Provided herein are water harvesting systems, as well as methods of making and using such systems, for capturing water from surrounding air using a design that reduces overall energy costs of the systems and improve water harvesting cycle efficiency. The systems and methods use sorbent materials, such as metal-organic frameworks, to adsorb water from the air. The systems and methods desorb this water in the form of water vapor, and the water vapor is condensed into liquid water and collected. The liquid water is suitable for use as drinking water.

Conventionally, the process of harvesting water from air with sorbents comprises a water harvesting cycle including three energy-intensive stages: adsorption of water vapor from air to a sorbent, desorption of water vapor from the sorbent, and condensation of desorbed water vapor into liquid water. For example, during the adsorption stage, humid environmental air may be blown across a desorbed (activated) sorbent bed. Molecules of water can diffuse through the porous interior of the sorbent bed and become adsorbed by the sorbent. The adsorption stage is completed when the sorbent bed becomes fully saturated with water. Following the adsorption stage, a desorption stage can be initiated by directly or indirectly heating up the sorbent bed to release water vapor. The desorption stage is completed when the sorbent bed becomes desaturated of water. During the condensation stage, water vapor generated during the desorption stage can be directed to a condensation chamber, where the water vapor cools and condenses into liquid water. Through repetitive cycles of adsorption, desorption and condensation, sorbent-based water harvesting can provide a method to produce water from air.
Generally, there are two heating methods to release water from the saturated sorbent bed: first, direct heating that involves heat transfer from a heat source directly to the surface of the sorbent bed support structure, the sorbent bed, or the sorbent; and second, an indirect heating that involves heating the air surrounding the sorbent bed support structure, the sorbent bed, or the sorbent. Both direct heating and indirect heating can be achieved with resistive heating. Desorption typically requires significant energy, including a latent heat portion related to the desorption energy to change water associated with the sorbent to water vapor, and a sensible energy portion related to heating one or more of the sorbent bed support structure, the sorbent bed, or the sorbent. Potentially, the energy spent on desorption can be recovered during the condensation stage and then reintroduced into the system for desorption. Generally, resistive heating does not provide for recovery of energy spent on desorption.
What is desired in the art are commercially viable water harvesting systems for harvesting water from surrounding air that by comparison to conventional water harvesting systems reduces energy costs and/or improves efficiency in water production during the water harvesting cycle.

Heat pump-based water harvesting systems, and methods of using thereof


A backlight assembly includes a receiving container, lamps, a diffusion plate and a lamp-fixing member. The receiving container includes a bottom plate and sidewalls together providing a receiving space. The lamps are arranged substantially parallel to each other on the bottom plate. The diffusion plate is disposed over the lamps. The lamp-fixing member includes a body portion extending substantially perpendicular to the lamps, a buffer protruding upwardly from the body portion, a diffusion plate supporting portion protruding from the buffer to support the diffusion plate and a lamp-fixing portion formed at the body portion to fix the lamps. Therefore, the buffer having elasticity is formed at an area at which the diffusion plate supporting portion is formed, so that rubbing between the diffusion plate and the diffusion plate supporting portion may be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly, a liquid crystal display ("LCD") apparatus having the backlight assembly and a method of manufacturing a lamp-fixing member. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly having a lamp-fixing member which prevents a diffusion plate from moving to improve display quality, an LCD apparatus having the backlight assembly and a method of manufacturing the lamp-fixing member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display ("LCD") apparatus displays an image using liquid crystals. The LCD apparatus is a flat panel display apparatus. The LCD apparatus has various merits compared to other display devices, such as thin thickness, low driving voltage and low power consumption, for example, but is not limited to the foregoing. Therefore, the LCD apparatus has been widely used in various fields.
The LCD apparatus is a non-emissive type display apparatus. Therefore, the LCD apparatus requires a backlight assembly to supply an LCD panel with light.
The backlight assembly includes at least one lamp which generates light. For example, a plurality of cold cathode fluorescent lamps ("CCFL") having a long cylindrical shape may be employed by the backlight assembly as the lamps. According to the position of the at least one lamp, the backlight assembly is classified as either an edge illumination type backlight assembly or a direct illumination type backlight assembly.
In the case of the edge illumination type backlight assembly, one or two lamps are disposed adjacent to the side edge surface of a transparent light-guide plate. The edge illumination type backlight assembly produces multiple reflections of the light using one surface of the light-guide plate, and emits the light to the LCD panel. In the case of the direct illumination type backlight assembly, a plurality of the lamps is disposed under the LCD panel, a diffusion plate is disposed over the lamps, and a reflective plate is disposed under the lamps, so that the direct illumination type backlight assembly respectively diffuses and reflects the light emitted from the lamps. Therefore, the edge illumination type backlight assembly is used for a relatively small-screen LCD apparatus, such as a notebook computer, a monitor, etc. On the other hand, the direct illumination type backlight assembly is used for a large-screen LCD apparatus with high luminance.
In the case of the direct illumination type backlight assembly for use in the large-screen LCD apparatus, a length of the lamps and a size of the diffusion plate are increased. Therefore, the backlight assembly includes a lamp-fixing member which fixes the lamp and supports the diffusion plate.
More specifically, the lamp-fixing member includes a lamp-fixing portion to fix the lamp and a diffusion plate supporting portion to support the diffusion plate. However, when the diffusion plate freely moves due to vibration of the LCD apparatus, the vibration causes rubbing between the diffusion plate and the diffusion plate supporting portion. The rubbing results in rubbed regions on the diffusion plate, thus deteriorating a display quality of the LCD apparatus.

Backlight assembly, liquid crystal display apparatus having the same and method of manufacturing lamp-fixing member


A chain rammer for ammunition includes a ram head, a rammer drive including two drive wheels connectable to a rotary drive for rotating the drive wheels and two separate chain strands each being connected with the ram head and each passing through the rammer drive for being driven in one of a chain advance and chain reversal direction by a respective one of the two drive wheels. The chain strands are arranged to come into abutting relationship at the rammer drive when driven in the chain advance direction and for separating from the abutting relationship at the rammer drive when driven in the chain reversal direction. Each chain strand includes chain links having hooks arranged to grasp an oppositely disposed chain link when the strands come together at the rammer drive in the chain advance direction to establish a firm mechanical connection between the two chain strands and so that such connection is released again when the chain strands move in the chain reversal direction.

The present invention relates to a chain rammer for ammunition wherein two separate chain strands are connected with a ram head and are driven by respective drive wheels of a rammer drive in a chain advance and a chain reversal direction.
Chain rammers including stiff-backed ram chains have been known for a long time and are employed as a pushing device for displacing and ramming large-caliber ammunition into automatic loading systems. They are employed specifically where limited space does not permit a ram rod, for example in a tank turret.
German Patents Nos. 173,815, 206,290 and 217,977 disclose chain rammers which are composed of a link chain equipped with a ram head and a ram drive. The link chain is arranged so that movement in the direction of the rammer causes the link chain to be joined into a rigid chain strand.
Such chain rammers are of a relatively costly construction in order to give them the necessary stiffness in the chain advance direction. Due to the use of only one chain, the rammer drives must be very robust and of a space consuming design. Finally, problems have arisen in connection with lateral chain paths since sufficient rigidity of the chain is difficult to realize for such operation. As a result, the chains are generally supplied from the bottom, with the axle of the drive wheel lying parallel to the bottom plate of the tank.
In order to overcome the drawbacks of the above-mentioned rammers, it has been proposed to employ two separate chain strands connected with a ram head on the driving side of the drive mechanism. On the intake side of the drive mechanism, the two separate chain strands are guided in rails which are adapted to the spatial conditions of the environment. The stiff back of the respective chain strand is based on the specific shape of the chain links which, combined into a chain strand, permit only a bending movement in one direction until they are stretched out. On the driven side, the chain strands lie rigidly next to one another without any mechanical connection. The chains are brought in by way of rammer drive wheels arranged horizontally relative to the bottom plate of the tank, and thus generally also relative to the ground.
Such chain rammers have the drawback that during the pushing movement the chain strands tend to roll and the two chain strands drift away from one another. This drawback increases with increasing pushing force and with increasing ram path length.


Means of preserving 1,5-pentanediamine or a salt thereof without deterioration is provided. 1,5-pentanediamine or a salt thereof is preserved by adjusting any of a water content of 1,5-pentanediamine or a salt thereof purified through a distillation process, a temperature condition, and a material that comes into contact with 1,5-pentanediamine or a salt thereof.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for preserving 1,5-pentanediamine or a salt thereof, a method for preventing discoloration of 1,5-pentanediamine or a salt thereof, and 1,5-pentanediamine or a salt thereof in a container. In the description, 1,5-pentanediamine is hereinafter written as "1,5-PD."
Brief Description of the Related Art
1,5-PD is a substance that is predicted to be in a demand as a resin raw material such as a polyamide resin or a pharmaceutical intermediate. Since 1,5-PD can be produced from a non-petroleum-based raw material, 1,5-PD industrially has attracted attention for its potential usefulness for reduction in environmental impact.
1,5-PD can be produced by dry-distilling lysine or decarboxylating lysine using an enzyme. In view of the demand, research and development of a method for producing 1,5-PD or a salt thereof in an industrial scale have intensively proceeded, but knowledge about a preservation method after production has been elusive. A preservation method in which the pH of a solution containing 1,5-PD and the like is adjusted to a predetermined range has been disclosed (Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-174476).

