A web cutting apparatus has a decurling unit for correcting curl of a web unwound from a reel while the web is being fed, a slitter for slitting the web, a cutter for cutting the web into successive sheets each having a predetermined length, a curl measuring unit disposed at an exit end of the runner cutter, and a conveyor for conveying the sheets to a stacker station. The curl measuring unit has a cut completion detecting mechanism for detecting when the web is cut by the cutter, a cutter distance measuring mechanism for detecting the position of the cutter, and a web displacement measuring mechanism for detecting a displacement due to a bend of a free distal end of the web.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for measuring curl of a web which is fed in its longitudinal direction, a method of and an apparatus for correcting curl of such a web, and an apparatus for cutting such a web.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, presensitized plates for planographic printing have a support layer coated with a photosensitive material and comprising a thin metal sheet of aluminum, for example, which has a thickness ranging from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm, for example. A web cutting apparatus for cutting a web into such thin metal sheets for use in presensitized plates has a reel which supports a roll of web. The web unwound from the web roll on the reel is corrected out of curling into a flat shape by a curl correcting apparatus such as a decurling unit or a roller leveler. The decurled web is then trimmed by a slitter and cut by a shear into sheets which are delivered by a feed mechanism such as a conveyor to a stacker section where they are stacked.
In the web cutting apparatus, sheets cut from the web are inspected for curl or shape defects. For example, sheets cut by the shear are sampled on a production line, and the sampled sheet is measured in an off-line area for curl or shape defects (hereinafter referred to as "prior art 1"). Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-50751 discloses a process for detecting the amount of a bend (curl) in the leading end of a cut sheet at the exit end of a conveyor as a feed mechanism (hereinafter referred to as "prior art 2").
According to the prior art 1, a sheet on the production line is removed by a sampling unit and then measured in the off-line area for curl or shape defects. The measuring process requires a considerable amount of manual work which is time-consuming. Since the production line is shut off until the measuring process is finished, the production line is poor in efficiency.
According to the prior art 2, the amount of a bend in the leading end of a cut sheet is detected after the sheet is delivered to the exit end of the conveyor. As a plurality of defective sheets may possibly be present between a curl correcting unit and the exit end of the conveyor, the yield of normal sheets is relatively poor.
Settings for a curl correcting unit for correcting curl in sheets are changed usually depending on the experience of the operator. Therefore, the number of sheets which are rejected as being defective varies from operator to operator. The web wound around the reel has different amounts of curl at the outer periphery of the roll than near the reel of the roll. The settings for the curl correcting unit must be different at the outer periphery of the roll than near the reel. The settings for the curl correcting unit for decurling the web in the vicinity of the reel are changed based on the experience of the operator. This practice imposes an undue burden on the operator. If settings for the curl correcting unit are changed inappropriately, then cut sheets tend to become tortuous on the conveyor and to be stacked improperly. As a result, the yield of proper sheets is poor, and the efficiency of the production line is low.
When another web unwound from a web roll on the reel is cut into sheets for use in new presensitized plates, the curl correcting unit is first operated with provisional settings. Then, the provisional settings are modified into final settings based on the results of an inspection process conducted on the sheets for curling. Until the final settings are determined, the production line is operated with the provisional settings, which results in the possibility of a low product yield. To avoid the possibility of a low product yield, it is necessary to operate the production line at a low speed until the final settings are determined. As a consequence, the rate of production of sheets for use in presensitized plates is relatively low.

Method of and apparatus for measuring curl of web, method of and apparatus for correcting curl of web, and apparatus for cutting web


An improved bagger or bag dispenser for supplying bags attached to strips in a bag assembly to a workstation includes a reversible drive that pulls the bag assembly from a supply to the work station and returns unused bags to the supply when changing bag assemblies. The bagger includes a winding spool having tapered ribs and valleys.

Foods products, such as meat, cheese and the like, are conventionally packaged in plastic bags at workstations. Packaged foods products must carry product information such as packaging date and product source information. Product information is commonly printed on the bags.
Baggers or bag dispensers that supply printed bags to workstations are available. These devices include a drive that moves the bags from a supply of bags to the workstation. The bags pass a printer that prints product information on exposed sides of the bags before the bags reach the workstation.
Bags are supplied by the manufacturer as an indefinite-length bag assembly, either as a roll of bags or as a shingled bag assembly stored in a box. The bags are spaced along the length of the bag assembly. With shingled bag assemblies, lead ends of the bags are adhered to tape strips and trailing ends overlie each other. The tape strips are fed through the device from the box to the workstation. The bags are removed from the tape strips at the workstation.
Glatfelter, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,023, assigned to the common assignee of this application, is incorporated herein by reference and discloses a bagger that is intended for high-production workstations where product is automatically bagged and sealed. The bagger reliably prints product information on bags of a shingled bag assembly. The two tape strips on the lead end of the bag assembly are attached to a take-up reel so that rotation of the reel by a drive motor pulls the bag assembly to the workstation. The tape strips are wound on the reel as the bag assembly is pulled through the bagger.
Workstations typically process production runs requiring different size bags for different size products. The bagger described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,023 is intended to be used with different size bags. When changing bag assemblies to change bag size the tape strips of the installed bag assembly are cut near or at the take-up reel, the bags on the lead end of the installed bag assembly are stripped off the tape strips and the assembly is removed from the bagger. The strips at the lead end of the removed assembly can easily be wound onto the reel when the assembly is reinstalled in the bagger. A new bag assembly with different sized bags is then installed in the bagger. The unused bags stripped from the removed bag assembly are discarded and wasted.
Conventional bag dispenser take-up reels are rotated by air ratchet drive motors. This type motor rotates the take-up reel through a fixed angle per each ratcheting motion. Each extension of an air cylinder advances the bag assembly a predetermined distance, typically about 0.25 inches. The operator cannot adjust this distance to correct the position of a bag assembly misaligned at the printer or the loading station.
Conventional take-up reels pull each tape strip in unison. After prolonged operation, one tape strip will often lag behind the other as the strips wind onto the reel. Tape strip lagging causes bags on the assembly to become misaligned at the printer or the loading station and may cause jams in the dispenser.
The bags are expensive. It is desirable to reduce operating cost by eliminating bag waste during operation of the bagger and when changing from one bag assembly to another.

Bagger or bag dispenser with reversible take-up reel and method


The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of epothilone analogs by initially forming novel ring-opened epothilones and carrying out a macrolactamization reaction thereon. The subject process is amenable to being carried out in a single reaction vessel without isolation of the intermediate compound and provides at least about a three-fold increase in yield over prior processes for preparing the desired epothilone analogs.

Epothilones are macrolide compounds that find utility in the pharmaceutical field. For example, epothilones A and B having the structures:                 epothilone A R═H        epothilone B R═Memay be found to exert microtuble-stabilizing effects similar to paclitaxel (TAXOL®) and hence cytotoxic activity against rapidly proliferating cells, such as, tumor cells or other hyperproliferative cellular disease, see Hofle, G., et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., Vol. 35, No.13/14, 1567-1569 (1996); WO93/10121 published May 27, 1993; and WO97/19086 published May 29, 1997.
Derivatives and analogs of epothilones A and B have been synthesized and may be used to treat a variety of cancers and other abnormal proliferative diseases. Such analogs are disclosed in Hofle et al., Id.; Nicolaou, K. C., et al., Angew Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., Vol. 36, No. 19, 2097-2103 (1997); and Su, D.-S., et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., Vol. 36, No. 19, 2093-2097 (1997).
Analogs of the epothilones that have been found to have advantageous activity are represented by the following structure wherein Q, and R1 through R6 have the meanings given herein below. An improved synthesis for these analogs involving novel intermediates is provided in accordance with the present invention.

Process for the preparation of epothilone analogs


Method and apparatus for cascading devices wherein the output voltage is greater than the individual voltage capacity of the circuit components. The cascadable switch contains transistors connected so that the source and gate voltages on a given transistor are derived from the drain and source voltages of the preceding stage in the cascade. Depletion mode devices are utilized in one embodiment of the invention, while level shifter circuits are incorporated into another embodiment.

