A method to improve the efficiency of the detection and tracking of machine-readable objects is disclosed. The properties of image frames may be pre-evaluated to determine whether a machine-readable object, even if present in the image frames, would be likely to be detected. After it is determined that one or more image frames have properties that may enable the detection of a machine-readable object, image data may be evaluated to detect the machine-readable object. When a machine-readable object is detected, the location of the machine-readable object in a subsequent frame may be determined based on a translation metric between the image frame in which the object was identified and the subsequent frame rather than a detection of the object in the subsequent frame. The translation metric may be identified based on an evaluation of image data and/or motion sensor data associated with the image frames.

This disclosure relates generally to techniques to identify the presence and location of a machine-readable object. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the disclosure relates to techniques to more efficiently track the location of a machine-readable object in a series of images obtained by an imaging device such as a camera.
For purposes of this specification, a machine-readable object refers to any optically detectable information that is associated with additional data. Common machine-readable objects include 1D and 2D barcodes that are associated with marketing, pricing, or other information. Machine-readable objects may also include images that are associated with additional data. For example, an image of a historical location may be detectable to retrieve information associated with the location. While machine-readable objects were at one time recognizable only by specialized optical scanning systems, many consumer devices that incorporate image capture devices, such as smartphones, PDAs, and tablet computers, are now capable of detecting machine-readable objects in a captured image and retrieving the data with which the machine-readable objects are associated. With the increase in devices capable of detecting machine-readable objects and presenting information associated with the detected objects, the number of applications for machine-readable objects has drastically increased. Machine-readable objects that were once used primarily for associating prices with products to which they were attached can now be used to deliver information such as marketing information, coupons, augmented reality information, and many other types of information directly to consumers.
While the ability of consumer devices to detect machine-readable objects and present information related thereto has led to an increase in the number of applications for machine-readable objects, these consumer devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, PDAs, etc.) often have relatively limited processing capabilities. Because existing operations to detect and track machine-readable objects are computationally expensive, execution of such operations on consumer devices has certain drawbacks (e.g., battery usage, processing power diverted from other operations, etc.).

Efficient machine-readable object detection and tracking


An automated computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) method and system using artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the quantitative analysis of image data. Three separate ANNs were applied for detection of interstitial disease on digitized two-dimensional chest images. The first ANN was trained with horizontal profiles in regions of interest (ROIs) selected from normal and abnormal chest radiographs. The second ANN was trained using vertical output patterns obtained from the 1.sup.st ANN for each ROI. The output value of the 2.sup.nd ANN was used to distinguish between normal and abnormal ROIS with interstitial infiltrates. If the ratio of the number of abnormal ROIs to the total number of all ROIs in a chest image was greater than a certain threshold level, the chest image was considered abnormal. In addition, the third ANN was applied to distinguish between normal and abnormal chest images where the chest image was not clearly normal or abnormal. The ANN trained with image data learns some statistical properties associated with interstitial infiltrates in chest radiographs. In addition, the same technique can be applied to higher-dimensional data (e.g., three-dimensional data and four-dimensional data including time-varying three-dimensional data).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the analysis of radiographs using artificial neural networks which classify the radiographs into normal and abnormal.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Interstitial lung disease is one of the most common findings in abnormal chest radiographs, as is described by H. MacMahon, K J M. Liu, S. M. Montner, and K. Doi, in "The nature and subtlety of abnormal findings in chest radiographs," Med. Phys. 18: 206-210 (1991). However, due to the subjectivity in the radiologists' interpretation of interstitial disease, the diagnosis of interstitial lung disease is considered a difficult task for radiologists because no quantitative criteria exists for distinction between normal patterns and subtle abnormal infiltrate patterns on chest radiographs. This subjectivity is reported in "Disagreement in chest Roentgen interpretation," Chest 68, 278-282 (1975) by P. G. Herman, D. E. Gerson, S. J. Hessel, B. S. Mayer, M. Watnick, B. Blesser and D. Ozonoff. Therefore, Applicants have been developing computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) schemes for quantitative analysis of interstitial infiltrates to improve diagnostic accuracy and reproducibility. Two different CAD schemes for detection and characterization of interstitial lung disease are disclosed in "Image feature analysis and computer-aided diagnosis in digital radiography: Detection and characterization of interstitial lung diseases in digital chest radiographs," Med. Phys. 15: 311-319 (1988) by S. Katsuragawa, K. Doi and H. MacMahon; "Image feature analysis and computer-aided diagnosis in digital radiography: Classification of normal and abnormal lungs with interstitial diseases in chest images," Med. Phys. 16: 38-44 (1989) by S. Katsuragawa, K. Doi and H. MacMahon; "Automated selection of regions of interest for quantitative analysis of lung textures in digital chest radiographs," Med. Phys. 20, 975-982 (1993) by X. Chen, K. Doi, S. Katsuragawa and H. MacMahon; "Computer-aided diagnosis for interstitial infiltrates in chest radiographs: Optical-density dependence of texture measures," Med. Phys. 22: 1515-1522 (1995) by J. Morishita, K. Doi, S. Katsuragawa, L. Monnier-Cholley and H. MacMahon; "Computerized analysis of interstitial infiltrates on chest radiographs: A new scheme based on geometric-pattern features and Fourier analysis," Acad. Radiol. 2, 455-462 (1995) by L. Monnier-Cholley, H. Macmahon, S. Katuragawa, J. Morishita and K. Doi; and "Quantitative analysis of geometric-pattern features of interstitial infiltrates in digital chest radiographs: Preliminary results," Journal of Digital Imaging 9, 137-144 (1996) by S. Katsuragawa, K. Doi, H. MacMahon, L. Monnier-Cholley, J. Morishita and T. Ishida, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. These schemes include texture analysis by use of Fourier transform and geometric-pattern analysis and extract image features associated with interstitial infiltrate patterns from digitized chest radiographs. These features are the RMS variation and the first moment of the power spectrum obtained by texture analysis which correspond to the magnitude and the coarseness (or fineness) of the infiltrates. In addition, by geometric-pattern analysis, the total area of the area components and the total length of the line components are obtained, which are related to the nodular opacity and linear opacity, respectively, in interstitial infiltrate patterns. Some useful information related to interstitial infiltrate patterns can be extracted by these schemes. Although the performance of these schemes is generally very good, there are still some cases in which normal and abnormal cases are not correctly determined. An example of the misclassification is reported in "Computer-aided diagnosis in chest radiography: Preliminary experience," Invest. Radio. 28, 987-993 (1993), by K. Abe, K. Doi, H. MacMahon, M. L. Giger, H. Hia, X. Chen, A. Kano, and T. Yanagisawa, incorporated herein by reference. Therefore, it is useful to develop an alternative approach based on image data in lung fields of chest radiographs.
Artificial neural networks (ANN) have been applied to several chest CAD schemes. "Potential usefulness of an artificial neural network for differential diagnosis of interstitial diseases: Pilot study," Radiology 177, 857-860 (1990) by N. Asada, K. Doi, H. MacMahon, S. M. Montner, M. L. Giger, C. Abe, and Y. Wu, examines differential diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases on the basis of clinical and radiographic information, whereas "Computerized analysis for automated detection of lung nodules in digitized chest radiographs," Ph.D. dissertation of the University of Chicago (1996), by X. W. Xu examines the elimination of false positives in the detection of lung nodules. ANNs used in these schemes were trained with some extracted features associated with lesions and/or false positives.

Apparatus and method for computerized analysis of interstitial infiltrates in chest images using artificial neural networks


One or more processing units are connected with a clock component (comprising a clock) over a bi-directional serial link, and data frames are transmitted between the clock component and the processing units. The clock component may contain a serial link combination circuit for combining multiple processing unit serial links, operating in parallel, into a single serial link connected to the clock. Both of the clock component and the processing units contain an error detection and correction mechanism which examine and modify data within the data frames to perform error detection and correction. The clock component optionally contains an external interface for connection to a command-issuing Service Processor.

