A method and structure in which Ge-based semiconductor devices such as FETs and MOS capacitors can be obtained are provided. Specifically, the present invention provides a method of forming a semiconductor device including a stack including a dielectric layer and a conductive material located on and/or within a Ge-containing material (layer or wafer) in which the surface thereof is non-oxygen chalcogen rich. By providing a non-oxygen chalcogen rich interface, the formation of undesirable interfacial compounds during and after dielectric growth is suppressed and interfacial traps are reduced in density.

The lower effective mass and higher mobility of carriers in germanium (Ge) as compared to silicon (Si) has prompted renewed interest in Ge-based devices for high performance logic, especially as it becomes increasingly difficult to enhance Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) performance through traditional scaling. Typically, Ge has a 2× higher mobility for electrons and a 4× higher mobility for holes than a conventional Si material. One major roadblock for Ge CMOS device fabrication is that it is very difficult to obtain a stable gate dielectric. A water-soluble native Ge oxide that is typically present on the upper surface of a Ge-containing material causes the instability of the gate dielectric.
The recent developments of high-quality deposition techniques, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), to deposit dielectric films with high dielectric constants (on the order of about 4.0 or greater, typically about 7.0 or greater) for the replacement of SiO2 in Si metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) has prompted activities to develop Ge MOSFETs implementing such dielectrics. The final surface preparation before high k film deposition is critical to the final MOS device performance.
For Ge, specifically, it appears essential to have a surface free (i.e., devoid) of germanium oxide before high k film deposition. A conventional solution for Si has been to use (concentrated or dilute) hydrofluoric acid (e.g., HF or DHF) to remove any native Si oxide, while leaving an H-passivated surface. Despite being successful for Si CMOS device fabrication, this surface passivation technique was found to be less effective on Ge. See, for example, D. Bodlaki, et al. "Ambient stability of chemically passivated germanium interfaces", Surface Science 543, (2003) 63-74. For high dielectric constant films such as, for example, HfO2 and Al2O3, deposited onto HF or DHF treated materials, poor electronic properties of the gate stack are typically found. Other acid treatments, such as HCl, result in similarly poor electrical characteristics. This is illustrated by a set of C-V characteristics (see, FIG. 1) of an exemplary gate stack that was fabricated by (i) providing an epi-ready Ge (100) material; (ii) wet chemical cleaning by ozonated deionized (DI) water for 60 seconds, followed by addition of HCl to the solution for 60 seconds, and then DI water rinse for 300 seconds; (iii) deposition of 50 Å HfO2 by ALD from Al(CH3)3 and water vapor at 300° C.; and (iv) evaporation of Al dots using a shadow mask to form MOS capacitors.
The high frequency dispersion and low capacitance modulation between accumulation and inversion are a strong indication of a very high areal density of interface states (Dit). This low electronic quality of the interface probably arises from the formation of undesirable interfacial compounds. Usually, germanium oxide (GeO2) is held responsible, but Hf germanate or other compounds are possible candidates.
One demonstrated method to fabricate functional gate stacks is to desorb the Ge oxide in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) system at high temperatures (e.g., at 400° to 650° C.) followed by in-situ high k deposition. X.-J. Zhang, et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technology A11, 2553 (1993) describe thermal desorption of Ge oxide, while J. J.-H. Chen, et al. IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 51, 1441, (2004) describe the in-situ deposition process. The main drawback of this approach is that UHV systems are costly and generally incompatible with standard ALD or MOCVD high k deposition tools used in manufacturing. A practical solution is based on nitridation of a wet-etched (e.g., using DHF) Ge surface prior to dielectric deposition using either atomic N exposure or a high-temperature NH3 gas treatment. See, for example, Chi On Chui, et al., IEEE Electr. Device Lett. 25, 274 (2004), E. P. Gusev, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 2334 (2004) and N. Wu, et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 3741 (2004).
That nitrided stacks can be functional is exemplified by the C-V characteristics (see FIG. 2) of a gate stack fabricated in the same way as the stack discussed above in connection with FIG. 1, however, with an additional NH3 treatment (at 650° C. for 1 minute) added between the wet HCl clean and HfO2 deposition. The characteristics shown in FIG. 2 indicate greatly improved electrical characteristics than those shown in FIG. 1. Moreover, the characteristics illustrated in FIG. 2 show only a small frequency dispersion as compared to FIG. 1 indicating that the interface density had been reduced. The hysteresis is due to some dielectric traps in the HfO2 film. However, despite the success in reducing the interface state density, the nitridation induces fixed positive charge at the interface which causes a large negative flatband shift and could degrade the device mobility. The nitridation step also has the disadvantage of requiring high-temperatures which could lead to unwanted dopant diffusion and interface reactions.
Sulfur passivation of Ge surfaces using an aqueous ammonium sulfide (NH4)2S treatment (with other solvents such as methanol optionally added) has been described in the literature. See, for example, G. W. Anderson, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 66, 1123 (1995); P. F. Lyman, et al., Surf. Sci. 462, L594 (2000); D. Bodlaki, et al., J. Chem. Phys. 119, 3958 (2003); and Bodlaki, et al. Surf. Sci. 543, 63 (2003). The sulfur or germanium sulfide (GeSix) layer thus created using these techniques has a thickness of up to 3 monolayers. However, no application to MOSFET or MOS device fabrication of high k dielectric deposition has been suggested or demonstrated. Furthermore, the aforementioned cited literature does not indicate whether S treatment could be used for high k gate stack passivation.
In view of the above, it would be highly advantageous to have a method of preparing a Ge/high k interface that offers the following attributes:                1. low temperature passivation, so that the Ge FET fabrication flow could be milder, reducing unwanted diffusion or reaction;        2. wet-chemical application to provide process simplicity and reduce cost; and        3. improved electrical characteristics including a low interface state density and low flatband shift.

Method of forming a semiconductor structure using a non-oxygen chalcogen passivation treatment


A method for obtaining metallic carbon nanotubes is provided. An insulating substrate comprising hollow portions and non-hollow portions is provided. A plurality of electrodes is formed on a surface of the non-hollow portions. A plurality of carbon nanotubes is formed on a surface of the insulating substrate, and the carbon nanotubes stretch across the hollow portions. The insulating substrate, the plurality of electrodes and the carbon nanotubes are placed into a cavity, and the cavity is evacuated. A voltage is applied between any two electrodes, and photos of carbon nanotubes suspended between the two electrodes are taken. In the photo, darker ones are semiconducting carbon nanotubes, and brighter ones are metallic carbon nanotubes. Finally, the semiconducting carbon nanotubes are removed.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes are a kind of nano-material with great potential for research. Based on its nanoscale size and special structure, single-walled carbon nanotubes have good electrical properties, photoelectric properties, and semiconductor-type properties. Single-walled carbon nanotubes can be divided into two types: metallic type and semiconducting type.
Conventional methods for obtaining metallic carbon nanotubes usually use Raman spectroscopy or electrical measurement to identify metallic carbon nanotubes and then obtain them; however, this method is inefficient due to complex operation. Scanning electron microscopy is more and more used to identify metallic carbon nanotubes because of its high discrimination efficiency. The conventional method for identifying metallic carbon nanotubes using the scanning electron microscope, carbon nanotubes are placed on a silicon substrate, an external voltage is applied under a normal pressure, and the metallic carbon nanotubes are distinguished by different brightness of the carbon nanotubes in the scanning electron microscope photos.
However, in the conventional method for identifying and obtaining metallic carbon nanotubes, the carbon nanotubes are in direct contact with the silicon substrate, and the silicon substrate absorbs a large amount of heat, so a large external voltage needs to be applied to identify the metallic carbon nanotubes, wasting resources. Moreover, the metallic carbon nanotubes need to be observed with the scanning electron microscope, and the cost is relatively high. Furthermore, carbon nanotubes are easily oxidized when applied a voltage under a normal pressure, and thus it is difficult to obtain pure metallic carbon nanotubes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for obtaining metallic carbon nanotube


This invention relates to cation conducting GABAA receptors, mutated GABAA receptor subunits, polynucleotide sequences encoding mutated subunits, expression vectors comprising the mutated subunits, host cells capable of expressing the mutated subunits, drug screening methods, and chemical substances identified by the drug screening methods of the invention.

