Embodiments of the disclosed technology are designed for creation of a photographic image comprising an upper and lower portion from two rolls of film whereby the picture is created by simultaneous exposure within a single camera housing, or emulation thereof. This is accomplished in one embodiment by wrapping two rolls of film around a spool, one above the other, such that the rolls pull off the reel in parallel and onto a single take-up spool. Thus, when the shutter opens, both rolls of film are simultaneously exposed, and an image forms half on one and half on the other. In another embodiment, a camera comprises two film chambers (which may be a single chamber with divider adapting the chamber to hold two rolls of film), one above the other, and a roll is loaded into each film chamber. Embodiments may be used to breathe new life into discontinued film formats, such as 70 mm film cameras by using two 35 mm rolls of film.

Film photography has been surpassed by digital photography, and with it, by the expedited death of less popular formats. Film, which has a chemical layer that reacts with the addition of light to record a negative image of the light it is exposed to, is typically loaded into a camera in a film chamber, wrapped around a spool. It is pulled off the spool and onto a take-up spool on the other side of a shutter. A portion of the unrolled film is exposed to light when a shutter opens, a lens focusing light onto the exposed film.
Many formats of film exist in various sizes, various chemical compositions used to form a negative image of light hitting it (or in some cases, a positive image), and come in color, black and white, infrared, and other varieties. Film formats change over time, and, with the prevalence of digital photography, the discontinuation of various film formats is accelerating. Thus, for example, a camera which takes 70 mm film is difficult to use, and manufacture of 116 and 616 film has long been discontinued. Likewise, 620 and 828 roll film is no longer produced by any major film processing company, and 127 film is on manufactured by a single company in Croatia at the time of this writing.
While the prior art has cameras which can hold multiple types of film, most are designed for a single-size film. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,565,618, 2,584,373, and 2,693,137 allow one to choose between a first roll of film and a second roll of film. While U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,124 discloses the ability to change an image format in a camera, this method, unfortunately, does not breathe new life into old cameras, but rather, new life into old film. A proprietary camera must be used.
Thus, there is a need to draw new life into old cameras, in order to extend their use by enthusiasts, artists, and posterity.
Referring now to FIG. 1, this figure shows the back of a typical camera as known in the prior art. A film chamber 19 holds film, such as 35 mm or 70 mm film (a 35 mm camera is shown in FIG. 1, by way of example). In the case of 70 mm film, reel sizes may be 116 or 616 reels which have different thicknesses. Shutter 20 opens and closes to allow light in, which has been focused by a lens (in most cases). The light exposes an unrolled portion of the film which has notches or sprocket holes adapted for engagement with sprocket teeth 22. In this manner, the film can be unrolled and pulled from the film chamber 19 to a take-up spool 23 by mechanically rotating the sprocket teeth 22. Film pressure plate 24 and the camera back cover 25 keep the film flat and unexposed to light when it is unrolled between the spools. Some cameras have a power winder coupler 26, allowing one to insert a tool with rotating head to wind the film quickly. In many cameras, an internal motor exists to accomplish this, and may be activated by a rewind button 27. Film rail 28 and film guide rail 29 further ensure that the film remains in its proper place, in order to ensure the precise positioning of negative pictures on the film and that the film does not get stuck. (If the film did get stuck, the camera would have to be opened under infrared, low intensity, or pitch black light conditions (depending on film type), in order to ensure that photographs on the film are not ruined by over-exposure to light). For purposes of this disclosure, a "film rail" is defined as a portion above a space for the shutter opening, or below a space for the shutter opening. An edge of film may rest on the film rail, may be engaged with sprockets on the film rail, or may pass between upper and lower film rails. Other features of typical cameras include tripod sockets 30 for mounting the camera on a tripod, a battery chamber 31 where the camera's battery is stored, and other buttons 32.

Simultaneous exposure of parallel rolls of film for existing film cameras


The present disclosure provides a lane line detection method and apparatus. The lane line detection method is applicable for an in-vehicle device and includes: determining a region of interest in an image to be detected; extracting lane line pixel features in the region of interest; combining similar lane line pixel features to generate a superpixel corresponding to the combined lane line pixel features; and performing a clustering and fitting process for respective superpixels to obtain a target lane line.

With the rapid development of vehicle assisted driving and unmanned vehicle technology, whether a machine vision sensor can accurately obtain signs, marks or lane line information around the vehicle becomes the most important part of an vehicle assisted driving system in which a real-time detection and warning technology of the lane line guarantees that various vehicles run on their own lanes, and plays an important role in deviation warning and lane keeping.
Current lane line detection methods mainly depends on an assumption that the lane lines are parallel, or the lane line or road model is required to be known in advance. These methods perform well on highways, but in an urban environment, for example, in case of intersecting, branched, merged lane lines or the like, these methods tend to miss detection. Moreover, when a vehicle in front comes too close, it will also cause interference with the lane line detection of the current lane, resulting in false detection of the lane line.

Lane line detection method and apparatus


After a first insulating film is formed only on the top surface or at least on the entire surface of a polysilicon gate electrode, first impurity ions are implanted into a semiconductor substrate from above the entire substrate to provide lightly doped source and drain regions. Then, after vertical layers are formed at the sides of the gate electrode and a second insulating film is formed at least on the top surface of the gate electrode, second impurity ions are implanted from above the entire semiconductor substrate to provide heavily doped source and drain regions.

The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of an LDD (lightly doped drain)-type MOS transistor, which method is intended to prevent the undesired phenomenon that impurity ions penetrate through a gate electrode to reach a channel region when they are introduced into source and drain regions.
Conventional methods of manufacturing semiconductor devices of the above type are associated with the problem that impurity ions pass through a gate electrode to reach a channel region when impurity ions are implanted into source and drain regions in such cases that the gate electrode is thin or made of polysilicon, or an acceleration voltage of the ion implantation is high.
In the case of a gate electrode made of polysilicon, since its crystal grains usually have a pillar-like structure, ions incidentally launched into a crystal grain boundary do not remain within the gate electrode but reach the channel region. As a result, the impurity concentration in the channel region is locally-reduced, to decrease the threshold voltage Vth.
Further, the conventional manufacturing methods encounter the following problem when the polysilicon gate electrode is employed that is heavily doped to provide n- or p-type conduction. If the source and drain regions are to be doped to provide a conduction type opposite to that of the gate electrode, impurity ions for the source and drain regions that are mixed into the gate electrode will increase the resistance of the gate electrode.
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems in the art, and has an object of providing a manufacturing method of the above type of semiconductor device, in which method, in implanting impurity ions into source and drain regions, their introduction into a channel region through a gate electrode can be avoided and the degree of their introduction into the gate electrode is reduced.
According to the invention, a manufacturing method of a field effect transistor comprises the steps of:
forming a gate electrode on a semiconductor substrate;
forming an insulating film only on a top surface or at least on the entire surface of the gate electrode; and
implanting impurity ions into source and drain regions from above the entire semiconductor substrate.
The above manufacturing method may further comprises the steps of:
forming vertical layers adjacent to side surfaces of the gate electrode;
forming a second insulating film at least on the top surface of the gate electrode; and
implanting second impurity ions into the source and drain regions from above the entire semiconductor substrate.
With the above manufacturing method, since impurity ions go through at least one amorphous layer, where they are scattered, the possibility that impurity ions penetrate through the crystal grain boundaries of the polysilicon gate electrode becomes extremely small. In the case of implanting ions to produce p-type source and drain regions in an n-type Si substrate in a BF2 atmosphere under the conditions of, for instance, E=70 keV and Q=5xc3x971015 cmxe2x88x922, an oxide film of 60 nm in thickness that is formed on the gate electrode can interrupt 50% of the ions because the projected range of the ions is about 60 nm.


It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrochemical device having an electrolytic solution having high current density and high oxidation resistance, as well as high safety, where dissolution and deposition of magnesium progress repeatedly and stably.

