic EL devices is absorbed by the black mask.
As described above, the prevention of light leakage and the improvement of light extraction efficiency in light-emitting devices employing organic EL devices are both still insufficient. Especially in the method of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI11-8070, the light extraction efficiency (main problem to be resolved) is sacrificed for the prevention of light leakage. Therefore, techniques capable of satisfying both of the requirements are being sought for, and the development of such techniques is essential for practical utilization of the organic EL devices.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a light-emitting device and a display device of high performance by preventing the light leakage and improving the light extraction efficiency of the light-emitting device including an organic EL device.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light-emitting device comprising an organic electroluminescent device including one or more organic thin layers at least including a light-emitting layer which are sandwiched between a transparent first electrode formed on a light-transmitting substrate and a second electrode. In the light-emitting device, the light-transmitting substrate at least includes reflection means for reflecting light emitted by the organic electroluminescent device corresponding to a pixel and thereby preventing the light from entering adjacent pixel areas, and the light-transmitting substrate has a refractive index of 1.65 or more.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, in a cross section taken along a plane perpendicular to both a reflecting surface of the reflection means and the light-transmitting substrate, the height h of the reflection means measured from a contacting surface of the light-transmitting substrate with the first electrode is set so as to satisfy hxe2x89xa7Hxc2x74t/(1+3t). Here, t=d/D, D: the distance between the centers of two reflection means surrounding the organic electroluminescent device, d: the distance between two reflecting surfaces of the two reflection means facing the organic electroluminescent device, and H: the distance between the contacting surface and an opposite surface of the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a surface of the light-transmitting substrate opposite to the first electrode is provided with light-diffusing means for diffusing the light emitted by the organic electroluminescent device.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, in a cross section taken along a plane perpendicular to both a reflecting surface of the reflection means and the light-transmitting substrate, the height h of the reflection means measured from a contacting surface of the light-transmitting substrate with the first electrode is set so as to satisfy hxe2x89xa7Hxc2x74t/(1+3t). Here, t=d/D, D: the distance between the centers of two reflection means surrounding the organic electroluminescent device, d: the distance between two reflecting surfaces of the two reflection means facing the organic electroluminescent device, and H: the distance between the contacting surface and an opposite surface of the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a surface of the light-transmitting substrate opposite to the first electrode is provided with a second light-transmitting substrate having a refractive index of 1.65 or more and having light-diffusing means for diffusing the light emitted by the organic electroluminescent device on its surface opposite to the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the refractive index of the second light-transmitting substrate is set higher than that of the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the light-transmitting substrate and the second light-transmitting substrate are formed of resin.
In accordance with an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the light-emitting device further comprises a gas barrier layer which is provided between the light-transmitting substrate and the second light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the eighth aspect, the gas barrier layer is formed of material having gas barrier properties against H2O and/or oxygen.
In accordance with a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the eighth aspect, the light-emitting device further comprises a third light-transmitting substrate having a refractive index of 1.65 or more which is provided between the gas barrier layer and the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the reflection means is formed by metal that is embedded in the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the eleventh aspect, metal whose work function is 4.3 eV or less is employed as the metal embedded in the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the eleventh aspect, the metal embedded in the light-transmitting substrate is formed so as to function also as an assist electrode for the first electrode.
In accordance with a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the thirteenth aspect, metal whose work function is 4.3 eV or less is employed as the metal embedded in the light-transmitting substrate.
In accordance with a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device comprising: a plurality of first lines arranged in the same direction; a plurality of second lines arranged perpendicular to the first lines; the light-emitting devices of the first aspect which are placed corresponding to a plurality of pixel areas of the display device which are formed in a matrix of rows and columns by the first lines and the second lines; a voltage control circuit for controlling the voltages of the first lines and the second lines; common power supply lines for supplying driving currents to the light-emitting devices; and thin-film transistors each of which is provided corresponding to each pixel, for receiving a video signal at its gate and controlling the conduction between the common power supply line and the organic electroluminescent device.
In accordance with a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the fifteenth aspect, the reflection means of the light-emitting devices are implemented by arranging a plurality of combshaped metal parts, and each of the combshaped metal parts is formed so as to function also as an assist electrode for the first electrode.
In accordance with a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the fifteenth aspect, the reflection means of the light-emitting devices are implemented by arranging a plurality of metal parts having through-holes, and each of the metal parts having the through-holes is formed so as to function also as an assist electrode for the first electrode.
In accordance with eighteenth through twenty-ninth aspects of the present invention, there are provided display devices employing the light-emitting devices of the second through fifth aspects, similarly to the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth aspects.
In accordance with thirtieth through forty-third aspects of the present invention, there are provided light-emitting devices having the same basic structure as the light-emitting devices of the first through fourteenth aspects. Instead of the light-transmitting substrate, the second light-transmitting substrate and the third light-transmitting substrate having refractive indices of 1.65 or more, a light-transmitting substrate, a second light-transmitting substrate and a third light-transmitting substrate having refractive indices higher than that of the light-emitting layer are employed.
In accordance with a forty-fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device comprising: a plurality of first lines arranged in the same direction; a plurality of second lines arranged perpendicular to the first lines; the light-emitting devices of the thirtieth aspect which are placed corresponding to a plurality of pixel areas of the display device which are formed in a matrix of rows and columns by the first lines and the second lines; a voltage control circuit for controlling the voltages of the first lines and the second lines; common power supply lines for supplying driving currents to the light-emitting devices; and thin-film transistors each of which is provided corresponding to each pixel, for receiving a video signal at its gate and controlling the conduction between the common power supply line and the organic electroluminescent device.
In accordance with a forty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the forty-fourth aspect, the reflection means of the light-emitting devices are implemented by arranging a plurality of combshaped metal parts, and each of the combshaped metal parts is formed so as to function also as an assist electrode for the first electrode.
In accordance with a forty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the forty-fourth aspect, the reflection means of the light-emitting devices are implemented by arranging a plurality of metal parts having through-holes, and each of the metal parts having the through-holes is formed so as to function also as an assist electrode for the first electrode.
In accordance with forty-seventh through fifty-eighth aspects of the present invention, there are provided display devices employing the light-emitting devices of the thirty-first through thirty-fourth aspects, similarly to the forty-fourth, forty-fifth and forty-sixth aspects.
In accordance with a fifty-ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light-emitting device comprising an organic electroluminescent device including one or more organic thin layers at least including a light-emitting layer which are sandwiched between a transparent first electrode formed on a light-transmitting substrate and a second electrode. In the light-emitting device, the light-transmitting substrate has a refractive index of 1.65 or more, and a surface of the light-transmitting substrate opposite to the first electrode is provided with light-diffusing means for diffusing light emitted by the organic electroluminescent device.
In accordance with a sixtieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device comprising: a plurality of first lines arranged in the same direction; a plurality of second lines arranged perpendicular to the first lines; the light-emitting devices of the fifty-ninth aspect which are placed corresponding to a plurality of pixel areas of the display device which are formed in a matrix of rows and columns by the first lines and the second lines; a voltage control circuit for controlling the voltages of the first lines and the second lines; common power supply lines for supplying driving currents to the light-emitting devices; and thin-film transistors each of which is provided corresponding to each pixel, for receiving a video signal at its gate and controlling the conduction between the common power supply line and the organic electroluminescent device.
In accordance with a sixty-first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light-emitting device comprising an organic electroluminescent device including one or more organic thin layers at least including a light-emitting layer which are sandwiched between a transparent first electrode formed on a light-transmitting substrate and a second electrode. In the light-emitting device, the light-transmitting substrate has a refractive index higher than that of the light-emitting layer, and a surface of the light-transmitting substrate opposite to the first electrode is provided with light-diffusing means for diffusing light emitted by the organic electroluminescent device.
In accordance with a sixty-second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device comprising: a plurality of first lines arranged in the same direction; a plurality of second lines arranged perpendicular to the first lines; the light-emitting devices of the sixty-first aspect which are placed corresponding to a plurality of pixel areas of the display device which are formed in a matrix of rows and columns by the first lines and the second lines; a voltage control circuit for controlling the voltages of the first lines and the second lines; common power supply lines for supplying driving currents to the light-emitting devices; and thin-film transistors each of which is provided corresponding to each pixel, for receiving a video signal at its gate and controlling the conduction between the common power supply line and the organic electroluminescent device.

