A receiver for combining multipath significant components and correcting the frequency error and the phase error associated with each significant component consists of delay devices, path strength estimators, error signal generators, scaling signal updating devices, a decision circuit, and a controller. The controller extracts information about each significant component and generates initial scaling signals and other timing and control signals. Different significant components delayed by different amount of time through corresponding delay devices and multiplied by corresponding scaling signals from scaling signal updating devices, are added together for the decision circuit to make a decision. The scaling signal updating devices update the scaling signal according to the path strength signals generated by the path strength estimators through monitoring significant components and the error signals generated by the error signal generators through comparing the signals sending to the decision circuit and the decision made by the decision circuit.

In a wireless communication system, especially in a mobile communication system, fading occurs from times to times. Buildings, mountains, and foliage on the transmission path between a transmitter and a receiver can cause reflection, diffraction, and scattering on a propagating electromagnetic wave. The electromagnetic waves reflected from various large objects, travel along different paths of varying lengths. If there is an obstacle with sharp irregularities on the transmission path, the secondary waves resulting from the obstructing surface are present around the obstacle. Also if there are small objects, rough surfaces, and other irregularities on the transmission path, scattered waves are created. All these waves will interact with each other and result in multipath fading.
A multipath signal combiner is one of the methods to deal with the multipath-fading problem. For each path of a multipath-fading signal, there is a corresponding component signal. A multipath signal combiner in a receiver is to combine all the significant component signals according to their corresponding signal strengths. On average, a multipath signal combiner can provide a signal more stable and stronger than each individual component signal and therefore improves the system performance.
A demodulator of a coherent receiver has to remove both frequency error and phase error to recover data. Ordinarily, there are a frequency corrector and a phase rotator. The frequency corrector is for removing the frequency error so that the frequency error remaining after correction does not exceed a few percent of the symbol rate. The phase rotator is for getting rid of the residual frequency error and the phase error.
Nowadays one of the most common burst communication systems is packet-switched communication system. As a burst communication system, a packet-switched communication system places unusual demand on a carrier recover circuit especially when the transmitted data rate is substantially high. The data received at a receiver could from a transmitter for a short length of time and then from another different transmitter for another short length of time. The different bursts of data come from different transmitters and have no phase coherence from one burst to the next in most situations. In order to achieve good efficiency, only a very small portion of each burst can be devoted to carrier recovery in a packet-switched communication system. Usually, this very small portion is located at the beginning of each burst. The symbols in the very small portion are called preamble symbols.
When symbol rate is so high that the combination of Doppler frequency spread and frequency offset is no more than a few percent of a symbol rate, it is possible to use only a phase rotator to correct both the frequency error and phase error.
FIG. 1 is the essential portion of a baseband multipath RAKE receiver with the capability of frequency correction and phase correction. Suppose that there are at most K significant multipath components. Multipath splitter 105 splits the received complex signal Rin into K complex component signals. Each of the delay devices 1101 to 110K delays one of the K complex component signals for a different amount of time. Each of the multipliers 1151 to 115K scales the output complex signal from one of the delay devices 1101 to 110K by a corresponding weight from controller 130 respectively. Each of the phase rotator devices 1201 to 120K rotates the output complex signal from one of the multipliers 1151 to 115K by a corresponding phase from the controller 130 respectively. Adder 125 adds the output signals from the phase rotator devices 1201 to 120K together to generate a summation signal. Decision circuit 130 makes decision on the transmitted symbol from the summation signal. Controller 135 collects information from various devices and generates necessary control and timing signals for relevant devices such as the delay devices 1101 to 110K, the multipliers 1151 to 115K and the phase rotator devices 1201 to 120K.
FIG. 2 shows the structure of a conventional phase rotator. The desired phase adjustment θ is fed to ROM (read only memory) device 205 to obtain corresponding signals sin(θ) and cos(θ). The complex input signal of the phase rotator consists of a real signal Iin and an imaginary signal Qin. Multiplier 2101 multiplies the real signal Iin by cos(θ) to obtain the first product and multiplier 2102 multiplies the real signal Iin by sin(θ) to obtain the second product. Multiplier 2103 multiplies the imaginary signal Qin by cos(θ) to obtain the third product and multiplier 2104 multiplies the imaginary signal Qin by sin(θ) to obtain the fourth product. Adder 2151 subtracts the fourth product from the first product to obtain a signal Iout and adder 2152 adds the second product to the third product to obtain a signal Qout. The output signal of the phase rotator is a complex signal (Iout, Qout).
Mathematically, one can obtainIout+jQout=(Iin+jQin)·elθ=(Iin·cos(θ)−Qin·sin(θ))+j(Iin·sin(θ)+Qin·cos(θ))  (1)
Since sine and cosine functions are nonlinear functions and difficult to calculate them with enough precision on real time, usually they are pre-calculated and stored in ROM as shown in FIG. 2 and therefore a lot of hardware will be consumed.
Therefore, it would be desirable to eliminate the evaluation of the nonlinear function sin(θ) and cos(θ) in a phase rotator.

Multipath rake receiver of high symbol rate burst communication system


The invention relates to a method for checking the gastightness of a motor vehicle tank ventilation system consisting essentially of a fuel tank, an adsorption filter, a ventilation line with a pressure sensor, a fresh air line with an adsorption filter check valve (AAV), and a regeneration line with a tank ventilation valve (TEV) to the internal combustion engine. To compensate for the outgassing of fuel, the total diagnosis time tD is formed from the negative pressure buildup time t1 and the negative pressure decay time t2 as a measure of the tightness of the tank ventilation system and is compared to a corresponding diagnosis time threshold tDS.

A tank ventilation system consists of a fuel tank, an adsorption filter, and a ventilation line connecting the fuel tank to the adsorption filter. Furthermore, the adsorption filter is connected to the atmosphere by way of a fresh air line in which a controllable check valve is located as the adsorption filter check valve (AAV). Moreover the adsorption filter is connected to the intake manifold of the internal combustion engine by a regeneration line in which there is a controllable regeneration valve as the tank ventilation valve (TEV).
In operation of the internal combustion engine with the check valve (AAV) opened and the tank ventilation valve (TEV) opened, the fuel vapors outgassing from the fuel are intaken by the negative pressure prevailing in the intake manifold. Furthermore, the fuel vapors stored temporarily in the adsorption filter are also disposed of and thus the adsorption filter is regenerated. With the vehicle stopped the tank system is ventilated by way of the adsorption filter, the outgassing fuel vapors being temporarily stored therein.
For reasons of environmental protection, measurement methods are being increasingly required by means of which leaks in tank ventilation systems of motor vehicles are detected and displayed.
Such a generic method is known from DE 40 03 751 A1. In this connection the adsorption filter check valve (AAV) is closed and the tank ventilation valve (TEV) is opened, the system is evacuated and after closing the TEV by means of a pressure sensor it is checked whether the negative pressure decay gradient in the tank ventilation system corresponds to a boundary negative pressure gradient. This method has the disadvantage that the negative pressure generated by way of the intake manifold negative pressure in the tank ventilation system is not constant, but depends on variable parameters. This method is not accurate enough for detecting smaller leaks. In particular a small leak cannot be easily detected by such a simple pressure test, since the fuel based on its vapor pressure behavior builds up a natural pressure depending on the temperature and outside pressure and other effects such as the fill level, fuel quality, or mechanical movements of the fuel tank can mask the effect of a small leak.
Developments of the aforementioned method to be able to detect in particular also smaller leaks are known, in particular a correction being carried out for the outgassing of fuel. For example, in DE 42 27 698 C2 control is exercised to a specified negative pressure with a stable air-fuel mixture, and proceeding from there the pressure variation in the blocked tank ventilation system is detected and evaluated for a tightness diagnosis. In another known method as claimed in DE 197 13 085 A1, the influence parameters are detected and complex correction computations are carried out based on a physical model for the measured pressure variation. In another known method as claimed in DE 44 27 688 C2 the dynamic behavior of the pressure variation is detected using several successive pressure values and an average value formed therefrom is evaluated. in DE 101 43 329 A1 correction values are determined by evaluating the pressure changes in several measurement cycles.
The object of the invention is to develop a generic method for checking gastightness of a motor vehicle tank ventilation system such that with a simple structure of the tank ventilation system and simple process guidance the gastightness of a tank ventilation system can be reliably assessed.

Method for checking the gastightness of a motor vehicle tank ventilation system


The present invention is directed to a process for recovering copper from a copper-containing material by pressure oxidation followed by solvent extraction and electrowinning. The copper-containing solution formed by pressure oxidation is diluted before solvent extraction and the raffinate solution from solvent extraction is neutralized to reduce the acid levels in the raffinate solution.