Magnesium to be used as a raw material of a magnesium ion battery is an element present abundantly on the earth, and is a material having higher superiority as compared with lithium which is unstable in price and supply amount or the like. In addition, since the magnesium ion battery is cheap and safe, as well as has high energy density, it has been drawn attention as a post-lithium ion battery.
As a negative electrode of the magnesium ion battery, usually metal magnesium is used. However, since metal magnesium has high reducibility, in the case where said metal is used as a negative electrode, it reacts with an electrolytic solution to form a passive state film having low ion conductivity, at the electrode surface thereof. There has been well known that formation of this passive state film inhibits reversible dissolution and deposition of magnesium, which has been a problem on using metal magnesium as a negative electrode.
On the other hand, an electrolytic solution not forming the passive state film has also been known. For example, in PATENT LITERATURE 1 and NON PATENT LITERATURE 1, there has been reported that by using an electrolytic solution, where an electrolyte represented by the general formula Mg(ZR11R2mXn)2 (wherein z represents a boron or an aluminum; R1 and R2 represent a hydrocarbon group; X represents a bromine or a chlorine; and l+m+n is 4) is dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF), reversible dissolution and deposition of magnesium is possible.
Additionally, various reports have been made aiming at enhancing performance of the magnesium ion battery. For example, in PATENT LITERATURE 2, there has been reported that by using an electrolytic solution, where an aromatic Grignard's reagent represented by the general formula C6H5MgX (wherein X═Cl, Br) is dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF), low oxidation potential of the Grignard's reagent (RMgX, wherein R is an alkyl group), which conventionally has been said, can be improved.
In addition, in PATENT LITERATURE 3 and PATENT LITERATURE 4, there has been reported that by using the Grignard's reagent (RMgX) or a magnesium chloride (II) and an organometal compound (an alkylaluminum compound) in combination, to form a complex by making magnesium dimerized in the system, acid resistance of an electrolytic solution can be improved.
Still more, in NON PATENT LITERATURE 2, there has been referred to on progress of reversible dissolution and deposition of magnesium, from the result of cyclic voltammogram and electrode surface analysis, by preparation of an electrolytic solution wherein a magnesium bromide (II) is dissolved in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran in order to enhance safety of the electrolytic solution.

Electrolyte solution for electrochemical devices

Abstract: The present invention relates to the electrolytic solution for an electrochemical device comprising (1) the supporting electrolyte composed of a magnesium salt and (2) at least one or more kinds of the compound represented by the following general formula [2], as well as the electrochemical device comprising said electrolytic solution, a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a separator.


Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein an execution unit requests additional execution time from a kernel to prevent the execution unit from being swapped out during an execution of a critical section. The kernel determines whether the execution unit has previously avoided yielding execution to other execution units within a predetermined period of time after being allocated the additional execution time in response to at least one previous request for the additional execution time. The kernel allocates the additional execution time to the execution unit, in response to determining that the execution unit has not previously avoided yielding execution to the other execution units within the predetermined period of time after being allocated the additional execution time in response to the at least one previous request for the additional execution time.

1. Field
The disclosure relates to a method, system, and article of manufacture for the scheduling of execution units.
2. Background
An execution unit is a generic term for one entity of a collection of concurrently executing entities, where the collection of concurrently executing entities may be processes or threads. A multi-tasking operating system is capable of managing a plurality of execution units that execute concurrently within a computational device in which the multi-tasking operating system is implemented.
An execution unit may be in any one of a number of states. An execution unit may be in a running state when the execution unit is currently making use of a processor, whereas the execution unit may be in a blocked state when the execution unit is waiting for making use of the processor. For example, an execution unit may be in a blocked state when the execution unit needs access to a critical resource, e.g., a semaphore. An execution unit may yield the processor for other execution units after being in a running state for a period of time. Furthermore, an execution unit may be swapped out, i.e., removed from the running state, by the kernel of the operating system, such that the execution unit is no longer in a running state. Additionally, an execution unit may be swapped in by the kernel of the operating system to bring the execution unit into a running state.
Processes and threads may be defined differently in different operating systems. In certain operating systems, a process is a "heavyweight" execution unit with its own address space, where a "heavyweight" execution unit consumes significant resources for execution in comparison to a "lightweight" execution unit, such as a thread that shares an address space with other threads. In certain other operating systems, a thread is a fundamental execution unit. Furthermore, in certain operating system, threads are associated with a process and share the environment of the process.

System for indicating and scheduling additional execution time based on determining whether the execution unit has yielded previously within a predetermined period of time

International Business Machines Corporation


An X-ray system, comprises a motor-adjustable C-arm, an input device which has a first actuating device and is mechanically connected to the C-arm, a dead man's switch, which is mechanically connected to the C-arm, and a pattern recognition module which cooperates with the input device and the dead man's switch, and is provided to determine a classification of actuating signal patterns generated via the first actuating device. A first signal group is activatable when the dead man's switch is actuated, and a second signal group is activatable when the dead man's switch is not actuated.

A C-arm X-ray system is known for instance from German Patent Disclosure DE 42 37 013 A1. The X-ray system known from DE 42 37 013 A1 has a handle on a picture-taking system supported on the C-arm, and a force pickup is associated with this handle. A user control force which can be detected serves as a guide variable in a closed-loop control circuit, and an acceleration of the motor-adjustable C-arm is the controlled by the variable. In this way, the user is meant to be given the impression that he is moving the X-ray system with substantially smaller masses or lesser moments of inertia. For tripping further control functions, which go beyond purely controlling motion, buttons or keys are pressed by the user. Such buttons are typically disposed not on the C-arm or on the picture-taking system connected to the C-arm but rather on a separate control unit. This arrangement may make operating the X-ray system ergonomically unfavorable and time-consuming.


In a wireless communication system wherein at least two communication units employ the TDD wireless communication method based on OFDMA, an OFDM wireless communication method and a wireless communication apparatus are disclosed. The first communication unit transmits a pilot signal over the whole subband zone configured of divisions of a predetermined system band. The second communication unit having a plurality of antennas estimates a propagation path of the subchannels constituting continuous frequency blocks making up a subband from the pilot signal received. The second communication unit determines the array weight used at the time of signal transmission to the first communication unit using the estimation result.

The present invention relates to a wireless communication method and a wireless communication apparatus, or in particular a technique for realizing the cellular communication with the orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) by employing the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).
In the wireless communication, the number of frequency resources available for use is limited, and therefore, a key playing a great role in realizing a system is how to achieve a high frequency utilization efficiency and a high communication speed. With this as a background, the research and development are under way for the wireless communication technique employing OFDM making possible the user scheduling even in frequency domain. In OFDM, the data to be transmitted is generated in frequency domain, and converted into a signal in time domain by IFFT (inverse fast Fourier transform) and transmitted as a wireless signal. At the receiving end, the signal in time domain is converted into a signal in frequency domain by FFT (fast Fourier transform) and the original signal is retrieved. In conducting the communication, control channels such as an access channel for establishing a link for the up link, a wireless control channel for transmitting the control information of the down link and up link and a broadcast channel for notifying the information on channel allotment and the system are required in addition to the data channel for data transmission.
The standardization organization IEEE802.20 has proposed a wireless scheme based on OFDM, and according to IEEE C802.20-06/04, the down link wireless control channel for transmitting the control information for the down link is defined. Also, the standardization organization 3GPP proposes a wireless scheme based on OFDM as LTE (long term evolution), and according to 3GPP TR 25.814 V7.0.0 (2006-06), the down link wireless control channel described above is defined. Further, the standardization organization 3GPP2 proposes a wireless scheme based on OFDM as LBC (loosely backward compatible), and according to 3GPP2 C30-20060620-054R2, the down link wireless control channel for transmitting the down link control information is defined.
The wireless control channel for the wireless communication schemes including and before the code division multiple access (CDMA) is always separated into the data channel and the control channel by time division, frequency division or code division. In the CDMA communication scheme, for example, a plurality of channels are transmitted at the same time by a diffused code, and at the receiving end, the required information can be retrieved by the inverse diffusion operation using a specified code. In this scheme, the diffused code allotted to the control channel is predetermined.
In the third-generation mobile communication now under development, on the other hand, the trend has changed toward the communication in which all information are carried on IP. In keeping with this trend, the broadband system has become a common practice and various forms of information are required to be exchanged in the next-generation communication utilizing OFDM. Some examples of the various forms of information are the data communication of best-effort type, the audio communication such as VoIP and the video streaming information.
In order to realize a broader band system, a method of the next-generation communication is proposed in which without any line dedicated to the wireless control channel, a part of the channel made up of OFDM is used for the wireless control channel as well as for the normal data channel. In accordance with the number of wireless mobile stations connected, the number of wireless channels required by each mobile station and the situation of the propagation path, the resource allotment to the wireless control channel is adaptively controlled. In this way, the overhead due to the wireless control channel that has thus far been caused by the margin design can be reduced.
IEEE C802.20-06/04 describes a method in which the wireless control channel such as the down link control channel F-SSCH is transmitted using several channels configured of OFDM. In this wireless control channel, the allotted amount and arrangement are declared at the head of the superframe.
The mobile station connected to the base station using this method in which the allotted amount and arrangement of the wireless control channel are declared at the head of the superframe receives the wireless control channel in the following steps:
Step 101: The information on the allotment of the control channel described in the preamble at the head of the superframe is acquired. The superframe is a unit configured of several PHY frames and a preamble is transmitted at the head thereof.
Step 102: The corresponding PHY frame is retrieved from the received signal and the wireless control channel is demodulated according to a predetermined demodulation method.
3GPP2 C30-20060626-054R2 describes a method similar to IEEE C802.20-06/04, in which the power is controlled for the down link wireless control channel and the resources of the transmission power as well as the product of time and frequency are optimized thereby to reduce the interference with other cells.
The PHY frame described above is the unit of minimum division in the direction of time in wireless area configured of a plurality of OFDM symbols. The process of channel coding is executed in this PHY frame unit.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the frame structure of 3GPP2 C30-20060626-054R2.
In FIG. 1 showing the superframe structure for TDD, a preamble is arranged at the head of the superframe.
FIG. 2 shows the preamble structure. The preamble has the structure shown in FIG. 2, and includes a pilot field (TDM1, TDM2, TDM3) for frame synchronization by the terminal and the broadcast information (pBCH0, pBCH1). The "PHY frame" is differently called according to a different standardization and may be referred to as a subframe.

