In speech recognition and speech coding, the values of at least two features of an utterance are measured during a series of time intervals to produce a series of feature vector signals. A plurality of single-dimension prototype vector signals having only one parameter value are stored. At least two single-dimension prototype vector signals having parameter values representing first feature values, and at least two other single-dimension prototype vector signals have parameter values representing second feature values. A plurality of compound-dimension prototype vector signals have unique identification values and comprise one first-dimension and one second-dimension prototype vector signal. At least two compound-dimension prototype vector signals comprise the same first-dimension prototype vector signal. The feature values of each feature vector signal are compared to the parameter values of the compound-dimension prototype vector signals to obtain prototype match scores. The identification values of the compound-dimension prototype vector signals having the best prototype match scores for the feature vectors signals are output as a sequence of coded representations of an utterance to be recognized. A match score, comprising an estimate of the closeness of a match between a speech unit and the sequence of coded representations of the utterance, is generated for each of a plurality of speech units. At least one speech subunit, of one or more best candidate speech units having the best match scores, is displayed.

The invention relates to multidimensional vector quantization type speech coding devices used in, for example, automatic speech recognizers.
In vector quantization type speech coding devices, a number of different features of an utterance are measured during each of a series of successive time intervals to produce a series of feature vector signals represeting the feature values of the utterance. A plurality of multidimensional prototype vector signals are stored, where each dimension of a prototype vector signal has a parameter value representing one of the features being measured. The identity of the prototype vector signal having parameter values which are closest to a given feature vector signal is output as a "label" of that feature vector signal.
As the number of prototype vector signals increases, and as the number of different features (dimensions) increases, the vector quantization process (and therefore speech recognition) becomes more costly and more time-consuming. Moreover, the storage of vector quantization prototype vector signals occupies increasing electronic memory.

Speech coding apparatus with single-dimension acoustic prototypes for a speech recognizer

International Business Machines Corporation


A system for monitoring a dismantling process of scrapped vehicle includes an input means for inputting vehicle information, a weighing means for measuring a weight of dismantled parts collected in each process and a weight of collected liquid materials, and a detecting means for detecting a work start point and end point. The information measured by the means are input to a central computer so that the central computer collects vehicle information, time information for each process, weight information of collected parts and liquid materials, and thereby monitors the entire dismantling processes in real-time and the information, such as, a kind of vehicle, a working time for each process, a weight of collected part and liquid material, a reusing rate and so on, can be stored in a database.

Nowadays, motorcars have become a necessity of everyday human life and industrial activity. Likewise, the number of registered vehicles has increased rapidly in recent years and the number of scrapped vehicles has increased gradually accordingly. Scrapped vehicles, however, have low economic value-added due to completion of their life span and since scrapped vehicles are complicated products made of many parts, a pretreatment is essential for reuse. However, since the current pretreatment is carried out mostly by hand, the treatment cost is high. Furthermore, the used parts have a short product life cycle, therefore a problem exists that the used parts can be reused only within a restricted extent. On the average, about 75% of an entire weight of a scrapped vehicle is reused. Seeing that the motorcars are large-sized durable consumer goods made of various materials, the reuse ratio is good in comparison with other consumer goods. However, most of the reused materials are irons and nonferrous metals, and the rest 25% is buried as ASR.
Generally, the dismantling process of scrapped vehicle can be divided into a process of reclaiming and selling the used parts and a process of shredding the remaining scrapped vehicle. Infrastructure for dismantling the scrapped vehicle is constructed comparatively well in Japan and European countries having small territories. In the case of Germany, about 3,000˜4,000 relevant enterprises perform the dismantling process of scrapped vehicle. However, in Korea, since it is not yet arrived at the number of scrapped vehicles (more than one million) which has a sufficient economic value, the infrastructure for dismantling scrapped vehicle is inadequate. Further, since the reuse of used parts are restricted by automobile management law, the relevant enterprises can not be a main supplying sources of the used parts and simply function to dismantle the scrapped vehicles. Therefore, almost all the relevant enterprises are small and thus can not expect scale merit.
Recently, in order to increase the reuse of used parts produced from the dismantling process of scrapped vehicles, the automobile management law has been amended to greatly expand the kind of used parts allowable for reuse. According to environmental laws relative to the recycle of scrapped vehicles in Europe, all car-makers should collect scrapped vehicles generated from all vehicles including nine-seater or below cars/vans and 3.5 tons or below trucks, which are sold after Jul. 1, 2002, at their own expense, and the vehicles sold before Jul. 1, 2002 should be collected from Jan. 1, 2007.
Under the above-mentioned laws, since all of the car-makers should collect their vehicles at their own expense and also construct separately a dismantling system in their companies to process the collected vehicles in an environment-friendly manner, enormous additional expenses are expected. By the influence of the above laws in Europe, there is a high possibility that the laws relative to scrapped vehicles in Korea will be amended so that the car-makers should collect the scrapped vehicles, which are generated from their sold vehicles, at their own expense. Therefore, in order to rapidly deal with such a change, the car-makers in Korea need to prepare a dismantling plant for processing scrapped vehicles, in which a dismantling system thereof is simplified and automated so as to process a large quantity of scrapped vehicles by stages.
However, in order to collect and dismantle all of the scrapped vehicles generated from their sold vehicles at their expenses, the car-makers should be able to process the same number of scrapped vehicles as the number of sold vehicles. If the car-makers employ a conventional method and system for dismantling the scrapped vehicles, it will cause various troubles.
In other words, the conventional system for dismantling scrapped vehicles performs the dismantling process using various equipments which are two-dimensionally developed on the ground having a desired area. However, since the conventional system has complicated and extensive construction and processes, there are some problems that it takes so much time and cost to dismantle each of the scrapped vehicles and there are many risk factors for accidents during the dismantling process and it is difficult to secure a space for storing the used parts generated in the dismantling process.
To solve the above problems, there has been proposed a method of dismantling scrapped vehicles disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-246 on Jan. 13, 2004, in which dismantling processes are divided into several stages and then assigned in each story of a multi-story structure or building and the dismantling processes are performed in turn from the uppermost story toward the lowermost story.
In the above-mentioned dismantling method, if the dismantling processes in one story are completed, the scrapped vehicle is transported to the next lower story by an elevator provided at both sides of the building. A process of collecting liquid materials is performed at the uppermost story, and a process of removing explosive parts and collecting parts to be reused, a process of collecting interior/exterior parts and a process of collecting parts of engine, exhausting system and chassis are respectively performed in turn at each of the next lower stories, and finally, a process of collecting remaining parts is performed at the lowermost story.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-280682 published on Oct. 13, 2005, there is disclosed another method and system for dismantling scrapped vehicles, in which equipments for performing each dismantling process from a process of stocking the scrapped vehicles to a final process of compressing a body of the scrapped vehicle are arranged in series on one line, and a transporting rail which a bogie truck for transporting the scrapped vehicle can be moved along is provided on the ground, and a bogie truck returning system is provided to return the bogie truck to an initial position through a pit constructed under the ground and another transporting rail provided in the pit.
In the above mentioned system, the dismantling processes are performed in the order as follows: checking of objective parts to be dismantled; preparation; processing of explosive parts; collecting of liquid materials; dismantling of exterior parts; dismantling of interior parts; dismantling of parts of engine/transmission/exhausting system/chassis; compressing of a body of the scrapped vehicle. After the final compressing process is finished, the empty bogie truck is lifted down in the pit and returned to the initial position through the transporting rail by using the bogie truck returning system. Then, while the bogie truck is lifted up on the ground and moved along the transporting rail on the ground, the dismantling processes are performed repeatedly.
Meanwhile, in the dismantling processes of scrapped vehicles, as described above, there has been proposed a method in which various information for each scrapped vehicle, such as a process starting and ending situation of a main process, a current position, a time required for each process, a completion status of the entire processes, an operator and the like, are collected, and a record of working performance for each operator is also collected, and a working situation can be monitored in real-time, and the collected database is optimized and then provided as useful dismantling data at each car-maker.
A system of dismantling the scrapped vehicle, in which various information is collected by using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), and a body transporting unit is used instead of the bogie truck, and RFID readers are disposed at main processes such as a preprocess, a process of collecting nonferrous metals, a process of compressing a body of the scrapped vehicle and so on. Each of the RFID readers is connected to a data server through LAN (Local Area Network) so that the information collected by the RFID readers is transmitted through the LAN to the data server.
Herein, each of the RFID readers receives identification information from two cards (tags) in which specific IDs for the operator and the vehicle are input, and the identification information read from the cards by the RFID readers is transmitted to the data server. At this time, each of the RFID readers recognizes work start and end points of corresponding process and transmits them to the data server. The work start point is a point of time when the operator installs the cards at the RFID reader of each process, and the work end point is a point of time when the operator removes the cards from the RFID reader. As the result, the information of vehicle to be dismantled, work start and end time, working time and operation is input and collected at the data server. By this information, the working situation can be monitored in real-time, and a record of working performance for each operator can be also collected.
However, in the system of dismantling scrapped vehicles, as described above, there is a disadvantage that the operator has to directly input a processing situation of the scrapped vehicle to the reader by using the card. Further, only the information such as the work start and end time, the working time and the like can be collected, and it is not possible to monitor whether each process is performed properly or whether a reusing rate arrives at a desired value and to collect useful dismantling information such a weight of part, a collecting rate of the liquid materials and the like.

