A semiconductor fabrication process and the resulting integrated circuit include forming a gate electrode (116) over a gate dielectric (104) over a semiconductor substrate (102). A spacer film (124) exhibiting a tensile stress characteristic is deposited over the gate electrode (116). The stress characteristics of at least a portion of the spacer film is then modulated (132, 192) and the spacer film (124) is etched to form sidewall spacers (160, 162) on the gate electrode sidewalls. The spacer film (124) is an LPCVD silicon nitride in one embodiment. Modulating (132) the spacer film (124) includes implanting Xenon or Germanium into the spacers (160) at an implant energy sufficient to break at least some of the silicon nitride bonds. The modulation implant (132) may be performed selectively or non-selectively either before or after etching the spacer film (124).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of semiconductor fabrication and, more particularly, to a process of fabricating transistors having sidewall spacers.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of sidewall spacers in the formation of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors is well known. A spacer is a structure located adjacent to the sidewalls of a transistor's gate. After forming the transistor gates, the spacers are typically formed by following a conformal deposition process with an anisotropic etch. Portions of the deposited film adjacent vertically oriented portions of the pre-deposition topography remain after the etch. Sidewalls spacers provide an implant block that enables, for example, lateral displacement of heavily doped source/drain regions from the edges of the transistor gate. This displacement is beneficial in reducing short channel effects of submicron and deep submicron transistors. In addition, spacers tend to lessen the severity of the wafer topography thereby facilitating subsequent fabrication processes.
In conventional transistor design, the spacers are ideally intended to be electrically inactive. Other than the electrical effects caused by the lateral displacement of the source/drain regions relative to the transistor gate, the spacer is not supposed to effect the operating characteristics of the transistor. Unfortunately, some of the more prevalent spacer materials tend to impact the transistor's performance. Specifically, dielectric materials including silicon nitride are well known to impart stress on the films over which they are deposited. This stress can affect parameters including electron mobility, defect generation, and dopant activation in the underlying substrate thereby altering the transistor's performance. Even worse, these stress effects tend to be non-symmetrical with respect to n-channel and p-channel transistors in a CMOS process.

Transistor sidewall spacer stress modulation


Polymers are disclosed having the following formula 1 or 2:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic anti-reflective coating (xe2x80x9cARCxe2x80x9d) material which allows the stable formation of ultrafine patterns suitable for 64 M, 256 M, 1 G, 4 G and 16 G DRAM semiconductor devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to an organic anti-reflective coating material which contains a chromophore with high absorbance at the wavelengths useful for submicrolithography. A layer of said anti-reflective material can prevent the back reflection of light from lower layers of the semiconductor chip, as well as eliminate the standing waves caused by light and thickness changes of the photoresist layer itself, while conducting a submicrolithographic process using a 248 nm KrF, 193 nm ArF or 157 nm F2 laser. Also, the present invention is concerned with an anti-reflective coating composition comprising such a material, an anti-reflective coating made therefrom and a preparation method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During a submicrolithographic process, one of the most important processes for fabricating highly integrated semiconductor devices, there inevitably occur standing waves and reflective notching due to the optical properties of lower layers on the wafer and to changes in the thickness of the photosensitive film applied thereon. In addition, the submicrolithographic process generally suffers from a problem of the CD (critical dimension) being altered by the diffracted light and reflected light from the lower layers.
To overcome these problems, it has been proposed to introduce a film, called an anti-reflective coating, between the substrate and the photosensitive film to prevent light reflection from the lower layer. Generally, anti-reflective coatings are classified into xe2x80x9corganicxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cinorganicxe2x80x9d by the materials used and into xe2x80x9cabsorptionxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cinterferencexe2x80x9d by the mechanisms involved. In microlithographic processes using an I-line light source (365 nm in wavelength), inorganic anti-reflective coatings are usually used, for example TiN or amorphous carbon coatings are applied when advantage is taken of an absorption mechanism, and SiON coatings are applied when an interference mechanism is desired. The SiON anti-reflective coatings are also adapted for submicrolithographic processes which uses KrF light sources.
Recently, extensive and intensive research has been and continues to be directed to the application of organic anti-reflective coatings for such submicrolithography. In view of the present development status, organic anti-reflective coatings, to be useful, must satisfy the following fundamental requirements:
First, peeling of the photoresist layer due to dissolution in solvents should not take place when conducting a lithographic process with an organic anti-reflective coating. In this regard, the organic anti-reflective coating materials have to be designed so that their cured films have a cross-linked structure without producing by-products.
Second, there should be no migration of chemical materials, such as amines or acids, into and from the anti-reflective coatings. If acids are migrated from the coatings, the photosensitive patterns are undercut while the egress of bases, such as amines, causes a xe2x80x9cfootingxe2x80x9d phenomena.
Third, faster etch rates should be realized in the anti-reflective coatings than in the upper photosensitive film, allowing an etching process to be conducted smoothly with the photosensitive film serving as a mask.
Finally, the organic anti-reflective coatings should be as thin as possible while playing an excellent role in preventing light reflection.
As varied as anti-reflective coatings are, those which are satisfactorily applied to submicrolithographic processes using ArF light have not been found, thus far. As for inorganic anti-reflective coatings, there have been reported no materials which can control interference at the wavelength of ArF light, that is, 193 nm. As a result, active research has been conducted to develop organic materials which can form superb anti-reflective coatings. In fact, in most cases of submicrolithography, the coating of photosensitive layers is necessarily accompanied by the coating of organic anti-reflective layers which prevent the standing waves and reflective notching occurring upon light exposure and eliminate the influence of back diffraction and reflective light from lower layers. Accordingly, the development of such anti-reflective coating materials showing high absorption properties at specific wavelengths is one of the hottest and most urgent issues in the art.
The present invention overcomes the problems encountered in the prior art and provides a novel organic compound which can be used in an anti-reflective coating for submicrolithography processes using 193 nm ArF and 248 nm KrF lasers.
The present invention provides a method for preparing an organic compound which prevents the diffusion and reflection caused by light exposure in submicrolithography process.
The present invention further provides an anti-reflective coating composition containing such a diffusion/reflection-preventive compound and a preparation method therefor.
The present invention also provides an anti-reflective coating formed from such a composition and a preparation method therefor.
The present invention pertains to acrylate polymer resins (also referred to herein as xe2x80x9cpolymersxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cresinsxe2x80x9d) which can be used as an anti-reflective coating. The polymer resins contain a chromophore which shows high absorbance of light having wavelengths of 198 nm and 248 nm. In addition, a cross-linking mechanism between alcohol groups and other functional groups is introduced into the polymer resins, so that a cross-linking reaction takes place when the coatings of the polymer resins are xe2x80x9chard baked,xe2x80x9d i.e., heated at a temperature of 100-300xc2x0 C. for 10-1,000 seconds. As a result, a great improvement can be effected in the formation, tightness and dissolution properties of the anti-reflective coatings. Particularly, maximal cross-linking reaction efficiency and storage stability are realized in the practice of the present invention.
The anti-reflective coating resins of the present invention have superior solubility in all hydrocarbon solvents, in order to form a coating composition, yet are of such high solvent resistance after hard baking that they are not dissolved in any solvent at all. These advantages allow the resins to be coated without any problem to form an anti-reflective coating which prevents undercutting and footing problems when images are formed on the overlying photosensitive layer. Furthermore, coatings made of the acrylate polymers of the invention are higher in etch rate than the photosensitive film coatings, thereby improving the etch selection ratio therebetween.
The acrylate polymer resins according to the present invention are represented by the following chemical formulas 1 and 2:
wherein,
Ra, Rb, Rc Rd each is hydrogen or a methyl group;
R1 to R9, which are the same or different, each represents hydrogen, hydroxy, methoxycarbonyl, carboxyl, hydroxymethyl or a substituted or unsubstituted, linear or branched C1-C5 alkyl or alkoxyalkyl;
w, x, y and z each is a mole fraction in the range from 0.01 to 0.99; and
m and n each is an integer of 1 to 5.
The polymers of the present invention are designed to show high absorbance at 193 nm and 248 nm wavelengths. To accomplish this result, a chromophore substituent which is able to absorb light at a wavelength of 193 nm as well as 248 nm is grafted to the backbone of the polymer.
The polymer of chemical formula 1 can be prepared by polymerizing a 9-anthraldehydeoximacrylate-type monomer, a hydroxy alkyl acrylate-type monomer, and a glycidyl acrylate-type monomer with the aid of an initiator in a solvent. Each of the monomers has a mole fraction ranging from 0.01 to 0.99, preferably 0.1 to 0.9.
The polymer of chemical formula 2 can be prepared by polymerizing a 9-anthraldehydeoximacrylate-type monomer, a hydroxy alkyl acrylate-type monomer, a glycidyl acrylate-type monomer and a methyl methacrylate-type monomer at a mole fraction of 0.01 to 0.99 for each monomer, preferably 0.1 to 0.9.
For initiating the polymerization reaction to prepare the polymers of the chemical formulas 1 and 2, ordinary radical initiators may be used, preferably one selected from the group consisting of 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), acetylperoxide, laurylperoxide and t-butylperoxide. Also, ordinary solvents may be used for the polymerization, preferably a solvent selected from the group consisting of tetrahydrofuran, toluene, benzene, methylethyl ketone and dioxane.
Preferably, the polymerization of the polymers of chemical formulas 1 and 2 is carried out at 50xc2x0-90xc2x0 C.
The present invention also pertains to an anti-reflective coating composition which comprises a polymer of chemical formula 1 or 2 in combination with at least one additive selected from the group consisting of the anthracene derivatives shown in Table 1, below:
In Table 1, R11, R12, R13, R14 and R15 independently represent hydrogen, hydroxy, hydroxymethyl, or substituted or unsubstituted linear or branched C1-C5 alkyl or alkoxyalkyl.
An anti-reflective coating composition according to the present invention may be prepared by adding a compound selected from Table 1, at an amount of 0.1 to 30% by weight, to a solution of a polymer of the chemical formula 1 or 2 in a solvent, and then filtering the resultant solution. This coating composition is applied on a wafer that is then hard-baked to form a cross-linked anti-reflective coating. Semiconductor devices can then be fabricated therefrom.
Ordinary organic solvents may be used in preparing the composition, with preference given to one selected from the group consisting of ethyl 3-ethoxy propionate, methyl 3-methoxy propionate, cyclohexanone and propyleneglycol methyletheracetate. The solvent is preferably used at an amount of 200 to 5000% by weight based on the weight of the anti-reflective coating polymer resin used.
It has been found that anti-reflective coatings of the present invention exhibit high performance in submicrolithographic processes using 248 nm KrF, 193 nm ArF and 157 nm F2 lasers as light sources. The same is also true when electron beams, EUV (extremely ultraviolet) and ion beams are used as light sources.