OFDM wireless communication method and wireless communication apparatus


A metal mesh structure for use in an integrated circuit is described. In one embodiment, a semiconductor integrated circuit includes a first region including, for example, a device layer having one or more active semiconductor devices. The circuit also includes a second region, which may include a metalization layer including circuit wires. The circuit further includes a layer of metal mesh interposed between the first and second regions, and which may be implemented on at least a portion of another metalization layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits and, more particularly, to shielding structures and metallization layers within semiconductor integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated Circuits (ICs) are manufactured using complex processes including a variety of specific processing steps. Typically, the solid-state devices that make up an IC are formed on the surface (or substrate) of a semiconducting material such as silicon, for example. Although silicon has been the most widely used semiconducting material, other materials such as Gallium-Arsenide (GaAs) and Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) have also become popular for certain applications including analog and specialty integrated circuits. Once the devices have been formed, the individual components are interconnected. The devices are typically interconnected by metal lines or wires made from aluminum, copper, tungsten or some other conductive material. The metal lines are typically manufactured by depositing layers of metal over the entire surface of the wafer and then precisely etching away areas other than those defining the metal lines. Due to the high density of devices, most modern ICs include multiple metal layers that may be separated by an interlayer dielectric (ILD).
Analog circuits and especially high frequency analog circuits can be susceptible to noise. The operation of such circuits may be affected adversely when placed in noisy environments. This may be particularly true of analog and mixed signal integrated circuits. Mixed signal ICs may include both analog and digital circuits that are manufactured on the same semiconducting substrate. Noise and spurious signals generated by one circuit may adversely affect the operation of other circuitry. For example, the digital circuits can generate switching noise that may detrimentally affect the operation of analog circuits that are nearby or are otherwise coupled to the digital circuits.
In some IC designs, it may thus be desirable to shield signals from one another from a capacitive coupling point of view. This is often accomplished by introduction of metal lines and/or metal planes between the signal regions. Although this approach works adequately in some IC designs, in designs that require the shielding of numerous important signals, a very high metal density may result from the use of large amounts of metal plane shielding. Unfortunately, many fabrication technologies impose strong restraints on high metal densities to avoid dishing and other manufacturing problems.
In addition, while in many IC designs shielding of signals from an inductive point of view is generally not considered, at gigahertz frequencies and with thick metals, reasonable attenuation of magnetic fields through continuous metal planes may be attained. As stated above, however, continuous metal planes are generally not allowed (or are disfavored) in many fabrication technologies due to manufacturability issues.
It is also sometimes necessary that characteristics of different components in an IC be precisely matched. For example, it may be desirable to precisely match the electrical characteristics (e.g., capacitance values) of different capacitors formed within an IC. Depending on the type of capacitor and the specific manufacturing process, conventional trimming techniques may not be viable or desirable. Another method used to accomplish matching may include the use of a continuous metal plane shield to create a matched environment for the capacitors. However, as stated above, in addition to the manufacturability issues associated with the high metal density of continuous metal plane shields, the possibility of dishing may also hinder the ability to create a matched environment.
Finally, it is also sometimes desirable in IC designs for manufacturability reasons to ensure good planarization and consistent metal uniformity. Typically the goal is to increase the metal density to above 20% but below about 70% or 80% in a uniform way. Fill programs are commonly used to add metal dummy fill structures wherever it is considered necessary. However, in some designs such as analog designs, the dummy metal fill structures are not desirable since they may detrimentally affect performance.
It would accordingly be desirable to provide an integrated circuit structure that may provide suitable capacitive shielding, suitable inductive shielding and/or desired metal uniformity or increased metal density without the manufacturability problems associated with continuous metal planes.

Semiconductor integrated circuit including metal mesh structure


Generally, this disclosure provides systems and methods for providing forward compatibility between a driver module and one or more present or future versions of a network interface. The system may include a network interface configured to transfer data between a host system and a network; and a programmable circuit module associated with the network interface, the programmable circuit module configured to provide compatibility between the network interface and a driver module associated with the host system, wherein the driver module includes a first set of capabilities and the network interface includes a second set of capabilities.

Computer systems and other devices are typically delivered to an end user with software driver modules that may be pre-installed and/or provided on accompanying storage media (e.g., shrink-wrapped compact disks). The drivers, which may provide an interface between an operating system, or other application software, and a hardware module, generally need to be operationally compatible with that hardware. The logistics associated with the manufacture and delivery of such systems often results in increased difficulty or delay in order to meet the compatibility requirements between drivers and associated hardware. This may be especially problematic when the drivers and the hardware are produced by different development groups and/or on different development schedules or timelines. Additionally, there may be requirements that an older "certified" driver be able to work with newer hardware.
Compatibility between network interface hardware and associated drivers may be particularly important since network downloads of additional software components and updates are often performed during the installation and activation of new computer systems and devices, for which a working adapter is necessary.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

System and method providing forward compatibility between a driver module and a network interface


A portable diaper changing station is disclosed for enabling changing of a baby's diaper on a surface having a protruding portion. The station includes a nonbendable rigid member having a handle portion formed therein and having an upper surface, a cushioning pad, and a nonporous wipable case attached to the upper surface, wherein the case defines an enclosure having at least one opening for receiving the cushioning pad within the enclosure. The station further includes a first foldable flap member releasably secured to one edge of the rigid member, which first flap member has pockets formed therein, a second, foldable cushioned flap member releasably secured to an opposite edge of the rigid member for cushioning the protruding portion of the surface, and connecting means attached to the rigid member for releasably connecting the rigid member to the protruding portion of the surface. A method of changing a baby's diaper using the station is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices useful for supporting a baby. More particularly, the present invention relates to portable diaper changing stations and methods of their use.
2. Description of the Invention's Background
Changing a baby's diaper in a two-story house presents problems. A traditional layette, i.e., the items needed by parents for the care of a newborn baby, always includes a changing table or padded changing surface. However, permanent diaper changing tables are generally kept in an upstairs bedroom or nursery because they are relatively large pieces of furniture, and will not fit in a smaller downstairs half bathroom or powder room. Especially when a baby is younger and requires numerous changes a day, carrying the baby upstairs for each change can be exhausting. This is especially true when the one doing the changing is a mother who has recently had a caesarean section, since climbing stairs many times following abdominal surgery is very difficult and not generally advisable. Older children usually require fewer changes but weigh more. Carrying them up and down the stairs is also inconvenient and tiring.
In the typical ground floor of a two-story house, it is possible to change a baby on a kitchen counter, a dining room table, a sofa, or the floor. However, changing a diaper on a sofa or floor risks soiling the fabric or the carpet, and changing a diaper in a kitchen or on a dining room table is both unappetizing and unsanitary. It would be desirable to change a baby's diaper in a bathroom so that the changer can quickly wash his or her hands afterward, but a bathroom, especially a half bathroom, generally has only irregular surfaces on which it is difficult if not impossible to change a diaper.
There is thus a need for a device which will enable changing of a baby's diaper on an irregular surface, which device is lightweight and may easily be stored out of the way in a small room such as a half bathroom. Such a device would be even more useful it were portable and provided space to carry accessories which are needed to change a baby's diaper.
A device for supporting a baby over a drawer space is known in the prior art. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,297 granted to Schutz discloses in FIGS. 1-5 a baby dressing table pad replacement which includes a first part having a foam cushion which overlies a bottom stiffener board and which is surrounded by a covering, and a second part hingedly connected to the first part, which second part also includes a foam cushion and straps to secure the first part to a table. The Schutz device has the disadvantage, however, that it is specifically designed for use with a particular type of baby dressing table having an interslidable part which includes drawer spaces. The pad replacement itself thus has no provisions for the carrying of accessories needed during the changing of a baby's diaper, nor any provisions for enabling easy carrying of the pad replacement.
A changing table, termed "Bathe & Change," is known which can be mounted over a bathtub. This table includes both a bath and a changing table which are mounted to what is apparently a wire frame which rests upon the edges of a bathtub. Since the table is apparently intended to be semi-permanent, it does not include means for enabling easy carrying of the table.
Wall-mounted changing tables of the type typically seen in public rest rooms are also known in the prior art. Such a wall mounted unit includes a rigid generally rectangular molded changing surface which has a handle formed therein and which is hingedly connected to a wall unit. A depression is formed in the changing surface for supporting a baby, and a strap is mounted on the changing surface for securing the baby in the depression. Such a unit has the disadvantage that it is mounted to a wall, and thus is not portable nor useful for supporting a baby on an irregular surface. In addition, such a unit has no provision for carrying accessories needed during the changing of a baby's diaper.
Other portable devices are known in the prior art which are generally directed toward supporting an infant. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,514 granted to Leach discloses a utility pad for infants which includes a flexible, rectangular fabric tube filled with a resilient material, and a flat sheet detachably secured across the bottom of the tube to form a sleeping surface for the infant. The tube can be folded into a U-shape and retained there by engaging elements on the tube to allow carrying of the pad. U.S. Pat. No. 2,626,407 granted to Kurry discloses a folding infant's crib which includes a pair of U-shaped rims formed of flexible covers having a soft filler, a pair of U-shaped cardboard bottoms below the U-shaped rims, and a rubber sheet removably placed in the oval-shaped recess between the rims. The crib can be folded in half and placed in a flexible case for carrying. Also, a product by BabyBjorn, termed the Travel Changing Bag, includes a soft changing surface to which pockets are attached, which surface can be folded up and carried like a handbag. The above devices have the problem, however, that their bottom surfaces are flexible and thus ill-suited for supporting an infant above an irregular surface, such as a sink. In addition, the devices of the Leach and Kurry patents fail to present an easy way to transport accessories which are needed in the care of an infant, and they thus necessitate the carrying of diaper bags and the like along with the devices, therefore making them less convenient.
Other types of devices are known which are adapted to act as portable supports and which include pockets for storage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,402 granted to Markey discloses a collapsible table cover assembly for use in the handbell performing arts, which also serves as a carrying case for implements used in playing handbells. The cover includes internal padding, a rear pocket portion which is foldable over the padding, and a vertical apron which is releasably attached to the padding. A handle is permanently attached to the back of the padding. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,003 to Carter discloses a combination seat cushion tote bag, which includes a padded seat cushion to which is foldably attached a pocket portion and another portion. The two portions fold over the cushion to releasably attach at two corresponding Velcro fasteners. Portable devices such as disclosed in the Markey and Carter patents, however, have the problem that they are highly flexible and thus ill-suited for supporting on an irregular surface, especially a surface have a cavity therein. Such devices are thus ill-suited for safely supporting a baby on an irregular surface during an activity such as diaper changing.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved diaper changing station which is readily capable of supporting a baby on an uneven or irregular surface.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method of changing a baby's diaper using a portable changing station.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a diaper changing station which is portable.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of safely and comfortably changing a baby's diaper using a portable changing station mounted on a surface having a cavity formed therein and a protruding portion formed thereon.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a diaper changing station which is adapted to easily carry accessories which are necessary to change a baby's diaper.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a diaper changing station which is relatively easy to carry.

