An improved EEG system (10) for telemetrically transmitting brain activity data from a portable transmitter to a processing console. The improved EEG system (10) includes a lightweight transmitter (12) which amplifies and digitizes the EEG signals from a set of electrodes (16) and transmits the digital signals along with a checksum to a receiver (14). The transmitter (12) may be carried by the subject under observation. The transmitter (12) of the preferred embodiment includes at least four circuit boards including a selectively interchangeable montage board (18), an amplifier board (24), a processor board (34), and a transmitter board (54). A signal is transmitted toward the receiver (14) and delivered to a conventional computer-controlled broadcast television tuner (80). The selected receiver (14) outputs data which is in an acceptable form for connection to standard microprocessor peripherals. The incoming data is processed and inspected to verify the validity thereof with any invalid data being marked as invalid. All data is then continuously and simultaneously displayed and recorded, with any invalid data being easily recognized as such and therefore disregarded.

In the field of monitoring brain activity the use of electroencephalograph devices (EEG's) is well known. EEG's are used to measure and record small electrical signals which occur on the surface of the scalp as a result of brain activity. Typically, an EEG system includes a plurality of electrodes attached at selected positions on the subject's scalp, a corresponding number of lead wires, and a processing console. Typically, each electrode is connected to the processing console via a separate lead wire. The processing console is provided for signal selection, amplification, and conditioning. Also included in EEG systems are means for measuring electrode impedance, calibrating equipment, and observing and permanently recording data processed by the processing console.
It is well known that the processing console and the observation and recording equipment are often incorporated within a single unit. The single unit, however, is too large to be easily transportable by the subject under observation. Further, because long wires between the electrodes and the processing console are impractical, the subject must remain relatively stationary when using most available EEG systems.
Some EEG systems have been developed to overcome the problem of the subject having to remain still during observation. These devices include portable recorders which may be carried by the subject under observation. These systems do not, however, include means for contemporaneous observation of the record. It is well known that such observation is often desired.
One method for making EEG measurements and contemporaneous observations more practical is to replace the wire links between the electrodes and the processing console with wireless links. Thus, situations such as those described above--i.e., when long wires might encumber other simultaneous attention needed by the subject or when the mobility of the subject might be impaired--would be at least partially resolved.
Other devices have been produced to monitor, process and record data received from the vital organs of a body. Typical of the art are those described in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,253,588 R. F. Vuilleumier, et al. May 31, 1966 3,859,988 C. C. Lencioni, Jr. Jan. 14, 1975 3,943,918 R. A. Lewis Mar. 16, 1976 4,089,329 L. A. Couvillon, Jr., et al. May 16, 1978 4,186,749 T. B. Fryer Feb. 5, 1980 4,245,645 P. M. Arseneault, et al Jan. 20, 1981 4,279,258 E. R. John Jul. 21, 1981 4,409,987 R. A. McIntyre Oct. 18, 1983 4,471,786 H. Inagaki, et al. Sep. 18, 1984 4,495,950 D. E. Schneider Jan. 29, 1985 ______________________________________
Of these patents, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,253,588 ('588); 3,943,918 ('918); 4,089,329 ('329); 4,186,749 ('749); and 4,471,786 ('786) patents disclose devices which incorporate telemetric transmittal of sensed data to a selected processing center. Each discloses a device using transmission over radio frequencies (r-f) using amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation (FM) methods similar to those used for broadcast radio. The transmitted signals are thus subject to the same interference and distortion as broadcast radio signals.
It is well known that FM transmissions are more reliable than AM transmissions. However, it is also known that FM signals are subject to distortion and interference from signals broadcast from other stations. Though in the field of radio broadcasting these disturbances are mostly annoyances to signal receptors, in the field of EEG monitoring such disturbances will provide erroneous data concerning the brain activity of the subject. In this context, distortion and interference is detrimental to accurate analysis and is therefore undesirable.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for transmitting signals detected by electrodes placed on a subject's body to a signal processor using telemetric methods.
It is also an object of the present invention to substantially reduce the distortion and interference typically present in standard transmission of radio frequency signals.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electroencephalographic monitoring and recording device wherein digital data communications is incorporated to provide accurate transmission of detected brain activity signals.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight transmitter for amplifying and digitizing EEG signals from the electrodes.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a means whereby the data transmitted may be checked and verified to insure that data received by a receiving device is valid, and further that any invalid data received is ignored.

Electroencephalograph incorporating at least one wireless link


A magnetic oscillation metric controller applied to computer peripheral or electronic communication system essentially operating on a scrolling wheel for lateral metric control to provide precise, consistent, reliable and programmable adjustment oscillation sensitivity by driving a permanent magnet to generate signals of changed magnetic fields resulted from displacement; and retrieving the data of changed signals for achieving metric control purpose.

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a magnetic oscillation metric controller, and more particularly, to one that drives a permanent magnet to displace by oscillation thus to retrieve changed signals for metric control.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
From the keyboard at the beginning, till the introduction of cabled mouse, wireless cable or optical mouse today, many peripherals to control movement of cursor or scroll bar on monitor have been available in the history of the development of computer with the primary purpose to control three mechanisms including movement of the cursor, scrolling the screen and clicking to select.
Given with the current mouse designed with lateral scrolling function as illustrated in FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings, a scrolling wheel mechanism (A2) is comprised of a scrolling wheel in conjunction with electronic circuit board and grating sensor device (optical grating theories) disposed within the wheel, and the longitudinal metric control is achieved by rotation forward or backward of the scrolling wheel. The design focuses on the LH and RH lateral metric control. The design illustrated in FIG. 7 has lateral control achieved by LH or RH micro-switch through LH or RH deflective movement. As illustrated, a scrolling wheel mechanism (A2) provided on a carrying mechanism (A1) of a mouse relates to one control press bar (A4) each respectively extending from LH and RH along an outer frame (A3) in relation to a LH and a RH micro-switches (A5). When the scrolling wheel mechanism (A2) deflects to the left, the press bar (A4) to its right contacts the micro-switch (A5) provided on the right wall due to the level difference. If the scrolling wheel mechanism (A2) deflects to the right, the press bar to its right contacts the micro-switch (A5) provided on the right wall also due to the level difference, thus to achieve the mouse LH and RH lateral metric function.
However, the prior art is found with the following flaws:
1. Problems with the touch mechanism. The design with the micro-switch is found with many problems including the presence of the action spacing, lower sensitivity and short service life are observed with the touch mechanism of the micro-switch.
2. Greater force needed to touch the micro-switch. This makes the operation uncomfortable putting the design of the touch micro-switch under serious criticism and trial.
3. The limited mechanical service life. Any failure or poor contact due to tear and wear of any micro-switch will frustrate the control and operation, or even prevent the micro-switch useless, thus to shorten the service life of the oscillation metric control structure that essentially operates on the micro-switch.
4. Higher production cost and more workstations in the assembly. With the comparatively more precise and complicated design, significant increase of total production is taken for granted.
5. Larger size. A pair of press bars must be provided by respectively extending from both sides of the oscillation structure to touch corresponding LH and RH micro-switches to fail the compact requirements, thus making it difficult to apply in the construction of a small size such as the mouse.


The invention relates to a device for axially conveying body fluids. The aim of the invention is to embody the inflow and outflow area of an axial pump in such a way that the flow is not separated even when it is diverted, thereby maintaining a substantially non-disrupted flow profile.

