An error detection system for a discrete receiver. Sequences of bits together forming frames of information comprise the signal received by the discrete receiver. The signal is decoded by a convolutional decoder and is re-encoded by an encoder. Successive portions of nonoverlapping sets of adjacently positioned bits of the re-encoded signal formed by the encoder are compared with corresponding bits of a signal representative of the signal received by the receiver. When excessive numbers of the successive portions of the signals which are compared include bit dissimilarities, a bad frame indication is generated.

The present invention relates generally to error detection systems, and, more particularly, to an error detection system for a radio receiver operative to receive discretely-encoded signals.
A communication system operative to transmit information includes, at minimum, a transmitter and a receiver interconnected by a transmission channel. A radio communication system is a communication system in which the transmission channel is comprised of a radio-frequency channel.
A transmitter which transmits an information signal upon the radio-frequency channel must convert the information signal into a form which may be transmitted upon the radio-frequency channel. The process by which the information signal is converted into a form which may be transmitted upon a radio-frequency channel is referred to as modulation. In a modulation process, the information signal is impressed upon a radio-frequency electromagnetic wave. The characteristic frequency of the radio-frequency electromagnetic wave is of a value which corresponds in frequency to be within a range of frequencies defining the radio-frequency channel. The radio-frequency electromagnetic wave is commonly referred to as a carrier wave, and the carrier wave, once modulated by the information signal, is referred to as a modulated, information signal.
The modulated, information signal occupies a frequency bandwidth comprising a range of frequencies centered at, or close to, the frequency of the carrier wave. The modulated, information signal may be transmitted through free space upon the radio-frequency channel thereby to transmit the information signal between the transmitter and the receiver.
Various techniques have been developed for modulating the information signal upon the carrier wave. Such techniques include amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), phase modulation (PM), and complex modulation (CM). A receiver receives the modulated, information signal transmitted upon the radio-frequency channel, and contains circuitry to detect, or to recreate otherwise, the information signal from the modulated, information signal transmitted thereto. This process is referred to as demodulation. Typically, the receiver contains both demodulation circuitry for demodulating the received signal, and, additionally, down conversion circuitry for converting downward in frequency the radio-frequency, modulated, information signal.
Numerous transmitters may be operative simultaneously to modulate and to transmit information signals over different radio-frequency channels. As long as the signals transmitted by the numerous transmitters are transmitted upon different radio-frequency channels, no overlapping of simultaneously-transmitted signals occur. Receivers positioned to receive the transmitted signals contain tuning circuitry to pass only signals transmitted upon a desired radio-frequency channel.
The electromagnetic frequency spectrum is divided into frequency bands, each of which defines a range of frequencies of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum. The frequency bands are further divided into channels, such channels being referred to hereinabove as radio-frequency channels. Such channels are also frequently referred to as transmission channels. To minimize interference between simultaneously-transmitted signals, transmission of signals upon the channels of certain ones of the frequency bands of the electromagnetic frequency spectrum is regulated.
For instance, in the United States, a portion of a 100 MHz frequency band, extending between 800 MHz and 900 MHz, is allocated for a radiotelephone communication. Portions of corresponding frequency bands are similarly allocated for radiotelephone communications in other geographical areas. Radiotelephone communication may, for example, be effectuated by radiotelephones utilized in a cellular, communication system. Such radiotelephones include circuitry to permit both reception and transmission of modulated, information signals.
A cellular, communication system is formed by the positioning of numerous base stations at spaced-apart locations throughout a geographical area. Each base station contains circuitry to receive modulated, information signals transmitted by radiotelephones, and circuitry to transmit modulated, information signals to the radiotelephones.
Careful selection of the positions at which each of the base stations is located permits at least one base station to be within the transmission range of a radiotelephone positioned at any location throughout the geographical area. Portions of the geographical area proximate to individual ones of the base stations are defined to be associated with the individual ones of the base stations, and a base station and the portion of the geographical area associated therewith are defined to be a "cell". A plurality of cells, each associated with a base station, together form the geographical area encompassed by the cellular, communication system. A radiotelephone positioned within the boundaries of any of the cells of the cellular, communication system may transmit, and receive, modulated, information signals to, and from, at least one base station.
Increased usage of cellular, communication systems has resulted, in many instances, in the full utilization of every transmission channel of the frequency band allocated for cellular, radiotelephone communication. As a result, various ideas have been proposed to utilize more efficiently the frequency band allocated for radiotelephone communications. More efficient utilization of the frequency band allocated for radiotelephone communications increases the transmission capacity of a cellular, communication system.
One such means by which the transmission capacity of the cellular, communication system may be increased is to utilize a digital, or other discrete, modulation technique. When an information signal is converted into discrete form, a single transmission channel may be utilized to transmit, sequentially, more than one information signal. Because more than one information signal may be transmitted upon a single transmission channel, the transmission capacity of an existing frequency band may be increased by a multiple of two or more.
Typically, an information signal is first converted into discrete form (such as, for example, by an analog-to-digital converter), and then encoded by some coding technique prior to modulation and transmission thereof over a transmission channel.
Coding of the signal increases the redundancy of the signal, and such redundancy facilitates accurate determination of the signal once received by a receiver. A radio-frequency channel is not, however, a noise-free transmission channel; therefore, noise, and other transmission difficulties, may cause a receiver to receive a signal other than that which was transmitted by the transmitter. Because an encoded signal contains redundancies, the receiver oftentimes may accurately decode the received signal to determine the actual information signal even when the encoded signal has been distorted during transmission thereof. Various block coding and convolutional coding/decoding techniques have been developed to facilitate accurate recreation of an information signal. One such convolutional coding/decoding technique is a Viterbi coding/decoding technique.
When distortion of the transmitted signal results in the receiver receiving excessive amounts of distorted information, the decoder incorrectly decodes the received signal. Such incorrect decoding of the received signal results in the receiver recreating a signal other than the intended, information signal.
Parity bits oftentimes are included as a portion of the encoded signal transmitted by a transmitter. When a receiver receives the encoded signal having parity bits of values which are different than a predetermined sequence of values, that portion of the signal is ignored by the receiver. However, by random process, the parity bits may be of values indicative of an undistorted signal, and a receiver may incorrectly determine that a distorted signal has been accurately transmitted, and recreate thereby an incorrect signal.
For instance, when a discrete, encoded signal is comprised of sequences of digitally-encoded words (also referred to as frames), parity bits may be interspersed among, or concatenated to the bits which comprise the word or frame. If three parity bits are transmitted with each word or frame, the parity bits may form any of eight combinations. While a receiver must detect a specific combination of values of the parity bits to indicate that a valid signal has been received by the receiver, by random process, an undesired signal, such as a noise-only signal, may have values corresponding to the desired combination of parity bits. When a noise-only signal is received by the receiver, and the receiver searches for three parity bits per word or frame, the receiver may incorrectly determine that an invalid signal is a valid word as often as one out of eight times.
When a base station and radiotelephone communicate in a process referred to as discontinuous transmission (DTX), the base station and radiotelephone transmit information only when information is detected at the radiotelephone. At all other times, the transmitter portion of the radiotelephone is inoperative to conserve radiotelephone power, while the receiver portion of the radiotelephone remains operative to detect reception of valid information. However, when the base station does not transmit information to the radiotelephone (referred to as non-transmit periods), the receiver portion of the radiotelephone receives only noise.
Because, by random process, a noise-only signal may be interpreted by a receiver as valid information one out of eight times when the receiver searches for the values of three parity bits, the receiver incorrectly determines that a noise signal is valid information signal one out of eight times. At a word or frame rate of fifty hertz, a noise-only signal may be incorrectly determined to be a valid information signal by the receiver six times per second. Such incorrect determination by the receiver results in undesired noise levels (sometimes audibly noticeable as squelching to be processed by the receiver).
What is needed, therefore, is a more accurate system by which invalid signals may be rejected by a receiver.
Accordingly, it is important to determine when the received signal contains too much noise (or is a noise-only, or random, signal) to permit proper decoding thereof.
An indication that the received signal contains too much noise to permit such proper decoding thereof may be obtained by determining the frequency, or density, of the number of signal errors contained in the received signal. Utilization of such a technique can, however, provide an indication that a signal of low signal strength cannot properly be decoded. As the signal to noise ratio of a signal of poor signal strength is lower than a corresponding signal to noise ratio of a signal of greater signal strength, such a signal is more susceptible to error as a result of the presence of noise. Such increased susceptibility can result in portions of such signal having an increased density of signal errors. As contrasted to a random (i.e., a noise-only signal) signal, other portions of a weak signal received by a receiver contain useful information. An error detection system operative to reject a signal only responsive to detection of densities of signal errors may thereby reject signals of low signal strength, even though portions of such signals contain useful information.
There is a need, therefore, for an error detection system better able to distinguish between a random, noise-only signal and a signal of low signal strength whereby only the random, noise-only signal is rejected by the error detection system.