Copper deposits typically have copper-bearing zones at different depths that contain different copper-bearing minerals. Copper oxides, such as malachite and chrysocolla, are located in an upper weathered zone. A mixture of copper sulfides, such as chalcocite, covellite, and chalcopyrite and copper oxides are generally located below the upper weathered zone in an intermediate enriched zone. Chalcopyrite is generally located in a primary mineralized zone below the intermediate enriched zone.
The copper in the ores from the various zones is recovered by different techniques. The copper in the ore from the upper weathered and intermediate enriched zones is typically recovered by heap leaching techniques. Because it is difficult to economically recover the copper in the chalcopyrite located in the primary mineralized zone by heap leaching techniques, copper in ore from the primary mineralized zone is recovered by other techniques.
Smelting and refining is the traditional approach used to recover the copper in the ore from the primary mineralized zone. Because the smelting and refining process is expensive, the copper sulfides in the ore are first concentrated into a copper sulfide concentrate by flotation techniques to provide a smaller volume of material for smelting. The sulfide concentrate is then shipped to a smelter/refiner which heats the concentrate to high temperatures to form a crude copper product which is refined to a highly pure metal. In recent years, the smelting and refining process has fallen into disfavor due to environmental problems associated with the disposal of smelting and refining byproducts and increases in smelting and refining costs.
A process developed as an alternative to smelting and refining is to slurry the copper sulfide concentrate and oxidize the sulfur in the copper sulfides to sulfuric acid and the copper to copper sulfate under conditions of high temperature and superatmospheric pressure to form a copper-containing solution. The copper is recovered from the solution by solvent extraction and electrowinning techniques to provide a cathode copper product of high purity at the mine site. Because a high acid concentration is undesirable in solvent extraction due to unfavorable equilibrium conditions, the leach solution is neutralized before solvent extraction and electrowinning using lime or an acid-consuming, low-grade copper ore. Unlike the smelting and refining process, this process does not generate harmful offgases and other harmful byproducts and is therefore more environmentally safe than smelting and refining.
Although the process is more environmentally safe than smelting and refining, this process has unacceptably high copper losses. The use of lime to neutralize the acid in the solution not only increases operating costs due to lime consumption but also forms a low pulp density slurry from which it is difficult to recover the copper. Alternatively, the percolation of the solution through a heap of an acid-consuming, low-grade copper ore to neutralize the acid in the solution can cause copper losses in the heap.
There is a need for a low-cost method to recover copper from copper-containing sulfides, especially copper from copper sulfides such as chalcopyrite, that has a high copper recovery rate.

Solvent extraction process for recovering copper from copper-containing solutions


A content receiver comprises: an acceptance unit for accepting a designation of a recording medium to which contents are to be output; a license information acquiring unit for acquiring output license information describing the output requirements of the contents; and an output unit for outputting the contents to the designated recording medium. The output license information includes usage time limit information indicating the time limit of using the contents in an output destination. The output unit acquires the usage time limit information from the output license information for the contents, and sets the acquired usage time limit information to a management information storing area in the designated recording medium, thereby managing the time period of using the contents in the recording medium even if the copyright protection of the recording medium, which is an export destination, has a function to manage the time period of using the contents.

In late years, a content delivery service has been commercialized for delivering various digital contents, such as music, video, etc., and a content copyright management function has increased in importance for restricting playback times for the digital contents accumulated in home receivers, a transfer of the contents, a copy (or dubbing) of DVD-RAM, SD card, etc. to an external storage medium, from the point of view of a copyright protection and user's convenience.
If there is no restriction for copy times, the right for owner of copyright is not protected since an external storage medium storing the contents can be produced unrestrictedly. In contrast, there are needs to copy it to the external storage medium from the point of view of convenience when a user, who bought the contents, uses it in a car or outdoors within individual activity. Further, an inconvenience sometimes occurs such that the contents, which were bought, are all lost since a storage device in the receiver is broken down, therefore, a backup is insignificant.
For example, a music delivery system in which the copyright protection is executed in Patent literature 1 is configured by a server for executing a music content delivery, a charge settlement, etc., a user terminal for executing a procedure of purchasing the contents by accessing to the server from the user, an exclusive-use playback device for playing back purchased music, etc. The user accesses to the server from the user terminal via a network to purchase digital music data (AV contents) and a ticket capable of copying the music data plural times.
The music data and copy ticket is downloaded once to the user terminal from the server to further store the copy ticket in the exclusive-use playback device from the user terminal. The music data is also copied to the exclusive-use playback device. At this time, a number or numbers are subtracted from the number of copy ticket, and a copy history in the exclusive-use playback device is updated. The copy history of exclusive-use playback device is notified to the server when the exclusive-use playback device is coupled to the user terminal and the user terminal is also coupled to the server. In consequence of this configuration, it realizes that the copy can be executed and the system executes the copyright protection.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a content use system, in which a receiving terminal executes to purchase digital contents from a content delivery server to download, play back and export it, provides that a license appended to the digital contents is divided into a playback license and an export license to be managed as those, the playback license is can be duplicated in a predetermined range, and the export license is not allowed to duplicate it in the predetermined range, but allowed to move only, in consequence, a strict export control can be executed without recourse of export processing times.

Content receiving device, and content distribution system


A new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant named ‘Balluresion’ characterized by its semi-double medium red-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage with a slightly lighter green-colored zone, and vigorous, upright growth habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant botanically known as Pelargonium×hortorum and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Balluresion'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Arroyo Grande, Calif. during March 2000. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Geranium cultivars with a vigorous and upright growth habit, medium green-colored foliage, and new and unique flower coloration.
The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar was 'Americana Dark Red', U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,307, characterized by its dark red-colored florets, semi-double flowers on large umbels, medium green-colored foliage with faint zonation, and vigorous growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar was the proprietary Pelargonium×hortorum breeding selection designated BFP-2787, not patented, characterized by its scarlet red-colored florets, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous growth habit. The new Geranium was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during June 2000 in a controlled environment at Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since June 2000 at Arroyo Grande, Calif. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


The present invention discloses a process for enhancing antibody response to an antigen. A novel step in the process is the preparation of a conjugate of the antigen with an anti-immunoglobulin. The conjugate thus prepared is then administered to a host for in vivo effect or presented to T and B cells in a suitable culture system for in vitro response. The present invention by increasing immunogenicity makes it possible to produce antibodies against very low doses of antigens and otherwise weak or insufficient antigens or synthetic vaccines.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to immunology. More particularly, the present invention is related to producing improved immune response to an antigen by targeting the antigen to the immune system.
2. State of the Art
Immunogenicity of antigens in vivo or their potency in vitro is dependent on several factors. Important among such factors are the characteristics of the antigen itself and of the host. Molecular properties of the antigen itself might include: (a) size of the antigen, correlated with the number of antigenic determinants; (b) affinity for functional structures of cells in the immune system, such as immunoglobulins on B cells, cell surface membranes of antigen-presenting cells, Ia molecules after being processed, or T cell receptors with Ia molecules; or (c) susceptibility or resistance to lysosomal enzymes. In the whole animal, the distribution, catabolism, and excretion of the injected antigen also influence the magnitude of immune response. Of course, the route of administration, use of adjuvants, and antigen dosage are some other factors which influence the fate of antigen and the immune response.
Despite rapid advances in immunology, a problem in inducing protective immunization or producing an effective vaccine is faced when the antigens are either too weak or too limited in quantity to be used as immunogens. The present invention now overcomes this limitation in immunology and provides a means of achieving enhanced immune response to an antigen by targeting the antigen to the immune system thereby inducing improved antigenic potency for an otherwise weaker entity.
Several studies have shown that B cells can function as antigen-presenting cells. These fall into three categories. First, at relatively high antigen concentration, B cells and B cell tumors have been shown to take up antigen nonspecifically and to present it to T cells (Chesnut, et al. J. Immunol. 128:1764, 1982). For small resting B cells, this function is much more radiosensitive than for accessory cells (AC); such as, dendritic cells [Steinman, et al. J. Exp. Med. 149:1, 1979] or macrophages) (Ashwell, et al. J. Exp. Med. 159:881, 1984). Second, antigen-specific B cells have shown to take up antigen efficiently at low concentration via their specific surface immunoglobulin and to stimulate specific T cells (Rock, et al. J. Exp. Med. 160:1102, 1984; Malynn, et al. J. Immunol. 132:2253, 1984). This mechanism is probably the most physiological type of B cell presentation, but it is difficult to purify antigen-specific B cells experimentally. Third, advantage has been taken of using xenogeneic anti-immunoglobulin antibodies as an antigen (Chesnut, et al. J. Immunol. 126:1075, 1981; Tony, et al. J. Exp. Med. 161:223, 1985). These antibodies can bind to all B cells, but bind with high affinity as in the second approach, and so are presented more effectively than the corresponding xenogeneic immunoglobulin not specific for B cell surface Ig. Thus, this third approach combines some of the advantages of each of the other two approaches; however, so far this approach has been useful only for stimulating T cells specific for xenogeneic immunoglobulin. The present invention now makes it possible to direct any antigen towards the immune system and determine its effect on immunogenicity.

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A computer implemented method of streaming media on a computing device is disclosed in which a streaming protocol adapter is provided on the computing device for streaming media to a local streaming client on the computing device with enhanced resiliency. The streaming adapter downloads one or more stream files that include the media file formatted for delivery according to a transfer protocol, and also include streaming template transactions for supporting communicating from the streaming adapter to the streaming client. The streaming client may be a standard real-time streaming protocol (RTSP) client, and the streaming adapter may be an RTSP adapter.

