The present invention relates to a method of constructing a continuous cut-off wall and a core of a fill-type dam in the ground by placing or grouting at a normal temperature a mixture of a cold-setting property comprising a cement, coarse and fine aggregates and a bituminous emulsion in a certain range of composition (hereinafter referred to as a cement bitumen concrete or a CA concrete), or a mixture of a cold-setting property comprising a cement, fine aggregate and a bituminous emulsion in a certain range of composition (hereinafter referred to as a cement bitumen mortar or a CA mortar) and further constructing an extended core of a fill-type dam above the continuous cut-off wall.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of employing a mixture of a cold-setting property comprising cement, bituminous emulsion and aggregate with impermeability and flexibility under a normal temperature constructing a continuous cut-off wall which can be utilized for stoppage of water leakage from foundation soil of a fill-type dam, such as an earth dam or a rock-fill dam, a cut-off for foundation soild of a levee, prevention of water permeation into a foundation soil of a dock and a cut-off in put excavation and shield works and the like.
Furthermore, this invention also relates to a method for constructing a core of shielding water for fill-type dams such as earth dams and rock-filled dams.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, a number of earth and rock-filled dams have been constructed. The dams had formerly been constructed on a bedrock excellent in shielding water, which is encountered after continuous excavation. However, the dams are lately driven by necessity to be constructed directly on an accretion layer of vast thickness which is highly permeable without removing the accretion layer for economical reasons.
As for the aforementioned case, there has been adopted "a certain grout method", so called, which impregnates cement milk and other chemical grouting into the ground through borings as a shielding method of water for the accretion layer, but it does not provide a continuous film of shielding water for certain.
A sheet pile method and an impregnation method have hitherto been put into practice for a cut-off for foundation soil of a levee, prevention of water permeation into foundation soil of a dock and a cut-off in pit excavation and shield works.
In the former case, it is difficult to perfect prevention of leakage from joints between sheets and, in the latter case, it is very expensive. For overcoming these disadvantages, there is a method for constructing a continuous cut-off wall by filling a cement concrete into a pit of wall-shaped excavation in the ground, in which the continuous cut-off wall is too hard to follow distortion of a foundation soil and apt to be cracked without a satisfactory result of effecting the cut-off.
Under the circumstances as mentioned above, there has been a method of constructing a cut-off wall wherein a hot asphalt mixture of heat-mixing asphalt and aggregate such as asphalt concrete, and Gussasphalt or mastic asphalt is grouted. However, when a pit of a wall shape is excavated in the ground and is used with mud water of bentonite in order to prevent a collapse of a foundation soil, the hot asphalt mixture has been hard in executing works and apt to be set by being cooled with water during grouting, and to cause spaces with the water being boiled, thereby accompanying drawbacks of difficult quality control and danger. Therefore, it has been demanded to develop a method of obtaining and constructing a material which is placed at a normal temperature as in the case of the conventional cement concrete and provides a flexibility and impermeability, as in the case of the hot asphalt mixture, offering a uniform quality.
A core material for a fill-type dam has been formed of compaction of natural soil such as clay or heated asphalt concrete. In recent years, the application of the asphalt concrete has been increased since clay of good quality became hard to obtain, the execution of works is apt to be influenced by weather and the endurance for earthquake is troublesome. However, the asphalt concrete has necessitated an asphalt concrete plant for heating which requires large scale equipment and decreased efficiency since the height of one execution of works has been only some 10 cm, due to the rolling compaction required for the asphalt concrete.

Method of constructing a continuous cut-off wall and a core of a fill-type dam


A connector assembly is provided with a first connector and a second connector. The first connector includes a housing and a lock spring arranged at an end portion of the housing. The lock spring includes a pair of arms extending parallel to a planar side of the housing. The second connector includes a catch to engage the lock spring by flexing the pair of arms away each other.

Board-mounting type connectors for connecting a flexible printed circuit (FPC) onto a circuit printed board are generally known. There has been a need to reduce the height of such known connectors, as well as a need for these known connectors to have a locking mechanism capable of being easily unlocked if necessary.
JP 2010-177003 A discloses a known connector having a lock mechanism having a lock spring with a circular cross-section. Locking and unlocking are performed by utilizing an elastic deformation of the lock spring. While the lock mechanism does not take up space for locking, its design is unsuitable for a connector having reduced height for a board-mounting type connector or the like.


A length adjustment for a drive shaft, wherein the length adjustment has the following: a first rotary element with a first longitudinal toothing and a second rotary element with a second longitudinal toothing. The first longitudinal toothing and the second longitudinal toothing mesh with each other and are axially displaceable to each other. In an end portion of the first rotary element a tooth gap between two longitudinal teeth of the first longitudinal toothing is obstructed. The radial height of a longitudinal tooth of the second longitudinal toothing is reduced relative to the residual longitudinal teeth such that only the longitudinal tooth reduced in radial height can be axially inserted into the obstructed tooth gap. The tooth gap is obstructed by a locking portion of the first rotary element, produced by forming or a material connection a pin resting in a bore of the first rotary element. The locking portion or the pin is arranged in the tooth gap or in axial extension to the tooth gap.

Such a length adjustment is known from DE 1 081 286 B. To ensure a predetermined mutual angle position of the two rotary elements to each other during the assembly of the rotary elements, at an end of the first rotary element an insert is mounted, which engages with a projection in a spline groove of the longitudinal toothing, which is formed as a splined shaft toothing. A longitudinal tooth of the second rotary element is removed. During the assembly of the two rotary elements in one another, i.e. during the axial inserting of the two longitudinal toothings into one another, no longitudinal tooth of the second rotary element can be inserted into the spline groove with the insert. Only in the one angle position, in which the splined groove with the insert and the removed tooth of the second rotary element are arranged at the same angle to each other, the rotary elements can be connected to each other or can be inserted into one another. The insert is in this case formed as a spring wire clamp which is formed U-like and has two parallel projections, which are connected to each other via an intermediate piece. One of the parallel projections engages in the spline groove. The other parallel projection is inserted into a central bore of the first rotary element, which is formed as a journal.
It is disadvantageous that a separate component, which is easily removable and thus easy to loose, is provided, which furthermore, represents a significant additional mass, which leads to imbalances.


A method of detecting a biometric region, the method including receiving an input image; setting a plurality of regions of interest (ROI) corresponding to a plurality classifiers, respectively, the plurality of classifiers corresponding to a plurality of multi-stages, respectively, the plurality of ROIs having different sizes with respect to each other, each ROI of the plurality of ROIs including a biometric region of the input image; calculating a plurality of similarity values for the plurality of classifiers, respectively, based on the ROIs corresponding to the plurality of classifiers from among the plurality of ROIs; and detecting a first biometric region for a user authentication based on at least one of the plurality of similarity values.

1. Field
At least one example embodiment relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a biometric region for user authentication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with developments in various mobile devices such as a smartphone and wearable devices, an importance of a secured authentication is increasing. In Biometrics authentication technology, a user may be authenticated based on, for example, a fingerprint, an iris, voice, a face, and a blood vessel. The biometrics authentication technology may use a unique biometric property of each user because the biometric property may be robust against forgery or falsification, not cause an inconvenience for carrying, and change little over a lifetime.
For example, a fingerprint recognition technique is widely commercialized due to various advantages such as convenience, security, and economical feasibilities. In addition to a contact type authentication such as the fingerprint recognition, there is provided a contactless type authentication, for example, an iris based authentication. Since the iris based authentication is the contactless type authentication, a user may freely use a portable device with a hand, which may bring an increased convenience to the user.

Method and apparatus for detecting biometric region for user authentication


A bandwidth estimation-based streaming content processing method and apparatus of a terminal is provided. The streaming content processing method includes establishing a communication channel with a network selected among a plurality of cellular communication networks and a short range communication network, detecting a playback request signal for playing a streaming content received through the communication channel, configuring a fixed bandwidth corresponding to the selected network as an available bandwidth of the streaming content, transmitting a download request for a data version corresponding to the fixed bandwidth to a server providing the streaming content, downloading the requested data from the server, and playing the streaming content of the downloaded data.

