An image pickup apparatus includes an image sensor arranged to photoelectrically convert an image light coming from an object, an iris arranged to adjust the quantity of image light incident on the image sensor, a detection circuit for detecting the state of the iris, a correction circuit to correct the output of the detection circuit so as to correct a change of the iris caused by a change in the mode of shooting, and a focus adjusting device. The correction circuit is arranged such that, when an aperture value is caused to change by a change in the shooting mode, the correction circuit offsets the change of the aperture value by correcting aperture value information before the aperture value information is supplied to the focus adjusting device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image pickup apparatus such as a video camera or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of image pickup apparatuses such as video cameras or the like, efforts have been exerted to automate operations and diversify functions in every respect, including an exposure setting action, a focus adjusting action, white balance control, etc. As a result, it has become possible to adequately pick up images irrespective of ambient shooting conditions.
With respect to a focus control device and a white balance correcting device which is arranged in a video camera or the like to control the gain of a color signal according to changes in color temperature of an object of shooting, a method has been contrived to detect the state of an iris mechanism which is used for controlling the quantity of light incident on an image sensor and to perform an optimum control by using the data of detection thus obtained.
The conventional image pickup apparatus has been arranged as shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, an image pickup optical system 1 is arranged to form an image of light coming from an object of shooting. An iris (hereinafter referred to as an iris) 2 is arranged to control the quantity of light coming from the object. A motor 3 is arranged to drive a focus lens included in the image pickup optical system 1. An iris encoder element 4 which is a position encoder and is formed by a Hall element, etc., is arranged to detect the state of the iris 2. A motor 5 is arranged to drive the iris 2. An image sensor 6 which is formed by a CCD, etc., is arranged to photoelectrically convert the light of an image picked up. A sample-and-hold (S/H) circuit 7 is arranged to sample the output (a picked-up image signal) of the image sensor 6. Reference numeral 8 denotes an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit 8. A driving circuit 9 is arranged to drive the iris driving motor 5. An iris control circuit 10 is arranged to control the iris 2 in such a way as to bring the average output level of the image sensor 6 within a predetermined level range. An AGC control circuit 11 is arranged to adjust the gain of the AGC circuit 8 to make the level of the picked-up image signal constant. A color separation circuit 12 is arranged to separate the picked-up image signal into R (red), G (green) and B (blue) color signals. Amplifiers 13a and 13b for white balance control are arranged to amplify the R and B color signals with the respective controllable variable gains. A process and matrix circuit 14 is arranged to form a luminance signal Y and color-difference signals R-Y and B-Y. An encoder circuit 15 is arranged to form a standard TV signal. A system control circuit 16 which is arranged to control the whole image pickup apparatus includes, as main components among others, a white balance control circuit 16a and a focus control circuit (AF device) 16b which is arranged to detect the level, etc., of a high-frequency component of the luminance signal Y and to control the focus lens in such a way as to bring the level of the high-frequency component to a maximum level. A driving circuit 17 is arranged to drive the focus lens driving motor 3.
With the apparatus arranged in the above-stated manner, the quantity of incident light of the object obtained through the image pickup optical system 1 is adjusted by the iris 2. The quantity-adjusted light is photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 6. A video signal outputted from the image sensor 6 is sampled by the sample-and-hold (S/H) circuit 7. The sampled video signal is amplified by the AGC circuit 8 to such a state that enables a next signal processing circuit to adequately carry out a signal processing action on the video signal. The video signal thus amplified is supplied to the color separation circuit 12, which separates the video signal into three primary color signals including R, G and B color signals. Of these color signals, the R and B color signals are supplied via the amplifiers 13a and 13b for white balance control (WB) to the process and matrix circuit 14. The G color signal is supplied directly to the process and matrix circuit 14. The process and matrix circuit 14 then forms the luminance signal Y and the color-difference signals R-Y and B-Y. The luminance signal Y and the color-difference signals R-Y and B-Y are supplied to the encoder circuit 15 to be converted into a video signal which is in the form of a TV signal.
Since the luminance signal Y and the color-difference signals R-Y and B-Y are to be used also for white balance control and focus control, these signals are supplied also to the system control circuit 16. The system control circuit 16 further takes therein the output of the iris encoder element 4 which detects the state of the iris 2. The output of the iris encoder element 4 is used as one of parameters necessary for optimum control over white balance adjustment and focus adjustment. More specifically, the control is based on the following: The depth of field is shallow if the position of the iris 2 is near to its full open position and is deep if it shows a small (stopped-down) aperture. Since the sensitivity of the focus control device for focus adjustment varies with the depth of field, it is necessary to vary its focus lens driving speed and the width of its dead zone according to the depth of field. Therefore, in order that the focus adjustment is stably, smoothly and quickly carried out, it is necessary to have information on the aperture value of the iris which is directly related to the depth of field.
In performing the white balance control, a change or no change in ambient shooting conditions is detected also through a change detected in the aperture value of the iris. According to the detected state of the iris, the control is performed, for example, to restart a white balance adjustment action or to predict the color temperature of a light source illuminating the object as a part of data for finding whether an image is being picked up outdoors or indoors. The aperture value thus gives an important parameter not only for the above-stated control but also for many other control actions of the camera.
However, the image sensor (a CCD in most cases) has recently come to function also as an electronic shutter to permit shooting control in a shutter priority AE mode in which the iris is controlled on the basis of an exposure time arbitrarily selected, or in a mode called "program mode" in which the iris, the AGC circuit and the electronic shutter function are automatically adjusted and controlled on the presumption of some of typical shooting conditions, such as a portrait, a landscape, a sport which shows a quick motion, etc. With these modes employed, the state (position) of the iris might vary with a difference in mode of shooting control even when the shooting object remains unchanged. In such a case, control over the white balance, focus, etc., which uses the information on the state of the iris as one of parameters in computing a correction value comes to be based on a misjudgment. The control thus becomes unstable, thereby degrading the performance of the camera. This problem has made it difficult, for an image pickup apparatus arranged to operate in these shooting control modes, to use an iris state detection signal in controlling the white balance and focus. This problem thus has been an impediment against an improvement in performance of each system related to the above-stated control.


A plurality of controllers, each coupled to a plurality of outlets, compare values assigned to characteristic parameters or “process variables” against at least one control value on the process variable. The values for the process variables are derived from at least one signal provided to corresponding controllers. At least one of the outlets at each controller is configured to selectively provide an electrical voltage from an input voltage in accordance with the comparison of the process variable values and the control value. Remotely accessible controls may be stored at the controllers which may be retrieved through respective network interfaces at the controllers. A remote processor may use the retrieved controls to remotely specify, such as over a communication network, the control values.

Power conditioning devices, or simply power conditioners, are used to improve the quality of electricity provided to equipment connected thereto, such as to maintain a consistent alternating current (AC) supply voltage in response to variations in electrical supply conditions. Power conditioners may include filter circuits to remove electrical noise from the AC supply voltage and suppressor circuits to limit transients/surges in the AC supply voltage, thereby preventing potentially disruptive/damaging conditions from reaching connected equipment. Such power conditioners may have multiple outlets to which the equipment can be connected and through which the conditioned power may be provided. In certain systems, the connected load equipment, regardless of the spatial distribution of such equipment, is treated as a single load, e.g., a voltage surge in the supply power is prevented from entering all equipment connected to the power conditioner. While such measures are practical, and even critical in certain applications, adaptability and fine control afforded by conventional power conditioning systems is limited.
Spatial distribution of load equipment presents other challenges to efficient power conditioning and control, such as when pieces of distributed equipment are supplied electricity from different sources. While spatial distribution may present little impediment in certain applications, other applications require multiple power conditioners to protect each of multiple loads, and carrying out a consistent power conditioning and control scheme over all such connected load equipment may become problematic. Moreover, alerts as to critical conditions, e.g., persistent supply over-voltage, issued from multiple, spatially-separated power conditioning points may delay efforts by personnel to correct such conditions. There is thus an apparent need for monitoring and control over distributed power conditioning points, e.g., at individual power outlets, and for means by which monitoring and control functions may be accessed and modified from a central location.


A plurality of capacitors and a holding body constructed to hold the plurality of capacitors. Each of the plurality of capacitors includes a semiconductor substrate, a first electrode layer, a dielectric layer, a second electrode layer, and an outer electrode. Among a first capacitor and a second capacitor of the plurality of capacitors, the second capacitor has a shape different from a shape of the first capacitor in at least one of the first electrode layer, the second electrode layer, and the outer electrode.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-44613 (Patent Document 1) discloses a configuration of a capacitor included in a housing for a plurality of capacitors. The capacitor as an electronic component described in Patent Document 1 includes a circuit element formed on a substrate, an electrode layer connected to the circuit element, a protection layer covering the electrode layer, and a terminal electrode connected to the electrode layer through a via conductor penetrating through the protection layer and provided on the protection layer, and one end of the terminal electrode is positioned on the side wall of the protection layer.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-44613

Capacitor cluster having capacitors with different shapes


The invention relates to inorganic-organic composite particles, in particular composite nanoparticles, wherein the composite particles comprise at least one organically based material containing or being made of at least one wax and an inorganically based material, and to a method for the production thereof and to the use thereof.

