An induction system for an internal combustion engine that is disposed transversely in an engine compartment. The induction system comprises a plurality of manifold runners that emanate from one side of the cylinder head, extend over the top of the cylinder head and terminate at a plenum chamber positioned on the other side of the cylinder head. For sound deadening purposes, a sound deadening baffle plate is affixed to the manifold runners. In some embodiments, this is done on the top of the manifold and in other embodiments, it is done on the underside of the manifold runners.

This invention relates to an intake system for an automotive engine and more particularly to a silencing arrangement for silencing the noises emanating from an automotive engine.
It has been recognized that the performance of an internal combustion engine can be improved by utilizing an induction system having relatively long runners that serve the intake passages of the engine under low speed running. Of course, the ability to lengthen the runners is dependent upon the room available. With modern motor vehicles, the engine compartment is very small and there is not a great deal of room for such extended manifold systems.
Furthermore, it is a common practice to provide a transverse engine placement in the engine compartment for driving the adjacent wheels. Of course, this further adds to the problem of providing adequate manifolding to achieve the desired performance.
It has been proposed to provide a plurality of intake manifold runners that extend from rearwardly facing intake ports back over the top of the engine and toward the forward side in order to lengthen the induction system. Frequently it is also desirable to provide a plenum chamber at the inlet to these long runners so as to further improve performance. Of course, this gives rise to further placement problems, as aforenoted.
Also, it is desirable to provide a low hood line for the vehicle for both streamlining and styling purposes. This means that the hood may be quite close to the engine and this can give rise to the emanation of engine noise to the occupants of the vehicle.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved intake system for an engine wherein there is additionally provided a sound deadening between the induction system or components of the engine and the hood so as to avoid the generation of extraneous noises.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved compact induction system and silencing arrangement for an automotive engine.
It is a yet further object of this invention to provide an improved induction system and silencing arrangement for a transversely disposed internal combustion engine utilized to power a motor vehicle.


A protective undergarment is provided according to exemplary aspects of this invention. The undergarment includes a waist portion adapted to encircle the waist of a user. The undergarment also includes a crotch portion having an end segment extending from the waist portion, a central segment, and a terminal end segment attachable to the waist portion. The terminal end segment of the crotch portion extends substantially perpendicular to the waist portion.

The use of absorbent articles, such as protective undergarments, has increased steadily for many years. Early uses, such as diapers for babies and sanitary products for women, have in recent years been joined by an increasing demand for products designed to deal with incontinence issues for adults, frequently brought on by advanced age, obesity, or a variety of medical conditions. At the same time, markets have grown in all of these areas for both disposable and reusable products, depending on the preferences of the consumer.
Disposable absorbent articles, such as diapers and pads for example, are in widespread use throughout the world as a result of their convenience. They provide substantial advantages and convenience over absorbent articles that have to be laundered and reused, particularly when the absorbent articles are used away from home. In recent years, many different disposable absorbent articles have been proposed and some have been very successful in the marketplace. However, even current successful products leave room for improvement.
To promote preservation of the environment, some consumers desire to return to the use of reusable, rather than disposable, absorbent articles such as infant and adult diapers. A recent improvement to reusable diapers is in the replacement of pin fasteners by fasteners of filamentary material, such as hook and loop filamentary materials manufactured by Velcro Corporation and Aplix Corporation. In this regard, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,591 to Coates, incorporated herein by reference, which discloses a cloth diaper having filamentary fasteners together with a self-closing tab cover that protects the fasteners from buildup of lint during washing.
Whether for reusable or disposable products, various fastening systems have been employed for fastening the absorbent products to the wearer or to the clothing of the wearer. For example, the waistband of a diaper is preferably fastened around the waist of the wearer, and the fastening system is generally intended to hold the diaper in snug encircling fashion on the wearer's torso. After the diaper is soiled, it is removed by unfastening the tabs, thereby opening the waist.
The configuration of reusable and/or disposable products for adults, especially the infirm or obese, and/or those with limited dexterity, is additionally made difficult by the size and weight of the person wearing the garment. These factors hinder the donning and doffing of protective undergarments having traditional configurations. For example, it is extremely inconvenient for a caregiver to be required to remove an undergarment just to see if a change is needed, particularly if the undergarment is being worn by a large and/or immobile person. Thus there continues to be a need for undergarments affording easier access for checking, and greater facility of donning and doffing.

Protective undergarment configured for improved handling


The invention relates to a process for the production of a multicoat finish, in which a pigmented basecoat is applied, dried and coated over with a powder clearcoat, and subsequently basecoat and powder clearcoat are stoved together. The invention is characterized in that the powder clearcoat employed has a particle size distribution in which. a) no more than 15% by weight of the powder clearcoat particles have a particle size smaller than 10 .mu.m; PA1 b) for at least 40% by weight of the powder clearcoat particles the common logarithm of the quotient of the largest and the smallest particle size is less than or equal to 0.25; and PA1 c) at least 98% by weight of the powder clearcoat particles have a particle size smaller than 100 .mu.m.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the production of a multicoat finish on a substrate surface, in which
(1) a pigmented basecoat is applied to the substrate surface, PA1 (2) a polymer film is formed from the coating applied in step (1), PA1 (3) a powder clearcoat is applied to the resulting basecoat, and subsequently PA1 (4) the basecoat is stoved together with the powder clearcoat. PA1 a) no more than 15% by weight of the powder clearcoat particles have a particle size smaller than 10 .mu.m; PA1 b) for at least 40% by weight of the powder clearcoat particles the common logarithm of the quotient of the largest and the smallest particle size is less than or equal to 0.25; and PA1 c) at least 98% by weight of the powder clearcoat particles have a particle size smaller than 100 .mu.m.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The invention also relates to powder clearcoats which are suitable for this process.
The process described above is known. It is employed in particular for the production of automotive topcoats, in particular for the production of metallic finishes (cf. eg. DE-A-38 14 853, U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,644, EP-A-299 420 (in particular page 5, line 22/23), U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,983, EP-A-45 040 and GB-A-20 12 191).
It is desirable for economic and ecological reasons to employ powder clearcoats in step (3) of the basecoat/clearcoat process described above. When powder clearcoats are used, the clearcoats obtained are in need of improvement, in particular with regard to gloss and leveling.

Powder clearcoat and process for the production of a multicoat finish


In one embodiment, a voltage protection circuit uses two back-to-back transistors to receive an unprotected voltage and form a protected voltage.

The present invention relates, in general, to electronics, and more particularly, to methods of forming semiconductor devices and structure.
Previously, various methods and circuit structures were used to form over-voltage and under-voltage protection for circuits. In one application that provided both under-voltage and over-voltage protection, two N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors were connected in series with their sources tied together at a common point. One example of such an application is disclosed in United States patent publication 2004/0150927 by Strayer et al that was published on Aug. 5, 2004. Such an implementation was difficult to integrate onto a single semiconductor substrate due to parasitic diodes associated with integrated transistors. Consequently, this architecture required using non-integrated transistor. The non-integrated transistors increased the cost of the system that used such an architecture.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a method of protecting circuits from over-voltage and under-voltage conditions that can be integrated onto a single semiconductor substrate.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference numbers in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. As used herein current carrying electrode means an element of a device that carries current through the device such as a source or a drain of an MOS transistor or an emitter or a collector of a bipolar transistor or a cathode or anode of a diode, and a control electrode means an element of the device that controls current through the device such as a gate of an MOS transistor or a base of a bipolar transistor. Although the devices are explained herein as certain N-channel or P-Channel devices, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that complementary devices are also possible in accordance with the present invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the words during, while, and when as used herein are not exact terms that mean an action takes place instantly upon an initiating action but that there may be some small but reasonable delay between the reaction that is initiated by the initial action.

Method of forming an integrated voltage protection device and structure

Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC


Apparatus for asynchronously generating control signals (CONTROL) is disclosed including a plurality of sources (5) of asynchronous data signals and a plurality of data processing channels (10, 14), each processing one of the data signals in response to a control signal (CONTROL). Each of a plurality of parameter determining circuits (10, 16) produces a signal (COMPLEXITY) representing a parameter of one of the data signals. A data sampler (30) samples the signals (COMPLEXITY) from all of parameter determining circuits (10, 16) substantially simultaneously at predetermined sampling time intervals. A control signal generator (30) generates control signals (CONTROL) for the data processing channels (10, 14) having values based on the sampled parameter representative signals (COMPLEXITY) and the preceding sampling time interval.

