An office swivel chair is provided comprising a foot with a center column extending upwards therefrom, wherein the center column may be variable in length and/or spring mounted, a seat carrier is secured at the upper end of the center column, a seat top pivotable around a horizontal axis close to the front edge of the seat top, is connected with the seat carrier, and is biased by a spring arrangement with an upwards directed force, and a back rest attached at least one upwards extending lever which is articulately connected with the seat carrier at a first link point under the seat top, and spaced therefrom is articulately connected with the underside of the seat top at a second link point wherein, both link points comprise swivelling axes in parallel with the seat top swivelling axis. The length of the lever between the first link point and the second link point is variable by displacing the first link point and/or the second link point in the direction of the lever.

The present invention relates to a seat, in particular an office swivel chair comprising a foot with a center column extending upwards therefrom, wherein the center column may be variable in length and/or spring mounted, a seat carrier secured at the upper end of the center column, a seat top pivotable around a horizontal axis close to the front edge of the seat top, connected with the seat carrier, and biased by a spring arrangement with an upwards directed force, and a back rest attached to at least one upwardly extending lever which is articulately connected with the seat carrier at a first link point under the seat top, and, spaced therefrom, is articulately connected with the underside of the seat top at a second link point, wherein both link points comprise swivelling axes in parallel with the seat top swivelling axis.
A seat of the type mentioned is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,962. With such a seat, the lever carries the back rest and is linked at the seat carrier and the seat top, and serves for generating a coupled movement of scat top and back rest. More specifically, the coupling is comprised such that the back rest also pivots when the seat top is pivoted, however, in a different angle than the seat top. The ratio of the pivot angles to each other is set at a predetermined value in the range between approximately 1.1.3 and 1.2.5 with seats known in the current market. With this construction of the seat, in particular, the user of the seat may take his/her position between an upright position with a raised seat top and a straight backwards directed back rest, and a reclined position with a seat top lowered in the rear area and a back rest in an angled position, thereby avoiding the situation that when changing the seat position the back rest will shift at the back of the user upwards or downwards in an unpleasant way.
A further relevant seat is known from German published application 43 12 113 C1. This document describes a seat with the seat adjustable in the inclination thereof and pivotable around a horizontal swivelling axis in the front area, and a back rest with an over proportional inclination in relation to the inclination change of the seat. Therein the seat is articulately connected with swivelling levers with one end thereof carrying the back rest, and with the other end thereof rotatably supported at the bearing support of the chair structure. The swivelling levers are spaced from the rear end of the seat and linked thereto, and the sections of the swivelling levers are rotatably supported at the bearing support, and take an obtuse angle towards the support area in relation to the sections of the swivelling levers adjacent to the link axis of the seat. Furthermore, a return spring is provided to automatically reset the seat top and the back rest from the idle position into the working position when the load is released. In order to adapt the seat to a wide range of user weights it is provided with this seat that the swivelling axis of the swivelling levers is displaceable in relation to the bearing support, and that the return spring is arranged between the bearing support and the sections of the swivelling levers rotatably supported at the bearing support, and that it is adjustable in the mounting position in relation to the swivelling bearings variable, such that the torque exerted by the spring force around the swivelling axis is variable. It is not provided that the ratio between the swivelling angle of the seat and the swivelling angle of the back may be varied with the seat.
From German published application 44 39 290 A1, a synchronous adjusting device for office chairs, seats and the like is known comprising a seat member, a back member with a back rest attached to a back carrier or integrated therein, and a stationary carrier construction to which the seat member is linked, wherein the back carrier is connected with the seat member and the carrier structure, and the seat member carries out a swivelling movement when the back inclination is enlarged. In order to keep the number of link points, and the number of the additional connecting points, low and to lower the construction effort of such a synchronous adjustment device, it is provided that the back carrier is directly pivotally connected with the seat member and with the carrier structure. In an embodiment of this adjustment device, with at least one of the swivelling connections, a shifting gate for the turning axis is provided for overlapping a displacing movement with a rotational movement around the swivelling axis. Thereby influence may be taken on the course of the synchronous movements of the scat member and the back member with a corresponding shape of the shifting gate. It is a disadvantage of this synchronous adjustment device that the course of the synchronous movements of the seat member and the back member is set by the shape of the shifting gate, and may no longer be influenced by the user of the seat. Furthermore, with this example of the seat, a synchronous adjustment is provided in such a way that when pivoting the back rest backwards, the seat top is raised in its lower area, and that vice versa when pivoting the back rest to the front, the seat top is lowered in the rear area. This kind of synchronous adjustment is considered no longer to be ergonomicly advantageous.
It is a disadvantage of all these known prior art seats that, because of the preset ratios between the swivelling angles of seat top and back rest, there is always a compromise between the different requirements of various users which occurs because of different anatomical conditions. The ratio of the swivelling angles of seat top and back rest is always preset when manufacturing the seat, and afterwards may not be changed by the user.


A reflection-testing device for testing for unwanted reflections in a lens module (12) includes a plurality of light sources (18) and an image capturer (16). The plurality of light sources is provided around the top end of the lens module, and the image capturer is provided near the other end of the lens module for receiving optical signals through the lens module. A lens reflection testing method is also disclosed.

Nowadays, digital camera modules are in widespread use. Portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are becoming increasingly multifunctional, and digital camera modules are now widely available as a special feature for portable electronic devices, consequently the integration of digital camera modules and portable electronic devices has become an important part of mobile multimedia technology.
In manufacturing, as a result of material tolerance dimensions, material surface roughness, reflection and refraction, material match issues, assembly processes and capabilities, and so on, some unacceptable levels of reflection may be found after the lens module has been assembled, even though such reflection might not appear during lens module design.
Typical reflection testing methods usually include the steps of providing a specific light source emitting on a lens module to be tested, moving the light source to different light source angles, and using it to detect the presence of unwanted reflections. However, while, in use, the lens module receives light from every direction at the same time, using the method above only can test the reflections in one specific direction of the lens module at the same time. The method above requires individual testing for reflections for each direction and therefore requires a relatively long time.
Accordingly, what is needed is a reflection-testing device and method with greater efficiency.

Reflection-testing device and method for use thereof


The present invention includes compositions and methods for the treatment of cancer comprising an antineoplastic drug and an inhibitor of chromosome maintenance region 1 (CRM1) protein expression or activity, wherein the inhibitor of CRM1 enhances the anti-neoplastic effect of the antineoplastic drug.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with treatments for lung cancer.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,580,792, issued to Danter is directed to inhibitor compounds and cancer treatment methods. Specifically, this patent is said to teach the a synergistically effective combination of an anti-cancer agent and a therapeutic compound, such as an mTOR-Rictor complex inhibitor, a Serine 473 phosphorylation inhibitor, an AKT2 inhibitor, or a combination thereof, for use in the treatment of cancer, and methods and uses thereof Also included are methods and uses of a thiosemicarbazone compound for treating a cancer in a mammal in need thereof characterized by over-expression of RAS, by an EGFR mutation, and/or by over-expression of AKT2.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,048,888, issued to Wosikowski-Buters, et al., is directed to an anti-proliferative combination therapy using certain platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents and EGFR inhibitors or pyrimidine analogues. Briefly, this patent is said to teach a method or uses of prevention and/or treatment of a cancer or a tumor, and in particular to a combination therapy, methods, compositions and pharmaceutical packages comprising an inhibitor of receptors of the EGFR family or a chemotherapeutically active pyrimidine analogue and certain platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0203174, filed by Santi, et al., is directed to combination therapies using leptomycin B. Briefly, these applicants teach that cellular proliferation in colon cancers can be treated with a combination of leptomycin B and a chemotherapeutic co-agent, for instance an anti-mitotic agent, a DNA cleaver, an alkylating agent, a DNA crosslinking agent, a DNA intercalator, an HSP90 inhibitor, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, a topoisomerase II inhibitor, an immunosuppressant, an anti-metabolite, a COX-2 inhibitor, a nucleoside (purine or pyrimidine) analog, a Ras inhibitor, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor, or a histone deacetylase inhibitor.


An object of the present disclosure is to enable reduction of network congestion and concentration of communication on a server side that locally occur at the time of a disaster, an event, or the like and to enable important communication.

