An integrated circuit gas sensor system may include an integrated circuit having a bond pad layer and a dielectric layer formed after the bond pad layer. A conductor layer may be above the dielectric layer. The conductor layer may be utilized to form both gas sensor and humidity sensor conductor patterns, which may be planar. In one embodiment, the gas sensor is combined with a humidity sensor, the gas sensor and the humidity sensor covering more than 50% of the top surface of the integrated circuit. In one embodiment, the central region of the integrated circuit has a majority of its surface area utilized for the sensor structures, and in a more preferred embodiment has more than 80% of its surface area utilized for sensing structures. In one embodiment, resistive sensing may be utilized for the gas sensor and capacitive sensing may be utilized for the humidity sensor.

A wide variety of types of gas sensors are utilized to detect gases and other ambient air conditions. For example electrochemical sensors are well known. Such sensors may include the use of a metal or plastic can which houses a liquid electrolyte having electrodes immersed in the liquid. A gas diffusion barrier allows atmosphere to ingress and make contact with a gas-sensing electrode. Infrared sensors are also well known. Infrared sensors advantageously utilized the characteristics of gases which show differing absorption spectrum at various infrared frequencies. Further, metal oxide based gas sensors, such as sensors employing precious metal (Pt, PD, AU, Ag)-activated SnO2, are also known. Such sensors may utilize porous metal oxides which exhibit a shift in electrical parameters when exposed to differing gases. For example, such electrical parameters may include resistance and capacitance characteristics. Such metal oxide sensors may be housed in metal, ceramic and/or plastic can housings. Often such metal oxide based sensors utilize high operation temperatures, for example as high as 300 to 500 degrees Celsius.
The use of metal oxide based gas sensor materials in combination with integrated circuit technology to provide an integrated gas sensor has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,554,134, issued Jun. 30, 2009 to Cummins, and U.S. Pat. No. 8,007,167, issued Aug. 30, 2011 to Cummins, both of which are assigned to the present assignee and the disclosures of both of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,554,134 and 8,007,167 a single chip wireless gas sensor may include metal oxide sensing materials combined with a microcontroller, wireless transmit/receive circuitry, and other electrical circuits, all on a single integrated circuit. It would be desirable to provide an improved integrated circuit gas sensing platform having improved gas sensing accuracy and consistency and ease of manufacturability.


The present disclosure provides a nutritional formula comprising alpha-lactalbumin enriched whey protein concentrate; beta-casein enriched milk protein; mildly hydrolyzed milk protein; osteopontin; lactoferrin; oleic acid-palmitic acid-oleic acid triglyceride, wherein palmitic acid is at the SN-2 position of the glycerol backbone of the triglyceride; lactose, wherein the lactose is reduced lactose; lutein; docosahexanoic acid; arachidonic acid; galactooligosaccharides; and polydextrose. The provided nutritional formulas may be useful in providing nutrition and/or promoting postnatal development of a subject (e.g., promoting postnatal development of an infant's gastrointestinal functions, nutrient absorption, immune system development, etc.). Also provided are powder forms, reconstituted formulas, kits, methods, and uses that include or involve a nutritional formula described herein.

The focal point of infant nutrition is the developing gastrointestinal tract, and its response to the infant's feeding. The tolerance of the infant formula along with the postnatal development of gastrointestinal functions, nutrient absorption, immune system development, gut epithelia interactions and micro flora maintenance during digestion provide for the healthy development of the infant. This nutritional formula provides for one or more of these advantages.
Specifically, without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, mildly hydrolyzed skim milk solids and demineralized whey support the ease of digestion and full absorption of milk proteins. Beta casein improves the digestibility, improves tolerance (comfort), reduces food intolerances, and sensitivity intolerance. Oleic acid-palmitic acid-oleic acid triglyceride, wherein palmitic acid is at the SN-2 position of the glycerol backbone of the triglyceride ("OPO SN-2 oil"), improves the efficiency of fatty acid absorption, improves the digestibility, reduced calcium loss to infant stools, reduces the incidence of constipation, and improves calcium absorption. Lactoferrin helps support the infant immune system, intestinal development, and iron absorption. The combination of lutein and docosahexaenoic acid may promote retinal health and vision development. Docosahexaenoic acid is susceptible to damage by oxidation and degradation, while lutein is an antioxidant. Lutein may reduce oxidative degradation of docosahexaenoic acid concentrated in the retina, and thus further promote retinal health and vision development. Docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid improve the tolerance and acceptance of the nutritional formula. Prebiotics are thought to modulate the gut flora, affect diverse gastrointestinal activities, and influence inflammatory processes.


In a method of forming a dielectric layer pattern, lower patterns are formed on a substrate. A first dielectric layer is formed on sidewalls and upper surfaces of the lower patterns and a surface of the substrate. A mask pattern is formed on the first dielectric layer to partially expose the first dielectric layer. The exposed first dielectric layer on upper surfaces and upper sidewalls of the lower patterns is partially removed and the removed first dielectric layer is deposited on surfaces of the first dielectric layer between the lower patterns, to form a second dielectric layer having a thickness greater than that of the first dielectric layer. The second dielectric layer on the sidewalls of the lower patterns and the substrate is etched to form a dielectric layer pattern. Accordingly, damage to the underlying layer may be reduced, and an unnecessary dielectric layer may be completely removed.

Example embodiments relate to a forming a dielectric layer pattern and a method of manufacturing a flash memory cell using the same. More particularly, example embodiments relate to forming a dielectric layer pattern including a metal oxide having a high dielectric constant and a method of manufacturing a flash memory cell using the same.
Semiconductor memory devices may be divided into volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices. A volatile memory device, e.g., a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device or a static random access memory (SRAM) device, may have a relatively rapid access time but may lose stored data over time. On the other hand, a non-volatile memory device, e.g., a flash memory device or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) device, may store data for a long time but may have a relatively slow access time. Flash memory devices may be widely employed in various electronic devices, e.g., cellular phones, MP3 players, USB memory devices, and so forth.
In a conventional flash memory device, data may be electrically stored in or erased from the flash memory device through Fowler-Nordheim tunneling or channel hot electron injection. The flash memory device may be classified as either a floating gate type non-volatile memory device, or a SONOS (silicon oxide nitride oxide semiconductor or a MONOS (metal oxide nitride oxide semiconductor) type non-volatile memory device.
The floating gate type non-volatile memory device may include a tunnel oxide layer, a floating gate electrode, a blocking dielectric layer and a control gate electrode. For example, a multilayer dielectric layer including a lower silicon oxide layer, a silicon insulation layer and an upper silicon oxide layer may be used for the blocking dielectric layer.
Recently, in order to increase the capacitance of the blocking layer dielectric layer and improve leakage current properties, a method of forming the blocking dielectric layer using a high dielectric material has been presented. For example, the blocking dielectric layer may be formed using a metal oxide such as hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide, hafnium aluminum oxide, etc., having a higher dielectric constant than silicon nitride.
In order to form a gate structure including the blocking dielectric layer with the high dielectric material, a patterning process of patterning the control gate electrode layer, the blocking dielectric layer and the floating gate electrode may be performed. However, an anisotropic etch process may not be easily performed over the blocking dielectric layer having the high dielectric material.
Accordingly, the blocking dielectric layer may not be easily removed with a high etch rate, without damaging adjacent other layers. Further, during the etching process for etching the blocking dielectric layer, a microloading effect may be large, so that an etch rate of the blocking dielectric layer may differ greatly from an etch rate of the adjacent exposed layers. Further, because the blocking dielectric layer may be conformally formed on an upper surface and sidewalls of the floating gate electrode, portions of the blocking dielectric layer, which is formed on the sidewalls of the floating gate electrode, to be etched by the anisotropic process may be very thick. Accordingly, it may not be easy to completely remove the blocking dielectric layer through the anisotropic etch process, without damaging adjacent layers.
On the other hand, if the blocking dielectric layer to be removed still remains after performing the dry etch process, the floating gate electrode under the remaining blocking dielectric layer may not be removed by a following process, to thereby cause a stringer failure where adjacent cells short one another. Further, if the blocking dielectric layer is excessively etched to completely remove the blocking dielectric layer, the floating gate electrode and the isolation layer may be excessively etched, thereby damaging the middle portion of an active region under the floating gate electrode and the peripheral portion of the active region on both sides of the isolation layer pattern.
Therefore, a method of patterning a gate structure of a non-volatile memory device using a high dielectric material as the blocking dielectric layer and capable of reducing damage to the active region or a stringer is desired.