It is sometimes necessary to provide control signals to each of a plurality of cooperative signal processors. If all the signal processors operate synchronously, this involves providing measuring apparatus to sample parameter values from the processors, generate the control signals having values based on the relative values of the parameter values, and supply these control signals to the processing channels, all in synchronism with the processed signals. However, in cases where the data signals are not mutually synchronized, but it is still required to cooperatively control the processing of all of the data signals based on the relative values of the respective signal parameters, it is necessary that the signal parameters be sampled substantially simultaneously in all of the data signals, and that the control signals be properly valued to compensate for the asynchronous nature of the signal processors and supplied to the signal processors at appropriate times.
In an exemplary system, a plurality of video signals from respective channels, which may be television network feeds, television stations, or other video sources, are transmitted over a satellite link for broadcast to respective television receivers in consumers' homes. Each video signal may be encoded into a signal consisting of sequential groups of data, each group including data representing a fixed number of successive video pictures or frames and being designated a group of pictures (GOP). However, the video signals being supplied by these channels are not necessarily in synchronism. For example, channels carrying standard video (in the U.S.) operate at about 30 frames per second, channels carrying film images operate at 24 frames per second, and channels carrying cartoons operate at 15 frames per second. It is also possible that different channels have different numbers of pictures or frames in a GOP. Consequently, GOPs of different channels have different time durations, i.e. they are asynchronous.
In such a system, data from the different channels is combined, or multiplexed, at a head end station into a single data stream. The multiplexed data stream is then transmitted over a transmission link, such as a wire, fiber optic or radio link (such as the satellite link), to a back end station, where the channels of data from the multiplexed data stream are then separated, or demultiplexed, and supplied to the intended recipients. An exemplary satellite link includes a digital transmission path capable of transmitting 24 megabits per second (Mbps). In order to maximize efficiency and utilization of such a link, it is necessary for several video signals to share the link. For example, it may be desired to share the above satellite transmission link among at least six video signal channels.

Asynchronous control signal generating apparatus


An aluminum cell comprises an electrolysis region with a top reservoir and a sump below. Circulation of electrolyte is by convection. The cell is designed to continue operation past the point at which the electrolyte becomes saturated, and an aluminum hydroxide precipitate settles out by gravity in a stagnant lower region of the sump. The anode is preferably of an aluminum alloy containing magnesium, with tin present in the alloy or in the electrolyte. Batteries comprising stacks of such cells are also described.

This invention relates to aluminium cells, and particularly though not exclusively to aluminium/air cells. These have an air cathode and an aluminium anode, and the net chemical reaction occurring is EQU 4Al+6H.sub.2 O+3O.sub.2 .fwdarw.4Al(OH).sub.3
The invention also applies to aluminium cell systems where the oxygen is provided by an oxidising agent such as MnO.sub.2 or H.sub.2 O.sub.2 and to aluminium/silver oxide cells (as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,239) in which the overall cell reaction is EQU Al+3/2AgO+3/2H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.Al(OH).sub.3 +3/2Ag
The primary cell system, which may be used with either a neutral chloride or alkaline electrolyte may be recharged mechanically by refuelling the cell with further aluminium. This refuelling takes place in minutes, rather than the hours required to recharge a secondary cell.
Cells with alkaline electrolytes have greatly superior performance to those with neutral chloride electrolytes. The alkaline system provides the basis for both high specific energy (e.g. 400 Wh/kg) and power density (e.g. 175 W/kg), where the comparable figures for neutral chloride systems are 220 Wh/kg and 30 W/kg. Both systems have an infinite shelf life provided that the electrolyte is stored separate from the anode.
A commercially successful aluminium cell employing an alkaline electrolyte has been described in EPA 311275. This cell employs pumped circulation of electrolyte past the anode. The circulation is required for two reasons: to remove aluminium hydroxide from the electrolysis region; and to control the temperature of the electrolyte. However, a pump is disadvantageous for obvious reasons; it requires a secondary power source, and greatly complicates the overall cell system.
EPA 265242 describes a similarly pumped system using injected gas to effect circulation of electrolyte.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,367 describes an aluminium-air cell in which hydrogen generated by the anode is used to force circulation of electrolyte. This avoids the need for a secondary power supply. But it requires an anode which generates hydrogen and is therefore inherently inefficient and unsafe. An ideal anode which did not generate hydrogen would not be usable in the system. Also, the entire electrolyte, including the aluminium hydroxide precipitate, is caused to circulate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,744 describes an aluminium-air cell in which electrolyte circulation is by convection. But this is a solids-free high current density cell. When the electrolyte becomes saturated with aluminate, the cell output drops to zero and recharging is required.
The idea of using thermal convection to effect electrolyte circulation in aluminium cells has been canvassed. But there are difficulties:
The neutral saline systems are less efficient (85%), corrode in a non uniform, heavily pitted manner, causing premature anode disintegration and the "product" of reaction is a gel (boehmite) which is not easily removed by the convective forces from the electrode chamber. All in all, they are low power, inefficient and low energy density systems as compared with alkaline cells.
So far as alkaline electrolytes are concerned, cells operated at high current density tend to generate more heat than can be dissipated by simple convection. At low current density, conventional aluminium alloys show low coulombic efficiencies; again, large amounts of hydrogen and heat are generated and the heat cannot satisfactorily be dissipated by simply convection.
There is a need for an aluminium cell in which precipitated aluminium hydroxide settles out by gravity without the need for pumped circulation of electrolyte. This invention aims to provide a semistagnant cell which fulfils that need.

Aluminium battery with electrolyte circulation means


In one embodiment, a surgical instrument comprises a handle assembly. The handle assembly comprises a closure trigger defining an energy button hole, an energy button located within the energy button hole, and a firing trigger. A shaft assembly is coupled to the handle assembly and comprises an outer tube, a closure actuator coupled to the closure trigger, and a firing actuator operatively coupled to the firing trigger. An end effector is coupled to a distal end of the shaft assembly. The end effector comprises a jaw assembly having a proximal end and a distal end. The jaw assembly comprises a first and a second jaw member. The first and second jaw members define a longitudinal slot. The closure actuator is coupled to the first jaw member to pivotally move the first jaw member from an open position to a closed position. A cutting member is deployable within the longitudinal slot.

The present disclosure is related generally to electrosurgical devices with various mechanisms for clamping and treating tissue. In particular, the present disclosure is related to electrosurgical devices with various mechanisms for controlling a curved end effector.
While several devices have been made and used, it is believed that no one prior to the inventors has made or used the device described in the appended claims.


Methods and apparatus for making naphtha substantially free of H2S are described. The method includes stripping an incoming stream containing naphtha and H2S in a fractionator into at least an overhead stream containing the naphtha and H2S and a bottoms stream, and introducing the overhead stream from the fractionator into a separator to form a naphtha stream substantially free of H2S and an overhead stream containing H2S.

Hydrocarbon feeds can be reacted in a hydroprocessing zone where a number of reactions take place, including hydrocracking, hydrotreating, hydrogenation, and desulfurization. The hydroprocessing zone is typically followed by a stripper column, where the hydroprocessing zone effluent is separated into a stripper overhead stream and a stripper bottoms stream. In some processes, the stripper column bottoms is sent to a fractionation column, where it is separated into a fractionation column bottoms stream and a naphtha overhead stream. Other streams, such as light gas oil and heavy gas oil streams, can also be separated out in the fractionator, if desired. The naphtha overhead stream is recovered. The naphtha overhead stream includes naphtha, H2S, and, in some cases, water.
The H2S generated during desulfurization reactions in the hydroprocessing zone is removed predominantly in the stripper column. Although the stripper column is designed to remove H2S to the level of parts per billion (ppb) in the stripper bottoms stream, small amounts of H2S slip through into the fractionator. The H2S becomes concentrated to a level of parts per million (ppm) in the fractionator overhead liquid stream. ASTM D-4952-09 (Doctor Test) is often used as an indicator for the presence of H2S in the overhead naphtha stream. An H2S level of 1 weight ppm (wppm) can result in the naphtha not meeting the Doctor Test. If the naphtha does not meet the Doctor Test, it cannot be sent directly to the naphtha pool for storage. Consequently, the H2S must be removed from the naphtha overhead stream using a secondary processing system.
In many units, the H2S is removed using a caustic (NaOH) wash and a sand filter. However, many refiners do not want to use caustic because of the hazards associated with handling it and problems related to disposing of the spent caustic.
Alternatively, the naphtha may be sent to a downstream stabilizer/splitter combination for removal of light petroleum gas. The H2S can be removed along with the light petroleum gas. However, this equipment increases the cost of the process.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide alternative processes for removing H2S from naphtha.


