A memory device may include: first to Nth cell blocks; first to (N−1)th bit line sense amplifiers, of which a Kth bit line sense amplifier amplifies a potential difference between a bit line of a Kth cell block and a bit line of a (K+1)th cell block; one or more first outermost bit line sense amplifiers suitable for amplifying a potential difference between a first node and a bit line of the first cell block, wherein drivability for driving the first node is different from drivability for driving the bit line of the first cell block; and one or more second outermost bit line sense amplifiers suitable for amplifying a potential difference between a second node and a bit line of the Nth cell block, wherein drivability for driving the second node is different from drivability for driving the bit line of the Nth cell block.

1. Field
This patent document relates to a memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Memory devices such as Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDR SDRAM) include a large number of memory cells. With the rapid increase in integration of memory devices, the number of memory cells included in the memory devices has also increased. Such memory cells are arranged to form an array, and the arrays are referred to as cell blocks.
The structure of memory devices may be divided into folded bit line structures and open bit line structures.
The folded bit line structure includes a driving bit line and a reference bit line, which are arranged in the same cell block, based on a bit line sense amplifier arranged in the core region of the memory device. The driving bit line refers to a bit line in which data are driven, and the reference bit line refers to a bit line which serves as a reference during an amplification operation. Thus, since the same noise is reflected in the driving bit line and the reference bit line, noise generated from the driving bit line and the reference bit line may cancel out. Through this cancellation of noise, the folded bit line structure helps support stable device operation. The open bit line structure includes a driving bit line and a reference bit line which are arranged in different cell blocks, based on a bit line sense amplifier. Thus, since noise generated in the driving bit line is different from noise generated in the reference bit line, the open bit line structure is more vulnerable to such noise.
In the folded bit line structure, a unit memory cell is designed to have an 8F2 structure, and in the open bit line structure, a unit memory cell is designed to have a 6F2 structure. This unit memory cell structure is a factor that determines the size of a memory device. Based on the same data storage capacity, a memory device having the open bit line structure may be designed smaller than a memory device having the folded bit line structure.
FIG. 1 is a diagram describing a memory device having the folded bit line structure.
Referring to FIG. 1, the memory device having the folded bit line structure may include first and second cell blocks 110 and 120 and a sense amplifier 130.
Each of the first and second cell blocks 110 and 120 may include a plurality of memory cell arrays for storing data. The first cell block 110 may include a first bit line and bit line bar BL1 and BLB1, and the second cell block 120 may include a second bit line and bit line bar BL2 and BLB2.
The sense amplifier 130 senses and amplifies voltage levels of the first bit line and bit line bar BL1 and BLB1 or senses and amplifies voltage levels of the second bit line and bit line bar BL2 and BLB2, in response to first and second bit line separation signals BISH and BISL. The sense amplifier 130 includes transistors which are turned on in response to the first and second bit line separation signals BISH and BISL and a latch-type sense amplification circuit which performs a sense amplification operation.
As described above, the folded bit line structure includes a driving bit line and a reference bit line which are arranged in one cell block. For example, when the first bit line separation signal BISH is activated to a logic high level and the second bit line separation signal BISL is deactivated to a logic low level, data is transmitted to the first bit line BL1 or the first bit line bar BLB1 along an activated word line WL. At this time, a bit line to which the data is transmitted becomes the driving bit line, and a bit line paired with the bit line to which the data is transmitted becomes the reference bit line. Then, the sense amplification circuit of the sense amplifier 130 senses the data transmitted through the first bit line and bit line bar BL1 and BLB1, and amplifies the sensed data to voltage levels corresponding to a pull-up power supply voltage RTO and a pull-down power supply voltage SB which are supplied as power to the sense amplification circuit.
FIG. 2 is a diagram describing a memory device having the open bit line structure.
Referring to FIG. 2, the memory device having the open bit line structure includes first and second cell blocks 210 and 220 and a sense amplifier 230.
Each of the first and second cell blocks 210 and 220 includes a plurality of memory cell arrays for storing data. The first cell block 210 includes a first bit line BL1 arranged therein, and the second cell block 220 includes a first bit line bar BLB1 arranged therein. The sense amplifier 230 serves to sense and amplify voltage levels of the first bit line and bit line bar BL1 and BLB1. The sense amplifier 230 has the same structure as the sense amplification circuit of FIG. 1.
As described above, the open bit line structure includes a driving bit line arranged in one cell block and a reference bit line arranged in another cell block. For example, when data is driven to the first bit line BL1, the first bit line bar BLB1 arranged in the second cell block 220 becomes the reference bit line, and when data is driven to the first bit line bar BLB1, the first bit line BL1 arranged in the first cell block 210 becomes the reference bit line.
Thus, the open bit line structure does not require additional transistors for separately operating the sense amplifier 230 for the first cell block 210 and the second cell block 220, and the sense amplifier 230 needs only to sense and amplify the voltage levels of the first bit line and bit line bar BL1 and BLB1 according to the activated word line WL.
However, the memory device having the open bit line structure requires minimizing a loading difference of the bit line sense amplifier arranged at the outermost part.

Memory device with open bit line structure which minimizes loading difference of sense amplifiers arranged outermost part


A method of making a lid for a casket comprises providing tooling configured to produce a one-piece, unitary casket lid having a crown, a pie, a rim and a header, providing settable material from which to mold the lid, molding the settable material with the tooling, permitting the settable material to set thereby producing a one-piece, unitary casket lid having a crown, a pie, a rim and a header, and adhesively applying a wood veneer sheet to at least a portion of the lid. The veneer sheet can be applied with either a membrane press or a profile wrapping machine.

A casket includes a shell and, in the case of so-called "split top" caskets, a pair of lids or caps, a head end cap and a foot end cap. Caskets have most often been fabricated of either metal or wood for aesthetic reasons. More recently some lower end caskets have been fabricated out of materials such as plastic, hardboard, and cardboard. While such materials are much less expensive than sheet metal and fine furniture grade wood, there is a consequent decrease in the aesthetics of the casket. Thus, efforts continue to be made by those in the industry to devise more economically produced, less expensive caskets which do not exhibit a consequent decrease in aesthetics and ornamentality.
Each cap in a so-called split top casket is comprised of a crown, a pie, a rim, a header and, in the case of convex shaped lids, a web. More particularly, the crown is, as its name implies, the crown portion of the lid, which is often, though not necessarily, convex in shape. As its name implies, the pie is a pie-shaped section which fits into a pie-shaped cutout in one end of the crown. The crown and pie assembly is typically referred to in the industry as the "cover". The cover thus has opposed sides and opposed ends. Each of the opposed sides has a decorative piece of molding known as a side rim member secured thereto. Similarly, the pie has secured thereto a decorative piece of molding known as an end rim member. The pair of side rim members and the end rim member together comprise the rim. At the end of the cover opposite from the pie, there is attached to the crown a web panel, and there is attached to the ends of the side rim members and to the lower edge of the web a header panel. In the case of flat top casket lids, there is no web, but simply a header. The term "header", as used herein, shall be deemed to encompass both a) a header panel only, and b) a header panel in combination with a web panel. The combined assembly, i.e., crown, pie, rim and header, comprises the casket cap or casket lid.
In order to fabricate a cap, several different pieces must be time-consumingly assembled and secured together. For example, in the case of sheet metal caskets, a number of sheet metal stampings must be fixtured and then welded together to form the cap. In the case of wood caskets, the crown is formed from a plurality of boards secured together lengthwise with glue and fasteners. The pie is likewise formed from a plurality of boards and is secured to the crown with glue and fasteners. Next, the side and end rim members, themselves formed from a plurality of boards, are secured to the cover and the header is secured to the cover and the side rim members, again via glue and fasteners. As can be appreciated, utilizing a combination of glue and fasteners to secure together the various components of a wood casket cap is tedious and time consuming.
It would be desirable to reduce the number of component parts necessary to fabricate a cap thereby reducing assembly time and costs, etc. One attempt at accomplishing this, commercialized by Werzalit AG & Co., Federal Republic of Germany, involved the use of a mixture of wood chips and binder which was molded with tooling into a one-piece cover, i.e. crown and pie assembly. This molded one-piece cover thus eliminated the separate crown and pie and the steps required to secure the two together. The tooling for forming such a one-piece cover comprised a male portion configured into the shape of the under side of the cover to be formed, and a female portion configured into the shape of the upper side of the cover to be formed.
However, once this single-piece cover was formed, a manufacturer was still required to fabricate and install separate side rim members, end rim member and header to the one-piece cover in order to complete the cap assembly.
Another less than completely successful attempt at fabricating a one-piece casket cap utilized fiberglass and resin applied to a form in the shape of a casket cap, the process otherwise being known as "laying up." While such a one-piece, integral fiberglass casket cap did include a crown, a pie, side rim members, end rim members and a header, the fiberglass material itself as well as its use created difficulties. For example, the process of laying up of fiberglass is time and labor intensive and does not readily lend itself to automation. Further, the glass fibers are difficult to manage and the resin produces noxious odors.
It would be desirable to eliminate even more of the separate component parts of a casket cap in order to eliminate the costs associated with producing the component parts as well as the costs associated with assembling together all of the component parts while at the same time avoiding the difficulties associated with fiberglass construction techniques.


