Surged heat pump systems, devices, and methods are disclosed having refrigerant phase separators that generate at least one surge of vapor phase refrigerant into the inlet of an evaporator during an on cycle of the compressor. This surge of vapor phase refrigerant, having a higher temperature than the liquid phase refrigerant, increases the temperature of the evaporator inlet, thus reducing frost build up in relation to conventional refrigeration systems lacking a surged input of vapor phase refrigerant to the evaporator. The temperature of the vapor phase refrigerant is raised in relation to the liquid phase with heat from the liquid by the phase separation, not by the introduction of energy from another source. The surged heat pump systems may operate in highest heat transfer efficiency mode and/or in one or more higher temperature modes.

Vapor compression systems circulate refrigerant in a closed loop to transfer heat from one external medium to another external medium. Vapor compression systems are used in air-conditioning, heat pump, and refrigeration systems. FIG. 1 depicts a conventional vapor compression heat transfer system 100 that operates though the compression and expansion of a refrigerant fluid. The system 100 transfers heat in one direction from a first external medium 150, through a closed-loop, to a second external medium 160. Fluids include liquid and/or gas phases. Thus, if the first external medium 150 was the indoor air contained by a structure, and the second external medium 160 was the air outside of the structure, the system 100 would cool the indoor air during operation.
A compressor 110 or other compression device reduces the volume of the refrigerant, thus creating a pressure difference that circulates the refrigerant through the loop. The compressor 110 may reduce the volume of the refrigerant mechanically or thermally. The compressed refrigerant is then passed through a condenser 120 or heat exchanger, which increases the surface area between the refrigerant and the second external medium 160. As heat transfers to the second external medium 160 from the refrigerant, the refrigerant contracts in volume.
When heat transfers to the compressed refrigerant from the first external medium 150, the compressed refrigerant expands in volume. This expansion is often facilitated with a metering device 130 including an expansion device and a heat exchanger or evaporator 140. The evaporator 140 increases the surface area between the refrigerant and the first external medium 150, thus increasing the heat transfer between the refrigerant and the first external medium 150. The transfer of heat into the refrigerant from the evaporator 140 causes at least a portion of the expanded refrigerant to undergo a phase change from liquid to gas. Thus, air contacting the surface of the evaporator 140 undergoes a reduction in temperature. The heated refrigerant is then passed back to the compressor 110 and the condenser 120, where at least a portion of the heated refrigerant undergoes a phase change from gas to liquid when heat transfers to the second external medium 160. Thus, air contacting the surface of the condenser 120 undergoes an increase in temperature.
The closed-loop heat transfer system 100 may include other components, such as a compressor discharge line 115 joining the compressor 110 and the condenser 120. The outlet of the condenser 120 may be coupled to a condenser discharge line 125, and may connect to receivers for the storage of fluctuating levels of liquid, filters and/or desiccants for the removal of contaminants, and the like (not shown). The condenser discharge line 125 may circulate the refrigerant to one or more metering devices 130.
The metering device 130 may include one or more expansion devices. The metering device 130 includes the ability to alter the rate of refrigerant flow through the device. An expansion device may be any device capable of expanding, or metering a pressure drop in the refrigerant at a rate compatible with the desired operation of the system 100. Thus, the metering device 130 alters the rate of refrigerant flow, and when including an expansion device, also includes the ability to meter a pressure drop in the refrigerant.
The metering device 130 may provide a static orifice or may adjust during operation of the system 100. The static orifice may be in the form of an adjustable valve that is set and not changed during operation of the system 100. Orifices that adjust during operation may have mechanical or electrical control. For example, mechanical control during operation could be provided by a bi-metal spring that adjusts tension or by a fluid that adjusts the pressure exerted against a diaphragm in response to changes in pressure or temperature. Similarly, electrical control during operation could be provided by a servo motor that changes the orifice in response to the electrical signal from a thermocouple.
Useful metering devices having the ability to expand the refrigerant (meter a pressure drop in the refrigerant) include thermal expansion valves, capillary tubes, fixed and adjustable nozzles, fixed and adjustable orifices, electric expansion valves, automatic expansion valves, manual expansion valves, and the like. Examples of thermal expansion valves include the Sporlan EBSVE-8-GA (one-directional) and the Sporlan RZE-6-GA (bi-directional), as available from Parker Hannifin, Cleveland, Ohio. Examples of capillary tubes include the Sporlan Style F and the Supco BC 1-5, as available from Supco, Allenwood, N.J. Examples of electric expansion valves include the Parker SER 6 and 11, as available from Parker Hannifin, Cleveland, Ohio. Other metering devices may be used.
The refrigerant exiting the expansion portion of the metering device 130 passes through an expanded refrigerant transfer system 135, which may include one or more refrigerant directors 136, before passing to the evaporator 140. The expanded refrigerant transfer system 135 may be incorporated with the metering device 130, such as when the metering device 130 is located close to or integrated with the evaporator 140. Thus, the expansion portion of the metering device 130 may be connected to one or more evaporators by the expanded refrigerant transfer system 135, which may be a single tube or include multiple components. The metering device 130 and the expanded refrigerant transfer system 135 may have fewer or additional components, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,751,970 and 6,857,281, for example.
One or more refrigerant directors 136 may be incorporated with the metering device 130, the expanded refrigerant transfer system 135, and/or the evaporator 140. Thus, the functions of the metering device 130 may be split between one or more expansion device and one or more refrigerant directors and may be present, separate from, or integrated with the expanded refrigerant transfer system 135 and/or the evaporator 140. Useful refrigerant directors include tubes, nozzles, fixed and adjustable orifices, distributors, a series of distributor tubes, direction-altering valves, and the like.
The evaporator 140 receives the expanded refrigerant in a substantially liquid state with a small vapor fraction and provides for the transfer of heat to the expanded refrigerant from the first external medium 150 residing outside of the closed-loop heat transfer system 100. Thus, the evaporator or heat exchanger 140 facilitates in the movement of heat from one source, such as ambient temperature air, to a second source, such as the expanded refrigerant. Suitable heat exchangers may take many forms, including copper tubing, plate and frame, shell and tube, cold wall, and the like. Many conventional systems are designed and operated, at least theoretically, to completely convert the liquid portion of the refrigerant to vaporized refrigerant within the evaporator 140. In addition to the heat transfer converting liquid refrigerant to a vapor phase, the vaporized refrigerant may become superheated, thus having a temperature in excess of the refrigerant's boiling temperature and/or increasing the pressure of the refrigerant. The refrigerant exits the evaporator 140 through an evaporator discharge line 145 and returns to the compressor 110.
In conventional vapor compression systems, the expanded refrigerant enters the evaporator 140 at a temperature that is significantly colder than the temperature of the air surrounding the evaporator. As heat transfers to the refrigerant from the evaporator 140, the refrigerant temperature increases in the later or downstream portion of the evaporator 140 to a temperature above that of the air surrounding the evaporator 140. This rather significant temperature difference between the initial or inlet portion of the evaporator 140 and the later or outlet portion of the evaporator 140 may lead to oil retention and frosting problems at the inlet portion.
FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B depict a conventional heat pump system 200 having the capability to transfer heat in two directions. Thus, while system 100 can transfers heat from the first external medium 150 to the second external medium 160, the heat pump system 200 can transfer heat from a first external medium 250 to a second external medium 260 (FIG. 2A) or can transfer heat from the second external medium 260 to the first external medium 250 (FIG. 2B). In this manner, the system 200 may be considered "reversible" in its ability to transfer heat.
In a conventional heat pump implementation, an inside heat exchanger 240 is placed within a conditioned space, while an outside heat exchanger 220 is placed outside of the conditioned space, generally outdoors. The conditioned space may be the interior of a home, vehicle, refrigerator, cooler, freezer, and the like.
