An electrophotographic photoreceptor having an intermediate layer in which the intermediate layer contains a compound formed from a composition containing the following components X, Y and Z.                Component X: Inorganic oxide network forming compound        Component Y: Metal atom-containing organic network forming compound        Component Z: Binder network forming compound

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor, a process cartridge, an image forming apparatus and an image forming method to be employed in the electrophotographic image forming system, more in detail, relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor, the process cartridge, the image the forming apparatus and the image forming method to be employed in the electrophotographic image forming system applied in the field of copy machine and printer.
2. Related Art
Organic photoreceptors have many merits such as that the materials can be selected from wide range, excellent in the suitability to the environmental and the production cost is low compared with inorganic photoreceptors such as a selenium photoreceptor and an amorphous silicone photoreceptor. Therefore, the organic photoreceptor recently becomes as the main stream of the electrophotographic photoreceptor in place of the inorganic photoreceptors.
In the image forming system according to the Carlson method, the electrophotographic photoreceptor is charged and a static latent image is formed thereon, and the a toner image is formed and the toner image is transferred onto image receiving paper and fixed to form a final image.
Besides, a digital image forming system employing a LED or a laser as the light source for imagewise exposing is rapidly spread in the image forming method of the recent electrophotographic system. For example, a technique for making an high quality electrophotographic image is disclosed, in which the imagewise exposure is given by a laser beam having a small spot area so as to form a high precise latent image with high dot latent image density, and then the latent image is developed by a fine particle toner (Japanese Patent publication Open to Public Inspection, hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication, No. 2001-255685).
Recently, miniaturization and high speed driving of the electrophotographic apparatus such as the digital copying machine and the printer are progressed and the photoreceptor is required at the same time to make higher the sensitivity corresponding to the high speed driving and to improve the anti-wearing ability for prolonging of the life thereof.
However, problems of the degradation of the charging ability and the stability of the sensitivity are caused when a charge generation material and a charge transfer material suitable for such the high sensitivity and the high speed driving are used. Namely, problems that the charged potential tends to be lowered and the remaining potential tends to be increase under a high temperature and high humidity condition or a low temperature and low humidity condition are caused.
The degradation in the charged potential and the stability of sensitivity causes lowering the difference between the potential at the unexposed area (VH) and that at the exposed area (VL) so as to lower the image density, and the difference between potential at the unexposed area VH and the direct current bias potential (VDC) applied to the photoreceptor and the developing sleeve is also lowered so as to tend to occur a image fault such as black spots.
A technique has been developed in which an intermediate layer is used in the organic photoreceptor to stabilize the charged potential and to solve the problems of the image defect such as black spots. For example, an organic photoreceptor is disclosed in which the intermediate layer is provided between the electroconductive substrate and the photosensitive layer; the intermediate layer is composed of a resin in which titanium oxide particles are dispersed. Furthermore, an intermediate layer containing surface treated titanium oxide is known. For example, organic photoreceptors having an intermediate layer containing titanium oxide surface-treated by iron oxide or tungsten oxide (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 4-303846), that containing titanium oxide surface treated by an amino acid-containing coupling agent (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 9-96916)., that containing titanium oxide surface-treated by an organic silicon compound (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 9-258469), that containing titanium oxide surface-treated by methylhydrogenpolysiloxane (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 8-328283) or that containing dendrite-shaped titanium oxide surface-treated by a metal oxide or an organic compound(Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 11-344826) have been proposed.
Under the serious condition such as high temperature and high humidity, however, the prevention of occurrence of the black spots is insufficient and problems such as that the raising in the remaining potential and in the potential at the exposed area caused accompanied with the repeating use so that sufficient image density cannot be obtained even when such the techniques are applied.
Moreover, it has been proposed that the crystal structure is further exactly controlled for improving the occurrence of the black spots and the raising in the remaining potential and in the potential at the exposed area accompanied with repeating use. For example, an intermediate layer containing anatase type titanium oxide pigment, hereinafter referred to as anatase type titanium oxide or anatase type titanium oxide particle, has been proposed ((Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 11-327188). The anatase type titanium oxide is lower in the volume resistance than the rutile type titanium oxide. Consequently the thickness of the intermediate layer can be thicker and the irregularity of the electroconductive substrate surface can be concealed by such the thick layer so as to easily prevent the injection of the charge from the electroconductive substrate. Besides, The dark attenuation of the charged potential is increased and fogging by the reversal development tends to increase. Such the contrary problems cannot be sufficiently solved yet by the disclosure of the patent publications.
For example, the method is well known in which the intermediate layer is formed by dispersing titanium oxide particles in polyamide resin. The polyamide resin employed in such the case, usually a copolymerized amide resin mainly constituted by a chemical structure having a small number of carbon atoms such as 6-nylon and a tri-methylized polyamide resin, has high water absorbability. The intermediate layer using such the polyamide resin tends to be high in the environment dependency. As a result of that, the charging property is easily varied under the high temperature and humidity condition and the black spots easily occur.
It is prospected that the copolymerized polyamide resin constituted by a constituting unit having large number of carbon atom between the amide bonds such as 12-nylon is suitable material for producing the photoreceptor having low environmental dependency since such the resin has low water absorbability. However, such the polyamide resin does not suit for producing the photoreceptor since the resin is insoluble in a usual organic solvent. Though examples in which the solubility of the resin is increased by methoxylization are disclosed ((Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 5-72787 and 6-186767), the occurrence of the black spots and the environmental memory is difficultly prevented since the water absorption of the resin is considerably increased by the methoxymethylization.
Though examples in which a compound having a Si-containing glassy network subunit, a flexible organic subunit and photo-electrical subunit (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 11-316468), and a resin layer containing an organic polymer, a siloxane condensation product and an anti-oxidation component is applied as outer most layer (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 2002-236382) have been reported, the application of these resins in the intermediate layer for solving the foregoing problems are not reported.
Hitherto a corona discharging device is typically employed as the charging means. However, the corona discharging device causes problems that the degradation of the organic photoreceptor, hereinafter referred to as photoreceptor, and bad influence on the human body are caused since high voltage should be applied to the corona discharging device and large amounts of ionized oxygen, ozone, moisture and a nitrogen oxide compound are generated.
Recently, application of contact charging method without the use of the corona discharging device is investigated. In concrete, a magnetic brush or an electroconductive roller as the charging means, to which voltage is applied, is contacted to the photoreceptor as the material to be charged to charge the photoreceptor surface at the designated potential. The applying voltage can be lowered and the generation amount of ozone can be reduced by the use of such contacting charge method compared with the non-contact charging method using the corona discharging device.
In the contact charging method, a charging member having a resistance of about from 102 to 1010 Ω·cm is contacted with pressure to the photoreceptor while applying direct current or direct current overlapped with alternative current voltage to the charging member for providing the charge. In this charging method, the charging is started by applying voltage higher than a certain threshold value since the discharge from the charging member to the subjective member is progressed according to Paschen's law. In the contact charging method, the applying voltage is lower that in the corona charging method and the generation amount of ozone and nitrogen oxide compound is reduced.
However, the repeatedly charging to the electrophotographic photoreceptor by the contacting of the charging roller causes cracks and contamination on the photoreceptor surface. As a result of that, the charge is concentrated to the cracks and the contaminated portion so that the image defects such as dielectric breakdown and black spot are tend to occur and the spreading of the image also occurs. Such the problems are easily posed in under the serious conditions such as high temperature and high humidity and low temperature and low humidity.
It is proposed to prevent the occurrence of the dielectric breakdown and the black spot that the surface of the electroconductive substrate is anodized for raising the resistivity of the photoreceptor against leak of charge and so as to prevent the charge leak from the electroconductive substrate even when the cracks and the contamination are formed on the photoreceptor surface (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 5-080567).
A new charging system in which the charge is directly injected into the photoreceptor has been proposed (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 6-3921). In this method, a charge injection layer is provided on the photoreceptor surface and the charge is injected by contacting with a contacting electroconductive member such as a charging roller, a charging brush and a charging magnetic brush to which voltage is applied. The charging almost 1 by 1 with respect to the charged voltage can be performed by this charging method, with almost no discharging phenomenon. Accordingly, the method is an excellent charging method since the generation amount of ozone and NOx is considerably small and the necessary electric power is low.
An electrophotographic photoreceptor for the injection charging has be known, in which the charge injection layer is provided on the surface (mainly on the charge transfer layer) of the photoreceptor. Namely, an electrophotographic photoreceptor having the charge injection layer containing a binder resin and an electroconductive fine particle or a charge transfer material as the outermost layer is proposed (Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 2002-31911). However, when the charging through the charge injection is repeatedly performed by the directly contacting with the charging roller, cracks and contamination are formed on the charge injection layer and the charge is concentrated to the portion of the cracks and the contamination so as to tend to result the image defect such as the dielectric breakdown and the black spots and the spreading of the image is also tend to occur. These problems particularly tend to be posed under the serious conditions such as high temperature and humidity and the low temperature and humidity.
In the electrophotographic photoreceptor employing the anodized aluminum substrate, however, the properties of anodized layer is varied depending on the slight variation of the conditions of anodized treatment and that of the storage thereafter so that the above-described charge leak preventing effect is difficultly obtained, furthermore, it is observed that the interface of the anodized layer and the light-sensitive layer tends to be a charge trap site and the remaining potential is gradually increased accompanied with the prolongation of the using period.

