Various methods and systems for documenting interactive graphical design include an exemplary graphical design environment stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium that comprises a documentation element in an interactive graphical design. The design environment also comprises a design element that displays a plurality of states in a rendering of the interactive graphical design in an external player. The documentation element: (i) is enabled to receive a selection from the user of a state in the plurality of states; and (ii) displays a representation of the design element in the state in response to receiving the selection from the user. The documentation element and design element are both instantiated by a processor operating in combination with the non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Design programs for interactive graphical designs, such as web sites, often allow users to create designs by breaking the design into discrete design elements that can be individually specified. Just as in static illustrations, design elements in an interactive graphical design can have properties such as content, location, size, and color. However, in an interactive graphical design, these static properties can change when the design element is placed into different states as the user interacts with the design. For example, the outline of a button may darken when it is selected. The two states of such a button would be a "default" state and a "selected" state.
Documenting the characteristics of all the various design elements in an interactive graphical design can be difficult because of their varying characteristics. Documentation is most useful when it provides specific information about how a design element appears and what the design element does. However, as the state of a design element can vary widely, and in some cases is dependent upon the state of other design elements, the documentation needed for an entire design may either be too voluminous to provide any value, or be an incomplete picture of the design. In the field of web site design, the complexity of each individual page continues to increase as user interface designers strive to achieve numerous goals with a single page. At the same time, this increased complexity has necessitated ever more comprehensive documentation as nearly every web designer needs to explain the operation of their design to other stakeholders in the design process.
Exemplary documentation for an interactive graphical design can be described with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a design element 100 is documented by documentation 110. As illustrated, design element 100 comprises a simple member sign up interface. Documentation 110 will generally be produced in a common word processing format or portable document format. Documentation for an interactive graphical design can be divided into sections where each section describes the appearance and operation of a design element. Documentation 110 shows a single section dedicated to design element 100 and includes an image 111 and a prose description 112.
Traditionally, web site designs have provided fairly basic interactivity such as clicking on a link and navigating to a new page. With these kinds of designs, documentation was so simple that a user could effectively document an entire web site using a basic image capture tool to capture a static image of particular design elements, and then paste the image into the documentation. The addition of a few lines of prose to the captured images, such as description 112, would provide the details required to describe the interactivity of the design element. However, even the basic design exhibited by web page portion 100 is difficult to fully describe via documentation. For example, the final entry in the interactivity section of description 112 says that the outline of the submit button darkens when the button is selected, but since it doesn't show exactly how the outline darkens, a reviewing stakeholder and the web page designer might not be on the same page in terms of how that interactivity is meant to appear in the finished design. Documenting even this simple design would therefore require at least two screen captures.
Complex interactive graphical designs are increasingly difficult to document. As mentioned, static image capture tools are inefficient for fully documenting the interactivity of complex designs. Although dynamic tools exist that automatically divide a design into elements and automatically generate basic descriptions for those design elements, they don't provide sufficient flexibility to a user and will often generate superfluous or incomplete documentation. A user needs to be provided with flexibility to define the scope of the documentation so that it is neither overcrowded with useless information, nor devoid of information regarding critical design details. Documentation is an important aspect of the design process for interactive graphical designs as it allows designers to communicate their ideas, share their progress, and get input on how the design is progressing. Therefore, methods and systems directed to improving the efficiency and efficacy of the documentation process are of significant and increasing importance.

Facilitating the prototyping and previewing of design element state transitions in a graphical design environment


A curing lamp apparatus mounts to a work surface with a suction cup. A base is mounted to the suction cup and defines a hinge point for a first bar. At a distal end of the first bar, a second bar is hingedly mounted to the first bar. A first lamp element is hingedly mounted to one end of the second bar. A second lamp element is hingedly mounted to a second end of the second bar. The first and second lamp elements are positionable in a variety of positions to follow the path of a crack in a surface to be repaired. The lamp elements are also foldable into a storage position.

When a windshield or other glass or plastic material becomes cracked, a resin or other repair material can be used to repair the crack. Various repair bridges or devices with resin injectors are known for applying repair resin to the crack including devices shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,565,217; 5,776,506; 6,139,300 and 6,302,670.
Often the repair material needs to be cured with an ultraviolet light source. Lamps including a UV light source are known which are positioned adjacent to the windshield or other surface, close to the crack to cure the repair material positioned in the crack.
Various concerns exist with respect to curing lamps. Typically, cracks are cured on site, so the repair technician needs to be able to transport all necessary equipment to the location of the windshield or other material to be repaired. Also, the repair technician is desirous of repairing the crack in an efficient manner with good results. Many times the lamp is not as long as the crack to be repaired. Typically, the lamp is moved along the crack to cure the resin along the crack. A lamp which is too small may not cover enough area over the crack to be efficient for the technician. Conversely, a lamp which is too large is wasteful, may not follow the path of the crack, and may be difficult to transport. If the lamp is not appropriately placed over the repair material, the material may not properly cure.
There is a need for further improvements with respect to curing lamps.

Articulating crack curing lamp and method


An apparatus determining a weighting function for line prediction coding coefficients quantization converts a linear prediction coding (LPC) coefficient of an input signal into one of a line spectral frequency (LSF) coefficient and an immitance spectral frequency (ISF) coefficient and determines a weighting function associated with one of an importance of the ISF coefficient and importance of the LSF coefficient using one of the converted ISF coefficient and the converted LSF coefficient.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to an apparatus and a method of determining a weighting function quantizing linear prediction coding (LPC) coefficients.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, linear prediction coding (LPC) is applied to coding speech signals and audio signals. Code-excited linear prediction (CELP) is used for LPC and uses an LPC coefficient and an excitation signal with respect to an input signal. When the input signal is coded, the LPC coefficient may be quantized. However, when the LPC coefficient is quantized as is, a resulting dynamic range is narrow and identification of stability is difficult.
When all LPC coefficients are quantized on the same importance in order to select a codebook index to reconstruct an input signal in a decoding process, quality of a finally synthesized input signal may deteriorate. Since all LPC coefficients have different weightings, the finally synthesized input signal is improved in quality when an important LPC coefficient has fewer errors. However, when a difference in weighting is not considered and the same weighting is applied in quantization, quality of the input signal deteriorates.
Thus, there is a demand for a method of efficiently quantizing an LPC coefficient and improving quality of a synthesized signal when the input signal is reconstructed by a decoding apparatus.

Apparatus and method determining weighting function for linear prediction coding coefficients quantization


A lighting device for mounting on a mounting surface may include: a planar solid state lighting module having a light emitting region and peripheral holes for fixing members to the mounting surface to extend therethrough, a peripheral gasket extending along the periphery of the lighting module; the gasket having, at the holes of the lighting module, ear-like extensions having a perforation therein, said ear-like extensions extending inwardly of the gasket to align the perforations therein with the holes in the lighting module, a housing which frames the lighting device with the gasket applied onto the lighting module. The housing has apertures aligned with the holes in the lighting module and the perforations in the ear-like extensions of the gasket, as well as a window to expose the light emitting region of the lighting module, with a light permeable screen which sealingly closes said window.

The name Zhaga represents a consortium of cooperation between companies of the lighting industry which was set up with the aim of making it easier to interchange solid state lighting sources, for example of the LED type, made by different manufacturers so as to facilitate, for example, general lighting applications.
The International Protection (or IP protection class, a name also interpreted as Ingress Protection) is a code which, in the electrical field, summarizes the level of protection of an apparatus against contact with the human body or with objects and against the penetration of environmental agents.
At present, there are no lighting devices compliant with the Zhaga directives which are also able to offer a certain degree of IP protection. Under these conditions, a Zhaga module cannot be used as a component on its own, that is to say without further protective elements. As a result, when Zhaga modules are used, it may be necessary to also use, in addition to a heat sink normally provided for the mounting of the lighting module, further additional components intended to ensure a degree of IP protection. By way of example, in various solutions, the Zhaga modules may need to be combined with a protective housing, a plastic cover or other components so as to prevent dust, humidity, water and other environmental agents from penetrating into the lighting device, thus damaging the LED module.


