Methods of fabricating a semiconductor structure include implanting ion into a second region of a strained semiconductor layer on a multi-layer substrate to amorphize a portion of crystalline semiconductor material in the second region of the strained semiconductor layer without amorphizing a first region of the strained semiconductor layer. The amorphous region is recrystallized, and elements are diffused within the semiconductor layer to enrich a concentration of the diffused elements in a portion of the second region of the strained semiconductor layer and alter a strain state therein relative to a strain state of the first region of the strained semiconductor layer. A first plurality of transistor channel structures are formed that each comprise a portion of the first region of the semiconductor layer, and a second plurality of transistor channel structures are formed that each comprise a portion of the second region of the semiconductor layer.

Semiconductor devices such as microprocessors and memory devices employ solid state transistors as a basic, primary operational structure of the integrated circuits thereof. One type of transistor commonly employed in semiconductor structures and devices is the field effect transistor (FET), generally includes a source contact, a drain contact, and one or more gate contacts. A semiconductive channel region extends between the source contact and the drain contact. One or more pn junctions are defined between the source contact and the gate contact. The gate contact is located adjacent at least a portion of the channel region, and the conductivity of the channel region is altered by the presence of an electrical field. Thus, an electrical field is provided within the channel region by applying a voltage to the gate contact. Thus, for example, electrical current may flow through the transistor from the source contact to the drain contact through the channel region when a voltage is applied to the gate contact, but may not flow through the transistor from the source contact to the drain contact in the absence of an applied voltage to the gate contact.
Recently, field-effect transistors (FETs) have been developed that employ discrete, elongated channel structures referred to as "fins." Such a transistor is often referred to in the art as a "finFET." Many different configurations of finFETs have been proposed in the art.
The elongated channel structures or fins of a finFET comprise a semiconductor material that may be doped either n-type or p-type. It has also been demonstrated that the conductivity of n-type doped semiconductor materials may be improved when the n-type semiconductor material is in a state of tensile stress, and the conductivity of p-type semiconductor materials may be improved when the p-type semiconductor material is in a state of compressive stress.

Method for fabricating semiconductor structures including transistor channels having different strain states, and related semiconductor structures


A multiple layer shrink film with improved moisture barrier properties is oriented in the longitudinal and/or transverse directions, and comprises an internal layer comprising high density polyethylene, and outer layers each comprising olefinic polymer or copolymer. Intermediate polymeric adhesive layers can optionally be included in those coextruded embodiments which do not melt bond adequately in the absence of such intermediate layers.

The present invention relates generally to shrink films, and more particularly to shrink films having an internal layer of high density polyethylene.
Various films and laminates are available for shrink packaging applications. These films and laminates (hereinafter collectively "films") ideally possess several properties which make them useful in packaging food and non-food items.
One particular property that is often desirable in shrink films is low moisture permeability. The inventor has found that a film with good shrink properties, heat sealability, and low moisture permeability includes an internal layer of high density polyethylene, and outer layers of ethylene polymers or copolymers.
Of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,076 issued to Gash wherein a monoaxially oriented polypropylene film may be laminated to a monoaxially oriented high density polyethylene film, said films produced by e.g. tubular blowing.
Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,443 issued to Mueller et al disclosing a five-layer film having two inner layers comprising ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, and skin or outer layers comprising an ethylene propylene copolymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,156 (Canterino et al) discloses a uniaxially oriented plastic film made of low density polyethylene, or copolymers of ethylene with other unsaturated monomers, such as vinyl acetates, or olefinic monomers made by low pressure polymerization techniques.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,821 (Gallini) discloses a film with a core layer of HDPE, and surface layers of polyethylene and EVA.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,567 (Shigemoto) discloses a film with a layer of high density polyethylene and layers of an ethylene alpha olefin copolymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,185 (Shah) discloses an oriented film with outer layers of a blend of linear low density polyethylene, linear medium density polyethylene, and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,82B,928 (Shah) discloses a monoaxial shrink film with a core layer of high density polyethylene, outer layers of ethylene propylene copolymer and/or polypropylene, and intermediate bonding layers.
An article, New Biax Film Technology, appearing in Plastics Technology, June 1989, page 45, discusses a biax HDPE film with a surface crosslinked with electron radiation, and better moisture barrier than OPP.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermoplastic film with good shrink properties and low moisture permeability.


To enable data transmission without transmitting packer's serial numbers, a transmit serial number is incremented by one at a transmit site each time a serial numberless data packet is sent to a receive site, and a copy of the transmitted packet is stored in a transmit memory corresponding to the transmit serial number. The process is repeated so that a predetermined number of outstanding packets are transmitted. At the receive site, a receive serial number is incremented by one upon receipt of each packet and the packet is stored in a receive memory corresponding to the receive serial number. The receive site determines whether there is an error in the outstanding packets in the receive memory. If an error is found, the receive site sends a request packet containing the serial number of the packet in error to the transmit site. In response, the transmit site sends a replacement copy for the corrupted packet to the receive site which, in response, replaces the packet in error with the received copy. If no packet in error is found in the receive memory, the receive site transmits an acknowledgment to the transmit site. On receiving it, the transmit site repeats the transmission of the next sequence of outstanding serial numberless packets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data communications, and more specifically to a cellular mobile communication system where mobile data terminals send and receive packets to and from cell-site stations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent proliferation of personal devices for cellular mobile communication networks have created a need to communicate computer data over radio links in a packet-switched mode, rather than in a circuit-switched mode, for efficient utilization of network resources. In data communication systems, the international standard X.25 specifies that three-bit serial numbers be contained in each data packet to indicate the transmit and receive sequences together with a format identifier and a logical channel number and so fort. According to the X.25 standard, a predetermined number of data packets are transmitted in sequence from a transmit site to a receive site. These packets are called "outstanding" because the transmit site receives no acknowledgment during the transmission of these packets. If the receive site ails to receive any of the outstanding packets it returns no acknowledgment. Following the transmission of all outstanding packets, the transmit site begins a timing operation. If no acknowledgment is received within the period of the timing operation, the transmit site determines that an error has occurred in the transmitted packets, and retransmits their copies although not all of the previous packets have been corrupted.
If the protocols of the current standard for packet switched network are employed, the throughput of a connection established in the cellular network will be significantly low due to the relatively low transmission speed of the radio link. Another factor that would affect the throughput is the amount of data contained in the packet header since powerful error control bits would be needed to ensure against the loss of any single bit. Furthermore, the conventional retransmission scheme would increase radio traffic and hence place further limitations on the throughput. It is thus important to reduce the amount of housekeeping data in the packet header.

Packet transmission method without sending serial numbers


A barcode reader configured to capture interleaved frame types optimized for vision capture and barcode capture are disclosed herein. An example barcode reader is configured to operate in a pre-determined repetitive pattern of capturing a first frame and capturing a second frame over a reading cycle having a fixed duration after a triggering event, wherein the first frame is captured over a first exposure period having a first duration, and the second frame is captured over a second exposure period having a second duration, and wherein the first frame is associated with a first brightness parameter, and the second frame is associated with a second brightness parameter.

Some barcode readers are capable of both barcode decoding and other imaging applications, such as, e.g., object recognition for identifying scanned items, facial recognition, identifying fraudulent behavior such as ticket-switching, sweethearting, scan avoidance, etc. Such barcode readers typically include two cameras—one for barcode decoding, and one for other imaging applications. Barcode readers that include two cameras can be expensive and generally require a larger housing to store both cameras. However, using one camera for both barcode decoding and other imaging applications can be difficult because exposure length, brightness, gain, resolution, etc., that are optimized for capturing frames used in barcode decoding are typically not appropriate for capturing frames used in other imaging applications, and vice versa.

Interleaved frame types optimized for vision capture and barcode capture


A polishing machine uses a polishing head having a movable pad to press a polishing tape for polishing beveled and edge parts of a disk-shaped object. A rotary shaft is connected to the polishing head in a direction of contact surface between the polishing tape and the object. A rotary-and-reciprocating motion device rotates the polishing head around the axial line of the rotary shaft and moves it reciprocatingly along its axial line. A moving device undergoes a reciprocating motion perpendicularly to the object surface while supporting the object. When in use, the polishing head is rotated while the pad causes the polishing tape to protrude from it while the object is rotated.