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for streaming media content, and more particularly, this disclosure relates to systems and methods for resiliently streaming media from a server to a mobile computing device over a wireless network.
Mobile applications that employ wireless networks for connecting with one or more server entities face multiple challenges. For example, the underlying wireless transport network is likely to fail more often than when connecting over wired networks, and thus the assumption that network connections will remain connected most of the time is generally not true for mobile applications. As a result, applications designed with such assumptions (such as traditional software applications) do not yield a good quality of experience for end users running applications on mobile devices.
While smartphones are often equipped with platforms that support advanced application programming interfaces (APIs) for streaming media content, some mobile devices and embedded systems, such as feature phones, are often provided with relatively simple APIs that are restricted in functionality. In particular, many mobile devices are designed to operate on the Java Micro Edition (Java ME or J2ME) Platform and the entry level Symbian platform, which often restricts media streaming applications to applications that require a continuous connection between the computing device and a remote server.
Such devices (and many server applications such as web services, video streaming servers, and file transfer protocol FTP servers) are session based, and are not designed for mobile client applications that may get disconnected during a data or media streaming session. A disconnection typically requires the client application to start afresh, which is highly undesirable from a user perspective, particularly when streaming media content.
Media content may be streamed to a mobile client using the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), which is often supported by feature phones operating on the J2ME platform and most smart phones. RTSP is an application-level protocol for control over the delivery of data with real-time properties. RTSP provides an extensible framework to enable controlled, on-demand delivery of real-time data, such as audio and video. Sources of data can include both live data feeds and stored data such as media files. This protocol is intended to control multiple data delivery sessions, provide a means for choosing delivery channels such as User Datagram Protocol (UDP), multicast UDP) and Transport Control Protocol (TCP), and provide a means for choosing delivery mechanisms based upon various streaming protocols, such as RTP (as defined in RFC 1889). This protocol requires a steady network connection between the client and the server. Network disconnections can prematurely interrupt and stop a media session, resulting in a poor quality of experience for the user. Therefore, while some solutions exist for streaming media to mobile devices with moderate computing power such as feature phones, or to smart phones under low-speed network conditions, the session-based nature of the existing streaming solutions often leads to poor playback and user experience.

System and methods for resilient media streaming


A lead acid storage battery comprising a battery container, a plate assembly assembled by stacking a negative electrode plate and a positive electrode plate one upon another through a separator interposed between the negative and positive electrode plates, and a saddle placed on the bottom surface of the battery container for absorbing the extension of the positive electrode plate. Legs of a negative electrode grid plate consisting of the negative electrode plate are larger in width than legs of a positive electrode grid plate consisting of the positive electrode plate.

Grid plates for making positive and negative electrode plates of a conventional lead acid storage battery are made of Pb-Ca-Sn alloy or other like alloy. With such a conventional storage battery, both the positive and negative electrode grid plates carry legs formed to be of an equal width. There has been known a lead acid storage battery carrying plate assembly of positive and negative electrode plates made out of the grid plates fabricated as mentioned above, in which said plate assembly is placed in a battery container in such a manner that the negative and positive electrode plates may be rested on and supported by such a saddle disposed at the bottom surface of the battery container that is capable of absorbing the extension of the positive electrode plates.
However, it has been observed with the conventional storage battery that when it is in use, there occurs the extension of the positive electrode plate in particular and this positive electrode plate extension can only be absorbed unsatisfactorily by the saddle, thus causing warping of the positive electrode plate and other inconveniences which result in the internal shortcircuiting in the negative and positive electrode plates of the plate assembly. More specifically, the warped positive electrode plates cause shortcircuiting with the adjoining negative electrode plates, leading to the decreased capacity and shorter service life of the battery. This kind of the disadvantageous phenomenon takes place at an even more accelerated pace when the battery is used under a high temperature condition.
As a means of solving these problems, the saddles made of various expandable resin materials having different expansion ratios have been used in the storage batteries only to see the problems still remain unsolved. In view of the above, it is much desired to make available a means that can help improve the absorption effect with respect to the positive electrode extension.


A belt cleaning device includes a cleaning roller. The cleaning roller includes a roller having an outer peripheral surface. A sheet-like cleaning element is wound to the outer peripheral surface of the roller. One end part of the cleaning element is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the roller. Both side edge parts in the other end part of the cleaning element are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the roller. The both side edge parts in the other end part of the cleaning element are located on the outside of their region that is to face to possibly largest paper.

The present disclosure relates to belt cleaning devices and image forming apparatuses.
Inkjet recording apparatuses are widely employed in printers, copiers, multifunction peripherals, etc. because of their compactness, low price, low operating sound, etc. An inkjet recording apparatus ejects ink droplets from a plurality of nozzles provided at a recording head to form an image on a recording medium (e.g., copier paper).
An inkjet recording apparatus of some type forms an image in a manner that the nozzles eject ink droplets toward a recording medium loaded on and conveyed by a conveyance belt.
When a jam (paper jam) or the like occurs in the inkjet recording apparatus having such a configuration, ink may adhere to the conveyance belt to contaminate a recording medium that is conveyed next.

Belt cleaning device and image forming apparatus


A method is provided to realize a three-dimensional mounting structure of different types of packages. By bonding protruding electrodes onto lands, which are formed on a first carrier substrate, second and third carrier substrates are mounted on the first carrier substrate such that ends of the second and third carrier substrates are arranged above a semiconductor chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, an electronic device, electronic equipment, a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device, and a method of manufacturing the electronic device, and particularly is suitable for applying to a stacked structure of semiconductor packages and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional semiconductor device, in order to save space at the time of mounting semiconductor chips, there has been a method of three-dimensionally mounting semiconductor chips while interposing the same type of carrier substrates, as disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 10-284683.
However, in the method of three-dimensionally mounting semiconductor chips while interposing the same type of carrier substrates, stacking of different type of packages becomes difficult. As such, there is a problem in that the effectiveness in space savings is not increased because of such difficulty in stacking different types of chips. The present invention is intended to provide a semiconductor device, an electronic device, electronic equipment, a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device, and a method of manufacturing the electronic device, which can realize a three-dimensional mounting structure of different types of packages.

Semiconductor device, electronic device, electronic equipment, method of manufacturing semiconductor device, and method of manufacturing electronic device


A photothermographic material comprising a support, and an image-forming layer and a non-image-forming layer provided on the support, wherein the image-forming layer comprises a photosensitive silver halide, a non-photosensitive organic silver salt, a reducing agent, and a binder; the non-image-forming layer includes a slipping agent having a melting point of 80° C. to 120° C.; the coefficient (K1) of dynamic friction measured at a velocity of 0.1 cm/sec and the coefficient (K2) of dynamic friction measured at a velocity of 10 cm/sec have a relation represented by formula (1): Formula (1) 1.20>K1/K2>0.90. Also provided is an image-forming method using the photothermographic material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photothermographic materials and image forming methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reduction of waste solutions to be treated has been strongly desired in recent years in the medical field from the viewpoints of environmental protection and space saving. Under such circumstances, there have been needs for technologies on photosensitive photothermographic photographic materials for medical diagnosis and photography which can be exposed to light efficiently with a laser image setter or a laser imager, and can form a clear black image having high resolution and sharpness. With these photosensitive photothermographic photographic materials, it is possible to supply to customers a heat development treatment system which has eliminated the necessity of using solvent system processing chemicals, and is simpler and does not impair the environment.
The similar requirements also exist in the field of general image forming materials. However, the image for medical use is required to have a high image quality excellent in sharpness and graininess, because fine details of the image are required. In addition, the medical image is characterized by that a cold tone of an image is preferred from the viewpoint of ease of medical diagnosis. Currently, various hard copy systems utilizing pigments or dyes such as inkjet printers and apparatuses for electrophotography are prevailing as general image forming systems. However, there is no system which is satisfactory as a medical image-output system.
A thermal image formation system utilizing an organic silver salt is described in a large number of documents. In particular, the photothermographic material generally has an image-forming layer in which a catalytically active amount of a photocatalyst (e.g., silver halide), a reducing agent, a reducible silver salt (e.g., organic silver salt), and, if required, a toning agent for controlling the color tone of silver are dispersed in a binder matrix. The photothermographic materials are, after being imagewise exposed, heated to a high temperature (for example, to 80° C. or higher) to form black silver images through the oxidation-reduction reaction between the silver halide or the reducible silver salt (which functions as an oxidizing agent) and the reducing agent therein. The oxidation-reduction reaction is accelerated by the catalytic action of the latent image of the silver halide generated through exposure. For this reason, the black silver images are formed in the exposed areas. Fuji Medical Dry Imager FM-DP L has been distributed as a medical image formation system using a photothermographic material.
In photothermographic materials, substances have been used for lubricating the photothermographic materials, for improving the transferability in the production process, and for improving handling property when stacked. Examples of such substances are liquid slipping agents such as liquid paraffin disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 10-69023 and silicone oil disclosed in JP-A No. 2001-5138, and solid esters such as carnauba waxes disclosed in JP-A Nos. 2000-112062 and 2001-5137. These "slipping agents" are used preferably in a surface protective layer on the image-forming layer side or in a surface protective layer on the back side, particularly preferably in an outermost layer. However, the outermost layer directly contacts conveying devices, and the added substance cause transfer defects and adversely affects the output image. Accordingly, it is an important issue to find out an appropriate slipping agent. Therefore, there have been needs for improved slipping agents and photothermographic materials containing the improved slipping agents.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Photothermographic material and image forming method


The present invention provides a method for fabrication of polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors, which forms a silicon spacer on the sidewall of the active layer of a thin film transistor (TFT) by way of anisotropic plasma etching in a single direction. The silicon spacer provides a mechanism for laser recrystallization on the sidewall to prevent the active layer from shrinkage or shelling-off after the laser recrystallization. According to the present invention, large grains can be formed in the channel without additional mask during production. By doing so, the characteristics of the components are enhanced; the uniformity is improved; and, the production cost is lowered. Therefore, this technique will play an important role in the fields of low temperature polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor (LTPS-TFT).

