A connector connects a rotatable body including an attachment hole and an engaging groove, and a shaft pressed into the attachment hole to integrally rotate. The connector includes at least one pin configured to fit in the engaging groove; and a screw having a head configured to be pressed against the rotatable body either directly or via another member. The at least one pin is fixed on the shaft and extends in a radial direction of the shaft to penetrate the shaft. The screw is screwed into a screw hole on an end face of the shaft and is tightened to press the at least one pin against a surface of the engaging groove.

In general, a rotatable body rotated by a motor via a shaft is used in various technical fields. The rotatable body and the shaft may be connected by a connector to integrally rotate without rumbling. In image forming apparatuses, rotatable bodies are used in driving mechanisms, for example, for a photoreceptor on which a toner image is formed, an intermediate transfer belt to which the toner image is transferred from the photoreceptor, etc.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example related art connector for connecting a shaft and a rotatable body. In FIG. 1, a joint 360 that is a rotatable body having an attachment hole 440 is connected to a shaft 340 fitted into the attachment hole 440 with a pin 450 fixed on the shaft 340 and a screw 510 including a head 520.
The pin 450 penetrates the shaft 340 and fits into an engaging groove 460 formed on the joint 360. The screw 510 is screwed into a screw hole 500 provided on an end face 490 of the shaft 340. A bearing 320 fits around the shaft 340. The joint 360 engages with a partner joint 410. The head 520 is pressed against an inner surface 530 of the joint 360. Accordingly, a surface 154 of the joint 360 facing the bearing 320 is pressed to the bearing 320.
FIG. 2A illustrates a B-B cross-section of FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the engaging groove 460 includes side surfaces 470 and 480. When the shaft 340 is pressed to fit the attachment hole 440 of the joint 360, tiny gaps G are required between the pin 450 and each of the side surfaces 470 and 480 of the engaging groove to fit the pin 450 into the engaging groove 460.
When the shaft 340 rotates in FIG. 1, a frictional force is generated between the surface 154 of the joint 360 and the surface of the bearing 320. Therefore, rumbling (relative rotation) of the joint 360 with respect to the shaft 340 is reduced. However, the rotation of the shaft 340 may not be transmitted to the joint 360 for a brief moment due to the gaps G. Therefore, the joint 360 may not rotate in an integrated manner.
For example, when a photoreceptor that is rotated in a direction and a reverse direction thereto is connected to the shaft 340 via the joint 360 and the partner joint 410, the rumbling may become a problem. When image forming is started and the shaft 340 rotates, the rotation is transmitted to the photoreceptor via the joint 360 and the partner joint 410. As a result, a significant external force is applied to the photoreceptor.
Therefore, the joint 360 rotates relatively to the shaft 340 pressed into the attachment hole 440 for a distance corresponding to the gap G as shown in FIG. 2B. A first end of the pin 450 presses the side surface 470 and a second end of the pin 450 presses the side surface 480. A toner image is formed on the photoreceptor in this state and transferred onto an intermediate transfer belt. If the photoreceptor is rotates in one direction only, the pin 450 stays at a similar position and the rumbling of the joint 360 may be insignificant.
However, when the photoreceptor is reversely rotated, the joint 360 rotates relatively to the shaft 340 for a distance corresponding to the gaps G as shown in FIG. 2C. The first end of the pin 450 presses the side surface 480 and the second end of the pin 450 presses the side surface 470. As described above, rumbling of the joint 360 occurs because the rotation of the shaft 340 is not immediately transmitted to the joint 360 due to the gaps G.
If the image forming apparatus is tandem type and includes a plurality of photoreceptors, the photoreceptors may rotate at different moments relatively to the respective shafts 340. This may cause displacement of colors when the toner images on the photoreceptors are superimposed one on another on the intermediate transfer belt.

Connector and image forming apparatus including the same


An apparatus comprises at least one frame, wheels operatively connected to the frame, at least one processor operatively connected to the frame, a plurality of gas detectors operatively connected to the processor, and at least one wireless transceiver operatively connected to the processor. Further, a rechargeable power storage unit is operatively connected to the processor, the gas detectors, and the wireless transceiver.

The present disclosure relates to gas detection equipment, and more specifically, to equipment for remote monitoring of gases.
Gas monitoring equipment is used to check for the presence of various chemicals within the gas environment of a specific space. For example, the air within a room is a gas/vapor environment within a specific space. Note that gas and vapors are referred to herein simply as gas, for convenience. If a room is to be used by humans without special breathing equipment, gas monitoring equipment can check the air within the room for gas phase chemicals and materials that may be harmful to humans, or that may harm the environment or other equipment.
However, such gas monitoring equipment is either limited to checking for a single gas, or is permanently installed in a single location, making its use limited. The embodiments described below address such situations.

Mobile gas detection cart with wireless transceiver

International Business Machines Corporation


A heat dissipation device includes a base, a fin group located at a top of the base, a fan mounted on a top of the fin group, a first heat pipe and a second heat pipe. The first and second heat pipes connect with the base and the fin group and each includes a condensing portion and an evaporating portion. The evaporating portions of the first and second heat pipes are received in the base. The condensing portions of the first and the second heat pipes are located at opposite sides of the fin group respectively and extend through and support the fin group along opposite directions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat dissipating device, more particularly to a heat dissipation device having heat pipes for supporting a heat sink thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer central processing unit (CPU) is the core controller of electrical signals in the contemporary personal computers. Continued development of the CPUs has enabled them to perform more and more functions. Heat generated by the CPUs has thus increased enormously. Such heat can adversely affect the operational stability of the computers. Measures must be taken to efficiently remove the heat from the CPU. Typically, a dissipation device having great heat conductivity is mounted on the CPU to remove the heat therefrom.
The conventional heat dissipation device commonly comprises a base thermally connecting with the CPU, a plurality of fins mounted on a top of the base, a fan mounted on a top of the fins and a heat pipe connecting with the base and the CPU. The heat pipe comprises a condensing portion extending through and supporting the fins, an evaporating portion sandwiched between the base and the CPU. When the heat dissipation device works a long time, the heat pipe are deformed because of vibration and pressure via the fan and the fins. Thus, heat dissipation efficiency of the heat dissipation device is affected.
Thus, it is desired to devise a heat dissipating device which having a stable configuration.

Heat dissipation device having heat pipes for supporting heat sink thereon

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


An endoscopic or laparoscopic instrumentation kit including at least one obturator and at least two sleeves forming a trocar assembly. The kit may also include a catheter, an endoscopic surgical instrument, tissue-gripping sleeve members and attachment devices for the trocar sleeves. The kit is packaged in a vacuum-formed enclosure having raised walls which correspond in size and shape to the instruments packaged therein for retaining and displaying the instruments. A method for utilizing the kit of the present invention is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to endoscopic and laparoscopic surgical instruments, and more particularly to a kit for packaging endoscopic or laparoscopic surgical instruments for use during a surgical procedure.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Endoscopic and laparoscopic surgical procedures have increased in popularity in recent years. Such surgical procedures provide an attractive alternative to major surgery involving large incisions in the patient which leaves considerable scarring and extensive recovery periods. Laparoscopic and endoscopic surgical procedures utilize small incisions with minimal damage to tissue in the areas surrounding the surgical objective. By minimizing the trauma to surrounding tissue, laparoscopic and endoscopic surgical procedures significantly reduce the recovery time and lessen the amount of scar tissue at the incision.
Laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery generally requires the use of instruments or equipment which provides a passage through the skin and surrounding tissue to the surgical site. Typically, a trocar assembly is used in which a sharp, pointed obturator is used to puncture and penetrate the skin and surrounding tissue to reach the surgical area. The obturator is positioned within a sleeve member which remains in place after the obturator has been removed. The sleeve member provides a path for the insertion of the surgical equipment, which generally may include a viewing device as well as a cutting instrument, laser instrument, grippers, dissectors or the like. In practice, often times many trocar and sleeve members are used to provide for the use of numerous surgical instruments to carry out the surgical procedure.
In view of this, it is required that assistants to the surgical procedure prepare for the operation by making ready numerous trocar assemblies and other instruments to aid in the performance of the surgical procedure. To this end, the individual packaging of each of these devices leads to the accumulation of packaging material within the sterile environment of the operating room. It is also conceivable that certain necessary pieces of operating equipment and instrumentation will be inadvertently omitted from the operating room, thus delaying the surgical procedure or inconveniencing the surgeon and jeopardizing the safety of the patient. Furthermore, the cost of the equipment becomes a factor, as each trocar assembly includes an obturator and a trocar sleeve, thus requiring the purchase of numerous trocar assemblies although conceivably only one obturator will be used.
The novel endoscopic instrumentation kit of the present invention obviates the disadvantages encountered in the prior art and provides an endoscopic or laparoscopic instrumentation kit which may include all the necessary pieces of equipment required for laparoscopic and endoscopic surgical procedures. The amount of packaging material which must be discarded is significantly reduced, and the possibility of the omission of a required piece of equipment is essentially eliminated.

