An error correction code system, e.g. of a magnetic tape drive, applies error correction redundancy to data, separates it, or interleaves it, and records it into separate groups. An error correction encoder applies an outer error correction code to one of the separate groups of information, forming one set of rows of information and outer ECC information. An error correction encoder applies an outer error correction code to another separate group of information, forming another set of rows of information and outer ECC information. A data organizer interleaves the one set of rows of information and outer ECC information with the another set of rows of information and outer ECC information for recording on tracks of a recording media in an interleaved pattern of one set of rows of information and outer ECC information with another set of rows of information and outer ECC information.

Information recorded with respect to recording media is typically employed as a means of preserving that information. Error correction encoding of that information allows the information to be recorded and preserved despite the presence of certain types of errors in the recorded information. Various approaches have evolved regarding the types of error correction encoding to apply to the information. A typical approach is to use a true cross-product error correction code. For example, the information is arranged in a two-dimensional array with rows and columns, and two error correction codes (ECC) are applied to the matrix. One ECC (C1) is applied along the rows, and another ECC (C2) is applied along the columns. If the ECC codes are systematic ECC codes, then the data bytes in the original array are not altered; rather, some number of error correction bytes are appended, forming redundancy of information so that some number of errors might be corrected. For example, a C1 code might append a given number of error correction bytes to each row, and a C2 code might append a given number of error correction bytes to each column. The data bytes together with the appended error correction bytes form an error correction codeword. As an example, a C1 codeword is the data bytes in a row plus the appended C1 error correction bytes. Similarly, a C2 codeword is the data bytes in a column plus the appended C2 error correction bytes.
One of the ECC codes, e.g. C1, might be called the inner code, and the other ECC code, e.g. C2, the outer code. The outer code may encode not only the data bytes, but also the appended error correction bytes of the inner code, and may encode a plurality of C1 codewords. The code names have to do with the typical order of decoding. The inner code is typically decoded first, and the outer code is typically decoded next, though they could be appended in opposite order.
The inner and outer codes might be primarily designed to handle different error mechanisms. As an example, if complete C1 inner codewords are recorded to a given tape track, correction with the C1 code could allow correction of a small error events due to media imperfections or noise. But a long or burst error along a given tape track, e.g. due to a scratch in the direction of the tape's length (longitudinally), may exceed the ability of C1 to correct it. For this reason, C2 ECC codewords might be spread laterally in a pattern across different tracks so that data from one track which cannot be corrected with C1 may be corrected instead by using data from other tracks, or data which is distributed relatively far away along the same track for C2. For example, if a tape is recorded 8 tracks at a time, and if the C2 outer code consists of 64 bytes, then ⅛ of the data in each C2 codeword is typically recorded to each of the 8 simultaneous tracks, and each track must typically contain 8 of the bytes of that codeword. But, the 8 bytes along a given track may be spread apart longitudinally, so that a scratch or burst error of limited length would be unlikely to cause more than one of the bytes in a given track to be read in error. For example, the 8 bytes from a given C2 codeword might be spread multiple C1 codewords apart along a track which could be a thousand or more bytes apart.
Herein, an inner correction code applied to a row of the matrix, and the resultant inner correction codewords, are called "inner code"; and the outer correction code, and the resultant outer correction codewords, are called "outer ECC information".
The data rate of recording to and reading from a recording media is dependent on a number of factors, and one factor is the number of tracks that are recorded or read at the same time. Thus, it may be desirable to increase the amount of information and the number of tracks that are recorded or read at the same time. However, in doing so, it is also desirable to increase the power of the outer correction code to cope with the increased amount of information and to continue to allow recreation of the data. For example, doubling the amount of information per track and recording that amount of information on double the number of tracks that are recorded or read at the same time, may result in having to increase the amount of inner code and of outer ECC information at least proportionally, so that at least four times as many total ECC bytes are recorded.

Interleaved recording of separated error correction encoded information

International Business Machines Corporation


A spray powder for thermal spraying onto a substrate to provide a hardfacing, and a part with such hardfacing on the surface thereof, that is corrosion-resistant and abrasion-resistant. The spray powder comprises between about 75 to about 90 weight percent of tungsten carbide. The powder further comprises between about 10 and 25 weight percent of a nickel-based alloy, which includes Mo, and optionally, includes one or more of Fe, C, Cr, Mn, Co, Si and W.

The invention pertains to a spray powder which is sprayed, such as by thermal spraying techniques, onto the surface of the substrate to form a hardfacing on the substrate surface, as well as a part having such hardfacing thereon. More specifically, the invention pertains to the aforementioned spray powder which has excellent abrasion-resistant properties and excellent corrosion-resistant properties, as well as a part with such hardfacing thereon thereby having excellent abrasion-resistant properties and excellent corrosion-resistant properties.
Heretofore, spray powders have been used to form hardfacing on the surface of a substrate, such as a part, so as to protect the substrate from abrasion and corrosion. For example, Kennametal Inc., of Latrobe, Pa. (assignee of the present application) has heretofore made and sold a tungsten carbide-cobalt-chromium spray powder which produces a layer on a substrate with abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance.
The patent literature contains a number of patents which concern hardfacing alloys. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,453, to Patel, concerns a tungsten carbide-nickel powder hardfacing alloy. The alloy starts with two basic components; namely, a WC-Ni mixture and a nickel alloy (2.5-20% Cr, 0.5-6% Si, 0.5-5% B, up to 10% Fe, and the balance Ni). In the final alloy, the average WC content is between 10 to 30%. U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,618, to Keshavan et al., concerns an abrasion-resistant spray coating comprising (1) 78 to 88 wt % tungsten carbide, and (2) an alloy with 6-18% boron, 0-6% Si, 0-20% Cr, 0-5% Fe and the balance nickel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,017, to Prasse et al., concerns a hardfacing comprising a boronhardened tungsten phase in a matrix of nickel-chromium or nickel-aluminum. The '017 patent discloses the use of powders of tungsten carbide, boron and at least one alloying element (one or more of Co, Ni, Cr and A1) to produce the boron-hardened tungsten phase. U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,114, to Darrow, concerns a coating process and the resultant coating. The process comprises two basic steps. For the first step, one applies a coating of a binder (Co or Ni) and carbide grit to the surface of the substrate. The second step comprises carbiding, nitriding or boriding the surface so as to harden the surface of the binder without affecting the carbides. U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,737, to Wolfa et al., concerns a high temperature wear resistant coating comprising a Co-based alloy containing 17-35% Cr, 5-20% Ta, 0-2% Y, 0.25% Si, 0-3.0% Mn, 0.5-3.5% C, 0-14% A1 and 0-50% of at least one metal oxide (such as alumina). U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,029, to Newman et al., concerns a welding rod filler of macrocrystalline WC along with niobium alone or in combination molybdenum for use as a hardfacing.
While earlier spray powders have provided some degree of abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance, there has been a need to provide a spray powder with excellent abrasion-resistant properties in combination with excellent corrosion-resistant properties. Typical parts which require surface layers with excellent abrasion-resistant and excellent corrosion-resistant properties include the wetted parts in a chemical processing slurry pump which experience wear. Other typical parts include downhole drilling parts which experience wear and are in contact with "sour gas," i e. hydrogen sulfide.
The patent literature contains patents which disclose hardfacing layers which are supposed to provide corrosion-resistant properties. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,608, to Jaeqer, concerns a ferrous roll with a hardfacing alloy that is supposed to be heat, corrosion and wear resistant. The alloy may be nickel-base, iron-base or cobalt-base and include 0.5-5% B, 0.5-6% Si, and up to 3% carbon along with carbide formers such as W, Cr and Mo. U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,415, to Dorfman et al., concerns an iron-based thermal spray powder. According to the '415 patent, the goal of the powder is to provide an alloy with corrosion resistance, frictional wear resistance and abrasive wear resistance. The composition comprises 0-40% Cr, 1-40% Mo, 1-15% Cu, 0.2-5% B, 0-5% Si, 0.01-2% C, and the balance impurities with at least 30% Fe. The spray alloy does not contain WC.
Even though earlier patents mention corrosion-resistant hardfacing alloys, there remains the need to provide a spray powder for application as a hardfacing which has excellent abrasion-resistant properties and excellent corrosion-resistant properties.

