The present invention provides a method of and apparatus for efficiently and continuously manufacturing large, thin-film-coated substrates (i.e. antireflection filters) via small-scale manufacturing apparatus. The apparatus includes a film-forming chamber, two stockers, each capable of storing substrates in multi-stages, a loading chamber and an unloading chamber. The film forming area is centrally positioned, surrounded upstream and downstream by each stocker with loading and unloading chambers positioned upstream and downstream of the stockers, respectively. The film-forming chamber, the loading and unloading chamber and each stocker have, respectively, independent evacuation systems. The film forming chamber also contains a particle generation source and apparatus for passing a substrates, one after another, from the first stocker, in to the film-forming chamber and out to the second stocker. The method, using apparatus such as described above, includes the steps where, while a group of substrates on which a film to be formed are being subjected to film forming in the film forming chamber, the loading chamber is loaded with the next group of substrates and evacuated, and the substrates onto which a film has been formed are unloaded from the unloading chamber, and is characterized in that the substrates are being subjected to film forming while passing through the film forming area.

Films such as optical thin films for optical filters, antireflection films of various displays, and films of various substrate with a thin film used in various semiconductors, optical discs, LCDs, color filters, transparent electrodes, etc. are formed by vacuum evaporation, ion assisted evaporation, ion plating, sputtering, ablation, etc.
In reference to a case where an antireflection film is formed on an optical lens or where an optical thin film such as an antireflection film or optical filter is formed on a flat substrate such as a glass sheet or resin sheet by vacuum evaporation, the conventional method for manufacturing substrate with a thin film is described below in reference to drawings.
FIG. 4 is a typical view showing how such substrate with a thin film are produced. At first, a film forming chamber is described. Inside a vacuum chamber 16, a film material 3 is placed with its film forming particle generating region 2 turned upward in the drawing. An electron beam is emitted from an electron gun 6 to reach the film forming particle generating region 2 due to the effect of a magnetic field not illustrated, to heat the region 2, and as a result, film forming particles 5 are generated. The film forming particle flux axis 9 (directional axis to express the direction in which the film forming particles are generated most intensively) of the film forming particles 5 generated like this is turned upward in the drawing. On or near the axial line of the film forming particle flux axis 9, a film formation monitor 8 is installed, and a film thickness measuring instrument 7 for optically measuring the thickness of the film formed on the film formation monitor 8 is installed further above the monitor 8. To allow the film forming particles to reach the film formation monitor 8, a hole 401 is formed at the center of a domed substrate holder 402. The domed substrate holder 402 can rotate on a horizontal plane above the film forming particle generation source, so that the under surfaces of the substrates on which a film to be formed 403 fixed in the domed substrate holder 402 may be exposed to the film forming particles, to form a film on each of them. Furthermore, to limit the range in which the substrates on which a film to be formed 403 are exposed to the film forming particles 5, a film forming range limiting member 4 is installed at a position between the film forming particle generating region 2 and the substrates on which a film to be formed 403. A shutter 11 or intercepting the film forming particles 5 as required is also similarly installed.
FIG. 5 is a drawing showing this state from the position of the film formation monitor 8 in the direction toward the film forming particle flux axis 9. The substrates on which a film to be formed 403 are arranged, for example as illustrated, to be held by the domed substrate holder by using the available area of the holder to the maximum extent, and the hole 401 is formed on or near the axial line of the film forming particle flux axis 9, to prevent the film forming particles 5 from being intercepted by the substrates, etc. The film formation monitor 8 is arranged to allow the film forming particles to reach the film formation monitor 8 through the hole.
To form a thin film on the under surface of each of the respective substrates on which a film to be formed 403, at first, the domed substrate holder 402 is kept rotating beforehand. Then, the electron beam emitted from the electron gun 6 continuously heats the film forming particle generating region 2 of the film material 3, to generate the film forming particles from there. In this case, at first, since the shutter 11 is closed, the film forming particles cannot reach the substrates on which a film to be formed. When the temperature of the film forming particle generating region 2 reaches a steady state, the film forming particle generation intensity also reaches a steady state. After this has been confirmed, the shutter 11 is opened. The film forming particles generated from the film forming particle generating region 2 are flown radially with the direction of the film forming particle flux axis 9 as the central direction, and reach the respective substrates on which a film to be formed 403. Furthermore, through the hole 401 formed on or near the axial line of the film forming particle flux axis 9, some film forming particles reach the film formation monitor 8.
The thickness of the film formed on each of the respective substrates on which a film to be formed 403 is indirectly measured by measuring the thickness of the film formed on the film formation monitor 8 by the film thickness measuring instrument 7. On the film formation monitor 8, a film is formed under conditions approximating those for forming the film on each of the respective substrates on which a film to be formed 403. So, the thickness of the thin film formed on the monitor has a certain correlation with the thickness of the thin film formed on each of the respective substrates on which a film to be formed 403. Ideally, the thickness of the thin film formed on the monitor is the same as the thickness of the thin film formed on each of the substrates on which a film to be formed 403, since the substrates on which a film to be formed 403 fixed in the domed substrate holder 402 are exposed incessantly to the film forming particles like the film formation monitor 8. Actually, the correlation is strictly obtained by an experiment. From the results, the correlation between the increment per unit time of the thickness of the thin film formed on the film formation monitor 8 and the increment per unit time of the thickness of the thin film formed on each of the substrates on which a film to be formed 403 is obtained.
Based on the measured thickness of the thin film, the film forming process control is carried out, such as adjusting the film forming rate during film formation, the refractive index of the films formed, etc., and closing the shutter to terminate film formation when a desired thickness has been reached.
In most film forming processes adopted especially for optical thin film application, substrates on which a film to be formed are held by a domed substrate holder rotating around a certain axis (may be virtual). Such a technique is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 1-306560.
Furthermore recently, also in a continuous production process in which a loading chamber and an unloading chamber are installed and connected with a film forming chamber to achieve higher productivity, a domed substrate holder is similarly used and rotated.
FIG. 6 is a typical view showing such a continuous production process. In this embodiment, a loading chamber 601, a film forming chamber 602 and an unloading chamber 603 are connected. Substrates on which a film to be formed are held by a domed substrate holder 604. One film forming unit consists of only the substrates on which a film to be formed held by the domed substrate holder 604. Each of the chambers can store one film forming unit. In this embodiment, during film formation, the next group of the substrates on which a film to be formed are supplied into the loading chamber, and the loading chamber is then evacuated. Concurrently, the unloading chamber is opened to the open air, and the substrates with a film formed are unloaded. Then, the unloading chamber is evacuated.
This technique is described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 3-193873, etc. Furthermore a similar sputtering apparatus is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 7-278801, etc. However, in most of the continuous production apparatuses required to assure high accuracy in film thickness, etc., the substrate holder is fed to a film forming chamber (vacuum treatment chamber) and rotated there, and intermittent continuous operation is made with the time taken for film formation as the tact time. So the area available for film formation is used wastefully. This does not pose any large problem in the case of various optical lenses and small substrates. The reason is described below in reference to drawings.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relation between the film forming area and the moving area of substrates on which a film to be formed. The film forming area 701 is usually almost circular. In the conventional method, a domed substrate holder as large as the circular film forming area 701 is prepared to hold substrates. That is, the film forming area in this case is inside the circular area 701. However, if the substrates on which a film to be formed are fed from left to right in the diagram, while having a film formed on each of them, the shaded portions of FIG. 7 can also be used as the film forming area. In the conventional method, only .pi./4 (78.5%) of the area available for film formation is used for production.
Furthermore, when the domed substrate holder is used, the problem becomes serious if the size of the substrates on which a film to be formed is larger. For example, in FIG. 8, an apparatus which has a circular film forming area with a diameter of 1 m is used to form a film on each of surface antireflection optical filters (26 cm.times.33 cm) for displays with a diagonal line length of 14 inches (35 cm). This state is seen from the position of the film formation monitor 8 in the direction toward the film forming particle flux axis 9. In this case, even if the conventional circular substrate holder is used most effectively, only five optical filters can be held. That is, in an area of 0.785 m.sup.2 available for film formation, only an area of 0.26.times.0.33.times.5=0.429 m.sup.2 is used for film formation. Only about 55% of the area available for film formation can be used for manufacturing such filters. If it is intended to raise the productivity of such filters, the manufacturing apparatus used must be larger than necessary.
Furthermore, there is a problem that if larger substrates are to be processed, the substrate loading efficiency declines. In addition, if the conventional method is used for forming a film on each of larger substrates, the apparatus used must be larger than necessary, and as a result, the evacuation system must also be larger as a further other problem.
Therefore, it can be said that production has been made using an apparatus remarkably low in productivity. The reasons why the method as shown in FIG. 4 has been used even though the productivity may decline remarkably like this are considered to be as follows.
The first reason can be that the properties of the films formed by the film forming particles flying in the direction of and around the film forming particle flux axis are more excellent than those of the films formed by the film forming particles flying in any other direction apart from said direction, and that the method has been believed to be most suitable for monitoring the film forming process. The reason for the excellent properties is that since the film forming particles flying in the direction of and around the film forming particle flux axis are large in number and generally have high kinetic energy, the films formed are high in refractive index and homogeneous. On the contrary, the film forming particles flying in any other direction away from the film forming particle flux axis are small in number and low in energy, and the films formed are small in refractive index and thin.
Therefore, it has been considered as a matter of course to place the film formation monitor near the film forming particle flux axis, and furthermore, in a design to rotate the substrates on which a film to be formed, it is most convenient to place the film formation monitor at the center of the substrate holder.
As the second reason, it has been believed to be a basic technique to rotate the substrate holder many times at an above position to form one-layer films to eliminate the unevenness otherwise caused by the conventional unstable film forming particle generation source. As a means for exposing the substrates on which a film to be formed to the film forming particles many times, the use of a rotary system has been mechanically simple.
A conventional apparatus which has overcome the low productivity of the intermittent continuous apparatus with a rotaty transfer type substrate holder is called a feed through type continuous apparatus or in-line apparatus. A feed through type film forming apparatus based on sputtering is proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 5-106034, and a similar vacuum evaporator is proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 6-65724. In these cases, the substrate holder (substrates) is once placed in a loading chamber called a load lock chamber, to stand by, and is fed into the film forming chamber intermittently continuously without releasing the vacuum of the film forming chamber. In these apparatuses, the time during which the substrates on which a film to be formed are exposed to vacuum as well as heat until a film is formed on each of them is very short (say, 10 minutes at the longest), and this poses a problem in the case of film formation on resin substrates, etc. In the case of resin substrates, it is often practiced to expose the substrates to heat or vacuum for a longer period of time, for degassing the substrates. If the degassing is not sufficient, such problems often occur that the adhesion between the resin substrate and the vapor-deposited film as adopted in the present invention is insufficient and that the gas evolved from the substrate during film forming process affects the film processing conditions, not allowing a desired film to be obtained. Furthermore, it can happen that when a transparent film for any of said applications is handled, visible light is absorbed, or that in the case of an optical film, the refractive index of the film is changed not to allow the desired spectral characteristics to be obtained. To solve these problems, in some cases, a vacuum chamber is arranged additionally on the loading side of the loading chamber, but it makes the apparatus very large (long in the direction in which the substrates on which a film to be formed are fed) disadvantageously in view of space.
When a multi-layer film such as a two-layer film is formed, for example as proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 7-278801, a plurality of treatment chambers are provided, and a substrate holder is fed after lapse of a tact time to a treatment chamber, rotated there to have a film layer formed on it, and fed to the next treatment chamber after lapse of another tact time. In this case, vacuum treatment chambers as many as the kinds or number of film layers to be formed are used to make the apparatus large-sized disadvantageously. Furthermore, in the case of Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 3-193873, etc., an idea of exchanging film forming particle generating materials is taken into account, but in this apparatus constitution, it is difficult to use large-sized substrates on which a film to be formed efficiently.
Moreover, as a feed through type continuous apparatus, it is proposed to arrange film forming particle sources in series, to obtain a multi-layer film by one time of feeding for film formation. However, in the case of a multi-layer film, especially in the case of an optical multi-layer film or a multi-layer film for an optical disc, etc., the film forming process conditions of one layer are often different from those of the previous layer or the subsequent layer, and it is very difficult to control the process conditions for obtaining a desired film. To solve this problem, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 62-260059, an orifice structure is used between the respectively adjacent vacuum treatment chambers, and it can be seen how difficult it is to separate the process conditions of different layers.
An apparatus in which the loading chamber contains in multi-stages substrates on which a film to be formed is proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 64-4472 and 3-35216, etc., but since the film forming chamber does not have a structure to allow the substrates to be contained in multi-stages, that is, since the film forming chamber is separated from the loading chamber and the unloading chamber, continuous production cannot be effected. In the case of Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 64-4472, since a mechanism to allow the target material to be exchanged is adopted for forming a multi-layer film, a multi-layer film can be formed, but since the loading chamber and the unloading chamber must be kept at atmospheric pressure to load and unload substrates on which a film to be formed and must be kept to stand by until they reach a vacuum condition equivalent to that of the film forming chamber, continuous production cannot be effected. In the case of Japanese Patent Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 3-35216, though the apparatus is intended to form a single-layer film, respectively two loading chambers and unloading chambers are used to allow continuous production. However, in this case, since the direction in which the substrates on which a film to be formed are loaded, the direction in which they are unloaded, and the direction in which they are fed for film formation are arranged three-dimensionally in three axes, a machine trouble is likely to occur when the substrates on which a film to be formed are changed in direction, and it is difficult to install the means for transferring the substrates in three directions in the apparatus. That is, it is very difficult to keep the transfer means sealed in vacuum, and the apparatus cannot be said to be suitable for practical production.