The present invention relates to particulate, wax-containing composite materials ("wax composites" or "wax nanocomposites"), in particular in the form of inorganic-organic hybrid composite materials, and to a process for preparing them, and to the use thereof.
The present invention relates more particularly to inorganic-organic composite particles, in particular composite nanoparticles, the composite particles comprising at least one organic-based material, which comprises or consists of at least one wax, and an inorganic-based material, and to a process for preparing them, and to the use thereof.
The present invention further relates to the use of these composite particles, in particular in coating materials and coating systems, such as, in particular, paints, inks, and the like, in dispersions of all kinds, in plastics, in foams, in cosmetics, in particular nail varnishes, in adhesives, in sealants, etc.
The present invention relates, furthermore, to the use of these composite particles as fillers or ingredients, in particular in the aforementioned systems.
The present invention finally relates to such systems, in particular coating materials and coating systems, such as, in particular, paints, inks, and the like, plastics, foams, and cosmetics, such as, in particular, nail varnishes, which comprise these composite particles.
Additionally provided by the present invention are innovative dispersions which comprise these composite particles in a carrier medium or dispersion medium.
In order to improve the mechanical properties of coating systems and dispersion systems (including, for example, paints, inks such as printing inks, coatings) and of plastics, in particular, specifically, for increasing their wear properties, such as scratch resistance and abrasion resistance, the incorporation of additives and fillers, such as, for example, of waxes or inorganic filler particles (e.g., of what are called nanoparticles), is known in principle to the skilled person.
The inorganic filler particles known from the prior art do indeed, under certain circumstances, improve the scratch resistance of the coating systems (e.g., of paints), in which they are used; however, following application, there may be increased brittleness of the resulting coating film (e.g., of a paint film). In addition, the incorporation of these filler particles often results in unwanted clouding and deficient transparency of the coating system. In addition, relatively high filler contents are frequently necessary in order to achieve the desired effects, and this makes it more difficult to stabilize the resulting dispersion systems, and is also undesirable on cost grounds.
WO 2007/072189 A2 relates to a silylated polymer emulsion which further comprises nanosilicate, and to its use for coating systems. With the emulsions described therein, however, it is not always possible to obtain the desired performance properties.
EP 0 960 871 A2 relates to aqueous preparations for treating mineral construction materials, the aqueous preparations comprising, in addition to an emulsion of a polyfunctional carbosilane and/or condensation product thereof, an emulsion of an organopolysiloxane, and a water-dispersible or water-emulsifiable organic polymer, inorganic nanoparticles in addition.
JP 07138484 A relates to the production of extrudates from a mixture of wax, oils or resins and a pulverulent inorganic material, such as talc or silica, for example. The incorporated additional components are said to have effects including an improved flow capacity in the extrusion operation with the wax.
JP 06166756 A relates to emulsions of finely divided wax particles having particle diameters of 0.1 to 100 μm in an inert liquid, preferably a hydrofluorocarbon, such as perfluoropentane, using hydrophobic silica as emulsifier in amounts of 1 to 20 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of wax. The hydrophobized silica, which is employed solely as an emulsifier, is obtained by reacting the surface of hydrophilic silica with a hydrophobizer, in particular halogenated alkylsilane or alkoxysilane.
JP 2004-339515 A relates to the preparation of precipitated silica having surface-modified properties, the silica prepared in this way being intended for use as a matting agent in paints. The surface modification takes place by treatment of the silica surface with a polyethylene wax, resulting in wax-coated silica particles.
KR 10-2004-0098585 A relates to precipitated silica whose surface is coated with a polyorganosiloxane polymer, and also to a process for producing it. The surface-modified silica is intended to be used as a matting agent for transparent coating materials.
Furthermore, KR 10-2005-0094496 A relates to a preparation process for a core/shell polymer latex, in order to improve the degree of coupling between wax particles and latex particles and in that way to simplify the preparation procedure, by removing the need to prepare a wax emulsion beforehand. The preparations prepared in this way are intended to serve as toner compositions for electrophotographic image apparatus, in particular copiers.
WO 95/31508 A1 relates to wax-coated silica particles which are to be used as matting agents.
Furthermore, EP 1 182 233 B1 relates to a method of covering silicas with waxes, the intention being that the silicas described therein should find use as matting agents in paints.
EP 1 204 701 B1 relates to a cured coating on a substrate, featuring a concentration gradient of the filler particles present in the coating such that, within regions of the coating that are close to the surface, the concentration of the incorporated filler particles is greater than the concentration of these particles within the regions of the coating situated beneath. As a result of this, however, because of inhomogeneity in the coating, an improvement is achieved which is only regional, exclusively in the region of the surface.
US 2006/0228642 A1, finally, relates to a process for preparing polymer latex particles with core/shell structure, having an inner wax core and an outer latex shell, the intention being that such particles should be usable in particular for toner compositions.
Wax-containing composite particles for improving the mechanical properties of coating systems, in particular for increasing the wear resistance, have not yet been proposed to date in the prior art.

Particulate wax composites and method for the production thereof and the use thereof


The present invention provides a cellular phone comprising: a housing having front and rear casings wherein the rear casing comprises a metallic layer coated on an inner side of the rear casing for insulating electromagnetic radiation, a circuit board installed in the housing having a board surface and an antenna connector installed at an upper end of the board surface, an antenna installed at an upper end of the housing and electrically connected with the antenna connector at the upper end of the board surface for receiving or emitting electromagnetic radiation, and an elastic conductor. When the front and rear casings are connected, the elastic conductor is elastically clamped between the board surface of the circuit board and the metallic layer on the inner side of the rear casing so that the metallic layer on the inner side of the rear casing, the upper end of the board surface and the elastic conductor will form an insulating envelope for preventing electromagnetic radiation emitted from the antenna connector from interfering with circuits of the cellular phone which are positioned inside the housing of the cellular phone and outside the insulating envelope.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cellular phone, and more particularly, to a cellular phone with an insulating envelope for preventing leakage of electromagnetic radiation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cellular phone comprises a housing, a circuit board installed inside the housing, and an antenna installed at a top end of the housing. The many different functional units on the circuit board can be roughly classified into three parts based on their functions. These three parts are: a first RF circuit, a second RF circuit, and a base band circuit. The main components of the first RF circuit include an antenna connector, a duplexer, and a power amplifier. The second RF circuit comprises an RF transmitter circuit and an RF receiver circuit. When the cellular phone is transmitting RF signals, the power of the transmitted RF signals is strong and may influence, or even interfere with, other functional units. This noise interferes with many functional units such as the RF receiver circuit, the RF transmitter circuit, and the baseband circuit. Interference with the RF receiver circuit causes reduced sensitivity to received signals, which is undesirable for a cellular phone. A device is necessary to properly insulate the functional units from such radiation interference so that the sensitivity of the cellular phone to incoming signals can be improved and the cellular phone can operate normally.
Shielding the functional units of the cellular phone from radiation interference and improving the sensitivity of the cellular phone is often accomplished by electrically grounded metallic shields installed on the circuit board of the cellular phone. Also, a thin metallic layer is often coated on the inner side of the housing for preventing electromagnetic radiation in the interior of the cellular phone from leaking out. This reduces radiation leakage and prevents electromagnetic interference from occurring. Thus, the metallic shields and the metallic layer on the inner side of the casing can reduce the radiation interference for the functional units, improve the sensitivity of the cellular phone to incoming signals, and reduce the radiation that escapes from the cellular phone.
Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cellular phone 10 according to the prior art. FIG. 2 is a side view of the cellular phone 10 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an exploded diagram of the cellular phone 10 shown in FIG. 1. The cellular phone comprises a front casing 12, a rear casing 14, a circuit board 20 installed between the front casing 12 and the rear casing 14, an antenna 16 installed at the top end of the rear casing 14, and a battery 18. The rear casing 14 and the circuit board 20 individually comprise four screw holes 15 (shown in FIG. 4) for fixing the rear casing 14 via the circuit board 20 to the front lid 12.
Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the circuit board 20 as seen from the direction labeled as xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d in FIG. 3. The functional units of the circuit board 20 include an antenna connector 22 electrically connected to the lower end of the antenna 16, a duplexer 24 for separating the emitted RF signals and received RF signals, a power amplifier 26 used for amplifying the power of the emitted signals, an RF receiver circuit 28 for receiving RF signals and converting them into baseband signals, an RF transmitter circuit 30 for processing the baseband signals from the baseband circuit 32 and converting them into RF signals, and a baseband circuit 32. As shown in FIG. 4, the power amplifier 26 with the duplexer 24, the RF receiver circuit 28, the RF transmitter circuit 30, and the baseband circuit 32 on the circuit board are respectively covered by grounded metallic shields 34, 36, 35, 37 to prevent electromagnetic interference.
The power of the transmitted RF signals is strong, so RF noise may be emitted from the power amplifier 26, the duplexer 24, and the antenna connector 22. Since the RF noise comes from more than one source, it is preferred in the conventional art to shield each possible noise source to ensure that each functional unit functions well. The metallic shields 34, 35, 36, 37 diminish radiation interference for these functional units and maintain the sensitivity of the cellular phone 10 to incoming signals. However, these metallic shields 34, 35, 36, 37 increase the cost and the weight of the cellular phone 10.
To reduce the radiation that leaks outside of the cellular phone, and to minimize interference caused by external radiation entering the cellular phone, the inner sides of the front casing 12 and the rear casing 14 of the cellular phone 10 are coated with a thin metallic layer of low impedance. When the rear casing 14 is screwed to the front casing 12, the metallic layer on the inner side of the rear casing 14 electrically connects with the electric ground layer of the circuit board 20. This improves grounding and prevents RF signals in the interior of the cellular phone from leaking out of the cellular phone, and also prevents radiation from outside of the cellular phone from interfering with the interior circuits of the cellular phone.
RF signals in close proximity to the antenna connector 22 are strong and an induced current is therefore easily generated in the metallic layer on the inner side of the rear casing 14 by the RF signals in the interior of the cellular phone. Because the coated metallic layer on the inner side of the rear casing 14 is grounded only via screws, the grounded area is not very large. Therefore, the grounding is poor and any induced current will emit more radiation that further interferes with each of the functional units within the cellular phone.
If many metallic shields are used, the cost and weight of the cellular phone is increased. In any case, the prior art grounding of the metallic layers with the inner sides of the casings 12, 14 is unsatisfactory because the metallic layers are electrically connected to the ground layer of the circuit board 20 by a limited numbers of screws. The question of how to reduce the quantity of metallic shields while improving the grounding of the metallic layer on the inner side of the casing and maintaining optimal performance of each of the functional units of the cellular phone is very important for cellular phone design.
It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a cellular phone with an insulating envelope for preventing leakage of electromagnetic radiation to solve the above mentioned problem.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a cellular phone comprising:
a housing having front and rear casings wherein the rear casing comprises a metallic layer coated on an inner side of the rear casing for insulating electromagnetic radiation;
a circuit board installed in the housing having a board surface and an antenna connector installed at an upper end of the board surface;
an antenna installed at an upper end of the housing and electrically connected with the antenna connector at the upper end of the board surface for receiving or emitting electromagnetic radiation; and
an elastic conductor;
wherein when the front and rear casings are connected, the elastic conductor can be elastically clamped between the board surface of the circuit board and the metallic layer on the inner side of the rear casing so that the metallic layer on the inner side of the rear casing, the upper end of the board surface and the elastic conductor will form an insulating envelope for preventing the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the antenna connector from interfering with other circuits of the cellular phone which are positioned inside the housing of the cellular phone and outside the insulating envelope.
It is an advantage of the present invention that not only is the quantity of metallic shields on the circuit board reduced but also radiation interference between the functional units is reduced.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