In cooling mode, where the system is transferring heat from the conditioned space to the outdoors, the inside heat exchanger 240 is serving as the evaporator, while the outside heat exchanger 220 is serving at the condenser. In reversed, or heat pump mode, where the system is transferring heat from the outdoors to the conditioned space, the inside heat exchanger 240 is serving as the condenser, while the outside heat exchanger 220 is serving at the evaporator. Thus, regardless of operation mode, heat is always being transferred into the evaporator and away from the condenser.
Unlike the one-directional system 100, the bi-directional heat pump system 200 uses a flow reverser 280 and two metering devices 230, 233, which may pass refrigerant in either direction. As the compressor 210 passes refrigerant in one direction, the flow reverser 280 allows either the inside heat exchanger 240 or the outside heat exchanger 220 to feed an evaporator discharge line 245 that feeds the low pressure inlet side of the compressor 210. Thus, the flow reverser 280 switches the system between heating or cooling the first external medium 250. Examples of flow reversers include the Ranco V2 and V6 products, as available from Invensys, Portland House, Bressenden Place, London. Other flow reversers may be used.
At any one time, one of the metering devices is functioning to expand and/or meter a pressure drop in the refrigerant while the second metering device is back-flowing refrigerant and not functioning to expand the refrigerant. Thus, in FIG. 2A where heat is being removed from the first external medium 250 to cool the conditioned space, the metering device 230 is expanding the refrigerant, while the metering device 233 is back-flowing refrigerant. Similarly, in FIG. 2B where heat is being provided from the second external medium 260 to heat the first external medium 250 to the conditioned space, the metering device 233 is expanding the refrigerant while the metering device 230 is back-flowing refrigerant.
If either of the metering devices 230, 233 are not bi-directional, thus lacking the ability to back-flow the refrigerant and maintain the desired performance, one-directional metering devices may be used in combination with bypass loops 271, 272 including one-directional check valves 270, 273, as represented in FIG. 2C (cooling) and in FIG. 2D (heating). Thus, while one metering device expands the refrigerant, the second metering device is bypassed with a bypass loop and a check valve. The check valve prevents refrigerant from back-flowing through the associated one-directional metering device.
A disadvantage of conventional heat pumps is that because they serve two functions (heating and cooling the same conditioned space), they are not optimized for either. One way the heat pump system 200 represented in FIG. 2B provides heat at the inside heat exchanger 240 is by introducing a restriction to refrigerant flow in an expanded refrigerant transfer system 235. While such a restriction could be located anywhere in the expanded refrigerant transfer system 235 allowing for proper operation of the system, the restriction is often incorporated into one or more refrigerant directors 236. By making the refrigerant directors 236 smaller than optimal for cooling, refrigerant reaches a higher temperature and pressure in the inside heat exchanger 240 during heating as it is more difficult for the refrigerant to exit the inside heat exchanger 240. Thus, while the system 200 can provide heat to the indoor space, the cooling efficiency provided by the system is substantially reduced as the restriction also restricts refrigerant from entering the inside heat exchanger 240 during cooling.
In addition to the energy wasted from operating the compressor 210 at a higher pressure than would otherwise be needed for optimal cooling efficiency, as the compressor 210 works against the restriction when heating and when cooling, the operational lifetime of the compressor 210 is reduced in relation to a system where the compressor 210 works harder when heating, but not when cooling.
Although heat pumps are generally used to heat conditioned spaces in temperate climates, heat pumps may be used in colder regions, such as when only electricity is available and resistance coils are undesired. Colder regions are those where winter average low temperatures are about 0° C. and below. Much colder regions are those where winter average low temperatures are about −7° C. and below. As winter average low temperatures decrease from about 0° C., heat pump usage declines significantly. For example, in the much colder regions of the United States, such as the East North Central, West North Central, and Mountain regions, heat pump usage is less than 10% in newer single family homes, while averaging about 47% in the warmer South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central regions.
While heat pumps may be used in these colder regions, if the frost built up on the outside heat exchanger 220 during on-cycles of the compressor 210 (heating) does not substantially melt during off-cycles, defrost cycles may be necessary to remove the frost and restore heat transfer efficiency to the system 200. As the temperature of the outside heat exchanger 220 drops as heat is transferred to the inside heat exchanger 240, the ability of the outside heat exchanger 220 to extract heat from the outdoors, while maintaining a surface temperature above 0° C. to prevent frosting, decreases with lower outdoor air temperatures.
Thus, in heating mode, where the outside heat exchanger 220 is functioning as an evaporator, frosting of the outside heat exchanger 220 can be a significant problem requiring frequent defrosting. Such frosting often is caused by expanded refrigerant in the initial portion of the outside heat exchanger 220 being at a temperature below the dew point of the outside air, which results in moisture condensation and freezing on the outside heat exchanger 220 during heating operation. Thus, as with an indoor evaporator used for cooling, the outside heat exchanger 220 of a heat pump system can freeze during heating. In fact, the problem can be more severe for the outside heat exchanger of a heat pump system as the system cannot significantly alter the humidity content of the outside air and the outdoor air temperature when heating is generally lower than the conditioned space air temperature when cooling.
As frost encloses a portion of the outside heat exchanger's surface during heating, the frosted surface insulates the coils of the outside heat exchanger 220 from direct contact with the outdoor air. Consequently, airflow over and/or through the outside heat exchanger 220 is reduced and the ability of the outside heat exchanger 220 to absorb heat from the outdoors (heating efficiency) decreases. Thus, the amount of heat that the heat pump system 200 can transfer from outdoors to the conditioned space decreases for the energy consumed (a reduction in heating efficiency) and the rate at which the system 200 can transfer heat from outdoors to the conditioned space also decreases. This reduction in the rate of heat transfer results in a decrease in the temperature of the heated air that is provided to the conditioned space.
Conventional heat pump systems may passively defrost by turning off the compressor 210 or may actively defrost by applying heat to the outside heat exchanger 220 during defrost cycles. Whether one or both methods are used, defrosting requires a larger vapor compression system than would be required if the system did not have to suspend the desired direction of heat transfer to defrost.
As the compressor 210 is off during passive defrosting, the rate at which the system 200 can heat the conditioned space is reduced. Passive defrost cycles may be controlled by a simple timing mechanism, such as when the compressor 210 remains on for 30% of a selected time period, regardless of the amount of heat desired for the conditioned space. Passive defrost cycles also may be controlled by electronic circuits that monitor the performance of the outside heat exchanger 220 and attempt to maximize operation of the compressor 210 in relation to the efficiency lost due to frosting of the outside heat exchanger 220.
For active defrosting, heat is generally transferred from the conditioned space to the outside heat exchanger 220 by transferring heat that the system 200 previously transferred from the outdoors to the conditioned back to the outside heat exchanger 220. Thus, the heat pump system is operated in cooling mode even though the conditioned space requires heating, when actively defrosting the outside heat exchanger 220 and consumes energy to move heat back to where it started, outdoors. Additionally, as heated air from the conditioned space is blown across the inside heat exchanger 240 during active defrosting to prevent icing of the inside heat exchanger 240, supplemental heat may be provided by inductance coils or other means to prevent the system from providing cold air to the conditioned space. Thus, a conventional heat pump system requiring frequent defrosting often operates as a forced-air electric induction heater, which must heat the outside heat exchanger 220 in addition to the conditioned space. This results in any theoretical energy efficiency gain obtained from the transfer of heat from the outdoors to the conditioned space to be lost.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for heat pump systems having improved efficiency when cooling and heating. It also would be desirable for heat pump systems to have an enhanced resistance to outside heat exchanger frosting during heating, especially in colder regions. The disclosed systems, methods, and devices overcome at least one of the disadvantages associated with conventional heat pump systems.


