A method for generating a complete scene structure from a video sequence that provides incomplete data. The method has a first step of building a first matrix consisting of point locations from a motion sequence by acquiring a sequence of images of a fixed scene using a moving camera; identifying and tracking point features through the sequence; and using the coordinates of the features to build the first matrix with some missing elements where some features are not present in some images. In a second step an approximate solution is built by selecting triples of columns from the first matrix; forming their nullspaces into a second matrix; and taking the three smallest components of the second matrix. In a third step, an iterative algorithm is applied to the three smallest components to build a third matrix and to improve the estimate. Lastly, in a fourth step the third matrix is decomposed to determine the complete scene structure. Another aspect of the present invention are apparatus' for generating a complete scene structure from a video sequence that provides incomplete data utilizing the methods of the of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for linear fitting with missing data: applications to structure-from-motion and to characterize intensity images.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Several vision problems can be reduced to the problem of fitting a linear surface of low dimension to data. For example, C. Tomasi et al. (1992) "Shape and Motion From Image Streams Under Orthography: A Factorization Method" Int. J. of Comp. Vis. 9(2): 137-154 show how to determine the structure and motion of a set of 3-D points tracked in a sequence of 2-D images by fitting a rank three matrix to a data matrix constructed from the noisy images, assuming an affine imaging model. P. Belhumeur et al. (1996) "What is the Set of Images of an Object Under All Possible Lighting Conditions?" IEEE Conf. of Comp. Vis. and Pat. Rec.: 270-277 show how to characterize the set of intensity images produced by a convex, Lambertian object, also by fitting a rank three matrix to a matrix constructed from noisy data. One serious issue for solutions based on this work is how to deal with a data matrix with some missing elements. In structure from motion, missing elements will occur in the data matrix if some point features are not visible in the image throughout the motion sequence, an almost inevitable occurrence. To construct the intensity manifold as suggested by P. Belhumeur et al. (1996), missing matrix elements will to arise when the surface normals of some scene points do not face the light source in some images; this must happen for any scene containing smooth objects, and will probably happen in most real scenes.
Recently, several important vision problems have been addressed by using affine imaging models, which reduce the problems to ones of finding a low-dimensional linear or affine surface that represents some important scene structure. For example, in the linear combinations work of S. Ullman et al. (1991) "Recognition by Linear Combinations of Models" IEEE Trans. PAMI 13(10): 992-1007 and R. Basri et al. (1988) "The Alignment of Objects With Smooth Surfaces" Computer Graphics, Vision and Image Processing: Image Understanding 57(3): 331-345, the set of images produced by any 3-D structure from different viewpoints is represented as a low-dimensional affine surface in the space of all possible images. This structure is then used for object recognition. C. Tomasi et al. (1992) use a related insight to efficiently perform structure-from-motion in long motion sequences. Since the noise-free images should all lie in a low-dimensional linear surface, such a surface can be fit to the data and then used to derive structure and motion. Y. Moses (1993) Face recognition: generalization to novel images Ph.D. Thesis, Weizmann Institute of Science and A. Shashua (1992) Geometry and Photometry in 3D Visual Recognition MIT TR-1401 show that the set of intensity images produced by a 3-D Lambertian structure from a single viewpoint, but with a point light source of varying position and intensity can also be described as a 3-D linear surface in a space of possible images. These form a 3-D linear surface in a space of possible images (the intensity manifold). P. Belhumeur et al. (1996) use this result to describe the set of intensity images produced by a convex object, allowing for multiple light sources and self-shadowing. In all of this work, the problem is greatly simplified by finding a reasonable set of assumptions to make it linear.
All of these methods require fitting a matrix of low rank r to a data set. The linear space spanned by this matrix corresponds to scene structure. In several approaches, this is done by acquiring only the minimal amount of data needed to construct an r.times.n matrix [see, S. Ullman et al. (1991), Y. Moses (1993), A. Shashua (1992) and P. Belhumeur et al. (1996)], which has exactly rank r even in the presence of noise. This method is simple, but can be quite sensitive to noise. S. Ullman et al. (1991) also propose using singular value decomposition (SVD) to fit a low rank matrix to a larger matrix built when extra images are used to over determine the problem. C. Tomasi et al. (1992) use a long motion sequence to build a large matrix, and then find the nearest low rank matrix using SVD. This method finds the low rank matrix that minimizes the sum of square differences between each element in the new matrix and the data matrix. By over determining the problem and finding a least squares fit to the data, this method can reduce the effects of noise.
A significant limitation of these methods is that they require a data matrix with no missing elements. In the case of structure-from-motion, this means that every point feature must be visible in every image. This is a strong assumption because often points enter or leave the field of view during a motion sequence, or may be blocked from view by other objects in the middle of a sequence. The methods that derive the intensity manifold produced by a scene use a set of images in which illumination in each image comes from a single point light source. The data matrix will have missing elements when scene points are not illuminated by the light source; therefore, these methods require that every visible scene point be illuminated in every image. However, for scenes with smooth objects, this assumption will be met only when the light source direction is the same as the viewing direction, i.e., for one possible image. More generally, most visible points will be illuminated only when the light source is near the viewing direction. However, if images are generated with similar light source directions, the resulting solution may be unstable.
C. Tomasi et al. (1992) describe a simple heuristic method for fitting a matrix that has missing elements. H. Shum et al. (1995) "Principal Component Analysis With Missing Data and Its Applications to Polyhedral Object Modeling" IEEE Trans. PAMI 17(9): 854-867 apply an iterative method due to T. Wiberg (1976) "Computation of Principal Components When Data Are Missing" Proc. Second Symp. Computational Statistics: 229-236 to a related structure from motion problem. This method minimizes the sum of square differences between the fitted, low rank matrix and the elements that are not missing in the data matrix. This approach has the virtue of converging to a locally optimal solution, however, it is not guaranteed to find the globally optimal one. While this iterative method has its advantages, it can often converge to the wrong answer if it does not have a good starting point.
The methods proposed by S. Ullman et al. (1991) and C. Tomasi et al. (1992) assume that a sequence of matched image points is given, and that these were projected from 3-D to 2-D using a camera model that is affine, or a subset of affine (e.g., orthographic, weak perspective or paraperspective, as set forth in R. Basri (1996) "Paraperspective.ident.Affine" Int. J. of Comp. Vis. 19(2): 169-179). The translation component of motion is estimated separately, by estimating the translation of the center of mass of the points we therefore assume for simplicity that there is no in-plane translation. Let p.sub.i =(x.sub.i, y.sub.i, z.sub.i).sup.T be the i'th 3-D point feature. Then the model to image transformation may be written as a 2.times.3 matrix S.sub.i. Letting q.sub.i =(X.sub.i, Y.sub.i) stand for the image point produced by p.sub.i, this gives: ##EQU1## For the case of scaled-orthographic projection, S.sub.i is the first two rows of a scaled rotation matrix.
We can now represent an entire image sequence in simple matrix notation. Let P be a matrix whose i'th column is p.sub.i : ##EQU2## Let T stand for a matrix containing all rows of all transformations S.sub.i, that is, row 2i-1 of T is the first row of S.sub.i, and row 2i of T is its second row. ##EQU3## Finally, let Q stand for a single matrix containing all tracked image points. Each column of Q contains all the image coordinates of a single point. That is Q.sub.2i-1,j gives the x coordinate of q.sub.j in image i, and Q.sub.2i,j gives the y coordinate of q.sub.j, in image i. We write: ##EQU4## where (X.sub.i,j) is the X coordinate of the j'th noisy image point in the i'th image, and Y.sub.i,j is similarly defined. Let E be a matrix of the same dimension as Q, whose elements indicate the noise encountered in sensing the corresponding elements of Q. Then we may simply describe the generation of the whole image sequence as: EQU TP+E=Q
We further define: EQU Q.ident.Q-E=TP
Although we have no direct access to the error-free data Q, we wish to estimate it from Q. Because T has three columns, it can only have rank three, and consequently, Q can have only rank three. (That is, the columns, or rows, of Q, regarded as points, must occupy no more than a 3-D linear subspace of R.sup.m (R.sup.n). Any column, or row, will be a linear combination of any other three linearly independent columns, or rows.)
The matrix containing the coordinates of sensed image points Q will be a noisy version of Q, and will have full rank. However, if we find the Q matrix of rank three that is closest to Q, we can obtain a maximum likelihood estimate of Q. In particular, we can use SVD to find the Q matrix that minimizes .SIGMA..sub.i .SIGMA..sub.j (Q.sub.ij -Q.sub.ij).sup.2. We can also use SVD to factor this Q matrix into T and P, providing us with estimates of the structure and motion of the 3-D points, up to an affine transformation. See C. Tomasi et al. (1992) for further details.
When some points are not visible in some images, Q will contain missing entries for these points. We still know that the error free data, were it all visible, would give rise to a Q matrix of rank three (we can still remove the effects of translation between adjacent images from our data by computing the translation of the center of mass of those points present in adjacent images. For this we need only assume that some points will always be present from one image to the next). We can, therefore, find the affine structure and motion that minimizes error by finding the Q matrix that is closest to Q where we now compare only those elements actually present in Q to the corresponding elements of Q. The problem of finding structure from motion in the presence of missing data, then, depends on finding the nearest rank three matrix to a data matrix with missing elements.
A similar formulation has been used by A. Shashua (1992), Y. Moses (1993) and P. Belhumeur et al. (1996) to describe the set of intensity images produced by a 3-D Lambertian structure exposed to a point light source at infinity. Let the direction of the source scaled by its intensity be the 3-D vector: -h. In this case, let q.sub.j be the intensity of image pixel j. Finally, assume that this intensity is produced by a 3-D planar patch of the scene with a surface normal n.sub.j, and albedo p.sub.j. Then, intensities are produced according to the equation: EQU q.sub.j =h.multidot.p.sub.j n.sub.j
provided that this produces a positive value (i.e., each surface normal is facing the light source). Since we can never recover the absolute magnitude of h or p.sub.j from a set of the equations, we may without loss of generality assume that p.sub.j n.sub.j is simply an unconstrained 3-D vector (that is, the constraint that albedo is less than one has no effect without some limitation on the scale of h). Next, assume we take a set of images in which the viewpoint is fixed, but the lighting intensity and direction may vary. Let N be a scene matrix in which the j'th column is p.sub.j n.sub.j. Let H be a lighting matrix in which the i'th row is the h vector for the i'th image. And let Q be a data matrix in which the j'th column gives the intensity of the j'th pixel in every image. Then we have: EQU Q=HN+E EQU Q.ident.Q-E=HN
where E is again a matrix of sensing errors. Again, Q has rank three. Again, our noisy images provide a full rank matrix Q, and again, we can estimate Q, H and N from Q by using SVD to find the nearest rank three matrix to Q, along with its decomposition. In previous work, A. Shashua (1992) and P. Belhumeur et al. (1996) have used the simpler, but less robust, method of using only three images to form Q, in which case Q has only rank three, and is the best estimate of Q. A. Shashua (1992) uses the matrix N to determine whether a novel image could be generated by the same scene, by determining whether the novel image is a linear combination of the rows of N.
For this problem, Q will have missing elements when some of the scene surface normals do not face the light source. For if h.multidot.p.sub.j n.sub.j is negative, the scene point is self-shadowed, and we perceive zero intensity plus noise, not negative intensity. We can tell from the fact that a scene point is dark that it does not face the light source, but we have no further information about its orientation. P. Belhumeur et al. (1996) use N to determine the more complicated illumination cone that describes the set of images that a scene can produce allowing for this self-shadowing effect, but they must still build N using images in which there is no self-shadowing. However, if we have many images containing self-shadowing, we can construct a Q matrix with missing elements. Again, the key problem to estimating the quantities of interest will be to find the best rank three approximation to a matrix with missing elements.
C. Tomasi et al. (1992) propose one method for finding the best rank three approximation to a matrix with missing data. In their method, one first locates a rectangular subset of the matrix with no missing data. SVD is used to find the best rank three approximation to this submatrix. Then the missing elements of an additional column (or row) are filled in by finding the linear combination of a basis for the columns (or rows) of the submatrix that best fits the non-missing elements of the new column (or row). In this way, the solution is iteratively extended one column (or row) at a time. The resulting solution is then refined using a steepest descent minimization to find the rank three matrix that is nearest to all the data present in the Q matrix.
This solution seems like a reasonable heuristic because missing data is filled in using over constraining information, and C. Tomasi et al. (1992) demonstrate its effectiveness on two motion sequences. However, the proposed method for initially filling in the missing matrix elements has several potential disadvantages. First, the problem of finding the largest full submatrix of a matrix with missing elements is NP-hard (max-clique can be easily reduced to this problem) so heuristics must be used to find a starting point. Second, the data is not used symmetrically. A small subset of the data may be used to compute the first missing elements, which may lead to significant inaccuracies in these elements. It is not clear how these inaccuracies will propagate in the computation of additional missing elements. Third, for an m.times.n matrix, the method requires O(max(m,n)) applications of SVD. Finally, it is not certain that the final application of steepest descent will cause the method to converge to a globally optimal solution.
H. Shum et al. (1995) have also done recent work relevant to the missing data problem. They consider the problem of deriving structure and motion based on 3-D data whose significance can be weighted, leading to a weighted least squares problem of fitting a low rank matrix to a data matrix. For this problem, they suggest the use of an iterative method due to the findings set forth in T. Wiberg (1976); this iterative method clearly can also be applied to the missing data problem considered in this paper. This method appears likely to have better convergence properties than a steepest descent approach, and we use it in our experiments. This method is described in detail in H. Shum et al. (1995), however, for completeness, we will synopsize their description here, since we use their method in our experiments. We can briefly describe the method as formulating the least squares problem as a bilinear optimization, and then iteratively holding one set of variables constant while the others are optimized, so that each optimization is linear.
In more detail, suppose first that we wish to estimate Q=TP from a noisy Q matrix with no missing elements, where Q is an m.times.n matrix of rank r, meaning that T is m.times.r and P is r.times.n. We will recursively update estimates of T and P, letting T.sub.i and P.sub.i denote our i'th estimate of each value. We first fix T.sub.1, using some initial estimate. Then, we wish to find P.sub.i, such that T.sub.i P.sub.i is nearest to Q in a least squares sense. This is just an over constrained linear estimation problem, which may be solved by taking: EQU P.sub.i =T.sub.i.sup.+ Q
where T.sub.i.sup.+ is the psuedoinverse of T.sub.i. Next we can fix P.sub.i and compute EQU T.sub.i+1 =QP.sub.i.sup.+
Clearly, this produces a series of estimates of Q, T and P in which the magnitude of Q-Q is non-increasing.
We can apply this same algorithm when Q has missing elements, after a slight modification. To do this, we can rewrite Q=TP as: ##EQU5## where we have written Q and P as vectors, and written T as a big, block-diagonal matrix, with T repeated n times. Again, we can apply the same procedure, fixing T, and multiplying the pseudo inverse of the block-diagonal matrix of it by a vector constructed from Q. This will give a new estimate of P. The second part of the iteration can be performed by simply writing T as a vector, and building a similar block-diagonal matrix of P.
We can now readily modify this procedure when Q has missing elements. We just delete all rows of the vectors and block-diagonal matrix corresponding to missing elements of Q, and perform the procedure as before. Note that taking the pseudoinverse of the block-diagonal matrix is not too expensive, since the pseudoinverse of each block may be taken separately.