Endoscopic instrumentation kit and package therefor


A magneto-resistive effect element includes a free layer having a magnetization direction which varies with respect to an external magnetic field; a pinned layer which includes a stacked structure comprising an outer pinned layer which has a magnetization direction that is fixed with respect to the external magnetic field, a non-magnetic intermediate layer which is made of ruthenium with a thickness of about 0.4 nm, and an inner pinned layer with a thickness of 3 nm or more, wherein the inner pinned layer has a magnetization direction which is fixed with respect to the external magnetic field due to anti-ferromagnetic coupling with the outer pinned layer via the non-magnetic intermediate layer; and a spacer layer sandwiched between the free layer and the inner pinned layer. Sense current flows through the pinned layer, the spacer layer, and the free layer substantially in a stacked direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magneto-resistive effect element, a thin-film magnetic head, a head gimbal assembly, and a hard disk drive, and more particularly, to a magneto-resistive effect element for use in a thin-film magnetic head for a magnetic recording apparatus such as a hard disk drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Magnetic heads using a GMR (Giant Magneto-resistive) film as a read element have been utilized in a wide range of applications in order to cope with the density of magnetic recording that is increasingly higher. In particular, a GMR element using a spin valve film (hereinafter called an SV film) can provide a magnetic head having a higher sensitivity because of the large change in its resistance to sense current which is applied to the element in order to read recorded data on a recording medium. An SV film consists of stacked films which have a ferromagnetic film whose magnetization direction is fixed in one direction (hereinafter also called a pinned layer), a ferromagnetic film whose magnetization direction varies in response to an external magnetic field generated by a recording medium (hereinafter also called a free layer), and a non-magnetic spacer layer sandwiched therebetween.
Conventionally, a CIP (Current in Plane)—GMR element to which sense current is applied in parallel with film planes has been widely used for a MR element that has an SV film. Recently, a magnetic head which uses a CPP (Current Perpendicular to the Plane)—GMR element to which sense current is applied perpendicular to film planes has been developed in order to cope with a further increase in density. A CPP-GMR element exhibits lower resistance than a TMR (Tunnel Magneto-resistance) element having TMR film, which is an alternative kind of a CPP type element. A CPP-GMR element also exhibits a large output even when it reads data from a track in a narrow width, as compared with a CIP-GMR element. Therefore, the CPP-GMR element is considered to be a highly promising element having a high potential.
However, since the sense current passes perpendicular to the film planes, i.e., boundaries, a CPP-GMR element has the disadvantage that it does not generate sufficient spin dependent scattering on the boundaries, resulting in a small change in the magneto-resistance. Thus, in CPP-GMR elements, the following two measures are generally taken in order to increase the change in the magneto-resistance. One is to increase the number of boundaries to enhance the boundary scattering effect. Since a boundary scattering coefficient depends on a combination of materials which form a boundary, the layer configuration is important. For example, a multi-layer configuration, such as Co/NiFe/Co, in which at least one of two pinned layers has an intermediate layer made of NiFe, is disclosed as an appropriate layer configuration. See, for example, the specification etc. of Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2003-8103, and No. 2001-52317. The other is to increase the thicknesses of a free layer, a non-magnetic intermediate layer, a pinned layer, etc. in order to increase the scattering of conduction electrons within each layer, i.e., to increase the resistance due to bulk scattering. In this approach, the film thickness is more important than the layer configuration. CPP-GMR elements, indeed, are often made considerably thicker than CIP-GMR elements and TMR elements.
A so-called synthetic pinned layer can be used for the pinned layer of a GMR element. A synthetic pinned layer is a pinned layer that has an outer pinned layer which is a magnetic layer, a non-magnetic metal layer made of Ru or Rh, and an inner pinned layer which is a magnetic layer, stacked in this order, wherein the outer pinned layer and the inner pinned layer are anti-ferromagnetically coupled via the non-magnetic metal layer. In this configuration, the overall SV film is composed of a buffer layer/anti-ferromagnetic layer/outer pinned layer/non-magnetic intermediate layer/inner pinned layer/spacer layer/free layer/cap layer, which are stacked in this order. In a synthetic pinned layer, the outer pinned layer and the inner pinned layer are magnetized anti-parallel to each other, so that the magnetization of the pinned layer is inhibited and stabilized. Further, when the synthetic pinned layer is used in the read element of a head, the shift of a bias point due to a static magnetic field from the pinned layer can be prevented.
While investigations to apply a synthetic pinned layer to a CPP-GMR element have been performed, the film thickness of a pinned layer, i.e., the film thicknesses of an outer pinned layer and an inner pinned layer, tends to be larger by the reason described above.
However, in a CPP-GMR element which uses a synthetic pinned layer, the increase in film thickness of a pinned layer, as described above, creates the disadvantage that it is difficult to ensure the anti-ferromagnetic coupling between the outer pinned layer and the inner pinned layer will occur. This is because the increase in film thickness of the pinned layer causes magnetic moments to be increased in the outer pinned layer and the inner pinned layer. The increase in magnetic moments leads to insufficient degree of strength for the exchange coupling of the non-magnetic intermediate layer, and this means that the anti-ferromagnetic coupling of the outer pinned layer and the inner pinned layer will be weak.
Ideally, in a synthetic pinned layer, an outer pinned layer and an inner pinned layer are configured to be in anti-parallel magnetization directions, and configured to exhibit no effective magnetization as a whole. However, in a thick pinned layer as mentioned above, the range of the effective magnetic field in which the outer pinned layer and the inner pinned layer can be anti-ferromagnetically coupled via the non-magnetic intermediate layer, will be reduced. Further, the temperature at which anti-ferromagnetic coupling of the pinned layer can be maintained under high temperatures will be reduced. Consequently, this leads to an unfavorable situation in which it is difficult to reliably achieve a large change in magneto-resistance in a wider temperature range and in a larger magnetic field.

Magnetoresistive effect element having inner and outer pinned layers including a cobalt iron alloy


The present invention discloses a converging type solar cell element able to restrain recombination of carriers and inflow of carriers into an embankment section and improve photoelectric conversion efficiency. A p.sup.+ diffusion layer 16 is formed on the surface of a sunlight receiving section 10 which is formed on a silicon substrate 12 comprising a p-type silicon. An energy gradient arises between the p.sup.+ diffusion layer 16 and the silicon substrate 12. Therefore, free electrons, which are minority carriers among the carriers generated in the silicon substrate 12 resulting from irradiation of sunlight to the sunlight receiving section 10, can be prevented from migrating to the surface side of the silicon substrate 12. Further, recombination of free electrons which may arise due to lattice defects of the surface can also be prevented. Still further, the p.sup.+ diffusion layer 16 may also be formed on a back surface side of the embankment section 14 which surrounds the sunlight receiving section 10. Due to operation of the aforementioned energy gradient, inflow of the free electrons, which are minority carriers, into the embankment section can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved converging type solar cell element, especially to one in which electrodes are formed on the back of a silicon substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Solar cells are used for various purposes. For the purpose of achieving a reduction in costs of a power generation system utilizing solar cells, various converging type solar cell modules that decrease an application area of expensive solar cells by converging sunlight using a lens have been originated. Also, various sun tracking systems have been conceived for the purposes of improving efficiency of power generation of converging type solar cell modules.
Such converging type solar cell modules use a converging type solar cell element in which solar cells are formed and electrodes for transferring current are provided. When a converging spot formed by convergence of sunlight is irradiated to a sunlight receiving section of the converging type solar cell element, free electrons and positive holes are generated as carriers in the silicon substrate. These carriers are separated by p-n junction, and the free electrons are then taken out as current from electrodes via an n-layer, with positive holes current supplied via a p-layer.
The converging type solar cell element mentioned above is thin, with a thickness normally within the range of 50 to 150 .mu.m. Due to this thickness, the element is occasionally damaged during mounting work or the like. Therefore, in order to improve the yield, enhanced strength is desired. Under the circumstances, as shown in FIG. 5, it is necessary to provide an embankment section 14 around a sunlight receiving section 10 of the converging type solar cell element for the purposes of reinforcement.
However, the conventional converging type solar cell element mentioned above has such a problem that some of the generated current flows into the embankment section 14 thereby decreasing the quantity of current which can be collected, and thereby lowering photoelectric conversion efficiency. The aforementioned problem can be controlled by reducing a width d of the embankment section 14 shown in FIG. 5. However, when the width of the embankment section 14 is set to 1 mm, a carrier loss of approximately 8 to 10 percent arises, whereas, even when the width is set to 0.3 mm, the loss is 3 to 5 percent.
Also, a bus electrode for collecting current which is taken out from the electrodes is provided on the back side of the embankment section 14 shown in FIG. 5. If the width d of the embankment section 14 is reduced, the area of the bus electrode will become smaller. This causes such a problem that internal resistance of the converging type solar cell element increases.
Further, the surface of the silicon substrate has many lattice defects, and therefore carriers generated by recombination of carriers disappear. This causes such a problem that quantity of current which can be collected is decreased. This is a serious problem specially to minority carriers in a silicon substrate.