System for monitoring dismantling process of scrapped vehicle


An injection molding station includes a mold manifold plate housing a plurality of injection molding nozzles and housing heaters for the plurality of injection molding nozzles; at least one printed circuit board associated with the mold manifold plate; and a power source; wherein the at least one printed circuit board electrically connects the power source with the heaters. Each printed circuit board has at least one power layer printed with a plurality of power supply tracks, the power supply tracks being connected at a first end to the power source and at a second end to a respective heater. Each nozzle may also have a respective temperature sensing device, the printed circuit board having at least one sensor layer printed with sensor tracks, the sensor tracks being connected at a first end to a respective temperature sensing device, and at a second end to a controlling device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of injection molding and, more particularly, to a printed circuit board wiring system for nozzle heaters of an injection molding system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of plastic injection molding, hot runner or "runnerless" injection molding machines are well known and commonly used. In these machines, each cavity of a mold is served, usually by a heated nozzle or "drop" which delivers melted resin from channels in a heated manifold to the respective mold. Recent developments have provided injection molding machines where each nozzle is independently heated and controlled. This independent temperature control is achieved by providing a heater and a temperature sensing device such as a thermocouple at each nozzle, and wiring each heater and thermocouple to a power source/controller which supplies power to the heaters and reads the information supplied by the thermocouples. In a typical 96 cavity mold, however, 192 heater wires and 192 thermocouple wires are necessary to operate the nozzles. Conventionally, these wires are run through channels in the mold manifold plate. This set up, however, requires about 1500 feet of wire, and would typically require about 16 hours to set up. Further, a defective wire is very difficult to locate, and replacement usually involves splicing of the wire. Splices, however, are notorious trouble spots for further problems, and also take up extra space in the already overcrowded wiring channels, which are kept to a minimum size in order to maintain the structural strength of the mold manifold plate. Replacing a defective heater also involves threading a new pair of wires through the existing mass of wiring.
European Patent Application No. 0 468 485, published Jan. 29, 1992, provides a pre-wired hot runner system. In this system, heater wiring is routed in a wiring frame and connected to individual heaters with nuts at each terminal, and forms a series of closed conduits connected to a main junction box. The above-described problems encountered with replacing a faulty wire are not addressed by the European Application.
Further, due to the necessity of minimizing the size of wiring channels in the mold manifold plate, the length of each wire must be carefully optimized in a pre-wired system, resulting in a non-flexible wiring system useful only for a specific number and configuration of cavities.
It is desirable to provide a wiring system for an injection molding machine which overcomes the aforedescribed problems with wiring.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a wiring system for an injection molding machine which avoids the use of an excessive mass of wiring.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system which minimizes the size of wiring channels formed in the mold manifold plate.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such a system which is serviceable from the front of the machine while installed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a system wherein splices are not necessary to correct faulty wiring.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a system wherein connection of heaters to the wiring system is achieved through conveniently connected and disconnected plugs.
Other objects and advantages will appear hereinbelow.

Printed circuit board for an injection molding apparatus


An underground structure liner based upon an inflatable liner structure. An acid resistant layer is the innermost layer of an inflatable liner, and the liner is coated with epoxy resin on its outermost surface, the surface which contacts the existing walls of the underground structure. The outermost coated surface of the liner is constructed with a fibrous fleece layer for better retention of the epoxy and better adhesion of the epoxy to the walls of the underground structure. An added feature of the liner is a structure which also seals the liner to pipes entering the underground structure.

The invention deals generally with underground structures such as manholes, utility vaults, and pump stations, and more specifically with a method and apparatus to attach an impermeable continuous liner to prevent corrosion by the effects of sewer gas and to prevent fluid leaking into the underground structure.
Underground structures such as manholes serve to connect pipes, transfer sewage, and provide maintenance access. When they permit ground water to leak in, they contribute to unnecessary sewage treatment costs or damage the sewer lines or other utility services which pass through the underground structures. Furthermore, microorganisms that consume sewer gas form sulfuric acid, and this acid dissolves the underground structure walls which may lead to deterioration, collapse, service interruption, or accidents.
This deterioration is caused mainly because of the nature of the original structure. Underground structures such as manholes are essentially chambers in the ground, sometimes large vertical shafts, which extend to the depth at which sewer pipes or utility services are located. The older chambers are usually built of bricks or cement blocks, with the bricks or blocks assembled with mortar joints. These materials, and particularly the joints, deteriorate with time because of such factors as traffic loads, ground water, soil pressure, and septic gases. Even cast concrete underground structures can be damaged by such causes, particularly from the acids septic gases create and which attack most materials.
Once an underground structure is damaged and leaking, it is very difficult to repair it so that it is watertight and gas tight, and completely rebuilding it is costly and time consuming because it requires excavating all around the underground structure.
Several patents have been issued on a newer approach to repairing underground structure chambers. The technique involves attaching a liner to the inside wall surface of the underground structure chamber. As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,490,744 and 5,265,981 by McNeil, the liner is typically a long fiberglass bag covered with an epoxy resin. This bag is lowered into the underground chamber, inflated by the use of a removable interior inflatable bladder until it presses against the inside walls of the underground chamber, and the resin is cured in place. The result is the formation of a new chamber which conforms to the original underground structure regardless of whether the chamber is a straight cylinder or it has an irregular shape. However, this type of additional internal chamber still has problems.
The structure of the McNeil liners, which have fiberglass and resins on the exposed surfaces, are themselves attacked by septic gases. This causes erosion of the exposed fiberglass layers which deteriorate over time and ultimately weaken the rehabilitation structure. Furthermore, at liner termination points such as junctions where the liner is joined to pipes and flow channels, gas infiltration leads to corrosion of the underground structure walls and destruction of the liner bond.
It would be very beneficial to have a underground structure liner which was chemically stable, allows gas-tight joints with pipe lining, and prevents fluid leakage into the underground chamber.


A method and a control device are for controlling the temperature of a detector system inside a computed tomography unit. The CT unit includes a rotatable gantry with a gantry housing in which both an X-ray tube and the detector system are located. The detector system is arranged, in turn, inside a detector housing. The air temperature is set in the gantry housing via a temperature-controlled air circulation. The temperature of the ambient air of the detector housing is set by a control system that uses the temperature of the detector system as controlled variable.

It is generally known that the X-ray tube and also the electric components of a computed tomograph dissipate energy in the form of heat because of their strongly fluctuating power losses.
This heat can have a negative effect on the image quality of the CT unit, since relevant components are influenced by changes in temperature during generation of images. The detector modules and the associated evaluation electronics, for example, are such temperature-sensitive components.
Furthermore, there is a risk of overheating of individual components in the CT unit. The temperature inside the gantry of a CT unit is controlled for this reason.
The DMS (=Detector Measurement System) in the gantry of the CT unit is in particular need of very accurate temperature control. As a rule, DMS includes scintillators upstream of which collimators are positioned, and photodiodes that detect the incident radiation and then relay it in the form of analogue signals. The scintillators, the collimators and the photodiodes are temperature-sensitive components. Thus, for example, temperature fluctuations can lead to longitudinal expansions and/or longitudinal contractions that are seen in undesired deformations of these components. These deformations lead, inter alia, to shading that impairs the recorded CT image.
Two separate temperature control loops have been used to date in order to be able to ensure adequate temperature management.
Firstly, a control loop controls the air temperature inside the gantry interior. In this case, use is made for the most part of ventilation elements that are driven as a function of the temperature of the gantry interior. At least one sensor determines the temperature in the interior of the gantry in this case.
An additional control loop is used for the DMS, because the temperature-sensitive DMS can be exposed to very different ambient air temperatures. Owing to the rotating gantry, the DMS can, for example, be positioned on one occasion in a thermally favorable way in front of a fan outlet, and be positioned in a thermally unfavorable fashion on another occasion.
The second control loop of the DMS mostly includes one or more controlled fans at DMS or, in the "warm-up phase of the CT unit", heating elements inside the DMS. The temperature in the DMS that was measured using a sensor in the latter was used as controlled variable of the fans/heating elements.
This way of separately controlling the temperature of the DMS and interior of the gantry is particularly complicated.

