Antimicrobial nail coating compositions, and methods for treating and preventing microbial infections of the nail area, are provided. The antimicrobial nail coating compositions can be used to treat and/or prevent infections caused by microbes including bacteria, molds, spores, viruses and fungi, while providing a nail coating having acceptable handling and esthetic qualities. The compositions can include alcohol-containing solvents, and, as antimicrobial agents, quaternary amines or phenols.

Nail coatings for cosmetic purposes, known variously as base coats, top coats, lacquers, varnishes, and enamels are the largest and most important group of manicure preparations. "The Nails", Chapter 22 in Harry's Cosmeticology, Wilkinson, J. B., and Moore, R. J., Eds., 7th Edition, pp 369-393. Chemical Publishing Company, Inc., New York, N.Y. 1982. Although nail coatings are generally collectively referred to as "nail polishes", such nomenclature is erroneous. Polishes contain fine abrasives that impart desirable characteristics, such as smoothness, based on friction created by buffing. Nail coatings, on the other hand, impart similar characteristics without friction due to components contained therein.
It is preferable that nail coatings be easily applied, dry rapidly and uniformly, convey a high luster upon drying, and be substantially non-toxic. The application process can be messy and time consuming. Thus, it is also desirable that such coatings be durable to avoid frequent applications. Other desirable characteristics of nail coatings include smooth and even flow on application and uniform drying without adverse surface artifacts.
The vast majority of nail coating systems currently in use contain either toluene or formaldehyde, or a combination of toluene and/or formaldehyde with aryl resins. Toluene and formaldehyde have an extremely unpleasant odor, are toxic by ingestion or absorption through the skin, and can easily sensitize the skin, leading to hypersensitivity. Aldehydes are also immunoreactive agents, which can promote inflammation and cause desiccation of vital tissue. Furthermore, toluene and formaldehyde have been recently recognized as carcinogens by CAL OSHA and other health and safety regulatory agencies (See, e.g., United States Department of Labor OSHA Standard Subpart Z 1910.1048). Thus, it is desirable to minimize or eliminate toluene and aldehydes, particularly formaldehyde, from nail coating formulations.
In part due to the inherent high volatility and enhanced evaporation coefficients of nail coatings, moisture and organic contaminants such as bacteria, molds, spores, viruses and fungi can become trapped on the nail surface and between the nail coating and the nail plate, resulting in polymicrobial infections of the nail plate and brittle, unsightly, disfigured nails. Onychomycosis is just one example of the myriad of microbial etiologies of nail disfigurement. Treatment of polymicrobial infections of the nail plate can require expensive, prolonged medical therapy, which is not always innocuous and can even be toxic. Moreover, such treatments often provide less than satisfactory cure rates and patient tolerance. From a commercial standpoint, professional nail technicians and consumers of professional nail care products and services recognize that lifting and chipping of artificial (e.g. acrylic) nails is exacerbated by organic contaminants that grow at the interface of the natural nail and the artificial nail, or the artificial nail-coating interface. In addition, organic contaminants between the surface of the natural nail and a lacquer coating can cause lifting, chipping and reduced adhesion of lacquer coatings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,730 discloses an antimycotic nail varnish. The nail varnish comprises, as anti-mycotic agents, certain 1-hydroxy-pyridones. However, the 1-hydroxy-pyridones have limited application because they are effective against mycotic organisms, not bacteria. Thus, in order to treat bacterial infections, an antibacterial agent would need to be somehow incorporated into these formulations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,776 discloses an anti-fungal nail lacquer and method for use thereof. The anti-fungal nail lacquer contains, as an anti-fungal agent, griseofulvin. However, griseofulvin, like the 1-hydroxypyridones of U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,730, is an anti-fungal agent and an additional antibacterial agent is required in order to treat bacterial infections. Furthermore, the disclosure provides that about 25 to 75 percent of the griseofulvin will generally be in solution, while the remaining 75 to 25 percent will generally be in colloidal suspension.
While alcohols are commonly used as solvents in nail lacquer compositions, prolonged contact between many antimicrobial agents can result in diminished activity of the antimicrobial agent. Clearly it would be advantageous, for esthetic reasons and for consistency in application, to have a true solution of an antimicrobial agent in a nail lacquer composition. It would also be advantageous if a nail lacquer composition were developed that provided both treatment and prophylaxis against a broad spectrum of microorganisms.
Thus, there remains a need for prophylaxis against polymicrobial infections of the nail plate, including continuous prophylaxis against acquired organic contamination after the application of a nail coating. It is also desirable to minimize or eliminate aldehyde and ketone solvents, particularly formaldehyde, in nail coatings. The present invention is directed to these, as well as other, important needs.


A dual path loop filter circuit for a phase lock loop is described. The filter circuit allows the filter to be integrated into a phase lock loop IC circuit without using active circuit components that may create additional noise and consume additional power. The filter circuit structure allows for a low capacitance capacitor to be used to filter out any undesired signals.

Phase Locked Loop (PLL) circuits are well known and used for frequency control in a variety of applications. For example, they can be configured as frequency multipliers, demodulators, tracking generators or clock recovery circuits. A typical PLL circuit has a loop filter to filter out high frequency components such as spurs generated by a phase comparator or a charge pump in the PLL circuit. A typical loop filter uses passive components such as capacitors and resistors to filter out any undesired signals such as spurs. However, a typical loop filter requires high capacitance capacitor(s) to filter out high frequency components such as spurs. Since high capacitance capacitors occupy large amount of space in integrated circuits, the high capacitance capacitors could not be integrated into integrated circuits that include PLL circuits. As a result, the loop filters were usually located outside of the integrated circuits.
To solve the above problem with loop filters, a dual path loop filter was designed to allow loop filters to be integrated into IC circuits. The dual path loop filter uses active circuit components such as op-amps to filter out unwanted signals. However, active circuit components create additional noise and consume more power than passive circuit components.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a new type of dual path loop filter design that can ameliorate the shortcomings of previous loop filter designs.

Dual path loop filter for phase lock loop


A photosensor device includes doped and undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers adjacent each other and sandwiched between a conductive layer on one side and a metal layer on the other side with the sensor having been annealed under a hydrogen atmosphere and exhibiting low dark currents. The photosensor device is particularly useful as an X-ray image sensing device with the addition of a luminescent layer having at least one X-ray phosphor.

The present invention relates to amorphous silicon sensors, and in particular, it relates to an amorphous silicon Schottky barrier device having a metal annealed layer.
A semiconductor X-ray sensor is a device for converting X-ray energy to an electrical signal. In general, such sensors sense either the collection of the charge generated by absorption of the incident X-ray photons in the semiconductor itself or the collection of the charge generated in the semiconductor by absorption of visible light photons which are produced by a phosphor or scintillation element excited by the X-rays.
The absorption and conversion of X-rays into light photons by a phosphor screen followed by the conversion of the light photons into electrical charge in the semiconductor device is the more efficient process and is generally chosen whenever the statistical accuracy of the number of photons is preferred to the accuracy in the energy or time resolution of the impinging radiation. This approach is suited for Computer Tomography and Electronic Radiography where the image is close to the quantum limit because of the very low dosage requirement.
Beerlage et al in an article entitled "Digital Slot Radiography Based on a Linear X-Ray Image Intensifier and Two-Dimensional Image Sensors" describe the use of digital radiography. Digital radiography is useful in situations where a large area needs to be imaged. However, the sensors used in digital radiography are expensive hybrid assemblies of discrete single crystal devices and do not allow high resolution and high quality imaging.
A phosphor layer coated on metal electrodes of a junction field effect transistor (JFET) that is deposited on top of amorphous silicon Schottky devices as described in European Patent Application 189,710. A charge is injected and trapped through the source and drain electrodes into the potential well close to the gate electrode. This charge inhibits the conduction between the source and drain electrodes and can be neutralized by charge generation produced by the light from the phosphorus screen. Current between the source and drain electrodes is taken as the signal. In European Patent Application 163,956, an X-ray sensor having an amorphous silicon p-i-n structure is described. The sensor structure is conventional and utilizes single transistors or single diodes as blocking elements in a pixel.
More recently an amorphous silicon X-ray sensor has been described in Japanese laid-open patent applications Nos. 61-196582, 61-196572, 61-196571, and 61-196570. The amorphous silicon X-ray sensor described in these Japanese patent applications is fabricated on glass substrates by the decomposition of SiH.sub.4 /H.sub.2 mixtures containing the desired amounts of CH.sub.4, B.sub.2 H.sub.6, PH.sub.3 in a RF glow discharge deposition system to produce amorphous silicon layers (a-Si:H) with various levels of doping. The structure of the sensor is a glass substrate /ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) layer /p-type a-SiC:H layer /i-type a-Si:H layer /microcrystalline n-type a-Si:H layer /Al layer. The thickness of the p-type and n-type layers is 120-150 Angstrom and 500 Angstrom, respectively. A layer of ZnS (Ni doped) or CaWO4 phosphor is coated on the front surface of the glass substrate. When X-rays are incident on the phosphor, green or blue light is emitted. The light then penetrates the glass substrate and finally enters the p-i-n sensor. However, systems made from this sensor suffer from image contrast losses and are limited in spatial resolution and dynamic range.
Amorphous silicon Schottky barrier diodes and photosensors are well known in the art. Solar cells made using amorphous silicon (a-Si) produced by RF glow discharge in silane were found to contain a much smaller density of defects than samples previously made by direct evaporation or sputtering (D. E. Carlson and C. R. Wronski, "Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell", App. Phys. Lett. Vol. 28, 671 (1976)). Electrical properties of Schottky barriers formed between undoped amorphous silicon and metals such as chromium, palladium, rhodium, and platinum have been studied (C. R. Wronski and D. E. Carlson, "Surface States and Barrier Heights of Metal-Amorphous Silicon Schottky Barriers", Solid State Comm. Vol. 23, 421 (1977)).
Schottky diodes formed between platinum and undoped a-Si:H produced by RF glow discharge in silane/hydrogen mixtures, are shown (A. Deneuville and M. H. Brodsky, "Influence of Preparation Conditions on Forward-Bias Currents of Amorphous Silicon Schottky Diodes", J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 50, 1414 (1979)) to have improved characteristics (closer to ideality) on post deposition annealing at a temperature equal to the deposition temperature. No details of the atmosphere are given explicitly. The formation of metal silicide at the metal/a-Si:H interfaces on post-deposition annealing is studied in M. J. Thompson et al, "Silicide Formation in Pd-a-Si:H Schottky Barriers", Appl. Phys. Lett. Vol. 39, 274 (1981). Annealing was under vacuum at 180.degree. C. for 15 min. Ideality factors improved and became stable on annealing.
In R. J. Nemanich et al, "Initial Reactions at the Interface of Pt and Amorphous Silicon", J. Vac. Sci. detailed studies were described of the Pt silicide layers formed between a thin electron beam deposited Pt layer and a-Si:H layer in a Schottky barrier diode. No photo response characteristics were examined but the backward bias (-1 V) current densities were given as about 10.sup.-10 A. /cm.sup.2 as-formed and 10.sup.-11 A. /cm.sup.2 after vacuum annealing at about 200.degree. C.
In R. J. Nemanich in "Semiconductors and Semimetals", Vol. 21, Part C, page 376, edited by Jacques Pankove, Academic Press 1984, metal silicides are reported to occur at junctions with a-Si:H with the following metals, chromium, nickel, palladium, and platinum.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