Electrophotographic photoreceptor, process cartridge, image forming apparatus and image forming method

Konica Monolta Business Technologies, Inc.


The present disclosure includes a method for generating simulated previews of dynamic virtual cameras, the method comprising receiving virtual camera descriptor data, receiving object tracking data, generating virtual camera behavior data based on the virtual camera descriptor data and the object tracking data, the virtual camera behavioral data corresponding to virtual camera parameters for rendering a view, and generating a simulated preview based on the object tracking data and the virtual camera behavioral data.

The present disclosure pertains to virtual cameras, and more specifically, to simulated previews of dynamic virtual cameras.
Free-View-Point (FVP) technology has been made popular by Hollywood in the early 2000s by movies such as the Matrix trilogy. Using FVP, certain moments in the video stream may depict a frame frozen in time, followed by views equivalent to a camera orbiting around the main subject of the action scene taking place. An equivalent camera showing video streams derived from numerous other actual cameras is sometimes referred to as a virtual camera. Such a special effect is accomplished by capturing a scene with an array of synchronized and calibrated physical cameras as illustrated in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1A illustrates a sports arena 101 where numerous physical cameras 110 are capturing a target 150 on a playing field 102. The data collected can be then processed, for example, using computer vision algorithms for segmenting the subject of interest from the rest of scene and creating a realistic texture-mapped 3D model. This model allows rendering of the subject from arbitrary viewpoints, creating the impression that one or more virtual cameras are moving around a target along an arbitrary 3D trajectory, for example.
Advances in FVP technology have allowed FVP to be used in a variety of application, such as sporting events, for example. In multi-camera live production of sporting events, a producer/director may select a camera view that can provide the most compelling experience to the viewer. In other words, they choose a camera view with the best intrinsic and extrinsic parameters that offer the fans the most relevant view in the current context of the game. When a sports event is broadcast with HD images rendered by virtual cameras freely moving in reconstructed 3D action, the producer/director may be required to preview their virtual camera settings with intrinsic and extrinsic camera parameters before the real-time rendering process begins.
Traditionally, the production of FVP clips has faced challenges including sometimes high manual interaction, high computing power requirements, and latency. While advances in computing have reduced the time for generating FVP video, as seen in instant replays of professional sporting events, for example, a cost effective, technically viable solution for extending FPV to live (or nearly live) action would be advantageous.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented. This Background is provided to introduce a brief context for the Detailed Description that follows. This Background is not intended to be an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter nor be viewed as limiting the claimed subject matter.

Simulated previews of dynamic virtual cameras


A method and system for pre-fetching network data using a pre-fetching control protocol is described. The method includes dividing a data transmission into a first data set and a second data set at a source, transmitting the first data set to a destination and the second data set to an intermediate location, and transmitting the second data set to the destination from the intermediate location.

Real-time network applications, such as streaming media applications, are not tolerant of transmission delays. For these real-time applications, data packets need to be delivered when they are needed by the receiving node. In the case of a streaming video or audio transmission, for example, late-arriving data will cause the end-user at the receiving node to experience choppy video or audio feed, or jittery frames on the screen. Late arriving data is discarded at the receiving node because it is useless to display an out-of-sequence data frame or segment in such real-time applications.
The predominant transport level protocol used on the Internet for high reliability data transmission is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TCP was developed for traditional networks made of wired links and stationary network nodes. In wired networks, bit error rates are relatively low, so packet delays and losses are assumed to be due to congestion. Congestion is a condition of severe delay caused by an overload of data at one or more data switching points in a network (e.g., at routers). TCP includes both a data recovery mechanism that retransmits lost data, and a congestion control mechanism that reduces transmission bandwidth before retransmitting the lost packets.
TCP uses a sliding window protocol to manage the transmission and reception of data packets between a sending node (sender) and receiving node (receiver). FIG. 1A shows a sequence of data packets 1 through n awaiting transmission. The protocol places a window at the beginning of the sequence and all of the data packets in the window are transmitted in order. In the example shown in FIG. 1A, the window is 8 data packets long, so data packets 1 through 8 are transmitted sequentially. When the sender receives an acknowledgement from the receiver for data packet 1, the protocol slides the window to the right and sends the next packet, packet 9, as shown in FIG. 1B. The window continues to move to the right as subsequent acknowledgements are received, as shown in FIG. 1C.
Thus, at any point in time, data packets may be characterized as 1) data packets to the left of the window that have been sent and acknowledged, 2) data packets within the widow that have been sent and not acknowledged, or ready to send without delay, and 3) packets to the right of the window that cannot be sent until the window moves. The maximum number of sent and unacknowledged data packets is limited to the size of the window. As a result, the transmission of packets to the right of the window is delayed.
At the receiver node, data packets are processed sequentially through another sliding window that segregates data into packets that 1) have been correctly received and acknowledged, and 2) packets that have been received but not verified and/or acknowledged. If a packet is lost or delayed, the packet is recovered in one of two ways: 1) the receiver can request retransmission of the packet by sending, to the original sending node, the sequence number of the last sequential data packet received at the receiving node node, or 2) the sender can retransmit the packet if an acknowledgement is not received from the receiving node within a certain amount of time. Both of these mechanisms introduce additional delays in completing the reception of some packets (i.e., lost packets as well as packets that have not yet been sent by the source).
In addition to the data recovery process discussed above, TCP also reduces the size of the data window when data packets are lost or delayed, further reducing the bandwidth and throughput of the connection between the sending node and the receiving node.
A conventional approach used in TCP networks to improve data reliability uses caching servers in the data path to cache data close to the receiver (e.g., within a limited number of network hops). However, this approach requires dedicated, expensive caching servers at strategic locations throughout a network. Furthermore, the caching servers may increase data delay.
As noted above, TCP was developed to address the requirements of wired networks with fixed nodes. When applied to wireless networks with mobile nodes, TCP can have negative effects. Unlike wired networks, wireless networks are characterized by relatively high bit error rates and occasional signal loss, rather than network congestion. When TCP is applied to a wireless network, the reduction of transmission bandwidth by TCP in reaction to packet losses, based on a network congestion model, may result in poor bandwidth utilization, poor throughput, longer delays and poor overall performance in real-time data-streaming applications.
Conventional approaches to the problem of TCP on wireless networks include: 1) Indirect-TCP protocol which segregates the connection between a wired host and a wireless host into a wired network connection and a one-hop wireless connection which uses a wireless link specific protocol, 2) a wireless link level retransmission protocol coupled with forward error correction (FEC) at the data link level, and 3) the "Snoop Protocol" which caches packets at the wired/wireless interface and performs local retransmissions across wireless links by monitoring data packet acknowledgements by the receiver.
All of the above approaches, both wired and wireless, are based on the TCP data reliability model for network communications, rather than a delay-centric model that has greater utility for real-time multimedia applications.

Method and system for pre-fetching network data using a pre-fetching control protocol


