Systems, methods, and instructions encoded in a computer-readable medium can perform operations related to evaluating surface data. Geodetic data for a plurality of surface locations are received. The geodetic data may include surface gradient information and/or surface elevation information for multiple surface locations. A set of constraining relationships is generated based on the geodetic data. The set of constraining relationships relates undetermined values of surface elevation movement and/or undetermined values of surface gradient movement to measured surface elevation changes and/or measured surface gradient changes. Some or all of the constraining relationships include multiple undetermined values. Particular values for surface elevation movements and/or particular values for surface gradient movements are calculated for multiple surface locations based on determining a solution to the set of constraining relationships. In some implementations, a minimum curvature surface may be generated deterministically based on the geodetic data and the particular values identified using the constraining relationships.

The present disclosure relates to evaluating surface data.
Geodetic measurements provide information about the Earth's surface. For example, Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements can provide three-dimensional coordinates (e.g., longitude, latitude, and elevation) for locations on the Earth's surface, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) can provide change in position data for locations on the Earth's surface, and tiltmeter measurements can provide tilt data (e.g., indicating change in elevation gradient) for locations on the Earth's surface. In some instances, geodetic measurements over time can be used to detect temporal changes in the Earth's surface. Analyzing temporal changes in the Earth's surface may provide information about subterranean structures, resources, and events occurring beneath the Earth's surface.


The present invention relates to a fermentation process using a L-lysine-producing microorganism having a resistance to an acyl-lysine, a methylated acyl-lysine or both an acyl-lysine and a methylated acyl-lysine. By the process of the present invention, L-lysine may be produced in high yields providing an improved process that reduces the cost of industrially produced L-lysine.

1. Field of the Invention
L-lysine is an important amino acid used as a feed additive for broilers and swine, as examples, because the amount of L-lysine is insufficient in feed crops such as corn. The present invention relates to a improved process for producing L-lysine by fermentation.
2. Discussion of the Background
Previous known conventional methods for producing L-lysine by fermentation comprise imparting properties necessary for acquiring the L-lysine productivity such as homoserrne auxotrophy, S-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine resistance, .alpha.-chlorocaprolactam resistance, for example, to microorganisms belonging to the genus Brevibacterium or the genus Corynebacterium which were isolated from nature (hereafter referred to as wild strains), culturing the microorganisms in a medium containing carbon sources and nitrogen sources, for example, and collecting the L-lysine produced and accumulated in the culture broth by resin adsorption, for example.
Furthermore, a process using improved strains of these L-lysine-producing microorganisms, for example, L-alanine auxotrophs, fluoropyruvate sensitive strains, and L-leucine analog resistant strains, has also been studied but the yield of L-lysine produced by fermentation is not yet satisfactory. Thus, the need exists for the development of a more efficient process for producing L-lysine at lower costs than those previously provided by the conventional processes.
The present invention provides for such a process that efficiently produces L-lysine at lower costs than the previously known processes by enhancing the L-lysine productivity of L-lysine-producing microorganisms or mutants thereof, thereby improving the fermentation yield.

Process for producing l-lysine by fermentation employing a microorganism resistant to acyl-lysine or methylated acyl-lysine


A method for presenting a microfluidic displayed image of a plurality of pixels including providing at least one reservoir containing a meltable ink having a colorant; providing an array of ink delivery chambers from which hot-melted ink is delivered to form a display; and heating the meltable ink and delivering such meltable ink to the ink delivery chambers to form a display image.

Microfluidic pumping and dispensing of liquid chemical reagents is the subject of three U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,585,069; 5,593,838; and 5,603,351, all assigned to the David Sarnoff Research Center, Inc. The system uses an array of reservoirs, with connecting microchannels and reaction cells etched into a substrate. Electrokinetic pumps comprising electrically activated electrodes within the capillary microchannels provide the propulsive forces to move the liquid reagents within the system. The electrokinetic pump, which is also known as an electroosmotic pump, has been disclosed by Dasgupta et al., see "Electroosmosis: A Reliable Fluid Propulsion System for Flow Injection Analyses", Anal. Chem. 66, pp. 1792-1798 (1994). The chemical reagent solutions are pumped from a reservoir, mixed in controlled amounts, and then pumped into a bottom array of reaction cells. The array may be decoupled from the assembly and removed for incubation or analysis.
The above described microfluidic pumping can be used as a printing device. The fluids pumped become ink solutions comprising colorants such as dyes or pigments. The array of reaction cells may be considered ink delivery chambers to be used for picture elements, or pixels, in a display, comprising mixtures of pigments having the hue of the pixel in the original scene. When contacted with paper, the capillary force of the paper fibers draws the dye from the cells and holds it in the paper, thus producing a paper print, similar to a photograph, of the original scene.
The inks that can be used in a microfluidic printing apparatus as described above have been disclosed in the above referenced U.S. Patent Applications. These inks can be dispersions of colorants in common solvents. Examples of such inks may be found is U.S. Patent No. 5,611,847 by Gustina, Santilli, and Bugner. Inks may also be found in the following commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/699,955, 08/699,962, and 08/699,963, all filed Aug. 20, 1996 by McInerney, Oldfield, Bugner, Bermel, and Santilli; 08/790,131, filed Jan. 29, 1997 by Bishop, Simons, and Brick; and 08/764,379, filed Dec. 13, 1996 by Martin. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the solvent is water. Colorants such as the Ciba Geigy Unisperse Rubine 4BA-PA, Unisperse Yellow RT-PA, and Unisperse Blue GT-PA are also preferred embodiments of the invention. The cross referenced application "Stable Inks for Microfluidic Printing" also discloses inks made by solution of dyes in a solvent
A difficulty associated with the above described microfluidic printing is the control of ink transfer from the microfluidic printing apparatus to the receiver. Since the inks are in fluid form at room temperature, the flow of the inks to the receiver needs to be terminated in an accurate fashion so that the correct amount of inks are transferred to the receiver. Otherwise, an excessive amount of ink can be drawn from the ink delivery chambers to the receiver, which tends to produce image defects such as ink coalescence and color bleeding. The ink flow control can be done by mechanically separating the receiver from the microfluidic printing apparatus, which is difficult to control because the flow-rate can vary as a function of temperature. Another approach to control ink flow is to install micromechanical devices such as microvalves, which is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/868,102, filed Jun. 3, 1997. While this method is capable of solving the above described problem, it is desirable to control ink transfer without the additional complexity of the microvalves.

Microfluidic printing using hot melt ink


A video sequence of a pump assembly or of a pump assembly part is produced. The video sequence is evaluated by way of digital signal processing assisted by a data base. A condition of the pump assembly is determined by way of this evaluation. In particular it is determined whether the pump runs in a designated manner or it is determined whether unallowably high oscillations are ascertained in a region, wherein this would indicate a defect, for example bearing damage or an unfavorable speed.

It is not only in medical technology that one strives to recognize occurring errors as early as possible by way of taking certain precautionary measures, in order to deal with such errors to an improved extent, but the same also applies to the field of machines, and in particular to pump assemblies which are discussed here. Whereas in the past, the exchange of a heating circulation pump assembly was not carried out until e.g. a defect occurred, i.e. given a standstill of the pump, nowadays one strives to detect the condition of the pump assembly, and with this, also possible condition changes, by way of regular monitoring, in order to renew parts of the pump assembly or the pump assembly itself, in good time, before a defect leads to the failure of the pump and, with this, mostly of the complete facility.
As in WO 2016/059112 A1, it is counted as belonging to the state of the art, to acoustically detect the condition of a pump assembly, for example of a heating circulation pump. A common smartphone which processes the acoustic data by way of signal processing and examines this data with regard to occurring anomalies or errors can be used for the recording. Bearing damage or cavitation within the pump for example can be detected with the known methods. The advantage of this acoustic error analysis during operation of the pump assembly lies in the fact that the service technician can examine the pump assembly with regard to errors during its running operation, without special sensor devices and without a complicated test set-up.
However, the disadvantage of this method is the fact that it cannot be carried out, or at least not with the demanded reliability, in environments filled with noise.