The present invention concerns a compacting machine, in which the compacting elements can be removed from the compactor housing transversely to the direction of the drive shafts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a powder compacting machine.
Such a compacting machine is presumably generally known; see, for example, the prospectus "The Powder Compacting/Granulating Machine RC 100×30 for Laboratory and Production."
Although this is not intended to signify a restriction of the invention, such compacting machines according to this invention are preferably designed for small throughputs and thus for processing small batches of no more than about 2 kg.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A particular problem with such compacting machines designed for small-batch processing is the inevitable waste that remains in the compacting machine after the processing of the batch. In practice, the powder to be processed, settles in the compacting machine and does not pass into the usable discharge from the machine. If a different batch is to be processed in the next run, the compacting machine has to be taken apart and cleaned. The amount of residue lift in the compacting machine should therefore be as small as possible.
It is, therefore, a basic requirement that the compacting machine be easily accessible and easy to dismantle. This is achieved with some compacting machines by means of a so-called cantilevered bearing for the drive shafts. In these compacting machines, the compacting elements can be accessed from the front without the need to remove the drive shafts.
However, a serious disadvantage of the cantilevered bearing is the substantial bearing forces created by the lever action. These high bearing forces make design an onerous process and result in relatively high machine production costs.
One way to design compacting machines for higher stability under load is to support the drive shaft at both ends. With this type of support, the live load is distributed practically evenly on the bearings. A major disadvantage of this support arrangement lies in the onerous assembly work that must be performed in order to clean the compacting machine.


An electrostatic discharge protection device for protecting a node includes a transistor, a silicon controlled rectifier, a second contact region laterally displaced from the first contact region, and a collection region adjacent the source region. The transistor includes a semiconductor substrate, a source region, a channel region adjacent the source region, a gate over the channel region, and a drain region laterally displaced from the channel. The silicon controlled rectifier includes the source region, a portion of the substrate, a doped well, and a first contact region in the well, laterally displaced from the drain region. The collection region, the source region and the gate, are metallically connected. The node, the first contact region, and the second contact region, are metallically connected, and the drain region is not metallically connected to the node.

Integrated circuit devices are susceptible to damage from application of excessive voltages, such as, for example, electrostatic discharge (ESD) events. In particular, during an ESD event, charge transferred within a circuit can develop voltages that are large enough to break down insulating films (e.g., gate oxides) on the device or dissipate sufficient energy to cause electrothermal failures in the device. Such failures include contact spiking, silicon melting, or metal interconnect melting. As such, protection circuits are often connected to I/O bonding pads of an integrated circuit to safely dissipate energy associated with ESD events away from active circuitry. Protection circuits may also be connected to power supply pads or between power supply buses to prevent damage to active circuitry. In developing effective ESD protection circuitry, circuit designers may, however, be limited with regard to the particular structures used, since the protection circuit must integrate well with the remainder of the integrated circuit. For instance, integrated circuits which operate with applications of high voltages (i.e., VDD>12 volts) generally need protection circuitry configured to accommodate high voltage levels.
A transistor structure often used for high voltage applications is a drain extended metal oxide semiconductor (DEMOS) transistor, which may also be referred to in the microelectronics industry as a laterally diffused metal oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor. DEMOS transistors differ from other MOS transistors in that the drain contact region is laterally displaced apart from the channel of the transistor at a greater distance than the source contact region of the transistor. As a consequence of the additional voltage drop in the drain extension region, the voltage across the channel of the DEMOS transistor is lower than a transistor having a drain contact region closer to the channel and, in turn, the electric field across the gate oxide is lower. Although DEMOS transistors are effective for operations at high voltage levels, DEMOS transistors are inherently susceptible to damage from ESD events due to their device structure.
One approach in providing ESD protection for integrated circuits having DEMOS transistors is to employ a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) type structure for transferring charge away from the transistor. For example, some conventional designs incorporate SCRs within active DEMOS transistors of an integrated circuit (i.e., transistors used for operations of a device other than protection from ESD events). Such a configuration, however, relies on drain breakdown of the active DEMOS transistor to trigger the SCR. In some cases, triggering the SCR in such a manner may not be fast enough to prevent the active DEMOS transistor from being damaged and, therefore, may not be effective for many applications. In other embodiments, an SCR may be incorporated within protection circuitry coupled to I/O bonding pads of an integrated circuit. In some cases, a protection-designated DEMOS transistor may further be included in the protection circuitry to trigger the SCR. In general, however, such configurations have limited controllability of the trigger and holding voltages of the SCR. As a consequence, the level of ESD protection offered by such designs is limited.

Electrostatic discharge protection device


A method of forming a diamond coating on an iron-based substrate, comprising: providing an iron based substrate with an outer layer which substantially comprises metal borides; and depositing the diamond coating on the outer layer using a process of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD). An outer layer may be formed by deposition, by depositing a metal layer which is capable of being boronized followed by boronizing the metal layer, or by boronizing the iron-based substrate. The invention is also related to the use of an iron-based substrate comprising an outer layer with borides for hosting a CVD diamond coating.

Such a method is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,623 which discloses a pretreatment step of supersaturating an iron-based surface with carbon prior to the deposition of a diamond coating. The deposition involves a Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process.
For a relatively long time it has been known how to deposit from a gas phase a polycrystalline diamond coating on a selected substrate. The substrate is exposed to a gas mixture comprising at least a carbonaceous compound which is activated. Often methane is used together with hydrogen in such a gas mixture. The activation of the gas mixture generally requires severe conditions such as high gas temperatures of well above 2000° C. or microwave radiation. The substrate is generally kept at an elevated temperature (typically 900° C.) and comprises a well chosen ceramic such as silicon or a relatively expensive metal such as molybdenum.
Given the superior properties of diamond in terms of hardness, wear resistance, and chemical stability, it is advantageous to apply a CVD diamond coating to substrates which are in use exposed to severe conditions.
PCT International Publication No. WO 99/31292 and EP 0 984 077 both disclose a cemented carbide or tungsten carbide (WC)-based hard metal substrate onto which a CVD diamond coating has been deposited. Such substrates are relatively expensive.
EP 0 320 657 describes a method for coating metal substrates with CVD diamond. Such substrates include refractory metals, such as Rhenium, Tantalum and Tungsten onto which diamond deposition without the use of an interlayer has been shown to be possible. Also these substrates are relatively expensive.
Given the many applications of iron and steel and the relatively low price of iron and steel, it is desirable to have a CVD diamond coating on a steel or iron substrate. Such a combination of a coating and a substrate will provide a cost-effective substitute for tools fabricated out of materials such as cemented carbides which are often used in industrial applications. The CVD process that is used in the present invention, is a particular suitable way of applying diamond and is well documented. See for example: "CVD diamond films: nucleation and growth"; S.-Tong Lee, Zhangda Lin and Xin Jiang, Materials science and Engineering R (Reports: A review journal), 25 (1999) 123–154, which document is incorporated herein by reference to provide process equipment and process conditions for the CVD process used in the process of the invention.
However, as said, during the CVD process the substrate temperature is kept at a high temperature. Within a temperature range from this high temperature down to room temperature there is a very high difference in thermal expansion coefficient between iron or steel and diamond. This leads to high interface stresses during cooling down from the deposition temperature. As a result, the coating may delaminate from the surface or give rise to other disadvantageous effects.
It is for instance possible that the coating only partly delaminates at patches on the interface, therewith releasing stress and reducing adherence to the substrate.
If a coating remains completely attached to the surface, the interface stress within the coating can be enormously high enhancing the likelihood that the coating will delaminate during subjection to practical applications.
The residual stress in a coating can be measured as indicative of the interface stress. Ideally, the deposition process results in a continuous diamond coating with a low residual stress. In practice, this has proven to be a difficult task.
Apart from stress related problems, the deposition of diamond on iron-based substrates and especially steel is hampered by the fact that materials containing iron phases at the surface favor at deposition conditions formation of graphite instead of formation of diamond. This, of course further inhibits formation of a well adhering diamond coating on steel. Moreover, the high solubility of carbon in iron phase containing substrates appears to hinder formation of CVD diamond coating.
In attempts to solve these problems, interlayer systems have been developed with attempts to 1) suppress diffusion of iron to the substrate surface, 2) suppress diffusion of carbon into the iron phase, and 3) accommodate for and/or reduce the high interface stresses.
Reports have been published on the use of overlay coatings, which are deposited on top of the steel substrates prior to CVD diamond deposition. These overlay coatings may have a thickness of the order of several micrometers and are mainly produced by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) techniques. Some examples involve the use of molybdenum, nickel, titanium nitride and chromium nitride interlayers.
None of these overlay coatings have been proven to be very successful as an abrupt change in the elastic, thermal and/or mechanical properties is present at the interface with the deposited diamond coating. These changes lead to high interface stresses, which often result in delamination during cooling down from deposition temperature and if not, ultimately to premature failure during use in industrial applications. Also the interlayer/steel interface is abrupt, enhancing the likelihood of failure of this layer system at a depth further away from the diamond coating.
In a further attempt to overcome at least some of these problems, a diffusion modified overlay coating has been employed. Hereto, a chromium layer was deposited on a steel substrate by means of electroplating and this chromium layer was subsequently nitrided by passing a gas mixture comprising nitrogen. Also applying a chromium layer to a steel substrate subsequently followed by diffusion of the chromium into the steel has resulted in a interlayer which allows for CVD diamond coating of steel as reported by.
This approach has within the overlay coating resulted in—towards the iron-based substrate—gradually changing properties such as elasticity, hardness and thermal expansion of the material, leading to a slightly better accommodation of the thermal stress during the CVD diamond deposition process. However, there remains a large mismatch in the thermal and mechanical properties at the interface of a diamond coating and the substrate surface, as well as an abrupt change in properties at the chromium/steel interface introducing weak interfaces in the layer system. Also very high residual stresses (indicative of high interface stresses) have been observed within the diamond films deposited on this layer system, limiting the scope of applications.
It should further be noted that this method of producing an interlayer system includes three steps for obtaining a CVD diamond coating on steel. Each step is carried out in a different reactor, making the method complicated and costly. These steps are: 1) electroplating, 2) nitriding and 3) depositing diamond.
High temperature diffusion chromizing as a successful method for CVD-diamond coating of steel by S. Schwarz et al. in Diamond and Related Materials 11 (2002) 757–762.
Previously identified U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,623 discloses supersaturation of an iron based substrate with carbon by heating the substrate and exposing it to a carbon atom donor substance. It is suggested that by in-diffusion of carbon a diffusion barrier is formed in the iron based substrate. A black carbon deposit is formed on the surface of the substrate and after removing this deposit the substrate is suitable for diamond to be deposited on the surface thereof.
However, at least the following two problems remain. During the CVD process, carbon already present in the iron-based substrate diffuses further away from the surface, thereby slowly dissolving the diffusion barrier at a side adjacent to the matrix of the iron-based substrate. This allows for more iron to diffuse to the surface, hampering the formation of diamond during deposition. Iron may also catalytically aid the transformation of diamond to the more stable form of graphite. A further detrimental result of the presence of iron at the interface with the diamond coating that may occur is premature delamination of the diamond coating in use due to conditions where the diamond coating is subjected to heat. Another problem is that a large mismatch in properties is still present between diamond and the surface of the supersaturated iron based substrate. The Vickers hardness of carburized steel surfaces is reported to be about 1,000, whereas the diamond grains themselves have a VHN (VHN=Vickers Hardness Number) of 10,000.

