An ultrasonic flow velocity measurement method and apparatus thereof and comprises ultrasonic wave transducers disposed on the upstream and downstream sides of a pipe and a control apparatus connected to these ultrasonic wave transducers. Concerning the flow velocity measurement, an average propagation sound velocity in the wedge which forms the ultrasonic wave transducers and the sound velocity on the surface where the wedge is brought into contact with the pipe are measured. The time from when ultrasonic waves are originated from the upstream side to the downstream side and and vice versa and to when they are received is measured. These measured values and the distance between the ultrasonic wave transducers are substituted for a predetermined function to determine the flow velocity of a fluid inside the pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flow velocity measurement method and apparatus thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ultrasonic flow velocity measurement method in which ultrasonic wave transducers are installed on the outer surface of a pipe and the flow velocity of a fluid at a high temperature and pressure or at a low temperature inside the pipe is measured, and to an apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of the prior art shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,358.
In these figures, reference numeral 51 denotes one of the ultrasonic wave transducers mounted on the upstream side of a pipe 3, and reference numeral 52 denotes the other ultrasonic wave transducer mounted on the downstream side of the pipe 3. The ultrasonic wave transducer 51 comprises a wedge member 51A for making ultrasonic waves enter the pipe 3 obliquely and a vibrator 51B, as shown in FIG. 10. The wedge member 51A is formed of an acrylic resin and the cross section thereof is shaped as a trapezoid. The ultrasonic vibrator 51B is fixedly mounted on one of the inclined surfaces 51a thereof. The other inclined surface 51C forms an ultrasonic reflection surface intersecting at right angles with a propagation path when ultrasonic waves originated from the vibrator 51B are reflected by a surface 51b serving as an ultrasonic incident surface and the ultrasonic waves are propagated within the wedge member 51A. Hence, internal reflection waves propagated inside the wedge member 51A return to the vibrator 51B.
If this propagation time is denoted as t.sub.p, a sound velocity C.sub.1 within a wedge inside the ultrasonic wave transducers 51 and 52 can be determined by the following equation: EQU C.sub.1 =2(l.sub.1 +l'.sub.1)/(t.sub.p -.tau..sub.e) 1
where l.sub.1 and l'.sub.1 are the length of the paths l.sub.1 and l'.sub.1 shown in FIG. 10, respectively, and .tau..sub.e is an electrical delay time inside a cable or the like. The length b of the incident surface 51b which serves as an opening surface when ultrasonic waves inside a pipe are emanated, is set at almost 18 wavelengths or even greater with respect to the central frequency used.
Since a directional angle becomes very small when the opening of the vibrator 51B is somewhat long and the length b of the incident surface 51b is almost 18 wavelengths or even greater as shown in FIG. 9, an ultrasonic beam, which is propagated in turn in the wedge section inside the ultrasonic wave transducer, in the pipe section and in the fluid section inside the pipe, is regarded as a substantially parallel beam.
Ultrasonic waves outputted from the vibrator 51B of the ultrasonic wave transducer 51 toward the downstream side pass through a propagation path consisting of parallel beams shown by a slanted line in FIG. 9 and reach the ultrasonic vibrator 52B of the other ultrasonic wave transducer 52. The propagation time in this case is denoted as t.sub.d.
Ultrasonic waves outputted from the vibrator 52B of the ultrasonic wave transducer 52 toward the upstream side reach an ultrasonic vibrator 51B of the other ultrasonic wave transducer 51. The propagation time in this case is denoted as t.sub.u.
In such a case, a flow velocity V inside the pipe 3 can be determined by the following equation: ##EQU1## where Lx is the distance between the intersecting points of the inclined surfaces 51a and 52a where vibrators contact the incident surfaces 51b and 52b, i.e., between 1R and 2R; .theta..sub.1 is an incident angle of the ultrasonic waves within the wedge; d is the plate thickness of the pipe; D is the internal diameter of the pipe; and N is the number of passages of the ultrasonic waves inside the fluid. In the case of FIG. 9, N=2. C.sub.2 is a predetermined sound velocity inside the pipe wall.
As a result, even if the sound velocity C.sub.3 of a fluid is unknown, the flow velocity of the fluid inside the pipe 3 can be measured relatively easily on the basis of equations 2 and 3. At the same time, since the internal diameter of the pipe 3 is known, the quantity of flow of the fluid inside the pipe 3 can be determined quite easily.
Furthermore, incident points inside an ultrasonic wave transducer need not be strictly specified. Since it is necessary to know only the mounting distance Lx, setting the ultrasonic wave transducer is quite easy.
In addition, since ultrasonic waves emanated from the two ultrasonic wave transducers 51 and 52 have quite small directional angles, the transducers are immune to influences of the resonance mode (plate waves) of the pipe 3 which often becomes a problem in measuring.
However, such a conventional ultrasonic flow velocity measuring method and apparatus thereof cannot be used to measure the flow velocity of a fluid in a high temperature and pressure state (or in a low temperature state), if the construction thereof is not changed, since the vibrators 51B and 52B of the ultrasonic wave transducers 51 and 52 have a maximum operating temperature limit.
In addition, since a velocity gradient is caused in the sound velocity C.sub.1 within the wedge because of the temperature gradient caused within this wedge, the sound velocity C.sub.1 determined from t.sub.p by using equation 1 indicates an average sound velocity within the wedge. The sound velocity C.sub.1 has a problem (drawback) in that a large error occurs when the flow velocity of a fluid at a high temperature and pressure is measured, since the sound velocity C.sub.1 is obviously different from a sound velocity in which Snell's law is applied because a propagation path for ultrasonic waves is indentified.

Ultrasonic flow velocity measurement method and apparatus thereof


A capping apparatus for a bottle filling device with a capping head main body; a first slide body is located on the capping head main body and can slide up and down; a capping door mechanism is hinged with the capping head main body and the first slide body; a cap sucking head can slide up and down; a middle slide body is arranged between the cap sucking head and the first slide body and can slide up and down; a first spring and a second spring; and a cap inlet chute. A capping system is equipped with a plurality of capping apparatus, the number of the capping apparatus is equal to that of columns of filled bottles, and the cap sucking heads of the capping apparatus are connected together through a connection structure with a mechanism that actuates the cap sucking heads to rise up and fall down.

For the purpose of higher production efficiency of linear type bottle filling device used to fill milk and milk beverages, bottles are normally arranged in a line, where filling, capping and cap tightening are conducted simultaneously. In this case, plastic caps after arrangement are required to be secondarily distributed to their corresponding slideways in an even manner. After being sterilized, the plastic caps are precisely put on bottle openings subject to the predetermined requirements in order to facilitate the following tightening process. Conventionally, bottle caps are branched in the manner that the number of passageways increases geometrically, in other words, one passageway branches into two passageways, two into four, four into eight and the like. The capping is achieved by a power-free cap grabbing, more specifically, the bottle caps sliding off the preset slideways are blocked by two leaf springs at the front end of a grabbing head when the bottle caps are in an inclined state. As the front edge of a bottle cap is lower than the level of the bottle opening while the rear edge is higher than said level, when the bottles horizontally pass through the cap grabbing head, the bottle openings grab the front edges of the bottle caps, which are then carried away and fall on the bottle openings, during which the leaf springs block the following cap.
The aforesaid solution has the disadvantages that:
1. As the cap passageways increase geometrically, this will bring about huge-sized passageways in case of a great number of bottles are in the line;
2. The bottle caps are not blocked when passing through a sterilizing chamber, therefore the bottle caps are arranged all over the cap slideways. It is no problem for sterilization during normal working process but unfavorable at the beginning of process of filling and capping the bottles. When the bottle caps pass though the cap slideways rapidly due to less bottle caps distributed therein, consequently, the sterilizing is incomplete, the hygienic quality of the final products will be affected;
3. When grabbing is used for capping, if the bottle caps fail to precisely fit with the bottle openings, the bottle caps would not be covered properly. It will affect the following tightening effects. Furthermore, the grabbing head is disposed with the leaf springs for plastic caps, it is sometimes unreliable that the following cap may be carried over together with the previous one.

Capping apparatus and capping system for bottle filling device


This invention relates to certain photocrosslinkable fluoropolymers, processes for crosslinking the fluoropolymers using UV radiation, and the photocrosslinked fluoropolymers produced.

Fluoropolymers often need to be cured in order to develop the physical properties necessary for particular end use applications.
It is known to incorporate cure-site monomers such as CF2═CFOCF2CF(CF3)OCF2CF2CN into fluoroelastomers and then cure the fluoroelastomer using a catalyst and long exposure to high temperatures. However, catalyst residues may adversely affect the properties of the cured fluoroelastomer, or byproducts of the curing reaction may pose environmental problems. Long exposure to high temperatures may increase manufacturing costs and can cause polymer degradation.
Methods are also known for curing certain fluoropolymers by way of crosslinking the fluoropolymers through the use of electron beam or actinic radiation.
However, there remains a need for a process to crosslink fluoropolymers that does not expose the fluoropolymers to high energy processes that can degrade the fluoropolymer. There is also a need for fluoropolymers that are radiation-durable for use in photovoltaic and concentrating photovoltaic modules.