A multiplicity of baseband input signals are supplied to a signal processor which functions to modify the input signals such that when the modified signals modulate corresponding multiple carrier wave signals which are combined to produce a composite signal which is applied to the input of an amplifier, the "peaking" at the input to the amplifier and the resultant intermodulation at the output of the amplifier are reduced. In response to the application of the baseband input signals, the signal processor determines the extent of peaking and modifies at least one of the phase and amplitude of the input signals. In one embodiment of the invention, a block of data representing the input signals over a time slot is supplied to the signal processor which then generates a fixed phase shift over the time slot. In another embodiment of the invention, a block of data representing input signals is applied to a signal processor which then determines the worst case peaking and the time of their occurrence. The signal processor then generates phase shifts which change very gradually, thereby reducing sharp peaking at the input to the amplifier at selected times without significantly distorting the signal.

In wireless telecommunication systems multiple carriers are coupled to an amplifier whose output is connected to an antenna for transmission. A conventional system is shown in FIG. 1 which shows three of N (S1, S2, SN) signals coupled to respective digital-to-analog converters (DACs) identified as DA1, DA2 and DAN. The output (SBi) of each DAC is coupled to an input of a respective modulator (MDi). Each modulator (MDi) has another input coupled to a corresponding carrier wave generator (CGi). The outputs (SC1, SC2, SCN) of the modulators are then supplied to summing network 20 for combining the SCi signals. The output of summer 20 is applied to the input of power amplifier 30 whose output is supplied to antenna 40 for transmission. Amplifier 30 amplifies and transmits these multiple modulated carriers (e.g., SC1, SC2, SCN). Amplifier 30 will generate unacceptably high intermodulation products (because of amplifier nonlinearity and peaking) unless amplifier 30 is operated with an average output power which is considerably less than the maximum output power. A problem with operating amplifier 30 significantly below its maximum power capability is that it results in an undesirable loss in efficiency.
Where multiple carriers are coupled to the input of an amplifier, intermodulation occurs at the amplifier output because of two factors: (1) amplifier nonlinearity; and (2) "peaking" of the carrier signals.
The gain of an amplifier is nonlinear because the amplifier has a maximum output power and the amplifier saturates as its output power gets closer to its maximum, as shown in transfer characteristic A of FIG. 2. Typically, the output power of the amplifier is modelled as the error function of the input power. This nonlinear characteristic of the amplifier results primarily in third order intermodulation products which become larger as the amplifier output power approaches saturation. If the amplifier characteristic is known, then based on the input signal power, the amplifier response power of the signal into the amplifier can be adjusted to linearize the amplifier up to the peak output power, i.e., the amplifier can approximate an ideal limiting amplifier having a transfer characteristic of the type shown as B of FIG. 2.
The response of the amplifier due to its nonlinearity problem is greatly affected by "peaking". "Peaking" as used herein refers to the phase alignment of the multiple carrier signals such that there is addition of the amplitude of the input signals, as shown in FIG. 3A. With phase alignment of the multiple carrier modulated input signals to the amplifier, the "peak" input signal power can be many times greater than the "average" input signal power. Due to amplifier nonlinearity, when peaking occurs, the intermodulation of the signals produced at the output of the amplifier is exacerbated.
For example, consider N carrier input signals applied to an amplifier, each carrier having a maximum amplitude into the amplifier of one (1). The average power of each input signal is then 1/2, and the total input power into the amplifier averaged over all possible phases for these N signals is N/2. However, if all the signals are aligned in phase, then the "total" input signal amplitude of the N signals is N and the input power is N.sup.2 /2. Thus, the phase alignment of the carrier input signals, i.e., "peaking", can increase the input signal power by up to N times. Without any correction for peaking, the amplifier must operate at an average output power of 1/N of its maximum output power to avoid peaking and resultant intermodualtion; this condition is highly inefficient.
A known method to reduce intermodulation includes a feedforward, postcompensation technique outlined in FIG. 4A. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, based on the combined input signal to amplifier 30, a signal is generated via analog network 50 that is subtracted from the amplifier output in summer 60 to significantly reduce intermodulation. This technique can typically permit the average input power to be within 5 dB of the peak input power of the amplifier with acceptable intermodulation, but requires extensive analog circuitry in networks 50 and 60 and is very sensitive to amplifier gain variation.
Another method to reduce intermodulation, employs a feedback precompensation technique, illustrated in FIG. 4B. Based on the output signal, a feedback signal is generated via feedback network 70 that is added via summer 80 to the combined input signal (ST) to reduce the joint effect of peaking and amplifier nonlinearity.
The systems shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B can be used to reduce intermodulation resulting from amplifier nonlinearity and from the input signal peaking. However, the prior art systems of FIGS. 4A and 4B require analog circuitry which can be costly. They also require significant power and hardware, and are dependent on the accuracy of the analog circuitry, which is highly undesirable. Consequently, the performance of other approaches needs to be investigated to reduce the problem of intermodulation.
In an article entitled Some Properties of Multiple Carriers and Intermodulation by Michael J. Gans, pp. 883-886, IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, '93 ("Gans"), it is shown that by providing a fixed phase adjustment to a large number of unmodulated carriers coupled to an amplifier, the amplifier can be operated at an average power which is within 3 dB of the maximum power. However, it is harder to "depeak" (i.e., reduce the "peaking" of) the output signal if there are fewer unmodulated carriers. Hence, this value (i.e., 3 dB) increases with fewer carriers. By way of example, with 7 carriers the average power is only within 4 dB of the maximum power.
More importantly, Gans teaches using fixed phase adjustments where the input signals to the system are unmodulated. Referring to FIG. 1, for purpose of illustration, this means that the values of S1 through SN would be held constant and fixed phase adjustments made for the carrier signals to reduce peaking.


A method and system are provided for calculating the simultaneous service capacity for multimedia traffic under aggregate traffic conditions within a shared transmission medium, such as an ATM network. A total number of different traffic services as well as a specification of the peak rate, average idle sojourn time and an average burst sojourn time are determined, either based upon available standards or calculated based upon models of the traffic services. The total available system bandwidth is specified by a network operator/designer. The number and size of queues utilized for receiving packetized telecommunication traffic within the network are also specified. The length and time of a busy period specified by the network operator/designer, a maximum acceptable packet loss rate and the probability that a user will access the network during the busy period are also specified. Finally, the percentage of all subscribers who subscribe to each service and the average session duration for each service are also specified. Thereafter, utilizing these parameters, the simultaneous capacity for the network can be accurately determined, whether a single central queue or multiple distributed queues are utilized.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to improvements in network design and in particular to improved methods and systems for simultaneous capacity calculation in a shared transmission medium network. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for simultaneous capacity calculation for multimedia services under aggregate traffic conditions which can be utilized in systems having both central queues and distributed queues.
2. Description of the Related Art
No where has the explosion of modern technology been more evident than in the field of communication. The number and type of communication services has been rapidly expanding, including so-called "multimedia" services such as video teleconferencing, video/movies on demand and the like.
The intermixing of these multimedia services with traditional data and voice communications within a shared transmission medium has presented various design problems. For example, consider a system which receives packetized telecommunication traffic from n multimedia services which are queued either in one central queue or in multiple distributed queues wherein one queue is associated with each service. Thus, if more than n subscribers to the services are utilizing the network at any given time, the received packets which are not processed by the system are queued. During heavy use periods, as the number of users increase, and these queues become quite large, certain packets may be discarded based upon a priority scheme, delay will increase, and quality of service will suffer.
Consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that one design requirement for a viable multimedia network requires that a limit exits for the number of users simultaneously connected to the network so that customer expectations, quality of service parameters, and network efficiency will not suffer.
One common technique utilized in the past to satisfy customer expectations is to ensure that the quality of service parameter values for the multimedia services are not exceeded. In view of the fact that a modern network may include multiple diverse multimedia services having variable quality of service values, it should be apparent that it would be advantageous to have a technique which could be utilized to calculate simultaneous capacity in an efficient and accurate manner.
In the past, attempts at statistically modeling aggregate traffic which originates from homogenous services with similar traffic types and similar characteristics have been proposed. For example, the Poisson Process is widely utilized to model aggregate traffic from voice sources. Similarly, the discreet Auto Regressive Process has been utilized to model aggregate traffic from video-teleconferencing sources. A Markov Modulated Poisson Process is often utilized to model aggregate traffic from data sources. These techniques typically require complex mathematical expressions which are not explicit and which require time-consuming numerical methods to solve.
Further, these expressions do not apply directly to the problem of networks having diverse multimedia services with different quality of service values. For example, utilizing the known expressions in the prior art with the most stringent quality of service values for the various services within the network will result in a gross under-estimate of the simultaneous capacity of the network and therefore a loss of potential revenue to system operators. Similarly, applying the expressions for the most lenient quality of service values results in a gross over-estimate of simultaneous capacity and therefore a violation of the quality of service values during heavy traffic load situations.
Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a method and system for accurately and efficiently calculating simultaneous capacity of multimedia services under aggregate traffic conditions would greatly enhance the efficiency of network design and the level of customer satisfaction.

