The invention provides a method and a system that allow users to purchase goods and health-related services over a distributed network, like the Internet. Using a portal or a buyer interface, a user connects to a controller or server through a distributed network either directly or via a service provider. When the user connects to the controller, the controller initiates a validation sequence to identify the portal and the user. When the portal and the user are identified, the controller assigns an access code that defines the user's access rights to the controller. The user can then access fitness, nutrition, and wellness information or purchase goods from the controller, which in one embodiment emulates a web site, or provide access to other linked sites. In addition, the method and system provides users with opportunities to engage in on-line conversations with fitness instructors, coaches, doctors, and others that may be on-line. Moreover, the method and system categorizes users within control groups and develops user improvement plans for improving the users' fitness, nutrition, and/or wellness. The improvement plans, which are based on practical guidelines and advice, are periodically updated by the method and system if the plans are not consistent with the previous expectations. Furthermore, the users are recategorized if the user fails to meet his or her plan.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing on-line customer access to wellness information and retail products through a distributed access network, and in particular, to a method and system that provides distributed access to fitness, nutrition, and wellness information and related products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in distributed technology such as the Internet provide access to a wide range of information. Users can log onto distributed networks at any time and receive a wide range of information ranging from the news to commercial offers. Vast numbers of companies advertise and solicit sales on the Internet, creating a large domain of products and services that is not always accessible or easy to navigate.
A variety of wellness information is available on the Internet through web sites. Some sites are devoted to avoiding illness. These sites do not address improving the quality of life or provide personal exercise and nutrition counseling. Some sites are no more than Internet links. Like many other Internet sites, many wellness sites require a computer to access as well as the time to logon and navigate through all the vendor and commercial media.

Method and system for providing on-line wellness and retail access through a distributed network


A rack server system and an auto-addressing method thereof are disclosed. The rack server system comprises a plurality of backplanes and a rack management controller (RMC). The backplanes comprise a plurality of inter-integrated circuit (I2C) switches. The RMC comprises an I2C channel connected to the backplanes. When the RMC initializes the backplanes, the RMC controls a plurality of reset signals to be an enable level to reset the I2C switches, and automatically addresses a plurality of different I2C device addresses to the I2C switches. The RMC changes the reset signals to be a disable level from the enable level after the RMC addressed the I2C switches.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a computer, and more particularly to a rack server system and an auto-addressing method thereof.
Description of the Related Art
The rack server adopts high density node configuration, centralized power supply unit (PSU) management and heat dissipation system, and is further equipped with a rack management controller (RMC). The user can log on the RMC through a remote network connection to monitor the state of the rack server, such as the state of the nodes, the state of fan control, the state of PSU and the state of rack power consumption. The RMC and the backplanes are connected through an RJ45 signal line. The RMC monitors the temperature and rotation speed of the fan through the I2C device disposed on the backplanes and further communicates with the nodes through the intelligent platform management bus (IPMB). Examples of the I2C device are such as super input/output (super I/O) controllers, I/O expanders, and so on.
The rack server has limited space and can only accommodate 4 backplanes to the maximum. A backplane connects 10 nodes. Each backplane is connected to an I2C channel of the RMC by using an independent I2C bus because the address of each device on the I2C bus is unique and cannot be repeated. When the backplanes are serviced, the power supply to the 10 nodes on the backplanes will be interrupted which is very inconvenient and inflexible.

Rack server system and auto-addressing method thereof


The present invention relates to methods for detecting or quantifying an analyte in a test sample including providing at least one test mixture including a test sample, at least one marker complex, wherein each marker complex includes a particle, a marker, and one member of a coupling group, a first binding material selected to bind to a portion of the analyte, a second binding material selected to bind with a portion of the analyte other than the portion of the analyte for which the first binding material is selected, analyte analog, and/or marker conjugate. The at least one test mixture is passed through a membrane. The amount of marker on the membrane is detected and correlated to the presence or amount of analyte in the test sample.

Nucleic acid detection methods are potentially useful for detecting and measuring the presence of organisms, such as pathogens in food and water supplies. Southern, northern, dot blotting, reverse dot blotting, and electrophoresis are the traditional methods for isolating and visualizing specific sequences of nucleic acids. Each has advantages and disadvantages. For example, gel electrophoresis, often performed using ethidium bromide staining, is a relatively simple method for gaining fragment length information for DNA duplexes. This technique provides no information on nucleotide sequence of the fragments, however, and ethidium bromide is considered very toxic, although safer stains have been developed recently.
If, in addition to length information, there is a desire to determine the presence of specific nucleotide sequences, either Southern blotting, for DNA, or northern blotting, for RNA, may be chosen. These procedures first separate the nucleic acids on a gel and subsequently transfer them to a membrane filter where they are affixed either by baking or UV irradiation (a method that often takes several hours). The membrane is typically treated with a pre-hybridization solution, to reduce non-specific binding, before transfer to a solution of reporter probe. Hybridization then takes place between the probe and any sequences to which it is complementary. The initial hybridization is typically carried out under conditions of relatively low stringency, or selectivity, followed by washes of increasing stringency to eliminate non-specifically bound probe and improve the signal-to-noise ratio.
Originally, probes were often labeled with 32P which was detected by exposure of the membrane to photographic film. Today, however, many researchers are making use of non-isotopic reporter probes. These blotting procedures require more time and effort than simple gel electrophoresis, particularly when low levels of nucleic acid are present. In particular, the entire process to detect a specific sequence in a mixture of nucleic acids often takes up to two days, and is very labor intensive and expensive.
There are a wide variety of DNA and RNA detection schemes in the literature, many of which are available as commercial kits. Nucleic acid detection schemes have seen the same trends in assay design as immunoassays, with efforts directed towards simpler, more rapid, and automatable detection schemes.
Liposomes are of interest as detectable labels in hybridization assays because of their potential for immediate signal amplification. Liposomes are spherical vesicles in which an aqueous volume is enclosed by a bilayer membrane composed of lipids and phospholipids (New, Liposomes: A Practical Approach, IRL Press, Oxford (1990)). Previous studies (Plant et al., Anal. Biochem., 176:420-426 (1989); Durst et al., In: GBF Monograph Series, Schmid, Ed., VCH, Weinheim, FRG, vol. 14, pp. 181-190 (1990)) have demonstrated the advantages of liposome-encapsulated dye over enzymatically produced color in the enhancement of signals in competitive immunoassays. The capillary migration or lateral flow assays utilized in these experiments, avoid separation and washing steps and long incubation times and attain sensitivity and specificity comparable to enzyme-linked detection assays. Nevertheless, for each pathogenic organism, new liposomes and membranes have to be developed. This is a laborious and time-consuming process.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a simple, reliable universal biosensor utilizing generic components compatible with any analyte, such as environmental and food contaminants, including pathogenic organisms. The present invention is directed to overcoming these and other deficiencies in the art.


A clutch housing for a vehicle transmission assembly and a method of making the same. The housing is generally cup-shaped with an axial hub. The outer wall of the housing is formed with a plurality of longitudinal splines of varying configurations. Select splines are formed at an increased depth. A groove is formed in the exterior surface of the housing at a depth sufficient to intersect the select splines of the inner surface thereby forming apertures through the wall of the housing. The dimensions of the apertures are determined by the configuration of the exterior groove and the interior splines.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automatic transmission and transfer case clutch housings and, in particular, to a cost effective method of forming oil escape apertures and speed sensing slots in such clutch housings.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Manufacturers are continually developing more cost effective methods of developing automobile and truck components to reduce the manufacturing costs of vehicles. Metal components may be stamped flow formed from a blank and even formed from powder metal depending upon the configuration of the part.
Clutch housings for automatic transmissions and transfer cases have a generally cup-shaped configuration with an axial hub. The outer wall of the housing includes an inner surface having a plurality of longitudinal splines which determine the operation of the clutch housing in conjunction with variations in transmission fluid pressure. Typically, the clutch housing is flow formed from a blank to the desired configuration. Several machining operations are performed to form the desired configuration including punching apertures in the outer wall of the housing to create oil escape holes. This extra step requires the purchase and use of hole punch machines adding to the cost of manufacturing the clutch housing. In addition, such hole punching machines provide little flexibility in altering the position of the oil escape holes.

