A restraint comprises an inflatable curtain and a deployment member. The deployment member can be an inflatable tube within a braided tube or an elastic member. The deployment member is attached to the inflatable curtain and on receipt of a signal the member deploys the curtain into an occupant protection position in the event of a crash. The restraint is particularly intended for location on one side of a vehicle to provide protection against side impacts.

The present invention relates to an inflatable restraint for a vehicle occupant.
Airbags are increasingly fitted as standard equipment on production vehicles in the U.S. and in the European market. An airbag mounted on a steering column to protect the driver and an airbag mounted in the dashboard to protect the passenger is a typical arrangement for providing occupant protection in the event of a front end collision. In a typical airbag system a sensor is strategically placed on the vehicle and operation of the sensor is arranged to fire a pyrotechnic gas generator to inflate the airbag.
Side airbag protection systems are also known which protect the driver/passenger in the event of a side impact.
One such side airbag protection system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5480181. That document discloses a braided tubular bag which is arranged to contract longitudinally as the diameter of the tube increases. In a deflated state the tube is arranged along the door pillar and the roof rail of the vehicle. In the event of an impact the tube is inflated by a gas generator. The tube contracts longitudinally and forms a taut semi-rigid structural member across the vehicle side window. However, that system provides little protection against ingress of broken glass from the window and other foreign bodies. Also, the inflated tube is relatively rigid and may not, therefore, provide the most desirable form of cushioning for the driver or passenger whose head impacts the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,414 teaches a side impact restraint system having a deployment mechanism that includes a gas generator, a track and a projectile that slides in the track.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an inflatable restraint for a vehicle occupant comprising an inflatable curtain, and a deployment member for moving the curtain into an occupant protection position. By using such an inflatable curtain, improved occupant cushioning can be achieved thereby reducing injury to a driver or passenger but without sacrificing deployment speed. Inflating means may be provided to inflate the curtain.
The deployment member may be elongate and preferably contracts longitudinally to deploy the curtain. The deployment member may be a flexible member for convenient stowage in the vehicle. The deployment member may itself be inflatable and, in such a case, may comprise a tube. The tube may comprise an outer tube enclosing a gas impermeable tube, the gas impermeable tube being connected, in use, to said inflating means. The outer tube may be braided whereby, upon inflation, the tube increases in diameter and contracts longitudinally so as to deploy the curtain.
In another embodiment the deployment member may be a resilient member. In such a case, the resilient member may be held in an extended state under tension when the inflatable curtain is in its undeployed state and the resilient deployment member may be released so as to deploy the curtain. The resilient member may be held under tension by a latch. The latch may be actuated by a solenoid. The solenoid may be operable by a pressure sensor connected to the inflating means. Alternatively, the solenoid may be operable on receipt of a signal, said signal also initiating the inflating means.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a vehicle having therein an inflatable restraint according to the first aspect of the invention or any of the consistory clauses relating thereto. The curtain is preferably located inside the vehicle to one side thereof. The curtain may be located along one whole side of the vehicle. Alternatively, one curtain may be located at the front of the vehicle and another curtain may be located at the rear. The front and rear curtains may overlap. The curtain may be located in a slot in a roof rail of the vehicle and/or in a slot in the door pillar of the vehicle.

Inflatable restraint for a vehicle occupant


A semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory banks each including a plurality of circuit areas selected based on an address signal, any one of which is selected by a corresponding bank selective signal (source transistor control signals), and a selective activation circuit that, from among circuit areas included in a memory bank that is selected based on the bank selective signal, activates any one of the circuit areas based on the address signal, and deactivates at least one of rest of the circuit areas. According to the present invention, the power consumption can be reduced in an active state by a dynamic power control in response to an address signal, not by entire power control by an external command.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and particularly relates to a semiconductor memory device in which power consumption is reduced.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, the operation voltage of a semiconductor device is gradually lowered in order to reduce its power consumption. At present, a considerably low operation voltage on the order of 1 volt is often used. However, as the operation voltage is lowered, because it is required to lower the threshold voltage in proportion to the decrease of the operation voltage, it causes a problem that the sub-threshold current of the transistor is increased in a non-conductive state.
To deal with such problems, there has been proposed a method for a semiconductor device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-31385, which has a structure in which a power source line of a circuit area where logic is fixed at a standby time is divided into a main power source line and a sub power source line. That is, in an active state, the main power source line and the sub power source line are short-circuited so that the power is supplied to both of the lines, thus correctly supplying the operation voltage to the circuit area. On the other hand, in a standby state, the main power source line and the sub power source line are disconnected so that no power is supplied to the sub power source line, thus terminating a power supply to a transistor that does not contribute to maintaining fixed logic that is determined beforehand.
As a result, even when a transistor having a low threshold is used, the power consumption is reduced because the sub-threshold current is reduced in the standby state. In addition, because a switching speed of the transistor having a low threshold is high, a high speed operation of a semiconductor device can be achieved in the active state. That is, it is possible to achieve both the high speed operation and the low power consumption in the semiconductor device.
In a case of applying a low power technology using such a sub power source line as described above to a semiconductor memory device such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), the main power source line and the sub power source line can be disconnected in a period during which the circuit area is in the standby state in response to an external command supplied from outside.
However, if the main power source line and the sub source line are merely disconnected during the period during which the circuit area is in the standby state in response to the external command, it only controls whether to enter the entire chip in the standby mode or to enter the entire chip in the active state. That is, it is not possible to control to enter only a part of an internal circuit in the standby state and to disconnect the main power source line and the sub power source line only in the corresponding circuit portion. Therefore, the power consumption cannot be reduced to a satisfactory extent, and a semiconductor memory device that can further reduce the power consumption has been desired.

Semiconductor memory device having selective activation circuit for selectively activating circuit areas


Disclosed are compensation circuits for a switching power supply. In one embodiment, a compensation circuit can include: (i) a transconductance amplifier configured to receive a reference signal and a feedback signal, and to generate an amplifier output signal according to a difference between the reference signal and the feedback signal; (ii) a switching circuit configured to receive the amplifier output signal, where the switching circuit is controllable by a control signal from a switch control circuit; and (iii) a charging circuit coupled to the switching circuit, where the charging circuit is configured to be charged by the amplifier output signal in response to the control signal, and to generate a compensation signal therefrom.

Compensation circuits are commonly used in control circuits of switching power supplies. For example, in a DC/DC converter, a compensation circuit can produce a corresponding compensation signal by generating a current through a transconductance amplifier to control charging and discharging of a compensation capacitor. However, because such a compensation capacitor may be relatively large, a relatively large silicon chip area may be occupied, resulting in increased production costs.

Compensation circuit and switching power supply thereof

Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) LTD


Certain substances (e.g., large molecules) that ordinarily cannot traverse the blood brain barrier can be introduced into the brain by applying an alternating electric field to the brain for a period of time, wherein the frequency of the alternating electric field is selected so that application of the alternating electric field increases permeability of the blood brain barrier. In some embodiments, the frequency of the alternating electric field is less than 190 kHz (e.g., 100 kHz). Once the permeability of the blood brain barrier has been increased, the substance is able to cross the blood brain barrier.

Ordinarily, cerebral microvessels strictly regulate the transfer of substances between the blood and the brain tissue. This regulation by cerebral micro-vessels is called the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and is due to intercellular tight junctions (TJs) that form between brain capillary endothelial cells. In cerebral capillaries, TJs proteins are expressed 50-100 times more than in peripheral microvessels. TJs are formed by an intricate complex of transmembrane proteins (claudin and occludin) with cytoplasmic accessory proteins (ZO-1 and -2, cingulin, AF-6, and 7H6). By linking to the actin cytoskeleton, these proteins form a strong cell-cell connection. Brain endothelial cells, which form the endothelium of cerebral microvessels, are responsible for about 75-80% of the BBB's resistance to substances, and other cells such as astrocytes and pericytes provide the remainder of the resistance.
The BBB consists of tight junctions around the capillaries, and it ordinarily restricts diffusion of microscopic objects and large or hydrophilic molecules into the brain, while allowing for the diffusion of hydrophobic molecules (transcellular instead of paracellular transport).
In healthy people, the BBB serves a very important function because it prevents harmful substances (e.g. bacteria, viruses, and potentially harmful large or hydrophilic molecules) from entering the brain. There are, however, situations where the action of the BBB introduces difficulties. For example, it might be desirable to deliver large or hydrophilic drug molecules to treat a disease in the patient's brain. But when the BBB is operating normally, these drugs are blocked from entering the brain by the BBB.

Using alternating electric fields to increase permeability of the blood brain barrier


A method for displaying facial features includes generating an image with facial features on a nonplanar surface and positioning the image on the nonplanar surface to indicate a direction of gaze and enhance nonverbal communication associated with the facial features. The apparatus for displaying facial features includes a nonplanar surface, an image generation device that creates an image with facial features on the nonplanar surface and a positioning system that positions the image on the nonplanar surface to indicate a direction of gaze and enhance nonverbal communication associated with the facial features.

