A snow deflection system for a snowplow includes an arcuate foil and a preferred belt. Both the foil and the belt are attached to the moldboard of the plow so that the preferred belt keeps the plowed snow close enough to the moldboard to allow the arcuate foil to direct the flow of snow and air, which blows over the top of the moldboard, down and away from the plow vehicle.

The present invention relates to the field of snowplows, specifically, to the use of visors or foils which would reduce and control the blowing of snow up over the upper edge of the moldboard of the plow. Such snow may strike the windshield of the plow, the body of the plow vehicle, and strike or enter into the engine of the plow vehicle. This causes obstruction of the view of the driver of the vehicle, damage to the body of the plow vehicle and impairment of the vehicle's engine performance.
In a normal snowplow, without a snow deflector system, snow may come up over the top of the snowplow and ultimately cause a vision problem for the driver both from the snow blown in the path of his vision and the snow impacting on the windshield. Also, the snow can be drawn into the engine causing impairment of engine performance or even damage to the engine itself. Further, in areas where sand and/or salt is put on the road to help increase traction and melt ice and snow, the sand or salt has a tendency to mix with the snow, salt, and sand can cause a sandblasting effect upon the body of the vehicle thereby significantly reducing the life of the body of the vehicle by removing the paint from the vehicle and exposing the bare metal surface of the vehicle to direct contact with the snow and road salt.
There have been many attempts to solve this problem but none resolve it as simply and effectively as the design of the instant invention.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 2,385,996 (Phillips) discloses a snow flow deflector. However, unlike the instant invention Phillips shows the leading edge of its deflector to be at or below the upper edge of the moldboard. This is completely contrary to the structure of the instant invention. Further, the design of Phillips allows its deflector to tip back, as a safety feature, when large drifts are encountered. This eliminates the effectiveness of the Phillips device in those situations. Also, the angle iron 5 disclosed in FIGS. 1-3 and structures 40, 1, and 41 of the alternative design disclosed in FIG. 6 of Phillips, all create choke points which will impede the flow of snow under the deflector causing a blockage which would render the deflector inoperative. Additionally, Phillips discloses no belt or barrier structure for partially containing the flow of snow particles as they are pushed out in front of the moldboard. The final alternative structure disclosed in FIG. 7 of Phillips is completely different in structure from the instant invention. U.S. Pat. No. 3,432,947 (Peitl), is also structurally and conceptually different from the instant invention. Peitl does not disclose the use of the belt barrier that is hung from the top edge of the moldboard in the instant invention. Further, the concept of the instant invention is to provide a foil which provides minimum resistance to the flow of snow and air that passes through and over it. The steep angle of orientation taught in Peitl (" . . . said deflector having top and bottom edges, a forward surface and a back surface"; claim 1, U.S. Pat. No. 3,432,947 (Peitl)) provides greater resistance to air flow than the instant invention having leading and trailing edges and top and bottom surfaces and therefore is counter to the design of the instant invention. The design of the Peitl deflector is such that it does not in truth direct any air or snow into the space between his deflector B and the back side of the blade A because the air and snow mixture, upon leaving contact with the upper edge 31 of the blade continues forward in the direction that the vehicle is moving past the opening through which Peitl intends the snow to go through. There is so much dense snow moving in an upward direction that no air or snow can possibly change direction to get into the space that Peitl wishes it to go. The faster the vehicle moves forward the higher into the air the snow is thrown. This renders the deflector of Peitl useless. Peitl located his deflector (referred to as number 30 in his FIGS. 1 & 2) behind the flow of air/snow coming over the moldboard. Peitl's FIG. 2, depicts the flow of air/snow in relationship to a standard moldboard being operated at a very low speed. This is apparent because the snow is not flowing over the top of the moldboard. When operating at normal speeds, the air is compressed in front of the moldboard, it can escape only out the delivery end of the plow or over the top of the moldboard. The design of the standard moldboard picks up the snow and hurls it upward and slightly toward the delivery end of the plow. At the point the snow/air loses contact with the top of the moldboard it is traveling in the direction dictated by the shape of the moldboard, much the same as a bullet is aimed by the barrel of a gun. In this case, it will continue traveling on a tangent to the arc of the moldboard; its velocity will be that of the plowing vehicle. Therefore, in FIG. 2 of Peitl's patent, it is easy to see the air/snow will pass in front of and over his deflector when traveling at normal operating speeds disproving the arrows in his FIG. 2. The intake of the Peitl system as depicted in his FIG. 2, shows a large opening between the top of the moldboard and the leading edge of the deflector. However, the outlet of the system has a very small opening between the trailing edge of the deflector and the moldboard. This makes the passage of air and snow through the Peitl system, in the volumes required to be effective, impossible. His system of a venturi is completely contrary to the design of the present invention. The leading edge of the foil of the present invention is normally placed in a position eight (8) to twelve (12) inches above the top margin of the moldboard with the front edge and back edge being located in the same plane. The air just in front of the moldboard is highly compressed by the forward movement of the plow vehicle. This pressure is equalized by air escaping out the delivery end of the moldboard and over its top margin. This results in air traveling in a near vertical direction at a very high velocity from ground level up and passing just in front of the belt. The concave shape of the foil placed above this vertically traveling air gently re-directs it over and down behind the moldboard, without impeding its flow, unlike teachings in prior art. The top surface of the foil works similar to the top surface of an airplane wing. In an airplane wing the distance over the entire top of the foil from the front edge to the back edge is longer than the distance, in the same plane, from the front edge to the back edge on the under side. This faster moving top air joins at the back edge of the foil with the air already moving in a downwardly direction to help force all the air at the back edge of the foil in a downwardly direction behind the moldboard. The snow particles from in front and in back of the moldboard are caught in this air flow and are forced down to the ground directly behind the moldboard and under the vehicle. Patent DE 3736-707-A (Beil) depicts a device which is ridged in design, mounted on the top of a moldboard which has very small pressure relief ports between the device and the moldboard. For the most part this device equates to what is normally referred to as a belt in the United States. The ports are so small they restrict the air flow but allow air/snow to escape without the velocity or guidance to direct it down and under the plow vehicle. Other references include U.S. Pat. No. 1,900,703 (Frink), U.S. Pat. No. 1,926,071 (Soule), U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,904 (Krueger), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,769 (Willis). None of these references disclose either the use of the barrier belt or the use of a snow deflector which allows the flow of air and snow rising over the top edge of the moldboard to be deflected behind the back side of the moldboard and underneath the snowplow vehicle.
The main objective of the instant invention is to capture and control snow that rises over the top edge of the moldboard of the snowplow.
It is an advantage of the instant invention to allow plowing at high speed, this leaves the road in better, cleaner condition. It is a further advantage of the instant invention that the airflow directed behind the moldboard and under the vehicle prevents any snow or other particulate matter that may pass under the moldboard from being blown toward the vehicle. This is because the airflow from the foil at the top of the moldboard blows the particles coming from under the plow, down and away from the body of the vehicle and the engine of the vehicle.


A semiconductor device is disclosed. The semiconductor device includes a substrate; and a gate structure disposed directly on the substrate, the gate structure including: a graded region with a varied material concentration profile; and a metal layer disposed on the graded region.

In semiconductor devices, graded regions (e.g., regions with a varying composition of silicon, silicates, metals, etc.) are frequently included adjacent to or as a part of gate elements to decrease device size and increase device performance. The use and effectiveness of these graded regions in devices may be impacted by the composition, scaling, and/or gradation of the graded regions themselves. Traditionally, graded regions (e.g., dielectric materials) may be formed by a high temperature anneal which generates a material concentration variation within the graded region. However, in these methods, the high temperature anneal may complicate the process flow, require additional process chambers for the anneal, fail to create a fully graded region, and/or damage other components in the semiconductor device. Further, this high temperature annealing may diminish film quality and be unable to control the profile of the graded region, limiting profile design and future scaling options for the semiconductor devices. To accommodate this high temperature anneal, some methods include an interface layer disposed between the dielectric and the substrate. The inclusion of an additional interface in the semiconductor devices may increase fixed charges and limit mobility.

Semiconductor device including graded gate stack, related method and design structure


Systems and methods of handing over a wireless device 300 are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a method performed by a source base station 100 of handing over a wireless device 300 from the source base station 100 to a target base station 200 may include determining that a wireless device 300 is to be handed over from the source base station 100 to the target base station 200. Further, the method may include sending, to the target base station 200, a current mapping between one or more flow identifiers and a first set of data radio bearers used for communication between the wireless device 300 and the source base station 100.

