A large granular lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia related virus has been isolated and characterized from patients having LGL leukemia. The virus appears to be related to the family of retroviruses including HTLV-I, HTLV-I and Bovine Leukemia Virus. Nucleic acid sequences of the virus are presented.

The French-British-American (FAB) Cooperative Group has classified chronic T-lymphoid leukemias into four subgroups: (i) T-cell or LGL leukemia, (ii) T-prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL), (iii) adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, and (iv) Sezary's syndrome (Bennett, et al., 1989).
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) of T-cell origin was first identified in 1975. In many patients the abnormal cells were large granular lymphocytes (LGL) (Brouet, et al., 1975). The MIC Cooperative Group reviewed the FAB classification in 1990 and proposed that Large Granular Lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia should replace T-CLL as the preferable terminology (Bennett, et al., 1990).
Clonal disorders of LGL may arise from either natural killer cells or T cells; it has been suggested that these diseases be designated, NK-and T-LGL leukemia, respectively (Loughran, 1993). T-LGL leukemia is characterized by clonal proliferation of CD3+ LGL with are usually also CD8+, CD16+, and CD57+ (Loughran, 1993; Loughran, et al., 1985; Loughran and Starkebaum, 1987; Newland, et al., 1984; Semenzato, et al., 1987).
Clinical manifestations of T-LGL leukemia include rheumatoid arthritis, splenomegaly, and hematologic abnormalities such as chronic or cyclic neutropenic, autoimmune thrombocytopenia, and pure red cell aplasia (Loughran, 1993; Loughran, et al., 1985; Loughran and Starkebaum, 1987; Newland, et al., 1984; Semenzato, et al., 1987; Loughran and Hammond, 1988).

Large granular lymphocyte leukemia associated virus

The Research Foundation of State University of New York

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


N-channel field effect transistor Proportional To Absolute Temperature (N-PTAT) cells are connected to a first supply voltage and P-channel field effect transistor Proportional To Absolute Temperature (P-PTAT) cells are connected to a second supply voltage. A coupling circuit connects at least one of the N-PTAT cells to at least one of the P-PTAT cells. These circuits can be used to provide a voltage reference and/or a supply voltage level detector. Related operating methods are also described.

Voltage reference circuits are widely used in microelectronic integrated circuits, to provide a voltage reference that can be independent of temperature and/or power supply variations. One widely used voltage reference circuit is a bandgap voltage reference, which produces an output voltage of about 1.25 V, close to the theoretical bandgap of silicon at 0 K.
A simple bandgap circuit can utilize the voltage difference between two diodes, to generate a Proportional To Absolute Temperature (PTAT) current in a first resistor. This current may be used to generate a voltage in a second resistor. This voltage, in turn, is added to the voltage of one of the diodes (or a third diode). The voltage across a diode operated with PTAT current is Complementary To Absolute Temperature (CTAT), i.e., it reduces with increasing temperature. If the PTAT and CTAT characteristics are complementary, they can cancel out, to produce a resulting voltage that is independent of temperature. In other words, Constant With Temperature (CWT) output may be provided.
As the integration density of integrated circuits continues to increase, and the power supply voltages continue to decrease, it has become desirable to provide bandgap voltage reference circuits that do not occupy excessive integrated circuit real estate, and can also consume very little power. In fact, nano-Ampere current draws may be desirable. As a result, voltage reference circuits and circuits that are based upon voltage reference circuits have increasingly used insulated gate Field Effect Transistors (FETs), commonly referred to as MOSFET devices or CMOS devices.
For example, a publication entitled "A Low-Voltage CMOS Bandgap Reference" to Vittoz et al., IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. SC-14, No. 3, June 1979, pp. 573-577, illustrates at FIG. 7 a basic cell of a PTAT voltage source, wherein two transistors are serially connected with a common gate connection, and operate in weak inversion. A stack of these elementary PTAT cells is illustrated in FIG. 9, to provide a desired output voltage for the stack of elementary PTAT cells. Other voltage reference circuits are described in a publication by Sansen et al. entitled "A CMOS Temperature-Compensated Current Reference", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 23, No. 3, June 1988, pp. 821-824, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,669 to Klughart, entitled "Temperature Compensated Nanopower Voltage/Current Reference". A summary of the design of bandgap reference circuits may be found in "The Design of Band-Gap Reference Circuits Trials and Tribulations" by Robert Pease, IEEE 1990 Bipolar Circuits and Technology Meeting, Minneapolis, Minn., Sep. 17-18, 1990.

Voltage reference and supply voltage level detector circuits using proportional to absolute temperature cells


A gradient coil assembly and a method for manufacturing the gradient coil assembly is provided. The gradient coil assembly includes an insulator sheet formed into a tube extending along an axis. The assembly further includes a first electrically conductive sheet disposed on a first surface of the insulator sheet including a first plurality of electrically conductive paths and a second electrically conductive sheet disposed on a second surface of the insulator sheet including a second plurality of electrically conductive paths. Finally, the second plurality of electrically conductive paths is electrically coupled with a corresponding path of the first plurality of electrically conductive paths.