Linear fitting with missing data: applications to structure-from-motion and to characterizing intensity images


A combined floor scrubbing/floor burnishing apparatus comprises a machine frame (16) supporting a motor-driven surface-working head arrangement (27), a device (10) for selectively varying the pressure exerted by the head arrangement on the surface, and a unit means (40) for selectively varying the speed at which the head arrangement is driven by the motor so that the higher operational speeds required of the surface-working head arrangement can be readily achieved at the reburied lower application pressures and vice versa.

In referring to apparatus for working a surface, it should be understood that the present invention relates to apparatus for improving the appearance of a surface, for example by cleaning or polishing the surface. Examples of surface working apparatus comprise cleaning or sweeping machines particularly adapted for use in the cleaning or sweeping of the floor space of commercial/industrial premises, such as supermarket floors or transport terminal concourses. Such machines may be so-called pedestrian operated in that they are controlled by a pedestrian operator who controls movement of the machine across the floor surface or, alternatively, such known machines may comprise so-called ride-on machines which support the operator during the cleaning process.
Such known machines further traditionally comprise surface-working head arrangements comprising rotating brush heads which are biased into contact with the surface to be cleaned at a particular pressure which may be dependent upon the nature of the surface being cleaned.
Known apparatus of this type is disclosed in UK Patent Applications 9518230.9, GB 2,283,905A and GB 2,290,021A, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Such known apparatus exhibits advantages over previous systems in that the pressure at which the brushes are biased towards the surface being cleaned can be accurately controlled and varied over a relatively wide range and, in particular, towards the lower pressure end of the range.
However, the mode of operation such known apparatus still somewhat restricts the purposes for which the apparatus can be used since the apparatus is restricted merely to surface-cleaning activities and so if further surface-cleaning activities are required, either on the surface cleaned, or upon a completely different surface, it becomes necessary to use a separate surface-working machine adapted for that particular surface.


A hydraulic apparatus as used for providing fluid to a steering gear of an automotive vehicle includes a housing (10) having a valve bore (14) housing a relief valve spool (94) disposed therein and slidable between a first and second position. A discharge connector (88) is disposed on a first end of the valve bore (14) and forms a fluid passage for communicating fluid through the first end of the valve bore to a power steering actuator. An annular retainer (90) is disposed in the valve bore between the first position of the spool valve (94) and the discharge connector (88). The annular retainer includes an outer periphery (130) sized for interference fit engagement with said valve bore (14) for retaining the spool valve (94) within the valve bore (14) when the discharge connector (88) is removed from the first end of the valve bore.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hydraulic pumps as used in automotive vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to hydraulic devices, such as pumps, having a slidable valve within a bore, and specifically to an apparatus for retaining the valve within the bore while the device is being serviced.
2. Disclosure Information
Hydraulic pumps are well known to those skilled in the hydraulics art, as are many forms of actuators having sliding valves therein. Commonly these valves are used to control fluid flow within the pump, actuator etc. The valves are commonly located within a valve bore and are free to slide between at least two predetermined positions. Additionally, the bore is generally manufactured to allow the valve to slide completely out at least one end of the bore. This accommodates assembly, and where necessary, service of the valve assembly.
It was recently observed that in certain circumstances, it is desirable to orient power steering pumps such that a longitudinal axis the bore is generally aligned parallel to the vertical axis as installed in the vehicle. It was further observed that during service of hydraulic lines and connectors attaching to the pump, the valve could be displaced from the bore inadvertently. Thus necessitating service of the valve assembly where not necessarily required.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a hydraulic apparatus that could be oriented having a vertical valve bore that would not require inadvertent service of the valve assembly during service of hydraulic lines and their associated connectors.