Video conferencing promises to greatly change the way people interact. In the age of expensive air travel, costly fossil fuels, terrorism and new infectious diseases, there is a great need for effective video conferencing. Effective video conferencing must attempt to achieve the impact of face-to-face meetings, i.e., to create a telepresence. In order to make video conferencing more like face-to-face interactions, a number of factors need improvement including: communicating non-verbal information to all participants, detecting and communicating gaze among each of the participants, maintaining eye contact as well as other visual and auditory information.
Current video conferencing and human-computer interaction technology often consists of the following: A local camera records a frontal image of a participant and transmits the information to a flat display in the remote location. The image of the remote participant is recorded using a remote camera and displayed on a local flat display to the local participant. Because the camera recording the image is not coincident with the display, the participants cannot maintain eye contact during speaking and listening. Moreover, it is difficult to determine the gaze location of the remote person (i.e., where the person is looking). Such nonverbal information provides an indication of the person's interest and level of involvement, comprehension, etc. Finally, the present video conferencing does not provide for good depth perception and three-dimensional presentation of images. Multiple camera angels require special glasses or goggles which have proved to have limited consumer appeal.
Likewise, in the case of human-computer interaction, a common approach is to project a flat animated image on a flat screen. The gaze of the computer figure is unrelated to the message or location of the human during the interaction. The displays are two-dimensional and are rather bulky, so use on mobile platforms such as robotics is difficult and expensive.
The current invention provides a solution to the above and other problems and provides a more lifelike communication experience through more realistic representation and display and gaze preservation during remote meetings.

Method and system for display of facial features on nonplanar surfaces

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The lubrication structure of an engine is provided with a crankcase having a crank chamber that houses a crankshaft. A first oil reservoir is in communication with the crank chamber and is formed adjacent a bottom of the crank chamber. A second oil reservoir is in communication with the first oil reservoir and is formed adjacent the side of and on the bottom of the first oil reservoir. A reed valve extends diagonally from the bottom of the first oil reservoir toward the top of the second oil reservoir in an opening where the first oil reservoir and the second oil reservoir communicate with the crankcase. The reed valve includes a valve element that opens and closes according to the variation of pressure in the crank chamber. The valve element of the reed valve is arranged on the side of the second oil reservoir.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lubrication structure of an engine that is suitable for a motorcycle, particularly a motorcycle that is used for off-road driving sports.
2. Background of the Invention
As an agitation loss is caused due to a crankshaft and other things when a motorcycle is run in a state in which lubricating oil accumulates in a crankcase of an engine, a reed valve is provided between a crank chamber and an oil pan to prevent the lubricating oil exhausted into the oil pan from the crank chamber from flowing in a reverse direction into the crank chamber. The reed valve is arranged vertically, that is, so that a valve element is open in a lateral direction of the body (see JP-A No. 2005-61387, for example).
However, the lubricating oil exhausted from the crank chamber flows laterally when the reed valve is vertically arranged and the valve element is formed so that it is open in the lateral direction of the body. Therefore, the lubricating oil is apt to stay in a space before and after the reed valve and an efficiency problem occurs, wherein the lubricating oil is not exhausted from the crank chamber sufficiently. On the other hand, a larger space is required for the lubricating oil exhausted from the reed valve on the downstream side of the engine when the reed valve is arranged horizontally so that the valve element of the reed valve is open downward. Therefore, the entire height of the engine is increased as a result and a problem occurs in that it is hard to secure a minimum road clearance (a distance from the ground to the lowest end of the engine).


A latch device includes a carrier, an operating member, a resilient member, two linkages, and two latch members. The operating member can move toward or away from the carrier along a first direction. The resilient member is disposed between the operating member and the carrier. Each of the linkages has a first end and a second end. The first ends are pivotally connected to two sides of the operating member. The latch members are slidably and symmetrically disposed on the carrier along a second direction, and pivotally connected to the second ends, respectively. The linkages are located between the latch members in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. While moving relative to the carrier, the operating member drives the latch members respectively by the linkages, so as to reversely move the latch members relative to the carrier in the second direction.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a latch device. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a latch device that is used in a computer system.
2. Description of Related Art
With advance of science and technology in modern society, people have become increasingly demanding (e.g., compact volume, diverse functions, textured appearance, etc.) for consumer electronics products. Notebook computers, after a long development, evolve not only into tablet computers rise, but also a notebook-like computer (i.e., a tablet computer with a keyboard dock).
At present, when a tablet computer and a keyboard dock need to be connected to each other, known latch structures are mostly used to fasten a host and a display of a notebook. For example, a latch structure includes one spring and one linkage with unidirectional actuation (as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,238), and another latch structure includes two springs and two linkages with bi-directional actuation (as shown in Taiwan Patent No. I342737). As to the known latch structure including one spring and one linkage with unidirectional actuation, the hooks of two latches are oriented in the same direction, and the hooking direction of the hooks and the compressing direction of the springs (i.e., the direction along which the button is pressed) are different with each other. As to the known latch structure with two springs and two linkages with bi-directional actuation, the hooks of two latches face to each other (as shown in FIG. 6 of Taiwan Patent No. I342737), the hooking direction of the hooks and the compressing direction of the springs are different, and the moving directions of the latches are perpendicular to the forced direction of the button.
However, as to the known latch structure including two springs and two linkages with bi-directional actuation, the latches are able to be returned back due to the springs, and many problems occur in the applications, such as (1) the two springs have different elastic forces, so the moving distances of the latches that are actuated by the button are different; (2) because the moving distances of the latches are different, the button may be inclined and easily stuck; and (3) the latches respectively has two inclined surfaces for contacting the button, but the inclined angles of the inclined surfaces are not easy to be controlled in the manufacturing; also, the inclined surfaces provide large frictions so that it needs a large force to press the button.
Accordingly, how to provide an improved latch device to solve the foregoing problem becomes an important issue to be solved.

Latch device and computer system using the same


An integrated hose assembly, as well as a monitoring assembly and method of its use are disclosed. The integrated hose assembly includes a hose assembly with a hose having a first conductive layer electrically connected to a nipple and a second conductive layer electrically connected to a socket. The first and second conductive layers are separated by an insulating layer. The integrated hose assembly further includes a monitoring assembly that includes a housing rotatably mounted around at least a portion of the hose assembly, a first flexibly resilient conductive lead seated within the housing and electrically contacting a first outer surface of the hose assembly such that the first flexibly resilient conductive lead is electrically connected to a nipple, and a second flexibly resilient conductive lead seated within the housing and electrically contacting a second outer surface of the hose assembly such that the second flexibly resilient conductive lead is electrically connected to a socket. The monitoring assembly includes a monitoring circuit electrically connected to the first flexibly resilient conductive lead and the second flexibly resilient conductive lead.

High pressure reinforced hydraulic hose is typically used on a variety of fluid power operated machines to provide a flexible connection between several moving parts of a hydraulic circuit employed on or within the machine. Such hoses may include a hollow polymeric inner tube on which successive cylindrical layers of reinforcing material, such as wire or textile, are concentrically applied to contain the radial and axial pressures developed within the inner tube.
Many applications are demanding hose constructions with both high burst strength and long term fatigue resistance. Using conventional technology, the burst strength of a hose may be increased by adding additional reinforcing material and/or layers, a practice which is generally discouraged because of its negative impact on the flexibility of the hose, or by universally increasing the tensile strength of each layer of reinforcement material, which may come at the expense of hose fatigue resistance.
To determine the robustness of a hose design, a hose manufacturer typically performs, among other tests, an impulse test and a burst test on the hose. An impulse test measures a hose design's resistance to fatigue failure by cyclically subjecting the hose to hydraulic pressure. A burst test, on the other hand, is a destructive hydraulic test employed to determine the ultimate strength of a hose by uniformly increasing internal pressure until failure. Based on these and other tests, a manufacturer can estimate a hose life that can be used to determine when a hose has reached the end of its life and may require replacing.
In some circumstances, it is desirable to detect, in a non-destructive and non-disruptive manner, a likelihood of failure of a hydraulic hose. One solution providing this capability is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,555,936, and discloses connecting a monitor circuit between two parallel, at least partially-conductive layers of a hose wall. A change in an electrical property observed by that monitor circuit may indicate a change in a property of the hose wall structure that might indicate impending failure of the hose wall.
To determine whether changes in electrical properties of a hose assembly have occurred, an electrical circuit is applied to the conductive layers of the hose wall. This may be accomplished through use of spring-style contacts, or by otherwise pressing electrical contacts into the hose wall at a location where the conductive layer of interest is exposed. However, such arrangements have drawbacks.
For example, in the case of spring-style contacts, it can be difficult to obtain a reliable electrical connection between the contacts associated with the electrical circuit and the hose layers. Vibrations or stress on the hose can cause damage to these contacts as well, which may wear the contacts quickly. Additionally, due to exposure to environmental conditions (heat, cold, moisture, dirt, etc.), spring-type electrical contacts can corrode or otherwise have their electrical connection interrupted by debris, thereby weakening or disrupting the connection between the electrical circuit and the conductive layer of the hose. Additionally, it can be difficult to maintain a reliable electrical connection between the contacts associated with the electrical circuit and the hose layers if there is an inconsistency in the socket shape or the distance between the hose fitting and the housing of the monitoring assembly. For example, electrical contacts can lose electrical connection if the radius between the hose fitting and the housing of the monitoring assembly is not calculated with precision or if this radius changes due to wear and/or use. These problems with existing contacts can cause electrical disconnection of the electrical circuit from the conductive layers, thereby either triggering a fault in the circuit or falsely detecting degradation of the hose itself.
For these and other reasons, improvements are desirable.