Preferred drug screening method of ion channels include the standard high throughput screens (HTS) using mixtures of test compounds and biological reagents along with indicator compound loaded into cells in arrays of wells, usually in standard microtiter plates with 96 or 384 wells, and measuring the signal from each well, either fluorescence emission, intracellular pH, optical density, radioactivity, etc.
The GABAA receptor is an attractive target for the development of new drugs. The GABAA receptor, however, is a chloride channel, rendering it incompatible with conventional HTS methods. Moreover, most cells capable of functionally expressing GABAA receptors do not maintain a sufficient chloride gradient across their membranes. For validating these targets, cost and time-consuming electrophysiological methods are still the preferred methods.
There is a strong felt need in the art to make these receptors the target for more efficient and inexpensive high throughput drug screening methods.
Wang et al. [Wang Chih-Tien et al: Cation Permeability and Cation-Anion Interactions in a Mutant GABA-Gated Chloride Channel from Drosophila; Biophys. J. 1999 77 691-700] describe an insect GABA receptor that has been made cation permeable by mutation in the near-M2 region. This receptor, however, does not contain modulator sites affected by drugs, and is not suited for high throughput drug screening.
Bertrand et al. [Bertrand D, Galzi J L, Devillers-Thieiy A, Bertrand S & Changeux J P: Mutations at two distinct sites within the channel domain M2 alter calcium permeability of neuronal α7 nicotinic receptor; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1993 90 6971-6975] describe how mutations at two distinct sites within its TM2 domain alter the calcium permeability of a nicotinic α7 receptor.
Keramidas et al. [Keramidas A, Moorhouse A J, French C R, Schofield P R & Barry P H. M2 Pore Mutations Convert the Glycine Receptor Channel from Being Anion- to Cation-Selective; Biophys. J. 2000 78 247-259] describe how three mutations carried out in the M2 transmembrane domain of the chloride-conducting α1 homomeric glycine receptor alter the receptor from being anion- to cation-selective.
A cation-conducting GABAA receptor suited for high throughput drug screening has never been disclosed.


A process is provided for minimizing waste during processing of a length of stock into one or more shorter usable segments, where in connection with the processing station upon which the length of stock is processed, the length of stock has a minimum handling length. The waste is minimized by mapping the remnant segment at a position other than the last segment at the trailing end of the length of stock. The last segment at a trailing end of the length of stock is alternatively defined as one of the usable segments having a length greater than the minimum handling length.

This invention relates to a process for minimizing waste during processing of a length of stock, including, for example, structural steel shapes, such as I-beam, channel, angle iron, and bar stock, into one or more shorter length segments. More specifically, the process increases the amount of material available for forming smaller usable segments.
In conventional xe2x80x9ccut to lengthxe2x80x9d structural beam fabrication shops employing a steel fabrication line, beams are typically automatically conveyed through an assembly of punch presses for punching holes in the beams and a shearing device for severing the beams into multiple, smaller (i.e., shorter) length segments. One example of beams that are processed in this manner has a central web and two parallel flanges, where each flange is arranged at opposite ends of the web. Such beams are typically designated as I-beams, wide flange beams, light beams, and American standard beams. When such beams are erected in structures, the ends of the beams and/or other portions of the beams are typically connected together with bolts. The bolts are received in holes provided in the webs and flanges of the beams.
One conventional method for providing the holes in a beam is to punch the holes with one or more conventional punch presses. xe2x80x9cWebxe2x80x9d punch presses are used to provide holes in the beam web, and xe2x80x9cflangexe2x80x9d punch presses are used to provide holes in the beam flanges. Such punch presses may have conventional designs well-known to those skilled in the art. Various designs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,631,996, 3,722,337, and 3,720,125.
One conventional method for forming one or more shorter segments from a length of stock is to sever the shorter segments from the length of stock with a shearing apparatus. Such shearing apparatus may have conventional designs well-known to those skilled in the art. One example of a possible design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,782.
A family of models of commercially successful structural beam punch and shear combination systems is marketed in the United States of America by Peddinghaus Corporation, 300 North Washington Avenue, Bradley, Ill. 60915 U.S.A. under the trade name xe2x80x9cAnglemasterxe2x80x9d and can be used as part of a structural steel fabrication line. The Peddinghaus brochure 08/94 AFCPS describes the Model AFCPS-623-K, and the Peddinghaus brochure 07/88 ASP describes the Model AFPS 623.
Generally, for xe2x80x9ccut to lengthxe2x80x9d fabrication lines, the operator starts with raw stock of a standard fixed length. In connection with processing a length of stock including structural steel shapes, such as I-beam, channel, angle iron, and bar stock, the raw stock commonly comes in a fixed length of 40 feet. Other standard fixed lengths can often also be available, wherein a maximum standard fixed length of 60 feet is common. From the standard fixed lengths of raw stock, shorter beam segments of desirable length can be produced.
In order to minimize waste, during production of the shorter length beams from the raw stock, operators of cut-to-length lines look to their production requirements including the quantity and corresponding lengths of the shorter segments required to complete the job order. An operator then plans the production of the parts bearing in mind the standard length of raw stock that the operator is working with, and attempts to organize production of the parts to maximize use of the raw stock, thereby minimizing waste.
As each useable segment is severed, the length of raw stock remaining for forming further shorter useable segments is correspondingly reduced. At some point the remaining length of raw stock will be too short to produce any further useable segments. The length of raw stock remaining after all of the shorter usable segments have been severed is generally referred to as the remnant, and is often discarded as scrap.
Prior processes for producing multiple shorter segments from a longer length of raw stock have typically required a minimum amount of scrap, which can not be processed or used in forming the usable shorter segments. One reason for this has been the result of certain physical limitations of the fabrication line, where a minimum length of material at the trailing end of the raw stock is required for handling purposes. Consequently, many operators, when determining the length of material available for forming shorter segments, automatically deduct from the starting length of raw stock a length equivalent to the minimum handling length. This insures a length of raw stock is always available for handling purposes at the end of the length of raw stock as each shorter usable segment is severed.
A further difficulty in determining the length of material available for forming shorter segments corresponds to the fact that the actual starting length of the raw stock can vary within certain tolerances. In at least one example the actual starting length for at least one source of 40-foot I-beam stock, when received from the mill, can vary by as much as a quarter of an inch under or as much as three-quarters of an inch over. As a result, when planning the formation of the shorter usable segments from the longer length of raw stock, the possible tolerances need to be taken into consideration.
A still further factor which may not always be able to be accurately anticipated corresponds to losses during processing. Each of the resulting shorter cut-to-length segments can further have a tolerance plus or minus of up to one-sixteenth of an inch.
Consequently, when planning the shorter usable segments to be produced from the corresponding lengths of raw stock, prior processing methods have generally identified the length of material available for forming shorter usable segments by deducting from the overall length of raw stock an amount equal to or greater than the minimum handling length. By doing this, it was assured that an amount equal to the minimum handling length was available at the end of processing for handling purposes by the fabrication line.
For a fabrication line having a minimum handling length of eight inches and working with raw stock having a starting length of approximately forty feet, after subtracting the minimum handling length from the overall length of raw stock, the length of material available for forming smaller usable segments would be approximately thirty-nine feet, four inches.
Almost always the individual shorter segments that are needed will not add up exactly to the length of the available material, which length, in the above noted example, is thirty-nine feet, four inches. Consequently, the unused portion of the available length of material will be added as scrap to the already reserved eight inches of material corresponding to the minimal handling length. In prior processes, it was frequently observed that if the amount of material corresponding to the minimum handling length had been available for use, a further usable segment could have been formed.
In view of the above-discussed disadvantages of the prior art processing, it would be beneficial to develop a process which would maximize the amount of material available for forming the shorter usable segments, thereby minimizing the waste during processing of a length of stock.
The present invention provides a novel process for minimizing waste during processing of a length of stock into one or more shorter usable segments.
In at least one aspect of the invention, the process is performed in a system including a processing path along which the length of stock having a leading end and a trailing end travels, and a severing station located along the processing path for severing shorter usable segments from the length of stock. The system typically has a minimum handling length.
The process provides for defining one or more shorter usable segments having an aggregate length, plus any processing loss, which is less than or equal to the length of stock. Furthermore, the one or more shorter usable segments are defined so as to provide at least one shorter usable segment having a length greater than the minimum handling length. The shorter usable segments are then mapped onto the length of stock so as to locate the at least one shorter usable segment having a length greater than the minimum handling length as the last segment at the trailing end of the length of stock. The length of stock is then advanced and the segments are severed, seriatim, therefrom.
According to one aspect of the invention, a process is provided where the difference between the sum of the lengths of the shorter usable segments and the length of the length of stock corresponds to a remnant section. When the length of the remnant section is less than the minimum handling length, the remnant section is mapped at a position other than the last segment.
According to another aspect of the invention, the remnant section is mapped as the next to last segment.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings.

Process for minimizing waste during processing of a length of stock


A method and system for staging drugs dispensed from a drug dispensing apparatus including an accumulator operative to temporarily accumulate drugs for later dispensing into vials. The accumulator includes one or more staging containers positioned to receive dispensed drugs that fall freely under the influence of gravity, each container having an outlet that is selectively openable so that the drugs retained therein can be delivered to a vial at a later time. Several orders can be staged in parallel if several such staging containers are provided. The drugs are staged in the accumulators for dispensing before vials are positioned so that dispensing of all the drugs for each vial may be performed simultaneously.