It is an object of the present invention to provide a polymer dispersion-type liquid crystal display device having a high holding rate, a superior display quality and a high reliability; the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention composed of (i) a display electrode substrate, (ii) a counter electrode substrate and (iii) a liquid crystal layer interposed between said display electrode substrate and said counter electrode substrate, in which liquid crystals having a positive anisotropy in dielectric constant are dispersed in a transparent polymer; the transparent polymer is a photo cation polymerization setting-type transparent polymer and the liquid crystals are fluorine-containing aryl compounds.

The present invention relates to an active matrix-type liquid crystal display device having a high holding rate using a polymer dispersion-type liquid crystal display mode.
The TN-type and STN-type display elements using nematic liquid crystals have been practically used as the display element utilizing a photoelectric effect. Also the display elements using highly dielectric liquid crystals have been proposed. These require a polarizing plate and an orientating treatment. On the other hand, the dynamic scattering (DS) effect and the phase conversion (PC) effect do not require the polarizing plate but utilize the scattering by the liquid crystals. However, problems have occurred in that for example the former requires the addition of ionic additives or the high driving voltage and thus it is not suitable for the active matrix LCD.
Recently, a polymer dispersion-type liquid crystal display element utilizing the scattering by the liquid crystals has been proposed as the liquid crystal display mode without requiring the polarizing plate and the orientating treatment (refer to Japanese Patent Appln. KOKAI No. 55-96922).
It has been disclosed in for example Japanese Patent Appln. KOHYO No. 58-501631 that nematic liquid crystals having a positive anisotropy of dielectric constant are mixed in an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol to obtain an emulsion with liquid crystals dispersed and the obtained emulsion is applied to a substrate having a transparent electrode followed by evaporating water to produce a film with the liquid crystals having a positive anisotropy of dielectric constant dispersed in a PVA film and then a substrate having a transparent electrode is stuck to the resulting film to obtain a liquid crystal display element.
In addition, it has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Appln. KOHYO No. 61-502128 that an epoxy resin-setting agent and liquid crystals are blended to be dissolved and the resulting mixture is put between a pair of substrates provided with a transparent electrode followed by heating to set said epoxy resin, whereby obtaining a liquid crystal display element with liquid crystals having a positive anisotropy in dielectric constant dispersed in the epoxy resin.
Also the general polymers, such as acrylic resins and urethane resins, have been known as the transparent polymers for dispersing the liquid crystal in addition to the above described epoxy resins and also liquid crystal display elements using these polymers have been proposed.
In the elements with liquid crystals having a positive anisotropy in dielectric constant dispersed in these polymers, said liquid crystals are orientated at random and a light incident upon the element is scattered on a boundary of the liquid crystal and a polymer to make the liquid crystal cloudy, whereby reducing a transmissivity of the liquid crystal, due to said anisotropy in dielectric constant of the liquid crystals when no voltage is applied. Upon applying a voltage to the element, the liquid crystals are orientated due to the positive anisotropy in dielectric constant thereof so that the direction of electric field may be the direction of long axis and a light incident upon the element is not scattered but transmitted through the element. That is to say, the element becomes transparent.
The element with the liquid crystals dispersed in the high molecule (polymer) has been utilized as a light-regulating glass aiming at the regulation of an incident light in intensity by applying said voltage or not applying the voltage to switch-over to the scattering condition and the transmissive condition in the above described manner.
In addition, recently, liquid crystal display devices using the above described element with the liquid crystals dispersed in the polymer in place of the TN-type liquid crystals have been actively developed as the active matrix-type with the nonlinear active element, such as switching transistor, added to the respective image elements. Although the TN-type liquid crystals are the present main current of the active matrix-type liquid crystal display devices, a problem has occurred in that two pieces of polarizing plate are required and a light is absorbed by these polarizing plates to reduce a brightness of a transmitted light to at most a half or less of that of an incident light. On the contrary, the element with the liquid crystals dispersed in the polymer does not require the polarizing plate, so that a utilization efficieny of light during the transmission can be improved and thus a bright display can be obtained.
The liquid crystal display device of this type with the switching transistor added comprises (i) a display electrode substrate provided with signal electrodes, scanning electrodes, switching transistors formed at the respective points of intersection of said signal electrodes and said scanning electrodes and display image element electrodes arranged on a first transparent insulating substrate, (ii) a counter electrode substrate provided with a counter electrode arranged on a second transparent insulating substrate so as to be positioned within a range corresponding to said display image element electrodes and (iii) a liquid crystal layer with liquid crystals having a positive anisotropy in dielectric constant dispersed in a transparent polymer interposed between said display electrode substrate and said counter electrode substrate.
An equivalent circuit of the respective display image elements is shown in FIG. 3. In addition, a wave form of a driving voltage in said equivalent circuit, that is wave forms of a signal voltage V.sub.S, a scanning voltage V.sub.G and a voltage V.sub.D applied to said liquid crystal layer, is shown in FIG. 4. As obvious also from these drawings, when said switching transistor is switched on by said voltage V.sub.G, V.sub.S is charged in the liquid crystal layer (equivalently serving as a condenser C.sub.LC) and held for a time until the switching transisitor is switched on again, so that V.sub.D is applied to the liquid crystal layer to generate a static driving and thus the similar superior display characteristics can be obtained.
However, in fact, a resistance component (equivalently serving as a resistance R.sub.LC) resulting from electrically conductive impurities coming from outside and formed by the decomposition of the liquid crystals and the like exist in the liquid crystal layer serving as said condenser C.sub.LC, as shown in FIG. 5, so that V.sub.D is discharged through the liquid crystal layer to be attenuated with the lapse of time, as shown in FIG. 5. As a result, an effective voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer is lowered. The liquid crystals show a cumulative response effect against a voltage, so that the display characteristics are dependent upon said effective voltage. The display contrast is deteriorated with a decrease of the effective voltage (a holding rate defined by a ratio of an effective value of V.sub.D to that in the case where it is supposed that said resistance component of the liquid crystal layer is infinitely high is used as a parameter for evaluating a degree of said decrease of the effective voltage).
In the conventional polymer dispersion-type liquid crystal display element, liquid crystals having an increased anisotropy in refractive index (.DELTA.n), such as cyano biphenyl family liquid crystals and cyano pyrimidine family liquid crystals, are used in order to heighten the light-scattering intensity but problems have occurred in that not only the holding rate of these liquid crystals themselves is inferior but also the holding rate is still more decreased in the case where they are dispersed in a polymer and their solution has been requested Problems to be Solved by the Invention.


The invention relates to a single phase vitreous material and to its production from a melt of a glass-forming multi-component feed mix. The process includes the preparation of a single phase melt in which there are mobile cations from a glass forming feed mix. The melt in passed in contacting relationship with and sequentially between devices made of low electrical resistance material from device to device. These devices are in and complete with the melt and a direct current voltage source an electric circuit. A voltage is regulated in the electrical circuit so that a direct electrical current is created in it and the concentration of the mobile cations in the melt is lowered thereby with reduction on the cathode of the metals of the same kind as the mobile cations. The melt, lowered concentration of the mobile cations, is cooled to produce the material as a structural article. In another embodiment, the anode is separated from the melt by a medium which is substantially inert with respect to the melt. A voltage in this electric circuit is regulated to create an electrostatic field between the cathode and anode so that a direct electrical current is created, and thus the concentration of mobile cations in the melt is lowered with reduction on the cathode of the metals of the same kind. This melt similarly is cooled to produce the material as a structural article. In another embodiment, the embodiments of both the electric circuit with the anode contacting with the melt and the electric circuit with the anode not contacting the melt are practiced simultaneously.