A doctor blade mounting structure for mounting a doctor blade to a main body of a development device is provided, which includes a development roller which is rotatably arranged in the main body and on the outer circumferential surface of which a magnetic brush is formed. The doctor blade is disposed in confrontation with the development roller with a predetermined gap defined between the distal end of the doctor blade and the outer periphery of the development roller, for setting the height of the magnetic brush to a uniform level. The mounting structure is provided with a rigid support plate to which the doctor blade is attached, and fixing screws for fixing the rigid support plate to the main body of the development device are provided. The doctor blade is mounted to the main body of the development device through the support plate. A doctor blade adjusting member for adjusting the predetermined gap of the doctor blade includes a screw which has its head portion engage the rear portion of the doctor blade to move the doctor blade in a plane toward and away from the development roller.

The present invention relates to a doctor blade mounting structure for mounting a doctor blade to a development unit of an imaging apparatus using of electrophotography.
In a known imaging apparatus such as an electrophotographic copy machine, laser beam printer and the like using electrophotography, an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposing the surface of a photoconductive drum formed of a photoconductive material, toner is adhered onto the latent image and developed, and then the toner is transferred onto a recording paper and fixed by a fixing unit.
Although various systems are contemplated as development methods in electrophotography, a system referred to as a magnetic brush method is widely used, wherein charged toner is supplied to an electrostatic latent image by a magnetic material carrier (magnetic brush) arranged in a chain shape by a magnet.
Although the magnetic brush method employs a two-component developer composed of non-magnetic toner mixed with a magnetic material carrier at a preset ratio, recently a so-called 1.5 component development is employed, wherein one-component charged type magnetic toner is used and a magnetic material carrier is predeposited onto a development roller.
A development unit to which the magnetic brush method is applied includes a development roller formed by rotatably installing a sleeve of a non-magnetic material around the periphery of a magnetic roller with toner sequentially supplied to a development area by rotating the sleeve of the development roller.
To develop a good image, the magnetic brush must be disposed on a uniform level with pinpoint accuracy. Thus, a flat-plate-shaped doctor blade is provided in confrontation with the outside periphery of the development roller (the outside periphery of the sleeve) and a predetermined gap (doctor gap) is set between the extreme end of the doctor blade and the outside periphery of the development roller to thereby regulate the height of the magnetic brush.
The doctor blade is adjusted in such a manner that a gage having a thickness similar to a doctor gap to be set is held between the outside periphery of the development roller and the extreme end of the doctor blade to thereby evenly press and fix the doctor blade.
Nevertheless, a problem arises in that it is very difficult to fix the flat-plate-shaped doctor blade extending over the entire longitudinal length of the development roller with respect to the development roller with a doctor gap evenly adjusted over the entire longitudinal extent of the development roller. More specifically, since the flat-plate-shaped slender doctor blade is originally very deformable by itself, it is very difficult to obtain a machining accuracy such as a straight line accuracy and suppress the occurrence of a twisted portion and the like, thus the cross section of the doctor blade must be increased by making the blade thicker to prevent the deformation thereof by providing it with rigidity. However, but the increase in the cross section of the doctor blade increases the size of the development unit. Accordingly, the size of an imaging apparatus increase using the development unit as a whole. Thus, the increase of the cross section of the doctor blade is not preferable. As a result, a deformable doctor blade must be abutted against a gage horizontally abutted against or fixed to the outside periphery of the development roller over the entire length thereof by applying an even pressing force and fixed thereto by a plurality of clamping screws. Thus, an adjusting job is time consuming and the doctor blade is difficult to be set and adjusted with pin-point accuracy.


The present invention includes compositions, methods and kits for enhancing the immunogenicity of an antigen via fusion to a Listerial protein. The present invention further encompasses Listeria vaccine strains for enhancing the immunogenicity of an antigen.

Stimulation of an immune response is dependent upon the presence of antigens recognized as foreign by the host immune system. Bacterial antigens such as Salmonella enterica and Mycobacterium bovis BCG remain in the phagosome and stimulate CD4 T-cells via antigen presentation through major histocompatibility class II molecules. In contrast, bacterial antigens such as Listeria monocytogenes exit the phagosome into the cytoplasm. The phagolysosomal escape of L. monocytogenes is a unique mechanism which facilitates major histocompatibility class I antigen presentation of listerial antigens. This escape is dependent upon the pore-forming sulfhydryl-activated cytolysin, listeriolysin O (LLO).
The ability of L. monocytogenes to break down the vacuole within a host cell and enter the cytoplasm has led to its use as a recombinant vaccine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,702 describes vaccines comprising attenuated mutants of Listeria spp. genetically engineered to express foreign antigens in the cytoplasm of infected macrophages and other cells. Several approaches for expressing the antigen in Listeria spp. are described including generation of a fusion protein of a selected foreign antigen and a listerial protein, preferably an enzyme involved in lysis of host vacuoles. In particular, a fusion protein encoding the hly promoter and the first 416 amino acids of LLO fused in-frame to the entire coding sequence of the NP antigen was constructed in E. coli and on transformation to Listeria monocytogenes secreted a 105 kDA protein that reacts with antiserum to LLO and NP (col. 24 of '702 patent). Recombinant L. monocytogenes secreting a fusion protein comprising listeriolysin O and NP (LLO-NP) was demonstrated to target infected cells for lysis by NP-specific class I-restricted cytotoxic T cells. In contrast, a hemolysin-negative L. monocytogenes strain expressing LLO-NP presented the antigen in a class II restricted manner (Ikonimidis et al., J. Exp. Med. 1994 180: 2209-2218). Thus, from these studies it was surmised that hemolysin-dependent bacterial escape from the vacuole is necessary for class I presentation in vitro.
The escape function of L. monocytogenes has also been transferred to Bacillus subtilis and attenuated Salmonella sp. strains (Bielecki et al. Nature 1990 354: 175-176, Gentschev et al. Infect. Immun. 1995 63: 4202-4205). S. enteric and M. bovis BCG vaccine carriers which secrete listeriolysin O have also been constructed (Kaufman, S. H. and Hess, J. Immunol. Lett. January 1999 65: 81-84). These constructs are taught to be capable of introducing antigens into the MHC class II and MHC class I pathway, resulting in stimulation of both CD4 and CD8 T-cells. Comparison of S. enterica vaccines which display the same listerial antigen in secreted and somatic form showed the secreted antigen display to be superior to the somatic antigen display (Kaufman, S. H. and Hess, J. Immunol. Lett. January 1999 65(1-2):81-4).
International Publication No. WO 99/10496 discloses recombinant BCG strains secreting hemolytically active hly with an improved MHC class I-restricted immune response for use as a vaccine against tuberculosis.
Administration of purified listeriolysin O encapsulated in liposomes has also been reported to be effective in the induction of antigen-specific Th1-dependent protective immunity to various kinds of intracellular parasitic bacteria in vivo (Tanabe et al. Infect. Immun. February 1999 67:568-75).
PEST sequences in eukaryotic proteins have long been identified. It has been taught that proteins containing amino acid sequences that are rich in prolines (P), glutamic acids (E), serines (S) and threonines (T), generally, but not always, flanked by clusters containing several positively charged amino acids, have rapid intracellular half-lives (Rogers et al., 1986, Science 234:364-369). Further, it has been shown that these sequences target the protein to the ubiquitin-proteosome pathway for degradation (Rechsteiner and Rogers TIBS 1996 21:267-271). This pathway is also used by eukaryotic cells to generate immunogenic peptides that bind to MHC class I and it has been hypothesized that PEST sequences are abundant among eukaryotic proteins that give rise to immunogenic peptides (Realini et al. FEBS Lett. 1994 348:109-113). Prokaryotic proteins do not normally contain PEST sequences because they do not have this enzymatic pathway. However, a PEST-like sequence rich in the amino acids proline (P), glutamic acid (E), serine (S) and threonine (T) was recently identified at the amino terminus of LLO and demonstrated to be essential for L. monocytogenes pathogenicity (Decatur, A. L. and Portnoy, D. A. Science 2000 290:992-995). Decatur and Portnoy teach that the presence of this PEST-like sequence in LLO targets the protein for destruction by proteolytic machinery of the host cell so that once the LLO has served its function and facilitated the escape of L. monocytogenes from the phagolysosomal vacuole, it is destroyed before it can damage the cells.
It has now been found that the immune response to an antigen can be enhanced by fusion of the antigen to a non-hemolytic truncated form of listeriolysin O (.DELTA.LLO). It is believed that the observed enhanced cell mediated immunity and anti-tumor immunity of the fusion protein results from the PEST-like sequence present in LLO which targets the antigen for processing.
Another Listerial protein, ActA, comprises PEST and PEST-like sequences. ActA is a surface-associated protein, and acts as a scaffold in infected host cells to facilitate the polymerization, assembly and activation of host actin polymers in order to propel the Listeria organism through the cytoplasm. Shortly after entry into the mammalian cell cytosol, L. monocytogenes induces the polymerization of host actin filaments and uses the force generated by actin polymerization to move, first intracellularly and then from cell to cell. A single bacterial protein, ActA is responsible for mediating actin nucleation and actin-based motility. The ActA protein provides multiple binding sites for host cytoskeletal components, thereby acting as a scaffold to assemble the cellular actin polymerization machinery. The NH.sub.2 terminus of ActA binds to monomeric actin and acts as a constitutively active nucleation promoting factor by stimulating the intrinsic actin nucleation activity. ActA and hly are both members of the 10-kb gene cluster regulated by the transcriptional activator PrfA, and is upregulated approximately 226-fold in the mammalian cytosol.
There exists a long-felt need to develop compositions and methods to enhance the immunogenicity of antigens, especially antigens useful in the prevention and treatment of tumors and intracellular pathogens. The present invention meets this need.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions and methods for enhancing the immunogenicity of antigens

