An apparatus 1 for testing mixed signal electronic devices (i.e., devices, such as LSI devices, whose input/output signals include direct current signals, digital signals and analog signals, where the time relationship between the various input and output signals may be either synchronous or asynchronous) includes a master clock subsystem (MCLK-SS) 11, a subsystem group comprised of a digital master subsystem (DM-SS) 12, a digital slave subsystem (DS-SS) 13, a waveform generator subsystem (WG-SS) 14, a waveform digitizer subsystem (WD-SS) 15, a time measuring module (TMM) 16, and a direct current subsystem (DC-SS) 17, and an interfacing test head 18. The MCLK-SS 11 receives a master clock from a timing generator 21 or DSP 23 of the device under test (DUT) 186 and generates a first master clock MCLK1 and a second master clock MCLK2, each of which is synchronized with the master clock from the DUT. A reference clock generator 111, which receives the output of the buffer 181, supplies a standard clock to the first and second clock generators 112, 113, which in turn generate the first and second master clock signals.

The advanced state of the art of electronic devices is apparent from the diversity of the functions and good performance of such devices, particularly in view of their small size. The state of the art is typified by large scale integrated circuit devices (LSIs). The preferred embodiment of the present invention is especially suited for testing LSIs. An LSI or other device being tested is referred to herein as the device under test, or DUT. The invention can also be used for testing smaller scale integrated circuits and individual parts such as transistors, FETs, resistors, capacitors, inductors, etc.
A feature of modern LSI technology is that components that used to be peripheral circuits of such LSIs are now incorporated into the LSIs to expand their function and increase their speed. As a result, input/output signals of LSIs include direct current (DC) signals, digital signals and analog signals. The time relationship between the various input and output signals may be either synchronous or asynchronous, and their signal modulation speed may be greater than 100 MHz. These input/output signals are referred to as the mixed signal in the description of the preferred embodiment.
Conventional LSI testing devices are often realized by extending known IC testing devices or following the concept of known IC testing devices; as a consequence, testing of LSIs has involved dividing the LSIs into individual functional blocks. For example, for a functional block dealing with digital signals, a test similar to that performed by a digital IC tester has been used and for a functional block dealing with analog signals a test similar to that of an analog IC tester has been used. An LSI that passed all functional block tests was judged to be a conforming article. Such a "divide and govern" test methodology may be effective in a case where each functional block is highly independent, but when the blocks are somewhat interdependent, which is the case with recent LSIs, that methodology cannot adequately test how the DUT would perform in an actual use environment.
For example, one cannot evaluate the performance of a high speed analog/digital converter (ADC) in an actual use environment by just evaluating its DC input/output characteristics. The relationships between the input signal frequency and the conversion error and the input waveform and the conversion error, and the mutual relationship between the input waveform and the conversion clock and the conversion error, are characteristics that should be determined for an actual environment.
Moreover, in an interface IC for communications, while input/output is carried out asynchronously, data is input/output from/to a synchronous digital circuit and sometimes the input/output signals include analog signals.
A digital filter also contains analog input and output circuits and an internal digital circuit which are connected via an ADC and a digital/analog converter (DAC). In this case, characteristics of the transfer function that depend on the relationship between input signals and an internal clock, noises and spurious characteristics have to be evaluated.
Moreover, when an LSI on which a feed-back circuit should be externally equipped is tested, a control input has to be calculated and supplied immediately after measuring and evaluating an output signal; e.g., when an excessive input is detected in an ADC, the attenuation of a pre-attenuator must be increased.
Another problem with prior art testers is that calculation speed decreases when the outputs of individual pins are mathematically combined and the calculation result is used for evaluation. For example, in a tester wherein each signal generating and signal measuring module, or a signal generating and signal measuring shared module (hereinafter simply referred to as a GM module), and a signal processing module are connected through the intermediary of a memory, the processes of storing data into the memory, calculating results, storing results and outputting results are carried out, making it difficult to make calculations in parallel. Moreover, communications between the GM module and signal processing module must rely on the intermediary of a host processor or on sequential communications of a signal processor, which slows the operating speed of the tester and causes the programs for such procedures to become extremely complicated.
Accordingly, a goal of the present invention is to provide a testing apparatus for testing electronic devices that have mixed input and output signals, thus simulating an actual use environment of such devices.

Apparatus and method for testing electronic devices


A 12.5-MHz signal is applied from outside a semiconductor integrated circuit (SIC) device to a signal input terminal of that SIC device. A frequency multiplying circuit is fed that 12.5-MHz signal from the input terminal, and delivers a reference signal whose frequency is a multiple of the frequency of the signal received (i.e., 100 MHz), to a semiconductor memory and to a self-test circuit. The self-test circuit provides a test signal in synchronism with that 100-MHz reference signal to the semiconductor memory for testing for the presence or absence of a failure. All elements of the semiconductor memory are tested by the self-test circuit for a failure. If the self-test circuit finds a semiconductor memory element that fails to work properly, it provides a signal indicative of such failure to a failure counting circuit. This failure counting circuit counts the number of times the self-test circuit provides such a signal.

This invention relates generally to a semiconductor integrated circuit (SIC) device and in particular, to an SIC device capable of performing "on-wafer" circuit testing or burn-in on a great number of SICs formed on a single wafer.
A high-speed, high-performance SIC capable of rapidly processing a great amount of information is considered a multimedia key device. Generally, in order to have a plurality of SIC devices operate at the same timing their operations are synchronized with one another by a high-speed clock signal (i.e., a clock signal of from tens of megahertz to hundreds of megahertz).
As the level of SIC integration increases, and as the functionality of SIC increases, testing SIC devices becomes complicated and hence testing costs increase.
Additionally, it becomes necessary to identify early failures by means of a burn-in procedure, and the length of burn-in time increases.
In order to reduce the costs of testing, Japanese Patent Applications, laid open without substantial examination thereof under Nos. 03-216899 and 03-216900, show techniques. That is, a self-test circuit is incorporated into an SIC device, and is assigned a task to conduct a part of the SIC testing.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application, laid open without substantial examination thereof under No. 04-139850, shows a technique. This technique uses self-test circuits incorporated into SIC devices for on-wafer circuit testing or burn-in, and all the SIC devices are simultaneously subjected to a burn-in procedure with less contact.
In order to simultaneously subject a great number of SICs, which are formed on the same wafer and which operate in synchronism with an external signal, to an on-wafer circuit testing process or to a burn-in process by built-in self-test circuits, high-speed synchronizing signals must be applied to all the SIC devices in which the self-test circuit are incorporated. It is however difficult to transmit, in a multidrop fashion, high-speed synchronizing signals to many SIC devices (e.g., 100 SIC devices) formed on, for example, a wafer having a diameter of 20 cm because of external environments (e.g., noise).
Although it is possible to generate high-speed synchronizing signals within an SIC device, it is hard to generate high-accuracy synchronizing signals because of manufacturing processing instability. Therefore, a conventional technique employing an approach of generating high-speed synchronizing signals within an SIC device may suffer poor testing accuracy.
Transmission of high-speed, high-accuracy synchronizing signals to individual SICs formed on the same wafer is impossible (the first problem).
Additionally, a conventional self-test circuit functions, only to determine whether the quality of SICs is satisfactory. For the case of some recent generations of semiconductor memories, even if it is found that some memory elements fail to work properly, these unsatisfactory elements are able to be remedied by a post-testing redundant remedy step. In other words, in a method of conducting on-wafer circuit testing with the aid of a self-test circuit, or a burn-in before a redundant remedy step, even a semiconductor memory that has a possibility of being remedied at a later step is classified as an unsatisfactory semiconductor memory.
The employment of built-in self-test circuits cannot make it possible to determine whether a SIC device is satisfactory before a redundant remedy step. Burn-in time is wasted (the second problem).
Voltages are applied to individual SICs via a common power supply line at the time of conducting on-wafer circuit testing or burn-in, and the SICs are connected in parallel with the common power supply line. Generally, a current flowing through a power supply line is greater than a current flowing through a signal line, therefore suffering a drop in voltage because of its own resistance. As a result, different voltages are applied to individual SIC devices according to their locations on a wafer (the third problem).
There is a possibility that some of many SIC devices are unsatisfactory ones. If such failure is caused by, for example, short circuiting between an SIC device's power source and ground, an excess current flows in an unsatisfactory SIC device thereby affecting the way in which the other SIC devices are burned-in. Even if an unsatisfactory SIC device is removed by, for example, cutting a power supply line before a burn-in step, there is still a possibility that a different SIC device becomes an unsatisfactory one during the burn-in step.
As described above, the presence of an unsatisfactory SIC device prevents accurate testing or burn-in (the fourth problem).

