A piezoelectric actuator for rotating a shaft associated with an optical mount positioning system in which the actuator moves in first direction at a slow enough velocity to maintain engagement between the actuator and shaft to drive the shaft in the desired direction, and the actuator moves in a second direction at a sufficiently high acceleration and velocity to cause the actuator to lose engagement with the shaft and slip, thereby achieving motion of the shaft in only the desired direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electromechanical actuators, and particularly to actuators utilizing piezoelectric elements to rotate positioning shafts associated with optical elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The bench setups used in experimental optics frequently incorporate individual optical elements, such as lenses, filters, mirrors, radiation sources and radiation detectors, which are mounted on adjustable supports. Such supports are capable of both lateral and vertical adjustment to properly position the element within the optical system. Additionally, some form of tilt (axial orientation) adjustment is provided for properly orienting the element with respect to the optical axis of the system. While the particular form of the tilt adjustment varies according to the nature of the optical element and the precision required, a common form of adjustable mount is a three screw device, such as the Model 9809 sold by New Focus, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,470, entitled "Optical Mounting Apparatus" issued to Francis S. Luecke and assigned to New Focus, Inc., the assignee of this invention. This mount, and other similar mounts sold by New Focus, Inc., has three 1/4-80 adjustment screws arranged in a triangular configuration for tilting the optical element held by the mount. The adjustment screws in this device are provided with knurled knobs for manual adjustment.
These mounts have been highly successful and are widely used in experimental optical setups. They provide excellent stability and accommodate ease of adjustment. Nevertheless, it would be desirable to avoid even the slight deflection of the optical element which results from manual adjustment of the mount. Further, certain experimental optical setups may occupy a large space, and make manual adjustment of the mounts located in the interior portions of the optical bench more awkward than desirable. In addition, it is usually desirable to make dynamic adjustments on the system; that is, while the system is in actual operation. This introduces an element of danger with systems incorporating lasers, since inadvertent exposure to laser radiation may permanently damage eyesight or other parts of the human body.
Despite the disadvantages inherent in the use of manual adjustment screws, the use of electrically driven actuators has been limited by cost, size and stability considerations. These limitations have limited the use of remotely controlled actuators to particular optical elements, wherein the optical element and the actuator are interrelated and the actuator is totally dedicated to the single element. While this approach is frequently satisfactory in a finished optical system, it is unduly cumbersome and expensive in experimental setups.
It has been recognized that piezoelectric systems are well suited for mechanically driving the positioning shafts in an optical system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,483 to Staufenberg and Hubbell is descriptive of a system which utilizes piezoelectric elements to alternatively clamp and drive a mechanical element such as shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,278 to Staufenberg describes a piezoelectric multi-axis positioner for rotation of a sphere which supports an optical element. The tilt systems described therein are limited to spherical mounts, and do not lend themselves to use with universal mounts such as the New Focus Model 9809.
Still another piezoelectric driven system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,306 to Staufenberg and Hubbell. In this system, a piezoelectric element mounted within an annular housing is energized in a fashion, whereby an engaging member is driven with a first polarity signal to cause engagement with an output shaft, and then driven with a second polarity signal to withdraw the member from engagement with the output shaft.
Piezoelectric devices have been used for other purposes such as that described by L. Howald, H. Rudin and H.-J. Guntherodt in "Piezoelectric inertial stepping motor with spherical rotor", Review of Scientific Instruments 63 (8) August 1992 p. 3909-3912. The publication describes a system in which a plurality of inertial piezoelectric actuators are used to position a polished steel sphere which may support an optical element. In the system described by the publication, the actuators are driven slowly in one direction and abruptly in the opposite direction. Friction causes the polished ball to follow the slow actuator movement but inertia prevents the ball from following the abrupt actuator movement.
A publication by John D. Skipper, "Piezoelectric Traction Motor Delivers High Torque, High Power at Low Speed" in PCIM, June 1992, p. 36-39, describes a piezoelectric motor having a rotary output shaft. This publication describes the difficulty of coupling piezoelectric devices to a rotary output shaft due to the very small mechanical movement of the piezoelectric device.

Piezoelectric actuator for optical alignment screws


A semiconductor device includes a lower electrode on a substrate, a capacitor dielectric layer on the lower electrode, and an upper electrode on the capacitor dielectric layer. The capacitor dielectric layer includes a base layer on the lower electrode and a dielectric particle layer in at least a portion of the base layer. The base layer includes a first dielectric material, and the dielectric particle layer extends at least partially continuously along a thickness direction of the capacitor dielectric layer and includes a second dielectric material different from the first dielectric material.

1. Field
Example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to semiconductor devices, and more specifically, to semiconductor devices including capacitor structures and methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to higher integration and smaller sizes of semiconductor devices, the size of a capacitor of a DRAM device may also be reduced. A thickness of a capacitor dielectric layer between an upper electrode and a lower electrode is also reduced depending on the reduced size of the capacitor. However, due to the reduced thickness of the capacitor dielectric layer, a leakage current of the capacitor can be increased and a short circuit between the upper electrode and the lower electrode or a breakdown of the capacitor dielectric layer can occur.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same


A portable apparatus for cutting roofing shingles at various angles comprises a rigid frame assembly, a first cutting blade affixed to the frame assembly, a cutting blade assembly comprising a blade-supporting arm pivotally attached to the frame and a second cutting blade affixed to that arm and extending parallel to the first cutting blade, the cutting blade assembly being pivotable so as the second cutting blade can be pivoted into and out of a shingle-shearing relationship with the first cutting blade, and the blade-supporting arm being adjustable laterally of the first cutting blade so as to assure a clean shearing action. A movable guide fence assembly mounted on the frame accurately determines the angle at which a shingle is to be cut.

