The voltage to be applied to fixed display segments are made to be substantially the same to prevent irregular luminance distribution so as to improve display quality. In consideration of allowable voltage drop occurring attributable to the levels of electric currents which flow in electric lines of fixed display segments, the same voltage is applied to the fixed display segments by determining the resistance values by changing the pattern shapes (the lengths, the widths, the thicknesses and the line) of electric lines of the fixed display segments. If the fixed display segments have the same display area, the widths of the electric lines of the fixed display segments are determined to correspond to the ratios of lengths of electric lines of the fixed display segments in order to cause the fixed display segments to be applied with the same voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent element (hereinafter called an "organic EL") having a fixed display pattern realized by a plurality of fixed display segments each of which is composed of a laminate formed by sequentially laminating an anode, a hole transporting layer made of an organic compound, a luminescent layer made of an organic compound and a cathode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portion of known organic EL has a so-called double-layer structure formed as shown in FIG. 3A such that two layers consisting of a luminescent layer 1 made of a thin organic fluorescent film and an organic hole transporting layer 2 are laminated between a metal electrode (for example, Mg:Ag or Al:Li) 3 serving a cathode and a transparent electrode 4 serving an anode. Another structure called as a triple-layer structure has been known in which an organic electron transporting layer 6 is, as shown in FIG. 3B, laminated in addition to the organic hole transporting layer 2 and the luminescent layer 6 of the above-mentioned double-layer structure.
Although the organic EL of the above-mentioned type is able to emit light having high luminance (for example, 1000 cd/m.sup.2 or higher) even with low voltage (for example, 10 V or lower), an excessively high electric current flows such that an electric current of 1A/cm.sup.2 or higher sometimes instantaneously flows. Therefore, resistance raised in a portion of the wiring which reaches the light emitting portions for forming a display pattern enlarges a drop of the voltage. This leads to a fact that the light emitting portions cannot be applied with the same voltage and thus luminance becomes irregular.
As the material of the anode line, ITO (Indium-Titanium Oxide) has mainly been employed. The reason for this is that light permeability and a work function larger than 4.5 eV are required for the material to obtain a satisfactory hole injection efficiency. Although other materials, such as Au, Pt and Ni, are considered feasible to be employed, each of these materials requiring a small thickness to realize transparency involves an excessively raised sheet resistance. Therefore, ITO has been employed in actuality.
Since the resistance in the electric circuit is raised if ITO having high specific resistance is employed, a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-5369 has been employed. That is, the organic EL of the foregoing type, as shown in FIG. 4A, has a light emitting portion composed of a transparent anode 23 and a metal cathode 24 forming a pair which holds a hole transporting layer 21 and a luminescent layer 22. Moreover, a light emitting portion formed at an intersection region in which the transparent electrode 23 and the metal cathode 24 are disposed opposite to each other, as one unit, forms one pixel so as to perform dot matrix display. A double-layer wiring structure is formed such that a metal film 25 having a smaller working function than that of the transparent anode 23 is laminated between the transparent anode 23 and the hole transporting layer 21 in order to weaken the overall resistance.
However, the organic EL disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-5369 has no contrivance for preventing change in the wiring resistance in each light emitting portion. A consideration can be performed that the irregular luminance distribution is prevented by employing a structure formed such that a constant current circuit 26 formed as shown in FIG. 4B is connected to each of the lines connected to the light emitting portions.
As described above, the structure of the organic EL disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-5369 requires the constant current circuit 26 to be connected to each line in order to prevent irregular luminance distribution among the light emitting portions occurring attributable to change in the wiring resistance. Thus, there arises a problem in that a large cost is required.
If the light emitting portion is formed into a fixed display segment as is employed in the fixed pattern display structure and thus the fixed display segments have individual display areas, the electric lines from the voltage supply terminals to the fixed display segments have different lengths. Therefore, since different electric currents flow in the fixed display segments even if the voltage supply terminals have the same potential, the electric lines encounter different amounts of voltage drops. Therefore, the light emitting portions encounter irregular luminance distribution.
To overcome the above-mentioned problem, the electric currents to be allowed to flow in the electric lines of the fixed display segments must be controlled. In this case, there arises a problem in that the structure of the circuit becomes too complicated. If a resistance correction element is provided for the inside portion of the drive circuit, the cost is raised in this case.
If the resistance is not corrected, a voltage drop of 1 V takes place in a case where voltage of 10 V is applied, an electric current level (the luminance) of 1 mA is required and the resistance raised from the electric line made of ITO is 1 kW. If the voltage drop of 1 V takes place, a difference in the luminance to an extent of hundreds of cd/m.sup.2 takes place.

Organic electroluminescent element with uniform display segment voltages using the line resistances


In a one-way clutch, an outer retainer is made of a plastic while an inner retainer is made of a fiber-reinforced plastic. Thus, this one-way clutch is lightweight and can be produced at a low cost. The fiber-reinforced plastic of the inner retainer has a greater strength than the plastic of the outer retainer so that inner portions of sprags that serve as center portions about which the sprags swing can be retained by the inner retainer more securely than can the outer portions of the sprags be retained by the outer retainer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to one way clutches for use in starters or speed change gears for automobiles, or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b) are a plan view and a sectional view of a conventional one way clutch, respectively. This one way clutch comprises: a plurality of sprags 51, 51, . . . ; an inner retainer 52, made of a metal, for retaining inner portions 51a of sprags 51; an outer retainer 53, made of a metal, for retaining outer portions 51b of the sprags 51; and an annular ribbon spring 55 for urging the sprags 51 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 8 (a). The outer retainer 53 and the inner retainer 52 have flange portions 53b and 52b, respectively, at one axial end thereof. The one-way clutch is to be interposed between inner and outer rings, which are not shown.
In the above-described one way clutch, when the inner ring rotates clockwise in FIG. 8 (a), the sprags 51 respectively tilt toward an idling side (counterclockwise) about inner portions 51a of the sprags 51 owing to frictional contact between the inner portions 51a of the sprags 51 and the inner ring As a result, the rotating torque of the inner ring will not be transmitted to the outer ring, causing the inner ring to idly rotate.
On the other hand, when the inner ring rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 8 (a), the sprags 51 respectively rotate clockwise about the inner portions 51a thereof owing to frictional contact between the inner portions 51a of the sprags 51 and the inner ring. As a result, the inner and outer rings are locked by the wedging action of the sprags 51, allowing the rotating torque of the inner ring to be transmitted to the outer ring.
However, the conventional one-way clutch has problems of being heavy and expensive since its inner and outer retainers 52 and 53 are both made of a metal.
Recently, in order to provide a lighter one-way clutch at a lower cost, it has been proposed to make the outer retainer plastic, less strength being required for the outer retainer than the inner retainer that retains swinging center portions of the sprags (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-303232).
However, the one-way clutch, even with the improvement that the outer retainer is made of a plastic, could not attain sufficient reduction in weight and cost, due to the fact that its inner retainer is still made of a metal.

One way clutch having outer and inner retainers each made of plastics


A human-interactive type robot system which can constantly detect a contact force at a high precision even if the contact force is small, comprising a force sensor which measures a force which the robot receives from the outside and outputs a measurement value, a force detection value calculating part which subtracts a correction value from the measurement value to calculate a force detection value, and a correction value updating part which updates a force detection value when a predetermined condition stands for use as the correction value. The predetermined condition is that the robot is stopped or operating at a fixed speed and a margin of fluctuation of the force detection value at a predetermined unit time is a fluctuation margin threshold value or less or that the robot is stopped and the current force detection value is the force detection value threshold value or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a human-interactive type robot system where a robot and a worker simultaneously share the same work space to perform interactive work.
2. Description of the Related Art
General industrial robots perform work in spaces which are surrounded by safety fences so as to ensure the safety of workers. In recent years, demand has been increasing for human-interactive type robot systems which perform work sharing the same work space as workers.
In work which uses a human-interactive type robot, sometimes the robot and a worker perform separate work in a shared work space and sometimes a worker performs work on a workpiece which is held by the robot. In such a human-interactive type robot, since the worker and robot share the work space, the robot might contact the worker and injure the worker.
For this reason, the contact force between the robot and a worker is detected by a force sensor. When the detected contact force exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the robot is made to stop or the robot is made to operate so that the contact force becomes smaller to thereby ensure the safety of the worker. To reduce the danger to a worker, the threshold value of the contact force is preferably set to as small a value as possible.
For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-39467A discloses a method of using a force sensor which is set at an end effecter of an industrial robot to detect a contact force to detect whether the end effecter has contacted a workpiece. Further, Japanese Patent No. 4643619 discloses that a change of temperature or aging of the force sensor causes a signal of the force sensor to change and discloses to correct the resultant drift which is included in the force detection value. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-30496 discloses to correct the drift which is included in the output from a strain detection device which was provided in a clamping device of a molding machine and to thereby detect the clamping force with a higher precision.
In this regard, a force sensor often includes a strain gauge. It uses the strain gauge to detect the amount of strain, converts the amount to force, and detects the direction and magnitude of the acting load. A strain gauge is generally attached by an adhesive to part of the body of the force sensor.
However, it is known that even if the same magnitude of force acts, the creep accompanying aging of a binder layer which is formed by an adhesive, a change of temperature, a change of humidity, etc. sometimes cause the amount of strain converted to value of force to include considerable drift from the actual value. In such a case, if the amount of strain which is additionally generated due to the above factors becomes larger, the drift also becomes larger. For this reason, the situation can arise where the force sensor will not recognize a contact force unless a certain degree of large contact force acts. If in this way the contact force which the force sensor can recognize becomes larger, there is a greater possibility that a worker will be endangered. Therefore, it is desirable that as small as possible a contact force can be detected with a high precision. Note that, sometimes even with other designs of force sensors, the detection value will similarly change along with the elapse of time.
The present invention was made in consideration of such a situation and has as its object the provision of a human-interactive type robot system which can detect a contact force by a high precision at all times even if the contact force by which a robot contacts a worker is small.