Spray powder for hardfacing and part with hardfacing


According to one embodiment, there is provided a nonvolatile memory including a memory cell array, as input/output buffer, one or more intermediate buffers, and a control circuit. The memory cell array includes a plurality of pages. Each of the one or more intermediate buffers is electrically connected between the memory cell array and the input/output buffer. The control circuit is configured to store, in a first intermediate buffer, data read through sensing operation from a first page out of the plurality of pages in accordance with a first command that includes a sensing operation instruction and designation of the first intermediate buffer among the one or more intermediate buffers.

in a nonvolatile memory such as a NAND flash memory, when a command is received, processing in accordance with the received command is performed. At this time, it is desired to shorten a time from reception of the command to completion of the processing in accordance with the command in the nonvolatile memory.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nonvolatile memory including intermediate buffer and input/output buffer and memory system including the nonvolatile memory


Technology for performing continuous authentication of a mobile device utilizes user activity context data and biometric signature data related to the user. A biometric signature can be selected based on the activity context, and the selected biometric signature can be used to verify the identity of the user.

Today, to use a mobile device, one typically needs to first unlock the mobile device. Even for an emergency call, a user may need to click on a number of buttons to activate a mobile device, enter a password, enter phone numbers, etc. Pushing a button and typing in numbers requires concentration and precision operation, which may prove difficult in certain situations, especially in time-critical conditions. The current ways utilized to access a mobile device are often tedious and sometimes may delay important and time-sensitive access to the mobile device.

Continuous authentic of mobile device users


Generally disclosed herein is an optical cable assembly a casing that defines a storage space, the casing having a first through hole at a first end and a second through hole at the second end, a first arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) disposed in the storage space, a second AWG disposed in the storage space, a first optical cable comprising at least one transmission optical fiber connected to a first end of the first and second AWGs, a second optical cable comprising at least one transmission optical fiber connected to a second end of the first and second AWGs, wherein the first and second AWGs are disposed substantially parallel with each other and substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the casing such that each of the first and second AWGs have a first end proximate the first through hole and a second end proximate the second through hole.

Nowadays, lots of countries around the world have widely used techniques of optical fibers as main transmission tools in network systems. Since optical fiber transmissions are implemented based on total reflection of light, optical fibers have the characteristics of high-speed transmission and low transmission loss. When optical fibers are used as the transmission medium in a network system, the optical fibers have the characteristics of wide bandwidth, high-capacity and high-speed.
Currently, due to the increasing amount of data transmission and user demands for high-speed internet transmission, the amount of data transmission provided by optical fibers is insufficient. In order to overcome the problem of insufficient amount for data transmission, both receipt and transmission at two opposite ends of optical fibers become quite important in addition to the improvement of transmission speed optical fibers. In general, transceiver optical subassemblies located at two ends of an optical fiber are usually equipped with a wavelength division multiplexer or a wavelength division de-multiplexer. The wavelength division multiplexer is capable of simultaneously transmitting a plurality of optical signals having wavelengths different from one another by coupling the plurality of optical signals into a single optical fiber, so as to increase the flow of data transmission in the optical communications network. The wavelength division de-multiplexer, meanwhile, is capable of integrating a set of signals, including a plurality of optical signals having wavelengths different from one another into a plurality of optical signals each having a specific wavelength, and further couples each of the plurality of optical signals into a specific optical channel.
Conventionally, a wavelength division multiplexer or a wavelength division de-multiplexer is disposed in a housing of an optical communication sub-assembly. However, with the trend of miniaturization of various electronic devices, the optical communication sub-assembly is also required to be downsized. Since it is necessary for the optical fibers to be disposed in a much limited space so as to be routed to the input terminal and the output terminal of the wavelength division multiplexer or the wavelength division de-multiplexer, the likelihood for the optical fibers to be damaged during the assembling process increases and bent portions of the optical fibers would lead to loss of optical signal transmission power. Therefore, how to maintain miniaturization of the optical communication sub-assembly and improve the routing of the optical fiber at the same time has become one of the issues to be addressed.

Wired optical communication assembly having first and second arrayed waveguide gratings disposed substantially parallel with each other


Isolated DNA encoding each of human calcium channel α1-, α2-, β- and γ-subunits, including subunits that arise as splice variants of primary transcripts, is provided. Cells and vectors containing the DNA and methods for identifying compounds that modulate the activity of human calcium channels are also provided.

Calcium channels are membrane-spanning, multi-subunit proteins that allow controlled entry of Ca2+ ions into cells from the extracellular fluid. Cells throughout the animal kingdom, and at least some bacterial, fungal and plant cells, possess one or more types of calcium channel.
The most common type of calcium channel is voltage dependent. All "excitable" cells in animals, such as neurons of the central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nerve cells and muscle cells, including those of skeletal muscles, cardiac muscles, and venous and arterial smooth muscles, have voltage-dependent calcium channels. "Opening" of a voltage-dependent channel to allow an influx of Ca2+ ions into the cells requires a depolarization to a certain level of the potential difference between the inside of the cell bearing the channel and the extracellular environment bathing the cell. The rate of influx of Ca2+ into the cell depends on this potential difference.
Multiple types of calcium channels have been identified in mammalian cells from various tissues, including skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, lung, smooth muscle and brain, [see, e.g., Bean, B. P. (1989) Ann. Rev. Physiol. 51:367-384 and Hess, P. (1990) Ann. Rev. Neurosci. 56:337]. The different types of calcium channels have been broadly categorized into four classes, L-, T-, N-, and P-type, distinguished by current kinetics, holding potential sensitivity and sensitivity to calcium channel agonists and antagonists.
Calcium channels are multisubunit proteins that contain two large subunits, designated α1 and α2, which have molecular weights between about 130 and about 200 kilodaltons ("kD"), and one to three different smaller subunits of less than about 60 kD in molecular weight. At least one of the larger subunits and possibly some of the smaller subunits are glycosylated. Some of the subunits are capable of being phosphorylated. The α1 subunit has a molecular weight of about 150 to about 170 kD when analyzed by sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) after isolation from mammalian muscle tissue and has specific binding sites for various 1,4-dihydropyridines (DHPs) and phenylalkylamines. Under non-reducing conditions (in the presence of N-ethyl-maleimide), the α2 subunit migrates in SDS-PAGE as a band corresponding to a molecular weight of about 160-190 kD. Upon reduction, a large fragment and smaller fragments are released. The β subunit of the rabbit skeletal muscle calcium channel is a phosphorylated protein that has a molecular weight of 52-65 kD as determined by SDS-PAGE analysis. This subunit is insensitive to reducing conditions. The γ subunit of the calcium channel appears to be a glycoprotein with an apparent molecular weight of 30-33 kD, as determined by SDS-PAGE analysis.
In order to study calcium channel structure and function, large amounts of pure channel protein are needed. Because of the complex nature of these multisubunit proteins, the varying concentrations of calcium channels in tissue sources of the protein, the presence of mixed populations of calcium channels in tissues, difficulties in obtaining tissues of interest, and the modifications of the native protein that can occur during the isolation procedure, it is extremely difficult to obtain large amounts of highly purified, completely intact calcium channel protein.
Characterization of a particular type of calcium channel by analysis of whole cells is severely restricted by the presence of mixed populations of different types of calcium channels in the majority of cells. Single-channel recording methods that are used to examine individual calcium channels do not reveal any information regarding the molecular structure or biochemical composition of the channel. Furthermore, in performing this type of analysis, the channel is isolated from other cellular constituents that might be important for natural functions and pharmacological interactions.
Characterization of the gene or genes encoding calcium channels provides another means of characterization of different types of calcium channels. The amino acid sequence determined from a complete nucleotide sequence of the coding region of a gene encoding a calcium channel protein represents the primary structure of the protein. Furthermore, secondary structure of the calcium channel protein and the relationship of the protein to the membrane may be predicted based on analysis of the primary structure. For instance, hydropathy plots of the α1 subunit protein of the rabbit skeletal muscle calcium channel indicate that it contains four internal repeats, each containing six putative transmembrane regions [Tanabe, T. et al. (1987) Nature 328:313].
Because calcium channels are present in various tissues and have a central role in regulating intracellular calcium ion concentrations, they are implicated in a number of vital processes in animals, including neurotransmitter release, muscle contraction, pacemaker activity, and secretion of hormones and other substances. These processes appear to be involved in numerous human disorders, such as CNS and cardiovascular diseases. Calcium channels, thus, are also implicated in numerous disorders. A number of compounds useful for treating various cardiovascular diseases in animals, including humans, are thought to exert their beneficial effects by modulating functions of voltage-dependent calcium channels present in cardiac and/or vascular smooth muscle. Many of these compounds bind to calcium channels and block, or reduce the rate of, influx of Ca2+ into the cells in response to depolarization of the cell membrane.
The results of studies of recombinant expression of rabbit calcium channel α1 subunit-encoding cDNA clones and transcripts of the cDNA clones indicate that the α1 subunit forms the pore through which calcium enters cells. The relevance of the barium currents generated in these recombinant cells to the actual current generated by calcium channels containing as one component the respective α1 subunits in vivo is unclear. In order to completely and accurately characterize and evaluate different calcium channel types, however, it is essential to examine the functional properties of recombinant channels containing all of the subunits as found in vivo.
In order to conduct this examination and to fully understand calcium channel structure and function, it is critical to identify and characterize as many calcium channel subunits as possible. Also in order to prepare recombinant cells for use in identifying compounds that interact with calcium channels, it is necessary to be able to produce cells that express uniform populations of calcium channels containing defined subunits.
An understanding of the pharmacology of compounds that interact with calcium channels in other organ systems, such as the CNS, may aid in the rational design of compounds that specifically interact with subtypes of human calcium channels to have desired therapeutic effects, such as in the treatment of neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disorders. Such understanding and the ability to rationally design therapeutically effective compounds, however, have been hampered by an inability to independently determine the types of human calcium channels and the molecular nature of individual subtypes, particularly in the CNS, and by the unavailability of pure preparations of specific channel subtypes to use for evaluation of the specificity of calcium channel-effecting compounds. Thus, identification of DNA encoding human calcium channel subunits and the use of such DNA for expression of calcium channel subunits and functional calcium channels would aid in screening and designing therapeutically effective compounds.
Therefore, it is an object herein, to provide DNA encoding specific calcium channel subunits and to provide eukaryotic cells bearing recombinant tissue-specific or subtype-specific calcium channels. It is also an object to provide assays for identification of potentially therapeutic compounds that act as calcium channel antagonists and agonists.

