The invention relates to a light-guide panel for an LCD with a laser backlight. The panel comprises a laser light source and a main ridge waveguide with a plurality of first holograms that change the direction of the laser light that propagates along the main ridge waveguide to the direction perpendicular to the latter. The first holograms are associated with thee light of predetermined wavelengths and are optically connected to respective transverse waveguides that lie in the same plane but are perpendicular to the main ridge waveguide. Each transverse ridge waveguide has a plurality of second holograms designed so that they change the direction of laser light that propagates along the transverse ridge waveguide in the direction at an angle to the plane of the LGP substrate. This angle should be close to 90° and may be obtained in the range of 70° to 85°.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a well known device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals since liquid crystals, themselves, do not emit light. Nowadays, LCDs occupy a large niche and are used in a wide range of applications, including computer monitors, televisions, instrument panels, video players, gaming devices, clocks, telephones, etc. LCDs have gradually replaced cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and projection-type displays since they generally have a relatively thin sandwiched structure and therefore are more compact, lightweight, portable, less expensive, more reliable, and easier on the eyes. In addition, LCDs are more energy efficient and safer to use, and they can operate in a higher brightness mode than CRTs.
Typically, an LCD comprises an electronically modulated optical device sandwiched from a number of segments filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a light source, which is known as a backlight, or reflector, to produce images in color or monochrome. The most flexible LCDs use an array of small pixels.
A backlight module is one of the main components of any LCD and is the source of illumination used in LCDs. LCDs do not produce light, themselves, and in order to produce an image, they need illumination. This function is accomplished by the backlight module, which illuminates the LCD from the side or back of the display panel.
Typically, a backlight module consists of a lamp and a light-guide panel (LGP). The external light source applied to the backlight module can be properly selected, depending on the size and use of the LCD. The external light source may be a point light source such as a light bulb and a white halogen lamp, a line light source (e.g., a hot cathode or cold cathode fluorescent lamp), or a surface light source (e.g., a light-emitting diode [LED]) formed in an electroluminescent (EL) matrix form.
The LGP, itself, is also an important element of the LCD. An LGP comprises a thin and sandwiched structure, the purpose of which is to provide uniform distribution of light emitted from the backlight lamp under the display structure. An LGP should possess a number of specific properties: the delivery of maximum amount of light from the lamp to the display assembly and the provision of uniform intensity of light over the entire surface of the display. The latter property is important, and hundreds of patents and published patent applications are dedicated to accomplishing this task.
More specifically, some patent publications describe uniformity of backlight illumination achieved by deviation of the LGP from a plane-parallel structure (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,845,841 and US Published Patent Application No. 2011/0199786); some patent publications describe uniformity of backlight illumination achieved by modifying methods used for introduction of light into the LGP, e.g., through profiled edges on the panel side (see, e.g., US Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0211368); other publications describe the use of deflectors for diffusion scattering and redistribution of light (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,841,730; 8,009,243; and 7,969,532; and US Patent Application Publications Nos. 2011/0205756 and 2011/0199670); and some publications describe uniformity of backlight illumination achieved by dividing the surface of the LGP into separate sections and delivering light to all of these sections so as to provide uniform light intensity in all sections irrespective of local positions and distances from the source of light (see, e.g., US Patent Application Publications Nos. 2011/0194307; 2011/0199559; and 2011/0205453).
The use of lasers for backlighting is known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,508,466 discloses an LCD that includes a planar array of transmissive LCD devices and at least one laser diode device spaced apart from the planar array of LCD devices. At least one laser diode device is configured to illuminate at least one subset of LCD devices in the planar array of LCD devices, so that in operation the laser diode device provides backlighting for the subset of LCD devices.
US Patent Application Publication No. 20110026270 discloses a surface light-source device from which large planar light with uniform light intensity distribution can be obtained from spot-like laser light. The surface light-source device comprises a laser light source for emitting the laser light, an optical system including one or more reflective diffusion members, and an optical waveguide combined with the optical system for converting reflected and diffused laser light into planar light and emitting from a principal plane. The reflective diffusion member converts the laser light emitted from the laser light source into linear light having an arcuate radiation pattern.
US Patent Application Publication No. 20080259247 discloses displays such as LCD panels that are illuminated with frequency-doubled vertically extended cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) as efficient light sources. Visible light from VECSELs are directed to an illuminating panel using optical fibers and/or optical gratings to provide substantially uniform illumination of the illuminating panel. Visible light from the illuminating panel, which can be provided at a particular number of primary wavelengths by the VECSELs, is then used to illuminate the display.
A disadvantage of all LGP devices known to the inventors, including those based on the use of lasers, is their relatively complicated design and low efficiency of illumination.

Light-guide panel for display with laser backlight


Techniques for dynamically changing the amount of memory that is allocated to and used by processes (e.g., sorter processes) executed concurrently by a data processing system in a manner that is adaptive to the overall memory usage of the system. The ability to dynamically change the amount of memory that can be allocated to and used by individual processes increases and optimizes the overall memory utilization of the data processing system, which in turn results in the operations (e.g., sorting) performed by the processes to be performed in a more efficient manner. A memory manager is provided that is responsible for periodically collecting memory related information for the data processing system and for the processes (e.g., sorter processes) executed by the data processing system, and based on the collected information, for periodically and dynamically causing the memory used by the processes to be changed during the lifetime of the processes.

In conventional systems, the manner in which system memory is allocated to processes executed by a system is not adaptive to the overall load on the system. In such conventional systems, the maximum memory that can be allocated to such processes is a fixed amount and cannot be changed, even when the system has a lot of unused system memory. This can result in underutilization of the memory that is physically available on the data processing system.
For example, a data processing system may execute multiple processes in parallel, with each of the multiple processes being configured to perform a particular operation, such as a sort operation. Generally, the maximum amount of memory that can be allocated to each of these sorter processes (or sorter) is fixed. For example, in a particular scenario, this maximum amount may be set to 64 MB. This number is fixed irrespective of how many sorter processes are executing at a time and also irrespective of the total memory usage for the data processing system executing the sorter processes. Since each sorter process can only be allocated up to the fixed amount of memory (e.g., 64 MB), in situations where the number of data items input to each sorter process for sorting is high, when the memory consumed by a sorter process reaches its allocation limit, the sorter has to write the sorted data to disk (also referred to as spilling to disk), in order to free up memory to sort more input data. Finally, each batch of the sorted data written to disk has to be read back from the desk and merged into the final sorted output data. The spilling to disk and reading back from disk is very costly from a time perspective, and very resource-intensive. Instead, it is preferable that each sorter can perform and complete its sorting operation fully in-memory (i.e., in system memory) without having to perform spilling.
In the example given above, the maximum memory that can be allocated to a sorter process cannot be changed even though there may be a large amount of unused and available system memory on the data processing system executing the sorter processes. This results in inefficient underutilization of the available memory on the data processing system and also makes the overall sorting process more resource and time-consuming due to more frequent spilling to disk.
Further, simply increasing the threshold for the maximum memory that can be allocated to a sorter process is not an adequate solution because the overall available memory for the data processing system is fixed and has to be shared between the sorter processes and other processes executed by the system. Setting this maximum memory threshold unnecessarily high could result in other processes being starved of essential memory resources and this may also adversely impact the overall functioning of the data processing system.


To alleviate interference by a transmission signal on the uplink and downlink of a femto base station to a transmission signal on the uplink and downlink of a macro base station and/or a micro base station. A mobile station 9-2 and a femto base station 5-1 located within a macrocell 6 and a microcell 7 receive the HCS priority level of the macrocell 6 and the microcell 7 from a macro base station 3 or a micro base station 4. The mobile station 9-2 selects the microcell 7 having a higher HCS priority level, and performs communication by using a radio frequency RF3. Meanwhile, the femto base station 5-1 communicates with a mobile station by using a radio frequency RF1 used in the macrocell 6 having a lower HCS priority level.