Light-emitting device and display device employing electroluminescence with no light leakage and improved light extraction efficiency


An autonomous vehicle controller includes a memory and a processor programmed to execute instructions stored in the memory. The instructions include determining a plurality of energy cost functions. Each energy cost function is associated with a combination of candidate variables. The instructions further include selecting one of the plurality of energy cost functions as a minimum energy cost function, determining a combination of candidate variables associated with the minimum energy cost function, and controlling acceleration of a host vehicle according to the combination of candidate variables associated with the minimum energy cost function.

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has defined multiple levels of autonomous vehicle operation. At levels 0-2, a human driver monitors or controls the majority of the driving tasks, often with no help from the vehicle. For example, at level 0 ("no automation"), a human driver is responsible for all vehicle operations. At level 1 ("driver assistance"), the vehicle sometimes assists with steering, acceleration, or braking, but the driver is still responsible for the vast majority of the vehicle control. At level 2 ("partial automation"), the vehicle can control steering, acceleration, and braking under certain circumstances without human interaction. At levels 3-5, the vehicle assumes more driving-related tasks. At level 3 ("conditional automation"), the vehicle can handle steering, acceleration, and braking under certain circumstances, as well as monitoring of the driving environment. Level 3 requires the driver to intervene occasionally, however. At level 4 ("high automation"), the vehicle can handle the same tasks as at level 3 but without relying on the driver to intervene in certain driving modes. At level 5 ("full automation"), the vehicle can handle almost all tasks without any driver intervention.


A process for transalkylation of polyalkylated aromatic components can include providing a transalkylation reaction zone containing a transalkylation catalyst. A feedstock can be introduced into an inlet of the transalkylation reaction zone and into contact with the transalkylation catalyst. The feedstock can include a polyalkylated aromatic component derived from an aromatic substrate. The aromatic substrate can be supplied to the transalkylation reaction zone. The transalkylation reaction zone can be operated at temperature and pressure conditions sufficient to cause disproportionation of the polyalkylated aromatic component to produce a disproportionation product having a reduced polyalkylated aromatic content and an enhanced monoalkylated aromatic content. The disproportionation product can be withdrawn from the transalkylation reaction zone. Amounts of nitrogen containing compounds in the aromatic substrate can be monitored in a range of from 15 to 35 wppm by dry colorimetry.

Alkylation and transalkylation processes using catalysts are often subject to catalyst regeneration and replacement requirements resulting from poisoning of the catalyst by one or more impurities contained in the hydrocarbon feedstock. In many cases, catalyst developments, e.g. to reduce coke-forming and other by-product reactions, have progressed to the stage where poisoning by feedstock impurities is the primary reason that catalyst performance deteriorates which forces the catalyst to be replaced or regenerated. Aromatics alkylation processes employing molecular sieve catalysts can be conducted in either the vapor phase or the liquid phase. However, in view of the improved selectivity and decreased capital and operating costs associated with liquid phase operation, most commercial alkylation processes now operate under at least partial liquid phase conditions. Unfortunately, one disadvantage of operating under liquid phase conditions is that the molecular sieve catalysts tend to be more sensitive to the presence of impurities in the feedstocks, particularly polar compounds such as nitrogen compounds. Such impurities reduce the acid activity of the catalyst and hence decrease the cycle time between required regenerations of the catalyst. Various processes have been developed for removal of such impurities prior to contact with the catalyst. In the following prior arts there are description of said impurities as well as processes to remove these impurities.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,057 describes a process for the alkylation of an aromatic hydrocarbon contained in a hydrocarbon stream comprising:
(a) separating essentially all aromatics other than said aromatic hydrocarbon from said hydrocarbon stream, thereby forming an aromatic-rich stream;
(b) treating said aromatic-rich stream of (a) by converting essentially all olefinic compounds contained therein by hydrogenation;
(c) contacting the thus treated aromatic-rich stream from (b) with an olefin-containing stream comprising at least one olefin selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene, and butylene, wherein the molar ratio of the olefin(s) to said aromatic hydrocarbon is not less than 1 in the presence of a catalyst comprising zeolite beta, under alkylation conditions, whereby mono and polyalkylated aromatics are formed; and(d) separating said mono and polyalkylated aromatics formed in (c) from the remaining hydrocarbons.
At col 6 lines 48-53 is mentioned that the olefins may be present in admixture with hydrogen, methane, C2 to C4 paraffins, but it is usually preferable to remove dienes, acetylenes, sulfur compounds or basic nitrogen compounds (NH3 or amines) which may be present in the olefin feedstock stream, to prevent rapid catalyst deactivation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,482 describes a process for removing polar compounds from an aromatic feedstock which contains polar compounds and which is then used in an alkylation process. The process comprises contacting the feedstock in an adsorption zone at a temperature of less than or equal to 130° C. with an adsorbent selective for the adsorption of said polar compounds and comprising a molecular sieve having pores and/or surface cavities with cross-sectional dimensions greater than 5.6 Angstroms. A treated feedstock substantially free of said polar compounds is withdrawn from the adsorption zone and fed to an alkylation zone for contact under liquid phase alkylation conditions with an alkylating agent in the presence of an alkylation catalyst. More particularly, this prior art relates to a liquid phase aromatics alkylation process which includes subjecting the aromatic feedstock to a pretreatement step for the selective removal of polar contaminants that poison aromatic alkylation catalysts. Such contaminants include nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen containing compounds, particularly those that boil in the same ranges as benzene, toluene or xylenes.
US 2005 0143612 describes a process for the production of alkyl aromatic compounds wherein aromatic compounds which may be treated for removal of deleterious substances are reacted with olefin compounds, which may also be treated for contaminant removal, in the presence of acidic zeolite catalyst(s) to produce the desired alkyl aromatic compound(s). The aromatic and preferably also the olefin feeds are treated substantially to remove contaminants, particularly the nitrogen compounds contained therein, before they are brought together for reaction in the presence of the zeolite catalyst(s). The feed pretreatment for removal of nitrogen compounds significantly improves the run length and life of the acidic zeolite catalyst(s). A specific object of this prior art is to provide methods and apparatus for treating an olefin or aromatic feedstock for removal of organic or inorganic nitrogen compounds in preparation for a catalytic alkylation or transalkylation process. In accordance with said prior art, it has been found that nitrogen-containing impurities in one or both feedstocks may neutralize the acidic active sites on the acidic zeolite catalyst and thereby reduce catalyst activity and its ability to effect the desired reaction. Long-term accumulation of these nitrogen-containing impurities on the catalyst gradually reduces catalyst activity to the point where plant performance becomes unacceptable, requiring that the plant be shutdown to reactivate, regenerate, or replace the catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,199,275 relates to a process for alkylation of an aromatic hydrocarbon stream comprising impurities in which said impurities are removed in a pretreatment system having a first stage, a second stage located downstream of said first stage and a cycle length, said process comprising the steps of:
(a) contacting the aromatic hydrocarbon stream with a first molecular sieve which is 13× in said first stage of said pretreatment system, to remove at least a portion of said impurities, to produce a partially treated aromatic hydrocarbon stream;
(b) contacting said partially treated aromatic hydrocarbon stream with a second molecular sieve which is 4 A in a second stage of said pretreatment system to remove substantially all of the remaining portion of said impurities, and to produce a fully treated aromatic hydrocarbon stream; and(c) contacting said fully treated aromatic hydrocarbon stream with an alkylating agent in the presence of an alkylation catalyst and under alkylation conditions, to produce an alkylated aromatic hydrocarbon stream; and wherein said cycle length of said pretreatment system is greater than said cycle length using said first stage of said pretreatment system alone or said second stage of said pretreatment system alone.
In a preferred embodiment the process further comprises the step of contacting said alkylating agent of step (c) with a third molecular sieve, to produce a treated alkylating agent, and contacting said treated alkylating agent with said treated aromatic hydrocarbon stream of step (b), to produce said alkylated aromatic hydrocarbon stream of step (c).
However the above prior arts are silent on how to check these impurities in an industrial process. It has now been discovered that by dry colorimetry it was possible to get in less than 5 minutes the amount of the nitrogen containing compounds impurities in the aromatic substrate or in the alkylating agent. A sample of the feedstock to be analyzed is vaporized, unless it is available under gasous phase, and is sent through a porous substrate carrying a reagent which changes color in proportion with the impurities. An electronic device converts the color to the amount of impurities. To improve the response in time, many such apparatus can be used in parallel and a measurement is launched e.g. every minute or every ten seconds. Should the impurities are found to be higher than a requested level the reactor containing the catalyst can be temporarily by-passed.

