Preparation of a fat phase suited for the preparation of food compositions which contain liquid or solid particles stably dispersed in the fat phase, which preparation comprises mixing 0.25–20 wt. % of a structuring triglyceride fat A with 0–19.75 wt. % of a triglyceride fat C and admixing a vegetable oil up to 100%, which fat A is characterized in that the fat is non-hydrogenated and that                its content of fully saturated triglycerides is 20–100 wt. %,        80–100 wt. % of its saturated fatty acid residues are palmitic acid or stearic acid residues,        0–5 wt. % of its saturated fatty acid residues are lauric acid or myristic acid residues,        <50 wt. % of its saturated triglycerides are monoacyl triglycerides and that fat C having a solid fat content at 20° C. (N20) being at least 5 contains less than 20 wt. % of H2M fatty acid residues, where H denotes saturated fatty acid residues having chain lengths larger than 15 carbon atoms and where M denotes saturated fatty acid residues having chain lengths of either 12 or 14 carbon atoms.

Many food compositions contain a fat phase which for the major part consists of liquid oil. Often in such fat phase a structuring fat, a so-called hardstock fat is incorporated. The fat phase is prepared by blending the liquid oil and the liquefied hardstock fat at increased temperature and cooling the blend to ambient temperature. The fat blend becomes structured by a lattice of fat crystals which function is to inhibit phase separation when an aqueous or solid phase needs to be stably dispersed in the fat phase.
Until recently for selecting a vegetable hardstock fat only the following options were available:                An (unprocessed) fat which is natural but which causes a waxy mouthfeel when used in the necessarily (high) concentrations for the preparation of e.g. a low fat spread which has to withstand relatively high ambient temperatures (20° –25° C.),        A fat prepared by interesterification of a natural fat or a fraction of a natural fat with a lauric fat or a fraction of lauric fat. Such fat does not cause a waxy mouthfeel when used in the same spread preparation. However, it has other drawbacks: it can not impart satisfactory heat stability and it contains an undesired amount of lauric acid residues. Apart from nutritional objections, the presence of lauric fatty acid residues introduces the risk that off-taste will develop during storage of a food composition in which lipolytic activity may occur.        A hydrogenated, so non-natural fat, preferably the widely used and renown fully hydrogenated palm oil. When used in said spread preparation this fat combines good heat stability and satisfactory mouthfeel. These qualities are not yet both existent in a non-hydrogenated hardstock fat. A fat qualifies as non-hydrogenated when neither in its preparation process, nor in obtaining its starting fat or fats hydrogenation has been applied.
Presently, in processes for edible fat preparation the use of hydrogenation preferably is avoided. However, a triglyceride fat with a good structuring performance needs a considerable amount of fatty acid residues having a saturated chain of at least 16 carbon atoms (C16+), particularly of stearic acid residues. In natural vegetable fats stearic acid is a rather rare fatty acid, but the corresponding unsaturated C18 fatty acids such as oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid are abundant. So hydrogenation is unavoidable for their transformation into stearic acid.
The demand for high quality low fat spreads of which the continuous fat phase does not exceed 50 wt. % on spread is ever increasing. For a high temperature stability of such spread an extremely effective hardstock fat is required. In the absence of such fat one has to rely on an increased concentration of one of the present hardstock fats for ensuring emulsion stability. Such increase means a relatively high content of undesired saturated fatty acids in the spread which necessarily causes a waxy mouthfeel.
In recently filed co-pending patent applications 01997222.3 and 01997223.1 the use is claimed of the natural fats Allanblackia fat and Pentadesma fat for spread manufacture. On account of their naturally high content of stearic acid and of the presence of specific structuring triglycerides these fats possess excellent structuring functionality even without modification.
Copending non-prepublished patent application PCT/EP03/02625 describes a fat phase which enables the preparation of low-fat spreads which are heat stable and exhibit good mouthfeel. A fat A used for the preparation of that fat phase is characterized by a low amount of saturated monoacyl triglycerides. It is used in admixture with a fat B which is characterized by a relatively high amount of H2M triglycerides. H denotes saturated fatty acid residues having a chain of at least 16 carbon atoms, M denotes saturated fatty acid residues having a chain of 12 or 14 carbon atoms. In these compositions the realisation of H in H2M is predominantly palmitic acid while the contribution by fat A is a defined mixture of both stearic and palmitic acid. It is the combination of both the H2M-fat and fat A which is suggested to cause the unique benificial functionality.
Now fat A has been found to exhibit as such good liquid oil structuring properties. Fat A is distinguished from hydrogenated palm oil in that it is obtained by a process avoiding hydrogenation or the use of hydrogenated fats. The present invention comprises only fat A which is non-hydrogenated.

Unilever Bestfoods North America, division of Conopco, Inc.


The invention relates to a method for producing a piston (1) for an internal combustion engine. The inventive method comprises producing the base (4) from aluminum by a forging process, casting, by way of a composite casting process, a ring support (10) which is provided with a cooling channel (15) into an aluminum ring element (6), and then welding the ring element (6) with the base (4).

The invention relates to a method for producing a piston for an internal combustion engine, in accordance with the preamble of the claim.
From the patent DD 142 372, it is known to produce a piston that consists of aluminum, in that an aluminum base body and furthermore a ring element made of aluminum, for reinforcing the piston edge region, are produced in a casting method. In this connection, a recess for a cooling channel is worked into the ring element. Subsequent to this, a steel ring is welded onto the base body, after which the ring element is welded onto the base body provided with the steel ring. In a last work step, a piston ring groove for a compression ring is formed in the steel ring. The complexity of the production method is a disadvantage here.

Method for producing a piston for an internal combustion engine


A head cleaning unit for cleaning a printing head by sucking waste ink from the printing head, includes an ink collector attached to a cap so as to contact with the cap. The cap includes a plurality of first ink-suck holes formed on a bottom surface of a liquid room so as to communicate the liquid room with a space between the cap and the ink collector. The ink collector includes a second ink-suck hole form on a bottom surface of the ink collector, adjacent to the space so as to communicate the space with a vacuum. At least one of the cap and the ink collector includes an air-intake hole for providing air to the cap or the ink collector. At least one of the first ink-such holes is disposed along a periphery of the space, where the printing head and the cap are in contact.

