The present invention provides a silicone resin composition having excellent adhesion. The present invention also aims to provide a cured silicone resin and a sealed optical semiconductor element each produced using the silicone resin composition. The present invention relates to a silicon resin composition comprising: a silicon resin mixture; and (B) a silicon compound, the silicon resin mixture containing (A-i) polyorganosiloxane that has at least two substituents each having a carbon-carbon double bond bonded to a silicon atom, (A-ii) polyorganohydrogen siloxane having at least two hydrogen groups each bonded to a silicon atom, and (A-iii) a hydrosilylation catalyst, the (B) silicone compound having a structural unit represented by Formula (1-3) and a structural unit represented by Formula (1-4) between a structural unit represented by Formula (1-1) and a structural unit represented by Formula (1-2):

In LEDs and optical semiconductor devices, a transparent resin is commonly used as a sealing material of a light emitting element. Examples of the transparent resin include epoxy resins and silicone resins of the addition curing type, condensation curing type, and UV curing type. Silicone resins are particularly used for sealing high-luminance and high-output optical semiconductor elements (e.g., white LED) because they form cured products having excellent properties such as weather resistance and heat resistance. The silicone resins however have poor adhesion to noble metals (e.g., silver) which are used as semiconductor materials. Moreover, the silicone resins also have poor adhesion to polyphthalamide resin (PPA), which is a reflector material. Depending on heat radiation from the light emitting element and the temperature cycle, the adhesion further lowers to problematically cause separation between a base material (e.g., PPA) or a noble metal electrode and the silicone resin.
To solve such problems, adhesion-imparting agents such as various silane coupling agents are added to improve the adhesion. The effect thereof is, however, not sufficient. Moreover, such a composition disadvantageously has its adhesion lowered due to very high moisture absorption, leading to poor durability.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an addition-curable silicone resin composition containing an isocyanuric ester having an epoxy group as an adhesion-imparting agent. Patent Literature 2 discloses, as an adhesive silicone resin, a reactive modified silicone resin containing vinyl and carbamate groups in the same molecule and having an alkoxy or OH group bonded to a silicon atom at one molecular end.
However, a means of adding an isocyanuric ester as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 does not give a sufficient effect of improving the adhesion to a base material.
A modified silicone resin as disclosed in Patent Literature 2 includes a vinyl group that provides curability and a carbamate group that provides adhesion in the same molecule. In this case, carbamate groups may be uniformly dispersed in the entire cured resin and the concentration thereof around the adhesion interface may lower, possibly resulting in an insufficient effect of improving the adhesion. Moreover, if the amount of carbamate groups in molecules is increased to increase the concentration of carbamate groups around the adhesion interface, physical properties or durability of the silicon resin may be adversely affected.
In addition, a silicone resin containing an alkoxy or OH group bonded to a silicon atom problematically has poor storage stability.

Silicone resin composition, cured silicone resin, and sealed optical semiconductor element

Abstract: in Formula (1-1) and Formula (1-2), R1as each independently representing a C1-C18 hydrocarbon group selected from an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aryl group, and an aralkyl group, in Formula (1-3) and Formula (1-4), R1bs each independently representing a C1-C18 hydrocarbon group selected from an alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aryl group, and an aralkyl group, in Formula (1-3), R2a representing a C1-C8 alkylene group in which a part of carbon atoms, except for the carbon atom bonded to a silicon atom, is optionally substituted with an oxygen atom, R2b representing a C1-C3 alkylene group, R3 representing a C1-C3 alkylene group, R4 representing a hydrogen atom, a C1-C3 alkyl group, a C1-C3 alkyl group having an OH group, or a halogeno group, in Formula (1-3), m representing an integer of 1 to 50, x representing an integer of 0 to 2, and in Formula (1-4), n representing an integer of 10 to 1500.


Spring set configurations that include an advantageous combination of spring geometries are disclosed. Spring elements having curved and straight sections, orientation of spring element anchor points with respect to the common radius, orientation of spring element segments with respect to a specific axis, balance of the length of spring elements about the common radius, and mass balance about the common radius can be used to mitigate unwanted out of plane motion. The spring set provides planar motion while reducing undesired out of plane motion making MEMS devices substantially insensitive to the process-induced etch angle variations of the spring elements. The spring set can be used in a MEMS gyro device which maintains the desired resonant modes and consistently low quadrature error even with process variations in manufacturing causing undesirable etch angles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spring set configurations for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices, and more particularly to spring set configurations for MEMS gyros.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of gyroscope devices are known for providing navigational guidance such as in aerospace applications. Microelectromechanical systems gyroscopes (hereinafter MEMS gyros) are known for their compact size and relatively low cost of manufacture. In addition to aerospace applications, the small size and low cost of MEMS gyros lends them well to a variety of other applications including motion sensing for image stabilization and input devices, for example.
Gyros operate by moving a mass. When the mass is located in a rotating reference frame, for example, it will be subjected to a Coriolis force calculated by the formula:Fc=2mv×Ω, where Fc is the Coriolis force, m is the mass of the moving body, v is the velocity vector for the rotating body, and Ω is the angular velocity vector for the rotating body. Conventional spinning mass gyros generate large Coriolis forces by spinning at high velocities. MEMS gyros typically do not have bearings on which they can continually spin. Instead, MEMS microstructures create motion by vibrating a mass. When the mass is vibrated at its natural frequency, large amplitudes can be achieved with minimal excitation. When this driven mode is excited in a rotating reference frame, the resulting Coriolis force will be perpendicular to the driven mode direction due to the cross product of the velocity and angular velocity vectors in the formula above. This motion in the perpendicular direction is what is sensed to determine rotational rate of the reference frame. The mass is driven at its drive resonance frequency, thus the sensed motion will also vibrate at the same frequency but in an orthogonal direction. If the microstructure is designed such that the sensed motion natural frequency is close to the driven frequency, the resulting motion will be gained dynamically. The amount of this dynamic gain (Q) can be described byQ=ωdrive/Δω,where ωdrive is the driven frequency and Δω is the difference in frequency between the driven and sensed modes. The motion can be sensed and driven capacitively.
Δω is a key parameter for resonant gyros. The smaller the value of Δω, the greater the gain. But this increased gain comes at a cost in the form of decreased bandwidth of rotation that can be detected. Since Δω is the difference between the sense and drive frequencies, small variations in these nominal frequencies can cause relatively large fluctuations in Δω. Therefore, consideration must be made to ensure that process variations affect both sense and drive frequencies in the same or similar amounts.
A typical example of such a MEMS gyro includes a microstructure that is driven in-plane, oscillating about the z-axis. If the reference frame is rotated about the x or y-axis, Coriolis motion will be produced about the y or x-axis, respectively. Such a gyro can be optimized to sense reference frame rotations about only one axis, for example the x-axis. This is achieved by placing the majority of the mass close to the x-axis and as far from the y-axis as possible. This minimizes the moment of inertia about the x-axis and maximizes the moment of inertia about the y-axis. This also makes the lowest resonant mode the desired y-axis rotation. Electrodes with opposite polarity (high and low bias) are placed under the microstructure on either side of the y-axis so when the capacitance is changed a current is generated that can be converted to a voltage with a charge amplifier. If the microstructure were to rotate about the x-axis, there would be no net current generated because both capacitances would change equally.
In ideal operation, a point "p" on the end of the drive motor will move back and forth in the y-direction as the gyro is driven. If the reference frame is not rotating, the point p will only move in the y-direction and will not move in the z-direction. When the reference frame rotates about the x-axis, a Coriolis force is generated proportional to the velocity in the z-direction according to the formula for calculating Fc above. The motion generated is proportional to the Coriolis force.
Quadrature motion is generated when point p moves in the z-direction in its driven mode. This results in a driven motion that is 90 degrees out of phase with the rate rotation sense signal. The signal from the gyro is sinusoidal at the driven frequency with phase components from both the desired rotation rate signal and from the quadrature. The two phases of the signal are decoupled by a demodulation circuit. The demodulation circuit provides an output signal that includes an average amplitude of the in-phase rate signal as well as the out of phase quadrature signal. The in-phase rate signal is the desired output signal the gyro is designed to sense.
When an unwanted quadrature signal is too large, it can cause the charge amplifier to clip and any information of the desired rate signal is clipped along with it. Electrical mitigation circuits have been utilized to reduce this effect of quadrature error on the desired rate signal. Typical quadrature error mitigation circuits work by applying both high and low bias voltages on compensation electrodes. This generates a current with the in-plane driven motion having the same phase as the unwanted quadrature. By applying a compensation voltage bias, the quadrature mitigation circuit can minimize the unwanted quadrature signal. The amount of compensation voltage bias needed to minimize the unwanted quadrature signal is an indicator of how far the microstructure is tipping out of plane. Design improvement can be measured by how much compensation voltage is reduced. The quadrature error mitigation circuit is limited by the available voltage. It is not uncommon for quadrature error to be so large that it cannot be corrected with a quadrature error mitigation circuit. Some gyro designs have larger compensation electrodes so that more current can be generated and larger quadrature error signals can be minimized. Larger compensation voltages may result in unacceptable noise levels in the device. Minimizing unwanted quadrature by electrical means can make the microstructure useable, but high level performance characteristics such as Allan variance and temperature sensitivity may be compromised since they have been correlated to compensation voltage levels, probably due to the microstructure moving out of plane.
A primary cause of quadrature error is the etch angle variation in the microstructure components, and particularly in the springs. An ideal orthogonal spring will move in the direction it is forced, but when there is an etch angle producing an angled neutral axis (for instance a parallelogram cross-section), i.e., a tilt of some degree, the spring will also move out of plane to the forcing direction.
Deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE) tools are state of the art tools typically used to construct MEMS devices. DRIE tools use etch chemistry in a directional plasma to etch silicon vertically. These tools can have a radial center-to-edge variation in etched angle due to edge effects of the plasma. The orientation of the etch angle can be dependent on where the die is located on the wafer with the straightest edges (least tilt) being produceable only in a correlated portion of the wafer.
The driven mode is affected by both the orientation and magnitude of the etch angle. When the etch angle direction is orthogonal to the spring direction, it maximizes the out of plane component of motion. When the etch angle direction is the same as the spring direction, there is little effect. When an etch angle is present on the gyro in the y-direction, the out of plane component is generated by the spring component in the x-direction, and this causes a rotation about the y-axis. The opposite is true for etch angles in the y-axis in that they generate an out of plane motion about the x-axis. Only out of plane motions about the y-axis produce a signal, and thus quadrature, as described above.
The magnitude of quadrature displacement is affected by the differences in natural frequencies of the quadrature mode and the driven mode. In the same way that the gyro output is gained dynamically due to the sense mode being close to the driven mode, the quadrature motion is also gained. X-direction etch angles cause out of plane motion about the x-axis. Since this mode is far from the driven frequency, there is not much dynamic gain present. This motion does not generate an electrical current since the out of plane capacitors change equally. However, y-direction etch angles cause out of plane motion about the y-axis. This mode is intentionally close to driven mode because it is needed to amplify the desired Coriolis motion. Consequently, the quadrature motion about the y-axis is amplified by its dynamic gain (Q), and its motion produces an electrical quadrature signal.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for spring set configurations on MEMS devices and particularly on MEMS gyros that allow for reduced sensitivity to etch angle errors (or inaccuracies) due to processing variations. There also remains a need in the art for such MEMS devices and MEMS gyros that are easy to make and use. The present invention provides a solution for these problems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

