The liquid discharge head has a three-dimensional structure which defines a space including a pressure chamber filled with liquid and a flow channel for supplying the liquid to the pressure chamber, the three-dimensional structure being formed by depositing a composition material on a substrate according to a deposition method, and a drive element which causes discharge of the liquid from the pressure chamber through a nozzle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge head and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a technique of using a deposition method in the manufacture of a liquid discharge head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in the field of the micro electrical mechanical systems (MEMS), it is considered that the devices using piezoelectric ceramics, such as sensors and actuators, have reached a higher level of integration and these elements are fabricated by a film formation that is suitable for practical use. As a case in point, an aerosol deposition method is known as a deposition technique for ceramics, a metal, or the like. In the aerosol deposition method, aerosol is made from powder of raw material, the aerosol is sprayed onto a substrate, and a film is formed on the substrate by deposition of the powdered material due to its impact energy.
When an inkjet head or another such liquid discharge head is manufactured, the main target product formed by the aerosol deposition method is a piezoelectric member for driving a diaphragm. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-136714 suggests a method for manufacturing a liquid discharge head wherein a diaphragm made from a metal oxide material is formed on a substrate made from a corrosion-resistant metal material according to the aerosol deposition method. In the manufacturing, after the diaphragm is formed on the substrate according to the aerosol deposition method, the portions of the substrate that server as ink liquid chambers (pressure chambers) are removed by etching, so that the substrate forms pressure chamber dividing walls.
In general, the diaphragms and the pressure chamber dividing walls in the inkjet head are affixed together by adhesive. On the other hand, the method suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-136714 has merits that there is no need for an adhesion step for affixing the diaphragms with the pressure chamber dividing walls, because the diaphragms are formed according to the aerosol deposition method on the substrate that serves as the pressure chamber dividing walls.
However, the manufacturing method suggested in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-136714 is problematic in that it comprises a step for etching the substrate in order to form pressure chambers facing the diaphragms after the diaphragms are formed according to the aerosol deposition method, and hence the number of processes increases. There is no conventional technique in which the pressure chamber dividing walls are formed according to the aerosol deposition method.
Furthermore, the base part of the inkjet head has a three-dimensional structure defining spaces such as pressure chambers, which are filled with ink, and common flow paths for supplying ink to the pressure chambers. Miniaturization of this three-dimensional structure is essential if the nozzle density is to be increased in order to achieve high-quality of images formed by the inkjet head.
In the method of manufacture according to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-136714, pressure chambers are formed by etching a substrate; however, it is difficult to form complex spaces including the aforementioned flow paths, and the like, in the substrate, in addition to the pressure chambers, by etching the same substrate. The base part of the inkjet head generally has a multiple-layer substrate structure in which a plurality of substrates are bonded together in order to achieve a three-dimensional structure. Therefore, it is difficult to achieve downsizing, such as formation of a thin-film structure, formation of a fine structure, or the like. Moreover, if a three-dimensional structure is formed by means of a multiple-layer substrate, it is difficult to obtain a fine structure, due to problems of machining accuracy, breakages, warping and other stress damage. Further, in a structure which is formed with bonding by means of an adhesive, there has been a problem of uneven discharge pressure in the head, due to variations in the bonding layer or variations in the bonding strength. Furthermore, since the adhesive itself is an organic material, there have been problems in that the bonding force is liable to change over time, as well as stress-related change in properties over time, and hence improvements in durability are sought.

Liquid discharge head and manufacturing method thereof


A method, system, and computer program product for automated collection of training data and training object detection models is provided. The method generates a set of reference images for a first set of products. Based on the set of reference images, the method identifies a subset of products within an image stream. Based on the subset of products, a second set of products is determined within the image stream. The method identifies a set of product gaps based on the subset of products and the second set of products. The method generates a product detection model based on the set of reference images, the subset of products, the second set of products, and the product gaps.

Computer vision processes are used to detect objects within images or image streams. Object detection and object recognition often uses machine learning models trained on known, labeled images. These machine learning models are often trained on specified sets of objects. For example, a machine learning model may be trained on faces to perform detection of faces within image streams.

Automated training data collection for object detection

International Business Machines Corporation


A motor drive circuit comprising, an amplifier which receives output signals of a Hall element for determining the phase of the rotor in a single phase DC motor and outputs the same after amplification; a drive signal generating circuit which receives the amplified signals of the amplifier, generates first and second pulses each having a duty of about 50% of which phases differ by about 180.degree. and outputs the same; a first drive circuit connected to a first terminal of the single phase DC motor and a second drive circuit connected to a second terminal of the single phase DC motor. The first and second drive circuits each including, a first transistor circuit which supplies a current to the single phase DC motor, a second transistor circuit which sinks a current from the single phase DC motor; and a diode which bypasses a current flown out from the single phase DC motor toward a power source line side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor drive circuit (hereinbelow called as motor driver) the circuit thereof and more particularly, relates to a small sized DC motor at a high torque and with a high efficiency, reduces noise generation and is suitable for forming in an I C/ and further relates to a motor drive system in which the circuit thereof is incorporated in a motor or mounted thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional fan motor driver in an IC form which was mounted such as on an electronic device and a motor drive system including a fan motor driven thereby. The present example comprises a Hall element I fitted outside with respect to an IC, a fan motor driver 9 in an IC form which receives the output from the Hall element 1 and applies a drive current to a fan motor 8 in response to the received output and the fan motor 8 driven by the IC fan motor driver 9. A two phase DC brushless motor is usually used for the fan motor 8 (hereinbelow simply called motor 8). As such motor 8, a DC motor in which the stator thereof is provided with a coil which generates a rotating magnetic field and the rotor thereof is formed of a permanent magnet is generally employed. The Hall element 1 determines the rotating phase of the motor by detecting the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet rotor. The motor driver 9 is provided with, within the IC, an amplifier 2 (hereinbelow abbreviated as AMP 2), a drive pulse generating circuit 3 and first and second drive circuits 4 and 5 which output a driving current to the motor 8. The AMP 2 amplifies the output signal from the Hall element 1 and outputs the same, and the drive pulse generating circuit 3 wave-shapes the output signal from the AMP 2 and outputs two drive pulses 4a and 5a (see (b) and (c) in FIG. 3) having a phase difference of 180.degree. each with respect to other and duties of about 50%. The first drive circuit 4 switches between being and not being electrically conductive between the external terminal 6 thereof and the grounding terminal in response to the drive pulse 4a received at its input side, namely, the first drive circuit 4 sinks the driving current supplied to the motor from the power source line +Vcc toward the grounding line via a so called switching operation. The second drive circuit 5 is a circuit performing the same operation as the first drive circuit, in that it forms the switching operation of electrical conduction and interruption between the external terminal 7 and the grounding line in response to the drive pulse 5a received at its input side.
More specifically, the first drive circuit 4 is composed of transistors Q11 and Q12 in Darlington connection, the collector of the transistor Q11 at the drive stage is connected to the external terminal 6 and the base thereof is adapted to receive the drive pulse 4a. The collector of the transistor Q12 at the output stage is connected to the external terminal 6, the base thereof is connected to the emitter of the transistor Q11 and the emitter thereof is connected to the grounding line. The first five circuit further comprises a zenor diode Z1 having the cathode connected to the external terminal 6 and the anode connected to the base of the transistor Q11. The second drive circuit 5 is likely composed of transistor Q13 and Q14 in Darlington connection. The collector of the transistor Q13 at the drive stage is connected to the external terminal 7 and the base thereof is adapted to receive the driving pulse 5a. The collector of the transistor Q14 at the output stage is connected to the external terminal 7, the base thereof is connected to the emitter of the transistor Q13 and the emitter thereof is connected to the grounding line. Like the first drive circuit 4, the second drive circuit 5 further comprises a zenor diode Z2 having the cathode connected to the external terminal 7 and the anode thereof connected to the base of the transistor Q13.
The operation of the conventional fan driver having the above constitution is explained hereinbelow with reference to the signal waveforms shown in FIG. 3.
In order to determine the phase of the fan motor rotor the output signal of the Hall element 1 is inputted to the AMP 2 and the amplified signal ((a) in FIG. 3) outputted by the AMP 2 is applied to the drive pulse generating circuit 3. The drive pulse generating circuit 3 wave-shapes the input signal from the AMP 2, for example by means of a logic circuit, corrects the phase thereof and generates two drive pulses 4a (see (b) in FIG. 3) and 5a (see (cl in FIG. 3) which differ in their phases by about 180.degree. from each other and have waveforms of inverted relation each other.
The drive pulse 4a is applied to the base of the transistor Q11 in the first drive circuit 4. The drive pulse 5a is applied to the base of the transistor Q13 in the second drive circuit 5. Now, in the first drive circuit 4 when the drive pulse 4a is at a HIGH level (hereinbelow indicated as "ON") the transistor Q12 is turned "ON" and the path between the external terminal 6 and the grounding line is rendered electrically conductive (see (d) in FIG. 3). As a result, a drive current from the power line +Vcc is supplied to one coil 8a of the two phase motor 8 and flows toward the external terminal 6. When the drive pulse 4a is at Low level (hereinbelow indicated as "OFF") the transistor Q12 is turned "OFF" and the path between the external terminal 6 and the grounding line is electrically interrupted (see (d) in FIG. 3). As a result, the drive current in the coil 8a is interrupted. Due to the disappearance of the drive current flow path at this moment a voltage induced in the coil 8a is applied to the zenor diode Z1 and when the voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage of the zenor diode the current flows therethrough and the energy thereof is dissipated thereat.
The operation of the second drive circuit 5 is the same as that of the first drive circuit 4 except that the phase of the input signal differs from that of the first drive circuit 4 by 180.degree.. When the drive pulse 5a is "ON", the transistor Q14 is turned "ON", therefore the path between the external terminal 7 and the grounding line is rendered electrically conductive (see (e) in FIG. 3). As a result, a drive current from the power source line +Vcc is supplied to the other coil 8b of the two phase motor 8, and flows toward the external terminal 7. When the drive pulse 5a is rendered "OFF", the transistor Q14 is turned "OFF", therefore, the path between the external terminal 7 and the grounding line is electrically interrupted (see (e) in FIG. 3). Thereby, the driving current in the coil 8b is interrupted and the current flowing in the coil 8b flows via the zenor diode Z2 and is dissipated thereat in the same manner as above.
As explained above, the fan motor driver 9 generates within the IC the two drive pulses 4a and 5a of which phases differ by 180.degree. from each other and alternately supplies the drive current to the two coils 8a and 8b of the motor 8 to rotate the rotor of the fan motor.
Because such IC motor driver is only rendered conductive &rom the external terminals 6 and 7 to the ground line, such DC motors are almost limited to the two phase DC motor. Further, in such driver the two motor coils have to be driven alternatively, and the generated motor torque is low in comparison with the size thereof to thereby lower the efficiency thereof. Still further, because the counter electromotive force generated in the motor coils is dissipated via the zenor diodes, noise is likely generated during the switching of the driving current, therefore in case that the fan motor was mounted on an electronic device there was a high possibility that such driver circuit adversely affected other circuits.
In order to reduce the internal temperature rise of electronic devices such motor driver and fan motor are generally mounted on the electronic devices, it is desired that such motor driver is formed in an IC and further the size thereof is desired as small as possible. Further, the power efficiency of the fan motor mounted on the electronic device is desired as high as possible. It is undesirable that power consumption of the fan motor is large since the circuits therefor are formed in a high integration and with a low power consumption.