Method and control device for controlling the temperature of a detector system inside a computed tomography unit


Method and stenciled glove for applying designs to fingernails or toenails. The stenciled glove includes digits having tips with ornamental cutout shapes and filing cutout patterns. An inner adhesive dot is provided proximate each cutout shape for stabilizing the glove tips over the nails. Nail polish is applied to the tips of the stenciled glove to form designs on the nails which can also be filed into decorative patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a disposable integral stenciled glove. More particularly, the disposable stenciled glove is for the application of designs on fingernails, false fingernails or toenails by either professional manicurists or any woman desiring to decorate or file her nails.
2. Description of the Related Art
The related art of interest describes various stenciling devices and methods, -but which omit the integration of a glove with a stencil which is cut out in the glove for polishing and filing fingernails and toenails. The related art will be discussed in the order of its perceived relevance to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,703 issued on May 19, 1942, to Norma Stedman describes a rubber fingernail stencil which has a cutout for a fingernail. The opening has raised edge elements to define the edges of the fingernail. The front edge of the cutout fit underneath the front portion of the fingernail. The rear edge of the rubber fingernail stencil is rolled over. One fingernail stencil is preferably used for ten fingers, but a plurality of stencils or caps for all the fingers may be utilized. It is suggested as an incidental description that a set of caps may be attached as the ends of the fingers in a glove, but a glove is not claimed. Moreover, if a close fitting surgical type is utilized, the glove would be difficult to place on a hand or foot and the cutout design would become distorted. Stedman further recites "Where the material of the cap in general is not elastic, a piece of elastic material may be attached at one end to one side of the opening and at the other end to the other side of the opening and may be long enough to be drawn tightly under the finger" (page 2, column 1, lines 22-27). This disclosure teaches against the use of an elastic glove with a cutout stencil integrated at its tips as in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,121 issued on Jun. 27, 1995, to Joyce H. Polito describes a spray on nail polishing method utilizing an adhesive backed finger shield of foil paper with an oblong cutout for each fingernail or toenail and spraying three coats starting with a base coat paint through the finger shield, an acrylic paint spray through a stencil with an adhesive back, and a top coat paint after removal of the stencil. Oval stencils may have designs such as hearts, stripes, dots, and a leaf. The three-coat method and the use of shields and stencils are distinguishable from the one unit stenciled glove of the present invention.
German Patent Application No. 3,347,437 published on Jul. 11, 1985, for Josef Kroesen describes a similar method involving the use of brushed polish and thin stencil foils applied to the fingernail. FIG. 9 illustrates 9 designs for the stencils. The method is distinguishable for using stencils adhered to the fingernails.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,094,962 issued on Oct. 5, 1937, to Roberta G. Haworth describes a manicuring device for shielding the lunule of a fingernail during the application of nail polish. Two different wrap around strips of thin rubber with either variable sized circular portions or a single indentation and a tongue and hole binding means are shown. A third embodiment utilizes a tube with a lunule mask. Other materials such as cellophane and celluloid are applicable as manicuring devices. The devices are distinguishable for being open-ended and applied only on the fingertips.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,234,657 issued on Mar. 11, 1941, to Frank M. Smaldone describes a nail decorating method and device utilizing an adhesive backed crescent shaped paper sheet to cover the lunule of a fingernail and a stencil with a star cutout. The lunule masks may be packaged on a card. The method and device are distinguishable as being limited to fingertip masking.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,418 issued on Apr. 12, 1966, to Ben Dinerstein describes a shielding device for applying nail-hardening formaldehyde compositions to fingernails. A triangular stencil with adhesive backing and a removable protective covering on top has a forwardly arched curvilinear slit forming a flap and either a slit or a curved aperture behind the flap. The shielding device is placed over a fingertip with the flap projecting and the front tip adhered under the fingertip. The device is distinguishable for its limitation only to a fingertip.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,090 issued on Jul. 8, 1997, to Kathryn A. Juhl et al. describes a French manicuring device kit and a method of applying polish to a fingernail tip. The stencil is a flexible oval piece of plastic with two curved slots defining a bottom strap for holding the stencil to a fingertip. The nail polish is added only to the exposed tip of the fingernail to create the French manicure design. The device is distinguishable for its limitation to a fingertip and for creating only one design.
French Patent Application No. 2,606,611 published on May 20, 1988, for Roland Gobert describes a method for applying false fingernails using a mask. The mask is distinguishable from the present invention for not having any design cutouts.
German Patent Application No. 2,308,501 published on Aug. 22, 1974, for Daniel J. Petermann describes a stencil card including cutouts for all four fingernails and the thumbnail in a first embodiment. A second embodiment employs flower designs for the fingernails with a slot for engaging the tip of the fingernail. Therefore, the card devices are distinguishable in lacking the glove attachment of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,205 issued on Jan. 11, 1994, to Nevia Jenkins describes a method and apparatus for applying decoration to fingernails or toenails. A jig surrounds a fingertip and a connected well on top feeds fingernail polish below it to a removable stencil with an animal design. The device and method are distinguishable for the use of a jig.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,262,977 issued on Nov. 18, 1941, to Nick Vasil describes a fingertip clamping device having two or more removable fingernail stencils. The device is distinguishable from the present invention which does not require clamps.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a stenciled disposable glove for polishing nails solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Stenciled disposable glove and method for polishing and filing nails


A fibrous insulation blanket is disclosed. The blanket includes a binderless collection of long, single component inorganic fibers. Preferably, the blanket is made of glass fibers.

Fibrous material which is used typically for acoustical or thermal insulation is commonly formed by a rotary process. Molten material such as glass, polymer material, slag, rock or basalt, is placed into a rotating spinner having a peripheral wall with orifices. The molten material is centrifuged through the orifices and formed into fibers. The fibers are attenuated and directed downwardly by the action of a flow or blast of gases discharged from an annular blower positioned circumferentially about the spinner. The downwardly moving swirling flow of fibers and gases is referred to as the veil. The fibers can be sprayed with a binder which adhesively binds the fibers together at their contact points, or the fibers can be manufactured without binder. The fibers are then collected to form a fibrous product or blanket.
A typical method of collecting the fibers includes a large hood with suction devices, such as fans, situated underneath. The fibers are collected on a foraminous conveyor positioned above the suction fans so that the suction force draws the fibers onto the conveyor. For the production of long fibers the fibers should be collected within a relatively short distance underneath the spinner, preferably within the range of from about 0.1 m to about 1.5 m. If the fibers are not collected close to the spinner the long fibers tend to bunch together and form generally parallel groupings of fibers, referred to as "ropes". This roping effect is undesirable because of the formation of a non-uniform fibrous product having areas of high density and areas of low density. For the purposes of this specification and claims, the term "long fibers" means fibers that are generally longer than about 10 inches (25 cm) as measured by the drape length method.
Ideally, the long fibers should be collected without suction or with very low amounts of suction to maintain high loft in the fibers. High amounts of suction compress the fibers and reduce the overall recovery thickness of the insulation product. However, if the fibers are collected close to the spinner on a flat foraminous conveyor with low suction, a large amount of fiber material is blown away from the conveyor and is not collected. Also, the use of suction devices is undesirable because of the high levels of noise produced, and because of the expense involved.
Another method of collecting long fibers is to use a direct formed process. The fibers are captured by two opposed conveyor surfaces. The conveyor surfaces are angled downwardly inwardly to collect and consolidate the downwardly moving veil of fibers and convert it into a flattened cross-sectional shape. The gases from the annular blower are suctioned through the conveyor surfaces, which are foraminous. The conveyor surfaces are operated in a downward direction to convey the fibers onto a second conveyor to form the fibrous insulation product. High amounts of suction are used to capture the long fibers and substantially prevent the fibers from being blown away from the conveyor and not collected.
It would be desirable to have a method of forming and collecting long fibers without the use of high suction so as to prevent the undesirable compression of the long fibers, and to produce a fibrous product that is of uniform density.

Method for collecting fibers from a rotary fiberizer

Owens Corning Fiberglas Technology, Inc.


A rechargeable battery includes a case having an inner space, a first electrode assembly inside the case, a second electrode assembly inside the case, a current collecting member including a first current collecting piece electrically connected to an electrode of the first electrode assembly and a second current collecting piece electrically connected to an electrode of the second electrode assembly, the electrode of the second electrode assembly having a same polarity as the electrode of the first electrode assembly, a first terminal electrically connected to the first current collecting member and protruding outside the case, wherein the first current collecting piece and the second current collecting piece have different lengths.

1. Field
Embodiments relate generally to a rechargeable battery. More particularly, embodiments relate generally to a rechargeable battery with a current collecting member.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rechargeable battery can be repeatedly charged and discharged, unlike a primary battery that is incapable of being recharged. A rechargeable battery of a low capacity is used for a small portable electronic device such as a mobile phone, a laptop computer, or a camcorder. A large capacity battery is widely used as a power source for driving a motor of a hybrid vehicle, etc.


Embodiments related to echo compensation have been described and depicted.

In communication systems, transceivers often transmit and receive signals simultaneously, for example during a wired or wireless full duplex communication. Typically, the transmit signal is higher than the receive signal causing problems because a portion of the transmission signal, which is referred to as echo, may leak from the transmit path into the receive path of the transceiver. The echo interferes with the receive signal and adds additional distortion to the receive signal. The echo signal in the receive signal may be eliminated or reduced by replicating the echo and subtracting the replication of the echo from the receive signal. As the echo depends on the power level of the transmit signal and the transfer function between the receive and transmit path, the echo can be replicated by generating a duplicate or replica of the transmit signal, for example by tapping the transmit signal, and filtering the replica signal with a filter having a filter functions corresponding or similar to the echo transfer function.


