Perfluorinated polyethers having the formula EQU R.sub.f O--(CF.sub.2 CF.sub.2 O).sub.n --R'.sub.f. wherein n is and integer of 1-11 and each of R.sub.f and R'.sub.f is a perfluorinated C.sub.1 -C.sub.5 -alkyl radical, dimers of such polyethers and carbon to carbon intramolecularly coupled cyclic derivatives of such polyethers are produced by direct fluorination of the polyethers in an inert solvent. Compositions of the perfluorinated polyethers and their derivatives are useful as functional fluids.

I Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to new polymeric products of high purity whose molecules consist essentially of carbon, fluorine, and oxygen and having a polyether structure and to a new process for preparing the same by directly fluorinating the corresponding polyether consisting essentially of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a solvent. More particularly, the present invention relates to perfluorinated polyethers consisting of about one to eleven --(CF.sub.2 CF.sub.2 O) repeating units terminated with perfluorinated C.sub.1 -C.sub.5 alkyl radicals and to a new process for preparing the same by directly fluorinating the corresponding polyether in an inert solvent.
II Description of the Prior Art
Certain organofluoro compounds and polymers are known to exhibit outstanding high temperature stability properties and chemical inertness. Organofluoro compounds containing only carbon and fluorine atoms, fluorocarbon ethers and fluorocarbon amines are three general classes of materials which have found commercial success as coolants, lubricants, heat-transfer agents in reflow condensation soldering processes, and other functional fluid uses. Many compounds can be fully and directly chlorinated or brominated. However, when such compounds are directly fluorinated considerable difficulties are encountered.
Because perfluorinated polyethers have desirable properties, such as extremely good heat stability, outstanding chemical inertness, excellent lubricating properties and the like, much effort has been made to prepare perfluorinated polyethylene oxide having perfluoroalkyl terminal groups. Limited success has been reported in preparing such perfluorinated polymers having a low number (i.e., 2-4) of repeating ethylene oxide units and in preparing such perfluorinated polymers having a high molecular weight. For example, when high molecular polyethylene oxides are perfluorinated, most of the resulting product is a high molecular weight solid with only a small amount of low molecular weight fluid being formed. In order to prepare perfluorinated polyethers of mid-range molecular weights, i.e. being composed of 4-11 perfluoroethylene oxide units, it has been suggested to break solid perfluoro polyethers of high molecular weight into low molecular weight fragments by means of pyrolyzing the perfluoro polyethers at extremely high temperatures of 500-600.degree. C. and collecting the vaporized lower molecular weight perfluoro polyether fluids. The pyrolysis is not only expensive and difficult to carry out but also the resulting fluids are random mixtures of many perfluoro polyethers because of the random nature of the bond breakage of the high molecular weight perfluoro polyethers. The fragments must be reacted with fluorine gas to eliminate acyl end groups and any unsaturation of the resulting perfluoro polyethers.
Efforts to provide a process for the direct fluorination of organic compounds in solvents have heretofore been fraught with many problems, including the breakdown of the solvent by the fluorine gas, formation of explosive mixtures, and the insolubility of the fluorine gas with the solvent.

Novel perfluorinated polyethers and process for their preparation


A Programmable Terminal (PT) system, a PT device and a PT system management method having a function of displaying a screen having a content on a display screen while at the same time positively preventing the leakage of confidential content are disclosed. When a part read from a screen data file corresponds to the part including a content acquired from a server device, a transmission request command including a information indicating a storage location of a content data corresponding to the contents in the server device is transmitted to the server device through a communication circuit, the content data arriving as a response from the server device is acquired through the communication circuit and stored in a volatile memory. The part is plotted and displayed using the content data stored in the volatile memory and a part configuration information contained in the screen data file in a nonvolatile memory.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a programmable terminal system comprising at least a programmable terminal device and a server device connected to each other through a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In previously developed systems, a programmable terminal device (hereinafter referred to as the "PT") may be connected with a programmable logic controller (hereinafter referred to as the "PLC") and functions as a monitor (monitor device) for displaying the state of a device or a system to be controlled by the PLC. Also, the PT has a display screen in the form of a touch panel which is operated by the user to output a predetermined command to the PLC.
For this purpose, the monitor screen of the PT constitutes a display screen of a flat display panel with a large touch sensor, on which the state of the device to be controlled by the PLC is usually displayed. This monitor screen includes a background data displayed as a background of the monitor screen and figure data including various parts arranged and displayed on the background data. The parts of the figure data include an illustration figure corresponding to the device to be controlled (hereinafter referred to as the "object device"), a push-button switch figure for issuing an operation command to the object device and a display lamp figure indicating the operation status of the object device.
The image of the background displayed over the whole screen of the display panel is hereinafter called the "screen" and the various figures arranged and displayed on the screen are called the "parts". In what is called the multi-window control, however, the image corresponding to each of the windows (not necessarily enlarged over the whole screen) is called the "screen", and the information constituting the contents of the screen and the parts the "contents".
The PT and the PLC are connected communicably with each other. In the case where an input function part such as a push-button switch figure is operated through the touch panel by the user, a CPU making up the control unit of the PT applies an operation signal indicating (current status) to the PLC at an appropriate time to reflect the operation of the particular input function part in the physical unit of the PLC. In similar fashion, by changing the display status of any of the output function parts including various parts on the PT screen, the operation of a particular output function part is displayed on the screen. The parts may, for example, include a display lamp, an alarm lamp, a motor and a solenoid valve. The change in display occurs in operatively interlocked relation with the change in the control status of the PLC as the result of the CPU of the PT fetching the control status of the PLC.
In a more recently developed PT, in contrast, the display function is improved, so that not only the monitor screen for the PLC control status but also various screens including a trouble-shooting screen and a production command screen are adapted to be displayed by appropriately switching on the display screen. Some products placed on the market with the improved display function have as many as 4000 screens in total (see Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-133806).
The trouble-shooting screen is defined as a screen in which in case of trouble with the object device, for example, the job and the knowledge required for restoration are displayed in the form of a figure, a description or an illustration. The production command screen, on the other hand, is a screen in which production commands to the operator are displayed similarly in the form of a figure, a description or an illustration on a production line including the object device. These screens are often switched by the switching operation of the operator through the touch panel or an automatic switching process operatively interlocked with occurrence of a problem. The trouble-shooting screen and the production command screen are arranged on the background screen and therefore can be considered "parts". The repair work information, the knowledge, figures, description and the illustration displayed in the trouble-shooting screen may also be considered parts. The specifics such as the repair work and knowledge, the figures, the description and the illustration contained in each part correspond to the "contents".
The trouble-shooting screen and the production command screen are often used to display the accumulation of the production know-how and techniques with the contents data which are highly confidential information for the companies having the PT on the one hand and very useful information for the competitors on the other hand.
In the prior art, all the data required to plot the screen displayed on the display screen are usually stored in a nonvolatile memory (such as a flash memory or a hard disk) of the PT. Generally, the file management system of the nonvolatile memory is fixed in form and the data therein can be read out with comparative ease.
The conventional PT, therefore, poses the problem that the PT itself may be stolen or the data stored in the nonvolatile memory may be stolen by connecting a personal computer to the PT. As a result, the highly confidential information of the enterprise in which the PT is installed may be easily accessed.
Also, the production command screen must often be updated for securing the synchronization among a plurality of production lines. The data format required for plotting the screen, however, is analogous to the CAD unique to each PT, and therefore the data must be created by connecting a personal computer to each PT using an exclusive tool.
In the case where a PT is installed on each production line, therefore, for each update the bothersome job of creating or transferring the data using an exclusive tool must be repeated by connecting a personal computer to each PT.
In addition, the need of operating an exclusive image creation tool instead of a multipurpose OA software leads to the problem that a skilled operator is required to rewrite the data.
This invention has been achieved in view of the aforementioned problems of the conventional PT, and an object of the invention is to provide a PT system, a PT device and a method of managing the PT system in which the screen of arbitrary contents can be displayed on a display screen and the confidential contents can be protected from unauthorized access.
Another object of the invention is to provide a PT system, a PT device and a method of managing the PT system in which the data required to plot the screen can be rewritten without connecting a personal computer having an exclusive tool built therein to each PT.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a PT system, a PT device and a method of managing the PT system in which the data required to plot the screen can be rewritten without connecting a personal computer having an exclusive tool built therein to each PT, and in which multipurpose OA software can be used to rewrite the required contents.
The above and other objects, features and advantages will be easily understood by persons skilled in the art with reference to the following description.


The equalizer hanger system includes a torque arm bracket which is secured to the vehicle frame and depends downwardly therefrom. The bracket includes means for receiving one end of a torque arm, the other end thereof being connected to an axle of the vehicle. A beam-type load cell for measuring the force of a vehicle load is bolted to the undersurface of the torque arm bracket, and an equalizer bracket is bolted to the lower surface of the load cell. A conventional equalizer member is mounted to the equalizer bracket, with the equalizer adapted to receive portions of the suspension system for the vehicle.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,529, which is owned by the same assignee as the present invention, discloses a dual-axle equalizer hanger system used in a vehicle on-board weighing system. In one of the embodiments which has been commercially implemented, a force transducer is secured to a facing surface of the equalizer hanger to measure the weight of the vehicle load. One of the disadvantages of that system is the expense required for the manufacture and/or inventory of the large number of possible equalizer hanger systems. In addition, if a force transducer fails, the entire equalizer hanger assembly must be cut off the vehicle and a new one welded on.
The basic system disclosed in the '529 patent, however, was an improvement over previous systems in which portions of the frame of the vehicle had to be cut away and then replaced by a beam-type load cell, to which the equalizer hanger was then secured. This was an even more expensive and time-consuming process.
In order to satisfy the demand for a simple retrofit weighing system for use with a load equalizer suspension assembly, the system of the present invention was designed. The present design allows the use of conventional load cells and conventional equalizer members, as well as permitting fast and convenient replacement of existing load cells which may become defective.