MEMS gyros with quadrature reducing springs


An audio communications interface 102 provides substantially automatic audio communications between a remote agent telephone 107 and a telephonic switch 104 through a telephonic console 106 connected to the telephonic switch 104. A remote agent dials a specified telephone number on the agent telephone 107 to access the audio communications interface 102. The audio communications interface 102 receives the dialed number from a telephone network 108 connected to the agent telephone 107 and generates a call signal which is transmitted to the telephonic switch 104 through the telephonic console 106. In response to the call signal, the telephonic switch 104 establishes audio communications with the agent telephone 107 through the console 106 and audio communications interface 102. A method for establishing audio communications through the audio communications interface 102 and data communications through an agent terminal 112, a computer network and a host computer 110 with the telephonic switch 104 is provided. In addition, a communications system for providing audio and data communications between a remote agent and the telephonic switch 104 is provided.

The present invention relates generally to telephonic switches and, more particularly, to an audio communications interface, method and communications system for providing audio communications between a remote agent and a telephonic switch through a conventional agent telephone and a conventional telephonic console connected to the telephonic switch. Data communications may further be provided through an agent terminal connected to a host computer which is, in turn, connected to the telephonic switch.
Telephone switching systems employing automatic call distributors (ACD) are increasingly being used by businesses to automatically route incoming customer calls to available agents. ACD systems generally include a multiport switch controlled by a central processing unit to interconnect external telephonic units of an external telephonic network with internal telephonic units. An example of such an ACD system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,611 issued to Jones et al. on Aug. 18, 1992, entitled "Pulse Modulated Self-Clocking and Self-Synchronizing Data Transmission and Method for a Telephonic Communication Switching System", the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In order to further increase the flexibility of telephone switching systems, manufacturers have attempted, with some success, to design systems which permit agents to be stationed at remote locations. Data communications are typically established between the ACD and an agent terminal over a computer network, such as a large area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Typically, a host computer receives data from the ACD and transmits the same or additional data over the computer network to the agent terminal.
As is known, agents have communicated through prior ACDs by means of telephonic consoles. The telephonic consoles are directly connected to the ACDs and provide both audio and data communications. In an effort to increase agent flexibility, ACD manufacturers have provided data communications over the just described computer network while concomitantly providing audio communications from the telephonic console over a conventional telephone network to a remote agent telephone.
The remote agent telephone is connected via the telephone network to the telephonic console. Unfortunately, to establish audio communications between the remote agent telephone and the ACD, a particular telephone digit sequence must be entered at the telephonic console. A remote agent therefore dials a telephonic console from a remote agent telephone. In response, a party physically located at the telephonic console dials the particular telephone digit sequence on the telephonic console to establish audio communication between the agent and the ACD and, in turn, callers to the ACD. As is evident, the need for a party to manually establish the audio connection is inefficient and wastes valuable human resources. Furthermore, prior systems provide less than complete functionality at the remote agent location.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an audio communications interface and method which substantially automatically provides audio communications between an agent telephone and a telephonic switch through a conventional telephonic console connected to the telephonic switch. A communications system is further needed to provide the aforesaid audio communications and data communications between the remote agent and the telephonic switch.

Audio communications inferface, method and communications system for connecting a remote agent to a telephone switch


Provided are disposable, moisture-activated, self-heating cartridges useful for, e.g., isothermal nucleic acid amplification, incubation, and thermal actuation, and visual fluorescent detection of the amplification products. These devices may be self-contained and do not require any special instruments to operate.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in inexpensive, point of care diagnostics for home care, individualized medicine, and therapeutics. Such devices also address medical needs in regions of the world lacking sophisticated laboratory facilities. Because many chemical and biological reactions of interest (e.g., enzymatic amplification reactions) require elevated temperature, there is a need in the art for portable microfluidic devices having the capability of supplying thermal energy to reactants.

Moisture-activated self-heating analysis device

The Trustees Of The University Of Pennsylvania


In order to provide a balanced bent lip disc, the applicant routinely had issues with rippling at an outer circumference edge of the lip. Due to the geometries involved in a 3½ inch disc bent to provide an outer lip of ½ inch at 45 degrees, 0.1145 of excess circumference is created thereby providing a ripple effect. The applicant discovered that simultaneously embossing the lip while bending the lip could reduce this rippling effect (and the outer circumference at the edge) by at least 75 if not 90 or 95% of a non-embossed lip bent in the same manner.

Blade carriers have been made for years for use with rotating equipment such as rotary cutters and the like. Blade carriers typically have a planar disc center with a center bore for receiving a rotating shaft along with spaced apart mounting locations for receiving a cutting blades thereon. An outer edge of the blade carrier is often upwardly bent relative to the planar disc center in an effort to add strength to the blade carrier, protect the shaft and/or mounting hardware of the blades, and/or for other purposes.
A three inch diameter circular disc center portion with a half inch of material bent upwardly in a circumferential manner has an outer circumference of the pre-bent component at 21.9915 inches (2×π×radius of 3½ inches). When the outer lip is bent at ½ inch then a relatively complicated geometry problem can be created whereby the lip extends upwardly at an angle 45° thereby creating a vertical component of 0.3535533 inches and a horizontal component of 3.3535533 inches at an angle of 6.0182° of the upper rim relative to a center axis of the planar disc. The circumference of this outer rim (2πr) of the hypotenuse is equal to the height 0.3535533 divided by sin (6.0182°) giving a radius to the edge of the lip at 3.3721387 thereby resulting in a circumference of 21.877 inches. Accordingly, the new outer lip is roughly 0.11 inches shorter in circumference than the original lip. This means a substantial of material tends to provide a ripple effect as this extra 0.7 inches is distributed around that rim, usually in a non-symmetrical manner. Additional material exists and ripples between the edge and the bend as well in this process. This ripple effect often causes rotational imbalance in the part when attached to a rotary cutter. Rotary imbalance causes excessive vibration and premature wear to other components of the rotary cutter.
Accordingly, presently secondary processes must be performed in an effort to remove rotational balance such a by addressing this as excessive material created during the bending operation of the lip.
Ripple effect of bent rims relative to planar center discs are not limited to 3-3½ inch diameter blade carriers, but all other such devices with similar constructions causing an outer circumference to be at least one to three percent less (if not more) in length with a ripple effect.
Improved methodology is believed to be desirable over prior art efforts.

