A graphics controller enhances concurrency among multiple pipelines, provides high throughput to graphics resources between 2D and 3D pipelines spawned by an application, and provides low latency for 2D pipelines spawned by an operating system. The graphics controller includes a command parser, arbitration logic, a BLTBIT engine having first and second operating registers. Graphics commands from the application are routed through the command processor, while graphics commands from the operating system are written to the second operating register. Access signaling bits associated with each operating register for communicating between the arbitration logic and the application and operating system. Graphics commands from application-spawned pipelines are coupled through the command parser to specified graphics resources, including the first operating register. An arbitration scheme assigns higher priority to BLTBIT engine accesses initiated by pipelines spawned by the operating system.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of graphics systems and in particular to systems and methods for arbitrating between two and three dimensional graphics pipelines for access to graphics resources.
2. Background Art
Graphics capabilities are becoming increasingly important in modem computer systems. For example, most currently available operating systems communicate with computer users through graphical user interfaces (GUIs). In order to operate effectively, GUIs require a low latency path to graphics resources.
In addition to GUIs, computer systems must also support the graphics demands of game, drawing, video, and computer aided design/engineering (CAD/CAE) applications (hereafter, "applications") that run under the operating system. Until recently, the graphics generated by most popular applications were largely two dimensional ("2D") in nature, but increasingly, these applications are incorporating three dimensional ("3D") graphics features. Here, 2D graphics refers to substantially flat images that are generated through a series of processing steps known as a 2D pipeline. The 2D pipeline typically includes 2D scaling, block transfer and raster operations, as well as color blending and selection steps. These steps/operations are implemented by some combination of hardware and software. 3D graphics refers to images that are derived from three dimensional mathematics, and which are given a 3D appearance through, for example, lighting and texturing techniques. The series of processing steps used to generate 3D graphics form a 3D pipeline.
2D and 3D graphics place substantial demands on the resources of a computer system, and these systems often include graphics subsystems to perform some of the processing steps that would otherwise be performed by the central processor ("host processor"). The graphics subsystem and host processor of such systems must be coordinated to synchronize access to graphics resources. For example, a 2D pipeline generating GUI images for the operating system competes for graphics resources with 2D and 3D pipelines generating images for applications running under the operating system. Arbitration among these competing pipelines for access to graphics resources must accommodate the low latency requirements of the operating system and the high throughput requirements of the application graphics.
Synchronization is particularly complicated in preemptive, multi-threaded operating systems like Windows.TM. 95 and Windows.TM. NT from Microsoft.RTM. Corporation. These operating systems allow multiple execution threads from one or more programs, including the operating system, to run concurrently. Each thread can spawn a pipeline, and each pipeline can access the graphics subsystem through one of several application programming interfaces ("APIs"), depending on the resources it requires. Resource requirements are determined in part by whether a thread spawns a 2D or 3D pipeline, and the response time (maximum latency) required by the thread. With multiple pipelines accessing the graphics subsystem through multiple APIs, the demands placed on the graphics subsystem for rapid, seamless response without contention are substantially increased.
Conventional systems employ a variety of strategies to handle graphics data from different pipelines. In one strategy, the operating system implements a semaphore to limit access to the graphics subsystem to one pipeline at a time. Since graphics controllers may include different resources that could be used concurrently by pipelines at different processing stages, this strategy reduces the efficiency of the graphics controller. Another strategy employs separate controllers for 2D and 3D graphics pipelines. Semaphores are still necessary in these systems to regulate access to each controller by contending pipelines, and additional signals are required to prevent contention between concurrent 2D and 3D pipelines for graphics memory locations. None of these strategies guarantees a low latency channel to graphics resources for the operating system.
There is thus a need for a system and method for enhancing concurrent access to graphics resources and for coordinating these accesses to provide the low latency required for graphics pipelines spawned by the operating system.

System and method for graphics data concurrency and coherency


An input knob for use with a touch screen device includes stationary and moveable members. The stationary member adheres to a touch screen of the device. The moveable member moves relative to the stationary member, and is secured to the surface via the stationary member. The moveable member produces touch events on the touch surface as bits of data in response to movement of the moveable member. The moveable member may include a rotary encoder. The stationary member may include conductive pads in contact with the surface and in selective contact with a conductive mass of the moveable member. The moveable member may be ring-shaped, removeable and repositionable with respect to the surface, and/or constructed of or coated by dielectric materials. The knob may lack a direct hardwired electrical connection to or through the surface. A display system includes the touch screen device and knob.

Touch screen devices are used to facilitate direct user interaction with a wide variety of systems. For example, "infotainment" systems typically present user-selectable control options and other useful information to a user as image icons and/or text messages via a colorful touch-sensitive display screen ("touch surface"). The user selects desired information or requests execution of a particular system operating mode by touching a designated area on the touch screen. A touch event, i.e., a detected conductive contact with the touch surface, is registered by a microcontroller in communication with the touch screen. Detectable touch events are typically achieved using the user's fingertip or a specially configured input stylus.
A given touch screen device relies on a particular set of underlying touch detection technology to accurately detect the above-noted touch event, and to thereafter translate the detected touch event into a corresponding screen position. For instance, a projective capacitance-based touch screen may use an electrode grid to project an electric field through a substrate. Contact with the touch surface at or more discrete points is detected by the microcontroller by monitoring the electric field effects of the contact. Because a touch event corresponds to a surface location that is associated with particular information, a detected touch point is readily translated by the microprocessor and associated control logic into a desired control response. Other types of touch screen devices rely on different underlying technologies to achieve similar ends, with common examples including surface capacitive, infrared, and resistance sensing.

Input knob for a touch-sensitive surface in a display system


Clock multiplier selection methods and apparatuses. One embodiment includes a clock interface to receive a clock signal, a frequency detect circuit, and a multiplier selection circuit. The frequency detect circuit detects an operating frequency of the clock signal and the multiplier selection circuit selects a clock multiplier that is a function of the operating frequency of the clock signal.

1. Field
The present disclosure pertains to the field of electronic components. More particularly, the present disclosure pertains to selecting the ratio of an internal clock to another clock such as an external clock that is provided to an electronic component.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuits and other electronic components are generally designed to operate within certain parameters. One important parameter usually specified for an electronic component is a maximum operating frequency. Typically, manufacturers can only ensure the component performs specified operations reliably as long as the user operates the component at or below the maximum operating frequency. Thus, manufacturers of electronic components would like to ensure that their parts are operated at or below the maximum operating frequency.
Unfortunately, there is a significant faction of computer users that engages in "over-clocking" of components such as processors. Over-clocking involves providing the component with a clock signal having a higher frequency than the component is designed to use. Typically, this external clock is multiplied by a predetermined multiplier to provide one or more higher frequency clocks for internal operations of the component. Alternatively, over-clocking may be accomplished in some cases by altering the predetermined multiplier so that internal operations of the component are performed at a higher multiple of the frequency of the external clock than originally intended.
Some processors allow the clock multiplier to be set by adjusting motherboard connections, software, or firmware. Other processors have their clock multipliers programmed during manufacturing by blowing out fuses, so that the clock multiplier may not be tampered with by unauthorized persons. Thus, in prior art schemes, the clock multiplier is fixed and is not adjusted or tested based on the frequency of the clock provided to the component.
An over-clocked component performs operations more rapidly and thus the user is "rewarded" with better performance. The downside of over-clocking is that logic malfunctions are more likely, and the part may be damaged or destroyed (e.g., due to overheating). Since manufacturers often conservatively specify maximum operating conditions, however, slightly over-clocked parts may operate fairly well despite the over-clocking.
Thus, over-clocking is fairly popular. Unfortunately, such over-clocking reduces the market for high-end or faster parts because over-clockers purchase lower speed parts and over-clock them to achieve the desired performance level. The sale of the lower speed parts is typically significantly less lucrative for component manufacturers.
A more nefarious problem is the combination of remarking and over-clocking. Some components illegally have their labeling altered to indicate that they are capable of operating at a higher speed. These remarked products may then be resold at a higher price because of the better performance associated with the higher frequency operation. Often, faster parts command significant premiums over their slower brethren, making remarking and over-clocking a lucrative (albeit illegal) endeavor. Moreover, remarking and over-clocking are difficult problems to address since both may be hard to detect and may occur in jurisdictions where enforcement of appropriate laws is difficult.