Portable diaper changing station and method for use thereof


In a touch sensing device of a capacitive type, touch coordinates are obtained according to a detected signal corresponding to a variation in a mutual capacitance between an X-electrode and a Y-electrode due to a finger touch in each combination of a plurality of X-electrodes and a plurality of Y-electrodes within a sensing area. The theoretical value of the detected signal in each combination of the X-electrodes an the Y-electrodes approximately expressed by a two-dimensional Gaussian function. The touch coordinates are identified correctly by finding the optimal solution of the object function which expresses the sum of squared differences between each of the theoretical signal value and the detected signal value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch sensing device and method of identifying the touched position, and more particularly to touch coordinates calculation for a capacitive touch sensing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, capacitive touch screen have been used in a large number of devices. U.S. Pat. No. 7,030,860B1 discloses a structure in which a plurality of X-electrodes aligned in an X-direction and a plurality of Y-electrodes aligned in a Y-direction are formed on a single glass substrate as a structure of the capacitive touch screen. JP2009-244958A discloses a structure of a touch sensor in which parts of liquid crystal display elements form Y-electrodes, and X-electrodes are disposed on a glass for liquid crystal display. The touch sensor disclosed in JP2009-244958A does not require the sheet only for the touch sensor. In the touch sensors disclosed in those publications, touch coordinates are obtained according to a detected signal corresponding to a variation in a mutual capacitance between the X-electrode and the Y-electrode due to a finger touch in each combination of the X-electrodes and the Y-electrodes.
As a method for obtaining the touch coordinates, for example, there is a method for obtaining, as the touched position, the centroid calculated with the detected signal as a weight at a center position of a cross portion of each combination of the X-electrodes and the Y-electrodes. The detected signal corresponding to a mutual capacitance variation in each combination of the X-electrodes and the Y-electrodes.
It is conceivable that, when the screen is touched by a finger, there are measurement portions (the cross portion of each combination of the X-electrode and the Y-electrode) in a given range where the detected signal corresponding to a variation in the mutual capacitance is obtained. On the other hand, when the finger touches an end of the above-mentioned sensing area, the detected signal which would be obtained when measurement portions are present outside of the end of the sensing area is not obtained. For that reason, in a case where the end of the sensing area is touched by the finger, a gap between touch coordinates by the centroid calculation, and the actually touched coordinates becomes larger than a case where a neighborhood of the center of the sensing area is touched. Also, a method for correcting the calculated coordinates with some calculation formula is also proposed. However, this method has a limited improvement in a precision of the coordinates.

Touch sensing device and method of identifying a touched position


An apparatus and method for manufacturing a substrate sheet for information recording mediums having a roll stamper consisting of a flexible stamper having a pattern corresponding to a preformat for an information recording medium, the flexible stamper being fixed along the corresponding periphery of a roll substrate. A roll is placed opposite the roll stamper. A molten-resin sheet wider than the flexible stamper member is formed. The apparatus has means for bringing the edges of a resin sheet into contact with the roll substrate before releasing the resin sheet from the roll stamper. The temperature is controlled, so that a temperature difference on the surfaces of edges of a resin sheet and a preformat pattern transfer area of the resin sheet is kept within 30.degree. C. when the resin sheet is separated from the roll stamper after the molten-resin sheet has been pressed between the roll stamper and roll.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved apparatus and process for manufacturing a substrate sheet for information recording mediums such as optical disks and optical cards by continuously transferring preformat patterns to the surface of a resin sheet.
2. Related Background Art
Processes for manufacturing substrates for high-density information recording mediums such as optical disks and optical cards are hitherto known to include processes such as injection molding, compression molding and extrusion. In the injection molding or compression molding, severe conditioning is required for the temperature of molten resin, pressure applied thereto, precision of molds, etc. in order to assure flatness and smoothness of substrates and to prevent occurrence of warpage and inclusion of bubbles in substrates. In addition, an apparatus with a large scale is required, resulting in a high production cost. In the injection molding, it is also difficult to produce substrates as thin as 0.4 mm or less and having a low double refraction or birefringence as in substrates for optical cards. Moreover, in the compression molding and injection molding, substrates are formed sheet-by-sheet end hence their productivity is poor.
As for the extrusion, substrates for information recording mediums can be manufactured by bringing e roll stamper fitted with a stamper member, into pressure contact with the surface of a molten-resin sheet extruded from an extruder and continuously transferring patterns corresponding to preformats such as tracking Grooves or prepits to the surface of the resin sheet. Hence, the extrusion is advantageous for the mass-productivity of substrates, and in recent years 00researc thereon has been put forward as a process for manufacturing substrates for information recording mediums.
Incidentally, roll stampers used in the extrusion, for stamping-molding substrates for information recording mediums are conventionally manufactured by the following methods.
(1) A method in which preformat patterns are directly formed on the corresponding periphery of a roll substrate whose periphery has been mirror-finished (hereinafter "specular roll substrate").
(2) A method in which a flexible stamper member with preformat patterns 23 previously formed on its surface as shown in FIG. 2 is stuck or fixed to the corresponding periphery of a specular roll substrate using an adhesive or by a mechanical means.
Of the above conventional techniques, the method (1) makes it necessary to change the whole roll stamper for a new one even when only one fault is produced in the preformat patterns, resulting in poor molding efficiency. Hence the method (2) is mostly used.
A process of forming a substrate sheet for information recording mediums by extrusion using a roll stamper 24 prepared by the above method (2) will be described below with reference to FIG. 3.
First, resin pellets fed in an extruder 31 is heat-melted in a barrel of the extruder 31, pressed forward by a screw, formed into a sheet by means of a sheet extrusion die 32, and is continuously extruded from the sheet extrusion die 32 as a resin sheet 33 that stands substantially in e molten state. The sheet extrusion die 32 is so provided that the resin sheet is extruded to the gap between a specular roll 34 and the roll stamper 24. Subsequently the molten-resin sheet 33 is pressed between the specular roll 34 and the roll stamper 24 so that the preformat patterns 23 are transferred to the surface of the molten-resin sheet. Thus a substrate sheet 35 for information recording mediums is formed. Here, when width W.sub.33 of the molten-resin sheet 33 is so set as to be larger than width W.sub.21 of the flexible stamper member 21 as shown in FIG. 4, a cross-sectional view along the line A--A' in FIG. 3, molding efficiency can be improved since the preformat patterns 23 can be arranged even in the vicinity of widthwise both end portions of the flexible stamper member 21. This is therefore a preferred embodiment.
However, the formation of the substrate sheet for information recording mediums by extrusion in this embodiment has often caused a problem as follows: The flexible stamper member 21 of the roll stamper 24 is fitted in a thickness of 300 to 500 .mu.m in the case of a stamper member made of glass or 100 to 200 .mu.m even in the case of a stamper member made of metal such as Ni so that its strength or the precision of preformat patterns can be ensured. Hence, as shown in FIG. 5, which is a cross section in the direction parallel to the axis of the roll stamper (hereinafter "width direction"), a difference in height h.sub.21 of at least 100 .mu.m is produced on the surface of the roll stamper. Thus, when the substrate sheet is stamping-molded using this roll stamper and also in the state of W.sub.33 > W.sub.21 as stated above, a difference in gap between the roll stamper 24 and the specular roll 34 is produced at end portions of the roll stamper and at an area over which the flexible stamper member is provided, corresponding to t.sub.61, and t.sub.61, as shown in FIG. 6, a cross section along the line A--A' in FIG. 3, and hence the ends of the molten-resin sheet 33 toward the outsides of the widthwise both ends 63 of the flexible stamper member 21 (hereinafter "resin sheet edges") are not pressed between the roll stamper 24 and the specular rolls 34 and 36. As a result, the heat at the resin sheet edges can not be immediately removed to cause a great difference in cooling rate between the resin sheet edges and a preformat pattern transfer area, bringing about the problem that strain is produced at the preformat pattern transfer area.
Another problem has occurred such that, because of insufficient cooling at the resin sheet edges which tends to give the edges a self-supporting action, the resin sheet edges hang down to cause deformation in the preformat pattern transfer area of the resin sheet, or that the resin sheet edges hanging down and having solidified cause vibration of the roll stamper when they pass between the specular roll 34 and roll stamper 24 or between the roll stamper 24 and the specular roll 36, resulting in a poor transfer precision of preformat patterns.
These problems remarkably occur when the molten resin is made to have a high temperature. On the other hand, a method in which the temperature of the molten-resin sheet is enhanced is studied as a method by which the birefringence-free properties of substrate sheets or the transfer performance of preformat patterns are improved. Thus, the problem on the resin sheet edges is a very important technical subject in the manufacture of substrate sheet with a higher quality.