This invention relates to a head cleaning unit which is applied to an ink-jet printer performing printing with reciprocating a carriage provided with a printing head back and forth, in particular, to the cleaning unit for cleaning the printing head by sucking up waste ink from an inside and an outside of the printing head.
Generally, the ink-jet printer prevents the printing head from drying by covering an end surface of a nozzle (a nozzle surface) of the printing head by a cap when the ink-jet printer does not perform printing. Furthermore, the ink-jet printer removes the waste ink containing air bubbles and dust by a head cleaning unit. The head cleaning unit has a pump. The suck pump vacuums out a space between the nozzle surface and the cap so as to suck up the waste ink from the printing head to the space. The waste ink sucked up to the space is discharged through an ink-suck tube and the suck pump.
For example, such kind of head cleaning units are disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publications (JP-A) Nos. 259564/1992 and 300641/1997.
In a conventional head cleaning unit for the ink-jet printer, a nozzle surface of a printing head is covered with a cap. On one side of a bottom portion of a liquid room formed in the cap, an ink-suck hole for sucking up the waste ink from a nozzle through the liquid room is formed. On the other side of the bottom portion of the liquid room, an air-intake hole for sucking the air into the liquid room is formed. Furthermore, an ink-suck tube communicated with a suck pump is coupled with the ink-suck hole.
When the suck pump is driven, the liquid room is vacuumed into negative pressure so that the waste ink is sucked up from the nozzle of the printing head. On the other hand, the air is sucked up into the liquid room through the air-intake hole. Thus, the waste ink is sucked up (led) into the ink-suck tube through the liquid room together with the air from the air-intake hole.
However, if the conventional head cleaning unit mentioned above sucks up the waste ink with the suck pump driven, the unit cannot sufficiently suck up the waste ink so that the waste ink tends to be left at a slight space between the nozzle surface and the cap and corners of the bottom portion of the liquid room. This is because the only one ink-suck hole and the only one air-intake hole are formed on one and the other sides of the bottom portion of the liquid room, respectively. When the waste ink is left in the cap, the waste ink sticks on the printing head and soils the printing head. The waste ink stuck to the printing head drips onto a printing medium and soils the printing medium when the printing is performed.
Therefore, the waste ink tends to be left near the corners and border areas between a bottom surface and enclosure-walls limiting the liquid room of the cap. Furthermore, it is difficult to sufficiently remove the waste ink from the areas mentioned above by sucking.
Particularly, it is very difficult that such type of head cleaning unit provided with the only one ink-suck hole formed near the central area of the bottom surface of the cap sucks up the waste ink left in the areas mentioned above.
It is an object of this invention to deal with disadvantages mentioned above and to therefore provide a head cleaning unit for an ink-jet printer capable of sufficiently sucking up waste ink from a nozzle of a printing head and from a cap so as to prevent a nozzle surface from being soiled.
The other object, features, and advantages of this invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
This invention is directed to a head cleaning unit, applied to an ink-jet printer performing printing with driving a printing head, for cleaning the printing head by sucking up waste ink from the printing head, the head cleaning unit comprising a cap capable of covering with the printing head so as to contact with the printing head and vacuum means for generating negative pressure in a liquid room formed in the cap, the head cleaning unit cleaning the printing head by sucking up the waste ink from the printing head. The head cleaning unit further comprises an ink collector attached to the cap so as to contact with the cap. The cap is provided with a plurality of first ink-suck holes formed on a bottom surface of the liquid room so as to communicate the liquid room with a space limited between the cap and the ink collector. The ink collector is provided with a second ink-suck hole formed on a bottom surface adjacent to the space so as to communicate the space with the vacuum means. At least one of the cap and the ink collector is provided with an air-intake hole for providing air to the cap or the ink collector by the vacuum means. At least one of the first ink-suck holes is arranged along a contact area where the printing head and the cap are brought into contact with each other.

Head cleaning unit for ink-jet printer capable of sufficiently sucking up waste ink


A cutter mechanism for a printer is provided. The cutter mechanism comprises a rotary cutter and a straight blade assembly. The rotary cutter may be mounted for rotation about a rotation axis and for translation across at least a portion of a width of a paper path perpendicular to the rotation axis. The straight blade assembly may be mounted for rotation about a shaft and adapted to cooperate with the rotary cutter. The straight blade assembly comprises a straight blade extending across the width of the paper path. A printer mechanism cover is mounted coaxially on the shaft so as to be movable between a closed position and an open position. A portion of the cover may impact the straight blade assembly when the cover is moved from the closed position to the open position, causing the straight blade to be moved away from the rotary cutter.

The present invention relates to the field of cutter mechanisms for printers. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cutter mechanism for cutting paper media in a printer and methods of cutting paper media in a printer using such a cutter mechanism.
High speed printers, such as inkjet, thermal, dye sublimation and dot matrix printers are used to provide vouchers, coupons, tickets, receipts and the like (all generally referred to herein as "tickets") to consumers. Such printers typically use a roll of paper media which is cut by a cutter. Different types of cutters may be used in such printers, including a rotary cutter or a guillotine knife blade type cutter. The guillotine knife cutters typically employ a fixed blade and a movable blade which is displaced in the direction of, and engages against, the fixed blade during a cutting action after the ticket is printed on the paper media. While such guillotine knife blades are generally simpler and less expensive than rotary knife blades, such guillotine knife blades are prone to jamming and difficult to service. It is also typically difficult to load paper into printers having guillotine knife blades.
It would be advantageous to improve the prior art guillotine knife blade type cutters to provide improved serviceability and reliability, and to enable easy loading of paper and clearance of paper jams. It would be advantageous to enable easy separation of the knife blades for service and jam clearance. It would also be advantageous to provide a cutter mechanism that has a reduced complexity and size as compared to the prior art cutter mechanisms.
The apparatus and methods of the present invention provide the foregoing and other advantages.

Cutter mechanism for a printer and methods of cutting paper media in a printer


A spurious timeout (STO) response allows a sending device to conservatively adjust congestion state parameters and maintain the packet flow, after detection of the STO. Since occurrence of an STO may be accompanied by data loss, the STO response couples the spurious timeout and the loss event by maintaining a value of previously available bandwidth and increasing a limit that a sending host can send based on a pattern of returned acknowledgements. In particular, the limit is increased by the maximum size of a data segment that the sending host can send each time an acknowledgement is received from the receiving host indicating a successful transmission of a data packet. Thus, a positive data flow may be maintained conservatively while avoiding further packet losses and an unnecessary re-transmission of data packets that may have been successfully received by the receiving host.

In wireless environments such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), retransmission timers are known to often expire spuriously, triggering an unnecessary retransmission of one or more data packets even when there has been no actual loss of transmitted data. Such "spurious timeouts," as they are known (also referred to as an "STO"), are generally attributable to limitations in a Transmission Control Protocol (hereafter "TCP") stack.
Spurious timeouts in wireless networks have various causes including, e.g. the emergence of data packets having higher transmission priority competing for transmission bandwidth, resulting in a spurious retransmission timeout; a persistent reliable wireless link layer repeatedly retransmitting a data packet over a poor radio connection several times to cause a TCP sending host time-out; or a receiving host being unable to send an acknowledgement message (hereafter "ACK") to a sending host in a timely manner due to a busy reverse channel.
In the TCP stack, the MSS ("maximum segment size") indicates the maximum amount of data (in bytes) that a sending host is able to send to a receiving host in a single packet, or segment. Generally, for the sake of efficiency, a sending host sends data packets in accordance with MSS. A TCP window (hereafter "window") refers to the amount of data that a sending host may send before receiving an acknowledgment (also referred to as an "ACK") regarding the data sent from the receiving host.
ACK is a communication code sent from the receiving host to the sending host to acknowledge receipt of transmitted data. Further, ACK may be transmitted to the sending host from the receiving host after every TCP segment of data is received. Alternatively, ACK may be selectively transmitted to the sending host from the receiving host if out-of-order data packets are received. The received data packets are reported in extended TCP header options referred to as Selective Acknowledge (hereafter "SACK") blocks. Regardless, TCP is unable to distinguish whether ACK or SACK is generated in response to an originally transmitted segment of data or a retransmitted segment of data.
Typically, upon an occurrence of a timeout, a TCP stack defaults to a retransmission of an entire window's worth of data which has not been acknowledged. But, as stated above, not all timeouts are caused by data loss. Therefore, the automatic retransmission may lead to bandwidth being unnecessarily devoted to retransmission of data that has already been successfully received. Consequently, the integrity of a network connection is diminished.
Such automatic retransmission of TCP segments of data may violate the "packet conservation principle," which states that data should not be introduced to a network until previously transmitted data has been acknowledged as having been received or has been confirmed as having been lost. Clearly, any automatic retransmission of TCP segments after a spurious timeout is incompatible with the packet conservation principle.


A method for applying extended reality to simulate an actual flow system, including receiving selection of simulated components of the actual flow system that are graphical elements, receiving component metadata for each simulated component that represents simulated component factors that affect the simulated flow from, through, or to the simulated component, receiving simulation connection metadata for each simulated connection between the simulated components that represents simulated connection factors that affect the simulated flow through the simulated connection, receiving actual data over time, simulating the flow over time through the simulated connections based on the actual data by applying a model using a set of operations to the actual data, the simulation component metadata, and the simulation connection metadata. The method further includes displaying via the extended reality user interface the three or more simulated components as connected by the simulated connections and the simulated flow.