Method of forming a balanced disc with angled lip


A nonwoven web has a weight sufficient for construction industry use and comprises at least forty percent (40%) recycled waste paper. At least one surface of the web bears a biocide, e.g., has a biocide applied thereto. Preferably the weight of the web is greater than fifteen pounds per thousand square feet (15-lbs/MSF). Preferably the biocide is zinc pyrithione. The web preferably bears at least 50-grams of biocide per thousand square feet per side of said web. One example use of the web is as builders felt, with other uses including as a facer for a laminate board and for asphalt-impregnated webs. The biocide-bearing nonwoven web is specifically directed to use in building construction. One example use of the web is as builders felt, with other uses including as a facer for a laminate board and for asphalt-impregnated webs. Because building construction products must be tough, but priced as low as possible, this web is made largely from recycled waste paper (as opposed to virgin cellulose fiber, as a cost-reducing measure), and optionally clarifier sludge.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention pertains to building construction paper such as that often called Builder's Felt.
2. Related Art and Other Considerations
Many building construction professionals have used the various forms of a nonwoven continuous web, often impregnated with asphalt, as a layer to place underneath other building products such as shingles, sheathing, and flooring. Because of the usual location of the nonwoven web, i.e., underneath other products, it has been called "underlayment" or "underlay".
For many years prior art webs have served in building construction as a base material that is converted into roofing, siding, and flooring felt. In addition, various types of nonwoven continuous web sheets have also been used as a "facer" material for foamed insulation board laminates. In these foamed insulation board laminates, facer materials typically form a sandwich panel where the core material is comprised of polyisocyanurate foam. These foamed insulation laminates are typically utilized as side-wall or roofing insulation. The two facers of a laminated roof insulation board can be a glass fiber reinforced felt. One such facer material is made by Atlas Roofing Corporation, and is called "GRF (Glass-Reinforced-Felt) Facer".
A recently developed and popular nonwoven web is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,736 to Bush et al. Prior art facer webs are listed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,572,736 and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/971,771, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Outside of the building construction arena, the practice of treating nonwoven web materials with anti-microbial chemicals has become more widespread as health standards have improved worldwide. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,734,157 treats nonwoven web materials with anti-microbial chemicals. However, the field of anti-microbial treated nonwoven webs for building products is relatively barren.
The principal biology responsible for the health problems in many buildings are fungi rather than bacteria or viruses. Reports have indicated that Stachybotrys chartarum, Aspergillus versicolor, and several toxigenic species of Penicillium are potentially hazardous, especially when the air-handling systems have become heavily contaminated.
Perhaps the most hazardous of the toxigenic fungi found in wet buildings is Stachybotrys chartarum, a fungus known to produce the very potent cytotoxic macrocyclic trichothenes along with a variety of immunosuppressants and endothelin receptor antagonists mycotoxins. This fungus was investigated for its association with the serious health problems of a family living in a water-damaged home in Chicago and has been implicated in several cases of building-related illness. Also, a cluster of cases of acute pulmonary hemorrhage/hemosiderosis was reported in Cleveland, Ohio.
While there has been some progress in nonwoven webs in personal hygiene technology, the control of molds and fungus in building construction nonwoven web products has yet to be substantially addressed. What is needed, therefore, and an object of the present invention, is a nonwoven web for building products that resists growth of fungi and molds, and a method of making the same.

Building construction felt paper with biocide/anti-microbial treatment


An air-treatment system includes a cooling circuit, a first heat exchanger in thermal communication with the cooling circuit, and a secondary circuit in thermal communication with the first heat exchanger. The air-treatment system also includes a controller in communication with at least one of the cooling circuit, the first heat exchanger, and the secondary circuit. The controller is operable to receive at least one input indicative of a desired ambient condition, operable to receive at least one input indicative of current ambient conditions, operable to receive at least one input indicative of at least one of the cooling circuit operation and secondary circuit operation, and operable to change the operation of at least one of the cooling circuit and the secondary circuit when the current ambient condition is outside of a desired operation condition range.

Work machines typically include an operator cabin, which houses one or more machine controls and an operator interface. The operator cabin may be sealed from the environment and may include an air-treatment system providing for the comfort of the operator when the work machine operates in harsh environments.
The air-treatment system for a work machine may include a high-pressure refrigeration system driven by the engine and a low-pressure fluid circulation system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,877 (the '877 patent) issued to Pfeiffer et al. on Mar. 21, 2000, describes an air-conditioning system having a power cell, a remote heat exchanger, and a low-pressure fluid circuit in communication with the heat exchanger. The power cell of the '877 patent includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator in a closed high-pressure cooling circuit. The low-pressure circuit thermally interfaces with the condenser to remove heat from the high-pressure cooling circuit. The heat exchanger mounts in the cabin of a vehicle to allow for air to be cooled by the heat exchanger as it flows into the cabin.
The air-conditioning system of the '877 patent, however, does not include a control system and may operate inefficiently under a variety of environmental conditions. In addition, the system of the '877 patent does not include a heating circuit and can only cool the air entering the cabin. The system of '877 patent may lack functionality for simultaneous multi-space use, such as in a work machine having an operator cabin and a sleeping cabin.
The present invention overcomes one or more of the problems set forth above.

Air-treatment system with secondary circuit


A method and data structure are provided for efficiently storing asymmetric clustering models. The models are stored by storing a first level record for a word identifier and two second level records, one for a word identifier and one for a cluster identifier. An index to the second level word record and an index to the second level cluster record are stored in the first level record. Many of the records in the data structure include both cluster sub-model parameters and word sub-model parameters.

The present invention relates to language models. In particular, the present invention relates to compressing language models for efficient storage.
Language models are used in a variety of applications including automatic translation systems, speech recognition, hand writing recognition and speech and text generation. In general, language models provide a likelihood of seeing a sequence of words in a language. One common language model is an n-gram language model that provides probabilities for observing n words in a sequence.
As n increases, the likelihood of observing particular sequences of words in a training text decreases. For example, it is much more likely that a sequence of two words, AB, will be found in a training text than a sequence of five words, ABCDE. When a particular sequence of words is not observed in the training text or is not observed often in the training text, the corresponding probability trained for the sequence will not provide an accurate reflection of the likelihood of the sequence in the language. For example, simply because a sequence of words such as "fly over Miami" does not appear in the training text does not mean that this sequence has zero probability of appearing in the English language.
To overcome this data sparseness problem, the prior art has developed a back-off scheme in which n-gram models for sequences of words that are not observed often are replaced with (n−1)-gram models multiplied by a back-off weight, α, that is dependent upon the preceding n−1 words before the current word. For example, if trigram models are used in which n=3, the back-off probability would be a bigram probability that provides the probability of the current word given a preceding word and the back-off weight α would be dependent on the preceding word and the second preceding word.
For such models, a model probability must be stored for each level of n-gram from 1 to N, where N is the longest sequence of words supported by the language model. In addition, a back-off weight must be stored for each context in each n-gram. For example, for a trigram model with back-off weights, the following parameters must be stored (1) P(wi|wi−1wi−2), (2) P(wi|wi−1), (3) P(wi), (4) α(wi−1wi−2) and (5) α(wi−1).
To reduce the amount of storage space needed, one system of the prior art stored some of the probabilities and back-off weights together in a same record. This reduces the amount of space required to index the values. In particular, for two words wa and wb, the bigram probability P(wa|wb) would be stored with the back-off weight α(wawb) This can be done because the record can be uniquely identified by word identifiers wa and wb. Similarly, the probability P(wa) can be stored with back-off weight α(wa). Thus, a unigram probability is stored with a bigram back-off weight and a bigram probability is stored with a trigram back-off weight.
Recently, a new type of language model known as a predictive clustering language model, which is a variant of asymmetric clustering models, has been developed. In general, an asymmetric clustering model can be parameterized as follows with trigram approximation:
                              P                                (                                          w                i                            |              h                        )                          =                              P                                      (                                                c                  i                                |                                                      c                                          i                      -                      1                                                                                c                                          i                      -                      2                                                                                )                                ×                      P                                      (                                                w                  i                                |                                                      c                                          i                      -                      1                                                                                c                                          i                      -                      2                                                                                c                    i                                                              )                                                          EQ        .                                          1            where wi denotes a word, h denotes a context, and ci denotes the cluster that wi belongs to. Asymmetric models use different clusters for predicted and conditional words, respectively. As an extreme case, in the predictive model, each conditional word is regarded as a cluster so it can be formally formulated as:P(wi|h)=P(ci|w−1wi−2)×P(wi|wi−1wi−2ci)  EQ. 2
From Equation 2, it can be seen that the parameter space is larger than that of a word-based language model and there are two sub-models in the predictive clustering model. One is the cluster sub-model P(ci|wi−1wi−2) and the other is the word sub-model P(wi|wi−1wi−2ci). Each of these sub-models are backed off independently. This creates the following back-off approximations:P(ci|wi−1wi−2)=P(ci|wi−1)×α(wi−1wi−2)  EQ. 3P(ci|wi−1)=P(ci)×α(wi−1)  EQ. 4P(wi|wi−1wi−2ci)=P(wi|wi−1ci)×α(wi−1wi−2ci)  EQ. 5P(wi|wi−1ci)=P(wi|ci)×α(wi−1ci)  EQ. 6
From Equations 3 and 4, it can be seen that there are five types of parameters in the cluster sub-model that need to be stored. These include (1) P(ci|wi−1wi−2), (2) P(ci|wi−1), (3) a(wi−1wi−2), (4) P(ci) and (5) α(wi−1). From Equations 5 and 6, there are also five types of parameters that must be stored for the word sub-model. These include: (1) P(wi|wi−1wi−2ci), (2) P(wi|wi−1ci), (3) α(wi−1wi−2ci), (4) P(wi|ci) and (5) and α(wi−1ci).
It is not possible to combine these parameters in the same way in which the word-based model parameters were combined. Specifically, the bigram probability P(ci|wi−1) cannot be stored with the trigram back-off weight α(wi−1wi−2) because they require different indexing keys. Similarly, P(ci) cannot be stored with α(wi−1). In the word sub-model, back-off weight α(wi−1wi−2ci) and probability P(wi|wi−1wi−2ci) cannot be stored together nor can back-off weight α(wi−1ci) and P(wi|ci) because they have different indexing keys.
Traditionally, four trees have been stored to store these parameters with one tree for each sub-model used to store probability parameters and one tree for each sub-model used to store back-off weights. The deficiency of this approach is that in each tree there is a separate indexing data structure. As a result, the indexing data structure is duplicated in the multiple tree structures creating an overall model size that is much larger than the word-based model given the same training corpus. Thus, a system is needed to improve the efficiency of storing predictive clustering language models.