With advances in wireless communication technology, the interest in wireless devices is growing. Particularly, the mobile multimedia (video and/or audio) streaming service is becoming more popular. The multimedia streaming service makes it is possible to receive audio/video multimedia data in real time other than to download through Internet and/or intranet. That is, the mobile user may play the multimedia stream in real time without downloading the entire file of the multimedia data.
However, the multimedia streaming service of the related art has been provided without consideration of a change in network state especially when the serving network is changed, i.e. when handover occurs, in the wireless communication environment. Recently, the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Adaptive Streaming service has been introduced in order to deliver contents efficiently.
The adaptive streaming service is the service in which the communication apparatus receives the data chunk of a playlist appropriate for its current network condition among a plurality of play lists encoded at different bandwidth speeds using HTTP.
In the case of the adaptive streaming service, it is difficult to estimate the network condition of the current communication apparatus for initial content playback. Typically, the communication apparatus starts receiving the data chunk at the lowest bandwidth speed or the highest bandwidth speed of the current network for the initial content playback. This is likely to cause the communication apparatus to receive and play the data at the bandwidth speed lower than its available bandwidth or incur a buffering error or a timeout error in initial adaptive streaming content playback.
Also, the adaptive streaming service of the related art estimates the bandwidth speed based on the history about the corresponding content after initial receipt of data chunk. Accordingly, if the serving network is changed due to movement of the mobile terminal, it is difficult to reflect the condition of the new network and thus difficult to select the best play list. This causes excessive buffering time and incurs a timeout error as in the initial playback and thus leads to a failure of best performance suitable for the changed bandwidth, resulting in user complaints.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for preventing streaming content playback delay and error at the initial playback or caused by a change in network condition.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Bandwidth estimation-based streaming content processing method and apparatus of terminal


A method and apparatus of transmitting/receiving a packet in a system are provided. The method includes dividing each symbol corresponding to each row of a two-dimensional array having a predetermined symbol size (T) as a width into a predetermined number (m) of regions, sequentially arranging source packets to be transmitted, starting from a first column of a first row of the two-dimensional array, setting a remaining part of a region in which last data of a source packet is allocated in a last row in which the source packet is arranged to a predetermined value, arranging a next source packet, starting from a starting point of a region next to the region in which the last data is allocated in the last row in which the source packet is arranged, constructing a source block by arranging all of the source packets in the two-dimensional array, FEC-encoding the source block, and transmitting the FEC-encoded source block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data transmission and reception in a broadcasting or communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method of efficiently recovering data, when data loss occurs on a channel or in a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the recent broadcasting and communication environment, data congestion in a network has become serious due to the diversification of multimedia content and the increase of large-size content such as High Definition (HD) content or Ultra High Definition (UHD) content. As a result, content transmitted by a transmitter (e.g. host A) is not received normally at a receiver (e.g. host B) due to loss of a part of the content in a route. Since data is transmitted in packets in many cases, data loss also occurs in packets. As the receiver does not receive a data packet due to data loss over a network, the receiver does not acquire the data of the lost packet. Therefore, various inconveniences may result, including the degradation of audio quality or video quality, display of defective images, omissions of text, and file damage. Accordingly, there exists a need for a technique of recovering data lost during transmission over a network.
One method of supporting recovery in a receiver of data that has been lost during transmission over a network, is to construct a source block with a predetermined number of data packets each having a variable length, called source packets and add repair information such as parity data or repair packets to the source block by Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding. In the presence of lost data, the receiver may decode the data using the repair information.
Each of the source packets to which the repair information is added may not have an intended length and thus may be zero-padded. This means that the conventionally constructed source block may include a large amount of zero padding according to packet lengths. Although zero-padded data is meaningless data not transmitted by the transmitter, the zero-padded data increases the number of symbols in the source block and is involved in generating parity data. Therefore, the zero-padded data causes generation and transmission of parity data for unnecessary information.
The amount of zero padding may be reduced relatively by decreasing an intended length of source packets. However, due to the resulting significant increase in the number of symbols in the source block, a very long FEC code is required. Because an FEC code length available to a system is limited and a longer FEC code increases the complexity of Maximum log-Likelihood (ML) decoding, decoding latency may be lengthened.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method of constructing a source block more efficiently to reduce the number of code symbols and improve error correction capability by reducing zero-padded data.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

Apparatus and method of transmitting and receiving packet in a broadcasting and communication system


There is disclosed a method for edge rounding of cutting tool inserts of cemented carbide or titanium based carbonitride alloys. An electrolytic method is used with an electrolyte which provides an even removal of both binder phase and hard constituent phases. The electrolyte comprises perchloric (HC10.sub.4) sulphuric (H.sub.2 SO.sub.4) acid, 2-15 vol %, and mixtures thereof in methanol or other suitable organic liquid. The method is easier to control than conventional mechanical methods and is particularly useful for providing very small edge radii of about 10 .mu.m which cannot be made by mechanical methods.

The present invention relates to a method for obtaining well defined edge radii on cutting tool inserts by electropolishing technique.
Inserts for chip forming machining made of cemented carbides or titanium-based carbonitrides (cermets) have at least one main cutting edge and a connecting nose (corner). Such inserts are produced by the powder metallurgical methods of milling of powders of the hard constituents and binder phase, pressing to form bodies of a desired shape and finally sintering the pressed bodies. The pressing is generally done by tool pressing between two opposing punches in a die. As a result of the pressing operation, the inserts have rather sharp edges. In addition, because of the small gap, a few microns wide that always exists between the punches and the die wall, the insert edges also have burrs. Such edges break too easily when used.
Therefore, after sintering, the inserts are subjected to an edge rounding operation including mechanical methods such as lapping, tumbling, brushing or blasting. These operations, however, are difficult to control with desirable accuracy. For this reason, the edge rounding values usually range between 30 and 75 .mu.m on cemented carbide inserts for a majority of machining applications. Smaller edge rounding values are generally not possible to obtain with mechanical methods. Also, the edges often get defects in the initial stage of the mechanical operation. These detects disappear during the continued treatment provided that the final edge rounding obtained is larger than the defect size.
A finer edge rounding, however, means lower cutting forces. The choice of edge rounding is a compromise between the desired edge strength and acceptable cutting forces. For certain cutting operations such as threading and machining of heat resistant materials, aluminum or cast iron, low cutting forces are desirable. However, the above mentioned methods for edge rounding are generally not useful, at least on a large, industrial scale.
Electrolyte smoothing or deburring is a commonly employed technique. Two well-known processes are called electrochemical deburring and electropolishing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,422 discloses methods for electrolyte deburring of copper or copper alloys and U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,751 of steel or aluminum alloys. However, when subjecting materials with phases of differing chemical properties such as cemented carbide to chemical treatments. The metallic binder phase is often dissolved first, resulting in a porous surface layer with reduced strength and often containing portions comprising several grains that have disappeared, (so-called pitting). It is therefore essential that an electrolyte is used which provides an even removal of material, essentially without depth effect. An example of this is U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,408, (our reference: 024000-819)incorporated by reference herein, which discloses a method for removing cobalt from the surface of cemented carbide using an electrolyte of sulphuric and phosphoric acids. This method, however, but does not generate edge rounding since it only removes cobalt, leaving the carbide or carbonitride grains intact.

Method for obtaining well defined edge radii on cutting tool inserts by electropolishing technique


A rotary actuator includes a central housing; an output shaft that extends through the central housing; a vane that is mechanically coupled to the output shaft and divides the central housing into a first chamber and a second chamber; and a flow control mechanism that is moveable within the central housing and including a high pressure port and a low pressure port for communicating hydraulic fluid into and from the first and second chambers. The flow control mechanism is moveable to position the high pressure port and low pressure port relative to the first chamber and the second chamber for communication of the hydraulic fluid, thereby generating a pressure differential across the chambers. The vane rotates within the central housing in response to the pressure differential, and rotation of the vane drives the output shaft. A motor is configured to receive control signals to drive the movement of the flow control mechanism.

A prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine or the like, can be connected to a hydrostatic transmission to drive a wheel in a light vehicle. A hydrostatic transmission is particularly suitable to provide traction drive for light vehicles such as turf machines, lawn tractors, ride-on lawn mowers, and like devices. A hydrostatic transmission may be connected to a variety of gearboxes and transaxles, so the same components can be utilized on a wide variety of light vehicle models. A simple usage of hydrostatic transmissions is on zero-turn radius vehicles, including zero-turn radius mowers and tractors.
In some vehicles, such as zero-turn-radius mowers, separate hydraulic pumps and motors are used to independently drive separate wheels of an axle. By independently driving the wheels in opposite directions, for example, the vehicle can be made to turn with zero radius. Zero-turn-radius mowers are increasingly popular as the size and cost of such mowers decrease. As the size of such mowers decreases, however, the space available for the hydraulic components and/or the prime mover also decreases.
Generally, a hydrostatic transmission includes a variable displacement hydraulic pump connected in a closed hydraulic circuit with a fixed or variable displacement hydraulic motor. The hydraulic pump may be a piston-type pump including a plurality of reciprocating pistons, which are in fluid communication through hydraulic porting with the hydraulic motor. Rotation of the hydraulic pump against a moveable swash plate creates an axial motion of the pump pistons that forces hydraulic fluid through the hydraulic porting to the hydraulic motor to drive the motor, which allows the transmission output speed to be varied and controlled. The rotation of the hydraulic motor may be used to drive an output shaft, which in turn ultimately drives a wheel axle of a light vehicle of the types described above.
Hydraulic rotary actuators are used in a variety of applications in various industries. One use of a hydraulic rotary actuator is to control the rotational position of the swash plate associated with a hydraulic pump in a vehicle transmission of the type described above. Rotary actuators typically may include two chambers separated by a vane. By pressurizing the chamber on either size of the vane, the vane will rotate in the appropriate direction. For example, to rotate a vane clockwise, a chamber on a counterclockwise side of the vane is connected to a high pressure hydraulic fluid source, and a chamber on a clockwise side of the vane is connected to a low pressure source (or atmosphere). This pressure differential provides a force on the vane to rotate the vane in the clockwise direction. The vane assembly may be connected to an output drive shaft through which the rotational torque is transferred to an external device, such as for example the swash plate associated with a hydraulic pump as referenced above. Rotation in the counterclockwise direction is the same as the clockwise direction, except the clockwise side chamber is connected to high pressure and the counterclockwise side chamber is connected to low pressure (or atmosphere).
Precise control of the vane position, however, has proven to be a complex and difficult process. In conventional rotary actuators, control may be performed by precise electronic control of the fluid flow on the high pressure and low pressure sides. This often is achieved through complex and expensive electronic fluid control. Because of the difficulty of precise control, conventional rotary actuators have not been utilized to their maximum effectiveness, particularly in hydrostatic transmissions for zero-turn radius vehicles in which size and simplicity of design are of a particular concern.

Hydraulic rotary actuator with built-in mechanical position feedback


A defect detecting method includes: an image acquiring process for capturing an image of an inspection object having an identical sequence of pattern and acquiring the image; and a defect emphasizing process for emphasizing a defect of the captured image. The defect emphasizing process includes: an inspected-point selecting process for sequentially selecting an inspection point on the captured image; and a defect emphasizing value calculating process for obtaining differences by subtracting from a luminance value of the selected inspection point each luminance value of a plurality of comparison points disposed around the inspection point and selecting one difference of the smallest value of the obtained differences in luminance to determine a defect emphasizing value of the inspection point.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a defect detecting method for automatically detecting a low-contrast defect with accuracy in inspection processes for various products such as an inspection process in manufacturing display devices and projectors, the display devices including a liquid crystal display panel and the projectors being applied products of liquid crystal display panels. The invention also relates to a defect detecting device.
2. Related Art
It has been difficult for a detecting device to automatically detect defects such as a blur defect, an unevenness defect, a luminescent spot and a black spot in an inspection for a liquid crystal display panel such as a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) panel, since such defects generally have different shapes and low contrast. Hence, the inspection is still now conducted by a checker visually, which evokes pressing demands for automating the inspection to reduce the manufacturing cost.
Note that when a certain region of a display screen has a different luminance from the other, in other words, when a certain range is brighter or darker as compared with the surrounding portion, such states are called as a blur defect or an unevenness defect. Generally, when the planar dimension of such defect is relatively small, the defect is called a blur defect. When the planar dimension is relatively large, the defect is called an unevenness defect. When the planar dimension is small to be a spot, the defect is called a luminescent spot or a black spot.
As a method for automating a defect detection for an inspection object such as a liquid crystal display panel that has pixel portions and black matrix portions defining pixels, the pixels being transmitting light to be turned on and the pixel and black matrix portions disposed in an identical sequence of pattern, an eight-adjacent-point comparing method for detecting a defect using pixel data at eight points around the inspection object has been known (see, for example, Document: JP-A-2004-28836).
The document discloses that whether there is a defect or not is judged by selecting two points that are optimum to be used in a comparison with the inspection object out of the eight adjacent points (disposed on the left, right, top, bottom, obliquely upper and lower left and obliquely upper and lower right of the inspection object) and making the comparison between an average value of the selected two points and luminance data of the inspection object. When each luminance data of the two points are the same, such pair of points is judged to be optimum points for the comparison with the inspection object.
However, according to the Document, since one of the two points is in a black matrix portion and the other is in a pixel portion at, for example, one of the four corners of a liquid crystal display panel, the two points disposed with the inspection object interposed, no pair of points can have common luminance data. Accordingly, it is not possible to select two points optimum for the comparison, so that a simulated defect may be detected or the corners may be mistakenly judged to be out of an inspected range, thereby hindering an accurate defect detection at the corners.
As another problem, since the inspection object and the two points to be compared with the inspection object all need to be in either a pixel portion or a black matrix portion, a pitch of the inspection object and the comparison points need to be in line with that of the pixels, thereby complicating the inspection.

