The transfer unit which brings about the signal connection between an airbag installed in a steering wheel and a circuit arranged outside the steering wheel possesses a primary and a secondary winding which are located in separate annular dished cores which are mounted rotatably with respect to one another about the steering wheel axis. To ensure that the transfer unit transfers airbag measurement signals with minimal falsification, one of its two dished cores is equipped with a U-shaped cross section, and the other dished core projects into the latter, so that the magnetic flux intersects the air gaps remaining between the two dished cores preferably in a direction radial to the rotation axis.

In order to activate and diagnose the airbag arranged in the steering wheel of a vehicle (driver's airbag), an arrangement is required which makes possible unimpeded signal transfer between the activation system of the airbag in the steering wheel and a control unit arranged outside the steering wheel, regardless of steering wheel position. This signal transfer was usually accomplished by means of slip rings or volute springs. As is already evident from German Patent No. 38 12 633 A1, mechanical contact devices of this kind interfere with steering wheel movement. In addition, they do not always guarantee unimpeded operation; in particular, because of relatively high resistance fluctuations, they falsify diagnosis of the activation system. The resistor of a firing capsule for the airbag usually has a very low resistance of about 2 ohms. For diagnosis of the airbag, this resistance is repeatedly measured and a fault message is reported to the driver via a warning light if the measured resistance exceeds or falls below the actual resistance of the firing capsule by a defined threshold. To allow a reliable diagnosis to be performed, a measurement of the resistance of the firing capsule must be guaranteed with very high accuracy; in other words, the system for signal transfer from the airbag to the control unit must exhibit only very small resistance fluctuations as measured at the firing capsule resistor. According to German Patent No. 28 12 633 A1 and German Patent No. 24 33 555, there is inserted between the steering wheel and steering column, instead of slip rings or volute springs, a transfer unit whose primary and secondary windings are mounted rotatably with respect to one another about the steering wheel axis. German Patent No. 24 33 555 discloses a transfer unit whose primary and secondary windings are located in separated dished cores which are arranged coaxially rotatably with respect to each other. This known transfer unit allows a relatively large leakage in the magnetic flux between the primary and secondary windings, so that the coupling between the two windings is not very close, and the accuracy with which the firing capsule resistance is measured suffers thereby.
A transfer unit of the type cited initially, in which the primary and secondary windings are each located in a U-shaped dished electrode, is known from European Patent No. 0 520 535 A. The two U-shaped dished cores are located one above another in the direction of the rotation axis, the end faces of the arms of U-shaped dished cores lying opposite one another. As a result, the magnetic flux through the two dished cores intersects the air gaps existing between the end faces of the arms in the direction of the rotation axis. A mutual axial offset of the two dished cores would modify the air gap, which has a very pronounced effect on magnetic coupling between the two windings of the transfer unit and correspondingly influences the accuracy with which the firing capsule resistance is measured.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to indicate a transfer unit of the type cited initially which makes possible a measurement of the resistance of the firing capsule with the greatest possible accuracy.

Device for the contactless transfer of signals between two vehicle parts


At least one method of manufacturing articles and at least one lithography system are provided herein. A lithography system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes a drawing apparatus that includes a plurality of optical systems and draws a pattern on a substrate with beams having been respectively shaped by the plurality of optical systems, and a transmission unit configured to select pattern data to be used by the drawing apparatus from a plurality of types of pattern data commonly used by the plurality of optical systems and configured to transmit the selected pattern data to the drawing apparatus. The pattern data is a set of data including a plurality of sub pattern data, and a width of a stripe-shaped drawing region corresponding to one sub pattern data piece is equivalent to a length obtainable by dividing a drawing width of the beams by an integer value.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a lithography system and a method of manufacturing articles.
Description of the Related Art
There is a conventional drawing apparatus that includes a plurality of electronic optical systems (hereinafter, simply referred to as "optical systems") capable of emitting a plurality of electron beams to draw a pattern on a substrate. For example, in a case where the optical systems are arrayed in a row on a horizontal surface, each optical system can draw a pattern in each stripe-shaped region having a long side extending in a direction perpendicular to the array direction. The plurality of optical systems can simultaneously draw patterns in different shot regions.
In this case, it is desired that there is an integer ratio relationship between a distance between optical axes of neighboring optical systems in the array direction and a pitch of the shot region in the same direction. Processing for converting graphic design data relating to a drawing pattern, such as a circuit pattern, into pattern data can be commonalized with processing for transferring the converted pattern data to each optical system.
However, if the size of the shot region is variable, the above-mentioned relationship may become a non-integer ratio and commonalizing the pattern data will become difficult. Therefore, as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-172428, it is conventionally known that the drawing apparatus can be configured to include a plurality of optical systems arrayed on a support member rotatable around a rotational axis extending in a vertical direction. The above-mentioned conventional drawing apparatus can adjust the distance between optical axes of respective optical systems by selecting an appropriate rotational angle of the support member. However, even in the drawing apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-172428, the positions of the plurality of optical systems may change with time elapsed and it will be necessary to perform the above-mentioned processing for converting the graphic design data into pattern data again.

Lithography system and method of manufacturing articles


The present invention relates to new crystalline forms of a purine derivative which exhibits excellent anti-tumor activity. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition containing said crystalline forms as an active ingredient, and use thereof in the prevention or treatment of disease. The invention further relates to a process for preparing the crystalline forms.

The purine derivative of formula (I), hereinafter referred to as "compound (I)", was first disclosed in the specification of WO 2008/122767 in the name Cyclacel Limited.

Studies have demonstrated that compound (I), having the chemical name (2R,3S)-3-(6-((4,6-dimethylpyridin-3-ylmethylamino)-9-isopropyl-9H-purin-2-ylamino)pentan-2-ol, exhibits potent CDK inhibitory activity and thus has potential therapeutic applications in the treatment of proliferative disorders, immune-mediated and inflammatory disorders, autoimmune and autoimmune-mediated disorders, kidney disorders, cardiovascular disorders, ophthalmic disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric disorders, viral disorders, metabolic disorders and respiratory disorders.
Advantageously, compound (I) displays surprisingly high potency in cellular toxicity studies in a range of different cell lines.
The present invention seeks to provide compound (I) in crystalline form. In particular, the invention seeks to provide crystalline forms that retain the desired pharmacological activity of the compound. More specifically, but not exclusively, the present invention seeks to provide crystalline forms of compound (I) that exhibit one or more improved properties over the amorphous form.

Crystalline forms of a purine derivative


An imaging device is provided with a lens distortion correction function that requires less circuit scale and does not degrade image resolution.

There is PTL 1 as a background art of the present technical field. PTL 1 describes that "A video signal processing circuit of the present invention is a video signal processing circuit in which image distortion occurs due to optical distortion aberration in image processing performed on a video signal input from an image sensor and which includes a distortion correction processing circuit that performs distortion correction processing on RAW image data before YC processing. According to this configuration, the distortion correction processing is performed on the RAW image data which is so-called raw data before being converted into YC image data, so that it is possible to reduce the size of a memory for storing data immediately before the distortion correction processing (RAW image data)". (See ABSTRACT)

Abstract: The imaging device having the lens distortion correction function is provided which includes a same-color interpolation unit that generates a lens distortion-corrected interpolation signal by using a same-color pixel in an image signal from an imaging element, a luminance signal generation unit that generates a luminance signal from the image signal from the imaging element, a first luminance signal generation unit and a second luminance signal generation unit that use the luminance signal generated by the luminance signal generation unit to generate a lens distortion-corrected interpolation signal, a lens distortion characteristics table data unit that holds information of coordinates after lens distortion characteristics correction in a memory, a coordinate/interpolation coefficient setting unit that individually generates interpolation coefficients for correcting lens distortion for each of the same-color interpolation unit, the first luminance interpolation unit, and the second luminance interpolation unit on the basis of information from the lens distortion characteristics table data unit, and a correction unit that outputs a lens distortion-corrected interpolation signal by correcting the signal from the same-color interpolation unit on the basis of a ratio between the interpolation signal generated by the first luminance interpolation unit and the interpolation signal generated by the second luminance interpolation unit.


A paper cutter or trimming device comprises a cutting board including measuring indicia, a rail assembly, and a carriage assembly including a circular blade. The indicia are calibrated in a scale measured from a predetermined cut line. The rail assembly is mounted in a perpendicular relation to the measuring indicia for pivotal movement between operative and inoperative positions with respect to the cutting board. The carriage assembly is mounted for sliding movement on the rail assembly. The cutting board may include a positive stop, and the rail assembly may be biased against the at least one stop when the rail assembly moves to the operative position.