Method for preserving 1,5-pentanediamine or salt thereof, method for preventing discoloration of 1,5-pentanediamine or salt thereof, and 1,5-pentanediamine or salt thereof in container


A device and method are disclosed, whereby the normally complicated and difficult frequency determination is achieved by simply arranged and executed measures, namely by means of larger, smaller and/or equal comparisons and a counting of certain events. The invention further relates to arrangements whereby the noise signal level, or the influence thereof on the verification to be carried out is reduced.

Such a device and such a method are needed, for example, in the so-called "splitterless integrated voice and data line card".
Splitterless integrated voice and data line cards are electrical circuit boards which are used in telecommunication switching centers (called central offices hereinafter). They have the responsibility for                receiving voice data obtained from telecommunication subscribers (called clients hereinafter), identifying these data as voice data, converting them into PCM-coded data and forwarding them, and        receiving data obtained via the same line as the voice data and coming from an XDSL modem existing at the client (called client modem hereinafter), identifying these data as data coming from a client modem, converting them into ATM-coded data and forwarding them.
Splitterless integrated voice and data line cards can be constructed in different ways. The splitterless integrated voice and data line card considered at present is a lite version which is standardized in ITU G.lite. ITU G.lite allows parts of the splitterless integrated voice and data line card to be placed into an energy saving mode in which they need much less energy than in normal mode. To wake up the splitterless integrated voice and data line card (in order to be able to put the splitterless integrated voice and data line card back into normal mode if necessary), ITU G.lite defines a so-called wake-up sequence. According to this, the splitterless integrated voice and data line card must be brought from the energy saving mode into the normal mode when it receives a signal with a certain maximum power and one of three predetermined frequencies from the client modem.
The fact that parts of the splitterless integrated voice and data line card can be placed into an energy saving mode is found to be of great advantage since an extraordinary large number of splitterless integrated voice and data line cards may be needed in central offices and considerable energy saving is thus possible.
Utilization of the possibility of placing parts of the splitterless integrated voice and data line card into an energy saving mode presupposes that placing it back into the normal mode functions reliably.
The main problem here is, in particular, the check as to whether a signal with one of the frequencies at which the splitterless integrated voice and data line card must be placed back into normal mode is being received.
This is found to be difficult                because the line between the client modem and the central office via which the wake-up signal is to be transmitted can be a line of any length and, in consequence, can have very great attenuation (e.g. a line with a length of approx. 4 km can already have approx. −60 dB attenuation),        the transmission of the wake-up signal can be disturbed by noise and by crosstalk,        because it can happen that the wake-up signal must pass through parts of the splitterless integrated voice and data line card which are in the energy saving mode, as a result of which the wake-up signal does not arrive with its full power at the device which has to check whether a wake-up signal is being received.
There are doubtlessly possibilities the use of which makes it possible to detect reliably whether a wake-up signal is being received even under these circumstances. However, no possibilities are known which can be implemented in a simple, small and inexpensive manner and, nevertheless, operate reliably. However, the characteristics lacking in the conventional devices and methods are a very important criterion particularly because of the very large number of splitterless integrated voice and data line cards which must be provided.

Device and method for checking whether a signal with a predetermined frequency is being received


A new dental flossing system comprising; a.) Multiple compact floss dispensing cartridges having quick attachment means to a driver to advance floss contained within said floss dispensing cartridge, b.) A packaging container for multiple said compact floss dispensing cartridges and c.) Drive extension attachment means to configure new and existing dental drivers for use with said compact floss dispensing cartridges. The unique features built into said compact floss dispensing cartridge comprise; a plaque accumulator, containment of additive materials to the floss before use, and floss tension control. Novel system features built into said drive extension attachment means comprise; a self-locking gear train, auxiliary motion to said compact floss dispensing cartridge and quick attachment means to said compact floss dispensing cartridge. The new dental flossing system enhances the use of dental floss materials and dental drivers to advance floss and to remove plaque without depositing collected plaque on to other teeth.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dental flossing systems and components that advance dental floss by use of a driver. Novel components of the new system comprise; a new compact floss dispensing cartridge having unique features therein and quick attachment means to said driver. The invention also includes drive extension means to configure existing drivers to advance floss contained within said compact floss dispensing cartridge. The new system further consists of a dedicated storage container that holds multiple said compact floss dispensing cartridges.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of hand held dental floss was introduced by Levi Spear Parmly in 1815, who used a silk thread to floss in between teeth. Although the materials have changed over the years, hand held dental flossing is still the most effective method of removing plaque and food particles trapped within interdental spaces and subgingival areas. Trained dental professionals are best at instructing flossing by hand. The preferred method utilizes 18-24 inches of floss wound around fingers. A small segment of the floss is pressed or worked in between teeth. The floss is then moved back and forth as well as up and down to remove plaque and trapped food particles. The floss is then repositioned so that a new section of floss is used for cleaning in between each space to prevent collected plaque from being re-deposited on to other teeth, interdental spaces or subgingival areas. The act of hand flossing is a bit awkward for many people to administer on themselves; it is especially hard to position fingers in the posterior regions of the oral cavity to floss in between molars. Many users will redeposit collected plaque onto other teeth if they do not utilize different portions of the string for cleaning each interdental space. There are many manufacturers of floss string, threads and tapes, each material providing unique features and properties. There are different sizes, material types, textures and flavors available to serve numerous intended markets.
Plaque and food particles collected on used dental floss materials contain a high level of bacteria. For sanitary considerations, it is desirable that used floss string be disposable. Likewise, it is also desirable for portions of a flossing device that are exposed to used floss be disposable.
There are popular flossing devices currently being offered in the marketplace having a compact removable two-pronged component that supports a fixed length segment of floss in between both prongs. One such product is offered under the trademark "Reach". This device improves the ability to reach into the back portions of the oral cavity and can dislodge trapped particles of food and large portions of plaque. The use of a single fixed length segment of floss to remove plaque from multiple teeth during a flossing session causes a fundamental problem. The fixed length segment of floss will collect plaque from the first space cleaned between teeth and can then redeposit the plaque onto subsequent teeth, interdental spaces and subgingival areas cleaned.
Other devices add vibratory movement to the pronged component having a fixed length of floss, one such product described in U.S. patent D493,577 S to Winkler is currently offered in the market place under the trademark "Hummingbird". U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,041 to Ritter provides improved action to a fixed length of floss. Applying movement to the fixed length of floss can assist in the loosening of particles trapped in between teeth and can even assist in the massaging of gingival tissue, however the same problem in removing plaque and re-depositing plaque to other teeth still exists.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,217,031 to Santoro, and 5,613,508 to Bushman both disclose devices using a motor drive to translate floss. Motor translation of floss described in these patents improves upon the application of floss via a device. In these patents, portions of the device that are exposed to used floss are not removable. Proper sanitation of used floss and components that are exposed to used floss is not properly addressed. The orientation of the prongs that support the segment of floss described in both patents are inline with the handle portion, making it more difficult for the device to reach in the spaces between back molars.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,526,994 B1 to Santoro and 5,769,102 to Zebuhr, both disclose motorized flossing systems and have removable attachments. Both designs require long lengths of moving floss that must travel through elaborate paths. Removable portions of the device are not intended to be compact. The removable portions and their mechanisms cannot fit within a small confined space within the oral cavity. Portions of the device that come into contact with the mouth and used floss are not conducive to compact economical fabrication and do not merit single session use prior to discarding.
In the current market, there are many existing motorized drivers used for dental care. Typical motorized drivers used in dental offices provide a variable speed rotary shaft output powered either pneumatically or electrically. There are other drivers commonly used in home dental care. One popular driver intended for home dental care generates a short stroke, high frequency, linear, back and forth, shaft output motion that is electrically powered. Another popular driver used for dental care generates a high frequency, vibratory, side-to-side output motion to the end of a distal protruding post. These and other practical dental motor drivers are typically equipped with removable attachments and accessories, including; toothbrush attachments, polishing head attachments and some include compact fixed length flossing attachments.
A new and practical flossing attachment such as a compact cartridge, containing floss that is advanced by a driver and can be adapted for use with existing drivers is needed. The novel idea would enhance the general utility of dental motor drivers, and would improve the application and performance of dental flossing materials. A further enhancement would include a method to administer antiseptics or medicinal materials onto the floss just before use. Another further enhancement would include the addition of auxiliary motion to the working floss to simulate hand flossing. In addition, a further enhancement would include pressure-controlled activation of the driver by the dentition during use.

