The present invention provides a fixing apparatus which has a fixing member for fixing an unfixed image onto a recording material, releasing agent applying device for applying a releasing agent to the fixing member, temperature detecting device for detecting a temperature of the releasing agent, and control device for controlling a fixing condition based on a detected temperature from the temperature detecting device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing apparatus applied to image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine and a printer, particularly to an apparatus for applying a fixing member with a releasing agent.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 10 shows a fixing apparatus as a background art of the present invention.
As shown in detail in FIG. 10, the fixing apparatus is constituted of a fixing roller 510 as a fixing rotating member which is rotatably disposed, a pressurizing roller 520 as a pressurizing rotating member which is pressed in contact with the fixing roller 510 and rotates, a releasing agent applying apparatus 530 as releasing agent applying means, cleaning apparatuses 540, 550, and the like. Additionally, heaters 560, 570 such as halogen lamps are disposed inside the fixing roller 510 and pressurizing roller 520, respectively. Moreover, thermistors 580, 590 are disposed to abut on the fixing roller 510 and pressurizing roller 520, respectively, and surface temperatures of the fixing roller 510 and pressurizing roller 520 are adjusted by controlling voltages to the heaters 560, 570 via a temperature adjustment circuit.
The releasing agent applying apparatus 530 is constituted of: a releasing agent reservoir 530a for containing releasing agents such as silicone oil; pumping rollers 530b, 530c for pumping the releasing agent from the releasing agent reservoir 530a; an applying roller 530d for applying the pumped releasing agent to the fixing roller 510; a regulating blade 530e, formed of elastic materials such as fluorine rubber, for regulating a releasing agent amount on the applying roller 530d to provide a constant amount; and the like. Particularly to realize uniform applying of the fixing roller 510 with the releasing agent, the releasing agent applying apparatus 530 is disposed on the downstream side of the rotation direction of the fixing roller 510 with respect to the thermistor 580.
Therefore, when a recording sheet P is conveyed, the fixing roller 510 and pressurizing roller 520 rotate, and the surface of the fixing roller 510 is applied with silicone oil as the releasing agent. When the recording sheet P passes between the fixing roller 510 and the pressurizing roller 520, the recording sheet is pressurized and heated with substantially constant pressure and temperature from both front and back surfaces, an unfixed toner image is fixed and an image is formed on the recording sheet P. Moreover, the recording sheet P with the image fixed thereto is separated from the pressurizing roller 520 by a lower separating pawl 680 and discharged to the outside.
However, this apparatus has the following problem.
Namely, the general thermal fixing apparatus in a copying machine or the like is on standby for a predetermined time after power is turned on until the fixing roller reaches a predetermined temperature, and a copy enable state is obtained after the fixing roller reaches the predetermined temperature. Fixing properties differ immediately after the copy enable state is obtained (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cstate of first run in the morningxe2x80x9d), and when the apparatus is left on standby in the copy enable state and a predetermined time elapses (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cleft statexe2x80x9d). This is because not only the surface temperature of the fixing roller but also the temperature of the entire fixing apparatus and particularly the temperature of the releasing agent applied to the fixing roller surface differ with the state of first run in the morning and the left state. Namely, in the left state, since fixing roller heat is conducted to the releasing agent via the applying roller and pumping roller, the releasing agent gains a high temperature. In this state, even when the releasing agent is applied to the fixing roller, the fixing roller indicates a little temperature drop.
Additionally, since the releasing agent present between the fixing roller and toner also has a high temperature, the fixing property is enhanced.
On the other hand, in the state of first run in the morning, the temperature of the releasing agent is low. When the low-temperature releasing agent is applied to the fixing roller surface, the temperature of the fixing roller rapidly lowers. Additionally, since the low-temperature releasing agent exists between the fixing roller and toner surface, the fixing property is deteriorated. This is further remarkable in a low temperature environment.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fixing apparatus which performs satisfactory fixing irrespective of temperature of a releasing agent.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fixing apparatus comprising: a fixing member for fixing an unfixed image onto a recording material; releasing agent applying means for applying a releasing agent to the fixing member; temperature detecting means for detecting temperature of the releasing agent; and control means for controlling a fixing condition in accordance with a detected temperature from the temperature detecting means.
Further objects of the present invention will be apparent in the following description.

Fixing apparatus in which heating conditions can be changed in accordance with temperature of releasing oil


When there are the same contents (content data) of a document among versions, the contents of the document are shared so as to reduce the storage area. Accordingly, instead of accumulating content data separately for each version, each version is related to the content data accumulated in the storage area shared among the versions. When a document α has versions 1 through 3 and each of versions 1 through 3 has sections 1 and 2, three sections 1 of the versions 1 through 3 share content data 1 and the section 2 of each of the versions 1 through 3 has different content data 2, 3, or 4. The content data 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated by version information are searched for from a content data DB, to be edited. Only when the content data 1, 2, 3, or 4 are changed, new content data are registered.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to document processing apparatuses for processing documents having a plurality of versions, and more particularly to a document processing apparatus that unifies management of document contents (content data) of each version to share the document contents in a case in which the same document contents exist between different versions, so that a storage area can be reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, to manage documents and images that are newly created, edited, processed, or the like based on one document or one image, sharing contents of the document or the image has become more common. Regarding this, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Application No. 8-44718 discloses a method for sharing document components among different documents.
Alternatively, managing the contents of the documents or the images by different versions is a widely used procedure. In this version management, components having the same contents are shared among different versions. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the storage area required to store the contents, and to reduce the workload necessary for processing the document or the image.
However, there are problems as follows if only version management is conducted. For example, if only the content data, which are relatively a greater amount than bibliography data, are managed for each version, the storage area cannot be effectively utilized. Even if the contents of the document are not changed when the document is edited, the number of versions is increased after the document is edited. In this case, the contents of the document are stored as additional contents, in spite of being the same as before being edited. Accordingly, extra storage area is used.

Document processing utilizing a version managing part


A wireline drill train is used to drill an elongated, small diameter, lateral branch borehole from near the base of a main well. The drill train, includes a drill module, a first self-propelled thrust module coupled to the drill module, and a second self-propelled thrust module pivotally coupled to the first self-propelled thrust module. Each thrust module includes at least two extendible thrusters. Each extendible thruster includes a six-bar mechanism and a traction tread. The drill train further includes a first articulated linkage linking the first self-propelled thrust module to the drill module, and a second articulated linkage linking the second thrust module to the first thrust module. The second articulated linkage includes a thrust-transmission bar and three retractable stiffener bars. The method for drilling the curved transition region of the lateral branch borehole includes executing a series of alternating pivotal drilling steps and forward drilling steps to create a step-cut region of branch borehole having very small radius of curvature.

The oil well drilling industry lacks a system for drilling an elongated, small diameter, lateral branch borehole at a selected depth from a main well, where the lateral branch borehole extends a significant distance from the main well, and the transition from main well to branch borehole has a very small radius of curvature. For a typical main well having an internal diameter of approximately 15 cm, a suitable system would drill a branch borehole having a curved transition portion with radius of curvature less than 5 meters, and would then drill a lateral branch borehole, having a diameter of approximately 60 mm, for a distance of approximately 100 meters. Currently available systems for drilling lateral branch boreholes at a selected depth from a main well do not provide this combination of capabilities. A system having this combination of capabilities would be very valuable.

Apparatus and method for drilling a branch borehole from an oil well


Hydrolyzed copolymers (A) maleic anhydride with (B) at least one more ethylenically unsaturated monomer other than acrylic acid or methacrylic acid or with a mixture of (B) and (C) acrylic acid or methacrylic acid are employed in a process to inhibit calcium oxalate formation and deposition.

Calcium oxalate scaling is a major problem in the paper industry, in particular but not exclusively in bleach plants for both kraft and mechanical mills, and in sulfite pulping mills. Calcium oxalate depositions hinder the normal plant operation and decrease the quality of paper produced by increasing the "dirt count". Calcium oxalate originates from oxalic acid present in the wood or formed by oxidation processes during pulping or bleaching; and calcium which can also be present in the wood or enter the system in the process water.
In bleach plants, calcium oxalate scale is typically found on face wires, pumps, pipes, screw presses and down stream process equipment. In sulfite mills the most common calcium oxalate scaling sites are evaporators and liquor handling equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,995 to Chen et al., discloses methods of controlling the formation of calcium oxalate in aqueous systems in which (meth)acrylic acid/allyl ether copolymers are employed. The use of poly(epoxysuccinic) acid to inhibit scale formation, including calcium scale, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,962 to Brown et al.
Canadian Patent Application No. 2,005,982 discloses a process of inhibiting the formation of calcium carbonate scale in wood pulp production comprising adding to the pulp, a hydrolyzed copolymer of maleic anhydride with a monoethylenically unsaturated monomer or a mixture of monomers provided that the copolymer is other than a maleic acid/(meth)acrylic acid copolymer. The preferred copolymer is a hydrolyzed copolymer of (A) maleic anhydride with (B) at least one monoethylenically unsaturated monomer other than acrylic or methacrylic acid or with a mixture of (B) and (C) acrylic acid or methacrylic acid. The copolymer is added to the pulp liquor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,390 discloses a method for controlling scale formation in acqueous systems comprising treating the system with a water soluble polymer comprising an ethylenically unsaturated dibasic carboxylic acid or anhydride preferably maleic acid or anhydride and at least One quaternary dialkyldiallyl ammonium monomer preferably dimethyldiallyl ammonium chloride.
It was discovered that traditional inhibitors for calcium carbonate, such as phosphonates, polyacrylates and polyphosphates have only a modest effect on calcium oxalate control. In general, the inhibiting effect of a compound is specific for a sparingly soluble salt as this effect depends on structure compatibility between compound and crystal.