A Human Machine Interface (HMI) is an interface between a machine via the machine's processor and an operator. An HMI can display near real-time operational information using visual process graphics, such as to give meaning and context to process parameters of a system (which can include a plant or an asset of the plant), such as motor status, valve status, tank levels, pressure, vibration. One particular type of HMI is a flow-based HMI, which can be provided for controlling and monitoring a system having an associated flow, such as a flow of a fluid (liquid or vapor) or electricity. By translating complex process variables into usable and actionable information, an HMI can be used as a tool, such as by operators and line supervisors, to monitor, coordinate, and control industrial and manufacturing processes and machines.
Extended reality (XR), including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and/or augmented virtuality (AV), can be integrated with an HMI, such as to provide a digital twin that models a system with which the human operator can interact. When building a flow-based HMI in XR, a customized script is generated to track and visually represent each segment of the system that potentially traversed by the flow. Each script can be individually designed and written to logically handle the flow in accordance with a flow diagram of the flow, accounting for every combination of possible conditions. The scripts are written using engineering and programming skills, with complexity of the scripts increasing as the size and/or complexity of the flow system being modelled increases. Furthermore, the scripts are prone to human error, including engineering, logic, and programming errors. When any aspect of the flow system is modified that affects the flow, the individual scripts potentially need to be updated to account for the modification. For example, when a component of the flow system changes status or is replaced, the associated flow diagram is affected and the scripts need to be updated to account for the change.
Change of status of a component of the flow system can occur during operation of the flow system while the flow is flowing (also referred to as "on the fly") Accounting for changes that can occur on the fly increases complexity of the scripts, the level of expertise needed for writing the scripts, and the chance of error.
While conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose, there is still a need in the art for simplifying the process of developing an XR HMI for a flow system that reduces resources used and level of expertise needed for development of the XR HMI, reduces likelihood of introduction of human error into the XR HMI, and is reliable, even as status of a component of the flow system changes, including when the status change occurs during operation of the flow system. The present disclosure provides a solution.

Extended reality human machine interface to simulate actual flow


Method and apparatuses for broadcasting and receiving media data over a heterogeneous network. A method for receiving media data includes receiving and processing media data broadcast using MMTP packets via a broadcast network. The method also includes, in response to receiving a signaling message associated with the broadcast media data, determining whether broadband media data associated with the broadcast media data is available via a broadband network based on the signaling message. The method includes receiving the broadband media data using DASH via the broadband network. Additionally, the method includes providing the broadband media data in association with the broadcast media data for presentation via a display device.

MMT is a digital container standard or format that specifies technologies for the delivery of coded media data for multimedia service over heterogeneous IP network environments. The delivered coded media data includes both audiovisual media data requiring synchronized decoding and presentation of a specific unit of data in a designated time, namely timed data, and other types of data that are decoded and presented in an arbitrary time based on the context of service or interaction by the user, namely non-timed data.
DASH is an adaptive bitrate streaming technique that allows for streaming of media data over the Internet from web servers using HTTP. Traditionally, standards and protocols for delivering and receiving MMT content and DASH content have been separate.

Broadcast and broadband hybrid service with MMT and DASH


A system and method of powering a fiber optic communication network are provided which transmits communication data between a telephone company central office and remote user device. The system includes a power source configured to provide an electrical supply voltage to a digital subscriber line access multiplexer. The power source having an AC power feed for providing power to the digital subscriber line access multiplexer and a DC power feed for providing power to the digital subscriber line access multiplexer when the AC power feed is not supplying power. Further, an electrical conducting medium configured to conduct the electrical supply voltage and the communication data from the digital subscriber line access multiplexer to the remote user device is provided. Therefore, the present invention provides a system and method for reliably powering a fiber optic communication network with AC power under normal operating conditions and DC backup power when the AC power is interrupted, thus providing lifeline telephony service while, reducing maintenance costs by having a limited number of centralized remote power sites.

With increasing customer demand for information to be supplied to homes and businesses, telephone communication companies are being pushed to upgrade their communication network infrastructures. In order to supply more information in the form of video, audio and telephony at higher rates, higher bandwidth communication networks are required. Conventional telephone communication network infrastructures utilize fiber optics and twisted copper pair wire to send communication data to a customer. Fiber optic cable supports a high bandwidth while, twisted copper wire supports relatively low bandwidth over long distances. In operation, the fiber optic cable portion of the communications network transmits digital light bits to an optical network unit (ONU). The optical network unit converts the digital light bits to an analog signal which is received by a conventional customer telephone.
Generally, customers who are within two to three miles of a telephone company's central office are fed communication data solely using twisted copper pair. The twisted copper pair carries the phone signals as well as a −48 volts DC power to operate and ring the phones. Large cables (thousands of pairs), are routed through the telephone central office switch and branch out to various manholes, poles, and cross-connect points to customer locations. For customers who are further away, a digital loop carrier (DLC) cabinet, hut, or buried vault is placed in an area and reaches up to a two-mile radius. High speed copper lines (T1, DS1, etc.) or fiber cable feed digital bits from the telephone central office to the DLC. Similar to the ONU, the DLC converts the digital signal to an analog waveform required to operate the telephones. A copper drop (twisted copper pairs) relays the analog signals to a customer's home over a radius of two to three miles around the DLC site. The DLC cabinet contains its own batteries, power rectifiers, converters, and a connection for a portable generator. Additionally, the DLC cabinet is connected to an AC power feed from the local power company. For a business or residential customer requiring higher speed data than the standard telephony service, high speed copper or fiber data circuits are routed from the DLC or the CO to the customer location.
The twisted copper cable will not support high bandwidths over a great distance. In order to achieve high bandwidths at a customer location, the fiber optic loop must be brought closer to the customer so that the copper drop is a sufficiently short distance and will be capable of supporting high data transfer rates. One major problem with bringing fiber cable within a short distance of a customer location is the added burden of maintaining the multitude of optical network units (ONUs) which will be required and will typically only serve between twelve to ninety-six customers. Conventional telephone networks utilizing DLCs do not have this problem because there are far fewer DLCs given their capability of serving approximately four hundred to two thousand customers each. Each ONU will require power to make the digital to analog conversion to run the telephones and provide lifeline telephony. Lifeline telephony is required of all telephone communication networks. Lifeline telephony means that the customer telephones must remain energized and operational during an AC power interruption and outage.
As such, a need exists for a system and method for powering a fiber optic communication network which brings fiber within a short distance of a customer location. The fiber optic communication network power architecture must be capable of supporting lifeline telephony and operate the multitude of optical network units in a cost effective and maintainable manner.