In electronic circuitry, an optimal drive circuit will provide voltage in excess of the breakdown voltages of the individual circuit components. For example, the cascode circuit, a cascaded transistor arrangement provides an output voltage which is up to two times (2.times.) the value of the breakdown voltages of each of the circuit's transistors. Such an output is particularly advantageous in an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) semiconductor circuit for performing a write operation, for example, by supplying a large voltage to the EEPROM in an efficient manner.
A simplified version of a cascode transistor circuit for providing a large output voltage can be seen in FIG. 1. In the FIG. 1 circuit, an input voltage of 5V from location 10 is provided to the gate of a first transistor 14. The gate of transistor 12 is connected to ground potential and the drain is connected to the source of the first transistor 14. For the sake of the example, resistor 16 is provided as a 10V load for the circuit, although in practice a p-channel device would generally be provided as the load. The output at node 18 will be from 0V to 10V, while each individual transistor, 12 and 14 each of which has a breakdown voltage of 5V, will see only 5V. Therefore, the cascade transistor arrangement is capable of providing a drive voltage of approximately 2.times. the breakdown voltage capability of the individual transistors.
The output voltage in semiconductor transistor circuits can be enhanced by increasing the breakdown voltages of the individual transistors, which can be accomplished by modifying the processing steps when fabricating the circuit components. For semiconductor transistors, using thicker gate oxide and tailoring the junction during ion implantation can improve the breakdown voltage of the individual transistors. A disadvantage to the known process modifications for enhancing the output voltage of drive circuits is that each process change is expensive in terms of monetary cost, time expenditure, and compromise to other aspects of circuit performance.
Implementation of cascode transistor circuits in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates is desirable due to the dielectric isolation between devices. However, optimal performance of SOI cascade transistor structures is not realized because the breakdown voltages are reduced by the floating body effect encountered in SOI.
While transistors are detailed herein, it will be clear to one having skill in the relevant art that the foregoing, and ensuing, descriptions can be applied to any three terminal amplifier, wherein a certain input voltage is applied to one terminal and the output current is controlled at the two output terminals, such that the device has a breakdown voltage which cannot be exceeded. While the three terminal amplifiers most commonly used today are transistors, the invention can be applied to other three terminal amplifiers, such as vacuum tubes.
It is therefore desirable, and is an objective of the present invention, to devise an improved drive circuit which will provide enhanced operating voltage.
It is another objective of the present invention to produce an improved semiconductor drive circuit having enhanced output voltage without increasing the cost of semiconductor processing.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide an improved semiconductor drive circuit which can readily be implemented under existing silicon-on-insulator (SOI) C-MOS technology.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method, executed by a computer, for routing a circuit includes receiving a logic structure for a circuit, retrieving a logic template, determining whether the logic structure for the circuit matches the logic template, and routing the circuit using a routing recipe corresponding to the logic template in response to determining that the logic structure matches the logic template. A corresponding computer program product and computer system are also disclosed herein.

The present invention relates generally to designing electronic circuits such as integrated circuits, and more particularly to routing signal paths for electronic circuits.
Modern integrated circuits often have millions of circuit elements such as gates, latches, and drivers in addition to scores of I/O pins. Each of these circuit elements must be electrically connected to other circuit elements, or to I/O pins, via wires (a.k.a. traces) to realize desired functionality. The process of determining the connection path for the circuit wires is referred to as routing.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

International Business Machines Corporation


A garage and a charging connector device thereof are provided. The charging connector device comprises a plug, a mounting seat and a charging socket. The plug is mounted to the mounting seat. The mounting seat has a guide shaft. The charging socket has a guide sleeve engageable with or disengageable from the guide shaft, and the plug is capable of inserting into or pulling out of the charging socket.

This section merely provides background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Generally, a garage system (e.g., a stack garage system) comprises a plurality of garage unites for depositing vehicles. In order to charge the electric vehicle, every garage unit is provided with a separate charge pile. Because the charge piles are disposed in the garage units having different levels respectively, it may take a lot of time for connecting the charge pile to the electric vehicle.
In addition, the charge pile is provided in every garage unit, thus the cost is increased.

Garage and charging connector device thereof


A data converting method includes counting for each bit pattern among bit patterns that a data segment of a specific number of bits can assume, the number of data segments that have the bit pattern, where the data segments are segments of write_data written to a storage medium storing two types of bit values among which a first value has a higher error occurrence rate than a second value; correlating a bit pattern selected as a conversion source pattern, from among the bit patterns in descending order of count results, with a bit pattern selected as a conversion target pattern, from among the bit patterns in descending order of quantities of the second value respectively included in the bit patterns; and converting for each conversion source bit pattern, data segments having the conversion source bit pattern, into converted data segments having the correlated conversion target bit pattern.

A technique called error check and correct (ECC) is a conventional method for lowering the error rate of semi-conductor memory, such as NAND-type flash memory. ECC is a technique in which a memory controller adds error correction code to data when the data is written to the semi-conductor memory, whereby errors are corrected by the error correction code when the data is read.
Related prior techniques includes, for example, a technique such that when data is written to a flash memory, the data is encoded, the number of specific numerical values in the encoded data is reduced to be smaller than the number of specific numerical values before the encoding, and then the encoded data is written to a memory cell of the flash memory. Another related technique is a technique in which information is converted from information of a first data format into information of a second data format using statistical values related to the first data format and the information is stored to memory together with an identifier for identifying a conversion value used for conversion to the second data format.
Still another related technique is a technique in which data is written to random access memory, is converted into data in which the number of bits having a prescribed value is greater than or equal to a prescribed number and the converted data is output to the random access memory. Still another related technique is a technique such that among n kinds of write_data created by rearranging write_data in burst transmission, write_data having less data switching at data writing to memory than data switching before the rearrangement in burst transmission is selected and the order of the selected write_data in burst transmission is encoded in a redundant bit.
For examples of the conventional techniques above, refer to Published Japanese-Translations of PCT Application, Publication Nos. 2010-528380 and 2005-537551, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2002-366419 and 2008-059449.
As the semi-conductor memory comes to have a microfabricated structure or multivalued configuration, the error rate of the semi-conductor memory increases. As a result, error correction using conventional techniques, such as ECC, has become difficult. For example, a higher error rate of the semi-conductor memory results in an increase in the number of bits of the error correction code used in ECC, thus leading to increased circuit scale of the memory controller and a larger required memory capacity of the semi-conductor memory.

Bit pattern data converting method and apparatus therefor


An infrared emitter is described. The infrared emitter comprises an infrared source, a housing, and infrared optics. The infrared source emits electromagnetic radiation with a peak intensity at a radiation wavelength within the range of 2 to 15 microns. The housing has an aperture, and is arranged to house the infrared source. The infrared optics is arranged to direct the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the infrared source through the aperture to outside the housing.

Lighting is provided in numerous applications, including applications where the light is deployed in an outside, and sometimes adverse, environment. Applications for lighting in outside environments include, for example, airports, such as for airport maintenance and operations, enhanced vision systems (EVS), autonomous vehicles, such as automobiles and trucks, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Lighting in outside environments may be subjected to conditions which attenuate visible and near infrared (NIR) light. Such outside environmental conditions include smoke, dust, rain, snow and fog, for example. Radar provides electromagnetic irradiation which penetrates fog. Radar systems, however, are relatively expensive as compared to other sources of electromagnetic radiation. Further, radar does not provide as good an image as compared to other sources of electromagnetic radiation.


Software is executed on a wireless device for presenting a response aggregation drawn upon a message having at least two desired recipients. The software of presenting at least two message-structure item questions via the wireless device and receives input requesting response aggregation drawn upon the message having at least two desired recipients and transmits the message to at least one of the at least two desired recipients using the wireless device.

Wireless communication refers to communication between sending and receiving stations via electromagnetic radiation not guided by any hard physical path (e.g., by microwave link). Examples of wireless communication are communication via cellular telephony systems, Personal Communication Systems, or Global System for Mobile Communication systems.
Wireless communication is typically accomplished via users exchanging voice and/or alphanumeric data via use of at least one wireless device. One example of wireless communication is that of a first wireless-device user exchanging voice and/or alphanumeric data with a group of two or more other wireless-device users.
It has been noted by the inventors named herein (the inventors) that when a first wireless-device user finds it advantageous to exchange voice and/or alphanumeric data with a group of wireless-device users, the first wireless-device user either may want to disseminate information to the group, or may instead want to both disseminate information to the group and receive feedback from the group members in response to the disseminated information. It has been further noted by the inventors that when such group communication is performed in the related art, it is generally done manually, in that the first wireless-device user must generally contact each of the group members and disseminate the voice and/or alphanumeric data on an individual basis. Thereafter, typically the first wireless-device user manually aggregates and transforms the responses from the users in the group if such aggregation or transformation is desired.
The inventors have noted that there are several disadvantages to the manual method of the related art. First, the inventors have noted that it is very tedious and time intensive to contact and disseminate information to the group, particularly if data transmission is involved. Second, the inventors have noted that insofar as group members may be temporarily unavailable, the first wireless-device user must seek to repetitively call the unavailable group members. Third, the inventors have noted that it is very tedious and time intensive to manually aggregate and transform responses from the group members. Fourth, the inventors have noted that if a group member is not interested in either receiving or responding to the disseminated information, the first wireless-device user essentially wastes his time by contacting the disinterested user. Fifth, the inventors have noted that if a group member is undecided in his response to the disseminated information, the first wireless-device user must repetitively contact such undecided group member to see if the undecided group member has yet arrived at a decision. In addition to the foregoing, other disadvantages exist which will be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art.
In light of the foregoing, the inventors have noted that a need exists in the art for a method and system that will allow a wireless device user to easily disseminate information to and collect information from a group of wireless-device users.

Managed messaging platform with message response aggregation


A new family of crystalline aluminosilicate zeolites has been synthesized. These zeolites are represented by the empirical formula.Mmn+Rr+Al(1-x)ExSiyOz where M represents a combination of potassium and sodium exchangeable cations, R is a singly charged organoammonium cation such as the propyltrimethylammonium cation and E is a framework element such as gallium. These zeolites are similar to MWW but are characterized by unique x-ray diffraction patterns and compositions and have catalytic properties for carrying out various hydrocarbon conversion processes.