Flexible contact arrangement for hose assembly


Provided are a flexible display device and a method of controlling the same. The flexible display device includes: a display unit including a first display area and a second display area bendable with respect to the first display area; and a control unit correcting at least one of a brightness and color coordinate of an image to be displayed in at least one of the first display area and the second display area according to a degree of bending between the first display area and the second display area.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible display device and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to a flexible display device improving an image quality when a display unit bends and a method of controlling the same.
Description of the Related Art
In general, flat display devices are classified into light emitting type display devices and light receiving type display devices. The light emitting type display devices include an organic light emitting display (OLED) device, a plasma display panel (PDP), a flat cathode ray tube (FCRT), a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) panel and a light emitting diode (LED) panel, and the light receiving type display devices include a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.
Among them, the OLED has a wide viewing angle, excellent contrast, and fast response speed. Accordingly, since the OLED is applied to the displays of mobile devices such as a digital camera, a video camera, a portable information terminal, a smart phone, an ultra slim notebook computer, and a tablet personal computer or electrical/electronic products such as an ultra thin television, it receives great attentions.
Flexible display devices having portability and capable of being applied to various forms of devices are recently researched and developed as next generation display devices. Among them, an OLED technology based flexible display device is regarded as the most promising display device.

Flexible display device and method of controlling the same

Samsung-ro, Giheung-Gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-Do


An optical fiber includes a primary covering layer, a secondary covering layer transparent to a laser beam, an intermediate covering layer less than 100 nm thick between the primary covering layer and the secondary covering layer and including a coloring element whose coloring properties can be modified by using the laser beam to irradiate the intermediate covering layer to write data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to identifying optical fibers, for example optical fibers in an optical cable. An optical cable can contain a large number of optical fibers, for example several hundred optical fibers in the case of a an optical system transmission cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An optical fiber conventionally comprises an optical core, whose function is to transmit and possibly to amplify an optical signal, surrounded by an optical cladding, whose function is to confine the optical signal within the core. The optical fiber is protected by a covering, generally of polymer resin, whose function is firstly to protect the fiber during handling and installation in an optical system and secondly to limit deterioration of the fiber and drift in its optical characteristics over time.
An individual optical fiber placed in an optical cable of a transmission line of a given optical system must be identifiable, either for connection purposes when installing the system or for checking purposes in the event of tests or system reconfiguration. Furthermore, in the case of a dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transmission optical system, managing the chromatic dispersion of each optical fiber of a transmission line becomes critical and it is important for each fiber of a cable, with its optical dispersion characteristics, to be accurately identified, because connection errors cannot be tolerated in this kind of system.
There is therefore a real need for a fast and certain method of identifying each optical fiber in an optical cable.
One conventional solution to identifying the fibers in a cable, in particular for the purposes of connecting the cable to an access network, is to use a color code. The polymer covering of each fiber is colored, at least in an end portion of the fiber, each color corresponding to a fiber type. The covering can be colored either directly, by adding pigments or dyes to the formula of the resin, or by applying a colored layer to the covering. A dozen colors have been standardized.
This technique has drawbacks, however. The number of colors that can be used to color the resin of the covering is limited and insufficient to identify all the fibers in a cable. Fibers with a colored covering are usually placed in tubes of different colors inside the cable, which increases the number of identifying color combinations. This technique is complicated, however, and liable to manipulation and interpretation errors.
Another prior art technique for identifying optical fibers in a cable adds colored rings to the ends of the fibers. This solution, which is sometimes combined with the previous one, increases the number of identifying color codes, but the number nevertheless remains insufficient. Furthermore, adding a ring around the fiber introduces a mechanical stress that can modify the local optical properties of the fiber, which can be harmful if the transmission windows are very tightly packed.
What is more, none of the prior art solutions for identifying optical fibers in a cable can mark a fiber with an accurate record of the fiber or identify separately different portions of the same fiber. Coloring the covering or applying a ring may indicate the fiber type or state at a given time, but does not indicate any change in the characteristics of the fiber.
Furthermore, color codes cannot prevent errors of interpretation by technicians manipulating the cable, who have to consult correspondence tables to recognize the colored fibers.
An objective of the invention is to address the problems and limitations of the prior art previously referred to.
To this end, the invention proposes to identify a fiber directly in its covering by laser marking a coloring element disposed in the covering. Laser marking has the advantage of inscribing an identifying code on the fiber by localized modification of the coloring properties of the coloring element.
The invention also proposes an easy, reliable and powerful method of identifying optical fibers in a cable.

Method of identifying optical fibers in a cable


A field effect transistor includes an active region and a termination region surrounding the active region. A resistive element is coupled to the termination region, wherein upon occurrence of avalanche breakdown in the termination region an avalanche current starts to flow in the termination region, and the resistive element is configured to induce a portion of the avalanche current to flow through the termination region and a remaining portion of the avalanche current to flow through the active region.

The present invention relates to power device technology, and more particularly to improved edge termination for charge balance power devices.
The charge balance concept is a promising evolution in the power device technology. Some of the defining performance characteristics for the power switch are its on-resistance, breakdown voltage and switching speed. Depending on the requirements of a particular application, a different emphasis may be placed on each of these performance criteria. For example, in the mid to high voltage range (i.e., 60 to 2,000 volts), a conventional device suffers from high resistivity, since the drift region needs to be lightly doped in order for the device to sustain high voltages during the blocking state. The high resistivity of the drift region results in higher source-to-drain on-resistance RDSon, which in turn results in high power losses. Because of the inverse relationship between RDSon and the breakdown voltage, improving the breakdown voltage performance of the device while maintaining a low RDSon poses a challenge.
Various charge balancing structures in the device drift region, including buried electrodes, opposite polarity pillars and floating regions, have been developed to address this challenge with varying degrees of success. The charge balancing techniques aim to maintain a substantially uniform electric field within the drift region in order to increase the breakdown voltage of the device. Thus, for the same breakdown voltage, the drift region can be higher doped thereby reducing RDSon.
However, one problem with the design of charge balance devices is the edge termination area. It is a challenge to achieve charge balance at the interface between the active region and the termination region since an opposing junction to couple to the last active cell can be difficult to implement. If all the active cells are identically charge balanced except at the active to termination interface region, then this interface region becomes the limiting factor in achieving high breakdown voltage. The edge termination breakdown at low current levels does not hinder device performance however, during high current avalanche events such as unclamped inductive load (UIL) switching, the limited area of the termination region relative to the active array cannot handle the power losses. This detrimentally impacts the safe operating area (SOA) of the device.
Thus, what is desirable is a structure and method that enable a high device blocking capability, low on-resistance, and high current handling capability, particularly the capability to sustain high avalanche current in the active to termination interface region.

Power device with improved edge termination


An article includes a silicon-containing region; at least one outer layer overlying a surface of the silicon-containing region; and a constituent layer on the surface of the silicon-containing region and between and contacting the silicon-containing region and the at least one outer layer, the constituent layer being formed by constituents of the silicon-containing region and being susceptible to creep within an operating environment of the article, wherein the silicon-containing region defines a plurality of channels and a plurality of ridges that interlock within the plurality of channels are formed in the silicon-containing region to physically interlock the at least one outer layer with the silicon-containing region through the constituent layer.