The present invention generally relates to methods and apparatus for dispensing prescriptions. More specifically, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for staging medications for dispensing and filling containers, such as vials.
Generally, out-patients from a hospital or medical office have been provided with prescriptions in one of two ways. One way is to provide oral, solid prescriptions that are prefilled in vials at a remote location and kept in inventory at a pharmacy. These prefilled vials are removed from stock when needed and relabelled with patient specific information. Another method involves filling prescriptions by having a pharmacist hand-count the required drugs from a bulk supply and then place a patient specific label on a vial.
There are disadvantages to both of these prescriptions filling methods. If pharmacists elect to use prefilled vials, they must carry an inventory of several hundred drug types. Further, they must manage inventory levels and monitor stock for expiring products. Generally, a pharmacist will pay a premium for having the vials prefilled.
On the other hand, filling prescriptions from bulk on an individual basis is very labor intensive and subject to human accounting errors. Further, servicing a large out-patient population requires large numbers of pharmacists.
Many out-patient facilities use a combination of these two systems, supplying prefilled vials on high volume products and hand-filling vials with products that are less in demand.
A method of direct dispensing drugs into a vial is used in some operations. Direct dispensing is a process wherein tablets are dispensed one at a time and counted during each dispensing stroke. The counting stroke accounts for a high accuracy rate but significantly reduces the speed of drug delivery.
Often, a single order may require the dispensing of as many as 200 different drugs to fill the order. However, individual canisters only store a single drug. Therefore, if 200 different drugs are required to fill an order, the vial must be re-positioned 200 separate instances to fill an individual order. This method of repositioning and dispensing is known as serial processing.
Serial processing can be a very accurate method of dispensing drugs to fill a prescription. Using serial processing, the drugs can be either counted by a machine referred to as an "automatic tablet counter" or by hand. The individual drugs are simultaneously dispensed into a vial and counted. While this method can be very accurate, it also can be quite time-consuming.
Additionally, after all of the drugs for an order have been dispensed into vials, the vials are capped and labeled. Each vial generally contains one drug. Different labels are, therefore, required for identifying the contents of the vials as well as special instructions for taking the drugs by the patient. The vials are then sorted so that all vials for one order are grouped together.

Tablet accumulator for an automated prescription vial filling system


A process for making substantially anhydrous surfactant compositions which, at room temperature, are shear thinning non-Newtonian pastes with a yield point that allows them to be easily worked in commercial apparatus. The process employs hydrotropes, anionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants in a drying step to provide the pastes. The pastes are especially suitable for incorporation into anhydrous liquid detergent products.

The present invention relates to processes for making non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent compositions which contain an anhydrous anionic sulfated or sulfonated surfactant, a non-aqueous liquid surfactant, a hydrotrope, and optionally, but preferably, other conventional detergent ingredients, as well as processes for drying (removing water from) detergent ingredients, especially surfactants for use in detergent compositions, especially the non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent compositions of the present invention. In addition to the above, the present invention also provides a means for drying such detergent ingredients without the need to reclaim the solvent used in the process.
Liquid laundry detergent products offer a number of advantages over dry, powdered or particulate laundry detergent products. Liquid laundry detergent products are readily measurable, speedily dissolved in wash water, non-dusting, are capable of being easily applied in concentrated solutions or dispersions to soiled areas on garments to be laundered and usually occupy less storage space than granular products. Additionally, liquid laundry detergents may have incorporated into their formulations materials which would deteriorate in the drying operations employed in the manufacture of particulate or granular laundry detergent products. Because liquid laundry detergents are usually considered to be more convenient to use than granular laundry detergents, they have found substantial favor with consumers.
Although liquid laundry detergents have a number of advantages over granular laundry detergent products, there are also disadvantages entailed in using them. In particular, laundry detergent composition components which may be compatible with each other in granular products may tend to interact or react with each other in a liquid, and especially in an aqueous liquid environment. Components such as surfactants, perfumes, brighteners and non-aqueous solvents can be especially difficult to incorporate into liquid laundry detergent products with an acceptable degree of compositional stability. Poor compositional stability may cause the detergent composition to degenerate into an unaesthetic, ineffective, heterogeneous detergent composition during storage.
One approach for enhancing the chemical compatibility and stability of liquid laundry detergent products has been to formulate substantially anhydrous non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent compositions. Generally, the chemical stability of the components of a non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent composition increases as the amount of water in the laundry detergent composition decreases. Moreover, by minimizing the amount of water in a liquid laundry detergent composition, one can maximize the surfactant activity of the composition. Non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent compositions have been disclosed in Hepworth et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,820, Issued Oct. 17, 1986; Schultz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,380, Issued May 29, 1990, Schultz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,031, Issued Apr. 16, 1991; Elder et al., EP-A-030,096, Published Jun. 10, 1981; Hall et al., WO 92/09678, Published Jun. 11, 1992; and Sanderson et al., EP-A-565,017, Published Oct. 13, 1993.
But, non-aqueous liquid laundry detergents come with their own set of disadvantages and problems. The desirable advantage of having excellent compositional stability may also mean that the non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent will have poor solubility and dispersion properties in the wash liquor inside an automatic clothes washer. Also non-aqueous liquids typically have awkward rheological properties, displaying a tendency known as xe2x80x9cshear thickeningxe2x80x9d, where the viscosity of the paste or liquid increases with an increasing shear rate, making the paste difficult to pump, store and transport. Moreover, non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent compositions are difficult and expensive to manufacture. A drying step requiring prolonged heating and stirring is necessary to eliminate the water. However it is not only difficult to consistently achieve the proper heating and stirring conditions in a manufacturing setting, but also such drying operations may have the effect of decomposing or evaporating individual components of the detergent composition. The resulting difficulty and expense involved with working with such fluids have greatly reduced their utilization as laundry detergent compositions.
The incorporation of surfactants into various consumer products, especially detergent products, such as granular detergent products and liquid detergent products, substantially anhydrous liquid detergent products in particular, is a common step in the manufacture of such products. However, the incorporation of such surfactants can present challenges to formulators, especially in the case of substantially anhydrous liquid products, because conventional surfactants, such as alkyl benzene sulfonate surfactants, are typically only available in the form of an aqueous paste prior to being processed into the products.
Given the foregoing, there is clearly a continuing need to provide processes for preparing non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent products that have a high degree of chemical and compositional stability, contain the essential components of a liquid laundry detergent composition, have a high surfactant activity and are readily soluble in a wash liquor. In addition, such processes should be easily replicated at multiple production sites and should produce liquid laundry detergent products that can be easily pumped, stored and transported.
The present invention fulfills the needs described above by providing processes for making soluble, preferably water-soluble, substantially anhydrous surfactant pastes and other detergent ingredients, products formed by such processes and compositions comprising such anhydrous surfactant pastes and/or other detergent ingredients.
The present invention encompasses a process for preparing a substantially anhydrous surfactant paste containing less than 5% water, comprising the steps of:
A) forming an aqueous surfactant mixture by blending, by weight of the mixture:
(a) from about 5% to about 85% of an anionic surfactant;
(b) from about 15% to about 95% of a liquid nonionic surfactant;
(c) from about 1% to about 40% of a hydrotrope, said hydrotrope comprising at least two polar groups separated from each other by at least 5 carbon atoms;
wherein the aqueous surfactant mixture has a water content from 5% to about 80% by weight of the aqueous surfactant mixture;
B) drying the aqueous surfactant mixture under vacuum to form said substantially anhydrous surfactant paste having a water content of less than 5%, said paste at room temperature (18-30xc2x0 C.) being in the form of a shear-thinning, non-Newtonian fluid, preferably having a yield value less than about 200 Pa, more preferably about 50 Pa-100 Pa at 30xc2x0 C.; and
C) optionally, adding an anhydrous organic liquid to the surfactant paste from step B to facilitate handling and transportation.
In a preferred process, the anionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of alkyl benzene sulfonates, alkyl sulfates, alkyl ethoxy sulfates, and mixtures thereof. Preferably, the nonionic surfactant is selected from the group consisting of: alkoxylated (especially ethoxylated) alcohols; ethylene oxide (EO)-propylene oxide (PO) block polymers; polyhydroxy fatty acid amides; alkylpolysaccharides; and mixtures thereof.
Preferably, the weight ratio of hydrotrope; anionic surfactant is in the range of about 1:1 to about 1:100. Preferred hydrotropes are selected from the group consisting of 1,4 cyclohexane dimethanol, 1,6 hexanediol, 1,7 heptanediol, and mixtures thereof.
In one aspect, the organic liquid of step C is selected from the group consisting of: alkylene glycols; diethyl- and dipropylene glycol monobutyl ethers; glycol monobutyl ether; monoethylethers, monomethylethers, monopropylethers and monobutylethers of propoxy propanol; polyethylene glycols having a molecular weight of at least about 150; methyl acetate; methyl propionate; methyl octanoate; methyl dodecanoate; and mixtures thereof.
The invention also provides a non-aqueous liquid detergent composition, comprising a surfactant component which is a dried, substantially anhydrous surfactant paste prepared according to the foregoing manner, together with a non-aqueous solvent. Preferably, said surfactant paste comprises the hydrotrope, the nonionic surfactant and an anionic surfactant which is a member selected from the group consisting of alkyl benzene sulfonate surfactants, alkyl sulfate surfactants, alkyl ethoxy sulfate surfactants, and mixtures thereof. Most preferably, the non-aqueous solvent is butoxy propoxy propanol.

Process for making detergent compositions with additives


A method for displaying content by an electronic device is provided. The method includes generating converted data by encoding a plurality of screen data according to first clocks, restoring the screen data by decoding the converted data based on second clocks separate from the first clocks, and displaying the restored screen data.