Cellular phone with an insulating envelope for preventing leakage of electromagnetic radiation


Systems and methods for optically determining casing collar and/or corrosion locations within boreholes, using the diffraction effect of Faraday crystals through which depolarized continuous light is transmitted within optical fibers.

In the petroleum drilling and production industry, a string of casing pipe is cemented into a wellbore to provide structural integrity for the bore hole and prevent vertical migration of fluids between formation zones. An additional string of pipe with a smaller chamber, commonly known as production tubing, is usually placed within the casing string as a conduit for the production of fluids out of the well. The downhole string of casing pipe, which may be thousands of feet in length, is made of a plurality of pipe sections which are joined end to end by threaded connections. The pipe joints, also called collars, have increased mass as compared to the pipe sections. After the sections of pipe have been cemented into the well, logging tools are run to determine the location of the casing collars. The logging tools used include a pipe joint locator whereby the depth is recorded of each of the pipe joints through which the logging tools are passed. The logging tools generally also include a gamma ray logging device which records the depths and the levels of naturally occurring gamma rays that are emitted from various well formations. The casing collar and gamma ray logs are correlated with previous open hole logs which results in an accurate record of the depths of the pipe joint across the subterranean zones of interest and is typically referred to a tally log.
It is often necessary to accurately determine the location of one or more casing collar joints in a well. This need arises, for example, when it is desired to isolate strata with packers and perforate the well casing between the packers within a producing stratum of the formation, or to identify expansion joints, gas-lift valves, etc.
In order to identify casing collar joints, an appropriate well tool is lowered into well casing on a length of tubing, either coiled or jointed. Given the need for precision as to the depth, pipe joint depth information available from previously recorded joint and tally logs taken during well drilling is not sufficiently accurate. Regardless of the care and precision taken during the drilling process, true depth measurements are affected by tubing elasticity, stretch, thermal expansion, non-linearity of the well bore and the casing itself, and other variable regularities. Similarly, the accurate depth of the tubing string lowered into the well is also subject to error from the same causes. In the case of coiled tubing used to lower well tools, there is a tendency to spiral due to forcing the coil down or along a horizontal section of the well.
A variety of pipe string joint indicators have been developed including slick line indicators that can produce drag inside the pipe string and wire line indicators that send an electronic signal to the surface by the way of electric cable and others. These devices, however, either cannot be utilized as a component in a coiled tubing system or have disadvantages when so used. Wireline indicators do not work well in highly deviated holes because they depend on the force of gravity to position the tool. In addition, the wire line and slick line indicators take up additional rig time when used with jointed tubing.
In recent years, there have been more sophisticated systems and methods devised to improve accuracy of collar locators. These include systems and methods employing magnetic field measurements. While such inventions have advanced the art, there remain problems in the field. For example, certain collar locators operate on the well known principle that an electromotive force (emf) is induced in a coil that is either stationary in a magnetic field that varies in intensity or is moving with respect to a constant magnetic field. Conventional casing collar locators of this type typically rely on the generation of a relatively powerful magnetic field from the locator using either permanent magnet or a coil through which electrical current is passed to induce magnetism. In the latter case, a significant amount of power is required to generate a magnetic field. As the coil passes adjacent to a collar, the flux density of the magnetic field is changed by the additional thickness of the collar. This change is detected by the sensor in the form of a variation in the electromotive force (emf) generated in a coil. The electrical signal is telemetered to the surface and analyzed to determine sensor depth.
Conventional casing collar locators are subject to operational disadvantages and limitations of their effectiveness. They operate, for example, only in a dynamic mode, because the current induced in the coil requires that the sensor move with respect to the casing. If the device is moved too slowly, the changes in emf become subject to signal-to-noise ratio problems, effectively degrading their accuracy. On the other hand, in a rapidly moving sensor, signal strength may be problematic. In any event, the precise location of the sensor is itself lowered by the necessity of pinning down the position of a moving object at any given moment. Other problems are associated with the generation of strong magnetic fields in the wellhole, such as interfering with other instrumentation.
Although methods and apparatus has been known in the past to identify downhole casing collars and problem points of casing corrosion, a need exists for enhanced joint locator and/or pipe corrosions locator information. The foregoing is not intended to identify all of the problems and limitations of previously known systems but should be sufficient to demonstrate that collar and corrosion location systems existing in the past will admit to worthwhile improvement.

Optical fiber system and method for wellhole sensing of magnetic permeability using diffraction effect of faraday rotator


An arthroplasty spinal prosthesis with first and second vertebra contacting members that are configured for engaging opposing vertebrae An articulation is supportively associated with the contacting members to allow relative pivotal and translational motion therebetween over anterior-posterior and lateral pivotal axes, and over anterior-posterior and lateral translational axes. This motion allows the opposing vertebrae to pivot and translate with respect to each other. The articulation is configured to permit translational movement substantially uncoupled from the pivoting movement.

Procedures exist for replacing diseased intervertebral disks in which the disk material is typically removed from between adjacent vertebral bodies, and the adjacent bodies are fused. This has been done with a cage filled with bone or bone forming proteins placed in between the bodies to fix them to each other, generally to support and promote fusion between the adjacent vertebrae.
In arthroplastic procedures, a pivotally articulated prosthesis is implanted between the vertebrae in the site of the diskectomy. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,425,773 and 6,063,121 disclose intervertebral arthroplasty devices that use different ball and socket arrangements to permit movement between the vertebrae. The ball and socket is disposed at center between surfaces of plates that are placed against the vertebrae. The intervertebral disk prosthesis disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,431 has a core and endplates with a spherical articular surface. The core has an edge rim that limits the range of movement.
Other teachings also provide for translational movement between the vertebrae. U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,637, for instance, shows an intervertebral joint with a ball component engaged with a vertebra and with a trough component, which is engaged with another vertebra. The trough component has a flat portion that allows translation of the ball component on one axes. A prosthesis disclosed in Patent Application Publication U.S. 2002/0128715 shows a flexible central body between two rigid opposing shells to allow combined translation and bending.
There is a need for an improved disk prosthesis that provides improved articulation between the vertebrae between which it is implanted.