1.1 Field of the Invention
Within a processor system consisting of a multitude of functional components encompassing at least one processing unit (PU), also called a CPU, and a clock component the present invention relates to a communication circuitry for connection and data exchange between the clock component and the PU components.
1.2 Description and Disadvantages of Prior Art
A processor system typically consists of various functional components. Depending on the type of requirements and limitations these functional components may be integrated within a single chip or may be dispersed over several separate chips. Due to silicon real estate constraints, many micro-processors do not consist of a single chip, but a chip set. Major components, as a rule, are the basic CPU component, the memory management unit component, a floating point coprocessor component, and a bus adapter component. Mainframe architectures often also includes a separate clock component, a specialized high speed control store component, a memory controller component and a specific service processor component (SP).
The machine cycle is the basic unit of timing in a computer. Within a machine cycle atomic operations, e.g. performing an addition, take place. Instructions are executed within one or several machine cycles. The machine cycle is controlled by an external timing source, an oscillator (usually a crystal) with a constant frequency. Clock logic uses this input to generate various timing signals to control the processor logic at desired timing points within the machine cycle. Existing microprocessor designs implement the clock logic function in one of two different ways:
Either the clock functions are integrated into the individual PU (or CPU component), floating point processor component etc. PA1 Or a separate clock component generates the clock signals for all other components
A typical example of the second approach are IBM/390 processors implementing the IBM/390 mainframe architecture described in the "System/390 Principles of Operation". As those portions of the system that run synchronously may span several chips, the design of the clocking system deserves special attention. If clock signals are distributed over several chips the individual chips may be drastically different with regard to process tolerances. Thus the same clock signal may arrive at the receiving logic spread out in time, referred to as clock skew. A centralized clock component, together with a carefully designed topology for clock signal wiring, significantly reduces clock skew. In addition to the clock generation the clock component performs run control operations, i.e. functions like Start--Stop control, Power on reset recognition, Reset sequence generation for other components, clock checking, and Console key controls.
The clock component generates centrally all the clock signals required by the other components in the system. It requires an external hybrid oscillator and optionally an active delay line. It offers a multitude of different clock signals. The timing of each clock is independently programmable in terms of pulse width, phase, and cycle time, and thus can be adapted to the varying system requirements. The clock signals feed directly the receiving components without any further gating. All clock lines are point to point nets, and clock skews are to be minimized. Clock signals are checked within the clock component.
On power-on recognition the clock component is initialized and clock signal generation starts. The clock signals to be delivered at certain reset and start up points are controlled by the run control.
The clock component is the master of the component set for the reset function, which typically include "Power on Reset", "Reset for IML", "System Reset", "Check Reset", "Start after Reset" and so forth.
The clock component typically provides further external hardware interfaces, implemented in IBM/390 systems as a five-line support bus of two bit lines (in/out) and three control lines, to cause the clock component to execute functions mentioned above. For instance an auxiliary processor, the so-called service processor (SP), may exploit this external interface of the clock component for an overall control of the processor.
Current state of the art technology, as realized for example within the current IBM/390 systems, uses multiple signal pins and corresponding signal lines between the clock component and the PU components. Within a /390 system there are 5 signal lines connecting the clock and a PU component associated with the following meaning:
1. Micro Instruction Step PA0 2. Micro Instruction Address Compare PA0 3. Soft Stopped Sate PA0 4. Wait State PA0 5. Malfunction Alert
The drawbacks of the above approach of connecting and communicating become evident and striking once an attempt is made to build a system with not only a single PU component. The disadvantages with respect to the state of the art approach, which already are present also in the case of a single PU component, increase with the number of PU components and may result in the infeasibility of building a multi-processor system with a larger number of PUs.
Due to the large number of signal lines connecting the clock component and a multitude of PU components the state of the art approach hinders to realize multi-processor systems.
To demonstrate the urgent need to optimize the communication technology between the service processor (SP) and a PU in terms of the required number of signal pins one has to shed further light on the current state of the art approach. The current implementation within a /390 system shows 5 signal pins and signal lines connecting the clock and a PU component associated with the meanings mentioned above. Assume for the moment a typical multi-processor system of current stat of the art technology. It is assembled of 2 so-called Multi-Chip-Modules (MCM) each comprising 6 PU components. The signals 1 to 4 of above list are individual to each PU and thus contribute 24 signals to a MCM. The 5-th signal is a multidrop net that is received by each PU component. Due to driving limitations this 5-th signal does not account for 6 but for 12 signals per MCM. All in all this state of the art example shows that 36 signals are necessary for the communication between the clock and an MCM. The situation on the clock component is even worse; as it communicates to 2 MCMs all in all the immense number of 72 signals are required. Further extensions of the number of PUs are significantly hindered by the current clock-to-PU communication technology. Testing of these huge number of lines causes further sever problems.
The large number of signal lines between PU components and the clock component would have to be connected to the clock chip at the boundary of the 2-dimensional chip. Due to spatial requirements for the individual signal lines the size of a component to a large extend is determined by the number of input/output signals; the clock component would have to be increased significantly just to be able to direct the signal lines to the clock chip's boundary. This would result in a clock component much larger in size than required for the actual clock component circuitry. Thus as a consequence unused and therefore wasted chip size would be a further outcome, not to talk about the difficulties of arranging and distributing the huge number of signal lines between clock and PU components within the micro processor system.
A linear increasing of the number of signal pins on the clock component with the number of PU components in addition drastically impede the manufacturing process and at the same time increasing the requirements for the manufacturing process itself.
The state of the art approach offers no concept to validate whether the transmitted data has been correctly received by the PU component. Extended error detection and error correction with respect to information exchange between clock and a PU component is not supported, being a central issue in a multiple PU system as with increasing number of components the probability for error situations is increased.
Furthermore the large number of signal lines in a multiple PU system exploiting the state of the art approach would significantly jeopardize noise immunity on the clock lines without any chance and support to detect and localize the error.
1.3 Objective of the Invention
The invention, related to a processor system, is based on the objective to provide a new kind of clocking concept and circuitries for communication between the clock and the PU components within a multi-processor system. The invention should help to remove the obstacles in building processor systems with a larger number of PU components.

Processing system having improved bi-directional serial clock communication circuitry

International Business Machines Corporation


An electric field emitting source is equipped with an electron emitting film which comprises a nano-sized electron emitting substance and has a first surface and a second surface constituting the surface opposite thereto, and a cathode which secures one end of the electron emitting film and comprises a first block and a second block respectively corresponding to the first surface and the second surface of the electron emitting film.

Conventional methods for producing a field emission source by using a nano-sized electron emission material (hereinafter, referred to as "nano-material") in a particle or rod form can be divided into a method for growing a nano-material directly on a cathode substrate [(Science vol. 283, 512, 1999), (Chemical Physics Letters. 312, 461, 1999), (Chemical Physics Letters. 326, 175, 2000), (Nano Letter vol. 5, 2153, 2005), US006350488B1, US006514113B1], and a method for variously attaching a synthesized nano-material in a powder form onto a cathode substrate such as a suspension filtering method [(Science vol. 268, 845, 1995) and (Applied Physics Letters, vol. 73, 918, 1998], a screen printing method [(Applied Physics Letters vol. 75, 3129, 1999) and Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2007-0011808], electrophoresis [(Advanced Materials vol. 13, 1770, 2001), (Nano Letter vol. 6, 1569, 2006), US006616497 B1 and US20060055303A1], a self-assembling method [(Advanced Materials vol. 14, 8990, 2002) and US006969690B2], a spray method [(Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. vol. 593, 215, 2000), (Carbon vol. 44, 2689, 2006), (The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 111, 4175, 2007), US006277318B1 and Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2007-0001769] and an inkjet printing method [(Small, vol. 2, 1021, 2006), (Carbon vol. 45, 27129, 2007) and US20050202578A1].
The directly growing method enables easy control of a structure of the nano-material such as control of a diameter, length, density and patterning, but is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to assure uniformity of catalyst metal deposition on a large area and control a size of catalyst metal particles, and adhesion between the grown nano-material and the cathode substrate is low. In order to overcome the problem in the adhesion between the nano-material and the cathode substrate, the difficulty in control of the physical properties and others as described above, methods for purifying, dispersing and functionalizing a nano-material in a powder form, which has been produced by various synthesis methods, so as to become a paste, and methods for attaching a suspension dispersed in a solvent and a surfactant onto various cathode substrates have been developed. Among those methods, the screen printing method, which fabricates a field electron structure by printing a paste composition containing nano-material powders, a polymer, a binder, an organic solvent, a metallic filler, other additives, etc., onto a cathode substrate and performing drying, exposing, sintering, surface-protrusion processes and others for the cathode substrate, provides superior adhesion between the cathode substrate and the field emission structure and is suitable for a large area. However, the screen printing method is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to control density of an active electron emission cite, the field electron emission characteristic is easily deteriorated due to various organic/inorganic binders and polymers, and processes are complicated.
The electrophoresis enables selective deposition at a room temperature and is easily applicable to a large area. However, since controlling thickness and density is difficult, uniformity and reproducibility are poor, and adhesion to the cathode substrate is low, there is a problem in reliability and stability when the electrophoresis is applied to field electron emission.
The self-assembling method has simple processes and is easily applicable to a large area at a room temperature. However, like the electrophoresis, the self-assembling method is disadvantageous in that the adhesion between the formed nano-material thin film and the cathode substrate is poor, and much time is needed.
The spray method also has simple processes and is easily applicable to a large area at a room temperature. However, since the thin film surface state is determined depending on a degree of evaporation of a suspension during movement of a spray droplet from a nozzle to the cathode substrate, control of thickness and density of a nano-material thin film and uniform deposition of a thin film are difficult. Accordingly, uniformity and reproducibility are deteriorated. Due to the low adhesion to the cathode substrate, detachment easily occurs during the field electron emission.
The inkjet printing method enables easy control of thickness and density, can realize selective patterning, and is suitable for a large area at a room temperature. However, the inkjet printing method is disadvantageous in that the adhesion between the printed nano-material and the cathode substrate is low.

Electric field emitting source, element using same, and production method therefor

KOREA UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND BUSINESS FOUNDATION


A shift register unit, a shift register, a display panel and a display. The shift register unit comprises a holding module for holding a high level at a pulling up (PU) node when the PU node is at a high level. With the present invention, the level at the PU node may be pulled up rapidly in a charging stage, and a PD node may also be ensured to be at a higher potential in a noise eliminating stage, which may eliminate noises at the PU node and a signal output terminal OUTPUT effectively, so that a picture quality may be enhanced.