Various Internet of Things (IoT) systems have been proposed for performing control of communication of IoT devices (see Patent Literature 1 to 3, for example). For example, a first related IoT system dynamically determines the importance of communication and changes and controls the priority and the like of the communication on an IoT apparatus side. A second related IoT system performs communication by randomly shifting a communication time on an IoT apparatus side, or performs communication in a preset communication time period, or performs communication by performing polling (crawling) in a round-robin manner from a server side to the IoT apparatus side. A third related IoT system secures resources on a data center side in advance and temporarily adds a virtual server in accordance with a status of a load (communication). According to a fourth related IoT system, an upper limit of the number of communications that can be performed at the same time is provided.
In this manner, the related IoT systems use forms of event-driven communication (autonomous distributed) or a round robin-like polling communication from the server and do not use a mechanism that performs control of communication of entire IoT systems.
There is a trend of IoT apparatuses frequently performing various kinds of communication during certain events such as disasters (typhoons, earthquakes, heavy rain and floods, and the like) and disturbances that accompany scheduled events taking place. On the other hand, there may be cases in which at the time of occurrence of such an event, local network congestion and concentration of communication on the server side occur and these become a reason that genuinely important communication such as safety confirmation information after occurrence of a disaster or a notification of occurrence of a serious situation cannot be performed normally. In such cases, the first to fourth related IoT systems have the following problems. Specific description will be given with reference to FIG. 1.
According to the first related IoT system, even if network congestion or concentration of communication occurs on a server 92 side, an IoT apparatus 93 side cannot determine or detect the occurrence from the device side, and cannot recognize the occurrence until the IoT apparatus 93 attempts and fails to communicate with the server 92. Also, because communication control for switching to a priority communication service or the like is performed thereafter, there is a concern that a probability that communication will not be able to be performed normally will increase and that network congestion may be exacerbated due to the communication. In addition, because the server 92 side performs communication with a priority determined on the side of the IoT apparatus 93 in the first related IoT system, there is a problem where genuinely it may be impossible to select important communication to be performed on the server 92 side when network congestion and concentration of communication occur on the side of the server 92. In cases in which a wide range of disasters or the like occur, for example, many IoT apparatus 93 at different locations starts to perform communication at a time at which concentration of communication on the server side 92 occurs, and genuinely important communication (such as a notification of serious injury) may not be able to be performed.
In the second related IoT system, the following problem occurs. In a case in which communication is randomly shifted, it is not possible for the IoT apparatus 93 side to reliably avoid network congestion and concentration of communication on the server 92 side, and it is not possible for the server 92 side to sort genuinely important communication and perform the communication. In a case in which communication is performed in a preset communication time period, it is not possible for the IoT apparatus 93 side to perform communication with the server 92 at a timing when the communication is genuinely needed, and it is not possible for the server 92 side to perform communication with the IoT apparatus 93 with which the server 92 genuinely needs to communicate.
According to the third related IoT system, the following problem occurs. It is not possible to ascertain how many resources are to be secured to secure resources for a data center in advance. Also, addition of a virtual server is not preferable in terms of costs. In addition, in a case in which resources of the server 92 are shared with others, it is not always possible to reliably implement the addition. Moreover, because it is not possible to add a physical line bandwidth, IoT apparatuses 93 that cannot perform communication may occur when more concentration of communication occurs. Also, in a case in which a physical line is shared with other service users, it is not possible to reliably perform communication when other communication also becomes concentrated.
According to the fourth related IoT system, it is not possible to sort and communicate with an IoT apparatus 93 with which communication is genuinely needed.

Communication network control system, central communication control device, communication control method, and communication control program

Abstract: A communication network control system according to the present disclosure includes: a plurality of communication control devices (20, 30) that control communication of apparatuses (92, 93); and a central communication control device (10) that distributes communication control information to the plurality of communication control devices, the central communication control device (10) collects event information linked to position information, determines an area with a probability that the amount of communication increases, using the collected event information, in a case in which there is an area with the probability that the amount of communication increases, generates communication control information that places a priority on communication in the area, and distributes the generated communication control information to the plurality of communication control devices (20, 30).

NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION


A room service table includes a frame, a tabletop including folding side portions and wheels. A push handle assembly mounts to an underside of the table and includes a handle portion and a hinge body portion. The handle portion includes a grip, a support portion and a hinge pin portion. The hinge body mounts to the tabletop and includes barrel portions supporting the hinge pin portion. The hinge pin portion has a tab formed in an end thereof engaging a complementary slot formed in the hinge body portion. The slot includes a first section and a second section that receive and retain the tab for aligning and securing the handle at the use position and at the storage position. The biasing member urges the pin toward the slot. Rotation is accomplished by sliding the handle axially so that the tab disengages the slot and rotating the handle to the desired position and then releasing the handle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a room service table and in particular to a room service table with a push handle that rotates between a use position and a hidden storage position.
2. Prior Art
Room service tables are well known and widely used in hotels, cruise ships and other applications where food is served to guests at locations remote from a dining room. The wheeled tables typically serve not only as a transport for the food, but also serve as a dining surface where meals may be served.
For some models, room service tables are equipped with a handle that is used to push or pull the table. However, such handles are typically located at an elevation that is not sufficiently high for comfortably pushing or pulling the table. Therefore, the server must bend over in order to grip the handle and move the table, thereby causing strain on the server's back and/or arms. Moreover, a handle protruding outward limits the utility of the table when used as a dining surface and is not aesthetically pleasing.
To address these problems, a table has been developed that includes a handle that pivots between a use position and a storage position. Such a table is disclosed in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2003/0047914 to Smith. The Smith table provides a handle that allows for pushing in an ergonomically correct manner that reduces strain on the user's back and arms. Although the Smith table provides several advantages over the prior art and addresses problems associated with a handle that provides for comfortable pushing while folding to a storage position, still further improvements are possible. The Smith table requires locking pins to maintain the handle at both the use position and the storage position. Such pins are not aesthetically pleasing and also may be difficult to align and insert. When alignment causes additional effort, workers may not take the time to use the pins and the handle may not be used and may not be maintained at the preferred positions.
It can be seen that a room service table with a handle that can be moved between a use position and a storage position and that automatically locks in both the use and storage position is needed. Such a table and handle should provide for easily moving the handle so that it may be locked or unlocked, as well as providing an aesthetically pleasing table and handle. Moreover, such a handle should not require moving and inserting pins that must be precisely aligned. The present invention addresses these, as well as other problems associated with room service tables with handles.


A piezoelectric actuator/sensor package and corresponding method for its fabrication, and a method of embedding a ceramic actuator/sensor in a laminated structural member, such as a graphite-epoxy laminate. A ceramic actuator/sensor, with lead wires first bonded to it, is encapsulated in a non-conductive fiber composite material, such as fiberglass cloth and epoxy, to form a package that is precured at a suitable temperature, typically room temperature. Encapsulation provides electrical insulation, good strain coupling, protection from mechanical damage, and reduction in thermal stresses, since the coefficient of thermal expansion of the encapsulating material is selected to be between those of the ceramic and the graphite-epoxy laminate. Graphite fibers may be added to the package to enhance voltage-strain performance. The package is embedded in the structural laminate and the composite structure is cured in a manner that minimizes thermally-induced stresses. Piezoelectric prestressing, during the embedment step, may be used to further reduce the effects of thermal stresses.