Fiber to the curb and fiber to the neighborhood power architecture


In a rectifying apparatus of vapor/liquid contact type, the rectifier 5 is disposed above a regenerator 4 and has two stages, a lower recovery stage and an upper condensation stage. The two stages are filled with filler elements 7a, 7b and 7c, 7d, respectively. Each filler elements 7a and 7c has a conical bottom for biasing the falling liquid towards its center and the rising refrigerant vapor towards its outer edge. The rising speed of the refrigerant vapor is made more uniform and the falling liquid has less tendency to drip down along the side wall. As the contact between the vapor and the liquid is increased, the efficiency of rectification is enhanced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rectifier for an absorption refrigerator and particularly, to a rectifying apparatus for an absorption refrigerator suited for increasing the performance for regenerating an absorbent solution and a refrigerant liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an absorption refrigerator using absorption refrigeration cycle, a refrigerant which has been vapored and thus lowered in the temperature and an absorbent solution which has absorbed the refrigerant vapor and been high in the temperature are exposed to a chilled water and a cooling water respectively for producing cooling and warming in air conditioning. When the absorbent solution absorbs the refrigerant vapor, it is lowered in the concentration of the absorbent thus decreasing its absorption capability. For recovering the concentration in the absorbent solution, a regenerator in which the refrigerant vapor is released from the absorbent solution is provided. Also, a rectifier is provided for rectifying the refrigerant vapor released in the regenerator to a higher purity level and delivering it to a condenser.
The rectifier is generally a tubular tower called as "a rectifying column" filled with chip type filling materials such as pall rings or Raschig rings. In the rectifier, while the absorbent solution of a lower concentration or diluted solution is passed downwardly through the chip type filling material filler, the refrigerant vapor sent upwardly from the regenerator is forced to directly contact with the diluted solution to increase its purity.
The diluted solution passed downwardly in the rectifier may however run along and close to the inner wall of the rectifier. Also, the refrigerant vapor sent upwardly tends to be lower in the velocity close to the inner wall and higher about the center due to the friction with the surface of the inner wall. Most of the downward flow is pushed by the vapor toward the inner wall surface of the rectifier and this causes less running of the flow about the center. This will discourage the contact between the vapor and the liquid and the purity of the refrigerant vapor will hardly be increased to a desired rate.
For compensation, a modified rectifier using specific filler elements is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. (Sho) 63-19459. The filler element used here is a tubular form of steel mesh fabricated by rolling a waveform metal fiber such as stainless steel wire. In particular, the roll is characterized in that the concentration of wire is higher in a central region by rolling tight than in an outer edge region. As the filler element is highly intensified in density at the central region, the flow of the refrigerant vapor is biased towards the outer edge where the density is lower and its rising velocity will be uniform throughout the cross section of the rectifier column. The downward flow of the diluted solution passed through the rectifier may tend to run along close to the center of the filler element due to capillary effects. For biasing the downward flow towards the outer edge, a dispersing plate of a conical shape is used together with the filler element.
However, such a conventional rectifier using the above mentioned filler elements offers the following disadvantage. Generally, a plurality of the filler elements are stacked one over another for increasing the purity of the refrigerant vapor. When the filler elements are disposed in layers in the prior art rectifier, the dispersing plates have to be disposed between any two adjacent filler elements as well as at the lowermost of the rectifier. This entails an intricate construction of the rectifier and increases its overall height. Accordingly, the prior art rectifier will be increased in dimensions hence being unfavorable for use in a small, household absorption refrigerator. In addition, the conical shape dispersing plates have to be precisely assembled at given intervals for optimum effect using a complex process in the production.