Semiconductor integrated circuit device having failure detection circuitry

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An onboard equipment network system comprises a radar core device, a GPS core device, an echo sounder core device and a sonar core device and display devices which are connected to a network through a hub. Each core device includes a detecting section or a positioning section, as well as a control section, a power supply section and a data transmitter for transmitting detecting signals or positioning signals, while each display device includes a command section for transmitting command data to the individual core devices for setting their operating conditions and a display section for displaying image data received from the individual core devices. The command data is transmitted using Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) while the image data is transmitted using User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an onboard equipment network system including at least one detecting apparatus, such as a radar, a sonar or an echo sounder, and/or a positioning apparatus, such as a receiver for the Global Positioning System (GPS receiver), and a common display device, wherein image data obtained by the detecting apparatus and/or the positioning apparatus is transmitted through a network and displayed on the display device.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, it is necessary for such onboard equipment as a radar, a sonar, an echo sounder or a GPS receiver to uninterruptedly monitor situations surrounding a vehicle or target situations. Specifically, they need to continuously, or continually, receive incoming signals and produce detection data or positioning data. Accordingly, this kind of onboard equipment has to handle an enormous amount of received data, which is different from ordinary image data or command data, and for transmitting the received data to a display device for on-screen display, the provision of a data transmission line having a large transmission capacity is essential.
A detecting apparatus like a radar or a sonar converts received echo signals which are originally formatted for a polar coordinate system into signals for a Cartesian coordinate system and displays an image of received echoes on a raster-scan display. A graphical representation of the received echo signals reveals that these signals are densely arranged near the sweep origin and become progressively sparser outward as can be seen from FIG. 14, which represents the geometric arrangement of the received signals. Thus, when the received signals are converted into the signals formatted for the Cartesian coordinate system for raster scan, each pixel close to the sweep origin contains data derived from a larger number of echo signals than a pixel located away from the sweep origin. In other words, pixels close to the sweep origin correspond to large numbers of echo signals. Therefore, if the echo signals are to be handled in their original form, or in the polar coordinate system, an enormous amount of data would occur on the pixels close to the sweep origin. While each of the aforementioned detecting apparatus transmits data reformatted for the Cartesian coordinate system to their display device to solve the problem related to data transmission capacity, the amount of data is still considerably great compared to ordinary command data, for example, because the signals are received uninterruptedly.
To properly handle such enormous amounts of data without being adversely affected by external influences, a data transmission line having a large transmission capacity is employed to interconnect a core device of the aforementioned conventional detecting or positioning apparatus which receives detection signals or positioning signals and generates image data and a display device which displays the image data. In addition, the core device and the display device are positioned as close as possible to each other and they are normally enclosed in a single housing.
As a result of recent years' advances in communications technology, it has become possible to exchange data to and from individual apparatus through a communications network (e.g., local area network, or LAN) and selectively display desired data or simultaneously display the data of individual apparatus. It has also become possible to display the data or images on a monitor which is commercially available on the market.
It is however necessary for the aforementioned onboard equipment to uninterruptedly receive the detection or positioning signals, convert these signals into appropriate image data and display images on a display. Therefore, even if the received signals are reformatted into the signals for the Cartesian coordinate system as stated above and the resultant data are transmitted pixel by pixel, the amount of data to be transmitted from the core device of each apparatus is so enormous that it is often impossible to use a generally available communications network like the LAN for presentation on a common monitor due to limitations in the transmission capacity, for example.
In a case where the core device and the display device of each of the detecting and/or positioning apparatus are housed in a single housing, the individual detecting apparatus and/or positioning apparatus (e.g., GPS receiver) work as stand-alone systems, making it difficult to share their respective data. To make it possible to monitor and use the data of other apparatus, it is necessary to connect the individual apparatus by cables or other data transmission means, which requires additional expenses and installation space.
If the positioning data obtained by a GPS receiver is to be displayed on the display device of a radar, for example, there arises a problem that the display device of the GPS receiver becomes unnecessary.
Also, if the core devices of the individual detecting and/or positioning apparatus are simply connected to a network, there can arise a case where a common display device on the network is off while the individual core devices are on. In this case, it is impossible to display any data on the display device no matter whether the core devices are receiving and processing signals, resulting in a waste of electric power.


A smart device includes a storage unit storing identity information of a counterpart device, a sensing unit sensing an approach by the counterpart device, a control unit determining whether the counterpart device sensed by the sensing unit corresponds to the identity information stored in the storage unit, and a combining processing unit combining a resource of the counterpart device if the counterpart device is determined by the control unit to correspond to the identity information.

1. Technical Field
Disclosed are a combining method of smart devices and an apparatus thereof. More specifically, a combining method of resources of smart devices and an apparatus thereof are disclosed.
2. Background Art
Following the popularization of laptops, use of smart phones or smart pads has been increasing dramatically. Many cases are found that a person owns and uses several smart devices such as a laptop, a smart phone, and a smart pad. In the meantime, needs for sharing resources among the smart devices have been increasing as well in order to improve the smart devices' computing performances or to facilitate data sharing.
Generally, data or a screen of a counterpart device has been shared or controlled through a remote access via a network in order to share resources among the smart devices, such as the smart phones, the smart pads, etc. Remote desktop protocols such as vnc (Virtual Networking Computing) and rdp (Remote Desktop Protocol) and file share protocols or file system share protocols such as ftp (File Transfer Protocol) or nfs (Network File System) have been used.
However, users have had to inconveniently input the network IP address or network port number of a counterpart device, using an application program, or designate a pre-inputted device profile of the counterpart device. That is, these services have been only available in specific application programs and have not been capable of being combined through a user interface, making it difficult to use and limiting to file share or screen share.
The related arts to the present invention are disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2010-7019011 (METHOD, SYSTEM, COMPUTER PROGRAM, AND APPARATUS FOR AUGMENTING MEDIA BASED ON PROXIMITY DETECTION) and Korean Patent Publication No. 2011-0073219 (METHOD FOR SHARING INFORMATION BASED ON SOCIAL NETWORK SERVICE IN PORTABLE TERMINAL AND PORTABLE TERMINAL PERFORMING THE SAME), but they do not suggest a solution to problems described above.

Smart device resource combining method and apparatus thereof

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A method for directing a proppant in a subterranean formation including providing a first wellbore and a second wellbore, wherein the first wellbore and the second wellbore are disposed about a target area of the subterranean formation; creating a pressure differential between the first wellbore and the second wellbore, such that the pressure of one of the first wellbore or the second wellbore is at a higher pressure and the other of the first wellbore or second wellbore is at a lower pressure; and initiating a fracturing pressure in the higher pressure wellbore by pumping a fracturing fluid in the wellbore, the fracturing pressure sufficient to create a fracture at a predetermined location; whereby the fracturing fluid is drawn from the fractured wellbore toward the lower pressurized wellbore as a result of the pressure differential.

In order to produce oil or gas, a well is drilled into a subterranean earth formation, which may be a reservoir or adjacent to a reservoir. Various types of treatments are commonly performed on a well or subterranean formation. For example, stimulation is a type of treatment performed on a well to produce hydrocarbons, as well as restore or enhance the productivity of oil and gas from the well or subterranean formation. Stimulation treatments can include hydraulic fracturing; fracturing treatments are performed above the fracture pressure of the subterranean formation to create or extend a highly-permeable flow path between the formation and the wellbore.
A well or subterranean formation is normally treated with a treatment fluid. Such treatment fluid is typically adapted to be used to resolve a specific purpose, such as stimulation, isolation, or control of reservoir gas or water. "Hydraulic fracturing," sometimes referred to as "fracturing," is a common stimulation treatment. A treatment fluid adapted for this purpose is sometimes referred to as a "fracturing fluid." The fracturing fluid is pumped at a sufficiently high flow rate and pressure into the wellbore and into the subterranean formation to create or enhance a fracture in the subterranean formation.
When a fracture is formed or extended, fracturing fluid is provided a fluid flow path and can rapidly flow away from the wellbore. When the fracture is created or enhanced, the sudden increase in fluid flow away from the well reduces the pressure in the well. Thus, successful fracture is indicated by a sudden drop in fluid pressure, which can be observed in the wellhead.
The fractures tend to close after the pumping of the fracturing fluid is stopped. To prevent the fracture from closing, a material must be placed in the fracture to keep the fracture propped open. A material used for this purpose can be referred to as "proppant." The proppant can be in the form of a solid particulate, which can be suspended within the fracturing fluid, carried downhole, and deposited in the fracture as a "proppant pack." The proppant pack props the fracture in an open position, while the permeability of the pack allows for fluid flow throughout the fracture.

Method and system for distribution of a proppant


According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processing unit and at least one memory. The at least one memory stores program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processing unit, cause the apparatus to cause display of executed task instances relating to at least one application on a graphical user interface on a display, detect a storing command associated with the executed task instances, and store task information relating to the executed task instances in a task file in the at least one memory for later resumption of execution of the task instances.