Method for detecting a condition of a pump assembly


In a method for manufacturing an electronic device, an ion implantation layer is formed at a desired depth from one principal surface of a piezoelectric single crystal substrate by implanting hydrogen ions into the piezoelectric single crystal substrate under desired conditions. The piezoelectric single crystal substrate in which the ion implantation layer has been formed is bonded to a supporting substrate, and a piezoelectric thin film is then formed by the application of heat using the ion implantation layer as a detaching interface. This heated detachment is performed at a reduced pressure less than atmospheric pressure and at a heating temperature determined in accordance with the reduced pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electronic device including a crystalline material, and particularly to a method for manufacturing a thin film piezoelectric single crystal device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various electronic devices, such as semiconductors and piezoelectric bodies, that include a crystalline material having certain electrical characteristics are currently manufactured and used. Among the various electronic devices, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device, a film bulk acoustic resonator (F-BAR) device, and other devices are exemplified as a piezoelectric device. Furthermore, many thin film piezoelectric devices obtained by reducing the thickness of a piezoelectric body have been developed as the piezoelectric device because they support high-frequency Lamb wave devices. A method for manufacturing a piezoelectric thin film for forming such a thin film piezoelectric device is disclosed, for example, in Y. Osugi et al.: "Single Crystal FBAR With LiNO3 and LiTaO3", 2007 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, pp. 873-876 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-534886.
The above-mentioned article, "Single Crystal FBAR With LiNO3 and LiTaO3", discloses a deposition method in which a material defining a piezoelectric single crystal, such as AlN or ZnO, is deposited by sputtering or chemical-vapor deposition (CVD) and a polishing method in which a piezoelectric single crystal substrate having a desired thickness is bonded to a supporting substrate and then thinned by polishing.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-534886 discloses a method called a smart cut method. In the smart cut method, for example, a LiNO3 substrate or a LiTaO3 substrate, particularly a piezoelectric substrate composed of such a material is hereinafter referred to as an LN substrate or an LT substrate, is used as a piezoelectric material and the subsequent processes are performed: (1) an ion implantation layer is formed at a desired depth, where a piezoelectric thin film is to be formed, from the surface of a piezoelectric substrate by implanting ions into the piezoelectric substrate under suitable conditions; and (2) the piezoelectric substrate in which the ion implantation layer has been formed is heated. Through the heating treatment, the piezoelectric thin film is obtained from the piezoelectric substrate using the ion implantation layer as a detaching interface.
However, when the deposition method described above is used, the material is limited to AlN or other suitable material because of, for instance, the film formation temperature or the film formation conditions for obtaining a desired oriented film. Furthermore, since the orientation direction of a crystal axis cannot be controlled, it is difficult to form a crystal in consideration of vibration mode.
When the polishing method described above is used, since the portion other than the piezoelectric thin film is treated as polishing waste, the piezoelectric material is not efficiently used. In addition, it is difficult to form a piezoelectric thin film having a uniform thickness due to polishing conditions, variations in the shape of the original piezoelectric substrate, or other factors, which decreases productivity.
When the smart cut method described above is used, heating is performed in the detachment step. However, since the heating needs to be performed at a high temperature of about 450° C., the following problems arise.
Since the Curie temperature of the piezoelectric substrate is less than the heating temperature, the piezoelectric substrate is heated to a temperature greater than its Curie temperature. As a result, its piezoelectricity deteriorates, and the piezoelectric characteristics of the piezoelectric thin film after detachment are deteriorated.
When an LN substrate or an LT substrate is used as the piezoelectric substrate, oxygen in the piezoelectric substrate diffuses to the outside due to high-temperature heating. Thus, the insulation of the piezoelectric thin film obtained by performing detachment of the piezoelectric substrate near its surface is degraded, and its piezoelectric characteristics are deteriorated.
When an electrode is formed on the surface of the piezoelectric thin film side of the piezoelectric substrate, a metallic element defining the electrode diffuses into the piezoelectric thin film due to high-temperature heating. Consequently, the crystal structure of the piezoelectric thin film is likely to be broken and transmission loss in the piezoelectric thin film is increased.
In the structure in which the piezoelectric thin film is supported by a supporting substrate, the coefficients of linear expansion between the piezoelectric thin film and the supporting substrate need to be as close as possible to each other. Otherwise, breakage is likely to occur at the joint between the piezoelectric thin film and the supporting substrate due to the difference in coefficients of linear expansion during high-temperature heating. This severely limits the materials which can be used for the supporting substrate.
Since the temperature cannot be rapidly increased to the end-point temperature and then rapidly decreased during heating treatment, the higher heating temperature results in longer processing times.

Method for manufacturing piezoelectric device


The present invention provides a packet forwarding method and device. The method comprises: a first node receiving a packet for forwarding, wherein a destination address of the packet is a second node; the first node identifying, from topologies generated in advance, a target topology corresponding to the packet, wherein the topologies generated in advance comprise a first topology and a second topology generated according to an MRT algorithm, and a third topology obtained according to an SPF algorithm, wherein the first topology, the second topology and the third topology are different from one another; and the first node identifying, from the target topology, a next hop node for forwarding to the second node, and forwarding the packet to the next hop node. The present invention achieves an object of combining a segmented routing network and an MRT function.

Fast Re-Route (FRR) based on Maximum Redundant Trees (MRT) is a latest FRR technology that uses two forwarding topologies different from each other as much as possible, which can provide 100% protection against failure on a single-node link or a node. The MRT architecture defines two forwarding mechanisms, i.e., a Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) forwarding mechanism and a network protocol-tunnel (IP-tunnel) forwarding mechanism. The LDP forwarding mechanism distinguishes between the default topology forwarding behavior and the MRT forwarding behavior by different labels, so that the forwarding plane can support the MRT-FRR without any upgrade. The IP-tunnel forwarding mechanism has to consume a dedicated MRT loopback address to support forwarding. Nevertheless, it can also enable the forwarding plane to support MRT-FRR without any upgrade. In contrast, the LDP forwarding mechanism is more desirable. Therefore, the default MRT profile in the MRT architecture uses the LDP forwarding mechanism. Currently, no other MRT profiles have been defined.
With segmentation routing technology, a node can specify a forwarding path for a packet, rather than forwarding it through a shortest path. By adding information about a Segment List composed of Segment IDs to the packet, it can eliminate the need to maintain status information of each path on an intermediate node. Segmentation routing primarily extends the IGP to support advertising and learning segment IDs. Generally, in a network where the segmentation routing is deployed, the LDP and a Resource ReSerVation Protocol-Traffic Extension (RSVP-TE) are no longer needed. In the segmented routing network, the known FRR technology is Topology Independent Loop Free Alternate (TI-LFA), but the protection rules defined by the TI-LFA are rather complicated and immature.
The introduction of the MRT function in the segmented routing network will be of great significance. However, there has been no literature discussing this aspect so far. Therefore, in the related art, the segmented routing network cannot be combined with the MTR function.


The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions of nitrites such as inorganic nitrites, or any pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates, or prodrugs thereof, and the medical use of these compositions. The pharmaceutical compositions, which can be formulated for oral administration, can provide immediate release or extended release of the nitrite ion (NO2−). The pharmaceutical compositions of the invention are useful, for example, for modulating brain function, in particular improving mood and/or psychological state, in the treatment of disorders of brain development, and in the treatment and/or reduction of pain.

The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compositions of nitrites and the medical use of these compositions.
Nitric oxide (NO) serves as a neurotransmitter between nerve cells and has a general role in redox signaling. Unlike most other neurotransmitters that only transmit information from a presynaptic to a postsynaptic neuron, the small, uncharged, and fat-soluble nitric oxide molecule can diffuse widely and readily enters cells. Thus, it can act on several nearby neurons, even on those not connected by a synapse. At the same time, the short half-life of NO means that such action will be restricted to a limited area, without the necessity for enzymatic breakdown or cellular reuptake. NO is also highly reactive with other free radicals, lipids, and proteins.
NO-cGMP cascade is involved in learning and memory through the maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP). Thus, NO is an important regulator and mediator of many processes in the brain and a balance in NO levels is critical in maintaining healthy signaling and brain development, and/or maintaining a balance in psychological state.
The role of NO has also been implicated in pain, however it remains unclear as to whether inhibition of NO or production of NO is beneficial in the treatment of pain. In some studies, it has been proposed that several pain-related pathways benefit from the production of NO. In particular, the blood-flow pathway, which is normalized in the presence of NO, may help to decrease ischemic pain; the nerve transmission pathway, which decreases the irritation of the nerves in the synovium, bone, and soft tissues; the opioid receptor pathway, which might stimulate the body's normal pain reduction pathways; and the anti-inflammation pathway. Other studies proposed that the inhibition of NO is beneficial in the treatment of pain. In these studies, NO is believed to be involved in the activation of cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1) and regulation of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expression in inflammatory responses to increase prostaglandin release thereby inducing peripheral hyperalgesia and inflammation. NO generated by activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors has been implicated in synaptic plasticity and many of these mechanisms are involved in central sensitization, a common problem in chronic pain. Certain studies have also suggested that NO mediates the peripheral and central anti-nociceptive effects of analgesic compounds such as opioids, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need to understand the biological functions of NO and to investigate therapeutic strategies that provide a source of NO for maintaining normal brain functions and for the treatment and/or reduction of pain.