Method of forming a diamond coating on an iron-based substrate and use of an iron-based substrate for hosting a CVD diamond coating

Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen


An apparatus for controlling reading of memory cells in a memory device includes a word line voltage generator operative to apply a word line voltage to a selected memory cell of memory device responsive to a sensing period signal. A dummy memory cell is coupled to the word line voltage generator such that the word line voltage is applied to the dummy memory cell, the dummy memory cell having a threshold voltage. A sensing period controller is coupled to the dummy memory cell and operative to produce the sensing period signal responsive to a current generated in the dummy memory cell. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sensing period controller includes a dummy sense amplifier coupled to the dummy memory cell and operative to produce a dummy cell sense amplifier output signal responsive to a current in the dummy memory cell. A sensing time detector is coupled to the dummy sense amplifier and operative to produce a sensing time signal in response to a transition of the dummy cell sense amplifier output signal. A sensing period signal generator is coupled to the sensing time detector and operative to generate the sensing period signal responsive to the sensing time signal. Apparatus for controlling sensing periods in a multi-level memory device, as well as related operating methods, are also described.

Conventional nonvolatile memory devices include mask read-only memories (ROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), and flash EEPROMs. These conventional nonvolatile memory devices typically include memory cells that can store one of two information states, e.g., an "ON" state and an "OFF" state, In order to store N-bits of data, N single-bit memory cells are typically used.
Many conventional transistor-type one-bit memory cells define logical states using the threshold voltage of a transistor, i.e., the state of data stored in a transistor may be distinguished by the level of the threshold voltage of the transistor. In a typical mask ROM, threshold voltage for a cell transistor is controlled by injection of ions using ion implantation techniques. In typical EPROMs, EEPROMs and flash EEPROMs, threshold voltage for a cell transistor is controlled by controlling the amount of charge stored in a floating gate of the transistor.
Threshold voltage control can be used to implement a transistor memory cell that is capable of representing multiple bits of information. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, cell transistors of a mask ROM may be programmed with logical values "00", "01", "10" or "11", by setting their threshold levels at a value falling within one of four ranges around nominal threshold voltages Vth1, Vth2, Vth3, Vth4.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a voltage variation applied to a word line during a data reading operation for a conventional multi-level memory device such as the mask ROM device 1 of FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 3, the multilevel mask ROM memory device 1 comprises a memory cell array 10 including a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells respectively arranged at intersections of word lines and bit lines (not shown). Each of the nonvolatile memory cells is operative to store multi-bit data, i.e., can support a plurality of threshold voltages. For example, to store two bits, each nonvolatile memory cell may take on one of the four threshold voltages Vth1, Vth2, Vth3,Vth4 illustrated in FIG. 1. One of the word lines is selected by a row decoder circuit 20, and at least one bit line is selected by a column decoder circuit 40. The selected word line is sequentially driven at different word line voltages V.sub.WLi (e.g., i=1, 2, 3) supplied by a word line voltage generating circuit 30. The word line voltage generating circuit 30 sequentially generates the different word line voltages V.sub.WLi in response to sensing period signals STGi from a sensing period signal generating circuit 50. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the word line voltages may be varied from lower levels to higher levels during a read cycle, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the voltages may be varied in other way, e.g., from higher levels to lower levels. An example of a word line voltage generating circuit is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,650 to Sugiura et al.
The sensing period signal generating circuit 50 generates sensing period signals STGi and a sensing enable signal SAen. The signals STGi define sensing periods t1, t2, t3, respectively, and the sensing enable signal SAen is a pulse asserted at predetermined sensing points within the sensing periods. Data stored in a nonvolatile memory cell selected by the row and column decoder circuits 20, 40 is sensed, amplified, and latched by a sense amplifier and data latch circuit 60 that is responsive to the sensing period signals STGi and the sensing enable signal SAen. The data latched in the sense amplifier and data latch circuit 60 is output via a data output circuit 70.
FIG. 4 illustrates a sensing period signal generating circuit 50 according to the prior art. The circuit 50 includes a ring oscillator 51, a plurality of serially connected counters 52-54, first, second and third sensing period signal generators 55, 56, 57, and a sensing enable signal generator 58. The ring oscillator 51 generates a clock signal CLK in response to an oscillator enable signal OSCen. The counters 52-54 produce clock signals Pi (i=1, 2, . . . , n), wherein the clock signal produced by a respective one of the counters 52-54 has a period twice that of the clock signal input thereto. The counters 52-54 are reset (initialized) by a reset signal RST. The first, second and third sensing period signal generators 55, 56, 57 generate first, second and third sensing period signals STG1, STG2, STG3, respectively, in response to the clock signals P1-Pm from the counters 52-54, synchronized with the clock signal CLK. The sensing periods t1, t2, t3 defined by the sensing period signals STG1, STG2, STG3 typically have the same duration. The sensing enable signal generator 58 also generates the sensing enable signal SAen responsive to the clock signals P1-Pm.
FIG. 5 is a timing diagram illustrating a conventional data reading operation for a multi-level memory device such as the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device 1 of FIG. 3. Before reading a two-bit cell, the reset signal RST is taken to a "high" level, resetting the counters 52-54 in the sensing period signal generating circuit 50. A memory cell is selected by the row and column decoder circuits 20, 40 according to row and column address signals, and a word line connected to the selected (addressed) memory cell is driven with a first word line voltage V.sub.WL1 from the word line voltage generating circuit 30 during a first sensing period t1. A sense amplifier in the sensing amplifier and data latch circuit 60 detects whether a current flows through the selected memory cell when the sensing enable signal SAen is asserted, and data on a data line DL.sub.j is sensed and latched in the circuit 60. If the applied word line voltage turns the selected memory cell "ON", the output on the data line DL.sub.j takes on a "high" level. If the cell remains "OFF", the output on the data line DL.sub.j takes on a "low" level.
A second word line voltage V.sub.WL2 higher than the first word line voltage V.sub.WL1 is next applied to the selected word line during a second sensing period t2. A sense amplifier detects whether current flows through the selected memory cell when the sensing enable signal SAen is asserted. As in the first sensing period t1, data thus sensed is temporarily stored in the circuit 60. Similarly, a third word line voltage V.sub.WL3 higher than the first and second word line voltages V.sub.WL1, V.sub.WL2 is applied to the word line during a third sensing period t3, and a sense amplifier detects whether current flows through the selected memory cell when the sensing enable signal SAen is asserted. Data thus sensed is latched in the circuit 60.
The above-described conventional multi-level memory device may have potential disadvantages. If the gate-source voltage V.sub.gs applied to the selected memory cell in each of the sensing periods t1, t2, t3 is the same, the cell currents Icell00, Icell01, Icell10 generated for cells programmed at different logic states "00", "01" and "10" differ, as shown in FIG. 6. Consequently, the times needed for sufficient charge transfer to sense the respective data states of the differently programmed cells may differ. At one extreme, using a sensing time based on the "00" state may provide insufficient time for charge transfer to sense the "01" and "10" states, potentially leading to data sensing errors. At another extreme, however, use of a sensing time based on the "10" state may increase data access time and current consumption, leading to reduced reliability and shortened battery lifetime in low-power applications.