With the recent development of technologies for information, communication, semiconductors, etc., popularization and more wide spread use of various portable terminals are growing rapidly. Especially, modern portable terminals are not confined to their traditional exclusive domains of portable communication but have reached a mobile convergence stage where they even embrace domains of other terminals. For example, in addition to common communication functionality, such as calling or text messaging, mobile communication terminals have other various functionality, such as Television Watching functionality (e.g., mobile broadcasting receiver functionality, e.g., Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) or Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) receiver functionality), music play functionality (e.g., MPEG Audio Layer-3 (MP3) player functionality), photography functionality, Internet access functionality, etc.
In recent years, as a kind of portable terminal, wearable devices have emerged in the form of wrist watches, headsets, glasses, etc. that may be worn by the user. The wearable device may be a stand-alone device, or may operate as a companion device that cooperates with another portable terminal (or a host device) to provide the user with at least a part of functionality (e.g., calling, messaging, streaming functionality, etc.) of the portable terminal Among them, the watch-type wearable devices are now providing the user with watch functionality by displaying current time on the display.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Method for displaying content and electronic device therefor


A substrate having a film of a coating liquid containing metal is held by a spin chuck, the film having been exposed in a predetermined pattern. A slit nozzle supplies a development liquid to a surface to be processed of the substrate supported by the spin chuck. A cleaning liquid for removing or dissolving metal is supplied by a cleaning nozzle to the surface to be processed of the substrate to which the development liquid has been supplied.

In a lithography process in the manufacture of a semiconductor device or the like, a coating liquid such as a resist liquid is supplied onto an underlayer of a surface of a substrate, so that a coating film is formed. The coating film is exposed, and then a development liquid is supplied onto the coating film. Thus, a predetermined pattern is formed on the coating film (see Patent Document 1, for example).
[Patent Document 1] JP 2014-75575 A

Development unit, substrate processing apparatus, development method and substrate processing method


Fan module and control device thereof. The fan module comprises a plurality of fans and the control device. The control device comprises a temperature sensing circuit, and a driving circuit. The temperature sensing circuit detects an ambient temperature of the fans and generates a sensing signal accordingly. The driving circuit is coupled between the fans and temperature sensing circuit, and comprises a fully powered operating mode and a power-saving operating mode, wherein the driving circuit selects different operating modes in accordance with the sensing signal, and generates a fan driving signal controlling the speed of the fans.

The invention relates to a fan module, and more specifically to a control device providing fan speed modulation according to the number of loads, and a fan module with the control device.
With improvements in technology, the number of electronic components inside electronic devices has increased, and the generated heat during operation is also increased corresponding to the number of electronic components. To maintain performance, fans are conventionally used to dissipate heat therefrom. However, because the size of the housings of the electronic devices and the number of components therein are different, and heat generated in middle-sized and big-sized electronic devices is high, at least two fans are often used so as to achieve the effect of heat dissipation. Conventionally, a fan module comprises an integrated plurality of fans in a frame and is controlled by a control device.
Electronic devices with differing load numbers require fan modules having different powers. Conventional fan modules utilize fully powered and power-saving operating modes. Electronic devices with fewer loads require only the former mode while those with more loads require both modes. As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic device 1 includes a fully powered fan module 2, a power-saving fan module 3, and a plurality of hot-plug loads 4. With fewer loads 4, the power-saving fan module 3 can dissipate heat. With increased loads 4, the fully powered fan module 2 will start for heat dissipation.
Further, with temperature detection components built into fan modules 2 and 3, control devices therein generate a control signal corresponding detected temperature variations and transmit the control signal to a plurality of fans. FIGS. 2A and 2B show relationships between temperature and speed with respect to the fan modules 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2A, the relationship between the speed and temperature is linear, that is, with increased temperature (t1 to t2), the speed of the fans is increased accordingly (r1 to r2). However, in practice, the relationship between the temperature and speed may not be as direct. With the impact of noise, the line may become a curve, thereby degrading the performance of the control devices. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the temperature exceeds the threshold temperature t3, the speed of the fans is increased to speed r2 from speed r1. However, such rapid speed changes can reduce the life of electronic devices with more loads.
With concentration of components inside electronic devices and reduced size thereof, the amount of heat generated thereof increases. Thus, it is necessary to obtain a fan module with better heat dissipation performance and a control method thereof is called for.


An umbrella cover system for covering an umbrella is provided. The umbrella has a center post. The umbrella cover system comprises a round cover having a first side, a second side, and an outer perimeter edge. An aperture is formed in the center of the cover with the aperture having a center point and the center point of the aperture being equidistant from every point of the perimeter edge. A fastening mechanism is positioned between the cover and the umbrella for releasably securing the cover to the umbrella. Upon positioning the first side of the cover against the umbrella with the center post of the umbrella extending through the aperture, the fastening means are activated to releasably secure the cover directly against the umbrella.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an umbrella cover system and, more particularly, the invention relates to an umbrella cover system providing a decorative cover easily applied over an existing tabletop or outdoor umbrella thus protecting and/or improving the appearance of the umbrella.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While there is little dispute that tabletop umbrellas are a practical accessory item, over time, constant exposure to the elements can cause these umbrellas to fade, resulting in a less than pristine appearance. As can be imagined, a once bright red tabletop umbrella which has faded to splotchy pink can detract from festive party decor when throwing a backyard barbecue. While the umbrella itself may still be fully functional and in great shape, the very appearance of a weathered umbrella can result in one discarding the umbrella entirely in order to replace it with a new unit. A costly waste, throwing out a perfectly good umbrella, simply because it is faded is not an option for many conscientious consumers, particularly during these trying economic times. Considering that umbrellas can be expensive, most consumers try to get the most out of their money, using an umbrella long after it has lost its like-new appearance.


It is disclosed a method for the treatment of hepatitis B (HBV) infection or HBV/hepatitis D (HDV) co-infection, the method comprising administering to a subject in need of treatment a first pharmaceutically acceptable agent that removes the hepatitis B surface antigen from the blood and a second pharmaceutically acceptable agent which stimulates immune function.

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) afflicts 400 million individuals worldwide and causes an estimated 600,000 deaths each year from complications arising from HBV infection. While several antiviral treatments are approved for use, none of these is able to elicit a therapeutically effective immune response capable of providing durable control of infection except in a small fraction of patients undergoing treatment. As such, there exists a clear unmet medical need for a treatment regimen which can elicit a durable immunological control of HBV infection in a large proportion of patients receiving this treatment.
HBV infection results in the production of two different particles: 1) the HBV virus itself (or Dane particle) which includes a viral capsid assembled from the HBV core antigen protein (HBcAg) and is covered by the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and is capable of reinfecting cells and 2) subviral particles (or SVPs) which are high density lipoprotein-like particles comprised of lipids, cholesterol, cholesterol esters and the small and medium forms of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) which are non-infectious. For each viral particle produced, 1,000-10,000 SVPs are released into the blood. As such SVPs (and the HBsAg protein they carry) represent the overwhelming majority of viral protein in the blood. HBV infected cells also secrete a soluble proteolytic product of the pre-core protein called the HBV e-antigen (HBeAg).
The hepatitis D virus (HDV) uses HBsAg to form its viral structure (Taylor, 2006, Virology, 344: 71-76) and as such, HDV infection can only occur in subjects with concomitant HBV infection. While the incidence of HDV co-infection in asymptomatic HBV carriers and chronic HBV-related liver disease is low in countries with a low incidence of HBV infection, it is a significant complication in HBV-infected subjects in countries with a high incidence of HBV infection and can increase the rate of progression of liver disease to fulminant hepatitis. As such, the clear unmet medical need in HBV infection is even more pressing in HBV/HDV co-infected subjects.
The current standard methods of treatment for HBV include interferon-or thymosin α1-based immunotherapies and the suppression of viral production by inhibition of the HBV polymerase. HBV polymerase inhibitors are effective in reducing viral production but have little to no effect in rapidly reducing HBsAg or can slowly reduce HBsAg with long term treatment in a limited number of patients (as is the case with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). Interferon based immunotherapy can achieve a reduction of both viral production and early removal of HBsAg from the blood but only in a small percentage of treated subjects. The generally accepted role of HBsAg in the blood is to sequester anti-HBsAg antibodies and allow infectious viral particles to escape immune detection which is likely one of the reasons why HBV infection remains a chronic condition. In addition HBsAg, HBeAg and HBcAg all have immuno-inhibitory properties as discussed below and the persistence of these viral proteins in the blood of patients following the administration of any of the currently available treatments for HBV as described above is likely having a significant impact in preventing patients from achieving immunological control of their HBV infection.
Although the three primary HBV proteins (HBsAg, HBeAg and HBcAg) all have immunoinhibitory properties (see below), HBsAg comprises the overwhelming majority of HBV protein in the circulation of HBV infected subjects. Additionally, while the removal (via seroconversion) of HBeAg or reductions in serum viremia are not correlated with the development of sustained control of HBV infection off treatment, the removal of serum HBsAg from the blood (and seroconversion) in HBV infection is a well-recognized excellent prognostic indicator of antiviral response on treatment which will lead to control of HBV infection off treatment (although this only occurs in a small fraction of patients receiving immunotherapy). Thus, while reduction of all three major HBV proteins (HBsAg, HBeAg and HBcAg) may result in the optimal removal of inhibitory effect, the removal of HBsAg alone is likely sufficient in and of itself to remove the bulk of the viral inhibition of immune function in subjects with HBV infection.
Therefore, in the absence of any current treatment regimen which can restore immunological control of HBV in a large proportion of patients, there is a need to be provided with an effective treatment against HBV infection and HBV/HDV co-infection which can restore immunological control in the majority of patients.