Not applicable.
1. Field of Invention
This invention is an improved and more versatile apparatus for cutting roofing shingles.
2. Description of Prior Art
Installation of roofing shingles requires many cuts to be made in various directions. Traditional practice calls for use of a hand-held utility-type knife which is slow and inaccurate and potentially dangerous since some types of shingles need multiple passes and considerable force with the knife, which can and does slip, causing injury. Several designs have been proposed for an apparatus to cut shingles, however, these designs are limited in performance in various ways. The underlying problem is that shingles resist being cut, and particularly, cut neatly. This is due to their thickness and toughness and the wide range of workability resulting from the extremes of ambient temperature during which they are installed. In cold weather, shingles are stiff and brittle, resistant to cutting, and tend to crack without careful handling. In hot weather, they become exceedingly soft and pliable and prone to tearing. Also, in hot weather, the asphaltic component of the shingles softens into a semi-melted state and accumulates as a tarry deposit on tools. Under any weather conditions, debris and granules from the surface of the shingles are dislodged in handling and collect within the workings of an apparatus not designed to tolerate them.
A shingle cutting apparatus must also take into account that regardless of the design employed a vigorous thrust of the mechanism will be required to effect its operation, again due to the resistance of the shingle being cut. This requirement can be satisfied by proper provision for the use of leverage, however, the apparatus must be configured to remain stable in the face of the forceful stroke by the user. If the apparatus moves or tips in use, it will be inconvenient or dangerous to use.
Prior art fails to overcome these difficulties and therefore has not met with practical success. U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,256 to Morrissey and U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,540 to Cross et al disclose designs that perform only one specialized cut on only one type of shingle. Considered analysis indicates that in addition to this limitation these two designs do not allow the user to develop sufficient leverage to operate successfully under the wide range of field conditions previously mentioned.
A different apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,781 to Hile. In the initial stages of my own experimentation, I developed, constructed, and tested a model essentially similar to this and determined that it has several shortcomings. The blade does not consistently maintain tight contact with the edge of the work surface because of lack of sufficient rigidity both of the blade and of the pivot arrangement. A very small amount of distortion in the area of the pivot allows the blade to separate from the edge of the work surface and merely sandwich the shingle between the two instead of cutting it. This phenomenon is exacerbated by the accretion of tarry deposits on the mating surfaces of the blade and the edge of the work surface as well as the accumulation of shingle debris and detached surface granules in these deposits and in the pivot area.
Use of a precision bearing as proposed by Hile has a drawback in that it will be vulnerable to damage in the real-world conditions that prevail while roofing is being done. This type of work is frequently carried out under wet conditions; also, the tendency of shingles to generate debris particles and shed granules as previously mentioned will degrade a precision mechanism. Moreover, the need for a complex bearing in this application is questionable, since the motion anticipated is comparatively slow and sporadic and covers something less than a ninety degree arc, whereas a ball or roller bearing would be more appropriately specified in an application having greater or continuous motion and/or higher speed.
Hile shows no method of sharpening the stationary cutting edge. As the edge becomes worn, the tendency of the shingle to be sandwiched between the cutting edge and the blade will increase.
Another shortcoming of Hile derives from the position of the guide member relative to the shingle. Since the shingle resists being cut, the motion of the blade tends to force the shingle to slide away from the pivot, and therefore, away from the guide member at the beginning of the cutting stroke. This reduces the accuracy of the cut. The Hile apparatus also lacks the ability to make an accurate and repeatable angle cut. Further, there is no provision at all to produce the lengthwise cuts that are necessary for the lowest, or starting course of shingles.
Hile proposes the blade to be outside of the footprint outlined by the supporting legs. This may allow the apparatus to tip to the right in response to vigorous force on the handle. In addition, the fact that the handle extends substantially beyond the ends of the legs would tend to cause the opposite, or pivot, end of the apparatus to lift in response to the cutting stroke. Further, the apparent width between the legs of the apparatus would seem to preclude its use on the narrow scaffolding typically used on a roof.
In accordance with the present invention, a shingle cutting apparatus comprises a raised work surface with a horizontal fixed blade attached along one side, a moveable and adjustable blade assembly, and a guide fence assembly capable of being fixed at any desired location on the work surface to align a shingle for a cut.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my invention are as follows:
1. The triangular design of the moveable blade assembly, the use of a long pivot shaft attached on both ends, and the design of the frame all provide superior rigidity and keep the moveable and fixed blades in tight contact with each other resulting in clean shearing action. Adjustment is provided to maintain this relationship and to compensate for wear and sharpening.
2. The moveable blade is prevented from distorting by the combination of the blade brace and the triangular web between them that together form a rigid blade assembly.
3. The use of a vertical moveable blade and a horizontal, protruding fixed blade minimizes tarry buildup since the fixed blade acts as a scraper to keep the moveable blade substantially clean. Since this buildup occurs mainly on wide surfaces, the edge of the fixed blade also remains substantially clean.
4. The use of a fixed blade that protrudes beyond the side of the work surface provides clearance for the shingle cutoff, or waste piece, to curl downward during the cut and fall away without dragging on the side of the work surface, which would force the shingle out of position during the cutting stroke.
5. The use of a moveable guide fence permits accurate and repeatable angled or ninety degree cuts. A detent arrangement provides a positive stop for ninety degree cuts.
6. With the guide fence supporting the edge of the shingle furthest from the pivot shaft, the shingle is prevented from sliding in response to the action of the blade. In my apparatus the action of the blade tends to hold the shingle more securely against the guide fence.
7. The guide fence is easily repositioned on the work surface to permit length-wise cutting of shingles. A detent arrangement positively locates the guide fence parallel to the blades and automatically produces proper width cut pieces in accordance with the several standard dimensions used by shingle manufacturers.
8. The design of the pivot shaft minimizes the accumulation of shingle debris land granules that would inhibit proper operation of the moveable blade. The open end of the blade tube extends under the protruding fixed blade to deflect falling debris. More importantly, there is no precision ball or roller bearing mechanism that would be vulnerable to infiltration of debris as well as inflitration of moisture which would create rust. By eliminating a precision bearing, a potential maintainance problem due to rust or contamination is avoided and the apparatus will be simplified.
9. The design of the rear leg enables the user to anchor the device with his or her foot while operating the apparatus if desired. At the same time, the user""s foot is protected from injury since it is shielded by the raised frame.
10. The overall shape of the frame assembly is conducive to use on a scaffolding as well as on the roof surface. A leg arrangement providing three points of support results in stability of the apparatus while in use.
11. The handle of the moveable blade does not extend significantly rearward of the footprint outlined by the three points of support of the base assembly. This avoids destabilizing of the apparatus when making a cut. The fact that the blades are laterally within this footprint keeps the apparatus from tipping to the right during operation.


A drill bit comprises a shank member (31), a bit body (32) provided with cutters (33) and flexible material (35) between the shank (31) and the bit body (32) allowing relative tilting movement therebetween to reduce adverse effects caused by vibration of the bit. In other embodiments, flexible material is provided between the bit body and the cutters. In further embodiments, the flexible material may be provided in a tiltable sub-assembly for incorporation in a drilling above the drill bit. An apparatus for simulating drilling conditions is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns drill bit assemblies for drilling, coring or removing material from a geological subsurface formation.
2. Description of Related Art
Such drill bits have cutters which are either rigidly mounted on the bit body or on an extension of that body, e.g., blades or studs in the body, or may be mounted on roller cones which can rotate around axles rigidly fixed to the bit body. On the side of the drill bit usually distant from the cutters, such drill bits have a connector, usually threaded, which allows a rigid connection to be made between the bit and the bottom hole assembly and hence the drill string. In use the bit rotates and moves up and down. Eventually the bit is worn out or prematurely broken.
The replacement of a bit involves high cost in lost time as well as the cost of the new physical equipment. The problem of breakage of bits is thus very important in the drilling industry.
In relation to diamond faced bits for cutting or scraping such as diamond faced studs or faces, especially polydiamond crystal (PDC) wafer facing, the cutter comprising the diamond facing may become prematurely broken or dislodged. One reason for the breakage of PDC bits is that caused by vibration of the bit on the end of the very long drill pipe, the vibration resulting e.g. from interaction of the bit and the formation, or of the drill string and the well bore, and causing motion of the bit, which is not concentric nor at uniform speed, e.g. causing slip-stick, bit whirl and bit bounce.
Antiwhirl bits have been described and used in which the cutters are not uniformly distributed around the bit; in at least one place instead of a cutter there is a frictionless pad, the effect of which is that on contact of it and the rock, the bit slides over the rock surface instead of gearing with it. Although antiwhirl bits have in some cases enabled PDC bits to drill into harder formations, they have been less successful in highly interbedded formations, e.g. when drilling through rocks of variable or different hardness, which results in vibration of the bit. This problem is especially acute with exploratory wells where the nature of the rocks and the location of their interfaces is not accurately known. Because the cutters are in contact with different rocks, the resultant side force on the bit can no longer be maintained within the low friction pads so the low friction pads of the antiwhirl devices lose their effectiveness. There is thus vibration, an eccentric hole and breakage/dislocation of the cutter.
It is known to provide drill strings for driving drill bits having rotary drive transmitting sections which can be moved relative to one another from an axially aligned disposition in order to allow entering and drilling horizontal well sections, through a short radii curved hole, that would require excessive bending of a conventional stiff drill string. This may be achieved for example by providing hinged driving joints between the two sections or between the lower end of the drill string and the drill bit, or by providing wall sections which can be readily deformed to accommodate angular changes in the drilling direction. As the purpose of those devices is to cope with an important hole curvature, the drill bit itself is left rigid, in accordance with conventional bit designs.
EP-A-0,225,101 is concerned with reducing the problem of overheating of drill bits caused by excessive weight-on-bit during drilling or by sudden overload. This is achieved by a bit body having at least two relatively movable structures each carrying cutting elements, the two structures being relatively movable between two limiting positions to allow a change in configuration of the bit to be effected when required. In some embodiments resilient means may be provided to oppose relative movement of the structures in an axial and/or rotational direction. However there is no teaching or suggestion in this specification of providing any means for allowing tilting or relative lateral movement of the two relatively moveable structures of the drill bit assembly of EP-A-0,225,101.


A housing (1) for devices with at least one module, which is to be protected against penetration of liquids, has at least one cover (2) that is arranged on the top side of the housing (1). A simple and cost-effective production and maintenance is provided by the outer edge areas (4) of the cover (2) having at least one collar (5, 7, 9, 11), which protrudes downwards when cover (2) is closed and has a preferably circumferential drip edge (12). The housing (1) is provided in the edge area of an opening (13) to be closed by the cover (2) with at least one mounting groove (15), which, when the cover (2) is closed, is arranged below the at least one collar (7, 11), such that a liquid dripping from the drip edge (12) falls into the mounting groove (15).

Especially in the area of medical engineering, a large number of devices are used which contain sensitive modules, which may not come into contact with liquids, especially moisture, because otherwise dysfunctions or functional failure is to be feared. However, particularly also when using medical engineering devices, there is an increased risk that liquids are spilled and reach the device housing. Here, the liquid can especially reach the interior through the gaps of covers on the top side of the housing. For this reason, flaps and covers, which make access to the device interior possible for operation and maintenance, are usually arranged essentially vertically on the lateral outer walls. In essentially horizontally arranged covers on the housing top side, seals can be used to prevent a penetration of liquid into the device interior. Housings with such seals are expensive to produce and maintain for the seals must be tested routinely for tightness and possibly be lubricated or replaced with new ones.