Apparatus and process for manufacturing substrate sheet for information recording mediums


The present disclosure relates to a system and method for synchronous video display on at least one display. The method may comprises receiving a channel of video signal from each data acquisition port of a plurality of data acquisition ports during a time interval, each channel of video signal comprising a plurality of video frames captured during the time interval. The method may also comprises assigning a count value for each video frame of the channel of video signal as synchronization information for each video frame of the channel of video signal to form a pool of video frames each corresponding to a count value. The method may further comprises selecting video frames with the same count value from the pool of video frames as synchronized video frames, and transmitting, through the plurality of output ports, the synchronized video frames for synchronous display on the at least one display.

Conventionally, a video signal is acquired through only one data acquisition port, before being sent to a plurality of output ports in a conventional display control device. The video output from the plurality of output ports may be spliced after being processed under operations such as scaling, by the plurality of output ports. However, acquiring a video signal using only one data acquisition port and outputting the video signal through a plurality of output ports may result in low resolution of the output video.
One remedy to the low resolution output video problem is to acquire video signals at high resolution. High resolution input video signal however is subject to limitations of hardware of the display control device, for example, frequency clock, data acquisition port, data buffer, data transmission path, or limitations of signal processing such as scaling, encoding, tilting, video cutout. The single data acquisition port of the conventional display control device therefore may not be able to acquire video signals in high resolution. Thus, it is desirable to develop a device and method for providing a high definition video in video splicing and displaying.

Systems and methods for video splicing and displaying


In a continuously variable transmission (CVT) for a vehicle wherein a belt of V-shaped cross-section is looped around a drive pulley and a driven pulley respectively having grooves of identical shape to this belt, and the width of the groove of each pulley is varied according to a supplied oil pressure, an oil pressure when an accelerator pedal is released is maintained at or above a predetermined value. The oil pressure is controlled according to a torque input to the drive pulley, and the input torque varies according a depression amount of the accelerator pedal. As a result, the speed change ratio easily varies due to insufficient oil pressure when the accelerator pedal is released. This invention stops decline of oil pressure when the accelerator is released, and thereby prevents variation of the speed change ratio due to release of the accelerator pedal. This is especially useful when the speed change ratio of the transmission has been fixed by the driver in a manual speed change mode.

A continuously variable transmission (referred to hereafter as CVT) for a vehicle using a V-belt is for example disclosed in Tokkai Sho 61-105347 published by the Japanese patent office in 1986.
This CVT comprises a drive pulley and driven pulley around which the belt is looped. The widths of the grooves of the pulleys are varied according to the oil pressure, and the radius of the contact part of the V-belt and the pulley varies according to the groove width.
An oil pressure (line pressure) corresponding to the input torque to the drive pulley acts on the driven pulley, and an oil pressure (primary pressure) which is the line pressure adjusted by a control valve acts on the drive pulley. The contact friction between the belt and the pulleys is basically maintained by the line pressure.
In CVT speed change control, the controller computes a target speed change ratio based on the accelerator depression by the driver and the vehicle speed at that time, and the primary pressure is made to vary relative to the line pressure so that the real speed change ratio coincides with a target speed change ratio.
However, as the line pressure is set to a value depending on the torque as mentioned above, the line pressure decreases when the driver releases the accelerator pedal corresponding to the decrease of input torque, and the contact friction also decreases.
At this time, when the contact friction decreases, the contact radius between the driven pulley and the V-belt decreases while the contact radius between the drive pulley and the V-belt increases due to the centrifugal force which acts on the V-belt. As a result, the speed change ratio decreases, i.e. the speed tends to increase.
In the automatic speed change mode wherein the speed change ratio frequently varies according to the driving conditions, the driver does not experience discomfort even when a speed change occurs due to release of the accelerator pedal. However in the fixed speed change mode where the speed change ratio is fixed at a certain value by the driver, the driver does experience discomfort if the speed change ratio suddenly changes when the accelerator pedal is released.

Controller and control method for continuously variable transmission


A game machine includes a monitor, a comparator and an adjuster. The monitor monitors a difference between the amount of game value inserted and the amount of game value paid. The comparator compares the difference with a preset reference value. The adjuster extends a game time of a game performed on the monitor when a result of the comparison that the difference is greater than the reference value is determined by the comparator.

The invention relates to a game machine, a game machine management system, and a game machine control method, which enable adjustment of a time required for playing games on the basis of the amount of game value inserted to and the amount of game value paid from the game machine.
A slot machine capable of adjusting a time required for playing games has been disclosed in, e.g., JP-A-63-49182. The slot machine is constructed so as to count the number of coins inserted at the beginning of a game and adjust a time required for playing one game from the time one game is started until the game ends, in accordance with the count value of the coins. Specifically, when a large number of coins are inserted, the number of games to be played within a unit time is limited by extending a game time. In contrast, when a small number of coins are inserted, a limitation on the number of games to be played within a unit time is removed. As a result, the number of inserted coins is limited to the number of coins stipulated by law or less. If the number of coins to be inserted per game is small, the time required for playing the game is shortened, thereby increasing the number of games and attempting to prevent a decrease in business availability of a game machine.
When a player continuously suffers more losses than wins, his/her judgment is atrophied and he/she fails to make a correct decision. However, there has never been available a game machine which affords the player a chance of regaining serenity when the player suffers continuous losses.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a game machine and a method of controlling the game machine, which can afford a player a chance of regaining serenity when the player suffers continuous losses on the game machine.

Game machine, game machine system, and method of controlling a game machine reel spin time