Arthroplasty spinal prosthesis and insertion device


A plurality of pressure chamber space sections are formed at an interval therebetween on a pressure chamber substrate. The shortest distance between an opening edge of one pressure chamber space section and an opening edge of the other pressure chamber space section of adjacent pressure chamber space sections in a joining surface of a pressure chamber substrate to a communication substrate is 50 μm or more. A recess section is formed to be separated from an ink flow path in a region interposed between these opening edges. At least one of the shortest distance between the opening edge of one pressure chamber space section and the recess section and the shortest distance between the opening edge of the other pressure chamber space section and the recess section is 30 μm or less.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid flow-path member that forms a liquid flow path of a liquid ejecting head such as an ink jet-type recording head, a liquid ejecting head that includes the liquid flow-path member, and a liquid ejecting apparatus that includes the liquid ejecting head, and particularly to the liquid flow-path member, the liquid ejecting head, and the liquid ejecting apparatus in which substrates that configure the liquid flow-path member are joined to each other by an adhesive.
2. Related Art
A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head and ejects various liquids from the ejecting head. An example of the liquid ejecting apparatus includes an image recording apparatus such as an ink jet-type printer or an ink jet-type plotter. Recently, the liquid ejecting apparatus is also applied to various manufacturing apparatuses due to its characteristics of being capable of causing a very small amount of liquid to land at a predetermined position with accuracy. For example, the liquid ejecting apparatus is applied to a display manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an electrode producing apparatus that produces an electrode, such as an organic electro luminescence (EL) display or a field emission display (FED), and a chip manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a bio chip (biochemical component).
The liquid ejecting head as described above may include a flow path of a liquid that is configured to have a plurality of plate-like structural members (substrates) which are joined to each other in a stacked state. Since the liquid flow path has been formed as an extremely fine structure in accordance with a recent trend toward miniaturization of the liquid ejecting head, a silicon substrate (silicon single crystal substrate) that has crystallinity is preferably used as the structural member of the liquid flow path and thus the liquid flow path is formed with high accuracy by anisotropic etching of the substrates (for example, JP-A-2009-165932). In addition, the substrates are joined to each other by using an adhesive. At this time, when the thickness of the adhesive is formed to be great, there is a concern that the adhesive leaks into the liquid flow path side when the substrates are joined to each other. The leaked adhesive spreads along a corner or the like of the flow path and then is attached to a driving portion for performing ejection of a liquid, or the like, which adversely affects the ejection of the liquid in some cases. Therefore, it is desirable that the thickness of the adhesive be formed to be as small as possible and, for example, be 10 μm or less. This is why application of the adhesive on a joining surface of the substrate is performed by transferring (for example, see JP-A-2009-165932). Specifically, the adhesive is applied on a transferring film on a squeegee stand in a uniform thickness by using a squeegee and then the adhesive layer applied on the film is transferred to the joining surface of the substrate. Thus, it is possible to adjust the thickness of the adhesive layer on the substrate to be small. As the adhesive, for example, an epoxy adhesive, a silicon adhesive, or a urethane adhesive is used.
Incidentally, in a method using the above transferring, after a transferring film 56 on which an adhesive 55 is applied is temporarily pasted to a substrate 57 as illustrated in FIG. 7A, the transferring film 56 is detached from the substrate 57 and thereby the adhesive 55 is transferred to the substrate 57 as illustrated in FIG. 7B. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 7C, ridge portions 55a where the adhesive 55 is applied to be relatively thick and trough portions 55b where the adhesive 55 is applied to be relatively thin are formed to be alternately repeated and a phenomenon in which the thickness of the adhesive 55 is non-uniform (hereinafter, also referred to as a waviness phenomenon of the adhesive) occurs. Composition or viscosity of the adhesive 55 affects a degree of thickness differences between or repetition of the ridge portions 55a and the trough portions 55b and the waviness phenomenon may occur in any case of using the various methods of bonding described above. The exact reason of the occurrence of the waviness phenomenon is unknown, but a bonding area is likely to be relatively wide in a configuration in which a very thin adhesive is transferred to the substrate using the transferring film 56. In a case where the substrates are joined to each other in a state in which the thickness of the transferred adhesive 55 is non-uniform due to the waviness phenomenon, a joining force is insufficient at the trough portions 55b and thus joining failure occurs. As a result, a problem arises in that ink leaks between liquid flow paths in the liquid ejecting head which includes a plurality of liquid flow paths.

Liquid flow-path member, liquid ejecting head, and liquid ejecting apparatus


Structure heating systems and methods of making and use. One embodiment has a unitary or integral roof edge heating element with a single heating cable mounted in a heating cable channel running laterally through the heating element and a roof edge heating panel extending from the portion of the heating element bearing the heating cable. Another embodiment includes a single heating cable mounted in a heating element surrounded by a heating element cover. Some embodiments can reduce the amount of heat transfer contact with supporting roof or adjacent structure, reducing heat transfer to the supporting roof or other adjacent structure.