This application claims the benefit of a priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to Great Britain Patent Application No. GB 0423322.7 filed Oct. 20, 2004, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
This invention relates to a coil for a magnet and to a method of manufacturing a coil for a magnet. More particularly, it relates to a gradient coil and to a method of manufacturing a gradient coil, and in particular, to a gradient coil for use in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system.
MRI systems are used today for investigating a large variety of body parts. These systems are based on nuclear phenomena displayed by atomic nuclei having a non-zero magnetic moment (or "spin"). When such nuclei are placed in a static, uniform magnetic field, the nuclear spins are aligned by the magnetic field so as to be either aligned with or against the static magnetic field. The nuclear spins are not stationary, but precess around an axis defined by the magnetic field. The frequency at which the spins precess is known as the "Larmor frequency" ω0. The Larmor frequency is given by:ω0=γB0 where γ is the gyromagnetic ratio of the nucleus and B0 is the applied magnetic field. For a hydrogen nucleus, for example, γ=42.57 MHz/T.
When the nuclear spins are aligned in the static magnetic field B0, it is possible to "flip" the spins by applying an alternating magnetic field B1. In order to do this, the alternating magnetic field must be at 90° to the static magnetic field and it must alternate at substantially the Larmor frequency. When such an alternating field B1 is applied, the spins will tend to align themselves parallel to B1, and when the alternating field is removed, the spins will relax back into the state in which they are aligned with the static magnetic field B0. The alignment of the spins with the alternating field decreases the magnetization in the longitudinal direction (parallel to B0) and increases the magnetization in the transverse plane (that is, the plane perpendicular to B0), and the subsequent relaxation of the spins when the alternating field is removed produces the reverse effects. These changes in the magnetization are detected in the MRI process, and are processed to provide a visible display of the nuclei.
FIG. 1 at 11 shows a typical MRI system in block diagram form. The magnet 12 provides the static magnetic field B0. In principle, the magnet 12 could be a superconductive magnet, an electro-magnet or a permanent magnet. However, a super-conducting magnet is commonly used, since these readily provide a large, homogeneous static magnetic field. The magnet 12 contains a bore 13 enabling the entry of a patient into the static magnetic field. A patient shown at 14 is inserted into the bore 13 using a bed arrangement 16 so as to be within the static magnetic field.
Radio frequency (rf) pulses generated by transmitter 22 and applied through multiplexer 23 and radio frequency coil apparatus 24 act to tip the aligned spins so as to have a projection, for example, in the X-Z plane; the X-Y plane or the Y-Z plane. The X, Y, and Z nomenclature refers to the imaginary orthogonal axes shown at 21 used in describing MRI systems; where the Z axis is an axis co-axial with the axis of the bore hole. The Y axis is the vertical axis extending from the center of the magnetic field and the X axis is the corresponding horizontal axis orthogonal to the other axes.
The spins when realigning after the radio frequency pulse is removed generate free induction decay (FID) signals which are received by the radio frequency coil apparatus 24 and transmitted through the multiplexer 23 to the receiving circuit 26. From the receiving circuit the received signals go through the controller 25 to an image processor 27. The image processor works in conjunction with a display memory 28 to provide the image displayed on display monitor 29. It should be noted that the radio frequency coil apparatus 24 can comprise separate coils for transmitting and receiving or the same coil apparatus 24 could be used for both transmitting and receiving the rf pulses.
In order to spatially resolve the MRI signal, encoding signals within the static magnetic field are provided by gradient coils (not shown in FIG. 1). There are typically three sets of gradient coils. X gradient coils alter the strength of the Z component of the static magnetic field along the X axis, Y gradient coils alter the strength of the Z component of the static magnetic field along the Y axis, and Z gradient coils alter the strength of the Z component of the static magnetic field along the Z axis. The strength of the Z component of the static magnetic field in other directions, than the X and Z axes for example, can be changed using two or three of the gradient coils in combination.
The X, Y and Z gradient coils are driven by X gradient driver 17, Y gradient driver 18 and Z gradient driver 19, respectively. It is possible to modify the local static magnetic field B0, at a particular point in space using the gradient coils so that only nuclei within a small volume element of the patient have a Larmor frequency equal to the frequency of the rf field B1. This means that the F.D.I. signal comes only from nuclei within that volume element of the patient. In practice the gradient coils are supplied with time-varying electrical currents from a power supply, such as a power amplifier, so that the volume element in which the nuclei have a Larmor frequency equal to the frequency of the applied rf field scanned over the patient so as to build up a 2-D or 3-D image of the patient.
A typical prior art set of gradient coils is disclosed in, for example, "Foundations of Medical Imaging" by Z. H. Cho et al. (published by Wiley International), and is shown schematically in FIG. 2. The X gradient coils are shown in FIG. 2(a). FIGS. 2(b) and 2(c) show the Y gradient coils and the Z gradient coils, respectively.
It is common practice to provide an actively screened gradient coil, which comprises an inner cylindrical assembly, and an outer assembly disposed coaxially and concentrically with respect to the inner. The outer assembly is connected in series opposition to the inner assembly and the composite design is chosen to reduce the external field produced by the whole, which would create unwanted eddy-current effects in the structure of the magnet. Typically there will be fewer turns on the outer assembly than on the inner assembly.
It will be noted that the X gradient coils and the Y gradient coils shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are in the form of saddle coils. In each case, two saddle coils are placed on either side of the X-Y plane.
In the prior art, the gradient coils are constructed over a tubular base. In one possible arrangement, the X gradient coils are disposed over the tubular base, the Z gradient coils are placed over the X gradient coils, and finally the Y gradient coils are placed over the Z gradient coils (although the order in which the gradient coils are provided on the former is not limited to this particular order).
An X gradient field may be generated by utilizing a set of at least four X gradient coils A, B, C, D with appropriate current senses laid on a first cylinder. (See FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings). The four gradient coils may be termed saddle coils, as discussed above. They have one or more planes of symmetry (three in the case of an X or Y gradient coil). The four gradient coils (saddles) may be connected in series. A Y gradient coil resembles an X gradient coil, rotated through 90° about the Z axis. X and Y gradient coils may be manufactured by cutting or etching a complex track in a sheet of electrically conductive material. To minimize heat dissipation, it is desirable to leave as much conductive material in the sheet as possible, resulting in a pattern having conductive tracks of variable widths.
The X and Y gradients currently available are made from a flat copper plate 30 (typically 2 mm in thickness as depicted in FIG. 4) with a single 'spiral' cut or track 32 in the copper plate 30 to form the electrical circuit. Four such plates are arranged as quadrants (e.g., A, B, C, D) on the surface of a cylindrical form 34 to create the whole 'X' gradient, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. The resultant tracks 32 are wide and relatively small in number in order to match the available power supplies. This results in several undesirable affects. The small number of turns results in quantization effects in which the design can vary only by single full turns. However, the relative difference between N and N+1 turns can be quite large where N is small. The linearity, screening or strength, therefore, cannot all be matched simultaneously to be within a certain accuracy. An additional disadvantage is that the connection between each of the quadrants requires an additional connecting conductor which is disposed on either a top or a bottom of the copper plate, which takes up valuable build space. A third disadvantage is that the wide tracks result in an uncertain current path during rapid pulsing. In particular, eddy-current effects cause the current to run at the extremities of the tracks that in effect manifests as a non-constant resistance versus frequency of an applied ac current. The resulting image has time-dependent distortions that must be corrected.
In some gradient assemblies of prior art, attempts have been made to drive different parts of the circuit with separate power supplies. For example, coils A and D of FIG. 2a are driven by one power supply and coils B and C are driven by a second power supply, or alternatively, coils A and B are driven by one power supply while coils C and D are driven by another. Thus, each power supply need only provide a smaller output power to achieve the same gradient strength, and/or the gradient can be drive more rapidly for the same peak voltage. Therefore, the power supplies will be smaller, less expensive and more reliable. One serious disadvantage of this arrangement is that in order for the gradient field to be accurately linear, as required by in imaging equipment, it is necessary that the current from each is accurately identical at all times during the pulse sequence. This results in unachievable requirements for maintaining accurately identical currents with identical phase at all times from the power-supply/gradient combination and such attempts have largely been abandoned.

Gradient coil apparatus and method of assembly thereof


A deflectable catheter includes a catheter shaft having a deflectable distal tip. A support member is coupled around a proximal portion of the catheter shaft, and the support member includes a first brake portion extending along at least a portion of the support member. A handle is coupled around the support member. The deflectable catheter includes a carriage moveably coupled along the handle, and the carriage includes a second brake portion sized and shaped to engage with at least a portion of the first brake portion. A flexible element is coupled between the deflectable distal tip and the carriage. A biasing device is adapted to bias the second brake portion into engagement with the first brake portion.

Many current deflectable catheters include some form of locking device configured to retain a deflected portion of the catheter in the deflected orientation. In some examples, locking mechanisms and deflection mechanisms are separate from each other, thereby requiring dual controls and complicating use and manufacture of the catheter. For instance, the grip on the handle must be repeatedly readjusted to switch between actuating the locking mechanism and the deflection mechanism. Further, space in the handle must be set aside for separate locking and deflection mechanisms, thereby requiring tightly packed and complex handles or larger handles to accommodate the mechanisms.
Other examples of catheters include ratcheting teeth that prevent movement of a deflection control actuator in one direction while permitting movement of the actuator in another direction and corresponding continued deflection of the catheter. Ratcheting engagement of the actuator with the handle permits undesired deflection of the catheter, for example, where the catheter engages against vasculature during longitudinal movement of the catheter.
In still other examples, pull wires extend from the deflectable tip of a catheter shaft to the deflection control actuator, and the pull wires are not constrained from lateral movement within the handle. The pull wire may only be tensioned in one direction in this configuration thereby only allowing deflection in a single direction. Compression of the pull wire in another direction will buckle the wire and thereby substantially prevent active deflection of the catheter with the deflection control actuator. Straightening of the catheter in a direction opposed to that granted by tensioning the pull wire is thereby accomplished with the natural elasticity of the catheter distal tip. The deflected shaft exerts a passive pulling force on the pull wire that straightens the catheter without active control through the deflection control actuator. Further, the elasticity of the catheter only straightens the catheter and does not deflect the catheter in an opposed direction.
Additionally, in yet other examples, deflectable catheters include locking surfaces formed with the handle that substantially prevent adjustment of a range of travel for the deflection control actuator. For instance, the locking surfaces are formed along an interior surface of the handle. Changing the range of travel for the actuator requires redesigning the handle with a differently positioned locking surface. Multiple handle designs are therefore needed to accommodate desired ranges of travel for different catheter sizes, ranges of deflection and the like.
What is needed is a deflectable catheter that overcomes the shortcomings of previous designs. What is further needed is an easy to use deflectable catheter with locking and deflection functions that is not limited to passive deflection to straighten the catheter.

Deflectable catheter steering and locking system


The present invention provides a method and apparatus that places visual markers onto the display of a document on a graphical user interface. The visual markers assist in the navigation around the document by numbered artifacts.

Documents frequently require comments or editorial changes from a preliminary draft. The user wishing to edit the draft document may be editing his own work or that of another. In the state of technology today, this task is often undertaken using a word processing system on a computer.
To edit a draft document, the editor may call up the document for display on the screen of the computer. Then, using an input device such as a mouse, a touch-screen input controller, or other device, the editor directs the location of a cursor to locate where additions, deletions, or changes are to occur. Although the use of a mouse or other cursor locator device has proven to be a major advancement over previous devices for locating a cursor, use of such a device still requires that the editor take his hands off the keyboard on which he is inputting data and/or text to take control of the peripheral input device such as the mouse. He then manipulates the mouse to direct the cursor to the desired location in the document, and then he must return his hand to the keyboard for further work. This sequence takes time and interrupts the flow of the editors work on the document.
Various tools have been developed for navigating around a document using voice commands. Most commonly, a standard set of commands which correspond to the navigation commands of the word processing application are stored in a voice memory. Then, when the editor utters the command, the command is recognized by comparison with the stored memory, and the navigation command is carried out. For example, the editor will speak the word "sentence" a number of times to "train" the voice recognition unit to recognize this sound from this editor. Then, when the editor is working on a document and utters the word "sentence", the voice recognition unit recognizes the command and issues the function command to move the cursor to the beginning of the next sentence, exactly as if the editor had pressed the function keys on his keyboard for this command in the word processing program.
This known system has proven to be a boon in operation but, in its own way, has been limited to the standard commands that are provided by the word processor. However, even using such a system the editor may faced with a lengthy document with few if any visual elements to guide him through the document during the editing process. Thus, there remains a need for a system that is adaptable to word processing and editing systems, spread-sheet programs, computer assisted drawing programs, or any other applications in which an editor makes changes to an existing file which viewing the file on a graphical user interface and which provides visual "aids to navigation" to assist in the editing process.