Photocrosslinkable fluoropolymers, UV processes and photocrosslinked polymers


A junction field effect transistor of the present invention includes: a first conductivity type semiconductor substrate; a second conductivity type epitaxial layer formed on the semiconductor substrate; a first conductivity type epitaxial layer formed on the second conductivity type epitaxial layer; a second conductivity type source region which penetrates the first conductivity type epitaxial layer in a layer thickness direction thereof and is connected to the second conductivity type epitaxial layer; a second conductivity type drain region which is spaced from the source region, penetrates the first conductivity type epitaxial layer in the layer thickness direction, and is connected to the second conductivity type epitaxial layer; a source electrode connected to the source region; a drain electrode connected to the drain region; and a gate electrode electrically connected to the first conductivity type epitaxial layer between the source region and the drain region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a junction field effect transistor and a production method for the same.
2. Description of Related Art
As a representative example of field effect transistors (FET), a junction field effect transistor (JFET) is known well.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view schematically showing the construction of a conventional junction field effect transistor.
This junction field effect transistor 101 includes a p type substrate 102, a p type epitaxial layer 103 laminated on the p type substrate 102, and an n type epitaxial layer 104 laminated on the p type epitaxial layer 103.
In the n type epitaxial layer 104, a p+ type ring-like region 105 is formed across the entire circumference of a peripheral portion in a plan view. This p+ type ring-like region 105 extends from the surface of the n type epitaxial layer 104 toward the p type substrate 102 and its lower end reaches the p type epitaxial layer 103.
In a surface portion of the n type epitaxial layer 104, n+ type source regions 106 and drain regions 107 are alternately arranged in stripes. The source regions 106 and the drain regions 107 are formed by introducing an n type impurity from the surface of the n type epitaxial layer 104 and then diffusing the n type impurity by heat treatment.
Furthermore, between the source regions 106 and the drain regions 107, P+ type gate regions 108 are formed. Each gate region 108 extends in parallel to the source region 106 and the drain region 107, and both ends thereof are connected to the p+ type ring-like region 105. The gate regions 108 are formed by introducing a p type impurity from the surface of the n type epitaxial layer 104 and then diffusing the p type impurity by heat treatment.
A source electrode and a drain electrode are connected to the source regions 106 and the drain regions 107 respectively. A gate electrode is connected to the back surface of the p type substrate 102 (surface opposite to the side with the p type epitaxial layer 103 formed). The p+ type ring-like region 105 reaches the p type epitaxial layer 103, and the gate regions 108 are connected to the p+ type ring-like region 105, whereby the gate electrode is electrically connected to the respective gate regions 108.
In this junction field effect transistor 101, drain currents flowing between the drain regions 107 and the source regions 106 depend on the thicknesses of the n type epitaxial layer 104 (channel region thicknesses) between the gate regions 108 and the p type epitaxial layer 103. Therefore, to make uniform the drain currents of the respective devices created in a semiconductor wafer as a base material of the p type substrate 102, the thicknesses of the channel regions in the respective devices must be made uniform.
However, it is difficult to accurately control the diffusion of the p type impurity for forming the gate regions 108, so that the diffusion of the p type impurity varies, and the thicknesses of the channel regions 108 vary with in the surface of the semiconductor wafer.

Junction field effect transistor and production method for the same


An Electrical Static Discharge (ESD) system comprises a user-accessible subsystem (for example, a first gasoline pump), a local ground, a resistor-fuse element, and a main ground. The local ground dissipates a static electric charge from the user-accessible subsystem. The resistor-fuse element conducts the static electric charge from the local ground, and limits a reverse electric current to the local ground. A main ground receives and dissipates the static electric charge from the resistor-fuse element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical protection and safety and, more particularly, to protecting areas having volatile material from electrical static discharge.
2. Description of Related Art
Static electricity is ubiquitous. When a person walks across a carpeted room, friction between the person's feet and the carpet can generate static electricity. When a person uses a portable electronic device such as a cell phone or personal data device, static electricity can be generated. Many electric and electronic devices, improperly grounded, can generate static electricity that a user can carry. Through friction, mechanical devices can also generate static electricity that a user can carry.
Many people think of static electricity as a mildly unpleasant shock experienced occasionally upon touching a doorknob on a cold morning; much smaller static electric discharges, too small to notice, occur very frequently. But static electricity can be much more dangerous than a mild shock might indicate. In fact, even very low currents generated by low-level static electric discharge can be disastrous when generated near combustible materials. Gasoline pumps, storage areas containing flammable or explosive industrial fluids in industrial or commercial buildings, and even under-sink areas in residences can contain flammable gases that can be ignited by static electric discharge.
Many motorists who would never smoke near a gasoline pump at a service station can be seen using cellular telephones while dispensing gasoline. Some motorists are even willing to attempt to jump-start a stalled vehicle, a practice that can easily generate an electric spark. As the use of cellular phones and other electric and electronic devices continues to grow, such practices can be expected to become even more prevalent.
A need thus exists in the prior art for greater electrical protection and safety. A further need exists for protecting areas having volatile material from electrical static discharge.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an Electrical Static Discharge Method And Apparatus.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved electrical protection and safety system and to protecting areas having volatile material from electrical static discharge. A need thus exists in the prior art for electrical protection and safety and, more particularly, for protecting areas having volatile material from electrical static discharge.

Electrical static discharge method and apparatus


The present application provides a robust, illumination invariant apparatus and method for detecting and recognizing various traffic signs. A robust method for detecting and recognizing the traffic signs using images captured by a digital color and night vision camera, the said method characterized in being illumination invariant comprising the processor implemented steps of: transforming RGB image into HSV color model and subsequently extracting desired color components by using color quantization; filtering the noise components in the HSV color model based on object symmetrical shape property; detecting edges of the objects and subsequently detecting the distinct objects in the noise components filtered image; classifying the shapes of the traffic signs based on shape of the determined distinct objects; and recognizing the classified shapes of the traffic signs by template matching. Further, the method provides the provision for warning the driver by use of the recognized data of the traffic signs.

Road safety and driver assistance functionalities are of critical significance to automobile designing and manufacturing industry. Road accidents involving pedestrians are far more frequent at night than during day. Worldwide, the number of people killed in road traffic accidents each year is estimated at almost 1.2 million, while the number injured is estimated to be as high as 50 million. Thus, the combined population of five of the world's largest cities, fall prey to such undesirable and avoidable road accidents. Many of the people killed in such accidents are the pedestrians. One of the important factors responsible for such road accidents is driver's ignorance coupled with his reduced range of vision. Often, it becomes difficult to detect and recognize traffic signs and related objects which could have cautioned the driver and subsequent undesirable sequence of events could have been avoided. Hence, fewer pedestrians would be killed or seriously injured if vehicles were equipped with improved traffic signal detection, recognizing, and alarming systems.
Absence of a system, apparatus, device or method for detection and of recognition of traffic signs in automobiles is long standing problem.
Hence there is an urgent need for a solution that overcomes some of the existing lacunae in the traffic signs detection and recognition that are                Detecting the various traffic signs independent of day and night conditions (illumination invariant);        Detecting the various traffic signs in a robust manner;        Detection the various traffic signs which doesn't affected by distortions due to the noises in the images captured by the camera;        Detection the various traffic signs which doesn't affected by shape distortions due to problems in the manufacture of the traffic signs and different viewing distance; or        Recognizing the detected traffic signs in a robust manner;        Providing driver warning strategies upon traffic signs and other related objects recognition; and        The solution is simple and easy to install in the existing conventional systems.
Some of the inventions which deal with detection and of recognition of traffic signs known to us are as follows: None of them address the lacunae stated above.
United States Publication number 20080266396 filed by Gideon Stein discloses about a method is provided using a system mounted in a vehicle. The system includes a rear-viewing camera and a processor attached to the rear-viewing camera. When the driver shifts the vehicle into reverse gear, and while the vehicle is still stationary, image frames from the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle are captured. The immediate vicinity behind the vehicle is in a field of view of the rear-viewing camera. The image frames are processed and thereby the object is detected which if present in the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle would obstruct the motion of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,575,171 filed by Zvi Haim Lev discloses about a system and method for reliable content access using a cellular/wireless device with imaging capabilities, to use part of a printed or displayed medium for identifying and using a reference to access information, services, or content related to the reference, including capturing an image of the reference with an imaging device, sending the image via a communications network to a processing center, pre-processing to identify relevant frames within the image and to perform general purpose enhancement operations, detecting the most relevant frame within the image, and frame properties, applying geometric, illumination, and focus correction on the relevant frame, using color, aspect ration, and frame color, to perform a coarse recognition and thereby limit the number of possible identifications of a reference within the relevant frame, and using specific techniques of resealing, histogram equalization, block labeling, edge operation, and normalized cross correlation, to identify the reference within the image.
Thus, in the light of the above mentioned background of the art, it is evident that, there is a need for an apparatus, device, system and method for detecting and recognizing various shapes of traffic signs and other related objects with driver warning strategies, which is simple, easy to install and provides higher accuracy at a lower cost.