Presently, the glass making industry produces a wide range of glass articles. Glass, as a variety of an amorphous state of the substance produced from the melts of natural minerals and synthetic substances, has unique properties and application of materials other than glass in some technologies is impossible. Glass is a special system comprising different oxides of metals of Me.sub.2 O, MeO, Me.sub.2 O.sub.3, MeO.sub.2, Me.sub.2 O.sub.5, and MeO.sub.3 type (where Me represents a "metal"). In place of oxygen, there can be fluorine, chlorine, or elements which have similar physicochemical properties. The traditional pattern of glass production is realized by sequentially conducting a finite series of physicochemical processes: EQU T.sup.1, T.sup.2, . . . , T.sup.n-m, . . . , T.sup.n-1, T.sup.n(1)
where:
n and m are integers; PA1 1.ltoreq.m<n. PA1 a) preparation of a glass-forming starting mixture from natural and/or synthetic substances; PA1 b) heating of the starting mixture to a temperature required for a complete transition of the components of the mix into a melt with the formation of a new substance; PA1 c) cooling of a thus-obtained substance which is in the state of a melt to a temperature necessary for the shaping of the articles; and PA1 d) thermal or other treatment of the articles aimed at obtaining desired physicochemical properties; PA1 n and m are integers; PA1 1.ltoreq.m<n; PA1 1.ltoreq.k<m. PA1 A--unchangeable (principal part); PA1 B--changeable part; PA1 C--structural compound. PA1 chemical elements entering into the composition of the starting chemical compounds and which have a valence of 3 and higher and the cations of which have a high charge (e.g., P.sup.5+, V.sup.5+, Si.sup.4+, Ti.sup.4+, Zr.sup.4+, Ge.sup.4+, B.sup.3+, Al.sup.3+, Fe.sup.3+, and those crystallochemically similar to them) or which have a valence equal to 2 and the cations of which have a charge equal to 2 (e.g., Fe.sup.2+, Co.sup.2+, Ni.sup.2+, Pb.sup.2+, Cd.sup.2+, Zn.sup.2+, Be.sup.2+, and those crystallochemically similar to them), and PA1 which form, in combination with the elements in Groups VI-VII of the periodic table e.g., with oxygen), stable coordination polyhedrons of the type [MeO.sub.n ]; PA1 a) chemical elements entering into the composition of the starting chemical compounds and which have a valence of 1 and the cations of which have a charge of unity (e.g., Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+, and those similar to them in their physical and chemical properties) or those chemical elements which have a valence equal to 2 and the cations of which that have a charge equal to 2 (e.g., Ca.sup.2+, Sr.sup.+, Mg.sup.+ and those cations similar to them in their physical and chemical properties); and PA1 b) chemical elements entering into the composition of the starting chemical compounds which have a valence equal to 2 and the cations of which that have a charge equal to 2 (e.g., Pb.sup.2+, Cd.sup.2+, Zn.sup.2+, Be.sup.2+, and those cations similar to them in their physical and chemical properties), in the case where they do not form, in combination with the elements of Groups VI and VII of the periodic table (for example, oxygen), stable coordination polyhedrons of the [MeO.sub.n ] type; PA1 a) Part A is either, on the whole, a monostructure which is three-dimensional and practically continuous within the confines of a real body and which is characterized by a negative charge and can be geometrically visualized in the form of a lattice, or consists of individual macroparts having a negative charge, or consists of macroparts bonded between themselves in either one or in two or in three directions into a monostructure having a negative charge (the term "practically" means that in the lattice there are spaces not occupied by lattice-forming atoms), and PA1 b) Part B, active and mobile relative to Part A, consists of randomly distributed ions of metals in Part A that, traveling under the action of a thermal field, establish groups or associations and each ion (having a positive charge) has a separate ionic bond with Part A. PA1 are implemented in a melt under the action of: PA1 (a) a thermal field which causes thermal diffusion of positively charged mobile Part B in the bulk of the melt and, also, leads to an intermediate state of Part A which state is a consequence of the breakage and formation of the chemical bonds, and differs from the initial state of Part A by the presence of a negative charge carrier, which at the moment of formation of the intermediate state of Part A has electrons which can have, just as the excess electrons, together with which Part A is characterized by a negative charge can have, an energy greater than the energy of other electrons which belong to the chemical elements of Part A, and PA1 (b) electric and electrostatic fields, or their combination, which prescribe a direction of the charge carriers' movement in the process of thermal diffusion, and lead to their orientation and/or displacement and to the detachment of electrons with a larger energy from the negative charge carriers of the intermediate state of Part A of the melt, and, also, lead together with the action of the thermal field, to a change of the concentration of the active mobile Part B in the melt, its removal from the melt, or its partial removal with or without formation of surplus positive charge in the remaining part of the melt, PA1 Me.sup.q are the chemical elements identified in Item 1.2; PA1 V.sup.k are chemical elements in Groups VI--VII of the periodic table, in particular, oxygen. PA1 Me.sup.p are the chemical elements identified in Item 1.3. PA1 one phase is modified Part A of Structural Compound C which can have a surplus positive space charge; and PA1 another phase is modified Part B of Structural Compound C. PA1 rMe.sup.p.sub.f is the modified Part B of structural compound C and at the same time the neutralized cations identified in Item 1.3; PA1 (S-r)Me.sup.P.sub.f Me.sup.q.sub.m V.sup.k.sub.n is the modified structural compound C after the removal of the mobile cations in the amount of SMe.sup.p.sub.f -rMe.sup.p.sub.f and is identified in items 1.2 and 1.3 in the form of monomolecular compounds which may have a surplus positive space charge; PA1 i, j, f, m, n are integers; and PA1 r, S>0 are real numbers.
The enlarged classification of these processes can be represented in the form of the following technological operations:
A finite series of physicochemical processes EQU T.sup.1, T.sup.2, . . . , T.sup.n-m (2)
by the action of force fields (mechanical, thermal, electrical, and those fields similar in their action) when completed, result in the obtaining of a substance which is a structural compound in the state of a melt which exhibits the properties of an electrolyte, regardless of whether the starting substances exhibited the properties of an electrolyte.
In the obtained substance two constituent parts can be distinguished. One of these parts is a relatively immobile part and is, on the whole, a monostructure which is three-dimensional and practically continuous within the confines of a real body in the form of a lattice (geometric representation), which is characterized by a negative charge (the term "practically" means that in the lattice there are spaces not occupied by lattice-forming atoms). The other part of the structural compound is an active and mobile part relative to the first part and consists of randomly distributed ions of metals that, traveling under the action of a thermal field, establish groups or associations and each ion (having a positive charge) has a separate ionic bond with the relatively immobile part.
A finite series of physicochemical processes EQU T.sup.n-m, . . . , T.sup.n-1, T.sup.n (3)
terminate by obtaining the material called glass having physicochemical properties defined by the state and chemical composition of the melt at the moment of its solidification.
As in a melt, two constituent parts in the glass can be discerned. The lattice of the glass, as a whole, is practically a single-whole three-dimensional structure in which there are cations mobile only in the volume occupied by a group of cations, and in the case when the temperature is sufficiently high, the cations move from one group into another without disrupting the continuity of the lattice of the glass. The chemical elements, which are represented by mobile cations, do not form structural groups with oxygen (fluorine, chlorine, and those elements similar to their physiochemical properties).
The lattice is the basis of the glass and defines its properties. A glass consisting of only chemical elements forming the lattice (one-component systems, e.g., quartz glass) has the most desirable and best glass properties from the standpoint of temperature resistance and structural strength. Groups of cations, when they exist in the lattice (multi-component systems, e.g., silicate glasses), only diminish the properties of glass and normally are introduced into the glass composition in order to obtain technical characteristics of the glass acceptable to the user at the lowest production cost. The advantages of one-component glass are generally known. Technical characteristics of one-component glass permit a reduction in the weight of the end product and permit the use of glass articles in difficult operating conditions. Only the high price of articles made of one-component glass hinders its wide application.
Among the one-component systems, quartz glass has the properties required for a wide variety of applications. This hard material is characterized by a whole set of important performance properties, such as: high strength, hardness, wear resistance, thermal endurance, stability to attack of corrosive media, and excellent optical properties.
Presently, industrial quartz glass with corresponding high technical characteristics is manufactured by only a few methods: electrothermal, gas-flame, plasma, and steam-phase. These methods of manufacturing such glass, however, are labor intensive and expensive because they require high melting temperature (1550.degree. C. or higher) of the starting mix and a lengthy process of heat treatment.
The most rational and economic way of solving this problem is to produce a multi-component system characterized by low melting temperatures of the starting mix and then to remove the mobile part therefrom. Vicor.RTM. brand and Pyrex.RTM. brand quartz glasses find the widest application in industry today. These glasses have characteristics comparable to those of quartz glass at lower production costs.
The specific chemical composition of the starting mix used for production of Vicor.RTM. glass does not require heating to high temperatures to establish the starting melt. A special method of removing the active mobile part from the melt is employed in the production of this glass. Two phases with interpenetrating weakly bonded structures are formed in the process as the melt is supercooled. One of the phases is removed by acid. The balance is a brittle, cellular, one-phase vitreous material with 96% content of silicon oxide. At the end of the technological cycle, the material is subjected to thermal treatment at a temperature where the material passes into a flowable state, thus forming a non-porous transparent glass comparable in its properties with quartz glass.
Pyrex.RTM. glass also is produced from a starting mix of a specific chemical composition having a low melting temperature, but with one of its phases represented as drops of liquid which are removed chemically with great difficulty. Since such a drop is isolated by the other phase/lattice and has practically no structural bond with it, the mechanical strength and other properties of such glass are defined by the properties of the phase/lattice which consists mainly of silicon dioxide.
The methods of manufacturing one-component glasses by use of traditional manufacturing techniques are applicable if the starting mix has a specific chemical composition. Such methods are labor intensive and/or costly due either to their high melting temperature (e.g., production of quartz glass), or because of the increased number and complexity of technological operations (e.g., production of Vicor.RTM. glass). It is evident that the method of removing the active mobile part of the glass directly from a multi-component low-temperature melt making use of the fact that the melt has the properties of an electrolyte will have the greatest effect. In such a process, there is the possibility of producing a glass/lattice in the form of material possessing improved technical characteristics compared to glass obtained by ordinary methods from the starting multi-component mix. It, also, is evident that such a method is applicable to the multi-component melt of the starting mix of practically any glass-forming chemical composition in which two constituent parts are present.


Computing device expansion modules and control of their operation based on temperature are disclosed. According to an aspect, an expansion module includes an interface configured to operably connect to a computing device including a service manager. Further, the expansion module includes a controller configured to determine whether communication with the service manager of the computing device is enabled or not enabled. The controller is also configured to set a first temperature level at which operation of the expansion module is reduced in response to determining that communication with the service manager is enabled. Further, the controller is configured to set a second temperature level at which operation of the expansion module is reduced in response to determining that communication with the service manager is not enabled. The second temperature level is lower than the first temperature level.