In recent years, as the demand for indoor voice communication and data communication has grown due to the spread of mobile phones, the development of a home-use base station installed indoors has been pursued. Since a range covered by a home-use base station is considerably smaller than that of a base station installed outdoor, the range is called "femtocell". Accordingly, a home-use base station is referred to as "femto base station" hereinafter.
In base stations in existing mobile communication networks, the radio frequency (hereinafter, simply called "RF") used for communication with a mobile station in each cell formed by a base station is set in advance to a fixed value. In contrast to this, for femto base stations, a way of autonomously performing radio resource control has been studied. For example, in a femto station, the RF used for communication with a mobile station is not determined in advance. Therefore, a way of selecting an RF in which the signal reception level of each selection candidate for the RF to be used is measured and then the RF having the minimum reception level is autonomously selected for the communication with a mobile station has been studied. Patent document 1 (page 14, line 8 to page 15, line 10) discloses a method like this.
Its specific example is explained with reference to FIG. 14. Referring to FIG. 14, a base station 811 communicates with a mobile station (not shown) by using radio frequencies RF1 and RF2, while a base station 812 communicates with a mobile station by using a radio frequency RF1. In such a case, if the radio frequencies RF1 and RF2 are selection candidates, a femto base station 821 measures the signal reception level of each of the radio frequencies RF1 and RF2. Then, the femto base station 821, which is located within the cell of the base station 812, selects and uses RF2 because the reception level of RF2, which is not used by the base station 812, is lower than that of RF1, which is used by the base station 812.
The femto base station like the one described above has been studied for use in systems such as WCDMA and E-UTRAN. In WCDMA, data transmission is performed by using an dedicated channel, of which transmission power is controlled, on an uplink and a downlink, or is performed by using a shared channel on a downlink as shown in Non-patent document 1. Further, in E-UTRAN, a radio frequency band is divided into a plurality of PRBs (Physical Resource Blocks) as shown in Non-patent document 2. A scheduler provided in an E-UTRAN base station assigns PRBs, and a base station performs data transmission with a mobile station by using an assigned PRB.
[Patent Document 1]
    UK Patent Application Publication No. 2428937 A[Non Patent Document 1]    3GPP TS 25.214 V7.3.0 (2006-12), 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Physical layer procedures (FDD) (Release 7)[Non Patent Document 2]    3GPP TS 36.300 V8.1.0 (2007-06), 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 8)

Wireless communication system, wireless communication method, base station, mobile station, base station control method, mobile station control method, and control program


A storage device having a plurality of recording devices in which a decrease in vibrations from the recording devices can be achieved with a small number of parts. A storage device having a plurality of recording devices mounted therein includes a handle for inserting and withdrawing the recording device into and out of the storage device. Two holding members each include a mounting portion where the recording device is mounted and a frame extending from the mounting portion to the handle. Two protrusions are formed to extend inwardly of a region surrounded by the recording device, the handle, and the two frames. A restriction plate is disposed so as to overlap the respective surfaces of the two protrusions; and a viscoelastic body is disposed at the overlapping portion for joining the two protrusions and the restriction plate to one another.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The background art for the technique of the present invention includes Patent Document JP-2005-182936-A. The patent document describes as: "A mounting apparatus includes a buffer fixing piece 40 for providing buffers 44, 45, 46 to a first HDD 10, a holding frame 50 for holding the first HDD 10 integrated with the buffer fixing piece 40 and fixing a control board 30, a buffer fixing piece 60 for providing a buffer unit 64 to a second HDD 20 and arranging the second HDD away from a palm rest 83 in cooperation with a step 85 of a unit mounting section 84 upon mounting, and a holding case 70 holding the second HDD 20 integrated with the buffer fixing piece 60 and joined to the holding frame 50" (refer to the abstract of JP-2005-182936-A).


An accessible optical path to a lower surface of a heatable device under test is provided by a thermal optical chuck comprising a transparent resistor deposited on transparent plate arranged to supporting the device in a probe station.

The present invention relates to a chuck for supporting a device under test (DUT) in a probe station and, more particularly, to a chuck adapted to testing electrical and optical properties of a DUT at a temperature other than the ambient temperature.
Many electrical devices, in particular semiconductor based devices, include both electrical components and optical components. Some electro-optical devices receive an optical signal from an optical source and convert the received optical signal into an electrical signal, e.g., a photo-detector. Other electro-optical devices convert an electrical signal into an optical signal, e.g., a light-emitting-diode. Yet other electro-optical devices may include multiple optical and/or electrical components. A probe station may be used to characterize the operation of these devices.
In a probe station, an electrical device-under-test (DUT) is commonly supported on and restrained to the upper surface a chuck while probes are positioned above test pads on the upper surface of the DUT and then brought into contact with the test pads during measurement of the device's operating parameters. The chuck is usually supported on a movable stage permitting movement the chuck to facilitate aligning the probes with the test pads of the DUT. However, an electro-optical device commonly includes electrical connections on a first surface of the device and optical input or output at another surface of the device. For example, an optical signal from a light source may be directed toward the DUT from below, above, or to the side of the DUT while a probe or connector on the upper surface is used to sense the resulting electrical output from the DUT. Similarly for example, a probe or connector may be used to provide an electrical excitation at the upper surface of the DUT while an optical sensor located below, above, or to the side of the DUT is used to sense the resulting optical output.
An optical chuck may used in a probe station to support a DUT that requires an optically accessible path to a surface of the DUT that is normally blocked by the chuck. Harris et al., Patent Application Publication, Pub. No.: US 2003/0042889 A1, incorporated herein by reference, disclose an optical chuck that includes a central, optically transparent medium over which the DUT is supported to provide an optically accessible path to all sides of the DUT. The DUT and the optically transparent medium are supported above a base by a plurality of columnar supports permitting an optical transducer to be located below the transparent window to either sense optical output from the DUT or transmit optical signals to the DUT from below.
While an optical chuck provides an access path for optical signals to or from a DUT, it is often desired to test these devices at a temperature other than the ambient temperature. Thermal chucks are commonly used for testing electrical DUTs at elevated or depressed temperatures. A thermal chuck typically includes a heat source to raise the temperature of the surface of the chuck supporting the DUT and, as a result, the temperature of the DUT. Typically, probe station thermal chucks are heated by thermoelectric devices that rely on the Peltier effect or wire resistance heaters. However, these devices are optically opaque and would interfere with an optical path to the DUT if used to modify the temperature of an optical chuck.
What is desired, therefore, is a thermal optical chuck for use in a probe station that permits a DUT supported on a surface of the chuck to be tested at a temperature other than ambient while providing optical access to the underside the DUT.


In a job management system, a PC includes a job reception section for receiving setting of a job from a user and a job transmitting section for transmitting the job to a multifunction peripheral. The multifunction peripheral includes a job receiving section for receiving a job from the PC, a prohibition determining section for determining whether a combination of functions constituting the job is a target of a prohibition process, a controlling section for executing the job, and a prohibition information transmitting section for transmitting prohibition information indicating that the combination of functions constituting the job is the target of the prohibition process to the PC when the combination of functions is the target of the prohibition process. The PC further includes a prohibition information receiving section for receiving the prohibition information from the multifunction peripheral and a prohibition information storage for storing the prohibition information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a job management system, a readable storage medium storing a job management program and an electric apparatus and particularly to a technology when a computer causes an electric apparatus connected to the computer to execute a job composed of a combination of a plurality of functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electric apparatus such as an image forming apparatus capable of executing a job composed of a combination of a plurality of functions, a user conventionally sets a job by operating an operation panel to combine a plurality of functions. In such an image forming apparatus, setting of a prohibition process indicating a relationship of functions that cannot be combined is stored for combinations of a plurality of functions constituting jobs (e.g. a mixed document function and a page aggregate function cannot be combined at the time of a copying operation) and a technology is employed to enable the user to recognize a combination of which functions is impossible by making a corresponding display on a display unit of the operation panel when the user sets a job by operating the operation panel of the image forming apparatus to combine a plurality of functions.

Print job management system for managing prohibition information


A bezel having a lumen open to the top and bottom and a recessed center section is used both to mount a stone to a piece of jewelry and to function as a clasp for the jewelry. The recessed center section of the jewelry can be coupled to a hook to secure the jewelry to the wearer.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to jewelry. More specifically, the present invention provides a unique combination clasp and stone mounting for a bracelet, necklace or the like.
II. Description of the Related Art
Jewelry items have been made and worn for centuries. Bracelets and necklaces date back to ancient Egypt and even earlier. Jewelry items have been found throughout recorded history in virtually every culture and civilization.
Many different clasp arrangements have been used to join the opposite ends of a bracelet or necklace together after the jewelry item has been placed about the neck, wrist or ankle. Also, many different types of settings exist to permit a stone to be mounted to the bracelet or necklace. However, very few jewelry pieces incorporate structure that constitutes both a part of a clasp and a mounting for a decorative stone.


A system for inspecting a machine including a server with a data storage device accessible by client devices is disclosed. The system can include a mobile inspection tool operatively coupled to the server via a communication network. The mobile inspection tool is operable to receive a request to perform an inspection of a machine unit, provide a graphical user interface to guide a user in performing the inspection, receive an identification of the machine unit, and provide questions to the user, and receive answers from the user. The answers can be related to a defect in the machine unit. The mobile inspection tool can be further operable to acquire measurement input, such as a defect value measured by a digital measurement tool, and cause the server to store the answers and the measurement input in the data storage device.