A memory devices having NAND type cells as storage elements is disclosed. The amplifier prevents the error from occurring and improves the sensing speed by getting the column line and the reference line approximately the same current level for a while, after the equalizing signal was just turned into row level, in order that the potentials of the column line and the reference line normally come out without time delay. And, the sensing amplifier comprises a reference cell string selecting part 203 connected to a reference line and to selection lines 1 to N, a reference cell part 204 connected to row lines 1 to N and to the reference cell string selecting part 203, a column dummy cell part 205 connected to a column line and to dummy lines 1 and 2, a reference dummy cell part 206 connected to the reference line and to the dummy lines 1 and 2.

The present invention relates to the field of sensing amplifiers in semiconductor memory devices, and more particularly to a sensing amplifier for read only memory devices or the like which employ NAND type cells as storage elements.
The prior art regarding the sensing amplifier for memory devices will be described with reference in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional formation of NAND type cells was composed of a large number of MOSFET's. The first MOSFET which the gate thereof connected to a selection line and the drain thereof connected to a column line has been utilized as a cell for selecting a cell string, the others which each gate thereof connected to one of the row lines 1 to N in order to select a cell, each drain thereof connected to a source of one adjoined cell and each source thereof connected to a drain of the other adjoined cell forming into a serial cell string have been utilized as unit storage elements.
In the NAND type cells, a cell as a unit storage element was able to have a positive threshold voltage of approximately a range of 0.5 volts to 2.0 volts or a negative threshold voltage of approximately not more than -0.5 volts, and a low level voltage of approximately zero volts was applied to the gate of selected unit storage element, on the contrary, high level voltage of approximately 5 volts was applied to the gate of unselected unit storage element. Therefore, the column line became an electric charged state or an electric discharged state in accordance with the states of cells.
Generally, the sensing amplifier of the prior art having two inputs connected to a column line and a reference line respectively has sensed the state of selected NAND type cells by amplifying the potential difference between two inputs, wherein the reference line had a potential approximately equal to the middle potential between charged state potential and discharged state potential of the column line.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a memory device having a cell sensing amplifier of the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, to maintain the uniform potential of the reference line which was approximately equal to the middle potential between the two states of the column line, dummy cells C1' to Cn' which are the same as the cells C1 to Cn connected to the column line were connected to the reference line. And, to maintain the uniform charged potential or discharged potential of the column line, each of the column line and the reference line was independently connected to a biasing circuit composed of the same number of MOSFET's, in which the first MOSFET group was coupled to the column line connected to the non-inverting input of an amplifier, and the second MOSFET group was coupled to the reference line connected to the inverting input of the amplifier. Therefore, the column line and the reference line had got the same immunity over against outer noise and process change, thus the state of the cells was fully sensed although small voltage difference was merely occurred on the column line in contrast with the reference line. This type of sensing amplifier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,394.
Also, another type, in which dummy cells connected to the reference line are different from the cells connected to the column line, has been utilized in order to make the reference load.
FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram for illustrating an improved sensing amplifier of the recent prior art. In FIG. 3, a reference numeral 101 denotes a cell string selecting part, 102 a memory part, 103 a reference cell string selecting part, 104 a reference cell part, 105 an added reference cell part, 106 and 107 preamplifying parts, 108 an equalizing part, and 109 denotes an amplifying part, respectively.
According to the increasing memory cells in large scale integrated memory device, the delay time of row lines was seriously increased. So, the memory device of the recent prior art as shown in FIG. 3, employed the NAND type cells and a sensing amplifier for rapid sensing the state of memory cells. The memory device was composed of a cell string selecting part 101 connected to the column line and to selection lines 1 to N, a memory part 102 connected to row lines 1 to N and to the cell string selecting part 101, a reference cell string selecting part 103 connected to the reference line and to the selection lines 1 to N, a reference cell part 104 connected to the row lines 1 to N and to the reference cell string selecting part 103, an added reference cell part 105 connected to the reference line, a preamplifying part 106 connected to the column line, a preamplifying part 107 connected to the reference line, an equalizing part 108 connected to the column line and to the reference line, and an amplifying part 109 connected to the two preamplifying parts 106 and 107.
The cell string selecting part 101 was composed of a large number of MOSFET's(n) of which each drain was connected to the column line, and each gate was connected to one of the selection lines 1 to N. The memory part 102 was composed of a very large number of MOSFET's(n.times.n) forming a large number of cell strings(n) in which respective drains of the first MOSFET's were connected to the respective sources of MOSFET's in the cell string selecting part 101, respective gates of MOSFET's(n.times.n) were connected to the row lines 1 to N respectively in order to select the cells each cell string, and the sources and drains of adjoined MOSFET's were connected to each other in order to form the serial cell strings. The reference cell string selecting part 103 was composed of a large number of MOSFET's(n) of which each drain was connected to the reference line, and each gate was connected to one of the selection lines 1 to N. The reference cell part 104 was composed of a very large number of MOSFET's(n.times.n) forming a large number of reference cell strings(n) wherein respective drains of the respective first MOSFET's were connected to the respective sources of MOSFET's in the reference cell string selecting part 103, respective gates of all MOSFET's(n.times.n) were connected to the row lines 1 to N respectively in order to select the cells each reference cell string, and the sources and drains of adjoined MOSFET's were connected to each other in order to form the serial reference cell strings. The added reference cell part 105 was composed of a large number of MOSFET's in which a drain of first MOSFET was connected to the reference line, and the other sources and drains of the MOSFET's were mutually connected to the adjoined MOSFET's in order to form a serial cell string, which performs a function of applying to the reference line a uniform potential. The first preamplifying part 106 was connected to the column line, which performs a function of preamplifying the applied potential of the column line. The second preamplifying part 107 was connected to the reference line, which performs a function of preamplifying the applied potential of the reference line in order to make the applied potential into a standard potential. The equalizing part 108 was connected to the column line and to the reference line, which performs a function of equalizing the two lines. The amplifying part 109 was respectively connected to the first and the second preamplifying parts 106 and 107, which performs a function of operational amplifying the difference of the preamplified potentials between two inputs.
That is to say, in the memory device having NAND type cells, the cells of the reference cell string selecting part 103 and the reference cell part 104 which were arranged in the same formation as the cells connected the column line in order to get the same immunity, and another cell string 105 was further added to the reference line in order to get the uniform potential.
FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are timing diagrams showing a plot of voltage vs. time for nodes in the circuit of FIG. 3. In FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, a reference mark PRE denotes a precharging signal applied to the first and the second preamplifying parts 106 and 107, an EQ denotes an equalizing signal applied for the equalizing part 108, a SAOUT denotes an output signal from the amplifying part 109, and a t1 denotes a duration from an address inputting time to an output signal outputting time, wherein the outputting time is the time when the output signal is just coming out from the amplifying part 109, respectively.
Now, referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a timing diagram in the case that the selected unit storage element connected to the column line had a positive threshold voltage of approximately 0.5 to 2.0 volts, wherein the signals of the column line and the reference line were started separating each other from the time when the equalizing signal EQ was just turned into low level.
Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown another timing diagram in the case that the selected unit storage element connected to the column line had a negative threshold voltage not more than -0.5 volts. In this case, on the other hand the signal of the column line was gradually rising, the signal of the reference line was gradually falling for a little, while after the equalizing signal EQ was just turned into low level, for that reason, the signal of the column line had higher potential than the signal of the reference line for a little while. And then, according to elapsing of time, the signal of the column line was gradually falling and the signal of the reference line was gradually rising, at last the signals were normally separated.
Exactly, after the equalizing signal EQ was just turned into low level, the current flowing through the reference line was about the same as a sum of the current flowing on the reference load and the current flowing on the cell connected to the reference line, in order that the cell could be changed from turn-on state to turn-off state according as the potential of selected column line was changed into zero volts from 5 volts and the potential of unselected column line was changed into 5 volts from zero volts. At this time the current flowing through the column line was the about same as only current flowing on the selected cell which was changing from turn-off state to turn-on state. So, the current flowing through the reference line was bigger than the current flowing through the column line until the cell connected to the reference line turned-off, and the potential of the column line was higher than the potential of the reference line for a little while, and then, according to elapsing of time the potentials were gradually separating into normal potentials for the column line and reference line.
Therefore, the sensing amplifier for memory devices having NAND type cells of the prior art had problems that, as shown in FIG. 5, an error was occurred on the output signal of the cell sensing amplifier for a while, and sensing speed was badly delayed because the transition period had existed until the output was perfectly stabilized.