Organic anti-reflective polymer and method for manufacturing thereof

Abstract: Polymers of the present invention can be used as an ARC material useful for submicrolithography processes using 248 nm KrF, 193 nm ArF and 157 nm F2 lasers. The polymers contain a chromophore substituent that exhibits sufficient absorbance at the wavelengths useful for the submicrolithography process. The ARC prevents back reflection of light from lower layers and the alteration of the CD by diffracted and reflected light from the lower layers. The ARC also eliminates standing waves and reflective notching due to the optical properties of lower layers on the wafer and to changes in the thickness of the photosensitive film applied thereon, thereby resulting in the stable formation of ultrafine patterns suitable for 64 M, 256 M, 1 G, 4 G and 16 G DRAMs and a great improvement in the production yield.

Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd.


A control unit calculates a quantity of air that is taken into an engine from an output current from an air flow meter that is located downstream from a throttle valve. The control unit then determines the quantity of fuel to be injected for this quantity of air. A value obtained by multiplying by two an integral value of the quantity of air from the rise point of the quantity of air until the quantity of air reaches a peak value is used for calculating the injection quantity. This value is taken as the total integrated air intake quantity of an intake stroke, and this is then divided by a predetermined air-fuel ratio so as to provide the quantity of fuel to be injected.

Conventionally, a method of controlling combustion in an internal combustion engine of a vehicle or the like is known (see, for example, Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. H04-15388) in which the quantity of fuel that is injected is controlled so as to match the quantity of air that is taken in from the outside, and a mixture of air and fuel is ignited and combusted in accordance with the angle of rotation of the crankshaft.
Here, the technology that controls this fuel injection is disclosed in the aforementioned document. Specifically, a structure is employed to control the fuel injection into a multi cylinder engine in which a flow rate sensor is provided on an air intake passage between a throttle valve and an electromagnetic injection valve. A control circuit calculates a basic fuel injection quantity at predetermined timings based upon an average value of the flow rate of the intake air that is detected by the flow rate sensor. Fuel injection is then performed based on this basic injection quantity. The cylinders performing the air intake switch in sequence during one engine cycle. Variations in the intake air flow rate that are generated at this time are taken as deviations from the average value of the intake air flow rate, and deviation signals corresponding to these deviations are input directly into a voltage circuit of the electromagnetic injection valve. The fuel injection quantity is increased when there is a large deviation signal, and is decreased when there is a small deviation. For this calculation of the basic fuel injection quantity, compensation is performed using an air intake temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the air that is taken in and a cooling water temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the engine cooling water.
In order to improve combustion efficiency and response, it is desirable that the quantity of air that is actually taken into an internal combustion engine is measured at each intake, and that the optimal fuel injection quantity be determined for each air intake quantity. It is also desirable that the fuel injection is performed while the air intake valve is open and air is flowing. However, because the final fuel injection quantity is determined after the air intake valve has closed, if the fuel injection quantity is determined after the air quantity until the air intake has ended has been calculated, it is not possible to inject fuel while the air intake valve is open. If the fuel injection for an intake stroke is continued even after the air intake valve has been closed, the quantity of fuel in the fuel-air mixture that is supplied to the interior of the engine in the intake stroke is decreased. As a result, the air-fuel ratio becomes disproportionate. Moreover, because fuel remains inside the air intake manifold, the quantity of fuel in the fuel-air mixture that is supplied to the interior of the engine in the next intake stroke is increased, so that again the air-fuel ratio becomes disproportionate.
Accordingly, the present invention was conceived in order to solve the above described problems, and it is an object thereof to provide a control unit for an internal combustion engine that has a simple structure and enables a required quantity of fuel to be injected at an appropriate timing.

Control unit for an internal combustion engine


A method, computer program product and computer system are provided. A processor receives a host input/output write operation, wherein the host input/output write operation includes host metadata regarding data represented by the host input/output write operation. The processor stores the host input/output write operation in one or more physical storage data units. A processor assigns a priority to the one or more physical storage data units. In response to receiving a host volume delete command associated with at least one of the one or more physical storage data units, a processor prioritizes data units of the host volume for deletion based, at least in part, on the assigned priority of the data units of the host volume, wherein data units with a lower priority are permanently deleted before data units with a higher priority.

The present invention relates generally to the field of virtualized storage systems, and more particularly to prioritization of stored host metadata during a delete process.
Virtualized storage systems store data on physical media in a manner that is transparent to host servers. From the perspective of a host server, data is stored on virtual storage devices that are commonly known as logical volumes. Data storage systems map logical volumes to addressable physical locations on storage media, such as hard disks. Host servers typically require large numbers of volumes in order to store large amounts of data.
In conventional system storage architectures, data is stored in logical structures on one or more logical volumes and are accessed with the assistance of logical addresses, or "pointers," associated with the logical structures. When a data set is deleted, the pointers to the data set are destroyed and access to the user data is lost. The physical storage extents where the data was actually stored may then be reclaimed by a garbage collection process.

Prioritization of stored data during a delete process in a virtualized storage system

International Business Machines Corporation


A rotary impeller assembly is for a fluid machine and includes a support member having an outer surface and blades connected to the support member. Each blade includes first and second integral portions, the blade first portion having a first thickness and being spaced from the base surface and the blade second portion is disposed against the support member outer surface and has a second thickness. The second thickness is substantially greater than the first thickness such that the blade has greater stiffness proximal to the support and a lesser stiffness generally distal from the support. Preferably, the blades are connected with the support welds between each blade sidewall and the support member. Further, each blade first portion is sized such that the blade first thickness is maintained in a significant area of the blade spaced from the weld(s) so as to allow blade flexure away from the weld.

The present invention relates to a method of welding and an assembly formed by the method.
Welding methods are often very critical when an assembly if formed by welding two or more components together. For example, an important consideration in connection with rotary machines including compressors, turbines, refrigeration and gas liquefaction units, and the like, is the design of the impellers since they substantially affect the performance of the machine. A typical radial flow impeller includes a plurality of angularly-spaced blades extending from a central support member, such as a hub or a shroud. However, the blades are often welded to the support member in a manner that results in significant steady state and alternating stresses within the weld joint, and a reduction in fatigue resistance.
Therefore, what is needed is welding technique that eliminates, or at least significantly reduces, the above problems.


Embodiments herein describe dummy gates disposed over a portion of a fin in finFETs. That is, instead of separating the dummy gates from the finFET structure, the fins may be extended and covered, at least partially, by the dummy gates. An insulative material is disposed between the dummy gate and the fin in order to form a decoupling capacitor. In one embodiment, the dummy gate overlaps a portion of the fin that is held at a voltage rail. Moreover, the dummy gate may be coupled to a different (e.g., opposite) voltage rail than rail coupled to the fin. For example, if the fin is coupled to VHIGH then the dummy gate is coupled to VLOW, or vice versa. Thus, the capacitor formed using the fin and the dummy gate provides a decoupling capacitance between the power sources generating the voltage rails (i.e., VHIGH and VLOW).