Pharmaceutical formulations of nitrite and uses thereof


The connector includes an annular connector body that is substantially comprised of copper, and an annular insert portion made of brass and clad with tin. Apertures are made through the wall of the insert portion. The insert portion is configured to have an exterior frictionally fit within the connector body. Inserting a stranded aluminum cable into the annular insert portion and crimping the connector body, the insert portion and the cable, causes the outer strands of the stranded aluminum cable to be extruded through the plurality of apertures, removing oxide film on the exterior surface of the aluminum cable and forming a sealed electrical connection between the aluminum cable and the copper connector body.

Major problems are related to oxide film existent on aluminum wire surfaces, which are difficult to break and to establish a good electrical connection and the galvanic corrosion process while both aluminum and copper conductors are in contact.
Electrical power distribution systems frequently include a mixture of aluminum and copper conductors at various portions of the distribution system. When used in contact with one another, aluminum and copper conductors, a corrosion process erodes the aluminum cable. This corrosion is typically caused where the copper and aluminum interface is exposed to the outdoor environment, or to other corrosive environment.
Copper cables have greater current capacity and are easier to connect, since its oxide layer surface is easily broken. Aluminum cables are lighter and cheaper, while its current capacity is about just 60% of the equivalent copper cable size. Typical power networks are assembled using aluminum cables for low voltage distribution and copper cables to feed residential and commercial customers. Copper cables are commonly used for residential and commercial customers since the metering equipment electrical contacts are normally made from copper alloys. In order to avoid corrosion problems with the power meter connectors, copper cables are preferred, notwithstanding its higher cost.
Conversely, aluminum conductors have an undesirable characteristic of forming a high resistance film of aluminum oxide on the outside of the conductor when it is exposed to the air. Aluminum oxide is a fast forming, hard, non-conductive coating that develops on the surface of aluminum conductors exposed to air. Unlike copper oxides, aluminum oxide is not visually obvious and should be assumed to exist in all cases of bare aluminum. To prevent high-resistance connections, which can be fire hazards, it is necessary to remove from a conductor's surface prior to making a connection. Wire brushing and the immediate application of an oxide inhibitor are recommended to prevent the reformation of the non-conductive coating prior to connector installation. An alternate method that is used to achieve low contact resistance is for the connection methodology to physically break through the aluminum oxide layer as the connection is being made. Even with these types of connections, however, cleaning the conductor is still recommended prior to installation.
The typical solution for oxidation is conductor preparation by cleaning its surface. However, after the oxide is cleaned, by scraping or wire-brushing the conductor, the oxidation reforms quickly. Unless the connection is properly prepared, a high resistance contact is the result and heating is likely to occur.
An oxidation inhibitor compound, e.g., grease, is frequently applied to the conductor after the connection is made, to provide an oxygen barrier for the connection, to avoid new oxide layer formation.
In addition, aluminum also suffers from other forms of corrosion, e.g., creep corrosion.
What is needed is a system and/or method that satisfies one or more of these needs or provides other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments that fall within the scope of the claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the aforementioned needs.

Copper to aluminum bimetallic termination


An improved system and method for specifying physical locations when using applications run on navigation systems or other computer platforms that provide navigation- or map-related functions. When requesting a navigation- or map-related function from such an application, a user specifies a physical location using a keyword instead of specifying the physical location conventionally, such as by street address. A keyword database relates keywords to physical locations. The application uses the keyword database, or a copy thereof, to find data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword specified by the user. Preferably, physical locations are defined in the keyword database in terms of data in a corresponding navigable database. The application then performs the requested navigation- or map-related function using the data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword. The keyword database is built using input from users. An online system is provided that users can access to associate keywords with physical locations. A user accessing the online system is presented with a map from which a physical location can be selected. A keyword, which may be selected by the user, is associated with the selected physical location. The keyword is stored in the keyword database along with data indicating the associated physical location. Keywords can be related to each other in order to facilitate navigation applications that involve routing through multiple locations.

The present application is related to the copending application entitled xe2x80x9cMETHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FORMING A KEYWORD DATABASE FOR REFERENCING PHYSICAL LOCATIONSxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 09/586,206, and the copending application entitled xe2x80x9cMETHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING KEYWORDS TO SPECIFY LOCATIONS FOR NAVIGATION- AND MAP-RELATED SERVICESxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 09/586,320, both filed on even date herewith, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to systems that provide users with navigation-related or map-related features and services and more particularly the present invention relates to an innovation that facilitates the specification of physical locations when using systems that provide such features or services to users.
Various technologies have been developed that provide navigation-related and map-related services. For example, vehicle navigation systems can determine where a vehicle is located and also can provide directions to travel to a desired destination. Also, Internet sites are available that provide maps, directions for traveling to a desired destination from a specified starting point, and other map- or navigation-related services. Further, hand-held devices are available that can determine one""s position and a map of one""s surroundings.
Despite the various navigation-related and map-related technologies that exist, there continues to be room for improvement. One area in which there is room for improvement relates to designating a physical location when using a navigation-related or map-related device, service, or technology.
For example, when using a navigation system, Internet mapping service, or other system or service, a user often needs to specify a physical location. For example, to obtain route guidance for traveling to a destination, a user is required to specify a physical location as the desired destination. Conventional navigation systems, Internet mapping services, and the like, may provide a means by which a user can input a street, street address, cross street, or location name (e.g., O""Hare Airport) in order to specify a physical location. Although specifying a physical location in this manner works well, difficulties can occasionally arise. For example, addresses may be unknown or difficult to remember. Also, addresses can sometimes be awkward to input into a navigation system. Furthermore, relatively few locations have names by which they are known. Even further, not all points of interest may be included in the database used by the navigation system or mapping service.
Another consideration that relates to the use of address information to specify a physical location is that address information is not available for all regions. Accurate address information can be difficult to collect and maintain. Address schemes that exist in different countries, or even within the same country, are complex and inconsistent, making it difficult to create and use products for computer-assisted navigation- and map-related services. Even when address information is available, the information is not always up-to-date.
Accordingly, there is a need for a way to facilitate the specification of a physical location when obtaining navigation-related or map-related features from a computer-based system that provides such features.
To address these and other objectives, the present invention comprises an improved method and system for specifying physical locations when using applications run on navigation systems or other computer platforms that provide navigation- or map-related functions. When requesting a navigation- or map-related function from such an application, a user specifies a physical location using a keyword instead of specifying the physical location conventionally, such as by street address. A keyword database relates keywords to physical locations. The application uses the keyword database, or a copy thereof, to find data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword specified by the user. Preferably, physical locations are defined in the keyword database in terms of data in a corresponding geographic database. The application then performs the requested navigation- or map-related function using the data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword.
The keyword database is built using input from users. An on-line system is provided that users can access to associate keywords with physical locations. A user accessing the on-line system is presented with a map from which a physical location can be selected. A keyword, which may be selected by the user, is associated with the selected physical location. The keyword is stored in the keyword database along with data indicating the associated physical location.

Navigation applications using related location-referenced keywords


A surgical apparatus for permitting access to tissue includes an elongated introducer and a surgical port. The introducer includes an outer wall segment defining a longitudinal axis, a longitudinal port passage extending therethrough and a longitudinal slot in communication with the port passage. The introducer is dimensioned for at least partial introduction within an opening in tissue. The surgical port includes a port body mounted to the introducer with one of its leading and trailing ends disposed within the port passage and with the intermediate segment extending through the longitudinal slot and the other of the leading and trailing end external of the elongated introducer. The port body is dimensioned to be advanced within the port passage for deployment through the opening in the tissue and is adapted to transition from a compressed state to a released state.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical access ports, and, more particularly, relates to an introducer and associated compressible port adapted to facilitate positioning of the port within tissue in connection with a laparoscopic surgical procedure.
2. Related Art
Single Port Access (SPA™) surgery, also known as Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS™) or One Port Umbilical Surgery (OPUS) or Natural Orifice TransUmbilical Surgery (NOTUS), is an advanced minimally invasive surgical procedure in which a clinician operates almost exclusively through a single entry point, typically a port positioned in a patient's navel. Surgical procedures of this type are like many laparoscopic surgeries in that the patient is under general anesthesia, insufflated and laparoscopic visualization is utilized. Typically, the port is inserted through an incision (e.g., 20 mm incision) via a surgical instrument, e.g., a port introducer device in the form of a Kelly clamp.
Once a skin incision is made inferior to a patient's umbilicus, the patient is typically prepared for laparoscopic surgery using the Kelly clamp method. The Kelly clamp method involves spreading, separating, and dividing subcutaneous tissue (i.e., dissection). A surgeon's ability to properly place a port, e.g., a SILS™ port, may present practical challenges due to the limited length of the Kelly clamp's arm and handle. Furthermore, since the device is held in the palm of a surgeon's hand, sufficient visibility may not be possible using this technique without overly dilating the incision and compromising the seal. Not only is proper placement of a SILS™ port challenging using the Kelly clamp method, but removal of the Kelly clamp after successful installation may also be difficult. In addition, improper loading of the Kelly clamp may result in the clamp's metal tips coming into unintentional contact with the surgical area, which may result in injury including scarring, pain, and/or longer convalescence.

