In a first aspect of the invention, a method is provided for operating a thermal printer adapted to print images by transferring donor material from patches of donor material from a donor ribbon onto a receiver medium, said printer being operable to print images in a manner that exhausts a full donor patch set or a fractional donor patch set during printing. In accordance with the method, a print order is received and it is determined whether a fractional donor patch set is available for printing. An image is printed using donor material from the fractional donor patch set where at least part of the print order can be satisfied using donor material from the fractional donor patch set.

In thermal printing, it is generally well known to render images by heating and pressing one or more donor materials such as a dye, colorant or other coating against a receiver medium. The donor materials are provided in sized donor patches on a movable web known as a donor ribbon. The donor patches are organized on the ribbon into donor patch sets, each donor patch set contains all of the donor patches that are to be used to record an image on the receiver medium. For full color images, multiple colored dye sets can be used, such as yellow, magenta and cyan donor dye patches. Arrangements of other color patches can be used in like fashion within a donor patch set. Additionally, each donor set can include an overcoat or sealant layer.
It will be appreciated from this that the size of the donor patches defines the full size image that can be printed using a conventional thermal printer. To provide flexibility of use, many thermal printers are capable of printing relatively large images such as 6″×8″ images. While prints of this size are highly desirable for many uses, it can be challenging to use and store images printed at this size. Accordingly, consumers often request that such printers render images at a fraction of the full size image, such as images printed at the wallet size, 3″×5″ size or 4″×6″ size. Images at these sizes are more easily used and stored and exhausts only a fraction of the donor material from a donor patch set leaving a fraction donor patch set.
Unfortunately, the printers of the prior art are not adapted to use the remaining donor material from a fractionally used donor patch set for printing other images. Instead, it is conventionally known to have a thermal printer advance to the next complete donor set after printing a fractional size image so that the thermal printer is prepared to print any size image when the next printing order is received. It will be appreciated that this results in inefficient use of the donor material causing increased printing expense. What is needed therefore is a thermal printer control system and a method that enables more efficient use of donor material.

System and method for efficient donor material use


Ramp period detecting circuit 101 outputs signal Tc that indicates the start and end of the ramp period. Two-dimensional quadrature coordinates (I.alpha.,Q.alpha.) and (I.beta.,Q.beta.) are output alternately. Coordinate accumulator 106 accumulates I.alpha. which is +1 or -1 corresponding to each odd piece of two-bit data; coordinate accumulator 107 accumulates Q.alpha. which is 0 corresponding to each even piece of two-bit data. Response waveforms from a digital lowpass filter (or rise/fall ramp waveforms) corresponding to signal Tc and outputs from coordinate accumulators 106 and 107, namely accumulated values of I.alpha. and Q.alpha., are alternately read from storage unit 112.

Currently, the QPSK is widely used as a digital modulation method. For example, RCR STD-28 standard for Personal Handyphone System (PHS) stipulates that the .pi./4-shift QPSK should be used as a modulation method. The QPSK including the .pi./4-shift QPSK is a modulation method in which two bits of data are transferred simultaneously by using the inphase (I-phase) component and quadrature-phase (Q-phase) component of a carrier wave.
Given below is the description of the .pi./4-shift QPSK and conventional .pi./4-shift QPSK modulating apparatus 600.
.pi.4-shift QPSK modulating apparatus receives a baseband signal as serial data. The baseband signal is converted through series-to-parallel conversion into a symbol (X.sub.k,Y.sub.k) which is a piece of two-bit parallel data, where "k" represents a natural number, indicating that "(X.sub.k,Y.sub.k)" is the k-th symbol. The symbol (X.sub.k,Y.sub.k) is converted by a differential encoding circuit into a quadrature signal (I.sub.k,Q.sub.k) This conversion is performed based on the following formula: ##EQU1## where .DELTA..phi.(X.sub.k,Y.sub.k) has values shown in the following table:
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ X.sub.k 1 0 0 1 Y.sub.k 1 1 0 0 .DELTA..phi. -34 34 4 -4 ______________________________________
The quadrature signal (I.sub.k,Q.sub.k) obtained in this way is passed through a lowpass filter to have a limited band and to be converted into I-phase and Q-phase components. A modulating circuit provides the inphase and quadrature-phase components for a wireless circuit.
FIG. 1 shows symbols (X.sub.k,Y.sub.k) mapped on a two-dimensional I-Q coordinate. By focusing on the movement of a signal point represented by a quadrature signal (I.sub.k,Q.sub.k), it is found that the signal point becomes any of signal points A-D and any of signal points E-H alternately. As is apparent from FIG. 1, signal points A-D are represented by a two-dimensional coordinate system represented by vector I.alpha. on the I-axis and vector Q.alpha. on the Q-axis as the axes. Also, signal points E-H are represented by a two-dimensional coordinate system represented by vector I.beta. and vector Q.beta. as the axes, which are respectively equivalent to vectors I.alpha. and Q.alpha. rotated by .pi./4. For example, suppose a current baseband signal is a piece of information represented by symbol point F. Then, "0" is given as its I.alpha. coordinate, "0" as its Q.alpha. coordinate, "-1" as its I.beta. coordinate, and "+1" as its Q.beta. coordinate.
Suppose the coordinates of the k-th symbol using the above four vectors are respectively I.sub..alpha., Q, I, and Q.sub.k. Then, the quadrature coordinates of k-th symbol, I.sub.k and Q.sub.k, are represented by Formulae 2 and 3 respectively. ##EQU2##
Accordingly, I-phase signal I(t) and Q-phase signal Q(t) output from the modulating circuit are represented by Formula 4 in which h(t) represents a rectangular waveform response function used in the lowpass filter. ##EQU3##
Formulae 4 and 5 indicate that limiting the bands of quadrature signals I.sub.k and Q.sub.k may be achieved by limiting bands of each term of Formulae 2 and 3.
Here, if it is supposed that in FIG. 1, symbol points A-D are odd and symbol points E-H are even in order, the following formulae are given. ##EQU4## Hence, I(t) and Q(t) are represented by the following formulae. ##EQU5##
As apparent from the above formulae, of symbols I.sub..alpha.k, Q.sub..alpha., I, and Q being four vectors of signals I(t) and Q(t), I and Q.sub..quadrature.k may be represented by using only odd symbol signals, and I.sub..beta. and Q.sub..beta.k by using only even symbol signals.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the construction of the conventional .pi./4-shift QPSK modulating apparatus 600.
.pi.4-shift QPSK modulating apparatus 600 includes input terminal 601, symbol generating circuit 602, mapping circuit 603, timing generating circuit 605, coordinate accumulators 606, 607, 608, and 609, first storage unit 610, second storage unit 611, third storage unit 612, fourth storage unit 613, subtractor 614, adders 615, 616, and 617, D/A converters 618 and 619, and output terminals 620 and 621. Mapping circuit 603 includes differential encoding circuit 604.
The baseband signal that is to be modulated is serially input to symbol generating circuit 602 through input terminal 601.
Symbol generating circuit 602 is achieved by a .pi./4-shift register. Symbol generating circuit 602 receives a baseband signal with the timing of clock CL1 provided by timing generating circuit 605, and converts the received baseband signal through series-to-parallel conversion into a symbol (X.sub.k,Y), which is a two-bit parallel signal.
Mapping circuit 603 receives the symbol (X.sub.k,Y.sub.k) generated by symbol generating circuit 602 with the timing of clock CL2 provided by timing generating circuit 605. Mapping circuit 603 performs, to generate a piece of two-bit address data, a certain mapping based on the received symbol (X.sub.k,Y.sub.k) or a result of differential encoding. Mapping circuit 603 provides one bit of the piece of two-bit address data for each of coordinate accumulators 606 and 607 with odd symbol timing, and the other bit of the two-bit address data for each of coordinate accumulators 608 and 609 with even symbol timing.
Differential encoding circuit 604, if necessary, performs differential encoding using the received symbol (X.sub.k,Y.sub.k) and the preceding symbol (X.sub.k-1,Y) with the timing of clock CL2 provided by timing generating circuit 605.
Timing generating circuit 605 generates timing signals for entire .pi./4-shift QPSK modulating apparatus 600 based on a clock signal having a higher frequency than that of the baseband signal. CL1 is a clock signal having the same frequency as that of the baseband signal. CL2 is a clock signal having the same frequency as that of symbol data. CL3 is a clock signal having the same frequency as that of symbol data and generates even and odd symbol timing. Timing generating circuit 605 generates elapsed-time information of even and odd symbol periods and provides the information as a lower address for first storage unit 610, second storage unit 611, third storage unit 612, and fourth storage unit 613.
Coordinate accumulators 606, 607, 608, and 609 are sift registers and converts in series and parallel each of the addresses provided by mapping circuit 603. Outputs from coordinate accumulators 606, 607, 608, and 609 are respectively provided for first storage unit 610, second storage unit 611, third storage unit 612, and fourth storage unit 613.
First storage unit 610 receives an output from coordinate accumulator 606 as a higher address and elapsed-time information from timing generating circuit 605 as a lower address. First storage unit 610 prestores waveform data corresponding to I-coordinates (I-components). The waveform data indicates response waveforms from the lowpass filter at the time when .+-.1 is input to the lowpass filter with odd symbol timing, and a response waveform from the lowpass filter when 0 is input with even symbol timing. Accordingly, first storage unit 610 prestores a digital value corresponding to ".SIGMA.I.sub..alpha.2N+1 h{t-(2N+1)T}" in Formula 8.
Second storage unit 611 receives an output from coordinate accumulator 607 as a higher address and elapsed-time information from timing generating circuit 605 as a lower address. Second storage unit 611 prestores waveform data corresponding to Q-coordinates (Q-components). The waveform data indicates response waveforms from the lowpass filter at the time when .+-.1 is input to the lowpass filter with odd symbol timing, and a response waveform when 0 is input with even symbol timing. Accordingly, second storage unit 611 stores a digital value corresponding to ".SIGMA.Q.sub..alpha.2N+1 h{t-(2N+1)T}" in Formula 9.
Third storage unit 612 receives an output from coordinate accumulator 608 as a higher address and elapsed-time information from timing generating circuit 605 as a lower address. Third storage unit 612 prestores waveform data corresponding to I-coordinates (I-components). The waveform data indicates 1/.sqroot. 2 response waveforms from the lowpass filter (in the present specification, square root of 2 is represented by .sqroot. 2) at the time when .+-.1 is input to the lowpass filter with even symbol timing, and a 1/.sqroot. 2 response waveform when 0 is input with odd symbol timing. Accordingly, third storage unit 612 stores a digital value corresponding to ".SIGMA.(1/.sqroot. 2)I.sub..beta.2N h(t-2NT)" in Formulae 8 and 9.
Fourth storage unit 613 stores an output from coordinate accumulator 609 as a higher address and elapsed-time information from timing generating circuit 605 as a lower address and stores waveform data corresponding to Q-coordinates (Q-components). The waveform data indicates 1/.sqroot. 2 response waveforms from the lowpass filter at the time when .+-.1 is input to the lowpass filter with even symbol timing, and a 1/.sqroot. 2 response waveform when 0 is input with odd symbol timing. Accordingly, fourth storage unit 613 stores a digital value corresponding to ".SIGMA.(1/.sqroot. 2)Q.sub..beta. h(t-2NT)" in Formulae 8 and 9.
Subtractor 614 subtracts the output of fourth storage unit 613 from the output of third storage unit 612 to execute a subtraction of the third term from the second term in Formula 8.
Adder 615 adds the outputs of third and fourth storage units 613 and 614 to execute an addition of the second and third terms in Formula 9.
Adder 616 adds the output of subtracter 614 and the output of first storage unit 610, namely, the first term of Formula 8, and outputs instantaneous value I(t) of I-phase signal in Formula 8.
Adder 617 adds the output of adder 615 and the output of second storage unit 611, namely, the first term of Formula 9, and outputs instantaneous value Q(t) of Q-phase signal in Formula 9.
D/A converter 618 converts the output of adder 616 into the analog signal and outputs the analog signal via output terminal 620 to a mixer that is not shown in the drawing. The mixer multiplies the output of D/A converter 618 by the carrier wave.
D/A converter 619 converts the output of adder 617 into the analog signal and outputs the analog signal via output terminal 621 to another mixer that is not shown in the drawing. This mixer multiplies the output of D/A converter 619 by the carrier wave which is input via a phase shifter. These two quadrature components of the carrier wave generated in this way are added and output to a transmitting circuit not shown in the drawing.
As is apparent from the above description, a response waveform corresponding to ".SIGMA.I.sub..alpha. h{t-(2N+1)T}," namely, the first term in Formula 8, and a response waveform corresponding to ".SIGMA.Q.sub..alpha.2N+1 h{t-(2N+1)T}," namely, the first term in Formula 9, may be generated from the same waveform data. Also, a response waveform corresponding to ".SIGMA.(1/.sqroot. 2)I.sub..beta. h(t-2NT)," namely, the second term in Formulae 8 and 9, and a response waveform corresponding to ".SIGMA.(1/.sqroot. 2)Q.sub..beta. h(t-2NT)," namely, the third term in Formula 8 and 9, may be generated from the same waveform data. That means first storage unit 610 and second storage unit 611 of the conventional .pi./4-shift QPSK modulating apparatus 600 store the same filter data. It is the same with third storage unit 612 and fourth storage unit 613. Generally, such storage units are achieved by ROMs. However, increases in the number and the capacity of ROMs lead to an increase in the circuit scale, which generates a problem in cost and a disadvantage in achieving the circuits in LSI.
Furthermore, transmitting the signal modulated with the above construction with burst transmission causes another problem in that the frequency band of the transmission signal expands due to an enormous spurious emission generated by a steep rise of the transmission signal.
A method for preventing the problem is known in which a certain ramp period is set before and after the transmission of the modulated signal so that the transmission signal rises and falls smoothly according to the envelopes in the ramp periods. This processing is known as ramp processing. In the conventional ramp processing, the amplification factor of the transmission amplifier is smoothly increased or reduced so that the level of the transmission signal smoothly rises and falls. However, it is difficult to change the amplification factor of the transmission amplifier, that is, to correctly change the level of the transmission signal according to the function selected as an optimal ramp waveform. Therefore, it has been difficult to perform the ramp processing accurately.