The present invention relates to incorporating decoupling capacitance into a fin field effect transistor (FET) structure, and more specifically, to the interaction between a fin in the finFET and a dummy gate.
FinFET semiconductor technology provides improved transistor performance versus historic planar FET technologies. However, finFETs have much larger gate capacitances when compared to similar sized planar FETs. This increased gate capacitance can have negative effects on the power supplies used to provide the rail voltages to the finFETs which may cause the rail voltages to droop as the gates are switched. This droop can decrease the switching speed of the finFETs and negatively affect the overall timing of the semiconductor chip.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A pivotally movable abutment mechanism is provided, which includes an abutment member for abutting against a member to be abutted over the longitudinal direction, a supporting member that supports the abutment member and is pivotally movable about a pivotal axis, a pressing member for pivotally moving the supporting member in the direction in which the abutment member is pressed against the member to be abutted, and a pivotal axis moving mechanism capable of changing the position of the pivotal axis by a pressing operation by the pressing member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pivotally movable abutment mechanism that pivotally moves to abut against an abutted member, and an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer using the pivotally movable abutment mechanism. In particular, the present invention relates to a mechanism for causing charging means and transferring means to pivotally move to abut and an image formation using the mechanism.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 12. An image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 12 includes four process units. Latent images are formed on photosensitive drums 101 (101a, 101b, 101c and 101d), which are image bearing members, in the respective process units. The formed latent images are developed, and then toner images are superimposed to be transferred on a transfer material on a transfer material bearing member one after another. A full color image is obtained by heating to fix the toner images by a fixing unit (not shown) in the downstream.
Inside an elliptical shape formed by a transfer belt 102 being a transfer material bearing member, a transfer blade unit is provided which includes transfer blades 103 (103a, 103b, 103c and 103d) being transfer charging means, which are plate-like contact electrodes, blade holders 104 (104a, 104b, 104c and 104d) for supporting the transfer blades 103a to 103d, and pivoting shafts 105a, 105b, 105c and 105d for pivotally supporting the blade holders 104a to 104d. The transfer belt 102 contacts the photosensitive drums 101a to 101d being image bearing members, and is supported and biased by the transfer blades 103a to 103d at each contact point and is applied a transfer voltage.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the pivoting shafts 105 (105a, 105b, 105c and 105d) being rotational center shafts of the transfer blades 103 and the blade holders 104 are fixed at their respective predetermined positions. Thus, there is a problem in that a distribution of an abutting pressure of the transfer blades 103 in the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drums 101 becomes even.
For example, a case will be considered in which both ends of the pivoting shafts 105 are not parallel with axes of the photosensitive drums 101, and rotational centers in the back side of the apparatus are closer to the photosensitive drums 101 than to rotational centers in the front side of the apparatus. In such a case, when the transfer blades 103 rotate about the pivoting shafts 105, the back sides of the transfer blades 103 abut against the transfer belt 102 first. At this point, the contacting portions are in positions deviated to the downstream side of the transfer belt movement from ideal positions (positions the transfer blades 103 should originally abut against the transfer belt 102). In addition, the front sides of the transfer blades 103 have not abutted against the transfer belt 102 yet.
When more pressure is applied to the transfer blades 103, the portions of the transfer blades 103 abutting against the transfer belt 102 start to bent first by the pressurizing power because the transfer blades 103 are formed of a material having flexibility such as a rubber plate member and a brush. With the abutment portions of the transfer blades 103 bending, non-abutment portions more in front than the abutment portions start to abut against the transfer belt 102. Before long, the back sides of the transfer blades 103 bend significantly, and the pressurizing completes when the portions of the transfer blades 103 on the front sides abut against the transfer belt 102. At this point, an abutment pressure distribution in the longitudinal direction of the abutment portions of the transfer blades 103 and the transfer belt 102 is high in the back side and low in the front side. This is because the pressurizing power by pressurizing means is lost by the bent of the transfer blades 103 and is not sufficiently transmitted to the front side.
The contacting portions of the transfer blades 103 and the transfer belt 102 are in positions more deviated with the transfer blades 103 bending from the positions at the instance of abutment. The higher the abutment pressure is, this tendency gets stronger, the back sides of the transfer blades 103 where the abutment pressure is high bend more, and the positional deviations increase accordingly.
That is, in the case in which the back sides of the pivoting shafts 105 of the transfer blades 103 positionally deviate in the direction to approach the photosensitive drums 101 (upward) and the front sides positionally deviate in the direction to recede from the photosensitive drums 101 (downward), the abutment pressure distribution is high in the back sides. To the contrary, in the case in which the back sides of the pivoting shafts 105 positionally deviate in the direction to recede from the photosensitive drums 101 (downward) and the front sides positionally deviate in the direction to approach the photosensitive drums 101 (upward), the abutment pressure distribution of the transfer blades 103 and the photosensitive drums 101 is high in the front sides.
In addition, in the case in which the pivoting shafts 105 of the transfer blades 103 positionally deviate in the direction to approach the photosensitive drums 101 (upward), the contacting portions of the transfer blades 103 deviate in the downstream side of the moving direction of the transfer belt 102. In the case in which the pivoting shafts 105 positionally deviate in the direction to recede from the photosensitive drums 101 (downward), the contacting portions deviate in the upstream side of the moving direction of the transfer belt 102.
In this way, as the abutment pressure distribution of the transfer blades 103 becomes unequal, the bent amount of the transfer blades 103 also becomes unequal. Thus, the positional deviations of the contacting points of the transfer blades 103 and the transfer belt 102 get larger and increase a deviation amount due to dimensions of parts.
In addition, when the abutment pressure of the transfer blades 103 exceeds a predetermined value, the abutment portions of the photosensitive drums 101, the transfer blades 103 and the transfer belt 102 are abraded more, which shortens lifetimes of these parts.
In addition, when the abutment pressure of the transfer blades 103 gets lower than a predetermined value, normal transfer cannot be performed and an image defect such as a blank area is generated. In particular, this tendency is evident when an image is transferred on a cardboard or an undulated sheet (e.g., a second side in a two-side recording, left paper at high temperature and high humidity, left paper at low temperature and low humidity, or the like). In addition, a positional deviation of the transfer blades 103 exceeding a predetermined amount can be a cause of an image defect.
Here, in order to hold an abutment pressure distribution of the transfer blades 103 within a predetermined amount, it is necessary to extremely accurately manage a rotational central positions of the transfer blades 103, which increases costs for parts. In addition, in some cases, an adjustment process is necessary when an apparatus is assembled, which increases production costs of the apparatus.
Further, this is not limited to an abutment of a transfer blade. It is also very important from a perspective of an equal charging performance and a lifetime to cause a charging member to abut equally, for example, in a charging device that charges a charged member by causing the charging member to abut against the charged member along the longitudinal direction.
In this way, in the case of a configuration for pivotally moving an abutment member to cause it to abut against an abutted member along the longitudinal direction, it is difficult to achieve equal abutment along the longitudinal direction. Thus, high accuracy of parts and complicated adjustment processes are required.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to achieve the equalization of an abutment pressure distribution between an abutment member and a member against which the abutment member abuts (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9can abutted memberxe2x80x9d) without using high accuracy of parts and adjustment processes in the case in which the pivoting abutment member is used.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an pivotally movable abutment mechanism of the present invention is provided with:
an abutment member for abutting an abutted member over the longitudinal direction;
supporting means that supports the abutment member and is pivotally movable about a pivotal axis;
pressurizing means for pivotally moving the supporting means in the direction for the abutment member to pressurize the abutted member; and
pivotal axis moving means capable of changing the position of the pivotal axis by a pressurizing operation by the pressurizing means.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

Pivotally movable abutment mechanism, charging device and image forming apparatus


In forming a digital image on the photoconductor wherein the intensity of the laser beam is modulated according to multi-level image data, a standard toner image is formed at an intermediate intensity at which the reproduced image density is not affected by the beam size, and the toner density is detected. On the other hand, the size of the beam for exposing the photoconductor is measured. Then, the gradation characteristic is controlled according to the toner density and the beam size. Thus, the effect of the beam size on the gradation characteristic is corrected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for forming a digital image with use of light intensity modulation in an electrophotographic process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a digital printer and the like with use of an electrophotographic process, a laser beam is modulated according to multi-level image data to expose a photoconductor which has been sensitized uniformly, to form an electrostatic latent image. The latent image is developed with toners, and the resultant toner image is transferred to a paper. Thus, the image data is reproduced on the paper.
In this intensity modulation method, the size of laser beam is kept constant. However, the beam size varies with the type of laser diode used for the exposure. In U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 07/671,963, filed Mar. 19, 1991 the beam size of laser diode is coded, and the coding is performed in a factory before shipment. The beam size (code input) of a laser diode installed in an apparatus is detected, and the gradation correction data is corrected according to the detected beam size.
A latent image formed with the laser beam is an analog image, and the gradation characteristic depends largely on the size of laser beam. The size of laser beam varies with the environment and the like of the electrophotography process. Therefore, it is desirable that gradation characteristic is corrected more precisely according to the beam size.
The beam size can be detected with a detector disclosed for example in Japanese Patent laid open Publication No. 68,358/1985. Usually, the beam size is detected, and a controller changes the beam size in response to the detected beam size (so-called autofocus). However, if such a detector and a controller are installed in a printer, the cost becomes higher. On the other hand, Japanese Patent laid open for Publication No. 25,164/1986 discloses the control of the spot size of the beam by changing the intensity of the beam. This method can control the spot size with a simple structure. However, it cannot control the gradation of a half-tone image appropriately because the potential of a latent image varies with the intensity of the beam.