Dental flossing cartridge system and driver attachments


The present disclosure discloses an array substrate and a detection method therefor, a display panel, and a display device. The array substrate includes: a base substrate, wherein the base substrate has a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area; a plurality of sub-pixel units, wherein the plurality of sub-pixel units are arrayed in the display area; a plurality of data lines, wherein the data lines are electrically connected to the sub-pixel units in corresponding columns; at least one first switching transistor, wherein the first switching transistor is located at a first side of the peripheral area, a drain of the first switching transistor is electrically connected to one of the data lines, and the data line connected to the drain of the first switching transistor is a first data line; a gate control line; and at least one detection line.

At present, Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) devices are considered to be the most promising flat panel display devices, and are also considered to be the display technique most likely to make flexible display devices.
A flexible display device is fabricated by using a flexible substrate, but edges of the flexible substrate tend to form cracks. The cracks will expand toward a display area. When the cracks expand to the display area, water and oxygen will enter the display area through the cracks, thereby affecting the service life of a flexible display panel.

Array substrate and detection method therefor, display panel and display device

Beijing BOE Technology Development Co., Ltd.


A vehicle instrument panel structure is provided for extending transversely across the width of a vehicle interior forwardly of a vehicle occupant seat. The instrument panel structure includes an upstanding backing plate having a layer of foam material thereon covered by a decorative covering. The backing plate is a unitary member formed of a plastic material. A pair of spaced apart elongated horizontally extending box-like protuberances are provided on one portion of the lower section of the backing plate in the path of occupant knee travel which may occur during sudden deceleration of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle instrument panel structure which includes a backing plate comprising a unitary member formed of a plastic material.
2. Description of Related Art
Vehicle instrument panel structures of the type provided in the forward passenger compartment of modern vehicles serve a dual purpose. The upper portion of such instrument panel structures serve the traditional function of mounting the various meters, gauges, electronic equipment and control mechanisms. The lower portions of such instrument panel structures serve as occupant knee and ankle restraints, commonly referred to as "knee bolsters", to absorb the impact shock of knees and ankles which occurs upon sudden deceleration of the vehicle caused by a collision or high level braking.
Conventionally, vehicle instrument panels have been provided as layered structures including a sheet metal backing plate covered with a layer of shock absorbing foam material with an outer decorative vinyl covering thereover. An example of such a construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,326. The sheet metal backing plate has provided a stiff member which absorbs shock in accordance with the needs of energy absorbing characteristics which are desired. Sheet metal is satisfactory but does result in a relatively high cost and weight. The present invention provides a backing plate comprising a unitary member formed of a plastic material which results in reduced costs and weight.


An information processor which is capable of preventing damages caused by rotation of a display panel holding unit to a display and a body of the information processor. A rotary shaft member is connected to a display panel holding unit and directed perpendicularly, an outer end of a lock bar is inserted into a lock hole of the body unit and an inner end thereof is removed from a lock hole of the rotary shaft member. A connection member is therefore unable to rotate with respect to the body unit and the rotary shaft member gets rotatable with respect to the connection member. When the rotary shaft member is tilted away from the perpendicular direction, the outer end of the lock bar comes off the lock hole of the body unit and the inner end thereof is inserted into the lock hole of the rotary shaft member. The rotary shaft member is therefore unable to rotate with respect to the connection member and the connection member is rotatable with respect to the body unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processor including a display unit openable and closable with respect to its body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An information processor, such as a personal computer and a word processor, that is classified as a so-called lap top or notebook type is, as illustrated in FIG. 14, constructed of a body unit 100 equipped with a keyboard 101, a printer 102, and a display unit 103 equipped with a display 104, such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display. This display unit 103 serves as a cover for the keyboard 101 and is therefore connected to the body unit 100 so that the display 104 pivots between a position where the display 104 is closed in a face-to-face relationship with the keyboard 101 and a position of such an angle that the display 104 is visible to the operator.
In recent years, for the purpose of facilitating input operations, there has been utilized an information processor capable of inputting handwritten characters and images with an input pen and also moving a cursor by providing, on a display 104, a resistance film screen formed by piling transparent electrodes, etc. Thus, among the input operations involving the use of a keyboard 101, comparatively easy input operations can be done by handwriting with the input pen 105 and providing a resistance film screen on the display 104. Therefore, a variety of proposals have thus been made for enhancing the operability in terms of the handwriting input instead of inputting by the keyboard 101. One example of such a proposal is where a display unit 103 is separated into a connection unit connected directly to a body unit 100 and a display holding unit, wherein the display holding unit is rotatably connected to the connection unit through a second axle (also referred to as an axis) extending in a direction orthogonal to a first axle for making the connection unit rotatably connective to the body unit 100. If such a construction is adopted, the display holding unit of the display unit 103 is rotated through 180 degrees, and, in this state, the whole display unit 103 can cover the keyboard 101. With this arrangement, the keyboard 101 is covered with the display unit 103, while the display 104 appears outside while being set in the direction of its planar surface. Accordingly, the operator is able to perform the handwriting inputs as easily as writing a letter or a drawing on a notebook and is able to see the output result from a printer while performing the handwriting.
A further proposal in terms of constructing the normal information processor, without a resistance film screen on the display 104, is that the display holding unit can be turned over to present the information displayed on the display to those other than the operator.
According to the above described constructions, however, the first and second axles rotate individually independently. Hence, there is no restriction in terms of an angular position of the whole display unit 103 with respect to the body unit 100 when the display holding unit is rotated (through 180 degrees) about the second axle. In consequence, the display holding unit is still rotatable even when the whole display unit 103 is in angular positions, exclusive of such an angular position as to be upright with respect to the body unit 100. However, when the display holding unit is rotated in these angular positions, it follows that the display holding unit impinges upon the body unit 100 (the keyboard 101 or the printer 102), with the result that these units may be damaged.


A method of joining the interfacing ends of cables, one to another, wherein each comprises a plurality of conductor strands, comprising (i) providing each of the ends with an enlarged terminal portion of greater diameter than the cable adjacent the end, (ii) inserting the ends into a connecting tube having an outer layer of an explosive charge, and (iii) detonating the explosive layer so as to compress the connecting tube around the conductor strands. The method offers a cheaper, faster and simpler method of joining a bundle of wires and the like than prior art methods.

In connection with heavy gauge wires, which may be disposed in positions which are difficult to reach, commensurately high powered tools are required to make pressure connections between said wires. In view of the weight and bulk of the tools it may be inconvenient or impossible to carry such tools to the sites at which the joining is to be made.
It has previously been proposed to connect ends of wires and the like by inserting the ends into a corresponding bore of a connecting member provided with an external layer of explosive, which during detonation, compresses the connecting member around the ends. The layer of explosive used had, however, an even cross-section along the whole length thereof in order to produce an even radial compression of the connecting member.
In connection with high tension lines, supporting cables and the like, which are subjected to heavy stresses, it is of great importance to obtain a permanent, tight clamping effect of the connecting member to ensure that no relative sliding movement may occur between the member and the ends connected thereby.
Thus, such connectors, herein termed implosive connectors, have been used in high energy metalworking to replace conventional hydraulic compression fittings for high voltage transmission lines. A small charge, engineered for each connector, supplies the energy to complete the installation in 1/10,000 of a second, replacing the work of a 60 to 100 ton press. Such implosive connectors are completely metallic fitting and result in a void free, uniformly smooth and straight connector.
In more detail, generally, implosive connectors comprise a conductor splice consisting of an outer aluminum sleeve equipped with a pre-mounted implosive charge, and filler, preferably, optionally, an inner steel sleeve having an aluminum tube on the outside.
However, there remains a need for a method of joining ends of wires and the like which is cheaper, quicker and easier to install while providing at least an acceptable efficacious permanent join of the wires.

Arrangement in explosion joining of ends of wires and the like


A video is divided into portions and has objects. Each object appears in one or more portions. A graphical diagram is generated and displayed that has graphical elements corresponding to the objects. Each graphical element has a size corresponding to a number and/or size of the portions in which the object to which the graphical element corresponds appears. The graphical elements have locations within the graphical diagram in correspondence with relationships of appearance of the objects within the portions. Selection of a point or area within the graphical diagram is received. Which of the graphical elements include the point or area are determined as one or more selected graphical elements corresponding to one or more selected objects. Which of the portions include all the selected objects are determined and output as one or more selected portions.

Many users enjoy viewing video, including movies, television shows, documentaries, and other types of video. While at some times a user watch a complete video from start to finish, at other times the user may want to view just a particular portion of the video. The particular portion of the video of interest may be a specific scene in a movie, for instance.

Graphical diagram having elements that correspond to objects and that have locations in correspondence with appearance relationships of objects

International Business Machines Corporation


A curtain carrier slide structure comprises a hollow body with open top and bottom sides to slidably receive therein a slidable block which is biased by springs toward the top side of the hollow body The carrier slide is slidably mounted on a track to movable therealong. The hollow body comprises two opposite end walls each having an upper recess and a lower recess formed thereon. A bead string having a number of beads secured thereon along the length thereof to define a number of bead gaps between the beads is received within the lower recess to have the end walls of the hollow body engagingly received in the bead gaps so as to have the carrier slide engage the bead string to move therewith along the track. A release block which is receivable within the upper recesses of the hollow body is securely mounted on the track so that when the hollow body is moved to pass over the release block, the release block enters the upper recess to push the slidable block against the biasing spring toward the open lower end so as to break the engagement between the bead string and the hollow body, thus allowing the hollow body to be retained by the release block and no longer movable with the bead string.