Zeolites are crystalline aluminosilicate compositions which are microporous and which are formed from corner sharing AlO2 and SiO2 tetrahedra. Numerous zeolites, both naturally occurring and synthetically prepared are used in various industrial processes. Synthetic zeolites are prepared via hydrothermal synthesis employing suitable sources of Si, Al and structure directing agents such as alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, amines, or organoammonium cations. The structure directing agents reside in the pores of the zeolite and are largely responsible for the particular structure that is ultimately formed. These species balance the framework charge associated with aluminum and can also serve as space fillers. Zeolites are characterized by having pore openings of uniform dimensions, having a significant ion exchange capacity, and being capable of reversibly desorbing an adsorbed phase which is dispersed throughout the internal voids of the crystal without significantly displacing any atoms which make up the permanent zeolite crystal structure. Topological zeolites can be used as catalysts for hydrocarbon conversion reactions, which can take place on outside surfaces as well as on internal surfaces within the pore.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,171 an EU-4 zeolite is described. The template propyltrimethylammonium hydroxide is used in the synthesis of EU-4. However, the silica to alumina ratio of the product EU-4 is higher than 49.1.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,511 another zeolite, UZM-15, is described. The template propyltrimethylammonium hydroxide is used in the synthesis of UZM-15, but only as an additive to another template; and not as the sole template.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,575,737 another zeolite, UZM-27 is synthesized with a propyltrimethylammonium hydroxide template in conjunction with calcium.
Applicants have successfully prepared a new family of materials designated UZM-37. The topology of the materials is similar to that observed for MWW. The materials are prepared via the use of a simple commercially available structure directing agent, such as propyltrimethylammonium hydroxide, using the Charge Density Mismatch Approach to zeolite synthesis (U.S. Pat. No. 7,578,993). The organoammonium compounds used to make UZM-37 zeolite are non-cyclic or contain cyclic substituents and are generally quite simple. Examples of organoammonium compounds used to make UZM-37 include propyltrimethylammonium (PTMA) and isopropyltrimethylammonium (1-PTMA) cations.

Processes using UZM-37 aluminosilicate zeolite


An anti-theft system is arranged so that an operation of an engine of a vehicle is maintained as it is even when a CPU of an engine control unit is reset for some reason during when the engine is operative. A CPU of a security ECU performs arithmetic operations for enabling or inhibiting injection of fuel to the engine and for enabling to start a starter on condition that a door key switch and an ignition switch are both turned on. The CPU of the engine ECU performs arithmetic operations to maintain the injection of fuel to the engine based on data of fuel injection enabling or inhibiting process stored in a B/U RAM even when it is reset after receiving the data of process for enabling or inhibiting the injection of fuel from the CPU.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-theft system adopted for vehicles such as automobiles, motorcycles, boats and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto, as a vehicular anti-theft system, there is one, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open NO. 64-56248 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,460) for example, which keeps an engine which has once started running even if a supply of power voltage to an engine electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as engine ECU) is unintentionally cut off, as long as a mechanical key is at a position of turning on an ignition switch, by maintaining the engine ECU on the ON state continuously by a security electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as security ECU) by its holding circuit.
However, because the anti-theft system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-56248 has the following problem as it is arranged so that after when the ignition switch is turned on, the security ECU sends an injection enabling signal for enabling to inject fuel to the engine to the engine ECU only once and the engine ECU shifts to a control of the injection of fuel after checking the transmission of the injection enabling signal from the security ECU by an initialization process along reset of its CPU.
That is, only a measure for preventing the stoppage of the engine during its operation is taken and no measure for a case when the CPU of the engine ECU is reset after the transmission of the injection enabling signal from the security ECU is taken in this system.
Accordingly, when the CPU of the engine ECU is reset when a power voltage of a car battery drops or is instantaneously cut off for example in activating a starter to start the engine, the injection enabling signal is not transmitted again as described above from the security ECU after when the power voltage has returned. Due to that, the injection of fuel is disabled. The same applies to a case when the CPU of the engine ECU is reset due to an abnormality thereof caused by an overrun of its function for example.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-32962, there is a vehicular anti-theft system which is arranged so that a function of an engine ignition system is stopped when a theft is detected and so that the function of ignition system is not stopped to hence keep running the engine once started when a circuit for detecting an operative state of the engine has detected the operative state of the engine.
The vehicular anti-theft system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-32962 has a problem that the engine ignition system is also cut off in addition to the problem similar to the case described above.

Vehicular anti-theft system including a security control unit and engine control unit that uses a reset and memory


A motion capture simulation system can include a capture volume. A participant disposed in the capture volume can be motion captured and immersed into a virtual environment. The virtual environment may be larger in size than the capture volume. In the virtual environment, the participant may be represented by an avatar. The avatar in the virtual environment can be moved in a first direction based on a motion of the participant in the first direction in the capture volume. As the participant moves in the first direction in the capture volume, the participant may approach a boundary of the capture volume, while the participant's avatar may have space to move further in the first direction in the larger virtual environment. Approaching the boundary, the participant can change direction, for example turning around to avoid the boundary. The redirected participant can continue driving the avatar to move in the first direction.

Training in realistic situations often yields substantial performance improvement. With conventional technology, such realistic training can pose high risk to a participant, especially if the training involves performance of potentially dangerous tasks or operations in hostile and/or potentially threatening environments. So, to provide the participant with a reduced risk environment for training, the realistic situation can be simulated using motion capture. The term 'motion capture' as used herein generally refers to capturing any appropriate motion of an object in the real world using appropriate sensors and translating the motion in the real world to a motion in the virtual environment (which can also be characterized and interchangeably referred to as a virtual world).
In a motion capture simulation, typically a real world environment may be mapped to a virtual environment. Further, the real world environment may be different in proportion compared to the virtual environment. For example, the real world environment that is mapped to the virtual environment may be the size of a basketball court, while the corresponding virtual environment may be size of a large town. The difference in proportion may hinder a seamless movement in the virtual environment because the movement in the real world may be limited to the confines of the real world. For example, the movement of a participant in the real world may be limited within the boundaries of a room while the corresponding virtual environment is much larger than the room. The hindrance to the seamless movement in the virtual environment may affect a performance improvement of the participant. In view of the foregoing discussion of representative shortcomings, need for improved mapping from the real world to the virtual environment is apparent.

Mapping between a capture volume and a virtual world in a motion capture simulation environment


A self-haircutting guide apparatus includes a flexible band for securing around a person's head and a haircutting guide which includes first and second ends. The guide is detachably mounted to the band at one of the first and second ends thereof and includes first and second generally opposed channel members which define therebetween a recess for allowing the hair to extend therethrough. At least one of the channel members includes a track for guiding a haircutting instrument, such as a hair-clipper or scissors or the like, between the channel members.

The present invention is directed to haircutting devices, and more particularly to a self-haircutting guide apparatus which allows a person to cut his or her hair uniformly and accurately.
Various haircutting devices are available in the art, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,542,450; 2,698,018; 3,202,158: 3,972,075; and 5,577,520. These devices, however, suffer from various disadvantages in that they are either directed to cut someone else's hair or are not very effective in cutting a person's own hair. In addition, these devices are not very effective in uniform and precise haircutting and require some additional means to draw the hair out through the device before cutting. This poses a particular problem for those who have curly hair.
Finally, the conventional devices do not allow the flexibility of angled or streak-cutting of hair, such as providing a slanted cut on the side of a person's head extending from the front to rear.
In view of the disadvantages associated with the conventional haircutting devices, there is a need in the industry for a haircutting guide apparatus which allows a person to more uniformly and precisely cut his or her own hair.