Equalizer hanger system for on-board weighing


In a switching mode power supply, an input received from the secondary side of the transformer 7 and indicative of the power being drawn by the loads is used to control the timing of bursts. The input is compared with two threshold different threshold values V2, V3, and switching is enabled if the input rises above a first higher threshold value V2, and disabled if it falls below a second lower threshold value V3. A memory device FF1 controls a current limitation circuit which limits currents in the primary of the transformer when the switching mode power supply is operating in the burst mode.

Switching mode power supplies are being increasingly used in many domestic and industrial applications. Apparatus such as televisions or computer monitors operate in one of a number of states or modes. For example, a first "off" mode occurs when there is no power being supplied to the apparatus; a second "on" mode occurs when the device is switched on and operating normally; and a third mode, referred to as a "standby mode", occurs when the device is to remain powered but with reduced functions and reduced power consumption. In the case that the apparatus is a television, for example, the standby mode may, for example, be a mode in which the television is not displaying a picture or producing sound, but certain circuitry in the television remains powered so that, if the "on" button of the remote control is pressed the television will return to the "on" mode.
SMPS are implemented by supplying a regulated power supply to a the primary side of a transformer in series with a transistor. The secondary side of the transformer is connected to the apparatus ("load"). Switching of the transistor (usually, but not exclusively, switching off of the transistor; so called "fly-back" operation) causes variations in the current through the transformer, resulting in an output power on the secondary side of the transistor. The secondary side of the transformer is connected via a smoothing circuit to the apparatus to be powered. The average number of switching operations per unit time, and the current caused to flow in the transistor in each switching operation, together determine the average power transmitted to the apparatus. The main advantage of SMPS in comparison to conventional power supplies built up by means of linear regulators is their high efficiency at full load.
However, when the load decreases and the switching cycle remains the same, the efficiency of the SMPS decreases tremendously, since power losses are almost entirely due to the switching losses, which in turn are almost exactly proportional to the number of switching operations the transistor performs. A known solution to this problem is to reduce the number of switching operations per unit time as the load falls, such that the average number of switching operations is sufficient to supply the load. Since the number of switching operations is reduced, the switching losses decrease as the load is reduced.
There are several known methods for controlling the timing of the switching operations.
One solution is "frequency reduction", in which in a given mode the switching operations on the transistor are periodic with a frequency substantially proportional to the power to be supplied to the load in that mode. Thus, in modes for which the power consumption of the load is low, the frequency of the switching operation is low, and thus the switching losses are low. Such a solution is described for example in the document "Data sheet TEA 1507", published by Philips on 5 Dec. 2000. A disadvantage of this technique is that if the frequency of the switching operations decreases into the audible range, an audible noise is generated by the transformer.
Another solution is to maintain the frequency of the switching operations at the same value irrespective of whether the device is operating in high or low power mode, but in the low power mode to interrupt the switching operations. Thus, in this "burst mode" there are "bursts" ("frames") of high frequency power pulses separated by periods in which there are no power pulses at all. The average power transmitted thus depends upon the proportion of the operation of the SMPS for which the bursts are transmitted. Such techniques too are described in the TEA1507 document. U.S. Pat. No. 6,392,06 also describes such a concept. The burst mode is entered by a signal generated from the secondary side of the transformer, and transmitted to the primary side by an optocoupler. Once, the burst mode is entered, the timing of the bursts is determined by a measurement of a voltage ("undervoltage") on the primary side. This is known as "undervoltage lockout". A disadvantage of this technique is that if the load rises during one of the periods between bursts then the circuit cannot react until the next burst is reached.
Another known technique is to control the burst mode based on a Vcc signal derived from a winding on the transformer. This is employed in the FS6Series of Fairchild (see, for example, application note 4116 published by Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation). The burst mode is entered if a feedback signal obtained from the secondary side of the transformer is kept below a certain level. The disadvantage with this is that the control is mainly taken over by the Vcc and therefore not directly load dependent.
Another known technique, employed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,061B1 and in the NCP1203 system of Semiconductor Component Industries LLC, is to start the burst mode when the load is below a certain level. The disadvantage of this concept is that there is no hysteresis implemented between the normal operation mode and the burst mode. Therefore, high frequency turning on and off of the burst mode (high frequency "bursting") can occur if the changes around this level become small, and this too can lead to a disadvantageous audible noise.


An anti-glare film is obtained by forming a resin layer having a low refraction index on an anti-glare layer is obtained by coating a transparent plastic film with a liquid composition containing a polymer, a curable resin precursor, and a solvent, evaporating the solvent, forming a phase separation structure by spinodal decomposition, and curing the precursor with light irradiation. The anti-glare film has an uneven surface structure in the anti-glare layer, isotropically transmits and scatters an incident light to show the maximum value of the scattered light intensity at a scattering angle of 0.–10°, and has a total light transmittance of 70–100%. The film prevents dazzle or blur of images on a display surface, and reflection of a surrounding scenery, and improves contrast with reducing whitening of the display, even in a high definition display apparatus.

To prevent reflection of a surrounding scenery in a display surface of a liquid crystal display apparatus or others, the display surface is usually kept away from regular reflection by coating or applying a mixture of a fine particle and a binder resin or curable resin on a support to form uneven (rough) structure on the surface, and is provided with anti-glareness. However, in a high definition display apparatus which has a small pixel size, a conventionally used surface-uneven size brings about debasement of an image such as dazzle (or glare) in display and blur (or indistinctness) of images. That is, in the case of a high definition display apparatus, a degree of a conventionally used surface-uneven size is close to that of the pixel size in the high definition display, and dazzle is generated due to a lens effect caused by the surface unevenness. Moreover, since the centroid position of the fine particles is unable to control in the inside and surface structures of a coat layer, the transmitted scattered-light distribution shows the Gaussian distribution with a central focus on a rectilinear transmitted light. In a conventional fine particle size, accordingly, the scatteration on the periphery of the rectilinear transmitted light increases, and the pixel border becomes vague or unclear, as a result blur (or clouding) of images occurs.
Therefore, there has been tried to minify a size of a fine particle to be added, or to control an uneven shape of the surface with the use of fine particles having a limited particle size distribution. In these manners, however, it is necessary for preventing dazzle or blur of images to control the centroid position of the fine particles. Moreover, since the uneven shape of the surface becomes smaller, compatibility of adequate anti-glareness is difficult to attain and there is disadvantage from the viewpoint of cost performance.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 215307/2001 (JP-2001-215307A) discloses an anti-glare layer containing a transparent fine particle having the mean particle size of 15 μm in a coat layer whose thickness is not less than twice of the mean particle size, wherein the anti-glare layer has a surface having a finely uneven structure through unevenly distributing the transparent fine particles in one side being in touch with air of the coat layer. This literature also discloses the anti-glare layer supported by a transparent support film, and an optical member comprising the anti-glare layer in at least one side of a polarizing plate.
As a technique for disposing a low refraction index layer on a surface in order to express a low reflective power (or property), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 264508/2001 (JP-2001-264508A) discloses an anti-glare antireflection film comprising an anti-glare hardcoat layer and a low refraction index layer formed on a transparent support in this order, wherein the anti-glare hardcoat layer contains particles having a mean particle size of 1 to 10 μm, and the low refraction index layer contains inorganic fine particles having a mean particle size of 0.001 to 0.2 μm, a hydrolysate of a photo-curable organosilane and/or a partial condensate thereof and a fluorine-containing polymer, and has a refraction index of 1.35 to 1.49.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 281411/2001 (JP-2001-281411A) discloses an anti-glare antireflection film having similar composition as that recited in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 264508/2001 (JP-2001-264508A), wherein the film has the visibility of a transmitted image using an optical slit of 0.5 mm width being 30 to 70%.
Also in such films, however, since the intensity distribution of the transmitted scattered-light is controlled with a particle size thereof, it is impossible to prevent dazzle or blur of images in the display surface effectively. Moreover, these films have a disadvantage from the viewpoint of cost performance due to using a special fine particle.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A compressor leakage detector includes a water tank, an elevator platform, a control panel, and a pressure testing unit. The elevator platform is disposed in the water tank to rise and drop vertically. The operating panel of the control panel has a human-machine interface, indicators, and pressure gauges. The pressure testing unit in the control panel uses an intake pipe to connect to several branch pipes that in turn connect to the compressors in the water tank. Each of the branch pipes connects in series to at least one intake EM valve and at least one exhaust EM valve. A pressure sensor is interposed between the intake EM valve and the corresponding compressor.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a leakage detector and, in particular, to a device that measures the sealing property of a compressor after its assembly.
2. Related Art
As shown in FIG. 5, a conventional leakage detector for compressors includes a water tank 8. Ten vehicle air conditioning compressors 9 are disposed at the bottom of the water tank 8. Each of the compressors 9 is pressurized. The water tank 8 is then filled with water to test the compressors 9. The water tank 8 has an observing window 80. After the compressors 9 are under the pressure in the water tank 8, one can observe the sealing property of them via the observing window 80. If the sealing of a compressor 9 is not good, bubbles are likely produced. This determines whether each of the compressors 9 in the water tank 8 passes the leakage test.
However, the above-mentioned compressor leakage detector has the following problems:
1. Even though the water tank 8 has sufficient space to accommodate several compressors 9 at a time and the compressors 8 are tested at the same time, the tester simply uses naked eyes to observe whether any bubble is produced. If the bubbles from a compressor 9 are not obvious and not continuously produced, the tester may not be able to detect them. This can be a blind spot in the quality check of compressors 9.
2. If the bubbles produced due to air leakage from a compressor 9 are so tiny that the tester cannot identify them by naked eyes, such compressors 9 are likely considered as good. This is another blind spot.
3. When the tester observes the compressors 9 via the observing window 80, the observing window 80 is likely to become foggy. Besides, watermarks and dirty residues also influence observations.
4. The compressors 9 are pumped with pressurized gas before being put into the water tank 8. If a compressor 9 is not completely locked, it may explode during the pressuring process. In this case, its parts would fly all over the place to hurt people and damage other objects. It is thus potentially dangerous.
The conventional compressor leakage detector requires human observations. It is not only time-consuming, but also lacks accuracy. This renders leakage tests of compressors 9 very inefficient. It also has the potential danger that parts of the compressor may explode after it is pressurized.