Method and apparatus for editing documents through voice recognition


In a heavy duty power transmission V-belt B formed by engaging tension members 1 and 1 with a plurality of blocks 10, 10, . . . , to prevent as much as possible each block 10 from producing failure at the high-speed running of the belt, a fitting part 12 of each block 10 has an indent 22 formed by upwardly recessing a portion of a resin part 17 located between an upper ridge 14 and an innermost abutment surface 20 of the fitting part 12. Thereby, no edge exists between the innermost abutment surface 20 and the upper ridge 14 so that stress can be distributed. This prevents the occurrence of a crack in the resin part 17 due to stress concentration on the edge, the occurrence of a crack in a reinforcement 18 of each block 10 beginning at the leading end of the crack in the resin part 17, and in turn the fracture of an upper beam 18a of the reinforcement 18, thereby providing enhanced resistance against failure of the block 10. Furthermore, even when a shape-retaining rubber layer 1a of the tension member 1 thermally expands, the amount of expansion thereof is released into the indent 22. This prevents early introduction of permanent deformation of the shape-retaining rubber layer 1a and occurrence of an excessive force in the block 10 due to a compressive force produced in the fitting part 12, which prevents the occurrence of wobbling between the tension member 1 and each block 10. Furthermore, it can be prevented that the shape-retaining rubber layer 1a produces heat because of excessive deformation and in turn causes thermal expansion and thermal deterioration.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a heavy duty power transmission V-belt formed by engaging and securing a plurality of blocks to one or more tension members.
(b) Description of the Related Art
There have been conventionally known heavy duty power transmission V-belts in which a plurality of blocks are securely engaged to one or more tension members using their matingly engaged structure, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 1-55344 (Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 7-29332), Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 6-69490 or Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-272595. These V-belts are used, for example, in the field of continuously variable transmissions. In these V-belts, for the purpose of ensuring their flexibility, the securement of each block to the tension member is made not by adhesion but by physical engagement (mating engagement).
A belt of this kind includes, for example, a pair of right and left tension members aligned widthwise of the belt. Each tension member is provided with a set of upper receiving parts in the top and a set of lower receiving parts in the bottom, each set of the receiving parts consisting of a plurality of elongated recesses aligned lengthwise of the belt in pairs of oppositely disposed upper and lower elongated recesses. In the belt, as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, each block 10 is formed at both lateral sides with indented slot-like fitting parts 12 and 12 (only one shown in the figures) each for receiving the associated tension member (not shown). The upper face of each fitting part 12 is provided with an upper ridge 14 as an upper inserting part, while the bottom face thereof is provided with a lower ridge 15 as a lower inserting part. Each block 10 is securely engaged to both the tension members by fitting the tension members into the associated right and left fitting parts 12 and 12 of the block 10 by press insertion.
In a proposed example disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3044212, the back of the fitting part of each block in the direction of insertion of the tension member is formed at the lower corner with a lower abutment surface inclined to become deeper with the approach to the top. When the lower abutment surface is formed downward from the pitch line or above, a relationship β−3<α<β+3 is established between a lower abutment surface angle α made by the lower abutment surface and a vertical plane along the length of the belt and a belt side face angle β made by the contact part of each block side surface with a pulley and the vertical plane. On the other hand, when the lower abutment surface is formed downward from below the pitch line, another relationship α≦β is established between them. According to this proposed example, the proper relationships hold between the angle of a lower abutment part of the side surface of the tension member facing to the back of the fitting part of the block and the angle of the lower abutment surface of the block. This suppresses the occurrence of local wear, resulting in enhanced durability and reduced noise of the belt.
In the V-belts of this kind that includes the above proposed example, each block is formed of a complex of a reinforcement and a resin part. The reinforcement is made of a high-strength material such as metals including an aluminum alloy or steel, and is used to bear loads applied to the block. The resin part is used to form the contact part of the block with the pulley and the fitting parts of the block with the tension members.
The above proposed example, however, does not completely satisfy the demand for further enhanced performance and extended scope of application of the belt, and has room for improvement. In particular, when the belt is run at high speeds, there arises a problem that the block may be broken for the following reasons:
(1) At the high-speed running of the belt, each block undergoes severe vibration on the tension members to take loads from the tension members.
(2) When the belt contacts with the pulley at high speeds, the contact surfaces of each block with the pulley take heavy shock loads from the pulley.
(3) Each block has contact surfaces that are located at both ends of each of the upper and lower beams and will be points of application of force, and therefore each of the upper and lower beams takes the form of a bilateral cantilever beam. In this case, the root of each cantilever section receives the maximum bending moment. Therefore, stresses concentrate on the roots of the upper and lower cantilever beams, from which portions failure is likely to occur.
(4) In addition, it is difficult that edges of the resin part of each block forming the root ends of the upper and lower inserting/receiving parts of the upper and lower beams combine a form suitable for engagement with the tension member and a form that can avoid stress concentration. Therefore, stresses concentrate on the edges of the resin part so that the resin part may be damaged from any of them and produce a crack. When the crack reaches the reinforcement, the reinforcement may be broken beginning at the crack, resulting in fracture of the upper or lower beam of the block.
Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27, the back of the fitting part 12 of each block 10 in the direction of insertion of the tension member is formed with an innermost abutment surface 20, edges E and E are formed at the meeting points between the innermost abutment surface and both the upper and lower ridges (inserting parts) 14 and 15. Stress concentration on the edges E and E invites the occurrence of a crack in the resin part. When the crack produced in the resin part reaches the reinforcement, the reinforcement also produces a crack beginning at the crack in the resin part, and finally invites the fraction of the upper or lower beam.
An object of the present invention is to prevent as much as possible each block of a heavy duty power transmission V-belt with one or more tension members, such as shown in the above proposed example, from producing failure at the high-speed running of the belt, by improving the structure of the fitting part of the block.


A first L-shaped bracket is secured to the door and has an aperture aligned with an aperture extending through the door. A second L-shaped bracket having substantially the same size and shape as the first bracket has a rod which, in the locking position, extends through the aperture in the door bracket and door. In the non-use position, the rod extends through an aperture in the outwardly extending section of the door bracket. The outwardly extending section of the door bracket also has a second aperture. The handled bracket has an aperture on each section aligning with the second aperture in the outwardly extending section to accommodate a padlock.

Sliding closures, such as sliding doors and sliding windows, have a panel mounted on tracks allowing them to slide laterally in order to open and close. The closure may consist of two panels covering the opening or a single panel. A jamb surrounds the opening.
For safety and security reasons, locks are provided on sliding closure to prevent unwanted opening or access. The locks, in one form or another, prevent movement of the closure along the tracks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,074 (Alexander) discloses a rod extending through an aperture in sliding closures. When inserted, the rod prevents sliding of the closures. Another U.S. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,893 (Berg), discloses a sliding door locking device having a bolt extending through two sliding closures and screwed into a bracket on one side of the closures. A second bracket on the other side of the closures has an aperture through which the bolt extends. A padlock prevents unauthorized removal of the bolt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,079 (Deforest Sr.) discloses a locking bolt having two brackets, each on a side of a sliding closure. A bolt extends through the two brackets and a padlock secures the bolt.
It is an object of the invention to provide a lock having a lockable use and lockable non-use position.
It is another object of the invention to provide a lock which may be used as a handle to open and close the door or window.
It is another object of the invention to provide a lock for sliding closures which may be added to existing doors and windows.
It is another object of the invention to provide a lock for a sliding door which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture and install.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a lock preventing sliding of a door or window.


A manufacturing method of a battery pack includes a restraining process of restraining single cells at a maximum restraint contact pressure Pd of the battery pack in a complete state, after compressing the single cells at a maximum compression contact pressure Pc that satisfies 0.8≦Pd/Pc≦0.9, with respect to the maximum restraint contact pressure Pd; a standing process of then leaving the single cells to stand for a predetermined number of days in an electrically open state; and a short-circuit testing process of then testing for an internal short in the single cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a manufacturing method of a battery pack that includes a plurality of single cells each having an electrode body that includes an electrode plate and a separator, and a restraining member that restrains the single cells.
2. Description of Related Art
A battery pack is known in which a plurality of single cells are stacked directly or alternately via spacers, and the restrained by a restraining member.
Normally, when a battery Pack is assembled, the assembled single cells are supercompressed in the stacking direction beforehand to improve workability. This is because workability is improved when the single cells are restrained by a restraining member or the like, as a result of the dimension (thickness) of the single cells being reduced beforehand by supercompressing them. More specifically, in a battery pack in a complete state, the highest maximum contact pressure, of pressure that is applied in the thickness direction of the separator and the electrode plate that form the electrode body housed in the single cells by the restraining member and is distributed in the spreading direction of the separator and the electrode plate, is the maximum restraint contact pressure. After the single cells are supercompressed at a compression contact pressure that is sufficiently larger than this maximum restraint contact pressure, for example, several times larger than the maximum restraint contact pressure, the battery pack in which these supercompressed single cells are restrained by the restraining member is assembled. Finally, an adjustment is made such that the maximum restraint contact pressure is applied to each of the single cells while the battery pack is in the complete state.
As described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-236985 (JP 2001-236985 A), it is expected that when conductive foreign matter present in the electrode body of a single cell is large enough to possibly cause a short when the battery pack is stored or used in the future, this foreign matter may pass through the separator when the single cell is supercompressed at the compression contact pressure, and a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate of the single cell may become electrically connected via this foreign matter, causing a short. Therefore, with such a battery, it is conceivably possible to differentiate a single cell in which a short may occur by a test in a short period of time and remove the single cell.
However, it is now known that when conductive foreign matter is small, a short will not occur in the future even if such small foreign matter is present in the electrode body, even if the maximum restraint contact pressure described above continues to be applied. However, if the compression contact pressure described above is too high, even if the conductive foreign matter is small, it will damage the separator. It is also know known that if an extended period of time passes while the battery pack is in a state in which the maximum restraint contact pressure is applied to such damaged single cells (i.e., if the single cells that are damaged in this way continue to be restrained by the restraining member at the maximum restraint contact pressure), the foreign matter may pass through the separator, and the positive and negative electrode plates may become electrically connected via this foreign matter, causing a short. However, to eliminate this, a short circuit test must be performed for an extended period of time after the battery pack is assembled, which is unrealistic.