Device housing protected against penetration of liquids


The present invention relates to a porphyrin metal complex represented by the formula (1): ##STR1## wherein R is a pivaloyloxy group, M is a transition metal ion of the group IV and the group V metals, X is a halogen ion, and n is 0 or 1.. The above compound is used as a more stable artificial oxygen carrier capable of preventing the behavior of oxidation and deterioration.

An iron (II) porphyrin complex contained in hemoglobin or myoglobin reversibly adsorbs and desorbs oxygen molecules. Many studies for producing synthetic complexes which have oxygen adsorption and desorption functions similar to those of natural porphyrin iron (II) complexes have been reported: J. P. Collman, Accounts of Chemical Research, 10, 265(1977), and F. Basolo, B. M. Hoffman and J. A. Ibers, ibid, 8, 384(1975). As a porphyrin iron (II) complex from which a stable oxygen complex is produced at room temperature, an iron (II) 5,10,15,20-tetra(.alpha., .alpha., .alpha., .alpha.-o-pivalamidephenyl)porphyrin complex is reported (J. P. Collman et al., The Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 97, p.1427(1975)).
However, the complex is unable to produce a stable oxygen complex because it is easily oxidized by oxygen in the presence of a small amount of water. Accordingly, an iron (II) porphyrin complex which produces a stable oxygen complex at room temperature has been continuously researched. The inventors of the present invention have found that oxygen is reversibly adsorbed and desorbed in an aqueous solution by inclusion of these iron porphyrin complexes in lipid molecular membranes. (Publication number of examined patent application: 59-25767/1984 and Publication number of laid-open patent application: 59-101490/1984).


A light fixture including a light source and heat pipes that are connected to an array of fins which cool the light source. The light fixture is configured such that the thermal mass is minimised local to the light source. The heat pipes are arranged so that they are aligned with the light emitting areas of the light source. The heat pipes and fins form a structure which supports the light source.

In recent years the use of LEDs in consumer lighting devices has significantly increased as a consequence of the potential for increased service life and increased energy efficiency over conventional fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. In comparison to these types of bulbs, however, a significant amount of heat is produced by LEDs. This heat, if not removed from the LED, will increase the junction temperature, i.e. the temperature at which the LED operates. This has deleterious effects on the efficiency and service life of the LED, as well as the consistency over time of the colour of the light output from the LED. Accordingly, it is important to reduce the junction temperature of the LED as much as possible by removing heat from the LED in operation.
In particular, high brightness LED arrays can be manufactured which include over a hundred LED die in a single package with a light emitting area of only a few cm2. While this small light emitting surface area is highly beneficial in terms of the uniformity of the emitted light, it results in a high amount of heat production, concentrated to a small area, which can result in a rapid increase in junction temperature if not suitably managed.
It is well known in the art to use heat-sinks formed of thermally conducting materials such as aluminium, copper or other metals. Generally, an LED might be mounted on a solid block, from which extends a plurality of fins. These increase the surface area of the heat-sink to allow more heat to be dissipated into the surrounding air by convection. For high-brightness LEDs where the heat output may be in excess of tens of Watts, forced air cooling is often used, wherein fans, piezoelectric microblowers or similar are used to increase airflow over the heat-sink. However, the inclusion of these components in a lighting fixture will increases its cost, complexity and power consumption. Furthermore, the inclusion of such components will increase the noise contamination caused by the fixture and increase the fixture's maintenance requirements.
It is also known in the art to create more complex passive cooling circuits which combine multiple heat-sinks by means of heat pipe technology. For example, WO 2011/032554 A1 is directed towards a cooling device for a heat source, especially LED modules, wherein the LED module is connected to a first heat-sink which comprises a main metal block from which fins extend. This first heat-sink is thermally connected to a second, larger heat-sink by means of heat pipes running through the main block of the first heat-sink.
Fundamentally, however, the removal of heat from the LED module in cooling circuits such as this is limited by the first heat-sink. In particular, any inefficiencies in the transfer of heat from the LED module to the first heat-sink can act as a 'thermal bottleneck', resulting in an increase in the junction temperature.
The present invention aims to ameliorate these and other deficiencies of the prior art.


Embodiments are directed to establishing a model for testing cloud components and to preventing cascading failures in cloud components. In one scenario, a computer system models identified cloud components (including cloud hardware components and/or cloud software components) as health entities. Each health entity is configured to provide state information about the cloud component. The computer system establishes declarative safety conditions which declaratively describe cloud computing conditions that are to be maintained at the identified cloud components. The computer system then tests against the declarative safety conditions to determine which cloud components are or are becoming problematic. Upon determining that an error has occurred, the computer system notifies users of the error and the component at which the error occurred. Guarded interfaces are established to ensure that actions taken to fix the error do not cause further failures.

Computers have become highly integrated in the workforce, in the home, in mobile devices, and many other places. Computers can process massive amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Software applications designed to run on computer systems allow users to perform a wide variety of functions including business applications, schoolwork, entertainment and more. Software applications are often designed to perform specific tasks, such as word processor applications for drafting documents, or email programs for sending, receiving and organizing email.
In some cases, software applications are for distribution over a plurality of computing systems. Such applications are typically referred to as cloud-based applications. Cloud-based applications may include many different components, each of which may be run on another cloud node (whether it be a hardware node or a virtual node). As such, cloud-based applications may be exposed to an increased number of failure points across the different cloud nodes.

Cloud management using a component health model


A process for the dynamic manufacture and packaging of gas mixtures containing a first component and a second component in predefined proportions, the first and second components being chosen from the group formed by O2, N2, He and N2O, in which predetermined proportions of the first and second components are dynamically mixed in order to obtain a gas mixture of the desired composition and the temperature of the mixture is adjusted in order to keep it above the demixing threshold temperature of the mixture. This process is particularly suitable for the production of analgesic gas mixtures that can be used in the medical field, particularly a mixture formed from 50% oxygen and 50% nitrous oxide.