A sheet conveying apparatus includes: a first sheet conveying unit that conveys a sheet by a driving force of an asynchronous motor; a second sheet conveying unit that conveys a sheet by a driving force of a synchronous motor, wherein a sheet is transferred from one of the first sheet conveying unit and the second sheet conveying unit to the other one to convey the sheet; and an asynchronous-motor control unit that starts drive of the asynchronous motor at a drive start timing determined according to rotation information at a time of acceleration of the synchronous motor, at a time of starting sheet conveyance when a same sheet is conveyed by both the first sheet conveying unit and the second sheet conveying unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming system.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of sheet conveying apparatus is sometimes used at the time of performing post-processing of a sheet discharged from an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine, or a printing machine through a plurality of sheet post-processing devices. As the post-processing device, for example, there can be mentioned a punching device that punches a sheet, a sheet binding device that binds a bundle of sheets by a stapler or the like, and a sorter/ejector that sorts sheets formed with images to a plurality of paper discharge trays and discharges the sheets. Such a sheet post-processing device is often unitized individually and is selectively installed in the image forming apparatus.
In an image forming system in which a plurality of sheet post-processing devices are installed, sheets are conveyed along a predetermined sheet conveyance path while being transferred between the sheet post-processing devices. In such an image forming system, sheets may be conveyed while a conveying force is applied simultaneously from two sheet post-processing devices. In this case, when the sheet conveyance speed of the two sheet post-processing devices is different from each other, sheets may be slackened or pulled depending on the speed difference, thereby causing a problem of damaging the sheets or jamming.
In order to solve the problem, Japanese Patent No. 4486480 discloses a sheet conveying apparatus that when the conveyance speed of two units (sheet post-processing devices) that transfer sheets is different from each other, synchronizes a change timing of the conveyance speed. Specifically, at the time of accelerating or decelerating the speed or start-stop between the two units, the sheet conveying apparatus synchronizes the two units so that the accelerated or decelerated rate and the accelerated or decelerated distance of the two units becomes equivalent. With this configuration, occurrence of excessive slackening or pulling is suppressed in the sheets conveyed over the two units.
In the sheet conveying apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 4486480, sheet conveying means such as a conveyance roller pair that applies a conveying force to the sheet in each unit is driven by a stepping motor. In this manner, when a drive source of the sheet conveying means of each unit is a synchronous motor such as the stepping motor, a highly accurate rotation position (sheet position) control during acceleration or deceleration can be executed. Accordingly, a control such that excessive slackening or pulling does not occur in the sheet conveyed over the sheet conveying means of the both units is facilitated during acceleration or deceleration.
However, when an asynchronous motor such as a direct-current motor (DC motor), for which a highly accurate rotation position control is difficult, is adopted for one of the drive sources, it is difficult to control so that excessive slackening or pulling does not occur in the sheet conveyed over the sheet conveying means of the both units in an acceleration period or a deceleration period. More specifically, when the drive sources are both the asynchronous motor, the both motors have the same acceleration characteristics and deceleration characteristics. Therefore, by standardizing a drive start timing and a drive stop timing of the both motors, excessive slackening or pulling of sheets in the acceleration period and the deceleration period can be suppressed without executing any rotation position control. However, when one of the drive sources is the asynchronous motor and the other one is the synchronous motor, the acceleration characteristics and the deceleration characteristics of the both motors are considerably different. Therefore, when the standardized drive start timing or drive stop timing is used, excessive slackening or pulling of sheets occurs in the acceleration period and the deceleration period.
At this time, such a method can be considered that a rotation position of the synchronous motor in the acceleration period and the deceleration period is controlled according to the acceleration characteristics and the deceleration characteristics of the asynchronous motor, so that excessive slackening or pulling of sheets does not occur in the acceleration period and the deceleration period. Generally, however, even if the synchronous motor is accelerated so as to reach a target speed as soon as possible, the magnitude of acceleration of the synchronous motor is far less than that of the asynchronous motor. The same applies to the case of deceleration. Therefore, according to the method of controlling the rotation position of the synchronous motor, it is difficult to suppress occurrence of excessive slackening or pulling of sheets in the acceleration period and the deceleration period.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a sheet conveying apparatus that can suppress occurrence of excessive slackening or pulling of a sheet conveyed over two sheet conveying units that respectively adopt a synchronous motor and an asynchronous motor, and an image forming system including the sheet conveying apparatus.

Sheet conveying apparatus and image forming system


A stop method for a fuel cell system that includes a fuel cell unit in which hydrogen is supplied to an anode, and air is supplied to a cathode so as to generate electrical power via an electrochemical reaction. The stop method includes the steps of stopping supply of hydrogen to the anode, and supplying air to the anode so as to discharge water remaining at the anode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stop method for a fuel cell system which is adapted for cold start-up.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-347194, filed Oct. 6, 2003, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, fuel cell powered vehicles have been proposed, each of which includes a fuel cell system as a driving source of the vehicle. As a type of fuel cell system for such vehicles, a fuel cell system is known which includes a predetermined number of cell units stacked one on the other, each of which includes an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte membrane sandwiched therebetween. When hydrogen is supplied to the anode and air (oxygen) is supplied to the cathode, electrical power generation is performed via an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen which is accompanied by producing of water. Even though water is mainly formed at the cathode during an operation of the fuel cell system, a portion of the water at the cathode may move to the anode through the electrolyte membrane sandwiched between the cathode and the anode. In addition, the reaction gases (hydrogen and oxygen) are humidified in order to prevent the electrolyte membrane from becoming dry.
When the power generation of the fuel cell system is to be stopped, the above-mentioned formed water and humidifying water remain in gas flow paths of the fuel cell units; therefore, when the power generation is stopped while water remains therein, the remaining water may freeze at low temperature, and the frozen water (ice) may block supply and discharge of the reaction gases (hydrogen and air), which leads to degradation of start-up performance at low temperature.
To solve such a problem, Published Japanese Translation No. 2000-512068 of the PCT International Application discloses a cold start-up method in which a fuel cell system is warmed by making the fuel cell system supply electrical energy to an external electrical circuit. Moreover, in order to improve start-up performance at low temperature, this published document discloses a technology in which formed water remaining in gas flow paths of the fuel cell units is discharged using a nitrogen gas or the like when the operation of the fuel cell system is stopped so as to prevent freezing of water in the gas flow paths during stop periods of the fuel cell system.
In the aforementioned prior art technology, start-up performance at low temperature is improved by discharging water remaining in the gas flow paths of the fuel cell units; however, because a nitrogen gas is used for discharging water remaining in the gas flow paths of the fuel cell units, a tank, such as a dedicated nitrogen container, must be provided in the vehicle, which is a problem in view of limited installation capacity of a fuel cell powered vehicle.
Furthermore, another method has been proposed in which reaction gases (hydrogen and oxidizing agent such as air) are supplied to a fuel cell system during stoppage of the fuel cell system; however, increase in hydrogen consumption is a problem because a significant amount of reaction gas (i.e., hydrogen) that does not contribute to power generation must be supplied to an anode to discharge remaining water at the anode.


Example appliance displays having modular light guides and methods of assembling the same are disclosed. An example appliance display includes a printed circuit board having a side-fire light emitting diode attached to a surface of the printed circuit board, a frame having a plurality of heat stakes to operatively connect the printed circuit board to the frame, and a light guide inserted into an opening defined in the frame, wherein the light guide guides light emitted by the light emitting diode through the opening defined in the frame, and wherein the printed circuit board retains the light guide in the opening when the printed circuit board is heat staked to the frame.

Today, some appliance displays are constructed using a sheet of light guides that is positioned between a printed circuit board and a display surface. Side-fire light emitting diodes on the printed circuit board emit light into respective ones of the light guides to emit light through respective openings defined in the display surface. However, such light guide sheets are often prohibitively expensive for appliance displays having few illuminated display elements. Other appliance displays are constructed using light boxes defined in a frame that direct light emitted by light emitting diodes on a printed circuit board through respective openings defined in a display surface. To allow such appliance displays to include capacitive touch capabilities, capacitive extenders are placed between the display surface and the printed circuit board. However, over time such capacitive extenders may cause false key presses due to thermal cycles.