Surgical introducer and access port assembly


A charging device includes: a discharging electrode; a casing surrounding the discharging electrode and being provided with an opening in a member-to-be-charged side; a grid electrode provided in the opening and provided with a mesh portion having a plurality of through holes; a cleaning brush, including a base material and a plurality of fibers held on the base material, for cleaning the grid electrode by entrance of a part of the fibers into the through holes while contacting a surface of the grid electrode in the discharging electrode side; a shutter capable of shielding between the member-to-be-charged and the grid electrode; and a moving mechanism for moving the cleaning brush and the shutter along a longitudinal direction of the grid electrode. When the shutter is moved in a closing direction, the cleaning brush moves in advance of a leading end portion of the shutter with respect to the closing direction by a predetermined interval or more.

An image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic type in which a photosensitive member is electrically charged by a corona charger. Especially, a product using the corona charger which is called scorotron including a grid electrode for stabilizing a charge potential of the photosensitive member has been known. Here, the grid can be divided into two types depending on a shape of the grid. One is a wire grid in which a wire is stretched in a longitudinal direction of an opening, and the other is an etching grid in which a mesh having many holes in a flat plate is formed by etching. In most of the etching grids, for the purpose of improving charging uniformity, thin lines constituting the mesh are oblique to a discharging wire.
The etching grid has an advantage, compared with the wire grid, such that the opening is covered in a wide area (low opening (aperture) ratio), and therefore the photosensitive member is easily controlled to a target potential (high potential convergence property). On the other hand, in the etching grid, compared with the wire grid, a foreign matter (a toner, an external additive, an electric discharge product or the like) is liable to be deposited on the grid.
On the other hand, in the corona charger, when the electric discharge product (ozone, nitrogen oxide or the like) generated with electric discharge is deposited on the photosensitive member, the electric discharge product takes up moisture in a high-humidity environment and causes image defect which is called image flow. Therefore, a constitution in which with respect to a cleaning member for cleaning a surface of the grid electrode and an opening of the corona charger, the grid electrode is cleaned and the same time the opening is shielded by moving a sheet-like shutter in a longitudinal develop of the opening is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2012-063592.
In a constitution in which a brush for cleaning the grid and the shutter are provided, when a commonality between the shutter and a driving source is achieved, the number of driving sources (motors) can be suppressed and therefore the commonality is preferred. On the other hand, after the grid is cleaned by the cleaning brush, the opening cannot be closed by the shutter. For this reason, unless a positional relationship between the shutter and the cleaning brush is taken into consideration, the foreign matter deposits on the shutter.
Especially, in a constitution in which the cleaning brush is caused to enter the etching grid to clean the etching grid, depending on shapes of the cleaning brush and the etching grid, the foreign matter deposits on the shutter. When the foreign matter deposits on the shutter, there is a liability that an agglomeration of the deposited foreign matter drops on the photosensitive member by vibration or the like during movement of the shutter, and therefore the deposition of the foreign matter is not preferred.


A blower apparatus, which is used with a lawnmower which has an engine and a cutting blade housing, includes a blower assembly supported by the lawnmower. The blower assembly is located distal to the cutting blade housing and is powered by the lawnmower engine. A transport conduit has a transport-conduit input end and a transport-conduit output end which is connected to the cutting blade housing. A pressurized blower conduit has a blower-conduit input end and a blower-conduit output end which is connected to the blower assembly. The blower-conduit output end is connected to the transport conduit at an intermediate position between the transport-conduit input end and the transport-conduit output end. A top loading container assembly is supported by the lawnmower, and the top loading container assembly is connected to the transport-conduit output end. The blower-conduit output end is connected to the intermediate position of the transport conduit at an acute connection angle between the transport conduit and the blower-conduit output end. The blower assembly includes an impeller connected to the engine. A blower housing is supported by the lawnmower and houses the impeller. The blower-conduit input end is connected to the blower housing, and the blower housing includes a plurality of air inlets. The top loading container assembly includes a container, a container-support bracket which supports the container, fasteners for connecting the container-support bracket to the lawnmower, and a cover assembly supported by the container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to power lawnmowers and, more particularly, to power lawnmowers that have provisions for collecting lawn cuttings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When lawns are cut, sometimes the cuttings are left on the lawns where they are recycled naturally. At other times, the cuttings are collected to be disposed of or to be recycled elsewhere. A number of ways are available for collecting lawn cuttings. The simplest is to rake up the cuttings. This way is simple, yet very time consuming and requires a great amount of extra work. Another approach for collecting cuttings is to have a collection container associated with lawnmower. In this respect, throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to lawnmowers that have associated containers for the collection of lawn cuttings, and the following U.S. Pat. Nos. are representative of some of those innovations: 4,054,023, 4,996,829, 5,042,241, 5,125,222, 5,179,824, and 5,365,727. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,023 discloses a riding lawnmower that has a vertically oriented, top loading collection container. The collection container receives cuttings through a conduit which extends from the collection container to the housing which houses the cutting blade. The motion of the cutting blade creates the energy to lift the cuttings and a stream of carrier air from the lower level of the cutting blade housing to the elevated level of the top of the collection container. During use of this lawnmower, the cutting blade housing may become clogged with lawn cuttings. This is especially true when the lawn is especially long. Such a clogging of the cutting blade housing can impede reduce the lifting power and impede the flow of cuttings from the cutting blade housing to the collection container. To avoid the effects of clogging of the cutting blade housing on the transport of cuttings to the collection container, it would be desirable if a device for collecting lawn cuttings did not depend upon lifting pressure developed in a cutting blade housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,829 discloses a lawnmower that has a blower and blower housing that are contained in the cutting blade housing and that are in close proximity to the cutting blade. As a result, cuttings that are not readily lifted by the blower can readily clog the blower. Moreover, the presence of the blower and the blower housing in the cutting blade housing can detract from optimum performance of the cutting blade. Preferably, a cutting blade housing should be designed for optimum performance of a cutting blade without consideration of a blower or blower housing. In this respect, it would be desirable if a lawnmower cutting collection device were provided which has a blower and blower housing which are not contained in a cutting blade housing.
Each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,042,241, 5,125,222, 5,179,824, and 5,365,727 discloses a lawnmower that has a bag for collection of cuttings wherein the collection bag is oriented substantially horizontally so that the opening for the collection bag is not located vertically above the bottom of the collection bag. As a result, the opening of the collection bag has a tendency to clog with cuttings. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,054,023 and 4,996,829, a vertically oriented collection container that receives cuttings through a container opening that is oriented vertically above the bottom of the container provides for an efficient mode of cutting collection. With such a collection container, the pull of gravity helps cuttings clear the container opening thereby helping to prevent clogging of the container opening. In this respect, it would be desirable if a lawnmower cutting collection device were provided which has a collection opening that is oriented vertically above the bottom of a collection container.
A blower device has input air supply and an air output. With the air blowers disclosed in each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,054,023 and 4,996,829, the input air supply is laden with lawn cuttings. Burdening the input air supply with cuttings reduces the efficiency and lifting power of the blower. In this respect, it would be desirable if a lawnmower cutting collection device were provided with a blower that has an input air supply that is free of lawn cuttings.
With each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,054,023 and 4,996,829, lawn cuttings are pushed from the cutting blade housing to a collection container. The pushing effect contributes to the tendency of the cuttings to clog the transport conduit to the collection container. In this respect, it would be desirable if a lawnmower cutting collection device were provided which pulls lawn cuttings from the cutting blade housing.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use blower-containing devices for collecting lawn cuttings, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a lawnmower blower apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) does not depend upon lifting pressure developed in a cutting blade housing for transporting cuttings; (2) has a blower and blower housing which are not contained in a cutting blade housing; (3) has a collection opening that is oriented vertically above the bottom of a collection container; (4) provides a blower that has an input air supply that is free of lawn cuttings; and (5) pulls lawn cuttings from the cutting blade housing. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique lawnmower blower apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.


