Methods and systems for improved feedback processing in delta-sigma modulators, including single bit and multi-bit delta-sigma modulators, continuous-time and discrete-time delta-sigma modulators, and digital and/or analog feedback loops. One or more processes are performed in a pipeline having a higher throughput rate than a throughput rate of a delta-sigma modulator. Any of a variety of processes and combinations of processes can be performed in the pipeline including, without limitation, quantization, digital signal processing, and/or feedback digital-to-analog conversion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to data converters and, more particularly, to analog-to-digital data converters, multi-bit analog delta-sigma modulators, and feedback processing.
2. Background
Conventional delta-sigma modulators include single bit delta-sigma modulators, multi-bit delta-sigma modulators, continuous time delta-sigma modulators, and discrete-time delta-sigma modulators. Conventional delta-sigma modulators often utilize quantizers and analog and/or digital feedback. A common example of a function implemented in digital feedback circuitry of a multi-bit analog delta-sigma modulator is dynamic element mismatch shaping.
A common problem in the implementation of delta-sigma modulators, such as multi-bit analog delta-sigma modulators, is delay in quantizer and feedback circuitry. Conventional quantizers and feedback loops operate at the same throughput rate as a main path of the delta-sigma modulator. As a result, each process performed by a quantizer and/or feedback loop adds delay to the feedback signal. Delay can degrade stability of the modulator loop and can degrade noise-shaping performance of the modulator loop. This becomes a more difficult problem in a multi-bit, highspeed modulator, especially as more bits are used in the feedback.
In order to reduce delay, conventional delta-sigma modulators utilize quantizers and feedback circuitry with a small number of clock periods of throughput delay. This, however, limits the number of processing steps that can be performed.
In order to increase the number of processing steps, conventional delta-sigma modulators utilize complex clocking schemes that provide separate clock pulses for different events within the quantizer and the feedback circuitry. In these systems, separate clock pulses are generated for different events that occur within the quantizer and the digital feedback circuitry. Succeeding clock pulses with small delays between them may be used to control succeeding events. Separate clock lines are required for each succeeding clock signal and these signals must be synchronized properly. The additional parasitics and the added complexity of accurately synchronizing numerous clock signals with small delays between them can increase the power, area, and the overall design complexity. These drawbacks can become particularly limiting for high clock rates.
What is needed are methods and systems for improved feedback processing in delta-sigma modulators, including single bit and multi-bit delta-sigma modulators, continuous-time and discrete-time delta-sigma modulators, and digital and/or analog feedback loops.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and systems for high speed quantizers


Method and device for neutralizing, by controlled gas injection, the formation of liquid slugs at the foot of a pipe portion greatly inclined to the horizontal or riser connected to a pipe carrying circulating multiphase fluids such as hydrocarbons.

In order to make deep-sea reservoirs or marginal fields sufficiently cost-effective, oil companies have to develop new development techniques, as economical as possible. It is thus more advantageous to directly transport the two-phase mixture consisting of liquid (oil and a little water) and gas in a single pipe or pipeline to onshore facilities in order to be separated. A pipe portion greatly inclined to the horizontal (often close to the vertical), referred to as riser by specialists, which is connected to the deep-sea pipe, is used therefore. However, the gas and the liquid being transported together, flow instability phenomena may occur in the zone of connection with the riser, which lead to serious development problems.
In particular, when the gas and liquid inflow rates are low, the liquid phase accumulates in the lower parts of the pipeline and stops the gas flowing past. The upstream pressure increases and eventually expels the liquid slug to another low part or even in the phase separator at the outlet. These accumulation phenomena can reduce the productivity and fill pipes designed to receive gas with liquid. One of these phenomena, commonly referred to as severe slugging by specialists, has formed the subject of many studies, either experimental by means of test loops, or by simulation by means of simulation softwares such as, for example, the TACITE simulation code which is notably the object of the following patents or patent applications: U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,761, FR-2,756,044 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,992) and FR-2,756,045 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,187), FR-00/08,200 and FR-00/09,889 filed by the applicant.
This slugging phenomenon is described hereafter in the simple case illustrated in the accompanying figures where a pipe of low inclination and a riser ended by a separator designed to separate the liquid phase from the gas phase are considered.
The liquid accumulates in the lower part of the pipe and tends to stop the gas flowing past. The gas is compressed until the upstream pressure exceeds the pressure due to the weight of the accumulated liquid. A long liquid slug is then pushed by the expanding gas. Under such conditions, an alternating phenomenon is observed, where the liquid blocks the gas phase, then flows off under the pressure of the gas and eventually accumulates and blocks the gas again.
More precisely, the periodic process takes place as follows:
Stage I: the liquid accumulates at the foot of the riser and stops the gas flowing past. The pressure rises;
Stage II: the upper level of the liquid having reached the top of the riser, the liquid phase flows into the separator;
Stage III: the gas pocket reaches the foot of the riser and flows into the riser. The slug flows into the separator with a much higher velocity; the gas pocket <<explodes>> in the riser;
Stage IV: when the gas pocket reaches the top of the riser, the pressure at the foot of the pipe has a minimum value. The liquid falls down along the wall of the riser. It accumulates again at the foot of the riser and a new cycle starts.
A well-known technique referred to as gas lift by specialists allows to overcome this phenomenon. It essentially consists in permanently injecting gas at the base of the riser to prevent the accumulation of liquid at the bottom of the pipe. Since this phenomenon cannot be really controlled, most of the time one is led to inject large amounts of gas, which requires considerable compression means. Furthermore, injection of large amounts of gas substantially modifies the gas-oil ratio (GOR), which complicates the phase separation operations at the top of the riser.

Method and device for neutralizing, by controlled gas injection, the formation of liquid slugs at the foot of a riser connected to a multiphase fluid transport pipe

Abstract: Flow rate control is essentially obtained by injecting, at the base of the riser, a volume of gas proportional to the flow rate variation with time of the gas phase of the circulating fluids, and preferably substantially equal thereto, when this variation is positive. This action can be completed by modulating the injected gas flow by a quantity proportional to the flow rate variation of the liquid phase of the circulating fluids.

Abstract: Applications: offshore hydrocarbon production control for example.


The present invention discloses an infrared clinical thermometer, which can measure both the forehead and ear temperatures, wherein after moving the temperature sensing unit close to an intended site, the user can obtain the temperature of the intended site via merely pressing the forehead or ear temperature button.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermometer, particularly to an infrared thermometer, which can detect the ear temperature and the forehead temperature.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention of the infrared ear thermometer realizes a fast temperature measurement. Especially for a disobedient or sick child, an infrared ear thermometer is more favorable than a mercury thermometer. However, the infrared ear thermometer is not suitable for some people, such as those who have an ear defect. Thus, the principle of the infrared ear thermometer is extended to develop an infrared forehead thermometer.
Refer to FIG. 1. A Taiwan patent No. 463038 disclosed an infrared clinical thermometer capable of measuring the ear temperature and the forehead temperature. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional infrared clinical thermometer 1 comprises a probe 2 at the front end of the thermometer 1, a first switch 3 at a position above the probe 2, a second switch 4 at a position below the probe 2, a first probe cover 5 and a second probe cover 6. The first switch 3 and the second switch 4 are respectively used to start a forehead temperature measurement and an ear temperature measurement. The first probe cover 5 and the second probe cover 6 are respectively used to operate the first switch 3 and the second switch 4. When the user intends to measure a forehead temperature, he sleeves the probe 2 with the first probe cover 5 to operate the first switch 3 and start a forehead temperature measurement. When the user intends to measure an ear temperature, he sleeves the probe 2 with the second probe cover 6 to operate the second switch 4 and start an ear temperature measurement.
However, the conventional technology needs two different probe covers to respectively start a forehead temperature measurement and an ear temperature measurement. Besides, the user will be inconvenienced once the probe cover is lost.
Accordingly, the present invention proposes a more convenient two-in-one infrared clinical thermometer capable of measuring the ear temperature and the forehead temperature to overcome the abovementioned problems.


A converting apparatus includes a storage configured to store correspondence information that indicates correspondence relations between logical addresses accessed by a processor for booting and physical addresses converted from the logical addresses, the correspondence information being correlated with each type of an event booting the processor; and an address converter configured to select correspondence information related to the type of the event, specify a physical address converted from the logical address accessed by the processor in case of the processor accessing a logical address in response to the event, and control the processor to get a program stored in the storage, the program indicated by the specified physical address.

A sensor network (wireless sensor network (WSN)) is known which includes plural sensor-equipped wireless terminals (hereinafter, referred to as "sensor nodes") that are disposed in an installation area and cooperate to gather information that indicates the external environment or a physical state.
An existing technique related to reducing the power consumption in an information processing apparatus is for example a technique that, stops power supply to a processor and peripheral circuits, and when an interrupt controller detects occurrence of an event starts power supply to the processor and the peripheral circuits (see, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-333790). A technique also exists that, when reloading a kernel of an operating system (OS) into a main storage, excludes storage contents related to a non-stop module in the main storage, from objects to be reloaded (see, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-024943).
The conventional techniques above, however, have a problem in that, in activating the processor triggered by the occurrence of an event, the startup period until the activation of the processor is completed becomes longer consequent to branch processing for executing processes according to the type of event that has occurred.