A Gate Drive on Array (GOA) technique is a technique for integrating a Gate Driver IC of a liquid crystal display on an Array Substrate. As compared with a traditional Chip On Flex (or Chip On Film, COF) technique and a traditional Chip On Glass (COG) technique, the GOA technique is advantageous in that: (1) integrating the Gate Driver IC on the array substrate reduces a manufacture cost effectively; (2) a bonding yield process is omitted, which may enhance the productivity and the yield of products; and (3) a bonding area for the Gate Driver IC is omitted, so that a display panel has a symmetrical structure and a narrow bezel may be realized on the display panel.
The GOA technique has many advantages, but it also has some problems, for example, an insufficient driving range (Vgh Margin) of a gate high level, a H-line Mura and abnormal display at high temperature, etc; a mainly reason for such problems is in that a voltage at a PU (Pull Up) node is not pulled up sufficiently in a charging stage, and a voltage at a PD (Pull Down) node is not high enough in a noise eliminating stage.

Shift register unit, shift register, display panel and display

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A simple and reliable device is provided which pulls out packing material from a container in order to band a stack of bank notes. The container has an upper lip with an element interacting with the packing material. A vertically reciprocating pickup mechanism is moved down and contacted with an upper surface of a packed band. A suction attaches the upper surface of the packed band and allows the upper surface to be pulled past the upper lip such that when a lower part of said packed band is gripped by retainers that extend from the upper lip, the band is spread out sufficient to insert a rolled up stack of bank notes.

Patent RU No 2166466, class B65B27/08 dated 31 May 1999 protects a device for pulling out packing material from a container, comprising a drive mechanism and packing material representing a band with the roll located in the container in the form of a roll holder.
Patent EP 1170215A1, class B65B27/08 dated 04 Jul. 2001 protects a device for pulling out packing material from a container in order to band a stack of bank notes, comprising a container and an element interacting with packing material.
This engineering solution is taken as prototype of the present invention. A disadvantage of said engineering solution is the impossibility to pull out packing material from a container in case if the material is represented as rings formed by way of connecting (adhering) the ends of a flat band, mainly a paper one, said rings being flattened and stacked.

Device for pulling out packing material from a container in order to band a stack of bank notes


A belt for a papermaking machine has minute projections and recesses randomly formed in a shoe-contacting surface of the belt by a powdery material contained in a high molecular weight elastic section formed on a base body. The surface roughness RZ of the shoe-contacting surface is between 50 and 500 microns; the particle diameter of the powdery material is between 5 and 500 microns; and the content of the powdery material in the high molecular weight elastic section is between 5 and 50 percent by weight. A lubricant is held in the minute projections and recesses, and consequently more lubricant may be supplied between the belt and the shoe with which it cooperates. As a result, friction between the belt and the shoe is reduced, and less energy is required to drive the papermaking machine.

In a papermaking machine, it is now common to incorporate a shoe press. A shoe press comprises a press roll and a shoe opposed to the press role. A wet paper web is typically carried, between felts, through a nip formed between the shoe and the press roll. A shoe press apparatus has a larger nip area than a press comprising a pair of opposed press rolls.
In FIG. 1(a), which is a schematic view of a conventional shoe press apparatus 100a, a relatively long shoe press belt B is used. In the shoe press apparatus 100b, of FIG. 1(b), a relatively short shoe press belt is used. Each of these shoe presses has a press part P, comprising a press roll R and a shoe S. A wet paper web W, disposed between a pair of felts F, passes, along with the belt B, through the press part P as the press roll R rotates in the machine direction, depicted by arrow MD.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional shoe press 100c, used in the calender part of a papermaking machine. A calender belt BC and a rough paper web W′ are sandwiched in the press part P between a calender roll R′ and a shoe S as the calender roll R′ rotates.
The belts B and BC are used in different parts of the papermaking machine and their structures are different in detail, in order to achieve the desired effects. However, their basic structure is the same, in that they both comprise a base body for imparting strength to the belt, and a high molecular weight elastic section, which formed on the base body. The high molecular weight elastic section prevents liquid from passing from one surface of the belt to the opposite surface.
A lubricant, which in many cases is oil, is usually supplied to the shoe press apparatus to reduce friction between the shoe and the belt. Reduction of the friction between the shoe and the belt reduces the energy required in order for the press roll to drive the belt.
A problem in the operation of a conventional shoe press apparatus arises because the lubricant is present in a thin layer. The thin layer of lubricant does not have an adequate friction-reducing effect, and therefore, the force required in order for the press roll to drive the belt is large. Friction in the operation of the belt under these conditions also produces heat, which causes the temperature of the lubricant to rise, and its coefficient of viscosity to decrease. The decrease in viscosity of the lubricant results in a still further increase in friction.
For the above reason, various kinds of machine structures have been devised to supply more lubricant between the shoe and the belt in a shoe press apparatus. In addition, various kinds of belt structures have been invented in order to supply more lubricant to the press part.
FIGS. 3(a), 3(b) and 3(c) show a system, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,430, for supplying lubricant to the press part of a shoe press apparatus. FIG. 3(a) shows a lubricant feeder L on the upstream side in the machine direction relative to a shoe S, for supplying a lubricant L1 between a shoe S and a shoe-contacting surface B12 of a belt B1. A plurality of recesses B13 are provided in the shoe-contacting surface B12 of the belt B1 for holding lubricant. As the belt B1 advances under nip pressure while lubricant is held in the recesses B13, lubricant is supplied between the shoe S and the belt B1.
Various examples of recesses are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,430. For example, cup-shaped recesses B13 are shown in FIG. 3(b), and a groove-shaped recesses B13′ are shown in FIG. 3(c).
FIG. 4 shows a belt disclosed in unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 81291/1994. In this technology, a belt B2 comprises a base body formed by overlaying machine direction yarns B24 and cross machine direction yarns B25, and a high molecular weight elastic section provided on the base body. The belt B2 has a wet paper web-contacting surface B21 and a shoe-contacting surface B22.
Convex parts B23 are formed on the shoe-contacting surface B22 of the belt B2. These convex parts, in turn, provide recesses in the shoe contacting surface B22. This enables lubricant to be held in the shoe-contacting surface B22 of the belt B2, and supplied between the shoe and the belt B2.
Although the belts of FIGS. 3 and 4 have recesses in their shoe-contacting surfaces so that lubricant may be held therein, the supply of lubricant may still be insufficient since no lubricant is held on the surfaces of the convex parts which are in contact with the shoe. The object of the invention is to provide a belt for a papermaking machine which ensures a sufficient supply of lubricant between the belt and the shoe.


A shaft receiving section of a simulation wheel is attached to a hub of a vehicle such that the shaft receiving section is located outside the vehicle. A tire mounting section surrounding the shaft receiving section concentrically with the shaft receiving section with a bearing being interposed between the shaft receiving section and the tire mounting section and further surrounding the peripheral surface of the hub to allow a tire to be mounted at a portion surrounding the peripheral surface of the hub is provided. The tire is mounted on the tire mounting section. The shaft receiving section is made rotatable with the rotation of the tire mounting section being stopped. Load is applied to an axle from a dynamometer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a simulation wheel used in a vehicle testing apparatus for measuring power transmitted from an engine to an axle, and the vehicle testing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among vehicle running tests, there is a test for measuring how power is transmitted from an engine to an axle during running.
A chassis dynamometer is often used for performing the vehicle running test. However, when the chassis dynamometer is used, it is necessary to fix a vehicle. Thus, the test is performed with a suspension, a damper or the like not being in operation. In this case, it is not possible to perform the test with the suspension, the damper or the like operating to simulate a state in which an actual vehicle is running.
Thus, in order to perform the test with the suspension, the damper or the like operating as in the state in which the actual vehicle is running, a low inertia dynamometer (referred to as dynamometer below) may be used instead of the chassis dynamometer to perform the running test.
Conventionally, when the running test is performed by using such a dynamometer, the suspension, the damper, and even the brake or the like are removed, and a measurement bearing is attached to an axle to measure the state of power transmission from an engine to the axle. However, it is recently attempted to develop a configuration to measure the state of power transmission from the engine to the axle by use of the bearing without removing the suspension, the damper, the brake or the like. If such a configuration can be developed, it would become possible to accurately perform the test on how the power is transmitted from the engine to the axle while the suspension, the damper or the like remain attached and are further brought into an operating state.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an example of the configuration of such a bearing 21.
As shown in FIG. 1, one end of a joint 22 is coupled to a fixed-type bearing 21 to which an axle is coupled and which is fixedly installed on a floor at a measurement location. The other end of the joint 22 is further coupled to an unillustrated dynamometer. With the configuration, the test can be directly performed without bothering to remove a brake BR or the like of a vehicle.
In the configuration, however, both the position and inclination of a rotating center axis of the axle are fixed by the bearing 21, and the movements of a suspension, a damper or the like are restricted. Thus, an axle state during running cannot be recreated.
Furthermore, with the configuration in FIG. 1, it is not possible to perform the test on how the power transmitted to the axle is changed when the influence of a tire operating in conjunction with the suspension and the damper is also taken into consideration.
The present invention provides a simulation wheel capable of simulating an axle state while an actual vehicle is running on a road, and a vehicle testing apparatus capable of performing a test on how a state of power transmitted from an engine to an axle is changed while applying load from a dynamometer by using the simulation wheel.