Method of forming a dielectric layer pattern and method of manufacturing a non-volatile memory device using the same


A method for transmitting video information is shown, in which at least a first bit-stream (510) and a second bit-stream are formed. The first bit-stream (510) includes a video frame, and the second bit-stream (520) includes a predictive video frame (524). Different encoding parameters are used with encoding of the frames of the first bit-stream (510) and the second bit-stream (520). A frame of the first bit-stream (510) is transmitted, and the transmission is switched over from the first (510) to the second bit-stream (520) during which a secondary switching frame (550) is transmitted encoded using the encoding parameters of the second bit-stream (520) and at least one reference frame from the first bit-stream (510). The secondary switching frame (550) is used as a reference frame in the reconstruction of the predictive video frame (524) of the second set of video frames.

Recently, multimedia applications that include streaming audio and video information have come into greater use. Several international standardization organizations have established and proposed standards for compressing/encoding and decompressing/decoding the audio and video information. MPEG standards, established by the Motion Picture Expert Group, are the most widely accepted international standards in the field of the multimedia applications. VCEG is the "Video Coding Experts Group", working under the direction of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). This group works on the standard H.26L for the coding of moving pictures.
A typical video stream comprises a sequence of pictures, often referred to as frames. The frames comprise pixels arranged into a rectangular form. In existing video coding standards, such as H.261, H.262, H.263, H.26L and MPEG-4, three main types of pictures are defined: Intra frames (I-frames), Predictive frames (P-frames) and Bi-directional frames (B-frames). Each picture type exploits a different type of redundancy in a sequence of images and consequently results in different level of compression efficiency and, as explained in the following, provides different functionality within the encoded video sequence. An intra frame is a frame of video data that is coded by exploiting only the spatial correlation of the pixels within the frame itself without using any information from the past or the future frames. Intra frames are used as the basis for decoding/decompression of other frames and provide access points to the coded sequence where decoding can begin.
A predictive frame is a frame that is encoded/compressed using motion compensated prediction from a so-called reference frame, i.e. one or more previous/subsequent Intra frames or Predictive frames available in an encoder or in a decoder. A bi-directional frame is a frame that is encoded/compressed by prediction from a previous Intra frame or Predictive frame and/or a subsequent Intra frame or Predictive frame.
Since adjacent frames in a typical video sequence are highly correlated, higher compression can be achieved when using Bi-directional or Predictive frames instead of Intra frames. On the other hand, when the temporal predictive coding is employed within the coded video stream, B-frames and/or P-frames cannot be decoded without correctly decoding all the other previous and/or subsequent reference frames which were used with coding of the Bi-directional and Predictive frames. In situations in which the reference frame(s) used in the encoder and respective reference frame(s) in the decoder are not identical either due to errors during transmission or due to some intentional action on the transmitting side, the subsequent frames that make use of prediction from such a reference frame can not be reconstructed on the decoding side to yield a decoded frame identical to that originally encoded on the encoding side. This mismatch is not only confined to a single frame but further propagates in time due to the use of motion compensated coding.
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate the types of encoded/compressed video frames used in a typical video encoding/decoding system. Advantageously, prior to encoding, the pictures of the video sequence are represented by these matrices of multiple-bit numbers, one representing the luminance (brightness) of the image pixels, and the other two each representing a respective one of two chrominance (colour) components. FIG. 1A depicts the way in which an Intra frame 200 is encoded using only image information present in the frame itself. FIG. 1B illustrates construction of a Predictive frame 210. Arrow 205a represents the use of motion compensated prediction to create the P-frame 210. FIG. 1C depicts construction of Bi-directional frames 220. B-frames are usually inserted between I-frames or P-frames. FIG. 2 represents a group of pictures in display order and illustrates how B-frames inserted between I- and P-frames, as well as showing the direction in which motion compensation information flows. In FIGS. 1B, 1C and 2, arrows 205a depict forward motion compensation prediction information necessary to reconstruct P-frames 210, whereas arrows 215a and 215b depict motion compensation information used in reconstructing B-frames 220 in forward direction (215a) and backward direction (215b). In other words, the arrows 205a and 215a show the flow of information when predictive frames are predicted from frames that are earlier in display order than the frame being reconstructed, and arrows 215b show the flow of information when predictive frames are predicted from frames that are later in display order than the frame being reconstructed.
In motion compensated prediction, the similarity between successive frames in a video sequence is utilized to improve coding efficiency. More specifically, so-called motion vectors are used to describe the way in which pixels or regions of pixels move between successive frames of the sequence. The motion vectors provide offset values and error data that refer to a past or a future frame of video data having decoded pixel values that may be used with the error data to compress/encode or decompress/decode a given frame of video data.
The capability to decode/decompress P-frames requires the availability of the previous I- or P-reference frame, furthermore in order to decode a B-frame requires the availability of the subsequent I- or P-reference frame is also required. For example, if an encoded/compressed data stream has the following frame sequence or display order:
I1B2B3P4B5P6B7P8B9B10P11 . . . Pn−3Bn−2Pn−1In,
the corresponding decoding order is:
I1P4B2B3P6B5P8B7P11B9B10 . . . Pn−1Bn−2In.
The decoding order differs from the display order because the B-frames require future I- or P-frames for their decoding. FIG. 2 displays the beginning of the above frame sequence and can be referred to in order to understand the dependencies of the frames, as described earlier. P-frames require the previous I- or P-reference frame be available. For example, P4 requires I1 to be decoded. Similarly, frame P6 requires that P4 be available in order to decode/decompress frame P6. B-frames, such as frame B3, require a past and/or a future I- or P-reference frame, such as P4 and I1 in order to be decoded. B-frames are frames between I- or P-frames during encoding.
A prior art system for encoding and decoding is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Referring to the encoder 300 of FIG. 3, the frame 301 being coded I(x,y), called the current frame, is partitioned into rectangular regions of KxL pixels. The coordinates (x,y) denote the location of the pixels within the frame. Each block is encoded using either intra coding (i.e. using only the spatial correlation of the image data within the block) or inter coding (i.e. utilising both spatial and temporal prediction). The following description considers the process by which inter-coded blocks are formed. Each inter-coded block is predicted 360 from one of the previously (or subsequently) coded and transmitted frames R(x,y) in the frame memory 350, called a reference frame. The motion information used for the prediction is obtained from motion estimation and coding block 370 by using the reference frame and the current frame 305. The motion information is represented by a two-dimensional motion vector (Δx, Δy) where Δx is a horizontal and Δy is a vertical displacement. In the motion compensated (MC) prediction block, the motion vectors are used together with the reference frame to construct prediction frame P(x,y):P(x,y)=R(x+Δx,y+Δy).
Subsequently the prediction error E(x,y), i.e. the difference between the current frame and the prediction frame P(x,y), is calculated 307 according toE(x,y)=I(x,y)−P(x,y).
In transform block 310, the prediction error for each KxL block is represented as weighted sum of a transform basis functions fij(x,y),
      E              (              x        ,        y            )        =            ∑              i        =        1            K                                            ∑                  j          =          1                L                                                                          c            err                                          (                          i              ,              j                        )                                                                      f                              i                                                                                j                                                                (                              x                ,                y                            )                                .
The weights cerr(i,j) corresponding to the basis functions are called transform coefficients. These coefficients are subsequently quantised in quantisation block 320 to giveIerr(i,j)=Q(cerr(i,j),QP)where Ierr(i,j) are the quantised transform coefficients. The quantisation operation Q( ) introduces loss of information, but the quantised coefficients can be represented with smaller number of bits. The level of compression (loss of information) is controlled by adjusting the value of the quantisation parameter QP.
Before the motion vectors and quantised transform coefficients are supplied to the multiplexer 380, they are further encoded using Variable Length Codes (VLC). This reduces the number of bits needed to represent the motion vectors and quantised transform coefficients. The encoded motion vectors, quantised transform coefficients as well as other additional information needed to represent each coded frame is multiplexed in the multiplexer 380, and the resulting bit-stream is transmitted 415 to the decoder. The quantised transform coefficients are also forwarded to the inverse quantisation block 330 to obtain inverse quantised transform coefficients and further to the inverse transform block 340 to obtain the prediction error information Ec(x,y) for the current frame. The prediction error information Ec(x,y) is added to the predicted frame P(x,y) in a summing element to obtain a video frame that can be subsequently stored in the frame memory 350.
In the following, decoding video frames will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The decoder 400 receives the multiplexed video bit-stream 415 from the encoder, and the demultiplexer 410 demultiplexes the bit-stream to obtain the constituent parts of the video frames to be decoded. These parts comprise at least the coded quantised prediction error transform coefficients and the coded motion vectors, which are subsequently decoded (not shown) to obtain quantised prediction error transform coefficients and motion vectors. The quantised transform coefficients are inverse quantised in inverse quantisation block 420 to obtain inverse quantised transform coefficients derr(i,j) according to the following relation:derr(i,j)=Q−1(Ierr(i,j),QP).
In inverse transform block 430, the inverse quantised transform coefficients are subjected to an inverse transform to obtain prediction error Ec(x,y):
            E      c                  (              x        ,        y            )        =            ∑              i        =        1            K                                            ∑                  j          =          1                L                                                                          c            err                                          (                          i              ,              j                        )                                                                      f                              i                                                                                j                                                                (                              x                ,                y                            )                                .
The pixels of the current coded frame are reconstructed by finding the prediction pixels in the reference frame R(x,y) obtained from frame memory 440, and using the received motion vectors together with the reference frame in motion compensation prediction block 450, to obtain a predicted frame P(x,y). The predicted frame P(x,y) and the prediction error information Ec(x,y) are summed together in a summing element 435 according to the following relation:Ic(x,y)=R(x+Δx,y+Δy)+Ec(x,y).
These values Ic(x,y) can further be filtered to obtain decoded video frames 445. The values Ic(x,y) are also stored in the frame buffer 440. The reconstructed values Ic(x,y) can be filtered in a filtering block (not shown in FIG. 4) after the summation block 435.
Video streaming has emerged as an important application in the fixed Internet. It is further anticipated that video streaming will also be important in and in the near future in 3G wireless networks. In streaming applications the transmitting server starts transmitting a pre-encoded video bit stream via a transmission network to a receiver upon a request from the receiver. The receiver plays back the video stream back while receiving it. The best-effort nature of present networks causes variations in the effective bandwidth available to a user due to the changing network conditions. To accommodate these variations, the transmitting server can scale the bit rate of the compressed video. In the case of a conversational service characterized by real-time encoding and point-to-point delivery, this can be achieved by adjusting the source encoding parameters on the fly. Such adjustable parameters can be, for example, a quantisation parameter, or a frame rate. The adjustment is advantageously based on feedback from the transmission network. In typical streaming scenarios when a previously encoded video bit stream is to be transmitted to the receiver, the above solution cannot be applied.
One solution to achieve bandwidth scalability in case of pre-encoded sequences is to produce multiple and independent streams having different bit-rates and quality. The transmitting server then dynamically switches between the streams to accommodate variations in the available bandwidth. The following example illustrates this principle. Let us assume that multiple bit streams are generated independently with different encoding parameters, such as quantisation parameter, corresponding to the same video sequence. Let {P1,n−1, P1,n, P1,n+1} and {P2,n−1, P2,n, P2,n+1} denote the sequence of decoded frames from bit streams 1 and 2, respectively. Since the encoding parameters are different for the two bit streams, frames reconstructed from them at the same time instant, for example, frames P1,n−1 and P2,n−1, are not identical. If it is now assumed that the server initially sends encoded frames from bit stream 1 up to time n after which it starts sending encoded frames from bit stream 2, the decoder receives frames {P1,n−2, P1,n−1, P2,n, P2,n+1, P2,n+2}. In this case P2,n cannot be correctly decoded since its reference frame P2,n−1 is not received. On the other hand, the frame P1,n−1, which is received instead of P2,n−1, is not identical to P2,n−1. Therefore switching between bit streams at arbitrary locations leads to visual artefacts due to the mismatch between the reference frames used for motion compensated prediction in the different sequences. These visual artefacts are not only confined to the frame at the switching point between bit streams, but propagates in time due to the continued motion compensated coding in the remaining part of the video sequence.
In current video encoding standards, perfect (mismatch-free) switching between bit streams is only possible at positions where the current and future frames or regions thereof do not use any information previous to the current switching location, i.e., at I-frames. Furthermore, by placing I-frames at fixed (e.g. 1 sec) intervals, VCR functionalities, such as random access or "Fast Forward" and "Fast Backward" (increased playback rate) for streaming video content, are achieved. The user may skip a portion of the video sequence and restart playing at any I-frame location. Similarly, an increased playback rate can be achieved by transmitting only I-frames. The drawback of using I-frames in these applications is that since I-frames do not exploit any temporal redundancy they require a much larger number of bits than P-frames at the same quality.