Methods for the treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis D infections


An axle suspension assembly for a low-bed trailer wherein the frame is formed of I-beams at each side thereof and each I-beam has an intermediate portion sloping upwardly and rearwardly between a low central portion and a higher rear portion. The customary trailing arm or equalizing beam is pivotally mounted on the web of this sloping portion of the I-beam utilizing a bushing assembly. Basically, the bushing assembly includes two pivot brackets which are bolted to opposite sides of the web and which carry, by way of a resilient bushing a bushing core through which a fastener may pass so as to clamp opposite arms of a yokelike forward portion of the trailing arm to the bushing core. The bushing core passes through an opening formed in the web with the opening being elongated in a fore and aft direction whereby the bushing assembly may be adjusted so as to accurately position the mounted axle transversely of the trailer frame. Each pivot bracket includes a collar and in a preferred embodiment of the bushing, separate bushings are pressed into the collars with the bushings being bonded to separately formed bushing cores.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to new and useful improvements in suspension systems for vehicles, and more particularly to a suspension system for a low-bed type trailer.
2. Scope of the Prior Art
In the customary suspension system for trailers, particularly heavy duty trailers of the low-bed type, the suspension system requires brackets which are bolted or welded to the underside of the main beam of the trailer frame. This not only complicates the mounting of a supporting axle, but also requires that the axle be located further rearwardly of the offset of the trailer frame than is desired.


Subject matter are aqueous, low-VOC/SVOC universal pigment preparations comprising a pigment component; a water-soluble, nonionic, surface-active additive comprising a copolymer formed from a vinyl monomer and from an ethylenically unsaturated monomer selected from the group consisting of monocarboxylic esters, dicarboxylic esters, monocarboxamides, and dicarboxamides, the vinyl monomer and/or the ethylenically unsaturated monomer containing an N-containing group with pigment affinity; a phosphoric or phosphonic ester, and optionally customary additives. The aqueous pigment preparations are suitable for the coloring of inks, paints, and renders, especially in metering systems at the point of sale or in in-plant tinting systems.

Liquid systems, such as coating materials, varnishes, emulsion paints, and printing inks, are customarily pigmented using pigment preparations which comprise water, organic solvent or combinations thereof. In addition to anionic, cationic, nonionic or amphoteric dispersants, these pigment preparations must generally be admixed with further auxiliaries, such as humectants, agents for increasing the freeze resistance, thickeners for stabilization, biocides, and defoamers.
Such pigment preparations are employed as tinting pastes in retail stores and professional decorating businesses, and, using metering and tinting systems, are added to aqueous and solventborne inks and paints in order to set customer-specific shades. For the precise setting of a particular shade, the tinting pastes are generally metered volumetrically.
In order to comply with the guidelines for awarding of various eco labels, inks and paints have for some time advantageously been given low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) or VOC-free formulations. The same standards are also desired for the pigment preparations which are mixed in at the point of sale to the low-VOC or VOC-free inks and paints.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,394 teaches VOC-free pigment concentrates based on linear polyethylene glycol polyethers with molecular weights of 190 to 700 and nonionic alkyl glycosides for use at the point of sale. The pigment concentrates are described as being especially suitable for latex paints and alkyd paints, and additionally these pigment concentrates are said to be blocking-resistant.
US-A-2006/0207476 and US-A-2010/0113685 describe low-VOC universal pigment pastes which are stable, which have favorable rheology, and which are suitable for aqueous emulsion paints and for solventborne alkyd paints. The pastes may be provided in closed containers which allow simple metering in controlled quantities. These pastes contain not only solvent-compatible surfactants but also latex-compatible surfactants, such as alkyl polyethylene glycol ethers, secondary alcohol ethoxylates, difunctional propylene oxide/ethylene oxide block polymers (with secondary OH groups), ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block copolymers, alkylaryl polyglycol ethers, or amine salts of hydrophilic copolymers of polycarboxylic acids.
WO-A-2014/000842 teaches aqueous universal pigment preparations based on fatty acid condensation products and nonionic surfactants. The pigment preparations are described as being stable in their viscosity, foam, and sedimentation behavior after storage at 60° C. for one week.
WO-A-2011/151277 teaches low-VOC aqueous universal pigment preparations which are described as being suitable for preventing the drying of the preparations in open nozzles of the paint-mixing systems, and also for producing coatings of certain hardness. The pigment preparations comprise stabilizers, examples being ethoxylated fatty acid monoethanolamides, anionic surfactants based on tristyrylphenol-polyglycol ether phosphate esters, or phospholipid-based surfactants, rheological additives based on clay minerals, and also nonvolatile, organic solvents such as polyethylene glycols PEG 200 or PEG 400.
US-A-2012/0316273 describes a point-of-sale system for aqueous emulsion paints that is composed of a plurality of liquid pigment preparations which are described as being suitable for preventing the drying of the preparations in open nozzles of the metering systems. The pigment preparations comprise a polyalkylene glycol as humectant, an ethoxylated surfactant, and filler.
DE-A-102006062441 describes modified comb copolymers based on styrene units and maleic anhydride units, which may further contain N,N-disubstituted amino groups or substituted ammonium groups. The possible uses of the copolymers include the production of solids concentrates, such as pigment concentrates.
Despite the proposals in the prior art of a multiplicity of compounds as additives for universal pigment preparations, there continues to be a need for effective additive combinations for such pigment preparations, satisfying the requirements of precise volumetric metering and at the same time the desired color properties.
Moreover, environmentally objectionable substances and also sensitizing substances ought largely to be avoided.
European directives and laws are requiring not only ever-lower VOC contents of less than 1000 ppm but also low SVOC contents (i.e., low levels of semivolatile organic compounds). Analytically, the VOC contents and SVOC contents are determined by means of GC-MS in accordance with DIN ISO 11890-2 (in-can measurement in ppm).
This therefore necessitates an entirely new assessment of the additives, since many additives undergo decomposition under the ISO 11890-2 conditions, starting at about 200° C. to 367° C. (387° C.: boiling point of C22H46 (n-docosane)), and therefore simulate a VOC and/or SVOC content.
Further requirements of European directives and laws call for the absence of additives which have an environmental hazard potential in accordance with the CLP Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 concerning the Classification, Labeling and Packaging of substances and mixtures. Additives with H400 hazard statements are approved only with very great restrictions for use in paints. Alkylphenyl ethoxylates (APEOs) are likewise no longer approved in EU Directive 2003/53/EC.
Furthermore, the use of the customary surfactants based on fatty alcohol alkoxylates with less than 20 alkylene oxide units, or on amino compounds, is restricted.
Surfactants with H318 classification can no longer be used in the quantities needed.
Moreover, compounds having H317 classification, which may give rise to allergic skin reactions, can be used only at a maximum of 0.1 wt %.
It was an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide stable universal pigment preparations which are distinguished by ultimately advantageous performance properties, especially high color strength or easy dispersibility (capacity for stirred incorporation) in a very wide variety of application media, and/or which, over a prolonged period, exhibit no drying either in the containers or in the metering system, especially in nozzles. The pigment preparations ought also to exhibit no rubout, in the context of the coloring of the various emulsion paints and coatings.
A further object of the invention was to provide aqueous universal pigment preparations which pose a low environmental hazard, in other words preparations which are low in VOC and low in SVOC and which also contain largely no environmentally objectionable substances and sensitizing substances, in other words containing no substances liable for labeling in accordance with various eco labels, as for example in accordance with the CLP Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008.

Universal pigment preparations for point-of-sale use


A radiating member, an illuminating device, an electro-optical device, and an electronic device are provided which are capable of absorbing the heat generated from an LED, thereby increasing the amount of electric current flowable through the LED. More particularly, there are provided a point light source, a light guide plate for receiving the light radiated from the point light source, and a radiating plate including an adhesive layer formed to contact the point light source, and a metal layer formed over the adhesive layer and made of the material having a thermal conductivity (λ) equal to or greater than 90 W/mK at room temperature.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illuminating device and an electro-optical device, wherein a radiating member is disposed corresponding to a point light source.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal device, which is one example of an electro-optical device, mainly includes a liquid crystal panel and a backlight for radiating light onto the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel is formed such that a liquid crystal layer is interposed between a facing substrate and a TFT array substrate. The backlight, particularly a side light-type backlight, mainly includes a light guide plate, disposed adjacent to the liquid crystal panel and having almost the same size as the liquid crystal panel, and an LED (light-emitting device) disposed at the end of the light guide plate. The light guide plate is used to guide the light from the LED and diffused the light, and the light diffused by the light guide plate is radiated onto the liquid crystal panel as a surface light source.
However, in the above-described liquid crystal device, when electric current flows through the LED, thus causing the LED to emit the light, the temperature in the LED is high. The upper limit of the electric current flowing through the LED is kept low so that the temperature in the LED does not adversely effect reliability. Therefore, there is a limitation in increasing the brightness of the LED by increasing the electric current through the LED.
The present invention has been invented to address the above problem. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a radiating member, an illuminating device, an electro-optical device, and an electronic device for absorbing the heat generated from the LED, and increasing the electric current flowing through the LED.

