The invention is a device and method for purifying sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in flue gas with an electrolysis-chemical advanced oxidation enhanced ammonia method. The device includes a thermal activation reactor, ammonium hydroxide storage tank, absorption tower, electrolytic bath and crystallization separator. The method takes raw material part of an ammonium sulfate solution that is a reaction product of ammonia and sulfur oxide in flue gas, and an ammonium persulfate solution prepared by electrolysis of an electrolytic bath as an oxidant to enhance the efficiency of purifying sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in the flue gas with an ammonia method. A thermal activation reactor activates an ammonium persulfate containing solution to generate a strong oxidizing SO4.−, so that NOx and SO2 in the flue gas may be more efficiently converted into a product having higher solubleness for enhanced removal of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in the flue gas.

Sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide in flue gas are main precursor substances of acid rain. The acid rain pollution in China is in a severe situation. In every year, economic loss due to the acid rain and sulfur dioxide is up to hundreds of billion yuan throughout the country. In addition, the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are also main pollutants participated in air quality evaluation. As a result, the control of emission of the sulfur oxide and the nitrogen oxide generated in a combustion process to an atmospheric environment has a very important practical significance.
A widely-used flue gas desulfurization and denitrification technology mainly is a wet-process limestone-gypsum flue gas desulfurization technology and an ammonia selective catalytic reduction technology. The above technical methods can implement the removal of the sulfur oxide and the nitrogen oxide in the flue gas respectively but fail to implement simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification on the flue gas. A traditional wet-process flue gas purification technology, such as limestone-gypsum flue gas desulfurization technology and ammonia flue gas desulfurization technology, cannot implement the simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification on the flue gas, which lies in a fact that 90% or more of nitrogen oxides in the flue gas are NO difficult to be dissolved and absorbed. Therefore, in order to realize an objective of the simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification on the flue gas, converting the NO in the flue gas into a form to be dissolved and absorbed easily is a key to solve the problem. CN101940871B discloses a "simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification system based on photochemical advanced oxidation". The method mainly decomposes a hydrogen peroxide by using ultraviolet excitation; and a strong oxidizing hydroxyl radical (⋅OH) is generated to contact with flue gas in a spray tower to take place a gas-liquid absorption reaction, thus oxidatively removing NOx and SO2 in the flue gas. CN102166471B discloses an "integrated flue gas purification system based on heterogeneous Photo-Fenton". The method generates a strong oxidizing hydroxyl radical (⋅OH) by using the heterogeneous Photo-Fenton to oxidize SO2, NO and the like in flue gas into H2SO4 and HNO3, thus oxidatively removing the SO2 and NO in the flue gas. CN202096874U discloses a "flue gas purification device based on advanced oxidation combined wet-process cleaning". The utility model mixes ozone generated by an ozone generator with flue gas, and inputs a mixture to a reactor having an ultraviolet tube; and under radiation and excitation of ultraviolet light, a strong oxidizing hydroxyl radical (⋅OH) is generated, and is oxidized with SO2, insoluble NO and the like in the flue gas into a gaseous product having high solubleness, to enter a gas-liquid absorption tower to be absorbed by water for removal. CN103638796B discloses a "desulfurization-denitrification-demercuration system based on photoactivated ammonium persulfate". Flue gas emitted from a boiler or a kiln is subject to dedusting and temperature regulation to enter a photochemical reactor on a gas flue; and an ammonium persulfate solution from a liquid spray system is sprayed to the photochemical reactor in a mist form. An ultraviolet lamp in the photochemical reactor emits ultraviolet light to catalytically decompose the ammonium persulfate and release a strong oxidizing sulfate free radical (SO4.−) to remove SO2, NOx and mercury in the flue gas oxidatively and simultaneously. CN104043325B discloses a "method and device for purifying flue gas with ozone activated persulfate". According to the method, the ozone in the flue gas contacts with persulfate in a solution in a bubbling-spraying two-stage reactor to generate strong oxidizing sulfate free radical and hydroxyl free radical to oxidatively remove SO2, NOx and other pollutants in the flue gas.

Device and method for purifying sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in flue gas

Kunming University of Science and Technology


An object of the present invention is to reduce leakage magnetic flux in a magnetic sensor provided with a sensor substrate and an external magnetic member. A magnetic sensor includes: a sensor substrate having an element forming surface on which magnetic sensing elements are formed, first and second side surfaces, and a back surface; a first external magnetic member provided between the first and second magnetic sensing elements; and a second external magnetic member having first and second parts and covering the first side surface and second side surface, respectively. The first and second parts of the second external magnetic member protrude from the element forming surface. According to the present invention, since the first and second parts of the second external magnetic member protrude from the element forming surface, leakage of magnetic flux between the first and second external magnetic members is reduced.

A magnetic sensor using a magnetic sensing element is widely used in an ammeter, a magnetic encoder and the like. The magnetic sensor is sometimes provided with an external magnetic member for concentrating magnetic flux on the magnetic sensing element. For example, the magnetic sensor described in FIG. 8 of Patent Document 1 is provided with a magnetic member 21 that covers the center portion of the element forming surface of a sensor chip, a magnetic member 22 that covers the left side surface of the sensor chip, and a magnetic member 23 that covers the right side surface of the sensor chip and has magnetic sensing elements respectively between the magnetic members 21 and 22 and between the magnetic members 21 and 22 so as to distribute magnetic flux to the magnetic sensing elements.


An image capture apparatus includes: an image sensor having a plurality of pixels that photoelectrically convert an object image formed by an imaging optical system, each of the pixels having one microlens and a photoelectric conversion portion that has been divided into a plurality of portions; a focus detection unit configured to correct an image shift amount detected with a phase difference detection method using focus detection signal arrays of two images obtained by the photoelectric conversion portions divided into a plurality of portions; and a controller that calculates information corresponding to a movement amount of a lens of the imaging optical system based on the image shift amount detected and corrected by the focus detection unit, and controls movement of the lens of the imaging optical system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capture apparatus that performs focus detection with a phase difference detection method using an image sensor in which image forming pixels and focus detecting pixels are arranged on an image sensing plane.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology has been proposed for performing high-speed and high-precision focus detection using a phase-difference focus detection means in an image capture apparatus that has an imaging optical system and an image sensor. In phase-difference focus detection technology, luminous flux that exits the imaging optical system is divided into at least two areas by a pupil division means, and a pair of focus detection signal arrays of two images are obtained by photoelectrically converting the luminous flux in the areas. A so-called defocus amount, which is the amount of defocus of a predicted focal plane, is detected based the amount of relative image shift between the two signal arrays.
If the imaging optical system is in an optically in-focus state, the amount of relative image shift between the two signal arrays will ideally be zero. However, due to offset (misalignment in the optical axis direction) in the spatial arrangement of the focus detection means, optical aberration of the imaging optical system, and problems unique to the photoelectric conversion element for focus detection, there are cases where the amount of image shift between two images is not zero even when in the in-focus state. In such cases, focus detection error arises if the detected image shift amount is converted into the defocus amount as is. Accordingly, technology for resolving such error has also been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-87512 proposes the following technology. Specifically, a focus detection means is arranged at a position that is separated from the optical axis direction by a predetermined amount relative to the predicted focal plane of the imaging optical system, thus lowering the spatial frequency of the focus detection images and reducing error that arises during sampling of the photoelectric conversion element. In this case, a predetermined amount of image shift occurs between two signal arrays even in the in-focus state. In view of this, a correct focus detection result is obtained by calculating the defocus amount after subtracting the predetermined initial shift amount from the calculated image shift amount between two images.
Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-189415 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-218764 disclose technology for correcting focus detection error that arises due to spherical aberration of the imaging optical system and the like. With the phase-difference focus detection methods in these two prior art documents, only a portion of luminous flux that exits the imaging optical system is used in focus detection. This results in deviation between the focal position at which imaging performance is the best and the focal position calculated based on focus detection signals. In view of this, methods for correcting the amount of such deviation are disclosed in these prior art documents.
Technology has also been proposed for using a two-dimensional CMOS sensor or the like as the imaging means and providing pixels with a phase-difference focus detection function (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-305415). Both image forming pixels and focus detecting pixels are used in this technology. Specifically, the image forming pixels and the focus detecting pixels are arranged on the same plane, and therefore when the image forming pixels are in the in-focus state, the focus detecting pixels are also in the in-focus state. Accordingly, relative image shift does not occur in principle between two images for phase difference detection when focusing is performed. However, since pupil division is performed with very small microlenses and photoelectric conversion portions in this technology, there are cases where luminous flux is scattered in pixels and electrical crosstalk occurs between photoelectric conversion portions. Accordingly, even when in the in-focus state, there are cases where the image shift amount between two images is not zero, but rather predetermined image shift error arises. Since this image shift error arises due to individual pixel characteristics, it is difficult to resolve with the methods disclosed in the aforementioned prior art documents.
For example, since the correction of image shift between two images in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-87512 is the correction of spatial misalignment between the predicted imaging plane and the focus detection means, even if the F-number of the imaging optical system is changed, for example, there is no change in the correction amount in the defocus amount conversion.
Also, the error in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-189415 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-218764 is caused by optical aberration of the imaging optical system. Since optical aberration normally decreases as the F-number of the imaging optical system increases, the amount of error in the defocus amount conversion decreases according to increase in the F-number.