Rectifying apparatus for absorption refrigerator


An ellipsometer for measuring the complex refractive index of a sample and thin film thickness according to the invention. The ellipsometer includes a linear polarized light source, a reference analyzer, a polarization analyzer and a light direction controller. The linear polarized light source used to generate a measuring beam for detecting the sample. The phase modulator used to control the phase of the measuring beam thereby to generate a sampling beam. The reference analyzer used to generate a reference beam according to part of the sampling beam thereby to adjust the intensity of the sampling beam. The polarization analyzer used to analyze the phase, polarization and intensity of the sampling beam after the sampling beam is reflected by the sample. The light direction controller used to control the angle and direction of the sampling beam with respect to the sample, wherein the sampling beam is reflected by the sample to enter the light direction controller, and thereafter the sampling beam is reflected by the light direction controller and re-reflected by the sample to enter the polarization analyzer along an original optical path, but toward an opposite direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an ellipsometer for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, only ellipsometer widely applied in semiconductor, optical and chemical industries can measure the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample with better precision and higher resolution. Ellipsometer which has been developed over 100 years includes null ellipsometer, rotating-polarizer ellipsometer, rotating-analyzer ellipsometer, rotating-compensator ellipsometer, phase-modulation ellipsometer, small-modulation ellipsometer, dual-modulation ellipsometer, analyzer-shifting ellipsometer, compound-splitting ellipsometer, phase-shifting ellipsometer, and phase-analysis ellipsometer.
The principle of the ellipsometer is based on the ellipsomeric polarizing optics. Typically, a planar wave electric field E can be divided into two electric fields Ep and Es. That is, the planar wave electric field E can be expressed by:
{right arrow over (E)}={right arrow over (E)}p+{right arrow over (E)}sxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
With Jones"" vector, the electric field E can also be expressed by:                               E          ⇀                =                              [                          xe2x80x83                                                                                E                    p                                                                                E                    s                                                                                xe2x80x83                        ]                    =                                    [                              xe2x80x83                                                                                E                        op                                                                                ⅇ                                                  j                                                                                (                                                                                ω                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                                t                                                            -                              kz                              -                                                              φ                                p                                                                                )                                                                                E                        os                                                                                ⅇ                                                  j                                                                                (                                                                                ω                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                                t                                                            -                              kz                              +                                                              φ                                s                                                                                )                                                                                ]                                                  xe2x80x83                        ∝                          [                              xe2x80x83                                                                                E                        op                                                                                ⅇ                        jΔ                                                                                E                      os                                                                                xe2x80x83                            ]                                                          (        2        )
wherein Eop and Eos represent the amplitudes of the electric fields Ep and Es respectively, j={square root over (xe2x88x921)}, and xcex94=xcfx86pxe2x88x92xcfx86s. The traveling direction of the electric field E is along the z axis. If two polarized electric fields Eip and Eis are inputted, two outputted electric fields Erp and Ers can be measured after the two inputted electric fields Eip and Eis pass through a sample. Therefore, the related reflection coefficients can be given by:                               r          p                =                                            E              rp                                      E              ip                                =                                    ρ              p                                                  ⅇ                              jΔ                p                                                                        (        3        )                                          r          s                =                                            E              rp                                      E              ip                                =                                    ρ              s                                                  ⅇ                              jΔ                s                                                                        (        4        )
wherein xcex94p represents the phase shift of the reflected electric field Ep, and xcex94s represents the phase shift of the reflected electric field Es. Thus, the polarization transfer function F (ellipsomeric function p) of the sample can be defined by:                     F        =                  ρ          =                                                                      E                  rP                                                  E                  rs                                                                              E                  ip                                                  E                  is                                                      =                                                                                E                    rp                                                        E                    ip                                                                                E                    rs                                                        E                    is                                                              =                                                                    r                    p                                                        r                    s                                                  =                                                                                ρ                        p                                                                                ⅇ                                                  jΔ                          p                                                                                ρ                        s                                                                                ⅇ                                                  jΔ                          s                                                                                =                                      tan                                                              xe2x80x83                                                                                Ψⅇ                      jΔ                                                                                (        5        )
wherein       tan              xe2x80x83            Ψ    =            ρ      p              ρ      s
xe2x80x83and xcex94=xcex94pxe2x88x92xcex94. The tan "psgr" and xcex94 are called ellipsomeric parameters.
Referring to FIG. 1, a general PMSA type ellipsometer is shown, wherein reference numeral 15 designates a polarizer having a pass axis angle b, 22 designates a phase modulator having m as the azimuth of a fast axis, 30 designates a sample, 42 designates an analyzer having a pass axis angle a, and 45 designates a detector. As shown in FIG. 1, a total of 6 parameters related to the four devices is the pass axis angle coordinate b of the polarizer P designated by a numeral 15, the azimuth angle m of the phase modulator M designated by a numeral 22, phase delay xcex4 of a phase retarder, the ellipsomeric parameters xcexa8, xcex94 and pass axis angle coordinate xcex1 of the analyzer A designated by a numeral 42. They can be expressed by Jones"" matrixes as follows:                     P        =                  [                      xe2x80x83                                                                                cos                    2                                                      b                                                                              sin                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      b                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      cos                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      b                                                                                sin                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      b                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      cos                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      b                                                                                sin                    2                                                      b                                                                                xe2x80x83                    ]                                    (        6        )                                M        =                  [                      xe2x80x83                                                                                ⅇ                                                                        i                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                              δ                                                2                                                                                cos                      2                                                            m                                    +                                                            ⅇ                                                                                -                            i                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                              δ                                                2                                                                                sin                      2                                                            m                                                                                2                                        i                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            sin                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            m                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            cos                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            m                                                              xe2x80x83                                                                                sin                                                                    (                                                  δ                          2                                                )                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                                2                                    i                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      sin                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      m                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      cos                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      m                                                        xe2x80x83                                                                          sin                                                              (                                              δ                        2                                            )                                                                                ⅇ                                                                                -                            i                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                              δ                                                2                                                                                cos                      2                                                            m                                    +                                                            ⅇ                                                                        i                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                              δ                                                2                                                                                sin                      2                                                            m                                                                                xe2x80x83                    ]                                    (        7        )                                          S          =                      [                          xe2x80x83                                                                                tan                                                              xe2x80x83                                                                                Ψⅇ                      jΔ                                                                                0                                                                              0                                                  1                                                      ]                                            xe2x80x83                                    (        8        )                                          A          =                      [                          xe2x80x83                                                                                cos                      2                                                            a                                                                                sin                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            a                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            cos                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            a                                                                                sin                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            a                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            cos                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            a                                                                                sin                      2                                                            a                                                                        ]                                            xe2x80x83                                    (        9        )
If the detector 45 has a linear response, a signal I measured after passing through the analyzer 42 can be expressed by:
I=G{right arrow over (E)}+out{right arrow over (E)}out=G(ASMP{right arrow over (E)}in,)+(ASMP{right arrow over (E)}in)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(10)
According to xe2x80x9cImprovement of phase-modulated ellipsometryxe2x80x9d issued on xe2x80x9cReview of Scientific Instruentsxe2x80x9d, vol. 60, p.p. 65-77, by Acher, O., E. Bigan, formula (10) can be further expressed as:
I(xcex4)=G[I+Is sin(xcex4)+Ic cos(xcex4)]xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(11)
wherein Is and Ic represents the intensities of the electric fields Ep and Es, respectively.                               I                                (            δ            )                          =                  G          [                      xe2x80x83                                                                                (                                          1                      -                                              cos                                                                          xe2x80x83                                                                        2                                                Ψcos2                                                                          xe2x80x83                                                                        a                                                              )                                    +                                      cos                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            2                                        m                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            cos                                                              xe2x80x83                                                            2                                                              (                                              m                        -                        b                                            )                                                                                (                                                                        cos                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                              2                                                    a                                                -                                                  cos                                                                                xe2x80x83                                                                              2                                                    Ψ                                                                    )                                                        +                                                                                sin                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      2                                    a                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      cos                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      Δsin2Ψsin2                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      m                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      cos                                                        xe2x80x83                                                      2                                                        (                                          m                      -                      b                                        )                                                                                xe2x80x83                    ]                                    (        12        )            xe2x80x83Is=xe2x88x92 sin 2xcexa8 sin 2a sin 2(mxe2x88x92b)sin xcex94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(13)
Ic=xe2x88x92 sin 2(mxe2x88x92b)[sin 2m(cos 2xcexa8xe2x88x92 cos 2a)+sin 2xcexa8 cos 2m cos xcex94]xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(14)
Constant G is determined by the sensitivity of the detector 45, linear circuit amplification ratio and the ellipsomeric parameters. If any one of the parameters P, M, xcex4 and A is modulated by time, then using a lock-in amplifier, the ellipsomeric parameters "psgr", xcex94 and G can be obtained from formula (11). The thickness of the sample can then be estimated.
The phase-shifting ellipsometer having the prior PMSA configuration employs a phase modulator to shift the phase of light to 0, xcfx80/2, and xcfx80 respectively, so as to measure the ellipsomeric parameters.
The only difference between the phase-analysis ellipsometer and the phase-shifting ellipsometer is that the polarizer, phase modulator, analyzer, etc. have different angle parameters. With above mentioned angle parameters, the reflection coefficients rp, rs of the electric fields Ep, Es can be measured directly. Meanwhile, analysis can be performed using methods well-known in prior art phase-analysis ellipsometers.
In view of the above, the invention is to provide an ellipsometer for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample, which not only has all complete functions like the conventional ellipsometer, but also is small in volume, can precisely control the angle and direction of an incident light beam with respect to a sample and is easy to use. Moreover, without employing additional and details calibration procedures typically needed for traditional ellipsometers, the ellipsometer disclosed in this invention can be widely applied in semiconductor, optical and chemical industries for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of the sample.
A first ellipsometer for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample according to the invention includes a linear polarized light source used to generate a measuring beam for probing the sample; a phase modulator used to control the phase of the measuring beam thereby to generate a sampling beam; a reference analyzer used to generate a reference beam according to part of the sampling beam thereby to adjust the intensity of the sampling beam; a polarization analyzer used to analyze the phase, polarization and intensity of the sampling beam after the sampling beam is reflected by the sample; and a light direction controller used to control the incident angle and direction of the sampling beam with respect to the sample, wherein the sampling beam is reflected by the sample to enter the light direction controller, and thereafter the sampling beam is reflected by the light direction controller and re-reflected by the sample to enter the polarization analyzer along an original optical path, but toward an opposite direction.
A second ellipsometer for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample according to the invention includes a linear polarized light source used to generate a measuring beam for probing the sample; a phase modulator used to control the phase of the measuring beam thereby to generate a sampling beam; a reference analyzer used to generate a reference beam according to part of the sampling beam to adjust the intensity of the sampling beam; a polarization analyzer used to analyze the phase, polarization and intensity of the sampling beam after the sampling beam is reflected by the sample; and a light direction controller used to control the incident angle and direction of the sampling beam with respect to the sample, wherein the sampling beam is reflected by the sample to enter the light direction controller, and thereafter the sampling beam is reflected by the light direction controller and re-reflected by the sample to enter the polarization analyzer along an original optical path, but toward an opposite direction; and an ellipsomeric parameter calibrator used to replace the sample to allow the sampling beam be perpendicularly incident to the surface of the ellipsomeric parameter calibrator and perpendicularly reflected when the ellipsomeric parameters of the phase modulator, the reference analyzer and the polarization analyzer are calibrated.
A third ellipsometer for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample through a transparent or translucent medium according to the invention includes a linear polarized light source used to generate a measuring beam for probing the sample; a phase modulator used to control the phase of the measuring beam thereby to generate a sampling beam; a reference analyzer used to generate a reference beam according to part of the sampling beam to adjust the intensity of the sampling beam; a polarization analyzer used to analyze the phase, polarization and intensity of the sampling beam after the sampling beam is reflected by the sample; and a light direction controller used to control the incident angle and direction of the sampling beam with respect to the sample, wherein the sampling beam is reflected by the sample to enter the light direction controller through the medium, and thereafter the sampling beam is reflected by the light direction controller to pass through the medium and re-reflected by the sample to enter the polarization analyzer along an original optical path, but toward an opposite direction
A fourth ellipsometer for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample through a transparent or translucent medium according to the invention includes a linear polarized light source used to generate a measuring beam for probing the sample; a phase modulator used to control the phase of the measuring beam thereby to generate a sampling beam; a reference analyzer used to generate a reference beam according part of the sampling beam to adjust the intensity of the sampling beam; a polarization analyzer used to analyze the phase, polarization and intensity of the sampling beam after the sampling beam is reflected by the sample; a light direction controller used to control the incident angle and direction of the sampling beam with respect to the sample, wherein the sampling beam is reflected by the sample to enter the light direction controller through the medium, and thereafter the sampling beam is reflected by the light direction controller to pass through the medium and re-reflected by the sample to enter the polarization analyzer along an original optical path, but toward an opposite direction; and an ellipsomeric parameter calibrator used to replace the sample to allow the sampling beam be perpendicularly incident to the surface of the ellipsomeric parameter calibrator and perpendicularly reflected when the ellipsomeric parameters of the phase modulator, the reference analyzer, the polarization analyzer and the medium are calibrated.

Device for measuring the complex refractive index and thin film thickness of a sample


A wireless tracking system comprises a plurality of tape nodes associated with entities in an environment. The entities may comprise, for example, users, machinery, ingress and egress points of the environment. The tape nodes are configured to detect interactions that occur within the environment. Interactions may be defined based on one or more conditions, such as threshold durations or proximities between tape nodes. Interactions are stored by the tape nodes, uploaded to the wireless tracking system, and may be retrieved at a later time responsive to an event occurring, such as suspected contamination or incorrect use of machinery.