Method of inhibiting calcium oxalate scale deposition


A strong, lightweight, one-piece rotation molded children's cot having a base, four side walls, and a cot surface. The cot surface contains grooves which serve to collect liquid waste from a child's bed-wetting accident, so as to sanitarily separate the child from the waste. The cot also is provided with a storage compartment as well as hand grips for easy moving and cleaning. The cots may be stacked for storage.

In kindergartens, preschools, day care centers and other similar places, children often are allowed or even required to take naps. Traditionally, children are provided with various types of mats or cots to sleep on. There are, however, several disadvantages of these traditional mats or cots.
Floor mats can be uncomfortable and can subject the children to cold air or drafts. Additionally, mats which are not liquidproof are subject to odors and generally unsanitary conditions as well as difficult and costly clean up problems should the child have a toilet accident ("wet the bed"). Mats which are liquidproof have their own sanitary problems in that liquid waste tends to run off the mat and onto the floor.
Traditional cots are costly and sometimes require assembly. The multiple parts, such as screws or other fasteners may come loose and present a hazard to the child. The child may also attempt to dismantle the cot if it has screws or other fasteners. Also, cot sleeping surfaces may become worn and may require replacing. Again, if the surface is not liquidproofed, sanitary and cleaning problems arise. If the surface is liquidproof, liquid waste may either form a puddle thereon or run off onto the floor. Further, traditional cots can be cumbersome and a teacher or caregiver cannot place or put away a large number of cots while at the same time watch and care for the children.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,234,977 and 4,234,978 issued to Snow disclose one attempt to alleviate these problems. Snow discloses a one or two piece molded cot having a contoured sleeping surface with four supporting inner walls which define a supporting cradle which is liquidproof. However, while Snow's cot may have some benefits, the cot is uncomfortable to sleep on and the above-mentioned significant sanitary problem still exists. Namely, Snow makes no provisions in the cot to collect and hold waste away from a child and/or mat. Further, Snow's cot does not have hand grips to facilitate movement of the cot by the children themselves. The present invention solves these and other problems and/or disadvantages by providing novel collecting and storing means in the cot's surface.

Integral polyethylene rotation molded children's cot


Verification facilitating company or companies X and verifying company or companies (e.g., credit service company or companies) Y may respectively manage member ID(s) and password(s) of user(s) 1 in mutually separate and mutually secret fashion. User(s) 1 may send member ID(s) to verification facilitating company or companies X from mobile telephone(s) 2, and verification facilitating company or companies X may use originating telephone number(s) and/or member ID(s) to carry out first-stage identity check(s). In the event of positive verification of identity as a result of such identity check(s), verification facilitating company or companies X may issue one-time ID(s) to user(s) 1 and may communicate such one-time ID(s) to verifying company or companies (e.g., credit service company or companies) Y. User(s) 1 may send one-time ID(s) and password(s) to verifying company or companies (e.g., credit service company or companies) Y from company or companies (e.g., store or stores) Z. Verifying company or companies (e.g., credit service company or companies) Y may use one-time ID(s) and password(s) to carry out second-stage identity check(s), and in the event of positive verification of identity as a result of such identity check(s), may provide credit transaction processing or other such service(s).

The present invention pertains to a method and system for electronically ascertaining whether a person attempting some action, e.g., someone attempting to process a credit card transaction or to log on to a server, is in fact a person authorized to perform such action.
Systems for verifying personal identity through use of an IC card, smart card, in the possession of such person are known in the art. Furthermore, systems for verifying personal identity through use of an ID (e.g., telephone number) of a mobile telephone in the possession of such person are known in the art. However, such systems, rather than ascertaining the identity of the person in question, substitute ascertainment of the fact of use of such equipment (serving as a tool for such purpose) for verification of personal identity. A third party using such equipment and pretending to be the person in question might easily outwit such a system.
Also known in the art are systems for verifying personal identity whereby a user ID-password set unique to a person is input into the system by the person in question, and authentication is carried out using that user ID-password set. However, by intercepting communication between that person and the system, a third party might gain access to the user ID-password set and might make illicit use of same.
To improve reliability of authentication, systems for verifying personal identity making use of temporary or one-time IDs good for only a single use are known in the art. The systems described at Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. H12-10927 (2000), Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. H13-175599 (2001), Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. H14-7355 (2002) and the like may be cited as examples. However, in all of these systems, for a one-time ID to be issued, a set comprising an ID of a mobile telephone or a user ID and a password must be input into the system, just as was the case with the other conventional systems described above. This being the case, here again a third party might use the mobile telephone and pretend to be the person in question, or might intercept communication to gain access to the user ID-password set, allowing the third party to acquire a one-time ID in the same fashion as the person in question, which might then be used for some illicit purpose by the third party.
Moreover, as more reliable systems for verifying personal identity, arrangements making use of biometric equipment are known and have recently even become something of a fad. However, the fact that expensive biometric equipment must be purchased makes this an unattractive option for use in verifying personal identity for the everyday sorts of actions performed by large numbers of people, such as those involving processing of credit transactions or logging on to a system.

Method and system for verifying identity


An image-capturing device having an image identification mechanism is provided. The image-capturing device comprises a first and a second flashlight modules, a processing module and an image-capturing module. The first and the second flashlight modules generate a first and a second color lights respectively according to a first and a second currents. The processing module controls the first and the second flashlight modules to flash light at an object sequentially within a time interval. The image-capturing module generates a first frame according to the object and the first color light and generates a second frame according to the object and the second color light. The processing module subtracts the pixels in the first and the second frames to retrieve a foreground area. A color difference between the first and the second frames for each the pixels in the foreground area is larger than a threshold value.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image identification technology. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image-capturing device and a image-capturing method having an image-identification mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
The invention of the digital camera is a major progress of the image-capturing technology. Through the help of the digital signal process, the storage of the images becomes convenient. Further, instant calibration and adjustment of various parameters can be performed by using digital image processing techniques. A satisfying image-capturing result can be accomplished.
During the image-capturing process, it is important to separate the foreground area from the background area of the image to further perform image processing and calibration on the foreground area, which is the critical part of the image. Common image identification technologies segment the foreground area according to the detection of the moving edges of the objects. The moving edges generated by the motion of the objects between different frames are used to segment the objects that are moving as the foreground area. However, the generated frames used in such a detection method has to separate from each other by at least 10 frame periods such that the motion of the objects is obvious. Further, the detection result is easily disturbed when the objects in the background area are moving as well.
Accordingly, what is needed is an image-capturing device and an image-capturing method having an image-identification mechanism to avoid the long detection time and the disturbance of the moving background objects.

Image-capturing device and method having image identification mechanism


A semiconductor device includes a buffer layer on a semiconductor substrate including first and second regions, a first channel layer on the buffer layer of the first region, a second channel layer on the buffer layer of the second region, and a spacer layer between the second channel layer and the buffer layer. The buffer layer, the first and second channel layers, and the spacer layer are formed of semiconductor materials including germanium. A germanium concentration difference between the first and second channel layers is greater than a germanium concentration difference between the buffer layer and the second channel layer. The spacer layer has a germanium concentration gradient.