The invention relates to a device for axially conveying body fluids.
In particular, body fluids such as blood which can undergo irreversible changes caused by an energy input, such as in the case of emulsions and dispersions, can run into instable ranges in a disadvantageous manner when being conveyed in corresponding devices such as pumps.
Blood is a particularly sensitive fluid system. This opaque red body fluid of the vertebrates circulates in a self-enclosed vessel system where rhythmic contractions of the heart press the blood into various areas of the organism. In this case, the blood transports the respiratory gases oxygen and carbon dioxide as well as nutrients, metabolic-products and endogenous active ingredients. The blood vessel system including the heart is hermetically isolated from the environment so that, in a healthy organism, the blood does not undergo any changes when it is pumped through the body by way of the heart.
It is known that, when blood comes into contact with non-endogenous materials or as a result of the effect of energy from an external source, it has a tendency to hemolysis and clot formation. Clot formation can be fatal for the organism because it can lead to blockage in the extensive branching profile of the vessel system. Hemolysis describes the condition where the red blood cells are destroyed within the body beyond the physiological dimension.
The causes for hemolysis can be of a mechanical or metabolic nature. Increased hemolysis causes multiple organ damage and can lead to a person's death.
On the other hand it is evident that it is possible in principle, under certain prerequisites with reference to constructive aspects, to support the pumping capacity of the heart or even to replace the natural heart with a synthetic one. However, a continuous operation of implanted heart supporting systems or synthetic hearts is presently only possible with certain limitations heart supporting systems or synthetic hearts is presently only possible with certain limitations because the interactive effects of these artificial products with the blood and the entire organism still always lead to disadvantageous changes of the blood and the organism.
In the state of the art, axial blood pumps are known which mainly consist of a cylindrical tube in which a conveying part, which is executed as an externally located motor stator, is located. The rotor which is provided with a so-called blading, conveys the fluid in an axial direction after it has been made to rotate by means of the motor stator.
In the WO 00/64030 a device for the protective conveying of single- or multiple-phase fluids is described. Where this device is concerned, and in the direction of flow, an inlet guide facility is arranged upstream of the conveying part (rotor) and, as seen in the direction of flow, an inlet guide facility is arranged upstream of the conveying part (rotor) and, as seen in the direction of flow, an outlet guide facility is arranged downstream of the conveying part. Even though the blood in the flow passage zone of the pump does not undergo essentially any disadvantageous changes, the disadvantage is evident to the extent that, in the inflow zone upstream of the inlet guide facility and in the outflow zone downstream of the outlet guide facility of the pump, disrupted flows can form which can lead to a change of the blood.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,078 a heart pump is described whose outlet and inlet zones have certain flow cross-sections which are characterised by cross-sectional reductions and expansions, respectively. However, this flow pattern of the blood indicated at that location is only inadequately illustrated so that, in the outflow zone, it is not clearly recognisable how the blood flow is conducted further.
The invention is based on the task assignment of executing the inflow zone and the outflow zone of an axial pump in such a way that no flow separation occurs with an envisaged deflection of the flow in these zones, but instead a non-disrupted flow profile remains upheld to the greatest extent.

Device for axially conveying body fluids


Weaving apparatus comprises a warp beam bearing warp threads, a loom on which the warp threads are woven with weft threads, and a take-up roller for taking up the woven material. The loom is powered by a main loom motor. Either or both of the take-up roller and the warp beam are controlled by switched reluctance motors. The switched reluctance motor is able to maintain correct tension in the warp threads or the woven material without generating excessive heat in maintaining a desired position.

It is well known that a piece of woven fabric consists of two sets of threads running at right angles to each other. A weaving machine comprises a roll of warp threads on a warp beam that feeds the warp threads to the healds of the loom, creating a shed of them by raising and lowering them as necessary in preparation for creating the desired weave pattern. The weft thread is drawn laterally through the shed by a shuttle, gripper, air-jet or other means. After the weft has been threaded through the shed, the woven cloth is beaten up and eventually exits the loom part of the weaving machine onto a take-up roller and is then fed to a cloth roller for storage.
Letting off the warp threads from the warp beam is an important aspect in the weaving process as the tension in the warps has a direct effect on the quality of the final cloth. Similarly, precision in taking up the cloth by means of the take-up roller is also an important aspect in the quality of the cloth. The taking up operation has to be arranged so that the finished cloth is drawn from the loom by a carefully controlled amount at a precise moment. Due to the intermittent motion in weaving, as the weft threads are inserted into the shed, this take-up involves drawing the cloth forward in small increments of position. The magnitudes of the increments are related to the thickness of the weft and the required density of the weave.
In automatic weaving, many of the labor intensive functions are performed without the need for operator input. Part of the process of automation has been to control the let-off of the warp threads and the take-up of the cloth according to predetermined control regimes. Early automatic systems used mechanical means to control let-off and take-up, the latter being mechanically locked to the main drive shaft of the loom. More recently, electric motors have been used for let-off and take-up functions, offering increased flexibility and better control of the weaving process.
While these concepts have been well recognized for some time, implementation of electronically controlled let-off and take-up in an automatic weaving machine has proved to be difficult, requiring costly solutions. The control demands associated with let-off and take-up in a typical weaving machine are severe, and require the apparatus positioning the warp beam and the take-up roller rapidly to accelerate and decelerate their considerable inertias (which vary as the weaving process passes the warp from beam to roller). A typical test specification for the drive system might require the electric motor to accelerate between 0 and 2,500 rpm in 0.1 second whilst continuously and accurately following a position reference.
Tensioning the warp beam and positioning the take-up roller has been automated in the past using high performance dc servo motors which have been able to respond both rapidly and accurately to the position and speed control demands. However, dc servo units of the required standard are relatively expensive items. It has not been considered possible in the past to use more simple electric motor systems in these applications (whether ac or dc) because they have been unable to offer the necessary levels of positional accuracy and responsiveness. Furthermore, dc servo units, while being the best available option up to now in spite of the many different forms of electric motor known to exist, suffer from various disadvantages that are exacerbated by the environment in a weaving factory which is likely to be contaminated by airborne dust and fibrous matter.
A conventional dc motor has a wound rotor, excited via a commutator and a set of brushes. This method of commutation is prone to faults in the presence of airborne contamination which means the motors require regular cleaning and/or replacement if they are not to have a significantly increased risk of failure in operation. The inevitable arcing which occurs during commutation is also a fire risk in the contaminated environment of a weaving factory.
More recently, permanent-magnet rotor brushless dc servo motors, utilizing electronic commutation, have been used. These eliminate the problems associated with commutators and brushgear, but are costly. Furthermore, the presence of flammable airborne matter dictates that the servo motor must have a smooth, unfinned exterior surface, so that dust cannot easily accumulate. For the same reason, guard meshes cannot be used to prevent operators from touching the motor housing. Thus, the exterior motor case temperature must, for the safety of the operatives, remain low at all times. The necessity for a low case temperature, together with the enforced absence of cooling fins (or other practicable means of increasing the cooling surface area) means that, in the prior art, a relatively large (and hence costly) servo motor is required, compared with that which would be used in less specialized applications.
The intermittent motion requirements of the weaving machine cause still further cooling problems in any event, due to the high peak torques required to move the relatively large load inertia quickly and accurately. Furthermore, to optimize the dynamic response it is also the practice to supply some types of brushless servo motor continuously with a magnetizing current. This results in a degree of heating of the motor, even when it is not supplying torque to the load. In weaving, this is especially a problem when the motor is required to perform a locking or "holding" function in which it must at all times maintain a set, stationary position of the take-up roller. Conventional motors require the aforementioned magnetizing current to ensure that the servo motor does not permit excessive movement when an external disturbance torque is applied. This continuous magnetizing current leads to further heating and again contributes to the requirement to oversize the motor in order to provide the required performance with acceptable temperature rise of the casing.
Thus, it will be appreciated that the modern automatic weaving machine uses expensive brushless dc servo units for let-off and take-up in the absence of a better alternative rather than because they are inherently suited to the tasks.