A system and method for generating compact iris representations based on a database of iris images includes providing full-length iris codes for iris images in a database, where the full-length iris code includes a plurality of portions corresponding to circumferential rings in an associated iris image. Genuine and imposter score distributions are computed for the full-length iris codes, and code portions are identified that have a contribution that provides separation between imposter and genuine distributions relative to a threshold. A correlation between remaining code portions is measured. A subset of code portions having low correlations within the subset is generated to produce a compact iris representation.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to iris recognition and more particularly to systems and methods which employ a reduce iris code for more efficient iris comparisons.
Description of the Related Art
A texture of the human iris has been shown to have excellent individual distinctiveness and thus is suitable for use in reliable identification. A conventional iris recognition system unwraps the iris image and generates a binary feature vector by quantizing the response of selected filters applied to the rows of this image.
The iris may be segmented and unwrapped into a rectangular image. From the unwrapped iris, texture is extracted by applying a Gabor filter bank. This is encoded into a binary image, known as the iris code that serves as the feature vector for recognition. Some regions of the iris provide more consistent texture than others. For example, pupil dilation causes the pupil-adjacent texture to be particularly volatile, and the presence of eyelashes or eyelids can substantially alter an iris code's appearance if they are not properly masked out. Moreover, the radial unwrapping technique is tuned to over-sample the area closest to the pupil while under-sampling the region where the iris meets the scelera. The band in the middle iris provides a more personal description. This region maps to the ciliary zone of the iris.
There has been some work attempting to isolate regions of the iris code which are either inconsistent (fragile) or, conversely, less stable. These studies looked directly at the final binary representation. Inconsistent bits were discovered by analyzing several binary iris codes of the same eye and counting the number of times a bit was a one or a zero. When bits that had a high variability were masked out, the false reject rate was reduced. This work discovered a fragile bit mask for each person in a gallery.
Other researchers have examined the effect of smaller iris codes on recognition and generate an iris code from the outer and inner rings of the iris. These techniques empirically show that texture closer to the pupil may perform better in recognition than texture closer to the sclera. Similarly, sampling rates were adjusted to generate smaller iris codes. These approaches reduce the size of iris code by adjusting the way the iris is unwrapped, but these works fail to assert that any portion of the iris should be favored when dealing in the context of iris recognition.
There has been some work attempting to isolate regions of the iris code which are either inconsistent (fragile) or, conversely, more discriminative. These studies looked directly at the final binary representation. Inconsistent bits were discovered by analyzing several binary iris codes of the same eye and counting the number of times a bit was a one or a zero. Sampling rates are adjusted to generate smaller iris codes. However, these approaches reduce the size of iris code by adjusting the way the iris is unwrapped. These techniques change the format of the code, which impairs the backward compatibility of the representation (e.g. with regards to rotation compensation).

System and method for generating and employing short length iris codes

International Business Machines Corporation


A system and method for dynamic discovery of web services for a management console is disclosed. The method includes detecting, at a discovery module of a service processor, a profile request from a console application. The method further includes requesting class information for the detected profile request from a provider register, and generating a profile-based web services description language (WSDL) file. The method also includes communicating the profile-based WSDL file to the console application.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Systems management of multiple information handling systems may be accomplished by use of a management console, also referred to as a "console," with access to service processors (e.g., a chassis management controller (CMC) for a chassis that houses multiple information handling systems and/or an Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) for individual information handling systems). Web services management (WSMan) is used extensively by consoles for remote access control and to access service processors for systems management. WSMan is system management protocol that supports web services and allows groups of information handling systems and network based services to collaborate. However, the infrastructure provided for users to generate code to manage such systems is not user-friendly. Generally, much of the information needed by a user of a console is stored at a remote server (for example, a Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) server) without proper mapping. For example, Managed Object Format (MOF) bundles for different generations, web services description language (WSDL) bundles for different generations, and profile files that may not be used for applications and programming are generally stored at a remote service. The MOF bundles may be converted by a WSDL generation tool during software build. The MOF bundles and WSDL bundles may be stored by a vendor with limited access by a console user and/or MOF bundles may be stored in a managed system services repository (MASER) partition also with limited access. Further, for each new release of remote access control or service processor firmware, the MOF and WSDL bundles are updated along with the stored vendor files and the console.
Currently, class information, such as common information model (CIM) class information, is provided to the console applications. A computing system that supports the CIM may include a CIM object manager (CIMOM), which provides an interface between CIM providers and management applications. Classes may represent controllable features of a program and may establish associations between multiple instances of device classes. However, console users have to separately access the profile files for class information, such as CIM profiles. Profiles are self-contained models that can be used for generating specific artifacts during software development. Profiles are typically the starting point for development of applications by console users. As such, current systems exhibit issues in maintenance and distribution of information needed for application development by console users and current systems fail to provide dynamic views of profiles.

System and method for dynamic discovery of web services for a management console


Aspects of the disclosure provide a circuit that includes a memory circuit and a controller circuit. The memory circuit is to have a look-up table (LUT) that associates logical address used in computation with physical address used in storage space. The LUT includes a first level LUT with first level entries corresponding to logical addresses, each first level entry includes an indicator field and a content field, and the indicator field is indicative of a compressible/non-compressible attribute of a physical address associated with a logical address. The controller circuit is to receive a logical address, and translate the logical address into a physical address associated with the logical address based on the LUT.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Look-up table (LUT) can be used to store a one-to-one mapping between address systems, such as a logical address system and a physical address system. In an example, a LUT includes a plurality of entries. Each entry corresponds to a logical address, and the content of the entry corresponds to a physical address.

Method and apparatus for compressing LUT


In a exhaust smoke sensor a light emitter generates a light beam which passes through a region containing the exhaust gas to a first light sensor. To reduce interference the light emitter is driven by a near square wave signal produced by passing a square wave through a low pass filter.