Memory devices having NAND type cells using both reference cells and dummy cells

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A piezoelectric acceleration sensor provided by the present invention comprises: a housing, wherein the housing is internally molded with an installation chamber, and one side face of the housing is provided with a cable connector; an adjustment structure, configured to adjustably connect the housing position to a to-be-measured object, so as to adjust the relative position between the to-be-measured object and the cable connector; and a charge output structure, installed in the installation chamber and configured to induce vibration and output electric signals, wherein the charge output structure is electrically connected with the cable connector. Through the adjustment structure, the housing position can be adjustably connected to the to-be-measured object, such that the cable connector keeps away from the position of obstacles, and the position of the cable connector can be flexibly adjusted, thereby facilitating installation.

A piezoelectric sensor is assembled from various structures of different materials. Output signals of the piezoelectric sensor is in direct proportion to vibration acceleration suffered by a system, therefore, an overall contact stiffness of the system is insufficient due to the assembly from various structures of different materials, such that frequency response characteristics and resonance of the piezoelectric sensor are relatively low, thereby influencing reliability of output signals.
In order to realize installation of piezoelectric ceramics, a base and a mass block in a circular shear piezoelectric acceleration sensor, a manner of epoxy adhesive bonding is commonly adopted now. By adopting such a manner, although the problem of bonding between the piezoelectric ceramics and the base is solved, a higher requirement is put forward for the quality of epoxy glue between connecting layers and for the operation, for example, if the epoxy glue contains impurities or if bubbles are generated during operation, overall stiffness of products will be insufficient, then the overall stiffness of the sensor will be lowered, and frequency response characteristics will be influenced, in addition, the adhesion process requires a longer roasting time, then the installation period is rather long.
Chinese patent document CN107688102A discloses a charge output element and a circular shear piezoelectric acceleration sensor, wherein the charge output element includes: a base which includes a supporting part and a cylindrical connecting part arranged on the supporting part, wherein the connecting part is provided with installation holes formed through axial extension along the connecting part; a piezoelectric element, sleeved outside the connecting part, wherein a circular gap is formed between the piezoelectric element and the connecting part; a mass block, sleeved outside the piezoelectric element and arranged above the supporting part in a suspended manner; pretightening pieces, configured to be inserted into the circular gap, wherein the pretightening pieces are circularly distributed within the circular gap, the pretightening piece includes a first end and a second end which are opposite to each other, the second end is close to the supporting part, and the thickness of the first end is larger than the thickness of the second end; and a fastening piece which includes a cylindrical part and a stopping part which are connected with each other mutually, wherein the cylindrical part cooperates with the installation hole to lock each of the above elements, the stopping part butts against the first end, such that the pretightening piece provides a radial pretightening force to fasten the piezoelectric element, the mass block and the base. The sensor in the prior art is installed along a vertical direction, the outgoing end is at the uppermost position of the sensor, and the outgoing position cannot be adjusted, therefore, normal use is influenced when an obstacle is confronted.

FATRI UNITED TESTING & CONTROL (QUANZHOU) TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.


A method for removing harmful substances, in particular dioxin, from flue gas generated in for example a waste incinerator, using an adsorption agent, characterized in that after said flue gas has been washed with a washing medium, the adsorption agent is discharged together with the washing medium for subsequent collection of the adsorption agent. At least one of the substances from the group of active carbon, brown coal, coke, lime, lava rock and pumice stone is used as the adsorption agent.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for removing harmful substances, in particular dioxin, from flue gas generated in for example a waste incinerator, using an adsorption agent.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the waste processing plants that have been used so far domestic waste is processed by means of incineration. The term domestic waste is not only understood to mean waste from private individuals, but also waste from companies which is similar to the waste produced by private individuals as regards its composition, this in contrast to industrial waste.
When domestic waste is incinerated energy is released in the form of heat. The energy that is released is used either for generating electricity or for district heating. The oxygen required for the incineration of domestic waste is supplied with ambient air. The principal residual products of the incineration process are slag, fly ash, flue gas scrubbing residue and flue gas.
In order to prevent the harmful substances that are released during the incineration process from finding their way into the environment via the flue gas, the waste processing plants are provided with a flue gas scrubbing plant. Said harmful substances include: hydrocarbons (CxHy), cadmium (Cd), carbon monoxide (CO), chloric acid (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), mercury (Hg) (plus other heavy metals), dioxin, sulphur dioxide (SO.sub.2), nitrogen oxides (NO.sub.x) and fly ash.
Generally the term dioxin is understood to mean polychlorodibenzoparadioxin (PCDD) and polychlorodibenzofuran (PCDF). These two substances have the following structural formula: ##STR1##
A method for removing dioxin from flue gas from a waste processing plant is known from European patent No. 0 574 705 in the name of Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. With this known method the removing of dioxin takes place by carrying the flue gas through a so-called "moving bed absorber of the cross-flow type" at a temperature of 90-120.degree. C. Active carbon or active coke is thereby supplied to the above absorber, which carbon or coke is to make contact with the flue gas that is likewise supplied thereto. Then said active carbon and the dioxin adsorbed therein is regenerated by being heated and subsequently returned to said absorber.
One drawback of the known method is that it is unattractive from an economic point of view because an additional adsorption device (inclusive of regeneration agents) has to be used besides the actual waste processing plant. In addition to that the active carbon must be processed separately after having been regenerated a number of times. Because of this the known method is not only costly, but also complex. In practice it has become apparent, therefore, that although dioxin is removed from the flue gas by using the method according to the aforesaid European patent is applied, this takes place in a costly and inefficient manner.
The object of the invention is to provide an economical and efficient method for removing harmful substances, in particular dioxin, from flue gas, and in order to accomplish that objective a method of the kind referred to in the introduction is characterized in that after the flue gas has been washed with a washing medium, the adsorption agent is discharged together with said washing medium for subsequent collection of the adsorption agent, whereby the magnitude of at least one parameter which (partially) governs the dioxin content of the flue gas/washing medium is adapted to the (degree of) adsorption or desorption, as the case may be, of dioxin by the apparatus used for carrying out the method. More in particular said parameter is selected from the group of amount of adsorption agent, amount of waste incinerated per time unit, furnace temperature and amount of air supplied for the incineration of waste. As a result of this the method according to the invention is extremely simple and elegant, because no separate adsorber is required. The invention is in particular based on the perception that a controlled low dioxin emission is only achieved when the effect of adsorption or desorption of dioxin by (the lining of) the apparatus being used (which has not been recognized so far) is taken into account. By increasing or decreasing the amount of adsorption agent in the case of adsorption or desorption respectively a condition of equilibrium is created between the adsorption of dioxin and the release thereof by the (lining) of the apparatus, and that in a controlled manner. Preferably the adsorption agent is injected, more in particular in the form of a powder, before the flue gas is washed. This makes it possible for the adsorption agent to come into intimate contact with the flue gas in a very efficient manner in a relatively short period of time, as a result of which a practically complete adsorption of the dioxin will take place. Said intimate contact is effected by the turbulence of the flue gas. Extensive testing has surprisingly shown that in this manner the bulk of the dioxin is removed from the flue gas. It is noted in this connection that according to the invention a limit value for the emission of dioxin of less than 0.4 g TEQ/m.sup.3, in particular less than 0.1 ng TEQ/m.sup.3, is achieved.
One preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention is characterized in that the dioxin content of the flue gas is measured before and after the removal of dioxin therefrom (in particular before and after the washing of the flue gas), as well as the dioxin content of the washing medium being discharged, on the basis of which measurements the dioxin content of the washing medium resulting from the adsorption or desorption by the apparatus used in carrying out the method is calculated, whereby the magnitude of the parameter is controlled in dependence on the (degree of) said adsorption or desorption.
Another preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention is characterized in that said adsorption agent is injected after a first cooling down of the flue gas to a temperature below 400.degree. C., preferably below 300.degree. C., in particular a temperature of 250.degree. C. or below. Extensive testing has shown that the formation of dioxin predominantly takes place in the above temperature ranges.
The most efficient method is, therefore, to remove the dioxin from the flue gas immediately after the formation thereof by adsorbing it to the adsorption agent.
Another preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention is characterized in that the adsorption agent is injected while the flue gas is being washed. Due to the intimate contact of the liquid with the dioxin during the washing of the flue gas a considerable amount of dioxin is adsorbed.
Another preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention is characterized in that the adsorption agent is injected during a first washing stage in an at least substantially acidic environment. An important advantage of this is that other harmful substances, such as heavy metals, are adsorbed, and thus removed from the flue gas (which is wet as a result of being washed, and isolated in the washing medium (washing water)).
Another preferred embodiment according to the invention is characterized in that the adsorption agent is injected during a second washing stage (while adding a neutralisation agent, preferably caustic soda) in an environment which is at least substantially less acidic than that of the first washing stage. It is preferred to inject the adsorption agent also in a third washing stage, whereby use is made of a venturi. In particular any heavy metals and dioxin that remain (often in the rubber lining of the washers used in the various washing stages) will thereby adhere to the adsorption agent.
Another preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention is characterized in that at least one of the substances from the group of active carbon, brown coal, coke, lime, lava rock and pumice stone is used as the adsorption agent.
The invention also relates to a device for carrying out the method.

