Apparatus is described for forming fibrous bulk material or the like into a baled unit and binding it. The apparatus includes: (a) a rotatable auger, (b) a tubular housing surrounding the auger, (c) feeding mechanism for feeding bulk material to the housing, (d) a die adjacent the tubular housing, (e) a packing chamber adjacent the die, and (f) binding or tying mechanism to bind the baled unit without cessation of rotation of the auger.

For many years it has been fairly conventional practice to mechanically compress various types of bulk material (particularly fibrous material) into bales which are bound by wire, twine, or other suitable binding material. The equipment used for this purpose may be generally referred to as baling equipment or apparatus.
This type of equipment has been commonly used on farms and ranches for baling hay, straw, and other fibrous materials. It has also been used in various industrial or commercial applications.
Baling machines have been previously provided for gathering and compressing material into bales of various sizes and shapes. For example, baling machines have commonly been used for making round bales, square bales, rectangular bales, etc.
More recently baling machines have been designed for making relatively large bales (e.g., 4 feet square by 8 feet long, or 4 feet in diameter and 4 or 5 feet long). These large bales provide certain advantages. For example, it is more efficient to handle a few large bales as compared to handling numerous small bales.
There are some disadvantages, however, associated with the use of previously known baling machines. For example, many conventional agricultural baling machines utilize a large plunger to pack the material to form a compressed bale. This requires a significant amount of power, and the resulting packing of the bulk material is not uniform. Conventional round baling machines do not utilize plungers but instead they cause the bulk material to be rolled upon itself very tightly. Another disadvantage of such equipment is that the packing and compressing of the material must be interrupted in order to perform the binding or tying operation.
When many types of bulk materials are compacted too tightly, spoilage of the material often results because of trapped moisture in the material. Air cannot penetrate into tightly packed material. Furthermore, tightly packed material is not easily separated or loosened when the bale is opened. This can detract from palatability and also interferes with the desired uniform nature of the material.
Prior art baling apparatus and equipment are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 689,399; 713,791; 1,045,184; 2,030,031; and 2,571,489. Devices for bagging material are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,222,853 and 4,655,128. Pelletizing apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,063,361 and 3,230,902 describes apparatus for making compressed blocks of food material in a tube. U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,796 describes apparatus for compacting comminuted waste material.
There are a number of disadvantages associated with conventional plunger-type balers. The cost of construction of such balers is relatively high due to the large number of individual components required. Also, because of the large number of high wear components used in such machines, there are reliability problems and a need for a significant amount of maintenance to keep the machine working properly.
Another problem associated with conventional plunger-type balers is that there is an unreliable and non-uniform distribution of bulk material in the resulting bale. Further, the power requirement for operation of the conventional plunger-type baler is greater than required in the apparatus of the present invention.
Although conventional apparatus is available for making very large baled units of bulk material (in either round or square cross-section), such apparatus does not provide any means for effecting ventilation of the baled unit. As a result, spoilage can easily result in large baled units made by conventional apparatus.
There has not heretofore been described baling apparatus for uniformly and efficiently gathering, compressing, and binding various types of bulk materials.


A fuel cell system including a fuel cell stack, a reformer system, and a waste energy recovery (or heat exchanger) assembly is presented. The waste energy recovery assembly receives an anode supply and a cathode supply that are heated by exhaust gases from the fuel cell stack. The heated anode supply and cathode supply are then directed to the fuel cell stack. The waste energy recovery assembly includes a series of stacked plates. The flow direction of the plates alternates from one plate to the next. These plates are alternately stacked until the desired flow area and heat transfer are achieved. Since the direction of flow of each plate is perpendicular to the direction of flow of the next plate in series, the cool (anode and cathode) gases flow along side a plate experiencing a flow of heated exhaust gases and are thusly heated.

A fuel cell is an energy conversion device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. The fuel cell generates electricity and heat by electrochemically combining a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide, or a hydrocarbon, and an oxidant, such as air or oxygen, across an ion-conducting electrolyte. The fuel cell generally consists of two electrodes positioned on opposite sides of an electrolyte. The oxidant passes over the oxygen electrode (cathode) while the fuel passes over the fuel electrode (anode), generating electricity, water, and heat.
A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is constructed entirely of solid-state materials, utilizing an ion conductive oxide ceramic as the electrolyte. The electrochemical cell in a SOFC comprises an anode and a cathode with an electrolyte disposed therebetween.
In a SOFC, a fuel flows to the anode where it is oxidized by oxygen ions from the electrolyte, producing electrons that are released to the external circuit, and mostly water and carbon dioxide are removed in the fuel flow stream. At the cathode, the oxidant accepts electrons from the external circuit to form oxygen ions. The oxygen ions migrate across the electrolyte to the anode. The flow of electrons through the external circuit provides for consumable or storable electricity. However, each individual electrochemical cell generates a relatively small voltage. Higher voltages are attained by electrically connecting a plurality of electrochemical cells in series to form a stack.
In operation, a SOFC system generates electricity and heat by this electrochemical process of combining a fuel and an oxidant. The fuel (i.e., reformate) provided to the SOFC is produced in a reformer. Byproducts from the SOFC, a supply of oxidant, and a supply of reformate can be directed through a waste energy recovery unit. The waste energy recovery unit is a device that converts chemical energy and thermal energy into input thermal energy for the SOFC system. This is accomplished with heat exchangers. Unlike a SOFC, the waste energy recovery unit is comprised of durable and heat transferable materials. These waste energy recovery units have many tubes and connections for directing the chemical and thermal energy through the large unit.
The above-discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome or alleviated by a fuel cell system including a fuel cell stack, a reformer system, and a waste energy recovery (or heat exchanger) assembly is presented. The waste energy recovery assembly receives an anode supply and a cathode supply that are heated by exhaust gases from the fuel cell stack. The heated anode supply and cathode supply are then directed to the fuel cell stack. The waste energy recovery assembly includes a series of stacked plates. The plates have openings or manifold passages for flow of the anode supply, the cathode supply, and the cell stack exhaust. The plates also have etchings that define flow channels for the anode supply, the cathode supply, and the cell stack exhaust across the plates. The flow direction of the plates alternates from one plate to the next. These plates are alternately stacked until the desired flow area and heat transfer are achieved. The total number of plates forming a waste energy recovery assembly can range from two to several hundred, depending on space and weight restrictions, and the like. Since the direction of flow of each plate is perpendicular to the direction of flow of the next plate in series, the cool (anode and cathode) gases flow along side a plate experiencing a flow of heated exhaust gases and are thusly heated.
The above described and other features are exemplified by the following figures and detailed description.

Plate construction of high temperature air-to-air heat exchanger


An energy-efficient method of recovering carbon dioxide (CO2) in a liquid state from a high-pressure gas stream is provided. The method includes cooling, condensing, and/or separating CO2 from a high-pressure gas stream and further purifying the resulting liquid CO2 in a purification zone to thereby provide a purified CO2 product. The purified liquid CO2 product may then be pumped to a higher pressure for further utilization and/or sequestration for industrial or environmental purposes.