Electronic images that are degraded by noise and data reduction, such as MPEG encoding, display artifacts in the reproduced image, such as ringing (“ripples”) and blocks (“huge pixels”), and noise in the image may be apparent as graininess. By performing image analysis, both on a frame-by-frame and pixel-by-pixel basis it is possible to identify and separate edges in the image, ringing artifacts and the boundaries between block transitions. By applying noise reduction according to the analysis, followed by sharpness enhancement, it is possible to clean up the image for further utilization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for use in an image processing system to enhance the overall picture quality of an electronically displayed picture.
2. Description of Related Art
Modem storage and transmission of pictures occurs by electronic means, in which analog electronic signals are converted to digital groups of numbers representing the total information necessary to re-create one picture element (one pixel) on a screen, such as a CRT screen or a plasma screen or a Liquid Crystal Display. Electronic picture may also originate in the digital domain. A picture is defined by many parameters, some of which are related to the human visual perception. Contrasts between series of neighboring pixels are perceived as contours, and correct representation of such contours as well as gradual changes in e.g. chromaticity are important elements in a high quality picture representation. In particular two influences occur that reduce the quality of the perceived image: noise that introduces random stepwise variation between neighboring pixels and data reduction algorithms that introduce "ringing" and "blocking". The former refers to shadow- or ripple-like extraneous series of pixels in parallel with contrasts—in the case of lines, on both sides of the lines, and the latter refers to the generation of rectangular blocks of uniformly colored parts of a picture, which appears as if it were displayed on a tiled surface. Both phenomena may occur with varying degree of visibility. Typical present-day algorithms are of the family known as MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group).
Various principles for reducing noise and artifacts have been used in the past, from simple averaging of the values of neighboring pixels to principles including movement information from consecutive frames in video. Reference is made to Anil Kokaram, "Motion Picture Restoration", Springer Verlag London 1998. The sophisticated methods are both very complex, calculation-intensive, and require more hardware than it is generally considered reasonable to include in equipment for home entertainment, such as TV and video monitors or computer screens.

Filter for adaptive noise reduction and sharpness enhancement for electronically displayed pictures


A prosthetic implant system for reconstructing a knee joint comprises a prosthetic implant and sleeve. The prosthetic implant comprises a tibial tray component for reconstructing a tibia of the knee joint, and a stem configured to extend from the tibial tray component to anchor the tibial tray component in the tibia of the knee joint. The sleeve comprises an outer wall configured to engage with bone, and an inner bore configured to receive the stem. The inner bore is shaped to couple to the prosthetic implant at a first location proximate the tibial tray component while surrounding the stem, and uncouple from the prosthetic implant at a second location spaced from the first location while still surrounding the stem. Methods employing the prosthetic implant system can comprise intraoperatively determining to use the sleeve in a coupled or un-coupled configuration based on a depth of a broach into a broached channel.

Prosthetic implant devices, such as femoral and tibial components, sometimes include a stem extending from a bearing component such as a tibial tray. The stem can extend along a length of the diaphysis portion of the tibia, while the tray can be configured to abut a resected portion of the epiphysis portion of the tibia configured to mate with the femur. Sometimes the metaphysis portion of the tibia below the epiphysis includes damaged or unhealthy cancellous bone at the resection. As such, it is sometimes desirable to remove weakened bone material, such as with a broach or reamer, to leave a space in the metaphyseal portion of the bone larger than the stem. Sometimes a sleeve is mechanically coupled to a tibial or femoral component in order to fill the space.
Examples of sleeves for use with prosthetic implants are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,721,733 to Bonitati; U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0277528 to Mines et al.; U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0277540 to Leszko et al.; and U.S. Pub. No. 2017/0000503 to Keefer et al.

Systems and methods for attaching sleeve or cone in prosthetic implant having a stem


A method and apparatus for restricting privileged access to distributed content information, (e.g., audio data stored on a compact disk, audiocassette, etc., and video and/or audio data stored on a DVD disk, video cassette, etc.) begins by extracting a privileged indicator from the distributed content information to produce an extractive privilege indicator. The privileged indicator indicates whether the content data of the distributed content information can be displayed, displayed without copying, displayed with a single copy, displayed with multi-copies, copied once, or copied multiple times. The extracted privilege indicator is transmitted to a distributed content device (e.g., a monitor, a projector, a high definition television, a DVD recorder, a server, and/or a personal computer) via a control channel. Upon receiving the extracted privilege indicator, the distributed content device interprets it to determine the privileged access restrictions. Based on this interpretation, the distributed content device generates a content feedback signal which is provided back to a video graphics processor. Upon receiving the content feedback, the video graphics processor interprets it and produces therefrom a content processing indicator. The video graphic processor then processes the content data based on the content processing indicator. Such processing includes providing the content data to the distributive content device and/or providing a representation of the privileged indicator to the distributive content device.

This invention relates generally to restricting access to content information, such as video data, audio data, etc. and in particular to a method and apparatus for restricting privilege access to distributed content information.
Computers are known to include a central processing unit, system memory, audio processing circuitry, video processing circuitry, and peripheral ports such that the central processing units may interface with peripheral devices such as printers, monitors, external tape drives, etc. The video graphics circuit is a co-processor to the central processing unit and performs the co-processing function of preparing data for display on a computer monitor. The video processing circuitry receives graphics data from the central processing unit and converts the graphics data into pixel information for display on the monitor.
The video processing circuit may further process video data that is received via television broadcasts, cable broadcasts, satellite broadcasts, signals from VCRs, and signals from DVD players. To receive such signals, the video processing circuit includes a tuner circuit, an audio decoder and a video decoder. The tuner is operably coupled to receive the broadcast signals and to convert them in to digitized audio signals and digitized video signals. The audio decoder receives the digitized audio signals and converts them into analog signals that are subsequently rendered audible. The video decoder receives the digitized video signals and converts them into video graphics data, which can be displayed on a display (e.g., a computer monitor, TV, etc.). As is known, the video graphics data is in a form that can be stored by the computer""s system memory. As such, a computer user may record a television broadcast, cable broadcast, satellite broadcast, VCR transmission, or DVD transmission in the computer""s memory for later replay.
Needless to say, content providers (e.g., Hollywood movie makers, television program makers, and distributors) are concerned about unauthorized copying or viewing of their video content. To help reduce the casual copying of such video content, several techniques have been developed. For example, video cassette tapes include an embedded coding that degrades VCR generated copies, but does not affect the display of the original video content on a television. As a further example, digital video discs (DVD), which are digitally recorded, include an embedded copy restriction flag, or a serial copy generation management system (CGMS), in the digital video signals, i.e., the output of a DVD player. The CGMS information indicates, for the entire disk or sectors thereof, whether no copies, one copy, or unlimited copies can be made. As is generally understood, for the copy prevention to work, equipment capable of making copies needs to abide by the copy restriction rules.
While the DVD player, which may be incorporated in a computing system, prevents copying of the video content in accordance with the copy restriction flag, the monitor receives unprotected video graphics data via a standard analog VGA link or digital differential signaling (such as: TMDS [transition minimized differential signaling]; LVDS [low voltage differential signaling] or GVIF [graphics video interface] link. As such, a person intent on obtaining an unauthorized copy of the video content may obtain a VGA or digital differential signaling converter and record or view the video content from the VGA output. One contemplated solution for overcoming copying or viewing from the video graphics controller output is to encrypt the video graphics data provided on the VGA or digital video signaling link. As is also known, the more complex the encryption algorithm, the less likely it is to be broken, but the more it costs. Thus, a computer equipment manufacturer may be left with a difficult choice of including less expensive encryption protection, which can be readily broken by a computer hack, or include more costly encryption protection, which provides the desired security, but may price their equipment out of the market.
A further copy restriction issue arises when a user, who obtained a DVD in an authorized manner (i.e., purchase or lease), is unable to play the DVD. A DVD may not be played if the DVD does not include a copy restriction flag. As is known, some DVD players are designed to check for a copy restriction flag. If copy restriction flag is not found, the disk is presumed to be an illegal copy and is not played. The user, however, is not informed as to why the disk is not playing. This is problematic for a user who believes that he or she obtained a valid disk and does not know why it is not playing. Thus, the user does not know whether his or her equipment is damaged, the disk is damaged, or the copy is an illegal copy and not authorized to be played. A user would further benefit from being informed as to the copying restriction status of valid discs.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that prevent unauthorized copying or viewing of distributed content information without expensive encryption techniques and inform users of copy restrictions regarding the distributed content information.

Method and apparatus for restricting privilege access to distributed content information


Disclosed is a catalyst pre-contact method for the continuous polymerization of an olefin, wherein a primary catalyst, a co-catalyst and, optionally, an external electron donor are mixed and then undergo a pre-contact reaction, with the pre-contact reaction temperature being −30° C. to 35° C. and adjustable, and the pre-contact reaction time being 0.5 min to 10 min and adjustable, and the pre-contacted catalyst is brought into a catalyst prepolymerization system and then into a catalyst polymerization system, or is directly brought into the catalyst polymerization system. Further disclosed is a catalyst pre-contact device for the continuous polymerization of an olefin, which can adjust the pre-contact time and pre-contact temperature of the catalyst so that the performance of the catalyst achieves a better level according to the process.