Method and device for removing harmful substances, in particular, dioxin


An external air valve for a reciprocating air motor is provided with a the ability to transfer heat from incoming compressed air into the valve cups to prevent icing and a low friction mechanism for the valve slide to enhance reliability. The design has a housing which forms an air chamber, and located in the air chamber is a slide member containing two cups which alternately cover ports leading to the upper and lower chambers of the air motor piston. The slide has slotted rollers to reduce pneumatic loading and decrease friction during sliding. The shift rod is provided with a central valve spring located in an aperture in the slide, along with spring retaining plates to provide and assist in shifting the valve in conjuction with a detent to assure that the valve is positioned in one of two operating positions. The pressurized chamber, in conjunction with fins, apertures and other heat transfer apparatus in the slide assures that heat is applied to the cups of the slide in order to prevent icing.

Reciprocating air motors of the type which are used to drive reciprocating fluid pumps have been in use for many years. One of the drawbacks to such air motors is their tendency to ice up when operated continuously due to the repeated condensation of moisture and associated cooling which takes place during operation, particularly in the air valve mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,408 (commonly assigned with the instant invention and hereby incorporated by reference) deals with one aspect of decreasing icing during operation, and the instant invention deals with another aspect.


The present invention provides an apparatus and method for repairing or improving the behavior of a tunable circuit of an integrated circuit (IC) when a target parameter exceeds a predetermined range due to a design and/or fabrication problem. The tunable circuit includes one or more tuning controllers for tuning a corresponding number of target circuits. Each tuning controller includes one or more registers and an optional decoder. Each target circuit includes a tunable portion and a functional portion. The functional portion can have one or more of a wide variety of functions including but not limited to logical gates, buffers, signal generators and amplifiers. The selectable parameters of the tunable circuit include timing delays, trip voltages, rise/fall times and/or output impedances. When a circuit designer wishes to tune the target parameter, an appropriate tuning pattern is latched into registers of the tuning controller. In turn, the tuning controller generates corresponding tuning pattern signals enabling target circuit(s) to changeably tune the target parameter by selectively enabling different tunable portions of the target circuit. For example, by selecting the appropriate load resistance and/or capacitance of the tunable circuit, the rise/fall time of the target circuit is tuned for compatibility with respect to the other portions of the IC or system. The tunable circuit of the present invention advantageously lends itself to post-fabrication correction of design or fabrication problems, thereby increasing the potential yield rate. In addition, the tunable circuit can be tested under different operating conditions in a non-destructive manner without the need for another time-consuming and costly IC fabrication cycle. Other advantages include the ability to selectively operate target circuit(s) of the IC at a higher speed under ideal conditions and at a lower speed under hostile conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of integrated circuit design and testing. More particularly, the present invention relates to the tuning of integrated circuit parameters after fabrication.
2. Description of the Related Art
The typical design and fabrication of an integrated circuit (IC) involves the following steps. The desired functional behavior of the IC is first specified. Next, the various functional blocks needed to implement the desired functions are selected and strategically placed on the die of the IC. The output signal responses to anticipated input signal conditions of the functional blocks are defined. A processing technology suitable for the intended operating clock frequency and the circuit complexity of the IC is selected. The functional blocks are then implemented using circuit elements fabricated using the selected process technology. Finally, the circuit is fabricated and tested for proper functioning in response to the anticipated input signal conditions.
With the ever increasing complexity of large scale integrated (LSI) circuits, especially very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits, the production of a completely bug-free and robust IC in a single design and fabrication cycle is an elusive if not impossible task. In addition, because the complex IC processing technology is aggravated by shrinking line geometries and interconnect resolutions slight variations in dopant levels or imperfections in circuit elements can cause a functional block to behave in a manner substantially different than intended. As a result, the unintended process variations can multiply the detrimental effects of any design problems and increase the deviation between the intended functional behavior and actual behavior of the IC.
While conventional computer aided design (CAD) tools such as circuit simulators are useful for predicting the behavior of ICs prior to fabrication, these CAD tools depend on mathematical models for approximating the underlying behavior of the circuit elements. Further, the achievable accuracy and resulting dependability of the IC simulations are limited by the available computer resource and the IC complexity. Hence, the generation of complete and accurate simulations of an entire VLSI circuit under all possible input signal and operating conditions is highly improbable. As a result, CAD tools have limited usefulness for detecting and correcting design errors.
Although conventional techniques for correcting some types of design and processing problems after fabrication do exist, these techniques only provide a partial solution because they provide limited relief and have major inherent disadvantages. Examples of conventional techniques include laser trimming of IC elements such as resistors, and the incorporation of redundant memory elements selectable by fusible links.
Laser trimming involves using a narrowly focused laser beam to remove by vaporizing a portion of an element or creating an electrical short across a portion of an element. In either case, the laser beam necessitates access to the IC itself and the resulting changes are irreversible, i.e., permanent in nature. In addition, the laser beam may cause damage to the surrounding crystalline structure of the IC and also creates a considerable amount of debris which can contaminate surrounding circuit elements, unless an extra area of the IC is dedicated for the creation of buffer zones.
Redundant circuits are generally cost effective only in circuits with a large number of predominantly repetitive functional blocks, e.g., memory arrays. For example, redundant memory circuits enables a designer to internally replace a faulty memory circuit with one of the redundant memory circuits after fabrication thereby partially mitigating the effects of design and/or processing problems. However, the location of the replacement redundant memory circuit typically results in a longer signal path with the accompanying increase in parasitic resistance and capacitance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,836, Reed, discloses a redundant memory storage structure implemented using duplicate arrays connected to laser zappable fuses.
Hence there is a need for VLSI circuits with target portion(s) which can be changeably tuned after fabrication to correct any circuit design problem and/or compensate for unintended parametric variations arising from the process steps.

Parametric tuning of an integrated circuit after fabrication


A process unit is described. The process unit may include a unit main body being detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus main body and having a developer carrier for supplying a developing agent to an image carrier on which an electrostatic latent image is formed, a toner box being detachably mountable to the unit main body and accommodating the developing agent, a pivoting member pivotably disposed at the unit main body, and a contacting member disposed at the pivoting member and contacting with the toner box from a downstream side in a detaching direction of the toner box from the unit main body.

1. Field
Aspects of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer and to a process unit and a toner box which can be mounted to and removed from the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A process unit of a laser printer has been proposed, in which a toner box is detachably mountable to the unit main body of the process unit.
In some developing unit, a toner box is detachably mountable to the case of the developing unit. The case of the developing unit is formed with an anti-slip-off guide groove. In the toner box, a lever is pivotably provided with respect to a spindle which projects transversely from both right and left sides thereof and rotates a rotary vane, and an engaging projection is disposed at the substrate of the lever through which the spindle is passed. In the developing unit, a toner box is attached to the case of the developing unit, and the lever is pivoted about the spindle to fit an engaging projection into the anti-slipping guide groove, so that the lever and the toner box cannot come off from the case of the developing unit and the attached state of the toner box in the case of the developing unit can be maintained.
In the developing unit, the engaging position of the engaging projection of the toner box with the anti-slip-off guide groove of the case of the developing unit is located on both right and left sides of the toner box, but not located on the downstream side in the detaching direction of the toner box from the case of the developing unit. In other words, there are no restrictions on the relative movement of the toner box attached in the case of the developing unit, in relation to the case of the developing unit on the downstream side in the detaching direction in relation to the toner box.
Therefore, the attached state of the toner box in the case of the developing unit may not be reliably maintained when a force is applied to the toner box to move the toner box in the detaching direction.