Simulation wheel and vehicle testing apparatus

Independent Administrative Institution National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory


A method for enhancing heterogeneous asymmetric selectivity and catalytic activity belongs to the field of catalytic asymmetric organic synthesis technology, the preparation method of the invention are as follows: firstly preparing the chiral L-amino acids intercalated LDHs by coprecipitation or ion-exchange method; exfoliating the chiral L-amino acids intercalated LDHs into dispersed system of chiral L-amino acids attached to the inorganic LDH nanosheets; then coordinating the L-amino acids in the above dispersed systems with the metal centers for different types of asymmetric catalytic reactions. The results show that the as-prepared catalyst can enhance the asymmetric selectivity effectively. Compared with the homogeneous counterparts under the same reaction conditions, the catalyst exhibits relatively higher yields and largely improves the selectivity of the asymmetric reaction products; and thus the chiral compounds with a higher optical purity can be obtained.

In recent years, with the development of medicinal chemistry and biochemistry, the demand for optically active organic compounds has been largely growing. This is because many new, high-effective drugs belong to optically active compounds with chiral centers; on the other hand, studies on these drugs show that only one type of optical isomer with certain configuration has the pharmacological activity; while another type of optical isomer may have no any pharmacological activity, and even have toxic or side effects to human beings. One way to get optically pure active enantiomers is the resolution of racemates, whereas the operation of this method is extremely cumbersome, and only a small amount can be handled; Another way is utilization of asymmetric synthesis, which can directly obtain optically active compound with a single configuration. Asymmetric catalysis has been received increasing attention due to its simple process and high efficiency. Recently, many new types of chiral transition metal complexes with high catalytic activity and stereoselectivity have been successfully synthesized, which largely improve the chemical and optical yields of chiral products. Therefore, asymmetric catalysis exhibits a broad prospect and a great power in the synthesis of optically active compounds.
So far, most of the asymmetric reactions are catalyzed by homogeneous catalysts, and the catalysts are mostly chiral transition metal complexes. Amino acids and their derivatives proceed many advantages as the chiral ligands of metal complex catalysts: 1. their structures are easy to be functioned; 2. natural chiral amino acids are cheap and easy to get, and also have a wide range of types; 3. they have a high optical activity and their derivatization are easy to be achieved; 4. the polarization, pH value, and molecular size are easy to modulate; 5. selected metal centers can be in a wide range, and different kinds of metal centers are available in catalyzing different types of asymmetric catalytic reactions, etc. Therefore, studies on using amino acids as chiral ligands have been gradually developed, and good results have been obtained in several respects.
Layered double hydroxides (LDHs), also known as hydrotalcite, are known as a kind of new multifunctional layered materials. Due to its unique characteristics of the composition and structure, such as ordered bi-dimensional layered structure, highly chemical stability, adjustable metal composition in the LDHs layers, exchangeable interlayer anions (a variety of functional anions can be exchanged into the interlayer space). A variety of functional composite materials can thus be constructed. Metal complexes with catalytic properties can be intercalated into LDHs layers by ion-exchange, which avoids multiple steps of covalent ligand modification; moreover, bi-dimensional open space between the adjacent LDH layers is beneficial to take advantage of the interlayer catalysts and exhibit high catalytic activity and selectivity.

Method for enhancing heterogeneous asymmetric selectivity and catalytic activity

BEIJING UNIVERSITY OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY


The present invention is a planarization apparatus for planarizing a coating film applied on a substrate before the coating film is hardened, including a contact body such as a brush or sponge brought into contact with a front surface of the coating film on the substrate; and a contact body drive mechanism for pressing the contact body against the front surface of the coating film and moving the contact body along the front surface of the coating film. The contact body is pressed against the coating film before it is hardened, and moved along the front surface of the coating film, whereby the coating film can be planarized to a predetermined film thickness. According to the present invention, the coating film can be planarized without using the CMP apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a planarization apparatus for planarizing a coating film on a substrate before the coating film is hardened.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a process of forming, for example, a multilayer wiring structure of a semiconductor integrated circuit or the like, processing of forming an insulating film between metal wirings on a wafer is performed. For the processing of forming the insulating film, for example, a coating method is widely used which is a so-called spin-coating of supplying a liquid insulating film material onto the wafer, and rotating the wafer to diffuse the insulating film material over the wafer front surface to thereby apply an insulating film on the wafer. When the insulating film is applied on the wafer, a hardening processing of hardening the insulating film under a high temperature is then performed to finally form the insulating film. The SOG (Spin On Glass) film or SOD (Spin On Dielectric) film which is common as the insulating film is formed as described above.
However, since the amount of the insulating film material entering the depressed portions varies due to the depth of steps and roughness of a base pattern when using the above-described coating method, projections and depressions may be formed on the front surface of the formed insulating film. Once the projections and depressions are formed on the front surface of the insulating film, focus is not partially achieved on the resist film at the upper layer at the time of exposure of the photolithography step, resulting in non-uniformity in the line width of the resist pattern. This also causes non-uniformity in the width of the etched trenches in the insulating film. Further, the depth of the etched trench also differs between a portion with a large thickness and a portion with a small thickness of the insulating film. If the width and the depth of the etched trench in the insulating film varies as described above, the metal wiring embedded in the trench in the insulating film differs in length and thickness, leading to non-uniformity in electric resistance of the wirings within the wafer.
Thus, the formation of the projections and depressions on the front surface of the insulating film causes various troubles in the process of forming the multilayer wiring structure and the finally formed multi-layer wiring structure.
Hence, when the insulating film is formed by the above-described coating method, the CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) processing to planarize the insulating film is conventionally performed after the insulating film is hardened. The CMP processing is performed by bringing a polishing pad into contact with the wafer front surface while supplying a liquid slurry containing silica particles (a polishing liquid) to polish the wafer front surface in the CMP apparatus (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-106084).
However, the above-described CMP apparatus employs a polishing pad twice or larger than the wafer, and therefore is very large in size and also consumes a large amount of power. In addition, the apparatus requires use of a large amount of expensive slurry, leading to increased running cost. Furthermore, if the slurry remains on the wafer, it can contaminate or scratch the multilayer wirings. Therefore, a cleaning step performed by a dedicated cleaning unit for washing away the slurry is separately required, resulting in an increase in the number of processing steps and complexity.


The present invention provides a cup shaped container that can be squashed to be compact by hand when disposing after use. The cup shaped container includes a skeletal member made from synthetic resin material and having a ring-like part at the upper end, a shallow saucer-like bottom part at the lower end and columnar parts for connecting the ring-like part and the bottom part, and a blank sheet attached to the skeletal member to wrap the periphery between the ring-like part at the upper end and the bottom part at the lower end of the skeletal member. Each columnar part has, on its inner surface, an indented part formed in the neighborhood of the middle of the columnar part, and protrusions and depressions of the indented part are formed at an equally spaced pitch in an up and down direction of the columnar part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cup shaped container for storing beverage liquids such as juice, confectioneries and industrial materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as cups shaped container of this type, the cup disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-207936 is known. That is, the cup shaped container in which a blank sheet is wrapped around and attached to a skeletal member made from a synthetic resin is known. A skeletal member used in a cup shaped container disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-207936 includes a bottom part, an upper edge part, and columnar parts for connecting the bottom part and the upper edge part, and the cup shaped container is configured by wrapping the blank sheet around the skeletal member.
The skeletal member used in the cup shaped container disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-207936 includes the bottom part, the upper edge part, and the columnar parts for connecting the bottom part and the upper edge part, and the cup shaped container formed by wrapping the blank sheet around the skeletal member is disposed in its original shape after use.
In other words, the columnar parts of the skeletal member used in the cup shaped container are formed so as to have the same thickness throughout, and thus the cup shaped container cannot be compressed in the up and down direction by hand, and must be thrown away in its full dimension state.


Gratings for analyzing the interference image in interferometers for phase contrast X-ray tomography, comprising a carrier and grating webs produced from at least two different materials, method for producing the same and use thereof.

