A variety of systems and methods are described which quickly and conveniently provide for the selective transmission of individual solid pharmaceutical products from a common location into individual blister package product cavities. In accordance with the preferred exemplary embodiments, an automated alignment mechanism alters the orientation of solid pharmaceutical products that are initially arranged randomly in a two-dimensional array into one or more linear transmission systems. Each linear transmission system is essentially a one-dimensional stack of solid pharmaceutical products, vitamins or other elements. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, after the solid pharmaceutical products have been arranged in one or more of the linear transmission systems or vertical stacks, the solid pharmaceutical products are selectively transmitted into individual product package blister cavities or into product package templates having locations corresponding to the blister package cavities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of automated solid pharmaceutical packaging systems. More specifically, the present invention is directed to automated systems and methods for arranging solid pharmaceutical products in a linear transmission system for the selective transmission of individual solid pharmaceuticals, medications or vitamins.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, there are wide variety of known solid pharmaceutical product packaging systems and methods. These conventional packaging and dispensing systems and methods rely upon a variety of different techniques for selectively transmitting one or more solid pharmaceutical products into a package. For example, some of these known systems and methods utilize individual automated dispensing canisters provided in an array such that the array of canisters is arranged to selectively transmit a variety of different pharmaceutical products into a package via a common funnel. Typically, these known conventional systems rely upon a vertically stacked arrangement of the automated dispensing canisters so that a gravity feed path may be provided from the canisters to the common funnel.
One such known system is described in United States patent publication number 2001-xxxxxx. This conventional system provides a funnel that receives the individual solid pharmaceutical products which are selectively transmitted from the individual canisters of the array. The funnel is then selectively located over either a blister package cavity or a temporary storage mechanism that subsequently drops the solid pharmaceutical product into the desired package cavity of a typical blister package. The blister package cavities are subsequently sealed and provided to individual patients.
Another conventional system for selectively packaging pharmaceutical products relies upon the use of a robotic arm for selectively locating a desired automated solid pharmaceutical product dispensing canister at a location corresponding to a solid pharmaceutical product blister package cavity. The robotic arm is programmed to selectively access the automated dispensing canisters which are provided in an array surrounding the robotic arm for convenient access. When the robotic arm positions one of more dispensing canisters above locations corresponding to blister package cavities, the automated dispensing canisters are triggered to release the solid pharmaceutical product into a blister package cavity or package template. Although the known conventional systems have provided a reliable mechanism for automatically packaging solid pharmaceutical products, there are several remaining shortcomings associated with these existing systems.
First, in regard to the systems and methods which utilize a common funnel for initially receiving a plurality of solid pharmaceutical products, there is a noticeable delay associated with the time that it takes for an individual solid pharmaceutical product to transit into its desired location for a blister package cavity from the canister via the funnel. Furthermore, these known systems require additional time for aligning the funnel with respect to its desired location relative to the destination blister package cavity. Although the known systems are significantly faster and more accurate than other conventional techniques, there is always a demand for increases in throughput which typically correlate with a reduction in cost for the packaging operation.
As mentioned above, another packaging technique is the use of a robotic arm to selectively locate one or more automated dispensing canisters at a location corresponding to the desired solid pharmaceutical blister package cavity for placement of the solid pharmaceutical product. Although this approach also improves productivity, this known technique requires that the automated robotic arm physically move each canister from a temporary storage location to the location of each blister package cavity into which the solid pharmaceutical product is to be dispensed. The cumulative transit time that is required for selectively grabbing and moving each automated dispensing canister to the desired location for packaging the solid pharmaceutical products is also significant.
In the United States and throughout the world, as the aging population increases, there is a corresponding if not greater increase in the demand for patient medications. Consequently, there is an ever increasing demand for pharmaceutical packaging products which are both extremely accurate and fast. Although the existing conventional systems quickly and accurately fill solid pharmaceutical product packages, there remains a need for improved throughput and greater efficiencies in the pharmaceutical packaging systems.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide systems and methods for automatically filling blister packages with solid pharmaceutical products both quickly and accurately. Another object of the present invention is to provide a direct transmission path from a temporary storage location for a plurality of specific solid pharmaceutical products into a desired blister package cavity. Another object and advantage of the present invention is to provide systems and methods which can provide greater throughput over existing conventional automated solid pharmaceutical packaging systems and methods. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in light of the following summary and detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments.

Systems and methods for packaging solid pharmaceutical and/or nutraceutical products and automatically arranging the solid pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products in a linear transmission system


This is a method for the preparation of polyurethane/acrylic-or-vinyl latexes for use in waterborne adhesives or coatings in which the urethane polymer component has no urea linkages. A fully reacted emulsifiable polyurethane is prepared in an acrylic or vinyl monomer, which acts as the solvent or diluent for the polyurethane. The monomer and polyurethane are then coemulsified, free radical initiators are added, and a regular acrylic or vinyl addition polymerization is carried out.

It is now recognized that waterborne urethane/acrylic-or-vinyl emulsions can be prepared for use as coatings or adhesives with the advantage over earlier systems of being essentially free of volatile organic solvents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,030 issued to Loewrigkeit et al. teaches that these systems can be made by producing an isocyanate terminated polyurethane prepolymer in the presence of inert liquid polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer, dispersing the prepolymer and monomer into water, chain extending the prepolymer, and subjecting the aqueous dispersion to vinyl addition polymerization conditions to polymerize the monomer. The use of the monomer as reactive diluent and solvent eliminates the need for an organic solvent medium and is claimed to result in intermixed or interpenetrated polymers. In the sequence followed in the process of this reference, the prepolymer polyurethane is dispersed into water and then chain extended. This sequence requires that the chain extender have hydrogens that are more reactive with isocyanate than does water. The chain extenders of choice for this purpose are typically and preferably organic polyamines. The result is a urethane polymer having both urethane and urea linkages.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,876 issued to Coogan et al. discloses a similar process and further discloses that the prepolymer polyurethane may be chain extended with water. As will be appreciated, when water is used as a chain extender, the result is a polymer having both urethane and urea linkages.
In general, urethane polymers containing no urea linkages will produce clearer films or coatings. It is assumed that this occurs because in some cases the presence of urea linkages could lead to crystallinity of the polymers, which translates to opacity in the resultant films or coatings. Therefore, there is a need for a method of preparing urethane/acrylic-or-vinyl emulsions in which the urethane polymer component contains no urea linkages.

Process for preparing urethane/acrylic-or-vinyl latexes

National Starch and Chemical Investment Holding Corporation


An apparatus and process for dividing a nonwoven web into a plurality of ribbons. An assembly of converging ribbons receive and grip the incoming continuous web to create a travel distance differential. One portion of the continuous web is pulled through the assembly of belts at a different velocity than another adjacent portion of the continuous web. Because adjacent portions of the continuous web travel a different distance over a period of time, the orientation of fibers in the web between the two adjacent portions of the web is altered. As the fibers become oriented in the machine direction, the web begins to split into continuous ribbons of desired width.

The present invention relates to processing a web of fibers into thread and, more particularly, relates to dividing a nonwoven web into multiple continuous ribbons.
Yarn is a strand composed of fibers, filament, or other materials, either natural or man-made, suitable for use in the manufacture of fabrics. Most fiber processing operations are performed by mechanical means. Typically, natural fibers such as cotton, or man-made materials, are shipped in bales to a textile mill for yarn manufacturing. The traditional processing method involves subjecting the bail of cotton to opening and cleaning, picking, carding, combing, drawing and spinning.
The cotton bale is opened and its fibers are raked mechanically to remove foreign matter. A picker then wraps the fibers into a lap. A carding machine brushes the loose fibers into rows that are joined as a soft continuous nonwoven sheet, or web, and forms them into loose untwisted rope known as card sliver. For higher quality yarn, the sliver is put through a combing machine, which strengthens the fibers to a finer degree. In the drawing stage, rollers reduce the sliver to a uniform strand of a usable size. The drawing stage is also commonly referred to as the drafting stage. Even thinner strands may be produced by pulling and slightly twisting the sliver. Finally, the sliver is transferred to a spinning frame, where it is drawn further, and wound on a bobbin as yarn.
However, the drawing process to reduce the sliver to a usable size, and then the pulling on the sliver to reduce the sliver further, are time and space consuming steps of the yarn making process. Eliminating the drawing and the pulling of the sliver would create a faster, more efficient, yarn making process.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and process for dividing a continuous, nonwoven web from the carding machine into a plurality of continuous ribbons. The present invention must forego the drawing and pulling of the web into a sliver, but permit the ribbons to be manufactured according to desired widths with a uniform linear density.
The present invention solves the above-identified problems by providing an apparatus and process for dividing a continuous web into a plurality of continuous ribbons. The present invention utilizes differences in travel distance of different portions of the continuous web to achieve fiber parallelization and repetition. The difference in travel distance between portions of the continuous web is achieved by creating a velocity differential between adjacent portions of the web over a fixed period of time.
Generally described, the present invention includes an apparatus for providing a plurality of continuous ribbons from a continuous nonwoven web. The apparatus includes an assembly of converging belts. At least two pairs of converging belts lie longitudinally adjacent to one another. Each pair of converging belts cooperate to receive and grip the incoming continuous web. At least one pair of converging belts varies the speed of one portion of the continuous web relative to another adjacent portion of the continuous web driven by the other pair of converging belts. Because adjacent portions of the continuous web are driven at different speeds, the continuous web is divided in a longitudinal manner into two continuous ribbons of desired width.
According to one aspect of the invention, a wheel sized to facilitate shearing engages and places pressure on each pair of converging belts. Because the belts are then urged against the continuous web, the continuous web is gripped by the belts.
According to another aspect of the invention, a pair of pressure pads persuades a pair of converging belts against the continuous web. The pressure pads are laterally spaced from one another and substantially coextensive. The pressure pads are moveable with respect to one another to permit the pair of belts to pass therebetween.