Motor drive circuit and motor drive system using the circuit thereof


A snowplowable retro-reflective pavement marker having a reflector mounted between a pair of flanged side ramps and a pair of center ramps. The side ramps have longitudinal flanges extending outwardly from each of the ramps to position the base properly with respect to the road surface. The flanges are tapered to provide a smooth contour for guiding snowplow blades when approaching from the side. The center ramps extend longitudinally on either side of the reflector to guide a snowplow blade when it engages the marker at a steep angle.

I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a retro-reflective marker for mounting to roads, and more particularly, to a snowplowable marker having ramps to protect a reflector.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In many regions, plastic retro-reflective road markers are mounted to the road surface to delineate the lanes. Retro-reflective markers mounted directly into the road surface are frequently removed or damaged by the passing of snowplow blades in regions where snowplows are used to clear the roads. In these regions, it has become a practice to mount the plastic marker with a retro-reflective lens in a metal casting base member such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,147,447. The base member includes a pair of spaced apart keel portions which are mounted in grooves formed in the pavement. The upper portion of the keels define a pair of ramps for deflecting the snowplow blades from a plastic reflector. The reflector is mounted between the longitudinal ramps in a center portion of the casting extending between the keels. However, the reflector lenses of previously known markers have been damaged when the blade of a snowplow is angled sharply. When the blade is sharply angled, such as 45.degree. to the axis of the road, the corner of the blade can pass between the ramps to damage the marker before it is deflected by the ramps.
Additionally, it has been difficult to accurately position prior art castings with respect to the road surface. If the casting is placed too low, the lens is obscured and there is insufficient light reflected from the lens to delineate the lane. If the casting extends too far above the road surface it becomes a hazard for vehicles passing over it and is more likely to be dislodged by the blades of the snowplow.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a casting for a snowplowable road marker which properly provides full protection for the marker from damage by the snowplow blade and can be accurately positioned with respect to the road surface.


There is provided a magnetic memory that can suppress the increase in manufacturing costs while recording multivalued information in one memory cell, the memory including first and second tunnel junction elements each having a laminated structure including a reference layer with a fixed magnetization direction, a recording layer with a reversible magnetization direction, and an insulating layer sandwiched between the reference layer and the recording layer, a first selection transistor electrically connected to first ends of the first and second tunnel junction elements, a first wire electrically connected to a second end of the first tunnel junction element, and a second wire electrically connected to a second end of the second tunnel junction element.

With the tremendous development of various information devices from large-capacity servers to mobile terminals, higher performance, such as higher integration, higher speed, lower power consumption, and the like has been pursued in elements constituting the information devices such as memory and logic elements. In particular, the progress of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory is remarkable, and for example, a flash memory serving as a large-capacity file memory has come into wide use at a rate expelling hard disk drives. Meanwhile, with usage for code storage and further application to working memories in view, in order to replace currently generally used NOR flash memories, dynamic random access memories (DRAM), and the like, various types of semiconductor memory have been developed such as a ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), magnetic random access memory (MRAM), and phase-change random access memory (PCRAM). Note that some of these memories have already been put into practical use.
The MRAM, which is one of the memories described above, records information by using a change in electric resistance of a memory element by reversing a magnetization direction of a magnetic body of the memory element included in the MRAM. Consequently, it is possible to read the recorded information by determining a resistance state of the memory element determined by the reversal of the magnetization direction, in more detail, the magnitude of the electric resistance of the memory element. Such an MRAM can operate at high speed, can be rewritten almost infinitely (1015 times or more), and has high reliability, therefore the MRAM is already used in fields such as industrial automation and aircraft. Moreover, the MRAM is expected to expand into code storage and working memory in the future because of its high-speed operation and high reliability.
Moreover, of the MRAM, greater expectations are placed on the MRAM that reverses the magnetization direction of the magnetic body by using spin torque magnetization reversal because low power consumption and high capacity can be achieved while having the above advantages such as high-speed operation. Note that such an MRAM using spin torque magnetization reversal is called spin transfer torque-magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) (spin injection type MRAM) (see, for example, Non-patent Documents 1 and 2).
Furthermore, as a method of further increasing recording density of the MRAM, it is examined to record multivalued information in each memory cell. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a magnetic memory in which two tunnel junction elements (also called magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) elements) are provided in one memory cell and multivalued information is recorded in one memory cell. In more detail, in Patent Document 1, one memory cell includes two MTJ elements connected in parallel to each other and one selection transistor connected thereto. In such a configuration, in order to record information selectively in one of the MTJ elements in the memory cell or to distinguish and read the information recorded in each MTJ element, magnetic characteristics of two MTJ elements (reversal current, element resistance value, and the like) are different from each other. More specifically, in Patent Document 1, two MTJ elements have laminated structures different from each other.

Magnetic memory, recording method of magnetic memory, and reading method of magnetic memory

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


The present invention provides a hearing device with locking apparatus comprising a first component (10) with a housing (11) being adapted to be carried outside of or at the human body, a second component (20) to be inserted either partially or fully into an ear canal of a human body and connecting means connecting mechanically said first and said second component (10;20). The connecting means comprise a tube (30) and a first fastener (31) being arranged at one end of said tube (30) and being adapted to detachably connect said second component (20) with said connecting means. The first fastener (31) further comprises an individual locking element (5;9) to be swiveled into retaining or locking surfaces (24′) arranged within said second component (20), thereby contacting outer surfaces of said first fastener (31) in its connected state with said second component (20). The first fastener (31) thus will be detachably secured to the second component (20) of the hearing device.