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


A leg protection system includes an airbag that deploys in front of a leg of an occupant seated in a vehicle seat. The airbag first deploys in front of an ankle or an instep of the leg, and then deploys upwardly along the leg. An airbag may include an ankle bag that deploys only in front of the ankle or the instep, and a knee bag that deploys only in front of the knee. A vehicle may further include a closing panel for blocking a space between a lower end of an instrument panel and a dash panel.

The present invention relates to a leg protection system for preventing legs of an occupant from hitting against an instrument panel and so on in the event of a frontal crash of a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a leg protection system equipped with an airbag that deploys in front of legs of an occupant in a seat, and a vehicle having the leg protection system.
Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-315894 has disclosed a leg protection system equipped with an airbag that deploys in front of legs of an occupant in a car seat. The airbag is inflated in front of knees downwardly along a shin.
In the leg protection system, a lower part of an airbag is inflated at a space between an instrument panel/a dash panel and ankles or insteps of the legs for absorbing an impact applied to the ankles or the insteps.
An occupant generally sits on a seat such that in the legs lower than knees, toes are located at forward positions. Therefore, when the airbag deploys downwardly from the knee to the shin, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-315894, the airbag deploys in a direction that the leg moves forward.
Also, in the leg protecting system disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-315894, before the airbag reaches the ankle or the instep, it is possible that the ankle or the instep moves forward to hit the dash panel and so on.
Further, in the leg protecting system disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-315894, there is a space between a lower end of the instrument panel and the dash panel. A lower part of the airbag may be retracted into the space. Therefore, in order to sufficiently receive the ankles or the insteps, it is necessary to increase a capacity and an inner pressure of the airbag, thereby increasing a cost.
In view of the problems described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a leg protection system in which an airbag deploys in a direction opposite to a direction that legs move forward. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the legs from moving forward, and restrain ankles or insteps in an early stage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a leg protection system having an airbag capable of inflating between legs and an instrument panel, and the airbag is prevented from entering a space between the instrument panel and a dash panel.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

Leg protection system and vehicle having the same


A system and method for message exchanges in a wireless communication network which minimize network overhead and offers fast determination of Coordinates of a device. A system and method controls a node to exchange small, structured messages with one or more reference nodes requesting the Coordinates of the reference node, which are then used in a periodic evaluation of time of flight messages from that reference node for determination of Coordinates of the node.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for message exchanges which minimize network overhead and offers fast determination of Coordinates of a node in a Wireless Communication Network. Specifically, the system and method controls a node to exchange small, structured messages with one or more reference nodes requesting the Coordinates of the reference node, which are then used in periodic evaluations of time of flight messages from that reference node for determination of Coordinates of the node.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication networks, such as mobile wireless telephone networks, have become increasingly prevalent over the past decade. These wireless communications networks are commonly referred to as "cellular networks", because the network infrastructure is arranged to divide the service area into a plurality of regions called "cells". A terrestrial cellular network includes a plurality of interconnected base stations, or base nodes, that are distributed geographically at designated locations throughout the service area. Each base node includes one or more transceivers that are capable of transmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals, such as radio frequency (RF) communications signals, to and from mobile user nodes, such as wireless telephones, located within the coverage area. The communications signals include, for example, voice data that has been modulated according to a desired modulation technique and transmitted as data packets. As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, network nodes transmit and receive data packet communications in a multiplexed format, such as time-division multiple access (TDMA) format, code-division multiple access (CDMA) format, or frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) format, which enables a single transceiver at a first node to communicate simultaneously with several other nodes in its coverage area.
In recent years, a type of mobile communications network known as an "ad-hoc" network has been developed. In this type of network, each mobile node is capable of operating as a base station or router for the other mobile nodes, thus eliminating the need for a fixed infrastructure of base stations. Details of an ad-hoc network are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,322 to Mayor, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
More sophisticated ad-hoc networks are also being developed which, in addition to enabling mobile nodes to communicate with each other as in a conventional ad-hoc network, further enable the mobile nodes to access a fixed network and thus communicate with other mobile nodes, such as those on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and on other networks such as the Internet. Details of these advanced types of ad-hoc networks are described in U.S. pat. No. 7,072,650 entitled "Ad Hoc Peer-to-Peer Mobile Radio Access System Interfaced to the PSTN and Cellular Networks", issued on Jul. 4, 2006, in U.S. pat. No. 6,807,165 "Time Division Protocol for an Ad-Hoc, Peer-to-Peer Radio Network Having Coordinating Channel Access to Shared Parallel Data Channels with Separate Reservation Channel", issued on Oct. 19, 2004, and in U.S. pat. No. 6,873,839 entitled "Prioritized-Routing for an Ad-Hoc, Peer-to-Peer, Mobile Radio Access System", issued on Mar. 29, 2005, the entire content of each being incorporated herein by reference.
In either conventional wireless communications networks, or in ad-hoc wireless communications networks, it may be necessary or desirable for a mobile node to be capable of knowing or determining a relative or absolute geographic location or position. As known to those skilled in the art, this can be achieved through the use of a number of technologies. These technologies can include cell identification, combined with Round Trip Time (RTT), Timing Advance (TA) and Measured Signal level (RX level), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) and Angle Of Arrival (AOA) techniques, the details of which can be appreciated by one skilled in the art. Another available technology can use cellular signal timing based methods for code division multiple access (CDMA) and wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA). Yet another technology can use Global Positioning System (GPS) techniques.
Despite the fact that the GPS technique has been in use for a considerable period of time and most of the world's navigation relies on this technique, the GPS technique is very susceptible to errors in measurement. Therefore, the GPS technique is capable of providing location determination results with very high accuracy only after performing a relatively large number of measurements to remove such errors. Other tests also demonstrate that the GPS technique is unsuitable for those terrestrial-based networks operating in locations where the number of simultaneous visible satellites is too small or not existent, like in underground tunnels, inside buildings, or in urban "canyons".
To overcome the above issues with determining location information, ad-hoc networks are being developed which do not require either the use of satellites or a centralized computing facility for determining location information. Further details of such ad-hoc networks are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,545 entitled "A System and Method for Computing the Location of a Mobile Terminal in a Wireless Communications Network", filed on Nov. 16, 2001, the entire content of which is being incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, ad-hoc networks can be developed which utilize non-fixed, or movable infrastructure components. Further details of networks using movable access points and repeaters for minimizing coverage and capacity constraints are described in U.S. patent Publication No. 20030091010A1 entitled "Movable Access Points and Repeaters for Minimizing Coverage and Capacity Constraints in a Wireless Communications Network and a Method for Using the Same", filed Aug. 15, 2001, the entire content of which is being incorporated herein by reference.
The publications discussed above generally relate to mobile networks that connect to a permanent fixed network. However, as can be appreciated from the information referenced above, wireless ad-hoc networks do not necessarily have the same requirements, and include numerous communication issues that must be addressed in position determination.
In a typical wireless communication network, positions or Coordinates are typically found in the following manner. Reference nodes periodically transmit packets containing their Coordinates, the size of the packet can vary depending upon the accuracy desired. The Subscriber Devices receive and note the location of the reference nodes. Subscriber Devices then do specific time of flight measurements on these reference nodes at a regular interval, depending upon the accuracy desired. Coordinates of the Subscriber Devices are then determined by using the distance from various reference nodes thorough time of flight measurements, and the Coordinates of the reference nodes.
In such systems and methods, Coordinates of the reference nodes must be transmitted at a periodic rate. These are typically sent along with some periodic message like Hello Message or Neighbor Advertisement. If no such message is available, a special message needs to be sent at some periodic interval. However, periodic broadcast messages are expensive in a wireless ad-hoc network, especially where multi-channel MAC protocols are used, as it prevents other unicast messages from occurring during that period and hence, affects the number of devices present in an area (i.e. scalability). This information is particularly wasteful if few Subscriber Devices are using "Location Service". Not all subscribers want or pay for, such location services.
Additionally, the information about the location of fixed nodes does not typically change with time, that is fixed nodes will keep on transmitting the same coordinates all the time, simply consuming bandwidth and adding overhead. Therefore, the overhead can be reduced by increasing the interval between consecutive broadcast messages. However this increases the time intervals between which the Subscriber Device can determine its Coordinates. This is highly undesirable in a mobile ad-hoc network where nodes move at a fast speed.
Accordingly, a need exists for a system and method of location determination which reduces the required overhead on the network, while also improving the speed at which the Coordinates are determined.