Computers, such as servers, desktop computers, and laptop computers, contain components which can dissipate a significant amount of heat. Thermal management must often be used in order to prevent these components from overheating. Two primary types of thermal management are used today for adapters or expansion modules. One type of thermal management is known as closed loop system. In a closed loop system, the expansion module sends thermal notifications to a control entity, such as a baseboard management controller (BMC), to indicate when various temperature thresholds have been reached. The BMC can respond by increasing the fan speed of the cooling fans in order to maintain the expansion module within its operating temperature limits.
Another type of thermal management is known as an open loop system. In an open loop system, there is no support for the messaging described in a closed loop system. The expansion module is unable to signal the BMC as temperature thresholds are reached. Instead, the BMC will detect the presence of the expansion module. Then by use of a lookup table or some other technique, the BMC pre-sets the cooling fan speed to a value which can cool the worst-case temperature conditions that the adapter is expected to experience.
Although these systems help to mitigate the risk of overheating, there is a continuing need for improved systems and techniques for thermal management of expansion modules.

Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An encapsulated electronic part packaging structure includes a step of mounting an electronic part having a connection terminal and a passivating film to cover the connection terminal, mounted on a body to direct the connection terminal upward. An insulating layer is formed to cover the electronic part, and a via hole is formed in a portion of the passivating film and the insulating layer on the connection terminal to expose the connection terminal. A wiring pattern, which is connected electrically to the connection terminal via the via hole, is formed on the insulating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic part packaging structure and, more particularly, an electronic part embedded in an insulating layer and mounted.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, there is an electronic part packaging structure having a structure in which the electronic part such as the semiconductor chip, the stacked capacitor chip, or the like is embedded in the insulating layer. As shown in FIG. 1, in a semiconductor chip 100 in the prior art, a predetermined element (not shown) such as a transistor, or the like and connection pads 112 connected thereto are provided on the element forming surface side of a semiconductor substrate 110. Also, a passivating film 104 in which opening portions 104x are provided on the connection pads 112 is formed on the semiconductor chip 100, and also a contact portion 112a made of an Ni/Au layer is formed on the connection pads 112 in the opening portions 104x, respectively.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2, bumps 108 made of solder, or the like are provided in the contact portions 112a of the semiconductor chip 100 having such a structure. Then, a circuit board 200 having through electrodes 202 and wiring patterns 204 connected to the through electrodes 202 is prepared, and then the bumps 108 of the semiconductor chip 100 are flip-chip connected to the wiring patterns 204. Then, an underfill resin 210 is filled in a clearance between the semiconductor chip 100 and the circuit board 200, and then an interlayer insulating film 212 for covering the semiconductor chip 100 is formed.
Then, via holes 212x are formed in the interlayer insulating film 212 on the wiring patterns 204, and then upper wiring patterns 204a connected to the wiring pattern 204 via the via hole 212x are formed. In this manner, the semiconductor chip 100 is mounted such that the connection pads 112 are connected electrically to the wiring patterns 204 on the circuit board 200 in a state such that the semiconductor chip 100 is embedded in the interlayer insulating layer 212.
In this event, in some cases the semiconductor chip 100 is mounted onto the circuit board 200 to direct the connection pads 112 upward and then the contact portions 112a and the wiring patterns 204 of the circuit board 200 are connected via wires.
Also, as shown in FIG. 3, in a stacked capacitor chip 300 in the prior art, a plurality of first electrode layers 302 and a plurality of second electrode layers 304 are stacked via a dielectric layer 306 to constitute a capacitor portion. The first electrode layers 302 are connected to a first connection terminal 310, and the second electrode layers 304 are connected to a second connection terminal 312. Then, a protection layer 308 is provided on an uppermost surface and a lowermost surface of the capacitor portion of the stacked capacitor chip 300 respectively.
Then, as shown in FIG. 4, in the stacked capacitor chip 300 having such a structure, a bump 118 is provided on bottom surfaces of the first connection terminal 310 and the second connection terminal 312, respectively. Then, the bumps 118 of the stacked capacitor chip 300 are connected electrically to the wiring patterns 204 of the same circuit board 200 as in FIG. 2. Then, the interlayer insulating film 212 for covering the stacked capacitor chip 300 is formed and, like FIG. 2, the upper wiring patterns 204a connected to the wiring pattern 204, respectively, via the via hole 212x provided in the interlayer insulating film 212 are formed on the interlayer insulating film 212. In this manner, the stacked capacitor chip 300 is mounted such that the first and second connection terminals 310, 312 are connected electrically to the wiring patterns 204 on the circuit board 200 in a state such that the stacked capacitor chip 300 is embedded in the interlayer insulating layer 212.
Also, as the technology connected with the electronic part packaging structure in above FIG. 2, in Patent Literature 1 (Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) 2000-323645), there is set forth a semiconductor device having a structure such that a plurality of semiconductor chips are mounted three- dimensionally on the circuit board in a state that these chips are embedded in the insulating layer and also these semiconductor chips are connected mutually by wiring patterns that are formed in a multi-layered fashion via insulating layers.
As described above, in the electronic part packaging method in the prior art, such a premise is assumed that the semiconductor chip 100 is connected electrically to the wiring patterns 204 on the circuit board 200 via the flip-chip connection or the wire bonding. Therefore, the connection pads 112 (contact portions 112a) must be exposed by providing the opening portions 104x in the passivating film 104 of the semiconductor chip 100. For this reason, a problem lies such that the passivating film 104 is limited to material that is easily patterned and is relatively expensive such as photosensitive resin, printable insulating material, or the like.
In addition, in the semiconductor chip 100 in the prior art, the contact portion (Ni/Au layer) 112a must be particularly provided on the connection pads 112 to prevent corrosion of the connection pads 112 and to insure the reliability of the electrical connection between the connection pads 112 and the bumps 108. As a result, such provision of the contact portions acts as one factor that results in an increase of cost.
Further, in the stacked capacitor chip 300 in the prior art, the first and second connection terminals 310, 312 made of copper, or the like are not covered with the passivating film and are held in an exposed condition. Therefore, the situation in which corrosion resistance is poor and the reliability becomes an issue may be supposed.

Encapsulated electronic part packaging structure


A fuel system for an outboard motor includes a plurality of high-pressure pumps and a conduit circuit with a multi-branched passage connecting the engine""s combustion chamber(s) to the fuel supply. At least two sections of the conduit circuit may be connected together at a point downstream of the high-pressure pumps. The high-pressure pumps also may be driven by a common pump drive unit, which may be designed to drive the pumps in a manner providing a generally uniform flow of fuel.

This application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-111561, filed Apr. 13, 2000, the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the fuel system for internal combustion engines. In particular, the present invention relates to arrangement and structure of a fuel injection system for use with a multi-bank engine (e.g., a V-type engine).
2. Description of the Related Art
Outboard motors often are mounted on transoms of power boats and similar watercraft to power such crafts. In this position, a powerhead of the outboard motor usually extends above the transom. The powerhead desirably is as compact as possible in order to minimize drag on the watercraft and to lessen any obstruction it may cause to the views of the boat""s occupants who are looking backwards. The powerhead thus affords only limited space for the engine and the associated components. One such component is the fuel system.
In order to improve the performance of engines employed in outboard motors, it has been proposed to utilize direct cylinder fuel injection in outboard motor fuel systems. Such direct injection systems, especially 2-cycle engines, generally require higher pressure pumps than utilized with normal manifold-type fuel injection systems. This is because in a two-cycle engine the fuel must be injected at a pressure higher than that in the combustion chamber when the ports are closed. This pressure is considerably higher than the pressure in the induction system, which is where conventional manifold injectors inject and which is usually at or below atmospheric pressure.
On the other hand, it is generally undesirable to store and/or maintain fuel at very high pressures over long lengths of time and distance. It therefore is preferred to provide and drive high-pressure pumps in the powerhead to elevate the fuel to the pressure required at the injectors. Because of the high pressures required, some fuel systems use an engine-driven high-pressure pump rather than an electrically-operated fuel pump. Also, some systems use a series of pumps to elevate the fuel pressure to achieve the required pressures. Employing multiple fuel pumps unfortunately can greatly increase the number of parts in the fuel system, complicating assembly and maintenance, and also leaving little space for the other engine components.
An aspect of the present invention involves an outboard motor comprising a powerhead including an internal combustion engine. The engine has at least one variable-volume combustion chamber formed by at least a pair of members. One member is movable relative to the other member. A crankshaft is coupled to the one member and is journaled for rotation within the engine. Ann intake system is configured to provide air to the combustion chamber. A fuel system includes a fuel supply system and at least one fuel injector that is connected to the fuel supply system and is arranged to provide fuel to the at least one combustion chamber. The fuel supply system comprises a fuel circuit including a plurality of conduits and having a multi-branched portion. A plurality of high pressure fuel pumps are disposed in separate branches of the multi-branched portion. A vapor separator is disposed between a fuel filter and the multi-branched portion. At least one of the branches of the multi-branched section loops back to form a looped branch in the fuel circuit to communicate with the vapor separator.
Another aspect of the present invention involves an internal combustion engine comprising a pair of cylinder banks. Each bank has at least one cylinder, and a fuel injector is mounted on each of the banks and is arranged to provide fuel to the respective cylinder. A fuel system comprises a fuel circuit, which extends between a fuel tank and the fuel injectors. A plurality of high pressure fuel pumps are disposed within the fuel circuit. Each of the pumps is connected to a respective fuel injector to supply high pressure fuel to the injector. The pumps are arranged within the fuel circuit such that the inlet of one pump does not communicate with the outlet of another.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an outboard motor is provided comprising an internal combustion engine. The engine has at least one variable-volume combustion chamber formed by at least a pair of members. One member is movable relative to the other member. A crankshaft is coupled to the one member and is journaled for rotation within the engine. An intake system is configured to provide air to the combustion chamber. A fuel system includes a fuel supply system and at least one fuel injector that is connected to the fuel supply system and is arranged to provide fuel to the at least one combustion chamber. The supply system comprises at least two high pressure fuel pumps and a pump drive unit arranged to drive the two high pressure pumps.
An additional aspect of the present invention involves an outboard motor comprising an internal combustion engine. The engine has at least one variable-volume combustion chamber formed by at least a pair of members. One member is movable relative to the other member. A crankshaft is coupled to the one member and is journaled for rotation within the engine. An intake system is configured to a provide air to the combustion chamber. A fuel system includes a fuel supply system and at least one fuel injector that is connected to the fuel supply system and is arranged to provide fuel to the at least one combustion chamber. The fuel supply system comprises a fuel circuit including a plurality of conduits and having a multi-branched portion. The fuel supply system also includes a plurality of high pressure fuel pumps. The pumps are disposed in separate branches of the multi-branched portion.
Further aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments.