A process for triggering a electrically actuated motor vehicle door lock by a mechanical or electromechanical actuating handle. In this process, triggering takes place such that the electric motor drive always returns to an initial rest position after initial triggering and that actuation of the actuating handle for less than a minimum time does not trigger a switching function. Thus misactuations are unlikely. The operating characteristics of the motor vehicle door lock which is controlled using this process is matched as much as possible to the operating characteristics of mechanical or electromechanical motor vehicle door locks of conventional design. This facilitates acceptance among customers and prevents misoperations.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for triggering an electrically actuated motor vehicle door lock or the like, which is actuated electrically from a mechanical or electromechanical actuating handle. More specifically, to the triggering of a motor vehicle door lock in a largely closed external housing having a latch, made preferably as rotary latch, and having a detent pawl which keeps the rotary latch in the closed position, an electric drive for the detent pawl, the detent pawl being raisable off of the catch of rotary latch by the drive, and having microswitches which indicate the position of the detent pawl and the position or actuation state of the actuating handle. The invention also relates to the corresponding circuits for performing the process.
2. Description of Related Art
A related process is known for a motor vehicle side door lock, which in principle can also be used for trunk lid locks and tailgate locks. The prior art (published German Application 32 42 527) is characterized by an extensive electric motor drive, by which both the latch and the detent pawl are driven, the latch in the sense of a locking aid, and the detent pawl in the sense of electric motor triggering. The prior art specifically shows only a single electric drive motor which can be drive-coupled both to the latch (in one direction of rotation) and also to the detent pawl (in the other direction of rotation) via a self-locking, step-down gearing which works in two directions of action. Only the triggering of the electric motor drive in its relation to the detent pawl is of interest relative to this invention.
In the noted prior art, the latch is provided with a double lock-in position that is conventional for side door locks, and specifically, is made as a fork latch with a front catch on the leading fork latch leg and a main catch on the following fork latch leg. The latch is held both in the front latch position and also in the main latch position by the detent pawl which is tension-loaded with a corresponding catch projection. The detent pawl is supported on a bearing axle and is made with two arms, the second arm of the detent pawl pointing away from the catch projection having an actuation surface.
The electric motor drive has a drive element made as a pinion to which a driver in the form of a cam disk is attached with a stop edge which thus forms an eccentric driver. This drive element can only be rotated in one direction, and therefore is not reset, but always returns to its original position again as it continues to turn in the direction of rotation. By turning the drive element in the lifting and turning direction, the driver strikes the actuating surface of the detent pawl and lifts the catch projection of the detent pawl off the main catch of the rotary latch.
In the aforementioned prior art, starting of the electric drive from. the initial position (readiness position) is triggered by actuating a handle, for example, an exterior door handle, and this actuation switches a microswitch. After the detent pawl has been successfully raised off the main catch by means of the driver, the driver strikes another microswitch and turns off the electric motor drive again. The detent pawl thus remains in the lifted position. In this way, the rotary latch can reach its open position unhindered by the detent pawl and the detent pawl, therefore, does not drop into the front catch of the rotary latch. This state lasts until the handle is again released. Release of the handle switches the microswitch again, which thus turns on the electric motor drive again. The cam disk which forms the driver continues to turn into its initial position (readiness position) in which the detent pawl falls back again or comes to rest on the leading fork latch leg under reset spring force. When the motor vehicle door or lid is closed the detent pawl can, therefore, drop into the front catch on the latch again under spring force.
The above explanation illustrates that the proper function of keeping the detent pawl open presupposes positive actuation of the handle by an individual. When an individual releases the handle before the rotary latch has reached the open position, it can happen that the detent pawl drops into the front catch of the rotary latch, although the door or lid is not yet open. This is not a problem in this type of drive engineering since further pulling on the handle allows the trigger cycle for the detent pawl to be repeated.
A more modern version of this electrically actuated motor vehicle door lock is known (published European Patent Application 0 589 158) in which lifting of the detent pawl is caused via a small electric drive in an otherwise largely closed external housing, especially via a solenoid. Triggering takes place from a mechanical or electronic actuating handle (handle or remote control) using various microswitches, among others; these rnicroswitches are used for scanning the position of the detent pawl and the position of the drive. Here, complete integration of the construction in the small external housing of the motor vehicle door lock is obtained, as is fully electronic triggering with control logic.
In the aforementioned triggering of an electrically actuated motor vehicle door lock with a solenoid as the drive of the detent pawl, the problem of the detent pawl dropping again can be solved relatively easily by a corresponding triggering of the solenoid, if specifically the rotary motion of the rotary latch is scanned until the open position is reached. This is also provided here. Consideration of this "snow load function" is of varied importance in different applications.
The above explained motor vehicle door locks or the like operate with microswitches for triggering. The use of microswitches and self-locking drives which run in one direction has the advantage that energy is only consumed when it is actually needed. The electric drive motor does not run into a block in order to be turned off by the then detected increase of the supply current. The electric motor drive need not operate against the force of a return spring either. Very low operating voltages can be used and power supply voltages of a few volts are sufficient. The gearing is protected since stops need not be struck. For this reason, as before, the use of microswitches for triggering generic motor vehicle door locks is quite popular. Here, it is not overlooked that microswitches can be a problem now and then with respect to their operating reliability.
In the above explained known process, user-friendliness is always a special concern. Processes for triggering electrically actuated motor vehicle door locks should proceed as much as possible such that an operator or user can act essentially as before, as is customary from the operation of mechanical or electromechanical motor vehicle door locks of the conventional type. To this extent, however, there is the problem that the known processes are not yet optimized with respect to user friendliness.

Process for triggering an electrically actuated motor vehicle door lock or the like


A system and method for providing a range (distance) measurement by measuring electromagnetic signal time of flight. The system provides an estimate of the quality of the range measurement by evaluation of the multipath environment based on signal characterization. In one embodiment, a received ultra wideband signal is evaluated by a scanning receiver to produce a channel scan waveform inclusive of the transmitted signal and multipath response. The channel scan waveform is evaluated for envelope rise rate, amplitude, leading edge direct path pulse time, saturation, blockage, and signal history characterization. Signal characteristics are used to determine a signal classification. Signals are then evaluated for quality based on the signal classification. In one embodiment, the signal quality is used to estimate a variance of the range estimate for use in navigation algorithms.

Ultrawideband ranging has been found to be valuable aiding source for indoor and GPS compromised personal inertial-based navigation (Huseth, Dewberry, & McCrosky, "Pulsed-RF Ultrawideband Ranging for the GLANSER GPS-Denied Emergency Responder Navigation System," Proceedings of ION ITM 2011, Jan. 24-26, 2011, San Diego, Calif.) The inventors observe that these GPS/IMU/UWB navigation systems typically utilize an optimal non-linear filter, mixing multiple aiding sources to produce their final navigation solution. These filters rely on a fixed estimate of range measurement variation ("range noise") inherent in the UWB ranging sensor. The fixed estimate is usually a conservative estimate representing an unusually large error, which consequently results in an underperforming system most of the time, particularly when the error is in fact much less than the estimate.
Thus, the inventors observe a need for improving the performance of navigation systems relying on UWB distance measurements.

Distance measuring quality factor using signal characterization


A fabricating method of a customized mask includes forming first patterns in a mold structure, forming second patterns in the mold structure using initial masks, the mold structure having the first patterns formed therein, measuring overlap failure between the first patterns and the second patterns, and fabricating customized masks by compensating for pattern positions of the initial masks based on the measuring results, wherein compensating for the pattern positions of the initial masks includes shifting positions of at least some patterns of the initial masks according to shift directions and sizes of at least some of the first patterns.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a fabricating method of a customized mask and a fabricating method of a semiconductor device using the customized mask.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mask is formed of a sheet made of a metal or other materials having a circuit pattern formed therein and is used to shield a particular portion or surface to provide for selective deposition or etching in the manufacture of a semiconductor device. As the integration level of a semiconductor device increases, masks based on optical proximity correction (OPC) or resolution enhanced technology (RET), a phase shift mask, or the like, are widely employed for enhancing the resolution of the semiconductor device.

