A printing device capable of printing a plurality of characters/symbols in a plurality of lines on a tape. The device determines the size of the characters/symbols to be printed on the tape based upon the number of lines to be printed and upon the number of characters/symbols to be printed within a predetermined area.

The present invention relates to a printing device for printing images, such as characters/symbols on a tape.
Conventionally, there are various proposals for a printing device for printing desired character trains onto a tape as a recording medium having a width of about 10 mm. The present assignee proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,152 that a printing device by which desired characters and symbols are selectively inputted while a character selection dial is rotated, these input characters and the like are printed onto a tape with use of a thermal head in response to the operation of print keys and the tape on which the characters and the like have been printed is adhered to a desired location of a file or the like.
Further, the present assignee proposed in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/831,971 a printing device by which the print region on print tape having a width of about 10 mm is divided into two portions along a tape width direction to provide two print lines, and input characters are printed on a desired print line by using a dot pattern having a small character size of printing characters to the two print lines.
Incidentally, it can be contemplated to prepare many kinds of print tapes having widths of, for example, 12 mm, 18 mm . . . 24 mm so that these tapes can be adhered to many kinds of portions of a file, notebook and the like. Further, it can be also contemplated to print characters on many lines such as 3, 4 or 5 lines.
However, the printing device proposed by the present assignee in Japanese Patent Application HEI 3-91492 is arranged to print characters to 1 or 2lines by using a relatively narrow print tape having a tape width of about 10 mm. In this case, even if a plurality of kinds of dot pattern data for characters and symbols can be provided in correspondence with a plurality of kinds of character sizes, the size of characters to be printed is roughly aimed at and manually set in accordance with a tape width to which the size of characters to be printed is applied and the number of lines of the characters to be printed. The character size is not optimized in many cases. Thus, a problem arises in that an operation for setting an optimum character size based on a tape width and the number of lines is made complex.


Provided is a water soluble processed whey protein powder produced by combining a partial heat-denatured whey protein with a non-denatured whey protein. The resulting processed whey protein powder is more soluble in water than the partial heat-denatured whey protein alone, and is capable of producing a gel that is stronger than that produced from partial heat-denatured whey protein alone. Furthermore, the resulting gel exhibits high water retention, superior elasticity and smooth consistency and is useful in the manufacture of food. Provided also are methods for producing the processed whey protein powder and the gel.

Whey proteins have conventionally been used as foodstuffs because of the high nutrition value possessed by the whey proteins themselves, and also have widely been used as supplemental materials for foods such as binders, extenders, and water retention agents, wherein the properties of the whey protein such as emulsifying capability, foaming capability, and gelling capability are utilized. Among these, the high gelling capability makes the whey protein an advantageous composition modifier for raw meat and fish meat products. Thus, the gelling capability of whey proteins is closely related to the texture and water retention capacity of foods and is an extremely important factor. Generally, non-denatured proteins are denatured by heat and create mutual interactions such as a hydrophobic interaction between the protein molecules and an SH/SS exchange reaction between non-covalent bonds, such as ionic bonds and hydrogen bonds, whereas whey proteins are denatured and gelled by heat at temperatures of 60.degree. C. or higher. However, because the whey protein gel thus obtained is generally non-transparent and has only a small water retention capacity and a fragile structure, such a whey protein gel is not preferably used as a food material.
For these reasons, in order to improve the gel structure of whey proteins a partial heat-denatured whey protein solution produced by partially denaturing the whey protein by heating, or a solution obtained by drying this partial heat-denatured whey protein solution to produce a dried powder and re-dissolving the dried powder, are used to obtain a whey protein gel which has high water-retention capacity and excellent texture. The present inventors have conducted studies concerning the characteristics of whey proteins and have found that whey protein molecules, which are usually spherical, produce a soluble coagulate in which protein molecules are linked like chains if partially denatured by heating, and have further found that this soluble coagulate of whey protein can be effectively produced by preparing a whey protein solution with a concentration at which gelling does not occur by heating, and treating this solution with heat at 55.degree. C. to 120.degree. C. and for 1 to 120 minutes.
This soluble coagulate in which protein molecules of the whey protein are linked like chains arc hereinafter referred to as "soluble coagulate", and the whey protein which contains this soluble coagulate is referred to "partial heat-denatured whey protein". Although the partial heat-denatured whey protein does not gell in the soluble coagulate state, a highly elastic gel with high water retention capacity can be obtained by producing a solution of the partial heat-denatured whey protein by heating a whey protein solution at a concentration of 4-15% by weight, preferably 5-12% by weight, and at 55.degree. C. to 120.degree. C., preferably 65.degree. C. to 95.degree. C., or by producing a solution by, drying this solution, and re-dissolving the resulting dried powder, and then by adding a salt at low temperatures to these solutions (Japanese published unexamined patent application No. 64550/1993), by acidifying these solutions (Japanese published unexamined patent application No. 124067/1990), or by freeze-drying and thawing these solutions (Japanese published unexamined patent applications No. 280834/1991 and No. 27249/1991). In this manner, the structure of the gel can be improved by partially heat-denaturing the whey protein.
The molecules in the partial heat-denatured whey protein solution are associated by a spray drying treatment or a lyophilization treatment due to concentration by drying. As a result, the powder of partial heat-denatured whey protein produces a precipitate when re-dissolved. Thus, the solubility of the powder is not necessarily good. In addition, the solubility is further reduced if the dried powder is stored for a long period of time. Development of a partial heat-denatured whey protein which can be stored for a long time has therefore been desired.

Processed whey protein and method of making same


Method and apparatus, including computer program products, implement techniques for operating a mass spectrometer that includes a source of ions, a mass analyzer, and a detector, in which a gain of the detector or the number of ions detected by the detector is calculated based on intensity measurements for ions having a plurality of different m/z values. In particular implementations, the detector gain or the number of ions detected by the detector can be calculated based on a ratio of or difference between intensity values for at least two of the ions having different m/z values.