Radiating member, illuminating device, electro-optical device, and electronic device


A sealed and pressure balanced lubricating system for high pressure rotary equipment includes a housing with a bore divided by a slidable piston into a lubricant chamber and a gas chamber. The gas chamber communicates with an area of the equipment which is exposed to high gas pressure and the lubricant chamber communicates with bearings within the equipment. During operation gas pressure forces the piston against the lubricant to pressure feed the bearings. A relief valve in the piston is opened, after the equipment stops and the pressure therein returns to atmospheric, in the event that pressurized gas has become entrained in the lubricant due to leakage past shaft seals. Such gas forces the piston back towards the gas chamber; the relief valve contacts an actuator and is opened; and the gas escapes to atmosphere through the piston and the gas chamber. The invention prevents problems due to high pressure gas entrained in lubricants of high pressure rotary equipment by quickly exhausting such entrained gases when the system pressure returns to atmospheric.

There are many uses for vessels which may be required to withstand high internal pressures, say up to and even beyond 20,000 p.s.i., whether in the laboratory, industry or the military. One example is a decompression chamber for deep-sea divers, which chamber requires a power source to operate equipment therein, such as rotary gas pumps for circulating the breathing gas mixture through carbon dioxide scrubbers to remove the carbon dioxide. Another example is a high-pressure autoclave used to treat materials at upwards of 10,000 p.s.i. (680 atmospheres) and which may require rotary equipment therein to circulate gases at the high pressures within the autoclave. It is not practical or safe to install electrical motors within such chambers and hence the drive for the rotary equipment for such devices must be external to the pressure chamber. It is, of course, necessary to transfer power from a drive motor through the wall of the pressure chamber without permitting the escape of any pressurized gases from the chamber.
Commonly assigned Canadian Patent Nos. 1,129,469 of Aug. 10, 1982 and 1,146,207 of May 10, 1983 illustrate two magnetic drives which successfully transfer power to high pressure chambers. Copending Canadian Application No. 585,241 of Dec. 7, 1988 illustrates another such device.
The prior art drives have, in common, a drive shaft which extends through the pressure chamber wall from the exterior drive system to the interior driven system. The shaft bearings within and without the pressure chamber must be lubricated by a suitable lubricant such as oil. During operation of the rotary equipment, however, it is impossible to prevent small amounts of pressurized gas from entering the oil and, when operations cease and the pressure chamber returns to atmospheric pressure, the gas which entered the oil under pressure will expand (perhaps by a factor of 680), causing all sorts of lubricating problems, not the least of which is loss of oil and consequent bearing damage. There is, therefore, a need in such equipment for a lubricating system which compensates for any leakage of high pressure gas into the lubricant so that when pressures within the rotating equipment are reduced such gas as may be trapped in the lubricant will not cause problems within the lubricant system.

Sealed and pressure balanced oil lubricating system

Nova Scotia Research Foundation Corporation


A color temperature detecting device comprises a plurality of color detectors for detecting levels of a plurality of color components included in light incident thereon, a comparator for comparing levels of the plurality of color components with respective reference levels; a device for detecting the illuminance level of the incident light and a controller for changing the reference levels correspondingly with the detected illuminance level.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a color temperature detecting device suited for the white balance adjustment device of a color TV camera which is arranged to detect the color components of illumination applied to an object and to automatically accomplish white balance adjustment according to the result of detection.
2. Description of the Related Art
White balance adjustment is one of the important signal adjusting actions for a color TV camera. The term "white balance adjustment" means variable adjustment of the gain, etc. of the chrominance signal of an object's image picked up to bring three primary color components (red, green and blue) into the ratio of 1:1:1 relative to a white object. The three primary color component ratio varies with the kind of illumination. Inadequate white balance adjustment makes color reproduction with fidelity impossible as it causes the whole picked up image plane to have a bluish or reddish appearance.
In view of this, a white balance device called an outside-detection automatic follow-up type white balance adjustment device has been contrived for accurately and automatically adjusting the white balance. Devices of this kind has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open No. SHO 54-53924 and SHO 55-158792, etc. These devices are arranged to detect the ambient light of the object by means of a light receiving system provided separately from an image sensing system and to automatically adjust the white balance on the basis of the result of detection. More specifically, two or three photo sensors, each having a color filter in front of it, are arranged to detect two or three different color components from the ambient light. These color components are logarithmically compressed. After that, differences among them are obtained. Then, ratios among the color components of the ambient light are equivalently detected. The gain of the chrominance signal amplifier of an image pickup (or sensing) system is controlled for white balance adjustment.
However, the conventional device of the above stated kind must be provided with a highly accurate logarithmic compression amplifier for adequately coping with ambient light having a wide ranged illuminance. In addition to that, the conventional device necessitates the use of a correction circuit for correction of temperature, etc.. These requirements thus have resulted in a complex arrangement and increased cost of the device.

Color temperature detecting device wherein comparison is made between color component levels and reference levels which vary with the illuminance of incident light


A multipole electrical plug connector which is provided with a mating connector for a disconnectable connection having one or more contact elements, as well as electrical strip conductors which lead to the contact elements, and which jointly form a pressed screen designed as a one-piece part. The strip conductors at their free ends are provided with receptacles, into which contact elements may be plugged in. Due to a single flexibly designed pressed screen having appropriate receptacles, it is possible to cost-effectively manufacture various plug connectors having different contact element arrangements.

The present invention relates to a multipole electrical plug connector which is provided with a mating connector for a disconnectable connection having essentially one or more contact elements, as well as electrical strip conductors which lead to the contact elements and which jointly form a pressed screen designed as a one-piece part.
Plug connectors of the general type mentioned above are already available in innumerable designs. They have a plurality of contact elements which are positioned in multiple rows, as well as side by side. In particular plug connectors having a pressed screen, i.e., having individual strip conductors leading to the contact elements punched out of strip conductor sheet metal, are, generally, embedded in or injected into a plastic carrier. The contact elements jointly with the strip conductors are also punched out of strip conductor sheet metal, and are subsequently appropriately bent in an additional manufacturing process.
Due to the fact that the contact elements and the strip conductors are manufactured together in one punching operation, it is necessary to make the material thickness of the strip conductors equal to the thickness of the contact elements. Thus, the material thickness of the strip conductor is overdimensioned. It is also necessary to manufacture a separate punching tool for each contact element design. This means that for different configurations of a plug connector, different punching tools must be available.
An object of the present invention is to provide a plug connector by using one pressed screen which is usable universally.
In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a universally usable pressed screen is manufactured in one operation, the pressed screen being suitable for a plurality of positioning possibilities of contact elements. As a function of the appropriate assembly diagram of the contact elements, one or more receptacles, provided at the free ends of the strip conductors, may optionally be assigned to the contact elements.
An advantage of the example embodiment of the present invention may be that a single pressed screen is adjustable to various connector designs, i.e., different arrangements of the contact elements. The contact elements necessary for the particular plug connector are plugged into the receptacles and fixedly attached by turning; the receptacles may be in the form of a through-hole, for example, having a rectangular cross-section. The unit, including the pressed screen or the strip conductor, together with the contact elements, is extrusion coated in an additional operation using plastic, so that the contact elements are fixedly joined with the particular strip conductors.
In contrast to the available variations, a considerable cost advantage may result from the fact that only a small number of punching tools is necessary in order to manufacture a plurality of connector designs.
An additional advantage of the example embodiment of the present invention may be the reduction of the material thickness of the pressed screen, since it is not bound to the material thickness of the contact elements. This entails a cost advantage with regard to a lower material usage.
Another advantage of the example embodiment of the present invention may be that the contact elements are treatable before they are joined with the pressed screen. The contact elements may be advantageously treated by using a cost-effective drum coating method. Since conventionally, strip conductor and contact elements have a one-piece design, it was necessary to run the finished component through a treatment bath. Since the strip conductors are also treated in this way, more coating material is used as may be necessary.

Universal pressed screen for various connector designs


A non-birefringence optical resin material is obtained by forming a transparent matrix from a polymeric resin having an orientation birefringence with a positive or negative sign, adding a low molecular weight substance exhibiting an orientation birefringence with a sign opposite to that of the orientation birefringence of the polymeric resin for the matrix and thus offsetting the orientation birefringence of the polymeric resin for the matrix with the orientation birefringence of the low molecular weight substance.