In a semiconductor integrated circuit having a power domain and a mechanism for a power supply shutoff, when a power supply to the power domain is started, if a clock for an initialization operation is supplied in a state where a voltage to the power domain is unstable, power consumption during the initialization operation increases. Thus, the clock for the initialization operation of the power domain is supplied after detecting that the voltage supplied to the power domain is stabilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques to restore a power supply control target unit (power domain) within a semiconductor integrated circuit from a power supply shutoff state.
2. Description of the Related Art
The recent trend toward energy savings for environmental considerations has led to an increased demand for reduced power consumption in semiconductor integrated circuits. For example, to reduce power consumption, a power supply to part of sub-systems (power supply control target unit) in a semiconductor integrated circuit may be temporarily shut off while the functions of the sub-systems are not being used.
When a sub-system to which the power supply has been shut off is to be restored, the sub-system needs to be initialized after the power is supplied thereto and thus is initialized before entering normal operations. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-312073 discusses a technique to restore a power supply from a state where the power supply is shut off and a reset signal (RS) is active, the supply of power and a clock is started (restarted) simultaneously. Here, a reset time corresponding to an operation clock frequency is set in advance in a counter, and after the power and the clock start being supplied, the set reset time is timed. Then, the reset signal is canceled to return to the normal operation state.
During an initialization operation, a state is initialized by causing a signal change in a storage element such as a flip-flop inside a sub-system, and thus the circuit needs to be operated in a state where clocks are supplied to the entire sub-system during the initialization operation. Accordingly, power consumption during the initialization operation (restoration period in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-312073) is often greater than that during normal operations. Here, it is important to supply clocks in a state where a power supply voltage to the sub-system is stable during the initialization operation. However, if a clock is supplied in a state where the voltage is unstable as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-312073, power consumption increases.
In addition, time required for the power supply voltage to stabilize after the power supply starts varies depending on such factors as the scale (size, shape, position, number of pieces, number of gates, process types) of a power supply control target portion, to which the power supply is to start, and the conditions of other power supply control targets. However, with a method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-312073, the reset time is set based on the operation clock frequency before a clock starts being supplied to the sub-system, and thus the reset time needs to be set long in consideration of the aforementioned factors, and it is hard to reduce power consumption.

Semiconductor integrated circuit and information processing apparatus


A cleaning tool includes a support tool for rotatably supporting an adhesive tape roll via bearing members; and a storing case for storing the adhesive tape roll. Bearing caps detachably attached to both ends of the adhesive tape roll are used as the bearing members. The support tool has a gate-shaped frame which is made of a synthetic resin and includes a pair of left and right leg plates and a support base extending between the upper ends of the leg plates. An opening having substantially the same width as the gate-shaped frame while the storing case is closed, is formed between matching surfaces of a pair of openable case members from both side surfaces thereof over an upper surface thereof, the case members constituting the storing case. A portion of the outer contour of the storing case is complemented by the gate-shaped frame of the support tool.

The adhesive tape roll is an adhesive cleaning roll constituted by winding a tape base material having an adhesive member layer on one surface a predetermined number of times so that the adhesive member layer thereof is placed outside and is rolled over a surface to be cleaned such as a floor surface to catch garbage with the adhesive member layer. The adhesive tape roll is provided with a perforation line approximately at every circumference, and stripping off the adhesive tape at the outermost periphery, an adhesive force of which is weakened by catches of garbage, causes an unused adhesive tape in an underlayer to newly appear.
Since the adhesive member layer is always exposed on the surface, the cleaning tool requires a dedicated support tool (operation tool) for rolling the adhesive tape roll and a storing case for storing the adhesive tape roll when not in use.
Various types of support tools are available, and an invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1 uses a support tool including a cylindrical support roller which is inserted into a winding core of an adhesive tape roll and a support shaft including a spindle part for pivotally supporting the support roller at one end thereof and a grip part (operation handle) at the other end.
A storing case constructed of a pair of half-split-shaped case members, a base part of which is connected to be openable by a hinge part and a whole of which is formed of injection molded synthetic resin is used as the storing case for storing the adhesive tape roll.
In the above-described support tool, a metal shaft which is folded into a cantilever hanger shape is used as the support shaft, which, however, is more expensive than a resin shaft.
The winding core of the adhesive tape roll has an inner diameter larger than the diameter of the spindle part of the support shaft, and so the support roller having substantially the same diameter as the inner diameter of the winding core is attached to the spindle part to rotatably support the adhesive tape roll via the support roller, but the use of the support roller constitutes a factor of a cost increase.
Furthermore, the adhesive tape roll is attached to the support tool and stored in the storing case, but the adhesive tape roll needs to be held in midair in the storing case to prevent the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape from adhering to an inner surface of the storing case.
As a way to achieve this object, the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1 provides an engaging part for sandwiching part of the support shaft when the case is closed at a position close to the center of gravity of the grip on a matching surface of the pair of half-split-shaped case members, which, however, requires a complicated molding die and is not preferable in terms of cost.
Another method for preventing the adhesive tape roll from sticking to the inner surface of the storing case is forming a plurality of ribs arranged in a circumferential direction of the adhesive tape roll on the inner surface of the storing case along the axial direction of the adhesive tape roll as disclosed in Patent Literature 2. However, setting up the ribs over a relatively large area along the circumferential direction of the adhesive tape roll on the inner surface of the storing case results in a problem that sinks are more likely to occur during injection molding.


A MISFET the channel region of which is a ferromagnetic semi-conductor has a feature that the drain current can be controlled by the gate voltage and a feature that the transfer conductance can be controlled by the relative directions of magnetization in the ferromagnetic channel region and the ferromagnetic source (or the ferromagnetic drain, or both the ferromagnetic source and ferromagnetic drain). As a result, binary information can be stored in the form of the relative magnetization directions, and the relative magnetization directions are electrically detected. If the magnetism is controlled by the electric field effect of the channel region of a ferromagnetic semiconductor, the current needed to rewrite the information can be greatly reduced. Thus, the MISFET can constitute a high-performance non-volatile memory cell suited to high-density integration.