Illumination invariant and robust apparatus and method for detecting and recognizing various traffic signs


A method of analyzing a 3D geological structure using a structure index. The method includes the steps of estimating physical property values on common coordinates to calculate two or more physical property models on the same 3D grid (L×M×N); normalizing the physical property models, thus obtaining normalized physical property models which are then represented in a scatter plot of physical properties; converting distribution positions of the normalized physical property models on the scatter plot of physical properties into type angle (TA) and into type intensity (TI); determining a minimum of TI values, which classifies two or more classes on a scatter plot of the TA and TI values, to be a threshold; and analyzing the 3D geological structure based on a local extreme point and/or points in the scatter plot for the TA and TI using the threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of analyzing a 3D geological structure using a structure index (SI).
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently in order to acquire more pieces of information in survey areas, a variety of techniques are being carried out to conduct multi-surveys. This is because multi-surveys minimize the risk of uncertainty of analysis stemming from the use of a single survey technique and also because the reliability of a final decision based on the survey results may be increased. For this reason, thorough research into integrated analysis to complement each data using multi-parametric geophysical data and increase the reliability of analytic results is ongoing. However, conventional analysis into multi-surveys is merely confined to the level of analyzing individual survey materials and then qualitatively collecting analytic results, undesirably making it impossible to effectively utilize the advantages of multi-surveys. This has been concluded to be because physical properties or resolutions measured using respective geophysical techniques are different from each other, and thus these are difficult to numerically summarize using a single data processing technique. For example, many attempts have been made by researchers (Vozoff and Jupp, 1975, Sill et al., 1977, Oldenburg, 1978) to make the sensitivity matrix (Jacobian matrix) of different survey data into an inversion matrix so as to form joint inversion, but are not widely utilized because solutions are numerically unstable and it is difficult to make meaningful relationships.
In some embodiments of the present invention, however, integrated analysis about the boundary information of geological structures, in lieu of a combination of physical properties, is carried out, thus overcoming the limitations of conventional integrated analysis. Such an integrated analysis technique is advantageous because the acquired data is effectively used.

Method of analyzing 3D geological structure using structure index

KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES


A method of evaluating fire hazards of materials in standard tests is provided which comprises measuring heat flux distribution in test fires at the moment when sprinklers would have sensed the fire and be activated, and determining the rate of sprinkler water delivery rate that will absorb the heat flux, thus controlling spread of the fire.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for determining a sprinkler water delivery requirement to control a fire. The invention also relates to an apparatus for measuring heat flux, especially in connection with fire protection, the fire testing of materials, and determining a sprinkler water delivery rate.
2. Background of the Invention
The fire hazard represented by storage of a given material is often characterized by the rate of delivered sprinkler water required to suppress or control a fire of that material. The present state-of-the-art for hazard characterization is to perform replicate tests in which: the material is ignited; the fire is allowed to grow until it is sensed by sprinklers; and the sprinklers then activate to deliver water to the fire. The delivered water density, that is, the amount of water delivered by the sprinklers per unit area of the floor, is systematically increased until a delivery rate that controls the fire is found. Many standard tests must be performed with the same material to determine what rate of sprinkler water delivery is required to control the fire from the burning material. These replicate tests consume a great deal of personnel labor and material, and are thus very expensive and time-consuming.
The severity of fires and the hazards they present are assessed in terms of the total chemical heat release rate of the fire and the heat flux emitted. Heat flux is defined as the rate of energy transfer per unit surface area. Heat flux is typically expressed in units of kilowatts per square meter or BTU per square foot per minute. The measurement of heat flux is of importance in many sciences, including the fire testing of many materials. The heat flux emitted by burning materials may ignite, or aid in the burning of, nearby materials. In one known test set up, a gas burner is positioned at the base of and between two parallel panels on which a test material, for example, a fire resistant material such as polyurethane insulation, is placed. Measurement of heat flux in this parallel panel test provides valuable information about the response of the test material to the flames from the burner.
Instrumentation presently available for measuring heat flux requires complex, time-consuming installation, and is not sufficiently robust to withstand repeated use in very severe fire environments. The conventional instrumentation usually consists of water-cooled heat flux gauges that need to be individually installed, for example, directly on the panels bearing the test material. These gauges are exposed to flames during use. Individual heat flux gauges must undergo time-consuming calibration before and after the test because their sensing elements are easily damaged or impacted by fire impingement and by the deposition of soot and other incomplete products of combustion. A measurement uncertainty arises when post-test calibration shows that the gauge calibration constant has shifted as a result of this impact. Moreover, the gauges are individually water-cooled and mounted to view the flames through openings drilled in the material and supporting structure. This adds time and expense to the testing program and severely limits the number of heat flux measurement stations that can be installed. In some fire test configurations, such as commodity classification, it is not practical to install heat flux gauges due to the difficulty of protecting water cooling lines and electrical connections in highly hazardous locations.
An object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, easily installed device for measuring heat flux distribution.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple method for measuring heat flux distribution.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a durable apparatus for measuring heat flux distribution from gas burners or fire testing apparatuses.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method for evaluating fire hazards based on measurements of the heat flux in test fires.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for evaluating the total heat transfer to the burning fuel from spatially distributed heat flux measurements. The total heat transfer is defined as the product of heat flux and the area receiving that heat flux, summed over the entire area receiving heat flux. Total heat transfer is typically expressed in units of kilowatts or BTU/minute.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method for determining the area over which heat is transferred to the material.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for determining the rate of flow of sprinkler water required to control a fire based on a measurement of the total heat transfer to the burning fuel.
A further object of the inventions is to have a single test that is able to determine the required flow rate of sprinkler water necessary to control a fire for a given material.
The amount of sprinkler water flow rate required to control a fire can be determined by the method of the present invention which includes: measuring the spatial heat flux distribution in a test fire; calculating the effective heat flux received by the material surface, and calculating the sprinkler water delivery rate needed to absorb the heat flux using the energy required to vaporize the delivered water.
The method of the present invention solves the problems of conventional methods by reducing or eliminating the need for multiple and incremental testing. It has been discovered that the sprinkler water delivery rate required for control of the commodity is proportional to the total heat transfer to the fuel (i.e. product of the flame heat flux and flame area) just before the moment when sprinklers sense the fire, causing the sprinkler valve to open and deliver water to the fire. The proportionality constant is easily calculated from the heat of vaporization of water, that is, the rate at which water will be converted to steam per unit of applied heat flux.
By the present invention, the amount of sprinkler water necessary to control the burning of a material can be determined from a single test. The method of the present invention enables an evaluation of the fire hazard of materials based on heat flux measurements. The rate of sprinkler water required to control an array of a burning commodity, such as a commodity in a warehouse, is proportional to the heat flux to the surface of the commodity. The heat flux transferred to the heat flux measurement pipe of the present invention in a free-burning fire is closely related to the water flow rate required to suppress the fire.
Instead of individually installed heat flux gauges fixed to test panels to measure heat flux at various heights in a fire test, the heat flux measurement pipe, or device, of the present invention is a unitary device that has the capability for simultaneous measurements of heat flux along its length. The heat flux measurement pipe of the present invention is extremely stable and rugged, has no moving parts, and is easy to position in a test set up. The heat flux measurement pipe does not need to be connected to the panels bearing the test material. Instead, it can merely be positioned near or between the panels while, for example, being supported on wheeled support.
The heat flux measurement pipe is a water-cooled pipe that makes use of the change in water temperature over a distance along a water passageway, for example, a spiral water passageway, within the pipe. An outer pipe fits tightly over an inner core into which a spiral water passageway is machined. Thermocouples for measuring the temperature of the water in the water passageway are fixed on the core at spaced locations in the water passageway, adjacent thermocouples defining sections of the water passageway between them. At steady-state, the net heat transfer rate to each section of the water passageway can be determined from the product of mass flow rate of water entering or leaving that section and the difference in water temperature between the entrance and exit of that section. Accordingly, only the overall water mass-flow-rate and the water temperature at various locations along the passageway need be measured to determine the spatial distribution of heat transferred to the pipe. The thermocouples measure the temperature of the water at the entrance and exit of each section of the water passageway. By forcing the water to travel in a tight spiral in an annulus between the outer pipe and the core, there is assurance that any spatial non-uniformity will be averaged out, improving heat transfer and resulting in a water temperature that represents the average heat transfer to each pipe section. Heat flux levels can be readily determined from the measured water temperatures and the pipe geometry using known calculations.
The heat flux measurement pipe of the present invention can provide measurements of the heat flux distribution from flames in standard tests to evaluate the fire hazard of typical warehouse commodities and determine the rate of sprinkler water delivery needed to control the fire.
Thus, the use of the heat flux measurement pipe in fires involving test materials measures the spatial distribution of heat flux, and from this the sprinkler water delivery rate that would absorb the heat flux in converting the water to steam can be determined. When the heat flux from the fire is absorbed, the fire will stop spreading and burn out. This method of evaluating fire hazards determines the required sprinkler water delivery rate from heat flux measurements of a single test, rather than from the multiple tests that were heretofore considered necessary.