Weaving apparatus including switched reluctance drive


A laser distance measuring apparatus which measures a turnaround time after emitting a laser beam outputted from a laser diode to a target until receiving the laser beam reflected by the target by a light receiving module via a band-pass filter to calculate a distance to the target, includes temperature control module for adjusting a temperature of the laser diode; level detecting module for detecting a level of the reflected laser beam received via the band-pass filter; main control module for outputting a temperature control signal to the temperature control module so that the level is kept in a predetermined range.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for distance measurement to a target using a laser beam.
2. Background Art
An apparatus for laser distance measurement measures a distance to a desired target based on a length of time between a time of emitting the laser beam to the target and a time of receiving the laser beam reflected by the target (hereinafter, "turnaround time").
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1999-287859 discloses a laser distance measuring apparatus, which includes a laser element that emits the laser beam to a target, a laser driving module which drives the laser element, and a detecting module that receives the laser beam reflected by the target and detects a serrate wave signal mixed with the emitted laser beam mixed in the reflected laser beam. The detecting module includes a band-pass filter which allows a frequency component within a predetermined frequency band of the serrate wave signal to pass, and a signal level measuring module for measuring level of a signal which passes the band-pass filter.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-030181 discloses a method for measuring a distance by a chromatic dispersion focusing element which focusing a laser beam at a point on a target face.
A laser distance measuring apparatus above mentioned is applied to various fields. In particular, the distance measuring apparatus may be applied to space rendezvous in which a transporting spacecraft (e.g. the Space Shuttle) docks with either an artificial satellite or a space station. Such distance measuring apparatus requires high accuracy, high reliability and wide dynamic range. Similarly, the distance measuring apparatus may be applied to a guided landing of a helicopter. In such a field, high accuracy, high reliability and wide dynamic range are also required.
The transporting space vehicle includes the distance measuring apparatus in order to dock with either the artificial satellite or the space station. Each of the artificial satellite and the space station includes a marker used for a target of the laser beam.
The distance measuring apparatus emits a pulsed laser beam to the target. A scanner scans the target in a two-dimensional manner by the pulsed laser beam. Then, the distance measuring apparatus measures the turnaround time of the pulsed laser beam and data on an emitting angle of the pulsed laser beam. Information on a distance to the target is obtained on the basis of the turnaround time, and information on a target position is obtained on the basis of the data on the emitting angle.
The receiving light level (an amount of a receiving light) of the laser beam fluctuates within a level which is 106 or 107 times higher than a predetermined initial value according to a distance to the target. For this reason, an amplifier in a light detector and a light receiver may be saturated, and an electric signal which is converted from a light signal may be distorted consequently. The signal distortion degrades precision of distance measurement.
Thus, a gain of the light detector is changed according to the receiving light level, or a variable wavelength filter is installed in an optical path. Accordingly, degradation of precision of distance measurement due to the fluctuation of the receiving light level is prevented.
However, changing the gain of the light detector cannot compensate the signal distortion completely, and may cause increasing noises. The signal distortion and the noises degrade precision of distance measurement. For this reason, when the gain of the light detector is changed, fluctuation of the receiving light level to be allowed is limited in the range of only a level which is 104 times higher than the predetermined initial value.
Meanwhile, optically changing the receiving light level, the variable filter is not so influential to the precision of the distance measurement. However, in the existing variable wavelength filter, the filter is mechanically driven to change transparence. Thus, it is difficult for the variable wavelength filter to guarantee reliability requested for a space apparatus.
According to the variable wavelength filer, the receiving light level fluctuation to be allowed is limited in the range of only a level which is 104 times higher than the predetermined initial value. Accordingly, in order to treat fluctuation of a receiving light level which is 106 times higher than the predetermined initial value, it is necessary for the variable wavelength filter to be used together with another apparatus or method.

Apparatus and a method for measuring distance using a laser beam


A method of security sandboxing which may include detecting an illicit intrusion to a computer on a first computer system; cloning the intruded computer; directing all traffic from the illicit intrusion to the cloned computer; observing activities of the illicit intrusion interacting with the cloned computer; and dynamically adapting the cloned computer to perform activities of predicted interest to the illicit intrusion based on the observed activities of the illicit intrusion. The steps of the method may be performed by one or more computing devices.

The present exemplary embodiments relate to network security and, more particularly, relate to the cloning of a compromised machine to a controlled environment.
Hacking, defacement and other forms of computer intrusion remain significant threats to enterprises, small businesses and governments. Current approaches typically address the issue by detecting and alerting access or by detecting and blocking such access. For example, a firewall or Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) may monitor the flow of traffic into a given server and block any attempts that appear to be made with the intent of gaining unauthorized access, such as via SQL injection or similar.
The drawbacks of these solutions are at least twofold. First, often the compromises involve new or as yet unknown attack vectors—so-called "zero day" vulnerabilities—and by blocking a request, the opportunity to better understand the attack vector and the technique cannot be taken advantage of. Further, by blocking the request, the ability to build future defenses is reduced as often the attack is blocked but the preceding events and future events are not known and these may expose other vulnerabilities.
Second, when an attack is blocked, it is very difficult to trace and identify the intruder as their connection to the server is ephemeral. Difficulty in tracing and identifying the culprits is not in the interests of the company and also not in the broader interests of the community as the attackers may go on to carry out other attacks.
On the other hand, prolonging the access that the intruder has to the compromised machine in order to allow time for them to be traced can extend the risk that the company is exposed.
Accordingly, a balance needs to be found between blocking access by the intruder and allowing the intruder prolonged access to the compromised machine.

Dynamic security sandboxing based on intruder intent

International Business Machines Corporation


A screen for eye protection goggles is disclosed having a first and a second lens (5, 6) connected together; the screen (3) being characterized by including a seal (7) that extends along a closed ring-shaped path and is positioned along the rims (13, 15) of the first and the second lenses (5, 6) in such a way as to join the first and the second lens (5, 6) and form an airtight cavity (8) between the first and the second lens (5, 6).

The present invention relates to a screen for eye protection goggles.
In particular, the invention relates to a screen for ski goggles, to which the invention will make specific reference without thereby excluding more general reference.
Ski goggles consist of a frame able to fit closely onto a user's face, an elastic strap connected to the frame and a transparent screen fitted onto the frame.
The function of ski goggles is to protect the user's eyes from snowflakes, dust and the flow of air generated by wind and/or the forward movement of the skier himself and at the same time to guarantee good visibility even in bad weather conditions.
Ski goggles differ from glasses by the fact that they insulate part of the face around the user's eyes in order to avoid wind, dust and snowflakes coming into contact with the eyes and irritating them or forcing the user to close his eyes while skiing. In other words, goggles, when during use they fit closely to the user's face, form a chamber that is substantially closed and insulated from the external environment.
When practicing sport, the skier perspires due to the exertion he makes his body undergo and, consequently, vapour generated by perspiration is trapped inside the closed chamber and condenses on the inside face of the screen. So the screen mists up and visibility is considerably reduced, sometimes even to zero.

Screen for eye protection goggles and a method of forming a screen


A memory device cooling apparatus includes a first heat sink operable to engage a first chip that is located on a memory device and that is operable to operate at a first temperature. A second heat sink is included that is separate from the first heat sink and is operable to engage a second chip that is located on a memory device and that is operable to operate at a second temperature, wherein the second temperature is different from the first temperature. A retaining feature is operable to couple the first heat sink and the second heat sink to a memory device. The memory device cooling apparatus may be coupled to a memory device having at least two different chips that operate at different temperatures to efficiently dissipate heat from the chips in order to cool the memory device.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to cooling a memory device in an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Most IHSs include memory devices that provides a processor with fast storage to facilitate the execution of computer programs. These memory devices include memory chips that heat up when the memory device is operated. The cooling of these memory devices raises a number of issues.
In some memory devices such as, for example, Fully Buffered Dual In-line Memory Modules (FBDIMMs), memory chips such as, for example, Advanced Memory Buffer (AMB) chips and Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips, are used to accomplish the memory device functions. As the power of the AMB chips increases, the difference in operating temperatures between the DRAM chips and the AMB chips also increases.
A conventional method to cool the chips involves coupling a heat sink to the AMB chip and letting the DRAM chip dissipate its own heat. However, some solutions require additional cooling for the DRAM chips. In that situation, a heat sink plate may be coupled to the memory device that engages both the DRAM chips and the AMB chip. Such solutions are inefficient as the temperature difference between the AMB chip and the DRAM chip does not allow for optimal dissipation of heat for each of the chips with the heat sink plate engaging both the AMB chip and the DRAM chips.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide for cooling a memory device absent the disadvantages found in the prior methods discussed above.