The invention relates to a plant for dynamically manufacturing and for packaging medical gas mixtures, particularly N2O/O2 gas mixtures that can be used in the medical field, especially in analgesia, preferably N2O/O2 mixtures containing approximately 50 vol % nitrous oxide (N2O) and 50 vol % oxygen.
From the industrial standpoint, there are at the present time various methods and processes for manufacturing and packaging gas mixtures.
However, in these the amounts of gas to be mixed are fed into a gas mixer and are monitored by measuring the pressure and the temperature of the gases. The metering is therefore based on two measuring instruments which add their measurement errors, thus possibly leading to quite random results.
Moreover, the choice of measurement points in the plant does not allow the desired physical quantities to be determined, or does so only incompletely, and therefore does not allow the mixture to be produced effectively or reliably.
Thus, the temperature is usually measured at the gas-filling injection rail by a temperature probe which does not reflect, or does so only very inaccurately, the effective gas temperature in the packaging containers.
Sometimes this measurement is performed directly on the surface of the container (bottle) by an infrared thermal probe; it will be understood that this measurement is not a precise reflection of that of the gas in the container.
Moreover, a pressure sensor is used to constantly measure the pressure in the filling injection rails, the gases while flow through the pipes.
Consequently, there is therefore an inevitable difference between the final pressure in the containers, at the end of filling, and the pressure measured during filling, which depends on the pressure drops, the flow rate and the temperature of the gases.
Not knowing the pressure-drop coefficients and the temperature of the gases precisely therefore requires the pressure to be checked in static mode, at the end of the injection cycle, that is to say a posteriori.
Thus, if the amounts of gas mixed are off-specification, it is then necessary to top up the amounts of gas mixed by adding the amount of gas lacking, something which is not practical or not always easily achievable.
However, conversely, any excess gas completely falsifies the precision of the desired gas mixture and either results in the gas mixture thus obtained being scrapped or requires a readjustment in order to try to re-establish the equilibrium. This is not always possible.
Furthermore, a process for packaging gas mixtures based on carbon dioxide (CO2) is also known, this process being called a dynamic packaging process, in which the CO2 is packaged above a supercritical state at a pressure of 270 bar and at a temperature between about 70xc2x0 C. and 120xc2x0 C., both the pressure and the temperature of the gas being determined by the conditions under which the packaging process is carried out.
The pressures of the various gas sources must be balanced at 270 bar since the pressure is defined in such a way that containers can be filled at a pressure of 200 bar even in summer when they are hot, since they are usually stored outdoors. This means that the filling source downstream of the mixing chamber must therefore be able to reach 240 bar (for a container at a temperature ranging up to 60xc2x0 C.).
In addition, the pressure drops across such a dynamic mixer often reaches 20 bar and consequently the pressures of the gas sources must reach a minimum of 260 bar.
Hitherto, CO2 is the only liquefied gas that has already been packaged dynamically.
During a filling cycle, the pressures of the gas sources are reduced downstream of the mixing chamber down to the pressure of the containers and the pressure downstream of the chamber varies, during the cycle, from a few mbar to the final filling pressure of the gas mixture.
In the case of CO2 at a pressure of 270 bar, the temperature is 70xc2x0 C. and this is chosen so that the expansion is not accompanied by a change of state of the CO2, passing into the solid state (carbon dioxide snow) especially when the pressure is less than 5 bar.
This is because any formation of carbon dioxide snow runs the risk of obstructing the taps of the bottles, thus resulting in disparities in the contents of the gas mixtures produced in the bottles for the same filling injection rail.
Consequently, only gas mixtures containing a CO2 content generally not exceeding 30% can be produced, since otherwise the temperature reached downstream of the expansion chamber would be below the demixing temperature.
Gas mixtures whose content of a given component is greater than 30% (by volume) are usually produced by more conventional manufacturing methods, for example by gravimetry with a check of the masses injected into the bottles by weighing or by a temperature-corrected pressure measurement. However, these methods have the drawbacks of making it almost mandatory to roll the bottles after mixing in order to homogenize the contents thereof and to carry out an analytical check on the containers in order to ensure that they conform to the intended specifications. Such procedures are therefore not very practical and are expensive in terms of time and of productivity.
Furthermore, during dynamic mixing there is also the problem of demixing of the gas mixture downstream of the mixing chamber, that is to say inopportune demixing or separation of the various components of the mixture downstream of the site where the said mixing takes place.
Demixing of a gas mixture is characterized by the separation of the said mixture into two separate phases, namely a gas phase and a liquid phase.
Demixing occurs as soon as the temperature of the mixture drops below a temperature threshold. The higher the gas content of the mixture the higher the demixing temperature.
For a binary gas mixture formed from 50% O2 and 50% N2O, this demixing threshold is about xe2x88x925.5xc2x0 C., as explained in the document xe2x80x9cEquilibria for mixtures of oxygen with nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide and their relevance to the storage of N2O/O2 cylinders for use in analgesiaxe2x80x9d, March 1970.
Now, gas packaging using a dynamic mixer is always accompanied by an expansion downstream of the mixing chamber and therefore in general a reduction in the temperature of the gases, even to below the demixing temperature in the case of an analgesic mixture.
The flow of the gases through the filling injection rails into the bottles is therefore a two-phase flow, the liquid phase and the gas phase moving at different flow velocities.
Consequently, the bottles are no longer filled homogeneously and relatively large differences are observed in the final contents of the mixtures produced in each of the bottles filled from the same injection rail during the same manufacturing cycle or process.
These disparities may be explained by preferential flows of certain constituents of the gas mixture with respect to others in the pipes of the injection rails for filling the containers, namely gravitational flows or flows in the form of droplets in the case of liquefied gases.
Thus, under high filling-rate conditions or in the case of type B5 small-volume (5 liter) containers, the resulting contents of mixtures in a few containers of the same manufacturing batch may be outside the production tolerances imposed by the Pharmacopoeia, namely a maximum deviation of 1% in the case of a 50 vol %/50 vol % O2/N2O mixture. Consequently, it is essential to carry out an analytical check on each container. This is tiresome and not very practical from the industrial standpoint.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to be able to produce gas mixtures, in particular gas mixtures intended for the medical field, and then to package them rapidly, reliably and effectively, that is to say without encountering the problems that arise with the conventional packaging processes.
Put another way, the problem that arises is to be able to produce and package, dynamically, gases for producing gas mixtures containing mainly one or several of the following constituents O2, CO2, N2, He and N2O in predefined proportions so as to allow the production of mixtures having a variable content of a given gas, especially CO2 and N2O in contents greater than 30%, in particular a process that can be used for producing medical gas mixtures, for example 50 vol %/50 vol % oxygen/nitrous oxide analgesic binary gas mixtures, while preventing the gas mixture thus produced from reaching its demixing temperature threshold or point.
In other words, the process of the invention should have the advantages of the known CO2 dynamic packaging process without having its drawbacks, that is to say to be able to be used to manufacture gas mixtures having, in particular, a content of more than 30% of a given gas, such as nitrous oxide (N2O) or oxygen, while minimizing or preventing as far as possible the demixing phenomenon.
It follows that the solution provided by the present invention relies on a process for manufacturing gas mixtures containing at least a first component and at least a second component in predefined proportions, the said first and second components being chosen from the group formed by O2, N2, He and N2O, in which:
(a) predetermined proportions of at least the said first component and the said second component are mixed dynamically in order to obtain a gas mixture of the desired composition;
(b) the temperature of the said gas mixture containing the said first and second components obtained in step (a) is adjusted in order to keep it above the demixing threshold temperature of the said mixture.
According to another aspect, the invention also relates to a process for manufacturing gas mixtures containing at least a first component and at least a second component in predefined proportions, the said first component being chosen from the group formed by O2, N2, He and N2O and the said second component being CO2, in which:
(a) predetermined proportions of at least the said first component and the said second component are mixed dynamically in order to obtain a gas mixture of the desired composition;
(b) the temperature of the said gas mixture containing the said first and second components obtained in step (a) is adjusted in order to keep it above the demixing threshold temperature of the said mixture.
Depending on the case, the manufacturing process of the invention may include one or more of the following characteristics:
the second component is chosen from CO2 and N2O and the content of the second component (N2O or CO2) is greater than or equal to 30 vol %, preferably at least 40 vol %;
the first component is oxygen and the second component is nitrous oxide (N2O) and preferably the gas mixture consists of 50 vol % of the said first component and 50 vol % of the said second component, the first component being oxygen and the second component being nitrous oxide (N2O);
at least one of the said first and second components is in the supercritical state;
in step (b), the temperature of the gas mixture is adjusted to or kept above xe2x88x925.5xc2x0 C.;
the temperature of the gas mixture is adjusted by warming the gas mixture by heat exchange, preferably the said warming being carried out by at least one electric heater;
the gas mixture contains CO2 and O2, and possibly helium;
the pressure of the gas mixture is between 120 bar and 300 bar;
at least a first component and at least a second component in predefined proportions in at least one container, particularly a gas bottle, the said gas mixture being obtained by a gas mixture manufacturing process;
a gas mixture consisting of 50 vol % oxygen and 50 vol % nitrous oxide (N2O) in at least one container, in particular a gas bottle, the said gas mixture being obtained by a gas mixture manufacturing process.
The invention also relates to a plant for manufacturing, dynamically, gas mixtures containing at least a first component and at least a second component in predefined proportions, comprising:
a source of the first component, containing the said first component;
a source of the second component, containing the said second component;
at least one dynamic mixing chamber for mixing the said first and second components in order to obtain a gas mixture of the desired composition; and
temperature adjustment means located downstream of the said mixing chamber allowing the temperature of the said gas mixture containing the said first and second components to be adjusted or kept above the demixing threshold temperature of the said gas mixture.
Preferably, the plant may include one or more of the following characteristics:
the temperature adjustment means are chosen from heat exchangers and preferably electric heaters;
compression means located upstream of the said chamber, warming means located upstream of the said chamber and/or at least one buffer tank, the plant preferably having the compression means, the warming means and the buffer tank placed in series;
control means acting on the compression means in response to a predetermined pressure threshold being detected by at least one pressure sensor designed to be able to determine the pressure obtaining in the said buffer tank.
According to yet another aspect, the invention relates to a plant for filling containers with gas, which comprises:
a manufacturing plant; and
conveying and filling means located downstream of the temperature adjustment means and making it possible to convey the gas mixture to at least one gas container to be filled with the said gas mixture and to fill the said container.
Within the context of the present invention, xe2x80x9cdynamic mixingxe2x80x9d is understood to mean mixing carried out by continuous and/or simultaneous injection of the constituents of the said mixture into a mixing chamber and/or direct injection into packaging containers, and this being achieved with the expected or desired final composition.
The various problems encountered with the conventional packaging processes do not in fact arise with a dynamic mixer according to the invention, this being so for several reasons, and, above all, because the metering of the masses by a mass flowmeter obviates the uncertainties in the temperature and pressure measurements, and the manufacturing vagaries associated with the errors on the measured amounts and values which exist with the said known packaging processes.
The xe2x80x9cdynamicxe2x80x9d gas mixture packaging process according to the invention is particularly suitable for the production and packaging of gas mixtures intended for use in the medical or pharmaceutical field, which gas mixtures must meet strict requirements in terms of mixture quality and precision, especially for obvious reasons of patient safety.
The dynamic packaging method of the invention is particularly suitable for the manufacture of gas mixtures based on O2, N2, He and N2O, or even CO2 but with a volume content greater than 30%.
The dynamic packaging process, also called dynamic mixing, consists in filling, from the start to the end of the packaging sequence, one or more gas bottles with a gas mixture having the desired final composition.
The gas mixture is produced upstream of the filling injection rail in a very small mixing chamber into which the gases making up the composition of the mixture to be produced are fed, the amounts fed for each gas being monitored by a mass flowmeter assigned to each source of each of the constituents of the gas mixture to be produced.
A set of several control valves is used to control the source gas flow rate by virtue of the action of an automatic control system.
In general, the dynamic packaging process of the invention has the following main advantages:
the packaged mixture is immediately homogeneous, that is to say it does not require the bottles to be subsequently rolled in order to mix and properly homogenize the gases which are in them;
it makes it possible to limit the production variations in the content for a bank of bottles filled during the same filling cycle given that the batch manufactured may be qualified by a single analysis carried out on one bottle of the batch, thus resulting in savings being made both in the cost of analytical testing and in filling time;
mass-based metering of the amounts of gas to be packaged has the advantage of providing measurement accuracy and therefore of metering the amount on each source gas irrespective of the pressure and temperature conditions. The accuracy of mass-based metering therefore makes it possible to achieve an extremely low level of gas mixtures which are scrapped after analytical testing; and
the fact of carrying out mass-based metering rather than measuring pressures and temperatures has the advantage of avoiding the measurement errors that can occur in gas mixtures and therefore of solving the problem of obtaining gas mixtures whose contents of the various components of which they are composed do not conform to the desired contents.
In addition, by virtue of the process of the invention, the contents of the various constituents of the said gas mixture within several containers filled during the same filling cycle are reproducible from one container to another, that is to say from gas bottle to gas bottle, since the manufacturing deviations are extremely small from one bottle to another. Consequently, a batch of several bottles filled during the same filling cycle may be checked by analysing a single bottle taken at random from the batch and it is no longer necessary to repeat this check on several bottles, as is usually the case. This makes it possible to save time and to increase the productivity and efficiency of the packaging process.
In other words, a very high level of packaging reproducibility is achieved over time by using a dynamic mixer for packaging gas mixtures, in particular N2O/O2 gas mixtures.