Heat flux measurement pipe and method for determining sprinkler water delivery requirement


An audio device controllable with a card having at least one operation identifying device related to a specific reproduction operation. The card is provided on the respective surfaces thereof with first and second items of visual data corresponding to the reproduction operation. The audio device has a card inlet, an optical sensor for detecting the mark of the card, and a system controller for controlling the device to realize the reproduction operation identified by the mark.

When a desired piece of music is to be selected from among those recorded on a CD for reproduction on a CD player, the music is selected generally by manipulating the operation panel on the body of the CD player to give a track skip command, or by manipulating some of the number entry keys on a remote control unit and thereby directly specifying the track number of the desired music.
Such a selection-reproduction system is relatively easy for the adult to use but is difficult for the infant to manipulate.
Further CD players are adapted for various special reproduction operations including an introduction reproducing operation to successively reproduce only the beginning portions of the pieces of music on the CD, each for several seconds, a random reproduction operation to reproduce all the pieces of music on the CD randomly, and a repeat reproduction operation to repeatedly reproduce all the pieces of music on the CD or the specified one of them. In this case, an increase in the number of operation buttons or in the number of manipulation procedures makes the player more difficult to use for the infant.

Audio device having control function with use of card


The invention relates to a method for monitoring the functionality of an actuator (1) having a pneumatic drive (2), in particular for monitoring an actuator (1) for a safety valve, including a magnetic valve (4) for controlling the pneumatic drive (2), wherein the magnetic valve (4) is monitored by means of a pressure measurement and is, for this purpose, connected to a first pneumatic conduit (16) to a position controller (3) of the actuator (1) as well as to the pneumatic drive (2) to a second pneumatic conduit (17). The magnetic valve (4) is switched off and on again with a switching time (t2-t1). The switching time (t2-t1) of the magnetic valve (4) is detected at which, at the one hand, the switching time (t2-t1) is so short that the position of the actuator (1) remains essentially constant or unchanged and, on the other hand, it is, however, so long that a pressure drop (dp=P1-P2) in the first pneumatic conduit (16) in front of the magnetic valve (4) is present after switching the magnetic valve (4) on again.

In safety-oriented industries, especially in the chemical industry or in power stations, safety valves have to be tested regularly with respect their functionality. Safety valves are used only rarely because they are intended only for the case of emergency.
Pneumatic drives are known which serve as an actuator of a safety valve. As a rule, safety valves are controlled in a safety circuit by means of a magnetic valve such that the same vents the pneumatic drive in the case of emergency by a voltage drop of the supply voltage such that the safety valve is moved into a safety position. The movement into the safety position is effected, in a manner known per se, by means of an energy memory which is realised by springs arranged in the drive means.
For correct function of the safety valve, the actual actuator as well as the magnetic valve have to operate reliably. For monitoring the functionality of an actuator in an actuation system, the so called partial-stroke-test method is known.
Such a partial-stroke-test method is described, for example, in DE 10 2005 004 477 A1. In this method, the actuator is moved briefly by its drive element over a portion of its actuating path to test its functionality. Overshooting is prevented thereby that the drive element can be moved, for example by means of a stop, only within permitted limits. Known partial-stroke-test methods use a position controller in order to determine the correct functionality of the actuator by means of partial movements.
A further device for monitoring a safety valve is known from GB 2 372 087 A. In this method, a control valve is moved up to a predetermined point by means of a test method. The test is started by a laptop or computer. For this purpose, a magnetic valve is shut down like in a case of emergency, but switched on again after a predetermined time. Pressure sensors or flow sensors determine the functionality of the safety valve based on changes in the process medium, and a failure notification is displayed upon occurrence of a failure by means of lamps or a display screen.
By means of this test, it can be tested whether a valve is unduly blocked, whether a spring of the actuator or the valve, respectively, is broken, whether corrosion is present at the valve ball or whether an undesired crystal formation is present.
All these tests pertain to the functionality of the actuator and they are not adapted to check a failure function of the magnetic valve associated with the actuator.
From WO 2007/087030 A1, a device is known which checks a failure of the magnetic valve. The device comprises, for this purpose, a position controller which comprises two outputs—double acting controller—and two pressure sensors. The magnetic valve is connected to the position controller of the actuator through a first pneumatic conduit and a first pressure sensor being provided at the position controller. The magnetic valve is connected to the pneumatic drive by means of a second pneumatic conduit in which a second pressure sensor is arranged at the position controller. The device comprises a circuit for controlling a single-acting pneumatic drive. The circuit provides for connecting the second output of the position controller which is normally not used in this case, with the pneumatic conduit between the magnetic valve and the driving volume. For testing the magnetic valve, the valve is momentarily shut down such that a pressure change or a differential pressure change, respectively, of the pressure sensors in the position controller can be evaluated. Depending on the magnitude of the measured pressure change of the pressure in the pneumatic drive or in the pneumatic conduit between the magnetic valve and the pneumatic drive, respectively, the position controller can decide on the functionality of the magnetic valve.
The requirement of a double acting position controller for a single acting drive is disadvantageous in this arrangement. A single acting position controller for a single acting drive, however, would be advantageous. Furthermore, a reliable pneumatic connection of the second output of the position controller is necessary and, thereby, increases the complexity when installing the pneumatic connection conduits. Furthermore, each additional pneumatic conduit forms a possible source of failure.
Furthermore, if no pressure sensor is provided between the magnetic valve and the pneumatic drive, there is the problem that a momentary pressure change can not be determined during switching the magnetic valve on and off. In particular, a single acting position controller even if it comprises a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of the pneumatic output, can not determine a pressure change between the magnetic valve and the pneumatic drive during switching the magnetic valve on and off, since the switching of the magnetic valve interrupts the pneumatic connection between the position controller and the pneumatic drive.

Method and device for testing the functionality of an actuator having a pneumatic drive


The present invention aims to provide a process for producing an aluminum titanate-based ceramics fired body wherein a cracking of a ceramics shaped body during a degreasing step is suppressed and also sufficient mechanical strength for handling is provided to the ceramics shaped body for such a case of the transfer from a degreasing step to a firing step. The present invention is a process for producing an aluminum titanate-based ceramics fired body comprising a shaping step of obtaining a ceramics shaped body by shaping a starting material mixture containing inorganic components including an aluminum source powder and a titanium source powder and organic components; a degreasing step for removing the organic components contained in the ceramics shaped body in atmosphere with an oxygen concentration of not higher than 0.1% and under the temperature condition that the highest temperature is not lower than 700° C. and not higher than 1100° C.; and a firing step for firing the ceramics shaped body under the temperature condition that the highest temperature is not lower than 1300° C.; in this order, wherein the atmosphere at a heating step to 1300° C. during the firing step has an oxygen concentration of not lower than 1% and not higher than 6%.

Aluminum titanate-based ceramics are ceramics containing titanium and aluminum as constitutive elements and having a crystal pattern of aluminum titanate in an x-ray diffraction spectrum. Aluminum titanate-based ceramics have been known as ceramics being excellent in heat resistance and having low thermal expansibility. Aluminum titanate-based ceramics have conventionally been used as firing tools such as crucibles. Recently, the utility value of aluminum titanate-based ceramics in industrial fields is increasing as a material for constituting a ceramics filter (DPF: Diesel particulate filter) for collecting fine carbon particles contained in exhaust gases discharged from an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine.
A process known for producing such an aluminum titanate-based ceramics comprises firing a starting material mixture containing a powder of a titanium source compound such as titania and a powder of an aluminum source compound such as alumina (see, Patent Document 1).

Process for producing aluminum titanate-based ceramics fired body


A braking pressure control device for a brake system comprising a braking pressure generator (16), a wheel brake cylinder connected via a brake line (15) with the latter to actuate a brake (18), a braking pressure control circuit which is interposed into the brake line and comprising a piston pump, the outlet valve (9) of which is connectible to the brake line (15), and comprising solenoid operated brake control valves (19, 20), the inlet valve (8) and the outlet valve (9) of the piston pump are arranged on the pump housing (1), and the difference in pressure for opening the inlet valve (8) is such that the inlet valve (8) remains closed whenever the pressure in the return line (21) is below atmospheric pressure. An annular chamber (11) encircling the piston (3) is provided on the side of the slide seal (12) remote from the working chamber (7) of the piston pump, the annular chamber being sealed in relation to the eccentric piston drive housing portion ( 4) and communicating with a pump supply line connected to the brake pressure line (15), or with the return line (21) so as to supplied with fluid and prevent air from entering the working chamber through the piston clearance space.