In a power-and-free conveyor system an anti-backup devise for attachment at a work station comprising a block, and a stop and a cam mounted on the block and a spring for applying force to the cam to frictionally engage a wheel of a trolley on the power-and-tree system.

The invention relates to power-and-free conveyor systems of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,189, issued Sep. 18, 1973. The invention is particularly applicable to work carriers having front and rear trolleys constructed so as to permit close-packing or accumulation, and which pass through transfer points.
Among the problems with power-and-free systems is the danger of a carrier's inadvertently backing up. This can be overcome by the use of anti-backup means mounted on the carrier frame, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.'s 3,159,189 and 3,354,834. However, those systems have slippage and, because they have cams which ride along the tracks, substantial wear of the anti-backup device occurs.

Anti-backup device for power-and-free conveyor systems


Method for adjusting the filter characteristic of a microwave ceramic filter which has coupled ceramic resonators, that are ceramic resonators configured in a ceramic body, varies the distance between input/output connections and a grounding connection.

The present invention relates to a microwave ceramic filter having a ceramic body with at least two resonator bores and to a method for adjusting the filter characteristic of this filter.
Microwave ceramic filters are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,146,193 and 5,369,011. These filters have a ceramic body with at least two resonator bores, which are coupled to one another via the ceramic body and which form ceramic resonators. The ceramic body is metallized all-around including the inside surface of the resonator bores, whereby input/output connections are formed on a surface by recesses or openings in the metallization.
Given a filter of the described species, it is further known from the cited printed patent specifications that the filter characteristic has at least one stop frequency, which can be influenced by the size of the recess surrounding the input/output connections.
In practical operation, it is frequently the case that users of HF filters, e.g. in the mobile radio telephone service, construct different heterogeneous receivers having different intermediate frequencies. This frequently forces the producers of such filters to short-term adapt the mirror suppression of the filter to the requirements of the customer or, in the most unfavorable case, to construct it for selective filtersxe2x80x94predominantly multipolar filtersxe2x80x94which are suitable for different attenuation requirements and which, however, are correspondingly complicated to produce and therefore expensive. Besides, microwave ceramic filters have the disadvantage that higher selectivity also conditions higher insertion attenuation.
An object of the present invention is to create a microwave ceramic filter of the relevant type, wherein the notch frequency can be shifted to the higher frequency edge of the filter characteristic, so that a better selection is obtained at the selected image frequency without the insertion attenuation suffering.
This object is achieved by a microwave ceramic filter having at least two ceramic resonators, which are coupled to one another and which are formed by resonator bores provided in a ceramic body and by an all-around metallization of the ceramic body and of the inside surfaces of the resonator bores, the metallization being partially left open for forming input/output connections and a ground or grounding connection, the improvement being a non-metallized strip extending from a first edge of the ceramic body to a second edge of the ceramic body, which is opposite the first edge, between the input/output connections and the grounding connection, and by a method for adjusting the filter characteristics of the microwave ceramic filter by adjusting a width of the non-metallized strip extending between the input/output connections and the ground connection from the first edge to the second edge. An advantageous further development of the invention includes an additional or further ground connection being provided between the input/output connections.


A method is disclosed for obtaining the location of a landmark in an MR image of a brain. In a first step, a region of interest in a plane within the MR image containing the landmark is defined. In a second step, the ROI is binarised into foreground and background voxels based on at least one threshold selected using anatomical knowledge. In a third step a set of object voxels is identified from the foreground voxels, excluding voxels which were only classified as object due to proximity of cortical and non-cortical structures. This can be done by morphological processing which reclassifies voxels which may have been incorrectly classified as object, followed by restoring voxels due to the partial volume effect and/or morphological erosion/opening. In a fourth step, an automatic process is then carried out to identify one or more landmarks in the modified binarised image.

The Talairach transformation is widely used for analysis of neurological images. It involves identifying eight landmarks, which are used to define a coordinate system. The Talairach landmarks subdivide the brain into 12 cuboids, and the Talairach transformation is to warp the images within each cuboid linearly. In this way the brain images are normalised by a three-dimensional piece-wise linear warping. This scheme has several applications, in particular because it makes it possible to compare neurological images from different individuals. One improvement on this scheme, while following its conceptual rationale, is the improvement of the definitions of the landmarks, to give "modified Talairach landmarks" (as defined in the article "Modified Talairach Landmarks", W. L. Nowinski, Acta Neurochirurgica, 2001, 143, p 1045-1057, In summary, the modified Talairach landmarks are derived by introducing three intercommissural distances: central, internal and tangential. Although these modified Talairach landmarks are conceptually equivalent to the original Talairach landmarks, they have several advantages and overcome some limitations of the original Talairach landmarks.
A principal advantage of the Talairach transform is its simplicity. Although numerous non-linear image registration techniques are known, in principle providing a higher accuracy, the non-linear techniques have limitations which make them difficult to use beyond a research environment. In particular, a prohibitively high computational time is required. Whereas the Talairach transformation can be performed in less than a second in a standard personal computer, some non-linear methods require days of computation. More fundamentally, the non-linear methods are conceptually complex, and must be treated as "black boxes", which limits their clinical acceptance.
Furthermore, there is no established methodology for validation of the non-linear registration techniques.
One drawback of the Talairach transformation, however, is that the identification of the landmarks has not so far been automated reliably, so that when using conventional software which employs the Talairach transformation the landmarks still have to be identified by user interaction (e.g. R. W. Cox, "AFNI: Software for Analsysis and Visualization of Functional Magnetic Resonance Neuroimages", Computer and Biomedical Research, 1996, 29, p 162-173). Quite apart from the time the interactive identification of the landmarks takes, different individuals are liable to locate the landmarks in slightly different positions, which reduces the robustness of the method.