The prior art discloses paper cutters including a carriage assembly mounted on a rail for translational movement across a cutting board to cut or trim various material. The rail is mounted for pivotal motion with respect to the cutting board to raise the carriage assembly above the paper sheets to allow for placement of the paper sheets to be cut. A circular blade is mounted in the carriage assembly for rotary motion of the circular blade as it passes over the paper sheets. The carriage assembly is biased to a retracted position on the rail when not in use. The carriage assembly is pushed down to move the blade into engagement with the stack of paper and then moved across the rail to cut or trim the paper. A self healing pad may be provided in the cutting board along the path of travel of the circular blade to provide a smooth cutting surface.
The above-described prior art paper cutters are not perfect and therefore can be improved in a number of ways. For example, the structural rigidity of the rail assembly of the cutters can be further increased to decrease flexure in the rail and thereby permit a straighter line when relatively long cuts are required. The cutters can also be provided with additional features designed to improve the accuracy of the cuts by eliminating the concern of stack-up tolerances which can accumulate between the various components of the cutter due to the separate manufacture and assembly of parts, and the general looseness between parts resulting from long-term use. Moreover, the self-healing pad and manner of attachment can be reconfigured to provide the pad with multiple useable cutting surfaces. In addition, the measuring indicia can be calibrated in at least two scales to increase the versatility of the cutter and eliminate the need for separate molds. These and other improvements, which will be apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter, would provide the above described types of paper cutters with enhanced cutting accuracy, increase longevity or useable life, and increased versatility.


A tank fitting assembly for an inlet/outlet port in a tank wall. The tank fitting assembly includes first and second fitting elements which are respectively mountable to an interior surface and an exterior surface of a tank and in registry with a drain opening in the tank wall. Stand-offs furnished on the underside of the body of the first fitting element create a gap between the underside of the element body and the tank wall. The gap serves as a fluid passageway, thereby allowing fluid to empty from the tank by passing along the bottom wall of the tank to the tank wall drain opening and then through a drain hole in the second fitting element. The connectors used to connect together the first and second fitting elements extend through bores provided in the first fitting element, through the tank wall, and through bores provided in the second fitting element. Plugs mountable to the heads of the connectors fit within cavities in the first fitting element in which the connector heads reside when installed, and the plugs provide fluid tight seals with the first fitting element to prevent fluid in the tank from reaching the connector heads. A method of providing a tank with a tank fitting assembly is also disclosed.

The present invention pertains to tank fittings, and, in particular, to a tank fitting utilized to provide a tank or vessel with an inlet/outlet port.
Tanks are utilized to transport and hold a variety of fluids. Tanks made of plastic frequently are either roto-molded or blow molded, and during each of these fabrication processes, molding openings into the tank is problematic. In order to provide a drain outlet in such tanks, typically a hole is drilled through the plastic tank body and a fitting is secured over the tank hole. To maximize the amount of fluid within the tank which can be drained by gravity, and if possible, such fittings are provided on the tank bottom wall rather than a tank side wall.
One problem with existing fitting designs results from the need to mount within the volume of the tank a back plate fitting part for connection to an externally accessible portion of the fitting. The use of conventional back plates limits the amount of fluid that can be drained from the tank. In particular, in order to drain from the tank, fluid must pass over the top edge of the back plate, through the back plate's central opening aligned over the hole in the tank wall, and then out through the external portion of the fitting. Consequently, any fluid in the tank at a height below the top edge of the back plate remains in the tank after drainage. An attempt to address this problem includes a low profile back plate fitting portion, but a better solution is desired as fluid still remains within the tank with such a design.
Another problem with many tank fittings results from the corrosive nature of the contents of the tanks. Frequently, the tank fittings are made of an inert material which does not react with the tank contents. However, stainless steel bolts, which simplify the interconnection of the back plate fitting portion with the external portion of the fitting, may react with the tank contents. To address this problem, threaded studs that are not exposed within the tank have been utilized. However, besides being more expensive to manufacture than bolts, such studs increase the assembly time, and therefore the assembly costs, of the fittings in which they are employed.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus which overcomes these and other shortcomings of the prior art.

Tank fitting facilitating fluid drainage


An apparatus and method for blow molding an article having a concave base wherein a mold has a base component comprising a molding surface for forming at least a portion of the concave base and a path for conduction of heat transfer fluid through channels within the base component. Improved heat transfer is effected in the base component by locating the channels at a plurality of distinct depths therein.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to blow molding. In particular, this invention relates to apparatus and methods for heat transfer in mold components for blow molding.
2. Description of Related Art
Molds for blow molding articles having bases including concave portions are known wherein the molds comprise left and right mold halves and a base component. Further, it is known to provide passages within the mold members for conduction of heat transfer fluid to enhance temperature conditioning of the material from which the articles are formed. In this regard, it is known to use heat transfer fluid to remove heat from the material after expansion to the shape of the mold cavity to reduce the time required for the expanded article to become sufficiently solid for removal from the mold without unacceptable deformation. To effectively remove heat from the concave base of an article, it is known to provide conduction of heat transfer fluid proximate the molding surface of the base component of the mold. As a consequence of the required projection of the base component to form the concave portion of the molded article, the base component has a relatively large thermal mass. However, it is common that the molding surface of the base component includes features defining localized variations in depth of the projection. Consequently, heat transfer within the base component is subject to localized variations of thermal mass creating localized differences in heat transfer from the molding surface. Known arrangements of heat transfer for such mold components are not effective to accommodate these differences. Hence, there is a continuing need for providing improved heat transfer effectiveness for blow molding articles having concave bases.


The invention describes a distributed merchandise management system, in which the client, retailer and the manufacturer are linked by a network. This is implemented by a cloud storage (105), the cloud storage (105) comprising a means (105a) for storing data, a means for receiving first data from a first network node (110), the first data being associated with a physical object, a means for receiving request data from a second network node (120), a means for receiving second data from a third network node (130), the second data being associated with the first data and comprising at least one data piece adapted to change the first data depending on the received request data, a means for changing the first data based at least in part on the second data and the request data, and a means for sending a changed portion of the first data from the cloud storage (105) to the first network node (110).

Where in the past goods were only distributed via the stationary sales channel, i.e. sold, for example, to customers by retailers in stores, there is now a plurality of different sales channels. The term sales channel is used to describe the path or flow of goods between manufacturer and customer. In particular, goods can be products that can also be described as physical objects.
Goods can, for example, take the direct path between manufacturer and customer, or they can be delivered to distributors so that the goods are either delivered directly from them to the customer or to a retailer who in turn sells the goods to the customer. Nowadays, the sale of goods via the Internet is becoming more and more important and is increasingly displacing regular stationary trade, especially because online trade allows manufacturers and distributors to contact customers directly and sell goods via this sales channel. Often the price also differs greatly between the online sales channel and the stationary sales channel, because the online sales channel, in contrast to the stationary sales channel, generally has lower self-cost and can react much faster to changing market conditions and adjust prices accordingly.
Thus, a heterogeneous sales channel situation prevails today. This confronts retailers, but also manufacturers, with the problem of how to adapt their merchandise management systems to the customer's behavior, i.e. to from which channel the customer is serving himself Within a merchandise management system, all changes in quantity and value of a flow of goods are recorded. Thereby, the goods themselves are mapped within the systems, for example, with general product identifications or with unique product identifications. For example, general product identifications map the goods on the product type level by means of a general EAN number, whereas unique product identifications map individual goods on the product level by means of an EAN number and at least one additional identification, such as serial numbers. This means that either types of goods or individual goods can be mapped in the merchandise management systems.
The heterogeneous sales channel situation confronts especially traders not organized in a trading network, i.e. traders who do not operate with a superordinate merchandise management system, with the problem of monitoring and mapping their flow of goods both stationary and online. Thereby, not only the fast fluctuating quantities have to be mapped, but also the price fluctuations have to be displayed almost in real time. This is currently not feasible, especially for stationary retailers, with the existing merchandise management systems and their technical possibilities. Known merchandise management systems are not able to keep up with the dynamic real-time price and availability information; this is especially true for the stock of goods of stationary retailers. Making this information available to customers is, however, an essential prerequisite for remaining competitive and attractive for customers, because price erosion is occurring precisely because of the ever-increasing and rapidly growing number of products available on the Internet. If the stationary sales channel does thereby not adapt to the online sales channel, for example, if the stationary price is not adapted to the online price or if the customer cannot see in advance whether a product is available, the stationary sales channel becomes less and less important.
However, the heterogeneous sales channel situation also confronts manufacturers with the problem that flows of goods are no longer easily comprehensible and can no longer be mapped in the merchandise management systems. If goods were previously sent from the manufacturer to the stationary retailer and sold there, possibly still with the interposition of authorized distributors, entire flows of goods become obsolete with the ever-increasing online sales channel, because distributors, for example, receive customer orders directly via the Internet and send the goods directly to the customer in the name and on account of the manufacturer. In these cases, the flow that the goods traversed from the manufacturer to the customer is no longer easy for the manufacturer to understand, i.e. the manufacturer does not know via which sales channel the customer ultimately received the product. Furthermore, with the advent of online trade, one sales channel has expanded through better price transparency, namely the so-called grey market. Here, surplus goods are often purchased from unauthorized distributors from national and international retailers at a favorable price, wherein the favorable purchase price is achieved, for example, by taking into account discounts and bonuses of the manufacturers, which were not originally intended for the purpose of lowering the purchase price, but rather for advertising measures, product placement, etc. These unauthorized distributors then deliver to retailers at a lower price than authorized distributors do. Since the heterogeneous sales channel situation has become unmanageable for manufacturers, they increasingly carry out test purchases or encourage customers to register purchased products in order to make the flow of goods comprehensible.
The heterogeneous sales channel situation also confronts customers with the problem that they can no longer easily find out where they can obtain goods at the most favorable price or, taking into account additional services (consulting, assembly, etc.), where they can obtain them at the lowest price or where goods are still available in a stationary form or at what price they are then offered in a stationary form. Even if availability inquiries are possible, the stationary price is usually worse than a price offered on the Internet or it is costly, and it takes a long time until a request is answered. This leads either to the fact that customers order the merchandise directly on-line or look at the merchandise only stationary, but at the end buy on-line.
This means that merchandise management systems are needed that can map the new heterogeneous sales channel situation.
An example of such a merchandise management system by absolute tracking of goods is shown in US 2012/0054049 A1. Here, the goods are already provided with a unique product identification during the production process, for example with a unique serial number, and this unique product identification is stored in a database of a central server. All changes in the location before the goods are sold are sent by logistics companies scanning the product identification to the central server, which assigns the location change in the database to the corresponding unique product identifications. If the product is sold to the customer, this information is also sent to the central server, either by the stationary retailer or by the online retailers, wherein the price of the sold goods can also be sent to the central server. In this case, it is therefore a central, closed merchandise management system that displays the flow of goods in a totalitarian and proprietary manner on a central server.
However, the merchandise management system described in US 2012/0054049 A1 has the disadvantage that large amounts of data are sent, which are stored centrally. Furthermore, this merchandise management system has the disadvantage that a large number of actors, such as manufacturers, retailers, customers and logistics companies, not only have to have access to the same central merchandise management system, but also have to adapt their own systems to it. Furthermore, such a system also raises the problem of data sovereignty. Furthermore, the described merchandise management system provides for a comprehensive traceability of the flow of goods, but no interaction between manufacturers, retailers and customers to specifically influence the flow of goods.