This invention relates to mass spectrometry and the measurement of the gain of an ion or particle detector.
In mass spectrometers, charged particles or ions are formed from molecules of a sample of interest and the mass-to-charge ratios of the ions are determined. In many instruments, these ions are ultimately detected by a detector system which contains electron or photo multipliers. In order to assure quantitative values of the number of ions and to optimize signal-to-noise ratios, the gain of the detector system must be known and often set to an optimum value.
The most direct way of measuring gain of a detector system is simply to measure the current going into the detector and the current coming out of the detector using a Faraday Cup or some other electrode. The gain is simply the ratio of the current out divided by the current in. Unfortunately, this technique is not practical in many mass spectrometers since it requires extra ion optical components which are complex, costly, and could hinder the performance of the system as a mass spectrometer. For this reason, other less invasive methods of determining the gain of the detector system are desired.
Many naturally occurring events occur at irregular, random, intervals such as radioactive decay, the arrival of photons from ordinary light sources, and the arrival of ions at a detector. The occurrence of these processes is characterized and controlled by the Poisson type of probability distribution. One consequence of this probability distribution is that the statistical fluctuation or variance of the measured ion intensity reaching the electron multiplier detector, under the appropriate conditions, is directly related to the average (or mean) number of ions detected. Based on this fact, one approach to measuring the gain of an electron multiplier has been described by Fies (International Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Ion Proceedings, 82 (1988) pp. 111–129 (incorporated herein by reference)).
The Fies method depends on taking multiple measurements of the intensity of a single type of ion in order to determine the number of ions measured. Once the number of ions is determined, a simple calculation using the known transfer function of the electronics can yield an ion detector's gain. This method, however, assumes that the variance of the measured ion intensity is solely due to the inherent variance of the ion beam, i.e. basic ion statistics, and that all other sources of irreproducibility are statistically negligible.
As depicted in FIG. 1, all mass spectrometers 100 include a source of ionization 110 which produces ions from a sample, ion transfer optics 120 to deliver the ions from the source to the mass analyzer 130, a mass analyzer 130, and some kind of ion detector system 140. Different types of chemical samples require different types of ionization techniques in order for the sample to be analysed by mass spectrometery. Operation of an Electron Ionization or Electron Impact (EI) source 200 (see FIG. 2) applied to volatile samples begins with the passing of current through wire(s) 210 to produce the electrons 220 that are subsequently used for the ionization process. The number of electrons emitted by the wire can be quite precisely controlled by adjusting the current passing through the wire in an electronic feedback loop based on sensing the emission current. Molecules 230 of the analyte 240 present in the gas phase are then passed through this electron beam, the molecules 230 are caused to lose an electron and analyte ions 250 are produced. The rate at which analyte molecules 230 pass through the electron beam can also be quite accurately controlled, and so an EI source 200 can be operated such that a relatively constant stream of analyte ions 260 is produced. Under these circumstances, the fluctuations in the ion beam intensity due to the stability of the ion source parameters is negligible and such sources therefore satisfy the assumption for the simple method described above. Other types of sources of ionization, including, but not limited to chemical ionization sources, also satisfy the assumption.
Mass spectrometry has seen a significant increase in its use for less volatile samples, including those in the condensed or liquid phase. This growth in applications is due to the development of atmospheric pressure ionization (API) techniques. An example of a mass spectrometer which incorporates an API source is shown in FIG. 3. Atmospheric Pressure Ionization sources (API) 300 are ion sources in which samples, typically in the condensed phase, such as liquids or solids, are ionized directly at atmospheric pressure, and are then transferred to the mass analyzer 395. The sample is typically dissolved in an appropriate solvent before being introduced into the mass analyzer 395 for analysis. The sample ions are transferred into the mass analyzer through a series of differentially pumped stages 310, 320, 330, 340, enabling a large pressure differential to be maintained between the API source 300 and the mass analyzer 395, without using unnecessarily large vacuum pumps.
ElecroSpray Ionization (ESI) is one type of API source. ESI occurs directly from solution at atmospheric pressure and provides highly charged droplets of the solution. In ESI, a capillary or needle has its orifice in close proximity to the entrance into the vacuum system of the mass spectrometer, and a dilute solution, containing the sample molecules of interest, is pumped through the needle. A strong potential, typically 1–5 KV is applied between the needle orifice and an orifice leading to the mass analyzer. This forms a fine "spray" of the liquid solution. The spray of droplets evaporates to produce ions of the sample, and a mixture of ions, droplets and neutral particles enter the mass analyzer via the orifice.
In electrospray ionization, the quality of the mass spectrum is strongly dependent on the quality of the spray emitting from the needle, i.e. on its fineness and its consistency. Since the quality and stability of the spray are strongly dependant on the electric field which in turn is dependent on the mechanical nature of the needle, and also on the liquid flow properties at the tip, stability of the rate of generating ions is often problematic. The quality of the spray can somewhat be determined by direct visualization of the spray and also by monitoring the current emitted from the needle. Some sources also utilize a strong flow of gas to assist in nebulizing liquid samples and to further help break down the solvent droplets. The liquid characteristics, such as viscosity and ionic strength, and the gas characteristics, such as temperature and flow rate, all have an effect on the stability of droplet production and the electrospray process.
Consequently, due to the many parameters involved and to the nature of generating a liquid spray, the stability of the spray, and therefore the production of ions is not stable enough to be neglected compared to the inherent variance of the ion beam, even under optimum conditions. In this type of ion source, there is a temporal instability inherent in the nature of the source. This temporal instability can dominate the observed ion intensity variance and render invalid the assumptions on which methods such as the single ion Poisson statistics method or Fies method depend.
In instruments in which the ion beam from the source is continuously being detected, so called "beam machines", a particular type of ion or single ion m/z can be chosen to be continuously passed to the detector. These types of instruments do not have to scan over a mass spectral peak but can be parked on top (or the side) of a spectral peak and intensity measurements can be made continuously. One consequence of this is that if a measurement of the intensity of another mass is required, this measurement occurs on a different part of the ion beam from the source at a different time. If the source of the ions is unstable, the temporal variation in the ion beam could severely affect the apparent ratio or difference of the intensities of the two different ions.
In instruments in which a fraction or packet of the ions produced in the source is sampled or integrated and then analyzed, there is a time gap between the sampling of the ion beam and measuring their intensities. Thus, a true continuous measurement is not practical. Examples of these "pulsed" or "trapping" types of mass analyzers include ion trap mass spectrometers (both 3D and 2D linear traps, Fourier Transform mass spectrometers, Orbitrap analyzers, and time of flight mass spectrometers). In trying to make continuous ion current measurements, some of these instruments can be put into a transmission mode in which the ions from the source are attempted to be continuously transferred to the detector. However, in this mode no mass analysis is possible and the actual identity of the ions which reach the detector is unknown. Since the actual gain of the detector can depend on the actual ion species which it is detecting, it is desirable to know the identity of the ions for which the gain is measured. Utilization of the same ion to both determine and set the gain of the detector provides consistent results on different instruments, even with different ionization sources.
In the basic method described by Fies, the effects of various sources of error and how to possibly identify them in the results is discussed. The types of errors considered include errors due to bandwidth, noise spikes (voltage spikes induced in the electronic circuits of instruments from outside sources, such as nearby electrical machinery, other poorly shielded instruments, etc.), errors due to zeroing of the electrometer, amplifier noise in excess of shot noise (e.g., coherent noise such as power line-related ripple), digitizing errors (round-off and finite dynamic range), errors due to peak modulation and errors due to electron multiplier noise. Although Fies discloses ways to possibly identify these sources of error, he does not consider methods for eliminating the effects of these noise sources on the results in order to accurately determine the gain. In fact, Fies states clearly that his technique for determining gain depends on the assumption that the system "is free of all noise except for the statistical fluctuations due to the entering ion beam". This invention describes how to do this with respect to at least one specific source of noise, namely ion source instability, but also would apply to other sources of noise which have common mode effects on the different ion intensities.


An image capturing apparatus having a shutter for making an image capturing element enter a light-shielded state or a light-unshielded state comprises an image capturing condition storing unit for storing a plurality of image capturing conditions, a dark-time image data storing unit for storing a plurality of pieces of dark-time image data captured with the image capturing element under the image capturing conditions in the light-shielded state, a bright-time image data storing unit for storing bright-time image data captured with the image capturing element in the light-unshielded state, a dark-time image data extracting unit for extracting a dark-time image captured under an image capturing condition corresponding to an image capturing condition under which the bright-time image is captured, and a correcting unit for correcting the bright-time image data based on the dark-time image data extracted by the dark-time image data extracting unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dark current component removing technology for observation image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electronic still cameras have been developed to mainly capture and record still images. An image capturing element used for a camera of this type has fixed pattern noise (dark noise) caused by variations in the crystal quality and the output characteristic of a material in each pixel. Therefore, if an output signal of an image capturing element is used unchanged, its dark noise is superimposed on an effective signal component, leading to degradation in the quality of a captured image.
To remove such dark noise, an electronic still camera having a noise reduction function exists. With this noise reduction function, an image capturing element is exposed with a shutter closed, and a resultant dark output is recorded in a memory when an image is captured.
Then, the image capturing element is exposed with the shutter opened, and the dark output stored in the memory is subtracted from a bright-time image signal obtained with this exposure.
With this method, dark noise that occurs with the same sensitivity and for the same exposure time is almost constant. Therefore, dark noise that occurs at the time of a dark output is canceled by a difference, whereby dark noise can be suppressed with high efficiency.
Dark noise increases with an electric charge storage time or sensitivity. Accordingly, the effect of further improving the quality of an image can be produced with this method at the time of long exposure and highly sensitive exposure. Accordingly, a noise reduction process is a function beneficial to a user of an electronic still camera.
However, since the noise reduction process requires a dark output obtainment time, continuous image capturing is hindered by a dark output obtainment process time in a method for obtaining a dark output immediately after image capturing. Additionally, a method for obtaining a dark output immediately before image capturing has disadvantages such as a shutter time lag caused by a dark output obtainment process, leading to the missing of a photo opportunity.
Accordingly, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2002-135661 discloses the technique for obtaining dark output data, which is longer by several stages than an exposure time determined at the time of metering, immediately before image capturing, and for using the data for a subsequent process. With this technique, a subsequent shutter time lag can be prevented from occurring, and continuous image capturing can be made by using dark output data after the data is obtained.
Additionally, Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2005-159447 discloses the image capturing apparatus that controls a signal read from an image capturing element according to a relationship between the exposure time of the image capturing element and the time interval of image capturing, and can obtain a signal, the dark noise of which is suppressed, by executing a process for subtracting a dark-time signal, which is output from the image capturing element in a light-shielded state, from a bright-time signal that is output from the image capturing element in a light-unshielded state. With this apparatus, a high-quality image the dark noise of which is suppressed can be obtained while satisfying an image capturing interval at the time of interval shooting repeatedly made at predetermined time intervals.