Appliance displays having modular light guides and methods of assembling the same


A tube unit includes an inner tube that is elastically deformable and has a tubular shape, and a pressurized space forming portion that forms a pressurized space in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the inner tube between the inner tube and the pressurized space forming portion. The inner tube is operable between a minimum pressure state and a maximum pressure state. The inner tube has a cross-section having a non-circular shape perpendicular to an axial direction in the minimum pressure state. A transport apparatus includes the tube unit and a pressure controller.

Conventionally, as a tube unit used for a transporting apparatus configured to transport a transport object such as a fluid, a gas-liquid mixture or a solid-liquid mixture, tube units provided with an inner tube that is elastically deformable and has a tubular shape, and a pressurized space forming portion configured to form a pressurized space in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the inner tube between the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube and the pressurized space forming portion are known (e.g., see PTL 1 and PTL 2). Such tube units are configured to be operable between a minimum pressure state, in which an inner pressure of the pressurized space is minimized by the discharge of a pressurizing medium, and a maximum pressure state, in which the inner pressure is maximized by the supply of the pressurizing medium and the inner tube is deformed expanding in the radially inward direction due to the increase in the inner pressure from the minimum pressure state, whereby an inner space formed by the inner peripheral surface of the inner tube is contracted. The transport apparatus can transport the transport object from the inner space to the outside by causing a pressure controller to bring the inner tube into the maximum pressure state such that the inner space is contracted.


An image forming apparatus having a photoconductor for carrying a toner image; a transfer device, provided with a discharge wire, for transferring the toner image onto a transfer material through discharge in a transfer area, after a transfer material is superposed with the photoconductor; a transfer-exposure device for carrying out light exposure of a surface of the photoconductor superposed with the transfer material, in the transfer area; a separator for separating the transfer material from the photoconductor after the toner image is transferred; and a controller for controlling the image forming apparatus. The controller controls such that light from the transfer-exposure device is applied to the photoconductor surface for the first time when the photoconductor surface superposed with the transfer material has reached the transfer area.

The present invention relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, printer and facsimile, and in particular to an image forming apparatus configured in such a way that the photoconductor surface is exposed at the time of transfer of a toner image.
One of the well-known image forming apparatuses performs a method that comprises steps of: forming an electrostatic latent image on a uniformly charged photoconductor surface by exposure means; forming the electrostatic latent image into a toner image using development means with toner carried thereon; transferring the toner image onto a transfer material fed to a transfer area, from the photoconductor by transfer means; separating the transfer material from the photoconductor using separation means; feeding the transfer material to a fixing apparatus; fixing the toner image by application of heat and pressure; and ejecting the transfer material to a tray installed outside the apparatus by ejecting means.
It is also known that exposure is performed before or concurrently with transfer in order to improve transfer efficiency and separation performances when the toner image is transferred on the transfer material.
For example, a technique is disclosed, where light is applied from a light source provided inside a transfer electrode simultaneously with application of an electric field, and transfer is carried out while removing electric charges on a photoconductor (Patent Document 1).
However, the simultaneous transfer-exposure lamp disclosed in Patent Document 1 is arranged in such a way as to apply light to a range beyond the area where the electric discharge extends by the application of a voltage to the transfer electrode (hereinafter referred to as "transfer area"), namely, to the range outside the area close to the transfer electrode where an attraction force effectively acts on toner. Because of this configuration, due to reduction of potential, the toner absorbed on the surface of the photoconductor by electrostatic adsorption is put in an easily movable state, with the result that so-called scattering is likely to occur. (FIG. 6 shows an example where the simultaneous transfer-exposure lamp is applied to the point beyond the range where electric discharge from the transfer electrode generates effectively a suction force of toner. FIG. 6 will be explained later in details).
What is called scattering here refers to the condition where the transfer material and photoconductor are not brought into close contact with each other, and when the photoconductor is exposed through the transfer material and electric charge is eliminated during action of the transfer electrode, part of the toner is transferred from the photoconductor to a position where transfer should not be performed, with the result that disturbance (scattering) has occurred to the final image.
A method for avoiding the aforementioned scattering is found in the disclosed technology related to the image forming apparatus equipped with illumination range limiting means for ensuring that the exposed light of the simultaneous transfer-exposure apparatus where light is applied simultaneously with transfer will not be applied to the photoconductor before the transfer material is brought into contact with the photoconductor (Patent Document 2). The overview of Patent Document 2 is shown below:
(1) Provide illumination range limiting means for ensuring that the exposed light of the simultaneous transfer-exposure apparatus will not be applied to the photoconductor before the transfer material is brought into contact with the photoconductor.
(2) Provide alternating current charging means for ensuring that alternating current charging is applied to the photoconductor and toner prior to transfer.
FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view representing the example of the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2. Numeral 1a denotes a transparent photoconductor belt. A simultaneous transfer-exposure lamp 6 and its lightproof plate 61 are provided inside the transparent photoconductor belt 1a. Arrangements are made in such a way the light of the simultaneous transfer-exposure lamp 6 is applied to the transparent photoconductor belt 1a simultaneously with transfer, after a transfer material P fed through transfer material feed path 11 comes into contact with the transparent photoconductor belt 1a. To put it another way, the light of the simultaneous transfer-exposure lamp 6 is blocked by the lightproof plate 61 before the transfer material P contacts the transparent photoconductor belt 1a so that light is not applied to the transparent photoconductor belt 1a. This structure prevents the aforementioned scattering phenomenon from occurring.
However, according to the aforementioned art (1), a lightproof plate 61 is provided to ensure that light of the simultaneous transfer-exposure lamp 6 will not be applied to the transparent photoconductor belt 1a before the transfer material P comes into contact with the transparent photoconductor belt 1a. After the transfer material P has come into contact with the transparent photoconductor belt 1a, the transparent photoconductor belt 1a is exposed before transfer discharge by a transfer apparatus 5 is applied to the transfer material P. Accordingly, electric charge is eliminated from the transparent photoconductor belt 1a during this time. This leads to toner scattering around the image.
According to the aforementioned art (2), electric charge on the transparent photoconductor belt 1a is removed by alternating current charging before transfer. Accordingly, scattering of toner to the surrounding area occurs, similarly to the case of the aforementioned art (1).
To reduce the scattering of toner, it is effective to reduce the amount of light of the simultaneous transfer-exposure lamp 6 and the amount of alternating current electrical charge before transfer. In this case, however, originally intended improvement of the transfer efficiency or separation performance cannot be achieved.
Especially when copying on the back side where transfer is performed on the transfer material corrugated by heat and pressure after passing through a fixing apparatus, or when it is comparatively difficult to get a close contact with the photoconductor as in the last end portion of the material and there is a large-scale corrugation of the transfer material, there are such problems as conspicuous scattering of toner at the time of transfer and bleeding of characters.
In a copying machine or printer of digital exposure type based on a laser and LED rapidly coming into widespread use in recent years, halftone images are often reproduced using a dot-based image. When toner has scattered around the dot forming a grid of dots, the image density appears high and this will lead to occurrence of uneven density in the halftone image.
When a toner image is formed on the back side after a toner image is formed on the front side of the transfer material, and a halftone image is formed by dots on the back side, toner scatters in the portion without toner on the front surface. Whereas the amount of light reaching the photoconductor is reduced in the portion with toner on the front surface and this results in reduced scattering of toner. And this portion appears pale, and a faulty image such as a so-called ghost will be produced.
[Patent Document 1]
Official Gazette of Jikkosho 1965-17412 (FIG. 3 on Page 1)
[Patent Document 2]
Official Gazette of Tokkaihei 1994-175440 (FIG. 1, paragraph 0016)
The object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problems and to provide an image forming method and an image forming apparatus, characterized by excellent transfer efficiency and separation performance, capable of preventing scattering of toner from occurring at the time of transfer and capable of getting a high-quality image, free from bleeding of characters or irregularity of density on the halftone image formed by dots, or ghost on the back side caused by the presence or absence of a toner image on the front side surface.