Distributed merchandise management system


Process and device for regeneration of a used absorbent from a desulfurization zone or from the desulfurization of a gas containing sulfur oxides, comprising regeneration simultaneously with filtering of the absorbent, in a reducing atmosphere, wherein partial combustion of a regeneration gas is also carried out upstream from regeneration, the products of the partial combustion being mixed with the used absorbent prior to the regeneration-filtration stage. The absorbent may be, e.g., solid absorbents based on magnesium oxide. The regeneration gas may be hydrogen sulfide and/or a hydrocarbon. For example, H2S can be partially combusted and the products of the partial combustion, including H2S, H2, SO2 and sulfur, mixed with the used absorbent prior to the regeneration-filtration stage.

French patent FR-2,636,720, filed by the applicant, discloses a boiler wherein desulfurization agents are injected into a specific zone, referred to as desulfurization chamber, interposed between the combustion chamber and the convective exchange heat recovery zone. The desulfurization agents used in this plant are preferably non-regeneratable calcic absorbents such as lime or limestone, or industrial residues with a high calcium carbonate content (sugar mill froth, paper mill froth, etc).
Various improvements have been brought to this type of boilers in order to increase the thermal efficiency thereof while having the highest possible efficiency for trapping sulfur oxides notably.
An improvement illustrated in French patent FR-2,671,855 consists in using absorbents referred to as <<regeneratable>> absorbents that are regenerated in a regenerator located downstream from the boiler, after the final dust separator.
This improvement, which retains the advantages of plants using non regeneratable absorbents, notably within the scope of desulfurization, also allows to substantially limit the amounts of used absorbent to be dumped, which is favourable to the quality of the environment.
Furthermore, the significant decrease in the amounts of used absorbent to be eliminated allows to envisage inerting treatments at non-prohibitive costs.
In the plant described above, it is suggested that regeneration of the absorbent can be carried out by means of a fluidized bed or possibly of a rotary furnace.
An improvement illustrated in French patent FR-2,730,424 consists in carrying out regeneration simultaneously with filtration of the used absorbent in a single reactor.
The processes described above propose using as a regeneration gas a hydrogen-containing or hydrocarbon-containing compound with a total carbon number below 10, such as hydrogen, methane, ethane, propane, isobutane and/or a mixture of said gases. Hydrogen is the most suitable regeneration gas because it induces the lowest coking of absorbent. However, supplying hydrogen to an industrial site, a refinery for example, can pose problems. In fact, hydrogen is not always available in sufficient amount in refineries, in particular when substantial conversion and hydrodesulfurization operations are carried out.
Furthermore, the aforementioned two inventions, which allow regeneration of the absorbent, require specific equipments for the regeneration stage that are costly and numerous.
The present invention allows to eliminate drawbacks and components of prior plants while keeping the same regeneration efficiency.
Regeneration of a desulfurization absorbent by means of hydrogen sulfide is also proposed in patent FR-2,587,236. No means for carrying out the reaction is however mentioned in this patent.

Process and device intended for regeneration of used absorbents from thermal generator fumes treatment