The standardization organization 3GPP is currently in the processes of specifying a new Radio Interface called NR or 5G or G-UTRA as well as a Next Generation Packet Core Network (NGCN or NGC). The Next Gen Radio Access Network (RAN) may contain base stations support evolved LTE and/or NR radio access. There has been some agreement on a Quality of Service (QoS) concept for Next Gen System. Aspects of this QoS concept include that the RAN is provided with packet marking over the user plane between RAN and Core Network. The marking may include a flow identifier (ID) which the RAN later uses to provide QoS treatment over the radio. It may be up to RAN to define the AS-level QoS of Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and how uplink and downlink packets are mapped to DRBs.
One of the problems with existing solutions is that after a wireless device has been handed over from a source base station to a target base station a reduction of end user and system performance could be applicable because different base stations may have different ways to do mapping of Flow IDs to Data Radio Bearers.


Systems and methods that may be used to provide cross content network event attribution are provided. One method includes receiving, by a coordination server, an event attribution request for a second event from an attribution server, the second event is an online activity performed by a user via one of a plurality of user devices after a first event, the first event is another online activity performed by the user via one of the plurality of devices. The method includes determining, by the coordination server, whether the second event is attributable to the first event.

Data exchanges between multiple computing systems controlled by multiple different parties can result in complex timelines. Some applications try to identify correlations between data events without possession of all event data. This can result in conflicting views of event history and may lead to disagreement about attribution or effect. Past attempts to resolve this disagreement have required excessive data sharing and generally incurred additional network utilization, adding undesirable latency and delay to data exchanges.

Systems and methods for providing cross-network event attribution


A textile laminate includes a first side, a second side, and a plurality of spaced apart marks formed on the first side. The plurality of marks formed on the first side impart a roughened, uneven surface along the second side that corresponds with the first side, and a surface roughness of the second side varies based upon a degree of stretch applied to the textile laminate.

Racing competitions for human athletes, in particular speed skating competitions (e.g., at an elite level), typically include gear designed for optimum performance by the athlete. Suits and other apparel associated with a particular racing sport are designed to reduce drag on the athlete. For example, in speed skating sports as well as other sports in which an athlete is moving at a rapid speed within an environment, suits are typically worn by athletes that adhere tightly and conform to the profile of an athlete's body so as to provide a streamlined contour as the athlete moves through the air or other fluid environment of a racing competition.
When performing at an ultra-elite level (e.g., competitions between the best and fastest athletes world-wide, such as an Olympic event), any feature that can reduce wind resistance and drag reduction on an athlete can enhance the athlete's performance in a racing event (e.g., increasing the athlete's speed and performance during the event, reducing the athlete's event time by fractions of seconds, etc.).
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a racing suit that enhances drag reduction and when worn by an athlete so as to improve the athlete's performance in a racing event.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An opening-closing device includes a driving source, an opening-closing mechanism for opening and closing an opening-closing member provided at a vehicle body by operation of the driving source, and a clutch positioned between the driving source and the opening-closing mechanism and sifting an energization state can transmit a driving force of the driving source to the opening-closing mechanism and a non-energization state can not transmit the drive force. The clutch includes a drive portion and a driven portion. The drive portion and the driven portion contact each other by a first load which can transmit the driving force from the driving source to the opening-closing mechanism when the clutch is the energization state. The drive portion and the driven portion contact each other by a second load which can not transmits the driving force from the driving source to opening-closing mechanism when the clutch is the non-energization state.

A known opening-closing device is used as an opening-closing device for a backdoor (as a tailgate) of a vehicle as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-41853. With the known opening-closing device, the backdoor is opened both electrically and manually. The known opening-closing device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-41853 includes an electromagnetic clutch. When the backdoor is electrically operated to open and close, the electromagnetic clutch is energized for transmitting a rotational force of an actuator including an electric motor and a deceleration mechanism to an opening-closing mechanism connected to the backdoor. In the meantime, with the known opening-closing device, when the backdoor is manually operated to open and close, the transmission of the rotational force is cut by disengaging a transmitting member included in the electromagnetic clutch and a transmitted member from each other so that the backdoor is opened and closed without being affected by the resistance generated by the transmission of the reverse rotational force from the opening-closing mechanism side for rotating the actuator in reverse. For example, the known opening-closing device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-41853 includes a spring affecting the transmitted member to be disengaged from the transmitting member.
With the foregoing known construction, the transmitted member has to be attracted to the transmitting member with the strong force against the biasing force of the spring so that the rotational force is transmitted by the electromagnetic clutch when transmitting the rotational force of the actuator to the opening-closing mechanism. Thus, the known construction increases the size of the electromagnetic clutch. In the meantime, because the spring is configured to transmit the rotational force and to disengage the transmitted member from the transmitting member, the construction of the spring assumes complicated, which increases the manufacturing cost.
A need thus exists for an opening-closing device which includes an electromagnetic clutch with small and simple construction.

Opening-closing device for an opening-closing member of a vehicle


Coated particles of metal (such as calcium) silicate that exhibit excellent odor neutralization and sebum absorption properties when present within certain cosmetic and/or personal care formulations and suspensions are provided. Uncoated calcium silicate exhibits a high pH level that may have a deleterious effect upon such cosmetic and/or personal care compositions, thereby rendering the overall composition ineffective for its intended purpose, particularly if the calcium silicate is present in its usual state at high loading levels. Alternatively, if certain materials present within personal care compositions exhibit a sufficiently low pH level, the effectiveness of such calcium silicates may be compromised as well. Such novel coated/treated calcium silicates thus permit high loadings of this beneficial odor neutralizing/sebum absorbing additive within cosmetic and/or personal care formulations without causing any appreciable instability issues or viscosity modification concerns or allow for coexistence with such low pH materials without any appreciable reduction in performance capabilities of the calcium silicates themselves. Certain personal care compositions comprising these novel coated calcium silicate particulates are encompassed within this invention as well.

A broad array of topical personal care and personal hygiene products are available for application to human skin to counteract malodors associated with the human body, particularly those malodors resulting from and associated with perspiration. These products include sports and athletic sprays and powders, antiperspirants, foot and body powders, body sprays, and especially deodorants. Other types of products are available to absorb potentially destructive sebum oils and residues generated by the sebaceous glands within a person's skin. The ability to combat either of these undesirable results is quite favorable within the personal hygiene product industry and the search for new and effective additives for such purposes has existed for many years.
As examples, malodors may be "masked" or concealed by placing a sufficient amount of perfume composition in the deodorant in order to hide or cover the malodor. Perfumes provide the additional benefit of imparting a desirable fragrance, such as a variety of different fresh, pastoral, or musk scents, to a cosmetic or personal care product. However, "masking" also has distinct limitations. Unfortunately, some malodors cannot be masked simply by adding perfumes, because they are highly volatile (and therefore diffuse quickly into the air) or because they are extremely potent. Indeed, in some cases it may be impossible to add sufficient amounts of perfume in order to sufficiently conceal the underlying malodor without also giving the personal care product an overly strong, perfumed odor. Topical antimicrobials, such as triclosan, may also be applied to the skin since perspiration-associated body malodors are typically the result of interaction between microbes, perspiration and triglyceride secretions from the sebaceous glands, which combine to produce malodorous and pungent metabolites and/or fatty acids. Thus, by controlling the microbe population on the skin's surface, the malodor can be eliminated or reduced in intensity. However, the use of antimicrobial agents, particularly in excessive amounts, is strongly discouraged because it may contribute to the development and/selection of microbes resistant to known antimicrobial compounds. Additionally, the build-up of antimicrobial agents in the human body is suspected of potentially producing heretofore unknown side effects. Furthermore, the general molecular structures of some antimicrobials have been reported to cause skin irritation, obviously a result unwanted within skin treatment and personal hygiene formulations.
Another approach that avoids the aforementioned problems while also reducing malodor involves the use of odor absorbers, such as activated charcoal and zeolites. These odor absorbing compounds function by absorbing odors and perspiration, and unlike the aforementioned treatment compounds they do not irritate the skin or impart an overly perfumed scent to the composition. However, charcoal and zeolite odor absorbers have the disadvantage that as they get wet (e.g., they come into contact with perspiration) they can become ineffective at odor absorption. For similar reasons, these odor absorbers can also be difficult to formulate into compositions that contain even small quantities of water.
It had been realized that metal silicate additives provide excellent malodor protection as well as potential sebum absorption benefits within cosmetic, etc., compositions, such as within skin care and decorative cosmetics, as some examples. Unfortunately, it was also realized that such silicate materials generally exist at high pH levels that create problems for such formulations and compositions, particularly when they are present in amounts that are necessary for the desired malodor neutralization and/or sebum absorption benefits to occur during use. As a result, such materials may cause deleterious reactions and stability problems within such cosmetic, personal hygiene, skin treatment, etc., formulations and compositions (such as, as one example, rendering ineffective certain pH sensitive antiperspirant salts). Furthermore, certain materials, in particular antiperspirant salts, may deleteriously affect the performance of such malodor reducing compounds through ionic interaction between the cation of the metal silicate and the anion of the antiperspirant salt. It has been noticed that certain amounts of antiperspirant salts will gel, coagulate, or otherwise precipitate out of solution during storage when present simultaneously with uncoated/untreated metal (i.e., calcium) silicates. Although the amount of such antiperspirant salts is generally much higher than for the malodor-reducing calcium silicates, the overall effect has been found to render such calcium silicates less effective for their intended purpose and to reduce (although relatively slightly) the amount of the available salts for eventual precipitation on the target skin surface. There is thus a clear need to provide calcium silicate additives for such types of personal care compositions that exhibit lower pH levels during application of finished product forms in order to ensure the maximum effectiveness of all the additives present within such formulations. To date, no such improvement has been provided within the cosmetic formulation and/or personal hygiene product industries.

