A hole piercing a bracket and another hole piercing a circuit board are formed at places between adjacent two salient poles among a plurality of salient poles of a stator core and the places correspond to tips of the two salient poles. A relative position between a hall element mounted on the circuit board and the stator core can be adjusted with a jig through those holes.

In an apparatus for recording and reproducing information into/from disks such as a CD-ROM (R/RW) apparatus or a DVD±(R/RW) apparatus, a motor for driving a disk employs a brushless motor (hereinafter referred to simply as a motor), which can rotates at a rotational speed of wide range and be excellent in controllability and reliability. This kind of motors is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-262540.
The first conventional motor discussed above is shown in FIG. 5, where shaft 31 is an output shaft of the motor, and transmits rotations to a load mounted to shaft 31. On the inner wall of rotor frame 32, ring-shaped rotor magnet 33 magnetized circularly in multi-pole is disposed by press-fitting or bonding. Rotor frame 32 has carried out a burring at its center so that shaft 31 is press-fitted directly into the center burred. Rotor assembly (rotor) 34 is thus formed of shaft 31, rotor frame 32 and rotor magnet 33.
Bracket 35 is made of magnetic material and formed by press working. Bracket 35 includes step-like and projecting burred section 35a at its substantial center. Burred section 35a works as a bearing housing for accommodating a bearing. Bracket 35 is formed unitarily of burred section 35a and mounting base 35b with which the motor is mounted. Inside burred section 35a, bearing 36 (oil retaining metal) is press-fitted, and bearing 36 supports shaft 31 rotatably.
Outside burred section 35a, stator core 37 having a plurality of salient poles is disposed. Stator core 37 is wound with stator coil 38 via an insulator made of resin. Stator winding assembly 39 is thus formed.
Circuit board 41 (printed circuit board), which includes at least parts of a circuit for driving and controlling the motor, is rigidly mounted to mounting base 35b with adhesive tape (not shown). Stator coil 38 of stator winding assembly 39 is wired onto circuit board 41 at its winding end, so that stator assembly (stator) 42 is formed.
Metal holder 43 is press-fitted and fixed to the inner wall of stator core 37 in order to prevent the oil of bearing 36 from scattering and to collect the oil. Stopper 44 for preventing rotor assembly 34 from coming off along the thrust direction is press-fitted on the end of shaft 31. Bottom plate 45 supports the load of rotor assembly 34 applied along the thrust direction, in other words, shaft 31 is supported by bottom plate 45 at its tip along the thrust direction via wear-proof board 46 made of resin. Bottom plate 45 is press-fitted and fixed in the vicinity of an entrance of burred section 35a of bracket 35.
Recently CD-ROM (R/RW) apparatuses and DVD±(R/RW) apparatuses have drastically increased their throughput speeds, so that the rpm of the motor driving a disk becomes over as high as 10,000 rpm. Since a DC motor has a restriction that back electromotive force induced in the stator coil must be lower than a voltage of the power supply which applies a voltage to the motor, a power generation constant, namely, a generation voltage per unit rpm of the motor needs to be smaller. Thus a torque constant, i.e. torque generated per unit current of the motor, becomes smaller.
Since disks spin at a higher rpm, the disks cause greater vibration due to unbalance of them, the bearing causes a greater loss, a magnetic circuit of the motor causes a greater iron-loss, and the stator coil causes a greater copper-loss. As a result, the motor consumes a greater current conspicuously. In order to reduce the foregoing losses, it is important not only modifying respective elements of the motor to the ones achieving lower-loss, but also reducing dispersions due to errors produced by combining the elements.
A brushless motor determines its rectifying timing based on a positional relation along a rotating direction of the rotor between a hall element, which detects magnetic poles of the rotor magnet, and the stator core. If an error occurs in this rectifying timing, the torque constant decreases and the motor consumes a greater current.
The hall element is mounted, in general, on a circuit board. For instance, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. H08-172763 discloses one of the hall elements. A structure of the second conventional motor discussed above is shown in FIG. 6, where hall element 50 is mounted on circuit board 51, to which housing 52 for holding a bearing is fixed. Housing 52 is mounted with stator core 53, so that the positional relation between hall element 50 and stator core 53 along the rotating direction of the rotor is determined by the following three mounting positions: mounting position of hall element 50 to circuit board 51, mounting position of circuit board 51 to housing 52, and mounting position of stator core 53 to housing 52.
In the first conventional motor shown in FIG. 5, circuit board 41 is mounted to bracket 35, and stator core 37 is mounted to burred section 35a formed unitarily with bracket 35 and working as a housing. In FIG. 5, although a hall element is not shown, the positional relation between the hall element mounted to circuit board 41 and stator core 37 along the rotor rotating direction is determined by the following three mounting positions: mounting position of the hall element to circuit board 41, mounting position of circuit board 41 to bracket 35, and mounting position of stator core 37 to burred section 35a.
The foregoing constructions of the first and the second conventional motors allow the positional relation along the rotor rotating direction between the circuit board and the stator core to improve its accuracy by providing protrusions for positioning. However, since the hall element is mounted to the circuit board by soldering, there is a limit of improving the positional accuracy. As a result, in the case of driving a motor at over 10,000 rpm, the motor current increases conspicuously, and the increased motor current disperses wider due to the positional dispersion of soldering the hall element.


An electrostatic discharge protection circuit, comprising a semiconductor-controlled rectifier and a PMOS device. The semiconductor-controlled rectifier, coupled between two nodes, has an N-type semiconductor layer. The PMOS device, integrated with the semiconductor-controlled rectifier to share a first P-type doped region, has a PNP device located in the N-type semiconductor layer. When one of the nodes is coupled to the electrostatic discharge power, the PNP device will conduct to trigger the semiconductor-controlled rectifier.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit technique. More particularly, it relates to an electrostatic discharge protection circuit applied to a semiconductor integrated circuit, which is triggered to conduct through PNP bipolar action.
In the processes of measuring, assembling, installing and using an integrated circuit, Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) is unavoidable and may cause damage to integrated circuits. At present, there are many models explaining the causes of ESD, wherein the human body model is most common. The human body model refers to the ESD pulse caused by a human body""s contact with the pins of an integrated circuit. Since the ESD pulse of the human body model lasts longest, the makers use this as a standard for integrated circuit ESD protection.
With the adoption of the Lightly Doped Drain (LDD) structure and the self-aligned mental salicide diffusion production process, the Lateral Semiconductor Controlled Rectifier has been applied as an ESD protection circuit in CMOS integrated circuits, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,317. The Lateral Semiconductor Controlled Rectifier, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,317, is triggered by a P/N junction breakdown between the well region and the base. However, in practical applications, the trigger voltage is above 30V. For sub-micron or half-micron COMS devices, the gate oxide is damaged by this trigger voltage. Therefore, the Lateral Semiconductor Controlled Rectifier of the prior art doesn""t provide effective ESD protection.
To reduce the trigger voltage, U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,189 provides a semiconductor controlled rectifier triggered by a low voltage. It uses a device similar to NMOS to provide a thickly doped region across the junction between the well region and the base. When the ESD occurs, the junction breakdown of the thickly doped region of the device causes the semiconductor controlled rectifier to be triggered to conduct; thereby, the trigger voltage of the ESD protection circuit is reduced. However, if the diffusion production process of the self-aligned mental salicide is applied to the source or drain of the device, the effect of ESD protection will be reduced.
It is an object of the invention to provide an ESD protection circuit for semiconductor integrated circuits, which triggers the semiconductor controlled rectifier by using the PMOS device through PNP bipolar action. According to the invention, the ESD protection circuit offers the advantages of ESD protection and compatibility with the self-aligned mental salicide diffusion production process.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an ESD protection circuit. The ESD protection circuit comprises a semiconductor controlled rectifier and a PMOS device. The semiconductor controlled rectifier coupled between two nodes has an N-type semiconductor layer. The PMOS device shares a first P-type doped region with the semiconductor controlled rectifier and comprises a PNP device located in the N-type semiconductor layer. When one of the nodes is coupled to the ESD power, the PNP device will conduct to trigger the semiconductor controlled rectifier.
Therefore, since the semiconductor controlled rectifier conduction is triggered to conduct through the PNP bipolar action, the ESD protection circuit has the advantages of ESD protection and compatibility with the self-aligned mental salicide diffusion production process.