Defect detecting method and defect detecting device


An aqueous system containing scale forming salts including both calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate and characterized by high pH and high calcite concentrations which further contains a synergistic effective amount of a combination comprising (A) a polyether polyamino methylene phosphonate, (B) a terpolymer comprising the monomers of acrylic acid, sulfophenomethallyl ether and maleic acid, and (C) a hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid, is disclosed. A method for inhibiting the formation, deposition and adherence of such scale forming salts in the aqueous system employing the synergistic combination is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a synergistic combination comprising a polyether polyamino methylene phosphonate, a terpolymer comprising the monomers of acrylic acid, sulfophenomethallyl ether and maleic acid, and hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid for controlling the deposition of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scale deposits on the surfaces of an aqueous system.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
Generally, calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scale deposits are incrustation coatings which accumulate on the metallic or plastic surfaces of a water-carrying system through a number of different causes.
Various industrial and commercial water-carrying systems are subject to calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scale formation problems. Calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scales are of particular concern in heat exchange systems employing water, such as, for example, boiler systems and once-through and open recirculating water cooling systems. Cooling towers are especially significant, particularly where severe conditions including high pH and high calcite concentrations are encountered.
The water employed in these systems ordinarily will contain a number of dissolved salts, and the alkaline earth metal cation calcium is usually prevalent, as are the anions carbonate and phosphate. The combination products of calcium cation and carbonate anion and calcium cation and phosphate anion will precipitate from the water in which the ions are carried to form scale deposits when the concentrations of the anion and cation comprising the reaction product, i.e., calcium carbonate, or calcium phosphate, exceeds the solubility of the reaction product itself. Thus, when the concentration of calcium ion and anion exceed the solubility of the calcium reaction product, a solid phase of calcium carbonate and/or calcium phosphate will form as a precipitate. Precipitation of the reaction product will continue until the solubility product concentration of the constituent ions is no longer exceeded.
Numerous factors may be responsible for producing a condition of supersaturation for the reaction product. Among such factors are changes in the pH of the water system, evaporation of the water phase, rate of heat transfer, amount of dissolved solids, and changes in the temperature or pressure of the system.
For cooling systems and similar heat exchange systems, including cooling towers, the mechanism of scale formation is apparently one of crystallization of scale-forming salts from a solution which is locally supersaturated in the region adjacent the heating surface of the system. The thin viscous film of water in this region tends to become more concentrated than the remainder of the solution outside this region. Precipitation is also favored on the heat transfer surface because of the inverse solubility relationship of calcium carbonate. As a result, the solubility of the scale-forming calcium carbonate salt reaction product is first exceeded in this thin film, and crystallization of calcium carbonate scale results directly on the heating or heat exchange surface.
In addition to this, a common source of scale in boiler systems is the breakdown of calcium bicarbonate to form calcium carbonate, water and carbon dioxide under the influence of heat. For open recirculating cooling water systems, in which a cooling tower, spray pond, evaporative condenser, and the like serve to dissipate heat by evaporation of water, the chief factor which promotes calcium carbonate scale formation is concentration of solids dissolved in the water by repeated evaporation of portions of the water phase. Thus, even a water which is not scale forming on a once-through basis usually will become scale forming when concentrated two, four or six times. Moreover, alkalinity of the make-up water, with evaporative cycles over time results in an increasing alkalinity of the water in the overall system, often having pH's of 8.5-9.5 and even higher. Conventional scale inhibiting compositions typically fail in systems having such severe conditions.
The formation of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scale deposits poses a serious problem in a number of regards. The calcium scale which is formed possesses a low degree of heat conductivity. Thus, a calcium scale deposit is essentially an insulating layer imposed across the path of heat travel from whatever source to the water of the system. In the case of a cooling system, the retarded heat transfer causes a loss in cooling efficiency. Consequently, calcium scale is an expensive problem in many industrial water systems, causing delays and shutdowns for cleaning and removal.
Although the present invention is directed primarily to preventing or inhibiting the deposition of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scale, it is also applicable to inhibiting the deposition of other types of alkaline earth metal scales, especially those associated with calcium carbonate scale under the severe conditions described herein. For example, most industrial and commercial water contains alkaline earth metal cations, such as calcium and magnesium, etc., and several anions such as bicarbonate, carbonate, and phosphate. When combinations of these anions and cations are present in concentrations which exceed the solubility of their reaction products, precipitates form until their product solubility concentrations are no longer exceeded. These precipitates are alkaline earth metal scales. Thus, by alkaline earth metal scales is meant scales including but not limited to calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate and magnesium carbonate. These scales form frequently in the tubes of heat exchangers and on other heat exchange surfaces, such as those in cooling towers. Particular systems or applications areas where severe conditions lead to exceptional buildup of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scales, in addition to cycled up cooling towers, include reverse osmosis systems, sugar refining evaporators and certain types of gas scrubbers.
The synergistic combination of the present invention is used in amounts as threshold inhibitors to achieve calcium scale inhibition, rather than sequestering or chelating agents, although the combination of the present invention has dispersant properties as well and significantly reduces the adherency of any scale deposit which is formed, facilitating its easy removal.
Scale-forming compounds can be prevented from precipitating by inactivating their cations with chelating or sequestering agents, so that the solubility of their reaction products is not exceeded. Generally, this requires many times as much chelating or sequestering agent as cation, since chelation is a stoichiometric reaction; these amounts are not always desirable or economical. However, several decades ago, it was discovered that certain inorganic polyphosphates would prevent such precipitation when added in amounts far less than the concentrations needed for sequestering or chelating.
When a precipitation inhibitor is present in a potentially scale-forming aqueous system at a markedly lower concentration than that required for sequestering the scale-forming cation (stoichiometric), it is said to be present in "threshold" amounts. See, for example, Hatch and Rice, Indust. Eng. Chem. 31, 51-53 (1939); Reitemeier and Buehrer, J. Phys. Chem., 44(5), 535-536 (1940); Fink and Richardson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,358,222; and Hatch, U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,305.
Similarly, anionic and cationic polymers can be used as dispersants in accordance with methods known in the art, but the dosage levels necessary to achieve dispersion are in the range of 0.5-1.0% by weight of the aqueous system being treated, which is many orders of magnitude higher than the dosage levels used for the combination of the present invention. Thus, it is a unique aspect of the present invention that it is possible to achieve essentially non-adherent scale using only threshold inhibitor dosage levels of the synergistic combinations of the present invention.
Recently, attention has been focused on controlling scaling under severe conditions, where conventional treatments such as those described above do not provide complete scale control for calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate. Current technology in scale control can be used to inhibit CaCO.sub.3 scale up to 100 to 120 times calcite saturation, i.e., a water containing Ca.sup.2+ and CO.sub.3.sup.2- present at 100 times (100.times.) the solubility limit of calcium as calcite (calcite is the most common crystalline form of calcium carbonate). However, what is desired are inhibitors effective in greater than 100.times. water, where the calcite ions can be prevented from precipitating as calcium carbonate scale and also wherein the inhibitors are effective in inhibiting the formation of calcium phosphate scale as well, using substoichiometric amounts of an inhibitor. Further, the synergistic combinations of the present invention are especially useful under severe conditions characterized by a calcite saturation level of greater than 150.times. as defined in the paragraph immediately below, for the control of both calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate scales.
Severity of the scaling tendency of a water sample is measured using the saturation index, which may be derived in accordance with the following equation: ##EQU1## where SI is the saturation index for calcium carbonate, [Ca.sup.2+ ] is the concentration of free calcium ions, [CO.sub.3.sup.2- ] is the concentration of free carbonate ions, [CO.sub.3.sup.2- ] is the concentration of free carbonate ions, and K.sub.sp CaCO.sub.3 is the conditional solubility product constant for CaCO.sub.3. All of the quantities on the right side of the above equation are adjusted for pH, temperature and ionic strength.
Calculation and use of the saturation index, and generation of the data from which it is derived, are matters within the skill of the art. See, for example, Critical Stability Constants, Vol. 4: "Inorganic Complexes", Smith & Mantell (1976), Plenum Press; and Aquatic Chemistry, Chap. 5, 2nd ed., Stumm & Morgan (1981), Wiley & Sons.
Another characteristic feature of the severe conditions under which the scale controlling methods of the present invention are especially useful is high pH, greater than about 8.5. A related feature of such severe conditions is high alkalinity.
One of the particular advantages of the scale inhibiting combinations of the present invention is the exceptional calcium tolerances which they exhibit. Calcium tolerance is a measure of a chemical compound's ability to remain soluble in the presence of calcium ions [Ca.sup.2 +]. One of the parameters of scale control under severe conditions is pH. As pH increases, calcium tolerance decreases rapidly for traditional CaCO.sub.3 threshold inhibitors, e.g., 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP) and amino tri(methylene phosphonic acid) (AMP). These inhibitors precipitate with calcium at alkaline pH's, rendering them useless as threshold scale inhibitors.
Early efforts to reduce scale formation in water-carrying systems employed compounds such as tannins, modified lignins, algins, and other similar materials. Chelating or sequestering agents have also been employed to prevent precipitation or crystallization of scale-forming calcium carbonate. Another type of agent which has been actively explored heretobefore as a calcium carbonate scale inhibiting material is the threshold active inhibitor. Such materials are effective as scale inhibitors in amounts considerably less than stoichiometrically required, and this amount, as already mentioned, is termed the threshold amount. Inorganic polyphosphates have long been used as such threshold active inhibitors. For examples of such materials, see Fink--U.S. Pat. No. 2,358,222; Hatch--U.S. Pat. No. 2,539,305; and Ralston--U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,969. Certain water soluble polymers, including groups derived from acrylamide and acrylic acid have been used to condition water containing scale-forming calcium carbonate. For example, See U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,783,200; 3,514,476; 2,980,610; 3,285,886; 3,463,730; 3,518,204; 3,928,196; 3,965,017; and 4,936,987. In particular, there has been employed anionic polyelectrolytes such as polyacrylates, polymaleic anhydrides, copolymers of acrylates and sulfonates, and polymers of sulfonated styrenes. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,793; 4,650,793; 4,650,591; 4,457,847; and 4,671,888. However, when used as threshold alkaline earth metal scale inhibitors, large dosages of these polymers are required, which in turn increases operating costs.
While polyether polyamino methylene phosphonates of the type that comprises one element of the synergistic combination of the instant invention, are known for their use for the control of alkaline earth metal scale having severe conditions wherein the pH is at least 8.5 and the calcite saturation is at least 150 times the solubility limit of calcium as calcite, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,338,477 and 5,353,642, the aqueous system having the synergistic combination of the instant invention has not heretobefore been suggested. Further, as demonstrated herein, use of the polyether polyamino methylene phosphonates alone for the control of alkaline earth metal scales such as calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate simultaneously require large dosages making the use of the polyether polyamino methylene phosphonate alone expensive and therefore increasing operating costs to an unacceptable level.
In spite of this background material, there remains a very real and substantial need for a synergistic combination and a method of inhibiting the formation, deposition and adherence of scale forming salts in an aqueous system, such as for example, but not limited to, a cooling tower.

Method for controlling scale using a synergistic phosphonate combination


A preferred embodiment of the cable of the present invention incorporates a core, an outer jacket surrounding the core, and a tape disposed between the core and the outer jacket. The tape includes a first layer and superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) which are applied to the first layer. Preferably, the first layer is formed of spun bonded non-woven polyester material, nylon spun bonded fabric, non-woven glass, polypropylene melt blown non-woven fabric, polyurethane spun bonded fabric, or TCF cellulose fabric, among others. Additionally, the SAPs preferably are provided with a moisture content of greater than approximately 2 percent, by weight, thereby improving the flame-retarding characteristics of the tape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cables and, in particular, to cables incorporating tapes which provide water-blocking and flame-retarding characteristics to the cables.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many products, such as telecommunications and power cables, for instance, typically are provided with one or more forms of water-blocking protection, i.e. waterproof outer jackets, water-blocking powders and yarns, etc. Generally, such water-blocking protection is intended to reduce or eliminate the possibility of water entering the product so as to reduce the potential of water damaging the product. For example, once water enters a telecommunications cable, such as through a splice closure of the cable, freezing of the water can induce microbending in the optical fibers of the cable, potentially resulting in fiber degradation or increased signal loss of the cable.
Heretofore, some prior art cables have incorporated water-blocking tape in order to prevent water penetration into and migration through the cables. Examples of such prior art cables are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,526, issued to Arroyo, for instance. In the cables described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,526, water-blocking tape is disposed between the transmission media and the outer jacket of the cable, thereby forming a water-blocking barrier around the transmission media, i.e. optical fibers. The water-blocking tape incorporates superabsorbent materials, e.g. superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), which can absorb up to about one thousand (1000) times their weight in distilled water. The SAPs are provided in a loading of approximately 3.8-6.22 g/ft.sup.2, which results in a tape that weighs approximately 10-80% more than the substrate of the tape. Upon contact with water, the SAPs of the water-blocking tape absorb the water and swell, thereby preventing migration of the water through the cable. Additionally, the swollen SAPs form a physical barrier which can prevent more water from entering the cable.
In some applications, it is desirable to provide tapes which incorporate both water-blocking and flame-retarding characteristics. Heretofore, a prior art solution to attain the characteristics of water-blocking and flame-retarding has been to add flame-retardants to the SAPs of the tapes. However, adding flame-retardants to the SAPs oftentimes results in a tape which has reduced water-blocking characteristics as compared to the tape without the flame-retardants. Primarily, this is due to the chemical properties of the prior art flame-retardants which, typically, are salts or ionic compounds and are known to reduce the swelling of water-blocking materials. Generally, as more prior art flame-retardants are added to SAPs in an effort to improve the flame-retarding characteristics, the greater the water-blocking capacity of the SAPs is reduced. Frequently, the extent of reduction in water-blocking capacity of SAPs due to the incorporation of prior art flame-retardants can render the SAPs incapable of preventing water penetration.
Therefore, there is a need to provide improved cables and tapes which address these and other shortcomings of the prior art.