State of the art hearing devices are commonly either behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing devices, in-the-ear (ITE) hearing devices, in-the-canal (ITC) hearing devices or completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing devices. BTE hearing devices comprise sound conduction tubes to transmit the amplified sound from the BTE hearing device arranged behind the ear into the user's ear canal. The other hearing devices, ITE, ITC and CIC, are already arranged at or in the ear canal and thus have only short sound conduction tubes or no tubes at all.
Although the ITC and especially CIC hearing devices are preferred by many users due to their low visibility from outside, their drawbacks of limited maximum amplification, limited battery lifetime, limited receiver quality and not suitable space within the ear canal, BTE hearing devices are still demanded and will still be used in the future.
In order to combine the advantages of BTE hearing devices and ITE, ITC and CIC hearing devices, combined hearing devices have already been proposed, comprising essentially two separate parts. The first part comprises most of the electronic modules, such as micro processors, tuners, power source, regularly in form of replaceable or re-chargeable batteries, and microphones and is adapted to be worn externally by the user, either behind the ear or to be clipped to the clothing of the user. This part will be called the BTE part. The second part comprises an output transducer, regularly a speaker, and a shell, which is adapted or shaped to be worn partially or completely within the ear canal. This part will be called ITC or CIC part respectively. Those two parts are usually connected to each other by a permanently wired connection.
In the field of hearing aids, the electric-to-acoustic transducer, regularly a speaker, is called receiver, as it will be done further on in this description.
A modular connector system for auditory devices of the type of combined BTE/CIC is known from WO2004/025990. The BTE-component of this earpiece auditory device is connected via a connector to the CIC-component comprising the receiver.
The connector consists of a hollow tube with electric wires within this tube. The connector is either hard wire coupled or detachably coupled to the receiver and thus to the CIC-component. The receiver is coupled to the shell of the CIC-component either by mean of a fastener or directly plugged into an opening of the shell. The shell may include an ear mold to be inserted into the ear canal of the user.
The fastener is either fixed to the shell by resilient snap-in tongues or by means of screws. The use of the resilient snap-in tongues allows an easy assembling of the fastener, but is only suitable if the shell of the CIC-component includes a soft ear mold, that may be squeezed to loosen the tongues for a non-destructively disassembling of the fastener and therefore of the connector. Such a fastening means is not suitable in case of rigid shells, as the fasteners may not be disassembled without breaking at least a part of the shell or the fastening means. In any case, this can only be done by specialists skilled in the art.
The use of detachable connecting means such as screws on the other hand requires a well-skilled and time-consuming assembling technique and further disturbs the regularly smooth shape of the outer surface of the housing of the CIC-component. Furthermore, the screws require a certain amount of space in their axial direction which is opponent to the requirement of miniaturization and reduces the freedom of design of the shape of the housing of the CIC-component. Thus, only a limited miniaturization is possible and not all possible ear canal geometries may be covered by such a construction.

Hearing device with locking system for connectors


In one embodiment, a docking station on which a data processing terminal is to be mounted has a power source device and a processor. The power source device applies an operating voltage of the data processing terminal and a testing voltage lower than the operating voltage to a power feeding terminal which is in contact with a power source terminal of the data processing terminal. The processor, when having determined that the mounting mechanism is locked, controls the power source device, so that the testing voltage is applied to the power feeding terminal. Further, the processor, when having determined that the mounting mechanism is locked and having determined that the data processing terminal is mounted on the mounting mechanism, controls the power source device, so that the operating voltage is applied to the power feeding terminal.

A docking station on which a portable data processing terminal is detachably mounted is known. A docking station of this kind, when a data processing terminal is mounted thereon, is provided with a power feeding function to feed an operating power of the relevant data processing terminal to the relevant data processing terminal, in many cases. The docking station provided with this power feeding function may feed power of such a high voltage as 19 V, for example, to the data processing terminal, in order to rapidly charge a battery incorporated in the data processing terminal.
In the above-described docking station, it is preferable that when the data processing terminal is demounted, application of a voltage for power feeding to a power feeding terminal which is in contact with a power source terminal at the data processing terminal side is stopped. The above-described conventional docking station has detected whether or not the data processing terminal is mounted using a mechanical switch, to control application of a voltage to the power feeding terminal.
However, in the mechanical switch, erroneous detection might be made by an object other than the data processing terminal. For this reason, in the above-described docking station, power might be fed to the power feeding terminal, in the state that the data processing terminal is not mounted.

Docking station, control method and commodity sales data processing apparatus


An automatic dual clutch transmission includes an input clutch which selectively connects a prime mover to an electric motor. The electric motor, in turn, is connected to the inputs of a pair of coaxial friction clutches. Each of the coaxial outputs of the friction clutches drives an input gear with meshes with a pair of gears, one of which is associated with each of a respective pair of layshafts or countershafts. On each countershaft, between the pair of gears driven by the outputs of the two clutches, are a pair of synchronizer clutches which selectively synchronize and connect one of the two gears to the associated countershaft. A similar arrangement of a second pair of gears separated by synchronizer clutches connects the countershafts through a selected gear to a pair of output gears coupled to and driving a differential cage or spool.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Within the motor vehicle automatic transmission art, the dual clutch transmission (DCT) is a relative newcomer. A typical dual clutch transmission configuration includes a pair of mutually exclusively operating input clutches which drive a pair of layshafts or countershafts disposed on opposite sides of an output shaft. One of each of a plurality of pairs of constantly meshing gears which define the various forward gear ratios is freely rotatably disposed on one of the layshafts and the other of each pair of gears is coupled to the output shaft. A plurality of synchronizer clutches selectively couple one of the gears to the layshaft to achieve a forward gear ratio. After the synchronizer clutch is engaged, the input clutch associated with the active layshaft is engaged.
Dual clutch transmissions are known for their sporty, performance oriented shift characteristics. They typically exhibit good fuel economy due to good gear mesh efficiency and ratio selection flexibility in design. The synchronizer clutches have low spin losses which also contributes to overall operating efficiency.
However, dual clutch transmissions have several unique design considerations. For example, because of the torque throughput during launch and the heat that can be generated during slip, the input clutches must be of a relatively large size. The size requirement applies as well to the cooling system which must be able to dissipate relatively large quantities of heat. Finally, because such transmissions typically have many sets of axially aligned gears, their overall length may be problematic in some platform configurations.
The present invention is directed not only to providing a dual clutch automatic transmission have reduced axial length but also to such a transmission for incorporation into a hybrid powertrain.

Hybrid powertrain and dual clutch transmission


To provide an agent for treating osteoporosis, comprising an acyl thiourea compound represented by the following formula (I) or a salt thereof as an active ingredient:

At the Consensus Development Conference sponsored by The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2000, the definition of osteoporosis was proposed as follows: "A skeletal disorder characterized by compromised bone strength predisposing to an increased risk of fracture." In fact, osteoporosis is perceived as a disease of compromised bone strength due to decreased bone density and deteriorated bone quality (Non Patent Document 1). Osteoporosis is classified into primary osteoporosis and secondary osteoporosis, where the former involves compromised bone density associated with ageing, menopause, and pregnancy, while the latter is caused by some kind of disease as an underlying cause.
Compromised bone density is caused when accelerated bone resorption outpaces bone formation, and is also associated with reduced osteoblast function and associated reduced bone formation (Non Patent Document 2). That is, predominant bone resorption resulting from an imbalance in bone remodeling via bone resorption and bone formation is closely associated with pathology.
At present, in Japan, the number of patients in need of treatment of osteoporosis is assumed to be 12.80 million (2005), including the total of lumbar vertebrae and femoral neck. The number of femoral neck fracture events is rapidly increasing, with the number of patients reaching 148,100 per year. In light of the above, various therapeutic methods and preventive agents are being developed.
Currently, as therapeutic agents for osteoporosis, calcium absorption-promoting drugs, bone formation-promoting drugs, and bone resorption-inhibiting drugs are primarily used. While these therapeutic agents show efficacy, however, serious adverse reactions have been reported. For example, the most frequent adverse reaction to calcium preparations is gastrointestinal disorder. When activated vitamin D3 preparations are concomitantly used, regular blood testing is necessary due to potential hypercalcemia (Non Patent Document 3).
As major adverse reactions to bisphosphonate preparations, for example, gastrointestinal disorder, osteonecrosis of jaw, atypical femur fracture, hypocalcaemia, renal disorder and influenza-like symptoms have been reported (Non Patent Document 4). Moreover, the half-life of bisphosphonate is long, and it may remain in the skeleton for several years even after discontinuation of treatment. Excessive long-term inhibition of bone remodeling may cause unfavorable effects such as brittle bone caused by increased bone mineralization as well as increased microdamage.
Further, for postmenopausal bone mass loss, estrogen preparations, and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM), which act on the estrogen receptors on bone more selectively than estrogen preparations, are used. However, for estrogen preparations, not only adverse reactions peculiar to female hormones such as endometrial bleeding, increased vaginal discharge, and breast pain, but also deep vein thromboembolism and increased risk of developing breast cancer and endometrial cancer have been reported (Non Patent Document 5). Further, as to SERM, while adverse reactions affecting the breasts and uterine were successfully inhibited, deep vein thromboembolism, hot flash, and leg cramp are still reported (Non Patent Document 6).
In view of the above, clinical development has recently been taking place for therapeutic agents for osteoporosis aiming at new targets, such as cathepsin K inhibitors, Src kinase inhibitors, and anti-sclerostin antibodies (Non Patent Documents 7, 8, and 9). Nevertheless, the current situation is that no therapeutic drug for osteoporosis which satisfies both excellent efficacy and safety has yet been available.
Meanwhile, acyl thiourea compounds having an aminocarbonyl group at the 6-position and an alkoxy group at the 7-position in the quinolone ring such as 4-[2-fluoro-4-[[[(2-phenylacetyl)amino]thioxomethyl]amino]-phenoxy]-7-methoxy-N-methyl-6-quinolinecarboxamide are known to be an antitumor agent showing a potent inhibitory effect on c-Met and inhibition of VEGF receptors with reduced adverse reactions (Patent Document 1). It is also known that when such a compound is used concomitantly with other antitumor agents, it exhibits an excellent antitumor effect-enhancing action (Patent Document 2).
Nevertheless, this compound is totally unknown to be effective for osteoporosis.