The present technology generally relates to coating systems and methods suitable for protecting components exposed to high-temperature environments, such as the hostile thermal environment of a turbine engine. More particularly, this technology is directed to an Environmental Barrier Coating (EBC) on a silicon-containing region of a component and to the incorporation of surface features in the silicon-containing region to inhibit creep displacement of the EBC when subjected to shear loading at elevated temperatures.
Higher operating temperatures for turbine engines are continuously sought in order to increase their efficiency. Though significant advances in high temperature capabilities have been achieved through formulation of iron, nickel and cobalt-base superalloys, alternative materials have been investigated. Ceramic composite materials are currently being considered for such high temperature applications as combustor liners, vanes, shrouds, blades, and other hot section components of turbine engines. Some examples of ceramic composite materials include silicon-based composites, for example, composite materials in which silicon, silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (Si3N4), and/or a silicide serves as a reinforcement phase and/or a matrix phase.
In many high temperature applications, a protective coating is beneficial or required for a Si-containing material. Such coatings should provide environmental protection by inhibiting the major mechanism for degradation of Si-containing materials in a water-containing environment, namely, the formation of volatile silicon hydroxide (for example, Si(OH)4) products. A coating system having these functions will be referred to below as an environmental barrier coating (EBC) system. Desirable properties for the coating material include a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) compatible with the Si-containing substrate material, low permeability for oxidants, low thermal conductivity, stability and chemical compatibility with the Si-containing material.
The silicon content of a silicon-containing bondcoat reacts with oxygen at high temperatures to form predominantly an amorphous silica (SiO2) scale, though a fraction of the oxide product may be crystalline silica or oxides of other constituents of the bondcoat and/or EBC. The amorphous silica product exhibits low oxygen permeability. As a result, along with the silicon-containing bondcoat, the silica product that thermally grows on the bondcoat is able to form a protective barrier layer.
The amorphous silica product that forms on a silicon-containing bondcoat in service has a relatively low viscosity and consequently a high creep rate under shear loading. High shear loads (e.g. from about 0.1 to 10 MPa) can be imposed by g forces (e.g. from about 10,000 to about 100,000 g's) resulting from high-frequency rotation of moving parts, such as blades (buckets) of turbine engines. Such shear loading may cause creep displacements of the EBC relative to the bondcoat and substrate which can result in severe EBC damage and loss of EBC protection of the underlying substrate.

Silica-forming articles having engineered surfaces to enhance resistance to creep sliding under high-temperature loading


A system for activating a dental handpiece connected to a supply hose after removal of the handpiece from a holder is provided. The handpiece includes a circuit with a switch element that acquires a change of an electrical or magnetic field or that can be influenced by such a field when the handpiece is taken from a holder or, respectively, is returned into a holder. The switch element is allocated to the end part of the supply hose facing toward the handpiece; the part that changes or, respectively, influences the field is disposed at the holder.

In dental technology, it is known to preselect or activate the handpieces or, respectively, the supply agents thereof upon detachment of the handpieces from their respective deposit devices or holders. To this end, correspondingly fashioned switch elements are located in or at the holder with one switch being provided for each handpiece. The switch elements can be microswitches, light barriers or inductive sensors as well as shown in EP-0 005 791-B1.
It is a disadvantage that a switch element for each handpiece must be present at practically every holder. Since the holders are usually designed as claw-shaped receiving elements in the form of an open ring, it is necessary, for example, given arrangement of a light barrier, to provide a transmitter and a receiver for each side of the opening. Given the standard practice of equipping of a dental apparatus with at least four through six handpieces, this means that the plurality of light barriers corresponding to each handpiece must be provided even when fewer handpieces are used or, respectively, desired by the physician or dentist.
Further disadvantages include the possibility of disturbances at the transmitter or receiver due to environmental or other influences. With light barriers, for example, disturbances can arise due to the incidence of extraneous light or due to contaminants. Embodiments with mechanical switch elements are also not free of disturbances. For example, the adjustment can be modified or worn due to frequent switching, so that the switch elements no longer work in a reliable manner.
A further, critical disadvantage given the known embodiments is that a deposit of a handpiece at a different location, for example at an interim deposit of a tray, is not possible or is only possible on the basis of additional, manual switching events.

System activating a dental handpiece after removal from a holder


The invention relates to a method for applying flat material web sections (28) to a first flat web of material (6) which is displaced in the direction of the machine having a first web speed during the production of hygiene articles or medical articles. The dimensions of the flat material web sections (28), in the direction of the machine, are smaller than the measurements of the articles which are to be produced. The flat material web sections (28) of an endless web (8) are separated in the cut-and-place method and are arranged on the first flat material web (6). The endless web (8) is fed at a second web speed to a second cutting station in the direction of a cutting roller (18). According to the inventive method, a front section (26) of the endless web (8) is applied against a surface section (24) of an anvil roller (22) which co-operates with the cutting roller (18), the surface section being curved less than the periphery (34) of the anvil roller (22). The front section (26) is cut in the endless web (8) in order to form the flat material web section (28) and each cut flat material web sections (28) is accelerated in a slip-free manner by the anvil roller (22).

The present invention concerns a method for applying flat material web sections onto a first flat material web moving in a machine direction at a first web speed during the production of hygiene articles or medical articles, wherein the extent of the flat material web sections in the machine direction is smaller than the dimension of the articles to be produced, wherein the flat material web sections are separated from an endless web using a "cut-and-place" procedure and are disposed onto the first flat material web, wherein the endless web is supplied towards a cutting roller of a cutting station at a second web speed. The first flat material web may also be a series of discrete articles. The invention also concerns a device for performing such a method, comprising a cutting roller and an anvil roller cooperating therewith.
The flat material web sections to be applied may e.g. be closing straps in the form of adhesive tape sections or sections comprising mechanical closing elements, or wound supports or gripping elements of bandaging materials, in particular adhesive bandages.
The articles to be produced, e.g. hygiene articles, such as diapers or diaper pants, are separated in sections from the preferably endless first flat material web moving in the machine direction. In order to produce these articles in an economic fashion, the flat material web sections to be applied are also separated from an endless web using the "cut-and-place" procedure and are disposed on the first flat material web, moving in the machine direction. Since the longitudinal extension of the flat material web sections to be applied is much smaller than the longitudinal extension of the article being produced, the first web speed of the first flat material web is faster than the second web speed with which the endless web is supplied to form the flat material web sections.
The following detailed problems arise:
When the endless web, which is supplied at a lower speed, is susceptible to slippage on an anvil roller, the endless web is subjected to abrasive wear. The peripheral speed of the anvil roller is many times higher, often up to 30 times higher, than the speed of the endless web in this contact area. Abrasion of the endless web soils the production device, and also transfers dirt particles onto the articles to be produced.
In particular, when adhesive coatings are used in the endless web, parts of the adhesive formed or sheared off during cutting, deposit on the anvil roller and are distributed about the overall periphery of the anvil roller due to the slippage of the endless web. They are also transported to the article to be produced via the flat material web sections being separated.
When flat material web sections are cut off from the endless web at relatively low speeds, and are then accelerated to a higher speed to be applied onto the first flat material web, one faces the problem that inertial masses must be accelerated and decelerated with high frequency. When relatively bending-resistant materials are used to form the flat material web sections, in particular, materials which are folded several times of top of each other, the reduction of the roller diameters in order to reduce the moved masses is problematic, since in this case, the bending-resistant materials and flat material web sections separated therefrom can hardly be kept on the surface of the anvil roller or other transport rollers. This would cause economically unacceptable disturbance of the production process.
For this reason, it has not been possible to find a satisfactory solution for the above-mentioned problems up to now.
It is therefore the underlying purpose of the present invention to provide a method and a device for performing the method, which permit application of flat material web sections onto a first flat material web extending in a machine direction to ensure economic production with high processing stability and which are not impaired by any of the above-mentioned problems.

Method and device for applying a flat material web section


Conduit can connect a beverage line in fluid communication with a supply of first fluid. A pump operates to allow a second fluid to enter the conduit in a predetermined proportion relative to the first fluid. A primary first fluid control means and a secondary first fluid control means are selectively and independently movable between respective open positions in which the first fluid can flow into the conduit and respective closed positions in which flow of the first fluid into the conduit is substantially prevented. In use, the primary first fluid control means is in the open position, and the secondary first fluid control means selectively alternates between the open position and the closed position so as to create a pulsed secondary flow of the first fluid into the conduit for enhanced cleaning.