There is current interest in capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial processes and sequestering (or storing) the captured CO2 in a way to prevent CO2 gas from entering the atmosphere. The product of combustion in the manufacture of power and in other combustion processes results in the emission of CO2 to the atmosphere. These CO2 emissions are believed by some scientists to contribute to global warming. As a result, CO2 is considered to be a Green House Gas (GHG).
Carbon dioxide sequestration is achieved by capturing the CO2, and storing it once captured, before it has a chance to enter the atmosphere. The U.S. Government may soon seek to minimize CO2 emissions by promulgating legislation to enact a "Cap-and-Trade" system, or by other means, such as an EPA edict. The European Union (EU) and other developed countries have already (or are about to) enact similar legislation to regulate the amount of GHG emissions.
The current methods available for capturing CO2 are varied. Regardless of the specific method used, the captured CO2 needs to be purified in order to meet the required standards for safe pipeline transmission and injection to the subsurface, wherein it can be sequestered (stored) for eternity. Until now, there has been no economic incentive to capture and sequester CO2, and, therefore, there has been little incentive to develop the technology necessary to carry out this sequestration step. With the impending legislation in the US and abroad, there will soon be an economic disruption to the status quo of simply discharging CO2 to the atmosphere.
For several years, there has been a debate on the impact of GHG on global warming, and at various times, individuals and companies have explored, through studies, the economic consequences of having to capture and sequester the CO2 released during the combustion process. The studies utilized existing technologies, and then applied an "add-on" technology to treat the captured CO2 to make it suitable for sequestration at supercritical pressure, such as, for example, to prepare it for subsurface injection in various suitable geological formations. The studies demonstrated that the consequence of CO2 sequestration have added a considerable economic penalty with regard to energy production costs in the form of additional capital expenditures and increased operating costs.
The United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) has been at the forefront of commissioning studies and has embarked on sponsoring several research and development (R&D) programs intended to look for the most economic means for producing power, while sequestering CO2. These programs are seeking new technology designed to have the lowest impact on cost of power to the U.S. industrial and residential consumer. In the studies focusing on various sequestration processes proposed to-date, the CO2 stream could be collected prior to venting, and next compressed in a multistage CO2 compressor to the specified super critical pressure. The compressed CO2 would then be sent via pipeline to the CO2 capture site for injection, typically under supercritical conditions, in the targeted geological formation.
For example, in power generation applications, recovery and capture of CO2 from these processes is desirable. As an example, the synthesis gas created in a high-pressure coal (or coke or biomass) gasifier comprises substantial amounts of carbon monoxide (CO). Conventionally, the synthesis gas is subjected to a number of steps, including gas cooling, gas scrubbing to remove chlorides, and reaction of the scrubbed gas and with steam in one or more CO-Shift reactors where the CO is converted into hydrogen and CO2 according to the following "CO-Shift Reaction" equilibrium reaction: CO+H2O═CO2+H2 (exothermic reaction).
Ideally, most of the CO can be converted to CO2 and captured, pre-combustion. The resultant synthesis gas stream, prior to capture, can contain approximately 50% CO2 (on a dry basis). Unfortunately, this stream typically also contains H2S and COS, both of which are undesirable constituents. Conventional removal technologies, such as RECTISOL and SELEXOL employ physical solvents such as methanol or dimethyl ether of polyethylene glycol (DEPG) to achieve the removal of H2S and CO2 through proprietary processes. Other proprietary processes, such as MORPHYSORB and PURISOL also employ physical solvents to remove H2S and capture CO2. Generally speaking, the above-mentioned processes each achieve the sequential removal of sulfur-containing constituents followed by the removal of the CO2 using a common solvent. The recovered stream containing the sulfur constituents is routed for processing (e.g., in a Claus plant), or a sulfuric acid manufacturing plant while the recovered CO2 stream, free from any sulfur-containing constituent, is vented to atmosphere.
There are differences in the current physical solvent processes that result in differences in both the capital and operating cost. However, each of these processes suffers from a common drawback: each process regenerates its solvent by releasing the entire amount of captured CO2 at relatively low pressures. This common problem results in the energy requirement to compress the entire captured CO2 from approximately atmospheric pressure to a super critical pressure needed for sequestration. There are variations in each of the process configurations that partially mitigate these problems by releasing some of the CO2 at modest pressure, but the majority of the CO2 is still released at close to atmospheric pressure. As a result, the overall cost of equipment and energy required for the CO2 compression (and subsequent purification) is a major cost burden on the current CO2 capture-compression processes.
Thus, a need exists for an alternative approach for capturing CO2 from a high-pressure gas stream. The approach should be applicable to a wide variety of processes and conditions, including, but not limited to, high-pressure synthesis gas and/or high-pressure natural gas originating from a variety of process or natural sources and locations. The approach should be both energy efficient and cost-effective, both in terms of capital and operating costs.


Techniques are provided for creating soft creases for subdivision surfaces. Specifically, techniques are provided for creating an interpolation between a hard crease and a smooth surface. For example, the following steps may be performed to render an object with a soft crease: receiving, in response to user input, a selected value that falls within a range bounded by a first value and a second value; and rendering the object with a soft crease that has an appearance based on the selected value. The soft crease represents an interpolation between a hard crease and a smooth surface. The closer the selected value is to the first value, the more the appearance of the soft crease resembles the hard crease and, conversely, the closer the selected value is to the second value, the more the appearance of the soft crease resembles the smooth surface.

The present invention relates to computer modeling of geometric shapes and, in particular, to the modeling object surfaces using simple soft creases for subdivision surfaces.
In the world of 3 dimensional computer graphics, simple elements such as boxes and spheres are used to construct complex figures. For example, an arm may be initially depicted by joining a couple of boxes together. A mesh is applied to this initial representation of an arm. The mesh subdivides the initial representation of the arm with intersecting lines. Then subdivision algorithms are used to refine the mesh to get a smoother appearing arm.
Subdivision is an algorithmic technique that is used to generate smooth surfaces as a sequence of successively refined polyhedral meshes. Its origin dates back to 1978 when Catmull and Clark first proposed to generalize spline-patch methods to meshes of arbitrary topology. The algorithms they developed are often referred to as Catmull-Clark subdivision rules. These rules are exceptionally simple and work for arbitrary control meshes to produce smooth surfaces. Subdivision-based representations of complex geometry can be manipulated and rendered very efficiently, which makes subdivision a highly suitable tool for interactive animation and modeling systems.
The Catmull-Clark subdivision rules can be expressed as xe2x80x9cvertex masksxe2x80x9d by which the vertices at a one level (M+1) are constructed from vertices at the previous level (M). The following are the formulas for Catmull-Clark:
Standard Catmull-Clark
In normal Catmull-Clark, the subdivision masks are as follows:
A new level M+1 vertex is created in the center of each face, where the position of the new vertex is determined by the formula:
P(F)=Sum(F.vj)/Fdegxe2x80x83xe2x80x831.
where P(F) is the position of the new vertex in the center of face F;
Sum(F.vj) is the sum of the positions of all vertices that define the face F; and
F deg is the degree of face F.
A new level M+1 vertex is also created in the center of each edge. The position of each new mid-edge vertex is determined by the formula:
P(E)=(E.v0+E.v1+P(E.f0)+P(E.f1))/4xe2x80x83xe2x80x832(a).
where P(E) is the position of the new vertex in the middle of edge E;
E.v0 and E.v1 are the positions of the two endpoints of edge E;
and P(E.f0) and P(E.f1) are the positions of the face centers (as created by equation 1) for each of the two faces which use edge E.
Finally, the position of each level-M vertex is modified by the position of its neighbors to obtain the level M+1 version of the same vertex. For a vertex with valence n (e.g., n faces and n edges), this formula is given by
P(V)=((nxe2x88x922)/n)*V+Sum(V.Ej.ov)/n2+Sum(P(V.Fj))/n2xe2x80x83xe2x80x833(a).
where P(V) is the new position of vertex V;
V.Ej.ov represents the vertex at the other end of edge V.Ej from V (for each edge which uses vertex V);
and P(V.Fj) represents the position of the face center (as created by equation 1) for each of the faces which use vertex V.
Equation 3(a) is referred to herein as the xe2x80x9czero crease vertex rulexe2x80x9d.
The above completely describes the position of the vertices for the next level. To describe the faces and edges for the next level, we merely note that every face at level M is divided up into a bunch of 4-sided faces at level M+1, as follows: a new face is created in every xe2x80x9ccornerxe2x80x9d of the level-M face using a face point, an edge point, a vertex point, and another edge point. This is illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. FIG. 5 shows one face of a level-M mesh. FIG. 6 shows a level M+1 mesh where the one face of the level-M mesh is divided into 4 faces. Each face at level M+1 uses one of the original vertices, plus the edge midpoint on each side, and the face center point. Level M+1 edges are just those resulting from this arrangement of facesxe2x80x94there are new edges connecting edge points with face points as well as dividing the level M edges in two, thus connecting edge points to vertex points.
The subdivided mesh that results from several iterations of Catmull-Clark formulas is very smooth. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a cube, and FIG. 2 depicts a smooth, spherical shape produced by iteratively applying the Catmull-Clark formulas to all surfaces of the cube in FIG. 1. Unfortunately, smooth surfaces are insufficient in addressing all of the needs of computer graphics. For example, a finger is rounded everywhere except the fingernail. Creases are used to delineate the fingernail. A well established xe2x80x9chard creasexe2x80x9d variation on the subdivision rules allows the subdivision result to retain such creases.
Hard Creases
A hard crease may be applied to edges in the original (level-0) mesh to create a discontinuity in the smoothness of a surface. For example, FIG. 3 depicts a shape produced by assigning hard creases to each of the four edges on the top of a box, and then applying the modified subdivision rules as described below.
The path that defines the edges associated with a hard crease is a border between where the smoothness of the various surfaces affect each other. The flat surface top of the shape in FIG. 3 is achieved because the surface top only depends on the four points on the top of the box. The four points at the top of the box do not influence the rest of the points of the box because the hard crease defines the limit of what affects the top surface.
A widely accepted standard for xe2x80x9chard creasesxe2x80x9d holds that the edges forming the crease should behave like a cubic spline, ignoring the contributions of geometry on either side. The following formulas are standard modifications made to the Catmull-Clark formulas to achieve hard creases:
The formula for determining the position of the vertex at the center of a face is unchanged.
Edge vertices for hard-crease edges discard the face contributions and become simple midpoints:
P(E)=(E.v0+E.v1)/2xe2x80x83xe2x80x832(b).
For vertices with 2 hard-creased edges on edges V.Ec1 and V.Ec2, contributions are included only from those vertices and their neighbors along the crease:
P(V)=3 *V/4+(V.Ec1.ov+V.Ec2.ov)/8xe2x80x83xe2x80x833(b).
where V.Ec1.ov and edges.
Equation 3(b) is referred to herein as the xe2x80x9cunmodified 2-crease vertex rulexe2x80x9d.
Vertices with only 1 creased edge have traditionally been treated the same as non-creased vertices, as in 3(a).
Vertices with three or more creased edges have been fixed in place, i.e.
P(V)=V.xe2x80x83xe2x80x833(c).
where vertices with three or more creased edges are herein referred to as xe2x80x9ccornersxe2x80x9d, and equation 3(c) is referred to herein as the xe2x80x9ccorner rulexe2x80x9d.
The method for creating faces and edges for each subdivision level is identical to the method used in the uncreased version above.
These rules are further disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/296,046, filed Apr. 21, 1999, by Thomas Burke entitled RELATIONAL MODELING OF TRIMMED NURBS SURFACES, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference its entirety.
Although there are methods for creating vertices, modifying those vertices, and creating hard creases, there remains a need for modifying hard creases to achieve an interpolation between hard creases and smooth surfaces. Furthermore there is a need for a simple user interface to execute this interpolation.
Techniques are provided for creating soft creases for subdivision surfaces. Specifically, techniques are provided for creating an interpolation between a hard crease and a smooth surface at every iteration of subdivision, and providing a mechanism for users to determine the degree to which such an interpolation resembles a hard crease or a smooth surface. Techniques are also provided to more consistently handle vertices with some number of creased edges other than 0 or 2 by interpolating between the unmodified Catmull-Clark vertex rule, the 2-crease vertex rule, and the corner rule, which has 3 or more creases.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the following steps are performed when an object is rendered: receiving, in response to user input, a selected value per edge in the original mesh that falls within a range bounded by a first value and a second value; and rendering the object with a soft crease that has an appearance based on the selected value. The soft crease represents an interpolation between a hard crease and a smooth surface. The closer the selected value is to the first value, the more the appearance of the soft crease resembles the hard crease and, conversely, the closer the selected value is to the second value, the more the appearance of the soft crease resembles the smooth surface.