Alkylation of aromatic substrates and transalkylation process


A method for controlling a velocity of a conveyance path of a system including an industrial robot, a first conveyance path configured to transfer items within a working area (b2) of the robot with a velocity v1, and a second conveyance path configured to transfer empty places within the working area (b2) of the robot with a velocity v2. The method includes: obtaining position data for a plurality of items and for a plurality of empty places; creating one or more pairs including one of the empty places of the plurality of empty places and a respective item of the plurality of items; calculating, for one of the one or more pairs, a time tAs for the empty place of the one pair and a time tBk for the item of the one pair to reach a border of the working area (b2) based on position data for the one pair and the velocities v1 and v2; and controlling the velocity v2 of the second conveyance path based on a difference between the time tAs and a time (tBk+Δt), where Δt is a predetermined time difference.

Automation of picking and placing objects by using industrial robots is well known. In a multi robot picking system, items and empty places are often moved by conveyors passing by the robots. Items can be picked and empty places can be filled while they are inside a robot's working range. Each robot receives information about new pick and place locations continuously during the picking process, e.g. retrieved by a camera.
The robots are normally operating independently. For every pick and place to be performed by a robot, a decision is taken in runtime which item that shall be picked or which empty place location that shall be filled. The decision is made among available items and empty places currently within reach by the robot. To make the robot work efficiently, it is important that matching items and empty places are available within reach at the same time.
The work load of an incoming flow of items or empty places can be shared between the robots. The incoming flow may be fluctuating or predefined, and the robots may share the work load. A fixed percentage of the items or empty places may be assigned to each robot. Alternatively, all items and empty places are assigned to all robots. If an item is picked, or an empty place is filled, by one robot, it becomes cancelled by the downstream robots.
A common system setup is to have two parallel conveyors passing multiple robots, wherein one of the conveyors is an item conveyor where items to be picked are transported, and one conveyor is an empty place conveyor where empty places are transported. The conveyors can move in the same direction i.e. concurrent flows, or they can move in opposite directions, so called counter flows. Typically, the velocity of the item conveyor cannot be affected by the system as it has a velocity that is predetermined and adapted to the amount of items it is transporting. However, the velocity of the empty place conveyor can often be affected or directly controlled by the system.
It is often desirable that all place locations are filled before passing by the last robot. It is also desirable that all incoming items are picked before passing by the last robot. Counter flow makes these combined tasks easier to achieve, due to the fact that the most upstream robot in respect of the picking flow has an overflow of incoming items that can be used to fill the remaining empty places. And the most upstream robot in respect of the empty place flow has an overflow of empty places that can be used to place the remaining items. In a parallel flow where both conveyors move in the same direction it is harder to achieve both tasks. The task of filling all place locations can be achieved e.g. by having a start/stop control of the empty place conveyor at the most downstream robot. The most downstream robot will stop the empty place conveyor if there is a risk that any empty place cannot be filled in time. However, it is hard to guarantee that also all items are picked unless the inflow of empty places and items are actively balanced and the velocities of the conveyors are similar, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,895 A.
When the conveyor velocities of the two conveyors need to be different e.g. due to a different density of items and empty places, there is a high probability that the most downstream robot now and then will have items available to pick but no empty places to fill, causing an overflow on the item conveyor. This problem can be solved e.g. by having a buffer of stationary empty places next to the robots. The buffer will be filled when no empty places are within reach on the empty places conveyor, and picked from when no items are within reach on the item conveyor. However, using a buffer will reduce the efficiency of the system since extra time is spent on moving items to and from the buffer.
US2014/0123606A1 describes a method and device for inserting individual products into containers in an automated line. An empty container is guided by the container supply as soon as a number of individual products corresponding to the number of products needed to fill a container are transported on the product belt.

Method and a system for controlling a velocity of a conveyance path


An acceleration sensor includes a weight and a vibrator that supports the weight at its center of gravity. When acceleration is applied to the weight, stress equivalent to the applied acceleration is generated in the vibrator. As the vibrator is arranged to support the weight at its center of gravity, a characteristic relationship is observed between the acceleration, such as angular acceleration or translational acceleration, and the size of electric charges and the polarity. By taking advantage of this relationship, different types of acceleration can be easily detected.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 6-273439 discloses a piezoelectric acceleration sensor that detects acceleration from the bend of piezoelectric ceramics. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 7-140164 discloses a piezoelectric acceleration sensor that simultaneously detects translational acceleration and angular acceleration from the bends of two piezoelectric single-crystal substrates. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2000-171480 discloses a piezoelectric acceleration sensor that detects translational acceleration and angular acceleration separately, based on the bends of piezoelectric single-crystal materials and the sign difference between the outputs of the piezoelectric single-crystal materials.
Since two acceleration sensors are used in the conventional technique using piezoelectric ceramics, the low mounting accuracy of the two sensors on a substrate as well as the difference in sensitivity between the two sensors results in poor positioning control. With the acceleration sensor using two piezoelectric single-crystal substrates, there are problems in that a decrease in size is difficult to achieve and angular acceleration and translational acceleration cannot be detected separately from each other. With the acceleration sensor that detects acceleration from the bends of two piezoelectric single-crystal substrates and the sign difference between the two outputs, there are problems in that the production process is complicated and it is difficult to reduce the production cost, because the two piezoelectric substrates are bonded to each other and are then bonded to a supporting substrate.
The object of the present invention is to provide a sensor with a simple structure that eliminates the above problems and can easily detect different types of acceleration, such as angular acceleration and translational acceleration.


An implantable medical system may include an implantable medical lead including at least one electrode and an implantable medical device. The implantable medical device comprises an electromagnetic interference (EMI) detection module that monitors for one or more particular characteristics of EMI. A control module is configured to control a therapy module to generate monophasic stimulation pulses while operating the IMD in a first operating mode. In response to detecting the condition indicative of the presence of EMI, the control module switches the IMD from the first operating mode to a second operating mode and generates at least one multiphasic stimulation pulses while operating the IMD in the second operating mode.