At present, main catalysts used in olefin polymerization reactions are mostly solid particulate catalysts, including spherical or near-spherical solid main catalysts. One addition manner of the solid main catalyst is to formulate the main catalyst into slurry or paste having a certain concentration and, after having pre-contacted with a cocatalyst and an optional external electron donor, is fed by a metering system to a subsequent polymerization reactor system. Therefore, catalyst pre-contact is known. See for example Chinese Patent Application No. 96193736.X and 201020206046.6. FIG. 1 schematically describes a catalyst pre-contact process used in the existing industrial plants. As shown in FIG. 1, the existing industrial slurry or liquid catalyst pre-contact device comprises a catalyst pre-contact tank, and a slurry or liquid catalyst from a slurry or liquid catalyst feeding pipeline is transported by a metering pump and enters the catalyst pre-contact tank via an insert tube. Cocatalyst such as triethylaluminum and external electron donor, after having been combined, are also introduced into the catalyst pre-contact tank. The catalyst pre-contact tank has a stirring means, which is used to sufficiently mix three-agents to conduct the pre-contact reaction. The pre-contacted catalyst enters a subsequent catalyst pre-polymerization system or directly enters a main polymerization reaction system.
However, there is no prior art teaching to adjust catalyst pre-contact conditions such as pre-contact temperature and pre-contact time to optimize the polymerization performance of the catalyst.

Catalyst pre-contact device for continuous polymerization of olefins and method for catalyst pre-contact

BEIJING RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, CHINA PETROLEUM & CHEMICAL CORPORATION


A gas-fired heater assembly for use in conjunction with a shrink wrap chamber or tunnel, including a gas-fired heater assembly, said gas-fired heater assembly incorporating an air intake, and having a gas port for injection of combustive gas into the heat chamber for combustion, the heated air combustion directed into the length of an associated heat box, said heat box having a designed opening for uniform dissemination of heated air into a hot air envelop, said hot air envelop being operatively associated with an air circulating blower, said air circulating blower directing air through the regions of the heat box for mixing of the circulating air with the heated air, and directing said mixture of heated air out of the hot air envelop and into the shrink wrap chamber or tunnel for shrinking polymer film about packaged goods for shipment and/or storage.

Heat-shrink conveyor systems are utilized in the packaging industry to replace cardboard cartons with, in many cases, a cardboard tray and a thin film of plastic material which when heated forms around the containers to physically hold the product in place. Examples of such products include water, soda, and other flavored drink bottles or can products from soda to soup or vegetables. Electric operated heaters have been utilized to provide the elevated air temperature required to activate the "shrink" feature of the thin-film plastic material. The electric heaters normally have difficulty in sustaining a constant and uniformly disseminated elevated heat to achieve the shrink wrapping operations, and secondly, does not accommodate uniformity of circulation of the heat to assure that all aspects of the shrink wrap film is constantly exposed to the same temperature, to assure consistent and uniform shrinkage of the film during its packaging of the desired goods.
The conveyor system includes an enclosure above a moving conveyor which forms a tunnel to contain the heated air around the product passing through the chamber. The heated air passes from the chamber back across the electric heater elements and then into the re-circulating fan where it discharges back into the chamber in a re-circulating manner. Drawing air across an electrical heating bank that spans the width of the tunnel attempts to create an even temperature distribution in the chamber where the plastic material shrinkage is to take place. It is very important that the temperature in the chamber be uniform so that the plastic material shrinks evenly against the packaged product.
The operating temperature needed to accomplish the proper shrink effect in a tunnel requires that temperatures to be in excess of 350° F., however, the speed of the product moving through the tunnel may require the chamber temperature to reach temperatures approaching 450° F. The specified temperature must also be held at the set-point within very close tolerances generally within plus or minus 1%. This is important should the volume of product flowing through the tunnel change abruptly. Thus the need for a fast responding modulation controls system along with the requirement for a high turn down ratio of the heating system.
The above system temperature requirements make it difficult to address with indirect gas-fired burner/heat exchanger systems. Space for the heater section is generally limited which creates a problem for a heat exchanger that has to be de-rated at these operating temperatures to keep from exceeding the temperature limit of the material and to maintain the thermal efficiency near 80%. The lower efficiency of the heat exchanger makes it more difficult to compete against the cost of electricity in most parts of the country.
Attempting to apply a direct fired-gas burner system to such an application would have an advantage over an indirect approach because it has a 100% thermal efficiency by its very nature, however, it has been problematic because the heat source is much closer to a point source than distributed as a plane section source as is accomplished by the electric heater bank. The airflow pattern in the tunnel acts to keep the heat flow from a point source burner from reaching the far side of the tunnel, so one cannot mount a burner on one side of the chamber and expect that the temperatures will eventually equalize. Furthermore, the confines of the conveyor cabinet limits the amount of air mixing devices that can be added to match the uniform temperature profile produced from the electric heating system. A solution to this condition is therefore the basis for this patent application.
The operating cost difference between electrical power cost and the cost of natural gas operating at a thermal efficiency of 100% more than justifies a solution to overcome the obstacles that had thus far blocked the entry of a direct gas-fired system from breaking through as a viable alternative to the electric heater in this market.
It becomes obvious that other specialized-heating applications that have similar issues as are encountered with the shrink-wrap conveyer systems as described above would benefit from the solutions offered by this invention. This is a common problem when the heat source tends to act as a point source rather than a distributed output such as a planer source like a heating element bank when the airflow is perpendicular to the heat source. A similar problem exists when a point heat source is small in comparison to the plane of the airflow pattern when the airflow is in the same directions as the heat output. The velocity of the system fan tends to keep the high temperature air from mixing evenly.


A method and system for cooling an electrostatically shielded radio frequency (ESRF) plasma source. The method and system provide for evolving gases in liquid coolant baths by generating a vacuum to remove the adsorbed gases, thereby decreasing the conditioning time for liquid coolants. The degassed coolants are cooled using a heat exchanger. The method and system further provide a rapid drain of the tubing and a rapid refill of the degassing chamber.

In order to fabricate semiconductor wafers with submicron features using etch and deposition processes, modem semiconductor processing systems utilize plasma assisted techniques such as reactive ion etching (RIE), plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), sputtering, reactive sputtering, and ion assisted physical vapor deposition (PVD). In addition to the above-referenced co-pending applications, another example of a gas plasma processing system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,529, to Wayne L. Johnson, the inventor of the present application. In such known systems, a gas is introduced to a processing environment wherein a gas plasma is formed and maintained through the application of radio frequency (RF) power. Typically, RF power is inductively coupled to the plasma using a helical coil.
Normally, the generation of a gas plasma also produces a substantial amount of heat that must be removed in order to maintain the processing system at a process-specific temperature. The removal of this heat has heretofore been inefficient and based on a cumbersome design. Known ESRF plasma sources have been cooled using baths of liquid coolants, such as FLUORINERT Electronic Liquid, which also act as dielectrics. The definition of a good dielectric at radio frequencies is that the fluid must have a low power loss per unit volume when exposed to an intense electric field. However, these particular fluids disadvantageously adsorb large quantities of gas, such as air. In other words, liquid (coolant) surfaces exposed to air (and other gases) adsorb the gas into the surface layer. This adsorbed gas is then dispersed throughout the liquid (volume or interior) when the liquid is mixed (i.e., moving or being pumped through the cooling system). Furthermore, gas may be adsorbed into the coolant after the coolant pumps are stopped. When the pumps stop, if coolant in the high parts of the system drains to lower parts, then air replaces the drained coolant. When the pumps are restarted, the air may be broken down into bubbles which become another source of adsorbable gas.
In the high field regions, strong dissipation can occur leading to high local heating, hence, raising the local temperature of the coolant fluid. In so doing, the rate of gas evolution is increased permitting more gas to come out of solution, and generate bubbles that coalesce on the coil surface attracted by dielectro-fluoretic attraction. The attached bubbles generate a dielectric difference at the coil surface which leads to enhanced non-uniform electric fields, localized heating, and arcing. This arcing can occur at voltages well below the measured dielectric strength of the fluid if the gas is not evolved from the liquid coolant before use in the resonator cavity. For example, FLUORINERT Electronic Liquid adsorbs a volume of gas equivalent to its own liquid volume and must be treated to remove the trapped gas.
In order to avoid arcing due to the rapid evolution of adsorbed gas, known systems gradually increase power to the plasma source while continuously pumping coolant through the ESRF plasma chamber. The gradual increase in RF power takes place over a period of time sufficient to slowly evolve adsorbed gas from the coolant. Although running the coolant in this way evolves trapped gases, a considerable amount of time is required. Often this process will take hours, thereby delaying the use of the plasma system.
In addition to the lengthy time period required by known systems to evolve adsorbed gas, the cooling systems coupled to a plasma source may be very cumbersome due to the large cooling lines used in large wafer (i.e., 300 rnm) processing systems. Consequently, significant amount of air is generally adsorbed when the processing chamber has been opened with the coolant lines remaining attached. The lines have typically remained attached since the coolant lines may contain hundreds of pounds of coolant. As a result, lifting the attached lines to open the chamber has been difficult, but not impossible.
Previously, it was not known how to replace the large lines with an alternate cooling mechanism. The large lines were required in order to provide the large coolant exchange (e.g., approximately 50-75 gallons/minute) needed to remove the heat from the process tube. Also, flexible lines were difficult or impossible to use because of the weight and pressure of the coolant required.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for cooling an ESRF source that reduces a delay when conditioning a dielectric fluid.
It is another object of the present invention to reduce the conditioning delay while performing at least one of the following tasks: (1) increasing the reliability of the liquid coolant as a dielectric, (2) increasing the plasma density, and (3) increasing the starting range of the coolant. The latter two tasks relate to alleviating the stringent conditions placed upon the application of RF power to the plasma source in order to avoid failure of the coolant and, hence, premature coil arcing. By conditioning the coolant to avoid premature arcing, the RF plasma source may be run at nominal power (instead of some reduced power level). Therefore, a nominal plasma density may be obtained, and robust start conditions can be achieved without significant delay (due to ramping the RF power).
It is a further object of the present invention to reduce the conditioning delay while decreasing the number, frequency, or severity of cavity failures, i.e., coil arcing.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved according to a method and system of degassing a liquid coolant used in an RF plasma source-based processing system. By utilizing a vacuum to remove the gas that has been adsorbed into the liquid coolant, the system reduces arcing caused by micro-bubbles attached to the surface of a submerged coil.