Human calcium channel compositions and methods


A method and apparatus for providing an instrument playing service in a portable terminal. In the method, an image of an instrument is projected. User finger movements on the projected instrument image are detected and sound source information corresponding to the user finger movements is read. Thereafter, an audio signal corresponding to the sound source information is output.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing an instrument playing service through a portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent technology developments have brought high-quality, diverse functions to portable terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). With this trend, the portable terminals are now equipped with a function of playing music, which extends from the function of editing melodies or bell sounds.
For example, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2002-66875 entitled "Portable Phone having Melody Playing Function" discloses a portable phone having a built-in melody chip that enables a user to play melodies using a keypad. The portable phone with the melody playing function includes the keypad with digit keys 0 to 9 for dialing a phone number and * and # as function keys, a controller for sensing a key pressed in the keypad and generating a melody selection control signal for identifying the key input. The melody chip generates a melody frequency corresponding to the melody selection control signal. A filtering unit converts the melody frequency to notes through filtering, and an amplifier for amplifies the melody notes to a predetermined power level and outputs the amplified melody notes through a speaker.
As described above, the portable terminal provides an instrument playing service through a keypad of a different shape from instruments. Therefore, even a user who may be good at playing a particular instrument may not be able to easily play music on the portable terminal.
Another disadvantage with the conventional instrument playing service is that the keypad has a limited number of keys, i.e., not enough to play music in a wide sound range.
Moreover, the time required to press a key is difficult to reduce, which in turn makes it difficult to play a percussion instrument such as the drum.
Therefore, a need exists for developing a technology that enables more natural music playing using a portable terminal.

Method and apparatus for providing an instrument playing service


Apparatuses and methods for tuning center frequencies are described herein. Examples of tuning described herein including tuning using feedback from the resonator. Variable gain feedback for tuning of acoustic wave resonators is provided in some examples. An example apparatus may include a resonator and a feedback loop. The resonator may be configured to receive a tuning signal and to provide a feedback signal. The feedback signal may be based on the tuning signal. The feedback loop may be configured to receive the feedback signal from the resonator. The feedback loop further may be configured to provide the tuning signal to actively tune a center frequency of the resonator. The tuning signal may be based on the feedback signal.

Acoustic resonators may rely on resonance of materials, such as piezoelectric materials, to provide electrical signals, and as a result resonators may be able to provide signals with stable frequencies and predicable temperature characteristics. Accordingly, resonators are regularly used to implement electrical frequency control applications, such as clock signal generation in digital circuits, frequency stabilization in wireless devices, and signal filtering. Typically, resonators are configured to resonate at a frequency known as a center frequency. The center frequency of a resonator is predominantly determined based on factors such as the physical dimensions of the resonator and materials used to make it. Manufacturing variations in the thickness and other dimensions of the material used to make the resonator often result in poor center frequency accuracy, however.
In order to compensate for these errors, center frequencies may be passively tuned by coupling resonators to reactive circuit components, such as capacitors and inductors. In this manner, center frequencies may be increased or decreased such that a desired center frequency is achieved. Tuning center frequencies in this manner, however, can lead to increases in motional impedance of the resonator and/or degradation in overall performance. For example, tuning center frequencies may accelerate the rate at which center frequencies drift over time. Moreover, passively tuning center frequencies may provide a limited range over which tuning center frequencies may be tuned.


Patches to be measured are formed (S110), density of each formed patch is measured (S120), and density of patches that are not formed is estimated from the measured density values using correspondence data representing correlation between density measurements of patches of a specific tone and density measurements of patches of tones other than the specific tone (S130). Density values for all tones are then calculated from the acquired density data by interpolation (S140) to produce correction data (calibration data) (S150). Thus estimating the density of unformed patches enables reducing a number of patches to be formed, and therefore reduces time required to form and measure the patches.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device for forming images on a printing medium.
2. Description of Related Art
As disclosed in Japanese patent-application publication (kokai) No. 2000-278543, a process called calibration is conventionally performed to match density of images printed by a printer to tones (density) in print data received from an application program. The calibration process produces correction data through a process described below.
Assuming a full color printer capable of printing 256 levels of each color in a CMYK process using cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) ink, calibration patches (measurement patches) are printed as shown in FIG. 12.
The calibration patches are printed in four rows corresponding to the four colors CMYK, and nine patches (patterns of any desired shape each printed at a uniform color density, referred to as simply "patches" below) are printed in each row. The nine patches in each row are printed by sending nine values representing tone levels 0, 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224, and 255, that is, at increments of 31 or 32 levels.
The density of each patch is then measured with a sensor and the measured density is used as the output level. Data indicating correlation between the output levels and the tone or gradation values (input levels) sent to the printer is generated, and correction data for matching, to the measured output levels, the input levels sent to the printer is generated. For each of the nine cyan patches that were printed, for example, correction value required to acquire the ideal output level is obtained by using the actual output level acquired for each of the nine input levels. The correction data for the 247 input levels other than the nine measured input levels is interpolated from the calculated correction values using an interpolation algorithm. In this way, correction values for all input levels 0 to 255 are calculated, and all correction values are saved as the calibration data in a data file.
In subsequent printing operations, the calibration data is read from the data file, tone data contained in the print data received from the application program is converted to tone levels to be sent to the printer based on the read calibration data, and the converted tone data is then sent to the printer. Thus, the color density of the actual printer output matches the density levels (tones) contained in the print data received from the application program.


A crankcase seal and ventilation arrangement for an outboard motor that permits ventilating air to flow from the crankcase chamber into an induction system of the engine for air purification. In addition, the arrangement is such that oil, which may flow into the ventilating air chamber when the outboard motor is tilted up, can return to the crankcase chamber when the outboard motor is returned to its normal running condition.

This invention relates to an outboard motor and more particularly to an improved engine seal and crankcase ventilation arrangement for an outboard motor.
As is well known, internal combustion engines are typically employed as the prime mover for outboard motors. The internal combustion engine positioning in an outboard motor is different from that normally employed in engine applications. Generally, internal combustion engines are mounted so that the crankcase shaft rotates about a horizontally disposed axis.
With an outboard motor, however, the engine is generally mounted so that the crankshaft rotates about a vertically extending axis. This is done so as to facilitate the connection of the crankshaft to the driveshaft which depends into the driveshaft housing and terminates at the lower end thereof where it drives a propulsion device for propelling a watercraft associated with the outboard motor.
The vertical positioning of the crankshaft gives rise to some unique design problems. With two-cycle engines, these problems are somewhat less because lubricant is not normally contained within the crankcase chamber. With a four-cycle engine, on the other hand, lubricant may be contained in the crankcase chamber but this lubricant is stored in a location which is generally removed from the crankcase chamber.
With an outboard motor, however, the outboard motor is frequently tilted up to an out-of-the-water condition even when attached to the watercraft. Furthermore, if the outboard motor is small it may oftentimes be carried in a horizontal position.
In either of the aforenoted conditions, lubricant can flow back into the crankcase chamber. Thus, the upper seal around the uppermost main bearing, considering the situation when the engine is supported vertically, may have to provide assurance that the lubricant cannot flow out of the crankcase chamber in the area around the upper main bearing when the engine crankshaft is horizontal.
Although it is possible to provide seals that prevent such flow, that area may also be utilized for ventilation of the crankcase and blow-by gases from the crankcase chamber. That is, it is desirable to ventilate the crankcase chamber so that the blow-by gases do not build up pressure in it. This can be conveniently done by removing the crankcase gases through the upper wall of the crankcase chamber. However, if there is an open passage, then the loss of lubricant through the path when the engine crankshaft is positioned horizontally can occur.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved crankcase seal and crankcase ventilating arrangement that is particularly adaptable for use in outboard motors.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a crankcase seal and ventilating arrangement for an internal combustion engine that provides a ventilating area at one end of the crankshaft and which will permit ventilating gases to flow freely out of the crankcase chamber but will preclude lubricant from flowing through the same path when the engine is positioned horizontally.