This invention provides a diagnostic mechanism of a differential pressure type mass flow controller comprising a diagnostic parameter calculating section that obtains a mass flow rate integrated value by means of an integrating calculation from the lowering pressure value of an inlet side sensor among the inlet side sensor and an outlet side sensor arranged in communication respectively at the inlet side and the outlet side of a differential pressure generating resistive element that generates a differential pressure between the inlet and the outlet by changing a flow rate control valve arranged on the channel where a fluid flows from a flow rate control state to a closed state, and further obtains a diagnostic volume value from the obtained mass flow rate integrated value, and a comparing section that compares the diagnostic volume value obtained at the diagnostic parameter calculating section with a specified volume value.

Conventionally, a flow rate control unit represented by a pressure type flow controller known as a nozzle diagnostic mechanism can diagnose abnormality of a flow channel narrowing nozzle and a piping system constituting a flow channel located on a downstream side of the nozzle.
This kind of nozzle diagnostic mechanism comprises a control section that makes it possible to diagnose an inside flow channel narrowing nozzle by reading a time dependent change of a gas pressure value inside the flow channel in conjunction with an open/close movement of a close valve and a flow rate adjusting valve at a time of self-diagnosis in a state that the flow rate adjusting valve is closed and the close valve is open.
Then, in the case that no abnormality exists in the gas flow channel, a curve line of the time dependent change of the gas pressure value measured at a time of conducting a self-diagnosis (t=0˜Δt) such as a nozzle clog describes a curve line that almost overlaps a specified value. On the contrary, in the case that the flow channel narrowing nozzle is clogged, a descending speed of an initial pressure slows from a start (at a time t=0) of the self-diagnosis time as shown in a virtual line. More specifically, at a time when the time dependent change curve line of the gas pressure is abnormal, it can be known that the abnormal curve line is attributed to the clogged nozzle (refer to patent document 1).    Patent document 1: Japan patent laid-open number 2000-214916

Diagnostic mechanism in differential pressure type mass flow controller


Two control strategies may be implemented to optimize mud circulation in a drilling mud circulation system. In a networked control strategy, the mud circulation system does not involve any centralized controller yet all the local controllers can exchange information in real-time via a central data storage. The master-slave control strategy involves a centralized optimizer, and the subsystems are treated as slave systems and are driven by a visual master control system.

The mud circulation systems and components that make up the drilling mud circulation system thereof are complex and include many subsystems such as mud pipes, solid removers (e.g., shakers), mixers, pumps, and chokes. The mud density, viscosity, flow rate, and pump pressure are important manipulating variables to ensure a safe and smooth drilling process. In literature, several control methods have been proposed for controlling the pump, shaker, and mixer to get mud with desired quality. Mud quality refers to the ability for the mud to retain the cutting removing efficiency and preserve the borehole stability. Higher quality muds increase the efficiency and efficacy of drilling operations.
In current mud circulation systems, each subsystem of the mud circulation system has an independent controller. This framework is referred to as "decentralized control strategy." The obvious drawback of a decentralized control strategy is that each controller only monitors its own performance. Simple examples show that turning on two feedback systems, each with its own sensor and actuator, simultaneously, can lead to disastrous loss of performance, or even instability. This is due to the interaction of the subsystems such that each controller will compete or even contradict with the other subsystems/controllers and thus reduce the overall system's performance. In the mud control, for example, if the controller on the choke and the controller on the pump are trying to control the flow rate/pressure independently, the choke controller may be saturated quickly because it does not consider the output from the pump controller. This may reduce the overall performance of the mud pressure/flow rate adjustment or even damage the choke.
It should be understood, however, that the specific embodiments given in the drawings and detailed description thereto do not limit the disclosure. On the contrary, they provide the foundation for one of ordinary skill to discern the alternative forms, equivalents, and modifications that are encompassed together with one or more of the given embodiments in the scope of the appended claims.

Coordinated control for mud circulation optimization


Nonmutagenic, highly twisted derivatives of benzidine of the following formula ##STR1## useful as intermediates for the preparation of various organic pigments were obtained. The benzidine derivatives are significantly rotated about the biphenyl linkage due to bulky substituents at the R.sub.2 and/or R.sub.4 positions. Bisazomethine, disaoacetoacetanilide, disazopyrazolone, disazobenzimidazolone and disazonaphthol pigments prepared from these highly twisted benzidines exhibit hypsochromic spectral shifts relative to pigments prepared from other benzidine compounds with less twist about the biphenyl linkage, for instance, other benzidine compounds in which all four R.sub.2 and R.sub.4 represent H. Greenish-yellow, yellow, orange, red and brown pigments obtained from the twisted benzidines are nonmutagenic in the standard Ames test and Prival modification.