This invention relates to an exhaust gas particle sensor and in particular to a vehicle exhaust smoke sensor.
Increasingly legislation is being enacted to set limits on vehicle exhaust smoke, particularly from diesel engined vehicles.
It has been proposed in our co-pending patent application Ser. No. 9105731 that levels of smoke or other particles in vehicle exhausts could be sensed by measuring the opacity of the exhaust gases.
The opacity is measured by passing a light beam across a chamber through which the exhaust gases are flowing and measuring the reduction in the intensity of the light beam after its passage through the chamber.
For compression ignition engines, also known as diesel engines, the current UK exhaust smoke limit is defined as an absorption coefficient of 3.2 m.sup.-1.
A common type of opacity measurement system is where a light source and a main light sensor are placed on opposite sides of a sensing chamber. The intensity of a light beam from the light source incident on the light sensor is measured with only clean air in the sensing chamber, and then measured again with the exhaust gases in the sensing chamber. By comparing the two intensities the opacity of the exhaust gases can be calculated.
In such opacity measuring systems it is known to provide a monitoring light sensor which measures the intensity of the light beam generated by the light emitter before the light beam enters the sensing chamber. By comparing this measurement of intensity when air only is in the sensing chamber with a measurement of intensity of the light beam before the light beam enters the sensing chamber with exhaust gases in the sensing chamber, any changes in the intensity of the light beam generated by the light emitter can be compensated for. Generally where the light emitter is a light emitting diode and the sensors are photodiodes the monitoring light sensor is mounted adjacent the light emitter on a common header.
In theory such an arrangement should allow the opacity to be measured with great accuracy because any difference in the intensity of the light beam produced by the light emitter can be compensated for, leaving only the intensity differences produced by the opacity of the exhaust gases within the chamber. Furthermore, if the monitoring light sensor and the main light sensor are of the same type and processed by identical processing electronics it is possible to use the signals generated by the monitoring light sensor to compensate for changes in sensor efficiency or in the gain and efficiency of the processing circuits due to external parameters such as temperature. In practice however it has been found that where the light emitter and monitoring light sensor are placed on a common header and enclosed by a common enclosure light from the light emitting diode only reaches the photodiode after reflection from the enclosure and other parts of the optical system. As a result, otherwise trivially small relative movements of the parts of the optical system reflecting this light can cause sudden changes in the light intensity received by the photodiode. This is interpreted as a change in the light intensity produced by the light emitter and in attempting to compensate for this a change in opacity may be registered without any change in opacity having occurred.
This is a problem because it prevents an accurate measurement of opacity being produced.
Another problem encountered in optical opacity measurement systems is that external light sources impinging on the detectors can produce erroneous measurements of opacity because they interfere with measurement of light intensity. It is has been proposed to overcome this problem by employing a modulated light source and filtering the signals produced by the photodetectors to eliminate signals due to ambient light.
The problem with conventional filters is that their characteristics, including gain, are affected by the temperature coefficient of their components. Normal practice would be for the AC signal generated by the photodetector to be converted to DC and then sampled by an analogue to digital converter. This has the disadvantage that any residual noise in the signal will be added to the DC signal, thus producing an error.
This invention was made in an attempt to produce an exhaust gas particle sensor at least partially overcoming these problems.


Disclosed herein is supporting structure for an offshore wind power generator. The supporting structure includes lower support part and main body part. The lower support part includes lower concrete part which is provided on a base installed on the sea floor and is reduced in width from the bottom thereto to the top, at least one lower hollow space which is formed in the lower concrete part, and a lower inner-pipe which is attached to the inner surface of the lower hollow space. The main body part is coupled to an upper end of the lower support part. The main body part includes a main-body concrete part, at least one main-body hollow space which is formed in the main-body concrete part and communicates with the lower hollow space, and a main-body inner-pipe which is attached to a circumferential inner surface of the main-body hollow space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to supporting structures for offshore wind power generators and, more particularly, to a supporting structure for offshore wind power generators which includes a lower support part, a main body part and an upper support part, each of which has a concrete part, a hollow space formed in the concrete part, and an inner pipe that defines the hollow space, wherein the inner pipe can improve the rigidity and ductility of each part, thus enhancing resistance to transverse loads at sea, and the hollow space of each part can reduce the weight thereof, and the parts of the supporting structure can be modularized so that the supporting structure can be constructed by assembling the parts, whereby there are advantages in terms of material and construction.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, in Korea, there are no design criteria on development of a supporting structure for offshore wind power generators. In the case of advanced countries in Europe, the design criteria for wind power generators have been established. However, advanced countries do not open source core technology, making a technological gap between the advanced countries and other countries.
In the case of design criteria used in a design for civil engineering and construction structures, the systematic load of a wind power generator cannot be directly applied to these design criteria, so it is impossible to obtain international certification. Further, in Korea, conservative and uneconomical design methods have been used, resulting in reduced price competitiveness, and making advance into the overseas markets difficult. Therefore, related technical development is urgently required.
For this, an example of a supporting structure for offshore wind power generators was proposed in Korean Patent Registration No. 1123257. The conventional support structure includes: a base plate 100 which is installed on the sea floor; a cylindrical main body 200 which is installed on an upper surface of the base plate 100; and a plurality of supports 300 which are installed diagonally in such a way that lower ends thereof are hinged to the upper surface of the base plate 100 and upper ends thereof are hinged to a sidewall of the main body 200. The base plate 100 and the main body 200 are made of concrete. As wind power towers and impellers have become larger, such supporting structures for supporting the towers and impellers have also become larger. Given this, if the main body is formed of concrete, the volume of the main body must be comparatively large. However, as such, if the volume of the supporting structure is large, the construction thereof cannot be facilitated, and excessive use of cement causes a problem of not being environment-friendly.

Supporting structure for offshore wind power generator

Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology


In accordance with the invention, a mode-field transforming waveguide region comprise an elongated glass core surrounded by glass cladding wherein the normalized index differential between the cladding and the core (termed .DELTA.) varies along the length. Preferably the waveguide comprises an optical fiber having a hydrogen-loaded germanosilicate core. The variation of .DELTA. as a function of longitudinal distance can be effected by exposing the fiber to ultraviolet light and varying the dosage of exposure as a function of longitudinal distance.

As optical fiber communications systems proliferate, the problem of interconnecting optical components having unequal modal spot sizes assumes increasing importance. Such interconnections are required in a variety of circumstances including: 1) the interconnection of laser sources to fibers, 2) the interconnection of two fibers having dissimilar modal properties, and 3) the interconnection of fibers to waveguides and waveguides to fibers. Such interconnections have been an area of active research, and a variety of approaches have been developed. For example, pre-tapered preforms have been prepared to draw tapered regions for connecting lasers to fibers. J. Armitay et al., J. Lightwave Technol. LT-5, 70 (1987). Fibers have been tapered through capillaries in order to achieve beam-expansion. K. P. Jedrzejewski, 22 Electron. Lett. 106 (1986) and fiber cores have been thermally expanded for splicing dissimilar fibers. S. G. Kosinski et al., Proc. Optical Fiber Communications Conference OFC, Paper Th16, 231 (1992). These techniques, however, all depend on control of the physical dimensions of the fiber core-a control which is difficult and expensive to achieve. Accordingly, there is a need for improved waveguiding structures for transforming an optical beam of a first modal spot size to a beam of a second modal spot size.

Mode-field transforming optical waveguide


An ink composition for ink jet recording is provided which can satisfy property requirements of quality of print, drying property of print, clogging resistance, water resistance, storage stability, and nonattacking on members constituting an ink passage, such as a printing head. The ink composition for ink jet recording comprises a dye represented by the following formula (I), glycerin, pyrrolidone, a monohydric lower alcohol, a tri(hydroxyalkyl)amine, and water: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 represents phenyl or naphthyl substituted by a group selected from hydroxyl, --NH.sub.2, --SO.sub.3 M and --COOM, R.sup.2 represents carboxyalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, phenyl, or alkanoyl, R.sup.3, R.sup.4, and R.sup.5 represent hydrogen or --SO.sub.3 M.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ink composition having excellent reproduction of black and an ink jet recording method using the same.
2. Background Art
An ink composition for ink jet recording is required to have the following properties.
(1) Good print and image quality can be realized on various recording media, especially plain paper.
(2) The drying rate of the ink after printing is high enough to cause no smear even when the print is rubbed immediately after printing.
(3) Ink droplets can be stably ejected through nozzles of a printing head nozzle without causing unfavorable phenomena such as clogging, dropout, and without ejecting ink droplets with trajectories non-perpendicular to the printing head.
(4) The resultant print has water resistance high enough to cause, upon contact with water, neither defacement of the print nor washing away of the print.
(5) The storage stability of the ink composition is enough not to cause any change in properties even when the ink composition is stored for a long period of time.
(6) The ink composition does not attack printer members which come into contact with the ink composition.
In particular, a black ink composition is important for ink jet recording in both monochrome printing and full-color printing and, thus, should satisfy the above property requirements.
Various black ink compositions have been proposed with a view to satisfying the above property requirements.
For example, C.I. Food Black 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 93766/1984) and dyes having structures similar thereto (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 91577/1991) have been used widely as a dye for a black ink in the art. Further, an attempt was made to use a particular ink composition to improve properties such as lightfastness (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 36279/1990). Furthermore, several proposals have been made to improve the water resistance of the print (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 91577/1991, 226175/1992, and 233975/1992).
Furthermore, U.S. Patent Nos. 4,963,189 and 5,203,912 describe dyes. (Some of the dyes are covered by the formula (I) described below.) The dyes described in the U.S. patents can be easily dissolved in basic water but are insoluble in neutral water. These patents describe that, by taking advantage of this property, the ink composition containing the dyes can improve the water resistance of the print.
The conventional ink compositions, however, have room for improvement, and a need still exists for an ink composition capable of satisfying the property requirements (1) to (6).