Process unit, toner box and image forming apparatus


Disclosed is an LED lighting device which is easily assembled and disassembled and has a stable assemblability without structural shaking. The LED lighting device is able to improve a heat radiating characteristic and optical efficiency.

1. Field
Embodiments may relate to a light emitting diode (LED) lighting device.
2. Background
An electric bulb or a fluorescent lamp is now widely used as an indoor or outdoor lighting lamp. However, the electric bulb or the fluorescent lamp has a short life span, so that it should be frequently changed. Moreover, as the use time of the electric bulb or the fluorescent lamp lapses, illuminance is deteriorated.
In order to overcome such problems, a conventional lighting device increasingly uses a light emitting diode (hereafter, referred to as LED). Because the LED has an excellent controllability, a rapid response speed, a high light conversion efficiency, a long life span, low power consumption and a high luminance value and improves an emotional lighting.
However, the conventional lighting device has its limited structure depending on an installation structure. Therefore, there is a demand for a lighting device which is not limited by the installation structure.

LED lighting device which has stable structure and is easily assembled and disassembled

Abstract: The LED lighting device comprises a light guide plate comprising a top surface; an upper case comprising a base disposed on the top surface of the light guide plate, and an edge extending from the base, wherein the base is thicker than the edge; a lower case comprising a body coupled to the edge of the upper case; a reflective sheet disposed between the top surface of the light guide plate and the base of the upper case; and a light source unit disposed between the light guide plate and the body of the lower case.


An adhesive composition for a polarizer plate, the adhesive composition including a (meth)acrylic copolymer and a polyisocyanate curing agent containing an isocyanurate structure.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to an adhesive composition for a polarizer plate, a polarizer plate including an adhesive layer including the same, and an optical display including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polarizer plates are placed on both sides of a liquid crystal cell to control oscillation of light in order to generate a display pattern of a liquid crystal display. Application ranges of liquid crystal displays have been continuously widened from small devices of an initial stage to notebook computers, liquid crystal monitors, liquid crystal color projectors, liquid crystal televisions, navigation systems for vehicles, personal phones, outdoor/indoor measurement instruments, and the like.

Adhesive composition for polarizer plate, polarizer plate including adhesive layer including the same, and optical display including the same


A virtual machine migration system that includes an initiator host that provides a virtual machine and receives an instruction to migrate the virtual machine to the target host. The initiator host moves, while the virtual machine is operating on the initiator host, virtual machine data for the virtual machine from a local memory area in a local memory system to a memory fabric memory area in a memory fabric memory system. A first portion of the virtual machine data in the local memory area and a second portion of the virtual machine data in the memory fabric memory area are accessible to the virtual machine and the initiator host during the movement of the virtual machine data. The initiator host stops, in response to all the virtual machine data being moved to the memory fabric memory area, operation of the virtual machine on the initiator host.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to migrating virtual machines provided by information handling systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems such as for example, server devices, are sometimes utilized to provide virtual machines, which one of skill in the art will recognize are emulations of computer systems that are based on computer architectures, and that provides the functionality of physical computer systems. For example, virtual machines may provide the functionality needed to execute entire operating systems, with a hypervisor in the server device utilizing native execution to share and manage hardware in the server device, allowing for the provisioning of multiple environments which are isolated from each other while also being provided on the same server device. Virtual machines may be deployed on server devices when they are needed, and then removed from the server devices when they are no longer needed, which can result in a dynamic server device environment in which virtual machines are deployed and removed regularly while utilizing different resources in that server device over time. In some situations, it is beneficial to migrate a virtual machine operating on a server device to another server device. Examples of migrating a virtual machine to another server devices may include: migrating a virtual machine to a server device that may have more available hardware resources to deploy for the virtual machine relative to the server device currently providing that virtual machine, migrating a virtual machine because the server device providing that virtual machine is failing or experiencing performance issues, migrating a virtual machine because the server device providing that virtual machine requires maintenance or an upgrade that would interrupt the operation of the virtual machine, and/or other situations that would be apparent to one skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure.
Virtual machine migration is often carried out by a virtual machine management server (e.g., a server device that includes virtualization software such as VSPHERE® available from VMWARE® of Palo Alto, Calif., United States), and may include live virtual machine migration techniques where the virtual machine runs on a host server device until it is fully migrated to a target host server device. In a virtualization environment, virtual machine migration may include freezing the running virtual machine, taking a snapshot of the memory contents and copying that snapshot to a target host server device, and then unfreezing virtual machine. This process may be repeated periodically, with the differential between current memory contents in a current snapshot from previous memory contents in a previous snapshot copied to the target host server device, until the virtual machine management server determines that the differences between the virtual machine memory contents on the host server device and the target host server device are small enough that the virtual machine on the host server device may be frozen one last time, the final differences between the virtual machine memory contents on the host server device and the target host server device may be copied to the target host server device, and the virtual machine may be started on the target host server device. This process is both copy intensive and somewhat disruptive to the performance of the virtual machine while the migration is occurring.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved virtual machine migration system


Provided is a spectrum analysis system that measures a signal component at each frequency of an input signal, comprising a sampling section that samples the input signal at prescribed bandwidths to digitize the input signal, and outputs a resulting digital output signal; a converting section that converts the digital output signal from the sampling section into the signal component at each frequency of a unit bandwidth; and an output section that (i) outputs the digital output signal output by the sampling section when a frequency span, which is a frequency range in which the measurement result of the signal component at each frequency of the input signal is output, is greater than or equal to a predetermined reference bandwidth and (ii) outputs the signal component at each frequency converted by the converting section when the frequency span is less than the predetermined reference bandwidth.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a spectrum analysis system and a spectrum analysis method. In particular, the present invention relates to a spectrum analysis system and a spectrum analysis method for measuring a signal component at each frequency of an input signal.
2. Related Art
A spectrum analyzer is a known apparatus for analyzing frequency of a signal, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-272425. This spectrum analyzer generates an IF signal by multiplying an input signal to be measured and a local signal having a frequency that sequentially changes, and passes a prescribed band component of the IF signal through a band pass filter. The spectrum analyzer then AD converts the signal component passed through the band pass filter, and displays the result in a frequency spectrum as a signal component at each frequency determined according to the frequency of the local signal. The frequency resolution of this spectrum analyzer is determined by the pass-band of the band pass filter immediately before the AD converter.
In order to realize a narrower resolution bandwidth, that is, in order to display the frequency component of the input signal with a resolution bandwidth narrower than the pass-band of the band pass filter immediately before the AD converter, the spectrum analyzer uses a digital filter to filter the digital signal after AD conversion, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-257843, or performs an FFT on the AD converted digital signal.
When using a digital filter to analyze the frequency with a narrower resolution bandwidth, however, the spectrum analyzer must change the local signal at frequency widths less than or equal to the resolution bandwidth, e.g. frequency widths less than or equal to half of a half-value width of the digital filter.
Furthermore, when analyzing the frequency of the signal over a wide frequency span, the spectrum analyzer samples high-order harmonics of the IF signal obtained by multiplying the local signal by the input signal, and performs data processing on these sampled signals. In this case, the frequency change of the sampled high-order harmonic signal of the IF signal is several orders greater than the frequency change of the local signal. For example, if a 6th order harmonic signal of the IF signal is sampled and processed, the frequency change of this 6th order harmonic signal is 6 times the frequency change of the local signal. In other words, the spectrum analyzer must change the frequency of the local signal at frequency widths that are less than or equal to 1/12 of the resolution bandwidth.
If the local signal changes within a range of 4 to 8 GHz and the 6th order harmonic signal is sampled and processed, the spectrum analyzer can analyze the frequency of the input signal over a wide frequency range of 48 GHz. If the resolution bandwidth is set to 1 kHz, however, the spectrum analyzer must change the frequency of the local signal at frequency widths of 1/12 kHz over the range from 4 to 8 GHz. In other words, the spectrum analyzer must be provided with a local signal oscillator that can change the local signal with a resolution less than or equal to 100 Hz over the range of 4 to 8 GHz. A local signal oscillator capable of such a wide range and high resolution has a large circuit size.
On the other hand, if an FFT is used to analyze the frequency with a narrower resolution bandwidth, the spectrum analyzer can achieve a high resolution bandwidth without changing the frequency of the local signal at small frequency units. However, the spectrum analyzer can output only the signal component within the pass-band of the band pass filter immediately before the AD converter with a single FFT. Accordingly, when analyzing the frequency of the signal over a wide frequency span, the spectrum analyzer must perform a plurality of FFTs at units equal to the pass-band of the band pass filter. For example, when using FFTs to analyze the frequency of a 40 GHz span from 5 to 45 GHz, if the pass-band of the band pass filter is 10 MHz, the spectrum analyzer must perform the FFT 4000 times (40 GHz/10 MHz). Therefore, the spectrum analyzer that uses FFTs to analyze the frequency with a narrower resolution bandwidth requires an extremely long time to analyze the frequency over a wide frequency span.