Fabricating method of customized mask and fabricating method of semiconductor device using customized mask


A method and system for tracing and logging for a software module is provided. The method includes the steps of detecting at least one error and analyzing at least one error message corresponding to each detected error. The method further includes the step of monitoring the resources of a computer system. Further, the method includes the step of adjusting (e.g., automatically adjusting) a tracing and logging level, based on the analysis of the error messages and the availability of resources.

1. Field of Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate in general to tracing and logging of one or more software modules. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and systems for controlling the level of tracing and logging for software modules.
2. Description of the Background Art
The present age has witnessed a growing need for software modules in various applications. This has resulted in the development of sophisticated software modules, and consequently, more complex computer program codes. The increasing complexity of computer program codes results in higher potential for the occurrence of errors during the execution of the software modules. Debugging tools are used to remove these errors. Debugging is the process of finding and removing errors from the software module. However, identification of the root cause of an error message requires information about the exact sequence of steps performed during the execution of the software module.
Tracing and logging is a technique used to trace the exact sequence of steps performed, and keeping a record of these traces. Tracing and logging is characterized by multiple tracing and logging levels. Each tracing and logging level determines the extent of tracing. A high tracing and logging level implies a detailed tracing of the sequence of steps performed. However, the higher the tracing and logging level, the greater is the impact on the resources associated with the computer system in which the software module resides. This may adversely affect the performance of the software module.
To prevent this adverse effect on the performance, existing systems use a low tracing and logging level. This provides broad-level information pertaining to the sequence of steps performed, and gives a general overview of the cause of the error. Thereafter, the tracing and logging level is adjusted manually to a level that enables the identification of the root cause of the occurrence of the error.
Since adjustment of the tracing and logging level is done manually, the exact required level is not achieved in the first iteration. Therefore, multiple iterations are required to achieve the required tracing and logging level. This makes tracing and logging a time-consuming process. Further, at times, the availability of the resources decreases, and hence, the tracing and logging level needs to be lowered. The lowering of the tracing and logging level is also done manually, and hence, is also time-consuming. Further, the decreased availability of the resources may affect the performance of the software module. Also, when debugging is done on an operational system at customer's site, the process necessitates the re-occurrence of the issue, resulting in repeated service degradation and reduced customer satisfaction.

System and method for tracing and logging for software module


A common phase value of pilot subcarriers of a received data symbol (n) is estimated and used for correcting the phase of all subcarriers of the data symbol, wherein, with a time-variant frequency of the local oscillator (VCO), the estimated noisy phase values (Ψn) are used directly for the phase and frequency correction, whereas with a time-invariant frequency after the VCO, a corrected phase value ({circumflex over (φ)}n) is determined from the estimated phase values of the current data symbol (Ψn) and earlier data symbols (Ψm) in a linear FIR filter arrangement (17-20) and is used for the phase correction.

The invention is in the field of digital signal processing for multi-carrier systems, particularly OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplex) transmission systems. In these, the transmission band is divided into a number N of subcarriers and each subcarrier is occupied with a modulation (PSK, QAM). In the transmitter, the vector of all N modulated subcarriers of an OFDM symbol present in the frequency domain is transformed into the time domain by means of a fast Fourier transform (FFT). In the receiver, the N time signal samples of an OFDM symbol are transformed back into the frequency domain by means of an FFT and demodulated there.
Whereas continuous OFDM data streams are transmitted in broadcasting (DAB, DVB-T), the transmission in the systems forming the basis here (e.g. WLAN) takes place by means of OFDM data packets of variable length which arrive at the receiver at unknown or inaccurately known times. The receiver must, therefore, first perform an initial synchronization in which, among other things, the phase and carrier frequency error must be found (acquisition) and continuously corrected (tracking).
In the receiver front end, a local oscillator is usually used for downconverting the received signal to an intermediate frequency or directly into the baseband. The local oscillator is usually implemented as VCO (voltage controlled oscillator) and is used for the transmitting and receiving operation. Problems are presented by switching-on or switching-over processes of transmitting and receiving operation (TX-RX or RX-TX) and corresponding switching processes at the VCO (or its load) which can result in considerable settling of the carrier frequency and phase (VCO glitch or VCO deviation) to the stable final value. These transients influence not only the synchronization preamble of a data packet but frequently continue far into the area of the payload. FIG. 1 shows by way of example the variation with time of the VCO frequency after a switching process (upper part) and the initial part of an OFDM burst (lower part). The OFDM burst has a so-called PLCP preamble with a length of 16 μs, known from the IEEE 802.11a standard. A first section of the PLCP preamble with a length of 8 μs is subdivided into ten short symbols, and a second section with a length of 8 μs consists of a guard interval and two OFDM symbols C1 and C2 which are used for channel estimation. These are followed by the payload symbols. In FIG. 1, it can be seen that the VCO transient reaches far into the area of the payload symbols. On WLAN cards available on the market (also IFX boards), frequency shifts of up to 16 kHz over up to 10 OFDM payload symbols were measured.
In OFDM demodulation, a VCO deviation in the frequency domain (post FFT) manifests itself as running away of the phase (common phase, CP). More detailed investigations show that this disturbs the payload to a much greater extent than the preamble synchronization which supplies good starting values for frequency and phases in spite of the VCO deviation. Without fast frequency/phase correction in the frequency domain (post FFT) during the first OFDM payload symbols (SIGNAL S followed by DATA D1, D2, . . . in WLAN), the phase coherence can be lost completely. In addition, considerable frequency shift leads to loss of the orthogonality and thus to intercarrier interference (ICI) of the received subcarriers. This effect can be combated effectively only in the time domain (pre FFT).
For the frequency/phase synchronization, pilot phase estimation (common phase estimation, CPE) and compensation (common phase correction, CPC), decision directed (DD) phase estimation and compensation and mixtures of both methods have previously been used. The pilot-based methods, i.e. methods based on the pilot subcarriers, are rugged and, above all, fast since they do not produce any decision errors and the phase errors can be corrected without delay in the same OFDM symbol. However, they suffer from higher noise effects since only a few pilots are available for the phase estimation (WLAN: K=4 pilots compared with 48 data carriers). The methods operating with decision-directed frequency/phase tracking, i.e. method based on the data subcarriers, are characterized by better estimating accuracy but, due to the decoding and remodulation delay (some OFDM symbols), are too slow to follow fast VCO phase changes. Such methods, which contain both pilot and decision-directed elements allow a certain tradeoff between ruggedness, speed and estimating accuracy, but are very complex.

Phase and frequency control of an ODFM receiver by means of pilot phase-value estimation


An electrically steerable antenna arrangement comprising at least a first antenna function and a second antenna function, each antenna function comprising at least one antenna element, the antenna functions having at least one main radiation lobe that is electrically steerable, where each antenna function comprises at least one signal altering means arranged for altering the time characteristics and/or phase characteristics and/or frequency characteristics of a signal fed through the signal altering means, the electrically steerable antenna arrangement comprising a control unit arranged for feeding a signal comprising control information to the antenna functions via a control connection, the signal altering means being arranged to take certain settings in dependence of the control information, such that for certain settings of the signal altering means, a certain angular direction of said main radiation lobe in relation to an antenna reference plane is acquired. The electrically steerable antenna arrangement further comprises a first monitoring unit connected to the control connection, and a second monitoring unit connected to the antenna functions, the first monitoring unit being arranged to analyze the control information fed to the signal altering means and trigger a first alert via a first alert connection if there is a deviation which exceeds a first threshold, where furthermore the antenna functions are arranged to send signal information to the second monitoring unit regarding the resulting signal fed to said antenna elements, the second monitoring unit being arranged to analyze said signal information and to trigger a second alert via a second alert connection if there is a deviation which exceeds a second threshold.