Engine seal and crankcase ventillation arrangement for outboard motor


There is disclosed a system for management of interactions between users and software applications in a web environment, related to an operating environment which functional devices are in charge of providing methods allowing maximum interactivity between the end user and the application. The operating environment also includes a set of applications available to end users, administrators and developers. The applications for end users are intended to provide interactivity, storage, data organization, publication and search. For the administrators, the applications allow full configuration of the behavior of the system and of the agents included within its scope. And for the developers, the system provides configuration kits that enable interfacing between the objects included in its operating context.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems applying to a software operating environment that is fully operated by a browser program, that includes a set of tools intended to provide interactivity, storage, data management, publication and search, and that provides resources enabling every application within its context to have the following functionalities:
the ability to provide an interface with multiple windows and processes in visual simultaneity;
the ability for dynamically updating the content of its pages or of only a part thereof in a synchronized manner, whereby all users that are online will be able to view the change at the same time;
the ability to monitor any user actions performed within the scope of use thereof; the ability to generate interventions in real time, that is, the ability for remote generation of commands to be run by one or more users while such user or users is/are using the application;
the ability to have multiple designs of HTML screens without the need to change the program source code thereof; the ability to provide, based on an established data model, the screens used for recording information, as well as reports, graphs and searches, automatically generated, including having their respective designs altered while running according to clearance of access of the users to the fields, data filters and operations; and
the ability to use and to create software components having all the functionalities cited above and allowing customization by changes in the values of their properties.
2. Description of Related Art
The currently developed software applications have as a characteristic the fact that they are installed in the machine where they will be used or accessed by a preexisting browser utility, based on a Web address provided in the form of a URL. In this last case, a part of the application is run by the browser itself and another part is run by a server receiving requests in HTTP protocol.
The applications thus installed have their appearances and behaviors controlled by the operating system running in the target machine. As a rule, such operating systems, in addition to having a whole set of interfaces to establish connections between the applications and the hardware devices, have some preinstalled programs intended for device management, communications, storage, etc.
The advantage provided by this type of application is that, due to being able to benefit from all the resources made available by the resident operating system, they provide a rich and pleasant interactivity experience to their users. The most remarkable disadvantage consists in the fact that the user is only able to access the application resources if the application is installed in the target machine, and at every update to a new version aimed to provide new functionalities, debugging and design updating, the user is required to run updates in the form of patches generated by the author of the application. Furthermore, the tools preinstalled with the operating system, as required for file/folder management, communications, etc., have different interfaces depending on the operating system used, while however having quite similar functionalities. This disadvantage causes the user to remain "stuck" to a specific machine in order to be able to avail himself or herself of the desired computing resources, since the effort incurred with installation, configuration and self-training at every change of equipment/operating system is excessively burdening.
On the other hand, the web-type applications (those accessed by a browser) allow the user to remain independent in relation to type of equipment, operating system and version updates, since all interactivity-related content is dynamically generated by the server and interpreted by the browser utility resident in the target machine, and since as a rule the browser utilities follow the rules regarding syntax and functionalities as provided by the W3C organization (World Wide Web Consortium) irrespective of the operating systems for which the same were developed. The other relevant advantage is that a user from any location is able to access resources available in various HTTP servers and provided by various suppliers without requiring rigid network configurations, links, etc.
The main disadvantage of this type of application is that the interactivity experience provided thereby cannot even start to be compared with that provided by the installable application type. In order to illustrate this point, there will be cited herein, from multiple others, the following examples that are directly related to the scope of the present invention:
there is no presence of the concept of multiple windows, visually simultaneous, since every time that a window is selected (focused), the former window is automatically minimized;
there is not a visual feeling of "fixed data" and "variable data", since every time that the application needs to resort to the server, the entire screen blinks, whereby the static content seems to have changed; and
the functional components such as menus, toolbars, grids, buttons, etc. have quite restricted functionalities when compared with those same components associated to installable type applications.
Certain solutions that partially circumvent this problem, such as: content managers, design time components (DTC), HTML components (HTC), etc., are already available in the market, however they have proven incipient in the face of the needs to be met, since the transactional model browser versus server remains unchanged. When the end user performs an action whereby the application needs to access the server, the following happens: either one other page is sent to the browser; or the same page is resent, notwithstanding that in the majority of cases a part of the content thereof remains unchanged, or there is displayed a pop-up window which is automatically minimized upon some action (a mouse click, for instance) being performed outside of its context.
In addition to the functional aspects of use of Web applications that have been pointed out in comparison to the installable applications, the following prior art solutions are listed below:
page content dynamically altered without user input (in the case of banners, gifs and flash animations) updating the display asynchronously, for example causing two different users to view the same effect in different moments;
the user inputs within the context of browsing through a web application are not recorded and fed to a database, but rather, what is collected at most, in all except some rare instances, is data such as regarding answers to polls, pages having been visited and quantities of clicks on banners;
the advertisement broadcasting process is carried out in a decentralized, redundant and non-instantaneous manner, requiring that every site used to advertise products be registered in several search engines in order to provide a minimum degree of visibility thereto;
there is no concept of generation of interventions in real time, such as, for example, sending a remote command for the browser of a certain user to invoke a certain window; and
the Web application programming tools, save for rare exceptions, require that one same file be used for data relative to design and programming codes, which burdens the maintenance of the programs and does not allow that a page (or part thereof) may have multiple designs but only one programming source code.

System for management of interactions between users and software applications in a web environment


A double-side digital copier reads an image on documents fed into an image reading unit in accordance with a predetermined cycle based on copying conditions such as the number of copies to be made and single/double-side copying, and the number of documents and copy sheets temporarily maintained in the respective circulation paths formed therein. Further the image data obtained by that reading are stored in two memories alternately, one of the memories alone, or both the memories in a predetermined order in accordance with the predetermined cycle, and are read out in a corresponding order, optimizing throughput without increasing the manufacturing costs.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital double-side copier which can copy one or both sides of an original document onto one or both sides of a copy sheet.
(2) Description of Related Art
An electrophotographic copier essentially comprises an image reading unit with a document feeder, and an image forming unit with a copy sheet feeder. With this copier, a document is fed to an image reader by the document feeder, and an optical system reads an image on the document and converts it into image data, which are outputted into the image forming unit. Upon input of the image data, the image forming unit forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum through exposure, thence a toner image with a supply of toner. Subsequently, the toner image is transferred and fixed onto a copy sheet fed from the copy sheet feeder through an image forming path.
To meet today's need, the electrophotographic copier was upgraded to enable double-side copying, and a digital-copier with the image reader is a good example. The image reading unit in this type of copier reads images on one or both sides of a document, and the image forming unit transfers images onto one or both sides of a copy sheet. Thus, users can select a desired side-mode among 4 combinations as set forth in Table 1.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Side-Mode Setting Reading Image Forming ______________________________________ Single/Single Single-side Single-side Single/Double Single-side Double-side Double/Single Double-side Single-side Double/Double Double-side Double-side ______________________________________
The image reading unit of the double-side copier additionally includes a document circulation path for feeding the document again into the image reader by reversing the side thereof. Likewise, the image forming unit thereof additionally includes a copy sheet circulation path besides the image forming path for feeding the copy sheet again into an image transfer station by reversing the side thereof.
To date, several types of double-side copiers are devised by exploiting the above construction. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,500, wherein two memories are installed in the image forming apparatus: one for image data on the front side, and the other for the back side. Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,169, wherein a transportation speed in the circulation path is varied in accordance with the number of copies or a copy sheet size to hold several copy sheets thereon while transporting them back to the image transfer station, enabling steadily image forming on one side per several copy sheets.
However, in the former, overall throughput is decreased considerably; for the image forming on the back side must be suspended until the copy sheet is fed into the image forming station again through the copy sheet circulation path. While in the latter, enhancing throughput eventuates in increasing manufacturing costs; for the larger a memory capacity becomes, the higher the manufacturing costs. More precisely, if the digital copier is to copy approximately fifty pages at a time, employing a memory with an adequate capacity increases manufacturing costs inhibitedly for commercialization.
Therefore, a double-side digital copier such that can optimize throughput without increasing manufacturing costs has been sought after.