Apparatus and process for dividing a nonwoven web


It is intended to provide sanitary paper which is excellent in texture such as moistness and softness and scarcely causes skin irritation or blushing even if it is brought into contact with the skin frequently. Namely, sanitary paper having an oil absorbance specified in JIS P8141 of 7 mm or less and a moisture content of from 9.50 to 15.00% (measured in accordance with JIS P8127 after conditioning in accordance with JIS P8111); carrying a solution, which contains a moistening agent, a softener, an antioxidant and so on, coated in a dose of 46.0 to 160.0 mg/cm3 of the paper base; and having a bending hardness B measured with the use of a pure bending machine of from 0.0040 to 0.0060 g·cm2/cm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to sanitary paper such as facial tissues.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, so-called luxury type facial tissues have come onto the market which touch softly on the skin by containing a solution such as softener in the tissues. These tissues have become popular as it hardly stings the skin by blowing one's nose, or makes the nose to turn reddish.
However, usual sanitary paper which contains a solution could not prevent the sting and the redness of the skin sufficiently.
Thus, our diligent effort revealed that when usual sanitary paper with a solution touches the corneal surface, the sheet removes the sebum of the surface. Therefore, when the sanitary paper touches the same part of the skin frequently, the sebum will be removed first by the sanitary paper and then, at the place where the sebum was removed, the moisture inside the corneum will be removed. Accordingly, the skin will become rough and will turn reddish.


A VoIP access point may be operable to provide VoIP servicing to a plurality of wireless audio endpoint devices. The VoIP access point may extract VoIP audio data received via IP backbone and communicating the extracted audio data as non-VoIP formatted data to the wireless audio endpoint devices. In the uplink direction, the VoIP access point may receive non-VoIP formatted audio data from the wireless audio endpoint devices and pack the received data into IP packets for VoIP communication. The VoIP access point may also be operable to perform PCM encoding/decoding operations during VoIP servicing operations. The wireless audio endpoint devices may perform audio processing during VoIP communications via the VoIP access point. One or more intermediary communication devices may be utilized to route messaging between the VoIP access point and at least some of the wireless audio endpoint devices.

The field of communication has seen dramatic growth the last few years, especially wireless communication. In today's world, most people use their wireless devices for various purposes, business and personal, on a constant and daily basis. Society is truly becoming a wireless one. A lot of wireless solutions have been introduced, and have made tremendous strides into everyday's life.
For example, the use of Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN) has gained a lot of popularity in a great number of applications because of the flexibility and convenience in connectivity they provide. WPAN systems generally replace cumbersome cabling and/or wiring used to connect peripheral devices and/or mobile terminals by providing short distance wireless links that allow connectivity within very narrow spatial limits (typically, a 10-meter range). WPAN may be based on standardized technologies, for example Class 2 Bluetooth (BT) technology. While WPAN may be very beneficial for certain applications, other applications may require larger service areas and/or capabilities.
Other technologies have been developed to provide greater wireless service. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) systems may operate within a 100-meter range, for example. In contrast to the WPAN systems, WLAN provide connectivity to devices that are located within a slightly larger geographical area, such as the area covered by a building or a campus, for example. WLAN systems are generally based on specific standards, for example IEEE 802.11 standard specifications, and typically operate within a 100-meter range, and are generally utilized to supplement the communication capacity provided by traditional wired Local Area Networks (LANs) installed in the same geographic area as the WLAN system.
Other forms of wireless solutions have evolved from traditional land-based communication technologies. For instance, cellular phones have become an almost absolute necessity in today's world. Many modern cellular technologies, including such technologies as GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS, and CDMA2000, incorporate many features and capabilities. Most of today's cellular services include, in addition to voice calls, such features as text messaging, video streaming, and/or web browsing.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Method and system for endpoint based architecture for VoIP access points


The present disclosure involves a method of fabricating a semiconductor device in a semiconductor technology node that is 5-nanometer or smaller. An opening is formed that extends through a plurality of layers over a substrate. A barrier layer is formed on surfaces of the opening. A liner layer is formed over the barrier layer in the opening. The barrier layer and the liner layer have different material compositions. The opening is filled with a non-copper metal material. The non-copper material is formed over the liner layer. In some embodiments, the non-copper metal material includes cobalt.

The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological advances in IC materials and design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. However, these advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC processing and manufacturing are needed. In the course of integrated circuit evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased.
As a part of the semiconductor fabrication, conductive elements may be formed to provide electrical interconnections for the various components for an IC. Typically, these conductive elements are formed by etching trenches+via or openings in various layers and filling these trenches+via with a conductive material. However, as semiconductor fabrication technology nodes continue to evolve, the critical dimension is becoming so small that filling trench+via with the conductive material may not be easy. Often times, issues such as voids or overhang may arise during the filling of the trenches+via. These issues may degrade the performance of the semiconductor device and may even lead to device failures.
Therefore, while conventional filling techniques have been generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been entirely satisfactory in every aspect.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Trench liner for removing impurities in a non-copper trench

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.


A radiographic apparatus detector and method therefore obtains an image having excellent recognition without the effect of body movement. A single composite image is generated by connecting strip images in the movement direction of a radiation emitter, which are extending in a direction orthogonal to an emitter movement direction. A flat panel detector (FPD) moves so that an incident radiation region in the FPD follows the shooting. A transmissive image with an improved visual recognition is obtained since shooting the strip image in the FPD is conducted by using an unused part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiographic apparatus to conduct an imaging of a transmissive image of a subject by using radiation, and to conduct especially a slot radiography to obtain plural rectangular images, and to generate a single image by connecting the obtained images in a width side direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring now to FIG. 11, a conventional radiographic apparatus to take an image of a subject M by radiation is equipped in a medical facility. Such radiographic apparatus 51 comprises a table 52 on which the subject is loaded, a radiation source 53 to irradiate a radiation, and a radiation detector 54. An image in which a transmissive image of the subject M appears based on the signal output from the radiation detector 54 is obtained.
Some of such radiographic apparatus have a constitution which eliminates an effect of scattered radiation to provide a clear image. A manner to take an image by using such radiographic apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 11. The radiation source 53 and the radiation detector 54 move in a length direction of the table 52 while keeping each other's positional relationship. Plural images are taken during this movement. One composite image can be generated by connecting these plural images.
On shooting, a broadening of radiation irradiated from the radiation source 53 is restricted in the length direction of the table. (Referring to FIG. 11) Accordingly, each image taken is a long thin strip image in a width direction of table 52. The region N (in FIG. 11) indicates a part of the incident radiation beam B in the radiation detector 54. This region N is a radiography shooting angle of the radiation detector 54 when a strip image is obtained.
On the other hand, when the radiation passes through a subject M, a part of radiation scatters in the body of the subject M and becomes a scattered radiation S. The scattered radiation S is a cause that leads to an unclear image. Accordingly, it is preferable that the scattered radiation S is eliminated during conducting radiography when an image is taken.
According to a conventional constitution, a turbulence production in an image due to a scattered radiation S is suppressed by repeatedly taking strip images T. Specifically, the scattered radiation occurs in the body of the subject M changes the direction of travel due to scattering. Accordingly, the scattered radiation S directs towards the radiation detector 54 while it is out of the direction of travel of X-ray beam B. Accordingly, the scattered radiation S is not incident in the region N that is a shooting angle when a strip image T is taken. Accordingly, as the scattered radiation S which is a cause to produce turbulence is not an incident radiation, the obtained strip image T is a clear image without an effect of the scattered radiation S.
Then, referring to FIG. 12, a conventional composite image incorporating the whole body image of the subject M can be generated by arraying sequentially obtained strip images T in the length direction of table 52 over time and in order of shooting time. Since this composite image has been generated from images taken over time with excluding a scattered radiation S, it is clear but with the detriment of time. If the body moves in the time the images is not clear.
A radiographic apparatus comprising a means to cut a shooting time by minimizing movement of radiation detector 54 has been provided nowadays. The shorter movement of the radiation detector 54 becomes shorter, within the shorter time frame, the strip images T can be taken continuously. Accordingly, the shooting can be completed without letting the body of the subject M move and thus no disarray of images at the connection point occurs when the strip images T are connected. Accordingly, a composite image having an excellent visual recognition can be generated by such radiographic apparatus. (Patent Document 1 WO 2010/050032), however the shooting time cannot be further decreased.