Phase modulator efficiently utilizing waveform storing section


A method of producing hydrogen and extracting heavy oil from underground reserves is provided. This method includes providing a carbon monoxide source stream and a water vapor stream to a first reactor, wherein the first reactor comprises a water shift reactor and a membrane-type separation device. This method also includes separating the products of the water shift reactor, thereby producing at least a hydrogen-rich stream, and a high pressure off-gas stream. This method also includes providing the high pressure off-gas stream and an oxidant stream to a combustion chamber. This method also includes combusting the oxidant stream and the high pressure off-gas stream as at least part of a combustion cycle thereby producing a hot injection gas stream. This method also includes combining the hot injection gas stream with a liquid water stream, wherein the combined stream may be used to heat the underground reserve sufficiently to release petroleum hydrocarbons therefrom.

According to current estimations, unconventional heavy oils recoverable reserves alone can satisfy the global demand for 20 years. The development of reliable and economic in-situ extraction technologies is considered to be the key point to unlock the potential of great amounts of hydrocarbon reserves such as those located in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada and the extra heavy oils in the Orinoco Belt of Venezuela.
The mechanism of some existing solutions is deemed to be proven, but the energy requirements of existing technologies are too high to be economical, and none of this technology is really mature enough for companies to be willing to make substantial investments in them.
Existing extraction technologies include Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), which is a steam flooding technique improved by the use of two horizontal wells. One of these wells is for steam injection and the other is for bitumen extraction. The steam heats the formation, increasing the viscosity of the bitumen, which can now flow to the producer. The main drawbacks concern high SOR (steam to oil ratio), which can range from 1.8 to 4.0. The performance of SAGD are strictly dependent upon the reservoir properties and characteristics such as gas caps, aquifers and any shale that may be present in the reservoir. These criteria can result in a potential operation scenario that is not economic. The use of steam alone is deemed to result in a bigger vertical propagation of the steam chamber, potentially resulting in a more pronounced gas over bitumen extraction.
Another existing technology is Vapor Extraction (VE), which involves injecting a gaseous hydrocarbon solvent into the reservoir where it dissolves into the bitumen, which becomes less viscous and can drain into a lower horizontal well and be extracted. The solvent is typically propane, butane or even carbon dioxide along with a carrier gas. The main drawbacks of this technique is that the blending of the oil with the solvent, without heating the formation, produces only small improvements in oil recovery. Also, the solvent is expensive, scarce, and losses in the reservoir can be economically important.
There are also hybrid processes such as ES-SAGD, LASER, or SAVEX (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,872), which are currently under development in order to provide a hybrid in-situ extraction technology that couples the advantages of steam (i.e. thermal reduction of oil viscosity) and solvent injection. Light hydrocarbons are used and solutions to drawbacks such as reservoir depressurization and solvent losses have to be provided for. None of these hybrid processes have managed to combine the advantages of thermal extraction with miscible and immiscible flooding

Combined hydrogen production and unconventional heavy oil extraction

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A composite fastener which is comprised of a nut having a neck at one of its axial ends, and of a washer which at least partially surrounds the neck and is adjacent an external shoulder of a non-circular main section of the nut. That end of the neck which is remote from the shoulder is expanded to prevent an unintentional separation of the washer from the nut. The making of an internal thread in the nut is carried out subsequent to the expansion of the neck. The nut and the washer can constitute converted blanks which are converted by resorting to a press forging or cold forming or turning procedure.