In the S3-type semiconductor laser, when an angle of a first growth profile line to the first principal plane, the first growth profile line connecting respective lower side lines of an upper inclined plane and a lower inclined plane of the first layer of the first conduction type cladding layer is xcex81, an angle of a second growth profile line to the first principal plane, the second growth profile line connecting respective lower side lines of an upper inclined plane and a lower inclined plane of the second layer of the first conduction type cladding layer is xcex82, an angle of a third growth profile line to the first principal plane, the third growth profile line connecting respective lower side lines of an upper inclined plane and a lower inclined plane of the third layer of the first conduction type cladding layer is xcex83, and an angle of a fourth growth profile line to the first principal plane, the fourth growth profile line connecting respective lower side lines of an upper inclined plane and a lower inclined plane of the fourth layer of the first conduction type cladding layer is xcex84, relationships xcex81 less than xcex82, xcex82 greater than xcex83, xcex83 less than xcex84 can be satisfied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser and a method of manufacturing the same and, more particularly, a self-aligned stepped substrate (S3) type semiconductor laser and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The structure of the S3 type semiconductor laser in the prior art is shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, an n-type cladding layer 102 formed of n-AlGaInP, a strained quantum well active layer 103, a first p-type cladding layer 104 formed of p-AlGaInP, a pn alternatively-doped (current) blocking layer 105 formed of AlGaInP, a second p-type cladding layer 106 formed of p-AlGaInP, and a contact layer 107 formed of p-GaAs are formed in sequence on an n-GaAs substrate 101 on which a step 101a having a inclined plane is formed. Respective layers 102 to 107 on the n-GaAs substrate 101 have a inclined plane that is almost parallel with the inclined plane of the step 101a respectively. Also, the alternatively-doped blocking layer 105 is formed due to the property that the n-type impurity is incorporated readily into the flat portion when the p-type impurity and the n-type impurity are supplied alternatively in growing. In contrast, the p-type impurity is incorporated preferentially into the portion that is parallel with the inclined plane of the step 101a of the AlGaInP layer constituting the alternatively-doped blocking layer 105 to thus form the p-type cladding layer 104.
In FIG. 1, the n-type cladding layer 102 and the p-type cladding layers 104, 106 are divided into first to fourth layer regions 111 to 114 by broken lines. The first to fourth layer regions 111 to 114 are portions in which a ratio of the flow rate of the group V material gas to the flow rate of the group III material gas (referred to as a xe2x80x9cV/III ratioxe2x80x9d hereinafter) is changed respectively or portions in which the growth temperature is changed respectively.
More particularly, the first and fourth layer regions 111, 114 are the portions that are formed by the high V/III ratio or at the low growth temperature, and the second and third layer regions 112, 113 are the portions that are formed by the low V/III ratio or at the high growth temperature. Explanation will be made hereunder by taking the steps of changing the V/III ratio of the material gas as an example, but the similar advantages and structure can be achieved by making a change of the growth temperature.
To differentiate the V/III ratio acts to change lines that define the flat portions and the step portions of the cladding layers 102, 104, 106, i.e., respective profiles of boundary lines between the flat surfaces and the inclined planes of the first to fourth layer regions 111 to 114 (referred to as xe2x80x9cgrowth profilesxe2x80x9d hereinafter). In FIG. 1, dot-dash lines denote growth profile lines indicating the change of the growth profile.
By the way, in the cladding layers 102, 104, 106, an angle xcex8 between the flat portion and the growth profile line is small in the portions which are grown by the high V/III ratio, and this angle xcex8 exhibits a tendency to increase as the V/III ratio is lowered. For example, an angle xcex801 of the growth profile line of the first layer region 111 is smaller than an angle xcex802 of the growth profile line of the second layer region 112, and an angle xcex803 of the growth profile line of the third layer region 113 is larger than an angle xcex804 of the growth profile line of the fourth layer region 114.
It has been found that, in the first to fourth layer regions 111 to 114, the angle xcex8 between the flat portion and the growth profile line affects the polarization plane of the laser beam in the laser oscillation and that the polarization plane becomes substantially perpendicular to the growth line. In the relationship between the beam shape of the laser beam and the direction of the polarization plane, based on the request to maintain the compatibility with the lasers having other structures, it is requested that the polarization plane should be set in the parallel direction with the inclined plane of the active layer 103. That is, the angle xcex8 must be set to about 90 degree to the inclined plane of the active layer 103.
In the structure in the prior art, in the cladding layers 102, 104, 106, the portions that have large influence on the polarization plane and are close to the active layer 103 are grown at the low V/III ratio to form their growth profile lines substantially perpendicularly to the inclined plane of the active layer 103, and also the polarization planes are set in parallel with the inclined plane portion of the active layer 103 by growing the portions that have small influence on the polarization plane and are far from the active layer 103 at the high V/III ratio. The inclined plane (step portion) of the active layer 103 is referred to as a stripe portion hereinafter.
The reason for that all the cladding layers 102, 104, 106 are not grown at the low V/III ratio is that, if the layer growth is carried out at the boundary portion between the n-GaAs substrate 101 and the GaAs contact layer 107 at the low V/III ratio, the crystal defect is ready to generate at the boundary portion between them and therefore such defect should be prevented.
Meanwhile, with the higher speed of the optical disk as the laser beam irradiation object, the optical output required for the semiconductor laser is increased year by year. As one factor to limit the higher output of the semiconductor laser, there is the kink in the current-optical output characteristic of the semiconductor laser.
As one factor to generate the kink, there is the event that normally the growth profile lines are not perfectly parallel with each other at the right and left portions of the stripe portion. If the components that modify the polarization plane differently are present at the right and left portions of the stripe portion, the transverse mode of the laser becomes unstable.
As the method of stabilizing such transverse mode, in Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) Hei 11-26884, it is disclosed that the transition region which appears when the low V/III ratio cladding layer is grown on the high V/III ratio cladding layer should be employed. The transition region has such a property that causes the right and left growth lines of the stripe portion to be formed in parallel to improve the kink level.
In FIG. 1, both the second and third layer regions 112, 113 are grown at the low V/III ratio. In this case, the second layer region 112 corresponds to the transition region that causes the growth profile lines to be formed in parallel, and the third layer region 113 corresponds to the stable region that appears after the transition region is completed. The active layer 103 is formed in the second layer region 112 serving as the transition region.
In order to get the characteristic in the 100 mW class by improving further the kink level, the further optimization of the layer structure is needed.
Major approaches are to narrow the stripe portion further and to strengthen the symmetrization of the growth profiles on both sides of the active layer 103.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional view obtained when the narrower stripe formation and the growth profile symmetrization strengthening of the active layer are carried out by employing the technology in the prior art. In FIG. 2, in order to strengthen the symmetrization of the active layer growth profiles, the active layer 103 is provided in the center portion of the transition region that is grown at the low V/III ratio. Accordingly, two growth profile lines on both sides of the stripe portion of the active layer 103 become parallel.
However, in the structure shown in FIG. 2, following problems are caused in the device characteristics.
The first problem is that the polarization plane of the laser beam output from the semiconductor laser is ready to rotate. Normally, the low V/III ratio transition region 112 formed on the first layer region 111 serving as the high V/III ratio growth layer does not appear to have a thickness of about 0.5 xcexcm or more. Therefore, if this transition region is assigned to upper and lower portions of the active region 103, only the thickness of about 0.25 xcexcm can be given on one side. In contrast, in order to prevent the characteristic degradation due to the optical absorption of the GaAs substrate 101, the n-type cladding layer 102 needs the thickness of about 1.5 xcexcm at least and therefore an occupying rate of the high V/III ratio layer region 111 in the n-type cladding layer 102 becomes high. As the result, it is impossible to maintain the polarization plane of the laser beam in parallel with the stripe portion of the active layer 103.
The second problem is that a width between the right and left blocking layers 105 formed between the first p-type cladding layer 104 and the second p-type cladding layer 106 is narrowed because of the narrower stripe formation, and thus the device resistance is increased. The blocking layer 105 in the prior art is formed in the stabilized region that is grown at the low V/III ratio and serves as the third layer region 113. In this stabilized region, the growth profile lines are formed like the xe2x80x9cxcex9xe2x80x9d character as the layer thickness is increased, and thus there is the strong tendency that a width of the inclined surface of the p-type cladding layer 104 is reduced. As a result, the resistance increase of the p-type cladding layer 104 between the current blocking layers 105 formed on the upper end of the third layer region 113 is remarkable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor laser in which a layer structure capable of improving a kink level of an optical output characteristic is formed on a stepped substrate and a method of manufacturing the same.
According to the present invention, the first conduction type cladding layers which is formed under the active layer are formed on the stepped plane of the substrate to have the at least quadruple-layered structure, and the angle of the growth profile line of the inclined plane of the uppermost first conduction type cladding layer to the flat principal plane is enhanced by changing the angles of the growth profile lines of the inclined planes of the first conduction type cladding layers to the principal plane so as to repeat small, large, small, and large.
Accordingly, the angle of the growth profile line of the inclined plane of the first conduction type cladding layer that is formed just under the active layer can be set substantially perpendicular to the stripe-portion of the active layer. In addition, at least two layers that have the growth profile line at the angle that is substantially perpendicular to the stripe-portion of the active layer are provided alternately in the first conduction type cladding layers. Therefore, in the first conduction type cladding layers, a total layer thickness of the layers which have the growth profile line that do not become substantially perpendicular to the stripe-portion of the active layer can be reduced rather than the prior art. As a result, the rotation of the polarization plane of the laser beam is suppressed and thus the kink level of the output characteristic of the semiconductor laser is held high.
Also, according to the present invention, in the second conduction type cladding layers having the plural-layered structure formed over the active layer, the current blocking regions are formed on both sides of the inclined plane in the bottom region of the second conduction type cladding layer in which the angle of the growth profile line is small.
As a consequence, the inclination of the growth profile line of the second conduction type cladding layer that is formed along the inclined plane of the active layer and is put between the current blocking regions becomes small, but the growth profile of the region between the current blocking regions holds the almost same width even if the layer thickness is increased. Therefore, even if the stripe portion is formed as the narrow stripe, the second conduction type cladding layer between the current blocking regions is not narrowed and also the device electric resistance is never reduced. The reduction of the device electric resistance prevents the kink level of the output characteristic deteriorating.
In order to prevent the event that the width of the inclined plane of the second conduction type cladding layer formed between the current blocking regions becomes narrow, it is abandoned to grow the current blocking regions in the stable regions having the low V/III ratio, but the method of forming the current blocking regions at the high V/III ratio or the low growth temperature is employed.
In the layers that are grown at the high V/III ratio or the low growth temperature, the angles of the growth profile lines on the side portions of the inclined plane become small, nevertheless the tendency that the width of the stripe-portion is reduced as the layer thickness is increased is small in contrast to using the stable region growth that is carried out at the low V/III ratio or the high growth temperature. Therefore, the low V/III ratio growth is switched to the high V/III ratio growth in the thin thickness stage of the low V/III ratio stable growth, wherein the reduction in the width of the stripe-portion is not conspicuous, and then the increase of the device resistance can be prevented by forming the current blocking regions under these conditions by the pn alternative doping.

Semiconductor laser and method of manufacturing the same


A process for conditioning of wastewater treatment brines for deep well injection during recovery of heavy hydrocarbon oils in situ. High pressure steam is used to mobilize oil, which is recovered in a mixture of oil and produced water. The produced water is pre-treated by removing residual oil. The remaining water is acidified and steam stripped to remove non-hydroxide alkalinity and non-condensable gases, and is then fed to a crystallizing evaporator, where it is evaporated from a circulating brine slurry to produce (1) a distillate stream having a trace amount of residual solutes, and (2) evaporator blowdown stream containing, as dissolved or suspended solids, substantially all of the solutes from the produced water feed. The distillate stream is used as boiler feedwater, either directly or after polishing. The evaporator blowdown is conditioned to remove substantially all suspended solids and to produce a clear brine solution for deep well injection.