Apparatus and methods for controlling sensing time in a memory device


A method and a device for shaping sheet metal to form a main structure is described, minor structures being created in the planar sheet metal before shaping to form the main structure, which is rotationally symmetrical, for example. This method and device are particularly advantageous because they make it possible to inexpensively and precisely design shell-shaped parts for torque converters, such as a pump shell, a turbine shell or the inner ring of a pump or the inner ring of a turbine.

A known problem in shaping technology is that considerable stresses occur in the sheet metal material due to punching, embossing, deep drawing, etc., so that the shape of the finished part is predictable only in combination with numerous empirical values and/or highly complex computation methods.
If a punched part (referred to hereinafter as the main structure) does not contain any holes or other recesses (referred to below as minor structures), then the spatial position of these minor structures with respect to the main structure is usually controllable only with a great loss of quality.
It is particularly difficult to implement the geometric and positional tolerance of minor structures in a punched part if the thickness of the sheet metal is great in relation to a degree of shaping. In other words, in the case of a shell-shaped part having an inside diameter of 200-300 mm, for example, the sheet metal is bent almost at a right angle and the thickness of the sheet metal here amounts to approximately 4-6 mm, so considerable deformation of the sheet metal may be expected in the shaping area. This deformation means that the shape of minor structures previously created in the sheet metal may be distorted and thus they may not have a high geometrical and positional accuracy.
Shaping sheet metal to yield a pump shell of a torque converter is a particular problem. The pump shell here is the housing part of a torque converter which accommodates the pump blades. This pump shell has a wall thickness of 5 mm, for example, and an inside diameter of 240 mm. With these dimensions, the rated torque is approximately 300 Nm. To accommodate the pump blades, embossed slots are provided in the inside surface of the pump shell so that the pump blades are then inserted into the slots and soldered there. In order for the blades to have a high positional accuracy, they are mostly guided via three embossed slots in the area of the surfaces of the pump shell. For the plurality of blades in the pump shell, this results in annular rows of embossed slots near the axis of rotation, approximately at the most elevated point in the shell and very close to the outside diameter. To achieve a high precision for the position and shape of the embossed slots, these slots have in the past been introduced into the completely punched shell form via a special machine (called a copy machine). With this special machine, at least one ram, i.e. a stamping device, is directed radially at the inside surface of the pump shell. A corresponding counter-die is oriented with the outside surface of the pump shell at the particular location. By embossing the embossed slots on the inside of the pump shell in cycles with subsequent advancing of the workpiece to the next embossing position, a row of embossed slots is manufactured. For example, when there are 31 pump blades, these slots must be embossed 31 times and then the workpiece must be turned. Even if the special machine mentioned is able to punch all three "rings" of embossed slots simultaneously, 31 cycles are nevertheless required to produce them in this example.


A tear-back drink-through lid for a drinking cup sealingly engages the drinking cup at an annular mounting portion with a downwardly extending annular skirt. The tear-back section extends from the inner skirt to a hinge and has an outwardly extending raised protrusion. When the tear-back section is torn away from the lid and pivoted about the hinge, the raised protrusion is frictionally engaged by the end walls of the recess and retained within the recess. The recess further includes a straw slot formed therein defined by two sloping converging sidewalls extending from the upper surface the lid at different angles to form a frangible juncture at the deepest portion of the recess.

It is well-known to provide covers for drinking containers to prevent the spillage of the contents of the container. Many prior art covers incorporate an opening in the top of the cover in order to allow drinking of the contents either in the normal drinking fashion or by the insertion of a straw. Some covers have an opening which is sealed by a depressible tab such that when the tab is depressed by the insertion of a straw, the opening is unsealed for drinking the contents of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 3,048,317 issued to Cochrane et al., discloses one such lid having an opening for a straw disposed in a depression formed in the lid with an integrally formed hinged flap in the bottom of the depression. The hinged flap is severed from the lid about the majority of the periphery of the flap to pivot open when a pressure is exerted on the flap by the end of a straw. However, unless the hinged opening is exactly the same diameter as the straw, the fluid within the cup may spill out the opening between the straw and the sides of the opening once the hinged flap has been pivoted open.
Other covers utilize a releasable drinking flap in order to prevent the sloshing of the contents out of the containers. An example of this type of cover is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,373 issued to DeParales, which shows a cover having a hinged tab which is defined by score lines formed in the cover leading from the rim of the cover to a hinge positioned in the medial portion of the cover. A recess is formed in the cover on the opposite of the hinge from the tab, wherein the recess receives the rim portion of the tab once the tab is torn open and pivoted about the hinge in order to retain the hinged tab in an open position. However, if the user desired to use a straw with a cover of this type, the straw would have to be inserted into the opening created by the tearing open of the hinged tab. This would create an exceptionally large opening for a straw, allowing the straw to float about and allowing the contents of the cup to be spilled.
In an effort to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings, other covers have been proposed utilizing both a straw slot and a releasable flap, depending upon the desired use by the consumer. An example of this type of cover is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,660 to Schram et al., which discloses a cup lid having a liftable tab which snap fits on the rim of a cup with a straw slot formed in the portion of the lid constituting the liftable tab. This design, however, does not include a feature incorporated into the lid which will retain the liftable tab in an open position for convenient repeated drinking from the opening created by the liftable tab.
Another example of a prior art drinking lid utilizing both a straw slot and a releasable flap is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,812 issued to Boller, which shows a lid having a straw puncturable area formed in a rupturable depression in the lid. The lid further includes a flap defined by lines of weakness that may be torn and pivoted to overlie a central portion of the lid to retain the flap in an open position. Of course, designs of this general type forming a retaining portion in the center of the lid to hold the flap open as well as forming a separate rupturable depression for a straw are difficult to mold due to the number of depressions and features which must be formed in the cup lid.
Yet another type of prior art drinking lid utilizing both a straw slot and a releasable flap is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,411 issued to Elfelt et al., which shows a lid having a foldback drink opening. A pull tab formed on the edge of the rim of the foldback portion is insertable in a straw slit formed in the lid in order to hold the foldback portion in an open position. This foldback drink opening requires a great amount of attention by the user to insert the pull tab into the narrow straw slot in order to hold the foldback portion of the lid open. Furthermore, since the straw slot must be forced open to receive the pull tab, the straw slot will be slightly ajar when retaining the pull tab which can allow the contents of the cup to spill therethrough.
Clearly, there is a need for a drink-thru cup lid which provides both a straw slot and a tear-back flap which is simple to form and which does not require multiple separate components to be formed in the lid for each drink-thru feature. Moreover, there is a need for a drink-thru cup lid which securably retains the tear-back flap in place within the straw slot depression without rupturing the cup lid in the straw slot area.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cup lid having frangible straw slot depression


A variable digital filter employs a variable rate sample clock with combinations of various digital filter elements such as an efficient implementation of decimation to achieve various filter realizations allowing a selectable output bandwidth. More specifically, a digital filter apparatus is coupled to receive input analog signals from a fixed anti-aliasing analog filter and optionally includes one or several stages of digital decimation filters, a low-pass filter, an optional equalizer, and an optional high-pass filter each of which may be programmed so as to configure the device with a variety of transfer characteristics. The filter device employs an input sample clock in the range of F-K*F, where, in a specific embodiment K is selected to be 2. The selectable combination of elements and stages used to form the filter needed is operative at a broad range of sample rates over a predetermined bandwidth range without loss of resolution. An extremely simple digital filter with a bandwidth of 1/4 the input sample rate is also shown.