It is well known that bis-chromophoric dyes and pigments (e.g. disazo compounds) prepared from unsubstituted or 3,3'-disubstituted benzidines exhibit bathochromic spectral shifts relative to identically substituted mono-chromophoric colorants (e.g. monoazo compounds) prepared from aniline, or 2-substituted derivatives thereof. For example, in two papers by Christie et al. (Dyes Pigm., 9 (1988) 37-56; Dyes Pigm., 11 (1989) 109-121), a diarylide pigment (see, compound 1) exhibited a .lambda..sub.max of 445 nm in N,N-dimethylformamide (abbreviated as DMF) while the corresponding monoarylide pigment (see, compound 2) exhibited a .lambda..sub.max of 392 nm in DMF. ##STR2##
In the case of azo pigments derived from acetoacetanilide, monoarylide pigments (e.g., compound 2) are characterized by good light fastness and poor solvent resistance. Diarylide pigments (e.g., compound 1), however, possess higher color strength, good thermal stability, and enhanced solvent resistance compared to the monoarylide pigments. Thus, diarylide pigments are the preferred class of colorants for many applications.
However, the significant bathochromic shift observed when benzidine-type intermediates are employed in the preparation of diarylide pigments (relative to when aniline-type compounds are used for the synthesis of monoarylide pigments) can limit the color gamut of diarylides. In particular, greenish-yellow dyes and pigments are not easily accessible. Thus, the ability to prepare colorants based on derivatives of benzidine that exhibit hypsochromic shifts to those normally achievable is desirable.
With respect to diarylide and monoarylide pigments, if it is presumed that diarylides exhibit bathochromic shifts relative to analogous monoarylides due to, in the most part, significant .PI. orbital overlap across the biphenyl linkage at the 1,1'-position, where the numbering of the benzidine positions is as follows ##STR3## then, it follows that hypsochromic shifts should be obtainable by decreasing the .PI. orbital overlap.
One method by which a reduction in the degree of .PI. orbital overlap could be achieved is by twisting of the biphenyl group about the 1,1'-bond, for example, by insertion of bulky substituents in the 2,2'-positions. Examination of the open literature (see, for instance, J. Lenoir, The Chemistry of Synthetic Dyes, Volume V, ed. K. Venkataraman, Academic Press, New York (1952) 345) shows that an example of a diarylide pigment containing a substituent other than hydrogen in the 2,2'-positions has been reported. The example is compound 3 (C.I. Pigment Yellow 15). Compound 4 (C.I. Pigment Yellow 81) and compound 5 (C.I. Pigment Yellow 113) are two other examples from the Colour Index (3rd Ed., Lund-Humphries: London, 1971). See Table 1 below for these three structures.
TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ Selected diarylide pigments derived from twisted benzidines 1 STR4## - Compound R.sub.1 R.sub.2 X.sub.1 X.sub.2 X.sub.3 __________________________________________________________________________ 3 OMe Cl Me Me H 4 Cl Cl Me Me H 5 Cl Cl Me Cl H 6 Cl H Me Cl H __________________________________________________________________________
Compounds 3, 4, and 5 are indeed hypsochromic relative to analogous pigments in which the substituent at each position R.sub.2 is hydrogen. For instance, compound 6 (C.I. Pigment Orange 14) is orange, whereas compound 5 is yellow.
Although the inclusion of a bulky substituent into the 2,2'-positions of benzidine-type compounds has been undertaken, thereby providing a hypsochromic shift in the resultant colorant, previously made compounds are believed to be genotoxic, and are therefore potentially hazardous to humans and the environment. By genotoxic is meant these compounds interact with DNA to produce heritable changes in a cell or organism. In humans, such changes are associated with birth defects, carcinogenesis, and other types of diseases.
It is well documented in the open literature that benzidine and certain well-known derivatives of benzidine, for instance, 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine, 3,3'-dimethylbenzidine and 3,3'-dimethoxybenzidine, hereinafter referred to as common benzidines, are mutagenic. It is also known that certain colorants prepared from common benzidines are mutagenic. Furthermore, it is generally believed that compounds that exhibit mutagenic activity are potentially carcinogenic, and that the manufacture and use of such substances presents an occupational risk, as well as a potential risk to the health of living organisms that are exposed to those substances.
Following the discovery of the genotoxicity of benzidine, and later the mutagenicity of common benzidines, legislation was introduced in many countries either banning or severely restricting the industrial production and use of these compounds (see, for instance, OSHA. Carcinogens: Occupational Health and Safety Standards; U.S. Federal Register 39 (1974) 3756-3797, and The Carcinogenic Substances Regulations 1967, U.K. Statutory Instrument No. 879). For a discussion of the genotoxicity of benzidine and its congeners, see, for instance, Clarke (Int. Dyer & Text. Printer, No. 5, 250-255) and Fishbein (The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Vol. 3, Part C, Ed. by O. Hutzinger, Springer-Verlag, New York (1984) 1-40).
The restricted synthesis and use of common benzidines has resulted in a large reduction in their employment in the field of coloration, as well as other fields such as polymer cross-linking and clinical analysis. Production of high volume dyes based on benzidine itself and its congeners has been practically discontinued in the Western World.
In certain countries, however, the use of pigments derived from common benzidines is permitted, since pigments tend to be unchanged during normal processing conditions, and since prolonged exposure of living organisms to pigments derived from common benzidines has not been shown to result in significant genotoxicity. Hence, pigments derived from common benzidines, particularly 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine, are still available commercially. In fact, diarylide pigments derived from 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine command the major market share of organic yellow pigments.
Nevertheless, the occupational risk remains for manufacturing common benzidines themselves prior to their conversion into pigments. There is a risk also of small amounts of common benzidines in their unconverted form becoming incorporated into pigments, and therefore being released into receiving waters following pigment processing. Furthermore, there is a risk of common benzidines being released upon thermal degradation of pigments derived from common benzidines following certain processing conditions, such as melt extrusion of pigment-colored polymers.
An examination of the pertinent literature prior to the discovery of the genotoxicity of benzidine reveals the commercial importance of dyes and pigments prepared from common benzidines. Approximately 250 colorants derived from benzidine, approximately 90 colorants derived from 3,3'-dimethoxybenzidine (o-dianisidine), and approximately 95 colorants derived from 3,3'-dimethylbenzidine (o-tolidine) are listed in the Colour Index (3rd Ed., Lund-Humphries: London, 1971). The commercial importance of common benzidines was due in part to the economy and ease with which such compounds could be produced, and also to the desirable technical properties the aforementioned compounds can impart to a colorant.
In view of the commercial importance of common benzidines prior to the discovery of their harmful effects to living organisms, the prospect remains that production of such compounds could be restored to the marketplace on a wider scale should a method be found that significantly reduces the harmful effects of benzidine-type compounds. In recent years, researchers have worked towards the development of nonmutagenic amines, since mutagenicity is correlated with carcinogenicity. In addition, in vitro test methods have been developed to assess the mutagenic activity of compounds as a means of predicting carcinogenicity.
The most widely accepted mutagenicity screening test procedure for amines is the Salmonella mammalian microsome mutagenicity assay developed by Ames et al. (Mutat. Res., 31 (1975) 347), hereinafter referred to as the Ames test. Subsequently, a modification of the Ames test was introduced by Prival et al. (Mutat. Res., 97 (2) (1982) 103) specifically for evaluating the mutagenicity of azo compounds, hereinafter referred to as the Prival modification. For a general discussion of mutagenicity as it pertains to colored materials, see, for instance, Freeman et al., Genotoxicity of Azo Dyes: Bases and Implications, Physico-Chemical Principles of Color Chemistry, Advances in Color Chemistry Series, Vol. 4, ed. by A. T. Peters and H. S. Freeman (Blackie Academic Press: Glasgow, 1996) 254-291; Freeman et al., Dyes Pigm. 8 (6) (1987) 431-47; and Freeman et al., CHEMTECH, July (1991), 438-445.
The discovery by Shahin et al. (Mutation. Res. 79 (1980) 289; Environ. Mutagen. 7 (4) (1985) 535) that the mutagenicity of aromatic amines can be lowered or removed by incorporating bulky alkyl or alkoxy substituents ortho to the amino group on a molecule has spurred significant interest in this area, particularly for a method to prepare nonmutagenic derivatives of benzidine.
In one patent, DE 3 511 544 A1 to Hunger et al., described is the synthesis of nonmutagenic derivatives of benzidine of the following formula ##STR5## wherein R represents n-butyl, isopentyl, or phenyl. These compounds were reported to be nonmutagenic in the Ames test, presumably due to the ability of bulky substituents in the two ortho positions to the two amino groups in the 4,4'-positions to prevent metabolic activation.
In another patent, DE 3 511 545 A1 to Hunger et al., described is the synthesis of derivatives of benzidine of the following formula ##STR6## wherein R represents n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, 1-methylpropyl, n-propoxy, isopropoxy, isobutoxy, 1-methylpropoxy, or 2-methoxyethoxy. These compounds were reported to be nonmutagenic in the Ames test.
In a later patent, DE 3 534 634 A1 to Bauer et al., nonmutagenic compounds of the type described by Hunger et al. were used as intermediates for the synthesis of water soluble disazo dyes of the following formula ##STR7## wherein R represents groups as described in the two patents to Hunger et al., and B and B' represent, for instance, substituted naphthalene groups of the following formula ##STR8## wherein X represents, for instance, OH, or NH.sub.2, and n represents 0, 1, or 2.
Furthermore, utilization of a nonmutagenic derivative of benzidine is described in Holland et al. (Tetrahedron, 30, No. 18 (1974) 3299-3302) and also in U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,845 to Conshaw et al. In both instances, a benzidine derivative of the following formula ##STR9## is employed as a reagent for detecting the presence of, for example, glucose in fluids. The compound, 3,5,3',5'-tetramethylbenzidine, is nonmutagenic in the Ames test.
A different approach that has been taken to reduce the occupational risk of colorants derived from benzidines involves the preparation of dyestuff intermediates that provide technical properties similar to the common benzidines, while exhibiting low genotoxicity. An example of this approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,817 to Ogino et al., which discloses compounds having, for instance, the following formula ##STR10## as replacements for benzidine.
Despite the aforementioned methods for the generation of nonmutagenic derivatives of benzidine, examination of the open literature shows that benzidine-type compounds have not been disclosed that contain bulky alkyl, alkoxy, aryloxy, and/or halogeno substituents ortho to the amino functional groups and substituents ortho to the biphenyl linkage, the former providing nongenotoxicity and the latter also providing colorants giving hypsochromic shifts.

Organic pigments from twisted benzidines


A curtain wall including an extruded aluminum sill having a first channel for receiving a glazed panel, a sill anchor/access portion for securing the sill to a poured concrete slab or slab wall, and toward the interior side of the sill, a wireway is defined in part by the sill and in part by a wireway cover for concealing power and/or data/telecommunication cables. The wireway cover may also include outlet devices or plugs arranged in a longitudinally spaced relationship.