In recent years, polymeric resins have been used more and more in place of existent glass materials, as usual optical components such as spectacle lenses or transparent plates, as well as material for optical components for opto-electronics, for example, optical components for laser equipment such as optical disc devices for recording sounds, video images and character information. This is because the optical material comprising the polymeric resin, that is, optical resin material, is light in weight, excellent in impact resistance and, further, excellent in fabricability and mass productivity due to easy applicability of molding techniques such as injection molding or extrusion molding, as compared with the glass optical material. Such characteristics are useful for various kinds of optical components as described above and are particularly useful in the case of using the optical resin material for various kinds of members constituting a liquid crystal device which is a main constituent element of a liquid crystal display. The liquid crystal display has been used generally as a display element in various kinds of electronic equipment and, along with generalization of the application use, further reduction in the weight and thickness has been demanded and also for the improvement of strength performance such as impact resistance and such demands can be satisfied by effectively taking advantage of the characteristics of the polymeric optical material.
As described above, the optical resin material has a possibility of providing excellent characteristics as optical components for which a wide variety of application uses for optical components have been expected. However, they are not actually utilized as expected. One of major reasons is that products obtained by applying the molding technique to the optical resin material show considerable birefringence, which may sometimes deteriorate their function as optical components.
Birefringence present in the polymeric resin material has been generally known together with the reasons thereof. FIG. 1 is a view for briefly explaining this. As shown in the figure, a polymeric optical material after a molding step is generally in a state in which a plurality of units (monomers) 1 constituting the polymer chain are bonded in a sterically specific orienting direction. In most of the polymeric materials usually used as the optical material, each of the units 1 has an optical anisotropy regarding refractive Index. Namely, the refractive index npr with respect to a polarization phase component in a direction parallel with the orienting direction is different from the refractive index nvt with respect to a polarization phase component in a direction perpendicular to the orienting direction.
As is well known, the optical anisotropy can be expressed by a index ellipsoid. In FIG. 1, an ellipsoidal mark 2 attached to each bonded unit 1 is in accordance with such expression. For example, in the case of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), the refractive index for each unit 1 (methyl methacrylate) is relatively smaller in the orienting direction and relatively larger in a direction perpendicular to the orienting direction. Accordingly, an index ellipsoid 3 in view of a macroscale is elongate as shown in the figure. That is, npr<nvt in the case of polymethyl methacrylate. The difference between both of them: .DELTA.n=npr-nvt is referred to as a birefringence value. Table 1 shows birefringence values with respect to typical optical resin materials.
TABLE 1 Double Refraction Value of Polymeric Resin Matrix Material Birefringence value Material .DELTA.n = npr - nvt Polystyrene -0.100 Polyphenylene oxide +0.210 Polycarbonate +0.106 Polyvinyl chloride +0.027 Polymethyl methacrylate -0.0043 Polyethylene terephthalate +0.105 Polyethylene +0.044
For example, .DELTA.n=-0.0043 for polymethyl methacrylate shown in FIG. 1, and .DELTA.n=-0.100 for polystyrene. Further A n shows a positive value as .DELTA.n=+0.044 for polyethylene. Hereinafter, the birefringence due to orientation of a polymer Is referred to as orientational birefringence, and the direction of the index ellipsoid along a major axis is referred to as orientation birefringence direction. Further, when the sign for .DELTA.n is positive (.DELTA.n>0), it is expressed as "the sign of birefringence is positive", while when the sign for .DELTA.n is negative (.DELTA.n<0), it is expressed as "sign for birefringence is negative".
Such orientation birefringence particularly will cause a problem in an application where the polarization characteristic is important. An example is an optical component in a write/erase type opto-magnetic disc developed in recent years. That is, since a polarization beam is used for a reading beam or a writing beam in the write/erase type opto-magnetic disc, if a double refractive optical element (disc itself, lens or the like) is present in an optical path, it gives an undesired effect on the reading or writing accuracy.
Further, a liquid crystal device is mentioned in which birefringence of members used gives the most significant effect. As is well known, the liquid crystal device has a structure of controlling permission/inhibition of the light by rotating the plane of polarization light by a liquid crystal layer between a polarizer and an analyzer arranged as crossed nicols or parallel nicols. Accordingly, in a liquid display device, birefringence of each member constituting the device gives a significant problem, which hinders a generalized application of the optical resin material to the liquid crystal device.
For the orientation birefringence, various attempts have hitherto been made for eliminating the same, typical examples of which are as shown below.
(1) A method disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,065; directed to obtain a non-birefringence optical resin material by blending two types of polymeric resins which have orientation birefringence with signs opposite to each other and which are compatible to each other completely. PA1 (2) A method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Sho 61-19656; utilizing a method of mixing an aromatic polycarbonate and a specific styrenic copolymer at a ratio within a specified range and utilizing the thus obtained aromatic polycarbonic resin composition. PA1 (3) A method as disclosed in Japanese patent Laid-Open Sho 62-240901; for obtaining a non-birefringence optical resin material comprising a mixture of a polymer mainly comprising aromatic vinyl monomeric units and polyphenylene ether, a block copolymer comprising polymeric portions of both of them or a mixture thereof. PA1 (4) A method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Sho 61-108617 of random copolymerizing, graft polymerizing or block copolymerizing two or more monomers constituting positive and negative constituent units having a main polarity difference of not less than 50.times.10.sup.-25 d by an absolute value. PA1 (5) A method as disclosed in the Journal of "Optics", vol. 20, No. 20, pages 80 (30th)-81 (31th) (issued February 1991); proposed by the present inventor for obtaining a non-birefringence optical resin material by copolymerizing a monomer mixture of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and trifluoroethyl methacrylate (3FMA) or a monomer mixture of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and benzyl methacrylate (BzMA). In summary, monomers having opposite signs for orientation birefringence as a basis for giving a polymer are mixed and copolymerized in this method. PA1 (6) A method of molding so as not to cause orientation in the polymer; which is a method adopted based on experience and for eliminating orientation upon molding, for example, by using casting, conducting extrusion molding at a greatly lowered extruding speed or further using biaxial stretching.
The above-mentioned prior art methods can provide respective results to some extent but still involve not a few insuffucient aspects. For example, in the method (1) of blending the two types of polymeric resins, polymeric resins to be blended have to be in a molten state or a solution state in order to mix them at a high uniformity. Then, even by adopting such means, it is actually extremely difficult to obtain a practical polymeric resin showing entirely uniform and less birefringence. In addition, the polymeric resin blend composition obtained by this method inevitably suffers from light scattering caused by irregularity of the refractive index due to the difference of the refractive index inherent to each of the blended polymeric resins, thereby failing to obtain an optical material of excellent transparency.
Among the methods at or after (2), an optical material of high transparency can be theoretically expected in the method of forming the polymeric resin of less orientation birefringence by random copolymerization. However, since two or more of the monomers as a basis for forming the polymeric resin are mixed for random copolymerization in this method, it is necessary to make the monomer reactivity ratio between the monomers closer to 1. However unfortunately, there is so few combinations of materials capable of satisfying such a condition. Accordingly, it involves a problem that the range for the selection of materials is narrowed and that materials can not be selected optionally with a view point, for example, of physical strength or heat resistance.
Although the proposal (5) described above includes such a combination, the method of using the monomer mixture of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and trifluoroethyl methacrylate (3FMA) involves a problem in that the latter material (3FMA) is extremely expensive.
Further, in each of the methods of copolymerizing the monomer mixture of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and trifluoroethyl methacrylate (3FMA) and the method of copolymerizing the monomer mixture of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and benzyl methacrylate (BzMA), occurrence of the orientation birefringence can not be suppressed unless the mixing ratio of trifluoroethyl methacrylate (3FMA) or benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) to methyl methacrylate is Increased considerably. That is, the mixing ratio required for offsetting the orientation birefringence Is MMA/3FMA=50/50 (wt %/wt %) in the former, and MMA/BzMA=80/20 (wt %/wt %) in the latter. Therefore, the resultant material can not have a characteristic equivalent to PMMA and is inferior to PMMA in view of mechanical characteristics or transparency.
In the method (4) of utilizing the graft copolymerization, it is difficult to previously forecast and control the strength of the orientation birefringence of the synthesized resin in a quantitative manner regarding the combination of monomers used, and it is uncertain whether products capable of sufficiently offsetting the orientation birefringence are obtainable or not until the synthetic reaction is actually conducted. Accordingly, it is difficult to manufaccture products of industrially stable quality.
Further, the method (6) is actually used at present for the production of optical resin material used as the member for the liquid crystal device but it can not help deteriorating fabricability and mass-productivity which are the inherent characteristics of the optical resin material. As a result, it leads to a remarkably Increased cost, which restricts the application range of the optical resin material obtained by this method to the liquid crystal device.
Summarizing the above, each of the methods of the prior art still involve problems in that the method; provides fabrication difficulty and can not obtain highly transparent material (method (1)); suffers from restriction for the selection of the material (methods (2) and (3)); has a drawback in the stability of the products (method (4)); requires increased material cost and tends to deteriorate physical property or transparency (method (5)); and can not utilize high fabricability and productivity which are remarkable merits of the optical resin material (method (6)). The problems hinder generalized applications of the optical resin material.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of providing an optical resin material with high non-birefringence without undergoing restrictive conditions as found in the various methods of the prior art. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a member for a liquid crystal device by utilizing the characteristic of the optical resin material obtained by the technique according to the invention.

Non-birefringence optical resin material, a production process therefor and a member for a liquid crystal device using the optical resin material

Ichigao-cho, Aoba-ku, Yokohamam, Kanagawa-ken, 225


The present invention specially deals with a transmission system in which at least two coded optical signals are multiplexed and transmitted between an emitter and a receiver, a first of said coded signals providing a first spectrum having a first carrier wavelength and two side-bands, a second of said coded signals providing a second spectrum having a second carrier wavelength higher than said first carrier wavelength and two side-bands. This transmission system comprises at least one optical filter with to combined filters for the carrier wavelength and the respective sideband.