Image capture apparatus that performs focus detection with a phase difference detection method


In an electrophotographic copying apparatus, component units are disposed in a vertical arrangement so that the electrophotographic copying apparatus can be made more compact, lighter in weight and shorter in copying time. An image processing and conveyance unit has a sheet feeder unit, an image processing unit and a fixing-and-discharge section placed generally vertically in this order from below. A developing unit of an image processing unit is retained by a unit retaining portion formed into a generally U shaped cross section and erected on both sides of one end of a base, and by a resin frame having pillar portions integrally formed at the other end. An exposure optical unit is fitted to an upper end portion of the resin frame, and the image processing and conveyance unit is so arranged that its top portion is located in a place out of the region of scanning by a reflecting apparatus of the exposure optical unit. Thus, the whole apparatus can be made compact and shorter in the conveyance distance of sheets.

In recent years, electrophotographic copying apparatuses have been receiving demands for smaller size, saved space and higher speed.
A conventional electrophotographic copying apparatus is explained below in conjunction with the drawings In FIG. 6, there is disclosed an electrophotographic copying apparatus which comprises a first unit 111, a second unit 112, a third unit 113 and a control panel 114, wherein the first unit, the second unit and the third unit are stacked one on another The first unit includes optical elements such as an exposure lamp 115, reflecting mirrors 116 and lenses. The second unit includes a photosensitive drum 117, a developing device 118, a cleaning device 119, a transfer device 120, a fixing device 121 and the like. The third unit includes a sheet feeder 122. The second unit and the third unit can be pulled out rightward in the figure, so that the electrophotographic copying apparatus is small-sized and space-saving, while keeping easy in maintenance and jam-processing (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 4-371964).
These photosensitive drum, developing device and cleaning device of the electrophotographic copying apparatus are so arranged that a developing roller 124, the photosensitive drum 117 and the cleaning device 119 are integrated into a developing frame 123 as shown in FIG. 7 so as to be used as fittable to and removable from the copying apparatus Reference numeral 125 denotes a drum shaft, 126 denotes a side plate and 127 denotes a development cover 127 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-59591).
However, in the above conventional constitution, the first unit includes the optical elements is equal in vertical size for all parts, such that the box dimensions of the unit depends on the way the optical components are placed, with the result that even if useless space is involved, the unit would be stacked on as it is. The second unit is given as an image-formation processing unit, whereas fixing device is also arrayed horizontally besides the photosensitive drum, the developing device and the cleaning device, such that the unit size is lengthened in the direction of array, inevitably causing the whole apparatus to increase in size. Therefore, because a fed sheet is conveyed along the array of the image-formation processing unit, the conveyance path would become long, resulting in longer copying time.
Furthermore, because the image-formation processing unit including the development frame is weighty, the component members involved are arranged so as to be retained by metallic side plates in order to meet the weighty article and the placement relationship that requires an accurate positioning Therefore, the whole second unit would be heavy, such that the whole apparatus would also be heavy.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the foregoing issues, and an object of the invention is to provide an electrophotographic copying apparatus which is made more compact and shorter in copying time by disposing its component units vertically, and moreover which is reduced in weight by incorporating a resin frame molding

Electrophotographic copying apparatus with component units in a vertical arrangement

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A remote operation system includes a server and a client. In the server, a video-audio data conversion-into-common-format section converts data in a format unique to application software into data in a common format. A video-audio distributing section outputs audio-accompanying video data and moving-picture area data from the data in the common format. A section, which processes the transmission of the data of audio-accompanying moving-picture, adds a synchronizing data to video data and audio data, thereby obtaining a data stream. A video-audio data converting section outputs data including the moving-picture area data, operation-related audio display data. A remote control section outputs this data and the data stream. The client controls the application software of the server in response to an operation related to the video and the audio obtained from those data.