Curtain walls are typically constructed of extruded aluminum frame support members having generally U-shaped channels for supporting a plurality of panel members that serve as the exterior of a building. Such panel members are most often panes of glass, but other paneled building materials such as aluminum, granite, slate, or concrete are also utilized. Such panel members are often of identical size and shape. However, near doors, opening windows, or other access points into the building, panel members of different sizes an shapes may be utilized.
More specifically, such curtain walls generally include a horizontal sill member having an upwardly facing U-shaped channel at the bottom of a wall section, a horizontal head member having a downwardly facing U-shaped channel at the top of a wall section, and a plurality of vertical mullions running between the sill and head members. Panel members are supported by the U-shaped channels of the sill member and the head member, and the vertical joints between adjacent panel members are formed at the mullions. Typically, the mullions are disposed interiorly of the sill member, the head member, and the panel members so that only the joint between adjacent panel members, and not the mullions themselves, are visible from the exterior of the building.
An exemplary, conventional curtain wall is described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,182, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. As described therein, and with reference to FIG. 1, a sill member 10 is illustrated for securing a curtain wall to a concrete slab 12. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a head member similar to sill member 10 secures the curtain wall to a concrete slab between floors of a building or other building structure, and a plurality of mullions span between sill member 10 and the head member. Sill member 10 is typically formed as an integral aluminum extrusion. Sill member 10 generally includes a channel section 14, an anchoring section 16 disposed interiorly of channel section 14, and a cover 18.
Channel section 14 and cover 18 cooperate to secure a panel member 20 to sill member 10. More specifically, channel section 14 includes a base 14a and two legs 14b and 14c that form a upwardly facing U-shaped channel. A support member 22 rests on the top surface of base 14a. Leg 14b has a groove 24 proximate the upper end of its interior surface, and leg 14c has a support surface 26 proximate the upper end of its interior surface. Cover 18 has a downwardly depending resilient leg 28 that engages a groove 30 on the exterior surface of leg 14c. Cover 18 also has a tongue 32. Panel member 20 is supported within channel section 14 via setting block 34 and resilient gaskets 36 and 38. Setting block 34 is disposed on the top surface of support member 22. Resilient gasket 36 has a tongue 36a that engages groove 24 of leg 14b. Resilient gasket 36 is typically pre-installed in groove 24 of leg 14b during manufacturing of sill member 10. Resilient gasket 38 has a groove 38a that engages tongue 32 of cover 18 and a surface 38b that mates with surface 26 of leg 14c. Channel section 14 further includes a plurality of support legs 40 below base 14a.
Anchoring section 16 includes a base 16a, a leg 16b, and a plurality of support legs 42 below base 16a. Base 16a has a plurality of holes 44 spaced along its length for receiving bolts or fastening means 46, and the diameter of each hole 44 may either be substantially identical to the diameter of a threaded shank 46a of each bolt 46, or the hole 44 may be slotted to allow for horizontal adjustment of the sill position. Leg 16b has a groove 48 for receiving a tongue 49 of cover 18.
The following technique is typically used to install a panel member 20 of such a conventional curtain wall. First, sill member 10 is laid on a shim 56 in the proper position on slab 12 and is used as a template to drill holes into slab 12 for each bolt 46. One should note that shim 56 does not run continuously along the length of sill member 10. Instead, shim 56 is used at low points of slab 12 to level sill member 10, if necessary. Next, sill member 10 is removed from shim 56, and a hole 50 with a larger diameter is drilled in the place of each of the holes drilled using sill member 10. A structural insert 52 is then secured within each of holes 50 via epoxy or other conventional means. Each insert 52 has an internally threaded hole 54 for receiving bolts 46. Sill member 10 is then repositioned on shim 56 and secured to slab 12 using bolts 46. A sealant 58 is disposed on slab 12 along both the exterior and interior sides of shim 56 and a head member similar to sill member 10 may also be secured to part of the building structure using the above-described techniques. Thereafter, vertical mullions are secured between sill member 10 and the head member at appropriate intervals along the curtain wall. A support member 22 is disposed on base 14a of sill member 10, and setting block 34 is disposed on support member 20. Panel member 20 is then installed from the exterior of the building, typically first being tilted into the channel section of the head member, and then being dropped into channel section 14 of sill member 10. The cover 18 can then be installed in sill member 10, and a glazing stop is installed in the head member of the curtain wall. Finally, resilient gasket 38 is disposed on tongue 32 of cover 18 of sill member 10, and a similar gasket is disposed on the tongue of the glazing stop of the head member.
Of course, multiple panel members 20 are typically arranged side-by-side and are secured and sealed between sill member 10 and the head member in this manner, with their vertical joint overlapping at a mullion. This vertical joint must then be sealed from both the interior and exterior of the building using both resilient gaskets and/or structural silicone.
Current means of architectural glazing with metal framing generally include three types of systems: individual window units or ribbon windows; storefront or entry systems with structural capacity to span one or two vertical levels; and curtain wall systems which are self-supporting over the entire height of the building, as described above. As used broadly herein, "curtain wall" is understood to refer to all types of glazing systems with metal framing and "sill" is understood to refer to either a horizontal or vertical sill member depending upon the particular construction. Advantages of these systems over older wood or solid metal framing include increased glass areas for providing natural light to building interiors, structural capacity to support insulated glazing, and resistance to temperature and water infiltration. While such systems, and other conventional curtain walls, have proved to be reliable commercial building systems, they suffer from several drawbacks. One particular drawback of these types of systems is the limited opportunity to provide power and/or data to the predominate exterior walls of the building, unless a separate metal stud and finish partition, with conventional conduits and outlets, is created between or under the window system, which thereby requires increased labor for installation and destroys the aesthetic appeal created by the curtain wall and increased glass area.

Integrated curtain wall and wireway distribution system


Provided are compounds of Formula I:

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide (Boyer, N. et al. J Hepatol. 32:98-112, 2000) so a significant focus of current antiviral research is directed toward the development of improved methods of treatment of chronic HCV infections in humans (Di Besceglie, A. M. and Bacon, B. R., Scientific American, October: 80-85, (1999); Gordon, C. P., et al., J. Med. Chem. 2005, 48, 1-20; Maradpour, D., et al., Nat. Rev. Micro. 2007, 5(6), 453-463). A number of HCV treatments are reviewed by Dymock et al. in Antiviral Chemistry & Chemotherapy, 11:2; 79-95 (2000). Virologic cures of patients with chronic HCV infection are difficult to achieve because of the prodigious amount of daily virus production in chronically infected patients and the high spontaneous mutability of HCV virus (Neumann, et al., Science 1998, 282, 103-7; Fukimoto, et al., Hepatology, 1996, 24, 1351-4; Domingo, et al., Gene, 1985, 40, 1-8; Martell, et al., J. Virol. 1992, 66, 3225-9).
Primarily two compounds, ribavirin, a nucleoside analog, and interferon-alpha (α) (IFN), have been used to treat chronic HCV infections in humans. Ribavirin alone is not effective in reducing viral RNA levels, has significant toxicity, and is known to induce anemia. The combination of IFN and ribavirin has been reported to be effective in the management of chronic hepatitis C (Scott, L. J., et al. Drugs 2002, 62, 507-556) but less than half the patients given this treatment show a persistent benefit. Recently, both telaprevir and boceprevir have also been approved in the United States for the treatment of HCV.
Additionally, alkynyl substituted thiophenes with anti-Flaviviridae virus activity have been disclosed by Chan, et al., WO 2008058393; Wunberg, et al., WO 2006072347; and Chan, et al., WO 2002100851; but none of these are currently approved as antiviral therapeutics. In spite of the above described reports, infections from the Flaviviridae virus family, including HCV, continue to cause significant mortality, morbidity and economic losses throughout the world. Therefore, there remains a need to develop effective treatments for Flaviviridae virus infections (e.g. HCV). In particular, there is a need for treatments for Flaviviridae virus infections that have developed resistance to one or more of the currently available therapies.

Abstract: Provided are compounds of Formula I:

Abstract: and pharmaceutically acceptable salts and esters thereof. The compounds, compositions, and methods provided are useful for the treatment of Flaviviridae virus infections (e.g. hepatitis C infections), particularly drug resistant Flaviviridae virus infections.


A hydraulic system is disclosed having first, second, and third pumps. The hydraulic system may also have a first actuator connected to the first pump in closed-loop manner, a second actuator connected to the second pump in closed-loop manner, and a third actuator. The hydraulic system may further have a selector valve associated with the third pump, and a first switching valve associated with the third pump and the third actuator. The first switching valve may be movable between a first position at which the third pump is connected to the third actuator in a closed-loop manner to move the third actuator in a first direction, a second position at which the third pump is connected to the third actuator in a closed-loop manner to move the third actuator in a second direction, and a third position at which the third pump is connected to the selector valve.

A conventional open-loop hydraulic system includes a pump that draws low-pressure fluid from a tank, pressurizes the fluid, and makes the pressurized fluid available to multiple different actuators for use in moving the actuators. In this arrangement, a speed of each actuator can be independently controlled by selectively throttling (i.e., restricting) a flow of the pressurized fluid from the pump into each actuator. For example, to move a particular actuator at a high speed, the flow of fluid from the pump into the actuator is restricted by only a small amount. In contrast, to move the same or another actuator at a low speed, the restriction placed on the flow of fluid is increased. Although adequate for many applications, the use of fluid restriction to control actuator speed can result in flow losses that reduce an overall efficiency of a hydraulic system.
An alternative type of hydraulic system is known as a closed-loop hydraulic system. A closed-loop hydraulic system generally includes a pump connected in closed-loop fashion to a single actuator or to a pair of actuators operating in tandem. During operation, the pump draws fluid from one chamber of the actuator(s) and discharges pressurized fluid to an opposing chamber of the same actuator(s). To move the actuator(s) at a higher speed, the pump discharges fluid at a faster rate. To move the actuator with a lower speed, the pump discharges the fluid at a slower rate. A closed-loop hydraulic system is generally more efficient than a conventional hydraulic system because the speed of the actuator(s) is controlled through pump operation as opposed to fluid restriction. That is, the pump is controlled to only discharge as much fluid as is necessary to move the actuator(s) at a desired speed, and little or no throttling of a fluid flow is required.
An exemplary closed-loop hydraulic system is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication 2008/0250785 of Griswold that published on Oct. 16, 2008 (the '785 publication). In the '785 publication, a multi-actuator hydraulic system is described that has flow combining functionality. The hydraulic system includes a first circuit having a first hydraulic actuator connected to a first pump in a closed-loop manner, and a second circuit having a second hydraulic actuator connected to a second pump in a closed manner. The hydraulic system also includes a third pump connected in an open-loop manner to the first and second circuits to provide additional flow to the first and second circuits.
Although an improvement over existing meterless hydraulic systems, the meterless hydraulic system of the '785 publication described above may still be less than optimal. In particular, because the third pump is connected to the first and second circuits in an open-loop manner, excessive losses may still be realized.
The hydraulic system of the present disclosure is directed toward solving one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.

