A spectroscopic sample analysis apparatus includes an actively controlled, direct contact heat exchanger in serial fluid communication with a spectroscopic analyzer, and a controller communicably coupled to the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is disposed downstream of a fluid handler in the form of a stream selection unit (SSU), a solvent/standard recirculation unit (SRU), and/or an auto-sampling unit (ASU). The SSU selectively couples individual stream inputs to an output port. The SRU includes a solvent/standard reservoir, and selectively couples output ports to the heat exchanger, and returns the solvent/standard sample to the reservoirs. The ASU includes a sample reservoir having a sample transfer pathway with a plurality of orifices disposed at spaced locations along a length thereof. The controller selectively actuates the fluid handler, enabling sample to flow therethrough to the heat exchanger, and actuates the heat exchanger to maintain the sample at a predetermined temperature.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the measurement of chemical and physical properties of flowing streams of liquids, solids or mixed liquids and solids by quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, but may be applied to other types of molecular spectroscopy including infrared (IR), near-infrared (NIR), and Raman spectroscopy. In particular, this invention relates to sample analyzers and systems for managing sample introduction into the analyzers.
2. Background Information
The analysis of materials using NMR requires a region of space containing a magnetic field that is either extremely uniform in magnetic flux density or else extremely uniform in the spatial gradient of magnetic flux density. In such a region, a sample to be analyzed is subjected to a short pulse of electromagnetic energy at a predetermined frequency that is a function of the atomic nuclei to be analyzed and of their chemical bonding. The pulse is coupled to the sample by a surface coil. A typical pulse duration is of the order of fifty microseconds, although the pulse width that is chosen is a function of the characteristic relaxation time of the subject nuclei in material being analyzed. The magnetic field causes the magnetic moments of the constituent nuclei in the sample to become aligned along lines of magnetic flux. If the field is strong and uniform to a relatively high degree of precision, the magnetic moments will be essentially parallel to each other, resulting in an aggregate or bulk magnetic moment. The electromagnetic energy coupled to the sample effects a change in the bulk magnetic moment. The relaxation of the bulk magnetic moment from the re-aligned position back to the original position when the pulse is ended produces signals that may be detected and transformed into a spectrum, in which response intensity plotted as a function of frequency is unique to the particular sample composition. Due to the temperature dependence of both the consistency of the magnetic field and a sample's spectral behavior, temperature control of both within appropriate tolerances is desired.
NMR spectrometers came into use in the research laboratory in the early 1960s. As NMR technology advanced, it became a ubiquitous tool for elucidating molecular structure, chemical behavior and reaction mechanisms, and molecular level interactions in biological systems and diverse organic molecules including pharmaceuticals and polymers. Generally such investigations are performed on pure materials or carefully controlled mixtures to permit observation of the chemical phenomenon of interest. Understanding about the chemistry may be deduced through examination by a skilled spectroscopist of features in a single spectrum or a series of spectra measured on the subject chemical system under limited number of experimentally controlled conditions.
More recently, NMR analysis has also been used in various production environments to analyze flowing liquids, pastes, slurries, or solids in powdered or other finely divided form. NMR analyzers may be used to perform in minutes the measurement of multiple chemical and physical properties, which otherwise would need to be analyzed by many different analytical methods in a quality control laboratory, requiring hours or even days. This capability to perform multiple analyses with high frequency automatically, makes process NMR analysis a cost-effective means for characterizing input and output streams associated with diverse chemical processes. A typical NMR analyzer commonly used for such process applications includes the D-Mash NMR analyzer available from The Qualion Company, Haifa Israel.
Process streams that may be difficult to analyze continuously by means other than NMR include those which have high optical density, high loading of fine particulates or solids, high water content, or relatively high viscosity. Exemplary applications therefore may include those in oil and petrochemical processing plants, chemical plants, and other industries requiring automatic process control of fluids. In the petrochemical field, these analyzers have been used in crude blending, fast CDU optimization after crude feed switching, effective feed control and optimization of FCC (Fluid Catalytic Cracking) unit applications. Other industries that may benefit from NMR analyzers include plastics and polymers, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages.
In contrast to traditional use of analytical NMR spectroscopy in research applications, petrochemical streams can contain dozens or hundreds of compounds. Accordingly, the objective is no longer structural elucidation or detailed chemical characterization, but the measurement of bulk properties such as distillation yields at various temperatures, the total aromatic content, acidity, bulk sulfur content, octane in gasoline, cetane in diesel, and cloud point in jet fuel. Also, the analysis of a sample spectrum to obtain property values is performed automatically by software, which applies property-specific models based on data sets of dozens or hundreds of calibration samples whose spectra were measured previously and corresponding property values analyzed in the laboratory.
It follows that the quality of property models depends at a minimum on the compositional diversity of the calibration sample set and the precise measurement of NMR spectra. The latter requires proper tuning of the NMR spectrometer to achieve a magnetic field of suitable uniformity and the supply to it of samples maintained at relatively uniform temperature. For example, even relatively slight variations in sample temperature, e.g., variations as small as plus or minus 3 degrees C., may significantly reduce measurement accuracy. A set of calibration samples whose compositional diversity is suitable for creation of property models may be obtained most conveniently by collecting and storing samples over a relatively long time frame during which feed or product streams associated with a process exhibit relevant property variations.
A need therefore exists for an apparatus and method for maintaining and supplying samples to an NMR analyzer in a relatively uniform state, both on-line within a process, and off-line in a batch processing mode.


A buckle for safety belts in vehicles comprises a load bearing housing in which an insertion path for receiving an insert tongue is formed. A movable latch is mounted on the housing. A casing is provided which surrounds the housing. The casing is provided with an opening at a rear side thereof remote from the insertion path. Within the casing at least one electric switch is arranged. This switch is fitted through the opening in the buckle in an already assembled condition thereof.

Electric switches in buckle for safety belt are required in order to indicate the use condition of the safety belt (i.e. fastened or unfastened). They are operated on insertion of the insert tongue and then produce a signal, which is supplied via a cable, extending out of the casing of the buckle, to a control system. Dependent on the type of control system, different forms of switch are required. For a belt warning system it is possible to employ a normally closed or a normally open switch. For a belt warning system in combination with a belt handling device as an electric switch a change over switch is required. Finally, for an air bag inquiry system a normally closed or a normally open switch is required with two different electrical resistors. The installation of such electric switches with the associated connecting cables is presently performed in the course of the assembly of the buckle. The casing of the buckle is made in two parts and is put together only after fitting of the electric switch or switches on the housing. Such a two-part housing not only involves more complex assembly than a single-piece casing, it is also less strong mechanically and less able to prevent the ingress of dirt. While assembly of a buckle without electric switches is substantially automated, the fitting thereof with various different switch systems renders necessary separate assembly and checking steps. Moreover, handling during assembly is hindered by the presence of already existing switches with their connecting cables.


An etchant for and method of removing a glass coating on a metallic wire is provided. The etchant comprises an acid solution having metal ions contained therein. The metal ions prevent the acid solution from pitting or damaging the metallic wire, while allowing the acid solution to effectively etch and remove the glass coating. In one embodiment, a fluorine-based acid solution can be used. In another embodiment, a glass coated, metal alloy microwire is etched and the metal ions added to the etchant are chosen to be the same as the majority constituent element in the metal alloy. The glass coating can be either removed in full or only partially removed.

The present invention relates generally to a method of removing a glass coating that surrounds a metal wire core in a manner that protects the surface of the metal core from damage. In particular, the invention relates to the removal of the silica-based glass coating that surrounds an amorphous metal microwire.
Metal microwires can be produced by the Taylor-Ulitovsky production process (reference U.S. Published Patent Application 2006/0130995 A1 to Adar et al.). In this process, an alloy melt is rapidly solidified in a softened glass sheath. The presence of the softened glass sheath dampens instability in the alloy melt and promotes the formation of a glass-coated microwire with a uniform diameter and a smooth metal/glass interface. A glass-coated microwire with an amorphous metal core can also be produced by the Taylor-Ulitovsky method, in which a glass tube and the desired metal are brought into a high-frequency induction field. The metal is melted, and its heat softens the glass tube, so that a thin metal-filled capillary is drawn from the softened glass tube. The metal-filled capillary enters a cooling zone in a superheated state where it is rapidly cooled, such that the desired amorphous or micro-crystalline (i.e., grain size less than about 1 micrometer), micro-structure is obtained. Rapid cooling is typically required to obtain amorphous and micro-crystalline micro-structures. The rate of cooling is not less than 104 degrees C./sec and preferably is 105-106 degrees C./sec. The amorphous or micro-crystalline structure is controlled by choice of amorphous alloy, cooling rate, nature of the cooling liquid, location of the cooling stream, dwell time in the cooling stream and degree of super-heating and super-cooling.
For some applications it is important to subsequently remove the glass coating from the microwire. One exemplary application is the use of the microwire as an anode wire in a proportional radiation counter or neutron detector. In this application, charged particles must be able to make electrical contact with the bare metal surface of the wire. Removal of the glass-coating is desirable for the operation of the detector because: 1) incident electrons caused by ionization of the gas in the detector chamber should be free to impact the anode wire surface in order to produce a detector signal, and 2) the ends of the anode wire should make an electrical connection with the ends of the detector. During operation of the detector a radially symmetric electric field is caused to exist between the anode wire and the cathode shell of the detector. Symmetry of this field and consistency of the field gradient requires an anode wire with a smooth surface and a constant (i.e., uniform) diameter. Furthermore, some applications may require position-sensitive detectors in which the ionization event is localized by measuring the difference in arrival times of the detector signal at each end of the detector assembly. Accuracy of the position measurement depends on the anode wire having a constant resistance along its length. Therefore, the diameter of the anode wire must be constant along the length of the detector.
It is well-known in the art that hydrofluoric acid (HF) is effective at dissolving silica-based glass compositions. Hydrofluoric acid dissolves glass by reacting with silicon dioxide (SiO2), the major component in most glasses. However, the dissolution process cannot be well-controlled. When using hydrofluoric acid to remove the glass coating from a wire it is difficult to avoid etching and pitting the metal core. An etched and pitted metal core no longer exhibits a smooth surface and uniform diameter, which is detrimental to many applications (e.g., neutron detection). Therefore, a need exists for a method to controllably and quickly remove the glass coating without damaging the metal core of a glass-coated wire while maintaining the wire's uniform diameter.