Phase contrast imaging using X-rays is based on a grating-based interferometer that uses the Talbot effect for imaging. For this purpose, two gratings are positioned parallel to one another perpendicularly to the X-ray beam. The phase grating g1 consists of lines that cause a phase shift of Pi (or Pi/2) and negligible X-ray absorption. The diffracted rays interfere in accordance with the fractional Talbot effect and an interference pattern arises which is periodic in the directions perpendicular to the grating lines. The second grating serves for analyzing the interference image and is intended to absorb the X-ray radiation as well as possible [absorption grating] (absorption greater than 50% is at least necessary for image evaluation).
The publications by Franz Pfeiffer et al., "Phase retrieval and differential phase-contrast imaging with low-brilliance X-ray sources", Nature Physics, Vol. 2, April 2006, pages 258-261 and "Hard X-ray dark-field imaging using a grating interferometer", Nature Materials, Vol. 7, February 2008, pages 134-137 describe the possibilities of phase contrast X-ray imaging and dark-field imaging using non-coherent X-ray sources. In order to realize these imaging systems, it is necessary to realize grating structures with periods in the range of a few micrometers, the transmission of which over the relevant energy range is less than 50%. The relevant energies are defined by the respective application. Human-medical X-ray examinations of the whole body are usually carried out at working energies of between 50 and 90 keV. In the case of a smaller thickness of the objects to be penetrated, e.g. CTs on children, energies of less than 50 to 70 keV are often also of interest. Thus, lower energies can be used in mammography, for example. The energy is lower in small-animal tests, too. Furthermore, it should be taken into consideration that owing to the radiation emitted by an X-ray tube, even at a high "working energy", radiation below the working energy cannot be avoided.
Gratings used nowadays use gold as material that greatly absorbs the X-rays. Owing to the atomic structure, the absorption of gold decreases by a factor of 4 below an X-ray energy of 80.7 keV. Accordingly, in particular wide-band exposures with X-ray light in a range above and below an X-ray energy of 80 keV do not lead to satisfactory results.
The production of gratings has hitherto been published using gold by means of the LIGA method (Reznikova, E.; Mohr, J.; Boerner, M.; Nazmov, V.; Jakobs, P. J., Soft X-ray lithography of high aspect ratio SU8 submicron structures, Microsystem Technologies, 14 (2008), pages 1683-88 and conformal coating of Si structures with gold in an electrochemical gold bath (C. David, J. Bruder, T. Rohbeck, C. Grünzweig, C. Kottler, A. Diaz, O. Bunk, F. Pfeiffer, Fabrication of diffraction gratings for hard X-ray phase contrast imaging. Microelectric Engineering 84 (2007) 1172-1177), wherein the Si structures are produced by means of a DRIE process.
P. Ramm, M. J. Wolf, A. Klumpp, R. Wieland, B. Wunderle, B. Michel, Through Silicon Via Technology—Processes and Reliability for Wafer-Level 3D System Integration, Proc. 2008 Electronic Components and Technology Conference, pp. 841 discloses technical processes appertaining to silicon technology for producing structures with tungsten.
The production of comparable structures from lead is likewise known (V. Lehmann, S. Rönnebeck, MEMS techniques applied to the fabrication of anti-scatter grids for X-ray imaging, Sensors and Actuators, A95 (2002), 202-207).
The problem of very low absorption of gold below the 80.7 keV edge has not been addressed hitherto.

Gratings for X-ray imaging, consisting of at least two materials


A system and method are provided for playing a game of chance. The game of chance may include, for example, a lottery-type game using a pull-tab ticket. A result of the game of chance is revealed to a player in another medium. In one example, the result is revealed during multiple game instances of one or more online games.

There are many different types of games that involve the issuance of a lottery ticket to play a game of chance. Lottery tickets are sold through retailers using machines referred to as point of sale (POS) terminals. These tickets are generally printed at the POS terminal, and are usually issued for some lottery drawing to be performed at a later time. Examples of these types of lottery games of chance include traditional state lottery drawings and multi-state lottery drawings (e.g., PowerBall). Another type of lottery ticket, referred to in the art as instant lottery, includes a pre-printed scratch-type lottery ticket which includes a latex or similar coating that is scratched off by a purchaser (a player), revealing one or more game indicia that determine whether or not the player won the game or series of games as indicated on the ticket. The indication is generally "instant" in that the player knows, when they scratch off the ticket coating, whether or not they won the game.
In addition, there are many online games that can be played using a computer system coupled to a communication network (e.g., the Internet). These games may include traditional games of chance, games of skill, and casino-type games, among others.

Method and apparatus for conducting a game of chance using pull-tab tickets


A method and an apparatus for testing the shear strength of curved core material. The method comprises the steps of: (a) bonding one side of a test specimen of curved core material to a convex curved surface of a first support; (b) bonding the other side of the test specimen to a concave curved surface of a second support; (c) mounting the first support so that it is pivotable about a pivot axis; (d) fixing the second support to a rigid frame; (e) after step (a) through (d) have been performed, causing the first support to pivot about the pivot axis; and (f) during step (e), continuously monitoring a parameter that will manifest a change if and when shear induced in the test specimen causes a structural change indicative of failure of the test specimen. A linearly displaceable head is mechanically coupled to the first support in a manner such that linear displacement of the head is converted into pivoting of the first support. The monitored parameter is the load produced as the test specimen resists pivoting of the first support.

This invention generally relates to techniques for measuring properties of structural materials. In particular, the invention relates to techniques for measuring properties of curved structural materials, such as curved core material.
Sandwich panels are widely used in the aerospace industry and other industries where strong, lightweight structures are required. Such a sandwich panel typically includes a lightweight central core structure that is sandwiched between two composite or metal face sheets. The face sheets are adhesively bonded to opposite sides of the core. Reinforcing cores are often necessary in large panels to provide sufficient rigidity and structural strength in the panel so that the panel can withstand substantial loading.
Various core structures are presently in use, with the two main types being rigid foam and honeycomb. For structures having rigid foam cores, the face sheets contact the foam over a relatively large surface area, which ensures a strong bond. For structures having honeycomb cores, the surface area which is available for bonding to the face sheets is much smaller than the available surface area for foam cores. The honeycomb cells extend transversely between the face sheets so that the only surfaces available for bonding to the face sheets are the outer edges of the cells.
A typical sandwich panel has a bottom composite or metallic layer manufactured from a fibrous material that is impregnated with a resin. A core material of amorphous foam or honeycomb structure is then positioned on the bottom layer. A top composite or metallic layer is then bonded to the core. An edge layer is then applied to connect the top and bottom layers and to seal the core therebetween. This assembly is then cured in an autoclave or an oven with a vacuum bag at elevated temperatures and pressures.
The reinforcing core is typically designed to have substantial compression resistance along a core axis. The core is typically oriented with respect to the top and bottom layers so that the core axis is perpendicular thereto. In this way, the structural panel undergoes loading in a fashion similar to a beam wherein the top and bottom layers correspond to the flange portions of a beam and the core corresponds to the web portion of a beam. The core itself has little resistance to compression in a direction perpendicular to the core axis.
Various techniques are known for forming curved structural panels of the foregoing type. The curved core material can be subjected to substantial shearing forces when the curved structural panel undergoes substantial loading. Accordingly, the curved core material must be designed to have sufficient shear strength to withstand the shearing forces produced by such loading. The need to validate the shear strength of curved core material is of increasing importance due to its increasing use in airframe structures. Some existing testing methodologies use flat core material and analytical techniques to determine allowable shear strength properties for structure containing curved core material.
There is a need for an effective mechanical test method for directly measuring the shear strength of curved core materials in order to validate analytical techniques or develop design allowables. Such a test method would facilitate improved structural design and could also be used as a screening method to evaluate potential curved core materials in the proposed use state.

Method and apparatus for testing shear strength of curved core material


A machine (A) includes a frame (16) and a platform (58) on which a boom assembly (B) is mounted. Two arms (332) of a U-shaped pivotal member (330) are pivotably mounted to the frame (16) about a first pivot axis (380) perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the frame (16). A front end (302) of a mounting plate (310) is pivotably connected to an intermediate section (336) of the pivotal member (330) about a second pivot axis (382) perpendicular to and spaced from the first pivot axis (380). Two rams (400) are mounted on opposite sides of a rear end (304) of the mounting plate (310). Each ram (400) includes a lower end (404) pivotably connected to the frame (16) and an upper end (402) pivotably connected to one of the sides of the mounting plate (310). The boom assembly (B), the mounting plate (310), and the pivotal member (330) pivot about the first pivot axis (380) and/or the second pivot axis (382) relative to the frame (16) due to relative movement of the rams (400).

The present invention relates to a tilt device for a machine, particularly to a tilt device for a machine including a boom assembly and, more particularly, to a four-way tilt device for a mobile material handling machine.
The introduction of tree handling apparatus represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,326,571; 4,565,486; and 4,583,908 obtained a significant advantage in the marketplace in selectively cutting from a row of trees. This arose due to its ability to rotate its platform throughout 360° within the overall width of the apparatus which is able to pass between adjacent rows of trees. Improvements to the initial machine represented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,571 included the ability to maintain the platform level while the apparatus worked on slopes such as mountain sides.
However, even such excellent devices have experienced some limitations for which further improvement was needed. In particular, a circular base is mounted below a turntable on which the platform is mounted, and upper ends of two rams are attached to the circular base to tilt the platform by moving the rams in an extending direction or a retracting direction. Two additional rams are mounted between the circular base and the frame. The overall height of the apparatus is relatively high and, thus, results in limitation such as the ability to pass under some bridges when being transported on trucks. Furthermore, the circular base is heavy and expensive and restricts access for maintenance.
A need exists for a tilt device for a machine such as a material handing machine that has a low profile while allowing tilt of the mounting plate and allowing easy maintenance of the machine as well as 360° rotation of components mounted to the mounting plate.