Method and apparatus for compressing asymmetric clustering language models


A pixel array for imaging comprises an array of pixels of a first pixel type and a second pixel type. Each pixel of the first pixel type comprises a first photo-sensitive element having a first area. Each pixel of the second pixel type comprises a second photo-sensitive element and a third photo-sensitive element. The second photo-sensitive element has a second area, which is smaller than the first area. Only the second photo-sensitive element in the pixel of the second pixel type is connected to a readout circuit. The third photo-sensitive element is connected to a charge drain via a permanent connection or a switchable connection. Outputs of the second photo-sensitive elements can be used to perform phase detect autofocussing.

Autofocus lenses as used, for example, on digital cameras mostly use a feedback loop to focus. Optical sensors are used to determine if the image scene is properly focused. Several principles, such as contrast based autofocus or phase autofocus, are employed. Contrast based autofocus is based upon calculation of the contrast in a certain area of the scene, around the object to be focused. The focus of the lens is adjusted with a control loop until a maximum contrast is achieved. The contrast measurement does not indicate the direction of the focus. Therefore it can take some time before the correct focus setting is achieved. Phase detect autofocus measures separately the projected spot of the object to be focused as it is seen from distinct parts of the lens, on separate optical detectors. The focus is adjusted until the same response is achieved on both detectors. This ensures a correct focus. From the peak response of the different phase autofocus detectors, the focus direction and the amount of focus adjustment can be calculated. This results in much faster focusing. In many single lens reflex cameras this is done with a dedicated phase detect autofocus sensor, which is illuminated via the mirror in the camera or via a beam splitter or prism. However, in a live view mode or video mode, this secondary phase autofocus sensor cannot be used. Also in cameras without a mirror or prism, a faster phase autofocus is being implemented.
FIG. 1 shows a camera composed of a simple lens and an image sensor. When the object is focused correctly by the lens, all optical rays from the object are correctly projected onto the same location on the image sensor. When the object is incorrectly focused, different rays of the object are projected on different locations on the image sensor, as shown in the Figure. This results in a blurred image.
FIG. 2 shows more detail on how the lens actually focuses the object. An object at the principal axis of the lens is shown. A pixel array is shown, indicated by microlenses and photodiodes. The principal ray goes directly from the object to the pixel array. The centre pixel sees the object through this principal ray. The centre pixel also sees this object through rays from the edge of the lens, from all sides of the lens. If part of the pixel is made insensitive, by any means, only rays from one side of the lens will project the object on to the pixel. This is shown at the bottom of FIG. 2. On the left drawing, the right part of the pixel is made insensitive. The lens still focuses the object correctly onto the pixel but only the left part of the lens is used. On the right drawing, the left part of each pixel is made insensitive. In that case, only the right part of the lens is used. The object is still correctly focused in this drawing, and all the rays are projected on the same pixel.
The situation when the object is not in focus, is shown in FIG. 3. In the case shown in the drawing, the object is closer to the lens, and the object is focused in front of the image sensor. When now the right part of the pixel is made insensitive, the rays of the object are create a response at the pixels at the right of the principal ray. When the left part of the pixels is made insensitive, the rays of the object create a response at the pixels to the left of the principal ray. The response of the different rays for different focus positions is also shown in FIG. 1. A cross-section of two phase detect autofocus pixel with a light shield and two different exit pupils are shown in FIG. 4, together with a cross-section of a normal pixel. The unused area of a pixel is covered by a light collecting charge drain. This light shield is implemented using a metal layer on top of the photodiode. This can be an extension of the metal routing that is present in between pixels towards one side, as shown in FIG. 4. It can also be a dedicated metal layer, or another non-transparent material, that is deposited on top of the photodiode.
Several different techniques have been proposed to use phase autofocus pixels as part of a pixel array. All use partially masked phase pixels with a light shield. These pixels employ a light shield above the pixel, so that the phase autofocus pixel only receives the light from a part of the main lens. Pairs or multiple of such autofocus pixels are then used in order to calculate the focus distance and adjust the lens focus. Implementations of such can be found for example in the following patents and patent applications: Japanese Patent Application JP2011250325A (Fujifilm), International Patent Application WO 2010/101096A1 (Canon), International Patent Application WO 2011/055617 (Canon), EP 2 330 449 A1 (Sony) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,098,321 (Sony).
The above referenced documents all describe the use of a light shield to cover part of the pixels or part of the pixel pairs. The light shield is used to form an exit pupil for the phase autofocus pixel. This exit pupil selects only rays that come from a part of the camera lens. The focus is then adjusted until the rays from different parts of the lens are projected on the same pixel. The response of the pixels with light shield depends on the distance between the light shield and the photodiode and on the distance between the light shield and the microlens.


A loadbeam is locally stiffened by either, 1. the addition of strategically placed extra material to the loadbeam, 2. not removing material during the etching process to form the loadbeam, or 3. special forming, by crimping or bending, at specific sites on the beam. The use of local stiffening, when placed about the loadbeam dimple or between the dimple and flexure attachment points, with or without additional damping, can significantly improve the dynamical response of the loadbeam and eliminate vibrational modes of a slider mounted on the loadbeam during HDI interactions with disk surface asperities during disk drive operation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the design of a suspension loadbeam to support slider mounted read/write transducers in disk drives. More particularly, it relates to a loadbeam design that provides superior dynamic performance during drive operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disk drive (HDD) uses an encapsulated thin film magnetic read/write head (transducer), called a slider, to read and write data on a magnetic medium or storage disk. The slider has a pre-patterned air-bearing surface (ABS) and is mounted on a flexible head gimbal assembly (HGA) that is itself mounted on a loadbeam. The combination of the loadbeam, the gimbal assembly (also referred to as a flexure), the electrically conducting leads (or traces), a hinge mechanism and a baseplate, is collectively termed the suspension. The suspension is activated by a servo actuator and associated electronic control circuitry to position the slider at various target locations along the magnetically encoded tracks on the disk. As the disk is rapidly rotated by a spindle motor, hydrodynamic pressure causes an air flow between the ABS of the slider and the surface of the disk. This flow, called the air-bearing layer, lifts and suspends the slider so that it literally flies above the surface of the disk (at a "fly height" of approximately 10 nm) on a layer of air called, appropriately, the air-bearing layer. The edge of the slider into which the disk rotates is called its "leading edge," the opposite edge, which contains the read/write head is called the "trailing edge." The loadbeam, as is known in the art, has a small protrusion or "dimple" formed on its disk-facing side that presses against the backside of the slider, providing a downward force and a pivot point for the slider to rotate about. This suspension system of loadbeam and flexure provides mechanical support for the slider while also allowing the slider pitch and roll capability when fly height is achieved. In addition, the system provides an electrical connection (i.e., a placement for the routing of conducting traces) between the read/write head and the pre-amplifier.
Enabling the slider to fly in a stable manner above the disk places stringent requirements on the suspension design, such as providing a proper range of its vertical stiffness (Kz), gimbal pitch and roll stiffness (Kp, Kr), gimbal pitch/roll static attitude (PSA/RSA), operational shock performance (G/gram) and the like. These requirements are mainly static and based on system geometry. A further requirement is that the suspension have little or no dynamic effect on the air bearing performance of the slider when the drive is operational. This requirement is related to the dynamic performance of the suspension. In general, dynamic performance requirements are not always enforced, so the dynamic performance of many existing suspensions is not good.
FIG. 1 shows the response of a slider striking a bump on a spinning disk under conditions that do not include dynamic effects of the suspension (i.e., the slider is not dynamically coupled to the suspension). The graph plots the vibrational response (air bearing modes) of the slider in a wide frequency range and shows that there are only two peaks in this response. The modes are strongly damped, producing a small vibrational amplitude and the slider settles down quickly.
FIG. 2 shows a suspension mounted slider also striking a bump on a disk, but in a situation where the dynamic effects of the suspension now have a strong influence on the subsequent slider response because the slider and loadbeam suspension are dynamically coupled by the air-bearing layer. As can be seen, the response curve now displays many sharp peaks, which are the result of loadbeam/slider air bearing coupling modes. Those modes at low frequencies that are not well damped (the sharp peaks) make it difficult for the slider to relax to an equilibrium condition. They can even cause the air bearing condition to become unstable and generate a sustained vibration. Under such circumstances the disk drive will fail or, at the least, its performance will be seriously degraded.
Recent studies have shown that the design of the loadbeam can play an important role in slider dynamic response. This is especially true if a thin and mass-reduced loadbeam is used to achieve a high operational shock performance. FIG. 3b shows a slider response curve for a slider that is part of a suspension system that includes an existing loadbeam design (shown in FIG. 3a) that is thin (25 microns in thickness) and mass reduced through the use of strategically placed cut-outs. Except for the gimbal related peak at 57 kHz, the remaining three peaks are loadbeam related.
The prior art discloses several approaches to improving the performance of a suspension. Schulz et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,977,798) teaches the lamination of a specific composite material to the steel structure of load beam as a way of stiffening the load beam. The composite stiffeners are bonded to steel layers by an adhesive and cover most of the area of the loadbeam including the baseplate area. The loadbeam is then shaped after its composite layer and steel layer lamination has been formed. The purpose of the composite stiffeners is not to eliminate specific vibrational modes and resonances induced by HDI interactions, but rather to stiffen the entire suspension in response to aerodynamic forces.
Albrecht et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,914,752) teaches the use of a continuous contact slider, wherein the flexure must provide a moment to counteract the moment generated by the adhesive force between the disk and the slider's contact pad.
Xu (U.S. Pat. No. 6,900,966) teaches the stiffening of a load beam by means of welding together pieces of the load beam at weld pockets, rather than using spot welds.
Karam II (U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,372) teaches the stiffening of a load beam by the addition of material or by crimping the beam at locations on the beam near its flexible end. Karam is basically interested in eliminating very low frequency vibrations, between 1-10 kHz and does so by stiffening between the dimple and hinge of the suspension.
Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application 2006/0028767) teaches the formation of a stiffening rail by bending the load beam. The loadbeam of the invention uses no flexure, so all of the shocks to the suspension must be absorbed by the beam itself.
It is clear from a reading of the prior art cited above that there is a need to improve slider response to vibrational motion produced by head-disk interface (HDI) interaction of a loadbeam mounted slider with disk asperities (i.e., bumps and other deviations from disk planarity) while the disk is in rotational motion.