Radiographic apparatus and method for the same


A method for producing a semiconductor device, including the steps of: forming a recess on a first side of a metal substrate; forming a film, made of a metal that is not dissolved by an etchant solution which dissolves the metal substrate, on an inner surface of the recess; punch-pressing a region of the metal substrate that corresponds to an area of the metal film from a second side of the metal substrate so that the area of the metal film formed on the inner surface of the recess becomes substantially flush with the first side of the metal substrate, thereby forming a bonding pad from an extending portion of the metal film that extends from the inner surface of the recess over the first side of the metal substrate; mounting the semiconductor chip on said first side; wire-bonding electrodes of the semiconductor chip and the bonding pads; sealing the first side of the metal substrate that includes the semiconductor chip, the bonding wire and the metal film with resin; and dissolving and removing the metal substrate by etching, thereby exposing the metal film formed on the inner surface of the recess.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing a semiconductor device having resin bumps, that serve as external connection terminals, formed integrally with a resin-sealed portion that seals a semiconductor chip, and a metal substrate applicable to the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a semiconductor device having external connection terminals formed by means of resin bumps that are formed integrally with a resin-sealed portion. In the drawing, reference numeral 10 denotes a semiconductor chip, 12 denotes a resin-sealed portion and 14 denotes an external connection terminal. The external connection terminals 14 are formed by providing metal films 18 to coat the resin bumps 16 formed to protrude from the bottom face of the resin-sealed portion 12 on the chip mounting face of the semiconductor device. Electrodes of the semiconductor chip 10 and the metal films 18 are electrically connected via bonding wires 20. Reference numeral 22 denotes a resin that protects the back face of the semiconductor chip by preventing the bottom face of the semiconductor chip 10 from being exposed from the resin-sealed portion 12.
FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the semiconductor device. The external connection terminals 14 are arranged at positions that surround the semiconductor chip 10, with the metal film 18 of each of the external connection terminals 14 being electrically connected to the electrode of the semiconductor chip 10 by wire-bonding. When the semiconductor chip 10 and the metal film 18 of the external connection terminals 14 are connected directly with the bonding wire 20, a wiring pattern for electrically connecting the external connection terminals and the bonding wires becomes unnecessary, and it is also unnecessary to secure a space for providing the wiring pattern, thus making it possible to reduce the size of the semiconductor device.
FIG. 3(a) to FIG. 3(e) show the method of producing the semiconductor device described above. First, a photo-resist is applied to the surface of a metal substrate 30 such as copper foil, exposed to light and developed, thereby to form a photo-resist pattern 32 with openings where the external connection terminals 14 are to be formed (FIG. 3(a)). Then the metal substrate 30 is half-etched using the photo-resist pattern 32 as a mask to form a recess 34 (FIG. 3(b)). The inner surface of the recess 34 is then coated with plating of palladium or the like to form a metal film 18 (FIG. 3(c)). Then the semiconductor chip 10 is mounted on the metal substrate 30 via the chip fastening resin 22, and the electrodes of the semiconductor chip 10 and the metal films 18 formed on the bottom faces of the recesses 34 are connected by wire-bonding (FIG. 3(d)).
Then one side of the metal substrate 30 whereon the semiconductor chip 10 is mounted is sealed with a resin by a resin sealing apparatus. FIG. 3(e) shows the condition of the semiconductor chip 10 sealed with the resin. The semiconductor device is obtained by dissolving and removing the metal substrate 30 by etching the semiconductor chip 10 sealed with the resin. There is another method of producing the semiconductor device in which the metal films 18, the resin-sealed portion 12 and the like are formed in such a way as can be exfoliated from the metal substrate 30, and the resin-sealed portion 12 is exfoliated from the metal substrate 30 thereby separating them after sealing with the resin.
The semiconductor device described above is characterized by the fact that the semiconductor device can be provided as a small size product. However, because the resin bump 16 is formed integrally with the resin-sealed portion 12 when sealed with the resin, it is necessary to form the recess 34 in the metal substrate 30. Also because the bottom face of the recess 34 serves as a bonding pad, an area necessary for bonding must be secured on the bottom face of the recess 34, thus making it impossible to arrange the external connection terminals 14 in a high density.
FIG. 4(a) and FIG. 4(b) are enlarged views of the arrangement of the connections between the external connection terminals 14 and the mounting substrate. In the semiconductor device of the prior art, a bonding pad for connecting the external connection terminals 14 to the mounting substrate is a rectangle measuring about 0.6.times.0.3 mm, with intervals of about 0.65 mm between terminals. The bonding pad for connecting the external connection terminal 14 has a rectangular shape because a certain amount of area is required for the bonding pad and because the bottom face of the recess 34 is required to have a certain amount of area in order to prevent a bonding tool or the bonding wire 20 from making contact with an edge of the recess 34 when the bonding tool advances toward the bottom face of the recess 34. The recess 34 is also required to have a depth of about 0.3 mm in order to ensure the height of the external connection terminals 14.
When a product having a multitude of pins is produced with the semiconductor device having resin bumps 16 that serve as external connection terminals 14 being formed integrally with the resin-sealed portion 12 that seals the semiconductor chip, layout of the external connection terminals 14 is limited in the connecting construction of the prior art, and it is difficult to effectively mount with high density.


The present invention is directed to a folded cascode amplifier with an enhanced slew rate, which includes a folded cascode amplifying circuit, a first input circuit and a second input circuit. The second input circuit has an electricity type opposite to that of the first input circuit. The first input circuit is connected, via its driving nodes, to the folded cascode amplifying circuit, and the second input circuit is connected, via its driving nodes, to crossover nodes of the first input circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a folded cascode amplifier, and more particularly to a folded cascode amplifier with an enhanced slew rate.
2. Description of Related Art
A folded cascode amplifier is one of operational transconductance amplifiers (OTA). The folded cascode amplifier has a large gain and a large signal swing, and is commonly made in a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit to be a basic building block for a variety of applications.
FIG. 1A shows a circuit diagram of a conventional folded cascode amplifier, which includes a (p-type) input pair 11 made of p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistors M1 and M2. The slew rate (SR) of the conventional folded cascode amplifier as shown in FIG. 1A so is low such that the amplifier possesses nonlinearity characteristics. Analytically speaking, the transistor M1 is turned off and the transistor M2 is turned on when a non-inverting input voltage Vin+ is near a power VDD and an inverting input voltage Vin− is near a ground GND. As a result, an entire current 2Ib flows through the transistors M2 and M4. As transistors M3 and M4 form a current mirror, a current of the transistor M3 is also 2Ib. As the transistor M1 is off, the current of the transistor M3 is provided from a path made of transistors M9, M7 and M5. Moreover, as the transistors M9 and M10 form a current mirror, a current of the transistor M10 is also 2Ib, which charges a load capacitance C at an output node Vout via a transistor M8, therefore resulting in a slew rate SR=2Ib/C. An input range of the folded cascode amplifier as shown in FIG. 1A is between 0 and VDD−Vds_M0−Vt_M1.
FIG. 1B shows a circuit diagram of another conventional folded cascode amplifier, which includes an (n-type) input pair 12 made of n-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistors Q1 and Q2. The folded cascode amplifier as shown in FIG. 1B may charge a load capacitance CL at an output node Vo, therefore resulting in a slew rate similar to that of FIG. 1A, and an input range between Vss+Vds+Vt and VDD.
FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of a further conventional folded cascode amplifier, which includes an n-type input pair 21 made of NMOS transistors Q1/Q2 and a p-type input pair 22 made of PMOS transistors Q3/Q4. The input range of the folded cascode amplifier as shown in FIG. 2 is between 0 and VDD, which is wider than those of FIGS. 1A and 1B. However, a slew rate of FIG. 2 is the same as that of FIGS. 1A and 1B, that is, SR=2Ib/C.
FIG. 3 shows a circuit diagram of a further conventional folded cascode amplifier, which has a larger transconductance, a larger gain and a larger slew rate than the folded cascode amplifiers discussed above. Analytically speaking, transistors M1a and M1b are turned off and a transistor M2a enters into a deep triode region when a non-inverting input voltage Vin+ is near a power VDD and an inverting input voltage Vin− is near a ground GND. As a result, an entire current 2Ib flows through transistors M2b, M11 and M3b. As transistors M3a and M3b form a current mirror and their size ratio is M3a:M3b=K:1, a current of the transistor M3a is thus 2KIb, which is provided from a path made of transistors M9, M7 and M5. Moreover, as the transistors M9 and M10 form a current mirror, a current of the transistor M10 is also 2KIb, which charges a load capacitance C at an output node Vout via a transistor M8, therefore resulting in a slew rate SR=2KIb/C.
FIG. 4 shows a modified folded cascode amplifier of FIG. 3. In addition to a p-type input pair 41 made of PMOS transistors, an n-type input pair 42 made of NMOS transistors is further used. The input range of the folded cascode amplifier as shown in FIG. 4 is between 0 and VDD, which is wider than that of FIG. 3. However, a slew rate of FIG. 4 is the same as that of FIG. 3, that is, SR=2KIb/C.
For the reason that the slew rates of the conventional folded cascode amplifiers are not large enough, a need has thus arisen to propose a novel folded cascode amplifier with an enhanced slew rate in order to enlarge a range of applications.