Method of forming a vehicle transmission clutch housing


Mold press apparatus for use in the manufacture of molded articles, particularly starch-bound containers and other articles. The mold press apparatus includes a planar array of female mold halves and a corresponding planar array of male mold halves. The planar array of mold halves remain substantially coplanar throughout the process of selectively mating and separating the male and female mold halves. When used to manufacture molded articles from aqueous starch-based compositions, the molds are equipped with venting means, such as vent holes and/or a vent gap, which allow for the escape of water vapor from the mold cavities defined by the mated male/female mold pairs. A suction removal system may be used to remove the molded articles from the mold press apparatus, typically from the female mold halves. The demolded articles are deposited on a conveyor system equipped with individual nests for each article.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mold presses. More particularly, the present invention relates to mold systems whereby corresponding mold halves are reliably maintained in a desired X-Y orientation during the molding of articles, particularly starch-bound articles.
2. The Relevant Technology
There exists a large interest in the development of articles of manufacture that are more environmentally friendly than materials such as paper, paperboard, thermoplastics, polystyrene, glass, wood, and even metals. Environmentally friendly materials of recent interest include starch-based compositions that are foamed or expanded. Such compositions are beginning to make inroads into industries such as paper, plastic, polystyrene, etc, particularly in the field of disposable containers and other packaging materials.
The last several decades has seen the proliferation of disposable articles throughout industrialized nations. The convenience of single-use articles, the need for single-use sterile articles, and the need for disposable light weight and insulative materials have caused the increased use of polystyrene as a preferred container material. Polystyrene is now being manufactured and fabricated into single-use articles, and thereafter abandoned to the environment on a significant scale. Polystyrene has the qualities of sturdiness, light weight, thermal insulation, and containment of liquids among others. Unfortunately, polystyrene is entirely non biodegradable and, although it may be substantially inert to the environment, it along with other materials such as paper, wood, and metals constitute a significant fraction of municipal landfills. Additionally, polystyrene, if incinerated, can release significantly harmful toxins into the environment. In addition to being non biodegradable, polystyrene represents the consumption of the non-renewable resource of petroleum. Additionally, time between planting a tree and harvesting can amount to several years or decades.
A substitute for polystyrene foam has been found in a foamed cellular matrix made from starch that may contain fibers and fillers. One application of containers made of a starch-bound cellular matrix was seen at the Lillihammer Winter Olympic Games where biodegradable containers made by Biopac Corporation were introduced to the public. This technology is now assigned to E. Khashoggi Industries, LLC, of Santa Barbara, Calif. One drawback to these containers was that processing and materials costs were made too high for such containers to be uneconomical viable.
Researchers at EKI have developed improved compositions for manufacturing starch-bound containers that are far less expensive than those made by Biopac. Displacement of a portion of the starch with inexpensive inorganic mineral fillers together with fibers for reinforcement have greatly reduced both materials, as well as production, costs. The result is that such articles are less expensive and more economical to produce. In addition, such articles have far better strength and other mechanical properties, which allows for the manufacture and use of articles that have substantially smaller wall thicknesses.
Another drawback to the molding process as developed by Biopac was that the molding equipment consisted of modified baking molds used to manufacture food items such as waffles, cookies, edible containers and the like. Whereas such molding systems were adequate for molding relatively thick-walled food items and containers, such as those made by Biopac, such systems have proven to be problematic when used in the manufacture of articles having smaller wall thicknesses and stricter product tolerances. An exemplary mold apparatus known in the art for manufacturing bowls is illustrated in FIG. 1.
As seen in FIG. 1, a conventional mold apparatus includes paired male and female molds joined together by a hinge mechanism. The hinge allows the male mold half to be raised up relative to the female mold in order to allow the insertion of mold material therein. Thereafter, the male mold is lowered into the female mold to yield a mated male-female mold pair having a mold cavity defined therebetween. However, hinged male and female mold pairs are prone to excessive variations in mold cavity dimensions such that maintaining a consistent mold cavity throughout an iterative molding process has proven to be quite difficult.
One problem involves the hinge. In order to provide the function of allowing the male mold to open and close relative to the female mold the hinge necessarily allows some degree of motion between the two mold halves. The problem arises where there is significant lateral movement. Even slight deviations from the ideal mating arrangement can yield an uneven mold cavity. For example, where the desired wall thickness of a given article is 2 mm, movement of the male mold by an amount of even 0.5 mm can yield an actual mold cavity having a thickness of 2.5 mm on one side and only 1.5 mm on the other. Such uneven mating not only yields a product that is substantially deformed due to the uneven wall thickness, it may also prevent proper formation of the article in the first instance.
The molding of starch-based articles having a foamed cellular matrix involves rapid expansion of the mold material as a result of formation of internal water vapor as well as removal of the water by evaporation to yield a solidified product. Because the rate of heat transfer is relatively constant between the mold and the mold material, deviations in wall thickness can greatly affect the rate at which a particular portion of the article solidifies or cures. More specifically, areas where the mold cavity is thicker than intended can yield an area of under cured material such that portion of the article upon demolding may be too soft or inadequately formed. On the other hand, overheating the article such as by leaving the article within the mold for longer than is optimal can scorch or burn the article. Thus, areas where the mold cavity is too thin compared to what is optimal may cause burning or scorching of that portion of the molded article. In view of this, the importance of properly mating the female and male molds to yield a substantially uniform mold cavity becomes readily apparent.
In addition to unwanted lateral movement between the male and female mold halves due to the hinge mechanism, which is only exacerbated as the hinge undergoes wear and tear, the mold halves can become misaligned due to fluctuations in mold temperature. It is well known that metals such as aluminum or steel used in many mold systems undergo significant expansion or contraction in response to fluctuations in temperature. Thus, heating the hinged mold apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 can cause mold misalignment due to uneven thermal expansion of the molds, particularly where the molds have varying thickness. Of course it is possible to make adjustments to the molds in order to offset the effects of thermal expansion. However, such adjustments are only feasible while the mold apparatus are not in use and the molds are sufficiently cool so as to avoid injury. Thus, such adjustments are often difficult to make and can cause significant downtime and cost in the overall manufacturing process.
It would therefore be an improvement in the art to provide mold apparatus and systems for maintaining accurate X-Y orientation between the mold halves and which overcame other problems associated with prior art mold apparatus.
It would also be an improvement in the art to provide mold apparatus and systems for molding starch-bound compositions that maintained a sufficient dimension variation tolerance and which avoided the problems associated with molding starch-bound articles having disparate wall thicknesses.
It would be a great improvement in the art to provide mold apparatus and systems that could repetitively and reliably form foamed starch-bound articles while avoiding both under curing and over curing of the starch-based compositions used to manufacture such articles.
It would also be a significant improvement in the art to provide mold apparatus and systems that consistently defined a desired mold cavity and which resisted dimensional fluctuations due to temperature variations through which the mold apparatus must cycle during the molding process.
Another improvement in the art would be to provide mold apparatus and systems that significantly eliminated the necessity of making individual mold cavity adjustments on a regular basis.
Such apparatus and methods for maintaining a desired mold cavity are disclosed and claimed herein.
The present invention encompasses apparatus and systems for molding articles of manufacture. Such apparatus and systems are configured so as to more accurately and precisely maintain proper alignment between an array of corresponding male and female mold halves, thereby better maintaining the dimensional integrity of the mold cavities defined by the male and female mold halves. This results in the ability to more consistently mold articles of manufacture having closely controlled dimensional tolerances. The inventive apparatus and systems are particularly well-suited for the manufacture of molded articles from aqueous compositions which solidify as a substantial portion of the water is driven off by evaporation. Examples of aqueous compositions suitable for use in combination with the inventive apparatus and systems are aqueous starch-based compositions.
In general, the mold apparatus used in the inventive systems comprises a plurality of male and female molds mounted in a pair of two-dimensional planar arrays, with the female molds occupying a first planar array and the male molds occupying a second planar array. The male and female molds within their respective planar arrays are configured and oriented so that the male and female molds will mate to form an array of desired mold cavities. By means of the first and second planar arrays of adjacent molds, the possible degrees of freedom of the various molds are greatly reduced.
The inventive mold press apparatus do not utilize hinged male and female mold pairs. Elimination of the hinges greatly reduces mold misalignment inherent in hinged mold pairs. In addition, the molds within the mold arrays preferably make abutting contact with each other, thereby reducing the tendency of individual molds to slip out of adjustment. The array or grid of molds causes the individual molds to essentially interlock so as to create a plurality of fixed mold halves with little or no freedom to move or slip.
In addition to, or instead of, the molds making abutting contact, the corresponding male and female molds can have interlocking features which ensure proper mating and a reproducible mold cavity. This allows the molds to be self-adjusting.
The foregoing features of the inventive mold apparatus ensure more uniform and reproducible wall thicknesses of the molded articles. More particularly, minimizing fluctuations in the size and configuration of the mold cavities ensures predictable and uniform wall thicknesses during numerous iterations of the molding process. This, in turn, helps to ensure the proper baking time in order to yield molded articles in which the article as a whole has been adequately, but not overly, baked or heated within the mold. Maintaining proper wall thicknesses allows the technician to select a baking time and temperature that will ensure adequate harding of the starting composition while avoiding charring or burning of the starch binder and other heat-sensitive components.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the male and female mold arrays are arranged in a parallel-planar orientation. In this embodiment, the arrays of molds male and female comprise rectilinear arrayed structures that are fastened or aligned together to make a substantially larger composite rectilinear structure. Each of the structures may comprise a series of one-, two- or multi-compartment molds for manufacturing one-piece, hinged two-piece, or multi-pieced articles. Maintaining proper X-Y alignment between the male and female molds in especially important when attempting to mold two-piece and multi-piece articles of manufacture.
Examples of one-piece articles include plates, bowls, trays and boxes. An example of a hinged two-piece article is a xe2x80x9cclam-shellxe2x80x9d sandwich or burger container. An example of the hinged three-piece article is duel hinged claim-shell container. An example of a multiz piece article is a box or other container with a lid or top.
In a preferred embodiment, the mold apparatus will be adapted for use in molding articles from aqueous starch-based compositions. Examples of starch-based compositions and methods for molding such compositions into useful starch-bound articles of manufacture are set forth more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,341; 5,660,900; 5,662,731; 5,679,145; 5,683,772; 5,705,203; 5,709,827; 5,776,388; 5,783,126; 5,843,544; and 5,868,824. The foregoing patents are presently assigned to E. Khashoggi Industries, LLC, located in Santa Barbara, Calif. For purposes of disclosure, the foregoing patents are incorporated herein by specific reference.
Starch-based compositions typically including water, ungelatinized and/or pregelatinized starch, fibers, an inorganic filler and optional components such as a mold release agent. During the molding process, the heated molds preferably cause a sudden increase in the temperature of the aqueous starch-based compositions. This causes the initially ungelatinized starch granules to become gelatinized while also causing a buildup of pressure within the mold cavity due to the formation of water vapor.
In a preferred embodiment, the mold apparatus according to the present invention will include venting means for allowing a controlled amount of water vapor to escape from the individual molds during the heated molding process. Allowing only a controlled rate of water vapor release provides for a desired level of internal pressure buildup within the mold cavity, which assists in causing or allowing the starch-based composition to expand and fill the mold cavity. The venting means will typically include one or more vent holes and/or a venting ring at or near the interface of the male and female molds. The vent holes and/or venting ring should be oriented so as to ensure that the entire mold cavity is filled during the molding process. Otherwise, localized buildups in pressure could cause certain sectors of the mold cavity to resist being filled by the expanding mold composition.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide mold apparatus and systems for maintaining accurate X-Y orientation between the mold halves and which overcome other problems associated with prior art mold designs.
It is also an object and feature of the invention to provide mold apparatus and systems for molding starch-bound compositions that maintain a sufficient dimension variation tolerance and which avoid the problems associated with molding starch-bound articles having disparate wall thicknesses.
It is a further object to provide mold apparatus and systems that can repetitively and reliably form foamed starch-bound articles while avoiding both under curing and over curing of the starch-based compositions used to manufacture such articles.
It is another object to provide mold apparatus and systems that consistently define a desired mold cavity and which resist dimensional fluctuations due to temperature variations through which the mold apparatus must cycle during the molding process.
It is yet another object and feature of the invention to provide mold apparatus and systems that significantly eliminate the necessity of making individual mold cavity adjustments on a regular basis.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.