In many environments, it is necessary or valuable to control flow of traffic in and within the premises. For example, in environments such as in oil refineries where employees or guests may have different permissions to access different areas of the environment, it is necessary to use access badges or cards to enter or exit different areas. However, conventional systems using RFID readers to scan access badges is often slow, requiring employees to individually interact with a RFID reader in order to gain access to the areas.
In another example, in environments such as hospitals where spread of disease may occur unnoticed due to interactions between employees and patients, it is valuable to track interactions so as to contain outbreaks as soon as possible and to alert employees and patients if they have been exposed to potential contamination.

Next generation building access control, indoor locationing, and interaction tracking


A system, method and program product for determining a relative amount of usage of a data retaining device are disclosed. A charge storing device is coupled to a data retaining device in a manner that a use of the data retaining device triggers a charging of the charge storing device. In a period that the data retaining device idles, charges in the charge storing device decay due to natural means. As such, a potential of the charge storing device may be used to indicate an amount of usage of the data retaining device. A comparison of the potentials of two charge storing devices coupled one-to-one to two data retaining devices may be used as a basis to determine a relative amount of usage of each of the two data retaining devices comparing to the other.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to a usage of a data retaining device, and more particularly, to a method and system for determining a relative amount of usage of a data retaining device based on a potential of a charge storing device coupled to the data retaining device.
2. Background Art
An amount of usage of a data retaining device needs to be determined for various applications. For example, a multi-port cache is usually limited in size so that if the cache is full, some of the ports/word lines of the cache need to be refreshed to make room for new items. A cache replacement algorithm is usually used to select word lines to refresh. Examples of cache replacement algorithms include a Least Recently Used (LRU) algorithm which refreshes the least recently used word line first, and a Least Frequently Used (LFU) algorithm which refreshes the least frequently used word line first. These algorithms require keeping track of usage of a word line of the cache, which is very costly under the present state of the art technology.
Based on the above, there is a need in the art for a solution to determine a usage of a data retaining device in an inexpensive/efficient way.

Determining relative amount of usage of data retaining device based on potential of charge storing device

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming a mask layer on a semiconductor substrate, etching the semiconductor substrate using the mask layer as a mask, thereby forming a semiconductor pillar, doping an impurity into the semiconductor substrate, thereby forming a first source/drain region in part of the semiconductor substrate, which is located under the semiconductor pillar, forming a gate insulating film on the semiconductor substrate, which contacts a side surface of the semiconductor pillar, forming a gate electrode on a side surface of the gate insulating film, forming a first insulating layer on the gate electrode, which contacts a side surface of the semiconductor pillar, and doping the impurity into the first insulating layer, thereby forming a second source/drain region in part of the semiconductor pillar, which is located on a side surface of the first insulating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and in particular a semiconductor device provided with a metal semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a kind of MOSFET, a surrounding gate transistor (SGT) is known. To be more specific, this SGT is a MOSFET in which a source region, a gate region and a drain region are arranged vertically, and the gate electrode surrounds a silicon pillar (as disclosed in literature 1 (Takato, H, Sunouchi, K, et al., "Impact of Surrounding Gate Transistor (SGT) for ultra-high-density LSI's", IEEE Transaction of Electron Devices, Vol. 38, No. 3, March 1991). Furthermore, a stacked-surrounding gate transistor (S-SGT) is known in which two or more SGTs are stacked together (as disclosed in literature 2 (T. Endoh et al., TOHOKU University, Sharp Corporation, "Novel Ultra High Density Flash Memory with A Stacked-Surrounding Gate Transistor (S-SGT) Structured Cell", IEDM-2001).
In the case of forming such an S-SGT, in general, SGTs are successively formed downwards from the uppermost one. To be more specific, first, at an upper stage, a semiconductor pillar is formed, and an SGT is formed by using the semiconductor pillar; and then, at a subsequent stage, another semiconductor pillar which is larger in diameter than the above semiconductor pillar at the upper stage is formed, and another SGT is formed by using the other semiconductor pillar.
However, when an S-SGT is formed in the above manner, the diameters of semiconductor pillars for SGTs are different from each other such that the diameter of the upper one of any adjacent two of the semiconductor pillars is smaller than that of the other, that is, the diameter of the semiconductor pillar varies from one semiconductor pillar to another to gradually increase downwards. Inevitably, the place for providing the S-SGT is increased. Furthermore, since the diameters of the semiconductor pillars, which serve as channel regions, are different from each other as stated above, the SGTs respectively formed by using the semiconductor pillars have different characteristics.
Furthermore, it should be noted that in order that contact plugs be electrically connected to gate electrodes, a tiered structure of the S-SGT in which the SGTs are arranged in a stepwise manner is utilized, i.e., the steps of the S-SGT are utilized. Thus, as the number of the SGTs increases, the area of the place for providing the formed S-SGT increases. On the other hand, in a single SGT, after a gate electrode is formed, it is extended (that is, a conductive layer is added which is electrically connected to the gate electrode), and a contact plug is then formed. In this case, when the conductive layer is formed, the following positioning error easily occurs: for example, the conductive layer is not connected to the gate electrode, or it is formed in the semiconductor pillar. Therefore, a contact plug cannot be formed.

Semiconductor manufacturing method and semiconductor device


An information transferring system operating in an information processing system capable of performing highly efficient and reliable exchanges of data between two or more windows respectively operating on different window systems without the necessity of changing the window systems, using a data area in the form of a clipboard or a similar memory area specified for temporary data storage and transferring the data for such exchanges by way of an exclusive-use communication line or a shared memory medium, with or without the use of selection protocols, thereby achieving further improved reliability and higher efficiency in the data exchanging operations between window systems and application programs operating within the window systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information processing equipment such as workstations and more particularly, to an information transferring system designed to exchange data among different window systems and to display the different window systems on a display screen of a display apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Along with the progressive utilization of information processing systems and equipment, such as workstations, the use of multiple window systems on these workstations has become increasingly popular. Multiple window systems are systems constructed to display a plurality of windows on the same display. The use of a multiple window system makes it possible to perform a plurality of processing operations on one display screen as set in correspondence with the individual windows and to perform such operations as the transfer of picture images in an efficient way by the use of a plurality of windows.
For the display of a plurality of windows on the display screen of a display apparatus, the windows are operated by either a single system in some cases or by a plurality of systems in other cases. In the former case, one processing program operates a plurality of windows shown on the display screen, however, in the latter case, a plurality of processing programs operate the respective windows displayed on one display screen.
FIG. 16 illustrates one example of a screen displaying multiple windows operated by a plurality of processing programs. The display screen 11 on the display unit shows a window 12 generated on the display screen by a first window system and another window 13 generated on the display screen by a second window system. Since the first window system and the second window system are different systems, their processing functions will be different between a case where the cursor (not illustrated in the Figure) is present, for example, inside the window 12 and another case in which the cursor is present inside the other window 13.
Even with a multiple window system like the one described, users demand improvements in the manner in which the systems operate with emphasis on the ease and efficiency in the preparation of documents. For example, users require a multiple window system capable of copying or moving the data of a document, a line drawing, or the like, inside one window 12 to the field inside the other window 13.
In the latter case described above, however, the window systems themselves are different and it is usually the case that such different processing systems have many differences including, for example, differences in character codes, differences in the control code for the display of characters, and differences in the process of producing line drawings. Therefore, unlike the case of the transfer of data in a multiple window system operated by a single processing system, where each of a plurality of processing programs operates the display of a window on the display screen simultaneously users require the capacity to perform exchange data among such different window systems.
Consequently, an information processing system capable of operating a plurality of window systems has been provided with a data storing area called a "clipboard". Thus, for the transfer of data from one window system to a different window system, the data to be transferred is first written to a clipboard by the first window system and subsequently the second window system may read out the data stored on this clipboard. This process allows for the exchange of data between different window systems.
Disadvantageously, in the ordinary case, only one such clipboard is provided in the area of the window systems. Accordingly, in case it is designed to put different window systems into operation at the same time, such individual window systems will independently control the clipboard. Presently, the individual window systems execute the operation of a clipboard, specifying some addresses in the memory area from time to time, depending on the data to be processed on each particular occasion For this reason, even if a given window system has stored data in the memory medium on a clipboard at addresses starting with the address a, another window system is not able to gain any knowledge of this address a, so that it is virtually impossible to perform the exchanges of data between different window operating systems.
The above description details the exchange of data by a process using a clipboard, but it is noted that problems have also been found with the exchange of data by a process using selection. The difference between a clipboard and a selection process is described below.
When using a clipboard, the processing system which transfers data specifies the clipboard as a site for the transfer and retrieval of the data and stores the data on the specified clipboard. The processing system which requires the data searches the clipboard and retrieves the data from it.
However, when using the selection process, the processing system which requires data accesses to the processing system which maintains the data and requests the data. The system which maintains the data searches for the required data and stores the data found by such a search in a prescribed storing location, via which the data is delivered to the processing system requesting the data.
When data exchanges are performed by such a selection process between different window systems, even if a window system requiring some data accesses the window system which maintains the data requesting the data, such a request is made by a different system, and the window system which has the requested data cannot understand the request (or demand) because the two systems are different in their data format and so forth. Therefore, it is impossible to exchange data by the use of the protocol called "selection" between different window systems.