A wireless remote operation system including a server and a client has been widely used in enterprises. The "remote desk-top" proposed by Microsoft Inc. is one of them. A conventional wireless remote operation system represented by the "remote desk-top" is described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 12, FIGS. 13-16.
FIGS. 12A and 12B show structures of the conventional wireless remote operation system. FIG. 12A shows a structure of server 101, and FIG. 12B shows a structure of hardware at client.
First, the hardware structure of the server is described. In server 101, central processing unit 102 controls the overall server.
First memory 103, in general uses DRAM and works as a main memory for storing data. Second memory 104, in general, uses a hard-disc and works as an external memory for storing an OS and applications. Third memory 105 uses replaceable recording media such as a compact disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD) and works as a sub-memory for storing picture data and music data.
Display 106 displays an on-screen control panel or processed data on a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD). Communicator 107 communicates with the outside through a modem or local area network (LAN) board. Radio section 108 communicates with client 121 by radio.
Input controller 109 controls input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse coupled to controller 109. Moving-picture generator 110 generates moving pictures, and audio-output section 111 reproduces audio-data through a speaker. Power supply 112 powers respective elements of server 101. Power switch 113 turns power-supply 112 on or off. Bus 114 includes and power lines coupling the foregoing elements with each other.
Next, the hardware structure of client 121 is described. CPU 122 controls an overall operation of client 121. Display 123 displays a picture on a CRT or an LCD. Radio section 124 communicates with radio section 108 of server 101 via radio communication route.
Both of radio-sections 108 and 124 of server 101 and client 121 use a communication method in accordance with the allowing standard as a protocol: e.g., IEEE802.11a having max. transfer rate of 54 MB/sec in 5 GHz band or IEEE802.11b having max. transfer rate of 11 MB/sec in 2.5 GHz band.
Input controller 125 controls input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse coupled to controller 125. Audio-output section 126 reproduces audio-data supplied from server 101 through a speaker. Power supply 127 powers respective elements of client 121 to work properly. Power switch 128 turns power-supply 127 on or off: Bus 129 includes signal-lines and power lines coupling the foregoing elements with each other.
An operation of the conventional wireless remote operation system is described with reference to FIGS. 13-16. FIG. 13 illustrates a displaying operation by the server alone in the conventional wireless remote operation system. Displaying the data of application software 131 is described hereinafter. This application software 131 handles both of the data of audio-accompanying moving picture which has a data-format unique to each application software, and the data of operation-related audio and display which has a data format common to the system.
The common data format of data 132 of operation-related audio and display largely depends on the hardware so that the hardware can be operated with ease. The audio data-format generally uses the pulse code modulation (PCM) format. The display data-format generally uses the RGB format that displays each one of pixels of a picture with an intensity of three primary colors, ie., red (R), green (G) and blue (B).
Application software 131 outputs data 132 of operation-related audio and display directly to video-audio reproducing block 138. Data 133 of audio-accompanying moving-picture supplied from software 131 is converted by video-audio conversion-into-common-format block 134 into data 137 of video-audio in common format, then id to video-audio reproducing block 138.
Conversion-into-common-format block 134 has independent decoding modules corresponding to the respective unique formats in order to receive audio-accompanying moving picture data in a unique format and to convert the data of audio and video into those in the common format within the system.
Video-audio reproducing block 138 reproduces the data of video-audio supplied in the common format, and outputs video data 139 on display 106 as well as audio data 140 to audio-output section 111.
In the case of displaying moving pictures, operation-related background picture 106b, which shows buttons for reproducing back or halting the moving pictures, and moving picture 106c are displayed on display screen 106a of display 106. Output sound 111a supplied from audio-output section 111 includes operation-related sound 111b such as alarm for user's operation-error and moving-picture related sound 111c such as background music and voice accompany the moving picture.
FIG. 14 illustrates a remote displaying operation in the conventional wireless remote operation system. Application software 131 of server 101 outputs data 132 of operation-related audio and display directly to video-audio converting bloc 141 used for remote operation. Data 133 of audio-accompanying moving-picture supplied from application software 131 is converted by video-audio conversion-into-common-format block 134 into video-audio data 137 in common-format, then fed into video-audio converting block 141 to be used or remote operation.
Video-audio converting block 141 converts video-audio data 137 in the common format and operation-related audio-display data 132 into video-audio data 142 for remote operation and transmitted between server 101 and client 121, and outputs data 142 to remote control block 143.
Remote control block 143 of server 101 includes a coupling status monitor, a radio communicator, and a command analyzer, although those elements are not shown in FIG. 14. The coupling-status monitor monitors the coupling statuses in client 121. The radio communicator transmits and receives commands and display data to and from client 121. The command analyzer analyzes the command supplied from client 121 and starts an application of server 101. Remote control block 143 of server 101 transmits video-audio data 142 used for remote operation to client 121 via radio section 108.
Remote control block 145 of client 121 receives data 146 of video-audio used for remote operation from server 101 via radio section 124 and outputs it to video-audio reproducing block 147 used for remote operation Block 147 reproduces data 146 supplied.
The video data for remote operation out of output 148 is output on display 123 and displayed as displayed-picture 123a on which operation-related around picture image 123b, moving-picture image 123c are superimposed. Audio data for remote operation out of output 148 is output to audio output section 126, and reproduced as output sound 126a on which operation-related 126b and picture-related sound 126c are superposed.
The foregoing video and audio are included in output 148, thus the data amount of output 148 is so huge. FIG. 15 details the operation of the server in the conventional wireless remote operation system.
Application software 131 outputs data 133 of audio-accompanying moving picture in a format unique to respective applications to audio-accompanying video data separating block 134a of video-audio conversion-into-common-format block 134. Block 134a separates data 133 into audio data 135 in its original format and video data 136 in its original format, and outputs audio data 135 to audio-data conversion-into-common-format block 134b, and outputs video data 136 to video-data converting-into-common-format block 134c.
Converting block 134b converts audio data 135 into PCM audio data 137a, and outputs it to audio data converting block 141a of video-audio converting block 141. Video-data converting-into-common-format block 134c converts video-data 136 in the original format into video data 137b in RGB format or YUV format as the common format, and outputs it to video-data converting block 141b. Selection of RGB or YUV format as the common format can be done with format control signal 144 supplied from block 141b.
Audio-data converting block 141a synthesizes operation-related audio data 132a in PCM format and audio data 137a in PCM format, and converts the synthesized data into audio data 142a to be used for remote operation in PCM format, then output converted audio data 142a to remote control block 143. Audio data 142a is transmitted by radio to client 121.
Video-data converting block 141b synthesizes operation-related display data 132b in RGB format and video-data 137b in RGB format, and converts the synthesized data into video data 142b in RGB format to be used for remote operation, then outputs data 142b to remote control block 143 of the server. Data 142b is transmitted to client by radio. Block 143 of server 101 synthesizes audio data 142a in PCM format and video data 142b in RGB format, and transmits the synthesized data to client 121 by radio as video-audio data to be used for remote operation.
FIG. 16 details the operation done by client 121 in the conventional wireless remote operation system. Remote control block 145 separates the video-audio data for remote operation supplied from server 101 into audio data 146a for remote operation in PCM format and video data 146b or remote operation in RGB format. Block 145 outputs audio data 146a to audio reproducing block 147a of video-audio reproducing block 147 to be used or remote operation as well as outputs video data 146b to video reproducing block 147b.
Audio reproducing block 147a reproduces audio data 146a, and outputs audio data 148a to audio output section 126. Video reproducing block 147b reproduces video data 146b, and outputs video data 148b in RGB format to display 123.
In this conventional wireless remote operation system, when moving pictures are transmitted to the client from the server, an amount of data to be transmitted is so huge that the present transmission bandwidth is sometimes not enough to carry the data. At the client, the data amount received is so huge that the moving pictures sometimes cannot be reproduced smoothly.
Further, picture data of huge amount and audio-data of small amount are separately transmitted, so that a time difference happens between the picture data and the audio data because the picture data needs more time to process than the audio data corresponding to the picture data.
The conventional wireless remote operation system is largely influenced by whether or not a data format of moving picture and a compression method are on public view, and the presence of private formats possibly prevents a unified system from being established.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A device for attenuating thermal lensing in an optical resonator is disclosed. The device includes a laser rod having an optical axis, a first high-reflectivity element disposed within a path of the optical axis, an outcoupling element disposed within a path of the optical axis, a second high-reflectivity element disposed within a path of the optical axis, and a potential source coupled to the second high-reflectivity element. Application of a first potential from the potential source onto the second high-reflectivity element causes the second high-reflectivity element to be substantially reflective, and application of a second potential from the potential source onto the second high-reflectivity element causes the second high reflectivity element to be substantially transmissive, to preserve a TEM00 beam quality within the optical resonator under varying thermal conditions.