Electrostatic discharge protection circuit triggered by PNP bipolar action


A device intended for installation onto a rotary cord herbage trimmer to permit the trimmer to easily slide omnidirectionally upon the ground being serviced is comprised of a circular saucer-like disc having a downwardly convex bottom surface and an upwardly concave top surface. A straight mounting post is upwardly emergent from the center of the concave surface, and terminates in a threaded distal extremity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rotary edgers, trimmers or the like which employ a flexible cord for cutting grass, weeds and other vegetables in a flail-like manner. Typically these cutters are used in areas in which vegetation is somewhat inaccessible to apparatus employing rigid cutting blades or where there is a risk that rigid blades may throw items concealed by the vegetation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, such trimmer devices include a head member suspended from an upwardly disposed elongated handle. The head member has a housing that contains an electric motor or gasoline engine which rotates a downwardly directed shaft at high speed. A cutting cord is associated with the shaft, and extends perpendicularly therefrom by centrifugal force to define a cutting plane. The cord is fabricated of a material such as nylon monofilament which is flexible to the extent that it is substantially incapable of causing damage or injury when impacted against persons, animals, trees, etc.
Most embodiments of such trimmer devices include means for detachably holding a supply of cord so that the rotated extremity of the cord may be replaced after wear or breakage resulting from impact during use. The supply of additional cord is generally a continuous coil length stored upon a flanged spool of standardized construction and generally mounted upon said shaft. Fresh cord may be tangentially drawn from the spool to restore the working length, namely the length between the spool and the free extremity of the cord.
In the course of prolonged use of a rotary trimmer device, the significant weight of the apparatus will cause the operator to become arm-weary. To overcome this problem, the placement of wheels below or adjacent the head member has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,899; 4,936,886; 4,981,012 and 5,095,687.
Although wheels permit the apparatus to be rolled upon the ground, the wheels add further weight and also inhibit movement in the transverse direction, namely the direction orthogonal to the plane of rotation of the wheels. Such transverse movement is essential because, in much of the motion of the apparatus, it is swung in an arc-like path centered about the user. Because wheels could be impacted by the rotary string, they must be spaced far from the center of rotation. This in turn requires that the housing be of longer size, with attendant increased weight.
The control of cutting height, namely the elevation of the apparatus above the ground, is important in producing a uniform trimming job. Most trimmer devices have no provision for accurate control of cutting height, such factor being dependent upon the expertise of the operator.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an attachment device for a rotary trimmer whereby said trimmer can be operated with less effort.
It is another object of this invention to provide a device as in the foregoing object which provides height control during use of the trimmer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device of the aforesaid nature which does not impede transverse movement of the trimmer in an arcuate path centered upon the user.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a device of the aforesaid nature which adds little weight to the trimmer and requires substantially no modification of the trimmer.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a device of the aforesaid nature which is easily installable, durable, and amenable to lost cost manufacture.
These and other beneficial objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description.

Attachment for easing the manipulation of a herbage trimmer


An apparatus, method and system are provided for characterizing fluid trapped in a subterranean formation using a downhole tool that includes an elongated body and a probe body. The probe body is moveable from and back into the elongated body. The probe body defines a flow line and supports a pressure sensor for measuring fluid pressure in the flow line, a piston and an electrical motor actuator that is adapted to move the piston in order to vary volume of the flow line. The integral electrical motor actuator, piston, pressure sensor and flow line of the probe body can provide for measurement of formation pressure and/or formation mobility.

There are a variety of commercially available wireline formation testing tools used for determining the pressure and mobility of fluid trapped in a subterranean formation, which is typically referred to as a reservoir. A typical prior art wireline formation tester employs an elongated body adapted for downhole operation in a borehole that traverses a reservoir. A probe is deployable from the elongated body. The probe includes a deformable packer surrounding a flow line. The flow line extends into the elongated body. A pretest chamber is disposed within the elongated body in fluid communication with the flow line. A hydraulically-driven (or electrically-driven) piston moves within the pretest chamber. A pressure sensor measures fluid pressure of the flow line. Proper placement of the formation tester requires lowering the elongated body of the formation tester into the borehole and deploying the probe from the elongated body such that the probe interfaces to borehole wall.
Boreholes can be drilled with the borehole fluid pressure higher than the pressure of the formation fluids. This is called over-balanced drilling. Boreholes can also be drilled with the borehole pressure less than the pressure of the formation fluids. This is called under-balanced drilling.
In the case of the borehole drilled with over-balanced drilling, the borehole wall may be coated with mud cake that is formed from the circulation of drilling fluids through the borehole during drilling operations. The mud cake provides a seal (typically referred to as a mud cake seal) that isolates borehole drilling fluids from the reservoir fluids trapped in the formation adjacent the borehole in order to reduce the quantity of drilling fluid that flows from the borehole into the adjacent formation. Pressure and mobility of the reservoir fluids are measured with a procedure that includes a "draw-down" procedure followed by a "build-up" procedure. Before the "drawdown" procedure, the deformable packer is pushed against the mud cake and provides a seal between the packer and the mud cake, and the probe is pressed against the mud cake on the borehole wall. During the "drawdown" procedure, a small amount of formation fluid is extracted from the formation into the flow line of the probe. The purpose of the draw-down procedure is to establish fluid communication between the flow line and the formation fluid. Drawdown includes moving the piston in the pretest chamber to expand the volume of the flow line so that the pressure of the fluid in the flow line is reduced sufficiently below formation pressure causing the mud cake seal to break. The purposes of measuring the pressure of the fluid in the flowline during and after the drawdown are to verify good fluid communication between the flow line and the formation and to verify good fluid isolation between the flow line and the borehole fluid. During the "drawdown" procedure, the pretest piston is configured in a "retracted" position in the pretest chamber and the fluid in the flow line (including the pretest chamber) is at a pressure below the pressure of the reservoir fluid trapped in the formation adjacent the probe. The "build-up" procedure establishes pressure equilibrium between the fluid in the flow line and the reservoir fluid during a build-up time period. During the "build-up" procedure, the pretest piston remains stationary in the "retracted" position in the pretest chamber. Reservoir fluid flows from the formation into the flow line because the formation fluid pressure is higher than the fluid pressure in the flow line. Continued inflow allows the fluid pressure in the flow line to build up until equilibrium is established. When equilibrium is established, the fluid pressure in the flow line equals the formation fluid pressure (the fluid pressure of the reservoir fluids trapped in the formation adjacent the probe). The changing pressure in the flow line is monitored by the pressure sensor of the tool. Mobility of the formation can be calculated from the pressure of the flow line fluid during drawdown or during drawdown and build-up. Mobility is defined as the ratio of formation permeability (in unit Darcy) to formation viscosity (in Poise).
The pressure signal is needed during both drawdown and buildup in order to calculate mobility. In the case of the borehole drilled with under-balanced drilling, there is no mud cake seal and only mobility of the reservoir fluids is measured with a "drawdown" procedure and a "build-up" procedure. Before the "drawndown" procedure, the deformable packer is pushed against the borehole wall and provides a seal between the packer and the borehole wall, and the probe is pressed against the borehole wall. In the "drawn down" procedure, the pretest piston of the tool is configured in a "retracted" position in the pretest chamber and the fluid in the flow line (including the pretest chamber) is at a pressure below the pressure of the reservoir fluid trapped in the formation adjacent the probe. The "build-up" procedure allows for the reservoir fluid to flow into the flow line and establish pressure equilibrium between reservoir fluid and the fluid in the flow line during a build-up time period. During the "build-up" procedure, the pretest piston remains stationary in the "retracted" position in the pretest chamber. The changing pressure in the flow line is monitored by the pressure sensor of the tool. Mobility of the formation can be calculated using the drawdown pressure data or using the drawdown and the build-up pressure data measured by the tool. Mobility is defined as the ratio of formation permeability (in unit Darcy) to formation viscosity (in Poise).