Steam generation is necessary or desirable in many heavy oil recovery operations, including, for example, the recovery of tar sands from deposits in Northern Alberta, Canada, or elsewhere around the world. This is because in order to recover heavy oil from certain geologic formations, heating is required to increase the mobility of the oil to be recovered from the geologic formation. In order to produce steam for downhole use, water treatment plants are necessary to produce high quality water meeting the applicable specifications for a selected high pressure steam generator system. In most cases, the primary source of water to be treated in order to manufacture the required steam in the selected high pressure steam generator is de-oiled produced water, i.e. the water which is brought up along with the oil by production wells when oil is removed from the geologic formation. In such instances, oil must be separated from the produced water in order to provide a de-oiled produced water suitable for further treatment, prior to steam generation.
Various processes have been heretofore utilized or proposed for treatment of de-oiled produced waters. In those situations where the de-oiled produced waters contain relatively high levels of silica, the wastewater brines produced by the required water treatment plant inevitably contain high levels of silica. Silica is relatively soluble at high pH, however, high pH waters may, in some locales, be unsuitable for disposal by underground injection. The manufacture of wastewater brines for underground injection at neutral or near neutral pH would be desirable in order to eliminate the necessity to neutralize high pH wastewater brines, as well as the necessity to reduce or effectively eliminate from such wastewater brines the presence of silica above solubility limits before underground injection.
Thus, it can be appreciated that it would be advantageous to provide a produced water treatment process which minimizes the production of high pH wastewater brine streams, and that produces a neutral or near neutral pH wastewater brine suitable for underground injection.
The foregoing figures, being merely exemplary, contain various elements that may be present or omitted from actual process implementations depending upon the circumstances. An attempt has been made to draw the figures in a way that illustrates at least those elements that are significant for an understanding of the various embodiments and aspects of the invention. However, various other elements of the unique process methods, and the combination of apparatus for carrying out the methods, are also shown and briefly described to enable the reader to understand how various features, including optional or alternate features or procedures, may be utilized in order to provide an efficient, cost effective process design which can be implemented in a desired throughput size and physical configuration for providing an optimum produced water treatment plant utilizing a calcium sulfate seeded crystallizing evaporator having an evaporator blowdown treatment system that produces a clear, effectively solids free treated brine suitable for downhole injection into a selected geologic formation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Treatment of brines for deep well injection


A seal assembly for a gas turbine engine according to an example of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a seal that has a seal body extending circumferentially between opposed mate faces, the seal body having a seal face that bounds a gas path and an opposed impingement face, a seal carrier extending along the impingement face, and a seal member trapped between the seal carrier and the impingement face such that the seal member is circumferentially aligned with one of the mate faces. A method of sealing is also disclosed.

This disclosure relates to sealing for adjacent components of a gas turbine engine.
A gas turbine engine typically includes at least a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. The compressor section pressurizes air into the combustion section where the air is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate an exhaust gas flow. The exhaust gas flow expands through the turbine section to drive the compressor section and, if the engine is designed for propulsion, a fan section.
The turbine section may include multiple stages of rotatable blades and static vanes. An annular shroud or blade outer air seal may be provided around the blades in close radial proximity to the tips of the blades to reduce the amount of gas flow that escapes around the blades. The shroud typically includes a plurality of arc segments that are circumferentially arranged in an array. The arc segments are exposed to relatively hot gases in the gas flow path and may be configured to receive cooling airflow to cool portions of the shrouds. The shroud may include impingement plates that direct the cooling airflow onto surfaces of the arc segments.

Seal assembly with impingement seal plate


A one-way vent for installation in a panel aperture is described. The vent includes a frame made of a first material, and valve and seal members both made of a second material, which has a lower stiffness than the first material. The frame includes an outer wall for engaging a perimeter of the aperture, and a valve seat extending inwardly from the outer wall. The valve seat defines an opening through the frame. The valve member includes a flap support fixed against a portion of the valve seat, and a valve flap flexibly coupled to the flap support. The valve flap is moveable between a closed position resting on the valve seat to cover the opening, and an open position elevated from the valve seat to uncover the opening. The seal member is fixed against the outer wall of the frame and extends outwardly from the outer wall.

Automobiles and other vehicles, and indeed many other structures with enclosed spaces, include ventilation systems that move conditioned air into the enclosed space. These structures generally also include vents that allow air to exit the enclosed space. Such vents may be expected to satisfy many, sometimes conflicting, conditions such as a low cost of production and the ability to withstand repeated exposure to the elements. Currently, such vents often rely on metals and other materials that corrode over time due to exposure. Reducing reliance on those materials presents further challenges however, as substitutes such as plastics may be more difficult to fabricate while still meeting the above conditions.


The present invention provides for a method of decreasing the Conradson carbon content of metal containing petroleum streams by forming a mixture of the Conradson carbon containing petroleum fraction and an aqueous electrolysis medium containing an electron transfer agent, and passing an electric current through the mixture or optionally through the pretreated aqueous electrolysis medium at a voltage, sufficient to decrease the Concarbon content of the stream. The cathodic voltage is from 0 V to -3.0 V vs. SCE. The invention provides a method for enhancing the value of petroleum feeds that traditionally have limited use in refineries.

Conradson carbon ("Concarbon") number is a measure of the characteristic tendency of a petroleum feedstream to form coke during processing. Feedstreams having a lower Concarbon number are more economically desirable as refinery feeds than feedstreams having a higher Concarbon number.
Electrochemical processes have been used for removal of halogenated organic compounds, e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls in one phase organic systems see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,510 and for removal of water soluble metals from aqueous streams, see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,152. Petroleum streams are typically not halogen containing. Decreasing the Conradson carbon content of petroleum streams is more difficult to achieve because the hydrocarbon species are not readily water soluble. U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,252 discloses a process for electrochemically decreasing the Conradson carbon content of petroleum streams, but there is a continuing need for effective treatment methods, particularly ones in which enhanced rates of treatment at higher current efficiencies and/or lower electrolyte concentrations are possible. Applicants' invention addresses this need.

Method for decreasing the conradson carbon content of petroleum feedstreams


A non-iridescent transparent product comprising a transparent substrate, a transparent film having a refractive index of at least 1.6 and a thickness of at least 0.15 .mu.m formed on the substrate, and an underlying layer formed at the boundary between the substrate and the film, wherein the underlying layer is an absorbing layer with an extinction coefficient k being not 0.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-iridescent transparent product.
2. Discussion of the Background
Heretofore, it has been common to form a transparent conductive film on a glass surface and use it as an electrode for display or as a low-emissivity glass. For example, indium-tin oxide (ITO) formed on a glass substrate by ion plating is commonly used as a transparent electrode for a display device such as a liquid crystal device. Further, a fluorine-doped tin oxide (SnO.sub.2 :F) film formed on a glass substrate by spraying is used as a low emissivity glass for houses. Recently, as new applications of a transparent conductive film, electromagnetic wave-shielding glass for buildings, electrically-heated windshields for automobiles and transparent conductive substrates for solar cells for consumer use have been developed. In each of these applications, a glass substrate with large area is required.
As the material constituting such a transparent conductive film, ITO, SnO.sub.2 :F and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) are available. However, with these transparent oxide materials, the reflectance at a wavelength satisfying the interference conditions, tends to be high, since the refractive index is as high as from 1.6 to 2.3, which is substantially higher than glass. Namely, if such a transparent oxide is formed on a glass substrate in a film thickness exceeding a certain level, maximums and minimums appear in the spectral reflection (transmission) spectrum as ripples Accordingly, when such a film is formed on a glass substrate with a large area, the wavelength of the maximum reflection (transmission) tends to deviate due to the in-plane thickness variation (non-uniformity), which will be visually observed as iridescence of the reflected (transmitted) color.
It requires an extremely high level of technique to control the film thickness distribution on a glass surface to a level within .+-.5% by vapor deposition or CVD (chemical vapor deposition) when the glass sheet has a size of e.g. 1 m.times.1 m. According to the study conducted by the present inventors, if the film thickness distribution is at this level, in-plane iridescence reaches a problematic level when the above-mentioned transparent film is formed on a glass substrate in a thickness of at least about 0.15 .mu.m. On the other hand, when the thickness becomes at least about 0.6 .mu.m, the iridescence starts to decrease. However, the thickness is required to be at least 3 .mu.m, preferably at least 5 .mu.m, in order to reduce the iridescence to a non-recognizable level.
Even if the film thickness distribution could be controlled quite uniformly, there still remain large ripples in the spectral reflection (transmission) spectrum, and such ripples will be visually recognized as a brilliant color when the film thickness is less than 3 .mu.m. If such film is formed on a large size glass sheet, the maximum reflection (transmission) wavelength deviates depending upon the viewing angle i.e. the angle between the glass surface and the viewing direction, and the colors will thereby be changed, which will be observed as iridescence. Accordingly, it is desired to minimize ripples in the spectral reflection (transmission) spectrum.
If the film thickness is thinner than 0.15 .mu.m, the degree of the film thickness distribution is at a level of .+-.75.ANG. when a thickness distribution of .+-.5% is assumed, whereby no substantial in-plane iridescence due to the variation in the film thickness will be observed, but the iridescence due to the viewing angle will still be a problem.
Thus, when a transparent film is formed on a glass substrate in a thickness beyond a certain level, iridescence will be observed on the glass due to the in-plane thickness variation or due to the change in the viewing angle, which may substantially impair the commercial value of the product.
A few proposals have been made to prevent such iridescence. For example, a method is known wherein a transparent layer having a refractive index n=1.7 to 1.8 is formed between the transparent film and the glass substrate in a thickness corresponding to 1/4 of the designed wavelength. Further, a method is also known in which a transparent layer having a refractive index n=1.6 to 1.7 and a thickness corresponding to 1/4 of the wavelength and a transparent layer having a refractive index n=1.8 to 1.9 and a thickness corresponding to 1.4 of the wavelength are formed between the transparent thin film and the glass substrate sequentially in this order from the glass substrate side.
Further, as a practical method for forming a layer having a refractive index n=1.7 to 1.8 between a transparent film and a glass substrate, it is known to form a SiC.sub.x O.sub.y film. This is based on the float method for the production of a sheet glass and comprises impinging a gas mixture of silane, an unsaturated hydrocarbon compound and carbon dioxide to a glass surface in a molten tin bath. This is basically a method of forming a transparent film having an intermediate refractive index by normal pressure CVD.
In each case, the thickness of the underlying transparent layer is required to be a thickness corresponding to 1/4 of the designed wavelength of visible light, at the minimum. Therefore, in each case, the film forming method is normal pressure CVD. Normal pressure CVD is particularly effective from the viewpoint of low cost when a film is formed by a continuous treatment (on line) in a mass production process of glass. On the other hand, it has a drawback that it is not suitable for production of various types in small quantities or for forming multi-layers.
Therefore, in many cases, a sputtering method is employed for the production of heat reflecting glass for buildings or for automobiles. Also in the case of a transparent conductive substrate for display, it is common to employ a vacuum process from the viewpoint of the quality of the product. A vacuum process has such merits that it is readily possible to produce various types of high quality products in small quantities or to form a multi-layered film, and it is excellent in the control ability of the film thickness. Taking uniform coating to a large scale substrate into consideration, an in-line sputtering system is considered to be the best. Further, it has an additional merit that a combination with other vacuum process such as evaporation or plasma CVD can easily be designed. Therefore, it is desirable to form an underlying layer as mentioned above, by a sputtering system.
On the other hand, the sputtering method has a drawback that the film-forming speed is slow. Under the circumstances, various studies are being made to improve the film-forming speed. Especially, the film-forming speed of an oxide coating by reactive sputtering from a metal target is very slow. The present inventors previously found a transparent material with an intermediate refractive index which is stable and excellent in the durability and has a high film-forming speed, and proposed to use it as the underlying layer (Japanese Patent Application No 201148/1990) and also proposed to divide the underlying layer into two layers having low and high refractive indices (Japanese Patent Application No. 275240/1990). However, even such proposals were not entirely satisfactory from the viewpoint of the production efficiency.