An embodiment of the present invention provides an improved upper arm and shock absorber mounting bracket and a vehicle frame including same, which can reduce the number of components, make assembly convenient, and reduce the number of assembly steps. An upper arm and shock absorber mounting bracket according to an aspect of the present invention comprises: a central supporting portion forming a flat surface portion, on which a shock absorber is supported, by pressing and forming a tube member; side supporting portions formed by being bent downwardly from both sides of the central supporting portion, in which both ends of an upper arm are mounted on the side supporting portions to support the other end of the shock absorber and to be coupled to a wheel; and vehicle mounting portions forming by being bent from the side supporting portions.

In general, a vehicle has a plurality of wheels 30 in contact with the road surface, and these wheels are coupled to a vehicle frame 10 to absorb upward and downward impacts or the like that may occur through contact with the road surface.
As described above, a structure for absorbing impacts on vehicles is applied to the vehicle frame 10. Such a structure is known as suspension.
As an example, with respect to the vehicle frame 10, the wheels 30 are coupled to a frame body portion 12 in a state in which their camber angle is maintained to be upright by an upper arm 40 provided to be rotatable in upward and downward directions. In addition, the vehicle frame 10 is provided with a shock absorber 50 to absorb impacts that may occur when the upper arm 40 comes into contact with the road surface and to prevent vibrations, and the shock absorber 50 is mounted between the upper arm 40 and a shock absorber mounting bracket 20 provided in the frame body portion 12.
For this purpose, the vehicle frame 10 has the frame body portion 12 formed using hydroforming, press forming, or the like, and brackets 20 and 22 for mounting components, such as the shock absorber 50 or the upper arm 40, to the frame body portion 12 are manufactured using bending, punching, pressing, or the like, and then integrally coupled to the frame body portion 12 using welding or the like.
However, as the number of various types of components such as the brackets 20 and 22 increases, the vehicle frame 10 in the related art may incur an increase in costs and time required to assemble these components, and it may also be difficult to mount the components accurately on the vehicle frame 10 due to the interference of many components and also to secure a sufficient degree of strength.

Upper arm and shock absorber mounting bracket and vehicle frame including same


An on-die multiple phase power converter reduces output voltage ripple and reduces input current ripple while allowing for higher input voltage and reduced input current to a circuit board. The on-die multiple phase power converter also allows for more than one supply voltage on a die. The converter includes a plurality of single phase switching blocks and a clock signal phase generator. The single phase switching blocks receive phase-shifted clock signals from the clock signal phase generator and provide an output voltage. The output currents of the single phase switching blocks may combine to form a single output to provide current to one or more functional unit blocks on the semiconductor die. One or more or the single phase switching elements may be combined to provide current to one or more functional unit blocks on the semiconductor die.

The present invention pertains to DC to DC switching power converters on semiconductor die, and more particularly to on-die power conversion using multiphase power converters.
DC to DC switching power converters are commonly used to convert one available DC voltage to another DC voltage, often needed for a particular set of semiconductor dies. Such power converters may use one or more electrically controlled switches, such as N- or P-Channel MOSFETs. The gates of the MOSFETs are controlled by a controller circuit which is often integrated onto a single semiconductor die. As electronic devices become faster, smaller and more portable, the need for increased electrical efficiency in DC to DC converters is becoming more important. Relatively small increases in electrical efficiency of power converters may result in much greater overall efficiency improvements in electronic systems.
Furthermore, the operating voltage of high speed microprocessors is reduced, device dimensions shrink. This allows semiconductor die to operate at higher frequencies and the number of transistors integrated on a single semiconductor die to increase. Therefore, more power is consumed by semiconductor die consume from a power supply. The current supply paths carrying current to a semiconductor die through a circuit board must carry proportionally more current as the voltage level decreases. As a result, the parasitic elements of the current path to a semiconductor die become more pronounced. For example, narrower track widths along with increased current result in increased series resistance and inductance producing increased ripple, power loss and voltage drop. Furthermore, increased current may requires a greater number of package pins and circuit pads for a die and reduces interconnect reliability.
Thus there is a general need for an improved power converter and power conversion method. There is also a need for an on-die power converter and power conversion method that reduce input noise and output voltage ripple. There is also a need for an on-die power converter and power conversion method that reduces area on a semiconductor die without reducing power-converter performance. There is also a need for an on-die power converter and power conversion method that allows circuit-board voltage regulation modules to provide higher voltage reducing the parasitic effects. There is also a need for an on-die power converter and power conversion method that reduces the number of pins required by a semiconductor die. There is also a need for an on-die power converter and power conversion method that improves interconnect reliability. There is also a need for an on-die power converter which generates one or more on-die voltages different from a voltage supplied to the die from an off die source.

Method and semiconductor die with multiple phase power converter


An automatic or manually adjustable slack adjuster for inclusion in a reciprocating, force transmitting mechanical mechanism that must function in a relatively maintenance free manner in a hostile, corrosive atmosphere. The adjuster, while utilizing the ratchet-worm principal, is capable of exerting relatively large adjusting forces while having relatively small physical dimensions. All working parts other than input and output rods may be sealed against the atmosphere and permanently lubricated, although access to such parts is available for manual adjustment if desired.