System and method for determining location of a device in a wireless communication network


A comprehensive tool organizing system is provided having at least one vertical wall. A plurality of tool holders are positioned on the wall for organizing a plurality of tools. Such tool holders include a speed wrench holder having a square plate coupleable to the wall with a pair of vertical members situated on a front face of the plate adjacent side edges thereof. The vertical members has a plurality of notches formed therein at equal elevations. Such notches extend downwardly and rearwardly from a front surface of the associated vertical member to a rear surface thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a comprehensive tool organizing system and more particularly pertains to providing a comprehensive hand-tool organizer for preventing tools from cluttering.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of tool organizers is known in the prior art. More specifically, tool organizers heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of organizing tools 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.
By way of example, the prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,733 to Brennan; U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,688 to De Boer; U.S. Pat. Des. 294,548 to Wallace; U.S. Pat. Des. 340,824 to Pujals, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,334 to Bajek et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,256 to King.
In this respect, the comprehensive tool organizing system 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 providing a comprehensive hand-tool organizer for preventing tools from cluttering.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved comprehensive tool organizing system which can be used for providing a comprehensive hand-tool organizer for preventing tools from cluttering. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


Systems and methods for performing resonator fiber optic gyroscope (RFOG) resonance hopping are described herein. For example, an RFOG includes a fiber optic resonator. The RFOG also includes a plurality of laser sources that each launch a respective laser for propagation within the fiber optic resonator. Further, the RFOG includes a threshold detector that determines when the operation of at least one laser source in the plurality of laser sources exceeds a threshold associated with the operational range of an aspect of the at least one laser source. Additionally, the RFOG includes a hop control logic that adjusts the frequency of at least one laser produced by the at least one laser source one or more resonant modes of the fiber optic resonator such that the aspect of the at least one laser moves away from the threshold towards a nominal value within the operational range.

Gyroscopes (also referred to herein as gyros) have been used to measure rotation rates or changes in angular velocity about an axis of rotation. A basic conventional fiber optic gyro (FOG) includes a light source, a beam generating device, and a coil of optical fiber coupled to the beam generating device that encircles an area. The beam generating device transmits light beams into the coil that propagate in a clockwise (CW) direction and a counter-clockwise (CCW) direction along the core of the optical fiber. Many FOGs utilize glass-based optical fibers that guide light along a solid glass core of the fiber. The two counter-propagating (e.g., CW and CCW) beams experience different pathlengths while propagating around a rotating closed optical path, and the difference in the two pathlengths is proportional to the rotational rate that is normal to the enclosed area.
In a resonator fiber optic gyroscope (RFOG), the counter-propagating light beams are typically highly coherent and circulate through multiple turns of the fiber optic coil and for multiple passes through the coil using a device, such as a fiber coupler, that redirects a portion of the light that has passed through the coil back into the coil again (i.e., circulates the light). The beam generating device modulates and/or shifts the frequencies of each of the counter-propagating light beams so that the resonance frequencies of the resonant coil may be observed. The resonance frequencies for each of the CW and CCW paths through the coil are based on a constructive interference condition such that all light-waves having traversed the coil a different number of times, are in phase, or add constructively, at any point in the coil. As a result of this constructive interference condition, an optical wave having a wavelength k is referred to as "on resonance" when the round-trip resonator optical pathlength is equal to an integral number of wavelengths. A rotation about the axis of the coil produces a different optical pathlength for clockwise and counterclockwise propagation, thus producing a shift between the respective resonance frequencies of the resonator, and the frequency difference, such as may be measured by tuning the CW beam and CCW beam frequencies to match the resonance frequency shift of the closed optical path due to rotation, indicates the rotation rate.
In some embodiments, the resonance frequency for the RFOG may be sensitive to temperature changes. For example, the resonance frequency of a gyroscope resonator may change roughly 2 GHz per degC of temperature change, whereas the laser frequency will change roughly 12 GHz per degC. The RFOG may maintain the various lasers at the desired resonant mode while accounting for the temperature dependent changes in resonance frequency. To maintain the laser at the desired resonant mode, the various lasers in the RFOG may be frequency tuned either by changing the injection current for the laser sources, or by changing the temperatures of the laser diodes.


An electronic equipment system includes a semiconductor integrated circuit having a nonvolatile memory storing information on a characteristic of the semiconductor integrated circuit; and a controller configured to control the semiconductor integrated circuit. The controller has a function of adjusting an access parameter to the semiconductor integrated circuit based on the information stored in the nonvolatile memory.

The present disclosure relates to an electronic equipment system having a large-scale integration (LSI) such as a system LSI (semiconductor integrated circuit), and more particularly to an electronic equipment system in which adjustment against fabrication variations of the LSI, for example, is possible.
Conventionally, in order to improve the performance of LSIs to meet specifications required for electronic equipment systems, techniques of adjusting circuit characteristics of the inside of the LSIs using anti-fuses and fuses have been actively used (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-42472 (Patent Document 1), for example). Specifically, Patent Document 1 describes techniques of adjusting the input capacitance of an input terminal, the phase of an internal clock, and the refresh cycle of a DRAM, as circuit characteristics of the inside of LSIs, using anti-fuses. In such an LSI, when the input capacitance exceeds a specified range in a testing process, for example, an anti-fuse can be programmed to hold information for adjusting the input capacitance. At power-up of the LSI, the circuit path can be changed based on the information held in the anti-fuse, so that the input capacitance can be adjusted. With this adjustment, in actual use of the LSI, the input capacitance is allowed to fall within a predetermined specified range at any time, and thus fabrication variations can be easily addressed. The DRAM refresh cycle and the like can also be adjusted in similar ways: that is, a circuit characteristic of the inside of an LSI can be adjusted by programming an anti-fuse so that the characteristic falls within its specified range in a testing process of the LSI.

Electronic equipment system and semiconductor integrated circuit controller


Some embodiments provide drum mounts for mounting a drum to supporting bracket arms, stands, or racks in a manner that does not impede drum shell resonance and that shields the drum mount and structure upon which the drum is mounted from absorbing the drum's vibrational energy during play. The drum mount is comprised of an inner mount plate, outer mount bar, and coupling assemblies. Each of the inner mount plate and outer mount bar couple to a drum shell or tension ring using the coupling assemblies. The coupling assemblies also couple the inner mount plate to the outer mount bar. The coupling assemblies include dampeners and endcaps with protrusions for minimizing surface area contact points from which energy can be transferred to the drum mount.

The drum is a musical instrument that produces sound through resonance of the drum shell. Energy transferred from the drumhead into the drum shell during play creates this resonance and the drum sound. In traditional drum design, drum hoops, lugs, and lug holders couple the drumhead to the drum shell, thereby allowing for the transfer of energy from the drumhead to the drum shell.
Existing drum structures compromise or degrade the drum sound quality by hindering the drum shell resonance. Many factors contribute to this compromised or degraded sound. Some structures position or attach the lug holders directly to the drum shell, thereby impeding the drum shell resonance. Other structures avoid directly impacting the drum shell by coupling the drum hoops at top and bottom ends of the drum shell, but do so in a manner in which some of the energy passing from the drumhead to the drum shell is absorbed into the coupling framework. The framework then rattles or produces other unwanted noises that distort the sound produced from the drum shell resonance. New designs, such as the Ultimount framework set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,884,144 and 8,629,340, allow the drumhead to be coupled to the drum shell in an isolated way that shields the coupling framework from energy absorption while allowing the drum shell to freely resonate.
The drum mount is another potential source of sound degradation or distortion. Drum mounts attach the drum to a supporting bracket arm, stand, or rack. Existing drum mount structures attach the mount fittings to the drum shell. This then causes the same problems to arise. Once again, the drum shell is prevented from freely resonating. Also, rattling and other unwanted noises may be produced as some of the energy produced during play transfers from the drum shell to the drum mount.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new drum mount that allows the drum shell to resonate freely. There is further a need for such a drum mount to prevent the mount itself from adding to the drum sound. Specifically, there is a need to isolate the drum mount from the energy transferring across other drum structures during play or to at least dampen the transfer of such energy into the drum mount.


An apparatus for controlling the access of a video memory comprises a group of registers in which various kinds of control data are set to access a video memory. The group of the registers are set to store data for detecting scanning rasters, incrementing or decrementing an address of the video memory which is accessed, and starting a DMA transfer of image data. Therefore, various kinds of accessing modes can be performed without the necessity of a complicated software.