Spectrum analyzer system and spectrum analyze method


A method and apparatus for manufacturing a metallic tube having at least one light waveguide, wherein the tube is rolled for cross sectional shaping after welding of the edges of the band forming the tube.

The invention is directed to a method and apparatus for producing a metallic tube, which is equipped with at least one light waveguide.
Optical transmission elements, whose light waveguides are surrounded by a metallic cladding, are employed in cable technology, for example for high-voltage overhead lines or submarine cables. As warranted, the light waveguides can be additionally embedded into a filling compound in the inside of a metallic cladding or tube. In particular, the metallic cladding or tube serves the purpose of protecting the light waveguides against chemical, mechanical stresses and/or other disturbing influences, such as, for example, ambient moisture or hydrogen diffusion. For manufacturing such an optical transmission element, a metal band is shaped into a tube, and at least one light waveguide with or without the filling compound is introduced into the tube and the tube is then welded.
In practice, the manufacture of such a metal tube equipped with a light waveguide can be made more complicated for various reasons.
For example, difficulties can occur, particularly when welding the metallic tube. There is the risk, for example, that an admissibly high thermal stressing and, thus, damage to the materials or even a partial burning of the filling compound and/or of the plastic coating of the light waveguide will occur. In addition, the welding process is also particularly critical because hydrogen can be released due to local overheating. Such hydrogen can be released, for example, from humid ambient air during the melting of the edges of the tube to form the weld, or from the filling compound or from the plastic coating of the light waveguide, etc. If such hydrogen is entrained under certain conditions into the inside of a completely welded tube, which is tight on all sides, the hydrogen will remain in the tube and lead to an undesirable increase in the transmission attenuation of the light waveguides.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,870, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto and which claims priority from German Application 40 03 311, a metal band is already reversibly lengthened to form a tube before or during its shaping. To that end, the metal band is already heated with the assistance of a heating device before its actual shaping process. The optical fibers are introduced into the slotted tube in the region of the lengthened, slotted tube section being formed, to move together with the tube. Subsequently, the previously lengthened slotted tube is mechanically closed, is longitudinally welded with the assistance of a welding means and, finally, is pulled through a gauge plate for reducing the cross section of the tube. A clamping jaw haul-off serves the purpose of pulling the tube through the device. The tube is then subsequently strain-relieved and supplied to a supply reel. Problems can particularly occur in such a method in that the metal band is reversibly lengthened before the actual shaping event and must then traverse a number of shaping stages, such as, for example, roller tools, a welding means as well as a gauge plate until the shaping for the tube to be fabricated is ultimately completed. In particular, these subsequent shaping steps give rise to the risk that the previously set lengthening of the metal band is charged with disturbing quantities in an uncontrolled way or is partially or, eventually, potentially even entirely lost again. An exact setting of the excess length of the optical fibers compared to the metal tube is thus rendered more difficult in practice.

Apparatus and method for producing a metallic tube for light waveguides


A television and music distribution system is provided. Music programs are distributed over a number of analog and digital music channels to a number of users for playing by their user music equipment. Music information on the music program currently broadcasted on the music channels is provided in an in-band data stream on the channels. The user music equipment includes two tuners for providing users with the ability to listen to the music program on one channel while viewing the music information on another.

This invention relates to interactive music information systems, and more particularly, to interactive music information systems that use two tuners for obtaining in-band data.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast television systems provide viewers with a large number of television channels. Many cable systems also provide digital and analog music channels to their customers. Music program listings and other music application data (e.g., track, title, artist information, etc.) are typically provided by a satellite uplink facility to a number of cable system headends. Each headend distributes the music application data for each music channel to a number of users as part of a data stream. Current music applications limit users to viewing in-band music information for music channels to which the user has tuned. This is because music applications have been implemented that control only a single tuner and because music program related information for each channel is carried in-band on each channel. While the user is tuned to one music channel, the music application cannot tune to another music channel to obtain in-band data and show the user music information carried by the other channel.
Interactive program guides have been developed that provide users with the ability to view music channel information that is sent out-of-band and ahead of the music programming carried on the channels. Such music channel information has included the type of music carried by each channel (e.g., rock, disco, etc.) and the channel's number and call letters, but not song titles or other song specific information. In other program guide systems, program guide data is transmitted in-band and is only available to the program guide when the program guide is tuned to a specific channel (or to one of several specific channels). The program guide typically obtains program guide data when the viewer is not watching television. The program guide may also obtain program guide data when the user is watching one of the channels that carry an in-band data stream. Some manufacturers are manufacturing home television equipment with a second agile tuner. This is primarily to support features such as picture-in-picture ("PIP"), or to allow a viewer to simultaneously watch television and access a data service such as an Internet browser.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an interactive music application that provides users with the opportunity to listen to one music channel while viewing music information for another.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive music application that provides users with the opportunity to simultaneously view in-band music information from a number of music channels.

Music information system for obtaining information on a second music program while a first music program is played


Laces of a shoe are secured against coming loose or untied in use by providing a simple clip through which the lace ends are easily threaded and then clamped. Each clip, formed as a thin plate, is carried atop a shoe, adjacent the knot which is tied conventionally in the lace ends. The clip has two holes through it, one generally atop the last eyelet in the row along each side of the tongue of the shoe. The clip also has two slots, spaced apart from each other and generally perpendicular to the line between the two holes. The walls of the slots are formed to constrict the space therein, so that a portion of a lace pulled sideways thereinto can move only if a comparatively great force is applied to it. The knot is tied above and atop the plate of the clip, in one form, and the free ends of the lace are secured in the slots in that form of use of the invention. In other forms of use, the lace ends are passed from the holes to the slots, being first crossed or not, and then the knot is formed along the top peripheral edge of the clip. Upper surfaces of the clips are exposed to view during use and so are available for team or advertising markings, logos, and colors. The clip is useful with athletic, casual, dress, childrens', and other shoes of all types.

Many devices have been proposed for helping to prevent laces of shoes from loosening and untying during use. Curry U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,539, issued in 1992, shows disk-form fasteners having spaced-apart holes with cuts or slots connecting with the holes for capturing the lace ends, assertedly avoiding the need then to tie the lace ends with any knot. Epstein U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,370 is similar and suggests multiple slots; Osterholt U.S. Pat. No. 1,531,410 uses angled slots for the same purpose. Torelli U.S. Pat. No. 2,650,399 and Burton U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,172 use only holes and no slots. Lofy U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,482 and Bennett U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,508 use complex tying arrangements and devices to avoid loosening of laces; Walls U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,787 uses Velcro.TM.-type straps and offers space for a printed logo.
Flat shoe laces have now been replaced by round ones, and cotton materials by polyester and other synthetic materials with slippery surfaces. These newer laces are more difficult to keep tied, regardless of tightness and skill used in tying them.
Athletic games and events at all levels are still very often interrupted or delayed for participants to re-tie or tighten laces on their shoes. A need still exists for a simple, always-effective way of avoiding repeated loosening of shoe laces, particularly for instance in athletic events involving extensive footwork such as basketball, soccer, marathons, field hockey, lacrosse, and the like, but also for dress shoes, casual shoes, work boots, children's shoes, and the like.


The invention relates to a hand-held power tool with a tool clamping unit and an adjustment ring. The invention provides that the adjustment ring protrudes forwards in an axial direction beyond an axially rear end of the tool clamping unit, at least when the tool clamping unit is completely open. The invention further relates to an adjustment ring for a hand-held power tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hand-held power tool and an adjusting ring for a hand-held power tool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hand-held power tools such as (cordless) screwdrivers, (cordless) drill/drivers, or (cordless) impact drills usually have a tool clamping unit embodied in the form of a chuck for clamping tools such as round-shank drill bits or hex-shank screwdriver bits. In addition, known hand-held power tools are typically equipped with a planetary shift transmission with a torque clutch; the torque clutch can be adjusted by means of an adjusting ring, which is situated adjacent to the chuck in the axial direction. As a first approximation, known hand-held power tools are usually embodied as L-shaped, with a handle at the back. Designs of this kind have the disadvantage that the overall length of the mechanical train limits the ability of the hand-held power tool to be used in tight spaces. In addition, the large overall length results in powerful holding moments that must be supported by the operator. The above-described L-shaped design has the advantage that the adjusting ring is easy to operate because the whole ring can be grasped.
According to a known, alternative embodiment, the handle is situated below the adjusting ring. Designs of this kind have the advantage that the tool weight has a less powerful impact on the holding moment to be exerted by the operator. The disadvantage is a limited accessibility to the adjusting ring for control purposes.
DE 195 06 708 C1 and DE 198 02 080 A1 have disclosed hand-held power drills in which the tool clamping unit embodied in the form of a chuck protrudes into a spindle housing in the axial direction. The hand-held power drills described therein are not equipped with an adjusting ring that is situated axially in relation to the chuck and provided for limiting the maximum torque to be exerted.