Folded cascode amplifier with an enhanced slew rate


A method, a device and a medium for allocating a resource based on a type of a PCI device are provided. In a case of running a BIOS program during a start-up process, information of a Switch chip captured by a PCI enumeration operation is acquired. It is determined whether the PCI device is connected to a GPU server based on the information of the Switch chip. An operation of allocating the PCI device with an IO resource is cancelled in a case that the PCI device is connected to the GPU server, and the PCI device is allocated with an IO resource and a memory resource based on a preset allocation rule in a case that the PCI device is not connected to the GPU server.

PCI devices mainly use two types of resources, that is, the IO resource and the memory resource. A PCI device may be allocated with a certain resource according to an actual type of the PCI device. For example, a Super IO chip uses only the IO resource, and a PCI device such as a network card and a consuming-level graphics card may use both the IO resource and the memory resource.
In practice, in a case of running a BIOS program during a start-up process, the IO resource is limited to be a size of 64 k. However, during the process, each PCI device is allocated with an IO resource of 4 k, thus some PCI devices may not operate normally in a case that the number of the PCI devices is equal to or greater than 16. For example, if the PCI device is a graphics card, the graphics card may not operate normally. As can be seen, the above problem is caused by the requirement for a large amount of the IO resources. Further, the PCI device may not use any IO resource in some certain cases, for example, in a case that the PCI device is connected to a GPU server, thus it is unnecessary to allocate the PCI device with any IO resource.
Therefore, a problem to be solved urgently by those skilled in the art is how to ensure availability of a PCI device during resource allocation for the PCI device.

Method, device and medium for allocating resource based on type of PCI device

ZHENGZHOU YUNHAI INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus may determine that a voice over long term evolution (VoLTE) service has encountered a threshold quantity of failures within a particular period of time. The apparatus may transfer from a VoLTE mode associated with the VoLTE service to another mode for a voice call based on determining that the VoLTE service has encountered the threshold quantity of failures within the particular period of time.

Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to switching to/from voice over long term evolution (VoLTE) for a voice call.
Description of Related Art
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems (e.g., CDMA2000 1× (1×) systems), time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.
These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example telecommunication standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). LTE is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using OFDMA on the downlink (DL), SC-FDMA on the uplink (UL), and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology. However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in LTE technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

Switching to/from voice over long term evolution (VoLTE) for a voice call


Devices and methods are contemplated in which a plurality of microfractures are generated on the surface of an article to so generate a non-abrasive surface having a COF of at least 0.6. Most preferably, the surface is the surface of a transparent polymer and is the surface is structured to allow high-resolution display of an image that is disposed on a surface opposite the surface with the microfractures. Consequently, numerous anti-slip products with such surfaces are contemplated.

Traction of surfaces, and especially of wet surfaces is often critical to safety in numerous environments, and many devices and methods are known in the art to increase traction. Most of the known devices and methods will fall into one of three conceptually different classes. The first class can be characterized as devices having relatively large surface modifications to thereby trap a portion of a foot or to provide a significant curvature of the surface to reduce sliding motion. For example, DE 41 27 973 teaches a bath tub mat with large indentations that engage at least a portion (typically heel) of a foot. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,779 teaches surfaces with large rounded nodules and drain channels, and US2008/0216228A1 teaches a compressible top layer made from soft foam material with channels and raised elements to drain water. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,729 teaches a substantially non-slip, non-abrasive surface that has polysulfide coating layer with relatively large solid elastomer particles.
While such devices and methods typically reduce the incidence of standing water, and with that the risk of sliding, grooves or otherwise shaped recesses will typically lead to puddling of water. Moreover, such surfaces are almost entirely unsuitable for most commercial and sporting uses. Still further, traction of such surfaces will decrease when the surface is wet, and soap or other detergents will often negate all benefits of such macro-structured surfaces.
The second class can be characterized as devices having relatively small and abrasive surface modifications. For example, GB 1141073 teaches multiple enamel layers that fuse to form a friction surface where refractory granules form an abrasive layer in the final product. Alternatively, sand or other abrasive materials can be added as a friction layer in a polymeric carrier, which may be overlaid with a plastic layer as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,344 and WO 87/00019. Unfortunately, such devices typically exhibit significant wear and tend to lose friction relatively fast. Worse yet, such surfaces often lead to abrasive injuries, especially where the friction layer is not covered. On the other hand, where the friction layer is covered with a polymer layer to reduce injury, most of the benefits tend to disappear, especially when the surface is wet.
To overcome difficulties associated with plastic surfaces, a third class of devices employs cloth or other textile materials to increase friction as, for example, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,943 and 6,946,183. While such devices typically have desirable friction characteristics when wet, retention of such devices is more difficult. Moreover, such devices can often not be retained in wet state for prolonged periods of time without cleaning as the wet textile materials tend to accumulate mold very quickly.
Alternatively, non-slip materials can be temporarily applied to a surface as described, for example, in WO94/19414 where mixtures of a polymer and a petroleum or synthetic wax or silicone are applied to a surface. To increase retention and friction of the material, one or more tackifier agents can be, especially where water is present. While such compositions typically retain their tackiness in the wet state due to their generally hydrophobic nature, they will often attract soil and other undesirable items, especially over prolonged use. Moreover, such surface modification is often not practical, especially in bath tubs, showers, or public places (e.g., deck of a boat or jet ski).
Moreover, and regardless of the manner of increasing traction, all or almost all of the currently known traction devices fail to provide a simple and cost-effective option to include a decorative finish that is protected from the user and environment, let alone a customizable finish using high-resolution photographs or digital image files. Thus, even though numerous devices and methods for increasing friction are known in the art, all or all of them suffer from one or more disadvantages. Consequently, there is still a need to provide improved methods and devices that are customizable, and have excellent traction, even in wet environments.


A fuel injection valve for fuel injection systems of internal combustion engines, in particular for direct injection of fuel into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, has a magnet coil, an armature that can be moved by the magnet coil in a linear stroke direction toward a first return spring, and a valve needle joined to a valve closure element. In the linear stroke direction, the armature engages positively on the valve needle. In the opposite direction, the armature is freely movable independently of the valve needle toward a second return spring. The armature is bearing-mounted on the valve needle by way of at least one slide bearing having several balls.