Method of manufacturing substrate with thin film, and manufacturing apparatus


A transconductance stage is provided. The transconductance stage includes a tail current source, a differential pair, and two current mirrors. The input to each of the current mirrors is connected to the drain of a separate one of the transistors in the differential pair. The two current mirrors each have two outputs so that one of the outputs can be used to determine whether the output current exceeds a threshold (e.g. nine-tenths of the tail current). If the source current exceeds the threshold, extra source current is switched in to the output so that output source current is increased. Similarly, if the sink current exceeds the threshold, extra sink current is switched in to the output so that the output sink current is increased. This way, the transconductance stage can supply large output currents in response to a large signal input but maintains low quiescent current for small input signals.

A typical transconductance stage has an output current that is roughly proportional to its input voltage for some range of input voltage. If the input voltage exceeds the maximum range, the output current of the typical transconductance stage goes to its maximum value. The maximum value is typically set by the tail current of the differential pair. The maximum current typically sets the slew rate of the output under the condition of a large input signal. If a faster slew rate is required, then the tail current typically must be larger, causing a larger quiescent current.

Apparatus and method for transconductance stage with high current response to large signals


A guest host assembly comprising a host assembly formed of calixarene molecules and a guest component located within the host assembly. A crystallographic assembly of layers of the calixarene molecules and stacked along the crystallographic c axis of the assembly in a repeating configuration associated together predominantly by van der Waal forces. The guest component is transferable through the host assembly in a direction normal to the stacked layers. The calixarene molecules are configured in bilayers of adjacent layers along the c axis. The bilayers are shifted along the a or b axis so the assembly, relative to a corresponding assembly of the calixarene molecules without the inclusion of the guest component is shifted. The calixarene are calix(N)arenes in which N is an integer within the range of 4–8. The calixarene molecules are distally substituted with a substituent such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl amyl or phenyl groups.

Calixarenes are complex cyclic compounds that can undergo self-assembly to form guest host complexes. In such complexes, a guest component can be incorporated within the calixarene-based structure which encapsulates the guest material. The simplest calixarene is calix(4)arene in which four phenyl groups are linked together in a cyclic array by methylene bridges which are proximal to the OH groups of the phenols. Stress induced within the calixarene molecules result in indented or bowl-shaped, and the calixarenes can be assembled to form a supramolecular structures.
The assembly of organic molecular crystals such as those based on supramolecular assemblies of calixarene molecules is primarily controlled by a variety of intermolecular interactions which, in unison, immobilize the building blocks to form stable arrays. When these materials are heated beyond their melting or sublimation points, the cohesive forces are overcome, resulting in increased mobility and disorganization of the molecules. The molecules of a solid can also be mobilized by processes such as dissolution and solid-solid phase changes. The latter can occur as a result of physical stimuli (e.g. temperature, pressure, radiation) or the gain or loss of ancillary molecular components. While inclusion of either a liquid or gaseous guest by a solid matrix is a well-known phenomenon, the mechanisms of such processes are not well defined. In organic solid state guest host assemblies where transport of the guest through the host, and subsequent complexation, usually involves concomitant reorganization of the host lattice (7). Guest-induced lattice rearrangement often result in severe fracturing of single crystals into polycrystalline material. When fracturing does not occur, alternative mechanisms postulate the presence of stable channels through which mobile guest molecules diffuse until a thermodynamically stable host-guest structure is achieved.

Calixarene-based guest-host assemblies for guest storage and transfer


An apparatus for forming a container body from a metal blank has a ram, a blank holder, an annular die, a die holder, an insert and a plurality of ironing rings. The ram is centered about a longitudinal axis. The blank holder has an aperture through which the ram passes. The annular die is substantially axially aligned with the ram and adapted to allow the ram to pass therethrough. The die holder has a recessed portion adapted for receiving the annular die therein. The recessed portion has an annular, arcuate concave surface. The insert is located within the recess between the annular, arcuate concave surface and the annular die. The insert has a surface for supporting the annular die thereon opposite an annular, arcuate, convex surface in operative engagement with the annular, arcuate concave surface and swivelable thereon. The ironing rings are substantially axially aligned with the ram.