Apparatus, method and system for measuring formation pressure and mobility


A screwdriver includes a shaft fixed to a handle and having two first pawl-receiving grooves and two second pawl-receiving grooves. Two first pawl plates and two second pawl plates are disposed correspondingly in the first and second pawl-receiving grooves. Each of the first or second pawl plates has a swingable end movable between a first position, where the swingable end is biased to engage one ratchet tooth, and a second position, where the swingable end is released from the ratchet tooth. A switching ring sleeved on the shaft has actuators to move the respective first and second pawl plates to the second position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hand tool, more particularly to a ratchet screwdriver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional ratchet screwdriver, as disclosed in Taiwanese Patent Publication No. 00369979, includes a handle 1, a main body 2, two substantially U-shaped pawls 201, two springs 202, an adjustment ring 3, and a ratchet wheel 4. The main body 2 is fixed to the handle 1, and has two parallel insert grooves 203 formed offset from the center of the main body 2. The pawls 201 are respectively inserted into the insert grooves 203. Each of the springs 202 is disposed between one of the insert grooves 203 and the corresponding pawl 201 so as to bias the pawl 201 away from the main body 2. The adjustment ring 3 is sleeved on the main body 2, and has two angularly spaced-apart indentations 302 formed in an inner peripheral face 301 thereof. Each indentation 302 has an inclined guide face 303. The ratchet wheel 4 is sleeved on the main body 2 adjacent to the adjustment ring 3, and has a plurality of teeth 402 formed circumferentially around an inner face of the ratchet wheel 4 to engage one of the corresponding pawls 201. When the adjustment ring 3 is rotated, each pawl 201 is guided by the inclined guide face 303 of the corresponding indentation 302 to change position.
Although the aforementioned conventional ratchet screwdriver can achieve its intended purpose, because only one side of each pawl 201 is meshed with the corresponding tooth 402 of the ratchet wheel 4, meshing forces between the pawls 201 and the corresponding teeth 402 are relatively weak, thereby resulting in an insufficient torque-bearing capacity of the ratchet screwdriver. Further, when the adjustment ring 3 is rotated, the pawls 201 can only move in a straight line relative to the main body 2. This may adversely affect the smooth operation of the adjustment ring 3.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, another conventional ratchet screwdriver, as disclosed in Taiwanese Patent No. M269147, includes a handle 5, an actuator 6 fitted to the handle 5, two pairs of pawls 701 installed on the actuator 6, two springs 702 each disposed between a corresponding pair of the pawls 701, a control ring 8 sleeved on the actuator 6, and a ratchet wheel 9 disposed on one side of the control ring 8. Each of the pawls 701 is provided with a plurality of teeth 701′. The control ring 8 has a plurality of studs 801. The ratchet wheel 9 has a plurality of teeth 901. The teeth 701′ of each pair of the pawls 701 mesh with the corresponding teeth 901 of the ratchet wheel 9 through biasing action of the corresponding spring 702. Hence, when the control ring 8 is rotated, the pawls 701 are pushed by the studs 801 so as to achieve changing of the positions of the pawls 701.
Although the aforementioned conventional ratchet screwdriver can achieve its intended purpose, to ensure that the teeth 701′ of the pawls 701 can mesh accurately with the teeth 901 of the ratchet wheel 9, the pawls 701 are generally made by powder metallurgy, which results not only in high production costs, but also in structurally weak pawls 701. Further, the pawls 701 can only move in a straight line relative to the actuator 6, which may have an adverse effect on the smooth operation of the control ring 8.


A TOF camera for a vehicle includes a light emitting unit that irradiates light to an object, a light receiving unit that detects a distance to the object based on light reflected and returned from the object and generates a modulation signal for frequency modulation of the light, and a control unit that controls driving of the light emitting unit according to the modulation signal of the light receiving unit. The light emitting unit includes a plurality of laser diodes. The control unit decides a driving order of the laser diodes according to the modulation signal of the light receiving unit so as to control driving of the laser diodes, and decides current values of the laser diodes according to the modulation signal of the light receiving unit so as to control current amounts of laser diodes to be driven.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a TOF camera for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a TOF camera for a vehicle, which can increase a detection range by using a plurality of laser diodes as light sources, and a method for driving the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a TOF (Time of Flight) camera detects an object by using delay of a phase and the like generated when light modulated with a predetermined frequency is reflected and returned from the object, and is used in a topographical survey field, a gesture control field of an object, a rear-end collision prevention device of a vehicle, and the like.
According to the operation principle of the TOF camera, the TOF camera includes a light source that emits light having a predetermined center wavelength, and the light source modulates emitted light with a predetermined frequency and irradiates the light to an object to be detected.
Then, the light irradiated to the object is reflected and is returned to the TOF camera, and the TOF camera detects the returned light by using a sensor embedded therein.
In this case, the TOF camera compares a phase of the emitted light with a phase of the light reflected and returned from the object, thereby calculating the distance to the object.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general TOF camera.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the TOF camera may include a light receiving unit 10 that receives a reflection light reflected from an object 30 and a light emitting unit 20 that irradiates modulated light to the object 30.
The light emitting unit 20 controls each light emitting element 22 by using a modulation signal provided from the light receiving unit 10, thereby irradiating the modulated light to the object 30.
Then, the modulated light is reflected from the object 30 and is collected in a light receiving element 14 through a light receiving lens module 12 of the light receiving unit 10.
The light receiving element 14 converts light energy into electrical energy and transfers the electrical energy to a signal processing module 16, and the signal processing module 16 determines the distance to the object by using a phase difference between the input signal and the modulation signal.
However, since the existing TOF camera uses a light emitting diode as a light source, there is a problem that a detection range is short.
Accordingly, in the case of using a laser diode as a light source instead of the light emitting diode, since the laser diode can obtain relatively strong power as compared with the light emitting diode, it is possible to obtain an improved detection range when using the same current.
FIG. 2 is a graph obtained by comparing optical power characteristics of a light emitting diode and a laser diode with each other.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, it can be understood that the laser diode can obtain relatively strong power as compared with the light emitting diode when using the same current.
Accordingly, as compared with the light emitting diode, the laser diode has characteristics in which a detection range is improved and it is tolerant to external light due to a narrow wavelength band.
Since the TOF camera basically operates a light emitting element based on a modulation signal, it is necessary to operate a laser diode in a pulse mode.
However, a pulsed laser diode has high peak power but requires a long cooling time for removing generated heat at the time of light emitting.
Therefore, due to a long duty cycle of the laser diode, it may be difficult to operate the laser diode according to a fast modulation time of the TOF camera.