A multitasking operating system allows a user to run and launch multiple applications simultaneously. The operating system may also provide a view showing all the currently executed applications. If a user wishes to start a specific set of applications or application instances, the user has to separately launch each of the applications or instances.

Concurrent execution of task instances relating to a plurality of applications


Systems and methods for treating produced water and/or flowback water from fracking operations include: an oil water separator; a first filter downstream of the oil water separator; and an electrocoagulation unit downstream of the first filter. Systems and methods can be used for producing a concentrated brine for use in industrial applications and a separate stream of fresh water.

This description relates to treating water such as, for example, water produced during the production of oil and gas.
Water and wastewater treatment systems may include removal of oil, flocculation, clarification and filtration. For example, systems have been developed to remove contaminants and boron from water produced during the production of oil and gas or flowback water from fracking operations. Systems have also been developed to treat sea water to remove salts and minerals.


The invention provides a method for performing an authentication (and a system for performing the method), in conjunction with a transaction, utilizing a primary channel and a secondary channel. The method may include an authenticating entity, such as a bank, (1) receiving from a customer primary authentication information via a primary channel; (2) the authenticating entity processing the primary authentication information, and retrieving customer information based on the primary authentication information; (3) the authenticating entity transmitting secondary authentication information to the customer via a secondary channel, the secondary channel being different than the primary channel; (4) the authenticating entity receiving from the customer at least a portion of the secondary authentication information; and (5) the authenticating entity performing authentication processing on the secondary authentication information received from the customer. Based on the successful authentication of the primary authentication information and the secondary authentication information received from the customer, the authenticating entity approves the customer for the transaction.

Authenticating people, particularly remotely, has been a difficult operation to make resistant to attack. Since single authenticating techniques are vulnerable to theft, it has become attractive to various groups to devise ways to do multifactor authentication, where more than one of (something you have, something you know, something you are) is used in demonstrating the identity of a person whose identity is to be established.
Typically, doing this has involved using relatively complex or expensive devices such as cards with keyboards on them (where you authenticate to the card and then use it), fingerprint readers, or digital certificates requiring public/private encryption to validate that the presenter is in possession both of a password and of a private key.
All this complexity has delayed widespread use of such systems, since the cost of giving out hundreds of millions of copies of devices has been kept high by the need to authenticate two or more things, as well as by the cost of building the system components themselves.
The invention addresses these problems and others that are present in known systems.

Systems and methods for multifactor authentication


Provided is a microwave catalyst. The microwave catalyst comprises: i) an active catalyst component comprising a metal and/or a metal oxide; ii) a microwave-absorbing component comprising at least one of CuO, ferrite spinel, and active carbon; and iii) a support. The microwave catalyst can be used for denitration by microwave catalysis, and has advantages such as high denitration efficiency, low energy consumption, environmental friendliness, and low costs. Also provided is a process for preparing the microwave catalyst and the use thereof.

With the development of China's economy, energy consumption, especially fossil energy consumption increases significantly. Correspondingly, air pollution is increasingly aggravated. The energy structure based on coal is the main factor that affects the air environment quality of China. Currently, more than 95% of heat-engine plants in China base on coal-burning, the reality of which is difficult to be changed in a short time. Sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust that are discharged during the process of coal-burning respectively account for 87%, 71%, 67%, and 60% of the emissions in China, wherein dust has been well controlled and manaeed, and the technology of flue gas desulfurization is increasingly mature, with the projects of flue gas desulfurization being operated in process orderly. However, nitrogen oxides pollution has not yet been effectively controlled. The "12th Five-Year" is an important period for China's economic development, and also a critical period for control of nitrogen oxides. How to take efficient denitration measures to eliminate nitrogen oxide pollution has become an important environmental issue. The technology currently used in the industry is the NH3-SCR method that adopts selective catalytic reduction technology, wherein ammonia is used as the reducing agent. The NH3-SCR method is one of the maturest methods of nitrogen oxides processing technology in the prior art, which enables a nitrogen oxide removal rate of 80% to 90% at a low temperature. However, the method has shortcomings such as great consumption of reducing agents, the catalyst being susceptible to poisoning, high requirements on the pipeline equipments, and insufficiently high denitration efficiency.
In chemical reactions, microwave can directly interact with chemical systems to promote the processes of various chemical reactions. Microwave has not only thermal effects, but also special non-thermal effects. Since Harwell laboratory successfully disposed nuclear wastes by using microwave technology, not only microwave technology has been widely used in many fields of study such as organic chemistry, inorganic material chemistry, and analytical chemistry, but the new field of microwave chemistry also has been gradually developed. Extensive literature has reported the use of microwave technology in chemical reactions, and thus research in the field is a hot topic at present. In recent years, many researchers attempt to use microwave-heating in the process of heterogeneous catalytic reactions, wherein the use of microwave also shows a good effect.
In addition, since it was discovered that the copper ion-exchange-type ZSM-5 molecular sieve catalyst can directly catalyze NOx decomposition, the Cu/ZSM-5 catalyst has been considered as the denitration catalyst having the greatest industrial application prospect due to its high catalytic activity and stability. It is generally believed that, in the directly catalytic decomposition of NO using Cu/ZSM-5 as the catalyst, the activation of NO is mainly carried out on Cu species, and the intermediate formed after activation generates products such as nitrogen and oxygen under the combined action of the acid sites of the catalyst. According to the gas-solid catalytic reaction mechanism, the surface bonding capacity of a solid catalyst, i.e. the absorption capacity of activated reaction molecules, is strongly dependent on the surface and its morphology characteristics, and the Cu species distributed on the external surface of the molecular sieve may be more favorable to the activation of NO.
Previous experimental results indicate that, after high temperature calcinations, the catalyst prepared by ion exchange has quite a part of Cu species migrating into the pores of the molecule sieve. In order to investigate the effect of the Cu species on the external surface of the molecule sieve on the catalytic decomposition of NO, as well as the structure-activity relationship between the surface microstructure and chemical properties of the catalyst, and the catalytic performance, and to disperse the Cu species on the external surface as many as possible, the catalyst is prepared by the microwave solid-phase method and the solid-phase dispersion method. The solid-phase dispersion method prepares a catalyst based on the principle that metal salts or metal oxides disperse spontaneously on a carrier of a large specific surface area. Due to the impact of the migration of metal ions and the like, a solid ion exchange reaction requires to be initiated by heating after mechanical mixing. As the temperature required is high, and the reaction time is long, the distribution of the metal components on the external and internal surfaces of the molecular sieve is difficult to be controlled effectively. Since microwave is a non-ionizing electromagnetic energy, microwave-heating has features such as a fast and special electromagnetic effect, a non-destructive effect to the material to be heated, and so on. Therefore, using the way of microwave-heating can improve the heating speed as well as control the distribution of metal components on the external and internal surfaces of the molecular sieve. During the last 20 years, scientists of different countries have conducted extensive research into the Cu/ZSM-5 catalyst. There are also reports about the location of the Cu species on the Cu/ZSM-5 catalyst and the influence of different existing forms on the catalytic activity for NO decomposition. The highest conversion rate of NO in decomposition thereof using the Cu/ZSM-5 catalyst is 70%. The deficiencies thereof are low conversion rate of the Cu/ZSM-5 catalyst, and low denitration efficiency, failing to meet the requirements for emissions.

Microwave catalyst and preparation process and use thereof


An image encoding/decoding method and apparatus are provided. An image decoding method according to the present disclosure is performed by an image decoding apparatus. The image decoding method may comprise deriving a prediction sample of a current block based on motion information of the current block, determining whether prediction refinement with optical flow (PROF) applies to the current block, deriving, based on that the PROF applies to the current block, a difference motion vector for each sample position in the current block, deriving a gradient for each sample position in the current block, deriving a PROF offset based on the difference motion vector and the gradient, and deriving a refined prediction sample for the current block based on the PROF offset.

Recently, demand for high-resolution and high-quality images such as high definition (HD) images and ultra high definition (UHD) images is increasing in various fields. As resolution and quality of image data are improved, the amount of transmitted information or bits relatively increases as compared to existing image data. An increase in the amount of transmitted information or bits causes an increase in transmission cost and storage cost.
Accordingly, there is a need for high-efficient image compression technology for effectively transmitting, storing and reproducing information on high-resolution and high-quality images.