Switching between bit-streams in video transmission


An apparatus and method for dispensing a solution on a substrate is described in which the solution is dispensed through a solution nozzle assembly while the substrate is rotated. As the solution is dispensed, the solution on the substrate forms a wave front that radially spreads from the substrate center to the substrate edge. The dispensing of the solution is performed in such a way that the solution is dispensed at a radial location substantially equivalent to or less than the radial location of the wave front at any instant in time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for dispensing a material solution on a substrate, and, more particularly, to a method and system for dispensing a material solution on a substrate in order to reduce the volume of dispensed fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
In material processing methodologies, pattern etching includes the application of a thin layer of light-sensitive material, such as photoresist, to an upper surface of a substrate that is subsequently patterned in order to provide a mask for transferring this pattern to the substrate during etching. The patterning of the light-sensitive material generally involves coating an upper surface of the substrate with a thin film of light-sensitive material, exposing the thin film of light-sensitive material to a radiation source through a reticle (and associated optics) using, for example, a micro-lithography system, followed by a developing process during which the removal of the irradiated regions of the light-sensitive material occurs (as in the case of positive photoresist), or the removal of non-irradiated regions occurs (as in the case of negative resist) using a developing solvent.
During the coating process, a substrate is positioned on a substrate holder, and it is rotated at high speed, i.e., several thousand or tens of thousand revolutions per minute (rpm), while resist solution is dispensed on an upper surface of the substrate. When, for example, the resist solution is dispensed at the center of the substrate, the resist solution spreads radially across the substrate due to centrifugal forces imposed by the substrate rotation. In order to reduce the costs associated with resist solution dispensing, the total volume (or shot size) of resist solution that is dispensed is minimized, which places greater emphasis on the design of dispensing parameters (i.e., rotation rate, dispensing rate, resist solution fluid properties, etc.) sufficient to achieve a uniform coating on the substrate.