In many parts of the country, winter-like conditions deposit or form snow and ice on structures, such as roofs of buildings. As a result, snow and ice can pile up on a variety of structures, including roof eaves and intersecting valley areas of roofs. The accumulated volume and weight of ice and snow can cause serious, costly damage to the roofing and other structures.
In addition, as snow and ice melt (typically during the daytime), the resulting flow or dripping of water down or from the roof can form a wide variety of dangerous icicles and ice structures as temperatures later drop (typically in the evening and at night). The resulting icicles and ice structures often fall off the roof or other structures and cause serious damage to property as well as humans and animals.
Often, ice dams forms along roof eaves and intersecting valley areas. Such ice dams can form when: (1) snow accumulates on a roof; (2) heat escapes from the building's interior and melts accumulated snow; and (3) outside ambient temperatures are below freezing, which can cause the melting snow from the heated area to re-freeze along a cold overhang of the roof.
Ice dams can cause a wide variety of serious problems. For example, they can create standing water conditions above the ice dam at a roof overhang. This standing water can cause a variety of types of damage, whether due to weight of the water on the roof or water leakage into the structure or by sliding off of the roof.
These serious and dangerous problems obviously have existed for a very long time. A variety of electrical systems have been developed in the past to try to solve them.
In one prior art electrical system, a heat generating cable is placed along the roof edge, valleys, and other locations. Commonly, the cable is laid in a zig-zag configuration and is exposed and visible on the roof top. With such systems, much of the drip edge area remains unheated and can accumulate dangerous icicles and ice formations. Further, the cable is exposed to the elements, thus leading to ultraviolet degradation of the cable over time. The cable also typically is secured to the roofing by clips that are in turn fastened to the roofing by fasteners penetrating the roof. Commonly, these fasteners are also exposed, creating the risk of leaks. Heater cable can often be stripped off the roof by high winds or sliding snow.
One prior art system by Hot Edge, Inc., is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,191,319. This system includes a heat cable mounted along the fascia side of the roof to fascia corner. This is accomplished with a two- or three-piece assembly of thin sheet metal (typically low-conducting steel) attached onto the fascia. First, one sheet metal component is attached along the roof's eave and up the roof. A heater cable is mounted within the first sheet metal component, and the second sheet metal component is attached to the fascia plane and clamped to the first sheet metal component to surround the heater cable. This clamping is procedure is awkward and time consuming but is required to establish tight spring pressure contact and thermal conduction between the heater cable and the sheet metal components.
The Hot Edge's system parts are sized and formed depending on the angles of the roof and the fascias, so there are literally hundreds of different configurations from which to choose when ordering a system. The system includes differing structures for twelve differing roof slopes, and the system may be made with or without foam, round or oval holes or no holes at all, long or short fascia flanges, any of 14 colors, two metal thicknesses, and three kinds of metal. The manufacturer recommends purchaser buys and uses a digital protractor to determine the proper system components for a given application.
Many mistakes can happen between the ordering and manufacturing of the Hot Edge system. The installation is tedious and complicated. Errors can easily happen due to poor manufacturing and fit, resulting in poor heat conduction and poor ice melt performance. A broad upward flange of the first component sheet metal component reaches up along the roof with no attachment, which allows an unacceptable waviness (called "oil canning") in the metal, resulting in an unsightly appearance. The upward extending flange also renders the system vulnerable to damage resulting from wind, and sliding ice and snow.
Another prior art system by Tourangeau (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,858) includes a metal eave panel along the building eave with conduits into which heat cable is inserted. The metal components are made of light sheet metal, and the heat cable conduits are mechanically attached to the metal eave panel during installation. The prior art Tourangeau system is very difficult to install. The heat cable must be inserted into the conduit by pushing from one end. An average residential ice dam, however, may be 20′ to 50′ long or more. Inserting cable to penetrate such a structure is typically a difficult and time consuming task.
In addition, the cross-sectional size of the Tourangeau conduit must be loose enough to allow enough room for the cable to side through the conduit. The excessive space in the conduit required for cable installation inherently leads to a reduction in heat transfer contact between the heater cable and the surrounding conduit, as the self-regulating heater drops down its output to around 50% if it is in "air." Further to this, sheet metal by itself is considered a relatively poor heat conductor. Securement to the roof is questionable, there is nothing discussed in patent about fastening to the roof; options are subject to ice movement and wind damage.
Yet another prior art system, the Bylin RIM System, consists of a single aluminum heating element mounted to a roof edge and a metal panel cover mounted over the top of the heating element. One lateral side of the heating element abuts and surrounds to some degree the roof edge, and the panel cover typically surrounds heating element, including a portion of the lateral side of the heating element surrounding the roof edge. The panel cover then extends upwardly across and in contact with the upper sides of the heating element and past the heating element upwardly along the roof. The upper portion of the panel cover extending upwardly along the roof is commonly secured to the roof by (i) mounting the upper panel portion on a section of the roof to be further covered by roof structure such as shingles, (ii) securing upper panel portion in place with fasteners penetrating the upper portion and roof support structure below, and (iii) then covering the upper panel portion by mounting shingles over it. A heating cable is mounted in serpentine fashion within three cable passages running along the entire length of the heating element. Thus the three lengths of heating cable heat the aluminum heating element, which in turn heats the panel cover to melt ice and snow in contact with cover.
The applicant has discovered and believes that the heating element of the Bylin RIM System presents a number of problems. They include, for example, that its heating element consists of two relatively thin, planar upper panel support and contact sections spanning between three spaced-apart heating cable channels extending downwardly from the upper panel support sections, and the downwardly extending channels also include, at their lower ends, planar roof contacting sections extending laterally from the lower ends. The relatively thin upper panel support sections, which span across the top of the heating element, can unduly warp, provide insufficient support to, and less than optimal contact with, the upper cover panel cover, and also insufficiently transfer heat through these sections to the upper cover panel. Also, the planar roof contacting sections provide heat loss by consuming heat themselves and also transferring heat to the supporting roof structure in contact with these planar roof contacting sections. In addition, this system provides less than possible heat transfer to its lower edge, which also is in contact with and intended to heat the lower edge of the upper cover panel surrounding that edge to a substantial degree. This also provides no electrolytic isolator to prevent corrosion when a copper cover is used to cover its aluminum heating element.
In another somewhat similar prior art system, by Thermal Technologies, includes a sizeable aluminum heating element that has both a substantial top and a substantial bottom section. The bottom section is secured to the roof by fasteners. The top section has two downwardly extending arms that clip within mating upwardly facing slots along the length of the bottom section. The top and bottom sections cooperatively provide four heating cable passages. Two of the passages are sized to accept one size of heating cable. The other two passages are adapted to accept a differing size of heating cable.
The applicant has discovered and believes that the Thermal Technologies system presents a number of problems too. For example, it is heavy and material intensive, which requires excess material and manufacturing costs. Also, when heater cable is mounted within it, its upper and lower heating element sections are spaced apart by the heater cable, and this leads to substantially reduced, or at least less than optimal, heat transfer from the heater cable to and across the upper heating element section as well as to the portions of the lower heating element section that contact the upper cover panel. In addition, the lower heating element section of this system has a large lower surface in contact with the underlying roof structure, causing heat loss by heating of this structure as well as by heat transfer to that contacting underlying roof structure. Further, this system also provides less than possible and desired heat transfer to its lower edge, which also is in contact with and intended to heat the lower edge of the upper cover panel surrounding that edge to a substantial degree.
Other problems with this system include, for example, its upwardly facing slots, into and through which water can leak and debris can accumulate, which can cause accelerated rotting of the heating cable. Similarly, by providing so much contact between the heating element and underlying roof structure, this system can cause water and humidity to build up in that contact area over time, leading to various problems such as dry rot of adjacent roof materials and corrosion or loosening of the roof attachment fasteners securing the heating element fasteners to the roof.
Another prior art ice prevention system is the Zmesh system from Heatizon (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,522). The Heatizon system includes a heatable wire screen installed onto the roof deck and under the roofing materials. In retrofit situations, installation requires removal of the existing roofing, adding to the labor and materials cost. The Heatizon parts are expensive, and the large low-voltage transformers used fail over time; replacement is very expensive. Due to the nature of the installation, the screening is applied under roofing directly onto the roof deck support surface, resulting in a substantial loss of heat down through the cold overhang. Further, when a fastener penetrates both the screening and a metal roof flashing (such as edge trim, valley metal, and plumbing/heating flashings) the system can short out and become inoperable. Further, the Heatizon system utilizes costly additional plies of waterproof roof membranes needed to meet installation requirements. Rooftop installation requires soldering the screening to heavy plate, adding to installation time and opens the possibility of faulty connections. Repair of the Heatizon system requires roofing removal. In addition, due to the folding of the Heatizon screening required at ends of the roof, some roof areas are not heated properly and re-freezing occurs at the eave edge.
Heat from the Heatizon screening must be conducted through the roofing materials. Shingle roofing, however, is not a good conductor, and so the Heatizon system must utilize a large amount of energy to generate the heat needed to reach the melting surface.
Installation requires extending the heatable screen from the eave edge to several feet up the roof surface from the eave edge. It is costly to heat such a broad area, particularly by heating through the roofing material.
Heatizon's prior ice melt system for metal roofs uses a heater wire embedded into a heat sink. This creates an uneven roofing surface at the top edge of the heat sink. It is also expensive to purchase, install, operate, and repair if necessary.
Another prior art system by Heated Roof Panels (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,056) uses a principle similar to Heatizon above. This system provides a heatable silicone pad installed onto the roof deck under the roofing. As noted above, this makes installation onto an existing roof very costly due to removal and replacement of the roof. In addition, under-roofing heating elements are an inefficient and costly to operate. This method also suffers not only must generate enough heat to transfer through the upper roofing structure but also incurs heat loss downward through the roof deck into the cold overhang.
The Heated Roof Panel system also uses an expensive underlayment. Typical heater pads are 10″×6′, 8′, and 10.′ Installers are prohibited from penetrating the pad with roofing fasteners, as doing so permanently damages the heater pad and renders it inoperable. Shingles are applied in horizontal rows (courses) with approximately 5″ exposure. Shingle nailing also corresponds with this 5″ course. Therefore, proper shingle nailing (as required by the shingle manufacturer and thus the building code) require penetrating and damaging the heat pad. The manufacturer's proposed solution instructs use an adhesive to attach the shingles over the pads in lieu of nailing. Such a solution can be a violation of the building code. It also makes the roofing shingles more vulnerable to wind blow-off (more common along the roof's perimeter, and where the heat pads are used), and susceptible to damage due to moving ice and snow. Plug-in connections below the roof surface could have problems, and any repair of this device would require expensive removal of the roofing system. Installation requires application from the eave edge to several feet up the roof. Heating this broad area is costly.
The prior art Step De-icing system (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,869) is much like the Heatizon and Heated Roof Systems and includes a heating element applied under roofing. It shares the same energy inefficiencies due to inordinate heat loss downward through cold roof overhangs and using a poorly conductive element (such as roofing shingles) to conduct heat to the snow surface. Installation on an existing roof requires removal and replacement of the roofing, and any repairs would also require roofing removal.
This Step De-icing product is made of plastic. It has bus wires that carry the current through the system. When these bus wires are damaged (cut on flashings, penetrated with a roofing fastener, etc.), the system is rendered inoperable. Like the Heatizon system, the Step De-icing system requires expensive transformers that wear out and eventually need replacement. Further, the maximum length possible on one circuit is 33 square feet, which make installation of longer lengths more complicated and time consuming. Similarly, installation requires application from the eave edge to several feet up the roof. This broad area is costly to keep heated, and many circuits and transformers are required for even a small job.
Yet another prior art system is the applicant's Radiant Edge system. The applicant believes that the Radiant Edge system was and is a major advance in the state of the art, but it is a heavy duty system that utilized multiple runs of heating cable through multiple heating cable channels in its heating element. It is also relatively heavier and larger than desired to meet cost, shipping, and structural support objectives in certain applications. Further, it does not allow for easy insertion of, or access to, the heating cable after installation of the heating element cover.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Exposed structure heating apparatus and methods of making and use


A system and method for a wireless service provider to provide activation of an application by a subscriber who has a plurality of wireless communications devices in a single subscription account. The subscriber can access the application from any one of the wireless communications devices, but only one activation at a time is allowed for each subscription account.