Abstract: wherein, R1 represents an optionally substituted C1-6 alkyl group; R2 represents a fluorine atom or a chlorine atom; and R3 represents a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, or a chlorine atom.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY


A heat-dissipating element with connecting structures comprises at least two opposite stop edges. Each stop edge is formed with at least one connecting structure, and each connecting structure includes a first connecting portion which has a fastener and a fastening hole and a second connecting portion which has a positioning concave portion and a positioning protrusion. The heat-dissipating elements are assuredly assembled with each other through the engagement and fastening connection of the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating element structure, and more particularly to a heat-dissipating element with connecting structures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, with the rapid development of the computer, the products are required to be thinner and thinner and the electronic elements are required to be tinier and tinier. While the electronic products pursue the abovementioned objectives, the heat dissipation becomes one of the most important problems that affect the operation of the electronic products. Hence, for various electronic products, various heat-dissipating elements have been developed on the market. For example, a conventional heat-dissipating element 10 (please refer to FIG. 1) is formed with two Y-shaped connecting structures 11 at opposite sides thereof. The connecting structure 11 includes an extending segment 12 and an engaging segment 13 connected with the extending segment 12. The engaging segment 13 of the connecting structure 11 of one heat-dissipating element 10 is flexibly bended to engage with the other heat-dissipating element 10. Based on further analysis of the above-mentioned conventional structure, it still has the following disadvantages:
1. After the engaging operation, the engaging segment 12 is easy to deform again due to the external force, so it is unable to assuredly position the heat-dissipating element 10, thus causing the easy disengagement of the heat-dissipating element 10 and low efficiency of heat dissipation.
2. Under the incertitude engagement, if the heat-dissipating elements 10 are disposed in the space full of electric circuits, it is likely to cause the short circuit by mis-touching the electric circuits, thus damaging the electric circuits.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Heat-dissipating element with connecting structures


The centrifugally-responsive compression release apparatus of the present invention is a compact unit which can be simply snap-fit to a position on the cam shaft during assembly and will retain that position during engine operation. The compression release apparatus relieves compression in at least one chamber of an internal combustion engine by utilizing a lift member engageable with a valve operating device and centrifugally-responsive means for changing the position of the lift member in response to engine speeds. The apparatus includes a base member which can be injection molded to a shape of a segmented cylinder thereby substantially corresponding to the shape of the outer surface of the cam shaft. The base member also provides means for integrating and retaining the dynamic components of the apparatus to the base member. Furthermore, the compression release apparatus is adaptable to utilizing a single centrifugally-responsive means, such as a flyweight, to engage more than one valve operating device, thereby relieving pressure in more than one combustion chamber. Thus, the compression release apparatus is easy to manufacture and easy to install on the engine, and does not require any major modification to engine components.

The present invention relates generally to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to a compression release mechanism which operates a valve at low engine speeds to relieve compression within one or more engine cylinders during the compression stroke of the engine cycle.
It is often desirable to relieve the compression in an engine combustion chamber during starting in order to reduce the force required to turn over the engine. By relieving this compression, it is much easier for the piston to reciprocate in the engine when the operator manually pulls the starter rope. Thus, a compression release mechanism lessens the pull force required to start the engine. As a result, the potential for operator fatigue during manual starting is also minimized.
Compression relief apparatus of the centrifugally-responsive type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,676 issued May 7, 1968 to Campen, No. 4,453,507 issued Jun. 12, 1984 to Braun, et. al., No. 4,892,068 issued Jan. 9, 1990 to Coughlin, No. 4,898,133 issued Feb. 6, 1990 to Bader, No. 4,977,868 issued Dec. 18, 1990 to Holschuh, No. 5,184,586 issued Feb. 9, 1993 to Buchholz, and No. 5,197,422 issued Mar. 30, 1993 to Oleksy et. al. These patents reveal a variety of designs for centrifugally-responsive compression release mechanisms for internal combustion engines.
The Campen '676 compression release mechanism is typical of the prior art. Campen '676 includes a centrifugally-responsive flyweight, a torsion spring attached to the flyweight, and a central pin member therein which engages a valve tappet at engine starting speeds. At higher engine speeds, the flyweight moves radially outward so that the pin disengages the valve tappet when the engine is running.
A major disadvantage of many prior centrifugally-responsive compression release devices is that the design often requires a major modification to engine components or additional parts in order to attain the requisite stability and reliability. These modifications present an undesirable burden on the assembly process and on component manufacturing. As a result, the overall cost for the engine and for its maintenance is increased.
In the Campen apparatus, for example, the cam shaft must be modified prior to assembly to include the central pin member therein. Also, the shaft about which the flyweight rotates must be fastened to the flyweight, resulting in additional complexity and expense. In Coughlin '068, the flyweight must be attached to the timing gear by a rivet during assembly. In Holschuh '868, the cam lobes on the cam shaft must be machined for assembly of the compression release device.
The compression release apparatus in Buchholz '586 illustrates another problem. The Buchholz '586 compression release apparatus is disposed on the outboard side of the outboard cam lobe. Since the components of the compression release apparatus encircle the cam shaft, these components must be specially machined to accommodate the cam shaft prior to assembly. Furthermore, the apparatus must be installed on the cam shaft in conjunction with the assembly of the other engine components that are mounted on the cam shaft.
The problems of prior art compression release mechanisms are further magnified when it is desired to relieve compression in more than one combustion chamber of an engine. Foremost, the foregoing designs are not readily adaptable to operating a plurality of valves, such as the exhaust valves of a V-twin engine. To incorporate the prior art designs on such an engine would require a duplication of parts, and a significant increase in weight and complexity.
In general, the centrifugally-responsive compression release mechanisms of the prior art are either too complex, employ too many parts, or require a major modification to the engine. Moreover, many of these devices place too great a burden on assembly and manufacturing, thereby increasing cost further.

Compression release for multi-cylinder engines


This invention relates to oral care compositions, for example comprising a salt of a basic amino acid having a pH in solution of less than 7.5, an abrasive having a pH in solution of less than 7.5, and a fluoride ion source, and an acid selected from the group consisting of: a carboxylic acid (e.g., citric acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, acetic acid, succinic acid, or fumaric acid), and an inorganic acid, wherein the inorganic acid is not phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid (e.g., wherein the inorganic acid is hydrochloric acid or sodium acid pyrophosphate), and to methods of using and of making these compositions.

Arginine and other basic amino acids are believed to have significant benefits in combating cavity formation and tooth sensitivity when used in oral care compositions. Combining these basic amino acids with minerals having oral care benefits, e.g., fluoride and calcium, to form an oral care product having acceptable long-term stability, however, has proven challenging. There have been various formulations issues with using amino acids in oral care compositions. For example, previously there had been the concern that the basic amino acid may raise the pH and facilitate dissociation of calcium ions that can react with fluoride ions to form an insoluble precipitate. And, moreover, that the higher pH has the potential to cause irritation.
At neutral pH or acidic pH, however, systems that utilize arginine bicarbonate may release carbon dioxide, leading to bloating and bursting of the containers. Moreover, it might be expected that lowering the pH to neutral or acidic conditions would reduce the efficacy of the formulation because the arginine may form an insoluble arginine-calcium complex that has a poorer affinity for the tooth surface, and moreover that lowering the pH would reduce any effect the formulation might have on buffering cariogenic lactic acid in the mouth. In order to lower the pH of the formulations, previous formulations that have sought to address these concerns have focused on acids such as phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid.
Accordingly, there is a need for a stable oral care product that provides a basic amino acid and also provides beneficial minerals such as fluoride and calcium.

Oral care product and methods of use and manufacture thereof


The present invention relates to a composition comprising at least one amylose-containing starch, and its use in extending or improving the color durability and stability of artificially colored hair. Such compositions may be applied either as a leave-on or as a rinse-off composition.