A cooling unit arrangement including at least two mutually arranged shelf modules, with a base group, a rear wall group and an upper group with respective covering parts and forming a cooling chamber, and a cooling device. The shelf modules have identical modular parts with frame profiles and which support the base group, the rear wall group and the upper group and at least the rear wall group of each shelf module is equipped with components of the cooling device. Said shelf arrangement is provided with a common evaporator arranged in the rear wall group and extending along several or all shelf modules.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cooling unit system composed of a cooling device and at least two shelving modules that can be aligned in a row and in identical fashion, have a base group, a rear wall group, and an upper group with respective casing parts and form a cooling chamber. The shelving modules have identical module frames with frame profiles, which support the base group, the rear wall group, and the upper group, and at least the rear wall group of each shelving module is equipped with components of the cooling device.
Discussion of Related Art
German Patent Reference DE 20 2010 008 333 U1 discloses a cooling unit in which it is also possible to place several of these cooling units next to one another. The cooling unit has a flat cooling element, which is embodied as particularly flat and which is placed in a rear wall group of the cooling unit and can also optionally be integrated into a base group or an upper assembly. The cooling unit also has a system composed of vertical adjusting rails that can be inserted into one another and horizontal adjusting rails attached to them at the top and bottom, protruding toward the front. The vertical adjusting rails are positioned between a rear wall and air-guiding walls situated close to the cooling chamber and are spaced apart by the same distance as these walls. The distance of the air-guiding walls from the rear wall is determined by the width of the heat exchanger or by fans, which produce an air flow along the heat exchanger. If a correspondingly high cooling power is required, then the heat exchanger is connected to a central refrigeration unit. The connection procedure must be performed by a specialized company. When there are a large number of such cooling units, this entails a corresponding installation expense.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,894 discloses a cooling unit system with a cooling device that has different components such as evaporators, condensers, compressors, and the like in order to provide the necessary cooling chambers required in a supermarket sector. The entire cooling unit system with the cooling device includes various shelves and cabinet units accommodating components of the cooling device. The entire refrigeration system entails a significant installation expense.
Another cooling unit system is disclosed in PCT Patent Reference WO 2012/025240 A2. In this known design, a plurality of modularly embodied cooling units are combined in a system with a plurality of cooling units. Each cooling unit has a cooling device specific to the cooling unit, with an evaporator, a condenser, and a compressor. A cooling device specific to the cooling unit can also be associated with at least two cooling units. The cooling units can be connected in parallel or in series via a secondary circuit to a central heat exchanger.
The condenser and a control unit are positioned in the upper region of the cooling unit, while the compressor is positioned in its lower region. In individual cases on site, circumstances frequently arise that require complex installation work and that impede the installation.
PCT Patent Reference WO 2005/075910 A1 proposes another cooling unit system with modular cooling units that have an overall length of 1250 mm, for example. The cooling unit modules each have their own cooling unit with evaporator(s), fan(s), expansion valve(s), and control(s). The cooling unit of a cooling unit module can be embodied as a so-called plug-in cooling unit or can be connected via corresponding pipework to a central refrigeration system. By embodying the cooling unit system inside the individual cooling unit modules, it is possible to achieve different temperatures or temperature groups or classes. This design is intended, for example, to eliminate the disadvantage of elongated heat exchangers and evaporators that have a length of greater than 3000 mm in cooling unit systems composed of a plurality of refrigeration unit modules, as is known in the design according to German Patent Reference DE 102 19 101 A1. Even shelving modules with such predetermined designs can cause problems during installation on site due to different circumstances that make it difficult to achieve an optimum adaptation to the conditions while also achieving an efficient energy use.


A combination of a faucet handle and a control valve has a faucet, an ornament panel, a positioning plate, a sleeve and a handle; wherein: the faucet is insertable into an existing installation hole in a wall, a connecting section of the faucet is disposed through the installation hole, the connecting section having an outer thread formed on a peripheral surface thereof and a control rod protruding from a center position, the control rod connected to a control member of the faucet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combination of a faucet handle and a control valve, and more particularly to an embedded combination of a faucet handle and a control valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, most of wall-mounted faucets have an embedded faucet, the faucet has a control rod connected to a handle at one end and to a control member of the faucet at another end. The handle is capable of controlling water flow or temperature via the control rod. An ornament panel is installed through the faucet onto the wall, and the ornament panel is secured with the faucet by at least two screws.
However, the above-mentioned conventional structure has following drawbacks: 1. The installation of the securing screws for the panel require alignment which is very inconvenient. 2. The securing screws does not provide two-dimensional stability, which might cause the panel to be lose. 3. The securing screws are exposed which can affect the appearance.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a combination of a faucet handle and a control valve to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.


Protrusions called ridges are formed on the surface of a crystalline semiconductor film formed by a laser crystallization method or the like. A heat absorbing layer are formed below a semiconductor film. When the semiconductor film is crystallized by laser, a temperature difference is produced between a semiconductor film 1010 positioned above a heat absorbing layer 1011 and a semiconductor film 1013 of the other region to produce a difference in thermal expansion at the boundary of the outside end 1015 of the heat absorbing layer. This difference produces a strain to form a surface wave. The surface wave starting at the outer periphery of the heat absorbing layer is formed in the vicinity of the heat absorbing layer. When the semiconductor layer is solidified after it is melted, the protrusions of the surface wave remain as protrusions after the semiconductor film is solidified.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device using a semiconductor thin film and its manufacturing method and, in particular, to a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as TFT) using a crystalline semiconductor thin film containing silicon.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a technology for forming a TFT on a glass substrate or the like to constitute a semiconductor circuit has been rapidly advanced. As a typical semiconductor device, there is an active matrix type liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as AMLCD) integrated with a driver. The AMLCD integrated with a driver is a monolithic display device having a pixel section and a driver circuit on the same substrate. Further, a system-on panel in which a memory circuit, a clock generating circuit, and the like are built has been developed.
While a TFT in which an amorphous silicon (hereinafter referred to as a-Si) is used in an active layer is employed as a switching device of a pixel in a conventional AMLCD, in the peripheral circuit of the AMLCD integrated with a driver is mainly employed a TFT in which a polycrystalline silicon (hereinafter referred to as poly-Si) having a higher field effect mobility is used as the active layer because the a-Si is not suitable for the peripheral circuit which is required to operate at high speeds.
A conventional poly-Si TFT has a higher field effect mobility than an a-Si TFT. When a variety of circuits are mounted on a system-on panel, however, because the circuits are required to operate at higher speeds, the TFTs employed by the circuits are required to have a field effect mobility higher than the AMLCD integrated with a driver.
Also, even in the AMLCD integrated with a driver, TFTs having a higher field effect mobility are required because it is required to operate at high speeds due to an increase in the number of pixels and to reduce the area of a driver circuit.
Chief among factors determining the field effect mobility of the TFT is a surface dispersion effect. The flatness of an interface between the active layer of the TFT and a gate insulating film produces a large effect on the field effect mobility of the TFT, and as the interface becomes flatter, the effect of the surface dispersion becomes less and thus the field effect mobility becomes larger.
One of currently available methods of producing a crystalline silicon film is a laser crystallization method, and a method of applying an excimer laser to an amorphous silicon film to crystallize it has been known. An amorphous silicon film having a thickness of 10 nm to 150 nm (typically 30 nm to 60 nm) is formed on an insulating substrate by sputtering, CVD, or the like and subsequently irradiated with excimer laser light, whereby the amorphous silicon film is melted, solidified, and crystallized. In the case where the amorphous silicon film contains about 5% or more hydrogen, it is previously dehydrogenated by a heat treatment performed at temperatures of about 400° C. to 500° C. for several hours because hydrogen is explosively removed when it is annealed by a laser.
While the conditions of the laser crystallization are selected by an operator, when the excimer laser is employed, for example, a laser pulse oscillation frequency is 30 Hz and a laser energy density is 100 mJ/cm3 to 500 mJ/cm3 (typically, 300 mJ/cm3 to 400 mJ/cm3). A linear laser beam is applied to the whole surface of the substrate, wherein the overlapping ratio of the linear beam is 80% to 98%.
Protrusions (or bumps) called ridges are formed at random on the surface of the film crystallized in this way by the laser beam. It is thought that the protrusions are produced by surface tension waves induced on the surface of Si annealed and melted by the laser. Typically, the protrusions have a thickness two times the thickness of the thin film. The thickness of the thin film is usually 30 nm to 60 nm and thus the protrusions have a height of 30 nm to 60 nm from the surface of the film. The protrusions formed in this way give dispersion to the movements of electrons or holes due to the above-mentioned surface dispersion effect to reduce the field effect mobility of the TFT. The larger the protrusions are, the larger the effects are.

Semiconductor device and its manufacturing method

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A retractable handle assembly for luggage case is disclosed. In a pulling operation, press a push button to unlock a locking device such that a damping device thereunder is free to damply extend upward a predetermined distance in a substantially stable speed for easing a pulling of the handle thereafter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retractable handle of luggage and more particularly to such a retractable handle having a damping device which is capable of damply extending upward a predetermined distance in a substantially stable speed when a push button is pressed for easing a pulling of the handle thereafter.
2. Description of Related Art
Wheeled luggage cases have developed rapidly over past several decades as more people travel either for business or leisure. Early luggage handle assemblies are exposed, thus detracting from its external appearance. In recent years, most handle assemblies are concealed in the luggage with only a top portion of the handle grip exposed. This can preserve the luggage's appearance. For facilitating user to pull the handle grip, a recessed bezel is typically provided on the top of the luggage. It inevitably much detracts from its external appearance. For solving this problem, a number of designs about automatically bouncing a handle out of luggage have been proposed in many prior patents. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,266, entitled "Concealable And Expandable Handle' and Taiwanese Patent Published No. 380,389 entitled "Fixing Assembly For Luggage Handle Spring" are two of them. The former discloses a spring for bouncing out the handle being formed in a bottom of support tube, while the latter discloses the spring for bouncing out the handle being formed in a lower portion of sliding tube. In operation, a user can press a push button on the handle grip to bounce out the handle. In one aspect it is convenient. However, the sudden bouncing of the handle grip having a bounce distance from about 20 cm to about 30 cm may cause danger. For example, the head and/or the eyes of a user may be hurt by the bounced handle grip when the head of the user is close to the handle grip in pressing the push button and sufficient care is not taken. This is not safe and is unsightly due to larger bounce distance from about 20 cm to about 30 cm. Moreover, length of the handle may be shortened if the spring is provided either in the bottom of support tube or in the lower portion of sliding tube. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.