A method for collecting transaction history data and an associated terminal device. The method may include: collecting on-line, from a remote server (SV), first history data (DT) representative of at least one transaction associated with a user account (15); communicating contactlessly with a smart card (2), during which the terminal (T) recovers second history data (DH) stored locally in a memory (10) of the smart card, the second history data being representative of transactions processed by the smart card in association with the user account (15); and analyzing, during which the terminal (T) aggregates the first and second history data in order to obtain up-to-date history data. It is thus possible to generate transaction-following data from the up-to-date history data.

The present invention lies in the general field of terminals, and it relates more particularly to using a terminal for consulting data representing transaction history, e.g. in the field of banking.
In known manner, the bearer of a bank card can use that card to carry banking transactions, e.g. such as payment transactions, in association with a bank account. The user can also follow the state of the bank account (balance, amounts and dates of transactions) using statements issued regularly by the bank.
Nevertheless, it is difficult at present for the user of a bank card to follow in real time the transactions carried out by the user in association with a bank account. A longer or shorter waiting time is necessary to enable the bank to process recent transactions carried out using a bank card and then to issue a new statement taking those recent transactions into account.
A monthly statement serves to draw up a balance over a period of past time, but it is not intended to provide information about the status of a bank account in real time. It is sometimes possible to perform on-line consultation of the balance of an account or of transactions that have been carried out in association with an account, but the information provided by the bank is not always exhaustive.
Thus, at present, there does not exist a satisfactory solution for enabling the user of a bank card, and more generally of a smart card, to obtain reliable and up-to-date information about the state of a user account associated with that card. In particular, there exists a need to enable the state of a bank account associated with a bank card to be followed in real time.

Collecting transaction history data on a terminal


A touch display panel and a touch display device are provided. The touch display panel includes: a substrate, a light-emitting device layer arranged on the substrate, and multiple touch electrodes arranged on the side of the light-emitting device layer away from the substrate. The light-emitting device layer includes multiple pixels, and each of the pixels has a light-emitting region and a non-light-emitting region on the periphery of the light-emitting region. Each of the touch electrodes has a structure of a metal grid. The pixels include first color pixels, and grid lines of the metal grid are arranged in each of the non-light-emitting regions of at least a part of the first color pixels.

Most information to a human is accepted by the visual organs (eyes) of a human. Since more visual information is required by people in production and life, the display technology is very important in the current human life. The display technology is developed very rapidly, from cathode ray tube (CRT) technology, plasma display panel (PDP) technology, liquid crystal display (LCD) technology, to the latest organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology and micro light-emitting diode (LED) display technology which are developed sequentially.
With the improvement of society and the increasing demand of people for technology, the current display technology is favoring narrow rim, high contrast, high resolution, full color display, low power consumption, high reliability, long lifetime and thinness and lightness. The organic light-emitting display technology has been constantly advancing and its research has been deepening. A touch function is realized in the organic light-emitting display panel in the conventional technology. A research issue in the display industry is to improve display effect of the organic light-emitting display panel.

Touch display panel and touch display device

SHANGHAI TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


An apparatus for adjustably securing a boat accessory to a boat. A first member has a plug and a second member has a socket. The plug has a rosette shape with rounded protrusions and the socket has a corresponding mating shape. Both the plug and the socket have openings for a fastener to secure the plug in the socket. The first member is one of a mounting base and an accessory base, and the second member is the other one. In one embodiment, an extension is positioned adjacent the plug so as to separate the first and second members. In another embodiment, the extension has a plug on each end and the first and second members have sockets. In another such embodiment, the extension has two members joined with a rosette-shaped plug and socket.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to an adjustable connector for attaching accessories, such as a wakeboard holder, to a water vessel, such as a recreational boat. More particularly, this invention pertains to an adjustable connector including a plug that mates with a socket and provides rotational adjustment about the longitudinal axis of the plug relative to the socket.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water vessels, such as recreational boats, include various accessories, such as wakeboard holders, speakers, lights, mirrors, and such. One common and popular boat accessory is a wakeboard holder, which is commonly a rack that clamps one or more wakeboards when not being used. One example of such a wakeboard holder is U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,795, issued to Schultz on May 3, 2005, titled "Accessory storage device," which discloses a storage device that is used in pairs to hold wakeboards and other planar objects. Each storage device is a fork with a clamping member that is forced against a wakeboard when a handle is operated. The storage device is secured to a planar member that is a mounting structure, which is part of the boat.
Boat accessories are mounted to the boat at various locations and to various members of the boat, for example, towers, stanchions, decks, windshield frames, and railings. Due to the custom nature of many boats, single application or custom made brackets and supports are often used to support accessories. For example, a boat tower may have speakers that are attached to the tower by way of a mounting connecter that clamps to the tower and bolts to the speaker box. Oftentimes, the custom brackets and supports offer little or no adjustability if the boat operator desires to reposition the accessory, such as, for example, when the speaker is rear facing and the boat operator desires to have the speaker be side facing. Accordingly, one problem with attaching accessories to a boat is how to adjust the positioning of the accessory with an esthetically pleasing connector, with the connector having the strength to withstand the pounding and vibration that such accessories are subject to on a boat.
Known devices that attempt to solve this problem include cylindrical plugs with smooth sidewalls engaging cylindrical sockets, also with smooth sidewalls. The plugs are secured in the sockets with pins inserted in corresponding holes in the plug and socket. The pins are parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical plugs. A plurality of holes in either or both of the plug and the socket allow the plug to assume one of several fixed positions relative to the socket. One problem with this solution is the difficulty in aligning the pin with the hole when inserting the plug into the socket. Another problem is that the pins are susceptible to shearing when excessive rotational force is applied.

