A cable arranging part of the present invention has a fixed shape and comprises a position determining portion, a plurality of cable through holes, and an opening. In a state in which the position determining portion is secured to a position reference portion, the cable arranging part is in a predetermined position on a substrate. The cable through holes become perpendicular to a line of the electrodes and parallel to the substrate in the predetermined position. The opening is provided somewhere midway through the cable through holes and a ground cable through hole. As for the sizes of the cable through holes in a perpendicular direction to the substrate in the predetermined position, the size of the cable through hole on the side where the electrodes are located relative to the opening is greater than the size of the cable through hole on the side opposite to the electrodes.

As a method of arranging a plurality of coaxial cables, the techniques, for example, described in Japanese Patent Applications Laid Open Nos. 2011-86460 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Literature 1"), 2014-103130 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Literature 2"), and 2008-166251 (hereinafter referred to as "Patent Literature 3") are known. In FIG. 1, FIG. 1 of Patent Literature 1 is depicted. The abstract of Patent Literature 1 states that "A terminal processed cable array according to the present invention is a terminal processed cable array including a plurality of cables and a terminal holding member formed of molded thermoset resin which is not thermally hardened, in which the cables are arranged at particular pitch intervals with the terminals thereof being aligned, terminal-side conductors forming the cables are exposed, and the exposed conductors are fixed at the particular pitch intervals by the terminal holding member".
In FIG. 2, FIG. 1 of Patent Literature 2 is depicted. The abstract of Patent Literature 2 states that "A cable connection structure includes a positioning unit 11 for positioning central conductors 3 in a state in which internal insulators 4 of multi-conductor coaxial cables 2 are fixed between signal electrodes 8 and a ground electrode 9 of a substrate 7 having the signal electrodes 8 to which the central conductors 3 of the multi-conductor coaxial cable 2 are connected and the ground electrode 9 to which external conductors 5 of the multi-conductor coaxial cable 2 are connected. The positioning unit 11 is formed of an adhesive nonconducting material which is hardened after placing the positions of the internal insulators 4 fixed to the positioning unit 11 in alignment".
FIG. 1(A) of Patent Literature 3 is depicted in FIG. 3A, and FIG. 1(B) of Patent Literature 3 is depicted in FIG. 3B. The abstract of Patent Literature 3 states that "In a multi-conductor cable harness 10, coaxial cables 11 for signal transmission, cables 11A for power supply, and a ground cable 40 having a central conductor 44, an external conductor 42 placed on the outer periphery of the central conductor 44, and an outer sheath 41 placed on the outer periphery of the external conductor 42 are arranged in parallel, the outside diameter of an outer sheath 12 of each coaxial cable 11 and the outside diameter of an outer sheath 41 of the ground cable 40 are approximately equal to each other, the outside diameter of an external conductor 13 of each coaxial cable 11, the outside diameter of an external conductor 13A of each cable 11A, and the outside diameter of the external conductor 42 of the ground cable 40 are approximately equal to one another, and the external conductors 13 of the coaxial cables 11, the external conductors 13A of the cables 11A, and the external conductor 42 of the ground cable 40 are conductively connected to common ground bars 20 and 30".

Cable connection structure and cable arranging part

JAPAN AVIATION ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY, LIMITED


A light collection system includes at least one light source, a light tunnel having reflective walls and a collimating plate at the light output end of the tunnel. The collimating plate includes an optical element array. The element array receives the light emitted from the light source and outputs part of the light at a desired cone angle and reflects the remainder back into the tunnel toward the light source. The light is “recycled” in the tunnel until the light either exits the collection system through the collimating plate or gets absorbed within the collection system.

Electromagnetic radiation such as light can be collected and condensed using imaging or non-imaging systems. An imaging system produces an image of an arc at a certain location in an optical path. A non-imaging system does not produce an image of an arc, but delivers an optical beam with a certain area, aspect ratio and cone angle.
A common method for light collection is based on a system using a parabolic or ellipsoid reflector of the imaging or non-imaging type. FIG. 1A shows a prior art lamp/reflector system 10 in which a lamp 12 is placed at a first focus of an ellipsoid reflector 11. The ellipsoid reflector 11 focuses the light beam 13 into a second focus 14 located on the optical axis 5. A target (not shown) is usually placed at this second focus 14.
FIG. 1B shows another prior art lamp/reflector system 20 in which a lamp 22 is placed at a focus of a parabolic reflector 21. The parabolic reflector 21 delivers a collimated light beam 23 parallel to an optical axis 15. A focusing lens (not shown) can be used to collect the collimated beam 23 and focus it into a target (not shown) located somewhere on the optical axis 15.
Both systems shown in FIGS. 1A-1B are on-axis systems, since the components are aligned along an optical axis. Systems based on off-axis configurations are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,414,600 and 5,430,634 describe off-axis collection systems of the imaging type. Non-imaging collection systems are discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,077 to Brockman, Kacia et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,456 to Buelow et al.
Non-imaging light collection systems have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,918 to Dolan et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,509,675 to MacLennan et al. In such systems, a reflective coating is applied directly to the bulb surface of an electrodeless lamp (and sometimes a reflective jacket surrounds the bulb) leaving a port open in the reflective coating (or the reflective jacket) to form an aperture. Light exits the collection system through the aperture and can be collimated via known imaging or non-imaging optics to obtain the desired cone angle. These collection systems do not provide a way to control the spatial distribution of light in terms of angle and intensity at each point across the aperture. In addition, the Dolan and MacLennan patents focus on electrodeless lamps and do not provide effective means to apply such collection schemes to electroded lamps.
Many known electromagnetic radiation collection systems suffer from the following problems. First, many of these systems are relatively large, making them less attractive for many applications such as portable projection display systems. Second, these systems provide limited control over the spatial distribution of delivered light in terms of intensity and angle. Third, due to the large optical aberrations typical of these reflector types, etendue (angular extent) of the light beam is not preserved in most cases, leading to radiation losses at the target. Finally, many of these systems collect only part of the light emitted from a source. Specifically, they collect those light rays that strike the reflector after being emitted from the source. Light rays that do not strike the reflector typically do not get collected, and are thus wasted.
Therefore, there is a need for compact, lightweight, and efficient light collection system that provides control over spatial distribution of light in terms of intensity and angle over a certain target area, such as the active area of a display panel.

Compact light collection system and method


An optical fiber has corrugations on an outer surface to dissipate a portion of an input light beam, allowing the remaining portion of the light beam to be coupled to the optical fiber. By dissipating the portion of input light, damage to the optical fiber by uncoupled light is reduced.

As shown in FIG. 1 of international application WO2015/185761, a Nested Antiresonant Nodeless hollow core optical Fiber (NANF) of the prior art has a first tubular, cladding element 1 which defines an internal cladding surface 3. A plurality of second tubular elements 5 are also included which are arranged in a spaced symmetrical relation at the cladding surface 3 and together define a core 9 with a radius R from the center of the NANF. A further plurality of third tubular elements 7 are each nested within a respective one of the second tubular elements 5. The nested ones of the second and third tubular elements 5, 7 provide nested tubular arrangements 11a-11f. In the prior art, the core radius R is typically less than 30 μm. Other parameters and dimensions of the NANF include a wall thickness t of each of the tubular elements 5, 7, a gap distance d between tubular elements 5, and a distance z between the portions of the tubular elements 5, 7 closest to the center of the NANF.
As light is input to an optical fiber such as a NANF, a portion of the input light can be uncoupled to the glass structure of the fiber. That is, the portion of the input light which is not properly coupled will not propagate in a core guided mode of the optical fiber. Rather, such uncoupled light propagates a short distance through the cladding glass structure, potentially causing thermal damage to the polymer cladding of the optical fiber.


A slidable room assembly comprises a vehicle body having an opening formed in an exterior wall, and a reciprocable slideout unit or compartment disposed in the opening and slidable between a retracted position and an extended position. Sliding movement of the slideout unit is controlled by means of a drive mechanism that includes two sets of cabling. The drive mechanism includes a frame installed about the opening in the vehicle body. The frame includes a header, a sill and two pre-assembled jambs. The pre-assembled jambs have a plurality of pulleys with a plurality of cables pre-installed inside the jambs around the pulleys. One end of the cables, attached to the slidable room, is pre-strung through a cable extension hole. The other end of the cables extends out an end of the jamb.

This invention relates generally to a slidable room assembly, particularly to a slidable room for a vehicle for a vehicle having a slidable room or compartment that is retracted when the vehicle is in motion and may be extended to afford more room when the vehicle is parked. More particularly, this invention relates to a method of installing a slidable room.
Recreation vehicles including motor homes, fifth wheel trailers and travel trailers may be provided with an extendable slidable unit for increasing the vehicle's living space. This slidable unit may be extended for use when the vehicle is parked and is retracted in a telescoping manner when the vehicle is to be moved.
Existing slidable rooms for vehicles can be time consuming to install. Frequently, the operating mechanisms consist of many separate components that must be individually installed and connected, which incurs significant labor costs.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present slidable room assemblies. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.