A method for defoaming a Bayer process liquor, the method comprising the steps of adding to the Bayer process liquor an effective amount of an antifoam/defoamer composition comprising a water-soluble polypropylene glycol having an average molecular weight of from about 200 to about 600 daltons.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to improving the Bayer process; and, more particularly, to reducing the foam formed in the liquor of the Bayer process.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the Bayer process for the production of alumina, bauxite ore is pulverized, slurried in water, and then digested with caustic at elevated temperatures and pressures. The caustic solution dissolves oxides of aluminum, forming an aqueous sodium aluminate solution. The caustic-insoluble constituents of bauxite ore (referred to as "red mud") are then separated from the aqueous phase containing the dissolved sodium aluminate. Solid alumina trihydrate is precipitated out of the solution and collected as product.
In more detail, the pulverized bauxite ore is fed to a slurry mixer where a water slurry is prepared. The slurry makeup water is typically spent liquor (described below) and added caustic. This bauxite ore slurry is then diluted and passed through a digester or a series of digesters where, under high pressure and temperature, about 98% of the total available alumina is released from the ore as caustic-soluble sodium aluminate. After digestion, the slurry then passes through several flash tanks wherein the pressure of the digested slurry is reduced from several atmospheres to one atmosphere and the temperature of the slurry is reduced from about 400.degree. F. to about 220.degree. F.
The aluminate liquor leaving the flashing operation contains from about 1 to about 20 weight percent solids, which solids consist of the insoluble residue that remains after, or is precipitated during, digestion. The coarser solid particles may be removed from the aluminate liquor with a "sand trap" cyclone. The finer solid particles are generally separated from the liquor first by settling and then by filtration, if necessary. Any Bayer process slurry taken from the digesters through any subsequent dilution of the slurry, including the flash tanks, but before the primary settler, is referred hereinafter as the primary settler feed. The slurry of aluminate liquor leaving the flash tanks is diluted by a stream of recycled wash overflow liquor.
Normally, the primary settler feed is thereafter fed to the center well of the primary settler, where it is treated with a flocculant. As the mud settles, clarified sodium aluminate solution, referred to as "green" or "pregnant" liquor, overflows a well at the top of the primary settler and is collected. This overflow from the primary settling tank is passed to the subsequent process steps. The treatment of the liquor collected after the primary settlement to remove any residual suspended solids before alumina trihydrate is recovered is referred to as a secondary clarification stage.
The clarified sodium aluminate liquor is seeded with alumina trihydrate crystals to induce precipitation of alumina in the form of alumina trihydrate, Al(OH).sub.3. The alumina trihydrate particles or crystals are then separated from the concentrated caustic liquor, and the remaining liquid phase, the spent liquor, is returned to the initial digestion step and employed as a digestant after reconstitution with caustic.
Because of the organic content of Bayer liquor, it has a natural tendency to foam. The foaming of the liquor is aggravated by mechanical agitation, by airsparging, and by transfer of the liquor from one vessel to the next. Foaming generally occurs after separation of the red mud, and before and during the precipitation of alumina trihydrate. Foam can also develop in transfer points. Foam can occur at any point after the digestion step where the pressure of the digested slurry is reduced to 1 atmosphere. Foaming is especially a problem after separation of the red mud.
The foam poses safety hazards in that the overflow of foam on vessel surfaces is a hazard to process workers since the foam is extremely caustic. The workers would suffer chemical burns upon contact with the foam. It is critical to eliminate or reduce the foam because employee safety is very important to both the employee and the process operator.
The foam also complicates the heat control of the process. Because a vessel surface covered with foam serves as an insulator which retards heat loss, thermal control of the process is difficult. This is especially important because processors strive to reduce liquor temperature during precipitation in order to maximize yield of the product alumina trihydrate.
Vessels filled with large amounts of foam cannot be filled with the maximum quantity of liquor. It is important to fill the vessel completely with liquor in order to maximize product yield and process efficiency. In light of the above safety, engineering and economic problems caused by Bayer process foam many have attempted to ameliorate the problem of foaming.
A variety of treatment types have been employed in the past, including alcohols, glycols, silicon compounds, hydrophobic silica, wax emulsions and fatty acid based treatments. Many of the above chemical treatments do not work in all Bayer process liquors. Of the treatments that do work, many are not persistent antifoam/defoamers, in that the activity diminishes as the treatment chemical moves through consecutive precipitation vessels.
The cost of the above chemical treatments is also high. In a competitive economic climate, a defoamer/antifoam composition having a reduced cost would provide a great economic benefit.
Several of the prior art antifoam/defoamer treatments are malodorous, volatile or hazardous to workers in Bayer process facilities. Operators are actively seeking antifoam/defoaming treatments which are more worker-friendly and environmentally benign.
Several of the antifoam/defoamer compositions listed above, such as the fatty acid based materials, adversely affect crystal size distribution. Also, some antifoam/defoamer compositions such as silica or silicone introduce an undesirable impurity into the Bayer liquor which can reduce the purity, quality and salability of the product alumina trihydrate. This interferes with the control of the process. Accordingly, process operators would like to replace these antifoam/defoaming treatments with a different treatment which does not negatively impact the overall control of the process.
It is well known that polypropylene glycols with molecular weights in excess of about 1,000 daltons are good antifoams because of their limited water-solubility. For example, polypropylene glycol of molecular weight 4,000 is known to have commerical utility as an antifoam in Bayer liquors. One problem with high molecular weight polypropylene glycol preparation currently available is that they are not water-soluble. Water is advantageous as a carrier because it is economical and does not introduce additional organic impurities into the Bayer liquor.
In light of the enormous difficulties posed by the foaming problem in Bayer process liquors and the inadequate antifoam/defoaming tretments currently available, it would be advantageous to provide an antifoam/defoamer composition which prevents or ameliorates Bayer process foam without the problems caused by currently available antifoam/defoamer treatments.

Compositions and method for foam control and crystal modification in Bayer process


The coating apparatus and method enable the coating liquid having been scraped-off to be reused without doing any one of the fluid adjusting treatment and the filtering treatment, while maintaining the features of the scraping-off type of extrusion coater, which is suitable for obtaining a uniform and extremely thin coating film. The coating head is provided with two slits: a coating slit and a recovering slit, and the excessive coating liquid having been discharged through the coating slit and applied to the web is scraped-off and recovered through the recovering slit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coating method and apparatus, in particular to coating method and apparatus for use in manufacturing photosensitive materials and magnetic recording media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photosensitive materials and magnetic recording media are manufactured through a coating step of forming a coating film by applying a prescribed coating liquid, such as magnetic liquid, to a continuously running sheet substrate strip (hereinafter referred to as "web"). In recent years, magnetic recording media such as magnetic recording tape particularly for broadcasting or computer use have been rapidly improved in capacity and recording density, and there has been needed a coating technology capable of providing a magnetic layer which is extremely thin and of which surface is smooth.
Coating apparatus for applying a coating liquid to the surface of a web include, for example, apparatus of types such as roll coater, gravure coating, roll coating plus doctor roll, extrusion coating, and slide coating; in recent years, apparatus of extrusion type have been commonly used.
One method which employs an extrusion type of apparatus and in which the tip of a coating head is pushed against a web, as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 58-109162, has been commonly used in the field of manufacturing magnet recording media, since a thin and uniform coating layer can be obtained just by increasing the fluid pressure at the tip of the coating head utilizing the web tension, thereby eliminating the air accompanying the web. However, even in the method of applying a single coat of coating liquid using this type of coating head, the reduction in coating thickness is limited.
As a further method for forming a much thinner coating layer, there is a method in which a very thin coating layer can be formed by applying a coating liquid to a web to excess using a web-pushing type of extrusion coater and then scraping-off the excess coating liquid with a blade disposed on the downstream side of the extrusion coater, as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-287843. In this case, the device which applies a coating liquid to a web to excess is not necessarily limited to the web-pushing type of extrusion coater, but coaters such as roller coater type coater, gravure coater and extrusion coater equipped with a back-up roll can be used.
In the method using the conventional scraping-off type of extrusion coater shown in FIG. 8, however, since the coating liquid recovered by scraping-off, with a blade 6, the excess amount of coating liquid having been applied to a web 5 at a coating head 3 has been once exposed to the atmosphere, the solvent contained in the coating liquid has been volatilized, thereby changes are caused in the fluid physical properties such as viscosity and solid content concentration. Thus, the method has a disadvantage in that, since the use of the coating liquid, as it is, of which viscosity has been changed adversely affects the amount of the coating liquid to be scraped-off or the final thickness of the coating film after being scraped-off with the blade 6, the recovered coating liquid must undergo treatment for adjusting its physical properties such as viscosity and solid content concentration in a coating liquid adjusting tank 8 before reused. In addition, since the recovering line for recovering the coating liquid is opened to the atmosphere, dust from the outside of the recovering line is likely to be included in the recovered coating liquid. Thus, the method also has a disadvantage in that dust cannot be fully removed even if the recovered coating liquid is filtered through a filter 9 when pumping the recovered coating liquid from a supply tank 1 to the coating head 3 with a pump 2.


A gap-clearing mechanism for attachment to a wheelchair is disclosed. The gap-clearing mechanism has a lower member for attachment to the wheelchair, and an upper member spaced from and parallel to the lower member and being moveable relative thereto. The upper member has at least one support column securely attached thereto and depending therefrom. The at least one support column is slideably mounted relative to the lower member. There is a wheel assembly at a lower end of the at least one support column. The wheel assembly is moveable between a retracted position and an extended position. A wheelchair fitted with two such gap-clearing mechanisms is also disclosed.

Those on wheelchairs have some difficulty in boarding and alighting from public transport vehicles such as, for example, buses, trams and trains, as such public transport vehicles often have a gap that has to be crossed on boarding or alighting. For busses and trams, one solution is to fit low floor buses with a powered ramp that can be lowered onto the curb at an entry/exit door to form a negotiable bridge to allow the wheelchair to roll from the curb onto the bus or from the bus onto the curb. However, it is expensive to fit each bus and tram with such a powered ramp. Their use significantly increases the time taken for boarding and alighting. Another solution is to have a suspension system on the curb side of the bus or tram that enables the curb side to be lowered. This still leaves a gap for wheelchairs and is mainly used for elderly passengers.
A final solution was to have wheel chairs with continuous tracks that can cross gaps. Such wheelchairs are specifically built, are bulky and expensive, and have not met with success.