Two-piece cans are by far the most common type of metal containers used in the beer and beverage industry. They are usually formed of aluminum or tin-plated steel. The two-piece can consists of a first cylindrical can body portion having an integral bottom end wall and a second, separately-formed, top end panel portion which, after the can has been filled, is double-seamed thereon to close the open upper end of the container.
The can body is formed in a body making apparatus which draws and irons a metal blank (sometimes a preformed cup) into a deep, cylindrical cup. In a first step, the metal blank is fed into the apparatus, and a metal cup is formed in a drawing process. The cup typically has a sidewall diameter that is generally equal to the sidewall diameter of a finished can body. The sidewall at this point is generally unchanged from a sidewall of the metal blank and does not have a finished height. Additionally, the sidewall at this point has a thickness greater than that of a finished can body. In subsequent steps, the drawn cup is passed through ironing tools. These tools lengthen the cup sidewall without changing the diameter of the cylindrical sidewall. The metal needed to lengthen the sidewall comes from the thickness of the sidewall. Accordingly, as the cup passes through the ironing tools, a height of the cylindrical sidewall becomes greater (it is lengthened) and the thickness of the sidewall is decreased. In a final step, the bottom of the cup is shaped by a forming tool. The resultant unfinished can body has a cylindrical sidewall and a domed bottom profile. In a subsequent manufacturing step, the upper portion of the sidewall is necked in so that a reduced diameter neck is formed.
FIG. 1 shows a typical existing body making apparatus 10 which carries out the process described above. The apparatus 10 is centered about a longitudinal axis 50. A ram 14 and punch assembly 15 (collectively referred to herein as the ram) is axially aligned with the longitudinal axis and is generally adapted, as in sized and shaped, to pass through a central cavity 16 of the apparatus 10. The cavity 16 is at least partially formed by a plurality of annular tools, each having an aperture substantially axially aligned with the longitudinal axis 50.
A redraw sleeve 18 is positioned to the right of the ram 14 as shown in FIG. 1, assuming a conventional horizontally oriented apparatus 10 and a rightward thrust of the ram 14 through the cavity. The redraw sleeve 18 applies a force to a base or bottom portion of a blank. The ram 14 forces the blank through an annular redraw ring 22 to reduce the diameter of the cup and form the metal cup described previously. After the drawing step, the punch 12 maintains the diameter of the cup substantially constant as subsequent tools lengthen the sidewall as described above.
As an aside, the assumed orientation is for purposes of describing the prior art and, later, the invention, and in no way limits the invention to the orientation other than in terms of the relative positioning of the elements of the prior art and the invention.
The redraw ring 22 includes a carbide insert 26 which operatively engages the metal cup. The redraw ring 22 is supported in the apparatus 10 by a housing 28. The housing 28 includes a recess 30 in which the redraw ring 22 is supported in the apparatus 10.
Ironing rings 34 are located axially beyond the redraw ring 22. In the apparatus 10 shown, there are three ironing rings 34. Again, the purpose of the ironing tools 34 is to lengthen and thin the metal in the sidewall of the can body as the blank passes between the ironing tools 34 and the ram 14. Second rings 35 associated with the first two ironing rings 34 and located axially beyond are for guiding the ram 14.
A domer 38 is located at the end of the apparatus 10 after the ironing tools 34. The domer 38 is provided for reshaping the bottom profile of the can body after the sidewall has been fully formed.
One can body defect that is associated with the draw and iron process results in a top edge of the can body sidewall having unequal heights about the circumference of an open end of the can body opposite the reformed bottom end. This can be caused by unequal pressure applied by the redraw sleeve 18 on the metal blank against the redraw ring 22. Machine operators will often shim the apparatus to adjust the clearance between the ram 14 and the tooling 22,34 to counteract the effect of the uneven pressure.
For instance, in an attempt to achieve equal pressure around the blank, the operator will place shims in the tool pack. This can change the angle of the entire tool pack, including not only the redraw sleeve 18 and redraw ring 22, but also the ironing rings 34. The shim is typically placed at position A, as shown in FIG. 1. If the operator determines that there is excessive variation in the top edge of the container body height, he/she would add a shim at position A on FIG. 1 to correctly reposition the redrawing ring 22. However, the operator does not know the thickness of the shim that is needed. Therefore, he/she must use trial and error to determine the correct thickness of the shim.
One of the problems with shimming is that the operators must place them consistently. If there is a jam, the operators have to remove the tooling. When the operator replaces the tooling, he/she is supposed to ensure the can quality is good, and add shims as necessary. Moreover, the shims often do not stay in place and must be reinserted when variability arises. Additionally, shims are stuck to the apparatus using grease, and the shims fall out easily.
The present invention is provided to solve the problems discussed above and other problems, and to provide advantages and aspects not provided by prior draw and iron can body apparatuses of this type. A full discussion of the features and advantages of the present invention is deferred to the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.


In a method of providing an ignitable fuel/air mixture in the combustion chambers of the various cylinders of an internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection wherein fuel is injected into the combustion chambers by way of injectors including injection nozzles with valve members for controllably opening and closing the injection nozzles, the valve member opening strokes and the valve member opening times are variably adjusted depending on specific engine operating conditions.

The invention relates to a method of providing an ignitable fuel/air mixture in the cylinders of an internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection, wherein the fuel is injected into the engine combustion chambers by way of an injector including an injection nozzle normally closed by a valve member seated on a valve seat of the injector.
DE OS 43 24 642 A1 discloses an internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection which includes in each cylinder a combustion chamber limited by a piston. A fuel injector is disposed centrally in the top of the combustion chamber to inject fuel into the combustion chamber in a spray beam forming in the combustion chamber an ignitable fuel/air mixture. The electrodes of a spark plug project into a fuel spray beam in the vicinity of the nozzle opening of the injector such that, during low load operation of the internal combustion engine where the engine is operated under stratified charge conditions, the combustion is maintained stable by igniting a fuel-rich mixture in the vicinity of the electrodes of the spark plug. The fuel-rich mixture is provided by injection of the fuel during a later phase of the compression stroke of the piston. The internal combustion engine includes an electronic control unit, which controls the amount of fuel injected by the injector and also the injection timing and the ignition timing for optimal engine operation. The ignition characteristics can be influenced by way of predetermined factors such as injection pressure, shape, and size of the injection nozzle opening, shape of the combustion chamber, compression ratio and so on.
These possible variations of the injection parameters however are, under many operating conditions, not sufficient to insure the optimization of the internal mixture formation with respect to low fuel consumption and low noxious emissions particularly during stratified charge engine operation which occurs over a wide range of the engine performance graph.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method of generating an ignitable fuel/air mixture in internal combustion engines with direct fuel injection, wherein the internal mixture formation can be optimized under all engine operating conditions and, particularly during stratified charge engine operation.

Method of providing an ignitable fuel/air mixture in an internal combustion engine with direct fuel injection


A device for determining the location of the wall of an artery in a living being via a percutaeous incision or puncture. The device comprises an elongated tubular member having a distal end portion, a proximal end portion, and a passageway extending therethrough for receipt of a guide wire. The device is inserted through an introducer sheath having an open distal end into said percutaneous incision or puncture over said guide wire so its distal end portion is located within the artery and its proximal end portion is located outside of the body of the being. The has two liquid entrance ports in its distal end portion and one liquid outlet port in its proximal end portion. The liquid entrance ports and outlet port are in communication with each other through the device's passageway. When the device is positioned within the introducer sheath and the entrance ports are located beyond the open distal end of the introducer sheath and within the artery blood flows into the entrance ports through passageway and out through the outlet port so that it can be observed. The device and introducer sheath are then retracted until the flow of blood out of the outlet port stops, thereby indicating the location of the artery wall.