This invention relates generally to piezoelectric actuators and sensors for use in composite structures of various types, and, more particularly, to techniques for embedding actuators and sensors in composite structures. Structures used in aerospace applications usually have to be stiff, light in weight, and able to dissipate mechanical energy in the form of vibration. Various techniques have been proposed for the dissipation of energy, and these may be categorized as active or passive approaches.
Passive energy dissipation typically uses layers of viscoelastic materials, either embedded in structural members or applied at structurally joints. Viscoelastic materials have the useful property that their stiffness increases with the rate at which they are mechanically stressed. Therefore, a viscoelastic member is subject to relatively high damping forces when vibrating rapidly, and lower damping forces when deformed more slowly. Although significant levels of damping can be obtained by passive means, static strength is reduced by the presence of the viscoelastic materials, since structural members must be reduced in stiffness at certain locations in order to introduce energy into the viscoelastic material. Also, since the properties of viscoelastic materials are highly temperature dependent, a thermal control system must be used in space structures, to maintain them at the desired operating conditions. This is costly in terms of both power consumption and weight, and in some cases thermal control is not possible at all.
The active damping approach employs actuators, which, operating in conjunction with deformation sensors, apply damping forces to compensate for vibrational and other loading forces on structures. Static structural strength and stiffness are not compromised by active damping, and many ceramic actuator materials can retain their properties over a much larger temperature range than passive damping structures. In many cases thermal control systems are not needed if active damping is used.
The principal difficulty with actively damped structures is that of embedding ceramic actuators in composite materials. The most efficient actuator materials are piezoelectric ceramics, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and electrostrictive ceramics, such as lead molybdenum niobate (PMN). Piezoelectric materials can be used as actuators, since a voltage applied to them causes structural deformation in a selected direction, or as sensors, whereby a deformation in a selected direction induces a measurable voltage. Unfortunately, most ceramic materials are relatively brittle and have a large positive coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Graphite fiber-reinforced epoxies have a zero or slightly negative CTE. When a graphite fiber reinforced epoxy is cured at elevated temperatures, and subsequently cooled, tensile stresses are induced in the embedded ceramic materials. Resultant cracking will degrade ceramic actuator performance significantly, if not totally. Another difficulty is the need to insulate actuators electrically from conductive graphite fibers in the composite materials in which the actuators are embedded. Ceramic actuators and sensors have two electroplated surfaces with attached connecting leads that must be insulated. Yet another problem is the inherent fragility of the actuators, which may lead to breakage even prior to embedment in a composite structure.
One proposed solution to these problems was to encase an actuator or sensor in a Kapton envelope before embedding it in a structure. The principal drawback of this solution is that the Kapton and the associated adhesive material with which it is supplied, do not form an intimate bond with the ceramic. Consequently, mechanical deformation of the ceramic material is not firmly coupled to the laminated structure in which the envelope is embedded, and, in the case of a sensor, deformation of the structure is not properly transmitted to the ceramic.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is still a need for improvement in the field of piezoelectric ceramic sensors and actuators as applied to active damping of composite structures. The present invention is directed to this end.

Method for encapsulating a ceramic device for embedding in composite structures


A positron emission tomography (PET) photosensor output circuit configured to be operably coupled to a PET photosensor system is provided that includes a plurality of regional circuit portions and a summing portion. Each regional circuit portion is configured to be operably coupled to a corresponding photosensor system region and includes an input portion, a first branch, and a second branch. The first branch includes a delay unit and a switch. The second branch includes a sensor unit configured to place the switch in a closed position when a signal received via the input portion satisfies a threshold and to place the switch in an open position when the signal received via the input portion does not satisfy the threshold. The summing portion is configured to receive corresponding regional circuit outputs from the regional circuit portions, and to combine the regional circuit outputs to provide a summed output.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to imaging systems and techniques, and more particularly to reduction of the effect of dark current, for example.
In certain types of imaging devices, such as positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, arrays of detector elements are used to detect radiation emanating from the patient. In a PET scanner, for example, arrays of scintillator crystals may be used to detect annihilation photons which are generated inside the patient. The annihilation photons are produced when a positron emitted from a radiopharmaceutical injected into the patient collides with an electron causing an annihilation event. The scintillator crystals receive the annihilation photons and generate light photons in response to the annihilation photons, with the light photons emitted to a photosensor configured to convert the light energy from the light photons to electrical energy used to reconstruct an image.
Timing resolution of a time of flight (TOF) PET detector may depend on a number of components, including scintillation crystals and photosensors, and how the scintillation crystals and photosensors are combined into a detector along with readout electronics. Factors relating to the combination of the scintillation crystals and photosensors that may affect timing resolution include, for example, the light sharing scheme among the crystals and photosensors, the layout of photosensors, transit time spread between the photosensors, signal trace layout on amplifier board, and electronics noise, for example.
Because of the high speeds of photons (e.g., the speed of light) and relatively short distances traveled by the photons during imaging, the timing resolution of detectors is critical to imaging. This is even more so as demands for higher resolution increase. For example, in order to achieve sub-250 picosecond (ps) timing resolution with currently available lutetium based scintillators and silicon photomultipliers (SiPM's), direct coupling between a crystal array and a SiPM array may be achieved with a layer of optical glue or a relatively thin lightguide. In some instances a beveled lightguide may be employed; however, for example, timing for crystals located at a beveled edge may be degraded. Further, direct coupling may require optimization for various timing parameters, such as light collection, light spread, dark current, or fast rising edge of the signal, among others.

Systems and methods for positron emission tomography signal isolation


A micromanipulator apparatus includes an operation handle joined to a slide plate for moving the slide plate forward and backward and leftward and rightward. A first lever joined to the slide plate is rotated in forward and backward direction around a supporting point pin by means of a first guide pin engaged in a first slot in the slide plate, and a second lever is rotated in leftward and rightward direction around a second supporting pin by means of a second guide pin engaged in a second slot in the slide plate. Separate hydraulic devices are operated in response to activation by working rods associated with the respective levers. Movement of the slide plate and operation of the hydraulic devices provides precise movement to a workpiece supported by the apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a micromanipulator for a fine control apparatus such as glass electrode or the like which is positioned under a microscope by remote control using hydraulic pressure.
2. Prior Art
In the field of basic medical science or biotechnology, a micromanipulator is used when retaining, suctioning, pouring, dividing, or performing other procedures on organs or the cellular structure of creatures, eggs, or the like. The micromanipulator is finely controlled for exact positioning under a microscope.
However, when an operator directly touches an operating handle of the micromanipulator in actual operation, any trembling of his fingers is transmitted to the micromanipulator in magnified degree. The operator is required to use utmost care and skillfulness in operation. Therefore, known remotely controllable fine control micromanipulators use hydraulic pressure.
FIG. 10 illustrates the structure of a conventional cell handling apparatus.
In FIG. 10, reference numeral 91 indicates egg cells. Reference numeral 93 indicates a platform on which a petri dish 92 containing a testing liquid for the egg cells 91 is placed. The egg cells 91 are immersed in the testing liquid in the petri dish 92, Reference numeral 94 indicates a fixed supporting part for the egg cells 91. The fixed supporting part 94 includes a micromanipulator 95 positioning the egg cells. The fixed supporting part 94 also includes a lighting system 96 for observing an illuminated image of the egg cells 91. The egg cell positioning apparatus is placed on a vibration proof mat 97.
The micromanipulator 95 is provided with a microtool 98, such as a glass electrode or the like, specifically designed for egg cell positioning. The foremost end of the micromanipulator 95 is provided with a three-dimensional displacement mechanism. An operator activates the three-dimensional displacement mechanism by means of hydraulic pressure generated by a joystick 99.
The joystick 99 is formed such that an operating handle 102 is suspended from the foremost end of a supporting frame 101 and the joystick 99 rocks in two horizontal directions 103 crossing at right angle as indicated by the arrows. The rocking motion of the joystick 99 is translated to the three-dimensional displacement mechanism through a transmission part 104 by means of hydraulic pressure.
The operating handle 102 is provided with a conversion part 105 to convert the rocking motion in two horizontal directions 103 to mechanical displacement in a horizontal plane. The conversion part 105 is provided at a position where said conversion part 105 is connected to the supporting frame 101.
Previously it was customary to provide the operation handle 105 projecting upwardly from the conversion part 105, but nowadays a suspended type joystick has been preferably used in most cases.
In a conventional apparatus, when the cells are to be moved in a vertical direction by the three-dimensional displacement mechanism, a mechanism of fine control in vertical direction is also provided for the three-dimensional displacement mechanism.
In known three-dimensional displacement mechanisms operated by a fine control joystick using hydraulic pressure, the operator displaces the operating handle of the joystick in a desired direction to displace the foremost tip end of a microtool disposed in the micromanipulator so as to observe the cells through a microscope. The operator must have a sense of how to displace the microtool of the micromanipulator in horizontal plane while the handle of the joystick is inclined for proper vertical position. This has been a confusing and sensitive problem in practical operation.