Converting apparatus, conversion method, and information processing system


A method of writing product servo sectors to a disk of a disk drive is disclosed. The disk comprises a plurality of spiral tracks, wherein each spiral track comprises a high frequency signal interrupted at a predetermined interval by a sync mark. The read signal from the head is processed to detect a plurality of the sync marks in a spiral track crossing. A timing recovery measurement is generated in response to a selected one of the sync marks based on reliability metrics, wherein a servo write clock is synchronized in response to the timing recovery measurement. The read signal representing the high frequency signal in the spiral track crossing is processed to generate a position error signal (PES) used to maintain the head along a substantially circular target path while using the servo write clock to write product servo sectors along the circular target path.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to disk drives for computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to fault tolerant sync mark detection while servo writing a disk drive from spiral tracks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When manufacturing a disk drive, product servo sectors 20-27 are written to a disk 4 which define a plurality of radially-spaced, concentric data tracks 6 as shown in the prior art disk format of FIG. 1. Each product servo sector (e.g., servo sector 24) comprises a preamble 8 for synchronizing gain control and timing recovery, a sync mark 10 for synchronizing to a data field 12 comprising coarse head positioning information such as a track number, and servo bursts 14 which provide fine head positioning information. During normal operation the servo bursts 14 are processed by the disk drive in order to maintain a head over a centerline of a target track while writing or reading data. In the past, external servo writers have been used to write the product servo sectors 20-27 to the disk surface during manufacturing. External servo writers employ extremely accurate head positioning mechanics, such as a laser interferometer, to ensure the product servo sectors 20-27 are written at the proper radial location from the outer diameter of the disk to the inner diameter of the disk. However, external servo writers are expensive and require a clean room environment so that a head positioning pin can be inserted into the head disk assembly (HDA) without contaminating the disk. Thus, external servo writers have become an expensive bottleneck in the disk drive manufacturing process.
The prior art has suggested various "self-servo" writing methods wherein the internal electronics of the disk drive are used to write the product servo sectors independent of an external servo writer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,679 teaches a disk drive which performs a self-servo writing operation by writing a plurality of spiral tracks to the disk which are then processed to write the product servo sectors along a circular path. Each spiral track is written to the disk as a high frequency signal (with missing bits), wherein the position error signal (PES) for tracking is generated relative to time shifts in the detected location of the spiral tracks. In addition, the '679 patent generates a servo write clock by synchronizing a phase-locked loop (PLL) to the missing bits in the spiral tracks. However if the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the read signal is low (e.g., over a media defect), a missing bit may be falsely detected at the wrong time creating transients in the PLL which degrades the servo writing process.
There is, therefore, a need to better synchronize a servo write clock when servo writing a disk drive by servoing on spiral tracks.

Fault tolerant sync mark detection while servo writing a disk drive from spiral tracks


A speaker of a portable terminal having a resonance space defined in the portable terminal such that the sound can advance in multiple directions through the resonance space, thereby enabling a user of the terminal to hear a large volume of high quality sound. The speaker includes an internal antenna module disposed at an upper inner portion of the body of the portable terminal and defining a resonance space, and a speaker module integrally assembled with the internal antenna module and disposed under the resonance space formed under the main PCB. Sound generated by the speaker module advances in multiple directions after passing through the resonance space regardless of whether the folder is opened or closed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a speaker for a portable terminal having a resonance space, and more particularly to a speaker for a portable terminal including a speaker module for emanating high quality sound in multiple directions through a resonance space inside the portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, "portable terminals" refer to apparatuses that can conveniently be carried by a user to perform wireless communication. According to their appearance, such portable terminals may be classified into bar-type terminals, flip-type terminals, and folder-type terminals. That is, the bar-type terminal has a single housing shaped like a bar, the flip-type terminal has a flip or a cover which is pivotally mounted to a bar-shaped housing by a hinge unit, and the folder-type terminal has a folder coupled to a bar-shaped housing by a hinge unit in such a manner that the folder can be rotated in order to be folded to or unfolded from the housing.
Additionally, each of the conventional portable terminals necessarily includes an antenna device, data input and output devices, and devices for transmitting and receiving data. The data input is typically a keypad, by which a user can input a data with a finger pressing, or a touch pad or touch screen. A typical LCD may also be used as the data output device.
The conventional portable terminals as described above have antenna devices that can be classified into external antenna devices and embedded antenna devices according to the locations at which the antenna devices are mounted to the portable terminals. More specifically, the embedded antenna devices, which are mounted inside of the portable terminals, impose more spatial restriction on the manufacture of the portable terminals than the external antenna devices.
A portable terminal having such an embedded antenna module as described above is often called an "intenna phone".
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the intenna phone includes an internal antenna module 50, which is directly mounted on a main printed circuit board (PCB) 21 disposed over a rear side of terminal 10, i.e., over a battery pack 22. When the intenna phone 10 is a folder-type portable terminal, a recess for seating a battery pack 22 is formed on a rear side of the terminal 10 to reduce the internal space of a main body 20 of the portable terminal and most of the internal space of the main body 20 is occupied by the main PCB 21, the battery pack 22 and the internal antenna module 50, so there is no more space for seating a speaker device 33. Therefore, the conventional folder-type intenna phone 10 includes an auxiliary PCB 31 disposed in the folder 30 and a liquid crystal display (LCD) unit 32 and a speaker device 33 mounted on the auxiliary PCB 31.
Thus, the folder 30 has a separate space for housing the LCD unit 32 and the speaker device 33. However, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the speaker device 30 is mounted on the folder 30 without a resonance space, thus producing a poor undertone so that the listener cannot hear a wide range of high quality sound.
In addition, the sound produced by the speaker device 33 mounted on the folder 30 shows a large volume difference between the states when the folder 30 has been open and when the folder 30 has been closed. That is, when the terminal 10 is in the closed state, the main body 20 blocks up a speaker hole 34 of the folder 30, thus lowering the sound volume.
Further, because the speaker device 33 is mounted in such a manner to emanate sound in a single direction, the speaker device 33 may fail to exactly transfer the sound to a listener. Also, because the speaker device is housed in the folder 30 without a resonance space, the sound may be either too small or distorted when it reaches a listener located distant from a direction in which the sound advances.
Further, when the speaker device is adjusted to increase its volume in order to prevent such a distortion, a loop phenomenon such as hauling or echo may occur, thus degrading the sound effect and the communication quality of the portable terminal.
Also, if a terminal includes a plurality of speaker devices and resonance/consonance spaces in order to overcome the drawbacks of the aforementioned prior art, the terminal cannot avoid becoming thicker against the tendency toward the greater compactness and slimness.

Speaker of a portable terminal having a resonance space


Products, systems and methods are disclosed for lowering the concentrations of at least one of preservatives and fibrils in a liquid insulin composition. One method comprises replacing at least a portion of at least one of phenol and m-cresol with at least one of cyclodextrins, cyclodextrin polymers, cyclodextrin beads, and an ion exchange resin.

Despite their demonstrated clinical benefits, currently insulin infusion sets are only approved for in vivo usage for only 3 days. Even with this limited approved lifespan, a substantial portion of sets fail to meet this recommended lifespan during practical use. Nevertheless, Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (CSII) therapy represents the most advanced form of insulin delivery technology currently available and administers more precise amounts of insulin in a programmable format as compared to traditional injection methods, which provides increased flexibility and enhanced quality of life for the user. To achieve effective glucostasis using an artificial pancreas, a combination of a highly accurate continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and reliable continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) is required. Although CGM performance and lifespan has significantly improved over the last decade, CSII with a current lifespan of 3 days or less has not. As such the current approved usage lifespans for commercial CGM and CSII devices is highly mismatched with in vivo durations of 10+ days vs. 3d, respectively.
The high occurance of inflammation and scarring at insulin infusion sites in patients with diabetes is well known (i.e. 25-42%) particularly in pediatric populations and whereas infection at insulin infusion sites is also frequently seen. It would be useful to develop products and methods to reduce this inflammation and scarring.