TOF camera for vehicle and method for driving the same


An image processor in which input image data is sampled at a sampling circuit at a constant rate corresponding to P times the rate of the input image data and then subjected at a decimating circuit 14 to a decimating/reducing operation with a magnification of 1/Q to obtain image data having a magnification of P/Q in a horizontal scanning direction. An original-document reading motor is controlled under a scanner controller so that a relative moving speed between an image and a CCD is set to be lower than an ordinary moving rate. Under this condition, the image is repetitively read a plurality of times with respect to an identical line and then subjected at a line decimating circuit to a decimating/reducing operation on every line basis to obtain a resultant image having a desired magnification in a vertical scanning direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processors which process input image data to obtain a resultant image having a desired magnification(s) in a horizontal and/or vertical scanning direction(s) with respect to an original image and more particularly, to an image processor in which input image data is enlarged with a predetermined magnification(s) in a horizontal and/or vertical scanning direction(s) and thereafter the image data is reduced, whereby the need for provision of a memory for speed conversion can be eliminated with its simplified and small-scaled arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, as an image processor which processes input image data to obtain an image having a desired magnification(s) in a horizontal and/or vertical scanning direction(s) with respect to an original image, there is known an image processor which performs interpolating operation over input pixel data to realize an image enlarged in the horizontal scanning direction or which performs interpolating operation over input line data to realize an image enlarged in the vertical scanning direction.
Further, when it is desired to read a two-dimensional image with use of a one-dimensional reading sensor, such a method is generally employed that a relative position between the one-dimensional reading sensor and the image is moved in a direction (vertical scanning direction) perpendicular to the one-dimensional reading sensor and an original document to perform raster scanning operation.
With such a document stationary type image processor (which is also known as a flat bed scanner or a book reading scanner), for the purpose of avoiding its feeding irregularity, the one-dimensional reading sensor is moved at a constant speed in the direction perpendicular to the original document to realize raster scanning operation.
FIG. 11 shows a prior art image processor which performs interpolating operation over pixel data of input image data to obtain an output image corresponding to an original image but enlarged in a horizontal scanning direction. In the image processor of FIG. 11, an original image is raster scanned through a charge coupled device (CCD) 11 as a one-dimensional reading sensor to obtain an image, the image signal is converted at an analog-digital (A-D) converter 12 into digital image data that comprises continual n-bit pixel data for respective pixels, the digital image data is once input to a memory 15 for speed conversion, the image data stored in the memory 15 is read out under control of an interpolating circuit 16, and the read-out image data is subjected to an interpolating operation of inserting predetermined pixel data to thereby obtain image data enlarged in the horizontal scanning direction (raster direction).
In this case, the interpolated pixel data is determined by referring to pixel data therearound to be interpolated. For example, the pixel data indicative of the previous pixel read out from the memory 15 is used as interpolation pixel data as it is.
FIG. 12 shows a relationship between the output image data of the A-D converter 12 and the output image data of the interpolating circuit 16 in the prior art image processor of FIG. 11. In more detail, the A-D converter 12 sequentially outputs n-bit pixel data PD1, PD2, PD3, PD4, . . . corresponding to continual pixels as shown in Part (a) of FIG. 12. When it is desired to doubly enlarge the image date at a position of the pixel data PD2, the same pixel data PD2' as the pixel data PD2 is inserted between the pixel data PD2 and PD3 as shown in Part (b) of FIG. 12. In this case, the subsequent pixel data PD3, PD4, . . . must be delayed with respect to the read-out image data.
Since the CCD 11, which usually comprises a one-dimensional reading sensor, can be moved only at a constant speed, the prior art image processor requires provision of such a memory 15 as a RAM for storing at least one line of image data for speed conversion, as shown in FIG. 11.
FIG. 13 shows another prior art image processor which performs interpolating operation over input image data with respect to its line data to enlarge an original image in a vertical scanning direction. In this example, an output image signal of a CCD 21 when line scanning an original image for its reading is converted at an A-D converter 22 into n-bit digital image data, the image data is read out usually on every line basis, so that, when the reading of one line of the image data is completed, a scanner motor 25 is controlled under control of a scanner controller 24 to move the CCD 21 in the form of one-dimensional reading sensor by an amount corresponding to one line in a direction perpendicular to an original document. When it is desired to interpolate predetermined image data (line data) on every line basis for the purpose of enlarging the dimensions of the image in a vertical scanning direction, speed conversion becomes necessary. To this end, the n-bit image data as the output of the A-D converter 22 is once stored in a page memory 27, the image data is later read out from the page memory 27 under control of the scanner controller 24 and then sent to an interpolating circuit 26 to be subjected therein to an interpolating operation of inserting predetermined image data on every line basis. At this time, the line data to be inserted is determined by referring to the line data before and after that line data. For example, the line data of the previous line is used as interpolation line data as it is.
For example, in the case where it is desired to doubly enlarge the continual image data of lines L1, L2, L3, L4, . . . as shown in FIG. 14 at the position of the line L2, when a line L2' having the same image data as, e.g., the line L2 is inserted into between the lines L2 and L3, the subsequent lines L3, L4, . . . must be delayed with respect to the read-out image data.
When raster scanning is carried out by moving the one-dimensional reading sensor at a constant speed in a direction perpendicular to the original document, the subsequent lines L3, L4, . . . cannot be delayed with respect to the read-out image data. To avoid this, such an arrangement is required that the page memory 27 for storing at least one page of the read-out image data is prepared so that the read-out image data is once stored in the page memory 27 for speed conversion.
As has been explained above, the prior art image processor has had such a problem that, when it is desired to obtain an image enlarged in the horizontal scanning direction (raster direction), the enlarging operation requires the interpolating operation of the image data and thus at least such a line memory as a random access memory (RAM) for the interpolating operation is required; whereas, when it is desired to obtain an image enlarged in the vertical scanning direction, the enlarging operation requires the interpolating operation of the image data and thus at least such a page memory for once storing at least one page of image data is required, which results in its complicated arrangement and control.

Image processor with reduction of enlarged image data to form image data enlarged with a desired magnification


An oil-filled heater (22) comprises a plate (34) welded onto the top opening in a fin of the heater. The plate (34) has a threaded opening (36), and a bolt (38) is threaded into the threaded opening (36) to seal the top opening. The bottom opening of the fin is sealed by a heating element (42) welded onto the fin. The present invention further relates to a method of filling the oil-filled heater (22).

Conventional liquid-filled electric radiant heaters, such as electric oil-filled heaters, provide a portable means for producing heat. Generally, in an oil-filled heater, oil flows through a set of radiating elements or fins, and is heated when it comes into contact with a heating element.
Oil-filled heaters are formed from a plurality of metal, rectangular-shaped chambers, known as fins. Each fin is provided with a cavity to accommodate or contain the oil. With the exception of the rear end fin, each fin has two openings on each side of the fin which align with corresponding openings in adjacent fins. The rear end fin has one side with no openings, as this side of the fin is typically exposed (i.e., is not covered by a shroud). The fins are welded together around the openings, providing a path within the heater through which the oil may flow. After the fins are welded together, the openings of the front end fin remains unsealed. These openings of the front end fin provide for insertion and attachment of the heating element and the filling of the oil medium. The heater may be painted after the outer fins are sealed onto the fin assembly and after one of the front end openings is sealed. However, the heater must be filled with oil after the heater is subjected to the heat of conventional industry painting operations.
The prior art heater assemblies, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, include a closure for the openings of the front end fin. The bottom opening of the front end fin is sealed using a bottom end closure assembly, as shown in FIG. 6. The bottom end closure assembly includes a threaded inner nut 10, a threaded heating element 18 and a gasket 16.
The threaded inner nut 10 is inserted into the fin adjacent the bottom opening. The inner nut 10 must be inserted into the fin prior to sealing the fin halves together. The inner nuts 10 have legs 12 extending from the sides of the threaded portion 14 to place the threaded portion 14 in the proximity of the opening. Thus, once the inner nuts 10 are inserted into the fin and the fin is assembled, that fin must be oriented so that the threaded portion 14 faces the front end of the heater assembly.
The threaded heating element 18 is inserted into the front bottom opening and manually threaded onto the threaded inner nut 10. The gasket 16 is placed between the heating element 18 and the side of the fin to restrict oil leakage from within the heater. A wrench is used to apply rotational force of the heating element 18 to compress the gasket 16; thus, the heating element 18 typically has a hexagonal-shaped head.
The front top opening of prior art heaters is sealed using a top end closure assembly, as shown in FIG. 5. The top end closure assembly consists of a plate 20 which is welded onto the front top opening. In the alternative, a more common top end closure assembly resembles the bottom closure described above, as it includes a threaded inner plug, a threaded cover plate and a gasket. In the alternative embodiment, the threaded inner plug is inserted within the fin prior to assembly of the fin. The inner plug is placed adjacent the front top opening in a manner similar to that for the bottom end closure assembly described above. The threaded cover plate is then manually threaded into the top inner plug, with a gasket placed between the cover plate and the top inner plug to compress and thereby restrict oil leakage between the bolt and the top inner plug. The cover plate, like the heating element 18, generally has a hexagonal-shaped head for the same reasons stated above.
Generally, prior art heaters are filled by first sealing the top opening, as described above. Oil is then filled into the heater through the bottom opening, the heating element is inserted, and the bottom opening is sealed by compression of the gasket between the heater body and the heating element, as described above. In the alternative, the bottom opening may be sealed prior to filling the heater through the top opening, and the top opening may then be sealed by using a threaded cover plate.
One problem which arises with conventional oil-filled heaters is that the heaters tend to leak around the gaskets. This leakage is believed to be primarily caused by repeated heating and cooling of the gasket due to normal use of the heater. Also, the seal formed by the compression of the gasket may leak due to poor alignment of the heating element when threaded into the insert, or due to misalignment. The oil leak is unsightly, and creates a mess around the heater. In addition, leakage of oil results in loss of volume of oil within the heater and leads to a decrease or loss of oil circulation. If an insufficient amount of oil is circulating in the heater, the heater is inefficient, as the top of the fins are cold and the bottom of the fins overheat, resulting in discoloration of the fins.
Another problem prevalent in conventional oil-filled heaters is that the method of sealing the heaters is quite involved and complex and is inherently unreliable. Because the outer fin requires threaded inner plugs to be inserted prior to welding the fin halves together, the time and cost of manufacturing that end fin is higher. Further, because of the inserted threaded plug, the end fin is not interchangeable and all of the fins cannot be assembled using the same steps, as in an assembly line. Rather, the outer fins must be assembled using a different procedure so that the inner plugs are inserted prior to welding the fin halves together. Further, these end fins must be in the proper orientation when assembled to the other fins of the heater to ensure that the threaded portion can receive the bolt or heating element. Yet another problem with prior art heater assemblies is that the gasket seal is susceptible to leakage, and the threading is difficult to align.
Because the inner plugs are not secured to the fins, to ensure proper placement of the inner plug, the heating element and/or threaded plate must be manually threaded onto the heating assembly.

End closure assembly for oil-filled heater

Lakewood Engineering and Manufacturing Company


Disclosed are an organometallic complex comprising a new six-membered N-heterocyclic ligand, and an application thereof in an organic electronic device, especially in a phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode. The present invention further relates to an organic electronic device comprising the organometallic complex according to the present invention, especially an organic light-emitting diode, and an application thereof in display and illumination technology. In the present invention, the device structure is optimized and the concentration of the metal complex in the substrate is changed, so that the device achieves the optimal performance, and an OLED device having high efficiency, high luminance and high stability is achieved, thereby providing a better choice of materials for full-colour display and illumination application.