The present invention relates to a composition, which extends the stability of artificially colored hair and a method of achieving such extended color stability. Such composition comprises at least one amylose containing starch.
A significant segment of the global population uses products to change the natural color of their hair. This segment continues to grow at a substantial rate. Hair color products are typically classified into three categories: permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary. They may either be applied directly by the consumer, or by a hair care professional.
Unfortunately, despite manufacturers' claims that their hair color products result in hair color which remains constant throughout the entire period the hair remains on the head, it is well recognized by consumers that artificially colored hair color may fade or change dramatically over time. The biggest problem recognized in the hair color industry is maintaining the vibrancy and durability of artificially colored red hair.
Hair color is hypothesized to fade or change during normal hair treatment such as washing and styling, particularly by exposure to solvents, such as water and ethanol. Exposure to the environment, such as light, may also play a part in hair color fading.
Many approaches have been tried to improve the durability and stability of hair color. These include changes to hair color formulations, pre-shampoo treatments, and additives to conditioners.
Surprisingly, it has now been found that compositions comprising at least one amylose-containing starch have use in extending or improving the color durability and stability of artificially colored hair. Such compositions may be applied either as a leave-on or as a rinse-off composition.

Method and composition to achieve stable color of artificially colored hair


An adjustable horn or mandrel for a spiral pipe forming machine. Such machines are made for continuously forming metal pipe from an elongated sheet of metal where the sheet is curled into adjacent helical convolutions in a multiple roll pipe forming head. The head includes a mandrel, and in accordance with the invention a mandrel mount is provided for vertical adjustment of the mandrel. The mandrel mount has opposite side supports sandwiching the mandrel and a motor mounted for raising and lowering the mandrel between the side supports. Raising and lowering is accomplished via a pair lead screws secured to the mandrel, each having a gear threadedly engaged thereon and which is driven by the motor. The mandrel is also horizontally adjustable.

This invention relates to metal pipe forming apparatus, and in particular to a mount for the horn or mandrel in the multiple roll pipe forming head of the apparatus.
Machines for continuously manufacturing metal pipe from an elongated sheet of metal are well known. Such pipe is used for a variety of purposes, including culvert. U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,692 is directed to a spiral pipe making machine having a pipe forming head comprising three adjustable rolls, each of the rolls comprising a series of interconnected rollers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,886, developed by one of the inventors of the present application, is directed to a more sophisticated but similar pipe forming machine for forming pipe from helical convolutions, where the rollers of the pipe forming device are automatically adjusted when different diameters of pipe are to be manufactured. The '886 patent include a horn or mandrel in the forming device about which the helical convolutions of metal are curled in an upward orientation. It is a horn or mandrel, such as that of the '886 patent, which is the subject matter of the present application, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,886 is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Adjustable horn for spiral pipe forming machine


An image capture apparatus includes an image capture unit, a writing unit, a calculation unit, and a determination unit. The image capture unit captures an image. The writing unit writes the captured image in a recording medium. The calculation unit calculates a number of free clusters in the recording medium. The determination unit determines whether the recording medium has been removed from the image capture apparatus. If the determination unit determines that the recording medium has been removed from the image capture apparatus, a free space in the recording medium is calculated from the calculated number of free clusters. If the determination unit determines that the recording medium has not been removed from the image capture apparatus, the number of free clusters from a predetermined area in the recording medium is acquired and the free space in the recording medium is calculated from the acquired number of free clusters.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capture apparatus, such as an electronic camera, configured to record a captured image including a still image and a moving image in a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some devices using a recording medium refer to a number of free clusters in acquiring a free space of the recording medium. Generally, the number of free clusters is calculated from the number of unused clusters which is acquired from file management information in a file system. A file system managing a recording medium of high capacity, for example, 2 GB or more, processes large amounts of data each time in acquiring the number of free clusters. Thus, in some devices, the number of free clusters is included in advance in the file management information. If the device employs a file system which records the number of free clusters, the number of free clusters can be acquired from recorded information.
A method of counting the number of free clusters, hereinafter referred to as a "calculation method", takes time in counting the number of free clusters. As a result, when the calculation method is applied to an image capture apparatus such as an electronic camera, the following problems can occur. (1) If the image capture apparatus cannot finish start-up processing until a free space of a recording medium is acquired, an image cannot be captured until the free space is calculated using the number of free clusters. (2) If the image capture apparatus can capture images even if a free space in the recording medium is not acquired, the image capture apparatus can start capturing immediately. However, the captured image may not be recorded in the recording medium until the free space is calculated using the number of free clusters.
On the other hand, a method referring to the number of free clusters recorded in the file management information, hereinafter referred to as a "reference method", is advantageous in that the number of free clusters can be acquired quickly. However, if the number of free clusters recorded in the file management information is incorrect, then a correct free space cannot be calculated. This may cause a significant error such as a recording failure of the captured image in the recording medium. It is possible that the number of free clusters recorded in the file management information is not correct in a case, for example, where one recording medium is shared by a plurality of devices.


A liquid drop arranging device is provided for arranging liquid drops made of liquid crystal on a substrate. The liquid drops are arranged so that adjacent liquid drops reach the substrate with a first pitch equal to or less than the diameter of the liquid drops immediately before reaching the substrate. When the diameter of the liquid drops at the moment the liquid drops reach the substrate is the first diameter and the diameter of the liquid drops at the moment the liquid drops spread from the first diameter is a second diameter that is larger than the first diameter, the liquid drops are arranged so that the entire outline of a liquid drop of the first diameter contacts a liquid drop of the first diameter adjacent to the liquid drop when the liquid drops reach the substrate.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for arranging liquid drops, an electro-optical panel, an electro-optical device, an electronic apparatus, a method of arranging liquid drops, a method of manufacturing an electro-optical panel, and a method of manufacturing an electronic apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dispensers are provided as devices for applying liquid crystal within a region surrounded by a sealing material during manufacturing of liquid crystal panels. When dispensers are used, it is possible to drop the liquid crystal with a certain degree of precision and to a certain amount. However, when the liquid crystal of an amount equal to or less than that amount is dropped, there is insufficient reliability with respect to the degree of precision of the discharge amount. When the dispensers drop the liquid crystal, the drops directly become spots.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-281562, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel using an inkjet method, in which the amount of a drop is extremely small and the drops can be discharged with a high degree of precision, is disclosed. According to the above publication, the main body of the inkjet for discharging the liquid crystal drops is scanned in lines with a pitch of 0.5 mm to thus apply the liquid crystal drops to a substrate in lines.
As mentioned above, the discharge of liquid (liquid crystal) by an inkjet method in order to prevent drop spots from being generated when the liquid (the liquid crystal) is dropped using a dispenser has been investigated. However, as a result of the present inventor performing experiments on application of the liquid crystal by the inkjet method, the following results on the drop spot were obtained.
That is, as illustrated in FIG. 25, an inkjet head 52 (hereinafter, referred to simply as a head in some cases) in which a plurality of heads 54 are provided is scanned with respect to a base member 1 in the direction of the arrow Ya to thus discharge the liquid crystal (the liquid drops) from each head 54 in the direction of the arrows Yb. After forming a thin film of the liquid crystal on the base member 1 by doing so, predetermined processes are performed to thus complete a liquid crystal panel. When the completed liquid crystal panel is illuminated, it is noted that lines (spots) 154 are formed on the base member 1 along the drawing direction. According to the above experiment, the dropped liquid is the liquid crystal. However, the above-mentioned lines (spots) are generated even when liquid other than liquid crystal is used.
In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of arranging liquid crystal drops, a device for arranging liquid crystal drops, and an electro-optical panel, in which lines or spots are not generated in an electro-optical panel coated with the liquid crystal by a method of discharging liquid drops including the ink jet method.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of arranging liquid drops, a device for arranging liquid drops, and an electro-optical panel, in which lines or spots are not generated in an electro-optical panel coated with the liquid by a method of discharging liquid drops including the inkjet method.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of arranging liquid drops, a device for arranging liquid drops, and an electro-optical panel, in which the quality of an electro-optical panel coated with the liquid by a method of discharging liquid drops including the inkjet method, does not deteriorate.

Device for arranging liquid drops, electro-optical panel, electro-optical device, electronic apparatus, method of arranging liquid drops, method of manufacturing electro-optical panel, and method of manufacturing electronic apparatus


A dishwasher, in particular a domestic dishwasher, includes a control device configured to perform a number of washing programs for washing items to be washed, and an input means configured to register a user input for shortening a running selected washing program. The control device is configured to adjust the running selected washing program as a function of a registered user input in such a manner that a remaining washing time of an adjusted selected washing program is shortened compared with a regular remaining washing time of the running selected washing program.