Image capturing apparatus and dark current component cancel processing method


An integrated communication interface is provided for composing and sending messages. The interface is multi-configurable to seamlessly switch between different communication methods, e.g., electronic mail, instant messaging, SMS, chat, voice, and the like, without loss of message content. The interface allows a user to begin composing a message to be sent using one communication method, such as electronic mail, and subsequently change the communication method and send the message via a second communication method, such as instant messaging. When the communication method is changed, the user interface may also change to include elements specific to a particular communication method. The integrated communication interface may display information about participants in the communication, such as the participants' presence, i.e., whether they are online and available for communication, and may automatically choose the best method of communication based on the preferences and online presence of the participants.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic communication, and in one aspect to systems and methods for simplifying the use of multiple different methods of communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many different methods for electronic communication, including electronic mail (Email), instant messaging (IM), text messaging, Short Message Service (SMS), chat, Voice Over IP (VOIP), and voicemail. A communication method is sometimes referred to herein as a messaging protocol. Each communication method typically has its own corresponding user interface in the form of a web site, physical communication device, or client application. Examples of such user interfaces are Web clients, including Web electronic mail clients, Web instant messaging clients, and Personal Computer-based client programs, including electronic mail client programs, instant messaging client programs, and SMS client programs.
To send an electronic message, a user typically selects a communication method, and then uses the method's user interface to compose and send a message to a recipient. Each communication method has benefits and drawbacks, particularly in terms of the type of messages that can be sent and the amount of time that will elapse before the recipient reads the message. For example, an email message can contain many different types of information content, including text, audio, and video, but cannot be received by certain communication devices such as cell phones, and so may not be immediately readable by a recipient who has access to a cell phone but not an email client. An SMS text message, on the other hand, can contain only text, but can be read immediately if the recipient has access to an appropriate cell phone. Since the best communication method to use can vary depending on the circumstances, it is desirable to allow the user to choose the communication method. In existing systems, each communication method generally has a different communication interface. For example, a communication system may have an electronic mail client and a separate instant messaging client. Furthermore, the different interfaces are generally not closely integrated. For example, messages composed using the electronic mail client would be separate from messages composed using the instant messaging client. The need for different interfaces also causes some users to avoid using different communication methods, even when those different methods would be superior. For example, a user who has an email client account may never use instant messaging because of the need for a different account and interface for instant messaging. Furthermore, even if a user does have an instant messaging account, the user must choose whether to use email or instant messaging when composing a message. Because of these restrictions, it would be desirable to integrate these different interfaces together to allow users to more easily choose between different communication methods, and further to easily transfer between different communication methods and user interfaces.

User interface for integrating diverse methods of communication


A wrinkle prevention structure is employed in an electrophotographic imaging device using a continuous form recording sheet. The structure is provided with a guide member disposed on the upstream side of a pair of fixing rollers. The guide member has a guide surface extending substantially horizontally for guiding the recording sheet toward a nip between the pair of fixing rollers, and a tension surface arranged on downstream side of the guide surface. The upstream side end of the tension surface is connected with the downstream side end of the guide surface, the downstream side end of the tension surface is formed substantially arc-shaped, and the tension plane is upwardly inclined with respect to the guide surface.

The present invention relates to a structure of a heat roll fixing device to be adapted in an electrophotographic imaging device, and more specifically, to a wrinkle prevention structure in which a recording sheet is prevented from being wrinkled due to shrinking of the recording sheet caused by the heat applied from the heat roller.
Conventionally, a copy machine, a laser beam printer and the like are know as an electrophotographic imaging device wherein the uniformly charged surface of a photoconductive drum is exposed to light to form a latent image, charged toner is adhered to the latent image to form a toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto a recording sheet and fixed thereon by a fixing device.
The electrophotographic imaging device generally uses a so-called heat roll fixing device in which heat is applied to the toner image by a heated roller (heat roller) for fixing the toner image on a recording sheet.
The heat roll fixing device comprises a pair of fixing rollers composed of a heat roller and a press roller (also referred to as a backup roller). The heat roller is composed of a cylindrical roller having a heating element, such as a halogen lamp or the like, that is inserted therein and heated to a predetermined temperature. The press roller is made of a material, such as silicone rubber or the like, having a heat resistant property and a predetermined elasticity. A recording sheet carrying an unfixed toner image is caused to pass between the pair of fixing rollers to cause the toner image to be heated and pressed, so that the toner is fused and fixed onto the recording sheet. This kind of heat roll fixing device is advantageous in that it has an excellent heat efficiency, and the fixing operation can be performed at a high speed.
By the way, when the heat roll fixing is employed in an electrophotographic printer for forming an image on a continuous form sheet, such as a so-called fan-fold sheet provided with feed holes (hereinafter, simply referred to as a continuous sheet), and when the printer is in a standby state, the recording sheet (the continuous sheet) is held between the heat roller and press roller (in the state to be subjected to a succeeding fixing operation), and a drawback arises in that the same portion of the recording sheet contacts the heat roller and is burnt or blistered by the heat applied by the heat roller. To cope with this drawback, one roller of the pair of fixing rollers may be retracted so that a recording sheet does not contact the heat roller when the printer is in the standby state.
Nevertheless, even if the heat roller is retracted and spaced apart from the recording sheet when the printer is in the standby state, the recording sheet remaining in the fixing device is gradually heated by the heat roller which is kept heated to prepare for the succeeding image formation, and thus the recording sheet becomes dried and shrunk. In this condition, when the printing operation is restarted and the heat roller is returned to an operable position, the shrunken recording sheet whose original width has become narrower, is nipped between the heat roller and the press roller, and a problem arises in that the recording sheet is wrinkled after it has been passed through the pair of fixing rollers.
More specifically, when the recording sheet has been dried and shrunk, and the image forming operation (fixing operation) is started and the shrunken recording sheet is caused to pass between the pair of fixing rollers without correcting the shrunken state, wrinkles are formed. Further, the wrinkles continue to be formed until the portion of the recording sheet having an original width, which is neither heated nor dried is fed to the fixing device.

Wrinkle prevention structure for electrophotographic printer


The objective of the present invention is to provide a new medicinal use of clarithromycin. The present invention is a therapeutic agent or a preventive agent for meibomian gland dysfunction or meibomian gland blockage and comprises clarithromycin as an active ingredient. The dosage form is preferably an eye drop or eye ointment.

There are approximately 25 meibomian glands in the upper eyelid and approximately 20 meibomian glands in the lower eyelid of the human eye, and lipids are secreted from the meibomian gland orifices. Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a condition where a diffuse abnormality of the function of the meibomian glands is induced by various causes, and is accompanied by chronic ocular discomfort. Further, meibomian gland concretion is a condition where meibomian glands are obstructed by a white non-opaque oily clot formed in the duct because of decreased meibomian gland function.
On the other hand, clarithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, which has been used for therapy of pharyngitis, tonsillitis, pneumonia, skin infections, acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis and the like based on its antibacterial effect. Recently, aside from antibacterial effects, clarithromycin has been found to have antiinflammatory, immunoregulatory, and anti-bacterial biofilm effects, and based on these novel effects, starting with the therapy of endometriosis or fibroids, gastrointestinal disorders, and pruritus, the use of clarithromycin has also been proposed for acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, influenza virus infection, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

Therapeutic or preventive agent for meibomian gland dysfunction or meibomian gland blockage


An example method of monitoring and measuring the line width of interconnects comprising the following steps. First, we measure an I-V profile of a sample interconnect structure to obtain a sample I-V profile. The I-V profile is comprised of leakage current measurements at two or more voltages. The sample interconnect structure is comprised of spaced lines having a line spacing. Next we compare the sample I-V profile with a reference I-V profile at a reference line spacing to determine if sample interconnect structure is not defective. If the sample I-V profile is similar to the reference I-V profile, then leakage currents for the sample interconnect structure are derived from the I-V profiles at a selected voltages. Then we calculate the line spacing of the sample interconnect structure using the sample I-V profile.