A system and a method to detect biological and chemical agents in a sealed contained at, for example, a mail-processing center. The system includes filtration and vacuum subsystems cooperatively working to draw an air sample from the interior of the particulate containment system for evaluation by a biosensor or chemical analyzer to detect the presence of a contaminant. The vacuum subsystem includes a vacuum generator, flow meters, and pressure regulators to accommodate the varying volume within the particulate containment system. The filtration system includes an inlet filter and a high efficiency particle air filter (HEPA) filter. The inlet filter removes coarse impurities, such as dust and dirt, from the incoming air to improve sensor efficiency. The HEPA removes contaminants from the air sample prior to being released to the surrounding environment, thereby eliminating the possibility of spreading the contamination outside the particulate containment system. Additionally, an agitating means is connected to the particulate containment system to loosen contaminants and create a contaminated air cloud, thereby increasing the concentration of contaminants in the interior.

The recent incidents of anthrax-laced letters being transported through the United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities to unsuspecting recipients has alarmed the nation and the world. Currently, the tainted letters are discovered after the recipient accepts delivery or by alert postal employees noticing white powder that could be anthrax on mail parcels or pieces, sorting and distribution equipment, or themselves. There appears to be no current security devices or procedures that are available to intercept such letters at the earliest source of introduction into the USPS system, for example at the mailbox or post office drop box or mail collection tub, or upon entry into a sorting facility or sorting system to test them for hazardous material, and to neutralize such material when it is found.
Currently when there is suspicious mail, it is all bulk irradiated as was done during the recent anthrax problem thereby delaying some mail for months and damaging or destroying some of the mail due to problems caused by the irradiation. For example some of this irradiated mail became brittle and pieces broke off.
Almost all mail articles at one time or another are collected and transported to postal facilities by way of mail tubs. Therefore, mail tubs can be the first point of containment if a hazardous material is detected prior to the exposure of its air and contents at a postal facility.
Mail is also distributed in large trucks such as tractor/trailers, and this provides another opportunity to detect hazardous material on or in the mail.
Some mail tubs have lids or covers, but they are not airtight vessels. Mail articles that contain hazardous material within or on the outer surface contaminate not only the other mail articles within the mail collection tub, but also the mail collection tub air. The agitation of the mail collection tub in transport or by routine handling by the postal employees can cause the hazardous material to form a plume or aerosol. There is also a threat of contaminating postal employees by inhaling the contaminated air as well as by direct contact to skin tissue.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for contamination detection within sealed containers


Repair of a spine from a posterior approach especially for locating an implant between a lower and upper human vertebra includes making an incision in the skin lateral to the midline, making an incision through the Erector Spinae Aponeurosis (ESA) following the ELIF groove, separating the ESA from the Longissimus Thoracis Pars Lumborum (LTPL), atraumatic separating the Multifidus from the LTPL using the interfascial boundary between the Multifidus and the LTPL, and creating a surgical plane having an angle of 20°-60°.