In a conventional personal computer, the so-called "television game" etc. are played especially among children. Such a personal computer is provided with an apparatus for displaying an image on a displaying screen which comprises a central processing unit (CPU) for supplying control signals and data which are read from a read only memory (ROM) to selected circuits included therein, a video display controller for defining patterns of a background and a sprite, color codes, displaying positions etc. on a displaying screen in accordance with signals from the CPU, a video color encoder for producing analog RGB signals and video color signals in accordance with signals from the video display controller, and a sound generator for producing sounds in accordance with sound signals supplied from the CPU.
In operation, a background and a sprites are displayed on the displaying screen which is connected to the video color encoder in accordance with a program stored in the ROM, and sounds are radiated from speakers which are connected to the sound generator in accordance with the program so that a story of a television game is developed in the personal computer.
The video display controller normally comprises a predetermined number of registers each storing a raster number at which a displaying screen is divided. On the divided regions of the displaying screen, a plurality of patterns corresponding to different pages are displayed.
In accessing a video memory, an address is increased in accordance with a counted value of an address counter by one to write data thereinto or to read data therefrom. In such a case, if the CPU is eight bits and the video memory is sixteen bits, the data is divided into upper and lower bytes which are transferred separately.
In a direct memory access (DMA), on the other hand, a predetermined block length of data are transferred from a source address of the video memory to a destination address thereof under the control of a DMA controller.
According to the conventional apparatus for displaying an image on a displaying screen, however, there are following disadvantages. A first disadvantage is that a construction of the apparatus is complicated and a cost of manufacturing the same is high for the reason why a predetermined number of registers must be provided therein to divide the displaying screen.
A second disadvantage is that an image is processed only in a single pattern thereby providing less interest in the display thereof because an address is increased by one regularly. In a case where a special processing of an image is required in a television game to give an increased interest for a player, this can not be performed in accordance with a method of a video memory access because the method of accessing the video memory is fixed as described above.
A third disadvantage is that a processing amount and time of the CPU are increased in addressing the video memory and so on because data of sixteen bits are divided into upper and lower bytes to be transferred through 8/16 bit data bus interface between the CPU of eight bits and the video memory of sixteen bits.
A fourth disadvantage is that a signal for the trigger of a DMA transfer which is advantageous in a transfer speed as compared to a CPU transfer must be set beforehand.
A fifth disadvantage is that a data bus width of a circuit included in the apparatus must be set to be a predetermined width so as to comply with that of the CPU, and a matching of an interface therebetween must be adjusted in a case where data bus widths of the CPU and the remaining circuits are different from each other.

Apparatus for controlling a scanning type video display to be divided into plural display regions


A towing apparatus removably attachable to the fifth wheel of a towing vehicle includes a base member having a coupling fixture for the fifth wheel, a forward lifting beam pivotably secured to the base member, and a rear lifting beam pivotably joined to the distal rear extremity of the forward lifting beam. A hydraulically activated piston mechanism is interactive between the two beams to cause the rear lifting beam to swing in a vertical path between a storage state above the towing vehicle and a rearwardly deployed state. In operation, the rear lifting beam, in the deployed state, is joined to the fifth wheel of a disabled tractor vehicle. Further extension of the piston in the same direction of motion causes the rear wheels of the disabled vehicle to rise to permit towing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to transporting disabled vehicles and, more particularly, is concerned with a recovery unit for hitching a disabled truck tractor to a towing truck tractor in a manner comparable to normal tractor trailer operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In view of the extensive use of truck tractor and trailer rigs in transporting the bulk of good and freight over the nation's highways, it is to be expected that tractor breakdown will be a frequent occurrence. Typically, a disabled tractor has to be removed from the highway to a service facility in order for repairs to be made. Removal normally requires towing the disabled tractor by using a large tow truck specially equipped and dedicated for that purpose. Such tow trucks are expensive, costing in excess of $100,000, and entail high operating costs. In many areas of the country, there are either none available or there may be considerable delay in obtaining the services of one when a breakdown occurs.
There has earlier been disclosed the desirability of temporarily adopting an ordinary truck tractor to perform such towing tasks in addition to its normal use as part of a tractor and trailer rig. The objective is to eliminate the need to locate a dedicated tow truck in order to remove a disabled tractor from the highway to a service facility. The advantage in being able to use another tractor is that such tractors are found with much greater frequency in all parts of the country than are dedicated tow trucks and thus one would quite likely be quickly and conveniently available where the need might arise. Representative hoist and towing mechanisms devised for this purpose are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,047,773 to Parks; U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,175 to Hubert and U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,358 to Gehman, et. al.
The mechanisms disclosed in the aforesaid patents recognize the advantage of employing the fifth wheels on both the towing and towed tractors to achieve a secure coupling of the two vehicles. Such coupling with the fifth wheel has been recognized to impart pivotal mobility necessary for maneuverability of the coupled vehicles during travel. However, the mechanisms of the aforesaid Patents do not readily permit unrestricted pivotal movement at the fifth wheel of the tow tractor. Unrestricted turning movement of a typical fifth wheel is achievable only when said wheel is in a level position, otherwise, binding of rotational movement is experienced. None of the aforesaid patent disclosures are cognizant of this important factor. Additionally, any secondary fulcrum or point of support on the tow tractor other than its fifth wheel inhibits maneuverability.
Earlier towing devices are difficult to deploy for use, often involving the need to carefully position beams or assemblies that may weight as much as 500 pounds. Another requirement of an effective tow device is compactness of storage upon the towing vehicle.
Once the towing tractor is coupled to the disabled tractor, it is necessary to lift the rear portion of the disabled tractor so that it can be pulled in a rearwardly directed manner, riding only upon the front wheels. Such lifting is a formidable task because a tractor may weigh between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds, and a force of about 8,000 pounds is required to raise the rear end of the tractor so that only its front wheels ride on the ground. The aforesaid Gehman, et. al. patent discloses the use of three hydraulic cylinders within a complex framework system to achieve the lifting function. The cylinders must be activated alternatively in a precise order to unfold the unit, and again to lift the tractor. Most of the lifted weight rests upon a fulcrum located behind the rearmost wheels of a tandem axle towing tractor. The placement of excessive weight behind the rear axle or the centerline of tandem rear axles of the towing tractor is undesirable because it lightens the load on the front steering axle of the tractor, thereby causing problems with steering, braking and legal weights per axle. It should also be noted that, in the aforesaid patents, the towing vehicle is of comparable size and weight as the disabled tractor. It would be desirable to utilize a smaller, less expensive towing vehicle to accomplish the lifting and towing mission.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for enabling a vehicle having a fifth wheel to tow a disabled tractor vehicle, also having a fifth wheel.
It is another object of this invention to provide apparatus as in the foregoing object which lifts the rear of said disabled vehicle for transporting it rearwardly while rolling on its front wheels.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature wherein all the lifted weight of said disabled vehicle is borne by the fifth wheel of said towing vehicle.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature which couples said towing and disabled vehicles by way of their fifth wheels.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature which permits jackknifing of said coupled vehicles in a small turning radius.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide apparatus of the aforesaid nature of simple construction amenable to easy, safe operation and low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

Apparatus for towing a disabled truck tractor


Image information of a plurality of pages input from a personal computer is stored in a hard disk. In an operation mode which can be executed only after all pages of one group are stored in the hard disk, if the hard disk becomes full before all the pages are stored, reduced images from the start to fourth pages are printed out on a single recording sheet to notify a user of a memory-full state. On this sheet, a message representative of that the hard disk is in a memory-full state is also printed out.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus with means for storing image information of a plurality of pages.
2. Related Background Art
Digital copiers with an electronic sorting function are already known in which images of all originals to be copied are read, the image data is temporarily stored in a memory such as a hard disk, and image data of desired originals are sequentially read from the memory and printed out. These copiers can discharge copied sheets in a sorted state without using a sorter.
An electronic sorting function for images written with page descriptive language (PDL) is also known in which a digital copier receives image data written with PDL used as an application of a host computer via a network and develops a PDL image into a bit map image, the image data is temporarily stored in a memory such as a hard disk, and data of desired images is sequentially read from the memory and printed out and sorted.
In order for a copier (printer) to print out images in the reverse page order to that input from a host computer, in some cases, after images developed from input PDL images are all stored in a hard disk, they are read from the hard disk in the reverse order.
Consider a case wherein reduced images of four original pages read from the last page by a copier are copied on one side of a single copy sheet in a reduced layout (4 in 1). In this case, if there is a remainder when the number of originals is divided by 4 (original number/4), it is necessary to provide a margin corresponding to (4-remainder) on a copy sheet on which the last page is printed. This is because a margin is formed on a copy sheet on which the first page of originals is copied, if a full (4 in 1) layout is made starting from the last page of originals, and the outer appearance of the first page becomes unattractive. In order to avoid this, a copier capable of performing a (4 in 1) layout stores all images sequentially read from the last page in a hard disk, and when the last page is read, the number of originals is checked.
Such a copier (printer) with a hard disk has therefore an operation mode in which only after all images of one group are stored in a hard disk, image reading from the hard disk starts.
However, a memory such as a hard disk for storing image data has a limit in its capacity so that the number of originals whose images can be stored is limited. For example, assuming that a memory (hard disk) has a capacity capable of storing images of 100 A4 sheets and the number of A4 originals is 102, although images of 100 originals can be stored in the memory, images of the two remaining originals cannot be stored (memory-full state).
In such a case, the above-described operation mode cannot be executed so that images stored in the memory are cancelled. A problem arises, however, that a user cannot discriminate between whether this case has occurred simply because a job designated by the user is still not printed, and whether this case has occurred by some errors of the copier. If a memory-full state is displayed on an operation panel of the copier, a user which requested a job not associated with the memory-full state feels anxious.