Image encoding/decoding method and device for performing PROF, and method for transmitting bitstream


In a picture-information processing apparatus, information of an edge in a picture is generated from information of luminances in the picture. Data of a mask corresponding to the edge is generated from the information of the edge. Information of feature points on an equal-luminance line in the picture is generated from the information of the luminances in the picture. The equal-luminance line is composed of segments extending between the feature points. A decision is made as to whether or not each of the segments of the equal-luminance line agrees with an edge line segment in response to the data of the mask and the information of the feature points. An edge decision signal is generated which represents the result of the decision. The edge decision signal is added to the information of the feature points.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a processing apparatus designed to subject moving-picture information to highly efficient encoding or decoding.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese published unexamined patent applications 6-231235 and 7-296170 disclose prior-art compressing apparatuses in which information of equal-luminance lines (iso-luminance lines) is generated from picture luminance information, and feature points are derived from the equal-luminance lines. Then, the picture luminance information is compressed in response to information of the feature points.
A portion of a picture which has an abrupt change of luminance is referred to as a picture edge portion. On the other hand, a portion of a picture which has a gradual change of luminance is referred to as a picture gradation portion.
In a prior-art expanding apparatus for compression-resultant picture luminance information, it is difficult to discriminate a picture edge portion and a picture gradation portion from each other. The same interpolation using mean values is applied to both the recovery of original information of the picture edge portion and the recovery of original information of the picture gradation portion. As a result, the recovered picture edge portion tends to have a less abrupt change of luminance. On the other hand, the recovered picture gradation portion tends to have a step-like difference in luminance.


An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum to which an electrostatic image is formed and a developing sleeve carrying a developer including toner carrier. An alternating voltage is applied to the sleeve to form an alternating electric field between the sleeve and the drum to develop the electrostatic image with the developer. A relation |K1|<|K2| is satisfied, where K1: a slope at an electric field intensity Ed=|(Vp2−VL)/D|, K2: a slope at an electric field intensity Eb=|(Vp1−VL)/D|, VL: a potential [V] of the electrostatic image at which a maximum density is obtained, Vp1: a peak potential [V] that provides a potential difference to move the toner toward the drum, Vp2: a peak potential [V] that provides a potential difference to move the toner toward the sleeve, and D: a closest distance [m] between the drum and the sleeve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a printer that obtains an image by using a toner to visualize an electrostatic image formed on an image bearing member. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that employs as its developer a dual-component developer which has a toner and a carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional copiers, printers, and other image forming apparatuses that use an electrophotographic process, a surface of an electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter simply referred to as "photosensitive member") serving as an image bearing member is charged uniformly, and the surface is then exposed to light in a pattern determined by image information. An electrostatic image (latent image) is thus formed on the surface of the photosensitive member. The electrostatic image formed on the photosensitive member is developed as a toner image by a developing device with the use of a developer. The toner image formed on the photosensitive member is transferred to a transfer material directly or through an intermediate transfer member. The toner image is then fixed to the transfer material, to thereby obtain a recorded image.
There are roughly two types of developers: mono-component developers which substantially consist of toner particles alone and dual-component developers which contain toner particles and carrier particles. Generally speaking, a developing method that uses a dual-component developer has advantages over one that uses a mono-component developer in that it is capable of forming a higher definition image in truer colors.
In an ordinary dual-component developer, magnetic particles (carrier) about 5 μm to 100 μm in diameter and particles of a non-magnetic toner about 1 μm to 10 μm in diameter are mixed at a given mixture ratio. The function of the carrier is to carry the charged toner to deliver the toner to a developing portion. The toner is charged with a given amount of electric charges of a given polarity through frictional charging by being mixed with the carrier.
Along with progress in terms of digitization, a pursuit of full-color, and speeding up of copiers, printers, and other image forming apparatuses that use a photographic process, their output images have recently come to be valued as original output materials, and there is even a great expectation on their entry into the printing market. Photographic process image forming apparatuses are therefore required to be capable of outputting images of higher quality (higher definition) steadily without allowing the image quality to fluctuate. To attain an image quality of that high definition, improving the development property is essential.
In a development process that uses a dual-component developer, the dual-component developer is usually carried on a developer carrying member in a developing device and transported to a developing portion, which faces an electrostatic image on a photosensitive member. The magnetic brush of the dual-component developer on the developer carrying member are brought into contact with, or close to the photosensitive member. The toner alone is then transferred to the photosensitive member by a given level of developing bias applied between the developer carrying member and the photosensitive member. A toner image corresponding to the electrostatic image is thus formed on the photosensitive member.
The developing bias that is widely employed is an alternating bias in which a DC voltage component and an AC voltage component are superimposed. The development property is improved when more toner particles are pulled apart from the carrier and put to use in the developing method. To accomplish this, the toner needs to be subjected to a higher electric field intensity.
A quick way to enhance the intensity of the electric field applied to the toner is to simply apply a higher level of developing bias between the developer carrying member and the photosensitive member. However, increasing the developing bias to a level higher than necessary may cause an injection of electric charges from the developer carrying member into the electrostatic image through the carrier, which disturbs the electrostatic image.
A conventionally popular photosensitive member is an organic photoconductor (OPC) photosensitive member in which a charge generation layer made up of an organic material, a charge transport layer, and a surface protecting layer are layered on a metal base.
On the other hand, it is a known fact that a single-layer photosensitive member, such as an amorphous silicon photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as "a-Si photosensitive member"), is effective for forming an electrostatic image that has as high a resolution as described above. One of the reasons is as follows.
The interior charge generating mechanism of an a-Si photosensitive member is on the surface of the photosensitive member, whereas the interior charge generating mechanism of an OPC photosensitive member is located near the base of the photosensitive member. This prevents electric charges generated inside an a-Si photosensitive member from diffusing before reaching the surface of the photosensitive member, and an electrostatic image of extremely high definition is obtained as a result.
A drawback of a-Si photosensitive members is that their surface resistance is lower than that of OPC photosensitive members, which makes the influence of the above-mentioned charge injection from the developer carrying member through the carrier in a-Si photosensitive members much greater than the one in OPC photosensitive members. Therefore, when an a-Si photosensitive member is employed, a formed electrostatic image can easily be disturbed by the charge injection and the traveling of electric charges has to be restricted even more than when an OPC photosensitive member is employed by lowering the peak-to-peak voltage, Vpp, of the developing bias, which is alternating bias.
Lowering Vpp of the developing bias reduces electric charges injected from the developer carrying member to the photosensitive member through the carrier, but weakens the electric field applied to the developer. Accordingly, the force to detach the toner from the carrier is reduced and the development property is lowered.
Setting the electric resistance of the carrier is effective for forming a high quality image as proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No H08-160671.
However, setting the electric resistance of the carrier high is known to tend to lower the development property, in other words, the ability to detach (discharge) the toner from the carrier.
As described above, the carrier in a dual-component developer has a role of charging the toner by frictional charging in addition to the role of carrying the toner to the developing portion. The carrier is therefore charged with electric charges having a polarity reverse to that of the electric charges, with which the toner is charged. For instance, when the toner is charged with negative electric charges, the carrier is charged with positive electric charges.
In charging the toner, the electric resistance of the carrier set high makes it difficult for electric charges accumulated in the carrier to travel. The electric charges in the carrier and electric charges in the toner thus attract each other, thereby generating a large attractive force and hindering the toner from detaching from the carrier. The electric resistance of the carrier set low makes it easy for electric charges inside the carrier to diffuse on the surface of the carrier, thereby reducing the attractive force between the toner and the carrier and facilitating the detachment of the toner from the carrier.
Other methods of enhancing the electric field intensity to which the toner is subjected than increasing the developing bias applied between the developer carrying member and the photosensitive member include raising the permittivity of the carrier. When the permittivity of the carrier is high, polarized charges generated inside the carrier reduce the potential difference within the carrier and the electric field concentrates correspondingly on an air space between the carrier on the photosensitive member side and the photosensitive member. The toner adhering to the carrier will accordingly be subjected to an enhanced electric field intensity.
Raising the permittivity of the carrier is considered to facilitate the removal of even the toner once carried to the photosensitive member so that the development property is lowered.
As mentioned above, alternating bias in which a DC voltage component and an AC voltage component are superimposed is employed as the developing bias applied between the developer carrying member and the photosensitive member. When the developing bias is applied in a direction that moves the toner to the photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as "development direction bias"), the toner is pulled apart from the carrier and transported to the photosensitive member. When the alternating bias is switched to apply the developing bias in a direction that moves the toner to the developer carrying member (hereinafter referred to as "pull-back direction bias"), the toner is transported toward the developer carrying member.
First, when the development direction bias is applied, the electric field intensity to which the toner is subjected is higher and more toner particles are detached from the carrier to be transported to the photosensitive member with a high permittivity carrier A than with a low permittivity carrier B from the reason described above. Also when the alternating bias is switched to apply the pull-back direction bias, the toner is subjected to a higher electric field intensity and more toner particles are detached from the photosensitive member with the high permittivity carrier A than with the low permittivity carrier B, which is inconvenient in that the influence of the permittivity on the development property is weakened.
FIG. 15 illustrates a development property difference between cases in which two types of conventional ordinary carrier having different permittivity characteristics (high permittivity carrier A and low permittivity carrier B) are employed. In FIG. 15, the axis of abscissa illustrates the peak-to-peak voltage Vpp of the developing bias and the axis of ordinate illustrates a per-unit area charge amount Q/S [C/cm2] of a toner layer of a toner image formed on the photosensitive member. Q/S [C/cm2] is a value calculated by multiplying a per-unit toner weight charge amount Q/M [μC/g] of the toner layer on the photosensitive member at which the maximum density is obtained by a per-unit area toner bearing amount M/S [mg/cm2] of the toner layer. The Q/S [C/cm2] indicates the developing performance of the developer, in other words, how much of the toner has been migrated onto the photosensitive member by overcoming the attractive force between the carrier and the toner. The maximum density is the density of a solid image and, in the case of reversal development, an image density at which the potential difference between the DC component of the developing bias and the electric potential of an image portion of the photosensitive member is maximum.
Illustrated in FIG. 15 are results that are obtained when the photosensitive member employed is an OPC photosensitive member 30 μm in film thickness (thickness of the photosensitive layer).
It is understood from FIG. 15 that Q/S [C/cm2] is higher with the high permittivity carrier A than with the low permittivity carrier B regardless of the Vpp level of the developing bias. FIG. 4 illustrates the electric field dependencies of the permittivities of the high permittivity carrier A and the low permittivity carrier B. The permittivity of a carrier has characteristics that vary depending on the electric field applied to the carrier. In FIG. 4, the permittivity of the high permittivity carrier A is higher than that of the low permittivity carrier B in both the development direction bias and the pull-back direction bias. Yet, Q/S [C/cm2] is higher with the high permittivity carrier A than with the low permittivity carrier B as illustrated in FIG. 15 because the influence of the permittivity upon application of the development direction bias over the electric field intensity for moving the toner to the photosensitive member is larger than the influence of the permittivity upon application of the pull-back direction bias over the electric field intensity for pulling the toner apart from the photosensitive member. Therefore, because of the electric field intensity difference caused by the difference in permittivity, the development property is better with the high permittivity carrier A than with the low permittivity carrier B.
The development property is also greatly influenced by the capacitance of the photosensitive member. The development property degrades as the capacitance (per-unit area capacitance) of the photosensitive member increases and, when the degradation progresses beyond allowable limits, various image defects occur. The relation between the capacitance of the photosensitive member and the development property is described next.
Take as an example a case where a maximum density toner image is formed on the OPC photosensitive member under the following conditions; Development contrast (potential difference between the electric potential of the image portion on the photosensitive member and the DC voltage of the development bias)
Vcont=250 V
Toner charge amount Q/M=−30 μC/g
Toner bearing amount M/S=0.65 mg/cm2
An electric potential (charging potential) ΔV produced by a toner layer of this toner image on an OPC photosensitive member having a film thickness of 30 μm is calculated by the following equation:
                                          Δ                                                                          V                    =                                                                                ɛ                    t                                                                          ɛ                    0                                                                    2                                                                                λ                                                                                t                                                                          (                                  Q                  S                                )                                      +                                                                                ɛ                    d                                                                          ɛ                    0                                                                    d                  th                                                                          (                                  Q                  S                                )                                                                                where                                                              (                          Q              S                        )                    =                                    (                              Q                M                            )                        ×                          (                              M                S                            )                                                          Equation                                                  1
Q/M represents the per-unit weight toner charge amount on the photosensitive member.
M/S represents the per-unit area toner weight of a maximum density portion on the photosensitive member.
λt represents the toner layer thickness of the maximum density portion on the photosensitive member.
dth represents the film thickness of the photosensitive member.
∈t represents the relative permittivity of the toner layer.
∈d represents the relative permittivity of the photosensitive member.
∈0 represents the permittivity of a vacuum.
Under the above conditions, ΔV=243 V and fills Vcont=250 V. In other words, electric charges in the toner layer satisfactorily fill the electric potential of the electrostatic image (charging efficiency: 97%).
The material characteristics of a-Si photosensitive members are such that their relative permittivity is about three times larger than that of OPC photosensitive members (a-Si photosensitive members: approximately 10, OPC photosensitive members: approximately 3.3). Accordingly, when an a-Si photosensitive member and an OPC photosensitive member have the same film thickness (30 μm, for example), the capacitance of the a-Si photosensitive member (e.g., 2.95×10−6 F/m2) is about three times larger than that of the OPC photosensitive member (e.g., 0.97×10−6 F/m2).
Consider a case of forming a maximum density toner image on an a-Si photosensitive member under the same conditions as in the above example where an OPC photosensitive member is employed, where the Vcont is 250 V and the toner charge amount Q/M is −30 μC/g. From the above equation, a toner amount necessary in this case to satisfy ΔV=250 V is 1.15 mg/cm2, which means that the amount of the toner to be migrated onto the a-Si photosensitive member is about 1.7 times the amount of the toner on the above OPC photosensitive member. Conversely, the a-Si photosensitive member needs an about 1/1.7 of the development contrast of the OPC photosensitive member to obtain a toner bearing amount M/S of 0.65 mg/cm2. An a-Si photosensitive member accordingly needs a development contrast Vcont of about 147 V to fill electric charges of a high density portion.
However, in the quick printing market or the like where a wide range of tone reproduction is required, the γ characteristic (characteristic of the image density in relation to the image exposure amount) at Vcont=147 V may be too sharp to attain a high tone reproduction property, with the result that a halftone image such as a photographic image is difficult to be reproduced.
Attempts to reduce the film thickness (photosensitive layer thickness) of OPC photosensitive members have been made in order to sharpen the electrostatic image. Also in those cases, a reduction in film thickness of the photosensitive member causes an increase in capacitance of the photosensitive member, which may cause the same problem as the one described above regarding a-Si photosensitive members.
A possible way to deal with the problem that arises from setting the relative permittivity of the photosensitive member high or reducing the film thickness of the photosensitive member is to increase Q/S [C/cm2] of the toner layer of the toner image, in other words, to increase the toner charge amount Q/M [μC/g]. For instance, the toner charge amount Q/M [μC/g] is changed from −30 μC/g of the above example to −60 μC/g. In this state, if a toner bearing amount M/S [mg/cm2] of 0.65 mg/cm2 is obtained at a development contrast Vcont of, for example, 240 V, the electric potential ΔV produced by the toner layer is 238 V (that is, approximately 240 V) and the charging efficiency is approximately 100%.
In practice, however, increasing the toner charge amount Q/M [μC/g] increases the electrostatic force of the carrier and the toner significantly, and may seriously degrade the development property.
As has been described, with a-Si photosensitive members and other photosensitive members that have a low surface resistance, Vpp of the developing bias cannot be increased because the injection of electric charges into the electrostatic image during development has to be avoided. With a-Si photosensitive members, thin film OPC photosensitive members, and other photosensitive members that have a large capacitance, setting the toner charge amount Q/M [μC/g] high is effective in obtaining a stable and satisfactory tone reproduction property while avoiding such image defects as blank spots, except that, in some cases, setting the toner charge amount Q/M [μC/g] high seriously degrades the development property.