The present invention is based on a fuel injection valve. German Published Patent Application No. 33 14 899 has already disclosed an electromagnetically actuable fuel injection valve in which, for electromagnetic actuation, an armature coacts with an electrically energizable magnet coil, and the linear stroke of the armature is transferred via a needle valve to a valve closure element. The valve closure element coacts with a valve seat surface in order to constitute a sealing fit. The valve needle is acted upon in the spray discharge direction by a first return spring, so that when the magnet coil is not energized, the valve closure element is held in sealing contact against the valve seat surface. The armature is not immovably joined to the valve needle, but rather is held, by a second return spring acting opposite to the spray discharge direction and in the linear stroke direction of the armature, against an entraining piece of the valve needle. When the linear stroke movement of the armature occurs, the valve needle is therefore entrained by the armature via the entraining piece, so that the valve closure element lifts off from the valve seat surface in order to open the fuel injection valve. Once the armature comes to a stop against the stop surface provided, after the linear stroke movement is complete, the valve needle can still move slightly toward the first return spring by the fact that the entraining piece lifts off from the armature. In this context, the movement direction of the valve needle is reversed by the first return spring. The armature bounces back slightly from the stop surface, its movement direction being reversed by the second return spring. The valve needle and the armature then strike against one another moving in opposite directions, and the kinetic energy of the two-mass, two-spring system is dissipated. Because of the kinematic separation of the armature and the valve needle, bouncing of the valve needle and the armature is thus greatly reduced by comarison with a usual fuel injection valve having the armature and valve needle immovably joined. The metering accuracy of the fuel injection valve can thereby be improved.
When the fuel injection valve known from German Published Patent Application No. 33 14 899 is closed, the armature also lifts off from the entraining piece of the valve needle when the valve needle is abruptly decelerated by impact of the valve closure element against the valve seat surface. The armature then moves toward the second return spring, which moves the armature back opposite to the closing direction until the armature is once again resting flush against the entraining piece of the valve needle. Bouncing of the fuel injection valve is thus greatly decreased in the closing direction as well.
In the fuel injection valve known from German Published Patent Application No. 33 14 899, however, there exists the disadvantage that the armature is guided in unsatisfactory fashion on the valve needle or on the entraining piece of the valve needle. Guidance is accomplished by the fact that the entraining piece of the valve needle is inserted into a corresponding bore of the armature. Because of the inaccuracy of the guidance, the effectiveness of the above-described debouncing of the fuel injection valve is therefore limited. In addition, the flow connection for the fuel in the region of the cup-shaped armature is attained in unsatisfactory fashion. Passthrough openings for the fuel are provided in the peripheral region of the bottom of the cup-shaped armature. The passthrough openings are arranged so that relatively high flow resistance for the fuel results, with the risk of creating undesirable turbulence.


A display device comprises a display element for displaying luminous images corresponding to color information on a second face of a screen; a polarization converting sheet which is disposed on the screen so that light irradiated from the screen enters and transmits selectively light having a first mode of polarization; and a liquid crystal color shutter which is disposed on the polarization converting sheet and transmits selectively light having the first mode of polarization so as to output as light of at least one color of primary colors corresponding to the color information. A display device may be an achromatic CRT. Thereby, a display device bright and large in its display screen can be realized with a simple constitution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device for displaying images. In particular, the present invention relates to a display device capable of displaying color images. In addition, the present invention relates to a display device having a large screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of display devices have been proposed. For instance, CRTs are being very widely used in such as television receivers, monitors of information processing device and the like. Further, in recent years, flat-panel displays such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays (FEDs) and the like are remarkable. Among them, liquid crystal displays have been used as the display devices in place of CRTs more frequently.
Now, in order to display color images, it is required that the three images, each of which consists of the light of each primary color, R(red), G(green), and B(blue) are synthesized. As a method of synthesizing images, a spatial division displaying method, in which each image is displayed by the 2-dimensionally arranged R, G, B dots (pixels), is known. Further, a time division display method, in which each image of R, G, B color is time sequentially displayed is also known, too. In generally used color CRTs and liquid crystal displays are based on the spacial division displaying method because R, G, B pixels are 2-dimensionally arranged on a screen.
The time division displaying can be realized by switching the colors of an over-all display screen synchronized with graded images to be displayed rapidly, using using an RGB color filter. In the time division displaying, it is required to display images with higher speed of 3 times or more compared with the case of spatial division displaying. However, since it is not required to decompose an image into R, G, B pixels, more high definition images can be displayed. As a method of switching colors of display screen, for instance, a method of mechanical rotation of a disc filter which is equally divided into 3 parts of different colors. As an electronic color switching method, a liquid crystal color shutter (LCCS) is proposed by Bos et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,920). The liquid crystal color shutter comprises two liquid crystal cells and color polarizers interposed before and behind them. By ON/OFF switching of the liquid crystal cells to control polarization of incident light, the wavelength of the light absorption by the polarizers are selected, so that RGB selectable displaying can be carried out. Advantages of the color liquid crystal shutter are that there is no mechanically moving component, and it has good space utility because the area of the display screen and that of the color shutter can be made equal.
Despite the aforementioned advantages of the liquid crystal color shutter, there is a problem that its transmittance of light is low due to use of polarizers. Due to the absorption of one component of polarized light, one half of the incident light is lost. Further, due to making chromatic color from achromatic light and switching of RGB displaying, one third of the incident light is lost. Therefore, even in the case of an ideal liquid crystal color shutter, the transmittance is about 16.7% (1/2 (transmission of polarizers).times.1/3 (RGB displaying)=16.7%).
However, due to the light absorption in the transmissive axis of the polarizers and the light absorption of transparent electrodes being employed in the liquid crystal cell, further loss of light occurs. In reality, the transmittance of the liquid crystal color shutter is such low as about 5 to 8%. In order to secure screen brightness enough to display excellent images, the brightness of the emitting face of like a cathode ray tube is required to be increased. Therefore, several problems occur, for example, reduction of resolution power, deterioration of phosphor, increase of electric power consumption and so on.
Thus, a display device or the like using a conventional liquid crystal color shutter and an important problem that the brightness of the display screen is low due to the light absorption of the liquid crystal color shutter.
Displaying systems of a display device can be roughly divided into a direct-viewing type and a projection type. A display device of the direct-viewing type is that an observer views the displayed images directly. A projection type display device is that an observer views the enlarged images which are projected on a screen. The latter system is further divided into a front-projection type in which images are projected onto a reflective screen from the side of an observer and a rear-projection type in which images are projected onto a transmissive screen from behind the screen.
Such a conventional display device like a cathode ray tube or a liquid crystal display is difficult to make large its displaying screen area. For instance, in order to realize a large displaying area in the case of a CRT, either the CRT itself has to be made large or images displayed on a CRT is enlarged on a screen with the use of a projection optical system. However, making a CRT large involves lengthening of depth of the tube, and the weight is also more heavy. Further, in the case of the CRT, it needs to be evacuated inside the tube in which images are formed by irradiation of an electron beam. This also makes difficulty to enlarge the displaying area of a CRT.
To realize a large display screen area in a liquid crystal display device, in the case of the direct-view type, an array substrate itself is necessary to be made large. On the array substrate, many switching elements such as thin-film transistors and pixel electrodes are disposed in a matrix form. However, it is difficult to produce a very huge numbers of extremely fine semiconductors uniformly on the entire of the large substrate. Therefore, productivity of a liquid crystal display device becomes accordingly very low, resulting in a problem of increase of the cost. On the other hand, a plurality of array substrates can be tiled to realize a large displaying area. However, there is a problem that handling of the boundary of the tiled substrate is very difficult. Still further, it is difficult to obtain uniform displaying quality between the tiled plurality of array substrates. In the case of a PDP also, there is difficulty in manufacturing process caused by making large the screen.
A projection type of display device is easy to make large its screen area compared with various display device of direct-view type . However, it has less versatility compared with display device of direct-view type. For instance, illumination of the room is necessary to dark enough. Further, a projection type of display device is difficult to obtain sufficient brightness and contrast, resulting in a problem of worse displaying ability compared with the direct-view type display devices.


A method and apparatus for measuring fluid flow rates, reservoir deliverability and/or the absolute open flow (AOF) potential of a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore. The present invention can be described as a formation fluid flow rate test tool which is conveyed and operated on a wireline logging cable. The down hole test tool comprises an arrangement of inflatable packers to isolate an interval and a pump which extracts fluid from the formation through an inlet below the upper most packer. The method allows for sequentially increasing or decreasing the flow rates and measuring the corresponding pressure responses. From this data, the reservoir flow characteristics, properties and deliverability can be accurately calculated, which was not previously permitted with other known wireline conveyed sampling and testing tools. Additionally, the present invention allows for the reservoir parameters to be obtained under dynamic conditions, emulating a deliverability test. This method and apparatus presents an economical and time effective technique with which to enter into a decision regarding the disposition of a wellbore.