As the price of the conventional a-Si (amorphous silicon) TFT (thin film transistor) LCD (liquid crystal display) keeps going down and the applications of the LTPS-TFT (low temperature polycrystalline silicon thin film transistor) in small-size display is extending day by day, the LTPS-TFT has gained its market share in mobile terminal devices, such as personal digital assistant, digital camera, cell phone, etc., because of its advantage on resolution, brightness, size and electromagnetic disturbance.
However, on producing the LTPS-TFT by laser annealing, the active layer of the transistor is formed after the laser recrystallization of the a-Si film, so that the resulting silicon grain structure would be limited in size owing to the thickness of the film. And the silicon grains with irregular sizes are spread in the active layer of the transistor, which causes the differences in the electric properties of the components and so diminishes the uniformity. But, on the contrary, if the active layer of transistor is formed 'before' the laser recrystallization of the a-Si film, a surface tension induced shrinkage would happen on the active layer owing to the melting of the whole silicon film. Therefore, the conventional method can not be used in fabricating LTPS-TFTs.
In addition, the structure of the components, like TFT and silicon-on-insulator metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (SOI-MOSFET), would comprise an insulated layer with poor thermo conductivity under active layer. When the working current of the device is large, the temperature of the active layer would suddenly rise and the mobility of the carrier in the active layer would be diminished. So, a related technique suggests that the bigger channel W can be divided into a plurality of smaller channels Wi connected in a parallel way to overcome the self-heating effect. As shown in FIG. 7, it is a view showing the way to overcome the self-heating effect according to the prior art.

Method for fabrication of polycrystalline silicon thin film transistors


A computing device includes a display device, an accelerometer, and an orientation determination module. The orientation determination module sends a heartbeat of orientation data obtained by the accelerometer to a host device at a first data transfer frequency, and compares a plurality of orientation data most recently received from the accelerometer for at least one axis of orientation to the current orientation data measurement. In response to a difference between the current measurement and any of the plurality of orientation data most recently received from the accelerometer exceeding a threshold, the computing device sends the current orientation data to the host device at a second data transfer frequency, and adjust content displayed on the display device based on the current orientation data received by the host device.

Computing devices of all types and functions are ubiquitous within today's society. These computing devices include display devices that display information to the user in the form of graphical user interfaces, text, images, and selectable buttons, among other user-interactive elements. Some of these computing devices may be operated in a plurality of orientations to allow the user more flexibility as to how information is displayed on the display device.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Computer resource utilization reduction devices

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An error detection method is to detect an error in a program to control hardware, which executes predetermined processing, via a register. The error detection method includes: outputting a signal indicating whether the predetermined processing is in execution; detecting that a change is made in a register value in the register, which register value is related to control of the predetermined processing, and outputting a detection signal; and detecting an error when it is detected, based on the signal indicating whether the predetermined processing is in execution and on the detection signal, that the change is made in the register value while the predetermined processing is in execution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an error detection method, an information processing circuit, and an error detection computer program product, and particularly relates to error detection of software that operates in conjunction with hardware.
2. Description of the Related Art
Software that operates in conjunction with hardware controls operation of the hardware by setting a parameter in a register provided in the hardware. For example, when starting the hardware and making it execute processing, the software sets a value in a register assigned for instructing starting of the hardware and/or execution of processing.
When developing such software, it is necessary to configure a computer program so that no trouble occurs in operation of hardware to be controlled. As a unit used for creating such software, there is proposed a simulation device that performs simulation based on a verification scenario (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-226207).
A technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-226207 makes it possible to verify software and hardware with high accuracy by outputting a response to an instruction from a driver serving as software controlling hardware, and also by storing control information at that time.
A case in which a trouble occurs in operation of hardware to be controlled as mentioned above refers to a case in which, for example, the hardware starts processing based on control from the software, and thereafter, before completing the processing, receives again a start instruction of the hardware from the software, or receives a change instruction of a parameter. Such a phenomenon is a phenomenon occurring in a register inside the hardware, and therefore, an operator is difficult to recognize the phenomenon in an easy and instant manner.
Examples of hardware as described above include a circuit for image processing incorporated in an image processing apparatus, a plotter engine that performs image formation output, and a scanner engine that reads documents. To speed up control of such hardware for image processing by software, there is a case of using a configuration in which an application directly controls the hardware without intervention of a driver, that is, the application directly accesses a register of the hardware.
If hardware is controlled via a driver, an error such as described above can be detected in some cases by a register control function included in the driver. However, if an application directly controls hardware while omitting a driver, detection of an error becomes more difficult.
As a method to easily achieve prevention of change in a register value for a start register and a parameter register while hardware is in operation, there is a method of blocking change in a register value while operation is performed. However, this is a makeshift measure, and does not correct software that includes erroneous processing such as changing a register value even though hardware is in operation.
It should be noted that a situation such as described above is a problem in simulation in a development stage of hardware and in operation verification of created hardware, and can also be a problem in the same way even in hardware incorporated in an apparatus that has put into service.
There is a need to make it possible to recognize, in an easy and quick manner, a change in a register value while hardware is in operation.

Error detection method, information processing circuit, and error detection computer program product


Foldable boat covers provide various features including a cover portion which is foldable. Other features include hinges allowing the base structure to be folded. By folding the cover portion, the base structure, or both the cover portion and base structure, the boat may be placed in a garage or on a covered boat lift with a lesser likelihood of the boat cover interfering.

Boat covers allow enthusiasts to be protected from the elements and also to stow equipment as well as provide a place to mount antennas, rod holders, etc. for a boat that the boat cover is mounted on. Simple boat covers are essentially a generally flat cover supported by four legs which are attached to the boat.
Boat covers provide shelter and protection for passengers on the boat as well as for the boat itself including electronics and other equipment. Various styles and configurations of boat covers are commonly known in the prior art. One conventional boat cover is a tee-top ("T-top"), which consists of a framework attached to the center console and/or decks of the boat. Conventional boat cover assemblies comprise a boat cover that is permanently and inflexibly secured such that, once installed, the cover's position and orientation never change, other than to be partially or completely removed from the boat.
A further problem with custom-made boat covers is that they maintain a fixed position. As a result of this fixed positioning, the boat must be stored in a special housing that has ample room for the added height of the fixed boat cover. More specifically, a boat having a custom built boat cover usually cannot be stored in a standard size garage or a commercial covered marine storage facility because of the standard height of the boat cover.


A maximum flow calculating unit calculates a maximum amount of hydraulic fluid that can flow into or out of an input-side hydraulic cylinder when a shift control command signal is set to a reference DUTY value, based on an estimated valve pressure difference calculated by an estimated pressure difference calculating unit, and a post-guard target sheave position setting unit performs a guard process for restricting the amount of change of the sheave position, using a guard value calculated by a guard value calculating unit based on the maximum flow amount, so as to set a post-guard target sheave position. Since the thus set target sheave position does not undergo excessive large changes nor excessively small changes during shifting, a target value for shifting is set so that a feedforward controlled variable determined based on the amount of change of the target sheave position becomes an appropriate value.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to shift control system and shift control method for a continuously variable transmission, and, more particularly to techniques for setting a target value used for obtaining a command value generated when the continuously variable transmission is shifted up or down.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a shift control system for a continuously variable transmission having a hydraulic actuator that is driven with hydraulic fluid supplied thereto or discharged therefrom so as to continuously change the speed ratio, it is well known to effect shifting of the continuously variable transmission by driving a shift control valve that adjusts the amount of hydraulic fluid flowing into or out of the hydraulic actuator, in a controlled manner.
One example of the above type of control system for a continuously variable transmission is disclosed in JP-A-2003-343709. In shift control of a belt-and-pulley type continuously variable transmission having primary pulley and secondary pulley each having a variable effective diameter and including a fixed sheave and a movable sheave, as disclosed in this publication, a drive command value for use in drive control of the shift control valve is calculated based on a feedback command value determined based on a difference between a target input shaft rotational speed and an actual input shaft rotational speed, and a feedforward command value determined based on the rate of change of a target value associated with the movable sheave of the primary pulley.
If the target value is set to increase stepwise in order to improve the shift response when the feedforward command value is obtained based on the rate of change of the target value, as disclosed in the above-identified publication, the feedforward command value may become excessively large, namely, may go beyond an appropriate range in which the command value can be generated without problems, depending upon the rate of change of the target value.
In view of the above possibility, it may be proposed to restrict changes of the target value so as to prevent excessively large changes thereof. However, if changes of the target value are restricted too much to be excessively small, the shift response may undesirably become insufficient or unsatisfactory.