Apparatus for transferring information between different window systems


A re-enterable enclosure for a splice between cables, comprises two cover members with internal walls that are configured to form a cavity for enclosing the cable splice when the cover members are engaged with each other in a closed position. At least one of the cover members also has internal walls that are configured to define containment spaces which at least partly surround the cavity. In use, those containment spaces may contain sealant material. At least one internal wall in one cover member can telescope into a containment space in the other cover member so that, if sealant material is contained therein, it will be compressed when the cover members are engaged with each other in the closed position. By changing the containment spaces that are used to contain sealant material, different levels of protection against humidity can be provided for the cable splice in the cavity.

A cable splice will generally require protection from the effects of the environment in which it is located and, more especially, will require protection against mechanical impact and the entry of moisture. Protection of the cables against strain will often also be required. Many different enclosures providing different levels of protection for cable splices are already available, including so-called re-enterable enclosures that can be re-opened to permit access to the splice whenever required.
Known re-enterable splice enclosures often take the form of a two-part re-openable housing that defines a cavity around the splice and contains a sealant material. The housing provides protection for the splice against mechanical impact and, in combination with the sealant material, protects the cavity to a required level against the entry of moisture while permitting access to the splice when the housing is re-opened. In some cases, the cavity is completely filled with sealant material (see, for example, the splice enclosures described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,250 and, in other cases, the sealant material is pre-formed by molding to particular shapes for use in cable bushings that are located at the ends of the housing (see, for example, the splice enclosures described in WO 02/063736).


A port closure system (20) including a retention structure (22), and a valve (24). The retention structure (22) includes a port (28) for establishing communication between an exterior environment (30) and interior volume (32) that can receive a fluent substance. The valve (24) includes a flexible, resilient, self-closing, slit-type valve head (36) with an orifice that is normally closed in an unconstrained condition. The port (28) has a laterally inwardly facing engaging surface (34) and the valve has a laterally outwardly facing peripheral surface (54) that is compressed laterally inwardly by engagement with the surface (34) to increase the resistance of the normally closed orifice to opening when the head (36) is subjected to a pressure differential. The system (20) further includes an annular flange (62) located to extend over at least a portion of an exterior side (38) of the valve head (36) to limit movement of the valve head (36) towards the exterior environment (30).

The inventor of the present invention has discovered that it would be advantageous to provide an improved system for retaining or otherwise mounting a flexible, resilient valve defining an initially closed orifice which can be opened to accommodate fluid flow through the valve, wherein the design of the system could provide advantages not heretofore contemplated in the industry or suggested by the prior art. In particular, the system of the present invention protects the resilient valve during insertion of a probe or feed/drain tool, assists in guiding the probe or feed/drain tool into proper engagement with the valve, maintains the proper alignment of the valve head during withdrawal of a probe or feed/drain tool from the valve, facilitates proper closing of the valve after portions of the valve have been forced away from their initially closed configuration, and is resistant to pressure differentials caused by a fluent substance acting against the valve.
One type of flexible, resilient, valve is a self-closing, slit-type valve mounted in a port of a fluent container. Such valves have a slit or slits which define a normally closed orifice that opens to permit flow therethrough in response to a probe, cannula or feed/drain tool inserted through the valve, or an increased pressure differential across the valve. Such valves are typically designed so that they automatically close to shut off flow therethrough upon removal of the probe, cannula or feed/drain tool or a reduction of the pressure differential across the valve.
Designs of such valves and of closures using such valves are illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,531, No. 5,927,566, and No. 5,934,512. Typically, the closure includes a body or base mounted on the container neck to define a seat for receiving the valve and includes a retaining ring or other structure for holding the valve on the seat in the base. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,986 and No. 6,616,016. The valve is normally closed and can withstand the weight of the fluid product when the bottle is completely inverted so that the liquid will not leak out unless the bottle is squeezed. With such an improved system, the lid or cap need not be re-closed (although it is typically re-closed if the package is to be transported to another location, packed in a suitcase, etc.). One approach to provide a valve with hydraulic hammer resistance is shown in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/728,614, titled "DISPENSING VALVE WITH HYDRAULIC HAMMER RESISTANCE" and filed on Mar. 27, 2007 naming David J. Gaus et al as inventors, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other such valve systems for use with a probe or feed/drain tool are shown in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/070,799, titled VALVE MOUNTING ASSEMBLY WITH SLIT MISALIGNMENT PREVENTION FEATURE, filed Feb. 21, 2008 and naming David J. Gaus as inventor, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/268,814, titled PORT CLOSURE WITH HYDRAULIC HAMMER RESISTANCE, filed Nov. 11, 2008, and naming David J. Gaus as inventor, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
While such valved systems have significant advantages and function well, it would be desirable to provide an improved system that includes multiple benefits with a minimal number of components.

Port closure system for use with a probe/feed/drain tool


A new glove with fingernail protectors for protecting the fingernails of a wearer from accidental breaking or chipping. The inventive device includes a palm portion with a plurality of digit portions extending therefrom. The back of each of the digit portions has a fingernail region extending from the tip of the digit portion towards the root of the digit portion. The thickness of the fingernail region of each of the digit portions is greater than the thickness of the rest of the digit portion to provide protection against chipping and breaking to the fingernails of a wearer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gloves and more particularly pertains to a new glove with fingernail protectors for protecting the fingernails of a wearer from accidental breaking or chipping.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of gloves is known in the prior art. More specifically, gloves heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art gloves include U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,119; U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,245; U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,815; U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,189; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 358,245; and U.S. Pat No. 5,140,709.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new glove with fingernail protectors. The inventive device includes a palm portion with a plurality of digit portions extending therefrom. The hack of each of the digit portions has a fingernail region extending from the tip of the digit portion towards the root of the digit portion. The thickness of the fingernail region of each of the digit portions is greater than the thickness of the rest of the digit portion to provide protection against chipping and breaking to the fingernails of a wearer.
In these respects, the glove with fingernail protectors according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of protecting the fingernails of a wearer from accidental breaking or chipping.