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) made of organic semiconductive materials has showed great potential in applications of optoelectronic devices (such as flat-panel displays and lighting) because of the synthetic diversity, relatively low manufacturing costs, and excellent optical and electronic properties of organic semiconductive materials.
To improve the luminous efficiency of organic light-emitting diode, various luminescent materials based on fluorescence and phosphorescence have been developed. Fluorescent materials based organic light-emitting diodes possess high reliability, but their internal electroluminescence quantum efficiency is limited to 25% under electrical excitation, because the probability ratio of singlet excited state and triplet excited state is 1:3. In 1999, Professor Thomson from the University of Southern California and Professor Forrest from Princeton University incorporated tris (2-phenylpyridine)-iridium Ir (ppy)3 into N, N-dicarbazole biphenyl (CBP), and successfully prepared green electroluminescent devices, which aroused a great interest in organometallic complex phosphorescent materials. The introduction of heavy metals can improve the molecular spin orbit coupling, shorten the lifetime of the triplet excited state and enhance the intersystem crossing of molecules, so that the phosphorescence can be successfully realized. Furthermore, the synthetic reaction condition of this kind of complex are mild, thus it is easy to change the complex structure and the substituent group and regulate the emission wavelength, and thus get the excellent performance of the electroluminescent material. So far, the internal quantum efficiency of phosphorescent OLED is close to 100%. However, the stability of phosphorescent OLED needs to be improved. The stability of the phosphorescent OLED depends largely on the luminous body itself. Most of the widely used iridium and platinum metal complexes are mostly confined to the five-membered ring ligands, while the metal complexes comprising six-membered ring ligands with good structural stability are less. To further improve the material properties and broaden the choice of phosphorescent metal complexes materials, it is urgently needed to develop highly efficient novel ligands based phosphorescent metal complexes.

Organometallic complex and application thereof in electronic devices

GUANGZHOU CHINARAY OPTOELECTRONIC MATERIALS LTD.


An air-fuel ratio control apparatus of the present invention includes a determination section and a reverse direction correction introducing section. The determination section determines whether or not an output of the downstream air-fuel ratio sensor falls within a predetermined range whose center corresponds to a target value corresponding to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. When the output of the downstream air-fuel ratio sensor falls within the predetermined range, the reverse direction correction introducing section temporarily introduces, to an air-fuel ratio correction in a direction requested by the output, an air-fuel ratio correction in a direction opposite to the requested direction.

As an apparatus of such a type, there has been widely known an apparatus for controlling an air-fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine on the basis of the outputs from an upstream air-fuel ratio sensor and a downstream air-fuel ratio sensor provided in an exhaust passage (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) Nos. Hei 6-317204, 2003-314334, 2004-183585, 2005-273524, etc.). The upstream air-fuel ratio sensor is disposed upstream of an exhaust purification catalyst for purifying an exhaust gas discharged from cylinders of the engine (the furthest upstream exhaust purification catalyst when two or more exhaust purification catalysts are provided) with respect to the flow direction of the exhaust gas. The downstream air-fuel ratio sensor is disposed downstream of the exhaust purification catalyst with respect to the flow direction of the exhaust gas.
As the above-described downstream air-fuel ratio sensor of such an apparatus, there is widely used a so-called oxygen sensor (also referred to as an O2 sensor) which exhibits a stepwise response in the vicinity of the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio (Z-characteristic: a characteristic in which the output of the sensor changes stepwise in such a manner that it changes suddenly when the air-fuel ratio changes between the rich and lean sides with respect to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio). Meanwhile, as the above-described upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, there is widely used the-above described oxygen sensor or a so-called A/F sensor (also referred to as a linear O2 sensor) whose output changes in proportion to the air-fuel ratio.
In such an apparatus, the fuel injection amount is feedback-controlled on the basis of the output signal from the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor such that the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the exhaust purification catalyst becomes equal to (coincides with) a target air-fuel ratio (hereinafter, this control will be referred to as a "main feedback control"). In addition to the main feedback control, the output signal from the downstream air-fuel ratio sensor is used for a control for feeding back to the fuel injection amount (hereinafter, this control will be referred to as a "sub-feedback control").
Specifically, in the main feedback control, a feedback correction amount is calculated in accordance with a difference between the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas (exhaust air-fuel ratio) corresponding to the output from the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor and the target air-fuel ratio. Meanwhile, in the sub-feedback control, a sub-feedback amount (sub-feedback correction amount) is calculated on the basis of the output signal from the downstream air-fuel ratio sensor. By means of feeding the sub-feedback amount back to the main feedback control, the difference between the exhaust air-fuel ratio corresponding to the output from the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor and the target air-fuel ratio is compensated.
Incidentally, as the above-described exhaust purification catalyst, there is widely used a three-way catalyst which can simultaneously remove from exhaust gas unburned substances, such as carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC), and nitrogen oxide (NOx). Such a three-way catalyst has a function referred to as an oxygen occlusion function or an oxygen storage function. With this function, (1) in a case where the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is on the lean side, nitrogen oxide contained in the exhaust gas is reduced through removal of oxygen therefrom and the removed oxygen is occluded (stored) in the three-way catalyst; and (2) in a case where the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is on the rich side, the stored oxygen is released so as to oxidize the unburned substances contained in the exhaust gas.
The above-described oxygen storage function (i.e., an ability to purify exhaust gas) of such a three-way catalyst can be maintained at a high level by activating a catalytic material (noble metal) through repetitive storage and release of oxygen. In view of the above, there is known a technology (perturbation control) to forcibly oscillate/fluctuate the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas (i.e., the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture) so as to cause the three-way catalyst to store and release oxygen repeatedly in such an apparatus (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) Nos. Hei 8-189399, 2001-152913, 2005-76496, 2007-239698, 2007-56755, 2009-2170, etc.).


This invention discloses a method for controlling inter-frequency hard handoffs by using user equipment(UE) event-triggered reporting mode in a WCDMA system, being applicable to geographical cells covered by multiple frequency points. Its main technical feature is that the radio network controller (RNC), after receiving reported results from the UE, performs the decision and execution according to the specific events. This method has the advantages of a reasonable logic and high efficiency, being able to well ensure the realization of the inter-frequency handoffs required by a WCDMA system, improved communication quality, reduced transmission power of the UE, reduced interference to other cells, and increased system capacity, etc.

With mobile communication systems being applied more and more widely, many of the key techniques become more and more perfect, but there are still some problems needing solution, among which is that of cell handoffs. In a cellular wireless communication system, the coverage area of the wireless communication system consists of numerous partially overlapping cells. When a mobile user is moving in this area, it often occurs that the mobile user connected to a cell handoffs from one cell to another. In the first and second generation cellular mobile communication systems, the frequency used by a specified cell cannot be used again by the adjacent cells, that is, the cells that use a same frequency should have an interval in space between them to ensure frequency multiplexing. Consequently, handoffs of a mobile user between cells are mainly performed between channels with different frequencies, when the handoffs can incur a period of interruption in the voice transmission, leading to the phenomenon of interruption in the communication, and are called hard handoffs.
With the emergence of the third generation mobile communication systems, the soft handoff technique with its advantages in a WCDMA system has increasingly found applications, wherein a user equipment (UE), when establishing a connection with a new cell during movement, does not sever the connection with the original cell immediately, but performs a soft handoff on the same frequency point, thereby reducing the call drop rate significantly. Because the frequency multiplexing factor in a third generation system can reach up to 1, adjacent cells can use a same frequency, making possible soft handoffs between different cells, thus enhancing the communication quality of the entire system.
Similar to a GSM system (Global System for Mobile Communication), a WCDMA system may use multiple frequency points in some user-intensive hotspots to enhance the system capacity, thus forming multiple coverage, and in this case, during the movement of a UE, either variations of the surrounding environment or increase of the number of the users on the currently used frequency point may cause the deterioration of the communication quality of the UE, and only soft handoffs within a frequency may not well satisfy the requirements of the UE on the communication quality, so in areas covered by multiple frequency points, it is necessary to consider employing inter-frequency hard handoffs in order to achieve a better communication quality. Before implementing a hard handoff, it is needed to evaluate comprehensively the communication qualities on different frequency points, and when the conditions are appropriate, handoff the UE to the frequency point with the best quality in time, that is, to perform an inter-frequency hard handoff. Because a hard handoff may possibly cause a call drop, how to reduce the risk of call drops is a key point needing to be considered in a handoff scheme.
A WCDMA system has many its own unique features as compared with other systems such as a GSM system and a CDMA system, and its development period in every countries has been relatively short, so there are not yet many existing technologies that can be tapped on in terms of specific handoff implementations, and in disclosed patents no relevant content on inter-frequency hard handoffs has been found.