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods for the electrical measurement of critical dimensions and more particularly to electrical measurement of line spacing of conductive structures in semiconductor devices.
2) Description of the Prior Art
An important driver for keeping Moore's Law is the improvement in productivity of semiconductor manufacturing. This is accomplished by the constant shrinking of device structures. The main burden of this shrink roadmap is carried by the lithography, which is currently pushed to its physical limits. The lithography process and exposure tools require an ever growing effort and support from metrology and inspection. New procedures are needed here to guarantee the required precision and accuracy specifications as well as the requirements for throughput and statistical significance.
The low-voltage scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a main metrology tool for critical dimension (CD) monitoring. Typically, the time required for CD-SEM measurement limits the number of measurement sites to be collected per wafer. However, some applications require a metrology tool, which is able to collect large amounts of data within a short time frame to obtain statistically significant results on the complete image fields. One example is the characterization of lithographic exposure tools based on an assessment of their actual printing performance by measurement of line spacing.
The importance of overcoming the various deficiencies noted above is evidenced by the extensive technological development directed to the subject, as documented by the relevant patent and technical literature. The closest and apparently more relevant technical developments in the patent literature can be gleaned by considering the following.
Jason P. Cain and Costas J. Spanos, Electrical linewidth metrology for systematic CD variation characterization and casual analysis, found Jul. 18, 2005 on website, 12 pages, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. 94720
U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,498: Electric measurement of reference sample in a CD-SEM and method for calibration—Scanning electron microscope calibrating method for semiconductor device manufacture, involves correlating optical workpiece measurement with reference sample feature critical dimension Inventor: Rangarajan, Bharath; et al.
US20030155933A1: Dielectric test structure and test method—Dielectric layer test structure for semiconductor device manufacture, has line pads and conductive layers formed inside dielectric layer—Inventor: Wang, Mu-Chun
U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,593: Method and apparatus for measuring defects—Workpiece e.g. microprocessor defect measuring method, involves measuring defect characteristics at each of measurement sites on workpiece responsive to measured defect characteristics being greater than predetermined threshold Inventor: Stewart, Edward C.; Buda, Tex.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,891,627: Methods and systems for determining a critical dimension and overlay of a specimen—Specimen properties determining system for semiconductor fabrication process, determines critical dimension and overlay misregistration of specimen based on output signals generated by measurement device Inventor: Levy, Ady
U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,757: Capacitor circuit structure for determining overlay error—Error determination structure for integrated circuit manufacture, has pairs of contact areas which oppose sides of square, so that capacitor areas are extended inwards and overlapping sides of square—Inventor: Tzeng, Kuo-Chyuan
US20020107650A1: Methods and systems for determining a critical dimension and a presence of defects on a specimen—Specimen properties determining system for semiconductor fabrication process, determines critical dimension and overlay misregistration of specimen based on output signals generated by measurement device Inventor: Wack, Dan; et al.
US20020102472A1: Electrical critical dimension measurements on photomasks—Test structure for measuring critical distances on photomasks, includes cross-resistor, bridge resistor and split-bridge structures connected to image line, for performing sheet resistance and other measurements—Inventor: Chan, David Y.; Austin, Tex., United

Method to monitor critical dimension of IC interconnect

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Ltd.


In chemical mechanical polishing, a substrate is planarized with one or more fixed-abrasive polishing pads. Then the substrate is polished with a standard polishing pad to remove scratch defects created by the fixed-abrasive polishing pads.

The present invention relates generally to chemical mechanical polishing of substrates, and more particularly to polishing with fixed-abrasive polishing pads.
Integrated circuits are typically formed on substrates, particularly silicon wafers, by the sequential deposition of conductive, semiconductive or insulative layers. After each layer is deposited, the layer is etched to create circuitry features. As a series of layers are sequentially deposited and etched, the outer or uppermost surface of the substrate, i.e., the exposed surface of the substrate, becomes increasingly non-planar. This non-planar outer surface presents a problem for the integrated circuit manufacturer. Therefore, there is a need to periodically planarize the substrate surface to provide a relatively flat surface. However, in some fabrication processes, planarization of the outer layer should not expose underlying layers.
Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is one accepted method of planarization. This planarization method typically requires that the substrate be mounted on a carrier or polishing head. The exposed surface of the substrate is placed against a rotating polishing pad. The polishing pad may be either a "standard" pad or a fixed-abrasive pad. A fixed-abrasive pad has abrasive particles held in a containment media, whereas a standard pad has a durable surface, without embedded abrasive particles. The carrier head provides a controllable load, i.e., pressure, on the substrate to push it against the polishing pad. A polishing slurry, including at least one chemically-reactive agent, and abrasive particles if a standard pad is used, is supplied to the surface of the polishing pad.
An effective CMP process not only provides a high polishing rate, but also provides a substrate surface which is finished (lacks small-scale roughness) and flat (lacks large-scale topography). The polishing rate, finish and flatness are determined by the pad and slurry combination, the relative speed between the substrate and pad, and the force pressing the substrate against the pad.
A reoccurring problem with fixed-abrasive pads is scratching of the substrate surface. Specifically, some CMP processes that use fixed-abrasive pads create shallow grooves, e.g., on the order of 500 angstroms deep, in the substrate surface. These grooves render the substrate finish unsuitable for integrated circuit fabrication, lowering the process yield.

Chemical mechanical polishing with multiple polishing pads


A wire routing device includes a wire housing part, a terminal housing chamber part, and a plurality of wire lead-out parts. The terminal housing chamber part includes a plurality of terminal housing chambers. Each of the wire lead-out parts couples one of the housing grooves with one of the terminal housing chambers. Each of wire surplus length absorption spaces is formed inside of a substantially rectangle abcd defined by a section bc of an outer wall of the voltage detection wire housing part located at a side of the terminal housing chamber and a section ad of a wall of the housing groove which faces the section bc, which are cut by a line ab and a line cd.