Method and system for simultaneous service capacity calculation for multimedia services under aggregate traffic conditions


Trifunctional agents useful as inhibitors of A.sub.1 -Adenosine receptors may be formulated into pharmaceutical compositions. These agents are represented by formula (I): ##STR1## wherein X is CH or N, R is an isothiocyanate group, an amino group or --NHCO.sub.2 C(CH.sub.3).sub.3 and R.sup.1 is hydrogen, carboxyl, lower alkoxycarbonyl, aminocarbonyl, ##STR2## lower alkyl, optionally substituted with: --OH, --COOH, lower ester of COOH, carboxamide, NHCOCH.sub.3, NHCOCH.sub.2 Br, halo, dimethylamino, triethylammonium, NHCONH.sub.2, SO.sub.2 NH.sub.2, --SO.sub.3 H, or a reporter group, particularly a spectroscopic reporter group such as a fluorescent dye, photoaffinity probe, or spin label probe, coupled through an amide, sulfonamide, amine or thiourea linkage, biotinylamino- (optionally containing an .epsilon.-aminocaproyl spacer chain or similar spacer chain) or; R.sup.1 is CONH--R.sup.2 or NHCSNH--R.sup.2, wherein R.sup.2 is lower alkyl, optionally substituted with: --OH, --COOH, lower ester of COOH, carboxamide, NHCOCH.sub.3, NHCOCH.sub.2 Br, halo, dimethylamino, triethylammonium, NHCONH.sub.2, SO.sub.2 NH.sub.2, --SO.sub.3 H, or a reporter group, particularly a spectroscopic reporter group such as a fluorescent dye, photoaffinity probe, or spin label probe, coupled through an amide, sulfonamide, amine, or thiourea linkage, biotinylamino- (optionally containing an .epsilon.-aminocaproyl spacer chain or similar spacer chain).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to trifunctional agents useful as irreversible inhibitors of A.sub.1 -Adenosine receptors.
2. Description of Related Art
Adenosine acts as a neuromodulator at two receptor subtypes: A.sub.1 - and A.sub.2 -, which in general, inhibit or stimulate adenylate cyclase, respectively. Selective agonists and antagonists of each receptor subtype have been reported. The high affinity, A.sub.1 selective antagonist 8-[4-[[[[(2-aminoethyl)-amino]carbonyl]methyl]oxy]phenyl]-1,3-dipropylxant hine (1), XAC, which has a K.sub.i value at rat brain A.sub.1 -receptors of 1.2 nM, was developed using a functionalized congener approach. Jacobson, K. A. et al, J. Med. Chem., 1985, 28:1334-40. ##STR3## XAC has been useful in characterizing the A.sub.1 receptor both as radioligand and as a ligand immobilized via its alkyl amino group for affinity chromatography of the receptor protein. Jacobson, K. A. et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1986, 83:4089-93; Nakata, H. (1989) J. Biol. Chem., 264, 16545-16551. The m- and p-phenylenediisothiocyanate conjugates of XAC (m-DITC-XAC (2a) and p-DITC-XAC (2b))), were prepared as high affinity, irreversible A.sub.1 antagonists, with K.sub.i values at rat brain A.sub.1 -receptors of 2.4 and 6.6 nM, respectively. ##STR4## These chemically reactive ligands have been used for identifying the A.sub.1 receptor on electrophoretic gels and for blocking A.sub.1 -receptor mediated effects in physiological studies.
A general approach to systematically modifying the structure of irreversible ligand derivatives was desired to provide analogs. In previous studies of reversible ligands bearing spectroscopic labels, only moderate receptor affinities were attained, and this limited the utility of the ligands for histochemical studies. Jacobson, K. A. et al, Biochem. Pharmacol., 10:1697-1707 (1987). A spectroscopic probe that binds irreversibly to the receptor would preclude problems of rapid washout and long equilibration times associated with reversible ligands. In addition, a difficulty encountered with 8-phenylxanthine derivatives in physiological studies is their typically low water solubility. Boykin, Dennis D. et al, FASEB J., 4:A1008, Abstract 4306.