Closed-loop hydraulic system having priority-based sharing


A colored contact lens having a very natural appearance is disclosed. The inventive lens has a non-opaque pupil section and iris section that is at least partially opaque and comprised of two portions. A first portion, generally located on the outside of the iris section, has a first shade. A second portion, generally located on the inside of the iris section has a second shade. A jagged border separates the two portions. A third iris section and second jagged border are also disclosed. In some embodiments portions of the iris section may be non-opaque.

The present invention relates to colored contact lenses and in particular to such lenses having opaque colored portions that are able to change the apparent color of the wearer""s iris while imparting a very natural appearance.
It was recognized very early that a contact lens with opaque coloring should not have a simple solidly colored iris. Such a lens imparts a very unnatural appearance. Wichterle in U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,504 discloses an opaque lens having an iris of more than a single color that is artistically drawn or photographically reproduced. Such a lens never achieved commercial success. Other attempts to produce an opaque lens with a natural appearance are disclosed in. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,536,386, (Spivak); 3,712,718 (LeGrand), 4,460,523 (Neefe), 4,719,657 (Bawa), 4,744,647 (Meshel et al.), 4,634,449 (Jenkins); European Patent Publication No. 0 309 154 (Allergan) and U.K. Patent Application No. 2 202 540 A (IGEL).
Knapp (in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,402) discloses a contact lens having, in its preferred embodiment, colored, opaque dots. The Knapp lens has been an enormous commercial success. A natural appearance is achieved, yet the lens is simple and inexpensive to produce, using a simple one-color printed dot pattern. At Column 3, lines 23 to 29, Knapp discloses that xe2x80x9cFor a more natural effect, the printing step may be repeated one or more times using different patterns in different colors, since upon close examination the iris""s of many persons are found to contain more than one color. The printed pattern need not be absolutely uniform, allowing for enhancement of the fine structure of the iris.xe2x80x9d The one-color Knapp lenses currently achieving commercial success have their dots arranged in an irregular pattern to enhance the structure of the iris. However, neither the Knapp commercial lenses, nor the Knapp patent disclose or suggest how one would arrange a pattern of dots having more than one color to achieve a more natural appearance.
The present invention is predicated on the surprising discovery that very simple multiple-color opaque patterns (some of them in accordance with the Knapp disclosure) achieve an amazingly naturally appearing iris. The improvement in appearance over the one-color Knapp lenses, currently achieving enormous commercial success, is startling. Like the one color lenses, the lenses of this invention are able to cause a fundamental change in the apparent color of the wearer""s iris, e.g. from dark brown to light blue or green. Although the preferred embodiments of the invention are two-color lenses, use of more than two colors is contemplated.
One aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil section, an iris section surrounding said pupil section, and a colored, opaque intermittent pattern over said entire iris section, that leaves a substantial portion within the interstices of the pattern non-opaque, said pattern covering at least about 25 percent of the area of said iris section, the elements of said pattern being undiscernible to the ordinary viewer, wherein a first portion of the elements of said pattern are of a first shade and a second portion of the elements of said pattern are of a second shade different from said first shade, wherein said first portion is located generally on the outside of said iris section and said second portion is located generally on the inside of said iris section, and a jagged border separates said first and second portions, wherein the minimum distance of said jagged border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of said iris section, and the maximum distance of said border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 45% to about 95% of the radial width of said iris section, thereby providing a lens capable of changing the apparent color of the iris of a person wearing the lens and imparting a very natural appearance.
A second aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil section, an opaque iris section surrounding said pupil section except for non-opaque elements in said iris section undiscernible to the ordinary viewer, wherein a first portion of said opaque iris section is of a first shade, and a second portion of said opaque iris section is of a second shade different from said first shade, said first portion is located generally on the outside of said iris section and said second portion is located generally on the inside of said iris section, and a jagged border separates said first and second portions, wherein the minimum distance of said jagged border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of said iris section, and the maximum distance of said border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 45% to about 95% of the radial width of said iris section, thereby providing a lens capable of changing the apparent color of the iris of a person wearing the lens and imparting a natural appearance.
A third aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil section and an .opaque iris section surrounding said pupil section, wherein a first portion of said iris section is of a first shade, and a second portion of said iris section is of a second shade different from said first shade, said first portion is located generally on the outside of said iris section and said second portion is located generally on the inside of said iris section and a jagged border separates said first and second portions, wherein the minimum distance of said jagged border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of said iris section, and the maximum distance of said border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 45% to about 95% of the radial width of said iris section, thereby providing a lens capable of changing the apparent color of the iris of a person wearing the lens and imparting a natural appearance.
A fourth aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil section and an iris section surrounding said pupil section, said iris section comprising a first outer portion and a second inner portion separated by a jagged border wherein the minimum distance of said jagged border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 5% to about 45% of the radial width of said iris section and the maximum distance of said border from the outer perimeter of said iris section is from about 45% to about 95% of the radial width of said iris section, wherein one of said sections is non-opaque and the other section has opaque coloring.
A fifth aspect of the invention comprises a colored contact lens comprising a non-opaque pupil section and an iris section surrounding said pupil section, said iris section comprising a first outer portion surrounding a second intermediate portion and a third inner portion surrounded by said intermediate portion, said first and second portions separated by a first jagged border and said second and third portions separated by a second jagged border, wherein either said first and third portions have opaque coloring and said second portion is non-opaque, or said second portion has opaque coloring and said first and third portions are non-opaque, or said first, second and third portions have opaque coloring and said second portion has a different shade then said first and second portions.
Preferably, in the first aspect of this invention, the elements of the pattern are opaque dots, and the following color combinations are used:
The most preferable dot patterns are as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6.
The term xe2x80x9cnon-opaquexe2x80x9d as used herein is intended to describe a part of the lens that is uncolored or colored with translucent coloring.
The term xe2x80x9csecond shade different from said first shadexe2x80x9d as used herein is intended to mean that both shades are of totally different colors, such as blue and hazel; or that both shades are the same basic color, but having different intensities such as light blue and dark blue.
The term xe2x80x9cordinary viewerxe2x80x9d is intended to mean a person having normal 20-20 vision standing about 5 feet from a person wearing the lenses of this invention.

Colored contact lens having very natural appearance


A molding technique for copper interconnecting wires by electrochemical displacement deposition on the pre-shaped metal layer in accordance with the present invention is used to form an adhering layer on a substrate and a sacrificial layer on the adhering layer. The sacrificial layer is patterned according to the copper interconnecting wires and displaced to form the copper interconnecting wires in a specific chemical solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to molding technique for copper interconnecting wires by electrochemical displacement deposition on the pre-shaped metal layer, and more particularly to a molding technique for copper interconnecting wires by electrochemical displacement deposition on the pre-shaped metal layer for ultra large scale integrated circuit (ULSI).
2. Description of Related Art
The conventional methods of copper growth for very large scale integrated circuit (VSLI) and ULSI respectively comprise physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), electroplating, electroless deposition, etc., wherein the copper formed by other methods. However, the step coverage of the copper grown in the grooves in the surface of wafer by PVD is not even, and the copper grown by CVD has a good coverage, but not pure such that the copper growth by CVD has a resistance higher than that of the copper grown by PVD. Furthermore, the prescription of dry etching cannot create a reactant with high volatility such that the copper film cannot be etched and formed leading wires on the surface of the wafer.
Consequently, major manufacturers use damascene process to grow copper. With reference to FIG. 4, an underlying dielectric layer (72) is formed on a substrate (71). Multiple grooves (73) are defined in the underlying dielectric layer (72) by photolithography etching and correspond to the copper interconnecting wires. A copper layer (74) is electroplated on the underlying dielectric layer (72) so that the copper interconnecting wires (741) is formed in the multiple grooves (73) after chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) for grinding the unnecessary portion of the copper layer (74).
However, the manufacturer must grind the copper layer (74) one after one by CMP in the current technique. Consequently, the conventional method for forming the copper interconnecting wires by CMP takes a lot of manufacturing cost and has an output in a low rate, and needs to be advantageously altered.
With reference to FIG. 5, for solving the above problems of damascene process, an electrochemical displacement deposition (EDD) is used. As shown in FIG. 5, an underlying dielectric layer (82) is piled upon a substrate (81) and multiple grooves (821) are defined in the top of the underlying dielectric layer (82) by etching. A mask (83) is coated on the surface of the underlying dielectric layer (82) and a poly-silicone layer (84) is piled on the mask (83). The poly-silicone layer (84) is ground to be flushed with the mask (83) so that each groove (821) is fill with poly-silicone. Finally, the solution containing hydrofluoric acid (BOE) and cupric sulphate (CuSO4) is used to execute the electrochemical displacement deposition to the remained poly-silicone layer (84) to reduce the copper ions in the solution and collect on the surface of the mask (83). The reduced copper ions are used as the copper interconnecting wires. The chemical formula of the above chemical reaction is followed:Si+6F+2Cu2+→SiF62−+2Cu(s), Eredox=+1.45 eV
However, the copper grown by the method of the EDD has a high resistance and is difficult to be adhered on the surface of the wafer.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional methods for growing copper interconnecting wire.