This invention relates to a polishing machine for polishing edges and portions near the edges of a target object by using a polishing tape and more particularly to such a polishing machine adapted to carry out the polishing by contacting the polishing tape to the target object without bending the polishing tape more than necessary.
A thin film is formed as shown in FIG. 10A on the surface of a target object to be polished such as a semiconductor wafer (indicated by letter W) but it is something to be removed because the thin film at beveled portions (indicated by letter B) along an edge or that on an edge section (indicated by letter E) on a circumference inside such a beveled portion tends to be a source of particles or contaminations of other forms. Particles are also likely to be generated from rough spots developed at beveled potions of a semiconductor device, depending on its production process, and it is coming to be considered necessary to improve the surface accuracy of portions from which a thin film has been removed.
For removing unnecessary portions of a thin film, it has been known to use the method of firstly forming a protective membrane on the surface of a semiconductor wafer and then to remove the film from beveled and edge portions by etching. Japanese Patent Publications Tokkai 2002-208572 and 2003-234314 have disclosed apparatus for removing a film from such places by using a polishing tape instead of by etching. By such an apparatus, an unnecessary membrane is removed by passing a polishing tape from the upper surface of a semiconductor wafer to an edge part and further down to the bottom surface and pressing it onto the semiconductor wafer by means of a polishing head.
Methods of removing a film from such a portion without using a polishing tape have also been developed, such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Tokkai 2002-329687. By a method of removing a film by etching, on the other hand, there are situations where the etching rate becomes very slow such that the throughput becomes lower, depending on the kind of the film. Moreover, the apparatus must be resistant against chemicals that are used for the etching process, and the disposal of the waste liquid becomes necessary after the removal.
Use of a polishing tape does not accompany the kind of problems encountered when a film is removed by etching but the polishing tape must be bent to a significant degree in order to press it along the edge of a semiconductor tape because the thickness of the wafer is less than 1 mm.
Polishing tapes have a polishing layer containing a polishing material formed on a base sheet material. If such a polishing tape is bent excessively, the polishing layer comes to be separated and this generates particles and causes contamination.
If a polishing tape is bent in this manner as it is contacted to the edge portion of a semiconductor wafer, furthermore, it nearly becomes a point contact and the whole surface of the polishing tape cannot be effectively used for the polishing. If the width of the polishing tape is reduced in order to use it efficiently, it becomes easier to break and more polishing machines would be required for maintaining a high efficiency.
Polishing machines of the type not using any polishing tapes are adapted to use a dedicated special polishing material for removing a film at beveled and edge parts of semiconductor wafers and they have very complicated structures.
Japanese Patent Publications Tokkai 7-164301 and 8-174399 disclose polishing machines of the type having a polishing head that uses a polishing tape to polish end parts of a semiconductor wafer. Although they are adapted to rotatably support a semiconductor wafer, they cannot move in the perpendicular direction and hence cannot be used for polishing edge portions.


Enable appropriate caching of application programs executed in coordination with AV content. The cache memory temporarily stores a coordinated application that is executed in coordination with received AV content. When a plurality of coordinated applications are stored in the cache memory, a control block controls the cache memory according to the priority of the coordinated applications which corresponds to a predetermined frequency specified for each of them in advance. The present technology is applicable to, for example, television receivers that receive digital television broadcast signals.

The technology disclosed herein relates to a reception apparatus, a reception method, a transmission apparatus, and a transmission method, and more particularly, to a reception apparatus, a reception method, a transmission apparatus, and a transmission method that are adapted to properly cache applications executed in coordination with AV content.
In the field of digital broadcasting, not only services based on broadcasting but also coordinated services linked with the Internet are expected to be introduced (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2011-66556, for example). Such integrated services of broadcasting and communication allow application programs delivered via the Internet to be executed in conjunction with broadcast content such as a television program.

Reception apparatus, reception method, transmission apparatus, and transmission method


A method in a Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) network node, a MSR network node, a method in a network node, and a network node facilitate handling of MSR network node information in a wireless communications system/network. Mechanisms for network operation of a wireless communications system/network include one or more MSR Base Stations (BSs). The MSR network node is configured to handle multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs), generate a message comprising an MSR identifier identifying the MSR network node and/or MSR network node configuration data, and send the generated message to another network node for use in network operation. The generated message may be generated and sent upon detecting an initiating event.