Method and etchant for removing glass-coating from metal wires


A radar receiver on a moving platform images a moving target and non-moving clutter using a single SAR array. The radar receiver converts the radar returns into digital radar returns and motion compensates the digital radar returns with respect to a reference, then applies further phase compensation to obtain an autofocused synthetic aperture image. A plurality of moving target pixels descriptive of the moving target are detected within the autofocused synthetic aperture image. The plurality of moving target pixels are transformed from the autofocused image to the time domain. The time domain moving target data is focused by iteratively applying a phase compensation to the time domain moving target data.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the field of moving target detection for use with radar imaging and/or target detection using a single channel receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) radar is used for ground mapping as well as target identification. The general principle behind SAR is to coherently combine the amplitude and phase information of radar returns from a plurality of sequentially transmitted pulses from a relatively small antenna on a moving platform.
The plurality of returns creating a SAR image generated by the transmitted pulses along a known path of the platform make up an array. During the array, amplitude as well as phase information returned from each of the pulses, for each of many range bins, is preserved. The SAR image is formed from the coherent combination of the amplitude and phase of return(s) within each range bin, motion compensated for spatial displacement of the moving platform during the acquisition of the returns for the duration of the array.
The plurality of pulses transmitted during a SAR array, when coherently combined and processed, result in image quality comparable to a longer antenna, corresponding approximately to the "length" traveled by the antenna during the array. Imaging in SAR depends on Doppler frequency bins. A moving target being imaged will experience a Doppler frequency shift, hence be possibly imaged in an inaccurate Doppler bin. Thus, where moving ground targets of interest are superimposed on stationary, non-moving clutter, imaging and locating of moving targets may be degraded because there is no definite correspondence between target angle and the Doppler shift of the target. Sometimes, resolving the uncertainty in position of a moving target with respect to the SAR map, requires more than one target measurement, presenting undesirable extended target acquisition time.

Technique for enhanced quality high resolution 2D imaging of ground moving targets


A method of producing a wear and rolling contact fatigue resistant bainitic steel product whose microstructure is essentially carbide-free. The method comprises the steps of hot rolling a steel whose composition by weight includes from 0.05 to 0.50% carbon, from 1.00 to 3.00% silicon and/or aluminum, from 0.50 to 2.50% manganese, and from 0.25 to 2.50% chromium, balance iron and incidental impurities, and continuously cooling the steel from its rolling temperature naturally in air or by accelerated cooling.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to carbide-free bainitic steel rails and to methods of producing such steel rails. More especially, but not exclusively, the invention relates to carbide-free bainitic steels having enhanced wear resistance and rolling contact fatigue from which inter alia track and crane rails, railway points and crossings.
2. Description of Related Art
Most track rails have hitherto been produced from pearlitic steels. Recent reviews have indicated that pearlitic steels are approaching the limit of their material property development for track rails. There is therefore a need to evaluate alternative types of steel having good wear and rolling contact fatigue resistance coupled with improved levels of ductility toughness and weldability.
EP 0612852A1 discloses a process for manufacturing high-strength bainitic steel rails having good rolling-contact fatigue resistance in which the head of the hot-rolled rail is subjected to a discontinuous cooling programme which entails accelerated cooling from the austenite region to a cooling stop temperature of 500.degree. to 300.degree. C. at a rate of 1.degree. to 10.degree. C. per second, and then cooling the rail head further to a still lower temperature zone. The bainitic steel from which the rails are produced is not carbide-free. Rails produced by this process were found to wear away more readily than conventional pearlitic rails and exhibited an improved resistance to rolling-contact fatigue. Thus, the increase in wear rate exhibited by the head surfaces of these rails ensured that accumulated fatigue damage wore away before defects occurred. The physical properties exhibited by these rails are achieved in part by the accelerated cooling regime referred to above.
The solution proposed by EP 0612852A1 differs markedly to the method of the present invention which achieves in rail steels substantially enhanced wear resistance with excellent resistance to rolling-contact fatigue. These steels also show improved impact toughness and ductility in comparison with pearlitic rails. The method of the present invention also avoids the need for a complicated discontinuous cooling regime as specified in EP 0612852A1.
Other similar documents specifying complicated discontinuous cooling regimes include GB 2132225, GB 207144, GB 1450355, GB 1417330, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,518 and EP 0033600.
Track rails produced from iron carbide containing bainitic steels have been proposed previously. Whereas the fine ferrite lath size (.about.0.2-0.8 .mu.m wide) and high dislocation density of continuously cooled bainite combine to make the steels very strong, the presence in the microstructure of inter and intralath carbides leads to increased embrittlement which has to a large extent tended to hinder commercial exploitation of such steels.
It is known that the embrittlement problem which occurs because of the presence of deleterious carbides can be largely alleviated by employing relatively large silicon and/or aluminium additions (.about.1-2%) to low-alloy steels. The presence of silicon and/or aluminium steels continuously transformed to bainite encourages the retention of ductile high carbon austenite regions in preference to the formation of brittle intralath cementite films, and depends on the premise that the dispersed, retained austenite should be both thermally and mechanically stable. It has been shown that the retained austenite following continuous cooling transformation in the bainitic temperature range occurs either as finely divided thin intralath films, or in the form of "blocky" interpacket regions. While the thin film morphology has extremely high thermal and mechanical stability, the blocky type can transform to high carbon martensite, less conducive to good fracture toughness. A ratio of thin film to blocky morphology >0.9 is required to ensure good toughness, and this can be achieved through a careful choice of steel composition and heat treatment. This results in an essentially carbide free, "upper bainite" type microstructure based on bainitic ferrite, residual austenite and high carbon martensite.

Relating to carbide-free bainitic steels and method of producing such steels

Bhadeshia; Harshad Kumar Dharamshi Hansraj


A solidly mounted resonator (SMR) includes an acoustic resonator on a substrate, the acoustic resonator having multiple acoustic impedance layers having different acoustic impedances, respectively. The SMR further includes a bottom electrode on a top acoustic impedance layer of the plurality of acoustic impedance layers, a piezoelectric layer on the bottom electrode, a top electrode on the piezoelectric layer, and multiple lateral features on a surface of the top electrode. The lateral features include multiple stepped structures.

Transducers generally convert electrical signals to mechanical signals or vibrations, and/or mechanical signals or vibrations to electrical signals. Acoustic transducers, in particular, convert electrical signals to acoustic signals (sound waves) and convert received acoustic waves to electrical signals via inverse and direct piezoelectric effect. Acoustic transducers generally include acoustic resonators, such as thin film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs), solidly mounted resonators (SMRs), surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators or bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators, and may be used in a wide variety of electronic applications, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), electronic gaming devices, laptop computers and other portable communications devices. For example, FBARs may be used for electrical filters and voltage transformers. Generally, an acoustic resonator has a layer of piezoelectric material between two conductive plates (electrodes), which may form a thin membrane. FBAR and SMR devices, in particular, generate longitudinal acoustic waves and lateral (or transverse) acoustic waves when stimulated by an applied time-varying electric field, as well as higher order harmonic mixing products. The lateral modes and the higher order harmonic mixing products may have a deleterious impact on functionality.
In certain configurations, a frame may be provided along one or more sides of an FBAR or an SMR to mitigate acoustic losses at the boundaries by improving the confinement of electrically excited modes in the active region of the FBAR (the region of overlap of the top electrode, the piezoelectric layer, and the bottom electrode). In general, frames create an acoustic impedance mismatch that reduces losses by suppressing excitation and thus minimizing scattering of FBAR or SMR modes at the edges of the electrodes (predominantly the top electrode). Also, frames reflect electrically excited propagating modes back to the active area of the resonator, and therefore improve confinement of these modes within the active region of the FBAR or SMR. Frames located along the sides of FBARs or SMRs generally increase parallel resistance (Rp). A typical frame provides two interfaces (impedance miss-match planes), which increase reflection of propagating eigenmodes in lateral directions. When the width of the frame is properly designed for a given eigenmode, it results in resonantly enhanced reflection and suppression of that particular eigenmode, thus yielding better energy confinement and higher Q-factor at parallel resonant frequency (Fp).
However, better acoustic energy confinement, as well as further improvements in FBAR or SMR Q-factor due to the better acoustic energy confinement, are needed for increased efficiency of FBAR or SMR devices.