Molding technique for copper interconnecting wires by electrochemical displacement deposition on the pre-shaped metal layer


A boot process for a computer comprising, in a client environment,    a) generating, using a non-volatile data storage medium, a boot image request,    b) passing the boot image request to a boot image repository,    c) receiving, from the boot image repository, the requested boot image and    d) booting the computer using the received boot image, characterised in that    e) the boot image request is passed using an Internet Protocol and is sent to a predetermined location.

This invention relates to a boot process for a computer, to a boot ROM and to a computer having a boot ROM.
In particular, although not exclusively, the invention relates broadly to a remote boot process whereby a computer may be initialised—i.e. booted—using boot program information (known as a boot image) obtained from a remote source, i.e. a source in communication with—but separate from—the computer concerned.
Remote boot processes are useful for a variety of reasons. First of all, if a particular client machine fails to boot as a result of a hardware or software malfunction, a remote boot image can be downloaded from another location to provide the malfunctioning client machine with a replacement code which enables, for example, remote problem notification, diagnosis and possible resolution of the problem.
In addition, remote boot processes allow networks to be composed of a number of "thin client" machines having little or no local data storage capability, with the required operating system, for example, being downloaded from a remote data store as and when the machines are initiated. This reduces the cost of the network clients and provides a persistent image that can be restored easily and that cannot be damaged by a local user.
A common remote boot system is Intel's Wired for Management (WfM) standard which incorporates a pre-boot execution environment (PXE) protocol.
In brief, the PXE protocol requires an appropriately configured BIOS and boot ROM which, when the computer is powered up, are effective to broadcast a general DISCOVER signal which is intended eventually to reach a local Intranet DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server which, in turn, provides the client machine with a list of appropriate available boot servers. Using a low level protocol such as TFTP, the client machine then downloads the required boot image from an appropriate boot server and executes the boot image in generally conventional fashion.
The PXE approach, whilst operating satisfactorily in an enclosed (Intranet) environment does however have some disadvantages. First of all, a specific DHCP server is required—this is not only expensive but can require local maintenance. In addition, such servers must be configured to perform PXE-specific tasks, thus necessitating the presence of a "PXE-ready" infrastructure. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the protocol used by the PXE approach is severely limiting, in that it is unable to send or transmit signals beyond the enclosed Intranet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a boot process for a computer which overcomes or at least alleviates these problems, and to provide a boot ROM which allows a computer to operate in such an improved manner. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a computer having such a boot ROM.

Boot process for a computer, a boot ROM and a computer having a boot ROM

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A data storage device includes a voltage supply control circuit configured to receive an external voltage, generate different voltages from the external voltage, and supply the different voltages to loads, respectively, through voltage supply lines, respectively and a discharge control circuit configured to discharge residual voltages from the voltage supply lines in response to a control signal and the external voltage, the discharge control circuit configured to discharge the residual voltages in an order of a highest residual voltage to a lowest residual voltage.

Embodiments of inventive concepts relate to voltage control of a data storage device, a method of operating the same, and/or a data processing system including the same.
A data storage device is a device that stores data. The data storage device operates when it is provided with an operating voltage. However, when the operating voltage supplied to the data storage device is cut off or interrupted, components of the data storage device may malfunction or get damaged due to a residual voltage existing in the data storage device.

Data storage device for forcibly discharging residual voltage, method operating the same, and data processing system including the same


Program code generates on a first computer within a computer system a unique key for a computer software application, wherein the computer software application is on a second computer within the computer system. The program code generates on the first computer an authorization code that grants a designated end user access to implement a change to a configuration item on a second computer during a configurable time period. The program code verifies the authorization code inputted into the second computer to determine if the end user has authority to implement the change on second computer, wherein the authorization code is separated into a first string and a second string each having a fixed number of bits. The program code grants access to the end user to implement the change to the configuration item on the second computer if the end user has the authority to implement the change.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a computer software changes within a computer system, and more particularly to authorizing a change within a computer system by an end user associated with an authorization code.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many businesses have a change management system for tracking changes planned for implementation on a computer system that is being managed by an information technology department (IT department). Typically, prior to the implementation of the change on the computer system a request for the change is made. The request for the change goes through an approval process ensure that the change being requested is valid, and is assigned to the correct person having authority to implement the change. It is known for an end user having the authority to implement the change to log into the computer system, and apply the change on the computer system. The IT department may need to limit the scope of the end user's authority to implement the change on the computer system in order to prevent unauthorized changes, and satisfy service level agreements. However, when granting the end user authority to implement the change the IT department can experience difficulty in limiting the scope of the end user's authority to implement the change.

Authorizing a change within a computer system

International Business Machines Corporation


It is an object of the present invention to improve a margin to meet good recording quality by conducting a realtime correction of a recording condition of a medium with different recording characteristics for inner and outer circumferences. To accomplish the object, control factors for power and a pulse width are independently detected and corrected using an mT pulse having a length of m′T as a pulse for power control and an nT pulse having a length of n′T as a pulse for pulse width control; more specifically, power correction for mT pulse and pulse width correction for nT pulse are conducted in realtime, wherein a recording pulse stream including the mT pulse and nT pulse is irradiated onto a medium by a recording laser beam as well as pits and spaces formed by irradiation of the recording pulse stream are reproduced by a reproducing laser beam to detect the effects of power and pulse width variations independently.