Trifunctional agents useful as irreversible inhibitors of A1-adenosine receptors

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services


A developing unit, a coating unit and a plurality of cooling plates are arranged in a process station which performs a resist coating and so on and a wafer is transferred among them by a substrate transfer device. The temperature of an area to where the wafer is transferred is detected by a temperature/humidity detector and the temperature of the wafer which is cooled by the cooling plates is adjusted accordingly based on a detected value so that the temperature of the wafer when transferred to the coating unit becomes a coating temperature of a processing solution. Thereby, the wafer is transferred to the coating unit while maintaining its temperature with high accuracy to be coated with a resist solution, so that a formation of an uneven processing due to the temperature change can be prevented and a uniform processing can be performed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a substrate processing method and a substrate processing apparatus for performing, for example, a coating processing of a resist solution, a developing processing and the like on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a lithography of a fabricating process of a semiconductor device, a resist is coated onto the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cwaferxe2x80x9d), and thus coated resist is subjected to an exposure processing in accordance with a predetermined pattern and further to a developing processing to form a resist film of the predetermined pattern. A series of processings like this is performed by a system in which an exposure unit is connected to a coating/developing unit.
FIG. 10 is a plane view showing a conventional example of these units, in which a cassette C housing 25 substrates, for example, semiconductor wafers W is carried into a cassette stage 1 of a cassette station A1. A process station A2 is connected to the cassette station A1, and further, a not-shown exposure unit is connected to the process station A2 through an interface station A3.
The wafer W inside the cassette C on the cassette stage 1 is removed by a delivery arm 11 and sent to a coating unit 13 through a delivery section in a shelf unit 12 to be coated with the resist. Subsequently, the wafer W is transferred by the route of a wafer transfer means 14xe2x86x92a delivery section in a shelf unit 15xe2x86x92the interface station A3xe2x86x92the exposure unit to be exposed. The exposed wafer W is transferred to the process station A2 by the reverse route, developed in a not-shown developing unit provided in the lower tier of the coating unit 13, and then transferred by the route of the wafer transfer means 14xe2x86x92the delivery section in the shelf unit 12xe2x86x92the cassette C.
It should be noted that each shelf of the shelf unit 12, 15 is structured as a heating section, a cooling section, the delivery section of the wafer W, a hydrophobic section and so on, and before a resist coating and the developing processing, a heating processing and a cooling processing are performed in this order in the shelf unit 12, 15 in order to perform the resist coating or the like at a predetermined temperature. Incidentally, the delivery arm for delivering the wafer W between the process station A2 and the exposure unit is shown as number 16.
Further, a process area which comprises the coating unit 13 and the developing unit and a transfer area in which the wafer transfer means 14 is arranged are partitioned off in the process station A2, and an atmosphere of a clean room is taken in as well as the air the temperature and the humidity of which are adjusted in a predetermined manner is flowed in the process area, whereby the area have, so to speak, the atmosphere which is adjusted with high accuracy.
Note that the present inventors find out that a film thickness of a resist and a developing line width are highly dependent on a processing temperature, as shown with a temperature dependency of the film thickness of the resist in FIG. 11 and with a temperature dependency of the developing line width in FIG. 12, and if the processing temperature changes 2xc2x0 C., the film thickness of the resist and the developing line width change significantly.
In a coating/developing unit, a wafer W undergoes a predetermined processing in, for example, hydrophobic sections in shelf units 12, 15, then cooled to a predetermined temperature in a cooling section, and coated with a resist in a coating unit 13, in which the wafer W is transferred from the cooling section to the coating unit 13 via a transfer area the temperature and the humidity of which are not adjusted. Therefore, even if the temperature of the wafer W is adjusted in the cooling section, it is influenced by the temperature of the transfer area during the subsequent transfer, and the temperature of the wafer W in coating the resist differs from that of the scheduled in the end, which may results in a change in the film thickness of the resist and a worse uniformity of the film thickness.
In order to prevent this, it may be possible to think of making an entire process station A2 to be an atmosphere adjusted with high accuracy in which the temperature and the humidity are adjusted, which causes a disadvantage that an increasing area for adjusting its atmosphere costs more.
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing method and a substrate processing apparatus which can improve the uniformity of the processing by performing a coating processing of a coating solution in a state with the temperature and the humidity of a substrate adjusted with high accuracy.
To attain this object, the substrate processing method of the present invention for transferring the substrate cooled by the cooling plate to a coating processing section and for coating the processing solution onto the substrate in the coating processing section, comprising the steps of: detecting the temperature of an area to where the substrate is transferred, and adjusting the temperature of the substrate cooled by the cooling plate based on the detected temperature so that the temperature of the substrate transferred to the coating processing section is made to be the same with a supplying temperature of the processing solution.
The substrate processing method like this is, in concrete, performed by the substrate processing apparatus having a cassette station which includes a mounting portion for mounting a substrate cassette housing a plurality of substrates and a delivery device for delivering the substrate to the substrate cassette mounted on the mounting portion, and the process station connected to the cassette station for processing the substrate transferred by the delivery device, and the process station comprises: the cooling plate for cooling the substrate, the coating processing section for coating a processing solution onto the substrate, a substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate cooled by the cooling plate to the coating processing section, a temperature/humidity detector for detecting the temperature of the area to where the substrate is transferred by the substrate transfer device, and a control section for adjusting the temperature of the cooling plate so that the temperature of the substrate when transferred to the coating processing section becomes the same with the coating temperature of the processing solution based on a detected value by the temperature/humidity detector.
In the structure like this, the temperature of the area to where the wafer is transferred is detected and the temperature of the substrate which is cooled by the cooling plate is adjusted accordingly based on a detected value so that the temperature of the substrate when transferred to the coating processing section becomes the coating temperature of the processing solution, whereby, the coating processing can be performed while maintaining the temperature of the substrate with high accuracy, which makes it possible that a formation of an uneven processing due to the temperature change can be prevented and a uniformity of the coating processing can be improved.
Further, the substrate processing method of the present invention for transferring the substrate cooled by the cooling plate to a coating processing section and for coating the processing solution onto the substrate in the coating processing section, further comprising the step of: transferring the substrate from the cooling plate to the coating processing section while supplying the gas with its temperature adjusted onto the surface to be processed of the substrate.
The substrate processing method like this is performed by the substrate processing apparatus having the cassette station which includes the mounting portion for mounting the substrate cassette housing a plurality of substrates and the delivery device for delivering the substrate to the substrate cassette mounted on the mounting portion, and the process station connected to the cassette station for processing the substrate transferred by the delivery device, and the process station comprises: the cooling plate for cooling the substrate, the coating processing section for coating the processing solution onto the substrate, the substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate between the cooling plate and the coating processing section, and a gas supply part for supplying the gas to the surface to be processed of the substrate with its temperature adjusted, while the substrate is transferred from the cooling plate to the coating processing section by the substrate transfer device.
In the structure like this, the substrate is transferred from the cooling plate to the coating processing section while supplying the gas with its temperature adjusted onto the surface to be processed of the substrate so that the temperature change can be prevented during the transfer, the coating processing can be performed in a state with the temperature of the substrate adjusted with high accuracy, and the uniformity of the processing can be improved. Here, it is preferable that the temperature of the gas which is supplied from the gas supply part to the surface to be processed of the substrate is adjusted to a processing temperature in the coating processing section, in which case the temperature change of the substrate during the transfer can be further prevented and the uniformity of the processing can be further improved.
In concrete, the present invention is structured to include an exposure unit which is provided to the opposite side of the cassette station of the process station and an interface station connected to the opposite side of the cassette station of the process station for delivering the substrate between the process station and the exposure unit, in which the coating processing section is for performing the coating processing onto the substrate, and further structured to include the exposure unit which is provided to the opposite side of the cassette station of the process station and the interface station connected to the opposite side of the cassette station of the process station for delivering the substrate between the process station and the exposure unit, in which the coating processing section is for performing the developing processing onto the substrate which is exposed in the exposure unit.
According to another aspect, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention includes the cassette station which includes the mounting portion for mounting the substrate cassette housing a plurality of substrates and a delivery means for delivering the substrate to the substrate cassette mounted on the mounting portion, and the process station connected to the cassette station for processing the substrate transferred by the delivery means, and the process station comprises: the coating processing section for coating the processing solution onto the substrate, a substrate transfer means for delivering the substrate to the coating processing section, the cooling section for cooling the substrate, and a transfer means for transferring the substrate between the coating processing section and the cooling section, which is characterized in that the coating processing section and the cooling section are provided adjacently to each other and that a transfer area which is exclusive to the transfer means is formed adjacently to the coating processing section and the cooling section.
In the structure like this, the transfer of the substrate between the coating processing section of the process section and the cooling section for cooling the substrate is performed by the exclusive transfer means via the exclusive transfer area, and hence a burden imposed on the substrate transfer means can be lightened.
On this occasion, the transfer area which is exclusive to the transfer means may be a spatially closed area partitioned off from other areas, in which case the influence of heat by a heating section becomes less because the area is separated from the heating section for heating the substrate. Therefore, the temperature change of the substrate can be retarded during the transfer of the substrate in the area, a formation of the uneven processing due to the temperature change can be prevented, and a uniformity of the coating processing can be improved. Here, when the temperature of the transfer area which is exclusive to the transfer means is adjusted, the temperature change of the substrate can be further prevented during the transfer of the substrate in the area and the uniformity of the coating processing can be further improved.
Further, the cooling section may be a spatially closed area partitioned off from other areas, in which case the influence of heat from other areas becomes less and hence a temperature adjustment becomes easier. Furthermore, the coating processing section may be a spatially closed area partitioned off from other areas, in which case each of the coating processing section, the cooling section and the transfer area is spatially closed and hence it is possible to adjust the atmosphere in each area separately and it can be applied to the processing in which the atmosphere in each section is different.
These objects and still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus


As a server computer receives, in a communication portion, data on an appearance of a custom-made product, such as a stamp, from a purchaser computer, a preview image creating portion creates smaller-sized preview image data than normal image data to be used when a stamp is produced by a stamp producing device connected to a supplier computer. The created preview image data is transmitted from the communication portion to the purchaser computer and the supplier computer, as required, and displayed on respective browsers. Therefore, the purchaser of the custom-made product can be promptly view the preview image of the custom-made product.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a custom-made product sales system for selling custom-made products, such as stamps and business cards, using a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in association with developments in computer network technology, in which the Internet is a representative example, GUI (graphical user interface) based electronic transactions using the WWW (World Wide Web), especially mail-order business between retailers (sellers) and consumers (purchasers), are actively performed. By using the WWW for the mail-order business, purchasers benefit because they can buy products promptly and be satisfied after checking sample images of many products on a Web browser. Sellers benefit because they can receive orders cheaply from a broad geographic range of consumers.

Custom-made product sales system and method


The described system and method provide for the creation of realistic wave fronts and spray from one or more user-defined objects impacting on or moving on the surface of a user-defined body of fluid, e.g. water, without using the Navier-Stokes equations. A novel fluid dynamics model is used which requires only the solution of a small set of simple pressure and flow equations. The model involves an array of volumetric cells each in fluid communication with plural neighboring cells, wherein the height of each at each time interval is updated to represent the surface of a fluid body, and objects therein or impact thereon are treated as one or more pressure vectors acting on a given cell in the array. The change in volume of each cell, and its corresponding change in height, is straightforwardly calculated for each unit of time, and the average height at each of the array's vertices is used to build a dynamically changing wire-frame grid that represents the surface of the fluid body. The calculations required are straightforward and involve no differentials or integrals. Instead, the calculations require simple arithmetic operations that can be performed quickly in a single iteration for each of only three equations involving pressure on a given cell and fluid communication with neighboring cells. The invented animation system provides easy-to-use tools for creation of such fluid dynamic renditions, preferably as a software plug-in module to the already capable 3D Studio MAX.RTM. animation tool kit operating under Windows.RTM. 95 or NT.