The present invention relates to a dishwasher as well as a method for operating a dishwasher.
Known household dishwashers have a plurality of different washing programs, which meet different needs. A washing program typically has the program substeps pre-rinsing, cleaning, intermediate rinsing, final rinsing and drying. The different washing programs are compiled from these components as a function of the soiling of the items to be washed, the type of item to be washed and the time available for a washing cycle, during which process it is also possible to set parameters, such as the quantity of cleaning agent used, the water quantity, the water temperature and/or water pressure, for the individual program substeps.
With a view to operating in the most resource-efficient manner possible, what are known as eco programs have been developed, which consume less water and energy and/or are operated with less cleaning agent than standard programs but still aim to ensure a comparable cleaning result. This is achieved by various measures, which mean overall that the washing operation takes more time, which is generally not a problem, for example if the dishwasher runs overnight.
However there are situations, in which the items being washed are needed quickly. Fast programs for example have been developed for this purpose, bringing about a corresponding cleaning result with increased water and energy consumption.
It may also happen that a user initially decides on a program with a long runtime. However if the user needs items being washed while the program is being performed, said user only has the options of waiting until the washing program ends or interrupting the washing program, in which case the cleaning result is not guaranteed.
The documents DE 10 2005 062 481 A1, WO 2008/103127 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,517 show different options for influencing a program sequence for dishwashers.

Dishwasher and method for operating a dishwasher


An apparatus and method for conveying contextually relevant information to a wireless client (112) is disclosed. More particularly, an emitter (108) transmits a diffuse infrared signal to a client (112) having an IrDA infrared communication interface (130). Emitter (108) communicates with client (112) by making a link layer in emitter (108) compliant with an IrDA link layer running on client (112). To perform communication, data is received at emitter (108) from a service provider (102). The data is formatted into an IrDA compliant diffuse infrared signal and transmitted to client (112). Client (112) receives the data and parses it to extract contextually relevant information contained therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless data communications and more particularly to XML based wireless data communications for facilitating context sensitive computing.
2. Description of Prior Art
Proliferation of the Internet has made it possible for users to access vast amounts of data almost effortlessly. For example, with only a few mouse clicks users may inundate themselves with data such as; commercial data, scientific data, educational data, financial data, and data on general areas of interest such as sports and hobbies. Ease of access to networked data has helped fuel demand for even more types of data. Accompanying users' demand for data is a desire to have data sorted based on user preferences before the data is viewed or utilized. Failure to deliver data to users in a sorted manner wastes the users' time, leads to network congestion because of repeated requests for new data, and wastes processing and storage resources if large amounts of data must be processed to present a user with relevant information.
Problems associated with unfiltered data are especially challenging when users wish to take advantage of information while remaining mobile. These users are increasingly relying on wireless devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld computers and web enabled cell phones for processing information when on the go. One example would be a wireless device used to store personal contact information, calendars, email, business information, and financial information. While wireless devices have some processing capabilities, they are very limited when compared to desktop computing devices. Since wireless devices normally run on batteries, efforts must be made to reduce power consumption. Typically, slow speed processors and reduced memory sizes are employed to reduce power consumption. In addition, reducing the use of, or eliminating, power hungry add-on components such as radio frequency transceivers (e.g. cellular and wireless Ethernet), modems, global positioning system (GPS) receivers, and the like help to extend the life of batteries in wireless devices.
Context sensitive computing may be employed to address some of the shortcomings associated with providing unfiltered data to wireless devices. More specifically, context sensitive computing attempts to send users only data that is relevant to their needs. Context as used herein is comprised of two parts. The first part is environmental context and it describes the physical location of a user, e.g. an airport, a car, or a store. The second part is referred to personal context and it is associated with a user's personal preferences, e.g. a particular colored shirt, a favorite author, etc. In principle, context sensitive computing makes it possible to provide users of wireless devices having limited processing capabilities with relevant information.
To aid in the understanding of how contextual computing can aid users of wireless devices by providing them with relevant information, an example will be presented. In this example a consumer wants to make a purchase at a shopping mall. In addition, the consumer wants to have relevant information, such as the latest sale price and industry reviews for a desired product, and the consumer wants to know which merchant carries a particular style or colored item. The consumer has two primary options for using data to facilitate selection of a product and a possible purchase. For example, the consumer may first review data in their home or at a library and make notes or print copies of the materials to then take shopping with them. The disadvantage with this approach is that the consumer may be using stale data when attempting to make the purchase at the merchant's location. Alternatively, a consumer trying to avoid using stale data in facilitating a purchase may attempt to ask various merchants for the latest pricing and selection options of the desired product. This later approach has a disadvantage in that it does not use the consumer's time efficiently.
In the example above, the consumer would be better served if they employed wireless computing devices to ensure that the latest data is presented to them in the most efficient manner. In order to present a consumer with relevant information, the wireless device should be able to determine the environmental context that the consumer operating in the example. Where environmental context refers to the physical environment in which the consumer is operating, here a mall or a particular store within a mall. In addition, the wireless device should be able to sort available information so that a consumer is only presented with information that is relevant only to their interests.
Prior art techniques for determining environmental context rely on the wireless device for processing information to determine position; or they use the infrastructure (i.e. ground based transmitters) to process information received from a wireless device to establish its location. When the wireless device processes data to establish position, global positioning receivers (GPS) receivers are normally used. Some of the disadvantages associated with GPS receivers are that they require additional power and do not work well indoors. When the network infrastructure attempts to determine position, radio-frequency (RF) ranging techniques are used. RF ranging techniques normally employ beacons that transmit data to and receive data from wireless device. Some of the disadvantages associated with RF beaconing techniques are that their locational accuracy is not very good and the wireless device consumes excessive power when transmitting beacon signals or when processing received beacon signals.
Prior art techniques for communicating data to wireless devices also have shortcomings. RF signals are the primary means for transmitting data to wireless devices. Cellular, wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth, and microwave are some of the most common prior art methods for communicating data to wireless devices. These forms of communication also consume large amounts of power.
It is thus a general object of the present invention to eliminate problems associated with communicating information to IrDA communication interfaces using diffuse infrared signals.
It is another object of the present invention to allow IrDA equipped devices to receive data over an IrDA communication interface at ranges greater than two meters.
It is a further object of the present invention to allow IrDA-to-IrDA communications when a diffuse infrared signal is not present at an IrDA communication interface.
It is still a further object of the present invention to take advantage of existing transmission infrastructure thus facilitating cost effective deployment of disclosed embodiments.

Method and apparatus for infrared data communication


A bypass sheet feeding device including a sheet separation device composed of a semicircular sheet drive roller and a multi-feed prevention roller which is coupled to a torque limiter, is provided on a sheet bypass feeding unit. When an uppermost sheet of sheets stacked on a bypass sheet feed tray is fed by a feed roller, the circumferential surface of the drive roller comes into press contact with the multi-feed prevention roller, thereby the uppermost sheet only is separated and conveyed and at least a sheet below the uppermost sheet is prevented from being fed. After separation and conveyance of the uppermost sheet is completed, the drive roller is stopped at a position where the circumferential surface is located upward, which results in releasing press contact with the multi-feed prevention roller.

The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device provided in a recording device of an electrophotographic copier, and more particularly relates to a manual sheet feeding device to feed transfer sheets made of various materials.
Transfer sheets used for image recording in an electrophotographic copier are usually accommodated in a sheet cassette detachably provided to the copier, and are then automatically fed.
The uppermost transfer sheet stacked on the sheet cassette is fed to an image forming section by the action of a semicircular roller and a separation claw in the prior art. The transfer sheets on the sheet cassette are fed one by one in the aforementioned manner.
In the case of manual feeding by which transparent sheets and thick sheets such as postcards are fed, the aforementioned separation claw can not be used, so that the following methods are used: a method by which transfer sheets are separated one by one by the action of a circular drive roller and a separation roller which comes into press contact with the circular drive roller and is connected with a torque limiter; and a method by which transfer sheets are separated one by one by the action of a circular drive roller and a friction pad which is brought into pressure contact with the circular drive roller.
However, in the case where the aforementioned methods are applied, the sheet separation device including the circular drive roller and the separation roller or the friction pad, pinches a transfer sheet even after a separating operation has been completed.
In order to release a transfer sheet from the transfer sheet separation device immediately after the completion of a separating operation, a semicircular roller of the prior art is well known. In this case, the semicircular roller is used as a separation roller together with a separation claw. The aforementioned technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Open to Public Inspection No. 165837/1980.
According to Japanese Patent Application Open to Public Inspection No. 2146/1983, the object of the semicircular roller is to increase the conveyance force with respect to thin papers, and it can not be expected that the semicircular roller functions as a separation roller.
Accordingly, a strong conveyance force is required for a paper feeding roller for use in registration which is disposed downstream of the drive roller, so that a paper feeding roller of a simple registration system utilizing a shutter, can not be adopted, and accordingly the costs are increased.
Further, the following problem is caused. That is, when a transfer sheet is released from the drive roller after image formation has been started on the leading edge of the transfer sheet, the transfer sheet is jolted. As a result, slippage is caused in the transferred image.