The present invention relates generally to medical cutting, irrigating, evacuating, cleaning, and drilling techniques and, more particularly to a system for introducing conditioned fluids into the cutting, irrigating, evacuating, cleaning, and drilling techniques.
A prior art dental/medical work station 11 is shown in FIG. 1. A vacuum line 12 and an air supply line 13 supply negative and positive pressures, respectively. A water supply line 14 and an electrical outlet 15 supply water and power, respectively. The vacuum line 12, the air supply line 13, the water supply line 14, and the power source 15 are all connected to the dental/medical unit 16.
The dental/medical unit 16 may comprise a dental seat or an operating table, a sink, an overhead light, and other conventional equipment used in dental and medical procedures. The dental/medical unit 16 provides water, air, vacuum and/or power to the instruments 17. These instruments may include an electrocauterizer, an electromagnetic energy source, a mechanical drill, a mechanical saw, a canal finder, a syringe, and/or an evacuator.
The electromagnetic energy source is typically a laser coupled with a delivery system. The laser 18a and delivery system 19a, both shown in phantom, as well as any of the above-mentioned instruments, may be connected directly to the dental/medical unit 16. Alternatively, the laser 18b and delivery system 19b, both shown in phantom, may be connected directly to the water supply 14, the air supply 13, and the electric outlet 15. Other instruments 17 may be connected directly to any of the vacuum line 12, the air supply line 13, the water supply line 14, and/or the electrical outlet 15.
The laser 18 and delivery system 19 may typically comprise an electromagnetic cutter for dental use. A conventional prior art electromagnetic cutter is shown in FIG. 2. According to this prior art apparatus, a fiber guide tube 30, a water line 31, an air line 32, and an air knife line 33 (which supplies pressurized air) may be fed from the dental/medical unit 16 into the hand-held apparatus 34. A cap 35 fits onto the hand-held apparatus 34 and is secured via threads 36. The fiber guide tube 30 abuts within a cylindrical metal piece 37. Another cylindrical metal piece 38 is a part of the cap 35. When the cap 35 is threaded onto the hand-held device 34, the two cylindrical metal tubes 37 and 38 are moved into very close proximity of one another. The pressurized air from the air knife line 33 surrounds and cools the laser as the laser bridges the gap between the two metal cylindrical objects 37 and 38. Air from the air knife line 33 flows out of the two exhausts 39 and 41 after cooling the interface between elements 37 and 38.
The laser energy exits from the fiber guide tube 42 and is applied to a target surface within the patient""s mouth, according to a predetermined surgical plan. Water from the water line 31 and pressurized air from the air line 32 are forced into the mixing chamber 43. The air and water mixture is very turbulent in the mixing chamber 43, and exits this chamber through a mesh screen with small holes 44. The air and water mixture travels along the outside of the fiber guide tube 42, and then leaves the tube 42 and contacts the area of surgery. The air and water spray coming from the tip of the fiber guide tube 42 helps to cool the target surface being cut and to remove materials cut by the laser.
Water is generally used in a variety of laser cutting operations in order to cool the target surface. Additionally, water is used in mechanical drilling operations for cooling the target surface and removing cut or drilled materials therefrom. Many prior art cutting or drilling systems use a combination of air and water, commonly combined to form a light mist, for cooling a target surface and/or removing cut materials from the target surface.
The use of water in these prior art systems has been somewhat successful for the limited purposes of cooling a target surface or removing debris therefrom. These prior art uses of water in cutting and drilling operations, however, have not allowed for versatility, outside of the two functions of cooling and removing debris. In particular, during cutting or drilling operations, medication treatments, preventative measure applications, and aesthetically pleasing substances, such as flavors or aromas, have not been possible or used. A conventional drilling operation may benefit from the use of an anesthetic near the drilling operation, for example, but during this drilling operation only water and/or air has so far been used. In the case of a laser cutting operation, a disinfectant, such as iodine, could be applied to the target surface during drilling to guard against infection, but this additional disinfectant has not been applied during such laser cutting operations. In the case of an oral drilling or cutting operation, unpleasant tastes or odors may be generated, which may be unpleasing to the patient. The conventional use of only water during this oral procedure does not mask the undesirable taste or odor. A need has thus existed in the prior art for versatility of applications and of treatments during drilling and cutting procedures.
Compressed gases, pressurized air, and electrical motors are commonly used to provide the driving force for mechanical cutting instruments, such as drills, in dentistry and medicine. The compressed gases and pressurized water are subsequently ejected into the atmosphere in close proximity to or inside of the patient""s mouth and/or nose. The same holds true for electrically driven turbines when a cooling spray (air and water) is typically ejected into the patient""s mouth, as well. These ejected fluids commonly contain vaporous elements of burnt flesh or drilled tissue structure. This odor can be quite uncomfortable for the patient, and can increase trauma experienced by the patient during the drilling or cutting procedure. In a such a drilling or cutting procedure, a mechanism for masking the smell and the odor generated from the cutting or drilling may be advantageous.
Another problem exists in the prior art with bacteria growth on surfaces within a dental operating room. The interior surfaces of air, vacuum, and water lines of the dental unit, for example, are subject to bacteria growth. Additionally, the air and water used to cool the tissue being cut or drilled within the patient""s mouth is often vaporized into the air to some degree. This vaporized air and water condensates on surfaces of the dental equipment within the dental operating room. These moist surfaces can also promote bacteria growth, which is undesirable. A system for reducing the bacteria growth within air, vacuum, and water lines, and for reducing the bacteria growth resulting from condensation on exterior surfaces, is needed to reduce sources of contamination within a dental operating room.
The fluid conditioning system of the present invention is adaptable to most existing medical and dental cutting, irrigating, evacuating, cleaning, and drilling apparatuses. Flavored fluid is used in place of regular tap water during drilling operations. In the case of a laser surgical operation, electromagnetic energy is focused in a direction of the tissue to be cut, and a fluid router routes flavored fluid in the same direction. The flavored fluid may appeal to the taste buds of the patient undergoing the surgical procedure, and may include any of a variety of flavors, such as a fruit flavor or a mint flavor. In the case of a mist or air spray, scented air may be used to mask the smell of burnt or drilled tissue. The scent may function as an air freshener, even for operations outside of dental applications.
The fluids used for cooling a surgical site and/or removing tissue may further include an ionized solution, such as a biocompatible saline solution, and may further include fluids having predetermined densities, specific gravities, pH levels, viscosities, or temperatures, relative to conventional tap water. Additionally, the fluids may include a medication, such as an antibiotic, a steroid, an anesthetic, an anti-inflammatory, an antiseptic or disinfectant, adrenaline, epinephrine, or an astringent. The fluid may also include vitamins, herbs, or minerals.
Introduction of any of the above-mentioned conditioning agents to the conventional water of a cutting or drilling operation may be controlled by a user input. Thus, for example, a user may adjust a knob or apply pressure to a foot pedal in order to introduce iodine into the water after a cutting operation has been performed. The amount of conditioning applied to the air, water, or mist may be a function of the position of the foot pedal, for example.
According to one broad aspect of the present invention, a mist of atomized particles is placed into a volume of air above the tissue to be cut, and a source of electromagnetic energy, such as a laser, is focused into the volume of air. The electromagnetic energy has a wavelength, which is substantially absorbed by the atomized particles in the volume air. This absorption of the electromagnetic energy by the atomized particles causes the atomized particles to explode and impart mechanical cutting forces onto the tissue. According to this feature, the electromagnetic energy source does not directly cut the tissue but, rather, the exploded fluid particles are used to cut the tissue. These fluid particles may be conditioned with flavors, scents, ionization, medications, disinfectants, and other agents, as previously mentioned.
Since the electromagnetic energy is focused directly on the atomized, conditioned fluid particles, the cutting forces are changed, depending upon the conditioning of the atomized fluid particles. The mechanical cutting efficiency is proportional (related) to the absorption of the electromagnetic energy by the fluid spray. The absorption characteristic can be modified by changing the fluid composition. For example, introduction of a salt into the water before atomization, resulting in an ionized solution, will exhibit slower cutting properties than does regular water. This slower cutting may be desirable, or the laser power may be increased to compensate for the ionized, atomized fluid particles. Additionally, the atomized fluid particles may be pigmented to either enhance or retard absorption of the electromagnetic energy, to thereby additionally control the cutting power of the system. Two sources of fluid may be used, with one of the sources having a pigment and the other not having a pigment.
Another feature of the present invention places a disinfectant in the air, mist, or water used for dental applications. This disinfectant can be periodically routed through the air, mist, or water lines to disinfect the interior surfaces of these lines. This routing of disinfectant can be performed between patients, daily, or at any other predetermined intervals. A mouthwash may be used, for example, at the end of each procedure to both clean the patient""s mouth and clean the air and water tubes.
According to another feature of the present invention, when disinfectant is routed through the lines during a medical procedure, the disinfectant stays with the water or mist, as the water or mist becomes airborne and settles on surrounding surfaces within the dental operating room. Bacteria growth within the lines, and from the condensation, is significantly attenuated, since the disinfectant retards bacteria growth on the moist surfaces.


A method of brokering network services by identifying a service which is complementary to a first service, the first service having an associated first service description comprising first service identification information identifying the service offered and first interface type information, the first interface type information comprising at least one of an input format accepted by the first service and an output format generated by the first service, the method comprising the steps of; identifying a second service having an associated second service description comprising second service identification information identifying the service offered and second interface type information which is complementary to the first interface type information, and modifying the first service description in accordance with the second service description.

The connection of computers and other devices to form networks is well known and wide spread. Such networks provide substantial advantages in enabling computers and their users to communicate and to access and share, resources such as information stores, printers and so forth. A requirement is that an entity such as a computer or other device connected to the network should be aware of or able to identify other network entities with which it can communicate and whose capabilities are available for use.
For relatively small and stable networks, it is known to provide each entity with a network address and to provide that address to other entities. For example, a personal computer may be manually provided with the network address of a printer and set to send all printer jobs to that network address. This technique is however unsuitable for large networks with a very large number of entities connected to the network, or to ad hoc or changeable networks.
A number of protocols or techniques have been developed to enable network entities to identify other entities with desirable characteristics. For example, a personal computer may wish to identify a colour printer able to print a particular type of graphics file. The techniques may broadly be characterised as "look up" techniques in which a directory of entities and their associated capabilities is maintained, and "discovery" in which an entity actively locates or seeks another entity having a desired capability. It is also known to use a combination of "look up" and "discovery" techniques.
Because the terminology in this technical field is not consistent between protocols and applications, the following terms will have the following meaning herein;
"service"—refers to a function or resource provided by a network entity and available over the network to other entities. There clearly need not be a one-to-one relation between services and entities. For example, a combined scanner, printer and fax machine would be a single entity but provide three distinct services.
"entity"—refers to any device or application which provides a service and/or which accesses services over a network. An entity may thus be a physical device, such as a printer, or may be a software application.
"client"—refers to an entity which wishes to access or invoke a service.
"broker"—as a verb means to offer a service which is performed by another network entity, and as a noun refers to any entity which offers a service performed by another entity.
In the "look up" technique, a broker maintains a directory of services available over a network. To find a required service, a client sends a request to the broker identifying the required capabilities. The broker then searches the directory for a service matching the required capabilities and answers the request. Examples of protocols which uses this technique are the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) and the CORBA trader service. Such protocols are however computationally heavy and difficult to maintain and install. They do have the advantage that they are able to respond to specific requests for a logical combination of desired capabilities or other criteria. By organising the directory in a hierarchical or other topology, look up protocols may provide scaleability over a wide range of network sizes. As an extreme example, the Internet domain name service (DNS) is a look up system organised as a hierarchy of servers which scale up to the Internet as a whole. Such protocols do not however support the spontaneous addition or removal of entities to and from the network, and are also not appropriate for "ad hoc" networks.
To address these shortfalls, discovery protocols have been devised. In a discovery protocol, an entity advertises its capabilities, for example by multicast over a network, and the capabilities are cached or otherwise recorded by other entities. When a client requires a particular function or resource, it can send a request directly to the service using the cached information. A client may also advertise a request setting out required capabilities, and a service matching those capabilities may respond to the request. As such, no separate directory or broker is required and such a protocol is computationally light and responsive to change in the network.
An example of a discovery protocol is the simple service discovery protocol (SSDP) which has been incorporated into Microsoft Universal Plug-and-Play protocol (UPnP). In SSDP, services multi-cast their capabilities over a allocated SSDP multi-cast channel/port using the HTTP UDP protocol. Services are identified using a universal resource identifier (URI) which identifies the service and its capabilities, and a unique service name (USN). The USN which is a unique identifier such as a universal unique identifier (UUID). SSDP uses both methods of discovery described above. When a service is first connected to the network, it announces its capability and USN which may then be cached by listening entities whilst clients may also transmit a search request using a URI to identify the service type required. Although SSDP is an extremely simple and lightweight protocol, it does not allow clients to search other than by using the various service type identifiers. There is no entity corresponding to a broker and the protocol does not perform any brokering as defined above.
A more sophisticated protocol with discovery, together with a more sophisticated search capability and an optional directory capability is "Salutation". In the Salutation protocol one or more services are connected to a corresponding Salutation Manager. Each Salutation Manager stores information about services registered with that Salutation Manager. When a client wishes to locate a service having a given set of capabilities, it sends a request to its corresponding Salutation Manager, which contacts other Salutation Managers to identify services requested with those managers which have the required capability. When a service having the required capability is found, the or each Salutation Manager then establishes a service session to connect the client and service. The Salutation Managers are intended to be independent of any particular network protocol, and communications between Salutation Managers across a network are handled by a network-specific transport management layer. As specified in the Salutation architecture specification, a Salutation Manager may store information about services registered in other Salutation Managers to allow the Salutation Manager to maintain a directory of services that are important to local services or clients. It is even envisaged that one Salutation Manager in the network may be designated as a directory responsible for finding and registering all compatible services, and all client requests would be directed towards this Salutation Manager which would act as a broker.
A Java based solution, JINI, is also known which is a combination of look up and discovery techniques. A service, on connection to the network, will locate a look up service. Once the service has identified the look up service, it registers its capabilities with the look up service. A client wishing to identify an appropriate service will send a request to the look up service.
A problem with each technique described above is that the description of each service is essentially static. The information available on each service, whether held by a broker or advertised by the service, itself takes no account of other services available on the network. Where a client wishes to carry out a function which uses a number of resources which are provided by separate services, the client must discover or look up those services separately and invoke them separately.
An aim of the invention is to provide a new or improved lightweight method of brokering services provided over a network.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A textile semifinished product with at least one surface provided with an adhesive, wherein the adhesive is immobilized on the surface of the semifinished product in order to maintain the tack in a lasting manner. To this end, at least one constituent of the adhesive is partly crosslinked and the partly crosslinked constituent is the product of partial crosslinking of at least one monomer containing double bonds, the monomer containing double bonds being a partial ester prepared by the reaction of an epoxy resin with an unsaturated carboxylic acid.