Slidable room assembly and method of installation


A lamp assembly comprises a lamp cover formed with a plurality of through holes on a peripheral surface thereof. The lamp cover accommodates a positioning element made of a tough material for framing a light-penetrable element therein. The lamp cover fitted with the light-penetrable element allows a plurality of resilient catch elements formed on a periphery of a reflective housing to engage with the through holes formed on the lamp cover at corresponding locations, so that the lamp assembly can be assembled, and have its components rapidly positioned in place, by engaging the components to one another, rather than by screwing with threaded fasteners, thereby simplifying fabrication of the lamp assembly.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a lamp assembly, and more particularly, to a lamp assembly to be installed at a predetermined location, wherein the lamp assembly can be assembled through engagement among components thereof rather than by screwing with threaded fasteners, thereby simplifying installation of the lamp assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Presently, lamp assemblies to be installed in areas to be illuminated have different configurations to suit specific needs. Generally, a lamp assembly is assembled by putting prefabricated components together in a specific order, and then securing the components to one another with a plurality of threaded fasteners to form a single piece. Meanwhile, a lamp is positioned in the lamp assembly by screwing, so that the desired lamp assembly is completed. While assembling the lamp assembly, the components thereof must be secured in place with the threaded fasteners, which results in a complicated, time-consuming and inconvenient installation process.


Method for improving the performance of a preparative batchwise Super Critical Fluid Chromatographic separation for the recovery of a target fatty acid or derivative thereof, or of a group of target fatty acids or of derivatives thereof from a mixture, characterized in that the said Super Critical Fluid Chromatographic separation employs a chromatographic column charged with a stationary phase chosen from the group consisting of aluminium oxide or aluminium oxides, titanium oxide or titanium oxides, silica gel or silica gels, amino propyl modified silica gels, diol modified silica gels, phenyl modified silica gels and “reversed phase” phases, the former in turn chosen from the group consisting of RP18, RP8 and RP3, and in that the said Super Critical Fluid Chromatographic Separation further employs a mobile phase chosen from the group consisting of ethylene, propane, ammonia, dinitrogen dioxide and CO2, wherein in the said method, during the run of the said mixture on the chromatographic column, a pressure and/or temperature gradient is applied to the chromatographic column during the elution of the target fatty acid or derivative thereof.

While undergoing now booming development in the analytical field, the SFC technique on preparative scale is however, for the time being, much less established.
Therefore, many natural products are recovered through the employment of more traditional technologies. Among the recovery of natural products, in particular of those employed for pharmaceutical purposes, a particular field of interest is the separation of fatty acids, preferably unsaturated, in particular polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from marine oils, in particular from fish oils. Aforementioned fatty acids are referred to as "omega-3 fatty acids" (more exactly: C20:5 ω-3 and C22:6 ω-3), and the positive health effect brought about by their consumption has been extensively reported in the last 20-25 years.
Since most naturally occurring marine oils are not particularly concentrated in omega-3 fatty acids and since untreated fish oils of medium omega-3 fatty acid content inherently have an unsavory fish odour and flavour, a number of processes have been developed in the last years for refining the crude oils and for separating the omega-3 fractions, such as to provide highly purified preparations employable for pharmaceutical purposes. This is because the employment of lower concentrated preparations is excised by the Pharmacopeia, such that the same can only be exploited as food supplements, not as pharmaceuticals.
Various purification techniques, including urea complexing, adsorption, HPLC, Super critical fluid extraction, fractional and/or molecular distillation etc., have therefore been applied alone or in combination, to purify the omega-3 fractions from marine oils. An example of such previous techniques is given in William B. Nilsson et al. "Supercritical Fluid Fractionation of Fish Oil Esters using Incremental Pressure Programming and a Temperature Gradient." JAOCS, Vol. 66, no. 11 (November 1989). Supercritical fluid fractionation as relied upon by Nilsson et al. is a distillation technique involving the use of a vertical column having an internal structure or packing made of an inert material providing for an increased surface, such as to ease the achievement of an equilibrium between the fluid phases involved. The inert packing material (e.g. Sulzer® packings, Raschig® rings, ball bearings etc.) has an exclusively geometrical function and does not take part, as such, in the phase equilibrium.
However, most of these conventional techniques are cumbersome and time consuming, especially, if they are employed to arrive at highly purified (75% or more) EPA and/or DHA preparations. The use of these methods is therefore mainly indicated for the attainment of pre-purified (or pre-refined) mixtures of fatty acids or of their derivatives, most advantageously of their ethyl esters, to be subjected then to a more efficient final downstream step of improved selectivity.
Therefore, the substrates nowadays employed in the said last refining steps for the manufacture of omega-3 fatty acid based pharmaceuticals are normally pre-enriched ethyl ester compositions derived from marine materials being lower that 75% in EPA and/or DHA.
Among the most recent technological attempts to achieve the final purification with modern separation methods employing supercritical fluids is U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,302 to Perrut et al. who describes, in an attempt to overcome the low productivity achieved heretofore with large scale stationary bed HPLC employed earlier in the art, a process for chromatographic fractionation of fatty acids and their derivatives, such process comprising, in one of its steps, subjection of a feed composition to simulated continuous countercurrent moving bed chromatography with supercritical CO2 as eluent, with the aim of recovering fractions of purified polyunsaturated fatty acids.
However, costs for the construction of a plant of the type used by U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,302 are high, and reduction to practice of the method described therein, in particular the fine tuning of the process parameters, is difficult, such that, to Applicant's knowledge, no preparations obtained with this method have, so far, actually hit the market.
On top of the aforementioned method, some years ago, a mixed preparative SFC/SFE technique "on column" for recovering a substance or a group of substances from a mixture has been proposed, for the first time, by the Applicant of the present invention in order to increase the throughput of batchwise SFC separation, see EP 712 651. SFC/SFE is particularly suited for the separation of fatty acid mixtures and of mixtures of their ethylesters, be the same pre-refined (i.e. pre-enriched) as indicated above, or not. The batchwise mixed preparative SFC/SFE technique can be easily adopted by overloading the employed SFC column in a controlled manner and is operated with success by the Applicant who has a long-grown experience in the field.
However, due to the strongly increasing demand for highly purified products, a continued need of improved, highly preferment separation methods, and as well as of the products thereby obtained, still exists.
It hence appears that there is a problem in the art, calling for the provision of a still improved process, for recovering a substance or a group of substances from a mixture with improved efficiency. The improved process should be able to provide equally pure products as the ones known in less time or in greater amounts, preferably with the possibility to provide, contemporaneously, still more purified products.

Cromatography process for recovering a substance or a group of substances from a mixture


A bicycle pedal apparatus is provided formed from two identical halves comprising a plurality of holes. A bolt secures the two halves through the holes and projects out beyond the surface of the pedal, thereby performing a dual role of securing the two halves together and serving as a traction mechanism. The pedal bodies rotate about a pedal axle either directly on the axle or on bearings. In embodiments utilizing bearings, two different bearings are used, roller bearings to bear the rotational load and thrust bearings to bear any axial load. The pedal axle can be tapered with a flanged head and resides in a cavity in the pedal body that substantially conforms to the shape of the pedal axle so as to minimize movement of the pedal axle within the pedal body.

Current bicycle pedal designs are generally comprised of a die-cast body that is formed in one-piece from aluminum or magnesium alloys. Due to bearing placement requirements, the strength and weight reduction of these die-castings tends to be complex and in many cases they require expensive tooling. Additionally, they may also require extensive secondary machining work. Some pedals have been made using plastic bodies, but these also tend to require a complex mold since they generally rely on traditional body design shapes. Plastic pedals are also usually considered to be too slippery. This is generally due to the pedal's molded-plastic shoe pins that tend to provide an inferior grip when compared to the steel pins found in metal pedals. The steel pins in metal pedals, however, normally utilize fixing points that tend to be vulnerable to damage. This damage usually prevents the fitting of a replacement pin that could be used to prolong the life of the pedal.
Traditional pedals also use either "loose" ball bearing arrangements or "sealed" ball bearing arrangements. Sealed bearing pedal arrangements are generally a combination of simple bushings, needle roller bearings and small, deep-groove radial cartridge bearings. In the case of loose ball bearings, the performance is inconsistent, and they rely on regular maintenance and adjustment in order to function properly. Furthermore, in order to minimize the thickness of the body, which is a desirable feature, the diameter of the spindle is restricted by the ball bearing size, and this in turn compromises strength. With "sealed" bearing designs, the standard deep groove bearings are either too large or too weak to handle the loads imposed on the pedal design. Additionally, the use of a bushing-type bearing in this area provides for a less than ideal performance, and axial loads (such as those from dropping the bicycle sideways) can easily destroy the single deep groove cartridge bearing. Many existing pedal designs also require an access port at the outboard end of the pedal body for assembly purposes. This access area is usually capped, but the cover employed is often vulnerable to damage, either making it hard to remove or causing it to either break or fall out, allowing dirt into the bearing cavity.
Thus, there is a need for a bicycle pedal that separates the function of radial and axial location bearings to enhance the strength, performance, and durability. In addition, the construction of the bicycle pedal needs to be simplified and allow for the use of composite materials with steel gripping pins for easy replacement. Also, eliminating the access port would minimize damages and production costs.