The invention relates to improvements in internally threaded fasteners, and more particularly to improvements in internally threaded fasteners of the type wherein a nut carries a neck at one of its axial ends and the neck is surrounded by a ring-shaped member (hereinafter called washer for short). Fasteners of such character can be utilized, for example, to separably secure the hub of a wheel to an axle of a motor vehicle.
The invention also relates to a novel and improved method of making composite internally threaded fasteners of the above outlined character.
It is already known to provide a nut with an internally threaded main section having a non-circular external outline so that it can be readily engaged and rotated by a wrench or another suitable tool or implement, and to make one axial end portion of the main section of one piece with a neck which is adjacent an external shoulder of the main section and is surrounded by a washer. That end of the neck which is remote from the shoulder is deformed (particularly expanded) so that it prevents unintentional separation of the washer from the nut and it maintains (or can maintain) the washer in close proximity to or in actual contact with the shoulder of the main section. The remote end of the neck can be deformed to overlie the radially innermost portion of that end face of the washer which faces away from the main section and its shoulder.
In accordance with a presently known procedure, a blank is converted into a nut having a main section and a neck by resorting to a press forging or an analogous operation which involves a heating of the blank. The neck is thereupon subjected to a separate cold forming treatment or to a separate turning treatment in order to increase its inner diameter beyond the root diameter of the internal thread of the main section. Thus, the deformation of the neck (in order to couple the washer to the nut) takes place subsequent to the making of an internal thread in the nut.

Composite internally threaded fastener and method of making the same


Methods and structure for emulating wide ports at an expander are provided. An exemplary system includes a Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) expander. The expander includes a plurality of physical links, and a controller. The controller is able to identify a physical link coupled with a device, to generate a plurality of virtual physical links that are configured as a virtual wide port coupled with the device, and to present the virtual wide port at the expander in place of the physical link.

SAS expanders help to set up and tear down temporary connections between initiator devices and target devices in a SAS architecture. SAS expanders include multiple physical links (PHYs) that facilitate communications between different external devices. Specifically, switching circuitry within an expander can establish point-to-point connections between internal PHYs of the expander, and these connections allow external devices that are coupled to the PHYs of the expander to exchange data with each other.

Wide port emulation at serial attached SCSI expanders using virtual physical links

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A communication equipment notifies a server equipment of a communication port to which a communication cable is connected. If another communication port as a connection partner of the notified communication port is not yet connected to the communication cable, the server equipment transmits a first notification instruction to another communication equipment having the said another communication port. The said another communication equipment indicates, in a viewable manner, a communication port corresponding to the first notification instruction as a communication port to which the communication cable is required to be connected.

There is known a communication system provided with: a plurality of communication equipments that are configured to be mutually connectable through a communication cable; and a server equipment that is communicatively connected to each of the plurality of communication equipments.
As one of this sort of communication systems, in a communication system described in Patent literature 1, each of communication equipments is provided with a communication port that is detachably connected with a communication cable. Further, each of the communication equipments is provided with a light emitting diode that emits light when a connection (link) is established between a communication port provided for the device of interest and a communication port provided for another communication equipment (i.e., when the communication cable is connected). The light emitting diodes are arranged corresponding to the respective communication ports (near respective communication ports).
According to this, by viewing emission states of the light emitting diodes, a user can easily recognize whether or not each of the communication ports is in a state of being communicable with another communication port.

Communication system, communication method, server equipment, and communication equipment