The present invention relates to a braking pressure control device for an antilocking automotive vehicle brake system. Such systems typically include a braking pressure generator, at least one wheel brake cylinder connected via a brake line with the braking pressure generator to actuate a brake, a braking pressure control circuit which is interposed into the brake line between the braking pressure generator and the wheel brake cylinder. Such systems have a piston pump, the outlet of which is connectible to the brake line, and an inlet control valve controllable by a control device to connect the wheel brake cylinder with the brake line and an outlet valve connected in a return line leading to the inlet of the piston pump. The piston of the piston pump is axially movable by a mechanical eccentric drive and is sealed in relation to the cylinder bore in the pump housing by means of a slide seal.
Braking pressure control devices of this type automatically control the braking pressure in dependence on the rotational movement of one or more of the wheels of a vehicle, which movement is monitored by a monitoring device in order to prevent locking of the wheels during a braking operation and, in case of need, also to prevent spinning of the driven wheels on starting to drive.
A braking pressure control device of the type referred to hereinabove is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,666. To reduce the braking pressure in the wheel brake cylinder with a braking pressure control device of this type, the brake line leading to the wheel brake cylinder is connected to the return line by opening of an electromagnetic control outlet valve, the return line being in direct communication with the inlet of the piston pump without the intermediary of a reservoir open towards the atmosphere. The piston pump supplies the pressure fluid out of the return line back into the brake line in order to thereby re-increase the braking pressure on the wheel brake cylinder after a renewed closing of the control outlet valve. The connection between the pump outlet and the wheel brake cylinder is governed by a pressure-controlled flow control valve which interrupts or throttles the pressure fluid supply from the piston pump to the wheel brake cylinder when the control valve is open. A low-pressure accumulator connected to the return line has a spring-loaded piston which ensures that the speed of pressure decrease does not depend on the delivery rate of the piston pump.
The piston pump of the known braking pressure control device described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,666 comprises a stepped piston which isolates, with a large-diameter piston step, the working chamber that is adjacent to the piston end from a suction chamber which surrounds a smaller-diameter piston step, and to which the return line is connected. The working chamber and the suction chamber are interconnectible by an inlet valve arranged in the stepped piston. Towards the drive side of the stepped piston, the inlet chamber is bounded by an annular piston received over the stepped piston and engaged with a spring on a spring retainer formed on the stepped piston. Another spring is arranged between the spring retainer and the housing. The resiliently supported annular piston causes the suction chamber to function as a low-pressure accumulator which receives pressure fluid in excess when the inlet valve opens. The springs by which the annular piston and the stepped piston are supported on one another and on the pump housing are dimensioned such that the stepped piston moves into operative engagement with the drive eccentric only if pressure fluid is available in the suction chamber. It is thereby ensured that continued pressure fluid supply by the stepped piston will not occur when the suction chamber is pumped empty. Thus no vacuum may result in the return line and in the suction chamber so that air is not drawn into the braking pressure control circuit at the piston pump. It is a disadvantage in this known arrangement that the piston pump necessitates a comparatively complex structure.
It is known in high-pressure piston pumps for hydraulic systems as shown in DE-AS 23 36 118 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,029 to furnish the sealing means of the pump piston with an annular chamber from which a discharge channel leads either to the suction side of the pump or to the pressure fluid supply reservoir. This is meant to discharge leakage fluid and to prevent the ingress of air. These known high-pressure piston pumps are not suitable without modification for use on a braking pressure control device. When the discharge channel is led back to the reservoir, this necessitates further structure. When the discharge channel leads to the suction side, the ingress of air cannot be reliably avoided without taking special measures.
It is an object of the present invention to simplify the piston pump in a braking pressure control device of the type initially referred to and to ensure in doing so that the pressure in the return line does not fall below atmospheric pressure so that no air can enter through the piston seal of the piston pump.

Braking pressure control device for a hydraulic automotive vehicle brake system


To form an exposed image with striking contrast on photosensitive material and form a high definition and high quality image, a first beam modulated according to an image signal and a second beam modulated according to an inverted image signal generated by inverting this image signal with smaller deelectrification effect than the first beam are synthesized on the photosensitive material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image formation method for forming an image by scanning a beam and exposing photosensitive material and an image formation apparatus, particularly relates to an image formation method and an image formation apparatus through which a high quality image can be formed by forming a contrast exposed image on photosensitive material.
2. Description of the Related Art
For an image formation apparatus such as a digital copying machine and a laser printer for forming an image using a beam, an image formation apparatus in which a beam modulated according to image information is reflected and deflected by a deflecting system, for example a polygon mirror and image information is recorded, scanning the scanned face of photosensitive material and others using such a reflected and deflected beam is generally known.
Recently, in such an image formation apparatus, high-speed image formation at high resolution is enabled by the appearance of a high-speed polygon mirror, high-speed image processing, simultaneous scanning in a plurality of scanning lines and others, and resolution is being enhanced. However, for the contrast of an exposed image contributing to the definition and quality of an image, as the reduction of a beam diameter is limited by the constraint of an optical system, sufficient improvement is not performed. Therefore, it is difficult to provide a high definition character and line drawn image required in the field of printing and desk top publishing.
Generally, in an image formation apparatus for forming an exposed image on photosensitive material by the on-off modulation of a beam, the energy distribution profile of an exposed image is obtained by the following convolution of the intensity distribution profile Bp(x, y) of a beam imaged on photosensitive material and a modulated pulse profile Mp(x, y): EQU Bp*Mp(x, y)=.intg.Bp(.xi.,.eta.).multidot.Mp(x-.xi., y-.eta.)d.xi.d.eta.(1) .
Therefore, unless a beam diameter is reduced when resolution is enhanced, the contrast of an exposed image is decreased and the reproducibility of gradation is deteriorated. For example, when a modulated pulse profile is replaced with "M2(x, y).tbd.Mp(2x, 2y)" if resolution is doubled, the above expression (1) is as follows: ##EQU1## and to obtain the similar contrast, a beam diameter is required to be halved.
In the meantime, according to the examination of an optical system for imaging, the minimum beam diameter co in the propagation of Gaussian beam is obtained by the following expression: EQU .omega..sub.0 =.lambda./(n.multidot..pi..multidot..theta..sub.beam).
In this case, .theta..sub.beam is an angle at which a beam is focused, .lambda. is a wavelength and n is a refractive index, and if the diameter of a beam incident to an f.theta. lens is D and the focal length of an f.theta. lens is f, .theta..sub.beam is expressed by the following expression: EQU .theta..sub.beam =tan.sup.-1 (D/(2.multidot.f)).
Therefore, to reduce a beam diameter, it is required to reduce a wavelength .lambda. or to extend the diameter D of a beam incident to an f.theta. lens, that is, the diameter of a beam incident to a polygon mirror.
In such a background, a conventional image formation apparatus using a semiconductor laser which emits a beam with a short wavelength is proposed and a beam diameter is reduced by obtaining a beam with a shorter wavelength up to 680 nm, compared with a wavelength up to 780 nm of a general semiconductor laser. If an argon laser or a combination of a semiconductor laser and a wavelength sensing element is used as a light source, a beam with even a shorter wavelength can be obtained.
In the meantime, for another conventional image formation apparatus, technique for simultaneously scanning a plurality of beams horizontally and reducing the rotating speed of a polygon mirror is disclosed in, for example Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. Sho 51-100742 (1976) and Sho 54-38130 (1979). According to these image formation apparatuses, a plurality of beams can be simultaneously scanned horizontally, the rotating speed of a polygon mirror can be reduced and as the radius of the polygon mirror can be extended and the width of each face can be secured sufficiently if the rotating speed of the polygon mirror can be reduced, the diameter of a beam incident to the polygon mirror can be extended.
However, according to a conventional image formation apparatus, in the case of the former, as a reduced wavelength is 680 nm, compared with the wavelength up to 780 nm of a general semiconductor laser, only approximately 12% of improvement can be obtained and a beam diameter cannot be reduced to the extent that the contrast of an exposed image on photosensitive material is enhanced. If an argon laser or a combination of a semiconductor laser and a wavelength sensing element is used as a light source, an apparatus is large-sized, costs are increased and as the sensitivity in a short wavelength area of a general organic photosensitive material in the current electrophotographic process is low, there is a problem that image formation is difficult.
In the case of the latter, as the effect of a polygon mirror upon windage loss torque more greatly depends upon the diameter of the polygon mirror than the rotating speed, the radius of the polygon mirror cannot be extended so much and there is a limit in extending the diameter of a beam incident to the polygon mirror. Therefore, a beam diameter cannot be reduced to the extent that the contrast of an exposed image on photosensitive material is enhanced.