Recent developments in the advanced information society are remarkable, and further rapid developments can be found in "mobile devices". The great demand for the "mobile devices" is regarded as a possible main factor in future semiconductor industries. However, in addition to the existing demands for high-speed operations, low power consumption, and high capacities of semiconductor integrated circuits, there are new demands for non-volatility of information. In such a trend, attention has been drawn toward a novel memory device that has been developed by combining an excellent ferromagnetic storage technique and semiconductor integration electronics for non-volatile high-density recording (disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, for example). This device is called a magneto-resistive random access memory (hereinafter referred to as "MRAM"), and a magnetic tunnel junction (hereinafter referred to as "MTJ") having a thin insulating tunnel barrier interposed between ferromagnetic electrodes is used as a memory element.
A MTJ has a tunneling magneto-resistance (hereinafter referred to as "TMR") effect with which the tunnel resistance varies with the relative magnetization direction between the ferromagnetic electrodes. Accordingly, using the MTR effect, the magnetization configuration of a ferromagnetic member can be electrically detected. With a MTJ, the non-volatile information using ferromagnetic members can be positively applied to the semiconductor integration electronics.
Referring now to FIG. 8, an example of the prior art is described. As shown in FIG. 8, an MRAM memory cell 100 has a 1-bit memory cell formed with a MTJ 101 and a MOS transistor 103. The MTJ 101 is a tunnel junction that includes a first ferromagnetic electrode 105, a second ferromagnetic electrode 107, and a tunnel barrier 108 formed with an insulator interposed between the two electrodes.
The source (S) of the MOS transistor 103 is grounded (GND), and the drain (D) is connected to the ferromagnetic electrode 107 of the MTJ 101 with a plug PL. The ferromagnetic electrode 105 of the MTJ 101 is connected to a bit line BL. A rewrite word line 111 is disposed to cross the bit line at right angles, while being electrically insulated from the MTJ 101 and the other lines by an insulating film 115 immediately above or below the MTJ 101. A read word line WL is connected to the gate electrode G of the MOS transistor 103.
Since the magnetization directions can be maintained in a non-volatile manner in a ferromagnetic member, a MTJ can store binary information in a non-volatile manner by switching the relative magnetization configuration of the ferromagnetic electrodes to parallel magnetization or antiparallel magnetization. Also, in a MTJ, the tunnel resistance varies in accordance with the relative magnetization configuration between the two ferromagnetic electrodes due to the TMR effect. Accordingly, utilizing the tunnel resistance in accordance with the magnetization configuration that switches between parallel magnetization and antiparallel magnetization, the magnetization configuration of the MTJ can be electrically detected.
Information rewrite is performed by making the coercive forces of the two ferromagnetic electrodes 105 and 107 different from each other in the MTJ 101, or inverting the magnetization of the ferromagnetic electrode with the smaller coercive force or with an unfixed magnetization direction while fixing the magnetization direction of the other ferromagnetic electrode. Hereinafter, a ferromagnetic member having a magnetization direction to be inverted will be referred to as a free layer, and a ferromagnetic member having a magnetization direction not to be inverted will be referred to as a pin layer. More specifically, currents are applied to the bit line BL and the rewrite word line 111 that cross each other on a selected memory cell. Using the synthetic magnetic field of the magnetic fields induced by the currents, only the magnetization configuration of the MTJ 101 in the selected memory cell 100 is switched to parallel magnetization or antiparallel magnetization. Here, the values of the currents to be applied to the lines are set so that the magnetization of the MTJ 101 of each unselected memory cell connected to the bit line BL and the rewrite word line 111 to which the selected memory cell is connected is not inverted only through one of the bit line BL and the rewrite word line 111.
Information is read out by energizing the MOS transistor 103 through application of a voltage to the read word line WL connected to the selected cell, and then applying a read driving current to the MTJ 101 via the bit line BL. Since the tunnel resistance varies in accordance with the magnetization configuration that can be switched between parallel magnetization and antiparallel magnetization due to the TMR effect in the MTJ 101, the magnetization configuration of the MTJ 101 can be determined by detecting a voltage decrease (hereinafter referred to as "output voltage") due to the read driving current in the MTJ 101. The following is the documents relating to the above described techniques.
1) K. Inomata, "Present and Future of Magnetic RAM Technology", IEICE Trans. Electron., Vol. E84-C, 2001, pp. 740-746.
2) H. Ohno, D. Chiba, F. Matsukura, T. Omiya, E. Abe, T. Dietl, Y. Ohno, and K. Otani, "Electric-Field Control of Ferromagnetism", Nature, Vol. 408, 2000, pp. 944-946. (also described later)
3) D. Chiba, M. Yamanouchi, F. Matsukura, and H. Ohno, "Electrical Manipulation of Magnetization Reversal in a Ferromagnetic Semiconductor", Science, Vol. 301, 2003, pp. 943-945. (also described later)

Tunnel transistor having spin-dependent transfer characteristics and non-volatile memory using the same


A plurality of memory blocks; and a control block configured to independently operate a part of the plurality of memory banks as a first sub-channel and a remainder of the plurality of memory banks as a second sub-channel according to whether a sub-channel is set.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments relate to a semiconductor circuit, and more particularly, to semiconductor integrated circuit.
2. Related Art
A semiconductor integrated circuit can be manufactured in a multi-channel structure having independent address/command and data buses in order to reduce random access time.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional semiconductor integrated circuit 1 may be configured to have two channels CH0 and CH1 as an example.
The two channels may be configured in the same manner.
The channel CH0 includes a plurality of memory blocks, e.g. a plurality of memory banks (hereinafter, referred to as "banks") B0-B15, an input/output array 10, a command processing unit 30, a data bus 40, and a command bus 50.
The plurality of banks B0-B15 share the input/output array 10 with each other.
The command processing unit 30 controls the read/write operations with respect to the plurality of banks B0-B15 through the command bus 50 in response to an external command.
When a burst length is four (BL=4), in order to access mutually different banks in regular sequence in an operation of an access write/read precharge scheme, the conventional semiconductor integrated circuit 1 requires a timing margin of 3tCK so as to be accorded with a Row to Row Delay (tRRD) standard.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, in order to output data of mutually different banks, a gap of 3tCK necessarily exists, thereby causing a loss of bandwidth.
In the conventional semiconductor integrated circuit 1, since the plurality of memory banks B0-B7 share the input/output array 10, as described above, input/output lines increase, and thus it is difficult to make an arrangement of the input/output lines.
In addition, on data output from mutually different banks, in order to be accorded with the tRRD standard, a timing margin is reduced and a loss of bandwidth is caused.


In a tillage device having first and second plow assemblies mounted in parallel relation on a main frame to thereby cut furrows in the soil creating soil strips in so doing and depositing the soil strips on a berm between the furrows created by the plow assemblies and having a rearwardly located plow assembly for moving the soil under the berm outwardly into the first and second furrows thereby creating a middle furrow and allowing the soil on the berm to fall into the middle furrow.

1. Field of the Invention
2. Overview of the Prior Art
In the growing of most plant products, plowing is a necessary and integral operation. The reasons for the plowing and the seasonal times in which plowing is conducted may vary from one farming operation to another. However, one of the principal reasons for plowing is to bury ground stubble and/or undesirable plants after a crop has been harvested and to insure that no undesirable growth, such as weed growth is still present on the surface, so that the surface may be prepared for the planting of a new crop.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,999, dated Nov. 12, 1991 for "Moldboard Plow Apparatus For Switching Soil Strips From One Furrow To Another", I have provided a unique moldboard plow apparatus which is capable of mixing up soil by removing soil strips from furrows and depositing them in other furrows. While this apparatus is highly effective, there has, nevertheless, been a need for a multi-function tillage apparatus which has several different capabilities.
An efficient tillage tool should produce a seed bed with the top layer of soil, namely, that layer which includes stubble and weeds, turned under. A tillage tool of this type should also have the capability of breaking up large clods of soil and also breaking up hard pan and loosening compacted soil beneath the root zone. A tillage tool of this type should also desirably leave the soil surface flat after tillage for immediate planting or subsequent operations, such as harrowing or furrowing.
Tillage tools of the type described should also be effective in having a minimum drawbar pull and should preferably be relatively low in maintenance and repair. When the tool is disabled for purposes of repair or maintenance, farming operations with that tool are effectively halted.
Another important condition for any type of tillage tool is that it should operate effectively across a wide range of soil conditions. It may be appreciated that soil conditions can vary dramatically from one area to another. Moreover, these conditions will also vary dramatically, depending upon weather conditions and the like. Finally, attachments should be capable of being easily added or removed from the tillage tool to reduce the amount of down time and the amount of expensive labor involved in the addition and removal of such attachments.
In addition to the moldboard plow apparatus which I have provided, as described in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,999, there are also numerous other moldboard plows. Indeed, moldboard plows have been used for centuries in various forms. A few of the early moldboard plows are described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,320 to Barnaby and in U.S. Pat. No. 114,044 to L. P. Rider. The conventional moldboard plow, as used in early times and as presently used, shears a strip of soil from the ground and then inverts it by rolling it over in a manner somewhat similar to the turning of a page in a book. The moldboards also cause a displacement of the removed strip of soil by a distance approximately equal to one furrow width. In this type of plowing operation, fresh soil is exposed on the upper surface of the inverted strip of soil and weeds and stubble are buried under the deposited strip of soil.
This type of soil movement necessarily causes the first strip of soil to be deposited on previously unplowed soil and also causes the opening of a furrow, or channel, in the ground surface. In farm terminology, this operation is described as the first strip of soil "being thrown onto the land." The second and subsequently plowed strips of soil are also thrown into the open furrows made by the previous plows.
The conventional moldboard plow, however, does suffer from a number of deficiencies. The conventional moldboard plows usually include land sides which are designed to provide a balancing of forces imposed from the sides of the plow apparatus. Further, in conventional moldboard plows, the soil is only thrown in one direction. As a result, the plow has a resultant large reaction force which tends to force the plow shares laterally away from the direction of throw. This inherently creates a large amount of frictional force which tends to resist the movement of the plow shares. It is established that frictional forces of this type can result in as much as fifty percent of the total pulling force required. See, for example, Richey, C. B., et al., Agricultural Engineers Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York 1961 pp. 130-131.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that the friction of the land sides which are provided on most conventional moldboard plows and the friction from side loads results in a substantial amount of wasted energy. In addition to the above, the angular plan form of the conventional moldboard plow causes the overall length to increase with each added plow width. The plow further tends to move sideways if soil conditions do not maintain a constant landside support. Nevertheless, it may be appreciated that the soil conditions can vary dramatically in a single plot, thereby greatly affecting the side forces imposed on the plow share.
Another one of the deficiencies of the conventional moldboard plow is the fact that soil is moved in one direction only, as indicated above. This would result in the entire original surface of the field being moved over to one end, if the field was plowed in the same manner for an extended period of time. In addition, large clods are usually left unbroken, requiring a second tillage operation to break up the large clods and smooth out the soil surface.
Extended use of a land plot without deep tillage on a periodic basis may produce a compacted layer at the plowed depth (often referred to as "plowpan"). In order to overcome this problem and other problems, it would be desirable to have provisions for adding a sub-soiler for tillage below the plow depth.
In addition to moldboard plows, discs are also frequently used as a tillage device. However, discs also suffer from a large number of disadvantages. One of the main deficiencies of a disc is the fact that it wastes more energy per square foot of tilled soil than does a plow. It also has much higher maintenance and repair costs than a plow. In addition, the use of a disc arrangement has much higher initial costs attached for working the same area and depth of soil at the most efficient depth of approximately one-fourth of disc diameter.
Another one of the deficiencies of the disc arrangement is that it does not completely invert the top layer of soil, stubble and weeds in one pass. Indeed, in many cases, two or more passes may be required to achieve this result. The back of the disc blade tends to pack the soil and which is an undesirable drawback from the very use of the tillage tool. Finally, this device is not usually available with a sub-soiler device, such as "ripper teeth."
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a tillage tool in which lateral loads, e.g. side loads, are balanced and in which frictional forces, as a result of the side loads, can be reduced. It is also desirable to provide a multi-function tillage tool in which the length of the tillage section does not increase proportionately with increases of tillage width, such that the tillage tool would be competitive with the widest disc devices. There are numerous other functions which are desirable in a multi-function tillage tool.