In a United States patent application Ser. No. 07/846,322, filed on Mar. 5, 1992, entitled Hemostatic Puncture Closure System and Method of use, which has been assigned to the same assignee as this invention, and whose disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, there is disclosed a system including a closure device and method of use for sealing a small incision or puncture in tissue separating one portion of the body of a living being from another portion thereof, e.g., a percutaneous puncture in a artery, to prevent the flow of a body fluid, e.g., blood, through the puncture. The closure device comprises three components, namely, an anchor member, a sealing member, and a filament, e.g., suture. The sealing member is formed of a hemostatic material, e.g., compressed collagen foam. The anchor member includes a tissue engaging portion configured to pass through the puncture in one direction but resistant to passage therethrough in the opposite direction. The sealing member includes a tissue engaging portion. The filament is connected between the anchor member and the sealing member in a pulley-like arrangement so that they may be moved relative to each other by the application of a pulling force on the filament.
The means for introducing the closure into the percutaneous incision or puncture comprises a tubular member having a distal free end arranged to be inserted into the puncture tract and through the puncture in the vessel. A closure carrier is arranged to be inserted through the tubular introducer member to expel the anchor member of the closure therefrom and to draw it into engagement with the distal free end of the tubular introducer member. The introducer member and the closure carrier are arranged to be moved together to draw the closure anchor into engagement with the interior tissue of the blood vessel contiguous with the puncture. The filament is arranged to be pulled to pull the closure's anchor and its sealing member relative to each other to cause the sealing member to engage tissue contiguous with the puncture outside of the vessel.
The system disclosed and claimed in that application includes various types of position detecting devices and a method of use to enable one to readily determine the location of the wall of the vessel or lumen by the percutaneous introduction of the device into the vessel or lumen. Those devices are disclosed as suitable for use as part of a system or method to seal a percutaneous puncture or incision in a vessel or lumen or may be used for other purposes, e.g., they may be used for any application wherein it is desirable to determine the location of a vessel or lumen wall via a percutaneous incision or puncture.
While the position indicating devices disclosed and claimed in the foregoing patent application are suitable for their intended purposes, they never the less leave something to be desired from the standpoint of simplicity of construction and ease of use.

Vessel position locating device and method of use


An electronically controllable brake actuation system for automotive vehicles includes a master brake cylinder, a simulator interacting with the master brake cylinder, a pressure source drivable by an electric control unit and by which wheel brakes of the vehicle are pressurizable, the wheel brakes being connectable to the master brake cylinder by at least one hydraulic connection that is closable by a separating valve, a device for the identification of the driver's wish for deceleration, each one inlet and outlet valve connected upstream or, respectively, downstream of the wheel brakes, and wheel sensors sensing the rotational behavior of the vehicle wheels. To improve the meterability of braking pressure of a system of the above type, especially in the range of low pressure values, the pressure source is configured as at least one continuously adjustable piston-and-cylinder assembly having a pressure chamber to which the wheel brakes are connected by the intermediary of the inlet valves.

The present invention relates to an electronically controllable brake actuation system of the type as it is disclosed in German patent application No. 31 24 755. The pressure source of the prior art brake actuation system includes a pump, a hydraulic accumulator and a pressure fluid supply reservoir. The function of the separating valves and the inlet and outlet valves is performed by multi-position valves or four-way/four-position directional control valves having inlet ports that are connected to the pressure side of the pump or the accumulator, the pressure fluid supply reservoir and each one pressure chamber of the dual-circuit master brake cylinder. The wheel brakes are connected to the outlet ports. During independent braking or pressure increase, the four-way/four-position directional control valve is switched to its first operating position where the wheel brakes are separated from the master brake cylinder and connected to the pressure source. A phase where the pressure is maintained constant is achieved in a second operating position where the wheel brakes are isolated from the master brake cylinder and from the pressure source. Pressure decrease is effected in a third operating position where a connection is provided between the wheel brakes and the unpressurized pressure fluid supply reservoir.
Apart from the comparatively high costs incurred by the use of the sophisticated pressure source, the meterability of braking pressure in the prior art brake actuation system is a disadvantage, especially in the low-pressure range, which is due to the use of the four-way/four-position directional control valves.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve upon an electronically controllable brake actuation system of the above-mentioned type to such effect as to virtually eliminate the shortcomings mentioned with respect to ABS control. More particularly, the objective is to considerably improve the meterability of braking pressure in the low-pressure range and to additionally reduce the total effort and structure.

Electronically controllable brake operation system


A toner exhibits excellent image characteristics, and also has an excellent charging property even if the toner is used in a cleaning-simultaneous-with-developing system having a direct injection charging mechanism. The toner includes toner particles and non-magnetic metallic-compound fine particles. The weight average particle diameter of the toner is 3.0 μm to 12.0 μm. The metallic-compound fine particles are conductive metallic-compound fine particles having a specific surface area (cm2/cm3) of 5×105 to 100×105; a medium diameter (D50) of 0.4 μm to 4.0 μm with respect to a volume-based particle diameter distribution, the medium diameter (D50) being smaller than the weight average particle diameter of the toner; and a 90% particle diameter D90 of 6.0 μm or less with respect to a volume-based particle diameter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner to be used in an electrophotographic process, an electrostatic recording process, or a toner jet process, and also relates to an image forming method using the toner. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a process cartridge which can be removably attached on an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a plotter, where a toner image is formed on a transfer member by forming the toner image on an image bearing member and transferring the toner image to the transfer member.
2. Description of the Related Art
The electrophotographic process is a process for obtaining an image by forming an electrostatic latent image on an image bearing member such as a photoreceptor having a photoconductive material, forming a toner image by developing the latent image with toner, followed by transferring the toner image on a transfer member such as a sheet of paper, and fixing the toner image on the transfer material by the application of heat and pressure to obtain an image. In general, the process comprises a step of cleaning in which the toner that has failed to be transferred and remained on the image bearing member is cleaned up after the transcription and is then stored as waste toner in a waste-toner container. Then, the above steps are repeated.
In contrast to such a method, JP 5-53482 A proposes an image forming method regarded as a development-cleaning system or a cleanerless system as a system that generates no waste toner. In this document, however, there is no concrete description about the whole configuration of such a system.
In JP 10-307456 A, there is proposed a direct-injection charging method as an environmentally preferable technology without the generation of an active ion such as ozone, by which a development-cleaning system can be attained with a contact-development or non-contact-development method. For example, there is proposed an image forming apparatus in which a developer containing toner particles and conductive charging-promoting particles having a particle diameter of ½ or less of the toner particle diameter are applied in the image forming method having the development-cleaning step using the direct-injection charging method. Such an image forming apparatus does not generate discharged products, so that it is possible to considerably decrease the amount of the waste toner and reduce the size of the apparatus at a lower cost, and provide an excellent image without causing poor charging or dispersion or lowering of light-transmittance for image exposure. Even though a preferable particle diameter of the charging-promoting particles having a conductive property is described, there is no description about a preferable particle diameter distribution of the charging-promoting particles. Therefore, further improvements are required for obtaining stable performance thereof.
JP 60-69660 A suggests the external addition of conductive fine powder of tin oxide, zinc oxide, or titanium oxide in high-resistance magnetic toner particles. However, it has been expected to develop toner in which an external additive more preferably used in injection charging is externally added.
Furthermore, JP 6-345429 A suggests conductive ultra-fine powder of tin oxide subjected to a reduction treatment. However, such a suggestion aims to disperse conductive ultra-fine powder of tin oxide in a polymer to provide the polymer with conductivity and there is no description about an improvement in a frictional charging property by externally adding and mixing a conductive ultra-fine powder of tin oxide in toner particles and also there is no description about the toner to be used in an image forming method having the step of injection charging.

Toner, method for forming image using the toner, and process cartridge


A seismic acquisition system and method utilizing an array of buried geophones storage devices or containers (16) each having a geophone (40) which may be permanently stored in container (16) in a fluid tight relation. The storage container (16) includes a base (26), a tubular cylindrical body (28), and an upper cap (32) threaded onto body (28). The storage container (16) is shown in FIG. 2 in an operable relation and in FIG. 3 with geophone (40), lead (52), and connector (54) in a stored relation. In the event an additional survey or shoot is conducted at a later time, such as a one year time interval, the buried storage containers (16) are utilized upon removal of outer caps (32) and withdrawing of geophone connectors (54) for connection in a mating relation to cable connectors (20).

In the search for petroleum and other valuable resources, it has become the practice to transmit a seismic signal into the earth from one or more source points near the surface of the earth. The reflected and/or refracted energy returning from within the earth to a receiver location is detected by a geophone or other seismometer and raw seismic data are recorded. The raw seismic data are mathematically processed and then interpreted to provide an indication of the structure of the underlying strata.
Geophones are disposed in accordance with the requirements of a particular survey at spaced intervals for reception of seismic source signals as they arrive through the air, directly from the source or sources along the surface of the ground and as refracted and reflected by the lithological character of the subsurface. The received data in the form of acoustical energy or elastic motion is converted to corresponding electrical signals by the element or elements in each geophone for transmission and recording with related data from the sources and from other geophones. Finally, the data is processed and interpreted or analyzed to yield information about the subsurface character of the lithology. Typically, this is done to determine if there might by hydrocarbon deposits and, if so, at what depths and in what quantity.
Although surveys vary tremendously in their requirements, it is not uncommon for a particular survey to require dozens of geophones. Further, after the readings are recorded for a first location, the geophones are located for taking numerous subsequent readings.
Seismic acquisition systems today oftentimes utilize time as a factor in so called "4-d" seismic acquisition for ascertaining any movement of petrolites or hydrocarbons. In such a seismic acquisition, the same spread configuration of the geophones buried in the earth is surveyed at different time intervals. Two or more surveys at time intervals of several months or a few years are made in order to ascertain any migration of hydrocarbons. For such surveys, it is extremely critical for accurate results that the positioning of the geophones and energy sources are at or very near the same position each time data is acquired by a survey. It is very difficult to position the geophones at the same location if the geophones are removed after each survey particularly when several months or years occur between subsequent surveys.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a seismic acquisition system for multiple surveys or shoots separated by predetermined time intervals and utilizing geophones which are positioned in the same position for all of the surveys.
A further object of the invention is to provide a geophone storage structure buried in the earth for storing a geophone therein so that the geophone may be utilized at a fixed earth position for multiple surveys taken over long time periods.