Method and system for dispensing resist solution


A method for sending a dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signal using a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). A user datagram protocol (UDP) port is set up for transfer of DTMF data between a VoIP gateway and a VoIP client. If a caller inputs a numeral key in a VoIP-based call connection state, the VoIP client requests the VoIP gateway to send information regarding a digital signaling processor (DSP) channel currently established therein. The VoIP gateway retrieves the currently established DSP channel information on the basis of an IP address of the VoIP client and sends the retrieved DSP channel information to the VoIP client. The VoIP client sends DTMF data corresponding to the inputted numeral key to the VoIP gateway through the set-up UDP port. The VoIP gateway receives the DTMF data from the VoIP client through the UDP port, generates a DTMF signal corresponding to the received DTMF data and sends the generated DTMF signal to the VoIP client's counterpart. Therefore, the DTMF signal can be accurately sent to the counterpart, and routing information for transfer of the DTMF data is provided by sending DSP channel information of a current VoIP call to the VoIP client and a Web call server.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a voice over Internet protocol (referred to hereinafter as "VoIP"), and more particularly to a method for sending a dual-tone multi-frequency (i.e., "DTMF") signal in a call connection state based on a VoIP.
2. Related Art
The Internet has recently been recognized as an essential communication medium to many persons. Using the Internet, persons can access a large number of sites providing information, goods and services, and rapidly communicate with those in all places over the whole world by means of electronic mails. With the spread of the Internet, a service has been proposed to provide voice communication between multimedia terminals, such as personal computers (PCs), and voice communication between a multimedia terminal and a conventional voice terminal, such as a telephone, over the Internet. This service is typically called a voice over Internet protocol (IP), or "VoIP", and H.323 (standard for multimedia communication approved by the International Telecommunications Union) and standards associated therewith have been proposed for the VoIP.
The VoIP is adapted to support a multimedia terminal to send voice as well as data through the use of an Internet protocol, and has the advantage of significantly reducing line costs required for telephone or facsimile transmission, thereby enabling telephone users to receive a trunk call service and international call service under Internet and intranet environments by paying only local call fees. Moreover, the VoIP enables the management of voice traffic and data traffic by one equipment and circuit, thereby making it possible to utilize applications such as a Web call center, desktop video, etc.
On the other hand, a variety of attendant services, such as Internet paging, phone banking, electronic commerce, etc., are provided through a call connection, resulting in the necessitation of frequent inputs of numeral keys by a user in a call connection state. If the user inputs a numeral key, a calling telephone generates a dual-tone multi-frequency (i.e., "DTMF") signal corresponding to the inputted numeral key, which is then sent to a called unit (for example, a paging terminal, phone banking center or so forth) over a data network (such as the Internet).
A DTMF signal, which is generated in response to the input of a numeral key by a caller in a call connection state based on the VoIP, is conventionally sent according to a real-time transport protocol (i.e., "RTP") similarly to voice. As known, the RTP was developed to provide a function of transporting real-time data, such as voice, video or dummy data, on multicast or unicast.
However, because the RTP is a standard established on the basis of transfer characteristics of real-time data, it does not handle contents on resource reservation and, particularly, does not provide a flow control function such as timely delivery, QoS (Quality of Signal) assurance, out-of-order transfer prevention or the like. For this reason, it is impossible to sense a loss of data inputted by a caller during transfer thereof. In the regard, conventionally, a number inputted by a caller in a VoIP-based call connection state cannot be accurately transferred to a called party.
This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, from my application METHOD FOR SENDING DUAL-TONE MULTI-FREQUENCY SIGNAL USING VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL filed with the Korean Industrial Property Office on Dec. 9, 2000 and there duly assigned Serial No. 2000-74902.

Method for sending dual-tone multi-frequency signal using voice over internet protocol


This invention relates to a refueling nozzle that can be inserted easily into a filler opening in such a manner as to seal up the filler opening, securely engaging the nozzle and opening, and thereby prevent erroneous operation. Additionally, the refueling nozzle can automatically stop or start the refueling. The fuel discharge unit 3 comprises a fitting member 9 in the shape of a truncated cone such that the cross-sectional diameter gradually becomes smaller from a value larger than the inside diameter of the filler opening of a fuel tank. In the fitting member 9, a vapor passage 11 is formed to recover or discharge fuel vapor in the fuel tank. A fuel sensor 14 detects the presence of fuel and kind of fuel vapor present in the fuel tank through contact with the fuel vapor flowing through the vapor passage 11. A liquid level sensor 15 determines the surface level of fuel in the tank and whether the level of the fuel in the fuel tank has reached a predetermined level. A control unit C, responsive to outputs of the fuel sensor and liquid level sensor, controls the start and stop of refueling in the fuel tank.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refueling nozzle which is suitable for use at an oil station, easily inserted and engaged in a fitting manner to a filler opening of a fuel tank and capable of avoiding any erroneous operation.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Discharge of fuel vapor must be prevented as much as possible at the time of refueling to a vehicle or vessel from the point of view of environmental protection and also to ensure the health of oil station personnel. Considering the current situation, and, moreover, a self-refueling system wherein customers are requested to make the refueling, discharge of fuel vapor has to be prevented more intensively and various proposals have been made for this purpose.
One of the means for avoiding discharge of fuel vapor is to seal up a gap which exists between a refueling nozzle and a filler opening. The Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4697/93 discloses a method of sealing up a gap which exists between a head portion of a refueling nozzle and a filler opening by arranging, at the external circumference of the head portion of the refueling nozzle, a rubber berrow tube which can be filled with air and, after inserting the refueling nozzle into the fuel tank, filling up the berrow tube with air thereby inflating the portion of the berrow tube inserted into the fuel tank by filling the berrow tube with air. However, this method has the disadvantage that the structures of a refueling apparatus and a refueling nozzle have to be complicated because a mechanism is required to fill the rubber berrow tube with air and to exhausting the air therefrom.
The Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 97198/93 discloses an oil-proof rubber vapor collector which easily seals a filler opening by forming a head portion into a bell-flare shape. However, such a vapor collector cannot seal a filler opening of a fuel tank tightly.
Another function that a refueling nozzle is requested to have is that it is engaged fixed to a filler opening of a fuel tank. For example, the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4697/93 discloses that the refueling nozzle can be engaged with the filler opening by inflating the part of the berrow tube inserted into the fuel tank. However, as explained above, this method has the problem that a mechanism for filling the rubber berrow tube with air and exhausting the air therefrom is required, thereby complicating the structures of the refueling apparatus and the refueling nozzle.


An alert apparatus of a vehicle generates an alert to a driver when an object is a target alert object that is is an object that is present in one of predetermined areas around the vehicle and that has object distance equal to or shorter than a first distance threshold. The alert apparatus sets each one or more of said predetermined areas to a high level alert area based on a current shift range, and set each of the rest of said predetermined areas to a low level alert area.

There has been a known alert apparatus of a vehicle configured to generate an alert when a positional relationship satisfies an alert condition. One of the alert apparatuses of this type (hereinafter, referred to as a "conventional apparatus") is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2019-32744. Hereinafter, a distance between a vehicle having the alert apparatus and an object is sometimes referred to as an "object distance".
While the vehicle is moving forward, the conventional apparatus:
generates an alert/warning sound having an intermittent sound pattern (discontinuous alert sound), when the object distance is shorter than a sound outputting distance threshold and is longer than a continuous sound starting distance threshold; and
generates an alert/warning sound having a continuous sound pattern (continuous alert sound) when the object distance is shorter than the continuous sound starting distance threshold.