Method for decide CDMA frequency hard handoffs


Devices in which a Langmuir-Blodgett film of a liquid crystal polymer is disposed between electrodes on the surface of a substrate exhibit fast ferroelectric switching in response to an electric field generated by the electrodes, and Langmuir-Blodgett films of a liquid crystal polymer exhibit pyroelectric properties even at thicknesses below 10-15 .mu.m.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel ferroelectric liquid crystal devices.
2. Discussion of the Background
For display purposes, liquid crystal (LC) and liquid crystal polymer (LCP) films are typically sandwiched between two transparent, conducting electrodes (usually, indium tin oxide, ITO) set apart at some fixed distance by a spacer. A voltage is applied across the electrodes, inducing a field in the film. Fields in the film are calculated by dividing the voltage by the spacer distance and are typically on the order of 10.sup.5 V/cm for LCPs. Changing the voltage across the electrodes can cause LCs and LCPs to switch. To monitor the effects of changing the potential, a polarizer is set parallel to the film; switching can be observed as the change in light intensity transmitted through the polarizer-film set-up.
It was first shown by Meyer et al (R. B. Meyer et al, J. Phys. Lett., vol. 36, L69 (1975)) that the smectic-C phase of chiral molecules (SmC*) is a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC). This was followed by the demonstration of fast electro-optic switching (in the range of .mu.s) and optical bistability in surface-stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) displays (N. A. Clark et al, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 36(11), 899 (1980)). In the material is enclosed between two conducting glass substrates whose surfaces are "pre-treated" to cause the molecules to lie in the plane of the substrate. Thus, the molecules are held in one of their two electrically addressable, optically different states through their interaction with the surfaces of the cell. This memory effect in combination with relatively fast switching has made FLCs attractive for electro-optic applications.
Other electro-optic effects in FLCs using birefringence are the transmit scatter mode (TSM) (K. Yoshino et al, Jap. J. Appl. Phys., vol. 2, L385 (1984)), deformed helix ferroelectric (DHF) (J. Funfschilling et al, J. Appl. Phys., vol. 66(8), 3877 (1989); and L. Beresnev et al, Liq. Cryst., vol. 5, 1171 (1989)), short pitch ferroelectric (SPF) (J. Funfschilling et al, SID 90 Digest, 106 (1990)) and soft-mode effect (S. Garoff et al, Phys. Rev. Let., vol. 38, 848 (1977)). While these effects are observed in sandwich cells with a planar alignment of the molecules, there have also been recent reports on different sample confinements like free-standing SmC* films (G. Hauck et al, Ferroelectrics, vol. 122, 253 (1991)) and homeotropically aligned sandwich cells (M. Ozaki et al, Japan. J. Appl. Phys., vol. 30(9B), 2366 (1991)); in the latter case, a change in transmission could be observed with oblique incident light.
As noted above, ferroelectric LCP display devices generally use the SSFLC geometry, in which the material is enclosed between two conducting glass substrates whose surfaces are "pretreated" to cause the molecules or mesogenic groups to lie in the plane of the substrate. Although the switching times of such SSFLC devices are on the order of .mu.s, devices with even faster switching times are desired. Further, such SSFLC devices are required to have at least two substrates and an intervening layer of LCP (having a thickness of about 2-4 .mu.m). Thus, such SSFLC devices typically have a thickness on the order of about 4 .mu.m, and thinner devices are desired.
One constraint on the thickness of SSFLC devices arises from the surface irregularities present on the top and bottom plates. Thus, the thickness of the LC layer between the two plates must be at least 2-4 .mu.m to prevent a short circuit between the top and bottom surfaces.
Thus, there remains a need for thin ferroelectric LCP devices which exhibit fast ferroelectric switching times. In particular, there remains a need for devices in which short circuiting between the top and bottom plates sandwiched about a LC film is not a problem.
In addition, pyroelectric materials are useful for use in infrared (IR) sensors or imaging devices. Currently, the limitation on IR imaging capability (a combination of sensitivity and resolution) is the thickness of available pyroelectric materials. In particular, there is a need for materials which exhibit pyroelectric properties even at thicknesses below 10 .mu.m. However, currently available materials lose their pyroelectric properties at thicknesses below 10 to 15 .mu.m.
Thus, there remains a need for materials which exhibit pyroelectric properties at thicknesses lower than 10 to 15 .mu.m. In particular, there remains a need for materials which exhibit pyroelectric properties at such low thicknesses and are suitable for use in IR sensor and/or imaging devices.
Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of LCP and LC oligomers have been reported (see: Z. Ali-Adid et al, Langmuir, vol. 7, 363 (1991) and Penner et al, Macromolecules, vol. 24, 1041 (1991)). However, to date, there are no reports on the ability of a LB film of a LCP to undergo electric field-induced ferroelectric switching.
In addition, pyroelectric materials based on ferroelectric polymers have been reported (Ding-Quan et al, IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation, vol. 23, p. 503 (1988)), and there are also reports of the pyroelectric properties of LB films (see: Jones et al, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, vol. 35, p. 737 (1988) and Roberts et al, Thin solid Films, vol. 180, p. 211 (1989); However, to date there are no reports of any LB films of a LCP exhibiting pyroelectric properties.

Device for low electric-field induced switching of Langmuir-Blodgett ferroelecric liquid crystal polymer films

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


An article according to the invention comprises two bodies that are joined together by means of a compression bond, such as to form an enclosure. One of the bodies comprises a (exemplarily Au-covered) textured surface region, and the other body comprises a (exemplarily Au) "O-ring" positioned such as to mate with the textured region, substantially surrounding the enclosure. The textured region comprises at least one (typically two or more) "ridge" that substantially surrounds the enclosure and that, after joining of the two bodies by compression bonding, provides a leakage barrier. Optional ridges between said two or more enclosure-surrounding ridges can further reduce the probability of leakage. The bodies exemplarily are Si bodies, with the enclosure serving to provide a controlled environment for a semiconductor laser. In another exemplary embodiment, the article is a flat panel field emission display.

In many fields of technology it is necessary to maintain a critical component or assembly in a controlled atmosphere. Exemplary of such technologies are optical communications and flat panel displays. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,363, which discloses a hermetically sealed housing that contains a laser, with an optical fiber extending into the housing. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,916, incorporated herein by reference, which pertains to field emission flat panel displays. Such displays require that the micropoint field emitters be located within a hermetically sealed enclosure. See also U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/889,735, also incorporated by reference.
A known method of forming a hermetic enclosure involves solder bonding a piece part to another piece part (frequently to be called herein a "lid" and a "box", respectively), such that the desired enclosure results. However, there are problems associated with this method. For instance, prior art boxes and lids frequently are relatively costly, manufacturing yield typically is determined by the uniformity of wetting of the solder, and the presence of a solder bond places an upper limit on the temperature of any subsequent manufacturing operation.
In view of the economic significance of articles that comprise a hermetically sealed enclosure, a method of forming such an enclosure that does not exhibit the drawbacks of the prior art method would be highly desirable. This application discloses such a method, and articles made by the method.
Compression bonding is a known bonding technique. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,653, which discloses compression bonding of IC chips to a Si wafer carrier that comprises textured bonding regions. See also Japanese patent document 54-54572/1979, which discloses a Si element that is thermally bonded to a metal pedestal (via a gold or gold alloy layer applied to a "rough" section of the pedestal), with the "roughness" due to indentations formed in the pedestal surface by blades.

Article comprising compression bonded parts


Method for authenticating and automatic transmission of user information between a mobile device and a wireless router, establishing communication to the mobile device for authentication, transmitting the device identifier and pre-stored user information of an application to the wireless router, determining the match between the received information and an encrypted database of the wireless router, establishing a link between the user's information and the mobile device's information, logging in the application with received user information, and triggering the service provided by the application.

As mobile communication systems and smart mobile devices are more and more used in daily life, security and convenience for wireless data communication service demand higher standards. Traditional data communication services meet the security standard by authenticating user login via active actions of a user, which inevitably compromising the convenience; however, many recent successful products introduce more advanced authentication methods, such as combined identification based on at least one of: fingerprints, lip lines, iris, or heart rates. These advanced methods can be implemented to reduce complexity and tediousness of multistep, password-based authentication for the user, on the cost of higher complexity of software and hardware.