An electronic device may be provided with a proximity sensor. The proximity sensor may include a light source such as a light-emitting diode and a light detector such as a photodiode. The light-emitting diode may be driven with an alternating current drive signal so that alternating current light is produced. The alternating current light may reflect off of an external object and may be received by the photodiode. The photodiode may receive a direct current light signal associated with the presence of ambient light. The efficiency of the photodiode may be affected by the level of ambient light and the efficiency of the light-emitting diode may be affected by the temperature of the light-emitting diode. Ambient light correction circuitry and temperature correction circuitry may be used to ensure that proximity sensor readings are not adversely affected by changes in operating temperature and ambient lighting conditions.

This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with proximity sensors.
Electronic devices such as cellular telephones are sometimes provided with proximity sensors. For example, a cellular telephone may be provided with a proximity sensor that is located near an ear speaker on a front face of the cellular telephone. The front face of the cellular telephone may also contain a touch screen display. The proximity sensor may be used to determine when the cellular telephone is near to the head of a user. When not in proximity to the head of the user, the cellular telephone may be placed in a normal mode of operation in which the touch screen display is used to present visual information to the user and in which the touch sensor portion of the touch screen is enabled. In response to determining that the cellular telephone has been brought into the vicinity of the user's head, the display may be disabled to conserve power and the touch sensor on the display may be temporarily disabled to avoid inadvertent touch input from contact between the user's head and the touch sensor.
A proximity sensor for use in a cellular telephone may be based on an infrared light-emitting diode and a corresponding infrared photodiode. During operation, the light-emitting diode may emit infrared light outwards from the front face of the cellular telephone. The emitted light may be reflected from external objects such as the head of a user. When the cellular telephone is not in the vicinity of a user's head, the infrared light will not be reflected towards the photodiode and only small amounts of reflected light will be detected by the photodiode. When the cellular telephone is adjacent to the user's head, the emitted light from the infrared light-emitting diode will be reflected from the user's head and detected by the photodiode.
To reduce the impact of ambient light on the operation of a light-based proximity sensor, an alternating current (AC) signal may be used in driving the light-emitting diode. Corresponding detected signals from the photodiode detector may be filtered to separate direct current (DC) signals that are produced when ambient light illuminates the photodetector from the AC proximity sensor signal associated with the light-emitting diode.
Although DC signals can be filtered out of the photodetector signal, the performance of the photodetector in receiving the AC proximity sensor signal may be influenced by the magnitude of the DC signals. Temperature changes can also affect photodetector performance and light-emitting diode performance. Light-emitting diode current-to-optical-power conversion efficiency tends to decrease with increasing temperature and photodetector light-to-electrical current conversion efficiency tends to increase with increasing DC current from ambient light exposure. Environmental factors such as changes in ambient temperature and changes in ambient light exposure may therefore have an adverse impact on the accuracy of proximity sensor measurements.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide proximity sensors with enhanced immunity to environmental effects.

Optical proximity sensor with ambient light and temperature compensation


In an optical-radiation patterning apparatus, a scan mirror (29) so deflects laser light from a source (32) as to draw a pattern on a substrate (26). A focusing system (42) forms a light spot on the substrate that is significantly narrower than the line to be drawn, and it thereby minimizes the sensitivity of the line-edge position to variations in light-spot size. To achieve the intended line width, an acousto-optical device (32) introduces dither in the direction orthogonal to the light-spot motion that the scan mirror (30) causes. The focusing system (42) shapes the spot so that it is wider in the scan direction than it is in the dither direction, and this permits a relatively high scan rate for a given dither frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to optical-radiation patterning devices and in particular to dithering the positions of the light spots with which they write.
2. Background Information
Photolithography for small integrated-circuit chips is ordinarily performed by employing a fixed-position light source whose output shines through a mask onto a substrate. The substrate thereby receives a light pattern that selectively causes reactions in light-sensitive chemicals that coat the substrate""s surface. Subsequent process steps rely on the resultant chemical patterns to etch the substrate selectively and produce the desired features.
But mask use does not scale well to large patterns, such as those needed for certain types of advanced computer monitors and television screens. For these applications, so-called direct-write patterning apparatus has been proposed. The pattern produced by such apparatus results from moving a light spot about the substrate surface. Typically, laser light is deflected by scanning mirrors to cause the desired light-spot motion.
One of the direct-write approach""s difficulties is that it tends to be sensitive to laser-beam variations that cannot always be prevented. FIG. 1 illustrates the resultant problem. Plot 12 represents the typical Gaussian laser-beam intensity profile, while line 14 represents a threshold intensity below which the required degree of chemical reaction or other effect does not occur. A beam having that intensity profile and scanned in the direction represented by arrow 16 results in a line whose width is w1. If w1 is the desired line width, the intended result is achieved so long as the laser beam""s intensity profile remains that of plot 12. But that profile can change if, say, some loss of focus occurs or there is an unintended change in the laser""s power. For example, suppose that an un-intended drop in laser power changes the intensity profile to that of plot 18 The resultant line width will then be w2, which is not intended.
Designers of direct-write systems have reduced this sensitivity of feature size to beam intensity by taking advantage of the fact that, for a given beam-intensity the change, the absolute size of an edge-position variation is proportional to the spot size. In FIG. 2, for instance, the edge-position difference d resulting from a given intensity variation when the spot size is small is less than the edge-position difference dxe2x80x2 (FIG. 1) that results when the spot size is larger.
Without more, of course, this smaller spot size also results in lines that are narrower than desired. To obtain the desired line width but keep the lower sensitivity to intensity variation, workers in this field have xe2x80x9cditheredxe2x80x9d the spot position with respect to the major, scanning motion. That is, they have superimposed on the scan motion a small cyclical motion orthogonal to the scan motion so as to xe2x80x9cpaintxe2x80x9d a wider line. The small cyclical motion must be fast enough in comparison with the scanning motion that half cycles of the dither motion overlap each other and result in an effective light-spot width that is greater than the width of a stationary spot. If dither motion orthogonal to the scanning direction is so superimposed on the scanning motion as to result in a track like that of FIG. 3, for instance, the resultant effective intensity profile is that shown in FIG. 4. As that drawing shows, the line width is the same as in FIG. 1, but its edge-position variation dxe2x80x3 is much less.
Although dithering contributes significantly to repeatability, it does exact a certain speed penalty: the scanning speed must be low enough to permit the dither-deflection system actually to perform dithering, i.e., to permit half cycles actually to overlap and thereby result in a continuous feature line.
We have found two ways of reducing the speed penalty that dithering imposes.
The first way is to employ an acousto-optical device to perform the dither deflection. Whereas the operation of devices previously employed for dither deflection involved gross movement of the deflecting element, the degree of deflection introduced by acousto-optical devices is set by the frequency of the acoustic waves with which they are driven. Since acousto-optical devices thereby avoid the gross motion required of conventional dither-deflection devices, they are capable of much faster deflection, so they can permit the associated scanning motion to be much faster. As will be explained below, moreover, the resultant absence of any gross inertial effects permits the system to exercise greater control over the dither-deflection pattern and thus over the effective intensity profile.
A second way that we have devised for reducing dither-imposed speed penalties is to employ an anamorphic light spot, i.e., a light spot that is wider in a major-axis dimension than in a minor-axis dimension. The advantage afforded by the use of an anamorphic light spot results from the fact that writing speed is also limited by the average power that the light source delivers to the substrate. The smaller spot size used in dithering conventionally tends to reduce the total power that the light source can deliver to the substrate. This is because there typically are process limitations on the amount of power per unit area the substrate can safely absorb. So the light beam""s total power in conventional approaches must be reduced as the light spot""s size is.
Using an anamorphic spot avoids this problem. Specifically, as the spot width in the dither direction decreases to reduce edge-position variation, the spot width in the direction orthogonal to the dither direction can be increased so as to maintain the desired total power without exceeding process limits on power per unit substrate area.

Method and apparatus for shaping a laser-beam intensity profile by dithering


Disclosed are method(s), system(s), and article(s) of manufacture for creating or manipulating electrical data sets for an electronic design across multiple abstraction levels. The method identifies simulation result(s) obtained from simulation run(s) for an electronic circuit or at least a portion thereof, identifies at least a part of one or more sets of simulation results, each of which is obtained from a simulation run for the electronic circuit or at least a portion thereof at the first abstraction level, identify relevant electrical data or information for design under test instance(s) of a master library or a master cell and creates electrical data set(s), generates a view for at least some of the electrical data set(s), and hand-off the electrical data set(s) to second abstraction level. The method may further identify preexisting electrical data set(s). The method may further compare the electrical data set(s) and preexisting electrical data set(s).