An optical apparatus includes a generator for generating a sine wave based on a rotating disc-shaped information carrier, and an eccentricity measuring device for measuring gain and phase of a sine wave corresponding to eccentricity of the information carrier based on the driving signal from the tracking control and on the measured rotation frequency. Also included is a waveform shaper for shaping the gain and phase of the sine wave generated by the sine wave generator using the measured gain and phase obtained by the eccentricity measuring device. An eccentricity correction is applied by adding together the sine wave shaped by the waveform shaper and the driving signal from the tracking control to drive an optical beam on a desired track of the rotating disc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus having a tracking control function for causing an optical beam to accurately follow an eccentricity of a track of a rotating disc-shaped information carrier (hereafter referred to as an xe2x80x9coptical discxe2x80x9d) having tracks each comprising a pit or a guide groove.
2. Related art of the Invention
To reproduce a signal, a conventional optical disc apparatus irradiates an optical disc with relatively faint optical beams of a fixed light quantity to detect reflected light modulated for intensity by the optical disc. To record a signal, the device modulates the light quantity of optical beams depending on a recorded signal to write information to a recording material film on the optical disc (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-80802).
A reproduction-only optical disc has pit-based information spirally recorded therein. A recordable and reproducible optical disc is produced by using evaporation or the like to form an optically recordable and reproducible material film on a base material surface having spiral tracks of a relief structure. Recording information on the optical disc or reproducing the recorded information requires focus control for controlling optical beams in a perpendicular direction (hereafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cfocus directionxe2x80x9d) of the optical disc surface in such a manner that the optical beams are always in a predetermined converging state on the recording material film, and tracking control for controlling the optical beams in a radial direction (hereafter referred to as a xe2x80x9ctracking directionxe2x80x9d) so that the beams are always located on a predetermined track.
A retrieval operation by the conventional optical disc will be described with reference to FIG. 16. An optical head 10 has a semiconductor laser 11, a coupling lens 12, a polarizing beam splitter 13, a quarter wavelength plate 14, a focus actuator 16, a tracking actuator 17, a detection lens 18, a cylindrical lens 19, and a photodetector 20 mounted therein. Optical beams generated by the semiconductor laser 11 are made parallel beams by the coupling lens 12, so that the parallel beams pass through the polarizing beam splitter 13 and the quarter wavelength plate 14 and are converged on a disc-shaped optical disc 1 by a converging lens 15.
The thus reflected beams pass through the converging lens 15 and the quarter wavelength plate 14, are subsequently reflected by the polarizing beam splitter 13, and then pass through the detection lens 18 and the cylindrical lens 19 onto the photodetector 20, which is divided into four. The converging lens 15 is supported by an elastomer and is electromagnetically moved in the focus direction when current flow through the focus actuator 16 or in the tracking direction when current flows through the tracking actuator 17. The photodetector 20 transmits a detected light quantity signal to a focus error generator 30 (hereafter referred to as an xe2x80x9cFE generator 30xe2x80x9d) or a tracking error generator 40 (hereafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cTE generator 40xe2x80x9d).
The FE generator 30 uses the light quantity signal from the photodetector 20 to calculate an error signal (hereafter referred to as an xe2x80x9cFE signalxe2x80x9d) indicating how the optical beams are converging on an information surface of the optical disc 1 and transmits the signal to the focus actuator 16 via a focusing filter 31 (hereafter referred to as an xe2x80x9cFc filter 31xe2x80x9d). The focus actuator 16 controls the converging lens 15 in the focus direction so that the optical beams converge on a recording surface of the optical disc 1 in a predetermined state. This is the focus control.
The TE generator 40 uses the light quantity signal from the photodetector 20 to calculate an error signal (hereafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cTE signalxe2x80x9d) indicating the positional relationship between the optical beams and tracks on the optical disc 1 and then transmits the signal to the tracking actuator 17 via a tracking filter 41 (hereafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cTk filter 41xe2x80x9d) and an adder 42. The tracking actuator 17 controls the converging lens 15 in the tracking direction in such a manner that the optical beams follow the tracks. This is the tracking control.
A driving signal from the Tk filter 41 is transmitted to an memory 60. A motor 50 rotates the optical disc 1 to transmit 1,000 encoder pulses per one rotation to a rotation phase detect device 51. The rotation phase detect device 51 counts rising edges in the encoder pulses from the motor 50, and clears the count value to zero when 1,000 pulses corresponding to one rotation are counted, thereby to transmit the resulting rotation phase information to the memory 60. An eccentricity compensation controling signal 62 transmits a control signal to the memory 60.
If the control signal from the eccentricity compensation controling signal 62 is at a high level, the memory 60 stores a signal from the Tk filter 41 at an address corresponding to rotation phase information from the rotation phase detect device 51, and continues transmitting zero to a lowpass filter 61. If the control signal from the eccentricity compensation controling signal 62 is at a low level, the memory 60 transmits a value stored at an address that is based on the rotation phase information from the rotation phase detect device 51, to the adder 42 via the lowpass filter 61. The adder 42 adds a signal from the Tk filter 41 and a signal from the lowpass filter 61 together and then transmits the resulting signal to the tracking actuator 17.
The operation will be explained with reference to FIG. 17. FIG. 17a shows rotation phase information from the rotation phase detect device 51, FIG. 17b shows a control signal from the eccentricity compensation controling signal 62, and FIG. 17c shows a signal from the lowpass filter 61. In FIG. 17, before t0, eccentricity correction is not working, between t0 and t1, eccentricity correction learning is being executed, and after t1, the eccentricity correction is working. Between t0 and t1, the memory 60 stores the signal from the Tk filter 41 at the address that is based on the rotation phase information as shown in FIG. 17a.
At the time t1, the memory 60 completes storing eccentricity correction driving for one rotation of the optical disc. After t1, the memory 60 outputs the stored eccentricity correction driving and passes it through the lowpass filter 61 to obtain a driving waveform such as that shown in FIG. 17c. Since a driving waveform for causing to following the eccentricity shown in FIG. 17c is applied in addition to the perpendicular tracking control, the tracking actuator 17 accurately follows the eccentricity of the tracks.
Not only the signal from the Tk filter 41 in the tracking control state but also the TE generator 40 in a tracking non-control state may be used for measurements for generating the eccentricity correction driving (Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 3-272030).
Eccentricity is caused by the deviation of a rotation center or track waves; it is mostly caused by the deviation of the rotation center. The components of the rotation center deviation comprises only the rotation frequency components of the optical disc.
With the tracking control, eccentricity correction corrects a main component of the rotation center deviation to enable the optical beams to accurately follow the tracks. When a signal waveform is to be recorded in the memory 60, the result of the recording is affected by noise or the like. As shown in the left figure in FIG. 18a, the waveform generally includes components other than the rotation frequency components of the optical disc, so that the result of the recording in the memory 60 has an error with respect to a target sine wave as shown in the right figure in FIG. 18a. To eliminate such an error, there has been a method for recording waveforms for two or more rotations for averaging in the memory 60. However, this method disadvantageously requires a large amount of time for measurements.
Alternatively, mostly without the tracking control, a deviation in the tracking direction caused by the eccentricity correction driving has a predetermined gain and a predetermined phase delay due to a transfer characteristic of the tracking actuator 17. Accordingly, the deviation in the tracking direction of the converging lens 15 caused by the driving for correcting the eccentricity has an error with respect to eccentricity. To suppress the correction error, there has been a method for modifying the eccentricity correction driving by measuring the deviation of the lens 15 from the eccentricity correction driving in the tracking direction using a sensor for sensing the absolute position of the lens 15 in the tracking direction (Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2-141809). Due to the use of sensors, however, this measure disadvantageously requires a large number of parts and high costs.
Additionally, the rotation phase information from the rotation phase detect device 51 is generated using a rotation start time as a reference. If no access has occurred for a long time in order to reduce power consumption and once the optical disc apparatus has entered a sleep state, the power to the motor 50 and the rotation phase detect device 51 also remains off during this period to change the reference for the rotation phase information output from the rotation phase detect device 51. Disadvantageously, once the reference for the rotation phase information from the rotation phase detect device 51 has changed after the sleep state, the eccentricity correction driving adjusted before the sleep state can no longer be used and must be readjusted due to a change in phase. There is such problem.
To solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a TE signal detecting means of detecting a positional error between an optical beam and a track of an optical disc, a tracking control means of controlling the optical beam so as to follow the track based on a TE signal from the TE signal detecting means, a rotation number measuring means of measuring a rotation number of the optical disc, an eccentricity measuring means of measuring the magnitude and direction of eccentricity relative to a rotation phase of the optical disc based on a signal from the TE signal detecting means and the measured rotation number from the rotation number measuring means, and an eccentricity correcting means of generating tracking driving based on the magnitude and direction of the eccentricity from the eccentricity measuring means.
Additionally, the present invention comprises aTE signal detecting means of detecting a positional error between an optical beam and a track of an optical disc, a tracking control means of controlling the optical beam so as to follow the track based on a TE signal from the TE signal detecting means, a rotation number measuring means of measuring a rotation number of the optical disc, an eccentricity measuring means of measuring the magnitude and direction of eccentricity relative to a rotation phase of the optical disc based on a driving signal from the tracking control means and the measured rotation number from the rotation number measuring means, and an eccentricity correcting means of generating tracking driving based on the magnitude and direction of the eccentricity from the eccentricity measuring means.
Further, the present invention comprises a TE signal detecting means of detecting a positional error between an optical beam and a track of an optical disc, a tracking control means of controlling the optical beam so as to follow the track based on a TE signal from the TE signal detecting means, an address detecting means of detecting the address of an information carrier irradiated with the optical beam, and a rotation phase measuring means of determining a reference for a rotation phase from the detected address to measure the rotation phase of the optical disc.
Furthermore, the present invention comprises a TE signal detecting means of detecting a positional error between an optical beam and a track of an optical disc, a tracking control means of controlling the optical beam so as to follow the track based on a TE signal from the TE signal detecting means, a switching point detecting means of detecting a switching point from a recess to a projection of a track groove of the optical disc or from the projection to the recess thereof, and a rotation phase measuring means of determining a reference for a rotation phase from the detected switching point position to measure the rotation phase of the optical disc.
Moreover, the present invention comprises a TE signal detecting means of detecting a positional error between an optical beam and a track of an optical disc, a tracking control means of controlling the optical beam so as to follow the track based on a TE signal from the TE signal detecting means, a disturbance detecting means of measuring a disturbance in rotation phase information on the optical disc, and a rotation phase measuring means of determining a reference for a rotation phase from the detected disturbance of the rotation phase to measure the rotation phase of the optical disc.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A rotary shutter valve 500 is used for geothermal reservoir stimulation. The valve 500 includes a pressure chamber 520 for holding a working fluid (F) under pressure. A rotatable shutter 532 is turned with a powering device 544 to periodically align one or more windows 534 with one or more apertures 526 in a bulkhead 524. When aligned, the pressurized working fluid (F) flows through the bulkhead 524 and enters a pulse cavity 522, where it is discharged from the pulse cavity 522 as pressure waves 200. The pressure wave propagation 200 and eventual collapse of the bubbles 202 can be transmitted to a target rock surface 204 either in the form of a shock wave 206, or by micro jets 208, depending on the bubble-surface distance. Once cavitation at the rock face begins, fractures are initiated in the rock to create a network of micro-fissures for enhanced heat transfer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to geothermal energy production and particularly to apparatuses and methods for supporting Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS).
2. Description of the Related Art
Geothermal energy is an important part of the nation's renewable energy initiative. FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified schematic of a geothermal plant that generates electricity for the electrical grid. A working fluid (F) such as water is transferred with a pump 100 down into the hot rock formations through an injection well 102, where it absorbs heat energy from the fractured rock formation. The heated working fluid (F) is then pumped to an energy conversion plant 104 through a production well 106. Depending on the fluid's (F) temperature, it may directly be used to power a turbine or may be used to heat a secondary working fluid, which, in turn, is used to power a turbine. The turbine is coupled to a generator through a common shaft (not shown), to generate electricity for the electrical grid 108. The cooled working fluid (F) is then injected with the pump 100 back into the hot rock geothermal reservoir through the injection well 102 to sustain the process. Geothermal energy generation is considered a green technology, because little or no greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere and the energy source is renewable.
An Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) is a man-made reservoir, created where there is sufficient underground hot rock but insufficient or little natural permeability or working fluid saturation in the rock. EGS expands the geothermal energy domain into much deeper rock deposits by exploiting natural and artificial fracture systems/networks within rock mass. Maintaining and/or creating such facture networks in complicated geological environments are critical to the successful development and long-term sustainability of the EGS. The EGS targets a huge energy source that amounts to 500 GWe in the western U.S. and 16,000 GWe in the entire U.S. Several demonstration projects are undergoing in the U.S. to validate different reservoir stimulation techniques. The ultimate reservoir will have a flow rate of 60 kg/s, a lifetime of 30 years along the drilling systems down to 10,000 meters deep at 374 Degrees Celsius.
EGS reservoir stimulation technologies currently are adapted from the oil and natural gas industry including various hydrofracking methods with or without chemical additives. A potential drawback of using hydrofracking techniques is the lack of effective control in the creation of large fractures, which could result in by-pass of targeted fracture network or even fault movement in the rock formation. The loss of hydraulic medium can reduce heat exchange efficiency and increase the cost of the development of EGS. The use of chemicals along with the unpredictable fault movement may also adversely impact the environment.
Cavitation is the process of the formation of vapors, voids, or bubbles due to pressure changes in a liquid flow as schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. The pressure wave propagation 200, and eventual collapse of the bubbles 202 can cause local pressure changes in the liquid, which can be transmitted to a target rock surface 204 either in the form of a shock wave 206, or by micro jets 208, depending on the bubble to surface distance. Pressure greater than 100,000 psi has been measured in a shock wave 206 resonating from cavitating bubbles 202. It is generally understood that the cycle of formation and collapse of the bubbles that occurs, often at a high frequency, can generate dynamic stress on the surfaces of objects. Ultimately, the dynamic stress can contribute to the fatigue of the target surface, including micro-cracks that form and coalesce on the surface 204, eventually leading to material removal known as cavitation damage.
What are needed are apparatuses and methods for generating a pulse-pressure cavitation technique (PPCT) for use in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) and oil and gas wells.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cavitation-based hydro-fracturing technique for geothermal reservoir stimulation


A solar tracking system has a first set of solar heat gain transducers (700) that produce respective first output signals to drive a reversible first motor (300) for changing a vertical angle of a solar collector (200); and a second set of solar heat gain transducers (700) that produce respective second output signals to drive a reversible second motor (608) for changing a horizontal angle of the solar collector (200); each of the transducers (700) having a thermistor (702) in thermal contact with a thermal mass (706); and a communications apparatus (900) receiving output voltage from solar cells (202) on the solar collector (200).