Automated method for identifying landmarks within an image of the brain

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


A semiconductor device includes an input buffer buffering an external clock signal to supply an internal clock signal. The semiconductor device further includes a timing-stabilization circuit which generates a plurality of phase-adjusted clock signals by adjusting delays of a plurality of variable-delay circuits as the plurality of variable-delay circuits delay the internal clock signal, and an overflow-detection circuit which detects overflow when at least one of the plurality of variable-delay circuits has a delay set to an upper end of an adjustable delay range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor devices, and particularly relates to a semiconductor device equipped with a timing-stabilization circuit such as a DLL (delay-locked loop) circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration in which a DLL circuit is used as a timing-stabilization circuit for data-input operations.
The configuration of FIG. 1 includes an input buffer 501, a variable-delay circuit 502, a clock-control circuit 503, an input circuit 504, a frequency divider 505, a phase comparator 506, a delay-control circuit 507, a variable-delay circuit 508, a dummy-input circuit 509, a dummy-input buffer 510, and a lock-on detector 511.
A clock signal CLK input to the input buffer 501 is compared with a reference-voltage level Vref, and is output as an internal-clock signal i-clk from the input buffer 501. The internal-clock signal i-clk is delayed by the variable-delay circuit 502 by an appropriate delay amount, and is supplied to the input circuit 504 via the clock-control circuit 503. The input circuit 504 uses the internal-clock signal i-clk as a synchronization signal to latch input data. The latched input data is then supplied from the input circuit 504 to internal circuits of the semiconductor device.
The signal path from the input of the clock signal CLK to the input circuit 504 inevitably introduces a delay which is inherent to the circuit, so that the input data supplied from the input circuit 504 to the internal circuits has a timing displacement relative to the input clock signal CLK. In order to ensure that the input data supplied to the internal circuits is adjusted to have a predetermined timing relation with the clock signal CLK supplied from an external source, a DLL circuit mainly comprised of the phase comparator 506, the delay-control circuit 507, and the variable-delay circuit 508 is employed.
The internal-clock signal i-clk is subjected to frequency division in the frequency divider 505 to generate a dummy-clock signal d-clk and a reference-clock signal c-clk. The dummy-clock signal d-clk is supplied to the variable-delay circuit 508. The variable-delay circuit 508 is controlled to delay the dummy-clock signal d-clk by the same delay amount as that applied by the variable-delay circuit 502. The dummy-clock signal d-clk delayed by the variable-delay circuit 508 is then supplied to the phase comparator 506 via the dummy-input circuit 509 and the dummy-input buffer 510. Here, the dummy-input circuit 509 has the same delay characteristics as the input circuit 504, and the dummy-input buffer 510 has the same delay characteristics as the input buffer 501.
The phase comparator 506 makes a comparison of the reference-clock signal c-clk with the clock signal supplied from the dummy-input buffer 510. To ensure that both clock signals have the same phase, the phase comparator 506 controls the delay amount of the variable-delay circuit 508 via the delay-control circuit 507. In this manner, the clock signal supplied from the dummy-input circuit 509 is adjusted so as to have a predetermined timing relation with the input clock signal CLK.
When the clock-control circuit 503 is ignored, a total delay of the input buffer 501, the variable-delay circuit 502, and the input circuit 504 is equal to a total delay of the dummy-input buffer 510, the variable-delay circuit 508, and the dummy-input circuit 509. Because of this, the input data supplied from the input circuit 504 ends up having the predetermined timing relation with the input clock signal CLK.
In this configuration, even when the characteristics of the input buffer 501, the variable-delay circuit 502, and the input circuit 504 are changed due to variations in a power voltage and/or temperature, the characteristics of the dummy-input buffer 510, the variable-delay circuit 508, and the dummy-input circuit 509 also change in the same manner. Because of this, the input data supplied from the input circuit 504 to the internal circuits always keeps the same timing relation with the input clock signal CLK regardless of a power-voltage variation and/or a temperature variation.
The lock-on detector 511 checks whether the DLL circuits has locked on, based on signals supplied from the phase comparator 506. That is, the lock-on detector 511 checks whether the two clock signals subjected to phase comparison by the phase comparator 506 have the same phase. When a lock-on condition is established, the lock-on detector 511 controls the frequency divider 505 to lower the frequency of the dummy-clock signal d-clk and the reference-clock signal c-clk, thereby reducing power consumption.
The delay-control circuit 507, when set to a maximum delay amount, outputs an overflow signal. Each of the variable-delay circuits 502 and 508 is comprised of a predetermined number of delay elements arranged in series, and is controlled by the delay-control circuit 507. Because of this configuration, the number of usable delay elements is limited in nature. If the delay amount is set to a possible maximum amount, the variable-delay circuits 502 and 508 cannot further increase the delay. In this case, the overflow signal indicating detection of overflow is supplied to the clock-control circuit 503. When overflow is detected, the clock-control circuit 503 selects the internal-clock signal i-clk bypassing the variable-delay circuit 502 rather than selecting the clock signal supplied from the variable-delay circuit 502, and supplies the internal-clock signal i-clk to the input circuit 504.
Clock stabilization using the DLL circuit as described above is employed with respect to not only an input portion of the semiconductor device but also an output portion thereof. In such a case, data-output operations can be conducted at predetermined stable timings.
The configuration of FIG. 1 has a drawback in that overflow cannot be detected outside the semiconductor device. During a test of the semiconductor device, therefore, it is impossible to know whether data is input by using the internal-clock signal i-clk delayed by the variable-delay circuit 502 or by using the internal-clock signal i-clk bypassing the variable-delay circuit 502. This prevents an appropriate test from being carried out in an attempt to learn characteristics of the semiconductor device.
Further, the configuration of FIG. 1 does not take into consideration how to detect overflow when the variable-delay circuits are comprised of a rough-delay circuit and a fine-delay circuit arranged in series or when a plurality of internal clocks are used in the semiconductor device.
Moreover, the configuration of FIG. 1 continues to supply the internal-clock signal i-clk to the variable-delay circuit 502 and to supply the dummy-clock signal d-clk to the variable-delay circuit 508 even after overflow is detected. As previously described, upon detection of overflow, the internal-clock signal i-clk which bypasses the variable-delay circuit 502 will be used as a synchronization signal for the data input. In this case, the delay control by the variable-delay circuit 502 is irrelevant to the operations of the semiconductor device. There is no need, therefore, to supply the internal-clock signal i-clk to the variable-delay circuit 502. Also, there is no need to supply the dummy-clock signal d-clk to the variable-delay circuit 508 such that control of the dummy-clock signal d-clk is carried out at relatively short intervals by the variable-delay circuit 508. Sustained supply of the internal-clock signal i-clk to the variable-delay circuit 502 and of the dummy-clock signal d-clk having a relatively high frequency to the variable-delay circuit 508 results in excessive power consumption.
Accordingly, there is a need for a semiconductor device which allows overflow of a variable-delay circuit in a DLL circuit to be detected outside the semiconductor device.
Also, there is a need for a semiconductor device which detects overflow of variable-delay circuits in DLL circuits when a plurality of internal clocks are used or when a variable-delay circuit is comprised of two stages connected in series.
Further, there is a need for a semiconductor device which can reduce power consumption in a DLL circuit when overflow is detected in a variable-delay circuit of the DLL circuit.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device which can satisfy the needs described above.
It is another and more specific object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device which allows overflow of a variable-delay circuit in a DLL circuit to be detected outside the semiconductor device.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device which detects overflow of variable-delay circuits in DLL circuits when a plurality of internal clocks are used or when a variable-delay circuit is comprised of two stages connected in series.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device which can reduce power consumption in a DLL circuit when overflow is detected in a variable-delay circuit of the DLL circuit.
A semiconductor device according to the present invention includes an input buffer buffering an external clock signal to supply an internal clock signal, a timing-stabilization circuit which generates a plurality of phase-adjusted clock signals by adjusting delays of a plurality of variable-delay circuits as the plurality of variable-delay circuits delay the internal clock signal, and an overflow-detection circuit which detects overflow when at least one of the plurality of variable-delay circuits has a delay set to an upper end of an adjustable delay range.
The semiconductor device described above has the timing-stabilization circuit which generates the plurality of phase-adjusted clock signals, where overflow is detected when a delay is set to the upper end of the adjustable delay range in at least one of the variable-delay circuits. An appropriate detection of overflow can thus be made even when the plurality of phase-adjusted clock signals are used.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the overflow is detected at an instance when the delay is set to the upper end or at an instance when the delay is attempted to be increased from the upper end, so that an appropriate overflow detection is achieved.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an overflow-detection signal is output to an exterior of the semiconductor device, so that a check can be made outside the semiconductor device as to whether overflow is present.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a frequency divider is used in the timing-stabilization circuit, and lowers a frequency of frequency-divided clock signals when overflow is detected, thereby suppressing power consumption in the timing-stabilization circuit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, supply of the internal clock signal to the variable-delay circuits is stopped when overflow is detected, thereby avoiding unnecessary power consumption in the variable-delay circuits.
According to another aspect of the present invention, when overflow is detected, the internal clock signal or an inverse of the internal clock signal is supplied to internal circuits as substitutes for the phase-adjusted clock signals serving as synchronization signals in the internal circuits. When a latch is provided as one of the internal circuits, for example, the latch can latch data while securing a sufficient data-hold time.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes an input buffer buffering an external clock signal to supply an internal clock signal, a timing-stabilization circuit which generates a phase-adjusted clock signal by adjusting a delay of a variable-delay circuit as the variable-delay circuit delays the internal clock signal, an overflow-detection circuit which generates an overflow-detection signal when the delay of the variable-delay circuit is set to an upper end of an adjustable delay range, and an output circuit which outputs the overflow-detection signal to an exterior of the semiconductor device.
The semiconductor device described above allows the overflow-detection signal to be output to the exterior of the semiconductor device, thereby making it possible to check outside the device as to whether overflow is present.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes an input buffer buffering an external clock signal to supply an internal clock signal, a timing-stabilization circuit which generates a phase-adjusted clock signal by adjusting a delay of a variable-delay circuit as the variable-delay circuit delays the internal clock signal, and an overflow-detection circuit which detects overflow when the delay of the variable-delay circuit is set to an upper end of an adjustable delay range, wherein the timing-stabilization circuit includes a feedback loop for controlling the delay of the variable-delay circuit, and a frequency divider which divides a frequency of the internal clock signal to generate a frequency-divided clock signal used in the feedback loop, wherein the frequency divider lowers a frequency of the frequency-divided clock signal when the overflow-detection circuit detects overflow.
In the semiconductor device described above, the frequency divider of the timing-stabilization circuit lowers the frequency of the frequency-divided clock signals when overflow is detected, thereby suppressing power consumption in the timing-stabilization circuit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes an input buffer buffering an external clock signal to supply an internal clock signal, a timing-stabilization circuit which generates a phase-adjusted clock signal by adjusting a delay of a variable-delay circuit as the variable-delay circuit delays the internal clock signal, an overflow-detection circuit which detects overflow when the delay of the variable-delay circuit is set to an upper end of an adjustable delay range, and a circuit which stops supply of the internal clock circuit to the variable-delay circuit when the overflow-detection circuit detects overflow.
In the semiconductor device described above, supply of the internal clock signal to the variable-delay circuit is stopped when overflow is detected, thereby avoiding unnecessary power consumption in the variable-delay circuits.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes an input buffer buffering an external clock signal to supply an internal clock signal, a timing-stabilization circuit which generates a phase-adjusted clock signal by adjusting a delay of a rough-adjustment variable-delay circuit and a delay of a fine-adjustment variable-delay circuit as the rough-adjustment variable-delay circuit and the fine-adjustment variable-delay circuit delay the internal clock signal, and an overflow-detection circuit which detects overflow when the delay of the rough-adjustment variable-delay circuit is set to an upper end of an adjustable delay range.
In the semiconductor device described above, a delay adjustment is made by the rough-adjustment variable-delay circuit and the fine-adjustment variable-delay circuit in the timing-stabilization circuit, wherein overflow is detected when a delay of the rough-adjustment variable-delay circuit is set to the upper end of the adjustable delay range. An appropriate detection of overflow thus can be made.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor device includes an input buffer buffering an external clock signal to supply an internal clock signal, a timing-stabilization circuit which generates a phase-adjusted clock signal by adjusting a delay of a variable-delay circuit as the variable-delay circuit delays the internal clock signal, an overflow-detection circuit which detects overflow when the delay of the variable-delay circuit is set to an upper end of an adjustable delay range, a selection circuit which supplies one of the internal clock signal and an inverse of the internal clock signal to an internal circuit as a substitute for the phase-adjusted clock signal serving as a synchronization signal in the internal circuit when the overflow-detection circuit detects overflow, and a control circuit which can override operations of the selection circuit based on at least one externally provided signal such that the at least one externally provided signal determines which clock signal is selected by the selection circuit regardless of whether the overflow-detection circuit detects overflow.
The semiconductor device described above is structured such that the internal clock signal or an inverse of the internal clock signal is selected as a synchronization signal in place of the phase-adjusted clock signal when overflow is detected, yet has the control circuit which can control the selection of the synchronization signal regardless of whether overflow is present. This configuration allows the semiconductor device to operate in synchronism with the phase-adjusted clock signal irrespective of presence of overflow and to undergo an operation test under this condition.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Semiconductor device having timing stabilization circuit with overflow detection function