The present disclosure relates to semiconductor devices, electronic devices and methods for fabricating the same. The disclosure also relates to semiconductor devices including fin field effect transistors and methods for fabricating the same.
A semiconductor device may include an integrated circuit including metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) field effect transistors. Sizes of MOS field effect transistors have been increasingly reduced as semiconductor devices have been highly integrated, so operating characteristics of semiconductor devices have been deteriorated. Various methods for forming excellent performance semiconductor devices have been developed to overcome limitations caused by the high integration density of semiconductor devices. In particular, a method of increasing mobility of electrons or holes has been developed to realize high-performance MOS field effect transistors.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same

Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


A hydraulic transaxle including: a variable displacement hydraulic motor with a movable swash plate whose tilt angle defines a displacement of the hydraulic motor; a casing incorporating the hydraulic motor; and a mechanism for determining a range of the tilt angle of the swash plate, wherein the mechanism can fix the tilt angle of the swash plate so as to set the hydraulic motor in a fixed displacement type. A vehicle includes the transaxles for driving respective axles wherein each of the transaxles can select whether the displacement of its hydraulic motor is variable or fixed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hydraulic transaxle incorporating a hydraulic motor, and to a vehicle having front and rear hydraulic transaxles having respective hydraulic motors.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, there is a well-known working vehicle having front and rear transaxles incorporating respective hydraulic motors, which are supplied with hydraulic fluid from a pump unit separated from the transaxles, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,828.
Each of the hydraulic motors is set into either a variable displacement type or a fixed displacement type, corresponding to a steering style of the vehicle comprising the transaxles, such as an Ackerman type or an articulate type.
If a vehicle has the Ackerman type steering mechanism, i.e., has steerable wheels and unsteerable wheels, the steerable wheels must be rotated faster than the unsteerable wheels during turning of the vehicle. If a vehicle has the articulated type steering mechanism and either front or rear wheels become more distant from the turning center of the vehicle than the other rear or front wheels during turning of the vehicle, the wheels becoming more distant from the turning center are rotated faster than the other wheels during turning of the vehicle. The difference of wheel speed between the front and rear wheels during turning of the vehicle prevents dragging of the wheels. Correspondingly, the variable displacement hydraulic motor of the two motors in the respective transaxles must change its displacement.
Conventionally, the above-mentioned difference of displacement style between the hydraulic motors has prevented standardization of the front and rear transaxles. Namely, two types of hydraulic transaxles: one incorporating a variable displacement hydraulic motor; and the other incorporating a fixed displacement hydraulic motor, must be prepared for suiting any of vehicles having various steering systems, thereby increasing a burden on makers in management of parts and production.
In the view of standardization, it is preferable that the transaxles have standardized deceleration gearings and hydraulic motors. However, standardization of the deceleration gearing has the following problem in the combination of the transaxles incorporating respective hydraulic motors, one of which is a variable displacement type, and the other of which is a fixed displacement type.
The variable displacement hydraulic motor of the transaxle required to accelerate during turning of the vehicle usually applies its maximum displacement for straight traveling of the vehicle, and its minimum displacement for turning of the vehicle. In the condition of both the transaxles having the same gear reduction ratio due to the standardization of the deceleration gearing, the maximum displacement of the variable displacement hydraulic motor is equalized to the fixed displacement of the other hydraulic motor. In other words, the minimum motor speed of the variable displacement hydraulic motor is equalized to the motor speed of the fixed displacement hydraulic motor during straight traveling of the vehicle. However, the deceleration gearing is usually standardized corresponding to the fixed displacement hydraulic motor. In such a situation, acceleration of the variable displacement hydraulic motor during turning of the vehicle means unexpected acceleration of the deceleration gearing of the corresponding transaxle such as to generate unexpectedly large noise.

Hydraulic transaxle and vehicle comprising it


A system and method for dispensing a compressed gas into a receiving vessel wherein a target temperature profile for the receiving vessel during dispensing is provided, and the flow rate of compressed gas into the receiving vessel is controlled to conform the temperature profile for the receiving vessel during dispensing to the target temperature profile.

The present invention relates to a method and system for dispensing a compressed gas into a receiving vessel, and more specifically to a method and system for dispensing a compressed gas as in particular hydrogen into a receiving vessel, such as a vehicle fuel tank, rapidly but nevertheless safely.
When dispensing a compressed gas into a receiving vessel, care has to be taken that the receiving vessel does not overheat. Overheating may occur as a result of adiabatic compression of the gas. If the gas is hydrogen or helium, the reverse Joule-Thompson effect will also contribute in heating the vessel. Gas filling protocols, in particular hydrogen fueling protocols, that are most commonly in use are based on worst case assumptions when selecting appropriate filling rates. Since receiving vessels seldom have worst case properties, and vessel conditions are seldom worst case conditions, and therefore the commonly used protocols are often excessively conservative and result in prolonged time for dispensing the compressed gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,336 (Cohen et al.) improves the dispensing operation in that the pressure and temperature are determined and the density of the gas in the receiving vessel is calculated therefrom. This actual density is compared with a vessel-rated density to control the flow of the compressed gas in response to the comparison. If the actual density in the receiving vessel is greater than or equal to the rated density, minus a tolerance, gas flow is halted, and either resumed, if the actual density should have fallen below the rated density within a predetermined time interval, or terminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,565 (Eichelberger et al.) incorporates the ambient temperature to mitigate overheating the receiving vessel. Depending on the ambient temperature one of several predetermined rates of pressure rise, i.e. a pressure ramp rate, in the receiving vessel is selected. Furthermore, a temperature indicative for the temperature of the gas in the receiving vessel is measured during filling. The ramp rate is maintained at the selected value until the measured temperature reaches a preset upper limit. Upon reaching this temperature limit, an electronic controller commands a pressure control valve to temporarily pause at the instantaneous pressure level. The pause remains in effect until the instantaneous temperature at the receiving vessel has dropped to a predetermined value below the set temperature, at which time the pressure ramp rate is increased to its former high dispensing rate.
Start/stop methods, however, confuse the customer each time the dispensing process stops and restarts.
US 2007/0079892 A1 (Cohen et al.) discloses controlling the flow rate of the compressed gas by means of a pipe organ style flow control device composed of a plurality of fluid conveyance lines in parallel with each other and having differing orifice coefficients for transmitting gas at different flow rates therethrough. Each of the fluid conveyance lines can be opened and closed by means of a respective control valve commanded by a programmable flow controller including a desired ramp rate. A pressure monitor downstream of the fluid conveyance lines measures the pressure of gas being directed into the receiving vessel. The flow controller compares the desired pressure ramp rate with the measured pressure and controls the flow rate of gas through the fluid conveyance lines in response to the comparison. Monitoring temperature is not disclosed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for dispensing a gas into a receiving vessel in a safe and time efficient manner.
It is desirable to dispense gas into the receiving vessel as quickly as possible, without violating the vessel temperature limit, which typically is 85° C. for vehicle fuel tanks.
A further object is to smooth out the dispensing process, i.e. to dispense gas into the receiving vessel at a dispensing rate which is steadier than with the conventional methods and systems, so that the customer experiences consistent flow rates and sounds during the dispensing process.
There is also a need for a method and system for dispensing a compressed gas, in particular hydrogen, into the fuel tank of a combustion engine or fuel cell vehicle in a time efficient manner without overheating the fuel tank.

Method and system for temperature-controlled gas dispensing


While a set-associative cache memory operates in a first power mode, information is stored in up to N number of ways of the cache memory, where N is an integer number and N>1. While the cache memory operates in a second power mode, the information is stored in up to M number of ways of the cache memory, where M is an integer number and 0<M<N.

In recent years, portable laptop computers have become increasingly popular. Frequently, such laptop computers are battery powered in order to enhance their portability. Preferably, a battery powered laptop computer operates for an extended period of time under battery power before its battery is either recharged or replaced.
Accordingly, it is important to reduce power consumption within an electronic circuit of the laptop computer, in order to extend the period of time during which the electronic circuit operates before recharging or replacing the battery. For this purpose, some previous techniques disable power or disable clock signals to the electronic circuit in response to a specified time elapsing without sensing a particular type of activity. A shortcoming of such previous "timer" techniques is that the electronic circuit can unnecessarily consume excess power while waiting for the timer to expire, even when the electronic circuit is not performing an operation.
Thus, a need has arisen for a method and system in which an electronic circuit consumes less excess power relative to previous techniques.

System and method for reducing power consumption in an electronic circuit

International Business Machines Corporation


A golf club 2 includes a head 4, a shaft 6, and a fixing member Fx1. The head 4 has a hosel part 4h capable of swingably supporting the shaft 6. The shaft 6 has a tip connecting part 6t capable of being connected to the fixing member Fx1. The fixing member Fx1 has a connector 12 capable of being connected to the shaft 6, a first sliding member S1 capable of engaging the connector 12 with a plurality of positions in a first direction D1, and a second sliding member S2 capable of engaging the first sliding member S1 with a plurality of positions in a second direction D2. A movement of the connector 12 in the first direction D1 and a movement of the connector 12 in the second direction D2 are independent of each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club.
2. Description of the Related Art
A golf club capable of adjusting a loft angle, a lie angle, and a face angle is proposed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-291602 (US2009/0286618, US2009/0286619) discloses a golf club in which a sleeve is attached to the tip of a shaft. A shaft hole into which the shaft is inserted is formed in the sleeve. The axis line of the shaft hole is inclined with respect to the axis line of the sleeve. Thereby, the axis line of the shaft is inclined with respect to the axis line of the sleeve. Aloft angle, a lie angle, and a face angle can be adjusted by rotating the sleeve with respect to a hosel.