A method for producing a liquid-jet head comprises the steps of: forming a vibration plate and piezoelectric elements on one surface of a passage-forming substrate, and removing the vibration plate in a region to be a communicating portion, thereby forming an exposed portion; forming a wiring layer on the passage-forming substrate within the exposed portion, and forming lead electrodes; bonding a reservoir forming plate to the one surface of the passage-forming substrate; wet-etching the passage-forming substrate at the other surface thereof to form pressure generating chambers and the communicating portion; forming a liquid-resistant protective film on inner surfaces of the pressure generating chambers and the communicating portion; removing the protective film within the exposed portion; and performing wet etching on the communicating portion side to remove the wiring layer, thereby establishing communication between a reservoir portion and the communicating portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for producing a liquid-jet head for jetting a liquid. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for producing an ink-jet recording head for ejecting ink as a liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among ink-jet recording heads, as liquid-jet heads, there is, for example, one comprising:
a passage-forming substrate which has, formed therein, pressure generating chambers communicating with nozzle orifices, and a communicating portion communicating with the pressure generating chambers; piezoelectric elements formed on one surface of the passage-forming substrate; and a reservoir forming plate bonded to the surface of the passage-forming substrate where the piezoelectric elements are located, and having a reservoir portion constituting a part of a reservoir together with the communicating portion, and
wherein the reservoir portion and the communicating portion are brought into communication via a penetrated portion penetrating a vibration plate and a lamination film provided on the vibration plate to form the reservoir (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-159801 (FIGS. 7 to 8); hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). Concretely, portions of the vibration plate and the lamination film, which are opposed to the communicating portion (reservoir portion), are mechanically punched to form the penetrated portion for establishing communication between the reservoir portion and the communicating portion.
However, the formation of the penetrated portion by such mechanical processing poses the problem that foreign matter, such as processing swarf, occurs and enters the passages such as the pressure generating chambers, causing trouble such as ejection failure. After formation of the penetrated portion, cleaning, for example, is performed, whereby the foreign matter such as processing swarf can be removed to some degree, but is difficult to be removed completely. Mechanical processing for creation of the penetrated portion also involves the problem that cracks occur around the penetrated portion, thereby resulting in ejection failure. That is, if ink is filled in the presence of the cracks and ejected through the nozzle orifices, flakes come off the cracked sites, and clog the nozzle orifices, causing ejection failure.
The above-mentioned Patent Document 1 discloses a structure, in which a coating film comprising a resin material fixes the lamination film for preventing the occurrence of foreign matter, in an attempt to solve the above-described problems. The adoption of this structure may suppress the occurrence of foreign matter to some extent, but poses difficulty in completely preventing ejection failure due to foreign matter.
Within the so formed passages, such as the reservoir,a protective film comprising a material having ink resistance is generally formed in order to protect the passage-forming substrate, etc. from erosion by ink. If such a protective film is formed in the above-mentioned structure provided with the coating film, the protective film is placed on the coating film. The protective film formed on the coating film comprising the resin material has poor adhesion to the resin material. Thus, the protective film is apt to peel off, and the peelings are likely to clog the nozzles.
Such problems are present not only in a method for producing an ink-jet recording head for ejecting ink, but also in a method for producing other liquid-jet head for ejecting a liquid other than ink.


A slew rate control circuit for an output circuit of an integrated circuit includes an input node for obtaining an input signal and an output node for providing an output signal. A first stage of the control circuit includes at least one transistor having a control terminal and first and second main terminals. The control terminals of each at least one transistor are connected together to the input node. The first main terminal of each at least one transistor are connected to a voltage rail. The second main terminal of each at least one transistor is connected to the output node through its own individual resistor. One or more subsequent stages of the control circuit each contain at least one transistor having a control terminal and first and second main terminals. The control terminals of each at least one transistor in each one or more subsequent stages of the control circuit are connected together to a control node driven from the control terminals of the preceding stage through at least one inverter. The first main terminal of each at least one transistor are connected to a voltage rail. The second main terminal of each at least one transistor is connected to the output node through its own individual resistor. The at least one inverters associated with the one or more subsequent stages of the control circuit are sized so as to provide a predetermined amount of delay therethrough. In a user-programmable embodiment, the control terminals of each transistor are selectively connectable to the input node or to the output of any one of the inverters via switching elements.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to integrated circuit technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to slew rate and transient noise control circuits for use in integrated circuits.
2. The Prior Art.
Output buffer circuits are widely used to couple output signals from one integrated circuit to another. Among the important characteristics of an output buffer circuit are the slew rate, or rate of change of output voltage as a function of time, and the transient noise characteristics of the output signal. Both of these characteristics of a digital output signal may materially affect the ability to interface that signal to other devices in a digital system.
Numerous circuits are known in the prior art for controlling the slew rate and altering the transient noise characteristics of the output signal of an output buffer circuit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,796 to Foss discloses an output buffer having a sequentially switched output in which single transistors are turned on in sequence to control both pullup and pulldown slew rate of an output buffer. In a first embodiment, cascaded inverters provide the delay and in a second embodiment a falling signal fed to the inputs of three inverters having different voltage switching thresholds provides the delay.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,942 to Chan discloses a high drive output buffer with reduced ground bounce. The circuit uses different sized transistors having different turn-off and turn-on speed characteristics which are individually turned on at different times by cascaded inverter delay lines to reduce ground bounce in the output signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,485 to Leake et al discloses a mask programmable output buffer circuit which includes a plurality of output transistors and a metallization pattern which can be configured to provided cascaded turn on or simultaneous turn on of the plurality of transistors in either the pullup or pulldown configuration. The sources of adjacent pairs of pullup transistors are common and the drains of adjacent pairs of pulidown transistors are common. Custom metallization determines which pairs of pullup transistors have their sources connected to the output node of the buffer and which pairs of pulldown transistors have their drains connected to the output node of the buffer. Continuous distributed-resistance gates are used to provide an RC time delay for the turning on of individual transistors. The gates may be shorted by custom metal lines at intervals along their length corresponding to pairs of both pullup and pulidown transistors to speed up gate signal propagation for pairs of pullup and pulldown transistors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,339 to Shigeo et al. discloses a circuit which sequentially turns on two individual pulidown transistors. The signal which turns on the second transistor is delayed through a delay circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,565 to Knecht et al. discloses an output buffer comprising a plurality of pullup or pulidown transistors connected in parallel. A desired amount of resistance is distributed in the gate lines of the transistors, thus providing a distributed RC time delay to sequentially turn on successive individual transistors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,324 to Wong et al. discloses an output buffer circuit with a controlled slew rate. The buffer comprises four inverters, one of which has its P and N channel transistors separately controlled from the outputs of two of the inverters having different switching threshold characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,676 to Gerosa et al. discloses an output buffer comprising a plurality of pullup and pulldown transistors functioning as complementary pairs. Single inverters are used to time cascade the drive signals to the gates of the successive complementary pairs of output transistors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,232 to Jungert et al. discloses a push-pull output buffer stage with successive stages turning on to control slew rate. A distributed RC network comprising discrete resistance elements is used to control successive turn on of complimentary pairs of transistors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,823 to Ahsanullah discloses a supply bounce controlled output buffer circuit. Single pullup and pulldown transistors are controlled by cascaded inverter delay lines from the power supply rails.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,111,075 and 5,231,311 to Ferry et al. disclose an output buffer circuit with reduced switching noise. Successive stages comprising complementary transistor pairs are sequentially turned on by an RC time delay network aided by diode bypass networks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,579 to Naghshineh discloses an output buffer with improved ground bounce. Successive stages of complementary transistor pairs are sequentially turned on by an RC time delay network employing transmission gates as the delay elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,289 to Hahn et al. discloses an output buffer circuit having an output node which may also be used as an input node. The circuit operates by sequentially turning on individual output driver transistors to gradually charge the output node to a high voltage after which the drive to the output driver transistors is turned off.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,175 to Peterson discloses an output buffer having multiple stages which are turned on sequentially to avoid transient noise. The circuit operates by sequentially turning on complimentary transistor pairs. Feedforward transistors are used to assure simultaneous turnoff of all pullup and pulldown transistors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,653 to Folmsbee et al. discloses a gradual on output buffer circuit. A plurality of output transistors, gradually increasing in size, are turned off sequentially from the largest to the smallest to reduce VCC bounce.
While the prior art has provided numerous solutions to the problem of providing a controlled slew rate or reduced noise at the output of a digital buffer amplifier, there still remains room for improvement.