Digital copier for two-sided reading using various writing modes


At least two types of dielectric materials such as oxide nanosheets having a layered perovskite structure that differ from each other are laminated, and the nanosheets are bonded to each other via an ionic material, thereby producing a superlattice structure-having ferroelectric thin film. Having the layered structure, the film can exhibit ferroelectricity as a whole, though not using a ferroelectric material therein. Accordingly, there is provided a ferroelectric film based on a novel principle, which is favorable for ferroelectric memories and others and which is free from a size effect even though extremely thinned.

A ferroelectric material is a type of dielectric materials and is a material which spontaneously polarizes even in the absence of any external electric field (with electric dipoles kept aligned) and of which the polarization direction varies depending on the electric field therearound. Typical materials of the type include barium titanate BaTiO3, lead titanate PbTiO3, lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 and the like having a perovskite structure, which are applied to ferroelectric memories, actuators and others using the spontaneous polarization characteristics and the piezoelectric characteristics that the ferroelectric material has.
In a ferroelectric material, it is known that a larger amount of displacement of each constituent element from the normal position provides more excellent ferroelectric characteristics (spontaneous polarization, etc.).
Accordingly, for obtaining excellent ferroelectric characteristics, it is preferable to attain artificial lattice displacement. For this, various studies and developments of producing a ferroelectric thin film by the use of a substrate that differs from the ferroelectric material in point of the lattice constant thereof to thereby induce artificial stress and improve spontaneous polarization through the lattice mismatch between the ferroelectric material and the substrate have been actively tried, and the results have been reported. Apart from the stress effect of the substrate mentioned above, a ferroelectric superlattice can be produced by alternately layering two or more different types of ferroelectric materials that differ in the lattice constant (for example, BaTiO3 and SrTiO3, etc.) to thereby generate a pressure through lattice strain in the in-plane direction of the thin film surface, owing to the lattice constant difference; and according to this, studies and developments of improving spontaneous polarization have been actively tried, and the results have been reported.
However, the above-mentioned ferroelectric thin film is such that the spontaneous polarization thereof has been improved by imparting stress or lattice strain to the original ferroelectric material, and it is impossible to convert a material that is not a ferroelectric material into a ferroelectric material.
For ferroelectric memory application, preferred is use of an ultrathin film for high-speed, large-volume low-voltage operation. However, when conventional ferroelectric materials of barium titanate BaTiO3, lead titanate PbTiO3, lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 or the like are thinned to a thickness of 50 nm, then the spontaneous polarization and the relative dielectric constant thereof may lower and they could not function as ferroelectric materials, or that is, conventional ferroelectric materials involve such an essential problem of "size effect". Consequently, so far as conventional ferroelectric materials are used, it is difficult to provide a ferroelectric thin film having a thickness of not more than 50 nm.

Ferroelectric thin film having superlattice structure, manufacturing method thereof, ferroelectric element, and manufacturing method thereof

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE


A float assembly for buoying ropes, cables, pipelines, or any other type of line, completely surrounds the line to which it is attached. The assembly is formed from a plurality of preferably identical circumferentially adjacent float pieces. The pieces attach to one another along radial planes which contain semipermanent attachment means. As each chamfered circumferential piece is added to the last the line is gradually surrounded by the whole of all the pieces. This allows the float to be attached or removed to an existing long line without the need to thread the line through the float assembly. Bands or straps are used to permanently secure the individual float pieces in place upon the line. The line passage hole may be sized or shimmed so as to firmly secure the float assembly on the line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to the field of buoys and flotation devices. More specifically, it provides a multi-piece easily attachable flotation device for long slender objects of indeterminate length such as ropes, cables, chains, pipelines, and the like, hereinafter referred to generally as lines. The invention may be applied in any field where it is desired to suspend a line, or a load attached to that line, upon or within a fluid. The term fluid is used in its general sense and should be understood to include both the liquid and gaseous states of matter. It is contemplated, for example, that the buoy of this example could conceivably be constructed so as to be lighter than air (as a dirigible) and thus provide support for lightweight lines within the atmosphere for use as electromagnetic wave guides, antennae, or weather sensing devices.
More commonly, however, it is anticipated that this easily attachable buoy will most often be used to support lines on or near the surface of a liquid medium such as water. The most prevalent use in the field of recreational activities is expected to be for providing convenient flexibly arranged buoyancy for rope lines in swimming areas. These lines often serve as lane markers or lines of demarcation between adult and child zones in swimming pool settings, and as indicators of deep water or warnings of underwater danger in natural beach environments.
Another common recreational use for rope floats is to provide buoyancy for the handle end of water skiing tow ropes so a user may locate the tow handle from a position within the water. These ski tow floats are subject to severe conditions of wear and tear in normal use. The low cost and easy attachment of the float of this invention makes it feasible to simply replace a damaged float with a new float attached either to the tow rope or to a suitable portion of the tow handle.
Since this inventive buoy concept may be embodied in virtually any size, shape, material, and concomitant buoyant force, it will readily be appreciated that lines much heavier than ordinary rope could be supported. Moreover, accoutrements hung from or attached to these lines could also be easily supported. With these extensions in mind, the potential fields of application can be seen to be virtually limitless. The particular examples, mentioned herein, are to be understood as illustrative in nature and in no way fully encompass all the fields in which this invention might be used.
A less common but more serious use for rope or cable floats arises in the towing of a ship by a tug boat. Rope or cable when unsupported in water quickly sinks. Hence when comparatively long cable is used in towing another ship or a target, especially at low speeds, it is apt to sag deeply in the water unless supported by buoyant elements. When used in shoal waters it is thus apt to chafe on the bottom or to become snagged or fouled on obstacles which may be encountered on the bottom. The ease of forming my float into a streamlined shape, providing for easy towing through the water, as well as its quick and easy attaching to a tow rope, make it particularly adaptable for pontoon type supports for tow ropes required in the field of tow vessels.
The commercial fishing industry can benefit from the unique advantages of this invention. The easily attachable float of this invention could be used to provide temporary support and guidance for fish hook and net drag lines used by large fishing vessels. In this application the float buoys could be specially shaped so as to provide lateral spreading force to the fish net support as the propulsive force of the ship pulls the net through the water. Also, the easily detachable design of the floats would allow them to easily be stripped from the lines as they are reeled in by conventional winding machinery.
It is contemplated that much heavier lines, such as anchor chains, electrical conduits, or even petroleum pipelines could be adequately supported upon a fluid surface by large size floatation devices incorporating the features herein disclosed. One of ordinary skill will recognize the many fields of human endeavor that could benefit from such applications.
A relatively large float construction of this nature, still embodying the novel features of this invention, could effectively be used as a submarine hose support system. Such systems are used to transport liquids, such as crude oil, across a body of water in a submerged state, ie. from ship to shore and vice versa. Such floats function to form a suitable catenary line for the purpose of causing the loading hose line to be flexibly moved in response to sea wave action without buckling.
At the other end of the size spectrum, it is contemplated that this novel flotation device might even be used to float minuscule threads in tiny amounts of liquid so as to partition segments of the liquid surface from one another. For example, such an arrangement might be used in the field of biology for segregating culture growths in a petri dish or the like.
A line supported by the easily attachable flotation device of this invention could, in turn, support a mesh, curtain, impervious wall, or semipermeable membrane which hangs down into the fluid medium so as to isolate some portions of the fluid from others. This could conceivably be used to separate species or genders of aquatic animals housed in the same aquarium while at the same time allowing for nutrients, etc. to freely disperse throughout the entire aqueous volume.
When used in combination with submerged anchors or pilings a curtain or mesh as above could be supported within a liquid while at the same time not extending above the surface of the liquid. One example of this sort of use might be a submerged submarine detection or entrapment net in connection with national defense efforts.
All the above suggested fields and examples of use of this invention are concerned with using the novel buoy in combination with another element such as a line, a line and net, etc. One of ordinary skill will appreciate the fact that this buoy can also be used as a simple buoy in a conventional manner for all the presently existing uses for buoys, such as marking dangerous shipping channels. In these applications the primary advantage of this invention ties in its low cost, simplicity, and easy fabrication.
As can be ascertained from the above, the fields in which the invention may prove extremely useful are many and varied. The central unifying theme is the provision of an easily attachable or detachable fluid flotation device for a line of indeterminate length.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior inventions provide various flotation devices for lines and those known to me and considered closest to my inventive concept are discussed as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,395,892, issued to D. M. Lontz on Mar. 5, 1946 shows a float consisting of two identical halves which are hinged together around a cable by hinges and fasteners. The pontoon type float is made of two sheet metal hulls which are welded so as to be air-tight for buoyancy. The float is complex and expensive to produce compared to the simple design of the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,093 issued to D. H. Skinner et al on May 25, 1965, shows two types of floats for a submarine hose systems. The first type is hinged in a manner similar to Lontz above. The second type is made of two identically shaped segments with complementary mating tongue and groove portions which fit together to form the overall float assembly. The design of the complex tongue and groove arrangement is more expensive and less reliable than the simple planar mating surfaces of my invention. In addition my invention would be much easier to assemble in a hostile underwater environment.
U.S. Pat. No 4,985,007 issued to H. S. Ellis on Jan. 15, 1991, discloses a swimming lane marker system which incidentally shows a one piece float 34 in FIG. 1. This type of float must be threaded over the end of the rode upon which it rides, which is often a time consuming and difficult process. A further disadvantage of this type of float is the difficulty in maintaining the float in a fixed position on the rope during use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,919, issued to M. Kadone on Jun. 7, 1983 discloses a float for submarine pipeline loading hoses. The float is made of two dissimilar pieces which are assembled together around a hose by a rather complex system of bosses, hinge pins, bolts, and clamps. A major difficulty with this float construction is that it is difficult if not impossible to mount it to a pipeline in a hostile underwater environment.
None of the above inventions and patents taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.