A crystallized glass article having a surface pattern like granite, marble or other natural stones with a line pattern of a desired color or colors, which is formed by fusion bonding small masses of a crystallizable glass material mixed with inorganic pigment powder at a heat-treating temperature higher than the softening point. The surface pattern comprises crystallized glass areas defined by the small masses in the surface layer of the article and the colored line pattern defined by the pigment dispersed in the interfaces between adjacent ones of the small masses in the surface layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to crystallized glass articles having surface patterns imparting to them an appearance such as granite, marble or other natural stones which are adaptable for use as heat resistant, incombustible ornamental wall materials for buildings and the like, and in particular, to such crystallized glass articles having a desired color or colors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As substitution of natural marble for ornamental building materials, crystallized glass articles have been proposed which have great mechanical strength, excellent heat resistance and excellent efflorescence resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,235 (Reference 1) discloses crystallized glass articles having marble-like appearance. The crystallized glass article is produced by heat-treating a crystallizable CaO-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -SiO.sub.2 glass, which essentially consists of 15-40 wt % CaO, 3-35 wt % Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, and 40-75 wt % SiO.sub.2.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,917 (Reference 2) discloses another crystallized glass articles which is also provided with marble-like appearance. The crystallized glass is produced by heat treating a crystallizable CaO-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -SiO.sub.2 -ZnO glass after shaping the glass into a desired shape. The crystallizable CaO-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -SiO.sub.2 -ZnO glass essentially consists of 50-65 wt % SiO.sub.2, 3-13 wt % Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, 15-25 wt % CaO, 2-10 wt % ZnO.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,989 (Reference 3) discloses a crystallized glass article having a surface pattern like granite, marble or other natural stones which is formed by heat-treatment of collected small crystallizable glass masses. Each of the small masses precipitates needle-like .beta.-wollastonite crystals by the heat-treatment which extend from the surface of the small mass into the interior in a direction generally perpendicular to the surface of the small mass. Therefore, the surface pattern is defined by the small masses forming the surface layer. Reference 3 also discloses a crystallized glass article having a beautiful colored pattern by spraying or applying a solution containing coloring ions onto the collected small masses prior to the heat-treatment. The coloring ions diffuse into the small masses so that the article is colored. However, the article has only a light color. That is, it is impossible to produce an article having a bright colored or a high contrast colored pattern.

Colored crystallized glass article and method for producing the same


An inking arrangement has a structure in which a printing ink extracted from an inking source by an inking roller is transferred to an ink applying roller through an ink roller train including a plurality of inking rollers and the printing ink is then transferred to a scanning area of a plate cylinder from the ink applying roller. A doctor device is disposed above a top portion of an outer peripheral surface of the ink applying roller, the doctor device being circumscribed with the top portion at an acute angle on a roller rotating direction of the ink applying roller to scrape out an ink remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the ink applying roller as well as to clean the surface. A plurality of ink roller trains may be disposed so as to include, for example, a smoothing ink roller train and a finishing ink roller train, each including a doctor device circumscribing the outer peripheral surface of the ink applying roller contacting the plate cylinder. In this arrangement, the smoothing ink roller train may be composed as a unit rotatable around a spindle of one of the rollers so as to outwardly release the doctor device.

This invention relates to an inking arrangement used for a printing machine and is particularly concerned with an inking arrangement for feeding a printing ink to a plate cylinder.
In an inking arrangement used for a printing machine, a printing ink stored in an inkwell is transferred to ink applying rollers from an ink delivery roller through a train of inking rollers, and the printing ink is then scoured to a plate such as a plate cylinder or the like from the ink applying rollers.
In a prior art inking arrangement, a printing ink stored in an inkwell is extracted on an ink delivery roller and then guided to an inking roller train including a plurality of inking rollers combined therefor. The inking roller train comprises, in combination, an ink transfer roller for transferring the extracted printing ink in a proper quantity, scouring rollers for securing a fluidity of the printing ink by minimizing a change in concentration thereof, reciprocating rollers reciprocating axially at a constant width to distribute the printing ink uniformly without causing inhomogeneous regions, and ink applying rollers for settling the printing onto a scanning area of a plate such as a plate cylinder. In consideration of scour and transferability of the printing ink, the inking roller train includes metallic rollers and rubber rollers disposed alternately, thus aiding in achieving keeping the printing ink constant in concentration.
In a printing machine such as a sheet press, web press of the like, an inking arrangement in which a plate cylinder or the like is incorporated is set, a printing ink is scoured by the inking arrangement and applied to the plate cylinder, a printing paper is fed to the plate cylinder to which the ink is applied, and a pressure is applied to effect the paper to printing.
In the prior art inking arrangement, a plurality of inking rollers are combined to form a system linking the ink transfer roller to the ink applying rollers, and a printing ink is scoured by the inking roller train, thereby keeping the printing ink applied to the plate cylinder constant in concentration.
However, in the prior art inking arrangement, while the printing ink is transferred in succession to a lower stage side through the inking roller train, it is difficult to transfer the ink thoroughly to the inking rollers on the lower stage side, and thus there may be a case where the printing ink which could not be transferred to the inking roller on the lower stage side remains on a surface of the inking roller for applying the printing ink to the plate cylinder. The residual ink is introduced onto the plate cylinder, resulting in an unevenness in concentration of the printing ink, which may cause an non-homogeneous printing and an ink stain.


A method, apparatus, computer program product and service for directory dialer name recognition. The directory dialer has a directory of names and a first name grammar and a second name grammar representing phonetic baseforms of first names and second names respectively. The method includes: receiving voice data for a spoken name after requesting a user to speak the required name; extracting a set of phonetic baseforms for the voice data; and finding the best matches between the extracted set of phonetic baseforms voice data and any combination of the first name grammar and the second name grammar. The method can further include: checking the best match against the directory of names; if the best match does not exist in the directory, informing the user and prompting the next best match as an alternative; and if the best match does exist in the directory, forwarding the call to that best match.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for voice operated directory dialer name recognition. In particular, the invention relates to an improvement for enabling the directory dialer to recognize a spoken name which is not part of the system directory.
2. Description of the Related Art
IBM® Directory Dialer is a speech enabled application running on an interactive voice response system (IVR) with name recognition functionality (for instance IBM ViaVoice®). Name recognition differs from speech recognition primarily that the recognition is focused on only names rather than general vocabulary. Hence, the phoneme set and the grammar sets of allowable phonemes relate only to names. In principle, this should result in much simpler technology than would be needed for full speech recognition. The IVR connects to a telephony network and prompts a telephone user for the name of the person that they wish to call. The directory dialer recognizes the name, matches the name to the respective number, and transfers the call to the number for the user.
In order for the directory dialer to work it needs to extract information from a database of names and associated telephone numbers. A useful directory Internet protocol used by email clients to look up contact information is LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). In a directory dialer an overnight provisioning process accesses the LDAP database to extract names and produce baseforms and grammars as needed by the name recognition process. A baseform is a basic phonetic element such as a phoneme; all possible baseforms form the acoustic model of the directory dialer. A grammar defines sequences of baseforms, each sequence associated with a name.
The operation of this directory dialer is shown in FIG. 2. In the Figures, a left pointing box is an action performed by the directory dialer and a right pointing box is an action performed by a user. The directory dialer waits, step 201, for a user to call the IVR system using a phone number indicative of a directory dialer application to be used. The application greets, step 203, the user with a welcoming message and prompts, step 205, for the name of person being called. Some variations require name and location or name and department. Once the user has spoken the name, step 207, the application attempts to recognize, at step 209, the spoken name.
The name recognition process of the prior art and the process of the present embodiment involve breaking the speech down into msec chunks (typically 10 msec). These chunks are then processed to produce a number of spectral fourier values, say 64 values. The number of values is further reduced by normalizing and fitting polynomial coefficients to the fourier values. By looking at adjacent chunks to provide delta coefficients, the number of coefficients is reduced to typically 39. The name recognition system then performs pattern recognition on a group of coefficients to identify a specific phoneme. Since the accuracy is far from perfect, a best fit of the most likely phonemes and then the most likely strings of phonemes is made. The number of possible strings is restricted to the phoneme sets in the grammars. The system then finds the most likely name in the directory as well as an overall confidence score as to how well the phonemes match.
The application compares the confidence score with an upper threshold value (x), step 211. If the confidence score is above the upper threshold value (x) then it is assumed that the user's speech has been correctly recognized and the call is immediately transferred, at step 213, to the recognized destination name. Otherwise the directory dialer compares the confidence score with a lower threshold value (y), step 215. If the confidence score is below the lower threshold value (y), step 215, then the process moves to step 217. Otherwise the process transfers to step 216 where the directory dialer apologizes for not understanding and starts over at step 205. At step 217 the user is asked to confirm with a 'yes' or 'no' the recognized name. The user speaks a reply, step 219, and the call is then either transferred, step 221, to the appropriate number or the system prompts the user to try again and the process repeats, step 205.
It is frustrating for users when name recognition does not recognize a spoken name and the directory dialer forwards the user to best recognized name without checking. If the best recognized name is incorrect then the user will not know until the call is put through to the wrong person. However in some cases it is not the directory dialer that has made an error but the user unwittingly speaks an invalid name, either as a mistake or as a result of somebody leaving the company and no longer being included in the directory. Mistakes occur simply when a user incorrectly remembers a persons first name or second name, e.g., somebody asks for Kevin Sloan, when they mean Keith Sloan or Kevin Smith.
Invalid names are not part of the grammar because the grammar is a finite number of sets of baseforms corresponding to the set of names in the directory.
Directory dialers that construct grammars from a text directory are known. In the prior art it is known to construct a grammar as a concatenation of phonemes from all the text of the names as found in the text directory. This will include first and family names and all other names. One problem is that it does not allow the speaker to understand if the spoken name exists in the directory since the directory dialer will always select the nearest match in the grammar. The directory dialer selects the nearest match regardless of whether the recognition is correct or whether the spoken name exists in the directory. A solution to this problem is to have a very large number of allowable names in the grammar. However this would demand excessive memory and processing.
Another solution is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,949. This publication discloses a directory dialer that will always prompt the user with the result before connecting the user to the recognized name. This publication also recognizes a name and an initial from voice data and discloses that the system may ask the user directly for the name and initial of the desired name before any attempt to recognize the name is made. However, this publication describes how each name in the directory includes a phoneme string comprising the name and the initials. Moreover, more often than not, the name recognition is correct and it can also become frustrating to be asked each time to confirm a correctly recognized name.