A wide variety of implantable medical systems that deliver a therapy or monitor a physiologic condition of a patient have been clinically implanted or proposed for clinical implantation in patients. The implantable medical system may include an implantable medical lead connected to an implantable medical device (IMD). For example, implantable leads are commonly connected to implantable pacemakers, defibrillators, cardioverters, or the like, to form an implantable cardiac system that provides electrical stimulation to the heart or sensing of electrical activity of the heart. The electrical stimulation pulses can be delivered to the heart and the sensed electrical signals can be sensed by electrodes disposed on the leads, e.g., typically near distal ends of the leads. Implantable leads are also used in neurological devices, muscular stimulation therapy, gastric system stimulators and other implantable medical devices (IMDs).
Patients that have implantable medical systems may benefit, or even require, various medical imaging procedures to obtain images of internal structures of the patient. One common medical imaging procedure is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI procedures may generate higher resolution and/or better contrast images (particularly of soft tissues) than other medical imaging techniques. MRI procedures also generate these images without delivering ionizing radiation to the body of the patient, and, as a result, MRI procedures may be repeated without exposing the patient to such radiation.
During an MRI procedure, the patient or a particular part of the patient's body is positioned within an MRI device. The MRI device generates a variety of magnetic and electromagnetic fields to obtain the images of the patient, including a static magnetic field, gradient magnetic fields, and radio frequency (RF) fields. The static magnetic field may be generated by a primary magnet within the MRI device and may be present prior to initiation of the MRI procedure. The gradient magnetic fields may be generated by electromagnets of the MRI device and may be present during the MRI procedure. The RF fields may be generated by transmitting/receiving coils of the MRI device and may be present during the MRI procedure. If the patient undergoing the MRI procedure has an implantable medical system, the various fields produced by the MRI device may have an effect on the operation of the medical leads and/or the IMD to which the leads are coupled. For example, the gradient magnetic fields or the RF fields generated during the MRI procedure may induce energy on the implantable leads.