Image forming apparatus having a transfer-exposure device, and image forming method thereof


A mask or set of masks is disclosed in which outward projections are placed on either side of at least one aperture. An ion beam is then directed through the mask toward a workpiece. An ion collecting device or an optical system is then used to measure the alignment of the mask to the ion beam. These projections serve to increase the sensitivity of the system to misalignment. In another embodiment, a blocker is used to create a region of the workpiece that is not subjected to a blanket implant. This facilitates the use of optical means to insure and determine alignment of the mask to the ion beam.

Ion implantation is a standard technique for introducing conductivity-altering impurities into semiconductor substrates. A desired impurity material is ionized in an ion source, the ions are accelerated to form an ion beam of prescribed energy, and the ion beam is directed at the surface of the substrate. The energetic ions in the beam penetrate into the bulk of the semiconductor material and are embedded into the crystalline lattice of the semiconductor material to form a region of desired conductivity.
Solar cells are only one example of a device that uses silicon substrates, but these solar cells are becoming more important globally. Any reduced cost to the manufacturing or production of high-performance solar cells or any efficiency improvement to high-performance solar cells would have a positive impact on the implementation of solar cells worldwide. This will enable the wider availability of this clean energy technology.
Solar cell efficiency may be improved by, for example, doping the regions under metal lines more than between lines as this reduces contact resistance. This can be done with masks, which may either move with the wafer, or be fixed. The first may reduce throughput significantly or increase complexity, so the latter may be preferable. However, one issue associated with the use of fixed masks is the ability to insure and measure the alignment of the mask with the workpiece. Often, alignment verification techniques are cumbersome and time consuming. Therefore, it would be beneficial if there were a system and method to reduce the time required to insure alignment of masks, particularly for use in the creation of solar cells.

Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.


The present invention provides a radiographic imaging device, a radiographic imaging system, a computer readable medium storing disconnection detection program and a disconnection detection method that may detect disconnected specific signal lines even when the charge amount output from a single pixel is small. Namely, a bias voltage is applied to pixels, and offset charges due to leak current of sensor portions (photodiodes) are accumulated. The gates of pixel TFT switches are switched ON in sequence, and electric signals are output corresponding to the accumulated offset charges. A control section detects a cumulative value of the offset charge amount based on the electric signals. The detected cumulative value is then compared to a predetermined disconnection detection threshold value and disconnected signal lines are detected when the cumulative value is less than the threshold value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiographic imaging device, a radiographic imaging system, a computer readable medium storing a disconnection detection program, and a disconnection detection method. The present invention in particular relates to a radiographic imaging device, a radiographic imaging system, a computer readable medium storing a disconnection detection program, and a disconnection detection method for imaging a radiographic image in medical purposes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radiographic imaging devices are known that perform imaging of radiographic images for medical diagnostic purposes. In such radiographic imaging devices, radiation that has been irradiated from a radiation irradiation device and has passed through an investigation subject is detected, and a radiographic image is imaged. Imaging of radiographic images is performed in such a radiographic imaging device, by collecting and reading charges generated according to the irradiated radiation.
A known such radiographic imaging device is provided with sensor sections, configured by, for example, photoelectric conversion elements, switching elements, and detection sections. The sensor section generates charges when either with irradiated radiation, or with illuminated light that has been converted from radiation. The switching element reads the charges that have been generated in the sensor section. The detection section detects the start of irradiation of radiation (that radiographic imaging has started) based on the charges read by the switching element.
In such a radiographic imaging device, when defects occur in the radiation detection element, a case in which radiographic images not accurately acquired occurs. Accordingly, conventional technology is known for detecting defects in radiographic imaging devices. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2009-253668, technology is described for detecting and rectifying image defects, using first image data imaged in a state in which an investigation subject is not present, and second image data imaged in an state in which the investigation subject is present.
Further, in JP-A No. 2010-74644, technology in the field of radiographic imaging is described for determining whether or not defective pixels are present in a radiation detection element. In this technology, the determination is made based on dark read values corresponding to electric signals arising from extracting charges that have been built up in the radiation detection element when not being irradiated with radiation and outputting from an analogue multiplexer.
In the technology of JP-A No. 2009-253668, it is necessary to acquire radiographic images imaged by irradiating the radiographic imaging device with radiation. In particular, in detection of disconnected signal lines that give line defects in radiographic images, when radiation is not irradiated, difference data (contrast) between disconnected signal lines and non-disconnected signal lines that are small, and there are cases in which detection is difficult.
In the technology of JP-A No. 2010-74644, there are cases in which appropriate detection of disconnections is not possible, when the dark read values are small.

Radiographic imaging device, radiographic imaging system, computer readable medium storing disconnection detection program, and disconnection detection method


Provided are amino acid sequences capable of binding to and inhibiting a Cas protein's ability to bind to a nucleic acid molecule, thereby inhibiting the Cas protein's function in genome editing. Such Cas protein inhibitors, which can be comprised of a major coat protein (G8P), an extracellular region of the G8P (G8PEX), or a biological equivalent, are useful in improving the specificity of Cas protein-based genome editing procedures.

Genome editing can be used to correct driver mutations underlying genetic diseases and thereby resulting in complete cure of these diseases in a living organism; genome editing can also be applied to engineer the genome of crops, thus increasing the yield of crops and conferring crops resistance to environmental contamination or pathogen infection; likewise, microbial genome transformation through accurate genome editing is of great significance in the development of renewable bio-energy.
CRISPR/Cas (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein) system has been the most powerful genomic editing tool since its conception for its unparalleled editing efficiency, convenience and the potential applications in living organism. Directed by guide RNA (gRNA), a Cas nuclease can generate DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) at the targeted genomic sites in various cells (both cell lines and cells from living organisms). These DSBs are then repaired by the endogenous DNA repair system, which could be utilized to perform desired genome editing.
Base editors (BE), which integrate the CRISPR/Cas system with the APOBEC (apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like) cytosine deaminase family, were recently developed that greatly enhanced the efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene correction. Through fusion with Cas9 nickase (nCas9) or catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9), the cytosine (C) deamination activity of rat APOBEC1 (rA1) can be purposely directed to the target bases in genome and to catalyze C to Thymine (T) substitutions at these bases.
Nonspecific and unintended ("off target") genetic modifications can arise through the use of the genome editing methods. For instance, in a CRISPR/Cas system, if the complexes do not bind the target sequence, often a result of homologous sequences and/or mismatch tolerance, they will cleave off-target DSB and cause non-specific genetic modifications. Off-target effects consist of unintended point mutations, deletions, insertions, inversions, and translocations. There is a need to develop methods for reducing such off target genetic modifications.