Retractable luggage handle with dampish extending speed


An inkjet recording apparatus has a recording head which has a nozzle row composed of a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, a storage device which stores local variation processing parameters determined according to nozzle locality showing displacement from an ideal state of dot depositions due to defectiveness of the nozzles, a digital halftoning processing device which converts inputted image data to dot data, a local variation processing device which varies the dot data obtained by the digital halftoning processing device so as to compensate the nozzle locality by using the local variation processing parameters stored in the storage device, and a control device which controls ink ejection of the plurality of nozzles of the recording head according to the dot data generated through processing by the local variation processing device.

This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 2003-311484 filed in Japan on Sep. 3, 2003, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus and image forming method, and more particularly to an inkjet recording apparatus equipped with a recording head having nozzle rows in which a plurality of nozzles serving as ink ejection ports are arranged, and to an image forming method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inkjet recording apparatuses have an inkjet head (print head) in which a large number of nozzles are arranged, and form images on a printing medium such as recording paper by ejecting ink from the nozzles while moving the print head and the printing medium relatively to each other. In such inkjet recording apparatuses, there are cases in which some of the large number of nozzles no longer eject ink for some reason, the amount of ink ejected (the dot size resulting from the ejection of an ink-droplet on the recording paper) or the flight direction of the ink-droplet (i.e., ink-droplet deposition position) becomes defective, and other ejection defects occur. The defective ejection of such nozzles causes the quality of the recorded images to be degraded. In the present specification, displacement from the ideal state related to the dot position, dot size, dot shape, dot density distribution, and the like due to defective ejection from nozzles is referred to as "locality of nozzles" or "nozzle locality".
Inkjet recording apparatuses operate using a shuttle-scan method whereby images are formed as the recording head reciprocates in a direction (main scanning direction) substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the print medium, and a one-pass (single pass) method whereby images are formed by a single conveyance of the medium alone in the sub-scanning direction using a full-line recording head having a nozzle row that covers the entire width of the print medium in the main scanning direction. Each of these methods handles a locality of nozzles in a different manner.
In the case of the shuttle-scan method, dots can be formed by ink-droplet ejection from different nozzles on the same sub-scanning line or in the vicinity thereof because the recording head reciprocates in the main scanning direction. In other words, the locality of nozzles is dispersed by multiple passes in the shuttle-scan method, and dot placement in which streak-type nonuniformity or the like is visually less noticeable can be realized.
In contrast, the recording head is fixed in the one-pass method, so that it is impossible to disperse the locality of nozzles through head movement as with the above-described multiple passes. There is hence a drawback in that nonuniformity in the form of lines can be visually detected and the image quality is markedly degraded.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-234216 discloses, with respect to the drawbacks that are unique to the one-pass method, art that determines the locality of nozzles and determines a dot control value so that displacement is visually less noticeable with consideration for the locality of nozzles (mainly positional displacement and color value displacement) during digital halftoning. In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-234216, digital halftoning is carried out with consideration for the locality of nozzles, and dots are ejected with minimum visible variation by controlling the driving action of the print head in accordance with the results thereof as shown in FIG. 26, so that dot deposition in which the visibility of nonuniformity is inhibited in accordance with the results.
Nevertheless, in the case of the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-234216, the dot control value is determined with the content of the image to be printed taken into account, and calculations in which the nozzle locality and the appearance of the image are constantly taken into consideration must be carried out. There is therefore a drawback in that the constant calculating load is considerable, and the memory capacity must be expanded.

Inkjet recording apparatus and image forming method utilizing local variation processing parameters


Positioner assemblies may be configured to sense at least one position of at least a portion of a valve assembly that is moved along a first axis of movement. A movable element of the positioner assembly is configured to rotate about a second axis of movement, where the first axis of movement is substantially parallel to the second axis of movement. Valve systems and methods of sensing a position of a component of a valve system may include such a positioner assembly.

Valves (e.g., process valves) are used in a myriad of industrial applications for controlling the flow of a fluid. For example, in chemical processing plants or oil refineries, valves are used to manipulate a flowing fluid to compensate for increases or decreases in demand, or other load disturbances, and keep the regulated flow as close as possible to a desired set point.
A valve is typically provided as part of a valve assembly having a valve, a valve actuator, and one or more sensors (e.g., a positioner). The valve includes an inlet and an outlet, with a movable valve element that is selectively positioned between the inlet and the outlet. Flow through the valve is adjusted by changing the position of the valve element. The valve actuator typically includes a stem connected to the valve element and provides the necessary motive force for moving the valve element via the stem. Valve actuators may be manually driven, electrically driven, operated by fluid pressure in which the shaft is connected directly or indirectly to a fluid operated piston, or other hydraulic systems.
In order to operate and monitor valve systems, one or more sensors may be implemented to monitor the position of various components of the valve systems. For example, sensors may be utilized to measure the position of various valve components such as valves, valves stem, and various components of the valve actuators used to operate the valve. Further sensors may be utilized to monitor the various components of a valve actuator to determine position of one or more of the actuator or the valve being controlled by the actuator. For example, a valve positioner may provide a closed-loop feedback system by monitoring the position of the valve element, or more commonly, the position of the actuator stem. A control system in communication with the positioner may compare a detected position to a desired set point. If a deviation between the two is detected, which, for example, may result in an undesirable flow through the valve, the positioner generates a signal to the actuator to adjust the position of the valve element accordingly.
Such valve assemblies can be provided in a variety of forms. In one arrangement, the valve is configured as a sliding stem valve. In such a valve, a sliding plug or piston is moved within a frame or a cage positioned between an inlet and an outlet of the valve. Depending on the position of the plug, the cross-sectional area of opening between the inlet and the outlet is adjusted, allowing more or less fluid to traverse through the valve. The actuator for such a valve can also be provided in a variety of forms, but commonly has a movable stem directly coupled to a valve stem extending from the valve plug, and employs fluid pressure (e.g., gas and/or liquid pressure), within a diaphragm casing of the actuator to cause the actuator stem to move.
The positioner of a valve system is typically mounted on the outside of the actuator, and includes a sensor therein adapted to receive a signal from a transmitter mounted on the sliding stem of the actuator. However, certain drawbacks are encountered with such positioners. For example, pinch points are created within the power and signal wiring connected to the transmitter that can result in malfunctions or erroneous readings. In addition, the receiver may be subjected to physical damage as it is exposed to the elements and the working environments of the facility in which the valve is installed. Misalignment can occur as the receiver is often mounted onto the housing using relatively simple brackets or the like, with such misalignment also contributing to inaccurate readings. Accordingly, periodic adjustment and/or recalibration are necessary, contributing to higher maintenance costs.

Position sensors for valve systems and related assemblies, systems and methods


A distortion compensation device includes: a memory configured to store a first and second table, different addresses being assigned to the first and second table respectively, each of the addresses being related to a distortion compensation coefficient to compensate for a non-linear distortion, a first address in the first table and a second address in the second table corresponding to respective first and second ranges of power or amplitude of a transmission signal, and parts of the first and second ranges overlapping each other; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to: update the respective distortion compensation coefficients related to the first address and the second address simultaneously, in accordance with a single value of the power or the amplitude, and compensate for the non-linear distortion generated by an amplifier amplifying the power of the transmission signal, by using at least one of the first and second table.

With the increasing speed of radio communication, the bandwidth and dynamic range of transmission signals have been recently increased. Under such circumstances, a high linearity is in demand for amplifiers that amplify transmission signals, in order to minimize the deterioration of signal quality. In addition, high power-conversion efficiency is also in demand for amplifiers, in terms of power consumption.

Distortion compensation device and distortion compensation device method


A method and an electronic device for determining headset line sequence are disclosed in this application, where a third pin and a fourth pin on a headset plug are connected to a direct-current power supply to form a power supply branch, and a bias resistor is connected onto the power supply branch in series. This application obtains a second voltage between the third pin and the fourth pin, compares the second voltage with a preset first threshold, and according to a comparison result, determines a signal type of a signal transmitted by the third pin and a signal type of a signal transmitted by the fourth pin.