Tilt device for a material handling machine


A substrate treatment apparatus includes a container holder which holds a container for containing multiple substrates vertically stacked in horizontal postures, a substrate treatment section which collectively applies treatment to multiple substrates horizontally stacked in vertical postures, a main conveyance mechanism which conveys multiple substrates horizontally stacked in vertical postures between a substrate delivery position and the substrate treatment section, a carrying in/out mechanism which carries in/out the multiple substrates with respect to the container and changes postures of the multiple substrates between the horizontal postures and the vertical postures, and a sub conveyance mechanism which receives and delivers multiple substrates in vertical postures from and to the carrying in/out mechanism at a transfer position, receives and delivers multiple substrates in vertical postures from and to the main conveyance mechanism at the substrate delivery position, and conveys multiple substrates in vertical postures between the transfer and substrate delivery positions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate treatment apparatus which applies treatment to multiple substrates collectively. Substrates to be subjected to treatment include, for example, semiconductor wafers, liquid crystal display device substrates, plasma display substrates, FED (Field Emission Display) substrates, optical disk substrates, magnetic disk substrates, magneto-optical disk substrates, and photo mask substrates.
2. Description of Related Art
A substrate treatment apparatus which applies treatment using a chemical to substrates such as semiconductor wafers includes a batch type which applies treatment to multiple substrates collectively. An example of the batch type substrate treatment apparatus is shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-354604. This substrate treatment apparatus includes a carrier mounting section, a horizontal transfer robot, a posture changing mechanism, a pusher, a conveyance mechanism, and a substrate treatment section.
The carrier mounting section is formed so that a carrier (container) which holds multiple substrates stacked vertically in the horizontal postures is mounted thereon.
The horizontal transfer robot made of a multijoint arm type conveyance robot, and is configured so that a multijoint arm is bent and stretched and swiveled around a vertical axis. Accordingly, the horizontal transfer robot turns the multijoint arm to the carrier and places the vertically stacked multiple substrates in the horizontal postures in and out of the carrier, and further turns the multijoint arm to the posture changing mechanism and receives and delivers the vertically stacked multiple substrates in the horizontal postures from and to the posture changing mechanism.
The posture changing mechanism is for changing the postures of the multiple stacked substrates between the horizontal postures and the vertical postures collectively. To prevent substrate displacement during the substrate conveyance with the multijoint arm, the posture changing mechanism is provided with a substrate alignment mechanism.
The pusher includes a holder vertically and horizontally movable, and can collectively receive and deliver multiple substrates in the vertical postures from and to the posture changing mechanism, and can collectively receive and deliver multiple substrates in the vertical postures from and to the conveyance mechanism. The holder can hold the substrates at a half the pitches of the multiple substrates held by the posture changing mechanism. For example, after 25 substrates are delivered to the holder from the posture changing mechanism, the holder is moved by a minute distance in the horizontal direction along the substrate stacking direction. In this state, another 25 substrates are delivered to the holder from the posture changing mechanism. The 25 substrates delivered later enter among the 25 substrates delivered earlier, and a batch of a total of 50 substrates is formed on the holder. Thus, formation of a batch by combining a plurality of substrate groups is referred to as batch assembly. To deliver the substrates from the pusher to the posture changing mechanism, 25 substrates of the 50 substrates held by the holder are delivered to the posture changing mechanism. After the 25 substrates are changed in posture into the horizontal postures, these are delivered to the horizontal transfer robot. Thereafter, the remaining 25 substrates on the holder are delivered to the posture changing mechanism and changed in posture into the horizontal postures, and then discharged by the horizontal transfer robot. Thus, the 50 substrates are separated into two substrate groups each having 25 substrates. This separation of the multiple substrates forming a batch into a plurality of substrate groups is referred to as batch disassembly.
The conveyance mechanism has substrate chucks which hold multiple substrates forming a batch in the vertical posture, and carries the multiple substrates in and out of the substrate treatment section by moving the substrate chucks horizontally. To clean the substrate chuck, a chuck cleaning unit is provided for example, below a substrate delivery position between the pusher and the conveyance mechanism.
The substrate treatment section has a plurality of treatment tanks arranged along the movement direction of the conveyance mechanism. The treatment tanks include a chemical tank, a wash tank, and a dry tank. In the chemical tank, the multiple substrates in the vertical postures are collectively immersed in a chemical stored in the tank and subjected to a chemical treatment. In the wash tank, the multiple substrates in the vertical postures are collectively immersed in pure water (deionized water) stored in the tank and subjected to washing (rinsing). In the dry tank, treatments such as supply of an organic solvent (for example, isopropyl alcohol) or drainage of liquid components are applied to the multiple substrates collectively.
Major problems in the substrate treatment apparatus of the prior art described above are, first, a low substrate treatment speed (throughput), and second, the expense.
In detail, the horizontal transfer robot is a multijoint arm type, so that its mechanical strength constraint can not increase its moving speed in the state that the robot collectively holds multiple substrates. In addition, the multijoint arm type robot itself is expensive. Further, a space for swiveling the multijoint arm is necessary, so that the area occupied substantially by the apparatus is large.
In addition, when the multijoint arm swivels horizontally, the relative positions of the multiple substrates are displaced. Therefore, as described above, the posture changing mechanism needs to have a substrate alignment mechanism. The operation time of this substrate alignment mechanism strains the substrate treatment speed. In addition to the substrate alignment mechanism, the posture changing mechanism must be provided with a horizontal substrate guide for holding substrates in the horizontal postures, a vertical substrate guide for holding substrates in the vertical postures, and a pivotal mechanism for changing the postures of the substrates, which is an extremely expensive robot.
Further, the pusher includes a vertical movement mechanism, a horizontal movement mechanism, and a rotation mechanism, and is also expensive.
Thus, the time required to convey the substrates between the carrier (container) and the conveyance mechanism contributes to hamper improvement in throughput. The construction for substrate conveyance between the carrier (container) and the conveyance mechanism is expensive, which hampers cost reduction of the substrate treatment apparatus.
In the substrate treatment apparatus of the prior art described above, the substrate conveyance path from the carrier to the conveyance mechanism is one system. Therefore, when untreated substrates are sent into the main conveyance mechanism, treated substrates cannot be discharged from the conveyance mechanism to the carrier, and when treated substrates are discharged, untreated substrates cannot be sent. In addition, when untreated substrates are sent into the conveyance mechanism, a batch assembly operation on the holder of the pusher is necessary, so that the waiting time until discharge of the treated substrates is long. Similarly, when treated substrates are discharged, a batch disassembly operation on the holder of the pusher is necessary, so that the waiting time until reaching the state that untreated substrates can be sent in is also long. This contributes to another cause for lowering in substrate treatment speed.
Further, when the untreated substrates are held by the pusher at a substrate delivery position, the conveyance mechanism cannot discharge treated substrates completely treated in the dry tank to the substrate delivery position. Therefore, first, the conveyance mechanism receives untreated substrates at a substrate delivery position to carry in the chemical tank. Thereafter, the conveyance mechanism cleans the substrate chucks by the chuck cleaning unit, and then receives the treated substrates from the dry tank to deriver to the pusher at the substrate delivery position. Foreign bodies on the surface of the untreated substrates are transferred onto the substrate chucks holding the untreated substrates. Therefore, to prevent the foreign bodies from being transferred onto the treated substrates, the substrate chucks must be cleaned before holding the treated substrates. This contributes to still another cause for lowering in substrate treatment speed.


The method and system provide provisions for generating a respective detection state value associated with each of a plurality of RF receive beams. A first state value is indicative of a detection. The method and system further provide provisions, for each of the detection state values equal to the first state value, for generating a respective detection range value. The method and system further provide provisions for selecting one of the detection state values equal to the first state value and verifying the selected detection state value to provide one of a positive verification and a negative verification associated with the selected detection state value. The method and system further provide provisions for setting the selected detection state value to be equal to the second state value in response to a negative verification.

As is known by those in the art, radar systems have been developed for various applications associated with vehicles, such as automobiles and boats. A radar system mounted on a vehicle detects the presence of objects including other vehicles in proximity to the vehicle. In an automotive application, such a radar system can be used in conjunction with the braking system to aid in collision avoidance or in conjunction with the automobile cruise control system to provide intelligent speed and traffic spacing control. In a further application, the vehicle radar system provides a passive indication of obstacles to a driver of the vehicle on a display, and in particular, detects objects in a so-called blind spot of the vehicle.
In an effort to reduce the number and impact of blind spots, rear and side view mirrors of various sizes and types are typically mounted on the vehicle. While the use of mirrors helps reduce the number of blind spots on a vehicle, mirrors cannot eliminate all blind spots. Also, the view through mirrors degrades during conditions of rain, snow, or darkness.
Cameras mounted on the back and sides of a vehicle can also be effective in reducing blind spots. However, this approach is relatively expensive and at least a portion of the camera must be exposed to external elements. Also, the view through a camera degrades during severe weather (e.g. rain, show) and in darkness.

System and method for verifying a radar detection


A motor is provided including a housing having single and integral motor and bearing cooling inlets. The motor is arranged within the housing and includes a stator and a rotor assembly supported on air bearings. The cooling inlet is in fluid communication with the motor stator and with the air bearings. The motor cooling inlet provides and the bearing cooling inlet provides a uniform pressure on the rotor assembly. The uniform pressures exerted on the rotor assembly produce bearing loads that generally cancel one another. The source of the cooling flow is uncompressed air at low pressure. This may be achieved by providing a vent in the housing that is common to both the motor cooling inlet and the bearing cooling inlet. As a result, journal bearings and seals of substantially the same size may be used.