1. Field
The present invention generally relates to wireless telecommunications and computer networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for providing an infrastructure for service providers to deliver services to a subscriber having multiple wireless communications devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology advancement has made mobile telephones, or wireless communications devices, cheap and affordable by almost everyone. It is not uncommon for a family to own several wireless communications devices, one for each family member. Wireless service providers have also made it easier for plurality of wireless communications devices to bill to a single subscription account. Some wireless service providers allow different wireless communications devices to share a time allotment assigned to a single user account. For example, a user can sign up for a plan that allows 500 minutes of airtime and have this 500 minutes shared by different wireless communications devices used by the family members.
In the above situation, multiple wireless communications devices used by different family members do not compete for the 500 minutes time allotment. Instead, the wireless service provider records airtime used by each wireless communications device and totals the time used by all the wireless communications devices in the same user account. The total time is then compared with the 500 minutes time allotment. There is no limitation on the amount of time that each individual wireless communications device can be used.
However, the situation changes when the wireless service provider charges a monthly subscription fee or an access fee per user per wireless device application. For certain applications, the wireless service providers may require a fixed subscription fee per wireless communications device, and a user needs to subscribe to the application and pay a monthly subscription fee before being allowed to access the application from the wireless communications device. But, paying a subscription fee per wireless communications device becomes expensive if the user wants to access the same application through different wireless communications devices, as in the situation of a family having several wireless communications devices. Paying a subscription fee per wireless communications device also becomes expensive if the user wants to make the application, such as a wireless web-based yellow page service, that is usually accessed sporadically, to all family members. It is unlikely all family members will access the wireless web-based yellow page service simultaneously, thus, paying a subscription fee per wireless communications device becomes economically disadvantageous for the user.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method that allows wireless service providers to grant access to an application from any wireless communications devices registered in a user account. It is thus to such a system and method that the present invention is primarily directed.

System and method for allowing user based application licensing across multiple wireless communications devices


A biological safety cabinet comprising an enclosure having two side walls, a rear wall, a bottom wall defining a work surface, a top wall and a front window, below which access can be had to the work surface, the enclosure defining a work area. A plenum surrounds the enclosure and communicates with the work area. A blower induces a negative pressure within the plenum to circulate contaminated air through a filter within the enclosure, which creates a downwardly directed air curtain of work area air below the window. A vertically oriented outwardly facing channel section is secured to each side wall adjacent the window. Each channel section has a downwardly and forwardly sloping upper end, a rear edge of which extends above a lower edge of the window and a front edge of which extends below the lower edge of the window. The plenum communicates with each channel. Ambient air and air within the air curtain adjacent upper lateral edges of the air curtain are accelerated downwardly by the channels to reduce the tendency of the ambient air and the cabinet side walls to decrease the velocity of the air curtain, thereby strengthening the air curtain and reducing a tendency of the ambient air and the work area air to interchange.

Biological safety cabinets currently in use have a bottom defining a work surface, a top, three sides, and a transparent front window partially covering the front of the cabinet. The cabinets are used as workbenches for biological cell culturing. Within the cabinet contaminate air is circulated through a filter downwardly through the work area onto the work surface, which work area air, after becoming contaminated, is pulled through a plenum, which surrounds a portion of the cabinet, by a blower and forced downwardly back through the filter again. A high efficiency particulate air ("HEPA") filter is generally employed to filter the air.
The window which covers a portion of the front of the cabinet is transparent to allow for viewing the contents of the work area. There is a 10 inch opening between the lower edge of the window and the threshold of the cabinet to allow for insertion of a user's arms and hands and equipment into the cabinet for placing media into, feeding and examining cell cultures on the work surface and other tasks.
The circulation of filtered air downwardly through the work area as work area air and back through the filter generates an "air curtain" which flows downwardly from the lower edge of the window towards the threshold of the safety cabinet. The threshold has an intake grill which communicates with the plenum. A negative pressure is induced within the plenum which draws the filtered air downwardly through the work area as work area air, along the inside surface of the window and downwardly towards the intake grill creating this "air curtain" effect.
A portion of the ambient air external to the cabinet also enters the intake grill at the threshold of the cabinet along the lower edge of the opening between the threshold and the window. The ambient air which enters the grill, the flow of which is generally parallel to the downwardly directed work area air curtain, is approximately the same velocity as the air curtain as the two enter the intake grill. However, near the top of the opening between the threshold and the window, the ambient air has a velocity much less than the air curtain. The work area air curtain must flow over this plane of ambient air having little velocity, and, due to friction, the velocity of the work area air curtain is reduced. Such a reduction in the velocity of the work area air curtain tends to reduce the effectiveness of the air curtain in preventing an interchange of ambient air with work area air. This phenomenon is compounded at the lateral edges of the air curtain since the velocity of the air curtain must be zero at the cabinet sidewalls, and particularly so at the upper lateral edges of the air curtain in the areas near the upper corners formed by the window and the sides of the cabinet. Therefore, when the air curtain of work area air passes the bottom edge of the window, and especially near the lateral edges of the window, the air curtain is decelerated by the ambient air and the cabinet side walls, causing the air curtain to curl outwardly out of the cabinet. Such is undesirable, as work area air is allowed to escape from the cabinet, and the strength of the air curtain is diminished thereby increasing the tendency of external disturbances, such as persons walking past the cabinet, to induce an interchange of ambient air with work area air.
It has therefore been an objective of the present invention to increase the strength of the air curtain in a biological safety cabinet.
It has been another objective of the present invention to accelerate the velocity of the ambient air external to a biological safety cabinet adjacent its air curtain in order that the difference between the velocities of the air curtain and downwardly traveling ambient air is reduced.
It has been yet another objective of the present invention to reduce the tendency of the air curtain to curl outwardly and escape from a biological safety cabinet.


Disclosed is an ink jet printing device including an ink jet print head and a print region surface toward which ink is jetted from the ink jet print head, wherein a height distance between the ink jet print head and the print region surface is adjustable. The ink jet printing device is thus a dual printing device capable of printing both regular height and raised height images such as Braille.

Described herein is a printing device, more particularly an ink jet printing device, capable of forming images on a substrate in either or both of a regular height and a raised height of print on the substrate. Also described is a method of forming images with the printing device. The printing device herein provides for a low cost means enabling printing in raised height format, for example for Braille and raised graph applications, when required.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,763 describes a method for creating raised and special printing effects using ink jet technology. The method includes the steps of depositing a light curable photo-polymer material (18) on the area selected for the printing effects, and curing the area. The amount of material to be deposited corresponds to the area selected for the printing effects and the height of the raised area relative to the medium (22) on which the photo-polymer material (18) is deposited. See the Abstract.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,578 describes a method and device for raised letter or graphics printing, by means of a sprayed wet ink deposition on a print substrate. Subsequent dispensing of thermographic powder thereon, with adherence of the powder only to the wet ink, followed by heating to a fixing temperature of the powder, results in the raised lettering or graphics. A standard portable ink jet printer of the bubble jet type, controlled, with graphics software control, by a personal computer, provides the requisite non-contacting ink deposition. The dispensing cartridges of the ink jet printer are provided with non-contact-drying ink formulations (with two or more separate colors, if desired) for the portion of graphics or printing which is to be in raised form. A thermographic powder dispenser and heating member is connected to the output of the ink jet printer, or integrated therewith for completion of the raised printing process. Raised and non-raised printing is also possible by use of separately dispensed drying and non-drying inks. See the Abstract.
Ink jet printing devices are known in the art. For example, ink jet printing devices are generally of two types: continuous stream and drop-on-demand. In continuous stream ink jet systems, ink is emitted in a continuous stream under pressure through at least one orifice or nozzle. The stream is perturbed, causing it to break up into droplets at a fixed distance from the orifice. At the break-up point, the droplets are charged in accordance with digital data signals and passed through an electrostatic field that adjusts the trajectory of each droplet in order to direct it to a gutter for recirculation or a specific location on a recording medium. In drop-on-demand systems, a droplet is expelled from an orifice directly to a position on a recording medium in accordance with digital data signals. A droplet is not formed or expelled unless it is to be placed on the recording medium. There are generally three types of drop-on-demand ink jet systems. One type of drop-on-demand system is a piezoelectric device that has as its major components an ink filled channel or passageway having a nozzle on one end and a piezoelectric transducer near the other end to produce pressure pulses. Another type of drop-on-demand system is known as acoustic ink printing. As is known, an acoustic beam exerts a radiation pressure against objects upon which it impinges. Thus, when an acoustic beam impinges on a free surface (that is, liquid/air interface) of a pool of liquid from beneath, the radiation pressure which it exerts against the surface of the pool may reach a sufficiently high level to release individual droplets of liquid from the pool, despite the restraining force of surface tension. Focusing the beam on or near the surface of the pool intensifies the radiation pressure it exerts for a given amount of input power. Still another type of drop-on-demand system is known as thermal ink jet, or bubble jet, and produces high velocity droplets. The major components of this type of drop-on-demand system are an ink filled channel having a nozzle on one end and a heat generating resistor near the nozzle. Printing signals representing digital information originate an electric current pulse in a resistive layer within each ink passageway near the orifice or nozzle, causing the ink vehicle (usually water) in the immediate vicinity to vaporize almost instantaneously and create a bubble. The ink at the orifice is forced out as a propelled droplet as the bubble expands.
In a typical design of a piezoelectric ink jet device, the image is applied by jetting appropriately colored inks during four to eighteen rotations (incremental movements) of a substrate, such as an image receiving member or intermediate transfer member, with respect to the ink jetting head. That is, there is a small translation of the print head with respect to the substrate in between each rotation. This approach simplifies the print head design, and the small movements ensure good droplet registration. At the jet operating temperature, droplets of liquid ink are ejected from the printing device. When the ink droplets contact the surface of the recording substrate, they quickly solidify to form a predetermined pattern of solidified ink drops.
Ink jet printing processes may employ inks that are solid at room temperature and liquid at elevated temperatures. Such inks may be referred to as solid inks, hot melt inks, phase change inks and the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,731, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, discloses an apparatus for dispensing solid ink for printing on a substrate such as paper. In thermal ink jet printing processes employing hot melt inks, the solid ink is melted by the heater in the printing apparatus and utilized (jetted) as a liquid in a manner similar to that of conventional thermal ink jet printing. Upon contact with the printing substrate, the molten ink solidifies rapidly, enabling the colorant to substantially remain on the surface of the substrate instead of being carried into the substrate (for example, paper) by capillary action, thereby enabling higher print density than is generally obtained with liquid inks. Advantages of a phase change ink in ink jet printing are thus elimination of potential spillage of the ink during handling, a wide range of print density and quality, minimal paper cockle or distortion, and enablement of indefinite periods of nonprinting without the danger of nozzle clogging, even without capping the nozzles.
The use of ink jet printers in forming raised printed images is also known, for example as indicated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,644,763 and 5,627,578 above. However, these printers for forming raised images are typically dedicated machines designed and used solely for raised print applications, such as forming Braille images. Where a user requires only a certain portion of print jobs to be done utilizing raised print, it can be costly for the user to have two print devices, one strictly for the raised print jobs.
What is still desired is a cost-effective ink jet printing device that is capable of forming both regular print images and raised print images.