Clock multiplier selection for a microprocessor with multiple system bus clocking frequencies


A switchable slot valve for a coating plant controls delivery of a pasty coating material. The switchable slot valve has a valve bore incorporated in a valve main body and is aligned in a valve extent direction, and a valve control rod is rotatable to switch between a throughput position and a closed position and is mounted in the valve bore by bearing faces. To mitigate disruptions by coating material which has made its way into a bearing gap between the valve bore and the bearing faces at least one receiving space is incorporated in an inner circumferential face of the valve bore between the supply duct and the nozzle duct.

Generic switchable slot valves for coating plants are known. Valves of this type display a valve bore, aligned in a valve extent direction, which is in a valve main body and into which a supply duct opens and from which a nozzle duct leads out to connect to a slot nozzle of the coating plant. Disposed in the valve bore of a known slot valve is a valve control rod mounted in the valve bore to be rotatable about a rotation axis which extends in the valve extent direction and is penetrated by a valve duct which disposes of a duct inlet extending axially along an outer side of the valve control rod and a suchlike opposite duct outlet, the former and latter being interconnected by a valve duct which penetrates the valve control rod.
In those known slot valves, the valve control rod can be rotated between a throughput position and a closed position by a motor. In the throughput position, the valve control rod is disposed such that the coating material supplied through the supply duct can make its way through the duct inlet into the valve duct and from there through the duct outlet into the nozzle duct, from where it is supplied according to the intended use to the slot nozzle of the coating plant. In contrast, in the closed position, the nozzle duct is isolated from the supply duct by the valve control rod such that the deployment of coating material is interrupted.
To mount the valve control rod in the valve bore, the valve control rod on its outer side displays bearing faces which, for mounting in the region of two part-circumferences of the valve control rod, between the duct inlet and the duct outlet, bear on the circumferential face of the valve bore. Since the valve control rod is rotatable, there remains in the bearing region a bearing gap of at maximum 100 μm between the bearing faces and the inner circumferential face of the valve bore.
Generic slot valves control in a targeted manner delivery of the coating material through a slot nozzle. For this purpose, they are upstream of the slot nozzle and by rotation of the valve control rod enable temporary interruption of the supply of the coating material to the slot nozzle. This is particularly used to deliver coating material through the slot nozzle and interrupt delivery in an alternating manner.
Generic coating plants having generic slot valves are used in the manufacture of batteries, in particular. In this context, they deploy a pasty coating material which, in particular, contains electrochemically active particles such as graphite particles, for example, in the form of a thin layer. In particular, the layer may be applied as an electrode layer immediately onto a suitable collector of the battery. However, a coating is also understood to be the temporary application onto a carrier substrate such as a roller or a planar carrier substrate, for example, from which according to the intended use the layer formed by the coating material is removed again in later production steps, for example, for application onto a collector strip.
Apart from deployment of a coating material having electrochemically effective particles for the manufacture of a battery, coating plants of that type may also be used to manufacture an electrocatalytic layer of a fuel cell. In that case, in particular coating materials which contain catalyst particles (precious metals, Raney nickel, tungsten carbide, molybdenum sulfides, tungsten sulfides, or similar suitable materials) as electrochemically active particles and which may catalyze the cold combustion of fuels such as hydrogen or methanol may be processed.
In generic coating plants, a paste reservoir from which the coating material is supplied to the slot valve and the downstream slot nozzle is usually located upstream of the slot nozzle. Both designs in which the paste reservoir per se is impinged with pressure to press the coating material in the direction of the slot valve as well as designs in which a separate motor-driven conveying means such as a pump, for example, is located between the paste reservoir and the slot valve are conceivable.
A slot valve is understood as a valve in which the supply duct, the nozzle duct, and the valve duct penetrating the valve control rod, in a dimension transverse in relation to the conveying direction, display a considerably larger extent than in the dimension which extends thereto in an orthogonal manner and is likewise transverse in relation to the conveying direction. The extent of the respective ducts in the valve extent direction according to the definition of a slot valve is at least larger by a factor of 4 than the extent transverse to the valve extent direction. With respect to the valve control rod it displays a length in the valve extent direction, along which the valve control rod is penetrated by the valve duct, that is at least four times the mean radius of the valve control rod. Preferably and most commonly, the length of the valve control rod, along which it is penetrated by the valve duct, is larger than the radius of the valve control rod by a greater factor, preferably by at least a factor of 10.
The mentioned correlation between the radius and diameter of the valve control rod, on the one hand, and its length, on the other hand, in practice leads to difficulties. It has emerged, for example, that coating material which makes its way into the narrow gap between the inner circumference of the valve bore and the bearing face of the valve control rod causes the momenta required to readjust the slot valve to surge as the period of operation increases.
This is caused by the tendency of many coating materials and in particular coating materials used in the context of the manufacture of batteries toward significantly increasing their viscosity at a high shear load, depending on the degree and duration of shearing (rheopectic behavior). The longer remnants of the coating material remain between the inner circumferential face of the valve bore and the bearing faces, the greater their viscosity. In practice, the actuators provided on generic slot valves to switch the slot valve can no longer effect a reliable valve switching operation after a certain operating period such that use of the coating plant has to be interrupted and the valve bore has to be cleaned.
It could therefore be helpful to provide a switchable slot valve of the generic type such that the slot valve functions in a maintenance-free manner over a comparatively long period of time.

Switchable slot valve for a coating system, coating system, and coating method

VW-VM Forschungsgesellschaft mbH & Co, KG


A general chiral column with a multipleproline-based chiral stationary phase. Embodiments include chiral stationary phases of the following formula:

Stereoisomers are those molecules which differ from each other only in the way their atoms are oriented in space. Stereoisomers are generally classified as diastereomers or enantiomers; the latter embracing those which are mirror-images of each other, the former being those which are not. The particular arrangement of atoms that characterize a particular stereoisomer is known as its optical configuration, specified by known sequencing rules as, for example, either + or − (also D or L) and/or R or S.
Though differing only in orientation, the practical effects of stereoisomerism are important. For example, the biological and pharmaceutical activities of many compounds are strongly influenced by the particular configuration involved. Indeed, many compounds are only of widespread utility when employed in a given stereoisomeric form.
Living organisms usually produce only one enantiomer of a pair. Thus only (−)-2-methyl-1-butanol is formed in yeast fermentation of starches; only (+)-lactic acid is formed in the contraction of muscle; fruit juices contain only (−)-malic acid, and only (−)-quinine is obtained from the cinchona tree. In biological systems, stereochemical specificity is the rule rather than the exception, since the catalytic enzymes, which are so important in such systems, are optically active. For example, the sugar (+)-glucose plays an important role in animal metabolism and is the basic raw material in the fermentation industry; however, its optical counterpart, or antipode, (−)-glucose, is neither metabolized by animals nor fermented by yeasts. Other examples in this regard include the mold Penicillium glaucum, which will only consume the (+)-enantiomer of the enantiomeric mixture of tartaric acid, leaving the (−)-enantiomer intact. Also, only one stereoisomer of chloromycetin is an antibiotic; and (+)-ephedrine not only does not have any drug activity, but it interferes with the drug activity of its antipode. Finally, in the world of essences, the enantiomer (−)-carvone provides oil of spearmint with its distinctive odor, while its optical counterpart (+)-carvone provides the essence of caraway.
Thus, as enzymes and other biological receptor molecules possess chiral structures, enantiomers of a racemic compound may be absorbed, activated, and degraded by them in different manners. This phenomenon causes that in many instances, two enantiomers of a racemic drug may have different or even opposite pharmacological activities. In order to acknowledge these differing effects, the biological activity of each enantiomer often needs to be studied separately. This and other factors within the pharmaceutical industry have contributed significantly to the need for enantiomerically pure compounds and thus the need for chiral chromatography.
Accordingly, it is desirable and oftentimes essential to separate stereoisomers in order to obtain the useful version of a compound that is optically active.
Separation in this regard is generally not a problem when diastereomers are involved: diastereomers have different physical properties, such as melting points, boiling points, solubilities in a given solvent, densities, refractive indices etc. Hence, diastereomers are normally separated from one another by conventional methods, such as fractional distillation, fractional crystallization or chromatography.
Enantiomers, on the other hand, present a special problem because their physical properties are identical. Thus they cannot as a rule—and especially so when in the form of a racemic mixture—be separated by ordinary methods: not by fractional distillation, because their boiling points are identical; not by conventional crystallization because (unless the solvent is optically active) their solubilities are identical; not by conventional chromatography because (unless the adsorbent is optically active) they are held equally onto the adsorbent. The problem of separating enantiomers is further exacerbated by the fact that conventional synthetic techniques almost always produce a mixture of enantiomers. When a mixture comprises equal amounts of enantiomers having opposite optical configurations, it is called a racemate; separation of a racemate into its respective enantiomers is generally known as a resolution, and is a process of considerable importance.
Chiral columns that can resolve a large number of racemic compounds (general chiral columns) are in high demand. They are needed routinely in many laboratories, especially in pharmaceutical industry. Prior to the present invention, Daicel columns, macrocyclic antibiotic columns, and the Whelk-O columns were probably known as the industrial leaders in this type of general chiral columns. The present inventor has developed a new class of general chiral columns based on the use of proline and its analogues.
Furthermore, and importantly, the columns of the present invention have the capability of resolving at least a similar or higher percentage of the compounds tested. Furthermore, the columns of the present invention provide better separation on some of the compounds tested and can resolve certain compounds that cannot be resolved with the commonly used commercial columns listed above.
The columns of the present inventions are stable and can be used with a large number of mobile phase solvents. Therefore, the columns of the present invention should find important applications as general chiral columns.
As stated above, a large number of chiral columns have been prepared in the past; however, only a few demonstrated broad chiral selectivity. The successful examples include the popular Daicel columns, the Chirobiotic columns, and the Whelk-O½ columns. The Daicel columns are prepared by coating sugar derivatives onto silica gel. Chirobiotic columns are prepared by immobilizing macrocyclic glycopeptides onto silica gel. Whelk-O ½ columns contain both electron rich and electron deficient aromatics. These columns have broad chiral selectivity and have been applied successfully to resolve a fair number of racemic compounds. They have different selectivity and stability profiles. Their selectivities complement each other in some cases, while they duplicate each other in other cases. Some of the columns are more suited for reversed phase conditions and others for normal phase conditions. Each column has its own strengths and weaknesses. Despite these progresses, there are still many compounds that cannot be resolved or resolved well using these commercial available columns. Therefore, there is still a significant need to develop new columns that have relatively broad chiral selectivity.