Apparatus and method for forming digital image


An AC/DC conversion circuit of a power conversion apparatus receives an AC signal and has a switching element. A voltage sensing circuit generates a voltage reference signal according to an AC voltage signal. A harmonic generation circuit generates a harmonic injection signal according to the voltage reference signal. A subtraction circuit of a maximum power tracking circuit outputs a first DC signal and a second DC signal according to the voltage reference signal. An arithmetic circuit outputs a reference signal. A current sensing circuit outputs a feedforward signal according to one phase of an AC current signal. A current control circuit outputs an error signal according to the reference signal and the feedforward signal. A pulse width modulation circuit outputs a control signal to control the switching element according to the error signal and the harmonic injection signal, so that an aerogenerator operates at the maximum power approximation line.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a power conversion apparatus and a control method thereof and, in particular, to a power conversion apparatus and a control method thereof which are applied to an aerogenerator.
2. Related Art
In recent years, owing to the rising awareness of environment protection and the depletion of fossil energy (e.g. oil, coal), the whole world is conscious of the importance of the alternative energy development. Since wind energy is inexhaustible in supply and always available for use, there is no doubt about the depletion of the energy source and no issue of energy monopoly. Therefore, the countries of the world energetically develop the aerogeneration system, and expects that the reliance on the fossil energy will be reduced by the increasing use of the wind energy. The power generation principle of an aerogenerator is described as below. The wind pressure caused by the flowing air is used to rotate the blades of the wind turbine so as to generate the mechanical energy, and then the mechanical energy is used to rotate the rotor of the power generator so as to generate the electric energy. Generally, before this electric energy outputted by the aerogenerator is used for the storage, loading or electric network, it needs to be converted by a power conversion apparatus.
FIG. 1A is a characteristic curve diagram of the output power PWG (kW) and the output voltage VWG—rms (root-mean-square value) of a conventional aerogenerator G under different wind speeds, and FIG. 1B is a characteristic curve diagram of the output voltage VWG—rms (root-mean-square value) and the output current IWG—rms (root-mean-square value) of a conventional aerogenerator G under different wind speeds.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, under different wind speeds, the aerogenerator G has different voltage and current values at the maximum power point. The maximum power point corresponding to each of the wind speeds can be connected together by an approximation line, i.e. a maximum power approximation line. Besides, the voltage value corresponding to the maximum power point under every wind speed can be found by the approximation line, and then the current value corresponding to the maximum power point can be obtained by using the voltage value and referring to the voltage/current characteristic curve in FIG. 1B.
Moreover, FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of a conventional power conversion apparatus 1. Herein, the power conversion apparatus 1 can receive the electric energy outputted by an aerogenerator G and then supply it to a loading L after the power conversion.
In the conventional art, in order to achieve the functions of maximum power tracking and three-phase power factor correction (PFC) to enhance the electromechanical conversion efficiency of the aerogenerator G, two converters are usually required for the implementation of the power conversion apparatus. One is a three-phase PFC converter 11 and the other is a maximum power tracking converter 12. The three-phase PFC converter 11 is used to make the three-phase current phase and the voltage phase outputted by the aerogenerator G close to each other or the same, so as to achieve a higher power factor to enhance the efficiency. The maximum power tracking converter 12 is used to make the aerogenerator G capable of operating at the maximum power point under different wind speeds, and that means the aerogenerator G operates at the maximum power approximation lines of FIGS. 1A and 1B. Therefore, the electromechanical conversion efficiency can be enhanced by the PFC converter 11 and the maximum power tracking converter 12 of the power conversion apparatus 1.

Power conversion apparatus and control method thereof


An ink cartridge includes a case including an ink chamber defined in the case and configured to store ink, and a first wall facing an exterior of the case. The first wall has a first opening formed therethrough, and a second opening formed therethrough. The first opening is configured to introduce air into an interior of the ink chamber, and the second opening is configured to supply ink from an interior of the case to the exterior of the case. The case also includes a second wall facing the exterior of the case and positioned opposite the first wall, and a third wall positioned in the case and defining a portion of the ink chamber. The third wall has a third opening formed therethrough, and the third opening is positioned closer to the second wall than to the first wall. Moreover, the case includes a particular ink path extending from the second opening to the third opening. The particular ink path is in fluid communication with the ink chamber via the third opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ink cartridges and methods of adjusting a pressure in an ink chamber of such ink cartridges. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward ink cartridges comprising an ink path, and methods of adjusting a pressure in an ink chamber of such an ink cartridges.
2. Description of Related Art
A known ink cartridge is configured to be removably mounted to a known inkjet printer. The known ink cartridge has an ink chamber configured to store ink therein, an ink supply portion configured to supply ink from an interior of the ink chamber to an exterior of the ink chamber. The known inkjet printer has a recording head, and when the known ink cartridge is mounted to the known inkjet printer, ink stored in the ink chamber is supplied to the known inkjet printer via an ink supply portion to the recording head.
When the known ink cartridge is manufactured, air bubbles may remain in the ink supply portion during a process in which the ink chamber is filled with ink. Moreover, in order to remove air dissolved in the ink, the known ink cartridge may be packed in a packaging bag under a pressure which is less than the atmospheric pressure.
Another known ink cartridge, such as the ink cartridge described in JP-A-2007-196647, has a pivotable member disposed in the ink chamber, and the pivotable member pivots in accordance with the amount of ink in the ink chamber. One end of the pivotable member is detected by an optical sensor, whereby it is determined whether the amount of ink in the ink chamber is less than a predetermined amount of ink.
In the another known ink cartridge, the pressure in the ink chamber of an unused ink cartridge is less than the atmospheric pressure. Before the another known ink cartridge is used, the ink chamber is brought into fluid communication with the atmosphere, such that the pressure in the ink chamber becomes equal to the atmospheric pressure. When the pressure in the ink chamber is less than the atmospheric pressure, the air bubbles in the ink supply portion are relatively large. When the pressure in the ink chamber is increased to be equal to the atmospheric pressure, the air bubbles shrink, i.e., the volume of the air bubbles decreases. Therefore, in order to compensate for the volume decrease, ink and/or air flow from the ink chamber into the ink supply portion. The another known ink cartridge has a path extending from the ink chamber to the ink supply portion. When an end of the path, which end is continuous with the ink chamber, is submerged in ink, ink flows into the ink supply portion via the path. When the end of the path is positioned in air, air flows into the ink supply portion via the path. Such air may be supplied to the recording head, which may lead to a printing failure.
Moreover, when the amount of ink in the ink chamber decreases, one end of the pivotable member approaches to the bottom surface of the ink chamber. When this occurs, ink may be held in a gap formed between the one end of the pivotable member and the bottom surface by the surface tension of the ink. This ink is not dispensed from the ink cartridge, and is discarded when the ink cartridge is discarded.

Ink cartridges and methods of adjusting pressure in an ink chamber of such ink cartridges


The present invention relates to a single-piece seal member that has a substantially rigid portion and a substantially flexible portion. The substantially flexible portion extends from and is connected to the substantially rigid portion in a substantially seamless manner. The substantially flexible portion has a durometer reading less than that of the substantially rigid portion. The substantially rigid portion has a mounting configuration that can comprise an engaging mechanism. The engaging mechanism has a web element, and a first flange and a second flange extending from the web element. The first and second flanges are spaced apart from each other so as to engage a surface of a base structure such as along the deck of a bathtub or a shower base structure. A gripping arrangement is formed when at least one of the first and second flanges is angled relative to the other. In order to engage an angled edge of a base structure, the first and second flanges can have a mitered joint. Further, the present invention is directed to method of forming a secondary seal comprising the steps of fabricating a single-piece seal member, engaging the engaging mechanism onto an edge of a base structure, positioning the seal member against a wall frame, and fastening the substantially flexible portion of the seal member to the wall frame.