Window coverings are widely used to cover windows. The window covering generally comprises a rod or a track traversing the width of a window with a number of carrier slides slidably mounted thereon. Curtains or vertical slats are fixed to the carrier slides to be movable by the carrier slides. Cords or strings are secured to the carrier slides to allow a person to control the movement of the carrier slides in order to open or close the curtains.
Conventionally, a window covering assembly may have two pieces of curtains each of which is substantially fixed at one of the side jambs of the window and is slidably movable toward each other to meet at a central portion of the window. Such a conventional design only allows the curtains to move from the lateral sides of the window to the center thereof when closing the curtains It is not possible for such a conventional curtain assembly to allow the curtains to be closed by moving from the center of the window to the lateral sides thereof.
Similarly, in opening the curtains, it is also impossible for the conventional curtain assembly to move from the lateral sides of the window to converge to the center of the window. The conventional design of curtain assembly only allows the curtains to separately converge to the opposite lateral sides of the windows.
It is therefore desirable to provide a curtain carrier slide structure which allows the curtains to be moved either from the lateral sides to the center of a window or from the center to the lateral sides of the windows.


Structures and methods to facilitate channel bundling are disclosed. In one embodiment, signal distribution circuitry includes a data path with at least two registers coupled to adjacent sets of data channels in a bundle of data channel sets. In another embodiment, self-switch circuits allow channels in a bundle of channel-sets to switch from bundle-wide signals to locally generated signals after the bundle-wide signals have been synchronously distributed to all channel sets in the bundle. In a particular embodiment, signal distribution circuitry is used to distribute a divided clock signal. In another particular embodiment, signal distribution circuitry is used to distribute enable signals for first-in first-out circuits (“FIFOs”) located in channels of each data channel set in a channel set bundle. In a particular aspect of an embodiment, FIFO read and write operations across a channel set bundle are initiated such that a difference between read and write pointer signals is the same in each channel set.

This invention relates generally to the area of system interconnect technology. As integrated circuit (IC) devices increasingly need to support high speed serial interface ("HSSI") protocols, there is an increasing need to bundle physical coding sub-layer ("PCS") data channels. Successfully bundling these channels requires synchronizing clock signals and control signals across multiple channels. However, as HSSI protocols evolve, there is an increasing need to be able to bundle an arbitrarily large number of data channels. A scalable solution that allows for bundling (sometimes called "bonding") a large number of channels is needed. Furthermore, for some applications, once signals distributed across a bundle of channel sets are synchronized, it may be advantageous to rely on local signals rather than remotely generated signals for continued operation. Therefore, a solution that allows for timing the use of both bundle-wide signals and local signals is also needed.

Scalable channel bundling with adaptable channel synchronization


A backlight assembly includes a light source providing light, a mold frame receiving the light source unit and a bottom chassis. The bottom chassis includes a bottom plate, sidewalls extending from the bottom plate and an extension part bent from at least one of the sidewalls and overlapping an adjacent sidewall. The mold frame and the bottom chassis are integrally formed. The extension part overlaps the adjacent sidewall at a corner of the bottom chassis. Thus, the torsional strength of the bottom chassis and a backlight assembly having the bottom chassis is improved. The torsional strength is maintained when a backlight assembly is manufactured.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a display module having the backlight assembly and a method of manufacturing the backlight assembly, and more particularly, to a backlight assembly having improved strength.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A flat panel display device includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, an organic light-emitting display (OLED) device, a plasma display panel (PDP) device and so on. The flat panel display device can be thinner and lighter than other types of display devices.
The LCD device includes an array substrate, a countering substrate and a liquid crystal layer. Thin-film transistors (TFTs) are formed on the array substrate. The liquid crystal layer is disposed between the array substrate and the countering substrate, and has an anisotropic dielectric constant. An electric field is applied to the liquid crystal layer, and an amount of light transmitted through the substrate is controlled by the intensity of the electric field. An image is displayed by adjusting the intensity of the electric field.
LCD devices can be used as small display devices in mobile phones, portable game devices, or portable display devices.
Small display devices have become slimmer. As the display devices become thinner, the strength of the display devices may be reduced. Therefore, the small display device may be easily damaged by external impacts.

Backlight assembly, display module having the backlight assembly and method of manufacturing the backlight assembly


Techniques are described for determining and using information regarding expected road traffic flow conditions information for vehicles traveling on roads. The expected road traffic flow conditions for a particular portion of a road may be generated by combining historical representative information about road traffic flow conditions for that road portion with current information about actual traffic flow on or near that road portion. The combination may, for example, provide benefits for estimating expected traffic flow conditions information for roads with structural flow obstructions that cause reduced traffic flow at certain road locations and times—for example, the expected traffic flow conditions information may be based at least in part on fitting or otherwise adapting partial actual traffic flow information about a vehicle's actual travel path to a historical travel profile for a road that includes representative traffic flow information for various combinations of road locations and time periods.

As road traffic has increased, the effects of increasing traffic congestion have had growing deleterious effects on business and government operations and on personal well-being. Accordingly, efforts have been made to combat the increasing traffic congestion in various ways, such as by obtaining information about current traffic conditions and providing the information to individuals and organizations. Such current traffic condition information may be provided to interested parties in various ways (e.g., via radio broadcasts, an Internet Web site that displays a map of a geographical area with color-coded information about current traffic congestion on some major roads in the geographical area, information sent to cellular telephones and other portable consumer devices, etc.).
One source for obtaining information about current traffic conditions includes observations manually supplied by humans (e.g., traffic helicopters that provide general information about traffic flow and accidents, reports called in by drivers via cellphones, etc.), while another source in some larger metropolitan areas is networks of traffic sensors capable of measuring traffic flow for various roads in the area (e.g., via sensors embedded in the road pavement). Unfortunately, various problems exist with respect to such information, as well as to information provided by other similar sources. For example, many roads do not have road sensors (e.g., geographic areas that do not have networks of road sensors and/or arterial roads that are not sufficiently large to have road sensors as part of a nearby network), and even roads that have road sensors may often not provide accurate data (e.g., sensors that are broken and do not provide any data or provide inaccurate data). In addition, while observations that are manually supplied by human may provide some value in limited situations, such information is typically limited to only a few areas at a time and typically lacks sufficient detail to be of significant use.

Predicting expected road traffic conditions based on historical and current data


Disclosed is a preferred mold design for producing plastic, injection molded preforms, which may be blow-molded into a container of a final, desired shape. A preferred mold includes a combination of hardened material components and high heat transfer material components to provide a mold having good wear characteristics, for a sufficiently long useful life, and to enable rapid cooling of the injected preform, in order to reduce the cycle time of an injection and cooling cycle. In some arrangements, the hardened materials may form a portion of the preform cavity thereby slowing the rate of cooling in those areas and inducing a semi-crystalline or crystalline structure in the cooled preform.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to molds for producing preforms, which are then molded into plastic bottles and containers, such as for containing beverages and the like. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved mold design having a combination of hardened material components and high heat transfer material components.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of plastic containers as a replacement for glass or metal containers in the packaging of beverages has become increasingly popular. The advantages of plastic packaging include lighter weight, decreased breakage as compared to glass, and potentially lower costs. The most common plastic used in making beverage containers today is PET. Virgin PET has been approved by the FDA for use in contact with foodstuffs. Containers made of PET are transparent, thin-walled, lightweight, and have the ability to maintain their shape by withstanding the force exerted on the walls of the container by pressurized contents, such as carbonated beverages. PET resins are also fairly inexpensive and easy to process.
Most PET bottles are made by a process that includes the blow-molding of plastic preforms, which have been made by processes including injection molding. In order to increase the through-put of an injection molding machine, and thereby decrease the cost of each individual preform, it is desirable to reduce the cycle time for each injection and cooling cycle. However, the injected preform must cool sufficiently to maintain its molded dimensions before it is removed from the injection mold. Therefore, it would be desirable to utilize high heat transfer materials to form the injection mold in order to rapidly cool the injected preform. However, such high heat transfer materials are generally prone to rapid wear when used in such an environment, where high clamping pressures are necessary to maintain the injection mold in a closed position during the injection of molten polymer into the mold cavity. As a result, the potential of such high heat transfer materials have not previously been fully realized in the injection molding of preforms.

Injection mold having a wear resistant portion and a high heat transfer portion

Advanced Plastics Technologies Luxembourg S.A.