Image formation method and image formation apparatus for forming a high definition and high quality image


The present invention provides a glass optical waveguide device that comprises silica glass and is usable despite a relatively large refractive index difference between its core layer and cladding layer, and a method of manufacturing such device. This optical waveguide device includes a core layer on or over a substrate and a cladding layer that covers the core layer, wherein the core layer is made of silica glass containing an additive for raising the refractive index, and the relative refractive index difference of the core layer with respect to the cladding layer is at least 2.5%. The method of manufacturing this optical waveguide device includes the steps of placing a substrate over an electrode plate that is connected to a first high-frequency power supply within a vacuum vessel, introducing a raw material gas into the vacuum vessel and generating a plasma within the vacuum vessel with high-frequency power supplied from a second high-frequency power supply, and simultaneously forming an optical waveguide film over the substrate while supplying high-frequency power from the first high-frequency power supply to the electrode plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical waveguide device used in optical information processing, optical communications, and so forth, and to a method of manufacturing such device. More particularly the present invention relates to an optical waveguide device that comprises silica glass and has a large refractive index difference between its core layer and cladding layer, and to a method of manufacturing such device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flame hydrolysis deposition (FHD) and plasma CVD are two of the known methods of forming on a substrate an optical waveguide film that serves as the core layer of an optical waveguide device. FHD involves creating a porous film by subjecting silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4) to flame hydrolysis and depositing the resulting silica glass microparticles on a substrate, and then consolidating this porous film at a high temperature of at least 1000° C., thereby obtaining an optical waveguide film. Plasma CVD involves generating a plasma in a vacuum vessel, activating within this plasma a reaction gas introduced into the vacuum vessel, and depositing an optical waveguide film on a substrate that has been placed in the vacuum vessel.
There are two known types of plasma CVD methods, depending on how the plasma is generated. The first method is parallel plate plasma CVD, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open NO. H08-262260. In this method, a substrate is placed between an upper electrode plate and a lower electrode plate disposed parallel to each other in a vacuum vessel, and high-frequency power is supplied to either the upper or lower electrode plate, which generates a plasma between the upper and lower electrode plates. The second method is inductively coupled plasma CVD, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open H08-262250 and H10-221557. In this method, high-frequency power is supplied to a coil disposed outside a vacuum vessel, and a plasma is generated inside the vacuum vessel by the inductive electrical field thus formed.
It is important to make the size of an optical waveguide device compact. To this end, loss must be reduced by setting a great refractive index difference between the core layer and the cladding layer. However, the following problems are encountered with the methods mentioned above.
In FHD, if a core waveguide film is formed on a substrate in a manner such that it contains a large amount of additive for controlling the refractive index in order to increase the refractive index difference between the core layer and the cladding layer, the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the substrate and the core waveguide film causes overall warping. Warping can lead to cracking of the substrate or to a marked decrease in the working precision of an optical circuit in the patterning of the optical circuit. Consequently, there is a limit to how much the refractive index difference can be increased. Also, in the process of consolidating the core waveguide film, because the core waveguide film is porous, and because the heat treatment temperature is 1000° C. or higher, the refractive index-controlling additive added to the core waveguide film tends to volatilize. This makes it difficult to obtain a core layer with a high refractive index, and the limit to the relative refractive index difference of the core layer with respect to the cladding layer is about 1%.
In plasma CVD, an optical waveguide film is formed on a substrate at a relatively low temperature, about 400° C., and the above-mentioned problem of warping encountered with FHD is generally considered not to apply. Also, since the core waveguide film formed on the substrate is transparent and solid, there is no need for a consolidation process, nor is there any volatilization of the additive for controlling the refractive index. Nevertheless, the inventors of the present invention found that when a core waveguide film containing a large quantity of additive for increasing the refractive index is formed on a substrate by a conventional plasma CVD method, tensile stress sometimes occurs in the core waveguide film with respect to a cross section perpendicular to the substrate.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open NO. H5-241035 discloses an optical waveguide device in which the core layer is made of a glass other than silica glass (that is, mainly made of SiOxNyHz), and the refractive index difference between the core layer and the cladding layer is set high.

Optical waveguide device, and method of manufacturing optical waveguide device


A system (100) and method (200) for providing a multiple channel site for supporting talk group activity is provided. The method includes determining (202) an arrival time (141) of a plurality of Vehicular Repeater System (VRS) (101-103) to a vicinity (140), identifying (204) talk group activity among the plurality of PSUs (171-176) in the vicinity, and assigning VRSs to talk groups in order of arrival time and talk group activity. A master VRS maintains and updates (322) a list of recently active talk groups (TG), orders (324) the list by frequency of use of a talk group, forwards the list to slave VRSs and PSUs, and allocates (326) single channels in view of the list to the slave VRSs. PSUs in the vicinity can read the assignment list and update their communication channel based on a selected talk group in the list.

The use of portable electronic devices and mobile communication devices has increased dramatically in recent years. Mobile communication devices such as two-way radios can operate in various environments. As an example, Two-way radios can be mounted in vehicles for allowing communication between users over a wide area. Two-way radios can be deployed and mounted within police cars for providing dispatch or communication operations. In practice, the radios can be configured to operate over a radio communication channel. As one example, radios can be set to a single physical channel which allows voice and data communications to be sent to other radios that are tuned to the common channel.
Vehicle repeater systems (VRS) are currently used in radio communication systems to provide coverage to portable subscriber units (PSU) in areas where the coverage provided by the fixed system is insufficient. In one arrangement a VRS can be placed at a fixed location to extend coverage in a fixed area. In another arrangement, a VRS can be mounted within a vehicle that can be deployed to different regions. PSUs within proximity of the vehicle having the VRS can communicate amongst one another on a single channel provided by the VRS. The VRS typically consists of a mobile radio (MSU), generally operating on a fixed system, that is physically connected to a mobile repeater (VR). The MSU provides the radio communication to a fixed network equipment (FNE) on the fixed system, and the VR interfaces to the PSU on a conventional channel for providing talk groups. Multiple PSUs can use a single VRS for creating a talk group at any time if the PSUs are all on the same channel. However, the MR can only support one channel of communication at a time, and hence, only one talk group at a time. Accordingly, PSUs must be on the same channel to communicate with one another when operating on a VRS.
A single vehicular repeater system (VRS) can extend a coverage area of a fixed system, such as a trunked radio infrastructure. The VRS can provide one physical channel of communication to support one talk group at a time. The VRS can support data, image, or audio. Multiple VRSs can be deployed to a common site to provide support for multiple talk group activity. In prior art systems, one of the VRSs is designated as a master device, and the other VRSs are designated as slave devices to repeat radio communication for the master device. Because each VRS is only capable of providing one physical communication channel, the multiple VRSs, as configured together in the arrangement of the prior art, can only support one talk group at a time.
Because a VRS can only support one talk group at a time, a user of a PSU must wait for another user to release control of the channel. In such regard, the user must wait for talk group activity to cease before changing talk groups to acquire the single channel. In situations where multiple vehicles are deployed to a site with multiple talk groups, contention exists for the single channel. That is, since there is only one physical channel on a VRS only one of the talk groups can be useable at a time. A need therefore exists for providing support to multiple talk groups at a common site.

Method and system for distributing talk group activity among multiple vehicle repeaters


The purpose is to provide a phosphor particle dispersion liquid in which the phosphor particles do not settle out when the phosphor dispersion liquid is left to stand. The phosphor dispersion liquid contains phosphor particles, clay mineral particles, inorganic particles, and a solvent. The phosphor dispersion liquid has viscosity η1 of 10 to 500 mPa·s at a shear rate of 1000 (1/s) at 25° C., and viscosity η2 of 1.0×103 to 1.0×105 mPa·s at a shear rate of 1 (1/s) at 25° C.

Light-emitting devices using LED chips (LED devices) are finding wide applications because of demand for light-emitting devices with higher luminance and lower energy consumption. In particular, white LED devices are increasingly used as lighting sources such as electric lights, which require white light, and backlights for liquid crystal displays in the field of lighting devices.
An example of the white LED devices is a device that use a combination of a blue LED chip and a phosphor that emits yellow light upon receipt of blue light. Other examples of the white LED device include white LED devices that create white light by a combination of a LED chip that emits UV light and phosphors that emit, upon receipt of UV light, blue, green and red lights; and white LED devices that create white light by a combination of a LED chip that emits blue light and phosphors that emit red and green lights. In the above-mentioned white LED devices, the light emitted by the LED chip and the fluorescence emitted by the phosphor are mixed, thereby obtaining white light.
The white LED devices that use a combination of an LED chip and a phosphor can generate white light with a single light source (LED chip). Thus, as compared to white LED devices that use a combination of multiple LED chips of different colors for generation of white light, the device can be more simplified and power consumption can be reduced.
However, the light from white LED devices using a combination of an LED chip and a phosphor is colored when a balance between the emission light from the LED chip and fluorescence from the phosphor is disrupted. The disrupted balance also causes "color non-uniformity," a phenomenon where color (chromaticity) varies depending on the observation angle of the device.
One cause of light coloring and color non-uniformity pertinent in the white LED device is the non-uniform distribution of phosphors in the LED device. Generally, phosphors are dispersed in resin. Phosphor, however, is generally an inorganometallic compound having an extremely high specific gravity. Therefore, when liquid resin containing dispersed phosphor particles is applied, the phosphor particles settle down, resulting in that the phosphor particles are unevenly deposited.
One disclosed technique for reduced color non-uniformity of light emitted from the white LED device involves adding an anti-settling agent of phosphor particles to liquid resin thus preventing settling of the phosphor particles (see PTL 1). In PTL 1, application of the liquid resin containing the phosphor particles is followed by curing while spinning, thereby limiting settlement of the phosphor particles (see PTL 1).
In recent years, dispersion of phosphor particles to light transmissive ceramic (glass) has been studied. In this method, however, it is difficult to apply the dispersion liquid on the corners and lateral surfaces of the LED chip since the viscosity of the dispersion liquid containing dispersed phosphor particles is low. As a result, the wavelength conversion efficiency is easily degraded, and chromaticity deviation and color non-uniformity easily occur among different directions. Under such circumstances, a method has been proposed in which color non-uniformity is reduced by spraying a spiral of a coating solution containing a phosphor and a ceramic precursor (see PTL 2).