1. Field of the Invention
During the life of a well, periodic measurements and tests are performed to better understand the quality of a reservoir. Some tests are made at the surface and some are performed down hole by sophisticated tools that are lowered into the wellbore.
This invention involves a method for acquiring formation fluid flow rates and calculating the reservoir deliverability by means of a wireline conveyed tool. The field of this invention relates specifically to, designed down hole tools to measure formation fluid flow rates. In the operation of drilling oil and gas wells, it is desirable to evaluate the reservoir deliverability at a stage early enough to make the best economical decision regarding the disposition of the wellbore. This invention allows for the reservoir flow rates to be determined by an apparatus lowered on a wireline into an uncased or cased borehole. A set of inflatable packers are used to isolate an interval of a formation and a flow rate test is performed. The results obtained during the flow test period are transmitted to the surface whereby calculations and deductions can be made as to the validity of the measurements. This ability to record and interpret data as to the potential flow rate of a reservoir, essentially in real time, is of extreme importance to those engaged in well bore evaluations, completions and reserve determinations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, representative formation fluid flow rate measurements have been primarily restricted to operations involving the use of drill pipe type methods (Drillstem Tests) or production testing. Attempts have been made to measure flow rates using wireline formation sampling and testing tools for many years. The Formation Tester, as it is well known, is a wireline tool used for measuring inferred formation properties and collecting fluid samples. A variety of tools are available to obtain uncontaminated formation fluid samples by means of isolating the wellbore, collecting a sample and measuring the fluid properties. Based on the fluid test results the sample is recovered in a chamber or rejected into the borehole. In the past, the measuring of formation properties by wireline tools has produced unreliable information on the reservoirs ability to produce fluids and estimate the fluid flow rates as a result of the limited tool capacity and capabilities. The financial benefit of performing fluid flow rate tests using a wireline tool, combined with increased data reliability and accuracy is of immense concern to the oil and gas industry.
The remaining discussion on prior art methods and apparatus will strictly be in regards to down hole wireline operations.
In the past, a pair of packers mounted on a wireline tool were lowered into a borehole to obtain formation fluid samples. Expanding the packers isolated an interval in the borehole from which fluids may be drawn into the tool for analysis. If the formation permitted fluid flow and the fluid was suitable for sampling, collection to sample chamber was performed. An example of such a tool is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,843 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Obtaining Selected Samples of Formation Fluids". The tool described in the '843 patent was used to measure fluid properties and collect samples and was not used to determine reservoir fluid flow rates.
Many of the wireline formation testers utilize a probe assembly which extends through a sealing pad into the formation to isolate the tool sample point from the well bore. These tools are capable of obtaining pressure measurements and if desired a sample of the fluids in communication with the sample point. However, during the drilling process of a well, the drilling fluid will invade a permeable formation causing pressure and fluid distortions. Therefore, to make accurate measurements of the essential parameters, virgin reservoir conditions must be observed by the tool. A tool capable of removing the drilling effects must be used before meaningful data can be obtained. The probe type tester has been used to estimate formation permeability, but due to the shallow depth of investigation during fluid removal the tool has its limitations. Multiple probe modifications have been designed in an attempt to improve the situation (such as the tool described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,580 entitled Formation Testing Apparatus and Method). The tool in the '580 patent was intended to predict the nature of the formation connate fluid by the accurate determination of the pressure versus depth gradient between the two probe assemblies. By increasing the distance between the probes, deeper depth of investigation can be achieved. But, this technique is limited due to the small bore hole wall area exposed with the probe tools which affects the fluid extraction rate towards the sample point. This sink point also causes the magnitude of the pressure response between the two probes to decrease with increased probe spacing. Therefore, when one wants to measure high reservoir fluid flow rates it is desirable to use a device which is not a probe type testing tool.
Other formation sampling and testing devices have been implemented such as the apparatus found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,612 entitled Multiple Flow Rate Formation Testing Device and Method. The tool described in the '612 patent employs the use of a fluid sampling probe and is restricted to the same limitations as discussed.
Flow control by using a restriction device to allow sampling at a constant pressure or constant flow rate can be used to enhance multi probe permeability determinations and such a sampling tool is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,139 entitled Down Hole Method for Determination of Formation Properties. Since the sampling apparatus in the '139 patent had an objective of measuring formation permeability and extracting uncontaminated samples above bubble point pressures, reservoir deliverability and/or the absolute open flow (AOF) potential of the formation was of no concern.
The apparatus of the present invention is designed to allow a large area of the borehole to be exposed for fluid removal by the use of a set of inflatable packers spaced some distance apart which isolates an interval of the formation. This will reduce the affect of the point source used in probe tools and enhance the fluid flow rate determinations. The tool employs a pump which is used to draw large volumes of fluids to an inlet positioned between the packers and discharges the fluid above the top packer. Utilizing the pump to control flow rate and allowing the formation to produce larger volumes of fluids than known designs, permits the opportunity to determine the reservoir deliverability of the formations tested.
A preferred method for obtaining formation deliverability is by means of wireline testing tools because more complete accurate measurements can be made in a fraction of the time required by current drill pipe techniques. The existing limitations with the probe type testers and the bubble point pressure restriction devices warrant an improved method to determine the reservoir deliverability and/or the absolute open flow (AOF) potential of a reservoir. The present invention allows for formation fluid flow rates to be determined by eliminating some of the known wireline tool limitations.

Method and apparatus for the determination of formation fluid flow rates and reservoir deliverability


Embodiments of the present application provide a lane line processing method and a lane line processing device. The method can include: performing a binarization processing on a first image to obtain a binary image, the first image including lane line points and non-lane line points; performing a connected domain analysis on the binary image to obtain at least one connected domain in the binary image, the connected domain including a plurality of adjacent lane line points; determining lane line points in a group corresponding to a lane line, based on the connected domain; and obtaining representation information of the lane line corresponding to the group, by using the lane line points in the group.

Lane lines play an important role in automatic driving, and can provide important information to be output to modules such as positioning module, decision module and control module. For a two-dimensional (2D) image captured by a camera, the conventional scheme is to use an image processing method to detect the edges of a lane line, and then use clustering or other point-grouping schemes to acquire the lane line.
The schemes using conventional image processing, deep learning and other methods for lane line detection or segmentation from the image require cumbersome post-processing schemes so as to identify the lane line, but the effect of the identification is susceptible to image quality and other conditions. For example, the conventional post-processing schemes may use the Hough transform to derive the lane line, but the conventional post-processing schemes are susceptible to noise points and are not robust.

Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.


The extensional viscosity of a styrenic resin is enhanced by increasing the Z+1 average molecular weight (Mz+1) of the resin. In one embodiment, an enhanced extensional viscosity resin is provided that has an Mz+1 molecular weight of at least approximately 745,000 and an extensional viscosity having a minimum value of approximately 360,000 Pascal-seconds (Pa-sec).

The present disclosure relates generally to styrenic resin compositions and methods for preparing the same. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to styrenic resins having improved extensional viscosities.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Markets for certain products, such as articles made from polymeric materials, have benefitted from improved techniques for producing such materials. For example, improvements in techniques for polymerizing monovinylarene monomers to produce styrenic resins, such as improved yields, increased polymerization efficiencies, and/or improved properties of the styrenic resin, have led to styrenic resins being used in a wide variety of everyday applications. High impact polystyrene (HIPS) and crystal/general purpose polystyrene (GPPS), for instance, are styrenic resins that are presently used in a wide variety of products including medical devices, food packaging, food service articles, beverage containers, toys, appliances, jewel cases (e.g., for compact or digital video discs), and electronics.
In some GPPS applications, particularly food service, food packaging and large appliances, a sheet of a styrenic resin is extruded and subsequently thermoformed into a useful shape. In certain processes, the sheet may be a foamed sheet. An article (e.g., a disposable cup) may be cut out of the thermoformed shape. For economic considerations, the removed portion of thermoformed shape is typically reprocessed back into the extrusion process. The additional shear and heat history placed on the styrenic resin as a result of this reprocessing causes a certain degree of chain scission of the styrenic polymer chains. The reprocessed resin will therefore possess a lower molecular weight compared to the starting virgin resin. This lower molecular weight results in a variety of undesirable characteristics in the final part such as poor sidewall distribution in a thermoformed part; low sheet orientation and poor toughness in oriented film and sheet applications; and high open cell content, low orientation, and poor toughness in foam sheet structures and thermoformed articles.
The above characteristics are generally related to the extensional viscosity (EV) of a given styrenic resin. The EV of a resin is a measure of the viscosity coefficient of the resin when an extensional stress is applied. In other words, EV is the viscosity of stretching. Generally, as the EV of a resin increases, the undesirable characteristics mentioned above may be mitigated by enabling higher degrees of chain entanglement and chain orientation. Accordingly, it would be advantageous if the EV of styrenic resins could be increased to produce more consistent, better quality, and lighter weight parts.