Process and plant for the dynamic packaging of gases, especially those for medical use


An X-ray inspection system and methodology is disclosed. The system comprises a conveyor, an X-ray source that exposes an item under inspection to X-ray radiation and at least one X-ray detector that detects X-ray radiation modified by the item. The X-ray source and X-ray detector may be movable in any of first and second dimensions. The X-ray source may also be moved in a third dimension to zoom in and out on regions of interest in the item order inspection. The system further comprises a controller that controls movement of the X-ray source and X-ray detector, independently of each other, in any of collinear and different directions, to provide a plurality of X-ray views of the item at varying examination angles of the X-ray radiation. A processor coupled to the controller may be configured to receive and process detection information from the X-ray detector and to provide processed information to an operator interface. The operator interface may also receive instructions from an operator input and provide the instructions to the controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to X-ray inspection systems for examination of items such as baggage or packages. More specifically, the invention relates to an X-ray inspection system and method, that utilizes X-ray radiation modified by the item under inspection to detect, for example, weapons, drugs, explosives, or other contraband.
2. Discussion of Related Art
X-ray baggage inspection systems typically operate by exposing an item of baggage to X-ray radiation and detecting the X-ray radiation that is transmitted through or scattered from the examined baggage. Some systems have used a single view source detector arrangement, while others have used dual view or multi-view arrangements. The single or dual view systems usually scan baggage as it moves on a conveyor, using a fan or scanning pencil beam of X-ray radiation in a fixed geometry. Multi-view systems such as Computed Tomography (CT) systems usually perform a 360° scan of stationary baggage, and process data corresponding to absorption of the X-ray radiation from different scan angles to reconstruct a three-dimensional image of the baggage.
At airports, the baggage inspection procedure may be divided into a number of levels of inspection. A level one system may process baggage rapidly, such as at a targeted rate of approximately 1500 bags per hour. The level one system may be located at a first inspection station and may inspect all baggage. The level one system may rapidly scan baggage using some detection methodology, to eliminate non-suspicious baggage. This methodology may determine a property of materials within the baggage, such as, for example, mass density, or effective atomic number, or may employ Compton X-ray scatter, ion mass spectroscopy, or other detection techniques. The number of bags that are not cleared (that are rejected) by a level one system may range from 10%–50% of the total number of bags, depending on the detection methodology and threat thresholds used in the particular system.
In a multi-level system, the bags rejected by the level one system may be automatically sent to a level two area where an operator may visually inspect an X-ray image of the bag. The operator may search the image of the bag for characteristic objects, such as weapons, wires, explosives, etc., and may attempt to determine whether a suspicious object within the bag may be cleared based on its obvious shape. The operator at a level two station may clear most, but not all of the rejected bags. The remaining baggage may be on the order of, for example, 0.1%–0.5% of the initial stream, and may be sent to a level three inspection station. At the level three station, the bag may be inspected with a slower inspection device, than a level one system, that may use a different detection methodology to the level one system.
One example of a level three inspection device may be a CT scanner. CT scanners are usually successful in identifying explosives inside a bag when the explosives are present in large amount. The CT scanner may measure the mass density of the examined object. The CT scanner may be set up to communicate with the level one system in order to interrogate a specific object or region of interest, that was identified in the bag by the level one system. However, CT scanners can be expensive and slow.
Another example of a device that may be used as a level three detection device may be a multi-probe tomography system such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,393, herein incorporated by reference.
On average, a level three device may tend to clear less than half of the objects it inspects. Thus, approximately 0.05%–0.25% of the baggage may need to be sent to a level four area. A level four area may be defined as reconciliation of the bag with the owner, which may often be difficult. If reconciliation is not possible, the bag may be confiscated and additional problems may arise, such as, termination of the flight that the bag was to be on.
While the above system can perform adequately, there is still a need for a device that may be used, for example, as a level three device that can reliably detect various explosives and other contraband having different shapes and locations in the item under inspection.

L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems, Inc.


A tool for opening cans in the form of a sleeve sized to receive a lever fixed to a can and operable to bend a weakened portion of a can top into the can in a hinged swinging action, the tool having a mouth and longitudinally extending slit at one end sized to receive the lever and being adapted for use in applying additional downward pressure supplementing that of the lever of the can to open a can.

Numerous cans are utilized for containing products, such as beverages, which cans are of the type which are adapted to be opened by manipulating a lever on the top of the can. Generally speaking, such cans have a top surface with a central zone from which a top portion extends radially which is bounded by a weakened line of juncture between the radially extending zone and the can top proper and which is adapted to be forceably broken in response to downward pressure and to be hingedly swung about a hinge line at the central zone and swung into the interior of the can upon manipulation of the lever. The lever of such cans includes a portion which extends over the radially extending portion and another end which extends substantially to the outer periphery of the can with the lever being spaced slightly above the top surface of the can and being connected to the can at the center thereof. Upon lifting of the terminal end of the lever it pivots about the central connection point with a portion extending over the radially extending can top surface bounded by the weakened border or periphery being adapted to be forced downwardly when the lever is raised hingedly folding it into the interior of the can.
Persons opening such cans often find it difficult to obtain a bite or grip about the lever to conveniently raise it, without endangering fingernails or incurring the risk of cuts on the metal. This is a problem which is somewhat aggravated by the fact that one's hands are often wet when doing this tending to increase the likelihood of cuts.
This invention is of a tool which is in sleeve form for use in jacketing the extending lever arm and for use in applying additional leverage in opening the can.


A capsular design is disclosed for self-administered delivery of a pre-determined amount of liquid medication. The capsular design can be constructed as having either a single piece or two piece capsular wall construction where a portion of the liquid medication contained within can be administered sublingually and the remaining portion can be subsequently swallowed for gastro-intestinal absorption.

Oral delivery of medications is one of the most frequent techniques utilized for delivering medication to the body. One of the most popular delivery mechanisms is the capsule. The background of U.S. Pat. No. 8,361,497 issued to Miller provides a detailed description into the history and present techniques for capsule manufacture and is hereby incorporated by reference.
Capsules containing medication for oral intake are usually swallowed for delivery of the medication to the stomach, where the capsule dissolves within 20 to 30 minutes and the medication is absorbed into the bloodstream.
A two piece capsule design is typically used for delivering medication in a solid form such as a fine powder or pellets. One or both portions of this capsule design are made of a material which quickly becomes mollified when coming in contact with liquid, such as water or gastric juice.
With respect to capsular delivery of liquid medication such as nitroglycerin, the capsule design is sealed and having no orifices. This type of design essentially encapsulates the medication until the capsular wall is dissolved in the gastro-intestinal tract; thereafter releasing the medication into the body for absorption. The composition of the capsular wall used for liquid containment is different than that used for medication in a non-liquid form.