International Business Machines Corporation


A herb medicine extract-containing non-bleeding striped dentifrice composition, consisting essentially of a striped dentifrice component and a base dentifrice component, each component comprising the following ingredients at the substantially same amount: a. an abrasive that has a BET surface area of 10 m.sup.2 /g or less and an average particle diameter of 1 to 30 .mu.m upon measurement by Coulter Counter method, and shows oil absorption (linseed oil, ml/100 g) of 50 or less; b. a binder selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, carrageenan, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, and the mixtures thereof; c. an alkyl sulfonate of anionic surfactants; and d. a humectant, and said striped dentifrice component containing herb medicine extracts at an amount of 0.001 to 10% by weight, on the basis of dry solid substance. It is non-bleeding by virtue of the substantially same formulation in the two components and the herb medicine extracts allow the dentifrice composition to suppress the formation of plaque.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a herb medicine extract-containing non-bleeding striped toothpaste and, more particularly, to a herb medicine extract-containing striped dentifrice composition which exhibits no bleeding of colorant from one component into the other and suppresses the formation of plaque.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various prior techniques for striped dentifrice products containing, for example, water soluble dyes are known, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,358,437, 4,569,534 and 4,487,757. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,437 discloses a striped toothpaste which comprises a transparent gel base and an opaque paste stripe containing calcium carbonate abrasive and meta-silicate ingredient. U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,534 discloses a striped dentifrice comprising an aqueous striping composition containing a pH sensitive dye and a gelling agent mixture of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and calcium carrageenan, and a white anhydrous toothpaste formulation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,757 suggests a striped toothpaste extruded from a tube comprising two separate portions one of which contains sodium bicarbonate particles stabilized by a compatible water insoluble polishing agent such as calcium carbonate, the other portion being in an acid pH and containing an acid and 0.001 to 0.1% of a coloring agent which is a 1% aqueous dye solution.
However, the water-soluble dyes contained in the toothpastes of the above-cited patents are more likely to be bled or leak from the colored dentifrice stripe into the toothpaste base if the toothpastes are stored at high temperatures for a long time, thereby degrading the quality of article.
To avoid this problem, use of synthetic pigments such as phthalocyanine in a colored dentifrice stripe has been proposed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,456,585 and 4,518,578. These synthetic phthalocyanine pigments, however, are not allowed for use in dentifrices in many countries because they may be harmful to human body. Therefore, alternative non-bleeding colorant and/or formulation is needed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,928,559 and 4,007,259 disclose speckled dentifrices wherein the speckles contain a colorant blended with the water insoluble thermoplastic polymer particles such as polyethylene, said colorant being a pigment such as ultramarine blue, ferric oxide, metallic lakes and the like, with the aim of preventing the bleeding of coloring materials. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,069,311 and 4,069,312 also disclose striped dentifrices wherein said stripes are thermoplastic binder material containing colorants including any physiologically acceptable dye or pigment such as inorganic pigments, organic dyes, metallic lakes thereof, chlorophyll and carotene.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,767 discloses a striped toothpaste consisting of a main transparent gel body free of dental abrasive and containing humectant, thickening agent such as cellulose esters or carrageenan: and a secondary gel body containing a dental abrasive, humectants, thickening agent, detergent and optionally an insoluble coloring material in the form of a contrasting stripe within the main gel body.
European Pat. Publication No. 0 331 617 A1 discloses a striped dentifrice consisting essentially of a combination of two dentifrice components: one translucent gel colored dentifrice component comprising an organic pigment, such as .beta.-carotene or chlorophyll, and xanthan gum as the sole gelling agent, and an opaque white paste dentifrice component composing a cellulase resistant gelling agent, such as a kappa carrageenan mixture, in a liquid vehicle containing different dentally acceptable polishing agents.
The prior art non-bleeding striped toothpastes, however, are in difficulty in showing clear stripe and appropriately distributing the different dentifrice components in squeezing the toothpaste tubes because the striping portion and the base portion are different from each other in flowing property, which is attributable to the difference in formulation therebetween.
The prior art also discloses dentifrices containing herb medicine extracts known to be suppressive of the formation of plaque, as disclosed in Korean Pat. Appln. No. 93-9048 to the present applicant, Korean Pat. Publication No. 91-1919, Korean Pat. Publication Laid-Open No. 91-18007, Japanese Pat. Publication Laid-Open Nos. Sho 56-83415, Sho 57-58610, Sho 57-58611, Sho 57-58612, Sho 57-58513, Sho 57-56415, Sho 59-152313 and Hei 1-151512, and Japanese Pat. Publication Nos. Hei 3-66283 and Hei 3-32524. Most of the herb medicine extracts described in the above-cited patents contain considerable amounts of coloring materials in addition to pigments. When these herb medicine extracts are used for striped toothpastes, the bleeding of the coloring materials or pigments readily occurs in the existing toothpaste formulations. The colorants can be laboratorially separated from herbs, which, however, costs too much, making it difficult to apply the herb extracts in commercial practice. In addition, useful ingredients which suppress the formation of plaque and may also be removed when separating the colorants. Owing to these reasons, the use of such herb extracts in striped dentifrices has not been reported, thus far.
In particular, Korean Pat. Appln. No. 93-9048 discloses an invention that relates to products for oral cavities, such as plaque formation inhibiting toothpaste, mouthwash, chewing gum, and gingival massage cream. More specifically, selected plaque formation inhibiting ingredients includes Taraxacum extract or, other than Taraxacum extract, Lonicera flower extract, Scutellaria root extract, Gardenia fruit extract, Pulsatilla root extract, Pueraria root extract or plant extract selected from the combination of two or more of those.
This reference teaches that it is known that primary diseases developed in teeth or areas around teeth are tooth decay and periodontal disease, and the main cause of such disease is dental plaque, and that extracts of plants of various species have been used to solve these problems. Experiments are disclosed on the antibiotic property and plaque formation inhibiting ability of extracts from many different species of plants that have been publicized or not publicized in prior arts of the present field and other related reference for long period of time. It was found that extract from Taraxacum whose uses were not known in the disclosed field inhibits the growth of and disinfects streptococcus mutants, and therefore, prevents the formation of plaque and better effect is shown when Taraxacum extract is combined with other certain plant extracts.
Korean Pat. Appln. No. 93-9048 thus discloses a composition for oral cavity that includes Taraxacum extract as plaque formation inhibiting ingredient. Furthermore, the reference discloses a composition for oral cavity that includes, other than Taraxacum extract, Lonicera flower extract, Scutellaria root extract, Gardenia fruit extract, Pulsatilla root extract, Pueraria root extract or plant extract selected from the combination of two or more of those.
Plant extracts are also disclosed that are obtained from the following plants: Taraxacum used is the whole plant body of Taraxacum platycarpum H, Dahlstedt or Carduaceae, and has antibiotic and anti-Eumycetes effect, therefore, it is used in eastern medicine for many kinds of inflammation; Lonicera flower used is the flower of Lonicera japonica Thunberg, and has antibiotic, antivirus, anti-Eumycetes and astringent effect, therefore, it is used in eastern medicine for inflammation in mouth, bleeding caused by inflammation, and swelling and used as general inflammation medicine when combined with Taraxacum; Scutellarai root is peeled root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi and has antibiotic, antivirus, anti-Eumycetes and sedative effect, therefore, it is used in eastern medicine for inflammation, tooth ache, oral cavity ache, tooth decay, and periodontitis by combining with Gardenia and etc.; Gardenia fruit used is a fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis tree or Rubia Akane and has stopping of bleeding, antibiotic and sedative effect, therefore it is used in eastern medicine for many kinds of inflammation including inflammation inside a mouth and bleeding caused by inflammation; Pulsatilla root used is a root of Pulsatilla koreana Nakai or Carduaceae and has antibiotic, anti-Eumycetes and astringent effect, therefore, it is used in eastern medicine for tooth ache and many kinds of inflammation; and Pueraria root is a peeled root of Pueraria thunbergiana Bentham and has pain-alleviating and anti-inflammation effect, therefore, it is used in eastern medicine for tooth ache and inflammation inside of mouth by combining with Scutellaria root and etc.
These extracts of medicine plants are disclosed as being produced by the disclosed method, and it is disclosed that it is preferred that volatile solvents such as ethanol and methanol of the amount 10 times as large as the amount of extracts are applied and extracted by boiling or reflux, filtered, and concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain concentrates.
As disclosed by Korean Pat. Appln. No. 93-9048, the composition for oral cavity is effective to use Taraxacum by itself only, but it is preferable to use a combination of Taraxacum and other plants in aspects of antibiotic and plaque formation inhibiting ability.
The disclosed mixing ratio of plant extracts among the ingredients for oral cavity of the reference is 0.001-10 weight % on the basis of dry-hardened substance, preferably 0.005-5 weight %. If it is mixed with the ratio of below 0.001%, tooth decay or periodontal disease inhibiting effect will be too weak. If it is mixed with the ratio of above 10%, it will not be suitable to be used as the composition for oral cavity because of the original color and bitter taste of the plants'own.
The composition for oral cavity disclosed by Korean Pat. Appln. No. 93-9048 is produced by using appropriate ingredients depending on types of the products. For example, in case of toothpaste ingredients, ingredients included in conventional toothpaste are included, and for these ingredients abrasives such as alumina, silica gel, precipitated silica, Calcium carbonate, Calcium monohydrophosphate and Sodium bicarbonate, humectants such as sorbitol, glycerin and polyethylene glycol, foaming agents such as Sodium lauryl sulfate, Sodium lauryl sarcosinate and Dodecylbenzene sulfonate, binding agents such as carboxymethyl cellulose, Carageenan, Polyacrylate, sweetening agents such as saccharine, aspartame and stevioside, antiseptics such as para-oxy methyl benzoate and para-oxy propyl benzoate, medicine ingredients such as Sodium fluoride, Sodium fluorophosphate, Allantoin, Zinc salt, vitamins, salts, Tranexamic acid, Strontium Chloride and Trichlon, flavors, pigments and pH controller are used. Other compositions for oral cavity may be produced by selecting suitable ingredients depending on types and objectives and then using conventional method with the disclosed plant extracts.
As an example, Korean Pat. Appln. No. 93-9048 discloses a test for testing antibiotic ability of plant extracts. To 30 g of dried and sliced Taraxacum, Lonicera flower, Scutellaria root, Gardenia fruit, Pulsatilla root and Pueraria root, 300 ml of distilled water, ethanol or methanol was applied, extracted by boiling or reflux for 3 hours, and the obtained liquid was filtered with filtering paper, and then centrifuged. This solution was concentrated under reduced pressure, and dried substances shown in Table 1 were obtained.
Separate obtained extracts or mixture of obtained extracts with appropriate concentration was applied to Brain Heart Infusion cultivation paper, streptococcus mutants was inoculated, and cultivated in 37 degrees Celsius for 24 hours. Then the cultivated bacteria were dispersed uniformly with a mixer, and the absorbency (A.sub.R) was measured using spectrophotometer (DU series 60 by Beckman, wavelength of 550 nm). Also, one that does not include plant extracts was set to be a control experiment and the absorbency in this case (A.sub.B) was measured. Then antibiotic ability and bacteria growth inhibiting ability were compared and estimated. The estimated results are shown in Tables 2 and 3 below. ##EQU1##
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ The amount of plant extracts obtained (from 30 g) Plants Gar- Pul- Extracting denia Lonicera Scutellaria satilla Pueraria Solvent Taraxacum Fruit Flower Root Root Root ______________________________________ Ethanol 3.6 6.1 4.7 8.6 6.2 5.8 Methanol 3.2 5.5 4.3 7.6 5.6 4.9 ______________________________________
TABLE 2 ______________________________________ Bacteria growth inhibiting rate of plant extracts (%) Inhibiting Rate Plants 250 ppm (methanol) 250 ppm (ethanol) ______________________________________ Taraxacum 37 42 Gardenia fruit 26 31 Lonicera flower 14 11 Scutellaria root 13 14 Pulsatilla root 12 17 Pueraria root 23 20 ______________________________________
TABLE 3 ______________________________________ Bacteria growth inhibiting rate and activating rate of combinations of plant extracts Extracting Solvent (Ethanol) Plants Inhibiting Rate (%) Rise Rate (%) ______________________________________ Taraxacum + Gardenia fruit 98 24 Gardenia fruit + Lonicera flower 61 19 Gardenia fruit + Scutellaria 65 20 Taraxacum + Pulsatilla root 81 22 Taraxacum + Pueraria root 86 24 ______________________________________ *Rise rate is a value after subtracting the sum of inhibiting rate % (total concentration: 500 ppm) of ethanol extracts from inhibiting rate % (total concentration: 500 ppm) of combination of plant extracts.
From Table 2 above, it is shown that antibiotic ability of Taraxacum is the best and from Table 3 the combination of Taraxacum extracts and another plant extract shows much better antibiotic ability than Taraxacum extract itself. Thus, it is found that the rise effect is when Taraxacum extract was combined with extracts of Taraxacum, Lonicera flower, Scutellaria root, Gardenia fruit, Pulsatilla root and Pueraria root.
As another example, Korean Pat. Appln. No. 93-9048 discloses an experiment on plaque formation inhibition. Plant extracts obtained by the first example above were mixed in test tube with brain heart infusion cultivation paper whose 2% is a sugar, and streptococcus mutants cultivated beforehand were inoculated. This was cultivated anaerobically in 37 degrees Celsius for 24 hours, and plaque was formed. Plaque and bacteria body in this mixture were dispersed with mixer and supersonic crusher, and the absorbency was measured with spectrophotometer (wavelength of 550). Also, one that does not include plant extracts was set to be a control experiment and the absorbency in this case (A.sub.B) was measured. Then antibiotic ability and bacteria growth inhibiting ability were compared and estimated. The estimated results are shown in Table 4 below. ##EQU2##
TABLE 4 ______________________________________ Plaque formation inhibiting rate of plant extracts Mixing Total Extracting Inhibiting Plant Name Ratio Concentration Solvent Rate ______________________________________ Taraxacum + 1:2 150 Methanol 41 Gardenia fruit 300 Ethanol 75 Taraxacum + 1:3 200 Ethanol 52 Lonicera 400 Ethanol 84 Taraxacum + 1:1 200 Ethanol 35 Scutellaria 400 Ethanol 68 ______________________________________
From Table 4 above, the combination of plant extracts has excellent plaque formation inhibiting effect. Also, excellent plaque formation inhibiting effect is shown even with a different mixing ratio.