Composition and use of Cas protein inhibitors


A multimedia production and distribution system collects or assembles a media production (such as, a news program, television programming, or radio broadcast) from a variety of sources, including television stations and other media hosting facilities. The media production is categorized and indexed for retrieval and distribution across a wired or wireless network, such as the Internet, to any client, such as a personal computer, television, or personal digital assistant. A user can operate the client to display and interact with the media production, or select various options to customize the transmission or request a standard program. Alternatively, the user can establish a template to generate the media production automatically based on personal preferences. The media production is displayed on the client with various media enhancements to add value to the media production. Such enhancements include graphics, extended play segments, opinion research, and URLs. The enhancements also include advertisements, such as commercials, active banners, and sponsorship buttons. An advertisement reporting system monitors the sale and distribution of advertisements within the network. The advertisements are priced according to factors that measure the likelihood of an advertisement actually being presented or viewed by users most likely to purchase the advertised item or service. The advertisement reporting system also collects metrics to invoice and apportion income derived from the advertisements among the network participants, including a portal host and/or producer of the content.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media production, and more specifically, to distributing live or live-to-tape media productions over a communications network.
2. Related Art
The broadcast industry has experienced dramatic changes both in technology and business operations. The changes have been manifested in response to regulatory requirements for digital transmissions and competition from both traditional and nontraditional industry sectors. Traditional competitors such as cable coexist with broadcasters due to both mandated and agreed upon xe2x80x9cmust carryxe2x80x9d rules. These rules allow local broadcast stations to access cable networks. Nontraditional transmission media provide another source of stiff competition due to the emergence of digital broadcast satellites (DBS) and Internet Service Providers (ISP).
As more and more households adapt to nontraditional transmissions, the competition for consumer attention will continue to increase. Currently, the unique advantage that broadcasters have is local origination, especially for news. However, competition continues to develop for major network (i.e., ABC(copyright), NBC(copyright) and CBS(copyright) affiliates due to FOX(copyright), UPN(copyright) and other startups for cable services and Internet multicasts (including webcasts). In addition, in the foreseeable future, digital transmission signals may be divided into separate channels for multicasting applications, thereby permitting major networks to step into the local origination market. In addition, newspapers, radio stations and other media hosting entities are competing for awareness and market share on the Internet. Television broadcasters are putting forth an effort to also maintain a local market share on the Internet but have yet to leverage successfully their best asset, i.e. video.
All of these issues present new obstacles that must be overcome by all broadcasters. These issues involve transitioning to digital broadcasts; leveraging automation to resolve the reallocation of resources to generate more content at lower operating expenses; creating an Internet presence to leverage video assets; multicasting to add programming diversity and revenue; using computer networking to adapt streamlined approaches for field acquisition, pre-production, editing, and on-air execution of a show; and maintaining on-air systems through system redundancy.
To increase their presence on the Internet and compete for a larger viewing audience, broadcasters have deployed various business models. Some broadcasters operate their own web sites to service the broadcasters"" audience. However, proper staffing and management is critical to the successful operation of a web site. To effectively manage the web site, a broadcaster typically hires a webmaster, dedicated editorial manager, graphics personnel, journalists, editors, and web advertisement sales personnel. Nonetheless, budgetary constraints and market downturns have a propensity to encourage broadcasters to find creative ways to operate their businesses without increasing labor expenses.
To reduce operating costs, other broadcasters use third parties to manage the web site operations for the broadcaster, or make the content available over the Internet. The third parties may hire a staff of approximately three to four employees to perform web operation duties, such as writing and editing. The third parties may also take on the responsibility for selling advertisements to the local community. Although broadcasters may save labor expenses by hiring a third party, they typically demand a high percentage (e.g., fifty percent) of the revenues generated from the web operations. As a result, many broadcasters are finding the use of third parties not to be as cost effective as originally anticipated. Therefore, there is a trend to move web operations in-house to gain more control and revenue.
In addition to selecting the most cost-effective Internet business model, broadcasters are also challenged to design and provide a web site that is more likely to attract and retain a greater number of visitors. Most visitors browse sites to search for informative and entertaining media. With respect to news sites, most visitors would prefer to be able to pick and choose among a selection of different news stories. However, web sites generally require the visitor to select a news story one-by-one. Thus, the visitor must engage in the tedious and time-consuming process of loading, buffering and viewing each news story one at a time.
Although some conventional web sites may allow a visitor to watch a previously recorded news program, such web sites do not enable the visitor to skip past a news story within the news program. Such web sites also do not allow the visitor to rearrange the order of the presentation. Moreover, such web sites tend not to provide supporting graphics or data that would enable the visitor to find more information about a particular story.
Increasing their Internet audience would enable broadcasters to improve their profit margins by collecting more advertisement revenue. However, Internet sponsors hesitate to sponsor web content without some reasonable assurance that the advertisement will be viewed by a visitor that is likely to purchase the promoted item.
Nonetheless, various pricing schemes can be deployed to sell advertisements. For example, a broadcaster can set prices based on a target audience, media content, time spot, duration of the advertisement, time of transmission, or other over-the-air broadcast criteria. Over-the-air broadcast criteria are typically used to target consumers who are most likely to purchase an advertised item. However, such criteria do not provide any assurance that an advertisement actually will be delivered to the targeted consumers.
Another pricing method would be to sell the advertisement based on client-server metrics, such as hits, downloads, click-throughs, or page views. Client-server metrics can be used to measure the quantity of consumers that actually receive an advertisement, but it is difficult to predict whether the consumer is likely to purchase the advertised item by considering client-server metrics alone.
Therefore, what is needed is a media production and distribution system and method to address the above problems.
The present invention solves the above problems by providing a method, system and computer program product for producing, distributing or tracking media or multimedia (collectively referred to as a xe2x80x9cmedia productionxe2x80x9d) within a worldwide communications network, such as the global Internet. In an embodiment, an enhanced media server transmits the media production over wired or wireless channels to one or more clients (such as, a personal computer, personal digital assistant, enhanced telephone, or personal television). An online user can operate the client to display and interact with the media production. The client includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that permits the user to select various options to customize the transmission or request a standard program. For example, the user has the option of selecting a live or prerecorded news program to be transmitted. The user could also select specific segments from one or more news programs, and arrange the segments to be presented in any order. Moreover, the user can stipulate the duration of the entire transmission, or specify the time to start or stop the transmission. The requested segments can be downloaded, streamed or saved to the client.
The present invention supports the production and distribution of various types of media productions and value added enhancements (collectively referred to as xe2x80x9cenhanced multimediaxe2x80x9d). A media production primarily includes video of news programs, television programming (such as, documentaries, situation comedies, dramas, variety shows, interviews, and the like), sporting events, concerts, infomercials, movies, video rentals, and radio broadcasts. However, the present invention can also be implemented with any other type of audio, video, graphics, text, or other media or multimedia presentation. Notwithstanding the type or form of the media production, the present invention provides methodologies or techniques to link enhancements to the media production. Such enhancements include graphics, extended play segments, polling data, opinion research requests, URLs, articles, documents, court rulings, and other information that enhances the value of the media production displayed on the client device. The enhancements also comprise of advertisements, including video or audio commercials, dynamic banners, sponsorship buttons, active media, and email promotions. Thus, advertisements can be linked to each segment of each standard or customized program so that the user when viewing the transmission also views that associated advertising.
The linked advertisements enable the present invention to be used as a profit generator for various participants involved in producing and distributing the enhanced multimedia. In other words, various pricing models are provided to sell the advertisements that are linked to the enhanced multimedia. In an embodiment, the advertisements are priced and linked by over-the-air broadcast criteria that are used to target consumers most likely to purchase an advertised item. Over-the-air broadcast criteria include target audience, media content, time spot, duration of the advertisement, time of transmission, and the like. In another embodiment, the advertisements are priced by client-server metrics, such as hits, downloads, click-throughs, page views, or other measurements. Client-server metrics are used to measure the quantity of consumers that actually receive an advertisement.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the pricing models are based on a combination of over-the-air broadcast criteria and client-server metrics. These factors are combined to create varying degrees of certainty that a sponsored advertisement actually would be presented, received or viewed by the greatest quantity of users most likely to purchase the advertised item or service.
The degree of certainty is directly proportional to the price of the sponsored advertisement. Therefore, the present invention provides a fair and equitable methodology for pricing an advertisement based on consumer demand and behavioral patterns.
The present invention includes a tracking and reporting system that monitors the distribution of linked advertisements and prepares an invoice based on the selected pricing model. Revenue generated from the selected pricing model is apportioned among the network participants. The network participants include (1) the television stations or other media hosting facilities which create or provide the media production, (2) the operator of the portal hosting the web page that permits the user to request the media production, and (3) other participants in the network.
The present invention supports the integration of media productions from various sources. In an embodiment, a live media production (e.g., news programming) is recorded at a local (or national) station, segmented, categorized, and indexed for easy retrieval and viewing. These operations can be performed automatically using the PVTV Production Automation System (previously referred to as the CameraManSTUDIO(trademark) automation system) available from ParkerVision, Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla. Alternatively, these operations can be performed manually. An index is then established using these categories so that individuals can easily query the index and select the news segments they want to view. Alternatively, the user can set up a template so that a news program is automatically generated based on personal preference. The news program is then compiled, potentially with advertisements, and downloaded to the user""s display device.