Capsule for sublingual and gastro-intestinal delivery of a liquid medication in a single volume limited dose


There is provided mechanisms for data transmission on a contention based physical data channel (PDCH). The method is performed by a wireless device. The method comprises sending a first data transmission on the contention based PDCH to an access node. The method comprises receiving a response to the first data transmission from the access node. The method comprises determining a signal strength of the response. The method comprises acting as the first data transmission either was collision-free or collided with another data transmission of another wireless depending on a comparison between the signal strength and a threshold defined by an expected signal strength of the response.

In communications networks, there may be a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the communications network is deployed.
For example, one difficulty in delivering high data rates in wireless communications networks is the natural variability of the radio propagation channels. Power control and adaptive modulation and coding are classical methods that adapt the signal quality and data rates to the current radio channel conditions. Such methods can be used to combat channel fading to achieve a constant data rate. Alternatively, the instantaneous data rate can be adapted to the instantaneous channel fading, to send more data when the channel has favorable conditions and less when it is unfavorable. These methods can be applied both over time and over frequency subcarriers. The power and modulation adaptation generally need to be re-determined over the same time/frequency scale as the channel varies. Since substantial channel variations can occur over a few milliseconds and a few hundred kHz, this calls for cumbersome channel estimation and feedback mechanisms.
Access nodes, such as radio base stations, equipped with a large number of antennas can simultaneously schedule multiple wireless devices at the same time/frequency band and communicate using linear processing such as maximum-ratio (MR) and zero-forcing (ZF). This is an approach to handle data traffic does not require a denser network deployment and each access node can control the interference that it causes to its local area. Using many antennas at the access node along with appropriately chosen precoding results in an effective channel between the access node and the wireless device that is substantially independent of the small-scale fading and appears flat over frequency. This property is often referred to as channel hardening. Communications networks having nodes with many antennas are often referred to as massive multi-user multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO), abbreviated by massive MIMO or MA-MIMO hereafter.
To see the impact of the number of antennas on the channel variations, consider a multiple-input single-output (MISO) system with an access node having M transmit antennas and using MR precoding. Mathematically, the received signal at the wireless device can be expressed asy=√{square root over (P)}hTws+e, where P is the transmitted power, h denotes the M×1 channel vector,
  w  =            h      *                    h            is the M×1 MR precoding vector, s is the unit-energy transmitted symbol, and e is zero-mean additive white Gaussian noise with variance σ2. It can be shown that the average received SNR scales as M. However, the SNR variations around the mean depend heavily on the number of antennas M and decreases as M increases. This can be seen from FIG. 1 where the average received Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) as well as the maximum and the minimum received SNR for 100000 random channel realizations are plotted versus the number of antennas. In FIG. 1, the average SNR per antenna is set to 0 dB, i.e.,
      P          σ      2        =  1and an independent Rayleigh fading channel where the elements of h are circularly symmetric complex Gaussian random variables with zero mean and unit variance is assumed. For illustration, the instantaneous received SNR for a random channel realization is also plotted. From FIG. 1 follows that the average SNR increases linearly as M increases, and moreover the SNR variations around the mean decrease with M. Similar observations can be made for ZF precoding. This confirms the fact that in communications network deploying nodes with massive number of antennas, the channel after exploiting a good precoder is almost flat and does not vary with time or frequency.
The channel hardening property can be utilized to simplify the power control and selection of modulation and coding, since the same choice can be used for all available frequencies and over a relatively long time period (depending on the user mobility). This is one of the benefits of massive MIMO over conventional radio access technologies.
One key advantage with massive MIMO systems is that wireless devices can be separated spatially. Hence there is a potential to let wireless devices send uplink data in a non-coordinated fashion. This can lower overhead and give advantages in latency. However, a massive MIMO system can only separate the wireless devices if the wireless devices are assigned orthogonal pilot signals. If all wireless devices are assigned unique pilot signals a very large overhead is created. Hence, according to state of the art, pilot signals are reused, i.e., the same pilot signal is assigned to at least two wireless devices. This leads to a collision probability. Using state of the art methods these collisions result in a loss of resources. For example are the data symbols lost and the collision probability of multiple collisions is handled by using a back-off timer giving an increase in latency.
Hence, there is still a need for an improved handling of wireless devices sending uplink data in a non-coordinated fashion.

Data transmission on a contention based physical data channel


A handle has at least one holding plate which can be mounted in an opening in a thin wall such as a sheet-metal cabinet door, a head part, such as a flange or olive-shaped handle, which overlaps the rim of the opening of the thin wall on its (outer) side, and a body part which proceeds from the head part and can be pushed through the opening in the thin wall, and a holding part which is carried by the body part, supported on the other (rear) side of the thin wall, and is separate from the body part, wherein the holding part is formed by holding elements which project in a flexible manner from the body part in the direction of its outer surface and whose free end has an inclined surface for supporting the body part on the rim or edge of the opening without play.

The invention is directed to a handle which has at least one holding plate which can be mounted in an opening in a thin wall such as a sheet-metal cabinet door, a head part, such as a flange or olive-shaped handle, which overlaps the rim of the opening of the thin wall on its (outer) side, and a body part which proceeds from the head part and can be pushed through the opening in the thin wall, and a holding part which is carried by the body part, supported on the other (rear) side of the thin wall, and is separate from the body part.


The disclosure relates to a device and a method for influencing the polarization distribution in an optical system, in particular in a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus. A device according to the disclosure includes a plurality of polarization-influencing optical elements which are arranged in a common plane in such a way that they can be moved independently of each other.

Microlithographic projection exposure apparatuses are used for the manufacture of microstructured components such as for example integrated circuits or liquid crystal displays (LCDs). A projection exposure apparatus of this kind includes an illumination system and a projection objective. In the microlithography process, an image of a mask (commonly referred to as a reticle) that is illuminated via the illumination system is projected via the projection objective onto a substrate (for example a silicon wafer) which is coated with a light-sensitive coating layer (photoresist) and is arranged in the image plane of the projection objective, whereby the mask structure is transferred to the light-sensitive coating of the substrate.
As is known, the image contrast in the microlithography process can be significantly improved if the mask is illuminated with linearly polarized light, wherein it is of advantage if the preferred direction of the linear polarization is parallel to the lengthwise direction of the grid structures that are present on the mask. In the illumination with polarized light, it is also desirable that the polarization distribution be as constant as possible over the entire reticle field in order to achieve a constant image contrast and thus a defect-free image of the grid structures. However, a problem is encountered here in that the light falling on the mask has previously traveled over different ray paths in the illumination system, where an originally existing polarization distribution (of light that was generally of linear polarization when it entered the illumination system) has been changed to different degrees on the different ray paths by polarization-influencing effects (e.g., by stress-induced birefringence caused by components of mounting devices in the material of the optical components such as lenses, or by polarization-influencing effects of dielectric layers, etc.).

Device and method for influencing the polarization distribution in an optical system


A method of forming bicomponent fibers in a sheath-core relationship in a spinning pack that incorporates a plurality of adjacent plates that define predetermined flow paths therein for a sheath component and a core component to direct the respective components into the sheath-core relationship. The method comprises maintaining the differential pressure in the spinning pack between the sheath component and the core component low enough to avoid leaks and doglegging, while maintaining the total spinning pack pressure low enough to prevent leaks and doglegging.