Apparatus and method for producing steam for humidification of residential and commercial buildings by electrical induction heating of water are disclosed. The apparatus comprises a readily-removable non-magnetic water tank containing a magnetic target in contact with the water and an electrically powered induction coil located outside the water tank but in close proximity to the magnetic target.

This invention relates generally to a new and improved humidifying/vaporizing apparatus wherein steam is generated by electrical induction heating of water. The use of heating systems, particularly forced hot air systems, during the winter months can result in extremely low indoor humidity levels. It is well-known under such circumstances to provide humidifying/vaporizing apparatus for residential and commercial applications. The purpose of such apparatus is to increase the moisture content of the air in a defined, more or less enclosed location above the normal or ambient humidity. The enclosed location may be a single room or an entire-building.
Numerous benefits are realized by increasing humidity levels of enclosed rooms or buildings heated with forced hot air. For most people, maintaining at least a minimum humidity level in the air makes breathing easier by reducing the drying effect on the lungs and airways, reduces dust and other air-borne particulates, and creates a generally healthier and less disease-prone environment. Energy efficiencies in space heating are also realized because humid air reduces the evaporation (heat loss) from one's skin and as a result allows the reduction in the room's temperature while maintaining comfort. For adults or children with breathing difficulties, such as asthma, bronchitis or croup, sleeping may be almost impossible without a humidifier that raises the humidity of the bedroom substantially above the rest of the house. Both portable and stationary humidifying apparatus are known in the art, as are spot humifiers and those used with central heating systems.
In broad terms, humidifying apparatus can be characterized as either steam-producing or vapor-producing at below boiling point temperatures. The latter types include both water-heating models that operate below boiling point, evaporative pads (rotating or static media) and models that employ ultrasonic mist generation. Numerous contamination problems, however, have severely restricted the use of the below-boiling point humidifiers/vaporizers. Unless the water container is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected almost daily, and a clean, bacteria-free water source is used, bacteria and other infectious organisms will flourish in the warm, moist environment of the water tank and be dispersed into the air along with the water vapor. When such organisms are inhaled, they can lead to serious, even deadly, illnesses such as pneumonia and so-called Legionnaire's disease.
The danger of spreading infectious organisms can be overcome by using steam-producing humidifiers because common micro-organisms are killed by temperatures at the boiling point of water. On the other hand, the steam-producing vaporizers and humidifiers have their own restrictive drawbacks and disadvantages. First, of course, boiling point water and steam have the potential to severely scald human skin, which makes use of these humidifiers around young children especially dangerous. Second, the most common variety of steam-producing humidifier/vaporizer uses an electrical resistance element immersed in a tank of water thereby creating possible electrical shock and fire hazards.
Moreover, such apparatus is often bulky and unwieldy. Even though it may not be necessary for sanitation reasons to clean the water tank of a steam-producing humidifier/vaporizer daily, sediment, inorganic salts, and other common water contaminants will gradually settle out leaving deposits on the floor and walls of the water tank and on the heating element thereby requiring periodic cleaning or replacement of the tank and element. With conventional apparatus, this cleaning or replacement of the water tank can be somewhat difficult and time-consuming.
It is well-known in the art to heat water by the electromagnetic induction process, but this technique has not generally been applied to humidifying/vaporizing apparatus. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,513,087 to Buhl et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 1,425,968 to Holmes are directed to induction water heaters. U.S. Pat. No. 1,362,622 to Hendricks describes an electric induction heater for "water, gas, or other fluid." U.S. Pat. No. 2,171,080 to Ely teaches electromagnetic induction apparatus for heating air. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,341,936 and 4,503,305 to Virgin describe electromagnetic induction systems for heating air or for heating water to produce steam for use in a heating system or to provide motive power. Each of the foregoing electromagnetic induction heating apparatuses is relatively bulky, complicated and unwieldy. For example, in the Buhl et al., Holmes, and Hendricks patents, the water to be heated must be passed from a separate source or holding tank through a system of pipes that are wrapped with electrical coils. Steam generation is not the intended objective of any of these systems, nor is it clear how these systems could be adapted to produce and transmit steam because the steam would interfere with the flow of liquid water through the pipes.
Although the apparatus of the Virgin patents is intended to produce steam from water, the heating and steam production does not occur in the water tank but rather in a separate chamber filled with magnetizable ball bearings and externally wrapped in electric induction coils. Cleaning or replacing the separate heating chamber and the hundreds of ball bearings inside would be an expensive and tedious process. Cleaning and sanitization, however, are not problems with the Virgin apparatus because the steam remains contained in a closed system and is condensed back to water vapor for recycling. The Virgin apparatus is intended for heating purposes, not for humidification. In the Virgin patents, steam and/or water vapor is not dispersed into air that will be used for breathing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,742 to Lang, by contrast, is directed to humidifying and heating apparatus for respiratory gas utilizing electromagnetic induction for heating the humidifying liquid. The Lang apparatus comprises a first unit for generating electromagnetic energy and a second unit for holding and heating the humidifying fluid and adapted to be positioned in a particular configuration with respect to the first unit during operation. The second unit contains a flanged ferromagnetic plate in close proximity to the induction coils of the first unit when the two units are in operating configuration, thereby resulting in inductively heating the flanged plate and the fluid in the second unit. The apparatus of the Lang patent, however, is relatively complex, delicate, expensive to manufacture in requiring numerous precision-machined parts, and intended for very specialized applications in conjunction with hospital respirators for use with premature infants, heart surgery patients and the like. The Lang apparatus is clearly intended to humidify only a relatively small steam of respiratory gas, not an entire room or building. Moreover, the Lang apparatus is intended for use under conditions where there is continual and frequent monitoring by trained professionals. The Lang patent also recognizes the need to periodically clean the fluid-holding unit if it is to be re-used (col. 4, 11. 25-28). Although steam can be generated for sterilizing purposes using the Lang apparatus, (col. 4, 11. 35-39), it is clear that, in normal operation, it is not intended to run this apparatus at boiling point temperatures. Moreover, it is clear that Lang intends the fluid-holding unit to be cleaned and re-used because this is an expensive, precision-crafted component. The fluid-holding unit in Lang includes inlet and outlet valves, internal tubes and baffle plates, and the ferromagnetic plate all as integral components. Even assuming that the interior of Lang's fluid-holding unit could be easily accessed and the component parts removed for cleaning and re-use, such a procedure would be costly, labor-intensive and time-consuming. Clearly, then, Lang's fluid-holding unit is not intended to be disposable.
These problems with the prior art devices as well as others discussed below are overcome in whole or in part by the apparatus and method of this invention.


A method is provided for removing ice, snow, slush, and frozen contaminants from landing gear, wheel wells, and associated structures while an aircraft is in flight and preventing the accumulation of frozen contaminants during flight in an aircraft equipped with onboard drive means powered to drive at least one landing gear wheel and selectively controllable to move the aircraft on the ground during taxi in winter and other weather conditions.