Seismic acquisition system and method utilizing buried geophones


An adjustable bed includes a stationary seat deck board and independently movable front and rear carriages powered by linear actuators supported by a stationary base. A head deck board is hingedly secured to the front carriage and moves with it. Leg and foot deck boards hingedly joined together are supported by the rear carriage and move with it. Additional linear actuators move the head deck board and leg deck boards between horizontal and inclined positions independently.

A well known type of bedding product comprises a motorized adjustable bed in which an articulated frame supports a mattress. These motorized adjustable beds have traditionally been used in hospitals but more and more are being installed and used in residential homes. Motorized adjustable beds have conventionally had an upper body support movable between an inclined position in which it supports the patient in a sitting position and a prone position in which the patient lies down in a generally horizontal position. In addition, a leg support is movable between positions and may be adjusted to a desired degree of inclination. An actuating mechanism, commonly two electric motors, raises and lowers the head and leg supports of the articulated bed frame. U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,730 discloses such an adjustable bed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,499,162 and 6,640,365 disclose adjustable beds comprising a plurality of bed plates pivotally secured together for supporting a mattress. Connecting elements or links pivotally connect a base to the bed plates. A movable member slides along the base and is activated by a piston movable from inside a cylinder secured to the base. Activation of a power source such as an electric motor causes movement of the bed plates via movement of the sliding member.
One of the drawbacks of known adjustable beds may be discomfort to the user while adjusting the bed to a particular position.
It has therefore been an objective of this invention to provide an adjustable bed with more than two linear actuators to increase the comfort of the user. To that end, and in accordance with this invention, two motorized linear actuators may be activated to independently move adjustable bed plates between a fully inclined position and a horizontal portion while simultaneously additional motorized linear actuators may be activated to move portions of the adjustable bed horizontally.

Adjustable bed having four linear actuators


A technique for modifying data of an image, such as can be implemented in a still camera or video recorder in order to correct for defects in its optical and/or electronic systems, includes generating data to modify the image as a function of radial position across it. A variation of the intensity across an image (lens shading) that appears in data from a two-dimensional detector is an example of an application of the technique. In order to make modifications to the data, positions of a two-dimensional raster scan pattern of an image sensor are converted to radial positions and this is then used to generate the modification data. The modification data is generated on the fly, at the same rate as the image data is being acquired, so that the modification takes place without slowing down data transfer from the image sensor.

Lens shading is a phenomenon of a non-uniform light response across an image field of a lens. That is, a simple lens used to view a scene with a uniform light intensity across it will typically produce an image of that scene having a significantly non-uniform light intensity. The light intensity is normally highest in the middle of the image and falls off on its edges, as much as sixty percent or more. Such a lens obviously is not suitable for most optical applications without this effect being corrected. Correction can be provided by the use of a complex assembly of lenses that images scenes without imparting intensity variations across it.
Electronic cameras image scenes onto a two-dimensional sensor such as a charge-coupled-device (CCD), a complementary metal-on-silicon (CMOS) device or other type of light sensor. These devices include a large number of photo-detectors (typically two, three, four or more million) arranged across a small two dimensional surface that individually generate a signal proportional to the intensity of light or other optical radiation (including infrared and ultra-violet regions of the spectrum adjacent the visible light wavelengths) striking the element. These elements, forming pixels of an image, are typically scanned in a raster pattern to generate a serial stream of data of the intensity of radiation striking one sensor element after another as they are scanned. Color data are most commonly obtained by using photo-detectors that are sensitive to each of distinct color components (such as red, green and blue), alternately distributed across the sensor. Shading effects of lenses that image object scenes onto the sensor cause an uneven distribution of light across the photo-sensor, and thus video signals from the sensor include data of the undesired intensity variation superimposed thereon.
Rather than eliminating the lens shading effect by the use of a complex (and expensive) lens, it has been suggested that the signals from the photo-sensor may be processed in a manner to compensate for the effect. The amount of compensation applied to the signal from each photo-detector element is dependent upon the position of the element across the surface of the photo-sensor.

Techniques for modifying image field data as a function of radius across the image field


Retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), are the leading cause of blindness in the elderly population. Since no known cures are currently present, it is crucial to diagnose the condition in its early stages so that disease progression is monitored. Systems and methods for detecting and mapping the mechanical elasticity of retinal layers in the posterior eye are disclosed herein. A system including confocal shear wave acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography (SW-ARF-OCE) is provided, wherein an ultrasound transducer and an optical scan head are co-aligned to facilitate in-vivo study of the retina. In addition, an automatic segmentation algorithm is used to isolate tissue layers and analyze the shear wave propagation within the retinal tissue to estimate mechanical stress on the retina and detect early stages of retinal diseases based on the estimated mechanical stress.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive disease of the retina and is the leading cause of severe vision loss in the western population over 50 years of age. AMD most often induces drusen formation in the dry form, and neovascularization in wet AMD. Drusen often acts as an early sign of AMD whereas neovascularization occurs when excess blood vessels leak into the layers of the retina, signifying a later stage of disease. Current methods of diagnosis include fundus photography, which provides surface structural information of the retina, and fluorescein angiography, which is used to visualize blood vessels and leakages if neovascularization is suspected. For more accurate visualization of the entire depth of the retinal layers, optical coherence tomography (OCT) is used for non-invasive optical imaging. OCT angiography is also used to produce en face images of retinal blood vessels and diagnose abnormal regions. Once AMD is diagnosed, there is currently no known cure so disease management is necessary in various forms, including antiangiogenic drugs, radiation and laser treatments, and photodynamic therapy. Since it is important to slow down the progression of the disease through treatment, early diagnosis is essential. Although it is possible to see anatomical changes that occur with drusen formation and neovascularization, it is very difficult to diagnose in the early stages before structural changes are evident.
Recent studies show that the mechanical properties of the posterior eye also change with the onset of disease, such as in the case of angiogenesis or retinal degeneration. In particular, the mechanical stress on the retina gets altered during the early stages when drusen deposits begin to form and also later when blood vessels infiltrate. Since it is often difficult to visualize drusen when the deposits are on the micron level, it would be helpful to use an alternate means of diagnosis. In addition, since the layers of the posterior eye are made of a tight network of cells and tissues, the elasticity of different layers is expected to differ. Elastography methods based on magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and optical coherence tomography, have been widely used in determining the elasticity of tissues. Optical coherence elastography (OCE) has the advantage in ocular imaging due to its high resolution (<10 um) and the transparency of ocular tissues, yet few investigations of the mechanical properties of the posterior eye have been reported. Ex-vivo retinal elasticity has been studied previously, where elasticity of only two different retinal layers were visualized and quantified based on shear wave OCE using an ultrasound transducer as excitation. However, the ultrasound excitation and OCT detection were on opposite sides, a configuration not feasible for in-vivo use where the posterior side is inaccessible.
Due to the difficulty in penetrating the posterior globe through the anterior eye and vitreous, combined with the need for high sensitivity and resolution, a solution that addresses the aforementioned issues is needed. The present invention proposes a confocal shear wave acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography (SW-ARF-OCE) system that enables in-vivo imaging of the mechanical properties of the retina, e.g., retinal elasticity, where an ultrasound ring transducer and optical scan head are co-aligned. The present invention may be used for the quantification and diagnosis of ocular diseases in vivo.

Shear wave based elasticity imaging using three-dimensional segmentation for ocular disease diagnosis

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


An optical control type phased array antenna includes a laser generating means for generating light of single wavelength, an optical path branching means for branching the light emitted from the laser generating means into first and second transmission lights, a high frequency signal generating means for generating a high frequency signal, an optical frequency modulating means for shifting the frequency of the first transmission light branched by the optical path branching means by the frequency of a high frequency signal thus generated, a spatial light phase modulating means performing spatial phase modulation of the first transmission light shifted by the frequency of a high frequency signal depending on the antenna beam pattern, and an optical path branching/multiplexing means for multiplexing the first transmission light subjected to phase modulation and the second transmission light branched by the optical path branching means. Optical path lengths of two paths between the optical path branching means and the optical path branching/multiplexing means are equalized.