A solar collector collects solar radiation to produce solar cell output voltage. One type of solar collector moves with the sun, to face toward the sun as the sun changes its position during a daylight period. The elevation angle of the sun changes as the sun ascends and descends, and the horizontal angle of the sun changes with the movement of the sun from horizon to horizon. A solar tracking system adjusts an elevation angle of the solar collector and adjusts a horizontal angle of the solar collector to correspond with changes in the sun's position throughout a daylight period.
Prior to the invention, solar tracking for a solar collector was mathematically calculated. A computer program was devised to produce solar tracking for different days of the year, and for different latitude and longitude positions. The computer program controlled drive motors that moved the solar collector in a manner to track the sun.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,142 discloses a solar tracking system that foregoes a computer program. The system includes a cable that lengthens and shortens to move a solar collector about a horizontal axis. The cable is attached to coils of shape memory alloys that absorb solar energy. When illuminated by the sun, the coils of shape memory alloys uncoil, which lengthen the cable. When shaded from the sun, the shape memory alloys form tighter coils, which shorten the cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,001 discloses a solar collector having two solar heated canisters containing Freon. The canisters are interconnected to exchange Freon from one canister to another. When both canisters are illuminated by the sun, they absorb solar energy to evaporate the Freon to a gaseous state. When one of the canisters is shaded from the sun, the Freon in the shaded canister condenses to a liquid state, making the shaded canister containing liquid Freon heavier than the illuminated canister containing gaseous Freon. The heavier weight moves the solar collector until both canisters become illuminated by the sun, which evaporates the Freon and equalizes the canister weights.


An ultrasound probe for cavity scanning of a body, comprising: an elongated rod-like member (101), with a longitudinal axis (102), configured to accommodate at its one end a first transducer (104). The first transducer (104) has a field of view (105a, 105b) established by acquiring an image along radial scan lines in a first image plane that coincides with the longitudinal axis (102). The field of view covers more than 15 degrees of scan lines at each side of its intersection with the longitudinal axis and more than 15 degrees of scan lines at each side of its intersection with a transverse axis (103) that lies in the first image plane and is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The probe may comprise a first and second needle guide (203, 204) arranged to guide an instrument along a path (202, 201) which intersects with the first field of view (105), respectively.

Various ultrasound techniques and devices have been developed for imaging the interior of a body e.g. the human body. One application of ultrasound imaging has been in the medical field, and in particular, in endocavitary probes (e.g., biopsy guidance endocavitary probes). Such probes may be used, for example, for endovaginal examination (e.g., to examine the uterus, ovaries, etc.), endorectal examination (e.g., to examine the rectal wall, prostate, etc.), and/or other medically-related applications. It should be noted that for instance endorectal examination is rather unpleasant and that biopsy taking is rather painful and therefore typically requires local anaesthesia. Typically, endocavitary probes include a linear array transducer positioned at the distal end or front end of the probe that is to be inserted into a cavity of a body. The transducer provides an imaging plane for viewing structures/features of the body and/or another instrument (e.g., a biopsy needle) that, for example, may be guided into the body via the probe. The imaging plane may be provided at a side of a probe (corresponding to a "side-fire" transducer) or the front of the probe (corresponding to an "end-fire" transducer).
Endocavitary probes typically have an elongated rod-like shape configured with a handle that extends as a portion of the elongated rod-like shape, but in the end opposite the distal end. Other ultrasound probes are, contrary to endocavitary probes, configured for placing the probe on the skin of the body to provide imaging of the interior of the body located beneath the skin. Still other probes (e.g. intra-operative probes) are configured for placing the probe directly on organs inside the body during surgery operations.
Ultrasound probes are, during use as a probe for imaging purposes, connected to an image processor e.g. in the form of a special purpose computer. The image processor is configured to provide stimulation signals to the probe for emission of ultrasound pulses and to record reflected ultrasound signals in response thereto. Recorded ultrasound signals are processed to provide a presentation of the reflected ultrasound signals in the form of an ultrasound image on a display screen e.g. a computer monitor.
Use of an ultrasound probe for imaging purposes is also denoted ultrasound scanning or simply scanning. Scanning is commonly understood as the act of systematically emitting a (finely focused) beam of e.g. ultrasound into a medium at different locations across the medium in order to produce an image of structures contained in the medium. The beams are emitted systematically e.g. by transducer elements arranged in a linear or curved linear transducer array. An image is generated from reflections received in response to emitted ultrasound beams.
The transducer(s) of the probe has/have a so-called field of view which is the sector (usually with a shape like a sector of a circle) from which reflections are recorded and displayed as an image. The field of view is also denoted the imaging plane since field of view can be thought of as a very thin sector of a disc. A very thin sector is desired in order to provide precise spatial location (e.g. of organs or tumours). This is provided by focusing the emitted ultrasound waves in a direction transverse to the linear array. Thus, the sector can be described as a plane or sector of a circle, but it will have a certain thickness. The width of the field of view is determined by the length of the linear array and the shape of the array. Typically, the array is shaped to extend along an arc or a circle. The depth of the field of view is among other things determined by the length of a time-window within which reflected ultrasound signals are recorded.
The focusing required to obtain the desired field of view in a direction transverse to the length of the array is typically obtained by giving each of the transducer elements a concave surface shape (in a direction transverse to the length of the array). It is also desired to have a fine focusing in the image plane i.e. in a direction along the length of the array. This is typically achieved by giving each of the transducer elements a flat surface shape (in a direction transverse to the length of the array) and then obtaining a desired focusing electronically. The focused image acquired from the field of view comprises a number of radial lines. The number of radial lines in the image corresponds to radial scan lines (in the tissue scanned) along which focusing is provided. Thus, the field of view comprises a number of scan lines.
The probe typically provides either signals from a single transducer array for display as one image or rather sequence of images representing the ultrasound imaging from the field of view of the single transducer array. Some ultrasound probes comprise two arrays arranged perpendicular to each other to provide bi-plane imaging that is two separate images acquired from the two different arrays. Thereby a so-called sagittal image plane and transverse image plane can be provided for simultaneous display. Bi-plane imaging provides more spatial information due to acquisition of two images from two transducers with different fields of view.
For the vast majority of uses of endocavitary probes, the probe is used to monitor the safe guidance of an instrument e.g. a biopsy needle. This monitoring is typically carried out by means of a probe configured with a guide that guides the instrument along a predefined path. The transducer(s) of the probe and the guide are mutually arranged so as to remain in a fixed position relative to each other and so as to obtain a field of view which covers at least a portion of the predefined path along which the instrument is guided. Thereby safe guidance of an instrument can be obtained.
The above described observations and techniques are well-known in the field of ultrasound probes. Below, reference is made to different endocavitary probes.


Methods are provided for using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to measure the bulk volume of oil and water in the polyurethane liner of sponge core. The method is accurate, rapid, and non-destructive. It provides information simultaneously in oil composition and viscosity.

This invention relates to NMR spectroscopy and, more specifically, NMR spectroscopy of fluids contained in porous materials.
Coring of an earth formation is a routine procedure in oil production operations. A core is obtained in order to retrieve a small section of the reservoir formation that may be used to measure rock properties and determine insitu oil saturation.
Unfortunately, the coring process subjects the core to high fluid velocities and high pressures that disturb the core and any insitu fluids within the core. Solid particles such as barite in the drilling mud often invade deeply into the core. In addition, drilling fluids from either a water-based mud or an oil-based mud can invade the core and flush out some of the insitu oil saturation.
The standard analysis technique used in the oil industry for determining oil saturation in cores to be cut small 1" outside diameter plugs every foot of the core and extract the plugs using the Dean-Stark extraction technique. This is a laborious and expensive procedure. Moreover, this procedure will often sample those parts of the core that have been seriously flushed by mud filtrate and have had their oil saturations reduced. Thus, the oil saturations for core plugs are typically understood to be the minimum possible oil saturation in the reservoir, while the true unflushed oil saturation in the reservoir is often significantly higher.
Sponge coring is an attractive alternative to the blowdown losses of conventional coring, without the expense and low recovery associated with pressure core. A sponge core barrel traps the oil expelled from the core in an oil-wet, high porosity polyurethane sponge surrounding the core. At the surface, cored sections are stored in completion brine or frozen and then transported to the laboratory to determine the quantity of oil trapped in the sponge.
The present method of determining the fluid saturations in the sponge is by solvent extraction. Typically two days are required for the extraction process on each one foot section of sponge. The solvent must then be separated from the extracted oil and water volumes. Finally, the oil volume must be corrected for non-reacted components of the polyurethane which are removed along with the oil in the extraction.
These and other limitations and disadvantages are overcome by the present invention, however, and methods are provided for obtaining insitu oil saturations from core.