An apparatus for retimer configuration and control is described herein. The apparatus includes at least one retimer. The is to receive an inband low frequency periodic signal (LFPS), and to send an inband LFPS based pulse width modulation message (LBPM) in response to the inband LFPS. The retimer is configured by decoding the LBPM.

A Type-C Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector is a USB connector that is smaller than previous USB connectors. The Type-C USB connector also enables a connection with a USB receptacle at any orientation. In a large form factor device where there is a long interconnect distance between the host printed circuit board (PCB) and the USB Type-C receptacle, signals that are passed along this long interconnect may be subject to degradation across the interconnect.
In some cases, the same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.

Type-C retimer state machine and a protocol for inband control and configuration


An aligning tool in the field of wind turbines is provided. The aligning tool has a first and second section. The second section has an outside diameter tapering down in a direction away from the first section. The aligning tool is connected to a fastener and can easily catch a corresponding hole.

Generally, a wind turbine comprises a tower which is installed on a foundation. The foundation comprises a large number of bolts protruding upwards. These bolts have to fit through the same number of through-holes in one or more flanges of the tower. Due to the large number of bolts that need to be aligned with their corresponding through-holes, the installation of the tower on the foundation can be difficult and time-consuming. In the past, the installation required many small turns of the tower with respect to the foundation in order to align the bolts and the through-holes.

Aligning tool in the field of wind turbines for aligning a hole with a fastener


The present invention relates to a novel dry concentrate for producing medical solutions, more particularly dialysis solutions, which comprises electrolyte components, buffer components and an osmotic agent, wherein the concentrate comprises magnesium carbonate instead of magnesium chloride. The use of magnesium carbonate as an electrolyte prevents the formation of slurries. By providing anhydrous glucose as an osmotic agent, and by optionally spatially separating this osmotic agent from other components, the occurrence of caking of the concentrate is additionally avoided. The occurrence of caking is further reduced by providing the buffer component sodium bicarbonate together with sodium chloride separate from all other components. The concentrate of the present invention is particularly suitable for use in multi-chamber container bag systems. The concentrate of the present invention exhibits good dissolution behavior and improved storage stability.

Dialysis solutions are typically produced in central facilities of treatment centers and transferred via a tubing system to the individual treatment stations. Alternatively, treatment centers make use of large-volume canisters from which the prepared dialysis solution is conducted to the treatment stations. Such central supply installations for dialysis solutions are problematic with regard to their maintenance and the disinfection of the entire facility. Although these difficulties can be managed reliably, they cause undesirable expenditure.
A disadvantage of having a central supply of dialysis solution is also the lack of individualization in its production, as the needs of individual patients cannot be met by applying a customized composition of the dialysis solution during treatment.
It is therefore increasingly common to produce dialysis solutions directly at the treatment station from initial concentrates. This has the advantage of being able to produce large volumes of solution ready for use in treatment from a small amount of concentrate with minimal effort and being able to control the composition of the solution on an individual basis. A water source and a reverse osmosis (RO) system at the treatment station or close to the treatment station are the only additional components required.
The use of customary physiologically acceptable acidic components, such as hydrochloric acid or acetic acid necessitates a concentrate in a liquid form. Concentrates in a liquid form can be easily dosed by machine, and so the adjustment of solution compositions on an individual basis can be easily performed. More particularly, the composition can also be varied during dialysis treatments, providing possible therapeutic advantages in individual cases.
A disadvantage of the known solution concentrates is that both the production of the liquid form in manufacturing facilities and its transportation necessitates the expenditure of resources which would not be required in the case of solid initial concentrates. First, the container systems usually used for liquid concentrates have to exhibit certain properties. For example, they have to exhibit an appropriate resistance to being dropped, they have to ensure storage stability of the concentrates, and the container material needs to exhibit an appropriate buckling stability. Secondly, liquid concentrates, which are, for example, 125-fold concentrated, comprise a high concentration of acid, leading to a high acidity with pH values in the range from pH 0 to pH 1. Such a concentrate must be considered as hazardous material, which has to be handled professionally and with particular care in the case of accidents, leakages, etc.
Attempts have been made to avoid liquid concentrates and to provide the concentrate in a solid form. However, individualization of the final dialysis solution is then only achieved with considerable effort. Various dry initial concentrates of different compositions can be produced that may be adapted for individual use. For example, variation of the potassium constituents is desired in order to provide dialysis solutions of different potassium concentrations which are customized to fulfil different patient needs.
Dry concentrates are of particular interest for producing a dialysis batch. Here, the entire volume of dialysis solution is produced in one dissolving process and provided for dialysis.
The typical components for the production of a dialysis solution are magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, glucose and a physiologically acceptable acid such as hydrochloric acid, acetic acid or citric acid. In the case of a solid formulation, only solid acids are conceivable as acidic components. In general, liquid acids may partially dissolve the concentrate, which results in a different dosage form, i.e., in a slurry (a suspension with a high solid content).
The combination of the components can lead to physical/chemical incompatibilities, resulting in possible deterioration of the dissolution behaviour of the concentrate and impairing the storage stability.
For example, it is known from the prior art that glucose, which is typically used as an osmotic agent, is not stable when stored together with other components of the concentrate such as citric acid or sodium bicarbonate. However, glucose has a high osmolarity at relatively low concentrations and is well tolerated. A particular advantage of the use of glucose is its relatively low price as compared to other excipients that could be potentially used as osmotic agents.
Various suggestions are known in the prior art to avoid the interaction between glucose and other components in dry concentrates.
EP 1 192 960 B1, EP 1 192 961 B1, JP 200823958, EP 1 086 700 B1 and EP 1 059 083 B1 describe dry concentrates in which granules are formed as multiple layers of the components required for dialysis solution production. Glucose layers, or areas of glucose within a layer, are separated from the other components by separating layers in order to avoid a chemical interaction and/or a degradation of the glucose. The separating layer consists of, for example, sodium chloride.
However, a disadvantage of such granules is that glucose is in contact with sodium chloride, which can lead to caking after prolonged storage. Caking is the process of agglomerate formation of a primarily powdery substance, of granules or of a substance in the form of pellets or tablets. Caking occurs as particles bind and stick together during processes of partial dissolution or other diffusion phenomena. Caking is promoted by the influence of water and heat.
Furthermore, the required electrolyte components magnesium chloride and calcium chloride are hygroscopic and have a tendency to partially form slurries with their hydration water. Slurries comprise solid and dissolved excipients side by side in a liquid phase. The solid content of such a mixture is so high that the appearance is predominated by a pulpy or pasty viscosity.
For the stable storage of dry concentrates, JP 3589489 B2 and EP 1 458 433 A1 suggest to provide the components required for the dialysis solution in multiple layers within one container, wherein glucose is provided with a separating layer of sodium chloride separate from a further, possibly interactive layer, e.g. sodium bicarbonate. The problem of slurry formation caused by the hygroscopy of the components magnesium chloride and calcium chloride is, however, not addressed, and also the problem of caking of glucose and sodium chloride remains unresolved.
JP 2001340423 A2 suggests storing glucose separate from other components in order to avoid the caking of glucose or to avoid degradation of glucose through interaction with other components. However, the problem of slurry formation caused by the electrolyte components magnesium chloride and calcium chloride persists.