FIG. 1 shows an illustration of a cellular communication system, or network, with a serving node 101 that serves a User Equipment (UE) 103 located within the serving node's geographical area of service, called a cell 105. Communication is bidirectional between the serving node 101 and the UE 103. The serving node 101 may, depending on the system, be: a Base Station (BS), a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), etc. The UE 103 will use a Radio Access Technology to connect and access a cellular communication system via the serving node 101. Today, there are many radio and cellular access technologies and standards such as GSM/GPRS, GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA, CDMA-based technologies, WiFi, WiMAX, and LTE, to name a few.
Multi-carrier or carrier aggregation may be used to enhance peak-rates within a RAT. For example, it is possible to use multiple 5 MHz carriers in a HSPA-based RAT to enhance the peak-rate within the HSPA network. Similarly, there is a plan for LTE release 10 to facilitate aggregation of multiple LTE carriers, e.g., aggregation of multiple 20 M Hz carriers. In forthcoming evolutions of cellular systems standards like the Third Generation Partnership Project's (3GPP's) the maximum data rate is sure to be higher than in existing systems. Higher data rates typically require larger system radio spectrum bandwidths. For the International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced ("IMT-Advanced") system, i.e., the fourth generation mobile communication systems, bandwidths up to 100 MHz are being discussed. A problem being faced is that the radio spectrum is a limited resource that has to be shared by many operators and systems which makes it very complicated to find 100 MHz of free contiguous spectrum that can be allocated.
One method of overcoming the above mentioned problem is aggregating contiguous and non-contiguous spectrum. FIG. 2 shows an aggregation of two 20 MHz bands 201, 203 and one 10 MHz band 205. The 20 MHz band 203 and the 10 MHz band 205 are contiguous, whereas the 20 MHz band 201 is separated from the 20 MHz and 10 MHz bands 203, 205 by some amount of spectrum 207. The benefit of such a solution is that it becomes possible to generate sufficiently large bandwidths e.g., 50 MHz in the example of FIG. 2, for supporting data rates up to (and above) 1 Gb/s, which is a throughput requirement for a fourth generation ("4G" or IMT-Advanced) system. The ability to utilize an aggregation of non-contiguous as well as contiguous bands of the radio frequency spectrum makes it possible for communication system operators to adapt which parts of the radio spectrum will be used based on present circumstances and to geographical position.
For an operator with a certain bandwidth that must deploy two or more RATs, e.g., HSPA and LTE, if the bandwidth offered in the specific or individual RAT technology is limited to part of the given bandwidth, these carrier aggregation approaches within a RAT cannot fully utilize the whole operator bandwidth. To solve this problem, simultaneous use of multiple RATs may be used, i.e., multi-RAT carrier aggregation. Multi-RAT carrier aggregation (CA) is also termed as multi-RAT multi-carrier, inter-RAT CA, inter-RAT multi-carrier etc. For consistency, the term multi-RAT CA is used. A multi-RAT CA scenario may include adjacent carriers and/or non-adjacent cerriers. Non-adjacent carriers may or may not belong to the same frequency band which means that multi-RAT CA may be intra-band i.e., all RATs in same band, or inter-band i.e., at least 2 RATs/carriers in different bands. Non-limiting of other multi-RAT CA scenarios are: 1) LTE and CDMA2000, 2) LTE and GSM, 3) LTE, HSPA, and GSM, etc.
In systems/networks supporting multiple RATs a Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) Base Station (BS) may be used. A MSR BS comprises common Radio Frequency (RF) components (such as power amplifiers, RF filters etc) which can be used to operate more than one RAT or more than one carrier within the same RAT. More specifically the MSR BS is also termed as Multi-Carrier Multi-Standard Radio (MC-MSR) BS due to the fact that it may comprise of single RAT with more than one carrier. Hence single RAT MSR BS is a special case of the MSR BS. Furthermore a special case of MSR BS may also comprise of a BS, which supports single carrier within a RAT i.e. single carrier single RAT MSR BS. Multi-Carrier Multiple RAT (MC-MR) is another term used for the MSR BS. Nonetheless for simplicity and consistency reasons the term MSR BS will be used further on, which refer to any BS which has common radio parts to operate one or more carriers, which in turn may belong to the same or different RATs.
A MSR BS typically supports either Full Duplex Division (FDD) RATs or Time Division Duplex (TDD) RATs i.e. all RATs in one MSR BS are either FDD or TDD. Note that Half Duplex FDD (HD-FDD) is a special case of the FDD. This means HD-FDD (e.g. EDGE/GERAN/GSM) belongs to FDD MSR BS. The HD-FDD may also be supported for certain bands for E-UTRA FDD or for any FDD based technologies. The technology also applies to the MSR supporting any combination of FDD, HD-FDD and TDD RATs.
The FDD Scenarios include a MSR BS supporting one or more of the following RATs: GSM/GERAN/EDGE, UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD. The operating frequency bands specified in 3GPP specification are common for the UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD technologies. For example both UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD can operate in band 1 (2.1 GHz). However all UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD bands are not specified for the GSM/GERAN/EDGE operation. Nonetheless some of the GSM/EGDE/GERAN bands are also specified for the UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD; examples of such common bands are: UTRA FDD/E-UTRA FDD bands 3 (1800 MHz) and 8 (900 MHz). For simplicity we will use the term GSM, which covers also GERAN, EDGE and other possible GSM evolution.
The FDD MSR scenarios are classified into the following two frequency band categories: MSR frequency Band Category #1 (BC1): Bands supporting FDD MSR for UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD operation e.g. bands 1, 10, 13 etc. MSR frequency Band Category #2 (BC2): Bands supporting FDD MSR for GSM, UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD operation e.g. bands 2, 3, 5, 8 etc.
In the case of MSR BC#2, in accordance with the operator deployment scenario, the MSR BS includes the subset of the RATs can be developed. For example a specific MSR BS based on BC#2 may support GSM and UTRA FDD in band 2 in case operator uses only these two RATs.
In future the FDD MSR BS may include other introduced FDD technologies. Examples of these scenarios may comprise of any combination of the following FDD/HD-FDD RATs: S-UTRA FDD and 3GPP2 CDMA technologies (e.g. CDMA2000 1×RTT and HRPD); E-UTRA FDD, UTRA FDD and 3GPP2 CDMA technologies (e.g. CDMA2000 1×RTT and HRPD); and, E-UTRA FDD, UTRA FDD, GSM and 3GPP2 CDMA technologies (e.g. CDMA2000 and HRPD). The technology may also apply to MSR BS comprising of other technologies e.g. WiMax, WLAN and their combination with 3GPP and/or 3GPP2 technologies etc.
The TDD scenarios include a MSR BS supporting one or more of the following RATs: UTRA TDD and E-UTRA TDD. The operating frequency bands specified in 3GPP specification are generally common for the UTRA TDD and E-UTRA TDD technologies. For example both UTRA TDD and E-UTRA TDD can operate in band 38 (2.6 GHz). Hence the TDD MSR scenarios are classified into the following frequency band category: MSR frequency Band Category #3 (BC3): Bands supporting TDD MSR for UTRA FTDD and E-UTRA TDD operation e.g. bands 33, 38, 40 etc.
In view of its common radio circuitry, the MSR BS is required to meet the generic radio requirements, which apply for all RATs and for BS configured for both multi-RAT and single-RAT operation. Non-limiting example of generic radio requirements are unwanted emissions, spurious emissions, out-of-band blocking etc. In addition, there also may be requirements that apply only to certain MSR BS categories/type. For example some of the requirements may be specific to the single RAT GERAN MSR BS. Similarly, modulation quality requirements (e.g. Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)) specific to each RAT needs to be fulfilled by the corresponding RAT.
The MSR BS may have same classes as defined for a non-MSR BS i.e. wide area MSR BS, medium range MSR BS, local area MSR BS and home MSR BS. Different maximum output power levels are used for different BS classes. The wide area MSR BS, medium range MSR BS, local area MSR BS and home MSR BS are typically deployed to serve macro cells, micro cells, pico cells and home/office environments respectively. The MSR BS may also be general purpose BS, which is typically used to serve wide range of environment or hybrid environment. The technology described herein may apply to all types of MSR BS classes.
The MSR BS may also be classified according to whether the carriers in a MSR BS using the common radio parts are contiguous or non-contiguous within the MSR BS bandwidth. Both of the classifications may support different combination of RATs as explained in previous sections.
FIG. 3 shows an example of distribution of multiple carriers/RATs in an example contiguous MSR BS. The symbols shown are defined for example in 3GPP TS37.104. For contiguous MSR, the carriers/RATs are contiguous in the frequency domain.
FIG. 4 shows an example of distribution of carriers and RATs in a non-contiguous MSR (NC-MSR) BS. As shown, the NC-MSR BS comprises of two or more frequency sub-blocks containing contiguous carriers/RATs separated by empty slots in frequency domain. Each sub-block of frequency consists of contiguous set of carriers, which in turn may belong to the same RAT or to a different RAT. A frequency block may also comprise of carriers belonging to different RATs. For example one frequency block may comprise of GSM carriers and UTRA carriers. Even a sub-block may comprise of contiguous carriers belonging to different RATs. Another operator may operate in empty slot(s). Therefore, emissions in the empty slots need to be maintained below the limit as required by regulatory radio requirements. In NC-MSR, all the carriers/RATs within the overall block of frequency (i.e. the non-contiguous block) share the common radio parts. Hence the generic radio requirements are being defined for all carriers/RATs within the non-contiguous frequency block of NC-MSR.
It should be noted that single RAT BS (e.g. supporting only UTRA FDD or only E-UTRA FDD) may also comprise of non-contiguous carriers. In principle this is a special case of NC-MSR BS, which can also support single RAT scenario in addition to the multi-RAT scenario. The technology described may thus be applied to all these different types of BS which contain non-contiguous carriers or non-contiguous frequency sub-blocks.
Examples of radio nodes other than a BS which may be based on MSR principles are: relay node (which may have different power classes e.g. indoor, pico, thruwall etc), micro, pico and home base-stations, wireless terminal (e.g. user equipment), customer premises equipment (CPE), fixed wireless access (FWA) nodes, repeaters (e.g. Layer-1 and Layer-2 repeaters), wireless devices to assistant location services by receiving signals from and transmitting signals towards target devices (whose location is determined) etc. This means that for instance an MSR relay node may be configured to support any combination of RATs (i.e. can be multi-RATs and/or multi-carrier) e.g. UTRA FDD and E-UTRA FDD. The MSR relay node may also be contiguous or NC-MSR BS.
Furthermore the MSR relay node may be an in-band relay node or an out-band relay node. For an in-band relay node, the backhaul link and the access link operate using the same carrier frequency. For an out-band relay node, the backhaul link and the access link operate using different carrier frequencies. The carrier frequencies may belong to the same or different frequency bands.
The MSR relay node may also be mobile relay (e.g. deployed in a movable vehicle to mainly serve users inside the vehicle and also outside) or a fixed relay node. A wireless terminal may also serve as relay node. A MSR relay node may also support carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier e.g. intra-RAT CA or multi-RAT CA. The MSR relay node may operate in a single hop relay system or in a multi-hop relay system.
The prior art solutions are not sufficient in case of handling MSR BS information, especially in case of non-contiguous MSR BS since a new concept called frequency block has been introduced for the non-contiguous MSR BS. An MSR BS may also comprise a single RAT i.e. all carriers belong to the same RAT. In fact single RAT MSR is a special case of MSR BS. Hence a similar concept (i.e. non-contiguous MSR BS) may also be introduced for single RAT non-contiguous UTRA or E-UTRA base station. Thus, there is no clear indication in prior art solutions how to handle network configuration for all different MSR BS implementations.

Multi-standard radio network node configuration data handling for network operation


A packaging and display system includes a plurality of items having a substantially similar shape and size but differing product identifying indicia being provided on respective display surfaces of the items. The items are connected together in a chain by hinges mounted in alternating fashion along the chain between front and back surfaces of the items. A releasable attachment means is provided on each of the items so that when the items are folded together to form a compact bundle, the bundle is retained until pulled apart. When the items are unfolded, the items can assume a chain-like configuration in either a zig-zag pattern or a straight line pattern.

The present invention relates to product packaging and display systems wherein a plurality of packages are of a similar shape and size but with differing products contained therein and having different product identifying indicia on the respective packages.
Frequently in marketing and distribution of products, the products have a similar overall shape and size, but which differ from each other in other aspects, are packed in either identical or similar size packaging. Because the products differ from each other in the respective packages, the product identifying indicia on the face of the packages thus differs (even though they may belong to a common group or series). For example, in the marketing and sale of computer software packages such as video games, each package typically comprises a box having a thin profile and each contains a computer disk together with a written instruction manual for operation of the disk. Since all of the instruction manuals and disks are of a same size and shape, the respective boxes or packages which contain each of the games is of a same size and shape, but have different software identifying indicia thereon such as different titles, different promotional or marketing indicia on the face thereof, and differing instructions or other marketing indicia on the back surface thereof.
Typically, it is desirable that a consumer be able to read both the front and back of the package so that the consumer can quickly determine how each of the different products of a similar category differ from each other. In addition to computer games or other types of similar software products, this is also true for other product categories such as records, CD disks, packaging containing books, etc. Also, it is possible that the products themselves may not even be enclosed within a package but may be only "shrink wrapped" or in some cases not protected at all.
In the above situations, it has been known previously in the prior art to ship such items in groups with the items being placed directly adjacent each other, and the overall bundle of packages is shrink wrapped or held together by other means such as tape.
If the consumer then desires to read the front and/or back panel surfaces of each of the packages or products, it is necessary that the consumer first break apart the items so that the consumer can then read the indicia on each package separately after they have been separated. However, now that they have been separated, the individual packages of the series of packages may be lost, or it may be difficult to display them as a unit.
Frequently with such series of packages having a same size and shape but with differing product identifying indicia thereon, it is desirable to maintain them together as a unit for display purposes so that the consumer may buy the entire group of packages. Once they are separated, however, they may be lost, or the store marketing the items may have to reattach them prior to sale.


A failure diagnosis apparatus for a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine having combustion modes switchable between HCCI combustion, performed together with internal EGR, and SI combustion. The engine includes an intake variable valve mechanism and an exhaust variable valve mechanism. The apparatus includes an airflow meter detecting an intake amount of mixture drawn into a combustion chamber of the engine and a control computer determining whether a failure has occurred in the intake variable valve mechanism and the exhaust variable valve mechanism from intake amount change information. The control computer determines whether a failure has occurred based on information on switching from SI combustion to HCCI combustion, intake amount change information, and predetermined first reference change information, and determines whether a failure has occurred based on information on switching from HCCI combustion to SI combustion, intake amount change information, and predetermined second reference change information.