This invention provides methods for pyrosequencing and compositions comprising 3′-O— modified deoxynucleoside triphosphates.

Pyrosequencing is a method based on the detection of the pyrophosphate group that is generated when a nucleotide is incorporated in a DNA polymerase reaction [1]. Each of the four deoxynucleotides (dNTPs) is added sequentially to the DNA template to be sequenced with a cocktail of enzymes and substrates in addition to the usual polymerase reaction components. If the added nucleotide is complementary with the first available base on the template, the nucleotide will be incorporated and a pyrophosphate will be released. The released pyrophosphate is converted to ATP by sulfurylase, and this ATP is the substrate for a luciferase, e.g. firefly luciferase, which reaction produces visible light. If the added nucleotide is not incorporated, no light will be produced and the nucleotide will simply be degraded by the enzyme apyrase. This pyrosequencing technique, schematized in FIG. 1, has been applied to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection and other applications [2].
There are, however, inherent difficulties in the traditional pyrosequencing method for determining the number of incorporated nucleotides in homopolymeric regions (e.g. a string of several T's in a row) of the template. Moreover, dATP greatly interferes with the luciferase detection system, which is deficient in the detection of dATP.

Pyrosequencing methods and related compositions

THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK


The invention relates principally to the statistical analysis of protein separation patterns. The invention solves the problems associated with producing models which are predictive of classification using unreduced data. The invention provides a method of analysing a representation of a separation pattern, the representation including a neighborhood representing a region of the separation pattern, the neighborhood including a plurality of data points, the method comprising augmenting data by representing the entire region using each data point of the neighborhood; and building a classification model using some or all of the data points.

A large proportion of supervised learning algorithms suffer from having large numbers of variables in comparison to the number of class examples. With such a high ratio, it is often possible to build a classification model that has perfect discrimination performance, but the properties of the model may be undesirable in that it lacks generality, and that it is far too complex (given the task) and very difficult to examine for important factors.
It is desirable to overcome some or all of the above-described problems.

Method of analysing a representation of a separation pattern


In a communications network having plural nodes, a first node receives a capability list that has a predefined format and includes plural entries identifying corresponding data processing functions supported by one or more nodes along a communications path of a communications session involving the first node. The first node adds at least one additional entry into the capability list in response to determining that the first node supports a data processing function that is not identified in the capability list.

Information, including data, audio, video, and voice information, can travel in circuit-switched and/or packet-switched forms over different types of networks, including wireline and wireless networks. The various nodes along a communications path may perform various types of processing functions in addition to routing or forwarding the information toward the next node. These features may include signal processing functions, such as controlling gain and providing noise reduction and echo cancellation. In many cases, the various nodes along a particular communications path may provide the same and/or different signal processing functions. For example, multiple nodes may provide echo cancellation and noise reduction, while other nodes may provide gain control. Further, other nodes may provide echo cancellation, noise reduction, and gain control. Accordingly, all of the communication nodes must be properly controlled and coordinated to provide the appropriate functions at the appropriate places and times. If provisioning of these functions is not properly implemented, the information being transferred along the path may be degraded. Such control and coordination is difficult to implement for relatively static conditions, and even more difficult to implement when the communication path dynamically changes, such as when a node fails and rerouting of the communication path is required.

Providing a capability list of a predefined format in a communications network


A new cultivar of fibrous Begonia, ‘Basket Case Pink’., that is characterized by its bronze foliage, its numerous petite soft pink flowers, its plant habit that is compact and mounded with stems trailing as they lengthen, its well-branched stems, its vigorous growth habit, its ability to grow in both sunny and shady conditions, and its ability to produce compact and full containers and be used as a filler plant in combination planters for its trailing stems.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Begonia plant, botanically of hybrid origin and known as Begonia 'Basket Case Pink' and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Basket Case Pink'. 'Basket Case Pink' represents a new fibrous Begonia grown for use as a hanging basket and container plant.
The new cultivar was derived from a breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Marietta, Ga. The overall purpose of the breeding program is to make new selections of Begonia plants that are floriferous with uniquely colored foliage, good branching and suitable for container production. 'Basket Case Pink' originated as a seedling that arose from seed planted from open pollination of 'Kaylen' (not patented) in Marietta, Ga. in fall of 2009. 'Basket Case Pink' was selected as a single unique plant in 2011 from amongst the resulting seedlings.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings in Marietta, Ga. in summer of 2010 by the Inventor. Asexual propagation by stem cuttings, has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A drain system, in an elevator system having at least one elevator car with an upper edge running approximately parallel to a horizontal plane, includes a deflector plate arranged on the upper edge of the elevator car at at least one angle of inclination to the horizontal plane and inclined against a shaft wall in which shaft doors are arranged, so that extinguishing water, which falls onto the elevator car is directed at least partially from the deflector plate against the upper edge and against the shaft wall in which the shaft doors are arranged.

Modern elevator installations or so-called firefighters' elevators designed specifically therefor have to ensure reliable operation even in the event of a fire, on the one hand in order for individuals or at-risk material to be evacuated from the floors affected by the fire, but on the other hand also for transporting the firefighters and their extinguishing equipment. In both cases, the use of extinguishing water—whether by means of a sprinkler installation or on the part of the fire department or both—must not result in the elevator installation or the firefighters' elevator no longer functioning.
This means that the electrical components of the elevator installation have to remain dry. Furthermore, the supporting and driving means must not become so wet as to result in uncontrollable slippage between the driving pulley and the supporting and driving means. Slippage can occur particularly easily because the extinguishing water can have a direct adverse effect on the coefficients of friction between the driving pulley and the supporting and driving means, and/or can change the viscosity of any lubricants, and, on the other hand, it usually contains soap for better firefighting purposes.
The slippage occurring between the driving pulley and supporting and driving means thus gives rise to a reduction in traction or even to a complete loss of traction of the elevator installation and—if there is a large difference between the weight of the elevator car and the weight of the counterweight—possibly to uncontrolled movement of the elevator car, which has to be stopped by its safety brake. However, the satisfactory function of the safety brake or the braking deceleration of the brake shoes thereof on the guide rail, in turn, can also only be ensured when the brake shoes or the guide rail are not moistened with (soap-containing) extinguishing water.
All these requirements make it necessary for the extinguishing water to be drained off and/or intercepted in a controlled manner. The extinguishing water normally penetrates into the elevator shaft via the doors of the latter. International publication WO A1 98/22381 discloses an elevator installation having a drainage system on the shaft doors and flow barriers interengaging with a form fit on each shaft door. The attempt is thus made to keep the elevator shaft free of extinguishing water over its entire height from the outset. The disadvantage with this solution, however, is that high costs are involved in order to equip each floor with corresponding drain pipes and said flow barriers beforehand.