Concentrate for medical solutions, production thereof and use thereof in dialysis


A helical gear differential includes lubrication passages for circulating lubricating oil to the helical pinion counter bores and the side gear counter bores, thereby to increase the operating life of, and to reduce the operating noise level of, the differential. Openings contained in one of the housing and cover sections introduces lubricating oil into the ends of the associated pinion bores to lubricate the ends of the adjacent pinions, and the oil flows through the housing openings to lubricate the remote ends of the pinions. The adjacent ends of the other pinions are lubricated via second housing openings contained in the walls of housing relieved portions. An improved retaining means including a plate and a split snap ring serve to retain the cross pin spacer member within a transverse bore contained in the housing body section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved helical gear differential including lubrication passage means for supplying lubricating oil from the differential casing to the ends of the helical pinion gears and the side gears, thereby to increase the operating life and durability of the differential. An improved cross pin spacer arrangement is provided that affords easy, quick and inexpensive assembly of the differential on a vehicle production line.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Helical gear differentials are well known in the patented prior art, as evidenced by the patents to Myers U.S. Pat No. 3,706,239, Dissett U.S. Pat Nos. 4,625,585, 4,677,876, and 4,751,853, Dissett et al U.S. Pat No. 4,365,524, and Bawks et al U.S. Pat No. 5,221,238. These differentials include pairs of longitudinally offset helical pinions that are mounted with an outside diameter running fit in the pinion cavities and which are in enmeshing engagement at their adjacent ends, the remote ends of the pinions being in enmeshing engagement with the side gears, respectively. The transverse forces caused by the gear tooth loadings on the pinions cause an inherent frictional resistance at the outside diameter fit, thus introducing an inherent torque bias that is proportional to the transverse gear tooth loading, which in turn is proportional to the torque transmitted through the differential assembly. The helix angle of the gears introduces an axial thrust on the respective differential pinions causing a frictional drag owing to the frictional engagement of the axial ends of the pinions with the bottom wall surfaces of the pinion cavities of the differential carrier housing.
The friction produced by the reaction forces on the housing at the axial ends of the meshing pinions is created by the thrust forces of the helix angle of the gears. These friction forces on the housing complement the friction forces created by reason of the sliding contact of the addendum surfaces of the pinions on the circular walls of the pinion cavities. The friction forces can be varied by altering the diameter of the pinions, their circular pitch, or their helix angles, thereby providing parameters that can be varied to suit several particular design requirements. Also, the number of pairs of pinions may be increased, if desired, to add to the torque capacity of the differential. The thrust forces produced at the ends of the helical pinions and the side gears tend to stress and produce wear on the adjacent housing support surfaces, thereby adversely affecting the operation of the differential, and reducing its operating life. Furthermore, the housings of the known helical gear type differentials are relatively bulky and heavy, thereby increasing the cost of the differential and the installation thereof. Also, the known helical gear differentials have a relatively high noise level in operation.
It is conventional in such helical gear differentials to provide cross pin spacer means than extend transversely between the ends of the output shafts or axles that are driven by the differential, thereby to prevent axial displacement of the shafts toward each other. These cross pin spacer means are installed after the C-clip retainers are connected with the output shafts to prevent axial separation of the shafts relative to the differential. The known cross pin spacer means are generally of rather complicated construction, and are difficult and expensive to install.
The present invention was developed to avoid the above and other drawbacks of the known types of helical gear differentials.

Helical gear differential including lubrication passage means


The corrugated paperboard sheet feeding apparatus comprises: a sheet feeding table; a front guide for regulating a front end of a corrugated paperboard sheet; a back guide for regulating a rear end of the corrugated paperboard sheet; and a guide element for separating the corrugated paperboard sheets so as to form a plurality of separate groups, wherein the guide element includes: a first guide element formed in the front guide to have a first separation guide surface; and a second guide element formed in the back guide to have a cutout portion, and a second separation guide surface, and wherein the cutout portion of the second guide element is formed in such a manner that an amount of concavity thereof is greater than an amount of protrusion of the lower edge of the first separation guide surface of the first guide element.

For example, in the following Patent Document 1, there is disclosed a corrugated paperboard sheet feeding apparatus capable of holding an end, e.g., front and rear ends, of each of a plurality of corrugated paperboard sheets stacked in a hopper, in such a manner as to separate top-side ones of the corrugated paperboard sheets from bottom-side ones of the corrugated paperboard sheets to form a plurality of separate groups in an up-down direction, thereby reducing a load to be imposed on a bottommost one of the corrugated paperboard sheets, and cause the corrugated paperboard sheets to sequentially move toward the side of a bottom end of the hopper.
As illustrated in FIG. 7, the corrugated paperboard sheet feeding apparatus 100 disclosed in the Patent Document 1 comprises a front guide 101, a back guide 107, and two holding rollers 103, 104 disposed offset in an up-down direction, wherein the holding rollers 103, 104 are configured to come into contact, respectively, with a front end and a rear end of each of a plurality of corrugated paperboard sheets 102 stacked between the front guide 101 and the back guide 107, to separate top-side ones of the corrugated paperboard sheets 102 from bottom-side ones of the corrugated paperboard sheets 102 so as to form three separate groups in the up-down direction. The two holding rollers 103, 104 are pivotally and rotatably supported, respectively, by the front guide 101 and the back guide 107 disposed opposed to each other. Each of the holding rollers 103, 104 has an outer peripheral surface formed with ratchet teeth to increase a friction coefficient with respect to each corrugated paperboard sheet 102. The corrugated paperboard sheet feeding apparatus 100 further comprises a drive device configured to, when a decrease in stacking height of each of two groups of corrugated paperboard sheets 102 located below the respective holding rollers 103, 104 is detected by a respective one of two phototubes 105, 106, rotationally drive the holding rollers 103, 104 to cause downward displacement of the corrugated paperboard sheets 102.

Corrugated paperboard sheet feeding apparatus


A circuit for reducing switching losses in a synchronous rectifier of a switching stage including a high-side control transistor and a low-side synchronous transistor coupled at a switching node, the switching stage receiving an input voltage and providing a controlled output voltage at an output node. The circuit including a first circuit portion for sensing waveshape edges of a first signal at a gate terminal of the low-side synchronous transistor and a first voltage to determine a delay between the waveshape edge of the first signal and the waveshape edge of the first voltage; and a second circuit portion for calibrating the first signal and the first voltage to align the waveshape edge of the first signal and the waveshape edge of the first voltage, with an optional offset to achieve minimal power loss.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to converter circuits and more specifically to a control circuit for reducing the dead time between conduction of high side and low side FETs in such circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In DC to DC conversion, "good converters" are measured according to the converter efficiency. Efficiency is determined in accordance with fewest power losses in the converters, such as switching losses and losses due to the Power Device's ON resistance.
Synchronous rectifiers are commonly used to reduce switching losses, despite their control complexity. In synchronous rectifiers, one of the main contributors of the power losses is the delay between the control of a high-side/control transistor and the low side/synchronous transistor.
FIG. 1 illustrates a well-known high-speed synchronous buck converter circuit 10. The circuit 10 includes a switching stage having a high side or control Power Device Q1 and a low side or synchronous Power Device Q2 coupled at a switching node. The switching stage receives an input D-C voltage VIN and provides a highly controlled output D-C voltage V0 at an output node. The circuit 10 has an input capacitor C1 parallel connected with the switching stage, an output inductor L connected between the switching node and the output node, and an output capacitor C2 connected to the output node having the output D-C voltage V0. A load is parallel connected with the output capacitor C2.
The Power Devices Q1 and Q2 are turned ON and OFF as usual with pulse width modulation (PWM), so the control Power Device Q1 is ON for a given time while Power Device Q2 is OFF and, Power Device Q2 turns ON when Power Device Q1 turns OFF. The pulse width modulation is controlled to maintain a predetermined output voltage V0 at the output node even though VIN, which may be supplied by a battery in a portable electronics device, varies with age, temperature, power demand, etc.
Care must be taken to prevent simultaneous turn ON of the Power Devices Q1 and Q2, which would create a short circuit across the input circuit. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a certain dead time is always provided during which both Power Devices Q1 and Q2 are OFF. It is desirable to reduce this dead time as much as possible, preferably to zero to increase the circuit efficiency.
Previous attempts to control the dead time include a fixed delay method illustrated in FIG. 3. Here, the optimum delay, when Power Devices Q1 and Q2 are OFF, can be changed depending on the load, line, and Power Device. The dead time itself cannot be adjusted to achieve the optimum delay per given conditions.
An adaptive control method, illustrated in FIG. 4, is a better control scheme than the fixed delay scheme but it does not adjust itself to the changes on load, line & temperature.
A predictive control scheme illustrated in FIG. 5, monitors a voltage VSW at a switching node connecting the Power Devices Q1 and Q2 and continuously adjusts the delay until it achieves the predetermined value. In this approach, voltage VSW must go below the ground voltage and is compared to a fixed voltage. The voltage VSW going negative just enough to create an optimum delay for a minimum power loss. Due to VSW comparator delay, this approach does not achieve optimum dead time.


A method for calendering a paper web, including the steps of passing the paper web through a calendering nip having a profile formed from a pair of calendering rolls, wherein at least one of the pair of calendering rolls includes a soft exterior face at least in the region of the nip, regulating the profile of the calendering nip to compensate for flaws in the paper web passing through the calendering nip including varying the properties of the soft exterior face locally in a direction transverse to the direction of the passing paper web concurrently with the passing step.