A vibration preventing device is provided with a vibration preventing mode selector capable of selecting a vibration preventing mode in which vibration prevention driving is effected during exposure and a non-vibration preventing mode. Also provided are a vibration prevention start selector for selecting whether vibration prevention control is to be started, and a vibration prevention driving start instructing portion for instructing the start of vibration prevention. Start of vibration prevention driving occurs driving even before the start of exposure when the vibration preventing mode selector selects the vibration preventing mode and the vibration prevention start selector selects the start of the vibration prevention control.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vibration preventing device for detecting camera shake occurring before photographing and effecting the correction thereof, and a photographing apparatus having the vibration preventing function.
2. Related Background Art
Generally, when photographing with a camera held in hands, particularly when a lens of a long focal length is used or a low shutter speed is used, camera shake is liable to occur and thus, the quality of resulting photographs is spoiled. In order to prevent such camera shake and eliminate the deterioration of the quality of photographs, a vibration preventing device has been proposed.
FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings shows the general construction of the vibration preventing device. In FIG. 9, the reference numeral 1 designates an interchangeable lens, and the reference numeral 2 denotes a camera body.
The interchangeable lens 1 has a photo-taking optical system comprising a fixed lens unit L1, a lens unit L2 movable in the direction of the optical axis thereof and governing focusing, and a vibration correcting lens unit L3 (a vibration correcting optical unit) adapted to shift in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis and effect vibration correction. Herein, the vibration correcting lens unit L3 assumes the construction of the rearmost lens unit of the photo-taking optical system, but is not restricted to this type of optical system.
A vibration detecting device 3 is comprised of a speed sensor or an angular speed sensor, and outputs a signal conforming to detected vibration. In FIG. 9, the vibration detecting device 3 is provided in the interchangeable lens 1, but in some cases, it is provided in the camera body 2.
A vibration correcting device 4 constitutes a shifting mechanism for moving the vibration correcting lens unit L3 on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis. The vibration correcting device 4 is not limited to one which shifts the vibration correcting lens unit in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis to thereby effect correction, but may be one which inclines the vibration correcting lens unit with respect to the optical axis to thereby effect correction.
A vibration controlling device 5 is provided in the interchangeable lens 1 and the memory portion thereof stores therein lens information such as a focal length and information about vibration correction. This vibration controlling device 5 controls the driving of the vibration correcting device 4 on the basis of the information stored in the memory portion thereof and the output of the vibration detecting device 3 to thereby effect vibration correction.
Such vibration correction is started by the operation of a vibration correction starting switch. As the vibration correction starting switch, there is known, for example, a construction provided on a manual focusing ring or a zoom ring (see Japanese Utility Model Application No. 4-62851).
However, in the above-described vibration proofing device according to the prior art, when the vibration correction starting switch is touched by mistake, vibration correction is sometimes started against a photographer's intention, and this has been very inconvenient during effecting a pan shot or the like.
Also, in the vibration preventing device according to the prior art, when a heavy lens is used, the position of the left hand holding that lens is naturally determined and there has been a case where operability is not preferable even though the vibration correction starting switch is provided on the manual focusing ring or the zoom ring.
On the other hand, as photographing apparatuses represented by cameras, ones provided with an autofocusing (AF) device have become popular. Further, it has been proposed to add a vibration preventing device for correcting camera shake during photographing in such an AF device. This vibration preventing device, as described above, is a device for detecting any fluctuation of the angle of the optical axis caused by camera shake or the like, and correcting the image vibration of a photographed image on the basis of the result of the detection, and as such device, there are known, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-66535 (an example of a single-lens optical system), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-183217 (an example of the image correction by the shift of a portion of the photo-taking optical system of an internal focusing type telephoto lens), etc.
On the other hand, a half-depression timer has been carried on such a photographing apparatus. This half-depression timer is a device for starting a photographing preparatory operation by the closing of a half-depression switch, thereafter counting the time for which the OFF state of the half-depression switch continues, and stopping the photographing preparatory operation of the photographing apparatus when the counted time reaches a set time.
Also, this photographing apparatus has been provided with a vibration correction operating switch for instructing to start or stop vibration correction.
Further, there has been the possibility that when a vibration correction switch is inadvertently closed or the vibration correction switch is closed before the start of the photographing preparatory operation, a meaningless vibration correcting operation is performed to give birth to wasteful power source consumption.
In the above-described photographing apparatus according to the prior art, however, when vibration correction is selected by the vibration correction operating switch and the half-depression timer is started during the execution of vibration correction, the photographing preparatory operation of the photographing apparatus is stopped with the termination of the half-depression timer, but when vibration correction is to be stopped, it has been necessary for the user of the photographing apparatus to operate the vibration correction operating switch again to thereby stop vibration correction. This has led to the problem that the photographer's operation is cumbersome and moreover unnecessary electric power consumption takes place.
Also, when vibration correction is selected by the vibration correction operating switch and the half-depression timer is started during the execution of vibration correction and the half-depression timer is terminated, there is the possibility that in spite of vibration correction being effected, the photographing preparatory operation is terminated against the photographer's intention.
Further, the operation of stopping vibration correction and the timing for stopping could not be evenly determined by the photographer's level or liking.

Vibration preventing device and photographing apparatus having the vibration preventing function


Disclosed are hair styling shampoo compositions which comprise from about 5% to about 50% by weight of a surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, zwitterionic or amphoteric surfactants having an attached group that is anionic at the pH of the composition, and combinations thereof; from about 0.025% to about 3% by weight of an organic cationic polymer having a cationic charge density of from about 0.2 meq/gm to about 7 meq/gm and a molecular weight of from about 5,000 to about 10 million; from about 0.1% to about 10% by weight of a water-insoluble hair styling polymer; from about 0.1% to about 10% by weight of a water-insoluble volatile solvent; and from about 0.005% to about 2.0% by weight a crystalline hydroxyl-containing stabilizing agent; and from about 26.5% to about 94.9% by weight water. The composition provides improved spreading efficiency of the styling polymer onto hair, thus providing improved styling performance from the shampoo composition.

Many hair shampoo compositions provide acceptable cleaning but provide little or no styling benefits, e.g. body, hold, stiffness. To realize such benefits, separate cleaning and styling products are often used.
Recently, hair shampoo compositions have been developed which can provide cleaning and styling performance from a single product. Many of these products contain styling polymers in a compatible shampoo base. To prepare such products, styling polymers can be dissolved in an organic solvent and then incorporated into the shampoo base. The organic solvent thereafter helps disperse the styling polymer in the shampoo composition, and also helps enhance spreading of the styling polymer onto hair such that the polymer sets and forms welds between hair fibers. The enhanced spreading of the styling polymer onto the hair results in improved styling performance from the shampoo composition.
Another method for further improving polymer deposition from a shampoo involves the use of cationic deposition polymers. These cationic deposition polymers improve the deposition efficiency of the styling polymers, which in turn also improves styling performance. The improved deposition from the cationic polymer can also allow for reduction of the amount of styling polymer formulated into the shampoo composition, thus reducing raw material costs. Cationic deposition polymers, however, can cause compatibility problems with other materials in the formulation, especially when used at higher concentrations or at relatively high cationic charge densities. Moreover, excessive amounts of such deposition polymers can result in undesirably coated or oily wet hair feel, and can cause the hair when dry to feel dirty and have less body, less fullness.
It has now been found that these water-insoluble styling polymers in volatile carriers can be rendered more effective, and the build-up issues associated with cationic deposition polymers can be avoided, when these components are used in combination with select stabilizers. It is believed that the select stabilizers enhance the deposition efficiency of the hair styling polymer over conventional stabilizers, allowing for more formulation freedom to either lower the cationic deposition polymer usage level, or to incorporate new cationic deposition polymers with improved build-up profiles. Moreover, incorporation of these select stabilizers results in significant improvements to the hair feel while delivering the desired styling polymer deposit morphology, or character, to the hair for optimal style achievement performance from the styling shampoo.
In view of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a styling shampoo composition with improved styling performance. It is a further object of the present invention to improve the storage stability of the styling shampoo and the feel of the hair after repeated use of the styling shampoo by using select stabilizing agents in combination with a water-insoluble styling polymer, a volatile carrier for the styling polymer, and a cationic deposition polymer.


A method for providing a confidence score for a seller in an online marketplace includes: storing account profiles, each including one or more unique account identifiers for one or more online marketplaces; storing activity data entries, each including data for transactional activity in an online marketplace including a marketplace identifier, two or more transacting account identifiers, and activity data; receiving a confidence request that includes a specific account identifier and marketplace identifier; identifying a specific account profile that includes the specific account identifier; identifying a set of activity data entries where a transacting account identifier matches a unique account identifier in the specific account profile; determining a confidence score for the specific account profile based on the activity data included in the identified set of activity data entries; and transmitting the confidence score in response to the received confidence request.

With the advent of the Internet, it quickly gave rise to the start of online marketplaces that could match buyers to sellers. In many cases, the entity on each side of the transaction was kept anonymous to the other party. As a result, there would be little to no information available for one party to have confidence of the authenticity of the other party. In many instances, the marketplace may also have had little recourse for users that were defrauded or otherwise taken advantage of. To help alleviate these occurrences, many marketplaces provide users with the opportunity to rate and give feedback on other users. Such information became beneficial for a user to be confident in the other use they are transacting with and the authenticity of the product or service being transacted.
However, this information is only available for users that have already been involved in a significant number of transactions to have received feedback and ratings. Furthermore, the user must have confidence in the quality and authenticity of the ratings and feedback themselves. This may make it difficult for new users to participant in sufficient transactions to gain a suitable amount of feedback and ratings, and may also make other users wary of users with a low amount of ratings or feedback that may be manipulated or suspicious type of feedback. Thus, there is a need for a technological solution to provide for a suitable and trustworthy confidence score in a user in an online marketplace that relies on objective information beyond user-provided feedback and ratings.