An electroacoustic transducer has lead terminals formed of an alloy consisting of 32 to 55% by weight of Ni and a remainder essentially of Fe, and having a crystal grain size of 7.0 or greater. In an electroacoustic transducer, both coil terminals of the coil are connected to the associated lands of the lead terminals, and thermal conduction suppressing sections are provided at proximal end sides of lands of the lead terminals for suppressing thermal conduction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electroacoustic transducer for converting electric signals to acoustic signals, and, more particularly, to an electroacoustic transducer, using an improved material and structure for lead terminals, which suppresses the precipitation of the component that hinders the solder wetting property (good solder wetting property means that solder is well adhered to the lead terminals), which ensures a thinner lead frame, which accelerates the local heating of lands at the time of soldering coil terminals to the associated lands to thereby make it unnecessary to increase the heating temperature or heating time, thus preventing resin parts in the vicinity of the lands from being thermally damaged, and which prevents the soldered portion from being remelted by heat at the time the electroacoustic transducer is mounted on the mount board of an arbitrary electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 26 through 33, the structure of a conventional electroacoustic transducer will be explained according to the fabrication steps. To begin with, the structure of a lead frame 201 shown in FIG. 26 will be described. The lead frame 201 has a plurality of lead frame elements 201a (each lead frame element is encircled by an imaginary line in FIG. 27) coupled side by side to ensure the fabrication of a plurality of electroacoustic transducers, and FIG. 26 shows one of the lead frame elements 201a. Each lead frame element 201a has a pair of frame guide rails 203 and four guide holes 204. Formed between the pair of frame guide rails 203 is space 205 in which projecting pieces 207, 209, 211 and 213 are protrusively provided. Those projecting pieces 207, 209, 211 and 213 have distal ends 207a, 209a, 211a and 213a which serve as lead terminals of a completed electroacoustic transducer. That is, the projecting pieces 207, 209, 211 and 213, when cut along cut lines A in FIG. 26, become the lead terminals 207a, 209a, 211a and 213a.
The aforementioned lead frame 201 has a structure as shown in FIG. 27 in which a plurality of lead frame elements 201a (four elements in this case) shown in FIG. 26 are coupled side by side. A base member 215 is formed on this lead frame 201. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, the lead frame 201 is placed in a mold, and a yoke (base) 217 and the lead terminals 207a, 209a, 211a and 213a are formed by inserting (at this point of time, cutting along the cut lines A in FIG. 26 has not been carried out yet). At this time, the surface of the yoke 217 and the lands (soldering portions) of the lead terminals 207a, 209a, 211a and 213a are exposed. Note that a pole piece (core) 219 should have been formed previously in the center of the yoke 217.
Then, various parts should be assembled to the structure shown in FIGS. 27 and 28. First, a coil 221 is wound around the pole piece 219 of each lead frame element 201a, as shown in FIG. 29. Then, a support ring 223 is placed inside the base member 215, with a magnet 225 put in the ring 223. Then, a diaphragm 230, which has a magnetic piece 227 attached as an added mass to the center of an elastic plate 229, is set on the support ring 223. Next, both coil terminals 221a and 221b of the wound coil 221 are led on the lands of the lead terminals 207a and 209a and are soldered there and then cut away. The above-described work should be performed for all the lead frame elements 201a, thus yielding the state shown in FIG. 30.
As shown in FIG. 31, a case 231 should separately be formed of synthetic resin, and should be placed over the base member 215 of each lead frame element 201a. Next, the case 231 is securely welded to the base member 215 by ultrasonic welding as shown in FIG. 32. Through the work done up to this point, four electroacoustic transducers are fabricated on the lead frame 201. Finally, the projecting pieces 207, 209, 211 and 213 of each lead frame element 201a are cut along the cut lines A shown in FIG. 26 to separate the individual electroacoustic transducers from one another. Then, the lead terminals 207a, 209a, 211a and 213a of each electroacoustic transducer are subjected to a forming process, providing a completed electroacoustic transducer as shown in FIG. 33.
Each completed electroacoustic transducer is then mounted as informing means on an arbitrary electronic device such as a portable telephone or a pager. The electric connection on such an electronic device is generally made by reflow soldering.
The above-described conventional structure has the following shortcomings.
In general, an alloy such as brass or phosphor bronze is used for the above-described lead frame 201. Those copper alloys are characterized by their relatively low cost and high thermal conductivity. Those copper alloys contain a component like Zn or Be, which deteriorates the solder wetting property and which is precipitated on a soldered plated layer as time goes, thus hindering the solder wetting property. Conventionally, therefore, double plated layers of Ni and Cu are provided to suppress the precipitation of the component which hinders the solder wetting property.
The conventional lead frame 201, as has already been discussed above, is formed of an alloy of brass, phosphor bronze or the like which is relatively soft. Therefore, the required mechanical strength cannot be obtained unless the lead frame 201 is formed thicker to a certain degree.
The very fact that the material for the lead frame 201 has high thermal conductivity raises another problem. Specifically, in soldering both coil terminals 221a and 221b of the coil 221 to the lands of the lead terminals 207a and 209a, heat escapes from the lead terminals 207a and 209a toward the frame guide rails 203 of the lead frame 201. This impairs the local heating on the lands. It is therefore difficult to execute the desired soldering at the normal heating temperature, so that the heating temperature or the heating time is increased. When the heating temperature or the heating time is increased, however, resin parts in the vicinity of the lands may be damaged by the heat.
In mounting a completed electroacoustic transducer on the mount board of an arbitrary electronic device like a portable telephone or a pager, the reliability of the soldered portions of the coil decreases. As discussed above, the lead frame 201 has high thermal conductivity and is thick, so that heat is easily transferred to the inner portions of the lead terminals from the outer portions thereof at the time of soldering to the mounting board. Accordingly, solder on the previously-soldered portions of the coil terminals may be remelted, causing the coil terminal 221a and 221b to come off. In this respect, the melting temperature of solder should be set high enough that solder is not remelted by the heating temperature at the time an electroacoustic transducer is mounted on the mounting board.


A user interface is described that informs the user as to the status of the operation of a voice recognition application. The user interface displays an indicator, such as a volume bar, each time that the voice recognition application records and identifies a volume event. The user interface also displays an indicator when the voice recognition application recognizes a volume event corresponding to a displayed volume event indicator. The interface thus confirms to a user that the voice recognition application is both recording and recognizing the words being spoken by the user. It also graphically informs the user of the delay the application is currently experiencing in recognizing the words that the user is speaking.

Speech is perhaps the oldest form of human communication, and many scientists now believe that the ability to communicate through speech is inherently provided in the biology of the human brain. It thus has been a long-sought goal to allow users to communicate with computers using speech, and great strides recently have been made in obtaining this goal. For example, some computers now include speech recognition applications that allow users to speak aloud both commands for operating the computer and dictation to be converted into text. These applications periodically record sound samples taken through a microphone, analyze the samples to recognize the phonemes being spoken by the user, and identify the words made up by the spoken phonemes.
While speech recognition is becoming commonplace, there are still some disadvantages to using conventional speech recognition applications. With human interaction, people control their speech based upon the reaction that they perceive in a listener. For example, a listener may nod or make vocal responses, such as "yes" or "uh-huh," to indicate that he or she understands what is being said to them. On the other hand, a listener may take on a quizzical expression, lean forward, or give other vocal or non-vocal cues if the listener does not understand what is being said. Based upon these responses, a speaker will speak more slowly, more loudly, pause more frequently, or repeat a statement, usually without the listener even realizing that he or she is changing they way they are speaking.
Unfortunately, conventional voice recognition applications do not provide these responses to speech. Some voice recognition applications may display various indicators to show a user when the application is recording. For example, some voice recognition applications may display a "microphone on" indicator when the application is recording sound samples, and a "microphone off" indicator when the application has stopped recording sound samples. Some voice recognition software applications may also employ a volume indicator, to graphically show a user the level at which the application is recording sound samples. Further, some voice recognition applications may even provide an indicator after a phrase of speech has been recognized, to inform the user as to whether or not the recognition process was successful or unsuccessful. Thus, these voice recognition applications may display the phrase "please repeat that" if a phrase has not been properly recognized, or display the recognized phrase when it has been recognized. None of these indicators, however, gives the user any sign as to whether or not the voice recognition application is recognizing a phrase while the user is still speaking that phrase.
This is a particularly significant disadvantage for conventional voice recognition applications, as they will generally experience a substantial lag time between the user speaking a phrase and when the application recognizes that phrase. In order to recognize spoken commands, for example, a voice recognition application will usually employ a grammar library. This grammar library contains the sequence of words (which are themselves expressed as a sequence of phonemes) that make up each command that can be given through the voice recognition application. Before the voice recognition application will begin the recognition process for a phrase, it will first match a recorded sound with the initial phoneme of a command in the grammar library. Only after the voice recognition application determines that the user has begun to speak the first phoneme of an actual command will it then start the recognition process for subsequent sounds spoken by the user.
As the recognition process continues, the voice recognition application will typically catch up in recognizing the words of the phrase being spoken by the user. For example, with voice recognition applications that employ a cache memory, the recognition process will become quicker as more speech data is loaded into the cache. Also, subsequent sounds in a command phrase may be more quickly recognized if the phrase has few word alternatives. Each time the user completes a phrase and begins speaking a new phrase, however, there is a new delay in the recognition process.
These delays in the speech recognition process create a significant problem with most users. As the speech recognition application delays in recognizing input sounds, the typical user will become uncertain as to whether the speech recognition application is working. In response, the typical user will often begin to speak more slowly, more loudly, or both. This detracts from the accuracy of the recognition process, which is calibrated to recognize speech at conversational volumes and at normal speeds. Even worse, the user may repeat a phrase, causing the phrase to be recognized twice. As the accuracy of the recognition process decreases, the typical user will speak still more slowly, more loudly, or become more repetitive, making the accuracy even worse. This cycle will continue until the user becomes too frustrated to continue employing the voice recognition application.

Speech recognition status feedback of volume event occurrence and recognition status


Methods and systems for data recording and reading for increasing overall tape data storage density, especially for data written in azimuth style. The principles of the invention provide servo formats and systems that allow accurate on track guidance for higher density applications and that are less sensitive to off track error. Preferred embodiments of the invention offer servo formats and systems of the invention that allows positive track and group identification at the beginning, end, and optionally periodically along the length of a tape.