Adjustable connector for marine accessories


A carrier for electrostatic development contains a core particle and a coating layer covering the core particle, and the core particle is a ferrite particle containing at least one of Zr in an amount of 0.005% by mass to 5% by mass and Bi in an amount of 0.001% by mass to 1% by mass. The carrier shows a sufficient resistance, is stably charged over a long period of time, can avoid roughness and irregular density in halftone images, prevents deposition of the carrier particles on a photoconductor, can satisfactorily reproduce character images and can produce high-quality images over a long period of time. The carrier is usable for constituting a developer, a container housing the developer, an image forming apparatus and process, and process cartridge using the developer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrier which is used for developing a latent electrostatic image formed on a photoconductor to form a visible image; a developer containing the carrier and a toner; a container housing the developer; and an image forming process, an image forming apparatus, and process cartridge using the developer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, in electrophotography apparatuses and electrostatic recording apparatuses, an electrical or magnetic latent image is rendered visible by a toner. For example, in the electrophotography process, an electrostatically charged image (latent image) is formed on a photoconductor, and this latent image is then developed using a toner to form a toner image. This toner image is usually transferred to a transfer material such as paper, and subsequently fixed by a process such as heating.
In general, the toner used for the electrostatically charged image development comprises coloring particles containing a colorant, charge control agent and other additives in a binder resin, and may be manufactured, broadly speaking, by a pulverization process or a suspension polymerization process.
In the pulverization process, toner is manufactured by melt-mixing the colorant, charge control agent and offset inhibitor, uniformly dispersing them in a thermoplastic resin, and then pulverizing and classifying the composition obtained. By the pulverization process, a toner having excellent characteristics can be manufactured, but selection of toner materials is limited.
For example, the composition obtained by melt mixing must be a material which can be pulverized and classified by an economically viable apparatus. Due to this requirement, the composition which is melt-mixed must be sufficiently brittle to be pulverized and classified.
Thus, when the composition is actually pulverized to particles, a particle size distribution with a wide range is easily formed, and if it is attempted to obtain a copy image with good resolution and gradation, fines with a particle size of for example 5 μm or less and coarse powder of 20 μm or more must be removed, so the yield becomes very low. Additives such as a coloring agent and charge control agent cannot be uniformly dispersed in a thermoplastic resin according to the pulverization process. Uneven dispersion of the components has an adverse effect on toner fluidity, development and durability, and image quality.
Recently, to overcome the problem in these pulverization processes, it was proposed to manufacture the toner by a polymerization process such as suspension polymerization process, and this process is now being used. Such toner particles for electrostatic development are prepared, for example, by suspension polymerization. However, the toner particles obtained by the suspension polymerization process are spherical, and they are not easy to clean off. In development and transfer of an image with a low image occupancy, the amount of a residual toner after transfer is small and the cleaning failure does not become a problem. However, in development and transfer of an image with a high image occupancy or in the case that a toner constituting an image is not transferred due to paper feed failure and remains on the photoconductor, the cleaning failure leads to toner deposition on the background of images. In addition, such a residual toner may be deposited on a charger roller for contact-charging the photoconductor and other members, thus reducing the inherent charging ability of them.
To solve these problems, Japanese Patent No. 2537503 discloses a process of preparing fine resin particles by emulsion polymerization and associating the fine resin particles with one another to thereby yield toner particles having irregular shapes.
However, even if the toner particles obtained by emulsion-polymerization are subjected to a water rinsing process, as surfactant remains not only on the surface but also in the interior of the particles, the environmental stability of the toner charge is adversely impacted, the charge distribution is broadened, and the obtained image is soiled. Moreover, the remaining surfactant also contaminates the photoconductor, charge roller and developing roller, so that they are not able to manifest their original charging capability.
Toner particles for use in an image-fixing process, in which an image is fixed by contact heating using a heating member such as heating roller, must have satisfactory releasing properties with respect to the heating member (hereinafter may be referred to as "anti-offset performance"). The anti-offset performance can be improved by arranging a releasing agent on the surface of toner particles. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2000-292973 and No. 2000-292978 each propose a process for imparting the anti-offset performance to toner particles by arranging fine resin particles mainly in a surface layer of toner particles in addition to compounding them within the toner particles. However, these techniques invite an elevated lowest image-fixing temperature, thus deteriorating properties in low-temperature image-fixing systems for energy saving.
The processes, in which toner particles having irregular forms are prepared by associating resin particles prepared by emulsion polymerization, have the following disadvantages. When particles of a release agent are associated to improve the anti-offset performance of the toner, the release agent particles are included inside the toner particles, and thereby the anti-offset performance of the toner cannot be improved satisfactorily. In addition, since resin particles, release agent particles and coloring agent particles are randomly mixed and fused to form toner particles, the composition of the toner particles varies (i.e., contents of the toner constituents in the toner particles vary) and in addition the molecular weight of the binder resin in the toner particles varies. As a result, the individual toner particles have different surface properties, and therefore the toner cannot stably produce good images over a long period of time. In an image forming system which requires the toner to have a low temperature fixability, the toner prepared by arranging fine resin particles on the surface thereof invites poor image-fixing due to the toner particles having the resin particles unevenly present on their surface, and therefore the toner cannot be used therefor because of having a narrow fixing temperature range.
Developing systems in the electrophotography are roughly divided into one-component developing systems using a toner alone as a main component and two-component developing systems using a mixture of a toner and a carrier such as glass beads and magnetic particles with or without resin coating.
The two-component developing systems use a carrier with a wider contact charging area with respect to the toner, have stable charging properties and are advantageous for yielding high-quality images over a long period of time as compared with the one-component developing systems. They can highly feed the toner to a developing region and are often used in high-speed machines.
The two-component developing systems are also widely employed in digital electrophotographic systems in which a latent electrostatic image is formed on a photoconductor typically using laser beams and is developed to form a visible image.
Such latent images must have smaller minimum unit (one dot) with higher density to produce images with higher resolution and higher highlight reproducibility or to produce color images. A strong demand has therefore been made to provide developing systems that can reproduce these latent images (dots) in exact accordance. To satisfy the demand, various proposals have been made on process conditions and developers (toners and carriers). Relating to the process conditions, a smaller developing gap, a thinner photoconductor, and a smaller diameter of write beams are effective. However, these techniques lead to higher cost and have still insufficient reliability.
Relating to developers, the use of a toner having a small particle diameter significantly improves the reproducibility of dots. However, such a developer containing a toner with a small particle diameter may invite toner deposition on the background of images and insufficient image density. A full-color toner with a small particle diameter uses a resin with low softening point to produce sufficient colors but invites a larger amount of spent toner on the carrier, thus deteriorating the developer and often inviting scattering of toner particles and toner deposition on the background of images.
Various proposals have been made on the use of carriers with a small particle diameter. The carriers with a small particle diameter have the following advantages.
(1) These carriers have a large surface area and can thereby impart sufficient charges to individual toner particles by friction, thus avoiding toner particles with a low charge or with an opposite charge. They can therefore satisfactorily reproduce dots (images) with less toner deposition on the background of images and with less dust and bleeding of the toner around the dots.
(2) These carriers have a large surface area and can prevent toner deposition on the background of images. Therefore, the toner particles can have a decreased average charge to produce sufficient image density. Accordingly, the carriers with a small particle diameter can supplement the disadvantages of and enhance the advantages of the toners with a small particle diameter.
(3) The carriers with a small particle diameter can form fine magnetic brush with good flowability, thus avoiding traces or marks of the magnetic brush on images.
Along with the use of carriers with a small particle diameter having the above advantages, various materials of core particles for carrier particles have been proposed to reduce loads on the environment. More specifically, a Cu—Zn ferrite has been often used for the material for core particles, but it is now less used, due to its constitutional copper and zinc elements. Mn ferrites are now often used instead of the Cu—Zn ferrite. The Mn ferrites often include Mg among various additives to improve their properties. For example, Japanese Patent No. 3243376 discloses a technique of adding Mg and Sr to a Mn ferrite to reduce variation in magnetization among carrier particles. Various improvements thus have been made on the Mn ferrites with an increasing use thereof to thereby improve their quality. However, these Mn ferrites have a low resistance and invite image failure such as irregular image density in a halftone image when their magnetic properties are set within regular usable regions.
Conventional carriers with a small particle diameter often invite deposition or scattering of carrier particles, which causes damage on the photoconductor or image-fixing roller, and are thereby difficult to use in practice.
To solve these problems, Japanese Patent No. 3243376 proposes a specific carrier having a volume-average particle diameter of 25 to 45 μm, containing particles with a particle diameter of 22 μm or less in an amount of 1% or less and having magnetization of 67 to 88 emu/g in a magnetic field of 1 kilooersted, in which scattered particles have a magnetization 10 emu/g lower than that of inherent particles. This technique can reduce deposition of carrier particles but significantly invites "rough image", a spotted image density irregularity in a test on an analogue halftone image using a developing system in which a direct-current voltage is superimposed with an alternating-current voltage as developing bias. The analogue halftone image in a digital machine used in this test is in the similitude of a digital image with high precision of 1200 dpi or more and the test is a forced test for next-generation digital images with higher precision. In contrast, the rough image is trivial in low-precision digital image formation of around 400 dpi.
JP-A No. 2002-296846 proposes a technique for uniformizing a halftone image by reducing the particle diameter of carrier. In this technique, the irregularity in halftone images is considered to be caused by varying particle diameters. In contrast, the concern in the present invention is irregularity in halftone images caused by electrical factors. To verify the difference between them, the present inventors have made a test on a copier CF-70 (available from Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.) used as a test machine in JP-A No. 2002-296846 and have found that the CF-70 is a full-color copier with a resolution of 400 dpi, and the irregularity in halftone image which is a problem to be solved by the present invention is not observed therein.
Generally, digital images can be reproduced in exact accordance with inputted images more satisfactorily with an increasing resolution of images. This is also true in electrophotography, and investigations on images with higher resolution of 1200 dpi or higher have revealed that smooth images can be produced in highlight or halftone densities at such a high resolution.
However, a higher resolution alone is insufficient to yield a higher image quality, and individual dots constituting the image must have high dot uniformity. The term "dot uniformity" used herein means that each dot bears a toner in an amount with less variation from dot to dot. In an image with a higher resolution, each dot bears a decreasing amount of a toner with a decreasing diameter of dot as compared with an image with a lower resolution. Target high-quality images with smooth entire appearance can be obtained by uniformizing the amount of toner in each dot. In contrast, if each dot bears a toner in an amount largely varying from dot to dot, the difference between the amounts of the toner leads to images with uneven densities. In this connection, images with a lower resolution are not so affected by irregular densities caused by decreased dot uniformity, since each dot in these images bears a larger amount of the toner. To produce high-quality images with higher resolution, investigations have been made to improve the dot uniformity of individual dots.
The "roughness (rough image)" as evaluated in the present invention is a phenomenon in which a rough irregularity in density occurs in images of highlight to halftone densities and which is caused by a decreased dot uniformity. The rough image tends to occur in images with high resolution. The analogue halftone image as tested in the present invention corresponds to an output image of the highest resolution. If the roughness can be improved in the analogue halftone image, high-quality images with high resolution can be produced.
The copier CF-70 is a machine for producing images with a resolution of 400 dpi (one dot: about 60 μm) and does not invite the rough image. More specifically, the irregularity in halftone images observed in JP-A No. 2002-296846 is caused by the difference in particle diameters, and the copier used in this technique cannot detect the rough image, i.e., the irregularity in halftone images caused by electrical factors. Accordingly, the technique is not a solution to the problems in the present invention.
Ferrite carriers such as Ni—Zn ferrite, Mn—Zn ferrite or Cu—Zn ferrite have a dielectric breakdown voltage of 1000 V or more, can avoid leakage of the potential of latent electrostatic image on a photoconductor to the carrier during development, and do not invite brush strokes. However, these ferrite carriers have an excessively high density. To avoid this disadvantage, JP-A No. 07-225497 discloses the use of a Li—Fe ferrite containing 17.0 to 29.0% by mole of lithium oxide to Fe2O3 and describes that such a Li ferrite has a saturation magnetization of about 43 to 70 emu/g (Am2/kg). In the examples and comparative examples in the publication, the maximum saturation magnetization is 62 Am2/kg under the application of a magnetic field of 3000 oersteds. It is highly possible that the ferrite disclosed in JP-A No. 07-225497 will have a saturated magnetization of less than 70 Am2/kg when determined at 1000 oersteds. Accordingly, this ferrite is a low-magnetized ferrite and is distinguished from a high-magnetized ferrite used in the present invention.
JP-A No. 11-202559 described that a Li—Fe ferrite often shows varying properties, since the Li component is susceptible to humidity and temperature, and discloses a ferrite containing 5 to 35% by mole of MoO, 10 to 45% by mole of MgO and 45 to 55% by mole of Fe2O3 to avoid this problem. However, this ferrite is a low magnetization ferrite and is distinguished from the ferrite used in the present invention.
JP-A No. 06-35230 and No. 06-51563 disclose carriers mainly comprising a ferrite and having specific average particle diameter, bulk density and intensity of magnetization. However, these carriers are mainly intended to prevent adhesion or deposition of carrier particles to a latent electrostatic image bearing member such as photoconductor and do not still have a sufficient resistance.