A hand protection structure is provided. The hand protection structure includes a fixing unit, a plurality of finger protection units, a plurality of fingertip members, and a plurality of backbone members. The finger protection units are configured of flat strip shapes. Each of finger protection units has one fingertip member assembled at a distal end thereof, and a fastening piece is configured at the end thereof of the finger protection unit for mounting the finger protection unit to the fixing unit. The hand protection structure can be assembled in a glove. When a hand of the user is impacted by external forces, the finger protection units relieve the external impact to protect the fingers from injury.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a hand protection structure, and more particularly, to a hand protection structure adapted to be assembled in a glove for providing a buffer to user's hands and protecting the hands from being injured by external impact or press.
2. The Prior Arts
FIG. 1 illustrates a glove having a conventional hand protection structure. As shown in FIG. 1, a glove 10 includes a palm portion and several finger portions, i.e., thumb, forefinger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger, which extend from an end edge of the palm portion. An opening portion is configured at the opposite end edge of the palm portion, for allowing a user to put in his hand. A non-skid layer (not shown in the drawing) is provided at a front side of the glove. A hand protection member 101 is assembled inside the glove 10. The hand protection member 101 has a certain elasticity, and is configured to extend from the palm portion to each of the finger portions. When wearing such a glove 10, the user can adjust the width of the opening in accordance with the size of his wrist by adjusting a VELCRO hook and loop fastener 102 disposed at a peripheral of the opening.
When working or doing exercises, the hand may be accidentally injured by an external impact, especially, finger fractures or strains caused by reverse bending of the fingers. However, when wearing such a glove 10, the hand protection member 101 provides a buffer to relieve the external impact applied to fingers. In other words, the hand protection member 101 is adapted to eliminate the external impact to the fingers by slightly reverse bending. However, such a conventional hand protection member 101 of the glove 10 is usually made of soft materials such as plastic and rubber, which may be caused with elasticity fatigue after a long time use, so that the user is unconsciously put at risk of being gradually injured by the external impact. Therefore, the conventional hand protection member 101 of the glove 10 is desired to be further improved.


A cushion is obtained by impregnating an aqueous polyurethane polymer emulsion in three-dimensionally interwined fibers, removing an excessive aqueous polyurethane polymer emulsion and hardening the resultant material with heat. The surface of each fiber is covered with a polyurethane resin, and the fibers are bonded by the polyurethane resin at intersected portions of the fibers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fiber-based cushion which can be used in, e.g., vehicles, furniture, and bedclothes and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of materials are conventionally used as a cushion of a sheet of a vehicle and the like. Examples of the material are a palm rock using fibers of a palm, a synthetic resin foam such as a polyurethane foam, and cotton consisting of organic synthetic fibers. However, the palm rock is easily flattened because it has a large specific gravity and has a problem in source supply stability, and the polyurethane foam easily becomes stuffy because its air permeability is poor and is uncomfortable to sit in. The organic synthetic fiber cotton has a low hardness and is therefore easily flattened.
In recent years, therefore, a cushion material obtained by bonding crossing portions of three-dimensionally interwined organic synthetic fibers by a polyurethane resin has been developed and proposed in Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 61-158437. This cushion material has excellent air permeability, is not easily flattened, has high durability, and is light in weight.
In order to manufacture the cushion material obtained by bonding crossing portions of three-dimensionally interwined organic synthetic fibers by a polyurethane resin, the organic synthetic fibers are impregnated with a polyurethane prepolymer, and this polyurethane prepolymer is hardened. In this case, however, since the polyurethane prepolymer cannot be impregnated in the organic synthetic fibers because its viscosity is very high, it is diluted to adjust the viscosity.
1,1,1-trichloroethane or the like, however, which is used as an organic solvent has strong toxicity, it cannot be directly disposed in consideration of environmental conditions. Therefore, a large-scale salvage installation or the like is required. In addition, since hardening of the polyurethane prepolymer requires water vapor, an expensive installation such as a boiler is required.

Cushion material and method of manufacturing the same


The invention provides a compound lens constituted by a couple of lenses fitted with each other at contact surfaces, in which at least one of lenses is made of plastic. Each of the couple of lenses has a cylinder-shape projection on its periphery. An inner cylinder surface of one cylinder-shape projection and an outer cylinder surface of the other cylinder-shape projection are made to form an inlaying part. At least three engaging points are provided evenly around the circumference in the inlaying part to cause frictional force to prevent the compound lens from being splitted.

This invention is concerned with the structure of plastic doublet in combination among a compound lens system composed of plural lenses, especially one of the pair is plastic lens. In the lens system, both lenses are fitted in a fitting surface outside the optical field so that friction prevents slip out and both parts are in contact one another in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis outside the optical field.
In the past plastic lenses have been fitted with all their circumference, just like the case of glass lens.
FIG. 35 shows a sectional view of a compound lens consisting of both plastic lens doublet having common optical axis, and FIG. 36 gives its end view taken in direction of arrows X--X in FIG. 35.
In FIGS. 1 and 2 are injection molded plastic lenses, 3 is a contacting surface of plastic lenses 1 and 2 which are in contact in direction of optical axis outside the optical field, and 4 is a circumferential fitting surface of lens 1 and lens 2, also outside the optical field. The contacting surface 3 is usually consisted of side surface of ring perpendicular to the optical axis, and the fitting surface 4 denotes inner and outer circumferences of cylinders. In conventional way of combination, such compound lens is usually held in a holder, of which outermost diameter is not indicated in the figure, and fixed with a threaded ring against a reamed seat in the holder in the direction of arrows.
Injection-molded plastic lenses are (1) difficult to form strict shape in diameter because material is injected through sprue gate on its circumference, (2) less controllable in the accuracy of diameter than that of lens curvature. (3) Temperature produces more thermal effects on the dimensions and form of plastic lens than that of glass lens. (4) There is need to orient a special radial direction for lessening influence of birefringence on combination of plastic lenses. For the reasons, the conventional way of fitting in which the fitting surface 4 is formed of inner and outer circumference of projecting cylinder as shown in FIG. 35 and 36 is led to some problems: Compound lens of plastic doublet is liable to suffer eccentricity/play of component lens due to its unavoidable tolerance in diameter, or reversely forced fitting produces elastic deformation prevailing inside the optical field, or lens fit itself is not available. In any case, it is difficult to obtain an practical fit free from both eccentricity/play and deformation inside optical field.

Structural combination of plastic lenses


The present invention relates to a test block for use with interferometric analysis apperatus which simulates defects of known dimension in a test object. The known defects created by cavities in the test block which is positioned within the interferometric analysis apparatus test chamber for analysis to determine whether the apparatus is properly calibrated. The cavities have a predetermined geometry and location within the test block which control flexure of a sheet of flexible material associated with the test block. The predetermined flexure can be correctly detected only by a properly calibrated interferometric device. The test block provides for a vent line to communicate with the cavities when the test block is placed inside a vacuum chamber associated with the interferometric analysis device to allow a pressure differential to create the forces for the predetermined fixture.

Interferometric analysis provides a nondestructive method of determining the presence or absence of anomalies in an object. Interferometric apparatus typically use holography or shearography techniques to compare images of an object taken both before and after an applied stress. Essentially, this apparatus analyzes the deformation associated with the applied stress to detect irregularities in deformation associated with anomalies within the object. A typical use for interferometric analysis occurs in the production of vehicle tires to inspect for internal defects.
Generally, a tire is placed inside a vacuum chamber and an image of one section of the surface of the tire is recorded before the application of the vacuum. After the initial recording, the tire is stressed by the application of a vacuum inside the chamber, and an image of the surface of the tire is again recorded. By superimposing the pair of images for deviations in the pattern of deformation, internal anomalies can be detected.
More specifically, in the technique of holographic interferometry, an object, such as a tire, is illuminated with coherent light, and an image of the interference pattern of reflected light from the object's surface is recorded. The object is thereafter stressed, such as by a change of temperature or pressure, and a second interference pattern is recorded in similar fashion. A hologram, developed from the pair of recorded images, is illuminated with the appropriate reconstructing light beam. This process produces an image of the illuminated object which includes superimposed fringe lines resulting from the interference between the two previously created interference patterns. These fringe lines represent contours of equal displacement of the object's surface, revealing the existence of undesirable strains in the object.
The technique of shearographic interferometry creates an interferogram by producing a pair of images of the object, shifted relative to one another, through an optical system such as a lens and wedge array. The pair of overlapping images produced by the lens and wedge array form an interferogram. When two interferograms formed of an object in two states of stress are caused to interfere with one another, the resulting interference pattern contains fringes corresponding to contours of constant strain.
Both types of interferometric analysis are discussed in the inventor's prior U.S. Pat. Nos.; 4,139,302 for a method and apparatus for interferometric deformation analysis, and 4,690,552 for an optical method and apparatus for strain analysis. These patents provide further background on the different techniques of interferometric analysis.
In any type of interferometric apparatus, an interference pattern must detect minute deviations during object deformation. The coherent light source power and beam ratios, vacuum levels, exposure variables, and the associated apparatus placement angles must be calibrated for optimum operation. Proper calibration of all these factors must be maintained to correctly detect different types of anomalies in an object, at various positions and depths.
While recording an image, an improperly calibrated interferometric device may not detect anomalies in a particular area of view, or throughout the entire area of view. Further, the device may appear to detect a nonexistent anomaly or an anomaly of incorrect proportion. Unfortunately, there is no nondestructive method to determine whether the device has correctly identified all anomalies in a given object.
Consequently, a need exists for determining whether individual interferometric devices are properly calibrated, and, if not properly calibrated, the specific area or areas of view where recalibration is necessary.