The safety of air travel during inclement winter weather has increased as procedures relating to safe cold weather operations have been implemented by airlines and methods for removing ice and preventing ice build up have improved. United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, as well as those of international regulatory authorities, clearly prohibit the take off of an aircraft when frost, ice, or snow is adhering to the aircraft's wings or other critical surfaces. Additionally, dispatch or take off of an aircraft is prohibited by the FAA when environmental conditions indicate a reasonable expectation that frost, ice, or snow may adhere to aircraft surfaces, unless there is in place an approved ground deicing and anti-icing program. An aircraft with frost, ice, and/or snow on its wings cannot operate aerodynamically and may be at risk for problems caused by increased drag and stall speed and uneven lift.
Ground crews and/or contractors are usually charged with carrying out the procedures required to remove frost, ice, and snow from aircraft surfaces and the procedures required to prevent the build up of these frozen contaminants on aircraft surfaces. Deicing and anti-icing procedures typically involve the application of liquids formulated to melt frozen water and to prevent it from re-forming on aircraft surfaces. In some situations, these fluids are heated to improve melting. The fluids used to deice runways are different from those used on aircraft surfaces, and the two types of fluids may not be compatible. Runway deicing fluids, moreover, both alone and in combination with aircraft surface deicing fluids, can damage aircraft surfaces on wings and tails as well as wheel brakes, electrical system connectors, and hydraulic system components. It is generally recommended that deicing fluids not be sprayed directly onto aircraft wheels or brake assemblies or landing gear structures.
The deicing of runways may effectively melt ice or snow. The melted ice and snow form slush, however, which can build up on aircraft wheels and landing gear, including landing gear doors, bays, and switches. To help mitigate this, it is recommended that slush, frost, ice, and snow be removed from areas where an aircraft's nose and main landing gear tires will be positioned when the aircraft is parked at a gate or parking location. It is also recommended that these contaminants be removed from the aircraft's wheels and landing gear structures prior to take off. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) recommends that the application of deicing fluid in the landing gear and wheel bay areas should be kept to a minimum, if used at all. The use of means other than fluid, such as mechanical removal, air blast, heat, and hot air are recommended by the AEA to remove accumulations of blown snow. Deposits of snow or slush that have bonded to landing gear and wheel bay surfaces can be removed with hot air or hot deicing fluids. The aforementioned procedures may effectively remove frozen water deposits, such as slush and the like, from wheels, landing gear, and wheel bays prior to departure from a gate or a deicing station. Since the use of anti-icing agents on these structures is generally prohibited, there is no guarantee that additional deposits will not be accumulated during taxi on a treated wet or slushy runway prior to take off. Air temperatures encountered by an aircraft after take off and during flight in winter weather are likely to be cold enough to freeze water and/or slush present on landing gear structures or in wheel bays.
The movement of an aircraft on the ground during taxi with motors designed to move the aircraft's wheels with minimal or no assistance from the aircraft's main engines has been proposed. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,445,178 to McCoskey et al and U.S. Pat. No. 7,226,018 to Sullivan, for example, systems able to move aircraft on the ground during taxi using wheel motors are described. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,975,960 and 8,220,740 to Cox et al, owned in common with the present application, describe a nose wheel control apparatus capable of driving a taxiing aircraft independently on the ground. None of these patents or publications, however, describes using the wheel motors or systems disclosed therein to move aircraft on the ground in adverse cold weather environmental conditions or that these devices have any function in the presence of snow, ice, slush, or other frozen contaminants.
The use of aircraft wheel motors both to move an aircraft on the ground and to perform an additional function is suggested in U.S. Patent Application Publications Nos. US2008/0258014 to McCoskey et al and US2010/0252675 to Malkin et al. McCoskey et al describes the use of a motor/generator mounted on and operated by the rotation of an aircraft wheel to create electrical energy from kinetic energy and suggests recovering waste heat from kinetic landing and transferring the recovered heat away from the aircraft through a transmission grid to a remote airport location for reuse. Malkin et al suggests the use of an electric motor to propel an aircraft's wheels during taxi and then to drive a compressor when the aircraft is in flight. Neither of these publications, however, suggests that the wheel motors described therein are useful for other purposes or that they could be used during adverse cold weather conditions to maintain wheel or landing gear structures free from frozen contaminants either on the ground or during flight.
A need exists for a method for the inflight deicing of aircraft landing gears, wheel wells, and associated structures and maintaining these structures free from frozen water contaminants, including ice, snow, slush, and frost, that employs an existing aircraft onboard drive means also used to move the aircraft during taxi on the ground.

Method for inflight deicing of landing gear and wheel bays in aircraft with onboard drive means


According to one embodiment, a temperature control apparatus supplies power to a heater to control temperature of a temperature control target. The temperature control apparatus includes a temperature estimation unit to estimate a temperature of a temperature control target based on electrical power supplied to the heater. The temperature control apparatus also includes control signal generation unit that calculates a duty value for the heater based on an estimated temperature from the temperature estimation unit, a detected temperature from a temperature sensor, and a target temperature for the temperature control target. A pulse signal for controlling the electrical power supplied to the heater is generated based on the calculated duty value.

An image forming apparatus includes a fixing device that fixes a toner image onto a printing medium by applying heat and pressure to the printing medium. The fixing device includes a fixing rotating body (heat roller), a pressing member (pressing roller), a heating element (a lamp, an induction heater, or the like), and a temperature sensor. The temperature sensor detects the temperature of the surface of the heat roller.
A controller for controlling the fixing device increases or decreases the amount of electrical power to a heater based on a signal from the temperature sensor (temperature sensor signal) to perform control the surface temperature of the heat roller will be a target value.
If a deviation (or a time lag) occurs between a temperature detected by the temperature sensor and the surface temperature of the heat roller, there is a possibility that overshoot, a temperature ripple, or the like will occur. For this reason, a temperature sensor (for example, a thermopile, thermocouple or the like) having good responsiveness is required to prevent overshoot and a temperature ripple from occurring. However, there is a problem in that a temperature sensor having good responsiveness is generally expensive.

Temperature control apparatus and image forming apparatus


A circuit and method for generating drive signals having a frequency synchronized to a reference frequency signal is disclosed. The circuit includes a PLL that includes a motor, and a circuit for generating a signal having a frequency proportional to the speed of the motor. A phase detector produces a signal for a time proportional to a phase difference between the motor speed signal and a reference frequency signal. A first phase difference measuring circuit produces a first voltage output signal at a first gain proportional to the phase difference when the duration of the phase detector signal is less than a predetermined time. A second phase difference measuring circuit produces a second output signal at a second gain when the duration of the phase detector signal is greater than the predetermined time. The first and second output signals are summed and applied to control the speed of the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in phase-locked loop circuitry and methods for operating same, and to improvements in circuitry and methods for reducing steady state error and increasing the capture range of a PLL during convergence by automatically changing the gain applied to the signal from the phase detector.
2. Technical Background
This invention pertains to phase-locked loop circuits of the type that use a phase detector, an integrating filter, and a variable frequency circuit in a feedback configuration to track accurately an input signal at a reference frequency. In a broad sense, the variable frequency circuit can be a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), but in the embodiment illustrated herein, the variable frequency circuit includes a variable speed motor and a generator that produces a signal of frequency dependent upon the speed of the motor. The phase of the variable frequency signal with respect to the reference frequency is determined by the phase detector, and the phase detector generates a dc voltage signal, which may be filtered by the integrating filter, to control the variable frequency signal, for example, by controlling the frequency of a VCO or by controlling the speed of the motor. The voltage signal forces the VCO to compensate, or changes the speed of the motor, when the variable frequency drifts from the reference frequency.
Typically when the PLL begins operation, the variable frequency requires a certain time to converge to the frequency of the input signal, until "lock" occurs. When lock occurs, the variable frequency tracks the input signal, and the PLL circuit functions in a feedback mode to maintain the lock. As known in the art, a higher gain applied to the signal from the phase detector reduces the steady state operation error. On the other hand, a low gain applied to the phase detector output signal widens the lock, or capture, range.
What is needed is a circuit and method that will provide a lower gain when the phase error between the reference frequency and the variable frequency is large, during convergence, and a higher gain when the phase error is low, when lock has been, or is close to being, attained. The circuit and method should provide multiple break points (changes in the gain) in the transfer function if desired, so that a smooth and approximately linear change of phase detector output voltage is obtainable, and the PLL performance can be maximized.

AGC circuit with non-linear gain for use in PLL circuit