Method and apparatus for cooling a memory device


A LED (Light-Emitting Diode) package structure is provided. The LED package improved structure includes a base, a plurality of metallic nanoparticles and a LED unit. The base has an accommodating space, wherein the accommodating space has a bottom surface and at least one side surface surrounding the bottom surface. The metallic nanoparticles cover the bottom surface and/or the side surface. The LED unit is disposed in the accommodating spare, in which light emitted from the LED unit is reflected or scattered by the metallic nanoparticles, each of the metallic nanoparticles has a diameter smaller than 10 nm and is electrically isolated.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a LED (Light-Emitting Diode) package improved structure and a fabricating method thereof, and more particularly relates to a LED package improved structure that utilizes metallic nanoparticles for reflecting/scattering light and forming electrical isolation.
2. Description of Related Art
A LED has attracted high attentions in the lighting industry owing to its excellent features such as compact size, low energy consumption, high lighting efficiency, high response speed, longer operation life and contamination free. Applications of the LED are such broad that it can be seen on compact devices such as PDAs, smart phones or Tablets; or huge-size devices such as displays or pilot lamps.
A bare LED chip cannot be used and integrated with another device until being packaged. Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional LED package improved structure.
In FIG. 1, a LED chip 20 is generally disposed on a base 10 by a SMD (Surface Mount Device) technology. The base 10 is disposed in a metallic holder 40. A highly reflective surface is formed on the interior of the metallic receiver 40 for reflecting and focusing light emitted from the LED chip 20 so as to enhance light intensity. A conductive wire 30 is connected to the LED chip 20 for providing electric power. The conductive wire 30 is connected to an extended electrode 50. The extended electrode 50 passes through the metallic holder 40 and can be connected to an outer power source.
In the aforementioned package structure, electrical isolation has to be formed between the extensive electrode 50 and the metallic receiver 40 to prevent electric short-circuit, in FIG. 1, the electrical isolation is formed by inserting an insulation material 60 between the extended electrode 50 and the metallic holder 40. Conventionally, there are various methods used for forming the electrical isolation, such as adding an insulation chip, adding an additional electrical circuit or dramatically modifying the package structure.
However, the aforementioned methods for forming the electrical isolation will increase material cost, in which the addition of the additional electrical circuit or the dramatic change on the package structure will result in complicate manufacturing process, thus greatly lowering the manufacturing efficiency.

LED package improved structure and fabricating method thereof


Techniques for providing improved navigation through an indoor environment using a mobile device are provided. A method according to these techniques includes accessing a 2D map of the indoor environment, accessing customization information comprising one or more attributes to be applied to a 3D model of the indoor environment derived from the 2D map, analyzing the 2D map to extract geometry information associated with the layout of the indoor environment, generating the 3D model based on the geometry extracted from the 2D map and the customization information, generating a 3D representation of a current location of the mobile device within the indoor environment based on the 3D model; and displaying the 3D representation on a display of the mobile device.

A mobile device can be configured to obtain a 2D map of an indoor environment to facilitate navigation through the indoor environment. However, a 2D map of the indoor environment may not always be easy for a user of the mobile device to use to navigate through the indoor environment. The user may not be able easily translate what they are seeing on the 2D map to the 3D environment through which they are navigating.

2D to 3D map conversion for improved navigation


A developer composition for photosensitive elements including lithographic printing plates, color proofing films, positive and negative working lithographic plates and thermally sensitive plates giving high image contrast and reduced oxide attack to image surfaces said composition comprises: a source of hydroxyl ions sufficient to provide said developer composition to have a pH of from about 10 to about 14; an optional buffer; an etch inhibiting additive, and sufficient water to produce a developer composition. A method for forming an image also is disclosed.

The present invention relates to developer compositions for photosensitive elements including lithographic printing plates. More particularly, the invention relates to alkaline developer compositions having etch inhibitors. Even more particularly, the developer compositions have surface active agents which are not good wetters which protect image areas of the lithographic printing plates from etching or attack by the alkaline developer.
The art of lithographic printing depends on several factors which include the immiscibility of greasy ink and water, the preferential retention of a greasy ink by an image area of a printing plate, and a preferential retention of an aqueous dampening fluid by a non-image area. As an aqueous fountain solution moistens the surface of an exposed and developed plate on a printing press, the image area repels the water and the non-image area retains the water. With a subsequent application of greasy ink, the image portion retains the ink and the moistened non-image area repels it. The ink on the image area is then transferred to the surface of the material on which the image is to be reproduced, such as paper, via an offset blanket. The most common type of lithographic plate to which the present invention is directed has a coating of a light sensitive substance that is adherent to an aluminum base sheet. Depending on the nature of the photosensitive coating employed, the plate may be positive or negative working. In both cases, the image area is oleophilic and the non-image areas are hydrophilic. Exposure is effected through a transparent mask or via laser imaging, wherein the light sensitive layer, in the negative working case, hardens and becomes insoluble in a developing solution. When the developer is applied to the plate, the unexposed, non-image areas are removed. In the positive working case, the exposed areas become soluble in an aqueous alkaline developer and are removed thereby. In both cases the remaining areas become the portions which attract greasy ink and are called the image areas. The surface underlying the areas from which the light sensitive coating have been removed are hydrophilic, do not attract greasy ink and are called the non-image areas.
Generally, these plates are composed of an aluminum containing substrate which may or may not have been treated with a variety of processes recognized in the art including anodization, graining and hydrophilization. The prepared plate substrate may then be applied with a photosensitive coating comprising a photosensitizer, binding resins, colorants, acid stabilizers, surfactants and other art recognized components. Common photosensitizers include diazo compounds, including polymeric diazonium condensates salts and o-quinone diazides, and photopolymerizable compositions. Sensitizers, binders and printing plates employing aromatic diazonium compounds are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,175,906; 3,046,118; 2,063,631; 2,667,415; 3,867,147 and 3,679,419.
The photosensitive layer may be exposed to suitable radiation either through a transparency or directly using laser imaging techniques. Hence, development of the plate with an aqueous alkali solution should result in the exclusive removal of the non-image areas of the photosensitive layer.
A number of positive acting printing plates are supplied commercially, which include the P-51 manufactured by the Agfa Division of Bayer Corporation.
The invention also relates to developer compositions for negative working photographic elements, such as lithographic printing plates. These include the N-81 and N-90, products of Agfa Division of Bayer Corporation.
The present invention is also useful for developing color proofing films. Such color proofing films assist a printer in correcting a set of photomasks which will be used in exposing printing plates. Visual examination of a color proof should reveal any defects on the photomask, the best color rendition to be expected from press printing of the material; the correct gradation of all colors; and whether there is a need for changing any of the colors and/or for altering the film photomask before making printing plates.
Generally, color proofing films are composed of a transparent substrate, which may or may not have been treated for release, slip or adhesive properties. The transparent substrate is then applied with a photosensitive coating comprising a photosensitizer, binding resins, colorants, acid stabilizers, surfactants and other art recognized components. Common photosensitizers include o-quinone diazides, diazonium condensates salts and photopolymerizable compositions. They are exposed and developed in a similar manner as printing plates. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,260,673; 4,093,464; 4,093,464; 4,260,673; and 4,659,642 teach typical color proofing systems.
It has been found that during the development of positive and negative working photosensitive elements, there is a tendency for the developer to also attack the image areas of the exposed photosensitive coating. This results in an unwanted etching away and removal of image areas of the element, thus producing a defective image. The present invention solves this problem by the inclusion of certain etch inhibiting compounds in the developer composition.
The developer composition inhibits etching of the image areas of the lithographic printing plate. The etch inhibiting additive allows use of the developer in concentrations and under temperatures that would otherwise cause degradation of the image areas on the plate. This provides greater operating latitude for exposure requirements, such as time and energy, mechanical agitation and developer contact time to produce printing plates of suitable quality. Developers of this invention are suitable for use with an array of printing plates, including lithographic printing plates, color proofing films, positive and negative working lithographic plates and thermally sensitive plates.