An analog front-end (AFE) circuit may include a correlated double sampler (CDS) with a ping-pong architecture, and a ping-pong mismatch correction circuit. The CDS employs a ping data path during ping phases, and employs a pong data path during pong phases. The ping-pong mismatch correction circuit is arranged to correct a mismatch between a gain that is associated with the ping data path and a gain that is associated with the pong data path. Further, the ping-pong mismatch correction circuit is arranged to correct a mismatch between an offset that is associated with the ping data path and an offset that is associated with the pong data path.

Digital imaging systems, such as copiers, facsimile machines, and scanners have become commonplace. Such systems scan an image into an analog signal, and convert the analog signal into a digital signal for processing or storage. This analog to digital conversion takes place in a digitizing channel of the system. Typically, an analog front end (AFE) circuit is employed in the digitizing channel, for amplifying and digitizing the analog signal. AFEs often include circuitry for gain calibration, in addition to converting the analog signal into a digital signal. Gain calibration may be employed to (a) match the level of the incoming analog signal to the available dynamic range of the digitizing channel to achieve improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and (b) in color systems, to balance the relative levels of the red, green, and blue (RGB) digitizing channels for proper color interpretation.

Apparatus and method for ping-pong mismatch correction


In a spark plug, a base material contains 50 mass % or more of Ni, 8 mass % or more and 40 mass % or less of Cr, 0.01 mass % or more and 2 mass % or less of Si, 0.01 mass % or more and 2 mass % or less of Al, 0.01 mass % or more and 2 mass % or less of Mn, 0.01 mass % or more and 0.1 mass % or less of C, and 0.001 mass % or more and 5 mass % or less of Fe. A discharge member contains at least Pt of a P group (Pt, Rh, Ir, and Ru) and Ni. The atomic concentration K of the P group of the discharge member, the atomic concentration L of the P group of the base material, the atomic concentration M of Ni of the discharge member, and the atomic concentration N of Ni of the base material satisfy (K+L)/(M+N)≤1.14.

As a result of increased performance, improved combustion efficiency, and the like of engines, the temperature of electrodes of spark plugs under usage environment tends to become high. In a spark plug in which a first electrode including a discharge member bonded to a base material faces a second electrode with a spark gap interposed therebetween, an increase in the temperature of the first electrode increases a thermal stress of a bonded part of the discharge member, and there is thus a concern of peel-off of the discharge member. Here, in the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-105467 ("PTL 1"), a base material contains 0.05 mass % or more and 5 mass % or less of Fe to thereby improve high-temperature strength and high-temperature corrosion resistance, thereby suppressing peel-off of a discharge member. In an example in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-173116 ("PTL 2"), a base material contains 2 mass % of Fe to ensure the high-temperature strength of the base material, thereby suppressing peel-off of a discharge member.
The discharge members in the examples in PTL 1 and PTL 2 each constituted by a Pt—Ir alloy mainly constituted by Pt and containing Ir. Incidentally, a discharge member constituted by a Pt—Ni alloy mainly constituted by Pt and containing Ni is also known. Discharge members constituted by a Pt—Ni alloy are superior to discharge members constituted by a Pt—Ir alloy in wear resistance and peeling resistance.
As a result of earnest examination on an electrode in which a discharge member constituted by a Pt—Ni alloy is bonded to a base material containing Fe, it was found that there was a possibility of the wear resistance and the peeling resistance of the discharge member being not sufficiently ensured under a further temperature increase of the electrode. In other words, due to the discharge member containing Ni, Fe derived from the base material easily diffuses in the discharge member under usage environment. Fe naturally has a property of decreasing the melting point of a Pt alloy, and there is thus a possibility that the discharge member is easily worn out.
Further, when the Fe diffusing in the discharge member combines with Pt of the discharge member and generates an intermetallic compound at a bonded part between the discharge member and the base material, the bonded part becomes brittle. Moreover, generation of the intermetallic compound causes a volume change, which increases the stress of the bonded part between the discharge member and the base material. Consequently, there is a possibility of the discharge member easily peeling off. In particular, compared with an electrode in which a discharge member is bonded to a base material with a laser-welded fused portion interposed therebetween, the electrode in which at least a portion of the discharge member is bonded to the base material with the diffusion layer interposed therebetween is poor in stress buffering effect exerted by the diffusion layer. The discharge member thus has a possibility of more easily peeling off.


A driving tool includes a driving stem having two or more outer peripheral grooves, a holding device having a tubular member slidably engaged onto the driving stem, a detent slidably received in the tubular member, and an actuating device having a control ferrule slidably engaged onto the tubular member and having an actuator for selectively actuating the detent to engage with either of the peripheral grooves of the driving stem and for adjustably attaching the tubular member to the driving stem at any selected position and for allowing the user to hold the driving tool at suitable or selected position when the driving stem is driven or rotated relative to the tubular member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving tool, and more particularly to a driving tool including a hand holding device rotatably and adjustably attached to a driving stem for allowing the user to hold the driving tool at any suitable or selected position when the driving stem is driven or rotated relative to the tubular member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical driving tools, such as drilling tools, wrenches, screw drivers or other ratchet driving tools comprise a handle attached to a driving shank for rotating or driving the driving shank to drive various fasteners or tool members, and a holding sleeve rotatably attached onto the outer portion of the driving shank for allowing the driving shank to be suitably rotated or driven by the user.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,753 to Fuhrmann discloses one of the typical drill and screwdriver combinations comprising a holding sleeve rotatably attached onto a lower portion or a free end portion of a hollow cylindrical and annular shaft for allowing the hollow cylindrical and annular shaft to be suitably rotated or driven by the user.
However, the holding sleeve is attached onto the lower portion or the free end portion of the hollow cylindrical annular shaft and may not be adjusted up and down along the hollow cylindrical annular shaft such that the user may not hold or grasp the suitable or selected portion of the hollow cylindrical annular shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,272 to Phan discloses another typical ratchet screw driver comprising a shroud rotatably attached onto a middle portion of a shaft for allowing the shaft to be suitably rotated or driven by the user. However, similarly, the shroud is attached onto the middle portion of the shaft and may not be adjusted up and down along the shaft such that the user may not hold or grasp the suitable or selected portion of the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,381 to Lin discloses a further typical ratchet screw driver assembly comprising a barrel rotatably attached onto a lower portion of a driving stem for allowing the driving stem to be suitably rotated or driven by the user. However, similarly, the barrel is attached onto the lower portion of the driving stem and may not be adjusted up and down along the driving stem such that the user may not hold or grasp the suitable or selected portion of the driving stem.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional holding devices for driving tools.

Driving tool having adjustable holding device


A piezoelectric thin-film acoustic wave device formed of a piezoelectric thin film of AlN on the +C plane and having the polarization strength of not lower than 0.63×10−20 F/V and an information processing unit using the same are disclosed. This is the result of the inventors having studied the factors other than the C-axis orientation affecting the electromechanical coupling factor and developing a method of improving the electromechanical coupling factor in view of the occasional fact that the electromechanical coupling factor cannot be improved by improving the C-axis orientation and the electromechanical coupling factor required for the piezoelectric thin-film acoustic wave device is not obtained. In such a case, the receiving sensitivity of the receiving system may be deteriorated and the transmission strength of the transmission system is required to be increased undesirably having an adverse effect on the power saving efforts.

This invention relates to a piezoelectric thin-film acoustic wave device and an information processing unit using the same.
In the conventional piezoelectric thin-film acoustic wave device as described in "IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, Vol. 47, No. 1, January p. 292 (2000)", the loss of the piezoelectric thin-film acoustic wave device is considered to be effectively reduced with a large electromechanical coupling factor and a wide band, as a good orientation of the C axis of the crystal of the piezoelectric thin film is satisfactory.

Piezoelectric thin-film acoustic wave device and information processing unit using the same