Multiphasic pacing in the presence of electromagnetic interference


An electro-optical device includes pixel electrodes formed on a TFT array substrate and a counter electrode formed on a counter substrate. A data line is buried in a groove formed in the TFT array substrate for planarization. A projection and a hollow portion are formed by burying a capacitance line, rather than a scanning line, into the groove. A downwardly rubbed portion, which is downwardly rubbed, of inclined surfaces of the projection and the hollow portion, is covered with a light-shielding layer, and upwardly rubbed portions are covered with no light-shielding layer. With this arrangement, the electro-optical device provides a high pixel aperture ratio and presents a high-contrast and bright image by reducing an orientation defect of a liquid crystal resulting from a step portion in the surface of the substrate facing the liquid crystal.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of an electro-optical device such as a liquid-crystal display device, and a method for manufacturing the electro-optical device. More particularly, the present invention relates to the technical field on an electro-optical device and a method for manufacturing the electro-optical device, which is appropriate for use in liquid-crystal display devices employing a TN (Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal, in particular, a thin-film transistor (hereinafter referred as TFT) active-matrix liquid-crystal display device, which adopts an alternating drive method in which the polarities of the potentials applied to adjacent pixel electrodes are periodically alternated every pixel row or every pixel column, so that the potentials applied to adjacent pixel electrodes in a row direction or in a column direction are inverted in polarity.
2. Description of Related Art
Electro-optical devices, such as liquid-crystal display devices, typically include an electro-optical material such as a liquid crystal interposed between a pair of substrates, and the alignment state of the electro-optical material is controlled by the property of the electro-optical material and an alignment layer formed on the substrate on its surface facing the electro-optical material. If there is a step in the surface of the alignment layer, an orientation defect occurs in the electro-optical material depending on the magnitude of the step. If such an orientation defect occurs, proper driving of the electro-optical material in that portion becomes difficult, and the contrast ratio of the device drops due to a visible defect in the electro-optical device. Since a TFT active-matrix electro-optical device includes, on a TFT array substrate, TFTs in many locations thereof for controlling and switching a variety of lines such as scanning lines, data lines, and capacitance lines, and includes pixel electrodes, a step inevitably occurs in the surface of an alignment layer in accordance with the presence of lines and elements, if no planarizing process is performed.
Conventionally, the portion of the substrate suffering from such a step is aligned with the spacing between adjacent pixel electrodes, and a light-shielding layer covers the portion of the step so that the portion of the electro-optical material suffering from the orientation defect may remain hidden or may not contribute to display light.
The electro-optical device of this sort typically adopts an alternating drive method in which the polarity of a potential applied to the pixel electrodes is alternated at a predetermined pattern to prevent degray scale of the electro-optical material as a result of the application of a direct current, and to control cross talk and flickering of a display screen image.
A 1H alternating drive method is relatively easy to control and presents a high-quality image display. During the presentation of a video signal of one frame or one field, the pixel electrodes arranged on an odd row are driven by a positive potential, while the pixel electrodes arranged on an even row are driven by a negative potential. During the presentation of a video signal of a next frame or a next field, conversely, the pixel electrodes arranged on the even row are driven by a positive potential while the pixel electrodes arranged on the odd row are driven by a negative potential, and at the same time, the potential polarity is alternated every row in the period of frame or field.
A 1S alternating drive method is also easy to control and presents a high-quality image display. The pixel electrodes on the same column are driven by the same polarity potential while the potential polarity is alternated every column in the period of frame or field.
The technique to cover the above-referenced step portion with the light-shielding layer narrows the aperture of the pixel depending on the size of the step portion, and cannot meet the basic requirement in the technical field of the electro-optical device that the aperture ratio of the pixel be increased in a limited image display area to present a brighter image. The number of lines and TFTs per unit area increases as the pixel pitch becomes fine for high-definition video presentation. Since there is a limitation to the miniaturization of the lines and the TFTs, the ratio of the step portion to the image display area becomes relatively high, and the problem of the step portion becomes serious as high-definition design is promoted in the electro-optical device.
In accordance with the above-referenced technique for planarizing the interlayer insulator beneath the pixel electrodes, no particular problem will be presented when adjacent pixel electrodes are of the same potential in a TFT array substrate. When the potentials (the potentials applied to the pixel electrodes adjacent in the column direction in the 1H alternating drive method, and the potentials applied to the pixel electrodes adjacent in the row direction in the 1S alternating drive method) are opposite in polarity as in the above-referenced 1H alternating drive method or 1S alternating drive method, the gap between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode becomes wider at the edge of the pixel electrode over the line and the TFT when the planarizing process is performed than when no planarizing process is performed. A transverse electric field taking place between the adjacent pixel electrodes (specifically, an electric field in parallel with the surface of the substrate or slant electric field having a component in parallel with the surface of the substrate) relatively intensifies. If such a transverse electric field is applied to the electro-optical material, which is expected to work under a longitudinal electric field present between the pixel electrodes and the counter electrode (i.e., an electric field perpendicular to the surface of the substrate), a disclination takes place in the electro-optical material, visible defect occurs there, and the contrast ratio drops. Although the area of the transverse electric field can be covered with the light-shielding layer, the aperture area of the pixel is reduced along with an increase in the area of the transverse electric field. As the distance between the adjacent pixel electrodes shrinks with a fine pixel pitch, the transverse electric field intensifies, and these become more problematic as high-definition design is promoted in the electro-optical device.
The present invention has been developed in view of at least the above problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electro-optical device, such as a liquid-crystal display device, which presents a high aperture ratio of pixel and displays a high-contrast-ratio, bright and high-quality image by controlling an orientation defect resulting from a step portion in the surface of a substrate in contact with an electro-optical material, such as a liquid crystal, while by keeping the aperture area of each pixel from narrowing as much as possible.
An electro-optical device of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate having a first alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; a second substrate opposed to the first substrate, having a second alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; an electro-optical material interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a step portion, formed on at least one of the first alignment layer of the first substrate and the second alignment layer of the second substrate, and downwardly rubbed in the direction of the rubbing process; and a light-shielding layer formed in an area facing the step portion that is downwardly rubbed in the direction of the rubbing process, on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate.
The study carried out by the inventors of this invention reveals that an orientation defect of an electro-optical material due to a step is substantially more pronounced when a rubbing process is performed in a downward direction than when a rubbing process is performed in an upward direction. Specifically, a relatively good orientation is expected in an upwardly rubbed portion regardless of a step, while the step causes a substantial orientation defect in a downwardly rubbed portion. This is attributed to the fact that upwardly rubbing and flat-surface rubbing actions tend to result in similar interactions between an alignment layer which results from the rubbing process and defines an alignment state of the electro-optical material and the electro-optical material, while downwardly rubbing and flat-surface rubbing actions tend to result in unsimilar interactions.
The area facing the step portion that is downwardly rubbed is light-shielded by the light-shielding layer in the present invention. Although an orientation defect takes place in the electro-optical material in the downwardly rubbed portion, the downwardly rubbed portion is light-shielded in an non-aperture area of each pixel, and no visible defect occurs. In other words, a drop in contrast ratio due to the orientation defect is prevented by light-shielding the downwardly rubbed portion.
To cover an orientation defect in the electro-optical material due to the step in the downwardly rubbed portion, the light-shielding layer is preferably set to be slightly wider in width than the downwardly rubbed portion.
The step portion may be at a projection that is formed to extend in a direction intersecting the direction of the rubbing process.
The projection is preferably formed in an area that corresponds to a spacing between adjacent pixel electrodes that are driven in mutually different polarities.
With this arrangement, a longitudinal electric field on the projection is intensified, while a transverse electric field taking place between pixel electrodes is weakened.
An electro-optical device such as a matrix driving liquid-crystal display device may use a 1H alternating drive method and a 1S alternating drive method as an alternating drive manner.
Preferably, the upwardly rubbed portion of the projection which is upwardly rubbed in the direction of the rubbing process is not opposed to the light-shielding layer.
The upwardly rubbed portion is a portion that contributes to presentation without causing a visible defect, and the aperture ratio of pixel is increased without lowering the contrast ratio by leaving the upwardly rubbed portion unshielded as much as possible.
The step portion may be at a hollow portion that is formed to extend in a direction intersecting the direction of the rubbing process.
The hollow portion may be a groove formed in one of the first substrate and the second substrate, and a line may be arranged in the area of the groove.
The upwardly rubbed portion of the hollow portion which is upwardly rubbed in the direction of the rubbing process is not opposed to the light-shielding layer, and the aperture ratio of pixel is thus increased without lowering the contrast ratio.
An area of the substrate corresponding to the spacing between adjacent pixel electrodes which are driven in the same polarity is preferably subjected to a planarizing process.
Almost no orientation defect occurs in the electro-optical material due to the step portion between the pixel electrodes by the planarization. To light-shield the area, a narrow light-shielding layer works. The pixel aperture ratio is even more increased.
The planarizing process may be performed by forming a groove in the substrate and arranging a line in the area of the groove.
The line may be a data line of a light-shielding film fabricated of Al (aluminum), for instance, and in this area, a light-shielding feature is imparted to the data line.
The distance between the adjacent pixel electrodes which are driven in the same polarity is preferably larger than the layer thickness of the electro-optical material.
This arrangement controls in the electro-optical material the disclination which is generated by the transverse electric field.
The direction of the rubbing process may be perpendicular to the downwardly rubbed portion of the step portion, or slant to the downwardly rubbed portion of the step portion.
An electro-optical device of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate having a first alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; a second substrate opposed to the first substrate, having a second alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; a liquid crystal interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, a portion of the liquid crystal having a reverse tilt angle, and formed on the surface of at least one of the first alignment layer of the first substrate and the second alignment layer of the second substrate; and a light-shielding layer formed in an area facing the portion of the liquid crystal having the reverse tilt angle, on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate.
The electro-optical device of this exemplary embodiment of the present invention increases the pixel aperture ratio without lowering the contrast ratio, by light-shielding the portion of the liquid crystal having the reverse tilt angle.
An electro-optical device of a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate having a plurality of pixel electrodes and a first alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; a second substrate opposed to the first substrate, having a counter electrode and a second alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; an electro-optical material interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a step portion formed on the surface of the first alignment layer in an area corresponding to a spacing between the pixel electrodes on the first substrate, and downwardly rubbed in the direction of the rubbing process; and a light-shielding layer formed in an area facing the step portion that is downwardly rubbed in the direction of the rubbing process, on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate.
An electro-optical device of a fourth exemplary embodiment of exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate having a plurality of pixel electrodes and a first alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; a second substrate opposed to the first substrate, having a counter electrode and a second alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; an electro-optical material interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a light-shielding layer formed at least on one of the first substrate and the second substrate and defining a pixel area; and a step portion having an upwardly rubbed portion in the direction of the rubbing process, the upwardly rubbed portion being formed in the vicinity of the area facing the light-shielding layer on the surface of the first alignment layer on the first substrate.
The electro-optical device of this exemplary embodiment of the present invention increases the pixel aperture ratio without lowering the contrast ratio, by leaving the upwardly rubbed portion unshielded as much as possible.
An electro-optical device of a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate, formed of a plurality of layers including a first alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process and having a plurality of pixel electrodes; a second substrate opposed to the first substrate, having a counter electrode and a second alignment layer that has been subjected to a rubbing process; an electro-optical material interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a groove formed on the first substrate; a line arranged along the groove; a step portion formed on the surface of the alignment layer in the area of the groove; and a light-shielding layer formed in an area facing the step portion that is downwardly rubbed, at least on one of the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the direction of the rubbing process of the first substrate is aligned in a downwardly rubbing direction to the step portion.
In this exemplary embodiment, the line may form a storage capacitor.
An electro-optical device of a sixth exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate having a plurality of pixel electrodes; a second substrate opposed to the first substrate; an electro-optical material interposed between the first substrate and the second substrate; a projection formed on the surface of the alignment layer of first substrate in an area corresponding to the spacing between adjacent pixel electrodes that are driven in mutually different polarities, the projection including a downwardly rubbed portion in the direction of the rubbing process of the first substrate; and a light-shielding layer formed in an area facing the downwardly rubbed portion, on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate.
A substrate having a plurality of pixel electrodes of another exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an alignment layer that is subjected to a rubbing process, and a step portion formed on the surface of the alignment layer in an area corresponding to a spacing between the pixel electrodes, and upwardly rubbed in the direction of the rubbing process.
The step portion may be formed at a groove in which a line is arranged, or at a projection for weakening a transverse electric field taking place between pixel electrodes.
The downwardly rubbed portion of the projection is preferably light-shielded by the light-shielding layer.
A method for manufacturing an electro-optical device of another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein the device includes mutually opposed first substrate and second substrate with an electro-optical material interposed therebetween, a plurality of pixel electrodes and an alignment layer formed on the first substrate, and a counter electrode opposed to the pixel electrodes and formed on the second substrate, includes forming a substrate surface in one direction in which pixel electrodes are adjacent to each other so that the alignment layer between the pixel electrodes and the alignment layer over the pixel electrodes are planarized; forming, in the other direction in which pixel electrodes are adjacent to each other, a first step portion projecting from the substrate surface beneath the spacing between the adjacent pixel electrodes; forming the pixel electrode so that the edge of the pixel electrode comes to the first step portion; performing a rubbing process to the alignment layer; and forming a light-shielding layer on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate so that the light-shielding layer overlaps one of the inclined surfaces of the first step portion in a plan view, along which the direction of the rubbing process of the alignment layer is downward.
A method for manufacturing an electro-optical device of another exemplary embodiment of the present invention wherein the device includes mutually opposed first and second substrates with an electro-optical material interposed therebetween, a plurality of pixel electrodes and an alignment layer formed on the first substrate, and a counter electrode opposed to the pixel electrodes and formed on the second substrate, the plurality of the pixel electrodes composed of a first group of pixel electrodes which are alternately driven in a first period, and a second group of pixel electrodes which are alternately driven in a second period complementary to the first period, includes forming a substrate surface in one direction in which pixel electrodes of the same pixel electrode group are adjacent to each other so that the alignment layer between the pixel electrodes of the same pixel electrode group and the alignment layer over the pixel electrodes are planarized; forming a first step portion projecting from the substrate surface beneath the spacing between a pixel electrode of the first pixel electrode group and a pixel electrode of the second pixel electrode group adjacent to the first group pixel electrode; forming the pixel electrode so that the edge of the pixel electrode comes to the first step portion; performing a rubbing process to the alignment layer; and forming a light-shielding layer on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate so that the light-shielding layer overlaps one of the inclined surfaces of the first step portion in a plan view, along which the direction of the rubbing process of the alignment layer is downward.
The electro-optical device is thus manufactured through the above exemplary manufacturing methods.
The operation and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following discussion of the exemplary embodiments.