The invention relates to a method for repair of a spine from a posterior approach especially for locating an implant between a lower and upper human vertebra. The invention further relates to an intervertebral implant and especially an implant for fusing together adjoining vertebrae bodies.
Since its earliest history, surgery has been an imperfect compromise between the severity of the disease, the goal to cure, and the damage inflicted by the treatment. Spinal fusion surgery with implants is no different. The spine lies deep within the body. It is adjacent to vital structures that are easily damaged. To reach the spine and the pathology to be treated, many bodily structures are often disrupted or destroyed. Supporting bone of the vertebral column must at times be resected and stabilizing ligaments removed. Vessels providing blood supply are oftentimes cut and nerves can be severed.
For certain patients, a lumbar spinal fusion procedure is chosen for treatment, with the combined goals to decompress the painful nerves, to correct a deformity, to immobilize a painfully moving vertebral segment, and to hold it stable in a desired position while the motion segment fuses or grows into a bridge of bone.
To perform a lumber spinal fusion procedure, the surgeon first decides how to approach the spine, how to reach the pathology and how to build a biomechanical fusion construct, which can be composed of inter vertebral cages with or without pedicle fixation. The prior art often uses a midline posterior approach. This requires the surgeon to dissect the posterior lumbar multifidus muscle at a given level, from the spine's posterior elements and to expose the facet joint and lamina. For access, the surgeon must many times dissect levels above and below the level to be treated to enable the surgeon to decompress bone where needed and to enter the spinal canal in order to insert his cages. Dissection of the multifidus from the posterior elements is also the most commonly used method to give the surgeon access to the pedicles for the insertion of the pedicle screws when these are required. In the weeks following surgery, such dissection leads to atrophy and perhaps in itself, a source of additional pain.
Furthermore, at each segment the medial branch of the dorsal ramus, with its accompanying vascular supply, together called the neurovascular bundle, passes across the lamina to supply specific fascicles of the multifidus at each level. The midline surgical approach for a single fusion level typically disrupts the multifidus from the posterior elements of several vertebrae, two vertebrae of the motion segment to be fused, and at least one level above and one below. This destroys the medial branch of the dorsal ramus and its accompanying vascular supply at the level of fusion, as well as one level above and below. This is yet another way to destroy muscle function because a muscle deprived of its neural and vascular supply tends to atrophy. Over the years that follow surgery, this degeneration of the multifidus, transfers its normal multi level functions to other surrounding muscles not designed for the role normally performed by the multifidus, overworking these other muscles and becoming probably a new source of pain and dysfunction. All spinal surgery and constructs that use the midline posterior surgical approach and its consequent resection of the multifidus, share this problem. In creating morbidity at the segment to be fused, it compromises function at levels above and below, which can effect the entire spine and the patient's wellbeing over the years to come.
In order to avoid the posterior midline approach's damage to the posterior muscles, ligaments, vessels and nerves, some surgeons approach the spine from the abdomen and build a fusion construct placing inter-vertebral body cages from the anterior approach. This technique is called the Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion or ALIF and gives the surgeon the ability to achieve segmental lordosis which corrects spinal balance. The ALIF cages provide optimal anterior spinal column support, and places copious bone graft against the cleaned vertebral bony endplates of the vertebral bodies to be fused. The ALIF, when used alone without pedicle fixation, does not disrupt the posterior back muscles, nor does cage placement require decompression or trauma of the posterior structures of the spine.
However, the anterior approach has limitations and dangers of its own. Spinal canal stenosis, requiring significant boney decompression within the spinal canal for treatment, cannot be achieved from the anterior approach. Isthmic sponylolysthesis, where a vertebra slips anteriorly in relation to the one below because of a defect in the pars interarticularis prevent the facets joints from performing their normal breaking function, requires stabilizing in addition to the cages in order to compensate for the deficient facet joints. For ALIF patients, pedicle fixation that replaces the role of facets must be added from a separate posterior approach that disrupts the muscles. Therefore many cases of isthmic sponylolysthesis cannot be treated by the anterior approach, unless stabilization is added such as posterior pedicle fixation. This from the posterior midline, eliminates the ALIF's advantage of saving the muscles. From the ALIF approach, it is possible to disrupt certain neural structures, notably the Sympathetic Trunk which in male patients control function of the sexual organs and can cause retrograde ejaculation, a known complication of the anterior approach. Furthermore, within the community of surgeons who treat spinal disorders, not all are trained to perform abdominal surgery alone or to manage the life threatening blood loss due to injury of the major vessels located in the path to the anterior spinal column. Thus, many spine surgeons prefer to place their inter-vertebral-body cages from the posterior approach, regardless of the pathology, most often in a surgical procedure called Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion or PLIF, which in recent years, is most often associated with pedicle fixation.
Over the last twenty years, artificial discs have been developed in the hopes to restore motion and therefore function to a diseased spinal motion segment. Also referred to as spinal arthroplasty, the goal of these implants is to create an artificial joint. Here lies the limitation of current technology. A spinal motion segment consists of a three joint complex, consisting of two facet joints and the disc. In their present form, only the disc is replaced and most diseased motion segments have degeneration in all three joints as advanced disc disease often presents advanced facet hypertrophy and stenosis. The painless function of the artificial disc requires healthy function of the facets. Artificial facets could be considered, but a means to replace them would have to be found that does not destroy surrounding muscles required for the motion segment.
Surgical Techniques: PLIF
A PLIF is performed from a posterior midline incision. In the PLIF, prior art cages are placed bilaterally, in a straight, anterior to posterior direction which is parallel to the sagittal plane, passing through the posterior muscles, past the spine's partially resected posterior elements, entering the spinal canal, past the dura containing its nerves and vessels, to enter the space between two vertebral bodies, called the interspace. To insert bilateral PLIF cages, the surgeon must therefore dissect the multifidus muscles from the lamina, the spinous process, with the undesirable consequences described above. The surgeon must then enter the spinal canal by resecting the ligamentum flavum, part or all of the lamina, part or all of the lateral facet joints, which are all themselves stabilizing elements, protecting the dural sac containing spinal nerves within the spinal canal. Then the dura must be retracted and the venous plexus that surrounds is cauterized to prevent excessive bleeding of structures directly connected to the central vascular system. The stabilizing posterior longitudinal ligament and part of the annulus fibrosis is partially or completely removed. Only after significant trauma to the muscles, after surgeon induced instability which in themselves may be of no therapeutic value, and after a significant loss of blood, can the surgeon begin removing the cartilaginous interbody disc to prepare the bed for the bilateral intervertebral PLIF cages. The cages are then inserted in straight posterior to anterior direction, parallel to the sagittal plane, from each side of the now exposed spinal chord. Most often, the PLIF cages are combined with pedicle fixation to compensate instability created by the partial or complete removal of the facet joints and the dissection of the longitudinal posterior ligament.
It is usually thought that the magnitude of the patient's problem justifies the amount of soft tissue destruction. In certain cases the surgeon desires to remove these structures in order to decompress a specific nerve for treatment. Still a bilateral PLIF procedure obliges the surgeon to perform dissections that in some situations may have no therapeutic value other than access for intervertebral cages. Posterior structures can be destroyed simply for posterior access to the anterior spine.
On the other hand, a PLIF spinal fusion construct in conjunction with pedicle fixation, results in a highly stable structure consisting of two bilateral supports between the vertebral bodies, with a bone inducing substance at an optimal location and pedicle fixation that serve as substitutes for destabilized facets. Surgeons have searched for the same therapeutic gesture, a similar biomechanical construct, but with less extensive trauma to the surrounding anatomy which need not to be touched for treatment. Because in some situations the midline approach PLIF dissects structures that would be good to leave intact, refined midline decompression and sagittal cage insertion methods have been created which are also used with pedicle fixation.
Surgical Technique: TLIF
Some patients present symptomatic pathology which is located predominantly on one side, requiring a destabilizing nerve decompression for treatment within the spinal canal, but only on one side. At the same time, the surgeon must build for fusion a stable biomechanical construct which is bilateral. The goal in such cases is to assure the treatment of the lesion, disrupt only the structures required for treatment on one side, but stabilize both. The unilateral Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (called TLIF by some) was developed to treat such pathology. For this technique, the surgeon resects one entire facet joint on only one side and then inserts the cages through the space created. The procedure is called Transforaminal because the posterior aspect of the intervertebral foramen is formed by the facet joint. Once removed, the cage passes here. For the TLIF technique, cages therefore are inserted from one side, anterior or posterior, again in a direction parallel to the sagittal plane, but this time translated to the midline from the side of insertion.
It is important to note that although the TLIF inserts the cage from one side, where the facet has been resected, this procedure does not use the Extraforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ELIF) Surgical Plane, described below for the surgical approach of this invention. Thus, to gain access to the facet to be removed, the unilateral spinal canal and then the more anterior disc space, the multifidus must be dissected from the posterior elements, from at least one side, which is the same dissection for each side of a PLIF. One main difference between the TLIF as compared to the PLIF, is that only one side of the spinal canal is entered for decompression, disc access and then cage placement. This results in less blood loss and less potential trauma to the nerves.
A second main difference from the PLIF is that the TLIF usually resects one entire facet from the side which surgeon wishes to enter the canal. This gives access to the disc but is much more destabilizing than the PLIF which most often tries to conserve the lateral portion of each facet in an attempted compromise between neural decompression and biomechanical stability. The dura is then retracted to the midline and the venous plexus cauterized from one side. Next, the posterior longitudinal ligament is cut from its most lateral aspect to the midline. Again, this is a partially destabilizing maneuver, which should be justified only in terms of its therapeutic or biomechanical value and not simply for access to the spine. The posterior annulus is after cut from the ring apophysis at the midline and laterally to where the resected facet was located. The disc is then cleaned of its cartilaginous material and a first cage is placed via the transforaminal approach. With special instruments the first cage is laterally translated to the midline. A second cage is inserted, which, using the same instruments, pushes and translates the first, further to the lateral side.
In this manner, a bilateral cage construct is achieved from a midline posterior approach by using only one side entry through the spinal canal. Because a one stabilizing facet joint has been removed for cage entry and decompression, pedicle fixation must be added at this side to perform the breaking function of what has been removed. At times, unstable spinal conditions will oblige the unilateral TLIF surgeon, to insert his cages from one side of the spinal canal, but to place pedicle fixation in both sides. In these instances, the spinal canal is only approached and disrupted on one side, while the multifidus is disrupted bilaterally. Thus in the cases where bilateral pedicle fixation is performed with a TLIF, the goal for less trauma is achieved for only boney structures, ligament and neural structures, and not the posterior lumbar muscles.
Prior art methods using the posterior midline approach are usually most logically reserved for those cases where the pathology requires the surgeon to dissect the posterior elements, such as a portion of facet, to access the spinal canal where decompression must be achieved for the purposes of treatment and not only for stabilization with cages.
It should be noted that final placement in these prior art methods insert the cages in a straight line that is parallel to the sagittal plane. The medical term for "sagittal" is the plane anterior to the posterior. This describes the orientation of most bilateral cages inserted from a midline surgical approach, either using bilateral placement that is from both sides of the dura and the spinal canal for the PLIF, or unilateral lateral placement which results in a bilateral construct where cages are placed from one side of the spinal canal, and translated to the contra-lateral side as in the TLIF.
The extensive dissection of the posterior midline approach, with its destruction to the surrounding muscles, ligaments, vessels and nerves, has lead surgeons to explore other surgical techniques. As a means to place pedicle screws, percutaneous pedicle screw insertion methods have been developed using trocars. As the location of the pedicle cannot be directly visualized, a Kirshner wire is driven through the skin, using intra-operative x-ray fluoroscopy for each pedicle. Dilating trocars are placed over the Kirshner wire until a sufficient opening has been achieved for the pedicle screw to run through the trocar. A small but separate incision is made for each pedicle. Pedicle screws are inserted through the trocar into the pedicle of each vertebrae to be fixed, on each side of the patient. A special jig is attached, and through yet another stab incision a connecting rod is threaded through each screw connector, all of which is blocked into one joining construct.
While this technique has the merit of allowing the surgeon to build a pedicle fixation portion of his construct without dissecting the multifidus from the posterior elements, it is achieved at the price of six separate incisions for a construct of four pedicle screws. It indiscriminately splits muscles rather than separating muscle groups along the natural line cleavage created by the muscle fascia, protecting the muscles vascular and neural sources. With this technique, access to the spine and its pathology is indeed minimal, that is insufficient to access and treat many lesions. To reach the interspace for cage placement, separate incisions are required. To place bone graft at the facet joints, about the pedicle screw, separate incisions must be made. In addition, because the entry to the pedicles cannot be directly visualized, a great deal of radiation must be endured by both patient and surgeon, as each screw placement must most often be validated by x-ray fluoroscopy. New virtual technologies, which allow the surgeon to "see" screw placement on a video screen, are being explored as an alternative to radiation guidance for each percutaneous screw. But again these technologies require yet another incision to place special markers on the anatomical landmarks of the spine.
The above described limitations of the prior art caused the inventors to consider surgical approaches and technologies which instead of attempting to constrain the anatomy to an implant, used the body's natural delineations to achieve maximum access to the posterior spine, yet with minimal trauma. A stable fusion construct that reduces trauma allows the patient to move sooner, while protecting the fragile healing bone to improve the chances of the fusion growth and assure a life living bridge of bone. The surgical approach to make it possible should, wherever possible, limit dissection to the treatment of the pathology, without compromising the stability of the construct and the extent that the compressive pathology is removed. The resulting construct must respect the overall balance of the spine.

Method for repair of a spine and intervertebral implant


A display device includes multiple pixels, a gate driver and a data driver. Each pixel includes a transistor and a pixel capacitor electrically coupled to the transistor. The gate driver is configured to turn on the transistor of a first pixel for one time during a first turn-on period of multiple turn-on cycles of a frame cycle of a frame displayed by the display device. The data driver is configured to charge the pixel capacitor of the first pixel via the transistor of the first pixel to a first over-charge voltage and a data voltage during an over-charge period and a recovery period of the first turn-on period. The first over-charge voltage is different from the data voltage. A method for driving the display device is also provided.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a device for controlling light and a method for driving such a device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display device and a method for driving the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid crystal displays are often used as display devices due to their ability to render high-quality images using relatively little electricity. A liquid crystal display apparatus comprises a liquid crystal display panel. With the improvements in the resolution of the liquid crystal display panel, the number of gate lines has also increased correspondingly so as to enable control of the corresponding pixels in the liquid crystal display panel.
However, because of the increased number of gate lines, the conducting time of each gate line available for charging the corresponding pixel is shortened; further, the increased load of the active area of the liquid crystal display panel causes incomplete charging of the pixels, thereby resulting in abnormal display by the display device.
In view of the foregoing, problems and disadvantages are present in the existing products that await further improvement. However, those skilled in the art have been unable to find a solution.