The multimodal telephone prompts the user using both a visual display and synthesized voice. It receives user input via keypad and programmable soft keys associated with the display, and also through user-spoken commands. The voice module includes a two stage speech recognizer that models speech in terms of high similarity values. A dialog manager associated with the voice module maintains the visual and verbal systems in synchronism with one another. The dialog manager administers a state machine that records the dialog context. The dialog context is used to ensure that the appropriate visual prompts are displayed--showing what commands are possible at any given point in the dialog. The speech recognizer also uses the dialog context to select the recognized word candidate that is appropriate to the current context.

The present invention relates generally to digital telephones and telephone systems, such as private branch exchange (PBX) systems. More particularly the invention relates to a multimodal telephone that provides both voice and touchpad control through an integrated system employing speech recognition and speech generation together with optical display such as an LCD panel. The user communicates with the telephone to perform voice dialing and other system control functions by interacting with the integrated dialog manager that ensures the voice mode and visual/touchpad mode remain synchronized.
The telephone has evolved quite considerably since Alexander Graham Bell. Today, complex telephone stations connect to sophisticated switching systems to perform a wide range of different telecommunication functions. Indeed, the modern-day telephone device has become so sophisticated that the casual user needs an instruction manual to be able to operate it. The typical modern-day telephone device features a panoply of different function buttons, including a button to place a conference call, a button to place a party on hold, a button to flash the receiver, a button to select different outside lines or extensions and buttons that can be programmed to automatically dial different frequently called numbers. Clearly, there is a practical limit to the number of buttons that may be included on the telephone device, and that limit is rapidly being approached.
It has been suggested that voice operated telephones may provide the answer. With a sufficiently robust speech recognizer, the telephone could, in theory, be controlled entirely by voice. It is doubtful that such a device could be successfully achieved using today's technology; simply incorporating speech recognition into the telephone would not result in a device that is easy to use.
Anyone who has been caught in the endless loop of a voice mail system will understand why voice control of the telephone is a significant challenge. It is difficult to offer the telephone user a wide assortment of control functions and operations when those options are prompted by speech synthesis and must be responded to by voice. The user typically has difficulty remembering all of the different choices that are possible and difficulty remembering what the precise commands are to invoke those operations. Also, speech recognizers will occasionally misinterpret a user's command, resulting in the need to abort the command or enter it again. If the user's speech differs significantly from the model on which the recognizer has been trained, the recognizer may also fail to recognize the abort command. When this happens the system may execute an unwanted command, causing user frustration and inconvenience.
The problem is compounded when voice dialing is desired, because voice dialing significantly increases the size of the dictionary of words that must be recognized. Essentially, every new name that is added to the phone directory becomes another word that must be properly interpreted by the recognizer.
The present invention solves the problem with a new approach that integrates voice prompts, visual prompts, spoken commands and push button commands so that the user always has a choice. The telephone includes a dialog manager that monitors the user's spoken commands and push button commands, maintaining both modes in synchronism at all times. The result is a natural, easy-to-use system that does not require an extensive user's manual. The dialog manager displays the commands that are possible, which the user can select by pressing the soft key buttons on the keypad adjacent the visual display or by speaking the commands into the handset. The soft key buttons are push buttons whose function changes according to the state of the dialog. The current function of the soft key button is indicated on the visual display adjacent the button. As the user is first learning the system the visual display provides convenient prompts so that the user will always know what commands are possible at any given time. As the user begins to learn these commands he or she may choose to simply enter them by speaking into the handset, without even looking at the visual display. Of course, even the experienced user may occasionally choose to use the soft key push buttons--when the user cannot use the spoken commands or when entering an abort command to cancel an earlier command that was misinterpreted by the recognizer.
The preferred embodiment of the telephone system is implemented in a modular way, with the voice recognition and synthesis functions as well as the dialog manager being disposed on a circuit card that plugs into a separate card supporting the touchpad, soft keys and visual display functions. The preferred architecture allows the telephone to be manufactured either with or without voice capability or the sophisticated dialog manager. Later, these features can be added to the telephone by simply plugging in the voice card.
By way of summary, the multimodal telephone of the invention comprises a telephone unit having a microphone and a speaker for supporting voiced communication by a user. The microphone and speaker may be incorporated into the handset of the telephone unit according to conventional practice, or they may be separate from the handset. A visual display device is disposed on the telephone unit, the display being adapted for displaying a plurality of different command prompts to the user. The presently preferred embodiment employs a multiline liquid crystal display (LCD) for this purpose. The multimodal telephone further comprises at least one programmable function key for entry of keyed commands by the user. The function key is disposed on the telephone unit adjacent the visual display, so that at least a portion of the command prompts are displayed approximately adjacent the function key. The preferred embodiment uses several such function keys, with adjacent command prompts defining the current function of the key.
A speech module is disposed in the telephone unit. The speech module includes a voice recognizer and a speech generator or synthesizer. The speech module is coupled to the telephone unit so that the voice recognizer is responsive to voiced commands entered through the microphone, and the speech synthesizer provides audible prompts through the speaker.
The multimodal telephone further comprises a dialog manager coupled to the visual display as well as to the function keys and the speech module. The dialog manager defines a hierarchically arranged set of control function states. Each state is associated with one of the command prompts and at least a portion of the states are further associated with one of the audible prompts. The dialog manager is responsive to the voiced commands, and also to the function keys, to traverse the hierarchically arranged set of control function states and select one of the control function states as the active state.
The dialog manager is operative to maintain synchronism between the command prompts and the audible prompts. The dialog manager is also operative to maintain synchronism between voiced commands and keyed commands, so that the state hierarchically adjacent to the active state is displayed as a command prompt and the user has the option to move from the active state to the hierarchically adjacent state by either voiced command or keyed command.
For a more complete understanding of the invention, its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following specification and drawings and to the pseudocode listing in the Appendix.