Disclosed is a disc insertion preventive device comprising a housing having a disc slot made on its front side, a generally stopper and a swinging mechanism. The stopper comprises a flat plate and front and rear blocking pieces dependent from the opposite lateral edges of the flat plate. The stopper is pivotally fixed to the housing with the front blocking piece directed toward the disc slot of the housing. The swinging mechanism is responsive to absence of a disc in the housing for inclining the stopper with the rear blocking piece down and with the front blocking piece up, thus preventing advance of a disc beyond the descendent rear blocking piece, and is responsive to presence of a disc in the housing for inclining the stopper with the rear blocking piece up and with the front blocking piece down, thus preventing insertion of another disc from the disc slot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc insertion preventive device which assures that when a disc apparatus is already loaded with a disc, another disc is prevented from being inserted into the apparatus.
2. Related Art
The disc apparatus records or reproduces information such as sound and pictures that stored in a disc, which is put on its turning table. There are various loading methods. For one example use is made of a reciprocating tray which carries a disc from the disc slot to the turning table or vice versa. For another example use is made of a pull-in mechanism which is responsive to insertion of a disc from the disc slot for gripping and pulling the disc toward the turning table in the housing.
A disc insertion preventive device according to the present invention is appropriate for use in the latter loading type. The user often tries to push a disc into the disc apparatus without making sure that it is not loaded with a disc. Then, the new disc hits the loaded disc so that they may be harmed or spoiled together. With a view to prevent such an incident some disc apparatuses are equipped with insertion preventive means.
JP-A-2001-331999, titled "Disc Device" shows a disc apparatus equipped with disc insertion preventive means, wherein it is allowed the sure dosing of an inserting and discharging member by an accidental insertion preventive member by making a movable range of the accidental insertion preventive member larger with respect to a descending distance of a movable base. This proposed structure is complicated and accordingly the manufacturing cost is high.
JP-A-2002-150652, titled "Slot-In Type Optical Disc Reproducing Device" uses various sensors to detect and reject any undesired disc even if it is inadvertently inserted in the disc apparatus. The insertion preventive mechanism cannot work even if a single sensor does not function well, and the optical detecting-and-rejecting unit is less reliable than the mechanical one.
JP-A-11-149688, titled "Disc Carrying Device" allows insertion of only a larger diameter disc while preventing insertion of a smaller diameter disc. The device is provided with a pair of belt to carry the large diameter disc into the device, and rotatable restriction pins on the insertion path to prevent insertion of the smaller diameter disc. However, the device is complicated in the structure, and in case a smaller disc is erroneously inserted, it is feared not to return the status before insertion. Further, the device has no means to prevent insertion of a second disc when a disc is already inserted in the device.
JP-A-01-227258, titled "Autoloading Disc Player" allows insertion of only a larger diameter disc, in which pair of upper and lower carrier rollers as well as two detective switches are provided on the insertion path of a disc. It is provided with a control means and command means to stop and spin the opposite way when a smaller disc is inserted. However, the device is complicated in the structure too, and it costs and is likely to cause incorrect actions and troubles since it uses electrical control means. Further, the device has no means to prevent insertion of a second disc.
In view of the above one object of the present invention is to provide a disc insertion preventive device which is simple in structure, still assuring that when a disc apparatus is already loaded with a disc, another disc is prevented from being inserted into the device, no matter what size or shape the subsequent disc may have.


The invention relates to compounds known as “optorelaxers,” for example, spin crossover (SCO) complexes that exhibit light-induced excited state spin trapping (LIESST) effects with transient unpaired electron spins, which are created (or destroyed) by varying the level and/or wavelength of light to which the complexes are exposed. Light conditions are used to switch the optorelaxers between transient paramagnetic and diamagnetic states to provide real-time control of T1 relaxation in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy methods. The optorelaxers and methods of the invention provide increased detection sensitivity of NMR spectroscopy, with increased structural information content, while maintaining resolution for a wide variety of different NMR-active nuclei.

NMR spectroscopy has been used for many years in the identification of compounds by comparing the spectra of known compounds with those of the compounds to be analyzed. Various techniques employed in this method of spectral analysis are described in the literature, and NMR spectrometers are commercially available. An early description of NMR spectroscopy is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,490 to Varian.
Generally, in the operation of an NMR spectrometer, a sample to be analyzed is positioned between the pole faces of a direct current electromagnet. Conventional NMR spectroscopy is carried out by applying a short radiofrequency pulse to the sample. A receiver coil obtains a responsive signal from the sample in the form of an induced voltage. The signal then decays over time (known as Free Induction Decay (FID), typically complete after tens of milliseconds in solids). After this voltage change is amplified and detected, the NMR spectrum (a pattern of intensity as a function of frequency), is produced. Interpretation of the resulting spectra makes it possible to determine the nuclei present in molecules and their relations to the remainder of the molecule. It is necessary to wait an interval for spin-lattice relaxation to restore the Boltzmann population difference between the spin levels in the sample back to equilibrium, in order for the spins to produce a new induced voltage signal that can then be added to previous signals. The time constant (T1) characterizing this process depends upon many factors, but in solids, especially at low temperatures where sensitivity per single scan improves significantly, it can take many seconds, minutes, or even hours.
One method that has been used in NMR to decrease T1 is to add small amounts of paramagnetic ions or reagents (e.g., radicals) that contain unpaired electron spins to the sample, which are known to reduce T1. This method, Paramagnetic Relaxation Enhancement (PRE), suffers from the fact that the NMR spectrum from nuclei near the electron spins is broadened by the electron spins, limiting the useful concentration of relaxation agents that can be employed, and consequently the magnitude of the T1 reduction and/or the achievable resolution.
NMR methods that increase the sensitivity of detection in bulk (i.e., not nanoscopic) samples fall under the general term "hyperpolarization." These involve creating population differences between nuclear spin Zeeman levels that are larger than the equilibrium Boltzmann population difference at the sample temperature. The methods may involve optical excitation ("optical pumping," typically of semiconductors at cryogenic temperatures) or microwave irradiation to saturate Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) transitions of permanently present paramagnetic species in a process known as Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP). Significant hyperpolarization by DNP from transient paramagnetic species created by photoexcitation in single crystals of doped pentacene containing a UV-absorbing molecule has been demonstrated, but the sensitivity improvement is restricted to observing NMR signals from that single molecular crystal alone.
Other hyperpolarization methods require chemical reactions to occur, or transport of hyperpolarized molecules to the NMR spectrometer. The only method that has been used to improve NMR sensitivity by simply reducing spin-lattice relaxation times T1 in solid samples is to add permanent paramagnetic species, which ultimately decreases resolution.
The interaction of unpaired electron spins with nuclear spins has played an important role in magnetic resonance spectroscopies since the earliest days of both NMR and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The motivations for observing and interpreting such interactions vary widely. They range from obtaining atomistic information about electronic structure and delocalization of electrons (e.g. ENDOR hyperfine couplings, NMR Knight shifts, NMR contact shifts paramagnetic metal complexes), to gaining chemical structure information from distances obtained from electron-nuclear dipolar couplings, to improving the detection sensitivity of NMR by incorporating paramagnetic dopants.
With respect to improving detection sensitivity of NMR, there are two separate areas. The first area is the long-recognized ability of dopants such as transition metal ions to dramatically shorten the spin-lattice relaxation times T1 of nuclei in solids via spin-diffusion, permitting more rapid data acquisition. PRE has been useful at ambient temperature in both solution NMR as well as solid-state NMR of proteins. The effects of electron spins in paramagnetic complexes as agents of rapid spin-lattice relaxation of the nuclear spins have been analyzed, revealing that in addition to the usual 'S-mechanism' an additional 'x-mechanism' arising from the thermal average of the electron spin polarization could significantly contribute to relaxation in tumbling paramagnetic molecules. The second area is the application of paramagnetic agents to increase the nuclear spin polarization with Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP), by incorporating organic radicals and biradicals into samples and using microwave irradiation of the EPR transitions at temperatures of 100 K or lower.
The interaction of light with matter affects nuclear spins only indirectly, via electronic excitations that directly alter the electron spin states. The indirect effects of light upon nuclear spins can have important consequences in solids in such areas as Optically Pumped NMR (OPNMR) of semiconductors and NV-centers in diamond, and in photo-Chemically Induced DNP (photo-CIDNP) in photosynthetic reaction centers. For specific organic molecular crystals doped with absorbers and at low temperature, photoexcited triplet states can be created and used during their short lifetime as a source for DNP polarization via microwaves (MIONP, Microwave-Induced Optical Nuclear Polarization).
The aim of these NMR approaches involving irradiation with light is to achieve increased NMR sensitivity by greatly increasing the nuclear Zeeman spin level population differences beyond the Boltzmann level. Irradiation with light has also been observed to reduce nuclear T1 values in specialized systems.
However, the broader goal of improving NMR detection sensitivity without degrading resolution remains unrealized.