This invention relates to devices for performing filtering functions on signals using digital filtering techniques, and, more particularly, to a digital filter capable of operating with consistency over a wide range of cutoff frequencies and spectral shapes.
In many signal processing areas, a filter whose cutoff frequency and rolloff characteristics can be programmed with high resolution is desired. Common filtering tasks in communication systems include the minimizing of Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) using Nyquist filters, the use of a matched filter (a filter with characteristics matched or complementary to characteristics of the signal applied to the communication channel) at the receiving end of a channel to maximize the receiver signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the attenuation of out-of-band interference. Changeable rolloff characteristics and frequency cutoff points allow the communication systems to operate over a variety of data rates and channel conditions.
The tasks of filtering and sampling analog signals can be done with various combinations of analog and digital filtering. A common technique is use of a fixed analog filter with the desired frequency characteristics followed by a sampler on the analog filter output sampling at the desired sampling rate. Cost, flexibility, and performance considerations suggest the replacement of analog systems with systems or devices employing digital signal processing (DSP) techniques.
Many systems require the capability of selectively varying sampling rate and bandwidth. A programmable sampling rate as well as a programmable bandwidth can be done in the analog domain or more preferably, in the digital domain. A very common sampling approach is to sample the signal at a rate of four times the bandwidth of the required filter.
Filter realizations involving the use of an analog filter having a variable bandwidth are complex and expensive. Other filter realizations, such as the use of several fixed analog filters and a selection switch to select among them, lack the flexibility of frequency selection and yet require time-consuming and often difficult alignment in the manufacturing process. Digital filters which employ a variable bandwidth using fixed-rate sampling lose the constant factor between the output bandwidth and the output sampling rate, and therefore there is a need to convert the output to an analog waveform and then to re-sample the output at the desired rate. They also can be expensive to implement for very wide ranges of frequency programmability.
The use of half-band digital filters has been proposed for efficient implementations of decimation or interpolation by powers of two. See for example Bellanger et al., "Interpolation, extrapolation, and reduction of computation speed in digital filters," IEEE Trans. Acoust., Speech, Signal Processing, vol. ASSP-22, pp. 231-235, August, 1974. Also suggested have been an optimized multistage process for sampling rate reduction or increase. See R. R. Shively, "On multistage FIR filters with decimation," IEEE Trans. Acoust., Speech, Signal Processing, vol. ASSP-23, pp. 353-357, August, 1975; and R. E. Crochiere and L. R. Rabiner, "Optimum FIR digital filter implementations for decimation, interpolation, and narrow-band filtering," IEEE Trans. Acoust., Speech, Signal Processing, vol. ASSP-23, pp. 444-456, October, 1975.
Half-band digital filters can be realized with a small computational burden as polyphase recursive all-pass subfilters with phase shifts selected to add constructively in the passband and destructively in the stopband. See for example P. A. Regaila, et al., "The digital all-pass filter: a versatile signal processing building block," Proc. IEEE, vol. 76, No. 1, January, 1988.
The problem with these digital implementations is that only a small number of sampling rates can be realized.
What is needed is a versatile filter realization with a variable sample clock which minimizes computation burden, expense, and signal quality degradation, while maximizing flexibility.


A memory system having a non-volatile memory and a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) that has a voltage regulator to apply a voltage on the non-volatile memory during normal operations. During a shutdown process, the PMIC has a bleeder that is activated to reduce the voltage applied on the non-volatile memory to a level that is below a programmable threshold, before allowing the memory system to restart again. During the bleeding operation, a comparator of the PMIC compares the voltage applied to the non-volatile memory and the threshold to determine whether the shutdown process can be terminated for a restart.

A memory system can be a storage system, such as a solid-state drive (SSD), and can include one or more memory components that store data. For example, a memory system can include memory devices such as non-volatile memory devices and volatile memory devices. In general, a host system can utilize a memory system to store data at the memory devices of the memory system and to retrieve data stored at the memory system.
A memory system may use a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) to manage the power requirements of the system or subsystem. The PMIC typically includes electronic power conversion circuitry and/or relevant power control functions.

Power management integrated circuit with bleed circuit control


The following refers to a computer-implemented approach for evaluation of contractual requirements in view of a technical railway system, namely whether the latter complies with the requirements. The technical railway system and is modeled in case of non-compliance the system is modeled and contractual requirements are modeled in one common model. The generated model is analyzed in order to calculate control instructions for matching the same.

In a development phase, i.e. during development of a system as well as in an operational phase, i.e. (after shipment and delivery) during application and execution of the technical system, the system has to be analyzed whether it complies with the requirements.
In case of non-compliance, for example caused by decreased performance, costs and penalties may arise. Generally, performance parameters are essential indicators for system quality.
On the one hand, the requirements have to be defined so that in principle they may be met by the technical system.
On the other hand, the technical system has to be adapted in order to comply with the requirements. Thus, the requirements and the technical system are interrelated. Also, the different requirements may be complex and show interdependencies.
In a complex technical system, like a railway system, system performance needs to be detected (including decreased system performance, for instance through the effect of random failures).
In the state of the art it is known to model complex systems in a domain specific language (DSL). In software development, a domain-specific language is a programming language or specification language tailored to a particular problem domain, a particular problem representation technique, and/or a particular solution technique. DSLs are compiled into general-purpose programming languages, for example, C or C#. This is, because general-purpose programming languages have advantages relating to speed and portability, since a large body of existing technology and tools has already been developed for them.
In state of the art systems, the mapping between the technical system and the requirements was analyzed manually, which leads to the risk of inadequate, incomplete or flawed implementation and, therefore, erroneous analysis results.

Analyzing the state of a technical system with respect to requirements compliance


Attribute information accessory to a pixel can be used to determine whether to execute an interpolation process of less than one pixel at a scan line changing point in color misregistration compensation for a printout from an image forming apparatus having a characteristic shifted in the laser scanning direction for each color. When the attribute information is an attribute representing execution of the interpolation process of less than one pixel, it is enlarged in the sub-scanning direction. Attribute information of each color component can be generated from attribute information accessory to a pixel by using the attribute information accessory to the pixel, and each color component value which forms the pixel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method therefor, and a computer program.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic method is known as an image printing method used in a color image forming apparatus such as a color printer or color copying machine. According to the electrophotographic method, a latent image is formed on a photosensitive drum using a laser beam, and developed with a charged printing material (to be referred to as toner hereinafter). The image is printed by transferring the developed toner image onto transfer paper and fixing it.
These days, tandem type color image forming apparatuses are becoming popular. To increase the image forming speed of the electrophotographic color image forming apparatus, the tandem type color image forming apparatus comprises developing units and photosensitive drums equal in number to toner colors and sequentially transfers images of different colors onto an image conveyance belt or printing medium. It is known that the tandem type color image forming apparatus has a plurality of factors which cause a registration error. A variety of measures against the respective factors have been proposed.
These factors include the unevenness and attaching positional error of the lens of a deflecting scanning device, and the mounting positional error of the deflecting scanning device to the color image forming apparatus main body. Owing to these positional errors, the scan line inclines or skews, and the degree of inclination or skew (to be referred to as the profile hereinafter) is different between colors, causing a registration error.
The profile has different characteristics for respective image forming apparatuses, that is, printing engines, and for respective colors. FIGS. 22A to 22D show examples of the profile. In FIGS. 22A to 22D, the abscissa axis represents a position in the main scanning direction in the image forming apparatus. Lines 2201, 2202, 2203, and 2204 expressed as straight lines in the main scanning direction represent ideal characteristics free from a skew. Curves 2205, 2206, 2207, and 2208 represent the profiles of respective colors. More specifically, the curve 2205 represents a cyan (to be referred to as C hereafter) characteristic, the curve 2206 represents a magenta (to be referred to as M hereafter) characteristic, the curve 2207 represents a yellow (to be referred to as Y hereafter) characteristic, and the curve 2208 represents a black (to be referred to as K hereafter) characteristic. The ordinate axis represents a shift amount in the sub-scanning direction from an ideal characteristic. As is apparent from FIGS. 22A to 22D, the change point of the curve is different between colors. This difference appears as the registration error in image data after fixing.
As a measure against the registration error, there is proposed a method of measuring the degree of skew of a scan line using an optical sensor in the process of assembling a deflecting scanning device, mechanically rotating the lens to adjust the skew of the scan line, and fixing the lens with an adhesive (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-116394).
There is proposed a method of measuring the degree of inclination of a scan line using an optical sensor in the process of mounting a deflecting scanning device into a color image forming apparatus main body, mechanically inclining the deflecting scanning device to adjust the inclination of the scan line, and then mounting the deflecting scanning device into the apparatus main body (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-241131).
There is also proposed a method of measuring the degrees of inclination and skew of a scan line using an optical sensor, compensating bitmap image data to cancel them, and forming the compensated image (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-170755). This method electrically compensates the registration error by processing image data, and thus does not require a mechanical adjustment member or adjustment step in assembly. This method can downsize a color image forming apparatus, and deal with a registration error at a lower cost than those by the two mechanical adjustment methods described above. The electrical registration error compensation is divided into compensation of one pixel and that of less than one pixel.
In compensation of one pixel, pixels are offset one by one in the sub-scanning direction in accordance with the inclination and skew compensation amounts, as shown in FIGS. 23A to 23C. In the following description, a pixel position where the pixel is offset will be called a "scan line changing point". In FIG. 23A, P1 to P5 are scan line changing points.
In order to reproduce data of the nth line, as shown in FIG. 23B, a coordinate conversion process is done for each pixel by offset. FIG. 23C shows an exposure image obtained by exposing the image carrier in accordance with image data having undergone color misregistration compensation for each pixel.
In compensation of less than one pixel, the tone value of bitmap image data is adjusted by preceding and succeeding pixels in the sub-scanning direction, as shown in FIGS. 24A to 24E.
FIG. 24A shows a main scan line having a positive inclination. FIG. 24A shows a case where the scan line is shifted by one pixel in the sub-scanning direction every time it proceeds by five pixels in the main scanning direction. FIG. 24B shows bitmap image of a horizontal straight line before performing density conversion. FIG. 24C shows a compensated bitmap image when performing compensation to cancel color misregistration caused by the inclination of a main scan line in FIG. 24A. To obtain such an image, the exposure amount of preceding and succeeding dots in the sub-scanning direction needs to be adjusted. FIG. 24D shows a bitmap image having undergone density conversion for adjusting the exposure ratio of preceding and succeeding pixels in the sub-scanning direction. FIG. 24E shows the exposure image of the bitmap image having undergone density conversion on the image carrier. The inclination of the main scan line is canceled to form a horizontal straight line.
That is, when the profile characteristic skews upward, as shown in FIG. 23A, bitmap image data before tone compensation is processed in a direction opposite to one indicated by the profile in the sub-scanning direction. By executing compensation of less than one pixel according to this method, an unnatural step generated by compensation of one pixel at a scan line changing point can be canceled to smooth the image.