Phosphor dispersion liquid, and production method for LED device using same


The electrical connecting apparatus according to the present invention includes first, second and third plate members having plate-like portions at intervals from each other in the thickness direction, each plate-like member having a plurality of through holes in the plate-like portions; and a plurality of probes having projected portions passed through the through holes of the first, second and third plate-like members, the probes including projected portions between said first and second plate-like members. Each through hole of the first and second plate-like members has a small diameter portion for preventing the projected portion of the probe from passing and a large diameter portion communicated to the small diameter portion.

A device under test such as a semiconductor device is subjected to an electric test (inspection) as to whether or not its internal circuit acts as defined in a specification. Such an electric test is conducted by using an electric connecting apparatus such as a probe card with a plurality of contacts disposed on the underside of an insulating base plate.
As one of such electric connecting apparatus, there is a vertical type one (e.g., Japanese Patent Appln. Public Disclosure No. 2002-202337) wherein a lower plate and an upper plate are disposed at an interval in the vertical direction interposing a middle plate therebetween, wherein a plurality of needle type probes are assembled into the lower, middle and upper plates so as to penetrate these plates in the vertical direction, and wherein the lower end (needle point) of each probe is pressed against an electrode of the device under test.
A vertical type apparatus, which is easier in assembling probes than a conventional general apparatus with needle type probes bent like an L-shape assembled into a base plate in a cantilever state, is less expensive and can increase the density of arrangement of probes, or needle points, and is suitable for an electric test of a high density device under test having many electrodes.
Also, such a vertical type apparatus has the middle plate displaced in the horizontal direction relative to the upper and lower plates to curve the probes beforehand in the same direction, thereby preventing adjoining probes from coming into contact.
Further, the vertical type apparatus disposes an auxiliary plate above the lower plate at a small interval and forms a projected portion at a position of each probe between the auxiliary plate and the lower plate, thereby preventing the probe from passing through the auxiliary plate and the lower plate.
In the foregoing conventional vertical apparatus, however, the diameter of each probe is so small as approximately fifty microns to 100 microns, so that, unless the diameters of the through holes of the auxiliary and lower plates for the probe to penetrate are made so small as approximately fifty microns to 100 microns, the tip of the probe moves largely within the through holes, which results in dislocation of relative positions of the needle point and the electrode of the device under test. Also, it is difficult to form with high accuracy a through hole having such a small diameter within which the probe tip would not move largely.


An integrated circuit includes a semiconductor substrate, an isolation region extending into, and overlying a bulk portion of, the semiconductor substrate, a buried conductive track comprising a portion in the isolation region, and a transistor having a source/drain region and a gate electrode. The source/drain region or the gate electrode is connected to the buried conductive track.

Modern integrated circuits are made up of transistors, capacitors, and other devices that are formed on semiconductor substrates. On a substrate, these devices are initially isolated from one another but are later interconnected together to form functional circuits. Typical interconnect structures include lateral interconnections, such as metal lines (wirings), and vertical interconnects, such as vias and contacts. The quality of the interconnect structure affects the performance and the reliability of the fabricated circuit. Interconnections are increasingly determining the limits of performance and density of modern integrated circuits.
The interconnect structures may include tungsten plugs and aluminum lines. In newer generations of the integrated circuits, dual damascene structures, which include copper lines and vias formed using dual damascene processes, were also used to form the interconnect structures.

Buried metal track and methods forming same

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


An improvement in an apparatus and a method provide an audible signal for announcing a selection, by a purchaser, of an item of merchandise placed at a dispensing location at a point-of-purchase. An annunciator emits an audible signal of limited duration for announcing the selection. A motion-responsive activator is coupled with the annunciator for activating the annunciator to emit the audible signal in response to imparting an activating motion to the activator. A selection-responsive component is coupled with the activator and is movable in response to the purchaser making a selection at the dispensing location, to impart an activating motion to the activator and, consequently, to activate the annunciator to emit the audible signal of limited duration announcing the selection.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the display and dispensing of items of merchandise at a point-of-purchase and pertains, more specifically, to providing an audible alert upon the selection of an item of merchandise displayed at a dispensing location placed at the point-of-purchase.
Description of Related Art
It has become quite common in retail marketing to present items of merchandise at a point-of-purchase, attractively displayed at a convenient dispensing location for promoting selection by prospective purchasers. A wide variety of display and dispensing systems have been made available to retail outlets for pursuing that endeavor. Unfortunately, however, the ease with which a prospective purchaser is able to make a selection at such a point-of-purchase has led to an increase in theft, and concomitant significant losses suffered by retailers who utilize such systems. In an effort to combat such theft at a retail point-of-purchase, a number of merchandise display and dispensing systems have been developed in which the removal of an item of merchandise at a dispensing location will generate an alarm for alerting members of the retail staff of a possible theft. However, these available systems are relatively complex and expensive to purchase, install and operate.

Announcing the selection of merchandise at a point-of-purchase


An image producing/displaying apparatus capable of inputting a command for changing a state of an object regardless of a form of the object includes a virtual world expressing system for constructing a virtual world including at least one object and environment in which the object exists and producing an image for visually displaying at least part of the virtual world, an output system for visualizing the image produced by the virtual world expressing system and outputting the image, and a command input system for inputting a command to the virtual world expressing system. The command input system detects a movement state of a specific pixel pattern contained in an image formed by an imaging device and extracts feature quantity from the movement state to recognize the command so that the command is notified to the virtual world expressing system.

The present invention relates to an image producing/displaying apparatus for producing and displaying an image, and more particularly to an image producing/displaying apparatus which can produce an image for visually displaying at least part of a virtual world including at least one object and environment in which the object exists, and further displaying the image after receiving a command to change a state of at least one object existing in the virtual world.
An image producing/displaying apparatus includes an apparatus for producing and displaying images for various events occurring in a virtual world including objects, an apparatus for producing and displaying events occurring in a real world as events in a virtual world which is a model of the real world, and the like. As examples of such apparatuses, there are electronic game machines, an animation displaying apparatus such as a virtual reality system, a navigation system and the like. In such an image displaying apparatus, it is sometimes necessary to give a command to an object displayed in a picture such as, for example, a person or a thing so that the object is changed to a desired state to be displayed in the picture. Particularly, in an electronic game and the virtual reality system, it is desired in respect of improvement of the game and the reality to give a command to the object and change a state thereof.
In the animation, when motion of an object is commanded, it is necessary to input numerical values for a distance of movement, an angle of a joint and the like for elements constituting a form of the object individually. Hence, it takes a great deal of time to command the motion of the object. Accordingly, as a matter of course, it is difficult to change the image in real time.
On the other hand, there is a method whereby a gesture is taken in as an image by means of the motion capture technique and movement of the gesture is reflected to a virtual world to give a command for the motion of the object. This method requires means for forming an image of the gesture and means for extracting movement of the gesture to convert it into motion of the object. With this method, a command for motion can be input quickly and the image can be changed in real time as compared with the individual input of the numerical values.
However, when a command for motion is given using the gesture as it is, it is necessary that an object has the same shape as a person. In other words, for an object having a shape that is different from a person, for example a fish, it is difficult to convert the gesture into the command for motion.
Further, when the gesture is taken in as an image to use it as the command for motion, it is not necessarily easy to identify which is the gesture for the command for motion while a person is being moved. Accordingly, it is necessary to judge whether motion of a person expressed in the picture is a command or not. However, the judgment is not necessarily made easily and increased burden is loaded on an apparatus. Further, there is a case where the command cannot be extracted exactly.