Hydrophobically coated/treated metal silicate absorbent particles and personal care compositions thereof


An optical disk can provide a sufficiently wide power margin for a recording power even when the optical disk has a high-recording density. The optical disk has a transparent substrate on which a recording layer in which information can be rewritten by at least irradiation of laser beam, a dielectric layer and a thermal conduction control layer are sequentially deposited. The thermal conduction control layer comprises a first low thermal conductivity layer, a first high thermal conductivity layer, a second low thermal conductivity layer and a second high thermal conductivity layer sequentially deposited thereon.

The present invention relates to an optical disk in which a recording layer and a dielectric layer are formed on a transparent substrate to rewrite information based on a rise in temperature generated by irradiation of laser beam and a method of manufacturing optical disk.
Recently, in the field of recording medium or the like used as an external memory of computers, as an amount of information processed by computers or the like increases, there is an increasing demand for increasing a recording capacity of a recording medium used as an external memory.
Further, there is an increasing demand that a recording medium can cope with an improvement of capability of central processing unit (CPU) of computer and a variety of applications.
Therefore, it is very effective to use an optical disk capable of very high-density recording and which is excellent in portability as a recording medium for an external memory of large storage capacity. In particular, the use of rewritable optical disks effectively utilizing a magnetooptical effect or a crystal-amorphous phase transition phenomenon is very promising.
Under the above-mentioned situations, a demand for making the optical disks become capable of high-density recording increases more and more. In order to improve a recording density, a wavelength of laser beam is shortened, and a so-called mark edge system is employed.
It is requested that optical disks used as external memory of computer are able to record information in a recording power of wide range so as to prevent recording/reproducing characteristics from being affected due to various factors such as a difference of disk drives, lens smudged by dusts or the like or a difference of environmental temperature.
However, in optical disks capable of high-density recording by laser beam with a short wavelength and the mark-edge recording system, a margin of recording power in which a satisfactory recording is possible is reduced due to deterioration of S/N (signal-to-noise ratio) and C/N (carrier-to-noise ratio) or thermal interference generated between adjacent codes. In particular, since the optical disk becomes capable of high-density recording, a recording mark length is fluctuated considerably due to an influence (thermal interference) of heat generated by mark immediately before the recording.
In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to control a flow of heat generated immediately before the recording. Specifically, a recording layer should have a temperature characteristic which is easily heated and cooled when the recording layer is irradiated with laser beam upon recording. The optical disk requires such temperature characteristic as a characteristic for suppressing thermal interference.
In order to solve the aforesaid problems, there are previously-proposed methods for controlling shape and size of a unit recording region (e.g., recording magnetic domain in a magnetooptical recording medium) by controlling flow of heat within the recording medium, e.g., the following methods (1) to (4):
(1) To control a thermal conductivity of a reflecting film (see Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2-152050); PA1 (2) To control a thermal conductivity of a protecting layer (UV protecting layer) (see Japanese laid-open patent publication NO. 4-337545 and Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2-240846); PA1 (3) To provide two reflecting films thereby to control a thermal conductivity of the reflecting films (see Japanese laid-open patent publication NO. 5-342655); and PA1 (4) To deposit a dielectric film on the reflecting film (see Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 3-105742).
However, the aforesaid previously-proposed methods (1) to (4) can improve any one of a characteristic in which a recording layer tends to be heated quickly, i.e., a temperature rise characteristic and a characteristic in which a recording layer tends to be cooled quickly, i.e., a temperature fall characteristic and cannot satisfy both of the temperature rise characteristic and the temperature fall characteristic.

Optical disk and method of manufacturing optical disk


A nebulizer with a negative pressure structure includes a nebulization body, a carrying cavity, a nebulizing element and a negative pressure generating element. The carrying cavity is provided for carrying a nebulized liquid and has a through hole. The nebulizing element is installed at the through hole and includes a piezoelectric driving unit and a nebulizing plate disposed on a side of the piezoelectric driving unit. The negative pressure generating element is formed on the carrying cavity and provided for changing the volume of the carrying cavity or removing air from the carrying cavity to reduce the air pressure in the carrying cavity, so as to nebulize a liquid of low surface tension or high viscosity effectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to nebulizers, and more particularly to the nebulizer with a negative pressure structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a conventional nebulizer is comprised of a circular piezoelectric plate, a nebulizing plate, a fixing plate and a cavity. For the nebulization of a liquid having a general surface tension, if the total air and liquid pressure value in the cavity is greater than or equal to the external air pressure value (approximately equal to one 1 atmospheric pressure), the pressure at the inner side and the outer side of the nebulizing plate reaches an equilibrium, and a nebulized liquid stored in the cavity can be attached onto an inner side of the nebulizing plate, so that the nebulized liquid will not spill out from the spray hole, so as to achieve the effects of preventing the spray hole from being clogged easily and nebulizing the liquid effectively.
However, for a liquid having a low surface tension, the surface tension cannot be maintained stably due to the too-low surface tension, so that the liquid will not spill from the inner side to the outer side of the spray hole of the nebulizing plate. If the nebulizing liquid has a spilling speed greater than the nebulization speed, the liquid will spill continuously from the spray hole of the nebulizing plate to cover the surface of the nebulizing plate and result in clogging the spray hole and failing to nebulize the liquid effectively.
If the air pressure in the cavity has a positive pressure value, and the nebulized liquid is attached onto the spray hole of the nebulizing plate, and the external air pressure is smaller than the air pressure and liquid pressure in the cavity, then the nebulized liquid in the cavity will spill out from the spray hole of the nebulizing plate to achieve a pressure equilibrium state. As to the liquid with a low viscosity or a general viscosity, the small molecular weight and coherence force between molecules can be separated during the process of passing droplets of the liquid through the spray hole of the nebulizing plate spray hole, so as to achieve an effective nebulization.
However, as to a liquid of a high viscosity, the liquid has a greater molecular weight and Van der Waals' forces between molecules, the adherence force between molecules drives the liquid to spill out from the spray hole of the nebulizing plate, when the molecules of the liquid pass through the spray hole of the nebulizing plate for anebulization. As a result, the spray hole is covered by the liquid and fails to nebulize the liquid effectively. If a negative pressure state can be maintained in the cavity, the nebulized liquid is attached onto the spray hole of the nebulizing plate, and the external air pressure is greater than the pressure in the cavity, then the external air will move from the hole of the nebulizing plate into the cavity for a pressure equilibrium to reduce the spilling and facilitate the nebulized liquid and the external air to be exchanged by vibrations of the nebulizing plate and nebulize the liquid effectively.

Nebulizer with negative pressure structure


There is provided a novel microprogrammed processor (100) by combining two or more processor cores (10) in such a way that the processor cores can share the special microprogram memory resource (20) that is located deep inside the processor architecture. In other words, the novel microprogrammed processor (100) basically includes at least two processor cores (10), and a common internal microprogram control store (20) including microcode instructions for controlling at least the internal standard operation of the multiple processor cores, and suitable elements (30) for providing time-shared access to the microprogram control store by the processor cores.