Multi-function tillage apparatus and method


A film mode detector detects film mode of a series of fields of video by comparing pixels in a field adjacent the current field, with corresponding pixels directly above and directly below the pixels in an adjacent field. The number of pixels in the adjacent in time to the current field having (or not having) a value approximately between values of the pixels above and below in the current field is assessed. Film mode for a current field may be detected by monitoring the assessment from field to field. Alternatively or additionally, the detector may detect film mode by assessing for each current field, whether a relatively large or relatively small number of pixels in the immediately previous field have values outside a specified distance of values of a corresponding pixel in the immediately subsequent field, for at least a portion of the immediately previous and subsequent fields. Again, film mode may be detected by monitoring this second assessment from field to field.

Analog television in North America is broadcast in accordance with the NTSC standard. The NTSC standard calls for about sixty (exactly 59.94) interlaced fields to be presented each second. Each field represents one half the lines or rows of a video frame. Fields are typically referred to as odd and even, with odd field containing odd lines of each frame, and even fields containing even lines of each frame. Thus, in one field half a frame is presented and in the next field the other half of the frame is presented. The human eye perceives the two fields as a single frame.
Most cinema films, on the other hand, are filmed at a rate of twenty-four frames per second. Accordingly, cinema films are converted for viewing on analog NTSC television using a process known as 3:2 pulldown. This conversion is more particularly illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated a sequence of film frames ABCDE . . . is divided into even and odd fields, and one field of every second frame is repeated. The resulting field pattern is AOAEAOBEBOCECOCEDODEEOEEEO . . . Thus, every second frame is presented in three fields, and every second other frame is presented for only two fields. Twenty four frames are thus converted into sixty interlaced fields.
In Europe, analog television is transmit in accordance with the PAL or SECAM standards. These standards call for 50 interlaced fields per second. Cinema films are converted for viewing on analog PAL/SECAM television using a process known as 2:2 pulldown. This conversion is also illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated a sequence of film frames ABCDE . . . is divided into even and odd fields. Each even and odd field is shown once every second frame. The resulting field pattern is AOAEBOBECOCEDODEEOEE . . . . Twenty four frames are thus converted into about fifty (i.e. forty eight) interlaced fields.
Newer television and computer displays, however no longer display interlaced video. Instead such displays display the video progressively, one line after the next. Accordingly, newer video output devices, such as for example digital versatile disk (DVD) players, computer games and the like, output video progressively, line by line.
Often video to be presented by such progressive scan devices comes from interlaced sources. For example, many DVDs still store video data as fields of MPEG (or MPEG2) data. Moreover, many such sources store the interlaced video in film mode (3:2 pulldown or 2:2 pulldown). Progressive scan devices must be able to accurately assemble progressive scan frames from the interlaced data. They must therefore be able to detect the presence of film mode, to correctly combine frames. To this end, many sources (such as DVDs) are coded with flags that are intended to indicate whether stored video is stored in film mode or not. Unfortunately, video is often poorly edited: video is cut apart and reassembled in a way that destroys the sequence. Similarly, video is often transferred or broadcast without these flags. In short, the flags cannot be relied upon.
As a result, film mode detection circuits are known. One such detection circuit calculates the sum of absolute differences between adjacent fields. If the source video is stored in film mode, the sum will follow a predictable pattern. Such detection, however, cannot distinguish easily between noise, slow movements, content that overlays interlaced and film mode material, high frequencies, and conventional interlaced content.
Other techniques include the analysis of motion vector data from field to field. Such techniques, however, are quite complex.
Accordingly, there remains a need for film mode detection circuit and method that can easily and quickly detect the presence of film mode video.