Image forming apparatus using peak AC potentials to move toner toward an image bearing member and a developer carrying member, respectively


The present invention is a method of approximating a wound or laceration without everting the wound edges and tissue approximation forceps to practice the method. The tissue approximation forceps include handle members which mount grip members having grip surfaces. The grip surfaces are moved toward the skin where the grip surfaces engage the skin while remaining generally parallel to the skin surface. The grip surfaces frictionally hold the engaged skin surfaces while the handle members are moved from an uncompressed position to a compressed position. The grip members can be moved toward or away from one another to approximate the edges of the wound or laceration without everting the wound edges. Tissue adhesive is then applied.

The present invention is directed to tissue approximation forceps and method. The tissue approximation forceps of the present invention close a wound without everting the wound edges. The forceps are particularly useful when approximating a wound where tissue adhesive is to be used to secure the approximated wound edges.
Tissue adhesives using cyanoacrylate esters are used for the closure of simple wounds and lacerations. These tissue adhesives are quick and easy to apply. They polymerize readily upon contact with body fluids and tissues and are relatively non-toxic. Of the available cyanoacrylates, butyl esters and octyl esters are preferred for use in medical applications. The butyl and acetyl monomers polymerize into an adhesive that is tougher and more flexible than, for example, methyl ester versions. This yields a stronger wound repair. It has also been found that the longer chain monomers are less tissue toxic than methyl esters.
The proper use of cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives also affects their toxicity. Because the adhesives are absorbable, exposing a raw tissue surface to the adhesive enhances the toxic effects. When using tissue adhesives, it is recommended that the wound edges not be everted. Eversion can, for example, produce a V-shaped channel that retains a quantity of tissue adhesives and also exposes more of the cut edge of the adjacent tissue to the potentially toxic adhesive.
Prior art tissue forceps have many types of mating gripping surfaces, including rat-tooth surfaces, serrated surfaces and crossed hatched surfaces. The gripping surfaces of many prior tissue forceps close in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the skin. Normally, the prior art forceps indent the skin and evert the wound edges during closure.
Other types of prior art forceps or closing devices include clamps for approximating tissue sections as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,514,148 and 5,611,794.
The tissue approximation forceps and method, according to the present invention, approximates the tissue edges adjacent a wound or laceration without everting the wound edges.