Chiral columns with broad chiral selectivity

Abstract: wherein n is any integer of 2 or greater, and analogs and isomers thereof.


A rim covering device for inhibiting contact of a tire cleaning spray with a rim when a tire is being cleaned includes a cover being positionable over a rim to inhibit a tire cleaning spray from being sprayed on the rim. An absorbent band is coupled to the cover. The absorbent band absorbs the tire cleaning spray that is over sprayed onto the cover. A handle is coupled to the cover opposite the forward edge. The handle is gripped to facilitate maneuvering of the cover over the rim.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tire rim protectors and more particularly pertains to a new tire rim protector for inhibiting contact of a tire cleaning spray with a rim and hubcap when a tire is being cleaned.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of tire rim protectors is known in the prior art. The prior art typically teaches tire rim protectors that have a smooth outer surface which will allow tire cleaning spray to run down the outer surface and possibly come into contact with a rim when the tire rim protectors are removed from the rim.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that has certain improved features that allows for over sprayed tire cleaning spray to be absorbed to inhibit run off on to a rim when the device is removed from the rim.


An optical subassembly comprises a micro-optical bench and a corresponding molded device submount having an optical detector, LED, or laser diode mounted thereon. The optical bench is a semiconductor wafer having one or more grooves etched therein. A submount groove is designed to receive a cooperating ridge on a bottom surface of the molded device submount so as to limit the movement of the submount on the optical bench. An optical fiber is secured in an alignment groove and secured to the optical bench. To complete the subassembly, it is only necessary to set the axial distance between the optical detector, LED, or laser diode and a distal end of the optical fiber. A fiber stop incorporated into the micro-optical bench automatically adjusts the axial positioning of the distal end of the fiber to the optical detector, LED, or laser diode. In addition, a hermetically sealed package is provided with a faceplate that is secured to the package. The faceplate is easily adapted to include various latching mechanisms that cooperate with a variety of different optical connectors.

The manufacture of optoelectronic modules, such as optoelectronic receivers and optoelectronic transmitters, requires that an optical fiber be properly aligned and fixed in an optical subassembly. In an optical receiver, a fiber is aligned with an optical detector, usually a PIN photodiode. In an optical transmitter, an optical fiber is aligned with a light-emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode. A goal of optical alignment is to maximize the amount of light coupling between the optical detector, LED, or laser diode and the optical fiber. The alignment of the fiber member with the LED, laser diode, or optical detector is a critical step in the manufacture of an optoelectronic subassembly.
In the past, the step of aligning an optical fiber had to be done actively. Typically, the process involves fixing the position of either the optical detector, LED, or laser diode or the optical fiber, and positioning the freely moving fiber or optical detector, LED, or laser diode while simultaneously measuring the amount of light coupled between the two so that a maximum amount of light is passed. Once the optimum position is found, the position of the optical fiber or optical detector, LED, or laser diode is fixed. While this process generally works well, it is both labor-intensive and costly.
Optical subassemblies are often used in harsh environments where they are subjected to wide variations in temperature, pressure, and g-forces. To withstand such environments, such subassemblies are often mounted in hermetically sealed packages. Each package is adapted to mate with a connector that contains an optical fiber. Typically, the connectors made by each manufacturer require a different type of latching mechanism to be mounted to the package. In addition to the problem of aligning the optical fiber with the optical detector, LED, or laser diode, it has also been difficult to produce a subassembly package that can be easily adapted to mate with a variety of optical connectors made by different manufacturers.
Given the shortcoming in the prior art, there is a need for a method of producing optical subassemblies in a cost-effective manner that does not require active alignment of an optical fiber with an optical detector, LED, or laser diode. In addition, there is a need for a subassembly package that is easily adapted to mate with a variety of connector types.

Optical subassembly with a groove for aligning an optical device with an optical fiber


The apparatus comprises a housing (10) defining a treatment vessel (12.sup.2) having entrance and exit openings (16, 20) defining a sheet material path (22) therethrough. The lower opening (20) is closed by a pair of path-defining rollers (28, 26) biased into contact with each other to form a nip (28) through which the sheet material path (22) extends. The housing (10) includes a collecting chamber (50) positioned to collect treatment liquid which in use falls from the treatment vessel (12.sup.2) through one or both of the openings. The collecting chamber (50) is a closed chamber (50) and means (52) are provided to return treatment liquid from the collecting chamber (50) to the treatment vessel (12.sup.2). The construction has the advantage that the wastage of treatment liquid is reduced without requiring the use of complicated and costly sealing devices.

As a rule, a processing apparatus for photographic sheet material comprises several vessels each of which contains a treatment liquid, such as a developer, a fixer and a rinse liquid. As used herein, the term sheet material includes not only photographic material in the form of cut sheets, but also in the form of a web unwound from a roll. The sheet material to be processed is transported through these vessels in turn, by transport means such as one or more pairs of drive rollers, and thereafter optionally to a drying unit. The time spent by the sheet material in each vessel is determined by the transport speed and the dimensions of the vessel in the sheet feed path direction.
In a typical apparatus for liquid processing of photographic sheet material, a housing defines a treatment vessel having entrance and exit openings defining a sheet material path therethrough. The housing may include a collecting chamber positioned to collect treatment liquid which in use falls from the treatment vessel through the lower opening or through both of the openings, depending upon the orientation of the apparatus.
Usually, the treatment liquid collected in the collecting chamber is discarded. This is because exposure of the collected liquid to the atmosphere causes oxidation and/or evaporation of the liquid, and renders it less suitable for further use. However, such a practice is wasteful.
Where a vessel opening is closed by a pair of path-defining rollers biased into contact with each other to define a nip through which the sheet material path extends, it has been proposed to incorporate sealing devices between these path-defining rollers and the housing to reduce the quantity of liquid which falls through into the collecting chamber during use. The structure of such sealing devices can be complicated and costly, if the quantity of liquid falling into the collecting chamber is to be significantly reduced. United States patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,689 (Schausberger et al. assigned to Agfa-Gevaert AG) describes such an apparatus in which liquid escapes form the lower opening and is intercepted by the tank of a sealing device with two squeegees located in the tank above a horizontal passage in line with the lower opening. One or more pairs of drive rollers in the vessel close the lower opening and also serve to transport the sheet material along a vertical path which extends between the openings of the vessel.