Multimodal voice dialing digital key telephone with dialog manager

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive body, a light scanning lamp, and a lamp controller. The image forming apparatus has a surface capable of accepting an electric potential. The light scanning lamp can scan a lamp light toward the photosensitive body to change the electric potential of the photosensitive body. The lamp controller moves between a blocking position to block the lamp light from reaching the surface of the photosensitive body, and an unblocking position that is spaced from the blocking position and allows the lamp light to reach the surface of the photosensitive body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which selectively blocks lamp light of a scanning lamp to change an electric potential of a photosensitive body.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image on a printing medium through charging, exposing, developing, transferring and fixing processes. Electrophotographic image forming apparatuses include a laser printer, a photocopier, a multifunction printer, etc.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional image forming apparatus 1 includes a plurality of light scanning lamps 10, developing cartridges 20C and 20K, transfer rollers 33C and 33K, and light scanning devices 43C and 43K. Here, the reference numeral 35 refers to a photosensitive body screen, and reference numerals 25K and 25C refer to cleaning blades.
The respective developing cartridges 20C and 20K include casings 24C and 24K which store cyan and black toners, respectively. The casings 24C and 24K respectively accommodate charging rollers 21C and 21K, developing rollers 22C and 22K, and photosensitive bodies 23C and 23K. The image forming apparatus 1 further includes duplicate structures for yellow and magenta developing, including developing cartridges (not shown) which store yellow and magenta toners respectively, to form a color image.
The photosensitive bodies 23C and 23K are charged by the charging rollers 21C and 21K to a predetermined surface potential. The light scanning devices 43C and 43K scan light corresponding to cyan and black image information, to a surface of the charged photosensitive bodies 23C and 23K. Thus, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive bodies 23C and 23K corresponding to the cyan and black image information.
The electrostatic latent image is developed with cyan and black toners by the developing rollers 22C and 22K to form a visible image with the cyan and black toners on the photosensitive bodies 23C and 23K.
With the foregoing method, yellow and magenta visible images are also formed on photosensitive bodies (not shown) accommodated in yellow and magenta developing cartridges (not shown).
The yellow, magenta, cyan and black visible toner images formed on the respective photosensitive bodies are superimposed and transferred to a printing medium P moving between the photosensitive bodies and the transfer rollers, thereby forming a full color image.
The electrostatic latent image remaining on the photosensitive bodies after being transferred to the printing medium P is exposed by the light scanning lamp 10 to be erased. The light scanning lamp 10 includes a light emitting diode (LED) and emits a charge erasing light in a lengthwise direction of the respective photosensitive bodies. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-30856, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a charge erasing method, and thus the detailed description thereof will be avoided here.
If a user opens a cover, power of the light scanning lamp 10 should be turned off. However, if the light scanning lamp 10 malfunctions and keeps emitting light, a user may be exposed to the light directly.
Also, the photosensitive bodies 23C and 23K of the developing cartridges 20C and 20K may be damaged due to the malfunction of the light scanning lamp 10.
Furthermore, impurities which are introduced by the open cover may be attached to the light scanning lamp 10, thereby contaminating the light scanning lamp 10.

Image forming apparatus with a light scanning lamp blocking device, operating method thereof and a cartridge usable with the image forming apparatus


An improved process for manufacturing transdermal drug delivery devices and devices made therefrom. The invention provides a heat equilibration process for the manufacture of drug delivery devices which eliminates the need to preload the body contacting layer with a drug. The method has particular application in the manufacture of transdermal drug delivery devices including a drug reservoir comprising drug in excess of saturation.

Transdermal delivery devices for the delivery of a wide variety of drugs have been known for some time. Typical devices range from simple monolithic devices such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,434, to devices including in-line adhesives and release rate controlling membranes as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,598,122, 3,598,123, 3,742,951, 4,031,894, 4,060,084, 4,144,317,4,201,211, and 4,379,454, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Such rate-controlled devices generally comprise a backing layer which is impermeable to the drug, a drug reservoir which can contain a permeation enhancer or permeation enhancer mixture in addition to the drug, a contact adhesive layer, and a rate controlling membrane positioned between the drug reservoir and contact adhesive. The layers are typically laminated or heat sealed together to produce a transdermal device.
It is known in the transdermal art to provide the drug reservoir with an initial amount of drug at a concentration at or above its saturation concentration in the reservoir in order to maintain a unit activity source of the drug so that the delivery of drug from the device will remain substantially constant over the intended delivery period. Subsaturated systems, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,379,454, 4,908,027, 5,004,610, and 5,344,656, hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference, are also known in the art.
In addition to providing the drug in the drug reservoir, it is also known to preload the contact adhesive with an amount of the drug. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,201,211, 4,588,580, and 4,832,953, hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference, disclose transdermal drug delivery devices wherein the contact adhesive layer is prepared by solvent casting a mixture of the drug and adhesive. Typically, the preloaded amount corresponds to the amount necessary to provide an initial loading dose which creates a concentration gradient across skin and saturates the skin binding sites underlying the device with the drug to be delivered. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,953 discloses heating a laminate system comprising a dispersion of a liquid in a non-aqueous matrix in order to prevent formation of a crystalline hydrate.
In addition, Cleary "Transdermal Delivery Systems: A Medical Rationale", Topical Drug Bioavailability, Bioequivalence, and Penetration, Plenum Press 1993, pp 17-68, provides additional background information regarding commercially available transdermal drug delivery systems. A reasonably complete summary of the factors involved in percutaneous absorption of drugs may be found in Govil, "Transdermal Drug Delivery Devices", Drug Delivery Devices, Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1988, pp 385-419; Chien "Transdermal Systemic Drug Delivery Recent Development and Future Prospects", S.T.P. Pharma Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp 5-23, 1991; and Cleary "Transdermal Drug Delivery", Skin Permeation Fundamentals and Application, pp 207-237, 1993, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The transdermal route of parenteral delivery of drugs provides many advantages, and transdermal systems for delivering a wide variety of drugs or other beneficial agents have been described. Steroids including testosterone, for example, have been studied for their suitability for transdermal delivery and transdermal drug delivery systems for delivering testosterone are disclosed in the prior art. Current transdermal testosterone systems can be generally classified as either scrotal or non-scrotal systems. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Scrotal systems such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,704,282, 4,725,439, and 4,867,982, are more limited as to the available surface area for drug delivery while, on the other hand, they do not require the use of permeation enhancers. Non-scrotal systems such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,152,997 and 5,164,990, while not as limited in area of application, require the use of multiple permeation enhancers and are thus susceptible to the problems attendant therewith, particularly irritation. Irritation occurs as the skin reacts to topically applied substances, particularly those maintained under occlusion, by blistering or reddening accompanied by unpleasant burning, itching, and stinging sensations. It is desirable to keep the number of possibly irritating substances in a transdermal delivery device to a minimum.
More specifically, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,704,282, 4,725,439, and 4,867,982, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, disclose the transdermal administration of testosterone through intact scrotal skin. These patents teach that scrotal skin provides a five fold increase in permeability to testosterone over non-scrotal skin. Testosterone is provided in an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer matrix and is delivered through scrotal skin without the use of permeation enhancers.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,152,997 and 5,164,990, hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference, disclose the transdermal administration of testosterone through areas of intact, non-scrotal skin. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,990 requires an ethanol carrier and additionally includes a permeation enhancer or permeation enhancer mixture such as glycerol monooleate and methyl laurate in order to deliver therapeutically effective amounts of testosterone through non-scrotal skin.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,262 discloses a system for transdermally delivering a hydrophobic alkanol soluble active agent to the skin at a constant rate utilizing a lower alkanol penetration enhancer. The system comprises an overlying solvent reservoir containing a lower alkanol solvent and a drug reservoir containing an active agent in aqueous alkanol. The two reservoirs are separated by a one way membrane permeable to the alkanol solvent and substantially impermeable to the active agent and water.
WO 96/35427, hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference, discloses a transdermal therapeutic system for the delivery of testosterone which comprises an alcoholic carrier saturated with testosterone and is free of any permeation enhancers. The release rate of the active agent is regulated by the adhesive layer.
WO 97/10812, hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference, discloses methods for manufacturing transdermal drug delivery systems containing supersaturated drug reservoirs which obtain higher drug fluxes. The method involves heating the drug reservoir components to a predetermined temperature and subsequently cooling the drug reservoir components in order to provide a supersaturated reservoir such that it contains only a single phase of drug and reservoir material.
As noted above, it is often desirable to preload the adhesive with an amount of drug in excess of the saturation concentration and this has been done by premixing the drug into the adhesive. However, the process of premixing a drug into the adhesive layer, though enabling an amount of drug in excess of saturation to be initially added to the adhesive, presents considerable practical problems. The drug must be sent to the adhesive supplier to be mixed with the adhesive and subsequently sent back to the manufacturing site where the device is ultimately manufactured. This requires undesirable shipping, time, and perhaps most significantly, this process requires particular facilities at the site of the adhesive supplier which conform with regulatory demands for the manufacture of drug delivery devices.

Drug delivery devices and process of manufacture


A method and apparatus for reduction and prevention of residue formation and removal of residues formed in an immersion lithography tool. The apparatus including incorporation of a cleaning mechanism within the immersion head of an immersion lithographic system or including a cleaning mechanism in a cleaning station of an immersion lithographic system.