Solidly mounted acoustic resonator having multiple lateral features

Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A pipe having a ridge on the spigot and a method of producing such ridge. A ring having a circumferentially disposed split or splits is fitted in an annular groove formed in the outer periphery of the spigot, with the diameter of said ring being adjusted according to the tolerance of the outer diameter of the pipe. A pair of thin-walled portions formed on the circumferentially opposite ends of the ring defining the split are connected together by a connector or connectors operated from the outer peripheral side of the ring.

As a kind of pipe joint, there is known a separation preventing pipe joint, wherein a socket formed on an end of one of the pipes to be joined together receives a spigot formed on an end of the other pipe and a separation preventing function is applied between the socket and spigot. In this pipe joint having such separation preventing function, the intended separation preventing function is exerted in that the ridge formed on the outer periphery of the front end of the spigot engages a lock ring received in the inner periphery of the socket. The ridge on the front end of the spigot is formed by forming an annular groove in the outer periphery of the front end of the spigot and fitting a separation preventing ring in this annular groove. In the case where such ridges are formed in a pipe manufacturing plant, the formation of the ridge on a pipe is attained by forming the outer periphery of the front end of the spigot with an annular groove, fitting a separation preventing ring in said annular groove, welding the ring fitted in the annular groove to the pipe, and applying a tapering process to the front end of the spigot including the front end of said ring.
However, such operation of welding the ring to the spigot presents a problem that it requires much time and labor even when the operation is performed in the manufacturing plant as described above. Further, in the case where pipe cutting operation is to be effected in order to reduce the length of pipes. e.g., in a pipe laying site, welding operation is required in such laying site; thus, there is a problem that the operating efficiency is very low.

Pipe having ridge on spigot and method of forming the ridge


An elastic wheel comprises a rim for mounting a tire, a disk to be fixed to an axle, and a connecting apparatus for connecting elastically between the rim and disk, the apparatus comprising a pair of axially spaced internal flanges each provided on an inner circumference side of the rim and extending circumferentially, an external flange provided on a radially outer portion of the disk, the external flange disposed in a space between the internal flanges with an axial gap on its both sides and extending circumferentially, a pair of rubber dampers each disposed in the axial gap and connecting between the internal and external flanges, wherein each internal flange is provided on its axially inner side with a first groove, the external flange is provided on its both sides with a second groove so as to face each first groove, axial ends of each damper are inserted into the first and second grooves, and a radial gap is provided between the external flange and the inner circumference side of the rim in the space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elastic wheel capable of enhancing riding comfort and noise-reduction performance, and to a manufacturing method of such an elastic wheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to enhance riding comfort and silence degree of a vehicle, there is proposed a vehicular elastic wheel as described for example in JP-A 2003-104001.
As shown in FIG. 21, this elastic wheel includes a rim "a" for supporting a tire, a disk b to be fixed to an axle, and a rubber damper c made of elastic rubber for connecting the rim "a" and the disk b. A gap d is provided between an inner circumference side of the rim "a" and a radially outer portion of the disk b. Therefore, a load variation in the radial direction applied to the elastic wheel is absorbed by shearing deformation of the rubber damper c. Thus, the elastic wheel exhibit high buffering effect with respect to small vibration input from a road, and the riding comfort and noise-reduction performance are largely enhanced. When a load in the direction of the axle is applied to the elastic wheel, a portion of the rubber damper c is compressed and deformed and thus, the rigidity is maintained at high level and steering stability is maintained.
According to the conventional elastic wheel, however, the rubber damper c is fixed, by means of vulcanization adhesion, to the disk b and a mounting bracket e which is integrally provided on the rim "a". Therefore, much time and labor are required for vulcanization adhesion, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased and productivity is deteriorated.

Elastic wheel and method of manufacturing the same


A control system for a variable input device 2 having a slider 14 has a box 1 housing a trigger 3 capable of moving in translation between two positions relative to the box. One of the two positions constitutes a rest position. Springs 13 apply a resilient force to the trigger to urge it towards the rest position. A coupling element 45 couples the trigger with the slider 14. A foot lever 9 is mounted for rotation relative to the box about a first horizontal axis 17. The rotary motion of the lever is translated into translation motion of the trigger by a sliding block 31 mounted within the box so as to move in translation relative to the box. One end 37 of the sliding block comes into contact with the trigger. A translation control device 10 controls the extent of translation motion of the sliding block 31.

In the example of flexible transmission machines, such a control system is used for controlling the operating speed of tools disposed at the end of the flexible transmission. Since the user's hands are often occupied elsewhere, such control systems organized to have a pedal for control by the foot. However, such foot control does not provide great accuracy and the tooling often includes additional hand-adjusted control means for setting the operating speed of tools more accurately. The need to provide two distinct control means enabling the operating speed of tools to be varied is disadvantageous both with respect to the ease with which the tools can be used and with respect to the cost thereof.
To overcome this drawback, American patent U.S. Pat. No. A-4 299 182 proposes a control system including a pedal acting on a rheostat, and a series of buttons enabling circuits comprising discrete resistances to be selected to replace the rheostat. However, such buttons are not capable of enabling continuous adjustment of the controlled parameter to be obtained by hand. In addition the circuit included in that control system is relatively complex since it is necessary to provide a large number of discrete resistances and of switching means in addition to the rheostat conventionally included in pedal control means.
U.S. Pat. A-4 284 018 discloses a sewing machine control system in which a conventional pedal means can be slid inside a box that includes hand control means enabling the pedal to be adjustably pressed down. Although that control system does indeed enable continuous and accurate manual control to be obtained, it is not optimum with respect to cost and ease of use since it requires a box in addition to and distinct from the pedal control means.

Control system for a variable input device having a slider


A ceramic matrix composite article and a process of fabricating a ceramic matrix composite are disclosed. The ceramic matrix composite article includes a matrix distribution pattern formed by a manifold and ceramic matrix composite plies laid up on the matrix distribution pattern, includes the manifold, or a combination thereof. The manifold includes one or more matrix distribution channels operably connected to a delivery interface, the delivery interface configured for providing matrix material to one or more of the ceramic matrix composite plies. The process includes providing the manifold, forming the matrix distribution pattern by transporting the matrix material through the manifold, and contacting the ceramic matrix composite plies with the matrix material.

In order to increase efficiency and performance of gas turbines so as to provide increased power generation, lower emissions and improved specific fuel consumption, turbines are tasked to operate at higher temperatures and under harsher conditions. Such conditions become a challenge for cooling of certain materials.
As operating temperatures have increased, new methods of cooling alloys have been developed. For example, ceramic thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are applied to the surfaces of components in the stream of the hot effluent gases of combustion to reduce the heat transfer rate and to provide thermal protection to the underlying metal and allow the component to withstand higher temperatures. Also, cooling holes are used to provide film cooling to improve thermal capability or protection. Concurrently, ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have been developed as substitutes for some alloys. The CMCs provide more desirable temperature and density properties in comparison to some metals; however, they present additional challenges.
Processing laminated composite turbine airfoils, such as with CMCs, has been shown to be effectively executed using melt infiltration (MI). Problems exist, however, when the laminates become thick and/or the geometry becomes complex. These conditions create more problems for the inflow of the matrix material into the fiber laminate resulting in regions of porosity and/or silicon-rich zones, both of which can be initiation sites for crack propagation and ensuing fracture for interlaminar separation.
The problems are especially acute when processing thick sections where the final liquid silicon volumes fail to fill effectively leading to micro-porosity in the matrix. Additionally, thick sections present a thermal inertia which manifests as time-varying solidification fronts where the last-to-solidify regions sometimes do not transform to SiC and instead form undesirable features rich in free silicon (solid). Such features can lead to faster crack-growth rates through the matrix precipitating premature interlaminar failures.
A ceramic matrix composite article and a process of fabricating ceramic matrix composite articles that do not suffer from one or more of the above drawbacks would be desirable in the art.

Ceramic matrix composite article and process of fabricating a ceramic matrix composite article


A voltage source droop compensated clock modulation for microprocessors is described. Specifically, the circuit reduces the clock frequency if a voltage source droop is detected.