Etch inhibitors in developer for lithographic printing plates


The method of detecting defect signals includes: setting a default pit length range; inputting a data signal including a plurality of pits with different pit lengths; transferring the data signal into NRZ signal and counting the pit length of each pit; accumulating the number of the pits whose pit length are within the default pit length range, and accumulating the number of the pits whose pit lengths are outside the default pit length range but within the corresponding ranges; changing the logic state of a defect flag signal when one of the accumulative value reaches a corresponding threshold. The present invention also provides an apparatus for detecting defect signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting data signals in an optical disk system, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for detecting defect signals in an optical disk system.
2. Discription of the Prior Art
Because of the invention of the optical storage media, it is not difficult to store massive data. And because the optical storage media store data by recording data in the optical storage media in a digital way, data can be stored in a longer time compared with the conventional magnetic media in an analog way. In the meantime, the data will not be distorted with the time passing.
The earliest specification (red book) of the optical storage media was accomplished by Philip and Sony at 1980. Thereafter, many other specifications (e.g. yellow book, orange book . . . ) were finished for accommodating different contents. But basically, the storing formats of the optical storage media are the same, and they are expanded in accordance with the red book.
The data signal has to be modulated before stored in the optical storage media. For compact disk (CD), the data signal is processed in Eight to Fourteen Modulation (EFM) first. The modulated signal is a series of binary signals with the combination of logic "1" and logic "0". If the binary signals are written into the CD directly, the pickup head of the optical storage media can not read the logic level states of every bit precisely, because the lengths of the binary pits are just about 0.13 um-0.15 um. Therefore, the modulated data signals have to be coded in the different lengths of pits (or lands) with lengths of 3T to 11T (3T, 4T, 5T, 6T, 7T, 8T, 9T, 10T, and 11T)(as shown in FIG. 1A), and stored in the optical storage media. The coding method of 3T to 11T is so called (2,10) RLL (Run Length Limited) coding (as shown in FIG. 1B). That means the data tracks of the optical disks are made of the helical tracks of pits with 9 different lengths. As shown in FIG. 2, 2A is a piece of data signal of the data track in an optical disk. RF signal 2B is reflected from the pickup head by tracking the data signals of the data track, while 2C is the NRZ signal corresponding to 2A in the (2,10) RLL coding. Because the reflected RF signal caused by the pits with different lengths has different signal amplitude intensities, the system can identify every data signal in accordance with its amplitude intensity. When the logic level of the NRZ signal in 2C changes (from the logic high level to logic low level, or from the logic low level to logic high level), it indicates logic "1". When the logic level keeps the same, it indicates logic "0".
Similarly, DVD (digital versatile disk) adopts the same method. The data signal is processed in 8 to 16 modulation (EFM plus), which are coded in 3T to 11T respectively and plus a 14T component, then the pits with different lengths are formed and stored in a DVD. For an optical disk, there is a plastic layer on its surface for protection, but it is likely to have defect signals produced by scratches or some exterior factors, such as the process of recording, fingerprints . . . etc. The defect signals cause the pickup head not to reflect the correct RF signals when tracking. Therefore, the optical disk system cannot read out the needed data signals and then cause false movements.
The RF signals produce irregular variation because of the existing defect signals. The conventional way of detecting defect signals is as shown in FIG. 3 which adds the reference voltage level 3B to the RF signals 3A reflected from data signals. When the voltage level of the envelope signal 3C of the RF signal 3A is lower than the reference voltage level 3B (as shown in the 3E area of FIG. 3), the defect flag signal 3D arises from the logic low level to logic high level to denote the 3E area has a defect signal, and inform the servo system of the optical disk system not to lock frequency to prevent from making a mistake.
But when the defect signals of the optical disk are not serious (e.g. defects caused by scratches and fingerprints), if the method described above is still adopted, it is possible the location of the defect signal cannot be found by the reflected RF signal from the data signal, as shown in FIG. 4. The voltage level of the defect portion in the envelope signal 4C of the RF signal 4A (as shown in 4E area of FIG. 4) is higher than the reference voltage level 4B in contrast. Thereby, the location of the defect signal cannot be found by the reflected RF signal from the data signal, and the defect flag signal 4D cannot reflect the appearance of the defect signal correctly.

Apparatus and method for detecting defect signals


Provided is a polyol composition for obtaining a polyurethane foam by reacting the composition with a polyisocyanate compound. The polyol composition contains a polyol, a transition metal compound, and a tertiary amine.

Foamed polyurethane resins are used in heat-insulating materials of buildings, including housing complexes such as condominium apartments, single-family housing, school facilities, and commercial buildings. Because urethane resins have low flame retardancy, increasing the isocyanurate ratio in a urethane resin is known to be effective for improving the flame retardancy of the resin.


A secure stowage system having first and second support members. The second support member is releasably attached to a support system such that the second support member can only be removed from the support system by first moving the second support member according to a predetermined adjustment. The first and second support members have receiving means. A lockable item is configured to fit between the first and second support members. The lockable item has a lock and first and second mating means. The first mating means are adapted to engage the receiving means of one of the first and second support members. The second mating means are likewise adapted to engage the receiving means of the other of the first and second support members. The first mating means are selectively retractable toward the lockable item, but only when the lock is in an unlocked position. The first mating means are unretractable when the lock is in a locked position. The first and second mating means are configured to engage the receiving means of the first and second support members when the first and second mating means are in an extended position. When the lockable item is between the first and second support members and the first and second mating means are in an extended position, the lockable item cannot be removed from between the first and second support members without retracting the first mating means. Further, the one of the first and second mating means of the lockable item engaging the receiving means of the second support member prevents the second support member from moving according to the predetermined adjustment.

Stowage systems, such as those used in the back of pick-up trucks, are useful for those who wish to carry many relatively small items, such as tools. The stowage system tends to prevent the tools from sliding around in the back of the truck, which acts to protect not only the tools, but the bed of the truck as well. Further, because the stowage system typically hangs above the bed of the truck, it does not prevent all alternate beneficial use of the truck bed, such as loading flat objects like plywood and sheetrock beneath the stowage system.
The varying designs of stowage systems tend to emphasize either one of two different design considerations: portability or security. Those stowage systems which emphasize portability allow for removal of the bin or box which contains the tools from the truck. This can be done by making a simple release mechanism which attaches the bin to the truck. If attached in such a fashion, the bin can be relatively easily removed, either by the owner, or by anyone else who desires to remove the tool box, such as a thief. Thus, such a system generally lacks much in the way of security. However, in addition to the portability afforded by such a stowage system, the portable design systems also allow the bed of the truck to be used in other ways, as the stowage system may be relatively easily removed from the truck.
Those stowage systems which emphasize security in their design typically do not provide any practical method for removing the box from the truck. The box can be bolted or otherwise securely attached to the truck, and the operative ends of such attachments can be located in relatively inaccessible positions, such as inside of the box itself, or inside the body of the truck. These boxes tend to have no practical method for their removal short of completely disassembling the stowage system in the same manner in which it was attached to the truck. Thus, while these systems tend to be quite secure, they do not provide the convenience of portability afforded by the portable design systems. Additionally, the secure design systems tend to restrict the use of the bed of the truck, as the stowage system cannot be readily removed to allow something else to be placed in the bed of the truck, such as a full load of sand or large items.
Both systems tend to suffer from an inability to adapt to different uses of the bed of the truck. For example, the portable design stowage systems tend to have the tool box in the same location whenever it is attached to the bed of the truck. The secure design systems provide very little convenient ability to place the tool box in more than one location. Thus, while having the tool box directly behind the cab of the truck may be the most convenient location for the tool box when the stowage system is installed, it may be more convenient at a later point in time to have the tool box located adjacent the tail gate, or along one side of the truck.
What is needed, therefore, is a stowage system that is readily removable from the bed of the truck, thus allowing for portability of the bin and enhanced use of the truck, and which provides a sufficient level of security to the items which are stored within the bins of the system, yet also allows for convenience placement of the bin in different locations in the bed of the truck.