With the development of scientific technology, a headset as an auxiliary product of a terminal is applied wider and wider. Currently, the headset not only has an audio play function, but also can record sound through an electronic device.
At present, four signals exist in a headset used in a terminal: a left sound channel (L), a right sound channel (R), a ground (G) and a microphone MIC (M), and the four signals all communicate with the terminal through a headset plug. In order to make the headset match with different terminals, line sequence of the four signals in a headset head is generally fixed, so the electronic device only needs to perform line layout according to the fixed line sequence.
However, manufacturers that produce headsets are numerous, which divides the line sequence of most headsets in the market into two categories: the first line sequence LRGM shown in FIG. 1 and the second line sequence LRMG shown in FIG. 2. According to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, it can be seen that, positions of MIC signals and ground signals in headsets of different manufacturers are different. No uniform standard exists, so either a headset with line sequence of LRGM or a headset with line sequence of LRMG can only be used in a terminal matching with line sequence of the headset. However, for a common user, the user cannot learn the line sequence arrangement of a headset, so that the user is unable to use the headset normally through a terminal.

Method and electronic device for determining headset line sequence


A low latency event communication system comprises a computer system having an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) namespace table with a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) branch and a non-PCI device described in the PCI branch to enable the non-PCI device to be assigned a PCI resource.

When a computer system is subjected to a shock force, such as striking the floor after a fall from a desktop, a hard disk drive (HDD) of the computer system is less likely to be damaged if the head is parked. An accelerometer, either a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) version, may be used for identifying the start of a freefall. However, in order to maximize the chances that the HDD head is parked before the computer strikes the floor, the freefall event should be communicated with minimal delay.
Computer systems use devices which may comply with a number of different industry standard specifications such as Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and/or PCI Express, which are the current favored standards for plug-in cards, and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), which is an older generation standard for plug-in cards. Interrupt requests (IRQs) are often used by PCI-compliant devices for low latency event communication by directly signaling a central processing unit (CPU) of the computing system. Unfortunately, some cost-effective accelerometers that could be used to detect a freefall are non-PCI devices (i.e., a device which does not conform to the industry standard PCI specification). One example of such a non-PCI accelerometer is an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) bus device. Unfortunately, I2C bus devices lack the ability to use an IRQ and, therefore, do not have the same native capability for low latency event communication as do PCI devices. Accordingly, latency associated with typical I2C bus messaging methods result in an increased likelihood of damage to the HDD if a freefall event is detected if a non-PCI device is used to detect the freefall event.

Low latency event communication system and method

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A light emitting diode comprising microporous silicon of one conductivity type forming a PN junction with silicon of the opposite conductivity type and electrodes respectively connected to said regions, at least one of the electrodes being transparent.

Electroluminescence in light emitting diodes, LED's, is useful in a number of applications including coupling between different chips of a circuit, driving an optical fiber communication system and driving a remote phased antenna array. Unfortunately, however, the LED's currently available are fabricated with GaAs so that they cannot, at the present time, be practicably integrated into circuits for the aforementioned applications and others that are generally formed in a silicon, Si, substrate.
The existence of photoluminescence in porous silicon has been reported in an article by L. T. Canham entitled "Silicon Quantum Wire Array Fabrication by Electrochemical and Chemical Dissolution of Wafers" that appeared at page 1046 of "Applied Physics Letters 57" of September 1990, and in an article by V. Lehmann and U. Gosele entitled "Porous Silicon Formation: A Quantum Wire Effect" that appeared at page 856 of "Applied Physics Letters 58" of February 1991, but no suggestion is made therein of a way of utilizing porous silicon for producing electroluminescence in an LED.

Light emitting diode with electro-chemically etched porous silicon

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


A display device for detecting light includes a display surface, at least one light sensitive element arranged behind the display surface, and a liquid crystal element arranged between the display surface and the at least one light sensitive element. The liquid crystal element is operative to polarization shift light incident on the at least one light sensitive element based on an orientation of the plurality of molecules. The display device further includes at least one electrode operative to change an orientation of the plurality of molecules. The at least one electrode is patterned to define a geometry of at least one field of view of the at least one light sensitive element. A controller is electrically coupled to the at least one electrode, wherein the controller is configured to apply a voltage to the at least one electrode to effect selection of the at least one field of view.

WO2006132384 (Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corp.) This publication describes a display having switchable wide and narrow fields of view that make use of a variation in intensity with viewing angle and control a grey level curve of the display. In particular, the invention relates to electrical control of fields of view of light emitted from a display using intrinsic properties of the liquid crystal. This publication does not disclose the use of an in-cell polariser nor is the display implemented with an embedded sensor array.
WO2009/002446A1 (Chiefway Engineering Co. Ltd)
This publication describes a light-regulation membrane that uses polymer dispersed liquid crystal films sandwiched between polymer compound and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched in-between two conductive layers. In this invention, a field of view is not created through specific patterning of one of the ITO layers.
WO2007/058924 (Planar Systems Inc.)
This invention describes a display having embedded light sensors. One of the embodiments shows an LCD arrangement where the rear polariser is placed above the electronic layers. This is in contrast to the common position of the rear polariser which is below the electronics. In the invention, a field of view is not created on a sensor through specific patterning of one of the ITO layers.
There is an increasing interest in touch-sensitive panels, as they provide a simplified means of interaction with the user through the measurement of two-dimensional positioning of user-controlled objects on the display panel surface.
More particularly, the implementation of electrically switchable functions embedded with the touch-sensitive panel is of great advantage as it provides a simple efficient way to combine different functions into one display configuration.
Among these functions, three-dimensional detection of objects on top of the display, adaptation of display intensity to ambient light levels and document/fingerprint scanning generates a great interest for embedded light sensor display manufacturers.

Electrically switchable field of view for embedded light sensor


An onboard vehicle information notifying apparatus is proved with a moving body position acquiring section, an information acquiring section, an information providing zone setting section and an information notifying section. The moving body position acquiring section acquires a moving body position for at least one moving body existing in a vicinity of a host vehicle. The information acquiring section acquires an advancement speed and an advancement direction of the host vehicle, and a prescribed movement speed of the moving body. The information providing zone setting section sets an information providing zone within which existence of the moving body should be reported, based on information acquired by the information acquiring section. The information notifying section reports the existence of the moving body when the position of the moving body acquired by the moving body position acquiring section exists within the information providing zone set by the information providing zone setting section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an onboard vehicle information notifying apparatus for notifying a driver of a host vehicle regarding an existence of a pedestrian or other moving body in a vicinity surrounding the vehicle.
2. Background Information
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-227412 describes a known technology for notifying a driver of a host vehicle regarding a moving bodies in a vicinity surrounding the vehicle. The vehicle driving assistance apparatus presented in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-227412 computes a relative positional relationship between the host vehicle and each of the moving bodies existing in a region surrounding the vehicle based on information received from the moving bodies, and then report information regarding the moving bodies.

Onboard vehicle information notifying apparatus, information providing system, and information notifying method


A control method for a fuel cell system that includes a solid oxide fuel cell configured to generate power upon receipt of supply of an anode gas and a cathode gas includes an anode protection execution determination process of performing execution determination of an anode protection process of applying a predetermined protection current to the fuel cell in order to restrain catalyst oxidation in an anode of the fuel cell. In the anode protection execution determination process, an internal impedance of the fuel cell at an anode response frequency at which an anode reaction resistance of the fuel cell is detectable is acquired, and based on the internal impedance at the anode response frequency, whether the anode protection process is to be executed or not is determined.

In a fuel cell system including a solid oxide fuel cell, from the viewpoint of preventing oxidative degradation of an anode catalyst, a predetermined anode protection process is performed when the fuel cell is activated. As one example of the anode protection process, an EAP (Electric Anode Protection) process of applying a reverse current (a protection current) to a fuel cell stack at the time of system stop is proposed in JP 2014-523081 A.
Further, in a fuel cell system of JP 2014-523081 A, a stack temperature is estimated based on stack resistance information obtained by superimposing a high-frequency alternating current signal on a direct current signal of a fuel cell stack, and a setting current of the EAP process is adjusted based on the estimated stack temperature information.

Control method for fuel cell system, and fuel cell system


An implantable defibrillator lead comprises a flexible, conductive lead member having proximal and distal end portions. The distal end portion defines a plurality of separate, curvilinear electrodes which naturally extend laterally outwardly in a curved arrangement from the remainder of the lead. However, by desired means, the curvilinear electrodes may be temporarily extended out straight, substantially parallel to the axis of the remainder of said lead member, to facilitate implantation of the lead. This may be preferably accomplished by a flexible sheath that encloses the lead member in longitudinally slidable relation.