Styrenic resin having improved extensional viscosity


A microwave plasma apparatus for processing a material includes a plasma chamber, a microwave radiation source, and a waveguide guiding microwave radiation from the microwave radiation source to the plasma chamber. A process gas flows through the plasma chamber and the microwave radiation couples to the process gas to produce a plasma jet. A process material is introduced to the plasma chamber, becomes entrained in the plasma jet, and is thereby transformed to a stream of product material droplets or particles. The product material droplets or particles are substantially more uniform in size, velocity, temperature, and melt state than are droplets or particles produced by prior devices.

Thermal spray deposition of surface coatings has been used to form hard coatings on machine tools, thermal barriers on refractory surfaces, and hydrophobic layers on medical tools, paper mill rollers, or pharmaceutical equipment. In thermal spray deposition, molten droplets of a coating material impinge upon and adhere to a target surface. Ideal deposition conditions include substantial uniformity of droplet composition, size, velocity, and temperature. Such ideal deposition conditions cannot be achieved with current spray technologies. In particular, uniform droplet temperature has proven very difficult to achieve.
In the production of ceramic structures for gas turbines or for optical applications, crystalline ceramic powders are subjected to hot isostatic pressing to eliminate voids and porosity, thereby enhancing structural properties. However, semi-pyrolized or un-melted inclusions due to varying particle sizes can lead to inhomogeneities including voids that harm the properties of the end point ceramic body. Ceramics being generally brittle have mechanical properties strongly affected by flaws. It is also important to have highly uniform powders for optical applications, which are rapidly degraded by even a small percentage of defective regions. Rosenflanz et al., Bulk glasses and ultrahard nanoceramics based on alumina and rare-earth oxides, Nature, 430, 761-764 (12 Aug. 2004), proposed a method for making fine grained ceramics that involves making an amorphous glass phase by aggregation of molten particles in a coolant, deforming the glass to eliminate pores, and then crystallizing the glass. The resulting crystalline ceramic should have very fine grains. However, final mechanical and optical properties are highly dependent on the uniformity of the molten particles aggregated in the coolant.
Traditionally, molten droplets either for surface coating or for powder production have been formed by injecting particles of a source material between about ten microns (10 μm) and about one hundred microns (100 μm) diameter to a plasma jet. In most known thermal spray devices, the plasma jet is generated by a DC electric arc housed in an plasma torch, and the particles have been injected to the plasma jet external to the torch. Particles injected to the plasma jet external to the plasma torch necessarily enter the plasma jet off-axis, thereby introducing local non-uniformity to the entrainment of the particles in the plasma jet. The local non-uniformity of entrainment is exacerbated by highly chaotic behavior of the plasma jet, which can fluctuate in velocity by a factor of approximately two (2) at frequencies on the order of several thousand fluctuations per second (kHz). Moreover, entrainment of ambient gas into the plasma jet at the plasma torch exit results in a highly non-uniform radial and axial temperature profile external to the plasma torch. Accordingly, particles injected to the plasma jet external to the plasma torch are not uniformly entrained in or heated by the plasma jet. Thus, inhomogeneous particles are produced.
In order to improve the uniformity of product particles, efforts have been made to create axial feed arc-plasma torches. In particular, both Mettech, Inc. of Vancouver, Canada and Sulzer Metco of Switzerland have invested years of engineering effort toward developing reliable and commercially practicable axial feed arc-plasma torches. It is noted that internal structures required for axial injection are difficult to make compatible with internal structural constraints related to establishing and maintaining a DC arc plasma jet. DC electric arc plasma generation is a highly unstable process that can be disrupted by structural protrusions or foreign particles. Moreover, the high temperatures of the electric arc plasma impose strict limits on the design of injectors. Accordingly, known DC arc plasma torches are designed to have substantially smooth interior surfaces. Additionally, DC arc plasma torches require substantially particle-free interior volumes in the region where the arc is produced.
High-speed oxy-fuel flame jets also have been used to melt the powder that is sprayed onto the surface of interest. Although combustion torches often provide axial injection, such torches do not produce high enough temperatures to melt ceramic materials useful for thermal barrier coatings. Combustion torches also have high operational costs, and can produce coatings of notably varying chemical composition, because such torches require large quantities of substantially chemically pure fuel gases.
In either arc plasma or combustion torches, relatively high velocity of the plasma jet is required to adequately entrain and transport transversely injected particles. Accordingly, regardless of injection location, the majority of particle heating typically takes place exterior of the torch, where very non-uniform conditions prevail. When the non-uniformly heated particles impact on the surface to be coated, the particles cool, shrink, and adhere at varying rates to varying final thicknesses and bond strengths. More importantly, unmelted particles may be deposited which do not flatten leading to non-uniform structure. In the case of solution plasma spray, partially pyrolized or partially evaporated material can be deposited and subsequently shrink creating voids. All of the preceding non-uniformities of particles will lead to inhomogenous microstructures of the coating. Thus, arc plasma or combustion torches inherently provide a significant degree of non-uniform coating properties.
A third class of apparatus, highly amenable to axial injection, is the RF plasma gun developed by Boulos et al. RF plasma is formed by an induction coil producing a relatively low temperature, low velocity plasma. However, as taught by Boulos' 1985 article "The inductively coupled R.F. (Radio Frequency) Plasma," Pure Appl. Chem. 57, p. 1321, these torches are useful only for making powders or metal coatings from relatively large feedstock.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry for improved apparatuses and methods for generating substantially uniform particles by plasma material processing.

Microwave plasma apparatus and method for materials processing


A circuit for compensating quantized noise in fractional-N frequency synthesizer, comprising a PLL circuit that locks a phase compensated signal to a phase of a reference phase, wherein the phase lock loop circuit comprises a frequency divider and a phase frequency detector; a sigma-delta modulation and phase difference calculator coupled to the frequency divider generating an accumulated phase error by accumulating all previous differences between an input of the frequency divider and an output of the frequency divider within a period; a digital controlled delay line coupled to both the frequency divider and the SDM and Phase Difference calculator and generates the phase compensated signal by multiplying the accumulated phase error with a delay control word; and the phase frequency detector further generates a phase error by comparing the phase compensated signal with the reference clock.

In a conventional fractional-N frequency synthesizer, the divider ratio N implemented by a feedback loop frequency divider varies in each reference cycle. The variation in the divider ratio N is reflected as quantized phase noise at the output of the frequency synthesizer. If not properly addressed, the quantized noise will severely affect system performance. Thus compensating quantization noise becomes indispensable in many applications.
Therefore, it is desirable to design a method and device for effectively compensating quantized noise.

Circuit and method for compensating noise


A pump (10) has a housing containing an internal pumping chamber (30). A fluid inlet (32) and a fluid outlet (34) are spaced arcuately apart about an axis (12), and an impeller (20) within the housing rotates about the axis to pump fluid from the inlet to the outlet. The impeller has mutually parallel opposite faces (40, 42) circumferentially bounded by a vaned periphery (38). The impeller has a pattern of through-holes (46) extending between its faces and the one face that confronts a wall surface of the housing to which the inlet is proximate has, in association with each through-hole, a groove (44) that adjoins and tails circumferentially away from the respective through-hole in a sense opposite the sense in which the impeller rotates to pump fluid from the inlet to the outlet. The groove inclines and provides a reaction surface against which fluid exerts a lifting force to aid in force-balancing the impeller.

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to pumps, and in particular to a regenerative fuel pump having a vaned impeller. Such a pump is useful as an electric-motor-operated fuel pump for an automotive vehicle to pump liquid fuel from a fuel tank through a fuel handling system to an engine that powers the vehicle.
2) Background Information
In an automotive vehicle that is powered by an internal combustion engine, fuel may be pumped through a fuel handling system of the engine by an in-tank, electric-motor-operated fuel pump.
Examples of fuel pumps are shown in various patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,851,998; 5,310,308; 5,409,357; 5,415,521; 5,551,875; and 5,601,398. Commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,310,308; 5,409,357; and 5,551,835 disclose pumps of the general type to which the present invention relates, and such pumps provide certain benefits and advantages over certain other types of pumps.
For developing pressures suitable for a vehicle fuel system, the impeller of a regenerative pump may have very close running tolerances to the walls of the pump parts that axially confront opposite faces of the impeller internally of the pump. Hence, dimensional stability of materials is an important design consideration, and certain materials have been found particularly suitable for the impeller and for the parts of the pump (a pump cover and a pump body, for example) that confront it. PPS and phenolic are examples of suitable impeller materials; those two materials, as well as aluminum, are suitable for the pump cover and pump body.
A representative pump is a wet pump that comprises an inlet in the pump cover and an outlet in the pump body. The inlet and the outlet are open to an annular pumping chamber that runs around the perimeter of the pump. The impeller comprises vanes that rotate within the pumping chamber to move fluid from the inlet to the outlet. When the pump is disposed within a fuel tank with its axis generally vertical and the cover facing a bottom wall of the tank, the inlet is open to liquid fuel in the tank. When the pump is operated by an associated electric motor, some pressure difference is developed across those portions of the impeller faces which are disposed radially inward of the annular pumping chamber and which have close running fits to confronting wall surfaces of the pump cover and the pump body, thus creating a force imbalance that acts on the impeller in a downward direction. The force of gravity is additive to that downward force imbalance. Force imbalance may act on an impeller in ways that increase running friction. Such friction may decrease pump efficiency and accelerate wear that leads to even further loss of pumping efficiency.
Various solutions have been proposed to minimize, and ideally eliminate, force imbalance acting on the impeller. Examples are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,768,920; 4,586,877; 4,854,830; 4,872,806; 5,137,418; and 5,607,283.