Display device and driving method thereof


Dispersible additive systems for polymeric materials include dispersant-coated pigments in a liquid nonaqueous polymeric carrier. The additive systems are most preferably in the form of a particulate nonaqueous paste which can be added in metered amounts (dosed) to a melt flow of the polymeric host material prior to being shaped (for example, prior to being spun into synthetic filaments). By providing a number of additive systems having a number of different additive attributes, and controllably dosing one or more into the melt flow of polymeric material, shaped objects of the polymeric material (e.g., melt-spun filaments) having different additive attributes may be produced on a continuous basis without shutting down the shaping operation.

The incorporation of additives in so-called "neat" thermoplastic polymeric host materials (that is, polymeric materials containing no additives) so as to achieve desired physical properties is well known. Thus, the art has conventionally incorporated colorants, stabilizers, delusterants, flame retardants, fillers, antimicrobial agents, antistatic agents, optical brighteners, extenders, processing aids and other functional additives into polymeric host materials in an effort to "engineer" desired properties of the resulting additive-containing polymeric host material. Such additives are typically added any time prior to shaping of the polymeric material, for example, by spinning or molding (e.g., extrusion, injection, or blow-molding) operations.
The incorporation of colorant additives in filaments formed by melt-spinning a polymeric material has presented unique challenges. For example, the amount of particulate pigment dispersed in a concentrate which is added to the polymeric material must be sufficiently high to impart satisfactory color density, but must not be so high as to interrupt the spinning process. One prior proposal for incorporating colorant additives in thermoplastic polymeric materials is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,645 to Frank R. Jones on Aug. 17, 1993 (the entire content of which is expressly incorporated hereinto by reference).
According to the Jones '645 patent, additives are introduced into a thermoplastic melt by feeding at least one additive in an aqueous vehicle containing a dispersant to form an aqueous additive stream to a vented extruder which is extruding a thermoplastic. The aqueous portion of the aqueous additive stream is thereby volatilized within the extruder and is removed therefrom via an extruder vent. As a result, a substantially homogeneous system containing the thermoplastic, dispersant and the additive is obtained which may thereafter be spun into a filament by melt-extrusion through filament-forming orifices in a spinneret associated with a spin pack assembly.
Although the techniques disclosed in the Jones '645 patent are entirely satisfactory, some further improvements to incorporating additives in a melt flow of thermoplastic polymeric materials would be desirable. For example, it would especially be desirable if the additive stream was non-aqueous as this would obviate the need for a vented extruder (i.e., since a volatilized aqueous portion of the additive stream would not then need to escape prior to melt-spinning). Furthermore, it is entirely possible that a non-aqueous additive stream could be introduced physically near or into the spin pack assembly where it can be mixed with a melt flow of the polymeric material immediately upstream of the spinneret orifices (and preferably downstream of the polymer filter section of the spin pack assembly) thereby bypassing the extruder. Such a possibility would then allow additive concentration and/or types to be changed on a continuous basis to produce sequential lengths of melt-spun filaments having desired, but different, properties and/or characteristics. That is, the upstream processing equipment, for example, the extruders and process piping, which supply the polymeric host material to the spin pack assembly would not necessarily need to be shut down for purposes of cleaning. Furthermore, by introducing a non-aqueous additive stream directly into the spin pack assembly, the flushing time would be relatively short thereby allowing, for example, quick color changes to occur from one filament production batch to another. It is towards providing such improvements that the present invention is directed.
Broadly, the present invention is embodied in a nonaqueous additive concentrate system for thermoplastic polymeric host materials which may be added directly to a melt flow of the polymeric material in metered amounts. More specifically, the additive concentrate system according to the present invention includes a filament additive which is dispersed in a liquid or liquefied nonaqueous carrier. The filament additive may, during use, be in the form of a solid particulate or a liquid. When a solid particulate is used, the additive system of this invention most preferably also includes a dispersant which coats the particulate additive. The additive concentrate system according to this invention is most preferably in the form of a flowable paste which can be added in metered amounts (dosed) to a melt flow of the polymeric material prior to being spun into filaments, for example near or into the spin pack assembly upstream of the assembly's filament-forming spinneret orifices.
In such a manner, therefore, synthetic filament batches having different additives may be produced sequentially on a continuous basis without costly equipment downtime. That is, the same spin pack assembly may be used to produce a first batch of filaments containing one type of additive during one production interval, and then used to produce a second batch of filaments containing a second type of additive during a succeeding production interval by changing the additive which is introduced into the filament-forming melt. Moreover, the time interval needed to change between different additives is relatively short since the additive system is most preferably introduced into the melt flow near or into the spin pack assembly which in turn reduces significantly the time needed to flush residual additive incorporated into the first batch of filaments. Production of different additive-containing filaments (e.g., filaments containing different colorants) is now possible in a relatively short period of time without stopping filament winding.
Thus, another aspect of this invention involves a method of continuously producing sequential lengths of different additive-containing filaments by continuously supplying a melt-spinnable polymeric host material to orifices of a spinneret and, during a first time interval, controllably dosing a concentrate system having one additive into the polymeric material to form a first polymeric mixture which is extruded through the spinneret orifices. Subsequently, during a second time interval, another concentrate system containing a different additive is controllably dosed into the polymeric material without disrupting the continuous supply of polymeric material to the spinneret orifices to form a second polymeric mixture which is extruded through the spinneret orifices.
During the change of additive concentrate, an intermediate time interval will be needed in order to flush the spinneret of residual amounts of the first additive concentrate. Thus, during the intermediate time intervals, an intermediate length of filaments will be produced which will change over the filament length from containing all of the first additive concentrate to containing all of the second additive concentrate. This intermediate length of filaments produced according to the present invention will be handled separately from the first and second lengths of production filaments. However, the amount of such intermediate length of filaments will be relatively small since, as noted above, the time interval needed to flush the spinneret of residual amounts of the first additive concentrate is relatively short.
Other advantages ensue from introducing the additive concentrate system to the polymeric host material within the spin pack assembly. For example, the spin pack assembly and its associated spinneret orifices may be so designed to form melt-spun multicomponent filaments (e.g., filaments having multiple domains of different polymer blends, colorants and/or other additives) such as those filaments disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,074 to Hills (the entire content of which is expressly incorporated hereinto by reference) by splitting a melt-flow of polymeric host material into two or more subflows within the spin pack assembly. According to the present invention, therefore, the additive concentrate system may be introduced into the spin pack assembly and mixed with one or more of such subflows of polymeric host material without being mixed with other subflows so as to form multicomponent filaments. Therefore, while the discussion which follows emphasizes the production of filaments in which the additive concentrate system is substantially homogeneously mixed through the filament cross-section, it will be understood that the present invention is likewise applicable to the formation of multicomponent filaments whereby the additive concentrate system is substantially homogeneously mixed throughout one or more multiple polymeric domains in the filament cross-section without being present in the other domain(s) (e.g., as in core-sheath filaments, pie wedge filaments, side-by-side filaments and the like).
As noted above, significant processing flexibility ensues according to the present invention. Processing flexibility is the result of at least two features of the present invention. First, additive concentrate systems can be mixed above the spinneret with either the entire host polymer or only a portion of the host polymer. For example, a functional additive (e.g., an antistatic agent) concentrate system might be mixed with only a third of the host polymer such that a third of the filaments spun contain the antistatic agent and the remaining two-thirds do not.
Second, two or more additive concentrate systems can be mixed with the host polymer above the spinneret to achieve a single attribute in the fiber that is spun. For example, a yellow additive concentrate system and a blue additive concentrate system can be concurrently mixed with host polymer above the spinneret to provide a green fiber when the mixture is spun. There is no theoretical limit for the number of additive concentrate systems that can be mixed with the host polymer above the spinneret. The number of additive concentrate systems is limited only by the space available to inject the systems into the line. It is contemplated that the host polymer might also contain some additive prior to mixing above the spinneret.
These two features of the present invention are not mutually exclusive and great flexibility ensues from combining them. Using color as an example, either single color or multicolor yarn can be spun using the present invention. Single color yarn may be spun by mixing one or more color additive concentrate systems (e.g., a yellow system and blue system as exemplified above) with the entire host polymer such that a one color yarn (e.g., a multifilamentary yarn containing only green filaments) results.
Multicolor yarn (e.g., heather yarn) may be spun by selectively coloring separated portions of the host polymer and keeping each separated portion segregated until spun. For example, a portion of the host polymer might be colored with both the yellow and the blue additive systems to produce green filaments. Another portion of the host polymer might be colored with a red additive system to produce red filaments which are spun concurrently with the green filaments. The resulting multifilamentary yarn will therefore exhibit a heathered color due to the combination of individual red and green filaments present in the yarn.
The concepts above apply also to the spinning of filaments having multiple cross-sectional domains, such as core-sheath filaments, pie wedge filaments, side-by-side filaments and the like. Thus, for multidomain filaments, the additive concentrate system may be mixed with one or more split flows of the host polymer and then recombined with the remainder of the host polymer flow to achieve filaments having the additive present only in one or more of the cross-sectional domains.
When the additive is a colorant, therefore, a virtually unlimited number of multicolored, multidomain filaments can be produced. For example, only the core of a core-sheath filament may include one or more colorant additives which imparts to the fiber a color attribute that is visibly perceptible through the uncolored sheath. In this regard, it has been found that colorant additive(s) contained only in the core of a core-sheath multidomain filament results in a color intensity that is achieved with reduced colorant loading levels (e.g., between about 5 to about 10% less) as compared to filaments having the same colorant additive(s) homogeneously dispersed throughout the entire filament cross-section to achieve comparable color intensity.
Alternatively or additionally, the colorant additive may be present in the sheath of a core-sheath filament so as to achieve a color effect that is a combination of the core and sheath colors. Thus, by selectively choosing and incorporating colorants into the core and/or sheath, virtually any color attribute can be achieved for the resulting filament. Some particular combinations of colorants in both the core and sheath of a core-sheath filament may not necessarily result in a "pure" color combination of such colorants being realized for the filament. That is, the additive/subtractive effects of colorants in the core and sheath of core-sheath filaments are relatively complex and sometimes cannot be predicted with absolute certainty. However, routine experimentation with colorants in the core and/or sheath of core-sheath filaments will result in virtually an unlimited number of desired filament color attributes being obtained.
Other multiple domain filament combinations are envisioned, such as side-by-side domain filaments having different color attributes in each of the sides or pie wedge filaments whereby one or more of the wedges have the same or different color attributes. Such multiple domain filaments may be usefully employed to form heather yarns since the color additive-containing domains will visually present themselves at different locations along the length of the filaments when twisted (e.g., as may occur during yarn processing). Furthermore, the colorants and domains in which such colorants are present can be selected to achieve filaments which macroscopically appear to be uniformly colored.
Furthermore, although the additive concentrate systems of this invention may be metered (dosed) into the host polymer (whether in its entirety or in one or more of its split flows) at a substantially constant rate, periodic or continual variance of the dose rate is also envisioned. Thus, as noted briefly above, when changing from one filament recipe to another, one or more of the additive concentrates will need to be varied in order to switch filament production from a former recipe to the then current recipe. A random or constant dosage rate variance can also be practiced, however, in which case the resulting filaments will have more or less of the additive distributed along its length. When the additive is a colorant, such a technique allows filaments to be formed having a slub-like color appearance along its axial length which may be employed, for example, to produce yarns having a striated or marbled impression.
These and other aspects and advantages of this invention will become more clear after careful consideration is given to the following detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof.