The present disclosure relates to a wire routing device that is applied to a battery mounted in an electric vehicle, and more particularly to a wire routing device in which a work for providing a surplus length to a voltage detection wire is not troublesome.
<Wire Routing Device Disclosed in JP-A-2010-170884>
In the wire routing device for use in the electric vehicle having a battery mounted therein, there has been known that a wire surplus length absorption part is formed in an electric wire on each voltage detection terminal side (refer to JP-A-2010-170884).
FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams of the wire routing device disclosed in JP-A-2010-170884, in which FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the overall wire routing device, and FIG. 7B is a partial plan view illustrating a state where first hinges and second hinges are non-deformed in the wire routing device of FIG. 7A. Referring to FIG. 7A, reference numeral 100 denotes a bus module, 102 is a battery assembly, 103 is batteries, 106 is busbars, 107 is terminals, 111 is a plate, 112 is first housing parts, 113 is first hinges (first pitch adjusting units), 114 is second housing parts, 115 is second hinges (second pitch adjusting units), 116 is covers, 117 is hinges, 118 (FIG. 7B) is fixing parts, 120 is a wire housing part, 126 is third housing parts, 127 is a thermistor housing part, 131 and 132 are electrodes, and 180 is electric wires. The busbar module (wire routing device) 100 disclosed in JP-A-2010-170884 includes a plurality of the first housing parts 112 that house the respective busbars 106 and the respective terminals 107, and are aligned along a longitudinal direction of the battery assembly, a plurality of the second housing parts 114 that house the electric wires 180, and is aligned along the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of third housing parts 126 that house connection portions of the electric wire 180 and the terminals 107. The busbar module (wire routing device) 100 also includes the first hinges 113 that couple the adjacent first housing parts 112 with each other, the second hinges 115 that couple the adjacent second housing parts 114 with each other, and plural pairs of the wire fixing ribs 118 (FIG. 7B) that are paired and arranged so as to position the second hinges 115 therebetween, and fix the electric wires 180. Each of the electric wires 180 is formed with a length extending from one end of the plate 111 extended at a maximum to each of the third housing parts 126.
In this device, in order to deal with a lamination tolerance of a battery cell appearing in the longitudinal direction, and a cutoff tolerance of the electric wire, there is a need to provide a surplus length to each electric wire 180 in advance. The wire fixing ribs 118 are disposed on both sides of the second hinges 115 which are arranged on the second wire housing parts 114 at given intervals to fix each electric wire 180.
The second hinges 115 are expanded and contracted to absorb the variability of battery pitches. However, in order to prevent the electric wires 180 from being tightly stretched when the second hinges 115 are expanded, each electric wire 180 is sagged between the wire fixing ribs 118 in advance as illustrated in FIG. 7B. Conversely, even when the second hinges 115 are contracted, each electric wire 180 is held by the wire fixing ribs 118, to thereby prevent the electric wire 180 from being excessively bent or catching on another component.
<Wire Routing Device Disclosed in JP-A-2011-70846>
Also, there has been known a resin molded wire routing device having a wire housing part, terminal housing chambers, and a wire lead-out part. In the wire housing part, a plurality of elongated housing grooves are formed between two elongated walls erected at an interval where the electric wire can be inserted, the grooves are divided at a plurality of places in a longitudinal direction, and the respective ends of the divided grooves are coupled with each other by elastic coupling members. The terminal housing chambers each house a voltage detection terminal made of an electrically conductive metal which connects a positive or negative terminal of a battery to a negative or positive terminal of an adjacent battery. A plurality of the terminal housing chambers is spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the wire housing part. The spaced and adjacent terminal housing chambers are coupled with each other by an elastic coupling member. The wire lead-out part couples one of the housing grooves with one of the terminal housing chambers to internally lead out the electric wire from the terminal housing chambers to the housing grooves (refer to JP-A-2011-70846).
<Problems With the Invention Disclosed in JP-A-2010-170884>
In the wire routing device disclosed in JP-A-2010-170884, a dimension of the electric wire extended from the device to the external is stabilized by winding a tape around the electric wire on a tongue-shaped resin, or fixing the electric wire to the tongue-shaped resin with a band at a part A in FIG. 7A. However, when the dimension of the electric wire extended to the external is as extremely short as the tongue cannot be fitted to the electric wire from the viewpoint of layout, the dimension of the electric wire cannot be stabilized.
Also, the electric wire must be loosened for each of the wire fixing parts disposed at the given intervals, and a work for providing a surplus length to the electric wire is troublesome.
Further, the excess absorption part is required for each of the hinges, and the loosened electric wire interferes with another electric wire to increase a routing space.
<Problems With the Invention Disclosed in JP-A-2011-70846>
In the wire routing device disclosed in JP-A-2011-70846, the slight wire surplus length absorption space is structurally provided. However, the wire surplus length absorption space is not intentionally formed, and therefore is spatially insufficient.
Also, a crimping portion of the voltage detection terminal is pushed directly against a resin wall, resulting in a risk that the crimping portion is deformed.


Disclosed herein are nucleic acid sequences that encode novel polypeptides. Also disclosed are polypeptides encoded by these nucleic acid sequences, and antibodies, which immunospecifically-bind to the polypeptide, as well as derivatives, variants, mutants, or fragments of the aforementioned polypeptide, polynucleotide, or antibody. The invention further discloses therapeutic, diagnostic and research methods for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders involving any one of these novel human nucleic acids and proteins.

The present invention is based in part on nucleic acids encoding proteins that are new members of the following protein families: TEN-M4-like, Semphorin-like, Erythroid membrane associated-like, Vitelline membrane outer layer I precursor-like, MAST205-like, Kilon-like, Mixed lineage kinase 2-like, S-1 like, Guanine Nucleotide Releasing-like, Interleukin-1 like, Interleukin-1 signal transducer-like, GPCR-like, Glucuronosyl transferase-like, Prostasin-like, LDLR-like, TNFR-like, TRAF5-like, Ferritin light chain-like, Neurotrophin-6 alpha-like and Methionyl Aminopeptidase-like. More particularly, the invention relates to nucleic acids encoding novel polypeptides, as well as vectors, host cells, antibodies, and recombinant methods for producing these nucleic acids and polypeptides.

Nucleic acid encoding a NOVX13 polypeptide


There is provided a light emitting diode power supply apparatus capable of limiting a rise in a voltage level of a power supplied to a light emitting diode even in the case in which driving of the light emitting diode is stopped for a long period of time. The light emitting diode power supply apparatus includes: a power supply unit supplying a driving power set under a control to a light emitting diode; and a controlling unit selecting one of a detection voltage obtained by detecting a current flowing to the light emitting diode and a voltage provided according to an operation state of the light emitting diode to control a power supply operation of the power supply unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting diode power supply apparatus capable of stably supplying power to a light emitting diode.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in order to drive an electronic device in a domestically, commercially, industrially or the like, a power supply apparatus converting commercially-available power into driving power appropriate for an electronic device and supplying the converted driving power is used inside or outside the electronic device.
The power supply apparatus may also be used in order to drive a light emitting diode.
Recently, interest in and demand for light emitting diodes (LEDs) has increased.
A device using the light emitting diode may be manufactured to be compact to thereby be used in a location in which it is difficult to install an existing electronic product. Further, in the case in which the light emitting diode is used as an illumination apparatus, it is easy to implement various colors of light and control illuminance thereof, such that the light emitting diode may be used as a system illumination apparatus appropriate for situations such as watching movies, reading, conferencing, or the like.
In addition, the light emitting diode consumes an amount of power corresponding to ⅛ of the power consumed by an incandescent lamp, has a lifespan of fifty thousand to one hundred thousand hours, 5 to 10 times larger than that of the incandescent lamp, and is environment-friendly as a mercury free light source and may be variously designed.
Due to these characteristics, light emitting diode illumination projects have been promoted as national projects in many nations such as America, Japan, Australia, as well as Korea.
As described above, light emitting diodes require a power supply apparatus supplying power for driving the light emitting diode as disclosed in the following Related Art Document.
Meanwhile, a light emitting diode may be used in a flat panel display apparatus of which a size has increased. Alight emitting diode power supply apparatus used in the display apparatus is switched depending on a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal to supply power. In the case in which the PWM signal is not generated for a long period of time, a voltage supplied to the light emitting diode may continuously rise, making current regulation of the power supplied to the light emitting diode unstable, such that the light emitting diode may not be normally driven.

Light emitting diode power supply apparatus


Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to redirect internet clients for media monitoring. An example apparatus disclosed herein includes a wireless communication controller to establish a plurality of connections to a WI-FI router, the plurality of connections corresponding to simulated WI-FI clients, and a client interface to identify a connection of a WI-FI client to the apparatus and route network traffic of the WI-FI client to the WI-FI router via the plurality of connections.

Media providers and/or other entities such as advertising companies, broadcast networks, etc. are often interested in the viewing, listening, and/or media behavior of audience members and/or public in general. The media usage and/or exposure habits of monitored audience members, as well as demographic data about the audience members, are collected and used to statistically determine the size and demographics of an audience of interest. In recent years, media devices have been provided with Internet connectivity and the ability to retrieve media from the Internet. As such, media exposure has shifted away from conventional methods of presentation such as broadcast television, towards presentation via consumer devices accessing media via the Internet
The figures are not to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers or regions may be enlarged in the drawings. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, descriptors such as "first," "second," "third," etc. are used herein without imputing or otherwise indicating any meaning of priority, physical order, arrangement in a list, and/or ordering in any way, but are merely used as labels and/or arbitrary names to distinguish elements for ease of understanding the disclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor "first" may be used to refer to an element in the detailed description, while the same element may be referred to in a claim with a different descriptor such as "second" or "third." In such instances, it should be understood that such descriptors are used merely for identifying those elements distinctly that might, for example, otherwise share a same name.

Methods and apparatus to redirect internet clients for media monitoring


A game board comprising a tapered playing field with walls rising from a perimeter thereof. The board comprises open receptacles arranged in a pattern or randomly on the playing field. A triangular pattern extends from an apex adjacent to a first wall to a base adjacent to a second wall. Each of the receptacles comprise a depth and a diameter sufficient to capture a ball used in the game. A movable track comprising a pair of rods comprising first and second ends is disposed above the field. The first ends are attached to a pivot disposed on the first wall and the second ends are inserted through an elongate opening in the second wall. The track is inclined from the pivot ends. A ball placed on the track near the pivot ends is urged to travel uphill along the track and dropped into a receptacle by manipulating the rods.