A conventional optical control type phased array antenna includes signal generating means for outputting one electrical signal corresponding to an inputted beam direction of a phased array antenna, and a plurality of phase shifting means for phase-shifting a plurality of first optical signals outputted from second distribution means by phase amounts which correspond to the electrical signal and which are different from one another. Thus, a circuit can be simplified to be reduced in size and weight, and hence the whole phased array antenna including the circuit can be reduced in size and weight (refer to JP-A 3-57305 (page 9 and FIG. 1) for example).
However, there is encountered a problem in that measures for suppressing a phase noise and a relative intensity noise of a light source itself are not taken in the above-mentioned conventional optical control type phased array antenna.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to obtain an optical control type phased array antenna capable of suppressing phase noises including: a phase noise generated by phase fluctuation of a light source itself; a phase noise generated by an optical length change resulting from a change of a refractive index of the atmosphere due to a disturbance such as a temperature fluctuation in a space in a case where a spatial transmission line is used as transmission means; a phase noise generated by a change in beam scanning direction; and a relative intensity noise of the light source.

Optical control type phased array antenna


A conflict detection method for a disk drive controller is used to handle a conflict potentially occurring if the execution sequence of queued commands sent from a host to a controller is reordered to optimize disk drive transfers. The conflict detection method determines if there is an address range overlap between two queued commands. If an overlap exists, a conflict flag is set. The controller microprocessor utilizes this flag to restrict command reordering and prevent a conflict from producing erroneous data. Conflict detection and command reordering restriction are facilitated by a queued command RAM and a command FIFO. The queued command RAM stores command parameters indexed by command tag values. These parameters include command direction (read or write), LBA, block count, a valid flag and a conflict flag. The conflict detection method compares the address range of a new command with the address range of valid commands in the command RAM to determine range overlaps. If an overlap exists with a new write command, the conflict flag is set for both the write command and the overlapping commands in the queued command RAM. The microprocessor accesses the queued command RAM to determine which chronologically ordered commands in the FIFO must be executed in sequence.

The present invention relates to a disk drive controller that provides for the handling of queued commands from a host device and in particular to a method for detecting a command conflict that would restrict reordering of queued commands.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional interface 100 for exchanging data between a hard disk drive 120 and a host 110. The host 110 is typically a computer such as a personal computer, server or workstation. The disk drive 120 typically provides mass data storage for the computer. The disk drive 120 comprises a head disk assembly (HDA) 130 and an integrated controller 140. The head disk assembly 130 includes one or more storage disks 132. The controller 140 is hardware and associated firmware that interfaces to the host 110 and controls the transfer of data between the disk drive and the controller""s data buffer or cache (not shown). The host 110 and disk drive 120 are connected by a bus 112, which provides a standard physical and data link layer between the host 110 and controller 140. Associated protocols provide a standard communications link layer between the host 110 and controller 140. The most common standards for these physical, data and communications layers of the host-controller interface 100 are SCSI and ATA. One ATA standard, described in ANSI document number NCITS 317-1998 entitled xe2x80x9cAT Attachment with Packet Interface Extension (ATA/ATAPI-4),xe2x80x9d commonly known as ATA-4, defines a protocol for queued host commands.
Command queuing is an optional command scheme whereby the host 110 sends multiple tagged commands for processing by the controller 140. The tagged commands are stored in a command queue, to be executed sequentially. Potentially, these commands can be reordered by the controller""s microprocessor into an optimal execution sequence for enhanced disk drive performance, as described below. Command queuing also reduces interface bus overhead because the controller 140 can perform disk accesses while waiting for the next host command. Further, command queuing allows the controller 140 to release the interface bus 112 if command execution will be delayed.
Command reordering is a technique used with command queuing to mitigate the effects of seek time and rotational latency, the slowest aspects of disk drive data transfers. If the command order can be changed so that commands accessing data in areas closer to the head are given greater priority, then the performance of the drive improves. For example, if a first command received from the host requests data from an inner track, a second command requests data from an outer track and a third command requests data, also from an inner track, the head has to travel from the inner tracks to the outer tracks, and then back to the inner tracks to execute the commands in chronological order. Command reordering would efficiently execute the first and third commands sequentially.
FIG. 2 illustrates the taskfile register content for queued commands, as defined in the ATA-4 specification. The taskfile register 200 is a memory located on the controller 140 (FIG. 1) at specific host I/O addresses. The host writes to the taskfile register 200 to initiate commands, and the host reads the taskfile register to obtain data transfer status (not shown). For a queued read or write command, the taskfile register 200 contains a block count 210, a tag 220, a logical block address (LBA) 230 and a command code 240. The LBA 230 specifies the logical starting address on the storage disks 132 (FIG. 1) for a read or write. The block count 210 specifies the number of blocks of data to transfer between the storage disks 132 (FIG. 1) and the host 110 (FIG. 1). The tag 220 is a host designated command identifier, allowing the host 110 (FIG. 1) to determine which of several queued and possibly reordered commands was subsequently executed by the controller 140 (FIG. 1). The command code 240 is a unique bit pattern that specifies a particular host command.
A problem that arises with respect to queued commands and, in particular, with command reordering is that a conflict can exist when the address range of a write command overlaps with the range of a previously queued read or write command. FIG. 3A illustrates one such conflict between two write commands 310, 320. For example, assume a first queued write command 310 has an address range extending from 100 to 199, as shown. Assume a second queued write command 320 is received with an address range extending from 45 to 119, as shown. The host would assume that these commands 310, 320 are executed chronologically, with the overlapping data portion 322 of the second write command 320 overwriting the data portion 312 of the first write command 310 in the address range from 100 to 119. If the controller reorders these queued commands 310, 320, then the overlapping data portion 312 of the first write command 310 would, instead, overwrite the data portion 322 of the second write command 320. A subsequent disk read in the address range of 100 to 119 would return erroneous results to the host.
FIG. 3B illustrates a conflict between a queued read command 330 and a subsequent queued write command 340. For example, assume the queued read command 330 has an address range extending from 100 to 199, as shown. Assume the subsequent queued write command 340 has an address range extending from 170 to 244, as shown. The host would assume that these commands 330, 340 are executed chronologically, with the read command returning data from the address range 170 to 199 prior to being overwritten by the write command 340. If the controller reorders these queued commands 330, 340, then the overlapping data portion 342 of the write command 340 would, instead, overwrite the data portion 332 subsequently accessed by the read command 330, returning erroneous data to the host.
A read command overlapping with another read command is not a conflict, because correct data is returned to the host regardless of the order of execution of read commands. Further, a subsequent read command overlapping with a previous write command is not a conflict. The data for the queued write would be held in the controller""s cache. If the read command is reordered to occur before the write command, the overlapping portion of the read command would be provided from the cache rather than from the storage disks. Thus, the data returned to the host from the overlapping portion of the read command would be the same regardless of the order of command execution.
One aspect of the present invention is a conflict detection method for a disk drive controller, such a conflict potentially occurring if the execution sequence of queued commands sent from a host is reordered to optimize disk drive data transfers. The conflict detection method comprises the steps of decoding a first command, where the first command is a queued read or a write, and reading an associated first logical block address (LBA) and first block count, where the first LBA and the first block count define a first address range. The method further comprises the steps of decoding a second command, where the second command is a write, and reading an associated second LBA and a second block count, where the second LBA and the second block count define a second address range. The method also comprises the steps of detecting an overlap between the first address range and the second address range and setting a conflict flag based on the overlap. In addition the method comprises the step of restricting command reordering based upon the flag in order to prevent the conflict from occurring.
In one embodiment, the conflict detection method described in the previous paragraph further comprises the steps of reading a tag value associated with the first command, creating an entry in random access memory (RAM) according to the tag value, and storing the first LBA and the first block count in the entry, wherein the setting step comprises the substep of storing a set bit in the entry corresponding to the conflict flag. The method may also comprise the steps of unloading the first command in chronological order from a first-in-first-out (FIFO) memory and reading the set bit from the RAM entry, wherein the restricting step comprises the substep of processing the first command before any subsequent commands in the FIFO. In another embodiment, the conflict detection method further comprises the steps of reading a tag value associated with the second command, creating an entry in random access memory (RAM) according to the tag value, and storing the second LBA and the second block count in the entry, wherein the setting step comprises the substep of storing the conflict flag in the entry. In yet another embodiment, the conflict detection method further comprises the steps of reading a tag value associated with the first command, creating an entry in random access memory (RAM) according to the tag value, and storing the first LBA and the first block count in the entry, wherein the detecting step comprises the substeps of reading the first LBA and the first block count from the entry and comparing the first LBA and the first block count with the second LBA and the second block count. In another embodiment, the conflict detection method further comprises the steps of reading a first tag value associated with the first command, creating an entry in random access memory (RAM) according to the tag value, the entry having a valid flag field. The method also comprises the steps of reading a second tag value associated with the second command, accessing the RAM according to the second tag value, and indicating an error if the accessing step reads the entry and the valid flag is set. In a further embodiment, the conflict detection method also comprises the step of clearing the conflict flag upon completion of the first command.
The invention can also be viewed as a disk drive controller for processing host commands, each having an address range, which are received in a first order from a host and queued for subsequent execution, wherein the queued commands can be executed in a second order for improved latency. The disk drive controller comprises a command queue memory for storing a first one and a second one of the received host commands which are queued for execution, the second one of the host commands being a write command. The controller further comprises a scan engine, for scanning the command queue memory to detect an overlap between the address range of the first command and the address range of the second command; a means, responsive to the scan engine scanning the command queue memory, for setting a conflict flag; and a means, responsive to the setting of the conflict flag, for modifying the second order of execution to avoid a conflict from the second command.