Method for determining preselected properties of a crude oil


A thin film transistor (“TFT”) array panel includes; an insulation substrate, a TFT disposed on the insulation substrate and including a drain electrode, a passivation layer covering the TFT and including a contact portion disposed therein corresponding to the drain electrode, a partition comprising an organic material disposed on the passivation layer, and including a transverse portion, a longitudinal portion, and a contact portion disposed on the drain electrode, a color filter disposed on the passivation layer and disposed in a region defined by the partition, an organic capping layer disposed on the partition and the color filter, and a pixel electrode disposed on the organic capping layer, and connected to the drain electrode through the contact portion of the passivation layer and the contact portion of the partition, wherein a contact hole is formed in the organic capping layer corresponding to the contact portion of the passivation layer.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor ("TFT") substrate and a manufacturing method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display ("LCD") is one of the most commonly used flat panel displays, and it includes two substrates with electrodes formed thereon and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. In the LCD, a voltage is applied to the electrodes to align liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer to thereby regulate the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer.
Among the various types of LCDs, an LCD having a structure in which field generating electrodes are respectively formed on two display panels is widely used. Among the two display panels, a plurality of pixel electrodes and thin film transistors ("TFTs") are arranged in a matrix format on one display panel (hereinafter referred to as "a TFT array panel"), and color filters of red, green, and blue are formed on the other display panel and one common electrode covers the entire surface of the other display panel (hereinafter referred to as "a common electrode panel").
However, in this type of liquid crystal display, the pixel electrodes and the color filters are disposed on different display panels such that it is difficult to align the pixel electrodes and the color filters to each other, thereby generating an alignment error.
To solve this problem, a color filter on array ("CoA") structure in which the pixel electrode and the color filter are formed on the same display panel is provided. Here, a light blocking member is generally formed on the same display panel as the pixel electrode as well as the color filter.
When forming the color filter on the same display panel as the pixel electrode, the color filter is formed through an Inkjet printing process, thereby reducing the manufacturing time and cost by simplifying the manufacturing process. The light blocking member is formed as a partition in the Inkjet printing method.
However, the partition of the light blocking member has a low height such that it is difficult to sufficiently divide the color filter formed by the Inkjet printing. Also, the partition of the light blocking member is tapered, but the taper angle is small such that it is difficult to stably enclose the color filter.
In the color filter on array ("CoA") structure, a contact hole for electrically connecting the pixel electrode and the drain electrode is formed in the color filter, however the process is not easy. This is because the color filter or the black matrix between the pixel electrode and the drain electrode must be removed, and the removal may involve multiple precise steps.

Thin film transistor array panel and manufacturing method of the same


The invention is directed to novel biaryl derivatives, to the uses of these compounds in various medicinal applications, including the treatment, prevention and control of proliferative diseases such as tumors, and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds. Compounds of the invention can be used to treat or prevent diseases or disorders that involve the activity of MIF-1 and/or adenosine kinase.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to novel biaryl derivatives, to the uses of these compounds in various medicinal applications, including the treatment, prevention and control of inflammation and proliferative diseases such as tumors, and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds. Compounds of the invention can be used to treat or prevent diseases or disorders that involve the activity of MIF-1 and/or adenosine kinase.
2. Background
Cells derived from distinct tumors display common phenomena—a resistance to cell death. This, in part, stems from the fact that tumors can survive an inherent and immunological stimulus to die. Moreover, cells that demonstrate a resistance to chemotherapeutic regimes have often evolved unique solutions for survival; often targeting key regulatory steps in apoptotic programs. Thus, molecules that either exhibit differential cytotoxicity to either tumor cells compared with normal cells or between tumor cells of diverse origin are useful as therapeutic agents in the treatment of proliferative diseases.

Differential tumor cytotoxicity compounds and compositions


A lithium hydroxide production process integrating a lithium stripping stage with a lithium hydroxide production process performed in a two-compartment electrolysis cell.

The present invention relates to processes for producing lithium or lithium salts, and, more particularly, to processes for producing lithium or lithium salts from solutions containing lithium cations.
Electrolysis cell processes as well as bipolar membrane electrodialysis processes for converting lithium salts into lithium hydroxide are known. In the case of lithium chloride, a two-compartment cell may be used. Chlorine is produced at the anode of the two-compartment cell, while the lithium cations migrate across a cation exchange membrane to produce lithium hydroxide in the negatively charged solution ("catholyte") surrounding the cathode. Thus, chlorine is a necessary, and often unwanted, by-product of this process.
A three-compartment electrolysis cell, or a three-compartment bipolar electrodialysis cell, may be used to produce lithium hydroxide. The by-product—hydrochloric acid—may disadvantageously be produced at relatively low concentrations.
In a somewhat analogous three-compartment arrangement, and as schematically depicted in FIG. 1A, lithium sulfate feed may be converted to lithium hydroxide in a dilute aqueous medium. The dilute lithium hydroxide is produced in the catholyte; dilute sulfuric acid by-product is produced in the anolyte compartment, and unconverted lithium sulfate is removed from the center compartment. In the cathode section, the removal of H2 gas causes an imbalance (deficiency) in cations with respect to anions. This facilitates the penetration of Li+ through the cationic membrane C, where a solution containing LiOH is formed. Similarly, in the anodic section, the production and liberation of oxygen gas (O2) causes a deficiency in anions with respect to cations. This facilitates the penetration of SO4−2 through the anionic membrane A, to produce a solution of H2SO4.
FIG. 1B provides a schematic flow diagram showing how lithium hydroxide might be produced in a two-compartment cell. The two-compartment process, in which—unlike the three-compartment process the lithium sulfate directly contacts the anode, may characteristically display poor process efficiency. Unlike the chlor-alkali process, in which the anodic reaction produces chlorine, the anodic reaction in lithium sulfate produces oxygen from the aqueous medium, which generates protons. The generated protons reduce the pH of the lithium sulfate solution. Perhaps more significantly, since the protons have appreciably improved mobility with respect to the larger, hindered lithium cations, the protons successfully compete with the lithium cations for transport across the cathodic membrane C. This may appreciably decrease the process efficiency.
The present inventors have recognized a need for improved methods and systems for producing lithium and lithium salts from various lithium-cation containing solutions.


An electronic device comprises a substrate and at least a warped spring connector. The substrate has a signal bonding pad and a ground plane. The warped spring connector is disposed on the substrate and is connected to the bonding pad. The warped spring connector includes at least a ground lead electrically connected to the ground plane, a dielectric layer on the ground lead, and a transmitting lead on the dielectric layer. The transmitting lead is bonded to the bonding pad. The ground lead is isolated from and close to the transmitting lead to solve cross-talk and noise problem. Furthermore, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the transmitting lead is different from that of the dielectric layer or the ground lead such that the warped spring connector has a suspending end suspending away from the substrate.

There are various outer connections for electronic devices such as bumps, solder balls, bonding wires, probes, gold fingers, leads, etc. However, not all the outer connections are reliable after long hours of operation due to mismatch of the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) between the electronic devices and printed circuit boards connected by the outer connections. The capability of stress absorbing or buffering of the outer connections under larger temperature gradients becomes the key factor for ensuring good reliability. Any breakdown between outer connections and printed circuit boards will cause electrically open which leading to signal disconnections, i.e., system failure.
According to Taiwan Patent Publication Number 535,226 submitted by the applicants, entitled "an electronics device with needle electrodes and their fabrication", an electronic device with needle electrodes is proposed. Each needle electrode has a dielectric supporting layer to increase the stress absorption capability of the electrodes when under stresses and a metal layer on the dielectric supporting layer to conduct electrical signals to a printed circuit board. Please refer to FIG. 1, an electronic device comprises a substrate 110 and a plurality of needle electrodes 120, wherein the substrate 110 can be a chip, a wafer, a printed circuit board, or a ceramic substrate. A plurality of bonding pads 111 are disposed on the surface of the substrate 110. Each of the needle electrodes 120 includes a metal layer 121 and a PI supporting layer 122, where the metal layer 121 is electrically connected to the corresponding bonding pads 111 and is extended to the supporting layer 122 with a concave curvature. The supporting layer 122 is formed on the bottom of the corresponding metal layer 121 to support the metal layer 121. However, when higher density of electrical connections or smaller line widths and pitches are required, the cross talk and electrical-magnetic interferences between needle electrodes 120 will become severe. The needle electrodes cannot be implemented in high speed, high frequency applications.

Electronic device with a warped spring connector


A method, and an apparatus employing the method, of scanning a bound document. The method includes the acts of acquiring image data of the document that has an image attribute, identifying from the image data a group of image data that has the first image attribute, and modifying the group of image data having the first image attribute with a second image attribute.

1. Filed of the Invention
The invention relates to processing of scanned images, and particularly, to processing of scanned images of bound documents.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a document with a binding is scanned on a flat bed scanner, the scanned image often appears to have a darker area near the binding. Various factors contribute to the appearance of the darker area. For example, the binding of the document usually "lifts off" of or is separated from the scanner platen. That is, curvature near the binding geometrically distorts the image being scanned. As a result, contents within the distorted image are also geometrically distorted and heavily shaded because the lifted portion of the document reflects less light back into the scanner, thereby causing the lifted portion appear to be darker. The relatively darker portion of the scanned document is often considered to have an unpleasant affect on the scanned image.
Furthermore, when the scanner cover only partially covers the document, or when the cover is completely open, areas adjacent to the image being scanned usually are very dark, and form an unpleasant looking image border around the image. In still other cases, a partial image of an unwanted adjacent page is sometimes inadvertently captured, and again forms another dark edge in the image near the binding. In addition, when the document is scanned, an operator may place unequal pressure on parts of the document. In such a case, the image being scanned may be skewed.