The present invention relates to a failure diagnosis apparatus for a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine that compresses and ignites a mixture of fuel and air in a combustion chamber.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 3-9010 and 6-317117 each describe a variable valve timing mechanism, which varies the valve timing of an intake valve or an exhaust valve according to the driving state of an internal combustion engine. When a failure occurs in a variable valve timing mechanism of an internal combustion engine, the actual valve timing may differ from the target valve timing and thereby lower the driving performance of the engine.
The above publications each describe an apparatus for diagnosing a variable valve timing mechanism to determine whether a failure has occurred in the mechanism. The apparatus described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-9010 determines whether a failure has occurred in the variable valve timing mechanism based on a valve timing varying signal and a detected intake amount.
The apparatus described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-317117 determines whether a failure has occurred in the variable valve timing mechanism based on the pulsation level of intake air detected by an intake air pulsation detector and a predetermined pulsation level corresponding to each driving condition of the internal combustion engine.
A homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine generates a small amount of NOx and practically no soot. However, an HCCI engine may experience misfiring and knocking more frequently than a spark-ignition internal combustion engine. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-315126 describes an HCCI engine that assists homogeneous charge compression ignition using the heat of the exhaust gas by performing spark ignition or internal exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) when necessary. The internal EGR keeps exhaust gas in a combustion chamber or re-circulates exhaust gas into the combustion chamber. The engine described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-315126 performs both homogeneous charge compression ignition and spark ignition, which have different optimum valve timing settings. Therefore, the engine described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-315126 needs a variable valve timing mechanism.
However, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 3-9010 and 6-317117 do not describe a failure diagnosis for an HCCI engine that performs both homogeneous charge compression ignition and spark ignition.

Failure diagnosis apparatus for homogeneous charge compression ignition engine


An apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention includes a driven roller and a idler roller each coupled with a flexible member. A pressure roller is also included and can be forced against the driven roller to tension the flexible member.

Flexible drive members (i.e. "flexible members"), including belts, chains, wires, and cables, are employed in a wide variety of devices to transmit mechanical power. One example of such a device that typically employs at least one flexible member is that of ah inkjet printer, wherein a flexible member can be employed to move and position the print head.
A typical flexible member is configured to be coupled, or wrapped at least partially around, one or more pulleys, or rollers, or sprockets, or the like. In order to function properly, at least some tension is generally maintained in the flexible member to prevent various undesirable effects associated with inadequately tensioned flexible members. Such undesirable effects can include slippage of the flexible member relative to the pulleys and the like.
Oftentimes, a mechanical power source, such as an electric motor having an output shaft with a pulley attached thereto, is coupled with a flexible member and is employed to drive or circulate the flexible member. In this manner, the mechanical power, and/or motion, produced by such an electric motor can be transmitted by the flexible member to another object or device.
Inasmuch as a considerable amount of tension must be maintained in the flexible member in some situations, such as in the case of a smooth or "friction" flexible member, the electric motor output shaft and/or the shaft bearings must be of an adequate size to withstand not only the forces produced by the output power of the motor, but also to withstand the additional forces resulting from the tension in the flexible member.
That is, at least in some situations, the force resulting from tension in a flexible member of a given system can have a considerable effect on the required size of the motor for that system. That is, in some systems that employ a tensioned flexible member, the size of a motor employed to drive the flexible member is generally specified front the standpoint of ensuring that the motor bearings and/or motor shaft are not overstressed by the additional forces resulting from the tension in the flexible member.
One result of this can be that oversized motors (i.e. motors having excessive power capacity) are utilized in systems employing relatively high-tensioned flexible members simply to ensure that the motor bearings and/or motor shaft are adequate for the forces produced by the tension in the flexible member. This results in inefficient use of motor capacity.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An ultrasonic surgical device capable of cutting biological tissues such as bone and cartilage. The ultrasonic surgical device includes a static casing, which sheaths an ultrasonic horn, and a lubrication film, which separates the ultrasonic horn and the static casing. The static casing, which also incorporates a plurality of fluid channels to allow passage of fluids along its length and eventual distribution of such fluids at the cutting end and biological tissue interface, inhibits the transfer of heat generated along the ultrasonic horn. The cutting end and the static casing are separated by a flexible joint, which serves to inhibit the transfer of vibrational energy, and consequently heat, from the cutting end to the static casing. As such, the static casing remains stable and can be used both to manipulate the surgical device with greater haptic control and facilitate effective penetration of larger cross-sections of biological tissue.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of ultrasonic surgical devices capable of cutting biological tissues such as bone and cartilage.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditional surgical saws, such as oscillating saws and reciprocating saws, allow users to cut bones (i.e. Perform osteotomies) of relatively large diameters, such as the tibia and femur. These types of surgical saws, however, which are similar in many ways to the toothed saws used to cut wood, metal, and plastic, have significant disadvantages with respect to a patient's well-being. Because surgical saws utilize rapid motion of the saw blade to cut biological tissues, such as bone and cartilage, a significant amount of heat is generated along the blade and particularly at the blade and bone interface. This can be harmful to the patient since prolonged exposure of bone cells to temperatures at or in excess of 47° C. leads to necrosis of those osteocytes. Another disadvantage of these oscillating and reciprocating bone saws is that they produce uneven cuts, preventing ideal realignment and reduction of the osteotomy gap, which is detrimental to efficient healing of the bone. Oscillating and, in particular, reciprocating bone saws, which utilize a number of sharpened teeth along their cutting edges, can tear neighboring soft tissues that are inadvertently caught in the serrations of the rapidly moving blade. Tearing of these soft tissues leads to significant blood loss and potential nerve damage, which undoubtedly hampers the health of the patient.
Traditional oscillating and reciprocating bone saws have employed a variety of different measures to address these disadvantages. With respect to the generation of excessive heat, these surgical saws can utilize irrigation systems to flush the surgical site near the blade and bone interface. These irrigation systems can be separate, requiring an additional device at the surgical site, or integrated. Although effective at flushing a surgical site of unwanted sources of added friction, these irrigation systems are relatively ineffective at actually cooling the blade at the blade and bone interface. For example, one design for a surgical saw that incorporates a means for irrigation comprises a channel between otherwise parallel portions of a saw blade through which fluid can flow out into the surgical site (U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,261). This channel, though, can be easily compacted with surgical debris, rendering the integrated irrigation system unusable. In addition, providing a channel between parallel portions of the saw blade necessarily increases the likelihood of a wider, more uneven cut. Other designs for an oscillating bone saw include outlets along the blade's edge to facilitate irrigation along the blade and bone interface (U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,720; U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,142). However, these channels can be similarly compacted with surgical debris, rendering them useless. More so, channels along the very blade edge result in a blade edge that is not continuous, which reduces the cutting efficiency of the blade. Despite any potential efficacy in flushing a site of surgical debris, these systems do very little to actually cool the very blade edge, specifically at the blade and bone interface.
Just as with saws used to cut wood, metal, and plastic, a user can avoid rough or uneven cuts by using a saw blade that incorporates more teeth along the edge of the blade and/or teeth having differing angles. While this can produce a relatively finer cut, the resulting cut still leaves much to be desired in terms of producing smooth, even bone surfaces. Cutting guides, which help to stabilize the blade and keep it on a prescribed plane, are often utilized during an osteotomy to improve the precision of the cut. Still, the improvement is not substantial enough to consider these measures a long-term solution with respect to producing smooth bone cuts. In fact, adding teeth or guiding the blade edge have little effect in preventing inadvertent tearing of neighboring soft tissues. Although efforts are taken to protect soft tissues from damage and prevent significant blood loss, the inherently close confines typical in performing any osteotomy make it extremely difficult to completely eliminate such damage, especially to those tissues that are unseen or positioned beneath the bone being cut. This is compounded by the fact that the saw blades used with many oscillating and reciprocating bone saws are relatively large.
A variety of ultrasonic surgical devices are now utilized in a number of surgical procedures, including surgical blades that are capable of cutting biological tissues such as bone and cartilage. These types of saw blades are powered by high-frequency and high-amplitude sound waves, consequent vibrational energy being concentrated at the blade's edge by way of an ultrasonic horn. Being powered by sound waves, neighboring soft tissues are not damaged by these types of blades because the blade's edge effectively rebounds due to the elasticity of the soft tissue. Thus, the significant blood loss common with use of traditional bone saws is prevented. In addition, significantly more precise cuts are possible using ultrasonic bone cutting devices, in part, because the blade's edge does not require serrations. Instead, a continuous and sharpened edge, similar to that of a typical scalpel, enables a user to better manipulate the surgical device without the deflection caused by serrations, which is common when using oscillating and reciprocating bone saws. Although ultrasonic cutting blades are advantageous in that they are less likely to tear neighboring soft tissues and more likely to produce relatively more even cuts, these types of blades still generate considerable amounts of heat.
As with traditional bone saws, separate or integrated irrigation systems are often utilized in order to flush the surgical site and generally provide some measure of cooling effect to the blade. However, many of these blades suffer from the same disadvantages as traditional bone saws that have tried to incorporate similar measures. For example, providing openings along the blade's edge through which fluid flows introduces voids in the cutting edge, thereby inhibiting the cutting efficiency of the blade (U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,102). In addition, these fluid openings can be readily compacted with surgical debris, rendering them useless for their intended function. In other blade designs, the continuity of the blade is maintained and a fluid outlet is positioned just before the blade's edge (U.S. Pat. No. 8,348,880). However, this fluid outlet merely irrigates the surgical site since it is positioned too far from the blade and bone interface to actually provide the necessary cooling effect. Also, it irrigates only one side of the blade. Another design for an ultrasonic cutting device, which claims to cool the blade, incorporates an irrigation output located centrally along the longitudinal axis of the blade (U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,371). A recess in the center of the blade tip allows fluid to flow out of this output and toward the blade's edge, flow that is propelled by a source of pressure. However, the positioning of this irrigation output within the contour of the blade tip results in a bifurcation or splitting of the irrigation flow, such splitting tending to distribute fluid at an angle away from the blade's edge. Mentioned above, the excessive heat generated using any cutting blade, including an ultrasonic cutting blade, is focused most significantly at the blade and bone interface. This example for an ultrasonic blade with cooling capabilities, then, does little to actually cool the blade at the blade and bone interface, but instead serves merely to flush debris from the surgical site. Furthermore, this ultrasonic blade is not well-suited to cutting large cross-sections of bone and is used almost exclusively in oral or maxillofacial surgeries, which involve cutting of small bones.
Even assuming that any of the irrigation systems incorporated into the various bone saws provide some measure of cooling, thermal burning of both neighboring soft tissues and bone surfaces remains a significant problem. Because the shaft of the blade also vibrates at a very high frequency, considerable heat is generated along its length, too. The vibrating shaft contacts neighboring soft tissues, potentially burning them. With respect to an osteotomy, as the blade passes through the cross-section of bone, the freshly-cut bone surfaces remain in constant and direct contact with the rapidly vibrating shaft of the blade. As a result, it is not uncommon to burn the bone, produce smoke and, more importantly, kill osteocytes. In fact, simply lengthening an ultrasonic blade to accommodate large cross-sections of bone tissue, for example, increases the surface area through which heat can transfer and, thus, is avoided by manufacturers of these types of blades. While irrigation directed specifically toward the blade's leading edge may provide some measure of cooling at the blade and bone interface, irrigation alone is insufficient in trying to avoid prolonged exposure of bone tissue, for example, to temperatures in excess of 47° C. Therefore, there remains a need for an ultrasonic surgical device that is capable of cutting bones with large cross-sections, such as the femur, while maintaining a working temperature along the entirety of the blade shaft that does not inhibit proper healing of the bone tissue.