In general, a processor executes a program. A program includes instructions, which are stored as a sequence of bytes in a memory. An instruction, also called a machine instruction or macroinstruction, can (in the general case) consist of one or several bytes, and contains an opcode field defining its basic function, e.g. an arithmetic operation or a conditional jump in the execution sequence (instead of continuing to the next instruction). The instruction may contain other fields that may specify one or more operands. The program (sequence of instructions in the memory) has usually been produced, beforehand, by a compiler or assembler—a tool that itself is a program, which takes the programmer's source code text as input.
A processor may be built as an integrated circuit, which is then called a microprocessor.
Normally other devices can be connected to the processor and exchange data with it. These are called peripherals. Some can contain electromechanics (e.g. a printer or hard disk), but some can be purely electronic. They all have digital control electronics for interfacing with the processor, and usually also for their internal control.
It is very common to add memory and peripheral electronics on the same IC chip as the processor, in order to reduce the parts count in an embedded system (a digitally controlled device that is not a PC or server computer). The IC is then called a microcontroller, and the processor part of it is called the processor core.
In general, a processor core is a digital device that can perform different sets of actions for each cycle of a high-frequency clock signal. The processor core typically includes two main parts, or units. One is the execution unit, where data can be taken in (from memory or peripherals), operated on, temporarily stored in registers, and/or output (to memory or peripherals). The other part is the control unit, which, for every cycle of the clock, controls the actions of the execution unit and itself, based on the state reached in the previous cycle.
The control signals created by the control unit can be generated by digital gates that sense the contents of the instruction register, the sequence counter (assuming the processor has multi-cycle instructions), and other registers and flip-flops that define the machine state in the current clock cycle.
An alternative used in more complex processors is to generate the control signals from microcode words (also referred to as microinstructions). These can be thought of as words consisting of bits or bit fields, each representing control signals as defined by their positions in the word, and each word specifying the respective signal levels to be produced during the current clock cycle. The technique is similar to that used in jacquard looms, player pianos, and pegged drum controllers for old washing machines or music boxes (also used in clock chiming mechanisms from the 14th century). Each microinstruction corresponds to a line of holes in the paper roll for a player piano, and all the lines of holes on the paper roll together correspond to a micro program stored in a control store, or micro program memory. This special (wide and fast) memory, internal to the control unit of the processor core, outputs a microinstruction for every clock cycle. A difference from the player piano is that the microinstruction sequence can contain jumps, i.e. control does not always pass from one microinstruction to the next one in the stored sequence. The processor core has the control logic needed to execute the microinstructions, e.g. to generate the direct control signals to select sources of data, select operation of the arithmetic unit, select destinations for data, increment/decrement counters, and select or calculate the next microprogram address.
This means that there is an additional level of control, between the program and the executing hardware. This level usually treats the instructions of the program as data, which it, under microprogram control, brings into the execution unit and operates on. The execution unit then also comprises a resource for calculating the next microprogram address. In the beginning of the execution of a program instruction, the microcode normally analyzes the operation code of the instruction and creates a microprogram address to the start of the execution microcode sequence for that opcode. It then computes the next microprogram address using a counter for stepping ahead in the sequence and typically a multiplexor to select other alternatives, i.e. doing jumps in the microprogram.
Since the execution of a microinstruction produces (among other results) the address of the next microinstruction, a hardware loop is created, in which there must be at least one register (otherwise there would be a "combinatorial loop", which results in uncontrolled behavior). Preferably that requirement is fulfilled by a microinstruction register, which stores the microinstruction, i.e. the output from the control store.
The microprogram is normally contained in a special microprogram memory, referred to as the control store, in the control unit of the processor core (and not in the main memory where the application program is stored). The microprogram controls the details of the processor core as it controls the execution hardware to first fetch a machine instruction from the application program in the main memory and then execute this instruction by performing arithmetic/logic or other operations and determining the next program address, as specified by the microprogram.
Although microprogrammed processors represent a significant advance in processor technology, especially by allowing higher complexity of operation and thereby increased overall flexibility and efficiency, there is still a general demand, especially in embedded systems, for processors that are even more efficient, e.g. with lower cost and lower power consumption, through higher program density, more efficient use of hardware resources, and/or higher flexibility for different kinds of special operations.

Microprogrammed processor having mutiple processor cores using time-shared access to a microprogram control store


An object oriented system for accessing an external relational database from within the object oriented system. The system creates an object and fills it with data values retrieved from the database. References from the object to other objects include pointers to preexisting objects or pointers to placeholder objects. Later retrieves fill in the placeholder objects, eliminating the need to reset the pointers. Caching, utilizing static data and static functions, is performed by each class of objects. Sub-objects are used to create different logical views of data from the database, and query access to the database is provided by a query engine which builds query language statements on demand.

Object oriented software development within computer systems, while no longer new, is still growing. Techniques and methodologies have not yet become standardized and object oriented databases are lagging behind object oriented software development in other areas. Direct storage of objects on nonvolatile mass storage is not widely available.
Relational database technology is mature and widely available, with a choice of vendors available for almost any development platform. Languages and access techniques are standardized and database structure optimization is well understood. Additionally, new applications may have to integrate with legacy data already stored in existing relational databases.
This combination of circumstances leads a large number of object oriented software developers to rely on conventional relational databases for data storage. Using conventional relational databases within an object oriented software environment, however, has its own drawbacks. First among these is that the structure of the object oriented environment and the structure of the relational database environment are different.
Conceptually, an object is an encapsulated set of data fields along with the processing functions that operate on data contained within the fields. Objects are organized into classes where all objects of a class share a common pattern of data fields and processing functions. Each individual object of a class has its own identity that differs from other objects of the same class, and typically has unique values stored in its data fields. Logical relationships between objects are often implemented by using pointers to provide direct access from one object to another object.
Relational databases use a flat, tabular format to store data. Data is partitioned into tables and then into columns within the tables. A particular set of data is stored as a row within a table, or the set may be split into two or more rows, with each row stored in a different table.
Within a relational database, no provision is made for storing any of the processing functions that operate on the data stored within the relational database. Relationships between the data tables are implemented by using corresponding columns, known as key fields, in the separate tables. A matching value within corresponding columns of two tables indicates related row entries between the tables.
Because of this difference in structure between the object oriented environment and the relational database environment, an object cannot be directly stored into a relational database. Instead, some mapping technique must be applied to convert between objects and database tables. Some of these techniques are well known, and some have been automated. One technique is to use a table for a class of objects, define a column in the table that corresponds to each data field in the class, and store the values for each individual object as a row of the table. Pointer references between objects are converted into key field values for storage in the database. The functions for the objects are stored separately, usually as a part of the software program which is executed to perform the processing. Existing mapping techniques either result in a poor relational database model, a poor object model, or limited use of the capability of the relational database management system to retrieve precisely the data needed with a single query.
Database access from within the object oriented environment is typically implemented by either embedding query language statements within the functions of the class of objects, or by utilizing library routines, called from the functions, to retrieve or store data. The embedded approach requires that the programmer know both the database query language and the development language for the objects, while the use of library routines often limits the query capability to a subset implemented by the library.
A difficulty arises when an object is retrieved from the database, and the retrieved object refers to a second object. If the second object has been previously retrieved from the database, so that it already exists within the object oriented environment, a pointer reference to the second object can be obtained and stored in the retrieved object. However, if the second object has not been retrieved from the database, so that the second object does not yet exist within the object oriented environment, a pointer reference cannot be used. Since the reference from the retrieved object to the second object cannot be resolved, the second object pointer must be marked as unusable in the retrieved object, until such time as the second object is retrieved. Once the second object is retrieved, the system must locate all of the previously retrieved objects that have unusable pointers to the second object, and update their pointer references, so that the now retrieved second object is accessible through the pointer references. This updating process can take considerable processing time, and programming for this situation is error prone.
The concept of multiple logical views of data is well known in the database field and this concept has been extended to retrieval of objects from relational databases. In implementing logical views, a subset of the data from a database, that corresponds to an object, is retrieved and defined as an object in the object oriented environment. Other views of the database would utilize a different subset of the data, likely with overlapping contents. Typically, when multiple views of the same database are retrieved, they are stored separately in memory. This results in duplicate storage of the overlapping data values and creates a coherency problem when one of the copies of the overlapping data is modified. A performance penalty is also incurred, because duplicated data may be retrieved from the database more than once, since it is not usually possible to retrieve only the non-duplicated data when a new view is needed. This approach also violates the concept of object identity where each object has its own identity, even if it has the same data values as another object, and all references to that object point to a single copy.
Caching techniques are also well known in the computer industry. The use of a cache reduces the processing time spent retrieving data from storage devices such as disk drives. When a set of data is retrieved, it is placed on the cache, in memory. A later request for the same set of data is satisfied by using the cache copy rather than again retrieving the set of data a second time from disk. Techniques for maintaining the coherency of the cache copy and the disk copy when one is modified, are also well known.
Traditional caching techniques typically utilize a single, monolithic cache associated with one or more storage devices. All requests for data for a device are processed by the same cache without regard to what program submitted the request. While efficient from the aspect of processing time, this approach is undesirable in terms of software design. To efficiently utilize a cache, a software program must have the ability to determine which data should be cached and which should not. It must also be able to flush certain data from the cache when the data is no longer needed. With a traditional monolithic cache, this requires that the program interact with an entity, the cache, that is outside of the program, thus forming a coupling between each program that uses a storage device and the cache software for the device cache. This coupling to an external entity makes the program dependent on a specific system configuration, reducing its flexibility, and it also restricts the reuse of the program across multiple computer systems.
There is a need in the art for a method of retrieving data from a relational database into an object oriented environment that maintains object identity, while eliminating the problems of duplicate storage and data coherency. There is also a need for such a system that can correctly resolve references to later loaded objects without the need to update pointers in preexisting objects. There is a further need for such a system to provide an in-memory cache without coupling the objects to an external entity. A still further need is for such a system that provides flexible access to the database without requiring that the object developer know the query language of the database.