Apparatus for liquid processing of photographic sheet material


The invention relates to a new adjuvant and to its use in combination with an antigen.

Adjuvants are defined as substances whose role is to boost or direct antigen-specific immune responses when used in combination with specific antigens (Wack, A., et al (2005) Curr. Opin. Immunol. 17, 411-418). Usually, adjuvants combined with antigens, as is the case with all currently available commercial vaccines, do not induce immune responses against themselves. Due to the poor immunogenic properties of most antigens, adjuvants are used to enhance, activate and direct the innate and adaptive immune responses to those antigens. The concept of adjuvants has been extended to carriers that interact with surface molecules on specific cells of the immune system that operate at the interface between the immune system of the host and the administered antigen (Segal B H, et al, Drug Discov Today. 2006 June; 11(11-12):534-40). In doing so adjuvants help to stimulate the immune system and increase the response to the co-administered antigen. Therefore, adjuvants have been widely used for the development of vaccines.
Adjuvants can be classified according to their physiochemical properties or mechanisms of action. The two major classes of adjuvants include compounds that directly act on the immune system such as bacterial toxins that stimulate immune responses, and molecules able to facilitate the presentation of antigens in a controlled manner and behaving as a carrier. At present, a large number of adjuvants are used to increase the immunological features of antigens including oils, aluminium salts, proteins and nucleic acid (Steven G. Reed, et al (2003) Expert Rev. Vaccines 2, 167-188).
In principle, due to the fact that the response against the antigen and the quality of the immune response will depend to a large extent on the purity and nature of the adjuvant. The ideal adjuvant should be chemically and physically well defined in such a way as to facilitate quality control. Since in most cases the antigens are well defined, the control of the adjuvant specificity will ensure reproducible development of the final antigen-specific immunological response. In this context, the adjuvants may not only elicit an immunological response against the antigen but also direct the immune response that the antigen elicited in the host. If the immune response goes in the appropriate direction, the nature of the adjuvant will substantially influence the value of the antigen as a therapeutic product. In addition to helping the induction of an immunological (humoral or cell-mediated) response against antigens, the objective of the adjuvant is to elicit immune effectors that result in the production of specific cytokines. Moreover, since the specificity and magnitude of immune responses induced by the antigen-adjuvant construct may largely depend on the nature of the host immune cells, the potency of the adjuvants cannot be analyzed without reference to the host. Thus, the immune responses induced by an antigen may vary depending on the nature of the adjuvant and of the nature of the host immune system.
There is always a need for new adjuvants since new vaccines are being developed and adjuvants are almost always needed in order to get an efficient induction of an immune response. New adjuvants may also confer new attractive properties to vaccines. For example, they can influence the type and direction of the immune response induced.


An object is to provide a fine forging method for forming partitions of recesses precisely and forming recess shapes for pressure generation chambers etc. with high accuracy as well as a liquid ejection head that is produced by using the fine forming method. A fine forging method for forming groove-shaped recesses that are arranged at a prescribed pitch. After groove-shaped recesses are formed tentatively in a material plate by a first punch in which tentative forming punches are arranged, finish forming is performed on the tentatively formed groove-shaped recesses by using a second punch in which finish forming punches are arranged. An end portion of a projection strip is formed with slant faces or a slant face, whereby an end portion of each groove-shaped recess is formed precisely. A liquid ejection head produced by the above method exhibits stable liquid ejection characteristics and its manufacturing cost can be reduced by virtue of simplified working of forging.

The present invention relates to a fine forging method that can be used for manufacture of such components as a liquid ejection head, a manufacturing method of a liquid ejection head, and a liquid ejection head.
Liquid ejection heads for discharging ejects of pressurized liquid from nozzle orifices are known that deal with various liquids. Such liquid ejection heads are mainly used as recording heads for image recording apparatus such as printers and plotters. In recent years, by making use of their feature that they can correctly supply very small amounts of liquid to prescribed locations, they have come to be applied to various manufacturing apparatus as, for example, colorant ejection heads for manufacturing apparatus for manufacture of color filters of liquid crystal displays etc., electrode material ejection heads in manufacturing apparatus for formation of electrodes of organic EL (electroluminescence) displays, FEDs (field emission displays) etc., bioorganic material ejection heads in manufacturing apparatus for manufacture of biochips. Recording heads eject liquid ink and colorant ejection heads eject colorant solutions of E (red), G (green), and B (blue). Electrode material ejection heads eject a liquid electrode material and bioorganic ejection heads eject a solution of a bioorganic material.
Ink jet recording heads are typical examples, and an ink jet recording head will be described below as a conventional technique.
Among various kinds of ink jet recording heads (hereinafter referred to as recording heads), what is called an on-demand recording head which is now widely spread have a plurality of channels that correspond to respective nozzle orifices and extend from a common ink chamber to the nozzle orifices via pressure generation chambers. To satisfy the requirement of downsizing, the pressure generation chambers need to be formed at a fine pitch that corresponds to a recording density. Therefore, partitions of the adjoining pressure generation chambers are very thin. To efficiently convert ink pressure fluctuation in the pressure generation chamber to ejection force of ink droplets, the width of ink supply holes through which the pressure generation chambers communicate with the common ink chamber is smaller than the width of the pressure generation chambers. To form those minute pressure generation chambers and ink supply holes with high dimensional accuracy, the conventional recording head employs a silicon substrate preferably. More specifically, a crystal face is exposed by silicon anisotropic etching and pressure generation chambers and ink supply holes are formed on the crystal face.
To meet the requirements of high workability etc., a nozzle plate that is formed with nozzle orifices is made of a metal plate. Diaphragm portions for changing the volumes of pressure generation chambers are formed on an elastic plate. The elastic plate has a double-layer structure that a resin film is bonded to a metal support plate and portions of the support plate facing the respective pressure generation chambers are removed.
Incidentally, in the above-described conventional recording head, because the partitions are very thin, it is difficult to correctly obtain the recess shape of the pressure generation chambers and to set the liquid accommodation volume of the pressure generation chambers etc. In particular, the recess shape is long and narrow. To finish the partitions sharply, it is important to precisely determine the shapes of the end portions, in the longitudinal direction, of the recess shape.
Further, because of a large difference between the linear expansion coefficients of silicon and the metals, it is necessary that the silicon substrate, the nozzle plate, and the elastic plate be bonded to each other at a relatively low temperature by spending a long time. This makes it difficult to increase the productivity and is a cause of increase of the manufacturing cost.
In view of the above, to increase the productivity and for other purposes, in the above type of liquid ejection head, attempts have been made to form liquid channels in a metal pressure generation plate (e.g., patent documents 1 and 2). That is, these patent documents disclose methods for forming, by plastic working (e.g., face pushing or press working) on a metal plate, supply holes through which a reservoir and pressure chambers communicate with each other, recessed grooves to serve as the pressure chambers, and communication holes through which the pressure chambers and nozzle orifices communicate with each other.
However, since, for example, the pressure generation chambers are very fine and the channel width of needs to be smaller than the width of the pressure generation chambers, problems arise that the working is difficult and it is difficult to increase the production efficiency.
On the other hand, this type of liquid ejection head is required to discharge very small amounts of liquid ejects. This is because, in the case of ink jet recording heads, the use of very small amounts of ink ejects can increase the number of dots to reach a unit area and hence makes it possible to record high-quality images with low graininess. In the case of colorant ejection heads, decreasing the amounts of ejects can reduce the area of each pixel and hence makes it possible to manufacture high-resolution displays (or filters). In the case of electrode material ejection heads, decreasing the amounts of an electrode material makes it possible to form very narrow conductors in a desired pattern.
The above-mentioned patent documents 1 and 2 are Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-14283A (page 2 and FIG. 6) and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-263799A (pages 6–9 and FIGS. 4–14), respectively.
However, it has been found that several problems arise when it is attempted to produce, by the methods of the above patent documents, a liquid ejection head capable of satisfying current requirements. One of those problems relates to bubble ejection performance.
To produce a liquid ejection head capable of discharging very small amounts of liquid ejects, the width of the groove-shaped recesses to serve as the pressure chambers necessarily becomes very small. Further, the groove-shaped recesses need to be arranged close to each other in the groove width direction. However, it is difficult for the methods of the above patent documents to form all the communication holes at one ends, in the longitudinal direction, of the groove-shaped recesses. For example, as shown in FIG. 25A, there is no other way than forming each communication hole 34 at a position that is separated, in the groove longitudinal direction, from a longitudinal end face (recess end face) 70 of a groove-shaped recess 33. This is because of a positional variation of the recess end faces 70.
In this case, forming the groove-shaped recesses 33 by press working causes a variation of the positions of the recess end faces 70 among the groove-shaped recesses 33. Therefore, if it is attempted to form the communication holes 34 right adjacent to the groove-shaped recesses in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. 25B, part of punches may act on the thick portion of a metal plate. Since the punches are very thin, punches acting on the thick portion may bend or buckle. Therefore, in forming the communication holes 34, it is necessary that all the punches be positioned with proper margins so as to go into the groove-shaped recesses 33 completely. As a result, the punches are separated from the respective recess end faces 70 and hence the communication holes 34 are also formed so as to be separated from the respective recess end faces 70.
If in this manner the communication holes 34 are formed so as to be separated from the respective recess end faces 70, flat portions 71 are formed between the recess end faces 70 and the communication holes 34. The flat portions 71 are a cause of stay of bubbles, that is, a factor of hindering removal of bubbles. That is, the presence of the flat portions 71 causes stagnation in the liquid flowing through each pressure chamber, and bubbles in the liquid stay in the stagnant portion and are hard to remove. Further, if such bubbles grow large, they may influence the liquid jet discharge characteristics (e.g., the flying speed and the amount of discharge) or hinder a liquid flow.
As described above, forming pressure generation chambers by plastic working on a metal substrate has the problem that turbulence occurs in ink or bubbles pile up depending on the shapes of the inner surfaces of each pressure generation chamber formed and the shapes of the portions close to each of the communication holes through which the pressure generation chambers communicate with the nozzle orifices, which may adversely affect the liquid ejection characteristics.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a first object of the invention is to allow ink to flow smoothly in the pressure generation chambers and prevent the stay of bubbles by precisely forming the partitions including both end portions thereof by performing highly accurate working to form recess shapes for the pressure generation chambers etc. That is, the first object of the invention is to improve the bubble ejection performance by improving the shapes of the end portions of the groove-shaped recesses.
A second object of the invention is to precisely form the partitions including both end portions thereof by performing highly accurate working to form recess shapes for the pressure generation chambers etc.