A signal processing method and system are provided for delivering spatialized sound using highly optimized inverse filters to deliver narrow localized beams of sound from the included speaker array. The inventive method can be used to provide private listening areas in a public space and provide spatialization of source material for individual users to create a virtual 3D audio effect. In a binaural mode, a speaker array provides two targeted beams aimed towards the primary user's ears—one discrete beam for the left ear and one discrete beam for the right ear.

Systems for virtual reality are becoming increasingly relevant in a wide range of industrial applications. Such systems generally consist of audio and video devices, which aim at providing the user with a realistic perception of a three dimensional virtual environment. Advances in computer technology and low cost cameras open up new possibilities for three dimensional (3D) sound reproduction. A challenge to creation of such systems is how to update the audio signal processing scheme for a moving listener, so that the listener perceives only the intended virtual sound image.
Any sound reproduction system that attempts to give a listener a sense of space must somehow make the listener believe that sound is coming from a position where no real sound source exists. For example, when a listener sits in the "sweet spot" in front of a good two-channel stereo system, it is possible to fill out the gap between the two loudspeakers. If two identical signals are passed to both loudspeakers, the listener will ideally perceive the sound as coming from a position directly in front of him or her. If the input is increased to one of the speakers, the sound will be pulled sideways towards that speaker. This principle is called amplitude stereo, and it has been the most common technique used for mixing two-channel material ever since the two-channel stereo format was first introduced. However, it is intuitively obvious that amplitude stereo cannot create virtual images outside the angle spanned by the two loudspeakers. In fact, even in between the two loudspeakers, amplitude stereo works well only when the angle spanned by the loudspeakers is 60 degrees or less.
Virtual source imaging systems work on the principle that they get the sound right at the ears of the listener. A real sound source generates certain interaural time- and level differences that are used by the auditory system to localize the sound source. For example, a sound source to left of the listener will be louder, and arrive earlier, at the left ear than at the right. A virtual source imaging system is designed to reproduce these cues accurately. In practice, loudspeakers are used to reproduce a set of desired signals in the region around the listener's ears. The inputs to the loudspeakers must be determined from the characteristics of the desired signals, and the desired signals must be determined from the characteristics of the sound emitted by the virtual source.
Binaural technology is often used for the reproduction of virtual sound images. Binaural technology is based on the principle that if a sound reproduction system can generate the same sound pressures at the listener's eardrums as would have been produced there by a real sound source, then the listener should not be able to tell the difference between the virtual image and the real sound source.
A typical surround-sound system, for example, assumes a specific speaker setup to generate the sweet spot, where the auditory imaging is stable and robust. However, not all areas can accommodate the proper specifications for such a system, further minimizing a sweet spot that is already small. For the implementation of binaural technology over loudspeakers, it is necessary to cancel the cross-talk that prevents a signal meant for one ear from being heard at the other. However, such cross-talk cancellation, normally realized by time-invariant filters, works only for a specific listening location and the sound field can only be controlled in the sweet-spot.
A digital sound projector is an array of transducers or loudspeakers that is controlled such that audio input signals are emitted as a beam of sound that can be directed into an arbitrary direction within the half-space in front of the array. By making use of carefully chosen reflection paths, a listener will perceive a sound beam emitted by the array as if originating from the location of its last reflection. If the last reflection happens in a rear corner, the listener will perceive the sound as if emitted from a source behind him or her.
One application of digital sound projectors is to replace conventional surround-sound systems, which typically employ several separate loudspeakers placed at different locations around a listener's position. The digital sound projector, by generating beams for each channel of the surround-sound audio signal, and steering the beams into the appropriate directions, creates a true surround-sound at the listener's position without the need for further loudspeakers or additional wiring. One such system is described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0161880 of Hooley, et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Cross-talk cancellation is in a sense the ultimate sound reproduction problem since an efficient cross-talk canceller gives one complete control over the sound field at a number of "target" positions. The objective of a cross-talk canceller is to reproduce a desired signal at a single target position while cancelling out the sound perfectly at all remaining target positions. The basic principle of cross-talk cancellation using only two loudspeakers and two target positions has been known for more than 30 years. In 1966, Atal and Schroeder used physical reasoning to determine how a cross-talk canceller comprising only two loudspeakers placed symmetrically in front of a single listener could work. In order to reproduce a short pulse at the left ear only, the left loudspeaker first emits a positive pulse. This pulse must be cancelled at the right ear by a slightly weaker negative pulse emitted by the right loudspeaker. This negative pulse must then be cancelled at the left ear by another even weaker positive pulse emitted by the left loudspeaker, and so on. Atal and Schroeder's model assumes free-field conditions. The influence of the listener's torso, head and outer ears on the incoming sound waves is ignored.
In order to control delivery of the binaural signals, or "target" signals, it is necessary to know how the listener's torso, head, and pinnae (outer ears) modify incoming sound waves as a function of the position of the sound source. This information can be obtained by making measurements on "dummy-heads" or human subjects. The results of such measurements are referred to as "head-related transfer functions", or HRTFs.
HRTFs vary significantly between listeners, particularly at high frequencies. The large statistical variation in HRTFs between listeners is one of the main problems with virtual source imaging over headphones. Headphones offer good control over the reproduced sound. There is no "cross-talk" (the sound does not run round the head to the opposite ear), and the acoustical environment does not modify the reproduced sound (room reflections do not interfere with the direct sound). Unfortunately, however, when headphones are used for the reproduction, the virtual image is often perceived as being too close to the head, and sometimes even inside the head. This phenomenon is particularly difficult to avoid when one attempts to place the virtual image directly in front of the listener. It appears to be necessary to compensate not only for the listener's own HRTFs, but also for the response of the headphones used for the reproduction. In addition, the whole sound stage moves with the listener's head (unless head-tracking is used, and this requires a lot of extra processing power). Loudspeaker reproduction, on the other hand, provides natural listening conditions but makes it necessary to compensate for cross-talk and also to consider the reflections from the acoustical environment.

Method for controlling a speaker array to provide spatialized, localized, and binaural virtual surround sound

The Regents of the University of California


The present invention pertains to a low-maintenance bladder actuator for a low-profile railroad retarder. The actuator has an internal guide mechanism and internal limit stops. The guide mechanism has a concentric, telescoping guide rod and guide sleeve that are removably bolted to upper and lower plates. An integral cast head forms the upper plate and a stop sleeve that absorbs the cyclical 20,000 pound loads of the actuator. This enables the guide rod to remain concentricly aligned. The guide mechanism has sufficient stroke length (SL) and includes a long internal bushing with a low wear rate. The stop sleeve engages the lower plate to form the lower limit stop. The stop sleeve includes an inwardly extending flange that engages an outwardly extending flange of the guide sleeve to form an upper limit stop. The stop sleeve and guide sleeve form a cam lock connection for easy assembly.