Method and system for accessing relational databases using objects


An in-line process for mixing solvents with amorphous particle dispersions is disclosed. Continuous emulsification of the solvent is achieved by an in-line high-shear mixer, and diffusion of solvent to the amorphous particles is controlled in a plug flow reactor. Both processes are conducted in-line during dispersion delivery to coating processes. An apparatus for carrying out the process is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process and apparatus for preparing solvent-activated amorphous particle dispersions in a continuous process.
2. Information Disclosure
Photographic oil-in-water dispersions are commonly used for the incorporation of materials such as dye-forming couplers, oxidized developer scavengers, dyes and other compounds. Conventional techniques involve dissolving such compounds in organic solvents at high temperatures followed by emulsification of this oil solution into an aqueous gelatin/surfactant solution to form a dispersion. Solvents are used both to facilitate the dissolving of compounds and also to improve photographic activity of compounds by plasticizing the compound, thereby increasing the molecular mobility and lowering the particle bulk glass transition. In some cases, no-solvent (NS) dispersions are prepared by the same approach followed by removal of the solvent by evaporation or washing techniques. The NS dispersion is then considered an amorphous particle dispersion.
Techniques are known for the forming of amorphous-particle dispersions of compounds without the use of solvents. Such techniques are classified as either condensation or dispersion techniques. Modulated Phase Separation (MPS), which is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,104,776 (Bagchi and Sargeant) and 4,970,139 (Bagchi), involves dissolving couplers with acid groups in aqueous alkaline solutions followed by precipitation by reprotonation in the presence of a suitable wetting agent. The resultant dispersion particles are characterized as amorphous and have a size range of 50 to 300 nm.
An alternative technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,717 (Czekai) which is incorporated herein by reference. This technique, called a Thermally Modified Solid (TMS) dispersion process, involves preparation of a microcrystalline dispersion of the crystalline compound in a non-solvent liquid (usually water) with suitable wetting agents. The amorphous dispersion is obtained by mechanical fragmentation followed by heating or pressurized heating of the dispersion to the melting temperature of the dispersed crystals, at which temperature the microcrystals undergo a phase change and are converted to amorphous particles of a size range of 10-500 nm. These amorphous particles have properties that render them more desirable than microcrystalline particles for certain photographic uses; therefore, recrystallization subsequent to the formation of the amorphous particles is to be avoided.
In the case where the amorphous particles are dye forming couplers, it is known that the addition of a separate non-aqueous solvent to the pre-formed aqueous coupler dispersion results in increased photographic activity. This phenomenon has been observed for conventional NS (no-solvent) dispersions and for MPS dispersions. The solvent is thought to partition by diffusion through the aqueous phase to the coupler particle which it then plasticizes. The increased photographic activity lasts only as long as the particles remain amorphous, and unfortunately the solvent not only plasticizes the amorphous particles, it also increases their tendency to recrystallize.
One advantage of the solvent-free, aqueous amorphous particle dispersion is the improved stability against recrystallization of the amorphous particles. In general, in the absence of non-aqueous solvent, the dispersions retain their sensitometric properties for relatively long periods of storage. However, once a solvent is introduced, storage stability declines sharply. The prolonged presence of solvent in the amorphous particle dispersion appears to increase susceptibility of the plasticized particle to recrystallization. There is a "window" of time during which the photographic activity of amorphous particle dispersions is improved by the presence of solvent. This is a particular problem in coating delivery processes where the dispersion is held at elevated temperatures for many hours.
There is thus a need for an in-line process that would produce a solvent-activated amorphous particle dispersion in a continuous mode.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a process that can be used to produce an optimally active amorphous particle dispersion.
It is a further object to provide a process that can be run continuously, rather than batchwise.
It is a further object to provide a process for amorphous particle dispersions that minimizes recrystallization of plasticized particles.
It is a further object to provide an in-line process for the addition of solvents to amorphous particle dispersions that eliminates the need for a separate solvent dispersion manufacturing operation.
It is a further object to provide an in-line process that enables the automated, continuous delivery of dispersion, gelatin and solvent solutions to coating processes, thereby improving productivity.

In-line solvent incorporation for amorphous particle dispersions


A sphygmomanometer cuff includes a fluid bag, a curved elastic member, a cushion material, and an outer package body. The fluid bag is arranged around an arm of a subject and compresses the arm. The curved elastic member is arranged to overlap an outer side of the fluid bag with respect to the arm, formed in a substantially tubular shape extending in a predetermined axial direction, and elastically deformable in a radial direction thereof. The cushion material is arranged at a position projecting from an end of the curved elastic member in the axial direction and more easily compression deformed than the curved elastic member. The outer package body accommodates the fluid bag, the curved elastic member, and the cushion material.

With regards to a conventional sphygmomanometer cuff, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-209858 discloses an arm band of a sphygmomanometer aimed to include an elastic plate that is easily attached to an arm and exhibits excellent fitting property without giving pain after attachment (patent document 1). The arm band of the sphygmomanometer disclosed in patent document 1 includes the elastic plate that is arranged on the outer side of an air bladder and that has elasticity for holding an annular form of the arm band.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-195056 discloses a sphygmomanometer cuff aimed to be easily attached/detached to/from a measurement site such as an upper arm while being kept in a tubular form (patent document 2). In the sphygmomanometer cuff disclosed in patent document 2, a curved plate that is curved into a C-shape and can be elastically deformed in a radial direction, such as a synthetic resin plate, is arranged between an outer cloth and an ischemic air bladder. A sponge material is further arranged on the inner side of the curved plate.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-209858
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-195056

Sphygmomanometer cuff and sphygmomanometer


Semiconductor devices and fabrication methods for simultaneously forming a 3T-FinFET and a 4T-FinFET on a same substrate are provided. A first fin and a second fin can be formed on a semiconductor substrate. The first fin has a top surface higher than the second fin. A first gate dielectric layer and a first gate can be formed across the first fin. A second gate dielectric layer and a second gate can be formed across the second fin. An interlayer dielectric layer can be formed to cover the first gate, the second gate, and the semiconductor substrate. A first portion of the interlayer dielectric layer, a portion of the first gate, and a portion of the first gate dielectric layer, over the first fin, and a second portion of the interlayer dielectric layer over the second fin can be removed to expose the second gate.