Film-mode (3:2/2:2 Pulldown) detector, method and video device


A high performance conductive endless belt and an image forming apparatus using the same are provided, the conductive endless belt having superior strength, in particular, superior folding endurance, stable and appropriate electrical resistance even in high voltage application, less voltage dependence of electrical resistance, and superior durability in image output and transfer efficiency. The conductive endless belt is formed by adding a high molecular weight ionic conductive agent and a fluorinated surfactant to a base material selected from the group consisting of (a) a thermoplastic PA, (b) an ABS resin, (c) a thermoplastic POM, (d) a polymer alloy or a polymer blend containing at least two of the above (a) to (c), and (e) a polymer alloy or a polymer blend containing a thermoplastic resin and at least one of the above (a) to (c).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conductive endless belt (hereinafter simply referred to as "belt" in some cases) and an image forming apparatus using the same, the endless belt being used when a toner image is transferred to a recording medium such as paper in an electrostatic recording process performed in an electrostatic recording apparatus or an electrophotographic apparatus such as a copy machine or a printer, the toner image being formed by supplying a developer onto the surface of an image forming member such as a latent image holding member holding a latent image thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, in an electrostatic recording process performed in a copy machine, a printer, or the like, printing is performed by the steps of uniformly electrifying the surface of a photosensitive member (latent image holding member), forming an electrostatic latent image by projecting an optical image from an optical system onto this photosensitive member to diselectrify the area to which light is applied, then supplying toner to this electrostatic latent image to form a toner image by electrostatic adhesion of the toner, and transferring the toner image to a recording medium such as paper, transparent paper for overhead projector use, or photographic paper.
Also in a color printer or color copy machine, although the printing is fundamentally performed in accordance with the process described above, in the case of color printing in which four color toners, magenta, yellow, cyan, and black, are used for reproducing a color tone, a step of overlapping the color toners at a predetermined ratio is required, and in order to execute this step, various methods have been proposed.
As a first method, an image on image development method may be mentioned in which, as is the case of monochromatic printing, in order to form an electrostatic latent image into a visible color toner image, the above four color toners, magenta, yellow, cyan, and black, are sequentially supplied onto a photosensitive member so as to be superimposed for development. By the method described above, a relatively compact apparatus can be formed; however, it is very difficult to control the gradation, and as a result, a problem may arise in that a high quality image is not obtained.
As a second method, a tandem method using four photosensitive drums may be mentioned in which after latent images on the drums are developed by respective color toners, magenta, yellow, cyan, and black to form four toner images of magenta, yellow, cyan, and black, the photosensitive drums provided with the above respective toner images thereon are aligned, and the toner images thereof are then sequentially transferred to a recording medium such as paper for superimposing the images thereon, thereby reproducing a color image. By this method, superior image can be obtained; however, since the four drums each provided with an electrification mechanism and a development mechanism are aligned, the apparatus becomes large and expensive.
In FIG. 2, one example of a printing portion of a tandem image forming apparatus is shown. Four printing units each composed of a photosensitive drum 1, an electrification roller 2, a developing roller 3, a developing blade 4, a toner supply roller 5, and a cleaning blade 6 are provided for respective yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black B toners, and the toners are sequentially transferred onto paper transported by a transfer/transport belt 10 which is circularly driven by a drive roller (drive member) 9, thereby forming a color image. Electrification and diselectrification of the transfer/transport belt 10 are performed by an electrification roller 7 and a diselectrification roller 8, respectively. In addition, for electrification of paper to adsorb it on the belt, an adsorption roller (not shown) is used. By the structure described above, the generation of ozone can be suppressed. The adsorption roller transfers paper from a transport path onto the transfer/transport belt 10 and also fixes it thereon by static adsorption. In addition, after the transfer, for separation of paper from the belt, an adsorption force between paper and the transfer/transport roller 10 is decreased by decreasing a transfer voltage, so that paper can be separated only by means of curvature separation.
As a material of the transfer/transport belt 10, a resistive material and a dielectric material may be used; however, each material has advantages and disadvantages. Since a resistive belt retains charges for a short period of time when being used for transfer operation of the tandem method, charge injection caused by the transfer is low, and even by continuous transfer operation of the four colors, the increase in voltage is relatively small. In addition, even when being used repeatedly for the following paper, the resistive belt releases charges, and hence electrical reset is not required. However, since the electrical resistance of the resistive belt varies with the change in environmental conditions, problems may arise in that the transfer efficiently varies, and/or the thickness and the width of paper adversely influence the transfer performance.
On the other hand, in the case of a dielectric belt, injected changes are not spontaneously released, and hence injection and release of charges must both be electrically controlled. However, since charges are stably retained, adsorption of paper is reliably performed, and hence highly precise paper transport can be performed. In addition, the dielectric constant has a small temperature and humidity dependence, and hence a relatively stable transfer process may be performed in various environments. As disadvantages, the increase in transfer voltage may be mentioned which is caused by accumulation of charges in the belt as the transfer is repeatedly performed.
As a third method, a transfer drum method may be mentioned in which after a recording medium such as paper is wound around a transfer drum, while the drum is allowed to rotate four times, magenta, yellow, cyan, and black toners provided on photosensitive members are sequentially transferred on the medium at respective rotations of the drum, thereby reproducing a color image. According to this method, a relatively high quality image can be obtained; however, when the recording medium is thick such as a postcard, it is difficult to wind the medium around the transfer drum, and hence the type of recording medium is disadvantageously limited.
In addition to the multilayer transfer method, the tandem method, and the transfer drum method described above, as a method in which a high image quality can be obtained, the size of the apparatus is not particularly increased, and the type of recording medium is not particularly limited, an intermediate transfer method has been proposed.
That is, according to this intermediate transfer method, an intermediate transfer member is provided which is composed of a belt and drums designed to temporarily retain toner images transferred from respective four photosensitive members, and four photosensitive members having a magenta toner image, a yellow toner image, a cyan toner image, and a black toner image are disposed around this intermediate transfer member. In the structure described above, the four color toner images are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer member to form a color image thereon, and this color image is then transferred onto a recording medium such as paper. Accordingly, since the gradation is adjusted by superimposing the four toner images, a high image quality can be obtained, and unlike the tandem method, since the photosensitive members are not necessarily aligned, the size of the apparatus is not particularly increased. In addition, the recording medium is not required to be wound around the drum, and hence the type of recording medium is not specifically limited.
As an apparatus forming a color image in accordance with the intermediate transfer method, an image forming apparatus using an endless belt as the intermediate transfer member is shown in FIG. 3 by way of example.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 11 indicates a drum-shaped photosensitive member which is allowed to rotate in the direction shown by an arrow in the figure. This photosensitive member 11 is electrified by a primary electrifier 12, a part of the member 11 exposed to an image exposure 13 is then diselectrified thereby, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a first color component is subsequently formed on this photosensitive member 11, the electrostatic latent image is further developed by a developer 41 using a magenta toner M which is the first color, and as a result, the first-color magenta toner image is formed on the photosensitive member 11. Next, this toner image is then transferred onto an intermediate transfer member 20 circularly driven by a drive roller (drive member) 30 while it is being in contact with the photosensitive member 11. In this case, the transfer from the photosensitive member 11 to the intermediate transfer member 20 is performed at a nip portion formed therebetween by a primary transfer bias applied from a power source 61 to the intermediate transfer member 20. After the first-color magenta toner image is transferred onto this intermediate transfer member 20, the surface of the photosensitive member 11 is cleaned by a cleaning device 14, and hence a first development and transfer operation of the photosensitive member 11 is complete. Subsequently, while the photosensitive member 11 is allowed to rotate three times, at the respective rotations, a second-color cyan toner image, a third-color yellow toner image, and a fourth-color black toner image are sequentially formed in that order on the photosensitive member 11 at the respective rotations by sequentially using developers 42 to 44 so that the four color images are superimposed on the intermediate transfer member 20 at the respective rotations, and hence a composite color toner image corresponding to an object color image is formed on the intermediate transfer member 20. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, at the respective rotations of the photosensitive member 11, the positions of the developers 41 to 44 are changed so that development of magenta toner M, cyan toner C, yellow toner Y, and black toner B are sequentially performed.
Next, a transfer roller 25 is then brought into contact with the intermediate transfer member 20 provided with the composite color toner image thereon, and to a nip portion therebetween, a recording medium 26 is supplied from a paper feed cassette 19. At the same time, a secondary transfer bias is applied to the transfer roller 25 from a power source 29, and the composite color toner image is transferred from the intermediate transfer member 20 onto the recording medium 26, followed by heating and fixing, thereby forming a final image. After the composite color toner image is transferred onto the recording medium 26, the intermediate transfer member 20 is processed by a cleaning device 35 so as to remove residual toners remaining on the surface and is then placed in a standby state for the following image formation.
In addition, a tandem type intermediate transfer method formed in combination between the tandem method and the intermediate transfer method has also been proposed. In FIG. 4, an image forming apparatus in accordance with a tandem type intermediate transfer method is shown by way of example in which color image formation is performed using an endless belt-shaped tandem type intermediate transfer member.
In the apparatus shown in the figure, a first development portion 54a to a fourth development portion 54d are sequentially disposed along a tandem type intermediate transfer member 50 for developing electrostatic latent images on photosensitive drums 52a to 52d using yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, respectively, and this tandem type intermediate transfer member 50 is circularly driven in the direction indicated by an arrow shown in the figure, so that four color toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 52a to 52d of the respective development portions 54a to 54d are sequentially transferred on this tandem type intermediate transfer member 50 to form a color toner image thereon. Subsequently, this toner image thus formed is transferred onto a recording medium 53 such as paper by transfer, thereby performing printout.
In the figure, reference numeral 55 indicates a drive roller or a tension roller circularly driving the tandem type intermediate transfer member 50, reference numeral 56 indicates a recording medium feed roller, reference numeral 57 indicates a recording medium feed device, and reference numeral 58 indicates a fixing device fixing an image on the recording medium by heating or the like. In addition, reference numeral 59 indicates a power source device (voltage application means) applying a voltage to the tandem type intermediate transfer member 50, and this power source device 59 is designed to be able to change the application direction of the voltage depending on the case in which the toner image is transferred onto the tandem type intermediate transfer member 50 from the photosensitive drums 52a to 52d and the case in which the toner image is transferred from the tandem type intermediate transfer member 50 to the recording medium 53.
In the various image forming apparatuses described above, as a conductive endless belt used as the transfer/transport belt 10, the intermediate transfer member 20, the tandem type intermediate transfer member 50, and the like, heretofore, a semiconductive resin film belt and a fiber reinforced rubber belt have been primarily used. Of the belts described above, as the semiconductive resin film belt, for example, a belt composed of a polycarbonate resin and carbon black compounded therewith, a belt primarily composed of a poly(alkylene terephthalate) resin, and a belt primarily composed of a thermoplastic polyamide resin have been proposed.
In addition, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-125396, in order to improve the transfer efficiency and the image quality, a transfer belt has been disclosed having the structure composed of a tube member formed of a single layer or a laminate using a polymer material, a conductive layer provided on the outside surface of the tube member, and a semiconductive resin layer of a material having semiconductive properties provided on the above conductive layer. Furthermore, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-365866, in order to realize an electrophotographic seamless belt having uniform electrical resistance and superior surface and mechanical properties, a technique has been disclosed in which predetermined amounts of poly(ether ester amide) or poly(ether amide) and a fluorinated surfactant or a halogenated alkali metal are contained in a belt composed of a thermoplastic fluorinated resin.
As described above, as for the conductive endless belt, various researches have been conducted; however, concomitant with recent demanding requirements of performance, a belt having superior various properties has been increasingly desired. In particular, a conductive endless belt has been desired having small voltage dependence of resistance as electrical properties, superior durability in image output, and high toner transfer efficiency.
In addition, in the resin film belt described above, in order to obtain desired electrification properties required for the member, the adjustment of the conductivity has been generally performed by adding conductive materials such as an electron conductive agent or an ionic conductive agent; however, in electron-conduction belts using an electron conductive agent such as conductive carbon including carbon black filler, the voltage dependence of electrical resistance is large when a voltage is applied, and in particular, when a high voltage is applied, problems such as leakage may occur in some cases. Furthermore, when a low molecular weight-based antistatic agent is used, for example, various problems occur: the antistatic properties are degraded with time when electricity is supplied, and due to bleedout of a low molecular weight-based material, other constituent elements in contact therewith are contaminated.

Conductive endless belt and image forming apparatus using the same


A system, method, and computer readable device that detects hidden correlation relationships among entities, such as companies and/or individuals is presented. A dataset that corresponds to a predefined set of correlation relationships of these companies and/or individuals may be collected. The dataset may be stored in a graph database and a machine learning system may be built using features computed from the graph database. At least a new pair of companies or a new pair of an individual and a company may be evaluated. The system, method, and/or computer readable device may determine whether a hidden correlation relationship exists between them.