Systems, methods and products for minimizing tissue reactions and tissue injury at an infusion site

Cell and Molecular Tissue Engineering, LLC


An optical cable has a core containing optical fibers, non-metallic peripheral reinforcements to armor the cable and a thermoplastics material outer sheath. It is fabricated by a method including successive steps of applying reinforcements to the core, extruding the sheath over the reinforcements and cooling the cable. The reinforcements are extruded onto the core as it moves through a first extruder. The combination of the core and the reinforcements is then cooled in a first cooling tank. The sheath is extruded in a second extruder downstream of the first, after which the cable is cooled in a second cooling tank downstream of the first.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns dielectric optical cables of the type having a core containing the optical fibers and peripheral reinforcements adapted to serve as armoring of the cable, together with a method of fabricating such cables.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Current optical cables, and principally buried dielectric cables, are armored with glass fibers or with reinforcements obtained by pultrusion so as to give them high resistance to traction and to crushing and to protect them from rodents in the case of buried cables. The reinforcements are made from a cross-linkable (heat setting) resin reinforced with long glass fibers (rovings). They are installed in the cable by means of a rotating cage, which is a slow operation that cannot be conducted in series with the extrusion of the sheath covering the cable.
Apart from the fact that the raw material used to obtain pultruded reinforcements is costly, a cable made in this manner has greater resistance to traction than it needs and that is not justified when it is to be buried.
Document EP-A-0 141 723 discloses an optical cable containing no metal materials and the central core of which comprising optical fibers is surrounded by an extruded protective tubular coating, an armoring and an extruded outer sheath. The armoring is made up of high mechanical strength wires that are laid up onto the protective coating or of fibers that do not have any resistance to compression that are disposed around the coating and stiffened by a binder.
The speeds at which the protective coating is extruded, the reinforcements are applied and the external sheath is extruded are made identical, which results in a relatively slow manufacturing process, quite apart from the fact that it is somewhat complex.
For this reason the aim of the invention is to provide an optical cable in which the reinforcements serving as armoring of the cable are extruded during fabrication of the cable.
Another aim of the invention is to provide a method of fabricating an optical cable that does not require a separate operation to apply the reinforcements.

Optical cable with extruded peripheral reinforcements

Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale D'Electricite


A cosmetic package is provided with an applicator brush head that has rake-like teeth extending from the core of the brush head. Each tooth has a flexible vertical post extending from the brush core to a horizontal beam. Several tines extend vertically from the beam to free ends. When the brush is drawn through a wiper in the product vial, the flexible vertical post allows the rake teeth to bend such that the tines pick up cosmetic product deposited at or near the core of the brush. As the brush head leaves the wiper, the rake-like teeth return to an upright position carrying the cosmetic product at or near the free ends of the tines.

Field of the Invention
The present invention is a cosmetic applicator, more precisely a molded applicator brush. In particular, the present invention is directed to a cosmetic applicator brush for the application of mascara products to eyelashes or brow cosmetic products to eyebrows.
Description of the Prior Art
Molded cosmetic applicator brushes comprising several rows of fine plastic teeth, tines or bristles are well known. Many of these molded brushes include rows comprising a plurality of fine teeth, tines or bristles along the longitudinal axis of the brush core, the rows arranged radially, in a circular duplication of from 4 to 12 rows around the core. Generally, the profile or the design of these teeth, tines or bristles is the same along the length of the brush. Also, these teeth, tines or bristles each have a circular or semi-circular cross-section which is perpendicular to the core of the brush. Many of these standard molded brushes have generally straight teeth.
A problem with the prior art molded brushes is that a majority of the cosmetic product loaded on the brush tends to be accumulated at or close to the core of the brush after the brush is withdrawn from the product vial through a wiper. Yet, cosmetic application, particularly to hair and lashes is better accomplished if the majority of cosmetic product, e.g., mascara or eyebrow cosmetic, is loaded on the molded applicator at or near the surface of the brush defined by the free ends of the teeth, tines or bristles that make up the brush. However, with present applicator and vial designs, as the applicator is withdrawn from the vial, it passes through a wiper. The wiper removes excess cosmetic product near the free ends of the teeth, tines or bristles, i.e., near the surface of the brush defined by the free ends of the teeth, tines or bristles, and pushes the remaining product on the applicator away from the free ends toward the core of the applicator, i.e., at or near the base of the teeth, tines or bristles. Thus, as a conventional brush is withdrawn through a wiper, the majority of cosmetic product, e.g., mascara, is deposited and located near the core of the brush and not at the tips of the teeth, tines or bristles of the brush where it would be readily available for application. It is also known that lashes may not easily penetrate the surface of the brush to pass between the teeth, tines or bristles to access the cosmetic product loaded at or near the core of the brush.
Accordingly, there is a need for an applicator that retains and carries more cosmetic product at or near the relative surface of the applicator, i.e., at or near the free ends of the teeth, tines or bristles, after passing through the wiper.

Molded mascara brush head with rake-like teeth


In a data processing system comprising a graphic tablet and a wireless stylus cooperating with the tablet, the stylus is activated by an activation signal transmitted by a display screen integrated with the tablet. For the activation signal use is made of a signal which is transmitted any way by the display screen in the normal operational mode. The stylus is arranged to receive the signal and to change over from a battery-saving standby mode to an operational mode upon reception of this signal.

The invention relates to a data processing system, comprising a graphic tablet, a wireless stylus capable of transmitting a stylus signal which serves for the detection of a position of the stylus relative to the tablet, and activation means for activating the stylus under the influence of a wireless activation signal.
The invention also relates to a stylus for use in such a system.
Simplicity and ease of operation are important aspects of the user interface in a data processing system. Therefore, contemporary user interfaces increasingly utilize a graphic tablet and a stylus cooperating with the tablet in order to enter commands, selections or text. In such an application the stylus transmits a given stylus signal which is received by loops in the tablet. The received signal is used to determine the position of the stylus relative to the tablet and this position is used as input for the system. A combination of a graphic tablet with a display screen is described in European Patent Application EP-A 0 421 025 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,381; PHN 13.100). This combination provides a versatile user interface with a variety of possibilities for interaction. For example, the display screen can display a dynamically adaptable menu in which the user can indicate a given option by means of the stylus. Another possibility is the acknowledgement on the display screen of information entered by means of the stylus; for example when hand-written text is entered by means of the stylus the result can be displayed directly on the display screen in the same way as if writing takes place by a pen on paper in a traditional manner.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/278209 (PHN 14.792), assigned to Applicant of the present Application, describes a stylus where the stylus signal is dependent on the pressure with which the stylus is pressed onto the tablet. The stylus comprises a device whereby the transmitted stylus signal is detuned in a suitably detectable manner, whereas the tip of the stylus slides into the stylus over a very short distance only.
A system of the kind set forth in the opening paragraph is known from Japanese Abstract 4-140818. This system comprises a stylus with a battery for delivering power for the transmission of the stylus signal. The energy in the battery is limited and replacement is cumbersome and expensive. In the known system the stylus is switched on by detection of a code signal which is transmitted specifically for this purpose by a facility provided in the tablet.
It is an object of the invention to provide a system of the kind set forth in which the operational life of the battery in the stylus is prolonged and which does not require an additional facility to transmit a signal for activating the stylus. To this end, the system in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the tablet is suitable, by way of a display screen included therein, to transmit the wireless activation signal as a consequence of an operational behaviour of the display screen, and that the stylus comprises activation means and is arranged to receive the activation signal transmitted by the display screen. The stylus is now switched on in the presence of a signal which is transmitted any way as an interference signal by the display screen. Consequently, no special facility need be designed and constructed, resulting in lower costs and higher reliability in comparison with the known system.

Data processing system comprising a graphic tablet and a stylus and stylus for use in such a system


An automatic document feeder (3) has a front plate (12) located on one of opposite sides of the document feeder in a direction orthogonal to a feeding direction of documents P on a document tray (4), and on the side opposed to an operator. A rear plate (13) is on the other side opposed to the front plate (12). An intermediate transport unit (32) located between the front plate (12) and the rear plate (13) has a frame with an outer wall surface (37) serving as a lower guide surface of document transport path. The front plate (12) has an outer edge (33) at a height equal to or lower than the outer wall surface (37), so as to allow the operator to visually check the document (P) on the outer wall surface (37) from the direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the documents (P).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic document feeder for allowing documents stacked on a document tray to be automatically fed to and read by an image reading section one-by-one, and an image forming apparatus, such as a copy machine, a facsimile machine or a complex machine thereof, which is equipped with the automatic document feeder.
2. Description of the Background Art
An automatic document feeder is designed to feed documents from a stack of documents placed on a document tray to an image reading section disposed at a given position, one-by-one, so as to allow data described in each of the documents to be read by the image reading section, and then eject the documents onto a document catch tray in sequence. This automatic document feeder can be subject to the risk of a paper jam occurring in a document transport path extending from the document tray to the document catch tray.
With a view to facilitating an operation for clearing a paper jam, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-106086 discloses an automatic document feeder having an openable and closable feeder cover 100, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. More specifically, the automatic document feeder comprises the feeder cover 100 designed to be changed in posture between a closed position (see FIG. 12) and an opened position (see FIG. 13), and an intermediate transport unit 101 designed to be swingably moved in a direction toward which the feeder cover 100 has been opened, whereby each of a first transport path 103 leading to an image reading section 102 and a second transport path 104 extending from the image reading section 102 can be widened and exposed to outside to allow an operator to visually check a document in the first and second transport paths 103, 104 from a position obliquely above the automatic document feeder.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-274694 also discloses an automatic document feeder having an openable and closable feeder cover 110, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. In this automatic document feeder, the feeder cover 110 is moved from a closed position (see FIG. 14) to an opened position (see FIG. 15), and then an inner guide 111 is swingingly moved (opened) in the same direction as an opening direction of the feeder cover 110. In conjunction with the swing movement of the inner guide 111, a feed guide 112 is moved in such a manner as to allow first and second transport paths 114, 115 defined, respectively, leading to and extending from an image reading section 113 to be widened and exposed to outside.
Typically, when used with an image forming apparatus, an automatic document feeder is mounted on an upper portion of the image forming apparatus. Thus, if a paper jam (document jam) occurs in the conventional automatic document feeders as disclosed in the Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 11-106086 and 2002-274694, an operator has to open the feeder cover (100; 110) and look the transport paths (103, 104; 114, 115) from a position obliquely above the image forming apparatus so as to visually check how a document jams in the transport paths (103, 104; 114, 115). This operation involves a problem that an operator who has difficulty in looking the automatic document feeder from a position obliquely above the image forming apparatus, for example, who is in a wheelchair, can hardly check a paper jam by his/her own eyes.