The Blood Infusion Control System of the present invention integrates components of rapid infusion systems with a computer controller designed to synchronize two infusion pumps in a manner that produces a pre-selected patient hematocrit (HCT*) while reporting the patient's estimated blood volume (BV.sub.E). In order to attain HCT*, the Blood Replacement Controller (BRC) drives a dual-pump assembly to deliver streams of asanguinous fluid and blood through flexible conduits into intravenous (IV) catheters to mix with the patient's blood volume having an initial hematocrit (HCT.sub.i). The BRC utilizes measured patient data as feedback input to control flowrates of the two-pump infusion assembly. The patient's estimated blood volume is extrapolated from hematocrit changes in response to the fluid and blood infusion. The major components that comprise BICS are two infusion pumps, a microcomputer controller to actuate the two pumps, a heat exchanger, a bubble trap-filter, air/temperature/pressure sensors, and disposable tubing conduits. The design methodology represents a blood infusion device that can rapidly deliver filtered, bubble free, warmed volumes to patients with significant hypovolemia. This subject invention is a sample data control system that rapidly dispenses crystalloid/colloid fluids and red blood cells by venous infusion in a manner that 1) achieves HCT* in the patient and 2) reports the patient's BV.sub.E. BICS could enhance the ability of clinical teams in operating rooms and trauma receiving areas to stabilize patients suffering cardiovascular deterioration from acute blood loss.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fluid infusion systems in general, and specifically to a rapid, venous infusion system which controls the percentage of the volume of a patient's intravascular blood space occupied by red blood cells known as the "hematocrit" and empirically monitors a patient's estimated blood volume by using physiological inputs provided manually by the operator or automatically by sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Every acutely-ill patient who has a depleted blood volume from trauma or other disease process will require infusion of intravenous (IV) fluids to help correct the resulting cardiovascular deterioration. When large volumes of IV fluids are needed to stabilize the circulatory system, a point is reached when transfusion with a red blood cell (RBC) source is required in order to prevent extreme hemodilution (reduction in concentration of RBC) in the patient. Transfused blood is a suspension composed of red blood cells, having a source hematocrit given by HCT.sub.S with the remainder consisting of plasma protein colloids and water.
Many types of surgery such as major vascular repair, orthopedic surgery, organ transplant, and trauma create transfusion needs related to continued replacement of an ongoing blood loss. The decisions of 1) when to transfuse blood and 2) how much blood to transfuse is usually based on factors such as the most recent hematocrit (HCT) value of the patient, size of the patient, and amount of crystalloid or colloid fluids needed to be administered. The timing and rate at which to infuse blood into a patient is often based on an "empirical" judgment of the attending medical staff. Such a trial-and-error approach frequently results in substantial variability of patient hematocrit (HCT) values because blood is traditionally transfused in a unit by unit manner when the hematocrit HCT falls below a "transfusion trigger". In massively transfused patients, it is important to maintain blood volume by blending packed red blood cells and dilution fluids in the proper proportion for regulation of the hematocrit (HCT).
Several methods are disclosed in the prior art to estimate a patient's blood volume using kilogram body weight or body surface area. Methods have recently been described to estimate a patient's blood volume using intravenously injected dilution markers. Computational models used to guide fluid administration during expansion of a patient's blood volume assumes that 1) approximately 30% of isotonic crystalloids infused will remain within the intravascular compartment, and 2) approximately 100% of colloids infused will remain within the intravascular compartment during an initial 30 minute time period. Approximately 25-30% of urine output comes from the plasma volume based on urine osmolarity.
Examples of apparatus and components for rapid fluid infusion have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,731,679; 3,990,444; 4,138;288; 4,178,927; 4,210,138; 4,217,993; 4,256,437; 4,705,508; 4,747,826; 4,874,359; 5,061,241; 5,385,539; 5,423,747; and 5,573,502. These devices employ a single infusion pump (usually a roller pump) to dispense fluid/blood mixtures from a cardiotomy reservoir through a heat exchanger and air trap and then to the patient. Regulation of a patient's hematocrit (HCT) is attempted by the operator who must add fluid or units of blood to the mixing chamber in a schedule that properly modulates the composition of the infusion delivered via the single pump. These one-pump infusion systems can be wasteful of a critical donor blood supply because extra units of blood are needed to "prime" the mixing reservoir. A blood infusion device which will achieve a pre-selected hematocrit (HCT) in the patient as large or small volumes of physiologic fluids and blood are rapidly administered to patients represents an advantage.
No blood infusion device now exists which can rapidly deliver liters of physiologic fluid and blood while regulating a patient's hematocrit HCT to attain a desired hematocrit value (HCT*), in addition to monitoring the patient's estimated blood volume.


An information processing apparatus includes an input unit configured to input a plurality of images captured from a plurality of viewpoints, an extraction unit configured to extract a region of an object from each of the plurality of images, an acquisition unit configured to obtain a contour from the region of the object, a smoothing unit configured to perform smoothing of the contour based on a point group on the obtained contour, a correlation unit configured to correlate regions of the object extracted from respective ones of the plurality of images, and a calculation unit configured to calculate a position of the object based on information of regions correlated by the correlation unit and the point group obtained by the smoothing unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for measuring a three-dimensional position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, mixed reality (MR) technology has been actively researched. The MR technology seamlessly merges a real space and a virtual space created by a computer. The MR technology is expected to be applied to various fields, such as assembly support in which operation procedures are displayed by superimposing wiring conditions thereon at the time of assembly, and surgery support in which a body surface of a patient is displayed by superimposing internal conditions of the body thereon.
A geometric consistency between a virtual object and the real space is important for making a user to feel that the virtual object exists in the real space. More specifically, the geometric consistency in the mixed reality includes two types of consistency. One is consistency for matching a coordinate system of the real space with the coordinate system of the virtual space, and the other is consistency for correctly expressing an anteroposterior relation between a real object and a virtual object. An issue for dealing with the former consistency is also referred to as a registration problem in the mixed reality, and various researches has been conducted (e.g., refer to Sato, Uchiyama, and Tamura, "A review of registration techniques in mixed reality", Transactions of The Virtual Reality Society of Japan, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 171-180, 2003). An issue for dealing with the latter consistency is also referred to as an occlusion problem. In particular, the occlusion problem is also crucial for a video-see through MR system which superimposes a virtual object on an image captured by a camera.
To correctly express the anteroposterior relation between the real object and the virtual object, i.e., hiding (occlusion), it is necessary to obtain three-dimensional position and orientation information of the real object or the virtual object to be hidden. In other words, the three-dimensional position and orientation information of the real object is compared with the three-dimensional position and orientation information of the virtual object, and if the real object is anterior to the virtual object, the captured image is displayed on the anterior side. Further, if the virtual object is anterior to the real object, the virtual object is displayed on the anterior side. In such processing, since there is a known three-dimensional model for the virtual object, the three-dimensional position and orientation of the virtual object with respect to the viewpoint can be calculated. However, the three-dimensional position and orientation of the real object with respect to the viewpoint remains unknown by only capturing the image of the real object, so that it is necessary to obtain the three-dimensional position and orientation of the real object.
A technique for measuring the three-dimensional position and orientation of the real object will be described below. In a general three-dimensional position and orientation measurement technique, matching processing is applied to a focused point in images captured by a stereo camera based on epipolar constraints and pixel patch luminance information. More specifically, if there is a focused point in one image captured by the stereo camera, a point on an epipolar line in the other image captured by the stereo camera is recognized as a corresponding point candidate with respect to the focused point. Pattern matching is then performed between pixel patches around each point remaining as the corresponding point candidate and pixel patches around the focused point. The corresponding points can thus be accurately obtained. (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-27724)
Further, Yokoya, Takemura, Okuma, and Kanbara, "Stereo Vision Based Video See-Through Mixed Reality", Proc. International Symposium on Mixed Reality (ISMAR 99), page 131-145, 1999, discusses measuring a three-dimensional position of a real object using two cameras attached to a head mounted display to solve the occlusion problem. In this technique, association is performed only in a region where a virtual object is drawn, so that a calculation amount is reduced.
Furthermore, Kenichi Hayashi, Hirokazu Kato, and Shougo Nishida, "Depth Determination of Real Objects using Contour Based Stereo Matching", Transactions of The Virtual Reality Society of Japan, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 371-380, 2005, discusses a following method. A moving object is detected from a difference between a background image referred to as a key frame and a current camera image, and points on the contours of the detected object are matched. Since matching is performed only for the points on the contours, processing can be performed at high speed.
On the other hand, there is a time of flight (TOF) method for measuring a three-dimensional position and orientation in which a real object reflects light emitted from a light source, and a distance to an object is measured from a time of flight (i.e., a delay time) of the light in reaching a sensor and the speed of the light (refer to T. Oggier, B. Buttgen, and F. Lustenberger, "SwissRanger SR3000 and first experiences based on miniaturized 3D-TOF Cameras", Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, CESM, IEE, Fachhochschule Rapperswil Switzerland, Technical Report, 2005).
However, the technique discussed in "Stereo Vision Based Video See-Through Mixed Reality" can reduce processing by performing stereo matching only in the region where the virtual object is drawn, but it is affected by measuring accuracy. The boundary between the virtual object and the real object thus cannot be correctly displayed, and providing a user with an MR experience with a feeling of strangeness.
Further, the technique discussed in "Depth Determination of Real Objects using Contour Based Stereo Matching" detects the object region using the difference from the key frame, and performs stereo matching of the contours of the object region. As a result, the measurement accuracy at the boundary between the virtual object and the real object is improved, and a user is provided with less feeling of strangeness. However, there is no consideration of noise generated due to a change in background difference regions between frames, and variation of generated depth values is large between the frames. Such a variation may prevent a user from experiencing an immersive feeling.