1. Field of The Invention
The present invention relates to a single-piece seal member for forming a secondary seal around a base structure, such as a shower, sink, bathtub or similar basin. Particularly, the present invention is directed to a single-piece seal having a substantially rigid portion and a substantially flexible portion, wherein the substantially rigid portion includes a mechanism to engage a surface of the base structure with the substantially flexible portion arranged in an upright manner.
Further, the present invention is directed to a method of forming a secondary seal around the base structure using the single-piece seal member.
2. Description of Related Art
Water containment is an important consideration during the construction and installation of sinks, bathtubs, shower stalls and similar basins. Bathtubs and shower stalls in particular are continually exposed to large amounts of water. Tubs and stalls require special consideration as to their design, construction, and installation so as to contain water and prevent water from leaking into the surrounding wall structure.
If water permeates beyond the tub or stall, the water will likely contact the surrounding wood framing and insulation. The wood framing and insulation typically are not exposed to enough air or air circulation to dry out once they become wet. Consequently, the water may cause rotting and other deterioration. Such deterioration leads to structural instability and foul odors. In sufficient quantities, water, following a path of least resistance, could leak into other areas of the dwelling.
Once the integrity of the wood framing and insulation are lost, it is difficult to replace or repair. Repair work could require the removal of surrounding tile, or the entire tub or shower unit if the tub or shower is a single-piece unit. This type of repair work is messy, costly, and time-consuming. For these reasons, tubs and showers are preferably constructed so that the surrounding wall framing and insulation remain dry.
Until relatively recently, shower stalls, bathtubs and sinks were fabricated from ceramic tile, cast iron covered with porcelain, or steel covered with porcelain. With the use of ceramic tile, a lead or rubber liner, called a "pan," was laid within an enclosure where the tub or shower was to be situated. The soft lead or rubber was folded up against the 2'.times.4' wall studs of the enclosure. With the pan material attached to the wall studs, concrete was poured with an opening left for a drain, and then the tile was laid in place. The pan was intended as a secondary seal to prevent water from leaking into the surrounding wall structure. With regard to cast iron or steel tub constructions, the primary seal against water was formed by applying caulking between the tub and the base of the surrounding tile. A cast raised bead or nailing flange is incorporated in many tubs to provide a secondary seal. Presently, a variety of plastics are a modern alternative to the tile and cast iron structures of the past. Surfacing materials include fiberglass, marble, fiber-reinforced plastic, and Surell.RTM. (a densified polyester resin-based material available from Formica Corp.). Plastics are more economically molded than steel or iron. In addition, plastics are lighter in weight, more flexible and more durable.
Some plastic tubs and shower bases are constructed so as to include an integral water seal. Particularly, the base structure of the tub or shower has an upstanding rigid flange along its perimeter. The rigid flange may be attached by a screw or nail to the wall studs. In turn, the wall panels that form the walls of the shower or tub are hung around the perimeter of the base structure of the tub or shower. Typically, the bottom edge of the wall panels are spaced a short distance from the tub or shower base unit. Caulking therefore is required to effectively seal the bottom edge of the wall panels. The caulking is the primary barrier to water and the upstanding rigid flange is the secondary barrier.
While effective at preventing water from leaking into the wall framing, tub and shower bases with integral water seals fixed in size. They cannot be used for custom or retrofit applications. Custom and retrofit applications require more flexible sizing where the base can be cut or trimmed to fit the desired enclosure.
Further, tub and shower base structures having an integral seal often require adjustment to fit into even standard size unfinished enclosures. In order to fasten the rigid flange to the wall studs, the integral seal tub or shower base structure must be pre-drilled and, sometimes, requires shims to adjust for variation in size and level. Pre-drilling and shims are needed to prevent the rigid flange from cracking or bending during installation.
The rigid flange likewise may crack or become crazed if improperly handled. For example, if an installer accidentally steps on the rigid flange, it could crack. Because rigid flanges are fragile, such tubs and shower bases require additional protection in packaging and handling.
In view of the above, there remains a need for a device and method of providing a secondary water seal in the event that the primary water seal between the surrounding wall panel and the base structure of the tub or shower fails. Further, there remains a need for a secondary seal that can be used with tub and shower base structures and allows for trimming or cutting at the installation site in order to fit into an enclosure. Additionally, the secondary seal must be attachable to the wall frame without cracking or bending and must be sturdy for handling and shipping purposes.

Single-piece seal member and method of forming a secondary seal


An apparatus for efficiently determining the background level of an image, based upon a sampling of the image, during processing of the image signals and without the need for a prior scan operation. The apparatus includes programmable sampling counters, to indicate when image signals for background determination are present on the video path, and an image signal verification device for excluding signals which are not representative of background regions of the image. The background determination apparatus also includes arithmetic circuitry for calculating a background level based upon the sampled image signals and for determining additional threshold levels based upon the background level.

This invention relates generally to a digital signal processing apparatus, and more particularly to the determination of the background level of a document in a single-pass scanning system.
The features of the present invention may be used in the printing arts and, more particularly, in digital image processing and electrophotographic printing. In digital image processing there is a distinct advantage to being able to determine or detect the background level of a document coincident with the actual scanning of the document. With regard to efficiency, it is advantageous to provide such a feature without having to execute a prescan operation, thereby increasing the throughput of the scanning or digitizing system. Accordingly, the present invention provides a document background detection apparatus that operates during an initial portion of the scanning process to provide a real-time indication of the background level of the document being scanned.
While knowledge of the background level of a scanned document may be useful for numerous image processing operations that could be performed on the video signals generated during scanning, the most apparent use would be for background compensation. Once the background level of the document has been determined, an automated process may be employed to adjust the gain or offset levels of the digitized signals to compensate for a high background level, for example a document produced on a colored sheet of paper.
Another possible use for the background level information is in the determination of the image content in various regions of the document. For instance, a document analysis or image segmentation system might employ the background level information to more reliably detect, from the image signals, the types of images contained on the original document (e.g. text, line art, halftone, and continuous tone). An example of a halftone detection system is found in the patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,115, issued to Lin et al. on Mar. 7, 1989 for an "Image Processing Apparatus Using Approximate Auto Correlation Function to Detect the Frequency of Half-tone Image Data", the relevant portions of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Also, a U.S. patent application for "Improved Automatic Image Segmentation", by Shiau et al., Ser. No. 07/722,568 (filed Jun. 27, 1991), hereby incorporated by reference for its teachings, discloses an automatic image segmentation system suitable for classification of various regions of an image having different types of images present therein. Moreover, well known electroreprographic systems like the Xerox.RTM. Docutech Production Publisher,.RTM. may employ image segmentation systems of these types that would benefit from the background level determination capability of the present invention. Other approaches have been devised for the determination of the background level of an image, of which the following disclosures may be relevant:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,605, Patentee: Fogaroli et al., Issued: Nov. 13, 1990. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,881, Patentee: Matsui et al., Issued: Jun. 5, 1990. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,784, Patentee: Miyagawa et al., Issued: Dec. 5, 1989. PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,471, Patentee: Bares, Issued: May 5, 1993.
The relevant portions of the foregoing references may be briefly summarized as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,605 to Fogaroli et al. discloses a digital image scanning device having an automatic background compensation circuit for automatically adjusting a threshold signal in dependence on a plurality of parameters including the background color of an image. An adjusting circuit defines the threshold signal depending on an average of the positive-peak signal and a negative-peak signal previously received from a scanning means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,881 to Matsui et al. discloses an image binarization system having an adjustable binarizing threshold value. The threshold value is based on the average of pixel density values around the pixels to be binarized. The threshold value is corrected downward when the average density of the surrounding pixels is larger than a specific boundary value, and the threshold value is corrected upward when the average density value of the surrounding pixels is smaller than the boundary value.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,784 to Miyagawa et al. discloses a method and apparatus for encoding a video image of an object into a binary signal. The method includes analyzing a preliminary video signal in a predetermined window to extract density information, and setting a threshold for binary encoding of subsequent video data using the extracted density information from the preliminary video information.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,471 to Bares for a "Background Monitoring Device", the relevant portions of which are hereby incorporated by reference, discloses an apparatus in which background intensity of a copy sheet having visible indicia thereon is monitored. To determine the background level generated by toner powder deposition in non-imaged regions, the sheet is scanned and a signal generated corresponding to the scanned region. The signal corresponding to the scanned region is processed and a signal corresponding to the background intensity of the copy sheet is generated.
The present invention seeks to overcome limitations found in the related references and commercially available products by providing an apparatus for automatically determining the background level of an electronic document, generally consisting of a plurality of video image signals, during the actual scanning or processing of the document. Furthermore, the present invention endeavors to provide the background level determination in a highly accurate manner using a region on the document whose coordinates may be programmed by an external source, thereby increasing the flexibility of the apparatus.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing system suitable for processing a video image represented by a plurality of video signals. The signals have a predetermined domain of greyscale values and represent both the content and the background regions of the image. The image processing system further includes an apparatus for determining the greyscale level of the background regions. The background determining apparatus includes a windowing circuit for sampling a predetermined portion of the pixel signals in the video image and a comparison circuit for eliminating pixel signals which are not determined to be representative of the background region. Subsequently, an arithmetic logic circuit is employed to calculate a background level based upon the remaining pixel signals.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the background determining apparatus includes a programmable register for input of a default background level which is to be used by the background determining apparatus to output one or more background levels, prior to the completion of the sampling of a predetermined portion of the pixel signals.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the background determining apparatus has the capability for computing one or more fractional background levels as a function of the background level, where the additional background levels may be used to generate ranges of video levels for pixel classification.
Pursuant to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for determining the background level of a video image in an image processing apparatus suitable for processing the video image, represented by a plurality of pixel signals. However, only a selected portion of the pixel signals in the video image are sampled for background level determination. As the video image contains pixel signals representing both the content and the background regions of the image, the method next eliminates those sampled pixel signals which are not determined to be representative of the background region. Finally, the remaining pixel signals are used to calculate the background level for the video image.