Simple soft creases for subdivision surfaces


A railway vehicle body tilting system has a height control valve for supplying and discharging compressed air to and from an air spring by an actuator, an auxiliary control valve for supplying compressed air to the air spring and thereby causing a car body to tilt, a backup valve for switching the connection between the air spring and either the height control valve or the auxiliary control valve, and a controller installed in each of vehicles linked together as a train. During normal operation, the controller provided in each of the cars controls the height control valve of the respective car and monitors for faulty operation in other linked controllers. If a fault arises in a linked controller, control over the malfunctioning controller is terminated, and another normal controller controls a backup valve in the car with the malfunctioning control device.

For allowing railway vehicles or cars to travel a curved section on a railway track, acceleration in right and left directions is decreased by so-called cant, and the railway vehicles are provided with a vehicle body tilting system to actively tilt vehicle bodies to make up for cant deficiency. One example of the vehicle body tilting systems includes a height control valve to supply/discharge compressed air to/from air springs supporting right and left sides of a vehicle body, the height control valve being controlled by a controller. In this vehicle body tilting system, the controller controls the height control valve based on spot information and speed information during traveling and previously prepared track data to control discharge/supply of compressed air with respect to the right and left air springs. With this configuration, the vehicle bodies are tilted when entering a curve and are returned to a horizontal state when going out of the curve.


A tunable peaking amplifier circuit including: an input node, an output node, and a feedback node; a first input amplifier having an input connected to the input node and an output connected to the feedback node; a second input amplifier having an input connected to the input node; a coupling capacitor connected between an output of the second input amplifier and the feedback node; an amplifier having an input connected to the feedback node and an output connected to the output node; a feedback circuit including: a base feedback amplifier having an input connected to the output node and an output connected to the feedback node; and a tunable feedback amplifier having an input connected to the output node and an output connected to the feedback node; and a tuning circuit for varying a transconductance of the feedback circuit to adjust an operational frequency of the peaking amplifier circuit.

With the ever present demand for higher data rates in serial links, transmission frequencies have continued to increase. Unfortunately, the vast majority of communication channels suffer high losses at higher frequencies. To improve the maximum data rates of such links, it is often necessary to equalize the frequency response of the channel so that pulse distortion is reduced. For this reason, the receivers of modern high-speed data communication links commonly employ peaking amplifiers, which boost the high-frequency components of the received signal that were attenuated by the channel response.
Many peaking amplifiers use some combination of series inductive and/or shunt capacitive loading to generate a high gain at a certain frequency while suppressing the signal at other frequencies. While an effective solution, this type of peaking amplifier possesses an inherent tradeoff between bandwidth and loss/noise, with many peaking amplifiers focusing on a narrowband response with high signal integrity. While most of these peaking amplifiers are only meant to operate at a specific frequency, this narrowband response becomes problematic over PVT (process, voltage, temperature) variation, where the response of the peaking amplifier may shift such that the operating frequency is out of band.


It is aimed to reduce an external force acting on a circuit board. A connector (10) is provided with a housing (12) including a board accommodating portion (13), a circuit board (42) accommodated in the board accommodating portion (13), a first terminal holding portion (26) formed in the housing (12) to be integrated with the board accommodating portion (13), a second terminal holding portion (30) formed in the housing (12) to be integrated with the board accommodating portion (13) and second terminal fittings (52) connected to the circuit board (42) while being held in the second terminal holding portion (30).

Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic circuit unit in which a circuit board is accommodated in a case. The case is configured by uniting a first case member and a second case member. The first and second case members are formed with terminal holding portions located to sandwich the circuit board. Terminals inserted into the terminal holding portion of the first case member are connected to one edge part of the circuit board, and terminals inserted into the terminal holding portion of the second case member are connected to another edge of the circuit board. Wires connected to the respective terminals are drawn out to the outside of the case.


An image scanning apparatus includes a transport roller transporting an original, a CCD scanning a first side of the original, a CIS scanning unit scanning a second side of the original, and a flap for reversing the original and sending the original to a transport path. A CPU controls the transport roller, the CCD and the CIS scanning unit to scan each side of the original. The CPU determines from the result of scanning whether or not each side of the original includes a predetermined pattern. When the CPU cannot identify from the result of scanning of the second side whether or not the second side includes a predetermined pattern, the CPU controls the flap and a transport unit to reverse the original and cause the CCD to scan the second side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image scanning apparatus scanning an original to detect a predetermined pattern included in the original.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, for the purpose of preventing unauthorized copy of an original, an image scanning apparatus having bill recognition capability or security screen pattern capability has been developed.
The bill recognition is a technology of determining whether or not an original is a special one such as bill or valuable paper. The bill recognition is generally achieved by examining whether or not image data obtained by scanning an original includes a specific pattern.
Further, the security screen pattern is a technology of printing in advance, on an original image, a character string or the like such as "copy prohibited" as a screen pattern that reappears on a copy of the original. The security screen pattern can prevent unauthorized copy of a confidential document. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-142917 discloses an image processing apparatus that determines, based on the dot density of image data, whether or not the image data obtained by scanning an original with a scanner is a confidential document.
The image scanning apparatus thus scans an original to determine whether or not the original includes a pattern specific to a bill or a predetermined pattern such as screen pattern. The image scanning apparatus can use the result of the determination to prevent unauthorized copy of the original.
Consideration will be given here to an original whose opposing two sides are both printed with respective images. It is supposed that, if at least one side of the original is printed with a predetermined pattern as described above, the images on the opposing two sides are intended to be prevented from being copied unauthorizedly. Actually, however, an apparatus scanning only one side of the original can scan the side without the predetermined pattern. Therefore, in order to surely determine whether or not the original includes the predetermined pattern, it is necessary to scan both sides of the original.
A method for scanning both sides of an original is to combine one-side scanning and reversal of an original.
Another method for scanning both sides of an original is to use an image scanning apparatus including two scanning units (first scanning unit and second scanning unit). According to this method, the image scanning apparatus scans a first side of the original using the first scanning unit, and scans a second side of the original using the second scanning unit. This method is hereinafter referred to as simultaneous double-side scanning. The simultaneous double-side scanning requires a large-sized apparatus including two image scanning units. The simultaneous double-side scanning, however, can shorten the time required for scanning. The simultaneous double-side scanning is therefore widely used.
Some image scanning apparatuses for use in simultaneous double-side scanning include a scanning unit configured with a combination of a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) and a CIS (Contact Image Sensor).
The CCD scans, via a reduction optical system, the light that is emitted from a light source such as halogen lamp or xenon bulb lamp to an original and reflected from the original. The CIS scans the light emitted from an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light source to an original where the size of the scan light is identical to the original size.
Scanning with the CIS is shallower in depth of field as compared with scanning with the CCD, resulting in an out-of-focus state even when the fed original is displaced to a slight degree. Thus, the accuracy of scanning with the CIS is low. In the case of scanning with the CCD, however, an optical system has to be provided between an original and the CCD. Thus, scanning with the CCD has a disadvantage that a large space is necessary. Both the high scanning accuracy and the downsizing of the apparatus can be accomplished by combining the CIS scanning and the CCD scanning.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-074500 discloses an image scanning apparatus having an original reversal mechanism. The image scanning apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-074500 includes a CCD scanning unit and a CIS scanning unit. The CCD scanning unit can scan both of a monochrome image and a color image. While the CIS scanning unit can scan a monochrome image only, the CIS scanning unit can determine whether a scan image is a monochrome image or color image. Only in the case where the image scanned by the CIS scanning unit is a color image, the image scanning apparatus reverses the original and scans the original again. In this way, the image scanning apparatus can efficiently scan a plurality of originals including a color image and a monochrome image.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-012442 discloses an image scanning apparatus performing the simultaneous double-side scanning with a CCD and a CIS in a speed-priority mode. This image scanning apparatus scans the front side and the rear side of an original using the CCD in an image-quality-priority mode.
If the simultaneous double-side scanning technology by means of the CIS and CCD in combination is directly applied, it may not be accurately determined whether or not an original includes a predetermined pattern, because the accuracy of scanning with the CIS and the accuracy of scanning with the CCD differ from each other.