Elevator system having a car-side extinguishing water drain system


A control circuit in a semiconductor memory device accessing a memory cell for a plurality of cycles includes an internal command generating circuit and a mask signal generating circuit. Upon receiving a control command, the internal command generating circuit outputs an internal signal instructing an operation to access the memory cell at H level when a mask signal is at L level, while outputs an internal signal at L level when the mask signal is at H level, because a latch circuit is reset. The mask signal generating circuit outputs the mask signal at H level for a following cycle, when the internal signal is output at H level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory device which communicates data with the outside in synchronization with a rise and fall of an external clock, and carries out a processing for access to a memory cell for a plurality of cycles with an operation at a higher frequency.
2. Description of the Background Art
With a demand for an operation with a higher frequency in the semiconductor memory device, a double data rate SDRAM (hereinafter, referred to as a DDR SDRAM) communicating data with the outside in synchronization with rising and falling edges of an external clock has been developed and put into practical use.
A first-generation DDR SDRAM referred to as a DDR-I performs a 2-bit prefetch operation, in which 2-bit data received in synchronization with the successive rising and falling edges of the external clock is written at a time into a memory cell array for each cycle, in each of a plurality of data input circuits (with regard to data read, the 2-bit data is read at a time from the memory cell array for each cycle, corresponding to each of a plurality of data output circuits, and then, the 2-bit data is sequenced and output to the outside every half cycle).
Recently, as a DDR SDRAM attaining an operation at a further higher frequency, a second-generation DDR SDRAM referred to as a DDR-II has attracted attention. The DDR-II is standardized by "JEDEC" (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council), which is an organization standardizing electronic devices in the United States.
The DDR-II is first characterized by a 4-bit prefetch operation. In the DDR-II, a time period itself from when execution of an internal processing is instructed until when memory cell is accessed is not different from that in the DDR-I. Therefore, the processing for access to the memory cell is not completed within one cycle, because an operation frequency (an external clock frequency) is higher in the DDR-II. Accordingly, in the DDR-II, two cycles serve as one operation unit for the internal processing, and the memory cell is accessed for each operation unit.
A write operation will be described as an example. In each of the data input circuits, data of four bits received in synchronization with the rising and falling edges of the external clock during consecutive two cycles is written at a time into the memory cell array every two cycles. In this manner, in the DDR-II, a data transfer rate within the device is doubled, compared to the DDR-I performing the 2-bit prefetch operation, and thus, the operation frequency is enhanced.
Secondly, the DDR-II is characterized by using an additive latency (hereinafter, also referred to as "AL"), a read latency (hereinafter, also referred to as "RL"), and a write latency (hereinafter, also referred to as "WL") as a technique to improve operation efficiency of a system having the semiconductor memory device mounted. In the DRAM including the DDR SDRAM, a time period from when an activation command (ACT command) is received until when a read command or a write command (hereinafter, also collectively referred to as "column command") is received is defined by a delay time tRCD as an operation specification. When viewed from the system, however, from the viewpoint of the operation efficiency, it is desirable to be able to immediately issue the column command in a following cycle after the issue of the ACT command. Therefore, in the DDR-II, the column command will be acceptable in a cycle following the reception of the ACT command, and the column command is delayed by the number of cycles defined with AL within the device, to secure time tRCD.
In addition, RL represents the number of cycles defined with (AL+CL), and represents the number of cycles from when the DDR-II receives the read command from the outside until when the DDR-II starts to output data to the outside. WL represents the number of cycles defined with (RL−1), and represents the number of cycles from when the DDR-II receives the write command from the outside until when the data write operation is started.
In doing so, from a viewpoint of the system having the DDR-II mounted, the column command can successively be issued after the ACT command, without taking into account delay time tRCD. That is, an efficient program can be set up.
As described above, in the DDR-II, two cycles of the external clock serve as one operation unit. Therefore, the system utilizing the DDR-II is defined so as to issue a column command at an interval of at least two cycles, during which an issue of a precharge command (PRE command) is prohibited.
On the other hand, a command decoder used in a conventional DRAM including the DDR-I generates an internal control command corresponding to a control command received from the outside as it is, in response to the control command. Therefore, when the control command is input every cycle, the command decoder generates the internal control command every cycle.
In such a case, when the conventional command decoder is used in the DDR-II, and if the DDR-II receives an improper column command issued in subsequent cycle, for example, the processing for access to the memory cell will overlap within one operation unit, and the data in the memory cell will be destroyed.
In addition, the internal control commands corresponding to a plurality of control commands the system issued at different timings may simultaneously be generated within the DDR-II with AL and WL. For example, in the DDR-II, the internal control command corresponding to the read command is generated after the number of cycles defined by AL, after the read command is received. Meanwhile, the internal control command corresponding to the write command is generated after the number of cycles defined by WL, after the write command is received. Therefore, when the DDR-II receives the read command after the write command, both internal control commands may be generated simultaneously. Further, the internal control command corresponding to the read command received later may be generated before the internal control command corresponding to the preceding write command is generated.
In such a case as well, as in the example in which the column commands are input in consecutive cycles, the processing for access to the memory cell may overlap within one operation unit, and the data in the memory cell may be destroyed.

Semiconductor memory device invalidating improper control command


A ferroelectric memory device includes a first trench formed in a semiconductor substrate and having a first depth, a second trench formed in the substrate and having a second depth, a first element isolation insulating film buried in the first trench, a first gate electrode formed in a lower region of the second trench, a first insulating film formed in an upper region of the second trench, first and second diffusion layers formed in the substrate on both side surface in the second trench, a first ferroelectric capacitor disposed on the first diffusion layer, a first contact disposed on the first ferroelectric capacitor, a first wiring layer disposed on the first contact, a second contact disposed on the second diffusion layer, and a second wiring layer disposed on the second contact and disposed in the same level as that of the first wiring layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ferroelectric memory device including a ferroelectric capacitor and a method of manufacturing the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) using a ferroelectric capacitor has attracted attention a nonvolatile semiconductor memory. For the FeRAM, a 1Tr+1C type has heretofore been proposed in which one cell is constituted of one transistor (Tr) and one ferroelectric capacitor (C).
FIGS. 69 to 72 show a schematic cell structure of the FeRAM of 1Tr+1C type according to related art. As shown in FIGS. 69 to 72, a gate electrode 112 is formed on a semiconductor substrate 111, and a pair of source/drain diffusion layers 113a, 113b are formed on opposite sides of this gate electrode 112 to form a transistor 114. An interlayer insulating film 115 is formed on the transistor 114, and contacts 116a, 116b connected to the source/drain diffusion layers 113a, 113b are formed in the interlayer insulating film 115. Moreover, a ferroelectric capacitor 120 constituted of a lower electrode 117, ferroelectric film 118, and upper electrode 119 is connected to one contact 116b, and a plate line 122 is formed on the upper electrode 119 via a contact 121. A bit line 125 is connected to the other contact 116a via a wiring 123 and contact 124.
Here, the cell of FIG. 70 includes a two-dimensional capacitor in which the lower electrode 117, ferroelectric film 118, and upper electrode 119 constituting the ferroelectric capacitor 120 extend only in XY-directions in a planar manner, and only a plane which is horizontal with respect to a semiconductor substrate plane is used as a capacitor plane. The cells of FIGS. 71 and 72 include a three-dimensional capacitor in which at least one of the lower electrode 117, ferroelectric film 118, and upper electrode 119 constituting the ferroelectric capacitor 120 extend in XYZ-directions in a solid manner. Not only the plane which is horizontal with respect to the semiconductor substrate plane but also a side-surface part of the lower electrode 117 which is not horizontal with respect to the semiconductor substrate plane is used as the capacitor planes.
In the above-described conventional cell structure, the ferroelectric capacitor 120, the plate line 122, the contact 116b connecting the ferroelectric capacitor 120 to the transistor 114, the contact 121 connecting the ferroelectric capacitor 120 to the plate line 122, the wiring 123 and contacts 116a, 124 connecting the bit line 125 to the transistor 114, and the like exist between the bit line 125 and the semiconductor substrate 111. Therefore, since the film thickness of the interlayer insulating film 115 between the bit line 125 and the semiconductor substrate 111 increases, the contact connecting the bit line 125 to the semiconductor substrate 111 becomes very deep. In particular, since the diameter of the contact is increasingly reduced to about 0.15 to 0.18 μm, and the aspect ratio of the contact increases by miniaturization of the memory, it is predicted that it becomes further difficult to form a satisfactory contact with a held size.

Ferroelectric memory device and method of manufacturing the same


System(s) and method(s) facilitate a distributed simulation of an industrial control system. A model of the industrial control system is generated and computing resources are scheduled for simulating portions of a simulation according to the model. Computing resources are scheduled to mitigate computational bottlenecks in the simulation and synchronize portions of the simulation deployed in disparate computing resources. Sub-processes of a control process can be simulated in dedicated computing resources as a part of a distributed simulation of the control process. Execution time of one or more portions of a distributed simulation can be increased or slowed down to synchronize said portions.