In today's society, entities, such as businesses, have an increasing need to properly assess the risks affecting their businesses. Risks, if not effectively detected, avoided or dealt with, may adversely affect a business's profits, reputation, and client base. As an example, banks have tens of thousands of companies and individual clients as their borrowers for various bank products, such as loans. When a company client applies for a loan, the risk and underwriting departments of a bank typically needs to consider this company's correlation relationships with other clients in addition to evaluating the company's individual credentials so that the bank can have a comprehensive picture of the credit and financial conditions of the company client. Notably, there are many correlation relationships among companies and individual clients. For example, correlation relationships include, but are not limited to, stock holding correlation relationships, guarantee correlation relationships, collateral correlation relationships, trading correlation relationships, other types of correlation relationships, or a combination thereof. A complete and accurate characterization of these correlation relationships among clients can improve the bank's understanding of risks involved with the clients' loans. However, in practice, it is very common that a hidden correlation relationship exits. For example, an individual may hide his actual control over several companies and may use someone else to act as his cover-up in some of these companies for financing or tax purposes. Therefore, two companies that are applying for loans may appear to be independent entities, but, in fact, they belong to the same corporate entity or the same actual owner. These circumstances are not unusual, especially in countries where government and banking regulations are insufficient. This poses a major risk for banks. As a result, it would be desirable for banks and other entities to have a way to reveal these hidden correlation relationships. Traditionally, banks have resorted to methods, such as conducting client visits and investigation as part of due diligence or performing correlation-relationship finding from a database based on some predefined rules. Nevertheless, such techniques are not effective enough in detecting such hidden correlation relationships and mitigating risk. As a result, current technologies and processes may be modified and improved so as to provide enhanced functionality and features for entities, users, or both. Such enhancements and improvements may provide for improved quality of service, improved interactions between entities and users, increased efficiencies, increased access to meaningful data, and substantially-improved decision-making abilities for entities, particularly when hidden correlation relationships are effectively discovered before negative impacts are felt by the entities.

System for discovering hidden correlation relationships for risk analysis using graph-based machine learning


A method of acoustic localization of persons in a detection space by using sound-emitting elements and sound pick-up elements by emitting acoustic signals into the detection space and measuring the reflected acoustic signals has the steps: measurement of acoustic signals in the frequency range of human speech using a plurality of sound pick-up elements; determination of the skew between the acoustic signals measured at the sound pick-up elements; calculation of the position of the sound source from the skew and the positions of the sound pick-up elements.

There are known out-of-position systems (OOP systems) with which the position of persons, child seats or unoccupied seats is for airbag control in motor vehicles. To this end, sensors, e.g., ultrasonic sensors, infrared sensors, capacitive sensors, or microwave sensors, are distributed throughout the passenger compartment. To be able to activate an airbag in an emergency, if necessary, as a function of the person or object situated in front of the airbag or to disable it completely, e.g., when a child seat is installed in front of the airbag, the occupancy of the passenger compartment is monitored dynamically with the help of the sensors during an entire trip.
In particular, there are known OOP systems in which ultrasonic sensors are acted upon by pulse-like frequencies in the inaudible range in pulse-echo operation, and the echo is determined in the transmission pauses. The occupancy of the passenger compartment can be deduced from the time delay of the echo and the received signal amplitude. Electrically prestressed film membranes which are energized with an ultrasonic frequency in the inaudible range are used as the sound-emitting elements and sound pick-up elements of these ultrasonic sensors. Low-frequency components of the sound pick-ups, in particular in the audible range, are attenuated by electronic filters in the controller of the OOP system for further analysis, because these low frequency components are unambiguous interference signals for pulse-echo operation and do not contain any information about the echo. A plurality of such ultrasonic sensors having film membranes in a housing having a defined relative spacing of ultrasonic sensors will be used for monitoring an entire detection space.

Method for the acoustic localization of persons in an area of detection


The invention is directed to a probe-type imaging device useful to visualize interior surfaces, e.g., the lumen of blood vessels. Specifically, the probe-type device is particularly useful for direct tissue imaging in the presence or absence of molecular imaging agents.

Heart disease and stroke are the main cause of death in the United States. Most of the debilitating factors related to these diseases are rooted in vascular disorders. The main vascular insufficiencies are associated with vascular plaque formation and thrombus formation that block or decrease blood flow and, as a result, the oxygenated blood supply to these important organs. Medical device technologies and medication treatment are available to mechanically open the arteries or dilate them to avoid heart attack and stroke.
Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty ("PTCA") was advanced by stents and medicated stents placement. Improvements of these methods are still required, however, to improve diagnosis and treatment of these diseases when they occur. Early detection and prevention of plaque and thrombus formation are needed to lower the incidence of first onset causing infarction and stroke; restenosis post-treatment and the efficacy follow-up of a therapy treatment.
Improvements of these methods are required to improve diagnosis and treatment of these diseases when they occur. Early detection and prevention of plaque and thrombus formation are still needed to lower the incidence of first onset causing infarction and stroke; restenosis post treatment and the efficacy follow-up of a therapy treatment.
There are a number of technologies currently in use for visualizing the lumen of vessels and diagnosing plaque, e.g., radiopharmaceuticals using PET and/or a beta probe, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), intravascular MRI, intravascular IR, optical coherence tomography (OCT), intravascular temperature changes and their combinations. Different radionuclides are used in myocardial imaging of subjects at rest and after exercise for determining blood flow insufficiencies that indicate stenosis or measurements of other related physiological parameters. Ultrasound is used to image heart wall motion and to measure the blood ejection fraction. MRI imaging and Fast CT scanning are also used to measure similar physiological parameters that indicate stenosis. Direct measurement of plaque in the arteries uses high resolution CT imaging during a simultaneous intra-arterial injection of a contrast media that delineates the area of the narrowing of the artery during the catheterization procedure. OCT visualization of vessel involves the use of complicated and expensive instrumentation as well as the repeated saline washes to view the vessel wall.
In addition, CT, MRI and ultrasound imaging display spatial information differently from CCD light imaging. OCT disclose, in several patents, devices that are aimed at vessels and neoplastic tissue visualization. The utility of these devices is limited due to their complexity and use of mirrors, lens, and light focusing apparatuses required for light reflection propagation and visualization. Furthermore, the wall visualization requires blood washout using repeated saline flushes. Device positioning and registration require delicate and accurate guidewire 13 repositioning such as back and forth movements resulting in difficult therapy deployment.
Current imaging techniques using radiopharmaceuticals using PET and/or a beta probe, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), intravascular MRI (IVMRI), intravascular IR, OCT, are not optimized. The current IVUS, IVMRI, intravascular IR, and intravascular thermal imaging techniques as well as the current scientific reports of in vivo molecular fluorescence tomography (MTF) (US 2004/0015062 A1 and references therein) do not teach the use of a specific intra-tissue visualization device.
As such, there remains a need for a more inexpensive and sensitive and efficient devices for direct imaging of vessel lumen.