Shift control system and shift control method for continuously variable transmission


The present invention provides a peptide which selectively adsorbs an anti-β1 adrenoreceptor antibody being one of the contributing factors in dilated cardiomyopathy. The peptide of the invention can be immobilized on a carrier in a short period of time with rarely inducing side reactions, and adsorbent for adsorbing an anti-β1 adrenoreceptor antibody can be produced with good efficiency by using the peptide. In addition, the present invention provides an adsorbent comprising such peptide immobilized on a carrier, an adsorber wherein such adsorbent is used, and a method for adsorbing an anti-β1 adrenoreceptor antibody. The adsorbent and adsorber according to the invention can efficiently deprive an anti-β1 adrenoreceptor antibody-containing liquid, in particular body fluid, of the antibody.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease characterized by marked decreases in ventricular muscle contraction, resulting in dilatation of the heart, and the prognosis thereof is very poor as compared with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In Japan, the proportion of patients still alive five years after a diagnosis of DCM is said to be about 50%. While heart transplantation is desirable as a radical cure in the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy, the number of donors is insufficient in comparison with the number of patients on the waiting-list, so that symptomatic therapies for cardiac failure are currently the core of the treatment. While cases where the heart function and prognosis were improved by the administration of an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or a β blocker have been reported, an effective therapeutic agent or treatment method is still desired.
According to a Matsui et al. report, the administration of a peptide resulting from addition of Cys to the second loop of β1 adrenoreceptor: His Trp Trp Arg Ala Glu Ser Asp Glu Ala Arg Arg Cys Tyr Asn Asp Pro Lys Cys Cys Asp Phe Val Thr Asn Arg Cys or a peptide resulting from addition of Cys to the second loop of M2 muscarine receptor: Val Arg Thr Val Glu Asp Gly Glu Cys Tyr Ile Gln Phe Phe Ser Asn Ala Ala Val Thr Phe Gly Thr Ala Ile Cys to rabbits resulted in appearance of an antibody to the peptide administered and dilated cardiomyopathy was found in the hearts of rabbits which died 9 months later; thus, it is suggested that each antibody acts as a cause of dilated cardiomyopathy (Non-Patent Document 1).
Ogino et al. report an adsorbent capable of adsorbing an anti-β1 adrenoreceptor antibody and/or an antibody against M2 muscarine receptor (Patent Document 1). Further, a peptide capable of binding to an autoantibody causing DCM has been reported (Patent Document 2).
However, the prior art peptides have a problem in that the time required for the reaction for immobilization thereof on a carrier is long. When they are long, the prior art peptides have a further problem from the viewpoint of yield in synthesis. Some amino acid residues in such peptides often induce a side reaction or reactions in peptide synthesis.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Kokai Publication 2001-286554
Patent Document 2: Japanese Kohyo Publication 2003-514772
Patent Document 3: Japanese Kohyo Publication 2002-504831
Non-Patent Document 1: Jpn Heart J., 1998, 39(3), 261-74

Adsorbent adsorbing antibody against β1 adrenoreceptor


A mammography X-ray tube providing increased X-ray intensity for shortening patient exposure times to eliminate motion artifacts. The cathode design permits superpositioning of electron beam from multiple filaments.

Diagnostic X-ray equipment is well known for so called non-invasive examination. Equipment is available for industrial as well as medical applications. A most important element of such equipment is the generator of X-rays which is most typically a high vacuum tube with the capability of generating an electron beam and accelerating the beam toward a high speed rotating target where the impact produces X-rays which pass out of the vacuum envelope and are collimated and directed toward the patent or sample being studied. For standard X-ray diagnostic tubes, electric fields of 150 KV/inch to 300 KV/inch are employed which are produced in conjunction with DC voltages of 75 to 150 KV. Typically the distance between the cathode and the rotating target is on the order of 0.5 to 1 inch. It is known in such standard purpose X-ray tubes to superimpose electron beams produced from more than one filament onto the same focal spot on the anode target. In such standard purpose X-ray tubes this focussing is accomplished using a pair of cathode cups employing two and three slot designs. Typically, the slots have been machined grooves which form two cups which are symmetrically displaced about an axis. The cathode filaments are normally mounted adjacent the intersection of the smallest and next smallest slot. When the filament is mounted inside of the smallest slot, its emission is reduced because of space charge effects. The dimensions of the slots and the distance between the center of the slots to enable focusing of the beams from adjacent cups to a single spot has heretofore required at least 0.5 inch of anode to cathode spacing.
Mammography X-ray diagnostics is a special application for which a specific mammography X-ray tube has become standard. Specifically, the mammography tube is very much shorter in overall length than the standard X-ray tubes. The mammography tube is particularly designed to be able to have its X-ray exit port very close to the patient's breast to obtain the highest resolution and contrast picture possible.
Superimposition of electron beams from adjoining cathode cups has not been heretofore achieved in mammography X-ray tubes because the slot dimensions necessary in standard two slot cathode cup configurations required the center of the slots to be too far apart to allow the electron beams to become superimposed over the shorter anode to cathode distance employed in mammography tubes. For mammography tubes, the DC voltage employed is only 25 to 30 thousand volts. Because the shorter anode to cathode distances employed in these tubes, i.e. less than 0.3 inches, the fields are 110 KV/inch to 130 KV/inch.
In view of the above problems, currently designed mammography X-ray tubes are not capable of providing high intensity electron beams and are generally considered cathode emission limited. This requires the typical mammograph examination for large spot applications to take 1-2 seconds and for small spot, high resolution examinations to take approximately 5 seconds. The high resolution, 5 second examination time, introduces significant opportunity for picture blurring due to patient movement or other mechanical and environmental vibrations. Specifically, cathode filaments in mammography tubes with 0.1 mm focii typically could deliver only 25-30 ma and for a typical 0.3 mm focii could deliver only approximately 100 ma. Since the high voltage employed is 25 KV, the target anodes are not fully loaded. A three to four inch rotating anode can handle these power levels at 3000 RPM. Since the mammography X-ray tubes are capable of rotating their target anodes at speeds up to 9000 RPM, and the power handling capacity at this higher speed is 70% greater than at 3000 RPM, a technique to provide greater electron beam intensity can be accommodated by the existing mammography X-ray tube design by increasing the anode speed.

Mammography method and improved mammography X-ray tube


A flaw detection apparatus and flaw detection method for automatically detecting the occurrence of a flaw in a mother tube manufactured by rolling a hollow shell using a mandrel mill are provided. A flaw detection apparatus (100) according to the present invention includes a wall thickness gauge (1) which is installed on the exit side of a mandrel mill (M) and which measures the tube wall thickness in each of the reducing directions of a hollow shell (P) in the #1-#5 stands of the mandrel mill, rolling load measuring devices (2) which measure the rolling load in the #1-#5 stands, and a decision unit (3) which determines whether there are flaws in the mother tube based on the measured value of the tube wall thickness in each of the reducing directions of the hollow shell (P) and the measured value of the rolling load in each stand. The decision unit (3) determines that a flaw has occurred in the mother tube when the measured value of the tube wall thickness in any of the reducing direction in the #1-#5 stands locally varies by at least a predetermined amount and the measured value of the rolling load in any of the #1-#5 stands locally varies by at least a predetermined amount.

FIGS. 5(a)-5(d) are explanatory views showing various types of flaws which develop in a mother tube manufactured by rolling a hollow shell using a mandrel mill.
FIG. 5(a) shows inner surface indentation flaws which are indentations 4 in the inner surface of a mother tube P. FIG. 5(b) shows perforation flaws which are holes 5 occurring when inner surface indentation flaws advance and reach the outer surface of a mother tube P. FIG. 5(c) and FIG. 5(d), which is a cross section in the circumferential direction of the mother tube P of FIG. 5(c), show a wrinkle flaw which is a portion 6 where the outer surface of a mother tube P is folded inwards. Each of these flaws is a major cause of occurrence of defective mother tubes.
In a mandrel mill, the presence of the above-described various flaws has conventionally been detected by direct visual observation of a rolled mother tube by an operator working in a control room located in the vicinity of the mandrel mill.
However, in recent years, as automation of tube forming facilities progresses, a control room is situated in a location remote from a mandrel mill. Therefore, situations have developed in which an operator cannot directly visually observe various types of flaws in a mother tube after rolling. Accordingly, even if various types of flaws develop in mother tubes which have undergone rolling using a mandrel mill, they cannot be rapidly detected, and there is a possibility of a larger number of defective products developing than in the past.
For example, Patent Documents 1-6 disclose inventions in which in order to suppress variations in wall thickness of the end portions of a mother tube which is rolled using a mandrel mill and in thickness deviations in the circumferential direction of the mother tube, the wall thickness of a mother tube rolled in the mandrel mill is measured by a wall thickness gauge positioned on the exit side of the mandrel mill, and based on the results of measurement, the rolling conditions of the mandrel mill are suitably changed.
Patent Document 1: JP H7-246414 A1
Patent Document 2: JP H8-71616 A1
Patent Document 3: JP 2001-293503 A1
Patent Document 4: JP 2002-35817 A1
Patent Document 5: JP 2003-220403 A1
Patent Document 6: JP 2004-337941 A1