Machinery is widely used in modern industries. For example, machinery can be found in the power generation industry, oil and gas industry, aircraft industry, manufacturing equipment, and so forth. Normally, during machine operation, machine parts or units may degrade and encounter unwanted conditions such as wear and tear, corrosion, cracks, fractures, deformations, electrical failures, and other conditions that negatively affect the operation and effectiveness of the equipment. For example, turbine blades can be prone to mechanical damages over time, such as fractions or deformations, leading to abnormal vibrations or even an outage of the turbine.
Regular inspection, examination, and testing of the machinery can be useful for maintaining proper and intended operation of the machinery for a long period. In certain instances, there are inspection regulations in many industries that require performing predetermined tests and periodic measurements. Inspectors can typically use inspection template spreadsheets for making notes in regard to certain testing operations. Unfortunately, the inspection template notes are often written by hand, thereby making them difficult to aggregate and analyze. Moreover, inspection templates are often not uniform between inspection sites. For example, inspectors may not use any standards to describe a particular damage or problem with a certain machine unit. Thus, nearly identical issues can be described differently, thereby making it difficult to analyze the inspection data.
Additionally, inspectors may fail to properly examine machinery due to the complex nature of the machinery being tested. For example, an aircraft engine may have millions of parts. It can be a time-consuming and challenging task to locate certain engine parts and examine them according to predetermined standards. The inspectors do not always have access to inspection guidelines or may not be aware of how to perform certain tests, especially when they deal with a new type of machinery. Accordingly, inspection is, for the most part, a manual process, which is not uniform across industries or even sites of the same organization, and consumes a large amount of resources and time for planning, execution, and analysis.

System and method for inspecting machinery


A method for extending a bandwidth of a speech signal received, according to an embodiment of the present invention, includes: transforming the received speech signal into a frequency domain by decoding the received speech signal; normalizing the transformed speech signal; differentiating a voiced sound period or unvoiced sound period from the received speech signal; extracting, from the normalized speech signal, a first period including a harmonic component of the voiced sound period on the basis of the voiced sound period; extracting, from the normalized speech signal, a second period on the basis of correlation between the unvoiced sound period and the normalized speech signal; generating a high-band speech signal on the basis of the first period and the second period; and synthesizing the generated high-band speech signal and the transformed speech signal to output a wideband speech signal.

The present invention disclosed herein relates to a method and device for extending a bandwidth of a vocal signal, and more particularly, to a method and device for extending a bandwidth of a vocal signal for improving performance.
In most speech communication systems, the speech bandwidth is limited to a range of 0.3 kHz to 3.4 kHz. This speech bandwidth includes voiced sounds and unvoiced sounds. Since this speech bandwidth is low, the quality of original sounds is degraded. In order to overcome this limitation, a wideband speech receiver has been proposed. Wideband speech, of which bandwidth ranges from 50 Hz to 7 kHz, can represent all speech bands including voiced/unvoiced sounds and improve naturalness and clarity in comparison with narrowband speech. However, narrowband speech is currently popularly serviced with a narrowband speech codec in many applications such as voice communications over a public switched telephone network (PSTN), voice over IP (VoIP), and voice applications in smart phones. Therefore, it takes a lot of time and requires high cost to replace the narrowband speech codec with a wideband speech codec.
To overcome this limitation, it has been proposed to receive narrowband speech and convert the received speech into a wideband signal at a decoder. Accordingly, various methods for extending the speech bandwidth have been proposed.
One of the methods is allocating an additional bit for wideband. According to this method, side information is used. That is, by using encoding information transmitted from an encoder, high-band specch is generated. The encoder generates and transmits auxiliary information based on analysis of high frequency band information of an input signal. Here, the decoder generates a high frequency band signal based on transmitted auxiliary information. For instance, the wideband speech codec G.729.1 may provide coding with 12 different bit rates between 8 kbit/s and 32 kbit/s. The baseline coder of G.729.1 is fully compatible with G.729 that is a representative narrowband codec, thereby ensuring narrowband speech quality in 8 kbit/s mode. Here, the encoder generates wideband speech from the 14 kbit/s mode, of which operation mode is called 'layer 3', by using the above-described bandwidth extension technique. The encoder allocates additional bits for the bandwidth extension technique used in layer 3 of G.729.1 so that the high frequency band signal is generated during a decoding operation. However, this bandwidth extension technique requires additional bits, causing network overload. Moreover, this technique also requires modification of the encoder.
A method for generating a high frequency band signal from a low frequency band signal in a decoder without allocating additional bits has been proposed. For instance, for this method, estimation through a pattern recognition algorithm such as a hidden Markov model (HMM) and a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) has been proposed. However, the pattern recognition requires a training process, and performance may be variable according to language. Further, in the case where prediction or estimation is needed, additional bits are included and computational complexity is increased. Therefore, it is difficult to efficiently and rapidly process speech received in real time. In addition, various methods for extending bandwidth without allocating additional bits are limited in quality of output speech.

Method and device for extending bandwidth of speech signal

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology


A signal object such as a colored ball is mounted to hang in front of the windshield of a RV when the TV antenna is up and to rise out of view when the antenna is lowered.

Recreational vehicles are commonly equipped with television sets that are connected to an antenna that is mounted on the roof of the vehicle. These sets are not normally intended to be used while the vehicle is in motion on the road and the antenna should be lowered before it gets under way. Indeed, when a vehicle is being housed in a garage it may be necessary to lower the antenna before it can leave and may antennae have been destroyed for neglect of the required step of lowering them.
Modern antennae are adjustable from the inside of the vehicles on which they are installed and inspection of the handle or knob for this adjustment will inform the driver of the position of the antenna. But it is precisely the inadvertent omission of this inspection that most ofter leads to the disastrous getting under way of a vehicle while the antenna is raised. What is needed, and what my invention provides, is a warning that cannot be overlooked by a driver that his antenna is up and that he should not start the vehicle. It is also desirable that any warning device should be adaptable to most widely used antennae, that is should be inexpensive, and that almost anyone should be able to install it. These desiderata are achieved by means of the device hereinbelow described.


A microscope apparatus includes a base, a support disposed upright on the base, and an objective lens unit supported by the support and including an objective lens holder that holds an objective lens. The objective lens unit includes a drive source that moves the objective lens holder up and down and a driver that transmits a drive force of the drive source to the objective lens holder.

As microscope apparatuses that observe a specimen, for example, those typically provided with a base, a pillar mounted on the base, a stage supported by the pillar, and a nosepiece support are known (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,905). The nosepiece support has a nosepiece on which a plurality of objective lenses can be mounted, and the nosepiece is turned to select an objective lens to be used for observation. The nosepiece support is provided on a focusing device. A driver to move the nosepiece support upward and downward through the focusing device is disposed on the base.

Microscope apparatus and objective lens unit


According to one embodiment, a monolithic cassette with graded electrical resistivity is presented. The monolithic cassette has a continuous grain structure between a first end and a second end; wherein electrical resistivity of the monolithic cassette is graded such that the resistance varies continuously from the first end to the second end. Methods and compositions for forming the monolithic cassette are also presented.

Embodiments presented herein relate generally to monolithic structures, and more particularly to electrically resistive monolithic structures.
One common method of controlling or varying current or voltage in an electrical circuit is by the use of a variable-resistor or rheostat. Typically, for electrical equipment with a high power rating, rheostats may be used for equipment startup and shutdown. For instance, brushed DC motors may have a manual rheostat starter, a three point rheostat starter, a four point rheostat starter, or the like, to gradually increase armature current from a small value to the rated operational value to protect the DC motor. However, during operation the rheostat switches from one resistance branch to another in a step manner. Such switching operation may result in arcing between the moving contact and the resistance branches, due to the high voltage and/or current supplied to the electrical equipment.
Another known solution includes multiple discrete resistive layers assembled in a stack, with the moving contact designed to slide over the stack. However, with operational wear, the surface of the stack in contact with the moving contact (referred to herein as "sliding surface") is ground down by the moving contact, thereby resulting in an uneven sliding surface. Therefore, the moving contact may not maintain adequate contact pressure over the length of the stack. Further, the different resistive layers of the stack may be ground down to different levels based on the hardness of the resistive layer, thereby forming 'steps' on the sliding surface. This may result in the possibility of the moving contact being stuck at a step between successive resistive elements. Uneven contact pressure and the stepped profile of the sliding surface may both lead to arcing between the moving contact and the sliding surface. Also, such assembled stacks are difficult to machine and polish to obtain a smooth sliding surface. Often, the assembled stacks crack or break during machining.
Therefore, there is a need in the art, for a resistive element that addresses these and other shortcomings associated with known solutions.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ceramic, graded resistivity monolith using the ceramic, and method of making


This relates to a driving tool for driving fastening means, nails/staples, into a workpiece, a trigger lever, which can be actuated manually, and a workpiece contact element, which can be actuated by placing the tool onto the workpiece, the tool operates in a single shot mode, in which each individual sequence of an actuation of the workpiece contact element with subsequent actuation of the trigger lever triggers a driving-in cycle, the tool operates in a bump firing mode, in which, with the trigger lever continuously actuated, each individual actuation of the workpiece contact element triggers a driving-in cycle, a resetting assembly providing, by means of which the tool is resettable from the bump firing mode into single shot mode in an automatic, time-controlled resetting operation. It is proposed that a signaling assembly, which emits a feedback signal to the user before, after or during each automatic resetting operation, is provided.