Power dissipation in high performance microprocessors continue to increase due to the use of parallel architectures, larger on-die cache memories, and increasing clock frequencies. Parallel architectures may include processor core designs that permit multiple operations running at the same time or multiple cores on the same die. Scaling the power supply voltage (Vcc) in accordance with changing process technology is a typical method to improve performance while staying within a power envelope.
Power supply voltage scaling, however, may have significant design implications. For example, lower Vcc levels reduce the circuit design voltage headroom. Therefore, a Vcc droop that is transient in nature may reduce the circuit operating speed or even result in circuit failures. Voltage droop may be caused by power delivery inductive noise generated by an increase in microprocessor activities.
In order to mitigate the effects of Vcc droop, on-die power supply de-coupling and on-die Vcc filtering techniques are often used. However, on-die de-coupling using conventional MOS gate capacitors is becoming increasingly impractical due to the high MOS gate leakage. Low leakage on-die capacitors are typically area intensive and inefficient. On-die Vcc filtering can typically only be applied to a limited number of devices due to the additional voltage drop and leakage. Moreover, since on-die capacitors are needed for the Vcc filters, this technique suffers the same drawback as on-die Vcc de-coupling due to the on-die capacitor constraints.

Power supply voltage droop compensated clock modulation for microprocessors


A suspension rack is a rack having a base plate defining at least one hole, at least one suspension plate defining a slot, and at least one fastener member including an abutting plate abutting a first side of the suspension plate. A lug extends from the abutting plate and is received in the slot. A snapping member having a stub extends from the lug and is received in the hole. An enlarged cone-shaped head extends from the stub and abuts a second side of the base plate.

A conventional tool suspension rack can be used in a retail outlet such as a hardware store for displaying a plurality of wrenches to be chosen by consumers. However, by such an arrangement, a person can steal the wrenches by freely detaching them from the wrench suspension rack.
Very often, anti-theft magnetic bar codes can only be printed on the wrench suspension rack, and cannot be printed on the wrenches whose surfaces are smooth, thus, sensors co-operating with the magnetic bar codes cannot detect the wrenches when they are detached from the wrench suspension rack. Therefore, the wrench suspension rack cannot deter theft.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional tool suspension rack.


A musical instrument has a plurality of chime members disposed along its length, and each chime member is easily removed from the instrument or placed in a different position with respect to the other chime members. In some embodiments, plural slots are formed along the length of a base member and each chime member is suspended from a cord that is inserted into contiguous slots, and an elongate cover member overlies the base member to prevent inadvertent removal of the cords from their respective slots. Different structures are shown for spacing the cover apart from the base when it is desired to remove one or more cords from its associated slot. In additional embodiments, each chime member is suspended from a module, and the module releasably engages the base member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to musical instruments of the percussion type. More particularly, it relates to a structure that enables quick detachment and re-attachment of individual chime members from and to a chime device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most chime devices include a base member from which is suspended a plurality of individual chime members. Typically, the base member is of linear configuration; the chime members depending therefrom are therefore in linear alignment with one another. However, the base member and hence the chime members may be formed and disposed, respectively, in configurations other than linear configurations.
There are two primary classifications of chime devices of the type that are the subject of this invention: those where the chime members are suspended from a base member by a single elongate cord means that extends along the extent of the base member, and those having means for individually suspending each chime member.
This disclosure relates to the second type of musical instrument, i.e., it relates to chime devices having individually suspended chime members.
In both classifications, the individual chime members are bored at their uppermost ends so that a string or cord means can be threaded through the bore; each chime member thus hangs from the cord means and the cord means is secured to the base member.
In designs where the chime members are suspended from a common cord means, replacement or rearrangement of individual chime members is problematic. Moreover, if the cord breaks at any point, it is not a simple matter to replace it. Accordingly, most advances in the art are being made in designs having individually-suspended chime members. Perhaps the most popular design for individually-mounted chime members, prior to the disclosure of the present invention, is a design where molded plastic or Nylon price tag ties are used as the cord means to suspend the individual chime members. A plurality of equidistantly and longitudinally spaced bores are formed along the extent of the base member, said bores being transversely disposed relative to the longitudinal axis of the base member, and one end of an open price tag tie is introduced through each bore. A free end of each tie is then threaded through the bore formed in its associated chime member, and said free end is then engaged to the other free end of said tie means. This produces a closed loop where the top end of the loop extends through the transverse bore formed in the base member of the chime device and where the bottom end of said loop extends through the bore formed in its associated chime member. Although the free ends of the tie means may be interlocked in the absence of tools, most chime device manufacturers employ a specially-designed tool to perform the interlocking to thereby increase productivity.
There are a number of drawbacks associated with this well-known design. First of all, although it is a simple matter to interlock the free ends of each tie, it is a much more difficult matter to disengage said free ends. Thus, the musician is not encouraged to rearrange the individual chime members; replacement of damaged chime members is also problematic. Moreover, even if the ends of the tie means can be disengaged from one another, said tie means usually cannot be re-used due to the damage done to it by the disengagement process. Thus, each disengaged tie means must be replaced.
Another drawback of the price tag ties is that, being made of molded plastic, they are relatively inflexible. Thus, they reduce the quality of sound generated by the chime device.
Some manufacturers eschew use of the price tag ties because of their aforesaid quality-diminishing properties, and prefer to use more flexible, string-like cord means to form the individual loops for holding the chime members. However, this requires that a knot be formed in each cord means after it is threaded through the bore formed in the base member and the bore formed in its associated chime member. Such knot-tying is time-consuming and thus adversely affects productivity. Moreover, the diameter of the cord means must be large enough to facilitate the knot-tying procedure, i.e., it is difficult to form a knot in a cord means of very small diameter. Unfortunately, use of large diameter cord also serves to diminish the quality of the sounds generated by the chime device. More specifically, high frequency sounds are increasingly attenuated as cord thickness increases.
What is needed, then, is a structure where the chime members are individually suspended from the base of the chime device, and where individual chime members are quickly and easily rearranged, replaced, or removed in the absence of special tools. Moreover, the means allowing such quick and easy rearrangement of individual chime members should have a structure that may be re-used numerous times without deterioration, and such means should enable use of a flexible cord means of small diameter so that the quality of the music generated by the device is not diminished. However, the prior art, considered as a whole as required by law, neither teaches nor suggests how the limitations of the known chime mounting means could be overcome.

Chime device having quickly releasable chime members


A stepping motor has Hall elements which detect the position of the rotor and which output detection signals that have the same period as the excitation period, and which leads the position of the rotor by 90 degrees. The stepping motor is driven by the output of a drive current that is obtained by multiplying the detection signals output from the Hall elements with a torque command signal that controls the output torque of the stepping motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stepping motor drive apparatus and to a stepping motor that are applied to a technical field in which high accuracy, high torque output, and high speed are required, such as in optical disk drives, printers, copying machines, robots, machine tools, and the like, and more specifically to a stepping motor drive apparatus and stepping motor that detect the position of a rotor so that close-loop control is performed.
2. Description of Related Art
A stepping motor having a plurality of excitation phases is generally driven by shifting the phase for each excitation phase with respect to number of phases as used and exciting each phase sequentially.
However, there are cases, depending upon specifications such as the rotational position accuracy of the equipment into which the stepping motor is built, in which a positioning accuracy greater than the intrinsic positioning accuracy of the stepping motor and a higher torque are required.
In such cases, the microstep driving method and method of performing closed-loop control with detecting the position of the rotor have been used in the past.
The microstep driving method is the generally used method that is one of driving the motor with a step that is smaller than the usual step, and an driver IC for this microstep driving method has already been made commercially available.
In contrast to this, the closed-loop control method of detecting the rotor position has been disclosed, for example, in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 61-88796 and No. 62-244264.
In the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 61-88796, there is disclosure of sensor position detection apparatus which has a phase switcher which arbitrarily controls the switching of the excitation phases of a rotating-type or linear-type stepping motor, a position signal generation means which outputs an arbitrary signal having a period that is the same as the period of the balance point of each excitation phase, a timer which measures the time from the time at which an arbitrary excitation phase is excited in accordance with the control of the phase switcher, until the time at which the position detection signal output by the position signal generation means is detected, and a sensor position calculator which calculates, by means of the time measured by the timer, the distance between the excitation phase balance point and the detection point of the position signal generation means.
According to this sensor position detection apparatus, the timer is used to measure the amount of time required for the rotor to move from the balance point to the position signal detection point when the stepping motor is moves 1 step to the right or to the left and, based on this, the positional relationship between the motor balance point and the sensor detection point is determined, thereby having the effect of eliminating the need to perform positioning of the sensor detection point and the motor balance point.
In the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 62-244264, there is disclosure of a motor drive apparatus in which the magnetic flux of a rotor, which is formed by a permanent magnet, is detected by a position detection element in order to perform control of the rotation of the rotor, wherein a magnet which is magnetized in the same manner as the rotor is fixed to the end surface of the rotor, and further wherein a position detection element is disposed in opposition to this magnet.
In this motor drive apparatus, a Hall element is used as the means to detect the rotational position of the rotor of the motor. The rotor of the motor is the same type of magnet as the stepping motor, the position being detected by the Hall element and the excitation being switched.
In consideration of the deterioration of the signal in this motor drive apparatus when a rotor magnet is used for detection of the magnetic flux by a Hall element, a separate magnet having the same magnetic poles with respect to the rotation direction is provided.
By doing this, signal quality deterioration is prevented. In this motor drive apparatus, the current value when current is driven through the coil of each of the phases is constant, this being used in applications with constant rotational speed.
In addition, the "position detection apparatus" of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 6-323806, the "brushless DC motor drive apparatus" of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 4-222491. and the "AC motor magnetic sensor" of Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (KOKAI) No. 6-12906, for example, disclose examples of using a Hall element as a sensor for excitation switching in a DC brushless motor or AC motor.
In the above-described microstep drive method, because drive is done by a fine step, there is the problem that the rotational force becomes small and the torque characteristics deteriorate.
Additionally, because the resolution is finite, there is also a limit to positioning accuracy. While a method of increasing the resolution of the microstep method could be envisioned, the stepping motor excitation pattern is dependent on the intrinsic motor characteristics, and there is a limit to the improvement in resolution.
The "sensor position detection apparatus" disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 61-88796 detects the stepping motor rotor position and optimizes the excitation timing and, while this is effective in the case of driving a motor at a prescribed target speed, it is cannot be claimed to be particularly effective in the case of positioning the rotor by causing it to stop at a prescribed rotational position.
With a stepping motor of a closed-loop system in the past, a high-cost sensor, such as a rotary encoder or optical sensor or the like, was used at the sensor to detect the rotor position, this creating the problem of high equipment cost.
Because the "motor drive apparatus" that is disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 62-244264 has another permanent magnet that is magnetized with a number of poles that is the same as the rotor fixed to the end surface of the rotor, which is a permanent magnet, there is the problem of a complex construction.
Additionally, in the examples of the past which are disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 6-323806 and No. 4-222491 and in the Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (KOKAI) No. 6-12906, the detection signals that are output from a Hall element are all converted to pulses for drive of the motor.
However, because a Hall element is disposed so as to be in proximity to the rotor, interference occurs because of the magnetic field of the coil, the influence of this interference resulting in a larger time skew when the analog signal is converted to a pulse signal. As a result, it is not possible to perform proper motor drive and, in certain cases, faulty operation can occur.
The present invention was made to solve the above-noted problems, and has as an object the provision of a low-cost stepping motor drive apparatus and stepping motor that provides high accuracy and high torque output.