A camera comprising the following components is disclosed: a vibrating motor which drives a focus lens of an image-taking optical system, and a control circuit which controls the vibrating type motor to repeatedly drive and stop the focus lens, extracting higher frequency components from an image signal obtained from an image pickup device in each stopped state of the focus lens, and performing focus adjusting operation in accordance with a focus adjustment state of the image-taking optical system determined on the basis of the higher frequency components. The control circuit causes traveling wave vibration to be generated on the vibrating member of the vibrating type motor when the focus lens is driven and causes standing wave vibration to be generated on the vibrating member while the focus lens is stopped during the focus adjusting operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera, a lens apparatus, and a camera system which are provided with an autofocus mechanism, and more particularly, to those which use a vibrating type motor to drive focusing in an image-taking optical system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vibrating type motor, also referred to as an vibration wave motor or the like, produces output in such a manner that two-phase cycle signals with different phases are applied to electromechanical energy conversion elements (electrostrictive elements) provided for a vibrating member to cause the vibrating member to vibrate in a traveling wave (that is, to generate a traveling vibration wave on a surface of the vibrating member), thereby driving a moving (driven) member in press contact with the vibrating member by friction. In the vibrating type motor, the vibrating member is made non-vibrating to hold the position of the moving member by a frictional force acting between the vibrating member and the moving member.
Since such a vibrating type motor is characterized by high torque at low rotational speed, driving noise hardly produced, favorable responsiveness and the ability to accurately control positions, it is used for autofocus drive in cameras, interchangeable lenses or the like.
For autofocus (AF) schemes of cameras or the like, an AF system employing a phase difference detection scheme is used in many models of cameras of a so-called single-lens reflex camera type in which images are taken on silver films. The AF system of the phase difference detection scheme operates as follows.
As shown in FIG. 12, light flux incident through an image-taking lens is reflected to a lower portion of a camera by a sub-mirror 502 attached to the back of a semi-transparent main mirror 501 disposed at an angle of 45 degrees to an image-taking optical axis L. The reflected light flux passes through an infrared cutting filter 504, and is divided into two parts by a field lens 503 of a secondary optical system. The two parts of light flux form two images on a pair of AF sensors in an AF sensor unit 505 through a secondary imaging lens 508.
The paired AF sensors 506, 507 are disposed side by side and produce outputs as shown in FIG. 13. A difference in spacing between the outputs from the two images formed on the paired AF sensors 506, 507 is relied on to determine an in-focus, a front-focus, or a back-focus state. Focusing is achieved by moving a focus lens such that the spacing between the outputs of the images matches the spacing in the in-focus state.
The amount of the movement of the focus lens, that is, the amount of movement of an image surface, is determined by calculation from the spacing between the outputs of the two images with the following algorithm.
First, the outputs from the two AF sensors 506, 507 are acquired as data, and the correlation is examined between the outputs from the two sensors 506, 507. The correlation is determined with "the MIN algorithm" in which a correlation U0 is calculated as:
      U                          0    =            ∑      j      m                  min                    (                              A                                      [              j              ]                                ,                      B                                      [              j              ]                                      )                            (min(a,b) refers to a smaller one of a and b) where data from the sensor 1 (506) is represented by A[1]-A[n] and data from the sensor 2 (507) is represented by B[1]-B[n].
After the calculation of the U0, a correlation U1 is calculated between data on an image A shifted by one bit in the AF sensor and the data on an image B as shown in FIG. 14. The U1 is represented as:
      U                          1    =            ∑      j      m                  min                    (                              A                                      [                              j                +                1                            ]                                ,                      B                                      [              j              ]                                      )
Correlations are successively calculated from images shifted on a bit-by-bit basis. The correlation is at a maximum value when two images match, and the amount of shift at the maximum value is found. From data in the neighborhood of the value, a true maximum value of the correlation is obtained by interpolation. The amount of shift at the true maximum value is considered as an amount of displacement.
Since an optical system has a unique relationship between the amount of displacement and the amount of movement of an image surface, that is, a so-called defocus amount, the amount of defocus is determined from the amount of displacement. An amount of movement of the focus lens is found from the defocus amount, and the lens is moved to achieve focusing.
As described above, the AF of the phase difference detection scheme detects a defocus amount for a subject, so that it is possible to determine in which direction the focus lens should be driven by what amount to achieve focusing by calculations based on the detected defocus amount. Thus, achieving focusing requires lens driving only once, and fast, quiet and accurate AF control can be performed while the characteristics of the vibrating type motor are made use of. For this reason, a number of commercially manufactured cameras or interchangeable lenses are equipped with the phase difference scheme AF and the vibrating type motor.
On the other hand, in a digital camera which acquires images by a two-dimensional image pickup device and electrically records an image signal on a recording medium, an AF scheme referred to as a contrast detection scheme is employed.
The contrast detection scheme AF generally operates as follows. The configuration thereof has an image-taking system including a two-dimensional image pickup device, a system control section including a calculation circuit and a circuit for producing a control signal for driving a focus lens, and a lens section including a lens control circuit for moving the focus lens in an optical axis direction.
The image-taking system admits image light, and outputs and sends it as an image signal to the system control section which in turn extracts higher frequency components included in the image signal. The maximum value of the extracted signal is stored. The focus lens is moved by a certain amount in a certain direction. Then, image light is again admitted and higher frequency components are extracted.
When the maximum value of the extracted signal is larger than the previously stored value, the focus lens is considered as moving toward an in-focus position. The current value is newly stored and the focus lens is moved in the same direction.
When the current maximum value of the extracted signal is smaller than the previous one, the focus lens is considered as moving away from the in-focus position. The current value is newly stored and the focus lens is moved by a certain amount in a direction opposite to the previous moving direction. Then, image light is again admitted, higher frequency components are extracted, and the maximum value is compared with the newly stored one. The image surface is finally caused to reach the in-focus position.
Description is made with reference to FIG. 15. The horizontal axis of the graph in FIG. 15 represents the position of an image surface and the vertical axis represents the maximum value of higher frequency components. A point a indicates the position of an image surface at a starting point and a point b indicates the in-focus plane. The maximum value of higher frequency components at the point a is assumed as "A." The focus lens is then moved to the right in the graph, that is, in a direction toward the in-focus plane. The maximum value of higher frequency components at a point a′ after the movement is "A′" and a comparison between them shows that A′ is larger than A. The focus lens is thus continuously moved in the same direction.
After several comparisons, A is larger than A″ (A″ is the maximum value at a point a″) at an image surface position past the point b, and it is possible to determine that the focus lens is now moving in a direction away from the in-focus plane. Thus, the moving direction of the focus lens is reversed to match the image surface to the in-focus plane.
As described above, since the contrast detection scheme AF involves movement of the lens toward the in-focus position while searches are made for the lens position where higher frequency components of the image obtained from the image signal are at maximum, image signals need to be acquired with the position of the focus lens being moved gradually. Thus, the lens driving requires repeated driving over a short distance. To reduce a time taken for achieving focus, the repeated driving and stop of the focus lens must be performed quickly.
When the aforementioned contrast detection scheme AF is used in a digital camera, it is necessary to perform driving of a focus adjusting lens by a small amount and AF operation a number of times to bring the focus adjusting lens near the in-focus point if an image-taking lens has a large focal length and an image on an image pickup device is significantly blurred, which presents a problem of a long time taken for the focusing operation.
In contrast, the phase difference detection scheme AF does not present such a problem since focus can be substantially achieved by one-time lens driving.
On the other hand, a digital camera has an image pickup device significantly smaller in size than a silver film and thus requires a higher resolution for AF detection corresponding to the radio of the sizes. The phase difference detection scheme AF, however, has a problem that this requirement cannot be satisfied due to the limitation on the size of the secondary imaging lens 508 shown in FIG. 12.
In view of such problems, a so-called hybrid scheme AF has been proposed in which the phase difference detection scheme is first used to perform focusing operation of a focus adjusting lens at low resolution and then the contrast detection scheme is used to perform fine adjustment of the focusing operation.
The vibrating type motor, however, is not sufficiently excellent in responsiveness upon actuation for performing the contrast detection scheme AF which requires quickly repeated driving and stop although the vibrating type motor has the characteristic of high responsiveness to some extent. A long time may be needed before focus is achieved in the contrast detection scheme AF.
In the vibrating type motor, the vibrating member is in strong frictional contact with the moving member, and the frictional contact is used to transfer a driving force. Thus, to move the moving member in a traveling vibration wave at the time of start of driving, a large force exceeding the static friction force during stop of the moving member is required, which causes insufficient responsiveness upon actuation.
To address this, proposals for improving the responsiveness upon actuation have been made in which the vibrating member of the vibrating type motor is provided with vibrating energy before the start of driving with a traveling vibration wave by causing the electromechanical energy conversion elements to produce a standing vibration wave and then a traveling vibration wave.
Among the proposals, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-80073 proposes a method of driving a vibrating type motor in a standing wave switched from traveling wave driving for a certain time period after an in-focus state is reached.
In the contrast detection scheme AF, however, the remaining driving amount cannot be calculated due to its characteristic that the in-focus position is searched for while the lens is driven little by little as described above, and thus the technique in the aforementioned proposal cannot be employed. In addition, the aforementioned proposal attempts, after completion of focus adjusting operation of a focus lens (after focusing is achieved), to improve startup characteristics of the next focus adjusting operation, and does not attempt to reduce a time taken for operation before focus is achieved.