This invention relates to a motor cooling path and thrust bearing load design.
Conventionally, electric motors have a rotor assembly driven by a stator. Motors subject to high heat may use air bearings, particularly, journal and thrust bearings. The air bearings and stator of an electric motor have been cooled using two airflow paths that are separate from one another. That is, the airflow paths have separate inlets and separate outlets. As a result of using separate flow paths, the bearings are subject to different loads based upon the different pressures in the flow paths that are exerted on the rotor assembly, bearings, and seals. The imbalanced loading on the rotor assembly increases the load on the thrust bearing, which is undesirable.
It is desirable to balance the loads so that the net axial load on the thrust bearing is zero. Typically, the journal bearings used to support the rotor assembly are of an unequal size to compensate for the imbalance of loads resulting from the different pressures.
The separate flow paths are conventionally separated from one another using numerous, unequally-sized seals. The different bearings and seals add cost and complexity to the assembly of the motor.
What is needed is a single source for the bearing and motor cooling to minimize cost and complexity. What is needed also is a load design for the thrust bearings that minimizes cost and reduces complexity assembling the motor. It is desirable not to use high pressure (compressed) air.

Integral motor and air bearing cooling path


In order to realize a weight saving and prevent a concentration of stress to thereby obtain durability endurable for high-speed printing, an armature of the present invention has an arm that is formed into a long-sized plate-like shape and holds a printing wire at its end section and a magnetic circuit forming member that is positioned at the other end at the side of the printing wire and has a projecting section projecting from the arm toward the direction in which the printing wire extends, wherein a first inclined surface that gradually inclines toward the projecting section in the direction in which the printing wire extends and a concave-shaped first curved surface that communicates with the first inclined surface and bends inward with a predetermined curvature to reach the projecting section are formed at a first end face of the arm at the side of the projecting section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire dot printer, a wire dot printer head used for the wire dot printer and an armature used for the wire dot printer, and more particularly to a shape of the armature.
2. Discussion of the Background
There has been known a wire dot printer head wherein an armature with a printing wire coupled thereto is pivoted between a printing position and a stand-by position, and when the armature is pivoted to the printing position, a tip of the wire is brought into collision with a printing medium to effect printing. In a certain wire dot printer head of this type, there has been proposed a device wherein a magnetic flux is produced by a coil around the armature, that is to be pivoted, for forming a magnetic circuit that causes the armature to be attracted from a stand-by position to a printing position to effect printing.
The wire dot printer head of this type is required to pivot the armature at high speed between the printing position and the stand-by position with a recent increased printing speed. Therefore, weight saving of an armature, particularly a reduced thickness of an armature has been developed. However, performing a carburizing process to the weight-saved armature deteriorates durability at the joint section between a thick section and a thin section of the armature. In view of this, JPA Hei-4(1992)-169242 proposes that the thick section and the thin section of the armature are joined by a communicating section having a taper section or a curved surface section, thereby preventing the deterioration in durability of the armature due to the carburizing process. Further, the armature is composed of an arm that supports a wire and a magnetic circuit forming member that is provided at the arm for forming a magnetic circuit, wherein the arm and the magnetic circuit forming member are independently carburized, which prevents the deterioration in durability of the armature due to the carburizing process.
However, the armature is required to be violently pivoted as many as 2500 times per second between the printing position and the stand-by position with a recent increased printing speed. In this case, the armature disclosed in JPA Hei-4(1992)-169242 is damaged since stress is concentrated on the communicating section of the armature. This is because the thin section of the armature bends so as to be warped in the direction parallel to the wire, which causes stress to be concentrated at the upper and lower sections at the communicating section in the direction parallel to the wire. It should be noted that the communicating section is formed such that the thin section is made thick in its thickness direction (in the direction orthogonal to the wire), so that it is difficult to prevent the concentration of stress at the upper and lower sections at the communicating section in the direction parallel to the wire.
Even in case where an armature 100 is composed of an arm 102 supporting a wire 101 and a magnetic circuit forming member 103, the arm 102 bends so as to be warped in the direction parallel to the wire 101 as shown in FIG. 6, resulting in that stress 104 is concentrated at the upper and lower sections at the arm 102 positioned in the vicinity of the magnetic circuit forming member 103 in the direction parallel to the wire 101. This damages the arm 102 from the stressed section.

Armature, wire dot printer head and wire dot printer


A monitoring system for monitoring a parameter of a hostile environment is provided within the interior of a sealed chamber. The chamber has a wall and an access port extending through the wall to the chamber exterior. The monitoring system includes a flexible, generally tubular, elongated housing having a distal end, a proximal end and a interior. The housing is made of a non-porous, corrosive resistant material. The distal end of the housing includes a sealed window and a sensor, which may be a borescope or camera, for sensing a parameter or for capturing an image within the hostile environment. The proximal end of the housing is sealingly secured to the chamber wall at the port so that the interior of the housing is accessible through the port. The interior of the housing includes a transmission media for transmitting an output signal of the sensor from the distal end of the housing to the proximal end of the housing and through the port. A monitor located outside of the chamber and connected to the transmission media receives and displays a representation of the sensor signal.

The present invention relates generally to a monitoring system and, more particularly, to a monitoring system for monitoring or measuring one or more parameters, performing visual inspections or otherwise obtaining information from within a harsh or hostile environment such as within the interior of a sealed semiconductor wafer processing chamber.
There are many situations in which it is desirable to have the ability to measure or monitor one or more parameters or make visual inspections within a harsh or hostile environment. For example, it is desirable to have the ability to monitor one or more parameters, such as temperature and pressure, within the environment of a semiconductor wafer processing chamber. The environment within such a semiconductor wafer processing chamber, particularly during the processing of semiconductor wafers, includes high vacuum pressures. The use of existing, standard, unprotected monitoring equipment and/or techniques within such a semiconductor wafer processing chamber or any other such harsh or hostile environment is ineffective because most existing monitoring equipment is simply not constructed to withstand the severe pressures encountered within such a semiconductor wafer processing chamber and/or the severe temperatures, pressures and other environmental factors present in other such harsh or hostile environments. The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a flexible, generally tubular elongated protective housing made of a non-porous, hermetically sealed, corrosive resistant material for containing the sensitive measuring and/or monitoring equipment employed for measuring or monitoring one or more parameters within a semiconductor wafer processing chamber or other such harsh or hostile environment. The present invention is particularly useful in calibration, inspection and maintenance within a semiconductor wafer processing chamber.

Monitoring system for hostile environment


The objective of the invention is to provide a solution for tissue adhesion prevention and a method for tissue adhesion prevention that are applicable to general surgery and in which covering condition during surgery is stable and convenient. The invention is the solution for tissue adhesion prevention of which the active ingredient is trehalose. Also, it contains at least one or more among antioxidants, chelates, antiseptics, hemostatics, anti-inflammatory agents, and polysaccharides, mucopolysaccharides, salts of polysaccharides and salts of mucopolysaccharides having lubricating properties. This solution for tissue adhesion prevention is provided as any form of perfusion fluid, spray fluid, solution for spray or vaporization administration, foam-like aerosol preparation, injection solution for intravenous fluids, intravenous fluid.

It is well known that tissues including organs are exposed to air due to incision in surgery, and these tissues can be dehydrated and oxidized leading to their damages. The dehydration and oxidation of tissue including organs during surgery lead to their damages, which are considered as a cause of problems including postoperative tissue adhesion and delay of cure.
Since adhesion especially often inhibits normal movement of tissues including organs, it is considered as one of serious complications after surgery. For instance, the adhesion occurred during tendon surgery may cause dyskinesia. In addition, the organ adhesion after intra-abdominal surgery may cause complications such as ileus, pain and sterility, and sometimes can cause problems such that next surgery becomes very difficult.
Examples of current treatment for prevention of tissue adhesion after surgery and delay of cure include treatment in which saline solution is regularly perfused to exposed organs during surgery and treatment in which tissues such as organs are covered with gauze soaked with saline solution.
However, problems has raised such that in case of perfusion of saline solution, it is difficult to maintain a sufficient covering condition of organs with fluid layer of saline solution preventing from exposure milieu that can cause oxidative stress, and in case of cover with gauze soaked with saline solution, the gauze may interfere surgery operations. It was difficult to maintain conditions in which whole surface of exposed tissue including organs can be blocked from air during surgery.
Therefore, to solve these problems, adhesion preventives composed of chitin, adhesion preventives composed with bridged hyaluronic acid and drugs for prevention of delay of cure have been proposed (for instance, refer to Patent documents 1 and 2).
[Patent Document 1]
Patent Publication No. 2948254
[Patent Document 2]
Patent Publication No. 3420851
However, the previous drugs described above lacked operationality such as user-friendliness, because their component having adhesion preventive function is macromolecule and their forms are mainly film that is placed on intended section or viscous fluid that is applied on intended section. Among substances having effect of adhesion prevention or prevention of cure delay, the ones that are water-soluble and can easily cover the intended section have not been known. While, trehalose (C12H22O11), one of saccharides that has been recently used in various field such as foods or cosmetics, has been confirmed to have very high hydrating properties compared with other saccharides. In addition, since trehalose has a similar structure to the cluster structure of H2O, when administered to cell surface, it is considered to persist as glass (amorphous) condition after dehydration, stabilizing cells or proteins instead of H2O and inhibiting these degenerations.
Trehalose, having such a high performance, is expected to be used for unknown effective indications, and a novel indication for trehalose has been researched in various way. For instance, drugs containing trehalose administered to a mucous membrane (such as Patent document 3), nutrient solutions containing trehalose as a saccharide calorie (such as Patent documents 4 and 5), solutions for transplanted organ containing trehalose (such as Patent document 6), intraocular perfusion/washing agents, eye drops, eye ointments that contain trehalose and have cornea protection properties (such as Patent document 7), association-forming agents between trehalose and unsaturated compounds used for inhibition of chemical changes of unsaturated compounds (such as Patent document 8), inhibitors of lipolysis degradation containing trehalose (such as Patent document 9) have been proposed.
[Patent Document 3]
Kokai (unexamined patent publication) No. 6-256219
[Patent Document 4]
Kokai (unexamined patent publication) No. 6-72883
[Patent Document 5]
Kokai (unexamined patent publication) No. 6-319486
[Patent Document 6]
Kokai (unexamined patent publication) No. 6-40801
[Patent Document 7]
Kokai (unexamined patent publication) No. 9-235233
[Patent Document 8]
Saikohyo No. 2002-24832
[Patent Document 9]
International Publication WO 2004/076602 brochure
However, the fact that by applying protection solution using trehalose administered to tissues exposed to air including wounds and organs due to incision in operations such as surgeries, adhesion of wounds and tissue as well as delay of cure will be prevented has not been known yet.