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A dishwasher including an improved rack adjustment system is provided. The dishwasher includes a chamber for washing dishes, guide rails at opposite inside walls of the chamber, and a rack that moves along the guide rails into and Out of the chamber for holding dishes. A supporter may be provided at opposite sides of the rack for guiding an up/down movement of the rack along the guide rail, with a locker provided on an outside surface of the supporter for holding the rack in position. A handle may be provided on the outside surface of the supporter to swing in up/down directions to a force to the locker and adjust the rack downward, thereby permitting easy adjustment of rack height.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dish washers, and more particularly, to a dish washer in which a height of the rack can be adjusted, easily.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, the dish washer sprays detergent and washing water to dishes automatically, to wash the dishes, and dries the dishes. The dish washer is provided with a chamber for making washing of the dishes therein, racks in the chamber for receiving the dishes, and guide rails at opposite sidewalls of an inside of the chamber.
The racks are in an upper part and a lower part of the chamber, and have structures to enable to take the dishes out of the chamber following the guide rails. The racks have structures to enable height adjustment according to a size of the dishes placed thereon.
That is, if a user intends to wash small dishes, the user increases a height of the rack, and, if a user intends to wash large dishes, the user reduces a height of the rack.
The rack height adjustment is made by a rack height adjusting device. For this, the rack height adjusting device is provided with a holding part for holding a moved up rack, and a button for separating the rack from the fastening part, and moving down the rack. Therefore, if the user intends to lower the height of the rack, the user draws the rack out of the chamber, and presses the button on the rack height adjusting device.
However, the related art dish washer has a structure in which the user can not hold the rack in the rack height adjustment. Therefore, if the user presses the button for lowering the rack height, the rack, separated from the holding part, moves down instantly by gravity, to give impact to the rack. Particularly, if the rack is loaded with heavy dishes, the dishes are liable to break due to the impact applied to the rack.


The invention relates to a carbamide of the general formula EQU R.sub.1 --CO--NH--C(R.sub.2)(R.sub.3)--X--Y. which is protected by a temporary protective group and wherein. R.sub.1 --CO means a carbonyl residue which can be provided as a unit for the chain of a peptide, and can have one or a plurality of amino acid residues; PA1 R2 and R3 mean resides of the carbamide which do not participate in their function, whereby R2 and R3 can be identical or different, but are different when one of the two residues means a hydrogen atom; PA1 X means an oxygen atom or a sulphur atom, and PA1 Y means a protective group for X.. The invention further relates to a process for producing the protected carbamide and to utilisation of the protected carbamide.. The protected carbamide according to the invention can also be linked to a carrier material.

Regioselective chemical conversion of a compound with a plurality of different chemical functions requires the protection of all these functions as far as that/those by means of which the chemical reaction is to be initiated. Molecule groups (protective groups) are introduced in order to protect these functions. In conjunction with this, these can be removed in a non-disruptive manner and selectively, with re-formation of the original function. For complex multi-stage syntheses, particularly of natural substances, such as oligopeptides and oligonucleotides, various types of protective groups are necessary. They are characterised by intensely differing conditions of splitting. A system of protective groups in which the individual types are so selectively splittable that all the other respective groups remain unaffected, it termed orthogonal. The principle is the subject of the chemistry of protective groups (see Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis, Greene, T. W. & Wuts, P. G. M. Eds., 2.sup.nd ed., 1991, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York).
If the type of protective group has a further reactive function, it can be linked covalently and in a stable way with a carrier material for solid-phase synthesis. Then the terms "active group" or "linker group" are used (see e.g. Breitpohl et al. In Tetrahedron Lett. 28 (1987) 5651-5654 and Guibe et al. in Tetrahedron Lett. 30 (1989) 2641-2644). A special type of protective group or also active group is that which must firstly be brought into a labile form by a preceding chemical reaction, and which then in a second step can be split off under very gently conditions (protected protective group--"Safety-Catch" grouping; cf. E.g. Patek in Int. J. Peptide Protein Res. 42 (1993) 97-1176). Although in such a case two reaction steps are required for splitting, such groupings can have great advantages.
(i) it can be very stable against many, even extremely drastic reaction conditions, but can be split by the sequence of two specific extremely mild reaction steps. PA1 (ii) the labile intermediate stage of the protective group can be sufficiently stable to offer good, or better, opportunities for isolation and cleaning the end product. PA1 (i) the protective or active group is to be protected; PA1 (ii) the labile intermediate stage is to be stable under appropriate reaction conditions and permit cleaning of the intermediate products; PA1 (iii) the labile intermediate stage is to be able to decompose in aqueous physiological buffer solution at neutral pH (7) or almost neutral pH (5 to 9), and re-form the original carbamide function, so that the synthesis product can be used directly (without further cleaning) with a free carbamide function in a biocellular or biochemical test experiment. PA1 R.sub.1 --CO means a carbonyl residue which can be provided as a unit for the chain of a peptide, and can have one or a plurality of amino acid residues; PA1 R2 and R3 mean resides of the carbamide which do not participate in their function, whereby R2 and R3 can be identical or different, but are different when one of the two residues means a hydrogen atom; PA1 X means an oxygen atom or a sulphur atom, and PA1 Y means a protective group for X. PA1 a) a compound of the formula C(R.sub.2)(R.sub.3).dbd.X is converted with a compound of the formula R.sub.1 --CO--NH.sub.2 to form a compound with the formula R.sub.1 --CO--NH--C(R.sub.2)(R.sub.3)--XH, and PA1 b) the XH group of the reaction product according to (a) is transferred into an X--Y group, whereby R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, X and Y have the meanings given above.