Conflict detection for queued command handling in disk drive controller


Provided are examples of transportation systems, elevator systems, and kits for use in towers, as well as tower sections and methods for performing assembly or maintenance operations in towers, particularly wind turbine towers, guides mounted in tower sections for transporting an operator or robot along an inside of a tower and an elevator carrying parts of such guides.

Modern wind turbines are commonly used to supply electricity into the electrical grid. Wind turbines generally comprise a rotor mounted on top of a wind turbine tower, the rotor having a rotor hub and a plurality of blades. The rotor is set into rotation under the influence of the wind on the blades. The operation of the generator produces the electricity to be supplied into the electrical grid.
Towers may be constituted by tower sections (i.e. "tower rings") which are mounted on top of each other. In the case of e.g. wind turbines, a plurality (e.g. three, four or five or more) contiguous stacked tower sections may be welded together and/or joined through flanges (or the like) to form an entire tower. These tower sections may be formed by one or more tower segments ("part rings") coupled together at corresponding edges to form the entire tower section. These tower sections may be preassembled at a factory workshop, e.g. by welding the corresponding edges of the tower segments, or in situ, e.g. by building an internal temporary structure for positioning the tower segments in place and joining them. Tower segments and tower sections may be found in both steel and concrete wind turbine towers.
In wind turbine applications there is a trend to build increasingly higher towers in order to obtain increased power. Increased height results in higher diameters and in some cases in more tower sections. Therefore, more joining operations or joining operations taking a long time are required. Such joining operations may be bolting one flange of one tower section to the following one. This may require large quantities of bolts and nuts which are connected with a specific tightening torque. The tightening torque of these bolting connections needs to be inspected and tightened periodically.
When maintenance works, e.g. involving inspection and tightening a bolted connection in a tower are required inside wind turbines, hoists are often used in the form of elevator-like structures where a lift platform or an elevator car for the transportation of people and/or equipment is hoisted up and/or down within the wind turbine tower. Wind turbines are often provided with working platforms arranged at various heights along the height of the tower with the purpose of allowing workers to leave the elevator car and inspect or repair equipment where intended.
These platforms are typically permanently built at the top of each of the tower sections, which allows a safe access to the operators during the tower construction or the maintenance works. Maintenance works as inspecting and tightening a bolted connection may be scheduled once a year. In some cases, such fixed platforms have no further functions.
Furthermore, platforms typically comprise heavy supporting structures and plates attached to the wind turbine tower. In addition, a platform generally comprises hatches and/or fences for protecting ladder holes and/or elevator holes. These platforms can thus be complex and heavy.
Platforms in steel towers are generally welded to the internal side of the tower through supporting brackets. Welding such brackets to the internal wall of the tower can require long fillet welds which reduce the fatigue strength of the tower.
In addition, hoisting large and heavy components within the wind turbine tower requires an internal area free of obstacles which can become more complicated due to the use of the platforms. For this reason, some large components are hoisted outside the tower. This operation is complex and time consuming and may require firstly mounting a crane in the nacelle and then lifting the component.
The present disclosure provides examples of systems and methods that at least partially resolve some of the aforementioned disadvantages.
These disadvantages are not only found in wind turbine towers, but instead may be found in many different sites and structures.

Transportation systems, elevator systems, kits, tower sections and methods for performing assembly or maintenance operations in towers


Modulating in planta expression of a gene encoding WALLDOF, a transcription factor involved in plant cell wall biogenesis, results in increased cell wall deposition and higher plant biomass density.