The use of slack adjusters to compensate for "play" or looseness occurring in reciprocating mechanisms due to gradual wear of parts or other causes, long has been known. Early examples of such devices may be seen from U.S. Pat. Nos. 893,220, issued July 14, 1908, 1,328,341, issued Jan. 20, 1920, and 1,796,009, issued Mar. 10, 1931. One of the most obvious applications for slack adjusters of the automatic type in the power tranasmitting mechanism of vehicle brakes, since the gradual wear of brake friction members is an inherent condition causing slack in brake devices. Examples of slack adjusters in vehicle brake mechanisms may be seen from the teachings of U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,509,225, issued Sept. 23, 1924, 2,792,085, issued May 14, 1957, and 3,511,103, issued May 12, 1970.
The last of these patents, issued in the name of the inventor of this invention, is illustrative of certain shortcomings in the state of the slack adjuster art that have prevented the wide commercial acceptance of certian devices including slack adjusters. This patent discloses a so-called "wedge" brake mechanism whereby braking is actuated by the linear movement of a wedge between two force transmitting assemblies, causing opposite movement of these assemblies and movement of the brake shoes, driven by the assemblies, into braking positions. Although it generally is recognized by experts in the vehicle brake field that brakes utilizing the wedge principal possess many advantages over other types of brakes in numerous usages, commercial acceptance of wedge brakes has been less than would seem justified by these advantages. It is believed that a primary reason for this is the heretofore unavailability of a wholly satisfactory slack adjuster for inclusion in wedge brake assemblies, as well as other usages where the slack adjuster must function automatically in a relatively maintenance free manner in an environment extremely hostile to mechanical devices, and yet be easily adjusted manually during maintenance.
For example, the slack adjuster illustrated in the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,103 permits threads formed on its output member to be exposed to the normal atmosphere in which vehicle brakes function, an atmosphere including road grime and corrosion promoting chemicals such as salt. While an attempt was made to remedy this exposure by the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,613, issued Mar. 19, 1974, by use of an elastomeric boot to protect adjuster threads, it readily may be appreciated that any failure or malfunction of the boot under vehicle operating conditions would expose the threads of the slack adjuster to possible damage. While the prior art has included slack adjusters wherein vulnerable operating elements such as threads are not exposed or potentially exposed to ambient conditions (as disclosed by above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 1,509,225), it is believed such arrangements have been disclosed only in configurations of relatively large axial lengths compared to thread diameters. These configurations could not be used easily in applications such as vehicle brakes where packaging space for slack adjusters is quite limited, but relatively large forces must be generated to accomplish the desired adjustment.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an automatic adjuster in which the vulnerable working parts completely are sealed from the ambient atmosphere, and may in fact be surrounded by an anti-corrosion, lubricating medium. A further object of this invention is to provide such a slack adjuster that easily may be adjusted manually when desired. A still further object of the invention is the provision of such a slack adjuster that has few and simple working parts such that it is extremely compact in size, simple to assemble and reliable in performance.


The present invention is directed to a transmission line assembly and method of propagating signals therethrough that features forming transmission lines of the assembly to provide desired filtering properties. To that end, the assembly includes a plurality of spaced-apart transmission lines placing first and second sets of active circuits in electrical communication, with a subset of the plurality of spaced apart transmission lines having dimensions to filter unwanted characteristics of signals, propagating between the first and second sets and inductively coupled between one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart transmission lines. The method performs the function of the assembly.

The present invention relates to integrated circuit systems and more particularly to filtering techniques to reduce simultaneous switching noise between transmission lines disposed in printed circuit boards (PCBs) and placing integrated circuits in signal communication, referred to as integrated circuit assemblies (ICAs).
During normal operations of the ICAs, close proximity of transmission lines cause inductively coupling of signals between adjacent transmission lines in the presence of a time varying current in one of the same. Inductively coupling of signals, in this manner, is typically referred to simultaneous switching noise (SSN). SSN may interfere with operation of the integrated circuit resulting in faulty operation of the same. As a result, there have been several attempts to reduce switching noise.
An existing technique to reduce SSN employs multiple low-inductance bypass, or decoupling, capacitors. Decoupling capacitors filter noise by "short circuiting" high frequency components of a noise signal and are often connected between each power plane and adjacent ground plane. However, the inclusion of additional components, such as capacitors, results in increased cost of production of ICAs.
A need exist, therefore, to provide improved ICAs manufacturing techniques.

Simultaneous switching noise filter architecture and method


A highly reliable biosensor is provided which is reduced in influences of any interfering substance or preexisting oxygen in a sample solution. The biosensor comprises an electrode system including a working electrode, a counter electrode and a third electrode also usable as an interfering substance detecting electrode, a reagent layer containing at least an oxidoreductase and an electron mediator, and an electrically insulating base plate for supporting the electrode system and the reagent layer, wherein the third electrode is arranged at an opposing position to that of at least one of the working electrode and the counter electrode and the reagent layer is arranged at a predetermined position apart from the third electrode.

The present invention relates to a biosensor for rapid and simplified quantitation of a substrate in a sample with high accuracy.
Conventionally, methods using polarimetry, colorimetry, reductimetry, a variety of chromatography, etc. have been developed as the measure for quantitative analysis of sugars such as sucrose, glucose, etc. However, those conventional methods are all poorly specific to sugars and hence have poor accuracy. Among them, the polarimetry is simple in manipulation but is largely affected by the temperature at manipulation. Therefore, this method is not suitable for simple quantitation of sugar level at home by ordinary people.
On the other hand, a variety of biosensors have been developed recently which best utilize a specific catalytic action of enzymes.
In the following, a method of quantitative analysis of glucose will be described as an example of the method for quantitating a substrate in a sample solution. Conventionally known electrochemical quantitation of glucose is the method using a combination of glucose oxidase (EC 220.127.116.11; hereinafter abbreviated to "GOD") with an oxygen electrode or a hydrogen peroxide electrode (see "Biosensor" ed. by Shuichi Suzuki, Kodansha, for example).
GOD selectively oxidizes a substrate .beta.-D-glucose to D-glucono-.delta.-lactone using oxygen as an electron mediator. Oxygen is reduced to hydrogen peroxide during the oxidation reaction by GOD in the presence of oxygen. A decreased volume of oxygen is measured by the oxygen electrode or an increased volume of hydrogen peroxide is measured by the hydrogen peroxide electrode. The decreased volume of oxygen or, otherwise, the increased volume of hydrogen peroxide is proportional to the content of glucose in the sample solution. Therefore, glucose concentration in the sample solution can be quantitated based on the decreased volume of oxygen or the increased volume of hydrogen peroxide.
However, as speculated from the oxidation reaction by GOD, this prior art method has a drawback of great influences on the measurement result of the oxygen concentration in the sample solution. In the event that oxygen is absent in the sample solution, this method does not allow measurement itself.
Under the circumstance, a glucose sensor of new type has been developed which uses as the electron mediator an organic compound or a metal complex such as potassium ferricyanide, a ferrocene derivative, a quinone derivative, etc., in place of oxygen in the sample solution. This sensor reoxidizes a reduced form electron mediator resulting from the enzyme reaction in order to determine the glucose concentration in the sample solution based on an oxidation current produced by the reoxidation reaction. The use of such organic compound or metal complex as the electron mediator in place of oxygen secures precise placement of a known amount of GOD together with the electron mediator in their stable state on an electrode system in forming a reagent layer on the electrode system. At that time, the reagent layer may be integrated with the electrode system while keeping the former in almost dry state. Therefore, a disposable glucose sensor based on this technology has recently been noted considerably. Such disposable glucose sensor facilitates measurement of glucose concentration using a measurement device exclusive to the sensor by simple introduction of a sample solution into the sensor detachably connected to the measurement device. The application of this technique is not limited to glucose quantitation and may be extended to quantitation of any other substrate present in the sample solution.
Measurement using the above-mentioned sensor determines substrate concentration in a sample based on an oxidation current that flows upon oxidation of a reduced form electron mediator on a working electrode. However, when the sample is blood, fruit juice or something like that, any easy-to-be-oxidized substance, such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, etc., in the sample will be oxidized on the working electrode together with the reduced form electron mediator. This oxidation of easy-to-be-oxidized substance sometimes produces an adverse effect on the measurement result.
The measurement using the above-mentioned sensor has another problem of simultaneous developments of reduction of the electron mediator carried on the reagent layer with generation of hydrogen peroxide by using dissolved oxygen in the sample as an electron mediator. Furthermore, the hydrogen peroxide thus generated acts to reoxidize the reduced form electron mediator. This sometimes results in production of negative errors in the results of measurement by the dissolved oxygen when the substrate concentration is to be determined based on the oxidation current of the reduced form electron mediator.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A water-metachromatic sheet has a support with a porous layer containing a binder resin with dispersed fine-particle silicic acid. The sheet is capable of rendering different transparency between water absorbed and unabsorbed states. The support is a cloth having a weight per unit area of 30 gm2 to 1,000 gm2, the fine-particle silicic acid is contained in an amount of from 1 gm2 to 30 gm2, and the fine-particle silicic acid is incorporated in an amount from 0.5 to 2 parts by weight based on 1 part by weight of the binder resin.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a water-metachromatic cloth sheet, a toy set making use of the same and a writing instrument for water-metachromatic members. More particularly, it relates to a water-metachromatic cloth sheet capable of assuming different aspects depending on whether it stands dry or stands wet with water, a toy set making use of such a sheet, and a convenient writing instrument for water-metachromatic members which enable formation of any desired handwriting images by means of water, on water-metachromatic members capable of assuming such alternately changeable aspects.
In the present invention, a white or colored opaque sheet turns colorless or transparent, and vice versa, depending on whether it is dry or wet. This is also regarded as a change in color, i.e., metachromatism.
2. Related Background Art
Sheets comprising a support and provided thereon a porous layer containing a pigment having a low refractive index, to the porous layer of which water is made to adhere to make it transparent to cause an image to appear, are conventionally known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications No. Sho50-5097 and No. Hei5-15389.
As fields to which such sheets are chiefly applied, they are conventionally applied to practice of calligraphy, image appearing-disappearing toys and so forth, and are mostly comprised of paper as the support or substrate, having a poor durability.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,846 discloses a water-reactive sheet of this type and a water pen with which one can write on the sheet, but does not disclose any specific construction of water pens that can satisfy practical usability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Water-metachromatic cloth sheet, toy set using the same, and writing instrument for water-metachromatic members