Bound document scanning method and apparatus


A machine for applying a heat meltable composition includes a drive module, a light source module, and a nozzle module. The drive module attaches to the end of an elongate arm for moving the material with respect to the nozzle. The light module includes a laser for irradiating the composition as it passes through the nozzle and is applied to the material. The nozzle includes a mechanism for withdrawing the composition after flow is terminated to prevent the formation of strings in the composition. The modules are controlled by a process that provides a sequence of steps upon receipt of control signals from an operator foot pedal.

Pieces of fabric are typically secured together by the process of sewing, namely by passing a thread through the pieces along a line, or seam. U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,604, however, teaches the use of a heat meltable composition for bonding articles, such as two pieces of fabric. The composition is applied to the articles to be bonded by a nozzle, and a light beam, preferably from a laser, is directed into the composition as it flows through the nozzle. While this method has proven useful in the laboratory, it has not been applied to the sewing industry in general.

Apparatus for bonding with a meltable composition


A boot for a vibration motor of a mobile communication device is provided. The motor has a generally flat upper surface and is adapted to be installed in a mounting slot in a mobile communication device frame with the upper surface substantially parallel to an adjacent surface of said frame, and the mounting slot is at an angle with respect to a normal of the adjacent surface. The boot has an outer surface corresponding to the shape and angle of said mounting slot, an exposed surface generally parallel to said adjacent surface, and a motor-receiving slot for receiving said vibration motor, the motor-receiving slot having an axis angled from an axis of the mounting slot and generally normal with respect to the adjacent surface.

In recent years, mobile communication devices have become a popular communication tool. For example, providing businesspeople the capability to transmit and receive messages when they are not in the office has been very advantageous in allowing them to communicate with others on a more immediate basis. Moreover, such devices are also often used as organizers, a notebooks, and even an address books.
Some mobile communication devices play a tune in order to indicate to a user that a new message has been received. However, when a user is in a meeting or in a quiet location where silence is requested or required, an indicator lamp, located on the mobile communication device, may be turned on to indicate a new message has been received. Other than new messages, alerts for situations such as a phone call, an appointment reminder or a task reminder may be required.
Another method of alerting the user in these situations where silence is requested or required is via a vibration motor. When a new message is received, a vibration motor located within the mobile communication device causes the device to vibrate in order to alert to the user that a new message has been received.
In known mobile communication devices, the vibration motor is housed within a frame or a housing of the mobile communication device. In order to prevent the metal of the vibration motor from directly contacting the frame or housing, the vibration motor is placed into a vibration motor boot prior to being installed in the frame.
However, there are disadvantages with the tooling required to manufacture the location where the vibration motor boot and vibration motor rest within the frame or housing for known devices. In general, the frame or housing is manufactured using a mould comprising a core and cavity. In one known tooling method, the core is comprised of two separate pieces which fit within the cavity. The presence of two separate core pieces causes more time to be spent on removing the core and the cavity from the finished frame or housing. In another known method, the injection mould comprises a single piece core and a single piece cavity. However, due to the angle of known vibration boots, there exists a gap at a bottom edge of the location within which the vibration motor boot rests. Since the vibration motor boot is manufactured from a flexible material such as silicone rubber, during installation, the boot is generally compressed within the gap which affects operation of the vibration motor. Furthermore, there is no support for the vibration motor and the vibration motor boot once it has been installed.


A specimen holding apparatus includes a main body, a specimen supporting surface provided on the main body, and a restraining element movable along the main body in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the main body from a first position in which the restraining element is removed from the specimen supporting surface to a second position in which the restraining element encroaches over the specimen supporting surface. An alternate specimen holding apparatus includes a main body, a specimen supporting surface provided on the main body in a first horizontal plane, and a restraining element attached to the main body that is rotatable in a second horizontal plane substantially parallel to the first horizontal plane between a first position in which the restraining element is removed from the specimen supporting surface and a second position in which the restraining element encroaches over the specimen supporting surface.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a typical prior art charged particle beam device 1, such as an electron microscope, which is described in Engelen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,178. The charged particle beam device 1 includes a column 3 capable of being evacuated to, for example, 10−7 Torr. An electron source 5 emits an electron beam along an optical axis 7, which beam is imaged on a specimen 11 by way of a dual condensor system 8 and an objective lens 9. The lower portion of objective lens 9, together with a diffraction lens, an intermediate lens and two projector lenses, all diagrammatically represented by the lens 10, form an image of the specimen 11 on a target 20 with a magnification of, for example 106.
In a microscope system such as charged particle beam device 1, the specimen 11 is typically supported by a specimen holder 13. The specimen holder 13 is connected to the column 3 through spherical bearing 17 so that specimen holder 13 can be displaced relative to the optical axis 7 over a distance of approximately 1 mm in a direction parallel to the optical axis 7 and also over a distance of approximately 1 mm in a direction which is normal to the optical axis 7. In addition, the specimen 11 may tilted by rotation of the specimen holder 13 about its axis. Tilting of the specimen 11 is important in order to obtain a number of images of the specimen 11 with different orientations at different angles. Such multi-angle imaging may be used for reconstruction of a three dimensional image of the specimen 11, for examination of diffraction images of the specimen 11, or, in the case where material analysis of the specimen 11 is being conducted, for optimizing the signal from an X-ray detector which can be arranged adjacent the upper poleshoe 9a of the objective lens 9 and which detects the X-rays generated in the specimen 11 by the electron beam.
According to the Rayleigh theory, the dimension of the smallest observable details in the specimen 11 is proportional to λ/a, where a is the numerical aperture of the objective lens 9 and λ is the wavelength of the electrons. For an electron energy amounting to 300 kV, the wavelength amounts to approximately 2×10−3 nm. Because of the spherical aberration caused by the objective lens 9, such a resolution cannot be achieved because a point situated on the optical axis 7 is imaged by the objective lens 9 as a spot having a diameter proportional to Csa3. Therein, Cs is the spherical aberration coefficient. A minimum resolution is obtained when the numerical aperture a is chosen between an as low as possible value for reducing the spherical aberration and an as high as possible value for maximizing the resolution according to Rayleigh. The dimension of the smallest observable details is then 0.067 Cs¼λ1/4. For high-resolution electron microscopes, a resolution of 0.17-0.20 nm can be achieved for a spherical aberration coefficient value of 1 mm. Such a low aberration coefficient can be achieved by making the distance between the poleshoes 9a and 9b equal to 1 mm. Because of the small poleshoe distance required for a high-resolution, the part of the specimen holder 13 to be introduced between the poleshoes must be very thin. Moreover, the specimen holder 13 must be sufficiently rigid to prevent image-disturbing vibrations of the specimen 11. It must also be possible to attach a specimen 11 which comprises, for example, a carbon film having a thickness of 20 nm, supported on a circular metal mesh commonly known as a grid, to the specimen holder 13 in a simple manner without causing damage to the specimen 11.
FIG. 2 is an isometric diagram of prior art specimen retaining device 21 that may form part of specimen holder 13 for holding specimen 11 in charged particle beam device 1. The specimen retaining device 21 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,178, and includes a supporting face 23 against which the specimen 11 may rest. The specimen 11 may be clamped against supporting face 23 by resilient retaining element 25, which comprises a contact portion in the form of an annular central portion 27 and three arms 29a, 29b and 29c. Each arm 29 includes a lug 31 which can resiliently engage a circumferential edge 33 of specimen retaining device 21. One of the lugs 31 is provided with detachment portion 35 for facilitating detachment of retaining element 25. Supporting face 23 is recessed relative to upper surface 39 of specimen retaining device 21 such that retaining element 25 bears against upright positioning edge 41 of specimen retaining device 21. A circular specimen 11 may thus be located on the plane of the supporting face 23 by the vertical edge 41, which comprises several sections of a cylindrical surface, and will be held in place by retaining element 25.
FIG. 3 is an isometric diagram of an alternate specimen retaining device 21 described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,178. A specimen 11 in this embodiment is clamped against the supporting face 23 by resilient tongues 43 and 45 with a resilient force, providing the well-known advantages of resilient clamping.
Specimen retaining device 21 shown in FIG. 2 has some tolerance to specimens of varying heights, and also has a rather low profile. However, it has proven difficult to use by some operators because of its requirement to align three points of engagement simultaneously between the clip 27 and the body 39. Further, it imposes a finite limit to the tilt-angles at which a specimen may be observed, since it presents a raised structure above the specimen around the entire perimeter of the specimen 11, and it requires a supporting structure below the specimen around the entirety of its perimeter. In the device 21 shown in FIG. 3, because the resilient tongues 43 and 45 are positioned at discrete locations around the perimeter of the specimen, they can be arranged so as not to interfere with viewing the specimen at high tilt angles when tilted about at least one axis. However, this approach suffers from the disadvantage that the specimen must be slid underneath the clips simultaneously to experience a restraining force from the clips. This situation makes loading difficult, and can easily damage a fragile specimen.
A further alternative device for retaining and supporting a specimen is taught in Yanaka et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,934. In this device, a specimen to be examined is placed on a circular specimen grid, and the grid is positioned within a cylindrical counterbore formed within a moveable specimen holder that may form a part of or be utilized in the manner of specimen holder 13 described in connection with FIG. 1. A C-shaped retaining spring is described which snap-fits into a corresponding internal groove formed within the specimen holder. This mechanism has limited ability to restrain specimens of varying thickness, and the C-shaped retaining spring has been found to be difficult to handle by some operators.
Another well known prior art method and device for restraining a specimen utilizes an externally-threaded ring which mates with internal threads formed in the body of the specimen holder. This mechanism can easily damage fragile specimens due to the rigid nature of the screw threads. Further, some applications require observing the specimen at high angles from normal (i.e., nearly parallel to its surface), for instance in order to re-construct a three-dimensional model using observations at multiple angles. The threaded ring presents a high profile normal to the plane of specimen support such that it obscures the view of the specimen at high angles and constrains observation to a limited range of angles. That is, the field of view on the specimen is a circle at a normal beam incidence, and is gradually reduced or "shadowed" into a cat's-eye shape by the threaded ring as the holder is tilted, until the field of view becomes negligible at a modest tilt angle, e.g., +/−50 degrees from normal.
Yet another prior art device for restraining a specimen is shown in FIG. 4. This device uses levers that can pivot about axes oriented parallel to the plane of specimen support in such a way that one end of each lever can contact the top surface of the specimen and bring a substantially normal restraining force to bear on it. Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, a supporting face 100 is the primary locating surface for the specimen. Jaws 103 and 104, forming a part of the levers, can be rotated around hinges 105 and 106 so as to press against the specimen with a force substantially normal to face 100. The force is applied and controlled by way of wire legs 101 and 102, which are made of a resilient material, to provide the known advantages of resilient clamping. For high-tilt viewing of the specimen, this geometry has the advantage that the levers comprising jaws 103 and 104 and wire legs 101 and 102 can occupy discrete positions around the perimeter of the specimen, and can be arranged so as not to interfere with viewing of the specimen at glancing angles when tilted about at least one axis. That is, the specimen may be tilted about at least one axis without any line-of-sight obstruction of a central area by the restraining mechanism. A commercial example of such a device, the model 670 Ultra High Tilt Holder sold by Gatan, Inc., is advertised to have the ability to tilt to +/−80 degrees from normal incidence without obscuring the specimen. However, the same pivoting motion that applies the restraining force is also used to retract the tips of the levers, i.e., jaws 103 and 104, away from the specimen area during loading and un-loading. Therefore, it is difficult for an operator to pause and inspect the positioning of the specimen and the levers prior to applying the restraining force. Also, in order to lift the jaw 103 and 104 of each lever away from the specimen, the wire legs 101 and 102 of each lever must pivot below the plane of specimen support, making it difficult for an operator to manipulate with precision. Adding to this difficulty is the fact that the operator is required to manipulate the wire legs 101 and 102 from the side opposite that from which the specimen is installed. Further, this device is difficult to make small, so as to fit easily in narrow spaces such as typically encountered in charged-particle instruments such as electron microscopes.
Another known form of specimen retention consists of two planar supporting surfaces, located substantially in a single plane, with means such as screws and washers for affixing each of two opposite ends of a specimen (usually in the form of a ribbon) to the two aforementioned planar surfaces. This is typically a feature of so called straining holders, in which one of the surfaces is movable so as to stretch the specimen while under observation. Known straining holders require the clamping mechanism to be removed entirely for the purpose of loading a specimen, and so are cumbersome to use.
All of these prior art specimen restraining devices use a stationary supporting face located below the specimen, and a moveable or removable restraining element located above the specimen. It is appreciated that the ability to view the specimen at high angles of tilt is affected both by the shape and dimensions of the restraining element(s) and the shape and dimensions of the supporting structure below the specimen. Hence, it is desired to make each of these elements as thin as practical to achieve viewing at high tilt, as the thickness of each will limit the practical viewing angle. However, it is also understood that the design and physical characteristics of the restraining element impose restrictions on the design and physical characteristics of the supporting structure, so that these elements are not independent of one another. For example, a threaded-ring restraining element requires mating threads in the counterbore, and exerts downward force via the specimen onto the supporting surface. The supporting structure must therefore be sufficiently large and strong to resist said force without permanent deformation. Likewise, a resilient supporting mechanism produces forces within the structure of the holder, which forces must be borne by the holder without permanent distortion.