The invention relates to the field of transmitting digital data by optical means. It is more particularly concerned with transmission at high bit rates on long-haul fiber optic links.
More detailed the invention is related to a frequency adjustment scheme for an optical filter.
The invention is also related to a transmission system with a transmitter function, a transmitting fiber and a receiver function and the transmitter function comprises light sources, with modulators and a wavelength multiplexer and the receiver function comprises, a wavelength demultiplexer, adjustable filters and receivers.
Such transmission scheme uses an optical transmitter connected to an optical receiver by the fiber link. The transmitter generally modulates the power of an optical carrier wave from a laser oscillator as a function of the information to be transmitted. NRZ or RZ modulation is very frequently used and entails varying the power of the carrier wave between two levels: a low level corresponding to extinction of the wave and a high level corresponding to a maximum optical power. The variations of level are triggered at times imposed by a clock rate and this defines successive time cells allocated to the binary data to be transmitted. By convention, the low and high levels respectively represent the binary values "0" and "1".
The maximum transmission distance is generally limited by the ability of receivers to detect without error these two power levels after the modulated wave has propagated in the optical link. The usual way to increase this distance is to increase the ratio between the average optical power of the high levels and that of the low levels; this ratio defining the "extinction ratio" which is one of the characteristics of the modulation.
For a given distance and a given extinction ratio, the information bit rate is limited by chromatic dispersion generated in the fibers. This dispersion results from the effective index of the fiber depending on the wavelength of the wave transported, and it has the consequence that the width of the transmitted pulses increases as they propagate along the fiber.
This phenomenon is characterized by the dispersion coefficient D of the fiber, which is defined as a function of the propagation constant β by the equation D=−(2πc/λ2)d2β/dω2, where λ and ω are respectively the wavelength and the angular frequency of the wave.
Not only chromatic dispersion limits the possibility of transmission, but it is a main factor for distortion. Increasing the data rate up to higher levels—we are talking about T Bit/s—the effects of the fibers increase the impact on the received signal. One solution is the use of DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplex) systems to increase the bit rate. The wavelength channels are selected in a way that the information of the single channels can be selected at receiver side and analyzed with an acceptable bit/error rate.
Again the bit rate is limited by the spectrum of the channels.
A modulation scheme know as VSB (vestigial side bond modulation) is explained in "5.12 Tbit/s Transmission over 3×100 km of Teralight fiber" Bigo, S. et al., paperPD2, PP40-41, ECOC 2000.
The two side bands of a NRZ spectrum generally contain redundant information. It is therefore tempting to filter out one of them in order to increase spectral efficiency, a technique known as VSB. However VSB is difficult to implement at the transmitter because the suppressed side bands rapidly reconstruct through fiber non-linearities.
So a VSB filtering at the receiver side is proposed. With modulation and filtering scheme like VSB the bandwidth efficiency increase to a value of more than 0.6 bit/s/Hz compared with 0.4 bit/s/Hz in conventional systems.
Again the transmission is limited due to the effects of cross talking between the adjacent channels.
One critical point is the fine adjustment of the optical filter either at the transmitter or the receiver side of the transmission line. The positioning of the filter in the wavelength multiplex limits the maximum useable bandwidth of the transmission system. One conventional approach to lock the wavelength division multiplex filter onto a given channel wavelength is to maximize in a feed back loop the output power, so that the maximum of the transmission is found. For VSB modulation schemes the filter must be locked on one of the edges of the transmission line and therefore this method cannot apply to VSB transmission lines.
In the EP 1143 643 a filter is used to filter optical sidebands by a measurement of both reflecting and transmitting part of the filter and a comparison between the two derived signals. When both levels counts equal the filter is well positioned with this method.
This filter doesn't run in a VSB transmission scheme with alternate channel spaces as described in the application EP 2001440033. Furthermore the method of EP 1143643 can be hardly used for a proper filter positioning. The condition of equality between transmitted and reflected powers does not correspond to optimal performance of the system. Indeed it has been demonstrated experimentally that a VSB filter must exhibit a particular asymmetric intensity phase shape. The suppression of side band through the narrow filter must be thorough in order to obtain good bit-error performance.

Optical filter and transmission system incorporating an optical filter


A device for causing a display unit to partially display a screen having a scroll region in which a content is scrolled and an operation region is provided. The device includes: a setting portion that sets a target region which is a part of the screen displayed by the display unit; a change instructing portion that instructs the setting portion to change the target region based on operation on the operation region; a determination portion that judges, when the setting portion changes the target region, whether or not a size of the operation region of the target region is smaller than a set value; a display change portion that causes the setting portion to perform processing of increasing the operation region displayed by the display unit; and a generating portion that generates section screen data representing a content in the target region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display data generating device for selectively displaying a part of an operating screen, an information device, and a display system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multi-functional Peripherals (MFPs) known as information equipment for business use are provided with a display on which an operating screen (image for operation) is displayed, and a touch-sensitive panel functioning as an operation input means. The touch-sensitive panel herein is a touchpad pointing device to be placed on a display in use. The display is operable to selectively display a plurality of predetermined operating screens depending on operation. The surface of the touch-sensitive panel functions both as a display surface on which an operating screen is displayed and as a touch-sensitive surface on which a user performs operation.
Some operating screens displayed in an MFP have a scroll region in which an image is scrolled for display. For example, an operating screen for a user to make settings for facsimile communication operation has a scroll region in which a list of records of communication destinations is displayed. As for an operating screen in which a user selects a desired function from among many functions, select buttons which cannot be displayed at one time on the display surface are scrolled for display in a scroll region.
Meanwhile, in portable information devices such as a smartphone and a tablet personal computer, the variety of touch gestures detected in a touch-sensitive panel is wide. The touch gestures made by using one finger or pen include: "Tap" which is a most common gesture of briefly touching one position of the surface of the entry screen; "Hold" which is a gesture of touching one position of the surface of the entry screen for extended period of time; and operation of sliding the finger or pen over the surface without losing contact therefrom (hereinafter, the operation being refereed to as "slide"). The slide gesture includes "flick" which is a gesture of quickly brushing the surface with the fingertip or pen; and "drag (also called swipe in some cases)" which is a gesture of moving the finger or pen over the touch-sensitive surface. The "flick" gesture is made to give a command for scroll display. The "drag" gesture is made to give a command for moving an icon or a specific region in the screen.
A conventional technology related to scroll display is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-331037. According to a car navigation system described in the document, when a cursor is located in a scroll region where a map is displayed, the map is scrolled through in accordance with direction key operation with a numeric "1" key inputted. In the system, the cursor is moved within the entire region of a display surface in accordance with direction key operation with the numeric "1" key not inputted.
Another technology is proposed for automatically changing the layout of a screen displayed on a display unit in accordance with the size of the display unit. There is disclosed an example of automatic conversion in which the size of a screen for displaying a list of a plurality of letter strings is reduced along the letter string direction to fit in a small display unit, and a scroll bar is provided to enable scroll display in the letter string direction (Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-278967).
A part of an operating screen for MFP is sometimes displayed in the entire surface of a display surface. For example, in a system in which a portable information device (hereinafter, referred to as a "portable terminal") is used as an external operating panel for MFP, only a part of an operating screen is displayed in the portable terminal. The reason is as follows: The portable terminal has a display smaller than that of the MFP, and reducing the size of the entirety of the operating screen makes it difficult to make a touch gesture on the display of the portable terminal. When an enlarged display mode is designated in the operating panel of the MFP, a part of the operating screen is enlarged to fit in the operating screen and displayed.
When only a part of the operating screen is displayed as discussed above, it is necessary to display hidden parts of the operating screen in accordance with user operation. The slide gesture such as flick or drag is preferable as operation by a user to give a command to change a display target region of the operating screen. The slide gesture is often made by a user of a portable terminal.
As the user performs a slide gesture of touching the display surface on which the display target region is displayed to move the touch point, the position of the display target region in the operating screen is changed depending on the direction and distance of the movement. Changing the position of the display target region involves shifting the operating screen with respect to the display surface. Thus, changing the position of the display target region is sometimes referred to as "screen position shift" in the description provided below.
In the meantime, in displaying an operating screen having a scroll region, a display target region includes the entire or a part of the scroll region in some cases. In such a case, even if a user performs a slide gesture of touching the scroll region to move the touch point with the intention to give a screen position shift command, and if the slide direction corresponds to a scroll direction, the screen position shift is not performed, and instead, scroll display is made despite the user's intention. Accordingly, when the scroll region occupies the entirety of the display target region, the user cannot give a screen position shift command via a slide gesture.
In order to address the problem, the technology described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-331037 is applicable. To be specific, a slide gesture made in the scroll region is determined to be operation for giving a screen position shift command or operation for giving a scroll display command depending on whether or not specific key operation is performed. Combining the slide gesture with key operation, however, makes the operation procedure complicated. This loses gesture consistency for operation, which possibly prevents a user from performing intuitive operation.
The present disclosure has been achieved in light of such an issue, and therefore, an object of an embodiment of the present invention is to prevent, in displaying a part of an operating screen having a scroll region, a situation in which a command to shift a displayed part in the operating screen cannot be given through operation of designating a position on a display surface.

Device for generating display data, information device, and display system for displaying scroll region and operation region