In the area of semiconductor technologies, the degree of integration of integrated circuit (ICs) becomes increasingly high with the advancing of large scale IC to ultra large scale IC. However, the static power consumption of an IC increases as a result of transistor short-channel effects due to the high degree of IC integration. Generally, static power consumption refers to power consumption required by a stable circuit, which includes power consumption at work conditions and in a standby mode. For a normal functioning transistor, the threshold voltage is fixed. When the transistor functions steadily, the current between source/drain is Ion. When the gate voltage cannot reach the threshold voltage, the current between source/drain is Ioff, and the transistor is in a standby mode. It is desirable to reduce the power consumption of the transistor in the standby mode to reduce the static power consumption of the transistor.
Conventional solutions to reduce static power consumption include modulating transistor threshold voltage using DG-FinFET (i.e., double gate-FinFET).
DG-FinFET is also known as four-terminal-FinFET or 4T-FinFET. FIG. 1 depicts a 4T-FinFET including 4 terminals a source end 12′, a drain end 13′, a first gate 14, and a second gate 15 on the sides of the fin. The first gate 14 and the second gate 15 are also respectively referred to as a drive gate and a control gate, each independently controlled by a voltage. The drive gate can be used to turn on or off devices while the control gate can be used to modulate the threshold voltage (Vt) of a transistor. Specifically, if the transistor is to be turned on, the control gate is used to reduce the threshold voltage, which leads the voltage of the drive gate to reach the threshold voltage to turn on the transistor. To put the transistor in a standby mode, the control gate is used to increase the threshold voltage, which leads the voltage of the drive gate not to meet the threshold voltage to switch the transistor in to the standby mode. When in a standby mode, as the threshold voltage increases, Ioff reduces. The power consumption in the standby mode decreases. Therefore, the static power consumption of the transistor can be reduced by controlling the control gate to increase the threshold voltage in the standby mode.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional three-terminal FinFET (3T-FinFET) including three terminals: a source end 12, a drain end 13, and a gate 11. The gate 11 is formed across a fin (not shown). The 4T-FinFET shown in FIG. 1 may be obtained through chemical mechanical polishing of the convex part of the upper gate of the fin of the 3T-FinFET. However, it is difficult to simultaneously produce a 3T-FinFET and a 4T-FinFET on a same wafer.

Semiconductor device with three or four-terminal-FinFET

SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL (SHANGHAI) CORPORATION


A multi-stage radial flow compressor and turbine includes a rotor having a first plurality of blades and a second plurality of blades radially outward from the first plurality. A stator has a plurality of blades radially positioned between the two sets of rotor blades. The stator also includes a plurality of combustors positioned radially outward from the stators. The rotor also has turbine blades radially outward from the combustors which are driven by the combusted gas.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to fluid pumps and motors, specifically for converting energy into or from fluid motion. At least one of these pumps or motors can be combined with other components to create a heat engine such as a gas turbine.
2. Background of the Invention
Many designs have been conceived for pumping fluids. Piston pumps, screw pumps, scroll pumps, centrifugal pumps and axial flow turbines are a few of the common pumps used in industry today. Each has advantages and disadvantages over other designs. For example, single stage devices are often cheaper to manufacture but have limitation on maximum pressure drops across the pump. An example of this is the piston air compressor which is a positive displacement pump. Axial flow turbines are commonly used in large industrial devices such as jet engines. In a jet engine, the compressor is often a multistage axial flow turbine which is followed by another axial flow turbine to extract work from burning gasses. The multistage axial flow turbine represents a high efficiency method of converting energy to and from moving fluids. They are however, extremely expensive to manufacture and have complex flow losses. Some such losses are, flow over the ends of the blades. The design and manufacture of axial flow blades is complex and often expensive due to the three dimensional nature of the blades and stages. Blades generally have a complex, varying cross section across their length and require expensive manufacturing processes. Centrifugal turbines, on the other hand, can be used effectively for high flow applications but suffer efficiency losses due to being configured as single stage devices. Centrifugal turbines often include expensive impellers due to their complex three dimensional nature. There is an efficiency limit for the pressure drop across a blade or stage, often making multistage pumps and motors desirable. This however, increases the cost of manufacture and maintenance.
Since the early 20th century, turbines for extracting power from flowing fluids, such as steam, have been studied and implemented. Several such designs were characterized by turbines with long shafts, on which, disks were mounted (rotor section). On each disk, circular arrays of blades or vanes were mounted. A housing, supported the shaft with its "rotor" plates. The housing also supported circular arrays of stator blades. The fluid would flow in one end of the housing and follow a circuitous path from the inside to the outside of the disks, through the rotor and stator blades. Once the fluid reached the outside of the disk, the housing would route the fluid back toward the center where the flow pattern would repeat until the fluid was expelled out the other end of the housing. This design proved quite expensive and relatively inefficient in part, because of the tortuous path the fluid was required to flow through and large variation in swept area by each stage. There were many frictional losses, including over the blade tips. These designs eventually gave way to efficient axial flow designs.


A packaging assembly having an open design for displaying a product is provided. The packaging assembly is configured for storage and display in high density arrays of packaging assemblies, such as storage in pallets, and is configured to display visual information to a user from any perspective, even when the packaging assembly is packed in high density arrays of packaging assemblies. The packaging assembly includes an inner portion designed to contain a product and a housing designed to house the inner portion, wherein the inner portion includes a substantially transparent cover that facilitates display of the product. The packaging assembly includes an outer portion having a three dimensional window box frame, wherein portions of the window box frame are configured to couple to flanges provided on the inner portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packaging assemblies for storage and display of products.
2. Background of the Invention
In the world of high volume retail selling, it is desirable to present products to a customer in an attractive way, while still being able to accommodate both a large variety of products, as well as a large number of units for any given product. Often, the need to catch a viewer's attention on the part of a manufacturer/retailer of a particular product may be compromised by the need to store and display products in a compact manner consistent with the high volume and generally low cost sales of the retailer. In addition, with respect to warehouse clubs in particular, there is a need for product packages that can be stacked on a pallet, moved as a unit to a sales location, and easily unwrapped for display to and access by customers.
In addition, the challenge for manufacturers of packages is in striking the appropriate balance between adequately protecting the products from damage and minimizing the amount of handling necessary to display the products on the store floor. Further complicating this balance, the manufacturers generally favor plastic individual product packaging, such as clamshell packages or blister packs, because it is inexpensive and deters theft. Plastic packaging has the additional benefit of enabling the actual product to be viewable by consumers. Such packaging, however, is more susceptible to shipping damage and more difficult to display in bulk form (e.g., typical clamshells were originally intended to hang and did not stand up on their own). As a result, manufacturers and warehouse clubs are in a constant search for packaging that ships and protects the inexpensive plastic individual product packaging, and allows for easy handling and display of the products on the store floor.
A packaging assembly aimed at meeting the guidelines of warehouse clubs is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,979,662; 6,050,420; 6,152,305; 6,367,632; and 6,427,842. This assembly has two distinguishing features. First, it requires that the plastic individual product packaging provide the support that allows multiple assemblies to be stacked on top of each other. Second, it relies on pairs of slots in the side panels of the base of the assembly alone to hold the plastic individual product packaging in place.
In order for the individual product packaging to provide support for the assembly, it is desirable that the individual product packaging be strengthened beyond what is necessary to perform the functions of product protection, display, and theft deterrence. It is also desirable for a base to be strengthened beyond what is necessary to support and protect the assembly. Strengthening both the individual product packaging and the base of the assembly increases the overall cost and complexity of the packaging assembly. Accordingly, it can be appreciated that a substantial need exists for packaging assemblies that meet the guidelines of warehouse clubs, yet maintain the lowest overall increase in packaging costs and complexity.

System for product packaging and display


A sender device capable of sending digital information in the form of electrical binary signals to a receiver device. N-MOS transistors and P-MOS transistors are arranged in pairs. Each pair comprises an N-MOS transistor and a P-MOS transistor. The N-channel of an N-MOS transistor located in one pair, and the P-channel of a P-MOS transistor located in the same pair are connected in parallel, whereby a broad signalling voltage range is accomplished.