Three dimensional animation tool kits are available that provide a set of frame creation tools for animators in the fields of computer or video game, special effects and commercial advertising production. Realistic renderings are intensive in data processing, as they use some version of the well-known and complex Navier-Stokes formulae to calculate the time derivatives that are involved in conventional fluid dynamics applications. Such a conventional approach to 3D animation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,641 to da Vitoria Lobo, et al. entitled 3D REALTIME FLUID ANIMATION BY NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS, issued Jul. 26, 1996. Depending upon the required pixel resolution and frame size, renderings of 3D fluid animation often suffers, ironically, from a lack of fluidity of motion resulting from an undesirably low frame speed, resulting in an undesirably flickering or jerky, and thus unrealistic, rendering. Increasing the processor speed, of course, or increasing the number of processors solving the Navier-Stokes in parallel may result in an adequate rendering, but at greatly increased cost.
The 3D Studio MAX.RTM. product provides a rudimentary fluid mechanics animation tool, but the tool renders only an unrealistic wave in response to a predefined warp function. Moreover, the 3D Studio MAX.RTM. product does not provide the capability to place and optionally move an object in the fluid body context and to have the two interact. It is believed that the 3D Studio MAX.RTM. product does not provide realistic fluid dynamics and object interaction because it has been assumed to this time, as taught by the above patent, that solution of the Navier-Stokes equations was required, and imposed a prohibitive processing overhead and associated cost.

Fluid dynamics animation system and method


A display panel includes; a substrate, and a light blocking structure surrounding an ink filling region on the substrate, the light blocking structure including; a first layer pattern having an ink affinity characteristic disposed on the substrate, and a second layer pattern positioned on the first layer pattern and including an organic material having a light blocking characteristic.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel, a color filter substrate including the same, and a manufacturing method thereof. In detail, the present invention relates to a display panel that may be widely used in various electronic devices, such as a liquid crystal display ("LCD"), a color filter substrate including the same, and a manufacturing method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Currently, various types of flat panel displays are being developed. Among the various types of flat panel display, a liquid crystal display ("LCD") is widely used, and an organic light emitting diode device ("OLED device") is also gaining prominence.
The LCD or the OLED device may include a color filter for producing a full color display. The color filter may be produced using an inkjet method.
In the typical inkjet method, various inks having red, green, or blue colors are filled in a plurality of ink filling regions defined by a light blocking structure to form the color filter.
However, in the process of applying the inkjet method, when the ink is insufficiently filled in the ink filling region, light leakage may be generated at a space where the ink is not filled. Also, when the height of the ink is extremely high in the ink filling region, the color filter appears as a faded color at the side of the ink filling region such that a degradation of lateral visibility may be generated.

Display panel, color filter substrate, and method of manufacturing the same


An object of the present invention is to supply a high-pressure fuel supply pump capable of holding a spring holding member while reducing the height of the pump body.

PTL 1 discloses a conventional technique of the high-pressure fuel pump of the present invention. Paragraphs 0031 to 0033 and FIGS. 1 to 4 of PTL 1 describes as follows:
The cylinder 6 in Paragraph (0031) has a large diameter portion and a small diameter portion at its outer diameter, the small diameter portion is press-fitted into a pump body 1 and a step 6a between the large diameter portion and the small diameter portion is pressed against a surface of the pump body 1 and seals leakage of fuel pressurized in a pressurizing chamber 11 to a low pressure side. At the lower end of the plunger 2 in Paragraph (0032), a tappet 3 is provided for converting rotational motion of a cam 5 attached to a camshaft of the internal combustion engine into up-and-down motion and transmitting the motion to the plunger 2. The plunger 2 is crimped to the tappet 3 by a spring 4 via a retainer 15. As a result, the plunger 2 can move (reciprocate) up and down along with the rotational motion of the cam 5. Further in Paragraph (0033), the plunger seal 13 held at the lower end portion of the inner periphery of the seal holder 7 is disposed in slidable contact with the outer periphery of the plunger 2 at the lower end portion of the cylinder 6 in the drawing. Thus, a blow-by gap between the plunger 2 and the cylinder 6 is sealed to prevent fuel from leaking to the outside of the pump. At the same time, it prevents a lubricant (including engine oil) lubricating the sliding portion in the internal combustion engine from flowing into the pump body 1 through the blow-by gap.

Abstract: A high-pressure fuel supply pump is provided with a pump body for forming a pressurizing chamber at an inner wall portion, and a flange portion for fixing the pump body to a high-pressure fuel supply pump mounting portion. The high-pressure fuel supply pump is provided with a cylinder and a spring holding member. The cylinder is inserted into a hole portion of the pump body from a lower side and in which the pressurizing chamber is formed further above an uppermost end surface. The spring holding member has an outer peripheral portion press-fitted and fixed to the pump body and a holding portion holding a spring portion for biasing the pump body between the outer peripheral portion and the inner peripheral portion. A spring-side lowest end portion of the holding surface of the spring holding member is disposed above the lowermost end portion of the flange portion.


An image display system includes: an image data output device that multiplexes and outputs raster data and compressed moving picture data; and an image display device that is connected to the image data output device through a transmission line and displays an image on the basis of image data output from the image data output device. The image display system is capable of displaying a high-quality moving picture on the image display device by reducing the amount of image data flowing through the transmission line without imposing excessive load on the image data output device, the image display device, the image data output device, an image processing program, and a computer-readable recording medium having the image processing program recorded therein.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image display system, an image display device, and an image data output device.
2. Related Art
In recent years, as an image processing function of a computer is highly improved, there is proposed a system in which a computer performs an image processing, which has been performed by an image display device in the related art, image processing data after the processing is transmitted to an image display device side in a digital format, and an image is displayed by the mage display device, such as a projector (for example, refer to JP-A-2004-69990).
In such an image display device, raster data captured by a frame memory of a video output unit of an image data output device, such as a computer, connected to the image display device, is encoded in a predetermined transmission format between the devices and is then transmitted and input to the image display device through a transmission line, such as a USB, and then the encoded data is decoded so as to realize image display.
In this case, if the raster data of a captured screen is transmitted under the uncompressed state, a large amount of data proportional to display resolution, color depth, and a frame rate flows through a transmission line, which causes a problem in that the load imposed on the transmission line or a driving circuit becomes significantly large.
In addition, even a main processor at the computer side should capture and transmit data corresponding to the entire screen, and accordingly, the load imposed on the main processor at the computer side becomes also large.
In order to solve the problems described above, there has been proposed a technique of reducing a required band in a transmission line by using a method in which only a part of the entire screen that has been updated as compared with a previous frame in a time manner, that is, only differential data, is transmitted. According to the technique, since only the differential part of a screen update is transmitted through a transmission line, the technique is very effective for transmitting screen data having a small amount of movement and a small update frequency or a narrow update range, which is typically displayed as a graphic screen by a computer.
However, in the case where an image data output device, such as a computer, reproduces a so-called moving picture based on a format specified by MPEG (moving picture experts group), for example, and then the moving picture is displayed on an image display device that is connected to the image data output device through a transmission line, it is general that a region where the moving picture is displayed occupies a relatively large area in the entire screen. In addition, if frame update is not made according to the frame rate of the moving picture, display based on the frame rate of the moving picture is not achieved. In this case, since a viewer can see dropping frames or jerky movement on the displayed moving picture, it is not possible to secure the quality of a display image. As a result, in order to display a moving picture, it is necessary to capture and transmit a large amount of data.
Furthermore, in the case where the moving picture is compressed moving picture data based on MPEG2 (ISO/IEC 13818-2) or the like, decoding of the moving picture, color conversion, a scaling, and a rasterizing process such as display processing need to be performed at the image data output device side, which also causes a problem in that the load imposed on the image data output device and the transmission line becomes even larger.