Image forming apparatus, control method therefor, and computer program


A micro-reaction system and a method for preparing 2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine. A Raney nickel catalyst is modified with formalin, and the modified Raney nickel catalyst is filled into a micro-channel reactor of the micro-reaction system. A substrate solution containing 2-methyl-4-amino-5-cyanopyrimidine and a base and hydrogen are transported to the micro-mixer and the micro-channel reactor in sequence for continuous catalytic hydrogenation to obtain 2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine.

2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine of formula (I) is a key intermediate for the synthesis of vitamin B1.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,689,498, 3,792,076, 3,853,946, 3,901,888 and 2,820,050, GB Patent No. 772256, DE Patent No. 2323845, and Todd and Bergel. (J. Chem. Soc., 1937, 364) all disclosed a method for preparing 2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine through hydrolysis of 2-methyl-4-amino-5-acetamidomethyl pyrimidine. However, this method had long synthetic route, complex process, high cost and serious environmental pollution, and thus is not suitable for the industrial application.
Another preparation strategy has been reported by World Patent No. 2012/075677, Chinese Patent No. 103261173 and Fener Chen et al. (Org. Process. Res. Dev., 2012, 16, 57), in which 2-methyl-4-amino-5-cyanopyrimidine was catalytically hydrogenated to prepare 2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine. Specifically, readily-available cyanoacetamide was used as a starting material and dehydrated in-situ to form malononitrile, which was then reacted with a Vilsmeier reagent to obtain (dimethylaminomethylene) malononitrile. Finally, the resultant (dimethylaminomethylene) malononitrile and acetamidine hydrochloride were subjected to condensation to obtain 2-methyl-4-amino-5-cyanopyrimidine. This method allowed for shortened synthesis route and reduced cost of raw materials, but it still struggled with long reaction time, high reaction pressure, high risk, large energy consumption and low efficiency. Moreover, the above methods all are carried out in traditional batch reactors, failing to accomplish the continuous preparation of 2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine. Therefore, there is an urgent need for those skilled in the art to develop a rapid, energy-saving, efficient and intrinsically-safe method for continuously preparing 2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine.

Micro-reaction system and method for preparing 2-methyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl pyrimidine


A photovoltaic cell or other optoelectronic device having a wide-bandgap semiconductor used in the window layer. This wider bandgap is achieved by using a semiconductor composition that is not lattice-matched to the cell layer directly beneath it and/or to the growth substrate. The wider bandgap of the window layer increases the transmission of short wavelength light into the emitter and base layers of the photovoltaic cell. This in turn increases the current generation in the photovoltaic cell. Additionally, the wider bandgap of the lattice mismatched window layer inhibits minority carrier injection and recombination in the window layer.

The interest in photovoltaic ("PV") cells in both terrestrial and non-terrestrial applications continues as concerns over pollution and limited resources continue. Irrespective of the application, and as with any energy generation system, efforts have been ongoing to increase the output and/or increase the efficiency of PV cells. In terms of output, multiple cells or layers having different energy bandgaps have been stacked so that each cell or layer can absorb a different part of the wide energy distribution in the sunlight.
The prior art consists of photovoltaic cells with window layers that are nominally lattice-matched to the cell layers beneath them. The constraint of lattice matching fixes the value of the indirect and direct bandgaps of window layers composed of ternary semiconductors. Light with photon energy greater than that of the direct bandgap of the window material will be strongly absorbed in the window layer. Minority-carrier lifetimes and diffusion lengths are often low in many window materials, so that it is preferable that the window is highly transmissive, allowing light to reach the cell emitter and/or base layers beneath the window, where photogenerated carriers can diffuse to the collecting junction more easily before recombining. Therefore, relatively low bandgaps available in lattice-matched window materials are a disadvantage, since they lead to strong absorption of light in the window where it is not used efficiently.

Wide-bandgap, lattice-mismatched window layer for a solar conversion device


A backlight device for a liquid crystal display containing a substantially planar light guide with a light emission surface and a light-collecting portion opposing the light emission surface. A pair of opposing side portions may define the periphery of the light guide. A first plurality of LEDs are placed so as to direct the emitted light into the light-collecting portion. An NVIS filter is preferably placed adjacent to at least one of the side portions. A second plurality of LEDs are placed to direct the emitted light through the NVIS filter and into a side portion of the light guide. Alternative embodiments can contain NVIS filters and LEDs along additional edge portions of the light guide. Some embodiments may use directing elements or slanted surfaces of the light guide to direct the light from the second plurality of LEDs into the edge portions of the light guide.

In the past, LCDs have been used in a wide variety of environments, including displays within the cockpit of an aircraft as well as ground-based vehicles. In some of these environments it is desirable to have LCDs with dual mode backlighting. These displays have one mode for use during daylight operation and a second mode for nighttime operation when an observer may be using a night vision imaging system, hereafter 'NVIS.' It has been known to use filtered light during the NVIS mode as typical night vision components are sensitive to light within a certain wave length range. Filtering the light allows the LCD to be used simultaneously with NVIS equipment. For example, MIL-STD-3009 (United States Department of Defense Interface Standard Lighting, Aircraft, Night Vision Imaging System (NVIS) Compatible) specifies the small amount of light (at wavelengths longer than ˜650 nm) which may be emitted by an NVIS-compatible display. The disclosure of MIL-STD-3009 is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Without other changes, the filtering which helps NVIS performance would degrade the optical performance (mainly color and brightness) of the same LCD when used in daylight operations.
LCDs require a backlight in order to produce an image as these devices do not produce light themselves. Previous devices have used backlights with two sets of light emitting diodes (LEDs): one set for daylight and a second set for nighttime. The set of LEDs which are used during nighttime operations are typically covered by an NVIS filter (sometimes called 'hot mirror' filters) which absorb or reflect electromagnetic radiation within a certain wavelength. Some displays which use direct backlighting techniques for the nighttime operations may place a small NVIS filter over each LED. With some displays containing hundreds (or thousands) of LEDs, the manufacturing costs for producing and assembling the many small filters can be very high. Other displays may filter all of the LEDs (even the daytime LEDs) which typically results in reduced color gamut and brightness for the display.
Further, the light uniformity of the backlight is often important and desirable. Because LEDs are point sources of light, it is typically important that their natural illumination is modified to produce a uniform level of illumination across the LCD screen. Light-diffusing (and sometimes scattering) devices have been commonly used for this purpose. However, when used in a direct-lit fashion (as opposed to edge-lit) there must be a space between the LEDs and the diffusing devices (known sometimes as a 'throw distance') which forces the entire LCD assembly to become thicker. To further increase the light uniformity of the backlight, a large number of low-power LEDs is typically more desirable than a small number of high-power LEDs. Not only does this increase the light uniformity, but low-power LEDs are typically more efficient than high-power LEDs. Thus, the use of many low-power LEDs can result in power savings as well as smaller amounts of heat generation.
However, as mentioned above, using more LEDs for nighttime operation may increase the manufacturing costs by adding more filters and assembly time to install the filters. This problem is especially troublesome for the nighttime LEDs because the human eye's sensitivity to light variation is much more noticeable at low levels (dim) rather than high levels (bright). Thus, it is very desirable to maximize the uniformity of the light emanating from the nighttime LEDs. Further, it is also desirable to produce the brightest possible daytime LCD with the highest possible contrast ratio while also minimizing the thickness of the LCD assembly and its overall energy consumption.

NVIS campatible backlight device and LCD using the same


An in line fluid filter has an elongate tubular housing with end fittings. An axially disposed closed elongate cylinder is held within the housing defining an annular fluid chamber therebetween. The annular fluid chamber is divided into a plurality of concentric, parallel annular flow paths by at least one elongate concentric, fluid impermeable partition. The flow paths are occupied by a woven wire filter fabric with coarse mesh. This provides a long tortuous filter path that does not readily clog up and that prevents the passage of large particles.

This invention relates to filtering apparatus, and more particularly to an elongate fluid filter assembly that is resistant to clogging.
When water is pumped from a stream or a well for drinking or irrigation, it is generally passed through a check valve before reaching the pump so as to hold a priming fluid between operations of the pump in the case of the common centrifugal pumps. A filter is generally connected before the check valve to trap solids that would otherwise render the check valve inoperative. Most in line filters clog up after a short period of use when in certain applications. This reduces flow and efficiency of operations, necessitating cleaning or replacing the filter. A need exists for a simple, inexpensive filter that does not clog up so easily.
Fluid filters for this purpose are generally of the type with a large surface area and limited depth to cause minimal pressure drop and have enough area so that as pores are clogged by solids the remaining surface will provide free fluid passage. However, the pores are so readily clogged that the useful area is too rapidly reduced in many applications.