Flaw detection apparatus and method for tubes


The present invention provides a glass panel stocking system and a stocking method. The stocking system includes a loading and unloading port and a crane. The loading and unloading port functions to receive a cassette that contains glass panels to position thereon. The crane functions to move a cassette that contains glass panels. The crane includes a chassis, a carrying fork mounted on the chassis and movable for extension and retraction with respect to the chassis, and a mapping bar mounted on the chassis and located above the carrying fork. The carrying fork functions to carry the cassette that contains the glass panels and move the cassette that contains the glass panels to the mapping bar so that the mapping bar is allowed to carry out inspection and counting of the glass panels received in the cassette that contains the glass panels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of the manufacture of glass panels, and in particular to a glass panel stocking system and a stocking method.
2. The Related Arts
Liquid crystal display (LCD) has a variety of advantages, such as thin device body, low power consumption, and being free of radiation, and is thus widely used. Most of the LCDs that are currently available in the market are backlighting LCDs, which comprise an enclosure, a liquid crystal panel arranged in the enclosure, and a backlight module that is arranged in the enclosure. The operation principle of the liquid crystal panel is that liquid crystal molecules are interposed between two parallel glass substrates and the liquid crystal molecules are controlled to rotate by the application of a driving voltage to the two glass substrates in order to refract out light emitting from the backlight module for generating images. Since the liquid crystal panel itself does not emit light, light must be provided by the backlight module in order to normally display images. Thus, the backlight module is one of the key components of an LCD. The backlight module can be classified in two types, namely side-edge backlight module and direct backlight module, according to the position where light gets incident. The direct backlight module comprises a light source, such as a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) or a light-emitting diode (LED), which is arranged at the backside of the liquid crystal panel to form a planar light source that directly provides lighting to the liquid crystal panel. The side-edge backlight module comprises an LED light bar, serving as a backlight source, which is arranged at an edge of a backplane to be located rearward of one side of the liquid crystal panel. The LED light bar emits light that enters a light guide plate (LGP) through a light incident face of the light guide plate and is projected out of a light emergence face of the light guide plate, after being reflected and diffused, to pass through an optic film assembly to form a planar light source for the liquid crystal panel.
In a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel, before the glass panels are assembled, they are packaged first, generally packaged in a cassette (CST), and then stacked in a storage zone for subsequent use in a liquid crystal display assembling operation.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional way of stacking glass panels is carried out with a stocker (STK) system. The stocker system comprises a crane 100, which functions to move a cassette 300 that receives glass panels 302 therein; and a loading and unloading port 500 on which a cassette 300 that contains glass panels 302 therein can be positioned, a mapping bar 520 being provided at the site where the loading and unloading port 500 for inspecting and counting the glass panels 302 received in the cassette 300. A conventional mapping bar 520 generally comprises electro-optical transducers 522 to scan the glass panels 302 contained in the cassette 300 in a top-down layer-by-layer manner in order to carry out inspection and count of the glass panels 302. The operation efficiency is low and further, a mapping bar 520 is required at each loading and unloading port 500, leading to a large number of mapping bars 520 used and thus an increased cost. This is adverse to cost control.

Glass panel stocking system and stocking method

Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd


A method is for producing a map from raw magnetic resonance data from a magnetic resonance tomography unit or a spectrum from raw magnetic resonance data from a magnetic resonance spectroscopy unit. The method involves the raw data being filtered, preferably using a high pass filter and using a low pass filter. Next, the two absolute values of the filtered, Fourier transformed raw magnetic resonance data are used to produce the map or the spectrum by a weighted combination. The method is distinguished in that the signal to noise ratio can be improved together with an increase in the edge sharpness.

The aim of processing raw magnetic resonance data, which can originate both from magnetic resonance spectroscopy units and from magnetic resonance tomography units, is to extract the medically relevant information from the raw magnetic resonance data as well as possible. In the case of magnetic resonance tomography, the aim is accordingly a picture with high resolution of detail and low noise. That is to say, the aim is for a picture with high edge sharpness and a high signal to noise ratio (SNR).
In the case of magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the aim is to obtain from the raw data a linear spectrum with high resolution and with a high SNR. The quality in the processing of raw magnetic resonance data is thus firstly in the edge sharpness and image sharpness, i.e. in sharp pictures with high contrast. Secondly, it is in the production of a high SNR, so that the essence of the picture or of the spectrum is highlighted.
In the case of the various approaches to achieving this aim, it is usually not possible to increase the image sharpness and the SNR simultaneously. This drawback has a direct effect on the quality of the magnetic resonance tomography and spectroscopy. To improve the resolution of detail, radio-frequency "blue" noise is superimposed on a picture, for example. This produces a subjective increase in the resolution of detail. A likewise subjective improvement in the resolution is brought about in a similar manner by the application of high pass filters to the image data. This also amplifies the image noise, however.
To improve the SNR in the case of magnetic resonance pictures, known filters (such as the Hanning filter, the Fermi filter or the cosine filter in the frequency domain) are applied to the raw magnetic resonance data. The action of such filters is known from the literature, e.g.: F. J. Harris, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 66, No 1 (1978): "On the Use of Windows for Harmonic Analysis with the Discrete Fourier Transform". It is also possible to apply postprocessing filters in the space domain, for example a mean filter, median filter or ARMA filter.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,375 discloses a method for medical image processing. This method specifies a reduced-noise version of a first processed image which has been obtained from a multiplicity of measurements in a multipicture system, e.g. using a computer tomography unit. The method first involves producing a second image with a high SNR from the multiplicity of measurements. The first image is then processed using a filter which reduces the noise. The second image is processed using a filter which is complementary to this filter. The weighted combination of the two images produces the reduced-noise version of the first processed image.

Method for processing raw magnetic resonance data, magnetic resonance tomography unit and magnetic resonance spectroscopy unit


A process cartridge includes a photosensitive member, a charger, which charges the photo sensitive member, and a process frame, which supports the photo sensitive member and the charger. The charger includes a charged wire, a grid that is interposed between the charged wire and the photosensitive member, a wire-side connecting portion that applies a voltage to the charged wire, and a grid-side connecting portion that applies a voltage to the charged wire. The process frame comprises an exposure opening that faces the photosensitive member, the exposure opening being provided between the wire-side connecting portion and the grid-side connecting portion when viewed from a first direction in which the charged wire is stretched.

There has been proposed an image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer, in which a surface of a photosensitive drum charged by a charger is exposed to a laser beam, or the like, so as to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum. Toner is supplied to the electrostatic latent image, and a toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum. The toner image is attracted by a transfer roller that nips a sheet along with the photosensitive drum, so that the toner image is transferred to the sheet to form an image.
JP-A-2006-39139 discloses a related image forming apparatus, in which a process cartridge having the photosensitive drum and a charger is removably mounted to an apparatus main unit. Specifically, the charger provided in the process cartridge of JP-A-2006-39139 is constructed by including a stretched charged wire, a grid having a plurality of pores for generating a corona discharge between the grid and the charged wire, a wire electrode for applying a voltage to the charged wire, and a grid electrode for applying a voltage to the grid.
The wire electrode and the grid electrode are exposed outside from a side surface of the process cartridge. Accordingly, when the process cartridge is mounted to the apparatus main body, the electrodes are connected to electrodes belong to the apparatus main body.


A cruiser arch moving and control mechanism includes a pair of carriage guides (32, 150, 188) fixed to opposite sides of a cruiser hull, and a pair of carriages (30, 170), each mounted to one of the opposing legs of the cruiser arch. Each of the carriage guides includes a slot (40, 156, 190) with an elongate linear track section and an adjacent arcuate track section. Each carriage includes a pair of spaced apart bearings (76/78, 164/176, 198/200) that are confined for reciprocal travel along one of the slots to support the carriage moveably relative to the associated carriage guide. Two linear actuators (34), one coupled between each carriage and its associated guide, are extendable and retractable in concert to move the arch between working and clearance positions. The carriage guides are configured to prevent any substantial rotation of the carriages until the arch is extended linearly at least a predetermined distance from the working position.