Image processing apparatus with means for storing image information of a plurality of pages


The present invention provides a black ink composition obtained by mixing at least one colorant selected from the group consisting of a compound represented by the following formula (1) and a salt thereof, one or more organic acids and one or more organic bases:

Ink jet recording is a process of ejecting an ink composition as small droplets through minute nozzles to record letters and images (hereinafter also simply referred to as "images") on a surface of a recording medium. The ink jet recording processes that have come in practice include a process of converting an electric signal to a mechanical signal using an electrostrictive element, thereby intermittently ejecting an ink composition stored in a nozzle head portion to record letters and images on a surface of a recording medium; a process of rapidly heating an ink composition stored in a nozzle head portion at a part very close to an ejection portion to generate bubbles, and intermittently ejecting the ink composition by volume expansion due to the bubbles to record letters and images on a surface of a recording medium; and the like.
Further, as an ink composition for ink jet recording, there is commonly used one in which various dyes are dissolved in water, an organic solvent or a mixed solution thereof, from the aspects of safety and print characteristics. In various characteristics, more strict conditions are required, compared to an ink composition for writing things such as a fountain pen and a ball pen.
In particular, in recent years, ink jet printers have come to be employed for the preparation of printed matter for advertisement. Printed matter prepared using an ink composition as described above is placed not only indoors as a matter of course, but also outdoors in some cases. Accordingly, the printed matter comes to be exposed to various lights including sunlight and the outdoor air (ozone, a nitrogen oxide, a sulfur oxide or the like), so that the phenomenon that image quality is deteriorated has occurred. In particular, the deterioration in a black colored portion is outstanding.
Consequently, black ink compositions excellent in light resistance and gas resistance have been developed. Together with these characteristics, it is also necessary to satisfy performances generally required for an ink composition for ink jet recording, such as no occurrence of nozzle clogging and no changes in composition and physical properties during storage, so long as it is the ink composition used for ink jet recording. The characteristics such as light resistance and gas resistance are largely dependent on a colorant used in the ink composition. When even a colorant excellent in light resistance and the like is decomposed during storage to generate air bubbles in the ink or largely changes the pH of the ink, it is necessary to develop usage preventing these problems to use. This is because the air bubbles in the ink block an ink flow path, so that they contribute to print omission cause due to pressure loss, and because a large decrease in pH during storage in an ink cartridge causes the corrosion of a nozzle plate. The corrosion of the nozzle plate deteriorates water repellency, so that it contributes to flight deflection of ink droplets to bring about deterioration in image quality.
As one of the countermeasures against such problems, pH adjustment in the preparation of the ink is conceivable.
As ink pH adjusting techniques proposed, there are a technique of adjusting the pH with an organic amine salt of a dicarboxylic acid for clogging prevention and recovery, high image quality, safety to the human body, and the like (see patent documents 1 to 3), a technique of adjusting the pH with an amine and an oxy acid for prevention of drying and improvements in print quality and dissolution stability (see patent document 4), and a technique of adjusting the pH with a glycolic acid (see patent document 5) However, these are not pH adjusting techniques for solving the above-mentioned problems.
Further, as a pH adjusting technique for keeping a change in ink pH with time to a minimum, there is a technique of adjusting the pH with an amine containing a substituent group selected from a sulfonic acid group, a carboxylic acid group and a halogen atom (see patent document 6). However, the decomposition of a colorant is not suppressed in this technique. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it becomes necessary to adjust the pH to a value at which the colorant is less decomposed, with a compound which accelerates the decomposition of the colorant as little as possible, in addition to making the pH difficult to change with time.
Patent Document 1: JP 4-339874 A
Patent Document 2: JP 4-339875 A
Patent Document 3; JP 4-339876 A
Patent Document 4: JP 5-148437 A
Patent Document 5: JP 5-339527 A
Patent Document 6: JP 6-166840 A

Abstract: wherein R1 represents a phenyl group having a substituent group or a naphthyl group having a substituent group, R2 represent a phenylene group having a substituent group or a naphthylene group having a substituent group, R3 represents a 5- to 7-membered heterocyclic ring having at least one double bond and substituent group, and further, the above-mentioned substituent groups in the above-mentioned R1 to R3 are each independently selected from the group consisting of OH, SO3H, PO3H2, CO2H, NO2, NH2, a C1–4 alkyl group, a C1–4 alkyl group having a substituent group, a C1–4 alkoxyl group, a C1–4 alkoxyl group having a substituent group, an amino group, an amino group having a substituent group and a phenyl group having a substituent group. Further, a recording method and recorded matter using the above-mentioned black ink composition are also disclosed.


An electrical connector for terminating flat cable comprises a housing which holds a plurality of contacts, and a cover which is attachable to the housing. The cover is relatively movable on the housing from an initial position wherein the flat cable can be inserted between the cover and the housing, to a final position wherein the flat cable becomes terminated to the connector. The cover has latch arms receivable in wells in the housing, and the housing has protuberances which extend into the wells from side walls thereof. The protuberances serve as stops which are abutted by the latch arms when the cover is in the initial position, thereby temporarily preventing movement of the cover beyond the initial position.

An electrical connector for flat ribbon cable which is sold under the trademark AMP-LATCH by AMP Incorporated of Harrisburg, Pa. comprises a housing which holds a plurality of contacts, and a cover which can be pre-assembled to the housing in an initial position and later driven to a final position to terminate the cable. When the cover is in the initial position the ribbon cable can be inserted between the housing and the cover so that the connector can be located along the cable. For such a connector there is a need to prevent the cover from being accidentally driven beyond the initial position prior to planned final termination so that the cover remains spaced from the housing to receive the ribbon cable therebetween. The cover has latch arms which engage locking tabs on the housing to hold the cover in the final position. The latch arms have bumps which engage surfaces on the cover to provide a means for preventing accidental movement of the cover beyond the initial position. The bumps are sheared off upon application of a sufficient force to drive the cover to the final position. A problem with providing these bumps on the cover is that complex molding equipment is required, including the use of "cam-action" or "multi-draw" molds. Consequently, mold cost, maintenance and cycle time are quite high. There is a need for an electrical connector having a mechanical feature which can hold a cover in an initial pre-stage position and which can be molded with simple equipment.

Electrical connector having a cover with pre-stage positioning


An engine component is composed of an aluminum alloy containing silicon, and includes a plurality of primary-crystal silicon grains located on a slide surface. The plurality of primary-crystal silicon grains have an average crystal grain size of no less than about 12 μm and no more than about 50 μm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine component, e.g., a cylinder block or a piston, and a method for producing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an engine component composed of an aluminum alloy which includes silicon, and a method for producing the same. The present invention also relates to an engine and an automotive vehicle incorporating such an engine component.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in an attempt to reduce the weight of engines, there has been a trend to use an aluminum alloy for cylinder blocks. Since a cylinder block is required to have a high strength and high abrasion resistance, aluminum alloys which contain a large amount of silicon are expected to be promising aluminum alloys for cylinder blocks.
In general, an aluminum alloy which contains a large amount of silicon is difficult to cast, thus making die casting-based mass production difficult. Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have proposed a high-pressure die casting technique which enables mass production of cylinder blocks using such aluminum alloys (see the pamphlet of WO 2004/002658). This technique makes it possible to mass produce cylinder blocks which have sufficient abrasion resistance and strength for practical use.
However, depending on the conceivable engine revolution and the conceivable conditions under which an engine may be used, a cylinder block may meet with even higher abrasion resistance and strength requirements. For example, in the case of a motorcycle, its engine is operated at a revolution of 7,000 rpm or more, so that there exist fairly high abrasion resistance and strength requirements for the cylinder block.