Suspension with locally stiffened load beam


A solution for improved monitoring and control of jobs in grid and batch computing systems provides a centralized server's batch manager which is only responsible for workload balancing and job initiation and completion, all other command and status information are communicated directly between the plurality of submitter's systems and the plurality of client systems that are processing their respective workloads. The computing system and communication process utilizes event-driven peer to peer communications between submitter's systems and client systems and enables more detailed status and control information to be passed without overloading the centralized server, and by avoiding polling also provides more immediate feedback of results. Multiple process threads are employed on both the submitter's and client systems, and a user interface consolidates and displays results to the submitter allow commands to be sent to processes running on client batch systems.

Batch processing and parallel processing systems have existed for many years. These typically can be used to submit single jobs for processing, for multiple independent jobs, or for a set of related jobs that may comprise sub-steps of a larger job. IBM's LoadLeveler is an example of such a system, and Grid Computing is a new field that builds on what was provided with LoadLeveler, extending it with flexibility and security for use in more diverse environments.
A typical implementation of a parallel processing system allows multiple clients to each submit multiple job steps to be distributed among a pool of clients for processing. This is typically accomplished by having a centralized server receive all such requests, and prioritize and distribute them to a pool of client systems for processing. The centralized server is responsible for workload balancing among the clients, and for the commands to the client systems necessary to start and maintain jobs, and for monitoring activity and notifying the submitter of status, such as completion of the job steps on each client.
In these typical applications, once a job step is initiated on a client system for processing, all communication must flow through the centralized server, and there is little communication with or feedback of results from the job steps to the submitter prior to completion of the job step. This arises from several practical limitations. Due to the fact that the centralized server may be handling many job steps for many submitters simultaneously, and the centralized server is typically a general-purpose server not customized to a specific application, the centralized server does not have the capability or capacity to deal with the particular actions and requirements of each job step on each processing client in real time.

Peer to peer job monitoring and control in grid computing systems

International Business Machines Corporation


A crystal oscillator circuit includes a capacitive load stage coupled to a crystal; an amplifier stage including an amplifying transistor coupled to the crystal and to the capacitive load stage for establishing an oscillation signal at the amplifier stage output and a bias generator stage coupled to the amplifying transistor; an amplitude control stage to control the amplitude of the oscillation signal; a pick-up stage coupled to the amplifier stage and to the crystal to generate an oscillator output signal. The bias generator stage is configured as a degenerated common source amplifier.

Crystal oscillators, in particular Pierce oscillators, are widely used in the art to provide stable clock signals. There is a general need to design circuitry that is both suitable for all kinds of applications and highly efficient with respect to the specific requirements of each application. Specifically, electronic devices or electronic circuitry which provide a crystal oscillator should be made to support as many crystals as possible while still providing a constant frequency, high (in absolute value) negative impedance, low phase noise, low power consumption and low power dissipation on the crystal. For integrated solutions, the integrated components and circuitry should be immune to all kinds of noise sources. A large frequency pulling range is also desirable.
A detailed discussion and a prior art solution for a Pierce oscillator is given in Vittoz, et al., "High-Performance Crystal Oscillator Circuits: Theory and Application," IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 23, No. 3, June 1988, p. 774. The crystal oscillator circuit presented by Vittoz includes an amplifier stage, an amplitude control stage, an output voltage regulator and an output amplifier. The amplitude control is necessary in order to provide a suitable negative impedance, when looking from the crystal into the respective input pins of the crystal oscillator circuit. The negative impedance should be equal to the equivalent serial resistance (ESR) of the crystal. A negative impedance that is too large has the disadvantages of high power dissipation and fast degradation of the crystal. If the negative impedance is smaller than the ESR, the oscillation may die out or there may be no oscillation at all.
The mechanism disclosed by Vittoz to control the ratio between the negative impedance and the ESR is based on control of the bias current through a transistor used as an amplifying transistor for the crystal. The bias current is controlled by an amplitude control circuit (ACC). The ACC monitors the amplitude of the oscillation and generates a control voltage to reduce or increase the amplitude. The control voltage is used to modify the current through the amplifying transistor. Due to the specific control mechanism used by Vittoz, however, the conversion gain is very high. Accordingly, the noise generated by the ACC is amplified and fed into the crystal oscillation loop. This severely degrades the phase noise performance. Furthermore, the crystal oscillator circuit suggested by Vittoz has only limited immunity to substrate noise or cross-talking when implemented on an integrated circuit, in particular in a system on chip (SoC). Finally, the crystal oscillator suggested by Vittoz has only a small pulling range and poor adaptability to multiple different crystals.

Crystal oscillator circuit with amplitude control


A panel, which, at two opposite edges, is provided with coupling parts that allow joining by a downward movement, said coupling parts including a male part that fits in a female part, wherein vertically active locking portions are provided at opposite sides of the male part and female part, wherein these locking portions are located at different distances from an upper side of the panels.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a panel. In first instance, it relates to a floor panel, however, more generally, the invention can also be applied in other types of panels, for example, panels for a wall covering or ceiling.
More specifically, the invention relates to panels which on their edges can be coupled to each other and interlocked.
In particular, the invention relates to a panel of the type having an upper surface, a lower surface and at least one pair of opposite edges;                wherein said pair of edges comprises a first edge having a first joint profile and a second edge having a second joint profile;        wherein said joint profiles define coupling parts allowing that two of such panels can be joined, or are joinable, by a downward movement of the edge of one panel in respect to the edge of the other panel, wherein said coupling parts in a coupled condition provide a locking in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the coupled panels, as well as in a direction parallel to the plane of the coupled panels and perpendicular to the respective edges;        wherein the first joint profile comprises a first laterally projecting lip with a downward projecting locking part, said downward projecting locking part defining a male part;        wherein the second joint profile comprises a second laterally projecting lip with an upward projecting locking part, said upward projecting locking part defining proximally thereof a recess acting as a female part;        wherein the first laterally projecting lip with the downward projecting locking part defines a downward directed hook, whereas the second laterally projecting lip with the upward projecting locking part defines an upward directed hook;        wherein, in the coupled condition of two of such panels, the downward directed hook and upward directed hook engage behind each other so as to prevent drifting apart of the panels;        wherein said coupling parts further comprise vertically active locking portions which at least define a first point of contact and a second point of contact, said points of contact being located at opposite sides of said male and female parts;        wherein said vertically active locking portions comprise a first locking portion and a second locking portion at the respective opposite sides of said male part and a third locking portion and a fourth locking portion at the respective opposite sides of the female part;        wherein said first and third locking portions in the coupled condition of two of such panels define said first point of contact and have contact surfaces that in the coupled condition of two of such panels define an inclined tangent line;        wherein said second and fourth locking portions in the coupled condition of two of such panels define said second point of contact and have contact surfaces that in the coupled condition of two of such panels define an inclined tangent line;        wherein said male part has a distal side and a proximal side, said second locking portion being located at the distal side;        wherein the panel at said first edge has a distal edge defining the closing plane of the panels, said second locking portion being located in an inwardly offset position in regard to said distal edge; and        wherein said joint profiles are in one piece from the panel material; and        wherein measured according to a direction perpendicular to the plane defined by the panels, the second point of contact is closer to the plane defined by the upper surface of the panels than the first point of contact.
2. Related Art
Panels of this type are known from document DE 103 05 695 A1. An aim of the present invention is to improve the panels of this type and in particular to improve the coupling parts thereof. In particular, it is envisaged to obtain a coupling which, on the one hand, allows an easy joining by a downward movement of one panel in respect to the other, but, on the other hand, also offers a reliable coupling, which, amongst others, after a period of time will not obtain the tendency of getting released.