Method and system for determining confidence of a seller in a user marketplace


According to the present invention, there can be provided a protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical having foaming properties making it usable as a foam fire-extinguishing chemical even diluted at a concentration of 2% by volume or less. In the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical according to the present invention, the protein hydrolyzates are contained in an amount of 25 to 40% by weight in terms of the solid content thereof, and one or more members selected from the group consisting of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 3-methyl-3-methoxy butanol, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and diethylene glycol monoisopropyl ether are contained as the foaming assistant in an amount of 8 to 20% by weight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical used in fire-extinguishing facilities, as well as an aqueous foam solution. In particular, the present invention relates to a protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical having foaming properties usable as a foam fire-extinguishing chemical diluted even at a low concentration of 2% by volume or less, as well as an aqueous foam solution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical is in a liquid form comprising a product obtained by hydrolyzing protein (referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9cprotein hydrolyzatesxe2x80x9d) as a base material and a foam stabilizer such as iron salts, a pour point depressant such as ethylene glycol, etc. compounded therein. As an aqueous foam solution released to a site of fires, there are 6% aqueous foam solution and 3% aqueous foam solution. The 6% aqueous foam solution is an aqueous foam solution consisting of 6 vol-% protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical mixed with 94 vol-% water or seawater, while the 3% aqueous foam solution is an aqueous foam solution consisting of 3 vol-% protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical mixed with 97 vol-% water or seawater. At present, the 3% aqueous foam solution is mainly used.
Whether the foaming properties of a protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical are good or not is determined depending on whether the bubbling properties and foam stability thereof are good or not. As the concentration of a protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical having bubbling properties is increased, the bubbling properties reaches the maximum (plateau) at a certain concentration, and as the concentration is further increased, the bubbling properties are lowered.
The foam stability of an aqueous solution of protein hydrolyzates containing a foam stabilizer is high, but the bubbling properties thereof are moderate. Accordingly, the bubbling properties have been improved heretofore by increasing the concentration of the aqueous solution of protein hydrolyzates thereby achieving foaming properties (foam stability and bubbling properties) making it as a foam fire-extinguishing chemical. That is, unless the concentration of the diluted aqueous foam solution is 3% by volume or more, foaming properties making it usable as a foam fire-extinguishing chemical have never been achieved heretofore.
However, if the 3% aqueous foam solution is to be used at the present when an object (e.g. petroleum tank) of fire extinction becomes enormous and large-scaled, a large amount of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical is necessary for the relationship of the mixing ratio described above. Accordingly, a tank for storing the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical is large-scaled, and a container for stockpiling thereof is also enlarged. Further, the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical should be conveyed repeatedly from a base for stockpiling thereof to a site of fires in order to achieve a necessary amount of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical.
These problems can be solved by reducing the amount of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical while maintaining practical foaming properties thereof. Accordingly, the present inventors attempted to reduce the amount of water incorporated into the conventional protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical in order to reduce the concentration thereof diluted with water or seawater at the time of use. However, the present inventors found that this is not practical because the viscosity of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical is significantly increased upon reduction of the amount of water in the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, thus making it difficult or even infeasible to proportionally mix the resulting aqueous foam solution uniformly and stably in an existing conventional system of mixing a foam fire-extinguishing chemical (that is, a compression or compression-feeding pressure proportional system, a pump proportional system, a line proportional system etc.), resulting in failure to form a normal aqueous foam solution.
The object of the present invention is to provide a protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical and an aqueous foam solution, which can be proportionally mixed without significantly increasing the viscosity of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical in a usual system of mixing a foam fire-extinguishing chemical and has foaming properties making itself usable as a foam fire-extinguishing chemical even diluted at a concentration of 2% by volume or less, thus reducing the size of a storing tank and container therefor as well as reducing the number of times the chemical is conveyed from a base for stockpiling to a site of fires.
The protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical of the present invention is a protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical in a liquid form comprising protein hydrolyzates as a base material as well as a foam stabilizer and a foaming assistant compounded therein, wherein the amount of the foaming assistant compounded is 8 to 20% by weight.
In this case, one or more members selected from the group consisting of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 3-methyl-3-methoxy butanol, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and diethylene glycol monoisopropyl ether are contained as the foaming assistant. Further, it is preferable that the protein hydrolyzates are compounded in an amount of 25 to 40% by weight in terms of the solid content thereof.
The aqueous foam solution of the present invention is characterized in that the concentration of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical having the composition described above is made 2% by volume or less by mixing it with water or seawater.
The aqueous solution of protein hydrolyzates containing a foam stabilizer has high foam stability and moderate bubbling properties, and the bubbling properties can also be improved by incorporation of a foaming assistant. As the foaming assistant, one or more members selected from the group consisting of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 3-methyl-3-methoxy butanol, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and diethylene glycol monoisopropyl ether are contained.
As a result of incorporation of such a foaming assistant, the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical can be proportionally mixed uniformly and stably while maintaining excellent foaming properties (foam stability and bubbling properties) without significantly increasing the viscosity thereof in a usual system of mixing a foam fire-extinguishing chemical, and can further demonstrate foaming properties usable as a foam fire-extinguishing chemical in an aqueous foam solution diluted even at a low concentration of 2% by volume or less.
The amount of the foaming assistant compounded is preferably 8 to 20% by weight, more preferably 10 to 15% by weight. Depending on the type of the foaming assistant compounded, the amount of the foaming assistant can be increased or decreased within this range. When the amount of the foaming assistant is higher than said range, the viscosity of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical is significantly increased to make uniform, stable and proportional mixing infeasible in a usual system of mixing a foam fire-extinguishing chemical, thus making practical use infeasible, while the amount of the foaming assistant is lower than said range, the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical upon dilution at a low concentration of 2% by volume or less comes to have a lower degree of foaming with a 25% reduction time of 1 minute or less, thus failing to provide an normal aqueous foam solution usable for extinguishing fires.
The amount of the protein hydrolyzates compounded is preferably 25 to 40% by weight, more preferably 30 to 35% by weight, in terms of the solid content thereof. When the amount of the protein hydrolyzates compounded is larger than 40% by weight, the viscosity of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical is significantly increased to make uniform, stable and proportional mixing infeasible in a usual system of mixing a foam fire-extinguishing chemical, thus making practical use infeasible, while the amount of the protein hydrolyzates is smaller than 25% by weight, the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical upon dilution at a low concentration of 2% by volume or less comes to have a lower degree of foaming with a 25% reduction time of 1 minute or less, thus failing to provide an normal aqueous foam solution usable for extinguishing fires.
According to the present invention, the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical can, upon being mixed with water in a usual system of mixing a foam fire-extinguishing chemical, be used practically without significantly increasing the viscosity thereof, and can thus provide an aqueous foam solution diluted at a low concentration of 2% by volume or less.
The aqueous foam solution diluted even at a low concentration of 2% by volume or less can demonstrate foaming properties usable as a foam fire-extinguishing chemical and is not inferior to the conventional 3 vol-% aqueous foam solution. Further, the aqueous foam solution in the present invention solves disadvantages of the conventional 3 vol-% aqueous foam solution, such as requirements for a large-scale tank and container for storing the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical and a large number of times the chemical is conveyed from a base for stockpiling to a site of fires, thus achieving the effects of reducing the size of the storing tank and container as well as reducing the number of times the chemical is conveyed to the site of fires.
Preferable embodiments of the present invention are listed below.
(a) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 15% by weight of 3-methyl-3-methoxy butanol and 52% by weight of water.
(b) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 15% by weight of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol and 52% by weight of water.
(c) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 5% by weight of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 10% by weight of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and 52% by weight of water.
(d) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 15% by weight of diethylene glycol monoisopropyl ether and 52% by weight of water.
(e) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 36% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 5% by weight of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 10% by weight of diethylene glycol monobutyl ether and 48% by weight of water.
(f) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 8% by weight of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol (foaming assistant), 5% by weight of ethylene glycol (pour point depressant), and 54% by weight of water.
(g) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 10% by weight of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 5% by weight of ethylene glycol and 52% by weight of water.
(h) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 15% by weight of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 5% by weight of ethylene glycol and 47% by weight of water.
(i) A protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical, which comprises 32% by weight of protein hydrolyzates as solids compounded with 1% by weight of iron sulfate, 20% by weight of 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, 5% by weight of ethylene glycol and 42% by weight of water.
(j) An aqueous foam solution, wherein the concentration of the protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical described above is made 2% by volume or less by mixing it with water or seawater.