Apparatus for measuring three-dimensional position, method thereof, and program


A spin valve type magnetoresistance effect film comprises a magnetic multilayered film including a non-magnetic metal layer, a ferromagnetic layer formed on one surface of the non-magnetic metal layer, a soft magnetic layer formed on the other surface of the non-magnetic metal layer, and an antiferromagnetic layer which is formed on a surface of the ferromagnetic layer remote from a surface thereof abutting the non-magnetic metal layer so as to pin a direction of magnetization of the ferromagnetic layer. The antiferromagnetic layer contains oxygen as impurities and a concentration of oxygen contained in the antiferromagnetic layer is set to 1 to 2,000 atomic ppm. With this arrangement, there can be provided a magnetoresistance effect film having a high-quality antiferromagnetic layer which is excellent in thermal stability, sufficiently high in blocking temperature and highly excellent in pinning effect. Further, there can be provided a magnetoresistance effect type head which is excellent in thermal stability, high in magnetic field sensitivity and large in MR change ratio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetoresistance effect film for reading the magnetic field intensity of a magnetic recording medium or the like as a signal and, in particular, to a magnetoresistance effect film which is capable of reading a small magnetic field change as a greater electrical resistance change signal, and further relates to a magnetoresistance effect type head using such a magnetoresistance effect film.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, there has been the development for increasing the sensitivity of magnetic sensors and increasing the density in magnetic recording and, following this, magnetoresistance effect type magnetic sensors (hereinafter referred to as MR sensors) and magnetoresistance effect type magnetic heads (hereinafter referred to as MR heads) using magnetoresistance change have been actively developed. Both MR sensors and MR heads are designed to read out external magnetic field signals on the basis of the variation in resistance of a reading sensor portion formed of magnetic material. The MR sensors have an advantage that a high sensitivity can be obtained and the MR heads have an advantage that a high output can be obtained upon reading out signals magnetically recorded in high density because the reproduced output does not depend on the relative speed of the sensors or heads to the recording medium.
However, conventional MR sensors which are formed of magnetic materials such as Ni.sub.80 Fe.sub.20 (Permalloy), NiCo or the like have a small resistance change ratio .DELTA.R/R which is about 1 to 3% at maximum, and thus these materials have insufficient sensitivity as the reading MR head materials for ultrahigh density recording of the order of several GBPSI (Giga Bits Per Square Inches) or more.
Attention has been recently paid to artificial lattices having the structure in which thin films of metal having a thickness of an atomic diameter order are periodically stacked, because their behavior is different from that of bulk metal. One of such artificial lattices is a magnetic multilayered film having ferromagnetic metal thin films and non-magnetic metal thin films alternately deposited on a substrate. Heretofore, magnetic multilayered films of an iron-chromium type, a cobalt-copper type and the like have been known. However, these artificial lattice magnetic multilayered films are not commercially applicable as they are because the external magnetic field at which a maximum resistance change occurs (operating magnetic field intensity), is as high as several tens of kilo-oersted.
Under these circumstances, a new structure which is called a spin valve has been proposed. In this structure, two NiFe layers are formed via a non-magnetic metal layer, and an FeMn layer is further formed so as to be adjacent to one of the NiFe layers.
In this case, since the FeMn layer and the NiFe layer adjacent thereto are directly exchange-coupled to each other, the direction of the magnetic spin of this NiFe layer is fixed in the range of several tens to several hundreds Oe in magnetic field intensity. On the other hand, the direction of the magnetic spin of the other NiFe layer is freely changeable by an external magnetic field. As a result, there can be achieved a magnetoresistance change ratio (MR change ratio) of 2 to 5% in a small magnetic field range which corresponds to the degree of coercive force of the NiFe layer.
In the spin valve, by realizing a difference in relative angles of spins between two magnetic layers, the large MR change which differs from the conventional anisotropy magnetoresistance (AMR) effect is accomplished. This is realized by pinning of the magnetic layer spin due to the direct exchange coupling force between one of the magnetic layers and the antiferromagnetic layer. This exchange coupling can be said to be the substance of the spin valve.
However, for putting the spin valve to practical use, there are various problems as described hereinbelow. The strength of the exchange coupling pinning the magnetic layer is represented by a magnitude of a unidirectional anisotropy magnetic field Hua which shifts. On the other hand, a temperature at which Hua is lost is set to be a blocking temperature Tb which represents a thermal stability. The generally used FeMn layers and other antiferromagnetic layers have the following problems with respect to the exchange coupling:
(1) The blocking temperature Tb is low, that is, in the range from 150 to 170 .degree. C. As compared with the state of the bulk, the blocking temperature Tb is low so that an excellent thin film which can fully achieve an expected pinning effect can not be obtained.
(2) Dispersion of the blocking temperatures Tb occurs. Specifically, because of a thin film, the film surface of the FeMn layer is composed of various crystal grains, and the individual crystal grains have their own blocking temperatures Tb. If all the crystal grains have the same blocking temperature Tb, no problem is raised. However, actually, some crystal grains have lower blocking temperatures Tb, while some crystal grains have higher blocking temperatures Tb. As a result, it is possible that there exist those grains with small exchange coupling which causes reversal of the spin in the ferromagnetic layer at 80 to 120.degree. C. representing an operating temperature range on application (due to existence of crystal grains having lower blocking temperatures Tb). Then, the spin direction of the pinned ferromagnetic layer may be inclined as a whole so that the output voltage is lowered. Thus, it is desired that a high-quality antiferromagnetic thin film be provided wherein as many crystal grains as possible have the same high blocking temperature Tb.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a high-quality antiferromagnetic thin film (antiferromagnetic layer) which is excellent in thermal stability, free from deterioration of Hua, sufficiently high in blocking temperature and small in blocking temperature dispersion degree, and a magnetoresistance effect type head having a magnetic multilayered film which is excellent in thermal stability, high in magnetic field sensitivity and large in MR change ratio. As a technique similar to the present invention, Japanese First (unexamined) Patent Publication No. 8-63715 discloses that the oxygen concentration of the antiferromagnetic layer is set to be no more than 10 atomic %, and it may be seen from a graph of an embodiment that the oxygen concentration of about 6 atomic % is shown. However, the operation and effect of the present invention are not realized in such a high oxygen concentration range. Accordingly, the present invention is distinguishable over the technique of Japanese First Patent Publication No. 8-63715. Particularly, Japanese First Patent Publication No. 8-63715 describes that Hua is extremely reduced due to oxidation of the antiferromagnetic layer. The present invention is based on the findings that impurities on the ppm or ppb level induce a microscopic structural change and a change in crystal property of the layer, and pays attention to the impurities on the ppm or ppb level and not the at% level. Further, the technique of Japanese First Patent Publication No. 8-63715 does not relate to the spin valve film, and thus differs from the basic structure of the present invention.

Magnetoresistance effect film and magnetoresistance effect type head


Various implementations described herein relate to systems and methods for protecting data stored on a Solid State Drive (SSD) against malware, including determining, by a controller of the SSD, a typical traffic profile, receiving, by the controller, commands from a host, and determining, by the controller, that the commands are likely caused by malware by determining that the commands deviate from the typical traffic profile. In response to determining the commands are likely caused by the malware, the controller performs a malware response action.

Malware (e.g., ransomware) attacks cause damage to user data stored on Solid State Drives (SSDs), for example, in a datacenter setting, and temporarily or permanently denying users access to the user data. A user operating a host is authenticated prior to using the datacenter to store data. Once authenticated, the data stored in the SSDs of the datacenter can typically be freely accessed by the host without further authentication or security measures, where the host's actions relative to the SSDs can be manipulated by the malware. Thus, authentication protects the data only with respect to the SSDs being in an unauthenticated state and requiring authentication to gain access, such as when being powered off and on again.
Conventional methods to guard against malware include static detection of executable files. Static detection relates to analyzing the files before the files are executed. However, the malware can employ code obfuscation, binary packing, self-modification, encrypted code, and other techniques to avoid static detection.
Another conventional method to guard against malware is automatic analysis of malware, which involves monitoring filesystem input/output (I/O) activities in a host and detecting malware using a distinctive I/O pattern or "fingerprint." However, such analysis is performed only in an artificial virtual sandbox environment and not a real live system.
A further conventional method uses machine learning to execute and monitor malware within a sandbox environment. In this method, behaviors of malware is logged as sequential reports of a so-called malware instruction set (MIST). These reports are converted into "instruction q-grams," which are embedded into a multidimensional vector space. Based on these reports, machine learning techniques are applied to perform clustering and classification of the behaviors of the malware. However, the memory and compute requirements (e.g., 5 GB and a quad-core Opteron at 2.4 GHz) make this method infeasible for deployment on an SSD controller. In addition, this method would not react quickly enough to prevent malware from running its task to completion and therefore be useless in a live environment.

Systems and methods for protecting SSDs against threats


The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device. Such a semiconductor device includes a trench metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor having two or more electrodes in a trench formed on a substrate of the semiconductor, where a part of a shield electrode positioned at a bottom of the trench is formed to have a large thickness, and a groove is formed in a gate electrode that is stacked on the shield electrode, such that a part of the shield electrode protrudes to a surface of the semiconductor device so as to be connected with a source power.