Simulation and modeling for automation has advanced considerably. In one instance, manufacturers employ simulation for business purposes. While some have utilized simulation to close sales with suppliers, other manufacturers employ simulation for supply chain planning. For example, if it is known how many items are produced for a given line, then it can be determined where production needs to occur and what equipment needs to drive the production while yielding confidence in the final production outcome. Entities can also predict delivery schedules from simulations. Design engineers are using simulation to alter their designs to make products easier to manufacture, whereas many companies are now creating simulations of entire plants before a plant is built or refurbished.
One recent trend is the use of simulation to train plant personnel. There are two main areas where simulation has helped in training. In one, simulation allows less skilled workers to practice and gain experience "operating" plant equipment before taking the reins in the real world. In another, simulated operation offers an accelerated form of training. For instance, input/output (I/O) simulation software provides a shortcut to training on actual equipment that may not even be available at the present time, where training materials can be created from simulated manufacturing design. Training is often considered a secondary use of simulation, but the savings it produces can be considerable nonetheless. Another recent development in simulation mirrors progress in other areas of computer technology: standardization of data. One of the trends in simulation is the ability to share data. Thus, users share data in many directions, from product design and manufacturing to robot simulation and ergonomics, for example.
Three-dimensional modeling has gained ground in manufacturing simulation. Three-dimensional modeling first was applied in the aerospace and automotive sectors. Often, designers model robots in 3-D, then select the location for the respective operation such as "weld" and instruct the robot to perform along those lines. As for parameters such as pressure and the robot's maneuverability, such parameters can be built into the simulation and delivered by the robot manufacturer, thus preventing a simulation from inadvertently instructing the robot to perform an operation that is beyond its capabilities. Often times the robots are controlled from one or more programmable controllers that can also be simulated.
When a company has its manufacturing process fully simulated, it becomes easier to analyze a product design and observe how well it performs in a manufacturing setting. Since the design and manufacturing are not yet "live," there is an opportunity to turn back to the design engineer and request changes before it is cost prohibitive to do so. Such changes at the simulation stage are generally much less costly to implement than at the actual manufacturing stage. Thus, early on in the life of the product, designers can analyze the simulated manufacturing process, and adjust a given product for desired manufacturability. The ability to alter a product design prior to manufacturing in order to cause the entire process to work more efficiently offers significant potential savings over the traditional design process. This process is often referred to as front-loading, where a designer can identify glitches in manufacturing through simulation and then facilitate planning on how to overcome such problems. With front-loading, products can be designed so it performs well in the manufacturing simulation which should mitigate problems in actual production thus mitigating overall system costs.
Simulation can also be implemented end-to-end, thus demonstrating how every process in a plant performs together over a designated period of time. For instance, simulation can occur from the IC (industrial controller) level up to warehouse management and other supervisory systems. One area where simulations of the entire plant are taking hold is with new plants or newly refitted plants. Before manufacturers determine what equipment they need and where it should go, they simulate the plant's entire operations. Dynamic simulation thus provides a model for a new plant to ensure the plant is designed properly.
It should be appreciated that such end-to-end simulations are complex. Several time scales and spatial scales associated with equipment, devices, and controllers are involved. The number of components that a simulation addresses grows as new elements of the industrial environment are incorporated; however, not only the size of the system increases but also its complexity through interactions of the added components. In addition, as industrial processes modernize and economical pressures drive development, simulations are sought as instruments for predicting performance, throughput, and cost of an industrial environment as a whole, from the bottom-up, starting at the device and controller level. In several instances, decision-making is based on simulation; therefore, predictive power and incorporation of the complexity of a simulated plant or factory.
With complex industrial control systems, there is a need to simulate the various components that makeup such systems. For example, this can include simulating multiple controllers over a network where each controller in turn controls subordinate I/O modules. Many times, multiple designers are involved where one designer will design one portion of the control system and other portions are implemented by other designers. In order to simulate an overall system model, there is a need to simulate and coordinate distributed components of the system.

Distributed simulation and synchronization


An apparatus for obtaining three-dimensional volume data indicative of the shape of an object by processing the video signal resulting from picking up the object has an image projector for projecting a two-dimensional reference optical image containing a large amount of spatial high-frequency components on the surface of the object, a two-dimensional image pickup device for sequentially picking up the image of the object on which the two-dimensional optical image is projected, while the focal plane is being shifted, a range finder for extracting the high-frequency components of an image signal of a very small region including each of a plurality of detection points on the image picked up by said image pickup device, and detecting the best focal plane position where an in-focus condition is given, for each of the plurality of detection points from the change of the high-frequency components with the shift of the focal plane, and a memory for storing data of the best focal plane detected for each of the detection points as the three-dimensional volume data of the object.

This invention relates to apparatus for obtaining three-dimensional volume data of an object, and particularly to an apparatus for obtaining three-dimensional volume data of an object by picking up the image of the object and processing the image signal.
Recently, production of images by using a computer (CG: Computer Graphics) is very popular in broadcasting and movie production. In this CG, the image of an object (for example, a person, or a building) to be displayed on a screen is produced as a two-dimensional image from the wire frame model that is produced from the volume data of the shape of the object. Since the object image is produced on the model of volume data, the three-dimensional operation such as rotation and deformation of a component is easy to make.
So far, the following methods have been used for obtaining three-dimensional volume information of an object:
(1) Slit light or laser light indicating coordinates is irradiated on the object itself, thereby obtaining three-dimensional coordinates on the object surface.
(2) Coherent light is irradiated on the object so as to produce a moire image, and the shape is obtained by measuring the distance to the object from this moire image.
(3) An approximate shape of the object of interest is generated on the display by computation, and the operator edits this shape while viewing the shape.
The techniques of methods (1) and (2) are described in detail in "Handbook of Optical Measurement" (edited by Toshiharu Denko and published by Asakura Shoten), pp 582-595.
The methods (1) and (2) need special measuring apparatus. Because it takes a long time to measure, a person and so on are compelled to stand still when their shapes are inputted. In the method (3), since the shape is modeled by use of a computer, a skilful operator must edit in a long time.
It is also well known that the image of an object is photographed without a special apparatus and used for measuring the shape, as described in the literature of "Digital Composition of Images with Increase Depth of Focus Considering Depth Information", written by Satoshi A., Sugimoto and Yoshiki Ichioka, Applied Optics, vol. 24, Nov. 14, 1985. This method is used for image signal processing in microscopes. This known technique uses a plurality of images photographed while the focal plane is being slightly shifted, detects the in-focus condition from some of the high-frequency signal components included in the images, and measures the distance to the object from this focal point position and the current condition of the lens. In addition, volume data is obtained by converting the result of the distance measurement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,704 discloses the apparatus for producing three-dimensional volume data from a plurality of images which are obtained by shifting the focal point of the camera lens, this three-dimensional volume data showing a plurality of positions of the object within the field of view of the camera.

Apparatus for obtaining three-dimensional volume data of an object


A portable electronic device with an exposed heat dissipating mechanism includes a housing and a heat dissipating plate. A heat generating unit is arranged inside the housing, and the heat dissipating plate includes a main body arranged inside the housing and at least one cooling portion extended from the main body and exposed on the housing. The main body and the heat generating unit are thermally connected to each other. Therefore, the effectiveness of the heat dissipation can be enhanced without increasing the thickness of the device and such that the need for heat dissipation in a portable electronic device of higher performance and computing power can be satisfied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a portable electronic device, in particular, to a portable electronic device with an exposed heat dissipating mechanism
2. Description of Related Art
Portable electronic devices, including such as mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), electronic reader and tablet computer, are developed to have greater performance with smaller sizes and thicknesses. As their performances advance with higher processing power, the heat generated by such portable devices also increases rapidly; in addition, due to the accumulation of the heat generated, the temperature at the internal environment of the portable electronic devices could increase to certain extend. As the time of usage of the device increases, the internal heat transferred out via the housing to the external of the device could even be felt by the user; furthermore, the continuous usages of the device along with the accumulation of heat without satisfactory cooling could result in poor performance of the device including such as slower operational speed and operational shutdown; in a worst case scenario, the useful lifetime of the electronic device could be reduced or even cause damages on internal components of the device due to great heat accumulation at the internal of the device. Nevertheless, it is known that the thickness of the device also influences the cooling, and as the portable electronic device becomes thinner in size, the cooling for such thin electronic device becomes even more difficult. Therefore, there is a need for an effective and powerful heat dissipating or cooling mechanism for current portable electronic devices of higher performances and smaller in sizes.
Currently, a known portable electronic device is equipped with a metal sheet and the metal sheet is thermally connected to the heat generating unit inside the housing in order to conduct the heat generated to the housing via the metal sheet such that the heat can be further dissipated to the external environment. This is known to be one of the basic solutions of heat dissipation for a known electronic device.
However, for a portable electronic device with much greater computing power and performance, such basic heat dissipating mechanism is found to be insufficient to handle the heat generated by such powerful portable electronic device; in addition, due to the limitation on the thickness of the portable electronic device, it is not possible to include the design or construction of a heat sink or dissipating fan inside the portable electronic device. In view of the above, the inventor of the present invention seeks to provide a design capable of enhancing the effect of heat dissipation without increasing the thickness of a portable electronic device, as a technical problem to be overcome by the present invention.

Portable electronic device with exposed heat dissipating mechanism


An embodiment apparatus comprises a first two-piecewise linear approximation generator and a second two-piecewise linear approximation generator coupled to an output of the first two-piece wise linear approximation generator. The second two-piecewise linear approximation generator generates a dead time inversely proportional to the output of the first two-piece wise linear approximation generator. A gate drive generator is configured to generate a primary switch drive signal and an auxiliary switch drive signal complementary to the primary switch drive signal. In addition, the dead time between the primary switch drive signal and the auxiliary switch drive signal is adjustable when the power converter operates in a light load condition.

A telecommunication network power system usually includes an ac-dc stage converting the power from the ac utility line to a 48V dc distribution bus and a dc/dc stage converting the 48V dc distribution bus to a plurality of voltage levels for all types of telecommunication loads. A conventional ac-dc stage may comprise a variety of EMI filters, a bridge rectifier formed by four diodes, a power factor correction circuit and an isolated dc/dc power converter. The dc/dc stage may comprise a plurality of isolated dc/dc converters. Isolated dc/dc converters can be implemented by using different power topologies, such as LLC resonant converters, flyback converters, forward converters, half bridge converters, full bridge converters and the like.
Active clamp forward converters are widely adopted for small to medium power level isolated power converters in the telecommunications and data communications industries. Higher light-load efficiency is increasingly demanded in small and medium power level isolated power converters. Under a light load condition, adaptive dead time control helps to achieve zero voltage switching (ZVS) on the main switch and increase light load efficiency.