Immersion lithography is emerging as a technology for extending optical photolithography to smaller image sizes than currently printable with conventional optical lithography tools. Immersion lithography tools place an immersion liquid in direct contact with the photoresist layer to be exposed and the final image-focusing lens of the immersion lithography system is either immersed in the liquid or placed in very close proximity to the immersion liquid. The immersion liquid allows an increase of the capture angle of the Raleigh criterion of resolution (thus increasing resolution) by application of Snell's law of refraction and thus smaller images can be formed than could otherwise be possible in lithography systems with only air between the photoresist layer and the final image-focusing lens.
However, a significant problem with immersion lithography is the creation of contaminant residues on the photoresist surface and on the surface of the semiconductor substrate in regions where the photoresist is subsequently developed away. These residues can cause physical yield and reliability defects as well as degradation of electrical parameters of the integrated circuit devices being fabricated.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for preventing or reducing formation of contaminant residues and for removing contaminant residues formed during immersion lithography.

Method and apparatus for cleaning a semiconductor substrate in an immersion lithography system

International Business Machines Corporation


A multifunctional dielectric layer can be formed on a substrate, especially on an exposed metallic strip conductor system on a substrate. An additional metal layer is formed across the surface of the exposed metal strip conductors. The metal layer is then at least partially converted to a nonconducting metal oxide, the dielectric layer.

In the semiconductor components that have been disclosed to date, based on Si substrates, it is predominantly copper interconnects that are responsible for the electrical contact-connection of the individual functional layers or functional elements of a level and also between the levels. A particular problem that has emerged with the use of copper interconnects is that Cu atoms can diffuse into the surrounding dielectric and can, therefore, alter the electrical properties of the semiconductor component, even to the extent of rendering it unable to function.
Of course, other substrates, such as glass, GaAs, InP, circuit boards, printed wiring boards, etc., can also be considered as substrates in addition to Si substrates.
To prevent Cu atoms from diffusing into the dielectric, it is customary to use diffusion barriers, which are introduced at the side walls of the Cu interconnects, i.e., are introduced between the Cu interconnect and the surrounding dielectric (SiO2) and consist, for example, of Ta(N). The term Ta(N) used below is in the present context to be understood as meaning a compound with any desired stoichiometry comprising tantalum and any desired proportion of nitrogen. This ensures sufficient protection against diffusion.
However, since the copper layer is uncovered at the top following the patterning of the copper interconnects by means of the standard CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) processing, this copper layer has to be passivated in order to prevent any oxidation. This is achieved by the uncovered interconnect surface (Cu layer) being provided with a suitable dielectric layer, e.g., SiN-PECVD layer.
However, drawbacks of this interface are the weak point in terms of electromigration and stress migration, and the fact that the bonding is less than optimum. By way of example, selective deposition of cobalt on the uncovered metal surfaces by means of electroless electrolysis processes has been attempted with a view to achieving an improvement in this respect, but this has not to date led to the desired level of success.

Process for producing a multifunctional dielectric layer on a substrate


The present invention is directed to an information management system. The information management system has a web server 110 and a database server 120. The database server 120 includes a business card information database 121, a relation database 122 and a user database 123. Therefore, by the present invention, a user distributes the business card information to designated receivers and the receiver transfers the business card information to the selected senders from the identified senders.

Nowadays, the Internet technology rapidly progress and enable the wireless connection as well as the wired connection between Internet media. Accordingly, mobile communication equipments such as mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Data Assistant), Pagers have a wireless Internet browser to wirelessly connect with the Internet.
For instance, mobile phones equipped with the wireless Internet browser can access the Internet and acquire information from it.
The advance of communication technologies including the Internet enhance the convenience of their users. For instance, it is possible to transfer personal or other information via E-mail or from one mobile communication equipment to other mobile communication equipment. Now, the SMS (Short Message Service) is commercialized to send short messages between the mobile communication equipments.
Traditionally, a business card is used to give an information, That is, a personal information is recognized through the card and gives information by means of the recognized information. For instance, one uses a phone number on the received business card to call the provider of the card and send information by voice. Or one can send information by E-mail, the E-mail address being on the business card. Or one can send information by the SMS, the mobile phone number being on the business card.
To make the business card available, it should be printed and delivered to the receiver physically and the receiver should keep storage of it for later use. And, even when sending the same information to multiple business card providers, the information should be sent separately. For instance, one received business cards form three men of a, b and c, respectively and wants to send the same information to these three men via the SMS, he should input three mobile phone numbers of them, the same three information and send them, respectively.
Also, new business cards should be received again or the information on the business cards should be rewritten if the information of the provider are changed. For instance, the business card should be replaced with the newly received card or record to the change should be made on the card.
Furthermore, there is a need to make an additional record with respect to the card provider. For instance, when a business card is provided in connection with a great deal, matters related to the deal should be recorded in relation to the provided business card.
Therefore, it is desirable if one can distribute his or her personal information by use of one business card, easily keep storage of information and send information to multiple card providers at once. Further, it is desirable if renewal of information is easily made when the information of business card is changed and records to the information of business card provider is easily managed.

Information management system by means of portable appliances via wire or wireless Internet and the method for the same


A novel and improved method and system for paging a cellular telephone or other wireless terminal using two paging channels that reduces standby mode power consumption described. In one embodiment of the invention, a minimally encoded quick paging channel is established over which short, quick page messages are transmitted during one of a set of quick paging slots. The quick page message indicates that a communications request has been received, and that the receiving communication terminals should process a highly encoded full paging channel over which more detailed, full page messages are transmitted during the next full paging slot. A terminal monitors full paging channel only after a quick page message has been received on the quick paging channel.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for paging a cellular telephone or other wireless communications device.
II. Description of the Related Art
The IS-95 cellular telephone standard (and its derivatives such as IS-95A and ANSI J-STD-008 referred to herein collectively as IS-95) uses advanced signal processing techniques to provide efficient and high quality cellular telephone service. For example, an IS-95 compliant cellular telephone system utilizes vocoding, error detection, forward error correction (FEC), interleaving and spread spectrum modulation in order to make more efficient use of the available RF bandwidth, and to provide more robust connections. In general, the benefits provided by IS-95 include longer talk time, higher capacity, and fewer dropped calls when compared to other types of cellular telephone systems.
To conduct communications in an orderly manner, IS-95 provides a set of highly encoded channels over which data having different functions is transmitted. These highly encoded channels include a paging channel over which paging messages are transmitted notifying cellular telephones or other types of wireless terminals that an incoming request to communicate is pending. In accordance with the IS-95 standard, paging messages are transmitted at low to medium data rates (4800 or 9600 bps) during time slots that are preassigned to groups of cellular telephones. Table I provides the data included in a General Page Message as an example of typical a paging message generated substantially in accordance with the IS-95A standard.
TABLE IMessage FieldLength (Bits)MSG_TYPE (Message Type)8CONFIG_MSG_SEQ6ACC_MSG_SEQ6CLASS_0_DONE1CLASS_1_DONE1RESERVED2BROADCAST_DONE1RESERVED4ADD_LENGTH3ADD_PFIELD8 × ADD_LENGTHAnd zero or more occurrences of the following page record:PAGE_CLASS2PAGE_SUBCLASS2Page class specific fieldsTypically 2-12 bytes.
Table I is provided simply to illustrate the length of a typical paging message, so a detailed description of the function of each field is not included herein. Such a detailed description may obtained, however, by referring to the well known, and publicly available, IS-95 standard (in particular the IS-95A standard). The paging messages also begin with an eight bit message length field (MSG_LEN), that indicates the length of the message, and end with a 30 bit cyclical-redundancy-check (CRC) field (not shown).
To monitor for paging messages, a cellular telephone periodically monitors the paging channel during the assigned paging slot. In particular, the cellular telephone periodically activates complex RF and digital signal processing circuitry for as long as is necessary to successfully process the paging message. Since the typical paging message is relatively long, and transmitted via a highly encoded low to medium rate channel, the associated processing during each paging slot requires a significant amount time and signal processing resources, and therefore requires a significant amount of power to complete. This reduces the amount of time an IS-95 cellular telephone can remain in standby mode using a battery of given capacity, and therefore is highly undesirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A system 26 for removing elemental mercury or mercury compounds handles carbonaceous sorbent 28 of a starter batch stored in a silo 30 in an agglomerated state. The sorbent 28 is fed by a feeder 32 to a separation device 34, which comminutes (if necessary) and de-agglomerates the sorbent particles 28 to their primary size distribution. This device 34 may be a particle-particle separator or a jet mill, where compressed air or high-pressure steam is the energy source. The de-agglomerated sorbent 28 of a contact batch created from the starter batch is conveyed by an airsteam for injection at a contact location 66 in a flue gas duct whereat carbonaceous sorbent of the contact batch adsorbs mercury from the flue gas.