It is known to give self-adhesive properties to textiles used as reinforcing materials for the production of fiber-reinforced components—so-called composites. In particular in the automotive industry, boat construction or in the field of rotors for wind turbine generators, where relatively large and complex preforms of dry reinforcing materials are to be produced, there is an interest in fixing the individual textile layers. For this purpose, usually a so-called textile binder is applied on the surface of the textiles, for example a hot melt adhesive on the basis of epoxy resins or polyamides or similar meltable strong resins. These self-adhesive textiles can then be placed in a mold and held on the mold or on a layer already fixed thereon, by the adhesive.
Also, in the construction of sandwich components, there is often the need to ensure the adhesion of textile layers on the core material used. This is usually balsa wood or foams of polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyurethane (PUR), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethacrylimide (Rohacell®).
A drawback of the hot melt adhesives of the prior art is that they are not tacky in ambient temperature and therefore have to be heated for activation, or that with adhesives that are sufficiently tacky at room temperature, the tackiness of the textiles is reduced after just a short period of time, so that the textile cannot be stored over a longer period of time without losing tackiness. This is due both to the affinity of such melt adhesives towards the coating of the fibers used, in particular if they are formulated on the basis of epoxy resin, and also to the capillary effect of the filaments. These effects cause that the adhesive applied to the surface of the reinforcing material migrates into the interior of the textile after a short period of time. Other textile binders applied in powder form are not tacky at room temperature, but must be superficially melted in order to achieve fixing of the layers.
Furthermore, it is known to apply styrene-dissolvable rubber or rubber emulsions on the textiles to make their surfaces tacky.
Since rubber has a low solubility in the matrix resins used for composite production, rubber remains a foreign material within the fiber-reinforced component.
The consequences are bad surface quality of the fiber composite components, and a non-tolerable reduction of the mechanical strength values of the components by more than 25%.

Textile semifinished product with at least one surface provided with an adhesive


According to one embodiment, a disk storage apparatus includes a first storage device, a second storage device, and a controller. The first storage device stores data for use in determining influence imposed on tracks peripheral to a designated track in which data should be written on a disk. The second storage device has a nonvolatile cache area for temporarily storing data. The controller performs a cache process of storing the data in the nonvolatile cache area if the influence is determined, from the data, to exceed a reference value, in preparation for writing the data in the designated track.

In recent years, tracks are provided on a disk in a higher density to increase the storage capacity in the field of disk storage apparatuses a representative example of which is a hard disk drive (HDD in some instances). On any disk having tracks arranged in a high density, the more times data has been written in one track, the magnetic recording in either peripheral track will be degraded, due to the influence the recording magnetic field imposes during the data writing. The degradation of the magnetic recording may result in read errors.
For addressing the influence imposed on either peripheral track (adjacent track interference [ATI]), a method (anti-ATI measures) has been proposed, in which a track refresh process is performed. In the track refresh process, the times data has been written each track on a disk is counted and the data recorded in the track is refreshed in accordance with the number of times data has been written in the track.
The track refresh process is a process designed to update the data recorded in any track if data has been recorded in the track more times than a reference value (threshold value). More specifically, the data thus far recorded is read from the track and then is written again in the track (thereby refreshing the track with the same data).
The track refresh process is performed while the HDD is idling, in order to reduce the load on the ordinary read/write process. If the recording magnetic field influences either peripheral track very much, however, the ordinary read/write process must be interrupted and the track refresh process must then be immediately performed, even while the HDD keeps operating.

Disk storage apparatus and write control method


A base station according to a first feature uses a plurality of carriers for radio communications. The base station includes: a receiver that receives neighbor base station information on user terminals connected to a neighbor base station, wherein the neighbor base station information is transmitted from the neighbor base station; and a controller that changes a carrier configuration of at least one carrier among the plurality of carriers based on the neighbor base station information.

In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) which is a project aiming to standardize mobile communication systems, the standardization of an LTE Advanced, which is a sophisticated version of LTE (Long Term Evolution), is conducted after 3GPP Release 10.
The LTE Advanced introduces carrier aggregation, in which carriers in the LTE are positioned as component carriers and multicarrier communications are performed by using an aggregation of a plurality of component carriers, in order to achieve a wider band while ensuring backward compatibility with the LTE (see Non-patent Document 1).

Base station and communication control method


A hydraulic braking pressure control apparatus for an automotive vehicle includes a master cylinder mounted on a brake booster for applying a braking force, a master cylinder reservoir provided on the master cylinder for supplying hydraulic fluid to the master cylinder, and a solenoid valve body mounted on the master cylinder. The solenoid valve body includes a plurality of solenoid valves and a fluid circuit operatively connected to the master cylinder for generating a braking pressure to be supplied to wheel brake cylinders. A pump body is mounted on the master cylinder and includes a pump device for returning hydraulic fluid to the master cylinder and the solenoid valve body. A pump motor drives the pump device, with the pump motor being mounted on the master cylinder and being symmetrically disposed with respect to the solenoid valve body.

A known type of hydraulic braking pressure control apparatus for an automotive vehicle is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Patent Application No. 8-11696. The hydraulic braking pressure control apparatus is of the type that includes a master cylinder integrally provided with an ABS actuator or both an ABS actuator and a TRC actuator. In this conventional braking pressure control apparatus, all the component parts of the actuators including the reservoir, the pump motor and the pump body are integrally assembled with the cylinder body of the master cylinder or are separately mounted on the cylinder body of the master cylinder. The pump motor in particular is mounted on the cylinder body sideways.
This type of conventional hydraulic braking pressure control apparatus suffers from a variety of drawbacks and disadvantages. In one respect, when the actuator assembly is mounted on the cylinder body of the master cylinder, a relatively large space is occupied by the actuator assembly. This makes the overall size of the hydraulic braking pressure control apparatus undesirably large. In addition, the center of gravity of the control apparatus is shifted to one side due to the weight of the actuator assemblies and the pump motor. As a result, difficulties arise in mounting the control apparatus to a vehicle body structure. Additionally, a firm support structure is required to support the control apparatus and prevent vibration. Further, if the component parts of the actuator are separately mounted on the cylinder body of the master cylinder, it is necessary to provide mounting portions on the cylinder body for the respective component parts. This means that different kinds of cylinder bodies are required to accommodate different kinds of actuators, thus undesirably increasing the cost associated with manufacturing the hydraulic braking pressure control apparatus.