Various data recording, playback, and erasing techniques exist for recording data to and from data storage media, such as magnetic tape. Magnetic tapes are used for data storage in computer systems requiring data removability, low-cost data storage, high data-rate capability, and high volumetric efficiency and reusability. The rapidly accelerating growth in stored digital data and images, the Internet, and replacement of paper as long-term record retention, and the need for massive dense storage for reconnaissance and surveillance is creating a demand for corresponding increases in the data storage capacities of magnetic tape recording and reproducing systems, while maintaining the special requirements of high speed digital tape systems.
Tape recording and reproducing systems for use as computer data storage devices are often required to provide high data transfer rates and to perform a read check on all written data. To satisfy these requirements, conventional, orthogonal linear tape systems (where recorded transition lines that are created between regions of opposite magnetization are orthogonal to the head/tape motion direction) typically employ methods wherein the tracks of data lie parallel to each other and to the edge of the tape. Linear recording techniques offer high data transfer rates by employing reading and writing head configurations with multiple, parallel channels, wherein each read and write head pair provides a channel, typically with each writing or reading element in data transfer contact with the recording media a substantial portion of the time.
In orthogonal linear tape recording systems, data tracks generally are followed in the direction of tape movement with the read and write heads arranged in the same manner as the recorded transitions that are perpendicular to the direction of tape motion. The writer element to a significant degree defines the width of a data track (and thus the number of data tracks that can be provided across a tape of given width) by creating the regions or domains of magnetization following one another in the tape direction at the width of the write head.
The potential for misregistration of the read element to the written track (from tape wander, data track alignment or the like) requires in some systems that the read element be substantially smaller than the written track width in order to ensure that the read head is reading magnetization fields only within the desired data track. Thus, the read head element also (as is also limited by read head performance characteristics) limits how narrow the data track can be, and hence the maximum track density.
Not only is the data track width limited by the minimum read element size in order to meet the recording system's performance criterion, it also is limited to accommodate expected misregistration as may occur under the dynamic conditions of moving media and as may be determined empirically or by modeling. If a read head moves off the data track for whatever reason and begins to read a signal from the adjacent track, the possibility of erroneous data transfer increases. More specifically, the error rate is known to increase exponentially as the read head moves further off the data track. Typically, for an acceptable off-track error rate, the adjacent track signal must be less than ten percent of the data track signal being read.
The general premise is thus to write wide and read narrow. Writing wide, however, decreases the data density (less data tracks across a given tape width). Reading narrow is unfortunately limited by making an acceptable read element that will still meet signal amplitude, SNR (signal to noise ratio), and media defect sensitivity requirements. As a result, minimum track width is approximately the width of a read element that meets the above performance requirements plus twice the misregistration (normally the three sigma value since the misregistration is a statistical distribution).
There are a number of potential sources of read element to written track misregistration error, which error is systematic in that both the media and the drive are involved as potential sources of error. The principal sources of error include tape lateral motion, vibration in the head/actuator assembly, dimensional instability of the media substrate, and mechanical misalignments between read and write elements in manufacturing and assembly. Probably the most significant limitation on tape track densities is the tendency for the tape to experience lateral tape motion, which is a tendency for the tape to shift laterally relative to the linear direction of tape motion. During a data track write, lateral tape motion can cause one or more data tracks to deviate from a desired axis along which tracks are expected to be written. During reading, lateral tape motion can cause misregistration of the read head over the track being read. This build-up of potential misregistration of data tracks combined with other less significant potential sources of misregistration can result in a portion of the read element to be positioned over an adjacent data track, which, if significant enough, can cause an unacceptable level of data transfer errors. As noted above, the reading of an adjacent track is typically limited to ten percent or less of the desired data track signal. The normal method in linear tape recording to ameliorate the potential effects of this misregistration is to make the read element much narrower than, i.e., approximately half, the track width. However, as noted above, limitations of minimum signal amplitude, signal-to-noise-ratio, and sensitivity to media defects provides a lower limit as to how narrow the read element can actually be. Thus, from a practical design perspective, an effective read head size as determined by such performance constraints would be doubled to determine a desirable data track width. As such, the effective read element size limits how narrow a data track can be made.
One developed method of increasing data track density involves azimuth recording techniques. Azimuth recording for data tracks has long been used in helical recording systems and has been more recently introduced into linear tape systems. Generally, in azimuth recording of either helical or linear tape systems, data transitions on alternate adjacent tracks are recorded at a similar but opposite azimuth angle (e.g., θ on one track and −θ on an adjacent track, with this alternating azimuth pattern repeating across the data band) and relative to an axis along which the head travels relative to the media. In helical tape recording systems, the head is moved relative to a linear tape movement at a significantly greater speed and at an angle to the relative direction of tape movement.
Azimuth recording itself is a well-understood technology that provides a level of suppression of an adjacent track signal. The suppression is based upon the well known relationship that the suppression, S=20*log 10 [sin x/x], where x=(πW/λ))*tan 2θ. In this relationship W is the data track width, θ is the positive value of the +/−θ angles that the recorded transitions make with the transverse axis to the head direction, and (is the wavelength associated with the minimum transition density (λ=two times the maximum transition spacing). Thus, a determined azimuth angle, θ, is dependent on factors such as the degree of suppression to be attained, the data track width W, and the minimum transition density or maximum λ of the readback signal spectra. In current systems the data track width W is at least an order of magnitude larger than λ and thus, a suitable transition angle θ can be relatively small to achieve sufficient suppression of an adjacent data track signal.
Because of such angular azimuth recording, a signal from a track adjacent to the data track being read can be sufficiently suppressed to an acceptable level, such as to be less than ten percent of the data track signal as noted above. Hence, a read element can overextend an adjacent track and thus can be designed to be wider than the data track, allowing the full data track signal to be utilized. Azimuth style recording for data tracks is further described in Assignee's co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,247, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference; as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,615.
Some current linear serpentine tape drives for azimuth recording typically utilize a single head structure that contains two pairs of read and write elements. Like orthogonal head structures, azimuthal head structures are typically designed with the read and write elements parallel to each other and aligned in the direction of tape movement when brought into the proper alignment with the desired azimuth angle. Thus, by offsetting the read and write elements as they are positioned along lines that are parallel to one another as to the distance along the parallel lines, an orthogonally constructed head can be positioned to record and read azimuthal tracks when rotated at an appropriate angle. The read and write elements can be aligned so that with the proper spatial relationship between them, they are able to read and write adjacent tracks and only require transversal repositioning once for every track pair. Such transversal movement and positioning or tracking can be conventionally controlled by known actuators. Tracking can be achieved in a single head, but usually requires the additional complexity and weight of a dual degree freedom actuator, such as conventionally known and that permits both rotary movement of the single head and movement of the head in the transverse direction to the tape movement. A compound dual degree freedom of motion actuator, i.e. a single unit to provide multiple types of motion, adds additional mass and generally needs to carry twice as many leads in order to accommodate forward and reverse read and write capabilities. This provision of additional leads adds stiffness to the system that can inhibit or interfere with its motion capabilities.
Recent generations of multi-channel linear serpentine tape systems have used servo tracking to decrease track misregistration. The use of servo tracking has greatly reduced tracking errors due to manufacturing alignment and offset tolerances between the read and write element arrays, skew errors, some track shift due to tape substrate dimensional instability, and the effect of lateral tape motion. In such systems, position sensing read sensors (servo elements) detect prewritten servo tracks on the tape that can be laid down under tightly controlled conditions to reduce misalignment of the servo tracks to the tape. The tape is typically divided into alternating bands of data tracks and servo tracks where the band of data tracks can be much wider than the servo band; typically the data band is 8 to 16 times the width of the servo band, depending on the number of data channels. From the output signals of the servo data elements, a position error signal can be determined that is used by the servo control loop to dynamically and more accurately position the data elements over their tracks. Typically, the servo elements are located in the same array as the read elements and can be symmetrically placed outboard of the read array on each side.
Notwithstanding the widespread use of servo systems and formats, in helical recording the Position Error Signal (PES) generally has been embedded in the data-recording band and uses the data read head as the servo transducer. Also, when recording or writing, the head moves in only one direction relative to the tape and the tape is only moving in one direction. Quantum Corp., for example, has used azimuthal recording in its DLT drives, but does not track follow.
A number of different encoding schemes have been proposed for servo formats. The four most prevalent forms of encoding are frequency encoding, amplitude encoding, time-base encoding, and phase encoding. All tend to share a common characteristic where the servo transducer is a single element. Further, except for time-based encoding, the primary characteristic of these approaches is that the encoded servo features on alternate servo tracks are different. In some cases this differentiation can be extended to more tracks to provide either a larger capture range when accessing the track or enhancing track identification.
Most current servo systems used commercially in linear serpentine tape systems commonly employ either an amplitude modulated mono-frequency signal (AM system) or a "Time Base" system. A typical AM system might utilize a single servo read element to detect the position error signal where the "on track" PES is half, or less, than the data signal. The weaknesses of the AM approach include the susceptibility of the PES to dropouts and noise, the reduced sample rate, the wider band width to accommodate the modulation, and without writing (erasing the holes) the tracks individually, the inability to identify the selected track.
Time-based servo position error signals have been introduced by IBM in some of its latest products and the philosophy has been extended to the LTO family drives that are being produced by IBM, Seagate, and HP. Time-based servos use slightly (typically 6-7 degrees) but, oppositely angled transitions for the servo timing features, e.g., "diamond-shaped," "vee," "inverted vee" features, combinations of these, or the like. The time difference among servo transitions as a function of transverse position of the servo head on tape provides the positioning information. The servo transducer orientation is nominally perpendicular to the track direction so that the transitions are encountered at a slight angle.
Hybrid thin film/ferrite servowriter heads with precision patterns have been developed to record the time-based servo tracks for IBM and LTO tape heads. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,795,246, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. See, also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,496,328; 6,269,533; 6,678,116; 6,894,869; and 6,989,960, all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
A typical Time Base system might use a servo read element much narrower than the track width or data read elements, hence a much lower signal level and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), while trying to achieve a high spatial resolution. Neither system typically provides positive track identification, although the Time Based system could allow servo group identification.
A significant advantage of the "Time Based" Servo approach is that it is relatively insensitive to dropouts and Gaussian noise. However, because of the narrowness of the servo transducer, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is quite low. Perturbation along the axis of the tape in the transitions is magnified in the transverse direction by 1/sin (, where (is the azimuth angle of the transitions. Thus, with an azimuth angle of about 6 degrees to 7 degrees, perturbation is magnified by a factor of about ten. Further, although the measurement is insensitive to any static variation in the tape speed, significant error may tend to be introduced by any dynamic variation in the tape speed. Like the AM system, this approach typically does not provide for unique identification of the data track. Further, modeling and simulation have shown that the current time-based approaches may be limited to intrinsic (to the servo pattern and head only) misregistrations of several tenths of micron, thus limiting maximum track density to 4,000-6,000 tracks per inch.
With the trend toward recording higher densities, the industry strongly needs a servo format and system that allows increasingly more accurate on track guidance. It would be further desirable to have a servo format and system that allows positive track and group identification at the beginning, end, and optionally periodically along the length of a tape.