Auto focus camera, lens apparatus and camera system with a vibration motor drive


A magnetic recording medium which comprises a substrate, an orientation control layer formed directly thereon, and a Co alloy magnetic layer formed thereon directly or indirectly with a Cr underlayer or Cr alloy underlayer interposed between them, the orientation control layer having an L10 crystal structure, L21 crystal structure, fcc crystal structure, or B2 (CsCl) crystal structure containing B, owing to this construction, has a high coercive force and a low noise level and is only slightly vulnerable to thermal fluctuation. A magnetic storage device having a magnetic recording medium, a driver to turn said magnetic recording medium in the recording direction, a magnetic head including a recording element and a read-back element, means to move the magnetic head relative to the magnetic recording medium, and a record-read signal processing means to perform waveform processing on input signals to and output signals from the magnetic head, uses this magnetic recording medium and has a magnetoresistive effect read-back element in its magnetic head. This magnetic storage device has a recording density in excess of 3 Gbit/in2.

There has been a growing trend in recent years for magnetic disk devices to increase in capacity and recording density. The result is a continuing decrease in the size of recording bits formed on the magnetic recording medium. The currently available magnetic recording medium does not readily realize the ultra-high recording density exceeding 3 Gbit/in2 without further reduction in medium noise. Therefore, it is important to make finer crystals constituting the magnetic film. Unfortunately, resulting fine magnetic crystals have such an extremely small volume that they decrease in recording magnetization by the strong influence of thermal energy even at normal temperature. In actuality, information recorded on a low-noise medium with a density of 115 kFCI is attenuated by more than 10% after 96 hours, as reported by Y. Hosoe et al. (IEEE Trans. Magn., 33, pp. 3028–3030, September 1997)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,426 discloses a magnetic recording medium which consists of an orientation control layer having the B2 (CsCl) structure and a magnetic layer formed thereon directly or indirectly with a Cr underlayer interposed between them.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 21543/1995 discloses a dual underlayer consisting of a first one of Cr and a second one of CrMo alloy. According to this disclosure, the first Cr underlayer is formed directly on the substrate.

Magnetic recording medium and magnetic storage device

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Japan, Ltd.


When user face information and user air-conditioning information are stored in advance via a portable information terminal and a face of a user is located within a face recognition range of an indoor imaging device, an indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus recognizes the face. In addition, when it is determined that the face of the user corresponds to the face of a first user represented by first user information stored in advance, the indoor unit of the air-conditioning apparatus blows conditioned air that satisfies a first user air-conditioning environment represented by first user air-conditioning information set for the first user toward the first user.

Hitherto, indoor units of air-conditioning apparatuses (hereinafter, referred to as indoor units) that detect the position of a person who is in the room where the indoor unit is provided (hereinafter, referred to as an "in-room person") and send air so as not to be directed to the in-room person (hereinafter, referred to as a "user") or, on the contrary, so as to be directed to the user, in order to improve the comfort to the user, has been known.
An indoor unit that not only detects the position of a user but also detects the activity state of the user and controls the temperature, outlet amount, and flow direction of conditioned air on the basis of the detected activity state, that is, an indoor unit that sends air toward the user in a concentrated manner when it is detected that the amount of activity of the user is increased due to light exercise or light physical labor, in order to remove the quantity of heat generated by the activity and to suppress the increase in the body temperature so as not to make the user feel it is hot, is disclosed (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

Indoor unit of air-conditioning apparatus


The present invention provides an isolated I.kappa.B kinase binding protein designated Y2H61 and functional equivalents therof. The amino acid sequence of Y2H61, the nucleotide sequence encoding Y2H61, and other related protein and nucleic acid molecules are also provided.

The NF-.kappa.B family of transcription factors are involved in the regulation of a wide variety of cellular responses. These transcription factors mediate extracellular signals that induce expression of genes involved in such diverse processes as cell division, inflammation, and apoptosis. See, for example, Baldwin, Annu. Rev. Immunol. 12, 141-179 (1996); Beg and Baltimore, Science 274, 782-274 (1996); Gilmore et al., Oncogene 13, 1267-1378 (1996); Mayo, et al, Science 278, 1812-1815 (1997); and Van Antwerp et al., Science 274, 787-789 (1996); Ashkenazi and Dixit, Science 281, 1305-1308 (1998).
NF-.kappa.B is anchored in the cytoplasm of most non-stimulated cells by a non-covalent interaction with one of several inhibitory proteins known as I.kappa.Bs. See for example, Baeuerle and Baltimore, Science 242, 540-546 (1988). Cellular stimuli associated with immune and inflammatory responses, for example inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor .alpha.(TNF.alpha.) or interleukin-1 (IL-1), activate kinases, which in turn activate NF-.kappa.B by phosphorylating I.kappa.Bs. The kinases that phosphorylate I.kappa.Bs are called I.kappa.B kinases (IKKs).
Phosphorylation marks the I.kappa.Bs for ubiquitination and proteosome mediated degradation. The degradation and dissociation of I.kappa.Bs from NF-.kappa.B unmasks the NF-.kappa.B nuclear localization signal, and facilitates the nuclear translocation of active NF-.kappa.B to the nucleus, thereby upregulating NF-.kappa.B responsive target genes. See, for example, Baeuerle and Henkel, Annu. Rev. Immunol. 12, 141-179 (1994); Baldwin, Annu. Rev. Immunol. 14, 649-683 (1996); Siebenlist et al., Annu.Rev.Cell Biol. 12, 405-455 (1994); and Verma et al, Genes Dev. 9, 2723-2735 (1995). Thus, this phosphorylation of I.kappa.Bs is a key regulatory step for NF-.kappa.B mediated processes.
The determination and characterization of kinases that directly phosphorylate I.kappa.Bs are instrumental in the delineation of signaling pathways involving NF-.kappa.B activation. Recently, an I.kappa.B kinase, designated IKK.alpha. but also referred to as CHUK (conserved helix-loop-helix ubiquitous kinase), was identified in a yeast-two-hybrid screen with NIK as bait. Regnier et al., Cell 90, 373-383 (1997). IKK.alpha. was determined to be responsible for the major I.kappa.B kinase activity induced by TNF stimulation of HeLa cells. DiDonato et al., Nature 388, 548-554 (1997). The identification of IKK.alpha. as a cytoplasmic kinase which phosphorylates I.kappa.B family members at their physiologically relevant sites and targets them for proteosome-mediated degradation was a major breakthrough.
The IKK.alpha. gene encodes a 745 amino-acid polypeptide (having a molecular mass of approximately 85 kDa). Murine and human IKK.alpha. cDNA clones were found to be almost identical. Connelly and Marcu, Cellular and Molecular Biology Research 41, 537-549 (1995).
Another kinase, termed IKK.beta., homologous to IKK.alpha., has also been reported. Stancovski and Baltimore, Cell 91, 299-302 (1997); Woronicz et al., Science 278, 866-869 (1997); and Zandi et al., Cell 91, 243-252 (1997). IKK.alpha. and IKK.beta. have 52% overall similarity to each other and 65% identity in the kinase domain. Zandi et al., Cell 91, 243-252 (1997). An I.kappa.B kinase termed T2K has also been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,776,717 to Cao.
The known I.kappa.B protein kinases generally phosphorylate I.kappa.Bs at specific serine residues. For example, they specifically phosphorylate serines 32 and 36 of I.kappa.B.alpha.. Phosphorylation of both sites is required to efficiently target I.kappa.B.alpha. for destruction in vivo. Moreover, activation of IKK.alpha. and IKK.beta. occurs in response to NF-.kappa.B activating agents and mutant IKK.alpha. and IKK.beta. that are catalytically inactive block NF-.kappa.B stimulation by cytokines. These results highlight the important role played by I.kappa.B protein kinases in NF-.kappa.B activation processes. See Stancovski and Baltimore, Cell 91, 299-302 (1997) for a recent discussion of I.kappa.B kinases.
IKK.alpha. and IKK.beta. have structural motifs characteristic of the IKK kinases. This includes an amino terminal serine-threonine kinase domain separated from a carboxyl proximal helix-loop-helix (H-L-H) domain by a leucine zipper domain. These structural characteristics are unlike other kinases, and the domains are thought to be involved in protein-protein interactions.
Numerous proteins are involved in the signaling pathways that lead to immune, inflammatory, and apoptotic responses. A complete elucidation of these processes requires the identification of additional proteins that are involved and a determination of the protein interactions.
The discovery of additional proteins involved in these processes is important for controlling immune, apoptotic, and inflammatory processes. Thus, there is a great need for the identification and characterizion of additional proteins involved in IKK mediated cellular processes.

The Research Foundation of State University of New York