Protective or anchor groups and their use


A capacitance detecting circuit detects, in terms of voltage, change in capacitance at intersections of a plurality of column lines and a plurality of row lines crossing each other. The capacitance detecting circuit includes a column-line driving unit for driving a column line; a row-line selector for selecting a specific row line from the plurality of row lines; and a capacitance calculator for calculating a capacitance at an intersection of the specific row line and the driven column line based on a reference current that flows in relation to a reference capacitance and a current that flows in relation to the capacitance at the intersection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitance detecting circuit and detecting method for detecting a small capacitance, and to a fingerprint sensor employing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, as a fingerprint sensor, which is considered as most promising among techniques of biometrics, a pressure-sensitive capacitance sensor of a type in which column lines and row lines are formed at a predetermined pitch on surfaces of two films, respectively, the films being disposed opposing each other via an insulating film or the like with a predetermined gap provided therebetween, has been developed. In the pressure-sensitive capacitance sensor, when a finger is placed, the shapes of the films change according to the ridges and valleys of the fingerprint, and the gap between the column lines and the row lines change according to the change in the shapes of the films. Thus, the form of the fingerprint is detected as small changes in capacitances at the intersections of the column lines and the row lines. In the pressure-sensitive capacitance sensor described above, a small change in capacitance less than several hundred fF (femtofarads) must be detected at each of the intersections of the matrix of the column lines and the row lines. Thus, regarding a capacitance detecting circuit of the capacitor sensor, a demand for high sensitivity exists since the change in capacitance is small, and a demand exists for insusceptibility to noise that is transmitted from a human body or noise that occurs in circuitry and for insusceptibility to crosstalk between column lines or between row lines.
In a capacitance detecting circuit of the type described above, adjacent detecting lines of capacitors (sensor elements) are respectively connected to a non-inverting input terminal and an inverting input terminal of a differential amplifier circuit, and the difference between voltage values of detection signals of the detecting lines is amplified, so that noise superposed on the detection signals is cancelled to a certain extent, suppressing the effect of the noise. Such a circuit is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-118415 paragraphs [0011] to [0064] and FIG. 2).
In the capacitance detecting circuit, at a plurality of small capacitors (sensor elements) disposed on a row-by-row basis, the small capacitors are charged and discharged by a charge amp circuit, and differential detection is carried out for adjacent small capacitances on each row.
At this time, on each row of small capacitors, the combination of capacitors for differential detection is sequentially changed, allowing two-dimensional detection of capacitances.
The measurement techniques for differential detection can be applied to a capacitance detecting circuit of a sensor in which column lines and row lines cross each other and sensor elements are disposed in a matrix shape. Measurement signals of adjacent row lines are input to a non-inverting input terminal and an inverting input terminal of a differential amplifier to detect a differential component of charging or discharging associated with a driving pulse of a column line, so that reduction in noise due to crosstalk between row lines is expected.
However, in the conventional capacitance detecting circuit described above, the arrangement is such that a difference in voltage or current based on capacitances of adjacent sensor elements is detected.
Since the conventional capacitance detecting circuit lacks a reference for a subject of measurement, the level of a detection signal is determined by capacitances of adjacent detection lines, so that uniform detection is inhibited even in a single row. Thus, the mutual effect of the detecting lines is not fully eliminated, causing degradation in the resolution of detecting capacitance by the sensor elements.
Furthermore, in the conventional capacitance detecting circuit, although it is possible to decrease to a certain extent the effect of feed through of a sensor unit and switches respectively provided for the rows for introducing detection signals in a differential amplifier circuit, it is difficult to fully eliminate the effect of layout of lines or variation in stray resistance and stray capacitance of input selector.
Thus, the conventional capacitance detecting circuit has the drawback that it is not possible to obtain uniformly precise measurement results over the entire surface of a two-dimensional sensor such as an area sensor.

Capacitance detecting circuit and detecting method, and fingerprint sensor employing the same


A folded corrugated substrate integrated waveguide is disclosed. The folded corrugated substrate integrated waveguide, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises: a first conductor plate having upper surface stubs respectively formed on both sides thereof in the lengthwise direction; a first dielectric substrate of which the upper surface is attached to the lower surface of the first conductor plate; a second conductor plate of which the upper surface is attached to the lower surface of the first dielectric substrate; a second dielectric substrate of which the upper surface is attached to the lower surface of the second conductor plate; and two stub conductor arrays spaced at a certain distance so as to be arranged in parallel to each other and attached to the lower surface of the second dielectric substrate, wherein each of the stub conductors in the two stub conductor arrays is electrically connected to a position corresponding to the upper surface stub of the first conductor plate through a via-hole which vertically penetrates the first dielectric substrate, the second conductor plate, and the second dielectric substrate.

Substrate integrated waveguides are easily manufactured and have a low insertion loss. Also, due to a high quality factor thereof, substrate integrated waveguides have been selected as an electromagnetic wave transmission method appropriate for millimeter wave circuits.
Substrate integrated waveguides are pseudospherical waveguides in which two parallel metallic via holes or via walls are periodically arranged on a general printed circuit board (PCB).
Generally, since substrate integrated waveguides include a vertical axis wall surface formed as a metallic via hole, a surface current does not flow widthwise. Accordingly, substrate integrated waveguides only have a TEm0 mode and a basic electric wave mode is TE10 mode. To reduce sizes of substrate integrated waveguides described above, there are disclosed a half mode substrate integrated waveguide and a folded substrate integrated waveguide. Although a lot of passive elements have been developed based a transmission cable, the development of substrate integrated waveguide-based active elements is imperceptible.
Generally, since two isolated DC conductors exist in each of transmission cables such as a microstrip and a coplanar waveguide (CPW), it is easy to integrate with active elements. However, since substrate integrated waveguides have a short circuit structure in which the entire surface of a substrate is shielded, it is impossible to DC bias. Similarly, in the case of spherical waveguides, to integrate active elements, it is necessary to use a diode mount which is a complicated mechanical structure. However, since it is expensive and complicated, it has a difficulty in being applied to substrate integrated waveguides. Accordingly, there are provided corrugated substrate integrated waveguides. Corrugated substrate integrated waveguides are formed by replacing conductive vias having the form of side electric walls of substrate integrated waveguides with λg/4 microstrip open stubs. This structure has TE10 as a basic mode identical to substrate integrated waveguides. However, since a ground surface and an upper side of a substrate integrated waveguide are perfectly isolated from each other, it is possible to DC bias.
However, in each of corrugated substrate integrated waveguides, since open stubs are arranged in an E-plane direction and a cross-sectional area increases, it is difficult to be coupled with other circuits. Also, corrugated substrate integrated waveguides operate as microstrips of one wavelength, thereby basically generating a leakage mode. Accordingly, generated leakage radiation distorts signals due to coupling with an adjacent circuit and increases radiation loss.
As a cited reference, there is disclosed Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1090857 (registered in Dec. 1, 2011).

Folded corrugated substrate integrated waveguide

AJOU UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION


The yarn feeder device (1) of the invention has one or more yarn feeler levers (26), which are movably supported on the housing (2). The yarn feeler lever (26) is movable between an operating position I and a response position II. In the operating I, its crossbar (28) which forms the yarn feeler means is approximately in the same line as yarn guide elements, such as the struts (19, 23) of yarn guide bails (18, 22). Somewhat above its operating position I, the yarn feeler lever (26) meets a stop, past which it is not moved by the yarn (8). To improve the accessibility to the yarn guide elements (19, 23) particularly when yarn is being inserted and threaded in, the stop of the yarn feeler lever (26) is embodied as yielding. The yarn feeler lever (26) can therefore be moved upward manually past the stop on its lower end (28), in order to open up the space enclosed between the yarn guide elements (19, 23).

Yarn feeder devices are known that have a yarn feed wheel with yarn wrapped around it, which serves on the one hand to continuously draw a yarn off from a yarn bobbin and on the other to furnish this yarn to a yarn-consuming station, such as a knitting machine. Such yarn feeder devices have a retainer or base body on which a yarn feed wheel is rotatably supported with a preferably vertical pivot shaft. The yarn feed wheel is supported by the shaft and is driven via pulleys disposed on the other side of the shaft. Both along the way to the yarn feed wheel and on the way from the yarn feed wheel, the yarn is passed through yarn guide elements, such as eyes.
For checking whether yarn is present or not, a so-called yarn feeler is often present. This is a lever that is pivotably supported on the base body or retainer and has a free end that bears down on the yarn. If the yarn sags or tears, the lever moves out of its operating position and a warning light is turned on, for instance. This is the response position.
As a rule, the yarn feeler lever is located on the yarn in the vicinity of a yarn guide element that keeps the yarn at a defined height. When the yarn is being threaded in, it must be guided through the yarn guide element. When this is done by hand, the yarn feeler lever often can be an obstacle if the lever is located next to the yarn guide element. On the other hand, during operation of the yarn feeder device, the yarn feeler lever must be prevented from skipping or fluttering on the yarn traveling through it. Otherwise, the function of the yarn feeder device could be impaired.

Thread feeding device comprising a spring stop for thread detectors


A fiber optic laser catheter assembly for use in removing, or largely debulking, obstructions or occlusions from a lumen in a living body. The catheter assembly includes an outer tubular sheath, an optical fiber extending through the sheath, and a fiber guide for holding the fiber within the sheath. In all of the disclosed embodiments, the obstructions are removed by controllably positioning an optical fiber's distal tip in a succession of selected radial and circumferential positions so as to sculpt away the obstruction without substantial risk of mechanically or thermally damaging the vessel. Several of the embodiments are configured such that the portion of the occlusion that can be reliably sculpted away has a radius greater even than the radius of the catheter assembly itself.