Fine forging method, manufacturing method of liquid ejection head, and liquid ejection head


Synthesizing Janus nanoparticles including forming a lamellar phase having water layers, organic layers, and a surfactant, and reacting chemical precursors in the lamellar phase to form the Janus nanoparticles at interfaces of the water layers with the organic layers.

Janus particles are types of nanoparticles with at least two surfaces having different respective physical properties. This surface arrangement of Janus nanoparticles allows two different types of chemistry to occur on the same particle. This surface configuration gives properties related to the asymmetric structure or asymmetric functionalization of the particles. The synthesis of Janus nanoparticles generally relies on selectively creating each side of a nanometer-sized particle with different chemical properties. Example syntheses of Janus nanoparticles include masking, self-assembly, and phase separation. Janus nanoparticles have generally been produced in the laboratory in small quantities, such as less than 100 milligrams (mg) in a day. Such syntheses typically employ multiple-step reactions.


A motor/generator is provided for connecting between a transmission input shaft and an output shaft of a prime mover. The motor/generator may include a motor/generator housing, a stator mounted to the motor/generator housing, a rotor mounted at least partially within the motor/generator housing and rotatable about a rotor rotation axis, and a transmission-shaft coupler drivingly coupled to the rotor. The transmission-shaft coupler may include a clamp, which may include a base attached to the rotor and a plurality of adjustable jaws.

Many systems include a drive train with a prime mover for producing power and a transmission for altering the form of the power produced by the prime mover and transmitting the power to other components of the system. For example, vehicles may include a prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine, for producing power and a transmission, such as a step-change mechanical transmission, for receiving power from the prime mover and transmitting the power to other components of the vehicle at a speed different from which the prime-mover produces the power. Adding a motor/generator to such a drive train may allow for operating the drive train with increased efficiency. However, many existing drive trains do not include a motor/generator and are not well adapted for the addition of a motor/generator.
At least one motor/generator has been disclosed with provisions for adding the motor/generator to at least one configuration of an existing drive train. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,659 ("the '659 patent") shows a motor/generator mounted between an engine and a transmission. The motor/generator of the '659 patent includes a housing that is attached at one end to the engine and at the other end to the transmission. The motor/generator further includes a rotor and a stator. One end of the rotor of the motor/generator is bolted directly to the crankshaft of the engine. A coupling in the form of a plate connects to the other end of the rotor of the motor/generator. The coupling also attaches to a planar surface of an input shaft of the transmission, thereby attaching the rotor of the motor/generator to the input shaft of the transmission.
Although the motor/generator of the '659 patent is adapted for connection between the engine and transmission of some existing drive trains, the design includes disadvantages. Because the rotor is bolted directly to the crankshaft of the engine, the motor/generator may impose undesirable loads on the bearings that support the crankshaft. Additionally, bolting the rotor of the motor/generator directly to the crankshaft of the engine limits flexibility in operating the drive train, as the crankshaft of the engine and the rotor of the motor/generator cannot be rotated independent from one another. Furthermore, the design only provides for connecting the rotor of the motor/generator to a planar mounting surface of a transmission input shaft, and many transmission input shafts do not include such planar mounting surfaces.
The motor/generator of the present disclosure solve one or more of the problems set forth above.


This invention relates to a device for rapid focus control of one or more lasers. The controlled beam (5), is refracted by the dynamic refraction device (1) whose refractive index is set by its response to the control beam (3). The invention can be used for rapid focus and re-focus of a laser on a target as might be useful in such industries as flat panel television manufacturing, fuel injector nozzle manufacture, laser material processing/machining, laser scanning and indirect drive inertial confinement fusion.

It is known in the fields to use a control laser to induce a refractive index gradient into a medium nominally termed 'laser-controlled optics'.
A control laser beam may be spatially and temporally overlapped with the beam to be controlled in a non-resonant, nonlinear medium, and refractive index variations can be induced via the known optical Kerr effect. It is notable though that the control beam must necessarily be much more intense than the controlled beam to ensure that its contribution to the induced refractive index is dominant.
It is also known to employ an alternative scheme in which the control beam is weak compared to the controlled beam with an atomic gas being employed as the refracting medium (U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,902). In this scheme, the frequencies of both the controlled and control beams are tuned close to different atomic resonances; the wavelength of the control beam is therefore necessarily different to that of the controlled beam. Whilst this scheme utilises a weak control beam to control a strong beam, significant limitations are imposed; it relies on the availability of a gaseous medium with atomic resonances matched to the desired frequencies of the controlled and control beams and naturally is burdensome to employ practically or commercially requiring gaseous cells, ovens, temperature control and vacuum means to enable the use of the likely alkali metal gases. Furthermore the characteristic response time is marginal for the desired applications.
Meta-materials are a highly active area of research and it has been shown (N. Engheta, Science 317, 1698 (2007)) that for various construction configurations of such materials they exhibit responses akin to a lumped circuit having inductance, capacitance and resistance elements. It has been shown that electromagnetic radiation can couple with such material circuits at various wavelengths including in the visible region.
It would be useful to have a material and device that could use a low intensity laser to control a high intensity laser via a non-linear medium but without the encumbrance of using a gaseous medium limiting the frequency range for the lasers, nor imposing huge infra-structure requirements on existing facilities, yet able to control large scale lasers and critically also to do so on a sub-nanosecond timescale.