Stepping motor drive apparatus and stepping motor


In specific embodiments, a method for estimating central arterial blood pressure (CBP), comprises determining a time t1 from a predetermined feature of a signal indicative of electrical activity to a predetermined feature of one of a first and second signals, the time t1 being a first pulse arrival time (PAT1) indicative of how long it takes a pulse wave to travel from the aorta to one of a first and second sites, determining a time t2, the time t2 being a second pulse arrival time (PAT2) indicative of how long it takes a pulse wave to travel from the aorta to the other of the first and second sites, and (f) estimating the patient's central arterial blood pressure (CBP) based on the first pulse arrival time (PAT1) and the second pulse arrival time (PAT2).

Peripheral arterial blood pressure is a metric of blood pressure that is routinely, and easily measured using a cuff, for example. However, compliance of large arteries and resistance of small arteries, arterioles and capillaries are two major properties of the vasculature that influence arterial blood pressure. Depending on these factors, peripheral arterial blood pressure measured with a cuff may differ significantly from central blood pressure in the aorta and largest arteries. In particular, the velocity and location of pressure wave reflections may lead to individual and unpredictable differences between central arterial blood pressure, which is the afterload experienced by the left ventricle, and the peripheral pressure present in the arterial microvasculature. Central arterial blood pressure is regarded as an important indicator of cardiovascular health, and a blood pressure sensor that separately estimates central and peripheral arterial blood pressure could have significant clinical value for patients with various disease states being treated with a variety of therapies. However, central arterial blood pressure is not currently measureable by non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques

Systems and methods for estimating central arterial blood pressure of a patient


A barrier paper has a polymeric layer substantially covering a first side of the paper and an anti-blocking coating on a second side. The polymeric layer has anti-blocking characteristics. A method of making an anti-blocking barrier paper also is provided.

Premium papers are bright, blade-coated papers used in high-end printing applications where multi-color pictures and lettering are applied. There is a great commercial interest in using premium papers to form packages for food products, agricultural products, such as seeds, and other items. However, such papers are prone to penetration by water vapor and oxygen.
Aqueous latexes of polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC) have been used to form moisture and oxygen barrier coatings for many years. Typically, the PVdC is coated onto a substrate and dried using infrared radiation, hot air, or a combination thereof. Often, two layers of PVdC are applied to the substrate to improve the barrier properties of the resulting composite. The composite typically is wound into a roll for later processing. A major drawback with the presently available PVdC coating processes is that, under certain circumstances, the PVdC tends to adhere to the other side of the substrate. Thus, the composite is prone to adhering to itself, or "blocking," when the roll is unwound.
In the case of premium papers, the side of the paper to be printed typically comprises a coating of inorganic particulates, such as clay, in a binder material, such as an acrylic latex. This side is referred to herein as the "printing" side, which may have a glossy finish, matte finish, or any other finish as desired. To form a barrier material, PVDC is applied to the other side of the paper, referred to herein as the "non-printing" side. When PVDC coated premium papers are dried and wound into a roll, the PVDC on the non-printing side tends to adhere to the printing side of the paper. As a result, the PVdC sometimes "picks" fibers from the printing side of the paper, thereby rendering it unsuitable for printing.
Thus, there remains a need for a method of forming a PVdC coated premium paper having barrier properties, and a roll of such premium paper, that is not prone to blocking.


The voltage switching circuit comprises: an nMOS transistor having a gate connected to a first terminal that outputs an output voltage, a drain connected to a power-supply terminal, and a source connected to a second terminal; a first pMOS transistor having a source connected to the second terminal, a drain connected to the first terminal, and a gate provided with a first or second voltage, a source and a well thereof being short-circuited; and a switching circuit connected between a third terminal that supplies the input voltage and the first terminal and configured to turn on when the output voltage is supplied to the first terminal. A gate electrode of the first pMOS transistor is configured by semiconductor including p-type impurity. A concentration of p-type impurity in the gate electrode of the memory cell is different from that of the first pMOS transistor.

A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, for example, a NAND type flash memory is configured to be supplied with various kinds of voltages to its wiring lines connected to memory cells in a memory cell array. When a voltage supplied thereto is high, a high voltage is applied to a transistor included in a voltage supplying circuit, and then stress applied to a gate insulating film becomes large.


A tile-oriented technique and associated apparatus for manipulating a continuous tone (contone) image through image rotation, anamorphic scaling and digital halftone screening for use in illustratively implementing a page description language. Specifically, an incoming contone image is first partitioned into aligned non-abutting tiles (e.g. 215.sub.1, 215.sub.2, . . . , 215.sub.9). Overlapping blocks (e.g. 217.sub.1, 217.sub.2, . . . , 217.sub.9) are then defined which will hold output data for corresponding tiles. Two dimensional sampling increments, in fast and slow scan directions, are defined to relate movement between successive pixels in an output block to movement between corresponding pixels in the contone image. Similar, though independent, sampling increments, also in the fast and slow scan directions and based in part upon screen angle and screen ruling, are defined for movement between successive pixels in a halftone reference cell. To generate output data for each successive pixel location in a block, incremental sampling occurs in the contone image to yield a corresponding sampled contone value. This value, in conjunction with incremental halftone sampling addresses, then defines a sampling location that is read in a halftone reference plane (e.g. 242.sub.181), the resulting output of which is single bit halftone data that defines a writing spot. Each tile in the contone image is successively processed, using two nested loops (1950, 1960), with resulting output data for that tile being written into appropriate pixel locations in a corresponding block in the output image.