Apparatus and method for pulse width modulation control for switching power converters


The disclosure is directed to a disk shooting toy comprising a body, a port extending into the body and configured to permit a disk to be inserted into the body, a slot extending into the body, and a firing mechanism configured to shoot the disk out of the body through the slot. In some examples, the disk shooting toy may include a handle mechanism configured to selectively detach from the body and a trigger mechanism attached to the handle mechanism and configured to selectively engage the firing mechanism when the handle mechanism is attached to the body. In some examples, a trigger mechanism operatively connected to the body and including a trigger configured to selectively engage the firing mechanism and selectively cover the port. In some examples, the disk shooting toy may include structure configured to selectively attach a trigger mechanism to the body for selectively engaging the firing mechanism.

Disk shooting toys are a source of entertainment to persons using them. A disk shooting toy may include a body and a firing mechanism for propelling objects from the body. The body of a disk shooting toy may take various shapes, such as a gun, a vehicle, or an action figure. Firing mechanisms in a disk shooting toy may include spring operated mechanisms, motorized mechanisms, or resilient member mechanisms.
Examples of disk shooting toys are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,598,354; 3,370,746; 3,487,824; 3,515,114; 3,717,136; 4,016,854; 4,277,068; 5,050,575; 5,199,410; 5,471,967; 5,611,322; 5,613,482; 5,782,228; 5,996,564; 6,116,229; 6,224,457; 6,343,969; 6,419,545; 6,733,356; D260918; D390284; D412019; D505983; and U.S. Published Applications 2002/0166551 and 2003/0134562, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.


A head restraint for immobilizing a patient during tomographic examination. A two part cover, each part enclosing a pneumatic, inflatable member, is adjustably assembled so as to locate each inflatable member on opposite sides of the patient's head. A strap encircles the forehead, maintaining the restraint on the patient. A hand held squeeze bulb simultaneously and equally pressurizes both inflatable members so as to occupy all space between the patient's head and a U-shaped head holder typically provided with tomography X-ray machines. The inflatable members establish a comfortably fitting, flexible, large patch of contact with the patient's head and with the head holder. These characteristics immobilize a patient's head sufficiently to enable clear images to be developed. The inflated members are depressurized by a manual valve, and the restraint is readily removed from the patient.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a head restraint for immobilizing a supine patient's head during X-ray examination.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Immobilizing supports for the head of a medical patient have been the subject of prior patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,820, issued on Aug. 23, 1983 to William R. O'Dell et al., discloses an immobilizing head holder for use during tomography comprising a U-shaped receptacle, a foam liner, and plural straps surrounding the head when the holder is in use, among other components.
A similar device, albeit not for tomography, is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,322, issued to Larry C. Miller on Jan. 8, 1980. Other support or immobilizing devices having pads and straps include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,576,150, and 5,076,264, issued respectively to Walter Aurscher on Mar. 18, 1986 and to John S. Lonardo et al. on Dec. 31, 1991.
Fluid inflation of medical supports is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,884,927, issued on Oct. 25, 1932 to Martin Van Raalte; 2,589,155, issued on Mar. 11, 1952 to Raymond D. Smith; 4,682,587,issued on July 28, 1987 to James D. Curlee; and 5,137,024, issued on Aug. 11, 1992 to Takashiro Souma. Smith '155 shows two inflatable members. Carlee '587 discloses a separate pressurizing squeeze bulb and overlapping hook and loop fastener.
None of the above patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


The present invention is directed to a method for controlling the viscosity of a sprayable mixture. The sprayable mixture forms a layer of a coating composition on an applied substrate and forms crosslinked network after drying and curing the layer. The dried and cured composition provides the substrate with a coating having a good appearance.

Automobile coatings typically comprise crosslinked polymer network formed by multiple reactive components. The coatings are typically sprayed onto a substrate such as automobile vehicle body or body parts using a spray device and then cured to form a coating layer having such crosslinked polymer network.
In spray technologies currently used, multiple reactive components of a coating composition are mixed to form a pot mix prior to spraying and placed in a cup-like reservoir or container that is attached to a spraying device such as a spray gun. Due to the reactive nature of the multiple reactive components, the pot mix will start to react as soon as they are mixed together causing continued increase in viscosity of the pot mix. Once the viscosity reaches a certain point, the pot mix becomes practically un-sprayable. The possibility that the spray gun itself may become clogged with crosslinked polymer materials is also disadvantageous. The time it takes for the viscosity to increase to such point where spraying becomes ineffective, generally up to a two-fold increase in viscosity, is referred to as "pot life".
One way to extend "pot life" is to add a greater amount of thinning solvent, also known as thinning agent, to the pot mix. However, thinning agent, such as organic solvent, contributes to increased emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and also increases the curing time.
Other attempts to extend "pot life" of a pot mix of a coating composition have focused on "chemical-based" solutions. For example, it has been suggested to include modifications of one or more of the reactive components or certain additives that would retard polymerization reaction of the multiple components in the pot mix. The modifications or additives must be such that the rate of curing is not adversely affected after the coating is applied to the surface of a substrate.
Another approach is to mix one or more key components, such as a catalyst, together with other components of the coating composition immediately prior to spraying. One example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,201,289 in that a catalyst solution is stored in a separate dispenser and being dispensed and mixed with a liquid coating formulation before the coating formulation is atomized.
Yet another approach is to separately atomize two components, such as a catalyst and a resin, of a coating composition, and mix the two atomized components after spray. One such example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,017. However, such approach requires atomization of two components separately by using separate pumps and injection means for each of the two components.

Method for controlling the viscosity of a sprayable mixture


A method for operating a secure semiconductor IP access server to support failure analysis. A client presents a test failure and failure type to an automated server which traverses an electronic product design, definition, and test database to report specifically those components and interconnect likely to cause the failure with geometrical information which may be displayed on the client. Other aspects of semiconductor IP are protected by the server by limiting the trace mechanism and renaming components.

Increasing Complexity of Semiconductor Manufacturing—The transistor was invented in 1947 at Bell Telephone Laboratories by a team led by physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. Almost every piece of equipment that stores, transmits, displays, or manipulates information in the sixty years hence has at its core silicon chips filled with electronic circuitry. These chips have dramatically scaled to many millions of transistors and miles of interconnect. A global network of independent but cooperative entities and technologists has provided this solution by specialization and business process integration.
Over the years market opportunities have created niches for deep competencies to profitably support analog and digital designers with tools including time domain and frequency domain analysis, multiple levels of abstraction from physical layout to behavioral specification, and supporting infrastructure such as test, measurement, and failure analysis. Every step in the complex manufacturing process has evolved to improve quality and productivity in dramatic acceleration and volume. Procedures that were once handcrafted have become automated. Designs that were once uniquely customized have become standard components which plug and play within larger systems. Tools which were islands of automation now fit with design flows.
Continuous improvement in product quality and manufacturing efficiency has been driven by adopting new materials and new ways to work. To achieve density more information and control over the semiconductor material and processes need to be measured, understood, and managed within each discipline. And to obtain overall success and timeliness, better communication has been extended upstream and downstream in the tool chains and the supply and design organizations.
Electronic Product Definition Design and Test Database—For every product brought to market there is a virtual electronic product definition design and test database which may not exist in any one place or time but reflects all the steps by every contributor.
Simple tool files optimized for function—Originally there were and in some specialized domains still are tools built for a single purpose which have a simple file optimized to the function needed by the owner/user. These user/developers change the files whenever they need to enhance their tool or correct bugs.
Translation between proprietary files to exchange data—As an electronic product moves from one level of abstraction to a more realized level, it has been convenient to translate from one proprietary file format to another. Very successful tools have become de jure standards because other toolmakers pragmatically adapt to what their customers have adopted. Standards bodies sometimes adopt or extend the file formats which are most popular. In other cases a compromise between multiple camps and experts is negotiated under some voting process. An example of a file format used to exchange information from one tool to another which has become both standard and open is LEF/DEF the library exchange format/design exchange format.
Integration within larger vendors to multi-use binary databases with API—But file formats are slow to change to accommodate new requirements and may be slow to read or write. Within a tool vendor which has acquired or developed a suite of tools, it is compelling to maintain information common to a number of products within a single data format and define application programming interfaces (APIs) to their teams of toolmakers. Integrating and selling their own downstream tool is thus generally less challenging than translating a file from or to a competing vendor's format. Performance within a tool and across multiple tools is improved by using an API rather than writing or reading an external file.
Open standards in files, databases, and API's—Some customers and smaller tool vendors advocate an open standard binary database with an independently defined API rather than waiting for a larger tool vendor to accommodate their needs. As new requirements and materials emerge from the laboratory however, there will continue to be some mix of de facto and de jure standards in file format, binary databases, and API's to describe an electronic product and capture all the data related to its manufacturing, test, and analysis.
Failure Analysis Across Disciplines and Entities: Test, Physical Layout, and Design.
An important function for improving reliability, quality, cost, and productivity is failure analysis. Failure analysis is by its nature cross disciplinary because the source of the failure is to be discovered. Failure analysis requires access to and integration of information created by or used for test, physical layout, and the original design team among others. Failure analysis is costly and must be applied to the most compelling issues facing an entity whether it be customer satisfaction, cost, or productivity.
Multi customer foundry and IP owners—It can be appreciated by those knowledgeable in the art that a failure analysis engineer who is an employee of a vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturer, working at a foundry owned by the vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturer, and co-located with product engineers and design engineers with access to tools sold by leading electronic design automation vendors may conceptually, have full access, but pragmatically, suffer little or no access to the entire test, layout, and design databases; and today must request help from his colleagues in navigating through the file system to narrow his analysis candidates. Even enabled via corporate access control policies, the foundry engineer may not be familiar with the design files—it is not information that his job function is familiar with. The Foundry engineer is interested in the X-Y location, metal layer, process step, or mask layer—not the information provided by many design files (gates, nets, flip-flops, etc.).
While there remain vertically integrated semiconductor manufacturers and computer manufacturers, it is common to find a complex supply chain that supports semiconductor manufacturing with fabrication, test, packaging, and distribution services. Any member of the supply chain may presently have customers who compete with one another and whose alliances will change over time. Some of the members of the supply chain may become a competitor to a former customer or even compete with their customer while remaining a supplier. Failure analysis can be performed at a number of points in the supply chain. A foundry in the Far East may prefer to perform failure analysis while the lots are still in the manufacturing area without disturbing its customer or waiting for information from half the world away on a different holiday or vacation schedule. Yet the owner of the semiconductor IP has valid business and technical reasons inhibiting the transfer of the entire test, manufacturing, and design database necessary to perform a failure analysis. Even if agreeable in spirit such a transfer may introduce delay to learn the motivation which simply could be an embarrassing error which is culturally unacceptable. Furthermore, transferring terabytes of data to analyze is itself punishing to all concerned.
Electronic databases for integrated circuits are now very large and are difficult to send entirely. Furthermore, some steps of the manufacturing process are economically performed globally and through supplier-vendor relationships. Some semiconductor IP owners may not consider it prudent to transfer an entire database of design files to a business partner who may be a present or future competitor or who serves or will serve competitors. It is certainly not convenient for either party. Yet improvements in yield benefit all parties and the delay in resolving problems are costly.
Thus it can be appreciated that what is needed is a way to provide only the information that a failure analysis engineer needs to identify the source of a problem in manufacturing or design, by extracting relevant data from an Electronic Product Definition Design and Test Database which may exist as an ad hoc combination of files and databases in many formats and may further contain semiconductor intellectual property which the owner wishes protected as a trade secret with minimal intervention of the product or design teams.