The present invention relates to apparatus and a method for removing mercury from the products of solid fuel combustion including flue gases and more particularly to apparatus and a method for removing elemental mercury or mercury compounds from the flue gases from coal combustion.
The use of activated carbon for the adsorption of mercury vapor has been successfully demonstrated in various applications such as municipal waste incineration. However, there are significant differences in the concentration of mercury from waste incinerators compared to coal-fired power plants with the concentration from the coal-fired power plants being anywhere from 10 to 100 times lower. Also, the mercury from waste incinerators is usually in the form of mercury chloride whereas the mercury from coal-fired power plants is usually in the form of elemental mercury. Both of these differences make it more difficult to remove the mercury from the flue gas from a coal-fired power plant.
The utilization factor for activated carbon is limited by the relatively large particle size and low surface area which limits the adsorption of mercury. Using activated carbon with mean particle size of about 5 microns with a top size of about 10 microns would improve the mercury capture efficiency, but storage, handling, transport and dispersion of these articles is extremely difficult. As a result, the use of activated carbon for mercury capture in coal-fired power plants is too costly. In such applications, the utilization of the activated carbon is quite low with a minimum mole ratio of carbon to mercury of 10,000 to 1.
Another form of carbon which has been proposed for the capture of mercury from flue gases is carbon black. Carbon black is a finely divided form of carbon produced by the incomplete combustion or thermal decomposition of a hydrocarbon fuel. The most common form of carbon black is referred to as furnace black or soot which is made by burning natural gas or petroleum oil in a closed furnace with about 50% of the air required for complete combustion. The external surface area of the carbon black is about 100 times that of activated carbon. This could result in a significant decrease of the C/Hg mole ratio for effective mercury capture compared to activated carbon. As the market price for carbon black is similar to that for activated carbon, there is the potential for a significant cost reduction.
Carbon black generation for the capture of mercury from a refuse incinerator is disclosed in the International Patent Application PCT/SE93/00163 (International Publication Number WO 93/20926). This is characterized by the burning of a fuel with a deficiency of oxygen in a separate incinerator and injecting the soot-laden flue gas into the flue gas from the refuse incinerator. However, oxygen deficient combustion leads to the generation of other pollutants such as carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons. Even if the flue gas from the carbon black generator were to be injected upstream of an acid gas removal device such as a flue gas scrubber, the carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons would not be destroyed or removed.
Another problem with the application of prior art carbon black and activated carbon-based methods for mercury capture from incinerators to the capture of mercury from coal-fired power plants is that refuse incinerators have high chlorine levels and the mercury is present in the flue gas predominantly as mercury chloride as previously stated. In coal-fired power plants, the mercury is usually elemental. Although carbon black and activated carbon have a relatively high affinity for the adsorption of mercuric chloride, they have a relatively lower affinity for the adsorption of elemental mercury.
Carbon-based sorbents such as activated carbon have been proposed for controlling vapor phase mercury emissions in power plant flue gases. In a conventional method, carbon sorbents are injected in the flue gas duct upstream of particulate removal device such as baghouses and electrostatic precipitators and downstream of air heaters.
The temperature of the location at which carbon sorbents are injected has heretofore been taken into consideration for the reason that it has been suggested that the adsorption capacity of mercury on carbon sorbents is higher at relatively lower temperatures. In this connection, it is also known in the art that physical adsorption (physisorption) of mercury on carbon is reduced with temperature. Consequently, the prior art essentially does not provide any detailed information concerning the desirability of injecting, for the purpose of capturing mercury from gas streams, carbonaceous sorbents at relatively higher temperatures such as, for example, temperatures above about 400° F.
It is also known in the art that vapor phase mercury in the flue gas emerging from the high temperature boiler is in the form of elemental mercury. Oxidation of elemental mercury to oxidized mercury (Hg2+) is beneficial to mercury control since it can be removed more easily by carbonaceous material.
The injection of activated carbon into the flue gas may typically lead to a presence of, or an increase in, carbon in the fly ash, whereupon an amount of carbon in the fly ash above a prescribed limit may prevent the use of this fly ash for the purpose, for example, of concrete manufacturing. The activated carbon, because of its hydrophobic nature, adsorbs air-entraining additives that are used in the concrete formulation. Also due to activated carbon, the fly ash changes its color to dark grey to black. One way of minimizing this air entrainment impact is to oxidize the carbon, making it more hydrophilic. Another way to make the carbon hydrophilic is by impregnating the carbonaceous sorbent with additives that are hydrophilic, e.g., halide salts such as iron chloride. Still another way of minimizing this problem is to reduce the usage of carbon sorbent below a level that impacts air entrainment behavior and discoloration.

Control of mercury emissions from solid fuel combustion


High-field magnets fabricated from high-critical-temperature superconducting ceramic (HTSC) thin films which can generate fields greater than 4 Tesla. The high-field magnets are made of stackable disk-shaped substrates coated with HTSC thin films, and involves maximizing the critical current density, superconducting film thickness, number of superconducting layers per substrate, substrate diameter, and number of substrates while minimizing substrate thickness. The HTSC thin films are deposited on one or both sides of the substrates in a spiral configuration with variable line widths to increase the field.

The present invention relates to superconducting magnets, particularly to magnets fabricated from high T.sub.c superconducting materials, and more particularly to high-field magnets fabricated from high T.sub.c superconducting ceramic thin films.
Since the discovery of superconducting material development efforts have been underway to utilize this material for various applications including coils, solenoids, magnets, etc. The early metal type superconductor, such as a Ti-Nb alloy and Nb.sub.3 Ge had a critical temperature (T.sub.c) which could not exceed 23.2 K and hence the use of liquidized helium (boiling point of 4.2 K) as the cryogen for superconductivity, and thus limited the application of superconducting materials.
The discovery of a new type of superconducting material, generally referred to as an oxide type superconductor, having a much higher T.sub.c was revealed by Bednorz and Miller in 1986, and had a T.sub.c of 30 K. Also, in 1987 the discovery of another type of superconducting material was reported by C. W. Chu et al. having a critical temperature of about 90 K and referred to as YBCO, being a compound oxide of the Ba-Y system represented by YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 0.sub.7-x.
Since the discovery of high T.sub.c oxide superconductor in 1986, research has furiously been underway worldwide to understand and optimize critical parameters of these materials in order to build useful devices based on their extraordinary characteristics. Various classes of these materials can be routinely fabricated by a number of techniques with T.sub.c well above liquid nitrogen (LN.sub.2) temperature (77.3 K at 1 atm pressure) and upper critical fields (B.sub.c2) that are extremely high (measured to be in excess of 100 Tesla (T) for YBCO at 6 K). However, only recently have large area (>1 cm.sup.2) high T.sub.c thin films been grown that have critical current densities (J.sub.c) which surpass the best low T.sub.c superconductors in the presence of magnetic fields. The extentiveness and volume of these prior efforts are exemplified by the following U.S. patents issued during the July-October 1990 time period: U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,142 issue Jul. 17, 1990 to H. Itozaki et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,779 issued Aug. 14, 1990 to W. C. Keur et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,346 issued Sep. 25, 1990 to A. Mogro-Campero et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,348 issued Sep. 25, 1990 to K. Higashibata et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,086 issued Oct. 9, 1990 to W. J. Gallagher et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,247 issued Oct. 23, 1990 to M. Nichiguchi.
The best results are on substrates with: 1) good lattice match to the film, 2) which do not react with the film at the high temperatures required by deposition (about 750.degree. C.), and 3) which have a reasonably well matched thermal coefficient of expansion. The above-referenced U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,948,779 and 4,959,346 have attempted to satisfy these requirements by the addition of a buffer layer between the substrate and the YBCO. These three requirements are well met by substrates fabricated from strontium titanate (SrTiO.sub.3) and lanthanum illuminate (LaAlO.sub.3). Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) is useful as a substrate at all but the highest deposition temperatures, where it starts to react with the YBCO. Large area films of YBCO expitaxially grown on LaAlO.sub.3 were measured to have J.sub.c (4 K, 1 T)=1.times.10.sup.7 A/cm.sup.2 and J.sub.c (77 K, 0 T)=5.times.10.sup.6 A/cm.sup.2. More recent data show J.sub.c about a factor of 2 better than those cited above for LaAlO.sub.3 and SrTiO.sub.3 at the similar conditions, wherein J.sub.c (77 K, 2 T) has been measured to be .about.5.times.10.sup.6 A/cm.sup.2.
An additional requirement for very large area films (>10 cm.sup.2) is an inexpensive substrate with high thermal conductivity for rapid removal of heat (if necessary) during operation of superconductive devices. High thermal conductivity during deposition is beneficial, but not necessary. Such a condition would be met by a substrate of sapphire, but high T.sub.c films tend to react with this substrate at high temperatures. It has recently been reported that high J.sub.c films on sapphire (.about.2-3 times lower than the best results reported previous) using a buffer layer of SrTiO.sub.3. This J.sub.c data is 2-3 orders of magnitude better than the best available data in YBCO wires and tapes. This is the main reason why there are not many new high-field T.sub.c superconducting magnets. In addition, these oxides are very brittle making them extremely difficult to wind.
Further, properly fabricated superconducting material will remain superconducting only if operated: 1) below a certain critical temperature T.sub.c,2 ) below the J.sub.c, and 3) below a critical magnetic field (or magnetic induction) B.sub.c. These three parameters are interdependent and must be known to optimize the design of a useful magnet.
It is thus seen that while researchers have attempted to use high-critical-temperature, superconducting ceramic (HTSC) materials to fabricate useful superconducting magnets that can operate at temperatures well in excess of liquid helium (He) temperature, most of the work has been focused on fabricating wires and tapes from bulk HTSC materials with sufficiently high critical current density (J.sub.c), and although progress has been made, the J.sub.c for wires and tapes remains about two orders of magnitude less than that for large-area HTSC thin films. Thus, there is a need for a magnet fabricated from high-critical-temperature superconducting ceramic thin film. The present invention satisfies that need by providing a high-field magnet using HTSC films formed by stackable disk-shaped substrates coated with HTSC thin films and which can generate fields greater than 10 T.