It is said that the game "Shoot the Moon" dates back to the 1940s. However, the originator of the game may have been Rufus E. Bean, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 145,385, issued Dec. 9, 1873. Over the years, the game has been produced and marketed without significant alteration by different companies under such names as "Shoot the Moon," "Hit the Spot," "Space Shot," "Anti-gravity Game," "Space Force," "Frustration," and "Shoot-a-Shot." A search of the internet reveals additional variations of the game without attribution. The following U.S. patents have also disclosed additional variations of the game: U.S. Pat. No. 570,105, 1896, to Ryan et al., entitled Game Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 699,490, 1902, to Buxton et al., entitled Toy or Game Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 1,595,071, 1926, to Carlson et al., entitled Game; U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,360, 1976, to Meyer, entitled Game Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,727, 1987, to David, entitled Double-Bar Riding Wheel and Method of Using Same; U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,121, 1988, to David, entitled Three-Bar and Ball Game apparatus and Method of Using Same, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,045, 1989, to Shoemaker, Jr. entitled Rolling Ball Game.
Basically, the game consists of placing a ball on two adjacent rods, forming a dual-rod track, that are hinged at one end and urging the ball to travel on the track by opening and closing the distance between the two rods. In some cases, the rods are inclined so that the ball appears to roll up hill defying gravity. Most of time the dual-rod track is disposed over a narrow field comprising a single column of receptacles denominated as some of the planets in earth's solar system. There is disclosed on the Pinterest website a child's game variation depicting a narrow column of planets offset from one another. (See: Https://www.pinterest.com/pin/6403624453600951) The goal is to land the ball in the planet or other designated receptacle having the highest points, usually the receptacle furthest along the track from the hinged end.
At least one scientific paper has been published describing the physical dynamics of the game. Xu P. 2011: Dynamics and Control of the Table-Top Game Shoot the Moon. [partial dissertation]. Clemson University.
Although the game requires skill in mastering the physical dynamics of urging the ball along the inclined dual-rod track, once the technique is mastered, a player may be able to move the ball consistently with little effort. The sole object of every iteration of the game is to move the ball all the way along the track and score the highest points available from the limited number of receptacles—the number of receptacles being limited by the number of planets in the Earth's solar system. Once the game is mastered, interest in the game often wanes and the game is set aside in favor of more challenging games.
Therefore, what is needed is an iteration of the game that presents a wider variety of challenges so that it is not enough just to be able to cause the ball to travel the length of the dual-rod track and drop the ball into a desired planet receptacle. By increasing the difficulty of the game and broadening the scope of the ways the game is played, interest in the game may be renewed and the future of the game for generations to come may be assured.

On track an improved shoot the moon game


A switch stalk includes a stalk lever comprising a knob mounted on a base portion. The knob is mountable on the base portion in one of a plurality of orientations. A different set of rotational stops are provided in each orientation in which the knob can be mounted on the base portion. Therefore, the knob is rotatable through a different displacement in each of the orientations in which it is mounted. Further, a different set of detents is provided in each orientation in which the knob is mounted on the base portion.

The present invention relates generally to a multifunction switch stalk, such as for use in a vehicle, and more particularly to a switch stalk which is assemblable in different configurations to provide different rotation features, such as rotational limits and detents.
Current multifunction switch stalks typically include a stalk lever comprising a base portion which is pivotally connected to a steering column. The stalk lever further includes one or more knobs rotatably mounted on the base portion to selectively activate a plurality of vehicle functions. The knob on the known switch stalk may provide any one of a plurality of rotation features. For example, the knob can be rotatable approximately 60.degree. to a plurality of detent positions in order to provide a variable delay wiper switch. Alternatively, the knob can be rotatably approximately 30.degree. between two positions to provide only two selected intermittent wiper delay intervals. Further, the knob may be non-rotatably mounted on a switch stalk which does not provide the intermittent wiper function.
In the known switch stalk, each of these different features requires a different set of hardware, including a different knob with different detents and different stops restricting the rotational displacement of the knob. As a result, a higher inventory must be maintained. Further, this increases tooling costs, as each configuration of the knob must be separately tooled.

Modular switch stalk assemblable in different orientations to provide different rotation features


In certain embodiments, an air-pressurizing device is positioned to discharge a computer system. A supply conduit pneumatically couples a cooled-air discharge conditioning system with an inlet of the air-pressurizing device.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
A computer, such as a server, is typically disposed in an air conditioned building or room. Further, an air conditioning system may be dedicated to maintaining the computer and its electronic components at acceptable operating temperatures. However, the temperature of the air near the computer (e.g., near a fan intake of a computer) may be several degrees higher than room temperature. Unfortunately, the air around the computers may be warmer than desirable due to poor flow patterns of the air conditioning, radiant or exhaust heat from the computers, and so forth. At the cost of greater energy consumption, the air conditioning system may be adjusted to lower the air temperature in the building or room to maintain the computer at acceptable operating conditions. However, the lower room temperature may not solve the problem of excess heat near the computer. For example, the heated air that exhausts from the computer may linger in close proximity to the computer, increasing the temperature of the air entering the computer and, thereby, reducing the effectiveness of forced-convection cooling within the computer.
For the case of dedicated cooling systems, such as a computer room air conditioning (CRAC) system, the associated plenum pressure-drop losses, poor hot-air recirculation, and the relatively high air-volume demand of non-homogenous racks, for example, generally result in thermal problems even with well-designed servers and server racks. Again, this poor thermal performance is often compensated for by increasing the heat transfer by the CRAC, and therefore, increasing the accompanying energy costs.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


System and methods are presented for providing an interface to select advertising slots in an advertising campaign. In some embodiments, a user equipment device generates for display a plurality of cells in a grid arrangement. Each cell is associated with an advertising slot corresponding to a content source and a time period, and each cell includes a representation of an audience of the associated advertising slot. The user equipment device receives a user selection of a first cell of the plurality of cells, a function is executed with respect to a first advertising slot associated with the first cell.

The placement of advertisements and promotions have traditionally relied on extrapolation of a small data panel of viewing behavior and other demographic information from research companies, such as the Nielsen Company, to inform these placements. These panels are limited to robustly measuring the exposure of fairly wide, mostly demographically-based audience targets, such as "women age 25-54", and reporting is generally limited to an aggregate metric for each program aired or the commercial minutes aired within a program.
Planning and placing TV advertising using these metrics alone, however, introduces significant inefficiencies into the placement process. In general, advertisers have a narrower, more specific target than the wide demographic measure produced by data panels. For example, a health cereal manufacturer may be more interested in reaching "women who are health conscious shoppers" instead of "women age 25-54", but present systems are unable to distinguish between these two groups, or at least narrow the scope of the broader demographic. In addition, advertisers establish reach and frequency targets for their advertising campaigns, but current metrics and systems are unable to distinguish which viewers the advertisements are being delivered to in each advertising placement, and thus many spot placements are simply wasted by exposing viewers who have already seen the advertisement many times while other viewers, who are part of the target, go unexposed. Such methods further lack comprehensive placement and optimization algorithms to help advertisers choose available advertising slots to more effectively reach their target audiences.

Systems and methods for providing an interface for data driven media placement


The driving support device includes: a recognition section configured to recognize each positions of a specific object and a road marking with reference to peripheral information of a own vehicle acquired by a sensor section configured to acquire the peripheral information; and a control section configured to perform different controls on the own vehicle, with reference to recognition results of the recognition section, depending on whether the specific object is present in a first state or a second state, the first state being a state where the specific object is present in a region more outside than a traveling lane with respect to an imaginary line that extends along a traveling direction of the own vehicle, the second state being a state where the specific object is present in a region on a more central side of the traveling lane with respect to the imaginary line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving support device.
2. Description of Related Art
In the related art, there is known a vehicle driving support device that predicts, when detecting a vehicle present on a lateral side of the own vehicle, a future lateral position of the own vehicle in a predetermined amount of time and starts to perform, if it is determined that the predicted future lateral position of the own vehicle locates more outside than a predetermined position in a lane width direction with respect to lane lines when viewed from the center of the own vehicle lane, a control of the own vehicle so that a yaw moment which towards the center of the own vehicle lane is given to the own vehicle (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2010-052716).