This invention relates generally to fiber optic laser catheters and, more particularly, to catheters of this kind that are adapted to selectively position the optical fiber's distal tip to facilitate the sculpting out and debulking of an obstruction or occlusion in a vessel or lumen of a living body.
Catheters of this type are particularly useful in removing obstructions or occlusions such as those associated with arteriosclerosis lesions. In such procedures, the catheter is inserted into the diseased blood vessel and moved through the vessel to a position where its distal end lies immediately adjacent to the occlusion to be removed. A laser beam, commonly generated by a pulsed excimer laser, is then directed through the fiber and emitted from its distal tip, to ablate or otherwise remove the lesion. In this particular application, the laser catheter is being used to perform angiosurgery, a procedure that is commonly referred to as laser angioplasty.
In order to produce a successful angiosurgery outcome, a sufficiently larger laser-generated lumen must be created, without inflicting any damage on the remaining tissues. Blood vessels normally range in diameter from 1–10 millimeters. Therefore, any successful laser angiosurgery must be capable of producing a relatively large lumen that is typically 70–80% of the diameter of the native healthy vessel. In order to produce a sufficiently large lumen, the fiber optic laser light guide either must have a very large light-emitting area, nearly the size of the vessel, or must use a small diameter fiber and manipulate its distal tip to various positions within the vessel so as to sculpt out a large area. The large area fiber approach makes the catheter less flexible and its use therefore may be limited to non-tortuous vessels. The large area fiber approach also has the disadvantage of requiring a large catheter introducer sheath. The small fiber approach allows the catheter to have superior flexibility, but requires a method of fiber tip position control to create a lumen larger than the fiber diameter.
In the past, catheters of the large area type have been positioned using a guide wire that extends along the vessel and through the lumen of a stenosis or partial occlusion. This has not always proven to be a satisfactory means of positioning, however, because the hole in the occlusion is not always centrally located within the vessel. Moreover, in the case of a total occlusion, the hole is entirely absent and the use of a guide wire is not possible.
Catheters of the small diameter type include various kinds of structures for controlling either the X-Y or the radial and circumferential positions of the optical fiber's distal tip. This requires both a precise positioning of the catheter relative to the vessel and a precise positioning of the fiber tip within the catheter.
Even when the catheter can be precisely positioned within the vessel, it has generally proven to be difficult to sculpt away a sufficient amount of the occlusion without at the same time mechanically or thermally damaging the vessel. Such damage can occur by the mere physical rubbing of the catheter on the vessel lining, injuring the endothelial cells, or by excessive heating of various parts of the vessel wall by the laser beam. Such physical or thermal damage can lead to a significant rate of restinosis, in which hyperplasia, the excessive growth of smooth muscle cells, within the vessel is triggered, leading in some cases to even more severe blockages than were provided by the original occlusion being removed.
It should therefore be appreciated that there is a need for a fiber optic laser catheter that can be used to more reliably and more thoroughly remove an obstruction or occlusion in a vessel of a living body, in such a fashion so as not to inflict any further injury to the vessel. The present invention fulfills this need.

Fiber optic laser catheter and method of using it


To provide a magnetic reading head that features high resolution and low noise, and that can support a hard disk with terabit-level surface recording density. A current is caused to flow from a pinned layer with its magnetization direction fixed by an antiferro magnetic material, to a non-magnetic thin wire having a portion affected by an external magnetic field and a portion not affected by the external magnetic field, so that spin polarized electrons are accumulated in the non-magnetic thin wire. A distance between voltage terminals of a voltmeter is set to less than the spin diffusion length of the non-magnetic thin wire. A change in the external magnetic field modulates some of the accumulated spin polarized electron, but does not others. Accordingly, an electrical potential difference depending on the external magnetic field is generated between the both end surfaces of the non-magnetic thin wire, and measured with the voltmeter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic reading head including a magnetoresistance effect device and a magnetic recording apparatus equipped with the magnetic reading head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, magnetic recording and reproducing apparatuses have been improved in recording density at a rate of more than 40% a year, and it is estimated that the recording density will reach the order of Tbit/in2 around the year of 2011 at the present rate of growth. Such a terabit-level magnetic recording apparatus needs to be equipped with a magnetic writing and reading head with higher output and higher resolution than ever.
As an elemental technique for an existing magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, a current perpendicular to plane giant magneto resistance (CPP-GMR) head and a tunneling magneto resistance (TMR) head have been proposed. In each of these spin valve reading heads, a sense current is caused to flow perpendicular to the stacked-layer surface thereof, and a leakage magnetic field from a medium is detected by using a magnetic material (free layer). Specifically, each spin valve reading head shows a resistance change based on a magnetization direction of the free layer relative to the fixed magnetization direction of a magnetic material (pinned layer).

Magnetic reading head and magnetic recording apparatus


An adjustable mold for manufacturing a pre-cast cantilevered concrete retaining wall. The adjustable mold includes a base, at least one upright form disposed substantially perpendicular and adjacent to the base, and a plurality of rails interchangeable and repositionable adapted to be secured to the base to vary the size and surface features of the retaining wall. The base, the upright form, and the plurality of rails cooperate to define a plurality cavities in fluid communication that shape and allow sufficient curing of a combination of fluid concrete and concrete reinforcement to form a retaining wall of a selected configuration. A top surface of the base is contoured to define the mold negative of a textured shape desirable for the external surface of the pre-cast cantilevered concrete retaining wall.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to pre-cast retaining walls. More particularly, this invention pertains to an apparatus for manufacturing pre-cast cementitious retaining walls such as reinforced concrete retaining walls.
2. Description of the Related Art
Retaining walls are commonly used in a wide variety of construction, civil engineering, and landscaping applications, for example, to support earth, rock, sand, and other such materials forming slopes and embankments (hereinafter "embanked materials") and to limit down-slope movement, such as erosion, landslides, etc., of the embanked materials. Retaining walls are commonly formed by constructing a substantially rigid wall in front of an embankment and then placing and compacting soil or other fill (hereinafter "backfill") behind the wall to allow the wall to support the embanked materials in the configuration of the embankment.
One common method of constructing a retaining wall is to form the retaining wall from reinforced concrete which is poured in place at the location of the finished retaining wall. For example, in a traditional cantilevered retaining wall, a poured-in-place steel-reinforced concrete structural footing is constructed along the base of an embankment to extend horizontally along the embankment. Thereafter, concrete forms are erected above the structural footing, and a panel of steel-reinforced concrete is poured in place and integrally formed with the footing to extend upward across the surface of the embankment to form a wall. After the concrete has properly cured, the concrete forms are removed, and backfill is placed between the finished retaining wall and the embankment. The traditional cantilevered retaining wall then functions by cantilevering loads from along the wall panel to along the length of the structural footing so as to convert horizontal loads imparted to the wall panel from the embankment to vertical loads along the ground beneath the footing.
In constructing poured-in-place concrete retaining walls, problems arise in the difficulty of labor, time, and expense associated with erecting the concrete forms, pouring the concrete in place, and allowing the concrete to properly cure prior to removing the forms and backfilling the embankment. In several situations, erosion and/or landslides of the embanked materials occur prior to completion of the poured-in-place concrete retaining wall. Moreover, the concrete surfaces of traditional poured-in-place concrete retaining walls are often viewed as unsightly and not aesthetically pleasing.
Thus, in recent years, masonry units such as stone blocks, concrete masonry units, bricks, and the like have gained wide popularity for use in fabricating retaining walls having an aesthetically attractive appearance. It is well-known in the art to fabricate such masonry retaining walls either by arranging the masonry units in a stacked configuration to form a wall along the surface of the embankment or by joining the masonry units in the stacked configuration using a cement binder. Masonry units suitable for use in fabricating retaining walls are typically weighted such that the finished retaining wall exhibits a weight capable of resisting capsizing due to horizontal loads placed along the retaining wall by the embanked materials, thereby retaining the embanked materials substantially within their embanked configuration.
Though retaining walls fabricated from masonry units are often considered more attractive than reinforced concrete retaining walls, a wall fabricated from masonry units is typically not as structurally sound as a reinforced concrete wall of similar size and weight. Thus, masonry retaining walls must typically be constructed of thicker and often heavier materials than reinforced concrete retaining walls of similar structural strength. Furthermore, in situ construction of masonry retaining walls is also labor intensive, often requiring significant time and expense. Thus, it is not uncommon for erosion and/or landslides of the embanked materials to occur prior to completion of a masonry retaining wall.
In the reinforced concrete industry, pre-cast reinforced concrete structures, such as pre-cast reinforced concrete beams, columns, slabs, etc., are known in the art. Such pre-cast concrete structures allow a builder to pour concrete into a desired shape and allow the concrete to cure in a location removed from the finished concrete structure. Thereafter, when the pre-case concrete structure is needed for building construction, it is brought to the location of the construction and quickly placed in the desired finished location. In this manner, the time and labor associated with forming, pouring, and curing pre-cast concrete occurs prior to the on-site construction process, thereby increasing the speed with which such pre-cast concrete structures can be utilized.
Accordingly, there is a need to fabricate a pre-cast concrete retaining wall which is capable of exhibiting the strength-per-unit-thickness of a reinforced concrete retaining wall along with the aesthetically pleasing appearance of a masonry retaining wall, and which can be transported to the site of an embankment for speedy placement at a desired location to serve as a retaining wall.

Apparatus for manufacturing a pre-cast retaining wall