1. Field
The following description relates to a semiconductor device.
2. Description of Related Art
In a double diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (DMOS) transistor, a channel of a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor mainly used as a semiconductor device for high voltage is usually formed horizontally to a substrate surface. However, recently, according to a reduction of design approach for semiconductor devices, a trench MOS transistor, such as a MOS transistor for high voltage that has a vertical channel that is easily high integrated, has come into the spotlight. Briefly considering the structure of a trench MOS transistor, in a trench MOS transistor a drain is arranged at a back side of a substrate; a source is arranged on a front side of a substrate; a gate is arranged inside a trench which is indented into the substrate surface; and a current flows up and down along a side wall of the trench, in the substrate.
FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of an active region and an edge region according to a conventional semiconductor device, and FIG. 2 illustrates a sectional view taken on line A-B of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a semiconductor is divided into an active region (X) and an edge region (Y). The active region (X) includes a trench 100 and a trench transistor cell 101-1 having contacts 101 inside an active region. The edge region (Y) includes a contact pattern configured to transfer a voltage to an electrode. As shown in FIG. 2, a first insulating film 210 is formed on a substrate 200. A shield structure 220 is formed on the first insulating film 210. A second insulating film 230, a gate structure 240, and a third insulating film 250 are all formed on the upper surface of the substrate. Contact holes 231, 251 are formed in the second insulating film 230 and in the third insulating film 250 respectively.
With respect to the edge region (Y), laminations of the shield structure 220 and the gate structure 240 are unavoidable, because it is necessary to manufacture these structures in successive, stacked layers. However, the wider the stacked extent is, the more easily the gate-to-source current (IGSS) characteristic, such as leakage current of gate/source or gate/drain for the transistor is decreased. Therefore, aspects of semiconductor performance are affected.
Also, due to the above-described stacked structure, absolute generation of high differences in the structure of the semiconductor device is unavoidable. For this reason, there are defects of a defocus in the photo process and defects of a passivation in the etch process.

Semiconductor device having a minimized region of sheild electrode and gate electrode overlap

Abstract: In such a manner, by minimizing a region in which the shield electrode and the gate electrode overlap, a region that decreases problematic effects, such as leakage current of gate/source or gate/drain of a trench MOS transistor, and a region where high difference of a gate electrode is generated, are removed.


A pair of independent cylinder holes 3, 3 are formed in a cylinder tube 2 of a flat outer shape. When a pressurized fluid is alternately supplied into the cylinder tube 2 through a port 7 formed in an end cap 5, the internal pressure for operating the cylinders acts uniformly on the cylinder tube 2 greatly decreasing stress and deflection of the cylinder tube 2.

In conventional magnet-type rodless cylinders, in general, a mechanism is utilized in that as pistons having inner magnets on the circumferential surfaces move due to internal pressure, a slide body having outer magnets magnetically coupled to the inner magnets moves being attracted by the motion of the inner magnets.
The magnitude of the attracting force is called "magnetic holding force" and is used as an index that represents the conveying ability of a magnet-type rodless cylinder.
FIG. 19 is a view schematically illustrating a general magnet-type rodless cylinder conventional design.
In FIG. 19, four outer magnets 102 of a slide body 101 on the outer side of a tube 100, and four inner magnets 104 of a piston 103 on the inner side of the tube 100 are arranged placing yokes 105 therebetween in a manner so that the same poles are opposed to each other in the axial direction. Further, the inner magnets 104 and the outer magnets 102 are arranged so that different magnet poles are opposed to each other.
Here, the magnetic holding force is defined as the force acting on the slide body in the axial direction 101 when the inner magnets 104 are deviated (displaced) in the axial direction relative to the slide body 101 (outer magnets 102) while applying a fluid pressure to the piston 103 without permitting the slide body 101 to move in the axial direction.
FIG. 4B is a diagram schematically illustrating the relationship between the amount of deviation (amount of displacement) of the inner magnets 104 and the magnetic holding force. In a static state where no fluid pressure is applied as shown in FIG. 4B, i.e., in a state where four inner magnets 104 and four outer magnets 102 are at positions, which are in alignment with each other in the radial direction without being deviated in the axial direction, the magnetic holding force becomes zero at point A. Magnetic holding force increases as the deviation between the inner magnets 104 and the outer magnets 102 in the axial direction increases, and becomes a maximum value Max (point B) when the deviation is about one-half of the pitch L of the magnets 102, 104 in the axial direction.
JP-UM-A-4-113305 discloses an art for flattening the cross sections of the cylinder tube and of the piston in the radial direction, in order to decrease the size of the device, by decreasing the thickness of the cylinder or to increase the cylinder thrust.
JP-A-4-357310 discloses a magnet-type rodless cylinder in which the cylinder tube and piston are formed in an oblong circular shape, in an oval shape or in a symmetrical pear shape in the radial direction in cross section.
Further, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514499 discloses the arrangement of two magnet-type rodless cylinders in parallel having a slider, which strides the pair of cylinders.
JP-B-3-81009 discloses a rodless cylinder of the slit tube-type, the cylinder tube having two cylinder holes. The pistons are arranged in the cylinder holes, and are mechanically coupled to a slide body on the outer side of the tube through slits sealed with bands.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,378 discloses a rodless cylinder of the slit tube-type, the tube having a rectangular outer shape in cross section and a cylinder hole having a quadrilateral shape.
JP-A-9-217708 discloses a cylinder of the rod-type, the cylinder tube having two cylinder holes.
British Patent No. 470088 discloses a rodless cylinder of the slit tube-type, the cylinder tube of a non-circular outer shape having three cylinder holes.
JP-UM-B-4-010407 discloses a magnet-type rodless cylinder in which a notch is formed in a slide body for passing a mounting member.
JP-B-3-81009, U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,378 and British Patent No. 470088 are related to the technologies of slit tube-type rodless cylinders, while JP-A-9-217708 is related to the technology of a rodless cylinder. These patent documents are referred to in this specification as general background art in the field of fluid pressure cylinders.
In general magnet-type rodless cylinders utilized in the field, the exactly circular cylindrical tube undergoes uniform deformation if the internal pressure of fluid is applied thereto. In tubes having a flat and noncircular outer shape as taught in JP-UM-A-4-113305 and JP-A-4-357310, since only one cylinder hole of a noncircular shape is formed, the tube is not uniformly deformed when the internal pressure of fluid is applied thereto, and therefore, maximum stress and maximum deflection are substantial.
To avoid this, the thickness of the tube must be greatly increased, and thereby a problem occurs in that the magnet-type rodless cylinder will not work unless the magnetic coupling force is also increased by several fold. Previously, therefore, two exactly circular cylindrical tubes were arranged in parallel as taught in the Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514499. However, the structure required for arranging a plurality of tubes in parallel as taught in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514499 involves a cumbersome assembly operation, as well as increased space for installation, which are not desirable.
When the general magnet-type rodless cylinder is in a static state, the inner magnets 104 and outer magnets 102 are in alignment attracting each other in the radial direction in FIG. 19 without being deviated in the axial direction. Therefore, magnetic holding force is zero.
Therefore, if the piston 103 is attempted to be moved in this state, the motion is not smooth and a stick-slip phenomenon at the start of the slide body 101 occurs, since the outer magnets 102 are not attracted to the inner magnets 104 until the above "deviation" occurs.
The above problem occurs even with the device having a tube of a noncircular outer shape as taught in JP-UM-A-4-113305 and JP-A-4-357310. The same problem occurs between the cylindrical tubes and the slide body even with the constitution taught in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2514499 in that two of an exactly circular cylindrical tubes are arranged in parallel maintaining a relatively long distance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Cyclic silazanes containing an oxamido ester group and methods of making these compounds are described. The compounds can be used, for example, to make oxamido ester-terminated siloxanes, which can be precursors for the preparation of various polymeric materials such as, for example, polydiorganosiloxane polyoxamides.

Siloxane polymers have unique properties derived mainly from the physical and chemical characteristics of the siloxane bond. These properties include low glass transition temperature, thermal and oxidative stability, resistance to ultraviolet radiation, low surface energy and hydrophobicity, high permeability to many gases, and biocompatibility. The siloxane polymers, however, often lack tensile strength.
The low tensile strength of the siloxane polymers can be improved by forming block copolymers. Some block copolymers contain a "soft" siloxane polymeric block or segment and any of a variety of "hard" blocks or segments. Exemplary block copolymers include polydiorganosiloxane polyamides and polydiorganosiloxane polyureas.
Polydiorganosiloxane polyamides have been prepared by condensation reactions of amino terminated silicones with short-chained dicarboxylic acids. Alternatively, these copolymers have been prepared by condensation reactions of carboxy terminated silicones with short-chained diamines. Because polydiorganosiloxanes (e.g., polydimethylsiloxanes) and polyamides often have significantly different solubility parameters, it can be difficult to find reaction conditions for production of siloxane-based polyamides that result in high degrees of polymerization, particularly with larger homologs of the polydiorganosiloxane segments. Many of the known siloxane-based polyamide copolymers contain relatively short segments of the polydiorganosiloxane (e.g., polydimethylsiloxane) such as segments having no greater than 30 diorganosiloxy (e.g., dimethylsiloxy) units or the amount of the polydiorganosiloxane segment in the copolymer is relatively low. That is, the fraction (i.e., amount based on weight) of polydiorganosiloxane soft segments in the resulting copolymers tends to be low.