Servo systems, servo heads, servo patterns for data storage especially for reading, writing, and recording in magnetic recording tape


The capacitor includes at least: a capacitor body; two lead wires provided on one end surface; a projecting portion provided at a substantially central portion of another end surface; and at least two relief valves provided on the another end surface. On the another end surface, the at least two relief valves are arranged in substantially rotational symmetry with respect to the projecting portion. Further, an axial center line of the projecting portion and an axial center line of the capacitor substantially correspond to each other. Also provided are a capacitor case to be used the capacitor and a substrate provided with a circuit using the capacitor.

An electrolytic capacitor includes a metal case accommodating a capacitor element containing an electrolyte solvent. When the electrolytic capacitor fails due to application of a voltage higher than a rated voltage to the electrolytic capacitor, an internal pressure of the metal case rises due to generation of a gas (hydrogen gas), vaporization of the electrolyte solvent, and the like. A sharp rise in the internal pressure may cause a burst of the electrolytic capacitor. Thus, in order to prevent the burst, the electrolytic capacitor includes a relief valve which opens when the internal pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1). This relief valve is provided to a head surface of a columnar electrolytic capacitor, or one relief valve is provided to a side surface of the electrolytic capacitor.
At the time of assembly of various substrates provided with a circuit including a columnar electrolytic capacitor, the electrolytic capacitor is mounted through soldering to a substrate of the substrate provided with a circuit. At this time, two lead wires extending in an axial direction of an electrolytic capacitor body from one end surface side of the electrolytic capacitor body are soldered while being inserted in through-holes provided through the substrate. However, in this case, the electrolytic capacitor is mounted under a substantially upright state with respect to the substrate, and hence electronic apparatus including the substrate provided with a circuit cannot be reduced in thickness or downsized.
Thus, there have been proposed techniques for preparing a substrate provided with a circuit by mounting the electrolytic capacitor to be laid on a substrate (refer to Patent Literatures 2 to 6). In those techniques, the electrolytic capacitor is mounted to the substrate as follows: providing one auxiliary terminal, which includes a lead wire, has a length sufficiently larger than a diameter of the electrolytic capacitor body, and does not have electrical functions, to an end surface of the electrolytic capacitor body, which is opposite to the side on which the two lead wires are provided; and inserting and soldering the auxiliary terminal into the through-holes of the substrate together with the two lead wires.

Cased capacitor within substrate circuit


The self correcting scheme to match pull up and pull down devices includes: a first comparator for comparing a common mode signal to a high reference limit; a second comparator for comparing the common mode signal to a low reference limit; a first flip flop having an input coupled to an output of the first comparator; a second flip flop having an input coupled to an output of the second comparator; a counter having inputs coupled to the first and second flip flops; and a delay device controlled by an output of the counter, wherein the delay device provides a pull down control signal that is delayed relative to a pull up control signal.

CAN is a differential signaling system that makes use of two bus lines namely CANH and CANL. Data communication occurs mainly by differentiating between the two possible states on the bus—a dominant state during which a differential voltage is established between the two bus lines and a recessive state during which there is no differential voltage. In the latter state, CANH and CANL are both in a high-z (high impedance) state and the driver is inactive.
One of the specifications for CAN is that the difference in common mode voltage between dominant and recessive states should be less than 120 mV and during transitions the spikes in the common mode voltage should be restricted below the same values, if not completely avoided. A prior art CAN driver is shown in FIG. 1. The node CANH is pulled up by PMOS transistor 20 and node CANL is pulled down by NMOS transistor 22 in the dominant state. Since NMOS transistor 22 and PMOS transistor 20 always have a difference in strengths and threshold voltage (Vt), NMOS transistor 22 typically turns on faster when the two devices are attempted to be turned on at the same time. Node CANL gets pulled down first and there is a negative spike in the common mode signal. To some extent this can be alleviated by delaying the control signal to NMOS transistor 22 as compared to PMOS transistor 20, but a fixed delay almost never solves the problem completely due to process, temperature and signal voltage variation.