The present invention relates to a driving tool for driving fastening means into a workpiece and to a method for operating such a driving tool.
The driving tool in question is used primarily as a handheld tool, for example for fastening particle boards on supporting structures. The term "fastening means" should be understood here in a broad sense and comprises not only nails and staples but also screws, pins or the like. The main focus of attention here is on the driving in of nails, which should not be understood as being restrictive.
The fastening means usually take the form of a magazine belt. Depending on the design, the magazine belt may for example have a carrier belt of plastic or metal, which carries the individual fastening means. Another variant is that of providing a series of parallel running fastening wires, which are tacked on to the individual fastening means.
The driving tool in question may be designed as a compressed-air-operated driving tool, as a combustion-powered driving tool or as an electrically operated driving tool or the like.
The known driving tool (U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,664 B2), on which the invention is based, is designed as a compressed-air-operated driving tool. It is provided with a pneumatic actuator unit, which serves for driving in the fastening means in individual driving-in cycles.
For triggering the driving-in cycles of the pneumatic actuator unit, a triggering assembly is provided, having a trigger lever that can be actuated manually and a workpiece contact element that can be actuated by placing the driving tool onto the workpiece.
What is advantageous about the known driving tool is the fact that it can be operated in two different operating modes. In the single shot mode, each individual sequence of an actuation of the workpiece contact element (from the unactuated state of the workpiece contact element) with subsequent actuation of the trigger lever (from the unactuated state of the trigger lever) triggers a driving-in cycle. In the bump firing mode, with the trigger lever continuously actuated, each individual actuation of the workpiece contact element (in each case from the unactuated state) triggers a driving-in cycle.
In the case of the known driving tool, a resetting from the bump firing mode into the single shot mode is provided in an automatic, time-controlled resetting operation. For this, the driving tool has a resetting assembly with a control volume. The resetting assembly can be activated in the bump firing mode, by air at a working pressure being admitted into the control volume. The control volume is provided with an air-venting opening, which allows slow venting of the air. If the pressure goes below a limit value, this has the effect after a predetermined delay time of transferring the driving tool into the single shot mode. A separate valve, the valve piston of which is coupled to the workpiece contact element, is provided for the activation of the resetting assembly. An actuation of the workpiece contact element consequently leads to an activation of the resetting assembly. This is intended to achieve the effect that, when the driving tool is not used over a certain delay time, there is a correspondingly automatic, time-controlled resetting of the driving tool from the bump firing mode into the single shot mode in a resetting operation.

Driving tool for driving fastening means into a workpiece


A table-driven, integer-based method for approximating down sampling of wave data is disclosed. This method provides an efficient approximation of the desired down sampled wave data without a significant impact to overall system performance. Integer calculations are exploited by: (1) multiplying all values of ti by a large enough value to include all significant portions of the decimal value; (2) making all values of xcex94t integer values; and (3) using integer arithmetic for most calculations of xcex94t and ti. The following static integer tables assist in the final calculations: (1) T[ ], where each element contains the value of ti divided by xcex94t and multiplied by a large enough value, M, to place all significant decimal values to the left of the decimal; and (2) D[ ], where each element contains the number of samples of San to drop before arriving at a useable San and San+1 pair.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments described herein are directed to an efficient, table-driven, integer-based method for approximating down sampling of wave data. Specifically, an algorithm that provides efficient approximation of the resultant down sampled data is disclosed.
2. Related Art
Efficient algorithms for down sampling wave data are essential when wave data is captured for real-time applications. Failure to do so can produce noticeable and shattering results in such applications. As such, an algorithm that provides efficient approximation of resultant down sampled data would prove beneficial.
Currently, problems arise in down sampling original data while maintaining throughput required by the application. For instance, due to the wave properties of analog data, down sampling to exact values often requires complex and time-consuming mathematical calculations. Such calculations can adversely affect a software component""s ability to maintain the required throughput.

Efficient, table-driven, integer-based method for approximating down sampling of wave data


A touch panel and an electronic device using the touch panel have satisfactory, reliable operability. The touch panel is used for an operating section of the electronic device. In this touch panel, upper and lower substrates 21 and 22 have upper and lower electrode layers, respectively, and face with an established spacing. Respective center portions of the substrates 21 and 22 protrude upward like a dome.

Electronic devices each equipped with a light-transmitting touch panel mounted in front of a display element, such as an LCD, have recently grown in number as the devices have covered a broad spectrum and have become multifunctional. Each of the devices is operated by visually identifying and selecting characters, marks, or patterns displayed on the display element through the touch panel, and operating the touch panel.
A conventional touch panel is described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.
FIG. 6 is a section of the conventional touch panel. Touch panel 8 includes transparent upper substrate 1, such as a film of polyethylene terephthalate, lower substrate 2 made of glass, transparent resin or the like, light-transmitting upper electrode layer 1A formed on a bottom of upper substrate 1, and light-transmitting lower electrode layer 2A formed on a top of lower substrate 2. Electrode layers 1A, 2A may be made of indium tin oxide (ITO). On the top of lower electrode layer 2A, plural dot spacers 3 made of epoxy, silicon, or the like is formed by printing, provides upper and lower electrode layers 1A and 2A with an established spacing between the layers to face each other. Over the top of lower substrate 2, insulating layer 4 and adhesive layer 5 are formed along an outer border of substrate 2, and upper and lower substrates 1 and 2 are put together by adhesive layer 5. Lower substrate 2 is bonded with adhesive layer 7 to a top of transparent supporter 6 made of resin or the like.
When a top of upper substrate 1 is pressed with a finger or pen, as shown in FIG. 7, upper substrate 1 bends, upper electrode layer 1A contacts with lower electrode layer 2A of lower substrate 2. Consequently, upper electrode layer 1A is electrically connected to lower electrode layer 2A. When a pressing force is released, elastic restoring force of upper substrate 1 makes panel 8 return to that illustrated by FIG. 6.
As shown in FIG. 8, touch panel 8 is installed at a bottom of opening 10A in case 10 of the electronic device, and is mounted to case 10 with holder 12 together with display element 11 (e.g., LCD) disposed below panel 8.
Trough transparent touch panel 8, the characters, the marks, or the patterns displayed on display element 11 are visually identified and selected through pressing upper substrate 1 over element 11. The pressing makes touch panel 8 electrically connected and disconnected. In this way, for example, the electronic device switches among functions, or display element 11 switches among displays.
Since being flat, conventional touch panel 8 mounted to case 10 of the electronic device has a top surface (operating surface) of upper substrate 1 positioned back to a surface of case 10. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the finger or pen touches the surface of case 10 about an outer region of opening 10A when an outer border of upper substrate 1 is pressed for operation. Particularly for this case, a user hardly operate the panel and thus results in improper operation.