Image display system, image display device, and image data output device


A quick release mechanism having a lifting ring (34) and a support ring (30) generally surrounds a shaft to be clamped (20). A cam or other lifting mechanism(32), operated by a handle (42), acts to separate the support ring and the lifting ring in a direction in line with the shaft. A restraint and adjustment nut(40) mounted on the end of the shaft in contact with the lifting ring acts to tension the shaft. The lifting mechanism is free to rotate about the shaft independently of the restraint and adjusting nut allowing the handle to be used in any orientation desired and preventing the handle from being used as a crank or wrench. Embodiments are provided allowing retrofit to existing shaft fastening applications, including those where access to the interior of the shaft must be maintained.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to quick release type clamps, specifically to clamps that are easily fitted to existing conventional hardware such as threaded shafts and bolts.
2. Prior Art
When things are fastened together with shaft type fasteners such as ordinary threaded bolts and nuts, it is often desirable to tighten and loosen the fastening means quickly and without tools. In the prior art, various "quick release" type clamps and mechanisms have been used, but these typically require special means to attach to the shaft to be fastened. It is desirable to have a quick release type mechanism which does not require a special shaft or modifications to an existing shaft.
In the prior art, there are quick release mechanisms which do not require special shafts or modifications, but these mechanisms have important limitations. It is common, for instance, for prior art mechanisms to have an undesirable interaction between the radial angle of the operating handle about the axis of the shaft and the adjustment of the clamping range of the mechanism. That is, rotating the operating handle around on the shaft to be clamped or tensioned changes the pretension and clamping range of the quick release. It is desirable to have an operating handle which may be pointed in any direction, independent of the pretension and clamping range of the quick release.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,321 to Chan F. Chen (1995), for example, provides a quick releasing mechanism that requires a special "swing" or "latch" type bolt. The quick release mechanism requires a lifting pin which pierces the shaft to be clamped. This cannot ordinarily be done with existing shafts, and inherently links the direction of the operating handle's swing or "throw" to the radial angle of the shaft. For example, if the handle's swing direction or "throw" is changed to avoid an obstacle, the shaft is rotated, changing the pretension adjustment and clamp range of the quick release.
A common variation on the quick release of Chen uses a smooth cylindrical lifting pin piercing the shaft in much the same way as the pin of Chen. However, the pin is used as an axle on which a pair of cams is rotated. The cams are located symmetrically outboard of the shaft and are connected to a handle. When the handle is rotated or "thrown" about the pin, the cams act on the pin to force the end of the shaft outward relative to the surface of the cams. This tensions the shaft, gripping the object to be clamped between the surfaces of the cams and a nut or other means attached to the opposite end of the shaft.
Generally, a quick releasing mechanism with a lifting pin that pierces the shaft requires a pretension adjustment means, usually a threaded nut, be located on an opposite end of the shaft to be clamped. This is often undesirable, as it locates the adjustment means away from the quick release handle. If the shaft passes through a barrier, the opposite end of the shaft may be difficult to reach. This makes adjustment and operation of the quick release difficult.
What is needed is a quick release where the adjustment means is always easily reachable from the operating handle.
If the opposite end of the shaft is unreachable, as in the case of a blind shaft, the pierced shaft type of quick release is unusable unless the shaft is threaded into the blind hole. In this case, adjustment is still possible, but only by rotating the shaft. The resulting throw of the quick release handle is unpredictable and will depend on the pretension required, wear in the mechanism, and other factors that may change over time. What is needed is a quick release where the direction of handle throw is independent of the tension adjustment and inherent wear factors.
The pierced shaft type of quick release also has an undesirable second mode of use. People attempting to operate the quick release without understanding how it works may use the handle to simply turn the shaft, as if the handle were a short wrench. This produces a tightening action via the adjustment threads, but it is often insufficient to adequately tension the shaft. When the device to which the quick release is attached is used, the shaft may come loose. In the case of a wheel on a bicycle, for example, the results may be disastrous. What is needed is a quick release that cannot be improperly used as a crank.
Finally, quick release mechanisms of the pierced shaft type inherently block the end of the shaft to be clamped. This makes them unusable when access through the end of the shaft is required. For example, many internally geared bicycle hubs have hollow axles with shift chains or rods passing from the end of the shaft axially down into the shaft. The special end on the shaft shown in Chen would block the passage of any shift chains or rods. Even if the end of the shaft were modified, the pin piercing the shaft would block access through the center of the shaft. What is needed is a quick release that does not block access to the interior of the shaft along the axis of the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,222 to Chun-Hsung Chen (1996) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,508 to Grisley (1992) are representative of a class of quick release mechanisms where a lifting block or rod with opposed spindles is threadably attached to a shaft to be fastened. The shaft passes through the lifting block, and a pair of cams is mounted on the spindles symmetrically outboard of the shaft. The cams are connected to an operating handle. When the handle is rotated or "Trown" about the spindles, the cams act on the lifting block and force the end of the shaft outward relative to the surface of the cams. This tensions the shaft, gripping the object to be clamped between the surfaces of the cams and a nut or other means attached to the opposite end of the shaft.
Quick releases with a lifting block threadably attached to the shaft inherently link the pretension or clamp range to the direction of the operating handle's swing or "Throw". For example, if the handle's swing direction or throw is changed to avoid an obstacle, the lifting block is rotated relative to the shaft, changing the pretension and clamp range of the quick release. What is needed is a quick release where the throw and the tension adjustment are completely independent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,508 to Grisley attempts to overcome this limitation by providing a variable thickness thrust plate which can be inserted between the cams and the object to be clamped. This reduces but does not eliminate the problem. What is needed is a quick release where all tension adjustment can be performed without shims.
Quick releases with a threadably attached lifting block also have the undesirable second mode of use as wrench or crank.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,043,125 to Stahl (1936) describes a quick release where an adjusting nut may be operated without interfering with the operation of the cam operated lifting means. A trunnion block with opposed trunnions is placed over a threaded shaft, followed by an adjusting nut. The clamp may be adjusted without having to move the handle.
The clamp of Stahl requires a washer which is not attached to the rest of the mechanism, creating an opportunity for the washer to be lost or be installed incorrectly. What is needed is a quick release which is self contained, and does not have parts to be lost or assembled incorrectly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,020 to Garvey et al describes a cam operated quick release mechanism with a pair of coaxial inwardly pointing cam pins. The cam pins act to spread the distance between a pair of washers stacked on a bolt. The washers act outwards to clamp an object onto the bolt between a fixed end of the bolt and a threaded nut at the opposite end of the bolt.
The quick release of Garvey et al (1995) overcomes the problem of linking handle throw with pretension and clamp range. The handle may be rotated around the shaft without changing the tension adjustment. While solving this problem, the cam arrangement of Garvey limits the functional rotation of the handle to 90 degrees. This limits the net effective leverage of the mechanism to half that of a cam that operates through 180 degrees or more. What is needed is a quick release that uses more of the available throw room to reduce the forces required on the handle for a given clamp force.
Also, in the quick release of Garvey et al, rotating the operating handle radially about the shaft to be clamped will cause the cams to ride up on the cam tracks in the washers, separating the washers and creating drag on the handle. What is needed is a quick release where the handle can be rotated freely.
Additionally, the only thing keeping the cam pins of Garvey from spreading apart is the stiffness of the handle arms. If the handle must swing over a protruding end of the bolt, the arms must be elongated, making it difficult to provide the necessary lateral stiffness. What is needed is a quick release which provides positive retainment of the cams.
The quick release of Garvey also consists of three separate pieces that must be aligned before use. This is inconvenient and parts may be lost or misplaced when disassembled.
What is needed is a quick release that is self contained and permanently aligned, ready for use.
German Utility Model G08908870.0 (1989) describes a self contained quick release similar in operation to the quick release of Garvey. A pair of inward facing cam pins acts to separate a pair of washers. An integral nut with a raised tower is made part of the mechanism. The mechanism is intended for use with internally geared hubs on bicycles. The nut is adapted for passage of a shift chain through the interior of the mechanism.
This quick release solves many problems with prior art quick releases, but has several limitations. The handle operates over a comparatively small range of movement, reducing leverage and limiting the amount the clamp opens and closes. This makes the clamp adjustment very sensitive and the adjustment nut may have to be loosened to get enough clearance to remove the bicycle wheel from the bicycle. What is needed is a quick release with increased leverage and a larger clamping range.
Also, the width of the ends of the handle arms where the cams are formed is necessarily wide. This may interfere with existing objects in the vicinity of the quick release. The location of the pivot point of the handle is also very low, requiring the handle to lay close to the surface to be clamped. This again may interfere with objects in the vicinity. What is needed is a narrower quick release which allows the handle to avoid hitting objects in the vicinity.