Engine component part and method for producing the same


Method and apparatus for providing gray level addressing for passive liquid crystal display (LCD) panels having overlapping row and column electrodes defining pixels are disclosed. Depending upon whether the rows are being addressed by "standard" or "Swift" addressing, the signals for applying to the column electrodes are determined by different calculations, in all of which modes the amplitudes of the column signals are related to the gray level desired to be displayed by the individual pixels. For a split interval system, column signals of appropriate amplitude and polarity are applied during different subintervals of a characteristic time interval of the display panel depending upon the method of addressing the rows. In the full interval mode, the column signals applied over a full time interval are based on the desired gray level of all the pixels in the column, adjusted to provide the proper rms voltage across all the pixels so that they display the desired gray levels. The adjustment can be spread across multiple addressing intervals and can be added into the column signal when rows are selected or can be applied to the column electrode when no row is selected.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to addressing liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to provide a plurality of gray shades or levels for the displayed image and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for providing a very high number of gray levels for a fast-responding passive matrix LCD.
LCDs are becoming increasingly useful for displaying images not only in projection systems but as screens for television receivers and computers. As a consequence, there is a demand for even faster-responding, high information content LCDs that can provide a very large number of gray levels between white and black or a large color palette.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
One method of providing gray scale for an LCD is known as frame modulation, exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,752,744 and 5,062,001 and an article by Y. Suzuki, et al., "A Liquid-Crystal Image Display," 1983 SID Digest of Technical Papers XIV 32-33 (1983). In these frame modulated systems the pixels forming the image on the screen are turned "on" and "off" in different frames correlated to the gray level or shade of color desired. When applied to faster-responding LCDs, however, frame modulation causes "flicker" and "swim." The former is perceived by the viewer as if the image were being rapidly turned on and off, and in the latter, the image appears to have ripples or waves passing through it.
The so-called "pulse-width modulation" gray scale system, exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,978 issued Jan. 24, 1984 and an article by H. Kawakami, et al., "Brightness Uniformity in Liquid Crystal Displays," 1980 SID Direst of Technical Papers XXI, 28-29 (1980), is limited in the number of distinct gray levels that it can produce. Pulse-width modulation is physically incapable of providing a number of gray levels on the order of 256 which is desirable to bring out the fine detail of images required in "multimedia" applications of LCDs. In pulse-width modulated systems, the pulses become narrower and the high frequency content of the drive signals increases with the number of gray levels. These higher frequencies are cut off by the low-pass RC filter action of the LCD panel, which makes it difficult to realize more than about 4 to 7 gray levels on the display.


A system for verifying write data includes a host computer, a controller having a write data path network and a read data path network, and a disk drive array for storing write data. The host computer provides host cyclic redundancy check characters that are appended to blocks of input write data. The write data blocks are divided into subblocks that are processed through separate channels and ports. Port cyclic redundant check characters are appended to each data subblock, including a parity subblock. The read data path network is coupled to receive the data subblocks with the appended host and port cyclic redundancy check characters from the write data path network means and has error detection circuitry for verifying the write data during the write mode.

1. Description of the Prior Art
Presently known systems for recording binary data typically include a host computer for processing data, one or more disk drives and a controller interfacing between the computer and the disk drives. With some systems that process relatively large amounts of data, a plurality of drives are configured in an array for recording and storing data. A disk array generally consists of a number of disk drives and one or more redundant drives. Fault tolerant disk arrays are used that allow failure of one or more disk drives in an array without loss of data. Such types of disk arrays are used when data availability is critical. In one method, fault tolerance is achieved by calculating simple parity for the system data and storing it on the redundant drive(s). The reconstruction of data for a bad block requires the existence of parity data for that block, knowledge in the controller of the location of the bad block, and no more than one bad data block per parity block.
It is well known that the most common failure events which occur with the use of fault tolerant disk arrays are recoverable. Since fault tolerant disk arrays are employed for critical data applications, less common failure events affecting data integrity assume a much higher importance as compared to nonfault tolerant disk systems. Thus controller failures, even though much less likely than drive failures, may lead to data loss that is unacceptable. Although controller failure during a read operation leads to the lack of availability of system data, there is no permanent loss of the data. The faulty controller can be replaced and the data recovered. On the other hand, a controller failure during a write operation, if undetected, can cause a corruption of the system data on the drives. Such corruption of data would not be detected until the bad block is subsequently read. If there is a significant time lag between the write and read operations, additional bad blocks could be written in the interim. In a worst case situation, a controller failure during a write operation may never be detected in the controller. For example, if the controller scrambles data when writing to the disks and parity data is generated for the scrambled data, an undetectable and uncorrectable write failure would occur.
Typical controller architecture has two exposures to write data loss events, namely (1) an undetected failure of the 22 controller data path function; and (2) an undetected failure in one of the drive data paths. Even though the drive data paths are fault tolerant in a disk array, a bad block must be detectable in order for it to be correctable. Typical disk controllers protect against write data loss events by reading and checking the data just written. This form of "write verification" in disk controllers requires an additional revolution of the disks in order to perform the read operation, which constitutes a significant performance penalty and therefore is not generally attempted. Furthermore, guaranteed detection of a write failure in a drive data path is difficult to implement and rarely achieved in disk array systems.
One well known error detection approach uses cyclic redundancy check (CRC) characters for detection of data path errors. Presently known disk systems require CRC generation circuitry and separate additional independent circuitry for detecting data errors. This duplication of circuitry is relatively expensive. It is highly desirable to provide integrity checking in the controller during the write mode using simplified circuitry.

Method and means for verification of write data


Provided is a semiconductor memory module including semiconductor devices using solder balls as outer connection terminals, which reduces the deterioration of solder joint reliability (SJR) due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of the module components. The memory module includes a module board, an upper heat sink, a lower heat sink and a linking means. The linking means is formed to have a structure that makes it possible to absorb contraction and expansion within the semiconductor module due to the different thermal expansion coefficients of the upper heat sink, the lower heat sink and the module board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a semiconductor memory module.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor module includes a plurality of semiconductor memory devices that are mounted to a printed circuit substrate as a single unit. Depending on a user""s needs, various memory devices such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), non-volatile static RAM (SRAM) or video RAM (VRAM) can be used. Among them, a semiconductor memory module using a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is most widely used.
FIGS. 1 through 5 are diagrams for illustrating a conventional semiconductor memory module with a bolt/nut 16, and its problems.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional semiconductor memory module. FIG. 1 shows a semiconductor memory module including a module circuit unit 10, a linking unit 12 and a pin connector unit 14. The module circuit unit 10 includes a plurality of semiconductor memory devices mounted on a module board 18 to form a single circuit. If the semiconductor memory module includes an upper heat sink and a lower heat sink 20 and 22, a bolt/nut 16 is used to couple (fix) the two heat sinks together. The pin connector unit 14 is where a pin connector is formed so as to connect the semiconductor memory module to another printed circuit board.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the semiconductor memory module, taken along the line II-IIxe2x80x2 of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2, in the semiconductor memory module, upper and lower semiconductor devices 26 and 28 such as a ball grid array (BGA) package or a chip scale package (CSP), are mounted on either of two opposing surfaces (top or bottom) of the module board 18, which is a type of printed circuit substrate, using solder balls as outer connection terminals. The upper and lower semiconductor devices 26 and 28 are connected to the upper and lower heat sinks 20 and 22, respectively, via a thermal interface material (TIM) layer 30.
The upper and lower heat sinks 20 and 22 are configured to enclose the module board 18 on which the semiconductor devices 26 and 28 are mounted. As discussed above, the upper and lower heat sinks 20 and 22 are coupled together with a bolt/nut 16.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the portion of the cross section marked as 3 in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows the thermal interface material (TIM) layer 30 disposed between the semiconductor devices 26 and 28 and the heat sinks 20 and 22 to facilitate heat transfer between the semiconductor devices 26 and 28 and the heat sinks 20 and 22, respectively.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the portion of the cross section marked as 4 in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 4, the upper heat sink 20 and the lower heat sink 22 are coupled together with bolts/nuts. Consequently, the semiconductor devices 26 and 28 are mounted on either of two opposing surfaces of the module board 18 and the upper and lower heat sinks 20 and 22 are fixed to each other using the bolt/nut 16 that are made of metal.
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view showing a transformed shape of a conventional semiconductor memory module after a temperature cycling test.
In general, semiconductor devices are mounted in integrated electronic equipment systems consisting of hundreds to tens of thousands of components, such as a rocket, a spacecraft, an airplane, and a computer. Even if only one of the semiconductor devices mounted in an integrated electronic equipment system operates incorrectly, the integrated electronic equipment system may malfunction and need to be scrapped.
Therefore, the reliability of each semiconductor device must be ensured before it is used. To solve this problem, semiconductor device manufacturers must perform a reliability test on each of the semiconductor devices before providing the finished goods to customers.
There are many kinds of reliability tests, such as a temperature cycling test, which is usually performed to test the reliability of semiconductor devices as a function of temperature. The temperature cycling test preliminarily tests whether physical and electrical defects occur in semiconductor devices. For this, semiconductor devices are put into a chamber and are then subjected to a temperature cycle of between xe2x88x9265xc2x0 C. and 150xc2x0 C.
However, with a conventional semiconductor memory module, the bonding strength of the solder balls 32 which connect the semiconductor devices 26 and 28 to the module board 18, (the solder joint reliability (SJR)), deteriorates after the temperature cycling test. This is because components of the memory module have different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) relative to each other. Specifically, the CTE of silicon, the module board 18 and aluminum forming the upper and lower heat sinks are 2.6 ppm/xc2x0 C., 18 ppm/xc2x0 C., and 24 ppm/xc2x0 C., respectively.
Accordingly, when the semiconductor memory module is subjected to the temperature cycling test, the module board 18, the semiconductor devices 26 and 28, and the upper and lower heat sinks 20 and 22 are alternately contracted and expanded. Their sizes change by different amounts depending on their CTE. For example, the TCE of the module board is higher than that of the silicon forming the semiconductor devices 26 and 28. Thus, the degree (magnitude) of contraction or expansion of the module board is greater than that of silicon.
However, as shown in FIG. 5, solder balls 32xe2x80x2 are fixed between the semiconductor devices 26 and 28 and the upper and lower heat sinks 20 and 22 such that the semiconductor devices and the heat sinks cannot be moved responding to such contraction or expansion. In addition, bolt/nut 16 fixes each of the heat sinks 20 and 22 and the module board 18 together. For these reasons, the solder balls 32xe2x80x2 cannot withstand the force of the contraction and expansion and can be easily disfigured.
Consequently, the solder balls lose their bonding strength between the semiconductor devices 26 and 28 and the module board 18, thereby causing fatal defects in the operation of the semiconductor memory module and severely deteriorating the reliability of the semiconductor memory module.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a memory module that reduces the deterioration of solder joint reliability, which is caused by the differences in the thermal expansion coefficients of components of the memory module.
According to one embodiment, the present invention includes a module board where a plurality of semiconductor devices are stacked, an upper heat sink in contact with the top surface of the semiconductor devices and encloses the top surface of the module board, a lower heat sink in contact with the top surface of the semiconductor devices and encloses the bottom surface of the module board, and a linking means for fixing the upper and lower heat sinks together. The linking means absorbs different degrees (variations) of contraction and expansion of the upper and lower heat sinks and the module board that occurs due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients between them.
The linking means can consist of a first coupling body and a second coupling body configured to be coupled (interlocked) together. When the two coupling bodies are coupled together, a gap having a predetermined width is formed at lateral sides of the linking means and extends in a direction parallel to the direction in which the two coupling bodies are coupled.
According to the present invention, the linking means can absorb different degrees of contraction and expansion of the components forming the semiconductor memory module, thereby improving the reliability of the semiconductor memory module including the solder joint reliability (SJR).