Automatic document feeder and image forming apparatus equipped with the same


In a distributed system, where data is maintained in at least two databases and the data includes at least one data element, the amount of data transmitted during data recovery is minimized by comparing a first total of the data elements of the data in a first database with a second total of a corresponding data elements of corresponding data in a second database. An updating procedure for the data element is initiated if the first total and the second total are not the same.

The invention relates to the recovery of data in a distributed system and particularly to the recovery of data between a master database and in its slave database(s).
The present invention relates particularly to the recovery of data in exchanges of mobile communication systems, although the invention can also be utilized in any system comprising a distributed multiple database system, i.e. a system where data is stored and maintained in at least two different databases. In the following, the invention is described by way of example with reference to mobile communication systems in particular.
In mobile communication systems where several exchanges offer services to the same subscribers, there is the need to maintain for example subscriber location information in multiple exchanges and to transmit this information from one exchange to another. Such a need to transmit subscriber information exists for example in situations where a subscriber moves from one location area to another. Thus, it must be possible to transmit said location area change to all the exchanges maintaining data concerning the location of the subscriber. If data transmission to all the exchanges requiring the information fails, there is a risk of mutually inconsistent data concerning an individual subscriber in databases in different exchanges.
Another situation where there is a risk of mutually inconsistent data is when one of the databases has to be driven down. Since the down-driven database cannot continuously update the changes that have taken place in the data, the data may change in the meantime in the other databases, but remains unchanged in said down-driven database. As a consequence, the data contained in the databases becomes inconsistent, on the one hand in the down-driven database and on the other hand in other normally functioning databases.
The database contents of various databases are maintained consistent by so called periodic recovery. In previously known solutions, in the recovery, all data is transmitted and copied, i.e. dumped, from one database to the other database(s). A problem with this is that all of the data is dumped regardless of whether the data, or part of the data, is the same in the databases. Thus the recovery causes an unnecessarily high load to the network and at least part of the data is transmitted in vain. Brief description of the invention
An object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus implementing the method to eliminate the above problem. The object is achieved with a method, a system and network nodes which are characterized in what is disclosed in the independent claims. The preferred embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.
The invention is based on finding those data elements in the data which need to be updated by comparing the total of a data element in one database with the total of a corresponding data element in the other database(s). If the totals are the same, there is no need to update the data element. A 'total' refers here to all information compact enough from which it can be unequivocally deduced whether the data in a database is the same as the data in another database. The 'total' can, for example, be a sum which is obtained by calculating the data according to a predefined calculation method. Examples of different kind of totals are a checksum, a check total, a proof total and a hash total. An age indicator, e.g. a time stamp, may also be a total in systems where a difference between age indicators implies that data is different.
The most important advantage of the invention is that only the data elements which differ are updated. Thus no data is transmitted in vain and the network load is minimized.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, after the need for an update is recognized, in the database in which the totals are compared, a deduction is made as to whether the data element should be updated in the database or in the other database. On the basis of this deduction the database either starts to update the data element to the other database or indicates the other database in which this data element should be updated. A further advantage of this embodiment is that it enables updating from both databases during one data recovery session.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, a total calculated from the data in one database is compared with a total calculated from the corresponding data in the other database, and only if the totals differ are the data elements which need to be updated searched by a detailed comparison of the data elements. A further advantage of this embodiment is that the databases are not unnecessarily loaded by the detailed comparison of the data elements.


A method and a migration managing module for managing a migration of a service. The migration managing module determines a point in time relating to completion of the migration of the service based on resource requirements related to the service. For each radio network node a respective impact on a quality of the service is estimated. Moreover, the migration managing module selects from among servers at least one respective target server for which the respective server location measure of said at least one respective target server matches the respective radio network node location measure of said each radio network node, thereby obtaining a set of target servers comprising said at least one respective target server for said each radio network node. For each target server, a respective cost of the migration based on the resource requirements related to the service is determined. A respective tendency as a function of said each probability value, the respective cost and the respective impact is determined. A target server of the set of target servers based on tendencies is selected. The migration of the service from the source server to the target server is performed. A computer program and a carrier therefor are also disclosed.

A telecommunication network is often used to access a service, such as a service for streaming of video and/or audio, a service performing language translation or the like. Generally, the service, which is operated by a so called content provider, may execute a certain function and/or may provide content to a user equipment, such as a cellular phone or the like. The services are often located in a so called cloud, such as a data and/or computer center. However, due to changing demands on the services, there has emerged technologies for placing services and/or content closer to the user equipment, e.g. in a base station of the telecommunication network. One such technology is referred to as Mobile-Edge Computing (MEC). MEC offers the content provider cloud-computing capabilities at an edge of the telecommunication network, i.e. in the base station(s) of the telecommunication network. MEC is characterized by low latency and high bandwidth as well as real-time access to radio network information that can be leveraged by services.
A known telecommunication system, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system or the like, comprises a core network, an Internet and Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a radio access network, including one or more base stations. In this context, a cloud system may utilize resources, at least in part, in any part of the telecommunication system, such as the radio access network, the core network and/or the IMS. This means for example that a base station of the telecommunication system serves as a computing resource within the cloud system. Other resources are storage, network capability and the like. A server of the cloud system, typically providing a service, renders content for the user equipment, and/or pre-fetch video, webpages, mails or the like. The cloud system can place the server in the base station, while the base station is a computing resource of the cloud system, in order to put data close to the user equipment and in order to make interaction with the service from the user equipment better, i.e. shorter latency, higher bitrate or the like. In this manner, performance in terms of user experience may be improved.
In order to maintain performance, the server and/or the service need(s) to move as the user equipment moves, or is handed-over, between base stations within the telecommunication network.
However, in existing cloud systems it is often desired to avoid that the server, or cloud server, moved, mainly because of large volume of data to transfer. Here, data may refer to code for performing a function, user content, audio-/video-files or the like. An act of moving the server from a first set of resources, such as a first base station, to a second set of resources, such as a second base station, is commonly referred to as migration of the service and/or the service. A problem of avoiding migration of the server/service between base stations is that performance, e.g. in terms of latency, may degrade. Degraded performance is severe for application with strict real-time requirements, such as augmented reality, online gaming, base station assisted video streaming, etc.
Nevertheless, some known technologies have been developed to enable the cloud system to adapt e.g. networked storage to conditions related to the server and/or service. For example, a service may use networked storage, as part of the cloud system mentioned above. The networked storage may be organized in a hierarchical manner that allows data to be stored locally, e.g. close to or at the base station, when deemed beneficial, and that allows data to be stored centrally, when deemed beneficial.
It shall be acknowledged that for telecommunication networks a Context Transfer Protocol (CXTP) has been specified in Request For Comments (RFC) 4067 provided by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The CXTP allows for transferring a state of the user equipment from one base station to another base station in connection with a handover.
As mentioned above, a server and/or a service may be migrated from one base station to another. A volume of data that needs to be transferred in order to perform the migration may be very large, e.g. from KBs up to GBs. Therefore, it may not be straightforward to apply CXTP also for servers and/services since the migration of the server and/or the service requires a lot of more resources and a lot more time comparing to a transfer of a state of the user equipment in connection with a radio handover.

Method and migration managing module for managing a migration of a service


A semiconductor device having fins and a method of manufacture are provided. A patterned mask is formed over a substrate. Trenches are formed in the substrate and the trenches are filled with a dielectric material. Thereafter, the patterned mask is removed and one or more etch processes are performed to recess the dielectric material, wherein at least one of the etch processes is an etch process that removes or prevents fences from being formed along sidewalls of the trench. The etch process may be, for example, a plasma etch process using NH3 and NF3, an etch process using a polymer-rich gas, or an H2 etch process.