An apparatus, and corresponding method, for directly measuring air-fuel ratio of a combustion process, in an internal combustion engine is described. The apparatus includes a first electromagnetic wave sensor (105) that provides a first signal (107), representative of light intensity emitted at a first wavelength, and a second electromagnetic wave sensor (115) that provides a second signal (117), representative of light intensity emitted at a second wavelength. A ratio circuit (111, 121, 125) combines an integral of the first signal (107), and an integral of the second signal (117), and provides an air-fuel ratio signal, (127) indicative of the air-fuel ratio during the combustion process.

In an internal combustion engine, it is generally useful to measure an air-fuel ratio of a combustion process to efficiently control the engine's performance. In particular, by controlling the air-fuel ratio such that the mixture for combustion is stoichiometric, exhaust emissions are reduced by enabling a downstream catalytic converter to operate with maximum conversion efficiency for the principal exhaust constituents.
Various schemes have been used to measure the electromagnetic energy, in the form of light, emitted during the combustion process for indirectly determining or controlling air-fuel ratio. These previous schemes have not been sufficiently simple in their implementation. For instance, one approach suggests determining air-fuel ratio by considering the phase difference between peak values of the outputs of two photoelectric sensors tuned to receive substantially different wavelengths. Thus both the peak values of light intensity and the phasing at which they occur must be detected. This adds additional complexity and inaccuracy. The final result is a non-linear relationship between the measured parameter and the air-fuel ratio. To convert this non-linear result into usable form, requires additional resources. This also adds inaccuracy to the determination process. Another approach uses the outputs of two photoelectric sensors whose peak responses are at different frequencies. The ratio of the logarithm of the output of these sensors is considered at a specific point in the combustion process. The magnitude of the minimum of the signal after the peak value of the signal is claimed to be related to the NOx content of exhaust gas. In this approach, the air-fuel ratio is not directly derived, but inferred from the resulting signal. This approach is both complex and indirect.
Other schemes that directly measure intensity of emitted electromagnetic radiation are inaccurate because of the contamination of the measuring device, mainly due to soot deposits that vary according to engine operating conditions.
What is needed is a more robust and accurate apparatus, or method that is simpler to implement, for directly measuring the air-fuel ratio of a combustion process in an internal combustion engine.

Air-fuel ratio measurement apparatus and method therefor


A rail unloading vehicle is self-propelled and able to travel either over-the-road on conventional roadway tires or along railway tracks on railway wheels. Threading mechanisms for unloading the rails are arranged to retract so they provide a narrow profile for transport over the road. The threading mechanisms have thread boxes with jaws that open to accommodate easy reception of rails, and close to apply rollers to the rails for unloading operations. A special rail clamp has a pair of oppositely pivoting dogs to allow rail manipulation in opposite directions without slippage. A special saw allows safe on-site cutting of rails.

The laying of railway track, either in the initial construction of a railway line or when replacing existing rails, is necessarily a difficult, time consuming and labor intensive job. Standard industry practice involves constructing individual rail sections and then welding them together end to end to form lengthy ribbon rails that may be as long as 1800 feet or more.
The ribbon rails have traditionally been transported to their installation site by transporting them along the railway and loading them onto special rail cars equipped with bunks that receive the rails on several different tiers. The rails are unloaded from the special car side-by-side in pairs using equipment that conventionally includes a complicated winch, thread box and pulley system. The rails are unloaded from the special car using this complicated equipment in a time consuming process that involves repeated starts and stops of the locomotive that pulls the special rail unloading car along the track, and manual handling of the rails and equipment.
This conventional practice is problematic in several respects. It requires significant manual labor to handle the equipment and connect it with the rails, and workers are subjected to the risk of serious injury because they must physically be present at the site of the operations that are carried out. The time required to unload the rails in this manner adds significantly to both the labor costs and to the overall maintenance costs of the railway.
Although equipment has been proposed to attempt to automate the process more fully and reduce the need for extensive manual labor and the risk of personal injury, such equipment has not been wholly satisfactory. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,227,435 and 6,981,452 to Theurer, et al. disclose complicated rail unloading machines that include complexities such as cable and pulley systems, specially constructed crawlers, and conveyor systems of various types. Aside from the cost and maintenance problems resulting from the need for such complicated machinery, the Theurer equipment operates only on railway track. Consequently, when the rails need to be transported over lengthy distances, they are restricted to rail transportation and cannot be transported over-the-road along highways or other roadways that may be a more efficient mode of transportation.
More recently, a rail unloading machine has been developed for travel interchangeably along a railway or a roadway, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,452 to Herzog, et al. Although this Herzog machine is a substantial improvement because of the versatility it offers with respect to modes of transportation, it is not self-propelled but instead requires one type of vehicle to transport it on a roadway and another vehicle such as a locomotive to transport it along a railway. Accordingly, there is a need to couple and uncouple the rail unloading equipment from the different towing vehicles required for the different modes of travel, and this adds to the time, cost and complexity of the entire operation.
Additionally, it is desirable for a pair of rails to be unloaded simultaneously on opposite sides of the rail bed outwardly of the rails and rail ties that are already in place. To accomplish this, the thread boxes must be spaced apart far enough to enable the rails to be unloaded outwardly of the rails and the ends of the ties that are installed on the rail bed, and this can result in equipment that is too wide to travel safely on many roadways.


A digital signal processing apparatus including: an arithmetic circuit that performs first digital signal processing on an input signal SA sampled at a first sampling frequency f1 and second digital signal processing on a result of the first digital signal processing; a timing control circuit that controls and causes the arithmetic circuit to perform the first and second digital signal processing; and a control circuit that monitors in real-time at least one of an amount of data subjected to the second digital signal processing and an amount of data to be transmitted by the input signal SA, and which controls the timing control circuit when the monitored data amount reaches a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital signal processing apparatus and a digital signal processing method, and particularly, to a digital signal processing apparatus and a digital signal processing method that perform digital signal processing in which the sampling frequency of an input signal differs from the sampling frequency of an output signal.
2. Description of Related Art
When the sampling frequency of an output signal is different from the sampling frequency of an input signal, it is necessary to use a digital signal processing apparatus such as a sampling rate converter that performs sampling rate conversion (SRC). In addition, a further digital signal processing apparatus for performing digital filtering will be required to perform digital filtering such as oversampling processing before and after SRC processing. One of the two digital signal processing apparatuses that are, namely, a sampling rate converter and a digital filter, operates in synchronization with the sampling frequency of the input signal. In other words, the apparatus operates in synchronization with an operation clock that is a fixed multiple of the sampling frequency of the input signal. In addition, the other digital signal processing apparatus operates in synchronization with the sampling frequency of the output signal. In other words, the apparatus operates in synchronization with an operation clock that is a fixed multiple of the sampling frequency of the output signal. Therefore, when the sampling frequency of the output signal is different from the sampling frequency of the input signal, it is necessary to use a plurality of digital signal processing apparatuses that operate in synchronization with different operation clocks. (For instance, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H11-68727).
For example, when realizing interpolation processing in which the sampling frequency of the input signal digital data is 32 kHz and the sampling frequency of the output signal digital data is 48 kHz, a digital signal processing apparatus that performs interpolation processing on an operation clock synchronized to 32 kHz is first provided, and a digital signal processing apparatus that performs SRC processing with the interpolation result as input on an operation clock synchronized to 48 kHz is next provided.
As described above, digital signal processing in which the sampling frequencies of the input signal and the output signal differ requires two digital signal processing apparatuses that each operate in synchronization with the respective sampling frequencies. As a result, there is a problem in that the apparatus configuration required by digital signal processing increases, which in turn causes increases in circuit size, power consumption and the like.

Digital signal processing apparatus and digital signal processing method


The invention relates to a method for producing monocyclic ketones C7–C20.