The invention provides a method for preparing lithium-containing particles suitable for use in an electrode of a battery, the method including forming a mixture comprising titanium dioxide precursor particles and an aqueous solution of a lithium compound; and heating the mixture at elevated temperature in a sealed pressure vessel in order to form lithium-inserted titanium dioxide particles, wherein at least one particle size characteristic selected from average primary particle size, particle size distribution, average intra-particle pore size, average inter-particle pore size, pore size distribution, and particle shape of the titanium dioxide particles is substantially unchanged by said heating step. The invention further includes a battery including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a separator including an electrolyte between the first and second electrodes, wherein one of the first and second electrodes comprises lithium-inserted titanium dioxide particles or lithium titanate spinel particles made according to the invention.

Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries that rely upon movement of lithium ions between electrodes. Such batteries are commonly used in a variety of electronics due to their high energy density, high power density, and quick charge/discharge characteristics. The anode typically consists of graphite and the cathode typically consists of a lithium intercalation material, such as LiCoO2, the electrodes being connected through a liquid electrolyte, such as LiPF6 in a non-aqueous solvent.
There is a need in the art for improved anode materials for use in lithium-ion batteries to replace conventional carbon-based materials, such as graphite, which can in some cases suffer from relatively short cycle lifetimes and relatively long charging times. Lithium titanate having a spinel crystalline structure (i.e., Li4Ti5O12 otherwise known as LTO) is used with increasing popularity as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries, especially for electric automobile and energy storage applications. Lithium titanate changes to a rock salt crystalline structure as lithium ions are inserted during charge, and changes back to a spinel crystalline structure as lithium ions dissociate. The lithium titanate undergoes far less change in its lattice volume due to charge/discharge as compared to carbon materials, and generates little heat even when shorted to the positive electrode, thereby preventing fire accidents and ensuring a high degree of safety. Additionally, use of lithium titanate as anode material results in longer battery life (rechargeable for more cycles) and shorter charging time (minutes vs. hours).
It is highly desirable for the lithium titanate to be in cubic spinel structure with high crystalline ordering and phase purity in order to produce a high level of performance in lithium-ion batteries. Lithium titanate spinels, like other ceramic materials, may be prepared by conventional solid state reaction processes; that is, mixing together the oxide components and heating or firing the mixture to facilitate the solid state reaction. Due to kinetic limitations of the solid state reactants, high purity phase with uniform particle size and morphology is difficult to achieve. Furthermore, lithium may be lost during heating or firing due to the volatile nature of lithium compounds.
To overcome these limitations, wet chemistry techniques have been proposed that involve one or more lithium or titanium compounds dissolved or suspended in a solvent. However, many of these processes suffer from certain disadvantages, such as lack of reaction control, inhomogeneous reactions, and/or the inability to adequately control particle morphology, particle size, or crystallinity. There remains a need in the art for a method for forming lithium titanate spinel particles of controlled particle size and morphology for use in lithium-ion battery applications.

Lithium-intercalated titanium dioxide, lithium titanate particles made therefrom, and related methods


Restricting access to managed content to users that are both (1) members of one or more required groups identified in an ACL associated a content item to which access is requested and (2) otherwise granted access under the ACL, e.g., by virtue of their individual identity, role, or group membership is disclosed. In some embodiments, an ACL is configured to identify one or more groups as being a “required” group, membership in which is required for a user to be granted access to a content item with which the ACL is associated. If a user is not a member of a required group, the user is denied access (or denied access above a certain level), even if the user is otherwise delegated access rights in the ACL.

Typically, in a content management system and in other contexts in which access to electronically stored content is restricted, a user (individual, system, application, process, etc.) is permitted to access a content item if the user is included, individually or by virtue of membership in a group, in an "access control list" (ACL) associated with the content item. Stated another way, the rights of a particular user to access a content item typically has been determined based on the union of the respective rights (if any) the user has by virtue of the individual's personal identity, role, group membership, etc. So, if an individual is listed by name or role, for example, as having "read" access to an item but is also a member of a "manager group" that has been delegated "write" access, in a typical system the user would be given "write" access.
In some contexts, however, it may be necessary and/or desired to control access in other and/or additional ways. For example, it may be desirable to grant "write" access to members of the "manager group" who are also associated with a particular product, division, geographic region, etc. Other examples of additional restrictions include ensuring access is limited to individuals who hold a particular level of security clearance, e.g., enforcing "security labels" such as "top secret", and/or other security markings or restrictions, including restricting access to users who both have a required security clearance and satisfy additional criteria established to limit access to users believed to have a legitimate "need-to-know", e.g., criteria indicated by "supplemental markings" such as "US citizens only" or "Western Europe Region only".
Therefore, there is a need for an effective way to enforce mandatory and/or supplemental access control requirements with respect to a body of managed content.

Mandatory access control list for managed content


A polypropylene resin composition includes 1 to 30 wt % of homopolypropylene having a melt index of 2 to 6 g/10 min at 230° C. and 2.16 kg, and an isotacticity index of 97% or more, 1 to 40 wt % of homopolypropylene having a melt index of 16 to 22 g/10 min at 230° C. and 2.16 kg, and an isotacticity index of 96% or more, and 20 to 40 wt % of a glass fiber having an excellent rigidity supplementation effect as an inorganic filler for improving heat resistance, mechanical properties, and 1 to 10 wt % of denatured polypropylene as a compatibilizer maximizes compatibility of the polypropylene resin and the glass fiber, based on a total weight of the composition. The composition has excellent rigidity, short-term heat resistance, long-term heat resistance, and fusion strength, at a reduced weight and production cost.

Generally, parts in an engine compartment of a vehicle need excellent rigidity in order to support the vehicle and excellent heat resistance in order to endure the high temperature of the engine, therefore engineering plastics, such as nylon, have been used in the related art.
For example, the most commonly used plastic used as a suction manifold in the engine compartment of the vehicle is a nylon resin composition. Nylon resin has relatively excellent rigidity, and the rigidity may be further supplemented by adding an inorganic material. Resin compositions having various rigidities can be manufactured by combining glass fibers (GF) and using the polarity of the nylon resin itself.
However, even though the nylon resin has excellent physical properties, since specific gravity and prime cost of the material are higher than those of a general plastic material, such as a polypropylene resin, parts made of the nylon resin are heavy and increase production cost.
Therefore, in accordance with a demand for developing a polypropylene resin composition which facilitates a reduction in weight and cost, and has excellent rigidity and heat resistance, a development method of a material in which an inorganic filler or the other resin is combined with the polypropylene resin has been proposed.
Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-56188 discloses a method of manufacturing a polypropylene resin composition which includes 36.0 to 78.0 wt % of polypropylene, 10.0 to 30.0 wt % of nylon, 10.0 to 30.0 wt % of a glass fiber, 1.0 to 4.0 wt % of denatured polypropylene as a compatibilizer, and 0.01 to 2.0 wt % of an organic silane-based compound to improve strength and heat resistance. However, the rigidity and impact strength are not sufficiently high enough in the aforementioned technology.


A self-adjuster for a drum brake of the leading-trailing or duo servo type having the adjuster lever mounted on one of the brake shoe webs and engaged in as separate slot on the spreader and adjuster strut from the slot in which a brake shoe web and a parking brake actuating lever are received, preventing the adjuster lever from being jammed by the brake shoe web or the parking brake actuating lever. The pivot point for the adjuster lever is the same as that for the parking brake actuating lever, and is a pin mounted on the brake shoe web which is received in the other adjuster strut slot with the parking brake lever.

It has been common practice for some years, particularly with leading-trailing drum brakes, to pivot an adjuster lever on the web of the leading brake shoe and to position it beside the web in the same slot formed in one end of the spreader and adjuster strut in which the web is received. This places the adjuster mechanism at the opposite end of the strut from the parking brake actuating lever, which is usually pivotally mounted on the web of the trailing brake shoe. This arrangement thus requires two separate pivot arrangements on the shoe webs, one on one shoe web for the parking brake actuating lever and one on the other shoe web for the adjuster lever. When the adjuster lever is received within the same slot as the web of the shoe on which it is pivotally mounted, it is subject to possible jamming and resultant insufficient adjusting action.