Cables with water-blocking and flame-retarding tapes


A method of fabricating a dynamic random access memory is described. The surrounding of a capacitor is covered with stop layers to prevent damage during the etching process for forming a bit line contact opening. A first dielectric layer is formed and it is patterned to form a capacitor opening therein. A conformal first stop layer is formed and covers the first dielectric layer and the capacitor opening. A part of the conformal first stop layer on the first source/drain is removed to form a self-aligned node contact opening. The capacitor is formed in the capacitor opening and the self-aligned node contact opening. A conformal second stop layer layer are formed over the substrate. A part of the second dielectric layer over the second source/drain, the conformal second stop layer, the first stop layer and the first dielectric layer underneath is removed to form a self-aligned bit line contact opening. A bit line is formed over the third dielectric layer and within the self-aligned bit line contact opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of fabricating a dynamic random access memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the process of fabricating dynamic random access memory, every dynamic random access memory cell includes a field effect transistor and a capacitor, and the process requires a the bit lines to connect to the source/drain of the field effect transistors and an interconnect. Therefore, the processes for fabricating DRAM is more complicated than the process for fabricating other semiconductor devices, and the factors to be considered are also more numerous in the process integration.
As highly integrated devices are required, the device size is scaled down to fulfill design requirements. In other words, the result of devices requiring high integration reduces the space available for capacitor formation. On the other hand, computer software is gradually becoming huge, and more memory capacity is required. In the case where it is necessary to have a smaller size with sufficient memory capacity, the conventional method of fabricating the DRAM capacitor has to change in order to fulfil the requirements of the trend.
It is thus necessary to find a method that increases the present surface area of the storage node of the capacitor to increase its capacitance, while still reducing the size of the capacitor. The stacked-type capacitor is one kind of DRAM structure for increasing capacitance. There are two main types of stacked-type capacitors, which are classified by the relative position of the bit lines and capacitors. The one is the bit line over capacitor type, while the other is capacitor over bit line type.
FIG. 1 is schematic, cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a bit line over capacitor (BOC) DRAM fabricated according to the prior art method. Referring to FIG. 1, field effect transistors 102 are formed on a substrate 100, and then capacitors 116 are formed by the conventional process. The storage nodes 110 connecting to source/drain 106 of the field effect transistors 102 are first formed, and then the top plates 114 are formed during capacitor formation. Certainly, before the top plates 114 are formed, the processes for forming a capacitor include a step of forming a capacitor dielectric layer 112 between the storage node 110 and the top plates 114. The bit lines 118 are formed after the capacitors 116 are formed. The bit lines 118 are connected to another source/drain 108 of the field effect transistor 102 by bit line contacts 120.
FIG. 2 is schematic, cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a capacitor over bit line (COB) DRAM fabricated according to the prior art method. Referring to FIG. 2, field effect transistors 202 are formed on a substrate 200, and then bit lines 204 are formed that connect to source/drain 206 of the field effect transistor 202. After the bit lines 204 are formed, capacitors 210 are formed, which are connected to another source/drain 208 by the storage nodes 212.
As high-density integration circuit is required, not only the device size but also the spaces between devices and devices are scaled down. The BOC and COB processes of conventional DRAM are complicated, and require repeated photolithography and etching steps. Therefore, the process capability is limited in lithography accuracy and etching capability.
The processes for forming the above-mentioned BOC-type DRAM as shown in FIG. 1 must have a high degree of lithography accuracy between the gates 104 (word lines) of the field effect transistors 102 and the storage nodes 110, between the bit line contacts 120 and the top plate 114 of the capacitor 116, or between the two storage nodes 110. If misalignment occurs during the process, the devices will suffer bridging.
Similarly, the processes for forming the COB-type DRAM as shown in FIG. 2 also gives rise to some problems as in the above-mentioned BOC-type DRAM. For example, the processes are subjected to the challenge of lithography accuracy between the gates 218 (word lines) and the bit line contacts 220 of the bit lines 204, between the gates 218 (word lines) and the storage node 212, or the two storage nodes 212. On the other hand, the capacitance of the storage node 212 depends on the effective contact areas between the storage node 212 and the capacitor dielectric layer 214. In the conventional process, the capacitance of a capacitor is increased by increasing the thickness of the storage nodes 212. However, after the device is integrated, the spaces of the two storage nodes 212 are reduced. The aspect ratio of the spaces between the two storage nodes 212 is increased as the thickness of the storage nodes 212 is increased. The storage nodes 212 are difficult to separate from each other during the patterning of etching process.

Method of fabricating dynamic random access memory

United Microelectronics Corp., United Semiconductor Corp.


A method and a system for displaying program information for a plurality of information sources on an electronic program guide (EPG) is described. A matched program and its respective program source is first determined. This first matched program from the respective program source is then highlighted in the EPG. Additionally, an icon for a respective program source is displayed indicating a future or a previously matched program from the respective program source.

This invention generally relates to the field of program guide information processing and more particularly, to a system and method of processing and displaying program guide information so that information about an existence of a selected program in a program guide can be easily conveyed to a user.
Electronic devices such as televisions and personal computers (PC) require a control system that includes a user interface system. Typically, a user interface provides information to a user and simplifies use of the device. One example of a user interface is an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) in a television system.
An EPG is an interactive, on-screen display feature that displays information analogous to TV listings found in local newspapers or other print media. In addition, an EPG also includes information necessary for collating and decoding programs. An EPG provides information about each program within the time frames covered by the EPG which typically ranges from the next hour up to several days. The information contained in an EPG includes programming characteristics such as, for example, channel number, program title, start time, end time, elapsed time, time remaining, rating (if available), topic, theme, and a brief description of the program""s content. EPGs are usually arranged in a two-dimensional table or grid format with time information on one axis and program source information such as channel information on the other axis.
Unlike non-interactive guides that reside on a dedicated channel and merely scroll through the current programming on the other channels for the next 2 to 3 hours, EPGs allow viewers to select any channel at any time during some period into the future, e.g., up to several days forward. Further EPG features include the ability to highlight individual cells of the grid containing program information. Once highlighted, the viewer can perform functions pertaining to that selected program. For instance, the viewer could instantly switch to that program if it is currently being aired. Viewers could also program one touch video cassette recording (VCR) or the like if the television is properly configured and connected to a recording device. Such EPGs are known in the art and described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,353,121; 5,479,268; and 5,479,266 issued to Young et al. and assigned to StarSight Telecast, Inc.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,106, issued to Chaney et al., and assigned to the same assignee of the present invention, describes in detail an exemplary embodiment including data packet structure necessary to implement an exemplary program guide system. The exemplary data packet structure is designed so that both the channel information (e.g., channel name, call letters, channel number, type, etc.) and the program description information (e.g., title, rating, star, etc.) relating to a program may be transmitted from a program guide database provider to a receiving apparatus efficiently.
User interfaces such as EPGs are applicable to analog and digital television systems and to other electronic devices such as personal computers. As electronic devices become increasingly complex with a multitude of features, the need for a robust and easy-to-use user interface becomes ever more important. For example, separate electronic systems having respective interfaces for controlling features of each system are now being combined into a single system requiring a single user interface. One specific example is the so-called PCTV which includes features of both a personal computer and a television. The user interface system for such a device must provide both clear communication of computer and television related information and provide for simple control of both computer and television related features.
One problem with the current EPG system is that the program guide is typically provided in a fixed format (i.e., in a two-dimensional grid format with time information on one axis and channel information on the other axis, as described above). Since the time information axis is always labeled to show a particular time period (e.g., 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m.), only programs occurring at that particular time period can be displayed on the screen. In other words, if a user wants to find a program occurring before or after that time period, the user would have to scroll back or forth through the whole EPG along the time axis.
This limitation of the current EPG to only be able to show programs in a particular time period presents special problems in an EPG having searching capabilities. An example of the search capabilities is described in a co-pending U.S. application, bearing Ser. No. 08/687,285, filed Jul. 25, 1996, in the name of Maze, et al., and assigned to the same assignee of the present invention. In an apparatus described in that application, a user is able to enter a search term such as xe2x80x9csportsxe2x80x9d to search if there is any occurrence of a program having program guide information matching in whole or in part the entered search term. If there is a match, the EPG will then automatically advance to the time period of the first occurrence and highlights the corresponding program. An EPG screen similar to that described in the Maze application, showing the first occurrence of a selected program being highlighted is illustrated in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the first occurrence of a matched program being highlighted in this example is a program in cell 101. The highlighted program is xe2x80x9csportscenterxe2x80x9d and the program is being shown at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN, channel 206. In this prior EPG system, however, in order for a user to find the next occurrence of a program in the EPG matching the user criteria, the user has to scroll through the whole EPG. Particularly, there is no way for a user to know in advance by looking at the screen shown in FIG. 1. whether there is any occurrence of a matched program in a specific channel, such as CNN, let alone when that occurrence will be. The only way to find that out is by scrolling through the whole EPG and carefully watching out for a highlighted program on CNN, for example.
The present inventor recognizes the problems described above in the existing EPGs. A primary object of the present invention is to overcome at least one of the aforementioned problems by providing an EPG capable of conveying information about a previous or future occurrence of a program, without the user having to scroll through or looking carefully at the whole EPG.
Therefore, a method and a related system for displaying program information in an image representing a time interval, said method comprising the steps of:
determining from said program information a first program matching a criteria and occurring at a time outside of said time interval; and
generating an icon indicating that said first program matching said criteria exists and occurs at a time outside of said time interval.