Electrical analysis is crucial during the early stages of electronic designs. For example, designers need currents on terminals and voltages on nodes from simulations of the schematic to evaluate current densities throughout the routing and check those densities against electro-migration related limits, before the design is completed. For analog/mixed-signal designs, the design flows today are mostly manual, relying on separate front-end design by a schematic designer, who sizes or simulates the circuit schematic to build the schematic circuit elements or to meet performance goals, followed by hand-off to a layout designer who places and routes the design. The simulators may save, for example, current and voltage signals across various user selected nodes during the simulation of the circuit. The design environments provide, however, limited capabilities to view the raw simulation outputs and communicate this to the layout designer. For example, the designer may annotate the schematic with labels that represent the DC (direct current) voltages or transistor operating point information. These annotated labels may then be handed off to the layout designer along with some extra labels on the schematic to communicate the layout design intent. For example, some of these labels may identify critical pins (or nets) that the layout designer can use to calculate the width of the pin (or net) based on the maximum current density a piece of layout routing geometry may handle.
In addition, designers may desire to perform simulations of a design across multiple tests. For each of these multiple tests, designers may configure the simulation to run various types of analyses, such as a transient analysis or a DC analysis. The schematic designers may also desire to set up and run advanced analyses of various types, or to further manipulate various setups of the design or simulation tools to create multiple checkpoints from multiple simulation runs. This manual process makes it not only cumbersome but often impossible to analyze the relevant currents or voltages from the resulting simulation outputs from various combinations of the simulation results and correctly communicate that information to the layout designer manually.
Thus, there exists a need for providing a method, a system, and an article of creating or manipulating electrical data sets for an electronic design to better assist designers to communicate the electrical information obtained from various simulations or one or more combinations of various simulations at one abstraction level of the electronic design to designers working at a different abstraction level of the electronic design.

Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for creating or manipulating electrical data sets for an electronic design


A negative refractive index device and a method of generating radiation. In one embodiment, the device includes: (1) an optical input configured to receive light and (2) an optical medium having a negative index of refraction and a second-order nonlinearity proximate a center frequency of the light, coupled to the optical input and configured to resonate in response to the light to yield radiation having a phase velocity based on a group velocity of the light.

Terahertz radiation, sometimes called "T-rays," remains a relatively unexplored region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Terahertz radiation lies in the frequency band between about 1011 Hertz (Hz) and about 5×1013 Hz and therefore between microwaves and infrared light. Terahertz radiation is important, because it has potential use in many military, security, commercial, biomedical, pharmaceutical and scientific research applications. Terahertz radiation can penetrate most solid substance and so behave like X-rays. Unlike X-rays however, terahertz radiation is non-ionizing and thus substantially safer to use. Terahertz radiation also can produce images of higher resolution than X-rays. Because of terahertz radiation's ability to penetrate fabrics and plastics, it can be used in surveillance, including security screening, to uncover concealed weapons on a person. This is highly useful, because many materials of interest, such as plastic explosives, exhibit unique spectral "fingerprints" in the terahertz range. This offers the possibility of combining spectral identification with imaging. Terahertz radiation can also be used to characterize semiconductors more accurately and widen wireless communication frequency bands.
Because they can penetrate several centimeters into human flesh, terahertz radiation can detect tumors far better than today's mammograms and can detect skin cancer before it appears as lesions on the skin. Coupled with tomography algorithms, terahertz radiation can be used to create a 3-D map of the human body that has a far higher resolution than one produced by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), paving the way for a host of diseases to be detected earlier and more effectively.
A heavy demand for terahertz radiation also exists in the communications industry. For example, a terahertz-frequency heterodyne receiver can dramatically increase the available bandwidth in wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) communication systems.
However, while the benefits of having terahertz radiation have been understood for over a decade, having a powerful source of terahertz radiation has eluded technologists so far. Currently, two basic techniques for generating terahertz radiation are used: photoconduction and nonlinear optical frequency conversion. Electrically biased high-speed photoconductors may be used as transient current sources for radiating antennas, including dipoles, resonant dipoles, transmission lines, tapered antennas and large-aperture photoconducting antennas. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,144,679, 6,697,186 and 5,543,960 teach various ways in which second- or higher-order nonlinear optical effects in unbiased materials may be employed to generate terahertz radiation.
No matter which technique is chosen, the terahertz power generated is usually on the order of microwatts, even with many watts of input power. The inability to generate significant terahertz power places most real-world applications out of reach. In addition, substantial cooling is required with both photoconduction and nonlinear optical frequency conversion due to their low efficiency.
Given the above, what is needed in the art is a better technique for generating terahertz radiation. Further, because microwave radiation also finds great use in a host of applications, what is needed in the art is a better technique for generating microwave radiation. More particularly, what is needed in the art is a better technique for generating significant terahertz or microwave power.

Negative refractive index device for generating terahertz or microwave radiation and method of operation thereof


A dimming circuit for driving a string of LEDs at constant current has a power converter. A control circuit is coupled to the power converter. A plurality of shunt switches is provided. An individual shut switch is coupled to each LED. Each LED can be shunted individually by the individual shunt switch. The control circuit corrects an internal DC state based on a feedback signal VO so that the output current of the power converter remains unchanged when at least one LED is shunted.

Recent developments of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) backlights for Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel displays in televisions and monitors require driving large arrays of LEDs. In many applications, it is desirable to individually control the brightness level of the LEDs. For optimum performance, high brightness LEDs should be driven by a current source rather than by a voltage source. While present circuits to control the brightness levels do work, it is desirable to Page: 2 reduce the required number of power converters, i.e. more than one LED can be powered from each converter. Furthermore, prior art circuits have several issues relating to slow PWM dimming transitions of the LED current and delays and overshoots in the LED current.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a device and method to overcome the above problem.

Shunting type PWM dimming circuit for individually controlling brightness of series connected LEDS operated at constant current and method therefor


Panels or boards comprise laterally mounted locking elements that can be inter-connected laterally in a positive fit, without the use of adhesive. The locking elements are designed to be connected in an initial position in which the panels are interlocked at least in one direction in a positive fit and a certain amount of play occurs in the common joint of the two panels. The panels may then be shifted, in a parallel direction relative to the common joint, to final position in which there is no play in the common joint and the panels are interconnected without the use of adhesive.

The invention relates to boards having laterally mounted locking elements as well as to installing them.
A board of the kind mentioned at the beginning is known from printed publication EP 090 6994 A1 as "panel". As a rule, a panel is an oblong, thin board which can be connected laterally with further panels, i.e. on its longitudinal and transverse sides, e.g. by means of tongues and grooves. Panels connected in this manner are being used particularly as floor coverings or wall coverings.
The connected panels are, for example, put together to form a floor covering known as laminate flooring. The panels comprise a carrier board made from a derived timber product as well as a decorative paper on the top side together with a protection against abrasion.
In order to avoid having to use adhesive, a plug-in profile for a panel is known from printed publication WO 96/27721, which, first of all, comprises tongues and grooves in the known manner. Moreover, each tongue has, at one top side and/or bottom side, at least one continuous protruding locking element. Each groove is provided with furrows in such a way that the protruding locking element arrives in the corresponding furrow when two panels have been snapped together. Thus, a connection between two panels without the use of adhesive is established, brought about by means of a positive fit.
The use of adhesive is not required for assembling a flooring or wall covering from the panels. Of course, it is nevertheless possible, and in some cases—such as in the case of the present invention—advantageous to also use adhesive.
It is known from printed publication WO 96/27721 to connect two panels by shifting in one plane or by a rotary movement around the joint which is located between the two panels.
Furthermore, connections between two panels without the use of adhesives which are effected by lowering, are known from printed publication OS 25 02 992. After lowering, the boards are connected in a positive fit.
The idea of connecting two boards by positive fit without the use of adhesives has been known for several decades, as can be seen from printed publications GB 1 430 423 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,341. Particularly with regard to the area of the floor, the joints between two panels should not, for reasons of appearance and hygiene, exhibit any play, so that high demands must made be with regard to production tolerances. At present, production tolerances should not exceed 1/10th of a millimeter. Only in recent years, these production tolerances were successfully realized in practice. Therefore, it has only become possible in the last two years to successfully sell panels for floor coverings which can be connected without the use of adhesives.
Since the panels are manufactured from wood or from a derived timber product, the material warps even after production has been completed. The panels may warp to an extent which makes laying them practically impossible.
The invention is rooted in the problem of providing boards which can be connected without the use of adhesives, which do not exhibit play in the connecting joint after laying is completed and for which the demands with regard to the production tolerances are low in comparison with the above-mentioned state of the art.
The problem is solved by means of a board having the characterizing features of the first claim. Advantageous embodiments result from the dependent claims.

Panels comprising an interlocking snap-in profile