The dominant semiconductor technology used for the manufacture of ultra-large scale integrated (ULSI) circuits is the metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) technology. Reduction in the size of MOSFETs has provided continued improvement in speed, performance, circuit density, and cost per unit function over the past few decades. As the gate length of the conventional bulk MOSFET is reduced, the source and drain increasingly interact with the channel and gain influence on the channel potential. Consequently, a transistor with a short gate length suffers from problems related to the inability of the gate to substantially control the on and off states of the channel.
Phenomena such as reduced gate control associated with transistors with short channel lengths are termed short-channel effects. Increased body doping concentration, reduced gate oxide thickness, and ultra-shallow source/drain junctions are ways to suppress short-channel effects. However, for device scaling well into the N2x nm regime, approaches involving the use of fin field-effect transistors (finFETs) are being investigated to improve the short channel effects.
Generally, fins are produced by etching a trench in a silicon substrate. A liner of in-situ steam generation (ISSG) oxide is formed along the sidewalls of the trench, and then the trench is filled by a high-density plasma (HDP) oxide or a high-aspect-ratio process (HARP) oxide. An etch-back process is typically performed to recess the oxide within the trench, thereby forming the fins. During the etch-back process, however, oxide fences are often formed along sidewalls of the trench due to the differences in the etch rate between the liner oxide and the HDP/HARP oxide. The oxide fences may result in a thinner gate oxide or bottom oxide and may adversely impact the gate leakage performance of the finFETs.
As a result, a structure of and method for forming semiconductor devices having fins with no or reduced oxide fences are needed.

Selective etch-back process for semiconductor devices

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Filtering is performed on original waveform to remove components of a predetermined frequency band from the waveform, and dividing positions of the original waveform data are determined on the basis of envelope levels of the filtered waveform. The dividing positions may be determined on the basis of differentiation of an envelope of the filtered waveform. Rise positions in the original waveform data are detected, and one rise position may be selected from among one or more rise positions detected within a predetermined range of the original waveform and extracted as a dividing position of the original waveform. Presumed beat positions in the original waveform may be detected, and rise positions of the original waveform may be detected within predetermined ranges corresponding to the presumed beat positions. In parallel with reproduction of automatic performance, waveform data are stored in memory along with synchronization control data indicative of relationship in processing timing between the automatic performance and the waveform data.

The present invention relates to an improved waveform data analysis method and waveform data analysis apparatus suitable for automatic performances, particularly automatic accompaniments, executed by personal computers, electronic musical instruments, amusement equipment, etc. as well as a computer program to be used for the waveform data analysis.
Heretofore, there has been known the technique of recording tones of a natural musical instrument or the like of certain lengths and then automatically reproducing the thus-recorded tones repetitively at a rate corresponding to a set tempo. With this technique, often used in an automatic accompaniment of rhythm tones or the like, it is necessary to expand or compress the original waveforms in accordance with a set tempo, in order to avoid reproduction pitch variations. For example, to this end, original waveform data, obtained by stereophonic recording of tones of a natural musical instrument or the like are divided at rise portions (for convenience of description, hereinafter referred to as "waveform data control points") of an envelope and thereby divided into a plurality of sections (for convenience of description, hereinafter referred to as "original sections"). When an automatic rhythm accompaniment or the like is to be performed using such original waveform data, the original waveform data may be reproduced repetitively as they are without being subjected to particular processing, as long as the waveform data are reproduced at a same tempo as when they were recorded (i.e., as long as the reproducing tempo of the waveform data is the same as the original recording tempo).
When, however, the reproducing tempo is to be faster than the original recording tempo, it is necessary to shorten the individual original sections to be reproduced; for this purpose, respective end segments of the original sections may be cut off at a given ratio. For example, if the original recording tempo is "100" and the reproducing tempo is "125", the end segments of the individual original sections may each be cut off by 20% to allow only the remaining waveform data to be reproduced. On the other hand, when the reproducing tempo is to be slower than the original recording tempo, there arises a problem. Namely, if reproduction start timing of the individual original sections is simply delayed in accordance with the desired reproducing tempo, silent segments are produced in gaps between the successive original sections, which tend to become offensive to the ears. Thus, it has been conventional, to add, to each of the gaps between the original sections, a necessary length of the waveform data of the immediately-preceding original section. At that time, the initial amplitude value of a portion of the waveform data to be added to fill in the gap is set to coincide with the amplitude value of a portion of the waveform data immediately preceding the to-be-added portion.
However, the above-mentioned conventional technique has not been satisfactory in that the waveform data control points, i.e. dividing positions for waveform control, can not be necessarily set at appropriate positions. Namely, although the conventional technique is arranged to set the waveform data control point at a position of the envelope where the amplitude exceeds a predetermined threshold value, no waveform data control point is sometimes set automatically even at a position that can be identified as a rise portion through the human auditory sense because the peak does not reach the threshold value. In such a case, a plurality of beats may be undesirably included in a single original section, and the tempo compression/expansion can not be executed properly between these beats. Conversely, at a position where there is a great envelope variation, a plurality of the waveform data control points are sometimes set at the position even though the position is identified as a single beat through the human auditory sense, so that unnatural compression/expansion tends to be executed.
Further, where the original recording tempo and reproducing tempo are different from each other and if the reproduction start timing of the individual sections is controlled simply in accordance with a ratio between the original recording tempo and the reproducing tempo, there would be undesirably produced a sense of "tardiness" or "heaviness" particularly in a waveform having slow rise portions. Specific example of the "tardiness" or "heaviness" will be later explained in relation to FIG. 3A, which may be referred to as necessary. In short, the problem of the "tardiness" "heaviness" is due to the fact that reproducing a waveform time-axially expanded to make the reproducing tempo slower than the standard tempo would make listeners to feel as if beats occurred at timing earlier than preferred timing while reproducing a waveform at a faster tempo than the recording tempo would make listeners to feel as if beats occurred at timing later than preferred timing.
Further, it has been known to use the following devices or software in order to compress or expand an original waveform in accordance with a set tempo.                (1) Sampler: The sampler samples an analog waveform and converts it into digital waveform data. There have been known two major types of samplers, one type for recording a single tone waveform and the other type for recording a phrase waveform made up of a plurality of tones; the other type is commonly known as a "phrase sampler".        (2) Slicer: The slicer allocates serial note numbers to divided waveform data starting with the leading waveform data, and generates and stores automatic performance information composed of the allocated note numbers and timing (dividing positions), i.e. generates and stores sequence data for driving the divided waveform data. Original waveform data (waveform data before the division) can be reproduced by executing an automatic performance on the basis of the automatic performance information at the original recording tempo while triggering the divided waveform data in response to reproduced note-on events. If the tempo is changed, the timing of the note-on events varies in accordance with the changed tempo so that the waveform data as a whole are expanded or compressed in a time-axial direction.        (3) Sequencer: The sequencer reproduces the above-mentioned sequence data. However, in addition to reproducing the sequence data merely as they are, the sequencer can reproduce the sequence data at any desired tempo by increasing or decreasing the reproducing speed as appropriate. Note that the reproduction timing of the individual unit waveform data can of course be independently varied as desired in advance by previously editing the sequence data. As the sequence data are supplied to a suitable tone generator, tone waveforms are reproduced on the basis of the reproduced sequence data.
Let's now consider a case where a new track is added to given original sequence data and additional sequence data obtained by the above-mentioned technique are written into the new track so as to create ensemble (synthesized) sequence data. Because the original sequence data and additional sequence data are recorded independently of each other, merely writing the additional sequence data into the new track would result in undesired timing differences between the original sequence data and the additional sequence data. Thus, there is a need to deliberately adjust the timing of the original sequence data and additional sequence data to accurately coincide with each other, which is a very complex and troublesome task. Particularly, in a case where the tempo of the original sequence data is varied at a halfway position of the sequence data, for example, it is necessary to perform the timing adjustment here and there in a music piece in question. Further, because the conventional technique is arranged to divide the waveform data only on the basis of dividing positions obtained through analysis of an envelope of the waveform data, there is a possibility of the dividing positions being detected erroneously or the waveform data being divided at musically inappropriate positions.

Waveform data analysis method and apparatus suitable for waveform expansion/compression control


The disclosure relates to a method for effectively and efficiently adding sodium trimetaphosphate to a gypsum slurry. In one exemplary embodiment, the sodium trimetaphosphate is added at the same time as foam is added to the gypsum slurry through the foam waterline. In another exemplary embodiment, the sodium trimetaphosphate is added at the same time as additional water is added to the gypsum slurry through the gauging waterline. The sodium trimetaphosphate can be added to either or both waterlines in its dry form or in a diluted solution.