Optorelaxers for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A charge pump circuit includes inverters INV1 and INV2. The inverter INV1 receives a clock signal CLK2, and applies a voltage waveform at an immediately previous node to a second end of a capacitor connected to a transistor and to the p-well thereof. The voltage of the capacitor on the side of the control terminal of the transistor, and the voltage waveform at the node, are raised with the same phase timing as the clock signal CLK1. The inverter INV2 receives a clock signal CLK1, and applies a voltage waveform at an immediately previous node to a second end of another capacitor connected to another transistor and to the p-well thereof. The voltage of the another capacitor on the side of the control terminal of the another transistor, and the voltage waveform at the node, are raised with the same phase timing as the clock signal CLK2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor charge pump circuit for generating a voltage which is higher than a supply voltage or a negative voltage, and a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device including such a semiconductor charge pump circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, semiconductor memories, for example, EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memories) and flash memories, require a voltage which is higher than a supply voltage or a negative voltage for read/write/erase operations. One of the following two methods are used to generate such a voltage: (i) applying an external voltage; and (ii) pumping a supply voltage by a charge pump circuit provided in a chip. Recently, the method of pumping a supply voltage by a charge pump circuit provided in a chip has become the method of choice since chips mostly include only one power supply today.
A basic principle of operation of a charge pump circuit will be described. FIG. 9 shows a change in the voltage of a capacitor C1 used for pumping. In an initial state, a first end of the capacitor C1 is supplied with 0 V, and a second end of the capacitor C1 is supplied with a supply voltage Vcc.
When the potential of the first end is changed from 0 V to the supply voltage Vcc, the supply voltage Vcc of the second end is doubled to 2xc3x97Vcc. Namely, the voltage of the second end is pumped to 2xc3x97Vcc. This is represented by expression (1).
Q1=Cxc3x97Vcc
Q2=Cxc3x97(2Vccxe2x88x92Vcc)=CVccxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
In expression (1), letter C represents the capacitance of the capacitor C1. Expression (1) represents Q1=Q2; i.e., xe2x80x9cconservation of chargexe2x80x9d. The above-described basic principle of operation of a charge pump circuit can be applied to an LSI circuit. One generally known charge pump circuit for an LSI is a Dickson-type charge pump circuit.
FIG. 10 shows a representative configuration of a conventional Dickson-type charge pump circuit. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the conventional Dickson-type charge pump circuit includes five n-type MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) transistors D0 through D4 and four capacitors C1 through C4.
A basic pump cell of the Dickson-type charge pump circuit shown in FIG. 10 includes, for example, one capacitor C1 and one n-type MOS transistor D1, which are surrounded by a dashed line in FIG. 10. Four such basic pump cells, each including one capacitor (C1, C2, C3, C4) and one n-type MOS transistor (D1, D2, D3, D4), are connected in series so as to form the charge pump circuit.
The first-stage transistor D0 has a drain D and a gate G which are both connected to an output end of a power supply (supply voltage Vcc: for example, 3V). The transistor D0 acts as a backflow preventing valve for preventing an electric current from backflowing from a node N1 toward the power supply Vcc. The node N1 is connected to a source of the transistor D0 and has a pumped-up voltage.
The charge pump circuit receives clock signals CLK1 and CLK2 as input signals. The clock signal CLK1 is input to the capacitors C1 and C3, and the clock signal CLK2 is input to the capacitors C2 and C4. FIG. 11 is a timing diagram illustrating waveforms of the clock signals CLK1 and CLK2.
As shown in FIG. 11, the clock signals CLK1 and CLK2 each have an amplitude which is equal to the supply voltage Vcc. The clock signals CLK1 and CLK2 have opposite phases to each other. For example, when the clock signal CLK1 is at the supply voltage Vcc, the clock signal CLK2 is at 0 V. When the clock signal CLK1 is at 0 V, the clock signal CLK2 is at the supply voltage Vcc.
Returning to FIG. 10, a voltage pumped by the charge pump circuit is output from an output node Nout. Although not shown in FIG. 10, the output node Nout is connected to, for example, a regulator or a smoothing capacitor. A voltage which is pumped by the charge pump circuit (a positive high voltage in this example) is output to, for example, the regulator through the output node Nout.
FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an n-MOS transistor.
As shown in FIG. 12, a flash memory generally uses a p-type substrate. The n-type MOS transistor is formed as follows. The p-type substrate is provided with a reference voltage Vss (0 V). A source region S (n+) and a drain region D (n+) are formed in the p-type substrate with a prescribed distance therebetween. A gate G is formed on an area of the p-type substrate which is interposed between the source region S and the drain region D. The p-type substrate and the gate region G have an insulating layer therebetween. A plurality of n-type MOS transistors having such a structure are connected in series so as to form a charge pump circuit as shown in FIG. 10.
FIG. 13 is a timing diagram illustrating ideal waveforms of nodes N1 through N4 of a Dickson-type charge pump. As shown in FIG. 10, the node N1 is provided between the n-type MOS transistor D0 and the N-type MOS transistor D1, the node N2 is provided between the N-type MOS transistor D1 and the N-type MOS transistor D2, the node N3 is provided between the n-type MOS transistor D2 and the N-type MOS transistor D3, and the node N4 is provided between the N-type MOS transistor D3 and the N-type MOS transistor D4.
In an initial state where the capacitors C1 through C4 do not have any charge accumulated therein and the clock signals CLK1 and CLK2 are 0 V, voltages VN1 through VN4 of the nodes N1 through N4 are represented by expression (2).
VN1=Vccxe2x88x92Vth
VN2=Vccxe2x88x922Vth
VN3=Vccxe2x88x923Vth
VN4=Vccxe2x88x924Vthxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(2)
As can be appreciated from expression (2), each time the charge is transferred by an N-type MOS transistor so as to pump up the voltage of anode, the pumped-up voltage of the node is reduced by the threshold voltage Vth of an N-type MOS transistor (for example, about 0.6 V).
As shown in FIG. 13, when the voltage of the clock signal CLK1 is changed from 0 V to Vcc, the voltage of the node N1 is changed to 2Vccxe2x88x92Vth, and an output voltage of (2Vccxe2x88x92Vth)xe2x88x92Vthxe2x88x92Vb is transferred by the N-type MOS transistor D1 from the source of the N-type MOS transistor D1 to the node N2. xe2x80x9cVbxe2x80x9d represents a voltage drop of the transferred potential, the voltage drop caused by a substrate biasing effect. The voltage drop Vb increases in proportion to the sourcexe2x80x94substrate voltage VBS.
When the voltage of the clock signal CLK2 is changed from 0 V to supply voltage Vcc, the voltage of the node N2 is changed from 2Vccxe2x88x922Vthxe2x88x92Vb to 3Vccxe2x88x922Vthxe2x88x92Vb.
The above-described operation is repeated up to the node N4 as shown in FIG. 13, and the resultant voltage is output as an output voltage Vout from the charge pump circuit.
The output voltage of such a Dickson-type charge pump circuit (corresponding to the voltage of a node Nout) is represented by expression (3) as described in, for example, xe2x80x9cKi-Hwan Choi et al., 1997 Symposium on VLSI Circuits Digest of Technical Papers, 1997xe2x80x9d.                               Vout                                xe2x80x83                                          (            conventional            )                          =                                            Vcc              -                              Vth                                                  (                  0                  )                                                                    ⎵                              (                a                )                                              +                                                    ∑                                  i                  =                  1                                n                                                          {                                                                            (                      a                      )                                                            Vcc                                    -                                      Vth                                                              (                      i                      )                                                                      }                                                    ⎵                              (                b                )                                                                        (        3        )