While images have always been incorporated into documents as an efficient way to convey information to readers, the exploding use of personal computers coupled with computerization of an increasingly diverse array of image-related applications has substantially increased the need to manipulate images in digital form. These manipulations frequently include, inter alia, scaling, rotating and halftoning.
Beginning several years ago and continuing with increasing use to the present, documentary images are often processed through a computer using a so-called page description language. Such a language allows a user to define objects, such as an image, that are to appear on a printed page and allows the objects to be processed in a desired fashion and then accurately positioned with respect to each other in order to properly form an entire page. To provide maximum flexibility to a user in processing a digital image, a page description language would need to support, with floating point precision, both arbitrary uniform and anamorphic image scaling within finite bounds, image rotation by an arbitrary angle, and halftoning with arbitrary screen angles and screen rulings. In order to assure that a documentary image properly "mates up" with other objects on a page, these image processing functions must be very accurately implemented, otherwise artifacts or other errors will appear on the page, when printed.
While several different page description languages are currently in use, serious limitations exist in the two basic approaches through which these languages have been traditionally implemented to perform, inter alia, image scaling and rotation.
Specifically, one basic approach widely used in the art relies on storing an entire image within a random access frame memory and then operating on the individual bits of the image situated therein. This approach, hereinafter referred to as the "full frame memory" approach, may involve sequentially reading the image, bit-by-bit, using suitable incrementing memory addresses to generate appropriately rotated image data to yield a rotated image. As known in the art, scaling may involve, for example, adding or deleting data to or from selected pixel locations in the memory in order to change the scale of the image, as desired. This overall approach requires a sufficiently large frame memory that also provides relatively fast read-write random access. Unfortunately, for an 8-by-10 inch (approximately 20-by-25 cm) continuous tone image printed at a resolution of 300 dots/inch (approximately 118 dots/cm) which is readily obtainable with currently available output writers, e.g. laser printers, the frame memory would require approximately 7 MBytes. A memory of this size, particularly when fabricated from currently available high speed random access memory (RAM) circuits, tends to be very expensive. The inordinate cost of such a frame memory generally precludes its use in a low cost printer. Furthermore, even with such a large, fast memory, image scaling and rotation are often performed through a software based process executing in a microprocessor and, as such, for an entire image, tends to be relatively slow.
In view of the practical memory limitation, the art has, for some time, also taught that scaling and rotation could alternately be preformed on a "tile-based" approach. Here, an image is first partitioned into small uniform regions called "tiles", each of which is then separately and appropriately processed. Typically, a tile is significantly smaller than the entire image. Once a tile is processed to yield an output tile, that output tile is then written into a spatially corresponding region in an output buffer, and so on for all such tiles until an entire image has been formed of output tiles.
Given these two approaches, tiling offers several distinct advantages. First, by drastically reducing the size of a tile down from that of the entire image, memory requirements for a high speed frame memory are substantially reduced from, for example, 7 MBytes for storing an entire image to perhaps 10 KBytes for storing a single tile currently being processed. This, in turn, obviates the need for a large full size high speed frame memory thereby simplifying and significantly reducing the cost of the system memory. While an image size output buffer would still be required, this buffer would not need to function as a high speed random access memory and thus can be fabricated from relatively slow and inexpensive memory circuits. Furthermore, by processing a single tile at a time, data transfers involving the frame memory are reduced to the data required just for a particular tile rather than that of the entire image as in the "full frame memory" approach. Consequently, the operations required to perform these memory transfers are greatly simplified and, as such, merely become an incidental portion of the overall tile-based processing. Moreover, by processing only a relatively small amount of data at any one time, specialized hardware circuits can be easily fabricated to rapidly process an entire tile and thereby accelerate the rate at which the entire image can be rotated and/or scaled over that associated with the "full frame memory" approach. Lastly, tile-based implementations tend to readily lend themselves to pipelined and parallel processing through which appropriate tile processing hardware is duplicated and operated on a parallel and time-staggered basis to permit several tiles to be collectively processed at once. This, in turn, further accelerates the overall process of image scaling and/or rotation. Advantageously, such implementations can easily be upwardly scaled in size, consistent with cost-performance tradeoffs, to achieve a desired throughput level.
Unfortunately, for all the advantages exhibited by tile-based scaling and rotation, a tile-based approach, particularly when used for halftoning, necessitates that each output tile must be very accurately placed in the output buffer else visible flaws will occur in the image. Specifically, we have empirically observed that for a halftoned image with a 50% tint factor, a one pixel offset in the halftoning pattern between adjacent tiles causes visible artifacts to appear in the image. These artifacts take the form of "zig-zag" lines that occur along the tile boundaries all throughout the image. As a result, if an image is to be subsequently halftoned, then a screener operating on those tiles is required to obtain each tile from the output buffer, screen that tile and place that tile back into the output buffer with a one-bit accuracy. Achieving and maintaining such a high accuracy throughout the entire halftoning process for an image has proven to be extremely difficult to attain in practice.
At first blush, one might think that this accuracy could be relaxed and the "zig-zag" pattern eliminated by appropriately smoothing the boundaries of the halftoned tiles. Specifically, such smoothing, implemented through low pass spatial filtering, would reduce the visual impact of rounding errors and resulting tile mis-alignment that would otherwise result when floating point address values are truncated into real integer addresses which, in turn, are used to address an output buffer into which the halftoned tiles are re-assembled. Through suitable experimental observations, we have noticed that, while such filtering does reduce visible tile mis-alignment, unfortunately this filtering breaks up and thereby corrupts the underlying halftone dot structure in the image. Therefore, we believe that tile boundary filtering does not appear to offer a viable solution and one-bit accuracies do need to be maintained in tile-based image processing.
Furthermore, apart from tiling, commercially available screeners are expensive, require inordinate amounts of memory and often do not possess the capability of performing image scaling and/or rotation.
In addition, image scaling and rotation are frequently carried out in currently available image processing apparatus as "front-end" operations, i.e. in circuitry situated near an image scanner in a chain of image processing circuits; while screening is carried out as a "back-end" operation, i.e. in circuitry associated with an output writer. Either operation generally has little, and oftentimes no knowledge, of the other with, as a result, artifacts and other adverse consequences frequently manifesting themselves in the image. Since page description languages perform post-processing, i.e. these languages process an image as they "find it", these languages provide no opportunity to optimize an image for operations that have previously been performed on it, such as "front-end" scaling or rotation. As such, the specific implementation of these languages, as currently used, does not eliminate adverse affects, such as Moire patterns and aliasing, that might result from interaction between various characteristics of these "front-end" operations, such as for example sampling frequencies and pixel placement, with similar corresponding characteristics associated with the halftoning process and the output writer.
Moreover, commercially available screeners also tend to be inordinately slow. Accordingly, if such a screener were to be used in implementing a page description language, then the resulting throughput provided thereby would be substantially less than the speed, in pages/minute (ppm), of currently available output writers, such as upwards of 70 ppm, and would thus pose a serious bottleneck. Inordinately slow speeds would tend to frustrate users, who, in turn, would rather shy away from and not incorporate images into documents than wait the needed time for each of these images to be processed and printed.
In spite of the basic drawbacks noted above, the advantages inherent in a tiled-based approach, particularly those flowing from the reduction in size and cost of the frame buffer, strongly support its use.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a tile-based technique that can very accurately and inexpensively implement image rotation, scaling and halftoning in a post-processing environment. Furthermore, a specific need exists to implement tile-based scaling, rotating and halftoning in a manner that can significantly accelerate the throughput of a page description language to approach that of currently available output writers. Advantageously, the incorporation of such a technique in an output writer will significantly hasten the use of documentary images.

Tile-oriented technique for collectively performing image rotation scaling and digital halftone screening


A power supply circuit includes a control circuit which outputs a control signal when an in-rush current flows and a power-supply-resistance control circuit which supplies a current to a capacitive load. The power-supply-resistance control circuit, provided in the current path between a power supply and the capacitive load, increases the resistance of the current path in response to the control signal and reduces the resistance of the current path in response to a stop page of the control signal, whereby the control signal is output or stopped so that the in-rush current is suppressed to a value smaller than or equal to a given value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply circuit and, in particular, to a power supply circuit applicable to a driving circuit of a display device.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a growing demand for larger screens and higher resolutions of display devices built into mobile apparatuses such as mobile phones and PDAs. As the screens of a display device become larger, the data lines on the display panels become longer. Accordingly, the parasitic capacitances of the data lines on the display panels increases. As the resolutions of display devices become higher, the number of pixel control switches connected to the data lines on the display panels increases. With the increase in resolution of the display devices, the number of data lines increases. Accordingly, the total value of parasitic capacitances of display panels increases.
To properly drive a display panel having parasitic capacitances, a driving circuit having a high output-current-supply capacity is required. MOS transistors are generally used as driving circuits for display devices. In such a driving circuit, an increase of the output-current-supply capacity means an increase in the parasitic capacitance of the whole driving circuit connected to a power supply line.
When a load with a large capacitance is driven, an in-rush current can flow in the load at power-on. The larger the capacitance viewed from the power supply and the smaller the resistance in the path to the capacitance, the greater the in-rush current is. When an in-rush current flows, a counter-electromotive voltage expressed by the following Equation (1) can be generated:E=−L·di/dt  (1)Here, E represents the counter-electromotive voltage (V), L represents the value of inductance (H) viewed from the power supply, and i represents the power supply current (A). As can be seen from Equation (1), the counter-electromotive voltage is a generated voltage opposite in polarity to the power supply. Accordingly, a large value of the counter-electromotive voltage can cause a failure in the power supply itself or a device that is a load of the power supply.
Furthermore, an in-rush current can reduce the life of the wiring. Typically, an in-rush current has a current value several- to several-tens-fold greater than a normal operating current. Therefore, in the case of a device that is frequently turned on, the in-rush current value is more likely to affect the wiring life of the power supply line. In a device such as a display device for a mobile apparatus in which the power supply line is provided on a semiconductor device, the wiring film thickness of the power wiring is thin. Therefore, the influence of in-rush current values in the display devices built in mobile apparatuses on the wiring life has been a great concern.
In general, mobile apparatuses use a battery (rechargeable battery) as the main power supply of their systems. The battery supplies a constant voltage. Therefore, a semiconductor integrated circuit including a driving circuit for a display device for a mobile apparatus has a step-up power supply circuit in its semiconductor device for internally generating multiple voltages required for the display device. The step-up power supply circuit is a circuit that generates a boosted power supply higher than the voltage of a main power supply or a step-down power supply generating a negative voltage (hereinafter step-down is also referred to as "step-up" because step-down is a kind of step-up). An example is a charge-pump step-up power-supply circuit that changes the connection of a step-up capacitor charged with an input voltage to a series connection with the input voltage to accomplish voltage step-up by time-division driving.
The charge-pump step-up power-supply circuit requires charging the step-up capacitor in a short time in order to create a voltage source required for time-division driving in which recharge and discharge are repeated. Therefore, the step-up capacitor is connected to an input power supply by using a low resistance. In order to provide a current value of an entire driving circuit that operates at the voltage by time-division driving with a voltage drop in a specified range, the step-up capacitor needs to have a sufficiently large capacitance with respect to the current value in normal operation of the load. That is, the charge-pump step-up circuit is a large capacitance connected using a low resistance when viewed from the power supply, and can increase an in-rush current at power-on.
Furthermore, low power consumption is essential for mobile display devices in order to increase battery life and therefore the display device is frequently turned on and off. This increases the frequency of occurrence of in-rush current. Techniques for suppressing in-rush currents are known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a technique described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-116828). As shown in FIG. 1, in a circuit described in Patent Document 1, an in-rush current suppressing transistor 111 is connected in series with a power-supply path. The in-rush current suppressing transistor 111 controls a power supply current. The circuit described in Patent Document 1 is configured so that its resistance reaches the maximum at power-on and becomes minimum when it is determined that the in-rush current has disappeared. FIG. 2 shows waveform charts illustrating operation of the circuit described in Patent Document 1. FIG. 2A shows the gate-source voltage of the in-rush current suppressing transistor 111. FIG. 2B shows the drain-source voltage of the in-rush current suppressing transistor 111. FIG. 2C shows an input current of a DC/DC converter.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the rate of increase of a power supply current at power-on is reduced to a very small value and the power supply current is gradually increased and, at the time point when it is determined that the in-rush current has disappeared, that is, the voltage supplied to the load approaches a specified value, the power supply current value is rapidly reduced back to a normal current value in the circuit in Patent Document 1. The circuit described in Patent Document 1 operates as shown in the waveform to minimize the initial counter-electromotive voltage.
FIG. 3 shows waveform charts illustrating operation described in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-091584). As shown in FIG. 3, a technique described in Patent Document 2 constantly increases a power supply current Iout from the value at power-on and, when an output voltage approaches a specified value, the power supply current is rapidly reduced back to a normal power supply current value. The circuit operates as shown in the waveform to suppress the counter-electromotive voltage to a fixed value.