Intravascular imaging device and uses thereof


The improved water-soluble photosensitive resin composition comprises a high-polymer compound represented by the general formula (I): ##STR1## (where X is Na, K or NH.sub.4) and a water-soluble polymer which is either polyvinylpyrrolidone or a copolymer of vinylpyrrolidone and vinylimidazole or both. The composition is applied to a substrate, exposed through a mask pattern and developed to form a photocured pattern and, thereafter, a light absorber is applied to the entire surface of the substrate and dried, followed by stripping away the photocured pattern and the overlying light absorber to form a black matrix pattern. The composition is suitable for use as a photoresist in the manufacture of black matrices as on color CRTs and capable of efficient formation of photocured patterns with high sensitivity by shorter times and lower intensities of exposure. In addition, the composition adheres strongly to glass substrates and is capable of pattern formation as thin film that is faithful to the mask pattern used. A vinylpyrrolidone/vinylimidazole copolymer is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a water-soluble photosensitive resin composition useful in the manufacture of black matrices typically used on the phosphor screen of a color CRT. More specifically, the invention relates to a water-soluble photosensitive resin composition that comprises a water-soluble polymer and a light-sensitive component and that exhibits good enough adhesion to glass substrates to enable the formation of thin-film patterns but which yet can be readily stripped at a subsequent stage. The invention also relates to a method of forming a black matrix pattern on the substrate using said water-soluble photosensitive resin composition.
2. Description of the Related Art
The black matrix for use on the phosphor screen of a color CRT as in a color television set has a light absorber (e.g., graphite) formed in a specified pattern on the inner surface of a glass panel, with the non-patterned areas consisting of many small holes (black matrix holes) or stripes (black stripes). The black matrix holes or stripes are filled with the phosphors of three primary colors, typically red(R), green(G) and blue(B), to provide a pattern of three primary phosphor dots. Electron beams emitted from electron gun(s) are passed through the perforations in a shadow mask to selectively stimulate the phosphor dots, thereby forming a color image on the panel.
A color CRT of this shadow-mask type requires that the positions of the phosphor dots formed on the inner surface of the glass panel should be in registry with those of the perforations in the shadow mask (through which electron beams will pass); if this requirement is not met, the emitted electron beams will either fail to strike the intended phosphors or strike unwanted phosphors, thereby reducing the fidelity of color reproduction. Hence, it is necessary in the formation of a black matrix pattern to provide the inner surface of the glass panel with black matrix holes or stripes in positions that are in good registry with the perforations in the shadow mask. Under the circumstances, the shadow mask for use on a color CRT is commonly employed as an exposure mask in the formation of black matrix patterns.
A customary process of forming a black matrix pattern comprises the steps of applying a water-soluble photosensitive resin composition onto the inner surface of a panel to form a photoresist layer, exposing the photoresist layer to light through a shadow mask, thereby causing the exposed areas to cure, developing the resist layer to remove the unexposed areas, thereby forming a photocured pattern, thereafter applying a light absorber to the entire surface of the substrate including the photocured pattern and the uncovered areas, and drying the applied absorber to form a black film. Subsequently, the photocured pattern and the overlying black film as well are stripped away to form a black matrix pattern having matrix holes or stripes formed in positions that are in registry with the perforations in the shadow mask. The thus formed matrix holes or stripes are filled with the phosphors of three primary colors, R, G and B, to form a phosphor screen having patterns of the three primary phosphors.
The water-soluble photosensitive resin compositions conventionally used in the formation of black matrix patterns are based either on a system consisting of polyvinylalcohol and bichromates or on a system consisting of water-soluble polymers and water-soluble bisazide compounds. However, these systems have their own problems. The first system consisting of polyvinylalcohol and bichromates has the disadvantage of experiencing increasing changes in sensitivity with time, having low resolution and causing an increase in the crosslinked region due to dark reaction that occurs after the termination of exposure. Therefore, if exposure, development and phosphor filling steps are repeated through three cycles in order to form successive patterns of three primary phosphors, the light being applied to the photoresist layer will inevitably overlap between patterns. In such case there is high likelihood for the occurrence of a phenomenon generally called "docking" in which any two adjacent patterns of different colored phosphors that should ideally be separated from each other come into contact. This has been a problem of particularly great concern in "gap exposure" which is performed with the mask spaced from the photoresist layer.
With a view to getting around the "docking" difficulty, several proposals have been made as exemplified by the teaching of Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application(kokai) No.79970/1973, which relates the method of using polyvinylpyrrolidone as the water-soluble polymer component of a water-soluble photosensitive resin composition, the other component of which is a water-soluble bisazide compound. According to the teaching of that patent, the use of polyvinylpyrrolidone experiences reciprocity law failure, i.e., an effect in which the crosslinking caused by light illumination will hardly proceed if the integrated illumination is below a certain level; hence, the degree of crosslinking of the photoresist layer has such a profile that it increases abruptly in areas relatively close to the center of the beam passing hole whereas it drops markedly farther away from the center. Hence, the degree of crosslinking near the peripheral edge of the beam passing hole is short of the minimum level necessary to form dots and the diameter of the resulting dots is sufficiently smaller than that of the beam passing hole to ensure against "docking". Systems consisting of water-soluble polymers and water-soluble bisazide compounds as taught in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application(kokai)No.79970/1973, supra, have high resolution but, on the other hand, they have low sensitivity and adhere so poorly to glass substrates that contact enhancing agents such as water-soluble silane coupling agents have to be added in amounts greater than certain levels; in addition, the thickness of the photoresist layer cannot be substantially reduced because pattern washout will occur during development unless the photoresist layer is formed in thicknesses greater than certain levels. Besides these manufacturing problems from the viewpoints of efficiency and cost, the photoresist layer cannot be completely stripped away and phosphors will adhere to the residual photoresist layer in the subsequent step, which can be a cause of color mixing.
A system that has a light-sensitive group introduced into the water-soluble polymer has been proposed as one that is improved in pattern configuration and resolution but this approach has not yet been commercialized due to difficulties in sensitivity and stability.
The present inventor conducted intensive studies in order to solve the aforementioned problems of the prior art and found that they could be solved by a water-soluble photosensitive resin composition based on a system consisting of a water-soluble polymer and a light-sensitive component, in which either polyvinylpyrrolidone or a copolymer of vinylpyrrolidone and vinylimidazole or both are used as said water-soluble polymer and in which a high-polymer compound having a specified structural unit is used as the light-sensitive component. The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of this finding.

Copolymer of vinylpyrrolidone and vinylimidazole


A kiosk according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing; a touch screen configured to receive input information from a user; a label printer configured to print output information from the kiosk; a pill drop opening; a pill chute; a drive tube having entry and exit openings, wherein the drive tube has an axis extending through a longitudinal axial centerline thereof, and has an inside surface comprising a helical flute, wherein the entry opening is in communication with the pill chute, and wherein the exit opening is higher than the entry opening such that the axial centerline of the drive tube is inclined; a motor configured to rotate the drive tube to separate and convey pills received through the pill drop opening and the pill chute; and an optical counter configured to count the pills as the pills fall from the exit opening of the drive tube.

When a pharmacy or other organization accepts recalled or partially used pharmaceutical prescriptions, it is often a time-consuming process to verify the medication, count the number of pills or volume of liquid being returned, and address and ship the medication to the origin company or its designated recall agent. Various different information systems are employed for different parts of this process, often requiring a high level of supervision and manual intervention, thus increasing expense.

Interactive kiosk for counting, labeling, and shipping of recalled medication capsules


Protection device for flexible hoses, in particular shower hoses, which device is intended to prevent the hose (12) from collapsing when being bent close to the connector end of the hose. The device includes a socket shaped nipple (14) capable of being inserted into the hose and a resilient portion (16) connecting thereto. The nipple (14) and the resilient portion (16) are manufactured in one piece from a plastic material. The resilient portion (16) is constituted by a nipple comprising radial apertures (17) extending over a major part of its circumference and thin, at least partially annular wall segments (18) between these. The apertures (17) are so deep that the connection between the wall segments is implemented by thin bridges (19) arranged axially disposed in relation to the bridges (19) in the adjacent apertures (17).

Today, shower hoses are mainly manufactured from a plastic material, which softens when warm water flows through the hose. The hose becomes thereby easier to handle and more flexible, but if the water is very warm the hose will lose its firmness, which leads to that it easily collapses, i.e. when bent, it folds so that the water is stopped.
However, this problem was solved by the device disclosed in SE 500 365 C2, in which a socket shaped nipple was attached to a coil spring, which is freely movable in the hose, but this device is relatively expensive to manufacture and to mount. It must consist of non corrosive material, and since the price of shower hoses is pressed down the above mentioned device results in a significant price increase.


A process integration is disclosed for fabricating non-volatile memory (NVM) cells (105-109, 113-115) on a first flash cell substrate area (111) which are encapsulated in one or more planar dielectric layers (116) prior to forming an elevated substrate (117) on a second CMOS transistor area (112) on which high-k metal gate electrodes (119-120, 122-126, 132, 134) are formed using a gate-last HKMG CMOS process flow without interfering with the operation or reliability of the NVM cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed in general to integrated circuit devices and methods for manufacturing same. In one aspect, the present invention relates to the fabrication of CMOS metal gate devices and non-volatile memory devices integrated on a single substrate or chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-volatile memory devices, such as EEPROM and flash memory, are used in computers and other electronic devices to store data and/or programming instructions that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed and that must be saved when power is removed. Embedded non-volatile memory (NVM) has become increasingly important in applications ranging from data and code storage to circuit trimming and customization. By embedding a non-volatile memory in a CMOS device, a single chip device can be manufactured and configured for a variety of applications. While the introduction of novel gate stack materials for forming high-k metal gate stacks using gate last processes has improved device performance and reduced feature sizes for transistor devices, there are a number of integration options and challenges associated with the integration of such novel materials with existing polysilicon nanocrystal thin film storage bitcells. For example, as the dimensions of transistors decrease, the height of the conventional gate stacks used to form NVM bitcells has been reduced to prevent the "gate last" processing steps from damaging the NVM bitcell gates.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for purposes of promoting and improving clarity and understanding. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the drawings to represent corresponding or analogous elements.

Method to form a polysilicon nanocrystal thin film storage bitcell within a high k metal gate platform technology using a gate last process to form transistor gates


A message originates from a mobile station which is operable within a wireless network. In disclosed examples, the wireless network has a Messaging Service Center (MSC). The MSC determines whether the MSC stores a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) corresponding to a destination mobile directory number (MDN) that is inputted via the mobile station. Then, the MSC sends the message to the URI corresponding to the MDN if the first MSC stores the URI corresponding to the MDN. The MSC sends a request to find the URI corresponding to the destination MDN to an external tElephone NUmber Mapping (ENUM) server, if the first MSC does not store the URI corresponding to the destination MDN. The MSC sends the message to the URI corresponding to the destination MDN if the external ENUM server sends the URI corresponding to the destination MDN. The MSC also indicates charging policy for delivery of message based on a billing identification corresponding to the destination MDN or URI that is stored in the MSC in the same table.