Meta-material, devices and methods of use thereof


The present invention provides a gel fuel, which includes a fuel substance held in a polymeric structure. One embodiment of the composition includes neat methanol, to which a thickening substance, such as that sold commercially under the trade name Carbopol®, is added to impart viscosity, as well as stabilizing and suspending properties. In addition to the thickening substance, a further substance can be added to balance the pH of the gel fuel when needed. In accordance with the invention, a fuel cell cartridge is provided that has at least one aspect that is methanol-permeable, and which may include a fuel vapor permeable layer and it may be comprised of one of a number of various alternative materials. Features within the fuel cartridge can be used to increase surface area of the gel fuel, and to maintain the gel fuel in a desired location within the cartridge.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to direct oxidation fuel cells, and more particularly, to fuel substances and cartridges for use in supplying fuel substances to such fuel cells.
2. Background Information
Fuel cells are devices in which electrochemical reactions are used to generate electricity. A variety of materials may be suited for use as a fuel depending upon the materials chosen for the components of the cell. Organic materials, such as methanol or natural gas, are attractive fuel choices due to the their high specific energy.
Fuel cell systems may be divided into "reformer-based" systems (i.e., those in which the fuel is processed in some fashion to extract hydrogen from the fuel before it is introduced into the fuel cell system) or "direct oxidation" systems in which the fuel is fed directly into the cell without the need for separate internal or external processing. Most currently available fuel cells are reformer-based fuel cell systems. However, because fuel processing is expensive and generally requires expensive components, which occupy significant volume, reformer-based systems are presently limited to comparatively large, high power applications.
Direct oxidation fuel cell systems may be better suited for a number of applications in smaller mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, handheld and laptop computers), as well as in some larger applications. In direct oxidation fuel cells of interest here, a carbonaceous liquid fuel (typically methanol or an aqueous methanol solution) is introduced to the anode face of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA).
One example of a direct oxidation fuel cell system is a direct methanol fuel cell system or DMFC system. In a DMFC system, a mixture comprised of predominantly ethanol or methanol and water is used as fuel (the "fuel mixture"), and oxygen, preferably from ambient air, is used as the oxidizing agent. The fundamental reactions are the anodic oxidation of the fuel mixture into CO2, protons, and electrons; and the cathodic combination of protons, electrons and oxygen into water. The overall reaction may be limited by the failure of either of these reactions to proceed to completion at an acceptable rate, as is discussed further hereinafter.
Typical DMFC systems include a fuel source, fluid and effluent management systems, and air management systems, as well as a direct methanol fuel cell ("fuel cell"). The fuel cell typically consists of a housing, hardware for current collection, fuel and air distribution, and a membrane electrode assembly ("MEA") disposed within the housing.
The electricity generating reactions and the current collection in a direct oxidation fuel cell system generally take place within the MEA. In the fuel oxidation process at the anode, the products are protons, electrons and carbon dioxide. Protons (from hydrogen found in the fuel and water molecules involved in the anodic reaction) are separated from the electrons. The protons migrate through the membrane electrolyte, which is non-conductive to the electrons. The electrons travel through an external circuit, which connects the load, and are united with the protons and oxygen molecules in the cathodic reaction, thus providing electrical power from the fuel cell.
A typical MEA includes an anode catalyst layer and a cathode catalyst layer sandwiching a centrally disposed protonically-conductive, electronically non-conductive membrane ("PCM", sometimes also referred to herein as "the catalyzed membrane"). One example of a commercially available PCM is NAFION® (NAFION® a registered trademark of E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Company), a cation exchange membrane based on polyperflourosulfonic acid, in a variety of thicknesses and equivalent weights. The PCM is typically coated on each face with an electrocatalyst such as platinum, or platinum/ruthenium mixtures or alloy particles. A PCM that is optimal for fuel cell applications possesses a good protonic conductivity and is well-hydrated. On either face of the catalyst coated PCM, the MEA typically includes a diffusion layer. The diffusion layer on the anode side is employed to evenly distribute the liquid or gaseous fuel over the catalyzed anode face of the PCM, while allowing the reaction products, typically gaseous carbon dioxide, to move away from the anode face of the PCM. In the case of the cathode side, a diffusion layer is used to allow a sufficient supply of and a more uniform distribution of gaseous oxygen to the cathode face of the PCM, while minimizing or eliminating the collection of liquid, typically water, on the cathode aspect of the PCM. Each of the anode and cathode diffusion layers also assist in the collection and conduction of electric current from the catalyzed PCM through the load.
Direct oxidation fuel cell systems for portable electronic devices ideally are as small as possible for a given electrical power and energy requirement. The power output is governed by the reaction rates that occur at the anode and the cathode of the fuel cell operated at a given cell voltage. More specifically, the anode process in direct methanol fuel cells, which use acid electrolyte membranes including polyperflourosulfonic acid and other polymeric electrolytes, involves a reaction of one molecule of methanol with one molecule of water. In this process, water molecules are consumed to complete the oxidation of methanol to a final CO2 product in a six-electron process, according to the following electrochemical equation:CH3OH+H2O CO2+6H++6e−  (1)
Since water is a reactant in this anodic process at a molecular ratio of 1:1 (water:methanol), the supply of water, together with methanol to the anode at an appropriate weight (or volume) ratio is critical for sustaining this process in the cell. In fact, it has been known that the water:methanol molecular ratio in the anode of the DMFC has to significantly exceed the stoichiometric 1:1 ratio suggested by process (1), based on the prior art of direct methanol fuel cell technology. This excess is required to guarantee complete anodic oxidation to CO2, rather than partial oxidation to either formic acid, or formaldehyde, 4e− and 2e− processes, respectively, described by equations (2) and (3) below:CH3OH+H2O HCOOH+4H++4e−  (2)CH3OH H2CO+2H++2e−  (3)
In other words, equations (2) and (3) are partial processes that are not desirable and which might occur if the balance of water and methanol is not maintained correctly during a steady state operation of the cell. Particularly, as is indicated in process (3), which involves the partial oxidation of methanol, water is not required for this anode process and thus, this process may dominate when the water level in the anode drops below a certain point. The consequence of process (3) domination, is an effective drop in methanol energy content by about 66% compared with consumption of methanol by process (1), which indicates a lower cell electrical energy output. In addition, it could lead to the generation of undesirable anode products such as formaldehyde.
Several techniques have been described for providing an effective methanol/water mixture at the anode catalyst in a DMFC. Some systems include feeding the anode with a very diluted methanol solution and pumping excess water found at the cathode back to the cell anode and dousing recirculated liquid with neat methanol stored in a reservoir. Other systems are passive systems that require no pumping and which can carry a high concentration of fuel. Some of these include recirculation of water; however, other systems have been described in which water does not need to be recirculated from the cathode because water is pushed back from the cathode through the membrane to the anode aspect.
Such systems were described in commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/413,983, filed on Apr. 15, 2003, by Ren et al. for a DIRECT OXIDATION FUEL CELL OPERATING WITH DIRECT FEED OF CONCENTRATED FUEL UNDER PASSIVE WATER MANAGEMENT, which is incorporated herein by reference, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/454,211, which was filed on Jun. 4, 2003 by Ren et al. for PASSIVE WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELLS, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Some of these techniques may incorporate a vaporous fuel being delivered to the anode aspect for the reactions. In the case of delivering a vaporous fuel, the above-cited patent applications describe providing a methanol delivery film, which is a pervaporation membrane that effects a phase change from a liquid feed fuel to a vaporous fuel, which is then delivered to the anode aspect, as a vapor.
As noted, the fuel cells operating with vaporous fuels typically include the above-mentioned pervaporation membrane, which effects the phase change from liquid to vapor prior to the fuel being delivered to the anode aspect of the fuel cell. However, such pervaporation membranes may need to be specially engineered, which can be costly. In addition, such membranes, though useful for delivering the vaporous fuel, can, in time, have stability issues in which gas expansion or mass transport rates through the membrane cause deformations in the pervaporation membranes.
While the fuel is in a liquid phase, or in systems which use a liquid fuel, the liquid can, in some instances, require additional circulation systems, including, pumps, valves and other fluid management components and control systems if it is to be delivered at a controlled rate. This can lead to additional components that may cause passive losses within the system, or can increase the cost due to the increased complexity. In addition, for direct oxidation fuel cells to be implemented commercially for use in handheld electronic devices or other portable electronic devices and in such a case, form factors are critical. However, additional recirculation loops, as well as pumps, valves and other hydraulic equipment and components for liquid management may increase the size of the overall fuel cell system. A liquid fuel can also require a more complex delivery cartridge that may include an expansion bladder, which, when compressed, expresses the fuel in a controlled manner. However, even though such expansion bladders and optional force-applying elements may be desirable in some instances, in other instances they can increase the volume, complexity and weight of the fuel delivery cartridge.
Some of the disadvantages with certain liquid fuel fed systems can be addressed using a vapor fed system, such as that described in the above-cited commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/413,983, which has been incorporated herein by reference, but such systems use a liquid fuel which then undergoes a phase change when passing through a pervaporation membrane, and thus such systems still may need to carry liquid fuel in a storage tank or other container.
Another issue that arises with respect to usage of carbonaceous fuel, such as methanol, in a consumer electronic device, is that of maintaining the integrity of the cartridge so that there is no leakage of the fuel. For example, when using a liquid fuel, a crack in the fuel cartridge may result in the fuel leaking out of the cartridge. Sometimes additives are employed within a container to cause the fuel to be more recognizable. Safe disposal of fuel cartridges after the fuel supply is exhausted is also a consideration with respect to consumer use of direct oxidation fuel cells.
Therefore, there remains a need for a fuel substance, and an associated fuel cartridge in which there is no need for liquid pumps, valves and recirculation loops, and there is no need for a pervaporation membrane. It is also an object of the invention to provide a safe, easy to handle and low-cost fuel substance and associated fuel cell cartridge for use with direct oxidation fuel cells that may be readily employed in consumer electronic devices.