Systems and methodologies are described that provide efficient channel assignment and communication for a wireless communication network. System resources can be allocated for a traffic channel for communication between a base station and a terminal in a physical layer frame, a portion of which can be made available for an acknowledgement channel. Resources for the acknowledgement channel can then be allocated such that the resources allocated for the acknowledgement channel occupy only a portion of the resources available for the acknowledgement channel within the resources allocated for the traffic channel. By scheduling the acknowledgement channel such that it occupies only a portion of the resources available to it, traffic data and acknowledgements can be communicated in the wireless communication system on their respective channels more efficiently.

I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for assigning resources in a wireless communication system.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems have recently become a prevalent means by which a majority of people worldwide have come to communicate. Such systems generally utilize different approaches to generate transmission resources in the form of channels. Examples of such systems include code division multiplexing (CDM) systems, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) systems, time division multiplexing (TDM) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems.
Further, wireless communication devices have recently become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. The increase in processing power in mobile devices such as cellular telephones has lead to an increased demand for efficient wireless network transmission. However, wireless communication systems typically are not as easily updated as the cellular devices that communicate thereover. As mobile device capabilities expand, it has traditionally been difficult to maintain an older wireless network system in a manner that facilitates fully exploiting new and improved wireless device capabilities. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an efficient transmission scheme that can be implemented in a wireless communication system.

Efficient channel structure for a wireless communication system


A method and apparatus for generating true random numbers by way of a quantum optics process uses a light source to produce a beam which illuminates a detector array. The detectors of the array are associated with random numbers values. Detection of a photon by one of the detectors yields a number whose value is equal to that associated with the detector. This procedure is repeated to produce sequences of true random numbers. The randomness of the numbers stems from the transverse spatial distribution of the detection probability of the photons in the beam. If the array is made up of two detectors, the true random numbers produced are binary numbers. The process can be sped up using an array having pairs of two detectors. Using an array having more than two detectors also allows generating true random numbers of dimension higher than two. The primary object of the invention is to allow generating true random numbers by way of a quantum optics process.

This invention relates generally to the field of random number generation, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for generating true random numbers based on a quantum optics process.
Random numbers are essential in many applications and they constitute a very important resource. In cryptography, they are required, for example, in the generation of cryptographic keys or the initialization of certain variables in cryptographic protocols. They also find applications in various others fields such as numerical simulations and statistics.
Great attention must be paid to the way these random numbers are generated. Certain algorithms called pseudo-random number generators exist and produce sequences of numbers that have some of the properties of a sequence of random numbers. However a pseudo-random numbers sequence is not random, in the sense that the knowledge of one number in the sequence allows the prediction of all the other numbers of the sequence, both preceding and following. These algorithms take as input an initialization parameter known as a seed and iteratively produce numbers.
Such pseudo-random number generators are fundamentally inappropriate in cryptography. If one used them to produce a key, the entropy of this key would not be equal to its number of bits, but to the number of bits of the seed used in the generator. In other words, an adversary trying to crack a message protected by encryption with a key produced by such a generator would not have to try all possible keys, but only all possible seeds. The pseudo-random number generator would represent the weakest link in the encryption process chain supposed to protect the message.
In numerical simulations, pseudo-random numbers must also be used with great care. It was shown in the past that small effects revealing possibly interesting physical phenomena in the simulated system can be hidden by structures of the pseudo-random numbers sequence used. Alternatively, artifacts can appear in the results of the simulation.
Finally, when using a pseudo-random number generator, one always has to face the problem of how to choose the seed which must itself be random.
So, in all the cases where pseudo-random number generators are not adequate, one must resort to a physical process as a source of randomness. Hereinbelow, the expression "true random numbers" indicates random numbers generated by a physical process.
True random number generators are devices exploiting a physical process to produce true random numbers. Numerous physical processes can be used as a source of randomness for generating true random numbers. Coin tossing, throwing a dice, thermal noise, shot noise, and avalanche noise are examples of such processes. They are all described by classical physics, which is deterministic. Knowing the state of a system at an initial instant allows the prediction of its evolution at all other times. One must thus rely on the following assumption to use them as a randomness source: all of these processes are produced by a large number of elementary events which give rise globally to a complex and unpredictable behavior that can only be analyzed by probabilistic approaches. In this sense, the randomness of these processes is in appearance only and results from their complexity. True random number generators based on a process described by classical physics are commercially available.
The fact that generators exploiting such processes described by classical physics are difficult to model implies that it is difficult to gain confidence that experimental and environmental condition variations will not affect adversely the quality of the true random numbers output by creating some hidden structures. Similarly, it is difficult to verify that they are operating properly.
Instead of resorting to a physical process described by classical physics, one can also resort to a quantum physical process. Quantum physics is a set of theories describing the microscopic world with never contradicted accuracy. Besides this, randomness is embedded within quantum physics at a fundamental level. Consequently, it makes sense to use a process described by quantum physics as a source of randomness for the generation of true random numbers.
In order to build a true random number generator based on a quantum process, one must select a process, which can be easily used in practice. With current technology, the easiest approach is to work with the elementary quantum systems constituting light and which are called photons. The theory describing light at the quantum level is called quantum optics.
Several approaches based on quantum optics have already been proposed and used to generate true random numbers. Researchers at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, have, for example, developed a generator exploiting the effect of a beamsplitter on a single-photon. This generator is described in an article by A. Stefanov, N. Gisin, O. Guinnard, L. Guinnard, and H. Zbinden, entitled "Optical quantum random number generator", published in the Journal of Modern Optics, 47, 595-598 (2000), the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. The beam is randomly reflected or transmitted. By placing a single-photon detector behind each output port of the beamsplitter and associating a bit value of either "0" or "1" to the detection of the photon by one of the detector, one can produce sequences of random binary bits, whose randomness stems from quantum optics. In practice, producing single-photon states is difficult and impractical. Attenuated light pulses produced for example by a laser were used instead.
Researchers at Deutsche Telekom, Germany, have proposed a similar approach, but have resorted to photon pairs instead of attenuated light pulses. This approach is described in PCT patent numbers WO 98/16008 and WO 99/66641 to W. Dultz and E. Hildebrandt, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.
In an article by T. Jennewein, U. Achleitner, G. Weihs, H. Weinfurter, and A. Zeilinger, "A fast and compact quantum random number generator", Review of Scientific Instruments, 71, 1675-1680 (2000), the content of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto, researchers at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, have also proposed an approach based on quantum optics. They sent streams of single-photons arriving at random times on a single-photon detectors. Every time a photon is detected, the voltage of an oscillator is sampled. A binary value "1" is obtained if the voltage is above a certain threshold, a "0" otherwise. The frequency of the oscillator must be significantly higher than the photon detection rate, so that a large number of oscillations take place between each detection event.
These approaches are all based on a quantum optics process that is fundamentally random. However, they each have some disadvantages when it comes to their practical realization.
What is needed therefore is the use of an improved quantum optics process as the basis for the generation of true random numbers. Further, what is needed is a simple and practical true random number generator based on a quantum optics process.

Method and apparatus for generating true random numbers by way of a quantum optics process


A method, system, and apparatus for estimating potential sales of animal products based on estimated animal population determined from a transaction history of sentinel products associated with particular animals. A set of sentinel products is determined that is associated with a specific type of animal. A number of the type of animal in a geographic region is estimated based on a transaction history associated with the set of sentinel products. A potential sales estimate for the geographic region is determined based on the estimated number of the particular type of animal in the geographic region.

Modern business practices typically include methods for analyzing market conditions. Such tools may attempt to use market sales data to determine things such as sales potential or sales opportunity that may be available in a particular market. Typically, the more information available to a company, the better able the company is to analyze the market data. Many companies now use sophisticated methodologies and process large amounts of data in order to analyze and predict market behavior and opportunities.
However, as the amount of market data grows, and as the market data is analyzed with regard to specific market areas, it is apparent that improved methods are needed for analyzing market data. For example, in the animal health market, information such as sales data may be available to a company for analysis. However, there is hidden information not directly included in the sales data that may be determined from extrapolations based on the sales data. Conventional market analysis tools in the animal health market have thus far failed to adequately process and utilize hidden information that may be determined from market sales data.