According to the present invention, there is provided a device for guiding a tool on a string within a blow out prevention ("BOP") stack. In one embodiment, the device includes a top collar connected to a bottom collar by a shroud having a plurality of flexible members which bow outwardly from the collars, wherein the shroud covers a portion of the tool. An energy absorbing bumper is provided above the top collar to absorb structural impact caused by a blow out or other inadvertant pressure in a downhole application.

In oil-field operations, there is frequently a need to run a well servicing tool from a rig down into a receptacle such as a tubing hanger. In off-shore operations the rig floor is located a substantial distance from the ocean floor where a sub-sea wellhead is located. Tools are run through a string from the rig into the wellhead through a tube assembly such as a riser pipe, or a blow out prevention ("BOP") stack. The down-hole tool is attached to a running string, such as a sucker rod, which is used to run the tool through the center of the stack and place it in connection with the desired receptacle, such as the tubing hanger. It is important that the tool is centered as it is being run through the stack. If not, the tool is likely to impact the internal sides of the stack, causing damage to the stack and the tool itself. Also, if the tool is not properly centered, it may not properly align with the tubing hanger, thereby causing damage to the hanger and the tool.
Solid rigid metal centralizers have been designed for running and retrieving tools. However, these designs rely on the mass of the centralizer for alignment and do not actually protect the down-hole tool as it is being run through the stack. In addition, these nonflexible centralizers often hang up when an obstruction down-hole is encountered. For example, FIG. 1 shows an example of a solid metal centralizer. As shown, the centralizer 10 attaches to the string by threads 102 at one end, and has a down-hole tool 104 attached to an opposite end by threaded bore 106. As shown, down-hole tool 104 is completely exposed, as the centralizer travels downward through the stack. With this type of design some impact between the tool and the sides of the stack may occur, causing damage to the tool 104. These designs do not provide adequate alignment between the tool and the tubing hanger, and thus, further fail to prevent damage from contact between these two members.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a device for guiding a down-hole tool which overcomes the above-mentioned problems.


A method to detect whether combustion is taking place in an internal combustion engine of a hybrid vehicle during operation of the hybrid vehicle, whereby a decoupler is provided between the internal combustion engine and an electric machine that serves to power the hybrid vehicle, comprising opening the decoupler between the internal combustion engine and the electric machine, receiving a speed signal when the decoupler is open, said signal indicating a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine when the decoupler is open, and determining, on the basis of the speed signal when the decoupler is open, whether combustion is taking place in the internal combustion engine. The present invention also relates to a control device to carry out the method according to the invention.

Hybrid vehicles are characterized by two different types of drive systems which, depending on the situation, can be operated simultaneously, in other words, in the hybrid mode of operation, or else independently of each other. Hybrid vehicles often have an internal combustion engine and an electric drive as drive systems.
If the internal combustion engine cannot provide sufficient torque or any torque at all during the hybrid operation of a hybrid vehicle, for example, in case of a malfunction, if the vehicle was fueled incorrectly or the like, it can happen that the electric drive "carries along" the internal combustion engine. In such a case, a speed signal of the internal combustion engine is displayed to the driver who then assumes that the internal combustion engine is operating properly. However, since the electric drive is carrying along the internal combustion engine, the battery is quickly drained, which can cause the vehicle to come to a halt. If fuel is injected while the internal combustion engine is being unintentionally carried along, this fuel is not burned and it can accumulate in the exhaust gas system, for example, in a catalytic converter, damaging it if the fuel is ignited at a later point in time.
Various approaches are known that are aimed at reducing the likelihood of the internal combustion engine being unintentionally carried along by the electric drive. For instance, the internal combustion engine can be prevented from stalling, for example, by modifying the combustion parameters, as is described in European patent application EP 1 110 800 A2, or else this can be systematically controlled, as is described in German patent application DE 10 2007 047 589 A1. Moreover, various mechanisms are known as to how to respond to an actual or suspected stalling of the internal combustion engine, as is described in German patent application DE 10 2012 216 351 A1, in European patent application EP 2 685 429 A1 and in European patent application EP 1 077 149 A2.
Furthermore, there are various diagnostic possibilities which allow conclusions to be drawn about a faulty combustion in the internal combustion engine, for example, on the basis of the oil level, as described in European patent application EP 1 426 599 A1. However, the prior-art diagnostic possibilities cannot reliably detect all conceivable faults in the combustion in the internal combustion engine, especially the case in which no combustion whatsoever is taking place in the internal combustion engine or in any of the cylinders of the internal combustion engine.

Method and control device for detecting, during the operation of a hybrid vehicle, whether combustion is taking place in an internal combustion engine of the hybrid vehicle


A method for operating a light microscope with structured illumination includes: providing illumination patterns by means of a structuring device which splits impinging light into at least three coherent beam parts which correspond to a −1., 0., and +1. diffraction orders of light; generating different phases of the illumination patterns by setting different phase values for the beam parts with phase shifters; and recording at least one microscope image for each of the illumination patterns and calculating a high resolution image from the microscope images. Phase shifters are provided not only for the beam parts of the −1. and +1. diffraction orders but also at least one phase shifter for the beam part of the 0. diffraction order. At least two different phase values Φ0 are set with the at least one phase shifter for the 0. diffraction order to provide a plurality of illumination patterns with different phases.

In a generic method for operating a light microscope with structured illumination, a structuring device produces illumination patterns. The structuring device splits impinging light in at least three coherent beam parts which correspond to a −1., 0. and +1. diffraction order of light.
The structuring device may, for example, have a grating (phase diffraction grating) in an intermediate image plane of the illumination beam path. Light is diffracted at the grating and thus beam parts of a −1., 0. and +1. diffraction order, inter alia, are produced. In the specimen plane, the beam parts interfere and thus produce a structured illumination. Such an illumination pattern in the specimen plane may constitute a grating structure, for example a line structure consisting of alternating bright and dark areas. Several specimen images are recorded with differently rotated lattice vectors of the gratings in the intermediate image plane. As examples, the grating may be rotated to this end, or differently oriented gratings are illuminated one after the other. Furthermore, several microscope images with different phases of the illumination modulation are recorded. For shifting the phase, the grating may be shifted in the intermediate image plane, for example, or a plane-parallel wobble plate near an intermediate image plane may be tilted.
Alternatively the structuring device may comprise a waveguide chip instead of a grating. A waveguide chip is also referred to as a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and comprises a substrate in which light guide channels are formed. These light guide channels are usually no hollow spaces but differ in the material from surrounding substrate. The waveguide chip comprises at least an input port for light at which impinging light is forwarded and split in the waveguide chip into at least three path sections (light guide channels) which lead to at least three exit ports. One impinging light beam may thus lead to three coherent beam parts which exit at the exit ports and may interfere with each other in the specimen plane. The at least three exit ports and their respective path sections correspond to −1., 0. and +1. diffraction orders of light, i.e., the exit ports may be arranged to form a dot pattern in a pupil plane of the illumination beam path which corresponds to the dot pattern which would be formed in a pupil plane by a grating arranged in an intermediate image plane. Alternatively it is not necessary that the exit ports are arranged in this dot pattern; rather light may be guided from the exit ports via, for example, optical fibers to form said dot pattern in a pupil plane. In a cross-section of the illumination light, the 0. diffraction order is located between the +1. and −1. diffraction orders and may in particular have the same spatial distance to the +1. diffraction order and to the −1. diffraction order.
In the generic method, a plurality of illumination patterns with different phases are provided one after the other. To this effect, different phase shifts for the beam parts are set with phase shifters. At least one microscope image is recorded for each of the illumination patterns and then the microscope images are used to calculate a high resolution image.
Via different input ports of the waveguide chip, differently oriented illumination patterns can be generated, wherein different phases of the illumination patterns are respectively set with the phase shifters.
The calculated high resolution image is to be understood as an image which is calculated from the plurality of microscope images. As it includes information from all microscope images, it is referred to as high resolution, which, however, shall not be construed as any specification of an image resolution.
Analogously, a generic optic arrangement for structured illumination comprises a structuring device which splits impinging light in at least three coherent beam parts which correspond to −1., 0. and +1. diffraction orders of light, respectively. In particular, the structuring device may comprise a waveguide chip, comprising at least an input port followed by a light guide path which forks into at least three path sections which in turn lead to at least three exit ports of the waveguide chip. Two outer exit ports and their respective path sections are, in short, referred to as "(corresponding to) a −1. and +1. diffraction orders of light". This shall illustrate that light beams emanating from the outer exit ports may correspond to the −1. diffraction order and the +1. diffraction order of light diffracted at a grating. A respective central exit port which is situated between the two outer exit ports and its respective path section is referred to as corresponding to a 0. diffraction order due to its central arrangement of the exit port. The waveguide chip further comprises a respective phase shifter at each path section for shifting a phase of light in these path sections.
Generic methods and optic arrangements for structured illumination are described by the applicant in DE 10 2017 109 645.0. Another optic arrangement with waveguide chip is furthermore described by the applicant in WO 2014/060270 A2.
A difficulty resides in providing sufficiently large phase shifts steadily, precisely and efficiently. These challenges are hard to overcome with, in particular, phase shifters arranged at a waveguide chip. With thermal phase shifters, for example, sufficiently large temperature differences need to be set at the path sections of the waveguide chip. Even if this succeeds, the problem remains that the considerable temperature differences may possibly result in no stable phase variation of a desired size. Also with other phase shifters, for example piezoelectric phase shifters, difficulties arise, in particular in material stress caused by the comparably strong piezoelectric expansion and compression, and in possibly occurring hysteresis in which the material remains partially deformed even if the setting is changed back to an initial value.
Another optic arrangement for providing a structured illumination is described in US2013/0335819A1. Differences over this document are addressed in a later section.
It may be regarded as an object of the invention to indicate a method and an optic arrangement which provide a structured illumination for a light microscope, wherein a phase of illumination patterns can be varied in a simple and efficient way.