Method, system and computer program product for producing and distributing enhanced media downstreams


The present invention enables audio data to be recorded or played back more easily. LPCM samples from an LPCM sample 301-1 of a first channel to an LPCM sample 304-1 of a fourth channel in audio data are combined in order to generate a GOLS 310-1. An even number of GOLS are combined to generate an audio frame. Header information is added to the audio frame to generate an audio PES packet, which is multiplexed with a video PES packet and recorded onto a recording medium. As a result, the number of bits of the audio frame is an integral multiple of 32. This increases an affinity with a recording and playback apparatus.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-251723, a method for recording the MSB-end 16 bits and the remaining LSB-end bits of a sample separately from each other is disclosed as a method for recording audio data on DVDs. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of audio data according to this method. For audio data 43 of data 11 recorded on a DVD, compressed audio data is recorded in some cases and uncompressed audio data is recorded in other cases. As the uncompressed audio data, the audio data 43 encoded by a method called a linear PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) method is recorded. The audio data 43 based on the linear PCM method includes a sample quantized into 24 bits.
In recording the audio data 43 by the linear PCM method onto a DVD, one item of the audio data 43 (audio pack) includes a start code indicating the start of the audio pack and a pack header 64 at the beginning; a packet header 65 including identification information indicating that data included in the relevant audio pack is the audio data 43; additional information AD which is information regarding the audio data 43 included in the relevant audio pack; and a plurality of audio frames AF which are units of a constant playback time for the audio data 43 included in the relevant audio pack AP.
As the additional information AD, information regarding the number of sample bits (24 bits) for sampling the audio data 43 by the linear PCM method, the sampling frequency at that time, and the number of channels included in the relevant audio data 43, etc. is described.
In the audio data 43 for each channel which has been sampled with a number of sample bits of 24, one sample block SPB includes one high-order data block UB including two items of high-order bit data 66 each defining high-order (MSB-end) 16 bits and one low-order data block DB including two items of low-order bit data 67 each defining low-order (LSB-end) 8 bits. One audio frame AF is defined by linking as many relevant sample blocks SPB as corresponding to the above-described constant playback time.
Furthermore, two items of the high-order bit data 66 included in the high-order data block UB include high-order bit data 66A (indicated by "S2n" in the figure) of high-order 16 bits which has been sampled with the timing of even-number-th sampling in relation to the timing of sampling for linear PCM and high-order bit data 66B (indicated by "S2n+1" in the figure) of high-order 16 bits which has been sampled with the timing of odd-number-th sampling in relation to the timing of sampling for linear PCM.
In addition, two items of the low-order bit data 67 included in the low-order data block DB include low-order bit data 67A (indicated by "e2n" in the figure) of low-order 8 bits corresponding to the high-order bit data 66A in relation to the timing of sampling for linear PCM and low-order bit data 67B (indicated by "e2n+1" in the figure) of low-order 8 bits corresponding to the high-order bit data 66B in relation to the timing of sampling for linear PCM. Numbers in parentheses in the high-order bit data 66 and the low-order bit data 67 indicate the number of bits for the respective item of data.
The high-order bit data 66A and the low-order bit data 67A define 24-bit audio data 43 which has been sampled with the timing of even-number-th sampling, and furthermore, the high-order bit data 66B and the low-order bit data 67B define 24-bit audio data 43 which has been sampled with the timing of odd-number-th sampling. Thus, when data is to be played back, the high-order bit data 66A and the low-order bit data 67A are combined for playback, and similarly, the high-order bit data 66B and the low-order bit data 67B are combined for playback.
Furthermore, if four channels "A" to "D" are included, the high-order bit data 66 and low-order bit data 67 includes channel high-order bit data 68 and channel low-order bit data 69 for each channel. In the known art, however, the MSB-end bit data and the LSB-end bit data are recorded separately from each other, and therefore when data is to be played back, the MSB-end bit data and the LSB-end bit data need to be combined. This introduces a problem in that processing by a recording and playback apparatus becomes complicated.

Recording medium, data recording device and method, data reproducing device and method, program, and recording medium


A vehicle headlight capable of compensating for light intensity of a dark region includes a lamp holder, a light source, a light shield, and a light guide. The lamp holder defines an accommodation space, and includes a reflector and a lens disposed on a front side of the reflector. The light source is installed in the accommodation space and disposed along an optical axis, and light rays emitted from the light source are refracted by the lens and emitted forwards. The light shield is assembled on the lamp holder and located between the light source and the lens, and the light shield is used to shield some of the light rays emitted from the light source. The light guide conducts some of the light rays towards the lens, such that the light rays are emitted forwards and upwards, thereby compensating for the light intensity of the dark region above the optical axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight, and more particularly to a poly-ellipsoid system (PES) vehicle headlight capable of compensating for light intensity of a dark region.
2. Description of the Related Art
When vehicles run on the road, to accommodate different traffic situations and visual demands, vehicle headlights may be classified into high-beam headlights, low-beam headlights, and vehicle headlights capable of being switched between the high-beam headlight and the low-beam headlight, and recently the design applied to the vehicle headlight is called a poly-ellipsoid system (PES) vehicle headlight. Referring to FIG. 1, it is a PES vehicle headlight serving as the low-beam headlight. The PES vehicle headlight includes a reflector 61 defining an accommodation space 610, a light source 62 installed in the accommodation space 610 and disposed along a horizontal optical axis X, a light shield 63 extending upwards from a bottom edge of the reflector 61 and having a top edge height the same as an optical axis X, a shell (not shown) assembled on a front side of the reflector 61, and a lens 64 installed on the shell. Light rays emitted from the light source 62 are reflected by the reflector 61 and shielded by the light shield 63, such that after passing through the lens 64, the light rays are mainly emitted horizontally or slightly downwards towards the region under the optical axis X, thereby achieving effects of the low-beam headlight. Although the vehicle headlight may be used as the low-beam headlight, the light rays are mainly scattered in a region under the optical axis X, such that the region above the optical axis X has an insufficient light intensity, and thus the region is hereafter referred to as a dark region. Generally, the light intensity of the dark region approximately more than 18 meters in front of the vehicle headlight should be at least 64 candelas (cd), but the dark region of the conventional vehicle headlight has distinctly insufficient light intensity, such that when driving the vehicle at night, the driver cannot clearly read traffic signs disposed on higher positions on the road.
Referring to FIG. 6, it is a distribution view of a light field of a position 25 meters in front of the light source 62 of the conventional vehicle headlight. In the diagram, a horizontal axis represents the horizontal angles of the left and right sides at the position 25 meters in front of the light source 62 serving as a center, a left vertical axis represents upper and lower angles, and bottom graduations represent the light intensity represented by each line (in a unit of cd). It can be obtained from FIG. 6 that the dark region has nearly no light rays, such that the light intensity value thereof cannot meet the requirements of the rules.
The insufficient light intensity in the dark region may affect safety during driving, so recently many designs for compensating for the light intensity in the dark region of the low-beam headlight were proposed. Referring to FIG. 2, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,533, in the vehicle headlight of the prior art, an auxiliary shielding board 72 is added on a front side of a light shield 71, and the auxiliary shielding board 72 may reflect a part of the light rays emitted downwards, such that after passing through the lens 73, the light rays form compensation light rays A1 refracted upwards and are emitted, thereby compensating for the light intensity in the dark region. Referring to FIG. 3, in the US patent, a perforation 810 is opened on a light shield 81, and an auxiliary shielding board 82 is disposed on an inner side of the light shield 81, such that light intensity in the dark region is compensated through the modified structures.
On the other hand, some vehicle headlights can be switched between the high-beam headlight and the low-beam headlight, in which case, an electromagnetic valve is used to drive a modulatable light shield to rotate, thereby changing an outward projecting path of the light rays, so as to switch between the high-beam headlight and the low-beam headlight. However, the light shield 71 and the auxiliary shielding board 72 are combined in a link-up manner, and the perforation 810 is disposed on the light shield 81. The structural modification of the light shields 71 and 81 may compensate for light intensity of the dark region, but the demands of the high-beam headlight cannot be met. Therefore, the above design for compensating for light intensity in the dark region is applied to only the low-beam headlight, and cannot be applied to the vehicle headlight capable of being switched between the high-beam headlight and the low-beam headlight. Therefore, the design applicability is poor, and needs to be modified.
In addition, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,603, the light shield disposed in front of the light source is used to compensate for light intensity of the dark region, but the light shield and a supporting case are integrally formed by casting. During casting, the accuracy must be improved; otherwise, after the light shield is shaped, the disposition angle easily generates deviation, such that the light rays cannot be reflected to a preset direction. Moreover, the design cannot be applied to the vehicle headlight capable of being switched between the high-beam headlight and the low-beam headlight.

Vehicle headlight capable of compensating for light intensity of dark region


A method and a configuration are provided for compensating for parasitic current losses in an MRAM memory cell array. Individual word lines and bit lines are supplied with currents which are proportioned in such a way that a total current level at respective points of intersection between the word lines and the bit lines is substantially constant.