The present invention relates to arch or bridge assemblies used in cruisers and other watercraft for supporting radar antennas and other equipment, and more particularly to mechanisms for controlling movement of such assemblies between a generally upright position for use, and a lowered position for stowage, on-land transit or for allowing the watercraft to pass under bridges and other obstructions having low clearance.
For years, cabin cruisers and other watercraft have employed arch-shaped structures for supporting radar antennas, radio antennas and other electronic equipment above the normal deck level. A typical arch assembly includes an opposed pair of generally upright legs secured to the gunwales or elsewhere on opposite sides of the hull, and a transverse bridge member or transom attached to the tops of the legs and spanning the distance between them. Typically, the equipment is mounted to the bridge member.
While effective in supporting antennas and other equipment, the arch assembly increases the need for overhead clearance, whether the cruiser is in use or mounted on a trailer for towing. Stowage can be more difficult, and more expensive in facilities that charge by the cubic foot. While arch assemblies can be mounted in a manner that allows their detachment for the hull when the cruiser encounters a bridge or other overhead obstruction, detachment and reattachment are difficult in view of the weight and bulk of the arch assembly. An arch-shaped structure can be mounted pivotally relative to the gunwales, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,321 (Metcalfe) in connection with a wake tower for towing a wake boarder or water skier. This still calls for manual handling, which can be difficult in view of the larger size and weight of arch assemblies as compared to the wake tower shown in Metcalfe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,773 (Sparkes et al.) discloses a power system for raising and lowering an arch assembly. Each lower end of the arch is mounted to pivot relative to the boat through a top cover component and a lower base mounting component. A hydraulic motor within the base component is operable to extend a rod, pivoting a bracket to raise the arch. The arch can be lowered by allowing it to descend by gravity. The rod retracts, dampened by the hydraulic motor cylinder.
While this approach is effective from the standpoint of powering the arch assembly, it requires a bulky, unsightly housing at the base of each leg, along with an exposed pivotal coupling between separate components of the mechanism. In a competitive marketing environment where aesthetic appeal carries considerable weight, the arch assembly typically is treated as a feature of the cruiser design, either to blend in with the rest of the vessel or create its own impact on the overall appearance. Thus, the functional utility of any conventional arch assembly control mechanism is countered by the unwanted alteration in the appearance of the arch, the watercraft hull near the arch, or both. Accordingly, the present invention has several aspects directed to one or more of the following objects:
to provide a system for raising and lowering an arch assembly of a watercraft through linkage and motive components that are recessed into the arch assembly or hull, and are hidden from view when the arch assembly is in the generally upright working position;
to provide a linkage between a watercraft hull and an arch assembly adapted to guide the arch assembly through a controlled sequence and combination of linear travel and rotation as the assembly is moved from a generally upright working position to a clearance position;
to provide a linkage coupling an arch assembly for controlled movement relative to a watercraft hull, configured to maintain the arch assembly in a generally upright orientation for linear travel when the arch assembly is within a predetermined distance of the hull, while permitting the arch assembly to rotate relative to the hull when separated from the hull by more than the predetermined distance; and
to provide a mechanism for controlling movement of an arch assembly between working and clearance positions relative to a watercraft hull through a linear actuator operable to both linearly translate and pivot the arch assembly.


Methods and apparatus are disclosed for starting up a combined cycle plant using a startup duct to connect an auxiliary engine to the inlet of a plurality of HRSGs or other heat recovery systems. Each HRSG is fed by a combustion turbine. Dampers are supplied to isolate each HRSG from the startup duct and its CTG. The auxiliary engine is also ported to a stack allowing simple cycle operation. Dampers are also supplied to isolate the auxiliary engine from the startup duct and from its stack. During startups, the large CTGs will be isolated and the auxiliary engine will be connected to the HRSGs and started, allowing the HRSG to pressurize. As each HRSG pressurizes, it is isolated from the startup duct and connected to its respective CTG. The CTG is then started and loaded. The auxiliary engine is turned off and isolated when the last HRSG pressurizes.