This invention relates to deployable leads having electrodes which may be held in a position for inserting of the lead into the body of a patient, followed by placing of the electrodes into a position of use in which they assume a different configuration. More specifically, the invention relates to the field of implantable automatic defibrillators.
Examples of deployable defibrillation electrodes are disclosed in Fogarty et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,769 and Moore U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,900 and Fain et al. co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 404,517, filed Sep. 6, 1989.
As described in Fogarty et al. it is well known in the field of cardiology that certain types of cardiac arrhythmias known as ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation can often be effectively treated by the application of electrical shocks to the heart. Such defibrillation may be achieved by the application of electrical paddles to the chest of a patient, or directly to the heart tissue, if the chest is open during surgery.
More recent improvements have lead to the development of implantable defibrillators which monitor the heart for arrythmias and automatically initiate defibrillation when an arrythmia occurs. Such devices typically incorporate electrodes which are located next to the heart, or on an intravascular catheter, or both. Because the electrodes are closer to the heart tissue, implanted defibrillators require less electrical energy to stimulate the heart than do external electrodes.
However, major surgery is generally necessary to implant the present defibrillator lead systems, for example a median sternotomy or a lateral thoracotomy. These procedures can be very traumatic to the patient, and may have significant adverse side effects. Candidates for such procedures or any procedure include only those persons for whom the potential benefits outweigh the risks. Because of the significant surgical risks of the present lead systems, many patients who might otherwise benefit from the use of an implantable defibrillator are excluded.
While leads are generally known which are collapsed into an advancement position for implantation in the body and then are deployable to an operating position inside the body, the defibrillator lead electrodes require a substantially large area, to provide even current distribution and low defibrillation energy thresholds. Thus, difficulties are encountered in the designing of deployable defibrillator electrodes.
In electrodes such as those shown in Fogarty et al., it would be of advantage if the long, spiral electrode could be reduced in length. By this improvement, the length along which the electrode has to deploy is shorter and more controllable, and electrical resistance can be minimized. Similarly in the Moore patent, the size of the electrode, when distorted into shape for movement through a catheter as shown therein may be unduly large.
In accordance with this invention, a lead carrying multiple electrodes is provided to achieve a desired length reduction of the electrodes, as well as other significant advantages over electrodes of the prior art. For example, a multiple electrode system provides more redundance to the system so that it can continue to operate in the event of failure of one of the electrodes. Also, the lead of this invention may be inserted through a small incision with minimum trauma to the patient, while providing adequate electrode surface area for defibrillation, due to the deployable nature of the lead.


A diesel dosing system for a vehicle includes a control valve (31) controlling fluid flow to a dosing valve (32) for supplying fuel directly into an exhaust passage of the vehicle. A system pressure source (55) feeds the control valve. A shutoff valve (54) is fluidly connected to the pressure source downstream thereof and to the control valve upstream thereof. The shutoff valve permits bidirectional flow there-through. A connection (57) is between the shutoff valve and the control valve defining a fluid volume there-between. The shutoff valve permits fluid flow from the system pressure source through the connection and to the control valve during a regeneration phase of the system. Upon engine shutdown and based on fluid pressure in the volume, the shutoff valve opens so that fluid trapped in the volume will communicate with the pressure source thereby reducing the fluid pressure in the volume.

The advent of a new round of stringent emissions legislation in Europe and North America is driving the implementation of new exhaust aftertreatment systems, particularly for compression-ignition (diesel) engines that exhibit high levels of soot and particulate matter in the engine exhaust. Exhaust aftertreatment technologies are currently in production that trap these particulate emissions. These diesel particulate filters (DPFs) require periodic regeneration to remove the built-up particulate matter (PM). The regeneration requires temperatures in excess of 540 C. to efficiently oxidize the PM and clean out the filter. These temperatures are rarely achieved under normal operation in many diesel applications; therefore, an active regeneration approach is often required to guarantee periodic cleaning of the DPF.
Generally, the active regeneration is achieved by a post-injection of the main engine fuel injectors (injection of fuel during the exhaust stroke). The extra, uncombusted fuel enters the exhaust system where it oxidizes and thereby increases the exhaust gas temperature to the required levels for regeneration.
Improvements to this approach have been developed, notably, diesel dosing systems that inject hydrocarbons directly into the exhaust system.
There is a need to further improve a diesel dosing system to prevent excessive build-up of fluid pressure during hot shutdown.

Diesel dosing system relief of trapped volume fluid pressure at shutdown


A control unit for a hybrid vehicle includes a take-off detection unit that detects a start of movement of the hybrid vehicle from a stopped state; and a torque control unit that limits a engine torque input to an automatic transmission from becoming excessive by generating negative torque using a regeneration operation of a motor on occasions when the start of running of the hybrid vehicle is detected by the take-off detection unit. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably inhibit problems, such as an occupant of the hybrid vehicle being caused to feel an unpleasant jolt due to torque transmitted to a driven wheel side increasing instantaneously as a result of change in an application state of a clutch during the start of movement.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a control device for a hybrid vehicle. More specifically, the invention relates to a control device for a hybrid vehicle that is able to inhibit generation of a jolt which is unpleasant for an occupant of the hybrid vehicle and which is caused by change of an application state of a take-off clutch within an automatic speed change mechanism when an accelerator pedal is depressed to make the hybrid vehicle start moving (take-off).
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, art has been proposed (for an example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 07-293687) for a torque converter type automatic transmission that is mounted in a vehicle in which, when the vehicle is stopped with the shift range left in a drive range, a predetermined friction engagement element (clutch) within the transmission (automatic speed change mechanism) is caused to slip such that a neutral state is approached. This art executes a so-called neutral control in which, for example, a fluid pressure supplied to a hydraulic servo of a clutch assisting with the start of movement (hereinafter referred to as a "take-off clutch") within the transmission is regulated based upon predetermined conditions such that the take-off clutch is able to maintain a slipping state. Further, it is possible to promote a smooth start-up of movement because, when the take-off clutch moves from the slipping state to a fully applied state, the fluid pressure of the hydraulic servo is determined based upon various conditions, such as a target application time and an input torque to the transmission.
Moreover, by executing the neutral control while the vehicle is stopped, torque transmitted to driven wheels via the torque converter and the transmission is reduced. Accordingly, an increase in fuel consumption resulting from drag of the torque converter while the vehicle is stopped by depression of a brake pedal is inhibited, and it is possible to reduce vibrations caused by idle revolution.


This invention relates generally to a volumetric pipet used to make a volumetric measurement and transfer a measured amount of liquid. More specifically the invention relates to a pipet that fills from the top, works well with automated systems because it does not require positioning devices or a supply of suction, is easy to rinse and rinses upon filling, and meets the precision requirements of class A volumetric glassware. The pipette of the invention may include a chamber for manipulation of the liquid before pipetting. The pipet is capable of delivering a repeatable predetermined volume of fluid, fills from the top and dispenses from the bottom, which eliminates a need for suction to fill the pipet. The pipet does not trap air in the measuring chamber and works without any valves making contact the sample liquid in the measuring chamber.