A silicon carbide substrate has a trench extending from a main surface of the silicon carbide substrate into the silicon carbide substrate. The trench has a trench width at a trench bottom. A shielding region is formed in the silicon carbide substrate. The shielding region extends along the trench bottom. In at least one doping plane extending approximately parallel to the trench bottom, a dopant concentration in the shielding region over a lateral first width deviates by not more than 10% from a maximum value of the dopant concentration. The first width is less than the trench width and is at least 30% of the trench width.

Power semiconductor components carry a comparatively high load current in conjunction with a high dielectric strength. In power semiconductor components having a vertical structure, the load current flows between two mutually opposite main surfaces of a semiconductor body, wherein it is possible to set the current-carrying capacity by the horizontal extent of the semiconductor body and the dielectric strength by way of the vertical extent of a drift zone formed in the semiconductor body. In power semiconductor switches such as MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors) and IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistors), a gate electrode couples into body regions capacitively by way of a gate dielectric and switches the load current e.g. as a result of temporarily forming an inversion channel in the body regions. In semiconductor bodies composed of a material having an intrinsically high breakdown field strength, such as silicon carbide (SiC), for example, the gate dielectric is exposed to a strong electric field in off-state case, and so the breakdown strength of the gate dielectric can prescribe the voltage up to which the dielectric strength of the semiconductor switch can be set by the vertical extent of the drift zone.
Endeavors are generally made to further improve the breakdown strength of semiconductor components without losses viz-a-vis the on resistance.

Semiconductor component having a SiC semiconductor body


Described is an improved method for undocking a structure having an optional number of tiers from a multilayer-dock structure constituted by docking a plurality of expansion units respectively having an intrinsic resource to a portable PC. To undock only a portable PC from a triple-layer-dock structure constituted by docking a first expansion unit and a second expansion unit to the portable PC, the first expansion unit is made to generate an undock event. The IDE device of the first expansion unit and the PCI device of the second expansion unit are separated from the control by an operating system by taking the undock event as an opportunity and the interfaces of the devices and are electrically separated. The operability is improved because it is possible to unitedly obtain an object to be undocked through both vision and operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an undocking method for a multilayer-dock structure constituted by docking a plurality of expansion units to a portable PC.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, portable personal computers (hereafter referred to as portable PCs) having various sizes and functions have been developed because mobile computing has been spread. For example, there is a notebook-type personal computer (PC), a sub-notebook-type PC, palm-top-type PC, and a PDA (personal data assistant; which may be translated as portable information terminal). The functions to be provided for the portable PC are limited. Therefore, when it is necessary to expand the functions, one or more expansion unit is or are connected to the portable PC. The expansion unit is referred to as a docking station or port replicator.
A portable PC and an expansion unit are electrically connected with each other through a connector and thereafter, logically connected with each other. This operation is referred to as docking. Even if a portable PC and an expansion unit are only electrically connected, the portable PC cannot operate the expansion unit. To make it possible for the portable PC to use the expansion unit, it is necessary for an operating system (OS) to recognize the expansion unit. This is logical recognition. Docking is not completed until the OS logically recognizes the expansion unit and the portable PC is ready to use the expansion unit.
Electrically and logically separating a portable PC from an expansion unit is referred to as undocking.
Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 8-6668 discloses an art capable of smoothly docking also in a power saving mode such as a mode in which a portable computer is powered on or suspended. The essential point of the disclosed contents will be described below. When all signals are mechanically and collectively connected, it is possible to immediately use a port signal which can be hot-plugged when the signals are connected. However, for a bus signal which cannot be hot-plugged, it is possible to keep an electrical separation state when the signals are connected. Thereby, even if a user erroneously attempts docking under operation, it is possible to prevent the hardware from breaking.
The number of expansion units to be docked to a portable PC is usually one. However, it is preferable to prepare two types of expansion units (a first expansion unit and a second expansion unit) and dock either of them to the portable PC. For example, a CD-ROM drive or audio system is provided for the first expansion unit. Moreover, I/O ports such as a video port, printer port, mouse port, keyboard port, PCI device, and LAN port are provided for the second expansion unit. Then, a double-layer-dock structure constituted by docking the portable PC and the first expansion unit or a triple-layer-dock structure constituted by docking the portable PC, first expansion unit, and second expansion unit is realized. Thus, the triple-layer-dock structure can be used as a PC equivalent to a desktop-type PC. Moreover, the double-layer-dock structure can be used as a PC having a function between the portable PC alone and the triple-layer-dock structure.
As described above, when the triple-layer-dock structure is realized by docking the first expansion unit and second expansion unit to the portable PC, it can be used as a PC equivalent to a desktop-type PC. Therefore, the facility is improved. However, when hot-undocking only a portable PC from a triple-layer-dock structure, a problem occurs. Hot-undocking represents separating a portable PC under normal operation state from a triple-layer-dock structure. In this case, the normal operation state is a state other than power-off, suspend, hibernation, and standby states and a state capable of operating the PC. The first and second expansion units have devices according to standards different from each other as resources. As a result, when hot-undocking only the portable PC from the triple-layer-dock structure, it is necessary to separately eject the resource of the first expansion unit and that of the second expansion unit. That is, it may not be possible to undock both the first and second expansion units at the same time through one-time undocking operation. Therefore, because it is necessary to perform the undocking operation two times, a problem occurs in that the operability is deteriorated.
The present invention relates to a method for undocking a structure having an optional number of tiers from a multilayer-dock structure constituted by docking a plurality of expansion units respectively having an intrinsic resource to a portable PC.
A target expansion unit located immediately below a structure to be undocked and serving as an expansion unit in the multilayer-dock structure generates an undock event. A controller provided for the portable PC and receiving the undock event issues a system management interrupt. The service program of a system receiving the system management interrupt requests an operating system to separate resources of the target expansion unit and its low-order expansion unit from the control by the operating system. The operating system performs the operation for separating the resources from its control. The service program electrically separates interfaces of the resources. In this case, the service program is allowed to have an optional configuration as a part of an application program, device driver, or operating system.
Because the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to unitedly obtain an object to be undocked through vision and operation and thereby, improve the operability.

Undocking method for multilayer-dock structure constituted by docking plurality of expansion units to a portable PC

International Business Machines Corporation


An automated analysis method and tool for a digitally imaged financial item can digitally recognize a plurality of characters across an area of a digital image containing character indicia at predetermined positions in the area and also possibly containing non-character indicia in the area. This finds exemplification in an automated check processing method and check sorting system in which a check's MICR line that has been read and interpreted as invalid can be digitally analyzed, via a digital image of the check, to identify MICR characters that could not be validly read or interpreted by the conventional MICR processing equipment. This includes digitally applying character recognition processing to an invalidated MICR line in a digital image of the financial item (e.g., a check). Previously invalidated MICR line data can then be corrected.