Semiconductor module with improved solder joint reliability


A laser diffraction particle size analyzer irradiates a laser beam on particles in a scattered state, and measures a spatial intensity distribution of diffracted and scattered light from the particles. A particle size distribution of the particles is calculated from a result of the measurement. The laser diffraction particle size analyzer includes a laser device for generating an ultraviolet laser beam as a light source for generating a laser beam, and a fluorescent member closely attached to or disposed adjacent to a detecting surface of a photodiode array that measures the spatial intensity distribution of the diffracted and scattered light upon incidence thereof.

The invention relates to a laser diffraction particle size analyzer, particularly, a particle size analyzer capable of measuring fine particles.
In a general laser diffraction particle size analyzer, a laser beam is irradiated on particles in a scattered state, and a spatial intensity distribution of diffracted and scattered light is measured. The result is converted into a particle size distribution through Mie's scattering theory or Franhofer's diffraction theory (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 06-241975). In such a laser diffraction particle size analyzer, a visible laser beam is used for irradiating on particles as the laser beam (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-33376). A photodiode array such as a ring detector detects the diffracted and scattered light from the particles (refer to Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 06-241975).
Incidentally, in such a particle size analyzer, it has been known that a lower limit of particle diameter in measuring a particle size distribution depends on a wavelength of laser beam irradiated on the particles. Accordingly, when the laser beam has a shorter wavelength, it is possible to measure particles with smaller diameters. In the conventional laser diffraction particle size analyzer, the visible laser beam is used, thereby restricting the lower limit of particle diameter in measuring a particle size distribution.
In view of the problem described above, the present invention has been made, and an object of the invention is to provide a particle size analyzer capable of measuring particles with diameters smaller than that the conventional laser diffraction particle size analyzer can measure.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.


Heating apparatus specifically adapted for the heat treatment of turbine blades comprises two support parts (10, 11) which may be pivotally connected by a hinge (17), the support parts (10, 11) carrying heating elements (14, 15) and a slot (20) the provision of the slot (20) enabling the heating apparatus to be slid over the trailing edge of the turbine blade into position on the blade and subsequently closed by a closure member (24) which enables the rapid application of heating apparatus for heat treatment processes which has hitherto been a complicated and time consuming operation. The heating apparatus may incorporate thermocouples (27) and heat sinks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for the heat treatment of turbine blades either before, during or after work to be carried out on the turbine blades, which work involves the input of considerable thermal energy such as may occur during a welding or brazing operation.
When work is carried out to a turbine blade, which work may comprise modification or repair for example, such work involves the application of considerable thermal energy.
Applicant has found that it is advantageous to not only provide a stress relieving heat treatment after such work has been carried out but the application of controlled heat, both before the application of considerable thermal energy and in some cases during the application of considerable thermal energy, can be beneficial to reduce stresses and/or distortion that might otherwise occur to the turbine blade.
Heat may in many instances best be applied by the application of electrically heated elements, often referred to as heating mats, since the heat dissipation of such mats and the temperature to which the turbine blade is heated may be carefully controlled by altering the power supply to individual heating mats.
2. Prior Art
Problems have occurred in the past in the securing of such mats to the turbine blades and British Patent Specification No. 2,144,361, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,744, provides one solution to the problem.
The invention disclosed in British Patent Specification No. 2,144,361 involved the attachment of wires to a turbine blade, which wires may subsequently be removed, to hold the heating mats in position and also enabled a part of the heating mat to be temporarily removed from a repair area to enable a work step involving welding, for example, to be carried out as required.
The attachment of heating mats in a manner as described in British Patent Specification 2,144,361 was highly satisfactory. However, in some cases problems could occur, in particular where it was required to carry out work on the turbine blade while still in position on a rotor in view of the proximity of adjacent blades, since access to the blade to be repaired can be very limited.
It is an object of the present invention to provide heating apparatus that overcomes or reduces the problems mentioned above.

Heat treatment method and apparatus for turbine blades using flexible heater sleeve


The present invention is unique in its design and function, it can be worn by any adult and fashioned into several types of apparel ranging from a hat and scarf to a pair of gaucho pants. Because the garment does not have buttons or snaps, it can be easily utilized by persons with handicaps or disabilities. It can be worn as a head and shoulder shawl, a hat and neck scarf, a top wear, a light jacket, a shrug, and pants. The unique design is the one cut and two sewing seams creation of the bell sleeve type garment out of a light weight stretchable fabric. There are no hooks, Velcro, zippers or buttons. For creating a tapered sleeve type garment, an additional cut is made. Because of its simplicity, the garment of the present invention is cost efficient to manufacture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of clothing, and more particularly to a garment that can be worn in a variety of styles and fashions.
2. Description of Related Art
The item described herein represents a unique product because it is convertible and compact. It is cost effective and rather easy to put on, take off and wear in general. This invention has appeal for all ages and while primarily designed for use by women can also be worn by men. The varying ways in which this product can be worn lends itself to multiple uses as well as functionality. For example:
1. When worn as a head dress it has appeal to persons of both religious and non religious practices.
2. Within certain regions of the world there is uncertainty as to the weather and temperature conditions. Since this sometimes poses a problem with preparation and readiness for most people use of said device has the essential functionality to provide warmth and protection without sacrificing style, compatibility, flexibility, availability, storage and cost.
3. The travel industry has forced people to be more conscience of the items they pack and wear. Thus traveling to and from different climates bring about different needs. The hat and scarf worn in the morning may need to be converted to a light jacket or cape by the afternoon or in a cool airplane or restaurant. This invention allows for such versatility all in one garment.
The needs and uses of said garment are evident and described in detail within this patent. The invention is appealing, simple, comfortable, convertible, light weight, cost-efficient to manufacture, and provides warmth, style, as well as affordable fashion for any person regardless of their location in the world.


A system for mounting an airbag and airbag inflator comprises an airbag inflator having a plurality of clips that are engagable with a mounting plate. The airbag is interposed between the inflator and the mounting plate when the clips on the inflator are engaged with the mounting plate so as to support the airbag and seal the interface between the inflator and mounting plate. Gas flow incident to deflation of the airbag is vented through the mounting plate.

The major components of a typical state-of-the-art inflatable vehicle occupant restraint mechanism are an inflator, an inflatable airbag, and a mounting plate therefor. The airbag is generally secured to the inflator and/or mounting plate by a plurality of rivets and/or threaded fasteners. The inflator is typically secured to the mounting plate on the opposite side thereof from the airbag by additional fasteners. An O-ring or other form of seal is usually positioned between the inflator and the mounting plate to prevent inflation gases from escaping during deployment.
The aforesaid construction is less than satisfactory in that it requires multiple rivets and/or threaded fasteners for both inflator and airbag retention. Moreover, the inflator and airbag are fastened to the mounting plate in separate assembly operations. The seal required to prevent high pressure high temperature inflation gases from escaping into the vehicle passenger compartment between the mounting plate and inflator during deployment, thereby reducing airbag pressure, is a source of system failure. Ultimate venting of the spent inflation gases is through vents in the bag into the passenger space.