A thermodynamically efficient garment for cooling and/or heating a human body. The thermodynamic efficiency is provided in part by targeting the heat exchange capabilities of the garment to specific areas and/or structures of the human body. The heat exchange garment includes heat exchange zones and one or more non-heat exchange zones, where the heat exchange zones are configured to correspond to one or more high density tissue areas of the human body when the garment is worn. A system including the garment can be used to exchange heat with the adjacent HD tissue areas under the control of a feedback control system. Sensed physiological parameters received by the feedback control system can be used to adjust the characteristics of heat exchange fluid moving within the heat exchange garment.

When operating normally, the core temperature of the human body is regulated somewhere between 98° F. and 100° F. The body uses a variety of heat transfer mechanisms in regulating its core temperature. These heat transfer mechanisms include radiation, conduction, convection and evaporation of water from the body.
When the environmental temperature is below the body temperature, heat is transferred from the body through one or more heat transfer mechanisms of radiation, conduction, convection and/or evaporation of water from the body. This forces the body to conserve heat and increase heat production. When the environmental temperature is above the body temperature, heat is transferred into the body through one or more heat transfer mechanisms of radiation, conduction, and/or convection. In this situation, for example, the body uses the evaporation of perspiration from the skin and the evaporative cooling from exhaled moisture to maintain the core body temperature.
The body takes an active role in regulating the body temperature. The temperature of the body is regulated by neural feedback mechanisms that operate primarily through the hypothalmus. The hypothalmus contains not only the control mechanisms, but also the key temperature sensors. Under control of these mechanisms, sweating begins almost precisely at a skin temperature of 35° C. and increases rapidly as the skin temperature rises above this value. The heat production of the body under these conditions remains almost constant as the skin temperature rises. If the skin temperature drops below 35° C., a variety of responses are initiated to conserve the heat in the body and to increase heat production. These include vasoconstriction to decrease the flow of heat to the skin, cessation of sweating, shivering to increase heat production by the muscles and the secretion of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and thyroxine to increase heat production.
Different regions of the body have different abilities to transfer heat. This is based in part on both the surface area of the body region and the relative vascularization of the body region. For example, up to 40% of the body's heat is lost from the head. This is due to the large blood supply to the head, the extra surface area of the head, and from water evaporating from the nose and mouth. Other areas where there is a large muscle mass also coupled with a large surface area also can lose a significant amount of heat.
Clothing is used to help maintain the body core temperature. For example, additional layers of clothing are worn to help maintain body temperature in cold environments. Conversely, fewer layers of clothing are worn to help maintain body temperature in warmer environments. Regulating body temperatures due to a change in a person's activity level in these conditions is usually as simple as adding or subtracting additional layers of clothing.
In some situations, the person is unable to remove or add additional layers of clothing when their activity level changes. For example, people working in very hostile environments are not able to remove or add to their protective clothing and/or suits if they become too hot or cold (e.g., astronauts, fighter pilots, firemen, divers, etc.). In some situations it is also possible that a person can be too warm in one region of their body, while another region is too cold.
Garments for controlling the core body temperature have been suggested. These garments typically have a system for circulating temperature controlling fluid into and out of the garments, e.g., via tubes positioned in the garment. The temperature controlling fluid is generally circulated through the entire garment, regardless of whether the body area needs to be heated or cooled. In doing so, the system wastes energy. For example, energy is wasted in pumping temperature controlling fluid that may not be needed in a particular area of the suit. In addition, the efficiency of the system is reduced. Reduced efficiency results when areas that may require more heating or cooling fail to receive sufficient temperature controlling fluid to control the body temperature because a portion of the finite amount of temperature controlling fluid may be circulating in areas that do not require heating or cooling at that time. Furthermore, the garments used to control temperature of the body are generally heavy and cannot be worn for long periods of time.


A rear bicycle frame structure which has different rear triangles that make up a common tubular structure that forms part of the front frame, an upper tie bolt and a lower tie bolt. The upper tie bolt and the lower tie bolt are joined by a fourth side forming four-sided piece. A rear axle is placed on the fourth side of each four-sided piece formed.

Throughout the history of the bicycle, one of the objectives of any manufacturer of high performance models has been to optimise the rigidity/weight ratio; in other words, to obtain maximum rigidity with minimal weight.
Minimising the weight corresponds to the need to reduce the mass that the cyclist has to ascend in positive slopes and facilitate accelerations to a maximum, as the smaller the mass the greater the acceleration under the same applied force (F=m*a).
However, in the search for minimal weight, the frame rigidity, a fundamental property when guaranteeing the control and stability of the vehicle, but also to make use of the cyclist's energy, has frequently been neglected. In other words, a frame, which, due to insufficient rigidity, loses its shape because of the forces applied by the cyclist's pedaling, means that no advantage is taken of the total applied energy. This energy loss is proportional to the square of the structure distortion (Energy ½*Structure Rigidity*Distortion2).