In expression (3), Vth(0) represents a threshold voltage of the N-type MOS transistor D0 (for example, Vth=0.6 V), and Vth(i) represents a threshold voltage of the nxe2x80x2th N-type MOS transistor. Term (a) of expression (3), i.e., xe2x80x9cVccxe2x88x92Vth(0)xe2x80x9d is practically xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d. xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d is a natural number.
Vth(i) represents a threshold obtained in consideration of the substrate biasing effect. The larger the difference between the voltage of the source and the voltage of the substrate (in this example, the voltage of the p-well) is, the larger the value of Vth(i) is. In expression (3), Vth and Vb are independently represented (Vth+Vb≈Vth). In a structure including multiple-stage pumps, the term (a) of expression (3) is ignored and the effect of the term (b) is important. Based on the term (b), the voltage which is pumped for each stage of pump is represented by expression (4).
Vccxe2x88x92Vth(i)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4)
The output voltage Vout of the charge pump circuit is influenced by the margin of the threshold voltage Vth(i) of each transistor and the supply voltage Vcc. Accordingly, when the threshold voltage Vth(i) obtained in consideration of the substrate biasing effect is raised, the voltage which is pumped for each stage of pump is decreased or becomes zero. Therefore, even when the number of the stages of pumps is increased, the output voltage Vout becomes less likely to be increased or is not increased.
For example, in the Dickson-type charge pump circuit shown in FIG. 10, the voltage of the source of the N-type MOS transistor D4 is the output voltage Vout, and the potential of the p-well is Vss (0 V). Therefore, the threshold voltage of the N-type MOS transistor D4 is raised by the substrate biasing effect. Thus, the transfer efficiency, i.e., the pumping efficiency is decreased.
As can be appreciated from the above, a Dickson-type charge pump circuit, which is a general charge pump circuit, has the following two main drawbacks: (1) the threshold voltage is raised due to a substrate biasing effect; and (2) the amplitude of a clock signal for determining the level of pumping is converged to the supply voltage Vcc; i.e., when the supply voltage Vcc is low, the pumping efficiency is decreased.
In order to prevent the above-described drawbacks of the conventional Dickson-type charge pump circuit, the following two are indispensable: (1) restriction of arise in the threshold voltage of the MOS transistors, which is caused by the substrate biasing effect; and (2) an increase in the margin between the supply voltage Vcc and the threshold voltage Vth(i) of the nxe2x80x2th MOS transistor.
In the conventional Dickson-type charge pump circuit, as shown in FIG. 10, the substrate potentials (p-well potentials) of all the N-type MOS transistors D1 through D4 are Vss (0 V), and the amplitudes of the clock signals CLK1 and CLK2 are both equal to the supply voltage Vcc. Therefore, the transfer efficiency of the pumping voltage is deteriorated due to the substrate biasing effect In addition, the first-stage basic pump cell performs pumping only to corresponding to the supply voltage Vcc, which is equal to the amplitude of each clock signal. This also deteriorates the pumping efficiency.
According to one aspect of the invention, a semiconductor charge pump circuit includes basic pump cells connected in N stages where N is a natural number of equal to or greater than three. Each cell is formed by connecting a control terminal of a transistor and a first driving terminal of the transistor and connecting the control terminal and a first end of a capacitor. The basic pump cells are connected in N stages by connecting a second driving terminal of a transistor of one basic pump cell to a first driving terminal of a transistor of a next-stage basic pump cell. A second end of the capacitor of each basic pump cell receives a clock having a different phase from a clock which is input to the capacitor of an immediately previous-stage basic pump cell and the capacitor of an immediately subsequent-stage basic pump cell. The basic pump cells connected in N stages are driven at a plurality of phase timings so as to pump a voltage. The transistor of at least one of the basic pump cells includes a substrate well. The semiconductor charge pump circuit further includes a switching element for applying, as a clock, a voltage waveform of the basic pump cell, immediately previous to the inverter, to a second end of a capacitor connected to a control end of the transistor including the substrate well and to the substrate well of the transistor during a pumping operation, the voltage waveform being pumped with the same phase timing of that of the voltage of the capacitor on the side of the control terminal of the transistor connected to the capacitor.
In one embodiment of the invention, the basic pump cells connected in N stages include a group of basic pump cells operating with the same timing as each other. An externally input basic clock for transfer is applied, as a voltage waveform, to a substrate well of a transistor, and to a second end of a capacitor, of a first-stage basic pump cell of the group of basic pump cells.
In one embodiment of the invention, two-phase clocks having opposite phases to each other are used.
In one embodiment of the invention, the switching element is an inverter circuit including a P-type MOS transistor and an N-type MOS transistor, and switches between the voltage waveform of the basic pump cell immediately previous to the inverter circuit and a reference voltage, in accordance with the level of the clock.
In one embodiment of the invention, a difference between (i) a voltage applied to at least one of the substrate well of the transistor or the second end of the capacitor connected to the transistor during the pumping operation, and (ii) the voltage pumped with the same phase timing as the voltage is restricted up to a threshold voltage of the P-type MOS transistor.
In one embodiment of the invention, the basic pump cells connected in N stages include at least one basic pump cell, having an N-type MOS transistor formed in and on a p-substrate, and at least one basic pump cell, having an N-type MOS transistor formed in and on a p-well which is electrically separated from the p-substrate.
In one embodiment of the invention, the semiconductor charge pump circuit has a triple-well structure in which the p-well is surrounded by an n-well so as to be separated from the p-substrate, the semiconductor charge pump circuit further comprising at least one transistor in and on the p-substrate.
According to another aspect of the invention, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes any one of the above-described semiconductor charge pump circuits.
According to the present invention, a switching element such as, for example, an inverter circuit is added to the conventional Dickson-type charge pump circuit so as to increase the amplitude of a clock signal, and the clock signal is input to a substrate well of an N-type MOS transistor. Thus, the pumping capability and the pumping efficiency are improved. A charge pump circuit according to the present invention has an improved transfer efficiency of the pumping voltage as compared to the conventional Dickson-type charge pump circuit, and realizes efficient pumping even with a low voltage power supply.
Thus, the invention described herein makes possible the advantages of providing a semiconductor charge pump circuit for improving the transfer efficiency of the pumping voltage over the conventional Dickson-type charge pump circuit so as to be capable of pumping even with a low voltage power supply, and a nonvolatile second memory device including such a semiconductor charge pump circuit.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures.