An audio processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire an audio signal, and an audio processing unit configured to reduce noise contained in the audio signal, wherein the audio processing unit complements an audio signal in a section containing noise of the audio signal with a signal generated based on an audio signal in a predetermined section before the section containing noise and an audio signal in a predetermined section after the section containing noise, and wherein, in a case where noise is contained in one of the audio signal in the predetermined section before the section containing noise and the audio signal in the predetermined section after the section containing noise, the audio processing unit complements the audio signal in the section containing noise with a signal generated based on the audio signal in a noise-free section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An imaging apparatus capable of recording sound with a captured moving image is known as the conventional audio processing apparatus.
In the imaging apparatus, a problem that noise generated according to driving of an optical system is recorded as sound is raised and, thus, various noise reduction techniques relating to the problem are developed as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-203376. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-203376, a technique for complementing sound generated in a noise generating section by using sound in the section immediately before driving a motor, in a case where an iris motor or a shutter motor of the imaging apparatus is driven, is discussed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-053802 discusses a concealing method for concealing a head retraction noise of a hard disk drive. More specifically, an audio signal of a portion where the head retraction noise of the hard disk drive has been generated is generated based on signals before and after the audio signal to conceal the head retraction noise.
In the "International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Recommendation G. 711-Appendix I", a packet loss concealing method is disclosed in an audio transmission relating to a transmission and demodulation of sound. More specifically, a signal of the portion where the packet has been lost is generated by predicting the signal of the portion based on the signal before the packet has been lost. Further, when a packet is normally acquired again, a correction is made with a prediction such that a signal in a packet before the normal packet can be smoothly continued to the normal packet.
However, in a case where a noise reduction is performed by using the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-203376, for example, if the iris motor and the shutter motor are sequentially driven, a noise of the iris motor may be contained in, for example, the sound for complementing a sound of a section during which the shutter motor is driven. In the above case, another noise is contained in the noise section, resulting in degradation of a noise reduction effect.


A machining unit that is supported on a machine tool and machines a workpiece by a revolving tool with a main spindle section being driven and rotated includes an eccentric rotational section, a tool holder, a tool revolution-radius changing mechanism, and a cutting-edge-orientation correcting mechanism. The eccentric rotational section is disposed on the main spindle section, and is rotatable about an eccentric axis that is located eccentrically at any distance in a radial direction of the main spindle section from a rotation center of the main spindle section. The tool holder is disposed on the eccentric rotational section, and supports the tool. The tool revolution-radius changing mechanism moves the tool in the radial direction, and changes the radius of the revolution of the tool by rotating the eccentric rotational section about the eccentric axis. The cutting-edge-orientation correcting mechanism corrects the orientation of a cutting edge of the tool by making the tool holder spin about an axis of the tool holder, the axis being parallel to the rotation center of the main spindle section.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a machining unit and a machine tool that machine a workpiece by a revolving tool with a main spindle section being driven and rotated.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, for machining workpieces, a machine tool that is suitable for a type of the machining has been used. For example, when an outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical pipe is to be threaded, a lathe is used. The threading is performed in this lathe as follows: the pipe rotates about its axis in an integrated manner with a main spindle section of the lathe while the pipe being fastened by a chuck onto the main spindle section, and a tool moves straight in the axis direction of the pipe with a cutting edge of the tool abutting against the outer circumferential surface of the pipe.
However, in the case of a pipe whose diameter or length is large, more power is needed to rotate the pipe and a large lathe is needed; this results in the increase of costs. Besides, if the size of a pipe is large, the self-excited vibration is likely to occur as the pipe rotates, and this makes it difficult to maintain the machining accuracy.
As a method for solving these problems, there is a method referred to as U-axis machining, in which a machining center is used. The U-axis machining is a method in which, unlike lathes, a workpiece is immovably fastened and machined by revolving a tool while adjusting the radius of the revolution of the tool.
That is, as shown in the side views of FIGS. 1A and 1B, a pipe 101 is fastened immovably at a certain position. A machining center includes a main spindle section 121 that is driven and rotates, and the main spindle section 121 is provided with a tool 143 whose position is adjustable radially with respect to a rotation center C121. After adjusting the revolution radius of the tool 143 in such a manner as the tool 143 is located at a position corresponding to the diameter of the pipe 101 as shown in FIG. 1B, the main spindle section 121 rotates with the rotation center C121 of the main spindle section 121 being aligned with an axis C101 of the pipe 101, as shown in FIG. 1A. Thereby, a cutting edge of the tool 143 revolves along an outer circumferential surface of the pipe 101 and, in conjunction therewith, the main spindle section 121 moves in the axis direction of the pipe 101, so that helical threads are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the pipe 101.
As a disclosed art relating to this type of U-axis machining, there is an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 62-42726, for example. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, which are views of FIG. 1B along arrows II, the main spindle section 121 of the apparatus is provided with an eccentric rotational section 131 to rotate about an eccentric axis C131 that is located eccentrically in the radial direction from the rotation center C121; the tool 143 is fastened to the eccentric rotational section 131. Therefore, by rotating the eccentric rotational section 131 from a state shown in FIG. 2A to a state shown in FIG. 2B, the tool 143 moves in the radial direction of the main spindle section 121; as a result thereof, it is possible to set the revolution radius of the tool 143 to a radius corresponding to the diameter of the pipe.
In terms of the cutting capability during machining, it is desirable to turn a cutting edge 143E of the tool 143 toward the rotation center C121 of the main spindle section 121. However, in the above-mentioned apparatus, since the tool 143 is fastened on the eccentric rotational section 131 in such a manner as the tool 143 cannot rotate, it is impossible to adjust the orientation of the cutting edge 143E of the tool 143. Therefore, even if, as shown in FIG. 2A, the cutting edge 143E properly faces the rotation center C121 of the main spindle section 121 when the revolution radius of the tool 143 is a certain value, the cutting edge 143E does not face the rotation center C121 when changing the revolution radius, as shown in FIG. 2B. As a result thereof, in the apparatus, it is impossible to maintain a good cutting capability for various pipe diameters.
At the end of screw-threading process, the revolution radius of the tool 143 is changing continuously during screw-threading, in such a manner as the thread becomes gradually shallower. In this case, for the same reason as mentioned above, there is a risk that the deterioration of machining accuracy would be caused by the deterioration in cutting capability as a result that the orientation of the cutting edge 143E of the tool 143 turns away from the direction of the rotation center C121 of the main spindle section 121 at the end of screw-threading process.


A network element and method for programming a network element that includes detecting an update to a first route in a routing information base (RIB) is disclosed. The method includes locating a first route network prefix associated with the first route within a network prefix trie (NPT); determining that, prior to the update, a first parent network prefix and the first route network prefix were reachable using a pair of different next hops connected to the network element; and determining that, after the update, the first parent network prefix and the first route network prefix are reachable using a first common next hop connected to the network element. The method also includes removing an existing forwarding information base (FIB) entry in the FIB associated with the first route network prefix.

Modern network elements include switch chips capable of storing thousands of routes (each associated with a network prefix) in a local routing table. With these immense routing tables, there is a possibility that some more-specific routes may be a subset of other less-specific routes, leading to unnecessary redundancy in information. In waiving the programming of the more-specific routes, which may be subsumed by the less-specific routes, memory and/or persistent storage on a network element may be saved.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Efficient algorithm to eliminate redundant specific prefixes in forwarding information base using trie


Printing a screened image includes a computer for converting a contone image to a digital image. A digital front end provides a screening tile, a dither magnitude curve, a spot function for each of the cells in the screening tile and a displacement vector for each of the cells. The digital front end displaces the center of each cell spot function and constructs a halftone image from the contone image and the screening tile by comparing value of each pixel from the contone image to a corresponding threshold value from the screening tile. If the pixel value exceeds the threshold value set a corresponding pixel in the halftone image to one otherwise set the corresponding pixel in the halftone image to zero. An imaging system prints the halftone image on a substrate.