Herb medicine extract-containing non-bleeding striped dentifrice composition


A method for generating a trick replay video stream, including the steps of: selecting from stored data adapted for transmission as a streamed movie a sequence of Intracoded frames (I-frames), and inserting one or more difference frames between consecutive I-frames of the sequence to form the trick replay video stream. Each of the difference frames is constructed to have a zero difference with respect to a preceding I-frame in the sequence. The method further includes transmitting the trick replay video stream to a decoder for display of the streamed movie at an enhanced perceived rate.

The advent of tape recorders for playback of both audio and video material enabled users of the recorders to easily and quickly scroll forward or backward, using "fast forward" and "fast reverse" modes, as well as using a "standard play" mode. The ability to fast forward and reverse is thus a highly desirable feature for video that is streamed.
Streamed movies with video and audio, such as movies produced according to one of the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standards, comprise Intracoded frames (I-frames), which are substantially self-contained images. The streamed movies also includes Predictive frames (P-frames), which incorporate differences from a prior frame, and Bidirectional frames (B-frames) which incorporate differences from a prior and a subsequent frame. MPEG standards may be found at www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/standards.htm.
The MPEG-2 (part 1) standard defines how a video elementary stream, an audio elementary stream, and other data elementary streams are to be multiplexed. Hereinbelow, a video elementary stream is also referred to as a video stream, and an audio elementary stream is also referred to as an audio stream. Each elementary stream is a byte stream which is broken up into variable-length packets, forming a packetized elementary stream (PES). The standard provides two methods for delivering the PESs.
In a first method of delivery, termed a program stream, the PES packets are multiplexed and are organized into units termed "packs." Program streams are designed for relatively error-free environments. In a second method of delivery, termed a transport stream, the PES packets are further packaged inside fixed-sized transport stream packets. Transport streams are designed for unreliable environments. Either method may be used to deliver streamed movies which may be transmitted using a Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP), described in Request for Comments (RFC) 1889. Communication between a provider and a receiver of a streamed movie is typically according to a Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), which is described in RFC 2326. RFC 1889 and RFC 2326 are published by the Internet Engineering Task Force, and may be found at www.ietf.org/rfc.
A number of processes are known for enabling fast forward and reverse modes, also termed trick replay modes, to be generated for streamed movies. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0077071 to Lin, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for trick mode playback of an MPEG video recording, using an information file giving locations of I-frames. The method selects stored progressive or non-progressive frames to be incorporated into the playback.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0120942 to Avison, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a trick mode method using an MPEG video stream and also an altered format stream derived from the MPEG stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,218 and U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0015576 to Gordon, et al., whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference, describe an "all-in-one" encoder that produces MPEG fast forward, fast reverse and play streams from video frames.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,760,536 to Amir, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for analyzing digital video to produce a content-based variable-rate play back sequence for fast forward or reverse browsing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,760,536 to U.S. Pat. No. 6,738,980 Lin, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for producing fast forward and reverse modes for a video stream. The method comprises storing and retrieving forward-encoded and reverse-encoded bit streams for the video stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,554 to Gordon, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for generating an information sub-stream from an MPEG stream. The information sub-stream may be used as a fast forward and reverse stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,738 to Zdepski, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for processing an initial MPEG stream into an MPEG video stream suitable for trick replay. The processed MPEG video stream has reduced storage and bandwidth requirements, generated by removing a portion of the frames of the initial MPEG stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,327,421 to Tiwari, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes storing a sub-sequence of an original MPEG sequence for use in servicing fast forward and reverse requests.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,050 to DeMoney, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for indexing between video streams. A first stream may be a standard play rate stream, a second stream may be a trick play stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,832 to Lev, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for storing a video stream as I-frames and other frames. On receipt of a trick replay request, only the I-frames are displayed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,335 to Lee, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for fast forward and reverse of an MPEG stream. The method comprises preparing an I-frame table and incrementing or decrementing in the table for the forward or reverse streams. The increment or decrement gives a size of a video packet to be transmitted, and the packet is configured to always contain an I-frame.