Fuel substance and associated cartridge for fuel cell


A method and system for recording a digital video image is described. An embodiment of the present invention includes a video-capture device, connected to a wireless-communication device. The wireless-communication device transmits images captured by the real-time video-capture device to a receiving facility via a communications network. The receiving facility may comprise, for example, a security office. The receiving facility processes the images, monitoring, storing, forwarding and deleting the images as necessary.

Individuals are often confronted by situations that are ambiguous in terms of security. For example, a routine traffic stop may become dangerous for the stopped driver if the police officer turns out to be an impersonator. In some instances, the driver has some indication that a situation may become dangerous, but the indication may be indefinite.
In a situation such as the traffic stop, the driver may desire a witness in case the situation does become dangerous. One alternative is for the driver to use a cellphone to dial 911. However, since the situation may actually be safe, the driver may not wish to dial 911 until she is sure that the situation is dangerous. Also, a 911 operator will not be able to see the situation the driver is confronting.
To provide a visual record of the situation, the driver can use a video recorder to record the event. Unfortunately, it may be unlikely that the driver has a video recorder in the call. Also, if the police officer is indeed an impersonator, it is likely that the impersonator will take and/or destroy the videotape, and the driver is no better off than without the recorder. A means is desired to record the event visually in a manner that cannot be defeated by the impersonator and that provides an option to notify an authority if the situation is in fact dangerous.
Ambiguous security situations occur at home and in the workplace. In response, many individuals purchase security systems. In a home, these systems comprise sensors arranged throughout the home and often include a monitoring service provided by a security company. Organizations often install monitored security systems in the workplace as well. A few of these security systems comprise video cameras. These systems work well for the home and workplace, notifying the security company when a potential problem occurs. Unfortunately, these systems are not mobile. The cameras reside in a fixed position, and their movement is restricted to rotation around a horizontal and/or vertical axis.
In ambiguous situations occurring away from the home and workplace, it would be advantageous to have a system and method for providing mobile video-recording that transmits video images to a remote facility, such as a security office. It would also be advantageous if the receiving facility monitored the video images and notified authorities as necessary. It would be particularly advantageous if the system and method allowed the user to direct the receiving facility to retain or discard the video image based on an action or omission on the part of the user.

System and method for recording a digital video image

AT&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc.


In the present invention, a thin film transistor is formed on a plastic film substrate (1) having anisotropy of thermal shrinkage rate or coefficient of thermal expansion in in-plane directions of the substrate. A channel is formed such that the direction (7) in which the thermal shrinkage rate or the coefficient of thermal expansion of the substrate is largest is nonparallel to the direction (8) of a current flowing through the channel of the thin film transistor. Then, a thin film transistor having stable and uniform electrical characteristics, which is formed on the plastic film substrate, is provided.

In recent years, light-emitting devices, display panels, and the like which are placed on a substrate which is flexible and light-weight have been under active research and development. For example, a thin film transistor (TFT) in which a transparent conductive oxide polycrystalline thin film containing ZnO as main material is used as a channel layer has been actively developed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-76356).
The thin film can be formed at low temperature and is transparent to visible light, so it makes possible a flexible transparent TFT to be formed on a substrate such as a plastic plate or a film.
On the other hand, a thin film formed on a film-shaped flexible substrate by a vapor phase method has been a problem that the substrate is warped by residual stress present in the thin film. As a means for solving this problem, a method by bending the substrate during the film formation process to cancel or compensate the residual internal stress is proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H06-280026).


A transmitter for a portable radio communication apparatus comprising a modulator having first port for inputting a baseband signal and a second port for inputting a local oscillator signal, and including means for rectifying the input local oscillator signal to provide a conductance waveform at a multiple of the local oscillator signal, and means for mixing the baseband signal with the conductance waveform at said multiple of the local oscillator signal frequency for up-converting the baseband signal to a radio frequency modulated carrier, the transmitter including means for controlling the gain of the modulator thereby to control the output level of the modulator.

The present invention relates to a transmitter for a portable radio communication apparatus, and more particularly to a modulator for a direct conversion transmitter.
A general trend in portable communication apparatus is the reduction in volume, weight and power consumption of such apparatus. This has led to efforts towards reducing the number of elements and devices necessary to perform the functions associated with portable communication devices. In particular, the radio frequency transmit strip of portable communication apparatus, which typically comprises a number of up-converting stages, is an area in which a reduction in the number of elements and devices would be beneficial.
One approach to reduce the number of stages in the radio frequency transmit strip is to convert a baseband signal (comprising the information to be transmitted) to a radio frequency carrier signal in a single step. This is termed direct conversion or direct modulation. To carry out direct conversion, a local oscillator signal (LO) having the same frequency as the required radio frequency carrier signal is mixed with the baseband signal in a suitable non-linear device such as a mixer diode. The output of the mixer contains the sum and difference of the LO and the baseband signal. In this way, the LO signal is modulated by the baseband signal.
Typically, the baseband signal comprises 'I' and 'Q' components and accordingly two such modulators with their outputs summed together are required. These are fed with two LO signals, the 'Q' component LO having a 90 degree phase shift with respect to the 'I' component.
Therefore, one of the issues with direct conversion transmitter design is that of generating the 90 phase shift for the 'Q' LO signal. At present, there are two commonly used methods: one is a passive phase shift network using reactive elements, the other is an active divide-by-two circuit. The passive phase shift network approach involves the design of a frequency selective 'All Pass' filter network to provide the phase difference between the 'I' and 'Q' local oscillators but has the disadvantage that it is inherently limited to substantially narrow band applications and also that it can be difficult to integrate such networks onto an IC. The divide-by-two approach uses a pair of dividers one clocked off the rising and one off the falling edge of an LO at double the wanted operating frequency. The active divide-by-two circuit has the disadvantage that it requires high current to operate and requires an LO of double the frequency of operation. For example, if the wanted operating frequency were say 1.9 GHz then an LO of 3.8 GHz would be required to drive this circuit. Hence, a synthesizer and divide-by-two operating at 3.8 GHz would consume a great deal of current. Since the trend in portable communication devices is towards compactness there is less space for battery packs, and thus less battery capacity is available and so low current operation becomes increasingly important to achieve acceptable talk and standby times.
A separate issue, but one that is also important in the design of a direct conversion transmitter, is that of the gain control of the transmitter. In certain radio telephone systems such as WCDMA the transmitter is required to vary its output power over a very wide range e.g. 70 dB for WCDMA. Additionally, a direct conversion transmitter must obtain all of its control range at radio frequencies. Thus, since the LO is operating at the wanted radio frequency, problems of LO leakage and shielding can become very significant. Conventionally, with one or more IFs, variable gain amplifiers and/or attenuators are distributed between the RF and intermediate frequency (baseband) and used to vary the transmitter power. These approaches however have not satisfactorily provided the wide range of power control required.
A further concern with direct conversion transmitters is that the LO signal cannot be provided directly from a synthesiser locked VCO. There are two main reasons why. Firstly, if the radiotelephone has an internal antenna there is a very great risk that the transmitter will radiate back into the synthesiser locked VCO and cause it to go out of lock or generate spurious signals. Secondly, there will be insufficient isolation between antenna impedance (which will vary a great deal as the user moves around) and the synthesiser locked VCO. This will cause the synthesiser locked VCO to either go out of lock or generate spurious signals. One method of solving this problem is to create the LO signal by mixing together two synthesiser locked VCO signals and then filtering the LO to remove any unwanted mixing products. This however, increases component count and current consumption.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for operating a memory (24) includes storing data in analog memory cells (32) of the memory by writing respective analog values to the analog memory cells. A set of the analog memory cells is identified, including an interfered cell having a distortion that is statistically correlated with the respective analog values of the analog memory cells in the set. A mapping is determined between combinations of possible analog values of the analog memory cells in the set and statistical characteristics of composite distortion levels present in the interfered memory cell. The mapping is applied so as to compensate for the distortion in the interfered memory cell.