All beer lines in licensed premises for the purpose of dispensing beer need to be cleaned on a regular basis (one cleaning per week recommended) with a dilute solution of sodium hydroxide. If these lines are not cleaned regularly, yeast will form on the inner walls of the lines, and a build-up of yeast will occur. The result of this build-up of yeast will be that the beer dispensed will be of poor quality and will have a sour taste.
The current method of cleaning beer lines involves the removal of the connection of the pipe from the keg or storage container, and attaching the beer line connection to a plastic vessel which contains a solution of water and a cleaning agent. Gas pressure from the beer gas cylinders, accessible through the beer line connection, is used to force the cleaning solution through the beer line when the tap at the main bar is released. The beer which is already in the line at commencement of the cleaning process is disposed of, up until the point that the cleaning solution becomes visible. At this point, the tap is closed, and a "soak" period, during which the cleaning solution is in contact with the inner wall of the beer lines, is used to break down the sediment and yeast. After this "soak" period, the plastic vessel holding the cleaning solution must be emptied, washed, then filled with water, and then re-attached to the beer line connection, and the tap is re-opened. At the point where the cleaning solution has been removed from the beer line, the tap must be closed again, and the beer line connection must then be re-attached to the keg. The tap must be re-opened, and the water must be removed from the line until the beer returns. Usually as part of this, a couple of pints of beer are also disposed of to ensure that the cleaning solution has been completely removed from the beer lines.
That known method suffers from the disadvantage that the cleaning solution (usually 1% sodium hydroxide solution) has to be made up manually, and this process is prone to error. The quantity of water used for rinsing may not be adequate, and hence the beer line may still have traces of cleaning agent. The line may also have traces of cleaning agent after the final rinse if the cleaning bucket was not properly rinsed free of the sodium hydroxide solution before it was filled with the final rinse fresh water. The container holding the concentrated sodium hydroxide solution has to be handled manually and the solution measured out in a measuring cup. This measuring process is prone to spills, and the sodium hydroxide solution often comes into contact with the operator's skin since, in practice, safety gloves and goggles are seldom used. Thus, the known method of cleaning beer lines described above leaves significant scope for human error because the cleaning solution mixing and "soak" periods are not precise enough to ensure that proper cleaning has taken place or to ensure that the cleaning agent has been removed before beer is again used in the cleaned line.
Other art is known such as reported from the parent international case. See, e.g., international publication No. WO 2005/087397 A1.
Thus, French patent specification No. FR 2 354 829 discloses a device for the automatic cleaning of piping systems to be connected to a beverage reservoir and installations connected to these systems. The device disclosed in that French specification comprises at least one unit comprising a portion conveying water and an electrical portion which is separate from the portion conveying water. The portion conveying water is composed of a piping system that is divided into at least two parts that can be closed individually by first and second valves and then joined together again. One end of the piping system is connected via a non-return valve to a feed system which is the main water supply, and its other end is connected to a branch part provided with one or more fittings, each fitting being closable. The piping system of an installation to be cleaned can be connected to each branch part; the discharge pipe of a metering pump is connected to at least one of the branches of the portion conveying water, downstream of the valve that controls the closure of this branch; and the branch comprises a second valve downstream of the delivery point of the metering pump, while the suction pipe can be connected to a receptacle of concentrated detergent. The valves and the metering pump can be controlled electrically by the electrical portion, which is connectable to a power source. Further there comprises a program selection knob, a push-button switch, an electrical source for driving the metering pump, and a timer.
European patent specification No. EP 0 487 214 discloses a beverage dispensing system cleaning apparatus. It includes means for selectively supplying cleaning fluid to an inlet of the system, selectively operable valve means connected with the outlet of the system, and control means to admit cleaning fluid to the system and to selectively operate the valve means to effect agitation of the cleaning fluid in the system.
Compare, DE 3920046; DE 4313292; FR 2642997; GB 1196912; WO 9512543 and WO 0053346.
Also, beer lines are of different length and can have quite substantial climbs from the cellar to the actual bar counter at which the beer is dispensed to a consumer. In some instances, a licensed premises can also have varying lines to different bars or to cold rooms where the beer is held.

Apparatus and method for cleaning beverage lines


An anti-theft device is provided for inhibiting access to a fastener, and more specifically to a fastener head. The anti-theft device can include a base member with an opening for receiving the fastener and a lid member releasably coupled to the base member. The lid member can include a specialized tool recess adapted for receiving a specialized tool, such that only the specialized tool can be used to open and close the lid member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application is directed generally toward anti-theft devices, and specifically toward anti-theft devices which inhibit or prevent access to fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
Anti-theft devices are used by manufacturers and/or consumers, such as for example in the automotive industry, to prevent unwanted access to parts or components. For example, anti-theft devices such as boots are commonly used on car tires to prevent auto theft. Anti-theft devices such as key locks or other types of locks are also commonly used to inhibit access to and prevent tampering of automotive compartments.

Camisasca Automotive Manufacturing, Inc.


A food product dispensing device (10) includes a housing (12) with an opening (66). The device includes a drive screw (30) for driving a piston (42) towards the opening. Portions (76) of a food product are placed in the housing and are forced through the opening by the piston as the screw is rotated. There are separators (78) between each two adjacent portions. These allow one portion at a time to be ejected through the opening and used or consumed, for example by spreading.

A traditional method of applying hard spreadable food substances such as butter on bread, corn, or even when greasing a dish for cooking purposes, is by means of a knife, spatula or similar implement. Typically, the implement is used to scrape a portion of the product from a container such as a butter container, before it is applied as needed.
When applying such a spreadable product, for example, to bread or toast, a commonly experienced problem is that, because of the hardness of the spreadable product, and the nature of implement used, the bread or toast tears. In addition, in such uses, and also, for example when applying such products such as butter to a dish, there is often difficulty in spreading the product evenly.
There are known dispenser devices for dispensing and spreading such products, which involve injecting a portion of the spreadable product from a container, to enable the rubbing of the product and hence spreading thereof onto a surface such as bread. However, it is often difficult to gauge how much of the product is applied. More significantly, applying such spreadable food products to other foods can often result in contamination of that portion of the food product remaining in the dispenser.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative thereto.


A speed sensor (B, C) produces a signal that reflects the angular velocity of a shaft (4) which rotates in a case (2) having a mounting surface (10), beyond which the shaft projects to provide a target (6), and threaded holes (12) which open out of the mounting surface. The speed sensor includes a housing (20) and a sensing element (22) which is embedded in the housing. The housing, which is formed from a deformable material, has slots (44, 60) which align with the threaded holes in the case, and receive screws (24, 66) which thread into the holes to secure the speed sensor to the case. The speed sensor is positioned such that the proper air gap exists between its sensing element and the target. The screws, which extend through the slots, produce indentations (56, 74) in the deformable material of the housing, and these indentations receive the screws, so that the position of the sensor is fixed. Thus, the sensor, if removed, may be reinstalled in the same location.

A variety of sensors exist for monitoring the angular velocities of rotating shafts—sensors which are connected to control systems that in one way or another control the operation of such shafts or other machine elements. The typical sensor mounts on a stationary component of a machine opposite a shaft which rotates in that component. The shaft carries a target along its periphery, and the target has the capacity to produce a pulsating signal in the sensor, which signal is monitored by the control system. The target may take the form of alternating ridges and valleys on a gear or spline, or may take the form of a keyway or even pins. It may also assume a magnetic form, consisting of magnetic poles. Sensors assume two basic forms—passive and active. A passive sensor does not require any power from the control system to operate it. But it does require a very small and accurate air gap, and it will not register credible speeds at low angular velocities. A variable reluctance sensor represents one type of passive sensor. An active sensor requires power from the control system and will operate effectively with larger air gaps and at lower speeds. Active sensors are better suited for traction control systems and in assemblies where the air gap is difficult to accurately control. Moreover, some active sensors can sense direction. A Hall-effect sensor represents one type of active sensor.
For a sensor to operate effectively, the air gap between it and the target that it monitors must fall within prescribed tolerances. This requires a good measure of precision during the manufacture of the sensor and the component on which it is installed, or during the installation of the sensor, or both. These exacting demands must also be met during subsequent maintenance procedures which require removal of the sensor and reinstallation. In one type of sensor mounting a hard stop on the sensor seats against a surface on the stationary machine component, thus controlling an air gap with a good measure of precision. The sensor may be removed and reinstalled without too much concern about altering the air gap. However, the sensor and the seat against which its hard stop bears must be manufactured with considerable precision. When a sensor is mounted on a surface that lies perpendicular to or at a substantial angle to the axis of the shaft, no hard stop or seat exists to fix the position of the sensor, while the original installation of such a sensor may be easy, without a hard stop, the reinstallation of the sensor after a maintenance procedure requires exacting efforts.

Speed sensor and method of attaching the same


A magnetic recording medium is textured with a pulsed laser light beam through a multiple lens focusing system. The use of a multiple lens focusing system enables the formation of a plurality of relatively uniform protrusions smaller than those obtained with a single lens focusing system, thereby avoiding abrupt local profile changes. In an embodiment, the laser light beam is split, as by offsetting the lenses, to obtain a plurality of pairs of even smaller protrusions than obtained with a laser light beam having a centralized energy profile. The pulsed, multiple lens focused laser light beam can be used to texture a substrate, underlayer or magnetic layer. The resulting laser textured magnetic recording medium exhibits improved flying stability, glide performance and reliability.