Halftone screening is a printing technique that reproduces continuous tone images by using dots that vary in size or spacing. Halftone screening is used by many different printing technologies. The invention disclosed here is particularly valuable for screening applied to flexographic printing.
There are two common halftone screening methods used in the industry: Amplitude Modulation (AM) screening and Frequency Modulation (FM) screening. The most common screening method is AM, which positions dots on a fixed grid and varies the dot size according to the tone of the image. Various dot shapes can be used but round, elliptical, and Euclidian are the most common. FIG. 1A shows a typical AM screen with dots 104 positioned on the grid.
The principal disadvantage of AM screening for flexographic printing is the size of the smallest printing dot. The smallest relief dot that can be reliably created on a plate is about 20 to 30 microns in diameter. Any smaller and the dot may not form properly, leading to distortion and scum dot formation. In addition, the ink transferred from the plate to the substrate spreads out past the edge of the dot, increasing the dot diameter by another 20 to 30 microns. This results in a high minimum tonal value. For example, a 150 dpi screen will have minimum tonal value of about 10%.
A second method, often called FM screening, avoids a regular grid. Instead a stochastic process is used to place the dots. Initially the dots are of fixed size and the tone is increased by adding dots to the image. After a certain density is reached, the algorithm switches from dot addition to dot growth. The placement algorithm attempts to preferentially reduce the spatial frequency components in the screen to which the eye is most sensitive. FIG. 1B shows a typical FM screen with dot 108 positioned on the plate.
The main disadvantage of this method is the residual noise that is apparent in the mid-tones of the image. Mid-tones can be roughly defined as the tonal range from about 25% to 75% tone. This noise is often made worse when different color image separations are superimposed during the printing process. In this mid-tone range, AM screening usually out-performs FM screens.
The principal advantage of FM screens is their ability to achieve lower tonal values, when compared to AM screens, by continually removing dots from the screen. These lower tonal values in the range of zero to a few percent are referred to as the highlights. Similarly, the last few percent of tonal values up to 100% tone are referred to as the shadows. An ideal halftone screen would have the low noise characteristic of AM screens in the mid-tones combined with the extended tonal range of FM screens in the highlights. Several methods described in the prior art attempt to achieve this result, but with mixed results. There exists a need to create a hybrid screen without introducing any unwanted side effects.
In the prior art, the most straight forward method of extending the tonal range of an AM screen is to start removing dots after the minimum dot size has been reached. A stochastic algorithm is used to choose the order in which the dots are removed. The goal of the algorithm is to minimize noise in the low spatial frequencies of the screen. Some clustering of the remaining dots may be required to prevent scum dots from forming on the plate. FIG. 1C shows how this method is used in the highlight area of a vignette. Area 112 shows dots are removed from the AM grid. What is apparent from the figure is that the dot dropout causes voids 112 in the halftone screen that are easily visible. Many customers find such voids objectionable.
Better results can be achieved when a hybrid of AM and FM screening is used. A stochastic screen is used for the highlights areas while, in the mid-tones, an AM screen is deployed for noise reduction. There is an abrupt transition from FM to AM screen at the tone when all the AM cells are filled with a halftone dot of the minimum size. The algorithm ensures that a separation is maintained between AM and FM dots. This algorithm is an improvement over the simpler on-grid algorithm, however, it does sometimes suffer from a visible line appearing between the AM and FM regions. This can manifest as either a white line or a dark line between the regions. FIG. 1D shows an example of this type of screen. The voids 116 are not as apparent in the highlights
A further enhancement is to add a transition region between the FM screening in the highlights and the AM screening over the remainder of the tonal range. In this transition region, the screening method slowly changes from FM to AM and the average position of the halftone dots migrate toward the center of the halftone cell. FIG. 1E illustrates an example of such an implementation.


A deployable antenna and method for using wherein the deployable antenna comprises a collapsible membrane having at least one radiating element for transmitting electromagnetic waves, receiving electromagnetic waves, or both.

There exists a need for a deployable antenna for various applications. Considerations include weight, portability, stowage, cost, and ease of manufacturing. Ideally, such an antenna would have a simple structure, be easy to deploy for use, and be easy to collapse into a compact configuration for storage. Example applications for use include military operations, remote industrial operations, surveillance, scientific outposts, and general remote outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, fishing, and mountain climbing. A specific example of an application is the use of a stowable and deployable antenna in combination with a wireless communications system such as a cellular telephone or a cellular modem. As the use and popularity of wireless communication systems combined with the popularity of remote outdoor activities increases, the need for stowable and deployable antennas will also increase.
Mobile communication systems, for example cellular, personal communication systems, and wireless Ethernet provide wireless communications between a base station and at least one portable subscriber unit. Each mobile subscriber unit contains an antenna apparatus for the reception of the forward link signals and for the transmission of the reverse or return link signals. A typical mobile subscriber unit is a digital cellular telephone handset or a personal computer coupled to a wireless network. In urban areas, there usually exists a base station within the range of a mobile subscriber unit's built-in or stock antenna. However, in remote areas, the availability of such a base station within the range of a mobile subscriber unit's built-in or stock antenna may not exist.
In general, the performance of an antenna depends upon its configuration or shape as well as its size. Wireless communications devices are limited in their antenna performance due to a built-in or stock, omnidirectional antenna design. Therefore, increasing the performance of the built-in antenna for remote operations may increase the likelihood of communication between a mobile subscriber unit and a base station. As an example, it is well known in the field that increasing the antenna gain in a wireless communication system typically has beneficial effects on system performance.
The present invention seeks to provide an antenna that overcomes or reduces the aforementioned problems and takes into account the aforementioned considerations.
Description

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


Provided is an information processing apparatus including an operating body direction detection section configured to detect a longitudinal direction of an operating body, and an operating direction determination section configured to allocate a command to a direction with reference to the longitudinal direction of the operating body.

Recently, in an information processing apparatus with a touch panel, a technology is disclosed which is capable of performing a position specification of an operating body, such as a finger, with high accuracy. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology in which a plurality of conductors is formed to have an island shape and, when a user operation is received, a relevant conductor is elastically deformed to perform operation detection.
Also, since it is possible to perform the position specification of the operating body with high accuracy as described above, more intuitive touch panel operating methods have been created.
For example, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technology that specifies a touch position and a touch area of a touch panel with respect to an operating body, and enlarges and displays an image displayed at the touch position on another screen according to the touch area.
Also, for example, Patent Literature 3 discloses a technology that detects an action of twisting an operating body by specifying a position of a touch point between the operating body and a display section and a position of an adjacent point different from the touch point, thus improving operability.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program


A voice coil motor includes a base, a shell, first and second magnetic members, a lens retainer, a coil of wire mounted on the retainer, first and second elastic members. The base includes a bottom and posts extending upwards from the bottom. The shell includes a top and sidewalls cooperatively defining a receiving space therein. The shell is mounted on the base with the posts being received in the receiving space. The first magnetic members are positioned on the bottom of the base, the second magnetic members are positioned on the top of the shell, and each two adjacent of the posts have one of the first magnetic members and one of the second magnetic members located therebetween. The first resilient member and a second resilient member each include fixing portions fixed to the posts, and a spring portion connected to retainer between the first and second magnetic members.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to voice coil motors, and particularly to a voice coil motor that can drive a lens group.
2. Description of Related Art
Voice coil motors are widely used as actuators for driving lenses in camera modules.
A typical voice coil motor includes a number of magnetic members mounted on a bracket, a lens retainer movably received in the bracket and surrounded by magnetic members, and a number of coils of wire mounted on the lens retainer.
However, with the above-described configuration, because the magnetic members surround the lens retainer, radius of the voice coil motor is greatly enlarged, and the size of the lens is limited.
What is needed, therefore, is a voice coil motor which can overcome the above shortcomings.


An ink containing water, a water-soluble organic solvent and an organic pigment, wherein a primary particle of the organic pigment has a ratio (minor axis b)/(major axis a) of 0.70 or more and a particle diameter of 35 nm or less, the ink contains a water-soluble organic solvent with a dielectric constant of 25.0 or less in an amount of 0.5% by mass or more based on the total mass of the ink, and a dielectric constant ∈mix of the ink as calculated according to the following equation (1) is 66-72:∈mix=Σn∈nrn/Σnrn  Equation (1):wherein n means a kind of water or the water-soluble organic solvent, ∈n is a dielectric constant of water or the water-soluble organic solvent represented by n, and rn is a content of water or the water-soluble organic solvent represented by n based on the total mass of the ink.

In recent years, there has been a strong demand for improving ozone resistance for an image recorded by an ink jet recording method. In order to meet such a demand, a pigment ink using a pigment as a coloring material is energetically considered. However, the pigment ink is low in color developability of an image recorded compared with a dye ink using a dye as a coloring material. In addition, an image recorded with the pigment ink is generally said to have excellent fastness properties compared with an image recorded with the dye ink. However, there is still a room for improvement in the ozone resistance of an image as represented by a phthalocyanine pigment. It is thus a problem to improve the color developability and ozone resistance of an image recorded with the pigment ink at the same time.
It is known to suppress scattered light of an image recorded by using an ink containing a pigment having a small particle diameter so as to improve the color developability of an image. For example, there has been proposed an ink containing a phthalocyanine pigment produced by a specific process and having a nano-order particle diameter (see PTL 1). On the other hand, in order to improve the ozone resistance of an image recorded, there has been proposed an ink containing a fine color particle with a pigment encapsulated with a film-forming resin (see PTL 2).

Ink, ink cartridge and ink jet recording method