Bladders or bellows are well known commercial devices for controlling the relative movement between two parts. These devices typically include a guide and upper and lower limit stops. U.S. Pat. No. 1,169,250 to Fulton discloses a shock absorber for water pipes. The device has a collapsible and expandable vessel located between and secured to centrally perforated inflexible end walls. The apparatus includes a guide for limiting relative lateral motion of the plates. U.S. Pat. No. 1,928,368 to Coffey pertains to vehicle jack with three telescoping cylindrical sections. A collapsible and extendable rubber sack or lining is used inside the telescoping sections. Shoulders and flanges limit outward telescoping movement. U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,795 to Hawley discloses a bellows actuator with opposed ends that are closed by circular disks. The disks are mounted to hubs that are rigidly secured to a shaft. The hubs limit the minimum and maximum length of extension. U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,885 to Jinnouchi pertains to an apparatus having a bellows with a main body and a restriction means. The restriction means restricts elongation and contraction via guide metals, guide members and stoppers. Jinnouchi recognizes the limited stroke length (SL) associated with telescoping sleeves.
Bladder actuators are well known in the railroad industry. In 1882, the Smith Vacuum Brake included a sack or collapsing cylinder. The sack has upper and lower plates and a flexible bladder joined to the generally round perimeter of the plates to form an air-tight seal. The sack includes an internal guide mechanism formed by a guide sleeve and guide rod positioned along a centerline of the sack. The pinned connections allow the guide sleeve and rod to guide the motion of the sack. The sleeve is pinned to the frame of the railroad car, passes through the upper plate and extends into the sack a given distance. The guide rod is coupled to the lower plate, pinned to a braking assembly and is slidingly received in the larger diameter sleeve. When vacuum is supplied to the sack, the lower plate and guide rod are drawn up, which moves the brake assembly to a braking position. The engagement of the brake pads against the wheels of the train forms an upper stop for the sack. When vacuum is relieved, the lower plate and guide rod of the sacks are biased to drop down under the weight of the brake assembly, which moves the brake assembly to a non-braking position.
The Firestone AIRSTROKE actuator developed in the 1930s includes upper and lower plates and a flexible bladder secured around the perimeter of each plate to form an airtight interior. The actuator is inflated and deflated to control its height. Down and up stops are used to set the minimum and maximum height or stroke length (SL) of the actuator. A bumper, a chain, a cable or metal stops can be located inside the actuator for this purpose. Firestone recommends guiding the stroke of the actuator. The actuator is recommended for use in a wide variety of applications including braking applications, such as a Roller Friction Brake with an external guide rod and guide sleeve with upper and lower stops. Firestone acknowledges that companies such as Selson and Minster have modified the actuator to locate all the guide and limit stops inside the actuator. The AIRSTROKE actuator has been used in railroad braking systems. U.S. Reissue Pat. No. Re 33,207 to Brodeur discloses an on-board braking system using the Firestone actuator. U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,400 to Kickbush discloses a low profile, railway car retarder using the Firestone actuator. The actuator has an internal guide formed by two telescoping tubes, one of which has a stop ring at its end to form the upper and lower limit stops.
The railroad marshalling yard environment is dirty, rugged and non-stop. Retarders, switches, actuators, compressed air controls and other components along tracks must withstand exposure to harsh weather, dirt, gravel, petroleum and other chemicals, and withstand being struck by moving objects carried by the cars. Moreover, actuators for retarders produce static vertical forces of about 20,000 pounds to generate the necessary braking power to control the speed of a fully loaded railroad car. Given this demanding environment, the railroad industry places great significance on minimizing maintenance and down time. Bladder actuators must withstand large cyclical loads and a harsh environment while maintaining low maintenance and down time requirements similar to conventional rigid cylinder actuators. For safety reasons, the guide mechanism and limit stops of the bladder actuator are preferably located inside the actuator to minimize the chance of a worker inadvertently getting his or her fingers caught between the moving parts when the actuator is rapidly opened or closed. Given that bladder actuators are typically round, the obvious location of an internal guide and limit stops is toward the center of the actuator.
A problem with an internal guiding mechanism for a bladder actuator is the rapid wear of the internal friction bearing. The actuator produces about 20,000 pounds of upward force to move the plates apart. The friction bearings also experience lateral loads of over 1,000 pounds to maintain the upper and lower plates in parallel alignment and concentric registry. The concentric, telescoping guide rod and guide sleeve include a friction bearing or bushing to allow sliding engagement as the actuator opens or closes. Accelerated wear of the bushing occurs when the lateral loads push guide rod out of concentric alignment. Deflection of the guide rod causes an exponential increase in the lateral load, which increases the frictional forces and wear on the bushing. The worn bushing allows further misalignment of the guide rod, increased lateral loads, and even more rapid wear of the busing. This is a particularly significant problem with actuators for low profile retarders because a short bushing length is not able to distribute the lateral load over a large busing surface area. The ends of the bushing tend to wear quickly. Yet, frequent maintenance to replace the bushing is time consuming and expensive and results in costly down-time for the yard.
Another problem occurs when an internal guide rod forms the upper and lower stops of the actuator as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,400. The guide rod experiences a tension load in excess of 20,000 pounds each time the actuator is opened. This cyclical load loosens the threaded engagement of the guide rod to the upper plate. Yet, as noted above, maintaining the alignment of the guide rod is critical. Even a slight loosening of the guide rod can result in some lateral movement, which will exponentially increase the loads on and wear rate of the internal bushing or bearing. This loosening of the guide rod, or even the potential loosening of the guide rod, significantly increases the need for routine maintenance and possible down time.
A further problem with an internal guide mechanism for bladder actuator for a low-profile railroad retarder is the trade off between stroke length (SL) and bushing length. A certain amount of stroke length (SL) is necessary given the geometry of the retarder and its levers. The actuator must ensure that the brake pads come together close enough to ensure that proper braking force is applied to the wheels of various railroad cars. The actuator must also ensure that the brake pads retract sufficiently far from the railroad car wheels when in a non-braking position. Inadvertent contact with the wheels can result in derailments and loss of life. Yet, as indicated in Jinnouchi, when a guide mechanism is fixed entirely between the upper and lower plates and uses a stop ring at the end of the guide rod, the maximum stroke length (SL) is ½ the distance between the plates when the actuator is in its full open position. The stroke length is further reduced by the length of the bushing engaging the guide rod. Thus, an actuator for a low profile retarder as in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,400, the length of the bushing is kept to a minimum in order to reduce the height of the actuator and obtain necessary stroke length (SL). Yet, a short bushing will have difficulty maintaining concentric alignment of the guide rod and will wear quickly and require frequent maintenance.
The present invention is intended to solve these and other problems.

Bladder actuator for a railroad retarder


A banking computer system with lock for secure payment via telephone and corresponding method, the system includes a telephone (1), a public communication system (2), a financial computer account system (3), wherein the financial computer account system (3) usually locks its user account (3-7), assigns a private phone number (6) to a user, and sets unlock information (8) associated with the user account (3-7) in the system. Once the user is connected to the financial computer account system (3) using the telephone (1) with the private phone number (6) through the public communication system (2), the financial computer account system (3) will check the unlock information (8) according to a predefined program, if the unlock information (8) is authenticated, the user account (3-7) will be unlocked for a predefined time, otherwise, the user account cannot be unlocked, the secure payment is therefore achieved by adding an unlock procedure which can be controlled by user.

Secure payment has always been a topic that is continuously studied and improved in financial, computer, communication and manufacturing area. Single password input manner is not secure enough though it is adopted in financial transactions such as telephone bank and credit card service etc. Credit card fraud, debit card fraud, password being stolen happen from time to time. There is a need to further improve secure payment system and method.

Banking computer account system with lock for secure payment via telephone


A system for producing photographic prints includes a digital camera, having a memory configured for storing images, and a stand-alone printer. The printer includes a docking port and control devices. The docking port is configured to mechanically receive the digital camera. The control devices are configured to allow selection of an image from the memory of the digital camera, and to initiate printing thereof by the printer. The system and method allow a user to deliver an image captured by the digital camera, either as a hard-copy print or as an electronic file, using controls of the printer device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the printing of digital images recorded by a digital camera.
2. Related Art
The advent of digital photography has sparked a revolution. With digital photography there is no need to buy or process film because images are stored digitally. Advantageously, the memory capacity of most digital cameras (or memory cards associated therewith) allows a larger number of images to be taken and stored at one time than with photographic film. Additionally, images can usually be viewed immediately on a small LCD viewscreen associated with the camera, rather than taking multiple images and waiting for film to be developed to determine which images are most desired. Unwanted images can simply be erased and never printed. Moreover, digital images can be electronically manipulated or augmented before printing, such as removing unwanted visual features or flaws, adding text or other images or graphics, combining images, or arranging multiple images for printing on a common substrate. Finally, producing hard copy photo prints is much simpler and easier. Whereas photographic film must be chemically processed at a photo lab, digital photos can be printed with common computer printers, such as ink jet printers.
These developments have produced a quantum leap in the flexibility, efficiency, ease, and simplicity of photography. It is estimated that fully 30% of U.S. households currently have and use digital photographic equipment, and that proportion is continually rising.
One challenge still presented by digital photography is the convenience of printing systems. Systems have been developed for printing images recorded by digital cameras. For example, personal computers (PC's) with attached printers are frequently used for printing digital photographic images. However, many of these systems are cumbersome and awkward to use, and present control limitations which can reduce the ease and convenience that digital photography promises. It would therefore be advantageous to develop an economical and portable system for producing photographic prints from images recorded by digital cameras. It would also be desirable to have such a system that is easy to operate and control, and which adds to the ease and convenience of using digital cameras.