Touch panel and electronic equipment using the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method for calibrating a pyrometer a temperature of a calibration sample is determined from the ratio of a first reflectance and a second reflectance and the pyrometer is calibrated by assigning the determined temperature of the calibration sample with a thermal radiation signal measured by the pyrometer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for calibrating a pyrometer, a method for determining the temperature of a semiconducting wafer and a system for determining the temperature of a semiconducting wafer.
2. Description of Related Art
Measurements of the temperature of a semiconducting wafer belong to the most important tools during quality control in the semiconductor production.
In many applications, the semiconductor production is realised within a processing chamber and the temperature of the semiconducting wafer which is processed inside the processing chamber is contactlessly measured by use of a pyrometer which is adapted to intercept and measure the thermal radiation which is emitted by the semiconducting wafer. Said thermal radiation is then used to calculate the temperature of the semiconducting wafer. Due to the high temperatures inside the processing chamber, the pyrometer is advantageously located outside the processing chamber and said thermal radiation passes through a window of the processing chamber before entering the pyrometer.
However, the geometry inside the processing chamber may change for different applications, for example due to different sizes or positions of semiconducting wafers inside the chamber. Such different geometrical parameters may result in different outcoupling characteristics of the thermal radiation from the semiconducting wafer to the pyrometer through the window of the processing chamber. Also, the optical transmission characteristics of the window of the processing chamber itself may change, for example due to process related window coating. Such optical transmission characteristics may also result in different outcoupling characteristics of thermal radiation from the semiconducting wafer to the pyrometer through the window of the processing chamber. A variation of the outcoupling characteristics may however severely affect the accuracy of the determination of the temperature of the semiconducting wafer. Therefore it is necessary to re-calibrate the pyrometer before starting the temperature measurement, even if it has been carefully pre-calibrated on a separate calibration stage (i.e., a black-body reference light source) before.
A calibration process in the sense of the present invention is realised in that prior to the manufacturing process—including measurements of the temperature of a semiconducting wafer during manufacturing—a pyrometer is calibrated by providing a calibration sample inside the processing chamber. The calibration sample is a sample which preferably corresponds to a semiconducting wafer in terms of size and material, where said semiconducting wafer is intended to be manufactured after the calibration process. Therefore, once the calibration sample is heated to a known temperature value or to a plurality of known temperature values, said calibration sample can accurately simulate a thermal radiation which would be emitted by the real semiconducting wafer when being manufactured inside the processing chamber. The (so simulated) thermal radiation can be measured by the pyrometer which is located outside the processing chamber and the measured thermal radiation is then assigned with a certain temperature value or certain temperature values. Once, such assignment (also referred to as calibration) has been carried out, a semiconducting wafer can be manufactured inside the processing chamber and the temperature can be exactly derived from the thermal radiation measured by the pyrometer (which is located outside the processing chamber) during the manufacturing process because the measured thermal radiation can be re-assigned with accurate temperature values.
A conventional method for calibrating a pyrometer is described in more detail in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. In order to carry out the above described calibration process it is necessary to exactly know the temperature of the calibration sample 12 without locating the pyrometer inside the processing chamber, so that the measured thermal radiation can be assigned with an accurate temperature value. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the calibration sample 12 comprises a semiconducting wafer 2 such as a silicon substrate and a thin aluminium layer 3 disposed thereon. Further, a pyrometer 1 is provided which is adapted to intercept and measure thermal radiation and which is furthermore adapted to perpendicularly irradiate an optical radiation having a predetermined wavelength onto the calibration sample 12. During heating of the calibration sample 12, an eutectic reaction starts at exactly 577° C. where aluminium starts to diffuse into the silicon layer 2. Before the calibration sample 12 reaches a temperature of 577° C., the calibration sample 12 comprises a high reflectivity due to the thin aluminium layer 3. However, after reaching a temperature of 577° C., the aluminium layer completely diffuses into the silicon layer 2 and therefore the calibration sample 12 comprises a relatively low reflectivity. That is, the reflectivity significantly decreases at 577° C. which can be observed from outside of the processing chamber. Furthermore the pyrometer 1 measures the thermal radiation (besides the reflection signal) which is emitted from the calibration sample 12 and calculates the temperature of the calibration sample 12 using the measured thermal radiation. Once, the pyrometer has not been calibrated before—such as shown in FIG. 2—the pyrometer shows a nominal temperature of e.g. 500° C. while the reflectivity/reflectance significantly decreases (at 577° C.). Therefore, the thermal radiation which is measured at that time is assigned (calibrated) with the exact temperature of 577° C. Due to the fact that the temperature characteristics are exactly given by the Planck function, the complete temperature range of the pyrometer 1 can be calibrated using this single reference point of 577° C.
However, the above described conventional method of calibrating a pyrometer comprises the following disadvantages. The reaction characteristics of the eutectic reaction strongly depends on the thickness of the aluminium layer which makes it difficult to exactly determine the temperature of 577° C. from the reflection signal. Furthermore, the calibration sample comprises different heating characteristics than an identical silicon wafer without the aluminium layer (which is used during manufacturing) due to the different metallic radiation absorption inside the processing chamber. Furthermore the reaction characteristics of the eutectic reaction depend on the slope of the temperature ramping, thereby making it difficult to exactly determine the temperature of 577° C. from the reflection signal. Furthermore the reaction characteristics of the eutectic reaction depends on the area coverage ratio of the aluminium layer on the silicon wafer. Furthermore, the Al—Si eutectic point at 577° C. is relatively low and therefore methodical errors of the pyrometer calibration are amplified for high temperature processes (up to 1300° C.) resulting in temperature errors up to 30 K. More importantly, the calibration sample can be used only once because the aluminium layer is destroyed during the calibration process.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for calibrating a pyrometer which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for determining the temperature of a semiconducting wafer and a system for determining the temperature of a semiconducting wafer which comprise a more accurate, more reliable and more cost-effective calibration process.

Method for calibrating a pyrometer, method for determining the temperature of a semiconducting wafer and system for determining the temperature of a semiconducting wafer