Pipets are used to extract, measure and transfer a volume of liquid. A common pipet design is a cylindrical vessel open at both ends, like a drinking straw, with a mark to indicate a predefined volume and a means to apply suction and pressure to one end of the cylinder. In use, suction is applied to draw liquid into the pipet from a reservoir. The pipet is then moved to a receiving vessel and pressure or gravity empties measured volume.
An important concept in volumetric measurement of liquid is that precision can be increased by reducing the diameter of the cylinder at the upper limit of the liquid. This is seen in volumetric flasks, which have a large diameter base and a smaller diameter neck at the top. Volumetric pipets are usually cylindrical, as previously stated. However, volumetric pipets may have a large diameter section, e.g., in the middle, so that the pipet can hold more volume, although the area of the pipet corresponding to the limiting point for the liquid is typically narrowed again. Stated another way, reducing the surface area of the meniscus increases the accuracy.
Most pipets fill from the bottom end, while pressure and suction are applied at the upper end. This configuration has the advantage of minimizing the surface area of the boundary between the liquid and the air, thereby maintaining precision. Another advantage of this simple yet effective device is that the liquid to be measured does not contact any valves. The liquid is suspended in the pipet with suction. A disadvantage associated with the use of valves is that valves have mating surfaces, seats, and fittings having irregular surfaces that are likely to retain the liquid, reduce precision and make the device more difficult to rinse.
One disadvantage of the bottom fill pipet described above is that the pipet must be moved with each cycle of operation from the fill location to the dispense location. Another disadvantage is that the pressure and suction must be carefully controlled.
In addition to manual pipets, automated pipet systems have been developed. An example automated pipet system may include a syringe, a stepper motor, a three-way valve to select between intake and dispense functions, and equipment necessary to move the pipet vertically in and out of a fluid as well as equipment necessary to move the pipe horizontally from an intake location to a dispense location. Although a means to apply pressure and suction has been automated and the movement of the pipet in the x and y directions has been automated, typically the same basic design is used, wherein a cylindrical vessel is opened at both ends. Examples of typical "glass straw" pipet vessels may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,992,947, 4,476,095, 4,624,147, 5,090,255, 5,271,902, 5,679,575, 5,820,824, and 6,253,628.
Other known pipette designs include the unitary filter-pipette taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,380 to Ellis. The Ellis pipette fills from the top and has the advantage of a measuring chamber that, by its design, holds a limited amount of liquid, making the volumetric measurement automatic. Ellis teaches a manual pipet.
One drawback associated with Ellis is that liquid may continue to enter the measuring chamber from the filter and its funnel while the pipet is emptying, which will compromise the accuracy. Additionally, liquid is supported by a valve at the bottom of the measuring chamber, which will reduce precision and complicate rinsing. Rinsing requires either moving the device or replacing the receiving vessel after rinsing because the rinse media exits the device through the same port as measured liquid.
The above described accuracy limitations make the Ellis device inappropriate for high precision applications. Having to position the device for rinsing makes the Ellis device less suitable for automation.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,434,723 to Shook describes a Means for Measuring Volumetric Samples in that has the feature of isolating measure liquid between two valves. Shook teaches a manual rather than automated pipet.
Shook's device does not provide a clear or separate path for displaced air to evacuate when filled from the top. Rinsing is required between the fill and dispense operations. Otherwise, liquid will continue to enter the measuring chamber from the vessel above the uppermost valve while the measured liquid is emptying. Rinsing requires either moving the device or replacing the receiving vessel after rinsing, or turning a valve to select a separate passage for the rinse media. This device has a valve below and another above the measuring chamber. These valves will reduce precision and complicated rinsing.
German Patent No. 929,333 to Altmann describes a buret. The Altmann device fills from the top, using pressure or suction to fill from a supply reservoir that is at a lower elevation than the full mark of the buret. Altmann teaches that the buret is filled with excess fluid, then gravity and a siphon effect return the excess to a supply reservoir.
The Altmann device has a valve at the lower boundary of the measuring chamber, which will reduce precision and complicate rinsing. The use of pressure or suction requires that a source of pressure or suction be available. The Altmann device delivers the rinse media and the measured liquid through the same opening requiring that the rinse vessel and the sample vessel be moved back and forth. Only one opening is provided in the top of the measuring chamber through which air must evacuate and liquid enter, which limits accuracy. The Altmann buret is shown having a straight cylinder wall. Altmann shows the upper limit of the liquid to be at point D, the delivery tip. Further, Altmann's device requires that air must evacuate the measuring area of the buret and escape through opening H.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,095 to Scott describes an automated pipet that includes a motor driven syringe to supply suction, pressure and volumetric measurement, and a device to position the pipet in two locations, i.e., one location for filling the pipet and a second location for delivering the measured liquid. Scott teaches a "drinking straw" style pipet that has been automated and has many limitations. The Scott device is difficult to rinse and rinsing may require disassembly. It is complex because it has a motor driven syringe supplying pressure and suction, and a positioning device. Position devices and motor driven syringes require control circuits, motors, gears and maintenance.
Moon describes a Flow-thru-Pipet in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/208,420. The Moon device includes a fill chamber where sample preparation can occur. It uses compressed air to empty the measuring chamber. The Moon pipet fills from the top. The measuring chamber has separate passages to simultaneously fill with liquid and evacuate air. To rinse the device, the receiving vessel must be replaced because the rinse media and measured liquid are dispensed through the same port. The device also has a valve at the lower end of the measuring chamber, which compromises precision and complicates rinsing.
A drawback with bottom fill manual and automated pipets is that fluid is drawn into the pipet and dispensed from the pipet through the same orifice, which is usually located at the lower end of the pipet. Filling and dispensing of fluid from the same orifice in the pipet necessitates locating the pipet in a fluid source to fill the pipet and then relocating the pipet at a dispensing location every time it is desired to dispense a sample of fluid. Consequently, automated pipet systems require complex systems to relocate the pipet from the fluid source to the dispensing location.
Therefore, a pipet is desirable that is capable of delivering a repeatable predetermined volume of fluid, wherein the pipet fills from the top and dispenses from the bottom, i.e., a "flow through" pipet, which would eliminate the need for positioning devices. It is further desirable to provide a top fill pipet that does not trap air in the measuring chamber. Such a pipet could be provided in an automated pipetting system wherein the pipet would not have to be repositioned to a fill location after dispensing a fluid sample, thereby greatly simplifying an automated pipetting system.
It is further desirable to have a system that automates titrations that use volumetric measurement of the sample. There are many titration methods that are specific to a sample and chemical species being measured. Generally a titration method is comprised of four steps: 1) Sample preparation, which may be a chemical addition or physical manipulation of the sample; 2) Sample measurement by weight or volume; 3) Titration, which is the addition of a chemical of known concentration until a desired reaction occurs; and 4) Calculation of the concentration of the sample. Sample preparation may include more than one step and may occur before or after the sample measurement. To summarize, it is desirable to have a system that automates all four steps above and does not require any human input during the sample preparation step through the calculation steps described above.
Therefore, it is desirable to accomplish sample measurement by volume, and to provide a vessel where sample preparation can occur when necessary and prior to sample measurement. Until now, volumetric measurement has been manually accomplished with volumetric pipets, volumetric flasks, and in a limited number of situations with automated pipets.
It is additionally desirable to provide a pipet that includes a vessel or chamber for sample preparation wherein the pipet is capable of dispensing a measured volume that meets the precision requirements of a class A volumetric pipet as specified in ASTM E969-02, which is plus or minus 0.08 milliliters for a 100 ml pipet. One drop of liquid is usually about 0.05 ml. Therefore, the device is accurate to approximately a single drop of fluid.
It is further desirous to eliminate the need for any positioning devices including both devices for moving the pipet and devices for moving the sample vessel or rinse media vessel. Positioning devices are expensive and complex. Therefore it is beneficial to fill the pipet from the top so that gravity can be used to move the liquid to different locations.
It is desirous to eliminate the need for suction to fill the pipet, eliminating the need for an expensive vacuum supply or a suction pump. Therefore, it is beneficial to fill the pipet from the top allowing gravity to fill the pipet. Additionally, it is desirable that the device be configured for effective rinsing, thereby eliminating contamination of one sample by the previous sample. Also, rinsing should be simple and quick for minimizing operator time and skill. The device should be inexpensive to build, maintain and operate.
It is desirous to eliminate valves that contact the sample liquid in the measuring chamber. The "straw" style pipet does not have any valves in contact with the measured liquid. It is desirable to emulate this feature because it will benefit precision.


Disclosed herein are heat-stable dry powders which include peptides or protein such as oxytocin for use as a pharmaceutical composition. The composition is highly stable at increased temperatures and relatively high humid environments, and are intended for storage at room temperature with an improved shelf-life. In particular, the dry powders are intended for inhalation, however, other routes of administration can be used when reconstituted in solution.

Delivery of drugs has been a major problem for many years, particularly when the compound to be delivered is unstable under the conditions encountered in the gastro-intestinal tract when administered orally to a subject, prior to reaching its targeted location. For example, it is preferable in many cases to administer drugs orally especially in terms of ease of administration, patient compliance, and decreased cost. However, many compounds are ineffective or exhibit low or variable potency when they are administered orally. Presumably this is because the drugs are unstable under conditions in the digestive tract or because they are inefficiently absorbed. For biologic products, in particular peptides and proteins, the acidic environment in the stomach is detrimental to maintain function as most proteins are degraded readily.
Isolated biological substances, including, certain proteins and peptides can readily and completely lose functional activity, for example, by taking them out of −20° C. storage once. Other isolated proteins and peptides undergo significant degradation when stored at 4° C., without the addition of protease inhibitors. Most mammalian proteins and peptides degrade at a temperature greater than 43° C. It has been well established that at 55° C., most proteins undergo complete denaturation in about 1-2 hours. In some cases, complete denaturation and destabilization of an isolated protein also occurs at room temperature.
Due to the problems associated with oral drug delivery of drugs and in particular, biologically-derived products, drug delivery to the lungs has been explored. For example, drugs delivered to the lungs are designed to have an effect on the tissue of the lungs, for example, vasodilators, surfactants, chemotherapeutic agents or vaccines for flu or other respiratory illnesses. Drug formulations for treating pulmonary diseases such as asthma are available by several methods, including, using nebulizers such as treatment with PULMOZYME®, using metered-dose inhalers such as SYMBICORT®, and dry powder inhalers such as ADVAIR DISKUS®, PULMICORT FLEXAHER®. Other drugs, including nucleotide drugs, have been delivered to the lungs because they represent a tissue particularly appropriate for treatment, for example, for genetic therapy in cystic fibrosis, where retroviral vectors expressing an effective adenosine deaminase are administered to the lungs.
Currently, formulations for treating systemic disease using biologic products are available primarily through injectable compositions. Dry powder compositions for pulmonary inhalation and systemic delivery of insulin have been used including EXUBERA®, and AFREZZA® in clinical trials. There is the desire, however, to improve the shelf-life at room temperature for dry powder compositions, especially those comprising a biologic molecule, including peptides and nucleic acids, to further prolonged their life, facilitate their storage and delivery prior to patient use, particularly if refrigeration is not available.
For example, according to the World Health Organization, 800 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Among the major causes of death is severe bleeding (post-partum hemorrhage) that can be prevented by the use of a peptide hormone, oxytocin, a biologic molecule. Commercially available oxytocin compositions are provided as liquid formulations under the trade names PITOCIN® and SYNTOCINON® or as generic oxytocin; the peptide in solution degrades readily at ambient temperature, requires storage below 25° C. prior to use, and is administered only by injection. The preparations of injectable formulations and special storage needed create challenges, which prohibit their use in subtropical and tropical climates where there is a great need, and refrigeration and sterilization are not always readily available.
Accordingly, there is room for improvement in the development of pharmaceutical formulations comprising biologic molecules in particular for pulmonary delivery in the treatment of disease.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Heat-stable dry powder pharmaceutical compositions and methods