Method and apparatus of triggering applications in a wireless environment


A process for real time protocol (RTP) data streaming includes generating a plurality of codec bitstreams, each codec bitstream being configured to carry encoded information that includes one of occupancy map data, geometry data, or attribute data for a volumetric video. The process includes generating, for each codec bitstream of the plurality, a dedicated RTP stream, the dedicated RTP stream including a RTP payload format based on the respective codec bitstream for that RTP stream. The process includes multiplexing each dedicated RTP stream into a result RTP stream for the volumetric video.

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. Further, wireless communication technology has evolved from voice-only communications to also include the transmission of data, such as Internet and multimedia content, to a variety of devices. To accommodate a growing number of devices communicating both voice and data signals, many wireless communication systems share the available communication channel resources among devices.

Streaming of volumetric point cloud content based on session description protocols and real time protocols


An optical device, a method of making a laser gain medium, and a method of suppressing parasitics in a laser device include a core region comprising a plurality of a first type of ions that absorb energy at a first wavelength and transfer the absorbed energy to a plurality of a second type of ions that lase at a second wavelength after receiving the transferred energy. A cladding region coupled to the core region comprising another plurality of the second type of ions that suppress parasitics in the optical device by absorbing energy of at least a transverse portion of the second wavelength that enters the cladding region.

Generally, parasitics in an optical device (e.g., a laser device) refer to phenomena that act to clamp or limit useful gain (e.g., longitudinal gain) within a gain medium of the optical device, for example, due to internal reflections. In many cases, parasitic optical rays undergo total internal reflection (TIR) within the gain medium and continuously loop around and increase in power (robbing useful gain) with virtually no loss. In one conventional approach, parasitic suppression is accomplished by using an E-wave coating directly on the gain medium that limits the numerical aperture (NA) of the gain medium. The E-wave coating must then be processed in some way on its outer surface to prevent parasitic rays from returning back into the gain medium (e.g., roughening the outer surface of the coating). These processes add cost and complexity to the overall design. Roughening the gain medium surface alone (without an E-wave coating) has been tried, but this greatly increases the scattering loss of the guided pump light, which is highly undesirable as it reduces pump energy. Another conventional approach involves use of an optical adhesive with a refractive index sufficient to limit the gain medium NA. Typically, the adhesive is used to secure the gain medium to a heat-sink and therefore, is applied on the cooling surfaces of the gain medium. It is not convenient to use this adhesive on surfaces not involved in cooling or mounting. Another issue with optical adhesives is their high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). This property can significantly reduce the alignment stability of the gain medium over ranges of environmental temperature and pump power.
Another conventional device includes a bonded absorbing side cladding that undesirably absorbs pump energy. Yet another conventional arrangement includes doped glass slides between gain elements, but again suffers from the cost and CTE mismatch drawbacks, in addition to increasing processing steps and complexity of the overall optical system. Still yet another conventional arrangement includes providing sensitizer ions in cladding region surrounding the gain medium for absorbing lasing wavelength entering the cladding, to suppress amplified spontaneous emission and parasitic lasing in a plane transverse to the lasing direction. However, this conventional approach still suffers from drawbacks as a substantial portion of the lasing wavelength entering the cladding region is not absorbed due to mismatches in the absorption spectrum of sensitizer ions and the emission spectrum of laser active ions in the gain medium, which are the source of the lasing wavelength, thereby causing parasitics to still exist substantially.

System and method for suppressing parasitics in an optical device


When an image including a composite figure made of a predefined figure and a free-form figure is scanned, the position and shape of the free-form figure and the predefined figure are appropriately adjusted. The composite figure is separated into a predefined figure and a free-form figure. With respect to the separated predefined figure, a representative point is set at a predetermined position according to the type of the predefined figure and a representative point is set for the free-form figure based on a criterion according to a type of the free-form figure. If the representative point of a predefined figure is in the vicinity of the representative point of the free-form figure, the free-form figure is corrected based on the position of the representative point of the free-form figure and the position of the representative point of the predefined figure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a figure processing apparatus which vectorizes a figure included in a raster image, a method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method for recognizing a figure included in a raster image and generating electronic data of the image so that it can be processed by a computer is being proposed.
Japanese Patent Registration 3183690 discusses a method for generating a neatly-arranged flowchart from a hand-drawn flowchart image. In generating such a flowchart, raster image data of a hand-drawn image is vectorized. Then, the shape of the flowchart symbol, such as a circle, rectangle, or rhombus, included in the vector data is recognized, and the format of the data is converted into a format appropriate for the recognized flowchart symbol.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-337929 discusses a method for implementing correction processing when a raster figure is converted into a vector figure. The figure is classified according to its type, and the content and the order of the correction processing is changed according to the result of the classification. For example, if the figure is made of straight lines, processing such as connecting the neighboring lines, correcting the straight lines, and deleting an extremely small figure is performed after the vectorization. Further, if the figure is made of a curved line, processing such as neighboring line connection and extremely small figure deletion is performed after the vectorization.
Further, Japanese Patent Registration 4185858 discusses a method for dividing a raster image, which is obtained by scanning, into blocks according to its attribute. After then, vectorization of each block is performed. Regarding a region where a great amount of data is necessary due to vectorization, image data of such a region is stored instead of the vector data.
In the description below, a figure having a predetermined shape such as a circle, rectangle, rhombus, triangle, etc. is called a predefined figure and a figure (line drawing) freely drawn by a user is referred to as a free-form figure. For example, Microsoft Office® has a function called "AutoShape". According to AutoShape, a figure of a predetermined shape (i.e., predefined figure in the present invention) is prepared, and the user can create a drawing by using the predetermined shape.
On the other hand, in some cases, a figure other than a single predefined figure, a single figure made of straight lines, or a single free-form figure is included in a common business document. For example, in some cases, the user creates a composite figure by combining a free-form figure and a predefined figure. However, if the figure is not neatly formed, in spite of the user's intention, there may be a space between the free-form figure and the predefined figure. When a document including such figures is printed on paper, the figures are printed with a space in between.
Further, if this printed document is scanned, since there is a space between the figures, the figures are recognized as different objects. In other words, in spite of the user's intention, the objects are recognized as different objects. Thus, if the user desires to form one object from such objects, the user that performs the scanning needs to manually correct them, which is burdensome.

Figure processing apparatus, figure processing method, and storage medium


In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a plasma processing system having a magnetron that provides a symmetric magnetic track through a combination of vibrational and rotational motion. The disclosed magnetron has a magnetic element that generates a magnetic field. The magnetic element is attached to an elastic element connected between the magnetic element and a rotational shaft that rotates the magnetic element about a center of the sputtering target. The elastic element may vary its length during rotation of the magnetic element to change the radial distance between the rotational shaft and the magnetic element. The resulting magnetic track enables concurrent motion of the magnetic element in both an angular direction and a radial direction. Such motion enables a symmetric magnetic track that provides good wafer uniformity and a short deposition time.

Integrated chips are formed by complex fabrication processes, during which a workpiece is subjected to different steps to form one or more semiconductor devices. Some of the processing steps may comprise forming a thin film onto a semiconductor substrate. Thin films can be deposited onto a semiconductor substrate in a low-pressure processing chamber using physical vapor deposition.
Physical vapor deposition is typically performed by acting on a target with plasma comprising a plurality of high energy ions. The high energy ions collide with the target, dislodging particles into a vapor. The vapor is transported to a semiconductor substrate, upon which the vapor accumulates to form a thin film.

Rotation plus vibration magnet for magnetron sputtering apparatus

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A therapeutic arrangement for treating paravertebrae has a bed and a therapeutic device positioned in an opening formed in the bed. The therapeutic device has four movable cushions arranged at four corners of an H-shaped center frame. The center frame has a transverse member and two lateral pivotal arms connected to the ends of the transverse member, forming an H-shape. Each end of the pivotal arms carries one of the four cushions. The pivotal arms are connected by a coupling arm in one embodiment, each connected to an electro-mechanical moving device in another embodiment, and each connected to a pneumatic spring in yet another embodiment to control the movement of the pivotal arms so that the pads at the opposite ends of the same pivotal arm move in the opposite directions (up and down), enabling one of the pads attached to one of the pivotal arms to move in the same direction as one of the pads attached to the other of the pivotal arms. Specifically, the pivotal arms are adapted to rotate (twist) in opposite directions, thus enabling diametrically opposite ends of the pivotal arms to move in the same direction.