Electro-optical device and method for manufacturing the same


A moveable holder for connecting a moveable member to a stationary member includes two pivoting arms mountable between the members. The moveable member has a position abutting the stationary member and a position spaced away from the stationary member. One of the arms is spring-loaded such that the moveable member is easily urged to either the abutting position or the spaced-away position when the moveable member is located at a neutral position intermediate to the abutting position and the spaced-away position.

The movable holder of this kind is so designed to be urged that when the door is to be held at a position where an opening of the case is closed by the door moving close to the opening of the case or at a position where the opening of the case is opened by the door moving far away from the case, the door is automatically opened by an operation to manually open the door midway of a door opening direction (one neutral-shifted position where the door is slightly shifted from the neutral position in the door opening direction) and automatically closed by an operation to manually close the door midway of a door closing direction (another neutral-shifted position where the door is slightly shifted from the neutral position in the door closing direction).
This movable holder generally includes a link arm having both ends pivotally supported on the door and the case between them. The link arm is adapted to movably move forward and backward between a first position (a closed position) where the door gets closer to the case and a second position (an opened position) where the door gets far away from the case. The link arm is provided with resilient urging means comprising a spring or a combination of a spring and a swinging arm to automatically pivotally move the link arm to either of the first position and the second position when the link arm is even slightly shifted to the first position or the second position from a middle position between the first position and the second position.
In one conventional movable holder, the resilient urging means comprises a swinging arm having one end pivotally supported on a free end of the link arm and an expansion/contraction spring connected the other end of the swinging arm so that when the link arm is even slightly shifted in either of directions from the neutral position where the pivotal support portions of the link arm and the swinging arm get straight, the expansion/contraction spring pivotally moves the swinging arm to the shifted dside to thereby automatically urge the movable holder to the opened position or the closed position (see Patent Document 1).
Since the movable holder of such a construction has the expansion/contraction spring disposed so as to pivotally move the free end of the link arm, the expansion/contraction spring could not but be exposed from the link arm and therefore, the expansion/contraction spring is exposed when the door is opened, which disadvantageously causes the appearance of the movable holder to be worsened.
In another conventional movable holder, there are two link arms on the sides of the case and the door and the resilient urging means comprises an expansion/contraction spring provided between the case side link arm and the door so that when the link arm is even slightly shifted in either direction from a neutral position where the movable ends of the two link arms and the expansion/contraction spring arm get straight, the expansion/contraction spring urges the link arms to automatically pivotally move to the opened position or the closed position (see Patent Document 2).
The movable holder of such a construction has the expansion/contraction spring hidden on the back side of the door when the door is opened, but the expansion/contraction spring can appear from the side of the door, which similarly causes the appearance of the movable holder to be worsened. Furthermore, since the link arms and the expansion/contraction spring are in the intersection state, a finger or fingers are accidentally placed between the intersection portions.
Further conventional movable holder comprises two link arms provided between the door and the case and the resilient urging means of the movable holder comprises an expansion/contraction spring provided the case side end of one of the link arms and expanded/contracted in accordance with a movement of a movable pin which is slidably engaged into an arc-like groove in a mount portion on the side of the case. When one of the link arms is even slightly shifted in either direction from the middle position (neutral position) of the arc-like groove, the expansion/contraction spring swings the link arm along the arc-like groove to either of the ends whereby the door is automatically urged to the opened position or the closed position (see patent document 3).
Since the movable holder of such a construction has the expansion/contraction spring assembled into the link arms, the appearance is never worsened, but if the mount portion having the arc-like groove is even slightly displaced from a proper mount position (including a vertical position, a horizontal position and an angular position) relative to the case, the closing state of the door and the case is never held properly at the closed position thereof, it will be troublesome to set the mount position and since the mount portion having the arc-like groove contains the expansion/contraction spring, the mount portion disadvantageously gets large-sized and worsens the appearance.    Patent document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,106 specification    Patent document 2: JP2005-264719A    Patent document 3: JP2-176086A


A magnetic sensor is provided with first and second magnetoresistive effect elements that can detect an external magnetic field. The first and second magnetoresistive effect elements are a plurality of layers of multilayer body including free layers where their magnetization directions vary due to the external magnetic field. Shapes of the first and second magnetoresistive effect elements viewed from the upper side in the lamination direction are different from each other. The first magnetoresistive effect element has a shape that can increase a slope of an output of the first magnetoresistive effect element relative to the change of the external magnetic field. The second magnetoresistive effect element has a shape that can decrease a slope of an output of the second magnetoresistive effect element relative to the change of the external magnetic field compared to the slope of the output of the first magnetoresistive effect element.

Conventionally, in machine tools or the like, a position detecting device for detecting a position created by the rotational movement or linear movement of a movable body is used. One type of known position detecting device is provided with a medium/media where magnetic signals are recorded and a magnetic sensor, and the magnetic sensor can output a signal indicating a relative positional relationship between a medium and the magnetic sensor.
One known magnetic sensor used in such a position detecting device is a multilayer body having a free layer and a magnetization pinned layer and provided with a magnetoresistive effect element (MR element) where resistance is changed in association with a magnetization direction of the free layer according to an external magnetic field. Further, known media used in such a position detecting device include, for example, one having a track for absolute signals, one having a track for incremental signals, one having a track for absolute signals and a track for incremental signals.
Conventionally, one magnetic sensor used for the position detecting device provided with the medium having a track for absolute signals and a track for incremental signals has two types of MR elements: an MR element for detecting a magnetic signal recorded in the track for absolute signals and an MR element for detecting a magnetic signal recorded in the track for incremental signals is proposed (see Patent Literature 1).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electronic device and method are disclosed, including a communication interface adapted to allow communicative coupling with a plurality of electronic devices, and a processor, implementing the method, which includes: identifying an application to be executed in the first electronic device, selecting candidate devices from the plurality of electronic devices having at least one function associated with execution of the application, selecting a second electronic device from among the candidate devices based a factor including at least one of: status information of each of the candidate devices, position information of each of the candidate devices in relation to at least one of a user or the first electronic device, and at least one property of data associated with the at least one function of the candidate devices, and executing the application in the first electronic device utilizing the at least one function of the second electronic device.

Recently, electronic devices have been developed into various wearable devices such as electronic watches (e.g., smart watches), head-mounted displays (HMDs) (e.g., electronic glasses), electronic shoes, electronic clothes, and electronic tattoos, which can be worn by a user or transplanted into parts of the user's body, as well as hand-held devices, such as tablet computers, smart phones, or the like. The user may simultaneously use (e.g., carry or wear) two or more of the electronic devices mentioned above. In this case, some of the electronic devices, which are used by the user at the same time, may have similar or in some cases identical functions. For example, both a tablet computer and a smart phone may perform multimedia functions, such as a movie player and a music player, as well as communication functions, such as phone calls or text messages. In addition, since the latest electronic devices, such as smart phones, smart watches, electronic glasses and electronic shoes, adopt various sensors, such devices may perform a function of measuring the amount of exercise taken by the user. In some cases, the user may simultaneously use a plurality of electronic devices that perform identical or similar functions to each other, for example, in order to obtain a more accurate result.