Semiconductor charge pump circuit and nonvolatile semiconductor memory device


In the method and the apparatus for shaping a hollow article without rough edges, a die protecting member, an inner die, a polyurethane strip, two half die cavities and a freezing medium together form the apparatus; wherein, the inner die having a shape to be given to the article to be forged and having a seamless die cavity is hung in the die protecting member; when in processing, the freezing medium is filled in the die protecting member, so that the inner die is embedded in the freezing medium, fast freeze the die protecting member, the seamless die cavity becomes stiff then, then the metallic blank is put in the cavity, and the polyurethane strip is inserted in the blank, then put the dib protecting member in the half die cavities, a forging press exerts a pressure forwardly on the polyurethane strip which creates thereby an expanding force in the blank, so that the blank can have the shape as that of the seamless die cavity, and the process for shaping the hollow article without rough edges is completed, a metallic pipe workpiece thus can be forged by a cold forging process to get an artistic shape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three dimensional cold forging method for shaping a hollow article without rough edges and an apparatus for the method, and especially for shaping a thin metallic wall of a blank to be forged, from which a hollow forged art work having a three dimensional shape can be made, and by this method, the strength of the article itself can be enhanced, and more, integrate forging effect wherein seamless or nonrough edge products can be obtained is resulted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A so-called three dimensional metallic hollow art article means that, the metallic article itself is hollow, while the interior and the exterior walls thereof are both undulated and can be bent randomly in any of the three dimensional directions; the range of raising and depressing (undulating) includes those individual concaved and convex unit walls, and the continuous walls being raised and recessed; the cavities in the unit walls or the continuous walls are communicated with the hollow cavities of the articles; such hollow art works normally are in the shapes of fruits such as grape bunches, star fruits, bananas or balsam pears.
Taking the above stated three dimensional metallic hollow art works as an example, an analysis is done for the cold forging technique in the art and the problems thereof are decribed herebelow:
1) Press forging with a pair of metallic half dies: the cavities of the metallic half dies are provided with separated contact areas, this tends to form on the the surfaces of a workpiece rough edges, and a troublesome polishing after forging is required to eliminate the rough edges, when the contour of the undulated surfaces of the workpiece is overly complicated, it will be very hard to eliminate the rough edges by polishing; if it is desired to form a hollow forged inner wall on the workpiece, a predetermined three dimensional die core must be inserted in the hollow blank in advance, therefore, after press forging of the metallic half dies, the three dimensional die core is unable to be taken out, press forging thus can not be completed. PA1 2) Swaging with drawing force: drawing forging can only be proceeded on the interior and exterior walls with continuous predetermined contours, it can not be proceeded on the walls with independent undulated unit wall decorations. PA1 3) Rotation forging: this is mostly applied on the continuous wall of a blank, it can reach the required three dimensional forging gradually, however, it still can't be applied on the walls with independent undulated unit wall decorations. PA1 1 . Two hollow plastic housings are formed of PET or PVC plastic material and by the vacuum forming technique (such as the forming technique for a PET bottle) and are a hollow die-protecting member and an inner die; this can lower the cost of manufacturing a die having a die cavity without a seam, and also renders the die cavity to be changeable. PA1 2. The space between the die-protecting member and the wall of the inner die without a seam is filled with mercury of higher specific weight or water solution including cured starch used as a freezing medium, the feature that the mercury or the water solution of the starch can be poured and recollected under normal temperatures as well as that they are provided with stiffness after being frozen make them able of supporting the die cavity for resisting the forging pressure after being frozen, and also is favorable to releasing of the shaped workpiece after defreezing, or for changing the inner die, so that the members and the elements can be recollected for reuse. PA1 3. When liquid mercury or water solution of starch is used as a freezing medium, material such as natural iron sand, iron sand or steel beads can be added thereto and mixed therewith depending on the desired compressive strength of the forging die, to increase the strength of the freezing medium. PA1 4. Based on the law of conservation of energy and by the high plasticity of polyurethane, a polyurethane strip can be inserted in a bore of a workpiece to be forged, the strip is used as a medium for expanding outwardly by swaging of a forging press, such a means of swaging renders the inner and the outer walls of the workpiece to be shaped in three dimensions without a seam. PA1 5. By elastic restoring force of the polyurethane, after removing of the forging press, the polyurethane strip can be taken out of the hollow cavity of the shaped workpiece easily, and the contour of the inner wall can be seen.
The above stated conventional forging techniques are hard to be used to make a three dimensional metallic hollow art work, and under the requirement of getting rid of seams and rough edges, such techniques are even more difficult in forging; yet excavation of die cavities in the conventional forging techniques costs overly high, normally, metallic dies are made of the material better than the medium carbon steel or manganese steel or tungsten steel to be coincident with the strength requirement in die forging, and they can only be used for forging a single article, cost of forging can hardly be reduced.
If the scope of variation of the shape of a hollow metallic article resulted from a forging technique is limited not to broadening, or even an industrial product being required for adequate strength is unable of changing to being artistic, improvement in delicacy of an industrial art work meets a big impedence, the goal of promotion of industy in this art is just hard to be attained.

Three dimensional cold forging method for shaping a hollow article and the apparatus for the method


A control device inputs reliability information on the same data block a plurality of times into a reliability storage memory. A reliability generating device generates a reliability information by performing computation processing based on a stochastic computation by using reliability information generated in the previous cycle that has been saved in the reliability storage memory and reliability information generated in the present cycle, and saves the reliability information generated in the reliability storage memory when the decoding is performed by using reliability information on the data block the same as that in the previous cycle. A column processing computation device computes a column processing output value by using the reliability information generated and saved in the reliability storage memory and a row processing output value.

As the density level in storage devices such as magnetic disk devices and optical disk devices has been growing, a variety of techniques have been used in recent years to acquire data correctly from the signals read from the storage devices. Examples of the conventional techniques include error detection, correction processing, and retry processing by which the reproduction operation is retried when a reproduction error is detected. For example, in the retry processing performed in an optical disk device, signal quality of reproduced data is improved by changing various retry parameters such as focus offset or signal amplitude and reproducing again the error location.
Further, a method for reproducing a plurality of times the same region and calculating an arithmetic mean of the same waveform by using a memory circuit (see, for example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2) and a majority decision method of comparing a plurality of data that have been read out and using the data with the highest occurrence frequency (see, for example, Patent Literature 3 and Patent Literature 4) have been suggested as techniques for increasing signal quality.
A LDPC (Low-Density-Parity-Check) code has recently been suggested as a powerful error correction code in satellite broadcasting standards and next-generation communication standards. In the LDPC code, by contrast with the conventional algebraic error correction codes, stochastic inference calculations are used for decoding processing, thereby making it possible to demonstrate the performance close to the Shannon limit. By using such an error correction technique, it is possible to perform error correction even with respect to reproduced signals with an extremely poor error rate. Therefore, the aforementioned error correction technique has started finding applications in a variety of fields with the object of increasing the recording density and communication capacity.
However, in a reproduction system such as uses the aforementioned error correction technique, the quality of the reproduced signals is poor. Therefore, it is very difficult to sample a plurality of reproduced signals at the same timing in each cycle. With the conventional configurations disclosed in Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2, it is necessary to average a plurality of reproduced signals and therefore a plurality of reproductions should be performed accurately at the same timing. However, when the quality of the reproduced signals is poor, the signals are very difficult to reproduce at the same timing, and in extreme cases, a bit slip occurs in a synchronization circuit (PLL (Phase Locked Loop) circuit). The resultant problem is that a synchronization shift occurs in waveform sampling, and the reproduction performance is greatly degraded.
The occurrence of a bit slip will be explained below in a simple manner with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. FIG. 17 shows an example of sampling data during normal operation. FIG. 18 shows an example of sampling data in the case a synchronization shift has occurred. In the optical disk recording and reproduction device described in Patent Literature 2, the digital signal obtained by converting the reproduced signal read from an optical disk into a digital value with an A/D converter is saved in a memory, and the averaging is performed by using two reproduced waveforms. As shown in FIG. 17 where the reproduced signals are acquired at an adequate sampling timing during normal operation without the occurrence of a synchronization shift, the S/N ratio can be improved by 3 dB at a maximum.
By contrast, where the synchronization shift (timing shift) occurs, as shown in FIG. 18, the averaging cannot be correctly performed by using the reproduced waveform of the first cycle and the reproduced waveform of the second cycle, and multiple reproductions degrade the error rate with respect to that obtained with a single reproduction. Furthermore, the waveform of the reproduced signal averaged when the synchronization shift is induced is entirely different from the original reproduction level. Therefore, in the signal processing system, the usual synchronization processing of reproduced signals by the synchronization pattern or the like cannot be performed and signals cannot be sent to the error correcting device at a correct timing.
In the conventional devices in which a plurality of reproductions is performed, the abovementioned problem mainly occurs due to the averaging of the reproduced signals performed before the synchronization. In a system such that uses the LDPC code, the error rate of the reproduced signals prior to error correction is high and the abovementioned problem becomes more serious.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A device to control vertical vibration of a building caused by seismic disturbance. Air springs are positioned and secured between the building foundation and the building superstructure to attenuate vertical vibration of the building. Vertical support rails are secured to the foundation and/or to the building superstructure on opposite sides of, and adjacent to, the air springs. Horizontal connecting brackets are rigidly secured to the air springs and slidably secured to the adjacent rails. The brackets restrain horizontal deflection of the air springs without interfering with vertical reciprocation of the air springs.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention comprises, in general, devices which control vibration of buildings caused by seismic disturbances. In particular, the field of invention relates to air spring devices adapted to dampen vertical vibrations in buildings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to protect a building from horizontal vibration, it is known to isolate the building superstructure from its base slab or foundation by interposing rolling members therebetween to permit the building superstructure to shift horizontally relative to its slab or foundation, thereby dissipating the energy of seismic vibration.
Since the average earthquake is mainly characterized by horizontal vibrations, the above-described isolation device can substantially cope with horizontal seismic shock. However, in the case of a large-scale structure located at the epicenter of an earthquake, it is quite possible that the structure will experience vertical, as well as horizontal vibrations which, if not controlled, could cause structural damage.
Vertical vibration control devices are generally known in the prior art, comprising vertically-expanding air springs. However, prior art vertically expanding and contracting air springs possess little inherent capability to resist horizontal deflection. As a consequence, when a structure is subjected to both horizontal and vertical vibrations, a rocking, or similar, very unstable motion results that renders the air springs ineffective to control vertical vibration. Air springs are comprised of telescoping canisters. The greater the overlap of canister side walls, the greater is the resistance to lateral deflection. However, as the resistance to lateral deflection is increased the capacity of the air spring to dampen vertical vibrations is decreased.