For recording onto optical information recording media such as CD-R or DVD-R (hereinafter referred to as "media" or a "medium"), the compatibility between a medium to be recorded on and a device to be use for recording (hereinafter referred to as a "drive") depends on each combination of them. This may be caused by the medium side factor wherein the optimum recording condition is varied by the difference in a recording material comprising the medium or the film formation variation during production, or by the drive side factor wherein the optimum recording condition is varied by the difference in a pickup device and/or a semiconductor laser comprising the drive or assembly variation during production. In fact, a suitable recording condition exists for each combination of a medium and a drive due to the combination of those factors.
Accordingly, in a conventional method, ID information on a medium type identifiable by a drive is stored in the medium as well as a recording condition prepared for each medium type is stored in the drive. When recording is actually performed, the ID information stored in the medium is read from the medium loaded to the drive, and a recording condition related to the ID information is used.
However, in the conventional method, suitable recording conditions can be selected for pre-verified known media, but prepared recording conditions may not be adequate to accommodate unknown media that are not pre-verified. Further, depending on the changes in the recording environment such as a recording speed, disturbance, and change over time, the prepared recording conditions may not be adequate even for known media.
A method contemplated to accommodate such an unknown medium is described in the following literatures:
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-30837, and
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-110995
As described in the paragraph [0020] of the Patent Document 1 as " . . . a phase error relative to a channel clock is detected for every recording pattern. A recording compensation parameter adjustment section 12 optimizes an emission waveform rule on the basis of the detection result at the phase error detection section 11, " a method of detecting a phase error by comparing with a channel clock and of correcting the phase error is disclosed.
Also, the paragraph [0024] of the document describes that "Next, a test pattern for determining an emission waveform rule is recorded. The area wherein the test pattern is recorded is reproduced, and the relationship between a prepared emission waveform rule and a phase error amount is examined. In other words, the phase error amount in the combination of the length of each mark and the length of each space immediately before the mark is measured. An emission waveform rule wherein the phase error amount becomes zero is estimated from the measured phase error amount, whereby a desired emission waveform rule is determined . . . ", disclosing a method for measuring a phase error amount for every combination of a mark and a space, and then estimating an emission waveform rule wherein the phase error amount becomes zero (see FIGS. 8 and 12).
The method disclosed in the Patent Document 1 is effective for optimizing a strategy because a correction is made based on a phase error of a recording pattern.
However, because the method disclosed in the Patent Document 1 involves, as conventional methods, a fine adjustment of a prepared strategy stored in a drive, it is difficult to provide a favorable recording quality for media to which prepared strategies are not applicable.
Also, the paragraph [0045] of the Patent Document 2 describes that " . . . a top pulse corresponds to a 3T period and a non-multipulse corresponds to a 8T period are generated integrally (consecutively) . . . " and the paragraph [0046] of the document describes that " . . . the laser power for a write pulse is adjusted in two levels, and when the ratio between a laser power (a height value of the top pulse) Ph and a laser power (a height value of the non-multipulse) Pm is optimum, an optimum power can be obtained . . . ", suggesting the effectiveness of optimizing the Ph/Pm ratio.
However, in the method disclosed in the Patent Document 2, as described in the paragraph [0067] of the document, the initial values of Ph and Pm are temporarily set based on values stored in a drive or a medium, and then the Ph/Pm ratio is calculated. Accordingly, as in the case of the Patent Document 1, it is difficult to provide favorable recording quality for media to which the temporarily set values are not applicable.
Further, recording information onto an optical information recording medium such as an optical disk is performed by modulating recording data by EFM (Eight to Fourteen Modulation) method or 8-16 modulation method; forming recording pulses based on the modulated signal; controlling the intensity and irradiation timing of a laser beam based on the recording pulses; and forming recording pits on the optical disk.
Since the formation of recording pits involves using the heat generated by laser beam irradiation, the recording pulses require some configuration in consideration of the heat accumulation effect and heat interference. Thus, in conventional methods, recording onto an optical disk has been performed by setting various parameters, which configure the recording pulses, for each kind of optical disks in the form of strategy, and then selecting one of those strategies that is the most suitable for the recording environment of the disk.
This strategy depends, for instance, not only on variation between optical information recording devices such as variation in spot diameter or in mechanical accuracy depending on a pickup device, but also on the manufacturer, type and recording speed of a optical disk used for recording/reproducing. Consequently, setting an optimum strategy improves recording quality.
For this reason, a method has been proposed, wherein a strategy for each of optical disk types produced by different manufacturers is determined and pre-stored in a memory, and when recording information onto an optical disk, information of the optical disk type is read from the optical disk, and retrieve the optimum strategy that corresponds to the optical disk type from the memory, followed by using it.
However, although the above-mentioned method enables optimum recording for optical disk types produced by different manufacturers that are pre-stored in the memory, it cannot provide optimum recording onto a medium of which a manufacturer and a type are not pre-stored in the memory. In addition, optimum recording may not also be provided even for the optical disk types pre-stored in the memory when a recording speed is varied.
Consequently, as described in the following Patent Documents 3 to 6, a number of methods are suggested, wherein various optical disks can be supported by performing a test recording for each recording, whereby an optimum strategy may be determined:
Patent Document 3: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1993-144001,
Patent Document 4: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1992-137224,
Patent Document 5: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1993-143999, and
Patent Document 6: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1995-235056
However, since the methods disclosed in the Patent Documents 3 to 6 require test recording before information recording is started, a strategy cannot be corrected at the same time as recording, making it difficult to accommodate the case where the optimum condition is varied for inner and outer circumferences of an optical disk to be used.
Since an optical disk has slightly different recording characteristics for its inner and outer circumferences and a recording device may have different recording speeds for the inner and outer circumferences, a technique that involves adjusting laser power to reduce the difference between the inner and outer circumferences is disclosed in the following Patent Document 7 as a method to solve the problem of the variation in recording quality for inner and outer circumferences:
Patent Document 7: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1978-050707.
The Patent Document 7 discloses a method wherein the optimization of a laser power is automatically performed by detecting the change in light intensity of an auxiliary beam, which is called OPC (Optimum Power Control).
The OPC described above is called Running OPC that adjusts the power in real time. Since correction parameters can be determined based on statistical indicators such as asymmetry values, real time correction that performs adjustments at the same time as recording becomes possible. However, when correcting a pulse width and/or pulse phase condition, because detecting the shift amount between a recording pulse and the corresponding pit formed on an optical disk is required, the conventional OPC may not be used.
Accordingly, the realtime adjustment of pulse conditions requires a technology to detect the positions and lengths of pits and spaces at the same time as recording. As one of the approaches to meet this requirement, the following Patent Document 8 discloses a technology that reproduces positions approximately same as the recording positions:
Patent Document 8: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1976-109851.
However, although this method is applicable to optical magnetic recording, it is difficult to apply to optical recoding without the use of magnetism. That is, the laser power is not modulated in optical magnetic recording because modulating magnetism yields information recording. However, in optical recording, modulating laser power yields information recording, and the effects of the modulation arise when reproducing.
As the solution for the above problem, methods disclosed in the following patents documents are known:
Patent Document 9: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1989-287825,
Patent Document 10: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1995-129956,
Patent Document 11: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-220044, and
Patent Document 12: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1997-147361.
The Patent Document 9 discloses a technology wherein separate laser beams are irradiated at non-recording area and recording area respectively, and a reproduction signal is retrieved from the separated signals by dividing them. According to this method, the distortion in a reproduction signal waveform due to the light intensity modulation of a laser beam during recording information can be corrected.
The Patent Document 10 discloses a technology of obtaining a reproduction signal by offsetting a modulated power with the opposite phase clock of a laser power appropriately amplified by AGC (Auto Gain Control).
The Patent Document 11 discloses a technology that offsets the distortion in a reproduction signal associated with the waveform variation in recording pulses by generating a signal that corresponds to the waveform variation in recording pulses using a delay inversion equivalent circuit.
Each of the methods disclosed in Patent Documents 9 to 11 is a technology that offsets modulated components by operations, and the offset is theoretically available. However, there remain various problems in practical applications in terms of accuracy of the offset and operation speed.
The Patent Document 12 discloses a technology that detects the distortion in recoding state in realtime by inputting delayed pulses generated by delaying pulses used for recording into a phase comparator along with reproduction pulses using a gate signal generated by inverting a modulated signal.
However, since the method disclosed in the Patent Document 12 involves the reproduction of pits while the recording pulse is off, when the power of a sub beam is low, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory quality of a reproduction signal. Especially in a configuration wherein a reproduction sub beam is branched from a main beam for recording, it is difficult to allocate adequate power to the sub beam when branching ratio is 20:1 or 30:1.
The branching ratio described in the Patent Document 12 is 8:1, but since the branching ratio tends to be larger as recording speed increases, and further, since beam power while recording pulse is off is normally 1 mW and below, the intensity of reflected light from a recording surface that is detectable while recording pulse is off becomes significantly small. When the light intensity becomes smaller, a favorable detection signal may not be obtained because noises such as a circuit noise or a media noise disturbs the detection of the signal.
On the other hand, the integral detection method that uses integration value of a reproduction RF signal, the amplitude detection method that uses 1 st derivative value of an RF signal, or the peak detection method that uses 2nd derivative value of an RF signal is known as a method of detecting pits and space lengths recorded on a optical disk.
However, in an optical recording device wherein reproduction is performed using a laser beam having a relatively shorter wavelength, since reflected beams from a spot and a pit in an optical medium recorded at lower density are not interfered by each other, it is difficult to detect length information by the integral detection method of an RF signal.
In the method that uses 1st derivative value of an RF signal, when recording power changes as recording speed varies, a signal binarized at the same slice level provides two different length for a pit and a space respectively that should have the same length. As a solution for this problem, a method that involves changing a slice level according to a recording speed may be effective, but setting an appropriate slice level for each recording speed is not easy.
As the peak detection method that uses 2nd derivative values of an RF signal, for instance, the method disclosed in the following patent document is known:
Patent Document 13: International Publication No. WO96/24130.
The method disclosed in the Patent Document 13 suggests that differentiating the difference signal (i.e. a tangential push-pull signal) from a photodetector that is divided into two areas by a parting line that is optically vertical to a rotational direction of an optical medium generates a signal equivalent to a 2nd derivative value of an RF signal, whereby edge positions of pits can be detected.
However, when the method disclosed in the Patent Document 13 is used to detect pits and spaces recorded on a high-density type optical disk, such as a DVD-class medium, errors in the derivative value of a tangential push-pull signal for shorter pits and spaces such as 3T or 4T that are likely to be interfered may arise, resulting in detecting values different from the actual pits and spaces lengths.
On the other hand, the following Patent Document 14 discloses a method for improving the above-mentioned Running OPC:
Patent Document 14: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-117544.
The Patent Document 14 discloses a method of detecting an optimum power using certain pit/land pattern, but since the pit/land pattern described in the document cannot distinguish an adjustment parameter for a power from that for a pulse width, a margin sufficient to meet good recording quality may not be ensured, resulting in the difficulty in accommodation of high-speed recording.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method to optimize recording conditions for various media that have different recording characteristics for their inner and outer circumferences.

Optical information recording device, optical information recording method, and signal processing circuit


An image processor for a camera module having an image sensor that captures an image for transfer to a printer module of a compact printer system including a capture unit that captures the image from the image sensor and transforms it to planarized linear RGB form.

Microelectronic manufacturing techniques have led to the miniaturization of numerous devices. Mobile phones, personal digital assistant devices, and digital cameras are very common examples of the miniaturization trend.
One device that has not seen the advantage of microelectronic manufacturing techniques is the printer. Commercially available printers are large compared to many of the devices they could support. For instance, it is impractical to carry a color printer for the purpose of instantly printing photographs taken with known compact digital cameras.
A compact printhead has been described in co-pending U.S. Patent applications filed simultaneously to the present application and hereby incorporated by cross reference:
USSNTitle6428133Ink jet printhead having a moving nozzle with anexternally arranged actuator6526658Method of manufacture of an ink jet printhead havinga moving nozzle with an externally arranged actuator6390591Nozzle guard for an ink jet printhead7018016Fluidic seal for an ink jet nozzle assembly6328417Ink jet printhead nozzle array
In order to construct a camera module for a compact printer system it is necessary to address the problem of control of the image capture and transformation process. Methods of very large scale integration and microelectronic manufacturing are known but have not been applied to the needs of a compact printer system. No suitable image processor exists for a camera module that connects directly to a printer module.

Method of image processing in a camera module

Abstract: The image processor also includes one or more interface units communicating with components of said camera module under control of the central processing unit, one of which is an image enhancement unit including a white balance and range expansion unit, resample unit, color conversion unit and a sharpen unit. A Serial Bus interface communicates with the Serial Bus of a compact printer system to transfer data and power between modules. In one application, the camera module captures an image which is transferred to the image storage memory of a printer module for printing by a printhead.