Perennial crops such as sugarcane, switchgrass, Miscanthus and woody species are major sources of carbon fixed in the form of simple sugars or complexes mixtures of cellulose and hemicellulose. These biomass resources are major targets for the several industries, such as the bioenergy industry, that are currently focused on developing resources demanded by the increasing world population.
Biomass resources are useful, for example, for the production of cellulosic ethanol that could potentially displace 30% of USA current petroleum consumption in the near future. Perlack et al., BIOMASS AS FEEDSTOCKS FOR A BIOENERGY AND BIOPRODUCTS INDUSTRY: THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF A BILLION-TON ANNUAL SUPPLY, ORNL/TM-2005/66 (2005). These lignocellulosic feedstocks have been proposed to offer environmental and economic advantages over current energy resources, because they require fewer agricultural inputs than annual crops and can be grown on agriculturally marginal lands. Hill et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103: 11206-210 (2006).
Projections have been made showing that the world demand for wood is expected to grow by 20% in the next decade, due to an increasing usage of forest products, woody residues, and woody energy crops for electricity, fuel and biomaterial production. Strauss and Bradshaw, TREE BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM: INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ECOLOGICAL AND SOCIETAL ASPECT OF TRANSGENIC PLANTATIONS, Oregon State University (2001); Mead, Biomass and Bioenergy, 28: 249-66 (2005).
Therefore there is a need to develop highly productive tree plantations to reduce the pressure on natural forests, preceded by extensive breeding advances in plantation tree species such as poplar and eucalyptus. Until now this has been difficult because the long generation time in trees makes conventional breeding a very slow process. Genetic engineering techniques have the potential to greatly shorten the breeding timeline for trees and allow for more targeted breeding.
Approaches to increase carbon allocation to the above ground portions of plants would increase growth rates and biomass yields. Ragauskas et al., Science, 311: 484-89 (2006). In trees the fixed carbon is accumulated mainly in the secondary walls of the cells, which are the major constituent of wood. Secondary walls are composed mainly of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. During secondary wall formation, the biosynthesis of these cell wall components is highly coordinated and depends of master regulatory genes controlling a huge array of individual genes. Despite the advances in the study of secondary wall biosynthetic genes, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the coordinated expression of these genes during wood formation. Zhong et al., Plant Cell, 19: 2776-92 (2006).
There are several types of regulatory processes controlling gene expression, protein production, and protein processing and protein activity. One of such processes involves the activity of transcription factors, which are proteins capable of recognizing sequences in the promoter of genes and, by binding in such particular sequences, modulate the transcription rate of such genes. Several transcription factors have been identified in a number of organisms and their role in controlling particular biosynthetic pathways has been established. For example, transcriptional profiling of genes differentially expressed during in vitro xylem differentiation in Zinnia (Demura et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 99: 15794-99, 2002) and Arabidopsis (Kubo et al., Genes Dev., 19: 1855-60, 2005) or during secondary growth in Arabidopsis stems and roots (Oh et al., J. Exp. Bot., 54: 2709-22, 2003; Zhao et al., Plant Physiol., 138: 803-18, 2005) and poplar (Hertzberg et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 98: 14732-137, 2001) has led to the identification of diverse families of transcription factors, which may be involved in the regulation of xylem differentiation or secondary growth. Similarly, microarray analysis showed that 182 transcription factors are differentially expressed during different developmental stages of Arabidopsis inflorescence stems. Ehlting et al., Plant J., 42: 618-40 (2005). Although the exact functions of most of these xylem- or secondary growth-associated transcription factors are unknown, they provide useful tools to dissect the molecular mechanisms controlling the complex process of xylem development, including the initiation of differentiation, cell elongation and secondary wall thickening.
Among these xylem- or secondary growth-associated transcription factors are a group of DOF (for DNA-binding with One Finger) domain transcription factors. DOF proteins are plant-specific transcription factors that share a highly conserved N-terminal DNA-binding domain and a C-terminal domain for transcriptional regulation. Yanagisawa, Trends Plant Sci., 7: 555-60 (2002). The DNA-binding domain is characterized by 52 amino acid residues structured as a Cys2/Cys2 Zn2+ finger, which recognizes cis-regulatory elements containing the common core 5′-AAAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 5). Umemura et al., Plant J., 37: 741-49 (2004); Yanagisawa & Schmidt, Plant J., 17: 209-14 (1999).
DOF proteins have been suggested to participate in the regulation of biological processes exclusive to plants such as light-regulated gene expression, photosynthetic carbon assimilation, accumulation of seed-storage proteins, germination, response to phytohormones, guard cell-specific gene expression, flavonoid metabolism and lipid biosynthesis. Plesch et al., Plant J., 28: 455-64 (2001); Moreno-Risueno et al., Plant J., 51: 352-65 (2007); Wang et al., Plant J., 52: 716-29 (2007).
In rice the most presented cis element for all seed-preferential transcriptional factor genes was found to be 'AAAG' (SEQ ID NO: 5), the core site required for binding of D of proteins, suggesting an essential and most remarkable role of DOF transcription factors in hierarchical regulatory networks controlling rice seed development. Duan et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 57: 785-804 (2005).
Maize DOF1 expresses in leaves, stems and roots and has different transactivation activities in greening and etiolated protoplasts. DOF1 is activated in illuminated leaf cells and may be involved in the light regulation of genes coupled to light-dependent processes. Yanagisawa and Sheen, Plant Cell, 10: 75-90 (1998). Maize DOF1 also has been suggested to be a regulator for C4 photosynthetic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, which catalyzes the primary fixation of CO2 in the C4 photosynthetic pathway. Additionally, it enhances transcription from the promoter of a cytosolic orthophosphate dikinase. Both enzymes are involved in amino acid synthesis and the recapture of respired CO2. It has been proposed that maize DOF1 might play a more general role in the expression of multiple genes related to carbon metabolism. See Yanagisawa, Plant J., 21: 281-88 (2000).
Another maize endosperm-specific DOF protein, named prolamin-box binding factor (PBF), was shown to interact with the basic leucine zipper protein Opaque2, a known transcriptional activator of prolamin gene expression (Vicente-Carbajosa et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 94: 7685-90, 1997). Other homologous proteins exist in the endosperm of other cereals, such as BPBF (barley PBF) and WPBF (wheat PBF), both with similar DNA-binding properties as maize PBF. These observations suggest an evolutionary conservation of the PBF gene function, as an important regulator of storage protein gene expression among small grain cereals, and support a scenario where protein-protein interactions are important in the DOF functions. Mena et al., Plant J., 16: 53-62 (1998).
In rice there is a member of the DOF family (OSDOF3) that has been shown to interact with a R2R3-type MYB transcription factor in the aleurone layer, resulting in the induced expression of a number of genes encoding hydrolytic enzymes (α-amylases and β-glucanases) that participate in the mobilization of stored molecules. Washio, Plant Physiol., 133: 850-63 (2003). Gene regulation in these aleurone cells is under the control of phytohormones, mainly the ratio of gibberellins (GA) to abscisic acid (ABA). The observed accumulation pattern of the barley PBF transcript upon seed imbibition suggested that it may be up-regulated by GA and function as a transcriptional repressor upon germination through interaction with the pyrimidine box of the GARC (GA responsive complex), a conserved cis-element required for GA induction identified in hydrolase genes from cereals. Mena et al., Plant Physiol., 130: 111-19 (2002).
In Arabidopsis there are 36 members of the DOF family, two of which, DAG1 and DAG2 (Dof Affecting Germination), also affect seed germination by light response and gibberellin concentration, possibly playing opposite regulatory roles on the same maternal gene(s). Gualberti et al., Plant Cell, 14: 1253-63 (2002).
Additionally, DOF proteins have been described as part of a regulatory network controlling secondary metabolites. In this regard, OBP2, a DOF gene prominently expressed in the phloem of leaves and other organs in Arabidopsis, has been shown to activate expression of CYP83B1, a gene that participates on the synthesis of glucosinolates, a group of secondary metabolites that function as defense substances against herbivores and micro-organisms. Skirycz et al., Plant J., 47: 10-24 (2006). Another Arabidopsis DOF gene member, AtDOF4;2, was identified as a gene inducing a bushy plant phenotype and potentially being involved in the regulation of phenylpropanoid metabolism.
Constitutive overexpression and RNAi-mediated silencing of AtDOF4;2 caused reciprocal changes in the expression of flavonoid biosynthetic genes and the accumulation of flavonoids under cold and high-light conditions. See Skirycz et al., New Phytol., 175: 425-38 (2007).
The participation of DOF proteins in the regulation of phenylpropanoid metabolism has also been shown in Arabidopsis thaliana mutants de-etiolated3 (det3), pom-pom1 (pom1) and ectopic lignification1 (eli1). These mutants deposit lignins in cells where these polymers would not normally be found. Microarray analysis suggests that changes in the expression of specific members of the R2R3-MYB and DOF transcription factor families may contribute to the ectopic lignifications phenotypes in these mutants. Rogers et al., New Phytol., 168: 123-40 (2005).
In poplar there are 41 DOF genes, according to Yang et al., Plant Physiol., 142: 820-30 (2006). A sequence analysis of these genes along with 36 Arabadopsis and 30 rice DOF genes revealed 41 conserved motifs, of which one:
(SEQ ID NO: 6)EILKCPRCDSMNTKFCYYNNYNLSQPRHFCKTCRRYWTKGGALRNVP VGGGCRKNKR,was identified as the DOF domain. Id., page 824 and Table I. A maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree, constructed using full-length protein sequences of these DOF genes, also highlighted 27 pairs of paralogous genes in the terminal nodes of the tree. Id., page 825 and FIG. 2.

Increasing cell wall deposition and biomass density in plants


A method and system for wireless communication over a wireless communication medium is provided. A schedule is generated which indicates when a wireless communication station may enter a power saving state in an announcement time (AT) period, based on an idle timeout interval in the AT period. The AT period comprises a period after a beacon transmission in a beacon interval.

A beacon frame is commonly used to set timing allocations and to communicate management information in a wireless communication network including multiple wireless devices. A beacon frame may provide communication schedule timing allocations to the wireless devices in the network for wireless communication over radio frequency (RF) channels.
The 60 GHz RF band can provide a higher data communication rate (e.g., by a factor of 10) in comparison to the IEEE 802.11n wireless communication standard. However, beacon transmissions usually operate at a much lower rate due to their broadcast nature, thus creating significant control overhead to 60 GHz wireless communication networks.

Method and system for announcement time of idle timeout for power saving operations in wireless networks


An erase-on-demand memory cell 10(1) includes a memory layer 110 and a heating layer 130 that can heat memory layer 110 to at least an erase-effective temperature, to erase its data contents. Memory chips 270(1) and electronic systems 200 include cells 10(1). Electronic systems 200(1) include logic circuitry 210 to issue a signal to initiate heating. Electronic systems 200(2) include memory chips 270(2) with one or more erase-on-demand memory cells 10(2) that include a memory layer 110. One or more reservoirs 262 store chemicals. One or more valves 252 retain the chemicals, and respond to a signal to open, reacting the chemicals and/or exposing memory layers 110 to the chemicals. A method of erasing data contents of memory cells includes determining existence of an erase demand scenario, generating a signal in response to the erase demand scenario, and actuating erasure of the memory cells upon issue of the signal.

Nonvolatile memories (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memories, electrically erasable and programmable read-only memories, Flash memory, ferroelectric memory, magnetoresistive random access memory ("MRAM"), phase change memory and magnetic media such as tapes and disks) retain data stored therein even when electrical power fails or is turned off. The data-retaining ability of such nonvolatile memories makes them attractive for certain memory applications, but also makes them potential targets for unauthorized persons (e.g., spies, hackers, military opponents); these unauthorized persons might wish to read memory contents and/or power up and utilize connected systems that would normally be unavailable to them.
Ferroelectric memory cells may be made with ferroelectric materials such as, for example, strontium bismuth tantalate, denoted "SBT" (optionally doped with niobium), bismuth lanthanum titanate, denoted "BLT" and/or lead zirconium titanate, denoted "PZT" (optionally doped with lanthanum or calcium). SBT, BLT, PZT and other ferroelectric materials have a lattice structure that includes ions that can move among possible ionic sites of the lattice in response to applied electric fields. Ions that move among the possible ionic sites create a charge displacement within the material, which may then act as a switching component in a ferroelectric memory cell.
The ferroelectric memory cell is thus a form of nonvolatile memory; it retains its data contents when power is turned off so long as its memory layer—the ferroelectric layer—remains substantially below the Curie temperature. At or near the Curie temperature, thermal excitation of the lattice overwhelms the forces that hold the ions in specific ionic sites, effectively neutralizing charge displacement that previously existed within the ferroelectric layer.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,885,648 and 5,908,658 describe processes for making ferroelectric materials suitable for use in ferroelectric memory and are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,146 describes energetic composites and a method of providing chemical energy, and is further incorporated herein by reference. Certain reactive substance pairs disclosed within the '146 patent include CuClO4 and Al, Cu(NO3)2 and Al, CuO and Al, Fe2O3 and Al (also known as thermite), S and Ca, CuO and Mg, TiF4 and Ca, S and Na, S and Mg, and TiF4 and Li.