Programmable slew rate control circuit for output buffer


A plug for use in a passage or conduit of a human body is provided. The plug includes a plug body with a first end and a second end. The plug body has a protrusion on an exterior wall. The plug also includes an attaching member at the first end to attach the plug to the passage or conduit. The plug further includes an axial retention tube within the plug body. The plug further includes a reservoir. The reservoir connects to the retention tube at a third end thereof. The reservoir and the retention tube are configured to regulate the flow of fluid in the passage or conduit.

Keratoconjunctivitis sicca is an eye disease caused by eye dryness, which, in turn, is caused by inadequate quantity of tears or lower quality of tears in eyes. Severe eye dryness may cause pathologic changes to corneal epithelium. Usually, one eye of a person secret about 1 microliter (μl) of tears in one minute (1 μl/min). Decreased tear production or increased tear film evaporation may cause inadequate quantity of tears in eyes. As to the quality of the tears, tears with normal quality usually form a tear film over the eye surface. The tear film has three layers from outside to inside: oil layer, water layer, and mucous layer. Abnormality in any layer may cause the decrease in the quality of the tears.
Keratoconjunctivitis sicca is colloquially called dry eyes syndrome (DES). DES is usually characterized by abnormality in the quantity of tears, quality of tears, or kinetics of tears. The tear film becomes less stable. A patient may feel uncomfortable in eyes and/or have characteristic lesion on the external tissue of eyes. DES refers to a variety of diseases.
The common syndrome may include dry eyes, tiredness of eyes, sleepiness, itching eyes, sensation of foreign objectives in eyes, sensation of pain and burning in eyes, tight eyelids, thick eye secret, sensitivity to wind of eyes, sensitivity to light of eyes, sensitivity to external stimuli of eyes, and/or temporary blurring eyesight. If the eyes are too dry, the inadequacy of basal tears may stimulate the secretion of reflex tears. A patient may exhibit the symptom of tearing. A patient with severe DES may exhibit the syndrome of inflammation, hyperaemia, cornification, damages to corneal epithelium accompanied by adherence of filament material to the eyes. The chronic damages may cause pathologic changes of the cornea and conjunctiva and may affect eyesight.
For patients with keratitis at the palpebral fissure, the tear film may break in shortened time period, which may in turn cause keratitis filamentosa and/or keratoconjunctivitis sicca. The symptom may include reduction of the tear production at the palpebral fissure. Schirmer test may show the decreased tear production in patient. This disease usually appears to be an idiopathic disease among old people. The disease may also be commonly seen in patients with Sjogren's syndrome as a symptom expressed in eyes. Sjogren's syndrome may include dry mouth, dry eyes, and arthritis. The disease may also be commonly seen in patients with autoimmune diseases, and systematic diseases, such as sarcoma, and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. The treatment methods may include artificial tears. Patients with severe symptoms may wear protective goggle or have the lacrimal puncta blocked.
For patients with the above mentioned symptoms, a physician may need to inquire the medical history to identify the cause. For patients with severe dry eye, a treating physician may need to inquire about other possible accompanying symptoms, such as dry mouth, or arthritis symptoms.
The DES symptoms may vary significantly among individual patient. Many patients complain about the sensation of foreign object in eyes, burning sensation or common uncomfortable feeling in eyes. These symptoms may be typically described as sensation of abrasion, dry eyes, pain, sensation of sand in the eyes, tingling sensation, or burning sensation. These discomforts are usually symptoms of DES, due to the fact that the surface of cornea is rich in sensory nerve endings. A significant portion of patients may be sensitive to light and have intermittent blurring eyesight or other eyesight problems. Clinically, DES constitutes a significant portion of eye disease.
Patients with DES often complain the tiredness of eyes, which cause difficulty reading and watching TV. The reason for these difficulties is that the frequency of winking is reduced when a patient concentrate on certain tasks. Normally, a person wink once for about every five (5) seconds. When the frequency of winking is reduced, the evaporation time of tear film is significantly extended. With inadequate winking, the cornea may be exposed for more than ten (10) seconds. One or more dry points may form on the surface of cornea. This occurs with relatively high ratio among young people. The average age of DES patients is reduced due to long time internet surfing, long time reading using mobile devices, and long term contact lens use among young generation.
Many DES patients may have both the decreased tear production and increased tear film evaporation. Before a treatment, a physician usually should identify the cause and take corresponding measures. DES is a chronic disease. Many patients need long term care. A physician may need to encourage a patient for long term treatment. Currently, lacrimal plug implantation has the advantage for providing long term adjuvant therapy. The plug may be removed by washing with normal saline solution. But the plug does not have regulating function. Patients with severe and mild symptom use the same type of plug. For some patient, tears may overflow and inflammation may follow. Other treatment includes closure of the lacrimal punctum using laser, which is a type of irreversible surgery.
Another treatment is fluid replacement therapy. The replacement therapy may include artificial tear replacement therapy and hormonal eyedrops. The artificial tear replacement therapy requires long term or even life time administration of the medicine. Further, the artificial tear and the additive therein may exacerbate the symptom. When a patient uses hormonal eyedrops, there is a risk that it would induce severe complication. The side effect is obvious.
The disclosed nasolacrimal plugs are directed at solving one or more problems set forth above and other problems.


Data transmission for display partial update. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a display controller to transfer pixel data from a frame buffer to a video display and to select a granularity of a plurality of granularities for units of data for the transfer of the pixel data, and a detection element to track updates to the frame buffer, the detection element to identify at least a first damage area of the pixel data that has been changed from a previous image, wherein the display controller is to provide the video display with the identified first damage area of the pixel data in more or more units of data of the chosen granularity.

Despite improvements in system design, mobile electronic devices and other systems consume a significant amount of power in operation. For this reason, systems utilize numerous different functions to reduce power consumption by, for example, turning off or reducing operation of system elements.
Among the most significant power-consuming elements of a system or device is the display subsystem, which is utilized to provide video data to a screen device. The power consumption of the display subsystem may be reduced by utilization of selective update of a display screen wherein the selective update provides for transmitting portions of an image that include areas that have changed since transmission of a prior image.
However, portions of an image that are changed may exist in various different shapes and sizes, and the use of selective update of the image may still require transmission of a significant amount of data that have not been modified, and thus a display apparatus or system will continue to consume power that is not required to handle the portion of the screen that has changed.


A box load interface implemented in a FIMS system includes a retractable port door that is attachable to the box door of a transport box. The port door selectively moves the box door toward or away from the box cover of the transport box to thereby open or close it. A slidable tray is mounted to a support shelf. The slidable tray includes a clamping mechanism that receives and clamps the transport box in a fixed position on the slidable tray. A positioning mechanism moves the slidable tray to force the box cover against the port plate. The positioning mechanism also retracts from the port plate to release the box cover. A port door translation mechanism is operatively connected to the port door to advance it and retract it toward and away from a port plate aperture. A port door elevator assembly operates in cooperation with the port door translation mechanism to move the port door after the box door has been moved away from the box cover and through the port plate aperture. An alternative embodiment implements the port door translation mechanism and elevator assembly as an integral structure. A differential optical scanning assembly detects positions of wafer specimens located in the transport box. A robot assembly is supported by a linear traveling assembly between adjacent port plate apertures for removing and inserting wafer specimens from the transport box. The linear traveling assembly includes a carriage that supports the robot assembly and that travels along a lead screw between the port plate apertures driven by a lead nut mechanism.