Method for operating a light microscope with structured illumination and optic arrangement


A speaker holder includes a hollow, open holder body which receives a speaker within an inward top flange thereof, a bottom plate fastened to the holder body at the bottom to hold a spring-supported ball in a center hole on an upright center rod thereof for permitting the speaker to be balanced on the ball, and a mounting plate detachably fastened to the bottom plate through hooked joints for mounting the speaker holder on a supporting surface.

The present invention relates to a speaker holder which permits the speaker to be tilted in either direction within 90.degree. angle.
A commonly known speaker holder which permits the speaker to be tilted in either direction is generally comprised of a holder body to hold the speaker, and a spring retained inside the holder body to support the speaker against an inward top flange around the top opening of the holder body. As the speaker is directly supported on the spring, turning the speaker causes the speaker to rub against the inward top flange of the holder body, and therefore the speaker may be damaged easily.


The present invention provides a method and apparatus for characterizing a memory array. The method includes accessing information indicative of a transistor-level circuit design of a column of a memory array and determining at least one component of a cell representative of the column of the memory array based on the information indicative of the transistor-level circuit design and at least one timing rule for at least one signal associated with the column of the memory array. The method also includes determining at least one time delay associated with the cell based on the at least one component of at least one cell.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor devices, and, more particularly, to characterizing arrays using cell-based timing elements derived from a transistor-level design for a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern integrated circuits typically include tens of thousands of individual transistors. The precise number of transistors, as well as the interconnections between the transistors and/or other elements of the integrated circuit, may be specified in a circuit design. In principle, circuit designs could be tested by fabricating a device based on the circuit design and then directly testing the device to make sure that it performs in the expected manner. However, configuring a semiconductor fabrication facility to fabricate the device and then fabricating one or more devices for testing would cost an undesirably large amount of time and/or money. Accordingly, circuit designs are typically tested by simulating the timing of the circuit design.
One technique for simulating a circuit design determines the circuit timing by simulating the interaction of individual transistors in the circuit. This technique is known as "transistor-level simulation." The most popular program for transistor-level simulation is the Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE), which was developed at Berkeley starting in the 1970s, and is widely available in multiple forms today. Transistor-level simulation programs use a matrix-based technique for determining the circuit timing, which may make the transistor-level approach unwieldy and/or impractical for relatively large circuits, e.g. circuits that have in excess of about 10,000 transistors. Furthermore, transistor-level simulations typically require that the design engineer specify a particular path through the circuit design, e.g. in the form of a vector, in order to determine the time delay(s) associated with the path. Relatively large circuits may have numerous paths and the design engineer may have difficulty determining the correct path and, in some cases, may analyze an incorrect path. Some faster versions of transistor-level simulations may assume one or more heuristics in order to partition the circuit design.
Alternatively, the circuit design may be specified in terms of one or more cells. A cell-based circuit design specifies the properties of one or more cell elements and the interconnections between the cell elements. For example, the cell elements may include NAND gates, NOR gates, and the like. The cell-based circuit design may then specify the interconnections between the NAND gates and/or the NOR gates that are necessary to implement the logic and/or functions of the desired device. The particular arrangements of transistors that may be used to implement the cell elements are not typically specified by the cell-based circuit design. Instead, the transistor-level implementation is left undefined and design engineers are free to choose from among many possible transistor-level implementations of the cell elements.
Cell-based circuit designs may be simulated using static timing techniques. Static timing is a vectorless technique and so there is no need for the design engineer to specify a timing path through the circuit. Instead, a static timing simulator examines all possible paths through the circuit design. However, static timing cannot be applied directly to a transistor-level circuit design. Some static timing simulators include internal modules that attempt to convert transistor-level circuit designs to cell-based designs by modeling the transistor-level circuit design. However, when compared to cell-based static timing, these approaches typically have a low capacity and low control over the simulation. Furthermore, the models that are employed may impose a number of restrictions on the simulation. For example, the cells are only valid in context in which the cell is used.
Memory arrays such as synchronous random access memory (SRAM) arrays are particularly difficult to analyze because they include a very large number of individual transistors and the memory array circuits must satisfy very tight timing constraints. Transistor-level static timing tools typically have speed and capacity restrictions that reduce the accuracy of the timing analysis. Consequently, transistor-level static timing tools are generally considered to be too inaccurate to handle the bit cell and/or sense amplifier delays present in memory elements. Cell-based static timing tools are generally considered more accurate, but the efficacy of the cell-based static timing tools is limited by the characterization of the individual cells. In the case of memory arrays such as those found in microprocessor caches, defining the cells from a transistor-level design may be difficult or impossible because the extracted netlist is a flat transistor netlist that is not typically amenable to analysis by a cell-based static timing tool.
The parameters of the cells in a memory array, such as timing parameters, may be estimated by creating a critical path model and inserting extracted layout schematics as necessary. However, this technique is prone to error because circuit designers must estimate parasitics associated with some elements in the transistor-level design. Alternatively, the cells may be characterized by specifying a single path through the memory array, e.g., using a path pruning algorithm. This technique is also prone to error because the path pruning algorithm does not consider paths other than the specified path through the memory array. Consequently, the timing analysis of the memory array may be flawed if the circuit designer has not specified the correct (or optimal) path through the memory array. For example, performing the timing analysis based on cells defined using the path pruning algorithm may not detect portions (or corners) of the memory array that do not meet the strict timing margins for the memory array.
Columns within the memory array may also include elements that are not included in conventional models of cells that may be analyzed using conventional cell-based static timing techniques. For example, a column in a memory array typically includes sense amplifiers and read/write circuitry to read out (or write in) data stored in the bit cells of the column. Furthermore, conventional estimates of the properties of a cell allow the circuit designer to specify the order of particular events (such as the order of signals asserted on different lines), but do not typically allow the designer to define time delays between these events. For example, conventional techniques for characterizing cells do not specify setup/hold times of control signals (e.g., sense amplifier fire, read column select, right enable, midline precharge, sense amplifier precharge, word lines, and the like) in relation to one another. Thus, conventional cell-based static timing tools may not be able to ensure that the transistor-level design of a memory array will satisfy the required timing constraints.

Method and apparatus for characterizing arrays using cell-based timing elements