To be commercially profitable, gypsum products, such as wallboard, are typically manufactured by continuous high speed processes. Manufacturers mine and transport gypsum to a mill in order to dry it, crush/grind it and calcine it to yield stucco. The reaction for the calcinations process is characterized by the following equation:CaSO4.2H2O+heat→CaSO4.½H2O+1½H2OThis equation shows that calcium sulfate dihydrate plus heat yields calcium sulfate hemihydrate (stucco) plus water vapor. This process is conducted in a calciner, of which there are several types known in the art. The stucco can contain one of two forms of calcium sulfate hemihydrate: the α-hemihydrate form and the β-hemihydrate form. These two types of stucco are often produced by different means of calcination. While the β-hemihydrate form is normally used due to its lower cost, either type of calcium sulfate hemihydrate is suitable for use.
Calcined gypsum (stucco) has the valuable property of being chemically reactive with water, and will "set" rather quickly when the two are mixed together. This setting reaction reverses the above-described stucco chemical reaction performed during the calcination step. The reaction proceeds according to the following equation:CaSO4.½H2O+1½H2O→CaSO4.2H2O+heatIn this reaction, the calcium sulfate hemihydrate is rehydrated to its dihydrate state over a fairly short period of time. The actual time required for this setting reaction generally depends upon the type of calciner employed and the type of gypsum rock that is used. The reaction time can be controlled to a certain extent by the use of additives such as accelerators and retarders.
While conventional gypsum products have many advantages, it has also long been desired to reduce the cost of manufacturing gypsum wallboard. One method of reducing the cost of wallboard has been to reduce the amount of water used in the manufacturing of the wallboard. Reduction in water reduces the amount of free water left in the wallboard after the setting reaction. A lower amount of free water left in the wallboard results in less drying energy being expended to remove the free water, which in turn saves energy costs associated with drying wallboard (i.e., the fuel cost associated with operating a kiln to dry the wallboard). However, the reduction of water negatively impacts the quality of the board produced (i.e., the strength paper-to-core bond and the compressive strength of the board may be decreased), because the reduction of water usually results in some of the calcium sulfate hemihydrate not being rehydrated to its dihydrate state. Wallboard gets its strength from the formation of crystals of calcium sulfate dihydrate during this rehydration process. The adverse effect on wallboard quality from reduced water levels prevents manufacturers from further cutting manufacturing costs by reducing the amount of water used in the slurry composition.
Moreover, lightweight wallboard is often produced by incorporating excess foam into calcined gypsum slurries, which in turn yield corresponding permanent voids in the product when the set gypsum is formed. Significant concentrations of foaming agents have to be employed to produce the desired concentration of voids in the set gypsum, in order to obtain a product of desired density because the aqueous foams employed are inherently unstable. The instability of the foaming agents leads to many of the bubbles coalescing and escaping the slurry before the set gypsum forms and thus, a significant amount of foaming agent must be used to get the desired lower density. The significant amounts of foaming agents used further increases material costs in the production of wallboard. Moreover, other materials must be used to increase the strength of lightweight wallboard, such as natural polymers (e.g., starch) which further increases the cost of manufacturing gypsum wallboard.
It is known in the art that sodium trimetaphosphate ("STMP") can be utilized in the wallboard manufacturing process to increase the quality of wallboard. While STMP has this effect, it should be noted that the use of STMP in any wallboard manufacturing process is dependent on many factors. For example, STMP is ineffective in high pH level environments (i.e., greater than 10). Some manufacturing plants have to create slurries with high pH levels due to the type of gypsum the plant is using and in those environments, STMP has no effect. In all other environments, STMP can be used to increase the core quality of wallboard and allow manufacturers to reduce the amount of natural polymer (i.e., starch) used to produce wallboard of suitable quality. STMP is a combination of earth metals and is known by the chemical equation (NaPO3)3. In its solid form it is a salt, but when dissolved in an aqueous solution, it is present as a trimetaphosphate ion. It is believed that the addition of STMP to the slurry promotes long crystal growth. Such crystals add the most strength to the core of the wallboard and also serve to form stronger bonds between the core and paper. While in theory, STMP can be used by manufacturers to decrease costs by increasing the core quality of wallboard, it has been discovered in practice that the current methods of adding STMP leads to further problems and delays.
In known manufacturing processes for gypsum wallboard, a slurry is formed by premixing dry and wet ingredients in a mixing apparatus, such as a pin mixer. The dry ingredients can include, but are not limited to, any combination of calcium sulfate hemihydrate (stucco), fiberglass, accelerator, and in some cases natural polymer (i.e., starch). The wet ingredients can be made of many components, including but not limited to, a mixture of water, paper pulp, potash, and in some cases natural polymer (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a "pulp solution"). The pulp solution provides a significant portion of the water that forms the gypsum slurry of the core composition of the wallboard. The dry ingredients and the pulp solution contain the basic chemical components of a piece of wallboard and conventional methods of preparing such wallboards are well known to those skilled in the art. For example, the dry ingredients and pulp solution can be mixed together in a pin mixer. In this manner, the dry ingredients and pulp solution create a fluid mixture or "slurry."
The slurry is discharged from the mixer through the mixer's outlet chute or "boot" which spreads the slurry on a moving, continuous bottom sheet of paper. A moving, continuous top sheet of paper is placed on the slurry and the bottom paper sheet, so that the slurry is positioned in between the top and bottom sheets of paper to form the board. The board can then pass through a forming station which forms the wallboard to the desired thickness and width. The board then travels along a belt line for several minutes, during which time the rehydration reaction occurs and the board stiffens. The boards are then cut into a desired length and then fed into a large, continuous kiln for drying. During drying, the excess water (free water) is evaporated from the gypsum core while the chemically bound water is retained in the newly formed gypsum crystals.
In such manufacturing processes, it is known to add desired quantities of STMP (in either its dry form or in solution) to the dry ingredients or to the wet ingredients. In practice, the STMP added in either of these manners initially dissolve in the pulp solution. However, during the mixing of the dry ingredients with the pulp solution to form the slurry, a portion of the STMP precipitates out as phosphates due to cationic contents in the pulp solution. As a result, the slurry is discharged with only a portion of the originally added STMP being a part of the slurry and an amount of precipitation being left behind in the pin mixer. Over time, the precipitation builds up in the mixer and ends up clogging the mixer. As a result, the manufacturing process needs to be shut down periodically to clean out the mixer. Such delays are costly and it is desired for them to be avoided. It is also desirable to come up with a way to reduce costs by reducing the amount of STMP needed for the manufacturing of gypsum products and to prevent precipitation from occurring.
The precipitation detrimentally affects the quality of the board that is produced because some of the precipitation left in the pin mixer can break down and be discharged through the outlet, which in turn causes paper break down and damage to the forming process which may decrease the gypsum setting time. Accordingly, it is desired to develop a method that allows the STMP to be more effectively and efficiently added to gypsum slurries in order to reduce the amount of STMP needed and to avoid the problems associated with the build up or deposits of phosphates being formed in the pin mixer.

Method of adding STMP to a gypsum slurry


An apparatus and method are disclosed in which ultrasonic vibration is used to assist the degassing of molten metals or metal alloys thereby reducing gas content in the molten metals or alloys. High-intensity ultrasonic vibration is applied to a radiator that creates cavitation bubbles, induces acoustic streaming in the melt, and breaks up purge gas (e.g., argon or nitrogen) which is intentionally introduced in a small amount into the melt in order to collect the cavitation bubbles and to make the cavitation bubbles survive in the melt. The molten metal or alloy in one version of the invention is an aluminum alloy. The ultrasonic vibrations create cavitation bubbles and break up the large purge gas bubbles into small bubbles and disperse the bubbles in the molten metal or alloy more uniformly, resulting in a fast and clean degassing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus in which high-intensity ultrasonic vibration is applied to a radiator that creates cavitation bubbles, breaks up purge gas (e.g., argon or nitrogen) which is intentionally introduced in a small amount into the melt in order to collect the cavitation bubbles and to make the cavitation bubbles survive in the melt, and induces acoustic streaming to disperse the bubbles uniformly in the melt, resulting in a fast and clean degassing of the molten metal or molten metal alloy.
2. Description of the Related Art
Porosity is one of the major defects in the casting of aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, and steels. The formation of porosity is due to a significant solubility difference of gaseous elements in the liquid and solid phases, and an inadequate feeding of the solidification shrinkage of the alloy. For example, in aluminum alloys, hydrogen solubility in molten alloy is much higher than that in the solid. As a result, hydrogen porosity forms during the solidification of aluminum castings. The presence of porosity can be detrimental to the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the castings. Molten aluminum and aluminum alloys also contain solid non-metallic inclusions (e.g. aluminum oxides, aluminum carbides) and various reactive elements (e.g. alkali and alkaline earth metals). Non-metallic solid inclusions reduce metal cleanliness and the reactive elements and inclusions may create unwanted metal properties.
Therefore, before many molten metals and alloys are used for casting, unwanted components that may adversely affect porosity or other physical or chemical properties of the resulting cast product are removed. These unwanted components are normally removed from molten metals by introducing a purge gas below the surface of the molten metal. As the resulting purge gas bubbles rise through the mass of molten metal, the gas bubbles adsorb gases (e.g., hydrogen) dissolved in the metal and remove them from the melt. In addition, non-metallic solid particles are swept to the surface by a flotation effect created by the bubbles and can be skimmed off. If the gas is reactive with contained metallic impurities, the elements may be converted to compounds by chemical reaction and removed from the melt in the same way as the solid particles. This process is often referred to as "metal degassing", i.e. reducing the gas content of a molten metal or metal alloy.
Several methods have been proposed for degassing molten metals and molten metal alloys. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,887,424 describes a process for inline degassing of a molten metal using a rotary device for generating bubbles of inert gas in the molten metal. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,660,614 and 5,340,379 describe devices for injecting gas into molten aluminum. However, in these devices, degassing is a relatively slow process due to the large size of the bubbles that are produced. Other problems associated with these methods are the failure of moving graphite parts and the disturbance of the molten melt surface during rotary degassing, resulting in a significant oxide formation. Furthermore, the purging gas (usually argon) has to contain a few percent of chlorine in order make degassing efficient. Chlorine may be detrimental to the environment.
Molten metal degassing devices using ultrasonics have also been proposed. For example, Japanese patent application JP 2-173205 describes a dipping pipe of a degassing machine having an ultrasonic vibrator attached to the inner wall of the dipping pipe through which molten metal is drawn from a ladle into a vacuum tank. Japanese patent application JP 2-173204 describes a vacuum tank of a degassing machine having an ultrasonic vibrator attached to the bottom wall of the vacuum tank including dipping pipes for circulating molten metal. These methods utilize ultrasonics to assist vacuum degassing but vacuum degassing is seldom used in North America.
High-intensity ultrasonic vibration has been used to create cavitation bubbles for degassing molten metals. These methods can be used for degassing melts of small volume because hydrogen diffused to the cavitation bubble can diffuse back to the molten metal and a part of the cavitation bubbles can not survive for a longer time.
There is still a need for an improved apparatus and method for the degassing of molten metals or molten metal alloys and to eliminate the use of chlorine in the purging gas.