The invention relates to therapeutic arrangements for a paravertebral therapy of a human body. The effect desired and achieved by the present invention is the automation of a manual therapy mobilizing the small joints (vertebra facets) of the lumbar vertebrae and the dorsal vertebrae in order to recover their initial or normal anatomic position.
The topographic anatomic circumstances on level D4 (fourth dorsal vertebra) sometimes lead to short-arched right-convex structural scoliosis with counter-motion of the lower cervical vertebrae. Vertebra blockades or level D3, D4 cause obstinate pain in the arms. In this connection, in case of injuries of the upper extremities (arms) algodystrophies can be associated with this clinical picture.
According to W. H. Illi, the fourth dorsal vertebra has the smallest movement arch at the dorsal vertebrae. Further it represents the tectonic basis for the torsion of the cervical vertebrae and the upper dorsal vertebrae when bending the head forward.
From the anatomic point of view, in the thorax the hilum of the lung projects itself on the fifth dorsal vertebra. The Bifurcatio tracheae projects itself on the fourth dorsal vertebra. The aortic arch extends from behind in arcuated form over the left stem bronchus ventrally, bending around it in order to redescend from it. These asymmetric pulsating forces easily explain a curvature to the right in the region of the fourth dorsal vertebra. In most cases this curvature is short-arched and may possibly be intensified by a growth discrepancy of the mediastine. This growth discrepancy is likely to be a natural variation on the longitudinal plane, just as the funnel breast is a result of a respective shortening of the mediastine on the anterior and posterior plane.
The upper part of the breast of the Pars sympathica is developed particularly strong. The part of the breast of the Truncus sympathicus is situated besides the dorsal vertebrae in front of the intercostal vessels and is covered by the pleura.
The cord extremity of the Sympathicus is connected with the spinal nerve by the Rami communicantes, the fibers of which derive from l-he last cervical segment C8 on to the second or third lumbar segment.

Therapeutic device and arrangement for treating paravertebrae


An injection molding three way shut off valve assembly and method in which the three way valve assembly is configured to be disposed to control a flow of a molten material from an injection unit to a runner system. Preferably, the valve assembly has a valve plunger configured to be disposed between the injection unit and the runner system; the valve plunger having a flow-through channel and a purge channel. Movement structure is configured to control the position of the valve plunger between (i) a molten material flow position where the molten material flows through the flow-through channel, (ii) a molten material blocked position where the molten material is blocked from flowing through the flow-through channel, and (iii) a molten material purge position where the molten material flows through the purge channel, without disconnecting the injection unit from the runner system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved injection molding apparatus and method in which a three-way shut off valve can be controlled to allow molten material (i) to pass through the valve, (ii) to be blocked by the valve, or (iii) to be diverted to a purging channel. Preferably, the three-way shut off valve is used in conjunction with an articulated coupling which allows molten material to be transmitted between an injection unit and a hot runner system in a movable mold component. The valve may also be used with an injection nozzle to allow molten material to be transmitted between an injection unit and either a standard cold runner mold or a standard hot runner mold.
2. Description of Related Art
In some injection molding applications, shut-off valves are used to control the flow of the molten material from the injection unit to the hot runner system. Typically, the injection unit actually disengages from the mold in order to purge the molten material from a portion of the melt channel. Thus, the remaining molten material is exposed to contact with air after purging. This may cause surface defects on molded parts depending on material grade and surface quality requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,238 to Dawson discloses a pneumatically driven plunger type shut off valve in an injection molding nozzle. The plunger has two positions—open and blocked. There is no disclosure, however, of a third position for the plunger.
Japanese Publication 56-93528 to Kouhei Koga discloses a piston driven plunger type shut off valve that acts as the injection channel conduit to the mold. The plunger contains the melt channel and connects to the shooting pot cylinder in the plunger's forward position. In the plunger's retracted position the melt passes around the plunger's exterior surface via a channel created by locally reducing the external diameter of the plunger. There is no disclosure of a third position for the plunger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,545 to Brown discloses a hot runner shooting pot plunger that uses a first piston to actuate a first portion of its stroke, and a second piston coaxially aligned with the first piston to actuate a second portion of its stroke. The plunger is thereby controlled to move to each of three positions by the two pistons. The plunger does not act as a shut-off valve.
PCT publication WO 00/74920 to Catoen discloses a hot runner valve gate having a single valve stem movable to three distinct positions by two nested pneumatic pistons coaxially mounted at one end of the valve stem. In the first position the nozzle opens to permit flow of the material, in the second (intermediate) position the nozzle blocks the flow of the material, and in the third position the stem is extended through the gate orifice and projected forward to clear any blockage in the downstream melt channel. In the third position the melt channel is blocked by the stem and material cannot flow. There is no disclosure of using the valve to direct the material into a second channel when the third position is selected.
Thus, what is needed is an injection molding three way valve which can effectively and efficiently control the flow of melt so that it is provided to the hot runner, or shut off, or provided to a purging channel, all with minimal structure and time and within the operating environment of the injection molding machine.

Injection molding three-way shut off valve


The present invention generally relates to a military cannon as typically unted within the turret of a military armored vehicle such as an armored tank. My invention teaches method and apparatus for the catching and entrapping the stub case typically ejected from the breech of a military cannon after firing of an ammunition round. Subsequent to entrapment of the ejected stub case, the stub case catcher is raised to a preferred elevated angle simultaneously storing potential energy within a torsion bar which upon later release, ejects the entrapped stub case from the catcher and from the vehicle. By use of my invention and an automatic ammunition loader the crew requirements of such fighting vehicles may be reduced by eliminating the need for a human loader.

The present invention relates to a military tank/turret weapon system. At the present time a typical military tank combat crew consists of a tank commander, a driver, a gunner and an ammunition loader.
The tank commander is the officer in command of the fighting vehicle and responsible for coordinating the functions and activities of the other crew members to successfully complete the vehicle's assigned mission. The driver is responsible for the operation of the vehicle's engine systems and generally driving or otherwise maneuvering the vehicle. The gunner is responsible for operation of the vehicle's weapon systems, tracking and targeting of enemy vehicles and firing the on board weapon system thereby destroying enemy vehicles. The ammunition loader is responsible for physically selecting the particular type of ammunition ordered by the tank commander to be fired and manually loading the chosen ammunition into the weapon. Upon firing of the round, the round's cartridge case (stub case) is ejected by the weapon's breech mechanism with a force sufficient to propel the stub case toward the rear of the tank turret where it is generally received within a holding container. However, many times the stub case does not land within the holding container and the loader must manually capture the case and deposit it within the holding container. Further as the holding container fills with ejected casings, the loader must dispose of the spent casings by manually tossing the ejected stub cases outside the tank turret.
Future military tank cannon vehicle systems are being designed with a combat crew of three, the commander, driver, and gunner. The ammunition loader being replaced by an automated and mechanical loading device having a high rate of fire otherwise not achievable by a human loader. The stub case ejected from the weapon's breech must now be disposed of mechanically.

Apparatus and method for entrapping and discarding spent artillery shells

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A vehicle adapted for airborne flight and waterborne sailing has a fuselage (20) with left and right wings (52, 54) that pivot independently about a respective longitudinal axis from a generally horizontal orientation for flight to a generally vertical orientation to provide wind-driven propulsion for sailing. Further, the wings (52, 54) pivot about a respective second axis (66) that is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis to trim the wings (52, 54) for sailing with a given relative wind direction. The wings (52, 54) are mounted by a respective first pivotal joint (56, 58) to the distal ends of respective stub wing/decks (48, 50). The stub wing/decks form a fixed central wing section (46). Water hulls (28) are mounted below the distal ends of the stub wing/decks (48, 50) on vertical pylons (30) to provide stable flotation. Vertical and horizontal stabilizers (40, 60) are mounted on the back ends of the water hulls (28).

Aircraft that use water for runways and taxiways are well known. Some of these are originally designed as "flying boats" in which the fuselage is also a water hull. Some of these have retractable wheeled landing gear. Other aircraft have been designed or retrofitted with two pontoons for water operation. Air/water craft normally use the air propulsion engine for propulsion on water, and the air rudder for steering on water.
Some air/water craft have been designed for operation as sailcraft, using a wing as a sail. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,674 (Apgar) shows an air/water craft with wings that pivot individually or in unison about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage. A wing can be rotated to a generally vertical orientation to act as a sail. This craft has twin pontoons that pivot about a vertical axis to set a course for the sailcraft while orienting the sail wing as needed for propulsion in a given wind direction.