A synchronous motor includes a unitary rotor, a first stator, a second stator and phase-changing switches. The unitary rotor has a first rotor portion formed by a first permanent magnet and a second rotor portion formed by a second permanent magnet and an induction type rotor and these first and second rotor portions are mounted on a common rotary axle with a predetermined space provided therebetween. The first stator faces the first rotor portion for producing a first rotating magnetic field. The second stator faces the second rotor portion for producing a second rotating magnetic field and is disposed such that, at the starting operation, the attracting action or the repelling action produced between the first rotating magnetic field and the first permanent magnet is canceled by the repelling action or the attracting action produced between the second rotating magnetic field and the permanent magnetic field. The phase-changing switches are associated with either one of the first stator or the second stator and set a phase difference of 0 degree or 180 degrees between the first rotating magnetic field and the second rotating magnetic field. Due to the cancellation action, any starting interference which may otherwise be caused by the permanent magnets is made negligible.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an induction synchronous motor of a permanent magnet type which starts by the induction motor action and is brought into a synchronous operation by permanent magnets.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A conventional motor of the kind to which the present invention relates is a synchronous motor having a brushless configuration. In such a conventional motor, a unitary rotor comprises a squirrel cage type conductive portion of the induction motor and a rotor portion of permanent magnets. The motor starts by the magnetic induction action produced between the rotating magnetic field of the stator and the squirrel cage type conductive portion of the induction motor and, when the rotating speed accelerates from the asynchronous speed of the induction motor and approaches the synchronous speed, that is, when the slip approaches zero, the rotating magnetic field of the stator and the magnetic poles of the permanent magnets attract each other thereby changing the motor speed to its synchronous speed.
In the conventional synchronous motor explained above, the motor starts by the magnetic induction action between the rotating magnetic field of the stator and the squirrel cage type conductor portion of the induction motor. During the asynchronous operation under this state, there are produced at the same time an attracting action and a repelling action between the permanent magnets and the rotating magnetic field produced by the stator. This necessitates the squirrel cage type conductive portion to have a magnetic induction action fully sufficient to overcome the starting interference caused by the simultaneous attraction and repulsion between the permanent magnets and the rotating magnetic field of the stator during the asynchronous speed operation. Thus, the squirrel cage type conductive portion of the induction motor is required to be sufficiently large to overcome and to make negligible the starting interference of the permanent magnet rotor. On the other hand, the synchronous torque which is inherently required depends on the size of the permanent magnets. In order to enable the starting torque of the induction motor to be sufficiently large to overcome the action of the permanent magnets, it has been required that the permanent magnets be kept small. For this reason, in comparison of the size of the motor with its output, a brushless synchronous motor of a permanent magnet type has remained large in size.
The brushless induction motor of a permanent magnet type as explained above is often used in recording or reproduction devices of small sizes in which WOW is particularly undesired. The problems as explained above place limits to making such devices more compact so that there is a demand and desire for the realization of a synchronous motor which is small in size but its output remains large.

Synchronous motor with two permanent magnet rotor portions


A high voltage power supply includes a high voltage high frequency generator (10) having outputs (12, 14). An arc limiting device (20) is connected in series to the outputs (12, 14) of the generator (10). The arc limiting device (20) includes two coils (22, 24) of a wound length of wire (50) that exhibit a skin effect. The skin effect forces higher frequency current components to flow at a surface of the wire (50) through a limited skin layer portion (62) of a cross section of the wire (50). In one preferred embodiment, the arc limiting device (20) is connected via high voltage cables (32, 34) with an x-ray tube (40). Suitable material for the wire (50) includes those materials with high permeability to resistivity ratios, for example iron, purified iron, 78 permalloy, 4-97 permalloy, mu metal, or supermalloy.

The present invention relates to the art of high voltage power supplies. The invention finds particular application in conjunction with high voltage power supplies (often referred to as generators in the x-ray art) for x-ray tubes and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present invention will also find application in conjunction with arc limiting in other environments.
During an electric arc discharge, such as may occasionally occur in an x-ray tube at high voltage, very high frequency currents from tens of kilo-Hertz to many mega-Hertz are generated. During the arc, the x-ray tube, housing components, or other surrounding elements may be damaged. Therefore, it becomes advantageous to limit or suppress arcing to protect those elements at risk from damage.
In the past, a number of methods have been used for limiting arcing. One such method was to insert an electrical resistance, typically in the form of fixed resistors, in the path of the output voltage. However, depending on the desired output power of the system, this could cause significant voltage loss and power dissipation during normal operation. Moreover, destructive currents were still permitted to flow during an arc.
Another method was to introduce a series inductance in the output with the intent of reducing the rate of rise of the arcing current. Reducing the rise spread the event over time which limited the current peak. While reasonably effective, this method was rather costly. The inductive elements could also require cores, flyback protective diodes, and damping resistance to catch the inductive voltage spikes that resulted from rapidly changing currents. The size and number of coils necessary to achieve the desired inductance tended to be costly. Furthermore, the resultant circuitry took up significant space and could tend to introduce failure modes of its own.
Still another method attempts to match the characteristic impedance of the high voltage transmission cable through a series terminating resistance of relatively low value, typically in the range of 50-100 ohms. This matching then reduces the resonant ringing from the parasitic reactance of the supply cable and load. However, large currents are still permitted to flow, and typically, it is implemented in only the anode end of an x-ray tube as opposed to both the anode and cathode, where the cathode filament connections and current requirements make it impractical.
The present invention contemplates new and improved arc limiting devices which overcome the above-referenced problems and others while significantly reducing the peak arc currents and absorbing much of the arc energy. At the same time, it permits the direct load current to flow to the load with minimal DC resistance, voltage, and power loss.

Arc limiting device using the skin effect in ferro-magnetic materials


The present invention offers an advanced control software verification technology, particularly, an assertion-based verification technology, by providing a control microcomputer verification device and vehicle-mounted control device that exhibit improved verification efficiency. Assertion-based verification is performed with a verification device that has a hardware configuration in which the verification device is independent of a CPU core of a microcomputer but operates in parallel with the CPU core of the microcomputer, which sequentially executes control software. The hardware to be employed to achieve the above purpose is a finite state machine based on microprogrammed control. An interrupt factor is branched immediately before an interrupt controller for the microcomputer and used as a transition input. When an abnormal transition is detected, a warning is output to the microcomputer as an interrupt or output to the outside in the form of a signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control microcomputer verification device and vehicle-mounted control device, and more particularly to a verification device and vehicle-mounted control device that are used to perform assertion-based verification (ABV) of state transition caused by control software, which is sequentially executed by a microcomputer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it is demanded that in-vehicle control software exhibit enhanced operation reliability due to an increased use of electronic machine parts. It goes without saying that the required level for software functional accuracy and the design level for design system strictness are raised in accordance with the above demand.
In particular, the design of state transition within a control algorithm is a problem. A state transition design must be made so that an external phenomenon is flexibly coped with in relation to an event generated by a system. This is a great advantage provided when electronic parts are used for the control of vehicle-mounted functional members, and serves as a key factor for meeting the requirements for control enhancement and refinement. Further, considerable attention is paid to control algorithm reliability from a viewpoint of safety. Electronic hardware and control software can be effectively used to make a valuable contribution to the field of functional safety.
As the number of vehicle-mounted electronic parts increases, it would be increasingly important that proper implementation of the required level and design level be verified.
A design phase for vehicle-mounted electronic parts, particularly, an activity for creating control software for operating an embedded microcomputer, is characterized by the fact that a so-called state machine is designed with attention paid to an internal state definition related to system behavior, a state transition condition (event), and an action taken upon state transition.
A currently employed common method for enhancing the quality and reliability of the control software is to create the software by considering all possible internal state definitions and transition conditions. If the encountered combination of an internal state and a transition condition is undefined or unexpected, a software automatic generation technology that is based on a state transition table and disclosed, for instance, by JP-A-2006-12017 automatically inserts an exception process or the like to enhance the stability of the control software.
The software automatic generation technology mentioned above is counted as an advance design technology that clarifies all possible conditions prior to the software design, takes all the clarified conditions into consideration, and improves the robustness of software.

Control microcomputer verification device and vehicle-mounted control device