Providing a link to programs in a program guide


A method for estimating a temperature profile for individual combustion cans at an inlet of a gas turbine is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, the method includes determining an exhaust temperature profile of exhaust gas of the gas turbine, and inputting the exhaust temperature profile into a model-based estimator of turbine components through which turbine gas flows. The model-based estimator calculates an estimated inlet temperature profile at the gas turbine inlet, based upon the exhaust temperature profile and design parameters of the gas turbine, the estimate inlet temperature profile being indicative of the actual firing temperature of each of the individual combustion cans.

The present disclosure relates generally to industrial power plant machinery and, more particularly, to a method and system for temperature estimation of gas turbine combustion cans.
Gas turbines generally include a compressor and turbine arranged on a rotating shaft(s), and a combustion section between the compressor and turbine. The combustion section burns a mixture of compressed air and liquid and/or gaseous fuel to generate a high-energy combustion gas stream that drives the rotating turbine. The turbine rotationally drives the compressor and provides output power. Industrial gas turbines are often used to provide output power to drive an electrical generator or motor. Other types of gas turbines may be used as aircraft engines, on-site and supplemental power generators, and for other applications.
Certain gas turbines include several tangentially located combustor cans that burn fuel in high-pressure compressed air to isobarically raise the temperature of the resulting gaseous mixture. The resulting hot gas is fed to a multi-stage turbine (known to those skilled in the art as a combination of nozzles and buckets, or stators and rotors in each stage), where the gas performs the work for generating electricity, for example. It is desirable to maintain uniform combustion temperature, and thus, uniform firing temperature for each combustor can. However, variations between individual combustor cans may lead to differences in the firing temperature from each can. Such can-to-can variations adversely affect operability and efficiency of the gas turbine. Because of the extreme high-pressure, high-temperature environment in combustor cans, a direct measurement of the gas temperature is not available, and is therefore indirectly estimated through available measured parameters.
One way of obtaining an estimate of the degree of can-to-can variations is to measure exhaust temperature by using a multitude of tangentially placed thermocouples in the exhaust diffuser, and thereafter monitoring the spread (i.e., the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures measured by the thermocouples). However, this method is only capable of identifying relatively large can-to-can variations as a result of, for example, a flame blowout in a particular can, and is not sufficient to identify individual hot or cold cans since it does not take into consideration the rotational swirl and mixing effects of the gas as it passes from the combustion cans through the nozzle and bucket stages of the turbine.
On the other hand, swirl maps have also been used to estimate the total rotation (i.e., the swirl of the gas from the cans to the exhaust) and thus map hot spots and cold spots in the exhaust gas, as identified by the exhaust thermocouple measurements to the individual cans. Unfortunately, since the rotation of the gas is not necessarily the same from can to can, as well as from load condition to load condition, the visual interpretation of a swirl map in estimating the gas temperature of individual combustion cans is a difficult proposition. This is especially the case for a turbine having a large number of combustion cans.

Method and system for temperature estimation of gas turbine combustion cans


An impedance-to-digital converter is provided. A sensible impedance range of the impedance-to-digital converter is adjustable by changing magnitudes of signals inputted thereto.

A conventional capacitance-to-digital technique is used for sensing capacitance of a capacitor, and uses a limited number of digital codes to represent the different capacitances sensed thereby. Accordingly, it is unable to achieve a high sensing resolution and a wide sensible capacitance range at the same time. FIG. 1 shows a relationship between the sensible capacitance ranges and the sensing resolutions of a conventional capacitance-to-digital converter that has multiple sensible capacitance ranges with different sensing resolutions. Assuming that the conventional capacitance-to-digital converter of FIG. 1 uses one hundred digital codes to represent the capacitances sensed thereby, the sensing resolution is inversely proportional to capacitance variation per unit increment of the digital code (i.e., a greater capacitance variation per change of the digital code indicating a lower sensing resolution). Accordingly, in FIG. 1, a unit increment of the digital code represents capacitance variation of 0.14 pF in a sensible capacitance range of 2 pF-16 pF, a unit increment of the digital code represents capacitance variation of 0.48 pF in a sensible capacitance range of 16 pF-64 pF, and a unit increment of the digital code represents capacitance variation of 1.92 pF in a sensible capacitance range of 64 pF-256 pF. Thus, such a conventional capacitance-to-digital converter is unable to achieve a high resolution when sensing a larger capacitor.

Impedance-to-digital converter, impedance-to-digital converting device, and method for adjustment of impedance-to-digital converting device


At the end of a downwardly slanted track, a duct of S-shaped cross section is provided to receive tubes and rods. The duct wall members are cushioned and can be tilted apart; belts are disposed across the bottom of the duct and are gradually released to form receiving loops which increase in size accordingly, for holding and bundling the tubes or rods.

The present invention relates to a device for receiving and collecting tubes, rods, or the like, i.e., elongated stock, as it arrives on a track or the like; and more particularly, the invention relates to the noise reduction of, in, and for such a device.
The German patent No. 12 08 238 discloses a device of the type referred to above. The particular device is constructed from belts. The tubes arrive on an inclined path and are stepwise lowered under utilization of control means which include a light barrier. Edges and inclined path could be covered by a material which reduces noise, so that the travelling tubes as they arrive do not make much noise.
It was found to be troublesome that upon being placed onto a pile of tubes in the device, the dropping tube as it hits others produces a considerable amount of noise. This problem has not been solved in a satisfactory manner. Particularly, as a tube is being lowered onto the pile, it may roll into a different position and that produces more often than not a considerable amount of noise.

Receiving and collecting pieces of stock such as rods or tubes


According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes below steps. A step of preparing a phase shift mask and a normal photomask. A step of stacking a first wiring layer on a semiconductor substrate, and further stacking, on the first wiring layer, a second wiring layer. The second wiring layer includes a second wiring and third wiring. A step of stacking an interlayer insulating film on the second wiring layer. A step of forming, in the interlayer insulating film, a first opening in which the second wiring is exposed, and a second opening in which the third wiring is exposed by photolithography using the normal photomask. A step of burying a metal in the first opening and the second opening. A step of providing a pad to be overlaid on the first and second openings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device.
2. Background Art
A semiconductor device including a reinforcing wiring in a layer under a pad is known as disclosed in, for example, Pamphlet of International Publication No. WO 2005/083767. The pad is the part which a probe contacts at the time of inspection, and is the part where an external connection wiring is formed by bonding and a bump. At the time of probing or forming an external connection wiring, a mechanical force is applied to the pad. When an impact applied to the pad is strong, an unfavorable influence may be exerted on reliability of the pad. Thus, in the above described semiconductor device, the strength of the pad and the structure in the vicinity of the pad are enhanced by providing a reinforcing wiring in the layer under the pad.
Incidentally, as miniaturization of semiconductor devices advances, miniaturization of the structure in the vicinity of the pads is desired. On the other hand, as described above, the demand for securement of strength and reliability of pads is still high. Like this, two functions that are the function of high strength and the function of miniaturization are required of the structure in the vicinity of the pads.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device that uses both a normal photomask and a phase shift mask for defining interconnect patterns


An all-terrain vehicle includes a seat extending in a vehicle width direction and capable of accommodating a driver and at least one passenger, and a door provided on a lateral side of a vehicle body and openable and closable for allowing the driver and the passenger to enter and exit the vehicle. The door is open at an upper part thereof so that in a side view of the vehicle, a face of the driver or passenger is visible from the outside. A top edge of the door has a first region overlapping the driver or the passenger and a second region other than the first region. The top edge is higher at the first region than at the second region.