Regenerative fuel pump having force-balanced impeller


A signal is read out from a two-layered perpendicular magnetic recording medium by a composite head formed from a single-pole perpendicular recording head and magnetoresistance effect type reproduction head. The read-out signal is amplified by a head amplifier, passed through a low-pass filter, and converted into a digital signal by an analog/digital converter. A DC restoring circuit restores a DC component removed by the head amplifier using the output signal from the analog/digital converter. An adder adds the restored DC component to the output signal from the analog/digital converter, thereby restoring the head output terminal signal. A servo demodulation circuit generates a position error signal on the basis of the restored signal.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-287721, filed Sep. 21, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic disk drive having a single-pole perpendicular recording head and a perpendicular recording medium, and a position error signal generation method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, magnetic disk drives employing perpendicular magnetic recording that can increase the recording density as compared to longitudinal magnetic recording are becoming popular. An example of such a magnetic disk drive employing perpendicular magnetic recording performs perpendicular magnetic recording/reproduction by combining a composite head formed from a single-pole perpendicular recording head and magnetoresistance effect type reproduction head (GMR head or the like) and a two-layered perpendicular magnetic recording medium. FIG. 1 shows the head output terminal waveform of the servo section when data perpendicularly magnetically recorded on a recording medium by this scheme is read out.
AGC shown in FIG. 1 represents a portion for amplitude gain control. An SIM portion corresponds to a servo index mark that indicates the start of servo data. A CYL portion corresponds to servo cylinder information and servo sector number information. A PAD portion corresponds to data for timing adjustment. A to D portions correspond to A to D burst signals. Since the signals are read by a head for directly detecting the magnetic field of a GMR head or the like, a signal having a signal amplitude of xe2x88x921 is detected even at a portion without any magnetization reversal (CYL portion or D portion), as shown in FIG. 1 (for the descriptive convenience, the signal amplitude is normalized to xc2x11).
The A to D burst signals are recorded on a track as, e.g., a pattern shown in FIG. 2. In this example, the A and B burst signals are located with a xc2xd phase shift for the target track. The C burst signal is located on the target track without any shift. The D burst signal is located with a full phase shift from the target track. For this reason, in the head output terminal waveform shown in FIG. 1, the amplitudes of the A to D burst signals appear as xe2x88x921 to 0, xe2x88x921 to 0, xe2x88x921 to +1, and xe2x88x921, respectively.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams showing circuits for generating a positioning signal by conventional schemes. FIG. 3A shows an analog differentiation scheme, and FIG. 3B shows a digital differentiation scheme.
Referring to FIG. 3A, a head 1 is a composite head. A single-pole perpendicular recording head is employed for recording, and a GMR head is employed for reproduction. A signal read from the head 1 has the waveform shown in FIG. 1. A head amplifier (IC) 2 amplifies the signal read from the head 1. Since the low-frequency cutoff frequency of the head amplifier 2 at this time is several hundred kHz to 1 MHZ, the head amplifier 2 passes no DC (Direct Current) component, and the baseline of the waveform varies.
A variable gain amplifier (VGA) 3 determines the gain for the output signal of the head amplifier 2 in accordance with the output signal from an amplitude gain controller (AGC) 4. The AGC circuit 4 controls the variable gain amplifier 3 such that the AGC portion shown in FIG. 1 has a predetermined amplitude. A low-pass filter (LPF) 5 reduces high-frequency noise in the output signal from the variable gain amplifier 3.
A differentiator 6 executes analog differential processing for the output signal from the low-pass filter 5 so as to eliminate the variation in baseline and equalize the output waveform from the head with a servo waveform for normal planar recording. The output waveform from the differentiator 6 is the same as the servo waveform for normal planar recording.
An analog/digital converter (ADC) 7 samples the output signal from the differentiator 6. The sampling frequency is about 10 times the burst signal frequency. A finite impulse response circuit (FIR) 8 generates a reproduced signal on the basis of the output signal from the analog/digital converter 7.
A servo demodulation circuit 9 obtains the absolute value of the signal sampled by the analog/digital converter 7 and adds the signals in each burst section, thereby demodulating the burst amplitude. The signals are added in order to improve the S/N ratio of a position signal by the integration effect. From the thus obtained burst signal, a position signal is calculated by (A burst signal amplitude xe2x88x92B burst signal amplitude)/(A burst signal amplitude +B burst signal amplitude).
In the digital differential scheme shown in FIG. 3B, a 1-D arithmetic device 10 as a digital differentiator is arranged in place of the analog differentiator 6 shown in FIG. 3A. In this case, the 1-D arithmetic device 10 is placed on the output side of the analog/digital converter 7 to execute 1-D arithmetic operation for the output signal from the variable gain amplifier 3, thereby executing digital differential processing.
As described above, to eliminate the variation in baseline and equalize the output waveform from the head with the servo waveform for normal planar recording, in the prior arts, the output from the head amplifier is differentiated. A position error signal is generated on the basis of the differentiated signal.
However, the differential processing increases noise in the high-frequency region of the signal, degrades the S/N ratio, and increase variance of the position error signal.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic disk drive and position error signal generation method which restores a head output terminal signal without a distortion without executing differential processing and thus generating a position error signal with less variance.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic disk drive comprising: a composite head formed from a single-pole perpendicular recording head which writes a signal on a perpendicular recording medium and a magnetoresistance effect type reproduction head; an amplifier which amplifies an output signal from the head; an analog/digital converter which samples the signal amplified by the amplifier; a DC component restoring circuit which restores a DC component removed by the amplifier using the signal output from the converter; a signal restoring circuit which restores the output signal from the head on the basis of the DC component restored by the DC component restoring circuit and the signal output from the converter; and a demodulation circuit which generates a position error signal on the basis of the output signal restored by the signal restoring circuit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a position error signal generation method applied to a magnetic disk drive having a composite head formed from a single-pole perpendicular recording head which writes a signal on a perpendicular recording medium and a magnetoresistance effect type reproduction head, an amplifier which amplifies an output signal from the head, and an analog/digital converter which samples the signal amplified by the amplifier, the method comprising: restoring a DC component removed by the amplifier using the signal output from the converter; restoring the output signal from the head on the basis of the restored DC component and the signal output from the converter; and generating a position error signal on the basis of the restored output signal.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.

Magnetic disk drive and position error signal generation method


A screening device for testing saliva for the presence of certain constituents. The device has a D-shaped profile when viewed from above and includes a first wall with planar front face through which all of the test strips are viewed and a curved rear second wall. The device also includes a floor surface with an uppermost portion extending from the rear wall to a lowermost portion at the first wall such that saliva squeezed from a sampler at a location between the upper most portion and the lowermost portion flows downwardly to the test strips.

Various drug screening devices are known for testing a sample of bodily fluids for the presence of certain constituents. These devices typically include a container for receiving a bodily fluid from a delivery device, and a plurality of reagent test strips arranged to contact the bodily fluid, with each test strip being sensitive to a particular constituent of interest. The targeted constituents for screening can range from controlled substances such as alcohol and marijuana to illegal substances such as cocaine and methamphetamines.
For screening purposes, it is desirable to test for as many constituents as possible with a single sample, so as to reduce the nuisance factor associated with obtaining multiple bodily fluid samples. This is particularly a problem with saliva where sufficient quantitaties fro multiple tests is problematic. Accordingly, many devices are intended to distribute the sampled bodily fluid among as many test strips as reasonably possible. This is typically accomplished by arranging a plurality of test strips on each of several sides of the container.
Problems associated with a plurality of test strips arrayed on several sides of a test container include maldistribution of bodily fluid samples to the various test strips and the necessity to inspect more than one side of the container to determine the screening result. A screening device that addresses these maladies would be welcomed.

Screening device for analysis of bodily fluids