This invention relates generally to computer-implemented methods for digitally recognizing a plurality of characters across an area of a digital image containing character indicia at predetermined positions in the area and also possibly containing non-character indicia in the area. The invention relates particularly to an analysis method and tool for a digitally imaged financial item, such as a check having a MICR line, and even more particularly to a check processing method and a check sorting system.
Although the present invention has broader aspects referred to above, the invention will be described in the context of handling financial items, specifically checks which have along their lower portions indicia-containing areas referred to as "MICR lines." Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional check 2 has various conventional portions. These include the illustrated date, payee, numerical and alphabetical amount, memo, and signature areas. Typically other information is preprinted on the check as well (e.g., account holder identification information such as name and address, and bank name). The check 2 also includes a MICR line 4. "MICR" stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, and the acronym is used in this specification and the claims as an adjective to designate conformance or compliance with fonts and formats used in magnetic ink character recognition technology.
With regard to MICR lines and characters used on checks in the United States, the symbol set includes numerals 0 through 9, a financial institution designation symbol 6 shown in FIG. 1, an individual account number designation symbol 8 shown in FIG. 1, an amount designation symbol 10 shown in FIG. 2, and a hyphen (not shown). On the check shown in FIG. 1, two symbols 6 define the limits of a portion 12 of the MICR line 4 within which a nine-digit financial institution identification number in MICR numerals (not shown) is preprinted on the check 2. The symbol 8 delimits to the right (as viewed in FIG. 1) a portion 14 of the MICR line 4 within which a nine-digit individual account number in MICR numerals (not shown) is preprinted on the check 2. To the right (as viewed in FIG. 1) of the symbol 8 is a portion 16 of the MICR line 4 in which the check number is preprinted in MICR format (not shown). During processing of the check subsequent to it being used by the account holder to draw on the holder's account, the symbols 10 and a ten-digit number in MICR format are printed in portion 18 of MICR line 4 shown in FIG. 2 to indicate the amount of the check (the number shown illustrates certain MICR numeral forms, and it represents a check amount of $525.00).
During the time between when the account holder uses the check 2 and when it is returned to him or her as a canceled check with the account holder's monthly bank statement, for example the check may go through various check handling processes. These can be at a bank, at a Federal Reserve facility, or at a third-party check-handling facility, for example. One of these processes will be described as one context in which the present invention has utility.
In this check processing, a check sorter transports individual checks from a batch of checks at the input of the sorter to respective receptacles, referred to as pockets, at the output of the sorter. Along the way in the sorter, the MICR line is read and a digital image of the front and possibly back of the check is made. Other functions may be performed; however, the MICR line reading and the digital imaging are of particular significance to the present invention. The electrical signals generated by reading the MICR line are conducted or otherwise transmitted to a computer programmed to determine if the read MICR line is valid or invalid, and the electrical signals representing the digitized image are conducted or otherwise transmitted to a database providing a repository of digital images of the processed checks. The foregoing is known in the art.
If the programmed computer determines that the read MICR line is valid (as defined by programmed rules), it outputs control to the sorter to put the respective check in an appropriate pocket (e.g., a pocket designated for the financial institution whose identification number is in the MICR line). If the programmed computer determines that the read MICR line is not valid, it may control the sorter to send the respective check to the "reject" pocket. Some reasons why a MICR line might be deemed invalid include: bad print of the magnetic substance to form the MICR symbols (whether the numerals or the designators), misorientation of the check in the sorter, correction tape placed over the MICR line, sorter mishandling, ferrous or magnetic quality to signature ink or other marking made on the check in the MICR line area (e.g., random marks 22 or letters 24 impinging on MICR line 26 illustrated in FIG. 3), and the check having a reject repair strip (a reject repair strip 20 is illustrated in dot-dash lining in FIG. 2; this is adhered to the bottom of the main check body and it has similar MICR encoding to that found in the conventional MICR line 4 on the main check body, as known in the art). In either event (i.e., either a validated read or an invalidated read), the database is updated to include the digital image of the processed check and to include the valid or invalidated information about the check's MICR line.
Valid MICR reads usually occur in the aforementioned automated process; however, even a small percentage of invalidated MICR reads can impose a significant cost. For example, one type of check sorter may process one million items (checks) each day. A reject, or invalidated MICR line read, rate of only 1.5% results in 15,000 rejected items per day for such a sorter. Presently, these rejected items are taken from the reject pocket of the sorter and manually processed by key entry personnel, who manually handle the rejected checks, read the MICR line information, and type the numerical information into the system computer(s) to provide the correct MICR line information. A highly efficient key entry person may be able to manually process five hundred rejected checks per hour; therefore, in this example, manually processing 15,000 checks per day would require thirty hours of personnel time each day if all personnel were able to handle five hundred rejects per hour. Of course with manual entry by humans, there is the possibility of data entry error. Clearly, the manual handling of invalidated MICR line items is time-consuming and expensive. Thus, there is the need for automating the processing of checks which have been deemed to have invalid MICR lines. This includes the need for automatically correcting the invalidated MICR line information in its database. A broader need is to provide for automating character recognition (and preferably correction) of character indicia of predetermined characteristic at predetermined positions as distinguished from other markings referred to as non-character indicia (which may in fact be characters, but not of the same predetermined characteristic).

Character recognition, including method and system for processing checks with invalidated MICR lines


A step down voltage regulator with bypass comprised of devices designed to operate over a maximum rated voltage lower than a supply voltage. The regulator includes an output regulation device coupled to the supply voltage and an output. An output device protection circuit is provided which is responsive to the supply voltage and the output to ensure that the maximum rated voltage of the output regulation device is not exceeded. A bypass circuit having a bypass output device and being coupled to the supply voltage is provided with a protection circuit. The output regulation devices comprise p-channel transistors, and may have an operating maximum rated voltage in a range of 2.7-3.6 volts with the supply voltage is in a range of 4.4-5.25 volts, or 2.9-3.5 volts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to voltage regulation in multi-voltage supply applications, and in particular, for peripheral devices such as memory systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in integrated circuit (IC) technology often relate to decreasing the size and operating voltages of devices used to fabricate circuitry. Lower power devices generally translate into lower costs due to decreases in circuit size and power consumption. Currently, low-voltage integrated circuits having transistors operating in the three-volt range and lower are highly desirable. The three-volt ICs are gradually replacing the standard five-volt ICs due to their higher speed and higher integration densities. Moreover, the three-volt ICs consume less power than the traditional five-volt ICs. In battery operated devices, such as portable telephones and lap-top computers, low-voltage integrated circuits allow the devices to operate proportionally longer than devices requiring higher voltage for operation.
Improvements in processing technology have led to smaller transistor device sizes. This in turn has led to lower power supply requirements in each successive generation of transistor technology. For example, a 0.25 micron process device operates on a voltage of approximately 2.5 volts, a 0.18 micron process uses a 1.8v (+/−10%) supply, a 0.15 micron process will use a 1.5 (+/−10%) volt supply, 0.13 micron technology a 1.2v (+/−10%) supply, and so on.
The lower power requirements of newer semiconductor processes are not always compatible with legacy host devices. For example, older hosts may supply 5 or 3 volts to a memory system requiring only 3 or 1.8 volts, respectively. Computer peripheral devices must therefore be designed to accommodate connections from both 3.3 volt host supplies as well as older, higher voltage supplies. Devices constructed with newer technologies therefore allow for the possibility that the host device in which they are used will supply a higher voltage used with legacy products. Hence power level detection and voltage regulation techniques are used to provide the correct voltage to the memory device.
One such peripheral device which must make such adjustments is non-volatile memory which might be used in cellular telephones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, mobile computing devices, non-mobile computing devices, audio and video players and other appliances. Electrical Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) and flash memory are among the most popular non-volatile semiconductor memory types.
Non-volatile memory may be coupled to a host device in a number of ways. Peripheral adapters include integrated adapters coupled directly to a computers system bus and power supply, and peripherals adapted to connect to any of a number of industry standard external system connections, such as Universal Serial Bus or the IEEE 1394 Standard. A common interface used to couple non-volatile memory to such devices is the Universal Serial Bus interface. Many current USB devices are designed to operate at 3 volt, but may receive a supply in the 3 volt or 5 volt range from legacy devices.
Generally, in order to couple peripherals manufactured with newer process technologies to legacy or hosts providing higher-supply voltages, step-down voltage regulators are used. Where the regulator is integrated with the peripheral, it would be desirable to manufacture the regulator using the same process technology as that used to manufacture devices in the peripheral. Generally, however, this is not possible, since the input load to the regulator can damage lower voltage devices.
Co-pending application Ser. No. 10/633,110 discloses a voltage regulator which regulates a 5 volt supply to a 3 volt output with 3 volt devices. The devices are protected by a protection circuit within the device, allowing the device to operate with an input voltage greater than the operating level of the devices without damaging the devices.
The present invention provides an alternative implementation of a voltage regulator wherein devices having an operating range lower than the potential input voltages are used in the voltage regulator.