Magnetic disks and disk drives are conventionally employed for storing data in magnetizable form. Typically, one or more disks are rotated on a central axis in combination with data transducing heads positioned in close proximity to the recording surfaces of the disks and moved generally radially with respect thereto. Magnetic disks are usually housed in a magnetic disk unit in a stationary state with a magnetic head having a specific load elastically in contact with and pressed against the surface of the disk.
In operation, the magnetic disk is normally driven by the contact start stop (CSS) method, wherein the head begins to slide against a landing zone of the surface of the disk as the disk begins to rotate. Upon reaching a predetermined high rotational speed, the head floats in air at a predetermined distance from the surface of the disk due to dynamic pressure effects caused by the air flow generated between the sliding surface of the head and the disk landing zone. During reading and recording operations, the transducer head is maintained at a controlled distance from the recording surface, supported on a bearing of air as the disk rotates. The magnetic head unit is arranged such that the head can be freely moved in both the circumferential and radial directions of the disk in this floating state allowing data to be recorded on and retrieved from the surface of the disk at a desired position.
Upon terminating operation of the disk drive, the rotational speed of the disk decreases and the head begins to slide against the surface of the disk again and eventually stops in contact with and pressing against the disk. Thus, the transducer head contacts the recording surface whenever the disk is stationary, accelerated from a stop and during deceleration just prior to completely stopping. Each time the head and disk assembly is driven, the sliding surface of the head repeats the cyclic operation consisting of stopping, sliding against the surface of the disk, floating in the air, sliding against the surface of the disk and stopping.
It is considered desirable during reading and recording operations to maintain each transducer head as close to its associated recording surface as possible, i.e., to minimize the flying height of the head. This objective becomes particularly significant as the areal recording density increases. The areal density (Mbits/in.sup.2) is the recording density per unit area and is equal to the track density (TPI) in terms of tracks per inch times (.times.) the linear density (BPI) in terms of bits per inch. Thus, a smooth recording surface is preferred, as well as a smooth opposing surface of the associated transducer head, thereby permitting the head and the disk to be positioned in closer proximity with an attendant increase in predictability and consistent behavior of the air bearing supporting the head. However, another factor operates against that objective. If the head surface and recording surface are too flat, the precision match of these surfaces gives rise to excessive stiction and friction during the start up and stopping phases, thereby causing wear to the head and recording surfaces eventually leading to what is referred to as a "head crash." Thus, there are competing goals of reduced head/disk friction and minimum transducer flying height.
In order to satisfy these competing objectives, the recording surfaces of magnetic disks are conventionally provided with a roughened surface to reduce the head/disk friction by techniques referred to as "texturing." Conventional texturing techniques involve polishing the surface of a disk substrate to provide a texture thereon prior to subsequent deposition of layers, such as an underlayer which is typically chromium or a chromium-alloy, a magnetic layer, a protective overcoat which typically comprises carbon, and a lubricant topcoat, wherein the textured surface on the substrate is intended to be substantially replicated on the surface of the magnetic disk.
A typical magnetic recording medium is depicted in FIG. 1 and comprises a substrate 10, typically an aluminum (Al)-base alloy, such as an aluminum-magnesium (Al--Mg) alloy, plated with a layer of amorphous nickel-phosphorous (NiP). Substrate 10 typically contains sequentially deposited thereon a chromium (Cr) underlayer 11, a magnetic layer 12 which is usually a cobalt (Co)-base alloy, a protective overcoat 13 which usually comprises carbon, and a lubricant topcoat 14. Cr underlayer 11, Co-base alloy magnetic layer 12 and protective carbon overcoat 13 are typically deposited by sputtering techniques. A conventional Al-alloy substrate is provided with a NiP plating primarily to increase the hardness of the Al substrate, serving as a suitable surface for polishing to provide the requisite surface roughness or texture, which is substantially reproduced on the disk surface.
The escalating requirements for high areal recording density impose increasingly greater requirements on thin film magnetic media in terms of coercivity, stiction squareness, low medium noise and narrow track recording performance. In addition, increasingly high density and large-capacity magnetic disks require increasingly small flying heights, i.e., the distance by which the head floats above the surface of the disk in the CSS drive. The requirement to further reduce the flying height of the head imposed by increasingly higher recording density and capacity render it particularly difficult to satisfy the requirements for controlled texturing to avoid head crash.
Conventional texturing techniques comprise a mechanical operation, such as polishing. See, for example, Nakamura et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,810. However, conventional mechanical texturing techniques are attendant with numerous disadvantages. For example, it is extremely difficult to provide a clean textured surface due to debris formed by mechanical abrasions. Moreover, the textured surface is inevitably scratched during mechanical operations, resulting in poor glide characteristics and higher defects. In addition, various desirable substrates are difficult to process by mechanical texturing. This undesirably limiting facet of mechanical texturing, virtually excludes the use of many substrates as well as conductive graphite substrates which facilitate achieving high coercivities.
In copending application Ser. No. 08/608,072 filed on Feb. 28, 1996, a sputter texturing method is disclosed. The disclosed sputter texturing method can be advantageously applied to a plurality of different substrates.
Another alternative texturing technique to mechanical texturing comprises laser texturing by impinging a pulsed, focused laser light beam on a layer of a magnetic recording medium, such as an upper surface of a non-magnetic substrate. See, for example, Ranjan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,021, wherein the disclosed method comprises polishing an NiP plated Al substrate to a specular finish, and rotating the substrate while directing pulsed laser energy over a limited portion of the radius, thereby providing a textured landing zone leaving the data zone specular. The landing zone comprises a plurality of individual laser spots characterized by a central depression surrounded by a substantially circular raised rim.
Another laser texturing technique is reported by Paumgart et al. "A New Laser Texturing Technique for High Performance Magnetic Disk Drives," IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 2946-2951, November 1995. The laser texturing technique disclosed by Baumgart et al. comprises impinging a pulsed laser light beam through a single lens focusing system on a substrate surface. Baumgart et al. disclose that the shape of the resulting protrusions is altered by adjusting the pulse energy. At low pulse energies, the bump or protrusion shape comprises a central depression and a surrounding rim, similar to that reported by Ranjan et al. As the pulse energy increases, the bottom of the depression flattens into a rounded, smooth, central dome resembling a "sombrero." At higher powers, the central dome broadens and decreases in height to eventually become equal to or lower than the rim.
A profile of a protrusion formed by the laser texturing technique as reported by Ranjan et al. is shown in FIG. 2, and comprises a substantially circular rim 23 extending above surface 21 surrounding central depression 20. The depth d of depression 20 below upper surface 21 is reported by Ranjan et al. as typically about twice the rim height h.
The variation in protrusion shape reported by Baumgart et al. is shown in FIG. 3 which depicts a sequence of atomic force microscope (AFM) cross sections of protrusions created at different incident laser pulse energies in microjoules (.mu.j).
Laser surface texturing affords an advantageous degree of control unavailable with mechanical texturing. Moreover, the accuracy of a laser light beam provides a precise delineation of the textured area boundaries, thereby enabling the accurate and reproducible formation of textured landing zones while maximizing the area available for data storage. The rounded protrusions reported by Ranjan et al. enable control of head/disk spacings while reducing friction and wear. The generally circular depressions and surrounding rims are also reported by Ranjan et al. to further reduce frictional wear by acting as areas of collection for debris and lubricant coated on the disk.
However, conventional laser texturing techniques, such as those disclosed by Ranjan et al. and Baumgart et al., suffer from several disadvantages. The geometric configuration of the topographical protrusions formed by such conventional laser texturing techniques employing a single lens focusing system result from the rapid centralized melting and thermal degradation from the center of the focused laser spot to the edge of the spot. Such single lens focusing systems generate a textured area having relatively large topographical protrusions and characterized by rather abrupt local profile changes that adversely affect the flying stability and glide performance of magnetic-recording heads, and detrimentally impact the reliability of the head-medium interface. Such problematic abrupt local profile changes require greater precision in texturing a magnetic recording medium by providing a uniform pattern of protrusions smaller than those obtained by conventional laser texturing techniques.
In copending application Ser. No. 08/647,407, filed May 9, 1996, a method of laser texturing a magnetic recording medium is disclosed, wherein a focused laser light beam is passed through an optical crystal material interposed and spaced apart between a lens focusing system surface undergoing laser texturing. The use of an optical crystal material enables formation of a texture comprising a plurality of controlled and accurately spaced apart protrusions.
Swaminathan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,306 discloses the use of a multiple lens system, including an aplanatic meniscus lens and a companion doublet lens, for use in a microscope. The use of multiple lens systems for reading or writing disk drive data is disclosed by Euguchi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,407, Kurata et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,914 and Endo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,755.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a texturing system, particularly a laser texturing system, capable of providing a topography comprising a plurality of controlled, relatively small protrusions of uniform height, thereby affording improved flying stability, glide performance and reliability.