Related Field
The present invention relates to the field of monitoring radiated electromagnetic energy.
The present invention relates to an electrically steerable antenna arrangement comprising at least a first antenna function and a second antenna function, each antenna function comprising at least one antenna element, the antenna functions having at least one main radiation lobe that is electrically steerable, where each antenna function comprises at least one signal altering means arranged for altering the time characteristics and/or phase characteristics and/or frequency characteristics of a signal fed through the signal altering means, the electrically steerable antenna arrangement comprising a control unit arranged for feeding a signal comprising control information to the antenna functions via a control connection, the signal altering means being arranged to take certain settings in dependence of the control information, such that for certain settings of the signal altering means, a certain angular direction of said main radiation lobe in relation to an antenna reference plane is acquired.
The present invention further relates to a method for controlling an electrically steerable antenna arrangement having at least a first antenna function and a second antenna function, the antenna functions having at least one main radiation lobe that is electrically steerable.
Description of Related Art
Electromagnetic radiations from powerful active electromagnetic sensor systems, such as radars, have strict security regulations which normally results in safety areas which may be difficult and/or expensive to maintain.
Scanning sensor systems comprising phase controlled antennas, electrically controlled antennas or active electrically controlled antennas have the functionality to direct and focus emitted energy in a flexible way. If no special precautions are made, the scanning sensor systems using such antennas require larger safety areas than more traditional antenna systems.
Technical solutions ensuring personal safety are more expensive to develop than technical solutions which do not have to take personal safety into account. It is therefore of interest to keep the functions for personal safety as uncomplicated as possible, such that the complexity of the maintaining of its proper function is minimized.
Today, monitoring functions are positioned within a space around the antenna, and are equipped to measure the energy radiated from the antenna. Such solutions are complicated and expensive, requiring equipment for measuring antenna radiation.
There is thus a demand for an uncomplicated and inexpensive device and a corresponding method for monitoring radiated electromagnetic energy from scanning sensor systems in a certain space and to enable detection of events that may cause the exceeding of predefined safety levels in this space.

Electrically steerable antenna arrangement


The present invention relates to a novel method for preparing cabazitaxel from 10-deacetylbaccatin III, and a novel intermediate therefor, and more specifically, to: a method which allows cabazitaxel to be more easily prepared in a high yield and in a high purity within a short time compared with a conventional method by preparing cabazitaxel via a novel intermediate using 10-deacetylbaccatin III as a starting material, and thus is suitable for industrial mass production; and a novel intermediate therefor.

Cabazitaxel, which has a chemical structure of the following Chemical Formula 1, is a material showing excellent anticancer activity, and its demand is increasing in industrial fields such as medicine. However, in spite of an increasing demand, preparation methods for cabazitaxel developed up to now have limitations in being very inefficient and having low productivity.

International Publication No. WO 96/30355 discloses a process for preparing cabazitaxel from 10-deacetylbaccatin via 6 steps. However, in this process the synthesis time required for synthesizing from a starting material to a final product is too long, about 109 hours. Specifically, step 3 (deprotecting step of silyl radical) has a shortcoming—an excessively long reaction time of 48 hours. Such a long reaction time is due to the protection and deprotection of hydroxy group at the 13 position. In addition, the final yield of the target compound, cabazitaxel, is about 4%, even though the synthetic process required such a long time. As a result, this process has a shortcoming in that it is difficult to apply it to a process for producing cabazitaxel on an industrial scale.
In addition, International Publication No. WO 99/25704 discloses a method for synthesizing cabazitaxel via a total of 3 steps from 10-diacetylbaccatin including simultaneous alkylation of hydroxy groups of the 7 and 10 positions of 10-diacetylbaccatin in a single step. However, this method also has a problem in that the final synthesis yield of cabazitaxel is only about 8%.
In summary, conventional methods are not suitable for industrial-scale production due to their inefficiency and low productivity. Therefore, there is strong demand for developing a novel method for preparing cabazitaxel which is more efficient and shows dramatically improved yield.

Method for preparing cabazitaxel from 10-deacetylbaccatin III in high yield, and novel intermediate therefor


A gas assisted injection molding system includes a gas injection pin and gas vent pin which are independently, selectively extendable into a cavity of a mold. Each of the gas injection pin and gas vent pin include a first actuator and a second actuator. Each first actuator selectively extends and retracts the pin into and out of the cavity of the mold. Each of the second actuators selectively opens and closes a valve within the pin, thereby selectively permitting and restricting the flow of gas through the pin.

The present invention relates generally to injection molding and more particularly to a gas assisted injection molding system having improved gas nozzles.
Known gas assisted injection molding systems generally comprise a mold having an inner surface defining a cavity. A gas nozzle is selectively extendable into the cavity. In operation, a short shot of resin is introduced into the cavity. After initial resin injection, the resin is permitted to partially cool. The nozzle is extended into the cavity, piercing the partially cooled resin wall. Then, high pressure gas is injected into the resin through the nozzle. The pressurized gas displaces the molded resin, thereby forming a gas channel. Because the resin adjacent the surface of the mold cools faster than the resin in the center of the cavity, the pressurized gas generally displaces material from the center of the gas channel or thicker portions of the resin, toward the mold surfaces. In this manner, hollow articles or articles having hollow portions, are molded. The pressure of the gas is either maintained or profiled during the cooling phase, typically approximately 20 to 50 seconds. After the article has cooled, the pressurized gas inside the article is vented through the gas nozzle, thereby relieving the high pressure in the article prior to removing the article from the mold. The gas nozzle is then retracted from the cavity.
After the article is removed from the mold, the mold is reclosed and a subsequent cycle is operated in a similar manner. In the known system, when the pressurized gas is vented through the gas nozzle, some of the resin may be carried by the gas into the gas nozzle, thereby partially or completely plugging the nozzle with resin. At that time, the operation of the injection molding system must be temporarily ceased in order to clean the gas nozzle.


A tank handling and protection apparatus is particularly suitable for handling tanks carrying liquid additives for oil field servicing operations on offshore vessels. The apparatus includes a frame base and first and second mounting racks attached to the frame base each of those mounting racks having a full-size tank base location defined thereon. Releasable connecting devices are provided for releasably connecting at least one tank to each mounting rack. A protective cage is I0 attached to the frame base and surrounds the tank locations. The protective cage includes removable side walls which allow the tanks to be placed on the frame base with a forklift or the like. The protective cage also has top openings which allow the tanks to be placed on the mounting racks with a sling and crane lifting them through the top openings. The apparatus itself may also be handled with either the forklift or crane and sling. The tank handling and protection apparatus provides a fully certifiable transportable container for the tanks which allows easy access to and use of the tanks while they remain in the protective enclosure.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus for handling containers holding liquid additives for use in the oil well service industry, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to such structures which are suitable for handling such containers on offshore vessels.
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Many activities conducted in the oil well servicing industry require the use of liquid materials which have typically been provided in fifty-five-gallon drums. There is a substantial cost involved in the handling and disposal of such drums which typically are not reused.
The prior art also includes a number of liquid container systems designed for reuse. One recent development in such systems is that shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,794 to Davis et al., and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The Davis et al. apparatus describes a truck-mounted system providing a tank mounting apparatus for removably mounting reusable additive storage tanks on the truck. The truck-mounted system is of course only usable on land-based operations.
There is a need for a reusable container system which can be utilized on offshore oil well servicing operations. A complication in this goal is the requirement of various certifying agencies that structures carrying dangerous materials such as the additives which may be used in well servicing, meet certain stringent requirements for physical protection of those dangerous materials.
Previously the art has addressed this problem with tanks which each include an individual protective cage attached to the tank.
Another approach of the prior art has been to place drums in a closed freight container. After the closed freight container is placed on the offshore vessel, the tanks must then be removed from the container to load or unload additive materials from the tanks.


In a driving condition control system, a sensing unit is configured to sense a first physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the first rotatable axle assembly and a second physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the second rotatable axle assembly. A correcting unit is configured to correct the torque according to the sensed first and second physical quantities of the rotations of the first and second rotational axle assemblies. This allows the torque to be precisely obtained.

The present invention relates to a driving condition control method and system installed in a vehicle, which are capable of controlling the driving conditions of the vehicle.
Conventional techniques for causing a target torque to follow up a change of an accelerator pedal's operating state by a driver's operation are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-242862 and in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H10-329585.
The technique disclosed in the former publication estimates the rising slope of a road surface according to accelerating resistance torque. The technique corrects the gear ratios of the automatic transmission (AT) of a vehicle, thereby keeping torque during the running of the vehicle on the rising slope of the road surface.
The technique disclosed in the later publication obtains a steady target torque of a driving system of a vehicle according to a driving condition of the vehicle, and determines a sequential waveform of a transient state of the target torque according to variation of the steady target torque within a predetermined control period.
The technique also obtains sequential data representing fluctuations of the target torque, and obtains the fluctuations of the target torque. The technique adds the obtained fluctuations of the target torque to the previous transient target torque to obtain a present transient target torque. The technique performs a transient control of the target torque while the steady target torque fluctuates.
On the other hand, another technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-297664 prevents, when the operating state of an accelerator pedal of a vehicle by the driver is kept constant, a shock from occurring in the vehicle according to sudden change of the driving resistance of the vehicle. In particular, the technique estimates a driving resistance according to the vehicle speed and the vehicle acceleration to determine the target torque based on the estimated driving resistance.
These disclosed techniques, when the vehicle runs on a road surface that makes it difficult to obtain a desired torque, increase the command power with respect to the engine, thereby obtaining the desired torque.
Even when the vehicle runs on a road surface that causes the vehicle's torque to be lost, these techniques increase the command torque so that the loss of the torque may more increase.