The present invention relates to a method for calendering a paper web, wherein the paper web is passed through a calendering nip formed by two rolls, at least one of the rolls being soft-faced by means of a coating of a polymer or equivalent material or by means of a band passed over the roll and running through the nip. The profile of the calendering nip is thereafter regulated in order to compensate for any flaws present in the web which enters the calender.
The invention also relates to a calender that comprises a calendering nip formed between two calender rolls, wherein at least one of the calender rolls is provided with a soft surface layer of a polymer or equivalent material in the form of a coating or a band passed over the roll running through the nip. The calender is provided with regulation devices for regulating the profile of the calendering nip in order to compensate for any flaws present in the web that enters the calendering nip.
It is known in the art of calendering that variations occur in the paper web entering a calendar that originate in the wet end and the dryer section of a paper machine. It therefore must be possible to control the operation of the calender, i.e., the profile of the calendering nip must be adjustable in order to compensate for these defects in the paper web.
Conventionally, the profile adjustment that takes place in the calender has been carried out by varying the diameter of a nip roll locally. The diameter has been conventionally varied, for instance, by locally heating the mantle of a metal roll or by cooling it correspondingly. Such has been accomplished by, among other things, the use of hot-air-blowing, infrared heating and different electric heating members.
However, disadvantages occur while using this method. For example, it is overly time consuming to cool a heated section of the roll. In addition, due to the fact that the mantle of the roll is most often formed of metal, it is difficult to locally heat a section of the roll because the heat is often conducted in the mantle. Moreover, when heating different sections of the roll, it is necessary to heat each section at a different temperature (the difference being relatively high). This, in turn, affects the gloss of the paper, i.e., the paper web may have more glossy or less glossy streaks after calendering.
A roll adjustable in zones represents a newer technology in the regulation of the calender profile. However, this construction does not allow the use of the narrow adjustment zones discussed above.
A method as described above is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,716, which discloses a calendering roll having a plurality of infrared heaters arranged thereon in the axial direction of the roll. The infrared heaters adjust the diameter of the calendering roll in order to compensate for the variations that occur in the transverse direction of the paper web entering the calendering nip, i.e., the heaters adjust the profile of the calendering nip by heating the metal roll externally.

Method for calendering a paper web and a calendar that makes use of the method


The present invention relates to a hospitality type card which is provided with a series of indentations on each of its first and second longitudinally extending sides and first and second transversely extending edges that are sized and configured so as to be graspable by digits of a human hand. The card may further include indentations on each of the first and second transversely extending edges to accommodate additional graspable orientations as well as add aesthetic attributes to the card structure. The card may be provided with a card carrier which may be printed with matching or complimentary indicia as well as personalized indicia directed at a recipient of the card and carrier.

Cards, including plastic and laminated cards and tags, are generally well known and come in a variety of sizes and shapes depending on the particular needs of the issuer or end user. Wallet sized cards have become fairly common place and due to the popularity of such cards, the products have been used for identification cards, credit card, key cards and a host of other applications. Wallet sized cards have a size of about 3⅜ inches wide to 2⅛ inches in length.
Gift cards have also become fairly regularly used and may often be provided with colorful graphics and included along with a greeting card or other presentation vehicle which may similarly contain graphics and pictorial representations of the gift giving event that accompanies the exchange of the card product. The card may be placed loosely within the card, held in place by a spot of adhesive, have some cut outs to hold corners of the card or may use some other means to hold the card that does not detract from the appearance of the overall gift package.
Hospitality cards, such as those used in clubs, hotels, restaurants and the like often may have some rudimentary generic or static printing provided on a first surface and a magnetic stripe provided on the back surface. The magnetic stripe is more than likely used to help in gaining access to the establishment such as by opening a door or other entryway.
There are many types and forms used to carry cards in addition to gift cards referenced above. One traditional means used to deliver cards was to place the card in a carrier that had cut out notches to receive two or more corners of the card and then deliver the card through the mail, by use of a courier or by such other means in order to place the card in the possession of the intended recipient.
Another means by which to deliver cards is to simply affix the card to the top surface or uppermost portion of the sheet of paper or the like. A still further solution was to create a calendared area or recess in the paper substrate that was to become the card carrier, by crushing an area of the paper that corresponded to the size of the card. Then place the card within the substrate. A still further option to the inclusion of the card on the surface of the paper or substrate, was for the manufacturers to create holes, pockets or die cut areas in a substrate that corresponded in size and shape to the card that was to be placed into the receiving area.
However, while the carrier may have had many iterations in delivering a card to a user or a recipient, often times the structure of the card itself may have been overlooked and may have contributed to some of the problems faced by card issuers and card holders alike.
Cards sometimes however can be slippery and difficult to grasp. This may be due to the common practice of manufacturing such cards from plastic materials which may then slip from the users hand or cause the user to fumble with the card when attempting to place or position the card in key slot. This can be a frustrating experience, particularly for example, if a tired traveler is attempting to access the hotel room or an anxious guest is quickly trying to get into a membership club. This problem can be further complicated if the user's hand is sweaty or if the individual may have contacted some substance which may be slick.
What is needed therefore is a card product that has various indentations positioned around the perimeter of the card such that the card can be easily and readily grasped by the hand of a user.

Multiple use retail and hospitality type card with longitudinally and transversely disposed indentations


By receiving a key signal for descrambling before reproducing a program signal so as to record the scrambled program signal as it is and descramble and view it by a decoder at the time of reproducing or by reading and reproducing the record, a signal recording/reproducing method and apparatus therefor wherein a possibility that a program which is distributed for specified viewers with payment is viewed by the public at an optional location without payment is eliminated and on the other hand, a viewer can view a broadcasted program freely at any time he wants is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for recording and reproducing various signals and more particularly to a recording/reproducing method and apparatus therefor which are suitable for recording and reproducing a signal scrambled so as to prevent interception.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An addressable CATV system which is described in "AV Products with Digital Technology" under the supervision of Fujio Mari, Corona, Ltd. is an example for sending a signal which is scrambled so as to prevent interception. In such a system, a viewer receives key information for descrambling from the CATV station, descrambles a signal by a decoder, and views a television receiver.
When a viewer has a want to view a broadcasted program later, a video signal of the descrambled decoder output is recorded on a VTR. By doing this, the viewer can view the recorded program later. On the other hand, for the CATV station, there is a problem imposed that there is a possibility that a program which is distributed for specified viewers with payment is viewed by the public at an optional location without payment. This means that the scrambling for interception prevention is not effective. Therefore, the CATV station gives protection to the decoder output so that it may be outputted on a television receiver but cannot be recorded on a VTR. By doing this, there is another problem imposed that the viewer's want to view a broadcasted program later instead of right now cannot be satisfied.
As mentioned above, the prior art has a defect that, for example, the request of the CATV station and the request of a viewer cannot be satisfied at the same time.

Signal recording/reproducing method and apparatus in which key information for descrambling is recorded in an area on the signal recording medium


A solid-state imaging device is provided and includes: a semiconductor substrate; a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a two-dimensional array in a surface portion of the semiconductor substrate; a conductive light shielding film above the surface portion, the conductive light shielding film having openings at a light-incident side of the respective photoelectric conversion elements; a connection pad formed in the semiconductor substrate and to be applied with a voltage from outside the solid-state imaging device; and a wiring that connects the connection pad and the conductive light shielding film, wherein the wiring has a wiring structure having a time constant smaller than that of one linear wiring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device, and more particularly, a solid-state imaging device capable of improving characteristics.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 4 is a schematic surface view of a CCD solid-state imaging device. This solid-state imaging device 1 includes: a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements (photodiodes: pixels) 2 formed by being arranged in a two-dimensional array in a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate; a vertical charge transfer path (VCCD) 3 formed along each pixel array; a horizontal charge transfer path (HCCD) 4 formed along an end portion in the transferring direction of each vertical charge transfer path; and an amplifier 5 provided at an output end portion of the horizontal charge transfer path 4, for outputting, as an imaging signal, a voltage signal according to the charge amount of a signal charge being transferred.
FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of a section along a line V-V of FIG. 4, that is, a pixel part. A photodiode (pixel) is constituted by an n-region 12 (to which the pixel 2 of FIG. 1 corresponds) being formed in a p-well layer 11 of the semiconductor substrate, and on the topmost surface of the n-region 12, a high-density p-layer 13 for dark current suppression is formed.
On both sides of the pixel 2 (n-region 12), formed are n-regions 3a that form buried channels of the vertical charge transfer paths 3, and a high-density p-layer 14 is provided under the n-region 3a. In the illustrated solid-state imaging device, due to a structure where an accumulated charge in the n-region 12 is read out to the vertical charge transfer path 3 on the left side, a high-density p-region 15 to serve as a channel stop is provided between the n-region 12 and the n-region 3a on the right side.
On the buried channel 3a of the vertical charge transfer path 3, a transfer electrode film 3b is formed via an insulating layer. On a light receiving surface of the semiconductor substrate surface portion, a conductive light shielding film 16 such as an aluminum film or a tungsten film is formed. In this light shielding film 16, an opening 16a is provided at a position above each n-region 12. A flattening layer 17 is stacked on the light shielding film 16, and at a position thereon corresponding to each n-region 12, a color filter 18 and a microlens 19 are provided.
Various voltages are applied to the light shielding film 16. For example, a plus voltage is applied when reading out the accumulated charge in n-region 12 to the adjacent buried channel 3a. Moreover, as a result of a minus voltage being applied on occasions other than readout, blooming and smear characteristics are improved.
For thus applying various voltages to the light shielding film 16, in the example shown in FIG. 4, one of the connection pads 20 provided in a peripheral portion of the solid-state imaging device 1 and the light shielding surface 16 are electrically connected by wiring 21, and as a result of a voltage being applied to the connection pad 20 from the outside, applied voltage control of the light shielding film 16 is performed.
Also, documents relating to techniques for applying a predetermined voltage such as a read voltage to a light shielding film include, for example, JP-A-2003-258234 and JP-A-2005-109021.
Miniaturization of recent solid-state imaging devices has advanced together with the increasing number of pixels, and thinning of the wiring 21 shown in FIG. 4 has also advanced. However, when the wiring 21 is thinned, a time constant of the wiring 21 is increased, so that a read pulse to be applied to the light shielding film 16 has a rounded pulse waveform.
In other words, sufficient effects as being a readout gate may not be obtained. Moreover, since the amount of current flowing through the wiring 21 is increased, reliability of an imaging device declines.
Furthermore, it can be considered that a voltage to be applied to the light shielding film 16 having a large area becomes nonuniform in the light shielding film, that is, in a pixel region, and there is a possibility that a read voltage and characteristics of, blooming, smear, and the like vary in a plane.