Solution for tissue adhesion prevention and method for tissue adhesion prevention

KABUSHIKI KAISHA HAYASHIBARA SEIBUTSU KAGAKU KENKYUJO


A circuit for controlling rotation speed of a computer fan includes a fan header for connecting to a 4-pin fan or a 3-pin fan, a jumper device, an amplifier, and a controller. The jumper device has a first pin for receiving a controlling signal, and connected to a first power source, a second pin connected to the fan header, and a third pin connected to the first power source. The amplifier has an input terminal connected to the third pin of the jumper device via an integrator. The controller has a first terminal connected to an output terminal of the amplifier, a second terminal connected to a second power source, and a third terminal connected to the fan header and connected to a positive input terminal of the amplifier via a resistor. The first pin of the jumper device is selectively connected to the second or third pin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer fans, and particularly to a circuit for controlling rotation speed of a computer fan.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer system includes a motherboard with various chips such as a central processing unit (CPU) mounted thereon, a storage device such as a hard disc, and input/output devices. Many of these devices generate heat when the computer system is operating, particularly the CPU. If the heat generated from the CPU is not dissipated in a timely fashion, it may damage the CPU or even the computer system.
Typically, a sensor is programmed to be used as a temperature detector for detecting the temperature of the CPU. A computer fan is used to facilitate removal of heat to keep the temperature of the CPU within a safe temperature range. A fan controller is provided to adjust the fan speed to be more energy efficient while still providing enough heat dissipation. Two common kinds of computer fans are 3-pin fans and 4-pin fans. The fan speed of a 3-pin fan can be adjusted by changing a voltage signal (power signal) input to the 3-pin fan. The fan speed of a 4-pin fan, can be adjusted by a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal controlled by a basic input/output system (BIOS) of the motherboard directly to the 4-pin fan.
With a 3-pin fan motherboard, a 3-pin fan is connected to the motherboard by a 3-pin header mounted on the motherboard, and a 3-pin fan controller is provided to supply the voltage signal to the 3-pin fan for adjusting the rotation speed of the 3-pin fan. With a 4-pin fan motherboard, a 4-pin fan is connected to the motherboard by a 4-pin fan header mounted on the motherboard, and a 4-pin fan controller is provided to supply the PWM signal to the fourth pin of the 4-pin fan for adjusting the rotation speed of the 4-pin fan. In theory, the 3-pin fan can be connected to the 4-pin fan motherboard by the 4-pin header. However, the 3-pin fan cannot be controlled by the 4-pin fan controller because the 3-pin fan does not have the fourth pin and cannot receive the PWM signal. Therefore, the CPU may be damaged because the heat may not be dissipated properly.
What is needed is a circuit for adjusting the rotation speed of a computer fan whether the computer fan is a 3-pin fan or a 4-pin fan.

Circuit for controlling rotation speed of computer fan

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A cleaning brush is attached to an oral irrigator that includes a supply pipe stored in a body unit, which has a control unit on the lower side of a cleaning tank in which a cleaning solution is stored, such that cleaning is carried out by supplying the cleaning solution at a predetermined water pressure. The cleaning brush includes a supply hole to which the supply pipe is connected and which is provided on the upper side of a finger cover having an insertion space into which a finger is inserted. Nozzles are formed at predetermined intervals on the upper side of a nozzle unit to which the supply hole is connected. A brush protrudes from the peripheral upper side at which the nozzles are formed. The supply hole has a connection member protruding outward and has a connector having connector-connecting pipes formed on both sides thereof.

Dental caries (tooth decay) is one of the diseases that humankind has suffered from for a long time, but the incidence thereof is increasing due to the use of sugar, which is a daily sweetener. However, this disease substantially does not occur in animals living in their natural environment. On the contrary, the incidence of dental caries in pet is recently increasing due to preference for snack foods for humans that contain sugar or distribution of artificial feed.
Generally, tooth decay is an infectious disease accompanied by destruction of teeth, which is a multifactor-based disease caused by interaction of bacteria, food and saliva in dental plaque. Among bacteria in the dental plaque, Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is the main causative strain and induces dental caries through adhesion to the surface of a tooth ("tooth surface"), proliferation and acid generation. In other words, after adhering to the tooth surface, S. mutans generates insoluble glucan as a glucose polymer from the sucrose in the food by glucosyl transferase (Gtase). The insoluble glucan has been reported to substantially comprise α-1,3 bonds. The synthesized glucan increases binding between bacteria that proliferate on the tooth surface, such S. mutans adhered to the tooth surface settles on the tooth surface and produces organic acid such as lactic acid during carbohydrate metabolism, thereby causing decalcification of tooth enamel and, finally, tooth decay.
Dentalis lapis may be the most common cause of periodontal disease while causing tooth decay. When inflammation is limited in the gum, that is, gingiva, the condition is gingivitis. Further, if the inflammation has already spread to a periodontal tissue, especially, to the alveolar bone during progression of gingivitis, the condition is determined as periodontitis. When the plaque is calcified, it becomes tartar which acts as a factor that further accelerates a fracture pattern. Further, bacterial plaque is the main cause of gingivitis, and chronic gingivitis may cause periodontitis.
On the other hand, animals, patients, disabled persons and infants cannot clean oral cavities and teeth by themselves to remove oral cavity residues due to eating and drinking.
In particular, in the case of the animal, the oral cavity and teeth are not only used for proper nutrition and taste or for breathing, but also for moving things, biting an object, licking things smeared on their bodies, etc. Therefore, behaviors more than those carried out by human hands may be done by the mouth and teeth.
Further, such behaviors are not confined to clean objects only, however, tasting, moving or licking unsanitary objects with harmful microorganisms may also cause illness.
Of course, animals cannot brush their own teeth and perform oral care and it is also not easy for persons to perform the same for the animal, and caretakers may dislike such work. Even if brushing teeth of the animal by any desired method, the animal may easily swallow toothpaste in the mouth instead of rinsing or spitting out the same.
For this reason, existing toothpastes for animals are typically composed of abrasives, softeners, sweeteners intended to neutralize the bitter taste, flavoring agents intended to neutralize halitosis and viscosity adjusters as a mixture. In this regard, a part of the plaque may be somewhat removed through the abrasive, but even the abrasive should be rinsed and thus is inconvenient to use every time for brushing. Further, the abrasive could not be continuously used since the animal dislikes the same, therefore, effects of the abrasive are not expected.
Moreover, there is a disadvantage wherein the existing animal toothpaste is not effective in removing harmful microorganisms, periodontitis, bad breath and plaque, and for oral hygiene of the animal.
In order to solve such problems, Korean Patent Registration No. 1737903 (pet mouth washer) has been proposed. According to this patent, high-pressure cleanser is sprayed into the oral cavity of the pet through the nozzle without being repulsed by the pet so as to simply and conveniently remove waste in teeth, tartar, bad breath, etc. of the pet while stimulating the teeth and the gums to massage the same, concurrently, so that the pet can be bred healthily. Further, the above mouth washer is provided with a protective part made of elastic material on an outer side of a nozzle member wherein the protective part is formed longer than the nozzle member, whereby the nozzle member to spray the high pressure cleanser does not directly contact the teeth of the pet and, therefore, the pet is not irritated or surprised while oral cleaning may be conducted quickly in a short time.
However, since the above device simply sprays the cleanser in the mouth through a common nozzle with water pressure, there is a problem of not perfectly cleaning the inside of the oral cavity during washing through a long and exposed nozzle stand.
Such disadvantages of the related art are also applicable to human beings such as infants, patients and disabled persons.

Cleaning brush attached to oral irrigator