A tubular cable seal member of elastomeric material has at least one axial slit for allowing the seal member to be installed transversely over a cable. The seal member is installed in an annular seating cavity in a housing which encloses at least part of the cable, and is squeezed between opposing surfaces of the cavity and cable to provide a sealing pressure. At the same time, opposing surfaces of the axial slit are squeezed together with the same sealing pressure. The housing may be a clamshell-like, two part housing and may have an internal chamber extending between two cable seal members which provide a seal between opposite end ports and the cable at opposite ends of the chamber. Side runner face seals extend between the cable seal members along opposite sides of the chamber to seal the chamber when the housing parts are closed together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to cable seal assemblies and methods for sealing electrical, optical, and hybrid cables.
2. Related Art
The problem of sealing to long, thin objects such as cables when an end is not accessible has not been effectively solved. Because of this, long cables, such as installed cables, often cannot be repaired without cutting them.
Shafts, cables and the like which extend through bores, such as cable ends extending into underwater connector halves or into an equipment housing or junction box, are sometimes sealed by means of an O-ring seal seated in an annular groove on the inner surface of the bore through which the cable extends. Such o-ring seals to cables often fail for the following reasons. O-ring seals have a relatively small axial contact area with the opposing surfaces of the shaft and bore. This area may be insufficient to allow the O-ring to bridge over irregularities on the shaft and bore surfaces, and requires high seating pressures to make sure that the seal is effective. Because of the high seating pressures required, O-rings often cannot be used to effectively seal against the outer jackets of most submarine or subsea cables. Generally, cables such as these have outer jackets and/or cores of polyethylene or similar plastic material. When exposed to the seating pressures of O-ring seals over time, the cable deforms and the seals leak. O-ring seals are primarily intended to be used against rigid, smooth surfaces.
When an external pressure Pa is applied to a properly seated and lubricated O-ring seal, the seal slides in its seat or groove until it meets the wall of the groove on the side opposite to the applied pressure. External pressure Pa exerts an unseating pressure tending to separate the seal from the opposing surfaces of the bore and cable. But the pressure available to hold the seal against these surfaces is equal to the applied pressure Pa plus the pressure Pc exerted against the shaft and bore by squeezing the seal between them, i.e. Pa+Pc, and is therefore always greater than the unseating pressure. This means that the seal remains seated regardless of the applied external pressure. At high enough pressures, the energized O-ring deforms into the small crevice between the shaft and bore, and this can eventually cause seal failure.
Unstressed O-ring shaft seals have a round cross-section. Elastic shaft seals of rectangular or square cross-section are also known, such as the so-called Morrison-type seal described in a paper entitled "An Investigation of Cable Seals", by J. B. Morrison, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Report #54-41, Mar. 1, 1954. Use of such a seal in a cable sealing arrangement is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,873,750 and 6,067,395 of Cairns et al. This type of seal has a larger contact area with the shaft and cable than a corresponding round cross-section shaft-type seal, but otherwise employs the same physical operating principles. It was assumed by Morrison and others that this type of seal had to have an inner diameter substantially smaller than that of the shaft over which it is installed, and simultaneously a larger outer diameter than the cavity housing it. This resulted in a seal which was often difficult to install or produced disproportionately high squeeze.


An optical information recording medium which is capable of performing high-density recording of record data, and storing the recorded data for a long time period such that the recorded data can be normally reproduced during the long time period. An optical information recording medium has a recording layer formed on a substrate, for having a laser beam irradiated thereto for recording and reproduction of record data. The recording layer includes a first sub-recording film and a second sub-recording film. The first sub-recording film is formed of a first material containing Si as the main component. The second sub-recording film is formed of a second material containing Cu as the main component and having Zn added thereto, and disposed in the vicinity of the first recording film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information recording medium configured to be capable of recording and reproducing record data by irradiating a laser beam to a recording layer formed on a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an optical information recording medium of this kind, a write-once optical information recording medium has been conventionally proposed which includes a recording layer formed of an organic dye-based material and has the optical characteristics of the recording layer changed as a laser beam is irradiated thereon. Meanwhile, in recent years, optical information recording media are desired to have the capability of recording and reproducing a large amount of record data at a high speed (in a short time period). Accordingly, the optical information recording medium of the above-mentioned kind is required to enhance recording density of record data, and to meet the requirement, the diameter of a beam spot of a laser beam used for recording or reproduction of record data tends to be reduced. More specifically, record data are recorded and reproduced using a pickup which is equipped with an objective lens having a numerical aperture (NA) of not less than 0.7 (e.g. a numerical aperture (NA) of approximately 0.85), and is capable of emitting a laser beam having a wavelength (λ) of not more than 450 nm (e.g. a wavelength (λ) of approximately 405 nm). However, when a recording layer is formed by an organic dye-based material, it is difficult to change the optical characteristics of the recording layer using a laser beam with a wavelength of 405 nm or so. Therefore, the optical information recording medium including a recording layer formed of an organic dye-based material suffers from the problem that it has difficulty in performing high-density recording for enabling a large amount of record data to be recorded and reproduced at a high speed.
On the other hand, an optical disk is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. S62-204442, which includes a recording layer capable of recording record data thereon by a phase change to a crystalline state or an amorphous state which is caused by irradiation of a laser beam thereon. This optical disk is comprised of a protective film, a recording layer, a protective film, and a protective film, sequentially deposited on a substrate in the mentioned order. In this case, the protective films deposited in a manner sandwiching the recording layer are provided for preventing the recording layer from flying off or being bored during irradiation of the laser beam (during recording of record data), and made of SiO, SiO2, SiN3, or the like. Further, the recording layer is formed by depositing two recording films formed of respective materials different from each other. More specifically, for example, one of the recording films is made of Si or Te, and the other is made of Au, Ag, or Ge.
For example, when the one of the recording films is made of Si, and the other is made of Au, both of the recording films are mixed with each other by being irradiated with the laser beam, whereby a single layer of AuSi is formed. In this case, to form the recording layer such that it is changed to a crystalline state or an amorphous state according to the irradiation power and irradiation time period of the laser beam, it is required that the atomic percentage of Si to the whole single layer of AuSi is within a range of 20 at % to 30 at %. Therefore, in the proposed optical disk, the recording films are formed by defining the ratio between the thickness of the one recording film and that of the other to be within a range of 2:8 to 3:7, whereby the atomic percentage of Si to the whole single layer of AuSi is caused to be within the above range. The uppermost protective film, which is the uppermost layer, prevents the other two protective films and the recording layer from being scratched, and is in the form of a thin film made of an ultraviolet-curing resin such that it covers the protective film immediately thereunder. Differently from an optical information recording medium having a recording film formed of an organic dye-based material, the above optical disk is capable of recording and reproducing record data using a laser beam having a relatively short wavelength. Therefore, with this optical disk, it is possible to perform high-density recording using a laser beam which is small in the diameter of a beam spot thereof.
However, as a result of the study of the above prior art, the present inventors have found the following problems: In the conventional optical disk, the recording layer is selectively changed to a crystalline state or an amorphous state by adjusting the irradiation power and irradiation time period of the laser beam, whereby the optical characteristics of the recording layer are changed. In this case, if the optical disk whose recording layer has been changed into a single layer of AuSi by being irradiated with the laser beam (i.e. which has record data recorded on the recording layer) is left standing for a long time period, the level of noise in a reproduction signal is progressively increased to decrease the C/N ratio of the reproduction signal, whereby it becomes difficult to normally reproduce the recorded data. As described above, the conventional optical disk suffers from the problems of a large degree of deterioration caused by aging with respect to the noise level (hereinafter also referred to as "degree of noise-causing deterioration"), which makes it difficult for the conventional optical disk to store record data for a long time period such that the record data can be normally reproduced during the long time period.


The present invention is concerning a method for attaching a pair of crimping members in a sheet binding device that binds a sheet bundle by engagement of the pair of crimping members, wherein at least one of the crimping members is attached to a member to which the one of the crimping members is to be attached in a state where the pair of crimping members is in engagement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for attaching crimping members, a sheet binding device, and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are known a sheet binding device for binding a bundle of sheets on which images have been formed and an image forming apparatus equipped with the sheet binding device.
In International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2009/110298, there is described a crimping sheet binding device that binds a bundle of sheets by crimping the sheets without using a metal staple in such a way that the sheet binding device strongly engage crimping teeth, which are a pair of jagged crimping members, thereby entwining fibers of the sheets. The bundle of sheets is bound by crimping without using a metal staple; therefore, when the bundle of sheets is disposed or put through a shredder, it is possible to avoid the trouble of having to remove the metal staple from the bundle of sheets.
In a conventional crimping sheet binding device, one of a pair of crimping members is attached on a fixed member, and the other crimping member is attached on a movable member that can move close to and away from the crimping member attached on the fixed member.
However, due to attachment errors of the crimping members and the accuracies of the members attached to the crimping members, etc., the crimping members may be attached in positions deviated from their original engagement position. If the crimping members are attached in positions deviated from the original engagement positions in this way, the crimping members have a strongly-engaged portion and a weakly-engaged portion, thereby fail to apply a stable binding force.
In view of the above problem, there is a need to provide a method for attaching crimping members, sheet binding device, and image forming apparatus capable of achieving a stable binding force.