A hydraulic circuit for controlling the application of pressurized cooling fluid to the clutches of a dual clutch transmission including a cooling unit in fluid communication with a source of the pressurized cooling fluid and adapted to exchange heat from the cooling fluid with another media. The circuit also includes at least one regulator in fluid communication with the source of the pressurized cooling fluid and separately in fluid communication with the cooling unit, and with the clutches. The regulator is adapted to operatively provide the cooling fluid to the clutches. The circuit further includes at least one control actuator adapted to selectively control the regulator to provide a first variable predetermined amount of cooling fluid from the cooling unit to the clutches as primary cooling, and to provide a second variable predetermined amount of cooling fluid from the source to the clutches thereby supplementing the cooling fluid from the cooling unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally to a cooling circuit for a dual clutch transmission and, more specifically, to a hydraulic circuit used to controlling the flow of cooling fluid provided to each of the two clutches of a dual clutch transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally speaking, land vehicles require a powertrain consisting of three basic components. These components include a power plant (such as an internal combustion engine), a power transmission, and wheels. The power transmission component is typically referred to simply as the "transmission." Engine torque and speed are converted in the transmission in accordance with the tractive-power demand of the vehicle. Presently, there are two typical transmissions widely available for use in conventional motor vehicles. The first, and oldest type is the manually operated transmission. These transmissions include a foot-operated start-up or launch clutch that engages and disengages the driveline with the power plant and a gearshift lever to selectively change the gear ratios within the transmission. When driving a vehicle having a manual transmission, the driver must coordinate the operation of the clutch pedal, the gearshift lever and the accelerator pedal to achieve a smooth and efficient shift from one gear to the next. The structure of a manual transmission is simple and robust and provides good fuel economy by having a direct power connection from the engine to the final drive wheels of the vehicle. Additionally, since the operator is given complete control over the timing of the shifts, the operator is able to dynamically adjust the shifting process so that the vehicle can be driven most efficiently. One disadvantage of the manual transmission is that there is an interruption in the drive connection during gear shifting. This results in losses in efficiency. In addition, there is a great deal of physical interaction required on the part of the operator to shift gears in a vehicle that employs a manual transmission.
The second, and newer choice for the transmission of power in a conventional motor vehicle is an automatic transmission. Automatic transmissions offer ease of operation. The driver of a vehicle having an automatic transmission is not required to use both hands, one for the steering wheel and one for the gearshift, and both feet, one for the clutch and one for the accelerator and brake pedal in order to safely operate the vehicle. In addition, an automatic transmission provides greater convenience in stop and go situations, because the driver is not concerned about continuously shifting gears to adjust to the ever-changing speed of traffic. Although conventional automatic transmissions avoid an interruption in the drive connection during gear shifting, they suffer from the disadvantage of reduced efficiency because of the need for hydrokinetic devices, such as torque converters, interposed between the output of the engine and the input of the transmission for transferring kinetic energy therebetween. In addition, automatic transmissions are typically more mechanically complex and therefore more expensive than manual transmissions.
For example, torque converters typically include impeller assemblies that are operatively connected for rotation with the torque input from an internal combustion engine, a turbine assembly that is fluidly connected in driven relationship with the impeller assembly and a stator or reactor assembly. These assemblies together form a substantially toroidal flow passage for kinetic fluid in the torque converter. Each assembly includes a plurality of blades or vanes that act to convert mechanical energy to hydrokinetic energy and back to mechanical energy. The stator assembly of a conventional torque converter is locked against rotation in one direction but is free to spin about an axis in the direction of rotation of the impeller assembly and turbine assembly. When the stator assembly is locked against rotation, the torque is multiplied by the torque converter. During torque multiplication, the output torque is greater than the input torque for the torque converter. However, when there is no torque multiplication, the torque converter becomes a fluid coupling. Fluid couplings have inherent slip. Torque converter slip exists when the speed ratio is less than 1.0 (RPM input>than RPM output of the torque converter). The inherent slip reduces the efficiency of the torque converter.
While torque converters provide a smooth coupling between the engine and the transmission, the slippage of the torque converter results in a parasitic loss, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the entire powertrain. Further, the torque converter itself requires pressurized hydraulic fluid in addition to any pressurized fluid requirements for the actuation of the gear shifting operations. This means that an automatic transmission must have a large capacity pump to provide the necessary hydraulic pressure for both converter engagement and shift changes. The power required to drive the pump and pressurize the fluid introduces additional parasitic losses of efficiency in the automatic transmission.
In an ongoing attempt to provide a vehicle transmission that has the advantages of both types of transmissions with fewer of the drawbacks, combinations of the traditional "manual" and "automatic" transmissions have evolved. Most recently, "automated" variants of conventional manual transmissions have been developed which shift automatically without any input from the vehicle operator. Such automated manual transmissions typically include a plurality of power-operated actuators that are controlled by a transmission controller or some type of electronic control unit (ECU) to automatically shift synchronized clutches that control the engagement of meshed gear wheels traditionally found in manual transmissions. The design variants have included either electrically or hydraulically powered actuators to affect the gear changes. However, even with the inherent improvements of these newer automated transmissions, they still have the disadvantage of a power interruption in the drive connection between the input shaft and the output shaft during sequential gear shifting. Power interrupted shifting results in a harsh shift feel that is generally considered to be unacceptable when compared to smooth shift feel associated with most conventional automatic transmissions.
To overcome this problem, other automated manual type transmissions have been developed that can be power-shifted to permit gearshifts to be made under load. Examples of such power-shifted automated manual transmissions are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,409 issued on Jan. 27, 1998 to Murata for a Twin-Clutch Type Transmission, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,989 issued on Apr. 4, 2000 to Reed, Jr. et al for an Electro-mechanical Automatic Transmission having Dual Input Shafts. These particular types of automated manual transmissions have two clutches and are generally referred to simply as dual, or twin, clutch transmissions. The dual clutch structure is most often coaxially and co-centrically configured so as to derive power input from a single engine flywheel arrangement. However, some designs have a dual clutch assembly that is coaxial but with the clutches located on opposite sides of the transmissions body and having different input sources. Other designs are known in which the two clutches are non-coaxial with differing input sources. Regardless, the layout is the equivalent of having two transmissions in one housing, namely one power transmission assembly on each of two input shafts concomitantly driving one output shaft. Each transmission can be shifted and clutched independently. In this manner, uninterrupted power upshifting and downshifting between gears, along with the high mechanical efficiency of a manual transmission is available in an automatic transmission form. Thus, significant increases in fuel economy and vehicle performance may be achieved through the effective use of certain automated manual transmissions.
The dual clutch transmission structure may include two dry disc clutches each with their own clutch actuator to control the engagement and disengagement of the two-clutch discs independently. While the clutch actuators may be of the electromechanical type, since a lubrication system within the transmission requires a pump, some dual clutch transmissions utilize hydraulic shifting and clutch control. These pumps are most often gerotor types, and are much smaller than those used in conventional automatic transmissions because they typically do not have to supply a torque converter. Thus, any parasitic losses are kept small. Shifts are accomplished by engaging the desired gear prior to a shift event and subsequently engaging the corresponding clutch. With two clutches and two inputs shafts, at certain times, the dual clutch transmission may be in two different gear ratios at once, but only one clutch will be engaged and transmitting power at any given moment. To shift to the next higher gear, first the desired gears on the input shaft of the non-driven clutch assembly are engaged, then the driven clutch is released and the non-driven clutch is engaged.
This requires that the dual clutch transmission be configured to have the forward gear ratios alternatingly arranged on their respective input shafts. In other words, to perform up-shifts from first to second gear, the first and second gears must be on different input shafts. Therefore, the odd gears will be associated with one input shaft and the even gears will be associated with the other input shaft. In view of this convention, the input shafts are generally referred to as the odd and even shafts. Typically, the input shafts transfer the applied torque to a single counter shaft, which includes mating gears to the input shaft gears. The mating gears of the counter shaft are in constant mesh with the gears on the input shafts. The counter shaft also includes an output gear that is meshingly engaged to a gear on the output shaft. Thus, the input torque from the engine is transferred from one of the clutches to an input shaft, through a gear set to the counter shaft and from the counter shaft to the output shaft.
Gear engagement in a dual clutch transmission is similar to that in a conventional manual transmission. One of the gears in each of the gear sets is disposed on its respective shaft in such a manner so that it can freewheel about the shaft. A synchronizer is also disposed on the shaft next to the freewheeling gear so that the synchronizer can selectively engage the gear to the shaft. To automate the transmission, the mechanical selection of each of the gear sets is typically performed by some type of actuator that moves the synchronizers. A reverse gear set includes a gear on one of the input shafts, a gear on the counter shaft, and an intermediate gear mounted on a separate counter shaft meshingly disposed between the two so that reverse movement of the output shaft may be achieved.
While these power-shift dual clutch transmissions have overcome several drawbacks associated with conventional transmissions and the newer automated manual transmissions, it has been found that controlling and regulating the automatically actuated dual clutch transmission to achieve the desired vehicle occupant comfort goals is a complicated matter. There are a large number of events to properly time and execute within the transmission for each shift to occur smoothly and efficiently. In addition, the clutch and complex gear mechanisms, working within the close confines of the dual clutch transmission case, generate a considerable amount of heat. The heat build-up is aggravated by the nature of the clutch mechanisms themselves, each of which are typically constructed of two series of plates, or discs, one set connected in some manner to the output of the engine and the second attached to an input shaft of the transmission. Each of the set of plates include friction material. The clutch plates and discs are pressed together under pressure to a point at which the plates and discs make a direct physical connection. The clutch may be designed for a full "lock-up" of the plates and discs, or may be designed with a certain amount of "limited slip". Regardless, the slipping of the friction plates within a friction type clutch, whether from a designed limited slip or the normal uncontrolled slipping that occurs during clutch engagement and disengagement, generates heat that needs to be dissipated. A considerable amount of heat can be generated in the typical dual clutch transmission utilizing a combined coaxial clutch assembly wherein the one clutch fits within the second clutch.
In order to provide sufficient cooling to the clutch assemblies of the conventional dual clutch transmission, the clutch assemblies are usually bathed in transmission fluid in a generally uncontrolled manner. While this approach has generally worked for its intended purpose, disadvantages remain. Specifically, these types of conventional clutch cooling hydraulic circuits have failed either to adequately provide for proper cooling and heat reduction of the clutches of the dual clutch transmission or have resulted in producing large efficiency losses by excessively flooding of the clutch assemblies with fluid.
Of late, newer approaches in the structure of hydraulic circuits for clutch cooling have been proposed in the related art that offer improvements, but are still limited in their cooling capacity. In one example, a hydraulic circuit is employed that provides pressurized cooling oil directly from the pump to the clutches to maintain adequate flow and pressure and then passes the cooling fluid through a cooler device only on the return line to the sump. However, since the cooling fluid is not cooled on its way to the clutches, the cooling capacity of the applied cooling fluid is somewhat limited and larger quantities of fluid must be employed to adequately cool the clutch. This generally requires a larger pump and larger supply lines. In another example, the pressurized cooling fluid is pumped through a cooling unit prior to delivery to the clutches. However, this causes a distinct pressure drop and the system must contend with the flow limitations of the cooling unit.
These conventional clutch cooling approaches also use a single hydraulic circuit to supply cooling oil or fluid from the cooler device to the clutches. This causes the clutches to suffer inadequate and inefficient heat removal. Furthermore, the inadequacy of these conventional hydraulic circuits is also exaggerated under clutch high loading conditions where excessively high heat is built up rapidly in the active clutch. These inherently inadequate cooling circuit strategies lead to shortened component life and ultimate failure of the clutch assemblies within the dual clutch transmission. Similarly, inadequate cooling is responsible for rapid breakdown of the physical properties of the transmission fluid, which can cause failure of the other components within the transmission. Further, the conventional hydraulic circuits that excessively flood the clutch assemblies with cooling fluid also cause unnecessary clutch drag and put excessive demands on the pump resulting in poor clutch life and lower fuel efficiencies.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the related art for an improved hydraulic circuit to provide cooling fluid to the clutch assemblies of the dual clutch transmissions. Specifically, there is a need for a cooling circuit that provides cooling fluid from a cooling unit to the clutches normally and supplementally provides high flow cooling fluid from the pump under high load conditions. In this manner, clutch heat is dissipated by cooled cooling fluid normally and a supplemental flow of cooling fluid that is not limited by the flow restrictions of the cooling unit is further provided when the clutch comes under high load.