Degassing of molten alloys with the assistance of ultrasonic vibration


An IV catheter includes a catheter having a wall defining a lumen, a proximal end, and a distal end. An adapter has a proximal end, a distal end and an internal cavity. The adapter is in fluid communication with the catheter lumen. A septum is positioned within the adapter cavity at the adapter proximal end. An extension tube extends laterally from the adapter and is in fluid communication with adapter cavity. A tip shield has a distal end, a proximal end and an internal cavity. The tip shield is positioned adjacent adapter proximal end and coaxially aligned with adapter. A hub has a proximal portion, a distal portion and an internal cavity. The hub is positioned adjacent the tip shield proximal end and is aligned coaxially with the tip shield. A cannula has a wall defining a lumen, a beveled distal end, an aperture in the wall of said cannula near the cannula distal end and a proximal end in the shape of a hook. The cannula passes through and is coaxially aligned with the catheter, adapter, tip shield and hub.

The subject invention relates to an IV catheter and introducer needle assembly that includes a needle shield that will safely shield the sharp distal tip of the introducer needle after the needle has been used to insert the catheter into a patient. Specifically, aspects of the invention are related to a needle and hub assembly for use with a catheter and introducer assembly having a needle shield, as well as a method of manufacturing such a needle and hub assembly.
Catheters, particularly intravascular (IV) catheters, are used for infusing fluid, such as normal saline solution, various medicaments and total parenteral nutrition, into a patient, withdrawing blood from a patient or monitoring various parameters of the patient's vascular system. Peripheral IV catheters tend to be relatively short, and typically are on the order of about two inches or less in length. The most common type of IV catheter is an over-the-needle peripheral IV catheter. As its name implies, an over-the-needle catheter is mounted over an introducer needle having a sharp distal tip. At least the distal portion of the catheter tightly engages the outer surface of the needle to prevent peelback of the catheter and thus facilitates insertion of the catheter into the blood vessel. The catheter and the introducer needle are assembled so that the distal tip of the introducer needle extends beyond the distal tip of the catheter with the bevel of the needle facing up away from the patient's skin.
The catheter and introducer needle assembly is inserted at a shallow angle through the patient's skin into a blood vessel. There are many techniques for inserting such a catheter and introducer needle assembly into a patient. In one insertion technique, the introducer needle and catheter are inserted completely into the blood vessel together. In another technique, the introducer needle is partially withdrawn into the catheter after the initial insertion into the blood vessel. The catheter is then threaded over the needle and inserted completely into the blood vessel.
In order to verify proper placement of the catheter in the blood vessel, the clinician confirms that there is flashback of blood in a flashback chamber. Once proper placement of the catheter into the blood vessel is confirmed, the clinician applies pressure to the blood vessel by pressing down on the patient's skin over the blood vessel distal of the introducer needle and the catheter. This finger pressure occludes or at least minimizes further blood flow through the introducer needle and the catheter. The clinician then withdraws the introducer needle, leaving the catheter in place, and attaches an appropriate device to the catheter. Such a device can include a fluid delivery device, a PRN, a deadender cap or a blood pressure monitoring probe. Once the introducer needle is withdrawn from the catheter, the introducer needle is a "blood contaminated sharp" and must be properly handled.
In recent years, there has been great concern over the contamination of clinicians with a patient's blood and a recognition that "blood contaminated sharps" must be disposed to avoid an accidental needle stick. This concern has arisen because of the advent of currently incurable and fatal diseases, such as Acquired Immunosuppressive Deficiency Syndrome ("AIDS"), which can be transmitted by the exchange of body fluids from an infected person to another person. Thus, contact with the body fluid of an AIDS infected person must be avoided. As noted above, if an introducer needle has been used to place a catheter in a blood vessel of an AIDS infected person, the introducer needle, via its sharp distal tip, is a vehicle for the transmission of the disease. Although clinicians are aware of the need to properly handle "blood contaminated sharps", unfortunately in certain medical environments, such as emergency situations or as a result of inattention or neglect, needlesticks with a contaminated introducer needle still occur.
As a result of the problem of accidental needlesticks by "blood contaminated sharps", various needle shields have been developed for use in conjunction with intravenous catheters. For example, needle shields have been designed to secure the tip of the needle within the shield after use, such as disclosed in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/390,499 filed Jun. 20, 2002, Utility application Ser. No. 09/499,331, filed Feb. 4, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,333, or U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,294, each incorporated herein by reference. Certain of these IV catheters with needle shields are operated by physically withdrawing the needle by hand through the catheter until the tip of the needle is within the shield. Specifically, the clinician grasps a hub attached to the needle and pulls it away from the catheter. Consequently, the operation of these intravenous catheters with needle shields depends, in part, on a sound connection between the needle hub and the needle. Generally, the needle hub-needle connection works for its intended purpose but could be improved in certain applications.

Method of forming IV catheter and needle assembly


A method for making a thin cast strip with reduced meniscus marks includes assembling a pair of casting rolls laterally positioned to form a nip therebetween, preparing molten steel having a carbon content in the range of 0.01 to 0.3% by weight, a manganese content between 0.1 and 0.8% by weight, a silicon content between 0.05 and 0.5% by weight, a calcium content between 0.0008 and 0.004% by weight, an aluminum content between 2 and 500 ppm by weight, having a free oxygen content below about 50 ppm at 1600° C., forming a casting pool of the molten steel supported on casting surfaces of the casting rolls above the nip, and counter-rotating the casting rolls cause thin strip to be casted downwardly from the nip.

This invention relates to the casting of steel strip and particularly to casting of steel strip using roll casters.
In a roll caster, molten metal is cooled on casting surfaces of at least one casting roll and formed into thin cast strip. In roll casting with a twin roll caster, molten metal is introduced between a pair of counter rotated casting rolls that are cooled. Steel shells solidify on the moving casting surfaces and are brought together at a nip between the casting rolls to produce a solidified sheet product delivered downwardly from the nip. The term "nip" is used herein to refer to the general region in which the casting rolls are closest together. In any case, the molten metal is usually poured from a ladle into a smaller vessel, from where it flow through a metal delivery system to distributive nozzles located generally above the casting surfaces of the casting rolls. In twin roll casting, the molten metal is delivered between the casting rolls to form a casting pool of molten metal supported on the casting surfaces of the rolls adjacent to the nip and extending along the length of the nip. Such casting pool is usually confined between side plates or dams held in sliding engagement adjacent to ends of the casting rolls, so as to dam the two ends of the casting pool.
When casting thin steel strip with a twin roll caster, the molten metal in the casting pool will generally be at a temperature of the order of 1500° C. and above. It is therefore necessary to achieve high cooling rates over the casting surfaces of the casting rolls. High heat flux and extensive nucleation on initial solidification of the metal shells on the casting surfaces is needed to form the steel strip. U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,336 describes how the heat flux on initial solidification can be increased by adjusting the steel melt chemistry such that a substantial portion of the metal oxides formed are liquids at the initial solidification temperature, and provide high heat flux during the casting campaign. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,934,359 and 6,059,014 and International Application AU 99/00641, formation of the steel shells and strip can be influenced by the texture of the casting surface.
When casting steels in a thin strip casting process, manganese, silicon, chromium and aluminum are typically present at elevated oxygen levels. There is a tendency for the steel composition and slag composition to react with the refractoried used for the molten metal delivery system to distribute the liquid steel along the casting rolls. Specifically, the core nozzles and other refractory components are usually produced from a refractory material, such as alumina or zirconia combined in some proportion with a carbon source. The reaction of steel/slag compositions with the refractories produces carbon monoxide (CO) as a reaction product. The carbon monoxide gas formed as a result of the reaction disturbs the liquid steel pool just prior to solidification and forms waves on the surface of the molten metal in the casting pool. This disturbance can then be solidified in the strip and produces a defect referred to as a meniscus mark. Meniscus marks are defects that manifest as cracks on the steel strip surface. Meniscus marks are illustrated in FIG. 1.