A light emitting device and an element substrate which are capable of suppressing variations in the luminance intensity of a light emitting element among pixels due to characteristic variations of a driving transistor without suppressing off-current of a switching transistor low and increasing storage capacity of a capacitor. According to the invention, a driving transistor also serves as an erasing transistor and the driving transistor is operated in a saturation region. The gate of the driving transistor is connected to an erasing scan line and it can be selected whether or not to flow current by a potential of the erasing scan line. In addition, a current controlling transistor which operates in a linear region is connected in series to the driving transistor, thus a video signal transmitting a light emission or non-emission of a pixel is input to the gate of the current controlling transistor through a switching transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting device comprising a plurality of pixels each having a light emitting element and a means for supplying current to the light emitting element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since a light emitting element emits light by itself, it is highly visible and does not require a back light which is needed in a liquid crystal display device (LCD). Therefore, it is suitably applied to thin devices and not restricted in viewing angle. Because of these advantages, a light emitting device having a light emitting element has recently been drawing attentions as an alternative display device to a CRT and an LCD. It is to be noted that a light emitting element in this specification indicates an element whose luminance is controlled by current or voltage, and it includes an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or an MIM electron source element (electron discharge element) and the like which is used in an FED (Field Emission Display).
Also, a light emitting device of the invention includes a panel and a module obtained by mounting an IC or the like onto the panel. More generally, the invention relates to an element substrate which corresponds to the one before the completion of a panel in manufacturing steps of the light emitting device, and the element substrate comprises a plurality of pixels each having a means for supplying current to a light emitting element.
OLED which is one of the light emitting elements includes an anode layer, a cathode layer, and a layer containing an electric field light emitting material (hereinafter referred to as an electroluminescent layer) that generates luminescence (electroluminescence) when an electric field is applied thereto. The electroluminescent layer is provided between an anode and cathode, and composed of a single layer or multiple layers. These layers may contain an inorganic compound. The electroluminescence by the electroluminescent layer includes a light emission (fluorescence) when a singlet exciting state returns to a ground state and a light emission (phosphorescence) when a triplet exciting state returns to a ground state.
Next, the configuration of a pixel of a general light emitting device and its drive will be described in brief. A pixel shown in FIG. 7 comprises a switching transistor 700, an erasing transistor 708, a driving transistor 701, a capacitor 702, and a light emitting element 703. The gate of the switching transistor 700 is connected to a first scan line 705. Either the source or the drain of the switching transistor 700 is connected to a signal line 704, and the other is connected to the gate of the driving transistor 701. The source of the driving transistor 701 is connected to a power supply line 706, and the drain of the driving transistor 701 is connected to the anode of the light emitting element 703. The gate of the erasing transistor 708 is connected to a second scanning line 709, the source thereof is connected to the power supply line 706, and the drain thereof is connected to the gate of the driving transistor 701. The cathode of the light emitting element 703 is connected to a counter electrode 707. The capacitor 702 is provided for storing a potential difference between the gate and the source of the driving transistor 701. Also, the predetermined voltages are applied to the power supply line 706 and the counter electrode 707 from a power supply and each has a potential difference.
When the switching transistor 700 is turned ON by a signal from the first scan line 705, a video signal that is input to the signal line 704 is input to the gate of the driving transistor 701. The potential difference between a potential of the input video signal and that of the power supply line 706 corresponds to a gate-source voltage Vgs of the driving transistor 701. Thus, current is supplied to the light emitting element 703, and the light emitting element 703 emits light by using the supplied current.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Element substrate and a light emitting device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An actuator is provided to generate an ultrafine stroke according to a fluid input pressure such as air pressure or the like. A throughhole 12 is formed in a center part of a body 10 so as to traverse a body 10 having plural notches 21–24 formed vertically on the body, a depression 13 is formed at the end of the body 10, and a rod 17 connected with a pressure plate 16 housed and held in the depression 13 is disposed in this throughhole 20. When an input pressure is applied to the pressure plate 16 via a diaphragm 19, an output point P generates a stroke due to the elastic deformation of a join part at the end of the notches 21–24.

This invention relates to an actuator, in particular an actuator to which a pressure is input and a displacement according to the input pressure is extracted.
A piezo actuator or bellows actuator has been proposed as a nanoactuator in which ultrahigh precision positioning is possible so that a minute, high precision displacement can be extracted.
A piezo actuator is a piezoelectric element which is polarized in a predetermined direction, and extracts a displacement using a distortion deformation by applying a voltage to this piezoelectric element. On the other hand, a bellows actuator is an actuator wherein positional control is performed by feedback of a force applied to a bellows and a distortion amount of the bellows due to this force.
In a prior art piezoactuator, since there is a large amount of hysteresis, closed loop control must be performed. Also, since the piezoactuator has a high development cost, it is limited to applications which assume mass production or applications where high cost can be tolerated, and it cannot be used for applications which do not assume mass production or low-cost applications. Moreover, with a piezoactuator, if the applied voltage is not increased, a large displacement amount cannot be extracted.
On the other hand, in the case of a bellows actuator, since the distortion amount determines the displacement amount, temperature drift increases. Also, it is easily affected by external noise, closed loop control is indispensable for increasing precision, and it is difficult to manufacture it at low cost.


Efficient, real-time rendering of an output image is implemented using one or more input images and morph maps that include data defining characteristics of each pixel in the output image. The input images can include textures and other graphic data for a surface of an object. Any of a number of different known techniques are used to produce the data included in a morph map for rendering a scene. The morph map is implemented for a rectangular area M (x, y) and associates a set of Mj(x, y) data with each pixel position in the rectangular area, where j is a positive integer providing an index to one of the sets of pixel data associated with a pixel position. A set of up to seven parameters are included in the Mj(x, y) data for each pixel position. Using the morph map, a real-time rendering engine performs a transformation when the displayed scene must be modified in response to a user interaction or in response to some software program event. The real-time rendering engine combines the data in the morph maps and the different input images at a specific pixel position, producing an output value for the pixels that have changed. Only the changed pixels need to be recomputed and newly rendered in the output image. An indexing mechanism is used to minimize the computation load. Image morphing is accomplished by combining two warped images in a range, using either a constant blended value or a space-variant value.

Powerful video display cards that have recently been developed for use on personal computers and workstations specifically designed for graphics computations are capable of rendering three-dimensional (3D) images on a display in real time. However, in regard to computer games and other applications, it is desirable to enable less powerful personal computers, other specialized computing devices (e.g., video game consoles), and personal computers that do not include such advanced 3D video display cards to render images in real time in response to user input and/or program generated events. For example, it may be desirable to render an image on a display in real time so that the image simulates the refraction that occurs as light passes through a "bumpy" glass layer, or to simulate the appearance of light reflected by a mirror surface into the image, or to map an image onto an arbitrary surface. A simulation of any of these optical effects should show highlights, shading, distortion, tint caused by the color of a glass or mirror, and reflections from the surface.
An initial need for a method that facilitates real-time rendering of an image on a typical personal computer not having the power of a graphics workstation arose in connection with two requirements. In the first requirement, it became necessary to enable a user to select a patch (i.e., a generally rectangular region) in an image applied to a 3D surface, and to enable a user to freely drag the patch over the 3D surface, so that the patch always appears to remain on the surface in the rendered image. This feature should be accomplished while maintaining an acceptable image quality and should achieve real-time performance. In the second requirement, it became necessary to simulate the appearance of an image distorted by light passing through a lump of glass as objects are moved behind the glass (relative to the viewer's position) by a user manipulating a mouse or other pointing device. Related problems requiring a solution include the use of a distorting mirror to modify the appearance of objects appearing in an image. It was recognized that any solution to these problems should also be able to handle combinations of these optical rendering problems.
A technique that addresses the problems noted above should be capable of simulating other real-time rendering effects. For example, there are many applications in which it would be desirable to simulate the rendering of classic morphing effects. The morphing process portrays the gradual change of an image of one object into an image of a different object. Furthermore, the simulated rendering of images should enable anti-aliasing to be carried out by properly blending the foreground of an object with its background along the edges of the object. While solutions to these problems exist in the prior art, they cannot be readily implemented without the use of a relatively powerful computer or by employing an advanced video graphics adapter. For example, real-time global illumination in an image undergoing changes can readily be achieved by using ray tracing in which the behavior of light rays in a rendered image is simulated by following the reverse path of each ray of light as it travels from a source to the observer. Although ray tracing provides high quality results, it is extremely computationally intensive and therefore, unacceptably slow if attempted on a typical home personal computer.
Certain techniques have been developed in the prior art to address the limitations of less powerful computers in implementing specific aspects of real-time rendering. One solution developed to deal with hidden surfaces when rendering an image is known as "z-buffering." However, z-buffering does not model global illumination effects, such as reflections, but instead accumulates, for each pixel position in an image, data for an object that is closest to the observer. Indeed, most techniques known in the prior art for rendering an image in real time are either too computationally intensive and thus too slow to implement, or produce artifacts, including incorrect highlights or polygonal silhouettes, leading to unacceptably low-quality rendering, or like the polygon-based 3D rendering approach based upon the z-buffering method, are incomplete solutions to the problem.
An early attempt to solve some of these problems was developed for use in PANDORA'S BOX™, a game created and marketed by Microsoft Corporation. In this game, only some of the problems noted above were solved. Real-time rendering was simulated in the game using a morph map that stores a set of data associated with each pixel position in an image. To avoid delays in rendering an image, the morph maps required in the game were produced in a pre-processing step using conventional rendering techniques. The morph maps thus produced were then included in the game software that was distributed to purchasers of the game. However, the prior art game software included only one set of morph data for each pixel position in a given output image and was incapable of classic morphing, or of implementing anti-aliasing, because it did not employ multiple input images, multiple sets of pixel data for each pixel location, or a blending (alpha) factor. Also, it could not produce colored modulation and highlights and was incapable of simulating full ray tracing functionality.
Accordingly, the prior art approach in this earlier product was simply a subset and was an incomplete solution to the problems noted above. The present invention was developed to address these deficiencies in this prior art.