As the names respectively imply, "conjugate," "multicomponent" or "bicomponent" fibers are synthetic polymer filament materials that are formed from two or more types of polymers in adjacent relationship. The adjacent relationship can comprise a number of different arrangements and patterns as set forth in the various references cited as a part of this application. The general purpose of forming multicomponent fibers is to obtain two or more types of polymer properties in one fiber. For example, one method of bonding fibers to one another in non-woven textile fabric materials is to use a bicomponent fiber in which one component melts at a lower temperature than the other. When the correct amount of heat is applied, the lower melting component will melt and form adhering portions between the fibers to stabilize the non-woven fabric, while the other component remains solid and maintains the overall integrity of the non-woven fabric.
Other uses of bicomponent fibers are to produce fibers which will crimp naturally when heated because of the difference in the properties of the two components, for example different respective molecular orientations or different thermal properties. As known to those familiar with textiles, crimped fibers and yarns are particularly useful in clothing manufacture. Another use of multicomponent spinning technology is to produce integral filaments formed from several polymer components which can later be chemically separated to form extremely fine filaments, finer than those that would ordinarily be produced from a spinnerette head. These fine filaments are presently often referred to as "micro fibers" and demonstrate the capability to have a significant positive effect on increased consumer acceptance of polyester fabrics. This is particularly beneficial when the micro fiber fabrics exhibit desirable properties that consumers tend to favorably associate with "natural" fibers and fabrics.
One of the most common arrangements for multicomponent fibers is the bicomponent sheath-core relationship, which as its name implies, is a bicomponent filament material in which one component, referred to as the sheath, surrounds the other component which is referred to as the core.
The basic processes for forming bicomponent or multicomponent fibers are well understood. In general, separate streams of each polymer component must be directed from a supply source through a spinning head (often referred to as a "pack" ) in a desired flow pattern until they reach the exit portion of the pack; i.e., the spinnerette holes, from which they exit the spinning head in the desired multicomponent relationship. As might be expected, the design of the pack can be fairly complicated, and the manufacture of spinning heads to produce the desired flow patterns for the respective components is often similarly complex.
A recent improvement in such machinery and techniques has been set forth by William H. Hills in International Application PCT/US88/03330; International Publication No. WO 89/02938, published on Apr. 6, 1989 (the "'330 application"). The '330 application is incorporated entirely herein by reference. In this document, Hills describes a multicomponent spinning pack in which a portion of the flow paths of the respective component polymers are defined by a series of thin plates having appropriate groves or channels therein that direct the separate components to their desired positions and relationships as they exit the spinning pack in the form of a multicomponent fiber. The advantage suggested by Hills is that because the plates are relatively thin, they can be etched rather than machined into the desired flow patterns. Under some circumstances, etching is less difficult to carry out than are other processes such as casting, milling, or drilling when forming such flow paths.
The desirability of the thin etched plates also results from the potential ease with which they can be removed and replaced. Previously, the changing or cleaning of a spinning pack head for multicomponent fibers was an extremely time and labor intensive task, especially given the multiplicity of flow paths required to produce the multicomponent fibers.
The Hills apparatus is designed, however, so that many or all of the cleaning and flow path tailoring steps can be accomplished by simply removing the thin plates and replacing them with new ones. Additionally, Hills suggests that because the thin plates can be easily etched, as compared to the machining that is required for thicker plates, the production of various tailored plates, with which various tailored multicomponent fibers can be produced, will become much easier.
Nevertheless, applicants herein have attempted for some time to incorporate the teaching of the Hills publication, but without ultimate success. Specifically, it has been discovered that use of the apparatus and method as described by Hills leads to a number of problems during the spinning process, particularly when certain throughputs, polymer combinations, or sheath-core ratios are used. The most severe of these problems are the internal leakage in the spinning head combined with a "dog legging" and drip problem as the components exit the spinning head. As used in this art, "dog-legging" refers to the tendency of a stream of molten polymer to bend as it exits a spinnerette, rather than flowing in a straight path. If the bend in the dog leg is severe enough, the polymer stream will literally return and contact the spinnerette, and then drip inappropriately from it.
As best understood by the applicants, it appears that in the Hills apparatus the components tend to mix within the spinning head prior to the point, or just adjacent the point, at which they exit the spinning head. This is referred to as an "internal leak." The result is a fiber mixture that has been brought together prematurely and in which the desired sheath-core or other pattern relationship has been lost. The resulting fiber is either undesirable, or even useless, for its intended purposes.
Additionally, under certain circumstances the polymer will visibly leak from the pack at undesired and unintended positions, a problem referred to as an "external leak." At present, it appears and is assumed that external leaks are also indicative of internal leaks as just described.
In spite of these difficulties, the potential for the Hills type of apparatus appears to be quite good and it would be useful if methods and techniques could be developed that would permit the use of the thin plates in a spinning pack while eliminating the problems experienced in such devices to date.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a method of using a Hills type apparatus successfully in the production of bicomponent fibers and while eliminating the problems that to date have been inherent in any such use of Hills type machinery.
The foregoing and other objects, advantages and features of the invention, and the manner in which the same are accomplished, will become more readily apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate preferred and exemplary embodiments, in which:

Method for producing multicomponent polymer fibers


Known systems based on stereoscopic video coding and video decoding code with inadequate efficiency because the left-hand picture and the right-hand picture are coded and decoded independently of one another by means of the encoders present in the system. As a result of providing one encoder with switching means to which a signal representing the left-hand picture and a signal representing the right-hand picture are fed, said encoder is able to base the prediction either on the left-hand picture or the right-hand picture, and this improves the prediction and, consequently, the efficiency of the coding. As a result of designing the switching means, according to one embodiment, for the adjustment of the ratio of the signal representing the left-hand picture and the signal representing the right-hand picture and for the subsequent addition of the two adjusted signals, a still greater advantage is achieved in the prediction with the correct ratio, and this results in a further improvement in the efficiency of the (total) coding.

The invention relates to a system comprising a first encoder for coding a first digital signal, a second encoder for coding a second digital signal and at least one decoder for decoding coded digital signals, which first encoder is provided with
a first input for receiving the first digital signal, PA1 first data processing means, coupled to the first input, for generating a first coded digital signal, PA1 first encoder feedback means for feeding back at least a section of the first data processing means, which first encoder feedback means comprise first encoder memory means, PA1 a second input for receiving the second digital signal, PA1 second data processing means, coupled to the second input, for generating a second coded digital signal, and PA1 second encoder feedback means for feeding back at least a section of the second data processing means, which second encoder feedback means comprise second encoder memory means, PA1 first data reprocessing means for processing a first coded digital signal, PA1 first decoder memory means which are coupled to the first data reprocessing means, PA1 second data reprocessing means for processing a second coded digital signal, PA1 second decoder memory means which are coupled to the second data reprocessing means. PA1 first decoder movement compensation means, situated in series with the first decoder memory means, and PA1 second decoder movement compensation means, situated in series with the second decoder memory means. PA1 an input for receiving the digital signal, PA1 data processing means, coupled to the input, for generating a coded digital signal, PA1 encoder feedback means for feeding back at least a section of the data processing means, which encoder feedback means comprise encoder memory means. PA1 first data reprocessing means for processing a first coded digital signal, PA1 first decoder memory means which are coupled to the first data reprocessing means, PA1 second data reprocessing means for processing a second coded digital signal, and PA1 second decoder memory means which are coupled to the second data reprocessing means. PA1 first decoder movement compensation means, situated in series with the first decoder memory means, and PA1 second decoder movement compensation means, situated in series with the second decoder memory means.
which second encoder is provided with
and which decoder is provided with
and
Such a system is disclosed in "Data Compression of Stereopairs", by Michael G. Perkins, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. 40, No. 4, April 1992, pages 684-696, in particular FIG. 3. The first encoder comprises the first input for receiving the first digital signal to be coded, such as, for example, a left-hand television signal made up of picture elements (pixels or pels), and the first data processing means, coupled to the first input, for generating the first coded digital signal. The first encoder furthermore comprises the first encoder feedback means for feeding back at least a section of the first data processing means in order to make the coding proceed more efficiently. The first encoder feedback means comprise the first encoder memory means. The second encoder comprises the second input for receiving the second digital signal to be coded, such as, for example, a right-hand television signal made up of picture elements (pixels or pels), and the second data processing means, coupled to the second input, for generating the second coded digital signal. The second encoder furthermore comprises the second encoder feedback means for feeding back at least a section of the second data processing means in order to make the coding proceed more efficiently. The second encoder feedback means comprise the second encoder memory means. Such first and second encoders are generally known.
Such a system provided with the first encoder comprising the first data processing means and the second encoder comprising the second data processing means is made up of two parts: the first data processing means generate the first coded digital signal, which represents the left-hand television picture, and the second data processing means generate the second coded digital signal, which represents the right-hand television picture. Both signals are then passed, by means of multiplexing and demultiplexing, to the decoder, which comprises the first data reprocessing means for processing a first coded digital signal, the first decoder memory means, which are coupled to the first data reprocessing means, the second data reprocessing means for processing a second coded digital signal, and the second decoder memory means, which are coupled to the second data reprocessing means. Like the encoders, such a decoder is generally known.
Such a known system has the disadvantage that it codes with inadequate efficiency.

System comprising a first encoder for coding a first digital signal, a second encoder for coding a second digital signal and at least one decoder for decoding coded digital signals, and coder and decoder for use in the system


A fusion polynucleotide including a murine CMV promoter and an intron, a recombinant vector including the fusion polynucleotide and a gene encoding a polypeptide of interest, a recombinant cell including the recombinant vector, and a method of producing a polypeptide of interest using the recombinant vector and/or the recombinant cell.

1. Field
Provided is a fusion polynucleotide including a murine CMV promoter and an intron, a recombinant vector including the fusion polynucleotide and a gene encoding a polypeptide of interest, a recombinant cell including the recombinant vector, and a method of producing a polypeptide of interest using the recombinant vector and/or the recombinant cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Therapeutic proteins, such as antibodies, have emerged in the medical industry and have been developed as medicines for various targets. To commercialize therapeutic proteins and examine effects thereof, it is necessary to produce the proteins on a large scale.
The use of an animal cell to produce a therapeutic protein can increase the efficacy of the therapeutics compared to using microorganisms to produce a protein; however, animal cells are limited in that the amount of produced protein is small. To solve this problem, it is necessary to develop a recombinant vector capable of increasing the productivity of protein in an animal cell (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,062 A).