Market segmentation and sales potential model for animal related products


A computer-implemented method and computing system for providing advertisement content and a computer-implemented method and computing system for exposing advertisement content are provided. A computer-implemented method of providing advertisement content, the method includes: receiving a bid request with respect to the advertisement content associated with digital broadcast content; determining an exposure ranking of the advertisement content using quality information of the advertisement content; and providing the digital broadcast content and the advertisement content arranged based on the exposure ranking, wherein the advertisement content is classified by an accounting method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method and computing system for providing advertisement content, and a computer-implemented method and computing system for exposing advertisement content. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer-implemented method and computing system for providing advertisement content, and a computer-implemented method and computing system for exposing advertisement content which may bid on advertisement content associated with digital broadcast content, and expose the advertisement content in an exposure region based on an accounting method of the advertisement content.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, the combination of broadcasting and advertising has been attempted based on the development of broadcast media technologies. In particular, an interactive broadcasting between viewers and digital broadcasting service providers is available due to the spread of digital broadcasting. As an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service that may provide an interactive service between viewers and digital broadcasting service providers through the Internet is currently the focus of attention, attempts to combine broadcasting and advertising using the interactive characteristics have increased.
When broadcasting and advertising are combined, a method where an advertiser efficiently provides viewers with an advertisement through a digital broadcasting service and a method where a digital broadcasting service provider efficiently obtains a commission on an advertisement of an advertiser are required.
For example, when a viewer of a digital broadcast is interested in a product visible in a particular scene, it is common that the viewer purchases the product by obtaining information about the product. In particular, when digital broadcast content such as a soap opera, a movie, and the like is popular with viewers, the example described above may happen more often.
Accordingly, the number of advertisers that desire to advertise products in scenes of the digital broadcast content may increase. However, a specific method of efficiently providing an advertisement to viewers has yet to be provided.
In addition, when a digital broadcasting service provider provides a brokerage service for an advertiser that desires to provide viewers with an advertisement through digital broadcasting, a specific method of obtaining a commission on the advertisement has also been yet to be provided.

Computer-implemented method and computing system for providing advertisement content, and computer-implemented method and computing system for exposing advertisement content


An isotope-ratio-monitoring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry apparatus and method are disclosed which provide for on-line analysis of isotope compositions with high precision. With the apparatus and method, samples are introduced in a hydrogen carrier gas into a gas chromatograph and resolved into discrete compounds. The discrete compounds are thereafter introduced to a selectively permeable membrane separator, empolying palladium, palladium alloy or other suitable material, to separate out the hydrogen carrier. A replacement carrier gas is simultaneously introduced to carry the chromatographic sample to a combustion reactor, water separator and isotope-ratio-monitoring mass spectrometer. The replacement carrier gas is introduced at a lower flowrate than the hydrogen carrier gas, thus permitting lower flowrates to be introduced to the mass spectrometer to improve its precision. Flowrates to the mass spectrometer are thus reduced without any loss or fractionation of the sample. An improved combustion system is employed to reduce system volume and equalize system pressure, while still providing quantitative combustion.

It has been appreciated for some time that isotopic analysis of compounds provides a wealth of information extending beyond traditional structural chemical analyses. While quantitative and qualitative structural analyses identify the chemical composition of a compound or of individual molecules, isotopic analysis provides still further information concerning the source, origin and formation of such compounds and molecules.
In the field of geochemical oil exploration and prospecting, measurement of the isotopic compositions of large numbers of individual organic compounds of oil samples from various oil reservoirs assists in clarifying the origins of specific compounds, correlating the organic compounds with particular sources, recognizing the existence of multiple sources, examining the mechanisms of petroleum generation and improving the sensitivity of petroleum migration studies. This information, particularly in connection with seismic data, can be used to predict locations of other oil reservoirs to which oil may have migrated from a common source of generation or formation.
Isotope ratio monitoring has further applications in the biomedical field, wherein non-radioactive, stable isotopes are used as tracer labels in drug metabolism and other biomedical studies and where natural variations in isotopic abundances may also carry additional information regarding sources and fates of metabolites. Current non-radioactive, stable isotopic labelling apparatus and methods in the medical field employ costly labelled compounds having isotope ratios much greater than those found in natural abundance. Improvements in isotope ratio monitoring sensitivity and precision and a reduction in the size of required samples and in the time and complexity of isotopic analyses, however, will enhance applications in the biomedical field for non-radioactive, stable isotope ratio monitoring apparatus and methods.
Additional applications lie within the environmental sciences. Even though a pollutant may have several potential sources, it may happen that its isotopic composition will match that of only one of them, thus clearly identifying the source. In other cases, it may happen that a pollutant has an isotopic composition intermediate between those of two possible sources, thus allowing determination of the importance of each source.
Isotopic analysis is used to determine the relative abundance of various isotopes in a sample compound. In analyses of carbon isotopes, for example, the ratio of .sup.1 3 C to .sup.1 2 C in a sample compound is determined. Such ratio is typically compared or normalized with that of a known compound or standard. Several prior art methods and apparatus have been used in an effort to automate isotopic analysis of sample compounds. Each such method suffers from at least one of several deficiencies, which include, among other things, the labor intensity and substantial time required to perform the analysis, a lack of precision in the results, and requirements for large volumes of sample to perform the analysis.
In a first category of prior art methods and apparatus, commonly referred to as selected ion monitoring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SIM-GCMS), a gas chromatograph is directly connected to a single collector mass spectrometer of the type typically used for organic analysis (e.g., a magnetic sector or quadrupole mass spectrometer). The compound to be analysed is purified by elution from the gas chromatograph (or by other conventional means) and is introduced as intact molecules into the mass spectrometer ion source. The mass spectrometer fragments the compound in accordance with a known and expected pattern and the single detector is employed to ascertain the relative abundances of fragment ions at varying masses. Isotopic abundances of the sample compound are distinguishable from the mass spectrometer data based upon the differences in ion current intensities at the selected masses.
The SIM-GCMS apparatus and methods advantageously require only relatively small sample amount (picomoles to nanomoles). Moreover, because the entire analysis is done in a continuous, uninterrupted, automated sequence (i.e., "on-line"), the procedure is relatively uncomplicated, requiring minimal time and human intervention.
The above-noted advantages, however, are achieved at the expense of precision. Specifically, since the ion source of the mass spectrometer must be arranged so that thermal degradation of organic molecules is minimized, molecular residence times are brief and, as a result, efficiencies of ionization are often low. Ion currents are commonly in the range 10.sup.-1 1 to 10.sup.-1 5 amperes, and theoretical maximum precisions of ratio measurement (within the time of a gas chromatographic peak) are often only a few percent. Further, since a single detector is used to monitor the ion currents both .sup.1 2 C and .sup.1 3 C isotopic abundances, it must have a linear response for the range of abundances of both. Scanning with a single detector during the course of a chromatographic peak introduces systematic errors into the isotopic ratio determination. Although attempts been made to correct for such errors by altering the scan pattern (e.g., by adopting a unidirectional scan pattern), all such corrections are based upon the uncertain assumption that no fractionation occurs across the chromatographic peak for the eluted composition, i.e., that the compound is homogenous throughout the chromatographic peak.
Also, precision losses in SIM-GCMS apparatus and methods stem from the introduction of relatively large and complex molecules into the mass spectrometer directly as they are eluted from the gas chromatograph. The size of these molecules demands higher resolution from the mass spectrometer. The inevitable presence of the element hydrogen creates a situation in which loss or transfer (i.e., between molecular fragments) of hydrogen can produce a mass change of only one mass unit, exactly that associated with the presence or absence of a single carbon- or nitrogen-isotopic label. For example, an ion thought to contain an isotopic label may instead have picked up an extra hydrogen atom during fragmentation. An ion that has unexpectedly lost a hydrogen atom may be mistakenly identified as one that does not contain an isotopic label. Furthermore, as noted above, the molecules fragment in the ion source of the mass spectrometer which decreases the intensity of parent ions and complicates isotopic analysis and corrections for abundances of non-carbon isotopes (e.g., .sup.2 H and .sup.1 7 O). Furthermore, the extent of fractionation between isotopes of the parent ion in the fragmentation process is unknown. It is thus not known whether one isotope will tend to fragment from the parent ion more often than another isotope, introducing still further possible errors in the measurement of the relative ratios of isotopes.
Because of the poor precision of SIM-GCMS techniques (e.g., 0.5 to 10.0%, depending upon conditions), their application to isotope monitoring have generally been limited to the detection of artificially labelled compounds having .sup.1 3 C abundances substantially greater than the natural .sup.1 3 C abundance in organic compounds.
The precision limitations of SIM-GCMS techniques led to isotopic analysis methods in which compounds are quantitatively combusted after being resolved by the gas chromatograph and before introduction into the mass spectrometer. Such combustion converts the carbon in the larger organic molecules to .sup.1 2 CO.sub.2 and .sup.1 3 CO.sub.2, which can then be analyzed with far greater efficiency. Because CO.sub.2 is a small molecule containing only carbon and oxygen, fragmentation is minimized, problems of hydrogen transfer and loss are nonexistent, and calculation of carbon isotopic abundances from observed ion currents can be accomplished with far less uncertainty. Two general prior art approaches involving combustion of the effluent from a gas chromatograph before introduction into a mass spectrometer have been employed.
In a first such prior art approach, commonly referred to as the "off-line" approach, compounds are chromatographically separated and isolated, and thereafter separately analysed in a mass spectrometer. In one category of off-line apparatus and methods, the compounds eluted from the chromatographic column are individually collected and, thereafter, in a separate step, converted to CO.sub.2 by combustion, e.g., in a quartz container. Isotopic analysis is thereafter performed on the collected combustion product, which includes both .sup.1 2 CO.sub.2 and .sup.1 3 CO.sub.2.
In another category of off-line apparatus and methods, the chromatographic effluent is combusted immediately upon exit from the gas chromatograph, and the products of combustion, containing .sup.1 2 CO.sub.2 and .sup.1 3 CO.sub.2, are collected, purified, and packaged in individual containers for further analysis.
In both categories of off-line apparatus and methods, the samples are individually transferred to a mass spectrometer (preferably a dual inlet, dual (or triple) collector isotope-ratio-monitoring mass spectrometer) and analysed in a conventional manner. These apparatus and methods yield very good precision (better than 0.1% relative standard deviation). However, because sample purification and sample combustion are performed off-line, the process is labor intensive and time consuming. Moreover, large quantities of sample (of the order of micromoles) are required.
In an attempt to overcome the disadvantages inherent in off-line isotopic analysis apparatus and methods, on-line approaches have been attempted, wherein the effluent from a gas chromatograph is introduced directly into a combustion chamber, and the combustion product is then directed to a mass spectrometer in a continuous, uninterrupted, automated process. Several problems have heretofore been encountered in the direct interfacing of a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer through a combustion interface, which problems have degraded the precision heretofore obtainable by prior art on-line apparatus and methods.
In order to maximize precision of ion-current-ratio measurement in a mass spectrometer it is necessary that the vacuum in the mass spectrometer ion source and analyzer not be degraded. Degradation of mass spectrometer vacuum reduces ion source efficiency by causing a build-up of space charge in the ionization chamber, degrading focussing and extraction of the ion beam. Further deterioration of instrument performance results from interactions between neutral molecules and ions which cause increased scattering of the ion beam in the analyzer.
Large and varying flowrates exiting from conventional gas chromatographs, however, result in excessive pressures and pressure variations at the ion source of the mass spectrometer in on-line systems. Prior art apparatus and methods have attempted to reduce ion source pressure and pressure variations by splitting the effluent from the gas chromatograph. Apparatus such as jet separators or open splits have been employed to divert carrier gas away from the mass spectrometer. With such apparatus, however, a portion of the combusted sample is also diverted from the mass spectrometer. Precision is thus degraded in two ways: (i) less material is transmitted for ionization, resulting in weaker ion beams that are more difficult to measure, and (ii) because a portion of it is removed along with the carrier gas, CO.sub.2 derived from the sample is liable to isotopic fractionation as it passes through the separator or splitter. There is, therefore, no assurance that the isotopic composition of CO.sub.2 directed to the mass spectrometer is unaltered by the diversion of CO.sub.2 by the jet separator or open split apparatus.
A palladium membrane has been used to selectively remove a hydrogen gas carrier to enrich the effluent introduced into a mass spectrometer in gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) systems used for conventional organic analyses. Simmonds, P.G., Shoemake, G.R., Lovelock, J.E. (1970), "Palladium-Hydrogen System", Anal-Chem 42, 881-885; Lovelock, J.E., Simmonds, P.G., Shoemake, G.R. (1970). "The Palladium Generator-Separator-A Combined Electrolytic Source and Sink for Hydrogen in Closed Circuit Gas Chromatography", Anal. Chem. 42, 969-973; Dencker, W.D., Rushneck, D.R., Shoemake, G.R. (1972), "Electrochemical Cell as a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer Interface", Anal. Chem. 44, 1753-1758. Specifically, the hydrogen carrier gas was removed by selective permeation through a palladium membrane, without any decrease in the amount of sample delivered to the mass spectrometer. Electrochemical palladium separators were used, for example, in the Viking lander spacecraft for organic GC-MS analyses on the surface of Mars The palladium separator thus makes possible the removal of a carrier gas, without loss of sample. Palladium membrane devices were largely abandoned as separators in the prior art, however, because they tended to degrade or hydrogenate samples, it was difficult to control their temperatures (the exothermic combustion of the separated hydrogen adjacent the membrane can produce a great deal of heat), and they were difficult and expensive to fabricate.
Palladium separators have not heretofore been used in connection with isotope-ratio-monitoring apparatus. In addition to the above-noted disadvantages encountered in structural GC-MS applications, prior art palladium separators were unable to accommodate the flowrates typically required in early isotope-ratio-monitoring gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (irm-GCMS) systems.
Thus, prior to the present invention, prior art attempts at automated isotope ratio monitoring have failed to provide the required quantitative precision, except with the use of time consuming, labor intensive off-line apparatus and methods requiring large amounts of sample.