Dual printer for regular and raised print


A mega-boule is used in fabricating microchannel plates (MCPs). The mega-boule has a cross-sectional surface including an island section, an inner perimeter section and an outer perimeter section, each section occupying a distinct portion of the cross-sectional surface. The island section is formed of a first plurality of optical fibers, transversely oriented to the cross-sectional surface, each optical fiber including a cladding formed of non-etchable material and a core formed of etchable material. The inner perimeter section is formed of non-etchable material and is disposed to surround the island section. The outer perimeter section is formed of a second plurality of optical fibers, transversely oriented to the cross-sectional surface, each optical fiber including a cladding formed of non-etchable material and a core formed of etchable material, and the outer perimeter section is disposed to surround the island section and the inner perimeter section. The first plurality of optical fibers of the island section form transverse microchannels for an MCP, when the island section is etched, and the second plurality of optical fibers of the outer perimeter section form perforated cleave planes, when the outer perimeter section is etched.

Microchannel plates are used as electron multipliers in image intensifiers. They are thin glass plates having an array of channels extending there through and are located between a photocathode and a phosphor screen. An incoming electron from the photocathode enters the input side of the microchannel plate and strikes a channel wall. When voltage is applied across the microchannel plate, these incoming or primary electrons are amplified, generating secondary electrons. The secondary electrons then exit the channel at the back end of the micrcochannel plate and are used to generate an image on the phosphor screen.
In general, fabrication of a microchannel plate starts with a fiber drawing process, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,314, issued Mar. 27, 1990 to Ronald Sink, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. For convenience, FIGS. 1–4, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,314, are included herein and discussed below.
In FIG. 1 there is shown a starting fiber 10 for the microchannel plate. Fiber 10 includes glass core 12 and glass cladding 14 surrounding the core. Core 12 is made of glass material that is etchable in an appropriate etching solution. Glass cladding 14 is made from glass material which has a softening temperature substantially the same as the glass core. The glass material of cladding 14 is different from that of core 12, however, in that it has a higher lead content, which renders the cladding non-etchable under the same conditions used for etching the core material. Thus, cladding 14 remains after the etching of the glass core. A suitable cladding glass is a lead-type glass, such as Corning Glass 8161.
The optical fibers are formed in the following manner: An etchable glass rod and a cladding tube coaxially surrounding the rod are suspended vertically in a draw machine which incorporates a zone furnace. The temperature of the furnace is elevated to the softening temperature of the glass. The rod and tube fuse together and are drawn into a single fiber 10. Fiber 10 is fed into a traction mechanism in which the speed is adjusted until the desired fiber diameter is achieved. Fiber 10 is then cut into shorter lengths of approximately 18 inches.
Several thousands of the cut lengths of single fiber 10 are then stacked into a mold and heated at a softening temperature of the glass to form hexagonal array 16, as shown in FIG. 2. As shown, each of the cut lengths of fiber 10 has a hexagonal configuration. The hexagonal configuration provides a better stacking arrangement.
The hexagonal array, which is also known as a multi assembly or a bundle, includes several thousand single fibers 10, each having core 12 and cladding 14. Bundle 16 is suspended vertically in a draw machine and drawn to again decrease the fiber diameter, while still maintaining the hexagonal configuration of the individual fibers. Bundle 16 is then cut into shorter lengths of approximately 6 inches.
Several hundred of the cut bundles 16 are packed into a precision inner diameter bore glass tube 22, as shown in FIG. 3. The glass tube has a high lead content and is made of a glass material similar to glass cladding 14 and is, thus, non-etchable by the etching process used to etch glass core 12. The lead glass tube 22 eventually becomes a solid rim border of the microchannel plate.
In order to protect fibers 10 of each bundle 16, during processing to form the microchannel plate, a plurality of support structures are positioned in glass tube 22 to replace those bundles 16 which form the outer layer of the assembly. The support structures may take the form of hexagonal rods of any material having the necessary strength and the capability to fuse with the glass fibers. Each support structure may be a single optical glass fiber 24 having a hexagonal shape and a cross-sectional area approximately as large as that of one of the bundles 16. The single optical glass fiber, however, has a core and a cladding which are both non-etchable. The optical fibers 24, or support rods 24, are illustrated in FIG. 3, as being disposed at the periphery of assembly 30 and surrounding the plurality of bundles 16.
The support rods may be formed from one optical fiber or any number of fibers up to several hundred. The final geometric configuration and outside diameter of one support rod 24 is substantially the same as one bundle 16. The multiple fiber support rods may be formed in a manner similar to that of forming bundle 16.
Each bundle 16 that forms the outermost layer of fibers in tube 22 is replaced by a support rod 24. This is preferably done by positioning one end of a support rod 24 against one end of a bundle 16 and then pushing support rod 24 against bundle 16, until bundle 16 is out of tube 22. The assembly formed when all of the outer bundles 16 have been replaced by support rods 24 is called a boule, and is generally designated as 30 in FIG. 3.
Boule 30 is fused together in a heating process to produce a solid boule of rim glass and fiber optics. The fused boule is then sliced, or diced, into thin cross-sectional plates. The planar end surfaces of the sliced fused boule are ground and polished.
In order to form the microchannels, cores 12 of optical fibers 10 are removed, by etching with dilute hydrochloric acid. After etching the boule, the high lead content glass claddings 14 remains to form microchannels 32, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Also, support rods 24 remain solid and provide a good transition from the solid rim of tube 22 to microchannels 32.
Additional process steps include beveling and polishing of the glass boule. After the plates are etched to remove the core rods, the channels in the boule are metallized and activated.
As described, the current method of manufacturing an MCP includes stacking multiple bundles, and then placing the stacked bundles within a sheath of rim glass. The supporting rods of non-etchable fibers are then used to fill the interstitial space between the bundles of etchable fibers and the rim glass (tube 22) to form a boule. The boule is then sliced at an angle into thin wafers to produce a bias angle. The wafers are then etched, hydrogen fired to form a conduction layer, and metallized to provide electrical contact.
After the boule is sliced into wafers, each wafer is handled individually. A typical size of the wafer is approximately 1 inch diameter. This is much smaller than the wafer size of current semiconductor processing tools and necessitates use of custom fabrication processing tools. Handling each boule wafer individually leads to large amounts of touch labor for a part very sensitive to particle contamination. The yield of these wafers is, therefore, reduced.
The present invention addresses the need for fabricating MCPs using more efficient fabrication methods and for methods that are less subject to contamination and reduced yield.

Perforated mega-boule wafer for fabrication of microchannel plates (MCPs)


Systems and methods for encoding and decoding document images are disclosed. Document images are segmented into multiple layers according to a mask. The multiple layers are non-binary. The respective layers can then be processed and compressed separately in order to achieve better compression of the document image overall. A mask is generated from a document image. The mask is generated so as to reduce an estimate of compression for the combined size of the mask and multiple layers of the document image. The mask is then employed to segment the document image into the multiple layers. The mask determines or allocates pixels of the document image into respective layers. The mask and the multiple layers are processed and encoded separately so as to improve compression of the document image overall and to improve the speed of so doing. The multiple layers are non-binary images and can, for example, comprise a foreground image and a background image.