Trick mode generation in video streaming


A power-up circuit for a semiconductor memory device includes a voltage division unit configured to divide a power supply voltage, a first power-up generation unit configured to detect a voltage level of a first divided voltage of the voltage division unit during an initial stage of applying a power supply to generate a first power-up signal and a second power-up generation unit configured to detect a voltage level of a second divided voltage of the voltage division unit, after the first power-up signal is generated from the first power-up generation unit, to generate a second power-up signal.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a power-up circuit for generating a stable power-up signal.
Generally, devices which perform analog circuit operations are designed to have a reference voltage and may operate at a specific voltage. If a device operates at an undesired voltage level that may be caused when a reference voltage significantly changes during operations or fails to be reset, characteristics of the device deteriorate and productivity of the device is decreased.
Varying characteristics during the operation of devices can be can be compensated/offset/reduced by adding a capacitor, a regulator circuit or a calibration circuit. Using an appropriate initial value before the supply of power is mostly determined by a power-up circuit. If the power-up circuit fails to apply an accurate initial level, a target level may not be provided during operation or within a certain time required in a specification. Therefore, a semiconductor memory device does not operate in response to a voltage level of an external power supply voltage immediately after the external power supply voltage is applied, but operates after the power supply voltage rises higher than a certain level. For this reason, a semiconductor memory device typically includes a power-up circuit.
The power-up circuit protects an overall semiconductor memory device from being damaged by a latch-up or the like when an internal circuit operates before a voltage level of an external power supply voltage is stabilized. Hence, the reliability of an overall chip is improved. Therefore, the power-up circuit is designed to generate a power-up signal that rises with the voltage level of the external power supply voltage and becomes a low level (or a high level) when the external power supply voltage reaches a sufficient level.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a conventional power-up circuit.
When a device is turned on and a voltage level of a power supply voltage rises, a power-up circuit of FIG. 1 turns on a bandgap circuit which is a reference voltage generator.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the power-up circuit includes two resistors R1 and R2 connected in series between a power supply voltage terminal VDD and a ground voltage terminal VSS. A PMOS transistor P1 and an NMOR transistor N1 are connected in series between the power supply voltage terminal VDD and the ground voltage terminal VSS. The PMOS transistor P1 is always in a turned-on state since its gate is grounded. A divided voltage generated by the resistors R1 and R2 is applied to a gate of the NMOS transistor N1. A power-up signal POWER_UP generated by the turn-on/turn-off operation of the PMOS transistor P1 and the NMOS transistor N1 is provided to a reference voltage generator (not shown) through an inverter INV1.
In the conventional power-up circuit having the above-described structure, the PMOS transistor P1 maintains a turned-on state because it receives a ground voltage as a gate voltage when a power supply voltage begins to be supplied (a state where a voltage level of the power supply voltage does not reach a voltage level enough to generate the power-up signal) Due to this operation, a voltage applied to an output terminal becomes a high level state and is inverted by an inverter INV1 to output a low signal. At this point, the power-up signal maintains the ground voltage.
Thereafter, the voltage level of the power supply voltage rises sufficiently, and the NMOS transistor N1 is turned on by a divided voltage generated by the resistors R1 and R2. In this case, the voltage applied to the output terminal becomes a low level state. The voltage is inverted by the inverter INV1 to output a high signal as a high level power-up signal. That is, the power-up signal level maintains the ground voltage and follows the voltage level of the power supply voltage from the moment when the high signal is generated. An internal circuit of a semiconductor memory device changes from a reset mode to an operation mode when the power-up signal level changes from a low level to a high level. The operation waveform diagram of this case is illustrated in FIG. 2.
In the conventional power-up circuit, however, if the usage of the power supply voltage inside the device rapidly increases, the voltage level of the power supply voltage being the power-up supply voltage is rapidly lowered and thus the power-up signal may not be generated normally, even though the external power supply voltage is constantly supplied. That is, the power-up signal is reset by the lowered power supply voltage, and the chip is reset by the resetting of the power-up signal, thus causing malfunctions.
In addition, the voltage level of the external power supply voltage used as the operating voltage of the semiconductor memory device is gradually lowered, and a power-up reset skew window is almost fixed according to process condition. Hence, a power-up reset signal variation range relative to a voltage level of the external voltage (VDD) is relatively significantly larger. Consequently, despite that the voltage level of the external power supply voltage reaches the operating level of the semiconductor memory device, the power-up reset signal is not generated at a proper time. Consequently, the internal circuit of the semiconductor memory device is not reset.

Power-up circuit for semiconductor memory device


A method for manufacturing a forging includes forming a bi-material billet by enclosing a core material other than steel in a steel cylinder with a cylindrical wall and steel end caps. The cylindrical wall is heated. The method includes a first forging blow on the heated billet or on a disk-shaped rough forging forged from the heated billet with a first closed blocker die to produce a forging preform, and a second forging blow on the preform with a second closed blocker die to produce a netshape forging. An evacuation hole is formed in a steel shell of the netshape forging and the core material is removed from the netshape forging via the hole. At least 85 percent of the core material is in a liquid phase during the first and second forging blows, and removal of the core material.

Current gear production methods generate up to 16,000 tons of scrap steel every year from the metal-removing machining processes. The generation of scrap also may increase the carbon foot print of gear manufacturing operations.
Reducing the weight of automotive vehicles improves their fuel efficiency. Transmission and driveline components may account for about 5 to 10 percent of the weight of a typical class 7/8 tractor. The gears may account for about 20% of the weight of a heavy duty manual transmission used in a class 7/8 tractor. Currently, almost all truck gears are made of steel.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electronic clinical thermometer having a low frequency of errors can be implemented. The electronic clinical thermometer for predicting an equilibrium temperature based on a temporal change in the actual measurement value of a temperature at a measurement target detected by a temperature detection element includes an abnormal change detection unit which detects an abnormal change of an actual measurement value from the temperature detection element, and a control unit which controls the start timing of a temporal change in actual measurement value used for derivation of a prediction value when the abnormal change detection unit detects an abnormality.

In a conventional prediction type electronic clinical thermometer, prediction operation starts at a time when the actual measurement value is equal to or more than a predetermined value and the rate of temperature rise is equal to or more than a predetermined value. A prediction settling point is given at a time when a variation in prediction value falls within a predetermined value. A prediction value Y is generally given by Y=T+U where T is the actual measurement value and U is the additional value.
A variety of calculation methods provide the additional amount U, and examples of the calculation methods are U=a1×dT/dt+b1 and U=(a2×t+b2)×dT+(c2×t+d2).
The parameters a1, b1, a2, b2, c2, and d2 are constants selected to keep the precision of the additional amount U constant regardless of patients and temperature detection elements.
Parameters used for prediction calculation equations are grouped depending on the features of patients and the characteristics of temperature detection elements. In particular, there is disclosed a technique for determining parameter groups based on actual measurement values of the temperature detection element to allow prediction with a higher precision. There is also disclosed a technique for changing corresponding parameter groups based on temporal changes in prediction values upon determining the parameter groups to allow prediction with a higher precision (patent reference 1).
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent No. 3100741

Electronic clinical thermometer, method of controlling the same, and control program