Several types of memory devices, such as Flash memories, use arrays of analog memory cells for storing data. Each analog memory cell stores a quantity of an analog value, such as an electrical charge or voltage, which represents the information stored in the cell. In Flash memories, for example, each analog memory cell holds a certain amount of electrical charge. The range of possible analog values is typically divided into regions, each region corresponding to one or more data bit values. Data is written to an analog memory cell by writing a nominal analog value that corresponds to the desired bit or bits. The possible bit values that can be stored in an analog memory cell are also referred to as the memory states of the cell.
Some memory devices, commonly referred to as Single-Level Cell (SLC) devices, store a single bit of information in each memory cell, i.e., each memory cell can be programmed to assume two possible memory states. Higher-density devices, often referred to as Multi-Level Cell (MLC) devices, store two or more bits per memory cell, i.e., can be programmed to assume more than two possible memory states.
Flash memory devices are described, for example, by Bez et al., in "Introduction to Flash Memory," Proceedings of the IEEE, volume 91, number 4, April, 2003, pages 489-502, which is incorporated herein by reference. Multi-level Flash cells and devices are described, for example, by Eitan et al., in "Multilevel Flash Cells and their Trade-Offs," Proceedings of the 1996 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), New York, N.Y., pages 169-172, which is incorporated herein by reference. The paper compares several kinds of multilevel Flash cells, such as common ground, DINOR, AND, NOR and NAND cells.
Eitan et al., describe another type of analog memory cell called Nitride Read Only Memory (NROM) in "Can NROM, a 2-bit, Trapping Storage NVM Cell, Give a Real Challenge to Floating Gate Cells?" Proceedings of the 1999 International Conference on Solid State Devices and Materials (SSDM), Tokyo, Japan, Sep. 21-24, 1999, pages 522-524, which is incorporated herein by reference. NROM cells are also described by Maayan et al., in "A 512 Mb NROM Flash Data Storage Memory with 8 MB/s Data Rate", Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC 2002), San Francisco, Calif., Feb. 3-7, 2002, pages 100-101, which is incorporated herein by reference. Other exemplary types of analog memory cells are Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM) cells, magnetic RAM (MRAM) cells, Charge Trap Flash (CTF) and phase change RAM (PRAM, also referred to as Phase Change Memory—PCM) cells. FRAM, MRAM and PRAM cells are described, for example, by Kim and Koh in "Future Memory Technology including Emerging New Memories," Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Microelectronics (MIEL), Nis, Serbia and Montenegro, May 16-19, 2004, volume 1, pages 377-384, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The analog values read from analog memory cells are sometimes distorted. The distortion may be due to various reasons, such as electrical field coupling from neighboring memory cells, disturb noise caused by memory access operations on other cells in the array and threshold voltage drift caused by device aging. Some common distortion mechanisms are described in the article by Bez et al., cited above. Distortion effects are also described by Lee et al., in "Effects of Floating Gate Interference on NAND Flash Memory Cell Operation," IEEE Electron Device Letters, (23:5), May, 2002, pages 264-266, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Several techniques for interference cancellation in memory devices are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,429, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for compensating for electric field coupling between floating gates of a high density Flash Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) cell array. According to the disclosed method, a reading of a cell is compensated by first reading the states of all cells that are field-coupled with the cell being read. A number related to either the floating gate voltage or the state of each coupled cell is then multiplied by the coupling ratio between the cells. The breakpoint levels between states for each of the cells are adjusted by an amount that compensates for the voltage coupled from adjacent cells.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0057285, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a memory device and a method, which allow programming and sensing a plurality of memory cells in parallel, in order to minimize errors caused by coupling from fields of neighboring cells. The memory device and method have the plurality of memory cells linked by the same word line and a read/write circuit is coupled to each memory cells in a contiguous manner. A memory cell and its neighbors are programmed together and the field environment for each memory cell relative to its neighbors during programming and subsequent reading is less varying.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2005/0162913, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for reading a non-volatile memory arranged in columns and rows, which reduces adjacent cell coupling. A bit to be read in a word-line is selected. An adjacent word line written after the word line is read. The selected bit in the word line is read by selectively adjusting at least one read parameter, such as a sense voltage, a pre-charge voltage or both.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,193,898, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a read process for a selected memory cell, which takes into account the state of one or more adjacent memory cells. If an adjacent memory cell is in one or more of a predetermined set of programmed states, an initialization voltage is provided to the bit line of the programmed adjacent memory cell to induce a compensation current between the bit line of the programmed adjacent memory cell and the bit line of the selected memory cell.

Estimation of non-linear distortion in memory devices


A photothermographic material comprising: a transparent support; and a photosensitive layer comprising a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photosensitive organic silver salt, a thermal developer and a binder, wherein the photosensitive silver halide comprises silver iodide in a ratio of 5% by mole or more, the non-photosensitive organic silver salt comprises silver behenate in a ratio of 30% by mole or more and less than 80% by mole, and the binder has a glass transition temperature of 45° C. or more.

In recent years, reduction in amount of waste solutions to be processed is highly demanded in the fields of films for medical diagnosis and films for photochemical engraving from the standpoint of environmental protection and space saving. Therefore, such techniques are necessitated that relates to photothermographic materials as films for medical diagnosis and films for photochemical engraving that can be efficiently exposed with a image setter or a laser imager and can form a sharp black image having high resolution and sharpness. According to the photothermographic materials, such a simple and environmentally friendly thermal development processing system can be supplied to the customers that does not require any solvent system processing chemical.
While there is the similar demand in the field of ordinary image forming materials, images of cold black tone are characteristically appreciated because the images for medical diagnosis are particularly required to have high image quality excellent in sharpness and graininess owing to the demand of fine depiction, and to exert convenience in diagnosis. Various kinds of hard copy output systems, such as ink-jet printers and electrophotography, utilizing pigments and dyes are currently available as an ordinary image forming system, but there is no system that is sufficient as an output system for medical images.
Thermal image forming systems utilizing an organic silver salt are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,904 and No. 3,457,075, and D. Klosterboer, "Thermally Processed Silver Systems", Imaging Processes and Materials, Neblette 8th edition, edited by J. Sturge, V. Walworth and A. Shepp, Chapter 9, page 279 (1989).
In particular, a photothermographic material generally has a photosensitive layer having a catalytically active amount of a photocatalyst (such as a silver halide), a reducing agent, a reducible silver salt (such as an organic solver salt), and depending on necessity, a toning agent controlling the tone of silver, which are dispersed in a binder matrix. The photothermographic material is subjected to imagewise exposure and then heated to a high temperature (for example, 80° C. or higher) to form a black silver image through a redox reaction between the reducible silver salt (functioning as an oxidizing agent) and the reducing agent. The redox reaction is accelerated by the catalytic function of a latent image of silver halide formed by the exposure. Therefore, the black silver image is formed in the exposed region. The photothermographic materials are disclosed in many literatures including U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,377 and JP-B-43-4924 (The term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent application")