The invention relates to a sender device for sending digital information in the form of electrical binary signals to a receiver device. Said sender device comprises N-MOS transistors and P-MOS transistors. Each N-MOS transistor has an N-channel, and each P-MOS transistor has a P-channel.
Advances in electronic technology and design, and a strive towards boosted performance in terms of power consumption and speed, among many other things, has led to a variety of concepts for electrical binary signalling between circuits and circuit boards. Early concepts are DTL (Diode-Transistor Logic), TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) and ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic). These employ so called single-ended signalling. More recent concepts often employ a technique called differential signalling, also known as balanced signalling, which uses two signalling wires. Such concepts are DPECL (Differential Pseudo Emitter Coupled Logic), LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signalling) and GLVDS (Grounded Low Voltage Differential Signalling). GLVDS is disclosed in the Swedish patent applications SE 9304025-1 and SE 9400971-9.
Although the above mentioned differential signalling concepts are indeed differential, each of the two signalling wires operate at fixed nominal voltages, which are related to ground. Each wire operates at two voltage levels, referred to as low voltage level and high voltage level, respectively.
DPECL typically has a signalling low voltage level of 3.4 V, and a high level of 3.9 V. LVDS on the other hand has a low level of 0.95 V, and a high level of 1.45 V, while GLVDS has a low level of 0 V and a high level of 0.5 V. The voltages are related to ground.
A sender device and a receiver device of a signalling concept of the above said types sends and receives, respectively, signals within a quite narrow voltage interval. In particular, a sender device and a receiver device for signalling at voltage potentials close to ground level, such as in GLVDS, typically operate only for low signalling voltage levels, e.g. less than 1 V. Such a sender device is not compatible with a receiver device of a different signalling concept that requires other signalling voltage levels.
A problem is to arrange electronic circuitry for a universal sender device which operates within a broad range of signalling voltage levels.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,293 is disclosed a technique and circuit for switching a bipolar output stage between an active mode and an inhibit mode. In the inhibit mode, the output stage is deactivated, and the output node of the stage represents a high impedance.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,259 is disclosed an output stage suitable for use with a variety of supply voltages, including supply voltages less than 5 volts. The output stage allows proper operation when a legitimate over voltage is applied to its output pad.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,080 is disclosed a signal transmission circuit in which a signal is converted into two complementary signals which are output from a signal transmission circuit via series resistors. The amplitude of each of the complementary signals is reduced by the series resistors and terminating resistors provided on a signal receiving side. The signal receiving side shifts the level of its received input. The level shifted signals are amplified by a high-input impedance differential amplifying circuit.


This invention provides a printing method of printing on a printing medium. The method includes: a dot data generating step of performing a halftone process on image data representing a input tone value of each of pixels constituting an original image, for generating dot data representing a status of dot formation on each of print pixels of a print image to be formed on the print medium; and a print image generating step of forming a dot on each of the print pixels for generating the print image according to the dot data. The halftone process is configured to give specified characteristics to all of dot patterns formed on printing pixels belonging to each of a plurality of basic pixel groups constituting the print image. The print image is formed by mutually combining dots formed on print pixels belonging to each of a plurality of pixel groups for which a physical difference is assumed with dot formation using the print image generating step, in a common print area. The plurality of pixel groups consists of a pixel group that is a combination of a plurality of specific basic pixel groups among the plurality of basic pixel groups, and a pixel group other than the specific basic pixel groups among the plurality of basic pixel groups.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to technology for printing an image by forming dots on a print medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As output devices for images created using a computer or images shot using a digital camera or the like, printing devices that print images by forming dots on a printing medium are widely used. These printing devices perform gradation expression using a halftone process because there are few dot tone values that can be formed for the input tone values. As one halftone process, an ordered dither method using a dither matrix is widely used. The ordered dither method has a big effect on the image quality according to the dither matrix contents, so for example as disclosed in JP-A-7-177351, JP-A-7-81190, and JP-A-10-329381, an attempt was made to optimize the dither matrix using an analysis method of simulated annealing or genetic algorithm using an evaluation function taking into consideration the human visual sense.
However, with this kind of dither matrix optimization processing, ink dots are formed by doing a plurality of scans of the common area on the printing medium, and there was no consideration of the degradation of image quality due to printing of images by doing this. Meanwhile, for the method of scanning on the printing medium, because there is a wide variety, if each method is simply optimized, there will be a demand to design and implement a huge variety of types of halftone processing methods. Furthermore, this kind of image quality degradation is not limited to halftone processing using the dither matrix, and occurs in general with printing using halftone processing.


An automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus for a vehicle comprises a vehicle speed sensor for sensing a present vehicle speed; a command switch group; a controller including a memory for storing an desired cruising speed, a calculator for generating an actuator drive signal in response to the difference between the desired cruising speed and the present vehicle speed, a cancel controller, a resume controller, a transition controller, integration means for integrating duration time of the actuator drive signal during constant acceleration control by the resume controller, and decision means for detecting the present vehicle speed to approach the desired cruising speed; and an actuator for driving a throttle valve according to the actuator drive signal. The transition controller drives drastically in the closing direction of the throttle valve for the time calculated depending on the integral time obtained by the integration means when the present vehicle speed approaches the desired cruising speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus used for automatically controlling a traveling speed of a vehicle to a certain preselected value.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As such an automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus for controlling automatically a vehicle speed to a preselected value, an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application First publication (Kokai) No. sho 63-57341 has been known, for example.
In the automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus of this kind, according to an off-operation after the on-operation of a set switch, a vehicle speed at the time of the off-operation is stored in a vehicle speed memory as a desired cruising speed. An actuator drive signal is transmitted to an actuator in response to the difference between an actual vehicle speed and the desired cruising speed stored in the vehicle speed memory, and the vehicle speed is controlled by driving a throttle valve of the vehicle through the actuator so as to coincide the actual vehicle speed with the stored desired cruising speed, consequently the vehicle travels automatically at the constant cruising speed.
When a cancell switch or a brake pedal is operated during the automatic constant-speed cruising, the constant-speed cruising of the vehicle is cancelled.
If a resume switch is operated in this state, resume control is started and the vehicle speed is resumed to the previous desired cruising speed stored in the vehicle speed memory by transmitting the drive signal to the actuator. The resume control is carried out by using acceleration constant K', acceleration .alpha. and difference .epsilon. (.epsilon.<0) between the actual vehicle speed and the cruising speed stored in the vehicle speed memory, constant acceleration control is carried out under control output time (T=.alpha.-T.alpha.) which is a function of acceleration .alpha. of the vehicle and objective acceleration T.alpha. when decision means judges (K'.multidot..alpha.+.epsilon.) to be not larger than 0 (zero), and switching over is done from the constant acceleration control to constant speed control when the decision means judges (K'.multidot..alpha.+.epsilon.) to be larger than 0 (zero).
In another automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus, resume control is also known, such that the constant acceleration control is carried out when the difference .epsilon. between the preselected desired cruising speed and the actual vehicle speed is larger than predetermined value A, and the constant acceleration control is switched over to the constant speed control at a point of time when the vehicle speed difference .epsilon. becomes not larger than the predetermined value A through the constant acceleration control.
In the aforementioned automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus so designed as to change over the constant acceleration control to the constant speed control during the resume control by judging whether (K'.multidot..alpha.+.epsilon.) is larger than 0 or not, however, there is a fluctuation in the changeover time from the constant acceleration control to the constant speed control, whereby dispersion is sometimes produced in the time required for concentrating the actual vehicle speed to the stored desired cruising speed. Therefore, there is a problem since there is the possibility that overshooting of the vehicle speed occurs and deterioration is caused in the control characteristics.
In the other automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus designed so as to change over the constant acceleration control to the constant speed control in the resume control by judging whether the vehicle speed difference .epsilon. is larger than the predetermined value A or not, it is necessary to carry out tuning in order to regulate the value A for every individual vehicle because it takes a prolonged time for concentrating the actual vehicle speed to the memorized desired cruising speed owing to overshoot or so in the vehicle excellent in the power performance unless the value A is changed between the vehicle excellent in the power performance and the vehicle not so. Accordingly, there is a problem in that an increase of man-power required for manufacturing the apparatus may be caused by the tuning of the value A.

Automatic constant-speed cruising control apparatus


The present invention provides a solvent casting process which comprises casting a dope which is a solution containing at least one kind of a polymer from a casting die onto a casting support, stripping off from the casting support and drying, wherein the force necessary for stripping off the dope from the die lip end of the casting die is 40 g/cm or smaller. According to the present invention, the employment of the foregoing constitution prevents the formation of the slugs at lateral edge portions of the dope because the cast dope would not adhere to the die lip end portion of the casting die. As a result, because a breaking down of the film would not occur without washing the apparatus, an efficient production of a film having superior evenness in the flatness can be achieved.