Programmable apparatus for determining document background level


A display panel and a display device are provided. The display panel includes a driving circuit. The driving circuit includes N levels of shift registers cascaded with each other, where N 2. A shift register of the N levels of shift registers includes: a first control unit, configured to receive an input signal and control a signal of a first node in response to a first clock signal; a second control unit, configured to receive a first voltage signal and a second voltage signal, and control a signal of a second node in response to the signal of the first node, the first clock signal, and a second clock signal; and a third control unit, configured to receive the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal, and control an output signal in response to the signal of the second node and a signal of the third node.

Nowadays, display technology is widely used in display of televisions, mobile phones and public information, bringing great convenience to people's daily life and work. In existing technologies, a display panel used for displaying an image needs to use a scan driving circuit to provide driving signals to pixel circuits, for controlling the display panel to realize a function of performing a scan. Accordingly, image data input to the display panel may be refreshed in real time, and thus dynamic display may be realized.
However, an output signal of an existing scan driving circuit may be unstable, and display effects may thus be affected.

XIAMEN TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


A small cell communication system is disclosed in which an apparatus (e.g. a central controller) controls allocation of frequency resources in the cells. The apparatus obtains respective information (e.g. RSRP) representing a quality of communication at each user equipment (UE) in the cells; determines, based on the received information, whether a corresponding UE is a subject of interference and, when the corresponding UE is a subject of interference, identifies at least one aggressor causing the interference to that UE. In each cell, the UEs served by that cell are grouped such that UEs having a common aggressor (or common aggressors) are grouped into respective group(s), and any UEs not subject to interference are grouped into another group. The apparatus allocates at least one frequency for each UE based on the respective group into which that UE has been grouped.

The latest developments of the 3GPP standards are referred to as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network and Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also commonly referred as '4G'. In addition, the term '5G' and 'new radio' (NR) refer to an evolving communication technology that is expected to support a variety of applications and services such as Machine Type Communications (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT) communications, vehicular communications and autonomous cars, high resolution video streaming, smart city services, and/or the like. Accordingly, 5G technologies are expected to enable network access to vertical markets and support network (RAN) sharing for offering networking services to third parties and for creating new business opportunities. 3GPP intends to support 5G by way of the so-called 3GPP Next Generation (NextGen) radio access network (RAN) and the 3GPP NextGen core (NGC) network. Various details of 5G networks are described in, for example, the 'NGMN 5G White Paper' V1.0 by the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance, which document is available from https://www.ngmn.org/5g-white-paper.html.
Whilst a base station of a 5G/NR communication system is commonly referred to as a New Radio Base Station ('NR-BS') or as a 'gNB' it will be appreciated that they may be referred to using the term, eNB (or 5G/NR eNB) which is more typically associated with LTE base stations.
Small Cell (SC) networks, as a great way to augment macro cell capacity in hotspot area, have been an integral part of LTE networks and will play a more important role in 5G networks with the trend of network densification and Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture. In a typical urban scenario, one Centralized Unit (CU) may manage hundreds of small cells deployed across the city, which can significantly reduce the operation cost and provide better performance via cell coordination. As the density of small cells increases, there is a great chance of overlapping coverage. Without appropriate coordination among small cells, cell edge users may face significant performance loss due to interference from neighbouring small cells.
Various solutions have been proposed by 3GPP for inter-cell interference coordination, as described in for example 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.300 V15.2.0 [1]. In frequency domain solutions, frequency domain radio resources are used coordinately by multiple cells. One popular solution is Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR), which can be further divided into Hard FFR (HFR) and Soft FFR (SFR). In HFR (which is described in e.g. [2]), items of User Equipment (UEs) located in the center region of a cell are allocated a common part of the bandwidth while the remaining bandwidth is partitioned across multiple cells based on a reuse factor N>1 and each part is allocated to the UEs in the edge region of a cell. In SFR (which is described in e.g. [3]), the whole bandwidth is partitioned across multiple cells based on a reuse factor N>1 and each part is allocated to the cell-edge UEs of a cell while the cell-center UEs of a cell can use the bandwidth parts allocated to the cell-edge UEs in other cells but with reduced transmission power. FFR solutions are originally proposed for regular-shaped macro cells which cover a significantly larger geographical area than the cells used in small cell networks. Although dynamic versions have been proposed to adjust bandwidth partition and/or power according to the load distribution, in e.g. [4] and [5], these proposals lack capabilities to handle the irregular shape and complex interference environment typical of SC networks.
In time domain, enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) is proposed to mitigate the interference between macro cells and small cells in Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) since Release 10. Almost Blank Subframes (ABSs) are applied at an aggressor cell, in which only reference signals are transmitted. The victim UEs of other cells can transmit in the ABS subframes without suffering from strong interference from the aggressor. Two measurement subsets are configured at each UE to measure ABSs and non-ABS subframes respectively such that Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) feedback can accurately reflect the actual channel condition of a specific subframe. In SC networks, multiple moderate interferers may exist instead of one dominant interferer. ABSs of each aggressor may have different patterns and thus each subframe cannot be simply classified as ABS or non-ABS. Thus, in small cell networks, two measurement subsets are not enough to accurately measure Channel State Information (CSI) of a subframe.
There are proposals to mitigate the co-tier interference between femtocells (for example [6] and [7]). However, these proposals assume one UE per femtocell and handle interference problem at cell-level. In SC networks, multiple UEs may exist per SC. For example, SC A may be a strong aggressor for UE 1 in SC B but not a strong aggressor for UE 2 in the same SC B. Thus, cell-level handling cannot capture the complex interference relationships in SC networks.

Communication system with allocating frequencies to interfered user equipments


An energy distribution system. The energy distribution system has a housing with a rear terminal and a front terminal. An inlet unit receives air therethrough. The inlet unit then passes the air through a one-way valve into a reservoir where the air molecules undergo ionization. Once ionized, the gaseous air is converted into a plasma state. After being converted into the plasma state, electric energy is generated by a pair of magnets and stored in a capacitor.

Many electronic devices are powered by batteries. Batteries typically feature a set amount of power which, after the power is consumed, the batteries must be thrown away or recycled. Dangerous chemicals can leak from the batteries and cause harm to the environment, particularly during the disposal of such batteries. Some brands of batteries may be inefficient and incapable of supplying power for an extended period of time.
Therefore, because of the harm to the environment caused by current energy distribution systems as well as the inefficiency of such devices, there is a need in the prior art for a battery that is both environmentally safe and provides more efficient performance.


An apparatus and method of generating a visual representation of an image based product. Where the image based product is a picture image, the method produces a framed prototype image showing the picture image framed within a frame. The method includes providing a frame image showing the frame in a perspective view. The frame image has a picture portion corresponding to the portion of the frame used to view a picture mounted in the frame. The method includes mapping the picture image to the picture portion of the frame image in order to generate the frame prototype image.