Morph map based simulated real-time rendering


The present invention relates to a gaseous sample injection valve. The gaseous sample injection valve includes a middle body injecting a fixed amount of a gaseous sample into the vacuum chamber of a mass spectrometer, the middle body being constituted by a gaseous sample injection tube, a gaseous sample discharge tube, a storage part, and a vacuum chamber connection tube; an upper body accommodating a first solenoid coil, a first plunger, and a first packing; and a lower body accommodating a second solenoid coil, a second plunger, and a second packing. The gaseous sample injection valve according to the present invention may be miniaturized to utilize a lightweight portable mass spectrometer. Also, the vacuum pump may be reduced in load to extend the operation life-cycle of the vacuum pump. In addition, when the gaseous sample is analyzed by using the mass spectrometer, a uniform mass spectrum with respect to the gaseous sample may be obtained.

Generally, a mass spectrometer is used to analyze a gaseous sample. To inject the gaseous sample into the mass spectrometer, a gaseous sample injection valve which may inject the gaseous sample into a chamber of the mass spectrometer which is in a vacuum state is needed.
To analyze the gaseous sample, it is necessary to inject the gaseous sample corresponding to 1×10−4 to 1×10−5 torr with respect to a volume of the chamber which is in the vacuum state. In a method of injecting the gaseous sample into the vacuum chamber, there are a method which increases flow resistance using a conventional capillary tube or an orifice and reduces a gas injection amount, and a method in which an auxiliary pump is provided at a gas inlet port so that most of the gaseous sample is divided and discharged and only part of the gaseous sample is injected.
Meanwhile, it is necessary to reduce a size and a weight of the mass spectrometer to allow the mass spectrometer to be movable in order to analyze a surrounding atmosphere or because of difficulty in moving the gaseous sample, etc. Since this movable mass spectrometer is driven by a battery, it is necessary to inject the gaseous sample using a solenoid valve operated by a pulse signal in order to reduce a load of a vacuum pump having great power consumption.
However, in a conventional gaseous sample injection, the method using the capillary tube or the orifice has a limitation in a process of reducing a size of a device. Further, when the gaseous sample is injected through the dividing and discharging process, the pump is added to a sample injection device, and thus it is difficult to reduce a size of the device
Further, in the conventional art, when a minute amount of the gaseous sample is injected using the solenoid valve, an amount of the injected gaseous sample is not constant, and thus an ion concentration of a mass spectrum, which is measured from the vacuum chamber, is not constant either, and a gaseous component analysis is affected.

Gaseous sample injection valve and gaseous sample injection method using same


An audio signal processing apparatus including a plurality of jack units each of which has at least an audio signal contact piece and a control signal contact piece. A control circuit judges a kind of an audio appliance connected to each of the plurality of jack units based on a control signal obtained at the control signal contact piece, and when a function change-over command to select any one of the audio appliances is supplied, a function selecting circuit selects one of the jack units to which the audio appliance is connected. An audio appliance can be connected to any of the plurality of jack units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio signal processing apparatus suitable for use in a stereophonic apparatus called a system stereo in which a plurality of audio appliances are used in combination.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the art, a stereophonic apparatus called a system stereo in which used in combination are a plurality of audio appliances has been on market in various types.
FIG. 1 shows an example of this kind of stereophonic apparatus, in which each of the audio appliances is connected to an amplifier apparatus 50. In detail, a compact disk reproducing apparatus 61 which reproduces a compact disk (CD) on which a digital audio signal is recorded, a tuner 62 receiving an FM broadcast, an AM broadcast and so on, a disk recording and reproducing apparatus 63 which records and reproduces an audio signal by using a magneto optical disk (or optical disk) such as a minidisk (MD) or the like, and a tape recording and reproducing apparatus 64 which records and reproduces an audio signal by using a tape cassette are connected to the amplifier apparatus 50. An audio signal, which is selected by a function change-over switch provided in the amplifier apparatus 50 from the audio signals which are supplied from the respective audio appliances 61, 62, 63 and 64 to the amplifier apparatus 50, is subjected to a predetermined processing (amplification processing in a power amplifier, various signal processing in a DSP and so on) and the audio signal thus processed is supplied to left and right speaker units 65L and 65R connected to the amplifier apparatus 50 and then acoustic sounds are produced therefrom. The audio signal selected by the function change-over switch is also supplied to the apparatuses 63 and 64 capable of recording the audio signal, and a desired audio signal can be recorded by the apparatus 63 or 64.
In the system stereophonic apparatus connected as mentioned above, it is necessary to connect the respective audio appliances 61 through 64 to the amplifier apparatus 50 by using a number of audio signal lines.
FIG. 2 shows an example of the arrangement of a connection terminal portion on the rear surface of the amplifier apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, there are provided an input terminal 51 to be connected with the compact disk reproducing apparatus 61, an input terminal 52 to be connected with the tuner 62, an input/output terminal 53 to be connected with the disk recording and reproducing apparatus 63, an input/output terminal 54 to be connected with the tape recording and reproducing apparatus 64, and a speaker terminal 55 to be connected with the speaker units 65L and 65R. In this case, the input terminals 51 and 52 are terminals inputted with left and right audio signals, respectively, and each of which is formed of two jacks, while the input/output terminals 53 and 54 are terminals inputted with the left and right audio signals and terminals outputting the same and each of which is formed of four jacks.
As set forth above, on the rear surface of the amplifier apparatus 50, there are arranged a number of connection terminal units, and the respective audio appliances are connected to the amplifier apparatus in such a manner that a plug, which is called a pin plug provided on a tip end of each connection cord connected to each audio appliance, is inserted into each predetermined jack of the amplifier apparatus for connection. The connection work, however, requires much time and further easily permit erroneous connection. In other words, the input and output terminals of the audio signal are formed of jacks that are the same in shape and, as shown in FIG. 2, a name or the like of the appliance to be connected is indicated near each terminal. However, upon carrying out an actual connecting work, since a number of jacks are the same in shape and also located close to one another, the connection is mistaken frequently.
In view of the problem mentioned above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an audio signal processing apparatus by which the connection work of a system stereophonic apparatus can be carried out easily with no complexity.
According to the present invention, there is provided an audio signal processing apparatus which is provided with a plurality of terminal units each having at least an audio signal input contact piece and a control signal contact piece, and a control means for judging the kind of an audio appliance connected to each terminal unit on the basis of a control signal obtained at the terminal unit and for making a function selection means select, when a function change-over command to select any of the audio appliances is issued, a terminal unit to which is connected the appliance of kind thus discriminated.
According to the present invention, when a function change-over command to change over an audio appliance is issued by a key operation or the like, the terminal unit connected with the appliance indicated by that command is judged by the control means, and the corresponding terminal unit is selected by the function selection means. Therefore, even when a plurality of audio appliances are connected to any ones of a plurality of terminal units prepared in any order, the connected audio appliance can be selected correctly.