Generally, cellulose triacetate film is employed for a film such as a protective film for a polarizing plate or an optical by functional film, and a solvent casting process produces the cellulose triacetate film. In the solvent casting process, a dope being a polymer solution consisting of a cellulose acetate with high concentration prepared by mixing and dispersing a cellulose acetate and a solvent, is continuously cast from a casting die onto a casting support, stripped off after being dehumidified to some extent on the casting support, dried and wound to obtain a roll of the film.
By the way, at the timing of casting the dope from the casting die onto the casting support, an uneven surface drying defect by a sojourn of the dope may be formed on the die lip end. The uneven surface drying defect tends to form particularly at both lateral edge portions of the cast dope (the uneven surface drying defects at both side edge portions are referred to as slugs at lateral edge portions below). In the case where the uneven surface drying defect forms on the die lip end, streaks would appear beginning at the uneven surface drying defects thereby degrading the surface quality of the film.
Further, in the case where the slugs are formed at both lateral edge portions of the cast dope, they contact with a web of dope after being cast from the casting die and before it impinges to the casting support (referred to as "bead" below), thereby making problems of causing thickness unevenness at the lateral edge portions of the film, or causing remained dope after the stripping off of the film from the casting support, and causing the generation of a tearing point at the lateral edge portions of the film. There is another problem that the slugs may leave off from the dope and hung on a labyrinth part along the way before the stripping off until contacting with the film thereby causing a breaking down of the film.
Accordingly, various countermeasures for preventing the slugs at lateral edge portions are conventionally proposed particularly with regards to both side edge portions. For example, U.S. Pat. No, 3,112,528, JP 2-208650A, JP 5-86212A, etc. disclose a method of dripping a solvent to both lateral edge portions of a discharge lip of a casting die, or a method of depositing a mixture of vapor of the solvent and air to both lateral edge portions of a discharge lip of a casting die.
However, these conventionally proposed methods for preventing the slugs at lateral edge portions were not sufficiently effective depending on the characteristics of the dope because they are based on the principle of inhibiting the bad effects of the slugs at lateral edge portions by dissolving them again.
For example, JP 2-208650A and JP 5-86212A proposed as shown in FIG. 3 providing a feed pipe 32 for feeding a solvent at both lateral edges of a casting die 31, and by feeding the solvent 33 from the feed pipe 32 at both lateral edges of a bead 34, aiming to prevent the slugs at lateral edge portions. However, these conventional methods were unable to completely prevent the slugs at lateral edge portions, and the slug 35 may often formed on both lateral edge portions of the bead. By the way, numerical symbol 36 shows an impinging point of the bead with the casting support.


A method for determining the position of a real object and displaying a virtual object linked to the real object in an augmented reality display device is provided. For this purpose, a tracking system is used to detect a position of the real object) at different consecutive measurement times and in each case to calculate an estimated position for the measurement times. A reliability value is determined on the basis of the detected position of the real object and of the estimated position of the real object and shown in the augmented reality display device. The present method furthermore discloses a corresponding augmented reality system having an augmented reality display device for displaying a real object and a virtual object linked to the real object).

In an augmented reality application (augmented reality is generally and therefore likewise also abbreviated to "AR" hereinafter), real objects are overlaid with virtual data (virtual objects) and depicted in a display. The visual depiction of the overlaid data may in this case be performed for example via a screen or data glasses. In order to link the overlaid data as exactly as possible with a real object and in order thereby to achieve a degree of immersion that is as high as possible and that gives the impression of an immersion in virtual reality that is close to reality, it is important to determine the exact position of the real object in space. In the case of dynamic displays, the position of the real object therefore has to be constantly determined and updated, for example. This object tracking is also often called "tracking". A camera system is usually used for tracking.
Such AR systems are already used relatively often in modern computer games. Meanwhile, there are additionally also scientific applications or applications in the industrial sector. It would also be possible to consider use in the medical sector, for example in order, during an operation, to provide the surgeon with additional information regarding his tool, for example a catheter or scalpel, and/or in order to virtually display the position of the tool or of a tool part within the body.
A problem with determining the position of the real object as described above may arise if the object is temporarily concealed. Such concealment may occur for example during an operation if the real object to be tracked is concealed by surrounding tissue or by the constricted situation during an operation, and is thus detected incorrectly, or not at all, by the camera system. As a result, it is no longer possible to overlay the real object with virtual data or the virtual data may be displayed at an incorrect position in space. This would reduce the degree of immersion and, in certain applications, such as for example in the case of an operation, may be extremely unfavorable. In the case of such an application, the user should be able to rely very precisely on the display in the AR application.

Display of a virtual object linked to a real object in an augmented reality display device


Systems and methods for sender profile and/or recipient profile disambiguation and/or confirmation are disclosed. In instances where a sender profile is not indicated by a user sending a communication from a communal device, heuristic data may be utilized to infer the sender profile. Similar heuristic data may also be used when selection of the sender profile is associated with a low confidence level. Heuristic data may also be used to infer the recipient profile when the user does not indicate the recipient profile or when selection of the recipient profile is associated with a low confidence. Various confirmations may result from the sender and recipient profile disambiguation.

Communications may be sent from one user profile to another. One user profile is designated as the sender and another user profile is designated as the recipient. The sender user profile is generally defaulted while the recipient's user profile is selected by a sender. Described herein are improvements in technology that will improve, among other things, the user experience when using a voice user interface and/or communal device to send message.


Background images are removed and only desired payment information is extracted from a grayscale image of a check or similar financial instrument. A density distribution improvement process applied to grayscale raw image data 40 acquired by scanning a check corrects the density distribution of the raw image data 40 to separate the density range of the desired payment information from the density range of the background image. A threshold level 44 for clearly separating the payment information from the background image is then calculated from the characteristics of the density distribution of the grayscale improved image data 42 acquired by the density distribution improvement process. Histograms of the density distributions are used to determine the characteristics of the density distribution. The improved image data 42 is then converted to binary image data 46 using the threshold level 44.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for processing image data containing a background image and a desired foreground image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A device that processes checks, for example, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. 2004-123117 is one example of an image processing apparatus. This check processing device optically scans a check or other type of financial instrument to capture an image of the instrument. To reduce the size of the image data, the raw image data from the scanned instrument (such as gray scale image data) is digitized to produce a two-valued (black and white) image of the instrument, which is assumed to be a check below. Particular information on the check (such as the bank name, account number, amount, payee, payer name and payer signature, referred to as the "payment information" below) must be clearly visible in the digitized image data. Instruments such as checks typically have a background image, which may be a simple pattern or a picture, for example, printed on the front, and the payment information is printed or written over this background image.
The technology taught in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. 2004-123117 is characterized by dynamically changing the threshold level used for digitizing the raw image data based on the image characteristics of the specific check so that the background image can be removed from the raw image data and a clear image of the desired payment information that is being read can be extracted. More specifically, selected parts of the check are scanned before scanning the entire check to generate a histogram of the density (brightness) distribution in the image data captured from those selected parts. The threshold level used for digitizing is then calculated based on this histogram.
The technology taught in Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub.2004-123117 for dynamically adjusting the digitizing threshold level based on image characteristics in the raw image data is particularly effective for extracting a desired foreground image, such as the payment information on a check, from the raw image data of the check. However, this technology leaves a number of problems.
First, the payment information on a check often contains image elements that are finer than the scanning resolution (such as fine line elements that are narrower than the width of one pixel in the scanned image data), and such ultrafine line elements are lost by the digitizing process. More specifically, such fine image elements are expressed as low density gray image elements, and are converted to white pixels, that is, deleted, by the digitizing process.
Second, the background images on checks and other instruments vary widely, the density distribution differs with each background image, and the density range of the background image may overlap the density range of the foreground image (the check payment information). As a result, the digitizing process also extracts a part of the background image as a black area together with the desired foreground image. If the foreground image overlaps the part of the background image that is extracted as a black area, the foreground image cannot be distinguished from the background image in the digitized image data.
This problem is not limited to processing financial instruments, and also occurs when scanning documents and in other image processing applications.

Image processing apparatus and image processing method


An approach for parsing and streaming contents of archive files is disclosed. In one embodiment, a client script executed by a web browser parses an archive file based on its archival format, without loading the entire archive file into memory. For example, the client may read only header fields of files inside a TAR format archive file to identify the files therein and their locations, while skipping contents of those files. Having identified files inside the archive file and their locations, the client further reads and processes files that are small enough to be handled by the web browser, while streaming to appropriate endpoints contents of other files such as those that are too large to be handled by the web browser. Such streaming may include slicing large files into sections the web browser can handle and attaching the sections to HTTP requests that are sent to appropriate endpoints.

Web browsers are software applications for, among other things, finding, retrieving, and displaying information on networks such as the Internet. Web browsers have traditionally been limited in the size of files they are capable of handling. For example, loading a file larger than one gigabyte will cause some browsers to crash or display an error message. As a result, very large files, such as open virtual appliance (OVA) archive files that include virtual disk images and other files representing virtual machines (VMs), cannot be read and handled by traditional web browsers. In particular, to deploy VMs in an OVA file to a datacenter, certain files such as the VMs' virtual disk images need to be sent to appropriate destinations (e.g., datastores in the datacenter). However, the OVA file may be so large that it cannot be loaded in a web browser and parsed so that the virtual disk images and other files can be sent to the requisite destinations.

Handling large streaming file formats in web browsers