A vibration-control platform that, in some embodiments, includes a bottom plate having three or more wells. The wells receive a plurality of vibration-control elements, which are used to isolate a supported object from vibrations. In some embodiments, the vibration-control elements are rubber balls. The presence of the wells facilitates placement of the vibration-control elements under a top platform or directly under an object, especially when the object is located in a tight space, such as in a component rack, or when the object has a non-uniform weight distribution.

Each musical instrument has its own unique resonance signature. This signature is what makes one type of instrument sound different from another and why two specimens of the same type of instrument do not sound the same. In a piece of music, it is the interplay of these unique resonance signatures that is crucial to conveying the musical idea of a composer, arranger, or performer.
It is a goal of an audio playback system, in particular a "high-end" audio system, to faithfully reproduce this interplay, as recorded on a recording medium (e.g., lp, cd, tape, etc.). To do so, the audio system must extract the recorded musical signal without altering it and convert it to sound.
Challenging an audio system's ability to faithfully reproduce the recorded musical signal—and hence re-create the original musical event—is the system's susceptibility to mechanical resonances and vibrations. To the extent that an audio system has its own resonant signature, as imparted by such vibrations, it functions as an instrument. Such an audio system will color every instrument that it tries to reproduce, taking the listener further from a faithful re-creation of the original musical event.
A typical "high-end" audio system will include one or more source components (e.g., cd-player, turntable, etc.), a preamplifier, an amplifier and speakers. The spectral signature of these components is affected both directly and indirectly by mechanical resonances and vibrations. As to direct effects, these components are subjected to vibrations and resonances due to:                Mechanical coupling. The most significant source of mechanically-coupled vibration is the music itself. High-amplitude, low-frequency sound from the speakers mechanically couples through the floor of the listening room, up through the equipment rack into the bottom of a component. Furthermore, very-low-level, low-frequency vibrations from passing vehicles, machinery and other sources can couple through the floor into audio components.        Acoustic pressure. Air-borne energy generated by the loudspeaker/room interface can directly couple to equipment racks, equipment enclosures, and then to signal-generating components.        Internal vibrations. Vibrations arise from sub-systems within the audio components themselves, such as mechanical drive systems (e.g., in cd players and turntables, etc.), spinning cooling fans (e.g., in amplifiers), and humming transformers. Even electric current moving through wires or other components can be a source of vibration. Specifically, current-induced magnetic fields that form around transformers, wires, and other passive devices can cause these components to vibrate or move slightly within their own fields. This creates minute non-linear currents that can subtly alter the original musical signal.
As to indirect effects, vibrations, varying in magnitude from very large (e.g., cabinet resonances that can be felt) to miniscule, can negatively affect playback through time- and frequency-domain disturbances.
To ameliorate the problems wrought by vibrations and resonances, various resonance- and vibration-control products have been developed. The products can be grouped generally into two classes: (1) footers and (2) platforms. Reducing vibrations and resonances through the use of these products has, in some cases, resulted in improvements in imaging, tonal balance, timing, treble focus, bass extension and detail.
Footers, as the name implies, are devices that are placed underneath an audio component and that replace the manufacturer-supplied "feet" that are supplied with the component (and which typically function simply as a standoff to prevent contact and damage to an underlying support shelf). A variety of footer designs have been developed, two of which are mentioned below.
In some cases, the footers are formed of a resilient material (e.g., Navcom™ Sorbothane™, etc.) that is intended to damp vibrations before they reach the supported component. In some other cases, the footers are rigid (e.g., cones, spikes, etc.). Although some rigid footers are alleged by their manufacturers to "drain" energy from the supported component, most function by merely shifting the frequency and level of the resonances.
While effective to varying degrees, footers have their drawbacks. In particular, they can be difficult to place under audio components, especially if the components are enclosed in a cabinet. Furthermore, footer-supported components can be somewhat unstable. Resonance/vibration-control platforms address both of these problems.
Resonance/vibration-control platforms include (1) a base or platform on which the isolated component rests and (2) some type of mechanism for providing resonance/vibration-control for the platform. Several resonance/vibration-control platforms in the prior art are surveyed below.
One type of system includes one or more air-filled bladders that are located beneath a plinth (typically formed from medium density fiberboard). As the bladders are inflated, the plinth—and hence the component—"float," thereby isolating the component from mechanically-coupled vibrations. In a second type of system, a plinth is placed on a substantial volume of sand. The sand conforms to the entire surface of the plinth and efficiently constrains and partially damps the platform's vibrational modes.
In a third type of system, several thermally-reactive copolymers are used as the primary damping material. The copolymers are contained in several modules underneath a plinth. Each different copolymer is intended to control resonances within a certain frequency range. The copolymers possess an ability to rapidly change darometer (i.e., relative hardness or softness). Movement or vibration creates friction in the module, which produces heat. The heat changes the darometer of compound in a pre-calculated manner based on the weight of the component it supports. As vibrations pass through the various modules, their amplitude decreases until they are substantially dissipated.
In a fourth type of system, magnetic levitation is used to isolate a supported component. In this system, coupled magnets that are oriented for repulsion are disposed underneath a plinth.
These various systems have drawbacks. For example, the technology and materials used in some of these systems are expensive, pushing the retail cost of some of these systems upwards of $1000. In some air-based systems, the air leaks out over time, requiring a user to occasionally re-balance the system by adding more air. For some systems, the customer provides information about the weight, weight distribution, and size of a component of interest and then the resonance/vibration-control system is designed based on these parameters. This limits the suitability of the platform for other equipment should the purchaser decide to replace the component for which the platform was designed. Some systems, such as magnetic levitation platforms, are particularly sensitive to uneven loads. In this regard, footers have an advantage since they can be appropriately positioned under a component to address an uneven weight distribution.
Many of the current resonance/vibration-platforms offer little flexibility to adapt to changes in the playback system. And no one resonance/vibration-control system is best for all components (e.g., one manufacturer's turntable vs. another's, etc.) in all situations (e.g., room construction, etc.). This is problematic because many audiophiles change their playback systems on a regular basis (at least compared to the music-listening public at large). Consequently, an "upgrade" in a source component might downgrade a playback system's ability to reproduce a recorded musical signal because a previous choice in a vibration-control platform is not suited to the new source component. This "upgrade" then occasions another purchase—a new vibration/resonance-control platform that is hopefully better suited to the new source component.
Consequently, there is a need for an improved resonance/vibration-control system.


A self-calibrating programmable phase shifter includes a tapped delay line for successively delaying a periodic reference signal to produce a set of phase distributed tap signals. A multiplexer selects one of the tap signals as input to a programmable delay circuit which further delays the selected tap signal to produce an output signal that is phase shifted from the reference signal. A conversion table converts input data indicting a desired phase shift between the reference signal and the output signal into output data for controlling the multiplexer selection and the amount of delay provided by the programmable delay circuit. The phase shifter includes calibration circuitry that convert the phase shifter into an oscillator by feeding the output signal back as input to the tapped delay line and adjusting relationships between the conversion table input and output data so that the period of the output signal has a desired linear relationship to the input data value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a programmable phase shifter for phase shifting a periodic input signals by an adjustable amount, and in particular to a self-calibrating programmable phase shifter.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art programmable phase shifter 10 for phase shifting a periodic input signal T.sub.0 by an adjustable phase angle to produce an output signal T.sub.OUT. The phase angle is controlled by, for example, 10-bit input control data N. Ideally phase shifter 10 should provide a phase shift between T.sub.0 and T.sub.OUT of (N/N.sub.MAX))P.sub.0 where P.sub.0 is the period of the T.sub.0 signal and N.sub.MAX is the maximum value of N. Since N is a 10-bit number, N.sub.MAX may be as large as 210-1. However the actual phase shift shifter 10 provides will deviate from the ideal linear function of N.
Phase shifter 10 includes a tapped delay line 12 formed by a set of differential or single-ended buffers 14 connected in series for successively delaying the T0 signal to produce a set of L "tap" signals TAP.sub.1 -TAP.sub.L at the buffer outputs. L may be any value larger than 1 and is determined by the number of buffers forming delay line 12. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, L is 32. Each successive tap signal TAP.sub.1 -TAP.sub.32 is delayed from its preceding tap signal by the inherent delay of an buffer 14. The T.sub.0 and TAP.sub.32 signals are applied as inputs to a conventional delay lock loop (DLL) controller 16 that provides a BIAS signal to each buffer 14. The BIAS signal controls the inherent delay of each buffer 14. DLL controller 16 adjusts the BIAS signal so that the TAP.sub.32 signal is phase locked to the T.sub.0 signal. Thus the total delay between T.sub.0 and TAP.sub.32 is equal to the period P.sub.0 of T.sub.0. When all buffers 14 are similar, each buffer's delay is close to the average buffer delay of P.sub.0 /32. However there will be some variation in buffer delay due to process or environmental differences between the buffers.
The tap signals TAP.sub.1 -TAP.sub.32 provide inputs to a multiplexer 18 controlled by the upper five bits NH of 10-bit input control data N. Multiplexer 18 selects one of its input signals TAP.sub.1 -TAP.sub.32 and provides it as an input signal T.sub.S to a programmable delay circuit 20. Delay circuit 20 delays the T.sub.S signal by from 0 to 31 "unit delays" where a unit delay is P.sub.0 /(L*N.sub.MAX). The amount of the delay provided by delay circuit 20 is selected by the lower five bits NL of control data N. Thus the 10-bit input control data N controls the phase shift between T.sub.0 and T.sub.OUT with a nominal resolution of P.sub.0 /2.sup.10.
While the resolution of phase shifter 10 is nominally P.sub.0 /N.sub.MAX, various factors affect the accuracy of the phase shift that it provides. Deviation in inherent delay of any buffer 14 from P.sub.0 /32 and any error in the delay provided by programmable delay circuit 20 will render the phase shift between T.sub.0 and T.sub.OUT a non-linear function of N. Also the inherent signal path delay through multiplexer 18 will introduce an offset into the phase shift between T.sub.0 and T.sub.OUT. When the various delays provided by programmable delay circuit 20 are adjustable, phase shifter 10 can be calibrated by monitoring the phase shift between T.sub.0 and T.sub.OUT and adjusting the delay provided by programmable delay circuit 20 for each value of NL. However such a manual calibration process is tedious and time consuming.
What is needed is a phase shifter that provides a linear relationship between the phase shift it provides and the value of its input control data and that can be quickly and accurately calibrated.