Hydraulic braking pressure control apparatus for an automotive vehicle


A system of printing borderless images on printable media includes at least one sheet of printable media including an imaging surface and a non-imaging surface. The system further includes a removable extension strip having a front surface with an adhesive zone and a non-adhesive zone, a non-adhesive back surface, and a straight line of demarkation between the adhesive and non-adhesive zones. The adhesive zone is configured to removably adhere to the non-imaging surface, and the straight line of demarkation is configured as a placement guide for adhering the adhesive zone of the extension strip to the media. An associated method includes adhering an adhesive portion of removable extension strip to a non-imaging surface proximate a trailing edge of the media, and ink-jet printing an image on an imaging surface of the media using an ink-jet printer. The strip is used by rollers in the printer to advance the media.

Many consumers desire to print images such as photographs on single sheet, printable media without any margins or borders around the image. A typical problem when printing borderless images on single sheets is that image quality can be affected near the trailing edge of the printable media. A reduction in image quality near the trailing edge of the printable media can be the result of the feeding systems that ink-jet printers use to advance the media through the printer.
Specifically, ink-jet printers typically use a primary roller to advance media through the printer. The primary roller is positioned with respect to the printing portion of the printer so that the media is touched by the primary roller before the media is printed. To print a borderless image on printable media, the printable media is typically released from the primary roller and a secondary roller or feeder advances the printable media while the area adjacent the trailing edge of the media is printed. The transition between the primary roller and the secondary feeder often generates poor or reduced image quality near the trailing edge of the media because of advancing errors and changes in the position of the media with respect to the printing part of the printer. This reduction in image quality near the trialing edge of printable media is often referred to as a Bottom of Form Transition Error.
Double overdrive advancing systems have been developed to allow consumers to print borderless images on printable media. To print the trailing edge of printable media using these systems, the media is released from a pincher or nip between a driver roller and a pinch roller. Thereafter, the last part of the media is advanced using the overdrive advance system.
While relatively simple to use, such double overdrive systems have proved disadvantageous in that advance calibration parameters are often different from one advance feeding system to the other in a single printer. Typically, the advance ratio in the overdrive is higher than the advance ratio in the primary advance system for purposes of pulling the media in the print zone. Moreover, sensing of the transition point between the primary advance system and the overdrive system is not perfectly accurate, and thus the different calibration parameters are not changed at exactly the right moment. Additionally, when advanced by the primary roller, media is pressed against the print plate with a specific entry angle that enables control of the media. However, when the media is released from the pinchers of the primary advance system, the angle changes, the bending force resulting from the angle is released, and the media is pushed forward in the print zone.
Another disadvantage is that many overdrive systems do not have good traction, and thus, do not firmly feed the media at a continuous rate through the printer. This results in media advance errors near the trailing edge of the printed media. Also, if the printable media has upcurl when released from the pinchers, there is nothing in the printer that pushes the media downward. This can lead to a head crash of the pen head with the border of the media. Even if upon release from the pinchers, upcurl in the media is low, and head crash does not occur, image quality may still be affected due to the variations in the advance calibration parameters between the primary advance and overdrive systems.

Systems and methods for printing borderless images on printable media


When a channel adapter (CHA) is replaced, the storage control device of the present invention deletes the security information held in the channel adapter to improve security. The CHA conducts encrypted communications with the host. Security information (encryption keys and the like) employed in encrypted communications is stored in the port memory of each communications port. When replacement of the CHA is designated, the processor causes the security information stored in the port memory to be saved to shared memory, and deletes the security information in the port memory. When a new CHA is installed, the security information stored in the shared memory is transferred to the port memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage control device, host interface control unit of a storage control device, and information protection method of a storage control device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The storage control device is, for example, disk drives such as hard disk drives, disposed in an array, and providing a storage area based on RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) to the host computer (hereafter referred to as 'the host'). The host accesses, and reads and writes data to and from, the logical storage area provided by the storage control device.
Fiber Channel Protocol and iSCSI (internet Small Computer System Interface), for example, are known as protocols for communications between the storage control device and the host. With iSCSI, the storage control device can be accessed via an IP network such as the Internet by encapsulating SCSI commands into TCP/IP packets.
However, since various information employed by institutions such as industry, financial institutions, government institutions, and educational institutions is stored in storage control devices, protection from illegal access to this information is necessary. Therefore, technology has been proposed with which, for example, the association between a WWN (World Wide Name) and port identification information, or the association between a WWN and a LUN (Logical Unit Number) is described in a table beforehand, and approval or denial of access is controlled while referencing this table (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H10-333839, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-265655).
On the other hand, in this case of iSCSI using a TCP/IP network, technology has also been proposed with which the MAC (Media Access Control) address is employed to evaluate whether or not a host has access privileges (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-134961).
When transferring data using iSCSI and TCP/IP networks, packet monitoring by a third party must also be considered. Therefore, for example, the use of encrypted communications technology such as IPSec (IP Security) to encrypt the content of communications between the host and the storage control device is considered.
When encrypting communications, information employed in encryption of communications such as the encryption key and method of encryption (encryption algorithm) must be held at both the host and the storage control device. The storage control device has one or a plurality of communications control boards conducting communications with the host, and information employed in encrypted communications is stored in the memory on this communications control board. For example, when the communications control board is removed from the storage control device for maintenance and the like, the memory storing information employed in encrypted communications is also removed away from the storage control device. When the memory on the removed communications control board is accessed by a third party and the information extracted, there is a possibility that content of subsequent communications between the host and the storage control device will be surreptitiously viewed or altered for fraudulent purposes.

Storage control device, host interface control unit of storage control device, and information protection method of storage control device


An apparatus and method for determining a head parameter value (e.g., head resistance) of a resistive head. A test head current is supplied to the head during a head parameter measurement interval using the same current sources that supply a bias current to the head during an operating (read operation) interval. The determined head parameter value is latched for use in setting the control loop gain for a control loop that controls the current sources during the operating interval.