Isotope-ratio-monitoring gas chromatography-mass spectrometry apparatus and method


Comparators compare the amplitudes of a DPD tracking error signal indicating the phase difference between the detection signals supplied from a photodetector, and a PP tracking error signal indicating the level difference between the detection signals with the reference values, respectively. A gain control amplifier mutes a tracking error signal with the maximum amplitude smaller than a reference value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk apparatus which records and reproduces information by irradiating an optical beam to a rotating optical disk, and more particularly, to a tracking servo technique for tracing exactly the optical beam on a track on the optical disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an optical disk recording/playback apparatus, a tracking servo technique, which generates a tracking signal and controls the position of an optical pickup in the disk radius direction based on the tracking signal, is indispensable for tracing an optical beam on a track having an array of pits to indicate information.
In a read-only optical disk such as a DVD-ROM, a pit to indicate information is recorded as a hole for example by press work. In a recordable optical disk such as a DVD-RAM, a group is formed spirally and a track is formed by a group as a concave and a land as a convex. A beam is irradiated to the track, and a pit to indicate information is recorded as a phase-changed portion on the disk surface.
A method of generating a tracking error signal is available in differential phase detection (hereinafter referred to as DPD) and push pull (hereinafter referred to as PP). In a play-only DVD optical disk apparatus, a tracking error signal is generally generated by a DPD method. In a recording/playback CD and DVD recording optical disk apparatus, a tracking error signal is mostly generated by a PP method.
The optimum depth of a pit is different according to the tracking error signal generating methods. The optimum pit depth is also different according to the disk types, CD or DVD. Further, if the pit depth varies as a result of molding an uneven disk, the diffraction light intensity varies degrading the tracking signal accuracy.
In the PP method, for example, if the wavelength of an optical beam irradiated to a disk is assumed to be λ, the amplitude of a tracking error signal will be theoretically 0 when the pit depth is λ/4. Therefore, when the pit depth is near λ/4, the tracking servo becomes difficult in the PP method.

Disk apparatus and method of generating a tracking error signal


Exemplary embodiments are directed to power conversion. A device may include a controllable switch coupled between an AC network and a DC network. The device may further include control circuitry configured to modify a configuration of the switch based on a detected difference between a reference signal and an output signal at the DC network.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to power conversion, and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for converting an alternating power signal to a signal that may be used to power a direct current system.
2. Background
As will be appreciated by a person having ordinary skill in the art, electronic applications may require a conversion of an alternating current (AC) input to a direct current (DC) output. One example application may comprise wireless charging of a cellular telephone. A transmitter of the wireless power transfer system may use an AC power signal to wirelessly propagate power from a transmitter coil to a receiver coil. The receiver coil may be connected to circuitry configured to charge a battery of the cellular telephone. To do so, the AC power signal received by the receiver coil can be converted into a DC power signal that can be used to charge the battery. Often, conversion from an AC signal to a DC signal can include a number of sequential modifications to the input signal including rectification of the input signal and regulation of the rectified signal.
A need exists for methods, systems, and devices for enhanced power conversion from an AC signal to a DC signal.