All-terrain vehicles designed to travel over wilderness or other rough terrain are known in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,336,951.
The all-terrain vehicle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,336,951 includes a door provided on a lateral side of a vehicle body. The door is disposed between a front pillar and a center pillar located rearwardly of the front pillar. The door is attached to the front pillar so as to be capable of opening and closing about a hinge. Road wheels throw up mud while the vehicle is traveling. This mud must be prevented from reaching a vehicle occupant. Inasmuch, a mud guard is provided on the door to counteract the ingress of mud. However, a side panel is integrated with the center pillar and accordingly can be a hindrance when the vehicle occupant enters or exits the vehicle. There is demand for a side panel arrangement structure that does not pose a hindrance.


The present invention provides systems and methods for facilitating the integration of former inmates into society upon release from inmate facilities. A representative embodiment of the present invention allows participating inmates to utilize one or more pre-defined services during their period of incarceration. Utilization of these pre-defined services increases the participant's likelihood of rehabilitation, thus reducing recidivism. Examples of pre-defined services include identification, education, employment, financial, housing, and social connection services. A release package based upon information collected during use of these services also provides a personal dossier that facilitates criminal investigations, parole evaluations, probation determinations, and the like.

Recidivism rates for released prisoners in the United States are among the highest in the developed world and cost the government millions of dollars every year. The United States Department of Justice tracked the arrest, conviction, and incarceration of former inmates for three years after their release from prisons in 15 states for the year of 1994. Patrick A. Langan & David J. Levin, Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 193427 (June 2002). The report revealed that inmates with the highest "re-arrest" rates were motor vehicle thieves (78.8%), those previously incarcerated for possessing or selling stolen property (77.4%), larcenists (74.6%), burglars (74.0%), robbers (70.2%), and those previously incarcerated for possessing, using, or selling illegal weapons (70.2%). The report also shows that, during the same time period, 2.5% of released rapists were arrested for another rape and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for another homicide.
One factor recognized by the present inventors as contributing to such high recidivism rates is the inmates' inability to secure employment upon release. Various governmental programs have attempted to address the employability of former inmates. An example of a government program intended to assist former inmates in obtaining employment is the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. The WOTC program provides tax credits for hiring a new employee who is a former inmate and satisfies other relevant criteria. As is common with many government programs, however, the WOTC program involves a relatively cumbersome certification process. Accordingly, relatively few employers find sufficient incentive for the potential tax credit given the effort that must be expended to fulfill the regulatory requirements. This is especially true of employers of relatively smaller numbers of employees that do not possess specialized human resource departments.
Some organizations and professionals assist employers in fulfilling the regulatory requirements associated with obtaining tax credits through the program. These organizations or professionals may obtain information concerning a particular employer, the employees (i.e., former inmates), the employees' expected hire dates, their release dates from inmate institutions, and other pertinent details. Using their expertise, the organization or professional calculates the anticipated tax-credits that would be received upon completing the regulatory requirements. The employer pays a percentage of the anticipated tax-credit up front and the organization or professional then completes the regulatory requirements. These organizations and professionals typically direct their services to relatively large organizations, because the potential revenue associated with obtaining tax-credits for a small number of former inmates is typically not sufficiently attractive to small organizations. Hence, the fees paid for such tax services limits the number of employers that can make use of those services.
Another factor recognized by the present inventors as contributing to recidivism is the lack of education among the general inmate population. Education during incarceration increases the chances that former inmates will become productive members of society. In fact, an increasing number of inmate facilities now offer inmates the opportunity to take General Educational Development (GED) and English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. In addition, some inmate facilities also offer inmates vocational education that helps them develop skills leading to post-release jobs.
Yet another factor recognized by the present inventors as contributing to recidivism is the inmates' lack of proper documentation upon release, generally coupled with their inability to follow the procedures required for obtaining those documents (e.g., birth certificate, social security card, identification card, driver's license, etc.). Other issues also recognized by the present inventors as stumbling blocks on an inmate's road to rehabilitation include a lack of access to financial services, difficulties in making housing arrangements, and insufficient contact with family members and friends during the period of incarceration.

Systems and methods for reducing recidivism among former inmates


The top sheet is separated and removed from a paper sheet stack by a paper feed mechanism which is selectively movable downwardly toward the stack. As the feed mechanism downwardly approaches the stack, a foot portion of the mechanism frictionally contacts the top sheet and is upwardly pivoted by the stationary paper stack. Upward pivoting of the foot portion causes it to frictionally shift the top sheet in a first horizontal direction relative to the rest of the sheets. A drive wheel portion of the feed mechanism, supported for conjoint pivoting with the foot portion about its pivot axis, then frictionally engages the shifted top sheet in place of the foot portion. In response to the upward pivoting of the foot portion, a driven gear supported for pivotal movement therewith and rotationally locked to the drive wheel portion is caused to mesh with a drive gear operative to rotate the driven gear and thus the drive wheel portion. Rotation of the drive wheel portion frictionally drives the shifted top sheet, over a ramp-shaped portion of the feed mechanism, in a horizontal direction opposite to the initial shift direction thereof to thereby separate and remove the top sheet from the paper stack.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for selectively feeding sheets of paper to a printer, a copier, or the like, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for selectively engaging multiple stacks of paper and feeding single sheets from the selected stack of paper to a printer, a copier, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of printers, paper handling mechanisms typically employ a separate sheet feeding mechanism for each tray of paper that the printer has the ability to access. Each pair of trays and sheet feeding mechanisms are normally stacked in a vertical arrangement and consume vertical space equal to the height of each tray and the height of each sheet feeding mechanism. Accordingly, the vertical height of each tray and sheet feeding mechanism limits the maximum number of trays that can be associated with a paper handling mechanism if a printer is to be used in a desktop environment.
In eleotrophotographic printers, such as desktop laser printers, these trays typically are configured to hold approximately 250 sheets of paper. The trays include a bottom portion that supports the stack of paper. The bottom portion is hinged, and a spring acts against the bottom portion to pivot the bottom portion upwardly. Thus, the stack of paper pivots upwardly against the stationary sheet feeding mechanism associated with that tray.
Since the spring force constantly maintains the paper in contact with the sheet feeding mechanism, paper cannot be added to the tray unless the tray is removed. Thus, the printing process from that tray must cease while the tray is removed to replenish the paper supply. In addition, the printing process from that tray must cease when the user wishes to print a short run of unique paper that differs from the paper currently in the tray.
To overcome this inherent deficiency, previous laser printers have employed a sheet feeding mechanism that allows a user to singularly and consecutively feed a small number of sheets into the printer. Of course, this process does not free the user to accomplish other tasks, but requires that the user remain at the printer, consecutively feeding each sheet of paper until the entire printing process is completed. Alternatively, the user may remove the tray from the paper handling mechanism insert the desired number of sheets of paper into the tray and replace the tray into the paper handling mechanism. While this method does free the user to leave the printer during the printing process, the procedure of removing and loading the tray slows the printing process.
Another problem arises due to a pressure variation between the sheet feeding mechanism and the stack of paper. The pressure varies with the thickness of the stack of paper remaining in the tray, because the force applied by the spring is dependent upon the degree of compression of the spring, which is nonlinear. This pressure variation can cause the sheet feeding mechanism to occasionally misfeed a sheet of paper.
Typically, laser printers insure that a single sheet is selected from the stack of paper in the tray by employing a "corner buckler." A corner buckler is a small tab of metal that is placed in one corner of each tray. The sheet feeding mechanism contacts the top sheet of paper in the tray, and moves the sheet toward the corner buckler. As the sheet leaves the tray, the corner buckler deforms the corner of the top sheet of paper to separate it from any lower sheets. However, if two sheets of paper are stuck together and moving out of the tray, occasionally the deformation produced by the corner buckler will not be sufficient to separate these sheets from one another. Moreover, the corner buckler limits the speed at which paper may be removed from the tray.
Since the market for desktop printers is highly competitive extremely cost sensitive, any proposed solution to these problems, or other advances in printer technology, should be economical, durable, and easy to manufacture and repair.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least minimizing, one or more of the problems as set forth above.