The present invention relates to front-opening interface mechanical standard (FIMS) system equipment and, in particular, to a FIMS transport box load interface that facilitates proper registration and accurate, secure positioning of a transport box as the specimens it contains are transferred between a minienvironment and a separate, enclosed specimen transport system.
A system designed to incorporate FIMS permits handling of semiconductor wafers inside and outside of clean room facilities by interfacing a clean semiconductor wafer cassette transport box or pod to a clean environmental housing for semiconductor processing equipment or to other clean environments. The system concept entails mating a box door on a front-opening unified pod (FOUP) or cassette container box to a port door on an equipment enclosure and transferring the cassette into and out of the processing equipment without exposing to outside contamination the semiconductor wafers carried by the pod or wafer cassette.
A standard interface is required for cassette transport boxes intended to control the transport environment of cassettes containing semiconductor wafers. The standard interface addresses the proper transport box orientation for material transfer and maintains continuity between the transport box and semiconductor processing equipment environment to control particulate matter. The FIMS specifications are set out in the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) standard SEMI E47-, E57-, E62-, and E63-0298 (1996-1998).
A FIMS system includes minimum volume, sealed front-opening boxes used for storing and transporting semiconductor wafer cassettes and canopies placed over wafer processing areas of semiconductor processing equipment so that the environments inside the boxes and canopies in cooperation with clean air sources become miniature clean spaces. The boxes are made of plastic materials having registration features located relative to one another within and of sizes characterized by relatively wide tolerances that can affect equipment alignment precision. What is needed is a box load interface implemented as part of a transfer mechanism for precise box alignment during loading and unloading wafer cassettes from a sealed box without external environment contamination of the wafers carried by the wafer cassette.
The present invention is a box load interface implemented in a FIMS system. The box load interface comprises a retractable port door that is attachable to the box door of a transport box and that selectively moves the box door toward or away from the box cover of the transport box to thereby open or close it. A port plate has a front surface and a port plate aperture through which the box door can move as the port door moves the box door toward or away from the box cover. A slidable tray slidably mounted to a support shelf positioned transversely of the port plate receives the transport box in a predetermined orientation established by kinematic coupling surfaces located on the top surface of the slidable tray.
A slidable tray positioning mechanism selectively moves the slidable tray on the support shelf and thereby moves the transport box toward or away from the port plate. There are three preferred embodiments of a box hold down clamping mechanism mounted to the support shelf. The positioning mechanism is operatively connected to a first embodiment of the clamping mechanism to engage the clamping mechanism to a front clamping feature positioned on the bottom surface of the transport box and thereby apply an urging force to the box cover against the kinematic coupling surfaces while the slidable tray advances toward the port plate to push the front opening of the box cover against the front surface of the port plate. The positioning mechanism is operatively connected to the clamping mechanism also to disengage the clamping mechanism from the front clamping feature and thereby release the urging force from the box cover against the kinematic coupling surfaces while the slidable tray retracts from the port plate to pull the box cover away from the front surface of the port plate.
The box hold down clamping mechanism preferably includes a pivot finger pivotally mounted to the support shelf, and the slidable tray includes a push pin. The pivot finger has a recessed area that forms first and second angularly offset push pin contact surfaces that receive the push pin as the slidable tray moves the transport box toward the port plate and thereby rotates the pivot finger in a first rotational sense to engage the pivot finger to the front feature and moves the transport box away from the port plate and thereby rotates the pivot finger in a second rotational sense that is opposite to the first rotational sense to disengage the pivot finger from the front feature. The pivot finger includes a roller bearing that engages the front feature as the pivot finger rotates in the first rotational sense.
The positioning mechanism and each of second and third embodiments of the clamping mechanism are fixed with respect to each other so that a clamping mechanism operating under fluidic control engages and disengages from the front clamping feature in the absence of force applied by the sliding motion of the slidable tray.
The port plate includes a surface from which two compliant latch keys extend to mate with and operate the latch actuating coupler mechanism within its relatively wide alignment tolerance range, and a latching motor mechanism operatively connected to the compliant latch keys selectively rotates them between first and second angular positions. The latch keys are designed to xe2x80x9cwobblexe2x80x9d laterally to accommodate the tolerance range of the corresponding mating features on the box door and thereby ensure proper alignment to it. The first angular position secures the port door to and the second angular position releases the port door from the box door when the port and box doors are in matable connection.
An alternative embodiment of the two compliant latch keys includes a latch key pull back mechanism operating under fluidic control to securely hold the box door in alignment against the port door when the box and port doors are in matable connection. Maintaining the alignment established to fit the port door latch keys into the box door mating features ensures that there is no post-separation alignment shift between the box door and port door resulting from the loose tolerance range necessitating the wobbly latch key design.
The box load interface system also comprises a port door translation mechanism that is operatively connected to the port door to advance it in a forward direction toward the port plate aperture to attach the port door to the box door and then retract it and the attached box door in reverse direction away from the box cover and through the port plate aperture. A port door elevator assembly operates in cooperation with the port door translation mechanism to move the port door in a direction generally parallel to the front surface of the port plate after the box door has been moved away from the box cover and through the port plate aperture.
In a first embodiment, the port door translation mechanism and the port door elevator assembly are independent systems operating under coordinated control of separate motor drive assemblies. In a second embodiment, the port door translation mechanism and the port door elevator assembly are combined as a unitary mechanism. The unitary mechanism is implemented with a pivot link structure operating under control of a motor-driven lead screw mechanism to move the port door sequentially in transverse directions of movement that are the same as those accomplished by the translation mechanism and the elevator assembly of the first embodiment.
The transport box holds a container in which multiple wafer specimens are stored in spaced-apart, stacked arrangement. The container has an open front side from which the specimens are removed or into which the specimens are inserted. The box load interface comprises a differential optical scanning assembly for detecting positions of the wafer specimens. The scanning assembly scans the wafer specimens in a direction parallel to a facial datum plane, which is defined as a vertical plane that bisects the wafer specimens and is parallel to the open front side where the wafer specimens are removed or inserted. Scanning assembly includes two spaced-apart, pivotally mounted scanner fingers that are operable to center and push back dislodged specimens before determining their orientations in the cassette.
A robot assembly is supported by a linear traveling assembly between adjacent port plate apertures for removing and inserting wafer specimens from the transport box. The linear traveling assembly includes a nut mechanism contained within a housing secured to a carriage that supports the robot assembly. The carriage travels along a lead screw between the port plate apertures and is driven by the nut mechanism that includes a lead nut threadably engaged with the lead screw and rotated by a drive motor through a belt and pulley arrangement.
Additional objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Pod load interface equipment adapted for implementation in a fims system


Debugging a device, including a device having power-saving features, may include observing and controlling power state transitions.

Validation groups that debug processors and chipsets face many challenges today. For example, an increasing emphasis on personal computer (PC) power management consumption has caused validation groups to debug processors and chipsets in the face of different power management schemes. Some of the processors and chipsets may contain explicit debug support in the silicon to enable debuggers to control asynchronous events, such as, e.g., power management transitions. Other processors and chipsets, however, may not contain the requisite debug support, and thus debuggers may not be able to control such asynchronous events, for example.
An In-Target Probe (ITP) is a software and hardware debug tool that may be used by validation and debug groups for processor and chipset validation. An ITP may enable a debugger to observe and control the execution of a program for debugging hardware and software, for example. The ITP may be used, for example, to validate a new microprocessor and to isolate system, compatibility and software problems. The ITP may plug into the Debug Port of what is known as a target system and provide control of that system. The ITP may also provide a graphical user interface, Joint Test Action Group (JTAG)/Debug Port access to the processor or chipset's debug features, full interrogation and control of the processor, access to the registers, memory, and Test Access Port (TAP), among several other CPU units.
If the processor or chipset does not contain explicit built-in debug support, the debugger, via the ITP, may not be able to reach a debug mode to conduct proper validation. As a result, debugging may become more problematic in the face of different power management schemes because the inability to transition between power management modes may cause the ITP to become ineffective.
Even if the processor or chipset does contain explicit built-in debug support, the debugger, via the ITP, may need to control asynchronous transitions between power management modes to prevent the transmission of invalid data, for example, from a target system to a host system.


Methods for the conversion of lignites, subbituminous coals and other carbonaceous feedstocks into synthetic oils, including oils with properties similar to light weight sweet crude oil using a solvent derived from hydrogenating oil produced by pyrolyzing lignite are set forth herein. Such methods may be conducted, for example, under mild operating conditions with a low cost stoichiometric co-reagent and/or a disposable conversion agent.

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of hydrocarbon synthesis. More particularly, but not exclusively, it relates to processes for the liquefaction of carbonaceous feedstocks, including lignite and coal.
Coal liquefaction is the process of producing synthetic liquid fuels from coal and other carbonaceous feedstocks. Such processes have been generally known for nearly 90 years. See, for example, Coliquefaction Studies of Waste Polymers and Lignite Influenced by Acidic and Oil-Soluble Catalysts (Gimouhopoulos et al., 2000); Influence of Heterogeneous Catalysts on the Coprocessing of Bergueda Lignite with a Vacuum Residue (Bengoa et al., 1997); Coprocessing of Bergueda Lignite with Vacuum Residue under Increasing Hydrogen Pressure. Comparison with Hydrotreating (Bengoa et al., 1995); Influence of Fe and FeMo High Loading Supported Catalysts on the Coprocessing of two Spanish Lignites with a Vacuum Residue (Font et al., 1994); Study of Iron-Based Complex Catalysts For Coal Liquefaction (Sun et al, 1989); Evaluation of the Hydroliquefaction Potential of Chinese Coals: Three Case Studies (Gao et al., 1989); Catalytic Conversions of Kansk-Achinsk Lignite to Synthetic Fuels and Chemicals (Kuznetsov et al., 1988); Hydrogenation of Lignite by Synthesis Gas (Kuznetsov et al., 1988); Function of Metal Oxide and Complex Oxide Catalysts for Hydrocracking of Coal (Tanabe et al., 1986); Catalytic Functions of Iron Catalysts for Hydrocracking of Carbon-Carbon and Carbon-Oxygen Bonds (Hattori et al., 1985); U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,945; U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,063; U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,540; U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,475; U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,111; U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,719; U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,030; U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,141; U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,418; U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,138; U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,042; U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,094; U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,079; U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,666; U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,801; U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,578; U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,494; U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,996; US 20080011643; US 20060032788; and US 20020179493. Processes using hydrogenated coal tar distallate as the solvent have been demonstrated. See, for example, Neavel et al. (1981) and Mitchell et al. (1979).

Processes for liquefying carbonaceous feedstocks and related compositions

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