A fungicidal mixture comprises

The present invention relates to a fungicidal mixture which comprises
a1) a phenyl benzyl ether derivative of the formula I.a, I.b or I.c
xe2x80x83and/or
a2) a carbamate of the formula Id
xe2x80x83where X is CH or N, n is 0, 1 or 2 and R is halogen, C1-C4-alkyl or C1-C4-haloalkyl, it being possible for the radicals R to be different if n is 2, or one of its salts or adducts,
xe2x80x83and
b) a dinitrophenol derivative of the formula II.a or II.b
xe2x80x83where n is 0, 1 or 2
in a synergistically effective amount.
The invention further relates to methods for controlling harmful fungi using mixtures of the compounds I (I.a, I.b or I.c) and II (II.a or II.b) and to the use of the compound I and the compound II for preparing such mixtures.
The compounds of the formula Ia-c, their preparation and their activity against harmful fungi are known from the literature (EP-A 253 213; EP-A 254 426; EP-A 398 692).
The compounds of the formula Id, their preparation and their activity are known from WO-A 93/15046, WO-A 96/01256 and WO-A 96/01258.
Also known is the mixture of the compounds II (II.a and II.b) (common name: Dinocap), their preparation and their activity against harmful fungi and arachnids (U.S. Pat. No. 2,526,660; U.S. Pat. No. 2,810,767).
It is an object of the present invention to provide mixtures which have an improved activity against harmful fungi combined with a reduced total amount of active ingredients applied (synergistic mixtures), with a view to reducing the application rates and to improving the activity spectrum of the known compounds I and II.
We have found that this object is achieved by the mixture defined at the outset. In addition, we have found that, by applying the compound I and the compound II simultaneously, that is to say separately as well as together, or by applying the compound I and the compounds II in succession, better control of harmful fungi is possible than when the individual compounds are used.
The formula Id in particular represents carbamates where the combination of the substituents corresponds to a row of the table below:
Particular preference is given to the compounds I.12, I.23, I.32 and I.38.
When preparing the mixtures, it is preferred to employ the pure active ingredients I and II, to which further active ingredients against harmful fungi or other pests, such as insects, arachnids or nematodes, or else herbicidal or growth-regulating active ingredients or fertilizers can be admixed.
The mixtures of the compounds I and II, or the simultaneous joint or separate use of the compounds I and II, have outstanding action against a wide range of phytopathogenic fungi, in particular from the classes of the Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes, Phycomycetes and Deuteromycetes. Some of them act systemically and can therefore also be employed as foliar and soil-acting fungicides.
They are especially important for controlling a large number of fungi in a variety of crop plants, such as cotton, vegetable species (eg. cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, potatoes and cucurbits), barley, grass, oats, bananas, coffee, maize, fruit species, rice, rye, soya, grapevine, wheat, ornamentals, sugar cane, and a variety of seeds.
They are particularly suitable for controlling the following phytopathogenic fungi: Erysiphe graminis (powdery mildew) in cereals, Erysiphe cichoracearum and Sphaerotheca fuliginea in cucurbits, Podosphaera leucotricha in apples, Uncinula necator in grapevines, Puccinia species in cereals, Rhizoctonia species in cotton, rice and lawns, Ustilago species in cereals and sugar cane, Venturia inaequalis (scab) in apples, Helminthosporium species in cereals, Septoria nodorum in wheat, Botrytis cinerea (gray mold) in strawberries, vegetables, ornamentals and grapevines, Cercospora arachidicola in groundnuts, Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides in wheat and barley, Pyricularia oryzae in rice, Phytophthora infestans in potatoes and tomatoes, Plasmopara viticola in grapevines Pseudocercosporella species in hops and cucumbers, Alternaria species in vegetables and fruit, Mycosphaerella species in bananas, and Fusarium and Verticillium species.
Furthermore, they can be used in the protection of materials (eg. in the protection of wood), for example against Paecilomyces variotii.
The compounds I and II can be applied simultaneously, that is either together or separately, or in succession, the sequence, in the case of separate application, generally not having any effect on the result of the control measures.
The compounds I and II are usually in a weight ratio of 10:1 to 0.01:1, preferably 5:1 to 0.05:1, in particular 1:1 to 0.05:1.
Depending on the nature of the desired effect, the application rates of the mixtures according to the invention are, in particular, in agricultural crops, from 0.01 to 8 kg/ha, preferably 0.1 to 5 kg/ha, in particular 0.5 to 3.0 kg/ha.
The application rates are, in the case of the compounds I, from 0.01 to 2.5 kg/ha, preferably 0.05 to 2.5 kg/ha, in particular 0.05 to 1.0 kg/ha.
In the case of the compounds II, the application rates are from 0.01 to 10 kg/ha, preferably 0.05 to 5 kg/ha, in particular 0.1 to 2.0 kg/ha.
For seed treatment, the application rates of the mixture are generally from 0.001 to 250 g/kg of seed, preferably 0.01 to 100 g/kg, in particular 0.01 to 50 g/kg.
If phytopathogenic harmful fungi are to be controlled, the separate or joint application of the compounds I and II or of the mixtures of the compounds I and II is effected by spraying or dusting the seeds, the plants or the soils before or after sowing of the plants, or before or after plant emergence.
The fungicidal synergistic mixtures according to the invention, or the compounds I and II, can be formulated for example in the form of ready-to-spray solutions, powders and suspensions or in the form of highly concentrated aqueous, oily or other suspensions, dispersions, emulsions, oil dispersions, pastes, dusts, materials for spreading or granules, and applied by spraying, atomizing, dusting, spreading or pouring. The use form depends on the intended purpose; in any case, it should guarantee as fine and uniform as possible a distribution of the mixture according to the invention.
The formulations are prepared in a manner known per se, eg. by adding solvents and/or carriers. It is usual to admix inert additives, such as emulsifiers or dispersants, to the formulations.
Suitable surfactants are the alkali metal salts, alkaline earth metal salts and ammonium salts of aromatic sulfonic acids, eg. ligno-, phenol-, naphthalene- and dibutylnaphthalenesulfonic acid, and of fatty acids, alkyl- and alkylarylsulfonates, alkyl, lauryl ether and fatty alcohol sulfates, and salts of sulfated hexa-, hepta- and octadecanols, or of fatty alcohol glycol ethers, condensates of sulfonated naphthalene and its derivatives with formaldehyde, condensates of naphthalene or of the naphthalenesulfonic acids with phenol and formaldehyde, polyoxyethylene octylphenol ether, ethoxylated isooctyl-, octyl- or nonylphenol, alkylphenol polyglycol ethers, tributylphenyl polyglycol ethers, alkylaryl polyether alcohols, isotridecyl alcohol, fatty alcohol/ethylene oxide condensates, ethoxylated castor oil, polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers or polyoxypropylene alkyl ethers, lauryl alcohol polyglycol ether acetate, sorbitol esters, lignosulfite waste liquors or methylcellulose.
Powders, materials for spreading and dusts can be prepared by mixing or jointly grinding the compounds I and II or the mixture of the compounds I and II with a solid carrier.
Granules (eg. coated granules, impregnated granules or homogeneous granules) are usually prepared by binding the active ingredient, or active ingredients, to a solid carrier.
Fillers or solid carriers are, for example, mineral earths, such as silica gel, silicic acids, silica gels, silicates, talc, kaolin, limestone, lime, chalk, bole, loess, clay, dolomite, diatomaceous earth, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, magnesium oxide, ground synthetic materials, and fertilizers, such as ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, ammonium nitrate, ureas, and products of vegetable origin, such as cereal meal, tree bark meal, wood meal and nutshell meal, cellulose powders or other solid carriers.
The formulations generally comprise 0.1 to 95% by weight, preferably 0.5 to 90% by weight, of one of the compounds I or II or of the mixture of the compounds I and II. The active ingredients are employed in a purity of from 90% to 100%, preferably 95% to 100% (according to NMR spectrum or HPLC).
The compounds I and II, or the mixtures, or the corresponding formulations, are applied by treating the harmful fungi, their habitat, or the plants, seeds, soils, areas, materials or spaces to be kept free from them with a fungicidally effective amount of the mixture, or of the compounds I and II in the case of separate application.
Application can be effected before or after infection by the harmful fungi.

Abstract: A fungicidal mixture comprises

Abstract: a2) a carbamate of the formula Id

Abstract: xe2x80x83where n is 0, 1 or 2

Abstract: in a synergistically effective amount.


Methods of treating or preventing cancer and/or a neurodegenerative disorder in a subject are provided. The methods comprise administering to a subject a therapeutically effective amount of 1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylic acid or a hydrate or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

Disregulation of the pathways that preserve mitochondrial integrity hallmarks many human diseases including diabetes, neurodegeneration, aging, and cancer. The mitochondrial citrate transporter gene, SLC25A1 or CIC, maps on chromosome 22q11.21, a region amplified in some tumors and deleted in developmental disorders known as velo-cardio-facial and DiGeorge syndromes. Several chromosomal translocations and amplifications involving 22q11.2 have been described in various tumors, while microdeletions of this region give rise to developmental disorders known as velo-cardio-facial (VCFS) and DiGeorge syndromes (DGS) as well as to some forms of schizophrenia.

Benzenetricarboxylic acid and methods of use


A step-down switching regulator prevents an output voltage undershoot and enables a quick lowering of an output voltage immediately after turning off of power supply. The step-down switching regulator includes an NMOS transistor connected between an output terminal and a ground voltage and another NMOS transistor connected in parallel with a synchronous rectification transistor. Upon reception of an on/off signal for terminating the operation of the switching regulator, the NMOS transistors are turned on into an on-state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to step-down switching regulators for supplying power to electronic devices. Particularly, the invention relates to technologies for protecting a power supply circuit and a load circuit upon termination of power supply by quickly lowering a voltage applied to an electronic circuit and preventing the development of an output voltage undershoot due to an inductor.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an operation of a power supply circuit supplying power to a load is stopped, it is necessary to quickly lower the voltage inputted to the load. This is because a delay in lowering the applied voltage may lead to an extended application of a low voltage outside a guaranteed operation range to a load electronic circuit, resulting in a malfunction of the electronic circuit or other unexpected troubles.
In high-efficiency power supply circuits used for small electronic devices, a non-insulated type switching regulator employing an inductor is widely used. In this type of power supply circuits, the use of the inductor may lead to the development of a high voltage across the inductor unless a path is provided for discharging the energy stored in the inductor after turning off of power supply. Such a high voltage often causes malfunctioning or other troubles of the electronic components of the power supply circuit or an electronic circuit connected to an output terminal.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-288863 (hereafter referred to as "Patent Document 1") discusses a technology whereby the charge stored in an output capacitor is discharged by causing a first switching element in a switching regulator of which one end is connected to ground voltage to turn on when the load circuit is turned off.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-336972 (to be hereafter referred to as "Patent Document 2") discusses a technology wherein a series circuit of a resistor and a transistor is connected in parallel with a synchronous rectification switching element. The transistor is turned on after turning off of power supply in order to prevent an undershoot that develops at a power-supply-side terminal of an inductor upon turning off of power supply.
In the switching regulator according to Patent Document 1, the first switching element functions as a switching element for synchronous rectification. Immediately after turning off of power supply, both the main switching element and the synchronous rectification switching element are turned off. As a result, a large negative voltage is produced at the power-supply-side terminal of the inductor immediately after turning off of power supply.
Because the aforementioned negative voltage is applied across the synchronous rectification switching element, a current flows from the ground voltage to the inductor via a parasitic diode of the synchronous rectification switching element. However, if the power supply is turned off by the activation of an overcurrent protection function or the like, the parasitic diode may be destroyed by the large energy stored in the inductor. The destruction of the parasitic diode leads to a loss of the function of the synchronous rectification switching element, resulting in a failure of the power supply circuit per se.
In the switching regulator according to Patent Document 2, the charge stored in the output capacitor is discharged via the inductor and the resistor, so that it takes time for the output voltage to decrease after turning off of power supply. Thus, there remains the problem of the extended application of a low voltage outside a guaranteed operation range to an electronic circuit connected to the output terminal.

Step-down switching regulator with turn off undershoot prevention


According to one embodiment, a system is disclosed. The system includes a chassis, and a keyboard retractable from the chassis. When the keyboard is retracted at least partially from the chassis, it creates an empty space within the chassis for lowering air impedance of the system.

1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer systems and more specifically, but not exclusively, to enhancing thermal cooling within a mobility device.
2. Background Information
A mobile device is to be carried by a user and to be used while carried or when necessary. Thus, research has been concentrated on manufacturing mobile devices with a smaller form factor to make smaller and lighter mobile devices. However, if the mobile device is made smaller and lighter, the space in which the components are mounted becomes reduced, so that it is difficult to present an effective layout of the components. Further, in mobile devices providing multimedia and other functions (e.g., audio playback, video playback, etc.), considerable heat is generated from modules performing these functions. Thermal generation will continue to become more of a concern as overall system power continues to rise as a result of increasing complexity of the electronics and additional product features.

Ultra mobility device design to optimize system cooling and form factor