System and method for producing photographic prints


A variable-shape mirror is provided with: a support base; a mirror portion that is disposed to face the support base and that has, on a side thereof facing away from the support base, a mirror surface which is irradiated with a light beam; fixed portions that fix the mirror portion to the support base; and piezoelectric elements that are sandwiched between the support base and the mirror portion and that vary a shape of the mirror surface. Here, the piezoelectric elements are arranged closer to a center of the mirror portion than the fixed portions are.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable-shape mirror that permits the shape of a mirror surface thereof to be varied, and more particularly relates to the structure thereof. The present invention also relates to an optical pickup device provided with such a variable-shape mirror.
2. Description of Related Art
When information is read from or written to an optical disc such as a CD (compact disc) or DVD (digital versatile disc) by the use of an optical pickup device, the relationship between the optical axis of the optical pickup device and the disc surface should ideally be perpendicular. In reality, however, when the disc is rotating, their relationship does not always remain perpendicular. As a result, with an optical disc such as a CD or DVD, when its disc surface becomes inclined relative to the optical axis, the optical path of laser light is so bent as to produce coma aberration.
When coma aberration is produced, the spot of laser light shone on the optical disc deviates from the proper position, and, when the coma aberration becomes larger than permitted, inconveniently, it becomes impossible to accurately write or read information. For this reason, there have conventionally been proposed methods for correcting coma aberration as described above and other aberrations by the use of a variable-shape mirror.
For example, JP-A-2004-070004 proposes a method of reducing wavefront aberrations in a variable-shape mirror employing piezoelectric elements and having a unimorph or bimorph structure. The variable-shape mirror here has, for example, a structure as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 7A shows the variable-shape mirror with the mirror fitting member 108 thereof removed, as seen from the side opposite to the mirror material 101 thereof. FIG. 7B is a sectional view as cut along line A-A shown in FIG. 7A. The variable-shape mirror comprises piezoelectric elements 102, wiring electrodes 103, individual electrodes 104, a mirror base 105, fixed portions 106, and slits 107.
According to JP-A-2004-070004, when, with the wiring electrodes 103 grounded, a positive voltage is applied to one of the individual electrodes 104 and a negative voltage to the other, one of the piezoelectric element 102 expands and the other contracts. Thus, the mirror surface becomes convex in the part thereof located on one side of the center thereof in the A-A direction and concave in the part thereof located on the other side. It is described that using this variable-shape mirror in an optical pickup device helps reduce wavefront aberrations.
However, JP-A-2004-070004 reports that, in a variable-shape mirror having such a structure, deformation is produced in such locations as the slits 107 arranged on the surface of the mirror material 101 when the shape of the mirror surface is varied. To correct this, JP-A-2004-070004 proposes a variable-shape mirror provided with an elastic structure arranged in the vicinity of where the deformation is produced to thereby reduce the deformation of the mirror surface and enhance the variation efficiency of the mirror surface.
Among other conventional variable-shape mirrors, as shown in JP-A-H05-333274, there is a method of performing phase control by varying the shape of the mirror itself by the use of a plurality of actuators.
However, when, for example, a mirror surface of a variable-shape mirror is varied by sandwiching a piezoelectric element between a support base and a mirror portion and by exploiting a lateral displacement of the piezoelectric element placed on the support base, it has been found that deformation is produced, as shown by arrows in FIG. 8, on the mirror surface of the mirror portion on a side opposite to a side where the piezoelectric element and the mirror portion made contact with each other when the piezoelectric element is driven. FIG. 8 shows results of a computer simulation obtained through a finite-element method that is a common technique used as an approximation analysis technique for analyzing deformation or stress of a structure.
In other words, for example, as long as the shape of the mirror is varied by the contraction of the piezoelectric element as is the case with JP-A-2004-070004 or JP-A-H05-333274, local deformation is inevitably produced on the mirror surface at a location where the piezoelectric element is arranged. For this reason, if a variable-shape mirror structured as described in JP-A-2004-070004 or JP-A-H05-333274 is provided in an optical pickup device, local deformation is produced on the mirror surface. Consequently, it may not be possible to properly correct aberrations.

Variable-shape mirror and optical pickup device therewith


An image forming device which transfers a toner image carried on an image carrying body from the image carrying body to a transfer receiving body in a transfer section, the device including a charge producing section provided at an upstream side, in a moving direction of the transfer receiving body, with respect to a position at which the image carrying body and the transfer receiving body oppose each other so as not to be contacted with the transfer receiving body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording device, especially relates to the image recording device in which a toner image is transferred and fixed on the paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an image recording device carrying out image exposure on a charged photoreceptor surface to form a toner image, the toner image is transferred on a transfer body such as paper or the like, and the image is fixed.
In the above mentioned image recording device, a toner is a charged powder, and the transfer body is charged by applying transfer voltage (transfer bias) having a polarity opposite to the toner, and the toner is transferred to the transfer body by electrostatically adsorbing the toner. However, especially in a case of a full color image, when plural kinds of toners are multiply transferred, a phenomenon in which the toners are scattered around the image (blur) often occurs. That is, toners transferred later around a toner image previously transferred are scattered, and then the scattered toners are observed as image blur. Even in the case of a monochrome image or single transfer, when a feeding speed of a transfer material becomes fast, a phenomenon in which toners are scattered around an image tends to be generated.
When the reason for blur is described with reference to an example using an intermediate transfer belt, two reasons can be considered, i.e., a reason such that in a transfer pre-nip section, a transfer electric field acts on an area in which a photo conductor and an intermediate transfer belt are not adhered, whereby the transfer electric field is bent toward a peripheral direction of the image by charge of toners previously transferred, and a reason such that after transferring a toner layer having predetermined charge to the intermediate transfer belt electrostatically and during when the toner layer is moved to a second transfer point, charge supplied from a primary transfer roller is damped from the intermediate transfer belt, whereby holding capability with respect to the toner is decreased so that the toner is scattered by a rebound of charges (of the same polarity) of the toner.
That is, as illustrated in FIG. 12A, when the toner 140 is transferred to the paper 122 which is fed in a white arrow direction, originally, the toner should be transferred as illustrated in FIG. 12B, however, as illustrated in FIG. 12C, the toner 140 flows backward in a feeding direction (the right side of FIG. 12C). Then a picture quality is deteriorated due to the toner 140 that has flowed backward on the paper 122 as the blur 141.
To restrict scattering (blur) of the toner such as described above, a transfer device having a conductive member in a space formed at an upstream side and/or a downstream side in an image carrying body moving direction near a transfer position and between an image carrying body and a rotating body for transfer is proposed (see for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 02-163779).
In the above-mentioned technique, scattering of the toner can be suppressed by applying voltage to a leading end portion of a transfer guide. However, there is a problem concerning the technique in that when voltage is applied to a chute member 14, in a case where resistance is lowered by water which is included in the paper, a transfer bias applied to a transfer section 18 escapes through the paper, resulting in a poor transfer (poor transferring effect).
Further, an image recording device which includes a sheet-shaped flexible member to which bias is applied before transfer and controls the voltage is suggested (see, for example JP-A No. 11-338276). However, in the device, bias is applied to prevent contamination of the transfer chute, and an effect of preventing toner from scattering is not mentioned.

Image recording device having a charge producing section upstream of a transfer receiving body


A rotary damper includes a housing and a vane. There is an indentation in the housing which permits fluid to flow readily from one side of the vane to the other during part of the rotary stroke. At the end of the rotary stroke, there is an alternative path for fluid to take from one side of the vane to the other, and this path preferably includes an adjustable aperture so the amount of damping at the end of the stroke can be adjusted.