The present invention relates to a method and a configuration for compensating for parasitic current losses in a memory cell array including word lines, bit lines which cross the word lines, and memory cells that are provided at points of intersection between the word lines and the bit lines and through which parasitic currents resulting in the parasitic current losses flow.
A memory cell array of a conventional MRAM is illustrated in FIG. 2 and described in greater detail below. In such a memory cell array, memory cells are located at points of intersection having total current levels which stipulate magnetic fields that are available locally for programming the memory cells and can fluctuate greatly. Since the memory cells have a magnetic hysteresis, and particular threshold values need to be exceeded in order to program them, such fluctuations in the magnetic field are extremely undesirable. Therefore, memory cells all having substantially the same structure and threshold values cannot be programmed by using the same magnetic fields.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method and a configuration for compensating for parasitic current losses in a memory cell array, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known methods and configurations of this general type and which permit magnetic fields of the same size to be provided for the individual memory cells in each case.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for compensating for parasitic current losses in a memory cell array. The method comprises providing the memory cell array with word lines, bit lines crossing the word lines at points of intersection, and memory cells disposed at the points of intersection for conducting parasitic current flows resulting in the parasitic current losses. Currents individually fed into the word lines and bit lines are proportioned, in such a way that a sum of currents flowing through the word lines and the bit lines associated with each individual point of intersection is substantially constant at the points of intersection.
In the method according to the invention, the word lines and bit lines are thus supplied with currents having a size which is proportioned by taking into account the voltage drop arising across each memory cell. This is done in such a way that the total current level at the points of intersection between the word lines and the bit lines has a value which is substantially constant over the memory cell array. In this context, it is naturally not necessary for exactly the same total current level to be present at all points of intersection. Instead, it is sufficient if the current level at the individual points of intersection has substantially the same size. This can also be achieved by virtue of particular groups of word lines and bit lines being driven by using the same current in each case, which means that certain tolerable discrepancies from the ideal total current level may arise within the individual group. However, in any case, the invention permits fundamental compensation of the parasitic current loss in the individual word lines and bit lines by merely ensuring that the currents supplied to these word lines and bit lines have sizes substantially compensating for the parasitic current losses.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided a configuration for compensating for parasitic current losses in a memory cell array having word lines, bit lines crossing the word lines at points of intersection, and memory cells disposed at the points of intersection for conducting parasitic current flows resulting in the parasitic current losses. The configuration comprises word line drivers and bit line drivers for individually supplying differently proportioned currents to the word lines and the bit lines, causing a sum of currents flowing through the word lines and the bit lines associated with each individual point of intersection to be substantially constant at the points of intersection.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the memory cell array is a memory cell array of an MRAM.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method and a configuration for compensating for parasitic current losses, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Method and configuration for compensating for parasitic current losses


A semiconductor device is disclosed. The semiconductor device includes at least one row line arranged in a first direction over a cell array region, and at least one column line arranged in a second direction intersecting the first direction over the cell array region. The row line and the column line are configured to include conductive lines located at different levels and coupled to each other through a contact in the cell array region.

Some semiconductor devices have array structures where a plurality of unit elements is arranged in rows and columns. For example, a memory device includes a cell array structure in which a plurality of memory cells is arranged in a matrix shape, and an image sensor includes a pixel array structure in which a plurality of photosensing pixels for capturing light is arranged in a matrix shape.
Such array structures include a plurality of conductive lines configured to address the memory cells in a memory or the photosensing pixels in an imaging sensor. Some of the conductive lines extend in a row direction and are selected based on row addresses. Some other conductive lines extend in a column direction and are selected based on column addresses. Therefore, the conductive lines extending in the row direction and the conductive lines extending in the column direction are arranged at different levels separated from one another by at least one insulation layer. For example, conductive lines arranged in the column direction may be formed above the conductive lines arranged in the row direction.
Some semiconductor manufacturers recently are conducting intensive research to integrate a cell array and a control circuit for controlling the cell array into a single device by forming the cell array and the circuit in two different wafers and connecting those two wafers to each other by using bonding techniques.
However, when a first wafer includes a cell array and row and column address conductive lines and a second wafer includes the control circuit, a bonding of the first wafer to the second wafer requires separate bonding regions to be formed outside the cell array in the first wafer to couple the conductive lines formed in a lower layer of the first wafer to the control circuit formed on the second wafer.
In other words, while the conductive lines located in an upper layer of the first wafer can be directly bonded to the second water, conductive lines located in the lower layer of the first wafer may need to extend to outside the cell array region to be coupled to the second wafer outside the cell array region.
Such an extension of the bonding region may lead to an increase in a chip size.


Systems and methods for providing and using a teaching aid that enables swimmers to develop correct mechanics and movement patterns of a flip turn. A teaching aid is provided that functions to expedite the teaching and learning of proper flip turn mechanics by providing an object for a swimmer to place his/her hands on and press down for support, tactile feedback and spatial orientation as the swimmer learns to initiate and perform a proper flip turn. Utilization of the teaching aid allows a swimmer to feel and move through the proper mechanics of the flip turn, thereby expediting the swimmer's ability to perform the turn without assistance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to developing correct mechanics of a swimming flip turn. In particular, the present invention relates to providing and using a teaching aid that enables swimmers to develop correct mechanics and movement patterns of a flip turn that is used, for example, in freestyle and backstroke swimming events.
2. Background and Related Art
Conventional techniques for teaching proper mechanics of a flip turn include explaining the mechanics to a swimmer or talking a swimmer through the mechanics of a flip turn. Such techniques are often met with confusion by the swimmer. For example, the name of the turn causes confusion because use of the word "flip" can imply a 360-degree rotation, while proper execution of the flip turn only requires a 180-degree rotation.
Beyond the misleading name, coaches and swimming instructors use a myriad of other terms, verbal cues and phrases to describe or explain the mechanics of the flip turn. They search for the words and/or phrases that will invoke the correct movement interpretation for the swimmer that they are currently instructing. Sample instructions may include: "Do a somersault" (which may also imply a 360-degree rotation). "Get your nose to your knees and use your hands as a point of stability." "Don't scull with your hands." "Do scull with your hands." "Push water over your head." "Push the water down." "As soon as your legs come up, bring your arms up toward your head." "Pretend you're throwing something over your shoulders." "Keep your arms at your sides, until your sides aren't there anymore." Such expressions represent a trial and error approach that can prove to be ineffective, or at the very least, slow in delivering the desired result.
Adding to the challenge of teaching proper mechanics is the fact that most swimmers who are new to the flip turn are also typically novice swimmers who have less feel or kinesthetic awareness in water as compared to a more experienced swimmer. Many swimmers become lost as they tumble around, losing sight and awareness of where they are and where they are going. They move body parts (most notably, hands and arms) in all directions to gain some level of balance and direction. In the end, although most will acquire some cognizant understanding from verbal cues and prompting, few swimmers execute proper mechanics of the turn from such preliminary or initial instructional techniques. Most times, after receiving verbal instruction, the swimmers are left to figure it out by themselves through continued trial and error within their daily practice sessions.
Pictures, videos and demonstrations can prove helpful, yet there are subtleties of movement, critical to proper execution of the flip turn, that are not only difficult to translate into language, but equally difficult to observe. Such subtleties include a quick, short, push-down on the water with one or both hands (while at the swimmer's side) just after the final arm pull (while heading into the wall of the pool) and the initial tuck of the head. This quick, short downward thrust of the hands serves as a counterbalance of sorts by holding the swimmer from sinking to an improper depth caused by the downward pushing weight of the hips and legs as they rise up and out of the water. This quick downward hand push also helps to throw the hips and legs over with increased velocity, and keeps the hands and arms where they need to be throughout the flip so as to position them over the swimmer's head at the moment the feet are positioned on the wall for an immediate streamlined push-off.
Hands-on teaching strategies (physically moving the swimmer through the proper mechanics of the turn) while effective, are rarely practical given the most common teaching/coaching scenarios. Such techniques require the coach or instructor to be in the water and of sufficient size and strength to manipulate the movements of the swimmer. Moreover, it is also uncommon for an entire class or team of swimmers to be in need of learning the turn at the same time. Rather, it is much more common that one or two new swimmers are in need of learning the turn or that an individual swimmer or two is in need of a refresher on proper technique. It is not desirable or practical for a coach or instructor to leave the rest of what is typically a sizable group in order to move a couple of swimmers through the proper mechanics of the flip turn.
Thus, while techniques currently exist that are used to instruct proper mechanics of performing a flip turn, challenges still exist. Accordingly, it would be an improvement in the art to augment or even replace current techniques with other techniques.

Systems and methods for developing correct mechanics of a swimming flip turn