Power supply circuit having resistance element changing its resistance value to limit current flowing to capacitive load


A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a server having a controller to adjust a call processing logic for Session Initiated Protocol to Integrated Services Digital Network User Part (ISUP) calls based at least in part on interworking profiles assigned to ISUP trunk groups supporting the calls. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

In SIP based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks, SIP-ISUP interworking units (often called Media Gateway Controller Functions, MGCF) are commonly used. The MGCF handles call processing functions and message translations between SIP messages in an Internet Protocol (IP) network and ISUP messages in a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) network. Most MGCF products are implemented in compliance with standards such as IETF RFC 3398 or ANSI T1.679.
In accordance with SIP standards in an IP network, the MGCF follows specific call processing rules and call flows for SIP to ISUP calls. The call flows generally require the MGCF to wait for an Address Complete Message (ACM) response from the PSTN network. Upon receiving the ACM, the MGCF can process a status indicator in the ACM and respond to a SIP client with call status and progress. After responding to the SIP client, the MGCF can proceed to request, or cut, a media path to the PSTN network. The media path allows for delivery of media content to the SIP client from the PSTN network.
In accordance with ISUP standards in a PSTN network, however, the originating switch is required to cut a receive only (RECVONLY) media path immediately upon sending out an Initial Address Message (IAM) message. The media path is established immediately afterwards because some ISUP trunks send audio information back to the caller immediately after receiving the IAM message.
This aspect of cutting a RECVONLY media path in the PSTN network immediately after the sending out an IAM message conflicts with the call flow logic of SIP and produces an interworking incompatibility between SIP and ISUP. In particular, the waiting period associated with the processing of the ACM message per SIP standard in the IP network prevents early media from being received by the SIP client since a media path has not yet been cut to the PSTN network.
Accordingly, any messages transmitted by the PSTN network to the MGCF prior to the establishment of the media path may be dropped at the MGCF. These messages may not reach the SIP client. Under these circumstances, the caller may not be able to receive information from the network regarding the call attempt.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for call processing for SIP and ISUP interworking


A cleaning tool generally comprises a hub having a longitudinal axis and a plurality of cleaning members. The cleaning members, formed of a fibrous material, are connected to the hub. In accordance with one embodiment, the cleaning members are distributed along the longitudinal axis. Also disclosed is a floor cleaning machine that includes a mobile body, the cleaning tool and a motor. The mobile body supports the cleaning tool and the motor and is configured to travel over a surface. The motor is configured to drive a rotation of the cleaning hub about the longitudinal axis.

Dry and wet floor cleaning operations are generally performed by dry carpet vacuum cleaners, wet carpet vacuum cleaners, hard floor sweepers and hard floor scrubbers. Dry carpet vacuum cleaners generally include a sweeping brush that rotates in a horizontal plane (i.e., parallel to the surface being cleaned) and a vacuum driven waste collection system. The rotating bristle brush beats and scrapes the carpet surface, and sweeps dust and debris into position for removal by the vacuum driven waste collection system.
Wet carpet vacuum cleaners generally include a scrubbing brush, a carpet cleaning liquid applicator, and a vacuum driven waste fluid recovery system. The carpet cleaning liquid applicator applies a very small amount of cleaning liquid or a dry cleaning liquid foam to the carpet surface. The scrubbing brush scrubs the cleaning liquid covered carpet and the vacuum driven waste collection system sucks the soiled cleaning liquid from the carpet and into a recovery tank. In order to prevent the vacuum driven waste recovery system from being clogged with large debris particles, the carpet is typically vacuumed with a dry carpet vacuum cleaner prior to performing the wet carpet cleaning operation.
Hard floor sweepers are similar to carpet cleaners in that they utilize a rotating sweeping brush to sweep dust and debris from the surface, which is then collected by a vacuum driven waste collection system. Such hard floor sweepers often include a dust control system that sprays the surface with water prior to engaging the surface with the sweeping brush to prevent sweeping the dust on the surface into the air.
Hard floor sweepers are generally not used on carpeted surfaces due to problems with static charge buildup, which can reset the electronics of the sweeper. Even when static straps, chains, and other components are used to "ground" the sweeper, problems with static charge buildup are encountered.
Hard floor scrubbers typically include a cleaning liquid applicator, one or more rotating scrubber brushes, and a vacuum driven waste collection system. The cleaning liquid applicator generally sprays cleaning liquid, or a foamed cleaning liquid, to the hard floor surface which is then scrubbed by the rotating scrubber brush. The scrubber brush, includes a horizontal scrubbing member (bristle brush or cleaning pad) that rotates about a vertical axis. The vacuum driven waste collection system generally includes a squeegee positioned at the rear end of the cleaner adjacent the scrubbing member that engages the floor and pools the liquid and debris. A vacuum sucks the pooled liquid and debris through a hose and deposits the collected waste into a recovery tank.
Prior to performing a hard floor scrubbing operation, it is generally necessary to first perform a sweeping operation on the floor. This is necessary to prevent the vacuum driven waste recovery system of the scrubber from being clogged with large debris particles. Combination hard floor cleaners have been developed that include both a hard floor sweeper and a hard floor scrubber, which eliminates the need for two separate machines. Such cleaners typically include two vacuum driven waste recovery systems: one for the collection of the dry or slightly damp debris collected by the sweeping system; and one for the soiled cleaning liquid produced by the scrubbing system.
Cleaning operations of multiple floor surfaces, such as those involved in both carpeted areas and hard floor surface areas (e.g., airports, offices, schools, etc.), require the use of multiple surface cleaners, such as, dry and wet carpet vacuum cleaners, and a hard floor sweeper and scrubber.
The use of such multiple machines to perform cleaning operations is time-consuming. First, the carpeted areas must be vacuumed with a dry carpet vacuum cleaner. Next, the carpeted areas must be cleaned with the wet carpet vacuum cleaner. Finally, the hard floor surface areas must be cleaned by either performing sweeping and scrubbing operations. using a hard floor surface sweeper and a hard floor surface scrubber, or with a combination hard floor surface cleaner.
Such multi-surface cleaning operations are costly due to the number of machines that are involved. Not only must each of the machines be properly maintained, but operators of the machines must be trained on each and enough storage space must be made available to store the machines.
Additionally, the vacuum systems of the dry and wet carpet cleaners and the hard floor sweepers and scrubbers consume a large percentage of the energy required to operate them. In addition to high energy costs, the operating runtime of battery powered systems, such as walk-behind hard floor scrubbers and sweepers, is significantly limited by their vacuum systems. As a result, larger batteries are required to provide the desired longer runtimes. Such batteries increase the cost of the machine due to the expense of the batteries themselves. Additionally, the machines become more expensive due to the necessity to make them larger in order to accommodate for the large batteries.
The significant noise generated by the vacuum systems of the dry and wet carpet cleaners and the hard floor sweepers and scrubbers is also problematic. For instance, it is common for businesses to have floor cleaning operations performed during non-business hours to avoid disturbing customers and employees by the machines. Even so, the need often arises to have a cleaning operation conducted during peak business hours resulting in a significant disturbance.
Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions to these and other problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.