Carrier and developer for latent electrostatic image development, container housing developer, image forming process, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge


Described herein are techniques for determining corresponding positions between different representations of a textual work. In some of the techniques, portions of one or more representations may be processed. A determination of a corresponding position may be made in response to a request received from a user, such as a reader that desires to switch between representations. The request may indicate a position in one representation and the representation to which the user would like to switch. In response to receiving the request, one or more portions of one or more representations of a textual work may be processed. In some techniques, a corresponding position between different representations may be determined without processing the entirety of one or more representations of the textual work. For example, a corresponding position may be determined without processing an entire audio representation.

Textual works (e.g., novels) may be available in multiple different representations, including hardcopy representations (e.g., books), electronic representations (e.g., electronic books or "eBooks"), and audio representations (e.g., audiobooks). Each of the representations may include the words of the textual work in a different form. A hardcopy book, for example, may include the words of a novel printed in ink on a paper page, an audiobook may include recorded audio of a person speaking the words of the novel or synthesized audio produced by a text-to-speech engine based on the words of the novel, and an electronic book may include the words of the novel encoded in one or more computer data structures that may be stored on one or more storage media such as computer memory or a hard disk drive.

Identifying corresponding positions in different representations of a textual work


A staggered logic array block (LAB) architecture can be provided. An integrated circuit (IC) device can include a first group of LABs substantially aligned with each other, and a second group of LABs substantially aligned with each other and coupled to the first group of LABs by a plurality of horizontal and vertical conductors. The first group of LABs can be substantially offset from the second group of LABs in the IC layout. In an embodiment of the invention, the first and second groups of LABs can be columns of LABs, and the columns can be vertically offset from each other (e.g., by half the number of logic elements in each LAB). The offsetting can advantageously allow more LABs to be reached using a single routing channel, or without using any routing channel, thereby reducing communication latency and improving overall IC performance.

This invention can relate to integrated circuit (IC) devices. More particularly, this invention can relate to staggered logic array blocks (LABs) on IC devices.
IC devices are well-known in the art, and can include a plurality of general-purpose programmable logic elements that can be programmed to perform a wide variety of tasks. Using such programmable logic elements allows manufacturers of electronic circuitry to avoid the need to separately design and build individual logic circuits on each IC device. IC devices that use programmable logic elements can include, for example, programmable logic devices (PLDs) and structured application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). For simplicity, the discussion herein focuses chiefly on PLDs, but it will be understood that the principles of the present invention can also be applied to other types of IC devices.
The basic building block of a PLD is a logic element (LE) that is capable of performing limited logic functions on a number of input variables. Each LE in a PLD typically provides a combinational logic function such as a look-up table (LUT), and one or more flip-flops. To facilitate implementation of complex logic functions, LEs in a PLD are often arranged in groups, to form one or more LABs. For example, each LAB in a PLD may include eight LEs, and the LAB may be programmed to provide any one of a plurality of logic functions by using control bits. The LABs in a PLD, meanwhile, are often arranged in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array, and are programmably connectable to each other using a PLD routing architecture.
The routing architecture of a PLD typically includes an array of signal conductors having programmable interconnections that are used to route data and output enable signals. For example, the routing architecture can include several horizontal and vertical conductor channels, where each of these channels can include, respectively, one or more horizontal or vertical signal conductors. In addition, the conductors in a given channel can span all of the LABs in a given row or column or, alternatively, can span only a subset of the LABs in the row or column (e.g., 4 LABs). These types of conductors are generally referred to herein as "segmented conductors," and channels containing segmented conductors are referred to herein as "segmented channels."
The horizontal and vertical channels of a PLD can allow the LABs of the PLD to communicate with each other. Communications between a given pair of LABs can require the use of only a single conductor channel (e.g., LABs in the same row or column can communicate using a single horizontal or vertical channel, respectively) or can require the use of multiple conductor channels (e.g., LABs that are laid out diagonally from each other might communicate using a horizontal channel in combination with a vertical channel). In addition, certain routing architectures can allow adjacent LABs to communicate with each other without the use of any conductor channel (e.g., because an output of one LAB can be selectably coupled to an input of an adjacent LAB). In general, the latency of communicating with another LAB using a single conductor channel (or without using any routing channels) tends to be lower than the latency of communicating with another LAB using multiple routing channels.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide an architecture that allows each LAB to communicate with a greater number of other LABs using only a single conductor channel. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide an architecture that allows each LAB to communicate with a greater number of other LABs without using any conductor channel.

Staggered logic array block architecture


An adjustable enclosure and method related to the same, with the adjustable enclosure including: a frame, one or more cables extending from one frame location to at least one other frame location, and material extending from the one or more cables, with the material covering at least a portion of one enclosure side.

The rapid increase in oil and gas development has created an abundance of compressor stations. Compressor stations may be comprised of a compressor adapted to compress the gas for transport, as well as "on lease" uses. These compressor stations are often located in extreme weather locations and need frequent maintenance, repair, and servicing. As such, buildings are often built around these compressor stations to help protect the compressor stations from the extreme weather. These building are expensive, difficult and time-consuming to build and operate, often requiring multiple permits before beginning construction. For example, if the building requires placement of materials within the ground, a determination must first be made and a permit obtained regarding where any underground equipment (piping, etc.) is located so as not to disturb the equipment. Furthermore, many permanent compressor buildings must be demolished or walls or roofs must be destroyed or removed in order to access the compressor and associated mechanical equipment with a crane or other construction equipment. Also, these buildings often lack proper ventilation, creating hazards for maintenance crews and equipment alike.