Laser texturing of magnetic recording medium using multiple lens focusing


The apparatus according to the present invention adds a sequence of instructions for recording a maximum of two sets of values assigned to variables in the procedure under the first execution and whose appearance frequencies can reach 50% or more and their appearance frequencies to the intermediate data of a source program to obtain primary profile information after the end of a first execution. Further it adds another sequence of instructions for recording the appearance frequencies of the values of the primary profile information and the execution frequency of the procedure to the intermediate data to obtain final profile information after the end of a second execution. Then, it calculates a value whose appearance frequency with respect to a variable is 50% or more on the basis of the final profile information to optimize the procedure regarding this value and thereby generate an object program.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a compiling method, a compiling apparatus and a compiling program using statistical information on variables, and a recording medium therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a compiling method, a compiling apparatus and a compiling program for collecting, with respect to variables in the procedure of the program to be translated, statistical information on the actual values of variables given at the time of execution, and optimizing the procedure by using the statistical information, and a recording medium therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computerized program compiling methods include one by which, during the execution of an object program generated by translating a source program, values actually given to variables in that procedure and their frequencies are recorded as statistical information (hereinafter referred to as "profile information"), and the recorded profile information is utilized for optimizing the procedure in the next and subsequent translation processing (see, for instance, Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-149380).
By the method disclosed in Patent Reference 1, a profile record (hereinafter referred to as simply "record") is prepared for each of the variables which are the objects of profiles of individual procedures. Then, by simply preparing a plurality of data structures (hereinafter referred to as "value lists") in the record for storing the set of a value and an assigned frequency for each of the types of value assigned to the variables at the time executing the object program, it is claimed that the values obtained during the execution can be stored in the descending order of frequency. However, Patent Reference 1 describes no details of the processing that is to work in the claimed way.
As far as the description in Patent Reference 1 indicates, the following two implications are conceivable.                1) Implied Method A: First come first registered basis
During the execution of procedures of the target program, values assigned to variables are registered in the order in which the procedures are called and, when the number of types of values has reached that of the value lists of records, no values of a new type that emerges thereafter are registered.
Considered here is a case in which, for instance, that actual value assigned to a variable x at the entrance of a procedure having one argument x:sub(x) is to be recorded. It is supposed that the values assigned to the variable x are as follows when this procedure has been called 10 times.                x={4, 4, 4, 7, 7, 10, 10, 3, 6, 10}
If here the number of the value lists is 3, values are stored in all the value lists of the record at the point of time when a third type of value "10" is given. For this reason, none of the new types of value that subsequently emerge ("3" and "6") is registered. Therefore, the state of the value lists at the time the program is completed will be as follows.                {Value, frequency}={4, 3}, {7, 2}, {10, 3}        2) Implied method B: The value of the lowest frequency of appearance is Discarded when the Value Lists of the Record Have Become Full
During the execution of procedures of the target program, values assigned to variables are registered in the order in which the procedures are called; when a new type of value appears in a state in which values are stored in all the value lists of the record, the value of the lowest frequency of appearance by that point of time is excluded, and the new value is registered. If there are a plurality of values of the lowest frequency of appearance, any appropriate one is selected out of them for exclusion.
For instance, it is supposed that the values assigned to the variable x are as follows when the same procedure as that in the case of the above-described conventional method A is called 10 times.                x={4, 4, 4, 7, 7, 10, 3, 6, 8, 8}
If here the number of the value lists is 3, the state of the value lists at the time of the sixth call will be as follows.                {Value, frequency}={4, 3}, {7, 2}, {10, 1}
Then, when it is called the seventh time together with a new value "3", values are already stored in all the value lists. Then the value "10" of the lowest frequency of appearance is excluded out of the value lists, and the new value is registered. The result will be as follows.                {Value, frequency}={4, 3}, {7, 2}, {3, 1}
Further at the eighth call, similarly the value "3" is excluded, and a value "6" is registered instead. At the ninth call, similarly the value "6" is excluded, and a value "8" is registered instead." As a result, the state of the value lists at the end of the program will be as follows.                {Value, frequency}={4, 3}, {7, 2}, {8, 2}
However, the two conventional methods described above respectively involve the following problems.                1) Problem with the implied method A
If values are given in the following sequence and a procedure is called, the value of the highest frequency may not be stored in the value lists of the record.                x={1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6}
In this case, properly the following sets of value and frequency should be stored in the value lists.                {Value, frequency}={6, 3}, {4, 2}, {5, 2}
However, the actually stored sets will be as follows.                {Value, frequency}={1, 1}, {2, 1}, {3, 1}        2) Problem with the Implied Method B
If values are given in the following sequence and a procedure is called, the value of the highest frequency may not be stored in the value lists of the record.                x={1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 7, 1, 6, 1}
In this case, properly the following sets of value and frequency should be stored in the value lists.                {Value, frequency}={1, 3}, {3, 2}, {7, 2}                    or {1, 3}, {3, 2}, {5, 2}
However, the actually stored sets will be as follows.                {Value, frequency}={3, 2}, {5, 2}, {1, 1}                    or {7, 2}, {5, 2}, {1, 1}            or {7, 2}, {3, 2}, {1, 1}
Incidentally, what sets of value and frequency are stored in the value lists depends on the choice of the set to be discarded at the time the value lists have become full.
It is seen that, by either of the conventional methods described above, if there are more types of values assigned to variables obtained at the time of procedure execution than the number of value lists, the sets of value and frequency stored in the value lists may be unreliable.
Though not expressly mentioned in Patent Reference 1, the number of value lists should be determined at the time of translation. If the number of value lists is not determined at the time of translation and storage areas for value lists are to be dynamically secured at the time of execution and if the object program itself has processing to dynamically secure storage areas, the procedure may interfere with that processing to exert adverse impacts. For this reason, safe execution is usually impossible except where appropriate storage management is possible on the part of the system as in the virtual machine in the JIT (Just In Time) compiler of JAVA (a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. of the U.S.).
Therefore, it is practically impossible to determine before translation the number of value lists to be sufficiently greater than the number of types of values assigned to variables obtained.

Method, apparatus and computer program for compiling program using statistical information on variables, and recording medium therefor


A method and system is provided for detecting the depth of anesthesia wherein at least one anesthetic agent is absorbed in a patient's bloodstream during the administration of anesthesia, which includes sampling a patient's expired breath; analyzing the breath for concentration of at least one substance indicative of the anesthetic agent using sensor technology such as free (unmetabolized) anesthetic agent or its metabolites; determining the effect of the agent based on that concentration; and determining depth of anesthesia based thereon. The method also detects endogenous compounds such as ketones and ammonia in exhaled breath as well as other pathologic organisms.