Protein foam fire-extinguishing chemical and an aqueous foam solution


A method and corresponding apparatus for collision-free motion planning of a first manipulator in a first working space and a second manipulator in a second working space, wherein the first and second working spaces at least partially overlap. The method includes the steps of importing a first dynamic roadmap for a first configuration space of the first manipulator, wherein the first dynamic roadmap includes a first search graph and a first mapping between the first working space and the first search graph, and importing a second dynamic roadmap for a second configuration space of the second manipulator, wherein the second dynamic roadmap includes a second search graph and a second mapping between the second working space and the second search graph. Furthermore, the motion of the first manipulator and the second manipulator are coordinated based on the first dynamic roadmap and the second dynamic roadmap.

The present invention relates to a method for collision-free motion planning of a first manipulator in a first working space and a second manipulator in a second working space as well as a corresponding apparatus.
In robotics, collision-free motion planning is the task of finding a motion path for a robot or its manipulator from a starting point to an end point without a collision with an obstacle or with itself occurring during motion. A method for collision-free motion planning is, for example, known from DE 10 2010 007 458 A1.
DE 10 2010 007 458 A1 discloses collision-free motion planning for an industrial robot with a single robot arm (manipulator), such as is used in modern production systems. Industrial robots are working machines for the handling, assembling or processing of workpieces. An industrial robot usually comprises at least one manipulator with several motion axes and a programmable controller that coordinates the robot's motion sequences during operation by controlling the robot's drives accordingly.
In addition to these common single-arm robots, robots with two or more arms are increasingly coming into the focus of research. Due to their similarity to humans, two-arm robots are a preferred design not only for humanoid robots, but also for robots in the field of telerobotics, in which robots are remotely controlled by a human operator. In addition, many workplaces in industry are originally designed for people and are therefore designed for two-hand operation.
The goal of motion planning for a multi-arm robot is basically the same as for a single-arm robot, namely to find a motion path for each arm from a starting point to an end point without colliding with an obstacle including itself or the other arm in the working space. In principle, it is therefore possible to use the known methods for motion planning for single-arm robots also for multi-arm robots, whereby the other arm is regarded as another dynamic obstacle in the working space. Planning then takes place in a common configuration space using familiar methods for motion planning. Well-known methods include probabilistic methods such as Probabilistic Roadmaps (PRM) or Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRT).
In addition, decoupled approaches are also known in which the motion of each arm is first planned individually and then a kind of coordination takes place. The individual planning is also based on known methods such as the above mentioned probabilistic methods. The decoupled approaches can be advantageous in systems where there is little interaction between the individual arms.
In the known coupled and decoupled approaches for motion planning of multi-arm robots, probabilistic planning methods or methods based on local optimization are predominantly used. Probabilistic methods, however, have the disadvantage that they do not generate deterministic trajectories and the computing time required for such methods may be limited, but is generally not predictable. Methods based on local optimization have the disadvantage that they cannot find solutions in complex environments.

Method for collision-free motion planning


A high-side variable current source and a high-side transistor are provided in series between a supply power terminal of a control circuit and a gate of a switching transistor. A low-side variable current source and a low-side transistor are provided in series between the gate of the switching transistor and a ground terminal. A slew rate controller controls the current value of at least one of the high-side and low-side variable current sources according to the state of a setting terminal. A switching power supply device has a plurality of output transistors connected in parallel with one another and a controller that generates control signals turning on and off the output transistors at a predetermined frequency so as to generate a desired output voltage from an input voltage and supply the output voltage to a load. The controller determines which output transistor to drive according to the magnitude of the load.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching regulator control circuit. Besides, the present invention relates to a switching power supply device.
2. Description of Related Art
<First Background Art and Problem>
A power transistor is used in a switching regulator, a motor driver and other various electronic apparatuses. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a structural example of a switching regulator of voltage step-up type that has a power transistor.
The switching regulator 2r includes: a control circuit 100r; an inductor L1; a rectification diode D1; and an output capacitor C1.
The control circuit 100r has a switching transistor M1 that is a power transistor; a pulse signal generation portion 10; and a driver circuit 20r. An output voltage VOUT from the switching regulator 2r is divided by resistors R1 and R2. The pulse signal generation portion 10 receives a feedback voltage VFB in accordance with the output voltage Vout from the switching regulator 2r, and generates a pulse signal SPWM whose duty ratio is adjusted such that the feedback voltage VFB nears a target level. The driver circuit 20r, based on the pulse signal SPWM, switches the switching transistor M1.
To switch on/off of the switching transistor M1, it is necessary to switch the level of a voltage (gate signal VG) of the control terminal (gate) between two values of a high level (power supply voltage) and a low level (ground level).
The driver circuit 20r is composed to be an inverter type that has a high-side transistor M2 and a low-side transistor M3. In this structure, a transition time (rise time TR) at the time the gate signal VG rises from the low level to the high level is decided depending on an electric current capability of the high-side transistor M2, while a transition time (fall time TRF) at the time the gate signal VG falls from the high level to the low level is decided depending on an electric current capability of the low-side transistor M2.
Efficiency of the switching regulator 2r becomes higher as the transition times TR and TF become shorter. On the other hand, if the transition times TR and TF become short, high-frequency electro-magnetic (EMI: Electro-Magnetic Interference) noise becomes a problem. In other words, the efficiency and the EMI are in a tradeoff relationship.
Generally, it is possible to measure electro-magnetic noise in a state only where the switching regulator 2r is mounted in a set. And, in the measurement result, in a case where the EMI regulations are not met, as an EMI measure, a set designer needs to make great efforts of modifying the control circuit 100r, the inductor L1 and a peripheral printed board and the like.
In the control circuit 100r in FIG. 1, the transition times TR and TF of the gate signal VG are decided by the capability of the transistors M2 and M3. Great efforts are required for the EMI measure, on the other hand, even in a case of being mounted in any set, the control circuit 100r is required to have universality to operate with no problem. Accordingly, the conventional control circuit 100r is designed with the transition times TR and TF prolonged such that electro-magnetic noise does not occur, so that it is necessary to sacrifice the efficiency.
<Second Background Art and Problem>
Conventionally, a switching power supply device is disclosed and proposed, which performs switching control of PWM [pulse width modulation] type in a heavy load region and switching control of PFM [pulse frequency modulation] type in a light load region.
Here, as an example of a conventional technology related to the above description, there is JP-A-2008-92712.
According to the above second background art, the efficiency of the switching power supply device is raisable in a wide load region ranging from the heavy load region to the low load region (see FIG. 11).
However, in the switching control of PFM type, a switching frequency changes, accordingly, in a case where the switching frequency overlaps a frequency band of a voice signal and a radio signal, trouble and the like occur in voice output and radio communication, whereby a risk is raised, in which performance of an application incorporating the switching power supply device is impaired.
Besides, in an application which uses a rectangular wave-shaped switch voltage, which is obtained during a process where a desired output voltage is generated from an input voltage by using the switching power-supply device, in a subsequent stage circuit (e.g., a charge pump circuit), there is a risk that operation of the subsequent stage circuit becomes unstable thanks to a change in the switching frequency, accordingly, it is hard to use the conventional technology that uses the switching control of PFM type to increase the efficiency.

Switching regulator control circuit, switching regulator, electronic appliance, switching power supply device, and television receiver


A fastener apparatus for a railroad rail and tie includes a yoke plate support frame and a yoke plate. The yoke plate support frame includes opposing securing arms coupled by a perpendicular yoke plate support. The opposing securing arms are spaced apart to detachably seat the yoke plate support over the railroad tie. Attachment tabs extend above the perpendicular yoke plate support from the opposing securing arms. The yoke plate includes a first plate extending along a first plane, a second plate extending out from an edge of the first plate and along a second plane which is at a different angle from the first plane, and yoke plate attachment tabs coupled to the first plate and the second plate. The yoke plate attachment tabs are configured to detachably couple the yoke plate to the yoke plate support frame through the attachment tabs of the opposing securing arms.

Conventional railroad construction relies on spikes to hold rails and tieplates down onto the ties. Unfortunately, over time spike holes enlarge and spikes work up and out of the ties, reducing holding strength and rail stability. As a result, with conventional railroad construction the existing railroad spikes and tieplates require more maintenance, allowable loads and speeds are lower than desired, and the possibility of a derailment increases over time.