Driving condition control method and system


A microwave absorbing article of low density comprises a hollow or solid glass microsphere having a diameter of 1-100 microns, and, deposited thereon, a succession of layers of particulate iron material interspersed by a passivated iron skin.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to microwave absorbing materials, and, more particularly, to iron-coated materials which have effective microwave absorption properties and low densities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typically, microwave absorbing coatings containing carbonyl iron powder (CIP) on substrates have powder loadings in excess of 80% by weight of the coating. However, in many applications, for example, in airplanes, it would be advantageous to provide microwave absorbing materials having a low density.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide microwave absorbing materials having effective microwave absorption properties and low densities.


An atomic ordered sequence of information phase transitions allows for the design of a pure hardware protocol controller for use in a small storage interconnect bus. The information phase transitions follow the sequence: Command Out phase, Data Out phase, and Status In phase. The only other transition sequence allowed is from the Command Out phase directly to the Status In phase. The Command Out phase is actually a header delivering header information. Included in the header are a REQ/ACK offset byte, source destination ID verify byte, frame length bytes, and a checksum byte. The Data Out phase contains any number of bytes that were defined in the Command Out frame length byte. The Status In phase is a single byte which is used to signal the outcome of the attempted data delivery.

The present invention improves upon the industry standard Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The SCSI interconnect was developed as a result of the proliferation of inexpensive VLSI device controllers which changed the economics of interfaces for small system storage devices. The inexpensive VLSI device controllers allowed a controller to be built in each device.
Also, because device interfaces are very specific to certain device types, many device level interface standards would have been required to service all small computer device types. As a result, having to connect every backplane bus to every device interface through a controller would require an almost unbounded number of specific controller products. The development of the SCSI standard allowed a single computer backplane slot to service a varity of devices.
In view of the above problems, a small system parallel bus was developed which generally met the small system requirements for a device-independent peripheral or system bus. The small computer system interface bus enjoyed significant market success and eventually became the industry standard SCSI.
The SCSI interface is a local input/output (I/O) bus that can be operated at data rates in excess of five megabytes per second depending upon the circuit implementation. The primary objective of the interface is to provide host computers with device independence within a class of devices. The interface protocol includes provisions for the connection of multiple initiators, i.e. devices capable of initiating an operation, and multiple targets, i.e. devices capable of responding to a request to perform an operation.
The SCSI architecture includes eight distinct bus phases: BUS FREE, ARBITRATION, SELECTION, RESELECTION, COMMAND, DATA, STATUS, and MESSAGE. The last four phases, COMMAND, DATA, STATUS and MESSAGE, are the information transfer phases as they are all used to transfer data or control information via the data bus. The SCSI standard provides Command/Data (C/D), Input/Output (I/O), and Message (MSG) signals to distinguish between the different information transfer phases. The target device drives the three signals and therefore controls all changes from one phase to another. Included within the Data phase and Message phases are the DATA IN, DATA OUT, and MSG IN, MSG OUT sub-phases respectively.
The SCSI standard places no restrictions on the sequences between the information transfer phases. As a result of not placing restrictions on the information phase transitions that can occur between phases during any transfer, i.e. Command Out, Data Out, Data In, Status, MSG Out, and MSG In, the number of interconnections which must be made are so numerous as to require software assistance for proper operation. A problem arises with software assistance in that it incurs software latency in servicing the changes in the bus conditions.
Further, the information transfer phases used in the SCSI bus require one or more request/acknowledge (REQ/ACK) handshakes between the initiator and target to control the information transfer. Each REQ/ACK handshake allows for the transfer of one byte of information. A synchronous data transfer using the SCSI bus must be previously agreed to by the initiator and target through an exchange of messages. The messages determine the use of the synchronous transfer mode by both SCSI devices and establish a REQ/ACK offset and a transfer period.
The REQ/ACK offset specifies the maximum number of REQ pulses that can be sent by the target in advance of the number of ACK pulses received from the initiator, thus establishing a pacing mechanism. The determination of the REQ/ACK offset in SCSI requires a negotiation between the target and initiator. A microprocessor is used to set up this value for each transfer. However, the negotiation of the REQ/ACK offset and the need to maintain the negotiated values can slow down the synchronous data transfer.
In order to check the integrity of the SCSI bus, the SCSI system uses byte parity as its sole mechanism for detecting data errors. The use of only a single error detecting mechanism presents problems for the proper validation of data.
Other known bus interconnects provide a fixed sequence of phase transitions, thus simplifying the protocol of the controller. Further, because some of these prior buses use a coaxial cable, the fixed sequences are so rigid that in the case of an error developing in one of the phases, the sequence must continue through the other phases before returning an invalid signal. Thus, if an error were to initially be detected in the command phase, the system must wait for the transitions through the data and status phases before returning an invalid or no acknowledgment (NAK) signal. This consumes more time and slows down the system.

Method and apparatus for transferring information over a common parallel bus using a fixed sequence of bus phase transitions


A delay flow water reservoir for a clothes dryer cabinet and method of use is provided. The delay flow reservoir has a container having an opening and a cap engaging the opening. The cap has a delay chamber with a drain opening, a seal covering the opening with first and second seal holes, and the delayed flow reservoir. The delay chamber fills with water from the container before draining into the clothes drying cabinets. The method of using the delay flow water reservoir permits the user to fill a container while in an upright position and then moving the delay flow water reservoir to an overturned dispense position. The method permits water to drain into the delay reservoir rather than out the drain opening while the user moves the reservoir into operational communication in the clothes drying cabinet.

Clothes drying cabinets, which are more common in Japan than in the United States, are used for drying clothes without the conventional tumbling action. As opposed to a conventional tumbler dryer, a drying cabinet provides heated air for drying clothes hanging in the cabinet. Drying cabinets can also be used for de-wrinkling clothes. The de-wrinkling process includes the introduction of steam into the cabinet, which facilitates the removal of wrinkles from the clothes.
Conventional drying cabinets typically create steam by providing water from a water reservoir to a heater/steamer. Typically, conventional drying cabinets do not have an easily removable and fillable water reservoir. As seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,961 issued to Estes, conventional drying cabinets may have a removable water reservoir; however, the reservoir is located in an inconvenient location which may be awkward to remove and difficult to monitor. In addition, Estes uses a valve underneath the water reservoir which may be difficult to position and uses moving parts which may fail or leak.
Accordingly, a primary feature of the present invention is the provision of an improved water reservoir for a clothes drying cabinet.
Another feature of the present invention is the provision of an improved clothes drying cabinet having a water reservoir which is conveniently located, easily removed, and easy to monitor.
A further feature of the present invention is the provision of an improved water reservoir for a clothes drying cabinet that does not use moving parts.
These and other features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

Delayed flow water reservoir for a clothes drying cabinet and method of use


A mobile device sends a request for a unique wireless network session identifier and receives, based on the request, the unique wireless network session identifier. The mobile device determines whether the unique wireless network session identifier includes a femtocell identifier. The mobile device applies one set of configuration settings when the unique wireless network session identifier includes the femtocell identifier, and applies a different set of configuration settings when the unique wireless network session identifier does not include the femtocell identifier.

In wireless data networks, the physical network may include traditional wireless communication stations (macro cell base stations) installed at fixed locations and used to communicate with the wireless access terminals. Another type of base station, called a femtocell, may also be used in such networks. A femtocell may be a small form factor wireless base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business. The femtocell may connect to a service provider's network via broadband (such as DSL or cable). The femtocell may allow service providers to extend service coverage indoors, especially where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable. Currently, there is no mechanism to specifically distinguish, to the access terminal, data services provided through a femtocell and data services provided through a macro cell base station.


In a RAKE receiver, a radio frequency CDMA signal is converted to a baseband digital signal and despread with multiple despreading sequences of different phase timing to produce multiple despread signals. Synchronous detectors are arranged to receive the despread signals as input symbol sequences and cross-correlations between the input symbol sequences and an output symbol sequence, detect an auto-correlation of the output symbol sequence, produce fading vectors representative of ratios of the cross-correlations to the auto-correlation, demodulate the input symbol sequences with the fading vectors, detect auto-correlations of the input symbol sequences, and estimate errors from the fading vectors, the cross-correlations and the auto-correlations of the input symbol sequences. Amplitudes of the input symbol sequences are estimated from the auto-correlations of the input symbol sequences. The demodulated sequences are maximal-ratio combined according to the estimated errors and the estimated amplitudes. From the combined signal, the output symbol sequence is produced by a decision circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to synchronous detectors, and more specifically to synchronous detection for use in a CDMA (code division multiple access) RAKE receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a prior art synchronous detection scheme used in a CDMA (code division multiple access) RAKE receiver, an input sequence i(n) is cross-correlated with a decision output sequence o(n), and auto-correlation .phi.(n) of the output sequence o(n) is detected. The cross-correlation .theta.(n) is divided by the auto-correlation .phi.(n) and the divided signal Z(n) is supplied to a demodulator where a demodulation of the input sequence proceeds by multiplication with Z(n). The output of the demodulator is combined with the outputs of other synchronous detectors in a combiner. From the output of the combiner, the decision output sequence is produced by a decision circuit. The amplitude of the signal received by each synchronous detector of the RAKE receiver is estimated by performing a square-and-sum process on the input sequence i(n). In addition, the decision error is estimated by calculating e(n)=i(n)-Z(n).o(n) at symbol intervals and a square-and-sum process is performed on the estimated error e(n). According to these estimated amplitude and error, the outputs of the synchronous detectors are weighted so that they are maximal-ratio combined in the combiner.
However, the prior art error estimation requires, at symbol intervals, two multiplication processes at the level of signal e(n), and one subtraction process and two multiplication processes at the level of complex values. Since the CDMA RAKE receiver requires such computation for each of propagation paths, the amount of total computations is substantial.