Method for operating a secure semiconductor IP server to support failure analysis


The invention is a transaction card having a base comprising a core of substantially transparent material with a plurality of coats, on at least one of the core's surfaces, of a material which is substantially transparent to humanly visible light and which is opaque to light in the infrared portion of the light spectrum. The invention is also a method for manufacturing a transaction card having an area which is substantially transparent to humanly visible light and which may be detected by card readers, such as ATMs and card printers. The method includes the steps of forming a core of substantially transparent plastic and applying a plurality of coats of material to at least one surface of the core, which material is substantially transparent to humanly visible light and which is opaque to light in the infrared portion of the light spectrum.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to transparent credit cards, membership cards, identification cards and other transaction cards which may be detected by currently available card printing machines, automatic teller machines and other card readers.
2. Prior Art
Credit cards have been in use since 1950.
Over the years, the basic appearance of credit cards has not changed significantly. Generally, a credit card is sized at about 3.375 inches wide by about 2.125 inches high by about 0.03 inch thick in order to fit into a typical wallet. The card has a base formed of polyvinyl chloride, polycarbonate or similar plastic material which may be cured such that the card has appropriate characteristics of rigidity and flexibility to withstand the rigors a typical card is expected to endure.
Alphanumeric indicia, which typically identify the card issuing entity and the person to whom the card is issued, are embossed on the card for, among other things, creating an imprint on credit card transaction forms. A magnetic strip is usually embedded in or adhered to the back surface of the card. The magnetic strip is magnetically encoded with information relating to the entity issuing the card and/or the person to whom the card is issued, which information may be read by card readers in automatic teller machines ("ATMs"), point of purchase card readers at cashier counters in stores, identification card readers and the like. A signature strip, for receiving the card carrier's signature, is printed on or adhered to the back surface of the card as well. Very recently, some credit card issuers have embedded computer chips in their credit cards.
In addition, a typical credit card has other matter, visibly perceptible to the human eye, printed on the front and/or back surfaces of the card by silkscreening, offset lithography or other printing processes. The other matter printed on the front and back surfaces of the card may include information such as the name of the person to whom the card is issued, the name address and telephone number of the issuing entity, pictures, such as of the intended card holder, and holograms and logotypes associated with the issuing entity and other information or aesthetic matter.
Many identification cards, including store membership cards and company and school identification cards, now have the same or similar characteristics as credit cards. So do driver licenses as well.
In the 1950s there were only a few credit card issuers and few people obtained any credit or other cards at all. Today, hundreds of entities issue credit cards, and the average adult carries several credit and/or identification cards and a driver license.
Entities which issue credit cards vigorously compete with each other. In addition to the financial terms in connection with which their cards may be used and the venues which will accept the cards, credit card issuers use their cards' aesthetic characteristics to achieve a competitive edge.
A feature which could provide an aesthetic characteristic is transparency. Efforts at making transparent credit cards have been considered in the past. For example, a credit card having a substantial portion of its area transparent is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,647, titled "Photographic Credit Card System," issued to Clarence Retzky on Apr. 3, 1973.
Efforts to make, in commercially significant volumes, credit cards having a substantial portion of their area transparent, particularly along the edges of the credit cards, have been unsuccessful. That is because such cards have not been detectable in currently available card printing machines, ATMs or other card readers.
Sensors in such machines and readers detect the presence of a card when a light beam aimed at the sensor is blocked by the card itself. That is, when sensors detect light surrounding a predefined boundary at the same time that no light is detected within such boundary, the machine or reader detects the presence of a card. When the card is detected, a printing and/or reading operation is conducted. (In modern machines, the printing operation may also include the application of magnetic strip and a signature strip, and the embedding of a computer chip on or into the base of the card.) A transparent card, however, passes light through it, so the sensors fail to detect the presence of such a card, and no printing and/or reading operation occurs. Because transparent cards are not detected, a transparent card may jam current printing and reading machines (collectively referred to herein as "card readers").
No matter how aesthetically pleasing a transparent credit card might be, it is of little use if an issuing entity cannot print its name and logo on it or if the card cannot be read in ATMs or other card readers.
So, credit cards, identification cards, membership cards, driver licenses and similar cards (referred to collectively herein as "transaction cards") have been made from an opaque plastic, usually colored white, with information, aesthetic matter magnetic strips, signature strips and/or computer chips printed on or otherwise applied to the base of the card as described above.
Nevertheless, a strong desire has persisted among card issuing entities to be able to issue transaction cards having a significant area which is transparent. As discussed below, aesthetically transparent transaction cards (i.e., cards which are transparent to humanly visible light) can be detected by typical card readers if the card, though transparent to humans, is opaque in at least a portion of the infrared region of the light spectrum. In addition, the inventor has discovered a method to efficiently an economically manufacture cards which are transparent to the human eye but which are detectable by card printing and reading machines.

Transparent transaction card and method for making a transparent transaction card


A syrup composition that has a sufficiently low viscosity so that it can be poured or pumped, yet upon contact with a calcium-containing confection its viscosity increases.

The present invention generally relates to a syrup having a sufficiently low viscosity so that it can be poured or pumped, yet having a high viscosity upon contact with a confection, for example, a frozen confection, to produce a flavored confection. The invention also relates to a method of using such a syrup.
"Frozen confection" is a generic term applied to a wide variety of products including hard and soft serve ice cream, hard frozen and soft serve ice milks, sherbets, mellorines, and hard and soft frozen yogurts.
The present invention allows a dispenser of frozen confections to simply and economically provide a wide variety of flavors of frozen confections. For example, the syrup of the present invention may be used in a flavor dispensing device such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,520.

Syrup for confections and methods for using same


An active feed paintball loader for supplying paintballs to a paintball marker. The loader includes a container for storing a plurality of paintballs. An outfeed tube on the container is connected to an inlet tube on the marker. The loader further includes a drive shaft, a feeder rotatably disposed in the container for feeding paintballs into the outfeed tube, and a drive spring having first and second ends. The first end is engaged to the feeder to provide a driving force to rotate the feeder within the container. The second end is coupled to the drive shaft. The drive shaft operates to wind the drive spring to maintain sufficient tension on the drive spring to maintain a paintball stack in the outfeed tube. The loader further includes a mechanical drive handle accessible externally of the loader and connected to the drive shaft to manually wind the drive spring.