The present invention relates to a misfire prevention system during evaporated gas monitoring and control method thereof by which an increased overall fuel quantity caused by the purge gas is considered and compensated thereto accordingly, so that occurrence of misfire resulted from changes of fuel-air ratio can be prevented. The system includes a fuel tank for storing fuel of a vehicle; a canister for temporarily collecting evaporated gas which is generated when the fuel stored in the fuel tank is evaporated; an engine for drawing up the evaporated gas collected in the canister by way of negative pressure and for burning the same with basic fuel to thereby operate a vehicle; a purge control valve being mounted between the engine and the canister to control pressure in the fuel tank; a shut-off valve being mounted at a discharge outlet of the canister to control the pressure in the fuel tank; a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the fuel tank; and an electronic control unit (ECU) for controlling operations of the purge control valve and the shut-off valve and for detecting leakage of the evaporated gas according to the pressure in the fuel tank detected by the pressure sensor and for compensating an increase of fuel quantity caused by purge gas during a racing to thereby maintain a fuel-air ratio at a constant level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a misfire prevention system during an evaporated gas monitoring and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a misfire prevention system during an evaporated gas monitoring process and a control method thereof. An evaporated gas leakage is monitored and at the same time, the leakage is compensated in consideration of a total fuel quantity increase according to generation of the evaporated gas, thereby preventing misfire caused by a change of an air-fuel ratio.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An environmental law has been recently enacted to enforce the regulation of evaporated gas directly emitted into the atmosphere from fuel supply systems of vehicles.
In other words, where a problem involving a purge control system exists, an accurate monitoring function is necessary for the system because of significant leakage of evaporated gas.
The environmental law concerning evaporated gas control calls for a detection of leakage (diameter of 1 mm) at a purge control system to activate a warning light in case of the leakage.
The accurate monitoring on the relevant system is generally performed by checking pressure at a time when a fuel supply system is near empty.
Furthermore, monitoring is executed while an engine races and the vehicle is stopped in operation.
At an initial stage of the monitoring, when a purge control valve (pressure control solenoid valve) is opened and a shut-off valve mounted at a discharge outlet of a canister (which temporarily collects the evaporated gas) is closed, a fuel tank is evacuated at an interior thereof by negative pressure of the engine.
At this time, when the evacuated state is not detected by a pressure sensor for detecting pressure in the fuel tank, it is determined that a big leakage of evaporated gas has occurred in the purge control system.
Likewise, a small leakage of the evaporated gas can be detected by a vacuum pressure decrease rate measured at a time when the tank is airtightly shut, where the purge control valve is shut at a predetermined pressure.
The leakage is currently checked by measurement of pressure inclination changes generated by causing a fuel supply system to be evacuated.
However, there is a problem in the monitoring process of the evaporated gas leakage thus described, in that the air-fuel ratio can be changed abruptly so that a misfire could occasionally occur because the purged gas, that is the evaporated gas infused into a surge tank during the operation of the purge control valve, is not considered in the calculation of the basic fuel amount.
In order to overcome the aforementioned problem, the shut-off valve is closed at an initial stage while the engine races and the purge control valve is opened at a predetermined inclination to thereby cause the fuel supply system to be evacuated.
At this time, if an evaporated fuel concentration collected in a canister is large, the gas is infused into the surge tank by the operation of the purge control valve to thereby form a rich mixture, resulting in a severe change of the air-fuel ratio. This also causes a misfire and a decrease in stable racing.
FIG. 1 is a waveform diagram for illustrating a change in an air-fuel ratio during operation of a purge control valve according to the prior art.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, an overall fuel quantity consumed in the engine is increased by the purge gas infused into the surge tank during an operation range of a purge control valve according to the prior art, thereby varying the air-fuel ratio.

Misfire prevention system during evaporated gas monitoring and control method thereof


An electrical connector crimping tool has a head with a stationary anvil and a movable ram. The anvil has two angled contact surfaces for contacting a connector. The ram has a front with a pyramid and angled side portions. The pyramid is suitably sized and shaped such that the angled side portions of the ram can contact the anvil angled contact surfaces to stop forward advancement of the ram without the pyramid contacting the anvil.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compressing articles and, more particularly, to a dieless compression head and a method of crimping electrical connectors onto conductors.
2. Prior Art
It is well known in the art to terminate electric cables by inserting an end of a cable into a connector which is then compressed or indented so as to form a mechanical and electrical connection between the cable and connector. U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,989 to Morby discloses a compression indenting tool with a piston that carries a punch with the overall form of a four-sided pyramid. U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,549 to Lytle et al. discloses a hydraulic compression tool with a dieless compression head used in crimping or compressing connectors to cables. Although dieless compression heads, also known as universal compression heads, have been known and used in the past to crimp a variety of size connectors and conductors, a problem nonetheless existed in the prior art in that the universal compression heads were unable to crimp all sizes of connectors and conductors with the same degree of quality. In order to properly crimp a relatively large connector with a relatively large conductor, such as a 1000 MCM wire size conductor, the front of the indentor needs to be broad to prevent the indentor from inadvertently piercing through the connector rather than properly compressing the connector. However, in order to properly crimp a connector onto a relatively small conductor, such as a 6 AWG wire size conductor, the front of the indentor should be narrow such that the indentor can indent the connector and not merely flatten the connector which would not produce a good crimp. The prior art universal compression heads have been unable to adequately support both of these divergent requirements and provide the same type of quality connections for a full range of connectors and conductors sizes.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to overcome problems in the prior art as well as provide additional features.


In a server apparatus, a storage section stores musical composition data representing a plurality of musical compositions. A transmission section transmits musical composition data which represents a first musical composition to an electronic musical apparatus via a communication network in a streaming manner, such that the electronic musical apparatus can reproduce the first musical composition in realtime basis. A reception section receives operation data from the electronic musical apparatus, the operation data representing a user operation of the electronic musical apparatus performed in response to realtime reproduction of the first musical composition. A control section selects musical composition data representing a second musical composition based on contents of the operation data, such that the second musical composition matches a skill of the user to operate the electronic musical apparatus, and controls the transmission section to transmit the selected musical composition data of the second musical composition to the electronic musical apparatus in the streaming manner, whereby another user operation can be performed in response to the realtime reproduction of the second musical composition.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a musical composition provision system capable of musical lessons and games by streaming musical composition data to electronic musical apparatuses such as electronic musical instruments from a server apparatus via a communication network such as the Internet.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, there are known systems that provide musical composition data to terminal equipment such as electronic musical instruments from a server apparatus via a communication network such as the Internet. For example, in the system described in a patent document of Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2002-341864, the server apparatus streams musical composition data to the terminal equipment. The terminal equipment is configured to be capable of automatic play based on the streamed musical composition data.
Data is successively transmitted and received in units of packets via communication networks such as the Internet. When the communication is congested, the transmission is often interrupted. Accordingly, during realtime reproduction of musical composition data streamed in the terminal equipment, the musical composition data to be reproduced is interrupted. As a result, the reproduction is often interrupted. To solve this problem, the system disclosed in the patent document stores the specified amount of streamed musical composition data in buffer memory and then starts the reproduction. Depending on communication situations, however, data reception may be interrupted to affect the automatic play.
On the other hand, there are musical composition data delivery services such as "Net de He Ciao" (registered trademark) provided by YAMAHA CORPORATION. According to this system, a personal computer (PC) is used to download musical composition data from a server. The downloaded data is stored in the PC or electronic musical instrument. Capabilities of PC software sequencer and the electronic musical instrument can be used to automatically play music or display a musical score. Alternatively, an electronic musical instrument's user can play the music in synchronization with such reproduction operations, and grade or evaluate his or her performance skill.
Since the system uses the downloaded and purchased musical composition data, a high royalty is needed, which increases the price of the musical composition data. When the musical composition data is used, the PC and the electronic musical instrument may grade or evaluate the performance skill of the user independently of the server apparatus. Consequently, the user needs to search or select a musical composition to be purchased and performed next based on his or her own judgement.
To solve this problem, there is a demand for a service capable of streaming musical composition data from a server apparatus to electronic musical apparatus such as an electronic musical instrument, enabling musical performance operation in synchronization with the streamed musical composition data, and enabling properly and effectively performing musical lessons and games.

Server apparatus streaming musical composition data matching performance skill of user