The main method for producing monocyclic ketones is the liquid-phase oxidation of corresponding cycloalkanes with atmospheric oxygen, which oxidation can be carried out in the presence of a catalyst and without it. In both cases, the reaction products formed are represented by a mixture of cyclic ketones and alcohols. For example, while oxidizing cyclododecanes at a temperature comprised between 155 and 170° and a pressure of between 1 and 10 atm, in the presence of boric acid, a mixture of cyclododecanones and cyclododecanols is formed having an ultimate selectivity of about 90%, an obtainable conversion between 5 and 20%/U.S. Pat. No 3,419,615 CO7C 29/52, 1968/ and, along with this, a selectivity involving the ketone does not exceed 20%. The oxidation of cyclododecanes into a mixture of cyclododecanones and cyclododecanols can likewise be carried out with employment, as catalysts, of Co or Mn salts at a temperature comprised between 90 and 150°/GB Pat. No 930842, CO7C, 1963/. In patent U.S. Pat. No 3,917,708, CO7C 29/50, 1975 there is shown and described a method for oxidizing cyclic alkanes C5–C12 into a mixture of corresponding cyclic ketones and alcohols, in the presence of Co, Mn, Cu, Fe, Ni salts. The process is conducted at 130–160° C., a pressure of between 5 and 25 atm and a conversion of between 3 and 6%.
The common defect of these methods is formation, alongside ketones, of appreciable amounts of cyclic alcohols and also a drastic reduction in a reaction selectivity, as the conversion is increased.
In patent GB No 649680, CO7C 45/34, 1951, a disclosure is made of a method for oxidizing olefins into carbonyl compounds with nitrous oxide. According to this method, it is particularly possible to obtain cyclooctanones by the oxidation of cyclooctenes. This method is disadvantageous in low selectivity and stringent reaction conditions.
A second serious disadvantage of this method is a possibility of ignitable mixtures being formed. For explosion hazard to be precluded, the authors of the patent propose adding further saturated hydrocarbons to a reaction mixture. However, as shown by later research work, the mixtures of saturated hydrocarbons with N2O are nearly as much dangerously explosive as those of olefins /G. Panetier, A. Sicard, V Symposium on Combustion, 620, 1955; B. B. Brandt, L. A. Matov, A. I. Rozlovsky, V. S. Khailov, Khim. Prom. 1960, No 5, pp. 67–73/. Therefore, the saturated hydrocarbons, despite their lesser reactivity, cannot be a means for precluding the explosion hazard.

Method for producing monocyclic ketones C

Abstract: The method of patent protection sought is based on the oxidation reaction of monocyclic alkenes C7–C20 into corresponding monocyclic ketones with nitrous oxide or a mixture thereof with inert gas. The process proceeds at a temperature ranging from 20 to 350° C. and a pressure of the nitrous oxide ranging from 0.01 to 100 atm.

Abstract: The process provides a high selectivity involving the target product, blast-resistant work operations and is promising for industrial use.

Institut Kataliza Imeni G.K. Boreskova Sibirskogo Otdeleniya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk


Buffered indexing for a computer's array such as a cache is used to synchronize parent entries with children and allow background invalidation (that is, suspending the invalidation should a new request of the array come in, resuming the invalidation after the request is satisfied) of the child entries. A method for synchronization uses linking of (multiple) entries in lower-level tables to single entries in a higher-level table with a buffered index value. This index value increments each time the higher-level entry is replaced or invalidated (and thus disassociated with its corresponding lower-level entries). Multiple sets of index values are maintained, so that when one set is exhausted, processing can continue with one of the other sets. All corresponding lower-level entries with index values from the old (dirty) set can then be scrubbed (invalidated) while new entries are built from the new (clean) set. Scrubbing can take place in the background, and can be suspended and resumed at any time so as to not impact request service times of the tables.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer design, and particularly to a hierarchical organization of arrays in a computer allowing creation of translation caches permitting maintaining the coherency of the entries in hierarchical computer tables without impacting service time of requests of the tables or requiring excessive space or logic.
2. Background of the Invention
In computers, the design of dynamic high-speed access tables (arrays), such as translation caches, can often be enhanced through a hierarchical (multi-level) organization, as opposed to a flat (single-level) organization. A multi-level scheme features entries that are associated with a particular level, perhaps in different tables, with each lower-level entry associated with a particular higher-level entry. The intent of the higher-level (parent) entries is that they share information common to all of their corresponding lower-level (child) entries. This not only saves space (chip area is probably the most important component of microprocessor design), it allows many common functions to be performed on a single parent entry instead of numerous child entries, which can improve performance and simplify the design.

Buffered indexing to manage hierarchical tables


It is intended to provide novel amino group-containing heterocyclic derivatives, which have a broad absorption zone in the visible region and are suitable for sensitizing dyes for photoelectric conversion having a high photoelectric conversion efficiency, and photoelectric conversion materials, photoelectric conversion electrodes and photoelectric conversion cells using the same. Namely, a heterocyclic derivative represented by the following general formula (I) and containing an amino group at the terminus:

Currently, energy is largely dependent on fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal and natural gas, but the future depletion of fossil fuels is a serious concern. Also, when energy is obtained from fossil fuels, carbon dioxide discharge inevitably occurs. Such discharge imposes a large burden on the environment, and is thus regarded as a major problem.
Recently, owing to such concerns, more attention is being paid to photovoltaic power generation, with active development work currently being carried out on, for example, silicon solar cells that use crystalline (single-crystal or polycrystalline) silicon or amorphous silicon, and on compound semiconductor solar cells which use gallium and arsenic. However, because production costs and other problems remain to be overcome, photovoltaic power generation still lacks widespread applicability. At the same time, numerous disclosures have been made concerning solar cells which use photosensitizing dyes, but such dyes have had a low conversion efficiency and a poor durability.
This was the situation in the art when Gratzel et al. published a report in 1991 (Non-Patent Document 1) describing a photovoltaic electrode and a photovoltaic cell that use an inorganic semiconductor porous material photosensitized with a dye. The photovoltaic device in their report is manufactured using a relatively inexpensive inorganic oxide semiconductor such as titanium oxide, and enables photovoltaic devices to be obtained at a lower cost than general-purpose silicon solar cells. However, it is not currently possible to achieve a high photovoltaic conversion efficiency without the use of a ruthenium-based sensitizing dye. Owing to the high cost of such dyes and the low crystal abundance of ruthenium, significant challenges remain to be overcome before a stable supply of such photovoltaic devices can be established. Active development efforts are also being carried out on organic dyes, although these have not yet reached a practical stage owing in part to their low conversion efficiency. Dyes with specific acrylic acid sites and sensitizing dyes having amide derivatives have also been developed (see Patent Documents 1, 2 and 3), but fall short in terms of performance.    Patent Document 1: JP 2002-011213 A    Patent Document 2: JP 2004-143355 A    Patent Document 3: JP 2005-097561 A    Non-Patent Document 1: Brian O'Regan and Michael Gratzel, "A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films," Nature 353, 737-740 (October 1991; Great Britain).

Amino group-containing heterocyclic derivatives and sensitizing dyes for photoelectric conversion containing the heterocyclic derivatives

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, R4 and R5 independently represent each a hydrogen atom or a monovalent organic group optionally having one or more substituent; R3 represents an anchor group capable of binding to an inorganic porous material showing semiconductor characteristics; X represents a divalent aromatic hydrocarbon group or a combination of two or more aromatic hydrocarbons being divalent or higher; Y represents a divalent aromatic heterocyclic group having a sulfur atom; Z represents a divalent aromatic heterocyclic group, a divalent aromatic hydrocarbon group, a divalent unsaturated hydrocarbon group or a combination thereof; and m is an integer of from 1 to 3.


A pop-up sprinkler assembly includes a cylindrical housing having a cap on an upper end thereof, the cap having an opening, a lower end of the cylindrical housing having an internal thread for attachment to a source of pressurized water. A stem is mounted in the cylindrical housing with a spring radially between the stem and the cylindrical housing for normally biasing the stem to a retracted position within the cylindrical housing. The stem is extendable through the opening in the first cap to an extended position when water under pressure is supplied to the cylindrical housing. The stem has a threaded upper end to which an alternative sprinkler head is attached. An adapter housing is received over the cap and secured to the cylindrical housing, the sprinkler housing having an open upper end, the adapter housing having a diameter sufficient to receive the alternative sprinkler head when the stem is in the retracted position. A cover is secured to an upper end of the sprinkler head and adapted to close the open upper end of the adapter housing when the stem is in the retracted position. A conversion kit for adapting the otherwise incompatible sprinkler head to the pop-up assembly is also provided.