System for, and method of displaying an image of an object responsive to an operator's command


A cutting element for a rotary drill bit that has a superabrasive member joined to a substrate at a three-dimensional interface is disclosed. The interface of the cutting element preferably incorporates a first ring pattern comprising a plurality of circumferentially arranged raised sections which are separated by a plurality of radially extending grooves. Also, the interface configuration may include at least a second ring pattern comprising a plurality of circumferentially arranged raised sections which are separated by a plurality of radially extending grooves. Radially adjacent ring patterns may substantially circumferentially overlap with one another. An interface of a cutting element including at least one ring pattern having an odd number of sections is also disclosed. Further, rotary drill bits including at least one such cutting element are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to superabrasive cutting elements, inserts, or compacts, for abrasive cutting of rock and other hard materials. More particularly, the invention pertains to improved interfacial geometries for polycrystalline diamond compacts (PDCs) used in drill bits, reamers, and other downhole tools used to form a borehole in a subterranean formation.
2. Background of Related Art
Drill bits for oil field drilling, mining and other uses typically comprise a metal body into which cutting elements are incorporated. Such cutting elements, also known in the art as inserts, compacts, buttons, and machining tools, are typically manufactured by forming a superabrasive layer on the end of a sintered or cemented tungsten carbide substrate. As an example, polycrystalline diamond, or other suitable superabrasive material, such as cubic boron nitride, may be sintered onto the surface of a cemented carbide substrate under ultra-high pressure and ultra-high temperature to form a PDC, or other polycrystalline compact. During this process, a sintering aid such as cobalt may be premixed with the powdered diamond or swept from the substrate into the diamond table. The sintering aid also acts as a continuous bonding phase between the diamond table and substrate.
Because of different coefficients of thermal expansion and bulk modulus, large residual stresses of varying magnitudes, at different locations, may remain in the cutting element following cooling and release of pressure. These complex stresses are concentrated near the superabrasive table/substrate interface. Depending upon the cutting element construction, the direction of any applied forces, and the particular location within the cutting element under scrutiny, the stresses may be either compressive, tensile, shear, or mixtures thereof. In the superabrasive table/substrate interface configuration, any nonhydrostatic compressive or tensile load exerted on the cutting element produces shear stresses. Residual stresses at the interface between the superabrasive table and substrate may result in failure of the cutting element upon cooling or in subsequent use under thermal stress and applied forces, especially with respect to large-diameter cutting elements. These manufacturing-induced stresses are complex and are of a nonuniform nature and thus often undesirably place the superabrasive table of the cutting element into tension at locations along the superabrasive table/substrate interface.
During drilling operations, cutting elements may be subjected to very high forces in various directions, and the superabrasive layer may fracture, delaminate, spall, or fail due to the combination of drilling-induced stresses as well as residual stresses much sooner than would be initiated by normal abrasive wear of the superabrasive layer. Because a tendency toward premature failure of the superabrasive layer and failure at the superabrasive table/substrate interface may be augmented by the presence of high residual stresses in the cutting element, many attempts have been made to provide PDC cutting elements which are resistant to premature failure. For instance, the use of an interfacial transition layer with material properties intermediate of those of the superabrasive table and substrate is known within the art. Also, the formation of cutting elements with noncontinuous grooves or recesses in the substrate filled with superabrasive material is also practiced, as are cutting element structures having interfacial concentric circular grooves or a spiral groove.
The patent literature reveals a variety of cutting element designs in which the superabrasive table/substrate interface is three dimensional, i.e., the superabrasive layer and/or substrate have portions which protrude into the other member.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,772 of Smith shows various patterns of radially directed interfacial structures on the substrate surface; the formations project into the superabrasive surface. More particularly, a cutting element interface having inner spokes that radially extend circumferentially between outer spokes is shown in FIG. 6A thereof.
As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,137 of Flood et al., the interfacial superabrasive surface has a pattern of unconnected radial members which project into the substrate; the thickness of the superabrasive layer decreases toward the central axis of the cutting element.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,728 of Matthias et al. describes a variety of interface patterns in which a plurality of unconnected straight and arcuate ribs or small circular areas characterizes the superabrasive table/substrate interface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,199 of Newton teaches the use of ridges at the interface which are parallel or radial, and includes a ring of greater thickness than the remaining superabrasive table proximate the radial periphery thereof.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,279 of Dennis, the superabrasive table/substrate interface is shown to be a repeating sinusoidal surface about the axial center of the cutting element.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,060 of Jensen et al., assigned to the assignee hereof, shows cutting element interfaces having various ovaloid or round projections. The interface surface is indicated to be regular or irregular and may include surface grooves formed during or following sintering. A cutting element substrate is depicted having a rounded interface surface with a combination of radial and concentric circular grooves formed in the interface surface of the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,919 of Thigpen et al. discloses, in FIG. 10 thereof a cutting element comprising concentric ring structures formed in the substrate thereof, wherein radial grooves extend from the center of the cutting element to the radial edge thereof, through each ring structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,067 of Fielder discloses, in FIG. 4 thereof, concentric ring structures formed in a substrate of a cutting element, wherein the members comprising the ring structures are substantially circumferentially aligned.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,891 to Smith et al., assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety, discloses concentric ring structures formed in a substrate of a cutting element, wherein the members comprising the ring structures are substantially circumferentially aligned. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,417 to Smith et al., assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety, discloses concentric ring structures formed in a substrate, including a substantially cylindrical PDC-type substrate having a substantially planar surface and a stud-type substrate having a generally domed surface, of a cutting element, wherein the members comprising the ring structures are substantially circumferentially aligned.
Drilling operations subject the cutting elements on a drill bit to extremely high stresses, often causing crack initiation and subsequent failure of the superabrasive table. Much effort has been devoted by the industry to making cutting elements resistant to rapid deterioration and failure.
Each of the above-indicated references, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated herein, describes three-dimensional superabrasive table/substrate interfacial patterns which may ameliorate certain residual stresses in a cutting element. Nevertheless, the tendencies of the superabrasive table to fracture, defoliate, and delaminate remain. Accordingly, an improved cutting element having enhanced resistance to such stress-induced degradation is needed in the industry.

Cutting elements and rotary drill bits including same


Semiconductor devices are provided. The semiconductor devices include active fins including a buffer layer disposed on a substrate and a channel layer disposed on the buffer layer and having a first second lattice constant higher than a lattice constant of the buffer layer, a gate structure covering the channel layer and intersecting the active fins, sidewall spacers disposed on both sidewalls of the gate structure, and capping layers disposed to contact lower surfaces of the sidewall spacers and having a width substantially the same as a width of the lower surfaces of the sidewall spacers.

1. Technical Field
Example embodiments of the present inventive concepts relate to semiconductor devices having a strained channel layer and methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the degree of integration of semiconductor devices has increased, the sizes of the semiconductor devices have decreased. In order to overcome limitations of device characteristics in the semiconductor devices having smaller sizes, efforts have been made to develop semiconductor devices including fin field effect transistors (FinFET) having a three-dimensional channel. In addition, in order to implement a high-performance field effect transistor, efforts have been made to develop semiconductor devices having a strained channel layer to increase the mobility of electrons or electron holes thereof.

Semiconductor device having strained channel layer and method of manufacturing the same


A rotary aircraft includes a cylindrically tubular hub mounting a plurality of outwardly extending, resiliently flexible blades. The blades are uniformly spaced around the hub and its central axis and fixed in pitch. Outer tips on each of the blades are downwardly turned and outwardly turned sufficiently to balance the lift generated by the blades from air striking the aircraft horizontally when the aircraft is in hover to provide passive stability to the aircraft. A pair of propellered electric motors are mounted on a diametrically opposing pair of the blades, pitched transversely to the central axis of the hub and to a plane perpendicular to the central axis, to simultaneously provide both lift and rotation. A battery supplies all power used by the aircraft while radio control circuitry in the hub permits variation of the power supplied to the motors for altitude control of the aircraft.

The term "rotary aircraft" is used to designate conventional rotary-wing aircraft such as helicopters having fuselages designed for independent non-rotational positioning with respect to a rotary wing and to aircraft lacking such fuselages.
It is well know to aeronautical engineers familiar with rotor design that a fixed-pitch rotor is inherently unstable in hover. A rotor comprising a hub with a plurality of blades, which are fixed in pitch with respect to the hub, will, when operated in hover (i.e. without horizontal movement), be disturbed by any incident wind perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The disturbance is characterized by the aerodynamic center of the rotor moving from the axis of rotation towards the source of the wind. The resulting aerodynamic imbalance causes the rotor to pitch. Because it is spinning, gyroscopic forces also cause the rotor to roll in a direction dependent upon the sense of rotor rotation. These combined forces act to cause the rotor to follow a circular flight path and this can cause the rotor to increase in pitch and roll in an uncontrolled manner.
In the past, means for stabilizing the spinning rotor of a helicopter or other rotary aircraft in hover have involved varying the pitch of individual rotor blades cyclically by a system controlled actively by a mechanical or electronic gyroscopic sensor. In hover, the blade pitch is varied cyclically so as to reduce lift at the rotor's upwind side to a value equal to that on the lee side and thus keep the resulting aerodynamic center of the rotor at the axis of rotation.
It would be desirable to provide a simple, low-cost means for stabilizing a fixed pitch rotor in hover.
It would further be desirable to provide a means for passively stabilizing a fixed pitch rotor in hover.
It further would be desirable to provide simple, inexpensive, rotary aircraft of minimal height, size, complexity and expense capitalizing upon such passive stability.

Rotary aircraft passively stable in hover