Dual clutch transmission clutch cooling circuit


Disclosed are a laser annealing method and apparatus capable of forming a crystalline semiconductor thin film on the entire surface of a substrate without sacrificing the uniformity of crystallinity in a seam portion in a long-axis direction of laser light, the crystalline semiconductor thin film having good properties and high uniformity to an extent that the seam portion is not visually recognizable. During the irradiation of a linear beam, portions corresponding to the edges of the linear beam are shielded by a mask 10 which is disposed on the optical path of a laser light 2, and the mask 10 is operated so that the amount of shielding is periodically increased and decreased.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser annealing method and apparatus for performing an annealing treatment on a workpiece to be processed by irradiating the workpiece with laser light.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, in order to realize a high-performance device such as a liquid crystal display, a method of forming a high-performance semiconductor device such as a thin film transistor on an insulating substrate such as a glass substrate has been developed. In this semiconductor device, thin-film polycrystalline silicon obtained by crystallizing amorphous silicon by a heat treatment is generally used.
As a method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon film, a method of forming an amorphous silicon film in advance on a substrate and crystallizing the film by irradiation of laser light is generally used. According to this method, since it utilizes a crystallization phenomenon in the process of melting and solidification of the semiconductor thin film, it is possible to obtain a high-quality polycrystalline silicon film having a relatively large particle size.
As the laser annealing method that is most commonly used at present, a method that uses pulsed laser light, particularly, an excimer laser is known. In recent years, methods that use a YAG laser or a YLF laser which is a solid-state laser have been developed. The method that uses pulsed laser light involves locally melting an amorphous silicon film and heating the melted area to a high temperature for only a very short period. For this reason, since the high temperature is not transmitted to the substrate, it is possible to use a low-cost glass substrate rather than using an expensive quartz substrate having excellent heat resistance. Thus, such a method is most suitable for low-temperature processes of a large-area electronic device.
In a general laser annealing method, when an excimer laser is used, for example, laser light is shaped by an optical system into a linear beam of which the long-side beam length is 465 mm and the short-side beam length is 0.4 to 5 mm. In the case of a YAG laser, it is possible to obtain a linear beam of which the long-side beam length is 200 mm and the short-side beam length is 40 to 50 μm. The laser light and the substrate are moved relative to each other so that the irradiation position of the linear beam partially overlaps with the irradiation area in the short-side direction of the beam, whereby crystallization of the semiconductor film is realized. In general, the overlap ratio is set to about 95%, and the same area is irradiated with about 20 shots of laser beams.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a conventional laser annealing method. FIG. 1A shows a state in which a substrate 30 is irradiated with laser light 31 while moving the laser light 31 in the short-side direction of the beam relative to a substrate 30. When the substrate 30 of which the size is longer than the beam length is processed, first, a first row R1 is irradiated as shown in
FIG. 1A. When irradiation of the first row R1 is completed, the laser light 31 is relatively moved in the long-axis direction so as to perform irradiation of second and subsequent rows. FIG. 1B shows an example in which the entire surface of the substrate is processed by irradiation of two rows. At that time, a seam portion W of the beam is formed between adjacent rows (in FIG. 1B, the first row R1 and the second row R2).
In general laser annealing, the edges of the linear beams of adjacent rows are irradiated in an overlapping manner, whereby the seam portion W is formed.
In this seam portion W, the overlap (overlapped irradiation of beams) is excessive, and a crystallization quality thereof is different from that of the other areas, whereby the seam portion W is visible to the naked eye. On the other hand, when there is a small or no overlap of the beams of adjacent rows, the overlap becomes insufficient at the edges of the beams. Thus, an amorphous portion remains, and as was expected, the crystallinity thereof is different from that of the other areas.
Since the beam seam portion W is an area which is irradiated with both the beams of the adjacent rows (for example, the first row R1 and the second row R2), the crystallinity of that area is different from that of the other areas. The crystallinity fluctuates greatly in the case of the excimer laser, and although the fluctuation becomes small with a second harmonic wave of a YAG laser compared to the excimer laser, the crystallinity fluctuates as was expected.
When a thin film transistor is manufactured using an area in which the crystallinity is not uniform, it is not possible to obtain a uniform performance of the thin film transistor. In a display apparatus such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, the display quality thereof is likely to depend on the uniformity of the performance of the thin film transistor. Therefore, in order to maintain the display quality, a display panel has to be manufactured within an area that is limited to the beam length of laser light. In the case of a green YAG laser, since the beam length thereof is short, it is difficult to manufacture a large-size display whose size exceeds 20 inches.
Techniques for preventing the non-uniformity of the crystallinity in the beam seam portion W as described above are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example.
The method of Patent Document 1 is to make the crystallinities uniform between the overlapping portion and the non-overlapping portion of the laser light by regulating the width dimension and the energy density of laser light when the irradiation areas of laser light are made to overlap each other so as to crystallize a large-area semiconductor thin film.
The method of Patent Document 2 is to make the crystallinity uniform by setting the beam profiles in a seam portion so that the slope portions of the beam profiles overlap each other in an area where the laser intensity is 20% or higher and 80% or lower.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-315652
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-243747
However, the method of Patent Document 1 has a problem in that it is not easy to regulate the width dimension and the energy density of the laser light, and productivity of the device decreases.
In the method of Patent Document 2, since the beams overlap each other under the conditions of different energy densities, it is expected that the crystallinity becomes nonuniform in the case of the excimer laser with which the crystallinity fluctuates particularly greatly with variations in energy.


The present invention relates, in certain embodiments, to methods for preventing and/or treating neurodegenerative damage (e.g., secondary cascade of neurodegenerative damage) and improving functional outcomes (e.g., outcomes associated with cognitive, behavior and sensorimotor function) caused by traumatic brain injury using neuroprotective lipoyl compounds. The present invention also provides, in various embodiments, compositions for use in treating and/or preventing TBI in a subject in need thereof, compounds for use in the manufacture of a medicament for treating and/or preventing TBI in a subject in need thereof, and methods of preparing a pharmaceutical composition for treating and/or preventing secondary brain damage caused by TBI.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a physical impact or other trauma that damages the brain. Depending on the source of the trauma, the resulting impact can cause an open head or a closed head injury. Open head injuries are typically caused by penetrating objects (e.g., a bullet or other projectile). Closed head injuries are often caused by blunt force trauma, such as the head hitting a windshield during a car accident. In both open and closed head injuries, there is immediate, primary damage to the brain (such as brain bleeding), followed by secondary brain damage (such as increased pressure within the skull and seizures) that evolves over time. Secondary brain damage sometimes affects the hippocampus region of the brain, which is involved in learning and memory. Secondary brain damage after a TBI can also affect cognitive, behavior and sensorimotor function to varying degrees.
Treatments for TBI vary based on the type and the severity of the injury. Surgery is sometimes needed to address primary brain damage and to stabilize a patient's condition. Acute treatment can sometimes be offered to minimize secondary damage, but such treatments tend to be palliative. For example, a patient may be administered sedating medications to induce a coma that will reduce the patient's agitation and facilitate healing. Medications to reduce spasticity may also be used as the patient recovers function. Other drugs may be used to assist with attention and concentration problems (including, for example, amantadine, methylphenidate, bromocriptine and antidepressants) or to subdue aggressive behavior (including, for example, carbamamazapine and amitriptyline). However, there are few effective drugs that directly treat or protect the brain from secondary brain damage.
Given the widespread incidence and lack of effective treatment options, there remains a significant unmet medical need to identify new methods for treating or preventing brain damage (e.g., secondary brain damage) caused by TBI.

Compositions and methods for treating traumatic brain injury


A method for securing a Wi-Fi link in a wireless communication system includes configuring an existing agent with a controller, wherein the existing agent is configured as a first Basic Service Set (BSS). An enrollee agent is onboarded with a Push Button Configuration (PBC) method to establish an 1905 layer security between the existing agent and the enrollee agent. The enrollee agent is configured with the controller, including the controller transmitting a Device Provisioning Protocol (DPP) Bootstrapping Information Request to the enrollee agent and the controller receiving a DPP Bootstrapping Information Response from the enrollee agent, wherein the enrollee agent is configured as a second BSS.

A communication system is comprised of interconnected devices. In one example, the devices are interconnected with an IEEE 802.11 wireless protocol. When a new device is added to the system, it must be authenticated and subsequently configured. Authentication requires the device to establish its identity with an AP device. Configuration of the new device is a precondition to permitting the new device to communicate with other devices in the system. The process of configuring a new device is referred to as device provisioning, which may be performed with a Device Provisioning Protocol (DPP).
Previously methods for configuring a new device have required manual entry of security credentials by a user. Subsequently, a PBC configuration method was defined for configuration of Multi-AP devices that conform to Release One (e.g., "R1") of the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) Multi-AP specification (e.g., as documented in Version 1.0). The PBC method is the default and mandatory way of securing the Wi-Fi link for Multi-AP R1 devices.