The amount of information available via computers has dramatically increased with the wide spread proliferation of computer networks, the Internet and digital storage means. With such an increased amount of information has come the need to transmit information quickly and to store the information efficiently. Data compression is a technology that facilitates effectively transmitting and storing of information
Data compression reduces an amount of space necessary to represent information, and can be used for many information types. The demand for compression of digital information, including images, text, audio and video has been ever increasing. Typically, data compression is used with standard computer systems; however, other technologies make use of data compression, such as but not limited to digital and satellite television as well as cellular/digital phones.
As the demand for handling, transmitting and processing large amounts of information increases, the demand for compression of such data increases as well. Although storage device capacity has increased significantly, the demand for information has outpaced capacity advancements. For example, an uncompressed image can require 5 megabytes of space whereas the same image can be compressed and require, for example, only 2.5 megabytes of space for lossless compression or 500 kilobytes of space for lossy compression. Thus, data compression facilitates transferring larger amounts of information. Even with the increase of transmission rates, such as broadband, DSL, cable modem Internet and the like, transmission limits are easily reached with uncompressed information. For example, transmission of an uncompressed image over a DSL line can take ten minutes. However, the same image can be transmitted in about one minute when compressed thus providing a ten-fold gain in data throughput.
In general, there are two types of compression, lossless and lossy. Lossless compression allows exact original data to be recovered after compression, while lossy compression allows for data recovered after compression to differ from the original data. A tradeoff exists between the two compression modes in that lossy compression provides for a better compression ratio than lossless compression because some degree of data integrity compromise is tolerated. Lossless compression may be used, for example, when compressing critical text, because failure to reconstruct exactly the data can dramatically affect quality and readability of the text. Lossy compression can be used with images or non-critical text where a certain amount of distortion or noise is either acceptable or imperceptible to human senses. Data compression is especially applicable to digital representations of documents (digital documents). Typically, digital documents include text, images and/or text and images. In addition to using less storage space for current digital data, compact storage without significant degradation of quality would encourage digitization of current hardcopies of documents making paperless offices more feasible. Striving toward such paperless offices is a goal for many businesses because paperless offices provide benefits, such as allowing easy access to information, reducing environmental costs, reducing storage costs and the like. Furthermore, decreasing file sizes of digital documents through compression permits more efficient use of Internet bandwidth, thus allowing for faster transmission of more information and a reduction of network congestion. Reducing required storage for information, movement toward efficient paperless offices, and increasing Internet bandwidth efficiency are just some of many significant benefits associated with compression technology.
Compression of digital documents should satisfy certain goals in order to make use of digital documents more attractive. First, the compression should enable compressing and decompressing large amounts of information in a small amount of time. Secondly, the compression should provide for accurately reproducing the digital document. Additionally, data compression of digital documents should make use of an intended purpose or ultimate use of a document. Some digital documents are employed for filing or providing hard copies. Other documents may be revised and/or edited. Many conventional data compression methodologies fail to handle re-flowing of text and/or images when viewed, and fail to provide efficient and effective means to enable compression technology to recognized characters and re-flow them to word processors, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, and the like. Therefore, if hard copy office documents are scanned into digital form, current compression technology can make it difficult if not impossible to update, amend, or in general change the digitized document.
Often, compression schemes are tailored to a particular type of document, such as binary, non-binary, textual or image, in order to increase compression. However, a compression scheme tailored for one type of document does not typically perform well for other types of documents. For example, a compression scheme tailored for textual based documents does not generally perform well with an image document. One solution to this problem is to select a compression scheme tailored to the type of document or image to be encoded. However, this solution can fail for digital documents which have more than one type of information in a single document. For example, a digital document can have a hi-color image along with textual information, such as is commonly seen in magazine articles. One approach to overcome this failing is to analyze a document and divide it into various regions. The various regions can be analyzed to determine the type of information contained within the reasons. A compression scheme can be selected for each region based on the type of information. However, this approach can be quite difficult to implement and requires regions of a variety of sizes and shapes which cause difficulties for compression. Another approach is to separate a document into a background and a constant color image. This can be helpful because a different compression scheme can be used for the background and the constant color image. However, the constant color image can cause information to be lost by forcing pixel values to be a constant color.
Additionally, data compression of digital documents should make use of the purpose of a document. Some digital documents are used for filing or providing hard copies. Other documents may be revised and/or edited. Current data compression fails to handle re-flowing of text and/or images when viewed, and fails to provide efficient and effective means to enable compression technology to recognized characters and re-flow them to word processors, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, and the like. Therefore, if hard copy office documents are scanned into digital form, current compression technology can make it difficult if not impossible to update, amend, or in general change the digitized document.


A system for controlling a soft start for a switching power converter includes a digital controller that enables the programming of a plurality of input voltage profiles during a soft start condition of the switching power converter. The programming of the plurality of input voltage profiles is parameterized by a control parameter. A microcontroller determines the control parameter used by said digital controller and operates independently of the operation of the digital controller.

DC-DC power converters are utilized in situations where one DC voltage is converted to another DC voltage. In one application, that associated with PC based systems, the processor requires a fairly low voltage and a fairly high current. Rather than convert an incoming AC voltage down to a very low DC voltage and then route the low DC voltage across a PC board, a higher DC voltage is output by the power supply, routed around to the various components on the PC board and then, proximate to the processor, the voltage is down converted to a very low level on the order of 1.0 V. This requires a conversion device to be disposed proximate to one or more high current integrated circuits on the board.
Typical DC-DC converters are fabricated using a switching supply that utilizes a switched inductor or capacitor configuration with the input DC voltage switched to the input thereof with a periodically waveform operating at a preset switching frequency with a varying duty cycle. By sensing the output voltage and comparing it with a desired voltage, the duty cycle of the waveform can be adjusted to control the amount of current supplied to the reactive components. This control is facilitated with a negative feedback control loop.
There are two types of feedback loops, an analog feedback loop and a digital feedback loop. The analog feedback loop is well understood and provides some advantages over the other type of feedback loop, the digital feedback loop. Each of the feedback loops has associated therewith a voltage sense input for sensing the supply output voltage and a pulse width modulator (PWM) for generating switching pulses for driving switches. The sensed voltage is compared in the analog domain to a desired operating DC voltage to generate an error voltage that is reduced to essentially zero volts at regulation. To compensate for loop phase shift, there is provided a compensator. This provides some phase lead in the feedback loop for the purpose of loop stability. The digital controller portion of the digital feedback loop is similar to the analog feedback loop. The voltage signal sense input utilizes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to convert the output voltage to a digital value and then compare this to a desired voltage to determine the difference voltage as an error voltage. A digital compensator then provides some phase lead to the feedback to maintain stability in the control loop. This digital error voltage is then converted into a varying pulse width for output to the driving switches on the switching converter. This in effect is a digital-to-analog converter. Typical switching converters such as buck converters can utilize single or multiple phases to facilitate the switching operation.
During soft start the input voltage of the power supply is controlled from "0" to the reset point of the power supply. With analog controllers a capacitor is used to control the slope of a line between the "0" point and the reset point. With existing analog controllers only the slope of the line may be charged. It would be desirable to have some manner for more particularly controlling the input voltage during a soft start over that presently provided by analog controllers.

Digital power supply with programmable soft start


Presented is an advance naval ship's stern appendage called an LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion) Lander, Launcher and Lifter (L4 system) to provide for landing and launching of amphibious hovercraft and increase the delivery capacity of amphibious hovercraft by naval vessels. The stern appendage which may be retrofitted on existing vessels or fully designed into new hull forms of new ships. Included in the stern appendage are longitudinally extending cantilever wingwalls, at least one hoistable platform with a backstop fold up gate, a med-moor ramp, drainage ducts, a resistance reduction leading edge, locking pins and a transfer conveyor system for amphibious hovercraft to gain access to and from the ship's decks above the waterline, and a hoisting system for raising and lowering the hoistable platform between said cantilever wingwalls.

There are several discernible naval limitations in deployment and retrieval of LCAC's. No active naval vessel has an operation/capability to recover from sea or pier an LCAC (or similar) and stow the LCAC onto its upper-most deck. No active naval vessel has the capability/operations-to deploy into the sea or onto pier an LCAC from its upper-most deck. There are no naval vessels capable of ferrying LCACs to a theater of operations without the penalty of an inordinate overhead of thousands of on-board naval personnel. There are no naval vessels that are capable with normal operation of deploying and recovering LCACs of greater width than their interior floodable well deck. Since current LCAC operations are oversortied due their fewness, prone to aborted missions due to environmental hardship, time-tabled to maintenance and repair, their potentials are underutilized and undercapitalized.
The inventive LCAC launcher, lander and lifter system (hereafter called the L4 system) is a dramatic innovation in modem amphibious warfare technology. It is as a compelling technology for naval ships as is the retractable landing gear for modem aircraft. The L4 system overcomes the above limitations using a specialized elevator system operable at sea.