Method for attaching crimping members, sheet binding device, and image forming apparatus


A universal trim piece for a recessed light includes a mounting side disposed toward a ceiling and having an aperture sized to conform with a dimension of an open side of a housing for a recessed light. A decorative side is disposed opposite the mounting side and a universal engagement member, disposed on the mounting side, removably engages a trim ring on the recessed light and secure the universal trim piece to the housing and proximate to the ceiling.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electric lighting fixtures, particularly recessed lighting, down light fixtures, and flush mounted fixtures and a designer trim ring that mounts to the exterior of the light fixture regardless of the manufacturer of the fixture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recessed lights and flush mounted fixtures are standard lighting fixtures in most homes and commercial establishments. Recessed lights are mounted inside of a ceiling and a hole is cut in the ceiling to let the light shine through. A trim ring is used to cover the cut edge of the ceiling and typically lays flush with the ceiling.
Recessed lights are manufactured by many companies, and although most recessed lights seem universal, they are not. There are variations of the size, shape, trim rings, baffles and the means by which the trim rings and baffles engage the housing which is located inside the ceiling. Thus, baffles and trim rings from one manufacturer do not fit on the housing of another manufacturer. This poses a problem for most users who want to change the look of their recessed lights once the light is installed. The recessed light installed may not have the new style the user is looking for and the manufacturer may be out of business or does not carry the user's line of recessed light so a user can either get replacement parts or upgrades. Further, recessed lights are expensive and difficult to replace, typically requiring the ceiling to be torn open to reach the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,758 to Lin discloses a removable trim piece. FIG. 2 of Lin shows external cover 7, decoration cover parts 8 and projecting end 22. Lin discloses that the external cover 7 "lock-blocks" on the projecting end 22 and different types of external cover can be used as designs require. Further, Lin discloses, in FIGS. 9-14, numerous decoration cover parts 8. However, Lin's projecting end 22 is integral with lamp shell 2. Thus, Lin's external cover 7 is not universal to any recessed light, but only fits Lin's lam shell 2. Thus, a user will experience the same difficulties as above because the user is forced to use Lin's product. Additionally, a user who did not install Lin's lamp shell cannot use external cover 7.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,848 to Wolf et al. ("Wolf") discloses, in FIG. 1, decorative trim member 90 engaging flange 45 and the engagement can be by a bayonet-type lock or alternate ways. As with Lin, Wolf's flange 45 is integral with can 30 and trim member 90 can only engage Wolf's can and is thus not universal. As an example, Lin's external cover 7 cannot be used with Wolf's flange 45 nor can Wolf's trim member 90 engage Lin's projecting end 22. Thus, although Lin and Wolf disclose trim pieces that are removable, they do not disclose trim pieces that are universal to any recessed light.
Another reference, U.S. Pat. No. 3,518,420 to Kripp discloses a baffle 48 held in place by a ring 36 once inserted in to the can. The can is formed by a mounting ring 21 and a bracket 27. Baffle 48 rests on an up-turned section 50 of ring 36 and between arms 39. Arms 39 of ring 36 are provided with serrations 41 and are inserted into narrow slots 43. Ring 36 is held in place by serrations 41 engaging dimples 42 located on mounting ring 21. Kripp discloses a very specialized recessed light. Kripp's baffle cannot be retrofitted onto an existing recessed light because rests solely on ring 36 and cannot support its own weight. Ring 36 is not a standard feature of most recessed light on the market at the time of the invention and is not designed to fit any recessed light housing regardless of size and manufacturer.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,511 to Cohen discloses a universal adapter bracket 36 for a recessed light. Universal bracket 36 is designed to accommodate different types of lamp socket clips for retrofitting of ornamental trim assemblies in existing in-ceiling light fixture installations. Baffle 32 is attached to universal bracket 36 via screws and then baffle 32 and bracket 36 are attached to a housing 12 via springs 38 set inside corresponding bracket 40. Cohen's universal adapter bracket 36 is a specialized adaptor in that requires corresponding bracket 40, mounted inside the can, to function properly. Universal adaptor bracket 36 cannot adapt to any recessed light without the extra effort required to mount corresponding bracket 40.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a universal trim piece that can retrofit onto any recessed light with minimal effort and/or modification of the existing fixture.


A method for displaying status information on a mobile terminal is provided. The method comprises the steps of when an event is generated in the mobile terminal, determining whether a function for displaying a character image has been set for the event; if the function has been set, processing the generated event, selecting a character image corresponding to the event in a character memory and displaying an event processing result together with the selected character image; and if the function has not been set, processing the generated event and displaying the event processing result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for displaying status information on a mobile terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and device for displaying status information together with a character image on a mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile terminals are becoming more integrated to perform services such as video recording, photography, packet service, instant messaging as opposed to older mobile terminals that only provide simple telephone services. To meet this trend, mobile terminals process and display various events relating to communications, system state alerts, messages, multimedia processing, user settings. The communication related events are call signals that include incoming and outgoing calls. The system state alerting events indicate the status of a mobile terminal, such as low battery status, entry into an area where wireless services are unavailable, or results of a new system setting.
Generally, such events are displayed in a text message format on a display window or indicated through a speaker or a display device. It is possible to inform the user of an event by displaying the event on the display window and at the same time outputting an audible alert through an audio converter of a mobile terminal. As a more effective way to inform the user of an event, an avatar image or animation can also be used.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for displaying status information on a mobile terminal


An electrical connector assembly including a connector member; a housing having a general tube shape; wedges and an extension spring member. The housing includes a front end and a rear end. The front end of the housing is adapted to be fixedly connected with the connector member. The wedges are adapted to be located in the housing directly between the housing and a core member of a cable conductor. The connector member is adapted to push the wedges into the housing as the connector member and the housing are being connected with each other. The extension spring member surrounds the wedges to bias the wedges towards a center channel formed by the wedges.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector which can be used for connecting to an Aluminum Conductor Composite Core (ACCC) cable.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
Aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) and other traditional energy cables utilize a steel wire core around which aluminum conductor wires are wrapped; a design originally introduced in 1898. Composite Technology Corporation (CTC) of Irvine, Calif. sells a new type of transmission and distribution energy cable; an Aluminum Conductor Composite Core (ACCC) cable. U.S. patent publication Nos. 2004/0132366 A1 and 2005/0129942 A1 describe Aluminum Conductor Composite Core (ACCC) cables. ACCC cables incorporate a light-weight advanced composite core around which aluminum conductor wires are wrapped in a manner similar to traditional energy cables. The composite core replaces the traditional steel wire core. The composite core's lighter-weight, smaller size, and enhanced strength and other performance advantages over traditional steel core allows a ACCC cable to double the current carrying capacity over existing transmission and distribution cables and virtually eliminate high-temperature sag.
However, there is a problem when attempting to connect conventional electrical connectors to an ACCC cable. The composite core, although providing an excellent tensile strength, such as about 21 tons, can only withstand a small compression force. The actual strength in compression is unknown, but is much lower than the tensile strength. A traditional compression electrical connector could crush or damage the composite core; preventing a good mechanical attachment from being made with the cable.
There is a need for an electrical connector which can be attached to a cable having a composite core, without crushing or significantly damaging the composite core, and which can provide a good tensile connection between the cable and the connector to allow the cable/connector assembly to be suspended by attachment to transmission towers.

Electrical connector with wedges and spring


A metal semiconductor ohmic contact farming process consists of enrichment of the surface of the semiconductor on which contact is to be formed, by ion implantation of a dopant, followed by deposition of a metal film on the implanted surface and then by thermal annealing at a temperature lower than 500.degree. C. and for a period shorter than 60 minutes.