High-field magnets using high-critical-temperature superconducting thin films

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


A vital information measuring device includes: a measuring unit for measuring certain vital information concerning a living body; a storage for storing therein a signal outputted from the measuring unit as measurement data; a vital information acquirer for acquiring a sleep apnea index based on the measurement data stored in the storage; a display section for displaying the sleep apnea index acquired by the vital information acquirer; and a device body for integrally mounting the measuring unit, the storage, the vital information acquirer, and the display section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vital information measuring device for measuring vital information such as an arterial blood oxygen saturation or a pulse rate.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is used a pulse oximeter in the field of diagnosing a sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,379 corresponding to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-153139/1989, for instance). The pulse oximeter has a measuring unit which is detachably attached to a predetermined measurement site of a living body i.e. a subject. The measuring unit is constructed in such a manner that light is outputted toward the measurement site of the living body, and an oxygen saturation (SpO2) in blood of the measurement site is measured based on the amount of light transmitted through or reflected from the measurement site.
Also, the pulse oximeter is communicable with an external device e.g. a personal computer incorporated with a predetermined program. For instance, when data concerning a blood oxygen saturation (hereinafter, called as "blood oxygen saturation data") obtained from a subject by overnight pulse oximetry is outputted from the pulse oximeter to the personal computer, the program in the personal computer is activated to calculate an ODI (Oxygen Desaturation Index), which represents a change in blood oxygen saturation with time, or the number of times when the blood oxygen saturation is lowered than a predetermined threshold value per unit time, based on an average of the measurement data.
In the conventional art, a user of the pulse oximeter is required to connect the pulse oximeter to the personal computer, and to designate an operation of acquiring the ODI using the personal computer. In this arrangement, the ODI cannot be promptly confirmed after the measurement is completed. Also, the above operation is cumbersome for the user.


In at least one implementation a carburetor includes an intake bore with a port opening into the intake bore, a fuel chamber from which fuel is supplied to the intake bore, and an accelerator device including a fuel reservoir. A fuel flow control valve is provided between the fuel chamber and the port to control the flow rate of fuel to the port and at least one passage communicates the fuel reservoir with the port and fuel in the fuel reservoir is supplied to the port therethrough. The passage also communicates the fuel reservoir with the fuel chamber. The fuel flow control valve is located between the fuel reservoir and the port and between the fuel chamber and the port, and the passage includes a portion extending between the fuel reservoir and the fuel chamber independently of the fuel flow control valve.

Some small internal combustion engines for handheld power tools such as chain saws, grass trimmers, weed trimmers, leaf blowers, and the like have carburetors with an internal accelerator pump which supplies additional fuel to the operating engine in certain operating conditions. The accelerator device can temporarily increase the amount of fuel delivered to the engine when the throttle valve is opened fully for improving the acceleration of the engine. This additional fuel is needed to smoothly and rapidly accelerate the engine without stumbling, particularly when the engine is under a load.


A method and apparatus for producing any desired m-phase, n-th order electrical system in a converter-fed device, in which an n-th order voltage system is formed in such a manner that a determined stationary voltage vector, which is related to the n-th order electrical system, is transformed from a reference system rotating at n-times the fundamental frequency into a fixed reference system, and up to m voltage pilot control signals are produced from these rotating voltage vectors. Using this method, any desired n-th order electrical system can be impressed on, or suppressed in, phase currents of a converter-fed device.

When converters are used to feed electrical systems, for example three-phase machines or three-phase mains systems, the current also contains, in addition to the desired first order positive phase-sequence system, n-th order systems which are undesirable, for example because of the additional losses that they cause.
If one wishes to suppress n-th order electrical systems, then a corresponding voltage system must be produced for this purpose, which is supplied, as pilot control for manipulated variables, to a converter-fed system.
The article "Koordinatentransforationen fur MehrgroBen-Regel-systeme zur Kompensation und Symmetrierung von Drehstrom-netzen" (Coordinate Transformations for Multi-Variable Control Systems for Power Factor Correction Balancing of Three-Phase Mains System) by W. Meusl and H. Waldmann, printed in the German journal "Siemens Forsch.--und Entwickl.--Ber.", (Siemens Research and Development Reports) Volume 6, 1977, No. 1, pages 3 to 12, describes a control system, also called a multi-variable control sytem, for a solid-state power factor corrector which is used in a three-phase arc furnace. This control system always drives thyristors of the solid-state power factor corrector such that the reactive current load on the mains system is as low as possible, as constant as possible and such that the load on the mains system overall is as balanced as possible. In the representation using symmetrical components, this task is defined as follows:
The reactive element of the positive phase-sequence system of the mains current should be as small and constant as possible. At the same time, the negative phase-sequence system should be as small as possible, overall.
Since there is no neutral connection in this arrangement, the zero phase-sequence system is always equal to zero.
The article summarizes the most important relationships between a number of component systems, and illustrates these relationships in matrices in Table 1. When phase currents ((R,S,T) components) are converted into balanced components ((0, 1, 2) components), a (0, .alpha., .beta.) system can also be used, as shown in Table 1. Implementation of direct conversion requires greater equipment complexity.
In this multi-variable control system for a solid-state power factor corrector, analysis of the furnace currents produces the n-phase and reactive current components of the positive phase-sequence system, characterized by index 1, and of the negative phase-sequence system, characterized by index 2. The n-phase current components of the positive phase-sequence system are not processed any further. The reactive current components of the positive phase-sequence system and both components of the negative phase-sequence system are intended to be canceled out by the power factor correction system. These components are used as reference variables in this control system. The control variables are determined from the currents on the mains system side of the power factor correction system, using the same method as for the reference variables. Since this control system essentially has to process only reference variable changes, pilot control is used. The outputs of the positive phase-sequence system reactive current component controller, of the. negative phase-sequence system in-phase current components controller and of the negative phase-sequence system reactive current component controller are transformed into phase variables, which are then converted into control signals for the thyristors of the power factor correction system. This control system is used to generate control signals for each phase of the power factor correction system, as a result of which specific values are obtained for positive phase-sequence and negative phase-sequence systems on the mains side.
This control system influences only the components of the first order positive phase-sequence and negative phase-sequence system, and not n-th order electrical systems.
In the case of a direct converter with an open circuit, harmonics can occur despite sinusoidal control of the phase voltages if the back e.m.f. produced by the load, as a rule a motor, has a waveform which is not sinusoidal. Special synchronous machines produce a back e.m.f. which may contain a high proportion of 3rd harmonics. In the case of the salient pole machine which is used very frequently, it is possible, by appropriate design of the airgap, to achieve the production of a very good sinusoidal back e.m.f. on no load, but, when loaded, field distortion occurs as a result of the pole axis being shifted with respect to the axis of the rotating field, and causes corresponding harmonics of the back e.m.f. which is produced.

Method and apparatus for producing any desired M-phase, nth order electrical system in a converter-fed device


The present invention assigns appropriate IP addresses to hosts in a local network depending upon the desired features for each host. A list of hosts in the network along with features available for each host may be generated, for example, by a graphical user interface displayed to a user. The user may select a desired feature for a specific host in the network. The selected feature may be analyzed to determine if it requires a static IP address for the host, and if required, a static IP address may be assigned to the host. If the specified feature requiring the static IP address is subsequently disabled, the static IP address may be returned to a pool of available IP addresses, and a dynamic IP address may be assigned to the host. The IP addresses are preferably assigned to the host in accordance with the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

Office and home local area networks are becoming extremely popular. Local networks may provide a system for sharing available resources and transferring data among devices within the network. An example of a protocol for local networks is the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). An advantage of DHCP is that a DHCP server automatically assigns an Internet Protocol (IP) address to each DHCP client or host on a local area network. Such automatic assignment of IP addresses allows easier use by consumers because it does not require any user interaction. As a result, the DHCP server is typically always enabled on small office or home local area networks.
However, several advanced consumer features require that a user identify a specific host and assign a static IP address to the host. For example, blocking of Internet access from a host or designation of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) host in a local area network may require a fixed IP address. For networks in which the DHCP server is always enabled, the user is not allowed to assign fixed or static IP addresses to hosts as required. Further, even if the user has the ability to assign fixed IP addresses to hosts, it is difficult for consumers, especially users of a home network, to determine whether a host has a specific feature which requires a static IP address and then to manually obtain and assign a static IP address to such a host.
Consequently, it would be advantageous if there were a method and a system that assigned appropriate IP addresses to hosts on a local area network depending upon the features of the hosts desired by the user. It would also be advantageous if there were a method and a system that provided a list of hosts in a local area network and the features of each host to a user, allowed the user to select the features desired for each host, determined if a static IP address was required for each host based upon the user's selections, and assigned a static IP address to each host if required.