A disc drive storage system 300 of FIG. 5 stores data for use by computer systems and electronic products that require internal data storage. The system 300 comprises a disc 312 on which is deposited magnetic material for storing information in the form of magnetized domains having a magnetized state representing either a binary one or a binary zero. The information is written to the disc 312 by magnetizing the domains during a write operation. The domains retain the magnetization for later retrieval during a read operation. The magnetized state is determined and the stored information derived therefrom for use by the computer system or electronic product.
The disk drive 300 comprises a magnetic recording medium in the form of the disk or platter 312 having a hub 313 and a magnetic read/write transducer 314, commonly referred to as a read/write head, for reading data stored on the disk 312 and writing (storing) data to the disk 312. The read/write head 314 is attached to or formed integrally with a suspension arm 315 suspended over the disk 312 and affixed to a rotary actuator arm 316. The actuator arm 316 is pivotably connected to a platform 320 at a pivot joint 322. A voice coil motor 324 drives the actuator arm 316 to position the head 314 over a selected location on the disk 312. A surface of the disk 312 is divided into a plurality of concentric tracks 326, each track comprising user data fields (including error correction coding bytes), servo tracking fields and timing/synchronization fields.
Although only a single disk 312 is illustrated in FIG. 5, a conventional disk drive system comprises a plurality of double-sided disks oriented in a stacked configuration, with one head servicing one side of each disk.
In other data storage systems the head 314 operates with different types of storage media (not shown in the Figures) comprising, for example, a rigid magnetic disk, a flexible magnetic disk, magnetic tape and a magneto-optical disk
As shown in a partial cross-sectional and partial block diagram of FIG. 6, the disk 312 comprises a substrate 350 and a thin film 352 disposed thereover. The head 314 comprises a write head 314A and a read head 314B.
Data bits to be written to the disk 312 are supplied by a data processing device 360 (e.g. a computer or music player) to a data write circuit 362 where the data bits are formatted and error detection/correction information appended thereto.
To write data bits to the disk 312, the voice coil motor 318 moves the suspension arm 316 to a desired radial position above the surface of the disk 312 while the spindle motor rotates the disk 312 to move a circumferential track region to be written under the write head 314A. A write driver 364 responsive to the data write circuit 362, scales up the relatively low voltages representing the data bits to a voltage range between about +/−6V and +/−10V and supplies a write current (typically between about 10 mA and 70 mA) to the inductive write head 314A. The write driver 364 also shapes the write current signal waveform to optimize the data writing process. The write driver 364 is conventionally an element of a preamplifier 366, and in one embodiment the preamplifier 366 comprises an element of an electronics module 330 (see FIG. 5) connected to the head 314 via conductors 332.
Write current supplied by the write driver 364 to the write head 314A (magnetically coupled to a magnetically permeable core not shown) creates a magnetic field that extends from the core across an air gap between the write head 314A and the disk 312. The magnetic field alters ferromagnetic domains in the thin film 352 to store the data bits as magnetic transitions.
The direction of the magnetic field generated by the write head 314A, and thus the direction of the altered ferromagnetic domains, is responsive to the direction of current flow through the write head 314A. Write current supplied in a first direction through the write head 314A causes the domains to align in a first direction (representing a date bit 0 for example) and write current supplied in a second direction (representing a data bit 1 for example) causes the domains to align in a second direction.
In the read mode the magnetic field of the ferromagnetic domains is detected to determine the stored data bit. The read head 314B (comprising a magneto-resistive (MR) sensor) senses the magnetic field transitions in the thin film 352 to detect the stored data bits. State-of-the-art MR read heads include giant magnetoresistive (GMR) heads and tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) heads.
To read the data bits, the suspension arm 316 moves the head 314 while the disk 312 rotates to position the read head 314B above a magnetized region to be read. A read circuit 368 of the preamplifier 366 supplies a DC (direct current) bias voltage of between about 0.025V and about 0.2V across the read head 314B. Alternatively, the read circuit 368 can provide a controlled bias current ranging typically from about 50 uA to 5 mA to the head 314B. The bias circuits regulate voltage or current head bias only at low frequencies, and present a high impedance to the head 314B at mid- and high-frequencies, thus permitting mid- and high-frequency read data to be sensed across the head.
The magnetic field of the ferromagnetic domains in the thin film 352 passing under the read head 314B alters a resistance of the magneto-resistive material, imposing a differential AC (alternating current) component on the DC bias voltage. This bias voltage (or current) ensures that the head 314B operates in a linear response region, i.e., the resistance varies linearly responsive to the sensed magnetic field. The AC component representing the read data bits has a relatively small magnitude (e.g., a millivolt) with respect to the DC bias voltage.
The differential signal from the read head 314B is amplified in the read circuit 368. To reduce noise effects in subsequent signal processing stages, it is desired to maximize the amplification (gain) of the read circuit 368 consistent with signal linearity requirements and available power. Thus a first stage of the read circuit 368 typically comprises a low noise amplifier. The amplified signal is input to a signal processing stage 402 to further amplify the differential signal. The scaled-up signal is supplied to a channel chip 406 where data-detection (preferably using partial-response maximum-likelihood, or iterative decoding, techniques), error detection and correction processes are performed to detect the data bits from the voltage generated by the head 314B. The read data bits are returned to the processing device 360 via a user interface 410 (e.g., SATA, SCSI, SAS, PCMCIA interfaces).
Disk drive manufacturers and manufacturers of systems employing disk drives have an interest in knowing a read head resistance Rmr, i.e., the resistance of the MR sensor. Generally, the head resistance ranges from about 20-600Ω. Manufacturing tolerances among heads of the same material and construction can vary substantially, by several percent decades. The head resistance can also be affected by aging, heat and long-term electromigration in the head material. An optimum read head bias is related to the head resistance, and thus knowing the head resistance permits the disk drive manufacturer to employ the optimum bias.
To switch the head operation from writing to reading, the writer circuits are deactivated and ideally the read head is immediately ready to read the disk. However, the servo control loops in the read circuit 368 that supply the bias require a finite time to reach a steady-state condition. In particular, the components supplying the bias must be permitted sufficient time to ramp up from a zero DC bias to a desired steady state bias (referred to as a loop settling response time), without significant overshoot. State-of-the-art MR bias-control loops respond in about 50 ns. In certain applications for the disk drive system, it is required to bias the read head to within about 3% of its bias tolerance with a 50 ns settling time. As is known, the loop response characteristics are a sensitive function of loop bandwidth and gain, and the loop gain is in turn a function of the head resistance. It may therefore be difficult to stabilize the transient loop characteristics to avoid overshoot and undershoot over the entire expected head resistance range of 20-600 ohms within the desired settling time. If the value of Rmr is known, an optimal loop gain can be established irrespective of changes in Rmr and the loop settling time thereby minimized.
Non-optimal loop settling time may also require the manufacturer to allocate valuable track data storage space to dead zones, thus reducing storage capacity. For example, read only servo bursts for use in head control, are interspersed with readable/writable data records on the disk. When a write operation is complete a transition must be made to the read mode to read the disk servo bursts. If write-to-read recovery is long, the write operation must be terminated farther ahead of the servo data bits on the disk than would be necessary for a short write-to-read recovery time. The disk area covered by the head during the transition time cannot be used to store user data and is therefore referred to as a dead zone. The disk drive system designer always budgets for a worst-case or slow recovery when designing a disc format, and that format must include the dead zones.
In addition to minimizing loop settling time, proper utilization of the known Rmr can benefit other aspects of disk drive operation. For example, in certain implementations of the read circuit 368, head bias current or voltage is supplied through source- or emitter-followers through ballast resistors that are large relative to the head resistance and thus minimize loading across the head. Knowledge of the head resistance permits selection of optimum values for these ballast resistors, e.g., a value to minimize the head noise figure. Determining the head resistance can also identify a failed head, as resistance values exceeding a critical value RmrMAX generally indicate a gross head failure.
As can be seen, knowledge of the Rmr value is advantageous for optimum operation of the read circuit and for optimal performance of the disk drive system. Once the head resistance is known, operational parameters of the read circuit can be established to optimize performance, including bias loop gain and bandwidth (which impact the bias loop transient response) and noise performance
One approach to dealing with head resistance variation relies on designing the read circuit based on a nominal expected MR head value; however, manufacturing variations and a high sensitivity to resistance variations can lead to unacceptable performance variation when this approach is employed. Therefore, it is preferred to measure the resistance of each head in a disk drive system. Current read circuits (the read circuit 368 in FIG. 6) for use with an MR read head are designed to operate over one or more head resistance subranges within a total expected resistance range. An exemplary read circuit operates over one or more of the following selectable resistance subranges: 20-90 ohms, 50-250 ohms, and 100-400 ohms. Most read circuits are not capable of operating over the entire range of 20-400 ohms. The disk drive system manufacturer selects one of the ranges based on an expected head resistance and the reader circuits operate accordingly, even if the read head resistance is outside the selected range. Thus the selected read circuit range imposes strict tolerance requirements on the head resistance, and the coarseness of the selectable Rmr ranges precludes fine optimization of the settling response of the read circuit control loops. Certain disk drive manufacturers desire a uniform settling response over at least a two octave head resistance span, thus further aggravating settling time issues. Clearly, simply selecting an Rmr range for the read circuit does not provide optimum read circuit operation, especially if the head resistance Rmr changes with time.
Alternatively, to refine settling response time and other reader circuit parameters, the disk drive manufacturer can include within the read circuit of the preamplifier the necessary hardware components to measure the head resistance, when used in conjunction with special-purpose software operating elsewhere in the disk drive. Although existing preamplifiers may include the hardware features for making this measurement, there is some reluctance among disk drive manufacturers to measure Rmr dynamically using a software approach. The burdens of writing and certifying new microcode, the unavailability of existing data structures in which to store/recall the Rmr measurement results and modification of well-established production flow procedures to implement new code are cited as reasons for this reluctance.
To measure the head resistance it is also known, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,802 to Ramalho et al. to sequentially and automatically supply different current values to the head until the head voltage equals a reference voltage. The resistance can then be determined from the known voltage and current. This technique consumes significant power when determining Rmr and consumes silicon area when implemented in the integrated circuit comprising the preamplifier, since it cannot make dual use of significant reader circuitry used in normal reader operation. The method is also time consuming in that the test current values are supplied sequentially, thereby protracting the time until the head is ready to read the disk. This method also does not preserve the common mode voltage on the head, which can lead to sensitivity to momentary head-disc contact or, in extreme cases, to electrical breakdown of the air-film bearing on which the head flies. Further, the results obtained are susceptible to corruption should a thermal asperity coincide with the measurement process. Ramalho discloses use of the measured MR resistance to optimize head signal-output level or to post a fault tag whenever measured resistance falls outside a predetermined range. He does not disclose the advantages to read circuit settle-time performance that can be obtained by use of the MR resistance measurement to specify the loop-gain of MR bias-control loops

Method and apparatus for measuring resistance of a resistive sensor


An operating device (1) is provided for at least one luminous element (2), including a measuring device configured to measure a temperature (T) present in the operating device (1) or in the surroundings of the operating device, and at least one interface connected to the measuring means and configured to output a piece of information regarding the measured temperature (T).