Mechanical pencil construction wherein the operational movements to advance the lead are accomplished by providing one or more elastically deformable ribs or spring biased cam members that extend outwardly through axial slots in the pencil body in the normal finger gripping area. The radially inward depression of such ribs or cam members by the writer's fingers is converted to axial motion within the pencil, to thereby effect the necessary lead gripping and advancing operations.

This invention relates to new mechanical pencil constructions wherein the lead is advanced by utilizing the natural gripping force applied during writing by the operator's fingers.
In mechanical pencils wherein the lead is advanced by screwing the pencil axis, it is necessary to use both of the operator's hands, the advancement length is not constant, and thin leads may easily be broken if advanced too far.
In pencils wherein the lead is advanced by repeatedly depressing or thumb pumping the upper or eraser end of the pencil, the advancement length is constant and is accomplished by only one hand of the operator. In such pencils, however, it is necessary to vary the hand position in order to pump the upper end of the pencil.
In a pencil wherein a strip plate is provided in a middle portion of the pencil and the lead is advanced by finger pumping, one finger must depress the strip plate while the other fingers of the same hand support the pencil. This is an unnatural or difficult manipulation for the operator. See, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51-17938.
There is also a known mechanical pencil in which the pencil axis is bent to advance the lead, but unnatural force application is also required in such a pencil. See, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-2034.
Further, pencils are known wherein the writing end is pumped against the paper or the like to advance the lead. This requires a hard support surface beneath paper, however, and the paper is easily punctured, torn or dotted.

Mechanical pencil with chuck closing by normal writing grip


A package tester includes an inlet station for arranging a test board in which package sockets mounting packages are disposed in one or plural lines for performing package test by flowing an electric current through the package and transmitting signals to the package, the package being composed of parts including electric parts or electronic parts and being sequentially formed on a package tape, an inlet pusher for pushing the test board mounting the packages by a width of the test board in a feeding direction of the test board from the inlet station to the package socket, a conveyor for receiving the test board sequentially pushed out of the inlet station by the inlet pusher and conveying the received test board to a testing area, a contact device opposed to the conveyor and capable of being electrically connected to the test board arranged on the conveyor, an outlet station receiving the test board sequentially pushed out of the conveyor by sequentially pushing-out of the test board by means of the inlet pusher, and a reaction urging device for allowing the test board to be pushed out while supporting the test board pushed out to the outlet station with force weaker than pushing out force in the inlet pusher.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package tester for electric parts, electronic parts, etc., sequentially formed on a continuous tape and called a tape carrier package (TCP). The test occurs by applying an electric current through this package and transmitting signals, etc., to the package. The present invention also relates to a package tester for determining whether the package is good or bad in quality, and screening the package on the basis of the quality determinatior, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A package of electric parts, electronic parts, etc. (such as an IC package) can be individually formed as a unit. However, such a package can also be provided as a tape carrier package (TCP). This TCP is also called a TAB package and is normally formed on an elongated film made of synthetic resin. A package tape carries many packages and generally has several ten meters in length. The length of package tapes are expected to increase in the future.
The package tape normally has perforations in lug portions thereof. The perforations are used to feed and position the tape and are spaced from each other at a predetermined distance. Such a package tape is wound around a reel, etc. Each of the packages is tested by flowing an electric current therethrough and transmitting signals, etc. to each of the packages. In this package test, each of the packages is mounted onto a package socket.
When the package tape is cut in the shape of stripes to test a package, the cut package tape must be again connected to a series of package tapes (in many cases after the package test) so as to continuously feed the package tape to a next process. Such a connecting operation is troublesome. Further, no initial accuracy in each of positions of a lug hole, an electrode of each of the packages, etc. can be obtained with respect to the series of connected package tapes so that it is difficult to smoothly feed and position the package tapes in the next process. An area for sticking and connecting the package tapes to each other must be secured on the package tapes. Therefore, no packages at both ends of the cut package tape can be used so that yield of the packages is reduced.
It is also impossible to test a large amount of packages for a limited time in the above method in which the packages are sequentially tested one by one on the package tape without cutting the package tape.
Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (KOKAI) No. 2-275376 shows one method for solving such problems. In this method, package sockets are arranged in a spiral shape on a cylindrical supporting body. A package tape is continuously connected to this package socket line without cutting the package tape. However, in this method, the package tape is twisted so that the package tape and packages are damaged and reliability of the package test is reduced.

Testing apparatus for semiconductor device formed on tape carrier


A device testing system includes a detecting module, a data determining module, an address processing module, and a data obtaining module. The detecting module detects if the device testing system has been successfully connected with a device to be tested. The data determining module determines if the device testing system includes test data required by the device to be tested. The address processing module determines if an address list includes an address of the device to be tested. The data obtaining module obtains test data required by devices to be tested whose addresses are included in the address list from the remote server. A test data obtaining method of the device testing system is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to testing devices in a product line, and more particularly to a device testing system and a test data obtaining method.
2. Description of Related Art
Many devices on a product line, such as modems, must be configured with confidential information and required to be tested by a device testing system to maintain certain standards of quality. For example, modems must be configured with certificates that indicate their identities. This confidential information is usually stored in a remote server. The device testing system is usually connected with such a device to be tested and obtains test data from the remote server to test the device to be tested. After testing the device to be tested, the device testing system will be connected with another device to be tested and obtains the test data required by the another device from the remote server.
With the development of device testing technology of product line, the device testing system can be connected with a plurality of the devices to be tested at one time, which can significantly improve testing efficiency. However, obtaining the test data from the remote server via a network once needs a period of time for poor transmission speed of the network. Therefore, frequently obtaining the test data from the remote server definitely leads device testing technology becoming inefficient.