Method and apparatus for controlling electronic devices in proximity


The present invention discloses a method for implementing power control of the high speed shared control channel and the high speed shared information channel, including: Node B independently setting the initial transmit power of the HS-SCCH with reference to the maximum power of HS-SCCH configured by higher layer and completing the open-loop power control; performing the close-loop power control based on transmit power control TPC command; UE calculating the initial transmit power based on a series of parameters configured by the higher layer and completing the open-loop power control; UE adjusting the close-loop transmit power based on the TPC command carried on HS-SCCH and completing the close-loop power control. Wherein, Node B generates the TPC by taking the high speed shared information channel SNR generated by itself as the target value and the high speed shared information channel SNR measured as the actual value. The present invention can achieve the power control of HS-SCCH and HS-SICH based on the TPC parameters for HS-SICH close-loop control calculated by Node B.

High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a technology which offers high speed downlink data service for multi-users and is suitable for the services with a lot of downloaded information, such as multimedia, Internet etc. HSDPA introduces a new transmission channel, i.e. High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH), in which, time division multiplexing is used for the users to share the downlink code resources and power resources. This structure is adapted for burst packet data service. Downlink physics channel HS-SCCH (High Speed Shared Control Channel) is used to carry the physical layer control signaling for decoding in HS-DSCH. By reading out the information in HS-SCCH, user equipment (UE) can find HS-DSCH resources configured for the UE according to the physical layer information such as the assigned code channel, timeslot and modulation mode, meanwhile, UE feeds back the channel quality indicator (CQI) and data block decoding information (Ack/Nack) of the HS-DSCH by sending HS-SICH (High Speed Shared Information Channel) to Node B.
According to 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) protocol, the HS-SCCH and the HS-SICH that Node B assigns to the UE always appear in pair. Node B may assign 1 to 4 HS-SCCH physical channels to the UE, correspondingly, it also assigns 1 to 4 HS-SICH physical channels to the UE. All the HS-SCCHs assigned for one UE are called as a HS-SCCH set, and correspondingly, there is a HS-SICH set. The UE can use only one HS-SCCH in the set and one corresponding HS-SICH at a time point of TTI (Transmit Time Interval).
TDD system includes HCR TDD and LCR TDD. HCR TDD is a TDD that has high chip rate, the chip rate is 3.84 Mcps; LCR TDD is a TDD that has low chip rate, and the chip rate is 1.28 Mcps, which is TD-SCDMA (Time Division Code Division Multiple Access). In these two types of TDD systems, both the HS-SICH that Node B sends to UE and the corresponding HS-SCCH that Node B sends to UE need power control. Both the power control of HS-SICH performed by UE and the power control of HS-SCCH performed by Node B include open-loop power control and close-loop power control.
In these two types of TDD systems, the processes of HS-SICH close-loop power control are the same, yet the parameters configured are different; the calculation methods of HS-SICH open-loop power control are different; the processes of HS-SCCH open-loop and close-loop power control are the same, both are implemented by Node B independently.
The open-loop power control is used in the process that the UE initially sends the power value of HS-SICH and the process that Node B initially sends the power value of HS-SCCH; whereafter, when UE receives the subsequent HS-SCCH and Node B receives the subsequent HS-SICH fed back, the close-loop power control will be applied, and TPC (Transmit Power Control) parameters carried on the HS-SCCH and HS-SICH will be used to adjust the close-loop transmit power.
The initial HS-SICH transmit power calculated by the UE is used for open-loop power control. According to 3GPP protocol, the principles of the HS-SICH open-loop power control of the two types of TDD systems are the same, but their calculation formulae are different, which can be specified as follows:
in LCR-TDD system, the formula for UE calculating the initial HS-SICH transmit power is:PHS-SICH=PRXHS-SICH+LPCCPCH
wherein,
PHS-SICH is the transmit power (dBm);
PRXHS-SICH is the desired HS-SICH receiving power received by UE, which is notified by the higher layer to the UE through the information element "Downlink HS-PDSCH Information" in RRC protocol;
LPCCPCH is the compensation value of UE measurement, which the UE can get by reading out the information element "Primary CCPCH Tx Power" in system message block 5 or 6, or is notified by the higher layer to the UE through the information element "Uplink DPCH Power Control info" in RRC protocol.
In HCR TDD system, the formula for UE calculating the initial HS-SICH transmit power is:PHS-SICH=αLPCCPCH+(1−α)L0+IBTS+SIRTARGET+HS-SICH Constant value
wherein:
L0 is the long-term average value of path loss;
α is the weighting parameter;
IBTS is the interference signal power at the base station receiver;
SIRTARGET is the target Signal Noise Ratio (dB), which is notified by the higher layer to the UE through the information element "HS-SICH Power Control Info" in RRC protocol;
HS-SICH Constant value is a value assigned by the higher layer through the information element "HS-SICH Constant value" in RRC protocol.
However, the method for implementing power control of HS-SCCH by Node B is not provided in 3GPP protocol, for example, 3GPP protocol does not specify how the Node B calculates and generates TPC used for adjusting the uplink HS-SICH close-loop power control, or the TPC parameter is carried on the HS-SCCH and sent to UE.
In addition, although 3GPP protocol offers the method for UE calculating the initial HS-SICH transmit power, yet some parameters are uniformly configured for the whole HS-SCCH set and the whole HS-SICH set, while some others are individually configured for each HS-SCCH and each HS-SICH in the HS-SCCH set and the HS-SICH set, causing the configuration of parameters related to power control to be inaccurate.

Implement method for power control of the high speed shared control channel and the high speed shared information channel


A system for continuous protection of working set data comprises a primary host (such as a laptop or a desktop), a peripheral memory device (such as a flash memory device or “memory stick”) and a working set protection manager. The working set protection manager is configured to detect an operation performed on a data object at the primary host and store a record associated with the operation at the peripheral memory device. In addition, in response to a detection of a backup operation from the primary host to a secondary backup device, the working set protection manager is configured to mark the record for deletion from the peripheral memory device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems and, more particularly, to protection of data objects of a primary computing device at one or more other devices including a peripheral memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The computing infrastructure of a modern enterprise may include thousands of computing devices, which may range in complexity from clustered multiprocessor servers at the high end to relatively simple hand-held devices at the low end. At any given point in time, a large number of the computing devices may hold data objects containing information such as sales presentations, project plans, product designs, source code, and so on, that may be critical to the success of one or more organizational units. A number of different types of data protection techniques have traditionally been implemented in order to enable recovery of the data objects from various types of failure situations, such as a system crash, sustained loss of electrical power, an attack by malicious software such as a virus, or a natural disaster such as a hurricane, tornado, flood or fire. For example, automated backups to secondary storage may be scheduled at regular intervals (e.g., once every day) from servers, desktops and laptops that are connected to a corporate network, and periodic replication of mission-critical portions of the data to geographically remote locations may be organized for disaster recovery.
Traditional automated backup operations often require the primary system (e.g., a laptop or desktop computer whose data objects are to be backed up) to be connected to a network (e.g., a corporate intranet) during backup: for example, the secondary backup device to which the data is backed up may be linked to the primary system via a network, and/or at least part of the software responsible for performing the backup may be executed at a backup manager that is linked to the primary system via a network. During time windows when a primary system (such as a laptop being used for a business trip) does not have connectivity to the network on which its automated backups are usually performed, the data stored at the primary system may be vulnerable to failures. Of course, the user of the primary system may manually initiate the creation of a backup copy of an important data object while the primary is disconnected from the network, e.g., to a writeable compact disc (CD) or writable digital video disc (DVD) device attached to the primary system. However, manual backup procedures that depend on users to remember to identify the data objects that should be protected, and on the users' technical ability to correctly create and safeguard backup versions of the identified data objects, cannot generally be relied upon by corporate information technology (IT) organizations.
In addition to the problem of time windows during which network-based backups may not be feasible, traditional backup techniques may also suffer from additional deficiencies. For example, in performing a task such as preparing a presentation for a customer briefing, a user of a primary system may utilize a set of documents or files. The user may update some of the documents of the set, and perform only read operations to reference other documents of the set. From the point of view of the user, in the event of a failure such as a disk crash, it may be important to be able to quickly recover all the documents of the set, including the ones that were referenced but not updated. Unfortunately, traditional backup techniques are often oriented largely towards protecting data affected by update operations: e.g., when a backup is performed, only the changes made to one or more data objects since the previous backup may be saved in some backup techniques. As a result, quickly recovering the entire set of documents needed for the user's task, including documents that have only been read (but not necessarily written) in the recent past, may be difficult using some traditional backup techniques.