Self correcting scheme to match pull up and pull down devices


The present invention relates to a protein, designated NAP (Nemo Associated Protein), that was discovered to inhibit the activation of transcription factor NF-kB by various signals that are important in inflammatory and immune processes. The DNA and the recombinant production of this protein is also disclosed as well as methods of using the protein or encoding DNA.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with a novel protein that inhibits the activation of transcription factor NF-κB by various signals that are important in inflammatory and immune processes. More particularly the invention relates to a protein herein designated NAP (Nemo Associated Protein), its recombinant production and its use.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Tumor Necrosis Factor/Nerve Growth Factor (TNF/NGF) receptor superfamily is defined by structural homology between the extracellular domains of its members Bazan, (1993). In general, with the exception of two receptors, the p55 TNF receptor and Fas/APO1, the various members of this receptor family do not exhibit clear similarity of structure in their intracellular domains. Nevertheless, there is much similarity of function between the receptors, indicating that they share common signaling pathways. This is seen in the ability of several receptors of the TNF/NGF family to activate the transcription factor NF-κB, by means of a cytoplasmic activator protein, TNF Receptor Associated Factor 2 (TRAF2). TRAF2 exerts its activity by binding to the structurally-dissimilar intracellular domains of several of the receptors of the TNF/NGF family.
TRAF2 is a member of a recently described family of proteins called TRAF (TNF Receptor Associated Factor) that includes several proteins identified as, for example, TRAF1, TRAF2, TRAF3, and TRAF6.
All proteins belonging to the TRAF family share a high degree of amino acid identity in their C-terminal domains, while their N-terminal domains may be unrelated. The TRAF2 molecule contains a ring finger motif and two TFIIIA-like zinc finger motifs at its C-terminal area. The C-terminal half of the molecule includes a region known as the "TRAF domain" containing a potential leucine zipper region extending between amino acids 264-358 (called N-TRAF), and another part towards the carboxy end of the domain between amino acids 359-501 (called C-TRAF) which is responsible for TRAF-binding to the receptors and to other TRAF molecules to form homo- or heterodimers.
Activation of the transcription factor NF-κB is one manifestation of the signaling cascade initiated by some of the TNF/NGF receptors and mediated by TRAF2. NF-κB comprises members of a family of dimer-forming proteins with homology to the Rel oncogene which, in their dimeric form, act as transcription factors. These factors are ubiquitous and participate in regulation of the expression of multiple genes. Although initially identified as a factor that is constitutively present in B cells at the stage of IgK light chain expression, NF-κB is known primarily for its action as an inducible transcriptional activator. NF-κB has many different activities in the cell, most of which are rapidly induced in response to extracellular stimuli. The majority of the NF-κB-activating agents are inducers of immune defense, including components of viruses and bacteria, cytokines that regulate immune response, UV light and others. Accordingly, many of the genes regulated by NF-κB contribute to immune defense (Grilli et al., 1993).
One major feature of NF-κB-regulation is that this factor can exist in a cytoplasmic non-DNA binding form which can be induced to translocate to the nucleus, bind DNA and activate transcription. The switching between these two forms of NF-κB is regulated by I-κB—a family of proteins that contain repeats of a domain that was initially identified in the erythrocyte protein ankyrin (Gilmore et al. 1993). In the unstimulated form, the NF-κB dimer occurs in association with an I-κB molecule which causes retention of the dimer in the cytoplasm and prevents its interaction with the NF-κB-binding DNA sequence and subsequent activation of transcription. The dissociation of I-κB from the NF-κB dimer constitutes the critical step of its activation by many of its inducing agents (DiDonato et al., 1995).
One of the most potent inducing agents of NF-κB is the cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF). There are two different TNF receptors, the p55 and p75 receptors, the expression levels of which differ according to cell type (Vandenabeele et al., 1995). The p75 receptor responds preferentially to the cell-bound form of TNF (TNF is expressed both as a beta-transmembrane protein and as a soluble protein) while the p55 receptor responds equally to both forms of TNF (Grell et al., 1995). The intracellular domains of the two receptors are structurally unrelated and bind different cytoplasmic proteins. Nevertheless, at least some of the effects of TNF, including the cytocidal effect of TNF and the induction of NF-κB, can be induced by both receptors. This feature is cell specific. The p55 receptor is capable of inducing a cytocidal effect or activation of NF-κB in all cells that exhibit such effects in response to TNF. The p75-R can have such effects only in some cells. Others, although expressing the p75-R at high levels, show induction of the effects only in response to stimulation of the p55-R (Vandenabeele et al., 1995). Apart from the TNF receptors, various other receptors of the TNF/NGF receptor family: CD30 (McDonald et al., 1995 and Berberich et al., 1994), the lymphotoxin beta receptor and, in a few types of cells, Fas/APO1 (Rensing-Ehl et al. 1995) are also capable of inducing activation of NF-κB. The IL-1 type I receptor, which also effectively triggers NF-κB activation, shares most of the effects of the TNF receptors despite the fact that it has no structural similarity to them.
The activation of NF-κB upon triggering of these various receptors results from induced phosphorylation of its associated I-κB molecules. This phosphorylation tags I-κB for degradation, which most likely occurs in the proteasome. The nature of the kinase that phosphorylates I-κB, and its mechanism of activation upon receptor triggering is still unknown. However, in recent years, there have been some advantages in relation to the identity of three receptor-associated proteins that appear to take part in initiation of the above-mentioned phosphorylation. A protein called TRAF2, initially cloned by D. Goeddel and his colleagues (Rothe, M. et al. 1994) seems to play a central role in NF-κB-activation by the various receptors of the TNF/NGF family. The protein, which when expressed at high levels can by itself trigger NF-κB activation, binds to activated p75 TNF-R, lymphotoxin beta receptor (Mosialos et al. 1995), CD40 (Rothe et al., 1995) and CD-30 (unpublished data) and mediates the induction of NF-κB by them. TRAF2 does not bind to the p55 TNF receptor nor to Fas/APO1, however, it can bind to a p55 receptor-associated protein called TRADD and TRADD has the ability to bind to a Fas/APO1-associated protein called MORT1 (or FADD). Another receptor-interacting protein, called RIP (Stanger et al., 1995) is also capable of interacting with TRAF2 as well as with FAS/APO1, TRADD, the p55 TNF receptor and MORT-1. Thus, while RIP has been associated with cell cytotoxicity induction (cell death), its ability to interact with TRAF2 also implicates it in NF-κB activation and it also may serve in addition to augment the interaction between FAS/APO1, MORT-1, p55 TNF receptor and TRADD with TRAF2 in the pathway leading to NF-κB activation. These associations apparently allow the p55 TNF receptor and Fas/APO1 to trigger NF-κB activation (Hsu et al., 1995). A protein called RAP-2 (RIP associated protein-2), now known as NEMO, is disclosed in WO 99/47672.
The triggering of NF-κB activation by the IL-1 receptor occurs independently of TRAF2 and may involve a recently-cloned IL-1 receptor-associated protein-kinase called IRAK (Croston et al., 1995).
By what mechanism TRAF2 acts is not clear. Several cytoplasmic molecules that bind to TRAF2 have been identified. However, the mechanisms by which TRAF2, which by itself does not possess any enzymatic activity, triggers the phosphorylation of I-κB is still uncertain.
In addition, it is to be noted that TRAF2 also binds to the p55 (CD120a) and p75 (CD120b) TNF receptors, as well as to several other receptors of the TNF/NGF receptor family, either directly or indirectly via other adaptor proteins as noted above. TRAF2 is thus crucial for the activation of NF-κB (Wallach, 1996). However, TRAF3 actually inhibits activation of NF-κB by some receptors of the TNF/NGF family, whilst TRAF6 is required for induction of NF-κB by IL-1 (Cao et al. 1996).
It is now known that TNF and the FAS/APO1 ligand, for example, can have both beneficial and deleterious effects on cells. TNF, for example, contributes to the defense of the organism against tumors and infectious agents and contributes to recovery from injury by inducing the killing of tumor cells and virus-infected cells, augmenting the antibacterial activities of granulocytes, and thus, in these cases the TNF-induced cell killing is desirable. However, excess TNF can be deleterious and as such may play a major pathogenic role in a number of pathological states such as septic shock, anorexia, rheumatic diseases, inflammation and graft-vs-host reactions. In such cases the TNF-induced cell killing has a deleterious effect. The FAS/APO1 ligand, for example, also has both desirable and deleterious effects. Binding of this ligand to its receptor induces the killing of autoreactive T cells during maturation of T cells, i.e. the killing of T cells which recognize self-antigens, during their development, thereby preventing the occurrence of autoimmune diseases. Further, various malignant cells and HIV-infected cells carry the FAS/APO1 receptor on their surface and can thus be destroyed by activation of this receptor by its ligand or by antibodies specific thereto, and thereby activation of cell death (apoptosis) intracellular pathways mediated by this receptor. However, the FAS/APO1 receptor may mediate deleterious effects, for example, uncontrolled killing of tissue which is observed in certain diseases such as acute hepatitis that is accompanied by the destruction of liver cells.
NF-κB is known to control the expression of many immune- and inflammatory-response genes. Thus, in view of the fact that the TNF/NGF family of receptors can induce cell survival pathways (via NF-κB induction) on the one hand and can induce cell death pathways on the other hand, there apparently exists a fine balance, intracellularly between these two opposing pathways. For example, when it is desired to achieve maximal destruction of cancer cells or other infected or diseased cells, it would be desired to have TNF and/or the FAS/APO1 ligand inducing only the cell death pathway without inducing NF-κB. Conversely, when it is desired to protect cells such as in, for example, inflammation, graft-vs-host reactions, acute hepatitis, it would be desirable to block the cell killing induction of TNF and/or FAS/APO1 ligand and enhance, instead, their induction of NF-κB, which would in turn lead to the enhanced expression of many immune- and inflammatory-response genes. Likewise, in certain pathological circumstances it would be desirable to block the intracellular signaling pathways mediated by the p75 TNF receptor and the IL-1 receptor, while in others it would be desirable to enhance these intracellular pathways.
It is an object of this invention to provide clones, proteins, and other tools for the modulation and/or mediation of NF-kB effects, in particular clones comprising the NAP protein and the NAP protein itself.
Citation of any document herein is not intended as an admission that such document is pertinent prior art, or considered material to the patentability of any claim of the present application. Any statement as to content or a date of any document is based on the information available to applicant at the time of filing and does not constitute an admission as to the correctness of such a statement.


An immersion cooling system includes a receiving member, a heat dissipation channel, and a heat sink. The receiving member is filled with coolant. The receiving member is connected to an end of the heat sink, and heat-generating entities such as one or more servers are positioned in a cavity of the receiving member. The heat dissipation channel is connected to the cavity and is connected to the heat sink. The heat dissipation channel communicates with the cavity and allows circulation of the coolant in the channel, the heat sink cooling down the coolant flowing into heat dissipation channel from the cavity. The immersion cooling system is compact, occupies very little space, and is easily installed, maintained, and moved. A server system having the immersion cooling system is also disclosed.

In a traditional server cooling system, flat plate heat exchangers and cooling towers are used to cool the server, a heat-generating entity, and heat is dispersed out of the server. Plate-like heat exchangers and cooling towers occupy a large space and may have complex constructions. Furthermore, it may be difficult to maintain such a cooling system.
Thus, there is room for improvement within the art.

Immersion cooling system and server system having the same

Fulian Precision Electronics (Tianjin) Co., LTD.