A secure software execution mechanism appropriate for software circulation is provided. At a sender site 312, an executable file 332 and a data file 334 processed by the executable file are encapsulated. The remaining two files 336 and 338 do not physically exist in a pot 320 at the sender site, and an archive file 320 is transferred to a receiver site 314. At the receiver site 314, intangible files 336 and 338 within a pot may be mapped to a file 354 in a local file system or a file 356 within another pot 350 and processed using a file 334 in a pot or the mapped file 354 or 356 by executing a program 332, in conformity with the specification of a security policy 340.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a secure software execution mechanism. In particular, it relates to a mechanism appropriate for software circulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the most notable features of the Internet is that it is a truly open environment. Not only is it being constantly extended worldwide, but also no one can fully control or determine who the users are, or what software and contents are distributed through it. These features are in stark contrast to traditional, closed computer environments such as batch, TSS, LAN, or personal systems. Throughout the history of computer systems, the computer environment has almost always been closed, so designers of system software have implicitly assumed a closed environment was the norm. The worldwide spread of the Internet occurred within a relatively short portion of the history of computer system development, so there was little time for designers of system software to fully anticipate the issues that would arise when closed environments became open. Though the environment has drastically opened up, system software whose basic design is based on an assumption of a closed environment is still used. Thus, current computer systems can often be characterized as putting new wine in old bottles.
If a network environment is closed and users cannot access an open network environment such as the Internet, malicious users and the files created by such users are far less likely to exist. Unfortunately, in the Internet environment, this cannot be assumed. Thus, obtaining files, particularly software that includes executable or interpretable code, from the Internet can be a risky activity. One approach now being used to lessen the risk is to use a code-signing technique such as Microsoft's Authenticode. A promising technical approach to solve this problem is to create a 'sandbox' and encapsulate risky effects in a limited, controllable environment separate from the users' ordinary environment. This approach has been adopted in many systems, such as Java, SFI, Janus, MAPbox, and SubDomain.
To clarify the concept of secure software circulation, a model for unsecure software circulation, which is a generalization of software distribution as conventionally performed, is first presented. A model for secure software circulation is then presented and explained how it can be used.
(A Model for Unsecure Software Circulation)
Software circulation is the term used hereafter to refer to a generalization of the 'software distribution' concept. Software distribution usually means unidirectional, one-time, one-to-many distribution of a software package. By relaxing these properties, that is, by making software distribution multidirectional, multi-time, many-to-many, the concept of software circulation is obtained. Software circulation is composed of four basic operations: encapsulation, transfer, extraction, and execution. For each operation, a graphic representation as shown in FIG. 1 is used.
The 'encapsulation operation' shown in FIG. 1(a) is applied to one or more files 110, 120, and 130 and creates an archive file 150 that encapsulate those files. The 'transfer operation' of FIG. 1(b) moves an encapsulated file 150 from a source site 162 to a destination site 164. The 'extraction operation' of FIG. 1(c) is the inverse of the encapsulation operation: one or more files 110, 120, and 130 are extracted from an archive file 150. Extracted files are stored somewhere in the file system of the site 164 where the operation is performed. File allocation, naming, and access-control setting are performed at that time. In the 'execution operation' of FIG. 1(d), an executable program 140 shown as the circle containing a cross is executed. During the execution, files 110, 120, and 130 (the circles without a cross) may be inputted, outputted, or modified.
By combining these operations, typical software circulation scenarios can be represented. FIG. 2 illustrates software distribution. At the sender site 162 (e.g., a distributor of a software package), the files of a software package are encapsulated into an archive file 150. The archive file 150 is transferred from the distributor's site 162 to a receiver (user) site 164. At the user's site 164, the archive file 150 is extracted and stored in the user's file system by file processing or an installation program 140.
FIG. 3 shows a variation of the software distribution of FIG. 2; an extraction and/or installation program 142 are included within the archive file 152. A user who receives that archive file may carry out installation and the like using the program 142 in the archive file 152. This is flexible and convenient, since the distributor can do anything during the installation by describing it in the installation program, even if the user does not have an extraction or installation program.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show iterative styles of software circulation. FIG. 4 models a workflow system. In FIG. 4, programs 144 and 146 at sites 166 and 168 are applied to circulated files 154, 155, and the like, respectively. In FIG. 5, a program 148 included in the circulated file 157 or 158 is executed and this models a mobile agent system.
The presented model in FIGS. 1 through 5 is unsecure in the following aspects:    (1) In the encapsulation operation, a malicious person may lay traps in the archive file; for example, by including files that perform malicious things when executed or that overwrite existing files for malicious purposes when extracted.    (2) During the transfer operation, files may be maliciously interrupted, intercepted, modified, or fabricated.    (3) During the extraction operation, extracted files are stored in the user's file system, their file storage is allocated and named, and their access control is set at that time. These operations are critical for the management of the user's file system, and are quite dangerous if they are not done according to the user's management policy.
From these reasons, this model is called the unsecure software circulation (USC) model.


A rotary lawn mower blade with improved combined mulching and shredding capability includes an outboard section having a leading cutting edge and a trailing edge. The trailing edge of the outboard section includes a plurality of teeth. The blade also includes a transition section having a leading cutting edge that is at least partially offset relative to the leading cutting edge of the outboard section. The transition section further includes a trailing edge having a partial tooth. Preferably, the plurality of teeth on the outboard section are twisted in either an inboard or an outboard direction. Additionally, the partial tooth can be twisted in an inboard direction. The blade also preferably includes a central mounting portion and an inboard section between the central mounting portion and the transition section. The inboard section also includes a leading cutting edge and a trailing edge.

The invention relates to rotary lawn mower blades.
In recent years, it has become less acceptable for lawn mower operators to collect grass clippings, leaves, and other yard debris for dumping in landfills or disposing via other public disposal means. In many regions, regulations prohibit the deposition of yard waste in landfills.
Lawn mower operators have been forced to simply cut their lawn and leave the clippings, chopped leaves, and other yard debris on the lawn. In an effort to minimize the presence of unsightly grass clippings and other unattractive debris on freshly cut lawns, blade manufacturers have developed specialized lawn mower blades. Mulching blades have been developed to mulch the grass into fine clippings that fall to the lawn and settle down out of sight. Shredding blades have been developed to shred leaves, twigs, and other yard waste into small particles that can also settle down in the grass.
The prior art mulching and shredding blades have various problems. Perhaps the largest problem is the inability of mulching blades to adequately shred leaves or yard debris on the lawn, and the inability of shredding blades to mulch the grass underlying the leaves and yard debris. Typically, mulching blades are designed specifically to mulch grass and have only incidental shredding capability. Likewise, shredding blades are designed specifically to shred leaves or debris and have poor grass mulching capability.
Mulching blades require the deck to be closed to keep large grass particles contained until cut into finer pieces. As long as the grass is not too long or the layer of leaves is not too thick, the blade lifts, cuts, mulches, distributes and hides the finely cut grass particles within the cut lawn. In the typical fall scenario, however, the long grass combined with a normal layer of fallen leaves and debris will overload the blade and detract from its capability to cut the grass, the leaves, and the debris into small particles.
Shredding blades are typically used with discharging mower decks. The blade is suited to break up dry, brittle leaves and twigs and discharge them as fine particles. Unfortunately, the features necessary to properly shred the leaves and debris are not well-suited for cutting long grass into fine particles. Grass that is cut by the shredding blade simply gets discharged onto the top of the lawn with the shredded leaf particles. Long grass clippings that are not brittle enough to be shredded often form a bridge between shredders and impede further shredding action.
In light of these problems, the lawn mower operator must decide which blade is best suited to handle the current yard conditions and then use either a mulching blade or a shredding blade to do the job. Depending on the choice made, the lawn will often have improperly shredded leaves and debris, improperly cut grass, or a combination of both. A more precise lawn mower operator may mow the lawn twice, first using a shredding blade on a raised setting to shred the leaves and debris, and then using a mulching blade on a lowered setting to cut the underlying grass. While yielding a better looking end result, this second option more than doubles the time needed to do the job, especially when considering the time required to change the blades.
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing an improved blade having combined shredding and mulching features. The single blade effectively mulches grass and shreds leaves and debris, allowing the operator to achieve a finely manicured lawn in a single pass. No time is spent deciding on which blade to use or changing blades to suit the condition of the yard. Furthermore, there is no need to undertake separate shredding and mulching passes.
The blade of the present invention can operate with a closed deck to lift and cut grass, comminute grass, lift and shred leaves and distribute finely cut particles into the lawn. Mulching under typical conditions throughout the mowing season is not compromised and mulching in somewhat taller or somewhat wetter conditions is improved. The blade can also be used with a conventional discharge deck to cut grass, partially mulch grass, shred leaves and discharge without compromising the shredding action under typical conditions.
More specifically, the invention provides a rotary lawn mower blade with improved combined mulching and shredding capability. The blade includes an outboard section having a leading cutting edge and a trailing edge. The trailing edge of the outboard section includes a plurality of teeth. The blade also includes a transition section having a leading cutting edge that is at least partially offset relative to the leading cutting edge of the outboard section. The transition section further includes a trailing edge having a partial tooth.
Preferably, the plurality of teeth on the outboard section are twisted in either an inboard or an outboard direction. Additionally, the partial tooth can be twisted in an inboard direction. The plurality of teeth and the partial tooth can each be sharpened or unsharpened.
The blade also preferably includes a central mounting portion and an inboard section between the central mounting portion and the transition section. The inboard section also includes a leading cutting edge and a trailing edge.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims, and drawings.