System and method for continuous protection of working set data using a local independent staging device


Consistency and/or completeness of access control policy sets may be validated and/or verified. An access control policy set may be received. The access control policy set may include access control policies that allow or disallow access to computing resources. Individual ones of the access control policies may include one or more attributes. The one or more attributes of a given access control policy may be ordered into a predetermined order responsive to the one or more attributes of the given access control policy lacking the predetermined order. A decision tree may be generated based on the access control policies. The decision tree may be analyzed to determine one or more of (1) whether one or more of the access control policies are incomplete, or (2) whether one or more of the access control policies are inconsistent with one or more other ones of the access control policies.

A general purpose of access control is to allow access to a computing resource to individuals that are allowed access to it and deny access to individuals that are not allowed access. In contemporary IT infrastructure, access control is not a trivial task. Access control policies define different roles for individuals accessing computing resources. Access control policies may depend on time of access, location of access, and/or other contextual data. In conventional approaches to access control, a set of access control policies may contain policies that allow and deny access to the same resource at the same time, or some resources may not have enough policies describing access to them for all possible individuals. Prior attempts to resolve these issues include using methods based on formal logic. Methods based on formal logic can suffer, for example, from exponential growth of computational complexity and difficulties with representing time. As such, methods based on formal logic may not be feasible for policy sets containing a large amount of variables and/or time-based policies.

Validation of consistency and completeness of access control policy sets


A digital power supply and power supply controller are presented, including a voltage control loop and a current control loop, with a controller for pulse width modulating a switching power supply according to a voltage control loop duty cycle output or a current control loop duty cycle output, in which the controller selectively presets the voltage control loop duty cycle output to a predetermined value before switching from current loop control to voltage loop control and/or inhibits increase in a voltage loop integrator value during current loop control to mitigate voltage overshoot.

Switching power supplies or switching power converters are used in a variety of applications to convert power from an input source to drive a load. Control of the conversion is provided by pulse width modulation of power supply switches, for example, by varying a switch on time or duty cycle, with the converter operating at a given switching frequency. Switching power supplies may be operated using constant current (CC) control techniques for improved reliability to allow the power supply to continue provision of output current beyond a nominal value, and constant voltage (CV) operation is used at lower power levels, with some power supplies employing constant power (CP) operation. Constant voltage operation is sometimes achieved using a voltage loop to regulate the output voltage and constant current operation is sometimes achieved using a current loop to regulate the output current. The voltage loop is often used for constant power operation with a power supply controller operating the voltage loop with a voltage reference set to the maximum power value divided by the output current. The use of constant current operation may allow the power supply to avoid overcurrent protection shutdown in certain situations. This is advantageous, for example, when using multiple power supplies in a redundant system. Without constant current control capabilities, a given power supply could assume too much load current for some reason and hit overcurrent protection (OCP) levels to trigger a shutdown. This, in turn, may lead to another power supply assuming the current load, reaching OCP levels, and ultimately shutting down. Thus, constant current control using a voltage loop to regulate output voltage and a current loop to regulate output current is an important feature in certain applications, such as portable telecommunications devices, battery chargers, server applications, etc. However, these power supply control techniques suffer from potential voltage overshoot when control is switched from the current loop to the voltage loop. For instance, when a large load current is demanded during operation according to the current loop, the voltage loop may call for a large duty cycle when the output voltage is low relative to a voltage reference. Switching control back to the voltage loop may result in pulse width modulation according to a large duty cycle in excess of that needed to obtain the desired voltage, leading to a voltage spike or overshoot condition which can damage downstream equipment and/or cause the power supply to be shut down. Accordingly, improved power supply control techniques and apparatus are needed to mitigate or avoid voltage overshoot in switching from current loop control to voltage loop control.

Power supply control method for constant current constant power control


Methods and systems of providing a game in an interactive media application based on information stored in a database are provided. The game is provided in part by using a database to select a source individual and a destination individual. Based on the source individual and information stored in a database and associated therewith, a plurality of associated candidates are selected, each of which has a defined relationship with the source individual. Representations of the source individual, the destination individual, and the first plurality of candidates are provided on a display. Based on user input, one candidate of the first plurality of candidates is selected, and it is determined whether the database defines a relationship between the selected candidate and the destination individual. If such a relationship exists, a user is alerted. If no such relationship exists, then a new set of candidates is retrieved based on the selected candidate.

Parlor games that are centered upon connections between people, such as celebrities, are widely enjoyed. Some such games involve determining how many degrees of separation exist between two different celebrities. This is best explained by example: Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Bacon are separated by one degree of separation, as they did not co-star in a movie together, but they did each co-star in a movie that included Kiefer Sutherland.
Currently, many limitations exist with regard to degree of separation games. Such games are often played mentally (e.g., Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon). Some limited electronic versions exist, such as http://findthebacon.com; however, such implementations require extensive knowledge of media information, such as knowledge of obscure movies actors have been in. Other limitations in degree of separation games include a lack of a finite number of choices of celebrities to choose from when progressing from a starting celebrity to an ending celebrity, a lack of an easy, intuitive implementation on media guidance equipment, and an inability to play against others electronically.

Systems and methods for implementing a degree of separation game in an interactive media application


The present invention is directed to the synthesis of molecules guided by connector polynucleotides (CPNs) capable of hybridizing to complementary connector polynucleotides (CCPNs) harboring at least one functional entity comprising at least one reactive group. At least one of the CCPNs is capable of hybridizing to at least two CPNs. Each CPN will “call” for one or more CCPNs capable of hybridization to the CPN. Following the formation of a supramolecular hybridization complex comprising a plurality of CPNs and a plurality of CCPNs, the reaction of reactive groups results in the formation of a molecule comprising covalently linked functional entities. The formation of the molecule involves the transfer of functional entities from one or more “donor CCPNs” to at least one “acceptor CCPN” with which the transferred functional entities were not associated prior to the transfer.

Ribosome mediated translation involves hybridising the anti-codon of tRNAs to a mRNA template and generating a bond between the amino acid residues harboured by the tRNAs. Only 2 reactive groups are reacted in order to generate the peptide bond between neighbouring amino acid residues in the growing peptide chain. Ribosome mediated translation employs the principle of template directed synthesis and does not involve hybridization of a plurality of connector polynucleotides (CPNs) to a plurality of complementary connector polynucleotides (CCPNs). Another difference between ribosome mediated translation and the method of the present invention is that in the present method for synthesising at least one molecule, at least 1 CCPN hybridizes to at least 2 CPNs.
Additional examples of template directed synthesis methods are disclosed in WO 93/03172 (Gold et al.) and WO 02/074929 (Liu et al.). The methods of the present invention are not related to template directed synthesis as no templates are employed in the methods of the present invention.
Enzymatic ligation and chemical ligation are processes well known in the art. In some cases only 2 reactive groups react in order to generate a product. An example is a reaction between e.g. a 5′-phosphate group of a nucleotide and a 3′-hydroxy group of another nucleotide.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the synthesis and formation of a molecule in accordance with the methods of the present invention does not result in polynucleotides being covalently linked once the molecule has been formed. Rather, the plurality of CCPNs having donated functional entities to the synthesis of the molecule comprising reacted reactants, such as e.g. covalently linked functional entities, remain hybridised to one or more CPNs and do not become covalently linked once the molecule comprising covalently linked functional entities has been generated.

Quasirandom structure and function guided synthesis methods