Synchronous detector with reduced error computation for maximal-ratio combining


A common problem associated with damascene structures made of copper inlaid in FSG (fluorinated silicate glass) is the formation of defects near the top surface of the structure. The present invention avoids this problem by laying down a layer of USG (undoped silicate glass) over the surface of the FSG layer prior to patterning and etching the latter to form the via hole and (for a dual damascene structure) the trench. After over-filling with copper, the structure is planarized using CMP. The USG layer acts both to prevent any fluorine from the FSG layer from reaching the copper and as an end-point detector during CMP. In this way defects that result from copper-fluorine interaction do not form and precise planarization is achieved.

As integrated circuits grow ever smaller and faster, delays associated with the wiring, as opposed to the active devices, have become increasingly more important. To reduce said delays it is necessary to reduce the resistance of the wires and/or the capacitance per unit length across the inter-metal dielectrics. Wire widths in integrated circuits have, however, continued to shrink so the electrical conductivity of the wiring material itself has become increasingly more important. Thus, aluminum, which has been the metal of choice since the integrated circuit art began, is now being increasingly replaced by copper.
Similarly, silicon dioxide, which has been the inter-metal dielectric (IMD) of choice since the integrated circuit art began, is now being increasingly replaced by new, low dielectric constant materials. An example of the latter is fluorinated silicon glass (FSG) which typically has a dielectric constant of about 3.5.
As might be expected, integrated circuits having both copper wiring and IMDs of FSG are now in active development at many locations. Before copper could be introduced into integrated circuits, one problem needed to be overcome, namely copper's tendency to be both a fast diffuser as well as a source of recombination centers in silicon. Although a number of materials were known to be effective barriers against copper diffusion at or near room temperature, they could not be relied upon when conventional multi-layering was used because of the difficulty of adequately covering the wiring's edges.
The wiring coverage problem was solved by the introduction of damascene wiring. The term damascene when used in connection with integrated circuit wiring, refers to the fact that a layer has been inlaid within a supporting medium, as opposed to being covered by it. Thus, instead of the wiring being laid down on top of the IMD, a trench is first formed in its surface and this trench then filled with copper. Lining the walls of the trench with a barrier layer prior to filling in with copper then becomes a straightforward procedure.
FIG. 1a is a schematic illustration of a damascene connector. Seen there is an FSG layer 12 on a substrate 11. Via hole 31 was etched through the full thickness of layer 12 so as to expose substrate 11 which, in most cases, would be the upper surface of a partially formed integrated circuit, and then just filled with copper material 44 (after laying down barrier layer 14). The filling step is accomplished by initially over-filling with copper and then removing the excess by means of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP).
Unfortunately, the fluoride ions in the FSG are not very strongly bound and a certain amount of free fluorine is able to react with the copper during the CMP process, resulting in the formation of defect structures 13 at the edges of the filled via hole, as illustrated schematically in FIG. 1b.
The present invention describes a structure, and process for making it, which overcomes this problem while still supporting copper damascene wiring on a FSG base.
A routine search of the prior art was performed with the following references of interest being found:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,120 (Lee) teaches use of the oxynitride ARC layer as the means for keeping fluoride away from the metal used to fill a via. Although there is an oxide cap over the oxynitride layer early in their process, they go to some trouble to selectively remove it from over the site of the future via hole. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,601, Lee et al. show how FSG films can be densified by hydrogen ion bombardment. The problem of etching a via hole through the FSG layer, filling it with copper and then planarizing by CMP is not discussed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,164, Yieh et al. are concerned with reducing stress in FSG layers. One approach they suggest is an overlying USG capping layer. Cu CMP is not part of their process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,157 (Liu et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,680 (Lai et al.) show related patents while U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,272 (Liu et al.) show Cu CMP with FSG, using an organic layer over the FSG layer.

Prevention of post CMP defects in CU/FSG process

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.


A quantum Turing machine constituted using a quantum bit created by localizing a phase difference soliton S between superconducting electrons existing in each of multiple of bands in a ring R0 that includes a ring main body R1 formed of a superconductor, and well-shaped portions W1, W2 formed with a reduced line-width at at least two positions on the ring main body R1, can easily constitute a quantum bit, can surely execute a basic logical operation, has multiple-bit capability and, moreover, can ensure sufficient time for executing a quantum algorithm.

As a technique of applying the phase difference between multiple superconducting order parameters to electronics, with respect to superconducting electronics that utilize phase difference solitons created between plural types of superconducting electrons, there is the disclosure of Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Publication 2003-209301) that precedes the present invention.
On the other hand, in quantum Turing machines, various quantum bits have been devised. Methods that use nuclear spin, and methods that use the energy levels of atoms are representative of these. There have also been attempts to create artificial atoms using semiconductors. Quantum bits based on ordinary superconductors have also been proposed.
In the superconducting electronics disclosed in the above Patent Document, the phase difference soliton S between bands that constitutes an information bit has been difficult to manipulate because of its ubiquity in connected circuits. To facilitate bit manipulation, it has to be confined in a spatially small region.
The above Patent Document also provided a method of constituting quantum bits by producing a state in which quanta are superimposed. However, a basic computation method that uses this quantum bit to constitute a quantum Turing machine has not been provided.
With respect to quantum bits that have been proposed up until the present for producing a quantum Turing machine, whatever the proposed method, multiple-bit implementation is difficult with current technology, and it is considered that practical application will take 100 years or more.
Also, with quantum bits that do not use a macroscopic quantum state such as a superconducting state, a superimposed state for making a quantum Turing machine function is easily broken down by interaction with the environment, making it impossible to obtain enough time to use the quantum Turing machine to execute a quantum algorithm.

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology


Disclosed herein is a device includes first and second memory mats. The first memory mat includes first and defective memory cells and first local bit lines coupled to a first global bit line. Each of the first local bit lines is coupled to associated ones of the first memory cells, one of the first local bit lines is further coupled to the defective memory cell. The second memory mat includes second and redundant memory cells and second local bit lines coupled to a second global bit line. Each of the second local bit lines is coupled to associated ones of the second memory cells, one of the second local bit lines is further coupled to the redundant memory cell. The device further includes a control circuit accessing the redundant memory cell when the access address information coincides with the defective address information that designates the defective memory cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly relates to a semiconductor device in which bit lines are hierarchically structured.
2. Description of Related Art
In some of semiconductor devices represented by a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), bits lines are hierarchically structured into local bit lines and global bit lines (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H8-195100 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-34614). The local bit lines are low-order bit lines and are connected to memory cells. The global bit lines are high-order bit lines and are connected to sense amplifiers. When the bit lines are hierarchically structured, the number of memory cells that are allocated to one sense amplifier can be increased while the wiring length of the local bit lines having relatively-high electrical resistances can be shortened.
However, in the conventional semiconductor device having hierarchically structured bit lines, when a defective word line is to be replaced with a redundant word line, the redundant word line must be selected among redundant word lines that intersect with the same local bit line that intersects the defective word line. That is, the defective word line can be replaced only within a memory sub-mat in which the local bit line extends and thus its relieving efficiency is low.

Semiconductor device having hierarchically structured bit lines


A security system using fingerprints, including a fingerprint scan part creating a fingerprint image when a finger contacts the fingerprint scan part; a fingerprint image storing part storing representative reference fingerprint images and at least one auxiliary reference fingerprint image for registered users; and a control part determining whether one of the representative reference fingerprint images matches a first input fingerprint image input through the fingerprint scan part, reading auxiliary reference fingerprint images corresponding to a matching representative reference fingerprint image, and comparing other fingerprint images input after the first input fingerprint image with the auxiliary reference fingerprint images to determine user authentication.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a security system and a security method using fingerprints, and, more particularly, to a security system and a security method using multiple fingerprint images having a pre-established input order.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security systems have been developed that prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to an area or to information stored in a computer.
As an example, biometric technologies pre-register and store fingerprints, a shape of the iris, or voice signals as identification data.
A conventional security system using fingerprints pre-registers a plurality of fingerprints using a fingerprint recognition apparatus. If a fingerprint of a person desiring access authorization matches a registered fingerprint, then access is authorized. Otherwise, access is denied.
If the conventional security system has a low FAR (False Acceptance Rate) and a high FRR (False Rejection Rate), registered users may be denied access, requiring additional attempts to gain access. However, if the security system ]has a low FRR, the FAR increases and thus unregistered users may be given access authorization. Thus, a trade-off exists between convenience and security.

Security system and security method using fingerprints