Method and system for assigning an IP address to a host based on features of the host


In a method for recognizing corners of an angular component, an image of a subject including the angular component is taken and outline pixels of the angular component are detected. Vector sums of first and second position vectors are calculated based on the outline pixels. A reference value having a predetermined magnitude is sampled from the vector sums. A threshold value for detecting corners of the angular component is calculated based on the reference value. The vector sums are sequentially compared with the threshold value in order to judge whether or not the corners thereof are detected according to the comparison result. It will be decided whether an operation of recognizing the corners thereof has succeeded through detecting corners of the angular component. The corners of angular component can be recognized at a high speed through the exact performance of the recognition processes, thereby mounting the components to an accurate position of the printed circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip mounter, and more particularly to a method for recognizing corners of an angular component such as a square component in the chip mounter to be mounted on the printed circuit board (PCB).
2. Prior Art
In general, PCBs are boards on which several electronic components are integrated. The dense wiring of the electronic components on the PCBs can be accomplished through a printing method. Recently, single pattern PCBs are being miniaturized with high density double faces or multiple layers so that the single patten PCBs can be manufactured in large quantities at one time. Moreover, an industrial robot equipped with an apparatus which can perform a sight function that is highly adaptable and efficient has been proposed.
A chip mounter includes an image recognition device constituted by a cognitive camera, an image signal processor, and a microprocessor. The chip mounter recognizes a posting of chip components which adhere to a nozzle and controls corners and an angle of the chip components at the next station according to the recognition result. In order to exactly recognize and correct the location and the angle of the square component 104 which adhere to the nozzle, the chip mounter controls the image recognition device to take a picture with respect to an image of the square component 104. The chip mounter judges a posting of chip components through the image thereof and corrects the chip component to an accurate posture by using the judged posting thereof. Accordingly, an operation for recognizing the posting of the chip components which are adherent to the nozzle should be performed. A performance of the chip mounter is influenced by how precisely and quickly the recognition process is performed. If the recognition operation is carried out in an abnormal state, the chip mounter cannot mount the chip components at the corresponding position by component data which are stored therein, resulting in a deterioration of the quality of the produced goods.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,869 issued to Timothy R. Pryor et al. discloses a method and apparatus for electro-optically determining dimension, location, and altitude of objects. A first embodiment of the method and apparatus describes optical triangulation based coordinate measurement of complex surfaces, such as gear teeth and turbine blades. Another embodiment provides highly useful sensors for robot guidance and related purposes. However, the patent of Timothy R. Pryor et al. does not disclose a method for recognizing corners of a square component.

Method for recognizing corners of an angular component


The thrust reverser includes, in one aspect, an interior flow deflector which defines a portion of a substantially continuous and uninterrupted nozzle interior surface with the interior of a jet pipe when the door is in a stowed position, thereby reducing aerodynamic losses and improving efficiency. In another aspect, improved sealing arrangement between the jet pipe and the door provides increased performance when the doors are stowed.

Thrust reversers on gas turbine engines have to fulfill two functions: while stowed, to provide an exhaust nozzle for the direct thrust generated by the engine; and while deployed, to redirect the engine thrust to order to provide a decelerating force after landing. Since almost the entire flight sequence occurs with the thrust reverser in the stowed position, it is desirable that the presence of the thrust reverser does not degrade the direct thrust performance of the engine.
While many thrust reversers models have been used successfully for a number of years, there is a need to provide an improved arrangement.

Thrust reverser for a turbofan gas turbine engine


A non-asbestos friction material not containing a heavy metal and a heavy metallic compound as the blending ingredients of the friction material is provided with graphite and coke in total from 5 to 25 vol % in volume of friction material. A volume ratio of the graphite/coke is preferably from 2/1 to 7/1. An average particle size of the coke is preferably from 150 to 400 μm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-asbestos friction material. In particular, the present invention relates to a friction material for use in industrial equipments, railcars, baggage cars and passenger cars, which is improved in balance controlling performance between wear resistance, preventing ability of metal catch, cracking resistance, and braking ability. Particularly, the present invention relates to a friction material capable of preventing environmental pollution by not containing metals and metallic compounds. More specifically, the invention relates to brake pads, brake linings and clutch facings for use in the above uses.
2. Related Art
Friction materials for use in brakes such as disc brakes and drum brakes or clutches include a friction modifier for giving friction ability and controlling the friction ability, a fibrous material for reinforcement, and a binder to integrate these components. Of these materials, the fibrous material may include the kinds of a metallic fibers an inorganic fiber, and an organic fiber. These fibers have respective characteristics and one kind alone cannot satisfy all the requirements, so that two or more kinds are usually used in combination.
On the other hand, as materials for controlling friction characteristics of the friction material, there are the friction modifier and a solid lubricant. These materials also include inorganic and organic materials, and they have respective characteristics and one kind alone cannot satisfy all the requirements, so that they are usually used in combination of two or more kinds. As the examples of friction modifiers, inorganic friction modifiers, e.g., alumina, silica, magnesia, zirconia, chromium oxide, quartz, etc., and organic friction modifiers, e.g., synthetic rubber, cashew resin, etc, are exemplified. As solid lubricants, e.g., graphite, molybdenum disulfide, etc., are exemplified.
As fillers, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, metallic powder, vermiculite, mica and the like are used.
As friction materials obtained by blending these ingredients capable of restraining the attack on the mating member, and improved in fading resistance and wear resistance, non-asbestos friction materials of various kinds of blending are suggested.
Various advantages can be obtained by blending a metal in the form of a metallic fiber or metallic powder into the friction material, such that structural reinforcement may be achieved, adhesive frictional force by transfer to the mating member may be obtained, high thermal conductivity and heat radiation may be ensured, so that various kinds of metals have been used hitherto.
However, various environmental problems caused by these metals are posed in these days such as pollution of river and ocean, harmful effect on human body and the like, and the countermeasures are now required.
As an example of the countermeasures, JP-A-2004-155843 discloses a non-asbestos friction material manufactured by molding a non-asbestos friction material composition mainly including a fibrous material containing at least a steel fiber excluding asbestos, a binder, and a filler, and curing the molded product, wherein a petroleum coke having an average particle size of from 50 to 150 μm and hard inorganic particles having an average particle size of from 5 to 30 μm are contained. JP-A-2004-155843 discloses that the non-asbestos friction material is capable of responding to the requirements of customers for the latest friction material increased in performance, light weight, miniaturization, and low costs, and is well balanced in wear resistance and friction coefficient and, further, hardly accompanied by squeaky noise and foreign sound at the time of braking. However, as is clearly shown in Examples 1 to 5 of Table 1 of JP-A-2004-155843, since this non-asbestos friction material contains 10 vol % of copper powder, there is the possibility of causing harmful influences on human body and environment.
Similarly, JP-A-58-061169 discloses a non-asbestos friction material composition suitable for use as a friction element essentially including a thermosetting binder, a fibrous reinforcing material, and Aramid polymer pulp fiber in an effective amount to form good structural integrity of the preform manufactured from the friction material, which is a friction material improved in bending strength, friction coefficient and wear resistance. However, the friction material composition contains a copper fiber and a brass fiber or copper and brass as the metal powders, so that there is the possibility of causing harmful influences on human body and environment similarly to JP-A-2004-155843.
Further, for the purpose of securing wear resistance at high temperature high load, the friction material contains metal sulfide.
However, certain kinds of metal sulfides are ascertained to have influences on human body and environment, and further expensive, so that disadvantageous from the aspect of manufacturing costs.
For the purpose of providing a friction material for brake not containing materials containing heavy metals such as Cu, antimony and the like, JP-A-2002-138273 discloses the technique of manufacturing a friction material for brake containing a fiber component, a binding component and a friction controlling component, wherein magnesium oxide (MgO) and graphite are contained in the friction material in an amount of from 45 to 80 vol %, and the volume ratio of the magnesium oxide to graphite (MgO/graphite) is from 1/1 to 4/1.
JP-A-2002-138273 discloses that the invention can provide a friction material for brake having high temperature friction performance and mechanical characteristics the same or higher than those of conventional non-asbestos friction materials even when heavy metals and heavy metal compounds such as a Cu fiber, Cu powder and Sb2S3 powder are not contained.


A power tool includes: a drive unit for a tool; an operating device for activating the power tool; a measuring device for measuring a motion of the power tool; and a filter for filtering at least one measured value of the measured motion. The operating device is configured to reduce a power output of the drive unit when the filtered, measured value corresponds to a state of reduced ease of operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power tool and a method for operating a power tool.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, it is known, for example, from Published German patent application document DE 101 03 142 A1, that a starting safety routine against instances of locking-up during starting may be provided, in which for a brief period of time, an electric motor is connected to the power supply system via a determinable resistance and a limiting value and/or the switch-off time for a safety routine against tool jamming is set by measuring the angle of rotation of the rotor over the period of time as a function of the start-up behavior of a rotor during the period of time.