Fusion polynucleotide containing murine CMV promoter and method of preparing a polypeptide of interest using the same


A printing hammer assembly is provided having a plurality of hammer springs arrayed side by side at a predetermined pitch in a shuttling direction of a hammer bank. A front yoke is provided in front of the hammer springs, and a plurality of rectangular grooves are formed at an upper portion of the front yoke so as to receive therein corresponding rectangular plungers provided at the hammer springs. A gap is defined between a side wall of the groove and a side wall of the plunger. The gap is sufficiently large for tolerating inaccurate assembly of the hammer springs and the front yokes. Further, a subordinate front yoke is provided on the front yoke at a position of an array of the grooves.

The present invention relates to a dot line printer, and more particularly to a printing hammer assembly of the dot line printer capable of performing high speed printing. Throughout the specification and claims, the expression "front", "rear", "above", "below" and "laterally" are used herein to define the various parts when the print hammer assembly is disposed in an orientation in which it is intended to be used. For example, "front" implies a printing pin side, and "laterally" implies a direction of an array of a printing hammers.
A printing hammer assembly of a conventional dot line printer is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A comb yoke 18 is mounted on a base 14, and a permanent magnet 17 is interposed between the comb yoke 18 and the base 14. The comb yoke 18 has front surface defining a plurality of attraction surfaces having rectangular shape in cross-section. Further, an electromagnetic coil 19 is wound over a front portion, adjacent to a pole portion of the comb yoke 18. A leaf spring 11 has a base end fixed to a front face of the base 14 by a screw 16, and a front yoke 15 is positioned over the leaf spring 11, and is secured to the front face of the base 14 by the screw 16. The front yoke constitutes a part of a magnetic circuit. The leaf spring 11 has free end portion formed with a plurality of arm portions defining hammer springs arrayed side by side at a predetermined pitch in a lateral direction (shuttling direction of the hammer bank assembly). Each of printing pins 12 projects frontwardly from each of the arm portions of the leaf spring 11, and plungers 13 also protrude frontwardly from the arm portion at a position adjacent the printing pins. The arm and the printing pin constitute a printing hammer. The plungers 13 have cylindrical configuration, and corresponding bores are formed in the front yoke 15 to allow the plungers 13 to pass therethrough. Because of the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 17, rear faces of the plungers 13 are attracted to the pole portion provided at the front end portion of the comb yoke 18 with accompanying flex of the arm portions in order to maintain non-printing position of the pins. Further, because of the energization of the electromagnetic coil 19, the free end portion of the leaf spring are released from the pole portion to perform printing. Thus, spring-charged dot printing hammer is provided.
In order to perform high speed printing, two arrays of printing pins have been proposed. That is, the printing hammer assembly has an upper array of printing pins, and a lower array of printing pins, and totally 200 numbers or less of pins are provided with a pitch of the neighboring pins being 0.15 inches in order to print about 400 lines of Chinese characters per a minute. Further, if the printing speed is to be further enhanced to print about 600 lines of Chinese characters per minute, about 300 numbers of printing pins are required with the pin pitch of 0.1 inches. However, with high density arrangement of the printing pins, disadvantages may be caused.

Dot line printer having improved yoke assembly


This document describes techniques using, and devices embodying, radar gesture sensing using existing data protocols. These techniques and devices enable transmitting data according to an existing data protocol, modulating the data on a radar field to transmit to another device, and sensing user gestures by analyzing reflections of portions of transmitted data by the transmitting or receiving device. Techniques are also described to filter received signals based on addressing information in the transmitted data to limit gesture recognition at a receiving device to transmitting devices known to the receiver.

Use of gestures to interact with computing devices has become increasingly common. Gesture recognition techniques have successfully enabled gesture interaction with devices when these gestures are made to device surfaces, such as touch screens for phones and tablets and touch pads for desktop computers. Users, however, are more and more often desiring to interact with their devices through gestures not made to a surface, such as a person waving an arm to control a video game. These in-the-air gestures can be sensed using radar techniques by devices that emit a radar field and analyze reflections of that radar field. The device emitting the radar field controls modulation and transmission of the radar field, which enables the device to correlate radar reflections to the modulations of the radar field. In some applications, multiple devices may benefit from radar gesture recognition, but another device, which does not emit the radar field, lacks access to the control information for the modulation and transmission of the radar field to perform radar gesture sensing.

Radar gesture sensing using existing data protocols


A transmitting device is provided that generates OFDM symbols by identifying a sampling frequency of input data that is input from an external device, determining a number of inverse Fourier transform sample points and a number of sampling points of a redundant data portion in accordance with the identified sampling frequency, and subjecting the input data to OFDM modulation using the determined number of sampling points. The transmitting device then transmits the generated OFDM symbols.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmitting device and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional system that transmits and receives streaming data such as video or audio data, a transmitting device attaches a synchronization code to streaming data and transmits the data to a receiving device, and the receiving device plays back the streaming data based on the synchronization code (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-275194).
However, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-275194, hardware or software that serves as synchronization code attachment means that attaches a synchronization code to streaming data and synchronization code detection means that detects the synchronization code is required in the transmitting device and the receiving device, respectively.

Transmitting device and control method thereof


A power control apparatus includes: a first conversion apparatus that applies DC/DC conversion to direct current power from a power generator for generating power using natural energy, and outputs the resultant power; a second conversion apparatus that applies DC/DC conversion to the power output from the first conversion apparatus and charges a power storage unit with the resultant power, and also applies DC/DC conversion to power from the power storage unit and discharges the resultant power; a third conversion apparatus that supplies alternating current power to a power system and an alternating current load by applying DC/AC conversion to the power output from the first conversion apparatus and/or the power discharged by the second conversion apparatus; and a controller that causes the second conversion apparatus to perform the discharge so that the power output from the third conversion apparatus is higher than power consumed by the alternating current load.

Conventionally, development of an energy management system that performs optimum power management has been taking place in order to efficiently use power supplied from a plurality of power sources, e.g., power from a power system that supplies commercial power, power generated through photovoltaics, and power reserved in a battery.
For example, JP 2012-139019A discloses a configuration of a power conditioner that realizes effective use of generated power by charging a storage battery with the generated power at the time of output suppression control.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show exemplary configurations of an energy management system.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an energy management system 11 is formed by connecting a power control apparatus 12 to a power system 14 via an ammeter 13, and connecting a photovoltaic (PV) device 15, a battery 16, and an alternating current (AC) load 17 to the power control apparatus 12.
The power control apparatus 12 includes a PV-use DC/DC converter 21, a DC/AC converter 22, a battery-use DC/DC converter 23, and a controller 24. An AC-side terminal of the DC/AC converter 22 is connected to the power system 14 and the AC load 17. On the other hand, a DC-side terminal of the DC/AC converter 22 is connected to the PV device 15 via the PV-use DC/DC converter 21, and to the battery 16 via the battery-use DC/DC converter 23. Hereinafter, wiring which is connected to the DC-side terminal of the DC/AC converter 22 and via which direct current power is supplied between the PV-use DC/DC converter 21 and the battery-use DC/DC converter 23 is referred to as a DC bus 25.
The controller 24 controls the PV-use DC/DC converter 21, the DC/AC converter 22, and the battery-use DC/DC converter 23 in accordance with a condition of the energy management system 11.
In the energy management system 11, as indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 1, the PV-use DC/DC converter 21 applies DC/DC conversion to power generated by the PV device 15 and supplies the resultant power to the DC/AC converter 22 via the DC bus 25, and then the DC/AC converter 22 applies DC/AC conversion to the supplied power and supplies the resultant power to the AC load 17. Excess power is supplied to the power system 14 (reverse power flow).
In a case where the battery 16 is charged with power generated by the PV device 15 via the PV-use DC/DC converter 21, the DC bus 25, and the battery-use DC/DC converter 23, as indicated by an arrow B in FIG. 2, the battery-use DC/DC converter 23 applies DC/DC conversion to the power that is stored in the battery 16 as a result of the charge and supplies the resultant power to the DC/AC converter 22 via the DC bus 25, and then the DC/AC converter 22 applies DC/AC conversion to the supplied power and supplies the resultant power to the AC load 17. Excess power is supplied to the power system 14 (reverse power flow).
With such a reverse flow of power generated by the PV device 15 to the power system 14, the power is sold. A user who owns the power control apparatus 12 can earn a profit from selling the power.
JP 2012-139019A is an example of background art.

Power control apparatus, power control method, program, and energy management system