Method and apparatus for securing a Wi-Fi link in a wireless communication system


An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a display control unit configured to display a partial region of an original image on a first screen; and a changing unit configured to change the region to be displayed on the first screen in response to a user's operation, wherein the display control unit displays a list of a plurality of representative images corresponding to a plurality of original images each on a second screen, and wherein the representative images displayed on the second screen are based on partial images corresponding to regions of the original images changed by the changing unit each.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, digital cameras capable of performing omnidirectional photographing around photographers to generate omnidirectional images have been rolled out. Omnidirectional images have entire celestial sphere shapes and are large in size. Therefore, in the reproduction of omnidirectional images, geometric conversion processing is generally applied to the omnidirectional images to display some regions (partial regions) of the omnidirectional images having undergone the geometric conversion processing (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-6880 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2013-27021). Users can discriminate omnidirectional images by successively switching and displaying partial regions. With this method, however, users are required to confirm partial images, which are successively switched and displayed, for a long period of time to discriminate omnidirectional images, and they cannot easily discriminate the omnidirecitional images.
As an image display method that allows users to easily discriminate images, there has been known a method of displaying thumbnail images obtained by downsizing entire images. In omnidirectional images, however, objects are curved and directions (vertical and horizontal directions) of the object depends on positions inside the omnidirectional images. Therefore, users have difficulty understanding the contents of omnidirectional images and their thumbnail images and discriminating omnidirectional images from thumbnail images of the omnidirectional images.
Here, a method of displaying thumbnail images of omnidirectional images having undergone the geometric conversion processing is assumed. However, since omnidirectional images are large in size, objects in thumbnail images of the omnidirectional images are extremely finely displayed. Therefore, users also have difficulty understanding the contents of thumbnail images of omnidirectional images having undergone the geometric conversion processing and discriminating omnidirectional images from thumbnail images of the omnidirectional images having undergone the geometric conversion processing.
In technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-6880, thumbnail images in some regions of omnidirectional images are generated. However, since this technology requires a user's operation to select and specify regions for thumbnail images, users are not allowed to easily generate the thumbnail images.

Image processing apparatus and image processing method for dynamic thumbnail generation of omnidirectional image


A computer-implemented method for implementing a RAID array, according to one approach, includes: predicting a compression ratio of data to be stored in the RAID array, and using the predicted compression ratio and a physical storage capacity of the RAID array to calculate a maximum virtual storage capacity of the RAID array. The maximum virtual storage capacity is used to establish an effective storage capacity of the RAID array. One or more instructions to store compressed data in the RAID array are also sent. In response to occurrence of a predetermined event, a current compression ratio of the compressed data stored in the RAID array and the physical storage capacity of the RAID array are used to calculate a current virtual storage capacity of the RAID array. Furthermore, the effective storage capacity of the RAID array is scaled based on the current virtual storage capacity.

The present invention relates to data storage systems, and more specifically, this invention relates to implementing RAID arrays which support data compression.
RAID involves a data storage virtualization technology which combines multiple physical data storage (e.g., memory) components into one or more logical units. Storing data in these logical units involves actually distributing or "striping" the data across the different physical data storage components. In doing so, the one or more logical units are able to improve data redundancy and/or overall performance in comparison to traditional data storage schemes.
Data is distributed across the different physical data storage components in a RAID array using one of several schemes, which are also referred to as "RAID levels". Each of the RAID levels are typically referred to using the word "RAID" followed by a number, such as RAID 0 or RAID 1. Each scheme, or RAID level, provides a different data distribution layout which balances reliability, availability, performance, and capacity in different manners. For example, RAID levels greater than RAID 0 provide protection against unrecoverable sector read errors, as well as against failures of whole physical drives.
While RAID arrays provide a number of improvements to data storage, they have previously been unable to effectively support compressed data. The compressibility of data varies greatly depending on a number of factors, including the type of data itself. Each of the storage drives included in a RAID array, and even the different storage components included therein (e.g., the different disks in a hard disk drive), may also have a significant effect on the compressibility of the data stored thereon. Thus, the actual amount of compressed data that can be stored in memory will vary significantly.
The overall capacity of the RAID array is also directly affected by these differences in achievable data compression, thereby subjecting the RAID array to data overflow situations. While these variations are relatively straightforward to address in standard data storage schemes by simply adding additional storage components to accommodate any excess data, it is significantly more difficult to do so in the context of RAID arrays. As a result, conventional RAID arrays have been unable to support compressed data.

Implementing redundant array of independent disks (RAID) arrays having compressed data stored therein

International Business Machines Corporation


A coupler board includes an antenna that generates an electromagnetic field for wireless communication of data with multiple memory devices. The memory devices have data associated with operation of the machine stored therein, and may be configured as customer replaceable unit monitors (CRUMs) or system operation keys (SOKs). The memory devices may be in the form of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The electromagnetic field may have a dual-lobe radiation pattern to communicate with memory devices on either side of the coupler board. In one embodiment, the machine is a printing apparatus.

The present disclosure relates generally to data communication with memory devices within a machine. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a coupler board for wireless data communication with multiple memory devices within a machine.
A common trend in machine design is to organize a machine on a modular basis, wherein certain distinct subsystems of the machine are bundled together into modules which can be readily removed from the machine and replaced with new modules of the same or similar type. A modular design facilitates great flexibility in the business relationship with the customer. By providing subsystems in discrete modules, visits from a service representative can be made very short, since all the representative has to do is remove and replace a defective module. Actual repair of the module may take place away at the service provider's premises. Further, some customers may wish to have the ability to buy modules "off the shelf," such as from an equipment supply store. Indeed, it is possible that a customer may lease the machine and wish to buy a succession of modules as needed. Further, the use of modules, particularly for expendable supply units (e.g., copier and printer toner bottles) are conducive to recycling activities. In addition, modules may be used for anti-theft or security purposes, for example where the module may be removed by the user to disable the machine (e.g., face plates on automobile radios and wireless network cards installed in laptop computers).
In order to facilitate a variety of business arrangements among manufacturers, service providers, and customers, it is known to provide these modules, also known as "Customer Replaceable Units" or CRUs, with electronically-readable memory, also known as "Customer Replaceable Unit Monitors" or CRUMs, which, when the module is installed in the machine, enable the machine to both read information from the memory and also write information to the memory. The information stored in the CRUM can be used to monitor usage of the module as well as other functions related to the module. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,409 issued Jan. 18, 2000 and entitled "System For Managing User Modules in a Digital Printing Apparatus", which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes various data that may be stored in a CRUM and various functions that may be performed using this data.
Another common trend in machine design is to manufacture a single base "platform" in hardware, and then use software controls in communication with the hardware to enable or disable one or more optional features. This may include, for example, both software controlled operational features as well as software controlled hardware features. For instance, with reference to digital xerographic "laser printers," a basic hardware platform capable of outputting 40 pages per minute (ppm) can be modified to output pages at 30 ppm or even 20 ppm by altering the control software. Typical techniques for slowing down a basic hardware platform include simply running the various electric motors at slower speeds, or deliberately skipping an operational cycle (not feeding a print sheet, and withholding image data) for one or more of a given number of hardware cycles. The advantages of this business model include the desirability of selling different speed-rated machines at different prices to meet market demands, and also the ability to speed up a slowed-down machine (such as by loading in new software) should an existing customer decide he wants a faster machine. In a manufacturing, re-manufacturing, or repair environment, this arrangement us useful in minimizing the number of hardware configurations that must be manufactured or repaired.
Machines sold, installed, and serviced will typically require either customer interaction or service representative intervention to enable some or all of the possible optional features. One method of enabling and disabling the various optional features is to provide a secure EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) device or other non-volatile memory (NVM) device as a system operation key (SOK). The SOK, which may be in the form of a card or other device that can be removed and installed by the customer or service representative, has data stored therein that is readable by the machine to control the optional features of the machine. To enable or disable the various optional features, the customer or service representative simply installs a SOK encoded with the appropriate data into the machine.
While the incorporation of removable memory devices such as SOKs and CRUMs in a machine can enhance the machine's functionality, the use of such memory devices requires that the machine include a means for communicating data between the memory devices and the control circuitry resident in the machine. For example, this may include the use of separate electrical contact terminals, harnesses, and other hardware for each SOK and/or CRUM installed in the machine. In another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0028100 published Feb. 3, 2005 and entitled "Wireless Machine Post-Launch Configuration and Option Upgrade," which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes a secure EEPROM device or other NVM with a wireless interface for a SOK. In yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,764 issued Apr. 23, 2003 and entitled "Method and Apparatus for Communication, Without A Solid Medium, Among Control Boards in a Printing Apparatus," which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes a digital printing apparatus in which one or more modules has a board therein, which is able to communicate with another board within the apparatus by infrared or other wireless communication. Such wireless communication obviates the need for large and expensive wire harnesses.

Coupler board for wireless communication with multiple memory devices