Method and apparatus for selecting a single sheet of paper from a paper tray


An intrusion detection system provides the function of an “active” ranging sensor cable system utilized for identification of the location of the intruder, with that of a “passive” cable detection system, in an integrated cable configuration. This dual function is provided with a single conventional sensing cable optimized for both “active” and “passive” sensing, or in combination with other parallel sensing cables for a “passive” cable component. The “active” cable component includes a coaxial sensor cable having a loosely disposed conductor. A signal is injected into the sensor cable such that a reflection is altered when an intrusion disturbs the cable. Based on the timing of the reflection, a processor, or a reflectometer, identifies the location of the disturbance. The “passive” cable component can be sensitized to detect intrusion via some other sensing phenomenology, such as the triboelectric effect, for triboelectric effect sensing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a perimeter intrusion detection system with integrated sensor cable. More particularly, the present invention relates to a security sensor system, with a specific cable configuration, for locating a disturbance along the length of the sensor cable and for providing intrusion data through a further use of the sensor cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of outdoor intrusion detection systems, there are many security systems for sensing disturbances along a distributed sensor cable deployed about a perimeter. These systems face certain challenges not found in indoor security situations. Environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes, rain, snow, animals, blowing debris, seismic effects, terrain and traffic, must all be taken into account. When functioning under these adverse conditions, the system must continue to maintain a high probability of detection while minimizing false alarms (alarms with unknown causes) and nuisance alarms (environment-related alarms), both of which may compromise and reduce the performance of the security system.
Fence and wall-associated sensors are above-ground detection sensors that are attached to an existing fence or wall. They detect intrusion when an intruder disturbs the detection field, or when strain or vibration due to cutting or climbing on a metal fabric fence triggers an alarm. IntelliFIBER™ is a fiber-optic based fence-disturbance sensor for outdoor perimeter security applications from Senstar-Stellar Corp., of Carp, Ontario, Canada. This prior art fiber optic sensor can detect intruders cutting, climbing, or lifting fence fabric, and it provides protection circuitry against electromagnetic interference, radio frequency interference, and lightning. The system includes a programmable microprocessor that processes signals based on the changes in optical parameters generated as a result of disturbances in proximity to the distributed fiber optic sensor cable. The microprocessor allows the user to calibrate and set operating parameters for specific zones/environments. Alarm processing optimizes detection and minimizes nuisance alarms from wind, rain, snow, fog, animals, debris, seismic activity, and the like.
In many security systems, one important characteristic which is useful to determine in conjunction with suitable processing means, is the location of the disturbance along the length of a sensor cable. Such a characteristic is commonly known in the art as "ranging". Ranging is useful both to identify the intruder, but also to locate and rectify locations where nuisance alarms are generated, for example a loose sign banging on the fence.
In any intrusion detection system, the ability to minimize false or nuisance alarms is enhanced when better information on the intrusion event is obtained. Hence, location data, and/or simultaneous data from two or more detection phenomenologies, is useful data to fuse for processing to further obtain either a higher probability of detection, a lower false alarm rate (FAR), a lower nuisance alarm rate (NAR), or a combination.
In the prior art, there are various security systems having a ranging capability. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,446, issued to Harman, discloses a transducer cable for detecting the location of a sensed disturbance along the length of the transducer cable. A "driving" signal is imposed on the transducer cable in order to obtain a response signal. According to Harman, the location of the intruder is determined from the detected response signal. While ranging capabilities of a transducer cable are taught by Harman, the specific transducer cable design is costly, and only allows detection by a single means, namely an impedance change. In another related U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,222, a single means is also disclosed.
Another Harman published patent application, US 2002/00441232, discloses a cable guided radar system for the detection and location of an intruder. The cable system comprises a pair of leaky coaxial cables coupled to an RF transceiver which is in turn coupled to a processor. However, the dual leaky coaxial cable structure is very expensive to produce, requires the generation and reception of an external electromagnetic field, and provides only a single detection signal caused by the motion of a target in the field. Additionally, sensing a target within an external field has not been found to be a practical application for mounting on metal structures, such as fences, nor typically above ground such as on walls.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,984, issued to Wilson, discloses a sensing system with a deformable sensor cable utilizing a reflectometer to measure the reflected signal. The deformable sensor cable of the Wilson patent discloses a ranging capability where an RF signal is injected along the sensor cable and the reflected signal measured. However, a deformable cable requires that the cable be compressed to detect an intrusion rather than sensing movement of the conductor. In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,780, issued to Gilcher, while a loose centre conductor in tube is disclosed, a sensor cable system with a ranging capability is not provided. Neither reference discloses a dual use sensor cable for ranging and for processing of detection data, as well as a suitable cable configuration for such dual purposes.
In view of the above-noted shortcomings, the present invention seeks to provide an intrusion detection system (IDS) with an integrated sensor cable having a multi-purpose application to provide additional intrusion data in a security sensor system. In addition, the present invention seeks to provide a sensor cable utilized for ranging purposes in combination with at least one parallel passive or active sensor cable utilized for intrusion detection purposes, to form an integrated sensor cable.


A light module includes circuit board with a top and bottom side. Multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs) are positioned along the top side of the circuit board. A bottom side of a gas permeable layer of material having top and bottom sides is adhered to at least a portion of the top side of the circuit board. A pair of elongated double-sided adhesive strips are coupled to the top side of the gas-permeable material near opposing ends of the circuit board. An optical lenses is positioned over each of the LEDs. A cover panel is then positioned over the circuit board, the first layer of material, the adhesive strips and at least a portion of each optic and adhered to top side of each of the elongated adhesive strips. Each lens includes an optical cavity and a recessed area adjacent the optical cavity for receiving a reflector therein.

There are many advantages to the use of light emitting diode (LED) die packages as light sources in light fixtures to produce light efficiently. Many light fixtures have incorporated arrays of LED light sources often configured in a bar-shaped housing or module (also referred to as a "light bar" or LightBAR™).
A light bar often includes an extruded or die-cast bar of aluminum or other thermally conductive material to which the LEDs are bonded directly. This heat dissipating carrier to which the LEDs are attached is typically made of metal, such as a heat conductive aluminum alloy, and may provide heat dissipation to allow proper cooling of the LED, or may have an additional heat sink or other heat dissipating means attached. In most light bars the printed circuit board connects the LEDs to a power source. Often the circuit board is laminated to the extruded or die-cast bar. The light bars may further include circuitry to drive the LEDs included in one or more arrays of LED light sources. Typically, the LED arrays are made up of LED die packages that each include an LED light source with a lens (or primary optic), where each of the LED die packages are in turn associated with an optical system (or secondary optic) to control and/or maximize the light emitted from the LED package. In other configurations the LED light source may only have one over-optic to refract light. The light bars may further include circuitry to drive the LEDs included in the array. Each of the secondary optics aligned with the LED light source may be varied in shape and/or individually rotated to create a beam pattern for the array that is unique from the devices themselves, including all degrees of freedom, e.g. separately determined translation, tilt, and yaw for each lens. The array could comprise similarly colored LEDs, white or otherwise, or various colored LEDs.
Light bars are often shown as a rectangular flat bar, but can assume any two dimensional planar shape, such as square, circular, hexagonal, triangular or an arbitrary free-form shape. The light bar, either individually or combined with other light bars, can be the basis of a luminaire that is used for street lighting, pathway lighting, parking structure lighting, decorative lighting and any other type of spread beam application. With the heat sinking and power incorporated on or into the light bar, the light bar can be incorporated into existing luminaires or integrated into new luminaire designs.
Light bars provide the ability to generate a particular beam pattern with an array of LEDs which are mounted on a flat or planar plate, which most likely would be parallel to the street or floor. Light bars also provide thermal and electrical distribution required for the LEDs as well as provide means for protecting the array of LEDs from environmental damage. Conventional methods of sealing against water and dust intrusion for the coupling of the LED die package and the secondary optical system have included the use of elastomers (e.g., silicone adhesives) in combination with gasketing material along the entire interior of the light bar. However, the process typically includes several layers to insure a good seal. These multiple layers and the inclusion of the gasket material along the majority of the interior results in a light bar that must have a greater depth. The increased depth cause the cover portion of the light bar to be higher in relation to the positioning of the individual LEDs. This results in a portion of the light being emitted by the LEDs to be cut-off and not distributed to the illuminated area.

Systems, methods, and devices for sealing LED light sources in a light module