This invention relates to pop-up sprinklers and, specifically, to a conversion arrangement for adapting an existing pop-up mechanism to mount a sprinkler for which it was not specifically designed.
Pop-up sprinklers, primarily for use in turf irrigation, are well known and typically are designed for use with a range of sprinklers available from the manufacturer of the pop-up mechanisms. Purchasers thus have limited flexibility with respect to the choice of sprinkler heads that can be used with any particular pop-up mechanism.
Examples of pop-up sprinkler devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,316,579; 4,476,611; 4,781,327; 4,913,352; and 5,779,148.
It would be advantageous for consumers to be able to xe2x80x9cmix and matchxe2x80x9d sprinkler components and thus increase the range of options available to meet specific needs.
This invention provides a conversion arrangement that enables the sprinkler heads of one manufacturer to be utilized with the pop-up mechanism of another manufacturer. Specifically, in one embodiment, an enlarged adapter or sprinkler housing and coupler are designed for attachment to the stationary housing component of a well known pop-up mechanism. The adapter housing is sized and shaped to receive an alternative or enhanced performance sprinkler head when the pop-up mechanism is retracted. Additional sleeve and cap adapters are provided that enable the sprinkler head to be threadably attached to the extendable/retractable stem component of the pop-up mechanism, and for a suitably sized cap to be secured to the sprinkler head so as to close the adapter housing when the pop-up device is retracted. No alterations to the pop-up mechanism are required, and no tools are needed to implement the conversion. The invention thus provides the user with additional flexibility in selecting a sprinkler head with desired performance specifications for use with an otherwise incompatible pop-up mechanism.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a pop-up sprinkler assembly comprising: a cylindrical housing having a cap on an upper end thereof, the cap having an opening, a lower end of the cylindrical housing having an internal thread for attachment to a source of pressurized water; a stem mounted in the cylindrical housing with a spring radially between the stem and the cylindrical housing for normally biasing the stem to a retracted position within the cylindrical housing, the stem extendable through the opening in the first cap to an extended position when water under pressure is supplied to the cylindrical housing, the stem having a threaded upper end; a sprinkler head attached to the threaded upper end of the stem; a sprinkler housing received over the cap and secured to the cylindrical housing, the sprinkler housing having an open upper end, the adapter housing having a diameter sufficient to receive the sprinkler head when the stem is in the retracted position; and a cover secured to an upper end of the sprinkler head and adapted to close the open upper end of the adapter housing when the stem is in the retracted position.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a conversion kit for adapting a sprinkler pop-up assembly to receive an alternative sprinkler head, wherein the pop-up assembly includes a cylindrical housing and an extendable stem, the cylindrical housing having a cap at its upper end, the cap having a through-opening for the stem; the stem having a threaded tip; the kit comprising a sleeve adapter for connection between a lower end of the alternative sprinkler head and the threaded tip of the stem; an adapter housing for enclosing the alternative sprinkler head when the stem is retracted, the adapter housing having an open upper end and a diameter larger than the cylindrical housing, and a threaded lower end having a diameter larger than the cap; a coupler having an internal thread for threaded engagement with the threaded lower end of the adapter housing, the coupler slidably received on the cylindrical housing upstream of the cap to thereby secure the adapter housing to the cylindrical housing; a cover for the alternative sprinkler head; and a cover adapter for connection between the alternative sprinkler head and said cover; wherein the cover is sized to close the open upper end of the adapter housing when the stem is in the retracted position.
Other objects and advantages of the subject invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows.

Sprinkler head conversion for pop-up assembly


A temporary tube placement system includes a tube having a proximal end and a distal end, a camera supported by the tube at the distal end, a plurality of fiber optic filaments through which light from a light source travels from the proximal end to the distal end, a screen for displaying images from the camera, and a power source electrically attached to the camera and the light source. The enteral tube includes a tube having a distal end portion for placement within a patient and a proximal end portion and a lumen increasing in cross section from the proximal end portion toward the distal end portion along at least a portion of the tube.

In the course of healthcare, temporary tubes such as enteral and endotracheal tubes are placed into the gastrointestinal tract or the respiratory tract, respectively, of patients for the delivery of nutrition or suction of the gastrointestinal tract and air to the respiratory tract.
Most commonly, these tubes are placed via the nose or mouth without guidance and therefore tube position must be confirmed radiographically after placement. While this method is simple and generally effective, the consequences of a misplaced tube can be significant. If food or liquid are delivered into the respiratory tract or if oxygen is delivered into the gastrointestinal tract rather than the respiratory tract, for example, the consequences can be fatal.
Although several methods of tube guidance have been developed, each has certain limitations. X-ray fluoroscopy, for example, is the dominant method for guided tube placement. Fluoroscopic guidance tracks the tube progress via its x-ray shadow. With knowledge of radiographic anatomy, the user can confirm that the tube has followed the correct path to a desired location. While effective, this method requires x-ray exposure to the patient and clinician, and requires additional equipment and a practitioner trained in the process all of which results in a significant cost. Even more, bedside placement of a tube is usually not possible with this method due to the size of the fluoroscopic equipment.
Another method of tube placement involves positional tracking on a system utilizing a simulated display. As described in US Published Patent Application No. 2013/0218006, the system monitors a position of a tip of the tube and provides a graphic representation of a path of the tip on a display. In other words, the system provides a graphic representation of the path of the tip, thereby allowing a skilled user to monitor the progress of the tip during placement. While this method may be utilized at the patient's bedside, it does not provide a confirmation with respect to the individual patient's anatomy and would not indicate if the tube had perforated through the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. The limitations of these methods underscore the need for a method which provides direct visualization for tube placement.
Along these lines, numerous visualization systems for endotracheal tube placement have been developed. A majority of these systems place a video camera or other visualization means on a laryngoscope. The laryngoscope provides retraction of the tongue and glottis thereby establishing and visualizing a pathway to the vocal cords, through which the endotracheal tube must pass to enter the trachea. Other of these systems utilize a video camera positioned within an end of the enteral tube. These systems utilize battery powered light emitting diodes (LEDs) positioned near the camera within the tip of the tube for illuminating the pathway of the tube.
Despite the advancement of a more direct method of visualization for the clinician, current video camera systems suffer from certain limitations associated with utilization of the camera. Specifically, the camera lens can become cloudy or obstructed by fluids and/or food debris during utilization thereby hindering the clinician's ability to visualize the pathway. Even more, the amount of light generated by the LEDs is insufficient to accommodate visualization primarily due to size and heat generation limitations. Accordingly, a need exists for a temporary tube placement system which provides a direct method of visualization. The system should provide a sufficient amount of light within the pathway without excessive heat and a means of cleaning fluid and/or food debris from the camera lens, as required, to ensure proper visualization for the clinician during placement of the tube.
Even enteral tubes properly placed by any of the above-described methods, however, suffer from drawbacks associated with their tendency to clog. Frequently, medications in pill form must be crushed and delivered down the enteral tube placed in the stomach or small bowel. These pill fragments have a tendency to clog tubes. Tube feeding solution is similarly prone to congealing and creating clogs. If clogs occur and are unable to be cleared, the tube must be withdrawn from the patient and replaced at added expense, and discomfort and risk to the patient. Accordingly, any tube placement system should further minimize the potential for clogging and also allow for easier clog removal in the event a clog occurs.

Temporary tubes and a system for placing same in a patient


A composition for transdermal administration of an immunogen is described. The immunogen is entrapped in lipid vesicles having a oil-in-water emulsion in the central core compartment. The vesicles are administered transdermally to elicit an immune response in a subject.

An immune response can be induced against an almost limitless variety of substances. There are two categories of immune response, humoral and cellular. In a humoral response, the antigen or foreign substance is recognized by specific receptors on the surfaces of lymphocytes and certain B-lymphocytes are stimulated to multiply. These cells produce vast numbers of antibodies capable of binding to the antigens. After binding, the bound antigen is removed or destroyed. In a cellular or cell-mediated immune response, T-lymphocytes, in particular helper and killer T-lymphocytes, are active in recognizing and destroying the foreign substance.
The process of inducing immunity as a preventive measure against infectious diseases is referred to as immunization. Immunization can be passive, where antibodies are administered to an animal to provide a short-term immunity, or active. Active immunization is more commonly known as vaccination, where a killed or weakened antigen, or fragment thereof, is introduced to an animal. The antigens sensitize the immune system so that if that antigen later enters the body, antibodies are quickly produced to remove and/or destroy the invading antigen.
Most vaccines are preparations containing the organism, or parts of organism, against which protection is sought. The organism is killed or weakened sufficiently so as not to cause disease but to induce immunity. Some vaccines contain chemically modified bacterial toxins. Vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases are available, for example, live attenuated vaccines are given to protect against measles, mumps, rubella, yellow fever and polio. Diphtheria and tetanus vaccines contain inactivated bacterial toxins. Cholera, typhoid fever, pertussis, rabies, viral hepatitis B and influenza contain killed organisms, or in the case of hepatitis B, only a part of the virus.
Vaccines are usually given by injection into the upper arm, or in the case of polio vaccine, administered orally. Administration via injection is not always convenient, particularly in third world countries, for soldiers in the field or for subjects other than humans, including horses, cows and dogs.

Biphasic lipid vesicle composition for transdermal administration of an immunogen


An in-flight refueling probe includes a first tubular member secured to an aircraft and a second tubular member having a releasable connection with the first tubular member such that the second tubular member detaches from the first tubular member in response to a predetermined force applied to the connection. A nozzle secured to the second tubular member can be coupled to a receptacle of a fuel dispensing aircraft. A tethering member is connected to the first tubular member and one of the second tubular member and the nozzle. The tethering member remains intact to connect the detached second tubular member to the first tubular member when a first tensile force is applied to the tethering member. The tethering member ruptures to disconnect the detached second tubular member from the first tubular member when a second tensile force greater than the first tensile force is applied to the tethering member.

The in-flight refueling of aircraft is a very important capability in that it extends the usable range of the aircraft. Typical refueling devices include a fuel tube extending from the refueling aircraft that terminates in a receptacle for receiving a refueling probe, which is connected to the aircraft that sources fuel. Typically, the nozzle at the end of the refueling probe is a Military Standard part, for example, MS 24356(ASG) Nozzle- Type PA-2 Flight Pressure Refueling. The receptacle on the refueling aircraft is also a Military Standard part, for example, MS 24354 (ASG) Drogue Core, Nozzle And Refueling Coupling—Type MA-2 Flight-Pressure-Refueling System-Assembly Of.