Anesthesia is extremely safe. Anesthesiologists use sophisticated technology to monitor the vital signs of and to provide respiratory and cardiovascular support for patients undergoing surgical procedures. Historically, most anesthetics were performed using inhaled agents. The depth of anesthesia induced by an inhalational anesthetic depends primarily on the partial pressure (or gas tension) of the anesthetic in the brain, and the rate of induction and recovery from anesthesia depends on the rate of change of partial pressure in the brain. The depth of anesthesia reflects the degree of blockade of sensory, reflex, mental, and motor functions, which can be achieved by using either inhalational or intravenous (IV) anesthetics, or combination of both agents. With inhalation agents, the concentration of drug delivered can be precisely metered and the variation between patients in the depth of anesthesia resulting from known concentrations of inhaled agents is relatively narrow, permitting the anesthesiologist to confidently assume a particular level of anesthesia based on the concentration of anesthetic gas delivered. Occasionally, this is not the case, and patients have recall of events that occurred during the surgical procedure. Recall is usually not a significant issue, however, in instances where a muscle relaxant is also given, rendering the patient paralyzed, an inadequate depth of anesthesia may result in the patient perceiving pain and being unable to alert the anesthesiologist. Also, the patient may remember conversation or other unpleasant events during his surgery. This rare, but dramatic event can be psychologically devastating to a patient. Because of these events, and the desire to more closely titrate the depth of anesthesia, a number of devices have been developed that purport to monitor a patient's depth of anesthesia by processing electrical signals produced by the brain. Studies have shown these technologies tend to be imprecise, and anesthetic agent specific. A more specific method of determining depth of anesthesia, or alternatively the blood concentration of anesthetic agents is desirable. Recently other methods of providing anesthesia, including IV anesthesia, have been popularized, and offer advantages over inhalation anesthetics.
Among the newer anesthetic techniques is total IV anesthesia (TIVA) which uses IV agents in place of the conventional vaporized inhalants. Unlike inhaled anesthetics, IV anesthetics produced a wider range of anesthesia for a specific drug dosage (less predictable), owing at least in part to interactions with other drugs, competition for binding sites in the blood and other body tissues, and genetic variation in the enzymes responsible for drug metabolism. At present, a major impediment to the wider use of IV anesthetics, rather than inhaled anesthetics, has been the inability to precisely determine the quantity of drug required to provide a sufficient "depth of anesthesia" without accumulating an excessive amount.
Propofol, for example, is an agent that is widely used as a short acting IV anesthetic. Its physiochemical properties are hydrophobic and volatile. It is usually administered as a constant IV infusion in order to deliver and maintain a specific plasma concentration. Although the metabolism is mainly hepatic and rapid, there is significant interpatient variability in the plasma concentration achieved with a known dose. However, the depth of anesthesia for a known plasma concentration is far less variable and it is therefore highly desirable to be able to evaluate plasma concentrations in real time to accurately maintain anesthetic efficacy. ["A Simple Method for Detecting Plasma Propofol," Akihiko Fujita, MD, et al., Feb. 25, 2000, International Anesthesia Research Society]. The authors describe a means to measure plasma rather than total propofol using headspace—GC with solid phase microextraction. This is preferable since plasma (free) propofol is responsible for the anesthetic effect. Prior methods of monitoring propofol concentration in blood include high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC). It has been reported that 97%-99% of propofol is bound with albumin and red blood cells after IV injection, and the remainder exists in blood as a free type. HPLC and GC detect the total propofol concentration, which does not correlate as well with the anesthetic effect as the plasma propofol level.
Propofol may also be monitored in urine. Metabolic processes control the clearance of propofol from the body, with the liver being the principal eliminating organ. ["First-pass Uptake and Pulmonary Clearance of Propofol," Jette Kuipers, et al., Anesthesiology, V91, No.6, December 1999]. In a study, 88% of the dose of propofol was recovered in urine as hydroxylated and conjugated metabolites.
The aim of any dosage regimen in anesthesia is to titrate the delivery rate of a drug to achieve the desired pharmacolgic effect for any individual patient while minimizing the unwanted toxic side effects. Certain drugs such as propofol, afentanil and remifentanil have a close relationship between blood concentration and effect; thus, the administration of the drug can be improved by basing the dosage regimen on the pharmacokinetics of the agent. [Kenny, Gavin, Target-Controlled Infusions—Pharmacokinetics and Pharmodynamic Variations, http://www.anaesthesiologie.med.unierlangen.de/esctaic97/a_Kenny.htm]. Target controlled infusion (TCI) is one means for administering an intravenous anesthesia agent using a computer to control the infusion pump. Using a computer with a pharmacokinetic program permits control of a desired plasma concentration of an agent, such as propofol. The systems do not sample the blood in real-time, but use previously acquired population kinetics to provide a best estimate of the predicted blood concentration. However, even if TCI systems produced the exact target concentrations of blood concentration, it would not be possible to know if that concentration was satisfactory for each individual patient and for different points during the surgical procedure.
Among the technologies used to process and monitor electrical brain signal is BIS (Bispectral Index Monitor) monitoring of electroencephalography (EEG) data. It is an indirect monitor of depth of anesthesia. The BIS monitor translates EEG waves from the brain into a single number—depicting the depth of anesthesia on a scale from 1 to 100. In addition, neural networks have been used to classify sedation concentration from the power spectrum of the EEG signal. However, this technology is costly and not entirely predictive.
Artificial neural networks have also been developed which use the patient's age, weight, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure to predict depth of anesthesia. The networks integrate physiological signals and extract meaningful information. Certain systems use mid-latency auditory evoked potentials (MLAEP) which are wavelet transformed and fed into an artificial neural network for classification in determining the anesthesia depth. [Depth of Anesthesia Estimating & Propofol Delivery System, by Johnnie W. Huang, et al., Aug. 1, 1996, http://www.rpi.edu/˜royr/roy_descpt.html].
An apparatus and method for total intravenous anesthesia delivery is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,977 to Andrews. This patent describes a method in which the patient is monitored using at least one of electrocardiogram (EKG), a blood oxygen monitor, a blood carbon dioxide monitor, inspiration/expiration oxygen, inspiration/expiration carbon dioxide, a blood pressure monitor, a pulse rate monitor, a respiration rate monitor, and a patient temperature monitor.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a more predictive method and apparatus for the non-invasive detection of drug concentration in blood, especially anesthetic agents.

Method and apparatus for monitoring intravenous (IV) drug concentration using exhaled breath

University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


A method and apparatus for differential voltage grid-based moisture monitoring of structures is provided. The method involves detecting a defect in a structural component, the structural component comprising a membrane for fluid impermeability, a deck for supporting the membrane, and a plurality of electrically conductive elements adjacent the membrane and electrically insulated from each other, by sensing the potential difference between a first element of the plurality of elements and a second element of the plurality of elements separated from the first element when there is an electrical potential between the deck and an electrically conductive fluid in contact with the first and second elements. The apparatus includes a switching circuit for connecting a voltage measuring circuit to the first and second elements, the voltage measuring circuit being operable to sense the potential difference between the first and second elements.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to civionics and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for differential voltage grid-based moisture monitoring of structures.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional low-sloped roof includes a roof deck, such as may be made of concrete or similar building material, a water impermeable membrane assembly on top of the roof deck, and optionally overburden, such as may be formed of aggregate material, laid on top of the membrane assembly.
Some conventional roofs include a grid of longitudinally and laterally disposed electrically conductive wires or tape which are electrically insulated from each other. The grid is installed above the membrane assembly and beneath the overburden, for the purpose of detecting moisture ingress into the building structure through defects in the membrane assembly. Such moisture ingress detection relies on the moisture present on the roof including elemental ions which create a detectable electrical current when the ions flow through a defect.
Canadian patent No. 2,599,087 issued to Vokey discloses a method of locating a defect in a roof comprising generating an applied voltage having a positive attached to the roof deck and a negative attached to at least one of the grid wires, and sensing at each of the wires in turn the electrical current flowing through the wire being sensed in response to the applied voltage. However, the method of Vokey relies on a measurement of electrical current through a grid wire rather than a measurement of the electrical current flow of the elemental ions flowing within moisture present on the roof.
An object of the invention is to address the above shortcomings.

Method and apparatus for differential voltage grid-based moisture monitoring of structures


In an imaging apparatus, a JPEG coding unit makes JPEG data by respectively compressing plural images obtained from an imaging device. A code retention unit retains each JPEG data. A thumbnail data creation unit creates a thumbnail from each of the images. A thumbnail retention unit retains the thumbnail. A feature point detection unit detects a feature point from the thumbnail. A partial image decode unit respectively decodes zones including the feature points from each JPEG data. A displacement amount calculation unit obtains positional information of feature points in the decoded individual zones and calculates a displacement amount of each JPEG data based on the positional information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and in particular to a technique for correcting a displacement between images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various techniques have conventionally been provided for correcting a displacement between images when synthesizing a plurality of static images photographed by a digital camera. A technique for correcting a displacement between images due to an unsteady camera is suitable to processing an image photographed in the dark because an exposure time required for photographing therein is longer, increasing the occurrence of an unsteady camera. Specifically, there are methods of correcting an unsteady camera (also noted as "image stabilization method" hereinafter) by means of hardware and software. The image stabilization method by means of hardware includes a lens shift system which moves lens in the direction opposite to an actual moving direction of the camera, and a CCD (charge coupled device) shift system.
As to a technique for stabilizing image by software, provided is a technique which reduces an input image in a plurality of steps, utilizes a global shift amount roughly obtained by using a reduced image on a lower layer level and builds up a scan block when obtaining a local shift amount on a higher level, thereby making it possible to minimize a scan block set for a second image (refer to a patent document 1 for example). Another provision is a technique capable of speeding up a process for synthesizing a plurality of digital image data by making and storing a thumbnail for each of synthetic images in the case of performing a synthesizing process by using a plurality of image data (refer to a patent document 2 for example).
At this point, a description is a detail on a conventional calculation method of a displacement between images among image stabilization techniques by means of software. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a displacement amount calculation process according to a conventional technique. The conventional technique obtains, in memory, a plurality of image data acquired from an imaging apparatus and detects a feature point (i.e., an edge) in each image, thereby calculating the displacement amount of each image when making a synthetic image by calculating respective displacement amounts related to a plurality of images and correcting the displacements as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 1.
Additionally, as to an image stabilization technique using software, provided is a technique of detecting an unsteady camera by means of software (refer to a patent document 3 for example).
[Patent document 1] Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-343483
[Patent document 2] Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-234624
[Patent document 3] Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-197911
The above noted lens shift system and CCD shift system are both faced with a problem of an increased cost because hardware must be added to a camera for moving hardware such as a lens, CCD, et cetera. Another problem associated with these methods is that means of the image stabilization is prone to a shock and easy to fail.
As for an image stabilization method using software, individual images must be positioned with each other before compounding the first and second images as described above. Accordingly exercised is to detect a feature point from the first image and obtain a position corresponding to the feature point in the second image and calculate a displacement amount from the difference of positions between the images. Such a calculation method of a displacement amount requires the process regarding the entirety of the image for detecting a feature point and searching a position corresponding thereto. However, a memory capacity for storing a plurality of images tends to get larger in proportionate with digital cameras with bigger pixels, and it causing an increase of cost. Also associated with digital cameras with bigger pixels, processes for an image stabilizer increase, hence it creates a problem of increasing the processing time.