A method for manufacturing water-based laser hologram papers has acts of entirely or partially coating water-based varnish on a printed paper substrate, subjecting the paper substrate to a mirror treatment, and entirely or partially molding the paper substrate with laser compressing operations. By substituting PVC or PET plastic membranes with decomposable water-based varnish, the laser hologram paper is environmental friendly to reduce pollution and is also breakable to provide counterfeit-deterring efficiency. Moreover, material cost of the plastic membranes is eliminated to reduce manufacturing cost of the laser hologram papers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water-based hologram paper, and more particularly to a water-based hologram paper that is environmentally friendly and highly recyclable and has anti-counterfeiting capability for products, and low contamination and low cost in manufacture.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional paper substances applied for goods containers or packing material are printed with patterns on an outside periphery to increase appearance attraction to the goods. In order to identify manufacturers or trademarks, laser molding technology is applied to attach laser membranes on the paper substances to achieve laser hologram papers for distinguishability from counterfeits. The conventional laser membranes are usually made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene glycol terephthalate (PET) plastic membranes that are compressed to combine with the paper substrate. Because of adding the plastic membranes, the manufacturing costs of the laser hologram papers are correspondingly increased. Moreover, laser grains on the plastic membranes are easily mis-aligned with printed patterns on the paper substrates when the plastic membranes are processed in forming the laser grains in partial sections, locating the patterns at desired positions and even other processes after printing. Therefore, the resulting mismatch of grains and patterns causes the quality of the laser hologram papers to decrease. Additionally, the laser hologram papers are barely recyclable because separating the plastic membrane and the paper substrate is difficult and complex and has high operational cost.
By covering them with the plastic membranes, the laser hologram papers in the form of anti-counterfeiting labels can be completely detached from the goods. Therefore, offenders usually peel the laser hologram papers off and attach them on fake goods to pass them off as genuine ones.
With regard to manufacturing methods for the laser hologram papers, four conventional methods according to different types of laser hologram papers are described as the following:
1. Transparent laser hologram papers entirely with laser grains: the PET plastic membranes are treated with a corona treatment and then a solvent-based resin serving as a bridging agent is coated on a-surface of the PET plastic membrane after the corona treatment, wherein, the resin is composed of 35±2 wt % acrylate resin, 50±2 wt % isopropanol and 35±2 wt % water. The coated PET plastic membranes are subjected to compressing molding and then combined to a paper substrate with printed patterns to achieve the laser hologram papers.
However, the PET plastic membranes on the laser hologram papers can not be recycled and are mostly discarded so that the PET plastic material is wasted and manufacturing cost is high.
2. Transparent laser hologram papers having laser grains in partial sections: the plastic membranes are thermally ironed by means of a gilding operation to attach on partial sections of the paper substrates to complete the patterns.
However, the gilding operation is expensive in operational cost and the patterns are easily mis-aligned so that quality of the laser hologram papers is low. 3. Aluminum-coating laser hologram papers entirely with laser grains: the PET plastic membranes are treated with the corona treatment and the solvent-based resin serving as a bridging agent is coated on the PET plastic membranes. Then, the coated PET plastic membranes are subjected to compression molding to process a working face and are further coated with an aluminum film on the working face by means of vapor deposition. After forming the aluminum film, two faces of the PET plastic membranes are coated again with the solvent-based resin and then combined with a paper substrate to carry out the printing to achieve the laser hologram papers.
In this method, partial laser grains and the patterns are covered by print ink which results in the laser hologram papers having poor quality in appearance.
4. Aluminum-coating laser hologram papers having laser grains in partial sections: the PET plastic membranes are treated with the corona treatment and then the solvent-based resin serving as a bridging agent is coated on the surface of the PET plastic membrane after the corona treatment. The coated PET plastic membranes are subjected to compression molding with a laser nickel board to form the laser grains in partial sections at a working face. Then, the working face is coated with an aluminum film by means of vapor deposition. Lastly, the treated PET plastic membranes are coated with the solvent-based resin at theirs two sides and then combined with a paper substrate to carry out the printing to achieve the laser hologram papers.
However, laser grains on the plastic membrane and printed patterns on the paper substrate can not be precisely aligned with each other whereby the quality of the laser hologram papers is poor.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional laser hologram papers and the conventional methods for manufacturing the laser hologram papers.

Method for manufacturing water-based laser hologram paper


A method and apparatus is provided for determining a halftone line screen frequency estimate f at a pixel of interest in an image formed of a plurality of pixels arranged in a regular array of rows and columns. A first single dimensional line screen frequency estimate fH is determined based on video values of a first set of pixels in a row of pixels in the scanned image. Next, a second single dimensional line screen frequency estimate fV is determined based on video values of a second set of pixels in a column of pixels in the scanned image. A two-dimensional halftone line screen frequency estimate f is calculated at each pixel of interest based on a norm of the first single dimensional line screen frequency estimate fH and on the second single dimensional line screen frequency estimate fV. A halftone line screen angle estimate a is calculated at each pixel of interest based on an arctangent of the ratio between the first and second single dimensional line screen frequency estimates. Maxima and minima (MIN/MAX) extrema peak detection is used in fastscan and slowscan directions to determine the first and second single dimensional frequency estimates. False peak detection is prevented in the MIN/MAX detection scheme.

The present invention is directed to the art of digital image processing and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for determining a halftone line screen frequency estimate and a halftone line screen angle estimate at each pixel of an image scan formed of a plurality of pixels arranged in a regular array of fastscan pixel rows and slowscan pixel columns and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be understood that the present invention has broader application in many fields such as in calculating halftone line and screen frequency and angle estimates of a wide variety of digital images and other digital information or data.
Segmentation plays an important role in electronic image processing. In systems that rely on image segmentation, the detection of halftones in compound documents is very useful for image storage and processing. The accuracy of most halftone detection algorithms rests primarily on the ability of the system to determine an accurate estimate of halftone frequency. Accordingly, the art of estimating halftone frequencies has developed over the years.
Many halftone frequency estimate algorithms are available for detecting the halftone frequency of dot screens. One such algorithm commonly known as two dimensional peak detection finds isolated peak video values in a scanned image. The isolated peaks are detected as minimums and maximums (MIN/MAX) using a local criteria or other scheme. Essentially, in two-dimensional peak detection, the isolated peak count in a local area provides a measure of the halftone frequency for dot screen halftones.
Two-dimensional peak detection cannot be used, however, to determine the halftone frequency of line screens. Since line screens do not have isolated peaks as such, but rather, are formed of pulse-width modulated lines, two-dimensional peaks cannot be directly detected.
As a solution to the deficiencies of the above-described peak detection scheme, the auto-correlation function has been developed. In auto-correlation, a copy of the scanned image pattern is shifted along a first direction and compared with the unshifted scanned image itself acting as a xe2x80x9ctemplatexe2x80x9d until a good match or correspondence is found. The shift distance along the first direction required to establish good correspondence between the unshifted image (template) and shifted image copy gives an indication of halftone line screen frequency in the first shift direction. Mathematically, the basic line frequency is determined by finding maxima of an inner product calculation taken between the unshifted image used as a template and the shifted image shifted in the first direction.
The use of the auto-correlation function to provide a line frequency estimate is somewhat expensive and difficult to implement. In addition, the auto-correlation function becomes very burdensome when the halftone pattern in the original document is either scanned at an angle or occurs naturally at an angle relative to the regular array of sensor rows and columns. The processing for determining the basic line frequency becomes much more difficult when the line frequency pattern in the scanned image is offset at an angle. In that case, the basic line frequency is determined using inner product calculations taken between the image and the image shifted in a first direction and also between the image and the image shifted in a second direction. The shifts in the first and second directions are necessary to provide a frequency estimate of halftone lines that occur at an angle relative to the array of pixel rows and columns in the scanned image. Accordingly, the processing required by the auto-correlation function is time consuming and expensive.
Further to the above, when the basic line frequency is not an integer multiple of the scan sampling frequency, an additional algorithm or layer of processing becomes necessary to detect the maxima of the inner product calculation taken between the image (template) and the one or more shifted image copies. Essentially, the additional layer of processing must be able to detect xe2x80x9cflatxe2x80x9d peak areas in the interference pattern between the shifted and the unshifted image as peaks in the original image.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a relatively simple method and apparatus for determining frequency estimates of halftone line patterns that overcomes the problems and processing complexities that are present in the prior art schemes.
It would further be desirable to extend some basic concepts used in the scheme for determining halftone dot frequency estimates for novel use in determining halftone line frequency estimates.
It would still further be desirable to extend portions of the basic scheme used to determine halftone dot frequency estimates for use in a novel way for determining an estimate of an angle of halftone lines in a scanned image.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved method and apparatus for determining halftone line frequency estimates using MIN/MAX detection which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, one-dimensional peak detection algorithms are used in first and second directions of interest to locate local maximas (MAXs) and local minimas (MINs). For each pixel in the scanned image, an overall line screen frequency estimate is determined from the sum of the squares of the line frequencies taken in the first and second directions.
In accordance with a more limited aspect of the present invention, for each pixel in the scanned image an overall line screen angle estimate is determined from the arctangent of the ratio of a first direction frequency estimate to a second direction frequency estimate.
In accordance with a still more limited aspect of the invention, one-dimensional peak detection algorithms are used in vertical and horizontal scanned image directions to locate the local maximas (MAXs) and the local minimas (MINs). The overall line screen frequency estimate for each scanned image pixel is determined from the sum of the squares of the line frequencies taken in the vertical and horizontal scanned image directions. The overall line screen angle estimate is determined at each scanned image pixel from the arctangent of the ratio between the vertical and horizontal scanned image direction frequencies.
In accordance with yet a still more limited aspect of the invention, one-dimensional peak detection algorithms are used in the fastscan and slowscan directions to locate local maximas and local minimas. The overall line screen frequency estimate is determined at each scanned image pixel from the sum of the squares of the line frequencies of the fastscan and slowscan directions. The overall line screen frequency angle estimate is determined at each scanned image pixel from the arctangent of the ratio between the fastscan and slowscan direction frequency estimates.
One advantage of the present invention is that halftone line frequency estimates are determined using relatively simple and inexpensive one-dimensional MIN/MAX peak detection algorithms. This reduces the cost of estimate processing overhead and enables a simple implementation.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the halftone line frequency angle estimates are determined using the same relatively simple and inexpensive one-dimensional MIN/MAX peak detection algorithms that are used to provide the halftone line frequency estimates. Again, the processing overhead costs are reduced and simple implementation is enabled.

Method and apparatus for determining halftone line frequency estimates using MIN/MAX detection