Agitating paintball loaders are well known in the art of paintball sports, and operate by having a paintball agitator advance balls from the bottom of a loader into an outfeed tube. One problem with convention agitators is that a jam can occur, such as when a paintball becomes lodged in the agitator or feeder. In order to clear the jam, the paintball sport player must shake the loader.
Active or force feeding paintball loaders are technologically advanced loaders that use battery-operated motors to forcibly drive paintballs from the loader, into an outfeed tube, and into the breech of a paintball marker. Examples of such loaders can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,213,110, 6,502,567, 6,701,907, and 6,792,933, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. As paintball loaders have evolved into electronically controlled devices capable of actively or forcibly feeding paintballs into a paintball gun, there has arisen a need for the loader to employ a mechanical backup system if a jam occurs.
Thus, there has arisen the need for a device that includes a mechanism for allowing the user to manually manipulate the motor driven system of an active feed paintball loader to clear paintball jams.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mechanical drive assist for active feed paintball loader


Provided herein is a system and method of a vehicle that communicates an intended action of the vehicle. The system comprises one or more sensors; one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the system to perform capturing data from the one or more sensors of another vehicle or a road condition; determining an intended action of the vehicle based on the captured data; simulating the intended action of the vehicle on a map; communicating, within the vehicle, the intended action of the vehicle; and navigating the vehicle based on the intended action of the vehicle.

A vehicle, such as an autonomous vehicle (AV), may require at least one safety driver to be present in case the software of the vehicle is compromised, defective, or otherwise controls the vehicle in an unsafe or undesirable manner. As a security measure, many autonomous vehicles are operated with at least two persons inside the vehicle. One person may focus on observing road and traffic conditions and what actions the vehicle is taking while another person may be ready to intervene to override the software of the vehicle if necessary or desired. Requiring two persons to be present inside a vehicle during its operation may be inconvenient. This shortfall is addressed by the present disclosures, which provide augmented communications to inform a person inside the vehicle of what actions the vehicle will be, or intends to take. Additionally, using the present disclosures, consumer confidence in reliability of such vehicles may also increase.

System and method for communicating vehicle actions


A light shielding film capable of shielding against light entering an active layer of a TFT and electroconductive is formed on the lower layer side of the active layer. Electrical stress is applied by causing a current in an insulating film between source and drain electrodes and the light shielding film to introduce a trap level at a density at least about 5×1012/cm2 into a source region and a drain region in a surface portion of the active layer on the light shielding film side.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin-film transistor and a method of manufacturing the thin-film transistor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thin-film transistor having an electroconductive film opposed to (i.e., facing) an active layer and a method of manufacturing the thin-film transistor. The present invention also relates to a TFT substrate and a liquid crystal display device. Further particularly, the present invention relates to a TFT substrate having a plurality of thin-film transistors of the present invention and to a liquid crystal display device having such a TFT substrate.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, the development of display apparatuses using liquid crystal display devices is being pursued as a display apparatus for OA apparatus. Among various liquid crystal display devices, active-matrix liquid crystal display devices using as a switching device a thin-film transistor (TFT) which is an active element are advantageous in that reductions in contrast and response speed are limited even in a case where the number of scanning lines is large. For this reason, active-matrix liquid crystal display devices are ordinarily used in high-quality display apparatuses for OA apparatus and in high-definition TV displays. Also, an active-matrix liquid crystal display device used as a light valve in a projection-type display apparatus such as a projector has the advantage of easily producing a large-screen display.
In a case where a liquid crystal display device is used as a light valve in a projection-type display apparatus, it is placed between a light source and an optical system through which light from the light source is projected onto a screen or the like. In this placement, the liquid crystal display device is placed so that the light source is on the counter substrate side of the liquid crystal display device, while the optical system is on the thin-film semiconductor device array substrate (TFT substrate) side. The liquid crystal display device controls, on the basis of screen information, the intensity of light transmitted to the optical system side in light entering from the light source at a comparatively high luminance. More specifically, the liquid crystal display device drives TFTs in a switching manner to control the electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer corresponding to each display element, thereby changing the transmittance of each display element to adjust the intensity of light passing therethrough. After light has passed through the liquid crystal display device, it is projected in an enlargement projection manner through the projection optical system constituted by a lens.
In active-matrix liquid crystal display devices, a layer of a semiconductor such as amorphous silicon or polycrystalline silicon is used as a TFT active layer. When light enters this active layer, a light leak current is generated due to photoexciation to cause a reduction in contrast for example, resulting in deterioration in display performance. In particular, in a case where an active-matrix liquid crystal display device is used as a light valve in a projection-type display apparatus, light enters the liquid crystal display device at a high luminance and the influence of a generated light leak current is large. In this case, not only light from the light source but also light reflected by the projection optical system enters the active layer of the TFT in the liquid crystal display device. Therefore the influence of light leak current is further increased. In recent years, the development of projection-type display apparatuses reduced in size and improved in luminance has been advanced and the luminance of light incident on a liquid crystal display device used as a light valve tends to increase. For this reason, the light leak current problem has become more serious.
As a technique for reducing light leaks, a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-131261 (patent document 1) is known. In this technique, a first light shielding film having a light shielding property is placed at such a position as to face a gate electrode with the active layer interposed therebetween and a second light shielding film having a light absorbing property is placed between the first light shielding film and the active layer to reduce light entering the active layer. In the technique described in patent document 1, the light shielding effect is increased if the distance between the light shielding film and the active layer is reduced. Effective shielding of the active layer from light is thereby achieved, thus effectively reducing a light leak current. However, if the light shielding film is brought close to the active layer, a problem arises that the light shielding film electrically influences the active layer so that a channel is formed in the active layer on the light shielding film side to cause another leak current on the back channel side of the TFT.
As a technique for solving the above-described problem, a technique described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-042123 (patent document2) is known. In this technique, an insulating film such as a tantalum oxide having a high interfacial level is placed between the active layer and a light shielding film to reduce the electrical influence of the light shielding film on the active layer, thereby inhibiting the formation of a channel on the back channel side of the TFT. In this arrangement, the distance between the active layer and the light shielding film is reduced to reduce a light leak current while preventing a leak current due to the electrical influence of the light shielding film.
In the technique described in patent document 2, an insulating film of a high interfacial level is placed between the active layer and the light shielding film to inhibit the formation of a channel on the front channel side of the TFT. However, if this arrangement is adopted, the channel cannot be easily formed on the back channel side of the TFT even when a potential for turning on the TFT is applied to the gate electrode. There is, therefore, a problem that the drain current when the TFT is on is also reduced, while the leak current is reduced.
In the technique described in patent document 2, there is a need to place a special insulating film as the high-interfacial-level insulating film between the active layer and the light shielding film, which insulating film is different from the insulating film used in conventional TFTs. For manufacture of such a TFT, it is required that a manufacturing process different from a conventional TFT manufacturing process. As a result, the manufacturing process is complicated and the TFT manufacture throughput is reduced.
An object of the present invention is to provide a thin-film transistor which is designed to solve the above-described problems and in which the reduction in the drain current when the TFT is on can be limited while a leak current due to a light shielding film is reduced. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film transistor which enables the thin-film transistor of the present invention to be manufactured without requiring a complicated manufacturing process.

Thin-film transistor with set trap level densities, and method of manufactures


The use of user-specific data to process a biometric print, such that use of the biometric print is revoked by invalidating the user-specific data. The processed print is generated by performing one-way processing of the biometric print using the user-specific data. The processed print, not the biometric print, is then provided to the authentication system for later authentication of the user. During matching, the user later provides a current biometric, resulting in generation of a current biometric print. For each of multiple users, the user-specific is obtained for that user, and at least one processed print is generated for each user based on the current biometric print. The current processed prints are used by the authentication system to match against each of the enrolled processed prints. If a match is found, the user is identified as being the user associated with the matching enrolled print.

Biometrics are measurements of physiological characteristics of a living entity, most often a human being. Biometrics are often used for purposes of identifying a human being and/or controlling access of human beings to resources. For instance, biometrics may include fingerprints, facial features, palm vein patterns, hand geometries, iris patterns, retina patterns, and so forth. In order to be used by a computing system, the appropriate biometric is converted into computer-readable code, which is often referred to as a "biometric print."
For instance, many mobile devices have a fingerprint scanner that allows a human user to enroll fingerprints (e.g., one fingerprint per finger) for purposes of later access to that mobile phone. Those fingerprints are stored on the mobile device as a set of biometric prints, one biometric print for each enrolled fingerprint. Later, if the user desires to unlock the mobile device or use restricted features of the mobile device, the user may rescan one of their enrolled fingers, which is matched against the enrolled fingerprints. Such fingerprint rescanning is an alternative to other forms of gaining access to the mobile device, such as perhaps entering a passcode.
Matching occurs by converting the rescanned fingerprint into a new biometric print. That new biometric print is then compared with each of the enrolled biometric prints until a sufficiently similar enrolled biometric print is found, or until all enrolled biometric prints are checked with no match. If a matching enrolled biometric print is found, the mobile device unlocks itself and/or enables the restricted features of the mobile device.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodiments described herein may be practiced.

Revocable biometric print based identification