An information register stores information represented by the states of endohedral fullerenes in a nanotube. Possible states are spin-states or morphological states, such as endohedral species having intrinsic or induced electric dipole moment or characteristic electric polarizility. The states of successive endohedral fullerenes along the nanotube are coupled by interaction mediated by electrons in the nanotube. The register can be used as part of a quantum computer or a classical computer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information register which can be loaded with data and can perform operations on those data. In particular, the information register can be used in a quantum computer or a classical computer. A classical computer is any device which processes purely classical information regardless of how advanced its technology may be, whereas a quantum computer is a device which processes quantum information (for example quantum superpositions of 0 and 1, called qubits, discussed below).
2. Description of Related Art
The field of quantum computation has been the subject of much recent research. However, to construct a practical quantum computer there are a number of requirements.
In a quantum computer, information is represented by the quantum-mechanical states of a system. In a two energy state system, the two states can represent the "basis states" 0 and 1, and such a system is known as a quantum bit or "qubit". One requirement is that the qubit must be under precise control in order to allow the production of superposition states of the two "basis states". Under the laws of quantum mechanics, the system can effectively be in more than one state at a particular time, and this superposition allows the qubit to represent the two individual states simultaneously. For example, in a binary mode, qubits can exist simultaneously as 0 and 1, with the probability for each state being given by a numerical coefficient.
A second requirement is that more than one of these qubits can be coupled together, such that their combined states are no longer individual qubit states, but are a combination of all the qubits together. For instance, three classical bits can form eight possible combinations: 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110 and 111. In a coupled three-qubit system, these eight states must then be regarded as the basic states, and superpositions of all eight can be produced at the same time in a single three-qubit combination. This parallel representation of information has been shown to be highly advantageous for certain types of computer algorithms, for example factorization and searching an unordered list.
A third, very important, requirement for the successful operation of a quantum computer is that the desired states are maintained when the qubits are in real environments, i.e. where they can interact with their surroundings. In this situation they form part of a much bigger and more complex quantum system. The effect of the environment is to "decohere" the system such that the quantum computation will no longer work after a characteristic decoherence time.
Conventionally, there have been problems in providing an element, such as an information register, for a quantum computer which can meet these three requirements of single qubit control, appropriate inter-qubit interactions and small coupling to the environment.
Further problems exist with conventional computers, for example, that it is difficult to address simultaneously many bits and providing wiring to all the individual bits becomes very difficult, particularly as the size of the device is reduced.

Information register using endohedral fullerenes in nanotube


In an image recording apparatus including a rotary drum on which a photosensitive sheet is wound, the drum is rotated by a motor through a speed reduction gear assembly to rotate at a constant speed V. To maintain an average exposure amount applied to the photosensitive sheet at constant as it is not the case when the rotational or peripheral speed of the drum vary due to a backlash of the speed reduction gears or a load imposed on the drum, a speed detector is attached to the shaft of the drum to detect the rotational speed of the drum. Based on the detected rotational speed, the exposure amount is increased or decreased by .DELTA.V/V times as much as the average exposure amount where V is a regular rotational speed of the drum and .DELTA.V is a variation in the drum speed from the speed V.

The present invention relates generally to an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a photosensitive member. More particularly, the invention relates to an exposure device wherein the photosensitive member receives a constant amount of exposure despite there is a variation in a moving speed of the photosensitive member.
Heretofore, there has been known an image recording apparatus having an arrangement shown in FIG. 1. A drum 2 is rotatably supported on a frame (not shown) to be rotatable in the counter-clockwise direction as indicated by an arrow. A photosensitive sheet 1 is wound around the peripheral surface of the drum 2. A charging station 3, a laser scanner 4, a developing station 5 and a discharging station 6 are disposed around the periphery of the drum 2.
In operation, the photosensitive sheet 1 is supplied onto the drum 2 from a sheet supply unit (not shown) and is held on the peripheral surface of the drum 2 by means of a suction unit (not shown). The photosensitive sheet 1 placed on the drum 2 is uniformly charged in the charging station 3. A laser beam emitted in accordance with image data is scanned by the laser scanner 4 and is applied onto the photosensitive sheet 1. Thus, the photosensitive sheet 1 is exposed to the laser beam and a latent image is formed thereon. The latent image is developed in the developing station 5, thereby forming a visible image on the photosensitive sheet 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the drum 2 is rotated by a motor 7 via speed reduction gears 8a, 8b. An encoder 9 is provided in the rotary shaft of the motor 7 to detect a rotational speed of the motor 7. The data regarding the rotational speed of the motor 7 are fed back to a motor drive controller 10 so that the motor 7 is rotated at a constant speed.
However, notwithstanding the fact that the motor 7 rotates at a constant speed, the actual rotational speed of the drum 2 varies in the range of several to several tens hertz due to the backlash of the gears 8a, 8b and/or the variation in the load imposed on the drum 2. Therefore, the auxiliary scanning pitch in the circumferential direction of the drum 2 changes depending on the drum speed variation, whereby an amount of exposure per a unit area on the photosensitive sheet 1 changes depending on the drum speed variation. The amount of exposure is defined by a product of the laser beam intensity and an exposure time. For a prescribed peripheral speed V (m/sec) of the drum 2 with a variation .DELTA.V, the exposure time T (sec) at which a point on the photosensitive sheet 1 is exposed to the laser beam is expressed by: EQU T=T.sub.o .multidot.V/(V+.DELTA.V)
where T.sub.o represents the exposure time when there is no variation in the drum speed.
For the laser beam intensity P(watt), the exposure amount E is given by: ##EQU1##
To summarize, even if it is intended to uniformly expose the entire surface of the photosensitive sheet 1 to the laser beam, the amount of exposure changes depending on the rotational position of the drum 2 due to the drum speed variation. When the drum 2 is instantaneously at a speed higher than the prescribed regular speed, the auxiliary scanning pitch is widened and thus the exposure amount is reduced. On the other hand, when the peripheral speed of the drum 2 is subsequently lowered, the exposure amount is increased. Therefore, the visible image obtained by developing the latent image is not uniform in density. As such, there is a problem in the conventional image recording apparatus such that the image quality is greatly degraded.

Exposure device having means for correcting intensity of laser beam dependent on variation in rotational speed of photosensitive member


A method of forming hollow bodies of ceramic material suitable for use as the discharge vessels of high intensity discharge lamps includes forming a fugitive core of substantially pure graphite having a configuration matching the interior configuration of the hollow body. A flowable powder, including binders, of the ceramic material is formed and added to fill the annular space between a flexible elastomeric mold defining the outer contour and the fugitive core defining the inner contour. The ceramic powder is isostatically compressed in the mold about the core to form a sub-assembly. The sub-assembly is removed from the mold, heated at a rate and time and in a suitable atmosphere to volatilize the fugitive core, and subsequently the sub-assembly is sintered to form the hollow body.

Polycrystalline alumina (PCA) arc tubes have been employed for many years in high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps. Recently, such arc tubes have found important application for metal halide lamps where non-cylindrically shaped arc tubes have shown advantages for improved efficacy. Such non-cylindrical shapes include elliptical and bulgy geometries.
Prior art methods for forming these arc tubes have employed cold isostatic pressing; slip casting; tape casting, injection molding; blow molding; gel casting or extrusion. While these methods have worked well with simple cylindrical shapes, intricately shaped, one-piece and complex parts are often limited by the difficult and sometimes impossible removal of the structural core material used to define the internal geometry. Further, contamination caused by contact with core materials often leads to problems, especially in optical ceramics where high purity is a requirement. Extrusion and blow molding of hollow ceramic bodies can show warpage due to the plastic flow of the wetted extrusion mixture, distorting or even collapsing the cavity or allowing variable wall thickness due to diameter expansion or variation in the material stiffness. Pressed or cast one-piece parts are limited in shape due to the inability to remove the mandrel or core. If cast without a core, the interior geometry is variable, often requiring expensive diamond grinding of the sintered parts.
It would be an advance in the art to provide a production-viable method of manufacturing complex-shaped arc tubes of PCA suitable for use as the discharge vessels of HPS and metal halide lamps.

Method of forming complex-shaped hollow ceramic bodies