One conventional way to display image prints (e.g., photographs) is to mount the image print in a frame. A wide variety of frames are available, differing, for example, in size, style, construction material, and shape. Typically, a customer will select a particular frame in which to mount an image print based, at least in part, on how the image print would look mounted in the selected frame.
For example, a customer can take a picture using a conventional film-based camera and then bring the exposed film to a photo finishing laboratory to have the laboratory develop the exposed film and generate an image print (which is typically referred to as a "photograph" in the film-based photography context). The photograph is then returned to the customer, who can then physically take the photograph to a frame shop (that is, to a "brick-and-mortar" frame shop) in order to select a frame in which to mount the photograph. I selecting the frame, the customer can physically place the photograph in or near a given frame in order to get an idea of how the photograph would look mounted in that particular frame. In this way, the customer can relatively quickly determine how the photograph would look mounted in various frames.
When a customer wishes to have a high-quality image print generated from a digital image file (for example, one captured using a digital camera), the customer need not physically take the digital image file to a photo-finishing laboratory and instead can electronically transmit the digital image file to an "online" photo-finishing laboratory using a computer network such as the Internet. For example, the customer can execute an Internet browser program (referred to here as a "browser") such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR(R) (which is commercially available from Netscape Communications Corporation of Mountain View, Calif., USA), direct the browser to a web site associated with the online photo-finishing laboratory, and upload the digital image file to the server hosting the web site. The online photo-finishing laboratory can then take the digital image file from the web server and produce a high-quality image print from the digital image file in a conventional manner. The online photo-finishing laboratory then typically sends the high-quality image print to the customer (or another person designated by the customer such as a relative or friend) using a delivery service such as the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE or FEDERAL EXPRESS(R).
Some online print laboratories also allow a customer or select and purchase frames via their web sites. However, the customer typically cannot physically place an image print in or near various frames in order to visualize how an image print will look in various frames, as can be done in a traditional brick-and-mortar frame shop. One conventional approach to helping the customer visualize how an image print will look in a given frame is to create, and display for the customer, a frame preview image in which an electronic copy of the customer's image (referred to here as a "picture image") is pasted into a two-dimensional picture of a given frame (referred to here as a "frame image"). FIG. 1 illustrates one example of such a conventional frame preview image 100. The customer's image 102 is pasted into the portion 104 of the frame image 106 corresponding to the part of the frame where an image print would be mounted (referred to here as the "picture area"). Such a conventional approach is implemented by EFRAMES.COM(TM), an online print laboratory and frame retailer located on the Internet at www.eframes.com. As shown in FIG. 1, a frame preview image generated according to such a conventional approach typically only shows a head-on (that is, non-perspective) view of the framed image print itself.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A coupler (R) female element (4) able to be coupled with a male element (2) for the removable fluid junction of two pipes. The female element body (20) centered on a first longitudinal central axis (X20) with an inner volume (V20) for receiving the male element. Additionally, the female element has a central plunger (44) longitudinally secured to the body and positioned within the inner volume, with a slide valve (46) movable within the inner volume around the central plunger between a forward closing position, in which the slide valve (46) cooperates tightly with the body (20) and the central plunger (44), and a withdrawn open position. The female element body (20) including an outer flange ring (22) positioned around the inner volume and having an outer radial surface. The outer flange ring has at least two passages (32), each passage being arranged through the outer flange ring and linking the outer radial surface and the inner volume.

The invention relates to a female fluid connection element making it possible to form, with a male element, a coupler allowing the removable junction of circulation pipes for a fluid, the pipes potentially having alignment flaws.
In general, injection molds, in particular for injection of plastic, include at least two parts, one of these parts being a stationary mold and the other part comprising a moving slide. The two mold parts are generally not perfectly aligned. These molds include cooling circuits in which a cooling fluid circulates and which communicate in the injection phase. These circuits therefore need to be coupled and uncoupled in each plastic injection cycle. It is further necessary to guarantee the absence of leak of the cooling fluid in the coupled configuration and in the uncoupled configuration, since drippings can migrate toward the injection surfaces of the mold in contact with the injected material and harm the quality of the injected part.
It is known to use a flexible hose, which remains connected at all times to the cooling circuits of the two parts of the mold and which accommodates the movements and alignment flaws of the mold parts. However, the flexible hoses wear out quickly and must be changed regularly to avoid accidental leaks, which is expensive in terms of maintenance.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,580 to propose a so-called "quick" coupler allowing a rapid connection and disconnection accommodating limited alignment flaws between two connection elements, while making one of the elements of the coupler float within a frame. The floating coupler element is then complementary with a valve. However, during uncoupling, drippings remain on the outer surfaces of the connection elements, these surfaces also being radially exposed to the outside, and the drippings can migrate toward the injection surfaces of the mold.

Female fluid connection element, connection subassembly and connection comprising such a female element


A process for treating animal waste consisting of diluting the waste with water, irradiating the waste with UV radiation to break DNA coding in microorganisms present within the waste and to form ozone which oxidizes the waste, polymerizing the solids in the waste, and separating the polymerized solids from the remaining liquid portion of the waste.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an economical process for treating animal waste. Specifically, the present invention is a process for eliminating the odor, the moisture and the bacterial, viral, fungal and algal components of animal waste so the liquids are recyclable in the process and the solids, which are rich in nutrients, are safe for use or for marketing as a fertilizer.
2. Description of the Related Art
For years, poultry, hog, and cattle growers have been faced with disposing of the waste produced by their animals. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, many poultry growers were farmers who ran only one or two relatively small poultry houses and who also owned land where the waste from their poultry houses could be spread as fertilizer for their fields. The advent of intensive poultry growing operations has created a situation where thousands of birds are housed in a single poultry house, where birds are grown to market size more quickly, and where poultry houses do not remain empty for significant periods of time between different batches of poultry. Under these conditions, poultry growers have been faced with a waste disposal dilemma. Poultry growers must dispose of increasing larger volumes of waste at more frequent intervals onto smaller areas of farm land. Also with the increase in population in traditional poultry growing areas, such as for example southwest Missouri and northeast Arkansas, health concerns and esthetic concerns have made traditional land disposal of untreated poultry waste environmentally, medically and socially unacceptable practices.
Anyone who has a home near an area used for disposing untreated poultry waste can attest to the foul odor and the increase of disease carrying flies in the vicinity. The property value of homes can be adversely affected since potential buyers find the environment unacceptable.
Drinking water can also be contaminated by field disposal of untreated animal waste. Animal waste contains an impressive list of pathogens, including among others, bacteria and virus which produce tetanus, diphtheria, tuberculosis, hepatitis, influenza, polio, food poisoning, typhoid, cholera and streptococcus and staphylococcus infections. In many rural areas residents obtain their drinking water from springs or wells, as is the case in many of the traditional poultry growing areas. Poultry waste disposal can seriously endanger the health of area residents who may consume contaminated water. The health of farm animals may be detrimentally affected as well. Animals often graze in the fields where poultry waste is deposited may drink from ponds or creeks which have become contaminated by runoff water originating from fields used for poultry waste disposal.
An increasing number of poultry producing areas, are becoming interested in attracting tourism. For tourism to thrive in poultry producing areas, it is critical that the problem of poultry waste disposal be resolved.
Research is ongoing on a variety of methods of treating animal wastes. For example, some are mixing the poultry waste with cementious materials, ground waste paper, or limestone, in an attempt to reduce the odor, and to make the waste more environmentally acceptable. These various methods tend to increase the total volume of waste rather than decrease it. These methods do not destroy the bacteria, fungi and viri which are the main source of odor. Biocides and microbicides cannot be used because they would prevent the reinoculation of good bacteria and prevent the substance from composting.
The present invention is a process which decreases the volume of waste by removing the water, which averages 75% of the total volume. It treats the waste so the organisms contained therein will not be able to reproduce. This is done by rearranging the DNA coding (deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic substance of all living cells and many viruses) using the process of radiation. These microbes will die naturally within a matter of hours after treatment. In addition, this invention oxidizes the waste by ozonation to destroy the odor. Thus, the waste which results from this process is reduced in volume and is sterile and odorless, but it retains all of its nutrients and can be further degraded. This treatment process is carried out immediately after the waste leaves the animal housing and can be completed within minutes from the time the waste is deposited by the animal. When used as fertilizer, it will be reinoculated with good bacteria which are native to the soil to which the waste is applied. The liquid portion of the waste is also made odorless and sterile by the process. It can be recycled within the system to reduce the amount of fresh water needed to be introduced into the system.


A trailer assembly has a frame, wheels attached to and bearing the frame and a hopper mounted on the frame. A front conveyor belt is mounted in a front part of the hopper and is operable to rearwardly convey contents of the hopper overlying the belt. A rear conveyor belt is mounted in a rear part of the hopper and is operable in a first mode to rearwardly convey contents of the hopper overlying the rear belt and is operable in a second mode to forwardly convey contents of the hopper overlying the second conveyor belt. Depending on the direction of conveyance of the rear conveyor belt, the two conveyor belts can be operated either to convey contents for dumping through a rear gate or to convey contents for dumping through a bottom gate.

This invention relates to trailers for use in transporting and dumping particulate materials such as rubble, stone, gravel or sand. While there are many forms of trailer for transporting particulate material, two common types are rear dump trailers and bottom or belly dump trailers. A rear dump trailer is used to dump particulate materials as a pile from the rear of the truck hopper. A bottom dump trailer is used to dump particulate materials from underneath the truck hopper, the dumping action being coordinated with forward movement of the trailer so as to spread the dumped material into a layer of consistent thickness.