Hard and soft floor cleaning tool and machine


An air-gap type thin film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) and method for fabricating the same. Also disclosed are a filter and a duplexer employing the air-gap type FBAR. The air-gap type FBAR includes: a first substrate having a cavity part at a predetermined region on its upper surface; a dielectric film stacked on the upper part of the first substrate; a first air gap formed between the first substrate and the dielectric film; a stacked resonance part including a lower electrode/piezoelectric layer/upper electrode formed on the upper part of the dielectric film; a second substrate having a cavity part at a predetermined region on its lower surface and joined to the first substrate; and a second air gap formed between the stacked resonance part and the second substrate. A thin film of predetermined thickness made of a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) may be used as the dielectric film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film bulk acoustic resonator (also referred to as "FBAR" hereinafter) for use in a filter and duplexer for communication in the RF (Radio Frequency) band. More particularly, the present invention relates to an air-gap type FBAR and method for fabricating the same, and a filter and a duplexer using the air-gap type FBAR, whose fabricating process is simplified and made more stable by using a LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer) thin film.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, wireless mobile telecommunication technology has been rapidly advancing. Such mobile telecommunication technology requires a variety of RF parts capable of efficiently delivering information in a limited frequency band. Particularly, a filter among RF parts is essential for use in mobile telecommunication technology, which makes high-quality communication possible, by selecting a signal needed by a user among numerous broadcasting waves or by filtering a signal that is to be transmitted.
Currently, the RF filter most widely used for wireless communication is a dielectric filter and a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter. The dielectric filter is advantageous in that it has high permittivity, low insertion loss, high temperature stability, and strongly resists inner vibration and inner impulse. The dielectric filer, however, has limitations in small-sizing and application to MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit) which are recent trends in the technology development. On the other hand, the SAW filter is advantageous in that it is small-sized compared to the dielectric filter and signal processing is simple, the circuit is simple, and mass production is possible by using a semiconductor process. Also, the SAW filter is well adapted for outputting and inputting high-quality information, because rejection within the pass band is high as compared to the dielectric filter. The SAW filter, however, has a weak point in that IDT (Inter-Digital Transducer) line width is limited to 0.5 μm, because the process for exposing with an ultraviolet ray is included in the process for fabricating the SAW filter. Consequently, it is difficult to cover the extremely high frequency band (higher than 5 GHz) using the SAW filter and it is also difficult to construct a SAW filter together with a MMIC structure on a single chip of a semiconductor substrate.
To overcome such limitations and problems, FBAR capable of being completely integrated with MMIC together with other active elements on existing semiconductor substrates (e.g., Si, GaAs), has been proposed.
Since FBAR, which is a thin film element, is of low cost and small-sized and allows for a high quality coefficient, FBAR can be used for wireless communication in a variety of frequency bands (900 MHz˜10 GHz) and radar for military use. Also, FBAR has properties such that small sizing is possible in a size of one to several hundredths that of a dielectric filter, and insertion loss is very small as compared to the SAW filter. Therefore, FBAR could be applied to a MMIC requiring high stability and a high quality coefficient.
FBAR having a stacked structure comprising an upper electrode/piezoelectric material/lower electrode is fabricated by a semiconductor process. A piezoelectric phenomenon is generated so that resonance may occur in a predetermined frequency band, and a volume wave is utilized. At the same moment, if the frequency of the volume wave becomes identical with the frequency of an input electric signal, a resonance phenomenon occurs. A resonator using such resonance phenomenon is realized in a FBAR filter through development of electric coupling, and further a duplexer using FBAR may also be realized.
In the meantime, FBAR structure has been studied in variety of ways to date. In case of a membrane type FBAR, silicon oxide film (SiO2) is deposited on a substrate, and a membrane layer is formed on the opposite side of the substrate through a cavity part formed by isotropic etching. Next, a lower electrode is formed on the upper part of the silicon oxidation film, a piezoelectric material is deposited on the upper part of lower electrode by a RF magnetron sputtering method to form a piezoelectric layer, and an upper electrode is formed on the upper part of the piezoelectric layer.
The above described membrane type FBAR is advantageous in that dielectric loss of the substrate is low due to the cavity, and power loss is small. The membrane type FBAR, however, is problematic in that the size occupied by the element is large due to orientation of the silicon substrate. Also, yield decreases due to breakage upon subsequent packaging because structural stability is low. Therefore, to reduce loss by the membrane and to simplify the process for fabricating the element, an air-gap type and a bragg-reflector type FBAR have recently been proposed.
The bragg-reflector type FBAR is fabricated such that a material, whose elastic impedance difference is large, is deposited alternately on the substrate so that a reflecting layer is formed, and a lower electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and an upper electrode are sequentially stacked. According to the bragg-reflector type FBAR fabricated in this manner, elastic energy that has passed through the piezoelectric layer cannot be delivered in the substrate direction but is completely reflected at the reflecting layer, whereby efficient resonance is potentially generated. Such bragg-reflector type FBAR is advantageous in that it has a solid structure and there is no stress due to bending, but is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to form the reflecting layer of more than four layers whose thickness is accurate for total reflection, and much time and cost are required for its fabrication.
On the other hand, a conventional air-gap type FBAR having a structure in which the substrate is separated from the resonance part using an air gap instead of a reflecting layer, realizes FBAR by forming a sacrificial layer 110 by isotropic etching of the surface of the silicon substrate 100, surface polishing using CMP (Chemical Mechanical Planarization), then sequentially depositing an insulating film 120, a stacked structure 130 including a lower electrode 133, a piezoelectric layer 135, and an upper electrode 137, removing the sacrificial layer 110 through a via hole, and forming an air gap 140 as shown in FIG. 1. A second substrate 150 having a cavity part 160 in its lower surface is then joined to the silicon substrate 100.
However, the method for fabricating FBAR according to the conventional art requires a CMP process, thereby increasing complexity in terms of the process and increasing cost. Also, wet etching is used for forming the air gap in the method of the conventional art, and in that case, it is difficult to remove the etching solution. If the etching solution is not completely removed, the element is deteriorated due to constant action of the etching solution, thereby causing a change in resonance frequency. On the other hand, in the case of dry etching, physical impulse is exerted on the element by ions and molecules in a plasma state using existing plasma dry etching techniques, and the element is deteriorated due to high temperature.

Air-gap type FBAR, method for fabricating the same, and filter and duplexer using the same


Two photodetectors output electric signals based on the detection of light at light receiving sections mutually spaced apart. The output signal of one of the photodetectors is delayed and a first pulse signal is generated, and second pulse signal having no delay is generated according to based on the detection signal of the other of the two photodetectors. A detection signal is output when the pulse signals overlap. According to whether the detection signal is output, a movement direction and speed of a moving body that moves between the light receiving sections are detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to moving-body detecting image sensors for generating an output based on the movement direction and speed of a moving body, and more particularly, to a moving-body detecting image sensor capable of generating an output based on the movement direction of a moving body, by processing an input signal sent from a plurality of light receiving elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Charge coupled devices (CCDs) have been well known as elements used for picking up images. In many image processing systems, an image picked up by a video camera having a CCD is input, for example, to a personal computer (PC), and various processes are applied to the image data and the image is reproduced by software and hardware in the PC.
Using software for image processing increases the flexibility of the processing. When there are a large number of pixels, or an advanced process is executed, however, data transfer between the camera and the computer or between a memory and a processor in the computer limits the entire processing speed in many cases. Research has been actively made concerning high-speed algorithm and signal processing with a parallel architecture to eliminate the limitation.
In the research, however, a sequential processing method in which processing is sequentially applied to pixels which form an image is mainly used. Therefore, it is difficult to expect a dramatic higher speed and a dramatic higher function. On the other hand, so-called "vision chips" have been widely researched in which some information processing functions are taken into image sensors by the use of the progress of integrated-circuit technologies. The vision chips are described, for example, in "Modeling Selective Attention Using a Neuromorphic Analog VLSI Device," written by G. Indiveri, Neural Computation, Vol. 12, No. 12, pp. 2857–2880, 2000, or in "High Performance Biomorphic Image Processing Under Tight Space and Power Constraints," written by R. Etienne-Cummings et al., Autonomous Robots, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 227–232, 2001.
In the vision-chip research, however, relatively simple processes, such as noise removal and edge detection, have been mainly handled, and outputs are images obtained after the processes, in many cases. In applications to robot vision, for example, the "meaning" of an image is finally required, and software processing by the use of a computer needs to be applied to extract the meaning.