The present invention relates to a rotary damper, and, in particular, to a rotary damper for damping rotary motion at the end of the stroke.
In some cases of rotary motion, such as when an arm is moving through a vertical arc while carrying a weight, there is a problem with the abrupt stopping of the mechanism at the end of the stroke, which causes an undesirable hammering or jarring of the mechanism. In many cases, the cycling of this rotary motion is very rapid, with cycles in the range of 0.125 to 5 cycles per second, and this hammering at the ends of the stroke can harm the mechanism itself as well as any products that are being carried by the mechanism. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a rotary damper that permits free movement of the mechanism throughout its rotary stroke until the end, where the movement would be damped.
A wide variety of shock absorbers and dampers is known in the art. In the case of rotary dampers, there are dampers which damp the motion along the entire stroke, and there are devices that permit free rotary movement until the end of the stroke, and then provide an abrupt stop at the end of the stroke. Also, it has been known to have a rotary actuator contact mechanical, linear dampers at the ends of its stroke, but this requires multiple mechanisms, which are expensive and which do not work well at high cycle rates. There are not any rotary dampers that permit free rotary movement until the end of the stroke and then provide damping at the end of the stroke.


A transmitter section radiates a short range wave to a space. A receiver section has a detector circuit composed of a branch circuit which receives a reflection wave of the short range wave radiated to the space by means of the transmitter section and branches in phase a signal of the reflection wave into first and second signals, a linear multiplier which linearly multiplies the first and second signals branched in phase by means of the branch circuit, and a low pass filter which samples a baseband component from an output signal from the linear multiplier. A signal processor section carries out an analyzing process of an object which exists in the space based on an output from the receiver section. A control section makes a predetermined control with respect to at least one of the transmitter section and the receiver section based on an analysis result from the signal processor section.

A pulse radar for investigating an object in space by using conventionally known pulse waves basically has a construction as shown in FIG. 14.
That is, in this pulse radar 10 shown in FIG. 14, upon the receipt of a trigger signal G outputted in a predetermined cycle Tg from a control section 16 described later, a transmitter section 11 generates a pulse wave Pt having a predetermined width and a predetermined carrier frequency synchronized with the trigger signal G and radiates the generated pulse wave to a space via a transmitter antenna 11a.
This pulse wave Pt is reflected by means of an object 1a which exists in a space 1, and its reflection wave Pr is received by a receiver antenna 12a of a receiver section 12, and then, the received wave is detected by means of a detector circuit 13.
A signal processor section 15 analyzes the object 1a which exists in the space 1 based on a timing with which a detected output D is outputted from the receiver section 12 while a timing with which a pulse wave is transmitted from the transmitter section 11 is defined as a reference timing, for example, or its outputted waveform.
The control section 16 makes a variety of controls with respect to the transmitter section 11 and the receiver section 12 based on a processing result or the like of the signal processor section 15.
A basic construction of such pulse radars 10 is disclosed in patent documents 1 and 2 below.
Patent document 1: Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-012921
Patent document 2: Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-313619
From among the pulse radars having such a basic construction, the following two types of pulse radars are devised as automotive radars which have been practically available in recent years.
The development of pulse radars of a first type is underway for the purpose of assistance at the time of high speed running such as prevention of collision of automobiles or running control by investigating a narrow angle range with high output and in long distance using a millimeter wave band (77 GHz).
The development of pulse radars of a second type is underway for the purpose of assistance at the time of low speed running such as automobile dead angle assistance or assistance of putting a car in garage by investigating a wide angle range with low output and in long distance using a quasi millimeter wave (22 GHz to 29 GHz).
The quasi millimeter band for use in the pulse radars of this second type is generally referred to as an UWB (Ultra-wideband), and is used for medical radars, radars for walk assistance of visually handicapped persons, or a short distance communication system or the like as well as automotive radars.
The UWB is a wide bandwidth, and thus, in a radar system, a short pulse having a width shorter than 1 ns can be used, and it is expected that short range radars having high distance resolution can be achieved.

Short range radar small in size and low in power consumption and controlling method thereof

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to a method for predicting graft alterations in a transplanted patient, comprising a step of determining the expression levels of bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), chemokine (C motif) ligand 1 (XCL1) and thioredoxin domain containing 3 (TXNDC3) genes in a biological sample obtained from said transplanted patient.

Histological analysis is a useful tool in the detection and diagnosis of renal allograft injuries and one-year surveillance biopsies are regularly performed1. However, they indicate already established graft alterations and biomarkers established earlier, particularly from non-invasive procedures with less risk of complication, would provide physicians additional means to better adjust patient care as early as possible.
Interstitial Fibrosis and Tubular Atrophy (IFTA) is a common histological feature with no specific aetiology that has been linked to progressive deterioration of renal function and decreased graft survival2. In addition, the presence of fibrosis and inflammation has been shown to be associated with reduced graft function and survival3-5 as early as in 1-year protocol biopsies6, reinforcing the need of earlier biomarkers.
Using gene microarrays, several groups reported that it is possible to identify gene modulations in biopsies as early as 3 months post-transplantation7, 8. However, biopsy is invasive, and subject to complications and sampling errors, and histological analyses can exhibit significant variability in interpretation9, 10. Blood has been shown to be a useful compartment to observe gene expression modification associated with graft alterations within a context of acute renal allograft rejection11, 12, but blood phenotype and/or gene expression patterns at 3 months post-transplant have never been studied nor suggested as useful for predicting the histological features of 12-month surveillance biopsies.
It would however be very useful to have a method to predict, without any previous modification of the immunosuppressive treatment, the graft alterations and the eventual subsequent graft rejection. Although well known biological parameters are used by clinicians for the evaluation of renal function (creatinine and urea serum concentrations and clearance), these parameters are not sufficient for a precise diagnosis of tolerance or rejection and most importantly, have poor predictive values. Currently, only a biopsy of the grafted kidney allows, through the analysis of the presence or absence of several histological lesion types, for the precise evaluation of said grafted kidney functionality. However, a biopsy is an invasive examination, which is not without danger for the grafted organ, and is thus usually not performed on transplanted patients that have stable biological parameters values. In addition, the variability of the diagnosis, due to the subjectivity of the analysis, is a drawback of the histological examination of biopsies. A non-invasive accurate and reliable method of predicting graft alterations/lesions is thus needed.
In addition, in the case of many grafted organ, when the values of standard biological parameters allow for diagnostic of graft alteration graft alteration, the process is already in progress and, although it may in certain cases be stopped, the alterations that have been induced generally cannot be reversed. Moreover, to establish the diagnostic, a biopsy of the grafted organ is usually performed, which is, as stated before, not without danger. It would thus also be very valuable to have a non-invasive method allowing to determine whether transplanted patients are at risk of organ function deterioration at the earlier steps of the process, which would permit to adapt the immunosuppressive treatment and might in some cases prevent the chronic rejection process.

Methods for predicting graft alterations

INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale)

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes


An annular combustion chamber for a turbomachine comprises inner and outer annular walls united by a transverse wall, the inner and outer walls are extended at their downstream ends by inner and outer fastener flanges for fastening respectively to inner and outer shells of a turbomachine casing in order to hold the combustion chamber in position, the inner flange being provided with a plurality of holes for feeding cooling air to a high pressure turbine of the turbomachine, the air feed holes through the inner flange being distributed circumferentially over at least two rows disposed in a staggered configuration.

The present invention relates to the general field of combustion chambers for turbomachines. More particularly, it relates to the problem posed by fastening an annular combustion chamber for a turbomachine to the casing of the turbomachine.
Conventionally, the annular combustion chamber of a turbomachine is made up of inner and outer annular walls interconnected by a transverse wall forming the end of the chamber. The end of the chamber is provided with a plurality of openings having fuel injectors mounted therein.
At their downstream ends, the inner and outer walls of the combustion chamber are generally extended by likewise annular inner and outer flanges that are designed to be fastened respectively to the inner and outer shells of the turbomachine casing. These flanges serve to hold the combustion chamber in position inside the turbomachine casing.
Air coming from a compressor stage of the turbomachine located upstream from the combustion chamber flows between the shells of the casing and the annular walls of the chamber. This air which penetrates into the chamber in particular via holes formed through the walls of the chamber participate in the combustion of the air/fuel mixture.
Furthermore, a fraction of this air serves to feed a circuit for cooling the high pressure turbine of the turbomachine that is disposed downstream from the combustion chamber.
For this purpose, the inner fastening flange of the combustion chamber is typically pierced by a plurality of holes that allow air to pass from the compressor to a cooling circuit of the high pressure turbine. These holes are generally uniformly spaced apart along a row over the entire circumference of the inner flange.
The inner shell of the casing of the turbomachine is also pierced by a plurality of orifices that open out into the annular space defined between the inner shell and the inner flange for fastening the chamber, and that also open out towards the cooling circuit of the high pressure turbine.
Drilling air feed holes through the inner flange for fastening the combustion chamber raises problems of its ability to withstand the vibration generated by combustion of the air/fuel mixture in the chamber.
The combustion frequencies of the air/fuel mixture in the chamber cause vibration in the chamber walls which propagates to the fastener flanges. The fastener flanges must therefore be sufficiently flexible to damp such vibration, but also sufficiently rigid to perform their function of holding the combustion chamber in position in the casing.
Unfortunately, the presence of holes through the inner fastener flange weakens the ability of the flange to withstand vibration. Vibration in the walls of the chamber, associated with a regular distribution of the holes in the inner flange, leads to a vibratory resonance phenomenon that leads to a risk of the inner flange breaking, in particular between two adjacent holes.

Annular combustion chamber for a turbomachine with an improved inner fastening flange