Thin cast strip with controlled manganese and low oxygen levels and method for making same


A high performance acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer blend comprising ABS, polylactic acid (PLA), an acrylic copolymer based lubricant and a polymeric chain extender.

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) was first discovered during World War II when its basis, Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR), was used for alternatives to rubber. Commercially ABS polymers first became available in the early 1950s in an attempt to obtain the best properties of both polystyrene and styrene acrylonitrile.
ABS, however, has several disadvantages. ABS is (1) sensitive to thick sections in articles of manufacture which may cause voids, bubbles or sink; (2) susceptible to attack by hydrocarbons and other organic solvents; (3) exhibits low heat resistance and limited weather resistance; (4) relatively expensive to manufacture; and (5) is petroleum resource based.
There exists a need for materials, such as composite materials, that exhibit similar or improved mechanical properties, such as impact resistance and/or heat resistance, compared to neat ABS while being less expensive to manufacture, and from a resource base that is sustainable.
Numerous efforts have been made to increase the sustainability of traditional petroleum based polymers including blending with renewable resource based polymers. The preliminary research on ABS/PLA blends has showed poor performance due to incompatibility between the two. Several attempts have been made to increase the compatibility through the use of additives.
United States Patent Application No US/20120252977 describes a PLA composition in which PLA is modified with ABS and at least one compatibilizer selected from selected from the group consisting of: a poly (styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene) copolymer grafted with maleic anhydrides, an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer grafted with maleic anhydrides, a polystyrene grafted with maleic anhydrides, and an ethylene-ethyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate. In this application the PLA based blends include from about 34% to 47% by weight (wt. %) PLA, while the ABS can be anywhere from 15 wt. % to 70 wt. %. The highest impact strength alleged is 101 J/m with this system. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
European Patent Application No EP/2706090 describes a blended polymer system that contains polycarbonate (PC), ABS and PLA, and additives such as flame retardants and modified talc. Unfortunately, mechanical properties are not given for these blends, only crystallinity, heat distortion, and flame retardancy are investigated. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
European Patent Application No EP/2700678 describes a biodegradable polymer composite material comprising a biodegradable resin (PLA, polyhydroxybutarate, or polycaprolactone), ABS, and a reactive compatibilizer, such as glycidyl methacrylate, or maleic anhydride. Some improvement was seen relative to PLA properties, but only when high ABS amounts were used. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
United States Patent Application No US/20120220711 describes heat resistant PLA/ABS blends. The blends of this document include an oligomeric chain extender to increase adhesion, thereby increasing the heat distortion temperature. The blends may optionally include a stabilizer, an impact modifier and a filler. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant. The best blend outlined in this document has an impact strength of 102 J/m with a heat distortion temperature of 98.1° C. According to this application, the PLA should be the "significant component", meaning that PLA is present in at least thirty weight percent (30 wt. %) or more of the composition.
United States Patent Application No US 2012/0184672 describes the use of additives to increase the impact resistance and/or heat deflection temperature. The use of an oligomeric chain extender in addition to several other additives, such as plasticizer, fillers, impact modifier, and lubricant are employed. The PLA content in these blends is about 50 wt. % or more. The blends do not include ABS, or a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
Li et al., European Polymer Journal 45(3) 738-746 (2009) describes the use of styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) grafted with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), which is denoted SAN-GMA to act as an intermediary between the two phases. This paper describes a decrease in the size of the dispersed phase (ABS) upon reactive blending, which led to an increase in the toughness of the blend. This increase, however, was modest for the amount of additive that was used. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
Jo et al., Journal of Applied Polymer Science 125 (S2) 231-238 (2012) again attempts to use additives during blending to improve the performance of PLA/ABS blends. Although many different additives were attempted, the researchers showed that the best performance was attained with SAN-GMA in addition to a small amount of thermal stabilizer. However, a great deal of additive was used to achieve a modest improvement, their best blend being over 20 wt. % additive The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
Sun et al. Journal of Applied Polymer Science 122(5) 2992-2999 (2011) explains grafting GMA onto ABS before using it to toughen PLA. The improvement in the impact resistance achieved through this method was substantial. However, the method used to graft the GMA onto the ABS involved polymerizing the ABS from constituent monomers. This adds complexity and cost to the processing of such materials, decreasing their value and potential for use in commercial markets. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
Chevali et al. Polymer-Plastics Technology and Engineering 54 375-382 (2015) describes blending ABS with two natural fibers to form hybrid lignocellulosic biocomposites. With the inclusion of 20 wt. % fiber into the ABS matrix, impact resistance was reduced while the modulus was increased compared to neat ABS. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
Yeh et al. Composites Science and Technology 69 2225-2230 (2009) describes blending ABS with wood flour to form ABS based wood-plastic composites. The composites contained 50 wt. % wood fiber. With the use of coupling agents between the fiber and matrix, they were able to increase the properties of the composites compared to without coupling agent. The blends do not include a lubricant, including an acrylic copolymer based lubricant.
The art described above details blending of ABS with PLA and other bio-based plastics for increased sustainability. However, blends achieving performance similar to ABS has remained difficult to achieve.
There is a need for ABS based materials that incorporate some amount of bio-content to increase the sustainability of the material, and to exhibit performance values that are similar to ABS materials, and methods of making thereof.

Bio-based acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymer compositions and methods of making and using thereof


A dynamic sensor includes a weight having an H shape in a plan view. The weight includes a first weight portion and a second weight portion which have substantially rectangular parallelepiped shapes and are aligned in a short side direction at an interval and a bridge portion which connects the first and second weight portions and extends in the aligned direction. The bridge portion connects the first and second weight portions at an approximate center thereof in a long side direction. Supports are located in a region between the first and second weight portions where the bridge portion is not provided. The first weight portion is connected to a first support via a first beam and to a second support via a second beam. The second weight portion is connected to the first support via a third beam and to the second support via a fourth beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dynamic sensor including a piezoresistive element, and in particular, relates to a uniaxial-detection dynamic sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various dynamic sensors using piezoresistive elements have been proposed. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 63-305256, such a dynamic sensor includes a weight having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a support arranged so as to surround the weight, and beams rotatably supporting the weight on the support. The beams are provided on both opposing ends of the weight and formed in such a shape as to allow the weight to receive an external force to move.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an existing dynamic sensor 10P having the same structure as that of the dynamic sensor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 63-305256. In FIG. 7, with regard to a support 12P, only portions connected to beams 13P are shown, and illustration of the other portion is omitted. In addition, the dynamic sensor 10P has an existing general structure, and thus only an outline of the structure will be described.
A weight 11P is formed in a substantially cubic shape. The beams 13P are connected to approximate centers of two opposing sides, respectively, of the weight 11P on the upper surface side. Each beam 13P is formed in such a shape as to allow the weight 11P to move in response to application of an external force. An end of each beam 13P on the side opposite to the side of the beam 13P to which the weight 11P is connected is connected to the support 12P. The weight 11P, the beams 13P, and the support 12P are integrally formed by, for example, etching a silicon substrate on which a piezoresistive element is formed.
However, in the dynamic sensor 10P having the existing structure as shown in FIG. 7, the following problem arises.
In the existing dynamic sensor 10P, when a force is applied in a direction parallel to an axis (an x-axis in FIG. 7) parallel to the two opposing sides on the upper surface side of the weight 11P to which the beams 13P are provided, the weight 11P oscillates about an axis connecting the two beams 13P (a y-axis in FIG. 7). In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, very small regions near corners at four portions where the beams 13P are connected to the weight 11P and the support 12P are stress occurrence regions 30P.
Here, when a physical characteristic such as acceleration due to an applied force is measured with a dynamic sensor, it is necessary to provide a piezoresistive element in each stress occurrence region 30P.
However, in the existing dynamic sensor 10P, each stress occurrence region 30P has a very small surface area, and thus it is not easy to precisely provide a piezoresistive element in this region. Conversely, it is not easy to realize a dynamic sensor that can accurately detect stress to more reliably measure a physical characteristic such as acceleration.