An image pickup device including a semiconductor substrate that is irradiated with light from a first surface side thereof, and reading signal charges generated in the semiconductor substrate in accordance with the light from a second surface side thereof, wherein the semiconductor substrate includes: a photoelectric converting layer that includes a plurality of impurity diffusion layers on the second surface side of the semiconductor substrate, and that produces the signal charges by photoelectric conversion; and an embedded member that includes a light blocking material, and that is embedded in an impurity diffusion layer on a surface side of the photoelectric converting layer, the surface side facing the second surface side of the semiconductor substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup device which photoelectrically converts incident light to produce signal charges, and more particularly to an image pickup device in which color mixture can be reduced, a method of producing such an image pickup device, and a semiconductor substrate for such an image pickup device.
2. Background Art
As shown in ITE Technical Report vol. 30, No. 25, pp. 25-28 "Rimen Shosya CMbS Image Sensor," U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,088, Japanese Patent No. 3,722,367 and JP-A-2005-150463 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), a solid-state image pickup device of the backside illumination type, which has been used only in a specific application field where emphasis is placed on the quantum efficiency or the aperture ratio, has been proposed to be used in a consumer image pickup device such as a digital camera or a digital video camera.
The greatest feature of a backside illumination image pickup device is that the optical sensitivity can be improved by increasing the quantum efficiency. This is because, unlike the surface incident configuration, the rear face incident configuration has no structure for blocking incident light, on the light incident side, so that the aperture ratio can be increased, and a photoelectric converting portion can be designed to be sufficiently thick, whereby substantially 100% of incident light can be photoelectrically converted.
FIG. 8 is a graph showing the absorptance to the wavelength of incident light with respect to various thicknesses of a depleted layer of a photodiode which performs photoelectric conversion. As shown in FIG. 8, in a photodiode in which the depleted layer has a thickness of 2.0 μm, 3.5 μm, or 5 μm, the light absorptance in the photodiode is more reduced as the wavelength is longer. Therefore, it is seen that, when the thickness of the depleted layer of a photodiode is set to 10 μm, the reduction of the absorptance depending on the wavelength of incident light can be suppressed. In this way, when the thickness of the photodiode is increased, the reduction of the absorptance of incident light can be suppressed, and the optical sensitivity can be improved.
In the case where the thickness of a photoelectric converting layer is made large, there arise the following problems when an image pickup device is produced.
(1) In a photoelectric converting layer, impurity diffusion layers of different impurity concentrations are formed by an ion implanting apparatus. When the photoelectric converting layer is thick, the apparatus has a limit to implant ions to a sufficient depth.(2) In implantation of ions, when the ions are implanted to a deep region of the photoelectric converting layer, the range where the ions are implanted is wider as the depth is larger. Therefore, it is difficult to adequately form element separation for respective pixels.(3) In a production process in which optical elements are overlaid on a face of the photoelectric converting layer on the light incident side, and that on the side of a wiring board for transferring signal charges, a high overlay accuracy is required.
In a conventional backside illumination image pickup device, when a photoelectric converting portion is designed to be thick, therefore, there is a fear that color mixture is notably caused by so-called pixel crosstalk in which incident light enters photodiodes of adjacent pixels to generate signal charges.
In Non-patent Reference 1 above, a photodiode of the backside illumination CMOS sensor has a thickness of 4.0 μm, and the thickness is approximately equal to that of a conventional image pickup device. Therefore, the sensor does not employ the configuration which is an advantage of a backside illumination image pickup device, and in which a photoelectric converting layer can be made sufficiently thick, and hence pixel miniaturization by improving the optical sensitivity cannot be attained. At present, an image sensor having a pixel size of 2 μm square is commercially produced, and the development of a pixel of a smaller size is advancing. A request for a backside illumination image pickup device in which a minute pixel having a size of 1.4 to 1.6 μm square can be realized is increasing. In the configuration of an image pickup device in which the pixel size is smaller than about 1.5 μm and a silicon layer having a photoelectric converting layer of a thickness of 10 μm or more is disposed, the ratio of the width and thickness of the photoelectric converting layer of each pixel is 1:6 or larger. Usually, it is known that, when the thickness ratio is larger than 1, color mixture caused by crosstalk easily occurs. Non-patent Reference 1 above relates to the configuration where the thickness of the photoelectric converting layer is not increased, and which cannot solve the problem that color mixture occurs more easily as the ratio of the thickness to width of the photoelectric converting layer becomes larger.

Backside illumination image pickup device, method of producing backside illumination image pickup device, and semiconductor substrate for backside illumination image pickup device


Disclosed is a cargo balancing system for a cargo truck having front, rear, right, and rear sides. The cargo balancing system includes a horizontal sensor for sensing whether the cargo truck is driving on a flat surface or on a slant to the right or left of the cargo truck, and inputting corresponding signals to a controller; and side panel swing means for controlling a side panel of the cargo truck according to electric power applied from the controller in response to the signals, the side panel being pivotally mounted to a truck bed of the cargo truck.

When freight is loaded high in an open-bed cargo truck, the goods often tilt when driving on a slanted road or when making sharp turns. Namely, as the truck slants together with the slant of the road, the weight of the goods loaded in the bed of the truck forces the goods to tilt in the direction of the slant. Centrifugal forces when making sharp turns, especially at high speeds, often causes the same problem. Accordingly, the driver must stop the truck and re-fasten the goods in the bed of the truck in an upright state.
Further, a mix of the right factors--extreme slant in the road, overly top-heavy load, both a slant in the road and a turn in the opposite direction of the slant, high speed turning, etc.--can cause the truck carrying a large load to overturn.

Cargo balancing system for a cargo truck


A blade gapping tool for setting the gap of a hair clipper bladeset, the blade gapping tool including a base, a locking member, an adjustable boss and an adjuster.

The present invention relates generally to hair grooming tools and, more specifically, to a blade gapping tool used to set the gap on a hair clipper bladeset.
Hair trimmers typically use a bladeset having two blades, a fixed blade and a moving blade which laterally reciprocates relative to the fixed blade. The moving blade is coupled to a guide member using fasteners, while the guide member is slidingly coupled to the fixed blade. The distance between the tips of the teeth of the upper blade and the tips of the teeth of the lower blade is referred to as the bladeset gap. The bladeset gap is adjustable by moving the upper blade relative to the lower blade in a direction normal to the direction of reciprocation of the moving blade.
Hair clipper bladeset manufacturers usually assemble bladesets when the bladeset is manufactured. Users of hair trimmers may disassemble the bladeset to sharpen and/or clean the blades. Currently, bladesets are assembled manually which can be demanding due to the difficulty in holding the moving blade still relative to the fixed blade while using fasteners to fix the moving blade to the guide member. In addition, it can be difficult to obtain a consistent bladeset gap.


In a method and magnetic resonance apparatus wherein a homogenous magnetization is generated in a spatial examination volume of the apparatus during examination of a subject, individual resonator segments of a body coil, that are electromagnetically decoupled from each other, are separately activated by a control and evaluation device according to sets of predetermined segment-specific excitation parameters stored in the control and evaluation device. The resonator segments are temporally sequentially excited in an excitation sequence, using different excitation parameter sets with phase distributions of the nuclear magnetization distributions in the examination volume constructively superimposing to form a resulting homogenous entire nuclear magnetization distribution in the examination volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for generation of a homogeneous magnetization in a spatial examination volume of a magnetic resonance system during a subject examination, the magnetic resonance system having a body coil formed by a number of resonator segments and a control and evaluation device for separate activation, corresponding to a set of predetermined, segment-specific excitation parameters, of the individual resonator segments, that are electromagnetically decoupled from one another.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance tomography is one of the imaging methods in medical diagnostics that utilizes the interaction of an external field (here a magnetic field) with the human body for imaging. The design and the functionality of such a magnetic resonance system is known and does not have to be described in detail.
In earlier times, magnetic resonance systems were also produced in which the basic magnetic field was more than 1.5 T, in particular 3 T and more. Better resolutions can be achieved with these magnetic resonance systems, but inhomogeneities of the image quality occur that are ascribed to inhomogeneities in the excitation field generated by the body coil.
A magnetic resonance system is known from EP 1 279 968 A2 in which, according to the system design described above, resonator segments that are electromagnetically decoupled from one another are provided that form the body coil. Here the individual resonator segments can resonate independently of one another at the desired resonance frequency. A separate transmission channel is associated with each resonator segment, meaning that each resonator segment can be activated separately. The generation of separate individual fields that, in combination, produce the circularly-polarized radio-frequency magnetic field, is possible. The amplitude and the phase of each individual transmission channel can be adjusted correspondingly.
As described, the image quality in magnetic resonance systems depends to a considerable degree on the homogeneity of the spatial distribution of the component of the circularly-polarized radio-frequency magnetic field that effects the deflection of the spins from the equilibrium state. Especially at higher frequencies, the homogeneity of the magnetic field is no longer significantly influenced solely by the currents at the antennas, but also by the currents in the patient's body. The activation of the resonator segments ensues using an established excitation parameter set that, with regard to the amplitudes and phases of the activation signals of the individual resonator segments, is selected to obtain an optimally homogeneous magnetic field.
A central problem in the framework of the MR examination with a comparably strong basic magnetic field is the patient exposure that exists due to the very high operating frequencies of the excitation magnetic field, which patient exposure is caused by power losses absorbed by the patient. For example, if a basic magnetic field of 3 T is used, the frequency of the circularly-polarized excitation magnetic field is, for example, 128 MHz. More severe inhomogeneities result from the high frequency and the low penetration depth of the magnetic field associated therewith, which severe inhomogeneities lead to the situation that the spin flip across the examination volume is not sufficient. However, a more severe heating of the body additionally results therefrom due to the high energy application. This increased energy application can not be arbitrarily high locally with regard to the examination volume nor globally with regard to the examination subject. In the MR examination, limit values are taken into account in order to avoid over-exposing the patient. The local specific absorption rate (SAR) concerns the local energy application per weight unit and is specified as a power loss density per kilogram of weight while the global absorption rate represents the sum of the local absorption rates over the entire examination subject. For example, the global absorption rate can lie below the limit value while the local absorption rate exceeds the limit value at a specific point of the examination volume and a local burning of the patient can occur.
The goal of an optimally homogeneous excitation magnetic field thus is in conflict with the problem of the patient exposure that limits the acquisition possibilities given excitation with a predetermined excitation parameter set that would lead to a very homogeneous magnetic field.

Method for generating a homogeneous magnetization in a spatial examination volume of a magnetic resonance installation