Device testing system and test data obtaining method


A technical object of the present invention is to devise a glass substrate that is suitable for supporting a substrate to be processed to be subjected to high-density wiring and enables correct recognition of production information and the like, and a laminate using the glass substrate. In order to achieve the technical object, the glass substrate of the present invention has a total thickness variation of less than 2.0 μm and includes an information identification part formed of a plurality of dots.

Portable electronic devices, such as a cellular phone, a notebook-size personal computer, and a personal data assistance (PDA), are required to be downsized and reduced in weight. Along with this, a mounting space for semiconductor chips to be used in those electronic devices is strictly limited, and there is a problem of high-density mounting of the semiconductor chips. In view of this, in recent years, there has been an attempt to perform high-density mounting of a semiconductor package by a three-dimensional mounting technology, that is, by laminating semiconductor chips on top of another and connecting the semiconductor chips through wiring.
In addition, a conventional wafer level package (WLP) is manufactured by forming bumps into a wafer shape and dicing the wafer into chips. However, the conventional WLP has problems in that it is difficult to increase the number of pins, and chipping and the like of semiconductor chips are liable to occur because the semiconductor chips are mounted in a state in which the back surfaces thereof are exposed.
Therefore, as a new WLP, a fan-out type WLP has been proposed. In the fan-out type WLP, it is possible to increase the number of pins, and chipping and the like of semiconductor chips can be prevented by protecting end portions of the semiconductor chips.
The manufacturing method of the fan-out type WLP includes the step of molding a plurality of semiconductor chips with a sealing material of a resin, to thereby form a substrate to be processed, followed by arranging wiring on one surface of the substrate to be processed, the step of forming solder bumps, and the like.
Those steps involve heat treatment at about 200° C. to about 300° C., and hence there is a risk in that the sealing material may be deformed, and the substrate to be processed may change in dimension. When the substrate to be processed changes in dimension, it becomes difficult to arrange wiring at high density on one surface of the substrate to be processed, and it is also difficult to form the solder bumps accurately. Further, when the ratio of the semiconductor chips within the substrate to be processed is small and the ratio of the sealing material within the substrate to be processed is large, such tendency becomes remarkable.


A classification method including first classifying an event of any kind by first rules, and then second classifying events, not identified by the first classification, by a learning base reinforced with all the events identified by the first classification. The method is adaptive if the second classification rules are amended according to new examples that were able to be determined by the first rules.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject of this invention is the remote identification of postures assumed by a person by utilizing the signals continuously provided by a sensor which he/she wears. It involves the classification of the states successively assumed by the sensor and the person. A notable difficulty is to utilize abundant but not very descriptive signals since the postures are complex, subject to variations and to transient states and that they do not lend themselves to direct measurements.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the art of classification, for each event to be classified a certain number of characteristics are defined, called parameters which are used for the classification and which may stem from sensors or from other pieces of information. The events should be distributed into categories called classes according to the values assumed by these parameters. Certain classification methods are accomplished automatically, by a computer having logic or digital comparison and decision tools.
Two main methods exist. In the first, classification resorts to explicit rules which cause the membership of a class to depend on the value of a particular parameter or a group of parameters. For example, an event is assigned to a class if a parameter reaches a value above a threshold, or if the sum of one group of parameters is above a threshold, the value of which is defined by one skilled in the art. With such methods it is possible to identify certain postures as this will be seen, but their effectiveness is not sufficient and many portions of the signals from the sensor cannot be identified.
The other group of known methods uses what is called a learning base comprising a certain number of events. The computer must then define the classification rules, which remain implicit to the operator according to the values of the parameters. In a first so-called non-supervised learning alternative, the computer itself distributes the events of the base into classes according to similarities or distances between the events, and the definition of the classes remains unknown. In another so-called supervised learning alternative, the operator indicates the class of each event of the learning base, and the task of the computer is to define a digital or logic function which observes the classification decided by the operator according to the parameters of the events. It is also possible to combine both alternatives in order to obtain therefrom a third so-called semi-supervised learning alternative wherein membership of a class is defined by the operator only for some of the events of the learning base (in practice, in small number as compared with the others).
The common drawback to all these methods is the difficulty of establishing good rules, capable of minimizing the proportion of poorly classified events. With explicit rules defined by the operator, many events remain indeterminate in practice because it is difficult to establish specific and detailed rules by observation or intuition; in the learning methods, the automatically defined rules will be inaccurate if the examples added into the learning base are poorly representative of future events, and sometimes the operator's lack of control over these implicit rules will not allow him/her to correct them. Further, building up a learning base by hand requires time and may involve errors. Finally, such a table will not be upgradeable.

Method for identifying a person's posture


A method and apparatus of sealing and cutting an underground pipeline, such as a gas line or the like, at or near a point where it connects to a main utilizes an expandable plug which may be inserted in the line without the need to excavate to obtain access to the point of sealing. A thermally stabilized cross-linked preshrunk polyolefin plug is inserted into the line on a heater element. The plug may be inserted from a point where the line exits the earth. Once the plug is inserted on the end of the heater element, the heater element is heated causing the plug to expand fitting it tightly inside of the line at or near the main. The heater element may then be withdrawn, and the line may be cut adjacent the inserted plug.

The present invention relates to a method of sealing and cutting an underground pipeline or the like at or near the point where it connects to a main without the need for excavation. More particularly, the present invention relates to the insertion of a thermally stabilized cross-linked preshrunk polyolefin plug which is inserted into the line and expanded by heating.
There exists a serious, time consuming and expensive problem in the gas utility industry with respect to the cutting off of gas and the removing of gas lines from premises which have been abandoned. Present federal regulations require the gas line to be plugged at or near the main and the gas line cut when a premise has been abandoned for six months or more. The federal regulations are safety regulations in order to prevent explosions and other possible problems caused by the leaking of gas. Federal regulations not only require the plugging of the line, but also the cutting of the line at or near the gas main after it has been plugged so that future excavations by means of heavy equipment will not rip the line from the gas main causing a substantial gas leak.
The cost to the utilities in terms of time and expense to comply with the federal regulations is very substantial. Prior to the present invention, the gas utility would have to excavate at the point where the gas line connects to the main. This is usually in the street or sidewalk. There is substantial expense in the excavation and then the necessary refilling and repaving operations.
The present invention enables the gas line, or any other similar type of line, to be plugged at or near the main and the line to be cut on the side of the plug away from the main, without the need of excavation.

Method and apparatus for plugging and cutting a gas line or the like without excavation


A semiconductor device having an internal circuit comprising a program circuit for programming a PROM, a discrimination circuit for discriminating the contents of the PROM, and a specific mode starting circuit for bringing the internal circuit to a specific mode when a specific mode starting signal is output from the discrimination circuit. Consequently, the semiconductor device can be brought to the specific mode without the need for special additional equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having programable read only memory cells for a specific mode, more particularly, to a semiconductor device having a programable read only memory (PROM) for bringing the semiconductor device to a specific mode in accordance with the contents of the PROM.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in order to bring a semiconductor device to a specific mode, a high potential signal at a level higher than a normal potential signal is applied to a pad of the semiconductor device. The high potential signal is generated by additional special equipment, such as a high potential generator, during manufacture, and thus the semiconductor device is only brought to the specific mode during the manufacture of the semiconductor device, and therefore, the semiconductor device should not be brought to the specific mode while a user is operating the semiconductor device at the normal potential.
Note, problems such as burn-in occur, and further, the manufacturer must provide additional equipment to apply the above described high potential signal to the pad of the semiconductor device for bringing the semiconductor device to the specific mode. These problems in the related art will be later explained in detail.

Semiconductor device having programmable read only memory cells for specific mode