To provide a method whereby viscoelasticity of an object can be measured nondestructively and in non-contact fashion in a short time. By this method, elastic waves and light are radiated to an object and the viscoelasticity of an object is measured nondestructively and in non-contact fashion using a shadow change based on a change in the direction of a line normal to the surface of the object. Specifically, the present invention has an elastic wave transmission step for pressurizing or exciting the object by elastic waves and causing a minute displacement of the object surface shape, a photoirradiation step for radiating light to the minutely displaced object surface, an image acquisition step for acquiring a shadow change based on a change in the direction of a line normal to the object surface, and a viscoelasticity estimation step for processing an image of the acquired shadow change and calculating a viscoelasticity.

When an external force is applied to an object, deformation and flow occur simultaneously in the object. At this time, the property that combines the ease of deformation and the ease of flow of the object is called viscoelasticity and it is known that, by examining this viscoelasticity, evaluation of a structure and physical properties becomes possible, efficiency of material design can be improved and sensory evaluation by objective evaluation of tactile sensation can be supplemented.
Conventionally, as a method of measuring the viscoelasticity of an object, a method of directly measuring the displacement of the object surface by applying pressure or vibration employing a contact type probe is generally used. For example, devices are known wherein a probe is manually pressed against the surface of the object or pressed by the weight of the housing so that the probe contacts the surface of the object or pressed by the weight of the housing so that the probe contacts the surface of the material and evaluates material properties with respect to material impressions. (For example, refer to Patent literatures 1 and 2.)
As described above, it is difficult to repeatedly use valuable or delicate samples in the method of measuring the displacement of the object surface by applying stress to the target object directly in contact with the object. Therefore, a method for estimating the viscoelasticity of the target object in non-contact and non-destructive manner is required. In order to estimate the viscoelasticity of the target object in non-contact and non-destructive manner, it is necessary to apply mechanical stress to the target object in a non-contact manner.
As a method of measuring the viscoelasticity of an object in a non-contact manner, a method of measuring the displacement when pressurizing or vibrating the object surface by the impact of sound waves or air using a laser displacement meter or the like is known. For example, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is known wherein, based on a plurality of frames generated by scanning ultrasonic beams, a temporal change in the displacement amount of the object is calculated, a displacement waveform of the displacement amount is generated, and the viscoelasticity of the object is estimated according to the displacement amount. (For example, refer to Patent literature 3.)
Also a method of estimating viscoelasticity by acquiring a periodic motion of a texture on the surface of an object using an image processing is known. (For example, refer to Non-patent literature 1.)

Method and device for measuring viscoelasticity

National University Corporation Nara Institute of Science and Technology


A first person (which may be a natural person, organization, brand, or other entity) has one or more affinity planes. Each affinity plane represents a distinct closeness of relationship with the first person. The first person also has one or more sectors, each of which may be associated with a domain. Each of the other people may be associated with zero or more of the first person's affinity planes and zero or more of the first person's sectors. Each of the first person's resources may be associated with zero or more of the first person's affinity planes and zero or more of the first person's sectors. A request by one of the other people to access one of the first person's resources is granted based on the overlap between the affinity planes and sectors associated with the requestor and the affinity planes and sectors associated with the requested resource.

People use computers and computer networks to store and transmit an increasingly wide variety of information, ranging from highly sensitive medical information to photos of sporting events to corporate financial reports. Such information can vary widely not only in its content and form, but also in the extent to which its creators and owners wish to share it with others. Due to the inherent ability of computers to copy digital data quickly, easily, and with perfect accuracy, and the inherent ability of computer networks to transmit digital data to a nearly limitless number of people instantly and worldwide, in many cases the mere act of posting information on the Internet, or even of storing information on a personal computer, makes that information quickly and easily available to a larger number and wider variety of people than the poster desires. Information availability, in other words, remains largely an "all-or-nothing" proposition on the Internet.
Although various systems exist for enabling the creators and owners of digital data to exert control over the extent to which such data are made available to others, such systems have a variety of shortcomings. For example, online social networking systems, such as Facebook, enable each of their members to designate certain other people as being "within" their online social network. Once a person has designated such a group of "friends" (in Facebook parlance), the person can make certain information available through the online social networking system only to friends and not to non-friends. Although such a system represents an improvement over a true all-or-nothing system of content access control, it still has a variety of drawbacks. One such drawback is that the mere binary distinction between friends and non-friends does not enable finer-grained distinctions to be implemented by the system. This can cause significant problems when, as is commonly the case, a person allows relatively unknown acquaintances into his or her circle of friends, thereby potentially nullifying the access control-related benefits of the system.
What is needed, therefore, are improved techniques for providing people with control over access to their digital resources.

Controlling access to resources based on affinity planes and sectors