Trailer assembly and method of use for selectably bottom dumping and rear dumping particulate material


An anchoring assembly for anchoring a liner of a cured lining material arranged to be applied in liquid form to a metal object provided with the anchoring assembly, the anchoring assembly comprising an elongated mounting pin, which elongated mounting pin is arranged to be mounted, at a first end, to the metal object, and a plurality of spaced anchor fins, wherein the plurality of spaced anchors fins are connected to the elongated mounting pin at a second end and extend radially outwardly with respect to the elongated mounting pin.

Two categories of anchoring assemblies can be distinguished, those that are mounted on a metal object before lining material in liquid form is applied, and those that are pre-installed in cured lining material. Both categories comprise a variety of different types of anchor assemblies, all of which transfer loads from the anchor assembly to the cured lining material in a variety of ways, which at least depends on the actual design of the anchor assemblies.
The above-mentioned loads are considered to be either static or dynamic. Static loads comprise, for example, tension, shear, or a combination of both. Dynamic loads on the other hand comprise, for example, seismic, fatigue, wind and/or shock. The design of an anchor assembly determines whether it is suitable or unsuitable for the above mentioned load types.
Several techniques are known in the art to transfer the load, such as keying, friction and bonding techniques. Keying, for example, is considered to be the direct transfer of a load from the anchor assembly into the cured lining material by bearing forces in a same direction of loading the anchor assembly.
Friction is based on transferring a load through friction between expansion sleeves of the anchor assembly and the wall of the drilled hole in the concrete. The effect is similar as is reached by a standard plug in a wall. Finally, bonding takes place when resins or grouts are used around the anchor, which is usually the case with post-installed anchor assemblies.
The present invention is related to an anchoring assembly which is or is to be provided on a metal object before the lining material in liquid form is applied.
A known anchoring assembly comprises an elongated mounting pin arranged to be mounted, at a first end, to a metal object, and a plate shaped second end having a through hole for anchoring the liner. Once such an anchoring assembly has been welded to the metal object, pouring of the liner, for example cement, can take place. The concrete will enter the through hole, resulting in an improved anchoring. Alternatively an anchoring element can be inserted in the through hole, wherein the anchoring element provides an improved anchoring performance.
A drawback of the known anchoring assembly is that the load each elongated mounting pin is able to transfer to the cured lining material is limited. In order for a metal object to be firmly anchored in the cured lining material, many of these known mounting elements are required such that the total load to be transferred is distributed over many individual mounting elements.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for an anchoring assembly which is arranged to transfer a larger load to the cured lining material compared to these known anchoring assemblies.

Anchoring assembly, anchoring nut for use in an anchoring assembly and the use of an anchoring assembly for anchoring a liner of a cured lining material

SILICON REFRACTORY ANCHORING SYSTEMS B.V.


Variation in delay in transmission of data from a transmitting station to a receiving station is measured by encapsulating a portion of the data and an outgoing time stamp in a packet, the outgoing time stamp substantially representing the degree of progression of a periodic process at the time of including the outgoing time stamp in the packet. The packet is transmitted from the transmitting station and is received at the receiving station. At the receiving station, an incoming time stamp is added to the packet. The incoming time stamp substantially represents the degree of progression of a periodic process at the time of adding the incoming time stamp to the packet. The incoming time stamp is compared to the outgoing time stamp.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring quality of service parameters of networks delivering real time MPEG video.
The MPEG-2 system layer defines the MPEG-2 transport stream, otherwise known as the MPEG transport stream or MTS. The MPEG transport stream is composed of fixed length packets, each 188 bytes (or octets) long and having a four byte header. The remaining 184 bytes are payload or some combination of adaptation field and payload.
The MPEG transport stream may be used for real time delivery of compressed program material (audio and video) over public and private packet-switched networks. Such real time delivery of compressed program material supports a wide variety of applications, including video back haul, video distribution, and broadband video conferencing.
FIG. 1 illustrates transmitting terminal equipment and receiving terminal equipment for delivering program material (audio and video) over a packet switched network employing the MPEG transport stream.
Referring to FIG. 1A, the transmitting terminal equipment includes an MPEG encoder 1 and a network interface driver 2. A conventional MPEG encoder for receiving uncompressed digital audio and video data and generating MTS packets may be considered to include an audio encoder 4 that receives the audio data and produces an audio packetized elementary stream (PES), a video encoder 6 that receives the video data and produces a video PES, a controller 8 that generates timing and other control data, and a multiplexer 10 that operates under control of the controller to select the audio PES, the video PES and the control data in the sequence that is required in order to compose the MTS packets.
The encoder 1 receives a 27 MHz program clock reference (PCR) with the video data and a divider 14 divides the output signal of the program clock generator 12 by 300 to provide 90 kHz system clock references for decoding and presentation. The controller 8 counts the cycles of the PCR and periodically samples the count value and includes the PCR value in the adaptation field. The controller also counts the cycles of the 90 kHz system clock reference and periodically samples the system clock count value and includes sample values in the adaptation field as a presentation time stamp (PTS) or a decode time stamp (DTS).
Although FIG. 1 shows only one video encoder and one audio encoder, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that an MPEG encoder may include several video and audio encoders.
A network interface driver suitable for placing MTS packets on an IP network may include a high level driver, which receives the MTS packets from the MPEG encoder and carries out high level functions, such as organizing the MTS packets as IP packets, a low level driver that receives a sequence of bits from the high level driver and delivers the bits to the point of egress of the network interface driver, and a controller that controls operation of the high level driver and low level driver. Referring to FIG. 1A, the high level driver of the network interface driver 2 includes a packetizer 16 that receives the MTS packets from the MPEG encoder 1, constructs an IP packet containing seven MTS packets, and loads the IP packet into a buffer memory 18. The buffer memory 18 may be considered to be part of the low level driver. The IP packets are read from the buffer memory 18 and are loaded into a FIFO output register 22. The FIFO output register may be implemented by two registers that are input and output enabled in alternating fashion. When the network interface driver 2 receives a packet request, the controller 26 enables the FIFO output register to output an IP packet from the network interface driver 1 at the egress point A.
Referring to FIG. 1B, the receiving terminal equipment includes a network interface driver 32 and an MPEG decoder 34. A network interface driver suitable for receiving IP packets from an IP network and providing MTS packets to an MPEG decoder typically includes a low level hardware driver that receives a sequence of bits at the point of ingress of the network interface driver and delivers the sequence of bits as an IP packet to a high level driver. The high level driver recovers the seven MTS packets from the IP packet and supplies the MTS packets to the MPEG decoder. The network interface driver 32 has an ingress point B that is connected to a FIFO input register 42. The FIFO input register 42 is input and output enabled by the controller 44 so that an IP packet received at the ingress point B is loaded into the register 42 and is subsequently written to a buffer memory 48. The register 42 may be implemented by two registers that are input and output enabled in alternating fashion. The data stored in the buffer memory is read out in the order received and supplied to a depacketizer 52, which outputs the seven MTS packets in the IP packet to the MPEG decoder.
In the network interface driver 32 the low level network interface driver includes the FIFO register 42 and the buffer memory 48 and the high level network interface driver includes the depacketizer 52.
The MPEG decoder 34 comprises a demultiplexer 56 that operates under control of a controller 58 to divide the incoming MTS packets into the audio PES, the video PES and control data, an audio decoder 62 that outputs the audio data as a continuous stream and a video decoder 66 that outputs the video data as a continuous stream.
The controller 58 detects the PCR samples included in the MTS packets. A program clock generator 70 includes a phase-locked loop that uses the PCR sample values from the controller 58 to generate a 27 MHz program clock reference that is synchronized with the program clock reference received by the encoder 1. The decoder further includes a divider 74 that derives 90 kHz system clock references by dividing the 27 MHz program clock reference by 300.
Applications that employ MTS packets for real time delivery of compressed program material are very sensitive to video quality. An important determinant of video quality is the extent to which the network delivers the MTS packets with constant delay. Desirably, the variation in delay should not exceed about 2 ms. In addition, it is desirable that there should be no loss of packets or out of order packets, and no bit errors. Because delivery is real time and the MPEG bit stream is not error resilient, packet loss and packet bit errors may lead to noticeable visual artifacts.
Typically, a customer desiring to deliver real time compressed video over a public or private network will contract with the network operator for transport of the video according to a service level agreement, which may or may not define quality of service (QoS) parameters and the values of these parameters that the network operator is willing to provide. A customer may wish to be able to measure the actual performance of the network in terms of accepted QoS parameters, particularly when visual artifacts are being observed. Because the internet protocol (IP) does not inherently support guaranteed values of QoS parameters, it is very difficult for a customer to have an independent means for determining the actual QoS that the network delivers.

Method and apparatus for measuring quality of service parameters of networks delivering real time MPEG video