A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of floating gate type memory cell transistors having control gates. Word lines are integrally formed with the control gates, and boosting lines are self-aligned with the word lines. During programming, a first voltage is applied to a selected word line, and then a second voltage is applied to the boosting line over the selected word line. The voltage on the selected word line is then increased by capacitive coupling of the second voltage thereon, thereby programming at least one selected memory cell transistor. Therefore, a voltage lower than a program voltage is used on a selected word line, thereby reducing chip area and enhancing programming speed.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to nonvolatile semiconductor memories, and more particularly the invention relates to nonvolatile semiconductor memories having boosting lines self-aligned with underlying word lines.
Nonvolatile semiconductor memories, i.e., flash memories, such as flash electrically erasable/programmable read only memories (hereinafter referred to as EPROMs or EEPROMs), have been developed for use as high-density memory media in devices such as portable terminals, digital cameras, portable computer cards and the like. It would be desirable to reduce the manufacturing cost per bit and operational power consumption in those high-density memory media. It is particularly important to reduce the power consumption since a large amount of data, for example, at least a block data, is erased/programmed at one time in flash memories.
Conventional flash memories typically include a charge pump circuit, i.e., a voltage multiplier circuit, which is used to generate a program voltage higher than a power supply voltage during its programming operation. Reducing the program voltage can be a major factor in reducing the chip area and the power consumption.
A typical memory cell includes a transistor comprising drain and source regions on one surface of a semiconductor substrate with a channel region therebetween. A floating gate is formed over the channel region through a gate oxide layer, and a control gate is formed over the floating gate through a dielectric layer. Two approaches have been used to erase/program the memory cell transistor. One approach is a hot electron injection approach in which hot electrons accelerated by a potential applied across the drain and source regions are injected into the floating gate by a high voltage applied to the control gate. The other approach is a Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling (hereinafter referred to as a F-N tunnelling) process in which electrons are tunnelled into/from the floating gate by application of a high voltage to the control gate, drain, source or substrate.
Hot electron injection memory cell transistors generate more electrical current than F-N tunnelling memory cell transistors, and they need one bit line contact per cell. Such an increase of the number of contacts inhibits the reduction of chip area and therefore inhibits the reduction in bit cost per cell. On the other hand, although memory cell transistors using the F-N tunnelling process consume less electrical power than those using hot electron injection, they require a voltage higher than that required in hot electron injection. However, the chip area may be readily reduced by one bit line contact for a plurality of series-connected memory cell transistors. The F-N tunnelling approach is therefore widely used in a NAND-type flash memory cell array in which a plurality of series-connected memory cell transistors are connected to a corresponding bit line. The hot electron injection approach is widely used in a NOR-type flash memory cell array in which a plurality of memory cell transistors are connected in parallel between each of a plurality of bit lines and a ground source line.
In NAND-type flash memory, one prior approach to reducing the program voltage is disclosed in an article entitled, "A Novel Booster Plate Technology in High Density NAND Flash Memories for Voltage Scaling-down and Zero Program Disturbance," published in 1996 Symposium on VLSI Technology, pp. 238-239, which corresponds to U.S. application Ser. No. 08/824,483, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In the device described therein, a plurality of memory strings, each of which includes a plurality of memory cell transistors whose source-drain paths are connected in series on one surface of a semiconductor substrate, are arranged in a matrix configuration of rows and columns. After formation of a conventional NAND-type memory cell array in which control gates of memory cell transistors in each row are connected to a corresponding one of word lines, a program booster plate is formed through a dielectric layer over memory cell transistors of each memory block defined as memory strings in each row. During programming, a boosting voltage applied to the program booster plate may allow a program voltage applied to control gates of a selected word line to be lowered due to a voltage self-boosted to the control gates thereof.
However, since the prior art program booster plate in each memory block is formed on thin plate dielectric layers on the control gates therein, side-wall insulating layers of underlying floating gates and insulating layers on source and drain regions therein, it takes considerable time to charge/discharge the boosting voltage into/from the booster plate, thereby increasing the programming period. Moreover, during its fabrication process, fabrication defects in any one of the insulating layers cause the boosting voltage to be applied to a source, drain, floating gate or control gate of a memory transistor associated therewith. Thus, the memory block associated therewith may malfunction.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory having boosting lines self-aligned with word lines


A sound collector which enables users to easily hear a sound from the front of the user's head when mounted on the user's head. The sound collector includes right and left hunger blocks provided at the ends of a headband to be mounted on the user's head, right and left microphone units for collecting an external sound, right and left loud speaker units supported on the right and the left hunger blocks for multiplying the external sound collected by the right and the left microphone units and emitting the amplified sound, and a power source block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sound collector which amplifies an external sound of a predetermined frequency band so as to be hearable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, in stereo audio apparatuses such as a disc recording/reproduction apparatus and a tape recorder, a loud speaker apparatus is provided at the front position of an apparatus main body so that a reproduced sound emitted from this loud speaker apparatus is heard.
When a reproduced sound emitted from such a loud speaker apparatus is to be heard by a plurality of persons, some of the persons can hear a sound of a proper volume while the others are obliged to hear a sound of insufficient volume depending on the hearing position.
Moreover, an audio apparatus may be located in a position in the vicinity of an air conditioner or other apparatus which generates a noise. When a reproduced sound from the audio apparatus is overlapped with such a noise, it becomes impossible to hear a desired reproduced sound with a preferable sound quality.
Furthermore, in a lecture auditorium and a theater, there is a case that the sound volume is insufficient for some of the audience and it is difficult to sufficiently hear the voice of a lecturer or an actor/actress.


A MOS switching circuit (1) for providing constant signal-independent gate-to-source voltage at a switching transistor (2) of a differential switched capacitor circuit so that a signal-independent resistance is provided between its source and drain includes a first control transistor (5) coupled between the input (3) and the gate of the switching transistor (2). The gate of switching transistor (2) is also coupled to a first clock phase signal PHI1 and the gate of the first control transistor (5) is coupled to a second, non-overlapping clock phase signal PHI2. A second control transistor (6) is coupled between the input (3) and the second clock phase signal PHI2 and its gate is coupled to the first clock phase signal PHI1. Capacitors (7) and (8) are coupled between the transistors (2, 5 and 6) and the clock phase signals PHI1 and PHI2, respectively.

Switched capacitor differential circuits are generally used to provide differential inputs to operational amplifiers, and can be connected in the form of a feedback circuit and are generally switched by two out-of-phase clock signals to switch the two separate input signals to the operational amplifier.
As best shown in FIG. 1, a known system includes a switched capacitor circuit 20 for switching differential input signals V.sub.inp1 and V.sub.inp2 into first and second inputs A and B of an operational amplifier 32. Switched capacitor circuit 20 receives two control inputs consisting of a first phase control clock signal PHI0 and a second phase control clock signal PHI1 that is non-overlapping with the first phase control clock signal PHI0.
The switched capacitor circuit 20 has a first input coupled to receive input signal V.sub.inp1 and a second input coupled to receive input signal V.sub.inp2 and a third input coupled to receive an analog ground signal AG. Analog ground AG is a voltage reference relative to which the input signals V.sub.inp1 and V.sub.inp2 change. The switched capacitor circuit 20 has a first output coupled to the first input A of the amplifier 32 and a second output coupled to the second input B of the amplifier 32.
Switched capacitor circuit 20 includes a first pair of switching transistors 22 and 23 which both have their gate electrodes connected to the first phase control clock signal PHI0, their respective source electrodes connected to the first and second inputs, respectively, and their respective drain electrodes connected to respective first electrodes of first and second respective capacitors 30 and 31.
A second pair of switching transistors 24 and 25 both have their gate electrodes connected to the second phase control clock signal PHI1, their respective source electrodes connected to the first and second outputs, respectively, and their respective drain electrodes connected to respective second electrodes of the first and second respective capacitors 30 and 31.
A third pair of switching transistors 28 and 29 have their gate electrodes coupled to the second phase control clock signal PHI1, their source electrodes coupled to the third input AG and their respective drain electrodes coupled to the respective first electrodes of the respective capacitors 30 and 31.
A fourth pair of switching transistors 26 and 27 have their gate electrodes coupled to the first phase control clock signal PHI0, their source electrodes coupled to the third input AG and their respective drain electrodes coupled to the respective second electrodes of the respective capacitors 30 and 31.
In operation, the switched capacitor circuit 20 charges capacitor 30 from the first input V.sub.inp1, and capacitor 31 from the second input V.sub.inp2, during an active period of the first phase control clock signal PHI0. During the active period of the second phase control clock signal PHI1, capacitor 30 is discharged to the analog ground AG and its charge transferred to the first output, and the charge on capacitor 31 is similarly transferred to the second output. However, since the voltage on the gate electrodes of transistors 22 and 23 is constant while that on their drain and source electrodes is changing according to the input signals, the source-drain ON resistance is also changing according to the input signal. Therefore, the RC constant for charging the capacitors also changes according to the input signal. Thus, the two differential paths are not equal if the input signals are not equal.
Attempts to solve this problem have been disclosed in, for example United Kingdom Patent Specifications GB 2 264 011 and GB 2 249 233, but neither has been very successful in solving the problem with a minimum of extra components.

Switching circuit and switched capacitor circuit including the switching circuit