Mobile communication networks have evolved over time such that a variety of services are available on a mobile, station other than original voice services. A Short Messaging Service (SMS) is one of advanced services available to the mobile station which allows exchange of text messages between mobile stations. SMS may also offer message exchange with personal computers or the like by providing an SMS interface between the Internet and an SMS server associated with a cellular-based circuit-switched subsystem, which supports the mobile stations having SMS capability.
In the time of the second-generation (2G) mobile communication network technologies, development of data service was limited because of network bandwidth constraints and the intrinsic disadvantages of the SMS are difficult to overcome. With the development and deployment of the third-generation (3G) mobile communication system, various data services based on 3G technologies have been developing rapidly and have a wider field than that based on the 2G mobile communication system.
A Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a further development of the SMS following introduction of the 3G mobile communication system. The MMS provides a complete end-to-end solution for personal multimedia mobile communication services. In view of the contents of communications, a multimedia message may consist of any or all of pictures, audio, video and text. In view of the capabilities, it covers various types of multimedia communications including terminal-to-terminal, terminal-to-application server, and application server-to-terminal. Thus the multimedia messaging service not only accomplishes message exchanges among the terminals, between the terminal and the application server, MMS also combines multiple contents such as picture, voice, video and/or text.
As the number of mobile communication carriers increases nationwide, proper and accurate deliveries of the SMS/MMS messages and charging for the SMS/MMS message service are desirable. As a way to assist the routing of SMS/MMS messages in a 3G network, an tElephone NUmber Mapping (ENUM) system, which facilitates the interconnection of communication networks that rely on telephone numbers with the communication networks that utilize the Domain Name Systems (DNS), has been introduced.
As mobile station users change their carrier, they would like to retain their mobile station numbers. As a way to meet the need, some countries including the U.S. implement Number Portability policy which enables mobile station users to retain their mobile station numbers when changing from one carrier to another carrier. It is, however, cumbersome for mobile carrier operators to have accurate knowledge of Number Portability policy and databases for each international destination. Hence, the ENUM servers will be enhanced to serve international destination numbers to accommodate the Number Portability policies of various countries. However, many countries do not have a centralized data server. Therefore, it is a huge burden having accurate ENUM data for international destination mobile stations.
Therefore, a need exists for routing SMS/MMS messages to an international destination mobile station located in a foreign country whether the foreign country implements a centralized Number Portability database or not.
Furthermore, various domestic and foreign carriers have adopted different billing policies with each other for deliveries of the SMS/MMS messages. To support these different billing policies by the domestic and foreign carriers, the carriers maintain separate billing databases from destination number databases to indicate billing rates for destination domains. However, it's not efficient to maintain the separate billing databases.
Hence, a need also exists for technologies for charging efficiently for the delivery of the SMS/MMS messages.

System and method for routing inter-carrier short message service or multimedia message service messages


A wireless communication method including: when a wireless station has dual connectivity to a first base station that is a primary base station and a second base station that is a secondary base station and when a handover of the primary base station is to be performed from the first base station to a third base station, transmitting from the first base station to the third base station a first signal requesting the handover, when the third base station makes a determination not to change the secondary base station based on the first signal, transmitting from the third base station to the second base station a second signal indicating the determination and to the first base station a third signal indicating the determination, and performing the handover based on the third signal without transferring a connection between the wireless station and the second base station to the first base station.

In recent years, a discussion on next generation wireless communication technologies has been performed to further enhance high-speed high-capacity wireless communication, and the like in a wireless communication system such as a portable phone system (cellular system). For example, communication standards called Long Term Evolution (LTE) and communication standards called LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) that is based on an LTE wireless communication technology have been proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) that is a standard body.
A recently completed communication standard for 3GPP is Release 11 corresponding to LTE-A, which is an enhancement of Release 10 that is a major functional enhancement of Release 8 and Release 9 that correspond to LTE. At present, discussion on a main portion of Release 12 that is a further enhancement of Release 11 has been finished, and details are going to be edited toward the completion of Release 12. "LTE" is hereinafter defined as including other wireless communication systems that are enhancements of LTE, as well as LTE and LTE-A, unless otherwise specified.
Various technologies are included in 3GPP Release 12, and among them is a small cell. The small cell is a comparatively small cell, and is in contrast conceptually to a macro cell that is a comparatively large cell. While the macro cell is formed by a comparatively large wireless base station, the small cell is formed by a comparatively small wireless base station. At this point, the "cell" is a term indicating a range that a wireless base station covers in order for a wireless terminal to transmit and receive a wireless signal, but because the wireless base station and the cell conceptually correspond to each other, although the "cell" is suitably replaced with the "wireless base station" in the present specification, this poses no problem.
It is thought that, with introduction of the small cell, several effects are obtained. For example, the load on the macro cell can be reduced by setting up a small cell in a place, for example, such as a hot spot, where a large amount of communication occurs. Furthermore, for the wireless terminal, it is also expected that the transmission of a signal to a nearby small cell rather than a remote macro cell brings about an effect in which transmission power can be reduced and satisfactory communication performance can be obtained. It is thought that the small cell is an elemental technology which can solve various problems with a wireless communication system at present or in the future, and there is a consensus that active discussion on the small cell as a promising future technology in 3GPP will continue to be performed into the future.
Incidentally, in 3GPP, as one technology associated with the small cell, a study on dual connectivity has started. With the dual connectivity, the wireless terminal makes a connection to multiple wireless base stations and performs communication with each of the wireless base stations at the same time, and thus transmits or receives different information at the same time as each of the wireless base stations. To put it another way, with the dual connectivity, the wireless terminal can perform individual communication concurrently with each of the multiple wireless base stations.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the dual connectivity. As illustrated in FIG. 1, as one example of the dual connectivity, for example, it is thought that, in a case where multiple small cells (cells that are formed by a small base station 10b) within the macro cell (cell that is formed by a macro base station 10a) are arranged, a wireless terminal 20 (user equipment (UE)) makes the connection to both of the macro cell and the small cell. Accordingly, for example, because it is possible that the wireless terminal 20 transmits and receives (individually communicates) different information between the macro cell and the small cell, it is possible that high-speed communication is realized. A discussion on the dual connectivity has just started in 3GPP, but because it is possible that an increase in speed capacity and the like that are indispensable for the future wireless communication system is realized, it is expected that a lot of discussion will be performed extensively into the future.
Moreover, the dual connectivity is described in the present application, but it goes without saying that the same discussion on multi-connectivity that is triple or more connectivity is also possible. For this reason, the dual connectivity may be assumed conceptually to include the multi-connectivity, and it is noted that the dual connectivity may be replaced with the multi-connectivity in the present application.

Wireless communication method, wireless communication system, base station, and wireless station


Provided are an sp2 carbon-containing composition that is highly conductive and that excels in the stability of conductivity over time, a method of manufacturing the sp.sup.2 carbon-containing composition, and a method of peeling graphite to obtain a graphene-containing composition. Further provided are a graphene quantum dot-containing composition and a method of manufacturing the graphene quantum dot-containing composition that provides an improvement in the productivity and the manufacturing cost. A method of manufacturing an sp2 carbon-containing composition according to the present disclosure includes a contact step of bringing a two-coordinate boron cation salt into contact with an sp.sup.2 carbon. Preferable examples of the two-coordinate boron cation include one expressed by the following formula (1). R1—B—R2 Formula (1) [In the formula, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each independently a compound selected from the group consisting of a phenyl group, a mesityl group, 1,5-dimethylphenyl group, 1,3,5-triisopropylphenyl group, 1,5-diisopropylphenyl group, 1,3,5-tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl group, and 1,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl group.]

Graphene consists of a single layer having a two-dimensional structure in which carbon atoms are arrayed in a honeycomb shape, and graphite is a stack of graphene layers. Graphene and graphite excel in strength and conductivity. Thus, it is expected that graphene and graphite will be used in transparent conductive films, capacitors, electrodes for fuel cells, conductive complexes, solar cells, electrodes for storage batteries, electronic papers, transistors, various sensors, and so on.
To expand the application of graphene and graphite for such uses as described above, improvement in their conductivity is important. In one known method of improving the conductivity of graphene, it is doped with a one-electron oxidant (Patent Literature 1). According to the method disclosed in Patent Literature 1, a graphene sheet is exposed to a solution including a one-electron oxidant composed of triethyloxonium hexachloroantimonate to be doped therewith.
Although the manufacturing cost becomes an issue in regard to the use of graphene, a method of obtaining graphene by peeling graphite has been proposed (Non Patent Literatures 1 and 2). In addition, in one proposed method of manufacturing a graphene quantum dot (GQD), graphite is oxidized vigorously with nitric acid, sulfuric acid, or the like to synthesize graphene oxide; a hydrothermal synthesis is carried out thereafter; and graphene is micronized by cleaving epoxy chains to obtain a GQD (Non Patent Literatures 3 and 4). Non Patent Literatures 5 to 7 will be described later.