Self-calibrating programmable phase shifter


The method of recording and managing audio data transmitted to a user via a phone network includes receiving audio commands from the user to record user selected data relayed to the user from a database, recording the user selected data in a database and storing the data for management by the user. A user may receive an audio or visual readout of the stored data, transmit the data, delete data records, and organize data records.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of telecommunications, in particular a method of creating a customized recording of audio data relayed over a phone network and managing the data.
2. Background Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a phone user is able to connect a phone 1 to various computer networks 3 via the phone network 2. The user of a phone 1 is able to interact with the computer network 3 as directed by the user with the assistance of services 4 such as interactive voice response systems, voice mail, and direct access to the Internet or distributed database.
The services 4 process and present data to the user as an audio read out such as text-to-speech or a pre-recorded audio message. The information requested by the user may originate from one or more databases associated with one or more computer networks or the Internet. The services 4 retrieve and process the data from the appropriate data source(s) based on a user request and presents a response to the user via the phone network. The response may be data relayed in audio format via text-to-speech or a pre-recorded audio message. For example, the network services 4 permits a user to call the computer network 3 of his bank and receive an audio read out of their banking information.
While a user may access a multitude of services with a single phone call and the services 4 allow the user to select specific data to be read out, the services 4 do not provide the user with a log or permanent recording of the data accessed during the call or a method of managing the data that has been provided during the call. The services 4 may assemble, store, and present the data to the user while the call is active, but a separate instance of the data is not available to the user after the call is complete. Thus, the data shared with the user during the call is transient. If the user wishes to replay the data after the call is complete, the user must contact the service again and resubmit the request. If the user wishes to record the data, the user is left to his or her own methods of recording such as his or her memory or hand written notes.

Method of creating and managing a customized recording of audio data relayed over a phone network


Arrangements for preparing a television channel for presentation are presented. A set of one or more tuners that are idle may be identified. Being idle may correspond to not being used to receive any television channel data for presentation or recording. An electronic programming guide that indicates programming may be output for presentation. One or more television channels may be selected for preparation. The television channels may be selected based at least in part on one or more electronic programming guide operations and/or prior to receiving user input selecting a television channel of the one or more television channels for presentation. Each of the television channels may be prepared for presentation by tuning, by each tuner, to the one or more television channels prior to receiving the user input selecting the television channel of the television channels for presentation.

When analog television service was the norm, "channel surfing" was a common occurrence. Rather than referring to a guide listing out the available television programming, a user may have picked up a remote control and repeatedly pressed "channel up" or "channel down" until a television program was displayed that caught the user's attention. At least in part due to the changed format of television service provider networks, such channel surfing has become less prevalent. As television service providers have transitioned to digital distribution networks, the ability for user equipment to quickly tune to a particular television channel may have diminished. For instance, due to factors such as video compression, it may take multiple seconds after a television channel is selected before the video for the selected television channel is available for presentation. Due to this delay time, a user may find it frustratingly slow to repeatedly change television channels.

Fast channel change from electronic programming guide


Methods and systems are described for selecting an engaging ad campaign among advertising campaigns having different types of bid strategies. In one embodiment, an advertising system designed for selecting relevant and engaging ad campaigns for delivering to a device of a user includes an adaptive decision unit having filter logic for filtering eligible ad campaigns, a storage medium to store instructions of the system, and processing logic coupled to the storage medium. The processing logic is configured to execute the instructions of the system to receive and process an ad request from the device upon initiation of a software application on the device, filter eligible ad campaigns, convert each bid strategy of the filtered ad campaigns into an effective cost-per-mille (CPM) strategy, compare effective CPM strategies for the filtered ad campaigns, and select an ad campaign based on the comparison of the effective CPM strategies.

Mobile advertising is a form of advertising via mobile (wireless) phones or other mobile devices. Advertisements (ads) can be presented to the intended user in the form of banner ads, text boxes, and video ads. However, these ads may be difficult to distribute to a targeted user in a timely manner and the user may not be responsive and interested in the ads. Advertisers can create an advertising campaign as a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme. The advertising campaigns appear in different media across a specific time frame. However, advertisers may lack the resources and expertise for effectively creating an ad campaign and delivering the ad campaign to mobile devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for selecting an ad campaign among advertising campaigns having multiple bid strategies


The various embodiments herein provide a 3D printing apparatus with a sensor device. The apparatus comprises a base platform, a support frame mounted on the base platform and a print head mounted on the support frame. The print head is aligned with a working surface on which the 3D object to be printed is placed. A sensor device is configured to determine and adjust a spatial parameter between the working surface and a print head. The sensor device is mounted on the print head and detects misalignment in the position of the working surface with the print head. The sensor device employs photo detection method for determining a desired orientation of the working surface. The printing apparatus comprises a controller unit for receiving the input from the sensor device to correct the orientation of the working surface.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to a three-dimensional (3D) printing system. The embodiments herein particularly relate to a sensor device for the 3D printing apparatus. The embodiments herein more particularly relates to a sensor device used for determining and adjusting a spatial parameter between a working surface of the 3D printing apparatus and a printing head.
2. Description of the Related Art
The capability of manufacturing 3D objects to design specifications is developed steadily over time. Initially, computer-controlled machines and automated machining equipments are programmed to deform, cut, shape, and/or alter a pre-existing 3D object. More recently, 3D printing apparatus have been developed to extrude multiple thin layers of a hardened material in a programmed pattern to form a 3D object.
The efficiency of the 3D printing apparatus is continuously increased from developing initially coarse objects to increasingly refined shapes and tolerances. For example, 3D printing apparatus have applications in numerous fields such as, medical arts, sculpture, and precision manufacturing. Accordingly, more opportunities are presented to improve the state of the art as the 3D printing space continues to evolve.
In the view of foregoing, there is a need for an effective and efficient system for testing, maintaining, and/or correcting a level or other desired orientation of a working surface of a 3D printing device upon which the 3D object is formed. Further, there is need for a system for testing, maintaining, and/or correcting an orientation of the working surface. Still further there is a need for a 3D printing apparatus that is reliable, easy to use, and resistant to wear and tear during the entire working life cycle.
The above mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.

3D printing apparatus with sensor device


Aspects of the present disclosure include methods, systems, and non-transitory computer readable media for receiving a magnetic signal from a magnetic signal transmitter, determining a strength of the magnetic signal at the security tag, receiving a radio frequency identification (RFID) interrogatory signal from a RFID scanner, and transmitting a RFID response signal, to the RFID scanner, indicating the strength of the magnetic signal.

A radio frequency identification (RFID) system may include one or more RFID scanners, and a number of RFID tags each associated with one or more items of merchandise. The RFID system may be useful in managing inventory, tracking the items of merchandise, and/or loss prevention. In the RFID system, a RFID scanner may transmit a RFID interrogatory signal to a RFID tag. In response to receiving the RFID interrogatory signal, the RFID tag may transmit a RFID response signal back to the RFID scanner. However, the RFID scanner may be unable to accurately ascertain the location of the RFID tag based on the interrogatory RFID signal. For example, the RFID scanner (or reader) may be unable to accurately determine when the RFID tags are approaching the point of sale because the RFID scanner/reader may be unable to ascertain the location of the RFID tags. Therefore, improvements in RFID tag positioning may be desirable.

Methods and apparatuses for determining a position of a security tag