This invention concerns a process for forming an M-S (Metal-Semconductor) ohmic contact on lightly doped regions, which consists in particular of enriching the surface of the semiconductor on which the contact is to be formed, by means of ion implantation of a dopant and subsequent annealing.
A basic requirement of the M-S ohmic contains which act as an interface between a semiconductor device and a metal terminal is that the not introduce appreciable voltage drops when the current passes through them, so as not to alter the electrical properties of the device itself.
One of the main factors on which the specific contact resistance of an M-S junction depends, consists of the concentration of electrically active dopant in the semiconductor, in correspondence with the M-S interface, and of the choice of metal used.
If, when forming an M-S ohmic contact, the concentration of dopant active on the surface of the semiconductor is not sufficiently high, the surface is enriched with dopant. The most widely used enriching methods consist of pre-deposition and ion implantation of the dopant.
The first method calls for very high temperatures (over 900.degree. C.). With the second method, if the ion bombardment has produced a surface layer of amorphous material, it is necessary to carry out the subsequent annealing at a temperature higher than 500.degree.-550.degree. C. in the case of silicon, with a subsequent epitaxial regrowth in the solid phase ("SPE") of the damaged layer and activation of the implanted species. Whereas, if the ion bombardment has not caused amorphization, it is necessary to use a higher annealing temperature to activate the implanted species.
With both the first and the second method, the temperature at which the thermal processes are carried out is incompatible with the presence, on the front of the wafer, of metallization levels (for example, aluminum) or layers of organic material (for example, polymide).

Metal-semiconductor ohmic contact forming process


A network system has a switch which transfers a packet and a controller which sets a flow entry to the switch. The controller has a heavy load switch detecting section which detects a heavy load switch with the heavy load of new flow entry setting processing; a storage section which stores a switch list; an alternate route searching section which searches an alternate route; and a flow entry setting section which assigns a flow of packets to be transferred by using a new flow entry of the heavy load switch to the switch on the alternate route, without changing the flow entry which is already set to the heavy load switch.

A network system is known in which transfer processing of a packet by a switch and control processing of the switch are separated. In recent years, attention is drawn to an open flow network system which uses an open flow protocol, as an example of such a network system. The open flow network system is configured from an open flow controller and open flow switches. The open flow controller and each of the open flow switches are connected by a link of switch control which is called a secure channel. Thus, a transfer control of the packet can be carried out by the open flow controller and the open flow switches. The open flow controller sets a flow entry to the open flow switch and the open flow switch transfers the packet based on the flow entry.
In the open flow network, when the load of the open flow switch is heavy, there is a case that the open flow switch cannot respond immediately to a control request transmitted from the open flow controller to the open flow switch. In such a situation, the flow entry cannot be set to the open flow switch, so that a packet transfer delay and a packet loss occur.
A technique is demanded by which the situation that the packet cannot be transferred in the network system can be avoided, even if the remaining switches operate normally because the load of a specific switch becomes heavier.
Patent Literature 1 (JP 2011-151718A) and Patent Literature 2 (JP 2011-166384A) are known as references in the field of the present invention.
The Patent Literature 1 discloses a network system which prevents the packet loss through the change of a packet transfer route. The network system of Patent Literature 1 is composed of a route management server and a buffering unit. In the network system of Patent Literature 1, the route management server sets a transfer route of the packet destined to a second node from a first node. When the route management server changes the transfer route into a new transfer route, a transfer route is set which passes through the buffering unit. The buffering unit sends out the packet according to an instruction from the route management server. Thus, the packet loss due to the change of the packet transfer route is prevented.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique for improving the fault endurance of a computer system which uses an open flow technique. The computer system in Patent Literature 2 is composed of a plurality of controllers and a switch. A priority is assigned to each of the controllers. The controller sets a flow entry with a priority to the switch. The switch determines the permission or non-permission of the setting of the flow entry according to the priority, and carries out a relay operation according to the flow entry set to the switch. Thus, the flow entry can be set to the switch without any contradiction even if the plurality of controllers exist in the computer system. The computer system of Patent Literature 2 improves the fault endurance of the computer system by multiplexing controllers.

Network system, controller, and load distribution method


A cam cap has a wall portion that extends between two cam cap portions integrally formed and having connection portions respectively, and therefore the rigidity of the cam cap is high and thus the relative positional accuracies of oil passage connection faces of the connection portions are high even after the cam cap is mounted on an internal combustion engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cam cap for an internal combustion engine, having a cam cap portion for the intake camshaft and a cam cap portion for the exhaust camshaft, which are integrally formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-227321 (JP-A-2003-227321) proposes a cam cap having an intake side cam cap portion and an exhaust side cam cap portion that are integrally formed to support the intake camshaft and the exhaust camshaft of an internal combustion engine on journal bearings formed at the cylinder head or the cam housing, respectively. This cam cap involves oil passages through which hydraulic oil is supplied to and drained from a single oil control valve (called "hydraulic pressure control valve" in the publication) provided in the cylinder head cover, and hydraulic oil is supplied, at a pressure adjusted by the oil control valve, to only one of the camshafts. More specifically, the pressure-adjusted hydraulic oil is supplied to a variable valve timing mechanism provided at one end of one of the camshafts to adjust the operation timing of the exhaust valves or the intake valves as needed. Note that, in the specification of the present invention, the phrase "pressure adjusting" includes starting and stopping the application of hydraulic pressure, as well as adjusting the hydraulic pressure level.
If it is required to modify a cam cap structured as described above to enable to adjust the operation timings of both of the intake and exhaust valves, a cam cap having a shape symmetrical to the shape of the foregoing cam cap is added and another oil control valve is provided on the cylinder head cover and hydraulic oil supply and drain passages for the new oil control valve are formed additionally.
In this structure, the oil passages for the two oil control valves provided on the single cylinder head cover are connected to corresponding oil passages formed in the two cam caps, respectively, by mating corresponding oil passage connection faces to each other and press-fitting them together. Although the two oil passage connection faces on the oil control valve side are formed on the single cylinder head cover, the oil passage connection faces on the cam cap side are formed on the two cam caps, respectively. Thus, even though the relative positional accuracies of the two oil passage connection faces formed at the cylinder head cover are high, the relatively positional accuracies of the corresponding two oil passage connection faces on the cam cap side, which are separately formed on the two cam caps, may not be high. Therefore, the contact pressure between the mating oil passage connection faces may decrease in some cases.
Meanwhile, it is also possible to form oil supply and drain passages for the two oil control valves in a single cam cap. In this case, too, oil passages and oil passage connection faces need to be formed for the intake aide cam cap portion and the exhaust cam cap portion of the cam cap, respectively. In this case, because the rigidity of the cam cap elongated to incorporate the two cam cap portions is low, even if the relative positional accuracies of the oil passage contact faces of the two cam cap portions are high when the cam cap is manufactured, the relative positional accuracies of the oil passage contact faces may decrease due to deformation of the cam cap that occurs when it is bolted to the cylinder head or to the cam housing.


The invention is directed to an alignment mark in a material layer in an alignment region of a wafer. The alignment mark comprises a plurality of sub-marks. Each of the sub-mark comprises a first element and a plurality of second elements. The second elements are embedded in the first element and a first top surface of the first element is at the same height as a second top surface of each of the second elements.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an alignment mark and a method for forming the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an alignment mark with a relatively high contrast under an optical tool and a method for forming the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In the manufacture of integrated circuit, photolithography process is used to transfer patterns from a photo mask having customized circuit patterns to thin films formed on a wafer. The image transfer process comprises steps of forming a photoresist layer on a non-process layer, illuminating the photoresist layer through a photo mask having the customized circuit patterns, developing the photoresist layer and then etching the non-process layer by using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask. Hence, the image transfer process is accomplished. For a well-manufactured integrated circuit product, the image transfer process mentioned above is performed several times to transfer the circuit patterns to each non-process layers to form the electrically circuit device.
During the photolithography process for transferring the pattern from photo mask to the target material layer, it is necessary for the exposure tool to position the wafer on the station by referring the alignment mark on the wafer. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a conventional alignment mark. FIG. 1A is a top view showing a wafer with a plurality of device regions thereon. FIG. 1B is an enlarge view of a portion of FIG. 1A for illustrating one of the alignment regions of the wafer shown in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 1A together with FIG. 1B, conventionally, in order to achieve proper alignment, at least one alignment mark 106 is formed at the alignment region 104 aside the device region 102 on the wafer 100. FIG. 1C is an enlarge view of the alignment region shown in FIG. 1B. FIG. 1D is a spectrum showing an image contrast of the conventional alignment mark shown in FIG. 1C. As shown in FIG. 1C, for each alignment mark 106, there are several sub-marks 106a. Each sub-mark 106a composed of a fine frame 108 and an alignment component 110 which is enclosed by the fine frame 108. Conventionally, the size of the fine frame 108 is smaller than or equal to the size of the spacer (not shown) formed on the device element (not shown) in the device region 102 at the same material level of the fine frame 108. Hence, the surface area of fine frame 108 is only about 0.1% of the sub-mark 106a for single sub-mark 106a. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1D together with FIG. 1C, the fine frame 108 contributes to a very low the image contrast according to the background material layer 112. That is, it is hardly recognize the fine frame 108 for the alignment tool to position the wafer. Therefore, the alignment preciseness for later performed photolithography process is poor.