Railroad rail and tie fastener apparatuses and methods thereof


A fast vertical scan-conversion and filling method and apparatus for outline font character generation in dot matrix devices including a normalized polysegment generation engine for converting spline data to normalized polysegment data, a vertical scan conversion engine comprised of a decision table transitioner (DT) unit for identifying the location of a transition pixel relative to each polysegment or indicating that an identification cannot be made, intersection transition calculating unit (IT) for calculating the position of a transition pixel relative to each polysegment, and a transition pixel coordinate generating unit responsive to the normalized polysegment data and input received from the DT and IT units and operative to generate signals corresponding to the X and Y coordinates of each transition pixel, and a parity filling engine responsive to the x and y coordinate segment and operative to generate bit mapped character image data for use in driving a bit map print or display device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for converting electronically stored image data into a form which can be used to drive a dot matrix output device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for implementing a scan-conversion theory used to provide shape filling of characters/graphics in spline outline formats in an efficient real time image processing system including dot matrix output devices such as cathode ray tubes and dot printing devices, where image data is converted from a graphical/mathematical format to a display or print device format (i.e. a series of dots/pixels).
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Two essential processes required to generate any two-dimensional shapes from the original outline formats are "scan-conversion" and "shape-filling". Scan-conversion is the process of selecting the pattern of device pixel dots which match the mathematical representation of the image outline to be displayed, while filling is the process of turning on device pixel dots which fall within the interior area bounded by the outline pixel dots generated from the scan-conversion process. In today's applications where the majority of the images require the use of filling, for example, typographic characters, most of the scan-conversion methods of the prior art do not optimize quality and performance. It is desirable that printed or displayed characters replicate the authentic design at an acceptable speed. While different typographic designers may choose different formats to store the type designs, such as vectors, arcs, Beziers, B-spline, etc., it is more desirable for a commercial product to use one general set of scan-conversion and filling methods to adapt various available font standards,, rather than to use several independent methods for different formats.
In an early study of this field, reported in a scientific article entitled "Algorithm for Computer Control of a Digital Plotter"by J. E. Bresenham (IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1965), a scan-conversion method for filling character outline shapes generates darker, bolder shapes than the actual character designs and has a deleterious effect which is most visible at smaller point sizes and/or lower resolution raster devices where there is a constraint on the number of pixels available for each specific image. Bresenham's later study entitled "A Linear Algorithm for Incremental Digital Display of Circular Arcs" (Communication of the ACM, 20(2), February, 1977, pp. 100-106; see also Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics by J. D. Foley and A. Van Dam, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1982, pp. 433-436, 461), describes a scan-conversion concept which is specific to particular arc types. The study done on the filling methods was separate from the research on the scan-conversion processes, and, as a result, these independent findings can not be merged to offer a uniform, compatible solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,838 issued to Shigeo Tsujioka et al. on Dec. 2, 1986, entitled "Filled Shaped Generating Apparatus", discloses a technique employing interior filling and parity scan line filling concepts in a hardware module to perform the polygon fill function at a faster speed. In Tsujioka's design, a microprocessor is used to perform the Bresenham algorithm scan-conversion function. The polysegments generated by the microprocessor are fed to a hardware filling module, which comprises one "Filling Starting/Ending Point Generating Circuit", one "Filling Starting/Ending Point Memory", one "Contour Memory", and one "Filling Circuit". The result is an interior bitmap which is written to the "Refresh Memory" to be displayed on a cathode ray tube (CRT). In Tsujioka et al., the coordinate values representing the polysegments are in an integer form. The integer values are sent to the "Filling Starting/Ending Point Generating Circuit" to calculate the address of the Filling Starting Point and the address of the Filling Ending Point for every line segment in the polysegment. Because the coordinates are in the integer and not real number form, fine curve nature such as the serif of a character might be lost in the process. To fill the polygon interior and to paint the polygon contour, two separate memories, "Contour Memory" and "Filling Starting/Ending Point Memory", are used in the Tsujioka et al, method.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,575 issued to Adrian Hawes on May 17, 1988, entitled "Area Filling Hardware for a Color Graphics Frame Buffer", discloses a technique using hardware to accomplish area filling. A microprocessor is used to perform the Bresenham algorithm of scan-conversion. Polysegments generated by the scan-conversion microprocessor are fed to a hardware filling module. Hawes uses one single Auxiliary Memory to store the outline of a polygon area, and stores the Filling Starting Point and Filling Ending Point information for all the horizontal filling spans involved in the scan-converted polygons. Since the design is based on the integer Bresenham algorithm, it suffers the same quality problem as in the Tsujioka et al. method when it is applied to render outline fonts; but the Hawes design saves one set of memory.
A scientific paper entitled "Vertical Scan-Conversion for Filing Purposes" by R. D. Hersch (Proceeding Computer Graphics International 88, Geneva, Springer Verlag, 1988), reports on studies of scan-conversion methods and describes a method for solving the incompatibility issue of scan-conversion and filling approaches. Splines are subdivided into variable lengths of polysegments which have non-integer vertices. From intersections between the polysegments and scan lines, the algorithm determines two transition pixels for each horizontal span as the beginning and ending indicators. Each transition pixel indicates a color change, from black to white, or vice versa. Between the two transition pixels are interior pixels which are filled by applying a "parity scan line fill method". In order to calculate the intersection and locate the transition pixels, a time-consuming geometrical computation is performed. The higher the resolution, the more calculations are involved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,761 issued to Christopher Hassett on Jun. 26, 1990, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Enhanced Speed Graphic Image Processing", discloses a technique for rendering outline fonts using hardware. In Hassett, after a line or curve is scan-converted ("discrete point conversion" in Hassett's terminology) to polysegments, the coordinate values representing the polysegment are encoded in real numbers. The fine nature of the line or curve is preserved since the polysegments are encoded in real numbers. In the Hassett method, the scan-converted polysegments are further transformed to the coordinate resolution of the target marking engine. Scaling up or down operations may be applied to the polysegments during the "transforming" process. Hassett uses a dithering technique to smooth the polyline segments which are further scan-converted during the "transforming" step. The final scan-converted and dithered polysegments are separated as a dithered image outline shape and a map of interior pixels to be filled, which are then combined for receipt by the raster operator. By keeping the fractional part of the scan-converted coordinate values, Hassett's method provides better precision in determining the outline point, filling starting point, and filling ending point. However, two separated memories are required to store the Outline Points and Filling Starting Point/Filling Ending Points. The final bitmap image is provided by combining the outline image and the filled image resulting from parity filling all the Starting Points/Ending Points. Since the object outline is generated by the conventional scan-conversion algorithm (Bresenham algorithm is used as the example), the dithering technique is used to improve the bitmap image quality in Hassett's approach.

Fast vertical scan-conversion and filling method and apparatus for outline font character generation in dot matrix devices


A method of detecting a corner, and an apparatus to perform the method, the method including acquiring a visible light image and an infrared image of a spatial area of interest; and extracting corner information of the spatial area of interest using the acquired visible light image and the acquired infrared image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to detection of a corner in a space, and, more particularly, to a method of stably detecting a corner in a remote area, and an apparatus to perform the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, much attention has been drawn to mobile robots that operate in indoor environments due to the need for health, security, home networks, and entertainment. Human-robot interaction (HRI) is essential to these mobile robots. Robots include devices such as microphones, vision systems, ultrasonic sensors, infrared sensors, and laser sensors, and recognize humans and their surroundings using those devices. In particular, the mobile robots can more effectively move by detecting obstacles, such as walls and/or corners, and avoiding crashing into the obstacles based on detected obstacle information during movement in a space.
Corner points that exist in a space are used to compensate for the location of a moving robot in a mobile robot location estimation technique, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), or to calculate the location of a user in a user tracking system.
Conventionally, there has been disclosed a distance sensing device using a structured light distance sensing system. The structured light distance sensing system can easily measure a short distance, but its measurement resolution decreases as a distance increases, resulting in performance degradation. Therefore, it is not easy to detect a corner in a remote area using only the structured light distance sensing system.
Also, there has been disclosed a conventional technique for sensing a distance using both a laser sensor and a general camera. Although a corner can be more stably detected using information obtained from the laser sensor and the general camera, an expensive laser sensor is required, and the technique thus involves a high cost.

Method and apparatus for detecting corner