Operating devices, for example electronic ballasts, can be usually operated up to a maximum allowable temperature limit. When the operating device is used in a lamp, this temperature limit should not be exceeded. According to prior art, this serves to ensure that the temperature of an operating device in a lamp will not exceeded the permissible range. When this control then indicates that the temperature in the operating unit is too high, a conclusion can be made that there is an incompatibility between the device and the lamp and that the operating device should be changed. Alternatively, the present application or environment conditions may not be permissible, which is the case for example if the ambient temperature of the lamp is too high.
In this context, a measuring point is usually specified on the housing of the operating device in which a critical temperature is specified by the manufacturer of the operating device that may not be exceeded.
According to the prior art, a temperature sensor must be attached at the measuring point so that the user, for example a lamp manufacturer, can determine whether the installation of the operating device in its lamp is permissible. This is used in particular to guarantee aspects relating to safety, which are predetermined by required standards, as well as future warranty requirements. Normally, the lamp manufacturer must attach a measuring sensor to the housing since the operating device may not be opened. However, it is relatively expensive when a measuring sensor must be attached to each operating device to be measured. It would be therefore desirable if a simple alternative were provided.
If the critical temperature is exceeded, the lighting housing must be modified in such a way so that it would match the operating device being replaced and/or the application or environmental circumstances. It is known that excessively high temperatures of the operating device result in a reduced lifetime of the operating device.
It is also known from the prior art that temperature information relating to a lamp measured at the housing of a lighting means can be output. However, the lighting means and the operating device are often arranged separately in the housing of a lamp. Therefore, a measurement of the temperature of the lighting means cannot be applied to the determination of the temperature of the operating device.
The object of the invention is thus to provide an alternative for the user (for example the lamp manufacturer) to examine in a simple manner the compatibility between an operating device for a lighting means and the lamp in which it is installed. The goal is in particular to provide an operating device which enables easy verification of the permissibility of the installation of the operating device in a lamp.
This objective is achieved with the characteristics described in the independent claims. The dependent claims present the central idea of the invention in a particularly advantageous manner.

Device for outputting temperature information


Coding using improved motion estimation may include receiving motion vectors for a first block in the frame and at least some of the blocks that are neighbors to the first block, wherein the received motion vectors are determined using a first search scheme, identifying neighboring blocks having motion vectors that are similar to the motion vector of the first block, and assigning the first block and the identified neighboring blocks to a group, determining a number of blocks in the group, and if the number of blocks in the group is greater than a predetermined number, determining an updated motion vector for at least one of the blocks in the group using a second search scheme that is different from the first search scheme.

An increasing number of applications today make use of digital video for various purposes including, for example, remote business meetings via video conferencing, high definition video entertainment, video advertisements, and sharing of user-generated videos. As technology is evolving, users have higher expectations for video quality and expect high resolution video even when transmitted over communications channels having limited bandwidth.
To permit higher quality transmission of video while limiting bandwidth consumption, a number of video compression schemes are noted including formats such as VPx, promulgated by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., and H.264, a standard promulgated by ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), including present and future versions thereof. H.264 is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 or MPEG-4 AVC (formally, ISO/IEC 14496-10).
These compression schemes may use different techniques to achieve compression. For example, many of these schemes use prediction techniques that predict where information contained in a portion of a first frame or first region of a frame can be found in a second frame or second region of the frame. The difference between the prediction and the portion of data in the second frame or second frame region is calculated to form a residual. One type of prediction, known as intra prediction, can be based on previously coded image samples within the current frame. Another type of prediction known as inter prediction can be based on previously coded frames ("reference frames"). One inter prediction technique, for example, can utilize block-based motion estimation and compensation. Motion estimation can involve searching for a sample region in a reference frame that, for example, closely matches a current block in a current frame. The luma and chroma samples of the matching sample region are subtracted from the current block to produce a residual that is encoded. A motion vector is also encoded that describes the position of the matching sample region relative to the position of the current block.
In some motion estimation search algorithms, there is a trade-off between the computational efficiency of the algorithm and the quality of the prediction (i.e. finding the matching region). In other words, finding the "best" matching region may come with the cost of increased computations. Conversely, decreasing the computational complexity may result in not finding the most suitable matching region.

System and method for coding using improved motion estimation


The invention concerns a suspension for load hooks, especially for lower blocks of cable controls, with a shaft mounted in a recess of a carrier body and able to turn about a vertical axis, which is mounted in a continuous bore of a support element and thrusts against the carrier body by means of at least one axial bearing. In order to create a short and simple construction of a suspension for a load hook, the invention proposes that the shaft of the load hook is mounted in the carrier body by a bearing arrangement consisting of the support element, at least one axial bearing, and the retaining ring surrounding the shaft, and the bearing arrangement is secured by a fastening element, especially a snap-ring, in the carrier body.

The invention concerns a suspension for load hooks, especially for lower blocks of cable actuators, with a shaft able to turn about a vertical axis in a recess of a carrier body, being mounted in a continuous bore of a supporting element and abutting against the carrier body across at least one axial bearing.
Suspensions for load hooks are known from practice in the most diverse configurations. From DIN 15 411, there is known a lower block with two cable rollers, in which the load hook can turn about a vertical and a horizontal axis and is mounted on a load hook suspension, which is arranged underneath the connection body which carries the cable rollers. Because of the use of the connection body, on the one hand, and the separate load hook suspension, on the other, this familiar design has a relatively large structural height and, moreover, a lot of structural parts.
A generic load hook suspension is known from German Patent No. DE 196 02 931 C2. In this suspension, the shaft of the load hook is mounted in a recess of the connection body, carrying the cable rollers, of a lower block. The axial bearing installed in the recess and supporting the shaft of the load hook is held in the recess by tangentially arranged screws, which are screwed into tangential grooves of the bearing retainer from the cable rollers. Because of this tangential screw fastening of the axial bearing in the recess, the assembly process for this known suspension is very cumbersome and requires an exact positioning of the bearing retainer with the load hook mounted therein in the recess of the connection body, since the tangential screws can only be screwed in one position into the tangential grooves of the bearing retainer.
Another suspension for load hooks is known from German patent application No. DE 198 17 011 A1. In this known load hook suspension for a lower block, the load hook can turn about both a vertical and also a horizontal axis. For this, the bearing arrangement for the shaft of the load hook, arranged in the recess of the connection body carrying the cable rollers, comprises the axial bearing for the rotation about the vertical axis and also a cylindrical journal, which is mounted in the connection body so that it can turn and which spans the recess. To accommodate the shaft of the load hook, the cylindrical journal has a continuous bore. A nut is screwed onto the free end of the load hook shaft, protruding from the continuous bore, and the load hook is thus secured on the cylindrical journal. Due to the use of the cylindrical journal, the overall bearing arrangement has a relatively large structural height and, furthermore, consists of many parts not capable of preassembly.


An optical fiber connector includes a body and a photoelectric conversion module received in the body. The photoelectric conversion module includes a base, a light emitting unit, a light receiving unit, and a light coupling block. The light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are fixed on the base. The light coupling blocks are formed on the base and are arranged over the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. The light emitting unit is configured for emitting light to the light coupling block in a first direction. The light coupling block is configured for reflecting the light from the light emitting unit to a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The light receiving unit is configured for receiving light emitting from the light coupling block in a direction opposite to the first direction.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to optics and, particularly, to an optical fiber connector and an optical fiber coupling assembly having such an optical fiber connector.
2. Description of Related Art
An optical fiber coupling assembly is preferred for use in data transmission between many electronic devices due to its high transmission speed and signal integrity. Generally, the optical fiber coupling assembly includes two optical fiber connectors and two photoelectric conversion modules corresponding to the optical fiber connectors. Each optical fiber connector includes a body having a number of blind holes, a number of optical lenses positioned on a light incident surface of the body, and a number of optical fibers received in the respective blind holes and aligned with the respective optical lenses. Each photoelectric conversion module includes a light emitting unit, a light receiving unit, and a light coupling block.
When in use, each photoelectric conversion module is coupled with the corresponding optical fiber connector, and two optical fiber connectors are coupled with each other, as well the optical fibers are received in the respective optical fiber connectors and are coupled together to allow optical transmittance between the optical fibers. However, light emitting from each light emitting unit reaches the corresponding light receiving unit only after passing through a first light coupling block, a first optical fiber, a first optical lens, a second optical lens, a second optical fiber, and a second light coupling block. The light path is complex because of the number of refracting interfaces and this decreases transmission efficiency.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an optical fiber connector and an optical fiber coupling assembly having the optical fiber connector, which can overcome or alleviate the above-mentioned problems.

Optical fiber connector and optical fiber coupling assembly having same