Until recently, most combined cycle power plants were optimized solely for base load conditions. Little thought was paid to start-up operations because it was expected that, during the early years of a power plant's life, the combined cycle plant would be operated continuously because it was more efficient than older power plants.
Because start-up operation under this assumption was a small percentage of overall plant operation, inefficiencies, emissions, fuel consumption, thermal stresses, and other aspects of start-up and reduced-load operations were not considered significant in the overall picture. A conventional combined cycle power plant is generally started up using the following procedures:
First, a Combustion Turbine Generator (CTG) is started, accelerated to firing temperature, fired, accelerated to synchronous speed, synchronized, and then brought to a minimum load. In practice, a CTG control system automatically controls this sequence. Once minimum load is achieved, the operator can increase CTG load. Generally, the operator would prefer to minimize CTG load at the beginning of the startup to reduce the amount of heat that needs to be rejected by a Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG). However, sometimes, the CTG is restricted from operating at low loads for extended periods of time because of mechanical restrictions or the desire to reduce air emissions, which are usually much higher at low loads.
Before the CTG can be fired, it must be purged to remove potential fuel vapor collecting in the CTG and HRSG after the unit is shut down. Purging is usually accomplished by accelerating the CTG to part speed and holding at part speed until a specified number of air changes occur in the HRSG and CTG. As there is much more volume in an HRSG than a CTG, a "simple cycle" CTG (without an HRSG) only requires purging for several minutes, while a CTG with HRSG requires purging for up to half an hour.
While purging, significant auxiliary energy is used to crank the CTG. In addition, the exhaust leaving the CTG is close to ambient temperatures. If this purge exhaust enters a hot HRSG, it will cool off the HRSG. Steam can actually condense in the superheater section (the part of the HRSG that increases steam temperature), causing stress in the superheaters. Any condensate produced in the superheater must be drained to prevent slugs of condensate being pushed into the steam pipes.
The hot exhaust leaving the CTG during this sequence passes through the HRSG, where it heats up the water in the HRSG and raises pressure in the steam drums. When steam pressure is slightly above atmospheric pressure, the rate of the heat-up can be controlled by venting steam from the drums and at the outlet of the HRSG. To minimize thermal stress on the high pressure (HP) drum, HRSG vendors typically prefer to limit the heat-up rate of this drum's shell to about 200° F. per hour. However, this rate is usually exceeded before venting occurs.
CTGs are constant flow machines—once they reach design speeds, the exhaust mass flow is fixed within narrow limits. Because a significant amount of energy is used to drive the compressor, a significant amount of heat is generated even at idle conditions. At idle conditions, a modern, large CTG releases approximately one third of the heat at idle conditions as it does at fill load. Thus, when starting up, CTGs generally produce much more heat than is needed.
When sufficient pressure has been raised in the HP drum, steam seals around the Steam Turbine Generator (STG) are set, and a vacuum is pulled using a steam jet air ejector (SJAE) or a mechanical vacuum pump. If a SJAE is used, sometimes the operator will take additional time to raise sufficient steam pressure to operate the SJAE. Once a partial vacuum is established, steam generated in the HRSG can be dumped into the condenser. A vacuum is also a prerequisite to starting the STG.
As pressure rises, the operator introduces steam to the main header connecting the HRSG to the STG. These pipes initially heat up rapidly because the steam condenses on the inside surfaces of these pipes. However, once the condensation stops, the pipes heat up much more slowly. Depending on the venting capacity of the throttle line, it can take thirty to sixty minutes to heat the line to the temperatures required to open the throttle valve and allow the STG to roll off turning gear.
Generally, before the STG can be rolled off, water chemistry in the HRSG steam drum has to be controlled to specified limits. This is achieved by flushing water through the drum until the desired chemistry is established. This is generally required by the time the drum pressure reaches 1000 psig, which can take thirty to sixty minutes.
The term "heat soak" as used in connection with this application is meant to refer to the process of gradually increasing the temperature of the steel in the HRSG and STG to minimize thermal stresses that can cause fatigue damage to the equipment. Heat is also applied to the inside surfaces of the shell of the steam turbine and the drum of the HRSG. If the temperature of the inside surface of the metal is significantly higher than that of the outside surface of the metal, the inside metal surface thermally expands more than the outside surface of the metal thereby placing the outside metal surface in tension, which can damage the metal. By gradually raising the interior temperature, however, heat has time to "soak" through the entire metal thickness thereby reducing stress.
Heat soaking is also used to reduce the temperature differential between the shell of the STG and the rotating rotor in the STG. To increase STG efficiency, the rotating parts of a STG are assembled very close to the stationary parts. If the rotating portions of the STG heat up faster than the stationary portions, the rotating portions will expand more and eventually rub against the stationary portions. Lastly, in some high temperature steam turbines, the steel has to change phase to become a more ductile form of steel that can resist the high stresses imposed at full load operation. This phase change also requires some time to occur.
Once the steam turbine rolls off turning gear, the startup sequence of the steam turbine is usually the critical path for plant startup. The steam turbine generally must be gradually started up and held at various speeds and loads to heat soak. Throttle and reheat steam temperature must also be regulated during this sequence. The steam turbine needs only limited amounts of steam while this is occurring, so any surplus steam must be vented to the atmosphere or dumped to the condenser. CTG loads are adjusted at this time to limit steam temperature and to minimize the amount of steam dumped to the condenser or the atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the CTG load level that will produce the desired steam temperature or flow will sometimes also result in extremely high levels of emissions. In most modern, large, combined cycle plants, Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and CO (carbon monoxide) oxidation catalysts are used to control emissions. The SCR catalyst promotes reaction of ammonia with NOx compounds to produce nitrogen and water. The CO catalyst promotes oxidation to destroy CO and volatile organic carbons (VOCs). These catalysts are usually located downstream of the high-pressure evaporator. Because an evaporator is extremely effective in removing heat from the exhaust gas, the temperature of the flue gas leaving the evaporator section is normally only about 15° F. above the saturated steam temperature in the HP drum, and catalyst temperatures are effectively controlled by controlling drum pressure. These catalysts generally require a flue gas temperature of approximately 500° F. to destroy appreciable proportions of the pollutants present; thus, the HP drum pressure must reach approximately 600 psia before they will operate effectively. The SCR can sometimes require additional contact time because the aqueous ammonia consumed by the SCR must be vaporized in a packing tower which can require heat soaking time.
Additionally, thermal stresses during startups can cause significant damage to combined cycle plants. Metal fatigue is concentrated in two areas: in the metal in the drum of the high pressure evaporator and in the shell and blades of the high pressure section of the steam turbine. Because the high pressure steam drum operates at high pressures and temperatures and needs a large diameter, it has a thick shell. If the drum heats up quickly, the inside of the drum will become much hotter than the perimeter. This sets up thermal stresses that, over time, can cause the drum to fail in fatigue. A large steam turbine can encounter even higher stresses because it operates at almost the same pressure as the steam drum and at much higher temperatures. Modern reheat steam turbines commonly reach metal temperatures of about 1000° F. As the blades in the front end of the steam turbine approach this temperature, the metal of which they are constructed undergoes a phase change. The steam turbine cannot be heavily loaded until this change occurs, and this in turn requires that the steam turbine be carefully loaded and/or heat soaked.
Because of all of these constraints, starting up a modern combined cycle plant can require a significant amount of time and expense. For example, a typical, recently constructed 750 megawatt (MW) combined cycle plant required three to ten hours to start up. Start up costs, net of power sales, typically range from $25,000 to $80,000 per startup. In modern operating practice, combined cycle plants are started and stopped much more frequently than in the past.
When power plant operation was controlled by utilities, plant starts were carefully apportioned among the plants owned by a utility to avoid wearing out individual plants. Today, however, plants are essentially controlled by futures traders; when the cost of electricity is high, power traders want the plant to start as quickly as possible. When the cost is low, power traders want to shut down the plants immediately. Thus, plants can be required to start up daily and must be designed to withstand thermal stresses caused by these frequent startups over the typical twenty-year life of the plant. With deregulation, sales prices for electricity can vary significantly from hour to hour while fuel costs are generally constant over such a relatively short time period. Starting during off-peak periods is expensive because the revenue earned when the electricity is sold at a low price may not recoup the fuel cost. On the other hand, starting during on-peak periods takes time, which reduces the revenue earned during on-peak operation.
Another consideration of growing importance is emissions during startup. Regulators have recently become aware of the high amounts of pollutants emitted during startup. A typical large CTG, such as the Westinghouse 501F, emits several pounds per hour of CO during steady-state operations, but over 500 pounds of CO during each startup. Regulators are beginning to require operators to account for these emissions by buying offsets (i.e., transferring permission to pollute from one operator to another). This is often difficult and expensive to do as these offsets can be in short supply. In addition, regulators are beginning to impose restrictions on startup emissions. To reduce these emissions, the HP drum should be maintained at 600 psig or higher to allow the catalysts to function effectively. None of the prior art combined cycle systems is effective in controlling emissions, in part because of the failure to operate at optimum conditions during startup.
The prior art in this field discloses numerous techniques for reducing startup durations and costs. One previous method of controlling steam production during startup, for example, was to install a startup damper between the CTG and the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG). Such a startup damper was intended to vent a portion of the CTG exhaust so that the HRSG only produced the amount of steam needed to start up the Steam Turbine Generator (STG). Such plants, and the general control system therefor, are described in Taber et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,313, which is incorporated herein by reference.
This technique is not commonly used in recently designed combined cycle plants, however, because recent environmental regulations generally prohibit discharging CTG exhaust to the atmosphere without passing it through SCR and oxidation catalyst treatment steps. If a bypass stack is used, it would also have to be equipped with SCR and CO catalysts, which would further increase costs. In addition, the SCR treatment step takes enough time to operate that the bypass operation would likely be finished before the SCR was operational.
Combined cycle plants commonly incorporate auxilary boilers. The steam in the boiler is used to set the steam seal around the steam turbine, retaining the condenser vacuum after the plant is shut down. Steam from this boiler can also be injected into the HP drum to maintain pressure in the drum. Because the HP evaporator tubes are such efficient radiators of heat, it is difficult to maintain drum pressure much above 15 psig, even if the outlet stack is provided with a damper to retain heat. The prior art in this field recognizes several techniques for introducing heat to an HRSG, for example as taught in Kuribayashi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,708, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Several other patents describe methods of warning steam turbines during startup, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,898 (Briesch). U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,936 (Lee et al.) describes a method of modulating steam temperature to the STG. U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,124 (Martens et al.) describes a method of startup using a trailing HRSG. U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,443 describes a method of starting up a power plant using a start-up gas turbine and startup HRSG to produce steam and electricity to start the plant. This patent does not rout exhaust gas from the start-up gas turbine to the HRSGs of the other plants, so it has the disadvantages of a plant with an auxiliary boiler. Each of the foregoing patents is incorporated herein by reference.
Some previous combined cycle plants have manifolded their CTG exhausts together allowing exhaust to flow from one HRSG or another. An example of this art was the AES Placerita plant located in California. This plant utilized two identical CTGs feeding a common duct to feed two HRSGs. One HRSG was designed for power generation while the other was designed to produce steam to increase oilfield production. Four isolation dampers were utilized to isolate each CTG and HRSG from the common duct. This design, however, has the disadvantages that the cross-over duct cannot be isolated, that a small CTG is not available for startups, and that the cross-over duct (being large enough to pass the entire flow of a large CTG) imposes a large pressure drop penalty compared to a small duct required for heat-up only.
Lastly, several prior art combined cycle plants have used fresh-air firing configurations. Forced-draft fresh-air firing utilizes an isolation damper or slide gate capable of isolating the CTG from the HRSG; an external fan capable of blowing combustion air into the inlet of the HRSG; another isolation damper or slide gate capable of isolating the fan from the inlet of the HRSG; and a burner located within the HRSG or between the fan and the fan isolation valve.
During normal operation of a forced-draft fresh-air fired HRSG, the CTG supplies hot exhaust to the HRSG; the CTG damper is open; the fan damper is closed; and the fan is off. During fresh-air firing, the CTG is off, the fan and burner are on, the CTG damper is closed, and the fan damper is open. Fresh-air firing HRSGs are designed so that the fresh-air system operates when the CTG is unavailable, or occasionally, when the CTG goes out of service.
Another, more unusual, form of fresh-air firing is known as induced draft fresh-air firing. This variant utilizes a slide gate or damper isolating the CTG from the inlet of the HRSG; an inlet damper capable of drawing fresh air directly into the inlet of HRSG; an internal duct-burner; and an induced draft fan located between the HRSG and its stack, capable of drawing the entire flow of the HRSG into the stack.
During normal operation of this configuration, the CTG and induced draft fan are in operation, the CTG duct is open and the fresh air duct closed, and the duct-burner is off or operating at part load. When the CTG goes out of service, the fresh air damper opens, the CTG duct closes, and the burner firing rate increases to maintain HRSG steam production. This configuration is usually only installed when the steam supply from the HRSG must not be interrupted, even if the CTG trips.
Both of the above-described fresh-air firing configurations are designed to supply steam from the HRSG in the event that the CTG trips, the CTG is unavailable, or it is uneconomic to operate the CTG. It appears from available literature and commercial knowledge that no fresh-air firing systems have ever been designed or used to help start-up a combined cycle system. A fresh-air fired system designed to start up a combined cycle system would almost certainly have to be designed differently. At a minimum, it would have a smaller fan and burner because full flow and heat release is not desired during startup.
It has now been found, however, that methods and apparatus according to this invention for controlling the operation of a combined cycle power plant during startup and part-load operations overcome the above-described limitations and disadvantages of conventional operation in whole or at least in part.

Method and apparatus for combined cycle power plant operation


A method for monitoring the environment of a vehicle includes evaluating physical measurement data obtained from the environment of the vehicle to determine whether at least one person is approaching the vehicle, how many people approach the vehicle may also be recorded. The method includes evaluating physical measurement data obtained from the environment of the vehicle to determine whether at least one person is moving away from the vehicle and, if appropriate, the number of people that are moving away from the vehicle is also recorded. The method further includes carrying out a check as to whether the number of people that have moved away from the vehicle corresponds to the number of people that have previously approached the vehicle. In response to the check resulting in a difference, it is determined that the vehicle is in an unsafe state.

Due to their size, commercial vehicles offer a variety of hiding places, some of which are also large enough for an adult. As a result, unauthorized people repeatedly conceal prohibited goods or even themselves on or in commercial vehicles. It is often the aim to cross national borders under the guise of normal goods transport by a company that is trustworthy to the border authorities.
If the goods or the concealed passengers are then discovered during a check, this can pose significant legal problems for the driver and the owner of the commercial vehicle. In more and more states it is then initially suspected that the driver and/or the owner participated in the unauthorized transport or at least tolerated it. Such an offence is punishable by considerable penalties, and until the case is resolved the vehicle and/or the driver may first be detained by the border authorities.
Therefore, there are various technical monitoring devices with which the concealment of goods or people while the vehicle is at a standstill can be detected. According to DE 10 2017 115 582 A1, the substructure of the vehicle is examined using camera images for objects that do not belong to the vehicle. According to US 2005/219 042 A1, the weight of a concealed passenger is registered by sensors on the air suspension.

Method for monitoring the environment of a vehicle